the-queen-of-hell-666

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Perhaps I'm too tired to write right now

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

High Speed Car Chase

Chapter 5 of 'The Captain and Her Star'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Allison Byrne (OC) x Carol Danvers

Word Count: 1.9k

Chapter Summary: SHIELD decides to investigate but they're out of their element here.

Warnings: angst, violence, fighting, flashbacks

a/n: Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Planet: C-53. 1995. 

It was early morning, and Vers and I were outside of the Radio Shack, we had been up all night trying to use the Terran technology to connect with the Kree. We were standing at a payphone, trying to communicate with Star Force Command.

I looked around the parking lot and yawned, "Vers, if I don't get coffee in the next ten minutes. Whatever I do to you I'm not responsible." I said, pointing at Vers.

"One; I'll live. And two; I don't think Terrans take units." Vers pointed out, glancing at me as she continued to connect wires to our communicator. 

I laughed, "Yeah, you're probably right. Is it connected yet?" I questioned, looking at the wires connected to the payphone.

"Just about..." She said trailing off, as the hologram of Yon-Rogg flickered into a clear picture.

"Vers. Verify, CTC39. Allis, verify as well, RSR46." He said to us as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"GRX31600, and we're fine thank you for asking." Vers smirked.

"EXA82711. Is everyone okay, what happened?" I asked, worried about the team and the ambush.

"Skrull ambush. I thought we'd lost you two. Did you find Soh-Larr?" Yon-Rogg asked.

"It wasn't Soh-Larr. Talos simmed him, even knew his code." Vers explained, and he turned to me to make sure it was true and I nodded.

"That's impossible. That code was buried in his unconsciousness." He stated the confusion present in his voice.

"The Skrulls messed with our minds. The machine that they used, I think it was how they extracted Soh-Larr's code." I explained, and then yawned.

"Where are you two?" He questioned.

"We're on planet C-53. The Skrulls are looking for someone named Lawson." Vers stated as she looked around the parking lot.

"Who?"

"She's... who I see..." Vers muttered trailing off.

"She's what? Vers. Vers, what?"

"She's a scientist. They think that she's cracked the code on light speed tech. We have to get to her before they do, or else they'll be able to invade new galaxies." I explained, taking over the talking.

"No. You've been caught once already. How far to C-53?" Yon-Rogg asked one of the team members on the Kree warship.

"Closest jump point is 22 hours." Bron-Char stated from beside Yon-Rogg as he looked at the screen in the cockpit.

"Hold your position until we get there, keep your comms online so that we can contact you." He ordered.

"No! What if they get a hold of it before..." Vers started to say, but the payphone cut off and an automated voice came through the line.

I groaned and slid down the side of the payphone booth and put my head in my hands. "Great. Just great." I mumbled.

"He said he was going to come and get us. Just have faith. He'll be here." Vers assured me, as she tried to get back in contact with Yon-Rogg, while I closed my eyes.

A bunch of police cars drove up quickly and stopped in front of the destroyed Blockbuster. A black unnamed SHIELD car pulled up and two men got out and the two men were agent Nick Fury and agent Phil Coulson. Coulson walked up to the same police car that Vers and I talked to last night. While Fury went to look at the damaged Blockbuster.

"You call this in?" Coulson asked the officer in the car.

He nodded and pointed at the payphone we were at. Vers turned on her beacon, while I sat on the ground and leaned against the payphone booth as I hacked into the wrist of my suit. I was hacking into it to try and communicate with any ships that passed by. Fury walked up to us, he tapped on the glass and Vers turned around and I turned off my computer pad and stood up, dusting the dirt off my suit.

"Can we help you?" I questioned, looking at Fury skeptically.

He pulled out his ID card and we glanced at it, "Do you know anything about the two ladies who went through the roof of that Blockbuster over there?" He asked, pointing over to the wreckage of the building. "Witness says they were dressed for laser tag." Fury said, looking down at our suits.

"Oh. Yeah, I think they went that way." Vers said, pointing behind Fury and her and I tried to walk away but he stood in front of them.

"Ah. I'd like to ask you two some questions. Maybe give you the 4-1-1 on late night drop-bys. Could I see some identification, please?" He questioned.

"Allis and Vers. Kree Star Force. We don't carry our identification on small plastic cards." I explained, crossing my arms.

"Kree. Star Force." He enunciated. "How long are you planning on being in town?"

"Oh, We'll be out of your hair as soon as we track down the Skrulls which are infiltrating your planet." Vers said as a matter of fact.

"Skrulls?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Shape-shifters. They can transform into any lifeform down to the DNA." She stated, and Fury's face didn't show any recognition of her words.

"Oh boy, you guys don't have a clue do you?" I intervened and shook my head.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh. Hold on. How do we know that you're not one of those... shapeshifters?" He questioned, looking between us.

"Congratulations Agent Fury. You have finally asked a relevant question." I congratulated sarcastically.

"Oh! Congratulations to you Star Force Ladies. You're under arrest." He exclaimed, as two policemen came up to arrest them.

Then we heard a gun powering up and it blasted one of the police cars. We whipped around and saw a Skrull disguised as a surfer dude, laying on the roof of the building across from the parking lot. Vers held up her fist and blasted at him but he ducked and ran across the roof.

I ran and jumped up off the payphone booth and across the roof of ‘Radio Shack’ and I reached the roof the Skrull was on and I ran after the Skrull and Vers came up beside me and we ran side by side. The Skrull got on a subway and we followed and we got on the platform that connected to the subway and we ran past people and Vers almost ran into a little old lady, but I helped the lady to get steady then followed Vers.

We got there right as the subway doors closed and I jumped up and landed on the top of the subway and Vers did the same landing next to me. We ran to the subway cart that the Skrull was in, dodging the wires that the train was connected to.

Back at the Blockbuster parking lot, right after we went running after the Skrull. Agent Fury grabbed his gun and got into his car with Agent Coulson. They started up the car and followed us to the subway station, which was above ground so they were able to follow it from their car. As the subway train started to move as the SHIELD agents followed.

Back on top of the subway cart, I heated up the hatch on top and once it had turned a bright orange, I stepped back and Vers jumped through the hatch, breaking it. I followed and we landed in the cart.

Everyone inside looked at us like we were crazy as we walked down the aisle and there was this one older man reading the script to 'Mallrats'. "Trust me, true believer. Trust me-" He said, and stopped when Vers pulled down the script a little bit, and it revealed Stan Lee (R.I.P 1922-2018). He smiled warmly at us and we returned the smile. Vers let go of the script and it went back up and he continued to read the script.

We made it down the aisle when I stopped and turned my head to see the same little old lady that I helped off the train. The fake old lady smiled at us and Vers and I shared a glance. Vers walked up and punched the fake old lady hard and the Skrull hardly moved before it slowly turned to us with an ugly scowl on its face. It got up and swung on the pole of the subway and kicked me and Vers in the face and we fell back.

We quickly got up and ran after the Skrull and we tried to grab the fake old lady but people in the subway car pulled me and Vers back. The Skrull took the few minutes that we were restrained to run out of the subway car and onto the platform. I summoned energy onto my hands and forced the energy behind me and the people holding both me and Vers were thrown off. The Skrull stood up on the other side of the sliding door as their face shifted into one of the men on the subway car.

Under the subway track, Fury and Coulson were following the subway in their car. They watched as me and Vers followed the Skrull on top of the subway cars. Once on top of the subway, I lit up my fists and went to blast the Skrull but he ducked, making me miss him.

Fury and Coulson realized that the subway was going underground, "Train's heading for a tunnel up ahead." Coulson stated.

"Let's greet them at the station." Fury said, and made a sharp turn.

The radio went off, "Fury, this is Agent Coulson. Umm, I'm still here at the Blockbuster and where did everybody go? I've finished collecting evidence." The real Coulson's voice crackled through the speaker.

Fury turned to look at fake Coulson and fake Coulson pulled out his hand gun and pointed it at Fury. He grabbed the gun and the two struggled for a bit and then Fury yanked the wheel and the car turned into the middle of the road and the car was hit by a bus and it knocked Fury out and killed the Skrull.

I saw the tunnel coming up and the Skrull got into a different subway car and Vers went to follow him, but I grabbed her waist and melted a hole in the roof and jumped through, just the train went through the tunnel.

The subway made it to the station and the doors opened and Vers and I were the first ones to step out. We walked through the subway station, trying to find the Skrull. We saw a man that looked like the Skrull's new disguise and Vers grabbed his shoulder and yanked him around but it was a different man. She let go of him and he quickly walked away. We walked through the subway station as we were getting weird looks because of our suits.

We made it out of the station and we snuck into an alleyway to see what was on the Skrull chip that fell off the Skrull when we were fighting. I placed it in the computer in the wrist of my suit. The hologram popped up and it contained clips of our memories and I swiped, pausing on the image of me and Vers kissing and we locked eyes before I continued to swipe until I saw Dr. Wendy Lawson's name tag. It had the word Pegasus on the top. I swiped one more time and a picture of a restaurant's logo on it. The logo read, 'Pancho's'. We shared a glance knowing where we needed to go.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Planet C-53

Chapter 4 of 'The Captain and Her Star'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Allison Byrne (OC) x Carol Danvers

Word Count: 2k

Chapter Summary: They escaped Talos but crash landing onto an unknown planet brings up some more questions.

Warnings: angst, fighting, violence

a/n: Here is chapter 4! I hope you enjoy!

Planet: C-53. 1995. 

Me and Vers melted our restraints but we couldn’t break the bounds on our hands. I broke my foot restraints, flipped, and landed on my feet. Vers did the same and two Skrull guards walked towards us and I tried to blast him with my blue and purple energy but couldn't because of my bounds. So I uppercut him and he went flying backwards.

Two more guards tried to blast us with guns but Talos pushed the weapons down, "Not yet!" He ordered.

We fought the other guards and took them out one by one until Talos was left in the room. Me and Vers grabbed him and shoved him up against the computer pad. Vers held up one of her fists that were bound and it glowed blue and orange, as she got more mad.

"What the hell did you do to us?" I yelled as I pressed my bound arm against his chest, keeping him pinned to the computer.

"We're just after a little information." He shrugged, and we pulled him back and slammed him harder into the computer pad.

"What did you put in my head?" Vers asked through gritted teeth.

"Nothing that wasn't already there." He explained as he looked up at us with slight fear and amusement.

"But those aren't our memories." I said, pushing my harder against his chest making him wince.

"Yeah, it's like a bad trip in there. I'm not surprised you can't keep it straight. They really did a number on you." Talos said, directing his words towards me.

"Enough of your mind games! What do you want?" Vers asked, getting the attention away from me

"We're looking for the location of a Doctor Lawson and her light speed engine." Talos explained honestly.

"We don't know any Doctor Lawson." Vers said with conviction.

"Then why is she in your heads?" Talos asked as several different guards came running in. I groaned in annoyance and lifted Talos over my head and threw him at the guards and they toppled like bowling pins.

Vers and I ran out of the room and down the hall, while still being barefoot and our hands bound. “How the hell do we get out of here?” I asked quickly as we kept running trying to find an exit and any Skrulls that got in our way were taken down.

“Have no idea, but at least we’re getting our cardio in.” Vers huffed before we turned a corner and a bunch of Skrull guards came out from in front of us, so we turned around and ran the other way but more Skull guards came from the other side so we were trapped.

"You wouldn't know how these things come off would ya?" Vers asked, holding up her bounds and she looked from one side to another. "No?" She shook her head, "Fine." She shrugged and her and I went back to back. I took out all eight guards on my side using the solid metal bounds to my advantage and my leg strength and Vers took out the eight on her side, before we took off running to the right of the hallway.

We made it to an empty space and one of the doors slid open and Talos and another guard walked out. Vers turned to another door and lifted her foot up and pressed the open pad and the door slid open, and two giant guards stepped out into the room with us.

One walked towards me and I punched him in the stomach as hard as I could but he didn't flinch. He looked down at me and punched me in the face, sending me sprawling on the floor. I turned onto my back and tried to blast him but the bounds prevented any energy from escaping. I slid away from him on the floor while still trying to blast him. I closed my eyes for a second and focused my energy to my hands and the bounds snapped open and the energy blasted the guard and he went flying.

The momentum from the blast sent me flying on my stomach across the floor. I looked down and saw my hands glowing purple and blue. "Yes!" I laughed, and clapped my hands together sending small sparks into the air. I got up and saw Vers standing up, her bounds gone as well. We turned our heads and smiled at each other before we fist bumped and looked back at the other Skulls in the room and put our fists up, ready to fight.

Behind them, we heard cracking and the Skrulls ran and grabbed onto the railings on the pillars in the room. We turned around and we saw the wall of the ship breaking off in small cracks that slowly got bigger. It broke and the space vacuum took the other Skulls out and into the vast expanse of space, and it pulled Vers and I but we grabbed onto the railings on the pillars and our masks materialized on our faces.

I grabbed Vers' hand and used my powers to fly through the door as it slid close. We went toppling into the hallway and I leaned against the wall to catch my breath and I looked over at Vers who was breathing heavily. We locked eyes and I knew I had a goofy smile on my face as I laid my head back against the wall.

"That was awesome!" I laughed, and took a deep breath.

"Yeah! Come on!" Vers exclaimed, pulling me up and we ran down the hallway.

"I think I need more cardio." I huffed, following Vers down the dim hallway.

Vers and I found the room where we were held. "Hey!" Vers yelled, and the Skrull techs turned around and held up their hands. We walked in and Vers grabbed our boots, "Here." Vers said, and handed me my boots.

"Thank you. But you didn't happen to see my katanas in there, did you?" I asked as I haphazardly put my boots on, only slipping once or twice.

"No." Vers responded, shaking her head as she slipped her boots on as well.

"Damn." I sighed, then we ran out of the room and towards the escape pod room. 

We screeched to a halt when we turned the corner and we saw Skrulls jumping into different pods and taking off outside of the ship, but Vers ran to the one at the end and threw the Skrull out. I followed behind and was about to get in with Vers, but I saw it only had one seat.

"Crap." Vers mumbled as she looked around the room, "There has got to be another one."

"There isn't. Vers, just go. I'll find some way off of this ship." I said, looking around for a secondary exit.

"No. I'm not leaving here without you." She said, shaking her head, as Talos walked in with a blaster and shot at the pod, the blast damaging the control console in the escape pod.

"You don't have any choice." I said, and leaned into the pod and pressed some buttons and I leaned back out as the pod took off. That was when I realized the pod was hit by the blast, but I knew that Vers could figure it out.

I turned around to face Talos. "Leaving so soon? We're just getting to know each other." He said sarcastically.

"I have no way off this ship. So if I go down you're going down with me." I said, and I used my energy and blew a giant hole in the ship and the space vacuum pulled me towards the hole and I was sucked out of the ship and planet’s atmosphere. My oxygen cut off and I passed out and I went free falling into Planet C-53's atmosphere and I fell through the sky and crashed through the roof of a Blockbuster and it woke me up as I hit the linoleum floor.

I gasped trying to get oxygen back into my lungs and I got up and looked around the building trying to get my head to stop spinning and I saw another person standing there. I blasted my energy and the figure ducked and blasted energy back. I recognized the color of the energy, "Vers?" I asked, and walked closer towards the figure.

"Allis?" Vers asked, as we could actually see each other. When Vers saw me, she engulfed me in a tight hug. "I thought you blew up with the ship." She sighed and pulled back from the hug.

"Yeah not so much." I sighed, "We need to find out where we are."

"Yeah. Come on." Vers said, walking away and I followed behind her.

We made it outside and we saw a police car and I walked up and knocked on the glass. The guy in the car rolled the window down, he had a drink in one hand and a pack of some form of food open on the dashboard of his vehicle. He looked at us confused and his stereo was on and we could hear some kind of pop music blasting.

"Hi, I'm Allis. Kree Star Force. Is this C-53?" I asked him, but he just looked at me confused. "Do you understand me?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side when he didn’t say anything. "Is my universal translator working?" I asked, holding my wrist up and pressed the buttons on the wrist of my suit.

"Yeah, I understand you." He nodded.

"Oh, good." I nodded, and Vers lightly pushed past me.

"Are you in charge of security for this district?" Vers asked, getting back on track.

"Sort of. The movie theatre has its own guy." He responded, and I rubbed my head knowing that he was clueless.

"Where can we find communications equipment?" Vers asked, and he pointed to a building that read 'Radio Shack', "Thanks." She nodded, and we walked away to the other building.

The building was mostly glass with some brick and a neon red sign that lit up the parking lot, making me squint and I shook my head not understanding their need to make everything so bright. We walked up to the door but it was locked so I melted the door hinges and I threw it to the side. Vers looked at me impressed and we walked in.

We walked down the aisles, looking at all the different devices. "This is all so primitive." I said, shaking my head, as I dropped one of the pagers back onto the shelf.

"Yeah. I have read that Terran technology is way behind ours." Vers explained, looking around the shop.

"Well, then how in the hell are we going to contact Yon-Rogg? When we have no idea how to use this stuff." I groaned, rubbing my temples in annoyance.

"We don't exactly have a time limit until he gets here. He has no idea where we are." Vers shrugged, and took a seat against one of the shelves on the floor and I took a seat next to her and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"Well, that sucks." I scoffed, laying my head back against the shelf. "We need to talk." I stated, looking over at Vers.

"Talk about what?" She asked, confusion crossing her face.

"We both watched that memory play out." I explained, resting my chin on my knees.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Vers replied, looking away, apparently the display of walkmans was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Vers, you saw us... kiss." I said hesitantly as I pulled my head back up and I crossed my legs.

Vers looked over to me, "I don't know what I saw. I don't know if those are our memories. Or if the Skrulls are messing with us, but if that was us then I don't know how to talk about it." She sighed, and stood up. "We can talk about this after surviving this shit-hole." She said, holding her hand out for me to take.

I took it and stood up, "Okay. If that memory was actually us, in my mind that wouldn't be such a bad thing." I shrugged, and walked over to the other aisles, leaving Vers dumbfounded.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Captured

Chapter 3 of 'The Captain and Her Star'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Allison Byrne (OC) x Carol Danvers

Word Count: 1.8k

Chapter Summary: Talos unlocks memories that leave Allis and Vers questioning who they are.

Warnings: angst, slight misogyny, memories, flashbacks

a/n: I did my best with the memories to help build backstory! I hope you enjoy!

Skrull Transport Ship.  1995. 

"Let's open them up." Talos said, his voice echoing through our minds.

A hangar in an Air Force base opened up to reveal the bright morning sun as it peaked its way through the clouds, casting a warm light on the Air Force runway. Vers and I walked out of the hangar with our backs slung over our shoulders. We were wearing a dark green jumpsuit and the jumpsuits had different patches ironed on marking our time in the service. Me and Vers walked towards the fighter jets with our sunglasses perched on our noses.

"Where are we?" Talos questioned in voiceover.

"Stand by." One of the Skrull scientists said.

We were walking when Maria Rambeau walked up next to us and kept in step with us. Her sunglasses rested on her face and her bag slung over her shoulder. "Where are y'all's heads at?" She asked, looking over at us.

"In the clouds." I smirked.

"Where's yours?" Vers asked with a smirk as well.

"On my shoulders. About to show these boys how to do it. You ladies ready?" Maria questioned, smiling.

"Higher, further, faster baby." Vers smiled.

"That's right." I nodded bumping fists with Maria.

We got into our separate fighter jets and Vers held up a surfer sign and Maria nodded and smiled. Vers looked at me and I held up a 'Live long and prosper' sign, making Vers chuckle at me.

"This can't be right." Talos said, confused.

The memory changes, and it was of Vers and I hanging on ropes during an Air Force obstacle course from our basic training and We were about to swing to the next rope and a bunch of other recruits were on the ground, jeering and yelling at us. 

"You don't belong out here! You're not strong enough! You'll kill yourself!" The cadets yelled at us..

Vers swung and missed then she fell hard and smacked the mulch covered ground. I swung and was almost there but hearing Vers hit the ground made my concentration falter and I fell to the ground next to Vers. As we hit the ground the scene changed briefly and we were on the ground surrounded by blue, orange, and purple bursts of energy. Sand and dirt flying around us as we hit the ground. 

Then the memory changed back to the obstacle course. I sat up and pulled some dirt and mulch out of my red hair and their drill instructor came up to us, "They'll never let you fly."

"Am I the only one who's confused here?" Talos questioned still echoing through our heads.

The memory changed, and Vers and I were sitting in a bar on the same side of the booth as we sipped beers and ate some bar food, as a male pilot walked up to the table with a smirk on his face.

"You're decent pilots, but you're too emotional. You do know why they call it a cockpit, don't you?" He said, leaning down so he was eye level with us and a shit-eating grin grew on his face.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"Yeah." He nodded, acting like I was stupid. 

"Oh. I wouldn't know. Jokes are supposed to be funny." I stated, and his smirk was wiped from his face. 

The memory changed to us singing karaoke and dancing to playing pool at the same bar. As one of the pool balls hit the others the memory flashed to a blast of blue, then flashed back to the bar.

The memory flashed again to the setting being an apartment, me and Vers were sitting on the couch with two glasses of wine in our hands.

"Tomorrow is the first day of basic training." I said, drinking a sip of my wine.

"Yep. Are you ready?" Vers asked, looking at my eyes.

"No." I scoffed, Vers huffed a laugh and just looked at me with a softness I couldn’t quite read. "What? Is my mascara smudged?" I laughed, and Vers leaned in and cupped my cheek and kissed me. My eyes went wide for a minute but I relaxed into the kiss, my hands getting tangled in her blonde hair and tugging her closer.

We pulled back with flushed faces and swollen lips. "How are we going to explain this to Maria?" Vers asked, a goofy smile on her face.

"Just shut up and kiss me." I laughed, and Vers leaned back in.

"Scandalous." Talos scoffed with a dramatic voice.

"Hang on. I think I got it." The Skrull scientist said quickly, pressing some buttons.

The memory flashed through different ones from mine and Vers' life. Until it stopped on one, me and Vers were sitting on the edge of a red car outside the hanger. We were dressed in our jumpsuits and the sun was just starting to rise over the mountains. Vers was laying her head on my shoulder and I had my arm wrapped around Vers’ waist, as we watched different jets leave the runway and soared into the sky. 

Dr. Wendy Lawson walked up to us and we immediately stood away from each other, "You don't have to hide your relationship around me, ladies." She smiled, approaching us.

"Sorry. We're just used to hiding it." I shrugged, as Goose the cat walked up to us. Vers bent down and petted her, and I did the same when Goose rubbed on my legs.

"Goose likes you two. She doesn't typically take to people." Dr. Lawson complimented.

"Early start to your morning?" Vers asked.

"Ah. Late night actually, I can't sleep when there's work to do. Sound familiar?" She chuckled.

"Flying airplanes never feels like work." I shrugged, as more jets flew out of the hangar and we turned to watch the jets fly out into the sky.

"Wonderful view isn't it?" Lawson asked, looking over at the horizon.

"I prefer the view from up there." Vers said, looking up at the sky.

"You'll get there soon enough, Ace. You too, Bryne." Lawson said, and walked away with a wave over her shoulder.

"Wait, wait, wait. That's her. Get her back." Talos said, snapping his fingers.

"Stand by." The Skrull scientist said typing.

"Sound familiar?" Lawson said, and Vers and I turned around to see Lawson walking up to them. "Wonderful view isn't it?" She said, looking up at the sky.

"I prefer the view from up there." Vers said with a bit of confusion but following Lawson's gaze.

"You'll get there soon enough..." Lawson said, but it fades out. I looked confused at Lawson's sudden appearance then Lawson turned around and walked away.

"What's that on her shirt? I couldn't read it." Talos asked.

"Sound familiar?" Lawson said, from behind us and we turned around to see Lawson standing there again. "Wonderful view isn't it?"

"I prefer the view from up there." Vers stated, starting to look confused.

"You'll get there soon enough..." Lawson said but it faded out.

"Focus." Talos ordered.

Me and Vers tried to focus on Lawson's jacket. "Excuse me?" Vers asked, cocking her head to the side. Lawson kept talking but it got drowned out in our heads, because all we could hear was Talos's voice.

"Look down." Talos ordered, into our heads.

We looked down at the name tag on Lawson's leather jacket.

"Focus." Talos said.

We focused on the name tag, and it cleared up so the Skrulls could read it. It was a patch with her name and the facility she worked in.

"Pegasus, Dr. Wendy Lawson. That's her." Talos nodded.

"Can you hear that?" Vers asked, looking over at me who nodded.

"Yeah..." I said, but my voice faded out.

"Do we have the location?" Talos asked, the Skrull tech.

The normal memory played out and a flash of blue interrupted it, and then it went back to normal.

"Got it." The tech nodded.

"Now track Lawson until we find the energy signature." Talos ordered.

The memory flashes to Vers' and my nightmare, at the crash site with dirt flying around everywhere, energy bursts flew around the landscape. Where Lawson was holding a gun at an unknown person.

"Interesting." Talos hummed watching it play out.

The nightmare played through Talos's voice and right as the unknown person fired, the scene changed to the jet crash. Talos continued to talk to Vers and me but we started to resist.

"Huh. Hold on. Go back right before this. Go back." Talos ordered the Skrull tech.

The scene changed and it was Vers, me, and Lawson in a fighter jet that was being chased by an alien ship. I was in the seat next to Vers and Lawson was in the seat behind us as we flew through the atmosphere just outside of C-53.

"That's no MIG, Lawson." Vers said through the headset.

"This is it. Now, let me see where you're headed. That's right, look at the coordinates." Talos ordered, and we tried to focus on the coordinates above the controls on the screen. "Focus." He ordered, and we tried but it kept blurring out. Vers and I shut our eyes as we resisted Talos. "Open, please. That's it. That's it." He nodded, and we looked at the coordinates but again, our eyes kept blurring out. "You're almost there. You're almost there." We kept trying to focus. "Don't fight it." He said, as our eyes closed. Our memories from the crash kept replaying but that time more focusing on the fire around the plane. "Focus!" He demanded.

Vers and I ejected ourselves out of the plane and our parachutes deployed.

"Get them back. Get them back now!" Talos yelled.

The memory went black and I opened my eyes and I was hooked up to a machine that rods of energy were placed on my temples. My vision blurred as I saw the shadows of the Skrulls and I looked around and I saw that Vers was in another machine like mine. Vers eyes were open and she turned her head and our eyes met. I looked up and saw my feet strapped to the top of the machine and I realized I was upside down. When the Skulls turned around Vers and I closed our eyes.

"This doesn't make any sense." The Skrull scientist shook his head.

I pushed my power into my hands making them shine purple and blue energy to start the melting of the bounds on my hands and I could feel the energy coming off of Vers as she did the same.

"Do we have any information we can act on?" Talos questioned, looking at the screen.

"Just that Lawson was somewhere on the Planet C-53. We're on our way." The scientist nodded, starting the journey to Planet C-53.

"Then dig, dig, dig, deeper. Lawson is our link to that lightspeed engine! And everything we're after..." Talos started to say, but was cut off by one of the techs tapping on my forehead and the screen changed memories. "Oh. That did something. Try that again." Talos said, looking over his shoulder at the tech then back at the screen.

The tech did it again then looked up and realized that I was melting my bounds, and the metal started glowing purple. 

"Uh-oh."

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Mission Gone Wrong

Chapter 2 of 'The Captain and Her Star'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Allison Byrne (OC) x Carol Danvers

Word Count: 1.2k

Chapter Summary: It was simple mission, until it wasn't.

Warnings: angst, fighting, violence, brief racism

a/n: Here's where things start to get interesting. I hope you enjoy!

Vers, me, Yon-Rogg, and his team were walking onto the platform to get on the starship we were going to use for a rescue mission. Vers had talked to the Supreme Intelligence before the mission and from what they told me about it, it told her the same thing that it always said. I sometimes didn’t believe the Kree when the propaganda about the Skrulls became prevalent but it was my duty to protect my fellow Kree citizens. 

The team walked ahead and Vers and I followed them into the cabin of the plane. We were wearing our suits that were black, silver, and green, The Kree Star Force colors. "This can't be good." Att-Lass said, as we walked onto the ship.

"It must be another Skrull attack." Korath assumed, loading his gun.

"Whatever it is, it's big." Bron-Char explained, looking at the hologram of the planet.

"Has a Skrull ever simmed you?" Minn-Erva asked Korath, while adjusting the scope on the top of her sniper.

"Once. It was deeply disturbing." Korath replied, and I smirked as I strapped my katanas to my back.

"Why?" Vers smirked, side eyeing me.

"Because I stared into the face of my mortal enemy and the face staring back was my own." He said, looking at her dead in the eyes.

"Well maybe if you were more attractive then it would be less disturbing." I remarked, my smirk only growing as I said the words.

"You two think you're funny, but I'm not laughing." He replied with a stone face.

"You never laugh." Att-Lass said, from the front of the ship.

"I laugh on the inside. I'm not doing it now." Korath explained, looking away from the group to look at the screen showing the details of the mission.

"It's funny cause objectively speaking, you're quite handsome." Bron-Char complimented.

"Well thank you." Korath nodded to Bron-Char. I was trying not to laugh by tucking my face in Vers' collar, as she smirked at the bickering.

"Listen up team! Knock it off." Yon-Rogg said, pointing at us and me and Vers stood up straight and wiped the smiles off our faces. Yon-Rogg walked to the center of the plane and pulled up a hologram presentation.

"Alright, prepare for a search and rescue of our spy, Soh-Larr. The Skrulls have invaded yet another border planet, this time Torfa. Soh-Larr sent a warning signal, which we've intercepted, that his cover's blown. The Skrull General Talos has sent kill units to find him. Should they reach him before we do, the intelligence he has acquired over three years is as good as theirs. The accusers will bomb a Skrull stronghold here in the south. We slip in, we locate Soh-Larr and we get out, leaving them none the wiser. The Torfa populace; we are not to interfere with them nor them with us. Nothing compromises the security of our mission. Proceed with caution. Follow protocol before extracting him." Yon-Rogg explained, and turned off the hologram. The team stood in a circle around the hologram table. "This is a dangerous mission, we must all be ready to join the collective if that is our fate today. For the good of all Kree!" He said, and put his fist up.

“For the good of all Kree!" The team said in unison and we put our fists up.

The ship left the platform and flew out of the atmosphere and made it to the jump point. The ship jumped through space and it was surrounded by the space above the planet Torfa. The other ships started firing missiles on the Skrulls stronghold on the planet.

The team's ship followed the missiles and landed in a water source on Torfa. The team dropped into the water in our suits but our masks materialized around our faces so we didn't drown. We swam to the shore and walked onto the sand and we split up and hid behind the rocks on shore, as our masks fell.

"Vers, Allis, track Soh-Larr's beacon. Att-Lass and Minn-Erva find elevation." Von-Rogg ordered through the coms. Vers and I pressed the buttons on the wrist of our suits and Soh-Larr's beacon popped up on the hologram helping us find him through the darkness. 

"Locals on the periphery. Maybe a dozen." Minn-Erva said, into her comm from her position on the hill overlooking the periphery. She could see them through the scope on her rifle but her message came out as static for the rest of the team.

"Minn-Erva?" Yon-Rogg asked as static came from the comm.

"Do you read me? Anybody copy?" Minn-Evra asked, while continuing to look through her scope.

"Repeat."

"His beacon's coming from that temple. Let's move." Vers said, as her and I walked up to the rest of the team and crouched down next to them.

"No. This is the perfect spot for an ambush. Only one way in, only one way out." He replied, looking up at where the location is.

"And we have to pass the locals." Bron-Char added in, looking up to where the locals' heat-signatures were.

"We don't know if they are locals. Too risky." Yon-Rogg shook his head.

"You don't have to go with me. I'll go with Al." Vers said, grabbing my hand and running with me to the cavern where Soh-Larr was being held.

"No! You won't." Yon-Rogg tried to stop us, but we were already gone.

Vers and I quietly walked towards the cave and we heard a noise and turned towards it but no one was there. I couldn’t take any chances so I grabbed my katanas from my back and transferred my blue and purple energy into the katanas.

"I always found those amazing." Vers whispered, looking over to the katanas.

"I'm glad. I always found them kinda-" I whispered back, but Vers cut me off by putting her hand over my mouth and pushed me against a rock so we were out of sight. Our faces were a few inches away as Vers removed her hand. "Well, this is awkward." I whispered as my eyes darted down to her lips then back up, "What was that for?" Vers pointed behind me and I turned to look and I saw two Skrulls walk by us. "Sorry." I said sheepishly.

"It's fine. Come on." Vers said, as her cheeks flushed pink and we continued to walk deeper into the cave. We walked further in and a hologram popped up on the wrist of my suit and different Kree characters popped up and I looked down and saw Soh-Larr on the ground. I put my katanas away and me and Vers crouched down.

"HGX-78" I listed off the first few characters of Soh-Larr's security code.

"TRT79-VVX6" He replied back as he winced in pain.

Through our earpieces we heard, "Vers? Allis? Skrulls! It's an ambush." Our eyes widened as the fake Soh-Larr pulled out a Skrull weapon and zapped us, paralyzing us and we fell to the ground.

"How did you know the code?" Vers asked, through gritted teeth as fake Soh-Larr turned into Talos.

"How about I tell you my secret? When you two tell me yours?" He said, and tasered us and we fell unconscious.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Nightmare

Chapter 1 of 'The Captain and Her Star'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Allison Byrne (OC) x Carol Danvers

Word Count: 1.3k

Chapter Summary: Allis hasn't had a good night sleep since she arrived on Hala but neither can Vers so sparring helps tire them out.

Warnings: angst, nightmares, sparring, fighting

a/n: Here is chapter one of my new book! I hope you enjoy!

Planet: Hala. 1995. 

The wind whipped dirt and sand around in the air, making me squint as I held my gun down as my eyes darted around the landscape. I stood beside Vers and she had blue blood dripping from her forehead as she turned to look at me. I turned to look over feeling my nose throb as blue blood dripped from my nose. Me and Vers locked eyes as everything seemed to move in slow motion. Then a gun powered up and we looked towards the source of the noise. We saw a green faced man and he pointed a blaster at us before we could run.

I jolted awake when I heard a knock on my door. The window covers disappeared and the sun shone through my window and lit up my room. I squinted as the light hit my eyes and I sighed, rubbing my forehead, pushing my hair out of my face. I got off the bed and walked over to the door. I pressed a button and the door rolled up with a ‘whoosh’ and Vers was standing on the other side.

Vers smiled at me, she was in her sparring gear with her hair up in a ponytail, the implant device blinking in the dim hallway, "Do you have any idea what time it is?" I asked, annoyed at being woken up so early, my eyes still adjusting to the brightness.

"Can't sleep." Vers shrugged with her hands in her pockets.

"I could knock you out." I offered, my Scottish accent lacing my words.

"As much fun as that would be... for you. I already got some sleep." Vers smirked.

"Nightmares again?" I asked sympathetically, looking at her with soft eyes.

Vers nodded and looked down then back up, "Wanna fight? Yon-Rogg is already in the gym." She offered.

"Let's go." I nodded before going into my room and changing into a pair of tactical pants, a black tank top, and a dark purple hoodie with the Kree Star Force logo.

Vers and Yon-Rogg were fighting on the mat in the gym. While I was sitting on the bench across from the mat, nursing my coffee and waking up before it was my turn to fight.

Yon-Rogg punched Vers and she went flailing backwards and landed on the mat with a loud thump. She sat up and blew the hair out of her face. She looked over to me, "You want to help me?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Too early." I replied, taking a sip of my coffee before stretching my arms over my head and popping my back with a deep sigh.

Vers scoffed looking up at Yon-Rogg, "I slipped.

"Right. You slipped as a result of me punching you in the face." He replied, helping her up.

"I was already slipping when you happened to punch me in the face. The two events are not related." She said, getting back on her feet.

"You two, tell me about this dream." He said, looking between us as he put his fists up. Vers and he started to spar again, "Anything new?"

"No." We said in unison. Since Vers and I had been with the Kree we had been having the same nightmares every night. It was always the same one and it always had us in them.

The pair kept sparing while I watched, Vers always letting Yon-Rogg get the best of her when I knew she could do better but she was always so hesitant. Yon-Rogg grabbed her arm and pulled it behind her, pinning her to the mat.

"You two have got to let go of your past." He said, and Vers ripped her arm out of his grip and turned around to face him.

"We don't remember our past." I stated, wrapping my hands in boxing wraps, getting ready to spar with the winner.

"It's causing you doubt, and doubt makes you vulnerable." He said, and they continued to spar and he pushed Vers on the mat. She looked up at him and her fist started to glow orange and blue and I stood up with a worried look on my face as I watched Vers’ hands glow.

"Control it." He said, looking down at her. She breathed in and her hand went back to normal. "Lose control again and you'll have to convene with the Supreme Intelligence. There is nothing more dangerous to a warrior than emotion." He stated, and helped her up onto her feet. She let go of his hand and smirked. She huffed a laugh and he shoved her back. "Humor is a distraction. And anger? Anger only serves the enemy." He explained shoving her again.

Yon-Rogg punched Vers and she fell on the mat and blasted him with her powers and he went flying back. I stood up and ran up to Vers and helped her up. She looked down the mat and saw Yon-Rogg knocked out, "He'll be fine." I shrugged, I looked back at Vers, "You okay? That was a pretty hard punch." I questioned, moving Vers face to the side to check for bruises.

"I'll be fine. But when he wakes up. We have to take a trip to the Supreme Intelligence." Vers sighed, looking over my shoulder at Yon-Rogg.

"Unfortunately." I frowned, "But you did pretty good." I smiled, my eyes meeting Vers' eyes.

"Yeah. If you call getting my ass kicked, good? Then, okay I did good." Vers said sarcastically.

"Come on. Let's get changed and call someone to get him." I said, grabbing Vers hand and walking out of the gym.

Vers, me, and Yon-Rogg were riding the train in the main part of the city. We were holding onto the hanging handles as it zoomed through the city. We were riding the bus to the Supreme Intelligence so Vers could be reminded about controlling her abilities.

"Has anybody seen what the Supreme Intelligence really looks like?" Vers asked, looking between me and Yon-Rogg.

"No-one can look upon the Supreme Intelligence in its true form. You know that." I said as I crossed my arms.

"Our subconscious chooses the way they appear to us. So it's sacred, it's personal. The Kree divulges it ever." Yon-Rogg explained, looking away from the window to look at Vers.

"Who do you see? Your brother?" Vers asked him.

"No."

"Father?"

"No."

"Your old commander?"

"Vers..."

"It's me you see, isn't it?" She asked, a smug look on her face.

"I see what you're trying to do." He stated, him side eyeing her before looking straight in front of himself.

"Is it working?" She asked, as she and I laughed.

"Yes. But you won't succeed in changing my mind on the subject." He said, a small smile on his face.

"What is the point of giving me these?" She asked, holding up her hand that was glowing with orange and blue energy. "If you don't want me to use them?" She sighed, putting her hand down.

"Hey, Vers. I have these too." I said, holding up my hand and it glowed blue and purple. "What he is saying is that we need to learn to use our head to control them. Which I find BS but I have to listen. He's my commander." I said, lightly punching Von-Rogg in the arm and he chuckled.

"You're going to use them. The Supreme Intelligence gave me the responsibility of showing you how to use them." He said to Vers.

"I know how." She stated.

"Well if that were true, you'd knock me down without them." He challenged, raising his eyebrows. "Control your impulses. As Allis explained; stop using this..." He said, pointing to where Vers’ heart was. "and start using this." He said, pointing to her head. "I need you to be the best version of yourself." He finished his statement.

Vers looks at me for help, "Come on, Al. You don't seriously believe this." She said, cocking her head to the side.

"I'm sorry, Vers. I have no choice. I serve the Kree and what they say goes with me." I frowned, looking away from Vers and looked out the window.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

The Captain And Her Star: Masterlist

Captain Marvel "I've lost enough to never need another lesson in heartache again." -autumn.

Allis was on a mission with the Kree Star Force, when everything went wrong and her and her best friend Vers are captured. The people who captured her show her some very interesting memories. So it's her choice to believe if those are her memories or if they're messing with her mind.

Book 2 of 'The Journey's End' series.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the Marvel characters in this story. I only own Allison Byrne and Vera Kovalyov.

a/n: It is based off the complete MCU with my own OCs becoming part of the universe. I do face claims because they help me visualize and I know face claims are associated with not great writing but I hope I don't contribute to the stereotype. I'm giving a before you read because I want to know whether or not you all would like to read the completed book. I will be posting it here and as well as on Wattpad under @queenofhell669! This part I will post the face claims for this story and some warnings! And please let me know whether or not you would like to read these books.

This is Book 2 of 'The Angel of Death' series. But Book 1 of 'Captain Star' short series.

You do not have to read my first book. This is just an add onto the series that will coordinate with it.

I know in the Captain Marvel movie Carol doesn't have a "Love Interest" or something like that, but I don't know about you but I get major Lesbian vibes from her.

Please, Vote and Comment ideas of what you want in a story. I will just leave this here. Enjoy the story.

In all I hope you like this story and all the ones to come for this series. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing.

Enjoy :)

Chapter List:

1: Nightmare 2: Mission Gone Wrong 3: Captured 4: Planet C-53 5: High Speed Car Chase 6: Pegasus 7: Goose 8: Old Friends Become New Friends 9: Neighbors 10: The Black Box 11: Your Science Guy 12: We're Not Alone 13: Only Human 14: Arm-Wrestle For The Tesseract 15: Unstoppable 16: Mr. Postman 17: A New Ally 18: Leaving 19: Well, I Got The Tesseract Back 20: Returning To C-53

OC List:

Allison Byrne:

Vera Kovalyov:

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Waking Up Alone

Chapter 23 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 600+

Chapter Summary: Steve woke up after 70 years and all the things he remembered are gone, or are they?

Warnings: angst, mentions of WW2, misplaced by time

a/n: Here is the end! I hoped you enjoyed! Vera will be back in another book but my next one is Captain Marvel's story with her girlfriend!

SHIELD HQ, New York. 

2012.

SHIELD headquarters in Manhattan, New York. A sleeping Steve Rogers laid in a bed in a room that was designed to look like he was still in the 40's. He heard radio static and it woke him up, his blue eyes opening as he took in his surroundings. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and he looked around the somewhat barren room. It was a single bed with two nightstands on either side, a lamp on one, and some books on the other. It had a dresser pressed against one of the walls and it had the radio sitting on it as it broadcasted a Dodger’s game. There was an open window beside the bed and he could hear the sounds of the busy New York streets.

"Curve ball, high and outside for ball one. So the Dodgers are tied, 4-4. And the crowd well knows that with one swing of his bat, this fellow's capable of making it a brand-new game again. Just an absolutely gorgeous day here at Ebbets Field. The Phillies have managed to tie up at 4-4. But the Dodgers have three men on. Pearson beaned Reiser in Philadelphia last month. Wouldn't the youngster like a hit here to return the favour? Pete leans in. Here's the pitch. Swung on. A line to the right. And it gets past Rizzo. Three runs will score. Reiser heads to third. Durocher's going to wave him in. Here comes the relay, but they won't get him." The announcer said, through the speaker on the radio.

The door opened and a SHIELD agent dressed in a 1940s nurse's outfit walked through the door. She put on a fake smile, "Good morning." She said, then looked down at her watch. "Or should I say afternoon."

"Where am I?" Steve asked, turning his head to look at her.

"You're in a recovery room in New York city." She replied.

"The Dodgers take the lead, 8-4. Oh, Dodgers! Everyone is on their feet. What a game we have here today, folks. What a game indeed." The announcer's voice came from the radio.

Steve looked at her suspiciously, "Where am I really? And where's Vera?" He questioned.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." She said, her fake smile not leaving her face.

"The game, it's from May, 1941. I know, cause I was there." He stated, slowly standing up from the bed. "Now, I'm gonna ask you again. Where am I?" Steve asked, taking a step closer to her.

"Captain Rogers..." She said softly, and she pressed an emergency button behind her back.

"Who are you? And if this was really the 40's Vera would be right here to see me when I wake up. So where am I really?" He accused, as two agents in black gear charged into the room. He took the two agents out and busted through the fake set.

"Captain Rogers, wait!" The SHIELD agent yelled, as she watched Steve running out of the room. "All agents, code 13! I repeat. All agents, code 13!" She yelled into her radio.

Steve ran out of the building and found himself in Times Square. Many LED and flat screen TVs were broadcasting ads and commercials and taxis and cars moved by him as he stood in the middle looking around at the new and unsettling sights. He looked around when four SUVs circled him and a bunch of armed SHIELD agents surrounded him.

"At ease, soldier! Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there, but... we thought it best to break it to you slowly." Fury said, getting out of one of the SUVs.

"Break what? Where's Vera?" Steve questioned, looking around at the guns pointed at him.

"You've been asleep, Captain. For almost seventy years." Fury informed him, and Steve looked at him in shock. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I just... I had a date." Steve sighed, looking at Fury.

But what he didn't know and wasn't going to know for a while was that his date was in Brooklyn in her apartment.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Thor Odinson

Chapter 22 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 1.2k

Chapter Summary: Vera got called into another SHIELD mess even through she was inactive.

Warnings: angst, mentions of loss, mentions of feeling abandoned

a/n: One more to go! I hope you enjoy!

New Mexico. 2011.

Somewhere in New Mexico, something weird was happening and of course SHIELD was brought in. Which meant that I was brought in. I was sitting in my apartment in Brooklyn with a purring Goose on my chest as I read a book. My reading glasses perched on my nose, my book floating over Goose so as not to disturb her while I read. Then I got a call from Phil Coulson.

"Hello?" I asked, waving a hand and my book closed before placing itself on the coffee table after answering my phone. Goose peeked an eye open at me before grumbling then falling back asleep.

"Director Kovalyov?" Phil's voice came from the other end of the phone.

I sighed knowing what was about to happen, "Coulson! I’ve told you! I’m retired but how are you?" I questioned enthusiastically, taking Phil a little off guard.

"Not great. I need you in New Mexico." Phil explained.

"You don't give me orders, Coulson. Even though I am inactive I am still in charge." I stated, taking a sip of my tea.

"I know. But something is happening here and SHIELD needs you." He said, the urgency in his voice was present.

"Damnit." I sighed, setting my teacup down and I gently placed Goose on the cushion next to me as I sat up, "Alright, email me the location. I will be there tomorrow morning." I huffed, standing up and walking towards my bedroom to start packing. "Goodbye Coulson." I said, and ended the call before he could say anything.

The next morning, I landed where SHIELD had set up a temporary base camp. My wings disappeared into my back as I landed. I was dressed in black leggings, a black tank top, and a dark blue zip-up hoodie with no makeup and my hair twin braids on either side. I walked into the main tent and was greeted by Clint Barton.

"Hey, Vera." He greeted me, and hugged me.

I hugged back before pulling away, "Hello, Clint." I smiled, "Where is Coulson?" I questioned, wanting to end this little visit so I could get back to my break from SHIELD.

"In the room with the guy we caught breaking into the dome." He explained, pointing behind him where the holding rooms were.

"Who?"

"No clue. He made it through the perimeter. Took out 15 of our best men. Tried to pry the hammer out of the crater, failed. So we locked him up." He explained, walking to look over the railing at Mjolnir stuck in the crater, me following him. I looked at the hammer and I could feel the power coursing through the hammer, power from a different place other than Earth.

"That's the hammer?"

"Yeah. No one has been able to pick it up." He stated, taking a gulp of his coffee.

"I know. Coulson filled me in a little over email. I heard Claudia is mixed in on this." I said, "I thought she was done with this stuff?"

"She is or at least I thought she was." Clint shrugged.

"She's your sister, Clint. You should keep in touch with her more often." I sighed, I knew it was no use but I wanted to help.

Before Clint could reply Phil walked out and walked right up to me. "Director Kovalyov." He greeted, shaking my hand.

"Phil." I greeted back, "I hear we are taking prisoners now."

"Only when we need to. But strech in there isn't talking. Maybe you can give it a shot?" Phil offered me.

"Sure, I'll do your job for you." I said sarcastically, and walked to the holding room.

I walked down the hallway and saw the door where they were holding this mystery man. I walked in and saw a large, blonde, blue eyed man handcuffed to a chair. I walked around to face him, I grabbed a chair and set it in front of him. I took a seat and crossed one of my legs over the other one.

"Hello. I am here to ask you a few questions." I said in a soft voice, to try to make him feel comfortable enough to talk. "Let me start simple. What's your name?" I asked, keeping my soft voice when he didn't answer I sighed, "Okay. Well, my name is Vera Kovalyov. I am a founder here at SHIELD." I stated, trying to coax him to talk.

"I understand that you don't trust us. I mean, half our guards tried to take you down. But I heard that you took all of them down. That was very impressive." I congratulated him, a small smile on my face. "I am here to help. I looked through Claudia and Janes' notes earlier and I saw that you fell from the sky." I explained, looking at him. His head perked up at the mention of Claudia, curiosity written all over his face. "Do you know Claudia?"

"Yes. She took care of me when I came here. She helped me break in." The mystery man said in a deep voice with a tinge of British, looking at my eyes.

"There we go. Now you're talking. Anything you tell me in this room is between me and you, I promise." I smiled softly, looking back at his blue eyes. They almost looked like Steve's eyes.

"How do I know you're not lying?" He questioned skeptically.

"Because, honestly, I just want to get back home, finish my book and cuddle with my cat." I sighed as I rubbed my head.

"Okay. I'll answer your questions." He agreed knowing that I wasn’t lying to him.

"Wonderful. Let's start, what's your name?"

"Thor, Son of Odin." The man, Thor, answered.

"Well, Thor. What are you doing here?"

"My father banished me from Asgard, my home." Thor responded, his voice cracking at the end.

"I'm very sorry. That must've been horrible." I said sympathetically as I reached up with my metal arm to brush a piece of hair off my face and Thor's eyes locked onto my left arm.

"What happened to your arm?"

"I was in an accident. Back in the early eighties. An accident that took my left arm and left leg. So a friend of mine helped build me these replacements." I explained, my ears turning a little pink with embarrassment and I looked down at my metal limbs.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up." He apologized with sincerity in his voice. 

"It's ok. It's just something I am a little embarrassed about." I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"No need to be embarrassed. I think they are magnificent." Thor said, his eyes lighting up. 

"Well, thank you Thor." I smiled, "This part may get a little personal." I said, looking up. 

"What is it?" Thor questioned, looking up at me.

"Umm... Is there any way to get you back to Asgard?" I asked.

"No. Not without my father." He replied looking down with tears in his eyes. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry for bringing it up." I said, embarrassment crossing my face. “I'll just leave. Thank you for your cooperation." I said, getting up and walking over to the door.

"Thank you for being so nice." Thor smiled, I nodded and slipped out of the room.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Regretful Mornings

Chapter 21 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 2.5k

Chapter Summary: Tony's birthday party doesn't turn out how he wanted it to. Dying and drinking make for a bad combination.

Warnings: angst, mentions of blood poisoning, mentions of hurt and pain, mentions of self-destruction, mentions of too much drinking

a/n: We are nearing the end of the book! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Malibu, California. 

2010.

About an hour and a half later, I heard the music start blasting and with my heightened senses it scared me and I let out a yelp. Before walking over to see what was happening, I turned the corner, "Oh no." I frowned, when I saw a drunk Tony Stark in his Ironman suit and a bottle of champagne in his hand. I turned to see Pepper and Rhodes talking and I stormed over. I reached the pair, "Are you kidding me right now we are not supposed to be sticking our necks out right now." I hissed, clutching my glass tight. 

"I know but-" Pepper started talking but I cut her off. 

"Then what the hell is this?" I asked, borderline growling. 

"I am sticking my neck out for this guy and this little stunt is going to have the national guard stepping on it." Rhodes hissed to us. 

"I know. I know. I get it." Pepper said back to Rhodes. 

"I'm gonna handle it, okay Just let me handle it." I groaned, “Hold this.” I said, handing Rhodes my glass before walking up to the DJ. 

"You know, the question I get asked most often is, "Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit?" He said to the crowd, and he closed his eyes and made a concentrated face then opened his eyes back up. "Just like that." He exclaimed into the mic, and the crowd went crazy. 

"Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?" I said, a fake smile on my face as I held him up and grabbed the mic from him. 

"I love you, Ver." He slurred, trying to hug me. 

"Unbelievable! Thank you so much. Tony, we all thank you so much for such a wonderful night. And we're gonna say good night now, and thank you all for coming." I said into the mic, and tried to keep Tony from hugging me. 

"No, no, no, we can't ... Wait, wait, wait. We didn't have the cake. We didn't blow out the candles." Tony slurred, pointing somewhere in the room. 

"You're out of control, okay? Trust me on this, okay?" I tried to reason, but he didn’t listen.

"You're out of control, Grandma." He slurred back, as he stumbled. 

"Tony, you're acting like a child. If you don't stop you will regret it in the morning. Considering you make it that long. If I or that thing in your chest kills you first." I warned poking the Arc Reactor.

"Who told you about that?"

"Nevermind that it's time for bed. Come on." I ordered, trying to pull him towards the stairs.

"JARVIS was always a narc.” He scoffed before holding out his arms. “Give me a hug." He said, as his vision went out of focus for a minute.

"You're not going to be happy about this." I sighed, looking up at him.

"Come on. You know you want a hug after that news broadcast." 

"You just peed in the suit." I started, pointing down. “I’m not changing you.”  

"I know. It has a filtration system."

"It's not funny." I shook my head. 

"You could drink that water." Tony reasoned as he held his hands out.

"Just send everybody home, okay? It's time to..." I said trailing off.

"If you say so." 

"Okay. I'll take this, you take that." I said, trading his bottle of champagne for the mic and I turned and took a long sip of champagne.

"Vera Kovalyov. Everybody.” He drawled, gesturing to me before turning to the crowd. “She's right. The party's over. Then again, the party was over for me, like, an hour and a half ago. The after-party starts in 15 minutes. And if anybody, Vera, doesn't like it, there's the door." He said, pointing to the glass door and shot the door by accident with his blaster and the crowd went crazy. 

"Okay, that's it." I said, walking up to Tony. "Anthony Edward Stark!" I yelled, and the whole crowd went quiet and Tony turned to look at me. "Put the mic down! Take the damn suit off! Send these people home! And then go to your room and sleep it off!" I demanded, looking at him with a death stare that would have most people scared to death but Tony was too stubborn and too drunk to listen.

"No. You're not my mom." He slurred, and turned back to the crowd.

"No. But I am the closest you got. So take off the damn suit, Tony!" I yelled, and Tony got extremely frustrated and he blasted me and I went flying through the wall and landed in the kitchen. I hit the cabinets and dropped onto the cool tile underneath me. 

I heard Tony start to blast different things, but the ringing in my head was too loud to even hear my own thoughts. I tried to get up but my body won't let me and I slumped back down. I had cuts everywhere, pieces of plaster in my hair. I heard someone come up next to me and I looked up and saw Natasha. 

"Hey, Nat." I coughed and dust came out and I pulled a piece of plaster out of my lip with a wince.

"Hey. Come on. Let's get you back to HQ." Natasha said, and helped me off the floor.

We made it outside where Pepper was, "Oh my god, Vera! Are you okay?!" She frantically asked as she looked over my bloody and cut up body. I could feel my skin already stitching itself back together making me wince.

"Yep. Great." I said, with a fake smile. 

"Sorry." Pepper said sheepishly.

"It's fine. I'm going to have Natalie here. Take me to the hospital. Just call me when this is over, please?" I asked as I leaned against Natasha. 

"Of course. Here." She said, leading me and Natasha to a car. 

The next morning after the party. I spent the night in my old room at the new SHIELD HQ and my cuts were mostly healed up due to being immortal and all of my major wounds were gone. I still had superficial cuts on my face, my back, my hand, and arm. I went with Fury to collect a hungover Tony. We got out of the BMW and walked over to the giant donut, where Tony was sitting still in his suit and munching on a donut. 

"Sir! I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the doughnut." Fury yelled, from where he stood on the ground. 

We went into the donut shop and Fury and I sat on one side of the booth and Tony sat on the other side. His eyes scanned my bruised and cut up face before his eyes darted down to his cup of coffee. I was sipping a cup of coffee, wincing as the hot liquid touched my busted lip. 

"I told you I don't wanna join your super-secret boy band." Tony said as he continued to avoid looking at my bruised face. 

"No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?" Fury asked, cocking his head to the side as he leaned on the table.

"It's... It's... It's... I'm sorry. I don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye? Honestly I'm a bit hungover. I'm not sure if you're real or if I'm having..." Tony said trailing off, and rubbing his head. 

"I am very real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet." Fury said seriously.

"Are you..." He asked, finally looking over to me. 

"Oh, I am real. And when this business meeting is over. I am going to take my very real foot and kick your ass." I said, crossing my arms and leaning back. 

"Just my luck. Where's the staff here?" Tony asked, turning to look at Fury while trying to avoid my glare. 

"That's not looking so good." I said, pointing to his neck. 

"I've had worse." He shrugged, as Natasha walked over wearing her black catsuit.

"We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer." Natasha said to me and Fury. She grabbed a chair and put it at the edge of the table and sat down in it. 

Tony pulled his sunglasses down and looked at Natasha with confusion and surprise, "You're fired."

"That's not up to you." She smirked.

"Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff." I said, resting a hand on Natasha’s shoulder. 

"Hi." Tony said sarcastically.

"I'm a SHIELD shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury and Director Kovalyov." Natasha explained. 

"I suggest you apologise." Tony said, pointing to Natasha with his sunglasses. 

"You've been very busy. You made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I didn't know better..." Fury said, but Tony cut him off. 

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it." Tony explained.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" Fury questioned incredulously, then turned to Natasha. "Is that possible?" 

"Well, according to Mr Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorised usage." Natasha replied, a small smirk on her face. 

"What do you want from me?" Tony asked, annoyed.

"What do we want from you? What do you want from me?" Fury countered, as Natasha left the donut shop. "You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the centre of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with." Fury responded, and Natasha returned with an injector. "Hit him." 

She injected the solution into neck and Tony let out a hiss at the pain, "Oh, God, are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" Tony asked, as Natasha checked to make sure the high tech rash on his neck went down. "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did she just do to me?"

"What did we just do for you? That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work." I explained, finishing my coffee before taking a sip from my flask and Tony raised an eyebrow. 

"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain." Tony said, as if it was no big deal.

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms." Natasha explained as she set the injector down.

"Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix." Fury said as the rash still stayed on his neck a little. 

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element."

"Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all." Fury said and crossed his arms.

A few days later, SHIELD had put Tony on house arrest. He was sitting in his lab and garage watching some of Howard's old tapes of his show. One of the tapes was playing and Tony was just looking through arc reactor blueprints and some of Howard’s old notebooks and journals. He smiled as he found a picture of me and Howard from the old SHIELD headquarters. 

Howard was standing in frame of the film, "Everything is achievable through technology. Better living, robust heath and for the first time in human history, the possibility of world peace. I'm Howard Stark, and everything you'll need for the future can be found right here. City of the Future? City of Tomorrow? City of... I'm Howard Stark and everything you'll need in the future can be found right here. So, from all of us at Stark Industries, I would like to personally... Tony, what are you doing back there? What is that?" Howard questioned, turning around to look at young Tony, "Put that back. Put it back where you got it from. Maria? Vera? Vera?" He rambled and I came in frame but when this video was made I had both of my flesh arms. I picked up young Tony and kissed him on the forehead and walked out of frame. 

The next tape Howard was still in frame, "Tony. You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you.” Howard gestured to the model of the Expo. “And someday you'll realise that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation is you." Howard finished talking and the tape ended.

I was leaning on one of the pillars in his lab, while watching that last tape and I had a few tears falling down my face. I remembered all of the filming of his show, I helped with almost everything and I loved watching it grow and watching Howard grow. I missed him. He was like a brother to me, there whenever I needed him, helped me with everything. I missed him every damn day. 

Tony's eyes were glassy at the end of the tape. I stepped out of the shadows from behind Tony. "He was being truthful." I sniffled, walking over to him. 

"Was he though?" Tony asked, looking up at me from his chair. 

I grabbed a chair and sat next to him, "When you were born. Your dad was a mess. He asked me for advice. I have no idea why, I have no idea how to take care of kids. When Howard and Maria had me babysit you. I was so nervous, I was afraid I would screw you up. But I mean look at you all grown, saving the world. I thought I would have to protect you but I mean here you are protecting me." I said, with a watery smile as my voice cracked and more tears spilled down my face. 

"I haven't been protecting you. Vera, I hurt you a few days ago. And I haven't forgave myself for that. Probably never will." He said, looking down at his hands. 

"Hey, îngerul meu. Look at me. I lived, I made it out with a few cuts and bruises but here I am. And I forgive you, Tony, for everything. I love you. Always will." (my angel) I smiled, looking at him. 

"I love you too, Ver." Tony smiled, and brought me in for a hug.       

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 20 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 2.5k

Chapter Summary: Tony became Iron Man so trouble followed him which meant Vera had to step in.

Warnings: angst, mentions of blood poisoning, mentions of Tony dying, mentions of attempted murder, mentions of loss, mentions of the media incorrectly assuming things, some hurt w/o comfort

a/n: I don't have much to say about this chapter just I hope you enjoy!

2010. 

Two years ago, Tony came out as Iron Man to the whole world. I was there when he was taken, riding in another buggy with another team of soldiers when he went MIA. I tore through the desert with a purpose but didn’t find anything until Rhody called me. I will never forget the sight of a malnutritioned, weak, and bruised Tony Stark being wheeled out of a helicopter by Rhodes. Then everything happened so fast and before I knew it the Arc Reactor blew and the next day Tony announced himself as Iron Man.

I don’t think I’d ever been as worried as I was that day and the feeling in my chest saying that I had to protect him never left. Especially after he explained why he had an Arc Reactor in his chest. I couldn’t do anything to help him and that killed me because I tried but it was too risky. I started living with him in Malibu to keep an eye on him and yet I still felt like I couldn’t keep him safe. 

Me and Tony were practicing our boxing skills. When Pepper walked in, "The notary's here! Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?" She asked Tony, who was pinned under me. Tony was transferring his company to Pepper, making her the CEO of Stark Industries.  

"In a moment! Kinda pinned under Grandma right now!" He yelled back, looking up at me.

"I told you if you wanted to play dirty. I would as well." I shot back, tightening my grip on Tony's arm. 

"Ow! Ow! Alright! Uncle!" He yelled, and I rolled off of him. 

We stood up and the notary walked in and I turned and looked at her and I immediately recognized her. It was Natasha Romanoff, a SHIELD agent. I knew her because I saved her and helped train her and I went on missions with her, Clint Barton, and his sister Claudia. 

Tony walked over to the edge of the ring, "All right, put them up. Come on." He said to Natasha, and she handed him the clipboard and pen.

"I promise this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company." Pepper said, walking over to the seating area in the corner.

"I need you to initial each box." Natasha said, pointing to the empty boxes on the page. 

I tapped Tony on the back of the head and he turned around, " Lesson one. Never take your eye off your opponent, Tones." I said, and kicked him in the stomach and he stumbled back and hit the ropes. 

"That's it. I'm done. What's your name, lady?" He said, throwing up his hands before taking a swig of the liquid in his bottle. 

"Rushman. Natalie Rushman." Natasha replied, using a fake name. 

"Front and center. Come into the church." Tony said to her, pulling up the ropes on the ring. 

"No. You're seriously not gonna ask..." Pepper said, looking up from her tablet.

"If it pleases the court, which it does." He said, gesturing for Natasha to come into the ring. 

Natasha turned to Pepper, "It's no problem." She shook her head, and slipped off her shoes. 

Tony swung out of the ring and Natasha walked in. I took off my gloves and padding as Natasha walked up to me. Tony walked over to Pepper and sat down next to her. "I'm sorry, Nat. My godson is very eccentric." I whispered to Natasha. 

"It's no problem, V. So are we going to wrestle?" Natasha questioned, looking over her shoulder. 

"If you can take me." I said, cocking my head to the side. 

"It's more the question of if you can take me." She replied, copying my stance.

"Let's go." I said, putting my fists up and Natasha did the same. 

Natasha started by throwing a knee to my stomach but I caught her knee and twisted it to the side and slammed her to the mat. Natasha swung her leg and put me in a headlock but I yanked my body up and slammed her face down on the mat and I slipped out of the headlock. We stood back up and I went to punch Natasha in the face but she grabbed my hand and twisted it to the side and jumped on my neck and I slammed Natasha to the mat and I twisted onto my back and grabbed her arms and pulled her forward and was able to pin her under me. We kept wrestling until Tony and Pepper realized.

"Oh my god!" Pepper exclaimed when she saw Natasha pinned under me, but Natasha switched the odds, so I was pinned under her. 

"That's what I'm talking about." Tony clapped and stood up. We got up and shook hands before stepping out of the ring. 

France. 2010.

A week later, the Grand Prix came around and Me, Tony, Pepper, and Happy attended the event because Tony sponsored a car every year. We walked into the expensive restaurant where all the A-list people stand or sit around, while they talk and eat. Tony was wearing a black suit and Pepper was wearing an off-the shoulder black dress while I was wearing dark brown slacks and a white blouse, light makeup, and my hair half up and half down, underneath I had my suit on just incase of an emergency. Happy was in his usual black suit and was carrying a red and gold metal case with him as he waited by the car.

"You know, it's Europe. Whatever happens in the next 20 minutes, just go with it." Tony said to us, as Natasha walked up to us. 

"Go with it? Go with what?" Pepper questioned looking over at him. 

"Mr Stark?" Natasha greeted, with a smile that I knew was fake. 

"Hey." Tony greeted, throwing on one of his signature smirks which made my eyes roll. 

"Hello. How was your flight?" Natasha asked, her fake smile never leaving her face. 

"It was excellent. Boy, it's nice to see you." Tony smirked as we walked through the restaurant. 

"We have one photographer from the ACM, if you don't mind. Okay?" Natasha informed us while she checked her tablet. 

"When did this happen?" Pepper asked, and my phone started ringing. 

"Sorry. I'll just take this." I said, pointing to my phone and I walked away. I answered it outside the restaurant where it was somewhat quiet, "Hello?"

"Lieutenant Kovalyov, I want to inform you about a situation involving Mr. Stark." JARVIS's voice came through the phone. 

"Oh, hello JARVIS. What about Tony?" I asked with a tinge of worry in my voice.

"His blood toxicity is over 50%. The device in his chest keeping him alive is apparently killing him as well." 

"What?" I said, as my heart sank.

"Mr. Stark is dying, ma'am." 

My eyes filled with tears as I heard those words. "Umm..." I started to say, but was cut off by a sob catching in my throat. "O-okay. Thank you, JARVIS." I said, and hung up. I wiped my face and rushed to the bathroom in the restaurant and I cleaned up my makeup. I walked out and walked up to where Pepper was sitting. 

"Hey, Vera. Who called?" Pepper asked, looking at me as I sat in the seat across from her.

"One of Peggy's children. Just calling to check in." I lied, so as to not worry Pepper.

Peggy looked up at the TV and saw Tony getting into his nascar. "Oh no." Pepper said, her eyes widening. I turned to follow Pepper's gaze and I saw the TV.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him." I said, standing up.

"Natalie! Natalie!" Pepper yelled, and Natasha ran over. 

"Yes, Ms. Potts" She questioned, looking between us.

"What do you know about this?" Pepper asked, pointing at the TV screen. 

"This is the first that I have known of it." Natasha said honestly. 

"This, this cannot happen." I said, adding onto the conversation. 

"Absolutely. I understand. How can I help you?" 

"Where's Happy?" Pepper asked, looking around. 

"He's waiting outside." Natasha answered.

"Okay, get him. I need Happy." Pepper ordered as her eyes moved back to the TV.

"Right away." And Natasha walked away. 

"I'm going get him." I said as I handed Pepper my pocketbook. 

"No. What are you going to do? You are going to get yourself killed!" Pepper exclaimed, her eyes widening as she fumbled with both pocketbooks. 

"I'll be fine. I promised Howard I would protect him. So that's what I'm going to do." I said, walking out onto the balcony at the restaurant. I flexed my back and my wings expanded and I jumped off and I landed outside the track. When she landed, some cars crashed, then flipping through the air before landing on the track with a sick crunch.

I walked out on the track where the guy with the whips was, the whips were connected to a handmade Arc Reactor attached to the center of his chest. I saw that Tony’s car had been cut in half.  I ripped my blouse open revealing my catsuit. I pulled off the blouse and ripped my slacks off to reveal the bottom of my catsuit. I put my hair in a messy bun and my eyes glowed sapphire as my hands were engulfed in sapphire energy.

The man named Ivan lit up his whips with electricity and striked one as a warning. So I went running towards him. I grabbed one of the broken cars and picked it up and continued to run towards him before I launched it at him and he sliced it in half. That pissed him off so he struck me, but I caught it with my metal arm, and I could feel the bolts of electricity shoot through my arm and yanked him towards myself and used my other arm and punched him in the stomach and he went flying. 

Pepper and Happy came driving up beside me. "Get in!" Pepper yelled, and I jumped in the passenger seat and Happy went driving to where Tony was stuck under his nascar. "Vera, do anything like that again I will have Happy hit you instead of stopping." Pepper warned me.

"Message received." I nodded, holding onto the car so hard so I didn't go flying and as a result I was denting the car. 

They hit Ivan, pinning him to the metal fence so he didn't cut Tony in half, "Are you out of your mind!" Pepper screamed at Tony. They went back and forth for a minute and Tony opened the door but Ivan sliced it in half from his position on the fence. Happy reversed back then slammed Ivan back into the gate and he kept doing that, making it problematic for Tony to grab the case. 

After a few minutes Tony finally got his case and put his suit on and I jumped out of the car and Tony kicked the car away. I adjusted my gloves and walked next to Tony.

"Vera, leave." Tony said sternly, through his mask. 

"No. I am not leaving you, Tony." I said, putting my fists up as they got engulfed by the sapphire energy, I pushed through. 

We started running at Ivan, and he struck at both of us. That was how the fight started and Tony ended it by ripping out the arc reactor in Ivan's armor, as a result disabling Ivan's suit. 

It was a few days later, and I was in my room fixing my arm from the electricity of Ivan’s suit. "Hey, JARVIS. Pull up the news involving the Grand Prix." I said, not looking up from my project.

"Yes, ma'am." JARVIS responded, and the TV turned on and the news turned on. 

"It seems as if a few days ago at the French Grand Prix in Monaco. Iron Man, also known as Tony Stark, was attacked by a man now known as Ivan Vanko. But as these scenes played out a new hero stepped out onto the track." The newscaster stated, as a picture of me popped up on screen. "A woman named Vera Angelina Kovalyov. Who is apparently older than most of the states in the nation. She fought back in World War 2, alongside Captain America." The newscaster said, as a picture of me and Steve sitting on the front of an old military Jeep and I had my head on his shoulder and my eyes were closed and our fingers were entwined. It was one of the rare times where Bucky was off on a scouting mission, leaving just me and Steve. "They used to call her 'The Angel of Death'. Does that name still apply today?" The newscaster asked, and she continued talking but I threw my screwdriver at the TV and broke it.

Tears filled my eyes as I saw the photo on the screen. Everyone who reported the mission of the Howling Commandos only mentioned Steve or me, and referred to Bucky as our best friend. He was so much more than that but no one would ever connect the dots. The screwdriver froze the TV so that was all I saw. I stood up and yelled, "Damnit!" and everything went flying. I sank to my knees as the tears fell down my face. I missed Steve and Bucky and after seeing that picture, it  just brought back all of those memories. I still loved both of them and hoped one day I would be able to see them again. 

Malibu, California. 2010.

It was the night of Tony's birthday party and I was downstairs at the bar getting something to drink. After that news broadcast I had been drinking a lot more and then getting updates on what was happening with Tony's reactor which just made me drink more. I had taken too many hits, so I just kept quiet and stayed out of the spotlight. I was sitting at the bar and was sipping on my glass of scotch wearing a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and Bucky’s dark blue jacket that I had found at the bunker all those years ago, no makeup and my hair was up in a messy bun. Natasha walked over to me and sat beside me.

"Rough night?" Natasha asked, asking the bartender for a cosmo.

"Rough 70 years." I replied, finishing my glass and flagging the bartender down for another one.

"I saw the news broadcast about you and Steve. I'm sorry, Vera." Natasha apologized, looking straight ahead as her cosmo arrived.

"It's okay." I sighed, looking down. "Have you talked to Claudia since Budapest?"

"No. No one has. Not even Clint." Natasha said, shaking her head.

"Damn it. I was afraid she would close us off after that mission." I said, rubbing my head.

"It's okay. She'll come around." Natasha promised, as she stood up, "Please don't drink yourself to death tonight. I may need you." She said, and squeezed my shoulder then walked away. If only I could die.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Captain Marvel

Chapter 19 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 1.7k

Chapter Summary: Fury has something he needs Vera's help with so he asked her to come to Louisiana to help.

Warnings: angst, mentions of torture (in the past)

a/n: Since Vera is a part of SHIELD, she is involved in all of the things they are involved in so they bring her into most cases.

Brooklyn, New York.

1995. 

I was at my apartment with Tony in Brooklyn, it was tradition for us. Every Saturday morning Tony came over to my apartment and we would play video games. It was a way for us to keep in touch and for me to not let Tony isolate himself or get too out of hand. I already had to deescalate a few racy shots of Tony leaving a well known nude strip club with one of the dancers, a few times. He was twenty-five with a nice fortune that was passed down to him when Howard and Maria passed so he could essentially do anything he wanted. When they passed, he only got half of the fortune and the estates while I got the other half and Howard’s share in SHIELD. I did my best to keep him out of trouble but it was damn near impossible but thankfully he respected me enough to dial it back. 

We were sitting on the floor in front of my large couch. We both held controllers in our hands as the TV showed a split screen as we raced. Snacks were scattered on the coffee table, ranging from Twizzlers to Doritos and a few open bottles of pop and beer. Tony did his best to help me understand the game but after 400 years of life, new technology was a mystery. 

"Turn! Turn the car!" Tony yelled at me.

"I can't! I can't! It's in a no turn zone, Anthony!" I yelled back at him.

"It's a game, it doesn't matter!" He yelled pointing at the TV. The cars crashed and the game ended. We groaned and dropped our controllers onto the plush carpet under our feet.

"I give up! I'm done!" I exclaimed, getting up from the floor and walking into the kitchen.

Tony got up and followed behind me, "You just need practice." He reasoned as he grabbed the bowl of Doritos from the table and brought them into the kitchen before sitting on one of the barstools. 

"I have been practicing. The neighbors know I've been practicing. Mrs. Johnson on the fifth floor knows I've practiced. I could go on." I sighed, grabbing two bottles of beer from the fridge and gave Tony one.

"I thought Mrs. Johnson moved last week?" Tony questioned, and I gave him a 'seriously' look. He put his hands up, "Sorry. But seriously you just have to practice. That's what you told me to do when I couldn't build that engine."

I laughed, "Yeah, and you finished that engine." I nodded, taking a sip of my beer. When the phone went off. "Shit. Who the hell calls me anymore?" I scoffed, walking over to my house phone and answered it. "Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Director Kovalyov?" Nick Fury's voice came through the speaker.

"Agent Fury! What can I do for you today?" I said with fake enthusiasm as I sipped on my beer.

"There are some people I need you to meet."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, I found two women who are like you."

"Fury, details." I said, annoyed at the short answers.

"Just come to the coordinates I am emailing you."

"Seriously, Fury. I am with my godson right now. I can't leave."

"Then we'll come there."

I sighed knowing I had no choice, "Alright fine I'll be there in a few hours." I said, and hung up. I turned and looked at Tony and an apologetic look on my face. "I'm sorry, T. I have to go. Duty calls."

"It's fine. I have a conference in Miami in an hour anyway." He shrugged as he stood up from the stool.

"Wow! You actually showing up to a conference. I never thought I'd live to see the day." I faked gasps, putting a hand over my chest.

"Shut up. I am an adult, you know?" He questioned, drinking his beer.

"Then why are you wearing Animaniacs pajama pants?" I smirked, pointing to his pants.

"One; I'm surprised you know what the show is, and two; they're comfy." He smiled, "Call me when you get back." He said, pulling me into a hug.

"Always." I said into the hug. I let go of the hug and walked to my room and changed into my mission suit. It was a dark blue catsuit and the straps and utility belt was black and I was wearing black lace up boots. The left sleeve of my suit was ripped off so it showed my metal arm. I put my fingerless gloves on and strapped a gun and a few knives to my suit.

I walked out of the room and walked back to my kitchen. "Bye, Anthony." I waved, and walked to my balcony.

He followed, "It's Tony." He stated, as he watches my wings expand from my back.

"I know." I yelled, and jumped off the balcony and flew to the coordinates Fury sent me.

Louisiana.

1995.

A few hours later, I landed outside of a house. It was a cute two-story house with a garage big enough to hold a jet. I only knew that because there was the tail end of a jet poking out. The house was an older model but it was a mid-century style with a wide expanse of land from all angles. It was the kind of house and land that I once wanted for me and my boys but it was a pipe dream after they died. My wings faded into my back, as I landed in front of the house. 

I walked up to the dimly lit house, I reached the front door and knocked softly. The door opened and a woman with shoulder length blonde hair was on the other side.

"Can I help you?" She questioned, looking me in the eye as a small orange cat came out from behind her legs and sniffed at me. The cat let out a mewl and headbutted my shins and purred.

"Umm. Nick Fury called me." I stated, looking down at the cat that was rubbing against me. “Is this your cat?” I asked and she paused before nodding.

“She is now.” She shrugged before a look of realization crossed her face, "Oh, ok. Come in." She said, standing back so I could come in and the cat followed right at my heels.

I walked through the foyer and down the hallway. Until I saw a dining table and another woman was sitting at the table and parallel to her was Nick Fury. He stood up, “Director Kovalyov." He greeted, holding out his hand.

"Agent Fury. Now will you explain why I am here." I ordered, shaking his hand as the cat meowed at me. I looked down at her and her green eyes looked at me with fascination. “What do you want, pretty girl?” I asked softly as I scooped her up and she curled into my arm and purred.

“That is Goose, and I guess she likes you.” He chuckled at the purring cat in my arms. "These two women have powers similar to yours. And I believe they can help us in future battles." Fury explained, taking a seat in front of the women and I sat next to him with Goose in my lap.

"Okay. Well, I'm Vera Kovalyov, founder of SHIELD." I introduced myself to the two women.

"Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm Allison Byrne." The red haired woman greeted, her Scottish accent very prominent in her voice.

"Yes it is very nice to meet you. I'm Carol Danvers." The blonde woman speaked, joining the conversation.

"Nice to meet you both. Now are you two humans?" I asked as I stroked Goose’s head.

"We were both born human but we were taken by the Kree and essentially made us weapons for their benefit." Allison explained.

"I know how that feels." I nodded, "Fury, over here. Told me that you have similar powers to mine."

"Yeah. We were both hit with energy by an energy core. That a woman named Mar-vell called the tesseract." Carol stated, and I froze and looked between the two women.

"Umm... I'm sorry, did you say the tesseract?" I asked, my eyes widening a bit.

"Yes. Is that important?" Carol asked, looking at me with confusion.

"Yes. Yes it is. In 1914 or 15, I’m not really sure. I was taken and experimented on and they used the tesseract energy to do so." I explained, looking down at my hands, my embarrassment getting the best of me.

"It's okay. Don't be embarrassed, all three of us have been tortured at the hands of horrible people." Allison assured me, grabbing Carol's hand and my metal hand like she didn't even notice it. After my accident, I was always insecure of my metal limbs but the women not caring about them made me feel better about them.

"Okay. How about we compare abilities to see if he was right." I offered, pointing over to Fury.

"Sure." Carol agreed, and we made it out to the backyard with Goose hot on my heels even after I took her off my lap.

We stood in a line in the wet grass under the stars. "Alright, show how you fly if you can." I said, looking down the line.

Carol's body was engulfed in blue and orange energy and she floated into the air. Allison jumped and her body was engulfed in purple and blue energy and laid on her back in the air. I flexed my back and my light grey wings expanded from my back and I jumped and flew up, Goose looking at me as I did and pawing into the air at me. 

"That's amazing!" Carol laughed, looking up at my wings.

"Thank you! I think your multicolored energy is awesome!" I yelled, looking down at my new friends.

We spent the next few hours comparing powers and talking and sharing stories. I had a good feeling about these two. I was excited to see them in battle but hoped it wouldn’t come to that. We talked about Goose and found out that she didn’t have a home anymore, that her previous owner was killed and that she wasn’t a cat from Earth, she was an alien called a “Flerken” and learned that she had swallowed the tesseract and I hoped to the goddess that nothing would happen because of it. They gave me their blessing and Goose was coming home with me. I said my goodbyes and took to the skies a smile on my face as me and Goose rolled around in the clouds, her meowing her approval.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Tony Stark

Chapter 18 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 1.5k

Chapter Summary: Howard and Maria decided to go on a quick trip to SHIELD in New Jersey but what happens when they don't make it?

Warnings: angst, mentions of foul play, mentions of death, mentions of loss, mentions of depression

a/n: Of course, I had to add this to the story because it was a very defining moment in the MCU. I hope you enjoy.

New York.  December 15, 1991.

I was still living at the Stark estate, mainly to help around the house. I had learned how to do mostly everything, except I could barely cook. After my prosthetics had fully healed and my physical therapy was finished, I took a team and we stormed the HYDRA bunker that I escaped from but it was abandoned and only a few scattered files were spewed about. Thankfully, one of the papers had different locations listed of different bunkers. There was no sign of Bucky or of the bin that I found, and yet everything still felt wrong. 

Howard and Maria were at the SHIELD HQ working on the details of a last minute business meeting. Tony had come home from school and I took a break from missions and made sure that the house was running smoothly. So I spent most of my time upgrading my metal limbs and working on little projects around the estate. 

Me and Tony were on the couch in the main lounge. I had a soldering iron and was soldering some of the wires in my wrist through an opened hatch. Tony was looking at Playboys while he sat in front of the couch where I was sitting. I had my glasses balancing on my nose while I was working on my arm. 

"I don't get how you can look at that shit." I said, glancing at Tony on the floor.

"It has interesting articles." He responded but I smacked the back of his playfully. 

"You’re so full of shit." I huffed a laugh, shaking her head. 

"Like if they had a Playboy of Captain America and Bucky you wouldn't look at it." He scoffed, looking up at me and then looking back down at his magazine. 

"Mhnm, no. You do not get to bring them into this. But if they had one, maybe." I shrugged, looking back at my wrist. 

"Wow! Ha! I did not expect you to say yes." Tony laughed, closing the Playboy and turning to look at me. 

"I never said yes I said 'maybe', jackass." I scoffed, and turned off the soldering iron and closed the hatch on my wrist and looked down at him. 

"Yes, but when people say 'maybe' it usually means 'yes'." He stated, standing up and sitting on the couch next to me. 

"No, when I say 'maybe' it means 'maybe'. And that's final, okay?" I asked with an annoyed tone of voice. Talking about Steve and Bucky always put me on edge so I was getting annoyed by Tony's questioning. 

"Okay. Sorry, forgot." Tony said, looking down, he felt bad about bringing up the boys. He knew it was a sensitive topic for me. 

"Hey, îngerul meu. It's okay. I promise." (my angel) I assured him, he nodded and looked up. "How about we try baking Christmas cookies again?" I offered with a smile. 

"Why? So you can set the oven on fire again?" 

"That's a good one, Tony. That's good." I said, a fake smile on my face then I grabbed Tony by his ear and dragged him into the kitchen. 

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Let go." He groaned, as I pulled him into the kitchen.

"Magic word?" I hummed, still holding onto his ear. 

"Seriously?" He asked, looking up at me and I had my serious face on. "Fine. Please let go of my ear." He finally gave in. 

I let go of his ear and he rubbed his ear. "You're lucky I wasn't your drill sergeant back in the day. You know what they used to call me?" I questioned, looking at him. 

"No. What?" 

"The Angel of Death." I responded, a sly smirk on my face. 

"Now that I believe. And if you were a superhero that would be a badass name." He laughed, walking over to the fridge and grabbing two beers. 

"Ah, language." I scolded, taking the beer from him and opening it. 

"So you can cuss like a sailor but I can't?" Tony asked, taking a sip of his beer. 

"Now you're getting it." I nodded, taking a gulp of my beer. 

It was the next day and Maria and Howard had just left the house and me and Tony had the house to ourselves. Which the couple were skeptical about, but I assured them that we were fine home alone. Which we were because we spent most of the night watching Christmas movies and eating snacks. That was until we got a phone call. 

We were sitting on the couch and the phone started ringing, "I got it." I said, jumping off the couch and answering the phone. After a few minutes on the phone, I hung up and tears were already falling down my face.

"Who was it?" Tony yelled from the couch.

"Tony, pause the movie." I said, my voice cracking. 

He paused the movie and turned the light on and saw the tears falling down my face. "Whoa! What happened?!" He asked, walking over to me. 

"That was the sheriff, apparently a patrol car was driving down the road your parents were driving on. Umm... they found their car..." I sniffled, looking down, "The car was totaled and both Howard and Maria were dead on scene. I'm so sorry, Tony. They're dead." I sobbed, putting my hand over my mouth. 

Tony looked shocked, I could see the tears filling his eyes. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his, engulfing him in a hug. He broke down in my arms crying on my shoulder. We spent that night just crying in each other's arms. We fell asleep on the couch under the blankets with a Christmas movie playing in the background. 

A few weeks later, we held a funeral and wake for both Maria and Howard. Their headstones were planted together and they were planted in the same graveyard Steve and Bucky’s graves were. So after everyone went inside, I decided to visit the boy’s graves as well. 

I sat down by their graves and tucked my feet under myself. "Hey, boys. It's been awhile." I sniffled, looking down at my hands. "Umm, Tony turned twenty-one, but he acts like he's five but I mean it runs in the family. Howard and Maria passed on four weeks ago, today. They were all I had left. I mean I still have Peggy but her mind is going slowly and she has her own family." I said, my voice cracking on every word as more tears fell down my face. "I have Tony still, he is my godson afterall, and now I am his legal guardian. I already love him like a son. I treat him like my son. So not much is going to change in that department. But I also wanted to say I miss you so much, my loves. Even after all these years I still miss you. I haven't been able to move on, it's sad really. Anyways I better get back to the funeral. I need to be there for Tony." I sighed, and more tears filled my eyes. I stood up and dusted off my skirt before kissing my fingers and placed them on the top of each grave. "I love you, two." 

I made it back to the funeral that was being held at the VA. It was an open ballroom with round tables with black tablecloths with gold and red accents. It was a catered dinner after the caskets had been buried and people mulled about as quiet jazz played from the band in the front, it was Howard’s favorite band, the one he and Maria had at their wedding. The room was quiet with the occasional chatter and I found Tony sitting in the back, I walked over and sat next to him.

"Where were you?" He questioned, not looking at me while he watched the ice in his glass melt. 

"I visited the boy’s graves." I responded, taking a sip of the scotch I had in my glass. 

"Oh, okay." He shrugged, taking a gulp of his whiskey. 

"Are you okay?" 

"I will be. How about you?"

"Not good. At all. I will try to be okay, but I know deep down I will never be completely okay." I sighed, wiping my tears off my face. 

"That's deep."

"Yeah. Well that's me." I shrugged, looking up at the ceiling, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"Come here." He said, opening arms. 

"Oh so you're the parent now?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. 

"Shut up and come here." He huffed and waved his arms at me with emphasis. 

"Alright, fine." I sighed, giving in and letting him hug me and I hugged back. "I love you, îngerul meu." (my angel)

"I love you too, Ver." He replied, back when Tony was three years old he couldn't say 'Vera' so he said 'Ver' the same nickname Steve and Bucky used to call me. No one else could call me that except Steve, but hearing Tony call me that, I decided to allow him to call me that because I thought it was cute and I loved him as much as I loved Steve and Bucky.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

The Accident

Chapter 17 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 3.3k

Chapter Summary: The mission was supposed to be easy, how was Vera to know that it was a trap?

Warnings: angst, HYDRA being HYDRA, abduction, bodily injury, amputation, leaning to live with prosthetics, amputee awareness, some comfort with Tony

a/n: I liked this idea of Vera being an amputee like Bucky to add to her backstory! I hope you enjoy!

Stuttgart, Germany.  1980. 

It was supposed to be a routine mission. In and out. It was an abandoned HYDRA gun cache or at least we thought it was abandoned. I placed the explosives, grabbed the files, swept the building and on my way out, I was confronted by a HYDRA agent in an old 40s uniform and he had an old tesseract weapon strapped to his back. He had taken me off guard and one blast changed my life. 

The building was a setup, after I went down Jeeps pulled up around me and men climbed out in body armour but a few were in lab coats. I was in and out of consciousness as they loaded me onto a stark white stretcher and they strapped me down. 

My eyes landed on the pool of blood that they pulled me from and a dull throbbing came from my left side but I didn’t look down. I knew better, I knew my adrenaline was pumping keeping me from feeling the pain and as soon as I looked down I would feel it. I felt a collar clamp around my neck and my powers faded just out of my reach and my body weakened. I heard the men talking around me in Russian as I was loaded into a metal truck and medics sat around me and started working on what had happened to me. The engine started up just as I passed out. 

I woke up to the smell of blood and antiseptic and my eyes peeled open and I had to squint because of the bright white lights that were pointed at me. I was strapped to a gurney with an IV set in my right arm and I was just in a gown and when my eyes landed on my left side, I let out a loud gasp. My arm was gone, straight up to the shoulder, it was bandaged and was hooked up with a tube to help it drain and my leg was gone, up to my hip bone and it was in the same condition that my arm was. Tears welled in my eyes and I could help that they fell and I yanked at the straps on my right side and I looked around but felt a metal collar locked around my neck. I tried looking down by picking my head up but it felt like it weighed a hundred pounds that I just slumped back. 

I had electrodes stuck to my chest that led to a heart rate machine next to me and the steady beeping got faster as I took in my surroundings. I was in a cold dark room that had metal tables scattered around that were full of used medical instruments and bloodied gauze and they had four medical lights pointed at me and my left side. The door to the room that was in front of my gurney and a man in a white lab coat walked in with two guards flanking him. 

“Здравствуйте, г-жа Ковалова. Вы попали в несчастный случай, но мы подлатали вас, как могли, но ущерб... необратим.” (Hello, Ms. Kovaylov. You were in an unfortunate accident but we patched you up as best as we could, but the damage is well... irreversible.” He started as he regarded me with cold and calculating eyes. 

“Никакого дерьма.” (No shit) I mumbled through a sore throat but he just chuckled at my remark. 

“Мы искали тебя очень долго. Но представьте наше удивление, когда ты попала прямо в наши сети. Я думала, ты хитрее, Вера.” (We've been looking for you for a very long time. But imagine our surprise when you walked right into our net. I thought you were sharper than that, Vera.) He hummed condescendingly, as he smirked at me. “Но это нормально, потому что у нас есть для вас очень важная работа.” (But that's okay because we have a very important job for you.) He explained before he walked over to a covered medical table and pulled the sheet off to reveal a dark blue book with a black star on the front of it. 

My heart dropped to my stomach as I took in the book that he held. He opened it and walked up in front of me and he started saying each of the ten words. My brain blanked as each word was spoken, the soldier wanted her time in the sun but I had lost years of my life to those words and I wouldn’t do it again. I fought it, my brain fighting against itself, I felt like it was going to tear itself apart as I fought. I shook my head, trying to shake the soldier out. I felt her clawing her way up but I shoved her back, fighting tooth and nail to stay myself.

Once he finished the words he walked over, “Soldat?” He asked and I looked up at him with blank eyes. 

“Готовы подчиниться.” (Ready to comply.) I said and he gave me a grin before he started undoing my straps and once my leg and arm were free, I launched myself on him. I wrapped my legs around his neck and grabbed one arm with my only hand and I yanked it back till it snapped. The guards pulled their stun guns on me but even as they fired I didn’t stop. I snapped the doctor’s neck before I yanked the electrodes out of my back and chest and I whipped them at the guards, they embedded themselves in the guards chests and they fell to the ground. I grabbed the keys off the guard and unlocked the collar and I felt my power snap back to me like a rubber band. 

“And I’m back.” I huffed and stretched out my one arm and my back, feeling my power run through my veins.

I huffed as I felt my ass hanging out of the gown and I grabbed one of the guards. I snapped his neck before stripping him down and slipping on the uniform, it was a bit difficult without my leg and arm but I made do. I just put on the tactical pants and t-shirt and I hopped over to the wheelchair that they had in the corner of the room. I only fell once so I’d call it a success. I grabbed the guns and knives off the guards as I sat in the chair. 

I looked down at my one hand and leg and took a deep breath, I knew if I used my one hand, I would just be going in circles, so I enchanted the wheelchair to connect to my mind so it would move with my directions. I flew through the door of the room and rolled down the hall with the automatic weapon posed in front of me as I went. The dimly lit hallway was empty but had a door on both the right and left, I paused at a door that said “Assets” in Russian and I opened it to reveal a small room full of containers that had labels with names. 

I found one with my name on it and I opened it. I grabbed my dark blue leather jacket, my hunting knife, my boots, a few hex bags, the boy’s dog tags, and my gun. I closed the bin and I moved towards the door but paused as I recognized a name on one of the bins. “James Buchanan Barnes”. It had the date, I believed to be his death, printed under his name. I yanked it open and inside was his leather jacket from the fall, his old dog tags, and all his personal items that he had on him during the fall. 

My heart sank as I looked through the bin, they had taken him from the ravine and did the goddess knew what with him. I yanked the door open and I sped down the hallway towards the lift at the end of the hall. I couldn’t stay to figure out what happened to him, I was weak and hurt and needed to regroup before I came back. I took the lift to the ground floor and the doors opened to reveal a dozen or so guards in the room in front of me, guarding the exit. 

They all turned to look at me and I huffed and rubbed my forehead, “Damn, so close.” I sighed before I started firing. It hit them hard and fast, catching them by surprise. I fired till I ran out and I used my magic to send tendrils of energy through the room taking out the rest. I rolled through the room to the door and took out the guards on the outside and I unfurled my gray wings, my back popping and my wings cracking as they stretched. I took in the bunker and my surroundings, committing it to memory because I would be back.  I soared into the skin even as my no existent limbs throbbed as the adrenaline wore off, leaving a debilitating pain behind as I flew to where SHIELD had set up base in Berlin, then I passed out from the pain as my body knew I would get help and fell from the sky. 

Berlin, Germany.  1980.

Peggy and Howard were starting to draft up a plan for a rescue mission because I hadn’t reported in or met them at the rendezvous location. They had no choice but to think that the worst happened to me. The maps were sketched out and the teams were starting to be drafted when they heard some agents yell for help, then a deafening thud. Peggy ran out and the sight she saw will haunt her forever. She saw a passed out and bloody me laying on the ground outside the tent, I had ripped my stitches and my wounds were steadily dripping blood into a puddle underneath me. I was in the stolen clothes and I had both mine and Bucky’s jackets pressed to my chest. 

Howard and some medics ran out and Howard picked up my limp body and laid me on the stretcher the medics provided him with. The medics wheeled me into the infirmary and immediately started working on stopping the bleeding and tending to my missing limbs as fast as possible because the HYDRA patch job would lead to worse injuries.  

They realized that I needed real medical attention and flew me to the nearest hospital. Then after eleven hours of surgery I was finally out of the OR and placed into a real room. I was still passed out with all the anesthesia they gave me. They had to give me double the doses because my metabolism burned four times faster and needed extra so that it actually took effect.

A few days later, Peggy was sitting in a chair next to my bed. She was reading over some files on the mission that went wrong. When my eyes opened and I croaked out in a weak voice, "Peggy?" 

Peggy's head turned to where the noise came from. When she saw that I was awake, she closed the files and stood up. "Hey, V. Yeah, it's me." Peggy assured me. 

"W-what h-ha-" I started to say but was cut off because I started coughing. 

Peggy grabbed the pitcher of water and grabbed a cup and poured a cup of water. She helped me drink the water, then she sat the cup down. She helped me sit up and she gave a tight lipped smile. "Better?" She asked, and I nodded and took a deep breath. “Tell me what happened.”

 “First off, that building was a trap. I was out, could see the sun when a guard came around the corner. He had a tesseract weapon and fired one blast. One fucking blast that took me down. They grabbed me and took me to a bunker.” I started and I took another sip of water. “They tried to bring the soldier forward, Peg.” I whispered as tears filled my eyes and Peggy gasped softly, “I fought her though. I did. I beat her back. I stayed myself and I escaped.” I said and she smiled and squeezed my one hand. “I have to go back.”

Peggy shook her head at me, “No, you can’t. You barely got out alive. Vera-”

I cut her off, “I have to. They did something to Bucky after he fell. I found signs that they had him, Peggy. I can’t just leave it alone.”

Peggy sighed and squeezed my hand, “You can’t. At least not right now. You’re hurt. You lost your arm and leg for god sakes. You were there on that train, no one could’ve survived that. You know that. He’s dead, Vera.” She huffed and I shook my head as more tears fell down my cheeks. 

My eyes filled with more tears as I let out a watery laugh, "This almost feels like a dream. Like I'm going to wake up in my office at HQ. But then again I know it's not because I am not that lucky." I sniffled, and looked at Peggy. “I know he’s most likely dead but I have to try at least once I get better.” I whispered and she nodded. "What the hell am I going to do, Peg?" I asked, my voice breaking at the end. 

"Well, Howard is working on some prototype limbs. When you are feeling better you can go see him and look them over. Also there is someone here to see you." Peggy said, a smile crossing her face. 

"Who is it?" I asked, confusion crossing my face. 

"Let me go get him." Peggy said, getting up and walking to the door. A few minutes later a 10 year old Tony Stark came walking in. He was in black sweatpants and a red t-shirt, his eyes were red rimmed and he was playing with his fingers. 

I sat up and looked at him with a warm smile crossing my features, "Hey kiddo. What are you doing here?" I asked, as he sat in the chair next to my bed.

"I was worried about you." He explained shyly, looking down at his hands. 

I reached out with my right hand and took his hand in mine, "Hey, îngerul meu. Look at me." (my angel) I said, and he looked up at me. "Don't worry about me. I took a hit, I'll be able to shake it off." I assured him and he nodded. I scooted over and patted the space beside me on the bed. "Come on. Those hospital chairs must be uncomfortable as hell." I chuckled, and he laid next to me and I held him close with my right arm and we fell asleep like that. 

New York. 1982.

Two years later, I was living at the Stark residence outside of New York City because after my accident, I needed help getting around. I could barely walk and even if I did, I fell at least once or twice but Tony was there to help me especially as summer break started. Howard was still working on my prothstetics, so as a thank you for making them and for letting me stay with them, I helped with Tony's studies. Even though I was in a wheelchair, I would help Jarvis in the kitchen and help Howard with his show and Maria with any projects she found around the house.

It was a normal day, Tony was at home for summer break so he and I were making fourth of July cupcakes for tomorrow. Howard was in his home lab working on random stuff. Maria went to the supermarket when she found out that me and Tony were baking. Us baking together was a recipe for disaster, I wasn’t the greatest baker and Tony liked to mess with the flour which was why we were covered with it. 

Tomorrow was July the fourth, Steve's birthday. Most people celebrated it as independence day, but I celebrated it as Steve's birthday. That was why me and Tony were making cupcakes and I had set aside two cupcakes for Steve and Bucky because Bucky always made Steve’s birthday big every year.  Tony understood why I continued to celebrate his birthday even though he was dead. He understood and he helped me celebrate it for him.

We had just put the cupcakes in the oven, when we heard Howard running up the stairs from his lab. "I did it! I finished it!" He yelled, as he ran into the kitchen. He saw the mess we had made and paused, "You two are cleaning this up." Howard said sternly, pointing at us all messy in the kitchen.

"Yes, Howard. We know. But what did you do?" I asked as I spun my wheelchair around to look at him. 

"I finished your prosthetics." He said, proud of what he did.

"You did?!" I exclaimed, he nodded and I wheeled over to him and he leaned down so that I could hug him. "Okay. Well when do I actually get to walk again?" 

"The procedure is in a few weeks at the SHIELD infirmary. The first procedure will be to implant the connectors then we will attach the limbs. We will be observed by other doctors, because your prosthetics are going to be pure vibranium and connected to your nervous system. So you will be able to use your powers with them." Howard explained. 

"Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you so much, Howie!" I exclaimed, and wheeled myself back over to Tony to start making the frosting for the cupcakes. 

A few weeks later, my procedure went according to plan and I woke up in one of the infirmary beds in SHIELD a few hours later. The bases were attached and because of my advanced healing it only took a few days for the wounds to scar over and Howard was able to attach the limbs. I was able to sit up and look around. I looked down at my new limbs and I almost cried. My eyes studied the jagged edges of my scars that connected the base to my body. I was so excited to be able to do things again, I couldn’t wait to walk around without help. I tried to lift my left arm up and I was able to. I lifted it up, moved it side to side and curled my hand into a fist. 

I relaxed my fist and then Howard walked in. "Hey, Vera. You checking out your new arm?" He asked as he walked over and looked over my chart. 

"Yeah. It's so weird to have my arm back after two years." I explained, looking down at my arm. 

"We tried to make the scars neater but HYDRA really did a number on your wounds.” He explained as he gestured to my scars. “How about you try walking?" He offered a smirk on his face. 

"You know after forty something years you still have the same smirk." I said, a small smile crossing my face. 

"Oh, come on. Just try walking." He chuckled, I turned my body to the side and swung my legs to the side. I started to put weight on my feet and I got to a fully standing position and went to walk but my metal limb gave out under me and I went to fall but Howard caught me before I could meet the floor. 

"Woah, calm down Bambi." Howard said, as he lifted me up. I slapped him on the shoulder but smiled as he helped me over to the bed. 

He helped me sit back on the edge of the bed. "I hate this, you know." I huffed, crossing my arms.

"You'll get better, I promise. You have four months of physical therapy to help you get used to your new limbs." He explained, sitting on the bed next to me. 

He wrapped his arm around my torso and I did the same to him and I laid my head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Howie." 

"No problem, V." He responded and kissed my head softly.    

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

New Addition

Chapter 16 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 1.8k

Chapter Summary: Maria and Howard introduce a new addition to the SHIELD family! Vera is both excited and sad because her friends are moving on and she's not.

Warnings: angst, slight mention of loss and loneliness, mentions of pregnancy, labor, hospitals, and female anatomy.

a/n: I thought it was the cutest idea to make Vera a big part of Tony's life because he deserved a family even after he lost his parents! Hope you enjoy!

1970. 

I parked the Jeep in the hospital parking lot, barely being able to find a spot but I found one next to Stark’s Mercedes. We both quickly climbed out of the military vehicle and I smirked at the thought of Howard having a cow that I drove a military vehicle off base. We rushed across the pavement and through ER doors and to the receptionists desk only to be met by Jarvis. 

"Ms. Kovalyov. Ms. Carter." He greeted us, "I assume you are here to see Mrs. Stark."

"Hello, Edwin. And yes we are here to see her. Has the labor progressed anymore?" I questioned as we hugged him. 

"I do believe so. But I think you two should talk to her about that." He responded, "She is in room 632 on floor 6."

"Thank you." Peggy nodded, and we rushed over to the lift and took it up to the sixth floor, the nervous yet excited energy coming from both of us in the small room. We arrived at the sixth floor and we walked down the fluorescent lit hallway, until we found Maria's room which was across from the nurse’s station.

The door was a thick piece of wood and the metal letters were bolted onto the door. Peggy knocked on the door and a faint, "Who is it?", was heard through the door.

"It's Vera and Peggy." I said through the door. 

The door opened and Howard was standing on the other side. His hair was a mess and his clothes rumpled, he was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and the upper half of a suit. He hugged us tight before pulling away and he looked from me to Peggy. "Thank God, you two are here." He huffed.

"Are we allowed to come in?" I questioned, peeking over his shoulder and Maria gave me a strained smile from her place on the exercise ball in the middle of the room. 

"Unfortunately, no. They only allow the husband in." Howard said, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

"Shit. So we have to wait in the lobby?" 

"No. The waiting room is beside the lobby." He said, a sly smirk on his face that I wanted to smack off of his face.

"Damn you, Stark." I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"You'll be fine. And I will come visit and give updates." Howard reasoned. 

"Okay, fine. Come on, Peggy." I sighed, grabbing Peggy's hand but before we left, I turned my head, “Nice outfit, Stark!” I called to him and he made an unfriendly gesture with his hand before disappearing back into the room, as we walked back over to the lift and took it back to the lobby. 

After 4 hours of waiting, Howard came down to give us an update. Peggy was asleep on my shoulder, and I was in and out of being completely asleep. The sun had completely set and the only light was from the harsh fluorescent lights that were giving me a headache. He walked up and sat in a chair in front of us. 

He tapped me on the knee and my eyes popped open wide and I straightened my head up. "When did she fall asleep?" Howard asked, taking a sip of his coffee and handed me the other cup.

I took a giant sip of coffee to try and wake up a little, "She passed out a little over two hours ago." I hummed, looking at my watch then over to Peggy whose lips were parted and the tense lines that were usually visible had relaxed. 

"My God. We are getting old." Howard huffed, rubbing his hand over his face. 

"You two are. Unfortunately I am not." I sighed, taking a sip of my coffee.

"You may not look old, but your mind is." Howard explained, pointing to his temple. 

"No shit. I’m almost 400 years old and yet I still look as I did when I was 22." I sighed, looking down, "Anyways, how is Maria doing?" 

"Good. She's dilated 7 centimeters, whatever that means." Howard shrugged, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

I laughed, "I have given you and Maria about one-hundred books on pregnancy and you have no idea what that means?" I asked, he shook his head and I quietly chuckled so as not to wake up Peggy. "Well, thankfully that I know. It means that her cervix-" 

"No. Mnhmn. No. Nope. We do not need to talk about my wife's cervix." He said cutting me off, as he shook his head and put his hands out. 

"Relax, you big baby. I am just messing with you. But maybe you should go check on your wife." I said, pointing over to the lift. 

"Right. I'll come give you some more updates later." He assured me, he stood up and put his hand on the back of my head and kissed me on the forehead. Howard let go of my head and walked off towards the lift.

"Bye, Howie." I waved, as he walked away. 

It was 1am when Howard came back down to update the women. When he got down there, he saw that we were asleep in the uncomfortable hospital chairs. So he decided to leave us alone. 

Two more hours passed, and Anthony Edward Stark was born. Howard came down to the lobby in his white button-up and sweats with the sleeves rolled up around the elbow. His eyes were glassy and red as he walked up to us. We were awake and drinking the coffee Jarvis provided us with from the cafeteria. 

He walked over to us with a huge smile on his face. "She had the baby!" He exclaimed, and we shot off our chairs and walked over to him and we took turns hugging and congratulating him.

"Yay! Oh my God! Are we allowed to see her and the baby?" I asked, sipping on my coffee.

"Yes." Howard nodded.

"What is the gender?" Peggy asked excitedly.

"A boy. We named him Anthony Edward Stark." He said, the smile not leaving his face. 

"I am so happy for you, Howard." I beamed, hugging him again. 

We made it up to Maria's room that had blue balloons taped to the doorframe and an “it’s a boy!” sign on the whiteboard outside of the room. I smiled at the decorations and I squeezed Howard’s shoulder and he looked over at me with a bright smile. We walked in and Maria was sitting in the hospital bed with a little bundle of blue in her arms. She had tears stained on her face from crying with joy. Me and Peggy walked up next to the bed and I smiled down at the baby’s scrunched face and he yawned and my heart swelled with affection I never knew I could feel. 

"He is so cute, Maria." Peggy giggled, I was standing next to her and tears were filling my eyes. 

I was so happy for Howard and Maria, but a small part of me couldn't help but feel envious of my friends. Peggy was married and had children and Howard had all of those things, but I was still mourning Steve and Bucky. Peggy tried to set me up with a man, but I couldn't bring myself to even think about being with someone else. Also a part of myself knew I would never have the family I had wanted once. That woman was gone and I wasn't sure who surfaced. 

My thoughts were interrupted when Maria started speaking, "Do you want to hold him, Peggy?" 

"Of course." Peggy beamed, she leaned down a cradled Anthony in her arms. She cooed and rocked him in her arms. 

I walked away from the bed to where Howard was standing. "Are you sure that's your child? I mean he is way more handsome than you are." I joked, he laughed and shook his head. 

"Yes. I am sure." He laughed and playfully punched her arm. 

"Just checking." I laughed, "But seriously he's adorable Howie. You and Maria did good." I assured him.

"Thanks." Howard chuckled, and pulled me into a hug. 

"How are you feeling?" 

"Honestly, I am so nervous that I might screw up like my dad did." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down.

"Hey. Look at me." I said, he looked at me so our eyes met. "You are not your father. You are a better man than he was. You will be an amazing father. Trust me, okay?" 

He nodded, "Sorry, I'm just stressing. But me and Maria have some news for you." Howard stated, walking over to the bed and I followed. "Maria. Honey? I thought we could tell Vera what we discussed yesterday." 

Maria looked up at him and nodded, "Yes. Of course. You should tell her though I think I might try to get some rest." She explained as she laid her head back on the pillow and turned to watch Peggy holding Anthony. 

"Me and Maria were talking these past nine months and we decided to make you Anthony's Godmother." He explained, and my jaw dropped slightly as I let out a quiet laugh and my tears fell as I looked from him to Maria. 

"Oh my Goddess!" I exclaimed and the couple smiled at me and I wiped my face. "Thank you! Thank you both!" I sniffled, as more happy tears fell down my face. I hugged Howard and gave Maria a side hug and then she closed her eyes knowing that she was surrounded by family and her baby was safe. 

"Do you want to hold him?" He asked me, as we pulled back from the hug. I nodded and Peggy turned and passed Anthony to me. 

I cradled him in my arms as more tears fell down my face. He was beautiful, soft porcelain skin that had a healthy pink hue, with a head of dark hair and though I hadn’t seen his eyes, I knew they were the beautiful chocolate that Howard’s were. I cuddled him close to my chest, "I know you are only a few hours old and probably have no idea what I am saying." I sniffled and I looked up to try to keep my tears at bay.

 "But I love you so much already and I believe everyone in this room does as well. I will protect you everyday, everywhere you go I will protect you.” I whispered to him and I held out my free hand and used my magic to conjure up a small blue bracelet and I put a protection spell on the braided piece of string and I waved a hand and it slid onto Anthony’s small wrist under the swaddle. “This will protect you, îngerul meu. (my angel) I will always be with you no matter what. Wherever you go, whatever you, I will protect you. I love you so much, Anthony.” I whispered to him and I pressed a soft kiss to his small forehead and my heart swelled with love as I held the small bundle in my arms.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Long Talks

Chapter 15 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 1.1k

Chapter Summary: It's just a normal day on base but something happens that makes it not such a normal day.

Warnings: reminiscing, mentions of Army conditioning, Army base setting

a/n: This was mainly a filler chapter to hint at the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!

1970.

Five years had passed and to me the world seemed stable. I started working on my education and degrees to help build up the base while also keeping myself busy. Peggy was full time working with SHIELD while also commuting to and from work so she could spend as much time with her children as she could. Bea was working at the house part-time and Lilith was the head of the house, giving Bea some time off. 

Howard was married to a woman named Maria, and she was pregnant with their only child. I was ecstatic when Howard and Maria told me that they were going to have a baby. I was there from the start; I  was the first person Howard brought Maria to meet. I was the wedding planner and Howard's "best man" at the couple's wedding. Them having a baby made me realize that my friends were moving on with their lives, but I was still living in the past.

I hated being immortal, because I knew that as Peggy and Howard got older I would stay the same. That was when I realized that one day they would die and I would be left alone. I had watched too many people I care about die while I lived on and I don’t know if I could lose these two because I would be truly alone. 

It was a normal day on base, everyone was doing their own thing. Peggy was working on the details for a mission. Howard was at home with his pregnant wife, taking care of her. I was out on the field training some new recruits.

"Come on! Move it! Move it! I did better in my basic training with a broken wrist! Mută-l!" ("Move it!") I yelled the last part in Romanian, as I watched the new recruits doing push-ups and I clapped my hands together. I always went hard on the new recruits, I worked them till they passed out. The soldiers called me by my old nickname, 'The Angel of Death', though no one died; all the soldiers felt like they were going to.

"I knew I should have listened to Barker when he warned me about her." One of the recruits whispered to the recruit beside him.

"Up!" I yelled, and the group jumped up and started doing burpees. "Come on! You call yourself soldiers?! All the way till your chin is in line with your elbows, Campbell!" I yelled at one of the recruits.

"It's not that easy!" Campbell yelled at me as he struggled on his way down.

"Sure it is! Watch!" I yelled back, I jumped up, squatted down, kicked my feet back, did a one handed push-up and then jumped back up. "Done. Now, come on!" I yelled, as some of the soldiers looked up at me in shock before they looked back down and continued on their burpees.

Their training continued on for another hour, then it was time for a different corporal to take my place. I left and went to my tent and changed into a pair of dark blue jeans, a black low cut top, and a black leather jacket with a pair of black lace up boots.

I put my hair up in a ponytail and walked out of my tent and toward the lift down to SHIELD. I made it down to HQ, I walked down the dimly lit hallway until I found Peggy's office. I knocked on the door and Peggy yelled, "Come in."

I opened the door and saw Peggy sitting behind her desk, she was in her usual outfit of a blood red skirt and white blouse but her hair was tousled and a few buttons were undone on her blouse. I walked over and sat in the old wooden chair in front of her desk as I regarded her with a smirk on my face. 

"Are you done torturing the new recruits?" Peggy asked, a smirk plastered on her face.

"Oh, shut up. Maybe I should ask about Daniel?” I teased her as her cheeks flushed pink, “I am only hard on them because they need to learn how to do the shit we had to do. You remember our training to become SSR agents?" I hummed, thinking back to what we went through.

“Oh, hush.” Peggy said dismissively and waved a hand at my question. "Yes I do. Some of those days I thought I was going to drop dead." She scoffed, leaned back in her chair.

"They went harder on us than anyone else. Because we were women. We had to prove ourselves to be strong enough." I stated the annoyance present in my voice. I hated the way they treated women back then and how they still treated us. 

"Yes, but we did it. We proved ourselves to those narcissistic pricks." Peggy said, leading us back onto a lighter path. "Well anyway, did you hear that Maria is a week past her due date?"

"Of course. It is so like Howard’s baby to be fashionably late." I smiled with a playful roll of my eyes. "I can only imagine how uncomfortable Maria is!" I sighed thinking about how big Maria’s belly was the last time I saw her.

"My daughter was two weeks late and it was absolutely hell." Peggy sighed as she tucked a piece of gray hair behind her ear, reminding me just how quick the years had gone by. 

“I remember. Trust me it was hell for all of us around you.” I smirked and she gave me a hard kick under the table with a playful glare making me wince before I started laughing. 

“Wait till you get pregnant then-” Peggy started before she caught herself and my smile dropped from my face and I took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, V. I wasn’t thinking.” She said softly and I shook my head as I plastered on a smile. 

“That’s okay.” I hummed and took a deep breath. “I sometimes forget too. I wake up in the morning sometimes and think they’ll be there, in the kitchen trying to cook, in the garden, or cuddled up in my office. It’s not just you.” I whispered and I quickly blinked my tears away. 

“It’s normal. I mean-" Peggy started to say, but was cut off by the phone ringing. She answered it, I tried to listen but it was a bunch of jumbled words but the voice sounded like Howard's. "Yeah. Yeah. Hold on, Stark. Breath. Now start again." She said, the rambling stopped on the other end of the line and he started talking slowly. "Oh my God! Ok. Ok. We'll be there soon." She finished talking, and ended the call she looked over at me.

"What'd he say?" I questioned, my face twisting into confusion.

"Maria went into labor!" Peggy exclaimed, a broad smile crossing her features.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! No way! Did he say what hospital he brought her to?" I asked quickly as I stood up.

"Yes! Come on!" Peggy exclaimed, grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the office.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Visiting Them

Chapter 14 of 'The Angel of Death'

Book Masterlist

Pairings: Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x Steve Rogers, Vera Kovalyov (OC) x James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steve Rogers x James 'Bucky' Barnes

Word Count: 1.2k

Chapter Summary: Vera does her best to visit them but her dreams aren't very kind when she doesn't.

Warnings: angst, mentions of overworking, mentions of depression, mentions of loss, depictions of blood, wounds, and drowning, hurt w/o comfort

a/n: I wanted to include a guilt ridden nightmare so here you go! I hope you enjoy!

1962.

Everyday for the past six years, I had gone to visit Steve and Bucky’s grave. When I went up the hill, I brought them a single white rose. I would usually go after my morning runs around my neighborhood and I would stop and get a bagel to eat as I sat beside their graves and told them about what was going on in my life. It made me feel better about losing them. Talking to them helped, making me feel like I was less alone. Like they were still with me in some way. 

It was 9am and Peggy needed me for a mission. So she went to the cemetery and like every morning she saw me sitting by the graves.

"Steve’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks. You would be what? Like 44? You'd probably be like a grumpy old man even more so than Bucky would be. I remember the year you turned 22 and Buck gave you your first beer, even though your doctor advised against it but that didn't stop him from giving you one. You took one sip and almost died from coughing, because of the bitterness, then your asthma kicked in. Good God, we almost had to take you to the hospital." I giggled, and looked down thinking back to that moment. 

I heard someone clear their throat and I looked up to see Peggy looking down at me. Peggy was wearing a red flowy skirt that stopped below her knees, she paired it with a white blouse and white heels. She looked very professional. I on the other hand looked like a sweaty mess, I was wearing a pair of black leggings, a loose pastel lavender top and I had on low cut black converse sneakers and my hair was up in a messy bun. There were loose strands sticking to my face with sweat. 

"Vera, we need you." Peggy stated, pulling off her sunglasses.

"Seriously, Peg? I just got back from one of your "we need you" missions." I huffed, annoyed, looking up at Peggy from where I sat on the ground. 

"I'm sorry, Vera. But we do need you. This mission is dangerous. No one can go on it except you." Peggy explained, placing her sunglasses back on her face and holding her hand out to help me up. 

"Fine, but you owe me that record I saw in the pawn shop last week." I groaned, taking Peggy's hand and standing up. 

"Let me guess. The Marvelettes one?" Peggy questioned, remembering the record I picked out. 

"You know it." I smirked, clapping my hands together. 

"I hate you." Peggy shook her head at my response, but a small smile crossed her face. 

"I know." I smirked, I looked down at the boy’s graves. "Bye, Stevie. Bye, Buck. I'll talk to you when I get back." I brought two of my fingers to my lips and kissed them, then placed them on the top of each headstone. "Love you, boys." I smiled, "Alright, lead the way Nancy Drew." I said, gesturing for Peggy to walk away and I was going to follow. 

"I knew I was going to regret buying those books for you." Peggy shook her head, and walked  away with me laughing and following behind her. 

Camp Lehigh, New Jersey.  1965.

Three years later, me, Howard, and Peggy founded SHIELD, with the help of the SSR. SHIELD stood for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We worked out of an underground bunker, located under Camp Lehigh in New Jersey. I hated not living in Brooklyn anymore. I couldn't visit the boy’s graves as much as I wanted. My visitation times were limited to once a month. Peggy and I lived in a tent on base. We moved to make it easier to work with the new recruits on base. Also so that we could always be there just in case there was an emergency. 

One night, I was asleep on my desk like always. Due to my work schedule, I ended up almost always sleeping in my office. 

I walked out of my shared bedroom, and I walked into the small kitchen. I grabbed my tea kettle and walked over to the sink and filled it up. As I filled it up, I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist and a pair of soft lips planting small kisses on my neck. 

"Babe, I can't, I have to work." I groaned, putting the lid on the kettle.

"Skip it. Stay with me and Buck today." He offered, grabbing my hands in his. 

"Steve, I can't." I whined, and turned around. When I saw his face I gasped and dropped the kettle, it crashed to the ground, making a metallic sound ring through the kitchen and water splashed at my feet.

"What's wrong, doll?" He questioned, cocking his head to the side. 

His once blue eyes were ghostly white. His skin that was once full of life was pale and cold as ice. His clothes and hair soaking wet, bruises and cuts cover his perfect face. He was in the same uniform he was when he went into the ice. I looked at the silver star in the middle of his chest; it was splattered with blood and a giant shard of glass was sticking out of a gaping wound in his chest. I gasped as tears filled my eyes.

I reached my hand out and touched his face and he leaned into my touch, "St-eve." I managed to croak out as the tears slipped out of my eyes and slid down my face. 

"You promised to always have my back, Vera." He hissed, and grabbed my hand from his face and yanked me towards him. I let out an involuntary yelp at the sudden movement. 

"I'm s-sorry. I t-tried to s-save you." I stuttered, as more tears fell down my face.

"You didn't try hard enough." He growled, yanking me closer. I screamed as the glass shard went through my chest. His lips were by my ear, "Maybe you didn't want to save me or Bucky." He whispered. 

My head shot up off my desk. I looked down and saw a wet spot on my paperwork from me crying in my sleep. I looked around the room to make sure that it was just a nightmare. I looked down on my desk and I saw the picture of Steve before the serum and Bucky in his uniform. Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about what happened in the nightmare. I believed it was my fault that they died and I hated myself just thinking about what happened. 

Many times Peggy and Howard had tried to help make me believe that it was not my fault. All that got Howard was a sharp slap to the cheek, and for Peggy it was me moving out.

Before they had the memorial I had nightmares every night. It was one of the reasons I took every mission for  years to hunt down HYDRA. After the memorial and they planted both headstones, talking to their graves helped to stop the nightmares. Though not being able to visit them everyday. It took a toll on me, and I just went on day by day. 

I picked up the framed pictures, and let the tears fall a few landed on the glass. I brought the pictures up to my face, my hands shaking as I placed a light kiss on the top of the pictures. I pulled the pictures down and laid them on my desk. 

"I am so sorry."      

'Italics are the nightmare'