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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch36: I Bid You Farewell And Good Luck, Morons. Part 1- It’s Like A Pirate Had A Baby With An Angel.

Intro: Thor wakes up on a strange ship, surrounded by even stranger people, a talking tree and a rabbit. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the fight to save Vision is won and the group make their way back to the compound to understand what exactly it is that they’re facing.

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So I HAD to write Thor and Tony’s POV over the IW chapters too, because, frankly, they had some of THE best scenes in Infinity War, and I love that freaking Norse God Himbo and chaotic Stark chemistry so bad! I know this is Katie and Steve’s fic, but Steve had so little screen time in this film all things considered…we were so robbed!!! Once again, I can’t thank @angrybirdcr enough for her edits, they’re awesome!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 35

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Thor wasn’t dead. But he felt like it. Every inch of his body ached and when he was jerked back to consciousness for a moment, just one split moment, he thought he saw Little Stark. Only it wasn’t her. The woman had dark hair, yes, but as he focussed he realised she looked nothing like the woman he loved dearly as a sister. This wench had huge eyes and antenna dangling from her forehead. And, whilst he knew it had been a while since he had seen his friend, she wouldn’t have changed that much.

Finding his feet he looked around, chest heaving, at the band of people stood in front of him; a woman with green skin and red hair, a man with grey/blue skin covered in red designs, a tree creature- a Flora Colossus unless he was mistaken- which was off to the side draped over a chair, some kind of furry, animal thing- a rabbit maybe- and finally a man who appeared to be a normal, human being. That was until he opened his mouth and Thor realised he was probably the most stupid human being he had ever encountered.

His rescuers had offered him soup, and then when he had explained about Thanos, the green skinned lady called Gamora had told Thor what the Titan wanted the stones for. Which she knew, because she his daughter.

Thanos had a daughter. Interesting.

“Families can be tough,” Thor spoke wisely, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Before my father died, he told me that I had a half-sister that he imprisoned in Hell. Then she returned home, stabbed me in the eye so, I had to kill her.” He shrugged. “That’s life though isn’t it I guess? Round and round, but I feel your pain.”

The human, Peter Quill, pushed his way between Gamora and Thor, and looked at her “I feel your pain, as well, because, I mean it’s not a competition, but I’ve been through a lot. My father killed my mother, and then I had to kill my father. And that was hard. Probably even harder than having to kill a sister. Plus, I, came out with both of my eyes.”

Thor wasn’t paying attention. The man was clearly a moron, and he’d just noticed he had bent the spoon in the bowl of soup and was having a flashback to the time he had tried to bend the Captain’s shield. Little Stark had laughed so much at how annoyed he had gotten when he failed that she had cried. And then, to make it worse, a few days later the Captain had managed to move Mjolnir. Just a fraction, but it moved. No one had seen it, bar Little Stark of course, but there was something there, Thor was sure. Steve Rogers was a man worthy of a lot of things, but his hammer was complicated. You have to prove your worth. That had been explained to him by his Father the day he had given it to him. Of course, he hadn’t realised then that Eitri had actually made it for Hela first.

Eitri… Oh, yes!

“I need a hammer, not a spoon.” Thor mumbled, as the idea took hold and he looked at the pod at the back of the ship. “How do I open this thing?” He began pressing random buttons on the screen next to the door. “Is there some sort of a four-digit code? Maybe a birth date or something?”

"What are you doing?” the rabbit animal, Rocket asked.

“Taking your pod.” Thor replied nonchalantly.

And then there was an argument in which the moron Quill tried to imitate Thor’s deeper voice telling him he could not take the pod, but Thor was going to take the pod anyway because he was the God of Thunder after all, and then the lady Gamora cut them off quite rightly directing the focus back to Thanos by stating they needed to find out where he was going next.

But Thor had already thought of that. “Knowhere,” he answered as he brushed past Quill and over to the refrigerator he had seen Gamora get his soup from.

“He must be going somewhere.” Mantis argued innocently.

“No,” Quill shook his head and Thor noted his stupid voice was back to normal. “Knowhere? It’s a place. We’ve been there. It sucks. Excuse me, that’s our food.” He jabbed, suddenly noticing what Thor was doing.

“Not anymore.” Thor shrugged, stuffing it into a backpack he found.

“Thor!” Gamora cut across the pair of them again. “Why would he go to Knowhere?”

“Because for years, the Reality Stone has been safely stored there with a man called the Collector.” Thor stated.

“If it’s with the Collector, then it’s not safe.” Quill snorted. “Only an idiot would give that man a stone.”

“Or a genius.” Thor shrugged.

“How do you know he’s not going for one of the other stones?” Gamora asked.

“There’s six stones out there.” Thor began to explain, “Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it, last week, when he decimated Xandar.”

He didn’t missed the shocked and horrified look the group shared with one another.

“He stole the Space Stone from me, when he destroyed my ship and slaughtered half my people. The Time and Mind Stones, are safe on Earth. They’re with the Avengers.”

“The Avengers?” Quill asked.

“They’re Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

“Like Kevin Bacon?” Mantis called out.

“Errr he may be on the team now, I don’t know.” Thor shrugged, having no idea who the man named after a breakfast meat was. “I haven’t been there in a while. And as for the Soul Stone, well no one’s ever seen that. No one even knows where it is. Therefore, Thanos can’t get it. Therefore, he’s going to Knowhere. Hence, he’ll be getting the Reality Stone. You’re welcome.”

“Then we have to go to Knowhere, now.” Gamora stated, looking around.

“Wrong. Where we have to go is Nidavellir.” Thor picked up the backpack.

“That’s a made up word.” Drax, the blue man countered.

“All words are made up.” Thor smiled, slinging the backpack onto his back.

“Nidavellir is real?” The animal called Rocket’s eyes grew wide and he jumped up onto the table and looked at Thor. “Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend. They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the Universe. I would very much like to go there, please.”

“The rabbit is correct.” Thor grinned at Rocket’s excitement. “And clearly the smartest among you. Only Eitri the Dwarf can make me the weapon I need.” He turned to the furry animal. “I assume you’re the captain, Sir?”

Rocket grinned and nodded, “You’re very perceptive.”

“You seem like a noble leader. Will you join me on my quest to Nidavellir?”

“Let me just ask the captain. Oh, wait a second, it’s me!” Rocket grinned. “Yeah, I’ll go.”

“Wonderful.” Thor beamed.

“Uh except that I’m the captain,” Quill chipped in

“Quiet!” Thor was now beyond bored of the moron.

“And that’s my backpack.” Quill continued pointing to the bag that Thor was stealing.

“Quill, sit down.” Rocket tapped at the pad and keying in the digits to open the pod.

“Look, this is my ship. And I’m not going to - wait, what kind of weapon are we talking about here?” Quill looked round.

“The Thanos-killing kind.” Thor smiled.

Boy, was it going to be a big, fucking weapon like no one had ever seen before…

“Don’t you think that we should all have a weapon like that?” Quill frowned.

“You lack the strength to wield them. Your bodies would crumble as you minds collapsed into the madness.” Thor shook his head.

“Is it weird that I wanna do it even more now?” Rocket asked.

“Erm, a little bit weird. Yeah.” Thor looked down at him, frowning.

“If we don’t go to Knowhere and Thanos retrieves another stone, he’ll be too powerful to stop.” Gamora stepped forward.

"He already is.” Thor shrugged.

“Look, I got it figured out.” Rocket interrupted, looking at Gamora. “We got two ships, and a large assortment of morons. Me and Groot will go with the Pirate Angel here, and the morons will go to Knowhere to try and stop Thanos. Cool? Cool.”

“So cool.” Thor grinned before he climbed into the pod.

“For the record,” Quill said leaning down to Rocket, “I know that you’re only going with them because it’s where Thanos isn’t.”

“You know, you really shouldn’t talk that way to your captain, Quill.” Rocket smirked, walking backwards and gesturing outwards with his arms. “Come on, Groot. Put that game down. You’ll rot your brain,”

As Rocket sat down Thor nodded out of the pod to the rest of the people on the ship. “I bid you farewell and good luck, morons. Bye.”

******

It wasn’t hard for the team to track Wanda, her red power flashing bright against the dark sky over Edinburgh City Centre, and as the jet followed her movements, the four friends saw her spiralling through the sky with Vision and crashing through the train station roof, just as Sam put the jet on the ground.

Within seconds the Ex-Avengers were sprinting off the jet.

“Katie, Nat, take the side!” Steve yelled, as he vaulted over the railings at the edge of the road running down onto the bottom half of the concrete ramp which led to the station. “Sam, up high and remember, we protect Vision at all costs!”

“Got em.” Sam spoke over the coms. “Platform seven, near the café.”

Steve vaulted over another set of barriers, the station now deserted thanks to the evacuation taking place by the local police. As he ran onto one of the walkways over the lines, he was just in time to see two of the aliens crash through the station roof. Weighing up his options, he realised it was going to be quicker for him to hop down onto the platform he was currently overheard, and jump across the lines to help. He swung his legs over the railings and landed easily, looking up. Across from him he could see Natasha and Katie emerging to the right, as Wanda stood and moved protectively in front of Vision, building power in her hands. An express train whizzed past him and he stood still, waiting and it wasn’t long before the taller, blue looking woman spotted him, and she launched her spear over the platform. Steve easily snapped his left shoulder back whilst leaning over his body with his right, catching the staff in his hand.

“Heads up.” Sam muttered, and as Wanda and Vision turned to see Steve step out from the shadows, fury lining his face, Sam swooped in and kicked one of the aliens across the platform and through a closed café’s security gate, causing tables and chairs to go flying, before he spun and started to fire on the other alien.

Steve launched the weapon he had caught across the tracks where Natasha caught it and stabbed the second assailant in the gut as Katie moved in to head off the other who was stalking back towards them. The weapon Natasha had been using flew back into the alien’s hands and Katie ducked as she swung, jabbing her in the back of the leg with an electric powered escrima stick. The alien let out a yell, stumbled slightly and Steve cleared the platform in an easy leap, rolling and scooping up the second assailant’s staff from the floor, holding it up to block the blow that the creature aimed at Katie. He grit his teeth, planting his legs to absorb the power of the hit, as Katie rolled to the side, jumped up and the two of them began to fight the alien, joined shortly by Natasha. Steve had to admit, the woman (if you could call her that) was a force to be reckoned with, but the three of them were just about getting the upper hand when they heard Sam yell.

“DUCK!”

The three of them did so and Sam flew in hard, kicking the woman backwards where she fell and scuttled over to her fallen friend. Sam landed next to Katie, drawing both his submachine pistols on the couple.

“Get up” The alien instructed to her fallen partner, her voice was deep.

“I can't.” His gravelly, robotic voice replied.

“We don’t wanna kill you.” Natasha spoke coolly “But we will”.

“You’ll never get the chance again.” The female levelled them, with a cold glare and with that a beam shot down from the hole in the station roof and the two were transported upwards. The weapon Steve was holding also shot out of his hand. He frowned in surprise for a moment, looking at his hand then upwards as the beam of light disappeared and the ship sped off.

“Can you stand?” Sam asked Vision as Katie replaced her sticks and walked towards Wanda and the android. When Vision shook his head, Sam moved forward to help him up.

Supported by Wanda and Sam, Vision looked over at Steve, Natasha and Katie, electricity shimmering over his surface. He’d been badly damaged in the fight, and as he spoke his voice distorted.

“Thank you, Captain.”

Steve took a deep breath and nodded. His face stern, but his eyes were much softer than his expression and Katie knew why. It had been a while since anyone other than Sam, Nat or Wanda had called him Captain.

Steve looked at the android, he might have been damaged but they had the stone, and that was the main thing. Nodding, he spoke. “Let’s get you on the jet.” His voice was soft and he moved to let Sam and Wanda support Vision on their way past him, Natasha following.

Katie hung back a little, trying to stop the light-headedness she was feeling from washing over her.

“You okay?” Steve turned to her as she blinked.

“Yeah, just took a whack that’s all. “I’m fine.” She assured him as they took up the rear of the group, her fingers lacing into his.

Once Vision was safely settled in a seat at the side, Sam dropped into the pilot’s seat. Katie hit the button to close the ramp as the Jet rose into the air.

“I thought we had a deal.” Natasha spun angrily to Wanda. ”Stay close, check in. Don’t take any chances.”

“I’m sorry. We just wanted time.” The younger woman said gently.

Katie glanced at Steve, he was stood up in the middle of the jet, hands on the buckle of his utility belt, staring seemingly at nothing but clearly contemplating something.

“Where to, Cap?” Sam asked.

Steve looked up, he glanced at Sam then locked eyes with Katie as he spoke one word, one simple word that they had all been waiting to hear for almost two years.

“Home”

*****

After a few hours, with the morning sky being the only thing in sight, Sam started to lower the jet through thick white clouds and Katie couldn’t help but inhale sharply when the compound began to take shape as she watched out of the front window. It looked the same. The buildings, the grounds…she wasn’t sure why she had expected anything to change, maybe because it felt like everything had changed for them, but either way, there it was. The exact same as the last time she had seen it.

Steve noticed her demeanour change slightly as they landed. She stood up straight, her shoulders squaring as if she was about to face an onslaught. And they were, in a way. On their way Steve had called Bruce to tell him that they had Vision and were heading back, but had had no idea what they were heading back to, nor did he care. Be it Ross, police, the army, whatever, Steve was done bowing to anyone’s will, he was over playing other people’s tunes. The two years they had spent hidden had shown them all that they could operate on their own if required, and he wasn’t afraid to fight anyone who got in his way.

They stepped off the ramp and strode over the lawn, Katie taking a deep breath as she looked around. So many emotions flooded her system, she couldn’t explain or identify half of them. Memories flashed in front of her eyes, visions of long summer nights spent outside in the garden and on the BBQ patio until sunrise. Laughs during team dinners. Sam and Wanda collaborating on pranks. Training sessions with the team and Vision reading Tolkien aloud to Wanda before asking questions about humanity’s love of fiction. Walks and picnics and other things in the ground, just her and Steve. Their wedding, God their wedding! Frequent visits from Tony, bringing in new ideas and improved gadgets. Getting back safe after being out on a long mission. Feeling relaxed and at ease.

Feeling at home.

Steve’s arm curled round his wife for a moment before he pressed a kiss to the side of her head as Vision opened the door.

“Still no word from Vision?”

“Satellites lost him somewhere over Edinburgh.”

“On a stolen Quinjet with four of the world’s most wanted criminals.” “You know they’re only criminals because you’ve chosen to call them that, right, sir? “

“My God, Rhodes, your talent for horseshit rivals my own.”

The sound of the call between Ross and Rhodey echoed down the corridor reaching the group that were making their way through to the lab.

“If it weren’t for those Accords, Vision would’ve been right here.” Rhodey shot back and Katie glanced back at Vision as the sounds the voices grew louder as they neared their destination.

“I suspect it will be a Hollo Call.” Vision said gently, answering Katie’s unasked question. His suspicions were proven correct as they rounded the corner and the lab came into view. Rhodey was stood across from where the holographic image of Secretary Ross was facing off against him.

"You have second thoughts?” Ross was challenging Rhodey, who smiled simply as his eyes shot sideways. Steve strode forward, his presence as intimidating as ever, and the first thing Rhodey noticed was just how dark he looked. Gone was the upstanding, All American Hero, and in its place was someone much harder, far rougher round the edges. Kiddo looked different too. Her hair was shorter and she looked slimmer.

“Not anymore.” He grinned.

The holographic Ross followed Rhodey’s gaze and his eyes fell on Steve who was stood next to Katie at the front of the group, Natasha, Wanda, Sam and Vision behind them. Steve raised his chin a little defiantly and moved to take his power stance, feet apart, hands on his belt, before he greeted Ross politely.

“Mr. Secretary"

Katie couldn’t help the smirk on her face as she watched Ross attempting to cover up the shock he had clearly felt at the group of outlaws turning up again. She locked eyes with Rhodey who gave her the smallest of winks before he glanced back at Ross who was shaking his head slightly as he approached Steve, his holographic form almost trying to square up to him. Steve simply raised his chin further and looked down from the steps he was stood on.

"You got some nerve.” Ross sniffed, staring up at him “I’ll give you that.”

“You could use some of that right now.” Katie shot back bluntly, Ross turned his head to face her for a second. She held his gaze and arched an eyebrow until he turned back to Steve.

“The world’s on fire.” Ross said incredulously. “And you think, you can just walk back in here and all is forgiven?”

Steve levelled the secretary with a firm gaze. “I’m not looking for forgiveness.” his voice took on a threatening tone as he spoke “And I’m way past asking for permission.”

At that point the smirk on Katie’s face grew even wider as she stole a glance up at her husband, pride swelling in her chest as he continued, stoic and unyielding.

“Earth just lost her best defender, so we’re here to fight. And if you wanna stand in our way,” he stepped down to be at level with the hologram, and stared it square in the eyes “We’ll fight you, too.”

Ross was practically foaming at the mouth as his eyes went to Rhodey and he spat out his order, “Arrest them.”

“All over it.” Rhodey promised nonchalantly before shutting off the hologram, shortly after a beeping noise sounded from the computers.

“That’s a court-martial.” He informed the group as he slapped the back of his right hand into his left palm, though his tone said told Katie that he blatantly couldn’t have cared less for Ross’ demands. There was a short pause as the group glanced down at their friend, Steve smiling softly, before Rhodey’s face split into a huge smile of his own.

“It’s great to see you, Cap.” He stepped forward.

“You too, Rhodey.” Steve answered, taking the last two steps down before he shook Rhodey’s hand. Katie threw herself at her brother’s best friend and he gave her a huge bear hug before he looked down at her.

“You do something to your hair?” He teased. Katie smiled, stepping back from his embrace while he looked the rest of the group over.

“Well. You guys really look like crap. Must’ve been a rough couple of years.”

Steve looked round, an amused smile on his face as he glanced at his wife then to the rest of the team.

“Yeah, well, the hotels weren’t exactly five star.” Sam quipped back cheekily, the banter flowing between them like no time at all had passed.

“Uh, I think you look great.”

Steve turned at the new voice to see Bruce inching his way into the room nervously wringing his hands together.

Steve and Katie remained silent, exchanging a glance. In the rush around and the fray of the fight, we’d forgotten to explain exactly who it was that called.

“Yeah. I’m back.”

Katie glanced over at Nat, she had her gaze fixed solely on the scientist as she spoke “Hi, Bruce.”

“Nat.” Bruce answered inclining his head towards her slightly as he fidgeted.

“This is awkward.” Sam piped up. Steve and Katie looked at one another, before they both smiled and looked back up at Sam.

“Any news on Tony?” Katie asked gently, interrupting the silence that had fallen.

“Not yet no.” Rhodey said. “FRIDAY lost him when he left the atmosphere. We got NASA running scans and we’re trying to track his trail but…” He shook his head.

“Typical Tony.” Katie rolled her eyes “Always has to go one bigger and one better doesn’t he?”

Her blasé tone wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Banner.” Steve said gently, looking across the room at the scientist. “Can you fill us in on what we’re up against here?”

“Yeah sure,” Bruce said nodding hesitantly.

Without so much as another word, the group all started to make their way out of the room. As Katie turned to follow Natasha, Steve’s hand gently fell on her shoulder. Without looking at him, she reached up and gently wrapped her fingers round his, giving them a squeeze before she left.

Steve took a deep breath as he glanced around the room once more, before he too followed on, that sick feeling in his gut was getting worse.

**** Chapter 36 Part 2

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #Katie Stark #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers fic #mcu fanfic #mcu #chris evans #chris evans characters

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iamanartichoke · 3 years

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So, Loki trailer question for you (possible negativity, fyi). I just have this general feeling of...*offness* with Loki? Like I saw a post that said it felt less like Loki and more like Tom cosplaying Loki, which makes no sense bc Tom is too good of an actor for that but it does match up with the vibe I get. I can't put my finger on it, there's just this vague sense of it feeling not fully "Loki." I'm still cautiously optimistic overall, but curious if you felt any of the weird vibes I did?

I did (do) feel the weird, not-Loki vibes. I think it’s a combination of two things: 1) the tone of the trailer is impossible to decipher, which leaves the tone of the show rather up in the air, and 2) Loki as a protagonist is a new angle, and that type of coding can affect the vibes.

Re: the trailer’s tone in general: for me, watching the trailer was like - the first time, just !!! bc I wasn’t expecting a trailer to drop and, yknow, Loki; the next couple of times I was like, hmmmmmm, and the several viewings since then have oscillated between hmmm and okay, this has potential, which is more or less where I am in general on the show now. In my opinion, it’s hard to decipher the tone bc it doesn’t seem to really have a tone; it feels somewhat comedic, somewhat bizarre, and somewhat intriguing in a “this storyline is going to be some kind of puzzle we’re all trying to solve” kind of way. Not being able to figure out what kind of show this is going to be - for me, at least - makes it hard, in turn, to put a finger on how Loki is going to be portrayed in it.

That said, Loki’s new role plays a significant part in throwing off those vibes, too; not necessarily in a bad way but definitely in a different way. What I mean is, up until this point, what we’ve seen of Loki has both been a) as an antagonist (or anti-hero, at best), and b) in the context of being a background character to someone else’s (Thor’s) story. We’ve never seen him framed as the protagonist, and now that framing is against the backdrop of a completely new universe, one in which Loki is surrounded by new characters, with a new look (clothing style, etc), in new circumstances. The goalposts have totally moved.

For better or for worse, Loki’s story has often revolved around Thor, in that by being the anti-hero or foil to Thor’s protagonist, much of what Loki says or does is reactionary of what Thor says or does. Furthermore, a lot of Loki’s arc is tangled up in Thor, bc a big part of his identity struggle is a trauma response to how he was treated compared to how Thor was treated their entire lives. Loki has always been a complex character, and there’s so much more to him than Thor, but that context and setting is all we’ve ever gotten, since the first Thor film. Loki’s never been given the narrative room to be anything else and we may not like that, but it’s what we’re used to seeing.

Now it’s different. This is Loki’s story alone and tossing him into such different circumstances is, I think, something that contributes significantly to the “off” vibes about him. The setting feels completely different from the Thor films. Aside from the mention of “brother,” once, Thor may as well not even exist - nor Odin, Frigga, Asgard, or any of the things that have framed Loki’s storylines for so long. We don’t know how Loki is going to respond to these new circumstances; we don’t even know if Loki will remember he is Loki (if the theories about him having amnesia hold any weight). He doesn’t quite hold himself the same way. It does feel like a cosplay, because what we’ve basically gotten is dark-haired Tom not quite cpaturing Loki’s mannerisms and energy, in the middle of a bunch of scenery and characters that have nothing to do with Asgard or Thor.

So, yes; I do get that feeling of off-ness and I sort of agree with the “cosplaying” feel of Tom’s performance. That being said, though, I am reserving judgement on whether or not that bodes ill for the series. When we get more context of what we’ve seen, the puzzle pieces could all come together. I’m cautiously optimistic that they will. Because I also agree with your point that Tom is too good of an actor to not be able to play Loki “correctly” in this series.

What I keep reminding myself is that Tom’s contract was done after IW/EG. He wasn’t obligated to return for this series, and no one would have blamed him if, after that ending, he said no and washed his hands of the MCU completely. But he didn’t. He signed on and seems excited whenever he talks about it. He is very gifted and he knows, understands, and tries to advocate for Loki as much as any of us in the fandom I realize that I’m putting all my eggs in the Tom basket at this point, and perhaps that’s unreasonable and short-sighted, considering the overall “off” vibes of the trailer, but here we are. I do have a couple of eggs in the “I’ve read some speculations and theories that seem pretty interesting and I’m down for that” baskets, too, for what it’s worth.

ANYWAY. I’m not sure if that answered your question or not, so I’m sorry, but tl;dr: yes, I agree that there’s an “off” feeling about Loki’s portrayal in the trailer, and it’s possible it’s a bad sign, but it’s just as possible it’s not. Either way, you’re not alone in your feelings.

#asks #charlotte replies #loki on the small screen #loki pokey artichokey #tom hiddleston is my favorite unicorn #i gotta stop writing novels over here #smfh #scintillatingshortgirl19

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner Ch36: I Bid You Farewell And Good Luck, Morons!

But there’s no sign of Tony, and the more they heard, the more they start to wonder if this is a battle they stand any chance of winning.

Warnings:Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

This is a bit of a longer update than normal, but I wanted to explore IW using all 3 of the perspectives that were shown, for no reason other than I had favourite bits in them all! And I LOVE writing for Thor and Tony!

As always tags are open and I’m taking suggestions for that lovely 5 year gap post snap/pre time Heist so if you have any ideas or wants, hit me up!

“It’s like a pirate had a baby with an angel…”

Thor wasn’t dead. But he felt like it. Every inch of his body ached and when he was jerked back to consciousness for a moment, just one split moment, he thought he saw Little Stark. Only it wasn’t her. The woman had dark hair, yes, but as he focussed he realised she looked nothing like the woman he loved dearly as a sister. This woman had huge eyes and antenna dangling from her forehead. And, whilst he knew it had been a while since he had seen his friend, she wouldn't have changed that much.

Finding his feet he looked around, chest heaving, at the band of people stood in front of him; A woman with green skin and red hair, a man with grey/blue skin, bald head, and red lines all over his body, a tree creature- a Flora Colossus he thought- which was off to the side draped over a chair, some kind of furry, animal thing- a rabbit maybe- and finally a man who appeared to be a normal, human.

They had offered him soup, and then when he had explained about Thanos the green skinned lady had told Thor what the Titan wanted the stones for. Which she knew, because she his daughter.

"Families can be tough," Thor said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Before my father died, he told me that I had a half-sister, that he imprisoned in Hell. Then she returned home, stabbed me in the eye so, I had to kill her." he said, shrugging "That's life though isn't it I guess? Round and round, but I feel your pain."

The human, Peter Quill pushed his way between Gamora and Thor, and looked at her "I feel your pain, as well, because, I mean it's not a competition, but I've been through a lot. My father killed my mother, and then I had to kill my father. And that was hard. Probably even harder than having to kill a sister. Plus, I, came out with both of my eyes."

Thor wasn’t paying attention. The man was clearly a moron, and he’d just noticed he had bent the spoon in the bowl of soup and was having a flashback to the time he had tried to bend the Captain’s shield. Little Stark had laughed so much at how annoyed he had gotten when he failed that she had cried. And then, to make it worse, a few days later the Captain had managed to move Mjolnir. Just a fraction, but it moved. No one had seen it, bar Little Stark of course, but there was something there, Thor was sure. Steve Rogers was a man worthy of a lot of things, but his hammer was complicated. You have to prove it. That had been explained to him the day it had been given to him. Of course, he hadn’t realised then that Eitri had actually made it for Hela first.

Eitri…

"I need a hammer, not a spoon." Thor mumbled, as the idea took hold and he looked at the pod at the back of the ship. "How do I open this thing?" he began pressing random buttons on the screen next to the door. “Is there some sort of a four-digit code? Maybe a birth date or something?"

"What are you doing?" Rocket asked.

"Taking your pod." Thor replied nonchalantly.

And then there was a row in which the moron called Quill tried to imitate Thor’s deeper voice telling him he could not take the pod, but Thor was going to take the pod anyway because he was the God of Thunder after all, and then the lady Gamora cut them off quite rightly directing the focus back to Thanos by stating they needed to find out where he was going next. But Thor had already thought of that.

"Knowhere," he answered as he brushed past Quill and over to the refrigerator he had seen Gamora get his soup from.

"He must be going somewhere," Mantis argued innocently.

"No," Quill shook his head and Thor noted his stupid voice was back to normal, "Knowhere? It's a place. We've been there. It sucks. Excuse me, that's our food." he said, suddenly noticing what Thor was doing.

"Not anymore," Thor shrugged, stuffing it into a backpack he found.

"Thor," Gamora cut across the pair of them again "Why would he go to Knowhere?"

"Because for years, the Reality Stone has been safely stored there with a man called the Collector." Thor said

"If it's with the Collector, then it's not safe.” Quill snorted. “Only an idiot would give that man a stone."

"Or a genius." Thor shrugged.

"How do you know he's not going for one of the other stones?" Gamora asked.

"There's six stones out there." Thor began to explain, "Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it, last week, when he decimated Xandar.”

He didn’t missed the shocked and horrified look the group shared with one another.

“He stole the Space Stone from me, when he destroyed my ship and slaughtered half my people. The Time and Mind Stones, are safe on Earth. They're with the Avengers." Thor stated.

"The Avengers?" Quill asked.

"They're Earth's Mightiest Heroes."

"Like Kevin Bacon?" Mantis called out.

"Errr he may be on the team now, I don't know.” Thor shrugged, having no idea who the man named after a breakfast meat was. “I haven’t been there in a while. And as for the Soul Stone, well no one's ever seen that. No one even knows where it is. Therefore, Thanos can't get it. Therefore, he's going to Knowhere. Hence, he'll be getting the Reality Stone. You're welcome."

"Then we have to go to Knowhere, now." Gamora said

"Wrong. Where we have to go is Nidavellir." Thor said picking up the backpack.

"That's a made up word," Drax, the blue man countered.

"All words are made up." Thor smiled, slinging the backpack onto his back.

"Nidavellir is real?" the animal called Rocket’s eyes grew wide and he jumped up onto the table and looked at Thor "Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend. They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the Universe. I would very much like to go there, please."

"The rabbit is correct." Thor grinned at Rocket's excitement, "And clearly the smartest among you. Only Eitri the Dwarf can make me the weapon I need. I assume you're the captain, Sir?"

Rocket grinned and nodded, "You're very perceptive."

"You seem like a noble leader. Will you join me on my quest to Nidavellir?"

"Let me just ask the captain. Oh, wait a second, it's me!” Rocket grinned. “Yeah, I'll go."

"Wonderful." Thor beamed.

"Uh except that I'm the captain," Quill chipped in

"Quiet!" Thor said, now beyond bored of the moron.

"And that's my backpack," Quill continued pointing to the bag that Thor was stealing.

"Quill, sit down," Rocket said, tapping at the pad and keying in the digits to open the pod.

"Look, this is my ship. And I'm not going to - wait, what kind of weapon are we talking about here?" Quill looked round.

"The Thanos-killing kind." Thor smiled. Boy, was it going to be a big, fucking weapon...

"Don't you think that we should all have a weapon like that?" Quill frowned.

"You lack the strength to wield them. Your bodies would crumble as you minds collapsed into the madness." Thor said.

"Is it weird that I wanna do it even more now?" Rocket asked.

"Erm, a little bit weird. Yeah." Thor looked down at him, frowning.

“If we don't go to Knowhere and Thanos retrieves another stone, he'll be too powerful to stop." Gamora said, stepping forward.

"He already is." Thor shrugged.

"Look, I got it figured out," Rocket interrupted, looking at Gamora. "We got two ships, and a large assortment of morons. Me and Groot will go with the Pirate Angel here, and the morons will go to Knowhere to try and stop Thanos. Cool? Cool."

"So cool." Thor said with a smile before he climbed into the pod.

"For the record…” Quill said leaning down to Rocket “ I know that you're only going with them because it's where Thanos isn't."

"You know, you really shouldn't talk that way to your captain, Quill.” Rocket said, walking backwards and gesturing outwards with his arms. “Come on, Groot. Put that game down. You'll rot your brain,"

As Rocket sat down Thor nodded out of the pod “I bid you farewell and good luck, morons. Bye."

******

Within seconds the Ex-Avengers were sprinting off the jet.

“Katie, Nat, take the side!” Steve yelled, as he vaulted over the railings at the edge of the road running down onto the bottom half of the concrete which led to the station. “Sam, up high,and remember protect Vision at all costs!”

“Got em.” Sam spoke over the coms “Platform seven, near the café.”

Steve vaulted over another set of barriers, the station now deserted thanks to the evacuation taking place by the local police. As he ran onto one of the walkways he was just in time to see two of the aliens crash through the station roof. Weighing up his options, he realised it was going to be quicker for him to run down the platform he was over and jump across the lines to help. He swung his legs over the railings and landed easily, looking up. Across from him he could see Natasha and Katie emerging to the right, as Wanda stood and moved protectively in front of Vision, building power in her hands. An express train whizzed past him and he stood still, waiting and it wasn’t long before the taller, blue looking woman spotted him, and she launched her spear over the platform. Steve easily snapped his left shoulder back whilst leaning over his body with his right, catching the staff in his hand.

Steve launched the weapon he had caught across the tracks where Natasha caught it and stabbed the second assailant in the gut as Katie moved into to head off the other who was stalking back towards them. The weapon Natasha had been using flew back into the alien’s hands and Katie ducked as she swung, jabbing her in the back of the leg with an electric powered escrima stick. The alien let out a yell, stumbled slightly and Steve cleared the platform in a leap, rolling and scooping up the second assailant’s staff from the floor, holding it up to block the blow that the creatured aimed at Katie. He grit his teeth, planting his legs to absorb the power of the hit, as Katie rolled to the side, jumped up and the two of them began to fight the alien, joined shortly by Natasha who had stabbed the other one in the gut, taking him out of the fight. Steve had to admit, the woman (if you could call her that) was a force to be reckoned with, but the three of them were just about getting the upper hand when they heard Sam yell.

“DUCK!”

“Get up” she instructed to her fallen partner, her voice was deep.

“I can't” his gravelly, robotic voice replied.

“We don't wanna kill you.” Natasha spoke coolly “But we will”.

“Can you stand?” Sam asked Vision as Katie replaced her sticks and walked towards Wanda and the android. When Vision shook his head, Sam moved forward to help him up.

Supported by Wanda and Sam, Vision looked over at Steve, Natasha and Katie, electricity shimmering over his surface. He’d been badly damaged in the fight, and as he spoke his voice distorted.

“Thank you, Captain.”

Steve looked at the android, he might have been damaged but they had the stone, and that was the main thing. Nodding, he spoke “Let's get you on the jet.” his voice was soft and he moved to let Sam and Wanda support Vision, Natasha following as Katie dropped behind to stay with him as they took up the rear of the group, her fingers lacing into his.

Once Vision was safely settled in a seat at the side, Sam dropped into the pilot’s seat as Katie hit the button to close the ramp as the Jet rose into the air.

“I thought we had a deal.” Natasha spun angrily to Wanda. ”Stay close, check in. Don't take any chances.”

“I'm sorry. We just wanted time.” The younger woman said gently.

Katie glanced at Steve, he was stood up in the middle of the jet, hands on the buckle of his utility belt, staring seemingly at nothing, clearly contemplating something.

“Where to, Cap?” Sam asked.

Steve looked up, he glanced at Sam then locked eyes with Katie as he spoke one word, one simple word that they had all been waiting to hear for almost 2 years.

“Home” he said, looking round the jet.

*****

Steve noticed her demeanour change slightly as they landed. She stood up straight, her shoulders squaring as if she was about to face an onslaught. And they were, in a way. On their way they’d let Bruce know that they had Vision and were heading back, but had had no idea what they were heading back to, nor did he care. Be it Ross, police, the army, whatever, he was done bowing to anyone’s will, over playing other people’s tunes. The two years they had spent hidden had shown them that they could operate on their own if required, and he wasn’t afraid to fight anyone who got in his way.

They stepped off the ramp and strode over the lawn, Katie taking a deep breath as she looked around. She felt a wave of that many emotions she couldn’t explain or identify half of them. Memories flooded in, the long summer nights they sat outside in the garden and on the BBQ patio until sunrise. Laughs during team dinners. Sam and Wanda collaborating on pranks. Training sessions with the team and Vision reading Tolkien aloud to Wanda before asking questions about humanity's love of fiction. Walks and picnics and other things in the ground, just her and Steve. Their wedding, God their wedding! Frequent visits from Tony, bringing in new ideas and improved gadgets. Getting back safe after being out on a long mission. Feeling relaxed and at ease.

Feeling at home.

Steve’s arm curled round his wife for a moment before he pressed a kiss to the side of her head as Vision opened the door.

“Still no word from Vision?” The holographic figure of Ross looked up from where he sat at a table and glanced at Rhodey.

“Satellites lost him somewhere over Edinburgh.” Rhodey replied. He knew they were on their way to the compound, but hadn’t told Ross deliberately.

“On a stolen Quinjet with four of the world's most wanted criminals.” Rhodey felt his temper beginning to flare. “You know they're only criminals because you've chosen to call them that, right, sir? “

“My God, Rhodes, your talent for horseshit rivals my own.” Ross said as he stood up. The sound of the call echoed down the corridor reaching the group that were making their way through to the lab.

“If it weren't for those Accords, Vision would've been right here” Rhodey shot back and Katie glanced back at Vision as the sounds of Rhodey and Ross’ voice grew louder as they neared their destination.

"You have second thoughts?" Ross was challenging Rhodey, who smiled simply as his eyes shot sideways, as Steve strode forward, his presence as intimidating as ever, and the first thing Rhodey noticed was just how dark he looked. Gone was the upstanding, All American Hero, and in its place was someone much harder, far rougher round the edges. Kiddo looked different too. Her hair was shorter, she looked slimmer too, but her upper body looked stronger.

"Not anymore." he grinned.

"Mr. Secretary"

"You got some nerve." Ross sniffed, staring up at him "I'll give you that."

"You could use some of that right now." Katie shot back bluntly, Ross turning his head to face her for a second. She held his gaze and arched an eyebrow until he turned back to Steve.

"The world's on fire." Ross said incredulously. "And you think, you can just walk back in here and all is forgiven?"

Steve levelled the secretary with a firm gaze. "I'm not looking for forgiveness.” his voice took on a threatening tone as he spoke “And I'm way past asking for permission.”

At that point the smirk on Katie’s face grew even wider as she stole a glance up at her husband, pride swelling in her chest as he continued, stoic and unyielding.

“Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you wanna stand in our way," he stepped down to be at level with the hologram, and stared it square in the eyes "We'll fight you, too."

Ross was practically foaming at the mouth as his eyes went to Rhodey and he spat out his order, "Arrest them."

"All over it." Rhodey promised nonchalantly before shutting off the hologram, shortly after a beeping noise sounded from the computers.

"That's a court-martial." He informed the group as he slapped the back of his right hand into his left palm, though his tone said told Katie that he blatantly couldn’t have cared less for Ross’ demands. There was a short pause as the group glanced down at their friend, Steve smiling softly, before Rhodey’s face split into a huge smile of his own.

"It's great to see you, Cap." he said, stepping forward.

"You too, Rhodey." Steve answered, taking the last 2 steps down before he shook Rhodey's hand. Katie threw herself at her brother’s best friend and he gave her a huge bear hug before he stepped backwards.

“Hey Kiddo, you do something to your hair?” he teased. She smiled, stepping back from his embrace while he looked the rest of the group over.

"Well. You guys really look like crap." He said lightly. "Must've been a rough couple of years."

Steve looked round, an amused smile on his face as he glanced at his wife then to the rest of the team.

"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star." Sam quipped back cheekily, the banter flowing between them like no time at all had passed.

"Uh, I think you look great."

Steve turned at the new voice to see Bruce inching his way into the room nervously wringing his hands together.

Steve and Katie remained silent, exchanging a glance. In the rush around and the fray of the fight, we’d forgotten to explain exactly who it was that called. "Yeah. I'm back."

Katie glanced over at Nat, she had her gaze fixed solely on the scientist as she spoke "Hi, Bruce."

"Nat." Bruce answered inclining his head towards her slightly as he fidgeted.

"This is awkward." Sam piped up. Steve and Katie looked at one another, before they both smiled and looked back up at Sam.

“Any news on Tony?” Katie asked gently, interrupting the silence that had fallen.

“Not yet no.” Rhodey said. “FRIDAY lost him when he left the atmosphere. We got NASA running scans and we’re trying to track his trail but…” He shook his head.

“Typical Tony.” Katie rolled her eyes “Always has to go one bigger and one better doesn’t he?”

Her blasé tone wasn’t fooling anyone.

"Banner.” Steve said gently, looking across the room at the scientist. “Can you fill us in on what we're up against here?"

"Yeah sure," Bruce said nodding hesitantly.

“We’ll use the living area.” Rhodey said, “Slightly more comfortable”

They made their way to the lounge, the same lounge they had all sat in discussing the Accords. Not much had changed; the furniture was different, there was couple of new sofas and the TV was larger, but that was it.

“So start from the beginning.” Steve looked at Bruce where he stood near the window, one hand on the back of a chair, the other on his hip. He nodded encouragingly, he could see the man was nervous “Who took Stark and what are we up against?”

“I’ll give you the short version and we can plug in the gaps later.” Bruce sighed, “His name is Thanos. He’s a War tyrant, from a planet called Titan. He goes from place to place, destroying worlds, taking what he wants, when he wants. Loki’s attack on New York?” Bruce looked around “Thanos was the one who sent him to attack Earth,"

"But what does he want?” Katie asked.

“All six Infinity Stones…” Bruce supplied.

“Infinity Stones?” Sam questioned.

“Yeah, so erm… the big bang, when it happened, it sent six of these crystals out across the universe. They each control an essential aspect of existence. Space. Reality. Power. Soul. Mind. Time.” Bruce said, rubbing his temple.

“Thor told us about them, after Ultron.” Katie looked round and her eyes fell on Steve’s “He said there were three out there unaccounted for, and three that he could locate. One was with some collector or something, one was housed in the tesseract which was locked in a vault in Asgard and the other…”

"Viz." Wanda murmured, glancing at the Stone in Vision's forehead.

Bruce nodded again. “Thanos came to our ship for the tesseract, which means he already had the Power and Space Stones before he came to Earth looking for the rest. Just that alone makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe, if he gets his hands on all six he could destroy all life as we know it."

“Hang on, the Tesseract was on your ship?” Katie looked at Bruce, “I thought it was on Asgard?”

“It was, but right before Ragnarok…” “Ragnarok?” Katie frowned, her mind whirring “But that’s…that’s the fabled downfall and the destruction of Asgard, I mean....” “I know.” Bruce looked at her. “Asgard was destroyed as part of a battle between Thor and his sister. So was his hammer.” “What?” Steve let out a breath as Katie felt her mouth drop open.

“Thor has a sister?”

“Look, that’s a whole different story.” Bruce said, his tone slightly frustrated. “All you need to know is that Loki –yeah, surprise, not dead, -stole the tesseract from the Vault before we left. Thanos boarded the ship and took the stone. Just took it.” he said, his arms swinging out to his sides before returning with a slap.

The room fell silent.

“So Thor.” Katie took a deep breath and asked the question she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to “Where…”

Bruce dropped his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh no.” Steve muttered as he dropped his head, looking downwards. He glanced up and saw across the table that Katie had her right hand against her forehead the heel of which was pressed hard into the space between her eyes in utter dismay.

Thor. Gone.

“He was no match for Thanos, not when he had those stones.” Bruce said gently. A single tear trickled down Katie’s cheek and fell to the floor and Steve watched as she took a deep breath, furiously wiping at her face.

“So the two we fought came for the mind stone.” Sam spoke for the first time “I’m assuming the ones you fought were after another one that’s located somewhere in New York?”

"The Time Stone.” Bruce nodded “It was being protected by some mystical arts guy, or a Wizard as Tony called him, Dr Steven Strange.” Katie’s head whipped round to Steve and he took a breath and straightened up, before he glanced over at Sam and Natasha and the four of them shared an instant understanding, they’d heard that name before on top of a multi-storey parking garage in DC.

"A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future.”

“But he was taken along with Tony.” Bruce finished.

Katie didn’t even want to think about that right now. She had to trust in her brother’s quick mind and sharp resilience, because the alternative didn’t bear thinking about.

"Well, we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodey said and Steve looked down again, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of everything Bruce had said.

"And they can clearly find us." Wanda added.

"We need all hands on deck," Bruce said pacing, "Where's Clint?"

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal," Natasha explained, "It's too tough on their families. They're on house arrest."

"Who's Scott?" Bruce frowned.

"Ant Man," Steve answered.

"There's an Ant Man and a Spider Man?" Bruce looked around in confusion, but it was Rhodey who nodded, simply, like it was just perfectly normal. Bruce shook his head, realising that it didn’t really matter at the moment before he continued. "Thanos has the biggest army in the Universe. And he is not gonna stop until he gets Vision's stone." He said the last part softly, almost reluctantly.

"Well then, we have to protect it," Natasha said stepping forward but Vision immediately corrected her.

"No, we have to destroy it," he said resolutely, his gaze focussed on something out of the window as everyone turned to him. He turned to face them and gestured to the stone in his head. "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its nature. But also its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, perhaps" he made his way over to Wanda and held onto her upper arm, "Its molecular integrity could fail."

"Yeah, and you with it," Wanda looked at him, shaking her head "We're not having this conversation."

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it."

Katie noticed Wanda’s eyes flash as she glared at Vision. "It's also too high a price."

"Only you have the power to pay it," Vision said quietly.

Steve shifted slightly. He knew that Vision was right, but the idea of losing someone else in their group didn’t sit well.

"Thanos threatens half the Universe.” Vision persisted “One life cannot in the way of defeating him."

"But it should," Steve argued, his eyes were diverted to the floor as he spoke gently, and it was right. Who were any of them to decide one life was worth less than anyone else? He took a deep breath and looked up and around the room before landing back on the android "We don't trade lives, Vision."

"Captain, seventy years ago you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?"

Steve took a sigh and stepped towards Vision, unable to answer because he knew the android had him, but then Bruce did it for him.

"Because you might have a choice," Bruce answered, and Steve could see the Scientist had suddenly had an idea, "Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixing together. All of them learning from one another."

"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda asked.

"I'm saying that if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

"Can we do that?" Natasha asked looking back and forth between the android and the scientist somewhat impatiently.

"Not me. Not here."

Steve suddenly began to think, maybe not Bruce, but could Suri? She had fixed Bucky after all, surely she could do this. T’Challa would be happy to help. And with his defences, maybe Wakanda was the safest place for Vision to be.

"Well you better find someone and somewhere fast," Rhodey pipped in. "Ross isn't just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back."

Steve nodded to himself, his mind made up before he raised his head to look up around the group. "I know somewhere."

His eyes momentarily locked onto Katie’s and he watched as the realisation crossed her face, she knew instantly where he meant.

“Wakanda?” she asked.

He nodded, turning to Sam. “Can we get wheels up in 20?"

Sam nodded and Steve turned to Rhodey. "That enough time for you to load up your suit?"

"Yeah. Should be."

“Ok. “Steve looked round “Banner, I suggest you grab what you need. The rest of us, back to the jet.”

The team began to bustle about and then Katie remembered something.

“Rhodey?” she asked, hopping down off the table, “Where’s Steve’s shield?”

Rhodey paused in the doorway and turned to face her. “I don’t know, sorry Kiddo. Tony never mentioned it.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Steve said gently. As Katie opened her mouth to suggest they had a look for it, he cut her off “And we don’t have time either, we need to go.”

Truth be told he didn’t want the shield back. It wasn’t his, not anymore.

“Fine.” Katie said somewhat stiffly. “I’m going to raid the armoury anyway, pick up a few things…” “Katie!” he called after her as she hurried out of the room. He let out a frustrated groan.

“I’ll go.” Rhodey said, patting the Captain on the shoulder. “I need my suit anyway.” The directions ingrained in her memory forever she headed to the armoury on autopilot and once inside she stopped dead. It had all changed. To the left were the usual lockers, although they now held no names she would lay odds on all the original seven of them still having kit in there. The guns, arrows, widow bites, shock batons were all still there on the racks. Rhodey’s War Machine kit stood in the corner, but what wasn’t was an Iron Man suit, or a Nova suit, of any description. Instead, in place of the the usual glass cabinets that held them were rows of smaller capsules.

“What the…” Katie mumbled, heading closer to examining “FRIDAY?”

“Welcome home Mrs Rogers…” The AI spoke, a hint of amusement in her voice “I believe Pod Seventy-Six is one of yours”

“Tony’s been working on upgrades” Rhodey spoke from behind, making her jump. “Nano-tech, courtesy of some work with Helen Cho.” “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Katie frowned as Rhodey made his way to the War Machine suit.

“Sevety-Six you say?” Katie’s eyes scanned the wall. “OK, FRIDAY hit me up.” One of the capsules opened and a smaller capsule flew out, opening in mid- air and then out of nowhere a suit formed around her body.

“Woah…” Katie said, as the familiar heads-up display lit up.

“The suit is held in a simple bangle” FRIDAY explained. “I’ll show you once the calibrations are done.”

As FRIDAY rattled through the new features, including a shield, new weapons Katie stole a glance in the mirror. It was much sleeker and less bulky, almost like wearing a cat-suit in a way. It was dark blue and gold, as always, with her Supernova Star in the middle of the chest. She gently reached up to touch it and the suit melted away to a silver cuff with the star in the middle which she tentatively placed around her wrist.

“Impressive huh?” Rhodey asked as he stepped into the War Machine suit.

“One word for it.” She said softly, tracing the outline of her bracelet with her fingers. “I can’t… why did he make it?” she looked up at Rhodey who slid his face plate back up to look at her.

“You know what Tony’s like.” Rhodey said, “Just because you left doesn’t mean he stopped caring.”

Katie looked down at the bracelet on her right wrist.

"Was- Was he okay, you know...after?" She asked, her voice cracking.

"He was as okay as he could be…” Rhodey hesitated slightly “To be honest, nothing was great though. The team was split and…”

Katie looked down “I had to go, I couldn’t stay, not after what he said to me.” Rhodey looked at her. “And have you ever considered why he said what he did?” “Because he hates me?” “No, because he loves you.” Rhodey took a deep breath “He knew full well that whatever choice you made it was going to kill you, but he couldn’t see you sat in a jail, he just couldn’t Kiddo. So he did what he had to do make sure you stayed away.” Whatever she had been expecting Rhodey to say it wasn’t that. His words hit her like a tonne of bricks and she felt her face screw up as she blinked back the tears.

“Shit…” she managed to mumble out. “I could, you know we could have called him, or he could have called us, tried to …” “You’re both as obstinate as one another” Rhodey said, shaking his head as he started to walk to the door of the armoury “Which is why I know he’s still alive. He’s too much of a stubborn asshole to die. “

*******

Tony was pissed, really pissed. Not only was he stuck on this fucking ship, the kid was still here too. Peter Parker was almost as much of a pain in his ass as Katie had been when she was his age. The thought of his sister brought a pang to his heart, especially when he knew she was more than likely at the compound now after Bruce will have called them. He hoped anyway, he’d thrown the phone down before the fight after all, he just hoped the scientist had found it.

He looked around and glared at Peter before his shoulders fell. Well the kid was here now, might as well use him.

“Come on.” Tony sighed “We got a situation” He lead Peter over to a viewpoint to see the torture going on below. Peter crouched to study the situation, with that damned cloak leaning over his shoulder. “See him down there? He's in trouble.” Tony continued “What's your plan? Go.”

“Um. Okay, okay... uh...” Peter and the cloak popped back up suddenly, a smile playing on Peter’s face. “Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?”

It was a dumbass plan, but dumbass enough to work. Tony blew a hole in the side of the ship which caused a huge depressurization and as such the alien was sucked out of the side. A quick struggle and Dr Strange was rescued from drifting off to space, Tony repaired the side of the hull with nanites and that was that.

“We've gotta turn this ship around” Strange looked at Tony who rolled his eyes. .

“Yeah. Now he wants to run. Great plan”.

“No, I want to protect the stone.”

Tony walked towards the expansive front view-port and from the way things were moving out there, he assumed they were travelling at some kind of hyper speed. The wizard was irritating him though, if he’d just agreed to get the stone out of the way they wouldn’t even be in this mess.

“And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead, I'm listening.” he turned to glare at him.

“For what?” Strange snorted, “Nearly blasting me into space?

“Who just saved your magical ass? Me.” Tony looked at him. “

“I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet”. Strange shook his head as he eyed the billionaire up and down.

“Admit it.” Tony said, for some reason he felt the need to make this guy admit he was wrong, just like he used to try and do with Rogers. No particular reason for it, other than being the one to come out on top “. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused.”

“Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you”.

“And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup.” Tony gestured around him.

“I’m back up.” Peter said, raising his hand.

“No, you’re a stowaway.” Tony said, waggling his finger between himself and Dr. Strange “The adults are talking”.

“I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here. Wh-- what is he, your ward?” Strange frowned.

“No. I'm Peter, by the way.” Peter said, holding out his hand.

“ Dr Strange.” Strange replied, looking at him.

“Oh, we're using our made-up names. Um. I'm Spider-Man, then”.

Before Strange could respond, Tony piped up. “This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot.”

Strange walked closer to where Tony was stood. “Can we control it? Fly us home?”

Home…Thanos…home.

They’d almost flattened New York once, and then there was Sokovia…no, home was most certainly a bad idea.

“Stark?” Strange’s voice cut across his thoughts. “Can you get us home?

Yeah I heard you. I'm thinking. I'm not so sure we should.” he said, honestly.

“Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos.” Strange warned “I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here”.

“No. It's you who doesn't understand, that Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York and now he's back!” Tony said, stalking towards Strange, jabbing a finger in the air as he pointed towards the ground. “And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his but you saw what they did, what they can do. At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Do you concur?“

Strange had to admit, the guy had a point. Let Thanos destroy his own place, not theirs. “Alright, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand... if it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone... I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't, because the fate of the universe depends on it”

“Nice. Good. Moral compass. We're straight” Tony nodded. Stepping over to Peter he tapped each of the kids shoulder with the edge of his hand, dubbing him as is done at a knighting.

“Alright, kid. You're an Avenger now”

Tony couldn’t look at him as he spoke, because he knew what he was signing the kid up for.

******

The jet was filled with chatter as Rhodey, Bruce and the rest of the team were catching up but Katie wasn’t listening. She wasn’t feeling great either, that damned sick feeling was back, most likely this time down to utter fear about what was to come. If Bruce was right, she wasn’t convinced this was a battle they were ever going to be able to win.

“You know,” she said, looking up at Steve and voicing her fear softly, “if he’s already killed Thor, and it’s going to take us, plus a royal army to attempt to fight this guy off what fucking chance does Tony stand?”

Steve didn’t answer, he couldn’t. Because what he was thinking wasn’t going to provide her any comfort. Instead he merely tightened his arm around her and pressed his lips to her forehead.

It was a couple of hours later before they hit Wakandan airspace.

"We're coming up." Sam spoke as Steve focussed his attention out of the front of the jet, one arm hanging lightly against the grab rails on the roof.

"Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0." Steve instructed.

Sam glanced back over his shoulder before he spoke, "I hope you're right about this, Cap. Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to."

Katie gave a small smile as she drew up next to Steve, wrapping her arms around his waist. They both stood, waiting as Sam flew the jet right into the trees, and swore with a loud ‘holy shit’ as it passed right through the hologram barrier into Wakanda. Everyone on the jet moved to get a better look at the beautiful mountains, lakes, buildings as the jet circled and Steve directed Sam to the runway.

They disembarked and Katie strolled off shortly behind Steve, followed by Natasha. Vision and Wanda stayed put, Steve telling them he would get them some help soon.

Bruce, who was at the rear with Rhodey whispered as he shrugged his arms into his jacket, "Should we bow?"

"Yeah, he's a king." Rhodey answered casually without missing a beat.

Steve ignored their banter instead smiling warmly at T'Challa as he reached out to shake his hand. "Seems like I'm always thanking you for something."

T'Challa smiled back and he shook Steve's hand before embracing Katie in a warm hug. “Mrs Rogers, it is a pleasure to see you.” “And you.” She smiled softly, before she stepped back and T’Challa nodded to the rest of the group. The clearing of a throat caught Katie’s attention and she turned just in time to see Bruce bow forward towards T’Challa.

"What are you doing?" Rhodey asked, looking at him.

"Uh, we don't do that here." T'Challa said kindly waving a hand to stop Bruce’s bow. Everyone smiled in amusement expect for Bruce who turned and shot a disbelieving but amused look at Rhodey who grinned back at him, nudging him with his elbow.

Then they turned serious again as T'Challa asked, "So how big of an assault can we expect?"

His guards moved as he spoke, opening up a path that T'Challa took, leading them away. They followed quickly while Bruce piped up politely as he explained, "Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault."

"How we looking?" Natasha added, addressing the king with a similarly concerned frown on her face.

"You will have my King's Guard," T'Challa listed, "the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and-" He gestured to the side just as a familiar, dark-clothed man stepped out of the building to greet them by the door.

"A semi-stable, one hundred-year-old man." Bucky grinned. Katie smiled back and then glanced at Steve as he walked forwards, that familiar boyish grin on his face as pulled the man into a hug clapping him on the back a few times.

"How have you been, Buck?" he pulled back to look at his friend. He looked as well as he’d seen him in years. Healthy and dare he say it, happy.

"Not bad," Bucky shrugged looking down at his new black vibranium arm, "For the end of the world.” Katie stepped forward to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You look good Buck.” she said, standing back to look him up and down before smiling, something that didn’t escape Steve’s notice. And yes, he knew there was nothing in it, and this was the most inappropriate time to get jealous but still…

“I feel it.” Bucky smiled as Steve slid his arm around his wife’s shoulder. “Goat farming suits me.” With that, Bucky turned to Sam. “Hey man.”

“Frosty.” Sam responded with a jerk of his head.

They left Rhodey, Sam and Bucky with some of the guard to keep watch, and the rest of them followed T'Challa up to the labs where the person who was said to be able to safely remove Vision's stone was waiting. Steve could tell that the rest of the group weren’t expecting that person to be T'Challa's sixteen year old sister, Shuri. But T'Challa had full faith in her, as did Steve after she had managed to remove Bucky's programming.

"Whoa." Shuri blinked as she stared at the hologram of Vision's brain and the stone in awe, "The structure is polymorphic...”

"Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially." Bruce nodded and Shuri glanced at him with a raised brow.

"Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?" She asked looking at Banner. Vision also glanced at the doctor in question.

"Because... we didn't think of it." Bruce admitted sheepishly.

Shuri smiled and Katie had to fight the laugh that was brewing at the Princess’ playful nature "I'm sure you did your best."

"Can you do it?" Wanda asked stepping forward anxiously.

Shuri's smile dropped as she became more serious. "Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures." Her gaze moved to T’Challa “It will take time, brother."

"How long?" Steve asked, straightening up slightly.

Shuri shook her head. "As long as you can give me." She answered honestly and worryingly.

A loud warning siren suddenly started and instantly Katie looked around. General Okoye tapped at something on her bracelet and she looked over at T’Challa."Something's entered the atmosphere."

Seconds later, Sam's voice called over their coms, "Hey, Cap, we got a situation here."

Katie moved over to the floor-length windows of the lab to look out, Steve stood close behind her as everyone followed to see what was going on. In the distance, they could see the plains all around as far as the border stretched to the city. A giant ship descended from the sky and as they watched it exploded high above the city as soon as it touched the shield, causing Katie to jump back slightly. Steve gently caught her, his hands going to her shoulders as his focus remained on the exploding ship which dissipated above the invisible barrier they had flown through.

"God, I love this place." Bucky’s contented sigh rang over their coms.

"Yeah, don't start celebrating yet, guys. We got more incoming outside the dome." Rhodey warned.

More ships came crashing down to Earth just outside the Wakandan barrier disturbing the dust and sand on the ground as they landed. The lab they were stood in shook slightly and Vision sat up.

"It's too late." he whispered and both Steve and Katie turned to look at him as he sat up. "We need to destroy the stone now."

"Vision, get your ass back on the table." Nat replied snapping her head back to look at him as she made her way to the door.

"We will hold them off." T'Challa said motioning to his guard.

"Wanda," Steve spoke up, looking at the young woman, "As soon as the stone's out of his head, you blow it to hell."

Wanda nodded with promise, "I will."

Steve turned his attention back to the window, watching the space ships which at the moment were doing nothing. T'Challa meanwhile, turned to his General and her warriors and began barking orders, "Evacuate the city. Engage all defences."

Steve turned to look at him as the king pointed in his directing before adding firmly. "And get this man a shield!"

Steve gave a small nod before he glanced back out of the window. For 2 years his fighting days had been focussed on simple people. Small groups of nobodies. Now, they were being thrown back into the crazy world of Aliens, AIs…and he knew they were going to look to him for leadership.

He might not be Captain America anymore, but he was still Captain Rogers, still that dumb kid from Brooklyn. And he still wasn’t going to run from a fight.

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bombshellsandbluebells · 5 years

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Thanks for answering!! I loooove Peter and John and Emori and well most characters on your list really! While we're at it, which characters are your least favorite in MCU/the100? And which characters do you think are overrated or underrated?

Hey, awesome! And no problem! I love talking about the characters I like. You can come talk to me about them anytime! Or even characters you like that I don’t pay enough attention to.

Okay, this was a GREAT question, and I basically wrote you a novel in response.

The 100 – Clarke Griffin (if that wasn’t already obvious)

I used to love Clarke Griffin, but at this point, I just get annoyed whenever she comes on my screen. Clarke was a much stronger character in s2, when the writing committed to portraying her as flawed and morally grey and kind of ruthless in a way that was necessarily but also kind of concerning.

Now it seems like they always want to remind me she’s The Most Important – she’s almost become a version of the Chosen One trope in a narrative where that really shouldn’t be a thing – and a hero and just, like, suuuper pretty (the staircase scene was ridiculous). They’ve made her The Popular, Pretty Girl trope and I hate it. They might tell me in dialogue over and over again that there are no bad guys, but even when Clarke does bad, selfish things, they refuse to commit to it. She doesn’t face consequences and the writing is too concerned with making us side with her than actually calling her out. Even this season while other characters have been listing why they’re angry with her, everything is framed in a way to make us sympathize with her.

Letting a character do flawed things but trying to sway the viewer to ignore those flaws and loudly tell me that they’re still a good person rather than showing it is the easiest way to get me to not like a character. They’ve written Clarke as incredibly selfish, arrogant, and unwilling to listen to anyone else, unwilling to truly apologize or learn from her mistakes – but they just won’t admit to it or let her grow. OR commit to an actual downward spiral arc. Either would be accepted.

Plus, she’s just boring now. Everything comes too easily for her – people she’s hurt forgive her too easily, and the nightblood is basically a superpower at this point. The writing of her is just lazy and it’s not compelling.

MCU – Steve Rogers

I also used to like Steve. Whedon’s characterization was always off (and I think AoU really contributed to the problems in his overall arc), but I liked him a lot in Cap 1 and Winter Soldier is still one of my favorite MCU movies and the best handling of his character overall.

I need to rewatch the MCU before I really dive into just what went wrong with Steve’s character, but I just never really found him as compelling a character past WS and I was mad at him more than I liked or sided with him. Even with Endgame, I was just indifferent to how his story ended.

I think he suffers from a lot of the same problems as the writing for Clarke does. Steve has flaws and that’s great – it makes him interesting and human – but even while the narrative shows you his flaws, it tries to push you to ultimately ignore them because he’s a hero and we’re supposed to side with him because they already established he’s a good man. The problem is that Steve’s flaws ultimately get shown a lot more than his heroic, moral side as the movies go on. And despite not showing us that heroic side, they keep loudly telling us over and over again that Steve still is a selfless hero who will lay down on the wire – something he actually hasn’t shown he will do (for anyone but Bucky, maybe) for several movies now. In fact, he’s the only one in Endgame who really doesn’t do “whatever it takes” or have to sacrifice ANYTHING.

What @gamorazenwhoberis says in this post really explains it better than I am right now.

In short, starting with AoU (the root of so many characterization issues in the MCU), the writing starts telling us that Steve’s a selfless hero and a shining example of a good man while only really showing us his flawed behavior. It’s hard to keep buying that Steve is the “lay down on the wire” type when he doesn’t do anything to prove it. I also really struggle to side with him in later movies because I find him, in the wise words of Rhodey, “dangerously arrogant.” Steve’s intentions are always good, but he never believes he can be wrong, and that’s a problem. And again, that could be a really interesting character flaw if portrayed as a flaw – but I think too often the narrative ultimately expects us to side with him because…I don’t know, he’s Captain America, you know?

It’s not necessarily Steve’s fault, because I think he IS meant to be portrayed as an ultimately heroic man who wants to help people but still has realistic human flaws – it’s the writing’s fault, because they way they end up framing it makes it look like Steve is all talk when it comes to heroic sacrifices but, unlike his fellow Avengers, unwilling to sacrifice or compromise.

Also, I’ll be honest - I relate so much with Tony and project so much onto him that a lot of his actions in Civil War felt like a personal betrayal and I had a hard time liking him again after that movie. I still like him just fine in the first few films and I actually did enjoy a lot of scenes in Endgame, but a lot of his actions bother me and never feel like they’re actually addressed in a way that calls him out and the writing of him REALLY bothers. And when I’m not mad it him in later movies, I’m mostly indifferent. I do love him in other universes though.

Underrated

1. JAMES RHODEY RHODES DOES NOT GET ENOUGH APPRECIATION!!! He’s fantastic and I love him and I really wish he was given a bit more room to shine in IW/Endgame, even though I get they’re juggling too many characters. They just handled him SO WELL in Civil War that I wanted to see more writing that showed how much conviction and sense of duty he had. Also the brief moment where he talked about being paralyzed and how they have to “work with what they’ve got” was so good, I wanted so much more of it.

2. Maria Hill! The writing has really wronged her. I didn’t like her writing in Age of Ultron at all (she’s not a secretary, Whedon), and she’s been such an afterthought in the MCU since then. I’m so excited to see her come back in FFH, because I think there’s still so much cool stuff they could do with her. I’d actually love them to write her with a bit more 616 characterization, because in comics she’s kind of both The Worst and The Best all at once. She’s just MEAN. But she also helps run a massive intelligence agency with an iron fist and has a strong sense of duty and right and wrong and she’s more than a little terrifying. She’s just great. I’m glad to see her back. I love that she’s still been doing her part to help protect the world even with SHIELD gone.

3. NEBULA!!! She has such a good arc and she was wonderful in Endgame and this whole fandom sleeps on her and it’s unacceptable.

Overrated

1. Wanda Maximoff. :/ I really, really WANT to like MCU Wanda, and Elizabeth Olson does an amazing job with what she’s given, but her character bothers me a lot. I like the concept of her arc going from villain to hero. She’s really similar to Nebula in that way – her turn to villainy was born from trauma, but over time she learned to repurpose that trauma into a way to help other people.

The problem is that….it just kind of doesn’t work for me. Part of it is that she also suffers from the Clarke Griffin Problem – aka, she’s flawed and she makes mistakes and the dialogue tells me this, but she either avoids consequences or she fails to apologize for them. In theory, I like her arc about mistakes and atonement and doing better (which is exactly why I love Tony and Natasha and Nebula), but the writing of it doesn’t work for me. And her relationship with Vision is just so boring it’s hard to be invested. I think they did such a disservice to her by killing off her most interesting relationship, even though I know it was for legal reasons. (I do like her relationship with Clint, though.)

2. Carol Danvers. :( Again, I WANT to like her so badly. I love comics Carol so much. I bought a Captain Marvel shirt for the premiere. I have a Captain Marvel coffee mug. I’ve been looking forward to her movie for YEARS.

But I just find MCU Carol incredibly bland. There isn’t much depth to her even after her own solo movie, and I think Captain Marvel did a terrible job of developing her – especially in comparison to how well other MCU heroes have been developed in their own solo films. She has a lot of surface-level qualities that are fun – like being headstrong and snarky and a badass (I AM delighted that there’s no question she is the strongest hero) – but there just isn’t much emotional depth to flesh her out. I still feel like all I really know about her are basic facts and not anything about what she believes in or feels, and I feel like I was more emotionally connected with Maria in one scene than I ever was with Carol. I’m really hoping her next movie fixes that problem for me because I want to love her.

Thanks for asking!! I’m not kidding. You can always come yell at me about fictional characters. :)

#ask #anticlarkegriffin #anti clarke griffin #antisteverogers #anti steve rogers

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geminijackdaw · 5 years

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Fanfic Author Asks

Tagged by @bereft-of-frogs!

I... have a really hard time being positive about my own writing, but I tried OTL

Author Name: I’m KiwiMeringue pretty much everywhere! I might change it to this one sometime? But I’ve changed it before and I don’t want to keep like, switching all the time OTL I should probably just have called it like KiwiWrites or something, but the thing about this username is I just thought it was cute and unintentionally led a bunch of people to assume I was from New Zealand which is patently false advertising and very disappointing when it turns out I’m Canadian xD;

Fandoms you Write for: I’ve got stories published for the MCU, and Naruto! Uhhh I’m blanking on things I’m famiiliar enough with to write for but there are a bunch? Critical role, the adventure zone, Good omens, netflix she-ra., maybe? Homestuck, but more @mr-alice and I’s fantrolls and kids, who still have a huge place in my heart, more than canon.

Where you post: I’m kiwimeringue on AO3 and FF.net, and then any like small prompt fills I’d probably leave here,

Most Popular One-shot: Hands down, it’s Therapy Dog. In which a young Hatake Kakashi deals with grief, survivor’s guilt, or PTSD by acquiring an irresponsible number of dogs. (Disclaimer: this does not work irl if you’re not a magic dog whisperer with a large property out of town)

Favourite Story You Wrote: This is as far as I got and this has been sitting in my drafts for days because I really, really struggle with this. I have a hard time being proud of anything I write. I guess it’s Therapy dog, becuase it’s definitely the one that’s resonated best with people, and probably my best example of “Look, I wrote a fanfic!” without having to qualify it with a bunch of asterisks.

I have given myself a self-imposed deadline of from October 1st to halloween to finish a prompt that I got from @portraitoftheoddity in her discord server, (it’s not SUPER spooky, but it’s tenuously thematically appropriate enough that I’m making it my project for the month xD) if I can pull this off, it will be this one. It should be fun.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: ALL OF THEM. Time I had some Time Alone (TIHSTA) is like a self-indulgent au of a self indulgent au, and I;m amazed anyone enjoyed it xD It got more of a response that Undying Fidelity (UF), the fic from which is is derived, did, for a while, which surprised me. I sort of what to qualify that I started this before I found the incredible corner of the MCU writer’s fandom that I currently frequent, so uh... this is very much Disney Grandmaster. This is Jeff Goldblum in space. Which is what I’m comfortable writing, but feels really pale and inconsequential in contrast to the horrifically vivid and rich dark carnival of twisted Grandmaster fan content that exists, like welcome to fucking weenie hut Jr’s, population: me.

How Do You Pick Your Titles: With great difficulty and much waffling! Kintsugi is named for thematic relevance that... I haven’t actually gotten to yet but it’s about to become stupid literal anyone who read version 1.0 knows how I mean this. But the idea of things history, and damage being inextricably linked to them, but that the thing can go on anyway, changed but not ruined, there’s recurring imagery and points of fault lines, places where things have been weakened, but that these are important and necessary.

I don’t feel like I have to explain Therapy Dog xD it’s about coping with grief... with dogs.

Undying Fidelity is like, painfully obvious, but it’s what I had started calling it, and it just. stuck. Obviously from Loki’s like... second last line in IW, and Sigyn’s title in the Marvel Comics. I’m kind of wishing I’d chosen something else, because there are definitely other fics with the same title, and it’s the name of a song from the IW soundtrack that is... less than fun. For obvious reason. I mean it’s perfect for what it was used for, but it’s not a “ahhh gonna pop this one on for a listen” kind of piece. I still can’t think of anything better, though we’re kind of in a weird place because I don’t quite have all the cards on the table, yet. On Loki’s end though,I’m hoping that I’ve sufficiently established this like... tenuous vestigial little flicker of affection that he’s been able to more or less ignore, but that simply would not go out, despite how much easier that would have been, that’s been given a little room to breathe now. (I could definitely go on trying to justify this for paragraphs, so I’ll stop now xD). Thematic chapter naming is another thing I love to inflict on myself and I always regret it, though I love it so much when other people do it, ahhh. UF’s chapters are all named after cards of the Major Arcana in the Tarot. I’m going to get to one eventually and you’re all going to see why I did this, and you’re all going to hate me and I deserve it xD

Time I Had Some Time Alone is the thing that’s repeated at the end of REM’s :”It’s the end of the world as we know it” and does sort of describe our reluctant hero’s state at the beginning xD Thriving in his completely self centered backstabbing Littlefinger party hellscape. (I went off on a huge tangent here that I have removed, I may make it its own post). Anyway, more thematic chapter naming, everything’s based on some apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic story. So 21 Days later (since for Loki it felt like three weeks) instead of 28, and chapter two is now titled “beyond thunderdome” because of course it is. (it was “the man come around” for like, THE ARRIVAL OF DEATH but that uh... that’s going to be a later chapter now).

Fic-in-planning stages will be called some variant of “Again, from the Top”? Take it from the top? ugh I’m trying to evoke like... redoing a scene.

There was also Errant, my NaNoWriMo story from like 2012 or something? xD It was about a bunch of idiots that were basically an RPG party in a shitty High fantasy bullshit setting. So like, as in, “a knight errant” wandering in search of adventure, but also in the sense of like like... they’re a bunch of dumbasses making mistakes.

Do you Outline: Yes! I definitely need to be more organized about it because my outlines are like these stupid irreverent event sequences that involve me remembering nuance way too well. Like for Kintsugi especially I’m scared I’ll have forgotten important minutia that I didn’t bother including becauyse oh pfft, of course I’ll remember that. And then I ...dont. My initial outlines for UF were an excel spreadsheet with scenes in various tiem periods that I dragged and dropped all over the place xD It was SUPPOSED to be thematically relevant paired scenes, with one part of each chapter being zset in the past and one half on the statesman and it just... did not work out that way.

How Many of Your Stories are complete: One! And it’s the one-shot! FML!

In-Progress: Undying Fidelity: Currently working on chapter 10 out of 22 TIHSTA: 2 out of... probably 4+ epilogue? Kintsugi: 13/Mayyybe like 30 something?

Coming Soon: From the Top is in its planning stages~!

Do You Accept Prompts: Absolutely! I can’t guarantee that a prompt is going to like... spark writing? in me? But I’m always open to the idea. And that doesn’t mean that an idea is bad or anything! Just like, can I, personally, take this idea and run with it somewhere.

Upcoming Story You’re the Most Excited For: Probably from the top, though I am two chapters out from part of of UF I am reeeeeally looking forward to writing :D

Tag Five Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions: I don’t know who’s been tagged already, I’m so bad at this, so uhh~ If you have been already, or if you just don’t feel like it, please disregard this! And if I don’t tag you but you feel like it, go for it! @teleris-night @malicemanaged @cosmicmewtwo @not-so-terrible and @ramblingredrose

#Ask memes #long post #Omg Ammy shut up #Ahh thank you so much!#Also thank you anon I needed that little nudge to get this done

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uglypastels · 6 years

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Three Words: Nervous As... - Tom Holland

Request: by anonymous: I LOVED Picture Perfect! You're amazing! May I plz req a fic where you accidentally say I love you for the first time while ending FaceTime with Tom? You two are in different time zones and you're exhausted. Without even noticing you say, “Goodnight Tom, I love you.”And hit the end button right as he makes his wide-eyed shocked/confused face. (Like the when he found out the IW opening date was earlier than he thought via IG Live, or when Greg was blasted out of frame from the FFH water stunt) Thx!

(A/N) You, Anon, are the sweetest and I hope you enjoy this!

POV of (Y/N), Tom...and Harrison! wut? yup.

Request/Ask here Or feel free to message me. My dm’s are always open.

word count: 4296

warning: fluff, light swearing, a bit of casual drama and inner-conflicts. but mainly this is just a “short” story filled with cuteness.

“I’m going to miss you so much.” You said as you gave your boyfriend one more kiss. You could feel him smile.

“I know. I’ll miss you too.” he kissed your forehead. “But we will see each other again soon. And we’ll facetime every day.” His arms were tightly wrapped around you. It almost made the busy airport disappear around you. It was just him and you.

“I just wish I didn’t have to work. Then I could have gone with you today.” One of your hands found his and intertwined your fingers.

“Me too. But it’s just two weeks, darling.” he gave you one last kiss before pulling away from you completely. Walking backward, he waved at you with the biggest smile on his face. Of course, you did the same, but a feeling in the pit of your stomach made you feel miserable. This wasn’t enough.

Tom turned around when he almost bumped into someone. The sight of not seeing his face anymore for the next two weeks from no one made you call out: “Wait! Tom!” Your boyfriend turned around alarmed. He started walking back to you.

“What’s wrong, babe?” The words you wanted to say weren’t there anymore. Your whole mind swept clean as Tom neared you.

“Uhm...I - I…” you could do it. “I just… have a good flight,” you said with a deep exhale. Tom raised an eyebrow.

“Is that all?”

“And be safe,” you added. He still didn’t seem to be convinced that was all you wanted to say to him. “Okay, you have to go now.” you gave him a peck on the lips and pushed him back to where he was trying to go the first time. He blew you a few more kisses and then walked away for good. You stood there for a moment. Letting the loneliness flow through you. Why couldn’t you just say it? Those three stupid words!

It has only been two months since Tom asked you out. Before that, you were pretty close friends and used to hang out all the time. That didn’t change once you started dating. Only from close friends, you became really close.

A sigh left your lips as your boyfriend disappeared into the crowd of hundreds of travelers. You were now all on your own. Sadness overflowed in you and you knew you needed something to cheer yourself up. Luckily there was a Starbucks nearby so that’s where you headed. You were in deep need of a hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel on top. You were in the mood for a sugar rush that would make you sick and forget the thought of not seeing your boyfriend for the next two weeks.

****

The two weeks went by extremely slow. With work using up most of your time and energy, you barely had the time to miss Tom. But that all came back every night when you called each other. Well, night for you. Tom was in Georgia, filming, so it was still the middle of the day for him.

It was the day before you were going to fly out to see him. Your stuff was all packed. You were laying in bed, ready to go to sleep. There was just one more thing to do. You had your phone in your hand. Ready to answer the moment the screen would light up with Tom’s face on it. The only problem was that it was getting pretty late and you were exhausted. Without noticing you were already falling asleep when your phone lit up the whole room and the classic Spider-Man theme song boomed from your phone. You almost threw the phone off your bed at the sudden noise. Why didn’t you put the sound lower?

You swiped your screen to start the call. Your smile widened at the sight of your boyfriend. He was wearing a dark hoodie and you couldn’t see where he was exactly, but from the time you assumed it was somewhere on set.

“Hey, babe.” He smiled at the sight of your face.

“Hiya. How’s filming going?” You were laying on your side with your arm doing its best to keep your head up. Your eyelids were getting heavier and heavier.

“Yeah, it’s great. I can’t wait for you to see it tomorrow!” He sounded so excited. You wished you could reciprocate that joy. But you were more than exhausted.

“Me too.” You took your arm from underneath your cheek to cover up a yawn.

“Babe, we don’t have to talk. We’ll see each other tomorrow. Go to sleep.” You only heard him. When your head hit the pillow it was like a switch for your eyes to close too.

“No,” you protested, “I wanna...I-” Another yawn escaped your mouth.

“Go to sleep. I’ll talk to you later.” He blew you a wide kiss, swinging his arm backward.

“Okay, okay, I love you.” You didn’t even manage to press the button to end the call. You fell asleep, leaving your boyfriend in shock.

________________________________________

“Okay, okay, I love you.” The soft words echoed in his mind. Tom stared at his phone for what seemed like forever. He couldn’t manage to say anything. He just watched his girlfriend lay lifeless. Her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful.

“Babe? (Y/N)?” She didn’t respond. She was asleep. She fell asleep before he could say anything back. He realized he still had his arm in the air, so he ended the facetime and put down his phone on the table in front of him. He moved as if in slow motion. The three little words on constant repeat.

“Tom!” He jumped up at the sudden clap in front of his face. Harrison loudly clapped his face to wake his friend up from the state he was in. “What is wrong with you?”

“I… I didn’t say it back.” Harrison raised his eyebrow at him. Tom knew he must look crazy to Haz. His eyes were wide and he was moving slowly, dazed.

“So what, she knows it. You said-You have said it before, right?” Tom just shook his slowly back and forth.

“Oh shit, mate, was that-” Tom nodded again, now up and down, to respond to the question before Harrison could actually ask it. He didn’t want to hear the exact words.

“I’m sure she didn’t - No, I mean, she meant it but she wasn’t thinking… she was tired.” Harrison did his best to make sure Tom didn’t start freaking out. Unfortunately, Tom was already feeling sick in his stomach and Harrison’s words were only making it worse.

“Tom, you’re freaking out. Calm down. Tomorrow she’ll be here so you can talk it out.” Harrison tried one more time.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He said but meant the opposite. Right after he said it, he picked up his phone. “I have to call her.”

________________________________________

You woke up to the sound of your alarm. The phone was a few inches away from your face, so when the alarm rang, the sound boomed in your face. You turned it off quickly.

Just to be sure, you checked the time. Yes. Just like you had planned, you woke up at six. You had an hour before you had to leave for the airport. You had already ordered a taxi the night before. The plan was to already be out of bed by now, but there was something about your notifications that just wasn’t right.

You had five missed calls. How did you manage to miss them with your phone being so close to you the whole night? Unlocking your screen, you saw that all five were from Tom. He had called you right after you had fallen asleep. After the five missed calls, he had also left a message. You clicked on it and listened.

“Hey, I uhm… I’m sorry. I don’t know why I called so many times. You’re obviously sleeping. I just can’t wait to see you again. I...I love yo-” The message ended before he could finish the last word. Even though it was a voicemail and you didn’t have to say anything, you were still speechless. Did he just say those words? Over the phone?

You had to keep it cool. You had a flight to prepare for. You put your phone down and got out of bed to get dressed. As it was going to be a long flight, you went with one of Tom’s hoodies that he had left you and a pair of your own sweats. You probably looked like a mess, but who heard, you had a nine-hour flight ahead of you.

After a quick shower, actually getting dressed and some breakfast you kept yourself busy with the last check if you had everything you needed, packed. Yes. So you had one thing left to do. Get your phone off the charger and pack the cable.

When you moved to your bed you went to pick up your phone, but something was wrong. You had no taken out the cable from the device, yet it was lying on the ground while your phone was on the bed. You clicked the home button so the screen would light up. In the corner, your fear had come true: 24%. Just great. You had to survive a whole day flight with 24% battery. You plugged your phone back in and prayed that it could charge a bit quicker than usual in these last fifteen minutes. How could you have been so stupid to not plug it in before you fell asleep?

With a sigh, you and sat down on the edge of the bed. Your leg used as support for your arm, which in its turn was support for your chin. Honestly, you couldn’t even remember falling asleep last night. The last thing you can picture in front of yourself was talking to Tom. What had you said? You couldn’t remember. He had told you to go to sleep, because you had a long day ahead of you and you agreed, right?

________________________________________

“I shouldn’t have said that! I should not have said that!” were the words that have been leaving Tom’s mouth ever since he had left the message. “What was I thinking? She’s going to dump my ass.” he was walking there and fro around the room. His hands ruffling his hair in frustration and anxiety.

“Get a grip, mate,” Harrison mumbled. He was on his phone and didn’t even take the effort in looking up from it when he talked to his best friend. “She won’t dump you.”

“How do you know?” Tom stopped in his footsteps.

“Uhm, let me think,” Harrison finally turned his phone off, “First of all, she was the one to say…” Tom gave him a stare that made Harrison stop his sentence, “those words. So it wouldn’t make sense if she broke up with you now...and secondly, why would she be flying over now, if she really wanted to be done with you?”

“But that’s the thing. I don’t know if she actually is! I haven’t heard anything from her since last night.” Tom’s heart was racing faster and faster. “What if something happened on the flight? What if-” This was enough for Harrison. He got up, looking a bit annoyed, and walked up to Tom. His icy blue eyes stared deep into Tom. He put his arm on his shoulder. With a serious tone, but still a hidden smile in it, he said: “Get a grip, you twat.”

“Wow, thanks Haz.” Tom rolled his eyes.

________________________________________

You couldn’t believe it. 9 hour flight and only 31% on your phone. You had managed to charge it a bit before your taxi had arrived, but most of that had quickly died once you pulled the plug out.

So now you sat in your seat, nothing really to pull you away from your own thoughts. The people sitting next to you had fallen asleep before you even took off, so you couldn’t even hope for an annoying or nosy conversation. It was eerily quiet on the plane. There weren’t even any children crying, making you want to rip your head off.

You were already in the air for a while. You didn’t know how long exactly. You didn’t want to check. This was for a few reasons: 1) you tried to leave your phone off as much as possible 2) you didn’t want to know how long you still had to go through this hell and 3) you didn’t want to know how soon you would see Tom again. It was making your heart beat double the speed at the thought of your boyfriend. You missed him so much and wanted to see him, but it would be so awkward. You just knew it. He had said the biggest thing you could say at the start of a relationship and gave you no chance in saying it back. Could you even say it back? Were you supposed to say it now, when you saw him at the airport?

For days Tom had been telling you how much he wanted to be the one to welcome you to America. So you were trying to prepare yourself mentally.

****

Thankful to any deity in the universe, you managed to fall asleep for the last few hours of the flight. After you woke up, you could see the sun shining through the windows.

Not much later, you were almost at the exit of the luggage hall, your suitcase rolling behind you. The closer the big doors were getting, the faster and harder your heart was beating. You were ready… at least you thought so. Right before the doors automatically opened in front of you, you had managed to fight yourself at least three times whether or not to say those words to Tom the moment you saw him. In the end, you decided to just go for it. If he didn’t say anything back, at least you were at the airport, so you could just get the next flight back home.

But when the doors opened, your boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. You stepped aside from the exit, giving the other travelers a way to pass, and looked around for the head of brown curls. Instead of those, you were met with a blonde quiff.

“Harrison?!” you smiled at the sight of your good friend. Harrison jogged over to you and embraced you in a tight hug.

“Hey there, shortcake.”

“Haz.” You groaned at the nickname. “I’m not that short.”

“Yeah, but you’re short enough to only get cuter when you’re angry.” With a smirk, he let go of you with one arm and draped the other around your shoulder. You started walking to the main exit of the airport.

“So, where’s Tom?”

________________________________________

Harrison looked down at (Y/N). In her eyes he could see she was already expecting his answer.

“He had to stay on set. Something was wrong with the lighting so they had to re-film a whole scene. He was devastated when he found out he couldn’t come to pick you up.”

“That’s okay.” she smiled. Harrison wasn’t sure if it was genuine or fake. He also didn’t know which would be better. Was she happy Tom wasn’t there? As they walked back to the car, he kept on glancing down at her. Something felt off about how silent she was. Normally, (Y/N) would radiate with happiness, but now she looked a bit pale.

“You alright down there?” He asked once they got to the car. She looked up at him, blinking a few times. “Huh? Yeah, yeah, just a bit jet lagged, I suppose.” Harrison looked her up and down. She was avoiding his gaze.

“Or is it about Tom?” this made her look at him.

“What? No, of course not!” She looked shocked that he assumed that of her. “I - he…”

“So it’s about that message?’ He tried again. Immediately it seemed like a weight fell off her shoulders. She let out a breath.

“It was just so sudden, Haz. He didn’t even give me a chance to say it back.”

“Say it back?” But wasn’t she the one to say it first? Harrison looked at her confused. She looked back at him with almost the exact same expression.

“I thought you knew what he told me. The voicemail he-”

“Yeah, I know what he sends you. I was there when he did it.” he opened the door of the car, still looking at her.

“Oh.” She followed his directions. “So… he…”

“He meant it if that’s what you’re trying to ask.” She shook her head. The reason for it wasn’t clear to Harrison.

“I know that, no, I mean… I just didn’t expect him to say it. Over the phone, on a voicemail…” Harrison had no idea what to say. Did she not remember that she had said those exact words to her boyfriend too? Was that possible? “I mean, we’ve only been dating two months…”

“(Y/N).” he interrupted her, but without anything to say actually. “Stop freaking out. I swear to god, you and Tom are perfect for each other.” A blush crept up on her cheeks.

“Really?”

“Yeah, now get in the car.” she giggled as she slipped into the seat next to him. She looked much happier already. However, now, Harrison felt conflicted. Should he tell her what she had done? Or was he supposed to leave his two best friends and let them figure it out for themselves? During the drive, he kept stealing looks at her through the mirrors. She didn’t seem to be upset at all anymore. JUst the happy and bubbly (Y/N) she always was.

“So, are we going to set, or…” (Y/N) spoke after they had left the airport finally behind them. The car had reached the highway.

“Er- no. Just going home. Tom should be back by now.”

“Ok. Cool, cool, cool.” She was tapping her fingers on her legs.

“Why are you nervous? It’s just Tom.” Harrison tried to laugh to release the tension. (Y/N) just smiled sheepishly.

“I don’t know. I guess that him saying… you know, that, kinda changes things.” She shrugged.

“Why should it change things. You do feel the same, right?” He looked at her through the mirror again.

“Yes. Of course, I do. But now that the words are actually out there...ugh, I don’t know. I’ve never been in a relationship before that had made it that far.” Harrison almost crashed into the car in front of them. He had not been expecting that.

“You haven’t? But you’ve been dating guys longer than you have Tom.”

“Yeah, but I had never said I love you to anyone before. Not in that way, anyway. I’m scared.” Harrison wanted to tell her so badly that she had already done it. But there was a big chance she would start to freak out even more, just like Tom.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine once you say it,” he smirked. The closer to the house they got, the quieter (Y/N) became. In the end, she didn’t say anything at all. Harrison had to break the silence once they pulled over into the driveway of their temporary house.

“Okay, I’ll get Tom.” He ran out of the car into the house. This was his only chance to warn his best friends about this whole situation. The keys almost fell out of his grip as he fumbled with the bunch against the door. When it finally opened, he yelled out: “Tom!” He heard footsteps not even a second after.

“Is she here?” Tom looked excited. Exhausted from the day of filming and the fear on his face from last night was still visible, but he looked mainly excited. He was ready to jump out the door, but Harrison stopped him.

“Wait. I should probably tell you something before you go out there.”

“What happened? Is she okay?” his friend was freaking out again.

“Yeah, yeah. Only…” Harrison had no clue how to break the news to him. “The thing she said last night, yeah?” his hand reached to the back of his neck to scratch it. Tom looked at Harrison and replied with a: “Yeah.”

“She doesn’t remember, mate.”

“What are you on about?”

“She doesn’t remember that she said it to you. She was dead tired.”

________________________________________

“So, what should I do now?” Tom was ready to throw up. How could he have been so stupid to leave her that message? Was that really the way he wanted to hell he loved her? Over the phone! He was an absolute disaster of a boyfriend.

“Just, don’t mention it. She’s already stressed about the message you left her.”

“Great, just great. Fan-fucking-tastic, really.” He closed his eyes for a moment so he could get everything straight on his mind again. “So, what? You expect me to go out there now?”

“Well, she’s waiting for you, isn’t she?” Harrison smirked causing Tom to groan. He flipped his friend off and then took a step past him so he could look outside. (Y/N) was still in the car. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be talking to herself. Tom had early on in their relationship caught on to the fact that she did that quite a lot. In a different case, he thought it was cute, but here it was a bit nerve-wracking. Because if she had the need to do this… it wasn’t great.

He walked to the car. While moving, he jumped a few times up and down to shake off the last nerves in him. Everything was fine. Just try to pretend that the message didn’t happen. I never send it. Those were the last thought before he ticked on the window. It pulled (Y/N) back to reality. She seemed confused at first, but when she saw that it was Tom who interrupted her, she smiled. He could hear her squealing in the car.

She opened the door, so Tom had to take a step back. Once she was with both feet on the ground and the door behind her was closed, he pulled her into a tight hug and spun her around. Another small squeal left her lips. Oh, how he loved those little sounds. Loved. Since he had said it out loud the word was practically stuck in his regular vocabulary, he couldn’t help it. He loved everything about her.

“I missed you so much, darling.”

“I missed you too.” She gave him a small peck on the cheek. This erupted all the feelings in Tom’s chest. The moment she pulled her lips away from him, he pulled her right back in with a passionate kiss. He hoped that the kiss would say everything they were both too scared to say out loud. He hoped he hadn’t ruined everything with that stupid voicemail and that this kiss would be one of a million other ones.

It wasn’t up to him as much as his lungs, but if it was, he would have stayed there forever. So when they did finally pull away, he tried to stay as close to her as he possibly could, following her lips, not wanting her to leave him just yet.

“Tom.”She whispered so softly against him. “I love you.”

________________________________________

The moment your lips touched his you knew it. All the endless conversations you had with yourself or Harrison, or with yourself again were thrown in the bin. Now you knew it. You weren’t afraid anymore. This was the right thing to do with definitely the right person to do it with. But his reaction wasn’t the one you hoped for. He was grinning like crazy while his lips found their way to your neck.

“I hoped to hear those words again.” You could practically feel the smirk forming against your skin. But you weren’t happy. Not exactly at least, more confused. You pulled away from him.

“What do you mean, again?” Tom’s smile disappeared and he looked a bit shocked. You had the idea that he had just said something he shouldn’t have. You didn’t want to think why he possibly couldn’t tell you about something.

“I - uhm... Well, you may or may not have… said it before.”

“What? When?” you scoffed, not believing him. He was playing with you. No idea why, but this was some stupid joke of his.

“Last night, before you fell asleep. You said you loved me.” He looked into your eyes. His hands on your waist. As you looked back at him, his words were being processed in your head. When that was done you gasped loudly.

“I can’t believe it. Oh god. I ruined it.”

“Of course you didn’t.” Tom tried to comfort you. It didn’t work.

“This explains that message you left me.”

“You heard it, huh?” Tom wasn’t pleased with it either apparently. You obviously thought it was cute but to be honest, it wasn’t great.

“Oh yeah.” You draped your arms lazily around his neck again. A small smile was visible too. “On repeat.” A kiss followed. Maybe it was the magic of those words because you couldn’t remember your kisses being this good. His lips were so soft. His hands touching you in just the right way. Making you feel like you were in heaven.

Heaven didn’t go when thunder rambled above you or when the rain started to pour over the two of you. Everything was fine. You loved the rain. You loved standing there in the driveway. You loved this kiss and any other kiss that would follow. But most importantly, you loved him.

The End

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imagine-loki · 6 years

Text

Could You Please Check This One IW Spoilers

TITLE: Could you please check this one?

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: ONESHOT AUTHOR: TomsRagnarok ORIGINAL IMAGINE:

Imagine that after Infinity War, Thor starts bringing you green animals and asking if it’s his brother. You’ve always been able to see through his illusions and tricks.

Imagine him bringing one in and something feels different about it, but you don’t tell Thor at first, not wanting to disappoint him if your suspicions were unfounded.

So you keep the animal overnight and come the morning, you wake up to Loki laying beside you, still peacefully sleeping.

RATING: T for mentions slight mentions of violence NOTES/WARNINGS:

This one has been sitting in my archive half-written for over 1 month, it’s my own little take on this awesome imagine, and I couldn’t get it out of my head until I finished writing it. It choked me up when I read the original post. So, hope you like it!

¨Sorry big guy¨ I morosely told him, handing him the rough-skinned animal ¨It was only an iguana¨

¨Don’t worry fair lady, if anything I’m very thankful for your assistance in these foolish endeavours,¨ he gave me a sad smile, taking the reptile in his hands.

I hated having to tell him that there was no trace of Seidr in the critters he kept bringing me, but he got such a hopeful glint in his eyes whenever he spotted any green animal, that I couldn’t NOT help him. If I’m honest, I also had faith that I would find some trace of magic from any of them. I had inspected everything from multiple Praying Mantises to giant reptiles and the occasional oddly colored green bird. I don’t even want to remember how it went when he brought me the Green Vine Snake, I have never been as thankful as that occasion to have Aseir resistance. Snake bites hurt a lot, I found out that fateful day.

¨It’s ok, ¨ Tears began to fill my eyes, ¨I miss him too Thor¨

He placed his arm around my shoulders, trying as best as he could to comfort me,¨I thought my brother was pulling one if his tricks at first, but now I don’t know if I’m so sure, is it absurd to keep hoping?¨

¨No you big Aseir goof,¨ I jested leaning into the brotherly embrace. ¨If anything, it shows just how much you love Loki¨

I dried my tears and walked over to the desk to continue my duties, ¨You better get the iguana back where you found him before he starts to pee on Starks equipment, this toy is almost ready for testing, and Tony will have my ass on the chopping block if Mr. Green over here ruins it¨

Thor looked at me with a smirk, ¨You’re really picking up on the Midgardians form of language¨

¨Of course, we are residents of such now, and thus we must adapt, now on you go, I don’t really wanna injure you with a gamma ray,¨ I gently shooed him from the lab, ¨ and feel free to bring any by any new green friends you make¨

I spent the next few hours readying everything for the next day, Tony was coming straight to the lab to run the tests, and I was as excited as he was, this was our biggest project yet, we had to make sure everything went smoothly. Deciding I had earned a good night’s sleep, I turned off the lights from the lab I made my way to my quarters.

Back in my room my memory got the best of me, my mind going back to the past couple months, after a long battle and reverting the mess Thanos’ had made, we were finally getting back on our feet. Mr. Stark had been gracious enough to let me reside in the tower and work with him, even going far as far as handing me a lab of my own. I was helping him with any experiments he needed, and my broad knowledge of science, history and Seidr made me a valuable asset to the team, he took kindly to me, even after he was told that my lover on Asgard had been the same man who tried to conquer the realms and threw him out of a window a few years back.

I still remember the first time Thor started bringing me these creatures. He came into the lab that day a tad too excited, with a small frog in his hands and had me check for Seidr in the little guy, stating that ‘it reminded him of Loki because of the look in his eyes’ and that 'only Loki would take the form of a green beast’, he was sure his raven-haired brother was still in disguise. I took the creature in my hands and let a stream of energy flow through to him, half-expecting to meet the energy of Loki’s own Seidr, only for the animal to run away; scared. Thor left the lab that day with a slump in his shoulders that created a metaphorical lump in my throat. We were near on 6 months of these 'experiments’, and the only thing stronger than the Hulk, were Thor’s hopes of somehow finding his brother. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I wanted to find Loki in an animal as well. Having seen personally what Thanos had done to him crushed me inside, but I’m glad I was part of the team that brought the evil Titan his well deserved downfall. Sleep overtook me quickly, dreaming that night of holding my beloved in my arms.

It had been a couple of weeks since Thor had visited me with some weird animal in his hands, maybe he had finally given up on his dead-end search, I gathered, he could only get scratched and bitten so many times. To be honest, I would’ve believed that Loki had taken disguise as a lampshade if it meant I could have him back, but I knew the chances of him returning as anything were slim to none. On one hand I was grateful that I had a job to fill my time, Tony had praised me for my breakthrough and he really wanted to move onto the next big thing, and it was nice that the playboy / philanthropist was proud of my work. On the other hand, the memories were still there when I closed my eyes, Loki for me was never really gone.

It was near lunch time and by the Norns I was starving! I decided I desperately needed some sustenance, and I began to shut down the lab; I could afford to have an early release due to all the work I had put in these past few weeks. I was about to turn off the last of the lights when a tall figure appeared in the doorway, his hands behind his back and a look on his face akin to a child about to confess to some sort of mischief, scared of receiving a scolding from his mother. I halted my shutting down of the lab and motioned him to join me by the table, there was no need to say anything, we both knew why he was here. He walked over to me and looked at me sheepishly, holding out his hands. ¨I know I should stop doing this, but can you please check this one for Loki?¨

In his hands was a fascinating green Gecko, with a slight iridescence to his skin, faint yellow, almost golden marks on the tail, and wonderful black eyes which I could almost swear were staring into my very soul. ¨Where did you find him?¨ I asked, extending my hands to carry the small reptile.

¨In the training room, almost squished him after a romp with the Good Captain, and after he ran away it wasn’t easy to catch him, trust me,¨ he confessed.

I did my usual thing, touching the Gecko and calling forth my Seidr, not getting my hopes too high up, just in case it turned out to be another disappointment. Hoewever, the moment my Seidr went through him I met resistance, unlike other occasions where it would go through the subject and cause it to run away, seeking shelter from the foreign feeling. My mouth opened on a gasp, could it be? I pushed the magic energy a little further until the Gecko finally flinched and ran from my grasp, Thor catching him before he fell over the edge of my table.

¨What is it?¨ he asked after capturing the critter once again, handing him back to me.

I gave him a false smile, ¨nothing, nothing at all, it’s just that this creature is very exquisite, he has a very nice green color,¨ I told him, examining the animal in my hands once again. Truth be told, there was something odd about it that I couldn’t confirm yet, but I didn’t want to give Thor too much hope, I couldn’t bear building up his expectations only to bring them down. ¨Why don’t you go finish your training and I’ll take care of this little guy¨

¨Very well then,¨ he walked towards the door, ¨I promise this was the last one, it’s about time I finished burdening you and your Seidr with such menial tasks¨ he said, the disappointment clear in his voice.

¨It’s no foolish task to be looking for him, you know that,¨ I soothed, ¨go finish beating Rogers up, it’ll clear your head.¨

I dismissed a glum Thor out of my lab and sent him up to the training floor. I wanted to try out something else with the tiny beast before setting him loose, I had a slight suspicion that I wanted to follow up on.

I found a box that was lying next to my work area and huddled up some old newspapers to put the Gecko on. Truth be told, I had felt a tinge of energy coming from him when I first examined him with my Seidr, but since it was so weak, there was no way I could tell the blonde warrior this without him bringing out the welcome committee and rolling out a red carpet for the late second prince of Asgard, mainly because if it didn’t result as I was expecting, I would rip his heart out. I placed the Gecko on the bundle of papers and carried him out of the lab and to my rooms.

Due to the circumstances and I didn’t want Stark all over me for keeping the sticky guy in the tower, I figured an early dinner would be the best option, going up to my floor I called Friday to have my food prepared and brought over to the living area. Eating the hot italian food I kept hearing the papers rustling from the movement of the animal wanting to get out of the box, all the while keeping it next to me.

¨Sorry little guy, you’re stuck with me tonight¨ I consoled him. I could’ve sworn he understood me somehow.

After dinner I took the box over to my bedroom and placed it on my dresser, it had been enough stalling and I nedeed to get an answer now. I called forth my Seidr once again and put my hand directly on the green reptile. ¨Ok, this is gonna feel uncomfortable, but hang in there and I promise if it’s not you I’ll let you go in the morning, I don’t really want to explain to the team why I was leaving the tower in the middle of the night to let a random animal loose ¨ I told him, feeling him squirm under my hand, ¨look at me, talking to a reptile in my rooms in the dead of night, I must look really sane right now ¨

I once again felt the magic flow through me and to the animal under my hand, I felt him moving even more, trying to get away and scurry over to freedom. Suddenly I felt a very strong energy coming from him clashing with my own energy, promting me to hold him still with my Seidr. A small explosion of green light came forth from my palm which caused me to let go of the gecko in shock, who went and hid in the corner of the box, nestling himself under the papers as much as he could. I had never been able to call upon my Seidr like that, it was like it was being channeled TO me and not THROUGH me. But alas, my green companion stayed the same. ¨All right, you’re moving out tomorrow, rest as much as you want now ¨

I got ready for bed with a shower, teeth brushing and hair combing as was my routine. I lay on the bed looking straight up into the ceiling, contemplating how I would begin to cope with the fact that Loki was, in fact, gone.I knew on some level that he was gone, but Thor bringing me the specimens for inspection gave me a false sense of hope that I’d find him at some point. I felt the tightening in my chest and did nothing to stop the tears from falling out of the corners of my eyes, I cried freely but silently and let myself drift into a deep slumber, as sleep gently overtook me, I heard the gecko moving in the distance, the sounds of the papers rustling going to the back of my mind.

That night, as had grown to be the norm, I dreamt I held Loki in my arms. He smiled at me, in my dream we were in his chambers, the ones he resided in while living in Asgard. His ebony black hair cascading loosely around his shoulders, I could practically smell the oil he prefered to style it with. His nose brushing against mine, and the faint coolness of his breath mingling with mine, our lips barely touching. His own natural scent filling my nostrils with the subtle aroma of something almost cold, like mint. It was enough to send me into a delirious state, he always did have the best effect on me.

¨I miss you¨ I said, leaning my forehead against his.

¨I know, darling, I miss you too¨ he answered with a sad tone in his voice, ¨I’ll do what I can to be with you again.¨

¨Promise?¨

¨Promise,¨ he swayed me gently from side to side, ¨but you have to wake up, the world needs you and your beautiful mind¨

¨I don’t wanna go,¨ I told him with tears falling down my cheeks, staring directly into his green eyes.

¨You’ll be fine, you know I’m always with you¨ he soothed.

¨Shut up you cheesy fool¨ I joked.

He kissed me softly, it felt so real. His thin lips against mine and his arms around me, my own hands wrapping around his neck, not willing myself to deepen it, knowing in the back of my mind that upon waking the nostalgia would hit me like a fright train.

When I finally willed myself to let him go, he was grinning from ear to ear.

¨Come darling, I’ll walk you out¨ he ushered me towards the door, his hand resting on my the small of my back. Norns, it felt like he was there next to me, his natural musk filling my nostrils, his body next to mine. I walked out the door and where there was supposed to be a palace hallway, was Stark’s lab, before I turned around to see him, he had vanished.

I woke up with a slight jolt, my back turned to the rest of the bed and thus, the room; I had no reason to have such a big mattress, Stark was spoiling me a little too much. My dream replayed over and over in my head, Loki’s kiss still haunting my lips. Sleep reclaimed me quickly and while I lay on the bed, I tried as much as I could to recall the moments I spent with Loki on Asgard, memories flooding my mind. From the first time we met, to becoming friends, and when we both found out the other one could weild Seidr, something Thor was not too happy with, to becoming a young couple, sneaking kisses and caresses whenever we could, trying not to get caught by either of our parents.

Before long, I fell back into a dreamless sleep.

Come morning I woke to find that the other side of the bed was rustling. A hand wrapped softly around my waist, it felt terrifying yet also familiar, and also cold through my nightgown. I instictively leant into the embrace, not being able to pull myself away from it, I knew on some level that I was still dreaming and I would have to wake up soon but I wanted to cherish this moment with the figure lying behind me, holding me in his arms. He held me tighter, after a few moments I realized that the embrace felt extremely real. I soon came to the conclusion that I was not dreaming but this was, in fact, actually happening.

I quickly turned around and faced him, he was there. He was there with me, in my bed, his arms around me; and he was still asleep. His face was just as I remembered it, his eyelids hiding his beautiful green eyes, his regal and arched nose breathing in and out softly, and his mouth slightly open, it was like he had never left, he was pressed still against me, I was with him face to face once more.

¨You’re here? you’re real?¨ I asked faintly with tears in my eyes, my hands reaching out to nervously touch his face, as if afraid that he would disappear if I did.

He woke up, looking into my eyes with a big smile and speaking in a groggy voice, ¨I’m here¨ he answered, placing some of my hair behind my ear, looking at me with a tender gaze.

¨How? he grabbed you, I saw it, it was ho-¨ I declared, pulling slightly away from his arms and sitting up, now crying freely.

¨Shh darling, yes, it happened, but I’m here with you now, thanks to my big oaf of a brother, and I’m not going anywhere¨he soothed me, sitting up with me, wiping my tears away, his own eyes becoming watery.

He sprung forward and hugged me as tight as he could muster, tears cascading down both his face and mine, I couldn’t believe I was holding him once more, he was here, and he wasn’t going anywhere. Words weren’t necessary, we were together again, I pushed my lips against his and kissed him as passionately as I could, his mouth brushing against mine, his tongue finding mine not long after, gently massaging it, and moaning into my mouth, he still tasted like mint. I kissed him until oxygen became a necessity, and only then did I let go. We both laid back down on the bed, I couldn’t let him go for dear life, we stayed in each others embrace until I lost track of time, exchanging sweet caresses and kisses, there would enough time to get acquainted in other ways later.

Suddenly, realisation hit me like a brick wall, ¨Wait, it was you?¨ I pointed to the box where I had placed the Gecko, ¨you were the lizard?¨

He chuckled, ¨if we’re getting technical, darling, it was a gecko, and thanks to you transfering energy to me I was able to transform back into my old self¨

¨How did Thor know to look for you that way?¨ I asked, curiosity winning me over. ¨He spent months hunting out every green animal he could to bring them over to me, I never asked him why though¨

¨Don’t you remember? That time I turned into a snake and when he picked me up I transformed back and stabbed him?¨ he asked.

I laughed reminiscing back to that day, Loki earned himself quite an earful from his parents, ¨Makes sense,¨ Thor knew that old habits die hard.

¨But you’re here, you’re back¨, I hugged him, ¨not to mention that we’re gonna have a very happy Thor on our hands when he finds out, ¨ I declared.

Loki looked at me with a wondering look in his eyes, ¨he really spent months looking through every animal? I gotta hand it to my witless oaf of a brother¨

¨Like a madman, I must say I’m very happy he did so, I would’ve loved to find you sooner though¨ I answered.

He kissed me, ¨do you think I should’ve transformed and stabbed him again?¨

#Loki #Lover #Angst #Submitted one shot #submission #TomsRagnarok #could you please check this one #IW Spoilers #Infinity War Spoilers

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lesbian-deadpool · 6 years

Text

A “Good Day.”

Tony Stark x Steve Rogers

Words: 1,895.

A/N: This is part two of Mismatched Hair. But it can be read on its own. I wrote this because the people who have watched Infinity War need this, because I know I fucking did. @starsandsupernovae, here you go. This is how IW went right? This is what happened? No hurt? No pain? No destruction? Great! I'm in denial!

P.s. There are no spoilers in this. So enjoy.

It had started as a good day.

Started.

There were no missions, which was rare. What was rarer, however, was that the only people at the tower were, Steve, Tony, Peter, Bucky, and Bruce.

Clint was with his family. Pietro was busy ruining Vision and Wanda's day out together. Scott was with his daughter. Thor and was at the shwarma place, eating almost everything they had, as Loki watched with disgust clear on his face. Natasha was God knows where. And the rest were at their homes or didn't say where they were going.

At Noon, the day had started. The ones at the tower having a late start to the day.

Tony was making the coffee, or as he calls it, his staying alive juice. As Steve cooked breakfast.

Peter walked into the kitchen, yawning as he stretched his arms above his head. Still clad in his Ironman pyjama shirt, Captain America pyjama pants, and Spider-Man socks.

"Good morning," he said, through yet another yawn.

"Good morning? It's noon," Steve replied.

"You can talk. You woke up twenty minutes ago," Tony said, pointing to Steve with his steaming cup of black coffee.

Steve opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

"Yeah, you're still in your pyjamas, too," Peter added. Gesturing to Steve's white tank top, and grey sweatpants. Then to Tony's silk pyjamas, that was obviously custom made. They looked like the Ironman suit. But used Steves, Captain Americas, red, white, and blue.

"Hey! I was defending you, kid."

"Sorry," Peter said bashfully.

Tony handed Steve his black coffee with five sugars in it, because that's the only way he can drink it. Unlike Tony, who drank it black without anything added.

"Do ya want coffee, kid?" Tony asked Peter, who was now at one of the counters stools.

"Yeah."

"How do you want it?"

"Black. Nothing added. Just like you Mr Stark."

"Okay," Tony said chuckling. He knew exactly the way he liked his coffee. Almost white, four sugars, with cream.

Steve finished making breakfast, just as Tony placed Peters coffee in front of him. It soon being joined by a stack of pancakes doused in syrup.

"Wheres Dr Banner and Bucky?" Peter asked as they sat down either side of him, digging into their own breakfasts.

"Bucky's still asleep. And Bruce is down in the lab," Steve replied. Bucky would predictably sleep the day away. And Bruce would carry on like any other day.

"I suppose you'll be joining Dr Banner, Mr Stark?" Peter asked, already knowing the answer, that Tony would indeed be spending the rest of his day down in the lab.

"Actually, no. I wanted to take a break today. See what the kids do," he replied surprising Peter. Steve smiling into his coffee, he had talked to Tony, about spending more time with the boy, they thought of as a son.

"Really?"

"Yep. What do you want to do Today, kid?"

"Um... well... I have to finish up some science homework. But after that, we could totally do whatever. We could go to the zoo?" he suggested.

"Homework and the zoo it is," Tony said happily, banging his fists against the counter, in playful affirmation.

"It's good that you care about your school work so much, Peter," Steve said, a devious smirk plastered on his face. "You're well on your way to, "yeeting" yourself into a bright future."

Peter groaned at Steve, as Tony laughed his ass off. Peter turned to face him when he began speaking.

"Oh, come on, kid. Just, "dab on them, haters!"." Tony laughed.

Peter groaned once again, "Oh my God, please stop." As they laughed.

Three pm.

Peter and Tony were sat at the dining table, working on Peters homework. As Steve showerd.

"And that's how you solve that equation," Tony said, throwing his arms out from his sides, happily.

"Thanks, Mr Stark. You're a really great teacher," he said. "Also, your hair's growing in nicely."

Tony smiled, running his hand through his soft hair. That was only an inch long. His sides cut short, and the top sticking up.

"Thanks, kid."

"Alright. Who's ready to go to the zoo?" Steve asked walking in. His hair sticking out at all places, looking like he had just been shocked.

"I am!" they both yelled. Causing Steve to chuckle.

Central Park Zoo. Full of animals, young and old, big and small. And they would leave the children's zoo.

As soon as they arrived they had headed straight into the children's zoo, and had spent the past hour petting the goats and pigs.

Steve loved the pigs, but Tony and Peter were quite in love with the goats.

Steve watched from across the small section of the zoo, watching as Tony jokingly ran away from the tiny goats, a smile on his face as they chased him. As Peter calmly held one in his arms, watching Tony, with a smile on his face.

Steve walked over, asking, "What's goating on over here?" causing Peter to groan, once again.

"Nothing much, just goating attacked by tiny goats."

Peter screamed out in playful frustration.

"Why? Did you get bored of the piglets?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. Don't you think we should go look around the rest of the zoo?" Steve asked, gesturing behind him with his head.

"But. Goats..." Peter said. Pulling the goat closer, nudging his face against it. A small smile on his face.

"Come on," Steve said, rolling his eyes.

Five pm.

Peter and Steve were walking up ahead, as Tony watched them from behind, a content smile on his face. It breaking out into a full grin as they picked up sticks, and started fighting with them as if they were swords. The of wood against wood, ripping through the nearby air, of Central Park.

Peter suddenly turned back to Tony, yelling, "Can we get ice cream, Mr Stark?!"

"Sure, Kid!" he yelled back.

Peter raised his hands up into the air in victory. As Steve lightly hit Peter on his leg.

"Oww!" Peter yelled out. Turning around, restarting his fight with Steve.

They quickly grabbed their ice cream, taking a seat at a park table. Steve and Peter's sticks through the loop's of their belt's. The three of them happily chatting away, unknown to the person watching them right now.

Natasha sat in a tree, camera in hand as she took pictures of the boys sat at the table. She had been spying on Wanda and Vision's "totally not a date" date. Being wholeheartedly entertained by Pietros antics, of trying to ruin it. But had quickly torn her interest to them.

She quickly snapped another picture of them, looking down at it. It showing Tony and Peter sat across from Steve. Tony slightly bent over the table, laughing. As the two boys had their "sword's" raised and pointing at each other, playful glares of acting children masked their faces, small smiles tugging at their lips. Their ice cream in their other hands, as Tony tried not to lay in his.

She smiled at the picture. "They're gonna love this," she said to herself. As something hit the tree causing it to shake slightly. She looked down to see Pietro, sprawled out on his back. Clearly knocked out, from running into the tree.

"Idiot," she scoffed, continuing with a chuckle.

And if she thought things couldn't get any better, a bird flew overhead. A creamy white substance landing on Pietro, trailing down his chest.

"Eww, gross," she said happily laughing once again. Quickly snapping a picture, finally getting back to her previous task. Blackmail.

Seven pm.

This is where the day started to go decline. With six simple words.

"Do you guys wanna play Mariokart?"

Peter had asked that. So if you want anyone to blame, blame him.

"Yes," Steve had said instantly, shooting up in his seat, closing his newspaper, as he looked at Peter, excitement on all of his features.

"You've played Mariokart? Tony asked Steve incredulously.

"Yeah, Bucky, Sam, and I played it a little while ago. I didn't know what I was doing, most of the time. But it was still fun," he said shrugging.

"What about you Mr Stark?" Peter asked as he started the games console.

"Oh, hell yeah, I want in," he said, picking up a controller, moving the sticks, and pressing the buttons, as a "warm-up". "Just to let you guy know. I'm going to destroy you."

"Ha! Fat chance," Steve said. "I am the soul winner today."

"Oh, honey, no. I love you too much to let you humiliate yourself this way," Tony replied in a mockingly sweet voice. All the while Peter smiled at their playful bickering.

"Bitch please, you don't think I can beat you in Mariokart?" Steve asked as he gratefully took the controller, that Peter was handing him. Shooting the boy a thankful smile.

"No. I know you can't."

"Oh, then it's on!"

"Hell yeah, it is!" Tony said as he sat down at one end of the couch, with Steve sat on the opposite end. As Peter in front of them, in the middle of the coffee table. His arms resting against his legs, as he crouched over them, controller in his hands.

"How...?" Tony asked.

"What?" Steve asked, his voice soft. Playing innocent.

"Huh?" Peter asked, turning around to face them, shock covering his face.

"How did you just do that?!" Tony yelled.

"What's wrong? Kart you believe what just happened?"

"Please God, stop," Peter begged, before continuing, "How? I've been playing this game since I was a kid. How did you beat me?"

Tony just sat there, unable to speak. Shock temporality paralysing him.

"I don't know. I just Guess I'm Mario better than you!"

Nine pm.

"I still can't believe you won..."

"Let it go, Tony."

"Never! I still don't know how I ended up last!"

Steve shook his head, placing them in his hands, as Tony went on and on about Steve winning. Replaying the last few hours in his head, Tony voice turning into white noise. Before his head snapped back up, to look at Tony in shock.

"What? What did I do?" Tony asked hesitantly, as he placed Steves cup of coffee in front of him.

"You said you loved me."

"What?! No, I didn't. When?" he asked, panicked.

"Before we started playing Mariokart."

"What?" Tony scoffed. "No. No, I didn't-" he stopped shock covering his face, from remembering hin accidental "I love you".

"Tony. Do you love me?" Steve asked, a big goofy smile on his face, as he leaned over the counter.

"Well, I didn't want the first time I said it to be unintentional. But, yes. Yes, I do. I love you, Steve."

"I love you too, Tony."

Tony leaned onto the counter, giving Steve a sweet kiss. Both unknown to the boy listening in. Thinking how lucky he was to be welcomed into this crazy family.

And yes, Peter would be very happy if you blamed him. Because, as it turns out. The day had not been a good day.

It had been a great day.

#tony stark x steve rogers #stony #marvel #mcu #superfamily #original fanfiction

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theartofbeinganerd · 6 years

Note

Hi you should make a lil ficlet for tony starks birthday tomorrow (May 29) if u have time hahaha you’ll never kno who I am

everything I thought I lost before (make me whole once more)

HAYLEY. Omg I know that’s you, and omg you are lucky that I’m such a giving person and that I managed to find the inspiration for this. You better enjoy this for how much I slaved over it (lmao really it only took like an hour, but still). Honestly. ;D ♥

Titled is based on the song Pieces by Red

*Set post IW, with A4 speculation

(Ao3)

Ever since his first birthday after hisparents had died, which he had spent alone for the very first time in his life,Tony had begun having bigger and bigger birthday parties to celebrate the occasion.He’d never wanted to feel that way again, had never wanted to spend anotherlonely birthday in a big empty house with only the memories of past celebrationswith his family to fill the void. And so, the very next year, he’d started thetradition of filling his big empty house with people to get drunk and forgetabout everything with, even if he’d more often than not had no idea who half ofthem even were.

But, if Tony had thought that thatbirthday he spent by himself was lonely, he was now coming to realize that itcouldn’t even compare to the feeling of being isolated on an alien planet,having just watched half a dozen people simply turn to dust right before his eyes (he still had the kid’s dust, his ash, on his palms, still had the words “I don’t want to go” ringing in hisears). It was worse – much worse.

However, this time he didn’t find himselfwanting to solve it like he had as a kid, he didn’t want to surround himselfwith people, or to drink himself into a stupor so that he could forget aboutall of it for just a little while.

No, Tony just wanted…he wanted Pepper,and Happy, and Rhodey, and…and Peter, that was it.

And it was then that he realized; he didn’teven know if…what if they’d all turned to dust too? What if he actually was all alone again?

The simple thought was too much for himto bear, and so Tony forced himself to push it aside immediately, or else itmight pull him down into the depths of a despair that he hadn’t felt in a longtime, and this time, he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to pull himself out ofit. Not alone.

Instead, he focused on putting all of hisenergy into getting himself and the android girl (Nebula, he thought her namewas) back to Earth, and back to whoever was left there. If he was beingproductive, if he was doing somethingwith his hands, with his mind, he wouldn’t break. He could hold together aslong as he had something to hold together for.

And, just as soon as this mess had beenhandled, and just as soon as Thanos’s giant purple ass had been kicked and theuniverse had been avenged…the first thing that Tony was going to do was officiallycancel his birthday, due to happen in just a week’s time now. After all, nomatter who he found still alive back on Earth, with who he knew was truly gone and with what they’d lost…itcould simply never be enough.

As he stepped out onto one of thebalconies off the Avengers compound, Tony could still hear the slightly dullednoise of the party inside, of those celebrating the ultimate defeat of Thanosand the return of their lost friends and allies (though, it was still slightlylow-key as far as parties went, some of them still in mourning for those whosedeaths hadn’t been reversed with their victory). He assumed that he would bemissed by the others eventually, but he just had to take a moment by himselfbefore he went back in there and had to put his playboy party animal image backon, before he had to make it seem as though he was just as unfazed by all ofthis as he was everything else.

He hadn’t been out there very long at all,however, when he heard, “I had a feeling that I’d find you out here.”

Though he didn’t turn to face her, asmall smile ticked Tony’s lips up at the corners, and he replied with his usualdry wit, “Yeah, had to take a break from the Guardians before my eyes startedwatering – what, are there no showers in space?”

A hand slid along his bicep then, and heimmediately relaxed into her touch, briefly closing his eyes and letting out asmall, content sigh. “Tony,” shemurmured, knowingly, but with a note of concern in her tone.

“I’m just still…processing,” he assuredher, brushing her worries off gently. “Don’t worry about it.”

Pepper gave a short scoff at that. “Askingme not to worry about you is like asking the Hulk not to be angry, or askingThor not to be so good-looking.”

At first, Tony just nodded absently alongwith her words, but then he arched his eyebrows and finally turned to look ather, catching sight of her smirk even in the dim light spilling out from theparty inside. “Wait, what?”

Ignoring him, as she was wont to do fromtime to time, though, Pepper went on, “I know that you’re going to need sometime, and I’ll give you all of the space you need, Tony, but, I’m here.”

Even though Tony didn’t need thereminder, he was grateful for it – of course, Pepper had always been there(except when she wasn’t, but he tried his best not to think of that time), andshe understood him so easily, so effortlessly, in a way that few other peoplein his life did. He reached up to fit his hand over hers, giving it a smallsqueeze to show her his gratitude.

Aloud, however, he pressed, “So, what isthis about Thor being ‘good-looking’?I mean, hello, gorgeous fiancé standingright here.”

In response, she shot him that sly smirkagain, then caught his hand within hers, twisting his wrist gently so that shecould see his watch. After a beat, she leaned in and pressed a lingering kissto his cheek, murmuring, “Happy Birthday, Tony.” Surprised, he threw a glanceof his own down at his watch, and she added, “It’s past midnight now.”

“Hey, I forgot your birthday was comingup!”

At the sound of the new voice, they bothturned simultaneously, finding Peter just slipping through the door and outonto the balcony with them.

With an apologetic little grimace, Peterrushed to explain, “With everything going on, it just completely slipped mymind. So, uh…can I give you a raincheck on your present?” Then, his frowndeepened, and he asked, “Um…is there anything you need, by the way? Maybewithin the twenty dollar range? Or maybe ten – May cut my allowance aspunishment for sneaking off on a spaceship without telling her. I mean, you’rea billionaire, so you probably have everything you need, but…” He paused,briefly, then snapped his fingers and muttered to himself, “Never enough coffeemugs.”

For amoment, both Tony and Pepper were quiet, but then Tony asked bluntly, “It’smidnight – isn’t it past your bedtime, kid? It’s a school night.”

Peter gapedat him, waving a hand back toward the party as he insisted, “But it’s an Avengersparty, and I’m an Avenger now!”

Pepper tooka half-step forward then, resting a hand on Peter’s shoulder as she said warmlybut firmly, leaving no room for argument, “I’ll let Happy know to be ready todrive you home in ten minutes.”

Peter’slips turned down and his shoulders sagged slightly, but he still agreed lowly, “Yeah,okay, thanks Pepper.” Then, in a moment, he perked back up slightly andstarted, “Oh, Mr. Stark –”

Cutting himoff abruptly, Tony told him flatly, “Do notask me how old I am.”

Holding uphis hands and widening his eyes, Peter quickly shook his head. “No, I wasn’tgoing to! I just wanted to say Happy Birthday!”

“Oh.” Tonyarched his eyebrows, then added, “Well, thanks, kid.”

“Hey, areyou gonna have one of your big, famous parties this year? Can I come?” Peterasked hopefully, his eyes lighting up at the prospect.

Before Tonycould answer, though, Pepper pointed out, “Peter, I really don’t think that Maywould approve of that.”

“But I’d beon my best behavior! And I’d makesure to be home before midnight!”

“No, I don’tthink so,” Tony interrupted the conversation, his tone speculative. Peterturned to him with his eyebrows raised in clear surprise, and Pepper evenlooked a bit taken aback. However, Tony glanced first through the glass doorsof the balcony at all of his friends mingling and laughing and drinkingtogether inside the compound, and then to Pepper and Peter there beside him,then told them, “We’ve already got a party going right here – all it needs is acake and an ice sculpture of me and we’re all set.”

Pepperrolled her eyes fondly at his words, even as she found his hand with hers oncemore and twined their fingers together. As her thumb began to lightly strokethe back of his hand, he knew that she understand without him ever having tosay a word that he couldn’t possibly ask for a better party than this one.

After all,why would he want to wait to celebrate his birthday with a couple hundredstrangers when he could celebrate with everyone that he cared about right now?

“What?”Peter cried, his mouth dropping open in disbelief. “Now this is your birthdayparty too? If I ask May, can I stay alittle longer? Just another hour?”

“I’ll talkto her,” Pepper offered warmly, “and I’ll see if I can swing twelve-thirty atleast.”

As Peterbegan to thank her profusely, Tony just stood back for a moment and listened tothem talking, heard Pepper’s soft laugh catching on the light spring breeze asshe squeezed his hand gently, and caught the flash of Peter’s excited grin ashe clasped his hands together eagerly. Even though he was still trying his bestto get over the crushing feeling of watching people turn to dust right beforehim and being able to do nothing to help them, of thinking that half theuniverse was gone forever and he was all alone again, even though most nightshe still woke up in a sweat, unable to breathe properly, staring at his handsand still seeing them coated in ash…

Well, he still couldn’thave asked for a better birthday than this one.

#shayna writes #iw spoilers #pepperony #tony x peter #iron dad #spider son #tony stark #peter parker #birthdays #angst #but with a happy ending #some fluff #family feels #y'know the works #i still can't believe you made me do this hayley #I DON'T EVEN GO HERE. hayley tag #Anonymous

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