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happypopcornprincess · 4 months ago

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Under the Same Sky

Pairings - Joaquin Torres X fem!Reader (TFATWS AU)

Premise - You have your heart guarded for the longest time. But when you encounter a stranger on the same mission, will you be able to do the same?

Word Count - 4.5K

Warnings: Some strong language, references to Pop Culture, allusions to SMUT

a/n - I wrote this while I was falling in love with someone. This one is for everyone who ever fell in love, hope you guys have a happy ending that you truly deserve <3

Click here for Part 2

“I swear to God Barnes, if this is some kind of dipshit prank you are playing on me, I’ll give your number to that sweet server lady from Yori’s Japanese place and record your introverted ass trying to strike a conversation.” You grumbled into your phone as you locked your door and walked down the stairs of yours (and Buck’s) apartment building.

After making you spill your morning coffee over the couch while telling you about him evading the country, breaking Helmunt Zemo out from prison, going to Madripor and Karli threatening Sam’s family, he had the goddamn audacity to ask for your help with the entire situation.

You were, of course, rushing to Louisiana for Sarah and the kids, because afterwards you get to murder him in cold blood.

“If this wasn’t for Sam’s family in danger, I would not have asked for you. And by the way, I am not an introvert. That’s you. Now hurry up, my guy’s waiting.” his annoyingly calm voice spoke through the phone.

“Is your guy about to be a wrinkly old pervert trying to get high by speed walking?” you almost screamed, reaching the ground floor and pulling open the back door towards the alleyway. The chill air makes you shiver a bit, and you find yourself colliding with a person, “oof” you hear a muffled sound coming from him.

“I’m so sorry- I-“ you began to explain yourself, but the other person spoke up first, “y/n?”

Your hand hovered over the concealed weapon on your waist, “uh, yeah?” you murmur, taking a step back in caution wondering how he knew your name.

“Yeah, I found her.” He speaks into his cell and cuts the call.

Dressed in casual clothes, he held a duffle bag in one hand, his eyebrows raised as he was looking at you. He smiled, waved at you, and Bucky spoke into your ear, “found my guy?”

“This is your guy?” you said pointing at him.

Bucky only laughed, “meet us in Louisiana. Take care y/n.” he cuts the call. Bucky’s guy was not a wrinkly old pervert, but this insanely good-looking man with great posture and a warm smile.

And to your horror, he was hot.

His warm, sun-kissed complexion hinted at his Mexican heritage. His hair added an air of rugged charm and you swore you never saw anyone with eyes so dark brown that drew you in instantly.

“You are…” you extend your hand after shoving your phone in the pocket of your overcoat.

“Lt. Torres.” He grimaced, embarrassed, “Joaquin. Joaquin Torres.” He extends his hand.

You shake his hand and oh god why are his hands so warm!

“Marines?” you ask, trying not to think about his hands.

“Air Force, ma’am.” He says, stepping back for you to get out of the doorway.

“Please, just call me y/n.”

You fumbled with your bag as he raised his eyebrows, “let me take that for you.” He offered.

“Oh no, no it's fine.” You laughed out, and he raised his arms in defeat.

He was walking to the end of the alley beside you, cold air escaping his lips.

Pink, soft, how would they feel on your lips and…

You concentrate on walking, trying not to look at him where his neck met his shoulders and goddammit what is wrong with you y/n can you stop daydreaming about this guy?

What you missed while giving yourself a pep talk… was the smirk on Joaquin’s face.

---

The initial car ride was a bit silent, awkward conversation hanging in the air. But then, like magic, the tension dissolved. You stumbled upon a shared love for Power Rangers and the cartoons of our youth. Suddenly, you were deep in conversation, reminiscing about your childhoods, carefree and filled with the magic of childhood. Turns out he isn’t much older than you, just a two year difference.

His laughter was infectious. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners, his teeth flashing in a wide grin – it was a sound that felt warm and comforting, somehow. You found yourself leaning towards him, captivated by the way his lips curved into a smile, the way the light caught the gold flecks in his eyes. The familiar road seemed to stretch on forever.

Finally when we pulled onto the familiar, deserted road leading to Sam's house, two small figures came into view, standing near the porch.

“Auntie!” Cass and AJ sprinted to you as soon as you stepped out of the car.

“Heyyyy!” you laugh and fall back as they hug you with full force, “ugh, I missed you guys so much.”

“We missed you too!” AJ grinned as he refused to let go of you.

“Who's this?” Cass asked you, pointing towards Joaquin.

Among the excitement of meeting them, you almost forgot the poor guy. Joaquin stood next to the car awkwardly looking at you. You smile and introduce him, “guys this is my friend, Joaquin.”

“Hey.” He waved at Cass and AJ.

Cass looks at him with all seriousness, “Do you play Fortnight?”

Joaquin fumbled, “Yeah. A bit.”

“Cool.” They both replied in unison.

“Okay now let auntie breathe for a minute.” Sarah spoke as she walked towards you wearing an apron, clearly cooking for dinner.

You hugged her tight, meeting the family after so long, “Hey Sarah.”

You look towards Joaquin, how he was laughing with the kids. And then you look at Sarah, your soul sister, and how Bucky had asked you to break the news to her delicately, “Sarah, we need to talk.”

---

Sam and Sarah were your go to destination every summer.

You saw Cass and AJ grow up after the blip, and stayed with them when they needed help. You might not have the same blood, but they were your family.

They have stayed away from all the mayhem, until now.

You three sat down on the kitchen table and told her everything that you knew about the situation.

“Dear lord.” Sarah sighed as she held your hand, “You think these people… they will come here?

“There is a possibility, but Sarah, I swear I won’t let anything happen, okay?” You squeeze her hand, “We’re here for you and the kids.”

Joaquin spoke up, “We have made arrangements just in case things go south, I’d suggest you to be ready to move anytime.”

“Okay.” looking at the kids playing in the living room, AJ laughing as Cass plays on the console, “I can’t let them be hurt again Y/N, they’ve been through so much.”

“I know.” You look at Joaquin, he gives you a smile and nods, a silent acknowledgement of the promise you were making to Sarah.

You will keep them safe, and Joaquin will be there for you.

---

Starry night sky, the cool lakeside breeze, and the slanted roof of the Wilson residence.

You took a deep breath as you closed your eyes.

If this was six years ago, from the same spot you could hear Steve and Sam coming up with ideas to locate Bucky, Natasha and Clint in the backyard fighting over something stupid, Sarah and her late husband on the porch setting up the grill, and Wanda making things fly that made Baby AJ giggle.

You opened your eyes, but found only darkness ahead of you. That sliver of hope you had of watching your found family under one roof again was alive for five years… until the minute you saw Natasha didn’t return with Clint, Wanda not even looking in your direction at Tony’s funeral, and Steve going back in time without saying goodbye.

Your throat choked up trying not to cry as you recalled Natasha saving you from the hell called Red Room. She bought you up, taught you everything you know, she was the reason you were alive in the first place. Natasha was your sister in every sense, and she was taken away by fate.

Silently crying, you whisper a prayer off into the night.

“Is this seat taken?” you wiped off your eyes as you heard Joaquin.

He was standing on the attic window, two beers in hand. You shrug as he takes a seat next to you, handing you a beer.

“How did you find me?” you ask him.

“I didn’t actually,” he answers, “I just wanted a place to think for a while.” You notice the tension in his shoulders, he was trying too hard to act cool while something was clearly bothering him.

“Spit it out.” you nudge his shoulder with yours.

His deep brown eyes look at you as you take a sip, and he confesses, “I got a call before I came here. My Abuela.” He takes a deep breath, “She’s cooking up a feast for the local homeless shelter, and I know, I know she’s not well because her voice is raspy and she’s breathing too hard and I begged her to sit this one out, but she’s one stubborn woman, won’t even listen to her only grandson.”

You shock him with a laugh, looking at the dew on your bottle, “Sounds like someone I used to know.”

“Your ex?” he nudges your shoulder playfully.

You laugh, “My sister actually,” recalling flashes of red hair chasing you around the Avengers compound, “yeah, she was a force to be reckoned with.”

“She passed away a year ago.” You admit it out loud, it felt weird to talk about her in the past tense.

You feel his body go rigid beside you, “I’m sorry, I thought…”

“It’s alright.” You look at him, and smile involuntarily, “Natasha was more of a mother to me than a sister, and I can’t believe I’m saying it out loud but… I miss her.”

He acknowledges you silently. But after some time, you hear it in his voice; the moment it hits him, “Natasha… as in… Natasha Romanoff?”

It made you laugh; his jaw wide open in shock, eyes wide. He looked like his eyes would come out of his head. “I don’t go by Y/N Romanoff, for people to react like that.” You point at him and he closes his mouth.

“How… I didn’t know… but you two-”

“- look different?” you bring your knees closer, wrapping your arms around them, “I was adopted.”

“ohhhh.” He drew out the exclamation, taking his sweet time not knowing what else to say.

“She saved me from the Red Room. Took me under the wing, sent me to High School… God knows how that went.” You laughed recalling the absolute menace you were during your teens. “If there was mischief in school, my name was somehow related. And Nat was always there to get me out of it. Except for that one time I blew up the toilets to rebel against the dress code… said I deserved getting suspended.” The fight you had afterwards… Steve and Tony had to interfere or else you both would have torn each other’s heads off.

“My mom once got a call from the local ER when I was twelve.” He spoke up, looking at the stars and a smile spreading on his face, “I drove my bike off of the road and straight into the canal, and hit my head pretty hard. She was mad as hell and Abuela won’t stop fussing about me. I was grounded for the entire semester, but every night we three would sit in the living room to watch whatever was on Cartoon Network.”

There was sadness laced in every word of his, “That was the last summer I had with her. She passed away a few months later.”

You could not say anything.

You knew exactly how he was feeling right this moment, that empty feeling inside your chest left behind after somebody’s gone. You silently hold his hand, acknowledging the hurt he must be going through.

“I must be the last person you want to hear this from, but, know that the hurt you’re feeling right now, y/n,” he gently grasps your hand, “it’s just all the love you have for the person you lost. I don’t want to say it gets easier, but you get better at letting it out over time.”

“Thank you, Joaquin.”

He smiles, taking a sip from his bottle glancing at you. Dark brown pupils looking right into yours.

Damn he’s pretty.

Your heart dropped a beat, a funny feeling in your chest unblurring the next second.

The first thing Natasha and Clint taught you was how to read people. You could tell what was going on in someone’s head just by looking at their subconscious cues. A voice in your head pointing out everything you need to know about them.

It was quite silly to be honest, that voice inside your head that had been quiet for a while now, was screaming at you for not looking at what was right in front of you…

You liked him.

---

“I was not expecting that.” You speak into Sam’s empty room, standing on the doorway with Joaquin.

Cass and AJ had separate rooms, Sarah had hers, and the only empty one was Sam's, which you were to share with Joaquin.

“I’ll sleep on the couch.” He says unprompted.

“No, no, Joaquin, we traveled for the entire day. We’re both tired. We can share the bed.” He was too tall to fit on the couch anyways.

He picked his bags and settled in, “You sure?”

“Yeah. It’s fine. No worries.”

Worries, y/n, you’re not doing this out of goodwill. I mean… His arms? Just imagine how they would look wrapped around your-

You let out an internal scream and started unpacking your luggage before you did something scandalous, freshened up in the washroom and returned to the room to see him lying on one side of the bed, his back to you, wearing only sweatpants and a white vest. Your eyes were drawn straight to his biceps, they looked like they belonged to some sculpture in the dim lamplight.

Someone works out.

You immediately slapped a hand on your mouth realizing you said that out loud. Frozen with embarrassment, you waited to see if he heard that.

When you were certain he didn’t, you took your place on the other side, and were immediately knocked out by the exhaustion.

---

Next Day

You woke up to the smell of pancakes and the shouts of AJ and Cass from the backyard. You stretched out, thinking of any tasks you had to do today. You'd helped Sarah pack a go-bag yesterday and set up the alarms around the house. The only task left was to have a look at the Attic. The clutter filled there could be the best hiding spot for anyone.

After sniffing the smell of fresh pancakes for the second time, you couldn't resist any longer. You swung your legs over the side of the bed and padded downstairs.

Sarah and Joaquin were laughing in the kitchen, the sound warm and inviting. He was wearing an Air Force t-shirt over his sweatpants, his hair still damp from his shower, and a lazy smile playing on his lips. Of course he's a morning person, you thought, a pang of envy hitting you.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Sarah called out, her eyes twinkling.

Joaquin looked up, his smile widening as he saw you. You realized, with a jolt, that you were still in your Naruto pajamas, your hair a complete mess. Panic surged through you, but when you saw him smiling at you, his eyes crinkling at the corners, you relaxed slightly.

"Morning," you mumbled, taking a seat at the table.

"Joaquin made these," Sarah announced proudly, placing a plate of golden brown pancakes in front of you. "They're incredible."

"They are," you agreed, already taking a bite. "God bless you, Sarah, these are heavenly."

"Oh, that's all Joaquin," Sarah said, pouring you a tall glass of something. "I just made the milkshakes."

"Milkshakes!" you exclaimed, your eyes widening.

"Chocolate and caramel," she said, placing the glass in front of you. "With extra cream."

"Thank you!" You high-fived her, then turned to Joaquin. "And thank you, for the pancakes."

"Anytime," he said, taking a bite of his own pancake. He met your gaze, a slow, appreciative smile gracing his lips. You swore you saw a glint of something in his eyes – amusement? Admiration? Something more? You blinked, suddenly unsure of yourself.

Is my head playing tricks with me? you wondered, your heart pounding a little faster than it should be.

---

“Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm…”

“Uhh… What's the whole deal with John Walker?” Joaquin asked while fixing a sensor on the attic window.

All afternoon you had been setting up sensors anywhere there was a blind spot. You don’t want to scare Sarah, but your gut would not be satisfied until the house was a fortress.

“It’s the government’s doing to be honest. I have a feeling it’s gonna implode royally and they’ll be doing anything to cover it up.” You looked up from your tablet, “including taking down Walker.”

“Damn.” He stopped, climbing down the window still, “you speak like you’ve witnessed this before.”

You let out a dry laugh, connecting the sensor to your tablet, “I saw the Avengers being torn apart from the inside.”

“Wait,” he tilts his head, his hair bouncing while doing so, “you were with the Avengers during the Sokovia Accords?”

“Yep.” You sit along the wall under the open window, with the sunlight pooled into the attic and cool air rushing in, and pat the space next to you, “I was eight maybe, when Natasha and Clint saved me from being an assassin for The Red Room.” You took a deep breath, “Grew up with them, I stayed mostly on the sidelines until the Civil War. Then it was three years of being blacklisted by the government and whatnot.” he takes a seat right next to you, your shoulders touching.

“Enough about me,” you look at him, “What about you? Where are you from?”

“Born in Mexico, raised in Arizona.” He looks at you, his eyes in the sunlight shining bright.

Can eyes sparkle? I’ve never seen someone’s eyes sparkle before.

“Damn. Grand Canyons, huh.” you smile as you imagined him in hiking gear.

“Yeah, I’ve been there many times and believe me… it takes my breath away every single time.”

You huff out, “I always wanted to hike on that trail, never got the chance.”

“Maybe you can come with me after all this is over.” He says coyly, nudging your shoulder, “I can show you around, we can go visit other places, Horseshoe Bend, Havasu Falls…”

Y/n… just say it. He can’t be more obvious than this.

You smirk, “Joaquin Torres,” he looks at you, his cheeks turning red, “are you asking me out on a date?”

“Maybe… if you want to.” He looks at the ceiling, and to your amusement, you realize he was blushing, “And I promise I won’t scam you for money…” you laugh out loud, “I’m always up for hiking the trail, you know, because I work out.”

You groan in between laughing, “you heard that!”

“Yeah, I heard you checking me out…”

“…I wasn’t checking you out!” you fall back on the wall, “You have nice arms. That’s all.” You try not to smirk, but you see him do so from the corner of your eye.

“That’s all? What about my sensor uploading skills?” he wavered his eyebrows.

“10 by 10. You remain undefeated.”

Silence falls over as you keep stealing glances at each other. It’s only broken when he says, “You’re really pretty by the way.”

You laugh, and nudge his shoulder, “just pretty?”

“…and a Geek, you looked great in those Naruto pajamas…”

You hide your face in your hands but he continues, “Where did you get them? Costco?”

“I went on tour to Japan, so…” you look into those chocolaty brown eyes again, his face in the sunlight makes his features stand out, your attention going to his lips.

“Maybe you could take me with you next time.” He says, holding your hand, caressing the back as he looks at your lips.

“Only if you want to.” You whisper, leaning in, praying you weren’t reading this wrong.

Joaquin took hold of your neck, his touch sending a jolt of electricity through you. He pulled you closer, your lips meeting in the middle with a soft, exploratory touch. His lips were soft, as you'd imagined, and his hands cradled your face, his thumbs gently stroking your cheekbones. Your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, desperate for more. His tongue darted out, tasting you, a low groan rumbling in his chest that sent shivers down your spine. You wanted him to do more, go further, and you pulled back slightly, your eyes searching his.

Before Joaquin could protest, you straddled him, pushing him back against the wall. His eyes widened in surprise, a predatory glint entering them. You crashed your mouth on his, this time with a fierce urgency. The soft exploration of your first kiss quickly escalated into a desperate demand, your bodies pressed together, a primal need igniting within you.

"Fuck... y/n," he groaned, his hands gripping your hips, his fingers digging into your skin. He pulled back slightly, his lips leaving a trail of hot kisses down your neck, his breath fanning against your skin. He found the sweet spot on your pulse, sucking on it with a possessive intensity that made you arch against him. You gasped, clutching at his shirt, your nails digging into the fabric.

He leaned back, his eyes closed, a blissful moan escaping his lips. "God, you taste incredible," he whispered, his voice rough with desire. He kissed you again, this time a slow, deliberate exploration, his tongue tracing the inside of your mouth, mapping every curve.

Every inch of your body seemed to ignite by his touch, time melting away. There was only him, his hands roaming over your body, his lips devouring yours, and the intoxicating feeling of desire that consumed you both.

High Pitched and Grating, a sensor alarm rang through the attic.

You retreat in shock, like two deer caught in headlights, and Joaquin grabs the tablet and sees where this was happening.

Blood drained from his face as you witnessed at least four flag smashers moving towards the Wilson residence, guns armed, maybe a mile away.

He gets up, “East side?” grabbing the tablet and locking the windows.

“I’ll get Sarah.” You reply, already on your feet rushing downstairs.

---

"Halt," Lucas whispered, his voice a low growl in the pre-dawn darkness. The team crouched low, their figures mere shadows against the backdrop of the dense forest. Sam Wilson's house loomed ahead, a beacon of normalcy in the encroaching gloom.

"I see only two people inside," Matt reported, his voice a whisper cutting through the silence. "No kids." He checked the thermal scanners, the infrared images flickering on his visor.

Artie, his face pale in the moonlight, grabbed Lucas's shoulder. "Karli didn't say anything about kids."

"She told us to bring them alive," Lucas reminded him, his eyes fixed on the house. "And they need to be unharmed for negotiation."

Nadia shifted uncomfortably, her hand tightening around the grip of her revolver. "I don't like this," she muttered, her voice laced with unease. "I didn't agree to harm any kids."

Lucas turned to her, his gaze sharp. "Nadia!" he hissed, his voice low and dangerous. "We're doing this. One way or the other. Stop whining and get to work."

He took a deep breath, the metallic scent intensifying. "One World..." he began, his voice echoing in the stillness.

"One people," his team responded in unison, their voices a low, guttural chant.

With a silent, coordinated movement, they emerged from the shadows, their figures gliding towards the Wilson residence, the air thick with anticipation and a chilling sense of foreboding.

---

"Go, go, go!" you barked, adrenaline surging through you. You snatched Sarah's bag, your fingers brushing against the cool metal of the handgun inside. You grabbed AJ's hand, his small fingers clutching yours tightly, and ushered them towards the waiting car.

Cass and Sarah were already running, their figures mere shadows against the encroaching twilight. You threw the bags in the backseat, your movements a blur, then helped Cass and AJ climb in.

Sarah slid behind the wheel, her face pale. "Y/n, what are you doing?!" she gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"I have to stay here," you said, your voice firm. "Make sure they don't follow you." You shoved your Glock into Sarah's hand.

A roar from inside the house cut through the tension. "Y/n! They're here!" Joaquin's voice, amplified by the sudden silence, echoed through the air.

"Sarah, I promise I'll be fine," you said, your gaze locked with Cass's in the rearview mirror. Tears were streaming down her face, but she nodded, her small frame trembling. "You have to go." You shoved your tablet into her hands, a desperate plea in your eyes. "Remember what I told you earlier. You'll be safe here."

"Sarah, go!" you screamed, your voice hoarse.

You watched as the car lurched forward, disappearing down the dirt road that snaked towards the water. A beep on your watch confirmed her location, a fleeting sense of relief washing over you.

Phase One. Over.

Phase Two. Let's go.

You sprinted through the back door, the house suddenly feeling eerily silent. Joaquin was already there, a grim set to his jaw. He was clad in his SHIELD armor, the sleek black material gleaming in the dim light. Guns and your emergency bag lay scattered across the kitchen table, a grim testament to the impending battle. You stole a glance at the tablet, its screen flickering with life as it ran facial recognition on the figures outside.

"Ready?" you asked, your voice a low growl, as you slipped on the bulletproof vest and began loading the magazines.

"Yeah," Joaquin replied, his eyes scanning the room, assessing the situation.

You looked out the window, the setting sun casting long, eerie shadows across the yard. "Let's hope Sam doesn't sue us for destroying his house," you muttered.

To be continued...

Part 2

A/N - Thank you everyone for sticking with me till the end of this fic! if you liked it please let me know through the asks and the comments. Love y'all, Take Care!

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emeraldserenade · 21 days ago

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My Soul Already Knew ~ Joaquín Torres

synopsis: After you get forced into drinking a love potion, you act no different.

tw: fem!reader, there's a lot so just be aware that not everything may be mentioned here since this is so long but I tried my best, cabnw spoilers, kidnapping, drugging?, friends to lovers, not everything is listed probably, barely edited.

fic, ficlet, drabble, request

Guys, I did it. This ended up being longer than 34 pages so you're welcome. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.

➽──────────────❥

You met Joaquín through Sam and Bucky; they called you after breaking Zemo out of jail.

“Come on, y/n, we need you. You’re the only person we know who has magic that will be willing to help,” Sam practically begged you from where he stood in Sharon Carter’s apartment. They called, saying they got into trouble at Madripoor and that they needed you to get there immediately. You were given an address, and when you walked in, you were greeted with the sight of Sam, Bucky, and Zemo.

“Where’s Sharon?” You questioned. You looked around the area of her apartment that you could see.

“She had to go deal with something,” Bucky told you, and you sighed; you were already there. You might as well help, which is how you ended up meeting Joaquín.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“Joaquín, meet y/n, or as she was known to the public Aetheria.” Sam introduced you to Joaquín after the whole Flag Smasher thing was over. From there, you two got along so well that Sam almost regretted introducing the two of you, almost.

“I heard about you, the youngest member of the Avengers.” Joaquín seemed happy about meeting you, and it was refreshing. No one was ever this excited to meet you, at least not so innocently.

“Oh, yeah, it seems cool, but I didn’t have much of a choice,” you laughed at your joke, Joaquín joining in.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

That’s how you ended up moving to DC, you wanted to be closer to your newfound friend. The fact that you could more easily annoy Sam was just a plus.

“Quin, are you home?” You called into the empty space that was the entry hallway of Joaquín’s apartment.

“Yeah.” Joaquín walked over to you as you took your shoes off. Joaquín greeted you the same way he always did, pulling you into a hug and shoving his face into the junction of your neck and shoulder.

“I was thinking we order takeout, watch a movie, and call Sam to see if we can con him into over-the-phone charades.” You pulled Joaquín closer to you, and you could feel his silent laughter. “Are you playing a game?” You could hear the sounds from it from where you stood.

“Oh shit,” Joaquín pulled away from you and you laughed, following closely after him. You walked into the room to find him trying to rectify the fact that he was about to die. You flopped down on the couch next to him, watching as he just gave up and let himself die.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“Is it Sam?” You were sitting on the couch, watching as Joaquín tried to act something out. Sam was on the video call from Joaquín’s laptop.

“Yes!” Joaquín called over to you, you did a small victorious wiggle.

“What?!” How’d I not get that?” Sam raged, and you laughed, laughing harder as Joaquín fell on the couch. He landed halfway on you, and Sam smiled at the sight. “You two are cheating, you have to be,” Sam continued his fake rage.

“We are not!” You argued as Joaquín shifted to pull you closer; you allowed it with a smile. “You’d know that if you ever came over for these,” you told him, watching as Sam rolled his eyes.

“And let you two bully me in person, no chance,” Sam told you.

“I take full offense, Samuel I forgot your middle name, but it starts with a T Wilson. I do not bully Captain America.” You played up your offense and looked at Joaquín. “Do you hear this, Quin? He’s trying to say we bully Captain America.” You watched as Joaquín nodded.

“We do not bully Captain America, Sam Wilson, yes. But Captain America, no,” Joaquín looked at the camera.

“Goodbye, you two,” Sam hung up, and you held your composure for about 3 seconds before you and Joaquín laughed even harder.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You stared in the mirror. Bucky’s celebration dinner for being elected congressman was happening later. You hadn’t even changed, there was just something about you that you didn’t like. And for whatever reason, you couldn’t quite place it. Maybe there was a slight difference in your makeup or hair that you didn’t like, or maybe it was that your clothes weren’t falling right.

“Angel?” Joaquín’s voice made you jump.

“Oh, hey,” you spun to face him and saw his look. “What’s with the face?”

“I’ve been standing here watching you stare at yourself in the mirror for a while now. What’s wrong?” Joaquín walked closer, and you shrugged.

“I don’t know, there’s just something...” you paused for a moment. “There’s something wrong with me today. I can’t tell if it’s my hair, makeup, clothes, or just my head messing with me,” you sighed, you would have lied if it weren’t for the fact that you were in Joaquín’s apartment. You promised Joaquín that you wouldn’t lie to him, not in his apartment or yours. Not where you two are the most comfortable, not to him.

“Angel, it’s probably your head. You look perfect, just like you do every day.” Joaquín walked to you and grabbed your hands. You smiled at him gratefully and pulled him into a hug, your odd feeling about yourself melting away.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

The party was in full swing, you had been there for a few hours. You promised to help set it up, and now you were having so much fun. You didn’t drink, you promised to be Sam’s designated driver for the night. You were currently dancing with some random politician’s son. He was about your age, but he was a little handsy.

“Mind if I take her?” Joaquín saved you, and you watched as the man backed away, clearly intimidated by Joaquín.

“My savior.” You leaned most of your weight into Joaquín, your feet tired in your heels.

“You seemed to be having fun, but I’m selfish and wanted your attention,” Joaquín told you, his arms wrapping around you. You two slowly swayed to the music as you held each other, your arms wrapped around his waist and your head on his chest.

“You can have my attention any time you want it, especially if you’re going to hold me,” you told him.

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“I told you they like each other,” Sam looked at Bucky; they both managed to have a moment without someone else and spent it watching you and Joaquín hold each other and sway.

“I never said they didn’t. I asked if they were dating,” Bucky said, and Sam shook his head.

“Nope, they’re just two idiots in love that cannot tell the other loves them just as much,” Sam didn’t get to say more as another group of politicians and the like walked up.

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“Sam, just get in the car,” you sighed. Sam had been resisting getting into your car.

“No, you’re going to crash.” Sam stepped away, and you looked over at Bucky for help.

“Sam, get in her car, come on.” Bucky pushed Sam into your car, shushing him as he tried to argue.

“Thank you.” You looked over at Bucky before looking at Joaquín. “Ready?” Joaquín nodded before he got into the driver’s seat. He didn’t drink either, he wanted to be able to drive you home.

“You said you had a crush on someone.” Sam was just talking in the back seat, and you could tell he was currently talking to you.

“Sam, shhh,” you shushed him, leaning your head on the window as he kept talking. He had moved on to stories about him and Riley. You looked back at him as his eyes brimmed with tears.

“Then he fell and…” Sam trailed off, and you reached a hand back to offer support.

“I know, Sam. I know,” when Joaquín stopped at a red light, you unbuckled and crawled over the middle console to sit in the back with Sam. He was crying, and you let him place his forehead on your shoulder as he did so.

“I miss him,” Sam sobbed, and you felt horrible. You couldn’t change anything that happened; you knew that. “And when Joaquín fell because of that missile, it was like watching Riley fall all over again,” Sam admitted, and you widened your eyes at his admission.

“Sam,” you started talking but soon stopped when you noticed that you were at his house. “Come on, let’s get you inside.” You reached to open your door and scooted out. Joaquín was already standing there, ready to help you out of the car. Sam followed you out, no longer crying, and unsteadily walked to his door. You two watched as he fumbled with his keys for a minute before finally opening the door.

“Good night.” Sam waved at you two, and you laughed as he shut the door in your face.

“He’ll be fine, right?” You looked at Joaquín, but you noticed he lacked his normal sparkle in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“He said that I reminded him of Riley. I didn’t even know about Riley until tonight,” Joaquín told you, and you sighed before pulling him into a hug.

“Sam doesn’t talk about Riley much. I only know about it because we spent a lot of time sharing the same hotel room while on the run,” you told him. “Ask Sam about Riley when he isn’t drunk, and you’ll get to know a lot about him. From what I have heard, Riley was an amazing person.”

“Ok.” Joaquín held you for a few more moments before you separated and went back to the car.

“Want to stay with me tonight?” You asked, back in the passenger seat.

“Only if you promise to stop spraying me with your perfume before I leave in the morning,” Joaquín joked, and you looked at him with a faux offended face.

“How else am I going to make sure everyone knows where you stayed at night?” You two dissolved into giggles at your words.

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“And he stayed the night?” Belle, your neighbor and friend asked.

“Yeah, he normally does.” You two were at a cafe getting breakfast together before you went to work. You started working with Sam and Joaquín, mostly just collecting info and being the point of contact for them.

“He likes you,” she stated, and you laughed at the idea.

“Sure he does,” you joked, but she wasn’t laughing.

“He does, and you love him, which is why you’re trying to laugh it off.” Belle just stared at you, and you looked away.

“So what if I love him, and so what if he likes me? It’s nothing more than him liking me as a friend,” you told her, but she just shook her fear as your food approached.

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You started going on missions with Sam and Joaquín and quickly became a vital element to the team. Simple missions are how you started, you stopped the whole hero shit after losing Tony and Natasha. They both respected it. You would do small recon or go and help the innocent victims of some of the bigger disasters. Nothing that you had to do a lot, just small things that made you remember why you became Aetheria in the first place.

“I know that you no longer want to go on missions, but we could really use your help,” Sam sat you down at the table one day and you sucked in a hard breath. You knew he would only be asking if they really needed it, so you nodded.

“Ok,” you told him.

“Ok?” Sam looked at Joaquín, then you.

“Ok, I’ll do it,” you told them both. There was a silent exchange between you and Joaquín.

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“You didn’t have to come. Sam and I would have found a way,” Joaquín told you, and you just looked at him.

“I know, but I didn’t want to risk you or Sam getting hurt, Joaquín.” You grabbed his hands as you shifted closer to him. You were sitting on your bed, your mostly packed bag on the floor in front of it.

“But...” you cut Joaquín off by removing your hands from his and pulling him to you in a hug.

“No buts, you and Sam are some of the most important people to me. I was not going to let you two go against someone like this alone,” you told him, placing your face into his neck. Joaquín placed his face into the junction of your neck and shoulder, the two of you just enjoying each other's presence.

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It seemed too easy; all three of you thought so, but no one said anything. You got what you went there for, but the guy gave himself up as soon as you all showed up. You now sat in a hotel room, one that had a door leading to the one that Joaquín and Sam were staying in, watching Law and Order SVU. You had left your side of the conjoining doors unlocked after your shower, knowing both of the boys had seen you in your pajamas before. So it really wasn’t a surprise when Joaquín opened the door in his pajamas looking for you. Sam was right behind him, and the three of you lay in the singular bed of your room watching the show together.

“It was too easy, right?” Sam just blurted out after your second episode of SVU together.

“Yeah, it was,” you told him. You had ended up leaning your head on Joaquín’s shoulder at some point, his arm around your waist.

“What do we do then?” Joaquín questioned, and you realized how stupid your answer was about to be.

“We go back in the morning, look around to see if we find anything,” you told Joaquín, Sam nodding along with you.

“We go back in the morning,” Sam affirmed, and you three settled back into the quiet as you waited for your food to arrive.

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The warehouse was empty and quiet, it would have been ominous if it weren’t so bright. The three of you stayed pretty close; none of you wanted to chance it. You looked away from the others for a moment because of a noise, but when you looked back, they were gone. You looked around the area, they wouldn’t have left without telling you to come on. You got more frantic as you couldn’t find them; it had been entirely too quiet for anyone to have taken them.

“Don’t worry, they will notice you’re missing soon enough,” a feminine voice told you before you felt a sting in your arm. You felt your limbs go heavy and yourself start to fall, but you never hit the ground, or you were out before you hit it. You couldn’t fully tell which one was true.

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You woke up on the ground below you, and a blanket was thrown over you. As you sat up, you noticed how heavy everything felt. You looked around and you were thrown for a loop, you were on the floor of your hotel room. You saw Tony standing there and that’s when you realized that you were hallucinating.

“How did-” Your words were cut off as the world started to spin, and some lady appeared.

“Good, you’re awake,” she smiled, and you watched as the world shifted back into the warehouse. You wanted to believe that was where you were, but you couldn’t tell. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, the Captain and his little sidekick already know you’re missing,” she told you in a sing-song voice.

“What’s going on?” You questioned, your voice hoarse but panicked.

“I can’t have you all messing up my plans. You could have just taken the win last night. Gone home and took that little emerald to whoever hired you. Then none of this would have had to happen,” she told you, but you were still confused. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you until they get here. That’s when the fun begins.” She smiled before leaving, and you wanted to yell and scream.

You were left alone in the room where you were cold and chained to the wall, the blanket barely doing anything. You stood up, deciding that if you were stuck, then you would look around. You took note of the abnormally long chain attached to your ankle, but you could tell that it wasn't long enough to reach the door. You walked around, ignoring the heavy feeling in your limbs, and you took notice of everything around you. The empty metal tables, the unplugged TV, the inconsistent flicker of the lights, and especially the fact that, for whatever reason, it smelt like Joaquín.

You grabbed the blanket and sat on one of the tables, it was warmer up in the air than it was on the floor. Realistically, you could use your magic to undo the chain, but the heavy feeling of your limbs made it impossible.

“Oh goody, you made yourself feel comfortable.” The woman walked in, holding a vial that held a shimmery liquid. She saw you look at it and placed it in her pocket before addressing you. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to drink this, yet,” she tacked on the yet at the end, and you widened your eyes at it.

“Yet?” You asked, ready to get up and attack.

“I’m waiting for your friends to get here,” she told you before practically bouncing out of the room.

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You were shaken awake by the woman; Sam and Joaquín were both tied up across the room from where you were.

“Now that I have all of you,” she began, and you realized you no longer had the long chain. You were tied up just like the other two were, completely bound to a chair. “This,” she brandished the bottle, “is a little something my mom taught me how to make just in case I ever fell in love but the person needed a little push. However, since I want you three out of my way, I think I’ll let you have a go,” she grabbed your chin but you fought back. You struggled against her hold, and she just let go to smack you.

“Hey, don’t hit her!” Joaquín yelled from his spot, but the lady just laughed and let you go again.

“Let’s see,” she looked at Sam and Joaquín for a moment. “Eeny, meany, miney, you,” she pointed between Sam and Joaquín before picking Joaquín.

“What are you going to do to him!” You yelled, but she just looked at you.

“Him? Oh, no, it’s what I am going to do to you,” she told you, and again you started to struggle, but she managed to pour the whole vial of shimmery liquid from earlier down your throat. You coughed as it went down; it burned and tasted odd. You caught a whiff of it, and you realized it smelt like Joaquín. It was a split-second realization that it was what you were smelling earlier.

“What’s happening?” You questioned; everything felt light and fluttery. The lady didn’t answer as she grabbed your chin and forced you to look at Joaquín; your stomach did its normal flip as you looked at him. There was nothing else that happened other than the light and fluttery feeling the lady let you go through. With a snap of her fingers, the sound you had heard who knows how long ago, you were back in the same spot of the warehouse as before.

“Angel, are you ok?” Joaquín rushed to you, and you nodded. Your brain felt fuzzy, and for whatever reason, your attraction to him was heightened.

“Yeah, I just feel all light and fluttery,” you told him, leaving with your hand in his.

“Y/n? Do you realize what that lady had you take?” Sam questioned, and you shook your head, the memory of her talking about the vial hazy. “Oh shit,” Sam muttered but he dropped the topic until you were all back at the hotel.

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“Y/n, she gave you a love potion,” Sam told you, and your eyes widened.

“What? But why isn’t it working?” You questioned. Joaquín was showering, and the smell of his body wash wafted over you.

“I think it is,” Sam told you, and you gave him an odd look.

“What?”

“I think she chose Joaquín, you know, the person who you’re already in love with,” Sam told you, but you shook your head. “Don’t argue with me, I know you are. But if you want to keep that hidden, I’d start acting like that potion has affected you,” Sam advised as the shower turned off.

“Thank you,” you muttered as Joaquín walked out. You wanted to blame it all on the potion, but Joaquín walked out with his bare chest, water droplets slowly falling. You couldn't help but stare.

“Angel, are you good?” Joaquín caught you staring, but you were having a hard time forming an answer.

“I think the potion is starting to kick in,” Sam said, saving you from having to answer.

“Oh shit,” Joaquín quickly threw a shirt on and you got overly sad. So sad, tears started to form in your eyes.

“Are you crying?” Sam questioned, and you quickly shook your head. Instead of answering, you got up and left the room for yours. You crawled into bed and wrapped your blankets around you, the tears still flowing. It felt odd, crying when you had no control over it and being able to hear Sam and Joaquín talking in the other room.

“Angel?” Joaquín walked into the room and closed the door behind him. You said nothing as Joaquín crawled into bed with you; he wrapped his arms around you, and you felt the tears finally stop.

“I’m sorry,” you muttered, you felt stupid.

“It’s not your fault,” Joaquín told you. “It’s ok,” Joaquín comforted you, and you felt the pull of sleep before finally succumbing to it.

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You and the boys got home. The entire time on the way home, they were deciding the best course of action. You all had learned, rather quickly, that if Joaquín was away from you for too long, the potion would make your emotions go all out of whack.

“She could stay with me,” Joaquín shrugged. You were sitting a little farther away on the plane than them. “You said she shouldn’t be at her place, just in case. And we know that she cannot be away too long before she cries or gets angry. So why not let her stay with me?”

“If you’re sure,” Sam told Joaquín, who nodded. “Y/n, you’re staying with Joaquín when we get back, ok?” You nodded at the two, a happy feeling strumming through your veins.

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You felt at home at Joaquín’s, Sam was at your place packing a few bags for you. Joaquín had made up the guest bedroom for you, telling you that it’s just in case you want it.

It was the morning, the same routine that you and Joaquín always had after one of you stayed with the other. Joaquín had started to notice that other than you having little control over your emotions, you seemed no different. More affectionate than normal, and you stared at him a lot, but you seemed normal.

“Quin?” You had been showering when Joaquín got called by his mom. You started to feel yourself tear up, but you told yourself that you wouldn’t. While you were walking around, you heard Joaquín talking.

“Yes, mamá,” you heard Joaquín say, and you relaxed knowing he was still there. You walked into the living room and sat on the couch with him. You realized that the shirt he gave you to put on was the one he had slept in last night. It made you smile, knowing he really was trying his best to keep you comfortable. “She’s right here. Sam is looking for an antidote.” Joaquín was talking about you, but you really didn’t care. “She wants to talk to you,” Joaquín told you, and you nodded at him.

“Hello,” you said politely. You’ve never met her in person, but you’ve talked to her a lot.

“Hi, how are you?” She was curious.

“I’m ok,” you told her, but you heard her tisk at you and you grimaced. “My emotions are a little out of whack, but other than that, I’m ok,�� you told her.

“Oh, Quino is taking good care of you?”

“Yeah, he is,” you told her, smiling over at Joaquín.

“Good, otherwise I’d have to give him a talking to,” she laughed and you laughed too. You handed Joaquín his phone back after telling his mom goodbye. You listened to Joaquín’s side of his goodbye with his mom before he hung up.

“My mother just told me that you’re her favorite,” Joaquín told you, and you laughed.

“How does it feel knowing that your mother likes me more?” You looked over at him as he laughed, and you laughed with him.

“I honestly should have seen it coming,” Joaquín got out through his laughter.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You tossed and turned, you promised both Sam and Joaquín that you would be ok while Joaquín went on the mission. You felt horrible as soon as you told Joaquín. You lied to him, but you couldn’t keep him from it.

That’s how you found yourself softly crying while thinking about how Joaquín could be getting hurt. He kept checking in on you through text messages and phone calls, but you were still worried. You were always worried but this potion seemed to make everything ten times worse. Something you would have never been worried about before seemed to be in the forefront of your mind, and no matter how much you tried to think of something else, you couldn’t.

You eventually gave up on trying to sleep, you decided you should go watch TV. You had started a movie and you figured you might as well finish it. You sat on the couch, wrapped in the blanket that Joaquín always used, as you stared at the TV. The movie held your attention enough for you to be free from having to think of the potential dangers that Joaquín could be in. You finished the movie and was faced with the reality that you either had to think about Joaquín or pick a new movie. You chose the new movie option instead of the other option, you scrolled through movies while you sat there. It wasn’t long before you found another, a movie about a cat Flow. You felt your eyelids get droopy before you slowly dozed off, the sounds of the movie helping you.

You didn’t realize it, or your mind drowned it out, but there was a knock on your window. You didn’t see who it was, but it was the lady that gave you the potion. In her hand, another little vial that shimmered. She had started to feel bad, she would have thought that she would give you the antidote. She didn’t realize how long it would take for the boys to find her and the antidote, but she thought it was long enough. However, she thought you ignored her. So she left with the antidote in hand and your only hope to get rid of the situation you found yourself in.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You woke up on the couch, a painful reminder that Joaquín wasn’t home. But you went through your day like normal, you got up, made breakfast, and got ready for the day. You just changed from one set of lounge wear to another since you had no plans on leaving, but you made your way back to the couch and started to watch another movie to pass the time.

That’s how you spent your days without Joaquín. Sure you could get up and leave, but it felt wrong. You didn’t feel comfortable going out when your emotions were all out of whack, especially not when Joaquín or Sam were unavailable to help keep others away from you.

It was one of these repetitive endless days that Sam called you. “Y/n, we really need your help. I know we said that you’re not supposed to go on missions right now, but we’re in over our heads,” Sam sounded frantic and you got worried about what that meant for Joaquín.

“Ok, just send me the location and I will be there as soon as possible,” you rushed out, running through Joaquín’s apartment to repack your belongings and to put on your suit.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“Good, you’re here,” Sam opened the hotel door wider, letting you step inside. Joaquín was sitting at the desk on the computer. You fought the urge to run to him and wrap your arms around him.

“You called and said I was needed, so I’m here,” you told him, placing your bag down by the door. Joaquín turned in the chair slightly and opened his arm towards you, you walked to him and sat down on his lap. Your nerves and emotions leveled out the second you got to him. Sam told you everything, including how you all needed a new place to stay. “My family has a vacation home about 15 minutes from here,” you told Sam.

“That would work,” Sam said and you nodded. Joaquín hadn’t said anything since you got there but you could tell he was focused on finding what he needed.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“Angel?” Joaquín knocked on the bathroom door, the three of you had to stay in the hotel for the night. You opened the door as you dried your hair with the hair dryer they had mounted in the bathroom.

“Yeah?” You stepped aside as Joaquín walked in, he just watched you for a moment before you turned the dryer off.

“You have the choice of having your own bed or sharing with one of us,” Joaquín told you and you thought about it. The thought of not sharing with Joaquín makes you freak out a little.

“Can we share?” You shyly asked, your face warming.

“Of course we can,” Joaquín gave you a small hug before leaving the bathroom, he seemed to be trying to make you comfortable. You finished in the bathroom and walked out to lay in the bed Joaquín was in, he lifted the covers for you and you snuggled into his side. Sam glanced at you two and a soft smile spread on his face, he thought that maybe this potion would finally make you confess. When it’s out of your system, hopefully, Joaquín believes you.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You three had dropped your bags off at your family’s vacation house before running off to find the buyers. You had missed them by mere minutes, you felt horrible, even though it wasn’t your fault. Sam and Joaquín seemed down from another miss, and you all went back to the house. You had spread out on opposite sides, you and Joaquín were sharing a room since your emotions were being odd.

“Joaquín, do you think that my emotions are changing?” You questioned.

“What do you mean?” Joaquín scrunched his eyebrows and you sighed, falling on the couch in the living room. Sam walked in before you could speak but you went to explain anyway.

“I mean, I feel like the longer I have this potion in my system, the less control I have over my reactions,” you told him, and Sam by proxy. “I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking it,” you added, feeling self conscious about your feelings.

“It’s possible that the longer the potion is in your system, the more it will change you,” Sam told you and you looked over at him. This was one of the times you missed Tony, you could have gone to him and he would have found some test to figure it out.

“Ok,” you said, processing what you were told.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

Sam looked in the kitchen, he realized that there was no food and sighed at how obvious that would have been.

“I’m going out to get some groceries,” Sam announced and you nodded, Joaquín was showering and you were about to head back to the room for your phone charger.

“Joaquín, Sam went to the store!” You called into the room, making sure Joaquín wasn’t indecent before walking in.

“Do you wanna watch a movie?” Joaquín had put on his sweatpants and a hoodie, but you still couldn’t help but stare at him. You moved closer to him and just stared at him, he raised an eyebrow at you.

“I really want to kiss you,” you said and Joaquín placed his hands on your shoulders as you tried to get closer.

“Angel it’s just the potion talking,” Joaquín held your shoulders as you tried to kiss him. It’s not that he didn’t want to, god did he want to, but it wouldn’t be right for him to.

“Joaquín Torres, I have been in love with you for years, please,” you were begging for him at this point, and Joaquín was just a man after all.

“If I do this, do you promise that this isn’t because of the potion,” Joaquín was holding onto the last of his resolve.

“I promise, please,” you tried to lean forward again and Joaquín met you halfway. It was exactly what you both wanted, both of you were desperate. It was clear he wanted you just as much as you wanted him. You moved closer but he pulled away, you made a noise of protest.

“Angel, I don’t want to take advantage of you, I know you say you that this is what you want but,” you cut Joaquín off by suddenly grabbing your phone. You should have thought it through more, the fact that Joaquín was about to see you telling one of your friends that you wanted to jump his bones.

“Look,” you shoved the phone in his face and you watched as he read the messages. They were clearly stamped from way before you had the potion and they were detailed on what you wanted, if your mind wasn’t so muddled from kissing Joaquín you probably would have felt embarrassed.

“Angel, why didn’t you say anything before,” Joaquín mumbled before grabbing your phone and throwing it aside. He practically pounced on you, his lips were everywhere. On your lips,your neck, jaw, your chest, everywhere he could reach his lips touched. You gasped as he gently bit your neck and you heard his chuckle.

“Sam will be back soon,” you told him, urging him closer to you.

“Then we better make this quick,” Joaquín mumbled against your neck before you started to undress each other.

(If you would like to read the rest of this, click here)

”This meant something to you, right?” You couldn’t help but ask, you needed to know.

“Angel,” Joaquín started talking but you couldn’t handle the possible rejection.

“Never mind, I don’t want to know,” you lied, rolling away from him and curling into yourself.

“Angel, y/n, please look at me,” Joaquín urged you and you couldn’t find it in yourself to disobey. “This meant everything to me, and I promise I am not just saying this because of the potion, I love you,” Joaquín assured you and a smile lit up your face.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“I’m back!” Sam called into the house and you met him by the kitchen. The large shirt you wore was an immediate tell that you had been with Joaquín, the hickeys on your neck was another. “Holy shit, you two hooked up,” Sam placed the bags down.

“We did, and I told him that I love him. Not just because of the potion, I showed him the text messages that I had sent Belle,” you bounced on your toes, clearly happy.

“Good, you seem to be in a good mood,” Sam noted the extra happiness.

“Because Joaquín said he loves me!” You happily announced, missing Joaquín walking in. He walked to you and wrapped his arms around your waist, your happiness multiplying.

“Fucking finally, I feel like I’ve been waiting for this forever!” Sam practically yelled and you smiled.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You three finally found the buyers before they bought another shipment, one fight later, you were on the way home. You texted your mom that you three had been at the vacation home and that she might want to send the cleaners if she’s planning on using it, since you knew she was a slight germaphobe.

You were on the plane home, sitting with Joaquín, when the side door opened. The three of you were scared until the lady with the love potion flew in and closed the door behind her.

“Hi, don’t try and fight me!” She held her hands up as you three took a defensive stand. “I’m here to help,” she told you and you gave her a look. “Please believe me when I say that you saw my sister, she’s the one that gave you the potion and she’s the one that has the antidote,” the lady said and you squinted your eyes at her. You noticed she lacked a scar on her lip and the mole on her right cheek.

“What do you want?” You questioned, relaxing your stance and stepping closer to Joaquín.

“I want to help, my sister has this weird thing with people messing with her business,” she started. “And those buyers were some of hers, she’s already not happy that you were looking around in the warehouse. This will make her angrier, you have to believe me when I say I want to help,” she finished explaining.

“What do we need to do?” Sam asked as Joaquín wrapped his arm around your waist.

“Go to these coordinates, on the full moon there will be a light that shines on a tree. That tree will open and you will find a compass. It will lead you to her, but be careful, she will sense you are coming and will be waiting,” the lady said.

“How do we know we can trust you?” Joaquín finally spoke and took a glance at you, while he’s glad he finally got to call you his, he didn’t want anything else to happen.

“This gift,” she held a necklace out, it was a simple silver chain with a silver ring on it. You couldn’t make out all the details from this far but you could see the two blue gems on opposite sides it held. “As long as you,” she faced you, “wear it, then the effects of the potion will dim. You will be able to feel natural love, emotions, and that heavy feeling in your limbs will lift,” she held it out to you.

“How did you know about the heavy feeling?” You grabbed the necklace and put it on. The second you clasped it, you felt normal again.

“She once made me drink it, I know how you feel,” she told you before disappearing.

“Why didn’t you tell us about your limbs feeling heavy?” Joaquín questioned and you looked at him.

“It wasn’t bad, just like there was 5 weight pounds on each,” you shrugged and they both nodded.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

Joaquín and Sam stood a few feet away from you. The necklace was doing its job, your emotions back under your control. You still loved Joaquín, nothing about that the potions could change. You three waited for the moon to fully rise, you all were under the assumption that the potion lady would show up to stop you from getting the compass.

“Moon is fully risen,” you called to them, you all looked around and found the tree with the light beam. It opened and as the lady on the jet said, there was a compass. You reached the tree first and grabbed the compass.

“We will take this back and head that way in the morning,” Sam said, and you and Joaquín agreed with him. You both wanted one more night of sleeping in a familiar bed before nights at hotels again.

The walk back to the car was quiet, Joaquín and you holding hands. Sam stayed in front of you and you refused to let him leave your eyesight. You all had learned from your last time you went somewhere the potion lady was.

“Y/n,” Sam called your attention out of your head. “When we see her again, be careful. You didn’t see the hell of a fight she put up,” Sam warned you, which you nodded at.

“Ok, I will, but you two need to as well,” you pointed out which they both nodded at. You three climbed into the car and took off back towards where you lived.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You stopped for dinner at a diner, Sam and Joaquín getting recognized. You watched as girls, and guys, flirted with Joaquín. You tried to keep your jealousy under wraps after all, you and Joaquín hadn’t gone public, they wouldn’t know. A distraction came in the form of someone recognizing you.

“You’re Aetheria!” A little girl announced and you smiled, Sam and Joaquín were a little ways away so you talked to her. Her dad stood a little bit behind her, urging her to ask you the question. “My daddy says that you saved my mommy, is that true?”

“Who’s your mom?” You questioned, you had memorized the names of a lot of people you saved, it kept you going when times got hard and all you wanted to do was quit.

“Clarissa Harris!” She told you and you smiled, you did remember her.

“Your dad’s right, I did save your mom,” you told her.

“Oh, can I get a picture?” The little girl asked and you nodded, you held her hand and crouched while her dad took the photo. “Thank you!” She smiled and walked back to the table she was at earlier, her dad stayed behind a moment.

“Thanks for that, I know you probably don’t remember my wife but June loves her mom. This really meant a lot to her,” the man told you.

“Hey, it’s no problem. And you might not believe me but I do remember your wife, she was on of the first people I saved after I joined the Avengers. People like her, the people I saved, helped me keep going,” you smiled at him.

“Would it be weird if I asked for a photo as well?”

“Of course not,” you stood to his left and let him snap a selfie before he left you. You turned back to the table to see Sam and Joaquín were both looking at you.

“How was your first fan interaction in years?” Sam questioned as you sat back down by Joaquín.

“It was fine, I saved his wife in the beginning days. I just met the daughter she was pregnant with too,” you smiled over at Sam and he nodded.

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“You have been awfully quiet since the diner, are you ok?” You looked over at Joaquín, you both had showered and now you were laying in bed. Joaquín had said very few words to you, it’s not like he was avoiding you. He was actively cuddling with you, he just seemed off.

“You seemed awfully close with that guy at the diner,” Joaquín said and you let out a surprised laugh.

“Are you jealous?” You looked at him but he refused to look at you, you could see the flush rising to his cheeks.

“I am not,” he argued.

“You’ve got nothing to be jealous of,” you told him, running a hand through his still damp hair.

“Of course I do, you’re y/n l/n, Aetheria, you’re an Avenger,” Joaquín told you and you laughed.

“Yeah and you’re Joaquín Torres, the Falcon, a soon to be Avenger. Do you think I wasn’t jealous when those girls were all over you?” You gave him a look.

“Those girls meant nothing to me,” Joaquín mumbled.

“Yeah, and so did that guy,” you clarified and it was like the lights came on.

“As soon as we get this potion out of your system, we are going public,” Joaquín said, pulling you closer to him. You smiled and agreed, there was almost no space between you and you felt the pull of sleep.

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Sam, Joaquín, and you were in a plane, you were following the compass. It was taking you west and you all were tired, you agreed to leave early but you were regretting it. You were tired and you just wanted to take a nap, but you never got the skill of falling asleep anywhere.

“If this doesn’t work, what then?” You nervously asked, you were worried that you would be stuck with a potion in your system.

“Then we find the necklace lady and we find another way, you won’t have to have this potion in you forever,” Sam told you and you nodded.

You all fell into a silence, not an uncomfortable one, just a normal one. You stared out the window as the plane flew, there were no extraordinary sights. You just wanted to watch the sky go past and leaned against Joaquín, no words would be said for the rest of the flight.

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The compass stopped pointing in a direction when you reached another warehouse, the needle disappeared.

“I think we are here,” you told the others and stuffed the compass in your pocket. You three walked in and found the potion lady sitting in a chair at a table. She was eating macaroni straight out of a pot, she jumped when she saw you.

“It’s you!” She sneered and you all took a defensive state “Oh, don’t fight me, here,” she threw a shimmery vial at you. You caught it, and unbeknownst to you, it was the same vial she was going to give you that one night. “This whole villain thing is getting boring,” she waved her hand dismissively.

“Is this…” she cut you off.

“The antidote to that love potion I gave you, yeah. I was going to give it to you a while ago but you never answered my knocks on your window,” she told you and you gave her a look.

“I never heard them,” you told her and she just rolled her eyes.

“Take the potion,” she told you and you opened it, you downed the liquid. It went better than the other potion, it didn’t burn and it tasted pleasant. You took the necklace off and you felt 100% normal, it was as if you never took the original potion. “Ok, goodbye,” she snapped and you all were back on the sidewalk.

“That was something,” you mumbled, grateful that the potion was out of your system.

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The three of you were on the plane ride home, Joaquín was keeping his distance from you and you wondered why. You didn’t ask, you just thought that he was tired and wanted space. However, when he kept the distance when you got back, you having moved in with him over the past few months when your lease was up, you got suspicious.

You let him have his space, thinking that he would come around. But he didn’t, you started to worry that maybe he said he loved you because of the potion. The two of you slowly started to withdraw from the other, scared that the other didn’t feel the same all because of a potion.

Sam noticed, he saw how you two skirted around each other, like you were scared to interact. He didn’t like it, he had to suffer with you two denying your feelings, then getting together, only to act like nothing happened.

“Just talk to each other!” Sam practically shouted one day.

“What?” You looked up at him startled.

“Y’all have been avoiding each other like the plague, just talk. I’m going to lunch,” he grabbed his things and mumbled under his breath the whole way out the door. You and Joaquín just kinda looked at each other for a few moments.

“I’m sorry if I did something wrong,” you were the first to speak, you had been thinking about what could have possibly happened.

“You did nothing wrong, Angel,” Joaquín was quick to assure you. “It’s just, when you took the other potion, I got worried that you only liked me because of it. I know it’s stupid…” you cut him off.

“It’s not stupid, silly maybe,” you rounded the corner of your desk and came to the front of his, sitting yourself on the edge while facing him. “I told you before that I have loved you since before the potion and I will continue to love you even after the potion,” you grabbed his hands.

“Are you sure?” Joaquín looked like he was about to cry, so you pulled him to you, hugging him to your chest.

“I am positive, I love you,” you told him, kissing his head. You felt him tighten his arms around you and you smiled.

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“Did you talk it out?” Sam walked back in an hour later, you were back at your desk but you and Joaquín were watching a movie while eating. You had pulled your laptop out of your bag and placed it on the end of your two desks. “I’m going to assume you did,” Sam said after taking one look at what you and Joaquín were doing.

The three of you fell into silence, the only sounds coming from the movie you were watching. Sam had pulled his chair over to sit with you two to watch the rest of the movie, it was peaceful and what you missed.

As the movie ended, Sam went back to his desk and you two went back to work. The sound of typing filled the air as you answered emails and the other two did whatever they needed to. As the end of the day came, you three ended up going to a bar.

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“Y/n, what was it like living in the tower during the prime of the Avengers?” Sam asked, he had asked before but you’ve never answered him.

“Annoying, stressful, Steve and Tony made me want to yank my hair out, but I loved it. Everyone was always visiting and Nat and I would do a lot of girls' nights,” you explained. “Tony broke the air conditioning in the middle of summer so we spent a lot of time in the pool for a few weeks,” you told them, annoyance and love lacing your tone.

“How did he break it?” Joaquín questioned and you laughed remembering the reason.

“He was testing a new suit and lost control of one of his blasters, he hit the central unit and destroyed it. We had to wait for him to get the needed parts before he could fix it,” you remembered him sheepishly telling Natasha, hoping she wouldn’t lash out. She just rolled her eyes and went to the pool, pulling you with her.

“Do you have any more stories?” Joaquín questioned and you nodded.

“When we moved to the compound, it became so much more fun. Thor would always call for Heimdall at the same spot, so Tony would have the gardeners keep carving the shape out. A huge thing was once we moved there, everyone who didn’t have a family moved in. Like Natasha and Steve, they lived in their own apartment until then. But once the compound happened and we started training new Avengers after Sokovia, they moved in,” you told them.

“Sokovia, that was when Wanda and Vision joined, right?” Sam asked and you nodded.

“Yeah, Pietro was supposed to but…” you trailed off, you hated what happened to him. You tried to help him, you used your hold over the universe to try and save him. It didn’t work and even though Wanda knows you tried your best, you always felt like there should have been more for you to do.

“Do you have any more stories?” Sam guided you from the sad feeling but it stuck with you for the moment.

“This one is a little less fun still but when I chose to go with Steve and the others during the Accords, Tony gave me one of his credit cards. He told me that if I ever wanted back and didn’t want to tell the others, to use it and he’d come find me,” you pulled the card out of your wallet. “I still have it, I never had the chance to hand it back. There was a part of me, right after he died, that thought if I used it he’d come get me,” you sighed, putting the card back into the spot it had sat in for years. “Pepper knows I have it, she puts money on it each month. I never use it but just knowing that I still have something of Tony’s is nice,” you admitted.

“You used to flip that card between your fingers when we were in hotel rooms,” Sam said and you nodded.

“At some point, I started to wonder why I became Aetheria. Why I chose that over just wearing the dampeners and living a normal life. I didn’t want to think that, I knew that there was a reason we were running. They wanted to lock us up, but I also missed Tony. He was the closest I had to a brother,” you sighed before downing the rest of your drink. “On a happier note, Steve once accidentally ripped the door off a meeting room once and just gently set it back to make it look normal. Tony was the next one to open it, so when the door came clean off, he spent like a week doing different tests on himself to find out if he gained super strength or something before Steve came clean. You should have seen the look on everyone’s face at Tony’s freak out,” you laughed with the other two. And that’s how you spent the next few hours, talking about your time at the tower with Sam and Joaquín sharing stories about their life before all the superheroing.

Your life wasn’t glamorous, you didn’t have a nice tower to call home with a room so big you could throw a party. Nor did you have Tony to go to when you wanted a slice of home, but you had Sam and Joaquín. And they slowly started to become your new home, even if they annoy you just as much.

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Pepper had shown up once she got word that Sam was trying to rebuild the Avengers, she offered the compound up. She said no one wanted to buy something so far out of the way, and that she would pay for it to be fixed back to how it was before it blew up. It was in your name now, her wanting to pass it to someone she knew Tony would approve of owning it. Which is how you, Sam, and Joaquín ended up moving from DC to New York. You stood on the lawn of the compound, it looked exactly the same. You got hit with a rush of memories, the good, the bad, the painful. Sam and Joaquín walked in without you, telling them that you wanted a moment alone.

You walked around the grounds, the groundskeepers still carved out the spot from Thor. You crouched down and ran your hand over it, you thought about going to him in New Asgard. It just never felt right, you and him were never as close as you were with the others. You kept walking around before turning back and walking to the front door, you walked in and sighed. You headed to the labs, it looked the same, just too neat.

“Angel?” Joaquín’s voice made you jump, he was only a few feet away from you.

“Oh, hi,” you gave him a small wave.

“Are you ok?” Joaquín gently grabbed your hands and you thought about lying.

“I will be,” you told him. “It’s just hard, this place looks exactly the same but it’s too quiet, too clean,” you admitted, looking around.

“It’ll get better,” he told you and you nodded, knowing he was right.

“I know it will,” you affirmed before walking out with Joaquín.

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It had been days and still no one had gotten back to Sam about the Avengers. You started to feel bad and went through some of Tony’s old designs, it was still FRIDAY in the compound and there were a lot of old paper designs. You had thought that maybe there was a paper or something that could lead you to anyone who would want to join.

“What about Peter Parker?” FRIDAY asked and you looked up at the nearest camera confused.

“Who?” You questioned.

“Peter Parker, Spiderman,” FRIDAY clarified but it still wasn’t ringing any bells. “This boy,” FRIDAY pulled up a picture of a boy with brown hair. Your memory was slowly coming back to you.

“FRI, how come I didn’t remember him?” You were panicked.

“It seems someone erased him from the memory of the public,” FRIDAY explained.

“Then how did you remember?”

“I’m not a person, I am an artificial intelligence, it seems whoever erased him didn’t think to add me to whatever they did.”

“Huh, can you get me his address or anything?” You set back to work, you were going to find Peter. God knows what he was going through.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“You mean to tell me that Dr. Strange erased the memory of Peter Parker from everyone but seemed to forget to include FRIDAY because she’s an artificial intelligence?” Sam was driving you to Peter’s apartment, you were shoved in the backseat with Joaquín in the front.

“Yeah, it seems that way. Odd that I remembered him after being reminded but you didn’t,” you mused, playing with the loose string on your sleeve.

“You’re powers from the fabric of the universe, it makes sense to me,” Sam assured you and you nodded, Sam pulled up to an apartment and you all got out.

“It might be better for me to go, last time you two interacted fully was fighting at an airport and he’s never met you,” you looked from Sam to Joaquín, they both nodded and waited by the car while you went in.

“Hello?” Peter was standing at the door, you could tell he recognized you but didn’t say anything.

“Hello, Peter. Can I come in?” You watched as he nodded and you took a step into his apartment. It broke your heart to see how little personal items he seemed to have.

“Is there something I could help you with?” Peter awkwardly crossed his arms and you smiled at him.

“That spell you had Strange do, it was powerful. Powerful enough to work on me, which is saying something since my powers come from the fabric of the universe. But do you know what it didn’t work on?” You had sat down on his couch, you watched as he slowly realized you knew who he was and remembered him “FRIDAY, she remembered you. We guess it has something to do with her not being human.”

“You remember who I am?” Peter looked excited and you nodded.

“I have a proposition for you, well, Sam Wilson does,” you told him and he excitedly nodded. “I would love to tell you but I think Sam should, are you ok with me inviting him and Joaquín up here?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Peter told you and you pulled your phone out to text them. They were at the door only a few moments later, you watched as the three did quick introductions.

“Sam, ask him,” you prodded and stood with Joaquín, holding his hand.

“Peter, would you like to be an Avenger?” Sam questioned and you smiled the same time Peter and Joaquín did.

“Yes,” Peter answered right away.

“Y/n, you own the compound. The next question is yours to ask,” Sam looked at you and you looked at Peter.

“Peter, you can say no, but would you like to move into the compound? It’s free and safer than this apartment,” you took a look around and Peter nodded.

“Yeah, it would be nice not having to be alone,” Peter admitted.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

It was just the four of you, but you quickly fell into a routine. You and Peter would spend the time Sam and Joaquín went out practicing their flying in the lab working on whatever before the four of you met in the kitchen for lunch. Once a week, instead of you four separating in the morning, you would all train together. Practicing how your skills and teamwork meshed together, it was a learning curve. None of you could flip around as easily as Peter but once you all figured it out, it was just learning to work as fluidly as possible.

Any other training, personal or pairs, was up to the discretion of the person. You and Joaquín trained together at least once a week between lunch and dinner, you two had somewhat adopted Peter. Peter begged you two not to think of him as your child in a way, saying that something bad happens to everyone who does and you pointed out that Pepper was fine. And so was Happy, but Peter insisted so you two kept it to yourselves.

You were alone in the training room, the sun was setting and you had a layer of sweat on you. It was pretty outside and you paused to take a drink and look at the setting sun, you missed Joaquín walking in. But he didn’t miss you standing there, backlit by the sun, looking perfectly disheveled and beautiful. You jumped when you felt Joaquín wrap his arms around you. “You scared me,” you huffed and you felt him laugh.

“I came to see if you were almost done and found you looking like an angel backlit by the sun,” Joaquín told you and your face warmed at his words.

“Joaquín,” you laughed but enjoyed his compliment nonetheless. “And I am done, or at least now I am,” you told him, the adrenaline of the last few hours of training wearing off.

“Good, we can go shower before watching a movie in bed,” Joaquín said and you started to walk off with you in his arms. You barely had time to grab your things before being dragged off.

“We? We are going to shower?”

“You think I’m going to miss the chance to see you naked? Plus, we’re saving water,” he told you and you gently pushed his face away from you while laughing.

“Ok, lover boy, let’s go shower,” you told him, wiggling out of his hold so you could take his hand.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You were showered and in pjs when a knock on your door sounded, you and Joaquín were almost halfway through the movie at that point.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Peter started talking the second you opened the door, Joaquín was standing directly behind you. “But I was wondering if maybe you two wanted to join me for training tomorrow?”

“I would love to,” you answered automatically.

“Me too, when?” Joaquín added from over your shoulder.

“After lunch, I would have asked tomorrow but I’m afraid I would have lost the confidence to ask by then,” Peter admitted and you gave him a sympathetic smile.

“You don’t need to be afraid to ask us, Peter. You’re a part of the team just as much as we are,” you told him and you saw the same boyish spark return to his eyes.

“Ok, have a good night!” He called as he rushed down the hallway. You closed the door and looked at Joaquín, both of you were ready to go to bed.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

Lunch rolled around quickly the next day and Peter finally gained the courage to ask questions.

“How did you and Joaquín end up together?” Peter questioned and you looked at him with a smile.

“I was forced to take a love potion by this lady. The only problem was that I was already in love with Joaquín so all it did was make my emotions stronger and out of my control along with adding this heavy feeling to my limbs. Anyway, while I was under the spell, I ended up confessing that I was in love with Joaquín and had been long before the spell. We started dating and we have been since,” you told Peter before quickly adding “I got the antidote and it’s no longer in my system. I’m all normal again.”

“Wow, did you ever find out why?”

“She wanted to be a villain but she got bored and let us have the antidote before returning everything she had.”

“How did you meet?”

“Through Sam, he and Bucky had broken Zemo out and to help with The Flag Smashers. However, they had someone who had magic and needed the extra help. So they called me, afterwards Sam introduced me and Joaquín,” you smiled at the aforementioned man as he and Sam stopped having their own conversation to listen to yours.

“When did you know you loved y/n?” Peter questioned Joaquín.

“When we met, I remember her smiling and joking and thinking ‘this is the person I want to marry’. The rest is history,” Joaquín admitted and you smiled over at him.

“I knew I loved him when he was quick to laugh at my jokes, even if they weren’t the best. Or when he was so willing to hold my hair while I puked even though he had only known me for a week at that point,” you told Peter who was enthusiastically nodding at the two of you.

That’s how you spent the rest of lunch, the four of you sharing stories. When it was finished, you four went to the gym to train together.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

It was comfortable at the compound, you found yourself happy to be there. It was different, you no longer walked in and by the lab to loud rock playing. Natasha and you no longer spent time gossiping about what you heard around the compound. You and Wanda no longer cooked together in the kitchen while Vision watched from afar.

But, you and Peter made some of Tony’s old designs come to life while listening to rock that Peter always got the name wrong. You and Joaquín cooked in the kitchen his family recipes and any you two found you wanted to try. You and Sam would talk about his sister, Bucky, how close Peter was to finally reintroducing himself to MJ. You found yourself doing those things you missed with those around you, and while you missed how life was before. You loved how it was now, you loved spending time with the others. And when more people come, you will love how they fit into the dynamic too.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You were wrong, Sam found a girl who could grow and manipulate plants. Her name was Briar Rowan, and she liked Joaquín. You brushed it off at first, she seemed to just be touchy. She would hang off you and Sam just as much as Joaquín, until she started to flirt with him.

Joaquín would shut it down, he was oblivious, he knew she liked him. But she never seemed to get the hint, you couldn’t tell if she knew about you two or she was blind. She didn’t live at the compound, at least not yet, so you wanted to assume she didn’t know.

But, when she made direct eye contact with you while she asked Joaquín if he would sleep with her only to laugh it off as a joke. You knew, you knew that she knew and you were going to make her pay.

“Y/n, as the team leader I have to advise against this,” Sam told you after your late night conversation. “But as your friend, make her pay,” Sam gave his support and you nodded.

Your plan was simple, you were going to first have Joaquín leave marks. Then you weren’t going to cover them before casually telling Briar that Joaquín gave you the best dick down of your life. However, it seemed Joaquín had a different plan.

Joaquín had invited everyone out to the amusement park, saying that his family was going to be there and he wanted everyone to meet them. So you all made it an outing, whenever Briar tried to get close to Joaquín, he would shift out of the way.

“Querida!” Joaquín’s mom opened her arms out to you and gave you the biggest hug.

“Hi!” You laughed as she pulled Joaquín into the hug too.

“Oh, you’re even prettier than Qunio said you were,” she gave you a once over before releasing her hold on you and introducing you to the rest of the family. You could tell none of them liked Briar by the way they kept putting themselves between her and Joaquín but would let anyone else be by him.

You all spent your day in the amusement park before going to the botanical gardens later that night. You had been separated from Joaquín at some point and it was just you, Briar, and one of Joaquín’s cousins, Maya. She led you down a path and roughly pulled Briar out of the way when you walked through an archway. At the end of the path was Joaquín, it took you a moment before you realized what was happening.

“Yes,” you told him before he even got to talk, everyone laughed.

“Y/n l/n, I have loved you and known I’ve wanted to marry you since we’ve met. I know the start of our relationship was unconventional, but there is no one I would rather spend the rest of my life with. So, will you do me the honor of marrying me?” Joaquín ended up crying by the end of his short speech and you did the same.

“I already said yes,” you joked and he let out a laugh before slipping the ring on your finger and rising from his kneeling position to kiss you.

Somewhere in the speech, Briar had told Sam that while she appreciates the offer, she couldn’t be an Avenger. Sam wished her well, even though he didn’t mean it, and celebrated your engagement with everyone else.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“Sorry we kinda drove Briar away,” you told Sam on the ride back, Briar had gotten an uber. And the four of you, Joaquín, Peter, Sam, and you, were all in Sam’s car headed back to the compound. Peter was curled up in the back sleeping next to you, Joaquín was in the passenger seat drifting in and out of consciousness.

“It’s fine, I don’t think we would have meshed well with her anyway,” Sam said.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You woke up a few days later, you had gotten into the habit of wearing your ring to bed. Since you did, you frequently woke up to Joaquín holding your left hand and placing small kisses to your hand.

“Are you going to wake me up everyday this way?” It was a teasing question, you really didn’t mind that he did.

“Can you blame me? My fiancee’s wearing the ring I bought her, why wouldn’t I?” Joaquín teased back. There was something so domestic about it, you two together in your bed enjoying waking up together.

“Don’t you have your morning fly training with Sam?” You scooted closer to Joaquín.

“I do,” he told you, ducking his head to kiss you.

“Then you should go,” you kissed him back, you knew where this was going even if he didn’t.

“I should,” he told you but he just kissed you again.

“Are you leaving?” You smiled into his kiss as he hummed in agreement. He started to sit up, your lips still connected causing you to sit up with him.

“I am,” he told you, reluctantly pulling away from you. You watched with a knowing smile as he slowly started to get dressed, pausing as he was about to pull his shirt on. “Pass me my phone,” Joaquín held his hand out and you gave it to him with a laugh.

“Are you telling Sam that you’re not going today?” You watched as he typed a message out before throwing it back on the nightstand.

“He will be fine without me this morning,” Joaquín told you before getting abc in bed with you.

“Miss y/n, should I tell mister Parker that you’re not going to be in the lab this morning?” FRIDAY asked.

“Yes, please,” you told her, watching as Joaquín moved to hover over you.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You were just laying in bed with Joaquín, lunch would be in about an hour. You had an hour to get up and get presentable before lunch.

“I’m going to shower,” you told Joaquín.

“We are going to shower,” he corrected and you laughed, you knew that was coming. He would never give up the chance to shower with you, whether it was innocent or not.

“Then let’s go shower,” you could feel the sweat start to dry and you felt a little icky because of it.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“You skipped training this morning because you were horny?” Sam questioned Joaquín, you all were waiting for Peter to get there.

“Would you rather he showed up not being able to focus with a boner?” You asked and Sam made a disgusted face.

“Nope, actually, it’s fine,” Sam backtracked and you laughed even harder. Peter walked in a moment later and you made a gesture so he didn’t ask. You did not want to explain what you and Joaquín did this morning to Peter.

“After lunch, can I show you what I was working on?” Peter asked you and you nodded, he was always doing something. He reminded you of Tony in that way, except he remembered to eat at a timely manner.

“Ok, we are all here, let’s eat,” Sam passed out the plates and all the food as Peter sat down.

You all ate lunch together since you all moved in, it was a simple way for everyone to stay in the know. A way to keep everyone together and friendly, you pushed for it. Not wanting to lose this family to an argument like you did last time.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You were walking the grounds, the sun was set but you knew you were safe. You wanted to see the grounds, there was a memorial at the spot where Tony died. You sat down in front of it, you did a bit. You haven’t started talking to it like he was there yet, you just wanted to be there. It made you feel like you were closer to him, like he was there for you.

“I feel silly, I made the decision earlier that I would tell you about my day, but…” you trailed off. “But a lot has happened, I met Joaquín Torres. We’re engaged, and everyone forgot Peter. You’d hate that, no one knows the boy you made time travel for,” you let out a huff that resembled a laugh. “Sam’s Captain America, he’s a good one too. Bucky’s a congressman, can you believe it? Congressman James Buchanan Barnes,” you looked up at the sky as you felt the urge to cry take hold. “I know you can’t answer me and you probably aren’t listening, we both know how much I believe in ghosts, but I miss you. I still have that card you sent me, the one you gave me to use if I ever wanted out. I used it once, I lied to Sam and Joaquín about that, I said I only ever thought about it. But I did, I bought just a drink, no more than 3 dollars. But I thought that maybe, just maybe, that would be the thing to bring you back. That you would just show up and you’d be back and Morgan would have her father,” you sighed, there was something so freeing about just admitting things.

You stopped talking for a while, long enough for the start of rain to happen. You didn’t move yet, you didn’t want to move. You knew you had to though, that if you got caught in the rain then you would get sick. “Bye, Tony,” you muttered and got up. You swore you could hear Tony’s voice telling you bye, but you thought nothing of it. You started walking back towards the compound and you heard Joaquín yelling your name.

“Angel, it’s raining, are you ok?” Joaquín grabbed your upper arms as he talked to you.

“Yeah, just got distracted,” you told him, it wasn’t fully a lie. You did get distracted by just talking and sitting there.

“Let’s get inside before you get sick,” Joaquín led you inside and you didn’t argue.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You were back at the memorial, Joaquín was with you this time. You told Joaquín about how you started to talk to the air, like you were there with him. You felt silly but Joaquín told you that you could never be silly about this. You never gave yourself time to grieve, you were grieving now and he was there for you however and whenever you needed him.

“Hey, I don’t want to bother you, but we have a possible mission,” Sam walked up to the two of you. You nodded and stood, Joaquín following suit. As you walked, you felt the odd feeling that Tony was there.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“Last time we were in a warehouse like this, I was kidnapped and given a love potion,” you mused as you and Peter walked in. Sam and Joaquín were flying to the roof to go in through the roof entrance, you were supposed to trap the offenders on the second floor.

“Let’s not get kidnapped this time,” Sam said through the comms and you laughed gently.

“I make no promises,” you sing-songed and you could hear Joaquín’s laugh.

“I won’t let her get kidnapped,” Peter said and you laughed even harder.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“And see, I did not get kidnapped,” you held your arms out in the same fashion Joaquín does when he’s presenting his outfit.

“You and Joaquín do that exact same thing,” Sam pushed your shoulder and you laughed.

“That’s kinda the point, Sam,” you told him, following him out and meeting up with Peter and Joaquín. Both of which were getting checked out by a paramedic after the fight, they had gotten pretty badly beaten up. “How are you feeling, love?” You ran your fingers through his hair, he had some dirt and debris from the ground in his hair. You pulled it out gently as he smiled at you.

“I’m fine, my head kinda hurts. But I’m ok,” he told you and you placed a small kiss on his forehead.

“How are you, Peter?” You turned to face the younger boy, he shrugged and you raised an eyebrow at him.

“Nothing that won’t heal with some food,” he told you and you nodded, there wasn’t much you could do for him. You knew that he had a crazy healing factor that would heal him when he ate, it was all to do with his metabolism.

“Ok, they are free to go when you guys leave,” one of the paramedics told you and you nodded in affirmative. You were just waiting for Sam to be done talking to whoever he was talking to.

“Let’s go,” Sam walked up to you all.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

It had been months, you and Joaquín had yet to finalize your wedding details but you all got suddenly flooded with missions. It was hard to plan when one or both of you were in possible life threatening situations, so you were stuck. You had thought about just going to the courthouse and getting married, just so you can get that over with. Then you could worry about having a ceremony after the whole thing. The only problem with it was that you knew Joaquín wanted to have a nice wedding and you didn’t know if he would be open to the idea.

“Angel, what are you thinking about?” Joaquín looked up from the book he was reading, you had read it a few days ago and he liked to read the same books so you could talk about them.

“Huh?” You were staring out the window, your book long forgotten in your lap. “Oh, it’s nothing,” you told him, shaking your head gently.

“Are you sure?” Joaquín knew you were lying but you also didn’t care enough to keep lying.

“Yeah, it’s just,” you paused for a moment. “What do you think about getting married at the courthouse and then having a wedding?” You barely made eye contact with him.

“Is that what you want?”

“Kinda, I mean, I really want to be your wife. I want a wedding, I want your family there to see us get married, but I just really can’t wait to call you my husband,” you admitted, in your attempt to avoid eye contact you missed the smile growing in his face.

“I can’t wait to call you my wife, if you want to, we can go down to the courthouse and get married. We can have Peter and Sam as our witnesses and when we have the time, we will throw a wedding and get married in front of our family,” Joaquín told you and you smiled at him.

“Our family?” You tilted your head at him.

“My family is your family, even before marriage,” Joaquín said and you just happily nodded and smiled before going back to your book.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“You may kiss your bride,” the judge told you. You and Joaquín got married at the courthouse only a few days after you talked about it. You all went to lunch and right after, you ended up getting called for a mission. Well not you, Joaquín and Sam did.

“I’m sorry, angel,” Joaquín apologized while he packed his bag.

“It’s not your fault,” you told him, spinning your wedding ring on your finger.

“I know, but I’m still sorry that you’ll be alone,” Joaquín paused his packing to wrap you in his arms.

“I won’t be alone, Peter will be here. Plus, I’m going to take him to see Pepper and Morgan later this week, so I’ll even have them,” you tried to ease his nerves and you could tell it worked by the way he relaxed. “You’ve gotta go, love.”

“I know,” he slowly pulled away before throwing the last of his things into his bag. You walked with him out the bathroom and to the jet. Him and Sam were using the jet to get there before their wings.

“Be safe you two!” You called to them as the jet door closed. You spun to face Peter with a smile.

“You have something planned,” Peter said and you nodded at him.

“I do, do you like roller coasters?”

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You and Peter were at Coney Island, you were going to take everyone but since the mission took Joaquín and Sam, it was just you and Peter. It’s not like you weren’t going to have fun either way, you were just missing half your family.

“I probably know the answer, but are you scared of heights?” You looked over at Peter, you two had been playing the carnival games and losing. You both chalked it up to being rigged, it was definitely not because you two were messing around and not putting your all into it.

“I am not afraid of heights,” Peter affirmed and you happily clapped once.

“Great, we’re going on that,” you pointed to one of the taller roller coasters before dragging Peter along with you.

“That was disappointing,” Peter said as you got off the coaster.

“Yeah, it was,” you agreed, it was slower than it looked. You thought it was going to have fun, and while it was, there was a let down.

“We can try another,” Peter offered and you nodded.

“Let’s do that, I want to ride at least one good roller coaster before we leave,” you told him your goal and he agreed with you.

The two of you rode every ride, having fun on a lot of them. You even went back to some of those games and won little prizes. Your favorite being the Falcon and Captain America plushes of Joaquín and Sam, you put them in the kitchen. It made you laugh, the way that they were just slightly lopsided and a little wonky looking. Peter laughed at them too, it was funny to you two. It’s why you two kept them in the kitchen, to laugh and look at when you miss the others.

“How long until they realize that they are here?” Peter questioned looking at the plushes tucked safely on the countertop.

“Probably a few days,” you mused, stirring the pot of pasta.

“Days? I give them hours,” Peter said, and you scrunched your eyebrows at him while you shook your head.

“They are not that observant, maybe out in the field but not here,” you countered.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

“Peter!” Morgan ran up to the aforementioned boy. She didn’t remember the stories Tony had told her but over the past few months with monthly visits, she had grown close to him. You hugged Pepper who led you inside and to the kitchen. A mug of tea was given to you and you smiled gratefully at her.

“How’s the compound?” Pepper asked and you shrugged.

“I mean, it’s odd. I started talking to the memorial like Tony’s listening, it’s crazy I know,” you admitted.

“It’s not crazy, I talk to some of Tony’s old helmets. Makes me feel better about him not being here,” Pepper comforted you. You and Pepper talked for a while while Morgan and Peter did whatever they were doing. It was nice being there, you just wished Joaquín was there so you could formally introduce him as your husband.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You were right, it took days for the boys to notice the plushies. After the first 24 hours, Peter relented and told you that you were right. It was now just a waiting game until they noticed, each meal, late night snack, any time in the kitchen that held the four of you was filled with stifled laughter from you and Peter. The other two noticed that, they tried asking what was up once but you two broke into more laughter.

“Is this a stuffed animal of me and Joaquín?” Sam was getting more food, you and Peter hadn’t moved them even when the pot of food was right by it. You two wanted it to happen naturally and when it did, you two broke. Tears were running down both of your faces and you gripped your sides as they cramped as you laughed. “Is this what you two have been laughing about since we got back?”

“Yes!” You wheezed out and you could feel Joaquín gently grab your arms to help you sit up straight. You leaned on him for support as your laughter died down, you slowly gained your composure and Peter lagged a few steps behind you.

“Where did you get these?” Sam was holding both of them.

“Coney Island, some random game booth had them as prizes,” you said as Peter finally gained his composure.

“When did you go to Coney Island?” Joaquín asked.

“The night you two left,” you told him. “I was going to get all of us to go, but you two were called out,” you reached out to grab the small Joaquín.

“I won the Sam!” Peter announced and you nodded.

“I got Joaquín,” you held up the plush as you spoke, showcasing it like a trophy.

“What game did you sink your money into?” Sam grabbed his plate and sat back down.

“Peter won that game where you try to pop the balloon with the water gun,” you said. “I tried to do the ring toss game but failed,” you cringed.

“Then how did you get plush then?” Sam questioned.

“I bought it, well, the guy just eventually gave it to me since I had already spent 10 dollars to try and win,” you said while hugging the plush to your chest.

“He just gave it to you?” Sam asked while you held the plush out to Joaquín who wanted to see it.

“She almost cried and made him uncomfortable, that’s why,” Peter told them and you whipped your head to look at him.

“Peter,” you hissed. “You said you would keep that a secret!”

“Sorry! I forgot!” Peter defended himself.

“You cried?” Joaquín sounded concerned.

“No, I almost cried, there is a difference,” you pouted as Peter took your empty plate to the sink for you.

“Yes, there is a huge difference,” Sam mocked and you stood at him with an accusatory finger pointed at him. Joaquín pulled you away from the table and you instantly relaxed. The banter continued as you four put up the rest of dinner before going your separate ways.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You stood behind the doors, you knew you were already married but this truly felt like the last time you would be just you. You felt empty, you wanted Tony to be walking you down.

“I wish you were here, Tony,” you mumbled to yourself.

“I’m here kid,” you spun in fear as you heard Tony’s voice.

“Am I dreaming? Oh god, did I fall asleep waiting? Or am I hallucinating again?” You panicked but stopped when you felt Tony’s hand land on your shoulder. “Oh god, I’m dead,” you said.

“You aren’t dead,” Tony laughed.

“Then what is this?”

“You haven’t noticed?” Tony raised an eyebrow and you shook your head. “You pull your powers from the fabric of the universe, do you seriously think you can’t wish to see someone?”

“Wait, you’re telling me that I did this? Are you back?”

“I’m not back, just visiting,” he told you. “What do you need me for?”

“I want you to walk me down the aisle,” you told him.

“I can’t do that, I want to, but I can’t,” Tony apologized.

“Why not?” You almost started crying.

“Because this time is limited and we don’t have that long,” Tony informed you and you saw him start to go transparent.

“But I don’t think I can do this without you,” you admitted and before he could answer Pepper and Morgan came to tell you how long you had.

“Tony?” Pepper was the first to speak.

“He’s visiting,” you told her. “I can apparently do that,” you gently laughed. Pepper smiled and you watched as Tony, Pepper, and Morgan reunited for a moment. You smiled so wide seeing them so close, it was heartwarming.

“We will see you out there,” Pepper told you.

“Wait, you don’t want to see him off?”

“No, I got to say goodbye once and you just gave me the only thing I thought I’d never have,” Pepper told you. “Plus, it’s your big day, say goodbye and come marry your husband in front of everyone,” Pepper gave you a hug before taking Morgan out by the hand.

“I don’t want you to go,” you cried, your tears never leaving your eyes.

“I have to but I will be with you every step down that aisle,” Tony smiled at you. “You’ve got a good husband, go marry him and enjoy your day,” Tony gave you a hug before he disappeared, leaving you alone. You composed yourself and faced the doors again, the music started and you walked through the opening door.

You made eye contact with Joaquín as you walked, smiling as you saw the tears in his eyes. You could feel Tony walking with you, even if you could see or hear him, you knew he was there. You made it to the end and the rest of the ceremony was a blur, you could only focus on Joaquín.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

The reception was filled with love and fun, you realized that you didn’t need to focus on the past as much as you normally did. You had everything you needed already, even if it hurt, it was the past for a reason. Yet, you caught Tony out of the corner of your eye but when you looked over, he was gone. You smiled, knowing he was happy for you.

“Congrats, y/n,” Sam hugged you and you smiled widely at him when you looked back in front of you.

“Thank you,” you told him sincerely before he left you and Joaquín.

“Well, how do you feel, Mrs. Torres?”

“Amazing, Mr. Torres. I mean, we have been married for a while but,” you trailed off and he laughed.

“Yeah, but now it feels officially official,” he smiled.

“It does, doesn’t it?” You absentmindedly agreed, already thinking about how you were going to jump his bones the second you two made it to the hotel room. Your honeymoon was going to consist of you two spending more time in bed then anything, you could tell.

➽──────────────❥

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