#With Friends Like You...

[missvelvetsstuff]

With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemies?

Steve Rogers x Reader, Steve Rogers x Natasha, Reader x ????

Reader is a mutant with the ability to turn sound into light who was 'adopted' aka stolen as a child by Baron Von Strucker to use for experimentation. She was given a form of the Super soldier serum so in addition to her mutant abilities she also has super strength, enhanced senses and healing. When he starts experimenting on his volunteers, the Maximoff twins, she tries to convince them to escape with her but they tell the Baron that she's planning to escape so he doubles her cell security. Steve and reader met when the team recovered Loki's scepter from Strucker.

She falls in love with Steve and becomes good friends with Nat but they aren't the friends she thinks they are.

Notes: Here I go with a new idea because I'm stuck on my wip's. Reader has powers like Dazzler from the X-Men, plus a form of the serum.

Steve and Nat are not great people in this.

This story is canon adjacent except that Thanos never happened.

Warnings: none yet

Prologue

Starts at the beginning of AOU

Steve looked around the room, seeing a woman who disappeared behind a wall. "Second enhanced, female. Do not engage"

A tall, beautiful woman in raggedy clothing approached him with her hands up. "Captain America? Are you here to help us?"

Steve noded but kept his guard up "We're here for Loki's scepter but I can help you. Do you work for Strucker?"

She shook her head "No, he kidnapped me when I was young. He helped me learn how to control my abilities but also experimented on me. He wanted me to be a weapon. I just want to go home"

While they were talking Wanda snuck up on them and forced Steve into a memory. Y/N created a light bright enough to shock him out of it.

Steve shook his head and once it cleared stared at her "How did you do that? What abilities, exactly?"

She shrugged "I'm a mutant. I can turn sound into light. It used to be random but I've learned how to make a laser and how to hypnotize people. Strucker made me learn how to break people out of the witches hex, in case she ever turned on Hydra."

Steve nodded "Well let's get you out of here" into his comms "Third enhanced, female. Not hostile. I'm bringing her with me." He looked at her "I'm Steve, what's your name?" She told him and he nodded "Follow me"

Tony nodded, breaking out of Wandas hex "I have the scepter, let's get out of here."

When they made it to the quinjet Y/N was quiet and stayed out of the way while they worked on Clint. She hoped the Avengers were better than Hydra, they couldn't possibly be worse.

Once they arrived at the tower, Y/N was taken to medical to be checked after Clint was being treated but was only found to be exhausted, malnourished and dehydrated. Dr Cho advised starting with a bland diet and rest for a few days, then a check up before starting on other foods and light exercise.

Nat introduced herself "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before but my friend....."

Y/N nodded "It's ok, all of you were coming down from a fight. I know how that can feel."

Nat looked at her warily "Thanks. Let me show you to your room. You can take a shower while we get some food for you. There are some sweats in the dresser that you can wear until we get you some clothes. We will be in the conference room. in 30. We need to debrief you and Nick Fury wants to meet you. He's not here today but will probably drop in soon."

Y/N looked surprised "I'm no one but I'll tell you what I can."

Nat showed her the room "If you need any help you can ask Jarvis. He's Tony's AI and helps run things here. Just ask him for directions." Nat looked at her, concerned "You're safe here and we'll help you figure everything out."

Y/N looked around the room, more like a suite and more luxurious than she had seen in many years. Strucker kept her in a small, cold cell that had been made so she couldn't use her powers to get out. She hadn't had a proper shower in ages, usually they just blasted her with cold water once a week.

The shower was heaven and the hot water never ran out. There were some high end toiletries and plush towels, she hadn't felt so good since she didn't know when.

She dried off and put the sweat shirt and pants on, they were so soft and felt wonderful on her skin. She found a pair of slippers in the closet and was ready to face everyone. She looked up at the ceiling "Jarvis?"

"Yes, miss?" She jumped at the disembodied voice.

"How do I get to the conference room?"

"Exit this room, turn left and follow the lights"

"Thank you"

"Of course, miss."

Y/N found the conference room with Jarvis help and could hear the team talking quietly, her name came up more than once which made her nervous. She entered the room and everyone stilled, which made her more anxious.

Tony looked over at her "Come on in, we'll see what we need to do here. I have to say you look much better now. I've never seen anyone look so good in sweats. Natasha can take you shopping for some clothes when you're up for it."

Y/N shook her head "Thank you but I don't have any money."

Tony smirked "Don't worry about that, it's taken care of.

Please have a seat. There's food coming for you."

She sat down where he pointed and looked around nervously. She didn't know much about the Avengers and could only hope they were better than Hydra. A plate of eggs and toast with a glass of Apple juice was set in front of her. She picked at it for a minute before diving in. Strucker almost never gave her real food, just some high protein paste that did the job but tasted awful.

Tony clapped his hands "Alright kids, lets get this started. Y/N would you like to start?"

She looked up at him, wide eyed with a mouth full of food.

Tony grinned "Right, sorry. Go ahead and eat and we'll come back around to you."

Y/N listened carefully to everything they said and tried not to eat too quickly. When they came back around to her she had cleaned her plate and wanted more.

"I'll get you more after we're done here, don't want to shock your system too much." Tony told her softly.

"Can you tell us some about yourself and what Strucker was up to?"

Y/N nodded "Like I told Captain Rogers, I'm a mutant. I can turn sound into various forms of light. I can hypnotize, make lasers or just a pretty light show when I sing. I was 10 or so when Strucker kidnapped me and started experimenting to see how my powers work. He also gave me some kind of serum that made me stronger, heal faster and enhanced my senses. Taught me to fight hand to hand. He insisted he was my father but when I got older, he did things to me that no decent father would do to his daughter.

Last year he brought the scepter and two people that he enhanced with it. Wanda can mess with your mind and her twin brother Pietro moves very fast. I tried to tell them how awful he was and talk them into escaping with me but their hatred for Tony Stark and the Avengers was too much. They told Strucker I wanted to escape and he locked me in a cell I couldn't get out of for the last few months. He released me when you showed up, hoping I would help the twins fight against you but I couldn't. I didn't want to be under his control anymore"

Tears were running down her face as she finished.

Nat rubbed her back gently "Do you know where you're from? Where your family is?"

Y/N sighed "I don't remember much. Strucker tried to erase my memories and they are pretty scattered now. I see flashes of another life but they are blurry and vague. I know I wanted to be a singer, taught myself how to make light shows to go with my songs. I remember when my mom saw me doing that and freaked out. There's not much after that except for Strucker and his experiments."

She sat back looking a little dazed "I'm very tired. Is it ok if I go rest?"

Tony nodded "We can talk more later. Once you're fully recuperated you'll have to come to the gym and show us your stuff. Captain, would you like to escort the lady to her room?" He saw how Steve was looking at her so wanted to give him a little shove.

Steve and Y/N were both quiet on the way to her room. She started humming without even realizing and a soft colorful haze surrounded her.

Steve looked at her in shock "That's so beautiful" his cheeks flushed "I mean you're beautiful, you know your voice and the lights"

She stopped "Sorry, it's a habit and how I comforted myself in my cell."

"No, no, don't be sorry. You don't have to stop, it just caught me off guard" they stopped in front of her door. "Get some rest and ask Jarvis if you need anything" he gently touched her arm and felt sparks which made him pull away quickly. "Yeah, uh, good night"

"G'nite Steve"

Chapter 1

[dredsina]

Ive said this before but swear the biggest skill to learn as an adult is how to resist high-pressure sales tactics. You do NOT have to answer questions with anything other than "Sorry I'm not interested." No matter how nice they are or no matter how many follow up questions they ask or even how agitated they get when you stand your ground. Just keep saying I'm not interested. Don't answer their questions. Don't give them an opening to try to push back on your reasons. Be a fucking brick wall of I'm not interested.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Knowledge Revenge.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[thelaurenshippen]

watching bridgerton and obviously there were a lot of things wrong with the way socializing has worked in the past, but honestly the idea of a "calling hour" is so appealing. office hours for friendship. you can show up unannounced at my home between 1 and 3pm. you must leave by 3pm. I may give you a pastry. lets bring that back

[ottosbigtop]

I think we as a society should bring back brotps. I think we should be weirder about characters being friends the same way people are weird about ships. Make those two characters who interacted once or twice besties. Make it difficult for them to get rid of each other even if they want to. Go nuts

[eosofspades]

i didn't have "i'm broken" teenage asexual angst i had "i'm literally being the only reasonable one about this concept and the rest of you are behaving like fucking freaks" perception issues

[liquidstar]

Reblogs are off because you people don't realize that a post about gaslighting isn't the time or place for your LOL GONCHEROV XDDSS jokes idk what to tell you. If you find the info the other reblog added to be useful just screenshot it and repost it I'm done though

[sillyguy-supreme]

white americans when you tell them that the idea of climate change as an impending disaster is a reductive first world perspective because it’s a tangible reality for many in the global south already:

[noelledeltarune]

EVERY SINGLE DAY there are MILLIONS of characters in their late 20s who get falsely accused of being father figures to teenagers when in reality the description of "weird older cousin" or "step-sibling that moved out before you were born" is 1000000x more apt

[goldiipond]

Top 5 women?

bro i can't even top one woman ha ha h[two drums and a cymbal fall from the ceiling killing me instantly

[kottkrig]

People liking your personal OCs is still such a crazy feeling, I've been doing this for years and ppl asking about them still fills my entire heart with warmth and idk how to handle it

You enjoy this fictional guy I made up for fun?? Whose only content is random artwork or writing made by me and a handful of other artists at most? They have no show/book/game with a large fandom, it's just one person with an art blog?? I love u

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The math just adds up!

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

god i love my friends. shout out to people who love their friends. this is a post for friend lovers

[haroldhighballjordan]

sometimes I randomly think about the time a girl posted in this girls only Facebook group I’m in telling everyone how she broke up with her boyfriend and he lied saying that he lost the spare key she gave him, only to then break into her apartment when she wasn’t home and steal the cat they’d adopted while they were together, but then he denied having done this and she didn’t really have proof that he took the cat since he wouldn’t let her come into his place and look for it. And then another girl saw this post and knew her ex-boyfriend, and she was like “girl. I used to hook up with your mans back in xxxx and I still have his number. If you want, I’ll hit him up and get him to invite me back to his place and see if your cat’s there.” And the OP was like “bet.”

So this woman hit up homie dog, asked him out for drinks, went home with him, slept with him, and then woke up in the middle of the night and TOOK THE CAT. Like she had only said that she would confirm if the cat was there but then she took it upon herself to steal this woman’s cat back. Like she full on Trojan horsed this man and then hit up homegirl like “I got the goods. Where you wanna meet.” And then the two of them posted a photo of them together with the cat to the group.

And I just think women supporting women is so beautiful.