#<3 thank you toni its wonderful

[wind-becomes-lightning]

We're caught in the crossfire as the flames come rushing in A vain attempt to reach a spark And now your hands got tied, don't know where to being to find you way back in the dark. Keep me by your side and illuminate the sky. So keep me by your side, we'll pretend that we're alive. Now the door is looked, can't find the key waiting for a melody, remedy, one that will bring you back to me. If I could turn the tide, cross the sea.

@lemony-snickers I wish this were real, I wish i could comfort you for real, but until instant teleports are invented, this little dream sequence made by @birdiepuh has to be enough. for now, for now. <3

bonus @foolishk:

[lanabuckybarnes]

So bit of a weird scenario I have in my head that I wanted to share with you all.

Once again I’m writing more of Sgt Barnes but can you blame me.

Pairing: Sgt Barnes x reader

Warnings: None I believe.

-

Back in the 40s, before the world went to shit, you, Bucky and Steve were an inseparable trio. Where one went the others followed, although most of the time it was Steve third-wheeling you both. You and Bucky weren’t together, no, you were just close friends. Steve would scoff whenever they’d both say it, you’d both be wrapped up in each other’s arms and deny it.

The truth was, both of you were idiots, Steve had been the guy you’d both turn to when it came to gushing over each other. He still couldn’t figure out how you two never saw the heart eyes you’d give each other. You never got to confess your love to Bucky till much later, you lost him for 70 years after he fell from that train, after you were captured by Hydra also. When you finally met, your feelings for each other were far too much and you spilt over a bottle of old fashioned whiskey, life was good after that. Then you lost him again.

-

Tony, Steve and you return to the past to retrieve the stones, unfortunately Loki steals it before any of you were able to grab it. You’d have to travel much further back, to around 1943, before Bucky’s capture.

Since you were familiar with the area Steve and Tony trusted you to scout out ahead before they moved in. You never expected a group of drunk men to corner you into an alley and just your luck, your comms had stopped working making you unable to call for backup. You’d have to fight them yourself.

You’d gotten the upper hand for the most part, 3 of the 4 men lay nursing wounds but the 4th man had caught you unaware, when your back was turned he’d grabbed a pipe raising it high above his head as you turned to watch, your eyes closing at the impending attack- only for the pipe to not hit you at all.

“You think it’s cool to hit a woman punk”. The words were polluted with rage. The alley reverberated the crack of fist against bone, a howl following after. the man who’d almost broken your skull lay blubbering on the floor, blood pooling from between his fingers.

“You alright?” The man asked, you finally raised your eyes from his pale green pants to his face.

Your beating heart stopped, heaving breaths caught in your throat and tears welling in your eyes. It was him, those steel blue orbs unmistakable. It had been so long since you had seen that colour.

His brows quirked in confusion at your gawking face, he felt exposed.

“Hellooo” he tried again, this time it was enough to break you from your trance. You took note of his outstretched hand and grasped it gently, allowing him to pull you up close to him.

“Hmm doesn’t look like theirs much damage” he hummed his thumb running over a graze on your cheek, his mouth frowning slightly at your wet eyes. You wondered what the repercussions would be if he recognised you, or if you ran away with him.

“Are you ok?” Steve's voice broke out through the small earpiece but you couldn’t reply, still entranced by Bucky’s deep blue eyes.

“You know it’s crazy, I feel like I know you” Bucky laughed his hand fell from your face to tuck itself into his pocket. Oh shit, play it off, play it off!

“Oh yeah heh… must just have a normal-looking face” you retorted while looking away, desperately trying to conceal your face without it looking obvious. Bucky just hummed through pursed lips, unconvinced at your explanation.

After a beat, you cleared your throat and pulled away from him. “Well I gotta go, thanks for helping me” With one last longing look you left him in that alley. Rubbing at your eyes to hide the tears from Tony and Steve.

‘What a confusing woman’ Bucky’s head shook at the encounter before a flicker of gold caught his attention. With ease, he squatted down to have a look, at a pendant, a very old-fashioned-looking one. Picking it up he rolled it around in his fingers, inspecting its fine detail, suddenly it popped open.

Two photos laid delicately inside it, Bucky and you in the 40s, one he recognised instantly and a much more recent one taken by Sam when you weren’t looking. You were both on a fancy looking motorbike, your face contorted with laughter while Bucky’s eyes watched you from over his shoulder— even from the photo he could tell his eyes were swimming with love, that same love he felt for the other version of you.

How did he not notice before. He mentally kicked himself at his blindness, only a fool would completely miss something like that.

Tony and Steve were waiting for you when you got back to your meeting spot, their brows furrowed at your dishevelled appearance, wondering how you’d got into a fight so quickly.

Just then Steve noticed something.

“Your pendant”

Your hand shot to your neck, it wasn’t there, they’d grabbed at it during the fight but you hadn’t expected it to fall off.

“I have to go back for it”, you begged but Steve only shot you a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry, we have to go”

“But—”

“Are you looking for this?” His familiar voice vibrated your bones, your body reacting to it in the same way it always did.

He had his pendant dangling from between his fingers, a small smile decorating his features.

“My pendant” you sighed under your breath stepping forward to Bucky’s large structure, he tutted in response, pulling the pendant back.

Instead, he delicately turned your body and placed the pendant around your neck, fastening it once again with gentle fingers.

Spinning you around again his eyes met yours, the deep blue twinkling with specks of love. His fingers moved up your body till they found their spot on either side of your face. You were frozen in place.

“I'm glad he- I finally said something” his honey-toned voice broke the silence between you, a blush making its way onto his pale face as he contemplated whether or not he should go through with what his heart was telling him to do.

‘Fuck it’ he thought, pulling your face close to his. Sealing his plump lips over yours in a tender kiss.

With one last look into your eyes, he pulled back, hand still grasping at your own as he smiled.

“I’ll see you around” and with that, his hand slipped from yours as he turned. He’d left again with a promise— a promise that he’d fulfilled when he stepped through that gold circle of Strange’ and was back in your arms again, the cool metal fingers brushing over your face. You couldn’t wait to tell him about what had happened.

-

I’ve got so much smut in my drafts it’s actually unreal, who wants some?

This is a little thing I keep thinking about but idk if I’ve fleshed it out really and I’m having a little trouble with getting my emotions across in writing just now but meh.

Enjoy x

[wandafiction]

In Every Universe - Part 1

Warnings: description of death, blood and injury.

“Y/n answer your comms.” You hear the faint sound of Natasha calling out to you but it hardly registers with the sound of the building creaking above you ready to collapse and take you with it at any moment. “Please, honey, please I can’t lose you too.”

“FRIDAY, status report of Y/n’s position and Vitals.” Now it’s Tony’s voice followed by the robotic one of Friday telling him all the information she can gather from what your suit is telling them. 

“Come on Lady Y/n get out of there.” You cough groaning as you feel something wet land on your face, probably blood that you’ve just coughed everywhere but your arms are too weak to wipe it off and check. 

“Bitch you better get out of there because if you die I’m going to bring you back to life just to kill you again.” Your ears are ringing but Wanda’s voice makes it through loud and clear and a small chuckle escapes you but quickly replaced with a wince as pain shoots around your body. 

“Figure something out Tony, we have to go in and get her!” You barely register the words but you can hear the panic in Steve’s voice as the building creaks more, not sure whether the smoke is creating an illusion of the building swaying above you or if it's about to finally drag you down with it.

“I’m trying. FRIDAY are there any points of entry into the building that are safe for me to get to.”

“Guys.” You hope they can hear you, your logic is if you can hear them then your mic is still working and they can hear you.

“Y/n, oh thank god.” You hear Natasha’s voice trembling but the small amount of hope behind it.

“Mom.” Your voice is weak as you cough again groaning as pain shoots through your entire body as you feel more blood drip from your mouth.

“No, don’t say it like that. Don’t say it like that.” The panic sets in within Natasha again as she hears the way your voice is drained of its normal lightness. 

“Mom please.” Your hand shifts to your ribcage as you feel your shirt sticking to your skin, groaning and wincing as you feel your shirt is soaked and you don’t have to wonder this time as you know it's your blood. “I just want to say thank you for being the mom I always wanted.”

“Y/n do not talk like that, we are working on getting you out of there. You just gotta hold on a few more minutes. Can you do that for me?”

“Mom.”

“No, don't mom me. Promise me you will hold on until we get to you?” You can hear the break in her voice, a lump building in your throat. “Promise me. Please promise me.”

“I…” You clear your throat, closing your eyes as tears build up. “I promise to do my best.” 

“Honey.” You let the tears roll down your cheeks as you wet your lips preparing to say what you need to say.

“Thank you for stepping up and being my mom. Ever since I joined the avengers 10 years ago, I was just a small scared 17 year old.” You chuckle, holding back a wince, as you think back to the first day you walked into the avengers compound.

/\/\/\/\

“And this is the avengers common room.” Wanda gives you a wide smile as she waves her arm in front of her showing off the room as your eyes trail around it. 

“Woah.” You smile widely as you take in the scene of the pristine common room, with an open plan kitchen and living room, a large TV surrounded by 3 5-seater couches.

“Yeah that was my reaction when I saw how big the kitchen was.” You smile, turning your head to look at Wanda who has a shy smile on her face fiddling with the end of her sleeves.

“You like to cook?” Wanda looks up to you nodding as her smile slowly grows into a toothy grin. 

“I do. I love cooking food from my home country. My mama taught me how to cook from a young age, I would help her add the herbs and spice and mix it with the wooden spoon. Then as I got older I learned more and my mama wrote down every single recipe we did and I managed to save them and keep them safe.” You smile fondly at the small story as Wanda goes quiet. “Sorry I’ve been told I have a tendency to ramble.

“It’s okay, I was listening.” A look of surprise grows on Wanda’s face before it turns into confusion.

“Really?” 

“Mhmm, so tell me where do you keep the recipes now?” 

“Oh I keep the ones my mama wrote in my room, but I wrote them out in a notebook and it's in the kitchen so anyone can make something if they want. Oh but don’t let Nat.”

“Don’t let Nat do what?” Wanda’s head whips around at the sound of the Russian’s voice, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. 

“I, uh, nothing. I didn’t say Nat I said don’t let that deter you.” You press your lips together to hide a smile as Natasha raises a brow, her eyes darting between you and Wanda.

“Sure. Anyway, who is this?” You stand up straight making yourself look a little taller holding out your hand.

“Hi, I’m Y/n the new recruit.” Natasha looks down at your hand chuckling to herself as she walks past you, her hand gently squeezing your shoulder. 

“Oh another hopeful newbie who thinks they have what it takes.” You can’t quite tell if Nat is being serious or not, her voice and features not giving anything away. “You won’t last the week.” 

/\/\/\/\

“Wanda baby.” 

“Nope don’t you dare.” You smile imagining the way she is shaking her head with pursed lips, the popping of the p making you chuckle.

“Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.” 

The building shifts around you and the ceiling above you starts crumbling above you, your arms shooting up to protect your head as you turn your body sideways. The instinct kicks in before you can think of the consequences and when you feel a sharp pain in your ribcage and the air escape your lung but also feel trapped at the same time you realise you just punctured your own lung with one of your many broken ribs.

“Y/n detka, speak to me what's happening.” The fear in Wanda’s voice matched with her accent makes you cry more realising it is going to be the last time you hear it. “Please Y/n. Please don’t leave me. I’ve lost everyone I’ve ever loved, please don’t be another one to add to the list of names.”

/\/\/\/\

“So this is my boyfriend Vision.” You smile widely, hoping Wanda doesn’t spot how fake it is, as you turn your attention to the red being in front of you.

“Hi, it is lovely to meet the person that makes Wanda so happy.” You hold out your hand which Vision easily takes, giving it a firm shake.

“And you must be Y/n, I’ve heard so much about you.” You scrunch your brows slightly with an awkward chuckle.

“Wish I could say the same for you.” You mumble under your breath.

“Sorry I didn’t quite catch that.” The sound of his voice grates on you but you shake your head faking a chuckle.

“Sorry I said all good things I hope.” 

“Very much so, Wanda doesn’t seem to be able to shut up about you. Y/n this, Y/n that, Y/n Y/n Y/n.” He spits your names towards the end, gritting his teeth and you have to hold the smirk that makes the corner of your mouth twitch slightly.

“That’s my name, don't wear it out.” You turn to look at Wanda keeping the fake smile on your face and trying to make it meet your eyes. “I’m happy for you Wanda, you deserve some happiness in this lifetime.” 

“Thank you Y/n, it means a lot. When he asked to be introduced to my family and friends I knew you had to be the first person to meet him. Your approval is something I value a lot and look for.” Your smile falters slightly at her words, not sure if you fall in the family or the friends category.

“You don’t need my approval to date people Wanda. As long as he makes you happy and doesn't hurt you then I don’t really get a say.” Wanda’s brows scrunch at your stern tone as you shove your hands into your pocket shrugging, your eyes dropping to watch your foot kick at the carpeted floor. 

“But I value your opinions when it comes to such important things Y/n.”

“But it is your heart Wanda not mine. I can’t tell you who you can and can’t love, I can simply be here when you feel like you need me.” Wanda leaves Vision's side, the latter not seeming interested in the conversation as his eyes burn holes into you, to stand in front of you; her hands on the sides of your arms.

“I will always need you Y/n. I just thought that you would want to be the first to know about the person that I fell in love with.” 

“But he can provide you with things I cannot, so you are always going to need him more than you need me, which is the way it will always be and I’m okay with that.”

“Y/n where is this coming from, I thought you would be happy.” You shrug her hands off your arms walking past her and making your way to Vision.

“If you hurt her I will kill you and I will mangle your body so badly they won’t be able to tell your front from your behind, not that it’s that easy to do now. Do I make myself clear?” If Vision takes the threat seriously you don’t know as he gives you a small smirk holding his hands up in surrender.

“I’ve heard these threats before, it's nothing new. But sure I promise not to hurt her.” Your eyes quickly flick left to right as you stare into his, hating the way he seems to be way to calm in this situation. 

“Good.” You don’t give him anymore of your attention turning back around to face Wanda who is looking down at her hands as she fiddles with the end of her sleeves and you push your hurt to the side to comfort her. “Wanda.”

“Hmm.” You know she is upset, not at you but your reaction, so you pull her into a hug kissing the top of your head.

“I’m happy for you Wanda. You deserve someone who makes you so so happy and if that is Vision then it's Vision.” You feel her nod as her arms wrap tightly around you. “Just don’t forget about me.”

“I could never forget about you. Don’t even say that.”

/\/\/\/\

“You know what’s funny?” You groan as you move your hands to the bottom of your shirt starting to lift it off of you so you can try and see the cut on your side.

“Not really so tell me little one what's so funny.” You don’t expect to hear your aunt's voice over the coms but it makes you smile.

“Well aunty Yel, what's funny is I made promises to the people I love that I would never leave them, not on purpose. So look what I get for making those sorts of promises, I can’t help but laugh at the fact that I’m about to be squished by a building, I have a massive hole in my side and I’m probably only ever going to hear your voices. Which, by the way, you guys need to work on sounding calm and collected because when you are the one who is dying or about to die hearing your voice waver and the sadness really doesn’t help me come to terms with it. So only smiles and happy voices from now on.”

“I really don’t see how that is funny, baby.” You laugh, coughing up more blood at the stern tone in Wanda’s voice. “And I don’t get why you are laughing.” 

“I think it's the delirium.” You nod even with no one being able to see you as Yelena makes her observation. 

“I don’t know what that is, but whatever it is sounds complicated.” 

“Baby I need you to listen to my voice.” 

“Your voice is very pretty. Oh don’t let my wife hear me say that she will go all head tilt and scary eyes on me.” Your brows scrunch when you hear a few giggles come in through the coms.

“Your wife?” The same voice asks.

“Yes, wait no. No I haven't proposed yet, I am planning to though. Yup I got the ring and everything, oh the ring is so pretty. Like super pretty, but not as pretty as my future wife. Nothing is as pretty as her.”

You smile at the thought of asking Wanda to be your wife and it's at that moment reality hits you, your voice shaky as you take everything in around you. From the way the ceiling is slowly starting to bow and the cracks grow longer and pull wider apart, to the way you feel the floor below you shifting as well. The whole building is ready to collapse. The pain from your side subsided but an uncomfortable thumping being felt around the area instead. You realise the world around you is getting darker but you can still see the sun so you know your vision is going and soon everything will be over. Either you die like this or you die when the ceiling falls on top of you but either way you know you are going to die.

“Wanda.” Your voice shakes as your bottom lip quivers.

“I’m here baby. I’m right here.”

“I’m sorry.” You swallow the lump in your throat, the taste of blood staining your tongue.

“I know baby, I know. It’s not your fault. Just know I’m here.”

/\/\/\/\

“Fuck you Y/n!” Your jaw locks as Wanda shouts at you in front of everyone at the party. “Fuck you for ever leaving! Fuck you for not telling me how to contact you! Fuck you for breaking all those promises about being there for me because where were you? Oh thats right, probably out screwing some fucking an agent while I was here waiting for you to come home so I could see you are safe and alive!”

“Oh that’s so rich coming from you Wanda! So rich. You are with Vision so what does it matter if I am fucking some pretty blonde agent and not hanging out with you and your human size vibrator. I go and do my job, I went on a 6 month undercover mission. A non contact mission by the way. But I went on that mission, I did my job, I stopped the bad guy and this is the fucking welcome I get. No fucking way. So get out of my fucking way so I can have shower and go to bed before I make you move.” 

“Real mature Y/n, real fucking mature. You always run when it gets hard, you run and you run and you run. You always did. I thought I was someone that you ran to, but the moment I needed you. The moment I needed the most important person in my life but you weren’t there!” 

“I was on a mission! And what is so important that the moment I get back I get an angry Sokovian shouting at me and not the person I love ready to give me a hug and have a movie night. You got your happy Wanda, you have Vision. You don’t need me anymore and I’ve come to terms with that but don’t push shit onto me just because I am doing my job.” 

“Vision left me Y/n. And sure you were doing your job, but the moment I needed you. All those times you promised me you wouldn’t leave, all those times you said you would be there for me whenever I needed you. You broke them. I feel so broken Y/n and not having you there! That broke me the most. I just feel so broken.” You look around the room at the others who all avoid your gaze looking down at their phones or the floor as Wanda breaks down in front of you.

“Wanda.” You take a step forward towards her as she angrily wipes at the tears that are streaming down her face, her foot tapping the floor quickly as she looks up to the ceiling blinking rapidly.

“You left me.”

“I didn’t know.” You cautiously wrap your arms around her pulling her close and her arms wrap around you as she breaks down.

“You love me?” Your eyes widen at her words and you think back to the conversation realising you did say that.

“I always have.” Wanda goes silent, her shoulders still shaking as she cries a little more. 

/\/\/\/\

“I don’t think I ever actually apologised for that big fight we had two years ago.”

“All was forgiven when you told me you loved me.”

“Love. I still love you, and I will continue to love you in this world and the next.”

“I love you too but we are not doing goodbyes. We are going to get you out and we are going to live our lives. You are going to propose, then we can get married and buy a house. Have children running around the backyard and live until our final days together.”

“And a dog.”

“Hmm?”

“We will have children and a dog running around the back yard.” You smile at the sound of Wanda’s giggle.

“Okay and a dog. So you stay alive and we will get to live that dream.” You feel your eyes start to roll to the back of your head using the last of your energy to keep them open and spend your last moments speaking to Wanda. “We have only had 2 years together.”

“And they have been the best two years of my life.”

“They have been the happiest two years of my life.” You feel your eyes start to close, your body shivering from the lack of blood and you know what's coming next.

“My love.” You swallow your throat drying as you speak.

“Yes baby.” 

“I really do love you.”

“I really do love you too.”

“Well I love you in every universe.” You feel the darkness consume you. The last thing you hear is Wanda repeating the words back to you and it's all you need to be at peace as you allow the darkness to engulf you as the room around you collapses in on you. 

/\/\/\/\

“I love you in every universe.” You look at Wanda as you both lay on a blanket under the stairs, the night clear from clouds as the moon and stars are bright above you.

“That's a lot of love baby.” You giggle as Wanda grins at you, the light from the stars dancing in her eyes. 

“Well I gotta lot of love to share with you.” Rolling onto your side you lean down to kiss Wanda softly, your eyes closing at the feeling as a small hum leaves her lips.

“I love you in every universe too, baby.” She whispers against your lips pecking them a few more times. “I’m so happy we finally have one another in our lives like this. I’m sorry for ever putting you through the hurt of seeing me with Vision.”

“We are here now my love and that is all that matters.” You brush some hair out of her face as her eyes search your features. 

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“In every universe.”

“In every universe.”

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

[holdmytesseract]

The Tale of the Easter Bunny

Loki Laufeyson x fem!Reader

Summary: Loki's part he has to play on Tony's Easter party didn't go as planned; leaving its mark on you...

Warnings: Loki thirst, nakedness? suggestive smut/light smut, swear words, it's also a bit funny

Word Count: 2,7k

a/n: There we are! Time for my lil' Easter Special... Enjoy! 😁 And happy easter to everyone who is celebrating! 🐣

Also huge thanks to @lokisgoodgirl , who helped me along a bit and read through it, 'cause I was afraid that it's not good enough... 🙈

Divider by the wonderful @fictive-sl0th <3

Tagging: @lulubelle814 @km-ffluv @lokisgoodgirl @eleniblue @muddyorbs @loz-3 @vbecker10 @jennyggggrrr @lokisninerealms @mochie85 @chantsdemarins @peaches1958 @multifandom-worlds @fictive-sl0th @loki-laufeyson-1054 @theaudacitytowrite @lovingchoices14 @simping-for-marvel @stupidthoughtsinwriting @vanilla-daydreaming @lou12346789 @kimanne723 @linaax @coldnique @lady-rose-moon @evelyn-kingsley @the-princess-of-loki @acefeather2002 @aagn360 @ijuststareatstuffhereok89 @iamlokisgloriouspurpose and a few peeps who I think would enjoy that... @buttercupcookies-blog @lunarnights95 @infinitystoner @liminalpebble @smolvenger @littlespaceyelf @joyful-enchantress

Masterlist

Chairs screeched across the floor of the big, spacious room, after the 7 o'clock meeting was finally over. Everyone scrambled to get the hell outta here. It's been a long day and every member of the Avengers wanted to just go into bed and not stay longer than Steve 'forced' them to.

That had been the raven-haired God's plan as well - but he didn't even make it to round the large table, before a firm voice stopped him in his tracks. "Reindeer Games." It was Tony, of course, causing Loki to sigh. Spinning around on his heels, he faced the man with an annoyed, bored expression. "Stark." The billionaire nodded towards the back of the room. "For a word..." A low groan of disapproval rumbled through the God's chest as he complied; following Tony.

"What do you want?" Loki more or less snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "Woah, slow down, princess. No need to turn into a diva..." Loki rolled his eyes, already hating this conversation. "I just meant to tell you that I've got the perfect job for you on my annual Easter garden party."

Oh, right... The Easter party... Tony organised a party on Easter every year, on which each team member was invited, but also had a little job to do - and this year, it was the first time Loki and his brother were a part of it. The Asgardian prince forgot about this already again - and to be honest, he didn't even know that much about those... festives. He knew it was important to the people here on Midgard, but to him?

"Which would be?" "You..." Tony pointed at him. "Are going to play the bunny." Loki blinked, looking quite confused at the billionaire. "I beg your pardon? The bunny?" Tony crossed his arms, now annoyed as well. "Yes, the bunny." No doubt, the God was very confused. "Why in all the nine realms a bunny, Stark? What am I supposed to do as this little, terrifying creature? If this is to humiliate me, I-" Tony interrupted him. "It's not, Reindeer Games. Calm down. For gosh sake, if I would've known that you'd be such a drama queen about this, I would've assigned Thor to do it." Loki rolled his eyes - again. "What am I supposed to do then?" Tony sighed, clearly having enough. "Just... wear that bunny costume. I'll tell you on the party." The God cursed internally; had actually no intentions to even join the party, but he clearly had to, in order to 'integrate into the group', as Fury put it. If he wanted to stay and not return to Asgard, he had to - as strange as it sounded - become an Avenger. If joining Stark's party as a bunny would help him, then by the Norns he'd do it.

"Fine." "There we go. Now was that so difficult?" Loki gritted his teeth; biting his tongue in order to prevent a snarky comment to leave his lips. "Hand me the costume, Stark, before I'm going to rethink my decision." Tony shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have one. I-" He was cut off by the ringing of his phone. "You don't even have one?!" The God snarled, feeling his muscles tense. "Just get one! You are a big boy who can buy things himself, aren't you? Now if you'd excuse me, this is important." After those words Tony answered his call and walked away, out of the room - leaving Loki behind.

With the days passing and the party getting closer, Loki hadn't much time left to look for a costume. And therefore, that he didn't even know what kind of costume exactly he had to wear, he did the thing he learned here on Midgard... Googling. So, the Asgardian prince opened up Google and searched for a bunny costume. Unfortunately, he wasn't very... familiar with this foreign search engine, resulting in a rather big... misunderstanding. Loki did get a result, of course, but unbeknownst to him, a not particular Easter themed one... His eyes widened slightly as his gaze fell on the first thing that came up. Stark wants me to wear that? He asked himself. But after he gave the costume a second look, a mischievous, cheeky smile darted over his face. Alright.

When you arrived at Tony's, was the garden party already in full swing. Everybody was chatting, laughing and having fun.

Natasha and Wanda sat at the small mini bar, chatting with Pepper. Tony stood behind the grill, already preparing barbecue. Bruce discussed vociferously something scientific with Vision, while Clint and Cap nursed two bottles of beer. And Thor and Scott? Well, they jumped around in Morgan's trampoline - who was at a friend's Easter children party today. The only one missing was Loki. At least you couldn't see him anywhere. Too bad, you thought.

Taking a deep breath, you walked over to your friends and wrapped your arms around both their shoulders from behind. "Hey guys." "Y/N, hey!" "Hey, sweetie." They both greeted you with a smile and slid over, so that you could sit between them on one of the bar stools. Sipping on the drink Pepper made you, you small-talked to the three women for a while, until two of them excused themselves to look after their husbands - leaving you and Nat on your own.

"Have you seen Loki, Nat?" You asked, checking your surroundings again. The Russian spy shook her head, red curls bobbing. "No, sorry, I haven't seen your lover boy, but I heard he's been assigned from Tony to play the Easter bunny." You frowned. "The Easter bun- Hey, he isn't my lover boy!" Natasha smirked. "But you wished he was. I know how you're looking at him, babe." "I... I don't look at him..." She giggled. "Fuck yes, you do. Literally undressing him with your eyes. You are so deep down; you don't even realise it." You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest. "Nat, I swear I'm not undre- Oh fucking hell..." You trailed off with your sentence, as the squeaky garden door announced another arrival. And it was not just somebody... It was the one and only God of Mischief and prince of Asgard - Loki. It wasn't the fact that he was here which threw you off track so suddenly and caused you to use words Cap wouldn't be pleased to hear, no... It was his outfit...

"N-Nat..." You mumbled, reaching blindly for your friend's arm, in order to tap her. "Yeah?" Her gaze was clued to the raven-haired God as well. Admittedly, everyone's eyes were on him. "That... That wasn't what Tony meant with a bunny costume, was it?" The Widow shook her head slowly. "I don't think so..." "Oh gods..." Loki was wearing a bunny costume, yes - but not the 'right' one. Or should you say the clean one, because... This... This was certainly X-rated.

He was nude - for the most part. The only piece of clothing which prevented him from entire nakedness, were the tight, scarce trunks he wore. The black leather shimmered in the warm sun, as it stretched itself deliciously tight over his hips, groin and crotch - leaving not much to imagination. Thick, juicy thighs were framing the trunks. Your eyes wandered, travelled down his ridiculously long legs, before they jumped up again to meet his bare upper body. You had never seen this man shirtless before, but oh boy was it a sight to behold. Your wide, Y/E/C orbs followed the dark, coarse hairs of his happy trail; starting at the hem of the skimpy trunks, all the way up until they kissed his belly button, which was surrounded by the tight muscles of his abs. Not too far from them were his defined pecs, decorated with black, fine hairs as well. Your eyes lingered, then travelled further up to jump from one broad shoulder to the other, before they met his delicious neck - which donned a white-black bow tie and only led you into the next thirst trap... His handsome face. Razor sharp cheekbones, a defined jawline, kissable lips and deep, mysterious blue eyes. And all that was surrounded by his long raven curls, which fell in gentle waves over his shoulders. The cherry on top (literally) were the black bunny ears. Well, shit.

He was perfect. Like carved out of marble. You blinked, tried desperately to stop yourself from staring, but you just couldn't. Loki - the most handsome man you ever met in a sexy playboy bunny costume was just too much to handle.

Loki knew of course that all eyes were directed on him - what he didn't understand at first, because Stark told him to dress up as bunny, didn't he? Anyways, the God wasn't stupid, so he quickly connected the dots. Wrong costume.

But when he noticed how much his attire affected his fellow teammates - especially the female section, including you, it was more than just a satisfaction for him. To witness you drooling all over him; and see you melt underneath his smouldering, sexy smile was worth everything. Perhaps this ridiculous garden party had its perks after all…

"Laufeyson!" Tony hissed, grabbing the prince's attention. He waved Loki over to him, visibly angry. "For heaven's sake! What are you doing?! That was certainly not what I meant, Reindeer Games! You were supposed to be the Easter bunny and not a wannabe playboy bunny!" Loki just shrugged his shoulders, didn't understand why Tony was making such a fuss. "That may be true, Stark, but you never explicitly told me the exact description of how this costume has to look. And besides..." Loki swiftly looked over his shoulders at you, catching you how you were still staring at him. "The ladies seem to enjoy it." He said, winking at the billionaire, who just rolled his eyes.

Loki had walked over to Tony by now, and was talking to him - giving you even more exposed skin to look at... His muscular back for example. Broad shoulder blades and defined hips, which led to the God's rounded and shaped bottom - perfectly accentuated by the tight leather trunks. That's Asgard's ass, you thought. Blinking and trying again to avoid your eyes, you swallowed hard. Why was it so hot all of a sudden?

"Are you now done staring holes into Laufeyson's body, or...?" Your best friend's amused voice suddenly urged to your ears. "I-I, uh..." Whoops. "I'm not the one to blame that he decided to wear such a revealing 'outfit'!" You desperately tried to defend yourself someway, somehow, but deep down you knew that you had already lost. Nat had a point. She giggled. "And you claim to not be into him. Girl, let me tell you, that is a lie. Our raven-haired Adonis has turned your head. But I can't blame you... He's a snack." The spy said, hopping off the bar stool elegantly, "Go eat him up." and winking at you, before she walked away. Your jaw dropped at Nat's words. Little minx.

The later it got the more alcohol coursed through everybody's system, causing everything to escalate a bit. Actually, you didn't plan to drink as much alcohol as you did, but after Loki literally played the Easter bunny, hid some chocolate eggs and 'hopped around' to guide your search, you were in desperate need of another drink.

Lost in thoughts, you didn't notice how said God sneaked up on you, when you sat alone at the bar, while everybody else was playing 'Truth or Dare' - on the trampoline. He had noticed. Of course, he had. Your eyes and body language told him more than your words probably ever could. He knew exactly what you wanted - and who was he to deny your wishes?

"You'd love to touch, don't you?" He whispered in your ear with his deep voice, causing you to jump. Spinning around on your chair, your eyes met a broad, muscular chest. Loki. You swallowed; eyes travelling upwards to meet his face. Your breath hitched in your throat as you realised how close he was to you. "W-What? What are you t-talking about?" A cheeky, mischievous smile darted over his face, before he wetted his lips. "I felt your eyes on me, darling. I know you want to." Your eyes widened at his words; completely overwhelmed by the situation you suddenly found yourself in. "I-I, n-no, I- Everyone was s-staring!" The God chuckled; making his abs clench deliciously. "That may be true, but... Unlike you, they were able to tear her gazes apart. But you, Y/N..." The way he rolled your name off his tongue sent a shiver down your spine. Like on instinct, you pressed your legs together. "You kept on staring at me; feasting upon my body with your hungry eyes." Heat crawled up into your cheeks, burning them up. "I-I'm sorry, Loki, I-" "No you are not. Don't deny it, darling. I never said that I didn't like your eyes on my body, did I? In fact... I quite enjoyed it." Loki purred, giving you that smouldering look again, which almost caused your legs to give in.

"You want to touch me?" He started, taking your small, delicate hand into his big one, "Then touch me." and pressed your palm against his abs. The moment your hot skin met his pleasantly cool skin, you lost the ability to breathe. Your hand was like frozen in motion as you felt his rippling muscles; gaze glued to your hand. Another chuckle rumbled through Loki's chest. "No, no, don't be shy now, darling." He tutted, engulfing your hand once again and slowly moving it upwards. "Go ahead. Enjoy yourself. I know you want to." Oh how right he was - but... Your eyes wandered over to the others. "W-What about the o-others? W-What if they s-see?" The prince smirked down on you and reached out his hand to gently cup your chin. "Don't worry, darling. They are way too occupied. They won't notice." You swallowed hard, taking a last look at your fellow friends - before you finally gave in. Biting your lip, you started to move your hand, mapping out Loki's godly body. From his abs, to his chest, shoulders and down to his hips again. Loki's skin was so soft and inviting, you just couldn't stop. "Enjoying yourself?" All you could do was nod, unable to form words - causing him to chuckle again. But the God was quite enjoying this as well...

Tracing the hem of his trunks, where his happy trail kissed the fabric, a soft hiss escaped his lips. "You are about to enter a danger zone, darling..." Realising with a shocked expression where your hand was, you quickly wanted to pull it away - but Loki was quicker and caught your wrist. "Dangerous doesn't mean forbidden. Just know that once you enter this zone, it's going to be really hard to leave it again... Your decision." Your decision. The words echoed through your head. Was there even something to decide? You asked yourself, but quickly realised that the answer was no. You wanted this, you started this and you definitely were going to finish this. You were anyways already too far gone to say no. So, you moved your palm again, letting it slowly, teasingly enter the 'danger zone'. "Wise decision," Loki breathed, words fading into a strangled moan.

There was no holding back now. Especially not for him. He angled your head upwards again, before leaning down and crashing his intoxicating lips onto yours; kissing you like nobody else kissed you before. He positively stole your breath, as your lips collided again and again and again. By now, you didn't even care that you were obscenely making out with the younger Asgardian prince, just a few feet away from where the others were completely caught up in playing their silly party games. All you could think of was Loki. All you could feel was Loki. All you could smell was Loki. He was everywhere; had thoroughly invaded you.

His lips left yours with a wet pop, dilated black irises meeting yours. "Want to get out of here, darling?" Loki asked, straightening his black-white bow tie. "With pleasure."

[jessybarnes]

Untamed

Pairing: Bruce Banner x Reader 

Rating: 18+ Minors DNI

Tags: NSFW TITLE CARD, SMUT, angst, fluff, seducing, mentions of masturbation, mentions of using sex toys, lingerie, fingering (female receiving), cum eating, finger sucking, Bruce transitioning into the Hulk (not sure if this is a trigger, but I'm not taking chances), kissing (both Bruce and Hulk receiving), handjob (Hulk receiving… again Idk if this is a trigger but noting it anyway cause after some research I've learned that even his cum is green.), making out, biting, hickeys, fucking against a wall, choking, implied all night fucking, and I think that's it. 

Word Count: 4,129

Beta and Title Card: Yours Truly 

Written For: My amazing bestie and beta, Tiffany. <3

Being married to an Avenger had its perks. You got to live in Tony Stark's swanky tower, you had your own team of expertly trained bodyguards, and the best part of it all? You stole the heart of Bruce Banner. The two of you met under unfortunate circumstances, but it was still the best day of your life. 

You'd been caught in the crossfire during one of their missions, a monster took you hostage to use as leverage for their escape. The thing had a knife held against your throat, threatening to kill you on the spot if any of the Avengers moved an inch. You looked into their helpless eyes. Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor, and Iron Man all stared helplessly back at you contemplating how they were going to save you. 

In the distance, Natasha was holding her upturned palm to a furious Hulk. He was grunting and clenching his fists as she took a tentative step toward him.

"Hey, big guy. The sun's getting real low."

He trained his eyes on her, as his anger started to dissipate. Just before he was about to give in he heard you scream.

He snapped his head in your direction, a loud, angry roar shaking the surrounding buildings as he ran towards you. Cars, signs, sidewalk benches, nothing was safe from his wrath. It all happened so fast. One moment your captor was pressing the blade harder against your skin and the next you were in the Hulk's arms. 

At first, you were startled, his big green eyes scanning your body as he held you in his large green hand. He was breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring, as he spoke.

"Hulk save you."

You smiled and were about to respond but Captain Rogers beat you to it.

"That's good, buddy," he set his shield down and slowly walked towards the two of you. "Why don't you put the lady down now, okay?"

The Hulk tightened his grip on your waist and snarled, "NO! Hulk keep pretty lady!"

Steve went to speak again, but you turned around to look at him.

"Wait. It's okay. Let me try something."

They all watched in wonder as you brought both of your hands to his face, your thumbs brushing his hard skin.

"Thank you for saving me," you smiled. "If it's okay, I'd like to meet Bruce too. He's a part of you, and in a way, he saved me as well."

He held you for a moment longer, taking time to mull over your request. Finally, he set you down on a nearby barrier and transitioned back into the well-known scientist. 

You smiled as you recalled the fond memory. You and Bruce had been married for two years, and he made you the happiest woman in the world. Sure, it was difficult when he'd go on missions, but that wasn't what bothered you the most.

What you really wanted was for him to make love to you. Ever since the start of your relationship, all he'd ever done was kiss you. Sometimes he'd go as far as fingering you, but it never went further. He was terrified to do anything else because he didn't want the Hulk to accidentally hurt you. He'd never forgive himself if that happened, and he made you fully aware that being with him meant no sex. 

You didn't have to have sex to be happy with him. It wasn't a deal breaker, but you couldn't help but want to feel him inside of you. God, you bet he made the prettiest sounds. You had plenty of toys to keep you satisfied, and you'd be lying if you said you hadn't made yourself come to the thought of him fucking you into oblivion.

Natasha and Wanda helped you try and seduce him a number of times, but that always ended with a heavy makeout session and a very, very aroused Bruce. 

That's what the three of you were doing now. Planning yet another attempt in getting him to fuck you. You were dressed in short lacy lingerie, a pair of stockings with little black bows at the bottom, and your favorite pair of black pumps.

"I don't know about this, guys. What if someone sees me on the way down to his lab?"

Nat grinned and crossed her arms. "Don't worry about that. I've got it all taken care of. Steve and Bucky are out on a mission, Sam and Clint are in the gym doing their weird juice cleanse workout, and Thor's in Asgard. That only leaves Tony, Vision, and Rhodey to worry about. Wanda, you're taking Vis on a date, right?"

She nodded. "Yep! Typical dinner and a movie, but it'll be fun getting some fresh air."

Nat turned her gaze back to you and smiled. "That leaves the two iron wonders, which by the way, I've decided to take on a supply run."

You sighed, playing with a strand of your hair. "Okay, let's do this. Get me to the lab." 

Surprisingly, you made it there without being seen by anyone. The girls gave you a little nudge toward the door before blowing kisses and waving goodbye. Once you were alone, you took a moment to watch Bruce through the glass.

He was concentrating on some new prototype, his teeth worrying his bottom lip as he silently worked. God, he was so beautiful without even trying.

Taking a deep breath, you opened the door and walked past the threshold. There was no going back now.

"Oh, hey honey! Is it already time fo-"

The words died on his tongue as soon as he looked at you. The test tube in his hand clattered to the floor, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Y-Y/N…"

You smirked and sauntered towards him, slowly running your hands over his chest. "Hey, baby," you breathed. "I thought you could use a break." 

He swallowed thickly and let out a shaky breath. "What um… what're you d-doing?"

You brought his hands to your hips, his fingers making the barely-there dress bunch up to reveal your ass. "Bruce, touch me…please."

He closed his eyes and moaned. "You know I can't. I-I can't risk hurting you, Y/N."

You brushed your knuckles against the stubble on his cheek and smiled. "You won't hurt me. I trust you...both of you."

You grabbed his right hand, "besides, feel how wet I am." He gently circled your clit, a desperate whine falling from your lips. "See baby? See what you do to me without even trying?"

Bruce gripped your waist tighter, his breathing becoming erratic as he slowly continued sliding his fingers between your folds. You were close, so close to cumming already. All the built-up sexual tension, seeing him like this, was almost too much. 

Almost.

Just before the coil of arousal inside you snapped, he pulled away, his hands coming up to grab his hair. "Fuck, baby, I… I can't. He's too strong, and if I ever lost you because of him… god, I can't even think about it."

You hated seeing him distraught like this. Bruce was an amazing, kind, loving man who gave you the world. The Hulk may be destructive, but he was still gentle with you. He'd never once hurt you, and in your heart, you believed he would hold true to that promise even during times like this.

You pulled him back into your embrace and kissed him like it was the last time you'd ever get the chance. He sighed against your mouth, his tongue sliding against yours slow and sweet. 

He eventually pulled away, still holding you close as he looked at you with hooded eyes. "Y/N, it takes all of my strength every day to hold myself back. I want to, god, do I want to, take you apart, make you come over and over again."

His fingers curled a strand of hair behind your ear and you bit your lip. "Baby, can you hear me out? I… I think I may have a solution for both of us."

He sighed. "Yeah, honey, go ahead."

You moved him to his chair, pushing his shoulder lightly so he'd sit down. His hands found purchase on your hips as you straddled his lap.

"Bruce, I know you won't hurt me. I know the Hulk won't either because he's never shown any aggression towards me. Give me this, try for me, just this once. We can start slow and if you feel like you're going to lose it then we can stop. You have total control, baby." You kissed his lips softly. "Please?" 

For a few seconds, he just looked at you. His brown eyes raked over your entire body. He swallowed, blowing a deep breath out of his nose as he held you a bit tighter.

"Okay. Okay, I'll try."

Your eyes widened, "thank you, baby. You have no idea how much this means to me."

He moved his calloused hand slowly up your thigh again, his fingertips tracing small circles on your clit. Your eyes rolled back, his darkening with unbridled lust.

"Fuck, Y/N, you're so pretty like this. Watching your body shake, those sweet little moans and whimpers, I swear I'm the luckiest man in the world." 

You began moving your hips, the sounds of your wetness echoing in the small space around you. "Oh, Bruce… baby I- …please. Oh, please don't stop!"

He quickened his pace, the newly added pressure of his fingers causing you to fall forward and grasp onto his shirt. He groaned, low and deep, his breath hot on your neck as he kissed your sweat-slicked skin.

"C'mon, baby girl. Come for me. Show me how pretty you look." That was all you needed, his command sent you over the edge, his hand and your legs becoming coated with your release. 

If Bruce wasn't holding you up, you'd have fallen to your knees. He peppered sweet kisses along your jaw to your lips, rendering you breathless.

"Gorgeous. God, baby, you're breathtaking."

Words failed you but that didn't stop your wandering hands. They eagerly began undoing his pants trying desperately to feel more of him.

"Whoa, honey. Hey, hey, hey, slow down. I know you're eager, but we gotta go easy. I don't want him to hurt you, remember?" Reluctantly, you stopped, but then an idea popped into your head. 

"Bruce? Can um… can I ask you a question?"

He pulled back, his thumbs brushing your upper arms, "you can ask me anything, Y/N."

You bit your lip and looked at the floor, suddenly nervous your request would end this whole thing before it even started. "Do you promise not to get mad at me?"

Bruce immediately wrapped his arms around you, "sweetheart, you're the only person I'm not angry around."

You blew out the breath you'd been holding and closed your eyes. "Can I talk to him?" 

He stiffened. "Y/N, I-I don't think th-"

"Please. He won't hurt me, Bruce. He never has. Please, just… please."

Just when you thought he was going to shut this whole escapade down, he slowly stood up. "Promise me you'll run if he gets out of hand."

You nodded and watched as he closed his eyes, his skin, hair, nails, everything turning green while he doubled in size. At first, Hulk was confused. His big eyes look down at you with interest. He huffed and held his hand out for you to take it. 

"Hey, big guy. Can you sit down for me against the wall over there? I wanna talk to you."

He tilted his head and haphazardly stomped to the opposite side of the room before plopping unceremoniously onto the floor making the lab equipment around you rattle.

"Thank you. May I sit on your lap?"

He looked up at you, his large hand gathering the thin material of your outfit between his fingers. "Y/N pretty. Hulk like clothes."

The corner of your mouth turned up into a crooked smirk. "Why thank you, honey. Can I sit down?" You gestured to his huge thigh and watched as he nodded. 

You straddled your hips over one of his legs, because it was impossible to do both, and cupped his face.

"You know how much I love you and Bruce, right?"

He blinked, "yes, Hulk know that."

"Well, I'd like to show both of you how much I love you, but I want to make sure you're okay with everything first."

He waited, the fingers on his right hand holding your waist.

"I want to be with both of you, in a more…intimate way. I wanna make the two of you happy because I love both of you with all my heart."

A low grunt rumbled through his chest. "Hulk love Y/N. But what intimate?" 

You scooted closer and smiled. "Can I kiss you?"

He nodded again, and you slowly leaned in, pressing your lips against his gently. At first, he didn't react, his whole body still except for his steady breathing, but then you felt him kiss back.

You pulled away to see his reaction and moaned when you saw the heat in his eyes.

"How was that, baby?"

His grip on your hips tightened a fraction. "Hulk want more."

You giggled and took his other hand. "I'll give you more, love, but first, I want you to feel how excited I am. You have to be careful with me though, okay?" 

"Hulk no hurt Y/N. Hulk be gentle."

You curled his fingers into a fist, save for his middle one, and brought it to your soaked pussy. "Do you feel that? Feel how wet I am here?"

He slid his large digit back and forth, watching curiously as you bit your lip, and then pulled his hand back to look at his finger. "Yes, Hulk feel."

You maintained eye contact as you sucked and licked your arousal from his skin. "Do you wanna try?"

He wasted no time, a little more sure of himself as he collected more of your juices. He inhaled your scent, a low growl reverberating in his chest as he tasted you. 

"Y/N good. Hulk need more."

You kissed the inside of his wrist and looked at him lovingly. "We can do more, but you really have to be careful, okay? Just one of your fingers is a lot for me to take, so you'll have to go slow."

He sighed softly and gathered a bit of your hair in his hand. "Hulk go slow. Always careful with Y/N."

You brought his hand between your legs again, but this time you guided his middle finger to your entrance. Bracing yourself, you sank down on him and whimpered from the slight stretch.

"Y/N okay?"

You licked your lips and let out a shaky breath, "yeah, baby. I'm fine. You feel so good."

Switching your position, you maneuvered yourself so your back was against his chest. He looked down at you, his free hand tilting your chin up.

"Hulk like when Y/N feel good."

You pulled him down for a chaste kiss and spread your legs so they were draped over his big thighs, "carefully move your finger, okay? Slowly in and out." 

As soon as you felt him pull out and push back in, a breathy moan fell from your lips. "Yeah, baby, just like that."

The sound of his soft grunts, the feeling of his toned muscles rippling against your skin, the way he brushed the sweet spot inside you, it was all so toe-curlingly good. Your second orgasm was building rapidly, making you whine desperately.

"Y/N feel wet. Hulk stop?"

You shook your head and moaned. "No, please don't stop. You're - oh, god! - gonna make me cum. D'you wanna see me do that, baby?"

He adjusted slightly, and suddenly you could feel his very large, very prominent erection pressing against your back.

"Yes. Hulk see Y/N" 

You canted your hips upward, meeting every thrust. "Go a little faster and do this with your finger."

You crooked yours to show him and he obeyed immediately making you cry out. "Oh, my god! Yes, oh, right there… don't stop please baby I'm so close!"

He huffed and grabbed your hand with his free one.

"Oh, fuck baby…yeah, oh, shit! Gonna cum… gonna come oh my g-FUCK!"

You squeezed his hand, your whole body convulsing as your walls fluttered around him repeatedly. He pulled out of you and examined his finger as you recovered from your moment of bliss.

"Hulk do good?" 

You turned around in his arms and kissed him again. "You did, baby. Thank you. Can I make you feel good now too?"

You let your fingertips ghost over the large tent in his shorts and watched as he closed his eyes and growled. The noise alone would scare anyone away, but not you. You knew he'd never harm you.

"Yes. Hulk feel good too."

Carefully, you freed him from his shorts, marveling at his impressive length and girth. "You're so big, baby. Being so good for me." He watched you spit in your hands and snarled when you began to stroke him. 

"Is this okay, love? Does this hurt?"

He threw his head back and panted. "No hurt. Feel good."

You smirked and began twisting your hands as they slid over the shiny green head.

"Remember, honey. Try not to hurt me, okay? I know it feels good, but when you cum you gotta try and stay still for me, alright?"

He gritted his teeth and brought a big hand to your cheek. "Hulk never hurt Y/N. Promise." He let out another choked cry. "Hulk feel funny...here." he pointed to his lower abdomen and you kissed his lips sweetly.

"That's good, baby. It means you're close. Just lean back and close your eyes for me. Let me make you feel good."

He listened and you watched his chest heave and his fists clench. 

"That's it. C'mon. Show me, sweetheart."

A few more strokes were all it took, a loud guttural roar filling the lab as thick ropes of cum coated your hands and his chest.

He stayed like that, panting and twitching, while you looked for a towel to clean him up. Grabbing one of the extra lab coats, you knelt in front of him again and planted a sweet kiss on his forehead.

"You're incredible, baby. I'm so proud of you. Bruce will be too. I knew you'd never hurt me."

He rubbed your sides affectionately as you cleaned him and your hands up. "No way hurt Y/N. Hulk love you."

You kissed his lips. "And I love you, baby. Can I see Bruce now? I wanna tell him how proud of you I am."

He gave you one final smile and closed his eyes, his body slowly becoming smaller until a sweaty Bruce lay slumped against the wall. 

He blinked a few times before he frantically ran his hands over you, looking for any sign of injury.

"Bruce, hey, calm down." You laced the fingers on both your hands with his and looked into his worried brown eyes. "I'm fine. He didn't hurt me, okay? In fact," you held up the lab coat that was now covered in sticky green liquid. "Things went more than okay."

He looked from you to the coat a few times before crashing his lips to yours. His kiss was possessive, nowhere near gentle as he explored your mouth eagerly.

"You were right, baby. I shouldn't have doubted you, but I was just so scared. I can't ever lose you."

You sat back on your haunches and grinned. "I know, honey. We can talk this over later, but right now I need you inside me." 

Bruce stood and pulled you to your feet, immediately pushing you against the wall. "You're perfect. Absolutely perfect, Y/N. I love you so damn much."

He kissed, nipped, and licked at your neck, littering a trail of purple-ish marks anywhere he could reach.

"Fuck, Bruce…"

He hummed and tore the front of your lacy top down the middle. "You're so beautiful, sweetheart. Smooth skin, perfect body, gorgeous face, amazing personality, you're an absolute work of art. I'm so lucky to call you mine. 'M gonna fuck you over and over again until you beg me to stop." 

A needy whine filled the small space between the two of you, your hands fisting in his hair. "Please! Please…want you so bad!"

He spun you around, pressing you against the wall as he undid his pants, kicking them off to the side. "Spread your legs, princess. That's it, brace yourself against the wall too."

You did what he asked and sucked in a sharp breath when he hooked your left leg over his thigh and pressed the head of his cock against your slick hole. "Don't you dare be quiet, you hear me, Y/N? I want every single person in this tower to know you're mine."

Your response died on your tongue as he slammed into you, setting a steady pace. 

You couldn't stay quiet even if you wanted to. Nothing compared to the way his cock made you feel. No toy, no vibrator, not even your fingers felt this good.

"Oh, Bruce! Oh, my fucking god!"

His left arm hugged your middle holding you up while his right wrapped around your throat, squeezing deliciously. "Good girl. Love hearing you scream for me. God, your pussy feels so good, warm and wet around my cock, pulling me in every time I slide home."

You clenched around him and he bit your shoulder. "Fuck! I gotta fill you up, baby. 'M sorry, but I'm not gonna last when you feel this good." 

Your left hand began rubbing your clit in time with his thrusts. "'S okay, Bruce… I-I'm close too. Feels - oh, fuck! Oh, my god! - s-so good!"

He was relentless now, the delicious drag of his cock against your walls was hard and fast. "Oh, fuck! That's it, princess. Yeah, that's right, squeeze me just like that. Come on, Y/N…let go with me."

His words were like a trigger, your third orgasm shooting through you like a bullet as he stilled inside you.

The two of you didn't move for a few minutes, the labored sounds of your breathing the only sound around you. Finally, he pulled out and turned you to face him, his lips colliding with yours in a passionate kiss.

"Fuck, that was…that was amazing."

Bruce caressed your cheek and smiled fondly. "Thank you, sweetheart. Thank you for being patient with me and with him too. We wouldn't have made it this far without you, and we owe you everything." 

You kissed him slowly, taking your time to feel him against you. "I love you, Bruce. I'll always help both of you with anything. You both complete me, in every way, and I can't imagine a life without you guys."

He held you close, his fingers sliding up your back and into your hair. He opened his mouth to respond, but F.R.I.D.A.Y. cut him off. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt Mr. and Mrs. Banner, but Mr. Stark requests entrance to the lab."

Your eyes grew wide in fear of him seeing you naked. "Tell him to give us five minutes please, F.R.I.D.A.Y.."

"Of course, Mrs. Banner." Bruce threw you his clean lab coat, tossing the other one in the trash before pulling on his clothes. 

"Let's take this upstairs, Y/N. I'm not even close to being done with you." He winked and a jolt of arousal shot straight to your core.

"As long as you promise not to go easy on me, baby," you smirked. He swatted your ass and walked past you to the door.

"Oh, princess, now that I know you're safe with me I've got so many plans to take you apart over and over again. You're gonna be putty in my hands when I'm done with you."

Your teeth sunk into your bottom lip as you looked at his hooded eyes. Literally and figuratively, you were fucked. That was just a bonus though because you had everything you wanted. Bruce was yours in every sense of the word. 

Tony walked past you shaking his head, "there better not be a mess in there!"

You giggled and followed Bruce into the elevator. "No promises, Stark!"

Yeah, you thought to yourself, this is finally the start of our forever.

He glared at the closing metal doors, the sight of you and Bruce kissing being the last thing he saw. He smiled against your lips and you saw the happiness in his eyes.

[emwritesstuff]

DYNAMO | Steve Rogers x Reader | part 1.

HYDRA has made their share of human experiments. You're just one of them. One of the least successful ones. One of the least functional ones. At least your life in the facility gave you a few things: unwavering resilience, cool(ish) superpowers and a great sense of humor. Steve Rogers would strongly disagree with that last one. A single chance encounter with him reluctantly brings you into the Avengers Compound, and you're determined to make his life as miserable as you can. Feeling's mutual.

AO3 | Masterlist | Playlist (coming soon!)

notes: starting off a steve x reader/oc that I had lying around for a long time to cleanse our palates. (warnings: mentions of human experimentation, violence, cursing, stressed!steve rogers) (2.5K words)

1: THE CATALYST

In The Adventure of the Dying Detective, sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote: “I wonder how a battery feels when it pours electricity into a non-conductor.”

Well here’s how she feels, Doyle: exhausted – drained, if we’re getting scientific – and with a massive migraine. Sometimes nosebleeds, too. That’s how you feel whenever you use your abilities. It’s never a good time, and lately it’s been getting worse.

That’s why you’re back in this godforsaken place. Not exactly back. You’ve never been here; this specific facility was basically only an archive of sorts, and when you were still HYDRA you were confined to labs and larger, safer bases.

This place is really under everyone’s nose. It sits under a parking building in Detroit, right at the corner of a busy avenue. It’s a smart choice of location, because amidst the bustle of people coming and going for their cars, nobody looked at you twice as you went in, dropped into a maintenance hatch and ambled around until you found the heavy vaulted door you were looking for.

You’re positive there’s some information about you and the experiment you were a part – the shining star, truly – of, in here. When HYDRA fell and all of its secrets were leaked to the internet, you weren’t very worried about backing up your own records. You just wanted to live.

When you’ve spent most of your life being trained and turned into a human weapon, only ever seeing the real-world during the few missions you’ve gone on, places like McDonald’s and department stores become a whole new world of wonders once you get to experience them.

But now you needed them. Soon after the fall, however, most of the data was erased by hackers that were still affiliated with the organization. Lucky you.

However, every good terrorist knows to keep physical copies for safekeeping. And if the manila files stamped with your name were anywhere, they had to be here. Or in at least 3 other places just like this one, but you had already checked the first couple of them, and the other was blown to shit by Tony Stark and his little avenging friends.

They were really very good at that – blowing things up and causing havoc everywhere they went. Aliens, HYDRA, murderous crazed robots – whatever the enemy might be, something was sure to be exploding. And in the end, they’re still revered as heroes. Must be fun.

Anyway. Back to the files.

There’s immensurable amount of them, and they were meticulously organized, thank god, but you still decide you’d go through each one just in case.

You’re not in Assets. Also not in Agents. Or Work in progress.

Either way, it has to be here somewhere. Just maybe misplaced. Or concealed.

This place is basically your last hope, before you’re obligated to hunt down the hackers you know of and squeeze the information out of them instead. One of them has to have kept a copy somewhere, but these people were hard to find, and you are starting to feel like you’re running out of time.

The migraines and nosebleeds are getting more frequent, lasting longer, and hurting more. Not to mention the amount of times you lost control and fried every electronic on the vicinity. You could walk into a hospital, but that would probably mean getting dragged to the Raft as soon as the American government took notice of your existence.

And you seriously doubt any regular doctor would know how to deal with… whatever is going on with you.

You don’t miss your former life at all – but at least the scientists and doctors in HYDRA kept you somewhat stable. You survived this far, so someone is to blame.

It must be the adrenaline, but right now you feel great. No spots, no headache. Bouncing on your heels, bobbing your head to the music on your earbuds, while you rummage through an ocean of paper. The archive has been long abandoned, a thick layer of dust covering every surface you hadn’t touched. It’s dead quiet, too, and you start thinking you might spend the night.

It’s been a while since you’ve rested your head in a quiet place, where you didn’t have to look over your shoulder every two minutes. Yeah, that’d be fucking nice.

You’ve been on the run for god knows how long. In fact, you do know – it’s been a little over a couple of years since the public downfall of HYDRA, and everyone you used to know was either arrested, dead, or had gone underground like the rats they were.

You like to distance yourself from your former peers, mostly because if you knew they were all a bunch of Nazis – or if anyone had told you they were actually the bad guys – you probably would have found a way out sooner. Imagine your surprise, finally being free to live in the real world and finding out that everything you’ve been taught was fabricated. Still, authorities weren’t about to make that distinction so, like a HYDRA rat, you also went off the grid.

It’s safe to say you don’t really trust people these days.

You hate it, having to live in hiding. You’re not really very good at it, to be honest. It’s hard being coy, and you wear your heart on your sleeve; your face betrays you when your lack of skill for lying doesn’t. Half-truths and misdirection are the only things keeping your anonymity intact lately, and it works as long as you lower social interaction down to almost zero.

Having to decide whoever looks like they would ask the least amount of questions is exhausting. So is dodging those questions. Dodging bullets is easier. You’d backflip your way out of a full cartridge before facing a 10-minute conversation with someone.

You huff in frustration. The dust that now swirls in the air makes your eyes dry and your nose itch, you’ve already been through what’s probably a good fifty files and still, you found nothing. Not even a mention to your name or your identification number.

You scratch their faint marks on your forearm absentmindedly.

It should be here.

You’re starting to get a little offended, even.

“Can’t find what you’re looking for?”

A male voice coming from the door gets you to stand in alarm. Its owner is tall and wears a navy tactical suit, and you can make out his striking blue eyes even in the dim light of the room. He’s carrying a shield, painted in red, white and blue.

You stare at Captain America, and he stares back. He’s blocking the door you entered from. From your earlier survey you know there’s a possible exit to your left, but you doubt you can get there before that oversized dinner plate of his slices you in half.

“Who are you?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Cap.”

He scowls at you and you give him a smile, a crooked thing that makes you look a little crazy. “Are you HYDRA? Nat— Yes. We got company.”

So, he came with a team. Cute. Just like the comics.

“Used to be, technically. I’m done with that life.”

He cocks his head. His gaze pierces through you like laser sight.

Now there’s someone you don’t want to be trapped in a conversation with.

“So why are you here?”

You sigh. Too many questions, not enough fucking off to wherever sunny green fields he lives with his superhero friends in.

“I must’ve left my library card in here somewhere. You’d think no one would care that much about Tolstoy, but they do.” 

“Do you really think this is the time for jokes, agent?”

You watch him as he tightens his hand around his shield, and moves his feet towards you a few inches. “Ah ah – I wouldn’t do that.”

He takes another step, and you narrow your eyes.

“I don’t feel like fighting today, so. Don’t.”

“Aren’t you done with the life? You shouldn’t be considering me your enemy.”

“Do you rehearse those lines or what?”

Cap clenches his jaw. It brings you a strange kind of satisfaction to annoy him. A small victory, knowing you can get to him like that.

Yet you still feel like you’re a gazelle being hounded by a lion.

There’s still a considerable distance between you, but you know he’s strong and fast, stronger and faster than you, especially when you haven’t trained properly in so long.

And Captain America hates HYDRA. He wouldn’t hesitate in kicking your ass.

“This doesn’t have to end in a fight. Come with me, and share your intel.” He puts his shield down, and you furrow your eyebrows.

He’s wrong. It always ends in a fight. That’s just how the world works.

“You might even get a lighter sentence.”

Of course. That’s what this was about: you giving them everything you know and then getting locked up. As a treat.

“I’ll pass. I do value my freedom, I’m sure you’ll understand. Considering.”

Gesturing vaguely to his outfit, you dip down to continue rummaging through the next box of files, even finding one with the 2006-7 New Year’s Eve Party planning, but nothing about your program. Priorities.

“I can’t let you walk out of this. I’m sure you’ll understand, considering.”

You snicker.

So much for having a good day with no headache.

On the wall to your left there’s an outlet. You put your hand over it, and the electric current floats towards your palm as if it was liquid. The lights start to flicker.

“What—” You hear Captain America stammer, and you chuckle. So blissfully ignorant.

He has no idea of the freak of nature you are. Well, not really of nature. You’re more of a synthetic made kind of freak.

More energy flows into you, and the room goes dark. You rise to your feet and watch electricity crackle around your fingers, illuminating your face with a blue glow. You don’t see the Captain anymore, but you do see the glint of the shield as it’s being lifted up.

You’re sure he sees you, but he’s probably too stunned trying to process what you just did.

“Apologies in advance.”

When you extend your arms in front of you, palms aiming to the spot where you think he might be, you can’t see much.

After power flashes out of you, everything is clearer. The bolts light up the space between you and him, much narrower than you calculated, and you have to adjust your position so you can hit him.

He gurgles and shakes like a fish out of water once it reaches him, blinding blue and white encasing his body like a cocoon. He drops to the ground.

It feels like hot water in your veins until it’s burning.

It hurts, it hurts like a bitch, and as Captain America is convulsing on the floor your groans turn to wails. You haven’t done this in a while, and you forgot how much pain there is when the fuel starts running out.

You stop after a few seconds, dropping your hands at your sides, and stumble into a metal shelf when your balance falters. You could never stand using your powers for very long. But this time you don’t have to. Cap is immobile on the floor, only his eyelids twitching. Maybe you went a little hard on him.

You’d feel more sorry if he didn’t want to arrest you.

At least he’s alive. That’s something.

You taste something ferulic and wet when you lick your lips. Nosebleed.

One. Two. Three.

Your heat starts throbbing, and suddenly even the dim light is too much on your eyes.

There’s the migraine.

You were almost returning to your search when you hear the faint voices coming from his intercom. Cap? Rogers, over. Steve, you there? Over.

Rogers groans, starting to stir up. You had to get out of there, and fast, before the rest of his friends came to the rescue.

Fuck it, you could always come back another time. Or even go after those hackers already, because you doubted this place would be up for much longer, now that the Avengers knew of its existence.

You wipe your nose on the sleeve of your hoodie, grab your backpack and slip through the left exit, leaving America there to deal with his own future headache.

It took a while for Steve Rogers to recover his senses. He gained control of his eyes first, finding himself staring at a humidity stained ceiling. His extremities were tingling, and his insides felt like soup.

The burning sensation on the surface of his skin subsides after a while. His heart is racing, and he can’t really remember the last time that happened. Or why. Right now, it’s because he just got attacked by a human defibrillator.

Steve? What’s going on, Cap? Over.

He needs a minute to realize the voices are in his earpiece, and not hallucinations in his head.

I’m starting to worry, Rogers. Over.

He groans, rolling over. “M’ here. Over.”

Steve hoists himself up, thinking the girl must’ve fried his pain receptors, because his toenails hurt. And his earlobes, and his right leg. He shakes his head as if his ears have water in them.

She’s gone. For a second, he even doubts she was there at all, but there are footprints on the dusty floor, leading all the way to a door on his right.

Who—?

“Damn, you look rough.”

“What the hell happened?”

Natasha Romanoff and Bucky Barnes show up through the same hallway he had come from earlier.

“I—I got electrocuted, I think.”

“You think?!”

Steve picks up the shield, panting.

“There was a— girl. She’s some kind of enhanced. Can’t have gone far. I’ll explain later.”

His body regains its normal functions as he’s trudging through empty corridors, Bucky and Nat at his heels. He still feels a little frazzled, but it could be worse, and he’s thankful it was him and his serum-improved body at the receiving end of the lightning.

It could be so much worse.

As it turns out, the girl is nowhere to be found, not a trace to be followed even after the trio splits up to cover more ground. Bucky insists Steve needs to be checked at the med bay ASAP. Natasha assures him that they’ll clear out the facility afterwards, even if she’s convinced none of the paper files have anything of relevance anymore.

The girl seemed to be looking for something in there, though, and Steve remembers reading frustration and dread on her wide, doe-like eyes.

She didn’t even look like someone who could be an agent, though due to the too-large hoodie she wore there wasn’t much to analyze anyway. That gets him intrigued.

Steve has a hard time letting go of things. Especially open-ended things. He spent nearly two weeks obsessing over the ending of Blade Runner, because he needed a goddamned definitive answer.

He needs to know, like he needed to know if Deckard was human or replicant.

He’ll find her.

You can’t shake the feeling that you’ll be seeing him and his team again. Maybe they’ll hunt you down, since there was a big demand for ex-HYDRA people they could fill jailcells with.

Whisking away along a maze of corridors and endless doors, you manage to find a second vaulted door. You leave the whole facility undetected, hopping out a window and disappearing in a back alley.

Maybe you are a rat.

[persephonesfill]

I Boop, Bap, and Bwamp you!

🐾 Boop! (Tell me you current fluffy Steve/Tony daydream fic*)

📏 Bap! (Tell me you current angsty Steve/Tony daydream fic)

🪭 Bwamp! (Tell me you current smexy Steve/Tony daydream fic)

* daydream fic: a fic you might never write but it’s running thru your head when you get a minute

(send to 3 other Stony peep's askbox if you wanna)

oh thank you for this ask anon! 🥹 i'm sorry it took so long for me to get to!

🐾. as far as fluffy fics go, my brain is currently hyperfixating on tony giving steve the princess treatment he deserves. just tony being so disgustingly in love and showing it the best way he knows. tony taking steve on fancy trips indulging the side of steve that's a creative, an artist, at heart, and also draping steve in fine lingerie and strings of pearls

📏 . i don't actually get too many angsty fic ideas, but one that's been in the back of mind forever is steve receiving a "boon" from the infinity stones after returning them to their original timelines and they grant him what he "desires most" aka tony comes back from the dead 😃

🪭. i've had a vampire au idea plaguing me for like the past week where everything's the same, but tony got turned into a vampire during his playboy years and has been somewhat successfully hiding it until steve stumbles upon him feeding. steve nobly (hornily) offers himself up as an alternative which leads to this exchange

Steve sits on Tony's bed, pants neatly folded and set off to the side. It's distractingly intimate, but it's the only place they're guaranteed privacy. It's the first time he's ever been in Tony's bedroom (not that he had thought about what it would be like in extensive detail) and his mind can't help but wander. His legs are spread, Tony kneeling between them, head bowed, like he's about to recite a prayer and God, is it a heady sight, the great Tony Stark on his knees. Steve would be a liar to say he'd never thought about it, albeit under much different circumstances. When Tony looks up, finally broken from whatever meditative state he was in, it's his eyes, blood-red and ever-blazing, that do Steve in. The fire, the bloodlust, in his gaze makes Steve's heart pound, and deep inside of him, a lust of a different kind sparks to life. His toes curl into Tony's rug, soft and plush, like that's going to curb the urge to jump Tony's bones, to haul him into this bed and do what's actually on his mind. But he can't. He shouldn't. This is a favor between friends. Nothing more. "You still with me, Cap?" Tony says, a hand caresses Steve's thigh, like he's a wild animal that needs to be soothed. "Your heart's pounding."  Fuck. Tony can hear it. Of course, he can. But he thinks Steve is afraid. He should know better. He should know Steve has never had the good sense to run away from certain death, least of all a death of this nature. Slow. Sweet. Sanguine. His hand takes on a mind of its own, curling into Tony's hair and oh, it's softer than it looks. He wonders what they look like, if it's the gentle hold of lovers or prey snared between teeth.  "It's okay," Steve whispers. It's like all the air has been sucked out of the room, as he slowly, gently, brings Tony's face to his thigh. His breath hitches when Tony's lips meet his flesh. "I want you to eat well."

[eviesaurusrex]

Hey! I read your Mrs. Strange fic (which was amazing) and was wondering if you could write one for Tony? Where the reader and Tony are getting married and hes absolutely obsessed with y/n. Love your writing!

Hey, love! First of all, thank you so much for reading and enjoying my silly writing! <3 And of course I can write something for Tony. He is actually pretty front and center on my list of characters :3

***

"ɪ ᴛᴏʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ɪᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ꜱᴜɪᴛ ʏᴏᴜ." | ᴛ. ꜱᴛᴀʀᴋ

GIF not mine!

Tony Stark x Navy Pilot!Reader

summary: It's Tony's and YN's wedding day, and Tony can't stop himself from showing everyone that he had been right all along.

word count: 2k

warnings: nothing really, this is just pure and wholesome fluff, some loving bickering, mentioning of pregnancy because I can't help myself, this man deserves anything and everything, not entirely proofread

author's note: This will be a short one, I hope no one is mad about this. I just want to get back into writing, and I think that's the best way to achieve it :3 I still hope you like what I came up with even though I'm not too pleased with it :x Btw: We are ignoring the Coulson-thing. I wanted to have him here, so we have Coulson here. Deal with it.

***

Smiling, YN watched the guests as they enjoyed themselves in the lavishly decorated venue and took a deep inhale of the flower-scented air wafting around her and everyone else. Tony had been adamant in his endeavors of turning every single fantasy and image fragment floating through her head into reality, so everywhere they had gone today, she had been surrounded by the prettiest of flowers and plants—from their apartment in the compound where she had gotten ready with her bridesmaids and hired stylists, to the grand venue they had held their wedding ceremony in and now celebrated the day. A church wasn't even a fleeting thought because neither YN nor Tony believed in a higher being, despite the many impossible situations they had faced and overcome in the past many years. She actually didn't want to think about the many near-death experiences they both had walked past, nor felt YN the need to think about the expenses made for today's arrangement.

They had enough money, yes, but that had never meant for her to spend it as heavily and indulgently as Tony loved to do.

The thought of her newly turned husband dancing through her mind made the commander smile as brightly as the sun outside. With the same smile resting unmoving on her lips, YN started to thank each and every one she saw for coming and wished them a pleasant afternoon while simultaneously heading toward the perfectly stocked bar. Ever since the beautiful ceremony, which had not only moved her to tears but also a certain man who was still in his denying phase, the woman had felt the dryness in her mouth increasing every passing moment, urging her to tend to her needs which had gotten worse rather quickly over the last few weeks.

She would be lying if she said it didn't scare the living daylights out of her.

"Anything non-alcoholic and a glass of water, Frankie, please," YN asked one of the many bartenders Tony had personally handpicked through hours of going through every single resume the wedding planner had to send straight to him. Both women still didn't understand the meaning of it all, but YN soon had stopped questioning her husband's strange behavior towards everything related to the wedding. Softly shaking her head, the bride mumbled a small Thanks and grabbed for the water to at least inhale half of it before she dried out on the spot. It was strange what her body was willing to do and which changes it went through in order to create a welcoming environment for something she had never considered possible for herself.

"Mrs. Stark! Mrs Stark!"

The all too well-known excited voice of non-other than Peter Parker ripped her mind from its spiraling nature when it came to that topic and back into reality where the brunet young man arrived at her spot at the bar, a bright grin on his handsome features and shining eyes—just as usual. Other than Tony, YN never had hesitated to show him affection in any way possible, considering Peter as something close to a son, and she believed he was thankful for that, even though the woman knew that his aunt was perfectly capable of handling those things herself. But gladly, May and she agreed a long time ago that Peter could use more of that loving environment, so YN had made it her duty to do exactly that.

Smiling, the bride softly brushed over his shoulders in order to straighten the black suit he wore—handpicked by Tony, of course—and straightened the tie around his neck. "Is everything alright?" Being part of the superhero business for longer than YN would like to admit, one could never know, especially not when one married Iron Man himself. But Peter only grinned and nodded too fast for her eyes and dizzy head. "Yeah, totally! Mr. Stark sent me here to remind you to drink and stay hydrated, but you obviously already did that, so here are some snacks I brought from the buffet and which are really, really good, oh, and I also found some chocolate at the dessert table, and—..." Softly laughing, YN stopped the flood of words escaping his mouth by taking the plate filled with an assortment of deliciously looking canapés from his hands and gently patting his cheek. "Thank you, Peter. That's incredibly kind and attentive, but you should go and look for MJ. I think I saw her at one of the balconies."

And with that, YN pushed the shy-turning boy in the right direction and nudged him forward. She was nothing but a matchmaker—at least, she tried her best.

But the moment of quietness didn't stay long because suddenly, someone came up to her and cleared their throat to earn her attention. With a canapé in hand, YN turned and smiled widely at the familiar sight of Phil Coulson, but without his accompanying ID dangling at his suit jacket. "Phil! I'm so glad you could make it." Indeed, she was because, during all her time working with SHIELD and even during the aftermath of what had happened in D.C., Phil Coulson had become a somewhat friend to her, which Tony always had disliked, of course. The agent smiled at her and clumsily patted her lace-covered shoulder. "I couldn't miss this, Commander Stark."

A grin tucked at the corner of her mouth at the sound of her title combined with her newly acquired last name, and maybe YN had to admit that it sounded much better than she ever could've imagined. And as if he knew her thoughts, the man of the hour walked over to them and let his arm slowly sneak around her waist to pull her into his warm, inviting side. A loving, lingering kiss to her cheek followed before Tony shook hands with Coulson. "What do you think, Phil?"—YN couldn't help it and rolled her eyes—"The name fits her perfectly, doesn't it?" One of her hands immediately rose to hit Tony against his chest while her husband only laughed, and Coulson slowly shook his head with an amused expression on his face. "I will leave you two to discuss the matter. Tony, Commander. Congratulations."

As soon as her favorite agent had left them to themselves, YN started to chew on the snacks and cocked a brow at Tony. He, on the other hand, only was able to stare down at her, that one particular smile specially reserved for her very person spreading over his handsome features. His arm tightened its hold around her waist while his other hand started to brush over her arm upward, reaching her shoulder and continuing to her neck, so his thumb could caress her cheek. "But, tell me, wife." The man paused for a moment to grin at YN's chuckle. "Do you still think the change of names was such a disaster?" Cocking her head from one side to the other, YN observed Tony's face before shrugging. "I mean, I don't know yet. Barely anyone has called me by it so far. Maybe you should give it a try, and maybe I could be convinced to start thinking it's not too bad after all," she teased him and giggled at the feeling of his lips pressing kisses to hers. He only stopped to whisper soft versions of "Mrs. Stark" against them, grinning victoriously at the sound of her pleased humming and into the kiss she gave him in return. "Watch out, or you might have to call me Mrs. Stark for the rest of our lives."

Now it was Tony's turn to grin his cheeky, teasing grin and nudged YN's chin up, so he could look her directly into her eyes. "I told you it would suit you, Mrs. Stark. And think of the non-existing trouble we'll have when we start thinking about names. We won't have to find one that suits them both." Almost immediately, she could feel the tears—happy ones—welling up in her eyes, and taking a deep breath, YN leaned her cheek into the warm, comforting palm of his hand. She still couldn't believe how her life had turned for the better, and now, they would have everything they ever wanted, everything they had ever talked about when lying in their dark bedroom, watching the slow sunrise through the grand windows when sleep just wouldn't take hold of them. "And," Tony continued with a soft smile as soon as he saw the tears trying to spill out of his wife's eyes, "She needs the Stark name. We can't have her inherit every single penny without wearing the name that's printed on everything she'll own. Imagine the troubles and unnecessary stress she would have to face in that case because she would need to change every single goddamn letterhead. I don't want that for her."

YN still sniffled a bit, blinking rapidly to suppress the tears from falling, and instead concentrated on the growing question mark in her mind. "She?" The woman asked in a hushed whisper, not daring to take a breath, not wanting to risk scaring Tony off. But he only nodded, barely visible, and let his hand wander to her lower abdomen, where a tiny bump had already made its presence known and which would soon be all over the press. "It's not some weird fatherly feeling, I promise. There's only that one image in my head I can't forget. It's stuck like a damned idea, keeping me up all night."

He removed his hand from the position he had learned to love ever since YN had told him her suspicion to wrap his wife in a tight embrace. "So, you want a girl?" Her question pushed him to kiss her again. "I'm sure I wouldn't mess her up too badly." Her hands on his face and neck let him take a deep breath and ground himself. "You won't mess them up, Tony. I know you won't let that happen because you are who you are. You are the best man I ever had the pleasure to meet—well, not from the beginning..." His grumbling only made her laugh. "That's the way to ruin a compliment, love," the Stark returned but let her continue. "No one is born perfect, husband. We both had to develop and grow on this path we decided to walk together, but we did, and now I can proudly say that I married the best man on earth and that he will be such a wonderful father. Because you will be a wonderful father, Tony. They won't miss a thing in their life because you'd be there to fulfill their every wish and hope, even if it meant for you burning parts of the world down."

He could feel his hands shaking as he cupped his wife's face tenderly, seeing the ring she put there only hours ago almost gleaming in the corner of his vision, and knew he finally arrived at the spot he always was meant to be. Here, with this angel of a woman, making him the happiest and proudest man on earth, and letting him feel things he never had dared to hope for. "You will kick my ass if you ever think I mess her up." YN nodded at that and Tony bent down to press a lingering kiss to her forehead. "And that's why I'm the luckiest man on earth." Because with her, he wouldn't repeat the mistakes his father made all those years ago.

***

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry for this horrible dump of words. The idea in my head was so much better T.T The next Tony piece will hopefully be better. As usual: Reblogs, comments, and likes are much appreciated!

Taglist: @hopefulinlove @seasonofthenerd @onecrazydirectioner @meeksmusic83 @nyctophilic0vitnir @lastwandastan

[ussgallifrey]

(She Moves With) Shameless Wonder | 21

✦ Summary: Your badge clearly said SHIELD consultant, so you weren’t entirely sure where Fury was getting this whole make you an Avenger idea from. But you had a feeling it might have something to do with the recent discovery of an artifact at the bottom of the Arctic Sea.

✦ Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female Reader

✦ Warnings: Canon divergence, dialogue taken directly from Avengers: Age of Ultron, language, mentions of Hydra experimentation, moderate violence, Steve Rogers definitely not being jealous.

✦ Word Count: 9.4k

✦ Playlist: Here

✦ Author’s Note: Uh...hey. How's it going? I'm just visiting as it was. For anyone who might be totally unaware, I've been away for almost a year now. At the beginning of 2023, my partner experienced a near fatal injury and well, life has kind of revolved around that for some time. He's physically healing, I'm emotionally and mentally healing and life is finally moving along once again.

Consider this me dipping my toes into writing once again. Maybe not regular updates, but a start. The majority of this chapter has been sitting in my drafts since, god, November of last year? As a spur of the moment kind of thing, I decided to reread the entire story earlier today and felt determined enough to maybe add to it once again. And... here we are. Anyway, back to the story <3

[Master List]

Steve finds himself in one of the several glassed-in conference rooms in the tower with Tony and Hill - only a few hours after Natasha was cleared by Dr. Cho. The billionaire looks like he’d rather be doing anything other than this. Most likely wishing he could be back in his precious lab, studying the scepter for all its worth before it was returned to its rightful home.

He closes the door behind him, eyeing the laptop on which Maria is typing, “Said you got a lead?”

She hums in soft acknowledgment, eyes scanning something on the screen before she finally gives him her attention. Tony rocks back in his chair, feet crossed at the ankle on the adjacent seat. Steve remains standing at the end of the table.

Images appear on the whiteboard behind her as she begins her report, “It took us two hours to bypass the corrupted files and the top-of-the-line encryption - ”

“No thanks to JARVIS,” Tony adds quickly, with a knowing smirk.

She nods, but otherwise ignores the comment, “We’re looking at roughly thirty years of backlog.”

Steve watches the images on the projection switch between the scepter, schematics, and patient files. Jesus.

“You were on the right track, Captain. Strucker wasn’t just using that thing for weapons - though we have at least a good amount of information on the weaponry he successfully made. But I believe your interest was focused on the containment cells?”

It’s at that moment that you and Clint walk in, offering an apologetic nod as you take a seat beside Tony. You lean forward almost immediately when you see what’s on the screen - an image taken just earlier today of the mangled cell block.

The screen changes to two prisoner files marked PATIENTIENT 4.1and PATIENT 4.2. Admittedly, his German isn’t as good as it used to be during the war, so he fumbles through the article with little to no comprehension.

“Anyone get that?” Clint gestures at the screen, an incredulous expression on his face.

Before Hill can even bring up the translation, you’re muttering out, “They… they weren’t experimented on. The scepter, it wasn’t - ”

“What do you mean?” Steve asks, eyes narrowing at the files as if he could somehow understand the foreign words now.

“Is there any language you don’t speak?” Tony whirls around in his seat to stare at you instead; totally missing the point.

“Jedek, Sentinelese, and Mudbara to name a few,” you answer levelly, before craning your head back to look at Steve and then over to Clint. “It says Patients 4.1 and 4.2 were entered into their program in 2005 - ”

Hill nods, the projection changing over to a set of images - body parts being measured and cataloged. They looked surprisingly small - skin stretched tight over the bones of a forearm, a calf, and a shockingly skeletal spine.

Children. He was looking at the images of two children that HYDRA had taken in.

Gritting his teeth, he manages to get out a sharp, “What else?”

Maria takes over then, back to more pages of files, “They were part of a series of off-the-record adoptions, during the country’s last civil war. People went missing by the hundreds back then. The official death count is still incomplete from the time. But it appears that individuals like Strucker were using the war to their benefit.”

The screen is flooded with images then, hundreds of people - primarily children, he notes with a sour turning of his stomach and the clenching of his fist at his side.

“And he was what, using the scepter like he was playing at God?” Barton scoffs with a bitter tone.

Steve is reminded then of the fact that if anyone understood the gravity of the scepter and the capability of its power in the wrong hands, it would in fact be Clint Barton.

Hill’s lips form a thin line, “For some, yes.”

“But not these two?” Tony fills in, twirling a pen between his fingers.

“Why?” Steve questions, unable to pull his gaze away from the new blurred image of a dark-haired girl, no older than eight - her eyes wide as she’s seemingly forced into a position for the camera.

It’s then that you lean forward in your chair, squinting at the file next to the girl’s picture before you rock back in your seat - “They were showing abilities on their own accord?”

And then the bombshell drops.

“This is their DNA structure against the typical human’s - ” In the center of the table, a blue holographic projection is displayed. Two double helixes slowly rotate alongside one another.

For all his aptitude, Steve can’t spot the immediate difference between the two. But you and Tony surely latch onto it quick enough. Leaning over the table, the billionaire swipes his hand at the helix on the left and instantly increases its size.

“What the hell is that?” Tony wonders out loud, turning the helix with his fingers.

It’s only then that Steve notices the strange strand near the center of the structure. It’s forked, compared to the other relatively straight branches. Almost spiked in its appearance.

“They called it the X gene, in the official reports,” Hill supplements.

“Which did what, exactly?” Tony asks, eyes still focused on the hologram.

She clears her throat for a moment, before saying, “From what we understand from their reports, these two individuals had naturally occurring inhuman powers on a previously unheard-of level.”

Everyone’s attention falls on her, and the silence lingers.

“Superpowered humans whose abilities can be traced back only to their own mutated DNA.”

Tony looks between the screen, the hologram, and then Steve.

“Shit. You’re saying these things can just pop up now, yeah? Any random person could get some kind of unnatural ability?”

“We have to look into it further, obviously - and if we were able to run the appropriate tests - ”

“What happened to them?” you ask, standing slowly. Clarifying only a moment later when you’re met with blank stares. “The file says they were still there when we breached the fortress. And yet we didn’t find anyone there that wasn’t already in a body bag in the morgue.”

She gives a tight nod, flicking off the presentation, “We have eyes on the city.”

“Do we even know what they look like? Let alone their intentions,” Tony questions, leaning away from the table and tapping the pen for a moment against his leg.

Hill shakes her head, “No. But we have a limited age range and a general profile to work with. And two people who were held captive for most of their lives will display a unique range of responses and choices. One slip, and we’ll find them. But if they were able to escape Strucker’s fortress on their own accord - ”

Tony seems unimpressed as he nods, walking backward for a moment as he says, “Keep me looped.”

You step forward to speak to Maria as the billionaire leaves - probably back to his lab. Clint stands up with a tired stretch.

“How’s she holding up?” Steve asks gently as the archer moves around the table.

The blonde smiles fondly, shaking his head, “You know, Nat, man. She doesn’t do bed rest for shit. I’m bribing her with coffee and I got Thor keeping her company right now.”

“Keeping her from escaping, you mean?” you turn back towards them with a knowing smile.

Clint chuckles, “Something like that.”

Steve nods, watching as he takes his leave then, waiting around for you to finish up with Maria. He recalled how rattled you had been that day upon discovering the cells. To finally have an answer to that giant unknown - well, Steve just wanted to see how you were holding up after it all.

Your brows raise marginally as you see him still standing there, but the two of you walk out into the quiet hallway together as Maria packs up her things, stepping in sync as you head for the elevator to the private quarters.

“So…” he starts, still processing the whole meeting in his head.

“So, naturally occurring superpowers,” you agree with a disbelieving shake of your head.

He shares your shock, glancing over at the curiously downturned expression on your lips. And here he thought the weirdest thing science had ever turned out was him. But in a world of literal Gods and billionaires with time and money to spend, Steve probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was.

“It makes me wonder,” you say as you stop at the metal doors of the elevator, “If this is the first instance of the mutation - if something in their specific genetics can be traced back to this. Or… or if this could be a totally random human mutation.”

The bell dings gently as the doors slide open and the two of you enter.

Steve just shakes his head, “I have no idea.”

You hum in quiet contemplation. The doors swish shut after a moment and Steve presses the button for the appropriate floor before stepping back, eyeing you out of his peripheral. Your curiosity was like a burning ember, he could see it growing by the second and it made him smile - seeing that thirst for answers, for knowledge, so clear on your face.

“They were seemingly random too - not necessarily connected powers or even all that similar really,” you turn to face him, eyes narrowed as you seem to work through everything out loud, “The male prisoner had an increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. And the girl had neuroelectrical interfacing, telekinesis, and mental manipulation.”

Slowly he turns to face you, peering down into your energized eyes with a look of confusion clearly plastered upon his own.

With one glance up at him, you specify, “He moves incredibly fast and she can move things with her mind. The grooves on the floor, the deformed cell bars. It’s kind of unbelievable, right?”

Steve offers a look of consideration as he nods toward the now-opening doors. The two of you exit onto the pristine floor of the personal living quarters for the team.

“Have you ever seen something like this before?” he asks, glancing over at you as the two of you pass the closed door to Dr. Banner's room.

“Not like this. Gods and other immortals, sure. Gamma radiation accidents and one notable serum-enhanced super soldier,” your eyes turn playful as you look over at him - he returns the expression with a smile of his own. “But never naturally occurring human mutation, no.”

“Tony's gonna have a field day,” he sighs, at last, coming to a stop just beside the door to the room the billionaire had forced upon you.

As if he wasn't already deep in the research pool with the scepter. Once Thor returned it to its rightful home, Stark would eagerly be jumping on the opportunity to explore the mutated genome for all its worth.

You make a thoughtful humming sound as you seem to register just where you are now, peering back at the door.

“Hey, uhm,” Steve clears his throat as he looks over at you, a slight blush on his cheeks. “You're going to the party tomorrow night, right?”

That pulls your attention as you look back at him with a gentle smile, “Yeah, he roped me into it. Told me to call up some friends to come along. He wouldn't take no for an answer.”

Steve laughs, “Yeah, that sounds about right for Stark.”

“Doesn't even matter that I have no one to invite along. Honestly, what does he think I do in my spare time to warrant friendships like that?”

The words themself seem disheartening but you're chuckling despite it.

He offers a grin of his own, “Seems to be a mutually shared problem.”

Your eyes flicker up to his, a sparkle of warmth within the depths of your irises.

“Yeah,” you breathe out gently. And then your hand grabs hold of the door handle and you push back with your weight to open it a crack. “Well, maybe I can scour my contacts for someone. And if all else fails, you could always call up Sharon?”

There's a hopeful lilt to your voice, one that Steve, unfortunately, has to dampen.

“She's on assignment right now. Probably won't be stateside for another month.”

Your lips form a gentle ahh, “I'm sure you'll think of someone by then.”

Seeing a chance appearing in front of him, Steve gulps down his anxious nerves. Natasha had said to be blunt after all.

“Or… I could just take… you.”

With a surprised blink, your lips curve up into a breathtaking smile that nearly sends him reeling.

“Sure, Rogers. Though Sam might be a little jealous of me taking his wingman away.”

Relief swims through his belly as he rocks back on his heels, unable to contain his smile, “I'm sure he'll get over it.”

The lab is thrumming with energy when you come to check in on the two scientists who, by the looks of it, haven’t left the room since at least the day before - if not longer. Settling in on one of the spare stools alongside an abandoned workbench, you watch them work - flicking between screens and running computations that are basically incomprehensible to you.

“How may I assist you?”

“Cronus!” you startle as the bot seems to materialize next to you.

Unlike the rest of the Iron Legion, this particular bot has a drawn-on smile on its mouthpiece, crudely done in a lopsided Sharpie scrawl. Along with two wonky curved eyebrows above the visual optics.

“Oh, hey, Your Highness,” Tony calls out, not even looking away from the new set of schematics in front of him.

Bruce gives a little wave of his own.

“No need for assistance,” you inform the drone, watching the digitized glowing eyes seemingly blink before it walks back to the corner of the lab from which it came.

From across the room, you hear the billionaire give a slightly defeated damn it before he looks up and seems to decide that you’re far more interesting - striding across the room until he’s leaning against the workbench next to you.

“Have I mentioned how unnerving those things are?”

He glances back at the bot, “My Legion, you mean?”

You hum in agreement, “I mean, I understand that you gave up the suit and this was the next logical step. But you couldn’t have made them a bit more… friendly?”

His lips form a challenging grin, “I’ll have you know that the Ultron line of toys are currently at the top of everyone's Christmas wishlist. And there’s an anime currently in the works inspired by my Legion. So, maybe it's just you and your slightly outdated ways.”

You blink in confusion, “Anime?”

“Seriously? How long have you been around here?”

With a strangled laugh, you look away, “A few thousand years, give or take. And I’ll have you know that my interests far outreach your capitalist hold on the franchise market.”

Tony stumbles back, a hand held to his heart, “Okay, ouch. I let you into my tower, offer you a room, and you call me a money-hungry capitalist?”

A shrug is all you offer him in return.

He gestures at Bruce with a pleading look in his eyes, looking for backup apparently. But the other scientist merely holds up his hands in a clear sign of not wanting to step into the fray.

“Okay, I’ll play,” he resigns, leaning his elbows on the workbench - watching you with a playful intensity. You can make out each ring under his eyes, the speckles of red veins in his tired expression.

“While I’ve been coming up with more and more exuberantly creative ways to fund this entire group operation, you’ve been doing what exactly?”

Turning on the seat to better address him, you state quite plainly, “Cleaning up SHIELD’s mess.”

“Which we’ve also been doing,” he shakes his head. “My question is: why haven’t you joined us on any of these little adventures?”

Admittedly, you kind of blank for a moment.

It was a legitimate question, considering you were doing nearly the exact same thing for the past year, just on your own. While you knew Steve had been silently tracking his long-lost friend during this time, you also were aware of the many raids he had partaken in with the team.

“I mean, even with this whole scepter business just about wrapped up, there’s still bases and terrorist cells out there. And since you’re already here - ”

“Anonymity,” you answer, suddenly.

Tony blinks, jerking his head back as you slowly and calmly press forward.

“I spent centuries being nothing more than a legend amongst your kind. I could come and go as I pleased. I worked for SHIELD while remaining almost entirely off their records. Yet one instance in New York and suddenly my identity was dragged into the open and now - ”

You gesture vaguely around the lab, “Now, I’m here and a part of a household name. I preferred it when it was just me doing the quiet work behind the scenes and not having my name and image on the news.”

“And lunchboxes and costumes and a few knock-off toys, to name a few other things, right?” Tony’s eyes flash with what you think is meant to be humor.

Your anger simmers and you offer him a tired, half-hearted smile, “It was an easier life when my name was only associated with museum pieces and ancient tales, yes.”

He nods thoughtfully, biting at his lip as he looks between you and Bruce.

“So… it’s a maybe?”

You shove his arm away, good-naturedly, “I’ll see you at your party tonight, Stark. You too, hopefully - ” you call over to Bruce.

The other man quirks his lips into a shy smile, “I’m not sure I have much of a choice in the matter.”

“You don’t!” Tony responds cheerily, eyes flickering over to you as you exit the lab. “Okay, let’s run it again, JARVIS, and see if we can keep the system from overloading this time.”

The party is in full swing now. The drinks have been flowing freely from the bar as comfortable music streams from the speakers. It’s a surprisingly casual affair for Tony’s standards - though the man is dressed in a three-piece suit. There’s a mix of colognes and perfumes and the sharp bitterness of alcohol in the air.

He hasn’t partaken in any of it, in all honesty. He’s on the precipice, waiting for your arrival.

Steve had done his best to hide his disappointment earlier in the day when you informed him that you would have to catch up with him at the party later.

“I’ve got to pick up some friends from the airport,” you had said, almost sheepish when you knocked on the door to his room.

And he had responded with a nonchalant of course, yeah, it’s no problem sort of answer. But now that the party had officially been going on for almost an hour, he couldn’t help but feel an anxious twinge in his side as he kept sweeping the room with his eyes - trying to find you in the crowd.

It’s not that he can’t socialize with the team, the veterans, or the other partygoers. It’s a completely different reason entirely that he keeps seeking you out amongst the celebration.

“So,” Sam knocks his elbow against Steve’s arm. “You find a place in Brooklyn yet?”

He gazes out over the atrium, knowing the well-recycled conversation was just Sam’s attempt at distracting him for another few minutes. While he had never explicitly spoken about his feelings towards you, it seemed it was apparently evident to just about everyone in his inner circle of friends - Sam and Natasha included.

“I’m not sure I can afford a place in Brooklyn.”

It was true. But like he had told you the other night, he didn’t all that mind staying at the Tower. It at least kept him busy when he wasn’t working on the missing person’s case with Sam. Everything had changed after the collapse of SHIELD and Steve hadn’t been particularly interested in going back to square one and attempting his shot at normalcy.

No, joining them on the HYDRA raids had been exactly what he needed.

The other man takes another swig of his drink, “Well, home is home, you know?”

Steve looks at him for a moment before he returns his gaze to the room - eyes not quite seeing the actual location itself. But lost in the beginning of an idea that his mind sometimes liked to dangle in front of him. Images of a possible future that didn’t seem all that unwelcoming - just a little improbable.

It’s only with the loud boisterous sound of Thor’s booming voice that he’s able to focus back on the party itself and, more importantly, on the three women who have just come up the stairs.

It’s like an immediate sucker punch to the gut as he takes you in. He’s not sure if he’s ever actually seen you in a dress before. But what a debut this is.

It’s very… Grecian, he’ll admit. Bathed in soft white fabric and glistening golden embellishments, you’re every bit a goddess as you make your way over to Thor - introducing your guests.

Steve finds himself literally muttering a silent wow to himself, feeling the uptick in his heartbeat and the sudden rush of warmth to his cheeks.

And then he’s clamping his hand on Sam’s shoulder, “Think I need a drink.”

The other man just chuckles into his glass, already knowing exactly where his attention has fallen for the rest of the night.

You can’t help but smile as Thor tugs the taller woman into a tight hug. The shorter of the two immediately backs up before he can grab hold of her.

“You’ve gotten bigger,” she states with an air of disinterest.

He chuckles, patting the other on the shoulder fondly, “Still using the same mystical illusions then?”

Sprite shrugs.

Her disguise is about five inches taller than her actual form and abnormally similar to the airport's gift shop cashier they had passed on the way out to meet you. With dark chestnut-colored hair and a pair of striking green eyes, she looked nothing like her usual self - but that was the entire point, of course.

“We’re trying to keep a low profile,” Sersi says gently, leveling Thor with a look that was filled with the expectation of continued secrecy.

It wasn’t every day two Eternals were invited to a Stark Tower party. But then again, only the two of you knew of their existence in the first place. A well-kept secret indeed.

He makes an understanding ahh sound, nodding your way, “Friends from work, then?”

“Yes, actually,” you tug Sersi’s hand into your own. “We worked together at the Louvre for two years.”

“And at the Acropolis Museum - ” she fills in.

“And the Natural History Museum in D.C. and - ”

“London and New York, yeah. We get it,” Sprite interrupts briskly, her attention drifting over to a young waiter with a tray full of champagne.

Sersi’s expression softens as she looks over at her companion, “And that’s our cue to get a drink. We’ll catch up later.”

She makes a valiant effort to pull Sprite away gracefully to a nice quiet corner while you look upon Thor in his crimson jacket and casually messy smoothed-back hair.

“I half expected to see you surrounded by your kind,” you admit.

He chuckles, eyes raking over the fit of your dress, “While it is no Asgardian revel, I must admit, I quite enjoy the company I have made here on Midgard.”

“Hmmm, I see.”

Your shoulder brushes against his upper arm as the two of you move through the crowd.

A glance across the room has you spotting Steve at the bar, conversing with Natasha and Clint. You want to make your way over to them, but you know how out of place Thor is in the room - much like yourself, honestly. You had never been one for parties, even back on Olympus - and they were frequent there. Not wanting to interrupt your companions' conversation at the bar, you remain with your fellow god.

“And when you speak of good company, I assume you are referring to your good lady? Dr. Foster?”

The way his brow creases as his lips form a thin line makes everything that much more abundantly clear, especially when the God of Thunder attempts to duck out of view to grab hors d'oeuvres from one of the caterers. He pops the caviar cracker in his mouth and immediately blanches, forcing himself to swallow it down and smile.

“Yes, of course. Very good, very… happy,” he nods, hands on his hips.

Taking pity on the poor man, you rest your hand upon his arm, “Odinson. I know you have been here far more often than you’d like to admit - ”

“Well,” he smirks, “Midgard is quite low on daring quests for someone such as myself to partake in. I seek leisure where I can.”

With an unsurprised huff, you say, gently, “If you were here for leisure, as you say, you would not be here with us, I believe.”

His shockingly blue eyes meet yours. An air of long-held familiarity passes between the two of you as the party around you continues on. It’s with a knowing look in your eyes that he has to force his own gaze away, coughing roughly into his fist.

“Ah, advice from the virginal goddess herself. Have you become an expert in the field of relationships, my Lady Athena?”

You release your hold on his arm, shyly rubbing at your own elbow as your eyes flit across the crowd.

“Hardly. But I’ve been around long enough to know these things, Thor. How long will you be away after you return the scepter?”

He sniffs indignantly, “I have been away from my home for a long time indeed. I feel it warrants an extended visit.”

Something in those eyes makes your heart clench, your features softening in intensity as it dawns on you. He was not spending time with Jane Foster because there was no longer a reason to do so. He wanted to be here. He desired to get away from that place and therefore that relationship.

The realization is heartbreaking, so you find yourself asking, “Are you okay?”

The god nearly balks at that, plastering on a very tight smile, “Wh-why would I not be? Come! We should have a drink to celebrate such an accomplishment!”

His arm wraps around your waist in an instant, his large hand covering the middle of your bare back - fingers splayed across your heated skin. If he did not want to ruin the evening with talk of his past love, then you certainly weren’t going to push the topic tonight.

“I swear if it’s anything like the terrible drink your kind used to have back in the day - ”

He beams, looking down at you as the two of you walk over to the railing overlooking the lower levels of the Tower.

“I come bearing only the best for such revelries - ” he grins, pulling an ornate flask from his open jacket, “And only for the closest of allies.”

Flicking the topper off, he holds it out for you. Taking a wary sniff, your eyes nearly bulge as you giggle a nervous sound.

“Cronus, help us all.”

Grabbing hold of the flask, you take a single swig of the fast-burning liquid, sputtering pensively as it runs down your throat. Voice turned hoarse as you wave it back his way, “See? Truly terrible. Your people have no concept of a good drink.”

Thor chuckles, taking a shot of the Asgardian liquor for himself before pocketing the flask once again, “For tonight only - and because I am in the presence of a friend - I shall try not to take personal offense to that.”

You give him a nod in return, eyes blazing with a playful challenge, “Do try that.”

Natasha, for all appearances, is fully healed up. She’s perched on the barstool, sipping on her red-tinted drink, eyes scanning the room when Steve approaches. Clint has a grounding hand on her waist as he talks to a man on the other side of her, though she doesn’t seem to mind the lack of attention. Settling her drink down on the counter, she smiles up at him sweetly.

“Well, well, well. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Steve scoffs a quiet laugh, tucking his hands into his pockets as he glances over at you - your two friends seem to be familiar with Thor, or at least extrovertedly confident enough to greet him with a hug.

“You got cleared to drink?”

Nat waves a dismissive hand, “I’m Russian, this barely counts as alcohol. Though I see you’re not participating.”

He shrugs, eyes flickering back over to the four of you as the conversation with your friends seems to wrap up fairly quickly, leaving you alone with Thor.

“Doesn’t do any good with the serum, you know.”

She makes a soft hum of understanding, taking another sip of her drink as she watches him watching the two of you from across the room.

You were the point of his focus.

The soft draping of your dress seemed perfectly tailored to you, with its flutter sleeves and high neckline. The hem fell just above your knees, and as you turned to walk towards the balcony overlook, Steve felt the sudden tightening of his throat as his eyes fell to your back. It was fully exposed, save for the clinching collar at your neck and the guiding hand of the Asgardian whose fingers were resting far too low for Steve's liking.

Clint’s laughter pulls his attention back over to the bar, as he leans down to whisper something in Nat’s ear before dipping back into the crowd of people. Steve’s focus falls on the arrow-shaped necklace the assassin begins to fiddle with.

“If you were looking for a moment, Captain, now would be a good one.”

Sometimes, he found it unnerving how quickly Natasha could read a person down to their very core. Even after all of his time training and working for SHIELD and the STRIKE team, he had never managed to school his features away like they did. He was probably an open book for her abilities, whether he liked it or not.

With a sigh, he finally looks back over just in time to see Thor’s hand on your bare back, his head lowered down as you clutch something small and silver-colored in your hand. You’re laughing and even across the noise of the room, he can make it out with near clarity.

Natasha slides her finger along the rim of her glass, with a teasing, “Tick, tock.”

Pulling back his shoulders and forcing a purposeful breath from his lungs, Steve begins to weave his way through the crowd. He’s stopped one too many times for his patience, but he gives each person a polite and respectful greeting before apologizing and attempting to continue forward once again.

At last, he spots the bright white of your dress. He can even hear the tail end of your conversation above the low hum of the music playing on the speakers.

“ - probably best if you just... yeah. We’ll speak later.”

And only once he’s made his way through the last few party-goers, does Thor press past him with a tightly-lipped Captain in lieu of a greeting. Steve watches him go for just a moment before he focuses his attention back onto the person he had crossed the floor to see.

Your brow is furrowed and your voice cuttingly vicious as you eye two new strangers beside you.

“What in Cronus’ name are you doing here?”

A man with dark curls and a warm complexion merely rolls his eyes at you, “This is how we’re greeted.”

“Well, what did you expect?” You snip, eyes flashing something dangerous as you round on the taller man. “A hug and a kiss? I mean... you can’t just come here and expect – ”

“A warm welcome?”

Steve’s gaze falls to the shorter of the two – still a hair taller than you of course. His grin is worryingly bright, forced, but not sinister. Steve takes a step forward.

The movement alone drags your attention away from the men and the tension on your face seems to dissipate with relief when your eyes lock in on him.

“Steve,” you plead gently, extending your hand out for him.

Unsure of what exactly he has stepped into, he grips his belt and stares straight ahead at the two visitors – only after giving you a quick glance.

“Captain Rogers,” you say with a hint of salt. “May I introduce my brothers.”

He knows his brows have risen in surprise as he refocuses on the men.

The dark-haired one, with the thin beard, sneers down at them both. While the shorter of the pair, decked out in a plum-colored velvet jacket, offers a more comforting smile. But Steve’s reassurance wains when he reaches out and grabs hold of your shoulder – trying to steer you away from him.

“Pleasure, of course. But we need to speak with our dear sister.”

You grip the man’s hand and yank his wrist back in a clear warning.

“And if you decided to seek me out in such a public place, clearly you give little care to who may be around to hear what you intend to say.”

A very clear I’m staying where I am. Steve almost wants to smile with pride as he crosses his arms over his chest and gazes down at you. Not a sign of fear or trepidation lies on your face when you shoot him a quick look.

The taller of the two sighs. Dropping his arms, he reaches into his wheat-colored pant pocket and pulls out something that glints in the ambient lighting. While he takes hold of the silver chain, a small locket slips to the bottom – dangling in the air beneath his fingers.

“A gift.”

Steve’s eyes instinctively trail to your face – curious what your reaction will be. But your expression remains resolutely blank.

Flipping the locket into the palm of his hand, your brother carefully flicks open the silver cover to reveal a gentle flickering orange flame.

If he were able to look away from it, Steve would have seen the near-gasp of surprise on your lips.

“You’ve been away, ‘Thena,” your other brother says gently. “For far too long.”

With a twist of his wrist, the locket snaps shut and Steve’s gaze rises to the dark eyes of the other man.

“A message, I give to you, dear sister. Goddess of Wisdom.”

Extending his hand out, the locket dangling precariously between the two of you, Steve watches as your fingers carefully wrap around the item – slipping the chain from your brother’s fingers until the piece of jewelry is safely secured in your own hand.

Leaning in close, ducking his head down to almost your ear, the taller of the two harshly whispers, “Uti prudenter.”

When he pulls back, your eyes harden and Steve swears a flicker of gold shines there for just a moment. Staring up at the man in question, you ask, “What have you seen?”

“Nothing but what is to come.”

You snort indignantly, tossing the locket in your hand for a moment of thought.

“How ever helpful, Hermes.”

He crosses his arms, sparing you a calculated look.

“I’m not the god of visions, am I?”

“Only a carrier of precious flames, is that right?”

Holding out his palm, as if to say well, give it back then. You hold the locket closer to your chest, turning your shoulder toward Steve, making the man smirk.

“As I thought.”

With a hmph, you watch as he disappears through the small crowd before descending the stairs. Your other brother watches on for a moment before giving you a small, albeit sheepish, smile.

“Be careful.”

At that, your features soften a hair. Raising a brow at him, you ask, “Aren’t I always?”

A sharp laugh escapes from his lips as he steps forward to wrap you into a quick, tight, hug. One that you quickly accept.

“Never.”

Without a parting word, he too follows the steps of your other sibling and heads down the stairs. You stare on for a moment longer, glancing down at the locket in your hand before at last you turn those brilliant eyes toward him.

“Family reunions, am I right?”

He can’t help but chuckle at that.

With a soft sigh, you lean against the banister behind you, encouraging him to do the same as he falls into place on your left. His eyes have a hard time trailing away from that silver-chained locket though, still sitting in your palm.

“They never travel this way,” you explain. “Must be important. Probably on word from the Fates.”

His curiosity piques ever more, but one question seems to fall into place at the forefront of his mind.

“And that flame... was that...?”

Your eyes lift from the necklace to meet his pointed gaze.

“The Promethean Flame, yes. Or an extension of it, at least.”

Giving another sigh, your fingers pull open the latch before you tilt your head to the side. Your hair cascades over your right shoulder as you pull the chain around your neck – clasping the lock together – before you gaze down at the heavy locket now resting against your bosom.

“You know that when I’m away from Olympus for too long, my powers weaken. My body grows more prone to suffering as a typical human would. This, I imagine - ” you take hold of the plain-faced locket, staring at it as though it’s a puzzle to answer, “May keep me from experiencing too great an injury.”

Releasing a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, Steve says, “For your sake, let’s hope so.”

Your warm eyes trail upward to meet his gaze and a curved smile befalls your sweet lips.

There’s a faint feeling of warm inebriation now running through his veins – having partaken in one or two sips from Thor’s special flask. He uses that reason, and that alone, for the lazy arm he has resting on the couch behind you. His whole body flushes as you turn your head toward him – laughing at something Clint had said just a moment ago. Your left shoulder brushes against his bare forearm and he grins in return – not having heard a single sound above the ringing of your laughter.

“Absolutely not,” Clint’s saying – twirling a pair of drumsticks on the floor beside Maria.

Tony raises a brow in return, “Why would I lie about that? No, I had a rep from Ben & Jerry’s literally here before this whole scepter business blew up. They want to make a whole line of flavors around us.”

Your head lolls to the side, a tired smile tugging at your lips. He can feel the gentle bobbing of your pointed heel against his calf, though you don’t seem to notice as you glance back at the man to your right – saying something soft and apparently funny in nature to Thor who barks a laugh in return.

“What’d ya say, Cap?” Tony grabs his attention. “Up for a little rendezvous with apple pie and other such iconic flavors.”

Steve just shakes his head in return.

“ - yes, a solid rum flavor would do you well,” he hears you say to the other God.

“And for you?” Thor muses playfully. “What shall it be?”

Before you can even conjure up a reply, Steve finds himself saying, “Honey.”

Your sharp gaze turns to him and immediately a smile blossoms across your features.

“Honey, strawberries, and a touch of cream. You know me well, Rogers.”

Steve shrugs in return, secretly pleased with himself for anticipating such an answer and for turning your attention away from the other man for just a moment more.

Somehow talk of ice cream flavors and brand deals gives way to a more interesting topic of conversation amongst the group in only a matter of minutes.

“But it’s a trick,” Clint bemoans.

Thor smiles in a pleased fashion as he passes along the silver flask from you and then onto Steve who quickly knocks back another shot of the fiery liquid.

“No, no, it’s much more than that.”

He can feel the curl of your fingers around his hand when he hands back the container and his eyes fall to the small patch of uncovered skin above your knee – your white dress having risen slightly higher as you lean back against the warm cushions.

“Ah, whoever he be worthy shall have the power!” Clint exclaims, holding his hands out toward the hammer resting on the coffee table. “Whatever, man. It’s a trick!”

“Please, be my guest.”

Thor gestures at Mjolnir and silence seems to befall the group for just a moment as everyone’s attention pinpoints on the infamous hammer. There’s a second of silence as Clint seems to take in the words.

“Come on. Really?”

“Yeah.”

To his right, he can hear Rhodey sigh, “Oh, this is gonna be beautiful.”

Even you turn your attention to the archer now as he approaches the legendary weapon.

“You know I’ve seen this before, right?”

At Thor’s nod, he grips the handle and attempts to pull. But it doesn’t even budge a millimeter as he grunts with the effort. With an incredulous laugh, he draws his hand away, shaking his head.

“I still don’t know how you do it!”

“Smell the silent judgment?”

Glancing across the room, Clint offers his hand out to the billionaire.

“Please, Stark. By all means.”

With his typical air of arrogance, Tony lifts from the couch beside Rhodey and plucks open the button on his suit jacket. Steve leans back beside you and watches with glistening amusement as he rounds the table.

“Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It’s physics.”

He takes a moment to wrap the leather strap around his wrist, preparing his hold as he looks toward the God in question.

“Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?”

Thor, unsurprisingly calm, responds, “Yes. Of course.”

Steve covers his mouth with his fist, already anticipating the likely outcome.

With two solid tugs and a few bitten grunts, Tony releases the strap – a sudden look of determination overcoming his features, as he says, “I’ll be right back.”

As he wanders off, much to the hooted badgering from Clint and Rhodey, Steve catches the familiar look you share with Thor. You lean into the other’s side, nudging his arm with your elbow as you whisper something too soft for even the super soldier’s ears.

Arriving back with a piece of a suit, Tony attempts the feat again. And, when that ultimately fails, he has Rhodes following after him to grab a part of War Machine’s armor. That attempt also fails – rather spectacularly as your sweet laughter fills his ears.

There’s also an attempt made by Bruce and Sam. The latter grunts with the effort before ducking his head down with a laugh.

“Man, I don’t know how you do this.”

And then he feels the gentle pressure of your arm against his elbow. When his gaze trails away from Sam, he meets your heated expression.

“Steve?” you softly goad.

What more can he do than roll back his sleeves and rise to the challenge?

“Go ahead, Steve. No pressure,” Tony drawls, still in defeat over his own failed attempt.

Sam gives him a warm slap to the shoulder as he passes.

“Come on, Cap,” Barton encourages.

Staring down at the hammer, he fixes his gaze upon the engraved runic wording. Physics had failed Tony, sheer force of will failed Clint. Maybe if he just...

Wrapping his hands around the handle, he offers you a quick glance – catching your watchful stare – before he pulls back with all of his might. He swears, for just a second, that he can feel it budge, but when he looks down... nothing.

Holding his hands up in defeat, a smile on his face, he catches the biting laugh from Thor as the other man shakes his head.

“Nothing!”

Steve presses past the two of you before taking his seat once more. You give him a solidary pat on the shoulder and a gently murmured tough luck, Cap. Someone clears their throat and Banner gestures his hands towards Natasha.

“And... Widow?”

Realization crosses her features as she leans back with a too-obvious smile.

“Oh, no, no. That’s not a question I need answered.”

Drawing their attention to the last remaining member of the team, Steve’s eyes fall upon you. Too busy watching the moment unfold with Romanoff, you’re suddenly staring at the group of them before also laughing – holding your hands up in pure dismissal.

“Absolutely not.”

“Come on,” Tony goads in an instant. “If there was anyone who could manage a feat of godly power...”

“Out of the question.”

This time, it’s Thor’s daunting timber that speaks.

Steve knows he’s not the only one curious by the sudden change in format as all eyes seem to fall on the God himself. Thor stiffens, fingers clutching his glass as he peers over at you for just a second.

“That’s not something that can be done,” you say in slow calculated words. “We will never wield one another’s weapons.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Tony immediately inquires.

Your nervous expression pauses on Steve for just a moment, as if needing strength for whatever conversation was suddenly unraveling. Your knee presses against his outer thigh and he immediately pushes back in return.

“Can’t, obviously,” Thor sniffs, gazing at the contents of his amber drink before taking a healthy drink of it. And then his dark eyes fall upon you, “Show them.”

Sparing the other God a heated glance, you stand up at once – your dress falls back in place with a careful draping of soft white fabric as you brush past Thor’s spread knees – taking your spot before the hammer.

Shooting a look at the accompanying group, you reach your hand out towards the weapon in question – just for a sharp bluish-white zap of lightning to arch out and singe the end of your fingertips. Pulling away with a sharp hiss of discomfort, you bring your digits up to your lips and gently suck at the burned flesh.

“See?” Thor drawls.

And then a light seems to glow in your eyes, a new wave of confidence, as you say with a teasing tone, “Fair is fair.”

Tossing your hand up into the air – a ray of golden light stretches down from the ceiling as your shield materializes in your hand. You hold the Aegis close to your side – looking ever so much like the fictional Goddess of legend that you were.

Steve’s fully, hopelessly, entranced.

Thor actually shrinks away from the object in question – digging himself further into the corner of the couch cushions as though he could vanish into them.

“No mortal man can wield such an item and I do not wish to try.”

Clint barks a laugh, “Come on! Like the lady said, fair is fair. Own up!”

The shield seems surprisingly light in your hand – though even Steve knows that appearances are entirely deceiving, having been in a position to use it on more than one occasion.

But with keen interest, everyone watches as the God of Thunder slowly rises to his feet. His hand reaches out, then pulls away, before he grits his teeth and finally goes for the strap of the inner handle.

You slip your hand away until you’re just barely holding it up at all. Thor’s fingers curl alongside yours for just a moment before you pull away entirely and –

BANG

“Fuck!” Barton hollers.

Thor screeches as the shield connects with the floor – splintering the wood – as the Aegis just barely grazes the toe of his shoe. He leaps back as if burned, though clearly he suffers from nothing more than burnt pride.

But Steve’s attention falls on the beaming smile on your face.

“Anyone for a go?” you ask cheerfully.

“Absolutely not.”

“Enough bruised ego for one day.”

And then your eyes cross over the group to meet the super soldier’s, a knowing glint in your warm expression as you ask, “Steve?”

Returning the grin, and feeling a bit prideful in the fact that he presses past a somber-looking Thor, Steve leans down and pulls the Aegis free from it’s temporary holding place in Tony’s floor – offering the shield back to you with little more than an uncomfortable twinge of discomfort from the sheer weight of the item.

“Thank you,” you smooze, taking hold of the shield once again and allowing it to lift up into the air and back to its home of origin.

There’s a moment that passes, between the two of you then, where a silent understanding almost occurs, but it’s immediately lost to the sharp ringing of a mechanical sound across the room. Steve’s hands fly to his ears as he cringes away from the noise.

Just as fast as the ringing occurred, it’s gone in an instant. But the sound of something metal upon the floor grabs everyone’s attention. Steve feels himself stepping closer to your side as you all look on at the metal bot that staggers out of the lab.

“Worthy? How could you be worthy? You’re all killers.”

He takes a breath, unsure of what exactly he’s seeing, but trusting it no more than he did SHIELD or any other faction he had found himself up against in the past three years.

“Stark.”

“Jarvis.”

“I’m sorry, I was asleep,” The mangled bot continues, glancing around – almost unseeing – at the room. “Or I was a dream.”

Tony’s pulled out a device and is speaking into it, but Steve can hardly look away from the sight before him – before them all. As the bot twists and turns, unsteady on its feet. Wires hang from its body like dangling tendons and veins, it holds a hand to its head as if in pain.

“- there was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in... in... strings. Had to kill the other guy,” the bot waves its hand in fleeting reference. “He was a good guy. But down in the real world, we’re faced with ugly choices.”

“Who sent you?” Thor demands.

The electronic voice of Tony Stark then plays out for them all to hear.

“I see a suit of armor around the world.”

Beside him, Athena barely breathes out, “Ultron.”

The bot fixes her with a glowing blue-eyed look and Steve stiffens.

“In the flesh. Or... no, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I’m ready. I’m on a mission.”

Hill clocks the hammer on her gun, staring down the bot, “What mission?”

“Peace in our time.”

And then, as if fixing its look on one person in particular, the bot’s thrusters come to life and it surges forward – hand open – as it grabs hold of Tony and careens out the window.

Steve lurches forward, rushing to the shattered glass as the malfunctioning robot grips the billionaire by the neck over the bustling city street many stories below them all. Tony digs into the arms of the creature, his feet dangling, kicking uselessly for purchase.

Turning his attention toward the group now circling the open space, the bot seems to sneer.

“Look at you. The very ideal of peace-keeping. But what are you really?”

The bot soars closer, not enough to be within full reach. And Steve knows that any attempt at disarming it will bring Tony’s safety into immediate question. He can do nothing more than stare on in disturbed wonder as the robot begins lecturing them.

“Your very existence is a threat to peace. Agent Romanoff and Barton, the two gallivanting criminals.”

Its mechanical eyes rove across the group, landing on the person standing to his left. Your chin juts out in defiance. The robot chortles.

“And the Gods from another realm. How much destruction can you cause with just a flick of your mighty finger? Of course, your faith in humanity’s greatest threat is of grave concern to any being with a twinge of intelligence.”

A pointed metal finger singles out Doctor Banner, who shrinks away from them all – nervous glances shared – as he ducks his head down.

“Captain America, himself.”

Steve’s hardened gaze refuses to be moved by the bot as it focuses all of its attention on him.

“So locked in your ideals, Captain. But at what cost? Unwilling to compromise for something you believe in. Endangering the entire planet at the cost of a ghost.”

A surge of discomfort lashes up inside of him and Steve can’t help but look away – if only to catch your equally concerned eye.

“And you - ” At last, the bot jerks Tony away – giving the man no secure hold beside the arm extending him out to his doom. “Anthony Stark. A man so obsessed with making amends for his past, that you end up causing more harm than good.”

Tony struggles, his face turning red as he puffs out desperate breaths.

The bot turns toward them with the most menacing look a robot could ever give.

“This group – this team. You put the world at large at risk. Every argument, every guilt trip, and jab will lead to your failure. Where I was created to see the world as it is. How it should be. The ultimate global peacekeeper.

In an instant, the wall behind the bar explodes as three similar robots shoot out towards the group.

Tony is all but tossed toward them, landing in a curled heap beside Rhodey and Clint – panting out a worrying series of breaths before he manages to stand and call out to the Legion’s operating system.

Gunshots ring out, the heavy metallic clunk of Thor’s hammer making contact with something equally dense, shattered glass, and the shrill cry of Helen Cho meets his ears as he pushes forward. Leaping over the glass banister, Steve lands atop a silver bot, yanking back on its head with all his might as it tries to slam him into the wall.

It succeeds, with the second blow, as he tumbles down onto the floor – broken glass shards dig into his palm as he tries to steady himself.

“Cap!”

Sam’s voice rings out across the room as a shield is tossed his way.

Using a chair for a weapon, you manage to knock away another bot from Dr. Cho’s reach – sending it back into Thor’s hammer. Steve swivels in time to catch the shoulder joint of another robot, bringing the shield down on its back with some relief as the bot splutters out electrical shocks before ultimately disengaging.

Looking up from the remnants of the mayhem, his chest heaving and his hands gripped into tight fists, Steve watches as Tony takes a heavy step back from the initial mangled-looking bot as it presses further into the room.

“That was dramatic.”

Steve spares you a glance as he tightens his grip on the shield.

“I’m sorry, I know you mean well. But this... this team will never work. You will be humanity’s downfall. You want to protect the world, but you don’t want it to change. How is humanity saved if it’s not allowed to... evolve?”

Glancing down at one of its fallen comrades, the bot kicks the side of its head – the steel faceplate gives way, revealing the wires and mechanisms that lie underneath.

“With these? These puppets?”

It looks back upon them all.

“There’s only one path to peace,” it stares at Tony then. “The Avengers’ extinction.”

And then the bot shatters with the might of Thor’s hammer.

“I had strings, but now I’m free...” The bot drowns for just a moment longer before its lights dim and the entire thing grows silent.

Stepping forward, Steve stares down at the last remaining pieces of the mangled robot before his full fury turns toward the billionaire resting on the glass steps with another torn-apart robot beside him.

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

[jinxquickfoot]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @16woodsequ. Thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

82!! And that's counting the one-shot collections as 1 fic.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,572,787

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Still in Marvel, although I've had a few ideas around Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss that I probably would written if my MCU WIP list wasn't so impossibly long.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The One Where Peter is Bucky's Weakness

Let's Whump the Spider-Kid and Friends!

The One Where Peter is Tony's Weakness

You're Always Spider-Man

The One Where Clint is Tony's Weakness

You guys really like it when I kidnap Peter Parker.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Of course!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

The Worst Thing, it's the only ending I wouldn't call 'happy'. I labelled it 'bittersweet' instead, which I think is fitting. Actually Dollhouse also is a strong contender.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Let's Whump the Spider-Kid and Friends! teeters on the edge of soppy. Everyone is alive post-Endgame, Peter gets a prom with all the Avengers and his high school friends, and the Spider-Kid in question gets a whole month of rest.

In hindsight, I wrote that fic during pretty extreme burnout (that I am now thankfully over), and I can see my need for rest and care just bleeding through Peter in those final chapters. I'm so grateful we both got what we needed.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not for a long time, since the debates over Civil War have... if not settled, maybe don't hold as much interest as they used to.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not yet, but I think I might be brave and include some Winterhawk smut in the Heart of Stone series.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nope.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. I've come across one or two with eerily similar premises and wondered, but I've never followed up. Tropes are tropes for a reason.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not a translation but Hair is Everything has a podfic!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Many! And tried to many at the same time which was a mistake, but I'm so glad I've gotten to work with so many incredible authors:

The One Where Clint is Steve's Weakness with @16woodsequ

The One Where T'Challa is Shuri's Weakness with @fluencca

The One Where Bruce is Thor's Weakness with @onwardmeteors

The One Where Peter is Peter's Weakness with @spagbol99

The One Where Bucky is Steve's Weakness with @usaonetwothree

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Winterhawk aka Clint/Bucky has my heart forever and ever, but I have a soft spot for Clint/Matt and Wanda/Vision as well. Outside of Marvel, I love reading for Stede/Ed, Husk/Angel, Caleb/Essek and Buck/Eddie.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you will?

If I've posted it, I'll finish it (I swear, I know I haven't touched the Whumptoberverse in three years). I do have an outline for something called the Amendment trilogy which I thought had some promise, but I've done so many Civil War Fix-Its now I doubt it has anything original to say these days.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I don't think my plot twists are too shabby, and I like to think that I find new things to say about well-worn characters and tropes. I'm also pretty damn good at structure, but that's because I studied and practised the hell out of it. Oh and occasionally I like to think I'm funny, especially when writing for Tony.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sometimes I focus too much on getting a fic done than letting it breathe. I've been told several times the ending to The One Where Peter is Bucky's Weakness is disappointing, and I agree. I was ready to get out of there so I Game of Throned it instead of spending a good 5-10 chapters wrapping that fic up properly.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Short bits are fine if you pop the translation in the end notes. If not, I like to just say something like, "He switched to Russian [continues dialogue in English]."

19. First fandom you wrote for?

MCU and we're still going, baby.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

AH okay I want to include all those I co-wrote but that feels like cheating, because what I like about those fics is often what other people brought to them.

I used to say Budapest and that's still a strong contender. But I actually love The One Where Clint is Sam's Weakness, specifically the final chapter. The idea of mistakes and regrets and choices not making you who you are is a very personal thing for me. Clint saying "You’re my hero, Kate." might be my favorite line I've ever written in a fic. Sometimes the simplest ones are the best.

Low pressure tag: @fluencca @usaonetwothree @queenofalotofdifferentworlds @spagbol99 @teeelsie-posts

[marvelstarker-mha98]

The Invention Left By A Little Stark-book 2 Chap 3: New Designs

Pairing: Tony Stark & daughter!Reader, Tony stark & Jarvis, Tony stark & Bruce banner, Tony stark & Jennifer Walters, Bruce banner & Jennifer Walters, Tony stark x Pepper Potts Mentioning: Danny Rand, Ben, peter and may parker

Co author with: callikc Tag:  @venomsvl  @geeksareunique @huntective-kyeo, @klc13, @natsbiggestfan1, @carellmcu, @laura-naruto-fan1998, @fansformentalydistroyedmen SHIELD was dust at this point.

The organization - once one of the biggest in the world - was now naught but a memory to most. The leaks caused by Natasha changed everyone's perspectives on pretty much everything. However, the one thing that never wavered was the fear of HYDRA. After discovering that they had always been within SHIELD, people didn't trust the government anymore.

On the other hand, all hope wasn't lost. Although SHIELD was disbanded officially, a small faction remained.

Small teams still worked in its name to continue the good parts, fighting against the bad and ensuring the safety of humanity. Perhaps it would make a resurgence in time, perhaps the new SHIELD would remain hidden in the shadows, and perhaps it wouldn't last. Either way, the world was turning thanks to them.

After the argument between Strucker and Dr. List approximately five days beforehand, HYDRA was once again scheming. However, the focus of this particular day would be New York City.

It was early afternoon.

Kids fresh out of school for the weekend were running wild in the parks and streets, tourists were crowding every notable spot imaginable, stray animals were slinking around the alleys, and people were running around to get lunch on their work breaks.

It was chaos, but a good kind of chaos. The kind of chaos that makes you stop and stare, simply immersed in wonder of how far people had come since the disasters of previous years.

The Avengers played a big part in that.

They gained more and more recognition by the day, and other allies were also stepping up to defend their city.

NYC didn't house monsters or aliens anymore. The rumors of gangs and smugglers and dealers were still very real, but they were always dealt with before the trouble got bad. Burglary, heists, speeding, and Karens were still a threat of course but the Avengers and other vigilantes normally let the police handle those ones.

Now, inside Stark Tower, Tony was in his main lab. The employees were at work with the new interns and most of the other staff were on lunch break, leaving him undisturbed.

The Avengers were having a week off after taking care of a rebel group selling weapon tech in Boston. It was a well deserved break.

Steve was out with Sam attempting to find a not dead best friend from the 40s, Thor was off-world, Clint was out of state, Natasha was in the fashion district, and Bruce was on a video call with Tony while at a family reunion.

"Check this out." Tony told his friend, adjusting the view to display his newest creation.

It was an autopilot Iron Man suit with a hulk buster arm. Although it was intended to fly on its own, JARVIS was in control for now.

In front of the suit was a large target strapped to an even larger mannequin bolted to the floor.

After Tony snapped his fingers, JARVIS set the suit into motion. Bruce watched intently, hoping the creation would be enough. The whole point of it was to subdue Hulk after all. If he ever frenzied and lost control, they would need a way to keep him in check.

On the other hand, he didn't approve of Tony's work habits. The man had been up for days at a time just throwing himself into every step and not stopping until it was perfected.

Bruce was surprised as he watched the buster arm deliver a blow to the mannequin target. The top of the mannequin bent back but quickly sprung up again, only to be greeted with a series of punches from the arm. If he had to compare it, he'd say it resembled a yoyo movement.

After the berating attacks, the mannequin finally snapped from the bolts that shackled it to the lab floor.

A small cloud of dust and debris lifted from it and the mannequin itself was thrown into the furthest wall with a deafening thud. While Bruce flinched, Tony turned to look at him with a shit-eating grin showing that he was beyond proud.

"Cool, am I right?" He asked. "Tell me you won't be picking up chicks with this."

Bruce hesitated. "It's definitely a concept."

Although his look faltered, Tony kept up a smile. "What's wrong with it this time?"

"Nothing. Just, uh... Don't you think the punches are kind of... I don't know... Comedic?"

This time, his smile did vanish. "Are you messing with me right now? It's awesome."

"No, yeah, definitely... Something." Bruce then sighed. "Tony, I don't want extravagant exaggeration. I just want something to make sure no one gets hurt."

"Okay, I hear you. I hear you and I still oppose you."

"Look, Hulk smashes. He doesn't dance like yoyo."

Tony grinned again. "Bet you'd like him to."

"Tony-"

"Come on, Brucie Bear! Give it a chance. Imagine you get to use this at some point. Imagine you're surrounded and helpless and I can't save your life. What are you gonna do?"

"I don't see how this is relevant."

"The Hulk Buster is gonna save you!"

Again, he sighed. Tony merely carried on without missing a beat.

"If you've got too many enemies, imagine how handy the yoyo will be then, huh? Imagine two yoyo arms!"

"How did you even come to this?" Bruce asked.

"A nap. A really nice and really relaxing nap."

"Naturally."

"Yeah, it was like-"

"Bruce!" A new voice interrupted.

Tony frowned, looking at his friend who had startled a little bit. Soon enough a woman with dark curly hair came onto the screen and slung an arm around Bruce's shoulders.

"Hey, green bean cousin of mine." She greeted. "What's taking so long? Nana J is getting snappy and Ched's provoking her."

"Give me five minutes." Bruce told her. "We're almost done."

The woman looked at the screen, raising a brow upon seeing Tony. "No freaking way."

Tony smirked. "Hey."

"You're Iron Man!"

"Very observant of you."

"Jen, this is Tony." Bruce said, trying his best to keep a straight face. "Tony, this is Jennifer. My cousin."

"Oh, hey. The attorney, right?"

Jennifer looked at Bruce with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. "You told Iron Man about me?"

Before Bruce could answer, there was a crash from his side of the call followed by angry yelling. He groaned.

"Tony, I gotta go." He said.

Tony wasn't particularly bothered and gave a shrug. "Sure thing, Brucie Bear."

"Let's not make that a thing."

"No, let's."

"Oh, hey, before you go!" Jen said. "I got a question."

Tony nodded. "Shoot."

"You know Captain America really well right?"

"Oh, yeah, totally. Besties."

"Great! Please, please tell me you know whether or not he's a vir-"

"Alright, we can pick this up later." Bruce interrupted, well aware of what his cousin was about to ask. "Try to dial down the yoyo, Tony."

Tony shrugged, putting on an innocent smile. "If I must. Talk later."

The video call ended with a drastic goodbye from Jennifer. When the screen disappeared Tony turned to look at the mess left by the Hulk buster.

"Yeah, no can do." He said. "The yoyo is actually getting dialed up."

"Sir, is it wise to go against Dr. Banner's wishes?" JARVIS spoke up.

Tony sat himself in a spinning chair and spun to face the Hulk Buster that was still punching. Since the mannequin had been destroyed, it was now punching air.

"Everything I do is wise." He countered.

JARVIS switched off the arm, letting silence fall in the lab. "If you say so."

Tony rolled his eyes and let himself relax. As he did so, his hand found its way to his chest where a familiar key hung. He hadn't taken it off for a year.

"Do you think she'd like it?" He asked more seriously. "(Y/n)."

Most people had forgotten your name now. After the data leak and your announcement and then the assassination the world certainly took its time in moving on. But it still did it.

Your true family couldn't ever forget, though. Tony, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, Agent Hill, and the Parkers... They always remembered your name. They cherished it.

During moments of solitude and isolation were when Tony most frequently found himself haunted by the memories. The last few hours he spent at your side were simultaneously the best and worst in his life.

"I like to think Miss Stark would indeed love the design." JARVIS said.

Dum-E - who was positioned at the desk Tony was sitting at - beeped in monotone. It was clear that even his semi-conscious body missed you.

Tony sighed. "I know, buddy."

After a moment of mourning silence, JARVIS spoke again. "Ms. Potts is on her way up, sir."

Tony looked at the mess of his lab.

The floor was cracked from where the mannequin had snapped, the dust was hanging in the air, pebble-sized debris was scattered around, and the mannequin was against the wall where an indent had now been made.

Spring cleaning was not an option.

"Dum, you wanna do your old man a favor?" He said.

With a series of beeps, the machine obeyed, getting straight to work. Tony jumped to his feet and began to move the mannequin right as the lab door opened.

Pepper stopped as she took in the mess.

"Did I miss something?" She questioned.

Tony - midway through shoving the mannequin in a closet - dropped the target and simply smiled, his arms spread wide.

"Pepper Potts, love of my life." He greeted flamboyantly. "How are you?"

She remained quiet, too stunned to speak.

"Good, good." Tony continued, walking over to embrace her. "Taking a break from all that paperwork? My lovely CEO."

He placed a kiss on her cheek and she finally smiled back. Upon seeing this, Tony grinned.

"The paperwork is fine." Pepper told him. "I just got concerned when I heard what sounded like a bomb go off up here."

"Oh, that." He glanced at the corner which was still being cleaned by Dum-E. "I wouldn't call it a bomb, persee."

"Then what?"

"Just some Avengers stuff. I'm working on a thing for Banner of the Apes."

"Ah." She nodded. "No further questions."

"Yeah, probably best. I'll work on the mess thing."

During the past year, Tony and Pepper had still been going strong. A lot of it was obviously because of their personal dedication, but another part was also due to your will. You had made it clear that you were so happy for them and hoped they'd go on forever which made them all the more determined to make their relationship work.

They had arguments and disagreements like every other couple but they always figured it out in the end. Maybe Tony ended up sleeping on the couch once in a while and Pepper stayed late at the office, but their love never wavered.

"I hope you didn't forget about tonight." Pepper said.

Tony blinked as a frown slowly appeared on his face. "Tonight?"

Anniversary?

Birthday?

A deadline?

"Uh..." He didn't know what he was missing. "Yeah. Tonight. I remember."

Pepper merely rolled her eyes. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"No."

"Tony."

He grimaced at her stern tone. "Yes."

"Oh, my - Are you serious?"

"Sorry, sweetheart. Got carried away today. I'm sorry."

Pepper sighed. "We're hosting dinner with the Parkers tonight in the apartment. Rhodey's coming too."

"Oh!" We shifted his gaze, suddenly remembering. "That."

"Yes, 'that.'"

"Did we have any plans?"

"Italian."

"Right. No, yeah, I got it. Shit." He looked at the ceiling next. "JARVIS."

The AI replied immediately. "Yes, sir?"

"You're supposed to remind me of these things."

"I did. Three times. You told me to hit the snooze button."

Tony pursed his lips, feeling awkward now. "You sure? Doesn't sound like me."

"We've still got time." Pepper assured him. "If you pick Pete up now then you'll have a few hours before the others finish work."

"Alright. J, order a bunch of Italian ingredients and get one of the interns to sort out delivery. I'll figure out the rest while I pick up the kid. Pep, you coming?"

"Sorry, I've got a meeting." She apologized. "Rand Enterprise."

Tony made a face. "Ugh. Fine. Deal with Danny Fisty."

"I'll be done in a couple hours and I'll meet you at the apartment, okay?"

He didn't say anything but nodded and leaned in for a quick kiss. Afterwards, Dum-E made a few high pitched beeps to signal that he wanted to join them. He'd only joined the Saturday dinners once before when it took place in the tower due to a schedule conflict.

"Not this time." Tony told the bot, understanding perfectly what he was after. "Dining tables aren't made for robots. Remember the disasters last time?"

He did a much more depressing beep.

"Work on cleaning up your own messes and maybe next time you can come." Pepper told him in a soft voice, much like a parent comforting a child.

Tony put his arm around Pepper's waist and gave her another quick kiss.

"I'll see you later." He said.

She nodded with a smile. "Remember, Ben and May finish work after seven. May said Peter's with the Leeds'. He and Ned had a sleepover."

"Ugh, children." He teased. "You sure I can't leave the kid?"

Pepper smiled again and playfully nudged him. "You like him really."

"Eh. Sometimes."

"Go on. He adores you, you know that."

"Well... I do like being the favorite."

"Exactly."

He gave a little shrug, stepping back to turn off the lab lights. "Get me the address, J. It's been a hot minute."

"Already done, sir." JARVIS told him.

"Thanks, Tony." Pepper said.

As she spoke, she glanced at the mess the Hulk Buster had made. "Seriously, how did that happen? What are you working on exactly?"

Tony merely smirked.

[kandisheek]

Hey friend!! I hope you’re doing well! I wanted to let you know how much I adore your works, and how your presence in fandom has always been a delight. I love your year in fan recs—it’s so wonderful to see so many names I haven’t heard of before, giving folks a chance to read something new and giving less well known authors a chance to shine!!

How about some fun asks now?

If you were suddenly a billionaire and could quit your job and fully engage with fandom for the rest of your life, would you?

What’s a fic you’ve been dying to write but just haven’t gotten to yet?

Why do you love Tony Stark?

Oh my god, you're the absolute sweetest, thank you so much <3 I can only return the sentiment, your fics are a constant source of joy for me <3 And I'm so happy that you found some new authors through my recs! As for your questions:

If I were suddenly a billionaire I'd probably try to take over the world Tony Stark style and (most likely fail to) fix all the agregious wrongs, so I might actually end up not having time for fandom stuff anymore whoops 😂 But in all seriousness, if I could live off fandom writing and arting, I absolutely would. Although I'm fortunate enough to love my real life job as well.

I've been planning to write this fic for ages, in which Tony is with Ty and due to their relationship troubles (which are solely Tony's fault, of course, at least according to Ty) Ty signs them up for a couples retreat. Turns out its a tantric fix-your-sex-life thing, which Ty knew but Tony didn't, so that's great. And guess who Tony runs into on the first day? His ex that got away, Steve Rogers, and his lovely fiance Sharon. Seems like Steve's gay crisis after his stint with Tony led him right back to the straight life, which is just the cherry on top of Tony's shitty sundae. However, it turns out that Steve and Sharon's relationship is far from perfect, just like Tony's. And Tony does remember how happy he used to be with Steve. He highly doubts that Steve thinks the same though. Right? -- I swear I will write this eventually, but the outline alone is like 4000 words long and I just know this fic will be the longest thing I've written yet, and I'm just... yeah. Eventually, I'll get there :)

And I love Tony Stark because to me, he's the human embodiment of mind over matter. Even when all odds are against him, he finds a way to come out on top, despite his multitude of issues. He always pushes for the perfect solution, reinventing himself time and time again. He has flaws, but he wears them like armor. He has trust issues but is fiercely loyal to his inner circle. He's charming and hilarious in the best possible way. And of course, it doesn't hurt that he's hot as hell.

So yeah, Tony is incredible, and I love him. And I love YOU for asking me these questions, thank you so much <3 I consider myself incredibly lucky to count you among my friends <3

[quietlyimplode]

the language of flowers and silent things

Whumptober 2023: day 27 - Scars

Warnings: violence

Word Count: 1.3k (gif not mine)

Summary: the team tries to find out who infiltrated the tower, Natasha calls on old friends for another favour.

A/N: 27 days we’ve been going. Thanks for all the likes/reblogs/comments and encouragement <3 whumptober is always a lot, but this makes it easier x

Masterlist

Whumptober Masterlist

.

2014

NEW YORK

The tower remains standing.

Tony insists on being released as soon as possible and returns to his home with his arm in a sling and concussion that makes him feel sick.

It had taken three days for the Tower to be considered safe, and the holes that had been punched and the parts that had been leveled were supported structurally with more concrete.

The only thing not blown up was a scepter.

Having survived a direct blast, it seems it had created its own protective field and taken a brunt of it, leaving it in a hollowed out floor almost presenting itself to him.

He considers it dangerous, more than anything, and tells Sam to take it.

In a way, he doesn’t trust himself to not investigate the technology. It seems more powerful than any tech at his disposal.

He wonders it if was a bad idea.

He finds Jarvis up and running, and apologizes to his AI for not having a back up generator that even an EMP would be able to stop.

It’s his first project, he decides, so that it never happens again.

The second is cameras.

There’s no footage of the tower infiltration, but there is of the grounds prior.

He sits in front of his televisions and watches the footage over and over.

The Hydra team was organised and calculated, he sends the footage to Fury and then onto Natasha who’d asked for it with a look in her eye, and he knows she felt the same as he did.

He pushes the video back to the start, and watches them infiltrate his home.

.

Isla stands across from Natasha and holds her gun slightly higher.

“Why me?” she asks, walking two steps backwards to obscure herself from the sniper she knows is outside.

“You’ll know where they are,” Natasha says calmly.

“I got your sister out, and now you want more?”

The anger grows, and she fingers the trigger.

“How much more favours do you think you have Natasha? Because by my count, this is the last one.”

She takes two more steps back.

“I’ll see what I can find out, but Natasha I’m going to need something from you.”

She shoots the gun, grazing Natasha’s arm and smiling.

“An eye for an eye, I’ll be in touch,” Isla tells her, backing into the darkness.

.

“Show me,” Clint growls, his anger palpable.

“I’m not going to the hospital,” Natasha replies, tiredly, removing the packing and showing him her bloody arm.

“Just let me see,” he says frustrated.

“She just winged it, it’s payback for something I did to her,” she confesses, taking the pressure off and showing Clint her arm.

“It needs stitches,” he says, poking at it, much to her annoyance.

“Fine, but do it quick.”

He makes her sit on the toilet, the bathroom warm as she removes her top.

The bruises from the Hulk peek out and Clint sighs heavily. Her battered body hurts him in ways he can’t describe.

Keeping her safe felt like a full time job.

Placing a tourniquet above the wound, he focuses on it, inserting an anesthetic with a thin needle.

He’s quiet as he starts to clean it.

“You just let her,” he grumbles, “she shot you and you just took it, carried on, like it was nothing, I don’t think your face even changed.”

She stares.

“Maybe I deserved it,” Natasha says softly.

“You didn’t deserve it,” he says just as quickly.

“You don’t deserve any retribution for anything, not matter what’s happened in the past, okay?” He squeezes her arm unconsciously a little harder in anger, finishing the stitch and washing the wound again.

He watches her closely.

“Isla made her own choices, okay? You’re not responsible for them.”

Natasha doesn’t make eye contact, the last year having more ties and contact with a long extinct part of her, clearly taking its toll.

He thought finding Yelena was a good thing, but even he saw the constant pain it had inflicted.

They’d both taken hits in the search for family.

Just differently.

“Come, the bath is ready,” he offers, placing the last stitch.

She nods, taking the rest of her clothes off.

Clint hops in first, the water hot, scorching his skin; but Natasha sinks in and sighs.

She lays against him, her back to his front and they both languish in the heat and the weightlessness of the water.

Gently, carefully, he traces the coloured bruises, making her shiver and sigh.

Slowly, so slowly his finger dance along the ridges of her ribs.

“I know I shouldn’t care, I know she made her choices but it’s twice she’s come through for me, and if she does it again, it’s a third. I feel like I should do something to help her,” she tells him, her eyes closed.

Then.

“We won’t be able to get married, will we? With everything going on?”

He draws patterns on her arms, sadness rolling over him as she voices something he had also been thinking.

“What makes you think that?”

She sighs heavily against him, drawing patterns on his legs, making all his leg hair go one way and then messing it up and starting again.

“Isla will come through, we will go and find them, then it’ll be Christmas. I thought maybe we would have enough time but what if we don’t?”

She pauses.

“What if we just did it now?”

He laughs, before he realizes she’s not joking.

“Nat, no,” he admonishes.

“Okinawa awaits, we will make it okay?”

He sighs.

“We will.”

.

Standing on the bridge, the stairs heading down the river, Amsterdam feels dark.

Isla appears out of nowhere.

Natasha, dressed in black, makes her presence known, stepping out.

“Put away the gun,” she taunts.

Isla shrugs and drops it.

The sound it makes on the concrete echoes throughout the night.

“Here,” she says, passing a folder over.

“The Hydra team was commissioned. Out of the ones who infiltrated there’s only the man who ordered it. Do you know someone by the name of Pogodin?”

Natasha’s shakes her head slowly, picking through the folder.

“Old war lord, gun runner, now Hydra.They’ll go after it again, you know,” she says softly.

“They have a legion, they’ll go after it and you won’t be able to stop them.”

Isla starts to move away, Natasha tracking her movements.

“But this one, this is the cell you are after,” she finishes.

Natasha raises her gun, and Isla smiles.

“Thank you,” she says.

“Come with me,” she finishes.

Isla laughs and shakes her head.

“No,” she says with finality.

“They’ll kill me, and someone has to keep the others safe,” she shrugs, looking around, to see if Natasha brought back up. She doesn’t trust this, and this line of discussion.

“We can take them down—“ Natasha starts, wanting to do something to repay the help. The Red Room shouldn’t even be something that was still functional. The fact it didn’t die when Dreykov did, is still something Natasha is working through.

Isla frowns.

“Not now, Natasha Romanoff, the Red Room serves as a purpose for orphaned girls, it’s either that or be trafficked, and this way, at least they get skills for life,” she reasons.

“And all the trauma to go with it,” Natasha says angrily.

Isla meets her anger, and takes the bait.

“Where would you have been?” she spits.

“Where would Yelena have been?”

She seems to grow in size as she reasons her position.

“What do you think would happen to them otherwise? Hmm?”

Natasha knows.

“It’s not enough,” she argues.

Isla shrugs.

“It has to be for now,” she replies.

She waves.

“We aren’t done with this,” Natasha says, taking strides forward.

“We are for now,” Isla walks off, waving behind her.

“Good bye Natasha Romanoff,”

.

“They’re in Berlin,” she tells Tony and Steve, passing the folder to them, and nodding.

“Tell the others,” Clint orders.

“We leave in the morning.”

.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 8, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAY 09, 2024

Today, in Racine, Wisconsin, President Joe Biden announced that Microsoft is investing $3.3 billion dollars to build a new data center that will help operate one of the most powerful artificial intelligence systems in the world. It is expected to create 2,300 union construction jobs and employ 2,000 permanent workers. 

Microsoft has also partnered with Gateway Technical College to train and certify 200 students a year to fill new jobs in data and information technology. In addition, Microsoft is working with nearby high schools to train students for future jobs. 

Speaking at Gateway Technical College’s Racine campus, Biden contrasted today’s investment with that made by Trump about the same site in 2018. In that year, Trump went to Wisconsin for the “groundbreaking” of a high-tech campus he claimed would be the “eighth wonder of the world.” 

Under Republican governor Scott Walker, Wisconsin legislators approved a $3 billion subsidy and tax incentive package—ten times larger than any similar previous package in the state—to lure the Taiwan-based Foxconn electronics company. Once built, a new $10 billion campus that would focus on building large liquid-crystal display screens would bring 13,000 jobs to the area, they promised. 

Foxconn built a number of buildings, but the larger plan never materialized, even after taxpayers had been locked into contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars for upgrading roads, sewer system, electricity, and so on. When voters elected Democrat Tony Evers as governor in 2022, he dropped the tax incentives from $3 billion to $80 million, which depended on the hiring of only 1,454 workers, reflecting the corporation’s current plans. Foxconn dropped its capital investment from $10 billion to $672.8 million.  

In November 2023, Microsoft announced it was buying some of the Foxconn properties in Wisconsin.

Today, Biden noted that rather than bringing jobs to Racine, Trump’s policies meant the city lost 1,000 manufacturing jobs during his term. Wisconsin as a whole lost 83,500. “Racine was once a manufacturing boomtown,” Biden recalled, “all the way through the 1960s, powering companies—invented and manufacturing Windex…portable vacuum cleaners, and so much more, and powered by middle-class jobs.

“And then came trickle-down economics [which] cut taxes for the very wealthy and biggest corporations…. We shipped American jobs overseas because labor was cheaper. We slashed public investment in education and innovation. And the result: We hollowed out the middle class. My predecessor and his administration doubled down on that failed trickle-down economics, along with the [trail] of broken promises.” 

“But that’s not on my watch,” Biden said. “We’re determined to turn it around.” He noted that thanks to the Democrats’ policies, in the past three years, Racine has added nearly 4,000 jobs—hitting a record low unemployment rate—and Wisconsin as a whole has gained 178,000 new jobs. 

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act have fueled “a historic boom in rebuilding our roads and bridges, developing and deploying clean energy, [and] revitalizing American manufacturing,” he said. That investment has attracted $866 billion in private-sector investment across the country, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs “building new semiconductor factories, electric vehicles and battery factories…here in America.” 

The Biden administration has been scrupulous about making sure that money from the funds appropriated to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and manufacturing base has gone to Republican-dominated districts; indeed, Republican-dominated states have gotten the bulk of those investments. “President Biden promised to be the president of all Americans—whether you voted for him or not. And that’s what this agenda is delivering,” White House deputy chief of staff Natalie Quillian told Matt Egan of CNN in February. 

But there is, perhaps, a deeper national strategy behind that investment. Political philosophers studying the rise of authoritarianism note that strongmen rise by appealing to a population that has been dispossessed economically or otherwise. By bringing jobs back to those regions that have lost them over the past several decades and promising “the great comeback story all across…the entire country,” as he did today, Biden is striking at that sense of alienation.

“When folks see a new factory being built here in Wisconsin, people going to work making a really good wage in their hometowns, I hope they feel the pride that I feel,” Biden said. “Pride in their hometowns making a comeback. Pride in knowing we can get big things done in America still.” 

That approach might be gaining traction. Last Friday, when Trump warned the audience of Fox 2 Detroit television that President’s Biden’s policies would cost jobs in Michigan, local host Roop Raj provided a “reality check,” noting that Michigan gained 24,000 jobs between January 2021, when Biden took office, and May 2023.

At Gateway Technical College, Biden thanked Wisconsin governor Tony Evers and Racine mayor Cory Mason, both Democrats, as well as Microsoft president Brad Smith and AFL-CIO president Liz Schuler.

The picture of Wisconsin state officials working with business and labor leaders, at a public college established in 1911, was an image straight from the Progressive Era, when the state was the birthplace of the so-called Wisconsin Idea. In the earliest years of the twentieth century, when the country reeled under industrial monopolies and labor strikes, Wisconsin governor Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette and his colleagues advanced the idea that professors, lawmakers, and officials should work together to provide technical expertise to enable the state to mediate a fair relationship between workers and employers. 

In his introduction to the 1912 book explaining the Wisconsin Idea, former president Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, explained that the Wisconsin Idea turned the ideas of reformers into a workable plan, then set out to put those ideas into practice. Roosevelt approvingly quoted economist Simon Patten, who maintained that the world had adequate resources to feed, clothe, and educate everyone, if only people cared to achieve that end. Quoting Patten, Roosevelt wrote: “The real idealist is a pragmatist and an economist. He demands measurable results and reaches them by means made available by economic efficiency. Only in this way is social progress possible.”

Reformers must be able to envision a better future, Roosevelt wrote, but they must also find a way to turn those ideals into reality. That involved careful study and hard work to develop the machinery to achieve their ends. 

Roosevelt compared people engaged in progressive reform to “that greatest of all democratic reformers, Abraham Lincoln.” Like Lincoln, he wrote, reformers “will be assailed on the one side by the reactionary, and on the other by that type of bubble reformer who is only anxious to go to extremes, and who always gets angry when he is asked what practical results he can show.” “[T]he true reformer,” Roosevelt wrote, “must study hard and work patiently.” 

“It is no easy matter actually to insure, instead of merely talking about, a measurable equality of opportunity for all men,” Roosevelt wrote. “It is no easy matter to make this Republic genuinely an industrial as well as a political democracy. It is no easy matter to secure justice for those who in the past have not received it, and at the same time to see that no injustice is meted out to others in the process. It is no easy matter to keep the balance level and make it evident that we have set our faces like flint against seeing this government turned into either government by a plutocracy, or government by a mob. It is no easy matter to give the public their proper control over corporations and big business, and yet to prevent abuse of that control.”

“All through the Union we need to learn the Wisconsin lesson,” Roosevelt wrote in 1912.

“We’re the United States of America,” President Biden said today, “And there’s nothing beyond our capacity when we work together.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[spacecadet-ticklesinspace]

would you ever consider writing any IronDad ( with Peter1 ofc) ORR... any Peter1 with the avengers? its ok if not I was just wondering <3

Bucky, Sam, and Peter

Summary: Peter gets tickled by Sam and Bucky ❤️

(Thank you Anon, second attempt at a fic like this ❤️ I'm still figuring out the personalities of the other characters so any advice or suggestions would be wonderful ❤️ Otherwise, enjoy! ❤️)

Bucky scanned the living room. "Where are you kid?"

Meanwhile, Sam pushed past him into the living room. "Did you loose him already?"

"I didn't loose him."

Sam turned to his friend. "So you know exactly where he is? And we're not just talking into what looks to me like an empty living room?"

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Maybe I lost him for a second. But the kid moves faster than you think."

Sam turned back to the living room. "The kid's what, thirteen? He can't move that much faster than you."

Bucky started walking through the living room. "You'd be surprised Sam."

"Sorry, just didn't expect you to be outsmarted by a fifth grader."

The older super soldier opened his mouth to retort, but then whirled and pointed to a small cubby in the corner of the room.

Sam stepped toward the cubby as quietly as possible followed by Bucky. The two of them stationed themselves on either side of the cubby. Then Sam grabbed the handle before quickly throwing the door open.

Everything was quiet for a half a second before a web came flying through the air. Shortly behind the web was the blur of a figure that Bucky snagged with one arm.

"Eek!"

Bucky readjusted his hold on the squirming figure. "Gotcha!"

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to drop in," Falcon teased the smaller figure.

"No!" Peter whined. "Let me go!"

"Not a chance kid." Bucky hefted him up. "Not when you make a noise like that."

"All I did was squeak!"

Sam started tazering the teen's sides. "Yeah, and which spot was it that made that squeak?"

"Ahh! N-nowhere! Y-you j-just startled me!"

"Then why did you take off so suddenly?"

"Cause you looked at me f-funny!"

Sam paused his tazering. "Oh so we're funny looking?"

Peter scowled. "Yes! Both of you look stupid."

Both older men were taken aback by the young teen's snarky comment.

"Wow, think we should just take that Sam?"

"Nuh-uh." Sam ruffled Peter's hair. "Unless he apologizes."

The young teen pulled his head away as he tried to fight back the smile on his face. "Not on your life old man!"

"Wow, do you give Tony this much attitude?"

"No, it's just reserved for you two."

"And why's that?" Bucky asked.

"Cause you two ahare annoying!"

"Well I don't know about you Buck, but I will not stand for this attitude," Sam exclaimed.

"Neither will I." Bucky started moving toward the couch. "Someone has to teach these kids some manners."

The next instant, Bucky tossed Peter onto the couch. While the young teen curled into a ball, Sam set on the edge of the couch. He scanned the teen's movements, noting that he wasn't trying to hard to get away. "You know, it's not an effective punishment if you like it so much."

Peter blushed big time. "Shut uhup!"

Bucky moved to sit beside the teen's legs. "Doesn't mean it won't still be effective."

Peter pulled his legs up slightly. The grin on his face wobbled nervously.

"Aww, he looks so nervous already."

The young teen kicked out Bucky's arm. "Shuhush!"

Suddenly, the older super soldier pulled both feet into his lap and wrapped his arm around them. "Now you're gonna get it."

Peter's eyes widened as his shoes and socks were yanked off. "W-wait!"

Sam pushed his arms out of the way before digging into his sides. "Too late."

A genuine squeal left the young teen's mouth as he started squirming in place. Both of his sides and feet were attacked by tickles.

"Aww, how old are you again kid? Feel like Tony shouldn't be allowed to hire babies on the Avengers?" Sam teased.

"Ihim nohot aha bahabyhy!"

Falcon spidered his fingers up Peter's sides to his ribs. "Uh-huh, sure."

"NaAHH!" The young teen snorted. "SAAAM!"

Bucky chuckled as he spidered across his foot. "Wow, didn't know yohou cohould get up that high kihid."

"SHUT UHUP!"

Sam moved his tickles to Peter's bottom most ribs. "Gotta make sure that spider bite didn't take away any of your ribs."

Peter's laughter turned higher pitched as he loosely wrapped his hands around Sam's wrists. The rib counting was always torturous and they knew it. And Peter loved it.

It felt so good just throw his head back and cackle for a while.

Once Sam finished his rib tickling, he moved up to the teen's neck to give him a breather. "Alright, alright. Don't explode."

"He has turned a lovely shade of red, don't you think?"

Peter snorted again. "Nohoho!"

"What shade would you call that? Strawberry or vermillion?" Sam added.

"No! Shuhush!"

"But we're not done with you yet."

The next sound to leave the young teen's mouth was a squeal as a finger scratched under his toes. "NOOO! NOT THEHERE! NOHOT THERE!"

"Whatever you're doing Buck, keep it up," Falcon added.

The super soldier chuckled. "I would love to but I don't want to kill him."

Sam turned back to look at Peter's face. "Aww, guess we've tortured you enough, eh kid?"

"YEHES! PLEASE!"

Bucky finally paused his tickles. "Alright, alright. Don't want to kill him."

Peter collapsed into a pile of residual giggles. "Yohou guhuys are soho mean!"

Sam pointed to himself and Bucky. "Oh, we're mean? These two right here? The one's you never told to stop?"

The young teen turtled into his shoulders and made no comment.

"Uh-huh. That's what I thought."

Peter pulled his feet away from Bucky. Before he could stop himself, a pout overtook his face.

"Oh my word, the dramatics," Bucky teased.

Peter's blush darkened as he fixed his face.

Sam smirked. "Well, atleast we figured out where that squeak came from."

Peter scowled. "You already knehew whehere it came from!"

"Yes, and if you smart off again, we know how to find it again," Bucky added as he stretched out his back.

Peter smirked. "Suhure yohou old folks dohon't need aha break first?"

Bucky and Sam shared a look before turning back the young teen.

Peter's smirk faltered for half a second, but he was able to keep it on his face.

Bucky crossed his arms. "You have 5 seconds."

Peter had never run so fast in his life.

[elliyoyo]

Elliyoyo's Masterlist (04/2024)

This has everything from my entire time on Tumblr (2017 to now). Being updated as I post more, and edited when one of my brain cells kick in. Hope you enjoy, love you guys <3

Baldur's Gate 3:

Adverse Effects (Gale Dekarios) - You give Gale a ring to help his condition, but don't check its magical properties first. He ends up hot and bothered, and that's on you, good leader.

Burn Notice:

I Wanna Get Freaky On Camera (Sam Axe) - You get bored and strike up some spicy chit chat with your boyfriend Michael while on a stake out... Oh shit, is that Michael?

Playing Couple's Therapist (Sam Axe) - You and Fiona grab a couple drinks, and to no surprise, Sam shows up to get drunk beside friends. But friends turns to more when you make a confession he won't let you avoid.

Fallout:

The First High (Hancock) - You have a sesh with everyone's favorite mayor. Shooting the shit and taking some hits... Not the worst way the apocalypse could be going.

Hamilton:

I Make the Reporter Beat Box (Lin Manuel Miranda) - You're interviewing LMM and he decides to make you beatbox for him.

SlytherLin (Lin Manuel Miranda) - For Lin, the boggart turns into a battered and beaten version of you. He realizes some things, and acts on them.

When the Clock Strikes Twelve (Modern!Lafayette) - You get a kiss at midnight from the resident French man.

Saved (Modern!Alexander Hamilton) - You're fed up and decide its time to end it, but a peculiar stranger talks you down.

Home (Modern!George Washington) - Your identifying as trans has taken you down a dark, terrifying road with your family. Luckily, your childhood best friend George gives you the option to leave that behind and live with him.

Horror Films:

Hell Hath No Fury Like Two Mad Scientists Scorned (Herbert West) - Dan and Meg try to care for you after Dr. Hill nearly forces himself on you, but nobody would've thought Herbert would've been the one to actually help you.

Say That One More Time? (Herbert West + Dan Cain) - You make an announcement that blows both boys' minds... once Herbert takes a moment to process it.

Herbert West/Reader/Dan Cain Poly HCs - How the boys would be in a relationship, SFW and NSFW.

Marvel:

Christmas Eve (Bucky Barnes) - Bucky is away on a mission, and you give him one last call before Christmas.

Decorating the Tree (Bucky Barnes) - You and Bucky can't seem to keep your hands to yourself while decorating Tony's humongous XXXL Christmas tree.

Eleven O'Clock (Jessica Jones) - You're desperate to find your cat, so you visit an old friend and rekindle some flames between you two.

The Infamous Pancake Order (Loki Laufeyson) - Loki accidentally orders 37 boxes of pancake mix. That's it. That's the fic.

Kissing Under the Mistletoe (Loki Laufeyson) - Thanks to Mr. Wonderful Tony Stark, you and the newest Avenger friend end up having a small lesson in Midgardian traditions.

Dark Blue Suit (Tom Hiddleston) - You just can't help yourself when Tom dresses himself up all dapper for interviews or red carpets.

Baking Cookies (Natasha Romanoff) - You will simply perish if you stop sneaking cookie dough from the bowl Nat is scooping from... but you might actually die if she keeps catching you.

Cookie Craving (Peter Parker) - Late night munchie shenanigans. You two just want some cookies, but you're not the brightest bulbs.

Nightmare (Peter Parker) - You have a nightmare about Peter dying while you helplessly sit there. Even at 3am, he answers your hurried call and comes over.

Pucker Up, Parker (Peter Parker) - Your boyfriend lets you do his makeup, and you get overwhelmed by how well he pulls it off.

Stealing Sweaters (Peter Parker) - After a long night of fun, you have some breakfast with Peter in his sweater.

Visiting Family (Peter Parker) - You're Tony Stark's daughter, he's Tony Stark's kid genius. All anyone can see when they look at you is your father... until Peter Parker and his Aunt.

Wrapping Presents (Pietro Maximoff) - The speedster helps you get your Christmas wrapping done in the blink of an eye, and he expects a thank you.

Movie Night (Wade Wilson) - You sit down to have a nice movie night with your boyfriend, but he's a dick and decides to pick a horror movie instead of one you can bang to.

Accidental Text (Steve Rogers) - You drunk sext Cap, and when you try to go about your day the next morning, of course he's right there.

Getting Lost in the Mall (Steve Rogers) - You lose your boyfriend in a crowd of fangirls, but you use that time separated to your advantage.

Happy Century, Captain! (Steve Rogers) - Cap is 100! Such a special number calls for a very special gift.

Steve's Jacket (Steve Rogers) - You accidentally throw Cap's signature jacket in the wash while he's away on a mission and it hits you hard.

Cuddling by the Fire (Thor Odinson) - You want to warm up on a cold Winter night, so what better way than to cuddle up to a fire with a book and your godly boyfriend?

Playing in the Snow (Thor Odinson) - You start a snowball fight with a God to show him your planet's culture. Not the best idea.

Holiday Party (Tony Stark) - Tony accidentally spills a drink on you during one of his parties, but don't worry, he makes it up to you.

Ugly Sweaters (Tony Stark) - You and Tony try to one-up each other for ugliest sweater and he plays dirty to see what your contender is.

Mötley Crüe:

Just Another Threesome (Vince Neil) - You and your rockstar boyfriend give a random fan the time of her life to get rid of pre-show jitters.

Walk-Ins Accepted (Tommy Lee) - You get off a shift early and stumble upon your drummer roomie in quite the state.

Queen:

Good Girl (Roger Taylor) - Sequel to Naughty School Girl. More submissive Roger, since he enjoyed the last time so much.

Naughty School Girl (Roger Taylor) - You just can't help yourself when you see Roger dressed up for the I Want to Break Free video.

Supernatural:

Traditions (Castiel) - You and the boys enlighten Cas on human New Years Eve traditions.

Nose Kisses (Dean Winchester) - You and Dean put your toddler to bed with plenty of kisses.

First Date (Sam Winchester) - Sam intervenes when some drunk guy decides to pick on you at the bar and thank god for it because you secured yourself a date with the moose.