#Math Superpowers

[presswoodterryryan]

Unlocking Algebra: The Magic of Variables

By Alice Hi everyone! It’s Alice, and today, Mr. Fluffernutter and I are on a math adventure! My big sister Ariel has written an amazing paper all about solving algebraic expressions using variables, and let me tell you—it’s like unlocking a treasure chest full of math secrets! At first, I thought variables were just sneaky letters making math more confusing, but Ariel showed me they’re actually…

[schwarz-san]

Imagine this as a superpower.

You're in a place where evryone has superpowers, knda like MHA.Like, then people ask, "dude, whats your superpower?" Then you say Math / Physics/Geometry. They think you're poulling their leg and didn't believe you or they did believe you but thought that "Math/Physics/Geometry? Dude ypur powers are boring" they thought it just make you smart. Then you hit them with this:

[chubphoe-linkclick]

Link Click Superpower Mechanics: Time Travel and How to Change the Past

and why neither Cheng Xiaoshi nor Lu Guang can do it alone

Tl;dr: the past CAN be changed, but you have to know the secret cheat codes to do so because the cause-effect relationship of events is mad complicated and conditional on borderline random factors. Only Lu Guang's supernatural observer powers can see these 'cheat codes' to safely direct Cheng Xiaoshi's actions to end up at the correct state. Moreover, Cheng Xiaoshi's autonomy when diving allows new possibilities to occur in the past that would otherwise have been impossible.

In Season 2 Episode 2, we see Lu Guang use his powers on all the camera feeds in the hospital and it gives a node-link graph visual in the background as his powers activate along with the more concrete visual of the hospital, CXS and QL's locations (presumably), and the person they're tracking. This graph representation in the background could actually be a hint on how Lu Guang's powers work, and it could explain why he talks about death as 'unchangeable nodes.' It's not an unusual way to think about things, but maybe there is a reason he uses the word "node" specifically.

Maybe the way Lu Guang experiences his powers is like an insanely complicated graph with multiple paths and outcomes that then also move in a bizarre chronological way, rather than seeing specific events unfold on a simple and neat line or a tree of possible events and outcomes. [Based on the visual below, the graph that Lu Guang sees is cyclic i.e. not a tree, so you can go around in circles without changing the outcome if you're not careful even if the actual events change: the meaningful causality is missing.]

If timelines are actually graphs, this affects how we can interpret how timelines work because it essentially bundles actions together in nodes, which is much more limited than allowing a near-infinite combination of any actions and outcomes. It also means that moving from Point A to Point B via Action X could be conditional on factors unforeseeable in real time (or unrealistic to account for in real time) because they've been bundled together in these nodes.

This fits with what we've seen of the missions so far and fits with Season 2's themeing of unchangeable fate while explaining why Cheng Xiaoshi couldn't change events when he dived by himself. Lu Guang to direct Cheng Xiaoshi to choose the correct series of action-bundles for a specific outcome, since which actions are bundled together isn't clear in real time as the actual timeline changes.

Okay, but couldn't we know this while using the regular framing of time as a line?

Maybe (?), but-

Thinking of time as a timeweb rather than a timeline explains more about Lu Guang's experience as well as why he does what he does and keeps Cheng Xiaoshi on such a short leash without explanation: it's just an insane amount of information that's hard to comprehend let alone explain to fucking Cheng Xiaoshi.

It tells us about Lu Guang's predictive abilities when looking at the 12 hour time frame of a photo, since he can see branches of possible actions and outcomes that are quite different from what actually happened (something that'd be impossible if he's just seeing the raw events of a photograph).

This explanation also explains why they're able to change the past without rewriting the present: because the critical path from Point A to Point B wasn't changed.

This also tells us that Cheng Xiaoshi's powers opens up new possibilities that Lu Guang could not see on his own (cough cough end of S2). Consider when Lu Guang couldn't tell what would happen if Cheng Xiaoshi won the basketball game: because it was a section of the graph that was never supposed to exist. Lu Guang can (likely) only see nodes that were realistically possible to occur in the original timeline. So Cheng Xiaoshi's influence can completely disrupt his ability to read events because it forcibly creates a series of nodes/action-bundles that were not supposed to exist thus forcing Lu Guang to re-use his ability from scratch, re-expend the energy to read a photo's timeweb, and completely recalibrate his planning to make sure Cheng Xiaoshi stays safely on course (which also takes time).

There are likely future implications that we're unaware of and need to be considered. For example, the fact that CXS, QL and Xiao Ma are all represented as nodes in his view could be used to work backwards on the limitations of his powers and the knowledge he's able to glean from them.

Suddenly Lu Guang's controlling attitude when they're diving makes a lot more sense, and I know I'd be pissy with Cheng Xiaoshi too if I were him.

[cheesewhip3]

i hate people who say autism is a superpower like no fuck off autism is one of the reasons why i tried to kill myself at 13 but go off on how i should just try harder with school and idk fucking go on a walk or drink a cup of tea

[theshinysnivy1]

Putting action characters in coffee shop AUs is inhumane. Their enclosure needs enrichment. They need to punch and stab and kill

[stardustedknuckles]

The thing about math and English analysis/essays is that they both have formulas, and people are taught their whole lives that math is predictable and safe and logical, whereas English is more exception than rule and you must work on vibes alone unless you become some kind of monk who can diagram sentences and I'm like. The fact that I can diagram a sentence is why I like grammar. Everything has a place and everything goes in its place. And tbh, algebra is about the only math that stays predictable and safe and even it's full of theorems and whatnot - just not as bad as other maths. I know the structure of an analytical essay as surely as I know the quadratic formula. I can solve for a thesis paragraph as well as I can for x. They are siblings to me, and there was a moment where I wanted to maybe be a math teacher until I realized the sheer level of actual theoretical guesswork I would have to absorb in order to just be left alone with my algebra.

Idk man, pattern recognition is a hell of an instinct. I've never really understood the divide between math and English (the subject, as it pertains to analysis and essays). Things that can be solved by formula are safe, and that's not just math. It's just that with English and writing/grammar, you learn the rules and formulas so that you can better make your point in an academic setting. It's a tool in order to execute a belief or a project. It's communication. It's purposefully setting up a trope and then turning it inside out just for fun because you know what everyone is expecting. You know the rules your readers have learned because you learned them too, and you've learned that individuality is stored in the nuances and exceptions you're most keen to explore.

[the-faultofdaedalus]

some very funny things i’ve realized about kat and people’s perception of her is that a) for a While everyone just thinks that she got her powers because her parents were doing unethical human experimentation on her before their death because tony over-related and his arguments were convincing enough and because no one has mentioned this in front of kat she can’t ever correct them and b) it’s very possible that it takes a LONG time for anyone to even realize that i) she has two different powersets from two different sources ii) what one of those powers even IS (her sight, because she just. doesn’t talk about things. again. and the things she notices that no one should notice could just be really good hearing or smell or smth?) and honestly the longer no one realizes any of these things the funnier it is

[generalb]

I’ve always found time stopping powers interesting, mainly because it almost never discusses its biggest drawback; you age faster. Sure it wouldn’t be obvious to you, but if you freeze time enough times you will be, to everyone else, again faster than them.

I’m not one of those math guys, but let’s take the minutes in a year. 525,600. There’s a song about that. Let’s say you froze time for 30 minutes every day for 24 years. 525,600 • 24 = 12,614,400 minutes. 30 • 365 • 24 = 262,800 minutes.

You’ve effectively lives 24 1/2 years in under 24 years. Granted that’s not bad, but then again, that’s only 30 minutes. If you’re gonna freeze time, it’s usually not gonna be for something as short as a half hour.

[i-may-be-an-emu]

“Autism is a superpower 🥰🫶🤗” no it’s not it’s a disability

…but someone said “there was this line in the show ‘Loki’ that said ‘Let time Pass’ and..” and then kept talking and I was zoned out until the quote and shot right up and was like “WAIT WHERE HAVE I HEARD THAT” so yeah maybe I have superpowers or maybe I’m just a bit insane

[chongoblog]

Things That Happen In Hunter X Hunter Without Context

The main character can't fight for a month because of math

There's a trans character who can grant wishes (but watch out!)

The most powerful villain in the show dies peacefully surrounded by a loved one.

Bungee Gum has the properties of both rubber and gum

There are two blonde pretty boys who love to smile all the time. They are both evil and fucked up, but one of them is definitely more fucked up and evil.

A guy gets killed by they/them pussy and then resurrected as a bug girl

Yes, the show is about a kid finding his deadbeat dad. His dad is such a tool that a random guy punches him in the face and almost becomes president as a result.

His dad left to make a video game.

One character is so pissed off at a group of 13 people specifically, that his powers only work on them

Literally everyone in the fandom agrees that departure is the best opening. It is 100% unanimous.

A man is so scared of a butterfly that he goes bald

Stabbing yourself with a phone antennae will make you go super saiyan

There's a nuke

The main character almost kills himself playing Rock Paper Scissors on multiple occasions

The superpowered transformation sequence is one of the most heartwrenching moments of the show

The world is saved by a blind girl who's really good at Go

Leorio

[cressidagrey]

Lessons in Math (and Humility)

Welcome to Mysterious Mrs Piastri's Mondays. Apparently this is a thing now. (Ever since I hear that interview where Kimi was asked which subjects he's scared off an the answer was Math, I knew I was gonna write this.)

Pairing: Oscar Piastri x Felicity Leong-Piastri (Original Character)

Summary: Kimi Antonelli thought he could handle anything — race cars, pressure, a wet track…but his math homework may destroy him. Enter Bee Piastri. 

(divider thanks to @saradika-graphics )

Kimi Antonelli didn’t ask for help lightly.

Especially not with math.

He was a racing driver, not an idiot. He could handle telemetry, fuel loads, braking calculations, tyre degradation graphs — all of it — without blinking. He’d memorized braking points at Spa, figured out fuel maps on the fly, and survived radio calls with engineers who thought “you’re fine” covered every possible scenario.

He was good at numbers. At racing numbers.

But this assignment?

This nightmare of partial derivatives and matrix transformations?

It stared at him from his tablet like a personal attack, every line of notation a new insult to his intelligence.

After twenty minutes of glaring at it — tapping his pen, checking his notes, checking them again as if they might have magically rewritten themselves — Kimi finally let out a groan of pure, unfiltered despair.

He flopped face-first onto the hospitality couch, tablet slipping from his hands onto the seat beside him.

Without lifting his head, he announced, voice muffled against the cushions: “I’m going to fail math and bring shame to the entire grid.”

The nearest breathing human — unfortunately — was Ollie Bearman, who looked up from where he was very happily slurping a suspiciously neon smoothie.

Ollie raised an eyebrow. “What’s the problem?”

Kimi lifted one arm limply and waved the tablet in the air like a white flag of surrender.

“This. Derivatives. Partial equations. I don’t know. Numbers are evil.”

Ollie blinked once. Then grinned — the kind of grin that meant he was enjoying Kimi’s suffering way too much.

“You know,” he said thoughtfully, “Arthur Leclerc almost failed stats back in F3.”

Kimi turned his head enough to squint at him. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Like, barely passed.”

Kimi perked up slightly, seizing onto the news like a lifeline. If Arthur — who had a literal racing dynasty backing him — struggled, maybe there was hope for the rest of them.

“How’d he survive?” Kimi asked, sitting up slightly.

Ollie’s grin widened.

“Oscar.”

Kimi stared at him. “Piastri?”

“Yep. Quiet nerd back at Prema. Absolute lifesaver. Helped Arthur cram for finals and everything.”

Kimi narrowed his eyes. He thought about Oscar: quiet, steady, terrifyingly good at everything he touched, like someone had programmed him in a lab.

Of course Oscar would have hidden superpowers. Of course.

Kimi hesitated, pride warring with desperation.

And then sighed dramatically, letting his head thunk back against the couch.

“Fine,” he said. “Find me Piastri. I have no pride left.”

Which was how, ten minutes later, they ended up with Oscar Piastri sitting cross-legged in the McLaren motorhome, frowning deeply at Kimi’s tablet like it had personally offended him.

“Okay,” Oscar muttered, squinting, “it’s not impossible. It’s just badly worded.”

Kimi leaned forward, full of hope — desperate, grasping hope.

Maybe this would be fine. Maybe Oscar Piastri — quiet, unflappable, secret nerd of Prema lore — could fix this disaster.

Five minutes later, that hope was dead.

Oscar exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through his hair. “I’m going to be honest with you, mate: I have no idea what they’re asking for.”

Kimi flailed, waving his hands like he could physically summon better news. “But you saved Arthur! You’re the math guy!”

Oscar held up a hand, grimacing. “That was basic stats, Kimi. You know, averages. Standard deviations. This—” he pointed at the tablet like it might bite him, “—this is multivariable calculus meets actual sadism.”

Ollie Bearman, who had been perched nearby pretending not to watch the trainwreck unfold, snorted into his water bottle.

Oscar sighed again, this time reaching for his phone.

“No—” Kimi said, panicked, feeling his dignity slipping further into the abyss. “Don’t call someone. Don’t bother anyone. I’ll just fail and move to a cabin in the woods, it’s fine—”

Oscar was already dialing.

“Relax,” he said, calm as anything. “Felicity’s here. She likes this stuff.”

Five minutes later, Felicity Piastri wandered into the motorhome.

Kimi had seen her around the paddock plenty of times over the last year.

The first two things he’d learned about Oscar’s wife were simple:

1. She was tiny and startlingly pretty — the kind of pretty that could probably kill a man if she wanted to.

2. If Felicity Piastri was somewhere, Bee Piastri, Oscar’s terrifyingly adorable four-year-old daughter, was never far behind.

Today was no exception.

Bee marched in beside her mother, two neat pigtails bouncing with every step, each tied with papaya-colored bobbles (a detail that felt almost aggressively on-brand). A stuffed frog plushie dangled from one hand, like a trusted battle companion.

Both of them — Felicity and Bee — looked unfairly bright and well-rested for how emotionally wounded Kimi felt.

Oscar, completely unbothered by the incoming reinforcements, handed Felicity the tablet without preamble.

She glanced at it. Paused. Then blinked slowly.

“You’re all stumped by this?” she asked, her voice dripping with mild disbelief.

Kimi wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

“It’s the notation!” he blurted defensively. “And the question’s vague! And the examples were misleading!”

Felicity tilted her head, looking at him with the kind of fond pity reserved for particularly slow puppies. “It’s literally just a chain rule application with a matrix shortcut.”

“That’s not helping!” Ollie said, muffled into the crook of his elbow where he was laughing himself into an early grave.

Meanwhile, Bee had clambered neatly onto Oscar’s lap without hesitation, perching herself like a queen surveying her court. Kimi noticed absently how Oscar automatically shifted to make room for her — steadying her with one hand, pressing a soft kiss to her temple like it was muscle memory.

“Mama, is it hard?” Bee asked, peering at the tablet with great seriousness.

Felicity smiled. “Not really. But it’s annoying.”

Bee thought about that for a second. Then squared her tiny shoulders like she was preparing for battle.

“Can I try?” she asked.

Oscar sighed deeply. “Bee, it’s complicated—”

But Bee was already moving, plucking the tablet from his hand like it was no big deal, mumbling to herself under her breath.

“Okay, so you take this one first because it’s inside the brackets... and then you swap the middle bits because that’s the rule from the blue notebook... and then you put it all together and it looks like a frog but it’s actually a plus sign.”

Kimi blinked.

Ollie blinked.

Oscar just shook his head like a man who had accepted the chaos a long time ago.

Three minutes later, Bee beamed, handed the tablet back to her mother, and swung her legs happily.

“There,” she said proudly. “Now it’s not grumpy anymore.”

Felicity leaned over, checked the solution... And grinned.

“She’s right,” she said brightly. “Great job, sweetheart!”

Oscar gave a low, half-proud, half-resigned chuckle. “Welcome to my life.”

Kimi stared at the screen.

A four-year-old. A four-year-old had solved the math problem correctly in under three minutes.

Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. He had heard rumors last year — something about Bee spotting an issue with a McLaren suspension load calculation before any of the engineers did.

But seeing it in real time?

Devastating.

Absolutely devastating.

“I— how did you—?” Kimi stuttered, still struggling to comprehend reality.

Bee shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Mama says numbers are friends. You just have to make them sit next to each other nicely.”

Kimi blinked down at the tablet, then at Bee, then back again.

Maybe... maybe racing cars was safer. Maybe he should stick to corners and apexes where the worst that could happen was a spin, not having his soul annihilated by a toddler.

Felicity kissed the top of Bee’s head and said entirely too casually, “There you go. Courtesy of a four-year-old.”

Oscar smiled and held out a hand. “Great job, Bumblebee.”

Bee high-fived her father so hard the smack echoed around the motorhome.

Kimi slumped back into his seat, utterly defeated.

Maybe he had brought shame to the grid after all.

Later, Kimi found himself slumped in the corner of the McLaren motorhome, a half-crushed juice box in his hand — courtesy of Bee, who had handed it over solemnly “for bravery.”

The worst part?

He genuinely needed it.

He sipped the apple juice in silence, staring into the middle distance, quietly reconsidering his entire academic career.

Maybe he could just... never open a math textbook again. Maybe he could live the rest of his life solely calculating apex speeds and brake bias. Maybe if he was fast enough, no one would ever ask him to solve another derivative.

Maybe.

Across the room, Felicity leaned against the table, arms folded, smiling sweetly — the kind of sweet that definitely had shark teeth hiding underneath.

“Bee’s better at recognizing patterns than most adults,” she said casually, like she wasn’t casually shattering the egos of Formula One drivers before lunchtime. “She’s been beating Oscar at card games since she was two.”

Oscar, sitting beside Kimi and munching on a cookie he definitely hadn’t earned, patted Kimi’s shoulder with exaggerated sympathy.

“Don’t feel bad,” he said, trying — and failing — not to laugh. “She inherited her mother’s brain.”

Kimi just groaned into his hands.

It didn’t help that Bee chose that exact moment to skip past them, Button the Frog tucked securely under one arm and a packet of glittery frog-shaped stickers in the other.

She looked so pleased with herself. Completely oblivious to the devastation she had left behind. Or maybe — horrifying thought — not oblivious at all.

Kimi made a note to himself:

Never challenge Bee to anything involving numbers.

Never doubt Felicity’s terrifying brain ever again.

Maybe just stick to driving cars really fast. It was safer for his dignity.

Probably.

Maybe.

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC Danny Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

(not in a necessarily bad way and it's by Clockwork's design)

Bats, or Constantine, or the JL, or whoever you want to be close to Danny in this prompt, don't notice it right away. It takes them a while to figure out its not purely coincidence. And even after they do figure it out, they still have their doubts.

The thing is, it doesn't work all the time. It also doesn't seem to have a system or a schedule to it, nor is it any kind of a superpower, as far as they can understand. By God, does Danny have way too many superpowers, but most of them are consistent, and yet this one... is weird. Weirder than anything they've seen before, and they've seen a lot, okay.

It also only works if Danny does it without thinking.

"You know what'd be perfect right now? A cheese sandwich," Danny says over the comms, in the middle of the fight with Dr. Freeze, "A warm, grilled cheese sandwich just out of the toas- Owch, what?" There's a pause. And then, "Guys, you're not gonna believe it, a cheese sandwich just smacked me in the face! I think someone threw it out of the window or something!" Danny sounds bewildered, but excited, and there's a sound of chewing from his comm now. At least he is eating, so that's good.

"I fucking hate robots," he grumbles the other day, punching his way through the Brainiac invasion in Metropolis, with no comm and only for the Supes to overhear, "No, correction, I hate only evil robots. The ones that interrupt my astronomy class. The ones that shoot motherfucking lasers and walk like crabs, and ruin a perfect day, and- I wish- aw, fuck, no, that's bad wording. Don't wish for shit. But if all these robots would just suddenly, miraculously malfunction and stop attacking me and the whole city, that would be, like, real nice of them."

A few minutes later, something goes wrong with the Brainiac's control over the army of robots, and all of them just stop moving and fall down at once. It is deemed as a chance, a lucky shot, a coincidence. Supes keeps quiet over what he heard Danny say.

"Oh, you bitch-ass fruitloop, you know what I want?" Danny yells at Plasmius, as the ghost is laughing like a madman, "I want a fucking brick to fall down right on your head, like, right now! Maybe that can set your brains straight for at least five minutes!" And even before he is finished talking, there's something falling down from the sky and hitting Plasmius's head. It's not a brick, to be exact, it's Miss Martian's shoe, though. She has no idea how it even came undone and fell from her foot. But it did somehow knock Plasmius out cold, so there's that.

It doesn't happen all the time. Red Robin does the math - the improbable accidents only happen in about 26% of the situations, given that Danny says something. It's by no means a reliable power. It also doesn't happen only during the fights: there were numerous times when Danny just said something like 'I wonder if the cafeteria serves garlic bread today' and sure enough, there's garlic bread there. Even if it was not on the menu. Ever.

They try to question Danny himself, but he has no idea. He doesn't even notice the coincidences most of the times - which is not surprising, knowing that they only happen in one out of four situations and Danny is known to have a short attention span. So, after a few unsuccessful investigations and failed attempts at calculating how this even works, they all give up. It has never jinxed anything, as far as they know, so everyone just leaves it be.

Danny is just magically lucky like that.

Meanwhile, Clockwork is having a good laugh about it. Danny's suggestions amuse him, and it's funny to watch the other superheroes having a mental breakdown over it, so he rigs the timeline from time to time. Just a little.

[mydearzero]

The Babysitter | Robert 'Bob' Reynolds x fem!Reader - Chapter 7 | The Bunker

Summary: You didn’t have any superpowers, nor were you even qualified for the position, yet somehow a mishap between Alexei and Yelena ends up in getting you a new job. Bob-sitter. 

Contents: No Y/N, fem!reader, college student!reader

Read it on AO3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 6

2.1K words

You had several unopened texts from Yelena. Even more from Alexei. They were trying to convince you to come back, but you weren’t so sure. You had been in way over your head accepting a job like this. The money was amazing, sure, but the risks were too grand. You weren’t even insured for shit like this. The Enhanced Damages package is way more expensive, you’re a college student, do the math. 

And who were you to get invested, anyway? You hardly knew the team. Hardly knew Bob. Sure, you’d gotten to know him over the few weeks you’d spent with him. You’d come to like him. But it was clear that the side you thought you knew was only a small part of the full picture that created Robert Reynolds. 

Your phone buzzed once more. You hadn’t opened a single text from the team these last few days. You’d read a few of the notifications, though. Generally they seemed concerned for you on the surface, asking if you were okay. But you could read between the lines. They had needed you more than they thought. Which was insane, really. A college girl who had only been in their lives a few weeks and barely made a difference? What could you possibly provide them with that they, a team of enhanced and highly skilled people, didn’t already have? 

The knock on your door didn’t come as a surprise, not really. You’d expected one of them to show up one of these days. If you had to put money on it, you’d bet it was Alexei or Yelena. 

You should’ve taken that intuition to the casino, because when you opened the door, you were indeed greeted by the father-daughter duo. Alexei greeted you enthusiastically, while Yelena gave a small, sympathetic smile. You let them inside wordlessly. 

Your apartment wasn’t exactly made to host company, NYC and all, but you made do. You served them some coffee and sat with them in your living room. 

“There’s no easy way to put this, but Bob is not doing well,” Yelena started. You exhaled deeply. That was what you had been afraid to hear. 

“We had no choice but to lock him away. I guess Val is good for something. She had a bunker built that can hold him. But he can’t stay there forever,” she ran a hand through her hair. 

“A bunker?!” You gaped. Surely that was a bit excessive. 

“You don’t know… Which is why we came. We need your help. He needs something to keep him grounded. We can’t do that, not while we’re busy with… What we’re busy with.” 

You shook your head. “I’m not a therapist. I’m not made for this. I’m not enhanced. One wrong move and I’m dead, Yelena.” 

“Which is why it’s so important that he trusts you. He likes you. He got close, he hurt you, yet you didn’t use him. We can use that to our advantage,” Yelena explained. Your eyes narrowed. 

“Use it? Use it, how, exactly? What do you expect me to do?” Her wording was suspicious. Wasn’t that exactly what Bob had been afraid of? To be used? 

“I— I understand why that sounds bad. I meant that we can use it to keep him safe. From others, yes, but also from himself.” 

You urged her to continue explaining. She sighed deeply and snuck a quick glance at Alexei, who was uncharacteristically quiet. He gave her a small nod. 

“You remember the Blackout, a few months ago?” She asked. You nodded. Though New York seemed to be a cesspool for events like these, the Blackout was definitely a memorable one. 

“I think you might’ve already guessed, but that was Bob. That’s what happens when he ‘goes dark’,” she made quotation marks with her fingers. If you remembered correctly, the quotation marks were hardly necessary. The being that had taken over the city that day had been darkness itself. 

“When he does okay, when he’s feeling good, nothing is wrong. As long as he doesn’t use his powers, or at least until he’s learned control, everything is okay. But the second something goes awry or he snaps, when this side of him surfaces, it’s impossible to get him back.” She took a long sip of her coffee. 

“It has only happened once since then. We just… Waited it out. It took weeks. And then it took so much more time from him to recover from that. He’s stuck right now. Some sort of limbo where he’s not Void, but not Bob. Valentina called him the Sentry, so that’s what we call the limbo part. When he’s too far gone with the usage of powers and in his head that he’s just not right. But with Sentry comes the Void, sooner or later.” 

You took a few beats of silence to take it all in. It made sense. Your heart was hurt for him. You wanted to help, you really did. 

“But what can I do? You guys are the ones he trusts. You’re the ones who might have a fighting chance at beating him when he goes dark. I’m… I’m nobody.” 

“Very wrong. We don’t have fighting chance. Bob… He’s too strong. Like Hulk made sweet love and had baby with Thor,” Alexei intervened. 

“And that’s just physical strength,” Yelena added. 

“That doesn’t make me feel any better about my involvement in all this, guys,” you laughed. 

“You don’t have any ulterior motives. You’re not part of this… This world we live in. You’re an external party. A relationship he has full control over. Because if he doesn’t like having you around or something goes wrong, he can just ask you to leave. He doesn’t have that privilege when it comes to us.” 

“But that’s not entirely true, is it? You’re the ones that pay me. You’re the ones who ask me to watch over him and spend time with him.” 

You just couldn’t see how this could possibly work out favourably.

“He needs help. Professional help,” you crossed your arms. It was not up for discussion. 

“We know. We’re working on that. It’s not around every corner that you can find someone with enough relevant experience to deal with something like this,” Yelena sighed. 

“So what do you want from me, then?” 

“We want you to come to the bunker and just spend some time with him. We’ll observe from outside and if he seems to calm down we can keep trying that to get him back,” she explained. 

“And if that doesn’t work? There’s not really anything to indicate that it will,” it was a stupid plan. You could see they knew that, too. But they were out of options. 

“We swim river when we get there,” Alexei said matter-of-factly. You scrunched your eyebrows in confusion. 

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Yelena corrected, patting Alexei’s knee. 

“Same thing, Lena. We get to other side eventually.” 

You couldn’t believe they somehow convinced you. You packed a bag with some essentials and allowed them to drive you to this mysterious bunker. 

It was darker outside than you’d expected. You had been holed up in your apartment for days, distracting yourself with all the possible online coursework. You were pretty sure you were three semesters ahead by now. 

You didn’t know what you’d expected when they’d said ‘bunker’, but it certainly wasn’t an underground facility inside the Watchtower. 

“Isn’t it a bit dangerous to keep him in the city? I expected we’d be driving upstate,” you spoke as you got out of the car. 

“It’s easier to keep him close. Less time travelling means less chance of him breaking away.” 

Bucky was down in the bunker, watching over several cameras. Bunker wasn’t the right word to describe what Bob was locked inside. It was a glorified studio apartment, just reinforced to hell so he couldn’t leave. 

You still weren’t sure how locking him up like this could possibly benefit them. It couldn’t be good for his already horrendous mental state.

“Good to see you back,” Bucky greeted you. You gave him a tight smile. You doubted whether your involvement in this was ‘good’. 

“So, what’s the plan?” You asked. Walker came into the surveillance room. He didn’t look at you. 

“We’re gonna send you in there. Bob doesn’t know there’s cameras and microphones inside. Act like you don’t know, either. Just act like you usually do when you’re alone with him.” Bucky spoke.

They discussed for a minute if they should let you take your bag inside, but in the end decided that it didn’t matter. You had to look as normal as possible and if he wanted to kill you, he didn’t need your toothbrush to do so. 

You took a few deep breaths before entering the first door. It slid open faster than you’d expected. You stepped through and it slammed shut, locking you inside the small room. A few more seconds passed and the second door opened, letting you into the studio. 

You didn’t see him, at first. You tried to act as casual as possible, putting your bag by the door and kicking off your shoes. 

You walked further into the room and spotted him sitting on the couch, reading a book. The only thing that gave away that it was Sentry before you, not Bob, was his posture. Bob usually hunched in on himself, making himself as small as possible. Sentry sat up straight, unafraid to be perceived. 

You knew he’d heard you come in. You didn’t dare speak first, afraid of what he might do. Luckily, you didn’t have to. He finished his page, dog-eared it and put the book on the coffee table in front of him. 

“I knew you’d come, sooner or later,” he spoke. He finally looked at you, then. Your brain couldn’t comprehend how you were seeing Bob, but how it also really wasn’t him. The man sitting in front of you as you stood hovering by the couch was a stranger. 

“Please, sit,” he gestured to the empty spot next to him. You obliged, sitting as far as the small couch would allow. You didn’t take your eyes off him. 

“Why did you leave me here?” He asked. You didn’t know how to answer that. 

“You hurt me, Bob,” you whispered. The wound on your cheek was almost gone. 

“It’s only a scratch… If I had actually intended to hurt you don’t you think it would’ve been much worse?” He leaned back into the couch, relaxing his posture. He still sat with more grandiose than the Bob you knew ever would.

“You scared me,” you admitted. 

“You said you cared about me,” he started. You hadn’t expected him to bring that up. 

“I did– I do. I do care about you. But you said it yourself, caring comes with a cost. You scared me, not only for me but for you,” 

“Then why did you let them do that to me? Do this to me?” He gestured to the room around you. 

“I didn’t have a choice,” you started, but he interrupted. 

“You always have a choice. You’re here, now, aren’t you?” 

You were at a loss for words. What did he want you to say? What could you possibly have done differently? You stood up off the couch, ready to tell the team that this was pointless and to let you out. 

Bob– no, Sentry, was so fast. You didn’t even see him get up, yet there he was, blocking your exit. He bent forward and whispered so quietly, you didn’t even know how you could have heard him. The microphones, you realized. There was no way they could pick that up. 

“I know they’re watching,” he’d whispered. There was no use replying. 

“You say you care and that you only want what’s best for me, but you don’t even trust me,” he spoke loud enough for the microphones to pick up. 

“I trust you. I just don’t know what you want from me right now!” You were getting frustrated. 

Bob laughed, but the sound was hollow. He bent back over you. His height wasn’t something you’d taken notice of before, but it was apparent now how much he towered over you. He tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear, like he’d done before. 

“If you trusted me, you wouldn’t count on them to come save you. You’d know you don’t need saving.” His tone sent shivers down your spine. He was implying he wasn’t going to hurt you, so why did it sound like a threat? 

He didn’t back away, but glanced behind your back, straight into one of the ‘hidden’ cameras. He turned you so your profile was facing the camera and did the last thing you’d expected.

He kissed you.

CHAPTER 8

TAGLIST: @jason-todd-fangirl-14 @hopes-peak-akademy @rattheraddestrat @i-shall-abide @puer-aurea @kennywantskfc69 @spectacled-studies @hiddlebatchedloki @chimchoom @spidermiraculous-blog @s00ty-feet @28cnn @tinythebunni @softpia @roeroeroeyourboet @secretkittydreamland @cultish-corner @greenbean-4ever @t-rexs-world @thebitchiestnerdtowalktheearth @ifilwtmfc @renren-006 @10ava01 @kawaii1369 @hawkinsavclub1983 @paleepeaches @lnmp89 @frozenhuntress67 @my-name-is-baby @a-moranguei @daisyyy47 @petersluvbug @articel1967 @purplefluffycows @midnightecko @lizzylynch1 @keira-kaz2y5 @lightinbug @thefriendlyferretwriter @xblueriddlex @funkyfable @papapappapapapa @darling-eos @neenieweenie @poppingaround

[slut-for-slutty-fictional-men]

Another one for Harry would be him and the reader being at a shoot (maybe a holiday video or something like that) and the reader notices Harry‘s social battery is drained and she takes him away to be alone with him and comforts him. Would be really nice if she also relates to his situation :) I was thinking mostly fluff and a little angsty for this one x

Recharging

Pairing: Harry Lewis x Reader Warnings: Fluff, angst, drained and overwhelmed Harry Word Count: 630

Masterlist

A/N: YALL IM COOKED i have math aa sl paper 1 tomorrow and I haven't started studying. might as well write to make myself feel better :)

The chalet was chaos.

Fake snow drifted from a too-powerful machine in the corner, giant boxes wrapped in glittery red paper were scattered across the floor, and someone — probably Tobi — had just spilled hot chocolate all over the set Santa throne. The camera crew was frantically trying to reset a shot while Ethan and Simon debated about who looked better in an elf costume.

You sat off to the side, watching the mess unfold with a bemused smile.

And then you noticed Harry.

He was standing by the fireplace prop, stiff and unfocused. His laugh was a second too delayed when someone cracked a joke. He was twisting his fingers together — not out of nerves, but out of habit. The one he always did when he was overwhelmed but didn’t want anyone to know.

Your heart tugged.

It wasn’t loud in the normal sense — no blaring music, no screaming fans — but it was too much. Too many lights. Too much fake cheer. Too many people in too small a space. You knew the feeling well. Your own social battery had dipped an hour ago, but you’d been trying to tough it out for the team.

You stood up and made your way over to him quietly.

"Hey," you murmured, gently touching his elbow.

He turned his head slightly, and the second your eyes met, his shoulders dropped. He didn’t even say anything — just gave you the smallest nod, like thank God you noticed.

“Come with me?” you asked softly, already steering him away.

You led him through the back hallway of the rented cabin until you found a small sitting room — unused, dimly lit, and blissfully quiet. You pulled him in and shut the door.

Harry sank onto the old couch with a heavy sigh and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands raking through his hair.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, not looking at you. “I’m trying. I just... I feel like I’m gonna explode.”

“Don’t be sorry,” you said, sitting beside him. “You don’t need to explain.”

“I didn’t sleep much,” he added, voice smaller now. “And it’s just been non-stop people all week. And I hate feeling like the one who can’t hack it.”

You reached out and gently tugged his sleeve until he let you take his hand.

“I get like this too,” you said quietly. “Everyone thinks I’m fine because I smile and keep talking. But sometimes I go home and sit in the dark and don’t answer my phone for a day because I’m just... drained.”

He looked over at you, eyes soft and a little glassy.

“There’s nothing wrong with needing a second to breathe. Or needing someone to pull you out for a bit.”

He laced his fingers through yours, squeezing gently.

“You’re really good at this,” he said, voice rough with exhaustion. “At knowing when I need it.”

You smiled. “It’s not a superpower. I just... care. A lot.”

A beat of silence passed between you. Then Harry leaned back on the couch and tugged you with him until your head was resting on his chest, his arms loosely wrapped around you.

“Can we just stay here for a while?” he whispered.

“Of course,” you said. “As long as you need.”

The world outside was still spinning — fake snow, bad jokes, and Christmas chaos. But in that little room, the two of you existed in a soft kind of silence. No pressure to be “on.” Just warmth, quiet, and the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath your cheek.

And somehow, even with the chaos still waiting outside, everything felt just a little bit lighter.

[xofemeraldstars]

MATH SUPERPOWER BUCK <3