#‘so if I decided Thanos is trying to save the world by killing half the universe—‘

[swanimagines]

MCU: Imagine getting kidnapped by Thanos, and your boyfriend Peter Parker rescuing you.

requested by anon

Note: nowadays all requests are done straight to asks, this is my old template of posting and I no longer have their asks!

You had been kept in that little glass box for maybe a week now. You weren’t sure, days had blurred together by now. The first two days, you were screaming for them to let you out, threatening them with Tony, Stephen, Steve and Carol, foolishly hoping their names would scare Thanos into letting you go.

You knew Avengers probably didn't know you had been kidnapped though — you had left for a vacation just before Thanos's henchmen hunted you down, drugged you and next you found yourself in that glass cage. You had quit struggling, trying to escape long ago, you learned the hard way how it was foolish. You should’ve saved your strength, but instead you decided to wrestle against the impossible force. Your fists were bruised, your voice almost gone from screaming for help. The walls were indestructible, and you were no superhero like your boyfriend was. You were just an ordinary student who Peter Parker happened to date.

Thanos never visited you. Why would he? You were a bait, you weren’t worth visiting, or taunting. He knew you wouldn’t be able to tell him anything valuable, so instead his henchmen dropped by once in a while to drop you food and water. They never stayed for any longer than that, never even shot you a smirk. Not that you wanted them to, but it really did emphasise how little they thought of you. You weren’t a person, you were an object of convenience.

You knew that once Peter found out you’re missing, he would stop at nothing to rescue you. And other Avengers would join him in searching you out, of course they would. But you weren’t sure if they’d succeed, or if you even wanted to be found. It was a trap, you knew they knew, but… you couldn’t help but be afraid of them underestimating the trap. What if one of them died rescuing you?

The world needed them. But the world didn’t need you, not in that scale or that way. You’d never be out there stopping the apocalypse. You’d never save even one civilian. Compared to them, you were nothing, even when Peter would argue back. You knew your life was precious and you deserved to live and be saved, it wasn’t that you thought little of yourself like that. But you weren’t a superhero and the world was more unstable than ever. Saving you, knowingly taking the bait, would be a huge risk. Thanos surely knew they’d know, and would attempt to gather everything he could for a battle to overtake them, as they’d basically be served to him.

So, you were conflicted about anyone saving you. You didn’t want to die there, and would do anything to see Peter again, but you knew that saving you would potentially kill him. And that would be something you’d never forgive yourself.

You dreamed of it often. The door of your cell busting open, Peter wrapping his arms around you and telling you everything would be all right. And then waking up, half-expecting to wake up in his arms. Hear him say how worried he was about you, how glad he is to have gotten you back.

You looked at the bruises scattered around your knuckles, gently running your fingers across them. Peter had always told you to trust him and the Avengers, that they’d set the world right and stop Thanos. And you wanted to believe him, still did. But you still felt like you were slowing them down by getting yourself kidnapped. You knew it wasn’t your fault, but you still kind of blamed yourself for it.

Then, a flicker of light made you jolt. Or rather a spark, combined with a crackling noise. You stood up, pressing your hands against the glass. 

More sparks.

And you recognised them, they were coming from that ring Dr. Strange owned, you had briefly seen it get used.

You held your breath without even really noticing it, looking at the sparks as they grew more and more frequent, and suddenly a portal appeared.

You could see Ned on the other side, and once your eyes met, he turned to the side and said something — and then Peter appeared, quickly stepping through the portal.

His mouth moved as he looked at you, but you couldn’t hear him and pointed to your ear while shaking your head. Peter looked back at Ned, who reluctantly stepped into the room as well, and you glanced at the door nervously. Thanos could step in at any minute, or one of his henchmen, and then both of them would be dead.

Ned put his arms up and started circling his hand, Peter impatiently watching at him and you. Then, a portal started forming, somehow making a pitch black hole into the glass. Peter gestured you to hurry through, and you jumped before second-guessing it.

Stone floor, someone pulling you up. 

“Oh my god,” a voice said, making your ears ring after so long of not hearing anything aside from your own voice. But you recognised it — MJ. You let her help you up, stared at her for a moment before lunging for a hug, and she hugged you right back.

Crackling again, and you turned your head to see Peter and Ned standing there, and you couldn’t help but burst into tears as you lunged for Peter, almost toppling him over.

“How did you find me?” you muttered against his shirt, but the next moment you pulled back and shook your head. “Or doesn’t matter, I just… I was sure Thanos would… I mean, I didn’t know if you could save me.”

Peter chuckled. “I promised you, didn’t I? I promised to make the world right, and it wouldn’t be right without you.”

You looked at him, cupping his face into your hands. You brushed your thumbs against his cheeks and took in a shaky breath. “I was sure I would die there. I thought that saving me would put you all in danger, that the risk would–”

Peter shook his head, interrupting you. “No way, everyone knew you needed to be saved, you’re one of us, even if you’re not a superhero. We don’t leave anyone behind, especially not you.”

Ned and MJ had quietly left the room, giving you and Peter some space to talk. You swallowed. “I should have been smarter when… I should have known–”

“Don’t,” Peter interrupted you again. “You wouldn’t have been able to prevent it, Thanos had a plan and he knew exactly how to get you without anyone noticing a thing.”

You nodded, knowing he was right. Even if you had stayed at home all day, you would have likely woken up in that cell. You closed your eyes for a moment, and Peter sighed, tugging at your hand. “C’mon. You should get some sleep, let’s go to my place..”

You nodded, letting him lead you out. And when you exited that warehouse and you saw the sun, you finally realised you were going home again.

Requests are open! FANDOM LIST | PROMPT LIST(S) | RULES (READ!!!)

[linkspooky]

What are your thoughts on the Al ghuls?

My second favorite dysfunctional family (behind Slade Wilson, his ex-wife, his butler, his children and Terra which I collectively call the DeathFam). The Al Ghuls specifically Ra's Al Ghul and Talia are my favorite batman villains, sometimes anti-villain, and in Talia's case sometimes Anti-Hero (My Girl's got range.) Since you asked my thoughts I will try to give them as organized as possible but warning there are a lot.

1. On The League in General

The League, the Lazarus Pits, and the mythology surrounding them is one of the coolest parts of DC Lore in general. In my opinion the best portrayals of the league are when they are one hundred percent genuine about their ideals. One joke I like to make is that Poison Ivy and Ra's are both environmentalists, but unlike Poison Ivy R'as actually has a plan and resources. Ra's love for the world and his desire to save it is at the core of his character, and the reason he will not let himself die, or let go in any real way because his work is not done.

One aspect I do not like about the league is that they are supposed to be antagonists, but I wish Ra's plan was more developed than "kill a whole bunch of people so the resources can be split amongst the survivors." That's such a disagreeable plan Ra's point to make about how the whole planet is dying and nothing superheroes do is really fixing that problem is kind of lost. It's also as dumb as movie Thanos idea to snap and destroy half the life in the universe. If I were to tweak it, I would make Ra's agenda more in line of a communist revolution. That is get rid of the capitalistic systems that drive the destruction of earth's natural resources for endless production and profit. That change would make some of the leagues motivations and methods much more sympathetic.

The league would still be villains however, because even if in this tweaked versions their methods are understandable they're still a big huge cult. Which is an aspect that a lot of fans and sometimes comic writers seem to miss. In the microcosm (Ra's personal family) and the macrocosm (the whole league) the league is a cult centered entirely around Ra's ego, his ideals, his wishes. Even if you can sympathize with their ideas of revolution and go "Hey, that might work" the League is still going about it the wrong way because they constantly prey upon vulnerable minors and people on the edge of society and then raise them up into loyal pledges to a cause. A lot of real life fringe groups do this too. In this version the league recruits members because it's easier this way, which is in line with Ra's character. The whole conflict with Ra's is that he just will not let go of control, he talks about how he wants an heir to take over everything but that's never going to happen because he won't even let himself die. You could fix this too, take the league out of Ra's hands, reform it, and it could be a more genuine force for good. So yeah, my take is less the league isn't good because they assassinate politicians and have more revolutionary ideals, but rather the league is bad because they regularly groom minors.

2. Ra’s Al Ghul

Here is a comic panel of Daphne from Scooby Doo sword fighting Ra’s Al Ghul, mostly because I love it. 

Ra’s is THE Batman villain for me. If the Joker represents Batman’s completely anti-thesis, then Ra’s is Bruce, all of his ideals, his nobility, taken to their most logical extreme. He’s the definition of the noble demon. If you want to ready story arcs that I think show off Ra’s at his best, there’s the “Tower of God” storyline where Ra’s finds all of Batman’s measures against the Justice League he prepared in case any of them turned evil and then decides to use them himself. Then there is “Injustice 2″ which is one of the better depictions of Ra’s where he is at his most genuine to his goal of environmentalism and even at points sits down at the table to talk with the superheroes in a more peaceful manor on how they could be doing better. 

If the Tower of God storyline did not explain it to you, Ra’s reflects Bruce in good aspects and bad ones. The same relentless dedication that Bruce has to saving Gotham, Ra’s applies to the whole world. Ra’s also like other batman villains shows how a generally positive trait like Bruce’s insane levels of dedication can easily turn into a flaw. Bruce has no powers just his martial arts training, but just will not give up under any circumstances. Ra’s determination gets him into a horrible cycle of corrupting himself worse and worse over the years both due to overuse of the pits and also frustration at a world that refuses to change, and also shows in his inability to surrender power in any real way. 

The way Ra’s treats his direct family, and the league as a whole is also a dark mirror to Batman and the Bat Family. Now, I don’t believe that Bruce is raising up hero sidekicks as child soldiers... Suspension of disbelief people! However,  Ra’s genuinely does treat all of his children as tools for his agenda. As much as he has the capacity to love them, their needs and desires will always come second to his use for them. Ra’s is undeniably a groomer not in the sexual sense but in the sense he is using his position of power raising up and manipulating these minors to shape them into what he wants them to be. 

Ra’s also represents Bruce’s paranoia and the times where he abuses his position as patriarch of a family to manipulate his kids lives. Ra’s is undeniably the one who holds the most power in the Al Ghul family, and he uses that imbalance in power entirely to his own ends. What he creates is a cycle of generational abuse that lasts all the way until Damian.  Ra’s also represents Bruce’s sometimes toxic ideas of masculinity turned up to 11. My man is a 400 year old misogynist. He is obsessed with ideas like divine birthright, dynasty, legacy as shown by the way he once again treats his children. His oldest son is disqualified for being albino and therefore having a defect, Nyssa and Talia are disqualified for being born women. The fact that Bruce represents his ideal heir and he is a man with money and power the peak of what society considers is masculinity is you know, telling of his opinions towards gender. Bruce and Ra’s are both carriers of family legacies, who devote all of their money and power to their genuinely good goals, but Ra’s seems to believe that might makes right, the money, resources and bloodline he has makes him inherently better or even chosen. Which cycles into the reason why he will never let go of said power. 

3. Talia Al Ghul 

Talia is my favorite member of the family, she is also hardest to talk about because she suffers from two things number one being wildly different depending on the writer, and two orientalism. Now I won’t discuss this much not because I don’t think it’s important but because I’m not qualified to talk on such subjects and a practicer of the “stay in your own lane” philosophy. The orientalism in Talia’s character is undeniably there, and also a part of a pattern in DC where female brown mothers are regularly villainized to make their white fathers look better. I think Grant Morrison’s take on Talia is inherent dehumanizing of her and kind of reducing her to a plot object, and also a deviation from the original ideas her character was meant to represent. I think also Talia has a habit of being reduced to her relationships to the men in her life rather than her own person with you know thoughts and feelings. Women have those. The league also as a whole is orientalist as a concept there’s really no getting away from that. 

Just as an example of how Talia and Damian’s relationship could be better depicted than it currently is in comics. There’s a storyline in the fourth season of Young Justice that I really like (even though I don’t like the cartoon that much) which explores the family dynamic between Cheshire, Roy and Lian. Cheshire attempted to stay with Roy to raise Lian for awhile, until she went back to the lifestyle and could not give it up. Her sister Artemis eventually goes after her and it’s revealed that Cheshire left Lian with Roy not because she chose being an assasin over her but Cheshire believes she is inherently bad and harmful person and has too much in common with her abusive father and if she is in that kid’s life she will only hurt them. It also ends on a hopeful note that if Cheshire puts the work in on becoming a more emotionally healthy version of herself she could return to that household. 

Now that that disclaimer is out of the way (please don’t yell at me for this I love Talia. If you want to discuss it further please use my askbox, I don’t like it when people reblog my posts to argue with me.) The most interesting aspect of the Demon’s Head is the generational abuse storyline. There’s no two ways about it, Talia repeats the cycle with Damian. That’s what makes abuse generational. Once again the whole storyline from conception of Talia having a secret love child with Bruce is kind of orientalist but you have to work with the plotline you got. At least until somebody retcons it. 

Now I am going to go on a long diatribe on how Talia repeating a cycle of abuse that starts with Ra’s does not make her an inherently bad person. This is where I am qualified to talk because I’ve done a lot of research into this subject! Talia grew up in a cult. Not only that she was the direct daughter of the cult’s leader. In the microcosm Ra’s family is what you would call a Narcisstic Family Structure: a family centered around one person’s individual needs where the other’s needs go underlooked. In the macrocosm it’s a goddamn cult. 

People view members of cults as either stupid, or immoral for joining because they imagine it could never happen to them, but the way cults work is by preying on vulnerabilities every single person has. 

No one joins a cult voluntarily; they are recruited into it. There is lack of informed consent. Everyone has vulnerabilities. Possible situational vulnerabilities include illness, the death of a loved one, breakup of an important relationship, loss of a job, or moving to another city, state or country. [x]

Haruki Murakami wrote a book named “Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche.” It is a non-fiction book containing several interviews of victims in the aftermath of the Saren Gas Attacks. This is a real life event where the Aum Shinrikyo Cult convinced its members to release Saren gas in several subway trains. While the attack was viewed by society as an act of fringe extremists, the cult was made up of members who were educated people, doctors, lawyers, who were still somehow convinced this was a good idea. 

The interviews highlight many intriguing aspects of the Japanese psyche. Work was a high, if not central, priority for most of the interviewees. Isolation, individualism, and lack of communication were also strong themes which were common throughout many accounts of the attacks. Many of the interviewees expressed disillusionment with the materialism in Japanese society and the sensationalistic media, as well as the inefficiency of the emergency response system in dealing with the attack.

The book also includes Murakami's personal essay on the attacks, "Blind Nightmare: Where Are We Japanese Going?" In this essay, he criticizes the failure of the Japanese to learn from the attacks, preferring to dismiss it as the extreme act by a group of lunatics rather than analyze the true causes and prevent similar events from occurring in the future.

I bring this up once again to reinforce the idea that anyone can be preyed upon by a cult, and Talia was literally born into that environment. Clts also operate with a specific method of cutting off their members from the outside world to cut off their ability to leave (BITE: Behavior Control, Information Control, Thought Control, Emotional Control). Talia grew up in an environment where most likely all her social interactions and her contact with the outside world was controlled by Ra’s and only Ra’s because in most versions her mother dies early in her life usually in some horrific way. 

That’s not even getting to the kind of parent that Ra’s is. He is always a really outwardly loving parent to Talia, but that love comes with a big huge asterisk. Ra’s loves his children until they either have a defect, or they decide to be someone other than what he wants them to be, at which point he either cuts them off, or relies on emotional manipulation to regain control. Talia’s only parental figure was both extremely loving, but made it clear that love was conditional. Even if Talia tries to live up to Ra’s expectations of her and be what he wants her to be, she’s immediately disqualified from actually taking on the mantle she was groomed for her entire life by being a woman. Even the original concept of Talia’s character who is much more anti-hero than anti-villain chooses her father over Bruce at times because Ra’s conditional love is what she knows, whereas Bruce’s love for her is something she does not understand fully even if she desires it. 

I’m going to bring up my favorite comic book character Terra here. Terra was also a character who her creators have said several disrespectful things about and she was not created by the best of intentions. However, Terra is a unique character because she is one of the few grooming and CSA victims who is allowed to be downright unlikable, to show her trauma in what are considered to be traditionally bad ways. She’s a character with flaws and agency and stuff. Terra represents a specific kind of fifteen year old kid who usually does not get help and adults believe is a lost cause. Characters who carry Terra’s trauma either magically get over it, or they are just reduced to weak, pitiful shells. I’d rather have Terra be the mess she is than either of those things. It’s honest to a reality that certain people face, and also shows victims who would not normally get sympathy. 

I just went to great length to establish the horror of Talia’s upbringings so she’d undeniably be affected by it. I won’t even mention what kind of mother Talia is because wildly depends on the author, but the decision to raise Damian in that cult rather than try to leave is her perpetuating the cycle. This is something that happens in real life too, parents who are preyed upon by cults will either drag their kids into it, or raise them up in that same life when they are young and vulnerable. It’s undeniably something she did to Damian and deserves to be called out on. 

If Talia shares Ra’s nobility and idealism she also reflects his bad qualities as well, his belief in special people, of causes that succeed individuals, of noble purposes. Especially since these are toxic ideas that Ra’s has essentially forced onto her. I don’t even think Talia is past the point of redemption or incapable of learning to be a better mother, because while abuse is a chain it’s also a chain that can be broken. 

4. Damian Wayne / Al-Ghul

To begin with I don’t think Bruce is a good parent to Damian, and Talia is a bad one. They both kind of fail Damian in equal and totally different ways. I don’t believe Robin is a child soldier, but right away making Damian Robin is kind of a mistake because Bruce makes him Robin to try to fix some perceived flaw from being raised by the League, when really Damian is more or less just a ten year old kid reacting how any ten year old kid would if they were groomed their entire life and had that kind of destiny practically forced upon them. 

The difference between Talia and Damian is of course, Damian got out of there which gives him a unique opportunity that Talia didn’t to make connections outside of the League and to the outside world and therefore learn to think in different ways then how he was raised to think. Damian represents the chance to break the cycle of generational abuse passed down from grandfather, to mother, to son. 

Because like I said Damian reserves the right to call out his mother for not choosing to put him first, but at the same time Damian undeniably loves his mother. Even in the storylines where they have a strained relationship at best Damian is fiercely loyal to her because essentially Damian and Talia want the same thing which is to have a loving family of their own, and to be their own people outside of their usefulness to other people (cough, cough, Ra’s). 

Damian’s character arc tends to repeat a lot but there are more modern storylines that are pushing Damian in this direction where his goal is a reconciliation of the past and to be able to move on with a healthier version of their relationship. Ra’s getting shot in the head helped a whole lot. 

Damian represents a chance to break the cycle for both himself and his mom, because like I said Talia isn’t an inherently bad person, or a bad parent, she just like anybody else has an opportunity to grow and develop as a person especially if one day she gets to finally move on from the league. People can be influenced by circumstances, but also circumstances change and in better environments people have a chance to do better. Damian isn’t obligated to forgive either parent for the ways they’ve failed him but at the same time he clearly wants a connection with both of his parents, and is willing to work with them on it. 

It is funny how Damian typically gets portrayed as the edgy Robin, because in my mind he’s actually one of the most normal ones. He acts like a thirteen year old boy, with the needs of a thirteen year old boy, he desires a normal life outside of capes and costumes. He just has been told he’s the chosen one all his life and that’s had an effect on the way he views the world. Damian has every chance to break the chain that Ra’s started though, and that’s probably where the comics should go if they didn’t repeat the same plotline with him like nine million times. 

[dxncingwithastrxnger]

Me watching Iron Man and getting emotional over suddenly remembering his death and my step dad's over here like, "He didn't die to save the world, he just dies to save half the people. Now they're just gonna go back to killing all the worlds again." And I was just like, "Uh, Thanos decided he was gonna kill everybody-" and he was just like, "Yeah, but only cause of their meddling in time. So truly, he just saved half the world that didn't need to come back. Cause Thanos had a point with that."

Bro, I was just trying to enjoy my fandom shit, don't come at me with your "Thanos was right" bullshit rn, pretty please 😭😭😭

[worstloki]

the reason that thanos is a dumb villian is because kang/he who remains wrote his entire life out and made him do all those things, which i think is funny.

Episode 6 should’ve been Loki giving Kang a masterclass on storytelling

[itsclydebitches]

A question just came to me, and I thought it might be of interest to you. What do you think about comparisons between Ironwood and Thanos? I personally agree with Ironwood, but not really with Thanos.

Honestly, my immediate thought was, "...What comparison?" because those two and their situations are so radically different that any non-surface juxtaposition would require deliberately ignoring large swaths of either/both characterizations to (supposedly) make sense.

With the disclaimer that I really only know Thanos through the MCU films, he's a genocidal supervillian right from the get-go who, entirely of his own free will, decided to personally kill off half the universe's population in a SEVERELY illogical attempt to "fix" a resources problem. (Thanos you are so, so stupid.) There is no one pushing Thanos to take extreme action. Thanos spends his entire runtime torturing and murdering folks in his quest to deliberately kill billions. He's never once (to my recollection) shown to hesitate in his beliefs, consider others' opinions, or grapple with misplaced trust. This is a guy who came out of the gates saying, "Yes, I want to commit genocide and I will kill whoever else is necessary to achieve that."

Meanwhile, Ironwood was a hero who heel-turned into an antagonist, someone who spent seven out of RWBY's eight volumes being backed into corners by the actual, potential Thanos comparison: Salem, someone who is also hell-bent on killing and torturing whoever is necessary in order to bring about the death of her world. (The comparison gets a little more interesting if we throw my minuscule comic knowledge into the mix and consider Salem's "I want to die" motivation alongside Thanos' "I'm in love with/obsessed with the personification of death" motivation.) Ironwood never wanted to kill off Mantle in an effort to make things easier for Atlas, he didn't see how it was possible to rescue an already presumed-to-be doomed city without taking the whole Kingdom down with them — to say nothing of the ramifications for all of Remnant — and, crucially, no one offered him a solution. Ironwood spent 95% of his runtime second-guessing himself, grappling with mistakes, begging others to help him out, and dealing with the fallout of allies betraying him. This is a guy who came out of the gates saying, "I want to save as many people as I possibly can and I'm willing to personally sacrifice whatever is necessary to achieve that: I'll fight in Beacon alone if you all need to leave, I'll shoulder the people's hatred if it means they're protected, I'll give up another limb, no hesitation, if it gets a dangerous villain off the streets." Which is why when he suddenly went, "Never mind, I like bomb threats and torture now" so many of us went, "We don't hate the concept in theory but how the hell did we get here?"

For me, Thanos and Ironwood couldn't be more different. I mean yes, there's a surface comparison specifically in the tail end of Volume 8 wherein both have a "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" mindset, but everything surrounding that — the context — is so different as to make the comparison useless. It's like trying to frame Cinder and Jaune as comparable because "They both want to kill Penny!" and, my issues with Jaune's scene aside, it's really important that one person is trying to willfully murder her for personal power whereas the other is agreeing to a requested suicide in order to help protect others. Ironwood and Thanos have a similar vibe to that, wherein we can't just pluck out the most basic description of their actions and pretend like they're equal.

[magickgirl786]

Fixing MCU Spider-Man (4/6)

I loved No Way Home and decided to watch all three of Tobey’s movies and both of Andrew’s movies as well as all of Tom’s MCU appearances after watching No Way Home and I have come to the conclusion that I really don’t like the MCU’s portrayal of Spider-Man/Peter Parker

This is because they decided to write him as a T/ony S/tark fanboy which goes against a lot of his characterization from the comics and previous film versions of him

So I decided that I am going to fix MCU Spider-Man and next up is Avengers Endgame

Fixing MCU Spider-Man (4/6): Avengers Endgame

I know that Peter isn't in the first half of this movie but I can't not make some changes to it, so I'm going to lol. The first change is that when T/ony brings up that whole "suit of armour around the world" bullshit, everyone else is going to get mad at him and remind him that a) Ultron was not going to stop Thanos and what would have stopped Thanos or at least had more of a chance of stopping Thanos was if you didn't sign The Accords and the Avengers had actually been together when all this shit went down and b) your shitty idea was what literally turned into a murderbot and nearly killed everyone on Earth so please stop bringing it up every chance you get MY GOD /end rant

Like I said in my Avengers Infinity War rewrite, Aunt May does not get dusted and she gets a scene where she slaps the shit out of T/ony for everything he did to Peter (taking him out of the country, blackmailing him, not giving him the full story about The Accords, ghosting him, taking away his suit, berating him, etc.) that all culminated in Peter getting dusted

Instead of T/ony seeing a photo of him and Peter that gets him to decide to help the team with the time heist, he sees something else (maybe the pen he used to try to get Steve to sign The Accords) and flashes back to Peter in my Avengers Infinity War rewrite telling him the part he played in the Avengers breaking up due to all of the bullshit with The Accords and them not being together to stop Thanos and this makes T/ony realize he needs to change and help save everyone

Pretty much everything else stays the same except that Peter stops outing his identity to literally everyone like his whole thing is "OMG NO ONE CAN KNOW THAT I'M SPIDER-MAN" yet he tells everyone and their mom "HI I'M PETER PARKER" like no lol

Oh and there’s no scene of Peter crying over T/ony’s dead body because a) it was really shitty how to see her husband/father of her child, Pepper literally had to move Peter out of the way herself and b) there is no I/rondad and S/piderson in this version of the MCU. Instead, Peter can say something like “T/ony, I’m sorry you had to die so all of us could live but you truly redeemed yourself. Thank you for your sacrifice” and then move out of the way on his own so Pepper can grieve because that way it acknowledges the sacrifice T/ony made while not making it seem like T/ony is the only important thing in Peter’s life the way the original movie did

My final change is that I am adding Michelle/MJ to the scene where Peter and Ned reunite at the school because that way, we can do little hint of a spark between Peter and Michelle/MJ because as much as I love Spideychelle and Tom and Zendaya's chemistry, it's literally so out of the left field in Spider-Man Far From Home that they're like so in love with each other with literally no lead up lol

Next up will be fixing Spider-Man Far From Home!

[wandaromanova]

“And I... Am...” [2]

A Natasha Romanoff x Gn!Avenger!Reader story

warnings: fighting, little bit of violence, angst, death (let me know if i should add any!)

A/N: Ahhh, here’s the final part of this very brief series. i hope you all enjoy and if anyone would like me to write something else my asks are open. thank you for reading! <3

tagging: @username23345

summary: 5 years ago, the avengers lost. half the world may have been taken away, but Y/N’s entire world faded to nothing in their arms. they would do anything to bring everyone back, most especially the love of their life. whatever it takes.

Part 1

Word Count: 3.7K words

(gif is not mine)

5 years. 5 years without seeing her bright, pearly white smile. 5 years without her sarcastic comments and snarky remarks. 5 years without her messy red hair sprawled across her pillow as she sleeps peacefully beside you. 5 years without her warm hugs as her lavender scented perfume invades your senses. 5 years without long nights of cuddling in each other’s arms as you watched the cheesy romcoms of your choice. 5 years without waking up to her playfully kissing your face. 5 years without her standing by your side during missions. 5 years without your little dinner dates that you both decided to go on whenever you both had the time. 5 years without her teasing kisses against your neck that made you laugh as hard as ever before. 5 long, long years without Natasha Romanoff.

Everyday without her was agonizingly slow. Every part of your shared apartment a constant reminder of your failure. Your failure to protect the world, the failure of protecting your world. Natasha always ensured your safety and protection when you needed her most, and the time she needed you; you astronomically failed her. Your heart ached every night as you fell asleep, even more so in the mornings. The mornings were the worst as you would reach over to her side of the bed, expecting to feel her peaceful form breathing steadily next to you, but you are only met with the cold white sheets of your once shared bed. The cold sheets a heartbreaking contrast to her warm body.

You didn’t get a single night of uninterrupted rest, as the memory of Natasha fading to nothing in your arms would replay over and over like a song stuck in your head. You cried the first time you returned home on that fateful day. The walls of your apartment holding the memories of happier times, when she was still alive. Her coffee cup that she never washed and left on the counter every morning still sitting where she left it that very day. You didn’t have the heart to move it. You didn’t dare to move any of her things, leaving them where she had placed them. You wore all of her hoodies though, as they still held her scent. However, you went through all of her hoodies quickly, her scent fading away just like she had. You considered not staying in the apartment, the memory of her making it hard to breathe within the confines of your shared space. But, you didn’t have the heart to leave it either. Leaving your home felt like leaving her, although your true home was her.

You tried to hold out hope though. Every single day you would go to the Avengers Compound and oversee any occurrences. You would communicate with any avengers that were not in New York or simply not on earth such as Captain Marvel, Rocket, Rhodes, and Okoye. You got consumed by your need to compensate for the failure that changed your life and absolutely wrecked your self-esteem. Although you were stuck in the past, some of the other avengers tried to move past it. Tony and Pepper brought a beautiful daughter named Morgan into the world, you were so happy for them, albeit a bit envious. Steve joined a support group, Clint was.... somewhere doing lord knows what. But you remained in the compound, constantly ignoring your own well-being, unable to stomach the failure and desperately trying to find something to hold out hope. However, your stubbornness was not for naught, as one day, while Steve visited you at the Compound, Scott Lang appeared at the front of the Compound. As he explained about Quantum Physics and the possibility of time travel, hope made its way back to you full force. You could all quite possibly make things right again. This spark of hope didn’t ignite within you only, but it also coursed through the remaining avengers when they were informed of the insane, but good idea of time travel.

——————————————————————————

Time travel. That’s our only hope of restoring what used to be. It sounds absolutely insane, but it’s the only option we have. Just the fact that there even is an option, is a miracle. Tony took a little bit of time to be on board with the idea, but he came around and now all the avengers stand together on the platform. Clint and Rhodey were set to go to Vormir. You, Tony, Banner, and Steve were to go to New York. Nebula went to Morag, Thor and Rocket went to Asgard while Scott stayed behind. What felt like hours for the team, was only a minute in real time. As you all made it back to the present, you looked around at the entire team. “Did we get them all?” You turn to your right and look at Banner. “You mean to tell me this actually worked?” You asked with a wide smile. Suddenly, a thud is heard to your left.

The entire team looks at Rhodes, he is soaked and it is then you notice Clint’s absence. “Rhodey? Where’s Clint?” You ask nervously. Rhodes just looks up at the team with sorrow evident in his eyes. The whole room knew what that meant as it fell silent, you dropped to your knees. You were as close to Clint as Nat was, given he was your girlfriend’s best friend. Your soul was absolutely crushed by the news, and the fact that someone would have to tell his family about his sacrifice to bring everyone back was heart crushing. However, Clint’s death only fueled the motivation to get this over with once and for all. No one had time to truly mourn as now that the team retrieved the stones, the stones just needed to be placed into the gauntlet.

However, this was not the hardest part, no. The hardest part was figuring out who should actually snap their fingers. Thor, Tony, and yourself offered to do the snap, but Banner immediately intervened. “It’s gotta be me. You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive.” He said solemnly. “How do we know you will?” You asked him seriously. “We don’t, but the radiation is mostly gamma. It’s like, I was made for this.” He finished off, and everyone in the room begrudgingly agreed. Unfortunately, before Banner could even put his hands on the gauntlet, the compound was attacked by a huge explosion, sending everyone flying in different directions, some knocked out by the impact and buried beneath rubble.

——————————————————————————

You wake up with a groan, you entire body is aching. You slowly open your eyes and take in your surrounds. You are buried beneath the concrete of the compound. The once magnificent architectural building, now a destroyed foundation. You look to your right and notice that water is flooding into the area where you, Rhodes, and Rocket are trapped. You noticed that Rocket and Rhodes are both trapped under a piece of cement and you use your powers to lift it off of them before dropping it back onto the ground with a grunt.

You speak into comms, “Is anyone there? We’re trapped and are unable to get out of here. I can hold off the water, but I can’t get us back to the surface.” Your powers are strong, but it will take a great deal of energy to get yourself, Rhodes, and Rocket out of here. You have no clue how deep you guys are below the surface. But you could at least hold off the water until someone is able to save you all. Scott replies and says “I’m on my way, I’ll get you guys.” And you mumble a “thanks” before asking another question, “How on earth did this happen?” you ask this as you use your powers to form some sort of blockade to keep the water from drowning you all. Scott suddenly appears, going back to his regular size and says “Nebula was compromised. You guys better hang onto something,” as he turns into a giant and breaks you all out of the concrete cage you were held in.

As you all return to the surface, Scott places the three of you on the ground. You take notice of the state of Steve, Tony, and Thor. They are badly beaten as Thanos cowers over them. Your eyes widen as you notice the ships approaching behind Thanos, along with his army of thousands. You, Rocket, Rhodey, (and Gamora??) together, ready to attack. You have no time to question Gamora’s sudden seeming resurrection as you notice Banner is the only one missing from the bunch, nowhere to be seen. You turn to everyone as you point at the gauntlet in Gamora’s arms and speak “Protect that gauntlet at all costs, don’t let him get to it. As soon as Banner is spotted, give it to him so he can do the snap and end this, once and for all. Understand?” Everyone nods in acknowledgement at your words.

A sense of deja vu hits you as you turn to face the impending battle. Once again you all are drastically outnumbered, you all must stand and fight against Thanos once more. The only differences being that you all are 5 years older, half of the universe’s population is gone, and Natasha is not by your side. The entire team is angered that this happened in the first place and the desire and will to defeat the mad titan is as strong as its ever been. You all failed to protect the world and your loved ones once, you all refused to lose this battle again. You all have something to fight for. You all attack and after what felt like hours of fighting Thanos’ army, you notice Scott running with the gauntlet, and your eyes widen as Thanos makes his way towards Scott. You quickly throw the enemies you were dealing with, with the flick of your hand and rush for the titan head-on.

Using your vibrant blue powers, you strike Thanos with a powerful beam of energy. Thanos tries to block himself but is a little too late as he’s sent flying back. “You took everything from me.” You say angrily and with a vengeful conviction as your eyes turn blue and your blue powers waver across your hands, levitating you a few feet off the ground. The titan stares at you as he stands and says “I don’t even know who you are.” You look at him and tilt your head, and reply with a dangerous calmness, “You will.” You then end up encasing Thanos, holding him up high in the air, your powers acting as blue hands. You squeeze him with all the strength you can conjure up and start to rip off his armor without laying a finger on him. “Rain fire!” The titan exclaimed to his servant. “But sire, our troops.” “Just do it!” Thanos screams. Unfortunately, you were so caught up in your rage that you failed to notice what Thanos was saying. You were soon knocked out with a powerful blast from a ship above you. Your grip on Thanos no more as you flew across the field and were knocked unconscious.

——————————————————————————

You wake up and groggily try to take in your surroundings. Your entire team beat to the ground. Banner, Scott, and Clint are unconscious, and the rest of the team are too weakened to move. Captain Marvel was also here, when she got here? You have no idea, but that doesn’t matter as she was knocked out as well. However, at least the giant ships and Thanos’ army had been taken out. You guys did impressively well considering how outnumbered you all were. You look away from your battered teammates beside you and you feel panic wash over you. Above you, the massive titan stands, placing the gauntlet on his hand. No. He CANNOT get that gauntlet, you think in a panic. However, your body is too weak to get up, you still try to stand with every ounce of strength that’s left in your body, but to no avail. All of a sudden, you feel a tingling sensation from your hands that you have never felt before.

You look at your hands and notice little sparks of electricity forming. This has never ever happened before, your powers are a dark blue and are more like laser beams than sparks. What is happening? As you stared at your hands, you failed to notice Mjölnir rising beside Thor. Mjölnir abruptly launches itself into your hand, and you suddenly feel a surge of electricity flow through your veins, giving you a spark of energy. The people who are still conscious are shell-shocked as they had all tried and failed to wield the mighty hammer. You yourself had even failed to lift Mjölnir all those years ago before the Ultron situation, but now here you were, worthy and determined to win this battle. As you attempt to stand once more, Thor joyfully exclaims “I knew it!” At Thor’s words, Thanos stomps on Thor, successfully knocking the Asgardian God out cold.

You rise to your feet, the only thing on your mind being that you need to bring Natasha back. You charge at Thanos, rising off the ground as your dark blue powers mixed with the lightning of mjölnir radiate off of you. You struck the titan with a powerful, concentrated hit with Mjölnir before using up the most power you ever have. You manage to do damage to Thanos, but with the gauntlet on he manages to use the stones to fight against your own powers. As he hits you, he fails to notice you exchange the gauntlet with the stones, with another gauntlet that he failed to notice lying on the ground. As your body is flung like a ragdoll across the floor, you look up as Thanos says “I... am inevitable.” And he snaps his fingers, but nothing happens. He, along with everyone else looks confused as he does this. All of them were puzzled, except for you.

You get on your knees and place the real gauntlet on. The energy so powerful as it courses through your veins, it’s an intense burn as if your blood was made of fire, pumping through every part of your body. You look around at the team, the people you have grown to love and call a family. You know that this will be the end of you, but you are content with that. What better way to go than saving the world and bringing the love of your life back? The team seems aware of your fate as well, the sadness evident on the faces of the broken down avengers. It hurt them, but they knew it had to be done. They couldn’t stop you, even if they tried. You already had the gauntlet on and you had made up your mind. After one last glance at your family, you focus back on Thanos, who stares at you in shock. A human wielding the stones, that was a sight for sore eyes. The snap almost killed Thanos the first time, imagine now? You have powers of your own, yes, but you’re still a human. You take a deep breath, your mind is racing as it is taken over by thoughts of Natasha. How you’ll never get to see her red hair and green eyes sparkle again, how you’ll never hear her raspy laugh that warms you up inside, and how you’ll never have the future you both had always wanted together. But you remind yourself that this is all for her, and that was the final push you needed to follow through with this plan.

You stare Thanos dead in the eye again as you shakily say “I... Am...” you envision Natasha and her big bright smile as you finally say “an Avenger.” And with the snap of your fingers, a bright light consumes your body and radiates across the field. All you hear is the ringing in your ears and all you can focus on is the burning of your charred body. The conscious team members gather around you, they are all speaking to you but you can’t fully hear what they’re saying. They sound far away even though they’re right in front of you. You watch as Thanos and his little servants disappear into dust, just like half of the population did 5 years ago. You release a heavy sigh of relief at the sight.

You look back to Steve who’s directly in front of you. He reaches into his pocket and dials a number, and when he turns the phone towards you, you notice the contact name; Natasha. Steve’s eyes widen as the redhead actually answers her phone, it worked. He however, tried to swallow his shock as he let’s her know that you’ll be put on the line. He doesn’t have the heart to inform her of your condition. You use every muscle in your body just to reach out for the phone and grasp it in your hand. “Hello? Y/N, baby?? Where are you?? What happened??” You smile widely at the sound of her deep, raspy voice as your eyes slowly start to close. The team panics as they try to convince you to keep your eyes open just a little longer, Natasha’s voice sounding more concerned and alarmed at the coaxing of the team. We did it, we really did it... she’s okay... it’s okay... is your final thought as your eyes close even further. The darkness is so tempting and you find yourself falling deeper and deeper into it, until you’re consumed by it. Never to see the light again.

——————————————————————————

2 weeks later

At your funeral, Nat was suspiciously devoid of emotion as the ceremony commenced. It was so weird for the team to see and they were genuinely worried. Natasha was always sure to not make her emotions known, it’s how she was trained as an assassin, but to show no emotion after losing the love of her life? Definite cause for concern. After the beautiful ceremony and burial, the team all returned to Tony’s cabin, he let the team know that there was something he needed to share with them. Tony stands before the team in his living room and places his iron man helmet on the mantle. He clears his throat before he begins, “Before the time heist, Y/N approached me and asked me a favor. They borrowed my iron man helmet and asked me to play this recording if things went south. So, this is me fulfilling their final wish.”

You appear as a hologram, sitting on a chair in your time heist suit. “So, if you’re watching this.. that means that I’m... yanno” and you make a throat slicing motion with a little laugh. You then realize that the people watching this will most likely not find humor in your little joke and immediately stop laughing. “I hope that in watching this, that means that we succeeded in bringing everyone back. It’s all we have been hoping and praying for, for the past 5 years. And I pray to God... or to Thor... that it worked out.” You actually laugh at your terrible attempt at a joke. Everyone in the room laughs at your corniness with tears in their eyes.

“If we did win, that must mean that you’re here Natasha.” You pause and take a deep breath. At the mention of the redhead, the room falls silent as Nat watches intensely, desperate to hear what you have to say to her. You proceed, your voice wavering as you were overcome with emotion, “I’m so sorry that I had to leave you so soon. I’m so sorry that we’ll never have the chance to get married and have little rascals of our own running around a little farmhouse of our own in the middle of nowhere like we always dreamt of. But, the day you left me, those 5 long years ago, a part of me left with you. And I would do anything to get you back, and I’m sure I’ve proven that to be true if you’re seeing this.” You take another break as your voice starts cracking, as Natasha finally let a tear escape.

You suddenly stand up, and move over to the camera, staring directly into it with an intense gaze. “But Nat, baby, you have to listen to me when i say that this is not the end of the world. It may feel like it, but I promise you it’s not. Those 5 years without you, I felt as though I was drowning in grief and despair, but then hope made its way into my life when Scott suddenly appeared on the steps of the compound. And I promise you that you will have hope again, not for my return, but for happiness in your life again, without me.” At your words, Natasha shakes her head furiously as silent tears steadily fall across her pale cheeks.

You giggle “I know you won’t believe me right now, but you will one day my love. You were wrong that day in Wakanda. You WILL survive this. You must move on eventually, as impossible as it sounds and as much as it kills me to say. Please do not give up on the world, don’t push everyone away, but let them in. I gave my life up so you could live yours, and I know you wouldn’t let my life go to waste.” You stop and look down at your watch. “I have to go now, if this time heist thing goes to plan, then everyone who vanished will return. God, I hope so.... I love you Natalia Alianovna Romanova.” You look down at your hands, and back up at the camera and say your final words.

“Remember...” you begin while moving closer to the helmet, “You could never lose me moya lyubov... I’m yours forever.” You smile tearily and the recording ends. Those last words were what finally did it for Natasha. All the emotion she was keeping bottled up broke loose and she had no control of the wheel of her emotions as she slammed head first into a breakdown. Natasha cried in sorrow as she mourned the possibilities that are no longer possible and screamed out in anguish for the unfulfilled promises of a happy, long life with you by her side.

The world had won, but Natasha had lost her world.

[imkylotrash]

Stone Cold

Pairing: Tony Stark x reader

Summary: He loses you in the snap and when you come back, he’s made a new family that he loves 3000.

Tagging: @bitchwhytho​ @music-of-melody​

“I don’t want to go.” The words seem etched into your brain as you and Tony watch the kid disappear. You lost. There’s no about it as you watch the people you’ve started calling your friends disappear. And all by the snap of a wrist. Tony looks to you for comfort but you can’t give it to him. You know what’s about to happen.

“Tony?” you call out looking down at your hand slowly disintegrating. You can’t go. You can’t leave him - not when he’s already lost so much.

“No, no, no. Baby.” Once again, he holds a loved one in his arms watching them slip away.

“I love you,” you whisper feeling tears slip down your cheeks. This isn’t your time. You have so much left to do on Earth, so much to see and experience. You don’t want it to end now.

“I love you. You hear me? I love you more than I’ll ever love anyone. I keep you in my heart always.” He’s holding onto you with every last ounce of strength he has left but it’s not enough to stop what’s happening. You won’t make it the next two minutes. Tony is arguably the cleverest man alive and here he is unable to save the people he care about the most.

“I will find a way to save you. To undo this.” It’s the last thing he says to you. And he has every intention of keeping his promise but as the years go by, his hope fades. He settles down with Pepper starting a family all while telling himself that this is what you would’ve wanted for him. It’s part of the reason why he’s so hesitant to say yes when the Avengers show up. He’s not ready to face you if this works because he broke his promise to you.

“Tony, this will work. But we need your help.” He knows he has to do it but he’s watching his little baby girl sleep that night and it seems impossible that this has a happy ending. Even if it did work and you came back, it would change nothing. He couldn’t leave Pepper or Morgan even if he wanted to. Still, he goes to work and they succeed. They bring everyone back including you.

“Avengers... Assemble.” Steve leads you into battle with Thanos but this time you have every intention of doing what you couldn’t do last time. You’ve never been much of a fighter but you try to heal everyone you pass. It gives the effect of a never-ending army. Every time someone falls to the ground, you’re there to heal them so that they can continue fighting. You don’t see Tony until he’s standing there with glove on ready to snap.

“Tony!” you yell running straight towards him. He looks at you with pain in his eyes mouthing a single word before he snaps his fingers. It’s the one chance you have at beating Thanos but you refuse to let Tony die. Not like this and not when you just got back. It almost takes you out to heal him - or at least keep him alive long enough to get him to a hospital. You save his life that day and looking back at it, you would’ve done the exact same thing even knowing what you know now.

You go to visit him in the hospital to find Pepper and a little girl sitting in the room with him. He doesn’t see you which allows you to observe them.

“He thought he’d lost you.” Happy comes up behind you holding a vase of flowers in his hands. You assume they’re for Tony.

“He did lose me.” You want to be rational and accept the fact that Tony thought he’d never see you again but your heart has held on to his promise for all this time and now it’s too late.

“You should’ve seen him when he came back from space. He was a mess. Pepper saved him from himself.”

“Happy, no offence but I really don’t need to hear what a saint she is. I’m not going to ruin it for him.” You try smiling but it doesn’t reach your eyes. You want to be happy for Tony because he really does deserve to be happy but you just always thought it’d be with you. 

You don’t go in to see him that day but you know it’s inevitable. You’ll have to face him at one point. Which turns out to be when he shows up at your apartment without any warning. You open the door mid laugh only to drop your phone from pure shock. He’s looking better than ever with a little scruff and a new suit. But even with your healing powers, he still carries the scars from using the infinity stones. 

“Hi,” you breathe not even sure what to do or say right now. Why is he here?

“Can I come in?” It takes you exactly five seconds to pull yourself together and step aside. He’s looking at you as if you’re a ghost and, in some ways, you are. You’re the ghost from the past that he thought he’d never have to deal with. 

“Morgan is a sweetheart,” you say in an attempt to break the awkward silence. You’re not sure why you decide bringing up his child with another woman is the best way to do that but you genuinely do think she’s a nice girl. 

“Thank you. She’s a lot like her mot-” He stops himself from finishing the sentence but you both know what he meant to say. You hate feeling like he’s a stranger when you spent the better part of a decade loving him before everything got so messed up. 

“It’s okay. You can mention Pepper.” You give him a half-hearted smile that he doesn’t even bother returning. 

“I came to say I’m sorry. I gave up hope and I shouldn’t have. But I can’t... I can’t leave them. Morgan is my world.” You don’t blame him. You understand it even if it kills you. 

“If happy is her, I’m happy for you. I just can’t be around it.” 

When you say goodbye, you both know it means more than just goodbye. You won’t be seeing each other again. And while you truly do wish for him to be happy, you can’t bring yourself to watch him be happy with someone else. 

“Goodbye, Y/N.” You close the door leaning against it. You slowly slide down so that you end up sitting on the floor. You keep replaying his promise in your mind like a cruel reminder of what you lost - what Thanos took from you. 

I will find a way to save you.

[rhymingtree]

Ghosts in Westview

Chapter 14 || The Grass is Greener in Westview

word count: 6.5k

summary: Vision tries learning more about his neighbors, and himself; Monica gains something new from her third collision with the Hex, and Bucky decides he needs to step in.

warnings: Sad Dune, Wanda's iconic mental breakdown, Bucky making bad decisions, everyone is panicking right now

Boone and Duke sat in the back of the ice cream truck, helping Darcy tell Vision of who he was, and what happened in the last five years. In that time, the two of them have made themselves cones of soft serve ice cream. Other than that, they sat there in silence.

Duke nudged her foot, “You okay?”

“No. I think Wanda rewrote my shoes into… whatever the hell she put me in.” She kept her eyes on the cone, watching the dairy melt. “Those were my favorite shoes in the whole wide world.”

He almost laughed, but there was a genuinely sad look on her face framed by her faded scars. “You didn’t have much of a problem when Darcy dropped noodles on them.”

“Ey, that’s different.” She stared at the ballet flats she had thrown into a corner of the truck with the tutu and bodice. “Those were still my shoes.”

“Seriously, are you okay?”

Boone shook her head, “How ‘bout you?"

“Obviously not,” he wiped his sticky hand on his shirt. “Jesus, I feel like I watched a basket of puppies get run over by an eighteen-wheeler.”

She cackled, and he smiled at the sound, glad to see her go back to her own self. “You think puppies getting squashed by an eighteen-wheeler is funny?”

“No!” She caught sight of Darcy looking at them strangely, “Hell no, that’s horrible. Just stupidly specific.”

Boone’s smile fell quickly though, “It does feel like shit, though. Wanda’s mind control,” Duke frowned as she whispered, “Do you think it’s what (F/N) felt? When she came here?”

“Grief?” She nodded, “I hope not. She has lots of it already.”

Boone huffed, “What did you last remember? Before you were shoved in a costume?”

“It was a lot, It was like when you and Jack were gone for five years, just… a lot of confusion, then,” Duke licked his lips, “You remember how it was when (F/N) was stuck in the desert? It was like that. It was all heavy, keeping me down.”

Boone’s green eyes were just as sullen as his, “It kinda feels like we’ve gone back to that now, huh?”

“And we’re coming to save her this time,” he mustered a small smile, “hopefully before it’s too late.”

Vision looked back at them, once again being reminded of what Wanda’s powers were doing to other people; if it brought out a reaction like Norm’s in other people, if they were being smothered by grief, what happens to people like those agents? Like (F/N)? He thought he knew his neighbors well, but of course not. He barely knew himself.

He looked out the window, trying to wrap his head around what his life was apparently like. “So, Wanda killed me?”

Darcy nodded slowly, “Yes. But it’s not that simple. You asked her to do it.”

He shook his head in confusion, “Why would I have done that?”

“To save the universe.”

Boone poked her head out, adding, “Half of the universe.”

“Did it work?”

Duke joined in, “Yes. And no.” Vision gave him a look, and he continued. “Thanos, the um… the purple bastard, he rewound time and brought you back to life so he could take your Mind Stone. It’s a really complicated story, but essentially-”

“I came back and died again.”

“You wanna know the worst part?” Boone said, “Wanda had to watch.”

Vision felt his heart drop. The truck came to a stop as the traffic light flashed red.

“Just run it, Doc. There’s no one else here.” Boone rolled her eyes at the doctor, who frowned at her.

“You’re not the boss of me,” She brought her eyes back on the road, “Besides, you made ice cream without me.”

Vision looked at the light with suspicion. Wanda was being petty, she was being avoidant of him.

Part of him was grateful though, the stop gave him more time to talk to the agents behind him. “Did you arrive here with the initial intention of finding (F/N) Gonzalez?”

“No,” Boone gave him a sad smile, “We came here with the initial intention of finding Captain (F/N) (L/N), Ghost… Hidden Avenger? Do those names ring any bells?”

Vision shook his head, surprised at the mention of a rank, and what he assumed was a codename, though the tone of her voice made it sound more mythic than secretive.

“Your neighbor and our Captain are two very different people,” Duke said slowly, “First of all, she’s not married.”

Vision furrowed his brow, “She isn’t married?”

“She was supposed to be,” Duke’s smile became sad. “Let’s just say, she and Daniel didn’t separate on very good terms.”

“They were very violent, quite deadly terms.” Boone muttered, adding to Vision’s confusion. She looked up at him, “It’s a really long story.”

“How’d they come to Westview then? If she isn’t married?”

Boone shrugged, “We don’t know how Wanda did it, but she brought him back.”

“Wanda created Daniel? Like she did Pietro, that impostor?”

“No, no, no.” Boone leaned forward, her brows raised. “Pietro’s fake, maybe Wanda made him, but that guy is bullshit personified.” She wagged her finger at him, “Danny, he’s the real deal. Looks exactly like him, talks like him. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have been fooled.”

“Wanda made (F/N) a picture perfect life.” Duke said, “Though she's never wanted that kind of life, domestic bliss was never really her style. She’s a soldier, not… whatever Wanda made her to be.” He barely hid his disdain as he bit the waffle cone.

Vision stared at them as the light clicked back to green. Darcy was driving at an incredibly slow pace. She looked at him, “Hey, it never rains in Westview, right?”

Only inches from where they last stopped, they were halted by a line of vehicles and construction workers suddenly appearing from the intersection. Petty move, Wanda.

-- “I believe… I think Wanda is creating these impediments,” he scratched his head, the mic caught a faint metallic screech. “To stop me returning home.”

He scoffed, pressing his mouth into a thin line. “I’m not amused.”--

He spoke up again, “If I understand correctly, my original code dates back to an AI called JARVIS?” Darcy nodded, “But my corporeal form was born of Ultron’s plan for global genocide?”

“Correct-o.”

It was difficult to wrap his head around his story, and he wished Wanda gave him at least a sliver of those memories, because it all sounded unbelievable.

“... What am I now?”

Darcy looked at him, and then at the two agents cramped in the back, who were also trying to think of an answer. “Honestly, I’m a STEM type of lady, so I thought she just flipped a switch on your head and brought you back to life, but… what I don’t get is why you can’t leave the Hex.”

“That can’t have been it if Daniel is here too, both of you are completely back to life, completely real.” Duke said, “Just not, you know, really real.”

Vision’s eyes became downcast. If the people trying to help them don’t have answers, then what do they do? How do they get out?

What is he?

Boone shifted forward, tapping him on the shoulder, “But hey, we’ve been watching this show for a whole week, we’ve seen you and Wanda live. We’ve seen your love for each other, and I’m not the luckiest when it comes to that kind of stuff, but I know it when I see it. And what you two have is real.”

The three of them were smiling at him, but they were of little comfort. He needed answers, and the only person who could give them to him was doing her very best to keep him far away.

---

Maybe she was just tired, or having a manic episode. That could be the only possible explanation to all of this. She needs to get a grip.

Wanda was about to down some Nexus pills when loud knocks made her jump in surprise. No one was supposed to come to her; she was really losing control. Before she could move to answer it, Danny barged in.

“(F/N). Where is she?” He was walking around the house, erratic and fidgety, studying the living room’s every crack and crevice.

Wanda followed him around, “She’s not here, what are you doing?” He whipped around to face her, his eyes were furious, making her blood run cold.

“Stop lying, Wanda. Where is she?”

“I don’t know!”

His voice was so cold, so harsh, “I know she came here. Now, where is she? Where’s my wife?”

“She isn’t here! Now leave,” She tried to shove him out the door, but he stayed rooted on the spot.

“No, she’s remembering. She knows what you’re doing.” Danny walked closer and closer, and she backed away in fear. She could stop him, but he confirmed that (F/N) knows what she’s doing, and for some reason that scared her. It made her feel guilty. “She would come to you, now tell me where (F/N) is.”

“She doesn’t want me controlling her life, so why are you asking me!?”

“That’s all you’ve been doing to her!” He yelled back, making her step back in shock. “That’s all you’ve been making me do to her.”

Danny’s eyes were welling with tears, both from worry and guilt. “Help me find her, Wanda. I need to fix this.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but the door was blown open again. Their heads whipped around as a woman she thought she’d never see again barreled into her home.

“Wanda?” She walked in, facing her.

“Geraldine?” Danny’s anger turned into confusion.

She looked between the two of them, “Wanda.”

“What are you doing?” Wanda’s fear melted away into anger, marching towards the returned stranger with fury in her eyes. Danny followed her, trying to pull her back. ‘Geraldine’ backed away, but tried to continue. “How did you get in here?”

“Listen to me,” Her eyes were switching between Wanda’s anger and Daniel only slightly in front of her, trying to keep Wanda from hurling herself at her. “This whole thing is about Vision and-”

He looked at her with an unreadable expression, one similar to when they first met. Except now, there was growing trust instead of silent doubt.

Wanda swatted Danny away, screaming at her and pointing to the door, “Get out of my house!”

“Hayward was trying to bring him-”

Before Danny could stop her, Wanda’s hands glowed red, her power taking hold of the woman. “Wanda, wait-”

“Don’t talk to me about that! I don’t wanna hear about it.” With each step she took, she lifted the woman farther and farther away; higher and higher up into the air as they both left the house, Danny following closely behind.

He was afraid of what she was going to do to her, or to him if he tried to stop her. So he watched in horror as Wanda lifted the woman into the air, where all the milling neighbors could see.

“The drones, the missiles, Pietro!?”

“No, wait! Pietro, no, no, no. That wasn’t us-” she stopped as Wanda’s hold on her became tighter.

Wanda’s eyes were a faint, vicious red.

“All you do is LIE!” She growled, bringing her hand down with so much force that the woman fell from the air. To Danny’s shock, she didn’t crumple to the ground, instead she fought against Wanda’s power, catching herself on the pavement, with electric blue energy shielding her from the impact.

She looked up at them with the same bright blue eyes. She was an ally, Danny knew it then and there. If only Wanda would listen.

Wanda backed away with a hint of fear in her step. Danny came forward, looking at the stranger in awe.

“The only lies I’ve told are the ones you’d put in my mouth.” She walked towards them with a determined posture.

“Careful what you say to me.” Wanda’s voice was a threatening whisper, and her hands glowed red again.

“Wanda, listen to her.” Danny looked at her with pleading eyes, “She’s here to help you.”

She didn’t respond, only bringing a hand up towards Danny, constricting his movements. Before he could fight against it, he was flying backwards, through the open door of her house and colliding with the walls with a heavy thud.

Wanda regretted it instantly, but she had to do it, didn’t she? She can’t let anyone take her home away from her, even the one she’d created to make it home for someone else.

She turned her eyes to the stranger, who watched her throw the burly man into the air like he weighed nothing. The sight of her filled her with rage, and the crimson orb in her hand glowed angrier.

“Do it, then,” she was unfazed by Wanda’s show of power, “take me out.”

Wanda stayed completely silent, and the woman’s face scrunched into a satisfied smile. “See, see that’s where you and Hayward differ.” She walked closer to Wanda with more confidence, “He’s gonna burn Westview to the ground just to get what he wants. Don’t let him make you the villain.”

But she is. They were right. She had put unwilling people into a world of her own creation, barricading them from their families, their memories, and their lives for her so they could all live in a more peaceful world. She did it all so she could have the life she wanted, so she could repay a debt so massive to someone who stuck by her side. All that, so two weary soldiers, who fought to save the universe, could finally have some peace.

And here she was, a complete stranger, trying to take that away from them.

“Maybe I already am.”

All her life she had been trying so hard to be a hero, to be the good guy, but each time she tried it almost always went wrong.

Ultron.

Lagos.

Thanos…

It hurt to have to accept it, but that was already who she was. She would be a fool to go against her nature.

“Wanda,” she wasn’t losing her resolve. “You have to trust me. I’m only trying to help you.”

She walked closer, her voice softening as she came closer and closer to Wanda. “I’m not afraid of you, Wanda. I lost the person closest to me, too. The worst thing I can think of has already happened to me, and I can’t change it. I can’t undo it, I-I can’t control this pain anymore.”

Wanda’s eyes softened and she dropped her hands. Monica understood her, she knew that pain.

“And I don’t think I want to, because it’s my truth.”

Maybe she was right.

“Wanda, you have to-”

“Young lady,” Agnes walked towards them with a menacing look at Monica. She stood by Wanda’s side. “I think you have overstayed your welcome.”

Monica stared at her, she saw Daniel get up from inside the house and walk towards them.

Agnes put her hand on Wanda’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “Poor Wanda’s been through enough.” She smiled, taking Wanda by the waist and leading her away.

“This doesn’t concern you,” Her eyes flicked to the nosy neighbor for a second before focusing once more, “Wanda…”

Daniel had walked out as well, watching as Agnes led Wanda away and told Monica to, “Run along, dear.”

He came to stand by her side as she called out, “Wanda, you have to take it down.”

“No!” She turned around harshly with tears in her eyes, she pointed a defiant finger at Monica, barely glancing at the pleading look on Danny’s face. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

Agnes held her back, whispering softly in her ear as she led her away from them. All of a sudden, the cul-de-sac came back to life, people stopped watching them and went back to their lives, completely ignoring Monica and Daniel.

---

She stared at them as they left for Agnes’ house, and only then noticed the man next to her.

He gave her a look, “You’re name’s not Geraldine, is it?”

She shook her head. “Monica. Captain Monica Rambeau.”

He gave her a small, apologetic smile and stretched out his hand. “Captain Daniel Gonzalez, though no one’s called me that in a long time.”

She shook his hand, happy to find someone on her side in Westview. “It’s good to finally meet you, Captain. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Like what?” His smile fell slightly.

“Like your life in Alpha One, and your death, your relationship with Captain (F/N) (L/N),” her voice fell into a whisper, “They called her Ghost, and you were…”

“Nighthawk.” His voice broke, and he sighed. “But those days are far behind me.”

“Not for Ghost.” She muttered. Looking around she asked, “Where is she? We could use her help.”

“I came here to look for her, she’s not at home.” He frowned, “I shouldn’t have left her alone.”

She looked around, seeing Agnes’ house from afar, “I have a feeling…”

“Are you going to follow them?”

Monica nodded, “Agnes, something’s not right about her.”

“Do you think (F/N)’s there?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe,” She walked closer to Danny, “Let’s split up. I’ll go check them out, and you go see if (F/N)’s gone anywhere near the boundary. I just have a feeling.”

“And I’m following it.” He nodded, asking, “Will you be ready?” She furrowed her brows at him, and he added, “Are you armed?”

“I don’t have to be.” She shook her head at him, scoffing, “The last time we pointed guns at her, she pointed them right back at us. If she’s going to listen to me, she has to know I’m on her side.”

“What about Agnes, what if she tries something?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there,” she walked away from him, “I’ll see you later… Captain.”

“Be careful, Captain.” He called back as he ran towards the boundary. Monica watched him disappear out of the cul-de-sac, before walking to Agnes’ home.

---

After what felt like forever, the construction finally cleared and left the intersection. But just before Darcy could step on it, a crossing guard walked right in their way, whistling sternly as she held up a stop sign.

“For fuck’s sake!” Boone shouted, “We have been here all day.”

She regretted cussing so loud when a line of kindergarteners walked past the truck, followed by more lines of rowdy children. She stared at the lines, noticing the glares of the adults that guided them.

“... I’m sorry?” She muttered.

“Kids!? What next, puppies?” Darcy leaned over the steering wheel in frustration.

Vision stared at the commotion of children.

-- “I had no idea how much Wanda had endured before coming to Westview. How much we both had, I guess. Though I can’t remember it.” He scratched at his head again, “For me it feels like it happened to someone else, you know? But for her, It was mere weeks ago.”

He stared at the ground, thinking, “From what the agents have told me, (F/N) had been there for her through thick and thin, and she, Captain- Ghost, she’d been alone for a long time. If Wanda says she gave her what she wanted, could she be… I suppose, giving it back? Could that be why she’s here?”

He stuttered, looking around impatiently at the set, “What am I doing here, sitting, talking to you, when I should-” He tore off the mic clipped onto him, “This is- this is absurd!”

He stood up, hitting the boom mic with his head, he swatted it away. “I need to get to my wife.” --

Vision floated up and phased out of the truck, leaving Boone, Duke, and Darcy in the truck as more lines of children kept them idle.

“So, we’ll just meet him there, then?” Darcy said. Boone and Duke looked at each other, and Darcy looked at their scheming expressions, “You two better not leave me, too.”

“We won’t, Doc. You get to deal with us for the rest of the day, don’t worry.” Boone stood up, grunting as she finally stretched her legs after a long time, “How about I drive, and you go make yourself a cone in the back.”

Darcy cheered as they squeezed themselves through, Boone took a seat at the front and started the truck back up, driving past the children, and somehow driving at a noticeably faster pace. Darcy hummed as she made herself a snow cone.

Duke looked around the truck, and his eyes lit up as he spotted a rusty toolbox in the corner. He looked around the ice cream truck with a giddy smile, “Maybe I can have some fun, after all.”

---

Agnes kept a firm grip on Wanda’s shoulder, even when they were in her house. She kept coddling her, rubbing her shoulder like she was a child.

Part of Wanda regretted how the conversation with Monica ended, mostly because she knew she wouldn’t actually leave. She was determined to get through to her, that much she knew. But there’s the thing, she wants to help (F/N) too; and Wanda knows it’s unfair, and wrong to keep her here. It’s hurting her, even though all she wanted to do was to keep her safe, and happy, and away from the world

The world out there could hurt her, but she’s risked her life to have what she had out there. James is out there, and as much as she wants (F/N to stay with Daniel, she’s giving that love to a person long gone.

“Would you like a cup of tea, hon?” Agnes’ caring voice brought her out of her thoughts, as she pushed her onto the couch.

“Sure,” she nodded as she sat down, still feeling breathless and somewhat numb. “Thank you, Agnes.”

“Sit down. Be right back with that,” Wanda made herself comfortable as Agnes floated into the kitchen, hearing her muttering in her pity.

She took deep breaths, calming herself down. As her head cleared, she became more aware of her environment. There were unfinished plates of sandwiches on the kitchen table, and a blue coffee mug was on the side table by the couch. At closer inspection, it was already used.

The TV droned on faintly; a kids’ show was on. Why would Agnes be watching Yo Gabba Gabba?

She heard crunching noises nearby. Agnes’ rabbit was in a cage, looking right at Wanda. A cicada was buzzing on the drapes.

It was unsettling, and Wanda didn’t know why until she realized she didn’t know about this place until now. She couldn’t see what was happening in here for the longest time, when she could feel the lives of everyone in Westview, she could never sense Agnes.

There was a comforting air around Agnes, but now there was nothing but dread.

“Where are the twins?”

Agnes answered from the kitchen, “Oh, they’re probably just playing in the basement.” Wanda heard her footsteps as she walked away.

Dread filled Wanda, and it became stronger as she saw an extra pair of shoes on the floor, next to Billy and Tommy’s. She stood up from the couch hesitantly, taking tentative steps through the house, towards the basement.

She found a closed door, leading downstairs. When she opened it, she was hit with a cold feeling that made her heart sink. It was quiet, too quiet. Her sons weren’t here. She called out anyway.

“Boys?”

After being met by silence, she made her way down, ignoring the rush of air on her face.

It was cold and dark, an ordinary basement, save for the room that was decorated with large, black vines wrapping around the walls like claws.

“Tommy?” The walls were made of stone, it looked almost ancient inside. “Billy?”

Despite her fear, Wanda walked through the strange hallway. The sight would have been marvelous if it wasn’t so eerie.

Archways, strange objects that had an unnatural glow, a strange terrifying feeling of helplessness that Wanda had never felt in Westview before. How did she not know this was here?

She spotted a book that seemed to be calling to her, one that floated on its own. It looked as ancient as the room she found herself in, and it was surrounded by a glowing mist.

There was a door at the far end of the room, hidden in the shadows. Wanda walked closer to it, but stopped when she heard the faint cries from behind it. A pained, screaming voice that belonged to (F/N).

She reached out to open it, but before her hand could touch the door, a metallic thud announced the entrance of another person.

“Wanda, Wanda,” Agnes sang. “You didn’t think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?”

She froze at the menacing sight of her neighbor, a completely different person in front of her. Her hair was a mess instead of the neat styles it had always been in. The friendly smile became a scary smirk, and her voice dropped from bubbly to gleefully sinister.

She was petting the rabbit in her arms, but she quickly lost her smile. She raised her hand and waved it harshly, and the door closed at her command, its locks echoing around them.

“The name’s Agatha Harkness. Lovely to finally meet you, dear.” Her eyes glowed an angry purple, and Wanda’s mind was invaded by the witch’s hold.

---

The house was completely quiet, unassuming and normal as can be. But when Monica stepped near it, she knew something was wrong. She could feel it. The air around it was heavier than everywhere else in Westview. It was an unnatural feeling, it made the hair at the back of her neck stand on end.

Appearances can be deceiving. She learned that from Hayward.

Peeking through the windows, she saw the house was empty. Or at least, too dark to see anything, Peculiar, considering the sun was out and the curtains were parted.

She ran to the side of the house, seeing the hatch leading to the basement. She checked the windows again, before trying the hatch. Opening it gave her a surge of ominous air, it blocked her vision for a moment but she felt strong enough to fight it off.

The walls were lined with vines, thick and dark. They were glowing violet, shimmering and vibrating with power. It was pulling her towards them with a strange siren call.

She stared at the darkness, until she felt someone’s presence beside her.

“Snooper’s gonna snoop.”

---

“Sir, the team is ready for launch.”

Hayward smiled to himself, turning away from the walls that reached up the sky. “It’s about time.”

He stared at his creation with a small excited smirk, ignoring the flare of pain from his still bruised nose. “We took this thing apart and put it back together a million times. Tried every type of power supply under the sun, when all we needed was a little energy directly from the source.”

Perched nearby was the missile they sent Wanda’s way, now glowing with her power. A small pinch of her anger that helped bring their weapon back to life.

Another agent told them it was ready, and he nodded. There was no time to lose. With a flick of a switch, and a push of a button, Wanda’s energy flowed through cables and wires, into Vision’s stark white body.

Hayward looked at it in awe as its eyes opened white. Cold and unfeeling blue glowed, a contrast to its clean paleness. Its movements weren’t human, it was mechanical.

It was their very own weapon.

---

Daedalus One was cloaked and hidden by the trees. Major Goodner’s base was cleared out as soon as they were alerted that SWORD was coming, and Aftermath hid itself right at the nick of time, just before Hayward’s agents could find them in the field.

Now they were all in a panic, calling in backup from base, reinforcing the Phantom Protocol now that Ghost, Glitch, Libra, Darcy Lewis, and Monica Rambeau were stuck in the Hex, unreachable. They didn’t even know if any of them were still alive.

Bucky sat by the corner of the Control Room as chaos exploded, tuning out their conversations. He noticed Jimmy peeking out the windows, watching SWORD agents jump into their SUVs after finding no one on the field. He walked back with so much optimism, it was almost annoying.

“Thank God for Aftermath. If it weren’t for them, I’d probably be cuffed and lugged around by now.” His bright smile fell when Bucky looked up at him with an angry, sullen gaze.

“They’re still looking?”

“Cleared out five minutes ago,” he sat down next to Bucky. “We shouldn’t lose hope, Sergeant. We’ll find another way.”

Bucky shook his head, scratching at his stubble. “No, we won’t.” He hid his face behind his hand, wincing as light reflected from his metal hand into his eyes.

Realization struck him, “But I might.” He stood up, startling Jimmy.

“Um, wait a second, Sergeant-”

Jimmy couldn’t stop him as he approached Dorian and Christopher, “I should go in.”

“What are you saying Barnes?” Dorian raised his brow at him.

“We don’t have any other options,” his voice was final, and he mustered up a defiant stance. “I’m going into Westview.”

They gawked at him, and Belov was the first to break the awkward silence. “Вы сошли с ума?” Have you gone insane?

“No, no, no. Barnes, no one is leaving this plane until we figure this out.” Dorian waved him away. “We’re calling for backup, and you’re staying here till we figure this out."

“I’ve been standing on the sidelines for too long now, Hanson,” his voice was an angry whisper. “I’m going in.”

Christopher scoffed, “We don’t know if Monica even survived. You don’t have any sort of protection, you might not make it.”

Bucky shrugged, raising his left hand. “I have a Vibranium arm! And-”

“You’re a super-soldier, so what?” Zac rolled his eyes, “You also have a shit ton of memory problems. What if you do get in, but all your progress with your memories are reset?”

He was rendered silent, but he wasn’t backing down.

“We aren’t sure what the Hex does to someone physically, much less mentally. We don’t know if there’ll be a difference between an enhanced soldier and a normal person if they walk in there. And you,” he pointed to Bucky’s head, “have far too much to lose already.”

“I’ve already lost everything,” His eyes were dark with anger, but they were swirling with so much more emotion. “I don’t know if I’ll get her back, but I’m the one in here who’s less likely to die trying. So, this isn’t a request. I’m not asking for permission. I’m going in.”

Everyone was silent.

After a moment of tense silence, Dorian sighed and walked closer to him. “You’ll be going in completely alone, no communications, no suit, nothing. So are you really sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.”

“If you get hurt, no one will be able to help you. You’re going in completely blind…”

“I already said yes.”

“What if we can’t get any of you back?” His voice was a sad whisper, they really didn’t have much hope for him right now. “What if you get stuck in there and there’s no way for any of you to get out?”

“Don’t give up on me, don’t give up on them.” Bucky looked him dead in the eye, “You never know, this could work.”

“Okay,” He nodded with a small smirk, “But if we get in trouble for this, it was entirely your idea.”

---

“Sergeant Barnes, are you sure about this?”

He turned to Jimmy, “Yeah, I am.”

Looking at the imposing red glow of the boundary, he wasn’t so sure.

He’d fought Nazis, he’d fought the world’s strongest and most terrifying soldiers, through wars and conflicts throughout the 20th century, he’d fought intergalactic threats; he’d fought himself. This couldn’t be that bad compared to all of that, right?

He took a deep, shaky breath, and gave Jimmy a look. “By the way, just call me Bucky.”

Jimmy stared at him for a second, then gave him an almost gleeful nod. “Bucky, of course, sir-um, Bucky.”

“Thanks for all your help, Jim.”

“Good luck in there, Bucky.” He nodded again, before heading back to the plane, where everyone watched him stand on the field. He could hear him give the others a go sign through the comms as he disappeared through the trees.

Bucky couldn’t even take a step, as they both froze at the sound of heavily armored vehicles speeding into their direction. He muttered in frustration, “Ah, shit.”

SWORD was back. They knew they were still there.

Before he could run, SWORD Agents lined themselves in front of him, pointing rifles directly at him. He didn’t have to wait long for Alpha Two to show up, calmly but quickly, pointing their guns right back at them.

The soldiers on the other side didn’t know where to aim, the super soldier with a Vibranium arm and a killer glare right in front of them, or the menacing group of armed agents flanking him.

Although his hands were raised in the air, showing he was unarmed. He knew Aftermath could handle it, but he had no way through. He couldn't run past them without being followed by an onslaught of bullets.

“Big Brother and the Fed are in the plane. They’ve both called for backup. The real party starts in an hour,” Dorian’s deep, disguised voice sounded off behind him, “On my signal, Barnes, you run.”

He glanced back at him with shock, “You’re gonna-”

“No one’s gonna get hurt,” he reassured him quietly, “but they’ll go running back to Hayward with their tails between their legs.”

“Drop your weapons!” An agent shouted at them, “You’re all under arrest.”

Bucky heard Jack whisper through his helmet, “The last time someone tried to arrest us, we got him in trouble.”

“Sometimes I like it when they try,” Belov chuckled, “It’s mildly entertaining.”

His disguised voice became serious and low as he faced the soldiers again, “This doesn’t have to end with a fight!” Belov called back, his voice sending shivers up their spines, “But if one of you shoots, we all shoot back.”

“I repeat, drop your weapons, now!”

There was a pregnant pause in the tense air, Bucky stared at an opening between two agents lined together. He could see they were shaking in fear; even in limited numbers, Aftermath could make people cower.

“If he takes another step,” all the guns shifted back to Bucky, “We shoot.”

“Barnes,” Dorian whispered, his finger on the trigger already, “Go! Now!”

Bucky kept a tight hold on his dog tags in his left fist, and he held (F/N)’s picture in the other. Another deep breath, and he bolted towards the Hex, as fast as he could go.

He pummeled through the line of soldiers, who were caught off guard and knocked to the ground as bullets flew all around them. His arm was raised as he ducked, but he didn’t look back. The rhythm of his footfalls were accompanied by a dissonant symphony of shouting and gunfire, and every once in a while, a few excited whoops.

The SWORD agents were calling for a retreat. Guns were still raised. Bucky got away from the firefight, running with no one at his tail, until he reached the Hex. It was glowing in anticipation for his collision.

He hit the wall so hard, they could hear it over the roar of gunfire. With a growl, he pushed through, and didn’t stop, even when the pain around him was unbearable.

---

He could feel something pull him apart, squeezing his mind.

“Don’t do anything stupid till I get back.”

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

The voices drifted around him. His heart was pounding, there was so much pain.

“...You will be the new fist of HYDRA.”

“NO!” It took him all his strength to take one more step.

Longing

“No.” Hold on, just hold on.

Rusted

“You’re my mission.” NO. Don’t let go.

Seventeen

“... I’m with you till the end of the line.” The voices were fading, he could feel them drifting farther away.

Daybreak…

No, they don’t work. They can’t. Not anymore.

He’s being torn apart, his fists closed tighter as he fought to take another step. It gets easier to hold on to all the voices and all his memories as he goes. The pain only gets worse, but Bucky can hold on.

But she’s drifting away... don't let her drift away...

(F/N)... “I won’t ever let you feel alone again.”

The scars on her body, the ones he would trace with his fingers when the night was still…

The smell of her hair when she fell asleep in his arms on the couch.

Her voice…

“... Because you love me!”

“I tolerate you!”

Snowball fights and Christmas lights… a tug of war of memories in his head.

“Soldier Boy…”

The peaceful look on her face when she sleeps beside him; the lively look on her eyes that make the room ten times brighter.

Just one more step, he could see the trees, the clear blue sky was right there… just one more step.

“I love you, (F/N).”

He heard her, loud and clear. “I love you too.”

---

Another step, and he could breathe again. He fell to the ground, gasping for air. Above him was Westview’s cloudless sky.

He got in. He let out an incredulous laugh. He got in, and he could remember everything. “Oh, thank Christ…”

The grass was greener in Westview. It was beautiful, peaceful. Eerily calm, unnaturally natural. So real, yet so fake. He could see the appeal.

He unclenched his fists, letting his dog tags fall to the ground. He had wrinkled (F/N)’s picture, but miraculously, her smile was still there, undamaged by his grip.

Bucky sat up, and gazed at the picture. “I could never forget you,” he whispered, “Let’s hope you didn’t forget me.”

He groaned as he stood up, reaching into the grass to pick up his dog tags and put them back around his neck. Pocketing (F/N)’s picture, he took a look around at his surroundings.

To be completely honest, he had no idea he would actually get this far. But Bucky knew the first thing to do was to find (F/N), to talk to her. And then she could talk to Wanda, maybe she’ll listen to her.

It’s time to save her sorry ass, and bring her back home. Like she did for him so many times before.

He looked ahead, and decided to follow the path from the houses, hoping they led to the town. Squinting, he saw a figure from faraway, looking at him.

He moved forward, towards the mysterious figure.

The figure moved closer too, his head tilted to the side. Bucky didn’t have to take too many steps to realize who was waiting for him when he arrived. He’s been waiting to meet him too. Anger bubbled up in his chest, and he couldn’t help the cold greeting that rose out of his throat.

“Gonzalez!”

//

tagged: @darke15 | @violetvictoriabarnes | @kippykasey | @turtleedovee | @itsarussian | <3

[blkgojo]

Two Superheroes, One Bed | Carol Danvers x Reader

In which, you and Carol hate each other, but have to share a bed. 

Request: Anonymous

Despite popular misconception being a former terrorist does not make people like you. If anything, it makes them hate you. Despise you. Question you incessently with things such as, "Why did you do this? What is wrong with you? How could you have justified those acts?" And to be honest, your answer was less than satisfying. There was no tragic backstory. No great villain speech. Just you and your hatred for the government.

Living in the Avenger facility did little to change that.

See, the thing about Carol Danvers was that she wasn't an "Earth" hero. Logically speaking, there should've been no reason you disliked eachother as much as you did. You didn't work for the Kree. You had no squabble with saving refugees from colonial rule. On paper, you two were two peas in a pod. Both looking after people who didn't have others to help them, but you hated her the moment you laid eyes on her. Carol Danvers with the huge ass ego. Carol Danvers who somehow was fighting an intergalactic empire, but saw no problem with the way the US military conducted business. She hated you because honestly, who likes a murderer. Redemption arc be damned. You know how it goes.

"I just feel like I've done nothing to deserve this."

"You've killed hundreds of people."

"In total, the Avengers have killed like 2000 so, I don't really see how that's relevant."

Natasha sighs. Steve steps forward and when you cut your eyes at him, he raises his hands in plea.

"Half the universe's population is gone. The US government just needs a win."

You nod slowly. "And sending me across the fucking galaxy with-" You gesture vaguely to the blonde who until that point had decided to be quiet. "- is somehow a win."

"I hate to say this, but I agree," Carol interjects. "I work better alone. Y/N will just hold me back."

"We just need someone to go back to the planet where the infinity stores were destroyed. Make sure there are no remnants."

"It'd be quicker if I did it by myself."

"Y/N is the only one with the ability to replicate organic life," Steve retorts. "If there's a possibility she can locate some particle of infinity stone and replicate that, we need to take that chance."

"It'd be good publicity for her image and it'd bring us one step closer to bringing them back," Natasha continues.

"The world needs you to put aside your differences for the mission."

That was another thing you regretted about joining the Avengers. Steve had no shortage of motivating speeches under his belt. The good thing about villains was that they weren't much for conversation - there was no need to give motivating speeches when the odds were in your favor.

But, people were gone. Wanda, the only one you remotely liked, was gone. Snapped. Looking at Carol now, it looks like she must've lost someone, too. Her unpleasant face looks somehow more restrained than it usually did.

You sigh and fold your arms. "Fine."

All Carol does is nod.

--

It would take two earth days to reach his planet. Two. There'd been complications with the engine and so, it would take not the twenty four hours you expected, you know the time span that was customary for light travel, but it would take two days. Between that and the ship having to lower the heat to maintain proper oxygen levels, it wasn't fun.

"I could fly us there," Carol offers.

"Are you forgetting I can't breathe in space?"

Carol shrugs. "You replicate organic life right? Just replicate yourself a new pair of lungs."

"Fuck you."

She smirks, takes the only other available chair next to you. At first, she seems content to annoy you by tapping her fingers against the dashboard. Then, she grows bored. Worse, she tries to talk to you.

"Isn't all of this stuff automated?"

"Yes."

"So," she begins, stretching out the word. "You don't actually need to be here monitoring it. You can get on the cot." She shrugs. "Take a nap."

"I'd rather keep watch."

You think that'll be it and she'll be done, but she continues. You never would've pegged her as the type to not like silence. But, maybe that's not even it. Maybe, she just wanted to squeeze information out of you. God knows you weren't exactly open with the other Avengers when Fury made you join.

"You ever been to outer space?"

You shake your head. "When you're flagged as a global liability they tend to prefer you on the ground."

"A global liability? Is that what terrorists call themselves?"

"At least, we don't give ourselves cutesy nicknames like Black Widow or Captain Marvel."

She scoffs. "No. You guys just blow up innocent civilians."

"Yeah, I guess accidentally killing them is way better." You smile thinly. "For the greater good and all, you know?"

She stares at you long enough that you don't think she'll actually speak. Finally, she looks away and out to the empty abyss in front of you. "I don't pretend to know what the Avengers did while I was off-world. I see them now and they're good people."

You don't respond and she continues. "You must agree. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."

"Fury said it was either this or experimentation."

"Fury didn't say that."

You laugh bitterly. "He didn't, but he didn't need to. The governments experiment on all mutants - that's how we got Steve and Wanda - they just don't talk about it anymore." You spare her a glance. There's nothing in her expression that would tell you what she's thinking. "So, I chose the Avengers. And here we are."

"You could've escaped."

"Where?" You lean forward in your seat and prop your elbow on the dash. "Please tell me. Where can someone who's wanted internationally hide?"

She squints her eyes. "I'd help, but unfortunately, my knowledge of ideal vacation spots is pretty limited."

Carol's lips seem to be trapped in a permanent smirk - the corner always tilted up in vaguely hidden amusement. Even now. Her snark never stops. You feel your own anger dissipate as quick as it came. There was no point being angry with her. She loved it. Fed off it like a parasite or leech.

"It's almost like you're trying to piss me off."

She places her elbow on the console, leaning forward to shrink the gap between you two.

"Would it make you more angry if I was?"

One time, you and the raccoon had a bet. Whose eyes were more blue: Captain America or Captain Marvel? Like this, you'd have to say Carol. Her eyes had their own halo wrapped around the rim, highlighting the blue and making it fluorescent.

You rub your lips together and lean back in your seat, turning away from her to once again, look at the controls.

The ship breaks down when you reach his planet. You and Carol spend the first ten minutes after landing, arguing back and forth, blaming eachother. The next fifteen, Carol leaves you. Fucks off like a glow stick and searches the planet. When she returns, you haven't moved. Haven't left. You opted instead to lie down in the flowers. It was a beautiful planet. Perfect for retirement. The air was pure, almost light enough to get high in.

"I found his cabin."

"Great." You jump up. The blood rushing to your head and spotting your vision briefly, almost enough to cause you to wobble. "Let's go."

She steps in front of you, quick. You stop just short of bumping into her. Your faces are inches apart. That same infuriating smirk on her lips. Your eyes dart down, down to her chest - she was quite muscular, you could see that even through her clothes-  down enough that she has to clear her throat.

"It's too far by foot." When your eyes meet, she's trying to not look smug.

You arch a brow. "Well, we can't fly."

"I'll have to carry you."

You groan.

"Believe me. I'd be more than willing to do anything else."

"Fine. Do it."

You step back and gesture at her to turn around. She rolls her eyes and in a breathe you didn't know you were holding, throws your arm around her shoulders, wraps her arms around your waist, and jumps. You scream. Through the rush of wind, you think you hear her laughing or perhaps, that's a lie and it's you. Laughing hysterically. No. You are screaming. Hitting her chest. And she's laughing. Fuck Natasha. Fuck Steve. When this is over, you're quitting.

When your feet touch the ground, you bend down and kiss it. Pray to it.

"Anyone ever tell you you're dramatic?" She asks.

"Anyone ever teach you about consent?"  

"You told me to do it."

"I don't care!"

The two of you spend hours looking for remnants of the stones before you finally give it up and return to the ship. You were careful not to drift too close to his cabin. The Avengers never recovered the body. The rot of Thanos was thick, enough to gag over if you got too close. This planet wasn't used to death, not the harsh meat of Thanos. It had been months and he was still there, newly rotting as if it had been a week or two.

"I'll look again tomorrow before we leave." Carol pops a chip in her mouth, her feet kicked on the co-pilot chair while you lounged on the cot. "For now, you should get your rest."

"Don't you need to sleep, too?"

"I have been." She gestures to the chair.

You stare. Frown. The chairs were nowhere near comfortable.

"We can switch. I'll just take the blanket," you offer reluctantly. The nights here were cold anyways. Much colder than space. You involuntarily shiver.

"I prefer to sleep sitting up."

"Is that a military thing?"

To your surprise, she laughs. "Why?"

You shrug the blanket higher - the thin layer providing little comfort. "Cap likes to do that too."

As the sky gets darker, the cold filters in the cracks of the ship and between the layers of your comforter. You snuggle tighter within yourself, curl your knees up to your chest, burrow your hands underneath your pits. When that doesn't work, you shift again. It was always something. The blanket doesn't cover your feet here. You're uncomfortable there.

"You still up?"

You peek up to glance at Carol. She's leaned back in the chair, her head propped back against the headrest. When you shift, she pops one eye open.

"It's cold," you respond. "Are you cold?"

She shakes her head. "Temperature stops being a concern when you get superpowers like mine."

"Oh, yeah. Forgot you're a glow stick."

She snorts. "You talk a lot of shit for someone whose close to being an icicle."

"Bravado under pressure. It's my best quality."

You think she's gonna retort with another snort, but she stays silent. You make a move to stand, but she stops you.

"It's colder over here. See." She breathes out and you can see the cloud of her breathe. You frown.

"I can't sleep like this."

You think she's gonna do something like procure a blanket or throw you her jacket. You even think she might use her powers to heat the ship. It would make sense. Now, that you thought about it - she could've flew your ship to Thanos's exact location. You open your mouth to say as much, maybe, even yell at her as well, but she surprises you by standing.

Her head tilts to the side. Her mouth opening and closing again as if she's mulling over her next words carefully. If it were brighter, you might say this is the closest to nervous you've ever seen her get.

"I could lay down next to you." You blink. "My body generates a certain amount of heat due to -"

"Your powers. Yeah, I get it."

Slowly, you scoot over in the small cot. There wouldn't be enough room. You'd be touching regardless, but if you didn't turn over, it'd be okay. You could pretend instead of Carol, it was some space heater next to you.

"Come," you order.

You feel her weight in the cot, the warmth of her sinking in and spreading across the fabric. It hasn't even been a minute and already the cold has been dissipated. You could sleep if you wanted to. But, you don't. No matter how much you had wanted to pretend she was just some space heater, she was Carol. She felt stiff like a board and she was unbearably loud in her stiffness, her unwillingness to move.

"You can relax you know," you mumble.

"I sleep on my side."

You wonder now if she's smirking.

"No one's stopping you from doing that."

She moves and you know without looking that she's facing you. Her breathe tickles the hair on the back of your neck. You wouldn't be able to sleep like this. She's thinking so loud that whatever thoughts she's having are sure to interrupt your dreams. You turn over towards her - your faces are a hair apart. She's not smirking. Her lips are parted and her eyebrows raised, her expression torn between surprise and delight.

"You're making it difficult to sleep," you say simply.

"Am I?" She retorts. There it is. She's grinning. "That sounds like a personal problem."

You don't take the bait. "You know why you're making it difficult?"

She shifts her head slightly to imply 'no'.

"You're too far away. I'm still cold," you say.

She arches one brow. "This is too far away for you?"

You nod.

She shifts closer. Close enough that there's no room for you to glance at her lips. There's only her eyes staring into yours.

"This good enough?" She whispers.

"No."

"You're proving difficult to please, Y/N." And you can tell she's trying to be smooth, but right now, you just want her to shut up.

You barely have time to open your mouth to say as much before she's kissing you. Pressing her soft lips to yours, her hand finding its way to your hip and resting there. She tugs you closer to her until your bodies are flush against one another. The soft pecks growing longer. Light sparks from her fingertips, burning the trim of your jacket. She fists it as she presses you into her. Her touch still gentle if demanding.

You pull away slowly to breathe. To catch air. You forget why when your lips stop touching.

"Been wanting to do that for awhile," she says with a smile.

"I didn't know I wanted to do it honestly," you respond because it's true. All you knew was that Carol was infuriating. Still is. Only now you want to kiss her, too.

"Really?" Carol asks. "You didn't know you wanted me?"

"You find that hard to believe?"

"I do," she grins. "You know the raccoon and Groot have a running bet on which one of us would crack first. Groot bet on me."

"Groot lost, then." You mean to kiss her, but she pulls back.

"You're the one who invited me into bed with you."

"Because you offered your services."

"Because you complained about being cold."

You groan, snuggle into her chest so you don't feel the need to respond to her. Thankfully, she stops. Her spare hand strokes your back and slowly, you drift into sleep.

[shit-mcu-stans-write]

hey so. what was the point of endgame?

i have six asks to answer and a few drafts in which i talk about militarization in the mcu (particularly the avengers and iron man films), my issues with certain characters in the mcu, and so much shit to catch up on but. i wanted to say this thing:

tfatws spoilers ahead. also, long post

what the fuck was the point of endgame? i mean this in all seriousness. it didn’t even solve the snap/blip in infinity war. it just created,,, more issues. i haven’t watched far from home because i will scream if i see more spider-holland, but i’ve got the basic plot. i’ve watched wandavision and i’ve been watching tfatws. both these shows and (from what i’ve read and heard) far from home do nothing but show that stark’s decision to not erase the blip from existence/stop it from happening was a bad decision

not even getting into the fact that the flag-smashers have a relatively understandable message and disney is trying to show that a world without borders is bad by portraying them as supremacists, everything about the world is just.... bad

we’ve got wanda taking hostage of an entire town because sword decided to destroy vision’s body. we’ve got hospitals overwhelmed with patients suddenly popping back into existence. we’ve got governments/governmental agencies such as schools, banks, etc trying to deal with the fact that half of the population didn’t exist for the past 5 years. we’ve got half the population trying to get their jobs back. we’ve got parents/parental figures coming back to realize that their children are (what to them is suddenly) five years older. we’ve got best friends who are now five years older/younger. we’ve got a supremacist group, for god’s sake

and this was all to “save” a five year old (maybe younger? i don’t know ages)? i... don’t mean to be callous, and i want to make it clear that i don’t think child death is okay, but. it’s one “death” to save more than half the population. and yes, it is more than half. what about the pilots who were dusted and crashed the airplane, killing all the passengers inside? they don’t get to come back. we saw that only the folks dusted came back; vision was still dead

also, morgan wouldn’t really be killed. she’d just be... wiped from existence. not that that’s any better, but isn’t it better to kill one to save >50% of the world? obviously i’d never be in this position, and i know it’s easier to say that i’d kill one person (especially someone i love) to save billions, but still. stark is (supposedly) a hero. heroes have to make decisions like that

all this is to say that nothing good happened from stark’s snap (except his death, imo, but that’s off topic). people aren’t gods (ignoring thor). stark, arguably, did the exact same thing thanos did. he decided that what he wanted was what the world was gonna get and to hell with the consequences. and you know what? you know what the most selfish thing is about his decision? he didn’t even have to live with the consequences

stark didn’t save the world. he destroyed it

[avengerscompound]

Moving On - Chapter 5

Moving On: A Falcon & Captain Marvel Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Sam Wilson x F!Reader, Carol Danvers x F! Reader

Word Count:  2486

Rating:  E

Warnings:  Pregnancy, death of major character(s), canon typical violence

Synopsis:  You thought Sam Wilson was the love of your life.  You had planned to do it all with him - marriage, kids, see the world.  Even when you’re life gets turned upside down, and you both end up international fugitives, he’s there by your side.

Then Thanos comes.

When Sam is one of the many turned to dust, leaving you alone and pregnant, you don’t think you’ll ever stop grieving.  Yet, everyone tells you that Sam would want you to move on and live your life - that he’d want you to be happy. Gradually you open your heart up to another.  Carol Danvers has lost people too.  First her daughter, then her wife.  As the two of you lean on each other, feelings grow and you move on together.

So what happens when Sam is returned to you?

Chapter 5: When the Dust Settles

Steve had gotten the call from Bruce late at night.  It had come in on his emergency burner phone -  the one that only Tony Stark had the number for.  You’d seen him answer it with shaking hands, and the different possibilities of why Tony might be calling had all seemed to run through your head simultaneously.  Had they overturned the Accords?  Had they dropped the charges against all of you?  Was he just calling to say sorry or that he missed Steve?  Had something bad happened?  Was there an attack and the Accords didn’t matter now, because they needed everyone on board?  Had something happened to Rhodey?

While one of those was right, the last thing you’d expected to hear was for Steve to say the words; ‘Bruce calm down, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say’.

You’d watched the news on the flight to Scotland to retrieve Vision and Wanda.  You’d been told Vision was at risk of attack and your group had arrived not a second too soon. Wanda and Vision were being attacked by two aliens that had to be at least six-foot-six.

Your group had managed to protect them, though Vision had been injured and Steve decided that with this attack, it was time to go home.

Despite what was happening, you couldn’t help but be excited to go back to the compound.  Maybe if you could all deal with this, it would show everyone how the Avengers were needed and you could all go home for good.  You wondered if Tony had kept your things and if not where they would be.  You were excited to just be somewhere familiar even if it was just for a minute.

“Don’t get your hopes up too high,” Sam said, practically reading your mind.  “This is bad, babe.”

“I know,” you said with a sigh.  “I know but… we don’t lose.”

“Don’t do that!”  He yelped.  “You’re gonna jinx us.”

“Sorry,” you sighed, shaking your head.  “It’s just been so long.”

He rubbed your back.  “And everything is a mess.  We’ll just do the right thing.”

“Hope for the best, expect the worst,” you said.

“That’s right,” Sam said.

You had stayed at the compound for even less time than you had expected.  A greeting from a holographic Secretary Ross that involved an order to have you arrested, an awkward greeting between Bruce and Natasha, and debate about how this whole thing was going to be faced.  This ‘whole thing’ being an alien megalomaniac who seemed to have a philosophy degree but thought he was an expert on ecology.  He believed that the way to solve overpopulation and limited resources was to destroy half of all life and was now collecting some stones that would allow him to do it.  One of the stones currently resided in Vision’s head.

So it was back on the Quinn for a return trip to Wakanda in the hopes that Shuri might be able to remove the stone from Vision’s head so that it could be destroyed before another attack took place.

While Shuri worked on Vision the rest of you prepared for battle.  You went to have a quick medical once over before this got started.  The nerves you’d been feeling were making you a little lightheaded and you wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything that would get you into trouble during a fight.

“You are a little anemic,” the medic said.  “I’d say that is from the slight malnutrition.  All of your teammates are a little undernourished.  But the pregnancy won’t help.”

You blinked at her and shook your head.  “Sorry - the what?”

“You didn’t know you were pregnant?”  She asked.  “It’s very new?  Five weeks?  No signs of nausea yet?”

“No… no.  I… but… we’re… we use protection!”

“These things can happen, and with the current lifestyle you’re leading, it would be no surprise if you missed a dosage or there was a breakage,” she said. “I’m sorry.  If you don’t want this we can talk about what you want to do at a more opportune moment.”

You shook your head, not sure what to think.  You laughed… or at least you tried to. It was more of a hysterical sounding screech.  “Right.  Let’s wait until the world isn’t ending.”

“I’m sorry, this is a lot to take in today, isn’t it?” The medic said, going to a cabinet of medication.  She shook a couple of pills out of a bottle and brought them over to you with a small cup of water.  “Here, take these.  It will help with any lightheadedness and nausea you might experience.  We don’t want that in the midst of what’s to come.”

You quickly swallowed the pills and started to redress in your armor.  “Thank you, doc,” you said.  “Sorry for bringing this fight to your door.”

“If it is as serious as they say and you can’t stop it, then we won’t be protected just because we’re in Wakanda,” she said with a shrug.  “Not this time.”  She sighed and looked at you.  “Take care of yourself.  When you’ve saved the world, talk to the father and the two of you can come back to see me, and I’ll help you with the next step, whatever that is.”

“Thank you,” you said sincerely.  “That’s really kind.”

You went outside to where Sam, Rhodey, and Bucky were all waiting by the ships.  “All good?”  Sam asked, looking back at you.

Before you could answer there was a loud rumble in the sky.  You looked up to see a huge ship that resembled some kind of tower entering the atmosphere.

Sam pressed his finger to his comms device.  “Hey, Cap, we’ve got a situation here.”

It crashed into the dome above and exploded on impact, completely disintegrating in the air above you.

“God, I love this place,” Bucky said, as he looked up at it.

“Yeah, don't start celebrating yet, guys. We got more incoming outside the dome,” Rhodey added as more of the ships landed around the perimeter of the dome that protected Wakanda from the rest of the world.

Sam approached you.  “Guess it's the end of the world time,” he said as alarms started sounding and people began to scramble.

You briefly and tenderly kissed him, the secret that you had burning inside you.  “Sam,” you said, taking his hand.

He looked at you and raised an eyebrow.  “What’s up.”

You wanted to tell him but now was not the time.  He needed his head in the game, and so did you.  “Don’t do anything dumb.”

He laughed.  “You sound like Steve just before he jumps off the side of a building.  I’ve got wings, I’ll be fine.”

“See you when the dust settles,” you said.

“Yeah, you too,” he agreed and pecked your cheek.  The two of you then ran off in different directions.  You gathered with Bucky and Natasha, while he went to speak to Rhodey.

Steve, T’Challa, the Dora Milaje all arrived not long after, and your team and the armies of Wakanda were all marched onto carriers as Bruce messed around with a set of Kimoyo Beads with the help of Okoye.  As you were settling onto the carrier, a hole opened in the dome above your head and the Veronica Unit crashed down to earth nearby.  Natasha sighed and vaulted off the carrier going to help Bruce get a handle of the Hulk Buster armor.

By the time you were all flying your way down to the borders of Wakanda, you were in the blank zone that you hid in when you needed to rely on your instincts alone.

Sam and Rhodey flew overhead as the carriers took the armies to their positions and you all formed a large wall facing the dome that held the aliens out.

Steve, T’Challa, and Natasha went to the barrier to talk to the two aliens you had fought in Scotland.  You watched on, knowing it wasn’t going to amount to anything.  The female raised her spear and the ships began to open up.

“Did they surrender?”  Bucky asked.

“Not exactly,” Steve replied as he resumed his position.

Hoards of huge beasts ran through the treeline towards the barrier.  “Looks like we pissed her off,” Natasha said.

You watched on as swarms of the beasts began attacking the barrier, throwing themselves on it, not caring that it was skinning them and tearing them apart too.  “They’re killing themselves,” Okoye said, horrified.

Some began to breach the barrier and charge towards the waiting army.  Bucky, Bruce, and the Wakandan Army began attacking them with long-range weapons, felling them as they broke past Rhodey and Sam who attacked them at the wall.

“Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us... there's nothing between them and Vision,” Bruce said through the comms.

“Then we better keep 'em in front of us,” Steve said gravely.

“How do we do that?”  Okoye asked T’Challa.

“We open the barrier,” T’Challa said, and touched his comms device.  “On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen.  On my signal.”

“This will be the end of Wakanda,” M’Baku said to Okoye.

“Then it will be the noblest ending in history,” Okoye said.

Everyone readied themselves while T’Challa shouted his commands in Xhosa to the army around him.  The border tribesmen let down their shields and T’Challa walked out in front of them.  “Wakanda forever!”  He shouted and everyone charged.

As you ran down towards the border, pulling out your batons and hoping to god that you had the strength to get through this battle, the barrier opened and the beasts flooded through.

You were back from the frontlines when you encountered your first one, and you battled it, back to back with one of the river tribesman, the two of you taking it down together.  Two more attacked immediately, separating you from the man and you did your best to take the one you were facing down.  You could already see that this was not going to go as planned.  There were so many of them and they were so strong.  You managed to take down two others when you saw Bruce getting overwhelmed in the hulkbuster armor.  It felt hopeless, but you needed to win this.  You needed to go home with Sam and start your life together.  This couldn’t be how it ended.

There was a large crack and then something flew through the sky, taking out dozens of the beasts in one go, freeing up both yourself and several of your teammates.  When the air cleared what you realized was a large ax flew into the hand of Thor, who stood with what appeared to be a humanoid tree and a raccoon holding a gun that was at least as big as it was.

Bruce retracted his helmet and laughed loudly.  “Ah-hahaha! You guys are so screwed now!”

“Bring me Thanos!”  Thor roared, charging towards the leaders of the beasts.  He jumped into the air and slammed back down to the ground, his lightning taking out a huge swarm of them.

Thor turned the tide of the battle.  The hoard was being kept back and Thor seemed to be getting closer and closer to their leader.  The hopefulness began to return and you got a new surge of energy.  You were going to win this.  You and Sam were going to go home and retire.  He was going to run his business with his sister.

There was a deep rumble and the earth itself began to quake.  A huge wave ran out underground, sending trees flying and bursting out from under the walls of the dome were huge weaponized wheels that began to churn up everything, people included.

“Fall back!  Fall back now!”  T’Challa yelled and you began to run back away from the combat, trying to get away from the machines.

Wanda flew out from the window and threw one of them, taking it completely out of play.  Your relief at the next of your biggest hitters joining the field was short-lived as you saw Vision tumble out of the window of the palace and down the face of Mount Bashenga.

“Guys, we got a Vision situation here,” Sam said through the comms.

“Somebody get to Vision!”  Steve shouted.

“I got him,” Bruce said, taking off in the direction of the synthoid.

“On my way,” Wanda echoed.

You kept fighting.  Everything became more and more chaotic around you, and your battle turned away from actually trying to stop them, to just trying to survive long enough that you could get to the end of the battle.  The rest of your teammates seemed to head toward a copse of trees while you were still stuck in the open. You wanted to be with them if this all went south.  You didn’t want to die in a field surrounded by strangers, but with each step forward you made you were pushed back two more by the invaders.

Thor had begun to destroy the alien ships, bolstering your hope again despite the fact your energy was waning.  You could hear the battle cries of the Jabari as they began to take control of the battle and slowly you began to start gaining on the treeline.

An eerie silence fell on the battlefield and you picked up your speed running to where your friends were.

“Everyone, on my position. We have incoming,” Steve said over comms.  You looked around for some sign of more ships or something, but you had no idea what he was talking about.

You arrived in time to see Sam being hurled aside by a huge purple man that you could only assume was Thanos.  You charged at the titan, knowing it was no use, but knowing also that it was death either way.  He batted you aside like you were nothing, you hit your head, and lost consciousness.

When you came too, you thought for a second you were hallucinating.  There were people on the battlefield turning to dust.  You scrambled to your feet and looked around, blinking your eyes.  This couldn’t be happening.  People couldn’t just be disintegrating.

“Sam?!”  You called turning around and running in the direction where you last saw him.

Rhodey was looking around with the same look of confusion everyone else seemed to share.  “Sam?”  He called as he gazed around the forest floor.

“Sam!”  You screamed.  “Sam!  Answer me!”

“We’ll find him,” Rhodey assured you.  “He’s gotta be here.”

“He was right here.  I saw him here,” you said, and dropped to your knees, running your hands over the ground where you were sure he’d been.  Your hands came back covered in the dust you’d seen other people disintegrating into.  It was him.  You’d lost him.  You had expected the worst but even your worst hadn’t been you left here alone.  You sunk back on your knees and wailed.

// NEXT

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Love Cuts Deep

Chapter 13- Avengers. Assemble

Summary: With the new Infinity Gauntlet finally put together, things are about to get more chaotic then you could have ever realized. But in the aftermath, there is a joy within the sadness.

Warning: fighting, some blood, angst, fluff, bucky returns!

Masterlist

With no time to waste, Tony’s robotic tech ever so carefully placed the Infinity Stones onto a new gauntlet specially crafted by the man himself. With the utmost precision, he designed the piece in the familiar likeness of the Ironman suit, specifically taking into account the hand area. All in all, it looks just like that blasted Infinity Gauntlet that’s caused yourself and the universe so much pain.

But you known this is different, this is necessary above all else and must happen or you’ll face the dreary facts of never seeing Bucky ever again. No one still left behind in the aftermath like yourself will ever see their loved ones again, and Natasha’s death would all be for nothing. This is it.

You stand around Rocket with the rest of your friends, everyone suited up for the inevitable unknown while he carefully finishes up a few lasting touches on the metalwork with the aid of Tony to keep it steady.

“All right, the glove’s ready.” Affirms Rocket with a confident nod as everyone stands around him waiting expectantly, “Question is, who’s gonna snap their freakin’ fingers?”

 The room keeps to a heavy silence before Thor immediately makes hastily overconfident steps forward, “I’ll do it.” States the bearded god of thunder, no surprise to you, like he’s even in the right headspace to take on such a task. Especially looking like he just walked out of a homeless shelter.

Thor quickly earns a puzzled look from Tony. “Excuse me?” Asserts Stark with a raised brow as just about everyone else gives Thor a similar look of bewilderment.

Thor waves him off with a casual swing of his thick paw, “It’s okay.” Calmly dismisses Thor as he walks in closer to the perched gauntlet, eyes set for the powerful object within arms reach. Tony, Steve, and Clint immediately raise their arms to hold him back for the time being as your eyes widen at his go-getter attitude for something so seriously dangerous. He would fucking die.

“Stop, stop. Slow down.” Advises Tony while Steve steps between the gauntlet and an eager Thor. Blue eyes set and steady though a friendly softness flashes through them knowing the true reasons why Thor wants to do this above all the others, “Thor. Just wait. We haven’t decided who’s gonna put that on yet.” Implores Steve while Thor blinks, clearly not satisfied with this answer.

“I’m sorry. What, we’re all just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?” Laughs off the large Asgardian as his eyes trail around the room to the unclear hesitant faces of you all.

“We should at least discuss it.” Interjects Scott as Thor turns to face him before looking to all of you again.

Thor finds Steve’s conflicted gaze of uncertainty, “Look, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back.....I’m the strongest Avenger, okay? So, this responsibility falls upon me...”

Tony sets a friendly hand on his chest, “Normally you’re right...”

“It’s my duty.” Interrupts Thor, more heatedly this time as Tony slowly draws him away from the gauntlet. Doing his best to sway Thor’s mind, “It’s not about that...” Begins Tony as Thor interjects. “It’s not that...” Rambles Thor as you frown, eyes set on the glowing Infinity Stones as they rest comfortably atop the Vibranium laced metalwork.

“Sheeesh stop it!” Whines the agitated god of thunder, “Just let me....Just let me do it.” Whispers Thor in defeat, face falling with remorse as he focuses on Tony, “Just let me do something good. Something right...”

Tony lets out a disheartened sigh, “Look, it’s not just the fact that glove his channeling enough energy to light up a continent. I’m telling you. You’re in no condition.” Sincerely adds Tony, trying his absolute best to sway Thor from doing this to himself.

“What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?” Asks Thor with a reasonable bout of self confidence while Rodney throws a sarcastic. “Cheez Whiz?” In reply. Thor clenches his fist, pointing a threatening finger to him but ignores the verbal blow.

Eyes set on Tony as the god smiles, “Lightening.”

Tony doubtfully nods, “Yeah.”

“Lightening.” Says Thor again, like that’s going to hold all the answers and save everyone from oblivion.

Taking an anxious breath, you’ve already made your decision as you take a step forward, “Lightning won’t help you this time, Thor. You couldn’t take it.” He sends you a defeated look, eyes falling to the floor as the others gain your attention. Frowning, your eyes study the glowing colors of the new Infinity Gauntlet as you nervously swallow, “I’ll do it.”

“Y/N...” Begins Steve like a concerned father while his blue eyes grow with apprehensive doubt, he opens his mouth to speak more on the matter but you cut him off with a stern look, “My body can regenerate its genetic makeup, essentially I should heal from anything it does to me, it won’t kill me Stev...”

“We don’t know that,” Interjects a worried Bruce as he walks in closer to your little group, “It’s gotta be me, we saw what those stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him, these are the Infinity Stones we’re talking about. None of you could survive.” Explains Bruce honestly as he finds your troubled gaze, “Even you, Y/N.”

Your brows furrow in thought while you let a depleted sigh escape your lips, “How do we know you will?”

“We don’t.” Begrudgingly admits Banner, “But the radiation’s mostly gamma. It’s like...” He stares solemnly down at the beacon of destructive hope for a small moment, its shimmering colors glowing with a dangerous beauty, “..I was made for this.”

“Then it’s settled then.” Declares Tony with a confident nod, “We do this today. Everyone suit up, we have no idea how this is going to go.” And with that does the room quickly file out, your small team of nine hastily on the move to prepare yourselves for the impending future still held in mystery and a growing hope.

Soon, you and the rest of the Avengers nervously watch as Bruce picks up the metal gauntlet while Tony sends him a concerned brotherly look. “Good to go, yeah?” Wonders Tony as he stands a couple feet away for safety reasons like everyone else. Bruce gives the stones a last fleeting glance before raising his eyes up to meet him, “Let’s do it.”

“Okay, remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago you’re just bringing them back to now, today. Don’t change anything from the last five years.” Warns Tony as Bruce nods. “Got it.”

Everyone takes a cautious step backwards, making sure to shield themselves from whatever’s about to happen next with either their actual suits or in Steve’s case his legitimate shield. All you got on is your usual dark attire that’s armored comfortably in the areas needed. That and your uncanny but evidently helpful ability to heal yourself instantly. Which may either become unneeded, or hold true to its helpful wonder if things go south for whatever reason.

Tony quickly has Friday adorn the protective barriers around the buildings interior so whatever happens inside, stays inside. A moment later Banner puts the gauntlet on with a hesitant grimace, the metal grows as it adjusts to his hand, immediately the power of the stones glows bright. The raw energy crawling wickedly up his arm as Bruce falls to his one knee in pain. Loud grunts of strained discomfort emitting from the half-hulks throat. Shit that looks painful.

“Take it off! Take it off!” Worries Thor as Steve throws up a cautious hand. “No, wait. Bruce, are you okay?” Banner groans in agony as Tony adds, “Talk to me, Banner.” More pained moans are heard before Bruce is finally able to give a reassuring nod, well, at least the best one he can manage.

“I’m okay.” He mutters through clenched teeth, sending a small spark of relief through everyone as he forces his fingers to reach one another. Yelling like a charging warrior through the pain of battle, Bruce forces his stiffened digits into submission, snapping his fingers through the gauntlet with all the strength he has left before a blinding bright light emits forth in an instant. Cascading the small lab into an almost heavenly glow, you can’t see anything it’s so obnoxiously bright.

When the light fades a swift moment later, you’re able to witness the aftermath of a brave Bruce Banner who’s currently semi-unconscious on the floor, metal appendage laying a couple feet away from him as Steve races to Banners side, “Bruce!” Panics Steve.

“Don’t move him.” Warns Tony as he sprays some type of healing particles onto the ashen green of Bruce’s right arm to increase the natural healing process from the stones hefty damage. “Did it work?” Wonders a drowsy Banner while he blinks back the blurry fuzz of the gauntlet's intense power.

Thor smiles brightly, “We’re not sure. It’s okay...just relax, it’s alright you did it.” Both him and Steve give Bruce some more encouraging words of praise as you take a step back from the scene to release a breath you didn’t know you had.

Holy shit, you think, heart slowing down from the adrenaline rush of it all. Trying to take in everything's that’s just happened, you ignore as Scott wanders away to the giant opening windows as your ears prick to the sound of Clint’s phone ringing on the nearby metal table. You watch curiously as he slowly walks over to it before picking it up and answering with a teary eyed grin from witnessing the picture of his beloved significant other. The sound of his confused wife reaching your ears in an instant and your heart immediately swells with joy.

Bucky!

Suddenly a dark shadow bestows itself upon the compounds opened sunroof, you quickly twist on your heel to face the others who are looking up at a dark shape with an equally as baffled expression. A second later your world turns to darkness.

Then nothing.

——

Someone’s shaking your shoulders. God that’s annoying.

But you can’t see or hear anything, can’t even feel your own body but the stuffy thick air that flows forcibly into your healing lungs. Slowly, your senses of touch and perception come back to life, vision deciding to wake up from the blurry void next and with that so does your hearing, “Y/N! Wake up! Come on, wake the fuck up!” Shouts the annoying voice of.....Clint. While his dirt smudged face flashes with uncertain panic. The fuck does he want? And where the hell are you?

Coming to, you suck in a needed breath before he quickly sits you up against a rock, a dull throbbing making itself known from the right side of your forehead that feels oddly wet. Ignoring his concerned gaze, you press a hand to it only to find your fingers coated in blood, “Clint, what the fuck just happened? And where the hell are we?” You grumble before taking a good look around you, finding nothing but rocks and ruble. “This looks like a sewer system, goddammit my suits ripped.” You complain, still a tad bit disoriented from the head trauma that’s still healing while you eye up the nasty blooded gash on your left thigh.

Clint huffs in frustration before taking a calculated look around at your minimal surroundings of rock and red warning lights as he takes a step forward, boot quickly smashing into something hard as he looks down to find the fucking gauntlet of all things right by his feet as something oddly familiar sounds in your sensitive ears. Oh, shit. Jumping to your feet, you turn your head to the cavernous tunnel on the right, night vision giving you the perfect view of... “Space dogs. Fucking space dogs!” You fearfully whisper yell as he sends you a perplexed look.

“Ugh what?” Mutters Clint as you throw him a look of pure panic, understanding something is most definably wrong if you of all people are scared shitless, he quickly sends a lighted arrow past your head before catching a glimpse of exactly what you were warning him about. Thanos’ army of monstrous bastards from space. This is your nightmare all over again.

“Shit.” Mumbles an alarmed Clint as he tugs on your arm before the two of you book it in the other direction, screams of fury and death sounding from the beasts pursuing you. For a good twenty yards do the both of you run until by some wondrous act of the universe are you able to climb your way to a higher level where the creatures can’t get to either of you. Clint shooting a skilled blow to the creatures brave enough to pursue you further, killing them quickly enough so you both have a moment to rest. And inhale much needed oxygen from the swift sprinting session you just unwillingly endured.

Laying on the metal floor next to a worn out Clint, your breaths are heavy and labored when Nebula randomly walks out of nowhere like she owns the place, glad to just see a familiar face you pay her no mind when she leans down and quickly retrieves the gauntlet from Clint before raising her hand to her ear and speaking, “Father...I have the stones.” 

Uh, what? Oh wait! Your eyes widen in fear as you swiftly jump to your feet, Adamantium claws protruding out of your fists as you prepare yourself for a fight to the death over that damned gauntlet when without warning she sends a swift blast straight through your chest. Shit, you can barely breath.

You gasp, falling to the metal earth as she’s immediately confronted by some green chick and another Nebula, though you’re too frazzled and in pain to listen to their arguing. A couple long moments later the traitor Nebula is shot, falling to the ground right next to you as your lung muscle and bones fuse back together again. Body at long last letting you take in a proper breath. Dammit she got you old western style too.

Clint’s at your side in an instant, “Jesus Y/N, you okay? That looked bad.”

Grumbling in annoyance for the misadventure you’ve just found yourself in, he kindly helps pull you to your feet, “I’ve had better days Clint, I’ve really had better days.” You deadpan as he chuckles before the both of you follow Nebula and the green woman out and into the clearing of the destroyed Avenger’s Facility.

Once foggy ashen sunlight hits your dirt smudged blood spattered face, a pearl white pegasus flies above you and Clint, “The hell?” Mumbles Barton as the two of you start jogging into the destroyed landscape of the desolated Avengers base that’s currently in the midst of a chaotic battle between Thanos’ army and the Avengers, and clearly a lot more then just your lost friends. God today just keeps getting worse, not to mention weirder.

“Come on, this way.” Shouts Clint as you two begin making your way through the mess, both on a mission to protect this stupid gauntlet and try not to get yourselves killed in the process. Though soon some type of giant lumbering beast starts trailing you two as Clint calls in to anyone listening, “What do you want us to do with this damn thing?” You can’t hear what they’re all saying due to the fact that your earpiece is broken, but quickly enough Clint glances at you.

“Y/N! We gotta find Scott and that ugly brown van of his, it’s got the time machine portal in it so we can get these stones away from here!” Shouts Barton as he jumps over a protruding piece of shrapnel before one of Thanos’ loyal creatures jumps near, throwing him to the side as you launch yourself onto the beast. Digging your shimmering talons deep into its neck as it screams in agony, dying a second later.

“Give me that fucker, I can see the van from here.” You urgently exclaim as he hands it over to you without a second thought, too exhausted to run any longer. With the stones in your possession now, you book it on swift legs across the demolished battlefield as monsters of all kinds pursue you.

You’re luckily able to slash a few while dodging heated blows in an attempt to stall your progression, although unknowingly to you while you’re sprinting like a bat out of hell, mumbling a distressed chorus of “Fuck off, Fuck off, Fuck off..” to no one in particular. Bucky’s gaze is able to track your panicked form as it races across the destroyed landscape, Infinity gauntlet in hand. So that’s what you’re doing, thinks Bucky with relief, glad to know you’re okay. Well, for the most part.

Slipping from his curious view, you make it a good ten yards before a lumbering beast knocks you from your stable legs and onto the ground just as T’Challa ends its ugly life. Body hurting all over, you finally give up the gauntlet into the arms of the Black Panther, “I got it Y/N, you’ve done well.” Praises the king of Wakanda as you give him a weak thumbs up in reply, too damn winded to really answer with anything fully comprehensible.

God it’s a good thing you heal quickly cause shit, your everything hurts.

When will this shit end! Huffing in irritation, you swiftly pull yourself up before joining the Avenging masses into the storm of chaos. You slay monster and beast of all kinds before Proxima of all beings throws her spear at your head, just narrowly putting a full damper on your already hectic day as you dodge left.

“Didn’t I kill you already?” You growl in irritation as she begins hand to hand combat with you, more so claws to sword then anything else. For the next minute do you two hash it out on the battlefield, Thanos and other brave Avengers doing what they can to fight the Infinity Stones off of him as you slice up her face in a moment of valuable weakness.

Unfortunately she’s able to kick you into the cement, raising her shimmering blood coated weapon before thrusting it downwards straight for your naked jugular when suddenly it turns to dust against your exposed skin. Eyes wide in bewilderment as you breath in heavy breaths, you’re pleasantly surprised when the bitch disappears completely, nothing left but ashes floating on the breeze.

Wiping some fresh blood from your nose, you slowly stand on sore legs, eyes quickly scanning the surrounding area only to find all of Thanos’ army turning to dust as well. A relieved smile falls upon your chapped lips, though quickly enough your heart sinks when you wander over to Steve and Thor as they watch Pepper say her last goodbyes to a dying Tony Stark. So he was the one who did it, he killed Thanos for good. And this is the price that must be payed.

Your chest rises and falls with labored breaths from battling the enemy as his reactor core flickers, white light slowly going out soon after. You frown deeply as Pepper sobs by her husbands side as you notice the others beginning to slowly gather around behind you, and the ones nearest to him. Peter, Rodney, Steve, and Thor.

The dismal scene breaks your heart to watch so instead do you drop your gaze to the ground where you study the ripped fabric of your pants and the dried blood that coats it. You can’t believe after all this shit and time spent tirelessly in pursuit of those fucking stones has the deed been done at last. Two friends lost in the taxing journey to save the world from a deepening pit of confusion and despair, but it’s done, and Thanos will never hurt anyone ever again.

You’re so tired you could probably curl up and fall asleep on the rocks below, but yet your body shakes with adrenaline that keeps you from submitting to the earth for a long rest.. “Y/N?” You freeze, going still as a statue when your ears fully register the voice it belongs to. You’d recognize that voice anywhere.

Blinking hard, you turn around, your eyes slowly trailing up to meet the beautiful blues of the one and only, James Buchanan Barnes. Your breath catches in your throat, it truly feels like your whole world has just stopped and reset itself. Tears immediately prick at the corners of your eyes from the intense feelings of being overwhelmed from battle and by him, he looks exactly the same as when he left you five whole years ago. Long dark hair falling to his broad shoulders, metal arm apparent as it shows itself freely in the cloudy sunlight.

His eyes of stormy ocean studies your awestruck expression, handsome face softening as he takes a cautious step forward, “Y/N.” Mutters Bucky as your lip begins to quiver, so many emotions rushing through you like a giant waterfall, a couple stray tears draw clean marks down the sides of your dirt smudged face as your heartbeat begins to race.

You feel like hyperventilating right now but are to astounded to completely lose your shit, instead do you let him silently walk the rest of the way to you before gently placing his hands against your tear stained cheeks. He hands you a handsome grin of pure love and adoration as you place your shaking hands against his forearms. So incredibly awestruck that he’s actually with you right now in the flesh for you to form a coherent sentence.

You swallow, eyes furrowed as they wander all over his beautifully dirty face, “Please tell me this isn’t some sick dream.” You whisper, voice raspy while you try and keep your inhales as less erratic as possible. “Oh God I hope this isn’t another dream.”

Bucky chuckles a sweet tune of joy before engulfing you into a ginormous Bucky bear hug, he gently wraps his strong arms around your tired vessel with ease, burying his head in the crook of your neck as tears flow freely out of you now. Shaky hands holding him as close and humanly possible while you breath him in for all he’s worth. Your Bucky, finally in your arms at last.

You can’t believe it, after everything you’ve endured, after a thousand nights spent alone and days lasting for too many hours to count. He’s holding you like his whole life depends on it, every single muscle and fiber of his entire being wills himself to hold you in his arms like nothing and no one else matters.

Because right now, in the midst of a desolated battlefield, you can finally feel at peace with the man you have never stopped loving for even a single second. The man you will swear on your life to never leave his side ever again if you can help it. Your sweet James Buchanan Barnes. Your beloved Bucky.

You can feel as a feather light kiss brushes past your hairline before he slowly pulls away, metal and flesh hands still holding yours as his blue eyes soften, “This isn’t a dream.” Chuckles Bucky as he studies your teary eyed face, a growing confusion clear on his puzzled features, “Why would this be a dream Y/N? I mean, well I’m not sure where we are actually or how I got here or why your hair looks different now....and uh...clothing too?” His brows furrow as he trails his gaze all over you, clearly unaware of the time differences between you both and what troublesome lengths it’s taken to see him again.

He doesn’t know. Biting your bottom lip anxiously, you blink with saddened eyes before resting a hand on his metal shoulder for a bit of self comfort, “How long until you came through those portals?”

Blue irises flicker to the ground in puzzlement before finding yours once again, “Uh, I think it was about five minutes actually....it’s, it’s weird. I remember seeing you by Steve and then, I don’t remember anything else until it felt like I blinked and suddenly these huge portals were appearing in Wakanda. And you weren’t with me. I don’t know what happened....I’m not sure why you look a little different now either?”

Smiling at his adorable confusion, you trail a hand up to drag it through his messy dark locks, “You weren’t gone for five minutes Bucky, you were gone for five years.”

His lips part likes he’s about to speak though nothing comes out, handsome face slowly falling into a frown while he gently touches the side of your bloodied cheek, “What?” Whispers Bucky in astonishment, “Five...five years? Five whole years? That’s why....that’s how....how you, Jesus Y/N...”

“You have no idea how much I missed you James....how much I, I...” Your throat feels like it’s tightening as you lip quivers, voice unable to produce any sounds but your labored breaths. You feel like bawling.

Bucky takes this like the dutiful lover that he is, pulling you flush against him once more as he gently squeezes you close, face pressed into your neck as he mumbles out a soft but meaningful, “I love you Y/N.” That causes you to almost crush him in your loving embrace.

“I love you too, so fucking much.”

——

Standing on the grassy edge of the Starks riverside house somewhere in upstate New York, dressed in your usual dark attire. Though for this instance, it’s a rather dismal affair that truly represents the black clothing adorning your body with more purpose this time. But you don’t feel as terrible as you thought you would have.

A soft late summer breeze blows your hair back as you keep your hands deep in your jacket pockets while you let yourself enjoy the beautiful view of the water shimmering in the sunlight. It truly couldn’t have been a nicer day for such a day filled with melancholy for the loss of Tony. In fact, when you arrived for the funeral today, you could barely look at Morgan without feeling the urge to shed a few tears.

She’s surprised you though, her little heart is stronger then you’d realized, she’s clearly filled with confused grief for the sudden loss of her father. But she’s admittedly able to handle the dreary situation better then you’d expected, though it is true we all grieve in our own way and in our own time. Luckily she has a plethora of friendly people by her side, plus your cat Silver who you let her adopt considering you’re technically homeless.

Soon the familiar sound of footsteps walking across the grass alerts you to a new presence approaching you nearby, you could smell his scent a mile away. The blue eyed man in question, stops by your side, eyes trailing over you while you keep a steady gaze on the water. “Y/N.” Your name on his tongue, spoken so gently as he forms your letters into a term of simple greeting.

A smile immediately tugs at the corner of your lips when he literally says anything now, you turn to face him as you raise a brow, imitating his tone, “Bucky.” You practically tease.

He flashes a quick grin before shrugging, eyes glancing up to the house before finding your undivided attention once more, “They made sloppy joes if you want one. They’re not too bad actually, I had one so....yeah.”

“I’ll take your word for it, but uh...I’m okay thanks.” You add, gaze set back onto the water beyond as you let out an admittedly tired sigh, “I’m just, I don’t even know.....whatever, I’m okay.” You mutter while giving a weak shrug, a frown crossing your features as your mind wanders to your lost friends and the reason why you’re even at this funeral. It’s been a long fucking road to peace, if this even is peace.

Bucky, noticing your disheartened expression, gently nudges your arm, “Hey, you know you can talk to me.” Assures your sweet lover, eyes softening as he gently tugs at your sleeve, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Making a sour face at the water, you avoid his gaze while your heart swirls with a conflicted sadness, “No. Not really.” You freely admit, “Both of them, I never got a chance to say goodbye. I wish I could have, I really do Buck.” Biting your lip to hold back the tears, Bucky wraps a comforting arm around you, knowing how much this all pains you since he’s been back and was filled in on everything that’s happened.

You don’t even hesitate to relax into the warm embrace as you throw an arm around his waist to bring him in even closer to you now, “Truth be told Y/N, I never got a chance to tell Tony how sorry I am for what I did to his parents. If there was onl...”

“He forgave you, Buck.” He shares a puzzled look with you.

“He did?” Whispers Bucky in confusion though a slight hopeful relief laces his words.

 You nod, “Tony...we had a long conversation about that when I was visiting once for some birthday party, it was a difficult subject. But after everything we talked about, he forgave you for what you did. Of course we had no way of knowing this was all going to happen but uh, I just want you to know that. And so did he even if you weren’t there to hear it. Guess it was the thought that counts.”

“oh.” Mutters Bucky in clear astonishment as he keeps silent for a long moment, truly processing the solid fact that Tony Stark actually forgave him for such horrendous crimes committed against his closest family members. Bucky lets out a heavy breath of relief, giving you a small squeeze before speaking, “That’s, that’s good. Yeah, alright um...” His eyes flicker to the side as he pauses for a brief moment, “..you, you want anything up there?”

Chuckling, you roll your eyes at him, “What? Let me guess? You’re still hungry and don’t want to eat alone?”

Bucky keeps silent for a brief but telling moment as he mumbles out a soft, “Yeah.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

He nervously laughs before gently squeezing your shoulder, “Or we don’t have to, it’s fine I was just wondering...”

“Buck.” You throw him a humored glance as he smiles before you lose your grip on his torso, “Come on hot stuff let’s get you a sandwich.” He grins as you start backing up towards the house filled with multiple guests of all kinds still socializing amongst one another.

“Y/N I could go myself if I wanted to.” Says Bucky as he wanders across the grass by your side, “I could....but yeah, I’d rather have you with me.”

You snicker quietly as his stubbled cheeks redden in slight embarrassment, “Well Mr. Barnes, if you must know, I don’t plan on letting you do anything alone for a long time so get used to my company.”

“Sounds good to me.” Smiles Bucky as he gently nudges your shoulder, “But seriously you gotta try these sandwiches they’re really good.”

“Buck, I don’t doubt it.”

-

Tagged:  @diegos-butt @minigranger @bibliophilewednesday @holyhumorliteraturelight @lilacs-lavender @a-girl-who-loves-disney @starkssnarks @vikingqueen28 @bizarrebibitch @atomicpersonacheesecake @jmstz @staygoldsquatchling02 @marvelbros-oneshots @shawnartmendes @mischiefmanaged71 @jckie94  @iamasimpingh0e @mjaudrey  @thescarlettvvitch

[7soulstars]

hey there. I don't know if you are taking requests rn so if you don't just ignore this one. I was hoping if you could do various avengers x reader .. reader has the ability to manupilate emotions , she can take away emotional pain, negativity and sadness from anyone and replace them with relief, positivity and peace, by simply hugging the person! every avenger turns to her after a mission for cuddles and comfort, you can take it from there if you like! thank you💞

 Hey darling ! Thank you so much for requesting! I really really love this request it’s really so adorable oof- I made it into a fic and I hope you like it! Anyways, lets get straight into into it !!

Euphoria

Pairing: Avengers x Avenger! Reader

Warnings: Little like really little angst, Hydra, Overwhelming fluff, Half the Avengers act like literal babies around Y/N . I HAVE ALL THE AVENGERS SAFE AND ALIVE IN THIS AND AVENGER LOKI !! Ooc characters??

Summary: Sometimes even the empath needs empathy but she refuses to say it

............

Euphoria ; the experience of excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness.

A silent motion walks down the streets, a silent motion called The Empathic Soul that was involved with them, The Avengers. While the rest protected, she distracted, like a guardian of the common folk who had never seen her. They wouldn’t know, but they praised, thanked and loved. Every time there was pain, there was war, there was casualties, she was there and they just knew it. They looked around but couldn’t guess. The sudden wave of calmness replacing their sorrow and panic distracting their attention from her, their silent protector.

That was what the world had named Y/N, The Empathic Soul as she watched the title flash on the TV screen at Stark towers as she sat beside Vision who was failing to crochet no matter how hard he tried. Y/N wouldn’t consider herself a hero, she didn’t fight bad guys although she was very capable of doing that, she didn’t go and almost get herself killed for the sake of getting rid of ‘pests’.

But she was an Avenger ? Yes. She was, but she didn’t consider herself a hero. 

She was behind the scenes, away from common eyes just there to clean up the mess and to take the worry of the mess out of everyone’s head. The Avengers had a polarising reputation. Although it got better after they won against Thanos there were still those who disliked them. But there was not a single civilian who would speak out the title of the Empathic Soul in despise. Y/N would like to keep it that way she had told Fury. She didn’t really have the best life growing up, the strain had given her the powers and she wouldn’t dare use it for anything other than the good of the people. She knew protecting someone came with a cost. Her powers can be used for things unimaginable, wrong things and that’s why she needed to stay anonymous.

Though not all praises about Y/N may be true, one thing was for sure. She was a gem, one of the most selfless person anyone had ever met. With or without knowing about her powers. She couldn’t stand seeing someone sad and that is what made her the sole person every single Avenger was ready to get along with each other for.

Y/N had been a part of the team for 3 years now and she had made all the trauma dissipate and had even managed to make the most unapproachable team mmates open up. She had made sure Stark Towers was always warm and fuzzy no matter how cold the world seemed.

The meanest of all things Y/N has done is manipulate the emotions of people like Zemo to make them confess and feel the pain of the people they caused pain to reflect and repent whenever Agent Everett called her in for.

The robotic voice of Vision snapped her out of her zone as she looked at him as he pointed at the elevator. As Y/N turned to look she felt an overwhelming level of tension.

Oh. It’s one of those days.....

The door opened to a familiar multitude of spandex and metal clad people filling into the living room all making an aggressive beeline at the empathic. 

“I CALL DIBS ON Y/N !”,yelled some simultaneously as they glared at each other and argued. Some went straight to the bar pouring themselves a drink and another very specific non alcoholic one along with it. Some stood frozen, colour drained off their face, to be more specific, Wanda,Peter,Bucky and Bruce. Peter walking straight into Y/N’s arms as she held them open as soon as she saw them. Wanda and Bruce following as Vision looms and floats behind them.

“That bad huh ?”, Y/N asked as she tried managing to drag the four towards the couch and plopped down with them. Bruce parted away from her and Wanda followed suit a pleasant smile slapping onto their face.

“18 casualties ”, she heard the blonde star spangled man as he wrapped an arm around her waist moving to hug her by the side as Natasha’s arms wraps around Y/N neck from behind the couch, her head plopped on top of Y/N’s for a few before she whispered a thank you and left to go find Bruce. “And 5 completely decapitated buildings you always forget the buildings Steve ! Now move I need a hug from our gal !”, Sam complained as he agressively made motions for Steve to move away from Y/N as he nearly tackles her. “Careful Sammy, it seems like Peter’s fallen asleep”, the empath notifies as she carefully rests the Spiderboy’s head on the couch from herself as Tony lays a blanket on his body. 

“Kid was really hard on himself today, he froze mid battle and was thrown right onto a car, the injury was not that bad but it sure was something. He kept asking if he could call you the whole way back”, Tony said as Y/N stroked Peter’s hair as she got up. “Made you a drink as I poured myself one”, he said offering the glass to her which she took and set back down on the table and then proceeded to take Tony’s glass away from him before he could even sip on it. “This is your third glass and I can sense your annoyance, come here ”, Y/N scolded him as he opened his arms for a hug. “My suit broke down halfway through the fight”,complained Tony into Y/N’s hug as she patted his back, concentrating on pushing the positivity strain in the man.

“I need to be back at the sanctum.... Y/N ?”, came a voice making Tony groan why is it that every time I hug her that you need a hug? The sanctum can wait ! Isn’t Wong there?” “Tony...”, warned Y/N earning a eyeroll from the billionare as he made her promise him hugs later as he sauntered away. Y/N let out a soft laugh before taking Stephens hands into hers and a gentle smile . Stephen placed his hand on her cheek as a smile plastered on his face. “You should have come with us......they-......I and the rest of them needed you.....”,he mumbled making sure no one heard. “I’m sorry, I would have joined but I had to get some Hydra agents to spill some secrets.....”,she reasoned. “If I did not have to return I would have loved to talk to you more about how I feel.....although you will feel it before me and-” “I come visit tomorrow”, she stated simply earning a sigh of relief from the other as he stepped into the portal still hesitating to leave your hand.

There were three left Y/N knew. And she knew where they would be. She walked down the hall that leads up to all their rooms, a door opened and before she could react she was lifted into a bone crushing hug who’s only culprit could be the golden retriever god. “Thor! I was looking for you! How are you feeling!” “Pretty usual Lady Y/N ! I suppose you are visiting my brother ! I couldn’t join today’s mission, I was visiting Asgard ! Anyways I shall let you be !”, and with that he went back into his room. He wanted stay but he knew so needed her more than him he decided he could bother her later.

“They were children ! Can Midgardians stoop this low, they were experimenting on children !”, Y/N could hear as she got closer to the door at the end of the corridor. She opened the door slowly and softly, right after knocking it once.

She saw a flash of black and and overwhelming sense of anger and sorrow before she was tackled by two bodies that made sure her head didn’t hit the floor.

“Hey calm down wow what the hell Loki? Buck? What went THAT wrong?” , Y/N asked the two who had gotten quite close to each other with help of her involvement throughout the years. They realized their similarity and now shared quite of lot of things with each other that they could never tell others. Well, other than Y/N. Y/N slowly replaced their emotions as they let out an appreciative grunt. Before sitting back up. “The people taken hostage by Hydra were children. They were beaten badly, hell some were flinching even when we tried getting them out. I may have done some questionable things in my life but I would never think of doing anything to children. This why this planet needs to be ruled !”,spat Loki in frustration as Y/N rubbed his back soothingly. They were silent for a while before Bucky spoke up. “Those kids were being trained, like Nat. Easier to manipulate, easier to make into soldiers like me.” Y/N sighed, her face dropping as she tried not to hiss in pain. “You saved them though right ? I will probably be called to rehabilitate them. I promise I’ll make them feel better”, she tried to assure them. “ It is not about that darling, I just wonder how many children might be there in Midgard that are being forced into things like this out of their will.” 

Y/N never said anything after that but what happened was bothering her and was clear as water. But every time they would try asking her she would quickly change their mood to a Euphoric state and distract them. It felt as if matters were getting worst and Y/N looked sicker and sicker. The team had no choice but to ask Fury.

“ I suppose she has not informed you about her mutation.”

“ What about it ?”

“Well it is not as easy as she makes it seem. You see, every time she replaces an emotion, she feels them. The malice, the pain and everything stays inside her and will stay that way until it is not given to other people. Y/N grew up in an abusive home. Empathy was never shown to her and it got worse by the time she was 15. She first started experiencing immense pain and one day it became intolerable. The pain, without her will got transferred to everyone in that house. No normal human could handle it the way she could and they eventually died because of it. She blames herself and that is why she is not allowed to go on missions with you because we fear that might happen again.”

Everyone was  bit shocked by the story they were bombarded with. The felt guilt. All this time it was her who was comforting them and never once had they asked her about how she felt. In fact, if Y/N had not interfered with certain things they might have regretted their actions or may have committed unforgivable acts.

She was their hero. And sometimes the hero needs to be saved to.

Y/N was startled to say the least when her bedroom door burst open and several bodies jumped on her making her feel a sudden high and the pain in her head trying to leave She closed her eyes and tried as hard as possible t not let go of it.

“Y/N I swear to god let it all out ! Were a lot of people we can handle it ! Be a little less harsh on yourself !”, nagged Wanda leaving the empath speechless over the fact that they found out her secret. After more perstering she let go. “Jesus Christ !/Oh my god!/How do you live with this!”, yelled different people simultaneously as they felt what Y/N has been holding to herself for all these years. “Lady Y/N I take back what I said about being the strongest it seems like you are the strongest one to be able to do this and take care of all of us with a smile”, Thor declared.

“You know we love you right miss Y/N ?”,Peter questioned.

Y/N couldn’t say anything if she did she would cry. Her heart swelled even more and for the first time in her life she felt like she truly belonged. The soft tune of Euphoria by Jungkook played in the background the lyrics etching the end of this story.

“Take my hand now, you are the cause of my Euphoria”

--The End--

....... I have never written such an intricate fic on this app. I do not know if it is good or not anymore because I am in too much feels. I really really hope you like this *crosses fingers in anticipation*.This was really fun to write! I did delete the draft like 7 times though because I wasn’t confident about it😅.. I really hope you like this🥺🥺.....Please like and reblog my posts if you like them! Feedback is highly appreciated and please do not plagarize my work. I really work my ass of on them! Thank you so much for supporting me darlings !❤🥰

~Love, Hri

[stark-tony]

underrated irondad and spiderson fic recs part 2

part 1

Queer Eye for the Cacti by silentsaebyeok

summary: He bought one-hundred cacti on Amazon! Pepper was going to kill him!

What had possessed him to do such a thing? He never went on shopping sprees when drunk. That just wasn’t a Tony Stark type of thing to do. And in all honesty, he was astonished he even remembered the Amazon password.

--

Tony makes an interesting purchase while drunk. What he doesn’t expect is for said purchase to bite him in the ass in the worst possible way.

pairings: pepperony

tags: fluff, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

Tumblr Posts by Jen27ny

summary:   Literally what the title says. All the prompts and one-shots I post on tumblr.

pairings: pepperony, spideychelle

tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, angst

warnings:

It Lasts for Always by YellowDistress

summary:  Peter has never asked anyone to kill for him, especially not Tony.

pairings: none

tags: angst

warnings: none

Cursed Christmas by sahiya

summary: A series of unfortunate events befalls Tony, Pepper, Peter, and Morgan (and Happy and May) in the week leading up to Christmas.

It'd be kind of funny if it didn't totally suck. Fortunately, they've got good back-up.

pairings: pepperony

tags: hurt/comfort

warnings: none

Keeping your head up by frostysunflowers

summary: It’s been a while, a long while, since Tony felt this defenceless. He’s without a suit, the manacle around his ankle is solid steel, and he can’t see a single way out.

 He’s been here before, but back then there had been tools, resources, options.

Here, there’s just the walls, his missing kid and the water. 

The water.

pairings: none

tags: hurt/comfort, angst

warnings: kidnapping

Young, Dumb and Suffering by wordscorrupt

summary: In a moment of desperation, Peter decides to take Steve's pain medication to relieve a migraine.

or

Peter accidentally overdoses on pain medication.

pairings: none

tags: 

warnings:

Midnight Oil by JolinarJackson

summary:  After everything that has happened to Peter over the last year - or five, really - he shouldn’t be worried about something as mundane as the ACT. When he fails it, though it sends him into a spiral of self-doubt, which only gets worse when Peter realizes that he doesn’t seem to be able to fix whatever is broken.

pairings: spideychelle, pepperony

tags: hurt/comfort, angst

warnings: none

Love Will Remind Us Who We Are by blondsak

summary: There had been many times in Tony’s life when he’d known the piercing clarity that separated a Good Day from a Bad Day. Had known the ways in which, upon first waking, one’s soul would strike a balance between agony and relief either in your favor, or not.

But none of his earlier Good and Bad times had prepared him for his reality now.

//

Nine months after the Avengers defeated Thanos, Tony is still reckoning with the toll the final snap took on his body. Between grueling physical therapy, near-constant pain, and the inability to so much as tie his own shoes, well-- things aren’t exactly like Tony had imagined.

Luckily for him, there’s a certain kid from Queens who won’t let Tony give up so easily.

pairings: none

tags: angst, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

Summertime Sickness by Spideysickfics

summary: "Well, this is your lucky day, then!" Peter replied enthusiastically, putting his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest as he broke into a wide grin, "You're looking at a former Boy Scout!"

Tony let out a huff of air.

"No shit, a Boy Scout, huh? When did you quit?"

"First grade." Peter's grin didn’t waver. Tony rolled his eyes with a laugh.

"I'm sure you're very knowledgeable."

OR

An Irondad camping trip and sickfic to soothe your soul

pairings: none

tags: 

warnings: none

to break in these bones by searchingforstars

summary: “We’re gonna go play baseball? I’m not exactly a great shot, and you might have to let me out of these first,” Peter rattles his wrists around in the metal chains and they clink together, echoing around the sparse room, “but sounds like fun.

“We’re not playing baseball.”

“Shame, because I passed a park on my way here and I’m pretty sure that there’s only been like, six murders there this year so that could have been a fun spot.”

“I’m going to enjoy this, you fucked up little kid.”

“Hey, I’m not a little-” Peter starts, but he’s cut off by all the air being knocked out of his lungs as he sees the bat raised in front of him.

--

or, Peter doesn't listen to Tony, pisses off someone dangerous and ends up on the wrong end of a baseball bat.

pairings: none

tags: angst, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

5 Times Peter Gave Tony Something by impravidus

summary:  and the 1 time Tony gave him something back

pairings:  none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

You'll Be Here (in My Heart) by seekrest

summary:  The morning that Tony’s life changed forever began as his days usually began now — shuffling into the kitchen half asleep, going through the motions as he searched for Pepper’s favorite coffee mug.

Tony stifled a yawn, grabbing the Black Panther novelty mug she adored while he grabbed one that Morgan had made them years ago - one that made her now cringe with embarrassment anytime she saw him use it, the childish scribbles that made him laugh.

  He sets Morgan’s creation down on the countertop as he reaches for the Black Panther mug, it being just barely out of reach for when Pepper has put it last.

“Damn thing.” Tony mutters to himself, fingers barely brushing against it before he grabs it - going to set it down on the counter only to be surprised when Pepper walks in from the bedroom, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Morning. You know, you and I need to have a talk about about your choice of mugs. I know T’Challa somehow perfected the cup warmer thing here but you could at least show a little—“

“Michelle’s in labor.”

pairings: spideychelle

tags: angst

warnings: none

the little things we don't say out loud by JBS_Forever

summary: “It's not funny,” Peter says, voice catching as he whines, “This is life or death, Ned. I'm actually dying.”

On the other end of the line, Ned sighs, amused and not at all concerned. “So you're Mr. Stark's secret Santa. It's not that bad.”

- - -

In which Peter is Tony's secret Santa, and it is, in fact, that bad.

pairings: none

tags: humor, fluff

warnings: none

Hiking Essentials: A backpack, plenty of water, and a Spider-kid by kiwifeather

summary:  Morgan, Peter, and Tony enjoy each other's company on a hike through the woods while Peter is staying with them for the weekend. Father-and-son bonding ensues

(Takes place after the snap but Tony survives because this is the good timeline and we know that Tony deserved a happy ending)

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

In Case of Emergency by Bowtiez

summary: Babysitting his little sister at the Stark's lakeside cabin seems like quite the gig for 17-year-old Peter. Of course he's got that covered- he's a mature individual and he can watch over a five-year-old for forty-eight hours.

On a totally unrelated note, did anyone know that super-healing doesn't really work on bacterial infections? It's a good thing Morgan knows what to do. Well... it's probably a good thing?

pairings: pepperony

tags: fluff

warnings: none

Three Times Tony Stark Used Italian Nicknames and One Time He Received One by MCUsic_to_my_ears

summary:   Tony can't help but slip into his Italian when with his children.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

More Ancient Than Magic by ironfamjam

summary: Life isn't exactly normal when your Head of House is also kinda your father-figure and his daughter is kinda sorta your little sister.

It's also not normal when the bad guys your real-life-war-hero-not-actually-dad defeated in The Great War threaten to return and you're still just trying to finish your Charms essay.

But Professor Stark asked him to protect Morgan. And that's what he's going to do.

Even if it breaks him.

The mini Hogwarts AU

pairings: spideychelle, pepperony

tags: fluff, angst

warnings: torture

Peaches by peterparkr

summary: There’s no response, not even a faint twinge of muscle. Peter tries to listen for a heartbeat, but he can’t seem to focus enough to pinpoint it. Another bubble of thought starts to rise. This could be the reason his spidey-sense is going haywire. Tony could be—

He pushes the bubble down.

OR

Peter and Tony find themselves stranded in the woods after an Avengers mission

pairings: none

tags: angst, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

Snowflakes by Jen27ny

summary:  Tony just wants to see his kids happy - which means letting Morgan stick as many snowflakes to the window as she likes, and making Peter talk about his nightmares.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

I Sure Do Like Those Christmas Cookies by baloobird

summary: Tony is spending a fun afternoon baking cookies with his kids, but his older one isn't acting like himself.

Whatever the problem is, it's up to the now-retired hero to figure it out.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: bullying, acephobia

An MIT Halloween by bethy_277

summary: Coming to MIT had been difficult, having almost lost his mentor when he had snapped to save the entire universe, and Peter had really struggled. If it hadn’t been for Ned and Harley- who he had met shortly after he came back and become good friends with- he didn’t think he would have made it past the first few weeks at school. He had called both May and Tony that first week, hysterical and begging to come back to New York. May had been patient, Tony had been ready to get in his car to drive to him to help him through it, and Harley and Ned had been there and talked him down both times.  

** Peter is a college student at MIT and Tony brings Morgan up for some trick-or-treating.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

Someone Take Me Home by GallagherHunter

summary:  More than a month since May's death Peter is having a less than stellar day at school in the hopes of making it through the day so he can get to the apartment where he's been living with Tony since his world came crashing around him. Meanwhile, Tony has been advised to adopt Peter to assure him he won't leave him.

pairings: none

tags: hurt/comfort

warnings: bullying

It’s Gonna Be Lit by Pawprinter

summary: What Christmas gift does one get for the man who seemingly has everything?

Peter is struggling to find out.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

I'll Be Home For Christmas by snarkymuch

summary:  May gets called away for work, and Tony steps in to make sure Peter isn't alone for Christmas. Harley, Morgan, and Peter being adorable kids, and Tony being a great dad.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

The power of makeup by SparrowFlight246

summary: Peter shows up to a prestigious awards ceremony with a black eye and a whole lot of regret.

Tony raids Pepper's purse and decides to improvise.

pairings: pepperony

tags: fluff

warnings: none

if you'll be my star, i'll be your sky by ftmpeter

summary: There are two things Tony learns about Peter after Morgan is born.

The first thing is that when it comes to kids, he's a natural.

The second thing is that he's a self-sacrificing little shit.

(Tony already knew that. He has the gray hairs to prove it. But. Still.)

It isn't the kind of self-sacrificing that will get him killed or seriously injured - thank God - but it's just as annoying. Maybe even more, because while he can ground Peter from Spider-Man, he can't exactly ground him from staying up all night to make sure Morgan sleeps through it.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

give the cookies a miss by searchingforstars

summary: “Surprise!” Morgan exclaims as soon as they’re both in the room. She gestures excitedly towards a few slightly sad looking lumps of something drenched in icing and severed onto sticks. There are sprinkles as well, which look like they might have been a nice touch to cheer the entire thing up, had the majority of them not ended up scattered around the surrounding bench space.

“Daddy and I made cookie pops! Well, I made them, he just helped me use the big scary whisk-y thingy. They’re for Katie’s birthday party tomorrow because we all have to bring something yummy to eat, and Daddy wanted to do regular cookies but I told him that was boring. So we made these instead!”

--

or, Peter is poisoned by the ones he trusts most.

pairings: none

tags: fluff, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

i want to be with you 'til the whole world ends by searchingforstars

summary: The last thing he does as his eyes slip shut is wrap his arms tighter around Peter, as tight as he can manage when it feels like the life is draining from him.

Please, for the love of God, I'm sorry I couldn't do it, but please, please, someone look after this kid for me.

Tony would give anything to make sure that Peter Parker is safe.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much left to give. He’s about to have nothing left to give.

The world goes dark.

He drifts away.

--

Or, Peter and Tony nearly lose each other.

pairings: none

tags: angst

warnings: none

Of bright autumn days and things that go bump in the night by frostysunflowers

summary: Halloween/fall themed fics featuring plenty of fluff, feels and seasonal shenanigans!

pairings: none

tags: fluff, humor, angst

warnings: none

Twelve Days of Terror: A Whumptober Collection by seekrest

summary:

pairings: spideychelle

tags: 

warnings: 

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Marvel What If’s Women Problem

Welcome back to the feminist rant!

I really didn’t intend to spend three weeks in a row writing about the Marvel animated series What If…? But I wanted to see this through.

Last week we talked about this show’s abundant use of the “fridged woman” trope. However, a show doesn’t need to kill its female characters in order to fail them.

Remember that time I made up a feminist movie test? I call it the “Want Test.” You can read the full explanation here, but here’s the summary:

This test requires that a film (or, in this case, an episode of a TV show) has at least one named female character. After watching the show, ask, “Does what the named female character want matter to the plot?” Then, score the movie based on the answer to this question.

If the answer is “Yes, what the named female character wants matters to the plot,” then give the movie a checkmark!”

If the answer is “Yes, AND this is true of multiple named female characters,” then the movie gets a check-plus. If these characters help each other get what they want, the movie gets a check-double-plus!

If the answer is “Yes, BUT her wants are an obstacle to a male character’s goal,” then the movie gets a check-minus. The woman may matter to the plot, but her importance is centered on her relationship to a male character and how much he matters to the plot. Often movies with a check-minus involve a male protagonist actively trying to stop a female character from getting what she wants; while she has an impact on the world around her, the movie isn’t rooting for the woman.

If the answer is “No, what she wants doesn’t matter,” then the movie fails the test. Give it a minus.

Okay, now let’s talk about Marvel What If. Once again, there are spoilers for the first seven episodes of this show below the cut, and some discussion of the plot points in the movies these episodes are based on.

When I compare the first seven episodes of What If to the Want Test, they each barely scrape their way to a check-minus (though after my rant last week, I’m tempted to edit my test so that a show that fridges a female character automatically fails). In summary, it does not matter what most of the named female characters want. Each episode has a single woman whose wants do affect the plot, but what she wants is always some kind of obstacle to a male character’s goal. Even when the women of What If survive the episode, the male characters’ feelings are the primary engine of the show.

As I neared the end of Episode Six, “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” I said to myself, “Well, at least Pepper and Shuri aren’t dead.” But then, in the last minute of the episode, Shuri and Pepper meet and state their intent to take down Killmonger. And I said to myself, “Okay, so why didn’t we get THAT episode?”

Sure, it’s cool to see two smart girls teaming up, but they don’t get to do anything! This episode repeatedly puts Pepper and Shuri down. Every time they express suspicion of Killmonger, someone contradicts them. What they want does not matter. They are obstacles to the men, and they are easily pushed aside, and so all they can do is stand in the background and watch while the boys run around and play war games.

If your named female characters only matter in the last scene of the show, then they don’t really matter. This episode wasn’t about the women at all. It was about the men killing each other and making each other sad.

*

I really don’t want to say much about the seventh episode, “What If… Thor Were an Only Child?”

What I will say is, “Why, why, WHY is Dr. Jane Foster more concerned about hurting the hot guy’s feelings than she is about how the hot guy is about to cause the end of the world?”

And I will also say, “Why does Captain Marvel need to be nice to Thor at the end of the episode after he spent the entire episode being a jackass to her?”

And I will end this section of the blog post by saying, “Frigga deserves so much better than any man in her family has ever given her.”

*

The second episode of this show, “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?” might be my favorite episode. Mainly because it’s the only one I genuinely liked while I was watching it. It was fun, and I was happy to hear Chadwick Boseman’s voice one more time. Overall, it’s a lovely tribute to both the actor and his character.

But, for me, liking this episode required ignoring a big problem: Nebula and Thanos’s relationship.

We don’t know exactly when in this timeline T’Challa met Thanos and convinced him to give up on the “murder half the universe” plan. But we do know that even before Thanos collected the Infinity Stones, he was roaming the universe slaughtering millions. We know he committed genocide against Gamora’s people the day he “adopted” her, and it’s safe to assume he did the same to Nebula’s. We know that he raised Gamora and Nebula to fight each other, and every time Nebula lost a fight, he replaced a part of her body with cybernetics, constantly torturing her.

What If never tells us that that Thanos did not abuse his daughters. It never tells us that he did not slaughter millions, including his daughters’ birth families. But it does tell us that Thanos is Nebula’s father. And he wouldn’t be her father if he hadn’t been roaming the universe killing people.

In this episode, we see an adult Nebula who seems to think her dad is annoying, but any feelings she might have about how genuinely terrible he is – feelings she was freely willing to admit in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies – go completely unmentioned.

Thanos and Nebula’s relationship is played for laughs, like they just need to get over their past and hug it out. That bothers me a lot. It’s like the show is saying that Nebula’s pain doesn’t matter. What matters is that Thanos is sad she doesn’t want to hang out with him.

I should also point out that in Avengers: Infinity War, Gamora gets fridged. Her feelings are unimportant to the plot; her stated desire to die before she can be used as a part of Thanos’s plot is mocked and discarded. When she is murdered, the moment of her death is all about how it would hurt Thanos to kill her. Gamora’s death also serves as motivation for Peter Quill to sabotage the other heroes’ efforts to stop Thanos.

Gamora is nowhere to be seen in this episode of What If. The women that Thanos abused really don’t matter here at all.

*

I’ve been putting off talking about this show’s pilot episode, “What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?” This episode was… You know, it was fun, in a very similar way to how the Star Lord T’Challa episode was fun. I can’t lie and say I didn’t like seeing super buff Peggy Carter beat the crap out of Nazis. That was a lot of fun.

But the thing I couldn’t stop thinking while watching was, “This isn’t Peggy’s story. It’s Steve’s!”

Peggy Carter may have gotten the super serum in this reality, but Steve Rogers is still the main driving force of the plot. Peggy goes to Germany to save Steve’s best friend. She works with Steve’s allies, the Howling Commandoes, instead of finding her own. Steve’s issues and emotions are central to everything Peggy does; she may say in dialogue that she wants to end the war, but what we see is that Steve is her motivation. In fact, he’s everyone’s motivation – in the scene where Peggy, Bucky, Howard, and the Howling Commandoes decide to go take down Red Skull, they all go around the table and say that they’re doing it “for Steve.” Not because ending the war is the right thing to do, not because they care about the millions of people murdered and tortured by the Nazis – but because they care about Steve.

When I first heard about this show, I thought that Steve was going to die, and that would be why Captain Carter would exist. The interesting/ironic thing here is that the episode pokes at the idea of fridging Steve, but it doesn’t quite have the guts to go through with it. Everyone thinks that Steve died on the train, but then they find him in Red Skull’s castle, and he’s totally fine! Killing off Captain America would have been an interesting, powerful new direction to take the story. But this episode doesn’t seem interested in taking new directions. It seems more interested in showing how things would stay the same even if Steve didn’t get the serum, even if Peggy switched careers from secret agent to superhero, even if Bucky never became the Winter Soldier, even if Red Skull decided to open a portal to tentacle hell. Things just stay the same.

And I don’t get the point of presenting us with a show where there are “endless possibilities” if things are just going to stay the same. If Peggy Carter will still be a side character in Steve Roger’s story. If Hank Pym’s grief still matters more than Janet and Hope Van Dyne’s lives. If Thanos will still never be held accountable for abusing Gamora and Nebula. If Doctor Strange is still an arrogant jackass. If the only realities we see are ones where men get to act and feel, and women get to be plot devices.

The truth is that the Watcher just isn’t interested in showing us realities where women live and thrive in their own right. For all its emphasis on how different decisions can cause dramatic changes to reality, the creators of What If have no real investment in making different decisions in how they portray female characters. It’s just more of the same.

I’m done thinking about this show. Let’s talk about something else next week, okay?

Be good to yourself, be kind to each other, and you’ll hear from me again soon!