#Natasha: oh my Soviet Union

[worstloki]

Thor keeps telling the Avengers old stories about his baby brother and everyone assumes Thor and Loki have another sibling that’s small but no Thor is talking about the guy who invaded New York

[vostok3-ka]

Hello!!! *throws these at you*

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

HELLO SADIE! Ahh, thank you so much for the questions, fella. Sorry for the late reply, it was Eid yesterday so I was so busy <3 (It was so fun!)

🕯️- I would have to say a solid 4. I do not enjoy reading back my work, I always cringe too hard, but the satisfaction of finding a little bit that is awkward and molding it into a better, much more seamless piece really strikes a chord on the satisfaction machine, and it's real nice. The only reason I gave it this low of a rating is really the inability to re-read my stuff. I wish I could do it without wanting to die in a hole, but alas! I cannot lmao.

🎲- Honestly, just lack of confidence and motivation. I always have a lot of ideas I really want to write about, and a lot of plots and directions I want my stories to take, but I don't have a lot of confidence, and then I just don't- write. I should probably gain a little bit more self-confidence with my writing, and then the words will probably flow well! Another reason is the fact that I do really struggle with getting the words down. I have the pictures in my head, but getting words to form those pictures down on paper (or screen) is incredibly difficult to do in a satisfying manner. I suppose I might be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing in that I want my work to be perfect, which isn't really possible.

🍬- Oh boy I love these questions haha. Here is one that I think is somewhat controversial. I really appreciate the fact that in the panels of the show, they didn't change his name to The White Wolf. It sorta of, to me, shows that as much as he might not like it, he still was and till now is the Winter Soldier. Some people say that it isn't fair that Sam got his arc as Captain America and Bucky didn't get his transformation into the White Wolf, but I just- I don't know, I like the idea of him reclaiming the title Winter Soldier. He might try to run from it, or to hide his past, but in the end people still recognize him as the Winter Soldier, and people recognize Sam as the new Captain America. The show didn't show any parts of the White Wolf, and still showed how Bucky falls into his fighting stance easily and with grace. It shows the characters using the Winter Soldier title to advance in their mission, and it shows the fact that being the Winter Soldier is still a major playing factor in Bucky's life, whether it's the past coming back to haunt him, or the fact that he is still seen as a criminal (he IS a criminal that boy broke a terrorist out of prison and missed court mandated therapy LMAO). Idk, I just quite like it. I like the idea of Bucky realizing that he cannot escape his past, and that he can, even though he is the "former" Winter Soldier, he can still be good. Sort of like Natasha not giving up the title Black Widow even though she defected from the Red Room. Yeah. And I think that might be quite unpopular to some!

🔪- Oh one of the weirdest things I have had to research is veterinary medication and psychiatric treatments in the 1980s Soviet Union. I am still in the process of researching this for a current fic I am working on, but yeah. It's super absurd to me. It's such an odd topic, and it is incredibly difficult to find English source material, so I keep having to grind through texts with my A2 Russian and Google Translate haha. It's super interesting though, and in the process of this, I have fallen down several rabbit-holes including the common Soviet village house, Caucasian last name meanings and frequencies, and, my favourite, 80s Soviet music!

Thank you bunches for the ask, I had a lovely time thinking up the answers and writing them down!!! I hope you are having a lovely day/night!

[alyoshka-karamazov]

!!

Oh boy I have been waiting for an excuse to babble. I’m babbling today about the first protagonist of my work in progress novel, Natalya “Natasha” Vasilyeva

Natasha has a rough start to life. Her mother Eva has an affair with (Count) Fyodor Vasiliev and gets pregnant. He pays her off to go back to her home town, but, feeling sorry for her, signs a letter acknowledging Natasha as his kid

Natasha grows up impoverished. Her aunt also hates her which is fun. Unfortunately for Natasha Eva dies when she’s eight, so she’s sent off to Moscow. Fyodor only takes her in because of the letter, but mainly because her uncle threatens to leave her in the streets to starve if he doesn’t

Life’s great when you’re Natasha Vasiliev

She’s taken in by the family as a ‘distant cousin’ to spare her being a bastard (this is in 1917) and so Anya (Fyodor’s wife) can be spared the humiliation. Of course she knows but don’t ask don’t tell. Like many other aristocratic families, the Vasilievs flee the country in 1918 after the Tsar is killed by the Bolsheviks

Natasha grows up with the family and while she loves them, of course, and they do her, she undoubtedly feels like she doesn’t belong. She is fascinated and scared in equal measure by her past

After Fyodor dies (not a spoiler, it’s of illness and early on) she finds out by accident that she’s actually his bastard. She takes this super well. As I’m sure you can imagine. (And by well I mean she has a mini-breakdown.)

Some spoilery stuff is happening with her half-brother Mikhaïl (whom she’s closest to/is the black sheep) during all this, and he’s ready to get the hell out of France (where they fled to) because he’s had his heart broken. So the two siblings head off to Russia (the Soviet Union then) to figure out her past

That’s pretty much Natasha’s plot. The first part of the story goes from 1909-1945 so she does come back to France eventually and her whole journey is finding who she is/the meaning in her life

Added fun: her theme song is ‘In My Dreams’ from Anastasia the Musical. The whole song but especially the lyrics ‘You don’t know what it’s like/Not to know who you are/To have lived in the shadows/And travelled this far/I've seen flashes of fire/Heard the echo of screams/But I still have this faith/In the truth of my dreams’

[insaneasgardian]

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! Chatroom 2; The Announcement

A/N: SORRY THIS IS SO CRAP ahjebf

...

Steve has started a chatroom

Tony has joined

Y/N has joined

Bucky has joined

Sam has joined

Clint has joined

Wanda has joined

Natasha has joined

Peter has joined

Loki has joined

Pietro has joined

Vision has joined

Bruce has joined

T’Challa has joined

Shuri has joined

...

Steve: Great! You’re all here! 😁

Tony: WHO TAUGHT THE OLD MAN HOW TO MAKE A CHATROOM AND USE EMOJIS?

Steve: 😔

Sam: Stfu Tony.

Tony: Rudeeee.

Y/N: Seriously Tony, shut up.

Tony: Yes ma’am.

Pietro: Lmaoooo.

Natasha: Steve, why did you make this chatroom?

Steve: Y/N and I have something we want to tell you.

T’Challa: Congratulations, may Bast ensure that your child is happy and healthy.

T’Challa has left the chat

Steve: ???

Clint: He thinks you guys are pregnant 😂

Clint: ... 

Clint: Are you guys pregnant?

Y/N: No! We’re not even a couple!

Bucky: Why

Natasha: Why

Steve: What do you mean ‘why’?

Bucky: I wanna be uncle Bucky to your kids Stevie.

Natasha: and I wanna be auntie Nat to your kids Y/N.

Wanda: Awwww

Loki: 🤮

Steve: One day... maybe

Y/N: Can we just get to the point?

Bruce: Yes please.

Vision: I too am inquisitively awaiting what interludes you wish to share with us.

Pietro: lol, did Vision swallow a thesaurus or something 😂

Wanda: ... That’s my boyfriend you dipshit

Thor: That’s my son!

Tony: That’s my son!

Tony: Lol jinx

Thor: He is OUR son :)

Tony: Yes :) We share a child

Shuri: *Soviet union anthem intensifies* 

Y/N: 🤣 dedddd

Peter: 😂

Sam: Can ya’ll just say what you needed to say? Barnes and I are in couples therapy.

Loki: ‘COUPLES’ therapy???

Sam: Steve made us...

Steve: Shoot! I forgot you guys have that right about now... I’ll make this quick.

Y/N: Wait.

Y/N has added T’Challa

T’Challa has joined

Y/N: We aren’t pregnant, we wanted to tell you guys something else.

T’Challa: oh shit

Bruce: What are you oh shitting about?

Shuri: He just made an announcement on global television congratulating Captain America and (Your Superhero Name) on conceiving 😂

Tony: BAHAHA I’M WATCHING THE NEWS RIGHT NOW

Peter: Oml 😨

Y/N: YOU DID WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve: T’CHALLA, WHY?????????????????

T’Challa: I’m sorry!

T’Challa has left the chat

Y/N: Ugh, whatever, he’ll have to miss out on the announcement for being such a bad boy.

Tony: ;)

Steve has removed Tony from the chat for being disgusting

Loki: Thank goodness you removed him, but aren’t you forgetting someone?

Thor: Who might that be brother?

Loki: The second rate wizard.

Peter: Oh yea! Mr Strange!

Y/N: Yup! Stevie, you forgot to add him, I’ll do it.

Y/N had added Stephen

Stephen has joined

Stephen: First and foremost @Peter my name is STEPHEN or DR STRANGE, no Mr.

Peter: Sorry

Stephen: Secondly, Y/N and Steve, congratulations on your pregnancy. Let me know if I can be of any help at all. Although I am offended I had to find out through the news.

Steve: WE AREN’T PREGNANT!

Shuri: But you wish you were?

Stephen: It was a hoax?

Steve: Yes

Shuri: Better hop to it then!

Steve: I- NO!! I WAS ANSWERING STEPHEN’S QUESTION!

Clint: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Bucky: 😈😈😈

Natasha: 😈😈😈

Y/N: 🙄😣

Tony has joined the chat

Tony: 😛😝🤪🤫🤭

Wanda: Those emojis say about 10 billion words

Loki: How did you get back in?

Tony: It’s called hacking reindeer games.

Tony: Also I just found this article and I thought Capsicle and (Insert your Tony Stark given nickname) might wanna see - https://www.theraleighregister.com/yn-ln-and-steve-rogers-pregnant.html

Steve: HOW FAST DO THESE NEWS ARTICLES COME OUT?

Sam: Faster than you can say ‘on your left’.

Y/N: Oh my goodness... Shuri tell your brother how screwed he is.

Shuri: Gladly 😂

Pietro: Please just tell what this announcement is.

Bucky: Yes please, therapy lady is annoying me about being on my phone and I’m about to punch her into a wall.

Steven: Oh god, don’t do that. We just wanted to let you all know that Phil and Maria brought donuts over to the tower.

Natasha: And?

Y/N: That’s it.

Stephen: THAT’S ALL?!

Tony: hgbHGVgfCV OH MY FLIPPING-

Bruce: I INTERRUPTED ONE OF MY PRECIOUS SCIENCE SESSIONS FOR THIS 😪

Wanda: VISION AND I WERE-... DOING SOMETHING 😫

Vision: ^

Pietro: I WAS ABOUT TO STOP VISION AND WANDA DOING SOMETHING!

Clint: Yay, donuts :)

Y/N: We’re not too hyped about it either, T’Challa spread those stupid rumors about us in the process. 

Thor: Can we have donuts now?

Steve: Yup.

Thor has left 

Clint has left 

Fury has joined

Fury: Congratulation on conceiving a child L/N and Rogers!

Y/N has left

Steve has left

Loki: 😶

Fury: Was it something I said?

[sweetbuckybarnes]

Decades: The 1990s

Chapter Six: This was the time that Nancy remembered the most, as she blossomed through her teen years, into a young adult.

Series Masterlist | Bucky Barnes Masterlist | ← Previous Chapter | Final Chapter →

Now, as the weeks went on, missions were completed and H.Y.D.R.A. bases were taken down piece by piece, giving Bucky as parts of his past that he was forced into was dismantled.

The Avengers were getting their breakfast, brilliantly moving around each other missing cutlery and hot pans by millimetres.

"Oh, by the way, whilst I remember," Nancy said, pulling her warmed up breakfast burrito from the microwave. "I invited Thor to the party for the 90s,"

"Why?" Tony asked.

Nancy looked over at the billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. "I made him promise to bring the Asgardian liquor with him," she smiled, before looking at the world war 2 veterans. "Those two will be getting drunk like we did ringing in 2000,"

"Do you remember ringing in the new millennium?" Steve asked.

"That night, I can not remember past half-past ten,"

With the second to last introduction to the 20th century, Nancy came up with the idea to 'ring in' the new year.

Sam sorted out the board and turned the face to the entire group of Avengers. "Alright..."

Tony stood up from where he was sitting. "Why is Sam in charge?"

"Because he's done all of them so far since we started introducing them to the modern world," Nancy said, turning to face same. "East and West Germany were reunited when the Soviet Union fell in 1990,"

"Freddie Mercury died in 1991," Wanda said, the knowledge that she does has since getting away from H.Y.D.R.A. may be far and few between, but...

"So did my parents!" Tony said, sending somewhat of a glare to Bucky, getting one in return from Nancy, as she glared over Bucky's shoulder.

Sam gave somewhat of a grim smile to the group and wrote the three names down.

"Disneyland in Paris was opened in 1992," Peter smiled.

"At the time it was called Euro Disney," Nancy smiled.

Natasha spoke up next, Sam hadn't even had enough time to turn back around. "Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in 1993," Natasha said, vaguely remembering that it might have been mentioned in the red room.

"In 1995, the Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian Mir Space," Tony said, obvious the billionaire, playboy, philanthropist knows about space.

Finally, Sam was able to turn around after writing on the board. "Now we're on to 1996," he said.

"Dolly the Sheep was cloned," Peter said, looking up from where he was doing his homework.

"As well as Charles and Diana's divorce was finalised,"

"They got divorced?" Steve asked.

Nancy sighed, looking over at Steve. "Yeah, and 31st of August, 1997, there was a car crash caused by the paparazzi. The driver, her companion and Diana herself were killed,"

The entire group were quiet, as the information sunk into the brains of Steve and Bucky.

Peter spoke up again. "There was something called," Peter started, before flipping through the book in front of him. "The Good Friday Agreement?"

"Yeah, it kind of ended the Troubles that went on for 30 years," Nancy said. "Really it was ended in a military stalemate, that resulted in the Good Friday Agreement,"

"And finally in 1999, Nelson Mandela stepped down from being the President of South Africa," Sam finished.

Nancy had written a list of films that she felt that Steve and Bucky should watch. Holding the list in her hand, and a pen between her teeth, she didn't see Bucky walking towards her as she muttered. "Maybe not American Pie,"

Taking the pen out of her mouth, resting the piece of paper on her thigh and scribbling out American Pie.

"You shouldn't hold the pen between your teeth, doll," Bucky said, taking the pen from her before it went back between her teeth.

"You sound just like ma when you say that," Nancy told him.

Edward Scissorhands Pretty Woman The Parent Trap The Addams Family and Addams Family Values Romeo and Juliet Ghost American Pie Men in Black Titanic

The Avengers had been waiting for Thor to turn up all day. Nancy was starting to get a bit fidgety where she was sat.

"Doll, don't you worry, he'll get here soon," Bucky said, before feeling brave and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

Bucky walked away from Nancy and into the kitchen, where he found Natasha and Steve sitting quietly talking at the kitchen table.

"You ever going to tell her?" Natasha asked, looking away from Steve.

"Maybe tonight..." Bucky trails off.

Eventually, Thor turned up, with his Asgardian liquor. "Now the party can really get started!" Tony exclaimed.

No one really knew how much Asgardian liquor Thor brought, but the vast majority of people who celebrated the millennium knew what they were getting themselves in for.

Nancy looked over at Bucky with a growing smile on her face. "You ready to get the drunkest that you ever have been in your entire life?"

The morning after the 'Ringing in the New Century', Nancy woke up in bed with Bucky. Sitting up, holding the bedsheet to her chest, a check showed that she wasn't naked under the covers.

But, obviously - something happened that night, that would result in Nancy and Bucky sleeping in the same bed together.

As she shuffled around on the bed, it woke up Bucky. He blinked open his eyes, looked around for a second, and then laid eyes on Nancy.

"What happened last night?" Nancy asked quietly, once her eyes locked with Bucky's.

[abacus-and-paper-money]

Tonight, I showed four people Great Comet who had never seen it before on a janky virtual movie night. Three of my best friends, (R, V, C) and my favorite teacher. (P) Here are some of the absolutely genius things those idiots did:

(Names simplified for privacy and stuff)

V: *sings 'and Andrey isn't here!' Every five seconds.*

R: *SIMPS SO HARD WHEN ANATOLE SHOWS UP*

R: *SIMPS EVEN HARDER WHEN HÉLÈNE SHOWS UP*

R, after Charming: *squealing sounds*

V, after Anatole&Natasha: ANDREY IS EPIC!!! (He thought Anatole was Andrey lol)

P, about Marya: I DON'T trust her.

P, during Anatole&Natasha: uh oh, the music got sultry, they need a chaperone. More Pierre please.

When The Duel club scene starts and everyone's hyped, V: me and the boys at 2am lookin for beanz

P: HOW CAN WE EXPECT IMPERIAL RUSSIA TO SURVIVE WHEN PEOPLE CAN'T EVEN BE FAITHFUL TO THEIR SPOUSES

V: i think we ought to credit the numerous affairs with the fall of the soviet union

V: let's not even lie Anatole is the prettiest character

P: i mean, if you're not drinking at the opera or shooting people...what else is there to do but MARRIAGE. Infidelity, I guess...

P, about Marya: dude she says SCOUNDREL like people say racial slurs

C, after pierre gives his love speech to natasha: ok so do it. Get down on your knees. Do it.

R, agreeing with the previous statement: don't be shy. get on your knees.

[5289belle]

Captain America’s Legacy

Summary:  When Katerina Rogers watches as the flags smashers cause further mayhem, she knows she needs to come out of hiding and go help Sam and Bucky take them down, all while dealing with the fact that the United States government replaced her dad with some idiot as Captain America.

Meet Katerina (Katy) Rogers, the daughter of Natasha and Steve. Will take place during the falcon and the winter solider with some flashbacks to black widow and civil war. Also Tony is alive in this timeline, Steve did that snap instead, Natasha still died getting the soul stone.

Part Two

Walking along the road the three had been silent for twenty minutes now. Then Sam spoke up, “Wait, how did you know where to find me Kat?” He looked at her with questioning in his eyes.

“Oh that, ha easy. I tracked you through your phone, GPS can be really helpful.” She said with a laugh.

“Since when do you know how to hack?”

Looking at him with a smirk she responded lightly “Tony showed me how, about nine years ago. I just never felt the need to use it much on missions. What with Tony and all his techno stuff, and then when we went on the run it just never came up.

Bucky had been just staring ahead stoically the whole time, Sam just shook his head as they continued on. Looking over to Bucky Sam asked

“What going on in that cyborg brain of yours?”

“It’s computing”

Sam chuckled at that, while Katy broke out in a smile and tried not to snort. “You know what I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning. Oh, they’re malfunctioning shutting down. Yep, they’re on fire.”

Ignoring him Bucky interrupted with “We gotta figure out where the serum’s coming from.”

“Yeah. And how in the hell after 80 years are there eight super soldiers runnin’ loose?”

“Well, lets first ask where do we start? Who made the serum?” Katy spoke up from between them.

Slowly they heard the car come up beside them, honking. Looking over she noticed it was Walker and Hoskins, great she thought and tried not to roll her eyes too hard.

“So that didn’t go as planned, huh?” Walker asked the trio.

Pointedly ignoring him they continued walking on, a few moments later Walker continued on “Look, at least we know what we’re up against now, huh?

And were pretty sure it’s one of the big three, so..”

Sam replies with “Aliens, androids, or wizards right?

“Pretty sure” Walker say’s looking at them hopefully.

Annoyed Bucky interrupts with “There’s no such thin as wizards.”

“Alright then it’s aliens or androids”

Sam responds with “Or super soldiers.”

Surprised Hoskins asks “Shit, super soldiers, for real?”

“Yeah”

“All right, well then we gotta work together” John says to them, having enough of the conversation Bucky say “That’s not happening”, which is quickly followed up by Katy with “Yeah, no. Were good, we can handle this ourselves.”

John replies “I think we stand a much better chance if we all just..”

Interrupting him Bucky yells quietly “Just cause you carry that shield, it doesn’t mean your Captain America.”

“Exactly, just saying you’re Captain America just doesn’t make it so. It’s title that has to be earned, and its sacred.” Katy responds with a scowl on her face. She can barely contain her rage at his presence. This was not good for her mental health.

“Look, I’ve done the work, okay?”

Looking at John, Bucky asks “You ever jump on top of a grenade?”

“Or put your life on the line for the greater good?” she adds on.

“Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times. It’s a thing I do with my helmet, it’s a reinforced helmet and I’ve put my life on the line many times in the heat of battle.” John responds, trying to defend his honor. “Look, it’s twenty miles to the airport you three need a ride?”

Katy just scoffs at this and looks ahead with her jaw clenched

“Guy’s. Gary stop. Get in.”

Reluctantly they stop and get, leaving her to be sandwiched between Sam and Bucky.

“Okay, so we’ve got eight super soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?”

Thinking it over Sam respond’s “They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during the blip. Maybe they’re just trying to help.”

“They had a funny way of showing it.” Bucky says.

“That serum doesn’t exactly have a great track record.” John says then looks over to Bucky and Katy and says “No offense”

She merely raises her eyebrow and declines to responds.

“We need to figure out where their going. How’d you track ‘em

Here? The flag smashers?” Sam asks.

Hoskins joins in “uh, no we didn’t track them, we tracked you, uh, through redwing.”

“You hacked my tech?” Sam say’s angered

Chuckling Walker replies “Sorry, it’s not exactly hacking. It’s government property.

Meanwhile Bucky was just staring directly towards Walker, noticing he voices out “Does he always just stare like that?”

Sam glances at Bucky and responds, “You get used to it.”

Clearing his throat John say’s to them “okay look, you know things have gotten kind of, uh…” Hoskins finishes his sentence with “Chaotic”

“Yeah. The GRC, they’re doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post blip.

Ignoring them for a few seconds she just tunes them out. Living in Europe for the past six months and moving around from place to place she’s seen the displacement camps and knows that the GRC has been useless for they people who never disappeared. As always the government was ignoring the larger picture in order to fix a smaller picture with a quick fix. Leading to more problems, like the flag smashers… If her dad was here he would know what to do…

Sighing she stopped her train of thought, with her heart constricting in sadness at the mere thought. It still hurt too much to think about them. She would drive herself insane if she kept thinking what if?

Coming back to the conversation at hand she heard Walker say “If you guys, if you joined up with us we could..”

“No” Bucky and Katy said in unison.

“I got mad respect for the three of you, the falcon, the winter soldier and Captain Widow. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up” Hoskins said to the three.

“What?” she asked in confusion, looking over at Hoskins she continued “What did you call me?

“Captain Widow, that’s your superhero name right? Cause your dad was Captain America and your mom was Black Widow”

Shaking her head in confusion and annoyance she asks

“Is that what everyone refers to me as?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Just no, I just…” she sighs and doesn’t know how to respond. Since when did she get that moniker? The Captain Widow? Seriously!.. Well, it was at least better than the other one she had been given…

While she pondering over the recent revelation Buck asks “Who are you?”

“Lemar Hoskins”

“Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter on tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins.”

“I’m Battlestar. John’s partner.

“Battlestar!?” Bucky says, clearly his hurt by this. With that he’s had enough and calls for the car to stop and leaves, she happily joins him. Glad to be gone from that situation. Walking side by side, she looks over to him and notices the grimace on his face. Clearly he was not taking the news well.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine” he says dismissively. Sam then walks up to them and joins them on their silent walk back to the airport.

With that Bucky stands up and walk over to Sam and sits down next to him and looks between him and Katy. “There is someone that you two should meet.”

Some time later, Bucky is sitting on a crate thinking pensively while Sam and Katy are laying on the seats.

“Let’s take the shield. Let’s takes the shield and do this ourselves.”

“We can’t just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it.”

“Why not? It would certainly make me happy” Katy says, now she can’t stop picturing it, she doesn’t know why but something about his face just makes her want to punch him.

“Do you remember what happened the last time we stole it?”

“Maybe”

“Possibly” she says.

“I’ll help you two in case you forgot. Sharon was branded enemy of the state, and Steve, Natasha, Wanda, Kat and I were on the run for two years. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca. We just got our asses handed to us by super soldiers, and we got nothing.”

Interrupting she say responds “Not entirely true, we know there’s at least eight of them, and that they steal supplies, like medicine and stuff. Plus, they know how to handle themselves in a fight.”

With that they head off to Baltimore Maryland. Where Sam and Katy find out there was a black super soldier since the fifties and no one knew about it, not even Steve. Sam is angry at the revelation, how could no one tell him, why was it a secret. Katy is just shocked, she had no idea that the U.S had also had their own batch of super soldiers they were using, she thought it was just the Soviet Union with the Black Widow program.

While Sam is having it out with Bucky suddenly a siren wails out as a cop patrol car rolls up and stops in front of them. “What could they possibly want?” She asks out loud.

“Hey, is there a problem here?” One of the officers ask.

“No, we’re just talking.”

“We’re fine” Bucky adds on, Katy responds dismissively “We’re good, thank you though. We don’t need your assistance, have a good day”

The officer walks up to Sam and singles him out asking him for his ID, at this Bucky says “Man, seriously?”

“I don’t have ID, why?”

“Okay sir, just calm down.”

Affronted Sam goes on “I am calm, what do you want.”

“Just give him your ID”

“NO, I’m giving him shit We’re just talking”

“Hey is this guy bothering you two?”

“No, he’s not bothering us. Do you know who this is?”

The other officer walks up to his partner and whispers something to him, then the other one apologizes to Sam.

Before long, Bucky is being arrested for missing his court mandated therapy.

A couple hours later the three find themselves at the precinct. In the lobby Sam and Katy are waiting to hear news about Bucky when his therapist walks up to them.

“Sam. I’ve heard a lot about you.” turning to look over at Katy she asks “and who are you?”.

“Hi, I’m Katerina Rogers, but you can call me Katy. May I ask who you are?”

“I’m Dr. Raynor. I’m James’s therapist”.

Walking up to her he shakes her hand and replies “So nice to meet you. Thank you for getting him out.” Katy smiles at her nodding her head along.

“That was not me”

“Christina, it’s great to see you again.” Walkers voice rang out.

“You got to be kidding me you know him?” Sam asked Dr. Raynor.

“Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day.

“I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I’d step in. Bucky’s not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer. walking up to her he smiled.

“We haven’t finished our work. Who authorized this?”

Pointing to himself “Um..”

Rolling her eyes on the sideline Katy thought to herself at least he did something good for Bucky, this way they can carry on the mission. He’s still pretentious, but I suppose he not the absolute worst…

Just then they released Bucky and he came walking up to the group.

With that Walker told them he would be outside waiting for them.

“James, condition of your release, session now. You too, Sam and Katy.”

“That’s okay. I’ll be out here with Katy..” Sam replied while Katy also rang out “Oh, no I couldn’t join in..”

“That wasn’t a request”

The two looked to each other in defeat and then followed after Bucky and the Dr.

Sitting down at a table with Dr. Raynor on the other side the three were all seated next to each other with Katy in the middle, each were silent and brooding, clearly not wanting to be there.

“So.. Who would like to start?”

Pursing her lips Katy stubbornly remained silent. Sam chose to speak first “All right, look Dr. Raynor? I get it, why you want me to talk to freaky magoo over here. But I’m 100% fine”

“It is my job to make sure that you’re okay. You to Katy, I heard that you just disappeared six months ago without a trace after your parent’s funeral. I can imagination how hard that must have been. I know your friends here were worried about you. And so yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional but it’s the only way I can see if you’re getting over whatever’s eating at you guys.”

“Look I appreciate the concern I do, however I’m perfectly fine. I just needed a break, all good now..” Katy said trying to excuse herself. The Dr. just looked at her and then to the other two.

“This is ridiculous” Sam said afterwards, Bucky followed up with “Yeah. I agree.”

“See making progress already. So who wants to go first? No volunteers, wow. How surprising. Okay. We’re going to do an exercise. It’s something I use with couples when they are trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna build together. Are you familiar with the miracle question?”

“Absolutely not”

“Of course, not”

“What is that?”

“Okay it goes like this, suppose that while you’re sleeping a miracle occurs. When you wake up, what is something that you would like to see that would make your life better?”

“In my miracle he would talk less.”

“exactly what I was gonna say, Isn’t that ironic?”

“These two would banter less.”

“You guys are leaving me with no choice. It’s time for the soul-gazing exercise.”

“I like this one better” Bucky says with a smile while Sam smiled and responds “Oh, God. He’s gonna love this.” Katy merely says, “I’m good, I’ll just watch.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“This is right up your alley”

“Katy, you have to join in. I really think this would be helpful for you three.” Dr. Raynor responds to the three’s remarks. “Turn around, face each other.”

All three scoot out with their chairs and then scoot right back in forming a triangle with their knees touching.

“You should really enjoy this.” Sam says aloud to Bucky.

Looking right back at him with a sarcastic smile he replies, “I’m going to” While nodding his head. “This will be fun” Katy remarks, trying to lighten the mood and her nerves. Just great.

“Face each other”

“Let’s do it. Let’s stare” Bucky says to them.

“Get close”

“How much closer can we get? Our knees are touching?” Katy says confused. Bucky looks to his doctor and says “This is a good exercise. Thanks Doc.

“All right, good. All right, get close.”

With that they mange to get closer by arranging their knees to open up and allow the other ones to slide in closer on her left side Sam sits with his knees by hers, while on the right Bucky sits with his knee on hers, their other knees our on each other’s. All three our extremely uncomfortable.

“It’s a little close” Bucky says. “That’s what you wanted right?” Sam replies, Katy just sits there shaking her head. Dr. Raynor interrupts with “Guys, good. Now look at each other.

Looking up they look into each other’s eyes, Sam and Bucky are just staring at each other, both refusing to blink. While Katy looks right at their eyebrows refusing to make eye contact, fed up with the whole situation and their childish staring contest.

“Wait, what are you doing? Are you having a staring contest?” Snapping her fingers, she says blink to them repeatedly until they snap out of it. Katy looks up relieved.

“All right James, why does Sam aggravate you?”

Looking up her with a smirk he’s about to respond when she replies, “and don’t say something childish.”

At that he licks his lips and looks down, getting serious. Looking to Sam he asks, “Why did you give up that shield?”

At this Katy looks to Sam with the same questioning look, she desperately needs to know that answer to this. Why did he give it up to the museum when he could have given it to her…?

“Why are you making such a big deal out of something that had nothing to do with you?”

Finally, she speaks up, “Why didn’t you pass it on to me? If you didn’t want it?”

Looking over to her he responds “You went AWOL, we couldn’t find you. How could I have given to you when you weren’t there. I thought you would like that it went to the museum with the rest of the Captain America exhibition.”

Looking down in pain, she purses her lips and then glances back up

“Okay, so maybe it would have been hard to give to me if you couldn’t find me. I just don’t know why you thought I would rather have it collecting dust in a museum…”

Speaking up Bucky looked to Sam “Steve believed in you. He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is… that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing.

“Shut up”

“So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you he was wrong about me.”

“Or me” she muttered.

“You finished?”

“Yeah”

“All right, good. Maybe this is something you or Steve will never understand. But can you except that I did what I thought was right?

Bucky just looks down; Sam absorbs this and scoffs “You know what Doc? I don’t have time for this. We have some real serious shit going on. So how about this? I will squash it right now. We go deal with that, and when we’re done, we both can go on separate, long vacations, and never see each other again.”

“I like that”

“Great”

“You two can’t mean that!?”

Nodding his head Sam responds “Well, let’s get to work. Thanks Doc, for making it weird. I feel much better. I’ll see you outside. Getting up Sam walk out with Katy right on his heels, she looks back to check on Bucky and then continues on outside.

Meeting Walker and Hoskins outside they conclude that it would be better to work apart, all thought now they know the leader’s name is Karli Morgenthau. While walking down the street Bucky speaks up and says he knows a place to start. So now their heading to Germany, off to see Zemo..

Walking along the hallway in the prison Bucky lets them know he’s going in there alone.

“Why?”

“You two are avengers. You know how he feels about that.”

“It’s not like you two were known for frolickin’ in the sun together.”

“He was obsessed with hydra. We have a history together. Trust me. I got it.”

With that Bucky walks off leaving Sam and Katy to wait there.

An hour later they find themselves in a old building while Bucky explains he wants to break Zemo out of jail, how he could escape.

Sam is not having it, and neither is Katy.

“You want to break out the guy who tried to break up the avengers and framed you for a bombing?” she asked him shocked. She knew they were desperate for leads but not that desperate.

“Where are we, Buck? Have you lost you mind?” Sam called out.

“We have no leads no moves, nothing”

“What we have is one of the most dangerous men in the world behind bars. “

“And we also have eight super soldiers that are loose.”

“It’s not the worst plan I suppose. Better than joining up with Walker and Hoskins.” She joins in.

Looking over at her incredulously Sam continues “Zemo’s gonna mess with our minds. Especially yours. No offense.”

Turning on the lights he says “Offense”

“Why are we on a mechanic shop? That where we are right?” she says looking to Bucky for answers.

“Super soldiers go against everything he believes in. He is crazy but he still has a code.”

“I’ve been on the wrong side of that code and so have you and Kat. He blew up the UN, he killed King T’Chaka and framed you for it. Did you forget that? You think the Wakandans for about it? It’s a rhetorical question. They didn’t I know why this matter to you, buts it pushing you off the deep end.”

“Sam, we don’t know how they’re getting’ the serum. We don’t even know how many of them there are. Let me just walk you through a hypothetical. Can I?”

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything” Bucky empathizes.

Tilting her head at that Katy looks over and ask, “So what’s this hypothetical?”

As Bucky is explaining the gears in her head are turning and she starting to figure out that everything he is saying has either already happened or currently is. Half expecting Zemo to come walking in any minute now. She’s not disappointed when he does. Sam however is livid.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa”

“No listen”

“What are you doin’ here?” Sam questions.

“I didn’t want to you, cause I knew you wouldn’t let this happen. “

“What did you do?”

“We need him”

“This has gotta be good” she says.

“You’re going back to prison!” Sam shouts

“If I may” Zemo begins before both Bucky and Sam interrupts yelling “NO”

Zemo mutters “apologies” as Katy watches and tilts her head. How polite she thought to herself.

Looking to both Katy and Sam Bucky say “When Steve refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, you backed him. You broke the law, and you stuck your neck out for me.”

“Of course, you were innocent, and those accords were utter bullshit, just another way for the UN to try and make the avengers their very own weapon to be used when they so desired.” She looks to him, and licks her lips, “I would do it all over again”

“I’m asking for you to do it again” he says while looking into her eyes, mesmerized by his ice blues eyes she mutters “Always, I’ll always help if you need. Until the end.” Turning to Sam he looks at him questioningly, waiting for his answer.

Zemo breaks in with “I really think I’m invaluable..”

“Shut up” Sam breaks in and looks back to Bucky and Katy.

“Okay. If we do this, you don’t make a move without our permission.”

“Fair”

“Okay Zemo, where do we start?”

[medeafive]

Blood and Stone - 18

Masterpost

"Just give it a few more seconds," Pepper suggests.

Natasha groans, head dropping back against the cold tiles. It's crowded in here, with the IV drip and two people. Little bathroom. Sitting upright is pretty exhausting, not to mention getting there.

"I think there's a line- yes, it's getting stronger," Pepper announces, flipping the cardboard packaging. "And line means- yeah, line means pregnant. So everything as expected."

Natasha doesn't know if she expected it not to show up because it's a vampire baby, or because she still kind of believes this is all a big misunderstanding, or- "Let's get you back to bed, then," Pepper says, putting the pregnancy test back in the box. "Bruce said if you sleep so much, you need to eat almost every waking hour."

She feels like a stuffing goose shoving more and more food down her own throat. "Could you-"

"Sure," Pepper replies, stepping in to help her up, avoiding the IV drip. "Uh, I'll help you with your pants, too, don't bother."

Natasha closes her eyes, just waiting. Her legs are weak. Everyone is always running around her, bringing her stuff, helping her, steadying her. Pampering. If she weren't so weak… "Here," Pepper says, putting an arm around her waist. "Got it?"

She nods quietly, prying her eyes open to the crass light in the bathroom, taking careful steps. Pepper helps along, opening the door for her, dragging the IV with them. They make it back to the lab where Sam and Sharon are waiting. Sam jumps up, taking over from Pepper and leading her the rest of the way to the bed. She can hardly keep herself upright, collapsing onto the sheets.

"Thanks." Pepper sighs, pushing a few bangs out of her face. "Came back positive. As expected."

"Bruce is still asleep, told him I would change the drip," Sam replies. "Nat, do you hear me?"

It's very mushy. "Mhm," she croaks out.

"Made you a protein shake," Sam says. "And brought some candy bars. If you want anything else, just say it."

"Okay," she mutters. "You don't- need to be here. All of you. All the time."

"I just wanna see Steve-" Sharon hesitates. "Maybe I should just go in now. While he's still asleep."

"Uh, he's being fed through a tube," Sam remarks. "Not the prettiest sight."

Sharon snorts. "I don't care. Uh, I'll just go in quietly. Just a minute. I'll get you immediately if he wakes up."

"Careful," Sam advises. "Uh, I'll take a Snickers if you don't mind."

Natasha chuckles, the sound scratching in her throat. "Bastard. Gimme one."

The wrapping rustles. A door closes somewhere. "There," Sam's voice says. "So… we haven't really had the chance to talk."

"About what," Natasha replies, feeling around his hand until her fingers close around the chocolate. "No idea what you're referring to."

Sam, surprisingly, doesn't call her a smartass. "Tony said something to the effect that you don't want the abortion."

She's too exhausted to fight. Hell, she can't even keep her eyes open. "...don't understand, do you."

Sam sighs. "It's not about understanding. I just don't know what my- what the right thing- if you wanted to jump off a roof, I should clearly stop you. Even if you really wanted to jump."

"Jump off a roof," she repeats weakly.

"I don't know if you noticed but you're not doing well," Sam remarks. "And you're very much at the beginning, so it's gonna get a lot worse. So continuing is kind of suici-"

A door opens and closes very quickly. "Shit, shit, shit," Sharon breathes. "I woke him up. Shit."

She can very well imagine the look of exasperation on Sam's face. "I'll take care of it. Can you look after her? Wake up Bruce if her vitals take a dive."

"Yes, sure," Sharon replies quickly. "Sorry. Really."

The door opens and closes. Sharon takes a seat somewhere. There's some sort of struggle next door. "Here," Sam's voice says. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," the strange voice croaks. "Who- who was that dame?"

"Sharon," Sam replies hesitantly. "Listen, the- the war is over, so could we just- I'm Sam."

Silence. "The war is over?"

"Yeah, you missed a lot."

"You said something- I don't remember but it was very upsetting. Uh, Steve. I'm Steve."

"Oh yeah. The year."

"But who won? The war?"

"Oh, the Allied forces. That actually ended quite well. Apart from the Soviet Union."

"Well, that's- what happened with the Soviet Union?"

"Gained control of most of Eastern Europe, including a part of Germany. Installed Communist satellite governments and all. But there was a peaceful revolution a few years ago, so the Communists are not in power anymore. The Nazis are pretty much gone, by the way. Other than- well."

Groaning. "Can I have something to drink before that? Sam?"

"Oh, sure. You're really going to need it."

  "...gave her Glucagon but her blood sugar is still low…"

"... like bleeding out…"

"Kofola?"

"...might drop into a coma if we…"

"...cut it out…"

"Her pulse is super fast… weak…"

"Try honey, my mom used to…"

"No time…"

"...shock…"

"15 minutes?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is…"

"Do it."

"Cut it out."

"All our reserves…"

"... extremely low blood pressure."

"...normal…"

"Just…"

"...the infusion…"

"Then we'll…"

"...can't be sure…"

"...gotta do something… right now…"

"...try…"

"...she's gonna die…"

"...sugar… sweet…"

"...blood… vampire blood…"

"...don't know…"

"...something…"

"...stop…"

"...die…"

  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

"I think she just twitched."

"So what? You never twitch?"

"Doesn't mean she's awake."

"How much is that now?"

"Less than a bag. Half a liter maybe."

"And we only have two? Great."

"I mean, we have a lot of vampire blood."

"That's crazy. You have no idea what that would do to her body."

"Kinda do, don't we."

"Ah, yes, I will forever remember when you warned her she'd regrow her uterus ."

"Look, healing is a very fluid concept."

"Nice try."

"What about the ice block?"

"Went back to sleep. Was just trying to explain to him what Vietnam even is."

"Well, what is Vietnam?"

"You never went to that Vietnamese restaurant over in Žižkov? It's really great, you should."

"Maybe Barton should join your lessons."

"Is that still open?"

"Sure. Nothing better than soup after a night on patrol."

"I hate all of you."

"Maybe it's our only option. The vampire blood."

"Yes, let's poison her some more."

"Steve seems to be doing fine!"

"Have you checked his teeth?"

"I think she twitched again."

"I saw nothing."

"Didn't see anything either."

"Oh, now she definitely twitched."

"Maybe she can hear us?"

"I hope she can't hear all of you idiots."

"I'm just glad her blood pressure is going up."

"Yeah, really surprising she has more blood now that we pumped it directly into her veins."

"Shut up."

"Excuse me, I have to explain to Steve who you even are ."

A door slams somewhere above.

"Oh great. Is that…"

"You expect anyone else?"

"Really been looking forward to that."

She hardly hears the steps but the swooshing cloak. "What the fuck are you doing?"

James. That's James' voice. She tries to pry her eyes open just a little. "That's something you should answer. Or rather, what you were doing."

She feels a gush of cold air and the touch of cold firm stone that slowly warms up. "Is she hurt? Was it the raid-"

"Pregnant. She's pregnant."

"She's what ?"

"Oh, now you're surprised ?"

"Hey," she croaks out.

More of the cold touch on her hand. "Oh, Nat. Are you- how do you- how are you?"

"Mhm." Her mouth is too numb to talk but she tries to smile. "Mhm."

"Her blood pressure is very low," Bruce explains. "This thing is basically sucking the blood and the sugar and the nutrients out of her and using that to grow rapidly. I'm afraid she won't be able to handle it much longer."

"Then why haven't you gotten rid of it-"

"Mhm!"

"We haven't decided yet. And we're still waiting for a gynaecologist because I definitely can't do that."

"How is it even possible that-"

"Oh, fuck off. As if you don't know."

"Of course I don't know! How was I supposed to- I'm a fucking vampire, if you haven't noticed."

"Well, certain things seem to be working just fine. Looks like you noticed that."

"Don't get gross, Tony. Well, she had her uterus removed, years ago, so she shouldn't have been able to get pregnant. But it’s back now. Our theory is that the injection of vampire blood somehow reconstructed or regrew it."

"I mean, she's been injecting it for months, on and off. But why that would affect her- it doesn't fix scars either, that's not how vampire blood works."

"Wait, for months?"

"She didn't wanna tell you. To get stronger, to heal faster."

"Wow, you're both the worst."

"But it worked for her? I don't think she had a lot of adverse side effects- apart from the uterus thing. We could really use that now."

"Mhm."

"I think she wants to say something."

"Mhm!"

"Give her something to drink, that should help."

"Is that Coca Cola ?"

"Kofola. Don't ask, it was a longer discussion."

"Has a lot of sugar, though."

"Still disgusting."

"Sweetheart, if you don't like it here, just go home."

"Mhm. Mhm."

"It's for the blood sugar."

Someone helps her lift her back, sit up. Steadies her with a pillow. She opens her mouth tentatively and starts drinking. Her lips and mouth are still numb so she drools a little but she's also quite thirsty. She has no idea what time or day it is. The sugary drink, carbonated, caffeinated, it seems to go to her brain as well, waking her up. She leans back, eyes fluttering open. Very bright. "More?" Sam's vague shape asks, very close.

She shakes her head slowly, blinking. "So when is that other doctor coming?" James' voice asks.

"She's in Italy," Fury says. "Could take a few days."

She gathers her breath and her spit. "No."

They turn to her, still vague silhouettes. "I don't want the-"

Her voice is breaking and she's not sure they even hear her. "I should change the blood bag," Bruce says.

"She's still very pale," Pepper says. "I don't like it."

"James," she whispers. He's sitting at her bedside, holding her hand. He's warmer than her.

"Pulse?" Fury asks.

"Still rather quick," Bruce replies. "I'll put in the second one. And then we'll just have to see."

She tries to squeeze James' hand, weakly. "Yeah, she can't eat all the time," Sam says. "I'm not even sure her stomach can work quick enough."

"This is too much," Sharon whispers. "For her body."

"Well, maybe should have thought about that beforehand," Tony needles.

James hisses at him, all fangs. "As if that was- what do you even want, just help her already."

"Trying," Bruce mutters, somewhere on her left.

"Just take it out," James pleads. "Just, for the love of God, please kill that thing before it kills her. Please."

"James," she whispers, holding onto his hands.

"Yeah, tell her that," Clint advises. "Cause she won't hear it."

"James," she whispers. "Please. No."

"Everyone's crazy here," Tony states.

"Okay, done," Bruce says. "I really don't know about the vampire blood."

"She's barely conscious," Sam remarks. "I'm not sure she can- tell what she wants. If she really understands the situation."

"The situation he got her into," Tony points out. "Let's not forget that."

"Come on, we all know her," Clint says. "She'd never- if she were in her right mind, she'd get rid of that monster instantly."

She digs her nails into James' hand. "Guys!"

"Get out," James demands coldly. "All of you."

Of course, Tony can't keep himself from a final dig. "Isn't that just how we got here-"

"Out," James hisses. "I won't ask again."

"We'll wait outside," Fury says.

Natasha relaxes slightly, slumping back against the pillow. She really can't see well but she feels James' warm hands around hers. "Thank- Thanks."

The door falls shut. "Oh Natalia," James mutters, stroking her cheek. "I'm so sorry."

"Drink," she says.

He takes the bottle and helps her drink. More sugar, more hydration. Maybe it's the blood transfusion but she's beginning to feel a little better, a little clearer. Boy, must she be dirty. "Do I- smell?"

"Honestly," James replies, putting the bottle away. "You smell like you are dying. Without the bleeding."

"But I want it," she whispers.

He sighs. "You maybe want a baby but… this is a monster, a parasite. That's not what you want. I can't give you that."

"You don't know that," she says.

"I can see what it's doing to you," he replies. "Please don't do that to yourself. I care about you, I love you, you're everything to me, please don't let my mistakes kill you."

"Your mistakes?" she repeats. "Don't listen to them. They'll- they'll do everything to blame you."

"I blame me," he replies. "Because I should. I dragged you through way too much even before this."

"I kissed you," she says, trying to get her argument straight. "I slept with you. I wanted to. And now I want- I believe this happened for a reason."

He snorts. "Divine punishment?"

"Before all of this, I wanted-" She takes a deep breath. "A family. I gave that up for… And now I have a baby, and I'm not going to give it up."

"It's not a baby if it sucks the life out of you," James replies. "And I can't give you anything better, I can't give you a family, I'm sorry. I wish you could… maybe, if you had run. But we're here now and… don't let this be the end."

"I might never get another chance," she remarks. "Never. And we have so much vampire blood, Bruce knows so much about- I want to try. Don't throw this away."

"I don't want you to have my-" He sighs, rubbing his thumb over her hand. "I want you to have the baby you wanted before, a human baby. A real baby. Who knows what kind of- what if it's a vampire, it's already sucking your blood. Who knows how it'll turn out. If you ever get to see that at all. I never brought you anything good."

"Don't stop me," she pleads. "Please."

"What if the vampire blood doesn't work like you think it will?" James asks. "Please don't risk that for this thing."

"The doctor won't be here immediately anyway," she whispers, exhausted again. "Try the vampire blood. Make them try. Please."

James sighs. "Anything for you, Natalia. Always."

She tries to smile. "Tell them. And I love you, too."

"Oh God." He jerks back slightly. "Please tell me you're not doing this to have my- offspring, it is not worth having. Who knows how fucked up my genes are-"

"Oh God, you idiot," she breathes. "You're not that bad. But no, not having it for you. Seriously, you thought I'm not in love with you, I was just banging you because I got bored or what-"

"Don't exhaust yourself," James interrupts.

She rolls her eyes, closing them. "I'm glad you're here."

"Wish it were under different circumstances," he says. "I'll let the others back in, if that's okay."

"Mhm." Boy, talking is exhausting her. "Yeah."

He leans forward and pecks her dry lips, his are cold, and then he's suddenly at the door. "Give her the blood transfusion. The vampire blood."

Bruce peeks in. "I can't promise it won't make it worse. Maybe she'll go into cardiac failure-"

"She's dying if you don't do it," James states.

"Oh, yeah, he's the expert," Tony's voice remarks.

"Please do it," she croaks out.

Bruce moves closer to her because her voice is so quiet. "Hm?"

"Do it," she whispers again. "I know- know- what it does."

"If she's really been taking it for months, she knows better than anyone," Sharon argues. "I'd say give her a small dosis."

"But maybe a small dosis is not enough," Pepper remarks. "How much did you give her for the black cloak?"

"The ratio between human blood and vampire blood was much different then."

"Oh, come on, weren't we going to pump the ice block full of it?"

"Yeah, but he was frozen ."

"We gave her about 200ml. But not at once."

"Just give her something already."

"But how much is something ?"

"Try a hundred."

"So she was basically juicing-"

"I don't think it will negatively impact her. The foetus…"

"That you wanted to abort against her will minutes ago."

"Yeah, honestly, if it kills that thing or slows its growth, that's not the worst thing."

"And if it supercharges it?"

"Do it," Fury's voice interrupts. "Or do you want to stand here while she's wasting away?"

"So a hundred milliliter-"

"Here's a syringe."

"Inject it straight away."

"It might conflict with the blood transfusion-"

"Brucey, now is a really bad time to play through all the doom scenarios."

There's some more indistinct talking and then the needle sinks into her arm. She's too numb to really feel it.

"Seems okay."

"Nobody said she was going to spontaneously combust."

"If it goes really wrong, we might have to amputate the arm-"

"Bruce, calm down, you're driving everyone else crazy."

"It's going to be okay."

She's beginning to feel the emptiness in her left arm that she recognizes. It's never spectacular. "Alright," Fury states. "Putting that aside-"

"Putting that aside ?" James repeats.

"Why, you wanna talk about it?" Fury asks drily.

"...No."

"Didn't think so. What is the status on the black cloaks that were going to come here every day now?"

"Wow, I really forgot about that."

"I went to the Castle and- pretended to be really surprised hearing what happened to Pierce and- they haven't heard from Schmidt yet. So I told him I could find her and hunt her down and that she probably left town. Was going to ask her to stay in… guess that's not an issue. Anyway, Rumlow sent another messenger to Schmidt, maybe that will buy us more time."

"And he believed you," Fury questions.

"Lying comes really natural to you, doesn't it," Clint remarks sourly.

"Seriously," James hisses. "You wanna do that now ?"

"Boys, calm down."

"So neither of you should be seen around town?"

"Rumlow doesn't really care. But no one knows what Schmidt is going to do."

"Well, Nat's definitely staying in."

"So you could go back? Cover intact?"

"Why would I go back ?"

"Find out what Schmidt's planning. When the messenger comes back."

"I can't do this forever."

"But how long? That's the point..."

"...already dead, so there's no hurry…"

"...might be really mad…"

"...certainly understand.."

"...looking for her…"

"...really said…"

"...kill her?"

Something starts beeping.

"Oh-oh."

[darylandbethfanforever9]

Downfall of Us All: Chapter 2

Special thanks to @jtargaryen18​, who deserves more credit for helping me write this story, and for putting up with my crazy ideas. Check out her amazing stories, on here and on AO3.

Warnings: Forced Breeding, Angst, Depression, and Grief.

Downfall Of Us All 

Chapter 2 

Clint managed to put on a t-shirt, and a pair of jeans, he tied up his boots with some luck. He stood up and looked at the right side of his stomach where Laura had stabbed him. His heart ached for the loss of his children; he would never see them again. He'd never hold them, watch Cooper become a good man or see Lila walk down the aisle.

They were gone, but he'd never forget them.

He walked to the conference room where the others were waiting, and Ross was there already. He glanced at the Home Secretary with hatred burning in his eyes, as he looked at the man. He wished he hadn't taken the deal with Ross, he'd wanted to see his children, and this was the price he was paying. If he'd been with Nat, Steve and the others.... would things have been different?

Maybe. "We have discovered that two sisters, Sophie and Grace Drăgoi Melnychenko are the daughters of a Red Room Operative. Her name was Anya Melnychenko, she was born in Ukraine, Kiev." Ross said coldly and pressed a remote that showed a photo of a blonde-haired young woman. "Was she around the same time as Natasha?" Tony asked cautiously, he knew Natasha's past was a sore subject to be asking about.

"Anya Melnychenko wasn't around when I was being trained. But I heard whispers about more young girls being recruited," Natasha admitted quietly, Steve squeezed her hand tightly. "Stark, pull up the file on here." Ross ordered harshly, and Tony's face darkened but he did as the man ordered. He pulled up the file, and Clint felt his stomach roll in nausea. "They were impregnated by Winter Soldiers, who were HYDRA assassins." Steve said sickened, and Clint glanced at Bucky whose face had darkened in anger.

"I don't understand," Bruce said, "and with all respect, Nat, because I know it's an unpleasant subject. But weren't the Red Room agents forcibly sterilized?" "This came from the Red Room," Ross explained, "but it was a different program. It was called the Widow Program. A breeding program. According to the intel we've gathered, they intended to hand select young women from the Red Room and breed them with the Winter Soldiers. Their intention was to breed a superior class of elite female assassins. Instead of training them as small children, as they have for decades in the Red Room, they would begin shortly after conception." Clint shook his head. "After conception? What does that mean?" "Anya was the test subject in this program," Ross went on. "They selected her to be the first in this program. Both times they used a soldier named Adam Drăgoi, Romanian in origin, to impregnate her." At the name, Bucky glanced up at Ross. Did he know who he was? Was the name familiar? "And he was a Winter Soldier? Like Bucky?" Steve asked wearily. "Not exactly," Ross replied. "While he was part of the program, his tendencies were not as violent as the other soldiers. It was why he was selected." "It's rape either way," Nat threw out, looking disgusted. Ross nodded but went on. "Once they were certain that the pregnancies were viable, and the foetuses’ female, they experimented on each child in utero." "Before they were born?" Steve shook his head. "And female? So, if either of the babies were male…?" "The first one was a male foetus," Ross said nonchalantly. "They terminated that pregnancy." Nat's head lowered. Steve took her hand under the table as Clint watched, trying to comfort her. "What kind of experiments?" Clint asked. "What did they do?"

"The intel that we've recovered, suggests that they were injected with a rare form of spider DNA. A radioactive spider to be exact and were injected with its blood. They were also given a weaker of the Super - Soldier serum," Ross said bluntly, no empathy in his voice. "What happened to Anya? After she gave birth." Natasha asked quietly, her voice hard but everyone heard the anger in her voice at what they were hearing. "She and Adam escaped the Widow Program, they left and took the children with them. After that no one knew what happened to them, until after this." Ross said calmly and played a video. Clint's eyes widened at the sight of two young blonde-haired women, fighting off a group of men. He'd guess they were HYDRA, two of the men ended up in spider webbing, while the other two were blasted away. "They are wanted by the UN for refusing to sign the Sokovia Accords, you are to arrest them and by force if necessary." Ross said coldly and looked at them. "Any questions?" He asked calmly, and Wanda was the one who dared to ask the question. "What if we can't convince them to come with us?" Wanda asked bravely, Ross regarded the young woman with no emotion. "They will be sent to the Raft, you will be leaving in an hour. So, I suggest you pack a few things." He said sharply and paused. "Arrest Agent Grant Ward, he was protecting the sisters and broke the Sokovian Accords. So, bring him in, and Parker." The Home Secretary said coldly, and left. "Fuck, so we're dealing with two sisters who have spider abilities?" Bucky asked darkly, he was trying to remember any memories that had Adam in them. "Looks like it, Bucky." Steve said grimly and sighed. "Suit up."

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Grace Viktoria Melnychenko Drăgoi sighed quietly, as she cleaned up the small cake shop that her mother had owned. It had been Anya Melnychenko’s pride and joy, and she had raised her two daughters to help her run it. "Well, that's Mrs Carmichael's cake order done, Gracie." Sophie Melnychenko Drăgoi said softly, glancing at her sister reassuringly. Grace attempted to give her older sister a smile.

The cake she'd done for Mrs. Carmichael was a masterpiece in shimmering white frosting with three layers, intricate doves, and flowers. Her sister's artistic abilities never failed to amaze her. Grace loved a good cake as much as the next person, but her sister's were so beautiful she wasn't certain she could bring herself to eat one if it were offered to her. The counters were all done save for Sophie's counter space, the floors swept. Most of their supplies and ingredients were put away. Grace couldn't overcome the sense that something wasn't done. Something was out of place. Something wasn't right. "What's wrong?" Sophie asked her as she eased the cake into the refrigerated display case beneath the counter. Grace shook her head. "Can't you feel it?" The cake safely tucked away, Sophie wiped her hands on her apron and studied her. "Feel what?" Hanging up her own apron and setting aside her broom, Grace tried to give a name to the restless energy that had filled her mind with dread. It had started only a couple of hours ago. Granted that was at five o'clock, their busiest time when people were on their way home from work. And they had been busy so maybe that's why she'd told herself it was just daily stress, supply and demand. Only the feeling had grown worse. "Sophie, something is coming," was all Grace knew to say. "Someone is coming." "Who?" "If I knew I wouldn't ask, now would I?" Grace wrapped her arms around herself, feeling like her skin was crawling. "Does this have to do with that dream you told me about?" Sophie asked gently. "It wasn't a dream," Grace said impatiently. "I talked to him. And he's… coming with them. They are coming here. Oh, God! Can't you feel it?"

Sophie stilled and tuned into her senses, sensing nothing for a moment but then felt like her own skin was crawling. She shivered and looked at Grace. "Let's drop off this cake and go home." She said quietly, keeping her voice calm despite her inner fear. Grace nodded and pulled the cake out as she carefully got it onto the table. Sophie pulled out a cake box, so they could deliver it carefully in the car. Sophie took the cake, while Grace closed the store and put the closed sign in front of the front door. Taking in a few deep breaths, she took off her apron and placed it behind the front counter. She had been on edge since she'd had that dream, with that mysterious man who had talked to her. Clint, his name was Clint. She heard Sophie honking the horn, and she quickly left the store and walked to the black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. She got in, and they started driving back to their apartment. Their apartment was in downtown Brooklyn, a blue-collar area for working class families. When their parents had emigrated to New York, Brooklyn following the collapse of the Soviet Union, they had decided Brooklyn would be a good place to raise their two young daughters. She missed her parents so much, she sighed as she listened to the radio. Sophie was watching the road, as the car was one street away from their apartment. "We'll pack a few things, and take the cats with us," Sophie said reassuringly to Grace who nodded quietly, they drove into the apartment parking lot and turned the engine off. They walked not too quickly to the apartment building, and Grace walked beside her as they reached their apartment. Sophie unlocked the door, and they went inside quickly, and locked the door. Grace hurried into her bedroom and took out a small travel bag, she packed a few pairs of jeans, underwear, and shirts. She then packed a few tank tops, and t-shirts, and her toiletry bag. She quickly packed it with her shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and her soap, and packed it all in her bag. She took in a deep breath and found Starling fast asleep on her bed. She picked him up gently, and put him in the car carrier with Custard, Tom, Jack, Reg, Bonnie, Clyde, Paul and Oscar. Sophie came in with Patch, the tuxedo cat purring. "Got everything packed?" Sophie asked quietly, Grace nodded and picked up a framed photo, she kissed it lovingly and put it in her travel bag. "Yeah, have you packed everything?" She asked nervously, Sophie nodded and looked at their mother's bedroom. "I took the passports from the safe, and the money that mom saved up for us." Sophie explained softly, and they started leaving the apartment. Sophie had just grabbed the doorknob when a loud thump sounded behind them. They whirled around to see a large man climbing through the door of their balcony, an assault rifle slung over one should and the other arm was… Metal? Wait, isn't that…? Flinging the door open, carrier in hand, Sophie tried darting out the door, nearly colliding with the huge shield of Captain America. Steve Rogers stepped forward, forcing Sophie to step back. To say he filled a room was an understatement. His gaze darted from Sophie to Grace and back. "Ladies," he said. "Going to need you to come with us, please." Grace glared back over her shoulder at the Winter Soldier, who was slowly coming in behind them. "Stop, right there," Grace warned him. He froze but once they turned their attention back to Captain America, he took another step. Sophie zinged webbing back at him and in his surprise, she was able to jerk the rifle out of his grip and into hers. She wasn't unfamiliar with firearms, so she hauled it up, pointing it at Captain America's face. "Get over here, soldier!" Sophie yelled at Bucky, "where I can see you both." Grace heard the machinery of his arm working as he contemplated his next move. Lunging, that arm swung out to grab Gracie who scaled the wall, staying just out of his grasp, clinging to the ceiling and staying just out of his reach. "Buck, stop," Captain America told him. "Come here." Sophie kept the rifle pointed at America's hero and Grace watched warily as the soldier went in the direction of his leader, his eyes not leaving her once. Captain America lowered his shield, not so much out of fear that Sophie would shoot one of them. It appeared he wanted to talk. "We're not here to hurt you," the Captain told them. "We're trying to help you." "Shit!" All of them turned to see Spider - Man just inside their balcony door, his gaze riveted on Grace. "Grace?" He asked, pulling the mask from his head to reveal Peter Parker who had once been their neighbour. "Is that you?" Sophie and Grace exchanged glances. Grace dropped from the ceiling, her heart pounding in her chest. She'd always liked Peter. His presence made whatever was going on a little less threatening. "Yeah, it's me." "Wait. How do you know each other?" the Winter Soldier asked, frowning. "We used to be neighbours," Peter explained, walking forward to hug Grace. "Me and May have missed you guys." "We've missed you too," Grace told him, wishing they could be talking under other circumstances. Peter looked to Steve and Bucky then. "Guys, what are we doing here? Did they do something wrong?"

"They didn't register under the Sokovian Accords, and Ross considers them to be a risk to Homeland Security." Steve explained quietly, although he didn't like this either. "We don't want to be used as weapons, by any governments. Please, we just want to be left alone." Sophie pleaded imploringly, hoping they would understand. "Wait, you've got powers?" Peter asked startled, he knew that their mother, Anya was very protective of them. She was very strict about what boys they dated and had a soft spot for him. Sophie and Grace glanced at each other, and it was like they were having a silent conversation. They turned to face Peter, and Grace threw webbing at the wall, causing it to stock. Peter stared at them in shock, and they looked at him sadly. Grace especially looked remorseful, while Sophie simply looked defeated as she looked at Steve and Bucky. "You're both like me?" Peter asked finally, shocked at what he was seeing in front of him. They nodded, and Sophie was the one who spoke up. "We wanted to tell you, Peter. Honestly, we did, but mama was terrified at the thought of the government using us as weapons. She forbade us from telling you, but we tried to protect you," Sophie said quietly, regret in her voice. Peter was just a kid, and she was a grown woman. Peter should be at home studying, or with his friends or with May. Not fighting dangerous criminals, and dangerous organisations. Peter shook his head, he wasn't mad at them, but he was confused as hell as to why the Avengers, and Tony wanted with them. "We'll go with you, just please.... can we take our cats?" Grace said defeatedly, she knew they had no chance against two super soldiers and the Avengers. Not to mention, the Hulk. Steve nodded in understanding, and gently took her by the arm while Bucky took Sophie, as they left the apartment. People had come to see what was going on and were shocked to see the Avengers with them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grace was trembling slightly, as they were led outside the apartment building, and showed to a black armoured truck. It looked like a prison van. "Sophie Vera Melnychenko Drăgoi, and Grace Viktoria Melnychenko Drăgoi, you are both under arrest for failure of not signing the Sokovian Accords. Barton, you'll ride with the younger one, while Barnes will take the eldest." A man in a black suit ordered coldly, and two soldiers walked over. "This way, mam." The soldier said quietly to Sophie she looked over at Grace who looked scared. "I'm not leaving my sister." Sophie said firmly, refusing to leave her little sister in the hands of this man. "Are you resisting arrest?" Ross asked challengingly, Sophie squared her shoulders and glared at him.

"Come on," Steve stared down the man in the suit. "They aren't resisting arrest. Let them stay together." "And pose more of a threat together? No," the man replied coldly. Grace hadn't paid attention to the other soldier standing next to the scary one with the metal arm. He was flinching slightly in pain as he dug out a pair of handcuffs. Then he looked up, his gaze meeting hers. It was him. Clint. The way his grey eyes widened on her gave it away. He recognized her. He was the man she remembered meeting. "It's okay, Soph," Grace told her sister before her insistence made their situation worse. "I'll be okay." Sophie frowned at her, mouthed "what the hell". Grace nodded, trying to assure her she didn't feel in any danger. If Sophie wanted to worry about someone, she should worry about the warrior who carefully placed her in handcuffs, strange-looking, thick handcuffs, and helped her into the van. As Grace watched, she was surprised with the care he took with her sister. Maybe there weren't all bad. They were in custody. She had to hope for the best now. The soldier slammed the door behind him and Grace watched the van drive away. Clint stepped up, Grace put down the carriers and held her wrists out in front of her, not contesting when he placed the handcuffs on her. His gaze met her; such sorrow shadowed those kind eyes as they gazed into her eyes. She remembered his children. How much he loved them, how he'd cried for them. He had his initial reaction to their meeting under control, but still, he handled her with care. He winced as he bent to pick up Grace's carriers. "Your side," Grace warned, not wanting him to hurt himself. He only picked up one. The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. "I'll be okay." Steve grabbed the other carrier at her feet, walking behind them as Clint helped her into another black van and set his carrier down. Steve placed the other carrier in the van, slamming the door shut leaving Grace there on the bench seat next to Clint. "Thank you," Grace said to Clint in the quiet of the van as the engine started. Grace hadn't had a chance to tell her sister about meeting Clint, what she knew about him. Hell, they might have an ally in him in getting away from these people at some point. It broke her heart to have to give up their mother's cake shop. The small business had not only sustained them, it was the one thing their mother was so proud of, had worked so hard on. Their dreams weren't just going to end like this, right? They also had Peter. Maybe he could help them without compromising himself. He could tell them, in truth, that he hadn't know about their abilities before today. That they'd never posed a threat. That had to count for something, right? "Grace?" Clint's lowered voice pulled her from her thoughts. "You do remember me, don't you? That was real, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that was real. I was in your dream last night when you were flatlining. Thought I was going crazy at first, but I wasn't." Grace said quietly and looked at the street where their cake shop was. What if they weren't allowed to run the business? That was their mother's legacy, and Grace felt like she'd let down her mother, and to a degree her father. "Felt real to me, I saw you with your children. I'm sorry, no parent deserves to lose a child." Grace said sadly, her mind drifting to a little boy with dark blonde hair, and a sweet smile. She wiped her eyes quickly, and stroked Starling through the pet carrier, the cat purring softly. Clint looked at her quietly, she seemed to genuinely understand what he was going through. That confused him though, Ross had said that she didn't have any children. 'Maybe she's just being kind, she lost her mom and dad.' He reasoned silently and nodded at her in thanks. Grace smiled quietly and bit her lip. She hoped Sophie was alright.

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Tagging list: @jtargaryen18​, @threeminutesoflife​, @katebishop2020​, @sapphirescrolls​, @marvelfansworld​, @kitkatd7​, and @redfoxwritesstuff​

[your-highnessmarvel]

Alias

Summary: Bucky starts to remember a certain redhead. The past becomes a reason to connect and a reason to delve back into his treacherous mind.

Pairing: Bucky x Natasha (WinterWidow)

Warnings: Violence

AN: in the light of the post i reblogged of bucky and nat and my small rant, i decided to feed my imagination and console myself over the fact that nat is dead and we never got to see nat/bucky love onscreen. And also, my requests are empty. I’ll be making a masterlist of this soon.

                                           CHAPTER ONE

The first time Bucky ever took notice of Natasha Romanoff, he was watching Steve doodle in the kitchen. The compound was half empty, silent, somber, and Steve had taken to doodling by the light of the moon, and Bucky had always found it especially relaxing to watch his oldest friend do the most mundane thing. And if it hadn’t been for the soft pitter-patter of footsteps on the hardwood floor, Bucky would have watched Steve draw for hours. But the light in the kitchen came on, and both Steve and Bucky looked up and saw a redhead waltzing in unabashedly. 

The rest of the team were out for the night. Usually, Nat was the first to climb into Tony’s sleek car and go to some bar, but tonight, she stayed in. Bucky had never really taken notice in her, besides, well, that time he choked her and slammed her against a metal table. And now she was there, absently rummaging through the fridge, wearing thick leggings and woolen socks, her bright red hair a curled mess. 

Steve went right back to his drawing, neck bent, unbothered by the normal appearance of Natasha. Bucky heard the scratch of Steve’s pencil, but he was unable to bring his eyes back to the paper. 

Ever since Bucky had lived and survived his brainwash, all he’d wanted to do was live in a moderately stimulating world. He’d wanted to rekindle his friendship with Steve, something that had been ripped away from him so harshly. He’d wanted to mend his mind, to bring himself some sort of comfort and solace for the things he’d done. 

He had not thought of striking up a romance. 

Steve smiled, noticing just how intently his best friend was following the redhead with his eyes. “You can talk to her, you know,” Steve muttered, not leaving his drawing with his eyes. 

Bucky frowned, turning his glare abruptly onto his friend. “What?”

They were far enough that Nat could not hear them as she was preparing herself a midnight snack. 

“She’s a nice woman,” Steve continued. “Well, she can be harsh, but I’ve seen her be sweet.” 

Bucky shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hm.”

But Bucky couldn’t stop thinking about her. Because there was something familiar. He’d seen her before. He knew her. His mind was a tricky place to venture in, and he preferred leaving his past with the Soviet Union where it belonged; in the dark confines of his thoughts. But he wanted to know exactly how Natasha fit into that puzzle.

He did his own digging. She was ex-KGB. Black Widow program. Red room. She could be placed with the Russians in the exact timeline where he’d been their perfect weapon, their ideal asset. The more he read, the more he felt like he lived it. The more he felt like he knew all of this already. But just like the Soviet’s had erased Bucky to implant the Winter Soldier, Bucky had done his best to erase the Winter Soldier. 

One thing he kept telling himself was that if Nat knew him, wouldn’t she have come to him already? For answers. For unfinished business. For clarity. Whatever he’d done, to her or with her or despite of her, wouldn’t she have come clean?

Those were too many questions for Bucky’s fragile psyche to endure. For nights, he stirred awake in his bed, wondering if the redhead he couldn’t stop thinking about was afflicted with the same insomnia. He never dared talk to anyone about it, not even Steve. There was too much darkness Bucky did not want to relive. 

But one day, Natasha stumbled upon his search history. She knew immediately that the memories had come to visit, had come knocking on the careful, intricate, and fragile door of Bucky’s mind. 

She went to him then, careful in her approach. He was fresh off the running course, breathless and sweaty. She waited for him by the door, examining his posture. Defensive, when he saw her. She let her arms fall to her sides, open, harmless. 

“Do you remember me?” she asked him carefully. He looked her over slowly, his blue eyes like two different doors to two different times. 

“I think.”

She gulped. “What exactly?”

He shook his head, standing arms length away from her. “I don’t really know.”

Carefully, she stepped forward. Immediately, he stepped back. He’d grown a fear of proximity since his return to his normal self. And not because he was afraid of others, but because he was afraid of himself and the uncontrollable and unpredictability of his mind. 

“I can tell you, if you want,” she offered, tensing at the sound of his metallic arm whizzing as the plates rearranged themselves. 

He bit his lip, eyes cast down, pondering if he’d like to rehash his horrible past. 

“It’s not...” she trailed off, gulping, and Bucky didn’t miss the slight redness of her cheeks. Oh, god, he thought, what did I do to her? “It’s not that bad, actually.” He felt a little bit better. 

“I...” He looked at her; rosy cheeks, wide eyes, mouth parted. “I’d like to shower.”

She smiled. “I’ll wait for you in the kitchen.”

After his shower, Bucky dressed in jeans and a sweater, and found Nat in the kitchen. She’d made coffee, and two mugs were sitting on the table. His was lightened with milk. She knew how he took his coffee?

When she saw him examining his mug, she cleared her throat. “I guess that’s a good place to start.” They both sat at the table, facing each other. “We were very... close, you and I.”

Bucky nodded. “I had a feeling.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why, because you’re such a ladies man?”

For the first time in a long time, Nat saw him smile. “I just figured that if you knew how I take my coffee, you knew me fairly well.”

Her eyes snapped down to his coffee mug, to where his fingers wrapped around the cup, flesh and metal. “You’re right.” This time, her tone was less playful. “I guess I should have told you all of this sooner. But when you didn’t recognize me, I was hurt. And then, when you came back, you were so... fragile.”

He winced. 

She continued. “I’m sorry. I owed you this way sooner.”

“I don’t think I was ready,” he offered, examining the cut of her jaw, the wild curls of her hair. Something in his gut shifted. Reconnaissance. Familiarity. Warmth spread in his chest, the kind you get when you are on known ground, when you know you are safe. 

She smiled tenderly. 

Russia, 1998, Red Room. Black Widow Program. Class of ‘84.

Eleven girls, fourteen in age, stood as stiff as metal rods under the green artificial lights of the gymnasium. A series of glistening blue mattresses were spread out behind them, fighting equipment lying vagabond. Gloves. Helmets. Mushy batons. 

Mistress Galina had ordered them all to change into their training uniforms at the the crack of dawn. Natalia stood rigid at the epicenter, watching with vivid eyes as her Mistress stalked into the room. 

“Ladies!” Her voice echoed off the walls sending the renown chill down Nat’s spine. Behind Mistress Galina were two of the trainers and one medic, per usual. 

“Mistress,” came the drawling tone of fourteen young recruits. Galina smiled tightly, standing before the row of girls. Her dark brown hair was pulled back tightly into a knot at the base of her head. She wore the black suit of high-ranking spies of the KGB, outlined with dark red. A Widow suit. 

“Ladies, let me present to you one of your new trainers and our best new asset.” Mistress Galina stepped aside, gesturing tightly to the door. Fourteen pairs of eyes watched as a man walked in. 

Natalia observed him with discreet indifference. She knew what interest got her, and so she schooled her features to remain stoic. 

He was the most frightening man she had ever seen. His hair was chin length, the color of chocolate, obscuring his face, keeping him in the shadows. She could understand why, if he was a new asset. One important and redundant feature that she was taught was anonymity. 

He was of average height for a man, not that she’d seen many. She knew Henrich the medic and two of the fifteen trainers were men. But this man was built different. He walked like shadows, silent and smooth, and Natalia could almost smell the training off of him. But what was more alarming wasn’t the width of his shoulders or the size of his hands or just how impenetrable his chest looked. It was his metal arm.

It glistened under the lights, whizzing as the metallic plates rearranged themselves. As he came to stand dutifully next to Mistress Galina, he eyes remained trained forward, and his metal digits closed into a fist.

He looked inhumane. 

“I assume you are ready to move forward in your training?” Mistress Galina asked. 

The response came quickly. “Yes, Mistress!”

Their training to this day had consisted of fighting dummies or one another. Marksmanship was four times a week, and they had already graduated to sniper rifles. Six hours of school per day. 

“Good.” Mistress Galina examined the row of girls before her with a somber expression. Natalia’s eyes kept finding their way over to the man with the metallic arm. His expression was void, jaw clenched, shadow of a beard on his chin. It was almost as if he didn’t even know where he was. 

“Natalia!”

Nat’s eyes found Mistress and she straightened, chin up as she was taught to respond to her superiors. “Yes, Mistress.”

“Come forward.”

Natalia knew what hesitation got her. She knew the pain; it still echoed in her bones, in her muscles. She stepped forward two steps, hands behind her back. Braid of red hair feeling especially tight at the bottom of her skull. 

“Show me and your trainers what you’ve learned.” 

Natalia frowned. “I beg your pardon, Mistress?”

Mistress Galina smiled tightly again. “Show me and your trainers what you’ve learned in combat training, will you?”

Natalia gulped. She had no selected partner. Was she being given leave to pick her own adversary? She turned her head to her left, examining the row of young girls standing straighter than rods, eyes forward, chests out. Learned, indoctrinated postures. 

She was about to make her choice when a shadow moved in her periphery. Nat’s head snapped forward, eyes sharp, her senses on high alert. She’d been trained well to react to any stimuli. 

The man, moving like a ghost, now stood directly in front of her. He was much taller than her, and much wider. He didn’t seem to care that she was a fourteen year old girl and he was a grown man. He didn’t seem to care that his expression was blank, almost dead. He didn’t seem to care that his metallic hand was twice the size of her wrist as he clamped it around her neck. 

Natalia reacted quickly. Her training had beaten it into her that it was now second nature, instinct, to defend herself. Her feet left the ground, leg wrapping around his arm. Her hands gripped his metal wrist. 

But he was twice her size in weight, and her featherweight did nothing to deter her. 

“You will face off opponents twice your size!” Mistress Galina exclaimed, and the man brought Natalia to the floor with a deafening thud. Nat’s ears started to ring, but she didn’t let her body distract her. He had her in a choke hold, one knee on the ground, her on her back. “You will face off men able to break you like a straw!”

Nat’s lungs burned, but she ignored it as she looped a leg around his neck. The only sign of life he gave was a low huff before he picked her up and slammed her so hard against the ground that her vision went dark and her body went limp. 

“You will have to fight twice as hard as they will!”

Nat’s breathing echoed in her ears. She felt this man, this ghost with a metal arm who moved like a shadow, pick her up. She was like a doll in his arms, her back against the sturdiness of his chest. Natalia had only seen one doll in her life.

When her vision began to return, she saw the thirteen pairs of feet still standing, witnessing her weakness, her loss. Something akin to shame filled her from head to toe, burning bright on her cheeks, and the rage that followed was worse for her training than pride. 

She threw her head back and heard the satisfying crack of bone, the loosening of the Ghost’s arms around her. Seeing her opportunity, she used her slimness to slip through his grasp and send her heel into his booted foot. 

She twist and kicked him in the gut. 

His nose was bleeding when he faced her, but unlike her, he wasn’t seething with rage or coiling with shame. He was as void and as blank as a machine. 

They stood a few feet apart, enough space between them to breathe, to asses. Natalia looked to her Mistress, not surprised to see the total carelessness on her features as she assessed the young girl. Natalia wasn’t done fighting. 

He came back at her with the same expressionless eyes. Natalia dodged all of his punches, receiving a few kicks and shoves, but managed to survive. She could not, however, land any offensive blows. 

“You cannot go on like this, Natalia!” Mistress Galina hollered. “Strike!”

Natalia’s labored breathing left her lungs, but she obeyed her Mistress. The Ghost and her had danced around the training mats a few paces. Natalia decided to strike, using her ingrained tactics. Her knuckles hurt and bruised from the blows she was able to land, but he was remarkably fast, and he returned her punches tenfold. 

He didn’t seem to be tired. He didn’t even seem out of breath. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for him to avoid her legs as she attempted a wrestling hold and pressed her flush against his chest again. Her arms pinned to her sides. 

“Do not hesitate, Soldat!” Mistress ordered, and Nat wasn’t sure if it was an order to her or to the Ghost. 

She soon got her answer. 

He picked her up as if she was a doll, slamming her body against the floor with such force that a piercing crack echoed in the room. 

Natalia screamed and everything went black and red. Pain blinded her senses, the breath leaving her lungs until her mouth was open in a silent, suffocating scream. Feet shuffled around her, but no one touched her. No one came to her rescue. No one helped her.

She rolled onto her back and gasped loudly, squeezing her eyes shut. Praying that the Ghost would not continue his assault on her. That Mistress Galina would order him to stop. 

But over the buzzing in her head and the throbbing of her heart and the breath in her throat, she heard Mistress Galina yell, “The pain must not stop you from fighting! The mission, ladies, the mission is more important than something as trivial as pain!”

Natalia was sure that her collarbone was broken. She’d broken a few bones in the past; fingers mostly, her left ankle, and her wrist. But this sort of pain was different. 

Things were yelled around her but she couldn’t hear.

Someone grabbed her by the arm, and Natalia screamed as she was picked up, brought to her feet. Opening her eyes, she was met with the shadow of the man, his metal fingers clinging to her bicep. She was unconsciously leaning against him. 

Mistress Galina stood in the wavering line of sight of Nat. “You will fight, Natalia.”

“Yes, Mistress,” she whispered breathless, the pain scattering along her shoulder. She held it in, her left side rigid with pain, as she turned and faced off the Ghost again. 

He didn’t seem bothered by the pain he’d caused her. He was too effectively trained to let such things affect him. 

She brought her arms before her face, wincing and clenching a scream behind her teeth. 

A fourteen-year-old girl against a twenty something man. 

He came at her and this time, the fist he rammed into her ribs was enough to unravel her. She fell to her side, yelling, the world swimming in and out of consciousness. She was vaguely aware of the hand in her bright red hair. As if she was out of her body, she was lifted from the ground and slammed right back into the floor, her head splitting open. There was red on the floor, but Natalia wasn’t sure if it was her hair out of it’s braid or blood.

She didn’t care. She let the darkness take her.

[firefly-in-darkness]

Butterflies & Sunflowers

Characters: Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Prompt: Setting / Location - Coffee Shop Date.

Summary: Y/N looks back to when she met Natasha Romanoff.

Warnings: Fluff, lots of FLUFF!

Word Count: 1.8k

A/N: This is a one shot for @jaamesbbarnes​ & @sgtjbuccky writing challenge. Well done to you both on your milestone celebration! I have not written flashbacks so it was a great challeneg for me, I hope you enjoy the Romanoff & Y/L/N date!

Moodboard created by me - Coffee Shop // Sunflowers // Books

Firefly’s Library & Masterlist

You gripped onto the bouquet of sunflowers, her favourite, as if your life was dependant on them. Weaving through the crowds and navigating the cobbled streets, you finally reached Maximoff’s Coffee House. 

The bell above the door chimed as you entered and the friendly smiles, from behind the counter, warmed your heart. You greeted the Maximoff twins as you removed your scarf and leather jacket. Wanda gave you a wink from the coffee machine as Pietro placed the cakes onto the tray in front of you. Lemon drizzle for you, carrot cake for her.

   Your favourite spot was at the back of the coffee shop, reserved for you. It was secluded from the other customers and surrounded by shelved books. The familiarity of sinking into the leather sofa nearly made your nerves disappear. Nevertheless, the butterflies hadn’t stopped for three years, unrelenting from the first moment you saw her.

  *

  You were pacing the aisles, looking for a book about the Soviet Union for your final assignment at NYU but it was long forgotten when you reached the period drama section.

 You were enthralled by a woman in a black summer dress, red curls half pined back and falling down her back. You knew she was beautiful with only seeing her profile. Her lashes caressed the curve of her cheek and a dimple formed as she smiled at one of the blurbs.

You were captivated by the graceful way she lowered herself to read the titles on the bottom shelves and the way her index finger moved across the spines of the books.

 It wasn’t until she turned and look at you that you broke out from the trance. The sultry smirk that crossed her lips and the sparkle in her green eyes made your body tingle and you were certain your heart missed a beat.

 “Staring won’t give you the power to see through my clothes.”

You mumbled an apology, the words getting lost in your throat.

“I’m only joking, sort of.” She winked at you as she left with Pride and Prejudice in her arms.

 *

 Wanda sat down opposite you, “Is there anything else you need?”

“I just hope I can form the right words.”

  The tension filling your lungs, the butterflies causing chaos in your stomach and your heart wreaking havoc in your rib cage.

 “Y/N, I’m sure everything will be perfect.” Wanda reassured you and squeezed your hand from across the coffee table as she left you with your thoughts.

  *

  A few weeks after your encounter in the book shop, she was sat in a seat by the window in the coffee house. She was sipping on a latte, her nose buried in a different book, Wuthering Heights.

 You waved over to Wanda and Pietro who were arranging the cake display, “Has she been here before?”

“Yeah, she comes by every Wednesday morning.” Said Wanda.

“I think her name is Natalie or something like that.” Added Pietro.

 Wanda joined you on her break, but you were not paying attention to any of the words coming out of her mouth or the textbooks in front of you. All you could see was her.

 Half an hour had passed, and she began to leave. You rushed out of your chair, sending it back and crashing to the floor. Wanda and the other customers were startled by the abrupt movement and intrusive sound in the serene coffee shop.

 She didn’t even register the interruption but grinned and walked towards you. Once again, you couldn’t find the words to speak to her. She took a pen from her bag and grabbed the napkin in front of you.

 She placed the napkin in your hand and whispered in your ear, her perfume intoxicating you, “Here. 7pm on Friday. Sunflowers.”

 She left you, once again, unable to form a sentence.

 You lifted the chair and avoided looking at Wanda and Pietro. You knew they were trying their hardest to not laugh. You could feel the blush creep up your face as you read the napkin.

 Natasha

212-984-2211

  *

  “What are you daydreaming about Y/N?” Natasha’s voice melted your heart and the butterflies erupted into a frenzy as you glanced up at her.

   You stood and pulled her into a warm embrace, her lips ghosted your cheek before she pulled away. She was a vision, her red curls pinned up neatly, wearing a white blouse with navy trousers.

   You sat back down on the sofa, and she slipped by you to the other side. The slightest touch was electric. Oh, what you would give to have those long legs wrapped around you, tangled in bedsheets.

  Your fantasy was interrupted by Pietro as he placed down a cappuccino and latte.

  “Happy Anniversary my love.” She lifted out a small bag and placed it on your lap.

“I thought we said no presents?”

“Yet you bought me these.” She chuckled as she brought the bouquet to her face, indulging in the scent of the flowers.

   You could listen to the sound of her laugh and watch the sparkle in her eyes for the rest of your life and it would never be anything less than lovely.

   You opened the bag to find a long black velvet box, your heart beat raced as you opened it to find a silver necklace, with an hour glass charm.

  “It’s beautiful, thank you.”

   Natasha took it from your hands and unclasped the chain. You lifted your hair as she placed it around your neck. Her fingers brushed over your pulse and your collarbone as Natasha adjusted the charm hanging above your cleavage.

  You felt a blush creep up your cheeks as you thought of her hand and fingers drifting lower on your chest.

   Looking into the bag, a napkin with Natasha’s scrawl was at the bottom. You picked it up and saw the Maximoff logo at the bottom, faded from the years. Turning it over you could see Natasha’s name and telephone number with a new addition. Tears filled your eyes as you read the words.

   My time with you will always be precious.

  *

  It was 6.50pm, you kept glancing at your watch in hopes that the minutes would pass by quicker. Your head snapped up every time you heard the bell above the door chime. It wasn’t her. Nor were the next five people that entered the coffee house.

   You could see Wanda glancing over towards you from the corner of your eye. You couldn’t bear to look at your best friend from the were nerves and fear of being stood up.

  Two cups of coffee and only three re-read paragraphs of your book later, you decided to go home. Disappointment and embarrassment could easily be solved with a bubble bath and an early night.

  The cool night air and the drizzling rain made you tremble under your jacket. You opened your umbrella, stepping out onto the street as someone crashed into you.

 “Y/N, I am so sorry!”

  You spun around, Natasha had collided with you. Her hair was soaking and make up ran down her face yet, she still wore the prettiest smile. She was holding onto your waist, your umbrella sheltering her from the rain. Your eyes were locked onto each other. You couldn’t feel the rain getting heavier or see the flash of lightning, but the thunder shook you both to your cores.

 You softly unfolded yourself, taking Natasha’s hand in yours. “Let’s get you inside, you’re going to freeze out here.”

  Natasha settled into the sofa and you wrapped a blanket around her legs as she blew on the hot chocolate in her hands.

“Thank you, Y/N. I am never late, it’s not like me at all. Time is precious and I have wasted yours. Please can we start over?”

  You had forgiven her the moment you held her hand. A bubble bath and an early night was long forgotten.

  *

  “Don’t cry, my reputation as a hard-ass will be ruined if people know that I am a hopeless romantic!” You giggled at Natasha’s comment and wiped the corners of your eyes with the sleeve of your jumper.

   Your lips met hers briefly, foreheads resting on each other as you stroked her cheek. Natasha pulled away and tucked a lose strand of hair behind your ear.

You talked about nothing and everything in between sips of coffee and nibbles of cake.

 Natasha looked at you and licked the icing from her lips, a mischievous grin spread across her face and she leant forwards.

“I cannot wait to get home tonight.” She whispered as she stroked your arm.

  You breathe hitched and your arousal grew. You berated yourself, and instead of going to stroke up her thigh you focused on your coffee cup, draining it in seconds.

 “You’re eager?!” Natasha winked at you, draining the mug herself.

   Your heart stopped as Natasha swallowed the last of her latte and saw the bottom of her coffee cup.

   Will you marry me?

  You knelt to the side of Natasha, pulling a velvet box and a wrinkled piece of paper from your pocket. It felt like an eternity before she placed the cup down on the table and looked at you.

  “Before you answer, I would like to say a few words…” You stuttered as the butterflies began plunging around your stomach. “The first time I saw you was like time had stopped.”

  You glanced at the words on the paper before taking her hand and looking into her glistening green eyes.  You stroked the back of her hand with your thumb as you carried on with your speech.

  “And ever since, I have never wanted to waste a single second with you. That is the reason I agreed to come back to our first date. You bewitched me, body and soul.”

Natasha sniffled and giggled at the Pride and Prejudice quote, “That’s the book I bought when we met. Wait, are you some sort of stalker?!”

  You chuckled and shook your head before glancing down at the sheet of paper and throwing it onto the table. “Natasha, I love you, and I have done so from the moment you commanded my attention in this coffee shop all those years ago.”

  You opened the velvet box, revealing a dazzling engagement ring. “As you said earlier, our time together is precious so will you marry me?”

 Natasha threw her arms around you, kissing you several times over your cheeks and lips.

“I’ll take that as a yes then?” You giggled and wrapped your arms around her.

 Natasha nodded against your lips, tears rolling down between both of your cheeks.

  You were solely focused on her, with the remnants of butterflies, the glow of sunflowers and the scent of coffee.

[beckzorz]

Nontraditional 01. Spit-Take

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!Reader Words: 2230 Prompt: “That’s it, I’ll be in the freezer until further notice, wishing I was still dead.” Summary: Natasha doesn’t think Bucky gets out enough. A/N: Written for my dearest darlingest @kentuckybarnes​’ 3k writing challenge!!! Mazal tov, dearest Hannie! Thanks so much for hosting :3 As a nontraditional college student, all the college aus I’ve seen floating around have made me want to write a college non-au... Hope y’all enjoy; let me know what you think!

“Bucky, you need to get acclimated here.”

“I am acclimated. I live here.”

Natasha snorts. She twirls a stylus in her fingers and jots down a few notes on her tablet. “Yeah, you live here too darn much. When was the last time you left the compound to do anything other than food shop?”

“I went clothes shopping with Steve last month,” Bucky argues.

“Yeah. Last month.” Natasha pokes Bucky’s knee with her shoe. He shifts further away from her on the couch with a roll of his eyes.

“It’s nice not knowing I hafta keep running, Nat. Stop trying to run me out of my own home.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose with a sigh. “I’m not trying to run you out of anywhere. But it’s not good to keep so isolated! What are you doing to keep yourself busy?”

Bucky twirled a finger by his temple, lips pursed. “Working on my head, dumbass.”

“Yeah, but other than that?”

“Training recruits and stuff.”

“That’s not the stuff that stimulates your brain, Bucky.” Natasha tosses her stylus and tablet onto the coffee table and turns to face Bucky head-on. “You’re benched for a while longer, so why don’t you do something out in the world, huh?”

“Like what?” Bucky asked drily.

“Well, how about school?”

All he can do is blink at her. “What?”

“You heard me. I know you’re catching up on things, but there’s stuff you wouldn’t know about without classes and stuff.”

“Oh please,” Bucky scoffs. “The internet is more powerful than a professor.”

“The internet can’t think.”

“Not yet,” he mutters.

“Besides, I took an online course locally. It was fun. You should try it.”

“If you took one online, I’ll do that too.”

“No no no,” Natasha says quickly. “You won’t interact with anyone that way!”

“Yeah, and?”

She crosses her arms. “If you don’t do something that gets you interacting with people, Barnes, I swear to God I’ll drag you clothes shopping with me.”

Bucky groans, his head falling back onto the lip of the couch. “That’s it, I’ll be in the freezer until further notice, wishing I was still dead.”

“You’re sounding more like a gen Z kid every day,” Natasha says. “You’ll fit right in.”

“Really.” Bucky lifts his left arm, then drops it heavily on the back of the couch. There’s a notable thump. “Sure, Nat. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Well, I’m meeting up with a friend from my class tomorrow night,” Natasha says. “She’s a nontraditional student, too.”

Nothing changes about her voice or her face, but the hairs on the back of Bucky’s neck stand on end. He narrows his eyes, but Natasha seems totally unbothered. Is he imagining things?

No, no way.

“You should come,” Nat continues. “Maybe that’ll help convince you.”

“Do I get anything if it doesn’t?”

“We’re going for drinks, and I won’t judge you for slamming thirty shots like Sam does.”

Bucky chortles. “Fine. You’re on.”

If nothing else, he decides, this will give him a chance to figure out why Nat’s mention of her nontraditional friend is giving him the heebie-jeebies.

—

“Hey stranger.”

You almost drop your phone in your drink. How does Natasha always manage to sneak up on you? You swallow your shock and hop off the bar stool with a grin.

“Hi Nat! How are you?”

Natasha squeezes your arm fondly. “Not bad. How’s the semester going?”

“Oh, you know.” You shrug and sit back down, patting the stool beside you for Natasha. “This week is when all my big final projects start ramping up. I’ve got two research papers due in May, and I was stupid enough to pick the niche things I’m interested in rather than, I dunno, something easy to find sources on.”

“Oof.” Natasha orders a drink; the bartender gives her a coy smile, but Natasha ignores it. “How’s work?”

“Oh…” You glance around, bite your tongue. “It’s relaxed right now.”

“Thought it might be.” Natasha’s green eyes glitter with private amusement. You press your lips together hard and look into your drink to keep from grinning.

“Anyway,” you say, “how’s things with you?”

“Alright. Work’s light for me as well.”

“You don’t say.” You catch her eye by mistake and burst into giggles.

Natasha sighs. “You’re incorrigible, aren’t you,” she says. You nudge her shoulder with your own and wipe your eyes.

“Probably.”

Natasha’s cocktail arrives. She tips it in your direction. “Cheers.”

“Cheers!”

You finish your drink and smack your lips with buzzed satisfaction. You lean on your elbows and smile at Natasha. It’s been a couple months since you’d seen her—almost since the start of the semester, really—and despite your semi-regular online communication, there’s something refreshing about spending time with her in person. The nature of your work means you’re isolated, so getting a chance to see Natasha…

It’s nice.

“Listen,” Natasha says, cutting through your musing, “I’m trying to help my friend through his second mid-life crisis.” She tilts her head and directs her gaze to the end of the bar.

Your eyes widen. “Dang. I hope I look that good at my first midlife crisis.”

Natasha snorts, but you’re still eyeing the tall beefcake she’s pointed out. He’s a sight even in a ratty sweatshirt and frayed jeans; there’s no hiding the fact that he’s got muscles from here to Alaska. He accepts a shot glass from the bartender with the barest hint of a smile before slamming it back.

Dang.

Dang.

He glances over your way, and you quickly look back at Natasha, color rising to your cheeks.

“Is that who I think it is?” you murmur.

“Probably.” Natasha takes a pointed sip of her drink.

“He doesn’t look like he’s in crisis,” you say. It’s a struggle not to flick your eyes back at him, but you somehow manage to hold Natasha’s gaze.

“He’s a shut-in,” she says bluntly. “I want him to try school. Maybe you can convince him better than I can.”

You raise your eyebrows with a snort. “Right, because I’m the one with a, what, degree in convincing people to do what I want? Nat, I don’t have any degrees.”

“Well, neither does he.”

“I finished high school, didn’t I?”

You flinch and look over your shoulder.

Bucky Barnes.

He’d melted from his stool and materialized beside you without you even noticing. Natasha, unruffled as ever, merely rolls her eyes. You’re too busy staring to notice. He’d been less than ten feet away before, but up close…

You swallow.

His eyes dance as he glances at you, but he looks back at Natasha without bothering to even ask your name.

“Is this your nontraditional friend?” he drawls.

“Mm.” Natasha tilts her glass. The light catches in her drink, sparkling among the bubbles. “Aren’t you going to say hello?”

Bucky rolls his head along his neck until his face is turned towards you. “Hello,” he drones.

“Greetings, stranger,” you drone back.

Natasha smiles triumphantly. “My work here is done. You two should chat!” She slides off her stool and wanders over to the pool table towards the back, calling out to two of the regulars with cheerful promises of ass-whooping. You can’t help your smile as you watch her go.

Bucky clears his throat and climbs onto Natasha’s abandoned stool, his hip brushing your thigh as he squeezes by you.

You take another sip of your drink to contain your nerves. Now that Natasha’s gone, you’re all too aware of how close he is. With his elbows propped on the bar as he leans forward to order another drink for you both, his left arm is only inches from your right. Your eyes trace the lines of his metal hand and jump to the veins traced on the back of the other. There’s strength in those hands.

You swallow yet again and drag your eyes to his face. He’s studying you, blue eyes slightly narrowed and pink lips quirked. He looks… hostile?

Oh dear.

“How do you know her?” He jerks his chin towards the pool table.

“We had an online class together,” you tell him. “She always gave great answers to her online discussion posts.”

“I bet,” he mutters, but his focus is as sharp as ever even when he thanks the bartender for his new drink. “What class?” He lifts his glass, puts it to his lips.

“History of the Soviet Union.”

Bucky does the most impressive spit-take you’ve ever seen in your life. The bartender, a good five feet away, turns to stare along with nearly the entire rest of the bar. Bucky coughs. You press your lips together so hard your cheeks hurt as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

“You—” He turns, glares. “You timed that on purpose.”

“So what if I did?” You take a sip of your own drink, lips twitching even as you swallow. “It’s not like I had any control over what class she was taking. Besides,” you add, “it was really funny.”

Bucky snorts. “I bet.” He holds up his empty shot glass with a sigh.

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll get you another one,” you blurt.

He looks you over again, this time with less hostility. Are you imagining it, or are his eyes darkening a little?

“Alright,” he says slowly. “But you still haven’t told me how you really know her.”

“I really know her because she invited me for drinks,” you say. “The rest is history.” You flag down the bartender. “Another for him, if you don’t mind.”

The bartender snorts. “So long as he can keep it in his mouth this time,” she jokes.

Bucky shifts in his seat and shoots you a private scowl. You just grin.

“Aww, don’t worry,” you tell him. “I’m sure they’ll have forgotten all about it by the time Nat’s pool buddies throw a fit when she beats them.”

“Yeah? And how long from now is that likely to be?”

You crane your neck to study the pool table. You can feel Bucky’s eyes burning a line along the edge of your face, and you suppress a smile.

“Frankly, I’m surprised she hasn’t beaten them yet. But maybe she’s drawing it out. She does that sometimes. I’ll give it… five, ten minutes tops.”

“And are we betting on this?”

Your eyebrows fly up. Would he bet against Natasha? He’d bet against Natasha Romanoff? Seriously?

“On what? If she wins?”

“No, silly.” He flicks a finger against your arm. “How long it takes her.”

“I don’t usually bet,” you hedge.

“Well, I have a feeling I’m gonna hafta put something on the line if you’re ever going to spill how you know her. Cause there’s no way in hell you’re telling the whole truth.”

Liquid courage emboldens you enough to crack a joke. “Would you believe me if I told you we were lovers?”

Bucky laughs loud and bright. It’s rich; the sound fills you up from head to toe. You stare at the bar and take another drink. You will not let your eyelashes flutter, you will not—

“No way,” he says, grinning. His eyes twinkle. “You’re not bad, not really, but it takes some serious skill to hide the fact that the only person you’ve been eyeing all night is me.”

Alcohol sprays out of your mouth. Your eyes water as Bucky dissolves into fresh peals of laughter. At least he has the decency to pass you a napkin. You wipe your face and the sticky bar, cheeks burning.

The bartender passes with a snort, toweling the area dry. “I swear, you two…”

“Hey, this time it was all her,” Bucky says cheerfully. He leans his cheek against his hand, smiling fondly at you as the bartender shakes her head.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” she says. She makes off to deal with the other end of the bar, leaving you and Bucky to yourselves.

Under his soft look, you find yourself tongue-tied. That, and the knowledge that he’s one hundred percent aware you’ve been itching to get your hands on him all night. Does he know everything?

“Do you really need to win a bet to figure out how I know her?” you ask quietly.

His eyes dart along your face.

“Don’t I?” he asks.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Bucky sits back up, glances over to the back of the bar where cheering is just breaking out. He looks between you and Natasha, you with your steady gaze and Natasha with her wicked, triumphant grin.

You can see the exact moment the light goes off in his head. His eyes widen, his lips part, and his whole body tenses for the briefest moment.

He leans in close—your heart stops—but he just puts his mouth by your ear.

“She recruited you?” he murmurs. He pulls back, stares. You just grin.

“Sometimes, you meet some pretty cool people at college,” you tell him. You wink and take a sip of your drink. A small one, just in case. “Maybe you’ll find out for yourself one day.”

Bucky scrubs his hand over his beard, eyes glinting. Natasha loops an arm around your shoulder, counting her winnings in her other hand. Your eyes stay on Bucky’s as you lean your head against her shoulder, still smiling. He raises his glass to you.

“Maybe I will.”

[chalantness]

How would you write Romanogers in a setting like The Cold War and Natasha is part of The Soviet Union and Steve is part of the US government?Would it be an angsty Romeo and Juliet situation or a painful “almost” situation?

Oh, angst is not my style nor my cup of tea, so if I were to attempt to write this it would definitely be on the fluffier, them-against-the-world-type of situation where maybe Steve meets Natasha in “neutral” territory somewhere or just not in their home countries and they flirt and dance and basically fall in love at first sight. And okay, there might be some angst when they part ways and Steve has a run-in with Soviets and sees Nat amongst them, but plot twist: she knocks them all out before they can actually hurt Steve and Nat reveals she’s actually a spy/double agent/whatever you want to call it for the United States under orders by Nick Fury – who also gave Steve his orders for whatever mission has brought him out of the U.S. – and Steve has a second of irritation towards Fury for not informing him, but mostly just relief that the newfound love of his life isn’t actually his enemy.

(And, slightly on a more serious side, if I were to not take the fluff copout, I’d lean on the “almost” trope, probably in a similar way where Steve and Nat meet on neutral ground and flirt but slowly begin to realize that they’re on different sides and they reluctantly part ways after one emotional night together.)

[elcorhamletlive]

MCU Rewatch: Iron Man 2

(fair warning: this one got longer and more negative than I thought it would be)

I’m not sure if this is in the original dialogue, but the reproduction of the final scene of IM has Christine pointing out Tony hates bodyguards. That’s a nice info.

Fandom’s hot takes about Tony are always terrible, but looking at a guy who stands in front of a bunch of barely dressed women dancing in his honor and goes “I haven’t met anyone who’s man enough to go toe to toe with me on my best day” and saying “this character is female-coded”/”this character deconstructs toxic masculinity” is one serious “Delusion: Convince Yourself” moment.

That being said, I would be interested in reading a fic that ACTUALLY has Tony confront how much he projects toxic masculinity onto the world as a way to assure respect and how that shapes his relationships. If I go by canon, I can easily see Tony being more proprense to having a sexuality crisis/internalized homophobia than Steve, since the idea of being a “man” is so important to him. I’m not sure such a fic exists, though.

I’M SORRY I KNOW I’M HARPING ON THIS POINT but it just drives me MAD because the Iron Man franchise is by a mile the worst in the MCU when it comes to its treatment of its female characters so I want to bang my head against the wall when people act like, in terms of a gendered reading, Tony is meant to represent anything other than a very clear male fantasy. I mean, come on - the movie just cut through a few scenes from his pov and it actually had a close up on a random woman’s cleavage while Tony says “Oh, I remember you”. Like... COME ON.

This movie is like a walking argument against all my least favorite fanon!Tony tropes: where did people get that the media hates Tony?? It’s very clear that people like Christine are outliers, and the general public ADORES both him and Iron Man.

“I’ve successfullly privatized world peace” might be my least favorite Tony line ever, even more than the “I saw American citizens being killed” cringe-worthy moment in the first IM.

Okay, “if there’s one thing I’ve proven it’s that you can count on me to pleasure myself” is also a strong contender.

Tony going “oh yeah you should totally run the company WHAT AN AMAZING IDEA THAT HAS LITERALLY ONLY CROSSED MY MIND ONE SECOND AGO” and U immadiately showing up with a bottle of champagne and two glasses is absolutely adorable. Tony is totally an undercover romantic, even if his approach to it is terrible lol.

Tony searching for Natasha’s “qualifications” and enlarging a picture of her in lingerie is just... Wow. So many parts of this movie have aged very poorly.

Christine not moving her recorder when Hammer is like “maybe we should put this away” is amazing. lol One thing this rewatch is definitely giving me is a bigger appreciation for Christine in general.

Tony’s hair in this movie is just amazing. One of my favorites hairstyles of his for sure.

The case suit up is very cool, and the first battle with Vanko is pretty awesome, but I feel like the movie kind of sabotages itself because it spends so many scenes just building up Vanko and then when he actually attacks Tony stops him pretty easily, all things considered. I get that there’s a point to it, but it feels anticlimatic.

Oh Tony speaks french! I didn’t know that.

“I’ll send you a bar of soap.” So Tony making rape jokes it not just a Whedon thing. Welp.

Tony taking three hours to make an omelette is such a mood. lol

I kind of love the scene with Tony and Pepper on the plane. So much of this movie is Tony attempting to reach out to Pepper without ACTUALLY reaching out by telling her what’s going on, and it creates an interesting dynamic. He wants her, wants to be with her, but can’t bring himself to actually ask it, and therefore she can’t understand what he’s asking in order to accept it. This says a lot about how Tony handles love and feelings, I think.

I feel like this movie would have vastly improved if Vanko and Hammer had just been in cahoots from the beggining. So much time is wasted in setting up this alliance and it’s not like we learn anything about either character that we couldn’t have gathered otherwise. It’s like watching a version of IM with an extra half-hour of Obie allying himself to the Ten Rings.

Natasha breaking into a fighting stance the second shit gets real is a fantastic “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” moment.

Ngl I really dislike the fact that Rhodey’s first suit up is all about baby sitting Tony, and not about himself. We barely get to see any of his feelings about taking the role as War Machine. And I feel like the way he takes the suit sends such a confusing message, because Fury and Natasha confirm to us Tony let him take it, and yet in the party scene... he doesn’t? Like, he fights back pretty heavily and it doesn’t seem at all like something he’s planned. I don’t blame people for thinking Rhodey stole the suit, because the entire party scene before Fury shows up frames it as such.

It’s WILD that this movie frames Howard deporting a person back to the Soviet Union as Howard being noble because Anton Vanko was “in it for the money”. Just... Wild.

In fact, the whole framing of the Howard issue is so weird. Tony and Howard’s relationship only comes up when Fury shows up, and that’s halfway through the movie, and then it’s supposed to be the Big Solution even though... It wasn’t really a theme until this point? 

Tony’s FACE when he sees the shield... and then he uses it to make everything “perfectly level”................ MY HEART

Sam Rockwell is a delight lmao. I love his dance.

The way people clap when Tony arrives is a stark contrast with the lukewarm reception Hammer got. Again: the public loves Tony.

I live for Natasha taking down every security guard in the time Happy takes to subdue one guy. Her moves are great (also, her curls are great - this is a great movie for hairstyles).

This Pepperony kiss is like. SO unwarranted?? Pepper has just learned Tony has been dying and keeping it from her?? And we don’t get any sort of emotional reaction about this or resolution about Tony’s inability to express his feelings??? They just... kiss and it’s all right, I guess?

“Get a roof” does make chuckle, though.

Aaand it’s over. That... that was a rough one, if I’m gonna be honest. This was one of my least favorite MCU movies the first time I watched it, and I hoped the rewatch could make me enjoy it more, but... this really wasn’t the case. I feel like this movie could have raised a lot of themes with its elements, but it just... doesn’t? Like, a lot of stuff happens, but very little actually advances the characters or their relationships. So much time is spent on setting up Vanko as this super badass villain, and then not only he’s easily defeated, but the whole “he’s carrying his father’s legacy just as Tony is” thing never goes anywhere. Tony is DYING, and then halfway through he isn’t, and although while he’s dying he pushes away both of the people closest to him, neither of them get to really have a reaction to this? Rhodey never actually finds out??? It just doesn’t work for me. Like, there are fun moments, and I get these characters and cast are enjoyable to watch doing basically anything, but the movie in itself is just... Meh.

[smallblueandloud]

FSK + dancers AU?

oooh, okay. for this ask meme! (disclaimer: i know literally nothing about any sort of dance, so uh… bear with me as i wholesale make everything up)

phil coulson runs a dance studio. it is an excellent dance studio. this is common knowledge. they mostly do ballet, with some sort of modern twist [and here we see me bullshitting my way through this]. his best dancers usually go on to bigger studios, since his is smaller by choice and doesn’t travel. (oh, that phil coulson, says everyone who hears his name. wasn’t he the one who trained barton? wasn’t he the one who took in romanoff when she defected from the ussr? wasn’t he trained by nick fury? he even had tony stark for a while!) he’s famous, ish, is the point i’m trying to make here.

the studio’s stars used to be him and melinda may, who danced with him back when fury owned the studio - they were the main stars. but may was involved in a [something traumatic involving kids, idk man, there’s a lot - take your pick] and then she got divorced and… long story short, she doesn’t dance anymore. these days, he’s got grant ward, who (even though he seems like the last person who’d be dancing ballet) is excellent at what he does - solo shows, mostly - and a pretty promising new partnership, leo fitz and jemma simmons.

those kids are like… psychically connected. people barely have to work with them for their performances - they know where the other is at all times, they know exactly how to move to be perfectly positioned to catch the other’s body or their hand, and the best part is, you can tell they’re having the time of their lives while doing it.

as in, they would be terrible at pretending they were happy or joyous or whatever while dancing, so it’s very good that they are feeling like that.

jemma’s classically trained, and she’s the one who knows all the composers and exactly why they’re different and why they put that note there and what they have to do to fit that original vision. fitz grew up poor with a single mother, and he got a late start, for the ballet world - but he can feel the music, he knows exactly how to position his hands and his torso and his head and convey how the music makes him feel, how it makes everyone feel. people love seeing them work together, seeing how they both interpret the music and bring something new to the table and make it fun.

daisy, meanwhile, is a street performer in her free time, who loves to dance but likes eating a little too much to do it for a job - she works in software, in some sort of tiny startup that was willing to hire her without any sort of college degree, only on her word that she’s very good (because she is).

it’s coulson that finds her - the one constant in every universe. phil coulson finds daisy, orphan, alone in the world, sees the talent in her that she can’t quite develop on her own, and brings her in to the team, into a family. he tells her she doesn’t have to work there, and not to worry about money, that she can just come by and get some training, because she obviously loves it and who is he to stop her from doing something she loves.

he puts her with ward at first, but daisy’s never had a day of classical training in her life and ward is not a team player. may’s just barely getting back into the game, hill is out sick with pneumonia, trip is taking a sabbatical to visit his mother in philadelphia, eric is- etc, etc. long story short, he’s eventually forced to break up fitzsimmons for a few days, just so one of them can work with daisy and she can get to see the kind of things they tend to do in the sudio.

he puts her with fitz. (mostly because simmons is a bit of a snob, and fitz is the one most likely to understand where daisy’s coming from, since their backgrounds are- similar.) he’s not expecting much - he has fitz do a short thing for daisy, which she admires greatly but says she’ll never be able to do (in her usual self-deprecating style). he turns on some music and has them listen to it and talk about how they would dance to it.

then he puts fitz and daisy together and has them actually dance.

it’s not like what happens with fitzsimmons - there’s no psychic connection, no instinctual knowledge of where the other is like they were born to be together. but together, fitz and daisy - the outsiders, the newbies, the ones who grew up too poor and too low class to be around ballet - make something new, something that’s not just the same choreography that’s been tried for ages. fitz’s grace and comprehension, combined with daisy’s raw talent and experience with hip-hop, makes something coulson can’t look away from.

fitz and daisy feel it too. after coulson dismisses them, fitz drags her to meet jemma, who - contrary to everyone’s expectations (except probably fitz’s) - takes an instant liking to daisy, american and sarcastic and everything she’s not. the three of them become just about as inseparable as fitzsimmons were before daisy came along, and although fitz and jemma always have that connection when they dance, daisy and fitz have an undefinable spark when they work together - and it’s clear to any audience. coulson loves putting them in performances, especially when they dance for kids from the inner city (a new initiative that daisy put together, with coulson’s monetary support and may handling the paperwork) - because it can show the kids that they can do anything, no matter what people tell them or what their class is.

meanwhile, the three of them are getting closer - and gradually falling in love. they start dating, all three of them, maybe a year in (never underestimate the power of fitzsimmons’ obliviousness, and plus there was some guy named will and another named lincoln and so on). but they do get together, eventually, and they’re all so happy.

coulson’s good with it. but he never has the three of them dance together - just keeps putting fitzsimmons and fitzdaisy on stage. it’s not like they have a problem with it, not really, because:

eventually, alone in jemma’s apartment after a couple of glasses of wine, jemma and daisy dance together. it’s only the two of them, without anyone else watching, and it’s perfect.

so they never dance together for a performance. it’s for them, and for fitz sometimes, and that’s because it’s slightly silly, not really any sort of organized anything - or it’s too heavy, too emotional to share. and they’re fine with that.

eventually, may actually comes back to the studio, and she and coulson dance together again - and finally get their heads out of the sand, much to the relief of literally everyone who knows them (natasha romanoff, world renowned dancer, formerly of the soviet union, sends them a postcard that says ‘it’s about damn time’ and nothing else - it was a hellish couple years when she worked with them, before may got with andrew and she and coulson were dancing around each other. [oh. ha. metaphorically and literally.]).

and then, eventually, the cancer that coulson fought off years ago comes back swinging, and he retires, leaving the studio to daisy, who he thinks of as a daughter.

she’d left coding years ago to dance full time, although she still uses her free time to teach herself html and make a snazzy new website for the studio. but mostly, she dances, and works with her life partners, and laughs, and makes friends with their newest dancers - alphonso mackenzie, elena rodriguez, and piper (just piper, she says, when introducing herself) - and their new choreographer, max davis, who’s a married dad of one and is so done, all the time.

even though they can’t get married, and they go through their ups and downs, the three of them - daisy, jemma, and fitz - stay together no matter what. and they’re happy for the rest of their days.

[tom-hollands-eyelash]

Don’t Forget Us (Peter Parker X Stark!Reader) part 6

Summary: What would happen if you were Tony Starks daughter and could lift Mjölnir.

Word count: 2,383

A/n: I’ve had this idea for a while now and I can’t wait to share it with you guys! Please leave feedback, it’s always appreciated. I promise there will be more Peter and Y/N moments! Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen Agent Carter.

MY TAGLIST FOR THIS STORY IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED!

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

***

“How is Lady Y/N?” Thor asked when he saw you real dad enter the room.

Tony stops in the doorway to look at him and gives a half hearted laugh. “She doesn’t remember that I’m her dad. She thinks I’m her mentor!” Tony said walking pass the large conference table that the other Avengers (beside Peter) and Loki seated are seated at.

“Woah woah woah woah. Slow down there Stark. What do you mean ‘she doesn’t remember that you’re her dad’?!” Steve asked, holding his hand parallel to the table an attempt to get the genius inventor to calm down.

“Exactly what I said. She doesn’t remember. She’s convinced that-“

“That her family died in Sakovia, and that she’s been living with her foster parents for the last three years.” Peter said interrupting Tony by walking into the room and sitting down in the closest seat to the door looking at the other people but avoiding Tony’s eyes. “She also said that she’s been going to Midtown Tech for the last three years and that me and her-“ Peter continued before stoping himself and finally meeting Tony’s eyes.

“You and her what Parker?” He said with an eyebrow raised.

“It-its nothing mister Stark. Forget I brought it up.”

“Oh no Parker. We’re not pulling that, ‘start to say something important, then stop out of nowhere’ game.” Tony said looking Peter in the eye causing the young boy crack under the intense stare.

“Fine! She, um. She thinks we’ve been dating for the past three years.”

“WHAT?!” Tony yelled as he got up from his seat and proceeded to chase the young spiderling around the room.

“As amusing as this is.” Loki said watching Tony chase Peter around the table until Peter webbed himself up to the ceiling to avoid Tony. “Brother, being the god of mischief, I feel something is off in this house. I must go check.” Thor nodded as Loki disappeared through the wall.

—

“Do they suspect anything?” Ursula said through the phone.

“Nope. My idiot of a father and his protégé are actually fighting right now.” You said smiling as you looked at the hallway tony went down. “One weird thing did happen though, Penis Parker locked me in my hospital room.”

“What?!” Ursula yelled so loudly you had to move the phone away from your ear.

“I said exactly what you said to say. How my parents died, how me and that bug have been together all this time, and how Stark wasn’t my father but my mentor.”

“Then why did he lock you in?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re being cautious after Parker and Rogers run in with Bucky?” You felt a chill run down your spine and you could feel eyeballs burning holes in the back of your head. Someone was watching you. You slyly used the window to the hospital room you were just in to look over your shoulder. You saw nothing. You just shrugged your shoulders and continued to listen to your next order. Being the only other winter solider awake, you were use to feeling like you were being watched.

“Does Stark suspect anything?”

You laughed at this accusation, “Stark? Really? No he doesn’t. Right now he’s screaming at the spiderling about how ‘we’re dating’ no he has no clue what’s going on.”

“Perfekt” Ursula said and you swore you could hear her smirking. “Now for phase two: try to see if you can spend the night there and find that file on him and it.”

“Do you still want me to get Mjölnir?”

“Yes. That hammer is a big part of the plan. HYDRA will succeed where Leviathan had failed.”

“Of course, Leviathan was weak and stupid. They couldn’t take on, Peggy Carter, a simple SSR agent. Whereas HYDRA were smarter staying asleep for all these years. Cut off one head-“ you interrupt yourself before turning around the feeling of you being watched returned. When didn’t see anyone once again you turn your attention back to Ursula, not knowing Loki was there the entire time. “Two more grow back.”

“Hail HYDRA” Ursula says before hanging up.

—

“TONY!” Steve said slamming his hand on the table gaining Tony’s attention. “Don’t kill the boy. We need him.”

“Fine.” Tony said reluctantly as he moved away from the corner Peter was in on the ceiling. “I won’t kill the kid.” Tony sat back down in his seat as Peter started to climb down the wall. “Yet.” Giving Peter a look that made the young boy freeze with terror.

“Good. Now let’s get back to business. We need to figure out what’s going on with Y/N.” Natasha said placing her chin in one of her hands, elbow on the table.

“Yeah. Like why she thinks her family is dead.” Bruce said looking around the table.

“Or how she thinks Tony is her mentor.” Clint said looking at Bruce.

“Wait a second.” Peter said finally jumping off the wall. “Hey cap?”

“Yeah?”

“Didn’t something like th-“ Peter was interuppted by a knock on the door and you walking in.

“Mr. Stark...” You said as you walked in and froze when you noticed all the eyes on you.

“Y/N.” Tony said getting up on his feet, the other Avengers followed his lead. As they cautiously took steps towards you.

“I-I’m sorry did I interupt something?” You said looking between all heros in the room. Your real family; the family you’ve been trained to hate, to despise, to eliminate.

“You’re fine. What’s up?” Tony asked as he walked towards you.

“I just got off the phone with my mom..”

“Oh are your parents here?” He said looking over your shoulder

“No they had to go back to the apartment to see the landlord.”

“What happened? Why are they-”

“The ceiling in my bedroom kinda collapsed.” You interuppted him, your eyes were glued to the ground out of embarrassment. You could see your reflection in Tony’s black Salvatore Ferragamo dress shoes. Your eyes were sunken in, your dark circles from late night training and stake outs with The Winter Soilder were showing and the sweater you had on had become heavy it felt like it was made of bowlers.

“What?” He said causing you to snap you’re head back up. “Your ceiling collapsed!?”

“Yeah. It was our neighbors upstairs fault. They left their water on and it leaked through the ceiling. But my parents don’t want me to sleep on the couch and they were wondering if I could sleep here? If not it’s totally okay!”

Tony’s eyes lit up “Yeah of course! That’ll be fine.” He said obviously trying to hide his excitement, but failing miserably. You smirked ‘This is going to be too easy. Like taking candy from a baby.’ You thought. “I’ll show you to your room.” He said walking pass you through the door.

“Actually.” You started turning around and grabbing Tony’s wrists. You met his sad brown eyes. “Can Peter show me? Please?”

“Yeah, Yeah of course. Parker can you please show young Y/N to her room please?”

“But Mr. Stark I was-“ the spider superhero was starting to say.

“Now please?” Tony interrupted.

“Yes sir. Come on Y/N.” Peter said as he walked out the door with you swiftly behind him. When you were down the hallway and out of earshot Loki materialized.

“ODIN’S BEARD BROTHER!” Thor said holding his hammer up as if he were about to throw it.

“Warn us next time you do something like that.” Bruce said holding his chest.

“My apologies, but I believe there’s something wrong with Lady Y/N.” Loki said now standing at the head of the table with both hands placed firmly down while looking at everyone’s faces begin to twist in a mixture of confusion and worry.

“Of course there’s something wrong with her! She doesn’t remember that I’m her father, she thinks Parker has been her boyfriend for the last three years, she thinks that her parents died in Europe, and she doesn’t realize that her family is right here in this room!” Tony said slamming his fist on the table now back at his seat across from Loki, staring him down. “What could possibly be worse? Mmh?” He said raising his eyebrows in anticipation to hear what Loki had to add.

“Well for starters, are you familar with Leviathan and a SSR agent named Paisley Carbon?” Loki asked looking around until he locked eyes with Steve who realized who the god of mischief was talking about.

“Do you Peggy Carter?” Steve asked Loki with sadness occupying his face. Loki nodded and looked away from Steve to see what Tony would do.

“I know who Peggy was she was an excellent Agent, but Leviathan does sound familar. F.R.I.D.A.Y. look up ‘Agent Peggy Carter and Leviathan in dad’s old files please.”

“on the order of Joseph Stalin, Leviathan was formed to ensure that the Soviet Union would become the world's leading superpower by having better weapons than its enemies and allies. The group also trained girls to become assasins at a young age.

Some Leviathan operatives have their vocal cords disabled, leaving them with a Y-shaped incision on their neck and preventing them from speaking without the use of a Voice Synthesizer. These operatives were present when at the Battle of Finow when Midnight Oil was used; their voice boxes were damaged because of the gas and removed. Missions are given to agents and communications are returned through the Remote Typewriter.

Leet Brannis was an operative of Leviathan, but decided to go solo. He went to the illegal trader named Spider Raymond and received a packet of money in exchange for property stolen from Howard Stark. When a man in a green suit went to Raymond to claim the Nitramene bomb, he killed the fence as he searched his safe for it.

Brannis revealed the existence of the organization to Peggy Carter by telling her, "Leviathan is coming." She had noticed that Brannis and the assassin who killed her roommate Colleen O'Brien both had their larynx missing

Known associate Edwin Jarvis researched Stark's files but found nothing pertaining to Leviathan. Carter went to hospitals, but did not find any records of men with a laryngotomy operation, concluding that Leviathan operatives were foreigners.

When Brannis was captured by Carter and Jarvis, he asked for protection from his former employer.

Drawing a heart-like shape in the dirt, Brannis died before revealing more information to Carter about the organization.

The Strategic Scientific Reserve researched the backgrounds of Leet Brannis and the Man in the Green Suit, learning that they were both in the Soviet Armed Forces, but the agency did not connect them to Leviathan.

Ivchenko came to the United States with Peggy Carter after she freed him from a prison in Belarus. He told the Strategic Scientific Reserve the story on how Leviathan captured him, without revealing his loyalty to the organization. When they were alone, he tried to get Chief Roger Dooley to look out his office window; Dottie Underwood was stationed across the street with a high-powered rifle. Dooley would not come to the window, so Ivchenko changed Underwood's order to target Peggy Carter. He then learned all he could about the whereabouts of Howard Stark's inventions from Agent Yauch before having him commit suicide.

Ivchenko procured a weapon of Howard Stark labelled by the Strategic Scientific Reserve as Item 17; he caused the death of Chief Roger Dooley in the process by having him wear a Stark Heat Vest. Dottie Underwood tested the effectiveness of the weapon by releasing it in a movie theater. Everyone attacked each other until there were none left alive.

Fennhoff and Underwood then kidnapped Howard Stark and took him to his warehouse. There, Fennhoff revealed his plan to make Stark release the Midnight Oil on New York City for what happened to Fennhoff's brother at the Battle of Finow. Fennhoff hynoptized Stark into flying a plane filled with the Oil to New York City to dump it over the Times Square celebration of V-E Day. However, Fennhoff and Underwood were confronted by SSR agents Peggy Carter, Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa. Carter was able to subdue Underwood, but she escaped; Fennhoff was knocked out by Sousa and gagged to prevent him from hypnotizing anyone. Stark was freed of his hynoptism, and Fennhoff was then taken to jail.” The Irish A.I. read.

“But what does this has to do with my daughter?” Tony asked when F.R.I.D.A.Y. Finished reading the report.

“I think she was captured and tortured by HYDRA for the past years and now they’re finishing what Leviathan started. I know it is far fetched but I heard her say ‘cut off one head-” Loki said looking Stark in the eyes to see his eyes widen.

“Two more grow back.” Steve finishing the saying he knew to well. A saying that still haunts his dreams to this day.

“Where’s the spiderboy?” Loki asked finally realizing Peter was nowhere to be seen. “He never misses a briefing.

“Oh crap.” Natasha says taking her feet off the table and sitting up straight. “He’s with Y/N.”

“And if what Loki said is true-“ Clint said.

“We need to go and get him.” Bruce said finishing the thought.

—

Peter was rambling off about something about Star Wars when he felt the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck start to stand up, it was his spidey-sense going haywire. Peter looked around for a potential threat, but all he saw was you. The girl who he’s been worried about for years and whom he loved holding a knife into his back and smirking at him.

“время, чтобы умереть паук-мальчик. (Time to die spider-boy).“ You said holding the knife up to his back. Ursula’s words echoed through your mind: ‘Eliminate anyone who gets in your way’ that’s what you’re doing right now, but you didn’t want to hurt this boy. You wanted to protect him, you care about his well being. You suddenly felt guilty for hurting and planning to kill Peter.

But why?

Part 7

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