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xsteriism · 5 years ago

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Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad (on ao3)

by celestial-irondad

2, 352 words

hello! this is a (late) fic for @princessmisery666’s challenge with @technically-a-little-dragon as co-creator. happy birthday and i hope you enjoyed this little something! (i mentioned tony stark a little since i couldnt help myself, but it’s very brief)

beware of cut!!

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“I am not in danger, I am the danger,” Peter said as he took two deep breaths. “In fact, hydra should be scared. I’m coming for them and nothing can stop me. I am Peter Parker, I am Spider-Man and I am not afraid of anything.”

He kicked down the heavy metal doors to the hydra base, wincing when the door unhinged and made the loudest ringing noise that seemed to resonate throughout the building. He rushed to pick the doors up, leaning them against the filthy wall, holdings palms out in case they fell again. He heard Bucky chuckling over the comms, followed by the clicking sound of his safety going off.

“Yep, kiddo, you laugh in the face of danger, don’t you?”

Peter sighed, wishing the rest of the team was with them, but they were all around the world for various missions tasked by Shield. Natasha was in Budapest with Clint again, doing whatever they were doing. Sam and Steve were in Wakanda for a mandatory meeting about something Peter can’t quite remember. Bruce and Tony were back in the compound, working on the latest updates for their weapons and equipment. And Rhodey was on medical leave, having eaten something… unpleasant the day before. This left Peter and Bucky to deal with this mission— a rescue mission for any potential victims residing in the hydra base.

When they reached the mission site, both superheroes realised there was no way to source for the victims if they didn’t split up, so with great reluctance, Bucky told Peter to meet him at the rendezvous latest by seven in the evening. Peter nodded reluctantly and did as he was told, hence his little pep talk for himself.

The moment he truly took into account his surroundings, Peter felt something unpleasant churning in his gut. His spider-senses were going haywire, screaming danger, danger, danger in his ears, but Peter just chalked it up to being in a Hydra base and continued in his search for the victims.

Meanwhile, Bucky was also feeling the same unpleasant feeling, instincts screaming at him to leave, but he had a mission to do, so he sucked it up and continued onward. But something was definitely off, Bucky knew. Usually, a Hydra base would be filled with scientists, guards and commanders, but this particular base had nobody in it, completely empty, save for Peter and Bucky. The lights in the building were flickering, dim to the point of being unable to see and the doorknobs were so rusty that even a non-enhanced could break them.

All these pointed to one very obvious fact, realised way too late: this hydra base had been abandoned. Bucky cursed himself for not noticing it sooner, causing the spider-ling to be in danger. Fear thrummed in his veins as he reached for his comms to contact Peter and tell him to get out of the building as soon as possible. Just as he neared the entrance he used, a voice suddenly made itself known, creating a static in his ears that made him realise that his communications system with Peter was offline.

“Intruder alert. Self-destruction activated,” an automated voice spoke, before metal shutters started coming down from the ceiling, about to trap everyone inside to prevent them from escaping. Bucky cursed again, running faster and sliding under them right before they hit the ground. Before he could calm himself from the adrenaline rush, the building collapsed, some of the debris hitting Bucky along the way, temporarily immobilising him. Bucky could feel his survival instincts coming in, the way Winter was pushing forward to take control of his body.

‘Mission objective: find and protect Peter,’ Bucky managed to tell Winter right before he faded back into his conscience. He trusted the soldier enough to carry out the self-assigned mission, something that didn’t happen often. They were forced to survive, not to have any wants or likes.

Winter crawled out of the rubble when it was stable enough, immediately starting to dig his way through the chaos to find Peter’s thin body. Before Bucky’s anxiety made Winter panic, they heard Peter's short breaths through the comms and could tell that he was either in the midst of a panic attack, or was about to have one, but at least they knew that the spider-child was alive. They took off in the direction of Peter’s location, with Bucky thanking the lord for the technology the world had in his head.

“Hey, Bucky? You there?" Peter’s voice was too soft over the comms and they could practically feel the panic choking the kid. Winter could faintly hear panicked breathing and broken sobs over the comms as they desperately tried to find Peter. The spider-child must be terrified, buried under the building. Bucky winced as he watched through Winter’s eyes, his heart feeling as if someone wrung it like a cloth and proceeded to stab a thousand needles in it. Damn it, where was Peter?

“Help, I-I’m stuck! I’m stuck! Please... Bucky please help me— I… I…” Peter was crying over the comms and even though it hurt their enhanced ears, he didn’t lower the volume nor did he turn it off. He could hear thudding and crying and silent screaming and Bucky wished they hadn’t split ways in the first place.

“Hold on, kiddo,” Winter’s voice was deeper than Bucky’s and he said the nickname in Russian to let Peter know he was in control. “I’m on my way. You still there?”

It was radio silence on Peter’s end and Bucky’s anxiety was going to consume them whole if the spider-child was hurt in any way. Winter dug through the large slabs of cement, throwing it like they weighed nothing, through snow slapping his face, some even entering his eyes and making him tear up.

No matter how much he denied it, Winter knew he was tearing up for a whole other reason.

When the soldier found Peter under the disaster, he was cradling an unresponsive girl to his chest. Winter could tell that she was dead. From her pale complexion and her malnourished body, the soldier knew there was no possible way she could have survived the collapsing building. Even so, watching Peter’s tear stained face was almost enough to break the cold-hearted Winter Soldier.

Subconsciously, Winter assessed Peter for any injuries. His leg was bent unnaturally and chances were he had a few cracked ribs. His black suit was ripped, exposing quickly bruising skin. As soon as the adrenaline wore off, Peter would feel the cold and the pain of his injuries. Winter would have to ensure they got to their rendezvous point before then.

In a moment of uncharacteristic behaviour, he knelt next to Peter, placing his metal arm on the dead girl, slowly prying her out of Peter’s thin but strong arms without him noticing. His flesh arm was wrapped around Peter, trying to provide a comfort he wasn’t used to. The young hero was mumbling, seemingly too out of it to even realise it.

“I… I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice broken, dejected and forlorn. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you, Uncle Ben. I’m… I promise I’ll do better! I swear I will— I’ll save…”

Winter winced, having no idea on how to break it to Peter that the girl was dead, so he pulled the smaller body closer to his side, hoping the warmth they were giving off would calm him. The soldier hadn’t seen Peter like this before, so bruised, so hurt, so lost, but still so protective of someone he hadn’t even met in his life.

“Peter,” Winter called his name softly, forcing his voice to be comforting, trying not to use his default monotone voice, the same one used to report back to his handler when he was under Hydra’s command. The kid needed his comfort right now and Winter was going to do whatever it took to ensure he was safe.

Once the soldier managed to wrestle the dead body out of Peter’s strong grip, the first thing he did was throw it away from them. He knew it was cruel and disrespectful to someone already dead, but he couldn’t risk Peter gripping it with his super strength. There was only so much Winter’s strength could do against Spider-Man.

Peter thrashed in Winter’s hold as soon as he realised what was happening. “Wint— what are…? No! Stop!”

Winter couldn’t even manage to carry Peter into his arms before he was escaping his hold, crawling on broken legs to the dead body. The soldier’s heart ached for the child, who was so young but already knew of death and destruction.

“Hey, kiddo, it’s okay, you’re safe now. Let’s go back to the quinjet, okay?” Winter coaxed, putting his arm gently on the kid to not scare him. This soft side of the usually cold and threatening soldier was new to Winter, but he knew what he had to do in order to keep him safe— to keep them both safe.

Peter shrugged his hand off his shoulder, reaching out to the dead girl. Winter frowned, the clock in his head ticking like a bomb, calculating how much time they had left before Hydra came to inspect their base for potential survivors.

“Pete, we gotta go,” he tried again, but when the kid ignored him yet again, Winter knew he had to harden his resolve. He slid his knife out of its sheath and, with his mind made up, threw. It was quick, of course. The Winter Soldier never missed by accident. He couldn’t miss, or he’d have to deal with an angry handler and Hydra’s torture methods.

But, the scream that escaped Peter as the white snow stained red was almost enough to wish he had. It nearly made him flinch, his heart feeling like shattered glass as he approached the kid, who was trembling like a leaf.

“Wint— Winter, why… did you do that?” Peter’s voice was barely even a whisper and if it weren’t for their heightened hearing, Winter nor Bucky would’ve heard it. Peter sounded like a parent who witnessed the death of their child. It was awful and heart wrenching.

If it were Bucky who was in control, he would’ve flinched, but even so, the soldier was known for being heartless, after all. It was only recently that he learnt how to love again, how to care and protect again.

“Let’s go, kiddo,” Winter tried again, voice soft, “you’re bleeding out and injured. Let’s go back to the tower and patch you up.”

“No! How could you— how could you just kill her?” Peter shouted, voice cracking with the emotions he was feeling. “I… I had a responsibility to save her and you—”

The ticking in Winter’s head was getting louder and so was Bucky’s panicked shouts to get them both out of there before Hydra found them. So, with a heavy mind and an even heavier heart, Winter knocked Peter out with the safest method he knew how, using his flesh hand and hoping to God he didn’t hit too hard.

Gently gathering the kid into his arms, Winter took off in the direction of their rendezvous point, hoping Shield had received their distress signals when their comms went offline and sent back-up. He nearly collapsed when he saw the quinjet they came in next to the Shield jet, relief coursing through his veins.

Winter ignored the agent waiting by the aircrafts in favour of demanding they get back to the compound as soon as possible. He didn’t even see her face in his haste to get onto the quinjet, Peter still limp in his arms. Tony had been extremely firm when he said Peter was not to be harmed in any way, shape or form, but no one had expected this to happen.

Both Bucky and Winter knew they would have to do a lot to gain back the trust of Tony Stark, adoptive dad of Peter Parker. Everyone knew how protective the saviour of the world got whenever it came to the— his child. Especially when it came to his spider-child.

The man had lost the child, once, seen him fade to dust right before his eyes, right in his hands. Nobody would blame him if he was more than just a little over-protective of the child.

Bucky knew he would be, too.

Growing restless by Peter’s unresponsive body, Winter started pacing around in the jet, wanting to go and hunt for the Hydra members but wanting to stay by Peter’s side in case he woke up. Before he could wear the jet down, a firm hand pressed onto his shoulder, stilling in his movements.

“Soldier,” the agent from earlier greeted, voice emotionless and Winter quickly realised that the agent from earlier was Maria Hill, not by Fury’s side for once. “I’ll take care of the kid. You go do what you gotta do.”

Winter faced the agent, eyes narrowed in distrust, stepping closer to Peter’s body and Maria immediately raised her hands in surrender to show she meant no harm, that she was planning no harm. “Will you feel better if I said Tony was the one who sent me when he received the distress signals?”

“Ton— Stark sent you?” Winter asked, body relaxing slightly. If Tony sent her, then she would mean no harm. He was overly cautious when it came to the kid, so unless he was absolutely sure Maria would do no harm to Peter, she wouldn’t be here.

Maria rolled her eyes. “Why do you think I’m not with Nick, right now? I owed Tony a favour, so here I am.”

“If you hurt him, or if he’s hurt while under your care, I’ll kill you right after I come back from killing them,” Winter said, voice rough and eyes hard. Maria nodded, rolling her eyes again and waved him off. Winter grunted, snatching the parachute from the corner and tugged it on before jumping out of the aircraft.

It was time to test if Shuri managed to get his Hydra programming out of his head.

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hello!!! thank you for reading my fic and please leave a heart if you liked it!! comments are welcomed and follow me for more!!

#bucky barnes #peter parker #maria hill #fluff #marvel angst #whump #fluff and angst #hurt #comfort #winter soldier #winter soldier and bucky barnes are separate personalities #mentioned tony stark #hurt peter parker #peter parker whump #celestial-irondad

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xsteriism · 5 years ago

Text

Too Good to be Bad

Chapter Two: Love is brewing

by celestial-irondad

2, 028 words

2/?

click on the chapter title to read on ao3!!

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Tony wakes up without a headache for the first time in a long while, feeling light and well-rested, and the usual body aches he has aren't there to make him regret all his life choices. He smiles unconsciously, stretching a little in the giant bed he’s in. Is this what actual sleep feels like? A whole eight hours of sleep? How long had he been asleep, anyway? Granted, he was knocked out by the powerful villain, but this was probably the best sleep he’s gotten in years.

He turns to find the sorcerer sitting in a rocking chair, reading a thick book with his cup of tea left forgotten on the table beside him. When the sorcerer feels Tony’s heavy gaze on him, he chuckles lightly, placing his book down gently and helps the billionaire to a sitting position.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” he speaks, voice low and sultry. Tony feels his cheeks heat up, smile turning uncharacteristically shy. Didn’t he use to be a playboy? Damn it, where did all his game fly off to? Where was it when he needed it?

They sit in silence for a while, before Tony realises he hasn’t greeted the person who gifted him the best sleep in years and without the need for sex as repayment. “Mornin’. How long have I been asleep?”

“A little over twelve hours,” comes the reply, along with a gentle pat to his head. “You must be hungry. I’ll be back in a minute with food.”

Before Tony can say anything, the sorcerer has left the room. The billionaire sits in stunned silence for all of two seconds before he’s snatching a pillow from beside him, burying his face and screaming into it. He hopes the sorcerer doesn’t have enhanced hearing, even with all the magic, because Tony will cry literal tears of embarrassment if the man hears his muffled squeals.

Tony will admit he’s not straight. He’s been with boys and girls alike— some really good-looking people, too. But, he doesn’t think he’s seen any one of such high calibre before. Stephen Strange’s looks, knowledge and magic are all top tier. He is the whole package and Tony isn’t sure how to feel at the thought of the villain taking such an immediate liking to him.

Him! Of all people! Tony Stark, an egotistical playboy who has no care for anyone but himself. Tony Stark, the evil billionaire who nearly destroyed the world, once. Tony Stark, the man who couldn’t be loved.

Even Steve Rogers said so.

“The only person you really fight for is yourself.”

“You better stop pretending to be a hero.”

If Mr Good and Righteous says he’s these things, then he must be those things, right? Who else is he? What else can he be?

But, oh. The sorcerer is really, really, really attractive. When Tony stepped into the room, the first thing he noticed was the sorcerer tied up, sitting on an uncomfortable wooden chair but somehow looking like he had risen from hell, burning ashes, flames and all— a magnificent being. Then, he spoke and by God was Tony sold. His voice was deep, a soft timbre that made Tony warm with all the good emotions he hadn’t felt in a long while.

Before he can gush more about the very no good, very bad villain who has kidnapped him, said person opens the bedroom door and walks in with a tray filled with an array of different types of breakfast food.

“Eat up, my darling,” the sorcerer says, smiling gently as he places the tray on the coffee table his neglected teacup was on. “We can’t have you going hungry, now can we?”

Blushing at the endearment, Tony gets up with the help of the sorcerer before a mini table appears before him.

“I wasn’t sure what types of egg you preferred, so I made them all,” he says as if making every single type of egg is a normal thing to do. “Don’t worry about food wastage, I’ll deal with it.”

Tony can’t help but compare the villain to his teammates. This man is the feared and ruthless Doctor Strange, but all he has done thus far was care for Tony. The villain had ensured he slept well, was fed and comfortable. Tony doesn’t think he’s met a nicer villain. His teammates, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about his health. The engineer tends to work for days on end without supervision sometimes, unaware of time passing if it wasn’t pointed out to him explicitly. His teammates would turn a blind eye to his unhealthy habits, only caring when they wanted something out of him. When that happened, someone would force their way into his lab, demanding he spent ‘quality time’ with the rest of the Avengers over dinner in the living room.

“How long have you been cooped up in this stuffy room?” Steve had once said, giving Tony that look of disappointment that nearly made him flinch. “Come up and have dinner with us, socialise for a while.”

And how could Tony refuse him? How could he refuse Captain America when he’s been told time and time again that he was the downfall of the Avengers even though realistically, he knew he wasn’t?

He quickly realised all they wanted from him was upgrades for their weapons and suit when he went to dine with them. Clint wanted sharper arrows and Steve wanted a lighter suit. The rest of the team hadn’t even been there, out eating on their own. Tony had wondered if his sole purpose on the team was to be their mechanic.

It didn’t help that Tony spent most of his life wondering if he was inadequate, incompetent, or… faulty. How could he not, with Howard nitpicking every single flaw he had? He tried his hardest to get Howard’s acknowledgement; from building his first circuit board to being accepted into MIT, Tony had given his everything to please Howard.

Not that it made any difference when his father hit him anyway.

But Stephen is different. A very good kind of different, the type of different Tony knows he needs. The man was careful with every action when it came to Tony, eyes gentle and hands soft. It doesn’t seem like they had only met a mere few hours ago. The way Stephen acts around Tony is as if he’s the only one in his life, someone to be cherished and loved.

Tony doesn’t know what to make of it. He also doesn’t know how the man got his name, but Tony isn’t a subtle character in their world, so it makes sense that he knows. Besides, if Tony had his resources to know about the villain, then Stephen would have his.

Within the next few days, both Stephen and Tony got comfortable around each other faster than either of them had expected. They even have a little daily routine of their own; Tony would be forced to wake in the morning, dragged to the kitchen by Stephen to have a proper breakfast before they would sit by each other in the library and do work. Then, the engineer would design new inventions he had in mind while the villain read his antique books quietly.

Even though Tony was kidnapped, he’s not feeling like a prisoner in the Sanctum Sanctorum. He has full reign of what he eats, when he eats, how he eats. He can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. The only thing he doesn’t have control over is what time he wakes, but the sorcerer waking him up at the asscrack of dawn is… a good thing.

God knows how much his sleep schedule needs work. Maybe being kidnapped by the villain is the first step to get his life back to normal human functionality.

Although Tony wasn’t being tortured or anything of the like, it is disappointing when the Avengers still don't save him three weeks into his capture. Is he just a dispensable team member to the Avengers?

No matter. Tony can see how bad the Avengers are and if they can do without him, then he can do without them, as well. He is Tony Stark, a genius, billionaire, philanthropist. He is Iron Man, someone who has taken the Ten Rings down. Tony doesn’t need a few people, enhanced or not.

But it still hurt knowing he would never be on their priority list.

On the first day of the fourth week, Tony is awakened by alarms blaring throughout the Sanctum. The first thing he thinks of is, ‘who’s attacking New York this early in the morning?’

Then, when he rushes out into the main hall, where Stephen Strange already is, he finds the Avengers staring right back at them. Tony frowns, not expecting the Avengers to save him, expecting them to be happily living on with their lives without him. But before he can make a smart-ass quip about how the Sanctum is closed for the time being,

“Tony, let’s go back home,” Steve Rogers speaks, arms crossed over his chest, going for an intimidating kind of look, but Tony has seen it so many times he doesn’t feel the fear he used to anymore.

“Home?” Tony asks, huffing his disbelief at his words. “The Sanctum has been more of a home in three weeks than the compound ever had.”

“Stop being so difficult, Stark. Hurry, let’s destroy Strange’s base and go,” Clint voices his complaints, hands reaching for his arrows.

The villain steps in, hands glowing a scary green as he chuckles darkly. “I had let you all off the hook when I took Tony with me the other day and yet you still dare come into my personal space and threaten me. Do you all wish to die?”

“You all seem to care,” the sorcerer spits the word out as if it’s poison, “for Tony, but you take weeks to come ‘save’ him. From what he has told me, he is much better off here than wherever you reside, no matter how gorgeous it may be.”

Steve frowns, unfolding his arms. “Of course we care about Tony. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.”

Stephen doesn’t even bother to answer the captain, choosing instead to pull Tony away from the main hall, insulting the Avengers by indirectly telling them they weren’t formidable opponents. Tony is sure he looks confused when they teleport to the library, feeling very much lost. The sorcerer just smiles and cups his face gently, making Tony’s eyes flutter shut with the unexpected feeling.

“We shall not waste any more of our time and energy on them,” the villain declares, “they are not worthy.”

Tony smiles, eyes still closed. “I… I like you, Stephen.”

It’s the first time Tony’s calling Stephen by his name and he can hear the sharp breath Stephen inhales. He smiles wider, the warm feelings rushing back to him, feeling like a pubescent boy who had a crush.

“I know you’re a villain and I know I’m not,” Tony starts, opening his eyes slightly to see a starry-eyed villain. “But the feelings you give me… they don’t feel bad— you don’t make me feel bad.”

Stephen blinks, unsure if he had been complimented or not. Tony lets out a soft giggle that startles them both, speaking again, “normally, I don’t confess three weeks into knowing someone, but I…”

Tony is interrupted by a kiss.

It’s the first kiss he’s had in a very long while. Stephen holds Tony as if he’s fine china with his trembling hands and Tony can feel the way his lips are quivering as well. The smaller smiles through the kiss and presses closer, taking the bold step to deepen the kiss.

And honestly? Forget butterflies and fireworks. Tony’s feeling as if wildebeests are stampeding in his tummy and magical fairies are throwing their pixie dust on them like confetti. Their kiss is more than just magical and Tony can already tell he’ll be addicted to the sorcerer’s kisses.

Plus, they say pixie dust is known for making wishes come true.

Oh, yes, Tony thinks his wish is coming true.

——

hello my darlings!! chapter two is finally up after weeks of nothing. tbh, i wasn’t really feeling this chapter and i deleted a few (many) scenes from the final cut and i still dont know how to feel about this chapter.

pls gimme sum luv (like and comment!!!) bc i tried really hard on this

also, i'm an irondad blog but here i am, using my 100th post for ironstrange

taglist: @funkylittlebidiot (bc you’re the inspiration for this post and i wasn’t sure if you wanted to be tagged or not) @jake-the-snake-from-state-farm @considering3000homicide @justpassingby007 @ragingstillness @el-rezet @the-fifth-marauder101 @marvels-blue-phoenix (because you’re almost always the first to like my fics and i see you and i love you) @officialtonystarkprotectionsquad (bc you always support me and i also love you) @technically-a-little-dragon (ily bby, i hope u enjoy this!!)

#villain Stephen strange #ironstrange #anti team cap #first kiss #insecure #dark thoughts #fluff #light angst #cuteness #tony stark #clint barton #Steve Rogers #stephen strange

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