#well now she's suffering too thanks tony

[lastavenged]

"Wait, let me finish losing to Jimothy." @ pepper (can she feel rhodey's suffering yet)

A step is taken closer toward the table and she first goes to lean over Tony's shoulder to look at his cards; she remains silent, trying to maintain a poker face as to not reveal how bad his hand was. It's not the best, he should throw in the towel; all of them were going to be late but there's no winning when the two of them got into their games. Idiots, the both of them.

After she's finished judging Tony's cards, and since Pepper has no intention of being fair or dealt in, she steps around the table. From there she peaks over Rhodey's shoulder, who gives her a HEY HEY, but it's too late; she's already seen her cards. His cards weren't that much better, but apparently he has been winning; if Tony losing to Jimothy was any statement to go by.

From what she can tell Tony's been holding Rhodey hostage and Rhodey's only winning by a margin, trying to hold the bluff that Tony isn't two lucky draws from turning the tides.

Now she sees why Rhodey's got a bit of sweat to his brow, he's suffering; this game has gone on long enough and they aren't going anywhere soon. Pepper pulls up a chair her self, props her head on her hand and sighs, ❝ The both of you are losers. ❞ Who was she to think they'd be doing anything or going anywhere on time?

❝ Tony, play the card on your left, please. ❞ Pepper will play the spoilsport if it wraps this up faster.

[midnightmayhem13]

Hii! Could I request the marvel ladies reaction to reader referring to them as her girlfriend for the first time <33

now i see daylight

this is so adorable! and ofc coming rightt up(ultra delayed post)

warning!- some suggestive bits(nothing specifically said)

Carol Danvers

once awhile, u and the girls go to a fancy jazz club. usually it's an excuse for you guys to dress up and get wine drunk and wake up feeling refreshed, albeit a lil hungover. this time, you and your lovely gf Carol go as a together. you wore a stunning navy blue dress and she wore a casual navy suit. Carol was drooling over you and she couldn't stop staring at you but you were also obsessing over ur sexy buff ass gf. you walk in hand in hand and go around the party talking to ur friends. you and carol separate for js a moment. when ur friends head home u sit there sipping ur drink alone and a man comes to sit next to you and start bugging you. "hey beautiful, you here alone?" "no im actually with someone" you answer sternly. thanks to Carols quick reflexes, you don't have to suffer long. she puts a firm hand on ur back and kisses the top of ur head. but thanks to the drinks he doesnt take the hint. "why don't u take me home dove; i'll show you want i can do." you and carol giggle. as she's about to say smt, you interupt. "actually" leaning into Carol, putting ur hand on her stomach as her hand goes over ur shoulder. "i'm gonna be taking my beautiful girlfriend home so you can go now." Gosh you've never looked sexier to carol. she honestly js starts fawning over you and lets out a THATS MY GIRL and hugs you super tight bc her heart js melted. you're so proud about being with her and she cannot contain the blush that's on her cheek. you two walk out (ur lipstick all over Carols face and neck) she's so giddy about the events that happened and cannot stop kissing u all over. it's like ur first date all over again and honestly, she can't wait to call u her wife!!

Darcy Lewis

Darcy is the smartest girl you know. and naturally as an Avenger you introduce her to Tony and safe to say he's very impressed with her and pats you on the back for finding such a brilliant girl. everyone likes Darcy too!! she makes you happy, she's hot, she's loyal, and mf is a Dr and an astrophysicist!! you always flaunt that. well when a big company asks the avengers to come work with them bc some sort of anomaly (think wandavision but no one's dead bc i said so) has accured and they need some brains and brawns. while tony and bruce alone were smarter than all of the companies scientists; they bit off more than they could chew. after a few weeks of all the scientists working at it, they only advance a bit. you go home and darcy comes over and you rant to her about it bc ur fed up. and suggest the idea of bringing her to help and she considers it. she spends the night so she might as well tag along and see what she can do. at first the companies big boss disregards her and even tries to push her away from the monitors. you grab his wrist "don't you touch her. and just so yk my girlfriend is smarter than all ur stupid scientists so i suggest you let her take a look so she can fix wtv ur men can't" Darcy is actually frozen to her spot bc that was so hot. the heat from her cheeks spread all the way down and she's at a loss for words. her face turns bright red and she nudges you too stop cutting the guys circulation off (she's well aware you'll break this guys arm for her). she thanks you and kisses ur cheek as she sits down. give her a few hours and BOOM. she's gotten to the bottom of the problem and has two possible ways to fix it, they both end up working. Darcy bugs about how much you brag about her. you give her a whole speech on why she's the greatest women ever as you hold her. she loves you with her whole heart and has never felt safer in her big bad avengers gfs arms.

Maria Hill

Even though Maria is always incredibly busy with Shield, and you with the avengers, you always find time to be together. but being women of high power has never been easy. that being said, both of you get looked down on even after showing ur skill time and time again. so you arrive at headquarters looking for your bad ass gf, carrying with you a few treats so she doesn't forget to eat. as you make ur way towards everyone they seem to be doing their usual thing. you could spot her from a mile away away. she's the most beautiful women you've ever laid eyes on. you approach her. her eyes land on you and her face immediately lights up. she greats you with a tight hug, a kiss on the head and then the lips. she's gotten more comfortable with being affectionate at work, you notice. "thank you baby" she says sweetly, completely contrasting to the harsh tone she uses with her troops. "i'll be back in a second" she goes to tell her most trusted troop to take charge as she steps out for a second. almost as if she cannot live in peace, a scrawny, insecure guy comes out of nowhere and starts complaining about Maria being off duty (who even is he) he starts causes a scene and honestly makes you laugh a bit. you two go to walk off to ignore him and suddenly the hoe grabs you!! yeahh maria is not gonna let this go. but when she goes to interfere but yank your arm away "my girlfriend has all of this under control so why don't you turn around and get back to work, the nerve of you!" Maria jaw is DROPPED. i mean she knew you could get serious but seeing her adorable gf give commands does something to her body. almost as if she's shy being in ur presence. she's sure she's never smiled bigger. you turn around and grab her had and guide her to the break room. she feels like she has a silly little school girl crush as she giddily follows you around.

sharon carter

(this is power broker sharon bc she's hot but no one's dead BC I SAID SO) To say sharon was kinda nervous about telling you about her job was an understatement. i mean you were an avenger but also the love of her life. it was a long talk but you got it to work. anyways you hung around a lot at her place bc hello?? it's huge and you love seeing ur hot gf do illegal ass things bccc she wasn't an avenger level threat (yet) so by ur logic, we're chilling. and she was on okay terms with steve, bucky and sam. when she hosts her auctions you're always welcome to come to them too! you want to be there just in case the worse happens, even tho she's more than capable of controlling it. but that doesn't mean you're safe from any guys or gals that want to hit on you. if they know who you are, you're okay but if they don't know who you are or have a death note they'll hit on you. usually you hang low or by the bar bc sharon's busy at these events. as you sip your favorite margarita you feel a tap on your shoulder. a security guard? "uhm hi can i help you?" you ask politely. unbeknownst to you sharon's watching (she always is) and heading her way over to you. the guards are specifically told not to speak to you unless u speak to them. she's possessive what can you say. "i'm not sure you're on the list your gonna have to step out" he says roughly grabbing ur arm and tugging you off your stool. sharon is basically bolting at this point. "my girlfriends the owner of this place and is the reason you buy ur meals so get off of me" you say and push him back. he's about to tackle you bc yk ego. until he sees an arm snake around your waist. oh sh*t. "get the hell out my house" sharon says and he gets escorted out. you'll probably never hear from him again. sharon grabs your waist and pulls you impossibly close to her as she places her lips on yours. "that was so sexy baby" she says on ur lips. her stern demeanor almost broke when she heard you calling her your girlfriend so proudly. it made her knees want to buckle and she felt like kicking her feet. she finally got the girl of her dreams and u guys were a match made it heaven. she can't stop thinking of this moment for months to come and definitely shows how proud she is of you later that night.

Nebula

nebula thought she was gonna be a lot of things in life. but never did she think she was gonna be the girlfriend of the most beautiful and kind girl in the galaxy. she seriously never expected to ever be blessed by your presence much rather be loved so deeply by you. although she's been weary of love her whole life, you've completely changed her perspective. you love her so deeply it's almost unfathomable. that being said, anything you guys are in a new planet and go explore you always make sure to stick to her side. who's gonna mess with ur big ass blue gf?? not to mention she's possessive with you and aggressive with anyone but you. she's also so gentle with her sweet girl. so you'd expect any on looker to stay away from you bc nebula likes to walk around with her hand on ur butt while holding you close. but when some weird looking dude approaches nebula immediately become alert but all he does is aggressively bump into her "hey watch where the hell your going u got ur dirty paws on my girlfriend!" you yell as you grab wtv the hell is on top of his (maybe hair??) and he has no other choice but to apologize to nebula. when he leaves nebula is left speechless. why are you so proud that ur dating her?she can't control herself tho and pulls you into an ally to passionately make out with you. that was so hot. she lifts you by ur butt and presses you against a wall. you giggle and pull away as she chases ur lips "what's with this nebby?" "i love you." she says hoarsely. she didn't know how to respond to the whole situation. she couldn't care less about what the guy said or didn't say. but you loved her so much and we're so open about it. she was gonna love you forever.

kate bishop

Kates sure you could do something so simple as breathing and she would get giddy. she's no kidding. she absolutely adores you and you adore her. that's why you two just work. and while not all things come to you guys that simple most things do. you to do have your fights but they can usually be resolved with a good talk followed by a movie marathon with pizza and Lucky cuddles. so that's what you guys are doing right now. don't get me wrong, this happens on a weekly bases not just when you guys are having an argument. it's just a chill saturday afternoon, both you and kate resting from having a hard week in training and working with adults who never seemed to be pleased with any improvement in any skill. but anyways. you kate and lucky are all cuddled up on her couch as you decide what movie to pick out. as if it's a 6th sense kate suddenly gasps "we didn't order pizza!" and even lucky pops his head up, distraught by this horrible news. you have a good laugh but kate is seriously concerned about this. you stroke her hair and kiss it and tell her you'll order it rn. kate js smiles snuggly at lucky (who she high fives) as she leans her head on ur tit and receives head rubs. you call her favorite pizza place and order ur usual order while she finds a few movies to binge. thanks to nyc, ur pizza arrives in no time. and when you hear the bell ring you and lucky go answer the door. kates too busy complaining cuz her pillows gone. as you answer the door luckys right there as ur security. "haha your dogs really cute!" says the delivery guy "thank you my girlfriend found him!" you say simply as you tip him and close the door. kate literally gets up and runs around as she squeals. you thought she was just really hungry but after she picks you up when you put the pizza down she tells you other wise. she spins you around and cannot take the big goofy smile off her face. she's left speechless but her smile speaks for her. when you ask her about it your heart melts at how pure she is. the rest of the night she's has that smile on her face as she's resting on ur favorite pillow, you!!

a/n- so sorry this took so long and it's kinda crappy! i was kinda stuck so they all sound similar but hopefully you guys enjoyed! send requests!!🤍🤍

stay safe hoes🤍

[heliads]

Can you do a Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) x Avenger reader one-shot? The reader is a Hydra experiment turned Avenger who has hawk wings and can fly like a bird. She can hide her wings by folding them like a bird can. She grew up somewhere in the US and doesn’t remember her parents, so the closest thing she has to a family is the Avengers. She meets Peter and starts dating him. Her alias, chosen by Tony, is Hawk, which Peter thinks is a little on the nose.

masterlist

You know, at moments like this, you’re really not sure if you’re dreaming or not. The setting around you seems real enough, but it’s happened so many times before that you’re starting to progress past deja vu and into entirely new territory. You could do this sort of mission in your sleep, and at this point, you kind of think you already have.

The scene is simple. Someone has attacked New York, and someone must save the city. This time, it’s not aliens or HYDRA knocking down your door but a new kind of inhuman with a bone to pick. At this rate, you get them so frequently that it’s like a regularly scheduled TV broadcast. Have you caught up on the latest season of unhappy mutants? Nah, I’m still three weeks backlogged on super powered individuals who hate us all.

A voice crackles into your earpiece, and you have to blink hard to get yourself to focus again. A lab tech company stole the blood samples of someone with powers in an attempt to understand more about what makes inhumans so utterly not human. The victim, your criminal of the week, is using his fire powers to burn down the company’s headquarters to prove that they’ll never be able to control him.

See, you’re supposed to be out here stopping the guy, but you kind of see his point. You were a lab experiment yourself a while back, and the results gave you powers and a chance to join the Avengers. Your time as a HYDRA science experiment was the worst experience of your life– agony and horror galore, to say the least– and if this guy’s standing up for the rights of the inhumans to avoid laboratories with a little too keen an interest in your inner workings, you don’t really want to kill him for his troubles.

That’s not the Avengers way, though. You weren’t hired for your thoughts on the rights of inhumans, especially those who suffered in the name of scientific progress, you’re here to save the city and the world and the universe, usually all three at once.

Hence the reason Captain America is chastising you to get your head in the game. This isn’t a time for sightseeing, it’s your chance to protect the innocents as the fire spreads. Thanks to the human-sized hawk wings that have been yours ever since your lab days, you’re in charge of the aerial defense of the Avengers, a role they need you for right now.

Today, you’re not a girl, you’re the Hawk, and you have a job to do. Tony Stark was responsible for your induction into the Avengers, as well as that very obvious alias. He’s also desperate for backup from the sky, especially right now.

You sigh, bid your morals a temporary adieu, and soar down from your vantage point in the clouds. The inhuman isn’t expecting another attacker from above, especially not one moving as fast as you. You tuck your wings into your sides for additional velocity, and slam into him hard enough to knock him to the ground. 

Seizing the opportunity of his distraction, Natasha quickly fires electric charges into his chest, knocking the guy out for a few seconds. From there, it’s easy to get some cuffs on the inhuman and shove him into the reinforced mobile holding cell S.H.I.E.L.D. sent over for precisely that purpose.

Steve nods at you. “Thanks for the help, Y/N.”

You smile wearily. “Any time.”

It’s easier to appreciate the Avengers lifestyle now, basking in the glow of having played a pivotal role in keeping the city safe. It’s a little more difficult hours later, when the sun has already set but you’re still trapped in the Avengers complex for a debrief that just won’t end.

It’s not the Avengers’ fault, you know that. S.H.I.E.L.D. has its protocols, and they get a little antsy if they aren’t followed. Still, you can’t help it when your mind starts wandering. You’ve attended enough meetings on the proper rules to be followed when your life is on the line and they all blur together.

You tune back in when Steve says your name. They’re discussing you now, apparently, and the words being said aren’t all compliments.

Steve sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Y/N, can you please try to focus for five minutes?”

You grimace. “Sorry, sorry. What were we talking about, exactly?”

Natasha arches a brow. “This, to be honest. You’re not as engaged with the fights as you used to be.”

You wince. “Can you blame me? I’ve been at this for years, Nat, ever since you guys broke me out of the HYDRA labs. I never went to S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, I’ve never been a spy. I’m just doing my best out here.”

Bruce raises his hands placatingly. “We know that, kid, and we’re proud of you. We just need to be sure that you’re one hundred percent on top of things whenever you’re out in the field, for your safety as well as ours.”

You nod. “I’ll try to be better. Sorry.”

Tony frees you at last from the shame of everyone’s disapproving stares. “Look, cut the girl a break. She did well out there, and no one got hurt. If something happens, we can discuss this more seriously, but why punish her for an incident that hasn’t happened yet? Y/N, I know it’s getting late. You can go if you want.”

You jump on that chance and thank him, hurrying out of the room just in time to hear Steve chastising Tony for letting you go as the door closes behind you. You’re not sticking around to be called back. You have no interest in hearing a repeat of the same lecture.

In all honesty, they’re not entirely wrong. You do need to get your head in order. It’s just been difficult to focus on anything, really. Everything feels the same, and why care about any job if a similar mission is going to take place the next week, and the next week, and the next? They all end the same way, and they’re always going to.

You poke your head out of a balcony and, spreading your wings to take flight, soar up to the roof. Everything seems simpler up here. Why stress about the city when it’s nothing more than a thousand pinpricks of light?

You coast on the night breeze for a while before coming to a stop on a neighboring skyscraper. It’s nice to finally be alone, or so you think until a voice sounds from behind you.

“Sorry, is this roof taken?”

You glance behind you to see a figure emerging from the shadows. After a heartbeat, you realize you recognize the red mask, the scarlet and blue suit, the black arachnid logo on the center of the stranger’s chest. This is the Spider-Man you’ve been hearing about in the news lately. He’s saving the city, but doing it his own way, not caught up in the politics of being an Avenger.

Truth be told, you admire him for it. It must be nice to save people without the lecture that always follows you. He doesn’t have to be perfect, he just has to get the job done. What a life to lead.

You shake your head, gesturing beside you. “Not for you. What’s up, Spider-Boy?”

He chuckles as he sits down next to you. “Normally, I’d insist on being referred to as a man, but I’ll let it slide just this once. I’m pretty alright, what about you? I saw you were saving the city again earlier today. I would have joined in, but–”

You shake your head, dismissing his apology. “No need. The Avengers tend to swarm all over things, no need to involve yourself in their mess.”

Spider-Man glances your way, and when he speaks again, his voice is curious. “I take it you’re not on the best of terms with them at the moment?”

You sigh. “Just for now. They’re the only family I’ve ever known, so we get along most of the time. We’ve just been in a rough patch at the moment. I don’t really know why.”

Spider-Man lifts a shoulder. “Well, you said they’re like your family, right? The fights don’t surprise me. All families struggle to get along all the time. I’m sure it’ll blow over in a few days.”

You chuckle. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“I should hope so,” Spider-Man informs you, “I’m kind of the world’s leading expert on superpowered family relationships. I got a college degree in, uh, Avenging Therapy.”

This time, your laugh is easy, carefree. “Well, Mr. Inhuman Therapist, I’d love a little more advice. I’m Y/N, by the way.”

He reaches out a hand to shake yours. “I’m Peter. It’s lovely to meet you, Y/N.”

Lovely, as it turns out, is exactly the right word to use. The two of you talk well into the night, and you find yourself more than reluctant to leave him, even as the call to sleep grows stronger. Luckily, you end up crossing paths again soon, and then accidental meetings happen on purpose, more and more often until you know the face under the mask just as well as you know the so-called vigilante plastered across the newspaper pages.

It’s just nice to have Peter around, that’s all. He reminds you that there’s a life worth living outside of every fight. It takes you a while to realize that he’s the only friend you’ve ever wanted as more than just a friend, the one you like, the one you love, but after that– well, it feels impossible that you could have ever known anything else.

You’re on a similar rooftop one night a few months later when you learn that he feels the same way about you. You were a little late to your usual meetup spot thanks to yet another meeting with the Avengers, but instead of complaining, Peter beams at you and says,

“There she is! The angel of New York City has arrived.”

You laugh. It’s easy, around him. “That’s ridiculous. I’m nobody’s angel.”

The thought is absurd. You have been a lab rat, a soldier, and a civilian, all in turn. These are all roles that you have played, but none of them have ever been truly yours. Never, though, has an angel ever been among their ranks.

Still, Peter seems to believe it. His eyes gleam with certainty. “You’re mine.”

You almost choke on your own incredulity. “You’re joking. Me, an angel? There are at least a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. files that would argue the opposite.”

“I’m not joking,” Peter hums. “You can’t deny your angel-hood, Y/N. I’ve already given it to you.”

“I’m giving it back,” you tell him. “Find someone who’s actually a good person.”

“I have,” he asserts. “I just don’t get why you can’t see that. It’s fairly obvious to me.”

You tilt your head to the side. “And why is that?”

“Oh, ‘cause I love you, of course,” Peter says, as easily as if he’s stating a simple, well known fact. Your face must have given away your surprise, because he glances over at you again. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah,” you manage to stutter out, “It’s just, well, I love you too.”

“I know,” he grins, tilting his head up to the night stars.

After that, it gets better, impossibly. As your boyfriend, Peter is in your life even more than before. Sometimes that involves him stopping by your apartment to bring you flowers. Other times, it means he’s willing to help out with the Avengers so long as they don’t ask questions like who he is and why he’s had an abrupt change of heart about wanting to fight with them.

Usually, you don’t want to call him in. The Avengers can be a hassle, which you’ve learned after years of being one of their number. However, when the fights get to be a little out of hand, a little text to your boyfriend means you’ll have another soldier on your side swinging over in five minutes flat, and that’s more welcome than you can even begin to describe.

Even on days like today, when he stops by to take out some robbers who somehow got their hands on alien tech, you couldn’t be happier to see him. The other Avengers are there, and you probably would have got the job done by yourselves, but it would have taken far more time and cost far more blood. Thankfully, you’ve got Spider-Man on dial, and you can solve problems like superpowered thieves in half the time.

You smile at him as he swings up beside you. He’s still got his mask on, of course, but you can sense his smile even despite the fabric in between you. “Thanks for the helping hand, Spider-Man.”

He laughs. “Any time, Angel. You know that.”

Across the street, the Avengers glance up from the robbers they’d been investigating. Tony frowns. “What was that?”

Peter freezes in place. “What was what?”

Tony quickly points his finger between the two of you. “You just called her something. Angel. What was that about?”

Peter lifts a shoulder in his best imitation of a shrug. “A, uh, new callname? Hawk is too obvious.”

Tony narrows his eyes. “And Angel isn’t?”

Peter raises his hands palm up in a universal gesture of helplessness. “I thought it was more interesting, at least.”

Tony doesn’t seem ready to let him off the hook just yet. “And that’s all it is? Just a codename, not anything else?”

Peter’s voice is as smooth as he can make it. “What else could it be, sir?”

You nod, the picture of innocence. “Yeah, Tony, what else could it possibly be?”

Tony stares at both of you, but he can’t find any evidence of wrongdoing. “It had better be. You wouldn’t believe how fast I can squash a spider if need be.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Peter says weakly, and starts hurrying away the second Tony turns his back.

You follow him, giggling to yourself. “Nice save there, bug boy.”

Peter groans. “If I wake up in the middle of the night to find that he’s launched an Iron Army or something to kill me as punishment for dating his adoptive superhero child, it’s totally your fault.”

You pretend to be outraged. “No, it’s not! You’re the one who called me that in the first place, remember? The blame’s all yours.”

Peter reaches an arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him. “Maybe you shouldn’t be as charming, Y/N. Then I wouldn’t have any problems properly addressing you as a coworker.”

You laugh. “My charm is irresistible, Pete. Give up now.”

“I already have,” he assures you. Such a flirt. You’ve never minded it, though, and you don’t intend to start now.

Sometimes, this city feels as if it was designed to stress you out. As an Avenger, you’ll never have an end to the missions, nor the civilians to save. There will always be one more job in which you could risk your life, and the memories of your time spent in Hydra’s labs won’t let you go anytime soon.

For now, though, the shadows under the skyscrapers seem a little less dark than before, and the faces peering out of apartment windows at you aren’t hostile or threatening but friendly. This is your city, the one you save with your boyfriend. How could it ever be anything but good to you?

requested by @thornyrose463, i hope you enjoy!

marvel tag list: @namoreno, @mayfieldss, @rogueanschel, @mycosmicparadise, @ellobruv, @with-inked-solace, @callsign-scully, @sher-lokid7, @eclliipsed, @23victoria, @watchreadfangirlrepeat, @gods-fools-heroes, @w1shes43, @deafsuperhero, @fadedver, @alex-1967s-blog, @crazyhearttragedy

all tags list: @wordsarelife

[creative-caramel-coffee]

hey! could i maybe make a request about reader suffering from anxiety, but she hides it, and for some reason Wanda or Nat snap at her, and she breaks? Basically WandaNat x reader angst with hurt/comfort? Thanks in advance <3

Misunderstanding Mishaps

Pairings: Wandanat x R, Pepper x R (platonic)

Word count: 2.2K

Summary: R struggles while her girls are away which leads to a misunderstanding.

TW: not eating, not sleeping, anxiety, misunderstanding, angst, accused cheating, past trauma (mentioned), crying, vulnerability, depression (kinda?), separation anxiety

A/n I love pepper and I hope I did your request justice :)

Eventually you were past the point of being able to bring it up in conversation. Life had been good. Aside from dealing with it yourself, but that was the way it had always been so it wasn’t that bad. Ho were you suppose to tell your girlfriends of almost two years that your anxieties were eating you alive? You were a hero. Hero’s didn’t have anxiety. Or at least that’s what you had told yourself.

You were afraid of loosing them the same way you lost your family. In an attack from hydra your whole family was killed, the same attack that was the start of five years of hell and the begging of your powers. It had been three years since the avengers rescued you and two years of being with your girlfriends. Wanda and Natasha were perfect. They were your missing puzzle piece. But you were terrified to loose them. The constant fear of yourself, your powers and loosing the people you cared about only ever became unbearable when they left. If they were out of your sight, you couldn’t protect them. You knew they could do well more than hold their own on the battlefield but you couldn’t loose them. It had been almost a week and Wanda and Natasha were on a strict no contact mission. It was eating you from the inside out. Not know if they were ok. Not knowing where they were. Nobody would update you. It was tearing you apart. The first few days you had managed to f drag yourself out of bed. But not anymore. You were curled up in the sheets that were soaked in tears and sweat from when you did manage to sleep but you merely had nightmares about their deaths.

Pepper had been taking time out of her busy schedule to bring you food she had ordered, sitting with you until you had taken your last bite. She knew the truth. She knew of your fears and did her best to help. She was like a mother to you. It was nice. You had attached yourself to her when you first came. She looked like your aunt and she acted like a mother. She had taken to you straight away.

Two small knocks came on the bedroom door and in a small voice you called out.

“Come in.” You said, maybe too softly to hear but the door opened. Pepper stood with a table in one hand and a cooling plate of pancakes in her arms.

“Y/n/n you need to eat something today.” She said coming in an placing them on your lap before tiding up. For someone who didn’t leave their bed much there sure was a mess. She stopped when she saw your teary eyes. Coming to sit on the bed beside you she placed a hand on your cheek using her thumb to wipe the falling tears from your cheek.

“Oh sweetheart.” She cooed looking sad for you. “Come here.” She pulled you into her chest and wrapped her arms around you.

“I know your worried but I made tony hack shield because I know you needed something.” You tensed in her arms. “Wanda and Natasha are in Finland, some top secret hydra base their scoping out. They should be home in a day or two if not sooner.” She rubbed circles on your back as your hands bunched in her shirt and you sobbed into the crook of her shoulder, your body shaking. It had all been too much for you lately you needed your girls.

You were almost fully in pepper lap now as she held you into her chest tightly to ground you. Soon your sobs died down and pepper coaxed you into eating some of the now cold pancakes. Seeing your eyes fluttering she knew you hadn’t slept much the last few nights. Carefully she ran a hand through your hair to get the curls from your face.

“Sweetheart why don’t you get some sleep.” Pepper said going to grab her tablet.

You nodded and snuggled into the sheets. Pepper nodded her approval and began walking to the door.

“Can you stay?” You asked in a small voice. Insecurity lacing the words.

“Of course y/n/n.” She walked back over and you shuffled to the side as she swung her legs onto the bed and you snuggled into her thigh. She was wearing black slacks and a salmon coloured button up blouse which now had drying wet patches thanks to your earlier tears. Her hair was up and she was wearing black heels. “You look nice today pep” you mumbled into her leg and she ran her hand in circles on your back as you fell asleep you heard her chuckle at your comment.

“Get some sleep sweetheart, I wont leave you.” She said softly and used her other hand to start tapping on her tablet as she organised some stark industries business.

You woke up to the sound of voice in the hall. You grumbled and rolled into peppers side more, pressing your face into her leg and smushing your cheeks up. She chuckled and looked to the door which began to open slightly.

Wanda and Natasha peered in. Upon realising their voices were the ones you heard you shot up in bed making pepper chuckle slightly. Your bed head made you look quiet cute.

“Wands! Natty!” You said making grabby hands and using your fist to rub your eyes which had deep circles under them despite your power nap. You frowned when they didn’t come over.

“Natty? Wanda? Is everything ok?” You asked getting up and walking over to them. You went to hug them but back away when they recoiled at your touch. Pepper sat on the bed trying to. Dissapper, her only exit blocked.

“Y/n.” Wanda said with a cold voice.

“Y/n” Natasha echoed “what is this?” She asked her face stone cold as she waved a hand between you and pepper who shrunk deeper into the bed. You did a double take, spluttering slightly at the indication of what they thought you had done. They took it your reaction as shock you had been caught. Natasha was getting angry now at your lack of words.

“What? Nothing to say? We were gone so you think you can just throw yourself at the next girl who walks into the room?” Natasha said harshly. Tears began to prick your eyes.

“Do you always go whoring yourself out when we go on missions?” Wanda yelled.

“I-i-I-“ you stuttered the nervous trait you had been trying to kick for years showing itself as you floundered.

“You know what. Its been a rough couple of days, I need a shower.” Nat said pushing past you. “And frankly I don’t want to see you right now.” She said looking you up and down you felt small in your pjs and bed head. “Coming wands baby?” Nat said using pet names to make you feel worse.

“Of course my love.” Wanda replied shoving past you as well.

Your heart beat once. Twice. Then shattered. You stood staring at where they had been before you shot off down the hall. Running into your old room you slammed the door and ordered Jarvis to lock it. You curled up in the sheets and sobbed loudly into the fabric. You clutched your old stuffed toy to your chest, the familiar item bringing some much needed comfort. It felt like hours you were laid there. All alone, your thoughts running wild.

Meanwhile pepper had broken out of her stupor and was pounding on the bathroom door. She was ignored until after the two girls had showered. As they opened the door pepper jumped back and began to berate them.

“What the hell was that?!” She yelled and Wanda looked at her in shock while nat simply held a cold gaze. “You see us together and assume she cheated.” Pepper yelled. “First off Im with tony and I see her like family. Secondly I would never meddle in your relationship, I cant believe you think I would. But this is not about me.” She began pacing and Wanda and nat sat down on the bed and quietly watched. As Wanda detected no lies in her words she began to fear she had made a huge mistake. Natasha seemed less convinced and crossed her arms.

“Then what was she doing in bed with you?” She said pointedly.

“She was in tears you idiots. She has been having horrible anxiety and hasn’t been eating or sleeping scared she would miss a call saying you needed back up or worse were injured and not coming home. I have been bringing her food and drying her tears while you two didn’t spare a second thought to her state when you left.” Wanda began to feel awful and Natasha also was beginning to feel pepper was telling the truth. “I came in this morning to find she hadn’t slept again last night and I brought her pancakes. She cried into my neck for about an hour before I managed to get her to eat something and take a nap. She has been inconsolable and afraid you two wouldn’t come home to her this time.” Wanda and Natasha were feeling awful and nat ran her hands through her damp hair.

“Then you two come in and break her all over again.”

“Why didn’t she tell us.” Wanda said her voice breaking.

“She thought she needed to be strong. She thinks hero’s cant have anxiety she was afraid you would leave her for less. Don’t you get it? She loves you so much she almost made herself sick waiting like a sick puppy for you to come home.” Pepper said “you better go start apologising now. I saw she was before and I would hate to see her now.”

Wanda nodded and took Nat’s hand walking down the hall to the room and knocking on the door three times.

“Go away pepper.” You sobbed choking on the words.

“Its us.” They said and you stilled. Rubbing your eyes and standing on shaky legs. You opened the door your face masking all emotion despite your red and puffy eyes and tear tracks.

“What do you want” you said shoving everything down.

“Aww baby.” Wanda cooed when she saw your face. She pulled you into a hug and her heart broke when you stiffed. Nat began to run her hands through your hair as Wanda picked you up sitting on the bed with you in her lap.

“My sweet girl we are so so so so sorry baby. And we will spend ever day for the next fifty years doing our best to make up for it.” Wanda said and Nat nodded eagerly.

“But-but- you don’t love me anymore.” You said burning your face in your hands as the tears started again. Wanda cooed and pulled your hands from your face pulling you back the back of your neck into her shoulder and running her hands through your hair.

“Baby we love you so so much.”

“More than you know.” Nat agreed. “And we are so sorry and we hope you can forgive us.”

“And we understand in you need time.” Wanda said begging to peel you off her stopping when you choked out a broken sob.

“Please don’t leave me” you cried. And Wanda stopped pulling you in tightly to calm you down she motion for nat to join. Wanda turned your body so you were laid on her chest body flush to hers. Nat came and sandwiched you wrapping her arms under Wanda with her body on both yours and Wanda’s.

“My sweet girls.” Wanda said. As she brushed the hair from your eyes as you cried into her chest.

“We are never going to leave you alone like that again. And I’m sorry we didn’t notice sooner.” Nat said.

“‘S ok” you slurred slightly.

Wanda shook her head “no baby its not we didn’t even let you explain.” Your body shook slightly and Wanda pulled a blanket over the three of you.

“We’re here now love. You can sleep we wont go anywhere my sweet. You look exhausted. Close those pretty eyes for me.” She said stroking your cheek. You let out a low sleepy hum and your eyes drifted closed all the emotions of the day had exhausted you. You barely registered the door open slightly and pepper came to check on you and Wanda mouthed ‘thank you’ to her. Pepper nodded and used to fingers to point into her eyes then at Wanda and nat in a ‘I’m watching you’ motion with no real malice behind it. It was an honest mistake and she knew it. You jiggled slightly as Wanda’s chest moved with a chuckle the vibrations lulling you deeper into sleep. Carefully pepper shut the door. Comfy and feeling safe you slept in the arms of your girls. And for once the anxiety was nowhere to be found in any of even the darkest corners of your mind. Their love lighting up all the parts that hid the darkness from them.

MASTERLIST

[testingthewatersss]

Bet! sorry if the whole theme is a little on the nose, but it was too perfect for angst to not just roll with it

Withdraw Trigger warnings for implied non con drugs, PTSD, mentions of war, torture, withdrawals etc. Bucky Barnes x F Reader Chapter 1 4900 words Angst, More angst, comfort.  18+ MDNI Bucky has been feeling sick for weeks, by the time he starts to look it Steve's patience has run out and he forces him into the labs. Luckily figuring out the problem is much faster than getting him to acknowledge it. Unluckily, there isn't much anyone can do about it.

“He’s withdrawing”

“From what?” Steve asks, anxiety making his voice sharp

“Everything” Tony says, taking over from Bruce, “HYDRA were pumping him full of just about every drug going— appetite suppressants, sedatives-”

“-pain relief-” Banner adds, looking through the two way glass, “and some other compounds we can’t identify”

“Yet” Tony cuts in, “We’ll crack them pretty soon”

He’s aiming for confident. Steve can tell that he earnestly wants to help, so he offers him a tight lipped smile as he nods.

“He’ll be okay” Bruce says, sounding more certain, “but for right now he’s just going to have to ride it out”

There’s an apology in his tone.

“For how long?”

Tony shrugs, flicking through some notes-

“A while” is what the Stark finally decides, “A couple of days, maybe? It depends on what half of this shit is, and how the serum-”

“Can’t you do anything to make it-”

“Steve” Bruce cautions, “We’re doing everything we can”

The ‘don’t push it’ is implied.

Tony is still unhappy about Barnes even being in the tower, let alone in his lab.

The blonde nods again. He’s about to rattle off a ‘thank you for your help’ when the door to the adjacent room opens.

Bucky is perched on the edge of the examination table. He’s shaking like he’s having a seizure, with hair hanging in sweat dampened pieces in front of his eyes.

His eyes look rabid. His pupils are blown and they’re ringed with deep-set bruises.

Y/N decides to approach him slowly, not even sparing a glance in the direction of the two way mirror that she just knows people are watching them through.

“Hi, sweetheart” she coos, coming to a stop a few feet away from him, “How’re you feeling?”

The man doesn’t reply. He doesn’t even blink.

“Not great?” She guesses, reaching out carefully to press her hand flush against his brow, “Still feel like puking?”

He’s clammy, his skin is damp and cool under her touch—

“Mhmm”

A hum is better than no response at all, so she takes it, letting her arm fall back to her side.

“Y/N, if you can convince him to give us a blood sample we might-”

Bucky flinches as the in wall speakers crackle to life above them. She shoots a harsh look at the mirror and her brothers voice vanishes as quickly as it’d come.

“Was that one test too many?”

It’s only then that his eyes roll up to hers.

God, he looks sick.

“-‘m, um, I'm sorry” he whispers, voice cracking painfully around the word,

She just shakes her head, waiting to see if he’s going to say anything else. For a moment, she thinks that he won’t. That he’s going to settle back into silence, but then, he blinks at her,

“Wh-what’s happenin’ to me?”

The waiver in his voice reminds her just how brave he’s being. It’s clear that he’s suffering, that he’s in pain, and the she knows how much he hates being anywhere as remotely clinical as the lab-room where he’s been waiting in for hours, she thinks that it’s a miracle he’s daring to ask her anything, she thinks, let alone something about himself;

“Well…” she begins, “…From what we can see HYDRA had you hooked on a bit of a cocktail…” she pauses, letting him absorb what she’s saying, “… We’re still trying to figure out the exact amounts, Buck-That book we’ve got gives us some clues, so does how you’re feeling, and the readings we’ve got from the scan”

Bucky sniffs, swallowing bile as it floods his mouth again. Everything is spinning, he screws his eyes shut, until the darkness of his eyelids becomes a blinding white, and he’s so scared by the change that he snaps them back open, reaching out to take hold of her fingers in a last ditch attempt at finding some facet of comfort—

Y/N’s heart melts at the gesture. She curls her hand around his, and lets him settle himself for a beat,

“Some blood would tell us more about what is causing what… it’d make it easier to figure out exactly what everything they gave you was for—”

“C-can” he gulps, “can you make it stop?”

There’s no point in lying to him, she decides, He’s had enough of that already—

“No” she says honestly, “Probably not, sweetheart… It looks like you’re goin’ to have to just let it pass regardless, but if we can figure out the details we might be able to take the edge off”

He’s starring at her. His expression is so hopelessly defeated that she can’t help but step closer towards him;

As she moves in, standing directly between his thighs, he crumbles, he visibly shatters, folding forwards with a terrible shudder- The way her hand lets go of his, moving so that she can wrap her arms around his back is a reflex. She’s rewarded with the feeling of him burying his face in her stomach as his lungs start to strain.

“Cou-could you st-stay here?” he asks, voice muffled by fabric and tremors, “If.. I-f I give the sample w-w-would y-you stay?”

“Sure” Y/N agrees quickly, “I can stay right here, okay? We can have Bruce slip in and grab it, you’ll only have to move your arm”

“Okay” he says bravely, “J-just Bruce, ri-right?”

“Just Bruce” she promises, nodding at the mirror, “We can get Steve too, if you want? I’m sure he’s around-”

“Please” Bucky bursts, “P-please don’t— I- I d-don’t w-want him seein’ me like this”

“Okay” she replies calmly, “No Steve”

The door opens quietly, Y/N looks over and smiles encouragingly at the doctor as he makes his way towards them, already holding everything he needs in gloved hands;

“I bet he’s busy, anyway” She’s says, looking back at the mirror, knowing that the blonde is watching behind, “SHEILD will have him up to his neck in paper work for the next month and half now he’s back in their good books.”

She understands why Bucky might want to hide this whole situation from Steve. They’re both protective over the other, and neither is very good at letting the other one fret no matter how justified it might be—

“Okay Sargent Barnes-” Bruce says, almost in introduction-

“Bucky” he corrects shakily,

“Bucky” the man agrees, ignoring the way that the man is still hiding his face against Y/N’s front, “I’m going to bring your sleeve up now, alright? Just try and keep still, I’ll be as quick as I can”

Y/N strokes Bucky’s back, as he nods in agreement, and then when she sees the tourniquet going on above his elbow, she feels him freeze completely. She can only imagine how difficult this is for him, how many horrible memories it must be triggering. Before the needle slips into his skin, she holds him a fraction tighter, and then, when the blood starts to draw, she presses a kiss against his head.

To his credit, Banner is fast.

The whole thing is done in a matter of seconds.

Still, Barnes is hyperventilating now. His ribs are straining, breathes coming in quick shallow bursts that he can’t make any effort to slow.

Bruce doesn’t notice though, or if he does, he’s too polite to comment- He takes his prize and disappears with nothing more than a curt nod in Y/N’s direction;

“All done, handsome” the woman coos after a moment of quiet, “What do you want to do now, huh?”

That question takes Bucky by surprise. It’s clear from the look on his face when he finally shifts to peer up at her that he’d been expecting her to say maybe anything other than that

“Do you have to go?”

“No” she says fairly, “We can stay here, but you’re only going to keep feeling worse, and it’s more comfortable up in the—”

“I can leave?” he asks, clearly confused, “I.. I th-thought you w-were going to- to leave me here until I-”

“No” she says again, “No, Bucky… Of course you can leave, you can go anywhere you want”

Now he only looks more muddled.

He really had been expecting to be locked inside this horribly bright room so he could ‘ride this out’ without causing any trouble.

The idea of not being left in total isolation in an empty, clinical suite genuinely hadn’t crossed his mind.

Y/N thinks that’s awfully sad.

“…Y-you said ‘we’…” Bucky murmurs next, “D-di-did you mean—”

“I’ve taken the week off work” she tells him softly, “I’m all yours, sweetheart— Someone’s got to keep an eye on ya’, and since you’ve already said ‘no’ to Steve I figured-”

“I l-love y-you” he stammers, feeling horribly unworthy, “I- I-I’m s-sor-”

Y/N cuts his apology short by tilting his head up, so that she can press a gentle kiss against his lips.

“I love you too” she swears, smoothing his hair back affectionately, “Baby, and you’ve done so well with all of this, but now I think we should get you out of here.”

Bucky just nods, barley believing his luck- He’s way too far gone to question it, though, so he doesn’t, he just waits, hoping that Y/N will take the lead,

“If he stops tolerating fluids we can arrange an IV ” Bruce’s voice announces via the speakers, “some of these compounds look similar to ketamine, which means—”

“Hallucinations are likely” Y/N inserts calmly, “Yes, Thank you, Dr Banner— I’ve read the same material as you, and I’m well aware of the implications of non-medicated withdrawal”

That information is clearly new to Bucky, who suddenly looks rabid with fear

“H-halluciations?” he parrots, trying to stop himself from crying, “Y-you mean—”

“Don’t worry” she soothes, “You’re going to be okay, It’s alright…”

It’s not, he thinks frantic, I’m dangerous, I—“Hey” Y/N says, tone a little firmer, “Hey, Bucky, look at me-”

He does. His eyes snap to hers, and the moment they do, she finds herself wishing that he was looking anywhere else.

“I promise” she murmurs, “I promise you’re going to be okay”

“I’m scared” he tells her honestly, “Doll, I— god, I— I’m so scared”

Her heart shatters in her chest.

She can feel the shards of it aching, as she reaches up to cup his cheeks.

After everything he’s been through, after all the terrible, horrible things he’s survived, it seems awfully unfair that there’s still more he has to suffer.

It’s no wonder he’s terrified. He’s clearly hurting, and his body is just starting adjust to the lack of drugs it’s been accustom to for nearly 100 years. It doesn’t help that the only facts she’s been able to give him is that it’s probably going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

“I know” she whispers, “I know you are”

His lower lip is quivering, his are eyes full of tears and suddenly, he doesn’t look manic, anymore, he doesn’t just look tired, or sick, he looks totally, completely, shattered.

“But, I’m not leavin’ you—” he hears her swear, “—I’m going to look after you okay? No matter how bad it gets, I’m going to make sure you’re alright, I promise”

Steve watches his oldest friend clutching Y/N’s hand and half stumbling out of the lab, and feels guilt flooding his chest like poison.

He wants to help. He wants to make it all go away, but he can’t. He knows he can’t, and even though it’s illogical, he can’t help but feel sickened by how helpless he is in the situation.

“You did the right thing, Cap” Bruce says in consolation, “You got him here, you convinced him to let us run the tests-”

“I lied to him” Steve counters, “I told him I was goin’ to the office-”

“and I told Y/N I didn’t mind my kid sister shacking up with the guy who killed our parents” Tony cuts in dryly, raising his hand to silence Steve’s budding defence of the man, “My point, is that sometimes we lie to the people we love, welcome to the twenty-first century.”

He shrugs, looking pointedly back at his notes.

“weren't they together before you found out about that?” Bruce asks, before remembering that they're supposed to be avoiding that topic all together, “not that it matters - he’s right, Steve— He’s okay, we’ve got some good data, hopefully he’ll clean up quickly enough-”

Tony barks out a laugh that he tries to disguise as a cough when he see’s the genuine look of upset that Steve is wearing.

“Sorry” he says, “But that guy’s blood is… it’s something else… he’s got a hell of a come down headin’ his way”

“But he’ll be fine?” Steve asks, terrified again, “Right?”

“Right” Bruce answers instantly, “Right, just-”

“Not for awhile.” Tony finishes,

“Y/N isn't a child” the other man cuts in helpfully, “and, she has more than enough experience handling Barnes-”

“She’s not his handler” The other Stark bristles, “She loves the guy, which is the only reason I’m-”

“I didn’t mean it like that” Bruce says, calm tone working at diffusing Tony’s budding irritation, “but, again, he’s right Steve— She dotes on him, I think we should leave them to it for a couple of days at least— FRIDAY can keep an eye out”

He doesn’t like the idea of staying away, but it’s clear that he doesn’t have a choice. Barnes had said that he didn’t want him interfering, and he can’t say he blames him. Dignity isn’t something he’s had a lot of, over the years. HYDRA clearly hadn’t been very big on it, so robbing him of the little privacy he’s trying to have would be absurdly selfish.

By the time both Bucky and Y/N have made it back to the room they share, the man is drenched in sweat. He’s shaking so much that he’s barely managing to walk, flesh arm draped around his partners shoulder for support.

“Okay, love, I know… It’s okay, we’re here, you’re alright” she soothes, locking the door behind them, “FRIDAY, lets turn the heat up— Keep it high for the next 48 hours.”

The ‘Yes, boss’ that usually follows a command is drowned up the the sound of Bucky’s retching.

It’s loud, and hollow and he’s hunched over at the waist, and then, he’s puking, stomach acid burning up his throat as he screws his eyes shut—

“Alright” Y/N murmurs, adjusting herself around him the best she can, “Alright, it’s okay”

It’s not. He’s not—

He tries to straighten himself out, but the second he tries to move, it feels like he’s being kicked in the ribs. He doubles over, and then, just as the second round of hurling stops, he drops to his knees.

Y/N can’t catch him, he’s way too heavy, but she can wait until he’s still before moving round to his side, and running her hands through his hair, holding it away from his face as he starts throwing up again.

It hurts. He hasn’t eaten in days, which is probably why it feels like knives are being twisted in his stomach as he continues to cough wetly into his own lap.

“You heard what Bruce said about fluids, right?”

He nods as much as he can with the way she’s holding his hair.

If I can’t keep them down, I get an IV.

She suspects the way that he’s processed the sentiment is a little off. She thinks that she should probably remind him that hooking him up to a saline bag won’t be a punishment he earns by not drinking enough, but now doesn’t seem like the time. Not with the way he’s starting to sob-

Hollow, gasping cries are rattling his chest, tears starting to stream down his face, mixing with whatever other bodily fluids are shining by his jaw.

“Okay, Buck...” she soothes, taking a hair tie from her wrist and using that to hold his hair in place, “It’s all going to be alright”

Exhausted, blood shot eyes roll over to her as she slips into his field of vision.

He doesn’t believe her at all.

“Don’t leave me” is all he manages to say, “Please.. I— I d-don’t w-want to die on my own—Please I- I want to die with you.”

And then, just like that, he’s not just sobbing anymore.

He’s weeping. It’s loud, and uncontrollable. He’s shaking and looking at her with a look that she knows will stick behind her eyes forever;

“You’re not going to die” she promises lamely, tugging him into her chest, wrapping her arms around his back not caring for one second about the way that he’s still covered in puke, “But I’m still not leaving you on your own…”

Bucky disagrees with her. He can’t catch his breath, he can’t breathe and that alone might kill him. Let alone the way his entire body feels like it’s being torn apart from the inside out— This, whatever this new, incredible pain is, is worse than anything he remembers having lived through before, and some of that had nearly finished him off—

He gags, into her chest, feeling her hands stroking the burning skin of his back through the material that is clinging to his body, now.

“Oh, sweetheart” she sighs, “Lets get you in the shower”

While we can still move you

She doesn’t say that out loud. She doesn’t have too.

He’s not going to fight, or tell her that he doesn’t want to move— He just keeps crying as she helps him drag himself into their bathroom, and then, into the walk in cubicle, under a stream of warm water he doesn’t remember her starting.

The noise is soothing. So is the feeling of it rushing over him, drenching his hair, washing his face; and then, he sees her.

She’s naked, and perfect and kneeling down in front of him.

He’s still dressed, he realises with a blink that he’s still wearing his t-shirt and sweatpants.

Mechanically, he moves to take his shirt off.

It’s agony. He doesn’t know why, but the second he moves his shoulder it feels like the entire seam of his scar is tearing open. His bones all feel broken. He makes a noise that sounds like a wounded animal, and then, Y/N is moving for him; she’s guiding the fabric up and over his chest, and she’s stroking his cheek as he whimpers and whines and finally kicks his legs free from his pants.

He feels like he’s just run a marathon, like he doesn’t have an ounce of energy left. So he just lets himself fall back against the towels, crying, and shivering under the spray of water.

Y/N cleans him slowly, taking her time lathering him up in sweet smelling soap. She doesn’t touch is scar, though. It’s red, and angry, and it looks awfully painful.

HYDRA had a morphine substitute going almost round the clock when he was off ice, she recalls, that’s probably why.

“Can I touch your shoulder, love?” she asks calmly, “You can say no”

The reminder that he’s free to refuse is very much needed. The terror driven ‘yes ma’am’ he’s about to blurt out dies in his throat, and he just simpers for a moment before flexing metal fingers and whispering out a “Please don’t” that Y/N thinks might be the bravest thing she’s heard him say.

“Okay” she agrees with a smile, “Okay, Buck— I know it hurts”

“E-ev-everything hurts”

She nods, stroking his cheek with her thumb.

“I know” she says, “I know it does, I’m sorry”

“W-whats happening’ to me”

“You’re withdrawing” she repeats, knowing that he already knows “All those drugs HYDRA had you hooked on, baby, all of it’s gone— there was a pump in your arm, it kept it all on automatic but there isn’t anyone left to put in a re-fill, remember? so now you’re detoxing, it’s all leaving’ your system”

That all sounds like something he’s been told before. He remembers fragments of conversations, of talks with her, and her brother, and Bruce; about his arm, and about the components inside and how they were using them to medicate him— He remembers them deciding not to take it out, to let it run it’s course, not wanting to just cut him off cold turkey—

“I, I can’t do this” he whispers, “I- I need I— p-please j-just just-”

“We can’t” Y/N says sadly, “Bucky we tried, remember? There isn’t anything we can do, the units been deactivated and we can’t just throw another one in, it doesn’t work that way.”

He’s so hopelessly, crushingly defeated that all he can do is keep crying.

The feeling of his lovers fingers drifting across his face is the only facet of comfort he has, so when they stop, it’s more than he can bare.

His flesh hand shoots up to hers, so that he can press it back against his jaw with a look so desperate that she can feel her own chest aching;

“You’re going to be alright” she promises again, “We’ve run all the tests, love… It’s going to be a rough couple of days but after, when it’s all run it’s course you’ll feel better than you did before”

He doesn’t believe there’s going to be an after. He’s honestly certain that he’s going to die in agony before anything can ‘run it’s course’ -

“I know you’re scared, I know it’s all too much” she murmurs, leaning in to kiss his brow, “But, you’ve done it before… so many times, love… and this time, I’m going to be here, you’re not going to be on your own”

A line forms between his eyes, he doesn’t remember, he—

Oh, oh god.

He remembers hell. He remembers flashes of something he’d hoped had been nightmare— stone walls, and clawing at his skin until it tears open underneath his fingers, and, and the sound of screams, of his own screams until his voice gives in, and, no, not it’s all way too much—

He’s throwing up again, even though nothing is coming up. He’s gagging and spluttering and his heart is racing.

Y/N realises what must’ve triggered this reaction, and shakes her head the second he can see—

“Don’t think about that” she whispers, “there’s a reason you don’t remember it all, okay? It’s not your fault and it’s not important— What is important, is that you hear me, okay? I’ve got you, and this, this is all going to be okay”

The nod he gives her is barely a twitch, but she catches it all the same, and then, a few minutes later when she turns the water off, and feels flesh fingers reaching out for her hand, she catches that too.

She is the only thing he cares about right now. His entire world is searing, blazing pain, but she, she is soft, and kind and he loves her, and he trusts her and even though he’s still half convinced that this is really going to kill him, if he gets to die holding her hand then maybe the pain won’t seem so bad.

Bucky doesn’t remember her helping him put boxers on, or how he got into their bed.

He remembers the way his crying had gotten more hysterical when she’d let go of his fingers so that she could put a towel on the floor beside him, and he remembers the way that when she’d gotten under the covers he’d rolled over, ignoring the way that his whole body had felt like it’d torn apart at the action, so that he could bury his face in the crook of her neck— so that he could sob into her skin and cling onto her body in an attempt to keep her close.

“My sweet, sweet boy” Y/N purrs, taking the hint and tugging him into her front, “If you want anything… anything at all, you just tell me, alright?”

“Y-you” he gulps, “I- I want y-you— I- I need you, I— I’m s-so scared— I- I j-just want you here”

“I’m here” she whispers, trying to calm him down, “I’m right here”

He forces a nod. This time, the action is more notable, so is the way his hands tighten around her waist, locking himself in position so firmly that nothing, nobody, would stand a chance at prising him away.

“Hush now” she says, stroking his hair, “You just keep breathing for me, okay? that’s your only job right now… you just need to breathe, and rest”

Breathe, and rest.

“I-I’ll t-try I— I swear”

His promise is hissed out through gritted teeth, but Y/N still smiles when she hears it. She smiles, and kisses the top of his head, feeling his sobs becoming quieter and quieter until eventually, they fade off into the kind of quiet, uneven gasps that usually means he’s asleep.

Thank god, she thinks, praying he’ll stay that way for awhile.

1 | 2 | 3a

[hotreadingwitch]

MADE TO LIE - the drive

BUCKY 

Bucky woke up early that morning, his unnatural body bouncing back easily despite the amount of alcohol he’d consumed mere hours ago. Looking at the ticking hands of his old-fashioned clock with a huff, he got up and put on his running gear before heading outside. When he was stressed like this, when that ball of feeling inside him threatened to boil over and ruin the entire life he’d built from the ground up since he’d reconnected with Steve, running was the only thing that helped. The secluded property Tony owned was free for their use at all times and it was on days like this where he was particularly grateful that he could complete five laps around the acres and acres of surrounding forest. 

Stopping in the middle of the woods, his heart beating hard, though not from running, Bucky pulled out his phone. 

“I’m scared Doc” Bucky’s quiet admission filled the silence when Dr.Pashia picked up. 

“Scared of what exactly Bucky?” She questioned, her calm voice soothing his racing heart, despite the fact that he was calling her unprompted at 5 o’clock in the morning. 

“You know” he gulped. 

“I do” she answers sagely, “But I’d like to hear you say it. I think it would be more helpful for you that way, don’t you think?” 

“I’m scared of what I’m feeling, of the thoughts I’m having…” his voice was thick. 

“Yes, and what else?” 

“Y/n is so special and I’m scared the closer I get to her the more potential I have to hurt her. We started this mission on the wrong foot and I’ve already harmed her just by trying to keep my distance. I keep fucking up and I’m scared it’s only going to get worse the closer we get” he gulped before confessing, “…You know how long I’ve liked her” 

Dr.Pashia was silent, prompting him to continue. 

“I’m worried that it—that everything I’ve been through has taken all the good out of me. And she deserves someone better than me, I know it” 

“I believe that’s Y/n’s choice to make”

He swiped his hand over his mouth in frustration. 

“I—I’ve got to go—” Bucky strained before moving to end the call. 

“Bucky?” Her voice crackled through the line with a small sigh, “I know this all feels like too much for you to handle but before you go, I want to remind you of who you are and who you’ve been, and no, I don’t mean the Winter Soldier. Remember you’re a good man, a good soldier, a good brother, a good son, a good teammate, and a good friend. Please don’t forget that you are good and deserve to be happy despite what you might think and no matter what you’ve done.”

“Thanks, Doc, as always” 

“You’re welcome Bucky” 

Taking a deep, shaky breath he shut down the call before taking the long walk back to the compound. 

Y/N 

Y/n’s alarm went off and she was quickly awakened from her groggy slumber. She slapped her hand over her phone to turn off its incessant buzzing. Past the large windows, Y/n could see the grassy terrain just outside of the compound as well as the large forest and small lake beyond. She sat up, stretching her body before getting out of bed to get herself ready for the day ahead.

When she finally stood, she felt as if her head was going to explode, her vision going slightly blurry around the edges. She knew she and Bucky would be driving down to the city today and yet she’d drank as much as she did last night anyway, without a care in the world. The truth was it was all the caring that had made her drink that much in the first place…and now she was suffering the consequences. 

“Fuck” she grumbled to herself before slipping into a cozy outfit. 

~

“Morning” Y/n announced as she walked into the gray modern kitchen of the compound, wincing as her cheery tone rang loudly in her ears. 

“Ugh” Wanda groaned back as she saw her friend enter the room, “Not so loud, please” 

“How many times have I told you both to pace yourselves? To not drink so much?” Natasha chided with an eye roll. 

“It’s not our fault that you’re somehow biologically immune to vodka” 

“It’s more of a talent than a genetic thing really” she quipped back before wiggling her eyebrows at Y/n, “Excited for today? 

“Not exactly…” Y/n paused over her bowl of cereal. 

“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?” Wanda pressed, her head tilting, “Don’t you want to get to know your new partner in crime?”

“Well, I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that” Y/n replied pensively. She had been so focused, first, on her anger at Bucky for being so rude and then on the new budding feeling inside her. She hadn’t even considered today could be an opportunity to learn more about the mysterious James Buchanan Barnes, “By the way, I haven’t had the chance to tell you both, last night—” 

A low, gruff voice from behind them interrupted their conversation, “Ready to go Y/n?”

Y/n turned her head to see the Bucky’s tall form lurking in the doorway to the kitchen. 

“You bet” she replied, trying to keep the atmosphere light between them despite the palpable tension. Y/n got up and headed towards the door, turning to her girlfriends and shooting them a nervous look before following him out towards the compound’s garage. Grimacing slightly at him, she added quietly, “As ready as I’ll ever be”

The garage was a very large white room with a slate gray floor and, of course, a gigantic Avengers logo mounted to the wall. Y/n rarely went in there except to get the jets for missions. She and Bucky walked past the rows of Avengers planes until they came to a door tucked away in the front corner that Y/n had somehow never noticed. It was the exact same colour as the wall and blended in seamlessly. Bucky unlocked it with a small silver key revealing a room full of vintage cars. 

“Wow” Y/n exclaimed at what she assumed was Tony’s collection, running her finger along the shiny side of a red convertible, “These are amazing”

“Well, this one is ours for the time being” Bucky gestured to a slick black car with silver accents. He caressed the car with an almost childlike wonder, taking in every detail of its exterior. Y/n had never seen him excited like this before, he was usually so closed off. 

“It’s a 1966 Ford Thunderbird”

“You like cars?” she assessed, smiling at him before slipping into the plush leather passenger seat. 

Bucky nodded, sliding in as well. As they backed out of the garage he gripped the wheel with his vibranium hand, the flesh one rested on the back of Y/n’s headrest. Y/n couldn’t help but inhale his scent as he leaned into her while he backed up. He smelt good and masculine like wood, smoke, and gunmetal all mixed together. 

As they drove away from the compound Y/n immediately became immersed in the scenery around them. The trees seemed to sway, beautiful with their various warm shades of red, orange, and yellow. Bucky stared at Y/n as she looked out the window, her knees tucked up to her chest. Her head then turned and she was startled to see Bucky’s blue-gray gaze fixated on her even as he drove. 

~1 hour later~

“We should listen to something” Y/n chirped. Bucky rolled her eyes but she ignored his grumpy response, quickly connecting her phone to the speaker, “Hmm let’s see. Well, what kind of music do you like?”

“I like 40s music so…” he replied.

“Any other decades?” Y/n laughed. 

Bucky gave her a stony look but remained silent. 

“60s? 70s? 80s?” She questioned but he continued to fight back with his silence. 

“Fine let’s go with the classics…” she thought aloud, “What about the Beatles?” 

“No” 

“Fleetwood Mac?”

“No” 

“Led Zeppelin?” 

“Maybe” 

“What about Marvin Gaye? Everybody loves Marvin Gaye” 

“I like Marvin Gaye” Bucky replied, earnestly. 

“Steve adores Marvin Gaye” she giggled, pushing him a bit further, grumbling, “You clearly don’t…”

His superhuman hearing picked up on her bait. 

“I like Marvin Gaye” he growled, practically pulling out the steering wheel with his tight grip. 

Though Bucky angry with his fists clenched should have scared Y/n it ended up doing the exact opposite. She broke out into a fit of laughter and couldn’t stop herself even when she saw Bucky’s eyebrows raise at her as if to say, what the hell. In a minute, however, his features softened. Somehow, even though she was technically making fun of him, the gentle laughter of the woman beside him made him smile, even if just a little. 

“Do you even know this song?” She quipped, continuing to playfully jab at him as she queued a track. 

Hey, hey, hey…Hey, what’s happening? Brother, what’s up? 

The intro to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On rumbled through the car’s updated system that Tony had no doubt paid too much money to install. The sweet croon of the saxophone, followed by the artist’s mellow voice, acted like a balm to Y/n’s soul. Relaxing further into her cushiony, leather seat, she softly sang the first few lines. 

Mother, mother there’s too many of you crying. Brother, brother, brother there’s far too many of you dying. 

“So, do you?” She poked again, a small smile drifting onto her face, “You’ve got to know this one at least” 

“I know it”

“Thank goodness” she blew out an overly-dramatic breath in faux-relief, turning in her seat to smile at him. 

“You do know I was technically alive in the 70s don’t you?” Bucky chuckled with a knowing smirk.

“How old are you even? Exactly, I mean…” 

“I’m 98” he stated easily, “I’ll be 99 next March” 

“When’s your birthday?” 

“God” he groaned, “Please tell me you aren’t asking ‘cause you want to know my sign. Wanda cornered me when we first met to ask, I couldn’t get away from her for two whole hours. She did my entire birth chart” 

He said the last words with semi-disgust causing Y/n to chortle. 

“So you’re not going to tell me then” she sighed before guessing, “Well let’s think, you’ve already said you’re born in March so you’re either a Pisces or an Aries. Guessing by how emotionally unavailable you seem I’m going to go ahead and say Pisces” 

“Hey! That shit is scary…” he barely repressed a shiver, “I don’t get how you can know these kinds of things about people, from what, the stars?” 

“I like to think it’s fate, the way that we end up that is” 

“You believe in fate?” He scoffed. 

She gazed at him, affronted, “Yeah I do, you don’t?” 

“I learned a long time ago not to believe in things like that” 

A beat of silence passed between them. 

“Well start believing, old man” 

Bucky scoffed again before a smile slowly spread across his face, like he was trying to suppress it but was failing miserably. It took Y/n all her strength to tear her gaze away from the bright expression that had appeared in place of Bucky’s typical stormy, hard-edged gaze. Only when she finally found herself able to do so did she realize that Bucky was parking their car in the mostly empty parking lot of a building just off the side of the highway they’d been on for the last hour. The orange-neon sign stated that they were at “Milton’s Drive-In Diner”

As Y/n stepped into the diner, the jiggle of the bell attached to the door made her jump. It was so quiet otherwise, seemingly no one in the space other than a small older man tucked away toward the back counter and a pair of girlfriends who Y/n assumed might be going camping due to their large packs. Bucky placed a comforting hand on the small of her back, the act easing the tension between her shoulders that she hadn’t even realized was there. She relaxed even more when the smell of pies, pastries, and shitty coffee suddenly filled her nostrils. 

“Not quite a Parisian café but it’ll do” Bucky smirked toward her. 

“No, not quite” she joked back before admitting, “I might just like it better”

Bucky made no comment, though he didn’t need to, the rise of his eyebrow was enough. 

“Hello, hello” a cheery older woman, maybe in her mid-60s, with a Southern drawl called out from the kitchen, “Sit wherever y’all like” 

Bucky shuffled them over to a table in the corner opposite the one the older man seemed to be now passed out in. Y/n sat down at the booth, her hands rubbing curiously across the cracked vinyl of the seat below her.

“Y/n” Bucky said then, something about the soft way he said her name drawing her attention back to him. 

Sometimes she forgot just how handsome he truly was. 

“Yes?”

“Before we get to the city, I think we should talk more about the mission…We haven’t really discussed any of it since Tony assigned it to us” 

“Very good Barnes, I’m sure he would give you a gold star if he was here” she chuckled to herself. 

“I’m serious” he gritted out, “And it’s Bucky” 

Her mind flashed to the night of the party, nodding silently before sighing, a bitterness coating her tongue as she spoke, “Well Bucky, I know this mission goes against everything I believe in and yet because of you and Tony I’m doing it anyways. I also know that, for some unknown reason, you’re just somehow fine with everything. Care to explain?” 

He shook his head in disbelief, ice seeping into his sharp gaze.

“You’re not going to tell me why you’re okay with this are you?” 

“No,” he said through gritted teeth. 

“No?” she huffed, eyes narrowing, “Okay right, real good talk partner. Next time you want to have a real conversation Barnes remember that it takes two to tango” 

“You think I don’t know that” he spat back, lowering his voice to a deadly rumble, “Listen Y/n, there are reasons behind my choices that you’ll never know or understand okay? That doesn’t mean you get to say I’m not trying cause I am, believe me, this is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in years. I’m trying to do the right thing for once in my fucking life, to start fresh, to do anything other than what I’ve done in my past. So please believe me when I say that I am trying, I’m trying to be better for you…” 

The confession sat on the linoleum table between them. 

“Don’t you think we should’ve had this conversation before we even had sex?” Y/n whispered quietly, hating how vulnerable she sounded, surprised at the bundle of emotions that were suddenly spilling out, “We got assigned the mission and you hurt me by being cruel, we filmed the tape and you hurt me by acting like it was nothing, we watched the news spread like wildfire and you hurt me by forcing me to deal with the aftermath alone…All you’ve done is hurt me Bucky and it just sucks, you’re supposed to be my partner in this. I want you to be with me in this.” 

“I’m—” he started, peering down at her with clear regret, only to be interrupted by the old Southern belle from earlier, who was ready to take their order. 

“What can I get y’all? You driving down to the city? Bet you’re staying somewhere nice downtown from the looks of yous” 

“Two Club Sandwiches, a Coke for me and a chocolate milkshake for her” Bucky ordered off, purposefully ignoring the other question about their plans. 

When she left them again, Y/n grumbled, “So now you’re ordering for me” 

“Did I not get you what you wanted?” he asked, cocking a brow, the tension between them slowly dissipating. 

“You did, congratulations you’re an observant creep”

Bucky laughed at that which only pissed Y/n off because that low chuckle of his and that bright smile which was as infrequent as the Sun on a cloudy December day, made her shamelessly grin. 

When their food arrived after a few minutes they ate in companionable silence. Despite their talk, it wasn’t awkward, it was the kind of silence that they both knew came after the storm. And for two people who rarely shared their deepest fears to anyone, let alone someone who could use it against them, that moment of honesty was pouring rain indeed. 

“Just the bill now, thanks doll,” Bucky said when they were finally wrapping up at the diner, his eyes widening as he realized he had just accidentally flirted with the older waitress, calling her by the old-fashioned nickname. 

With a huff, he wrung his hands before opening his mouth to apologize. 

“No need to apologize sweet thing…” she interrupted him with a bright laugh, her peachy skin crinkling with the movement, “Haven’t had much attention since my husband George died just around three years ago now, you’ve done made my day” 

“Oh” he smiled awkwardly, “Well I’m glad to hear—” 

“Paula!” she interrupted again, tilting her head back to call her colleague, “Paula you won’t believe it, this young man here is flirting with me” 

Bucky hung his head and Y/n barely surpassed a snort as she mouthed ‘young man,’ prompting him to glare exasperated daggers at her. Another waitress, who Y/n figured must be Paula, craned her neck out from behind the floppy doors that led to the kitchen. 

“Is that so Daph?” She looked over before throwing a sultry wink at Bucky. 

“Oh Lord” he huffed quietly so that only Y/n could hear. 

When they got back to the car, Bucky caught her hand as it reached for the music dial. 

“Listen Y/n about what you said—” 

“Don’t bother” she responded, “It’s okay, I’m just being overly emotional…” 

It was okay to her in that moment, she didn’t even think she really needed to hear him say it. Just from the sorrow in his blue eyes, she knew he was sorry. 

“But I’m going to anyways…” he continued, “I’m sorry for how I treated you, how my actions made you feel. I never should’ve been so cold. Just because it’s how I operate when I’m nervous doesn’t mean you deserve to be on the other side suffering. I’m truly sorry Y/n and I hope you can forgive me eventually.”

“I do” she whispered before clearing her throat a speaking with more confidence, “Forgive you I mean, I do” 

He nodded roughly before cranking the key in the ignition and pulling out of the Milton’s Drive-In Diner parking lot. 

~

“We’re here,” Bucky said. 

Y/n glanced up at the tall building, admiring the carved white stone walls, the stained glass entrance and the fancy red carpet leading up to the doors. Bucky gave the car over to the valet before sweeping Y/n through the heavy doors and into the ornate lobby. They checked in quickly and then headed upstairs to their suite. 

The room was fancy, to say the least, French in style, and huge. There was a general living space just past the foyer the main set of doors opened to, multiple bathrooms, a study, and even a wide terrace that spanned the entire length of the suite. 

“Alright let’s get ready then” Y/n stated, the plush carpet beneath her feet muffling her steps as she searched, “Where are the bedrooms?”

She moved through the large main room and towards what appeared to be the only remaining door in the suite on the right-hand side. Her mouth parted slightly as she opened the double doors revealing one giant king-sized bed. 

“I’m gonna kill Stark” she growled through gritted teeth. 

“What is it?” Bucky questioned, coming up behind her so that his front was an inch from her back, “Oh”

The proximity sent a shiver up Y/n’s spine. She quickly shook off the memories of Bucky’s soft lips on her skin. 

“Well, anyway” she sighed distractedly before gesturing to the bedroom, “I’ll get ready in here, are you okay to use a bathroom?” 

He huffed before grabbing the bundle of his clothes for the night, “Sure”

Y/n closed the doors to the bedroom and unzipped the garment bag that contained her clothes for the date which she had let Wanda and Natasha pick out for her. Her fingers quickly caressed a dress made of silky red fabric, admiring its quality. She then gasped as she saw what was hanging in the bag underneath it. Instead of a regular bra and panties, the girls had selected a lacy black set of mostly sheer lingerie to go under her dress. “Oh for fuck’s sake” she breathed. 

“Almost ready?” called Bucky’s voice from the other side of the door.

Y/n quickly put the set on and slipped the dress on before realizing it needed to be done up at the back. “Yep!” She responded, “But can you zip me up?” 

Bucky’s lips parted slightly as Y/n opened the door. Her silky red dress hugged her curves in all the right places and they were only enhanced by the tall black heels that she was wearing. Y/n turned, exposing the super soldier to her mostly bare backside. Bucky’s eyes flitted from the exposed small of her back to her lacy black lingerie before focusing on the zipper. 

“Done” he asserted gruffly as Y/n heard the crisp sound of metal fastening. 

Despite Bucky’s past attitude towards her, Y/n couldn’t help her breath from hitching when his hands lingered a little too long on the small of her back.

“Let’s go,” she said, turning to face him. For a second they remained close, both of them breathing in the other before Bucky walked towards the foyer. 

“Right” he replied gruffly, before looking at her and smirking, “We’ve got a date to go on” 

A/N - if any of you were interested in where I got Bucky’s scent from, it was based on Tom Ford’s cologne called OudWood. 

Requested Tag List: cjand10 identity2212 bucky-jbb-sunshine unaxv hnnhbananananana

[wandabear]

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY [CH 5] - WANDA MAXIMOFF X F!READER

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Summary:   Y/N proposes to Wanda and she says… no. That’s when things get complicated, too much.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x f!reader | Natasha Romanoff x oc ㅤㅤㅤ   

CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO  CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX - finale

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Warning:  Somewhat graphic MCU violence, death, ANGST and FLUFF. Mentions about abuse. As you know me: Jules is portrayed by Adelaide Kane. This mcu style is my own, Natasha Romanoff will not die here. She deserves to be happy.

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Songs for you: Ivy Willow

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤCHAPTER FIVE

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“Thank you, auntie Y/N.” Morgan Stark said with the most adorable smile as she walked hand in hand with y/n.

Y/N took care of the kid that day and together they toured the Compound while Tony finished signing some papers and chatted with Steve, trying to keep things at peace.

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After eating together one of the most delicious cheeseburgers and fries -Morgan's favorites-, she walked with her to the entrance where Tony and Steve were waiting for them.

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“Aw. You're welcome, sweetie.” The inhuman smiled and leaned in to receive little Morgan's hug. “Thank you for keeping me company today. I couldn't have done it without you.”

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“I love you, auntie Y/N. See you later!” Morgan smiled and ran over to her dad, who helped the kid get into the car and fasten the seatbelt. Steve stepped forward to go inside the compound, it was going to rain soon.

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Y/N smiled at Tony. “That girl is getting bigger and smarter, Tony. She's soon going to take our jobs.”

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“What can I say? I was part of the creation of this masterpiece.” Stark joked and both laughed.

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Here they were, years later, Tony became one of the few people left in her life. All the grudges of the past had been left behind.

Y/N kept hands in the pockets of her coat, watching the trees moving slowly.  This time it wasn't Y/N who summoned the storm.

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“You okay?” Tony took off his glasses, he seemed quite worried.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ “Yeah.”  Y/N sighed and shrugged. “Just tired, there are too many problems on this planet and universe to deal with.”

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“Well, that is now YOUR problem, but… You should eat better, kid, I see you a little pale.” Tony patted her shoulder and smiled, but still looked a bit worried.  “I'll tell Pepper and she's going to scold you. She will send you a cook to follow you everywhere, reminding you to eat.”

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Y/N giggled tiredly and nodded slowly. “Take care, Tony. Take care of them, you deserve it.”

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“If you need something…” He tried.

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“I'll work it out with Steve, Yelena or Bruce. You rest.”

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All these years Y/N had been practicing her powers with Jules, Bruce also helped her to understand herself a bit more. Over time she learned to control it almost perfectly.

Y/N possessed the ability of atmokinesis, one of the most powerful abilities in existence, where one can control and manipulate the various forms and aspects of the weather itself.

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Thor used to say that he was happy with the news, now he could share something so beautiful with a warrior like her. Summoning the most powerful lightning they have ever seen.

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Jules possessed the ability of nature manipulation, another of the most important powers. Although she mostly had developed much more control over plants and some living beings. According to her, they used to whisper to her. Y/N smiled when she remembered that moment, in that same place a few years ago. She used to tease Jules saying she was crazy, because the brunette once said that a sparrow insulted her.

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“Y/N… I swear, that bird called me a ‘shameless slut’ and he then flew away!” 

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“Yeah, sure, I will definitely never believe that.”

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Together, they were invincible. They could make total chaos as well as something very beautiful for this planet. Y/N's idea was to protect this world that was left, while Jules... well, remained a prisoner of her suffering.

Y/N went back into the Compound, stopping to look at that mural in front of her, mural recognizing those who had fallen.

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NATASHA ROMANOFF WANDA MAXIMOFF JAMES BUCHANAN ‘BUCKY’ BARNES CLINT BARTONSAMUEL WILSON

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Y/N stood still looking at the names, thinking about everything that happened all this time. She covered her face with her hands, the stress that Y/N felt lately was overwhelming.

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“So, Stark stopped by to say hi?”  Yelena walked over, this time she wasn't wearing her Black Widow outfit. She always knew how to dress in style, maybe she was coming back from visiting Kate who lived in New York now.

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“He came to tell us that Avengers Tower was going to be sold.” Y/N smiled sadly. “And that if we needed something, we could always count on him. He’s going to retire to take care of Morgan and Pepper.”

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The blonde nodded. Those names made Y/N shed a tear that quickly dried up.

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“I miss her so much, you know?” Y/N swallowed hard and closed her eyes, trying to stay strong but it was so hard lately. Especially when the memories grew heavier in her heart. “She’s the love of my life, how come I'm still doing all this? Why am I still alive?”

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Y/N couldn't help but wept, feeling Yelena's arms surround her.

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“There are days where I don't know how to go on without Wanda.” The agent sobbed in anguish, she always tried to be positive and strong but she no longer knew how to keep going. Especially with some of the remaining Avengers spread across the world. “I- I just… I make myself some tea and I just start crying, and I cry until the tea gets cold, a-and then I have to make another one.”

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Yelena pursed her lips trying not to cry, but tears welled up in those green eyes. Both tried to be strong for each other.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ "Sometimes… I repeat to myself over and over again: what was the scent... what did her hair smell like? Because I remember it was raspberries but what if I forget? What if... I can't remember anymore?" Y/N smiled sadly. “I feel like I'm missing three pieces of my heart, and the only one that holds everything is you.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I know, Y/N/N. I miss Natasha too.” The russian cooed, hugging her tightly. “It hurts me so much… Sometimes I talk to her, whistle to her... but she doesn't answer. I’ve loved her so much.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Now she was the one who broke down crying.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m sorry.” Y/N looked down to see how Yelena hid her face in that hug, and just kissed her forehead, both consoling each other in a big hug at that moment.

Yelena wasn’t the kind of person who shows her feelings easily. No. Fuck, she used to just growl and roll her eyes at her but all this time... all this pain, she could only show it with Y/N.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Do you think they're okay? Wherever they are.” Yelena sniffled.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I dunno, blondie.” Y/N sighed. “But I hope so.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

That beautiful moment lasted for a while until Steve quickly led, with a rather worried and confused face.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N, Yelena… You two need to see who's at the compound gate now.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

And when they heard the whole story that Scott Lang had to tell them, they were even more confused and perhaps… deep down, hopeful.

The noise of breaking glass and shots was all that could be heard, besides desperate screams of the members of that gang.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“It’s her! She’s after Javier!” One of the gang members yelled in Spanish and fired his machine gun into a dark corner of the street. A few seconds later, that same man was thrown into the air and hit the wall with such force that he died on impact.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The female figure of a black-haired woman stepped out of the darkness, a proud smile and brown eyes filled with a desire for revenge.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Todos van a morir, pero ahora solo quiero a Javier. Entréguenmelo y podrán irse. [You all going to die, but right now I only want Javier. Give it to me, and you can go.]” The brunette ordered willing to let go, for now. ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

None seemed to obey, in fact some of them laughed and looked at each other.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Good, your choice.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

That woman raised her hands and killed several of those criminals, using vines to catch them, she took one and attracted one using him as a shield.

Jules smiled coquettishly then blew some spores into the man's face, like a poisonous kiss. The man's horrified look changed to a more relaxed one, the irises of his eyes turning green. “You want to protect me, and now… You’re going to kill all of your friends, then yourself.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Exactly as she said, the man fired at his own people and then shot himself. Jules sighed and walked to the second floor of that building, where another group of thugs fired at her. One by one, she took it upon herself to clear the path.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What do you want?! I didn’t do anything to you!” The leader of the gang asked, walking backwards. There was nothing left but to give up.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You’ve survived.” Jules said as she slowly walked towards him. “Half of the planet didn’t.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Even though it was her, that was no longer the same Julia from before. Those five years changed a lot in her mind and her heart.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“They got Thanos… you get me.” Jules cocked her head, biting her lower lip playfully.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Javier knelt down ready to beg for his life, even if his pride said otherwise.  “I'll give you what you want, but please, don't kill me.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What I want? You can't give it to me.” Jules whispered venomously. Step by step, it was a death sentence. The vines and the ivy were moved like snakes, searching for their prey.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Por favor, güerita no me mates… Please, please don't kill me.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She just raised her hand and one of the vines wrapped around Javier's neck, lifting him into the air. He began to move her legs, desperate.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Julia, stop.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Her best friend's voice made Jules turn to look at the door, perhaps with all the noise of shots and screams she hadn't heard the sound of the storm approaching.

Y/N slowly entered that warehouse.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Oh, hey sis. Long time no see.”  Jules smiled casually, but didn't let the guy get away.  “Did you finally come to join the party?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I came to save you.” Y/N swallowed, noticing how the vines moved around her as if they had a life of their own, even if Jules controlled them. “Let him go.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No.” her response was blunt, it even made the vine tighten his neck more. “You... tell her... tell her what you've done.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

 “Please, don’t do this. You’re… not a killer.” Javier could barely say.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Oh, look around you, I already am.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Jules, stop.” Y/N begged.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Tell my friend what you did and I'll let you live.” Jules jaw clenched, making the vines tighten around the man's neck. He found it difficult to speak, he barely gasped like a fish out of water.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What are you saying? I can’t hear you-” She said with an adorable smile but ended up shouting: “SPEAK LOUDER!”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Julia, THAT'S ENOUGH!” Y/N took a step forward but Jules raised her hand, stopping her with the vines. Jules looked at her seriously, forcing Y/N to stay still and then turned to see the man again.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You took that little one, didn't you? A little girl in Morelos. You did these despicable things to her.”  She hissed angrily, her gaze locked with the man's, who was struggling to breathe. “A child, and not just one...”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The man just closed his eyes and after a moment, nodded desperately hoping that she would let him go.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“See, Y/N? This happens when you’re soft like we used to be. When justice forgets what it really means.” Jules felt a huge pain inside her, her hands trembled but she was determined to go for it.   “No matter how much you fight to be better and let go your past, to redeem yourself…”  She thought of Natasha. “…You will die snapped and a rapist son of a bitch will be left alive on this planet.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N nodded, trying to reason with her. “You're right, he deserves to face justice.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Justice?!” Jules laughed wryly.  “There’s no justice! Especially when the jury released him because he didn't penetrate one of his victims with his penis… Oh no! He did it with his fingers and tongue, and that to them meant: letting him go!” The brunette screamed, the vines squeezed him enough for him to start turning purple.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Justice. That's what that girl didn't have.” Jules took a shaky breath, those brown eyes no longer showed that warmth, patience and tenderness as before.  “But I'll give it to her. To all of them.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Without waiting any longer, Jules moved her hand and the vines broke the nasty guy's neck, letting the lifeless body fall to the ground.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“One less, many to go.” Jules sighed looking at that man's body and then turned around willing to leave that place ignoring her friend.  “You shouldn't be here.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Neither should you.” Y/N followed her.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I've got a job to do, you're making it more difficult.” Jules heard the police sirens in the distance, so she decided to go back and take the back exit of that warehouse.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Is that what you're calling this?” Y/N walked after her, leaving through the back door of the warehouse. Jules took it upon herself to remove some of the surveillance cameras with ivy before they could capture her. “Killing all these people isn't gonna bring Natasha back.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N tried to take her arm.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“They are not people! They are infections corroding this Earth.”  Jules turned, breaking free of her grasp.  “The little that remains of this world at least.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You are not the one to decide that.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Neither are you.” Jules snapped.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Natasha wouldn't want this.” Sadness was reflected in Y/N's eyes, who saw her friend as a poor shadow of what she used to be.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“She's not here to decide, is she?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“But she could… if you come with me.” Y/N she released the best bait that she could to catch the biggest fish in the river. Hoping that was enough to get the brunette's attention.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

And she did it. Jules turned to look at her, this time in a very different way. This time, a small light of hope was born in those brown eyes or maybe it was the anger she felt if Y/N played with it.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Don’t do that. Don't play with it.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“We found something.” Y/N sighed as she moved closer to her. “A chance, maybe.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“That’s impossible.” Jules narrowed her eyes, not understanding.  “You just want to trick me to go back.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No! I swear… There’s a possibility. Just one. But you have to make a decision now, because the police are coming and the quinjet is three fucking blocks away.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Now the concern was reflected in Jules face, there was no way to achieve what she said.  “You can't bring anyone back to life, not even I can go that far. Nature wouldn’t allow it.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“It is not about playing with nature.”  Y/N walked in a hurry escaping from the sirens.  “It's about going back… Do you love her enough to give it a try?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The raven-haired woman looked thoughtful. “Are you sure of that?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Pretty sure it could work.” Y/N looked at who was her friend for so long, for a moment she believed that the sparkle in those eyes had returned.  “But we need you.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Don’t.” Jules said barely, like a sigh.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Don't what?” She stopped, making Y/N turn to look at her. The neon signs reflected their faces, like the most beautiful work of art.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Please, don’t give me hope.” Jules pleaded.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

And for the first time, Y/N's serious look turned into a softer one.  “I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

They spent days trying to plan everything they had to do perfectly. Each of the stones they had to 'borrow' and then return. A time heist. Each of them had a plan, but that wasn't what mattered right now.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Tomorrow, we will be saving the ones we love the most.” Y/N took the beer and toasted against the brunette's, who was only watching through the big window.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Tomorrow.” Jules sighed, her heart skipped a beat at the thought. “Do you think they will understand?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I think so… Yeah, I'm not going to be the one to tell Wanda that her favorite band split up two years ago.” Y/N said making her friend laugh again, missed that nice sound so much. “But fuck, I'm going to tell her that Britney won the damn lawsuit.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N laughed and then brushed a few crumbs off her shirt, making the ring she was wearing as a pendant to bounce.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Still carrying that thing?” Jules smiled tenderly looking at the ring.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N looked at it got lost in memories. The ring with which she proposed to Wanda so long ago. “And I will forever.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She smiled at her friend, who understood perfectly. The raven-haired woman nodded slowly.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“If I had married someone... it would definitely have been Nat. She would say ‘No, thank you!’, of course, but at least I would have tried.” Jules said with a broody smile. Natasha Romanoff left a hole in her heart, taken it away forever.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda wanted us to get married when we got back from Wakanda.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Maybe you guys can get it right this time. You know that Wanda loved you deeply, right?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I know… I loved her so much, so much that part of me is no longer mine but hers.” She sighed. “And I'm going to keep this.” Y/N looked at that ring with sadness but also hope.  “Until I see her again, this is it, Jules. This is how we get them.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I hope so. I don't know what I'll do otherwise.” Jules looked down, feeling the full weight of her actions.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

At that moment Yelena walked through the living room door, heading straight for Jules. Of course Yelena hadn't been there those days, she was trying to help Steve to convince Tony to help them.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Yelena, wait-” Y/N got up seeing the anger on the blonde's face and remembering that she hadn't had the courage to tell her that Jules was back.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No, let her do it.” Jules got up from her seat, clearing her throat uncomfortably. “I know you might hate me but-”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Without further ado, Yelena hit the brunette's face making her face to turn around, Jules noticed blood dripping from her lip. And if that hadn't surprised her too much, after the punch the blonde came to hug her tightly.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m glad you’re here.” Yelena murmured staying in that embrace for a while. “We're family. I don't want to lose any more sisters... I missed the three of us.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

And how not to do it? Ever since Y/N and Jules had their separate ways, Yelena always felt in between. With no big sister, feeling like a child with her parents divorced, she didn't know which of them to turn to.

Jules looked up at Y//N and just stroked Yelena's blonde hair slowly. They both looked at each other and nodded. They were all Yelena had left, and none of them had given her a thought.

“Tell me again, why did you bring her?” Tony asked again, narrowing his eyes at the brunette. “She could kill us in a flash.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules chuckled.  “Yeah, I'm not that fast, Stark.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Isn't that what we need? We need people willing to give everything.” Y/N she sighed, running a hand over her face. It was the third time she'd answered that all damn day.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Steve…”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Steve, who was there with his arms crossed, just stared at them seriously.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“We all deserve a second chance. We can all regret what we have done, and then do better.” Steve nodded solemnly. If Jules was going to bring something good to that mission and she was going to keep someone from dying, then she was welcome.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules arched an amused brow. “Yeah, I'm not sorry for what I did... I’m just here to help, that’s it.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Shut up, Julia. You're not helping.” Y/N growled.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Between twists and turns, everyone managed to resolve their differences before keep going with the plan. Each of them had to follow the 'time heist' plan and bring the gems.

And they all made it, making it back alive for the big test. Of course, Y/N kept saying how great it was to see the first S.H.I.E.L.D. base in 1970. ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Now, Bruce was ready to snap and change everything. Around him were all of the avengers, who watched him as if in his hands kept the most precious treasure in the Universe. And it was. ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Are you sure, Bruce?” Steve asked one more time. “I can do it too.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No, I was made for this.” Bruce sighed deeply and after taking courage, he settled the gauntlet on his arm.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Slowly, the power of the gauntlet was consuming him, making him scream in pain. They all walked away in surprise, but they couldn't interfere even if they wanted to.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Bruce, remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago...” Y/N explained carefully, watching the gauntlet light up when the big guy put it on. “You're just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ “Please.” Tony added.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Got it.” Bruce growled.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

One.

Two.

Three.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Snap.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Bruce knelt in pain and the way the power of the gauntlet burned his arm made everyone shocked.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Did it work, Bruce Banner?” Yelena asked curiously.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Everyone looked at each other for a moment, their phones started ringing instantly and that brought a smile to everyone. Y/N took her phone and watched that something that she hadn’t seen for a long time, now was shown on the screen.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

'INCOMING CALL WANDA MAXIMOFF ...'

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N smiled widely and answered the call.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wands?” ㅤㅤㅤㅤ But the call ended.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

And they wish they had time to celebrate or answer; one of Thanos' ships stood behind the Compound. And the first thing he did was bombard the quinjets, taking away their chance to use them.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Everyone managed to stay safe, while the team tried to fight Thanos hand to hand, others tried to take the gauntlet and escape with it so that the titan wouldn’t have it again.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The powerful triad of the Avengers faced him, Thor, Tony and Steve. But he also faced Y/N, Jules, and the Hulk in an epic battle. They didn’t expect that attack, much less in such a treacherous way.

And although they thought that everything would end in the worst way, not just one but several portals opened on that battlefield.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ Each of their friends passed through the portal, returning to their side, ready to once again face that enemy, together.

Y/N sighed and tried not to cry when she saw how Wanda ran towards her and melted into the strongest and most needed hug of their lives. Closed her eyes and let herself be carried away by her scent, giggling happily at the scent of Wanda’s hair.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Oh, raspberries.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

A small tear escaped from her eyes.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Strange told us.” Wanda cupped Y/N's face in her hands. She looked so… same and different. Y/N's face looked different, not much but small details that she noticed. “Five years, right?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Yeah.” Y/N closed her eyes, getting lost in the feeling for a moment.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Five years, wow…h-how are you? Are you okay?” Wanda asked really worried.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Can we talk about that later?” Natasha arched an eyebrow, nodding as Thanos's army regrouped on the horizon.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N breathed deeply watching that terrifying landscape, but despite the fear, Wanda's hand taking hers made her smile. Of course they could against this. They had survived the worst, they could against everything.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

And both armies finally met. Y/N rose into the air and used her powers, making a hurricane to get rid of some enemies. This time there was no doubt using those powers, it was a perfect execution.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You are…” Wanda exclaimed in surprise. They both made an incredible team up now.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Total control, huh!” Y/N smirked and then rose up.  “You should see this!”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Her eyes turned white for a moment, and the sky roared like never before. Several lightning bolts fell towards her and towards her enemies. Without stopping, they both fought to protect Peter Parker who stole the gauntlet, getting it as far away from Thanos as possible. ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I already saw the boy, he's coming your way, Strange!” Natasha said through her earpiece and fired at one of the aliens, killing him.  But someone worse stood a few meters in front of her, showing that big spear.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Not this bitch again.” Natasha complained, seeing how Proxima smiled creepily.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The black widow prepared herself for the attack, she was ready to face her when some huge vines opened up the earth and took Proxima, getting rid of her.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Hey.” Jules smiled at her and stoodnext to her, surprising the redhead. Then raised her hand, making some thorny vines to grab many aliens and completely destroy them.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You-” Nat opened her mouth but didn't know what to say, just smiled back.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Pretty badass, don't you think?” Jules nodded watching as the earth swallowed them.  “They will be a good fertilizer for the soil.”

ㅤㅤㅤ “That wasn't fair, I was about to finish her off.” Natasha teased, smirking.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ “Sucks to be you... But by the way: You’re my whole world, Romanoff. I want you to know that.” Without further ado, the brunette approached to kiss Natasha's lips, just a peck. “’kay, gotta go. Don’t die this time!”  

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The redhead just smiled and shook her head, running in the opposite direction.

And despite the losses that are always to be expected in a war, they did it well. Except for Carol, who was still recovering after she'd snapped. She was powerful, sure, but that was a very potent amount of energy.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ The corridors of the Avengers Compound were full of people coming and going. The medical room was being occupied by everyone who was badly injured, Dr. Cho was crowded but thanked the civilian medical staff who offered to help them.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N kept her arms crossed, watching and making sure everyone was okay. Her tired eyes showed how she felt, beside being in pain. Several cuts and bruises in her face and body showed it.

She turned on her heels to leave for a moment, nodding to Steve who was chatting with Tony, Maria Hill and Nick Fury about everything that had happened.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Now everyone was back and despite the fact that it was a great joy, the world was once again in chaos.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Agent Y/L/N.” Nick turned around so she could shake hands with her.  “Here they have told me the great job you have done trying to keep us standing.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Thank you, sir. I only did what I have been taught in S.H.I.E.L.D.” Y/N smiled and nodded kindly.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I taught you well then.” Maria Hill said under her breath and they both laughed. Y/N patted the Maria's shoulder and kept walking, looking for that special someone.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She searched the living area, the lounge, and the medical wing but couldn't find Wanda anywhere.

Not until she saw how a brown haired lady escaping from her, walking quickly towards the main entrance hall.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda.” Y/N called out to her loud enough to make her stop.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda turned around slowly, she looked like she had been crying, because her eyes were a bit puffy and red. She looked quite nervous, looking towards the door as if she wanted to get out.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Why are you avoiding me?” That sounded sadder than she expected. You could tell the pain in Y/N's voice, and the obvious confusion.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No, why do you say that?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m not stupid.” Y/N chuckled sadly.  “I haven't seen you since we were separated in the Med wing. I've been looking for you for a long time.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Yeah… I needed some air.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N approached her, both watched the outskirts of the compound with longing. “Are you okay?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Five years, right?” Wanda swallowed, unable to look at her. Couldn't or she would break. ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N sighed. “Yeah.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I think… I think I'm not ready for this.” The brunette looked down, playing with her rings.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N cocked her head to see her. “Ready for what?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“To do this, Y/N.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wow, no ‘detka’ this time.” Y/N gave a sad and ironic giggle. She didn't understand what the hell was happening now. “I don't understand.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N, it's been five years.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Yeah, five fucking years go by and the first thing you do is walk away and ignore me.” Y/N she said a bit annoyed and hurt. “Would you please tell me why?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Because I'm not ready to know how you moved on!” Wanda finally snapped. “I'm not ready to…” Wanda cleared her throat, trying to be strong and not cry but it was so hard. “I'm not ready to see how you've moved on from me or met someone else.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N frowned and thought about stopping her, but she had every right to express her feelings. She wanted to know how Wanda felt.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“While for you it was five years, for me it was just... minutes.” The sokovian began pacing back and forth, finally letting go of everything she kept inside. “And I come back and I see you... so different and at the same time the same. Don't get me wrong, you look as beautiful as ever but I feel like... I've missed so much.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

"You have… you have a scar there, on your eyebrow, and I- I don't know how you got it! And and I feel so… I left you." Wanda began to cry, and although Y/N wanted to hug her, she only reached out her hand to take Wanda's and gently pull her.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“How do you think it feels to know that? I've abandoned you for years. God!”  Wanda approached to surround her in a hug, hiding her face in Y/N's chest.  “The things you've experienced and I wasn't there. You were alone.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I wasn’t alone.” It was the first thing Y/N said as she stroked her back.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“That's why... Maybe you've met someone.” Wanda looked up and tried to get away from her. “I'm not ready to know that you don't love me anymore.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I wasn't alone, I had my friends.” Y / N smiled tenderly and gently caressed Wanda's cheek. “Wanda... I haven't stopped thinking about you, I never stopped doing it.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She took her beloved's chin to look into those green eyes. A heart that found its other side again, finally, their souls were entwined once more.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I love you. I have loved you these five years... where I didn’t stop thinking about you, loving you, needing you.” Y/N she whimpered and wiped away the tears that began to fall. “I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat. You don't know how horrible it was to live without you, you don't know how difficult it is. Cause it wasn't 'living'. You have no idea how gray the world is without you.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Tears began to escape from Wanda's eyes and she didn't stop them. They both needed this, they needed to heal.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Please, don't walk away.” Y/N begged, feeling Wanda cradle her face in her hands. “I only know that I survived because I had to, because I couldn't leave them alone... because I don't want to be without you anymore. I just can’t. I can’t do it.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The sokovian hugged her tightly, allowing them both to release into a healing cry. Feeling the warmth of the other's body, all the pain could finally be left behind.

All those sad dates, all those lonely birthdays, all those cold nights.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I love you, Wanda.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I love you so much, detka. I'm so sorry...” She put her forehead against Y/N's, getting lost in that beautiful feeling. “We won't be apart again. Promise we won't.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Nothing will separate us again, my love.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules lowered her gaze and hurried her step in that hallway, trying to get out of that place as soon as possible. Her heart was heavy but she had to do the right thing.

At least this time.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She was about to walk out of the Compound when a figure crossed in front of her, so fast. There was no doubt that this woman was one of the best spies in the world.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Aw! Not even a hug? I see you're not a fan of goodbyes.” Natasha watched her out of the corner of her eye, crossing her arms.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules swallowed, this was what she least wanted.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Everyone is there with their loved ones but you… you’re running away without even saying goodbye to me.” Natasha stood idly by, quite hurt.  Although the first thing she did was make sure Yelena was safe, Natasha had not forgotten Jules. “Running away like a quiet and scared mouse.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m not a scared mouse.” Jules narrowed her eyes. Those words made Natasha raise an eyebrow, Jules would never have spoken like that.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I don't even deserve that? I understand that five years have passed for you, you must… you must have formed another more important bond or whatever…. Or maybe you just stopped loving me, but I am not even worthy of a goodbye?” The redhead scoffed.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Nat-” Jules tried.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I would like an explanation, because the last thing I remember is that we were... in love.” She wasn't going to deny that it hurt her deeply. “I understand. I wasn't very direct with that, I admit it... besides that a lot of time has passed and we didn't get to make it official, but that didn't mean I didn’t loved you! I did! I DO!”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Nat…” Jules came over, trying to calm me down. She just cradled Nat's face in those soft hands. “It's not that.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules sighed deeply, she didn't have time to explain.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I love you, more than my own life.” The raven-haired girl placed her forehead against hers.  “I would give everything for you, I gave everything for you to be here.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Then tell me what's going on...” Natasha pleaded in a whisper, those beautiful eyes sparkling. This was one of the few times that she could see Nat being herself, opening her heart.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules leaned in and kissed her lips, losing herself in them. Didn’t care more than to relive that feeling, that warmth. Nat was alive, she was next to her. As soon as they parted from the kiss, the inhuman hugged Natasha tightly.

Her biggest fear was losing her again.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I just didn't want you to see it…” Jules swallowed. “I didn't want them to do it in front of you.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha looked at her with confusion and concern. “Do what? Who?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I did some really fucked up things this time where you weren't, Nat... I- I don't expect you to understand me, I just... maybe one day I can explain. They will tell you many things about me, most of them are true... others not so much. And I’m sorry.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

At that time, General Ross entered with a group of US marshalls and surrounded them. Of course they left Natasha aside, they only came to handcuff Jules who didn't object. Her gaze stayed on Nat's. Sure they had technology strong enough to weaken her, but Jules wasn't going to run away. Not this time.

In fact, it was obvious that she knew perfectly well that this would happen, because Jules never resisted or tried to escape.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Ross, what are you doing?” Natasha asked but one of the Marshalls pushed her back.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“My job, Ms. Romanoff. Just my job.” Ross nodded and they walked carrying Jules, although the arrival of the others Avengers made them stop.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What’s going on here?” Steve frowned. “Ross, we can't go through this now.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

At that moment Y/N arrived, pushing whoever had to to face Ross.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You can't do that, she's an avenger.” Y/N tried to intercede adn take her friend, but was stopped by the Marshalls. “Take your hands off me.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Julia Hale, you're under arrest for mass murder in several countries including the United States of America, eco-terrorism, mass property damage, conspiracy, torture, assault, kidnapping… You have the right… to not much at all after that, to be fair.” He sneered. “Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules glanced sideways at Ross, who seemed quite pleased.  “They were bad people.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Ross… She saved half of the universe with us.” Tony stepped forward, ready to intercede too. “There's still fresh blood on her face, look at her! She just saved the world with all of us! Let her go… for now.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I know, Stark, but it's not up to me. It will depend on U.S. Goverment.”  General Ross started walking towards the entrance, where the SUV's were ready to go.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“It’s okay, I knew this would happen. We made a deal.” Jules looked back, seeing Y/N but was pushed forward.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N frowned.  “A deal?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“They let me help you if I agreed to go with them, for good.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Where are you going to take her?” Wanda asked, feeling the same indignation as her beloved. She hated seeing her like that.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“The Raft, until it's time for her to have a fair trial at the Capitol.” Ross nodded and the Marshalls loaded Jules into the SUV.  “It's not up to me to give her a pardon, it's up to them.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Don't worry, I have a cousin who is a very good lawyer!” The huge Bruce smiled and held up his phone, which made her smile.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Everyone was quite upset and outraged, Tony was talking to Pepper to find a good 'lawyer' to help them with this, besides calling the necessary contacts he had at the Capitol. Wanda took Y/N's hand, who stood watching her friend being taken away and couldn't do anything.

Even if she wanted to, she couldn't make it worse.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

But the one who seemed most devastated was Natasha, who watched everything without knowing what to say. She had no idea what was happening, the redhead just went to the car’s door to see her one last time.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m sorry.” Jules moved her lips, watching Natasha, before the truck moved away from the place. Leaving the redhead more confused than ever.

“So…” Wanda murmured entering the room, looking around. Everything felt so new. Y/N invited Wanda to sleep with her in her room.  “It was hell.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Yeah.” Y/N sighed as she slowly removed her suit, the wounds making her hiss. “The first year we were together, Yelena kept us here. We couldn't leave her alone, we had all lost something.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The sokovian sat on the bed, watching as Y/N changed. Her gaze fell on the new scars on Y/N’s body, thinking about everything Y/N went through, without her. She couldn't protect her. Maybe if she was there, those wounds wouldn't have happened.

After taking a nice shower, they both lay down on the bed so they could snuggle together.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I started going to some meetings, you know which ones. About loss.” Y/N took some of her big shirts and handed one to her girlfriend, putting one on as well.  “It didn't help me much but it kept me standing, enough to keep me going for a while longer.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda hugged the side of her body, caressing her belly.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“But not Jules. She said that wasn't helping her, then she started to feel… angry.” Y/N was somewhat thoughtful.  “As she learned more about her powers, Jules began to feel everything even more. She has a great connection with nature and that… that made her take a different path.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N frowned and swallowed.  “I tried to make her stay with us but we couldn't. She didn't want to be here, brought back too many memories... About Nat and that, and we couldn't force her.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“We lost contact for a few months until... we started receiving some weird cases. They were all bad people, that person was targeting criminals, murderers, cartel people, hunters.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m so sorry, detka. Really.” Wanda whispered.  She felt so helpless and angry. Thanos took everything from her. “I'm so sorry about that. I'm sorry I left you alone.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“It’s okay now.” She smiled at Wanda, leaving a small kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes feeling that perfume once more. Yes, everything was back to normal.  “I’m so happy you’re here, that's all that matters now.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Do you want to sleep?” Wanda asked as she gently caressed her beloved's face, removing some strands of hair.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I'm exhausted, I would sleep for weeks, but I don't want to stop looking at you.” Y/N muttered, her voice slightly scratchy. Her body ached too much, feeling a stabbing pain in muscles that she didn't even know existed.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda smiled tenderly, kissing her chin.  “I promise to be here in the morning.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Pinky promise?” She brought her pinky so they could intertwine.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Pinky promise, detka.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

They both laughed and snuggled again when Y/N turned off the lights on the nightstand. They were silent for a moment, sharing only the beat of their hearts, until Wanda spoke:

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ “How did you get this one?” The Sokovian traced her fingers over one of the scars on Y/N's stomach, slowly.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I stumbled across a turtle.” Y/N bit her lip trying not to laugh, but Wanda just laughed and patted her.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Come on, you dork. Tell me.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I was bitten by a beaver.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N!” Wanda complained and Y/N burst out laughing.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda?” Y/N bit her lower lip.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Mhm?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Taylor Swift released two albums in a single year… and they are very cottage core.” Y/N couldn't help but say it, knowing that it was one of her beloved's favorites.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Oh God. How good is to be back!” Wanda chuckled amusedly, leaning in to look at her.  “Which is your favorite?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N bit her lower lip, forgetting her tiredness for a moment and took one of her headphones from the nightstand, she kept one and gave one to Wanda.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Friday? Please, could you play 'Willow'?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

‘Of course, Ms. Y/L/N.’

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

 “This one is for you.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

'Willow' started to play, making them both smile as they listened to the song.

Tears fell down Wanda's cheeks upon hearing such beautiful words, tears that Y/N tenderly wiped away.

They spent some time looking into each other's eyes, listening some songs and exchanging smiles until sleep came over them.

✨✨ Yeah, I was thinking about the finale... until @imnotasuperhero wanted a bit more. ✨✨ Don't hate me, hate her, poking the bear is never the answer. I'll bite.🐻 (kidding, i don't bite... yet.) here goes some amazing and lovely people tags   ✨  : @wandsmxmff​,  lonewalker17,  tsmeanobody,  dark-hunter16,  lattayhottay16,  natashaswifeu,  silverockmusic,  kacka84,  emeraldevan! @sunsol-22 @dparker0 @imnotasuperhero @pawiie

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ

[scarlettjohanssons-mistress]

If ur requests r open, can u write about natasha romanoff x female reader? With natasha being protective/possessive, like say somebody gets to mean with the reader, and nat just calms us down and makes us feel safe with her.

Hope ur doing ok, and everything's going well for u author 😁

I protect you

Warnings: Non-Graphic Violence, past violence, protective Natasha Romanoff, emotional hurt/comfort

Word count: 0.9 K

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Prompt: Y/N's past comes to hurt her

Requests: OPEN

[Main masterlist] [Marvel masterlist]

When Y/N told Natasha everything she had to suffer in her past relationship; Natasha had a feeling she hadn't had in years: she felt her blood turn to ice.

How could someone, who supposedly loved you, be able to cause so much pain and suffering to a being as small as Y/N?

She promised herself that she would do everything in her power so that Y/N would never have to go through a situation like this again.

Natasha was known for being an amazing interpreter of body language, so she knew Y/N's every move and expression; she knew when she was happy, when she was sad, and when she was uncomfortable, just as she had when she found out about Tony's special guests for his most recent party.

Tony Stark had met a new rich man, his name was Jeremy Hudson, who had quickly become a new friend of the billionaire avenger, so it was not surprising that Jeremy was a new guest at Tony's annual party.

But apparently Tony wasn't the only Jeremy acquaintance at the compound.

———————————————————————————

"Do you think it's an appropriate dress for the party?"

Y/N left the bathroom to stand in front of her girlfriend and walk around.

Natasha put down her book, while her eyes roamed every inch of her girl's body, making her mouth go a little dry.

“Damn baby, you look…so sexy”

"Nat! Are you listening to me?"

“Of course I am listening to you”

"So… isn't it too much for the party?"

"Are you kidding?, darling, you look beautiful" Natasha quickly got up, standing behind her girlfriend, who was still looking at her dress in the full mirror of her room, the redhead posing her arms around Y/N's hips "The only problem I see is that… I'm going to want to take off your dress all night” Natasha began to kiss her girlfriend's bare neck.

“Nat, don't start. Better change your pajamas for your dress, the party guests are almost starting to arrive"

“But принцесса…”

"No, no принцесса… come on, it's late"

And without further ado, Y/N walked away from his girlfriend's arms, leaving Natasha with a big playful smile.

“You are playing with fire, doll…”

———————————————————————————

Everything had gone relatively smoothly, with Y/N and Natasha being playful and having an amazing time, until Y/N had gotten tired of playing cards with Wanda, Vision, Bucky, Sam and Nat

"I'm going for a drink, anyone like something?"

“Could you bring a margarita?” Wanda asks

"Sure, do you want something, love?" Now, she ask Natasha directly

"No thanks, beauty"

Carefully, Y/N got up from Natasha's lap and started walking over to the bar. Y/N ordered her drink and Wanda's drink, standing next to the bar, unable to prevent a body colliding with her

"Sorry" The body's eyes focused on Y/N's eyes, causing the girl's eyes to fill with panic, while the man's eyes filled with mockery and amusement. “But it's nothing more than Y/N. How have you been, doll?"

How long could it take to make a damn margarita?

———————————————————————————

Natasha thought Y/N was taking too long, she even felt something tighten in her chest.

“Y/N is taking too long…” Natasha commented as she stopped paying attention to the game.

"Calm down, Romanoff, you're exaggerating" Sam spoke

Of course, they didn't know Y/N like she did, only she would know that it's unbecoming of the smallest girl to be alone at a party. Her girl is clingy enough to want to be away from her girlfriend for more than a minute.

Carefully, she got up and put the cards aside, her eyes searching the room for Y/N, until finding her, in front of the bar, much smaller than normal before the body of an unknown man.

The redhead could read how her girlfriend's body was completely uncomfortable, even wanting to escape, so she quickly walked up to her to make her presence known.

"Hello my love" the redhead kissed her girlfriend's cheek, feeling her body relax at her touch

"Are you her new partner?" asked the hoarse voice of the man

The furious gaze of the redhead settled on the ugly face of the man, finding it a bit familiar, while still hugging the small waist of her girl.

"Yes who are you?"

"Her ex-boyfriend"

The redhead's green eyes met Y/N's just to see the affirmation in them.

Natasha felt how the blood began to bubble in her veins, wanting to remove the stupid smile from him disgusting face.

"What do you want asshole?"

"None of your business" he took the glass full of rum and took a drink "Wow, Y/N knew you were a slut, but not enough to date another slut"

Without further ado, Natasha's fist impacted his face, feeling how the bones of the man's nose were breaking before the fist. The other avengers quickly ran to help the man, but seeing that Natasha was the one who had hit the man and Y/N was crying uncontrollably, they knew that it had been for something justifiable.

Natasha wiped her fist on a napkin and took her girlfriend's arm, leading her to their shared room.

With both of them already inside, they closed the door and quickly the redhead's arms wrapped around her girlfriend's body, running her hands reassuringly over her girlfriend's back, trying to stop her crying.

"Don't cry anymore, малыш, I swear that idiot is never going to hurt you again" he began to distribute kisses all over the hairline "I'm never going to let my princess get hurt"

"You swear?" whispered Y/N's small voice

"Of course, no one harms what is mine, and you, my love, are mine."

Translation:

принцесса - Princess

малыш - Baby

Note:

I hope everything goes well for you too, honey. Happy Holidays

I hope you enjoy it

I appreciate the reblogs, the likes and the comments

taglist: @littlebitchsposts

message me or send an ask to be added to my taglist!

[hightownquccn]

POSSIBLE SIDEBLOG CREATION

Please VOTE on which one you think would be fun to play with.

Adding a little more description that I have thought out in my head. Some is canon from MCU/comics and some is the twist I want to put on the character for my portrayals*.

Agent ???. ( I still have no name for him ) former SHIELD agent. best friend of Sharon Carter. or so he likes to claim. computer genius. skinny white boy. flirt. bisexual. he's annoying but really a sweetheart. not big on field work. but he can hack.

( ? (name undecided) is a former agent of SHIELD now mini-Tony Stark minus the suit and superhero status. Coming up through the academy he somehow befriended a woman by the name of Sharon Carter when they were put on an undercover assignment together. He was mostly just the support but made a few appearances in his undercover roll when needed to support Sharon aka 'Emily'.

A bit of a nerdy genius all he has ever wanted was to feel wanted and valuable. He was loyal to SHIELD until it fell thanks to HYDRA infiltrating and finally revealing themselves. With the fall of SHIELD, he used his knowledge to freelance and made a name for himself. He has been known to take on projects to help the likes of former SHIELD-loyal agents. He is very anti-HYDRA. )

Alex. "Dove". literature professor. musician. Inhuman. pain manipulator. Guatamalan/naturalized American.

( Original mini description that may be tweaked: Alex received his nickname of Dove from his mother in what almost feels like a different time. She used to call him her little pacifist. Now a lot older ( and not necessarily a whole lot wiser ) he still holds that peace should be tried before war.

After terrogenesis, Alex discovered he now has the power to cause pain in others. It goes against a lot of what his parents taught him growing up and what he believes in...but he isn't an idiot. Sometimes if you have a gun in your face or pointed at a loved one you need to act. So as much as he hates his powers he does try and avoid it if at all possible. Known for his aversion to violence many have begun calling him the Dove. )

Steve Rogers. captain america. the first avenger. the little guy. the man out of time.

( Steve is a World War II veteran, a founding member of the Avengers, and Earth's first known superhero. Rogers grew up suffering from numerous health problems, and upon the United States' entry into World War II, he was rejected from serving in the United States Army despite several attempts to enlist. Rogers ultimately volunteered for Project Rebirth, where he was the only recipient of the Super Soldier Serum. 

Fighting in the war, he served his country before supposedly sacrificing himself in a plane crash. Decades later he was awoken from his sleep and begins to readjust to modern life. Cap is needed once again and he picked up the mantel again, joining The Avengers. He served with his fellow members for a time before eventually post The Snap 2.0 retiring. He has passed the mantel on to a man formerly known as Falcon, Sam Wilson. Now he is trying to figure out what to do with his life. )

Amora of Asgard. The Enchantress. asgardian. formerly exiled to Midgard by the Allfather. seductress. intelligent.

( Parentage unknown. While still in adolescence, she ran away to the land of the Norns and apprenticed herself to Karnilla, one of the most powerful sorceresses in all the Asgardian dimension. There she studied all the basic arts of Asgardian magic until Karnilla expelled her for being too undisciplined. She picked up further mystical skills from seducing other Asgardian mages and wizards. In time, Amora became one of the more powerful magic-wielders in Asgard, with her magical arsenal focused on (but not limited to) charming and mind-controlling people. Her by-then well-renowned beauty did not hinder in this.

Amora has always had an obsession with Thor. She has been used as a weapon by the Allfather to try and distract Thor from his love of the human, Jane Foster. But she has also done things unsanctioned by the royalty of Asgard. During one of her many attempts to make the God of Thunder hers she is caught and sentenced by the Allfather to Midgard. While there she took up the name of Sylvie Lushton. Stripped of her powers she is/was stuck in the realm until Thor is banished as well. When Loki appears they strike a deal and she regained her powers. )

KEY NOTES*

I would not play Steve as having gone back in time to rejoin Peggy. He stayed in his current timeline and lives in New York.

I play Amora as having 'Sylvie Lushton' as her mortal name in tribute to the two different women that had the title of Enchantress in the comics.

[fallingblueroses]

Part 6 of the Panic! story.

TW: suicide attempt.

***

Luck was with Kathy, and after leaving William with Geoff's parents she managed to get a flight out of Orlando with only an hour of waiting. Even with a layover in Houston, she got to New Orleans in about five hours, then rented a car and let Google Maps guide her to the hospital Geoff was in. She went up to the ER's reception desk and asked where Geoff was, and her heart sank when she was directed to the critical care unit.

She gasped and put a hand to her mouth when she saw him laying in the bed covered in bandages and tubes. She took the few steps across the tiny room to his side and glanced up at the monitor. His pulse and blood pressure were high, but she supposed that was to be expected.

Not knowing what else to do she sat in the chair and put a hand on his upper arm. "Geoff?" She asked softly. "Geoff, can you hear me?"

No response. He must be asleep, she thought. She stayed quiet to let him rest. Eventually someone came in to check his vitals and Kathy demanded to talk to someone who could explain his condition to her. Another nurse came in a short time later, and Kathy listened carefully as the nurse told her about how Geoff had been dropped off in a horse trailer. He had several broken ribs and a collapsed lung, and they had put in a chest tube to drain the air out of the cavity and were giving him oxygen to help reinflate the lung. If it didn't reinflate on its own he'd need surgery to fix it. His eyes had suffered flash burns and his eardrums had ruptured. He had second-degree burns on his hands and forearms, and all of it was complicated by the delay in care, dehydration, and an infection that Geoff had picked up from God knew what was in that horse trailer.

Kathy swallowed as the nurse finished her explanation. "Is...is he going to get his sight and hearing back?"

"An ophthalmologist and ENT will examine him in the morning," the nurse said. "We'll know more then."

Kathy nodded and looked back at Geoff. "...Thank you." What else was there to say?

"Let us know if you need anything," the nurse said, then left. Kathy had to fight back tears. Losing her hearing had been bad enough; she couldn't imagine losing her sight too. She'd be terrified if she were in Geoff's position right now. Did he even know he was safe and getting help, or did he think he was still Tony's prisoner? How was she going to communicate with him when he woke up?

Kathy took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She'd find a way. Geoff had stayed with her every step of the way when she'd lost her hearing and she wouldn't let him down now. She pulled out her phone and sent text messages to VoicePlay and Geoff's parents telling them she'd arrived safely and about his condition. Once she'd done that she stared at her phone, then gave in to her rage and called Tony.

She was honestly surprised when he actually answered. "Kathy?"

"You bastard." Kathy felt the tears come as she struggled to keep her voice down. "You...you...asshole."

He was silent for a few seconds. "Is Geoff still alive?"

"Barely, no thanks to you! Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted?"

"No, I--"

"You what? What were you planning on doing when you ran away with him? Did you think you'd hide him somewhere and he'd be oh so grateful to you for sparing his life that he'd be your little pet or something? Or was he just going to be your barganing chip when the police caught up to you?"

"Kathy--"

"Shut up!" She swallowed and forced herself to speak quietly. "No one forced you to leave VoicePlay and you know that. It was just an excuse you used to torture them. Well, I hope you're happy with what you've done. But you didn't win, Tony. Geoff won." She laughed softly. "Geoff won. They were found. They're alive and safe and with their families and they'll recover from what you did. All you've managed to do is make yourself an outcast. A criminal. What do you have to say for yourself now?"

Tony sighed. "Kathy...tell Geoff I'm sorry."

Her fury only got hotter with that. "If you're so sorry, go to the police and turn yourself in. Face the consequences of what you did like a man." She paused. "Or save everyone some time and pain and just blow your brains out." She hung up, rested her head on Geoff's bed, and let all the sobs she'd been holding back come out.

After a long time she heard a gentle male voice. "Ma'am?" She looked up to see a tech standing next to a cart with a computer on it. "...Are you all right?"

"I will be."

"Would you like some water?"

"Please." He left and came back a couple of minutes later with a glass of ice water. She thanked him and sipped it gratefully as the tech checked Geoff's monitor, typed into his computer, and left.

Once the water was gone she laid her throbbing head on the bed and rested. The rest of her felt oddly empty and light, like a burst balloon. She found herself falling asleep, and decided not to fight it.

***

Tony sighed as he hung up and set his phone aside. He was laying on his side on a hotel bed, waiting for the latest dose of pills to kick in so he could sleep.

"Well I suppose you didn't expect her to thank you for dropping him off."

Tony groaned at the sound of his double's voice and covered his head with a pillow. "Let me sleep."

It sounded like his double was laying right next to him, at his back. "You're not going to do it, right? Turn yourself in, I mean. Imagine the charges against you. Five counts of kidnapping, and one of those going over state lines." His voice was light and mocking. "Five counts of attempted murder. I wonder what the charge would be if Geoff doesn't pull through? Third-degree murder? Negligent homicide?"

Tony didn't answer, and the double went on. "Destruction of property for what you did at PattyCake. Grand theft auto for the truck and trailer you rented and didn't return. Let's see...what else...oh yeah. Possession of drugs for those pills. Did you ever find out what they were? Maybe even distribution if there's any left in Geoff's system when they draw his blood. A good prosecutor could probably think of a half dozen other charges." The voice moved to in front of him. "If you get caught you're cooked, Wakim. You're done."

Tony moved the pillow to see his double kneeling on the floor, his face inches from Tony's. "And imagine what jail and prison are going to be like. No one's going to give a shit about how bad your headaches are in there. You might be able to get some kind of drugs smuggled in to help if you can pay for them. But where are you going to get the money? You've burned all your bridges. You're alone." Tony and his double stared at each other, and the double slowly smiled. "Then again, you might be able to work something out. A trade, let's say. You're a pretty good-looking guy." The double grinned. "The other inmates are going to have fun with you."

Tony swung a pillow at his double. It passed completely through him, and he didn't even so much as blink in response. "...Of course, there is that other way out Kathy mentioned." They continued to stare at each other as the double kept talking. "You don't have a gun, but you do have those pills. How many are left in the bottle? Twenty? Twenty-five? That would do it, surely."

A cold feeling crept through Tony's chest. The double sat on the bed next to him and put an almost-comforting hand on his arm. His voice became soothing, calming. "They want revenge. You'll be going out on your terms, denying them their pound of flesh. Imagine how they would rage...and imagine how it would be, just going to sleep and never waking up. An escape from the pain. A release. How peaceful."

The double fell silent finally and allowed Tony to consider his words. Tony looked off into the distance for a long time and tried to sort out his jumbled thoughts. One finally rose above the rest: He's right. I might as well....

He got up, picked the bottle up from the stand he'd set it on, and got a cup of water from the sink. He stood by the sink and swallowed the pills a few at a time as he and his double stared each other down. Once the bottle was empty, Tony laid back down and closed his eyes as he waited for sleep to take him.

He heard his double's voice one last time, right on the edge of sleep. "Goodbye, Wakim."

Relief flowed through him as he drifted off. If nothing else, he'd finally be rid of his double.

[crazyunsexycool]

My little love

Chapter 2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x enhanced!Reader

Word count: 4.2k

Warnings: Gun is used, death of a minor character, physical abuse toward a newborn(if you don't want to read skip the part that says "this is graphic") , Bucky and his feelings. Use of petnames/nicknames (Angel, sweet Angel, sweetheart, sweet girl)

A/N: I have no idea how I wrote this so fast. Chapter 3 is also currently being written! Not beta'd. All mistakes are my own!

Series Masterlist

Ch. 1

She cried and cried. At least her lungs were healthy. No matter what anyone tried to do, the sweet little Angel wouldn’t stop crying. That first time she woke up and she let you soothe her was a fluke but you couldn’t blame the innocent child. All she’s known is pain and suffering. The nurses had suggested giving her a sedative but you refused. She needed to get used to someone and if it had to be you so be it. 

“Sweet girl, it’s ok.” You cooed from the side of the crib. She had pushed herself against the other side and refused to let you hold her. Although if you really wanted to, all you had to do was lean forward a little bit more and pull her towards you. But you weren’t going to do that. In her own way Angel was asking for space and you would give it to her. 

“Hey, I’m heading out for the day, the next nurses will be here soon.” 

“Thanks Jenna, try to get some rest ok.” 

“You too.”

You smiled at her and then looked at your watch. 7:00 am on the dot and Angel had already been up a few hours. You’d hope she would’ve tired herself out by now but that wasn’t the case. If the paternity test was correct, which it was because you ran it three more times, she had the super soldier serum running through her veins. Angel wouldn’t need as much sleep, just like Bucky. Instead of trying to get her to come to you, you decided to sit down next to the crib. Close enough to see her but far enough away that she didn’t feel threatened. Looking back down at your hands you start to play with the metal bangles you always wear and you get an idea. Grabbing your phone out of your back pocket you looked for the app where you had first read her a fairytale and chose another. Then you moved one hand over the metal bracelets and reshaped them to resemble the characters of the story. 

Finally after reading and manipulating the little metal figures around she calmed down. She even managed to pluck one of the figures midair and was currently sticking it in her mouth. You’d started a list of things to get her on your phone and now you’ve added pacifiers to it. Her eyes were starting to droop and before long she laid down and started snoring lightly. You breathed a sigh of relief as you manipulated the metal from her hand and added it to your bangles again, making a mental note to wash them later. As you settle down in your seat again the door opens slowly revealing the day shift nurse.

“Hi, Y/N. Mr. Stark assigned me to your team. Is there really a baby?” 

“Hey Ivy, meet our tiniest patient.” You whisper as you nod toward the crib. 

You watch as she silently makes her way over and looks in. Her hand goes to her chest and she pouts. 

“I was briefed on her case. I can’t believe someone would hurt a baby like that.” 

“Me either but here we are. I tell you I’d like to get my hands on those bastards and make them feel what she did.”

“Well, sign me up. Oh Mr. Stark said to meet him up in the conference room by his lab.” 

“Thanks, call me if she wakes up.”

“Will do.” She says as she takes your place and you slip out of the room.

When you got to Tony’s conference room you only found him and Steve. They seemed to be in deep discussion so you knocked on the door. Steve waves you in and you open the door, closing it behind you and taking a seat. 

“How’s the patient?” Tony asks. 

“She’s awake with a healthy set of lungs.” 

Steve smiles. 

“So we talked with Fury and he agreed that the safest place for her is here. At least until we figure out who the father is.” Tony says.

“What about her mother?” 

Tony and Steve trade looks before Tony grabs a remote and turns on the tv that’s mounted on the wall. 

“This is graphic.” It’s the only warning Tony gives you before hitting play. 

In the video you see a woman on an exam table giving birth. She holds on to the side as she pushes and grits her teeth as a curse escapes her. Once the baby is born a guard walks up to the woman and shoots her in the head. You gasp when you see it. 

“The new perfect weapon gentlemen.” The doctor who held Angel directed his words to people off camera.

“How can we know for sure? What if it’s not as good as the first?”

“Only one way to find out.” He says. 

You turn your head but it doesn’t matter, you still heard the snap and the sharp piercing scream of a baby who’s arm had been broken. For what? To determine if she had super soldier serum in her veins? All they had to do was take a blood sample. Tears of both rage and indignation escaped you.

“Now we wait to see how long it takes to heal. Then we’ll have our answer. Take her away.” 

Steve was at your side, kneeling so that he could look at your face while one hand rubbed soothing circles on your back. 

“We assume her mother maybe had some ability or the super soldier serum but until you’re able to do the testing we can’t be sure. We have all her files but there isn’t a mention of the father so we’ll need a DNA test and compare it with all of the people we arrested yesterday.” 

“That won’t be necessary.” 

“And why not?” 

“Because I already did one and I know who the father is. Although I didn’t really need one.” 

“What do you mean?” Steve asks, still kneeling beside you.

“She has his eyes.” You say, your voice small but both men can hear you. Steve tenses up beside you before speaking up.

“you’re sure?”

“I ran the test four different times. And every time it came back that Bucky is the father.”

“Oh fuck.” Tony says. No one says anything for a few minutes, unsure of what happens next.

“We have to tell him.” 

“Yeah but imagine what it’s going to do to him. He’s going to ask how she got pregnant and none of the answers are good. This is going to destroy Bucky.”

“He still has the right to know, Y/L/N.” Tony agrees with Steve. “I’ll have him come up here and we can tell him.” 

“No.” You and Steve say at the same time.

“We’ll tell him later today. We need to figure out how we’re going to do it first.” 

“As long as you do it today it’s fine with me. I’ll talk to the lawyers to see what this means for him legally.” 

“He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No, I know. I mean he’s the father he should have custody, but we have to figure out how that needs to happen. She’ll need a birth certificate and social security number. Also this is kidnapping which means everyone in that room gets additional charges put on them.” 

You nod and stand to leave with Steve following close behind. 

“Can I see her?” 

“Yeah, she’s sleeping now though.” 

“It’s probably best. I don’t want her to be afraid of me.” He tells you as you get into the elevator.

There’s a quiet tension building in the small space. It’s almost suffocating. Both of you know that this news is going to change Bucky.

“How do you think he’ll react?” 

“I mean back before the war he wanted a family, but now I’m not so sure. Especially if hydra was involved.” Steve answers.

The elevator door slides open and the sound of crying reaches your ears before you’ve even set a foot in the hallway. Steve lets you out first and you rush to the room. Ivy stands by the crib, gloves on her hands and a needle ready for use. She looks frazzled as she turns when the door opens. 

“What are you doing?” You ask as you get closer to the crib. 

“I thought we needed blood samples. I was just trying to help.” 

“You don’t take blood samples or do anything with her unless you’re told to do so, got it?” You say with a quiet sort of anger. The difficult part was not snapping at her while there was a screaming toddler in your presence. “You’re excused.” You say as you turn back to the crib. 

The littlest Barnes sits against the opposite railing crying bloody murder. Her cheeks are both red and tear stained. Her hand has a little drop of dried blood but you’re sure the puncture wound has already healed. During this Steve stands by the door, a pained expression on his face. He’s useless in this situation. How was he supposed to help calm down a baby that didn’t trust anyone? He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard you humming a lullaby and you changed your metal bangles into different shapes to distract her. 

“There you go sweet girl. You’re ok.” You cooed as you lowered the makeshift toys closer to her. Slowly the crying dies down and her attention is now on the toys that hover above her head. She hiccups every once in a while as she reaches up. “You can come in.” You tell Steve but you keep your eyes on what is happening with the toys. 

He slowly walks closer but still stays at a safe distance. Steve hoped that he wouldn’t be noticed but he should have known better. Bright blue eyes that are slightly puffy and red connect with his. There’s a small whimper and baby Barnes looks at you. It shocks you when she makes little grabby hands in your direction. You’re quick to scoop her up in your arms and she hides her face in the crook of your neck. 

“She really does have his eyes.” He finally says as he crosses his arms. You smile, more to yourself than anything but Steve noticed. “Are you sure your special ability isn’t calming down the Barnes family?” 

“Ha ha so funny Steve. She’s just comfortable around me because I was the first face she saw when she woke up.” 

“Yeah, and what about Bucky? Have you been the first thing he sees when he wakes up?” He teases.

“Steven Grant Rogers, what are you insinuating?”

“Oh come on, I see how you look at him and he’s crazy about you. And it seems like it runs in the family.” He nods in your direction and when you look down you find Angel looking up at you. You smile down at her but when you move to cup her cheek she flinches and her bottom lip wobbles. Without much thought you begin to sway back and forth in hopes of avoiding more crying. 

“You’re a natural with kids. Were you like the neighborhood babysitter or something?” 

You shake your head as you take a seat. “I wish but my parents never really let me out of their sight. I was born with my ability and I couldn’t control it when I was younger. I used to get hurt a lot and they were scared I would hurt someone else.” You shrug your shoulders. “I used to watch my mom take care of my younger siblings but she never let me help out of fear of me hurting them. I guess that’s where I picked it up though.” 

Steve hums as the door opens to reveal Bruce. His eyes widen in surprise as he sees that not only is the toddler awake but that you’re holding her. He smiles as he steps in.

“When did she wake up?” 

“Last night. I didn’t get a chance to call you this morning. I was in a meeting.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Bruce waves a hand dismissively. “I was able to find her file amongst everything that Tony had brought with him.” He says as he taps away on his tablet. “They kept her on a very strict diet, if you can even call it that. It had just enough nutritional value that she wouldn’t die but she’s severely underweight for a three year old.” 

“She’s three?” 

Bruce nods. “At least it’s what the file says. She’s also behind in her developmental skills so we’ve got our work cut out for us. We should keep her on liquids for now and slowly move into soft foods. I’ve already started working on a more nutrient rich formula for her. Think of it as a protein powder but it’s going to provide all the nutrients she’s been missing out on. All we would have to do is add a spoonful to whatever she’s drinking, and really it can be added to anything she eats. I’d like to try a smoothie first, maybe some fruits would be good for her first meal.”

“I like the sound of that.” You say.

“So do I.” Steve adds.

“I’ll get it ready then.” Bruce says but he doesn’t leave immediately. “Tony told me about the paternity test.”

“Yeah, we can safely assume she has the super serum in her system.”

“Once she’s comfortable enough with us I’d like some blood samples to make sure there isn’t anything else we have to prepare for.”

“Ok.” 

“Alright I’ll be back in a bit with breakfast for the little one.” He says with a smile before leaving. 

“So…” 

“So, Rogers.” 

“We invite him to my place for dinner and tell him then?” 

“Yeah. There’s really no way around this.” You frown slightly before looking back down at the child in your arms, she’s kept her eyes on you the whole time. One of her hands rests over yours and the other is holding a small metal cat. The grip she has on it is tight as if she were afraid someone would take it away from her. 

After a few minutes of you and Steve talking about what things need to be bought for the girl, Bruce walks back into the room. He holds a sippy cup full with a pink smoothie and a spoon. 

“Ok, here we go.” He hands you the sippy cup. “I brought a spoon just in case we have to feed it to her. She may have never been given a bottle so this could be a foreign concept to her.” 

You nod and then you bring the sippy cup up to her lips but she turns away. A small whine escapes her as you try to get her to drink. Anytime the tip of the sippy cup comes close to her mouth she moves her face away.

“This isn’t going to work.” 

“Let’s try the spoon then. Maybe if she sees you eating it she’ll feel more comfortable?”

For the first time since he walked in, Steve walks closer to the girl, who doesn’t seem as scared of him anymore and kneels down. He takes the sippy cup and unscrews the lid and holds it out. Bruce hands over the small spoon to you. You grab it and take a small amount of the smoothie and you bring it to your lips. Humming in approval of the sweet flavors. You grab more of the smoothie mixture and bring it up to her lips, she hesitates for a moment but then she lets you feed her.

“Mmm.” She hums out. The three of you breathe a sigh of relief as you grab more and she happily gets more. With every spoonful of the cold and sweet concoction both you and Steve praise her. Trying to get her used to both of you so that you can at least have someone else she can trust. 

“Sweet Angel you did so good.” You say as you hand Bruce the spoon and place a small kiss on the top of her head

. She was only able to finish about half the smoothie but it was enough.   

“I’ll put this in the fridge for later.” He puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a container. “Here is some of the formula I made. You just add a teaspoon to whatever you’re going to give her.”

“Thanks Bruce.”

“No problem. Let me know when you get through that and I’ll get you more.” 

“I will.” He walks out after saying his goodbye. 

“So what now?” Steve asks.

“I’m not sure. I was thinking maybe going out to the garden? Some fresh air could do her some good.” 

“Ok.” Steve replies as his phone starts to ring, he pulls it out of his pocket and frowns. “I have to take this.” Is all he says before he walks out. 

“Well I guess it’s just us girls.”  You say as you look down, only to find that baby Barnes is falling asleep. Without much knowledge of what had been done to her, you can only assume she’s been kept awake for long periods of time. So you set her back in the crib and ask Friday to inform you when she wakes up again. 

Before heading up to your apartment you go find Ivy and apologize for the way you reacted. She said she understood and that she would check in on the sleeping toddler while you rested. With that you left the medical wing and headed to your apartment. 

Before you knew it, the time to talk with Bucky had come. You had gone down and checked on his daughter before heading up to Steve’s apartment. At the door you find Bucky about to knock when he turns to look at you. A smile appears on his lips when he sees it’s you. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey, are you having dinner with us?” 

“Yup.” You smile up at him as you knock. The door opens almost too fast, as if Steve had been standing on the other side the whole time. Your eyes narrow when you eyed him suspiciously and he gives you a smirk. 

“Come on in, dinner is almost ready.” 

Steve steps out of the way and Bucky lets you in first. Both men follow you as you walk toward Steve’s living room where you take a seat on his couch. Bucky sits next to you and Steve sits on an armchair across from both of you. The apartment was very him and when Bucky saw it for the first time he mentioned it felt like walking back into the 30s and 40s. So whenever they were feeling homesick you could always find them here. 

“Oh before I forget. I um-” Bucky raises a hand up and shows you a bag. “I had to see my therapist today and I stopped at a baby store. I thought the kid could use a toy or two.” He said as he handed you the bag.

Sure enough the bag contained a pink teddy bear, some rubber ducks and even a doll. There were also some pacifiers and a blanket. when you look back up at him your eyes soften, there’s a slight blush on his cheeks and it causes you to smile up at him. 

“Oh for the love of God.” Steve mutters under his breath with an eye roll and that causes Bucky to clear his throat.

“My therapist said she might need some items that can bring her comfort so I just got a few things. Maybe it’ll help.” 

“This is really sweet of you.”

“How is she doing?” 

You look at Steve and he just nods. “She’s doing good, she woke up and we're working on building up her weight and getting her healthy. But um we actually needed to talk to you about her.”

“What? Why?” Bucky furrowed his brows. 

“I did a paternity test on her.” 

“Do you need help finding the parents? Are we going on a mission or something?” Bucky looks between you and Steve. 

“No nothing like that. Her mother is gone, hydra killed her as soon as she had the baby, we have video proof.” Steve added.

“And the father?” 

“That’s what we wanted to talk about.” You say softly as you look at him. His eyes widen and he shakes his head. 

“There’s no way.”

“I did the test four times, Bucky, she’s your daughter.” 

He stands from the couch abruptly and begins to pace. You can tell he’s lost in thought as he tries to think of when it could have happened. As gently as you can you call his name and when he finally looks at you, his eyes are full of unshed tears. Bucky walks back over to you and sits down. He grabs your hands to try and ground himself.

“Please tell me it’s wrong. I can’t… I can’t take care of a kid. She can’t be mine.” He pleads and your heart breaks for both of them. You hear Steve sniffle from where he’s at. 

“I’m sorry Bucky.” 

You pull him in for a hug. He hides his face in the crook of your neck and you can feel his shoulders moving as he begins to cry. Bucky’s grip on you tightens the longer he stays in your embrace. After a few minutes he pulls away but he won’t meet your eyes.

“How did it happen?” Bucky asks as you rub circles on his back.

“I’m not sure. Tony is still looking through files.”

“Do you think they made me…”

“Made you what, Buck?” Steve asks.

“Do you think they made me force myself on her?” 

“We’re not sure. But I don’t think so. They might have done it through medical procedure so that they could ensure the pregnancy happened.”

Bucky turns to look at you again, his expression is a mixture of hurt and heartbreak. 

“You have to know that I would never do that. I could never hurt anyone that way. Please, you have to believe me.” 

“I do believe you.” You say as you cup his cheek. “I know you would never do anything like that.”

Bucky closes his eyes at your touch and breathes a sigh of relief when you tell him you believe him. But he’s still tense and you can’t blame him.

“So what happens now with her?”

“Well Tony is working on getting a birth certificate and all that legal stuff and we are working on getting her healthy. We just have to go one day at a time.” 

“I can’t take care of a child. I can barely take care of myself.” 

“We’re not asking you to do this alone Bucky-“ Steve starts saying in hopes of calming his best friend down.

“At all. I can’t do this at all. Hydra has controlled my life for long enough and now I have to take care of a kid I didn’t want to have?” Bucky’s voice raised with every word until he was yelling. He stands up again and puts some space between himself, you and Steve. “I’m sorry but I can’t be responsible for her.” Is the last thing he said before walking out of Steve’s apartment. 

You can’t say you were surprised. Steve sat there with a distressed look on his face as he looked at you.

“You have to know he doesn’t mean it.”

“I know Steve. It’s a lot to deal with. I can’t say I would have reacted differently. We’ll have to talk with the lawyers to see if we can set up a guardianship or something.” 

Steve just nods but doesn’t say anything else. He just gets up and heads to the kitchen.

“Come on, we might as well talk about next steps in her care over dinner.” But you look towards the door, with the need to follow Bucky out. “He won’t listen to reason right now. He has to process this his own way.”

You get up and follow Steve. For the next hour or so you decide what needs to happen next. When you’re done you grab the bag of things Bucky had bought and head to the medical wing. You can hear Ivy talking sweetly to her and when you open the door you find Ivy feeding her. 

As soon as you step inside the sweet girl’s eyes are on you. They light up in recognition and for the first time you see a smile on her sweet face before she turns and accepts the last spoonful of the smoothie Ivy had held in her hands. 

“I’ve got a surprise for you sweet Angel.” You coo as you get closer. Her eyes stay on you as you get closer. Your hand disappears into the bag and you pull out the pink bear and hold it out for her. She hesitates for a moment but her little hands eventually wrap around the bear and she hugs it to her body. When she realizes that it’s soft and won’t hurt her, she lets out a small squeal of joy. Ivy excuses herself and you’re left alone with baby Barnes. 

“That’s from your daddy sweetheart. He’s a little scared right now but I think he’ll come around soon. He’s a good man.” You said to her as you sat down and pulled out the doll and handed it over to her. 

You were unaware that Bucky was standing by the partially closed door when you said it.

Ch. 3

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Series Masterlist:

@buckystevelove

[observeowl]

Moonlight N.R

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Summary: After being injected with a serum, R have a unique allergy that prevents her from going out at night

Natasha POV It was early morning when Fury brought in the new recruit. All training was postponed when we received the announcement. Fury told us she managed to escape Hydra during an airstrike and chaos but unfortunately, while escaping, she breathed in the vapour from the destroyed laboratory chemicals and ended up gaining power. While her power was not as strong as they intended it to be, she still suffers from the side effects of it. She was so close to escaping as a human being with some trauma from the kidnapping but now she has to suffer through the side effects as well.

"Right, everyone's here." Fury said when he walked in with the new recruit. She stood slightly behind Maria as she got introduced. "This is Y/N Y/L/N, she'll be starting in the lowest rank and hopefully become a full fledged member before dying."

"Nice meeting all of you." Y/N finally said when Fury and Maria left.

"Likewise. We only got your name and a little bit of yourself from Fury. Mind telling us about your abilities?" Steve asked. Everyone was equally curious about what she has in store for us.

She nodded before saying. "My power involves shadow manipulation." But obviously none of us got what she meant and tilted our head slightly.

"For example." She looked around before turning off one of the lights. "Try moving your legs." She nodded towards Steve.

I saw Steve trying to move his legs. He tried his hardest but he was only able to twist his torso and bend his knees. "I- I can't"

"That's because I used your shadow and got a hold of your legs." She explained. "But if it gets too bright then I wouldn't be able to use my power since no shadow would be formed."

"Nice of you to join us." Steve said and told her where her room would be located. After a rough tour, we went for the training that we we're supposed to attend.

Your POV Steve told us I was going to fight with all of them so everyone can get a feel of how I fight and so do I. In the end, I got posted with Sam as my buddy since my fighting style is more of assisting rather than aggressive. Especially since my hands are out of commission when I use my power. Steve, Thor and Natasha were the toughest to defeat, not only because they were better at hand to hand combat but when I did manage to strike a punch, my fist hurts like hell.

Apart from that, I also like knife throwing. It's just something satisfying that I am able to throw something with a strong enough force to kill someone.

"Y/N, the team is heading out for dinner, do you want to join us?" Steve asked after everyone had rested from the training session.

"I'll just stay behind, I'll order pizza or something." I declined his offer.

"Steve, you don't have to be so serious when asking someone to join the team event. But seriously, you don't want to join us? The whole team is going. If it's about cash, you don't have to worry about that. I got it covered." Tony said, pulling Steve slightly behind to speak.

"Thank you, but I'm really okay staying behind."

A couple weeks passed and things were going really well. It's similar to school if you think about it. The main bulk of 'studying' would be training and learning about how to improve my power, I do that with Wanda and Vision occasionally accompanying her. After that's done, I'm free to go anywhere or join the others. But I'm usually at my computer playing games.

Natasha has been coming to observe my sessions with Sam. She usually makes snarky remarks with Sam while I enjoy their bantering.

"Can I talk to you for a moment, Y/N?" Natasha said when my training with Sam ended. I nodded and walked towards her. Before I was able to take my water bottle, she had already unscrew the cap and passed it to me. I mumbled a small thanks before asking her what she wanted to talk about.

"Nothing much, just wanted to ask if you wanted to go have some dinner with me."

"Dinner?" I asked. She nodded her head in confirmation.

"Can we maybe have breakfast or lunch? I'm free tomorrow if you are." I didn't want to go for dinner but I feel bad if I just declined her straight away.

"S-sure. You're busy around dinner time?"

"Not really, I'm not a fan of going out at night."

"I'll see you for lunch, is that okay?" She questioned and I gave her the green light. After Natasha left the training room, I threw some knives to cool down from the fight I had with Sam before picking them out and heading to my room for a shower.

Natasha POV I finally plucked up my courage after consulting with Maria and she swerved out of it. But at least we get to have lunch together tomorrow. Why is it so hard to ask her out for dinner? Oh well, it gives me more time to prepare myself.

"So, how did it go?" Maria asked as she sat on the edge of my bed and waited for my answer. I only shook my head and sighed.

"She declined dinner but asked for lunch instead. I wasn't sure if she understood my intention." I flopped face first onto my bed. It went way different compared to what I imagined in my head.

"You still got yourself something in the end. If you're not sure if she understood your mind, just tell her before going. That way you'll have a nicer time during lunch if she agrees." Maria stated as she stood by the door ready to leave.

"But what if she rejects? It's going to be so awkward." I sat up properly and looked at Maria before she left.

"Then just don't go at all!" I should definitely get a second opinion, I'm not too sure the one I went for gave me good advice or a cookie cutter solution.

I didn't really sleep that night. I had a couple hours enough to function but I kept thinking about if I should tell Y/N how I feel about her before or after the meal. I didn't even notice that I was still laying in bed until Wanda came and asked me if I was going down for breakfast.

Y/N was already there eating her breakfast and gave me a small nod when I entered.

"Where should I wait for you for lunch later?" Y/N asked when the majority of the team left after eating.

"U-uh, I'll knock on your door."

"Someone got herself a date!" Wanda squealed since she was on dish duty today. I quickly shushed her and checked if Y/N was nearby to hear her.

"She doesn't seem to know it." I said dejectedly.

"Then it's your job to tell her." I groaned when I received the same advice as Maria gave me yesterday.

"I know, I got it. I still have a few hours so stop pestering me." I was already very nervous going into this and people rushing me is not helping. I've never done this before so all this is very foreign to me.

I went through in my head what I wanted to say to her but none of them seem right. I kept changing a few words here and there but it keeps getting worse. I didn't want to scare her off or make things awkward between us but it's so hard to strike a balance.

Time passed faster than I think it normally did and I found myself taking a few deep breaths before getting myself ready to knock on her door.

"Y/N?" I psyched myself into knocking and dealing with the consequences later.

"Give me a sec!" She shouted before opening the door. "Hi."

"Hey, you look great." I greeted. She was wearing the standard denim jeans and white tee but man was she looking gorgeous.

"Thanks, you too." I stood at her door and we stared at each other at her door, none of us made a move to do anything until Y/N cleared her throat.

"Uhh.." I scratched my head. "I just want to say that I was asking you out on a date if you don't mind. Or if not, we can just have a regular lunch. Or if you're really not feeling it, we can cancel this whole thing-"

I was cut off with Y/N stepping forward and holding my hand. I stepped aside so she was able to come out of her room. "I don't mind. Do you have anywhere you planned to go?"

"Uhh, I was planning to bring us to the cafe nearby, I heard it has good reviews. But if you'd rather go somewhere we can." I started rambling again.

"No it's alright. I like trying new things." She smiled and started dragging me to the elevator. She asked if we were walking or taking my car before pressing the button on the elevator for the garage.

Towards the end of the lunch date, I felt so relieved. I never thought it would go so well. It really shocked me when Y/N took my hand like it was the easiest thing to do. The lunch is going great so far and she was really kind with the waitress. We talked a lot about her life before she got kidnapped by Hydra and it seems like she's quite an active person with a good amount of friends. It begs the question, she was always declining invites from the team to head out for dinner so I thought she was uncomfortable eating outside but this proved me wrong.

"This may seem like a weird question but why do you always decide to stay in the compound when there's team dinner?" I watched as her expression turned solemn and placed down her fork and knew this was a sensitive topic for her. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I quickly added.

She sighed and gave a small smile. "It's nothing really. Ever since I got the power, I kinda get allergic to the moonlight. Once the moon is out, it gets harder to breathe and I start to black out."

"I see. What a shame, the night view can be really fascinating." I called for the bill to be paid.

"Yeah, but it's an okay price to pay to stay alive."

We walked out of the café and were ready to go back to the compound when I saw the excited look on Y/n's face. "Do you want to go anywhere else? I'm free for the whole day."

"Can we go to the arcade? I haven't been there for a long time!" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah, we can go anywhere you want today." I looked at her like she's the best thing that happened to me because she is. She makes me look forward to each new day.

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Your POV Things were going great with Natasha. She was understanding about the hindrance of not being able to go out at night and made it up with spending the time outside in the morning or afternoon and just relaxing in the compound at night.

After a few dates with Natasha, she asked me to be my girlfriend and I said yes.

The team figured out about our relationship when they started realising that we started heading out more together, as compared to the usual preference of staying in the compound.

I tried introducing Natasha into joining me playing Call of Duty during our nights in and we can go up to 3 hours or more playing on the console. Sometimes I would be playing while Natasha was working on her reports.

---

The dates I have been on with Natasha have been great. After learning about my interest in arcades, she made it her mission to bring me to different arcades around and find those that have unique games.

There was one machine that was really fascinating. It has cuffs that wrap around your wrists and ankles so it was able to detect movement and transfer it to the game. Most people use their all when playing but the trick was to use minimal movement because speed was not incorporated in the game. It's the same as playing on the console. Pressing it hard isn't going to make your player hit harder.

It was actually Maria who found the arcade and told Nat to bring me there. So that's where we are now. Maria decided to join us on this trip but told us she'll leave us alone for the date, she was just here to release some pent up energy at some racing game.

Someone was using the machine and we waited for our turn. It was a player vs player game so Nat took the other seat when it was our turn. Of course, Nat won the first match and I grumbled because she was good at everything. She always masters things really easily. We left the seat to queue again since there was a line waiting.

While waiting, Nat went to get us some drinks and snacks from the counter. Each round lasted about 7 minutes so there was still some time before it was our turn again.

Finally after waiting, we were finally the next people in line.

"Get out of the way. This is my spot." Someone pushed me aside and took the seat that I was going to sit on, causing the drinks on my hand to spill on the floor.

People around started murmuring, recognising the guy that was obnoxious. "Isn't that Lucas?" // "He's the number one on the game."

Without caring about the commotion, he swiped his card and started the game choosing the character he was famous for. Nat noticed I was standing instead of playing against her and stood up to check things out.

"Hey! It's not your turn. So why don't you queue up like the rest over there?" Nat dragged the guy out of his seat and dropped him to the floor.

He chuckled and stood up. "I don't think you get it. That seat over there is mine." Hearing this, Nat drew a punch and hit him in his jaw.

"And real life is mine." Nat glared at him until I pulled her away as we were gathering quite a crowd. I didn't want to cause trouble that I can avoid. I saw Maria standing amongst the crowd and plead for her to come and persuade Nat to get out of here. She didn't want to leave without putting him in his place and gave him one last kick in his shin before leaving.

"Why did you pull me out? He's a dick for doing that to you." Nat huffed when we dragged her out of the arcade.

"I know. It's okay. We can come another time when he's not here." I tried calming Nat down. "Come on, let's eat. I'm hungry. Maria, you coming?" She nodded and we proceeded to some ramen shop for lunch.

Third POV After lunch, it was time to head back and they walked towards Nat's car feeling very satisfied about the food. It even managed to stop Nat from rambling about how much he hated that guy from earlier and even suggested that Tony should buy over the game and ban him from playing ever.

"Why can't I sit in front?" Maria complained as we reached Nat's car.

"Because you're not my girlfriend. It's as simple as that." Nat said as she unlocked the car.

"Agent Romanoff?" They heard a female voice and footsteps approaching, causing them to turn their heads and see that Dorothy was waving at them.

"Heading back to the compound?" She asked.

"Yeah that's right."

"That's great! Can you give me a ride? I need to head to SHIELD."

Nat looked unsure as she knows that Dorothy has a crush on her and she didn't want to make Y/N uncomfortable. "I don't know about that. I need to send Y/N and Maria back to the compound." She politely declined.

From the back, Maria could see the same face Y/N made when she was at the arcade. The face of being wronged and as if her jaw lost its muscle as she was unable to keep her smile up. "Nat, it's alright. We can give her a ride." Maria stepped forward and placed a hand on Dorothy's shoulder.

"Thanks. I like to sit in the front so I don't get carsick." Without a care in the world, she pushed Y/N out of the way and got in the passenger seat happily going to buckle herself in until a hand reached forward to help her.

"What a coincidence, I love to sit in front too." Maria smirked at her as she buckled her in. Dorothy turned and looked at the back to see Natasha holding Y/N all cozy in the back. Nat gave her a cocky smile and said.

"I hope you don't get carsick. Or you'll see the bill getting deducted from your pay."

After Maria dropped Nat and Y/N at the compound, Dorothy miraculously decided that she had somewhere else to be at and left as soon as the car was parked in the garage.

"Thanks Maria." Y/N said as soon as the back of the lady was gone.

"It's not a problem Y/N. She needs to learn her place."

"Y/N." Nat held her hand and took her attention. "I have a surprise for you but I need to set it up in your room." She softly explained.

"Do you mind if you stay in my room until it's done? I've already moved the console to mine so you can hang there until I'm done?"

Y/N chuckled and nodded her head. "How long do you think you're going to take?" She whined when Nat dropped her off at her room.

"Two hours tops. But to see the actual surprise is still going to be a long time."

"Kiss." Y/N pucked her lips and requested for having to be alone for such a long time. Nat cupped her cheeks and compiled giving her a kiss until oxygen became a problem.

"I'll try to be quick."

With that, Nat retreated into Y/N's room and locked the door making sure no one could enter.

Y/N on the other hand, quickly grew bored of playing COD while waiting for the surprise to be revealed. She had played a few rounds of warzone but she couldn't concentrate as she kept thinking about what Nat was doing that would require her to take this long in her room.

Finally giving up on waiting, she went knocking on her door asking if Natasha was nearly finished. She was done with what she needed to do but she told Y/N could wait by the door as she was almost done. She just needed to do a bit of tinkering and adjusting to make everything right.

When Nat was done, she went to open the door not knowing Y/N was placing her forehead on the door. Y/N fell forward not expecting the sudden movement and failed to balance herself.

"Woah." Nat caught her before she fell face first to the floor.

"S-sorry." She steadied herself as Nat put her on her feet.

"It's alright. I like that you're falling for me." She teased. "Right. The surprise is ready but we have to wait until it's night to show you." She pulled Y/N to her bed and cuddled together while watching a movie to pass time.

"What did you do to my room?" Y/N looked around but was unable to see anything amiss. Nat had her lips sealed and refused to give anything away.

"Just be patient sweetheart."

---

Finally, after some nap and dinner, Nat was ready to reveal what she had done. Y/N sat on her bed as instructed and looked at Nat as she began connecting something to the projector. The curtain in her room was shut to prevent the moonlight from shining in.

"Okay, got it." Nat said and took a remote Y/N has never seen before. "I enlisted the help of Tony and Peter for this." She pressed a button on the remote and the projector displayed something against the curtain causing the lady to turn away and close her eyes.

"Hey hey, it's okay. It's not real, it's not going to do any harm to you. You can open your eyes." Nat reassured her girlfriend. Slowly, she peeled open her eyes and took in her surroundings. On the curtain, where the projector was shining was the scene of the night sky. The streets with the lights on and how the lights on the building showed the outline. Most importantly, she was able to see the moon hanging in the sky.

"Y/N..." The redhead was afraid that she did something wrong as she saw the tears streaming down on her face. Y/N lunged forward and tackled Nat into a hug.

"Thank you so much." Knowing that everything was alright, Nat ran her hand on Y/N's back to calm her down. "You have no idea who much this means to me."

"I'm not done yet." She revealed. Repositioning themselves so they were in a more comfortable position, Nat pressed another button to show another view. "This is the view from the top of the compound, earlier is the one right outside your window. Everything is happening in real time. I had Tony build it and Peter to install it on the wall of the compound."

"Nat... this is just perfect."

"Now you can enjoy the night view without any side effects."

[tinnieaus]

Purgatory AU ( tag Purgatory Dhmis AU)

(🔞⚠️Triggers ⚠️🔞 death, gore, child death, cult activities(sacrifices, rituals), suggestive, nsfw)

The Teachers, trapped souls. For one reason or another they were picked to endure a never ending loop of torture. They don't know if it's entertainment for some god or if it's a punishment. But they're here, and they can choose whether of not to try and keep themselves sane or give in.

Sketchpad (Paige), the oldest 'Teacher'

The longest stay in purgatory

has forgotten her name, her story, her age, and how she died

was alone for the longest time before Tony had arrived

shes a little unhinged, but still cares for those around her and has empathy

tries to help everyone else with their 'changes' knowing how traumatic it was going through it alone

friendly to everyone, only changes her tone why they're mean to her

Tony, the Leader

very much suffering 24/7

anxiety 24/7

holding on by a thread, thanks to sketch

closest to sketch, okay with colin, iffy about the rest, despises Shrignold

cries when overwhelmed

Shirgnold, the cultist

very unhinged

creepy and unsettling to the others

was already a bit crazy when he arrived, has just let himself go completely

does not give a crap about staying sane

seems to target Larry, Colin and fridge for some reason

Colin, the Nerd

very iritable and snappy with everyone

not handling anything well at all

will scream if someone tries to touch him

really freaked out by Shrignold

tolerates Tony and Sketch

cries when alone

Steve and spinach (Samantha), the father and daughter

very protective of his daughter

depressed and tired 24/7

gets along well with tony, fridge, sketch, and larry

not afraid to stab a bitch if they touch his kid

spinach is too young to understand what is happening

only talks and interacts with others when her dad is around

feels safe around her dad and fridge

really likes fridge

thinks Larry is cool

Fridge(Fredric) and bread boy(Bonnie), father and son

fridge is jumpy and on edge 24/7

sticks close to steve, feels comfortable to be around another parent

doesn't trust anyone but steve to be alone with BB

over-protective of BB

too terrified to kill anyone, but will fight if threated

One by one the unfortunate souls wake up in a brightly colored house. Each have no recollection of their name, their life story, their existence before now. They can remember just moment before their death, the emotions, the colors, shapes. Then the light they walked towards that inevitably brought them to where they reside now.

The doctors office

If a Teacher gets hurt for any reason, they can go to the Doctor. The dark room holds two beds, two cabinets and an unseen figure that stands outside the light of the bright lights pointed at the beds. Each teacher has visted at least once, for something small like a cut or cough, and something big, limbs torn off and on the brink of death. Even cold, seemingly dead body's can be brought to the Doctor and they'll walk out as if nothing happened. Whoever made this place knew violence would be prevalent and brought the best doctor on board.

The longer the teachers exist in the purgatory, the more cartoony they become. At some point they become completely 'cartoon' and can change into their 'object' form (aside from shrig, into his bugiffied form) but for everyone but Sketch are unable to do it. The transition from human to cartoon starts with simple things like clothes, appearing in the purgatory in a different set of clothes that hints to the person's cartoony end goal. The skin color changes, maybe some facial/structural changes that happen throughout the process, added limbs, loss of limbs, hair changing colors, eye color, height.

Rooms in the house

The rooms in the house seem to be made specially made for certain Teachers. Each Teacher has a room, decorated, set up, and painted specially for them. Each time a Teacher arrives, the hall upstairs gets bigger, longer and adds a new room. The hall is unusually long compared to the layout of the house. The rooms shift and break geometrical and logical rules as it changes to fit the souls living inside. None of the teachers are able to leave the house

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Sky Full of Stars - Chapter Twenty Six + Epilogue.

Well, besties, here we are at the end of Jade and Adrien's story. Big thanks to those who have stuck with me through it all, I cannot thank you enough for all your love! :)

Previous chapters - One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen Twenty Twenty One Twenty Two Twenty Three Twenty Four Twenty Five

Tag list - In the comments

Words - 5,157

Warnings - 18+ content throughout. Minors DNI!

No morning in Manhattan was ever quiet, New York truly being the city that never slept. One part of it was especially noisy, though, one bedroom in particular filled with the helpless moans and wails of a woman near out of her mind with pleasure.  

His cock sank in and out of the velvet wet of her cunt with slow, yet firm thrusts, his chest sliding against her back, her leg hooked under his arm as Jade saw in seven in the morning lying on her side, being fucked very thoroughly. There had been moments in her pregnancy where she’d swung between wanting to be on him all the time, and unable to bear being touched at all due to discomfort. Now, in the final days of it, all she wanted were sex and food.  

Being well laid and well fed were her number one priorities. Her husband had her covered on both counts.  

“Oh my god, oh fuck, that feels incredible!” she virtually growled, feeling his fingers massage in gentle rotation at her clit, his mouth hot in each kiss he peppered against her neck. It sparked golden through her, tingled her veins until they glowed alight, a ceaseless wave of pleasure that continued to lap over her until the crest finally rose, broke her shore and fell again. It left her shaking and fluttering around him as he filled her with cum, teeth gently crushing a bite on her shoulder with a soft groan.  

They dozed for a little while before getting up, taking a shower in turn before Jade went to order breakfast, wanting to hide in the warmth since December had brought with it a very bitter winter to Manhattan. Apparently, back at their house upstate they were already under a few feet of snow, the flurries in the city beginning to intensify more.  

While she loved their apartment, she did miss Stone Barn Castle, all of her animals, too. To be close to her chosen hospital ready to give birth, though, it meant a change of location for a couple of weeks. Little baby Brody had actually been due two days before, but was making his arrival into the world on his own terms, it seemed.  

Yes, they were parents to a boy, as they’d found out shortly after returning from Europe four and a half months ago. Maximus Patrick Steven Brody, as he was named, was definitely very comfortable where he was. His mother was not so content with that. So much so that she rarely left the apartment, her only visits being to see her doctor, and one coffee (herbal tea for her) date she’d been talked into by her good friend, Tony. Mr. Bourdain had greeted her with his usual comedy, standing to hug her and exclaim, ‘hey fatso!’, which had her laughing so hard, she’d nearly peed her pants. 

Apart from the discomfort, she loved being pregnant, not suffering much in the way of emotional outbursts any longer, but definitely still tickled beyond her control by anything comic. Case in point, sitting contentedly in the lounge after they’d eaten, Jade propped by many cushions and a heat pillow on her sore lower back, crying with laughter at a comedy special by British standup comedian named Gina Yashere. Jade had a natural gravitation to her fellow mouthy Londoners. 

“I swear, if you pee on the couch,” Adrien warned lightly, his stomach hurting at both the comedy stylings of Ms. Yashere and the utter hysterics of his wife, tears streaming down her face. “I love you, but not enough to clean up a piss puddle.” 

“I'm fine, it’s only a risk when he’s wedged his head on my bladder,” she gasped, falling apart again, holding her hand to her stomach as her laughter turned to a slight groan. “Oooh, ouch.”  

Eyebrows were raised. “General big belly discomfort, or do we finally have lift off?” 

“I don’t know, but that felt like a twinge,” she revealed, rubbing the swell of her bump, the slight discomfort passing fairly quickly. “I’m still hungry.”  

He couldn’t help but laugh. She’d just demolished a cheese omelette with four eggs, two slices of toast, hash browns and a side of steamed vegetables. He’d never seen her have an appetite like it, bar on the rare occasions she’d been stoned in the past. “Pickle chips?” 

Her eyes lit up. “There’s some left?” 

“I might have hidden a secret stash to prevent you from wailing when there’s none left,” he winked, getting up off the couch. 

“How very dare!” she shouted after him, just about able to reach and smack him on the butt, “I do not wail!” 

“Lies,” he called from the hallway, rooting around for the bag of Lays dill pickle chips he’d hidden in there in a box she wasn’t likely to go nosing in. “You’re a little snap dragon and you know it.” 

She supposed he had her there. Although emotional outbursts were few and far between, she did become a little panicked over the smallest of things. Case in point, her favourite chips not being in plentiful supply.  

“But I’m an adorable snap dragon,” she beamed, doing her best comic cutie voice. 

Leaning to her after passing the chips, he nuzzled her, kissing her forehead. “You got that right, Moo.” After demolishing most of the contents, she began to grow tired, Adrien taking the bag from her hand and wrapping her in a blanket, leaving her a note atop her bump to say he’d gone to the gym. Her afternoon naps sometimes lasted for anything up to three hours, so he had time to kill.  

True to form, he was there and back, showered and changed before she’d even woken up, Jade stretching as she yawned. “You’re in different clothes.” 

“Went to the gym,” he explained, stroking her thigh. “How was your nap?” 

“More like a small coma.” Her statement had him snort laughing as she shifted a little, rubbing beneath her bump. “I still feel a bit uncomfortable, not like usual discomfort either. Lots of pressure. I can’t be in labour, though. It’d be worse than this.” 

His shoulders dropped, letting out a small breath. Reaching for him, she smiled, stroking his cheek with her thumb. As her due date had neared, she’d noticed it, the fact he’d seemed nervous about the impending birth.  

Most might say he had nothing to fear from it, him not the one having to go through something so physically horrific as childbirth, but Jade knew him too well. That was exactly why he was nervous; knowing that she had to endure something so painful, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to take that away or make it better for her. He just had to sit there and spectate the love of his life as she went through the worst pain she’d likely ever be in.  

“It’ll be okay, you know,” she assured him, pulling him near to plant a kiss upon his lips. “Well, it’ll be hell and probably hurt more than I can even imagine, but just as long as you don’t pass out on me.” 

He had a thing about blood. “Yeah, I’ll be fine just as long as I don’t see anything south of your waist. I’ve no desire to watch him coming out. I’ll throw up or keel over. Plus, I really can’t deal with seeing the physical manifestation of you being in so much pain, but trust me, I will be right by your side the entire time.” 

“I understand, don’t worry. You were bad enough when Katie cut her hand open on the kitchen knife at that party a while back. Damn, Bug. You went so pale!” Laughing at the memory, she felt her abdomen tighten significantly, grimacing. “I think this might be it, you know. This feels like what I’ve learned to expect from a contraction.” 

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked, stroking the swell of her bump. 

“Not right now. Just being here is good enough, and holding my hand when I inevitably start panicking a bit,” she chuckled, shuffling to lean into his embrace. “It’ll be a while, too. First labours are always lengthy, as we were told.” 

Despite her vouch that she’d likely begin to panic eventually, Adrien had to marvel at her composure. And her natural knack to find comedy in any situation.  

“It’s odd, though. You and the blood thing, because you have no qualms about sex when I’ve got my period,” she mused, making him snort laugh.  

“Yeah, but that’s in the shower. Self-cleaning system,” he pointed out, grinning a little. “Plus you’re always so damned horny, if I didn’t nail you, you’d yell at me.” 

“Me? Yell?” she began, comically aghast. “You must have me confused with somebody else.” Wincing a little more, the tightness began to subside, Jade getting up with his help and having a little walk around. She’d read that it could help to stay gentle active, assisting in the baby moving down into the pelvis. It also made her sore back much more manageable. 

A few hours passed with little in the way of her discomfort becoming more frequent, even venturing out for a little fresh air and a tea at her favourite coffee shop in the West Village before slowly heading home.  

“Oh, fucking bloody blimey!” she exclaimed, resting a hand to her side as she chopped up salad vegetables to accompany the chicken they were having for dinner.. “Okay, that was way sharper than the rest.” Looking at her watch, a gorgeous Van Cleef timepiece she’d received from Adrien for her birthday that year, she breathed deeply, counting how long it lasted for. Twenty-eight seconds from start to finish, and her elevated pains had begun roughly nine hours ago. Things were progressing, albeit slowly, but she definitely thought this was the early onset of her labour. 

“Want me to help you back to the couch?” Adrien asked, flipping over the chicken breasts he was frying in the pan before him. 

“Nah, Bug. I’m good for now. Here, crack some of this onto the chicken. Always makes it taste better,” she spoke, handing him the truffle salt. Returning to her salad prep, she got that done and plated up, the dishwasher loaded and dinner ate before she felt the pain return, grumbling as she held Adrien’s hand and breathed deeply.  

“How is it now?” 

Muttering a few cusses, she leaned forward, soothed as he rubbed her lower back. “I feel like I have a little horse trying to exit my spine, and my stomach is really tight. Not bad other than that, though.” Not able to get comfortable on the couch, she went for a shower, feeling fresher, the heat working nicely for her pain as well. A few more hours passed, lying on her side with a heat pillow beneath her bump and Adrien’s warmth curled around her, unable to do much more than doze as her contractions steadily worsened in severity, but came no more frequently than every twenty minutes or so. 

Upon waking at 7am, Adrien saw his wife sitting up, stroking her bump as she focused on her laptop screen, watching Grey’s Anatomy since there was no TV present in the bedroom. 

“How long have you been awake?” he asked as she removed an ear bud, turning to him. 

“About an hour, but I didn’t sleep well prior, as you know.” He did indeed, surprised she’d slept at all, given her discomfort.  

Kissing her arm, he rubbed her belly, moving his head just beneath where the laptop was perched to kiss the swell. “Hey, you in there. Hurry this along, boy. Your mom isn’t happy, and we kinda really wanna meet you now, too.” 

She loved it whenever he talked to the baby, Jade smiling as she stroked his hair, her hand then gently flapping as she hissed, checking her watch. “Well, you must be fucking magical. Ouch, shit, ow, ow, ow!” she began, taking deep breaths. “That one was exactly fourteen minutes after the last, so it’s starting to speed up.” After almost twenty-four hours, she was glad of it, but the worsening pain was not welcome, even if the onset of her actually getting to meet her son was. 

After getting up, she showered and dressed with his help, her contractions gradually progressing to every ten minutes by midday, and then every five by late afternoon. This equalled time for them to travel to hospital. Once comfortable in her private room, checked out by a nurse before meeting Brielle, the midwife who would be delivering their baby. While the nurse had a much more stoic manner, Brielle was a complete breath of fresh air. 

“This is so, so surreal for me,” she explained, sitting on the side of the bed. “I love your music and now I get to deliver your baby!” The look of pure joy made a very uncomfortable Jade laugh, feeling reassured.  

Her own doctor who had overseen her pregnancy and been scheduled to deliver the baby was unfortunately unavailable after he’d become injured in a car accident, a dislocated shoulder and broken clavicle preventing him from being there. His replacement was an absolute delight, though. Professional without being too formal. “Okay so you’re five centimetres dilated, which is to be expected at this time. You could be in for a long wait on active labour, but I’ll keep coming in to check on you, as will the nurse.” 

In that tedious waiting time, they managed to find their own entertainment, counteracting their mutual mounting nerves.  

“You have to try this!” she spoke, giggling after taking another breath of the gas and air, handing it to Adrien. He duly accepted. 

“Woah!” Another huff was taken. “Damn, that’s good! That’s stronger than when you get nitrous at the dentist!” 

“Isn’t it?” she giggled, stroking his face. “And now you look high as fuck rather than freaked out. It’s a win, baby.” 

His phone began to ring in his pocket, Adrien groaning. “Oh god, it’s your mom. I can’t do this while I’m high!” His widened eyes had her cracking up. “Help me!" 

Those words only made her hysterics worse. “Put her on speaker, we’ll muddle through.”  

“Adrien! How are you? How’s my buba?” Gemma chirped, the man himself snorting with laughter.  

“He can’t talk right now, mum. He’s high as hell,” Jade laughed, watching her husband rest his head down on the side of the bed while holding his phone aloft.  

“He’s what?” the voice on the other end of the line boomed. “He’s about to become a father! This is no time for recreational nonsense!” 

“It’s gas and air, mommy,” Jade hissed, her own head spinning, “I told him to take a huff and now he’s all whacked out.” 

The disparaging sigh was audible. “You two are thirty-eight and forty-three years old. You should know better than this!” 

“Yeah, but what are you gonna do?” Adrien spoke, emerging once his laughter had subsided, feeling a little less woozy. 

An unimpressed snort sounded from his phone. “Don’t make me come down there.” 

“She will, too,” his wife spoke, grimacing. “Mommy, give me a minute. Contraction.” Grabbing Adrien’s free hand, she squeezed hard, growling softly. God, they were like someone was locking her entire midsection in a vice and tightening it fully. Some wincing, a few more huffs of the gas and she was able to speak, Adrien leaving her to it for a few minutes while he went to fetch a soda.  

“Oh, it’s so bloody boring, mum,” Jade lamented, her head spinning a little. “It’s apparently progressing as it should be, but it still feels slow. I’ve been here for four hours and haven’t dilated any further!” 

Gemma knew her eldest’s patience would wear thin fast. “I found a book helped, something I could get lost in and try and forget about the boredom and the pain,” she began, tidying up the lounge while she spoke. “I just finished a really good one by Zadie Smith if you want me to send daddy with it? He’s just taking a nap before going back in for his next surgery, but said he’d leave early so he can visit with you before he starts.” 

She agreed to it, although between the pain, fear and the gas, Jade didn’t know how much she’d be up for immersing herself in literature, if she was honest. Her mother always gave excellent advice, though, and she was prepared to at least give it a try, especially since it very much appeared that her son wouldn’t be arriving anytime soon.  

“Max, you’re making your mama very, very uncomfortable,” she spoke to her bump, stroking it while breathing her way through a contraction. “Ugh! This is torture!” 

“Well, if it counts for anything, I think you’re doing really well.” Adrien spoke, stroking her arm as he stretched his legs out. She was right, though. Apart from the excitement that their precious son was on his way into the world, awaiting that arrival was very tedious. Another few hours passed, and she was still no closer to active labour, but in the kind of pain that really began freaking her out. And him.  

“Are you sure you don’t want to go down the epidural route?” Brielle asked, after checking her over and confirming she was getting closer, now seven centimetres dilated.  

Jade grimaced, weighing it all up. “I do and I don’t. I’m bloody terrified of needles, and the thought of one going into my spine really spooks me,” she revealed, the midwife nodding with understanding. She wouldn’t be the first labouring woman to be put off by such, or the last. “I know I had piercings, but still, the piercer has had to hide the needle from me every single time so I haven’t freaked out. Ahh, shit. I don’t know. I really don’t.” 

Brielle could sympathise. Although she’d given many epidurals over her tenure in the profession, she knew that she herself wouldn’t relish in receiving it. “Well, from a medical standpoint I can say that if you feel you’re able to endure it, it would help of course with the anxiety you’re going through with the pain starting to really take a hold. However, you’ve mentioned that your back discomfort it getting worse, and I was going to suggest you perhaps consider kneeling for the active labour as this helps ease the pressure. With an epidural that wouldn’t be possible. It can also sometime prolong the active labour, too, since you’ll be completely numb and unable to use your muscles as normal to push.”  

She looked thoughtful for a few moments. “Think I’ll continue as I am.” Turning to Adrien, she stroked his face. “If I start cussing you out and telling you I’m never going to have sex with you again, just ignore me. You know me and pain don’t mix well.”  

He shook his head, taking her hand and kissing it. “Yell as much as you need to, baby love. If it makes you feel better, I can take it.”  

“You say this now.” Her widened eyes made him laugh, Brielle leaving them to it.  

He kissed her hand again, stroking her fingers. “I mean it, too. Ain’t me who’s gotta go through it, Moo. I’m fully expecting a tirade. And a broken hand.” He’d had words with himself, while she’d lay there agonising over her epidural. It wasn’t about him, or his own fears borne of an inability to make it better for her, what she was facing. Not panicking, being his usual calming influence was all he had to do.  

So, he did.  

In the end, Jade didn’t cuss him out, or tell him she was never having sex with him again, but god, how she screamed his eardrums to near perforation. Again. He didn’t give a damn either, that he was almost deaf in his right ear as he sat upon the edge of the bed with her kneeling behind him, her arms clutched tight around his shoulders as she squeezed his hands. He didn’t care that he felt like his knuckles were about to dislocate from the force of her grip.  

The only thing that mattered was her as for the hour of active labour, she did something that earned his respect a thousand times over, hiding his fear from her entirely as she showed more bravery and courage than he’d ever witnessed. Finally, at 2:04am, her efforts were paid off in the sound of their son’s cries filling the room.  

Two had become three.  

Epilogue 

Serenity. It hadn’t been a word Adrien would have expected to use, but the energy within their apartment was exactly that. At two days old, Max was of course making his presence known, but the baby was soothed very easily when he fussed. He would be placated at his mother’s breast, or lying contentedly upon his father’s chest, his cries ceasing once they’d understood what it was he was communicating that he wanted.  

His hold me, I’m hungry, or I just filled my diaper wails all sounded slightly different. The first was accompanied by a lot of disgruntled snuffling, the second was all out, tiny person rage, and the third more of a grumbled cry than the full-on dramatics of the former. At five in the morning on his second day at home, the noise coming from his crib was definitely hunger, Jade rising to pick him up and carry him back to the warmth of their bed, settling on her side to feed him as he lay between her and his daddy.  

“I know I’m biased, but he’s so cute,” Adrien spoke, turning to stroke Max’s little puffy cheek as he fed. “And he’s so good, too. As soon as we know what he wants, he gets it and he’s quiet again.” 

“He’s like his dad, very unfussy. All of this will be subject to the ultimate test, though. When he’s old enough to have keys and can’t find them.” She winked, and it had him laughing softly though his nose, knowing what a nightmare he could be while under the duress of misplacing an item.  

Adrien raised an eyebrow, and a middle finger, laughing quietly eventually. “Yeah, alright. Guess I have to take that one.” 

“Or when a plan changes at short notice.” 

“Okay, Burtie! That’s enough haranguing of your husband.” he spoke, reaching to gently flick her arm as she chuckled, her eyes flitting down to their baby. She had taken to motherhood like a duck to water, something Adrien had very much expected. Seeing how she was with their animals had always clued him in to her deeply maternal nature, the way she liked to look after something, or someone.  

Her caring side was completely unsurpassed. He’d never forget years ago when a young fan had been waiting in hope to meet them at the backstage doors one afternoon, Jade picking up immediately that the young girl looked like she’d been crying. She’d crouched before her and held her hands as the young fan had recounted the ordeal of having her bag stolen, no phone, no wallet, her only saving grace being that she’d had her passport and plane ticket back to Ireland stashed in her jacket.  

His wife had gone above and beyond, calling the hotel she was staying at and paying for her room on her own card before giving her two hundred pounds in cash so she had enough money for necessities before going home. That girl was Saoirse, a promising art student who now worked in merchandising for the band, designing every single piece of apparel sold on Seventh Gate’s online store.  

Once Max was fed, Jade put him back down, she and Adrein grabbing another precious hour of sleep before they were alerted by his cries again, this time a full diaper needing disposing of. While Jade sorted him, Adrien went and made them breakfast, yawning as he did. And the broken sleep would only get worse, but his baby was worth every ounce of slumber deprivation. 

While Jade showered, he held him on his legs while watching the morning news, Max snoozing, his adoring father beaming at him. He’d never seen anything so precious, and he was his. Later that morning, a couple of others more than agreed with that too. 

“Oh my god, homeslice!” Jen gasped, holding out her arms. “Gimme him, I gotta get a good munch in!” Adrien placed him carefully into her arms, Jade beaming from where she sat in the armchair adjacent as she watched her best friend cradle her son for the first time. “Hi, tiny person! You’re super, hella cute, man! I ain’t biased at all either, some babies come out looking all busted up, but not you! God damn, he’s beautiful!” 

“Hey now, don’t you be changing yer mind here, Jennifer!” Nick warned, waving a finger at his wife. “Just because he’s cute does’nae mean we should have one!” 

She laughed softly, gently stroking Max’s ear with her fingernail. “Nah, I’m good playing auntie. I’ll leave the tingly ovaries to the other girls, man.” And boy, when Charlotte, Katie and Jess met him over the coming days, they experienced just that. It was a constant stream of joy for them both, watching their loved ones meeting their little baby for the first time, Patrick especially as he rocked his grandson in his arms. 

“Now, little one. This painting right here is a Beksinski, your mother’s preferred choice. I cannot say I care too much for him, but John Williams Waterhouse, I shall educate you in. As well as the more standard grandpa things. We’re going to go to a dreadful place called Coney Island, yes! Cotton candy and fairground rides ran by the great unwashed. We will fill our bellies with soda and corndogs, and in doing so I shall probably enjoy such an escapade much more than I will ever let on. Yes I will, young man. Mmhmm.” 

He made good on his promise, too, when Max was old enough to appreciate it and the family returned to the city to visit their parents. Four years sped past in the blink of an eye, two thousand and twenty rolling around and bringing with it one of the biggest life changing events to hit the entire world, the Covid-19 pandemic spreading like wildfire.  

Jade, Adrien and Max were in England when it hit badly, the eventual closing of the borders meaning they spend the best part of that year at their home in Buckinghamshire. It was the home they’d spent the least amount of time in out of their three, and while they missed Cleveland, it was good to settle in the English countryside for a few months. It was also the home they welcomed their second and third children in, Jade giving birth in March to twin girls they named Harri and Henri. 

Both had wondered when the twin gene that ran through Gemma’s side would land upon them.  The girls brought further joy into their lives, as well as a lot of energy and noise. So much noise. Harri was the quieter of the two, a very contemplative child, while Henri... well... there was a reason why as she grew up, they nicknamed her Louise, after the character Louise Belcher in the animated series Bob’s Burgers. She was pure chaos.  

“Dad! Can we gallop, can we?”  

Why? Why had he decided to take her with him as he rode Saxon over the fields of their Cleveland abode, his high-energy five-year-old squirming as she sat at the front of the saddle.  

“No, honey. I can’t control a horse at that pace and make sure you don’t fall off,” he spoke, being met with a huge frown. 

“But why? It’ll be lit!”  

He could kill Jen for teaching her as much slang as she could remember. “Ain’t happening, Henri.” 

She was thoughtful for a few moments. “I know, I know! We go back, grab mom’s snowboard, attach a rope to Saxon and then I can ski along behind you! That’ll be awesome, we have to do it!”  

“No, it won’t,” he spoke. More wiggling and shouting followed. 

“But why?” 

Yes, she had definitely entered her why years. Why this, why that, and then a little more why sprinkled on top of that. Most days, she made him feel much older than his fifty-one years. If he even let her do half of her madcap suggestions, he wagered he’d feel even older still.  

“Because it’s dangerous,” he advised. 

“I live for the danger, dad!” 

He shouldn’t have laughed, but he did. “Don’t I know it, kid.”  

They turned back after a further half hour, riding onto the sun filled yard, the summer in full bloom. Jumping down from Saxon, one of their staff who worked on the yard took him from Adrien, Henri running off to where her sister was busy feeding the large group of ducks milling around at the top. Yes, thanks to Jade, Stone Barn Castle had practically been restored to a farm once again, more stables built, a few more horses within them, ducks present. They even had a small goat herd.  

Heading into the house, he saw his wife and son in the kitchen, Max helping his mother make the huge bowl of guacamole that would go with their chili later that evening. Jade had been all set to go and buy some fresh fish, but as usual, the children had different ideas. They often got their own way when it came to their mom’s chili. She did happen to make it very, very well.  

They ate outside that evening, Jade and Adrien relaxing on the outdoor couch with a glass of wine each as they watched their kids playing in the fading sun.  

“Henri!” she called, pointing. “What have I told you? No weaponizing chickens against your sister! Put her down!” 

“It’s an assault by leghorn!” the child cried, the hen eventually being placed back down to scurry off to where the others pecked contentedly at the grass. 

Adrien chuckled, winding an arm around his shoulders. “She reminds me of you when you’re drunk.” He received an elbow to his side, laughing more, kissing her head. “Wouldn’t have her any other way, though.” 

“The volume is a bit much as times, but no. Neither would I.” Looking out at her beloved babies, she smiled with pure contentment. “Wouldn’t have anything any other way.”  

And neither would he. Fifteen years before, he’d begrudged being dragged along by Lewis to that open air music festival. If only the younger man in the crowd could have possibly known all that would come from one beautiful woman screaming in his face. He’d have never believed it, but he knew he wouldn’t change any of it at all. 

The End.  

[runariya]

Oh geez that ending! I really thought that she would pack up her stuff and leave after the pregnancy announcement. But she didn't. And now here I am expecting her to really pack up and go after that ending. From her point of view, when has she had enough? When does she throw in the towel and just leave? At this point, she's just torturing herself. Although maybe that's what she wants to repent for breaking heart. Maybe it's her way to get confirmation that she wasn't good enough for him and was right for leaving him.

These two are the definition of misunderstanding. Everything they do is a misunderstanding towards each other. They're both gonna feel so dumb when they find out the truth. OC moreso I think, but we don't know what JK is thinking at all.

And why the hell would he even think about going off to lunch with those two young girls and leave OC behind? She totally did the right thing by leaving. And what was the group trying to hide from OC and JK. They are trying to match make, I can feel it. Too bad it's not working because OC keeps thinking JK is making googly eyes at Hara.

I still don't think Hara is carrying JK's kid. She's way too nice to OC, especially after finding out she's his ex. It just doesn't add up. Who is the dad? I have no idea. I actually wonder if it's none of them. Maybe she got knocked up by some random guy that doesn't want anything to do with the kid, so the guys are gonna help her raise it. I really do think she's family to one of the guys.

And the song at the end. If JK was trying to sing it to OC, why was he looking at Hara? And why was he looking at OC constantly while she was at the bar? This is the first chapter where he's really acted so dumb. For a change I wanted to strangle him, and not OC. Progress I guess!

I cannot wait to see what happens when they finally sit down for "the talk". It's either going to be a crying fest or it's going to be a screaming fest. I'm still deciding which one I think it's going to be. The way the emotion and tension is just building and building, I feel like it's going to be a screaming fest. They have so much anger and pain to get off their chests towards each other, I can't imagine them not yelling at each other to get their feelings across. Either way the talk is going to be explosive, and then they'll both feel stupid for their actions when they realize the truth.

Also, loved the nod to Shot Glass of Tears. I liked the line you had in there.

she's def trying to leave but ate she's under the influence and well, tony's still out of petrol lol I think deep down she's just thinking she deserves all this and lets it rain down on her. I just hope someone will put an end to this before it's too late...

i don't think she'll feel more dumb, just bc jk didn't see it properly and will surely take the blame for her suffering, just bc he's the protective and helpful type

jk just didn't think much of it (sora+minji), just wanted to catch up with them but with oc around (typical man ig), that's why he didn't go alone but followed her

would hara rly get knocked up by some random guy? would she even be the type for that?

and was jk rly looking at hara while singing? again, we're only seeing oc's pov, which, at this exact moment, was hazy due to her being smashed (she rly needs to cut off the alcohol smh)

i'm not commenting on "the talk" scene and how it'll go down bc what's the fun in that? lol

thanks for your ask Erica! love you lots 💕

[sjsmith56]

Meeting of the Minds - Chapter 20, Lord Buchanan

Summary: As the guests arrive at Lord Buchanan’s castle, Bruce encounters the Sorceress who is able to restore him to his human form, with the warning that she can’t guarantee if it will last. After an evening spent discussing what can be done to save their world the group go out to the suspected missile silo, where Bruce finds the proof of what happened to turn this world back in time.

Length: 4.4 K

Characters: Lord and Lady Buchanan, King Steven and Queen Peg, King Thorn, Dr. Foster, Bruce Banner, the Sorceress, Lord and Lady Stark.

Warnings: Suspend your disbelief as it’s a work of fiction. References to the multiverse, Tony Stark’s death against Thanos, Banner’s fear of losing control.

Author’s notes: The Sorceress makes reference to the multiverse affecting this universe and changing its timeline. She is a version of Wanda that is very invested in this universe and although her presence isn’t always there, her influence is. It will become obvious that she is doing much to try and save this world from being destroyed.

<<Chapter 19

🏰 👑

Bruce the Giant soon arrived, leading his two cows and bull by ropes.  They followed him meekly enough and Buchanan wondered as they arrived in the North courtyard if it was just a matter of getting an animal used to the presence of the Giant for them to get over their fear of him.  Ileana and Rhodes stood with him as Bruce arrived, surprising her with his size.  She showed no fear of him and touched his hand with hers when they were introduced.

"Bruce, I hope that you are a frequent visitor to our estate," she said.  "My Lord has told me much about you and the discovery you are from a modern world was a welcome surprise.  You are the only man that we know of from a modern world."

"Lady Buchanan," he nodded his head in greeting.  "More than one modern world from the sounds of it.  I don't exist in your world yet you don't seem afraid of my appearance."

"That's because my husband prepared me," she smiled.  "So far as I know, none of the other women here are from the same world yet you and Dr. Foster are.  There has to be a reason behind it."

"Hello to you Commander Rhodes," said Bruce, acknowledging that man.  "I knew your equivalent in my world as well.  He was a Colonel and was able to fly across the sky in a metal flying suit.  Like you he was an honourable man."

"Thank you, Giant," said Rhodes then he smiled.  "I would love to fly like a bird.  Perhaps you recall how such a suit was built?"

"No, that was Tony Stark's invention," smiled Bruce.

Both Rhodes and Buchanan started at the mention of Stark and Bruce noticed their reaction.  "Is there a Tony Stark in this world?"

"Aye, there is," said Buchanan.  "I should have invited him.  It's not too late.  Excuse me while I seek out the falconer."

Rhodes and Buchanan left while Ileana escorted Bruce to his quarters.  She noted that her husband had ordered the making of fine clothes for him should he wish to wear them.  As they walked through the castle he invited some looks but most of the staff had become used to him when he helped them fend off the attacks of Lord Pierce and his men.  They passed the room of the older Barnes and Ileana told him of the setback suffered the previous day.

"I am sorry to hear that," he said, then to her he lowered his voice.  "You know it is a form of dementia.  He won't get better."

"I know," she said.  "My grandmother suffered from it.  James loves him so much and it hurts him to see his father this way.  He is thinking of asking the Sorceress to look into his father's mind to ease some of the symptoms."

"Perhaps she can look into my mind and give me the ability to turn back into a regular man," he replied.  "I once was a normal man until my experiments turned me into a raging version of what you see now.  I was able to combine the two but when I was dropped here the raging version came out and I am more like him than I am comfortable with."

"You can ask her," said Ileana.  "She is coming with the King.  They will be here soon.  Here is your room, Bruce.  Tell me, how long have you been here?  What year was it in your timeline that you split and ended up here?"

"I've been here ten years," said Bruce.  "It was 2024 when I was last in my world.  What do you mean by split?  Am I still in my world?"

"You may be," she replied.  "Apparently I am although I am in a coma.  Dr. Foster's counterpart disappeared in the Snap.  Whatever that was.  The Sorceress can tell you."

Bruce the Giant watched her leave before he entered his room, thinking it strange to hear of the Snap in this world and that Jane Foster disappeared before he did, yet he ended up here sooner.  Someday, he would turn his attention to figuring out the physics of the wormholes or portals that brought the modern people here.  He smiled at the large, reinforced bed and furniture.  Then he saw the door to his dressing room, finding a large bathtub already full of hot water.  Hanging nearby was new clothing and he picked it up, admiring the quality.  Buchanan had gone out of his way to make sure he felt like an honoured guest.  He took his breeches and tunic off, then slid into the water revelling in its warmth.  How long since he had a proper bath?  Too long, he answered to himself.  If this Sorceress could return him to normal he would be much more useful in the scientific work to come.  Perhaps he could even live amongst men again.  Certainly, he could live here with Buchanan, who had never been afraid of him in his altered state.  It was something to consider and Bruce Banner thought of the possibilities as he enjoyed his bath.

After leaving the Giant, Ileana sought out Mary to prepare another room for Lord and Lady Stark.  She was sure the inquisitive mind of Stark's would want to be here and if his presence excited Bruce then much could be discussed.  Her next stop was the kitchen to tell Cook about the addition of more people.  The first thing she noticed were the young women were now wearing leather breeches as they stirred the sauces over the wood fire.  She smiled at how quickly James had given his permission.  Cook came out of the larder and beamed at her.

"It was barely an hour later when the tanner dropped off the softened leathers," she said.  "The seamstress had the pattern from your breeches and even made them undergarments to protect their lady parts from chafing.  The girls tell me they are most comfortable and freeing.  We may have started something, M'Lady."

"Many changes are coming, Cook," said Ileana.  "There may be two more for meals.  I hope that you can accommodate them."

"I always make more," she said.  "The leftovers usually go to the poor seeking alms but even then I have more than enough left to feed the castle dogs with the scraps.  We will have plenty for everyone."

"How many poor need our food to live?" asked Ileana.  "Are there many?"

"About a dozen," replied the cook.  "Some have lost a limb to accident or disease.  Some are troubled in mind and spirit.  They don't go hungry but I don't think they have a place to sleep in."

"I will speak to My Lord about it," said Ileana.  "Surely, we have the means to help them."

Cook nodded her head to Ileana and watched as she left.  Lord Buchanan had chosen well when he married her as she was very much of the same mind as him.  There had been dozens of poor begging at their door when he was made Lord and he had helped many.  These remaining dozen had persisted in their misfortune not for any lack of trying.  Perhaps a new approach could help.  The tell tale sound of a pot overflowing beckoned to her and she rushed to it stirring it down.  

As Ileana went up the stairs to the main floor of the castle a servant came down, advising that the King and Queen's arrival was imminent.  Quickly she made her way out to the courtyard where her husband already waited. 

"Everything ready?" he asked quickly.  "I await Lord Stark's reply but he shouldn't take long.  A messenger hawk only takes a half hour to get to his castle."

"Yes, My Lord, everything is ready for them," she said.  "Mary has assigned their dressers and they await in their dressing rooms to assist them out of their travelling clothes.  I left Bruce in his room.  Both Mary and Cook have been told to expect two more."

The King's entourage arrived, consisting of him and the Queen, King Thorn, Dr. Foster, the Sorceress, four Queen's Guard and four King's Guard.  Rhodes, who stood behind them, stepped up and whispered that he could accommodate all the guards easily in the garrison.  Buchanan acknowledged it.  When the group reached him, he bowed and Ileana curtsied.  The King dismounted and helped the Queen down, as King Thorn did for himself and Dr. Foster.  Buchanan offered his arm to the Sorceress which she accepted.

"What, no Giant to greet us?" joked the King.

"His presence upsets the horses," said Buchanan, "otherwise he would have surely been here.  He will meet us in the reception area inside.  I have taken the liberty of sending an invitation to Lord and Lady Stark.  Bruce has indicated he knew a Tony Stark in his world and that his scientific mind was of great service."

"He knew the counterparts of both Kings as well," said Dr. Foster, "and the Sorceress if I'm not mistaken.  I'm looking forward to seeing him."

"As am I," said the Sorceress.  "I can already feel his mind and it is full of questions for me."  She put her head close to Buchanan's ears.  "There is little I can do for your father, I'm afraid.  I can ease his fears but his condition is not one that will get better."

"I expected as much but anything you can do will be appreciated, thank you," said Buchanan.

The King offered his arm to Lady Ileana as Lord Buchanan did to the Queen and they entered the castle.  Buchanan's servants were already aligned in the entry way and bowed or curtsied before both Kings.  They made their way to the reception hall where Bruce the Giant stood waiting in his new clothes.  He seemed unsure of himself but he did bow nervously then looked sharply at both the Kings and at the Sorceress.

"You recognize us, Giant," said King Steven.  "Am I friend or foe?"

"Friend, a good friend," said Bruce.  "It's a little disconcerting to see you as a king, and King Thorn.  We were warriors together on another planet for a time.  Sorceress, you are as beautiful as you were in my world, and just as gifted from what I hear.  Dr. Foster, at last we meet."

"Dr. Banner," she said, coming forward, extending her hand.  "I'm so glad you're here.  It doesn't seem as impossible now that I know I can count on collaborating with you."

Servants appeared to escort the newcomers to their rooms to freshen up and they left.  At the same time the falconer arrived to say Lord Stark had sent a messenger hawk to say he and his Lady were on their way.  Ileana and Buchanan looked at Bruce.

"Looks like everyone wants to meet with you," said Ileana.  "All this time you hid in your hut and they didn't know of your knowledge and intellect.  But, perhaps this is your time to shine."

"I think tomorrow we should go see that missile silo," said Bruce.  "If that's what it is.  Regardless, there should be some modern technology in there we can use or adapt."

Bruce stayed in the reception room and walked around, looking out the windows and examining the tapestries.  He became aware he was being watched and turned to see the Sorceress observing him.  He bowed to her and she smiled then came forward.

"You need not fear me," she said.  "I see your human self in you and even though your green beast is fearsome in look and manner his heart is pure and I do not fear him.  Would you want the ability to shift back to your human self while we search for answers to the possible destruction of our world?"

"Is it possible for you to give me that ability?" he asked.  "I had it, once upon a time, but didn't have good control of it.   That's why I combined the two but I found since I came here my control is uncertain.  I think my scientific mind is of more importance in this than the Hulk's strength."

"I believe it is possible," she said with caution.  "However, it may be likely that your Hulk will be with you forever.  I can try it now."

"Perhaps in a less public space," said Bruce.  "My clothing is Hulk sized at the moment."

The Sorceress laughed her musical laugh.  "I can adjust that," she said. 

He nodded and nervously waited.  She motioned for him to lower his head, placing her soft cool hands on his forehead and temples. 

"Educ hominem. Bestiam cela," she said.

"Bring out the man.  Hide the beast," repeated Bruce.  "As simple as that?"

"You know the language of incantations?" she said, impressed.  "Do you feel different?"

Slowly his being transformed from a large green beast to a shorter man with grey hair.  As he watched his hands transform along with his clothes a smile crossed his face.  The sorceress conjured a mirror out of the air and held it in front of him.  He looked and shook his head.

"I can't believe that worked," he said.  "How long will it last?"

"I don't know," she replied.  "Your counterpart in your modern world is also back to being a man but I believe he found a way to control the change.  It is unsure because that world is undergoing an assault from other worlds, other universes.  It is starting to affect things here also.  We may not have as much time as I had thought."

The news that he still existed in the other world barely registered before King Thorn and Jane Foster arrived. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the human Bruce Banner.

"It worked!" she exclaimed.  "The Sorceress said she would try to change you back and it worked.  I'm so pleased.  How do you feel?"

"Strange as it's been about 10 years as the Hulk," he said.  "But probably better able to work with you and anyone else. 

The King and Queen, Buchanan and Ileana arrived next and were surprised to see Bruce already transformed into his human shape.  Buchanan stuck his hand out to shake Bruce's hand.

"You're much shorter as a human," he said, smiling.  "But you have a pleasant countenance.  I guess we won't need that reinforced chair for you at dinner."

"I guess not but I appreciate the effort," said Bruce.  "I'll need some normal sized clothes, if you don't mind.  The Sorceress shrunk these."

A servant announced the arrival of Lord and Lady Stark.  He was disappointed not to meet Bruce the Giant but surprisingly Lady Stark recognized Bruce as Dr. Bruce Banner in her world.

"You know me, Madam?" asked Bruce.  "In my world you are Pepper Stark, widow of Tony Stark, inventor, and the man who saved our world from Thanos, a madman."

"I'm not alive in your world?" asked Lord Stark, not happy at the news.  "But I was a hero?"

"You were," said Bruce.  "A genius and a hero who gave his life to save the world, willingly."

"Well, this Stark is a genius," said Lady Stark.  "In my world you are also a genius and if I'm not correct, I believe you, Dr. Foster, are also up there at a genius level.  Surely, the three of you can come up with something."

"Well, we need an observatory with a Newtonian telescope," said Bruce.  "It doesn't have to be large, just large enough.  Maybe 20 inch main mirror.  There are opticians here although it may be stretching their capabilities to grind out a large primary and secondary mirror.  Certainly the eyepieces will be within their abilities."

"Not to mention a vacuum chamber to apply the silvering," said Jane.  "Or a drive to track the asteroid."

Lord Stark looked at both of them with eagerness.  "Can you draw pictures or give me a detailed description of these things you mentioned?" he asked.  "I'm very interested in trying."

"After dinner," said King Steven and King Thorn at the same time. 

They both laughed and put their hands out to their ladies.  Buchanan and Stark did the same.  Bruce looked at the Sorceress and offered her his arm, feeling a little overwhelmed at the novelty of being a regular man again.  She took it and the group moved to the dining hall where Buchanan had the oversized chair removed and a normal one put in its place.  The meal proved to be a lively affair with much conversation between the modern world people on the things they had left behind and the conveniences they missed. 

When coffee was served at the end of the meal they all agreed it was a drink that would forever be in their world.  In many ways coffee had helped them with their relations with the outlanders as it grew in their southern lands, or was acquired through trade with other lands even further south.  Trade agreements were being arranged to bring coffee and other food goods into their northern lands in exchange for precious metals. 

"King Thorn, what came of your expedition to the coast to check the breakwater?" asked Buchanan.

"It was destroyed," said Thorn.  "Completely in pieces.  The Sorceress used her abilities and determined it was a tidal wave that destroyed it."

"A tsunami?" said Bruce.  "That's not good.  What would cause a tsunami in these parts?"

She looked at King Steven and King Thorn for permission to speak.  They both nodded.  "It was a precursor to the rock that comes towards us," she explained.  "The world that Bruce Banner and Jane Foster come from is undergoing an assault from other universes.  Like ripples in the water the assaults are affecting our universe and it sent a much smaller version of the asteroid to our world.  It hit the ocean a far distance from here but it sent out a destructive wave that destroyed the breakwater.  At least the structure protected us from any further damage.  Several of the outlander kingdoms were also affected by it.  It is why they are so eager now to set up trade agreements with us, to rebuild their coastal cities."

"The asteroid that threatens us," said Buchanan, "it's been affected as well, hasn't it?"

The Sorceress nodded.  "We had several years before.  Now we have less time," she said.  "My future seeing is unsure as to when.  That is why we must meet sooner than the time originally given.  We must go see the structure found on your lands, Lord Buchanan.  If it is one of those missile silos then we need to learn how to control the weapon inside.  It may be our only chance to destroy the rock that threatens us all."

They retired from the dining hall to the large Library where Bruce, Jane and Lord Stark used pencil and paper to draw a Newtonian telescope and the principles behind it.  As they did so the delight and excitement on Stark's face was evident.   When they described a vacuum chamber which would be needed to distribute silver in an even blanket over the mirror surface Stark again reacted with glee.

"What wonderful ideas," he said.  "I can begin work on these immediately upon my return to my estate.  Giant, sorry Dr. Banner, would you come back with me so that we could exchange ideas and work together on this?  I feel I have found a kindred spirit in you.  Buchanan, you must come also.  It is time I showed off my laboratory to you.  Dr. Foster, surely King Thorn can do without you for a short time.  I know your marriage is imminent but we need your mind on this."

She looked back at Thorn and he nodded indulgently.  The marriage could happen anytime.  The work to save their world needed to happen now.   As the three of them continued talking and planning the others visited for a time then excused themselves to bed.  Buchanan and Ileana walked to their rooms and gratefully accepted the help of Beth and Tom in disrobing, apologizing for the lateness of their efforts.  They lay in bed not feeling the urge to couple and spoke quietly about all that had happened that day.

"When we ride out to the structure I'm sure we will get some answers," said Buchanan.  "I, for one, look forward to climbing down into it."

Ileana had a thought.  "James, I won't be coming with you," she said.  "If there is a missile in there you must be careful.  Open the lid, let it air out before you climb into it.  Let Bruce and Jane guide you.  Those missiles have fuel in them which could be toxic to you.  They are definitely toxic to the baby."

"Surely there would be evidence of harm," he replied.  "We would see the substance that came out of there."

"There are somethings which are invisible," said Ileana.  "Like radiation.  Noxious fumes aren't always visible.  Listen to Bruce on this, as he will know.  Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise," he said, holding her closer. 

In the morning, after breakfast, which Stark wanted to have in the kitchen so he could visit with Cook again, the entourage met in the courtyard.  Like Ileana, Queen Peg chose to stay behind, unsure if the structure would be safe enough for her liking.  She and Ileana both had plans to change into their breeches and engage in some training with the Queen's Guard soldiers who had accompanied her and King Steven to the Buchanan's estate.

The rest of the group, with the King's Guard accompanying them rode out to Farmer Patrick's lands where he and his sons had succeeded in uncovering the top of the structure.  The farmer was ecstatic at the arrival of two Kings, and two Lords at his farm.  Even the fine ladies wearing breeches were different from his normal day.  He and his sons wore their best clothes and were thrilled to be acknowledged by King Steven.  Both Bruce and Jane had considered the possibility of the site being contaminated with either fuel fumes or radiation.  Since the Hulk was impervious to most things that would harm ordinary humans and would likely reappear if anything was there Bruce decided to take the risk on his own.  He stripped out of his clothes down to a plain tunic and breeches.  Farmer Patrick's sons lifted back the metal lid and everyone stepped back.  After a few minutes of Bruce climbing down the ladder he looked through an access door and saw the tell tale nose cone of a missile. 

"There's a missile in there," he yelled.  "About twenty feet down.  It will take me some time to get to the bottom or to a control room.  Of course, if you're still waiting in an hour you can assume I'm dead."

He stepped back onto the ladder and kept climbing down.  He looked up at one point and saw their heads looking down at him.  As his eyes grew accustomed to the dimmer light he sniffed the air but didn't smell any fumes.  He finally reached a level that had rooms on it and entered.  There was a switch that said lights and he pulled it.  Nothing happened then he heard the sound of a generator starting somewhere and suddenly all the lights came on.  There were a couple of bodies on the floor, mummified from the long entombment.  By his estimate they had been there for maybe several hundred years.  There was a newspaper beside one of them; the New York Times, dated January 11, 2031.  He kept exploring, entering an office where a desiccated body in a military uniform was sitting on a chair.  There was a hole in its skull and a gun on the floor.

"Took the easy way out," he said to himself, then saw a paper on the desk with writing on it.

Gently he pulled it off the desk and read it.

To Whom It May Concern,

In the end it wasn't our enemies who killed us, it was nature.  An asteroid made of non-reflective materials, approached Earth unseen and slammed into us one morning.  January 12, 2031.  Of course, at first, the powers that be said it was the Russians, or the Chinese, or some unknown terrorist group.  But it wasn't.  There are survivors but I won't be one of them.  Because I failed to protect my country from attack I've made the decision to pay with my own life.  I pray my wife, children, and grandchildren didn't survive the cataclysm.  Survival will be difficult, if not impossible.  God help them.

General Robert Thomas Lowell

United States Air Force

January 15, 2031

Bruce sighed.  An asteroid hit.  That is what turned this world into what it was now.  He left the office, exploring the hallways until he found the control room.  Seeing a mike connected to an intercom he clicked the button to turn the system on.  A hum that he hadn't heard in a long time began and he clicked the switch to make the mike live.

"This is Bruce Banner," he said.  "I'm assuming you can hear me from speakers in the silo.  It's safe to come down.  There are some answers here.  I'm on the first level."

He was joined a few minutes later by the others, sharing the letter.  Lady Stark and Jane Foster both looked at the control room, never expecting to see its like again.  The others, from this world, looked in wonder at the furnishings and controls.  Bruce had to warn them not to touch anything. 

"I don't know how long ago this happened," he said.  "But what threatens this world is what destroyed theirs.  These are your ancestors and they didn't expect anyone to survive.  But some did because you're here today.  I say we explore the rest of the complex, find out what we can then meet back at Buchanan's castle."

He formed three groups with a modern person with each group and they spread out, went down stairwells to other levels, in a search for information.  Their survival depended on it.

Chapter 21>>

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