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#also wait what is the deal with clint anyway. why do people hate him.
lonepower · 1 year
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@laudanine​ reblogged your post “all right since I’m sure a lot of you have...”
I’m not a professional at that game by any measure but fwiw:Don’t sell lumber, you’ll want it later. Develop a...
@can-of-genderfluid​ reblogged your post “all right since I’m sure a lot of you have...”
Spring- grow cauliflowers (or strawberries, but for max profits I recommend bulk buying strawberries and then planting... #stardew valley #sdv #i have strong opinions on this #Clint sucks ass but he unfortunately is useful
@sirkaid​ reblogged your post “all right since I’m sure a lot of you have...”
Check the weather on the TV every day. The best time to get a lot of work done anywhere that isn’t the farm is when it’s...
  @floofyboi57​ reblogged your post “all right since I’m sure a lot of you have...”
Befriend Caroline to get the recipe for tea saplings, they’re easy to craft and can make for good money at the start of...
wait this is actually all really good, useful advice, thank yall so much (especially re: the prismatic shard, because i Definitely would’ve given that to the museum under my “FIRSTBORN GOES TO THE OWL” animal crossing policy otherwise)! I haven’t unlocked, uh, a lot of the things you guys have mentioned (i need one (1) green bean which should sprout tomorrow for the first kitchen bundle and I got the first bridge repair bundle and That’s It, rip), so I’ll try and prioritize those! my primary source of income is definitely cauliflower but I am getting a little braver in the mines. I’m scared to go too far past 20 with only a wooden sword though-
re: friendships - I think Pam has adopted me, actually, i’m at 4 hearts with her and 0 or 1 with everyone else. i don’t even know how that happened, I thought she hated me. please leah i want to be friends please leave your house ever pl- also if you’ve met me for more than 5 minutes you absolutely know who i’m planning on marrying (it’s krobus)
and my dog’s name is Stella! I also have a modded cat chicken named Nancy who sleeps on my bed and meows. she’s a very advanced chicken.
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moving her would make me a war criminal so it looks like i’m sleeping on the floor tonight.
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no-gorms · 2 years
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I loved your Destiel “childhood friends becoming more” fics. We’re you to Steve/Tony that scenario, how would you do it? Powers, no powers? MCU, AvAc, etc? I can see them having a llloooonnnggg wait till they get together, lol. Does Steve enlist? Is Tony an eventual celebrity? We’re they schoolmates or something else like Steve's family worked for Tony's, etc? Modern times or a fun historical AU? Anywho, thanks!
-----
OKAY SO, let’s make it a mundane AU, no powers. But instead of just Steve and Tony, let’s have the whole crew be an evolving friends group that gathers numbers when families move and schools change. Maybe the group is based in a particular neighborhood, and Steve and Bucky are best friends from kindergarten, Tony and Rhodey are best friends from a different kindergarten, and Natasha and Clint are from a street a little further away but Tony knows Natasha and Steve knows Clint, and Thor is the new kid who just moved nearby, and Bruce is a kid who kept to himself most of the time until he gets into some afterschool program with Tony who drags him into the group.
So it’s an evolving friends group with some combinations being tighter than others, but they’re solidly a group and have each other’s backs. Steve and Tony in particular, they get along fine when they’re inside the thick of the group and will pick fights against outsiders to defend each other without a second thought, but they also argue ALL. THE. TIME.
Okay, not all the time, but a lot of the time there’s snark and sarcasm thrown each other’s way (the more when they get older and through elementary to middle school) but it flip-flops between friendly snarking and aggressive snarking, and it usually takes the rest of the group to keep it from ever escalating too much. Sometimes it does, though, like Tony will make a joke that hits too close to home, or Steve says something without thinking, and the other will get offended or hurt, but they always make it right afterward sheepishly and are like, Why are we like This? And they laugh about it, but… it keeps happening anyway.
Somewhere in middle school, when the jokes and hormones start taking a more mature slant, the teasing from the rest of the group starts. Maybe Thor’s to blame, or Bucky, or Bruce? But anyway someone makes an offhand remark about Slap Slap Kiss, and it quickly evolves into a running joke that, Hahah Steve and Tony keep fighting all the time, maybe they actually want to kiss instead?
Steve and Tony, though? They hate this turn of events. They HATE it. Of course they don’t want to kiss, that’s stupid! They just have strong opinions, that’s all! And their friends can immediately tell that Steve and Tony hate the teasing, so naturally that means they can use the teasing to STOP Steve and Tony from arguing so much.
As soon as Steve raises his voice at Tony, Natasha pipes up with, “Just smooch him, no need to make a big deal out of it!” When Tony says something about how Steve just doesn’t know how to have fun, Rhodey says, “We all know what kind of fun YOU want to have with Steve, amirite.”
Steve and Tony come to a mutual ceasefire. “They need to shut up,” Tony mumbles. “You’re great, Steve, but I don’t like you THAT way, no offense.”
“Absolutely none taken,” Steve says, relieved. “It’s so annoying.”
“I guess it is dumb,” Tony admits. “I don’t know why I keep saying those things about you. I’ll stop.”
“I’ll try to keep an open mind, too,” Steve says. “Sorry about that.”
“And let’s swear to never ever be into each other that way, let alone date,” Tony says, making a face. “If only because they’ll be insufferable if it ever happens.”
Steve nods solemnly. “I’ll swear to that. Shake on it?”
And they do.
Time passes. Middle school to highschool. Steve and Tony actually grow up a little and don’t fight as much anymore (and even if they do, they’re careful to never take it too far or do it in front of the others if they can help it). Tony dates some people, Steve dates other people. The teasing tapers off to almost nothing, distracted as the group are by other more up-to-date running jokes about each other.
At some point Tony glances Steve’s way and is like Hey, Steve’s actually kinda hot and really nice, haha, thank goodness we swore to never date each other so I can just look safely. And the crush passes. At another point Steve glances Tony’s way and is like, Tony’s really smart and handsome, I’m glad to be his friend but also thank goodness we made it clear we’d never be into each other that way so I can just look at him a little.
Highschool to college! The group’s still tight, despite Thor moving away. Sam joins them. The network stretches a little, but their online groupchat stays strong and active.
At some point, for Reasons, Steve and Tony become roommates. Maybe they happen to be going to colleges near each other and Tony can afford a place but he’d prefer a roommate.
It’s a little awkward at first because it’s never been just the two of them without the padding of the rest of the group, but they’re adults now, with bigger priorities. They’ll make it work, and they do. They have each other’s backs in a new way, and since they’re living together get more of those late night heart-to-hearts, confessing deeper worries and uncertainties that they’d rather not bring up in daylight.
When they disagree, it’s purposeful and never hurtful, unlike the petty nothing squabbles of when they were kids. They look back on that time fondly and with some embarrassment.
Tony: You know it’s funny, I actually had a crush on you for a bit in middle school.
Steve: Oh that is funny! I had a crush on you for a while in highschool.
Tony: No way! Such a relief we agreed not to date, yeah.
Steve: Yeah.
Tony: >.>
Steve: <.<
Tony & Steve (in their hearts, as they look at each other): But what if… we do… anyway. And not tell the others?
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themculibrary · 29 days
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Easter Masterlist 3
part one, part two
A Easter Surprise (ao3) - olicityfan15 frank/david T, 1k
Summary: Frank and David have started a new life together and for their first Easter, David has a huge surprise for Frank.
agony in the garden (ao3) - AliuIce0814 steve/bucky G, 696
Summary: Easter cuts through Steve to his marrow. Easter means a year since Bucky turned to ash three feet from his arms.
A Parent's Burden (ao3) - Marv-with-a-v (Marv_aka_Kitten_Writes) G, 1k
Summary: How do you set up an Easter egg hunt for a blind child? The same way you do for a sighted child, only with a little more creativity. But with every egg Matt finds, Jack finds a little something himself: hope that maybe, just maybe, things are going to turn out okay.
Boiled Eggs and Onions (ao3) - Siberianskys maria/bobbi T, 594
Summary: Allbingo Food Fest Prompt: Easter Eggs Ladiesbing Prompt: Spring
Easter Egg Hunts (ao3) - Toxictimefanfics_Orphan_Account tony/stephen T, 2k
Summary: Basically I wanted a fic where Tony and peter got to meet Stephen's family without them immediately hating them (Victor doesn't count) also nobody freaks the fuck out in a bad way when Stephen reveals he's Sorcerer Supreme.
Easter Shenanigans (ao3) - Jellybean96 skye/grant G, 2k
Summary: Basically what the title says
Holiday Spending (ao3) - tisfan bucky/tony E, 70k
Summary: anonymous asked:
Winteriron collage au w/fake relationship; Tony asks Bucky to be his fake boyfriend, either to shake off some matchmaking friends or to piss off Howard. Turns out Bucky is all Tony ever wanted in a boyfriend. Too bad it's not real (extra angst if Tony paid for Bucky to act as his boyfriend, now Tony wonders if it was all for the money). Happy ending?
Loki and Steve's eggcelent adventure (ao3) - aLoggedInReader loki/steve G, 5k
Summary: Easter is coming up and weird things start appearing in front of Steve's door. Figuring out who they come from is not that hard, figuring out the why is a real head scratcher though.
Of Pink Easter Bunnies and Drawing with Cap (ao3) - Stories_can_make_us_fly steve/bucky G, 1k
Summary: Bucky didn’t expect their Easter Sunday to turn out like this. Then again, what had he expected when Tony Stark had invited them to a picnic in Central Park with the Avengers? And really, having Steve by his side was all he needed anyway.
Picture Perfect (ao3) - Everythingirl44 lincoln/skye G, 592
Summary: "I don't understand why I have to wait in a two hour line for a picture." Daisy mumbled, gently lifting their daughter on her hip.
"Because it's her first Easter, she needs a picture with the bunny."
Or
Daisy gets irritated waiting in line to meet the Easter Bunny.
Resurrection (ao3) - Eledhwen G, 1k
Summary: The city is too quiet in these odd, odd days, and Matt cannot sleep. He has been out every night, prowling the rooftops in the shadows, but the sounds reaching him are sounds he cannot help with. The violence on the streets has stopped; the violence in people’s homes, he cannot help with, though he wants to.
run baby, I'll catch you when you fall (ao3) - HogwartsToAlexandria G, 300
Summary: Memories are sometimes all you have left.
Simple Moments (ao3) - MissAdoration steve/natasha, clint/laura G, 29k
Summary: Just a little insight into what happens at SHIELD besides the craziness that happens within the stories of “Love Through the Pain”
Tampa: A Visitor's Guide (ao3) - DJClawson matt/theo, foggy/marci T, 4k
Summary: Theo takes Madame Gao's advice, and Matt learns to deal with feelings.
The Easter Hunt (ao3) - NovaRain, STARSdidathing loki/tony G, 1k
Summary: Tony is an Easter Bunny hurrying to collect some last minute chocolates, all while being watched by a certain smitten fox.
The Simmons Family Easter Luncheon (ao3) - RoseDeVents jemma/grant E, 3k
Summary: Jemma brings Grant to Sheffield to meet her parents over the Easter holiday.
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shurisneakers · 3 years
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harmless (ix)
Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)
Warnings: cursing, sex jokes, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, anxiety
Word count: 3.9k
A/N: a lot of requests came in last week, so cool and thank you for sending them in!! i’ll try my best to write them if they weren’t originally what i had planned for this series bc they’re so cute kfjdghdf. also hey shoutout to @i-reblog-fics-i-like​ for suggesting the backstory thing! 
here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333
Additional Scene   || Previous Part  || Series Masterlist
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Hot single in your area! 😈  Find your solemate! 
Somehow it bypasses Bucky’s spam folder and is in his primary email. SHIELD tech is too advanced to let fake mails like this reach him and this doesn’t make sense. Unless it was one of the stupid dating websites he signed up for.
Leaving aside the obvious typo in the subject, he clicks on it, hoping it doesn’t unleash a virus onto his computer. 
He’s instead greeted with a poorly Photoshopped picture of you at a bar with a martini in your hand. He doesn’t have to look too hard to see that the martini is, in fact, an emoji. Off to a terrible start already. 
Right beside it is an even worse image, an imitation of an early Internet chat box.
Harbinger of Doom just sent you a message! 
Come to the empty lot near lair. Bring goggles. 😩💦
Decline/Accept
He wants to strangle you. 
______
“Why did you curse my eyes so early in the morning?” He spots you at the top of the lair, speaking loudly so that it hopefully reached you. 
“What?” you yell back down instead. “If you’re saying something, I can’t hear you.”
He rolls his eyes. He pulls his phone from his pocket and presses on your contact. 
He watches the look of confusion morph into one of slight surprise when you reach into your pocket and pull out your call.
“Don’t ever send an image like that to me again,” he says directly.
“If that one image is too much for you, how will we ever make our sex tape?”
His mouth opens and shuts like goddamn fish.
He can hear your laughter even without the phone.
“First of all- stop laughing- first of all, a sex tape is never going to happen. Second of all, I have a debriefing to go to, we need to make this quick.”
He holds up a finger when he sees you begin to say something. By the look of trouble painted all over your face, he knows it’s going to be a dumb innuendo. 
“Thirdly, why are you standing there?”
“I watched The Last Airbender,” you say once your cackling dies down.
“I like that show.” He did. Peter sometimes watched it when he came over and Bucky more often than not joined in.
“I know, you told me.”
Oh. 
“Okay, what now?” 
“Put your goggles on.” You take one step towards the ledge. 
“What are you doing?” The goggles don’t do anything to shield him from the sun, considering that they’re not tinted. Maybe he could invest in those.
You send him a smile, taking a step further. His walk towards the building turns into a jog, then a sprint when you’re basically standing on the edge.
You spread your arms out like Jesus Christ himself before flinging yourself off the building. His stomach drops.
His phone falls to the ground, discarded to the side as he sprints to break your landing. 
It never comes. 
Instead, a gust of wind smacks him in the face, forcing him a few steps backwards. 
“I am now an air bender.” your eyes shone. “Kind of.”
Just like that, the show was ruined.
He wipes the dust on from his glasses that he now understands why you made him wear. Considerate, for a person who nearly just gave him a heart attack. 
“Why.” It’s not even a question, just a statement. 
“You know how the Tower has a giant ‘A’ on the side?” 
He stares at you. 
“I‘m gonna spray paint ‘asshole’ on the side of it.”
Pepper would not like that. 
“That’s not even evil.”
“Yeah, but it’d annoy your super friends,” You do a flip midair, testing out the repulsors that were tied around your palms, “and I’m the voice of the people.”
You’re too high for him to reach. He doesn’t have his tools, or anything useful on him considering that he never had to use them before. He couldn’t even launch himself at you from the side of the building because you’d just move out of the way. He could jump really high but it would just have the same consequence.
He could talk and keep you distracted but that worked once, it wouldn’t again. At least not for long. 
Fuck, he really had only one option. 
He leaves you to do your somersaults and turns, walking over to where he dropped his phone. It’s an upgrade from the brick he was using a while ago, but not a high end Stark model. A smartphone, but barely.
He sighs, punching in the number and holding it up to his ear.
“Who are you calling?” you yell from above him. 
“Go back to your shitty aerobics,” he yells back.
You pause for a second. “Was that a fucking pun, James Bar-”
The dial tone ends when someone picks up. He diverts his attention back to the call.
“Hey man, I-
“No.”
“You didn’t even let me finish.”
“It’s probably something stupid,” Sam doesn’t even sound annoyed, just uninterested.
“I need your wings.”
“I was right. Bye.”
It was a long shot anyway.
“Fuckin’ hold on a second.” He sees you disintegrate a concrete block by having it drop from the air. “You come here and fix this, then. She’s air bending now.”
“...like Avatar?” Sam unsurprisingly got the reference. 
Peter’s interests were usually shared by everyone in the Tower, just because they had to compensate for the teasing he had to endure. It led to a lot of geeky documentaries and occasional musicals. Bucky wouldn’t be caught dead humming songs from Thoroughly Modern Millie under his breath. 
“Yeah.”
“You want me to come and fight your girlfriend,” he says slowly. 
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Bucky urges, “and yes, I need help. Can’t exactly reach her when she’s twenty feet above me.”
“We have a briefing in 30 minutes. Why did you even go there today?”
He doesn’t know how to answer that. Just looks up at you smacking one of the repulsors against your thigh when it sputters for a second. It’s tradition. 
“Well?” Bucky ignores his question.
“Fine,” Sam’s voice is distant for a second as he agrees. “Clint’s asking if he can come too.”
“Fuck no.” One of them was more than enough and Sam was way better at negotiation. 
He hears a faint profanity from who he assumed was Clint before the call cuts.
He takes a seat on the ground and waits.
“You’re not going to make any effort to stop me?” You have your arms pressed to your side, palms pointed downwards to keep you afloat.
 “I could just throw things at you again.” He makes a mention towards the small pebbles.
“I will fuck you up if you even try,” you warn. He lifts his arms in surrender. “So that’s it. You’re just going to sit there.”
“To be honest, I couldn’t care less if you painted the building,” he says with the least amount of interest he could muster, not that that was very hard.
“Do you not like your team?” 
“I do.” He isn’t lying. “But they’re little shits.”
“I can draw a couple of dicks on their window, no problem,” you say offhandedly.
He looks up at you through his fingers. “That won’t be required.”
Although it was appreciated. 
“Cool, so then I’m gonna go.” You make a mention of the utility belt on your waist. He looks at the many spray cans that decorate it. 
“What colour are you going with?” he interrupts quickly. Fuckin’ Sam. What was the point of wings if he couldn’t get here in 2 minutes?
“Red, probably.” You look down. “I got purple and white just in case.”
“Building’s dark, red is good.”
“You really don’t care, do you?” You lower yourself down to the ground, a few feet ahead of him. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” For fucks’ sake, Sam. “You really don’t like superheroes, do you?”
“I don’t have anything against them.”
“Then why do you do this every week?”
This was wading into personal territory and he did not like it. 
“Well.” Your eyebrows knit together. “Because I want to. It’s fun.”
“No other reason?”
“Do I need to have another reason?” You push your palm downwards, sending you back up into the air. “Can’t I just be evil because I want to?”
“Sure,” he says. He’s heard worse reasons. “Why not?”
“Besides, if you think I don’t like superheroes then you should meet Jake.”
“Who’s Jake?” He hadn’t ever heard you mention him before because he’d remember if you had.
“My roommate.” 
“I didn’t see him when I came over.”
“That’s because we’re not conjoined at the hip.” It takes you a second to stabilise. “Besides, he grabbed the water while I got the bracelet but he refused to come say hi.”
Bucky looked down at his wrist. It was still there. He found himself fidgeting with it more often than not.
“He hates superheroes?”
“He has a valid reason.” Your eyes widen in worry when your head suddenly dips. 
“What is it?” He knows the height at which you’re at isn’t very dangerous but if need be, he’s close by. 
“Come find out.” Your eyes shone mischievously. “But yeah, no reason for me to be evil.”
“Not even a tragic backstory?” 
“None. But if you want it, I can give you one, Barnes.” You test the waters, seeing how long you can lie horizontally. “Can’t promise you’ll like it though.”
“Try me.” He has time to kill. He’s a good listener.
“Well, it all started with my family- a troop of gorillas.” You flip over to lie on your back. “They practically raised me, they did. Until my gorilla mother died and I was all but consumed by grief and-”
“Your mother was a gorilla?” He entertains the notion. 
“Or was it my father?” you ask thoughtfully. “I don’t know, I don’t remember. Anyway, I met a-”
“Just to clarify, none of this is real, right?” he interjects. 
You stare at him. He stares at you.
“Bucky, that’s the plot of Tarzan,” you say slowly, “or at least whatever I remember of it... which I’m beginning to realise isn’t much.”
“Just clarifying.” He leans back again.
“Anyway so then when my mother, the deer-”
“Gorilla.”
“Whatever. Was killed, I escaped to some place-”
“Where?”
“Somewhere. And I stayed with these seven men-”
“Why seven?” He actually remembers watching this movie with his sister when it came out. An early memory, a bit faded. He remembers how long he saved up for the ticket.
“Because character development. And then I realised the reason my life was so weird was because there was a rat controlling me by pulling on my hair-”
“What the fuc-”
“If you ask any more questions, I’m going to stop.”
Bucky blinks at you. “So that’s your backstory.” 
“Raw and uncut, baby.”
“Just to get this straight, your mother, the gorilla deer-”
“Witch.”
“Huh?”
“She was a witch who stole my hair.”
“Wha-”
He’s interrupted by the giant shadow cast by something that flies overhead. 
Fucking finally. 
He doesn’t even have to look up. Sam does a small glide to the ground, landing gracefully beside him.
Bucky finds you speechless but straightened up from your earlier posture.
“Buck,” Sam greets him.
“Sam,” he says in return, getting up from his place. 
A grin spreads across your face. “Mr. Sam Wilson. No way.”
“You’re Y/N, I’m assuming?” Sam offers, posture relaxed. He clearly wasn’t here to fight. 
“The one and only.” You tear your eyes away from Sam to glare at Bucky. “Barnes, if you had told me we were expecting guests, I would have dressed better.”
Bucky furrows his eyebrows in suspicion at you. You’d dress up for Sam. 
You dressed up like a suburban tourist dad for him. He was feeling the offence incoming. 
“Can’t count on him to be useful in any situation.” Alright, he did not call Sam just to have the both of you team up against him. 
“Normally I’d agree with you but he did just invite you here, so...” you trail off, looking at Sam expectantly. 
What the shit.
Sam smirks. Bucky switches rapidly back and forth between the both of you.
“I see why Buck keeps coming back every week.” It doesn’t take long for him to catch on, enlisting a feeling of triumph from you. 
“I can’t see why he doesn’t just stay at home everyday if this is the view.” You gesture to him.
This is not what Bucky wanted.
“Okay,” Bucky interrupts, “what is going on here?”
“Pure chemistry, I’d say.” You’re half tempted to bite your lip to seal the deal.
“I agree.” Sam just nods, completely and utterly serious. 
You think that you’ll give him a gift basket just for playing along despite meeting you for the first time at that moment. 
“Get a room.” Bucky rolls his eyes.
“Maybe we will.” You tap your finger against your lip in thought. “How do you feel about Indian food, Sam?”
“Very positively.” 
Bucky grits his teeth. “If you’re not planning to spray paint the Tower, can you just hand over the repulsers so we can go home for the day?”
You let out a small tsk in disapproval. “See what I have to deal with?”
“Can’t imagine how you do it every weekend,” Sam says dryly, not wasting a second in replying. 
“Hello?” Bucky waves his arm around. “She’s the villain here.”
“Your face is the villain here.” You tear your eyes away from Sam only to glare at him. “He won’t even wear a cape. Why am I the only one who brings their A-Game every week?”
“Sam just get the damn-”
“You should wear a cape, man.” Bucky’s absolutely sure that even Sam knows it’s a ridiculous idea.
“I’m not wearing a fuckin’ cape,” he grumbles. 
“What are your thoughts on swords, then?” Your finger finds a place under your chin in deep contemplation. “You’d look great with a sword.”
Bucky buries his face in his palms. “Sam, for the love of God.” 
“Okay, alright.” Sam finally gives in with a small chuckle. He runs a few steps to get a small head start before launching himself into the air, whizzing past your levitating figure. He does a neat little flip midair before matching your height.
Showoff.
“How difficult are you gonna make this, Wilson?” you ask, a smirk on your face.
“Jesus Christ.” Bucky exhales, looking at the both of you through his goggles. 
“What’s your play here?” Sam calls out loudly.
“Was gonna spray paint ‘asshole’ on the side of the Tower.”
“After the ‘A’?”
“After the ‘A’,” you confirm. 
“Now that’s too small,” Sam tutted. “You gotta think bigger. Paint the whole Tower.” 
“Sam!” Bucky looks horrified. 
“Hmm.” You look like you’re considering it. “Don’t have enough paint for that though.”
“You’re an evil genius, right?” Sam casts a small glance at Bucky. “At least that’s what he tells me.”
“You talk about me?” You grin at the disgruntled man on the ground. 
“I don’t,” he mutters, shaking his head. A lie.
“Yeah, so build something,” Sam points out. “Get some more paint. I’ll even tell you the best vantage points to spill it.”
“No, he won’t,” Bucky shouts from below. 
“He’s just cranky because he didn’t get his prune juice this morning, ignore him,” Sam dismisses him.
Prune juice? He was a young 100, not ancient. 
“What’s your favourite colour, Falcon?”
“I like red.”
As annoyed as Bucky is right now, he stores that away in his memory for later. He also knows Sam loves seafood and a good pair of shoes. 
“A couple of gallons of red paint it is, then.” You lower yourself to the ground, Sam slowly follows suit until he lands beside Bucky.
“You know we can’t let you go without taking those, right?” Bucky tilts his head towards your invention.
You narrow your eyes at him. He doesn’t budge.
“I’ll tell ya what,” Sam pipes in instead. “I’ll keep them until you finish getting the paint and once you’re done, we’ll make an evening out of vandalising the Tower.” 
Bucky may not enjoy his company all that much but he admires Sam’s diplomacy. Of course, you would never make it this easy while reasoning with him.
“That a promise, Mr. Wilson?” You raise your eyebrow at him questioningly but are already in the process of removing the things from your hand. 
“Wouldn’t ever lie to you, doll.” He holds up his hand in a mock swear.
You walk towards Bucky and him, rotating your wrists to get rid of the soreness. “Bold claim for a man who met me ten minutes ago.”
“Feels like it’s been longer.” He sends you a wink and you can’t stop the laugh the escapes from you finally. 
Bucky holds his hand out for the gadgets. You shrink away from him with a click of your tongue.
“Technically, he takes this round.” You send a nod towards Sam, dropping off the repulsors into his hand. “So he gets it.”
Bucky rolls his eyes.
“You gonna keep ‘em safe?” you ask Sam, this time a little more earnestly. 
“Guard it with my life,” he says seriously, pressing his lips together in a line to avoid smiling. 
“You’re both ridiculous,” Bucky cuts in.
“You’re going to be late.” Sam tucks the devices into his pocket safely. “You know how Steve gets when people walk in on his speeches. Do you even have a ride?”
“Got the motorcycle.” 
“See you there.” Sam nods. 
“Save me a place,” Bucky says to him.
“No.” He doesn’t even hesitate. “Y/N. It was a pleasure.”
“Still holding you to that evening, Sam.” You send him a smile.
“I’m countin’ on it.” He gives you a small three finger salute before taking off, leaving you staring after his retracting figure. 
When the dust settles, Bucky awkwardly clears his throat. “Right. So that was that.”
“Dude,” you let out an exhale. “he’s so hot.”
He murmurs something unintelligible. It vaguely sounds like a series of threats but mostly a list of complaints.
“Don’t you have a meeting to get to?” You turn your attention back to him.
“Yeah.”
“Aren’t you going to be late?” You glance at the clock on your phone.
“I’ll just tell them I was on a mission.” Well, sort of. “Besides, what are they gonna do? Kick me out?”
“Fair enough.” You shrug. “Have a safe ride back.”
From what he knows of you and Sam, the both of you were kidding around. But he could never be too sure. He can’t even ask if you were serious about the entire thing because it’s none of his business. 
Were the implications of having his mortal nemesis and other mortal nemesis date important enough to overrule that? 
“Are you planning to skip your meeting, or?” you ask when he remains freezes in his spot, eyes glazed over like he’s thinking about something. “Because if you are, I know this great Thai place-”
“Don’t do that again,” he says instead, shaking his head to jolt him out of his thoughts. 
“What?”
“Flinging yourself off roofs like that.”
“Why?” Because it scared the hell out of him, for one.
“Just don’t.”
“Oh please, like you’ve never done dangerous shit like that before.” You narrow your eyes at him, reading his face. “Are you telling me you care about me?”
“No.” His nose twitches. “Just don’t throw yourself off buildings when I’m around.”
“What about when you’re not?”
“As long as I’m not there to witness it.” He shrugs, spinning on his heel to leave. Technically he preferred if you didn’t do things like that at all. 
“Fine. I’ll just have my clone try out all the dangerous stuff for me.”
 He stops in his tracks. “You have a clone?”
“Well,” You squint, “no. But I’m working on it.”
He scoffs, shaking his head. “Bye Y/N.”
“You know, it sounds an awful lot like you’re saying we’re friends.” Your whole demeanour changes and he already knows what’s coming.
“I never said that,” he argues vehemently. “All I said was that I can’t have your murder on my hands.”
“Thus implying that we’re friends. In a fucked up, enemies kind of way.” You positively beam at him. “Aw, Barnes, that’s adorable.”
Adorable? Adorable?
“I hate you.”
“I love you, too, bestie,” you gush, dumb grin on your face. “I’ll make us friendship rings next time. What are your thoughts on matching tattoos?”
He wants to cry. 
______
By the time Sam walks into the meeting room, the session’s already begun. He shoots an apologetic look to a monologuing Steve before taking his place at the nearest chair available. 
Something sharp pokes his thigh. His wings are off and in the backpack beside him, but then he remembers your little inventions that were still in his pocket.
He tries not to make much of a noise while he pulls them out, giving them a look over to make sure they’re not broken.
“Watcha got there, Big Bird?” Tony asks lowly from beside him.
“Something that Barnes’ enemy made.” Sam holds it up slightly. 
“The one he’s been rendezvousing around town with every weekend?” 
“That’s her.” He’s about to put it in his backpack when Tony stops him.
“Pass that here for a second.” He recognises it immediately for what it is, interest piqued. 
Sam hands one of them over while he puts the other back in the bag. It’s a metallic circle, not bigger than Tony’s palm, with a thick leather strap to tie it around your palm.
“She made this?” 
“Why don’t you ask him?” Sam mentions towards Bucky who silently slips into the conference room, standing in the corner near the potted plant since there were no more chairs left.
“The balance has gotta be off on this thing,” he mutters to himself, wholly ignoring the brooding man standing in the corner like a Christmas tree.
“She seemed to be manoeuvring it fine,” Sam catches the eye of a lower ranking agent who makes the mistake of glaring at him for talking while the meeting was going on. A few seconds later the agent hastily looks away and doesn’t turn around for the rest of the hour. 
“Could be better.” He uses a much more intricate model for his suits, although this isn’t even half-bad for a homemade version. “Do you know how long she took to make this?”
“Buck says she comes up with a new one every week, so I’m guessing that long.” 
It had a few glitches but it was incredibly refined for a week’s worth of work.
“Interesting.” He gives it a quick overlook before handing it back to Sam who drops it into the bag.
He casts a swift glance at Bucky, noting how he wasn’t even paying attention to the meeting but rather to whatever he had tied around his metal wrist, fidgeting with it with his thumb. 
Tony has an idea. 
And that was generally bad news.
Next part
1K notes · View notes
oitommothetease · 3 years
Text
Invisible String (4/?)
Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Female reader (Modern AU)
Description: James Buchanan Barnes, the owner of the most expensive-looking club in town and your new apartment. He was a dick and you hated him. What could possibly go wrong when you, the new girl in town, start bartending at his club to pursue your dreams?
Word Count: 2.6k words
Warning: 18+ (discussion of assault, nervous breakdown, anxiety attack, just don’t read this whole series if you are a kid)
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You woke up to a night of dreamless sleep like you always did, but then the events of the previous night hit you. You wished it was a dream, but one look in the mirror and a bruise running along your cheek was enough to confirm. Not only that, but you remembered asking your boss to stay over, but you didn't expect him to. The blanket on your living room’s couch and the bowl of fruits and a glass of juice situated out for you on the kitchen counter proved that he did stay.
And then the reality sunk in, you have a decision to make. You can either go to the cops or let that guy get away. The latter sounded not so great, but you knew going to the cops isn't going to be great either. You've seen enough detective shows to know that. You've had enough, and you just wanted to forget it. 
What did Mr. Barnes mean when he said you were going to talk about this? Are you supposed to visit him before work? Is he going to come to your place?
You decided to work on your book but ended up not being able to concentrate, so you started watching a show and fell asleep while watching it. Maybe some Chinese take-out could make you feel better. It didn't. Nothing made you feel better. You wished you had some friends in this new town because you didn't want to burden your work friends. 
After a horrible day of trying to cope, when you finally made your way to the club, you noticed the security was increased. Usually, security guards weren't present inside the club, but today it was different. Everyone was so vigilant and you felt a little safer. If you didn't know any better, you'd think Mr. Barnes did it for you, but again he would have done the same thing for any other employee. 
"Boss wants to see you," Pietro told you. You were about to head for Clint's office when the blond twin spoke again and pointed his finger towards the stairs." The boss."
Okay, well maybe playing naïve couldn't avoid this meeting, so you slowly walked upstairs. How bad could this go, it's not like he saw you in your most vulnerable state? Oh, wait, he did. 
You knocked on his office door, wanting to rip the band-aid and get over with it. 
"Hey," you said, faking a smile. "Thanks for getting me home last night and for breakfast today. I didn't even know I had fruits and juice at home because let's be honest, I'm a toast and coffee kinda gal."
Mr. Barnes didn't say anything, he just looked at you as if you were a confusing puzzle that he couldn't solve. He raised a hand towards the seat in front of him and you took it, nervously fiddling with your fingers under the table.
“You do that a lot, you know?” he asked, it wasn't a question, it was merely an observation.
“What?”
“Deflecting a serious issue by using a joke.” Mr. Barnes observed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“What are you? My therapist?”
He arched an eyebrow, indicating that you were literally doing the thing he pointed out. 
"Yeah, well, it's called having a healthy coping mechanism. You should try getting one, brooding is only gonna help you this far."
 "It's not healthy if you're not dealing with it," Mr. Barnes pointed out. 
You scoffed in incredulity and you felt very, very attacked. 
What is it? Attacking y/n day?, you thought. 
"Anyway, I think I want to press charges," You changed the subject to a more serious conversation to avoid him calling you out on your bullshit. 
"Okay, I understand.” 
“You do?” You asked, bewilderment clearly written all over your face. “I mean, letting an employee go to the cops is not gonna be great for your club's reputation and yours too. And, you know, considering the shady business, you do-” 
"What exactly do you think we do?" He asked.
And that's when it hit you, you didn't know what he did or mob bosses do in general. All your knowledge about it came from movies and Wattpad, both of them are not a great place to gain knowledge.
“What exactly do you do?” you pondered.
 He obviously wasn't expecting you to directly ask him, nobody has directly asked him or even made it known that they are aware of his work. It was kind of like a silent pact that everybody signed for, everybody except you, apparently. 
“Um, you know, I've been working for almost 2 weeks here now, and I haven't seen any drugs around here, so it's obviously not drugs. You don't look like the sex trafficking types-”
 "Jesus, woman!" He exclaimed, offended by your assumptions. 
"Then just tell me what you do."
You expected him to tell you something, but he just kept looking at you with a face void of emotions.
 "Fine, don't tell me," you mumbled, raising your hands dramatically in defeat. 
“So you don't mind me ruining your reputation by going to the cops?” 
“I told you I don't care. Your safety is my utmost priority,” your face might have given away the surprise you felt because he quickly backpedaled. ”I mean, the safety of my employees.”
“The safety of my employees is my utmost priority,” he told you, providing an extra emphasis on the word employees. “Anyway, one of my people would take you to the police station near-"
You cut him off immediately. 
"No, you can't tell anyone else. I don't want everyone hopping on the pity train. I'm already ashamed that you know about it," you pleaded but your voice was firm, telling him that this was not up for a discussion.
At this, his eyes and features softened. Bucky didn't want you to feel guilty or ashamed for somebody else's actions, but clearly, you did. 
"Okay, then I can take you. You just had to explain to the officer last night’s events, and they'll ask you to recognize Rumlow and then we can-"
Mr. Barnes’s voice faded into the background when it finally hit you.
"You know what, I changed my mind. It's too much. I don't want to press charges anymore. I didn't think this through," you backtracked. You did think this through, but now all the factors were adding up in your brain. You'd have to explain the details to a cop who is probably going to be another man and a stranger, and then they'd ask you to identify the guy. You didn't think you had it in you to face him. At least not now. 
He interpreted your thought process and promptly changed the topic. "Okay, we can work with whatever you want, and at least let Peter escort you home after work."
"What? No!” You quickly declined.
“It's for your own safety,” Bucky tried to reason. He wasn't letting you get off this easily.
 “I'm a strong, independent woman and I'm not scared of anything.” 
That was a lie. You were scared of many things like heights, dark, spiders, confrontation and the list goes on and on. 
You remembered all the lectures your mom gave you telling you that women should be scared because men are monsters, and you'd lose your honor if you are reckless and some other patriarchal crap that you didn't pay attention to. But you weren't scared, you were just always careful. You'd always put the keys between your knuckles when you went home alone. In your previous job, you used to laugh it off whenever your coworkers made a sexist joke. You'd ignore the subtle shoulder touch that your previous boss did. You told yourself that this is what it takes to make it. If you were to run away every time someone eyed you in a wrong way, then you'd spend your whole life running. 
Women usually shrug this behavior off as it is what is, but the truth is it shouldn't be like this.
“Please, I insist.” 
“I'm very capable of taking care of myself. Just because one bad incident happened doesn't mean I'll fucking break!” You stated, your voice louder than your regular voice to get across your point.
That was also a lie. You were walking on a thin line and you were ignoring your emotions. You were one outburst away from a breakdown, and you just couldn't bring yourself to feel anything. 
Mr. Barnes tried to call your name, but you were already bolting out of his office. 
You needed a drink. No, fuck that. You needed multiple drinks. It wasn't exactly wise to get drunk during work, but it couldn't get any shittier than this, right?, you thought.
Right?
 Wrong. It could get way shittier than this. Now it was almost midnight, you were kind of tipsy, and you could see two Mr. Stark, your regular customer, in front of you. 
Did he have a twin? Is he and his twin brother one of those identical twins that dress up the same? Because that's what it looked like.
 “Earth to y/n," Mr. Stark said, or was it his twin? It was getting hard to keep track anymore.
 And that's when you noticed. 
“Holy, Shit. You're triplets, Mr. Stark," you announced. 
"Okay, kid, close my tab.”
“Hey, y/n. Are you okay?” Peter asked, noticing the concerned look Mr. Stark gave him before leaving.
“Yes, I'm fine. Absolutely fine.”
***
Turns out you were not fine. You've been pretty much hammered for the past week, and you could barely get a sentence out without giggling or slurring. Your colleagues took notice of your state and whenever someone pointed it out, you'd just shrug it off as a bad day or a bad week. There was no concept of time in your drunk state.
You couldn't concentrate on your book, you could barely look at someone without squinting, and you've been eating takeout and leftovers for the past few days. 
James would have fired if someone working under him was this irresponsible, but he knew your reasons. He knew you clearly weren't coping with the trauma well. Your work ethics were shoved down the trash that even Clint asked why you weren't fired yet.
Bucky didn't want to talk to you, he thought that maybe giving you some space would do you good, but clearly it wasn't working. Usually, the mob boss didn't interfere in the affairs of his employees, it was Clint's job, but when you smashed a bottle on the head of a customer, he had to interject.
“I TOLD THIS FUCKER NO!” you yelled, Peter’s hand around your middle from behind. Another empty beer bottle was in your hand, ready to be smashed across the face of the drunk dude in front of you.
Pietro and Wanda were enjoying the show. Peter, being the peace lover he is, held you back when you smashed a bottle across a drunk customer's face. Even though Peter was younger than you, he was stronger, and he was not only holding you back but also himself. He didn't want to cause a scene and that is why he was mulling comforting words in your ear like, he's not worth it, you're gonna kill this guy.
Damn right I am, you thought.
It was ironic because everyone in that club had killed someone except you.
When Bucky walked into the room, the drunk guy turned towards him and pointed at you. ”You are hiring crazy bitches now? Just called her baby girl and she went psycho!!!”
Bucky didn't understand what was happening. He told the security guards to take that man outside his club and he walked towards you. He firmly yet gently took a hold of your left arm, signaling Peter to let go of you. Without a word, he started walking in the direction of his office, dragging you along with him.
Once near his office, he lightly yanked your hand and shoved you inside, making you stand in front of him.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he inquired, having had enough of your incompetence.
You were seething with rage. "Wrong with me? I told him no, but he didn't listen."
Bucky stepped forward, his anger dissipating into sympathy. " I know, he mumbled, "and I'm so-"
 "No, you don't know!" you yelled, body trembling and tears welling up in your eyes. "I told him no multiple times, I even tried to push him off me, but he just kept coming back."
Bucky's eyes furrowed in confusion. He didn't understand your words, the drunk customer didn't touch you. And that's when he realized, you weren't talking about the drunk customer. He cognized that the drunk guy purely triggered something that you've been suppressing for days now. Bucky was aware that you needed to get it out of your system to cope healthily.
“I told him no, you know? But he just wouldn't listen,” you stated, trying to convince yourself that you didn't lead him on. ”And he was so…. so strong and… and then he hit me and everything just went blur, I couldn't see but... but I could still feel him with me.”
Not realizing that you were not in that place anymore, you wrapped your hand around yourself to seek some sort of protection and comfort, bottom lip quivering, the welled up traitorous tears were streaming down your face and all you could think about was that night. 
“I… I can't get his touch out,” you stammered. ” I shower, multiple times a day, but I still can't get his touch out.”
With that, you broke down completely and shattered on the floor, sobbing ferociously. Your knees ached because of the position you were situated in, but the emotional pain was enough to overshadow the physical one.
For once in his lifetime, Bucky did not know what to do. Cautiously, he made his way towards you and knelt down in front of you. He did not know what to say or do to make you feel better.
You launched your body towards him, snaking your arms around his shoulder to settle on his neck as if he was the only thing grounding you. You lurched onto him like he was your anchor, and maybe he was. It took a minute for Bucky to register your actions, and when he did, he wrapped his arms around your middle and closed the minuscule distance separating you.
He surprised himself with the way one of his hands automatically reached for your hair and whispered words of comfort in your ear. He caught you as you crumpled physically and emotionally. 
”You're going to be okay, doll,” he whispered and kissed your temple with sincerity. ”I will make sure of that.”
The second part was barely audible, it wasn't meant for you, it was a promise he made to himself.
Bucky held you tightly yet gently while you sobbed on his shoulder.
 He didn't know how long he held you, it felt like an eternity to him with the way he could feel the guilt and rage inside him. When you passed out in his arms, he gently placed you on one of the comfortable couches in his office and draped a blanket around you that he had for when he would work late at night.
An office chair might not be the most ideal place to spend the night in, but it didn't matter to Bucky. All that mattered was you.
TAGS: @bananapipedreams​ @akkinda10​  @rivers-rambles21​  @emmabarnes​@goodcleanfunsis​ @valsworldofcreativity​
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bottombaron · 3 years
Text
the high school Winterbaron au that I'll never write~
Zemo transfers to an American school. his father caught him attending a protest and he can't have him undermining the Sokovian government so now Zemo is living at his estranged mother's house in America.
his mother, being American, means Zemo has dual citizenship. her and his father are separated but not divorced. (Zemo hadn't seen her since she left them when he was four so their relationship isn't great)
Bucky is part of the large friend group of avenger characters (Steve, Tony, Bruce, Thor etc.) but he feels left out. it used to be just him, Steve, Natasha, and then later Sam. but now Steve is being pulled away by friends like Tony and girlfriend Peggy. Bucky has Sam and Natasha, but Nat is closer with Clint and Sam is naturally more outgoing and popular than Bucky is, with his own friends.
basically Bucky is feeling lonely as fuck.
due to a complex powder-keg of racism, American ignorance (on the avenger's side), and an already deep-seated resentment of the Starks' and the American forces bombing Sokovia (on Zemo's side): him and the 'avengers group' do not get along and are instantly at each other's throats
Zemo is constantly causing mayhem at school and trying to get kicked out and sent back home. everyone pretty much hates him and he's fine with that.
*vague plot hand wave* something happens, a bet between Zemo and the 'avengers' ends up with Zemo getting to take one of them out on a date and they have do what he says for the day
he chooses Bucky and everyone is thrown
Bucky hardly knows this guy and Steve and Tony thought it would be one of them. they try to refuse on his behalf but Bucky's not that bothered, '*shrug* he's like, what? 5 even?? (he's not) I could just pick him up and throw him if he tried anything (he could do that tho), i'll be fine.'
Bucky feels weird about it more because he's not a part of this fucking drama and now he feels like he's been made the center of it
Steve and Tony are fighting over his involvement in this mess (Steve is protective, Tony is dismissive) and Bucky is just tiRED
Zemo had simply noticed Bucky was being abandoned by his friends and thought he looked lonely like him. but he's also a little shit and too busy playing the villain (and having a blast thank you very much) to drop the façade
so Bucky and Zemo agree to meet at a mall for a 'date'
the mall Zemo chooses is huge and luxurious and Bucky already feels uncomfortable in it. he sits and waits in the food court where there's at least a Hot Dog on a Stick he can feel a little within his financial comforts
Zemo finds him and they're off walking the mall
they bicker, they banter, and of course Zemo is fucking weird. he's acting like they've been friends for years and excitedly showing Bucky all the window displays like Bucky isn't (technically) there against his will. but it's not uncomfortable enough that he isn't starting to catch onto Zemo's chaotic rhythm and enjoy himself a little
they start to talk in that sarcastic playfully teasing way. Bucky's dry wit and Zemo's sharp flirty replies work really well together and they're actually kind of having a good time
until Zemo reminds Bucky he has to do what he says for the day and takes him to a really fancy boutique and informs Bucky that his task is to try on some clothes with Zemo
Bucky instantly feels panic when he's in the store, it's too big and too crowded and there's actual security guards in three piece suits giving him the most judgmental looks as if he's a criminal
everyone knows he doesn't belong there and that he's small and dirty
he starts to have a panic attack
Zemo notices and pulls Bucky into a corner of the store, hands him a bottle of water and instructs him to focus on drinking the bottle up to the label. every sip of water he must take a deep breath like he's coming up for air in a pool. let it out. and take another sip. and repeat.
Zemo tells Bucky he's going to be right back and leaves to talk to someone important
Bucky doesn't notice when everyone starts to leave the shop
the doors close, the lights dim, the music stops playing current pop and plays something soft and old. when Zemo comes back Bucky is feeling a lot better
Zemo says he talked with the manager and they told him he and Bucky could have the next couple of hours by themselves in the shop, if Bucky was still willing that is
Bucky feels embarrassed but Zemo starts ranting about everything that's triggering in the store, like it was everyone else's fault and not Buckys'. it makes him feel less ashamed. 'it's these florescent lights, the doormen were assholes, that music hurt my head too, etc'. like what Bucky had just went through was perfectly normal and not something bad Bucky did on purpose or for attention like people normally make him feel.
he doesn't question how Zemo got everyone to leave and the store to soften (he actually doesn't know Zemo is rich, he never bothered to know Zemo at all. he was just the guy everyone at school hated)
the two of them spend the time running around like children with the store all to themselves, the only other person a butler-like-attendant that serves them champaign and cashews.
Bucky braces for Zemo to dress him up like he promised he would. he's expecting a trim three piece suit that Zemo was eyeing earlier or something equally uncomfortable. but with how surprisingly well Zemo had been treating him Bucky feels like he can indulge a small dress up party for the guy
he's surprised again when Zemo's wardrobe choices for him are sinfully soft cotton jeans, t-shirts, and the sexiest leather jacket he's even seen
they're clothes Bucky would have picked for himself and he feels great in them
Zemo for his part steps out of the dressing room looking like Elton John meets Cruella DeVil
the ugliest purple fur coat, heels with gold accents, and a crop top that says 'break my hole not my heart' on it
Bucky: that is the ugliest fucking outfit I've ever seen
Zemo: thank you, I love it 😎
Bucky asks why he wasn't forced to wear something more high fashion, Zemo answers that, 'while I would love to see you in a suit I know you wouldn't be comfortable in one. attractiveness is about comfort. my style isn't yours. I'm comfortable in things that you would never be in which is why I make this look good. and you look exquisite in that.'
Bucky blushes but doesn't disagree. he does however tease Zemo about his outfit. 'are you sure you actually pull that off?'
Zemo: oh hunny, I'm fuckable in anything
Bucky switches into his old clothes and whistles when he sees the price tag. 'I could never afford this' Zemo looks, 'ah yes , that is quite the ridiculous mark up.'
Zemo: which is why I was planning on stealing it ;3
and then he runs out of the store with all the clothes he picked out for Bucky, still in his gaudy outfit
Bucky is dumbfounded but quickly runs after him and they stop only after they're at the other end of the mall, out of breath
Bucky: the actual fuck, Zemo!
Zemo: *is wearing his ~who me? I've never done anything wrong in my cute little life~ face* :3
Zemo explains shoplifting is good actually fuck capitalism
and doesn't explain that the reason why they had control of the store in the first place is because his father is an investor and everything they ran out with was technically already bought the moment they touched it
but he doesn't want Bucky to feel indebted for the clothes or make him feel like he needs charity. and rebellion (even pretend rebellion) is funner
Bucky suspects everything is fine anyway because he's not an idiot but it's funner to pretend for him too
the fantasy world that they've created outside of their actual lives and drama, in this mall, on this day, is freeing
Zemo releases Bucky of their deal, the time having been completed
Bucky, instead of leaving, takes Zemo's wrist and guides him to Hot Dog on a Stick at the food court
he treats him to a $5 dinner and watches, trying not to laugh, as Zemo attempts to eat a corndog with mustard in a pair of white Versace cashmere pants
it's the best date he's ever had
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stevetonyweekly · 3 years
Text
SteveTony Weekly - May 2
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I know I say every week that I read a lot this week but I have been indulging in my favorite coping technique and so this list is ridiculously long. Twitter encouraged me. Blame them. 
**Indicates my recent favs 
~*~ 
On the inherent homoeroticism of cake decoration by welcoming_disaster (616/8K)
“She’s matchmaking, Barton,” Carol sighed.
“We,” Thor corrected, thumping himself hard in the chest, “art matchmaking.”
“Who, Cap n’ Tony?” Clint asked, his mouth full.
“Cap and Tony,” Janet confirmed, cutting herself a thin slice of egg and gently depositing it on her whole grain avocado toast, “it’s getting ridiculous.”
“Wait, I thought they were—“ Clint frowned, glancing around the room as though to confirm. Nothing but confused faces met his questioning gaze. “Huh. I really thought they were fucking.”
“And there is the crux of the issue,” Jess licked a bit of spaghetti sauce off her lip.
“Aye,” agreed Thor, “there’s rub.”
-----------
The team tries to set up Steve and Tony. Things don't go as planned.
Baby lovers like you and me (never say die) by FestiveFerret (Old Guard AU/7.5K)
The Avengers. They'd found him frozen in the ice, told him he was immortal, of all things. And with the way he'd lived through seventy years deep in the Atlantic, he found himself inclined to believe them. They'd also been very… convincing.
Without question, they integrated him into their unit - The Avengers, a secret team of unkillables seeking wrongs around the world and making them right, supported and housed by an enigmatic billionaire named Tony Stark. Their immortality, it seemed, was a secret to everyone but him.
Ready, set, bake by ChocolateCapCookie (Great British Bake Off/11k) 
The Avengers are on a nationally televised baking competition, but nobody seems to have warned the producers that the Avengers, while they save the world everyday and put their loves at risk doing so, are a) insanely competitive, and b) absolutely terrible bakers. Steve Rogers, especially, has a competitive streak a mile wide, and he's determined to win this competition, but it's not easy when his only real opponent is also the man he's been in love with for years.
***To make flowers grow (in this barren heart) by SoldiersShield, KakushiMiko (Hanahaki AU/16K) 
“You hide yourself away in your technology, but you are just as human as the rest of them. Your heart betrays your desire to possess.” Her gaze falls to the arc reactor, and Tony's blood runs cold in his veins.
“The Earth will reclaim what we have lost,” she says, dragging a hand over the chestplate of the armor. “It is you, and your kind-- your greed that pulls life from the soil as if it were nothing. You will reap what you have sown, Stark. The avarice in your heart will strangle the very life out of you.” Arna meets his eyes once more, a serene smile on her face as she leans forward.
“I hope he is worth dying for,” she murmurs, before digging her hand into his ribcage.
(Tony Stark falls in love with Steve Rogers. A rogue enchantress ensures he pays for it.)
Shelter from the storm by silkspectred (KidFic/5k) 
Tony adopts a baby. Guess who's Majorly Fucked Up™ about it.
Keep on beating by itsallAvengers (Domestic Fluff/6K) 
There were an awful lot of things Steve loved about Tony. But one thing in particular Steve could never get enough of was his heartbeat.
The good or bad thing by petreparkour (Multiverse/10k) 
 “It’s the metal suit,” Thor informed Steve, his normally-booming voice tinny over the SHIELD comms. “What did Stark call it—Iron Man?”
“But he’s down here,” Steve protested as the Hulk roared in Stark’s face, startling him into waking with a shout. “How could—”
“It’s damaged,” Thor reported. “But it looks different. More advanced. And he—ah. He’s carrying you, Captain.”
“Please tell me nobody kissed me,” Stark breathed out, and then Stark’s voice suddenly came over the comms, but the man lying next to him hadn’t moved.
“Guys, come on, you’re killing me here. What is it, 2012? God, I hate time travel. First, I'm fighting Thanos. Now, I have to deal with my past self and Thor's bad haircut? Oh my God, Cap, yes I hacked their comms, they’re my comms.”
Steve nearly opened his mouth to protest that he hadn’t said anything when he realized that this replica of Tony Stark wasn’t speaking to him.
***The tipping point by nightwalker (Domestic Fluff/7K) 
Tony has a few quirks. Steve's still trying to figure them all out.
We two, how long we were fool’d by glassessay (Soulmate AU/9K) 
Steve Rogers comes into the world as unblemished as his mother. When Anthony Stark is born, his soulmark is an obvious pattern of ink across his tiny chest.
It only takes a century, two names, and a shared love of Walt Whitman for them to find each other.
The tape in the cave by betheflame (Canon Divergent/5K) 
Steve had no idea what was happening.
“You think I didn’t know that?”
Tony was staring Zemo down as though the Sokovian was actual vermin - which, Steve reflected, he kind of was.
“You think that I,” Tony continued, not hiding the sneer in his voice, “Anthony Stark, who has more powerful technology in my literal fingers than most nations have, that I wouldn’t know everything possible about how my parents died? That I wouldn’t know it wasn’t an accident, that your silly little HYDRA Nazi knock-off pals are the ones who murdered them? Please, you are pathetic.”
Happy ending by Robin_tCJ (No-Powers AU/28K) 
 Steve is a mobile massage therapist, and Tony is a stressed billionaire. What could go wrong?
With a decent happiness by torigates (Teacher AU/16K) 
Tony Stark is Iron Man. Steve Rogers isn't, and never was Captain America.
Or, the one where everything is the same except Steve is a kindergarten teacher.
Nothing left but scars by SailorChibi (MCU/6.7K) - Reread
Steve wakes up to the fact that no one ever compliments or even says thank you to Tony, and that he has fallen into the same trap of painting Tony with a specific paintbrush.
This is how he showers a very confused Tony with praise to make up for it.
Our hearts should remember and follow by frostfall (MCU/5K) 
Steve hums. “I didn’t know you could play. Or sing. Don’t think I’ve heard anyone mention it before.”
Tony shrugs. “It’s one of the few things, skills, I don’t flaunt. Not something people are interested in, anyway. Not gonna sway any board members by playing fucking Für Elise for them. Sides’, there’s a high chance I wouldn’t even play. Well, maybe if you get me drunk enough and near an instrument. Then, I might reconsider.”
(After a dream leaves Tony rattled, he turns to the piano as a way to distract himself.)
Finally, you and me by pensversusswords (Multiverse/10K) 
Because in every layer of time, in every conceivable dimension, he was always meant to love Steve.
By some miracle, Steve was meant to love him back.
***Full disclosure not required (but appreciated) by Potrix (Identity Porn/16k) 
The one where Steve knows more than he lets on, Tony knows less than he pretends, Clint has a big mouth, Bucky is a little shit, and everyone learns why keeping secrets never ends well.
Almost never, anyway.
Heartlines by nanasekei (MCU/7.9K) 
“Let me,” Tony repeats. He regrets it deeply, so much, he wants to stick the words back into his mouth again, and it must show, in the way his voice wavers. He feels exposed, all of a sudden, as if he’s asking something bigger than what he can actually say. Let me touch you, let me take care of you. “Just… Let me do it.”
i found a way to let you in, but i never really had a doubt (marriage series) by quidhitch (Marriage Series/16k) 
Tony Stark doesn’t believe in marriage. It’s nobody’s fault. —Well, it’s Howard's fault, probably, but Tony doesn’t like to think about that for too long, finds that it dredges up all sorts of issues he’d rather keep buried under a mountain of strategically employed sarcasm, humorous self-deprecation, and the occasionally effective substance abuse.
***Hide your love away by sineala (Soulmate/33K) - Reread
Tony has suspected for a long time that the soulmark on his chest matches Steve's -- but he's never told Steve about it. And then it's too late to tell Steve anything at all ever again. In the wake of Steve's death, the Skrull invasion, and Norman Osborn's rise to power, the identity of his soulmate is just one of the many things Tony cuts out of his memory forever.
When Tony returns to consciousness, he's forced to deal with the aftermath of a war he no longer remembers fighting, not to mention a Steve Rogers who can barely stand to be in the same room with him. Surely the last thing Tony could ever need in his life is more amnesia. But that's what he gets. And Tony's new missing memory just might be the key to finding out the truth of his soulmark... as well as his chance to make things right once and for all.
Break the chain (can’t live in circles again) by orphan_account (FWB/19K) 
There had been seven amazing weeks of dating Steve Rogers before Tony realised that they weren’t dating at all. And then it was a scramble to adjust to the situation as it had always been: being Steve’s friend-with-benefits.
And if Steve seemed a little confused and bewildered by the way Tony was acting, well. Tony was probably just misreading that, too.
Five times steve and tony (tried to) bail each other out of jail by Teyke (MCU/6k) 
Twice before Civil War, twice after, and once during. For very loose definitions of both 'bail' and 'jail'.
Cracked hearts under iron ribs by XtaticPearl (Established Relationship/14k)
Rhodey is away for almost six months now and comes to meet Tony after the mission. He doesn't understand the domesticity of the whole Tower and unknowingly sets off a whole truck of insecurities which make Tony crawl back into being a Stark instead of just Tony. The team is not at all happy and Rhodey joins them in trying to figure out a way to help their resident genius feel better in his skin.
The single biggest problem with communication by BlossomsintheMist (616/108K)
In the wake of Steve's return from the dead and the end of Norman Osborn's reign of terror, the superhero community is recovering--Steve has taken on a new role and Tony is trying to put his life back together. Things are still awkward between them, but they're determined to put things to rights. But when a discussion about their feelings leads to further misunderstandings, they discover that might be more difficult than either of them realized. Set in the early Heroic Age after the end of Dark Reign, this is a get-together story about crossed wires--and second chances.
What are friends for? by bobertsmallismydad (MCU /2.8K) 
In which Steve is targeted by a virus. Will the Avengers be able to save him in time?
Starving by festiveferret (Vampire AU/2K) 
Steve woke up starving.
***Everybody wonders (What it would be like to love you) by SoldiersShield (MCU/3K) 
“...Is that what this is about?” He asks slowly. Steve blanches.
“Oh my god. It is.” Tony has no right looking as giddy as he does. “Steven Grant Rogers, are you jealous?”
--
Or: Steve and Tony have been dancing around each other for a while now, and Steve's rather content with it. Attending a gala together just might change that.
Re(A)d all over by brandnewfashion, MusicalLuna (Drunk Flirting/3k) 
Contrary to popular belief, Tony Stark can blush.
It just takes Steve getting drunk on some magical Asgardian mead for it to finally happen.
***The Do-over Proposal by nightwalker (Established Relationship/1.2k) 
Steve wants to go on a journey, Tony doesn't think it's a good time, and Bucky needs to beat some sense into both these idiots.
A Winter’s Ball by alliejowrites (Victorian AU/3.8K) 
Steve moves to London in search of a patron, so that he can finally devote himself to painting. He is not expecting everything he finds upon meeting Lord Stark. A fluffy little Victorian AU. One-shot.
What’s a fanfic by starksnack (AvAc/1K) 
Kamala introduces Tony and Steve to the world of fanfiction. There is a surprising amount of content about them being gay.
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avengerscompound · 3 years
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The Tower: Happily Ever After - 2
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The Tower: Happily Ever After An Avengers Fanfic
Series Masterlist | Character Refrence PREVIOUS //
Pairing:  Avengers x OFC, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)
Word Count: 1849
Warnings:  Pregnancy and minor language on chapter.
Synopsis: Almost 40 years after Elise Cooper first crashed into Natasha Romanoff outside the library at Columbia University, she and the Avengers are adapting to a near-immortal life together with their large brood of children.  Yet things aren’t perfect.  Life is moving on without them and they’re starting to discover who isolating being immortal can be.When Angela comes and asks Thor to take the throne of Asgard once more, the group leaves Earth in the hopes that they will find their Happily Ever After there.
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Chapter 2: Anger Issues
When Marya returned home from school that day we were all ready to meet her.  Marya was sixteen years old, a little taller than I was, with dark hair and light brown eyes - just like Bruce.  Those weren’t the only things she’d inherited from her biological father.  She was extremely intelligent and had been skipped ahead a grade in school.  There had been talk about skipping her ahead more than that, but it wasn’t something encouraged in schools due to the strain it has on children’s emotional and social development.  So instead she was finishing up high school with her peer group while taking college courses as electives.
She also had her own little green problem.
Her powers worked differently from Bruce’s.  She could turn into a hulk, and that transformation could be triggered by extreme negative emotions - not just anger, but when she was really sad or anxious too.  Unlike Bruce though, she never had to worry about sharing her body with another person.  When she changed she was always herself and generally she had such precision control over the transformation that she could do it on command, much as Bruce could after the bonding ceremony all those years ago.
She looked around suspiciously at us as we called her over to the couches by the large window, typically the place where we had family meetings.  It was usually where we spoke to the kids if they had done something they probably shouldn’t have.  We took an approach with our parenting where they didn’t usually get in trouble for misbehaving.  Rather we tried to think of a real-world consequence for what they’d done.  For example, if they were fighting they had to sit down and listen to each other’s grievances and then work out a way to both come to an understanding about how the other feels and try to make each other feel better.  It didn’t always work, but we figured it was better than arbitrarily making them go sit in the corner.  So it made sense that she’d think she was in trouble for something.
“What’d I do?”  She asked, dropping her backpack on the ground while she stood looking at her gathered parents.
“Why don’t you tell us?”  Sam teased.  “And we’ll tell you if that’s it.”
“I’m not falling for that,” Marya snarked, folding her arms across her chest.
“Honey, sit down,” Steve said, gently.  “You’re not in trouble.  We just need to tell you something.”
Marya sat down carefully, looking at everyone with deep suspicion.  “Is someone else pregnant?  Are you trying to populate Earth with just our family?”
“No,” Clint laughed.  “What the hell?”
I rolled my eyes.  “Honestly, honey, I sometimes think the same thing,” I said.  “But that’s not what this is.”
“Your Aunt Angela came to visit today,” Steve explained.  “She’s giving up the throne of Asgard.”
“Does that mean Riley’s going to be queen?”  Marya asked, looking over at Thor.  “I can’t believe my sister’s going to be the queen of a whole other planet.”
Thor shook his head.  “Riley is still too young to rule by Asgardian standards.  My people - our people - would consider that the equivalent of having Zak as their king.  I have to step up and take the lead.”
“Which means, we are moving to Asgard,” Steve finished.  “I know that...”
“What?”  Marya yelped, interrupting Steve as she blinked at us.  “When?”
“Within the month,” Steve said.
“But I have school!”  Marya shouted.  Her fists clenched and she started to turn green at the edges.  “And what about my friends?  You can’t just take me away from everyone I ever knew!”
“Mar,” Bruce said, gently.  “Deep breath.  Get that under control.”
“Don’t tell me how to feel!”  Marya shouted, slamming her hands on the coffee table and sending a large crack through the heavy wood.  I jumped a little, startled at her violent reaction, and the green started to creep into her arms starting at her hands, making her muscles swell and double in size.
Sam moved forward and crouched in front of his daughter, taking both her hands in his and looking into her eyes.  “Marya,” Sam said with a gentle yet commanding tone.  “I know you’re upset, but you need to talk about this rationally.  If you can’t talk about it, you’re gonna have to go to your room to cool off first.”
She started crying and pulled her hands out of his.  “It’s not fair!” She cried.  “I don’t even get a say about whether or not you take me away from my friends.  My whole goddamn planet?”
“Honey,” Steve said, wrapping his arm around Marya’s shoulders.  “I know this is tough.  I really do.  But we’re partially doing it for you.”
“I don’t see how taking me from my friends is somehow supposed to be good for me,” she grumbled.
“Alright, kid,” Natasha said.  “I’m going to give you some harsh truths here.  You’re going to lose them anyway.  Maybe not all of them anytime soon, but the ones you would have kept in your life you’d have had to watch age and die.  Just like we all have done and are with our friends and family.  We want to save you what’s happening with Rose.  We don’t want you to have to fall in love and then watch them fade out while you’re stuck looking like you can’t buy a beer.”
Marya started crying harder and fell into Steve’s side and Wanda glared at Natasha.  “You didn’t have to be so harsh,” Wanda snapped.
“Well babying her wasn’t doing it either,” Natasha argued.  “She needs to hear it.  She might not like it, but going to Asgard is what’s best for her.”
“Can’t I even finish school?”  Marya begged.  “I could stay with Eddie - or Rose.  Or one of my friends.  And then… then I’ll come.”
“There will be school for you on Asgard,” Thor said.  “And it will teach you things that far outreach anything any of you have learned on Midgard.  Riley and Pietro both attend and they learn of the world tree, and alien languages, advanced mathematics, and magic.  You are already holding yourself back to fit in, daughter.  You would never have to hide any part of you in Asgard.  Not your intelligence, and not this -” he tapped her arm where it was still tinged with green.
“And I’ll make it so you can talk to your friends here.  We’ll set up a line of communication,” Tony added.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll make sure my kids don’t go without Tumblr and Instagram.  Imagine how many followers you’ll get posting selfies in Asgard.”
“I already have a tonne of followers, dad,” Marya sniffed.  “I’m a Skjodbærer.”
“Yes, you are,” Tony said.  “And don’t you forget it.  The whole universe is yours.”
“We’ll make sure we come back to visit,” I said.  “We all still have friends here, and places we like to spend our time.”
“Yeah, who’s going to annoy Katie-Kate if I’m not around?”  Clint joked.
Marya let out a small laugh that was still more tears than actual laughter.  “I’m sure she’d hate not being annoyed by you.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Clint said and patted Marya on the thigh.
“We aren’t doing this to punish you, Mar,” Sam soothed.  “I promise.  We’ve all been talking about this for a long time, and we were going to wait, but your dad can’t anymore.  He has to go and rule his kingdom.  And sometimes we have to give up what we want to do for what we need to.”
Marya let out a long slow breath and nodded.  “I know.  I know, dad.  They’re still my friends though and I’m still sad about it.”
“I know,” Wanda said.  “Being sad is normal.”
“Can I have a goodbye party?”  Marya asked.
“Look who you’re talking to,” Tony teased.  “The biggest.”
She sat silently for a moment and nodded again.  “If I really hate it, can I come back again?”
“You need to give it a proper chance,” Steve said.
“I will,” she assured him.  “I just… I don’t…”
“If you really hate it, you can come back,” I said, cutting Steve off before he had a chance to reply.  “We won’t like it, but our kids being happy and healthy is the thing we want most.  We just think… in the long run, this is the best option for that.”
“I know,” Marya said.  She looked around at anyone and kicked at her bag.  “Can I go now?”
“One thing first,” Steve said, tapping the table where she cracked it.  “What are we going to do about this?”
Marya sighed and looked at it.  “I’m sorry,” she said.
“And…?”  Steve pressed.
“And… I’ll go see if I can find someone who can repair it.  If I can’t, I’ll shop for a suitable replacement.  And… and I’ll volunteer at the soup kitchen for the Sundays before we leave as a stand-in for the fact I don’t need to earn money to pay for these things.”
“Good girl,” Steve said.  “Dinner will be at 6.30.”
Marya stood up and grabbed her back.  “Okay.”
“Marya,” I said.  “We love you.”
She smiled a little and nodded.  “I love you all too.”
We watched her disappear up the stairs and Bruce sat back and ran his palms over his scalp.  “I really need to help her deal with her anger.”
Bucky patted his arm.  “It’s usual teen stuff.  We’ve seen it before -” he gestured to me “- we’ll see it again.”
“Yeah, but when any of the others got upset we didn’t have to worry about them breaking the building,” Bruce said.
“Umm… do I need to remind you about that tantrum Riley had that meant we had to remodel her room,” I said.
Bruce chuckled and nodded.  “Right.  I guess.”
“It won’t hurt to work with her more,” Sam said.  “But don’t think that her having a temper is on you.  She’s hyper-intelligent and smart kids often deal with anxiety because they’re always thinking ten steps ahead about all the potential terrible outcomes.”
“Tell me about it,” Tony snarked.
“Yes, Tony, you’re a genius, we all know,” Bucky teased.
“I do not like that I am the reason for her distress,” Thor said.  “We could always go back to how it was before Angela took the throne.”
“And barely get to see you?”  Clint said.  “I don’t fuckin’ think so.”
“That’s not going to happen, Thor,” Steve said.  “We’ve been talking about this for a while.  It’s time.  Sometimes kids have to move because their parents are.  It’s not fun for them.  But she will adapt and it is better it happens sooner than for her to fall into this society's expectations for when she should be doing things.”
Thor nodded, though he didn’t look completely convinced.  
“Alright,” Clint said, clapping his hands.  “Enough about moody teenagers.  We have a lot to work out.”
“It’s going to be a big change,” I said.  “But we’ve gotten really good at those, and in my experience, they always worked out for the best.”
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// NEXT
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Fireflies
I wrote a little ironfalcon & sarahbucky fic! Thank you to @warmachinesocks for sensitivity reading it for me, I really appreciate the help!
This fic is also on ao3 but tumblr hates links so no links for you
~
The first thing Bucky sees when he walks through the door of Sarah’s house—Sarah’s house! He gets to stay with Sarah!—is Tony Stark washing the dishes. He stops in the doorway, not sure why he’s so surprised to see Stark there—he’d known that Stark had retired somewhere quiet after the battle with Thanos—but he definitely is. He hesitates, not sure if he can—or should—say something. Sure, he and Tony had talked things out after the battle, cleared the air between them, but he’d assumed that was based on them never having to see each other again.
“It’s rude to lurk in doorways,” Tony says, before he can think of anything to say.
“Uh,” Bucky says intelligently. Then, “What are you doing here?” He winces. His ma would absolutely have something to say about how rude he’s being if she could hear him.
Fortunately, Tony just chuckles and says, “I live here. What are you doing here, Freezer Pop?”
“You live here?” Bucky asks.
“Yes,” Sam says from behind him, startling him enough that he jumps. “Now get out of the way, Barnes. You’re blocking the door.”
Bucky steps inside, clutching his overnight bag in front of him like the shield he hadn’t thought he would need. Sarah and the boys are right behind Sam, and Bucky gives her a shy smile. She smiles back at him before ducking her head, and now that she’s turned away, Bucky looks back at Sam, who has made a beeline straight for Tony.
“Hey sweetheart,” Sam says in the softest voice Bucky has ever heard from him.
Tony leans over to kiss Sam’s cheek. “Hey, honey. How’s the boat?”
“Looking good,” Sarah says. “No thanks to you.” Bucky starts to get a little worried, but Sarah is grinning as she says it and Tony’s expression is one of mock outrage so he relaxes again.
“Excuse you,” Tony says in a faux-offended voice, “I was busy for five years.”
“Yeah, taking care of my boys and being an Avenger, so you’ve said many times. But what, you forgot about my poor boat?”
“Hey, I did offer to help pay for the repairs.”
Sarah’s face softens and she walks over to rub Tony’s metal shoulder, uncovered by the sleeveless shirt he’s wearing. “And that was sweet of you,” she says. “But I could told you I could—”
“—take care of it,” Tony finishes. “Yeah, you said.”
Sam rejoins Bucky by the door and tugs his bag from Bucky’s limp hand. “Come on,” he says, jerking his head toward the living room. “They’re gonna be at it for a while. I’ll show you where you can put your stuff.”
As they’re heading into the living room, Bucky quietly asks, “So how long have you and Stark—”
“Don’t let him hear you call him that,” Sam interrupts. “Just call him Tony, he hates Stark or Mr. Stark or anything else like that. And since 2005. We met working on the EXO-7 project. He was my technician. Got married right after he came back from Afghanistan.”
He remembers Steve telling him about Sam taking the plea deal after the Avengers split. Steve hadn’t been able to understand it, but he thinks about how they’d all understood Clint and Scott taking the same deal for their families and wonders if it was something like that.
“And how did you handle the—uh—”
Sam gives him a flat look. “With a lot of communication and a little bit of make-up sex,” he says. “When you’ve been together as long as we have, that’s something you learn.”
“What, that make-up sex helps?”
“That communication is important. And trust me, it can feel like pulling teeth, trying to get Tony to talk, but it’s worth it.” He plops down on the couch and motions for Bucky to sit down next to him, waiting until Bucky does before he continues, “Speaking of communication, a couple things about Sarah since you’re clearly going to ignore the Bro Code.”
“The Bro Code?”
“Yeah, don’t date sisters of friends, that kind of thing.”
“I don’t think that was a thing in the forties.”
“I’m pretty sure it was.”
“No, I think I’d remember that.”
“Steve didn’t have a sister, why would you remember that? Besides, your memory is as good as swiss cheese, and don’t think I missed you not arguing with me about that friend thing. Anyway, the Bro Code, since you’re ignoring it—”
From where they’re sitting, Bucky can see Sarah in the kitchen, putting away leftovers that someone had brought them while they’d been working. She looks real pretty with the evening sunlight lighting her from behind, making her glow like an angel. Bucky smiles a little, thinking about the way she’d laughed at his horrible jokes.
“Seriously man,” Sam interrupts. “Smitten-with-a-capital-s. Now look, Sarah’s had it rough these last few months. Blipped just like you and me, only she had to come back to a rundown boat and her boys all grown up. Tony did what he could around here, but he was grieving too and he had the duties of being an Avenger on top of taking care of AJ and Cass. He forgot about taking care of the boat and Sarah’s paying for it now. She’s been hurt a lot, so if your intention is something quick and then leaving her just like her husband, it’s not just me you’ll have to answer to. It’s Tony too, and the whole town on top of us. We look out for each other around this area.”
“Yeah, I got that today when the whole town showed up to help out.”
Sam grins and shakes his head, seemingly awed that he and Sarah would inspire enough loyalty for people to come help them. Bucky doesn’t get it. Both Wilson siblings are absolutely incredible. Hell, only a few weeks ago, he himself thought he’d be happy if he never had to deal with Sam ever again and now he’s staying at the man’s family home.
“My point is—” Sam begins.
“Samuel Thomas Wilson, I know you’re not giving that man a shovel talk,” Sarah interjects, coming into the living room, drying her hands on a dish towel. “You’re gonna scare him off, same as you did to all my boyfriends back in high school.”
Sam holds his hands up. “I’m just making sure he knows to treat you right.”
“Believe me, the poor man knows. Besides, I don’t need you to do that. I’m more than capable of making sure he treats me right all by myself.”
Bucky thinks about what that might mean and shivers pleasurably.
“Look at him, you broke the poor guy’s brain,” Tony complains. “AJ and Cass Wilson, can the two of you set the table?”
“Aww Uncle Tony, do we have to?” AJ complains.
“Hmm, how about you set the table or I’ll sell all your toys.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” AJ says, but gets up anyway and joins his brother in the kitchen.
“I might if you keep challenging me,” Tony shoots back, but there’s no heat to his voice and AJ is still grinning as he grabs plates out of the cupboard so Bucky turns back to Sam and Sarah, who have gotten quieter now that they’ve got an audience beyond just him.
“—want to see you taken care of the way you should be,” Sam is saying.
Sarah’s face softens. “Thanks. I don’t need it—”
“—but you should be anyway. After all you’ve done for our family, you deserve it.”
They both glance at Bucky, who smiles quickly to try to assure them that he’s a great option for Sarah. He’d heard some of the things the townspeople were saying about her while they were working on the boat today: she’s an impressive woman and all he wants to do right now is to prove that he’s worthy of her.
“Well,” Sam says eventually. “I guess there are worse people you could go for.”
“Gee, thanks, Sam,” Bucky says flatly.
“No problem, man.” He looks back at Sarah. “Fine, I’ll lay off of him. But the first time he hurts you—”
“—you’ll let me handle it like the grown-up I am?” Sarah finishes firmly, hands on her hips. She seems to decide that the conversation is clearly over because she heads back into the kitchen, swatting Tony away from the sauce on the stovetop with a wooden spoon.
Sam deflates. “Yeah, okay,” he calls after her. “I’ll let you handle it.”
“Hey, I get it,” Bucky offers quietly. “I had sisters too and they hated it when I got involved with their relationships.”
“She deserves the best. And I really hope that you can be the one to give it to her. I saw how she looked at you. I haven’t seen her look like that since high school.” There’s a pensive look in his eyes, his hands clasped together in front of him. “I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing that look.”
“I like her too,” Bucky tries to assure him. “I don’t want to hurt her.” He hesitates, then adds, “I don’t want to hurt anyone. Except maybe Walker.”
Sam laughs. “You and me both.”
“I’ll toast to that,” Tony says cheerfully, coming back into the living room. “Sarah says it’s dinner time.”
Dinner is a loud affair, full of the boys talking about what they’ve been up to with their friends, Sam and Sarah bickering about repairs that need to happen on the boat, Tony and Bucky comparing their prosthetics (Tony’s arm is Stark Tech and he’s curious about how it compares to Bucky’s Wakandan one), and Sam, Tony, and Bucky discussing what’s going to happen with Walker now that the shield’s been taken away from him.
“I don’t think this is over,” Tony says, and Bucky agrees with him, remembering how much more determined Steve had gotten every time an opportunity had been taken away from him, but Sam is less sure.
“He’s grieving. I don’t think he’s in any state to be trying to take the shield back,” Sam argues.
“Grieving men can be unpredictable. You said he didn’t catch Karli, that’s got to be weighing on him,” Tony replies. He eyes the shield in its leather case, leaning up against the wall. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt because he decides the shield is still his. Him with that serum, it concerns me. You don’t have that kind of advantage.”
“I don’t want that kind of advantage,” Sam says, surprising Bucky. He’d known Sam is leery of the serum, not nearly as bad as Zemo but still uncomfortable with it. Tony doesn’t seem surprised though, just nods understandably.
“I know,” he agrees. “But I still worry.”
Bucky interjects, “Hopefully the suit the Wakandans made will help even the playing field some.”
Tony blinks.
“You got a new suit?” Sarah asks.
“And I didn’t make it?” Tony asks.
“I haven’t seen it yet,” Sam says, “but yes. Bucky asked for a favor after Walker destroyed the old one.”
“Hmph,” Tony says grumpily, softening only when Sam leans over to kiss his cheek. “Well, I guess I can’t blame you. Shuri’s tech is incredible. The things that girl can do with vibranium… blows that shield out of the water.”
“Is she still refusing to let you take a look at T’Challa’s suit?”
“Yes.”
“They’re very protective of it,” Bucky says.
“And I don’t blame them,” Tony says quickly. “It would just be nice.” He glances at Sam pleadingly, who laughs.
“I’m not gonna let you take a look at it either.”
Tony grumbles wordlessly, but doesn’t complain any further, instead turning to Sarah to ask her about something with the boat. Bucky eagerly joins in, interested in hearing more about Sarah’s life. It’s so different from his, even before the war. He wants to learn everything he can, both about the boat and about her.
By the time dinner is over, he’s stuffed, something that rarely happens. The serum means he has a higher metabolism than the average person, which also means that he’s typically hungrier, and when he’d been with HYDRA, they hadn’t worried about making sure their Asset was well-fed. He offers to help the boys clear the dishes, hoping that will impress Sarah. She smiles at him, but heads out to the porch. The sun is setting over the bayou, and Bucky can just barely make her out through the glare from the sun.
He watches her a little wistfully until Tony comes up beside him and passes him two glasses of sweet tea. “What’s this for?” he asks.
Tony jerks his head toward the door. “She likes to watch the fireflies.”
Sam passes him with an armful of plates on his way to the dishwasher. “Better make sure you grab some bug spray. The mosquitoes are vicious at this time of day.”
“I heal fast,” he says confusedly.
“But it’ll show you’re thinking of her,” Sam says as Tony grabs a can from under the sink and slaps it into Bucky’s empty hand. “Go on, we’ve got this.”
“You’re sure?”
Sam and Tony share a wordless glance. Bucky can’t quite tell what they’re thinking. “Yeah,” Sam says after a moment. “Really, man, get out there.”
So Bucky gets.
Sarah glances up at him when he steps out onto the porch, smiles, and then moves aside on the swing for him to join her. “Let me guess, Tony told you to come out,” she says dryly.
“How’d you know?”
“He likes to think of himself as a matchmaker.”
Bucky hesitates in passing her one of the glasses. “Is that a problem?”
She takes the glass out of his hand, deliberately brushing her fingers against his. “Only if you think it is.”
In answer, Bucky hands her the bug spray too. Her smile broadens.
“Thanks,” she says. “You ever watched fireflies before?”
He shakes his head. “We didn’t have them in New York.”
“That’s a shame. They’re one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”
They’re silent for a moment, both sipping from their glasses. Then Sarah says, “You can put your arm around me, you know.”
Bucky glances at her quickly and then slowly puts his arm around her shoulders. She leans into him, warm and perfect and slotting just right beside him. It’s nice, he thinks, and he leans his head on top of hers. She makes a pleased sound and snuggles just a little bit closer. He lets out a long sigh, feeling the tension drain out of him as the first few fireflies twinkle in the gathering dusk.
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parkersharthook · 3 years
Text
Love For All
Peter Stark-Rogers & Stark-Rogers!reader (twins)
warnings: mentions of drinking/being drunk, pretty fluffy
1.8k+ words
series masterlist
a/n: happy pride month (lol I queued this in february just so I didn’t forget to post it) anyways im bi and pls know my page is a safe space for everyone 💗💜💙
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Fluffy piece where Tony and Steve are chosen as the grand marshalls for the pride parade and it becomes a family affair.
“this just in, you all officially have the coolest dads in history!” Tony bellowed as he dramatically entered the common space, Steve right behind him with a plethora of eye rolls.
Right as you were about to protest, Bucky chimed in, “neither of you are my father.”
“with the way I’ve saved your sorry ass? Might as well be.”
“saved my sorry ass? Oh Stevie, have you forgotten who pulled your ass out of every back alley fight you got into? Or have the years 1932 to 1941.”
“I did not start a fight in 1932!” Steve argued back, hands placed firmly on his hips.
“bullshit! 5 years old, playground 2 blocks over, Arthur Williams.”
Steve frowned slightly, “damn I forgot about that.”
Beside you Peter snorted, “you got into a fight when you were 5?”
“Wow darling, you came out of the womb with righteous indignation didn’t you?” Tony added with a small smirk as he moved to rest against the back of the couch.
Steve threw his hands up in defeat, “oh haha laugh it up. Yes I’m old, yes I’m stubborn. Can we please just go back to how we’re cool?”
“Wait before that, back to the ‘not my fathers thing’ does this mean you see yourselves as the team fathers? Because if you’re adopting more people, I want in!” Clint said cheerfully.
“Sorry we capped out at four.”
You stuck your tongue out at Clint with a little ‘ha ha’ because you were mature like that. “anyways… why do you think you are the coolest dads? I wanna get my rebuttal in soon.”
Tony bopped the back of your head playfully as he dropped a very rainbow piece of paper into your lap. Peter instantly leaned into your space to read it. You pushed him back with a shove to the forehead. “relax nerd I’m gonna read it out loud.”
“hurry up I’m getting antsy.” You threw an unimpressed look at Clint who had practically crawled into Bucky’s lap to get closer, not that Bucky minded.
“Chill.” You smoothed out the paper and held it up, “All hail the next Grand Marshals of NYC Pride, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. We are happy to formally announce the two superheroes and super husbands as our fearless leaders of the float parade this year.”
“That’s the public announcement they put out, turn it over to read the letter they sent us.”
“Dear Mr. Anthony and Steven Stark-Rogers, we are so excited to welcome you into our NYC Pride Parade family. As this year’s appointed Grand Marshals it is both our duty and pleasure to pass the Pride Baton over to you. Included in this letter you will find the rules and expectations of our Grand Marshals, as well as what is permitted for first floats. We would love if you extended this invitation to your entire circle of family and friends to join you in the parade and on your float.”
You put the paper down and tilted your head back to stare at your dad, “you? Grand Marshal? Really?”
“What’s so shocking about that?”
“umm…. You’re old and not cool.”
Bucky sputtered a laugh beside you as Tony bopped you on the head again.
“Was this your way of telling us to come to pride with you?” Peter asked.
Steve shook his head as he flopped into a nearby loveseat, “actually this was our way of telling you that we need your help coming up with ideas for the float and how to decorate it. But of course we want you to join us on the float, we’ll be inviting the rest of the team as well.”
“I’ll help decorate but Bi-derman is making another appearance this year.”
Tony slapped his forehead, “can you take your old suit at least? The paint was a bitch to get off last time.”
Peter rolled his eyes, “the old suit chafes.”
You grimaced, “I hate this conversation.”
“I think you should do a dog themed float, Lucky can be our mascot.”
Bucky sighed, “of course that’s your suggestion.”
“what about the history of pride? Recognizing the Stonewall Riots and the two black transgender females that started it all. Plus then we can also advocate for Black Lives Matter. Make it clear that to support one, you have to support the other. Educate and entertain.”
Tony smiled, “that’s not a bad idea y/n.”
Steve looked at you with hopeful eyes, “are you willing to help organize and coordinate?”
“can I invite friends to help?”
“yes.”
You smiled, “then yes.”
------
“when I said organize and coordinate, I didn’t mean take over the conference room we use regularly for avengers meetings.” Steve said with a deep sigh
“it’s the only one with a vending machine.” MJ helpfully pointed out, taking another large bite of her pizza slice.
“yeah it was the only way to get Clint to sit through meetings without leaving to get food.” Steve explained as he stepped into the room and took in the large array of papers everywhere. The four teenage girls that occupied the room were all busy with one thing or another, looking intense and determined.
MJ snorted, “figures.” Her hand ghosted over the page again, dragging the pencil with it and creating another addition to her sketch.
Steve’s brow furrowed for a moment and he took a step closer to get a better look, “is that me?”
MJ nodded coolly but offered no other explanation. Betty huffed a laugh, “we’re trying to design both you and Mr. Stark crown-like head pieces.”
“crowns?”
You rolled your eyes, “Pops, you really do only hear what you wanna hear. Crown-like head pieces. I know dad would go for a full ass crown but I knew you wouldn’t and we want you two to match.”
Steve studied the photos of celebrities that were projected on the wall. “and that?”
“The 2018 Met Gala. Theme: heavenly bodies. There were a bunch of great head pieces that night, we’re using it for inspiration.” Gwen supplied, “let us know if there’s any you like.”
“I wanna go in a Cardi B direction.” You stated without taking your eyes off your computer screen, you’ve obviously already committed every possible headpiece to memory.
“don’t taint his selection with bias!” Betty cried
MJ waved her off easily, “there’s no way he knows who Cardi B is.”
“thanks for the confidence MJ.” She just smiled cheekily at him.
“I think he should choose something like what Frances McDormand was wearing.” Gwen stated with a small smile
MJ laughed, “as much as I think that would look amazing, there’s no way he’s picking that.”
“who’s this?”
You barely had to glance at the photo to recognize the red and gold dress and of course the iconic headpiece, “Black Lively.”
“Okay well I like that, it’s simple.”
“what about…” Gwen drawled as she typed something and new photo, a larger one, took over the whole wall, “Something like SZA’s?”
Steve took a step back and grimaced slightly, “it’s kinda… big.”
“But if it were smaller?” Gwen pressed politely
“I suppose.” Steve glanced around at the four girls. “You guys have a lot of stuff planned.”
“Oh yeah.” You looked up with a big grin, meeting your dad’s eye. “It’s gonna be great.”
“You’re not designing us costumes too are you?”
“Well Tony specifically said not too and that he already had something planned.” MJ said before eyeing Steve up and down with the critical eye of an artist, “But we could design something if you wanted us too.”
“No, I kinda of already have a plan too.”
You rose a questioning brow, “oh yeah? Please tell me you’re not going to be wearing something boring.”
Steve rolled his eyes at you and obnoxiously bumped his hip into your side as he walked out, “I’m not clueless on how to dress for Pride. Plus, I like dressing up for it, it’s fun. And it’s not something we got to do back then. I’m planning on taking full advantage.” And with that he walked out dramatically and closed the door.
Betty laughed slightly, “ten bucks that he paints the shield.”
Gwen shook his head, “No way. I think he’s gonna wear one of the flags as a cape.”
MJ clicked her tongue, “I know for a fact he’ll be wearing his ‘trans rights are human rights’ shirt.” Pause. “and probably his rainbow pants.”
You looked at MJ with a perplexed expression, “why do you know about my dad’s rainbow pants?”
MJ smirked slightly, “he wore them to pride a few years ago. Plus, me and peter talk about things. You’re not the only Stark-Rogers twin I hang out with.”
Gwen obnoxiously nudged Betty with her elbow and a large wink, “Oh yeah… she talks to Peter.” MJ scowled at the two as you snickered behind your hand.
MJ grumbled slightly, “let’s just get back to work.” It was silent in the room until the three other girls heard MJ mumble, “I never have to deal with this at college.”
You burst into a fit of laughter.
------
Pride was without a doubt a 100% success.
The float looked great. The area had already been swept for trouble. One Grand Marshal was moderately drunk. And Everyone was dancing and partying. Perfect.
Even the float attendees looked great. Clint was the brightest of the all. With no shirt on, glitter all over his chest, a rainbow tutu around his hips, tight purple booty shorts underneath, knee high socks with the pan pride flag on them, plus his signature purple converse… he looked good.
You’ve been snickering every time you catch Bucky not so subtlety looking Clint up and down. But that being said, Clint was doing the same to Bucky because he had someone managed to get the stoic and whiney super soldier into a rainbow button down. Nothing else, as that wasn’t Bucky’s jam. He paired the shirt with simple jeans but you were sure that he would be covered with glitter later.
Peter had been swinging around the parade, his first Stark suit now painted a vibrant pink, purple, and blue. Plus there was a large, messily painted on heart over where the spider sat in the middle of his chest.
You and all your friends had taken up the dance floor on the float, and if you said so yourself, you all were killing the dance moves.
Tony was more than tipsy because Bruce was on babysitting duty tonight for Morgan, so he let himself go and lean heavily against his husband, who just grinned at him all lovingly.
In the end, it was a good day. You threw beads and candy to the crowd, joining them at times for drinks and dance parties. You laughed endlessly with your friends and your family. And yeah… it was a good day.
Plus, all your friends had been correct.
Steve wore his trans shirt in solidarity with the ongoing movements and the float.
He wore his rainbow pants because they were “super fashionable y/n” and to support everyone.
He painted his shield purple, blue, and pink to show off his own sexuality and support Peter.
And he had a pansexual flag tied around his neck to match with Tony’s pink, yellow, and blue shirt.
He looked great.
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lawgrain · 3 years
Text
I was literally just waiting for anyone to ask on this and someone asked in the comments of my last hockey post. Gory hockey story time!!! Let me go ahead and trigger warning this though. There is death mentioned and severe injuries too. I don’t include any brutal images but I did feel uncomfortable including this in my original hockey post because it really is uncalled for if you accidentally read it. If someone accidentally skipped the warning in the larger post, its not the thing I want people to read unexpectedly. But should you be okay with all this, here it is!
 I will give another warning b/f the death mention by the way. Also I pre apologize for how morbid the topic is. But if you like sort of history story into things, this is all pretty interesting.
Now look at this guy!
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If you value a clean mind, never ever ever ever look him up. This is Clint Malarchuk. And here’s why you should never look him up. You will find, you guessed it, gore.
He ended up alive, don’t worry, but I’m pretty sure everyone was convinced they watched him die on ice. It was one of the most serious things you will ever hear in hockey. A bunch of people fainted, players felt sick, the place fell into a completely different feeling, the whole deal. And why? His neck was slashed open by someones skate.
During the game, someone ran into him and during that chaos, their skate got his carotid artery. One of their athletic trainers was a combat medic apparently and helped save his life. He was also able to skate off the ice somehow but his reasoning was kind of sad. He knew his mother was watching the game and didn’t want her to see him die, which was a way to real possibility with a slash opened neck.
If you hate yourself, there is a video of this on YouTube, but actually, please don’t. It’s distressing at best. It’s pretty much a miracle that he’s alive. And the video is obviously bloody. They end up cutting away from the scene and the commentators are rightfully horrified. Another player had a very similar injury happen to him which is kind of insane. The other player was Richard Zedník. Heres him!
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Both players ended up okay from their injuries but during the second guys, the commentators actually referenced Malarchuk. Zedník’s didn't actually have an artery severed but it was sliced. Get this though, the game that happened in? It was only delayed over 20 minutes. Which that is a long time but given the circumstance, it’s surprising. Before anyone is appalled, they had announced him as stable condition. His injury wasn’t as life threatening as Malarchuck’s, but still very scary. There’s also a video of this online.
Now for the death warning.
There is actually only one recorded hockey death that is directly from on ice actions. That’s not to say more haven’t been severely injured, I mean I did just mention the guys who necks were cut open right? But only one death. Now I refuse to even look up if this was shown on t.v. I just don’t need that. But it’s still an incident worth mentioning. This is Bill Masterton:
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He was basically knocked down by another player. Hard. The thing was, it was a clean play. But here’s the thing:
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He played in a time of no helmets.
His head hit the ice, he got a concussion he entered a coma, doctors could do nothing, and they had to pull life support.
And from the sounds of it, it was likely a concussion on top of another concussion. Because there was a time sports cared a whole lot less about that stuff. The player who was involved with it felt basically haunted for his part in it  even though it was a clean play. They ended up dedicating a trophy after Masterton. But here’s what really gets me, helmets.
So a bit of period context for helmets. They were a big social no-no at the time. And this is by the words of Masterton’s teammates. Basically, if you wore a helmet, you were a coward. A very dumb, lets be macho kind of mentality. But I don’t really blame the players much for that because if you wore a helmet in that time, you were less desirable to be picked for a team. So there was a very direct negative outcome for wearing a helmet in the eyes of the players. But long story short, no helmets. So obviously this changed after the death of a player who died in due part to a lack of a helmet right?
Nope.
Well, yes sort of? I know it probably helped the discussion when helmets were made mandatory. But that didn’t happen till over 10 years after his death. It took over 10 years. 11 years to be exact. That doesn’t count the time before Masterton’s death that helmets weren’t required. His death caused discussion immediately but the idea of mandatory helmets was denied 3 times still. After his death though, his team actually did start wearing helmets a bit more? Like I feel like that’s simultaneously an understatement and overstatement. The reason it’s an understatement is because after three years only 6 players wore them on the Minnesota team (the team he was on). For context, there are 6 players on the ice from a team but there's 20 players that would be on the roster. But why that is an overstatement, or how good that actually kind of was at the time, is because that was the most out of any other hockey team at the time. 
But now HeLmeTS
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For all players, including goaltenders!
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Which, I’ll have to brush up on my history of it but I’m 99% sure it took longer for them to include the cage on the goaltender masks.
Anyway! That’s the somewhat morbid, a tad gory bit of history for anyone curious. It definitely makes sports seem dark. That’s not all there is to sports but I hope some found it interesting!
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magicmanias · 4 years
Text
Greyhound Station [Prologue]
Chapter: Prologue
Pairing: Firefighter!Bucky Barnes x Ballerina!Reader
Summary: Since she was eight years old, Y/N Parker knew only one thing for certain: that she would always love James Buchanan Barnes. By fourteen, she was positive she knew everything—including that Bucky would be hers forever. When she was eighteen, she realized she really only knew three things: one, that New York was rotten, two, that she would be a dancer no matter what her parents said, and three, that she would do everything in her power to never see James Buchanan Barnes again. But now, Y/N is twenty-four and somehow, she’s back at where she started all those years ago, at a Greyhound station on 206 Livingston Street.
Warnings:  Fluff, (Loveable) Asshole Clint Barton, Swearing
Word Count: 2.2k
A/N: I’m rewriting this series with my good friend, Angelina! Please go check out her account and follow her. She’s an amazing human being and she’s so amazing for helping me write this god forsaken story. I hope you all enjoy what’s coming soon!
Co-written by @dearspacepirates ​​ and @angelinathebook​.
GHS Masterlist // Next >>
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[Summer of 2011, Freshman Year, 15 y/o.]
July 12 was going to go down in history as the day that Y/N Julianne Parker conquered her fear of heights. 
For the past seven years you've lived in Brooklyn, you and the gang went to Coney Island every day that you possibly could in the seventy-seven days of summer that school offered you. And every year, everyone would buy a ticket for the Wonder Wheel… except you. So for an hour of waiting time and ten minutes while your friends could be heard from the top screaming and laughing, you sat at the bottom waiting. But it wasn’t so bad. Someone always sat out with you to keep you company while the rest rode the wheel. Of course, you always felt a little guilty about it; like the little sister that no one wanted to deal with. They drew straws and the unlucky member that was picked didn't get to partake in, apparently, the “best ride ever” that year. 
[Summer of 2004, Third Grade, 8 y/o.]
The first time the gang went to Coney Island, well, the gang was much smaller. Just you, Steve, and Bucky. Sarah was the one to suggest that the boys draw straws.
“We don't leave each other behind,” she'd said, taking out the straw of her coke and cutting it into different sized pieces with the pocket knife from her ex-husband. “Now, that also applies to me. Three straws. Steve, Bucky, and me. Whoever picks the shortest straw stays with Y/N.”
You stared at your feet and shuffled your feet. “I-I don't want to keep you guys from—”
A comforting hand landed on your shoulder and Sarah gave you a warm smile. “Hey, we're not abandoning you.” She ruffled Steve and Bucky’s hair with her spare hand. “These two little buggers and I? We're with you until the end of the line, baby.”
Steve had drawn the short straw that particular time, but he didn't really mind. He said heights triggered his allergies anyway.
[Summer of 2011, Freshman Year, 15 y/o.]
“You can do this. You can do this. Just brea—”
“Hey, relax, will you? You've been shaking since we picked you up. It's a ferris wheel.” Tony slung his arm around your shoulders, chewing on the stick of the lollipop he started on the walk there. He peaked at you imphisly from under his sunglasses.
“Lay off, Stark. Just be nice about it, ok? She's nervous,” Steve butted in. Always the hero, you thought. 
“Thanks, Stevie. But really, I am… ok. I can do this,” you insisted. You looked up at the giant wheel and your stomach floored. The line shifted forward and Bruce bumped into you.
Bruce adjusted his tilted glasses. “Oh sorry—”
“I can't do this!”
Half of the crew sighed and started digging through their pockets. Tony, Thor, and Natasha muttered small curses before handing fives to Clint, Loki, and Bucky. 
“I really thought you were going to this time around,” Natasha groaned, but she still smiled at you before glaring at a very satisfied Clint.
You huffed in annoyance. “Even you, Bucky?”
“Don't hate the player. Hate the game, killer,” he smirked, shoving Thor's five into his pocket. You continued to frown.
“Aw, come on, doll. Don't be that way.” Bucky came over to you, placed his hands in his jacket, and shot an innocent pout at you. “You know I love you. You're my dream girl.”
You punched him in the arm. “Fuck off, James.”
He backed up like a wounded dog, holding his arm. “Hey, I'm just trying to make us some money. So we can start a life together, baby. You and me.” 
Flirt. You rolled your eyes.
“Whatever,” Tony muttered, putting his wallet back in his pocket. “Who's got the straws?”
Steve bashfully pulled out multiple straws of different lengths and began to shuffle them in his palms. The routine started again. Everyone pulled a straw: Tony, Clint, Bruce, Thor, Nat, then Bucky. 
Bucky drew the short stick. 
The gang patted his shoulder—their clandestine form of sympathy, just as the routine went. The gang entered the line and you and your unlucky companion for the next hour and ten minutes sat on the bench near the vintage ice cream parlor that sold flavors all the way back to the 1930s. And then, you'd thank whoever sat with you. Sometimes, they bought you a cone or if they had historically Irish luck, then you'd buy them a sundae because it was the second time they had to sit with you. (A rightfully bitter Clint once asked for the most expensive item on the menu and Coney Island prices weren't cheap.)
Something about this time was different though. It was funny. In all the seven years you'd known Bucky, he never once drew the short straw. Never. Long had he been accused of cheating, but your peers could never prove it. Until now.
Apparently, he wasn't cheating.
You decided to stick to the routine anyway, despite the sour frown on Bucky's face. 
“Thanks,” you mumbled. You tried to shoot him a small smile, but his pout persisted and he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. 
You sat there for a good ten minutes until you started to get sick of Bucky’s frown. Bucky was always difficult when he was in a bad mood, but after years of trial and error, you knew how to deal with his moodiness. “I’ll be right back,” you said.
You got up and waded into the crowd of people before disappearing altogether from Bucky’s view. He slumped further into the bench. “Why am I even here if you're just gonna split?” he muttered.
After several minutes, Bucky’s cheeks began to hurt and he sat up. Where were you? He stood and scanned the surrounding area for his annoyingly evasive friend. 
“Hey!” A finger poked him in the shoulder and when he turned, he was met with a large ice cream cone shoved in front of him. Behind it, stood Y/N with an innocent grin lining her face.
Bucky took the cone and smirked, “You remembered.”
“Burgundy cherry on a sugar cone. Two scoops,” you recited, rocking back and forth on your heels.
He chuckled. She always knew how to cheer him up. He stared at the scoop of pink ice cream. “I’m sorry for being… dumb about the ferris wheel. I know you don't like it,” he mumbled. 
“It’s okay.” You blushed behind your cone, hoping Bucky wouldn't see. “You’re lucky you've got those baby blues, Barnes. It's what's kept me around all these years,” you joked, shoving him playfully in the arm. 
Bucky pulled away in pretend pain. “Careful killer, you just might make me fall in love with you.”
“Save it, Barnes.” 
Bucky watched you while you returned to licking your ice cream. As much as he loved you, Bucky was going on that ride.
He stood up and reached out for your hand, smiling warmly. “Come on, Killer. I've got a surprise for you.”
You looked up with excitement. “Really?”
“Yeah, but you gotta close your eyes.” Bucky walked behind you and covered your eyes with his free hand. “Trust me. You'll like this.”
“Holy fuck, Bucky!” you screeched, pushing into Bucky’s side, trying to get away from the edge of the seat. Your heart pounded out of your chest as you rose higher and higher. You screwed your eyes shut, but it only accelerated the tears that poked at the corners and threatened to spill down your cheeks. 
“Bucky, I want off…” you whimpered. “I want to get off.” 
“Hey, just don’t look down. You’re safe with me,” he assured you, taking your hand in his. You squeezed it, hard. He pulled his other arm away from where you pressed against it and wrapped it around your shoulders, beckoning you into his embrace. 
“Please Bucky, I want to get down,” you whispered, one single tear rolling down your cheek as you spoke. You knew what you were asking wasn’t rational, but logic and reason were left on the ground below, along with your confidence. 
“Just focus on your breathing and focus on me,” He coached, making stupid deep-breathing gestures with his arms. 
“What about you? Focus on how much I hate you or the strong urge I have to punch you?” You fire back, not feeling at all comforted. If anything, that made it worse. You were slowly rising higher and higher and the pit in your stomach grew deeper and deeper. 
“Well I… was thinking more like something along the lines of this,” he murmured, taking your hands. He started to rub small circles into the skin of your hand with his thumb, “And this,” he said with the same soft intensity, the arm that was wrapped tightly around your shoulders, snaking itself around your waist, pulling you in closer to him. You could feel the heat radiating from his body, warming you from the breeze of being so high. And then Bucky made that stupid face that made you feel all warm and fluttery inside. So stupid…
Bucky watched as you calmed your breathing. He knew you’d probably uphold your promise to punch him when you got off, but it was worth it. You shivered at the cool temperature from being at the top of the ferris wheel. Bucky’s instincts pulled your closer to him; he was always warm, so you would always cuddle up to him. It was then that Bucky realized that he was still holding your hand and you were still staring at him with your stupid, doe eyes. 
And that’s when Bucky couldn’t take it anymore. 
All of freshman year, you and he had been dancing around each other, daring the other to just say something, but the two of you were probably the most stubborn people on the planet. He wasted all of freshman year flirting with other girls because he had too much pride to just admit that you were the only one for him. Fuck friendship, Bucky Barnes fell hard for you and he didn’t want to come up for air any time soon. 
“What’re you starin’ at, pretty boy?” you mumbled. 
“Killer, you’re gonna be the death of me.”
“Oh, just wait until we get off this damn—mphf!”
Lips connected to yours. The butterflies in your stomach that started flapping because of your sheer terror, began to fly for entirely different reasons. His lips were soft and gentle. You gripped his hand a little tighter and lifted your free one to drag it through his hair.
“Oh shit! Are you guys fucking making out!?” You could hear Clint’s voice two cars down. 
“Holy shit!” Tony. “Someone get a picture! Also, Thor owes me 20 bucks!”
“What!? You couldn’t have waited like another week, Barnes!?” Thor’s voice boomed. 
Bucky placed his hand on the side of his mouth and yelled down, “Stop betting on everything!” He sucked in his lip in annoyance and huffed at his friends’ commentary and his ruined moment with you. But you just chuckled.
“I think this is my new favorite ride,” you said and Bucky’s face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. He placed his hands on the sides of your head and kissed your forehead.
“So does this mean you’re my girl, killer?” he mumbled against your head.
“I don’t know, James. I’m still pretty mad that you tricked me.”
“Didn’t you say you liked this ride now. I remember you calling it ‘your favorite ride,’” he said, bending his fingers in air quotes.
“I’m punching you when we get off this stupid machine, jerk.”
“If it means I get to kiss those pretty lips again, then hit me with your best shot.”
[Summer of 2020, 24 y/o.]
“We are now in New York City. This is 206 Livingston Street. Thank you for riding with Greyhound and we hope you have a good day.” 
The double-doors of the bus opened with a hiss and you gathered your bags after saying goodbye to the nice father who was taking his boys on a trip to the Big Apple for their summer vacation.
Your phone buzzed.
Today | 10:00 am
Wanda: Hey, just wanted to make sure you got here ok :) Y/N: I just got off. I’m headed to your apartment right now. Wanda: Are you sure you don’t want me to help you with your bags? Y/N: I’m ok. Just waiting for a cab.  Wanda: Ok, stay safe <3.  Wanda: And remember! Drinks at the Odinsons’ at 8, ok?  Y/N: Ok, I'll think about it… Are you sure he won't be there? Wanda: No, drama queen. He took an extra shift at the station anyway. Wanda: Be there! x
You stared at the apartment in front of you and thought about Wanda's last text. You were hesitant to go anyway. Seeing everyone again… It'd bring back too many memories that all involved him. Maybe Wanda was right. You were a drama queen. You couldn't even think his name without being upset. And even though you were in the largest city in America, you had a feeling it would be hard to avoid him. 
God, you couldn't believe you were back here. Six years ago, you swore you'd never come back to New York and here you were in the same place you started. 
Hopefully, Thor still made good drinks.
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shurisneakers · 3 years
Text
harmless (vii)
Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)
Warnings: cursing, existential crisis, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, lil bit of angst, clint barton being a lil shit
Word count: 3.4k
A/N: hey shoutout to @ugherik for suggesting a spin on the “A PLATYPUS!??!“ [perry puts his hat on] “PERRY THE PLATYPUS!???” thing. i used it in here, it’s a really small part and probably missable but i tried!! also i like the next chapter better than this one, i just wanted to put this here so it doesn’t seem abrupt <3333
here’s
my ko-fi
if you’d like to support my writing <333
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Previous Part || Series Masterlist
Bucky can’t stop staring at the mirror.
He wishes it was for narcissistic purposes. He had enough reason for it to be. His age may be a hundred but he had the youthful exuberance of a very drained sixty year old.
But no, it wasn’t because of the steel cut jawline or thousand gigawatt smile.
After last week’s mini-spiral, he does what almost half the videos on TikTok warn him not to do.  
He got a haircut.
Everyone’s reaction stopped him from following it up with an ear piercing, but he can’t confidently say he didn’t at least consider it once. Maybe a neck tattoo. 
He pulls at a lock of hair. It’s not even longer than his finger.
What did he do-
“It’s just a haircut, man,” he says to no one in particular, almost like he’s trying to reassure himself.
He runs his hands through his hair. It takes lesser time than he was used to.
Steve had told him he looked good. But then again, Steve wore a fugly costume 90% of the time, what did he know?
Clint acknowledged it and didn’t outright call him ugly, which he supposed was a compliment. Wanda simply smiled at him.
“FRIDAY?” he reaches out.
“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?” comes the automated reply.
“How are you?” It took him some getting used to her, given that she was constantly listening to everything, and in general seemed to go against the universal idea of privacy. 
But his therapist told him he needed to form friendships. 
She didn’t mention it had to be human ones.
“As good as ever. Is there anything I can help you with?”
He wants to ask her what she thinks of his hair until he realises fashion advice from a faceless AI is a new low for him. Maybe ‘Do you think I should crawl into a pit and die?’ would be more appropriate. 
“Never mind,” he dismisses instead. “Any messages for today?”
“A reminder to buy a harder bed because you can’t keep sleeping on the floor.” Ah, that was on Sam’s recommendation three months ago, but he wasn’t going to stop any time soon. “And a text from a contact named Nuisance saying to meet them at the attached location in thirty minutes.”
“Where is the location?”
“The local sports centre.”
“Isn’t that closed today?” 
If he had to go out in public looking like this, maybe he could wear a cap and sunglasses and no one would recognise him. Unfortunately, as he was reminded several times before by anyone with an iota of common sense, it was a stupid disguise. 
Beanie it was, then. Bare minimum. 
“It is, yes.” Fewer citizens to worry about.
“Okay.” He hesitates in front of the mirror again, adjusting the hat on his head. “Thank you, FRIDAY.”
“You’re welcome, Sergeant.”
He stares at the little tuft of hair at the front that refused to stay down no matter how much he shoved it back.
“Come on, man,” he exhales in slight despair. “Whatever.”
____
The lock of the door leading to the pool is easy enough to pick. He can see how you got in without a hitch even though it was closed. 
The deck around the pool was absolutely drenched in water. No one was using it, there was no reason for water to splash out unless it was deliberately kept like this.
He catches sight of you easily, being that you’re the only two people there. You were standing at the end of the hall, head ducked as you scrolled through your phone.
The door closes behind him with a soft thud.
You don’t look up from your mobile when you start talking, “What do you think 6 year olds like?”
Because James Barnes, carbon dated to 1917 and therefore certified young person, would definitely know the answer to this question.
“I don’t know. Lego?”
“Just how much money do you think a teacher makes-”
You stopped mid-sentence, finally lifting your head to catch his eye. He stares back at you, steps faltering when you don’t move.
"Who are you?" you squinted.
What
"It's me," Bucky says, tugging off the dumb beanie and using it to gesture vaguely towards himself. Fuck, he shouldn’t have worn it, it was ridiculous anyway-
"You sound like him..." You narrow your eyes. “You don't look like him.”
Great
He rolls his eyes before putting on a mock scowl. Can't have Bucky Barnes without a sense of eternal disgruntlement.
"Oh hey, that is you." You grin. "You got a haircut."
“I did.” He suddenly feels the awkwardness increase. His fingers fidget with the beanie.
“Nice.” You nod in acknowledgement.
He wants to hit himself at the words that just spill out before he could think about it. “You hate it.”
“I never said that,” you snort. “And since when does my opinion matter?”
“It doesn’t.” But now he wants to know what you think since he didn’t trust anyone else to tell him honestly.
“Must cut down on time in the shower, huh?”
It did.
He shrugs. He shoves the beanie into his back pocket.
“Was it a crisis haircut?” How did you kno- “Are you going to get bangs next time?”
“Shut up,” he says lamely, a dull burn in his cheeks. 
“I know a place where you can get hair dye for cheap. Not technically FDA approved, but I think purple streaks are a good place to start-”
“What are we doing here?” he interrupts, sighing.
“Skinny dipping. Take off your shirt, Barnes.” 
“Funny,” he says dryly, eyeing your shoes when you straighten up.
Ice skates.
“Fine, pants then.” You don’t make any effort to move from your end so he does, walking closer to you. 
“What are those for?” He doesn’t hide the annoyance from his voice when he points at your feet.
“Oh, these?” You look down at them. “Yeah, I’m going to freeze the pool.”
That seems... mild compared to the shit show you wanted to do last time.
“For?” He halts where he is. 
“’M gonna take my friends ice skating.”
“Is that all?” He wants to make a comment about the fact that you have friends but bites it back.
“Today is just a trial run. Tomorrow I’m gonna go freeze the East River.” There it is.
“The East River is not your personal ice skating rink.”
“Not yet it isn’t.” You lift up a middle finger.
It was too early for you to flip him off, even by your standards.
He raises an eyebrow.
Your face scrunches in confusion. You follow his gaze to your finger. “Oh yeah, no, that’s a freeze ring.”
Only then he notices a ring around the finger. From where he was standing he could make out the blue stone that adorned it.
“Joy.” He rolls up the sleeves of his black bomber jacket. “Let’s get this done with, then.”
“No no, wait.” You hold up your hand and he complies, having nothing to lose anyway. You pull out your phone and press a few buttons before shoving it back into your bag and tossing it aside.
The soft sounds of a piano start playing from a boombox near the corner of the room. A child starts singing following a series of knocks.
His eyebrows furrow. “What the fuck is this?”
“The Frozen soundtrack.” You beam at him. “I thought it was fitting.”
He doesn’t know what that is and at this point, he’s too afraid to ask. He can vaguely make out the lyrics being about a snowman but he isn’t too concerned.
He takes one step forward. You immediately point your fist at the ground in front of him, forcing him to jump back when a blast hits right in front of his shoes. Suddenly he gets why the floor is covered in water.
It sounds like a series of cracks as the water starts freezing over, a layer of ice now separating him and you.  
"You ready?” The mischief was woven in your voice as the blasts continued throughout the deck, effectively turning the entire floor into ice.
Bucky takes a step tentatively forward. Not bad. He takes another. Okay.
The third one is when shit starts to hit the fan. His hands shoot out to hold onto his balance when his footing slips from beneath him.
His Nike sneakers aren’t used to snow. They’re used to well manicured lawns and pavement trips to Starbucks and marble floors of the compound. Not swimming pool decks covered in ice.
He can hear you singing in the distance and every time he looks up you’re a little further away, making sure every inch of space is frozen.
It takes him a while to get over the initial fear of breaking his skull and just move forward swiftly with short steps. A goddamn penguin is what he looked like.
“There you go, you’re getting it,” you chirp as you whiz past him. He reaches out to grab at you, only to miss by an inch. He staggers, arms flapping wildly to regain his stability.
He hears crackling beside him. He gets a second or two to watch ice crystals spread through the water before turning it completely solid. You step onto the now frozen pool, testing your weight with one leg before cautiously getting on.
A triumphant smile emerges on your face. “Awesome.”
He manages to press himself against the wall as a form of support. 
There is no point to this whole thing. He knows this. It’s been well over 6 weeks and there is genuinely no point to this.
He realises it again when he moves from side to side, body erupting into a waddle. 
Why is he doing this. He doesn’t get paid extra. He doesn’t get any kind of compensation. All he gets is more wisecracking geniuses, embarrassment and the mortifying ordeal of getting caught imitating a penguin.
The song changes to a woman singing about doing something for the first time, forcing him to pay attention to it. He hears something about ball room and balls and tunes right back out.
Bucky manages to find his way to the actual pool since that’s where you’re twirling around, opting to land on his mental arm in case things go wrong. He takes a sliding step forward, followed by another. Maybe he can do this. 
“If a 200 pound super soldier can stand on this, I suppose it’s strong enough,” you muse, watching him slip and slide as he tries to invent makeshift ice skating.
Unfortunately, his method doesn’t have any brakes, so while he’s too busy trying to move forward, there’s no way to actually stop. He finds this out very soon when he almost launches himself off the edge of the pool.
Something yanks him backwards and back onto the ice.  
“Honestly, this is utterly useless since you can’t really do anything but it’s the most fun I’ve had all week,” you admit when he goes sliding towards the middle, arms flailing.
“You had to pick fuckin’ ice of all things.” He thinks that maybe he’s getting a hang of this. He can definitely move faster than what he was doing like, 10 minutes ago. It’s not like you were going anywhere, anyway. 
“I like to keep things spicy.”
He stays where he is to glare at you. You mouth the words to the song, watching his every move whenever it interested you. 
Okay, change of plan; a temporary distraction till he figures out how to actually get the ring from you. He settles on skating towards the edge of the rink slowly, taking a step off, slipping almost immediately when his foot comes in contact with the deck. 
“Where are you going?” you yell over the music initially but immediately break into song when it ends in a crescendo.
He takes a knee, lifting his metal arm up before driving it into the ground. It shatters magnificently, leaving small shards of ice at his disposal. 
He picks up one of them, waiting for you to complete your dumb twirl. He takes aim, and-
“Ouch, what the fuck?” You stop your off key singing to rub your shoulder where the ice hit you.
He wordlessly picks up another piece to throw at you, hitting you squarely in the leg.
“Stop that!”
He may not be able to move as fast but he can definitely throw. 
“Give me the ring,” he commands, stretching his arm behind his back before releasing another piece to hit your forearm. 
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” There’s nowhere you can skate to avoid his stupidly good marksmanship. 
“You gotta do what you gotta do.” He shrugs, breaking another patch of ice to replenish his ammo. “Hand over the ring.”
“Over my dead body,” you shriek when a particularly big piece lands next to your feet. You knew he missed that shot on purpose.
“I feel like I’m finally acting my age,” he says casually, finding your darting about in order to avoid him more fun than he initially thought. “Can’t throw pebbles at meddling kids so this is the next best option. Thanks.” 
“If you acted your age you’d be in a casket, Barnes,” you hissed, finding that skating in zig zags helped your cause, but not by much. “I’d be- you bitch- I’d be more than happy to help you get there.”
You raise your arm, ready to send another blast to freeze the water that was starting to melt around him, hopefully, keep him where he was if it froze around him. 
He flinches. You notice immediately, hand dropping slightly when you realise what it looked like.
“I’m not gonna freeze you,” you say, softer than you intended. From what you knew, he had enough and more experience with that and you weren’t going to contribute to it. 
He swallows thickly, giving himself a little shake of his head as if to jolt him out of his train of thought. 
Another piece of ice hits you in the leg. You let out a string of curses at him.
“The more ice you make, the more I have to throw at you, Y/N.” He waits for you to regain your balance when you nearly take a stumble. 
“Shut up, you’re so immature.”
“Remind me whose plan this was again?” No point waiting for you to regain your balance when you fall over only a few seconds later. 
He gathers a few shards in his beanie, tucking it into his belt like a little makeshift rucksack just in case before venturing out on the main rink again. 
It’s more difficult for you to stand without railings to guide you, giving him enough and more time to make his way towards you, staggering and skidding. 
Both of you looked ridiculous. 
“Stay away, fiend.” 
“Ring first.” He holds his hand out in front of you. He even considered pulling you up if you just made things easier.
Next thing he knows he’s on his ass on the ice beside you. 
“I hate you,” he groans, watching as you inch away from him on your knees.
He doesn’t really have any other options so he shoves aside the humiliation and gets on his knees, using his arms to drag him along the ice.
“For the love of Christ, none of us are winning here. Just give me the ring.”
The bitch from the soundtrack sings about letting it go but he won’t. 
“Never,” you shout, sliding away from him as fast as possible. 
You make use of the fact that the top layer of ice is starting to melt, using the ring to freeze it again. His knees and fingers get stuck as the water freezes over but he has super strength. It barely takes him a second to free himself. 
“Great,” he huffs, just settling down on the ice, ignoring the sting of cold that was spreading through his limbs. Running after you wasn’t going to work; he needed a way to get the ring. 
“You won last time, I’m not letting you win again.”
“Are we seriously keeping score?” He watches as you scramble towards the edge.
“No one likes a loser, Bucky.” You use the pool stair railings to pull yourself up.
“Explain why you have friends then.” He can’t help himself this time. 
“Hardy har har.” You roll your eyes. 
He doesn’t make an effort to move. Instead, when you take a step back into the rink, he raises his arm and pummels it into the ice, just to annoy you. 
The ground damn near shakes, pushing you dangerously towards losing your balance again. 
“Are you crazy?” Your arm shoots out in front of you to keep you from falling headfirst. 
“No.” He does it again. This time there’s a crack in the ice. “I’m just very tired.”
“If the ice breaks we’re both gonna be underwater, you moron!”
“Fine by me.” He shrugs. “Freeze it again. I’ll just find different ways to ruin it for you.”
You glare at him. He raises his arm above his head again.
“Fine! Fine, stop.” You eye him as he lowers his arm. 
He reaches for his stash of ice pieces from earlier, throwing one at your shoulder again.
“Boy, I swear if you don’t stop doing that-” you duck when another one comes at you. You had no idea he could be this annoying. 
It suddenly hits him, like a lightbulb going off in his brain. He wipes his hands off on his jacket, getting on all fours before slowly managing to pick himself up again. 
He looks at you, tilting his head slightly like he was studying you.
“What?” you ask suspiciously, eyeing as he starts inching closer towards you. “What are you thinking?”
It’s like watching a newborn deer stumble its way through the world, albeit more gracefully, until he starts picking up speed. The motherfucker was going to mow you down.
The skates are useful but not so much when an extremely determined bumbling oaf is barrelling towards you, his speed beginning to match yours even without equipment. 
You don’t know why you’re running, you don’t know why he’s chasing after you but when you see the end of the pool you take a sharp left only to have him knock right into you, sending you both sprawling.
You land half on top of him, breaking your fall but it doesn’t stop the very loud groan that escapes your mouth. He’s already in the process of sitting up straight, giving you less time to analyse what just happened.
“What the fuck was that for?” you speak through gritted teeth. “Fuckin’ acting like the both of us have free healthcare.”
“You refused to give up.”
“So your plan was to tackle me like a quarterback?” You threw your hands up.  
“One part of it.” He drags himself to the edge, away from you. 
“There's more to your monkey brained plan?” He doesn’t look at you. The ice around the pool has more or less melted, letting him gain proper footing on the floor before he stands up. 
“Oh, yeah.” He turns to you. “The other’s a trick I stole from Stark.”
Bucky holds up the ring. Your jaw slightly drops, eyes searching your finger for the now missing piece of tech. 
“Suppose that’s two points for me?” 
You’re impressed. You also want to stab him. So you do the next best thing.
“When I imagined you holding a ring in front of me, the circumstances were very different,” you comment.
“Bye, Y/N.” He spins on his heel, not even giving you a second’s worth of reaction. You found it amusing.
He heads towards the door, clothes all wet. He empties out melted ice water from his beanie before stuffing it into his pocket. Just when he’s about to leave, you remember something. 
Do you mean it genuinely or just because it has an effect on him? 
“Just for the record, Barnes, about your hair-” you call out, earning his attention from over his shoulder. “I think you look really good either way.”
The world may never know. 
You swear you can see the corners of his lips quirk upwards before he turns around again. 
He slips on a block of ice, cursing and clenching on to the door to keep him upright, quickly yanking it open and leaving before he has a chance to embarrass himself further.
Smooth.
Next part
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queenofspades20 · 4 years
Text
Scream - 2
Here is chapter 2 of Avengers AU of Scream for @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho spooky challenge. Planning on breaking up the rest of the story into 2 chapters.
Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Y/N Weathers; Avengers x Reader
Word count: 2.3k
Warnings: suspense, inappropriate jokes, mentions of gore 
Natasha was sitting at her desk in her room, working on an essay for her English Literature class the next day. She was putting the finishing touches, when she heard a rustling from the tree outside her window. Natasha made her way over to the window and was looking out.
“Boo!” Clint, Natasha’s boyfriend, popped up.
Natasha jumped back and let out a small scream. “Jesus, Clint. What the hell?” She smacked his arm as he climbed through the window.
A knock sounded from her bedroom door. “Natasha? Is everything ok? I heard a scream”
Natasha raced to the door before her dad, Phil, could come in. She opened the door a little to put her face in the doorway. “Yeah. Sorry. I have Deep Blue Sea on and I’m at the part where the shark jumps out and eats Samuel L. Jackson. Gets me every time.”
Phil just laughed. “The actor that looks like the dean of your college?”
“Yeah. Not that we can ever say that to Fury. I don’t think he’s a fan of getting compared like that.”
“Fair enough. Well, I also wanted to say bye before tomorrow. My flight is pretty early. Don’t forget I’ll be staying at…”
“The Hilton by the airport. I got it, Dad.”
“There’s money for food by the phone downstairs.”
“Are you going to visit that violinist while you’re there?” Natasha asked her father. He had met the woman on a business trip last month. Natasha knew that before her mother died, her parents were going through a rough patch, so Natasha wanted to see her dad happy again.
Phil blushed.  “Maybe. She and I have just been chatting. I don’t know if it’ll go anywhere.”
“That’s fine, Dad. It doesn’t have to. I’m just happy to see you put yourself out there. I guess I’ll say goodnight and have a safe flight.” Natasha moved out of her room to hug Phil. He hugged her back.
“I’ll see you on Monday. Night, Nat.”
Natasha moved back into her room and closed the door. A stuffed bear popped up from the other side of the bed. “That was close,” Clint said in a silly voice.
“What are you doing here, Clint?”
Clint got up and sat on the edge of the bed. He chuckled. “I was watching Exorcist and it made me think of you, so I decided to come over.”
“A horror movie made you think of me?” Natasha crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“When we started out, we were rated R on our way to NC-17. But these days, we seem to have a PG rating.”
Natasha thought for a moment. “With what happened to my mom last year, I’m sorry I haven’t been up for more.”
Clint started shaking his head while Natasha was talking. “I know you’ve been dealing with that. I’m not bringing it up to pressure you into anything. I just, I kind of miss where we used to be.”
Natasha sighed. “I miss where we used to be too. I just need time.”
“I get it. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Now, you need to get out of here in case my dad hears you. I don’t need him kicking your butt.”
Clint climbed out of the window but leaned his face in. He puckered his lips. Natasha smiled and rolled her eyes. She moved close to him and they shared a soft kiss.
“Hey, Clint. Would you settle for a PG-13 relationship?”
“What’s a PG…” Clint started. Natasha lifted up her sleep shirt to flash him. Clint stared at her for a moment. Natasha lowered her shirt and laughed. “You’re dangerous, Nat.”
“Love you,” Natasha responded.
“I love you, too.”
After Clint left, Natasha finished her essay, shut off her laptop, and went to bed.
When Natasha approached the campus the next morning, there were dozens of police cars with their lights flashing all over the parking lot. There were reporters everywhere. “The brutal murder of Sharon Carter and Steve Rogers…” “The worst crime since the murder of Maria Coulson almost one year ago…” Natasha could hear random sentences from the reporters.
Wanda Maximoff ran up to Natasha. “Hey, did you see the post on Shieldbook last night?”
Natasha looked her best friend. “No. I had the essay for Lit to finish and just went to bed. I didn’t look at any social media last night.”
“Sharon Carter and Steve Rogers were murdered last night. Sharon’s body was hanging from a tree. The killer took a picture and posted it to Shieldbook.”
Natasha ran her hand along her face. “Oh my God. Sharon sits next to me in Lit.”
“Well, not any more. Anyways, not only was the picture posted on Shieldbook, her aunt Peggy is the one that found the bodies.”
“That poor woman.”
The girls made their way towards the front entrance to the school.
“Natasha! Natasha!” yelled a voice from about 20 feet away. Y/F/N Weathers ran up towards Natasha.
“Oh no.” Natasha hated the reporter. Y/F/N Weathers covered her mother’s murder a year ago. Weathers argued that the person charged, Bruce Banner, was innocent. She tried to argue that Natasha was a liar and was crazy. Natasha was certain that the person she saw leaving that night was Bruce. She was even able to identify the jacket, which had her mother’s blood all over it.
“Natasha, what are your thoughts on the murders that happened last night?” Y/N asked, hold a microphone towards Natasha.
“No comment.”
“Do you think they’re related to your mother’s murder?”
It took everything Natasha had in her to not punch Y/N. Wanda jumped in, “What the hell is your problem, bitch?”
Natasha grabbed her friend’s arm and led her away. “Not the time, Wan. She’s not worth it.”
“She deserve a major punch for the shit she’s put you through. You saw Bruce Banner leaving that night. And she keeps trying to drag you through the mud.”
“I know! I know! I’m not saying she doesn’t deserve it. I just don’t want more attention on me than what’s going to already be on me. Let’s just get to class.”
The girls made their way to their class. Natasha couldn’t stop staring at the seat next to her that was usually filled with Sharon. They weren’t the closest of friends, but they would often pass notes in class. As Natasha was lost in thought, an officer came into the room and passed a note to the professor.
“Natasha?” Natasha looked up at her professor. “It would appear it’s your turn.”
Natasha grabbed her bag and walked to the dean’s office.
“Who’s next?” Dean Fury asked.
“Um, Natasha Romanoff,” Deputy James Barnes said, looking at the list.
“Isn’t she the daughter of…” one of the deputies started to ask, when Natasha walked in.
“Have a seat, Ms. Romanoff-Coulson,” Dean Fury said, gesturing to the seat.
“Thanks. Hi Bucky.”
“Hi Nat. It’s Deputy Barnes today though.”
Natasha looked down at her hands. “Sorry.”
Dean Fury decided to take the lead on the questioning. “So Ms. Romanoff-Coulson, how well did you know Sharon or Steve?”
Natasha thought about it for a moment. “Sharon and I had a few classes together. I knew Steve through a few other classes. We didn’t really hang out outside of school; we just ran in different circles and were involved in different activities, so we just weren’t close.”
Bucky jotted down her answer. “Natasha, were you aware of anyone have a problem with either of them?”
“No. They were two of the nicest people. I can’t figure out why anyone would go after them.”
“Okay. Thanks. That’s all the questions I have for you,” Bucky said as he checked off something on his paper.
Natasha left the office. By that time, classes were over for the morning. She went to the courtyard by the student union, where Wanda, Clint, Wanda’s boyfriend, Thor, and Thor’s brother, Loki, were all sitting. They were discussing the murders and everything else that was going on.
“I wonder who did it,” Wanda said as she took a bite of her sandwich. “I saw that picture on Shieldbook. She was gutted. I can’t imagine how wrecked seeing that made her aunt.”
Loki leaned over Thor’s shoulder, “didn’t she turn you down for a date, Thor?”
Wanda looked at her boyfriend. “You told me you turned her down for me.”
Thor looked at his brother and then turned back to Wanda. “He’s lying, love. You know how he likes to stir up trouble.”
“How could anyone do that?” Natasha wondered aloud. Clint put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
“I heard they found her liver in the mailbox.” Loki said with a sneer.
“Just liver alone,” Thor said with a laugh. “Get it? LIVER alone?”
Natasha jumped to her feet and stormed off. Clint looked at the brothers. “Nice going guys.”
Loki looked at him with faux innocence. “What?”
Later that afternoon, Natasha was home and clearing up before Wanda got there. She held her phone between her shoulder and ear. “You sure you don’t mind staying over?”
“Of course not,” Wanda said. “It’ll be a fun sleepover weekend. I’m going to stop by the liquor store for provisions. Anything specific you want?”
“Nah. I’m good with anything. Just try to get here before dark. These murders have everyone spooked.”
After they hung up, Natasha decided to take a short nap in her room before Wanda got there. About two hours later, she awoke with a start. She looked at her phone and saw how much time had passed. She sent a text to Wanda to see where she was. As she was walking towards downstairs, her phone went off.
Natasha answered without looking at the screen. “Wanda, when are you going to get here?”
“Hello, Natasha,” a voice said. Natasha was unable to tell if it was male or female.
“I’m sorry. I’m waiting on a friend. Who is this?”
“You tell me.”
“Well I have no idea.”
“Scary night, isn’t it? With the murders and all, it’s like something out of a scary movie, huh?”
“Loki, you’re giving yourself away. Are you calling from work? Wanda is on her way to pick some stuff up.”
“Do you like scary movies, Natasha?”
“I like that thing you’re doing with your voice, Loki. It’s sexy.”
“What’s your favorite scary movie?”
“Oh come on, you know I don’t watch that shit.”
“What’s the matter? Too scary for you?” The voice had a playful tone to it.
“No. It’s just, what’s the point? The killer is stalking some big-breasted girl who can’t act, chasing her up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. It’s insulting.”
“Are you. . . alone in the house?”
“Loki, that’s so unoriginal. I’m so disappointed in you.”
“Well, maybe that’s because I’m not Loki.”
Natasha started to look around. “So, who are you?”
“The question isn’t ‘who am I’ but rather ‘where am I’?”
“So, where are you?”
“Your front porch.”
Natasha felt her heart drop. She walked to the door. “My porch huh? Well, I call your bluff.” Natasha opened the door and walked out onto the porch. She looked around but didn’t see anyone. “So, where are you?”
“Right here.”
Natasha still couldn’t see anyone. After looking for a few moments, she held the phone back up to her ear. “Can you see me right now?”
“Uh huh.”
“Oh really? So, what am I doing right now?” Natasha stuck her finger up her nose and started to turn around. “What am I doing? Hello?” she yelled into the phone.
There was no answer from the mysterious caller.
“That’s what I thought. Tell Wanda to hurry up. Okay? Bye now.”
As Natasha went to hang up, the voice called out, “if you hang up on me, you’ll die just like your mother! Do you want to die, Natasha? Your mother sure didn’t,” the voice taunted.
“Fuck you, you asshole.” Natasha ran back into the house and locked the door, including sliding the chain into place. As she backed away from the door, the hall closet flew open and a figure dressed in a black cloak with a white face jumped out, a knife in its raised hand. The figure slammed her body against the door. As Natasha fell to the ground, she swept the attacker’s feet out from under them and they fell to the ground. She kicked them in the face and got up.
Natasha tried to open the door, but in her haste, she forgot to undo the chain. She yanked the door open but was stopped short by the chain. The attacker got up and lunged at her again. Natasha barely managed to get away and she ran up the stairs to her bedroom. The attacker was close behind her. She ran into her bedroom and slammed the door closed. She locked the door and then opened her closet door, so that if her door opened, it would block the other door from opening all the way. As she backed away, the attacker threw their body against the door. The lock gave way but the other door prevented her door from opening all the way. The attacker pushed their arm through the small opening, waving the knife around.
Natasha was glad that her dad insisted on keeping a landline for the house and she picked up the receiver to call 911. As the call was going through, the attacker disappeared from the door. All of a sudden, BAM. Clint jumped at the open window and started to climb in. Natasha ran to her boyfriend and helped him get through the window. “Oh thank God.”
“Nat, what’s going on? The door was locked and I heard screaming.”
“There’s a killer in the house. He’s in the house.”
“He’s gone, Nat. It’s okay,” Clint soothed.
As Natasha hugged Clint, a thud resounded through the room. Natasha looked down to see a cellphone on the floor. Natasha backed away from Clint.
“Nat, what’s wrong?”
Natasha opened her doors and ran down the staircase, Clint running behind her. “Nat, wait!”
Natasha opened the door and came face with the mask of her attacker. She let out a scream.
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alexandrinav0605 · 3 years
Text
Talking to Strangers
Multi-Chapter 1/? LINK TO AO3
Penny Parker knew many things, one of them being that the foster system was shit. She also knew her social worker was stupid and useless doing her job, but nobody care, right?
After losing all her family and ending in foster care, Penny founds herself on mandatory group therapy, with some unusual companions. ----- TW: Mentions of rape (not graphic), Violence (not graphic, but mentions of the way of murder), Child Abuse.
English is not my first language, therefore, I'm not from US and I do not know how the foster system works, as well as group therapy.
-----
Penny didn’t know why she was there. Actually, she knew, but she didn’t understand it. When her social worker told her that group therapy would be needed, Penny thought she was joking. In which way talking about how shitty her life was to a group of strangers would help her? To be honest talking didn’t do anything, but this wasn’t really for her. Apparently, the government was forced to take care of all the children on the system that have been harmed because of their incompetence, not only physically but mentally. As it turns out there are many children that were harmed. The people in charge were surprised, I wasn’t. Most people fostering kids only do it for the money, and it was rare if they treated their foster kid correctly. Out of the 5 houses she had been, Penny was treated decently in only one and it was the bare minimum. Of course, there wasn’t money, they never had, so group therapy was cheaper, unhelpful, but cheaper, and that was all they care about.
She didn’t care, neither private therapy nor group therapy helped, talking in general didn’t help. No one understand what she was feeling. Her twin, Peter, did, but he was on her backpack, just ashes inside a cheap container. That was another thing of the many that existed in which Penny and her social worker disagree, her twin brother´s ashes being with her all the time. In reality Penny knew it wasn’t healthy, that she should let go and that her brother wasn’t really there, but it was hard. She was there when their foster father throw Peter to the wall, hitting Peter’s head. The noise alerted their neighbors, and they called the police, but it was late, Peter was already dead. She was placed in another home, with a man called Skip. That was something she could be glad about, Peter never had to live with that monster. Healthy or not, a year later she was still grieving, after all she was only 15 and she wasn’t in the mood to be order around by the person that had placed them in that house to begin with. It wasn’t like her life had to many healthy things anyway.
Entering the building, she wished she could run and pretend like she had attended, but she remembered the look of her social worker and her little warning that they will write who had attended. She wasn’t in the mood to endure a lecture, so she decided to go and ignore everything and everyone, how hard can it be?
As it turns out, very difficult. When she found the room where her group was supposed to be, the last people she hoped to find was the freaking Avengers. Everyone started at her while she made her way to the center of the room, and she felt uncomfortable. A part of her was jumping because she was in the same room as Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, that have always been her and Peter’s favorite scientist, but that was just in the inside, because that was the little part of her innocent that had managed to survive everything life had thrown at her.
What was worse was the man that turn out to be their mediator. The man in particular was someone she already knew and not a friendly one. He annoy her mainly because he liked to tell her who she should see the bright side. Well guess what asshole there is no good side.
“Hi, I’m Tyler and I will be your mediator while you are in this therapy program.” If glares could kill the man would be dead, but that didn’t stop him of talking. “So, as you may see we have a group that know each other and a person that doesn’t know anyone, personally of course.” He smiled at his bad joke and Penny just made an annoyed sound that got everyone’s attention. “Basic information we will see each other every Wednesday at the same hour in this same classroom. If you are wondering why of all things you are in the company of the Avengers,” He directed this to Penny. “We are required a minimum of 10 people per group and as you can see the Avengers are only 9, so using the resent stipulation of the government regarding the foster system, we thought it would be great to allow a child to meet the Avengers He looked around probably hoping for a reaction; the Avengers were indifferent, and Penny was straight up annoyed.
He made a long pause waiting for someone to say something, he was about to continue when Penny talked.
“Don’t you think that is dumb to make a child met the Avengers when they are talking about their problems and when said child is talking about his own problems not to mention how disrespectful it is for them to do so” Her tone was indifferent and bore, but her eyes reflected every emotion, anger being the main one, this man really annoyed her.
The Avengers and Tyler look at her surprised, and a little irritated in Tyler’s case. By now Tyler was used to her replications, so he just ignored it.
“I thought it may be nice to present yourselves and say why we are here before we do any other dynamic, Penny, why don’t you begin?” He looked around and began explaining why he knew her name. “Penny and I know each other from my days at the foster system.”
“I have many reasons why I don’t want to present myself the main want is that I think is kind of incoherent to begin with me, also unfair because it will lead to an unbalance position of information with me having less information about them as they already know each other, now I’m not saying I should go last because then it would be unfair for them” She smile at the end trying to appear innocent.
Tony Stork look amused as well as Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. Captain Rogers has an annoyed expression on his face that probably had to do with the fact that he was a soldier who always followed orders, and her clear disdain for authority unnerve him. She didn’t care, she stopped caring a time ago.
Deciding against confrontation, Tyler asks for voluntaries. Being the leader he thinks he is, Captain Rogers offer to go first. The presentation was brief, he said his name and something about wanting to get over his dead ex-girlfriend and form a bond with his team. He was followed by Bucky Barens with something about HYDRA, and a certain Sam Wilson being a guilt survivor. Wanda Maximoff was something like a guilt and anger survivor, although Penny didn’t know if that even existed, if it did Wanda Maximoff was definitely one of them.
Natasha Romanoff was probably as reserved if not more than Penny was, the only thing Penny could gather was that that woman had a past even more dark that hers. Bruce Banner definitely had problems with his other self. Then it was Penny´s turn.
“I’m Penny Parker, I’m 15 years old” How much she hated this. “And I’m here because the people in charge rather put money in their pockets instead of helping me solve the problem their shitty system cause in the first place” When she finish, she look at Tyler, daring him to say something to her.  
“Penelope,” Damn complete name. “Not here, please.” Tyler was definitely trying to do anything to keep appearances.
“Then where? At least here I have a public that can see how much bullshit the foster system is.” Penny was getting really tired of his hypocrisy now.
Tyler send her a look and Penny couldn’t feel worse. She knew how delicate her situation was right now, one misstep and she will be sent to a special group house for mentally unstable people, and she didn’t want that. People always called her smart, so using that so called intelligence she shut her mouth.
The session continued with Tony Stark and his enormous guilt complex hide by a god complex, followed by Thor and all his death family. Finally, there was Clint Barton, who said that he wanted to fix the relationship with his team members, but he couldn’t hide anything for Penny, he wanted to be here as much as Penny wanted, most of them look miserably, not that Penny blame them.
“Alright, now that we know each other,” Penny didn’t know how Tyler could be so infuriating. “I want to make a dynamic that consist of saying what would you do if you could do anything you want.” He stroll his gaze around the room. “Now, we do have one rule that is: It needs to be something realistic, many of you are trying to deal with grief, so I don’t want things like bringing back your love ones.”
As Penny didn’t know who to keep her mouth close, she speak: “How about killing Tyler?” Seeing his alarming expression, along with the Avengers was amusing, but she added “Don’t worry Tyler I’m not talking about you.”
“We cannot wish for someone’s death” His warning look didn’t stop her.
“Boohoo, I wanted to give Mr. Preachy a taste of his own medicine” As always, her voice revealed nothing besides amusement and sarcasm, but her eyes gave everything someone needed to know she was serious.
Tyler was definitely tired of her antics. Penny couldn’t care less. He let it go and began with someone else; Penny didn’t pay attention, too concentrated in returning the looks that Natasha Romanoff was sending her. When it was Romanoff’s turn, she broke the staring contest to answer. Finally, it was Penny’s turn, although she wanted nothing more than to say murder Skip or Mr. and Mrs. Preachy, she went for something more normal.
“I want to go back to London” Everyone stared at her, surprise written all over their faces. “Not the famous London, but the outskirt, where there are all the neighborhoods.” She wasn’t kidding; she misses London, since she put a foot in this place. “Also, their foster system is much better.” She couldn’t stop being the little shit she is, right?
“Well, I was hoping something less materialistic, so tell me, why London?” Because she wanted to, ass. She was about to say that, but decided against it, be smart.
“It isn’t materialistic, Tyler.” Sarcasm was definitely a copping mechanism. “If you had bother to look at my file, you would know that I’m from London, if it wasn’t obvious enough by my accent” And it was true, although she hadn’t been in London for 10 years, she still had a British accent. Peter die with his accent as well, she wondered if she will ever loss it.
Tyler mumbled a quiet thanks, and after some words Penny didn’t listen, he gave them permission to leave. Gathering her things, Penny waited for everyone to leave before she leave herself. Outside the building she heard some words.
“I just don’t understand why she has to be so rude, the guy did nothing wrong. And what was that thing of wishing to kill someone about, what was his name?” Penny recognized the voice from the videos of detention.
“Mr. Preachy.” That was Natasha Romanoff.
“Leave the kid alone, capsicle, you don’t know what happened between them.” Penny thought that at least an Avenger had a little bit of brain.
She cleared her throat, making jump everyone, except Black Widow, who blinked. Penny began her show to teach something to Captain I Know Everything.
“Oh, how lucky I catch the Avengers, my brother is a fan of yours” She tried to sound amiable and she succeed.
Rogers talk first, clearly knowing she had heard him. “Well, we can sigh something for your brother if you want” Captain certainly was trying, bad for him.
“Actually, he is right here” Penny tuck out the container that guarded her brother’s ages, please to see the alarming looks in the Avengers. “Poor thing didn’t know what hit him. Well, he knew, a wall and Mr. Preachy’s fist” She pause looking directly in the eyes at Steve Rogers, waiting for him to say something, but all she got was a small Oh.
Turning to Dr. Banner she began talking. “Dr. Banner is a pleasure to meet you. My brother and I were always fans of your paper about Gamma radiation, we read ai when we were 10. “Dr. Banner seemed surprised. “Really? I’m happy you like it.”
Penny giggle a little, putting her brother back in her backpack. “Pleasure to meet you” She look at Captain Rogers. “Most of you.” With that she turned around hearing a sound like hitting someone and a low Auch.
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kittybellestark · 3 years
Text
Falling Apart At The Seams
Part 4 of 5
Read Part 3 
Read on AO3
Part 5 will be out a little bit late because I have to drive across the country and back to get my brother, but it is already written so have no fears, you will receive the final part.
TW: conversations about past sexual assault, ptsd, trauma post kidnapping.
-
Tony was used to being kidnapped. 
It was old hat. An easy routine. Get kidnapped, find out who has him, learn the motive, then pull out a bad ass move and break out. 
Simple. 
Coming back and re-adjusting to regular life though? That always hurt. Sometimes it was physical but most of the time it was mental. Finding a new pattern and safe space. Places where Tony used to feel his safest were regularly torn from him, beds, showers, garages. He didn’t find much comfort in the dark, or looking up at the sky at night, pools and baths were a nightmare and these were all things he once loved. Tony just needed to do this again.
It was always a struggle for Tony. His mind was always too fast, it was why he couldn’t sleep as a child or even now. His mind goes too fast and it’s impossible to stop. Tony was never able to describe what it felt like to think to others, but he imagined it as NASCAR on drugs with trains derailing, there was heaviness and music and commercials, impossible to solve problems and lectures from MIT. Where most people would already be moving on from being kidnapped Tony was still living through it, the entire experience on repeat, volume turned all the way up. Re-adjusting was the hardest part.
If he was anyone else, it probably wouldn’t be like this. 
Tony hated the shame he felt being wheeling into the tower. He hated that Peter was in the room, listening to Mary shouting her confessions as she pulled and pushed trying to get out of the grips of Natasha and Clint. Screaming desperately to Peter that she wanted to give him another sibling, how Peter was named after his father. Watching Peter’s face fall, watching him realize who Tony was as he was rolled in behind Mary on a gurney- that was torture. 
And Tony was helpless. Normally Tony would talk, say something to Peter, anything to get that look off his face. The look of betrayal, hurt, denial. But none of this was normal. It’s not normal to find out you’re abandoned child is also the one you invite into your home and watch movies and create things with. 
Tony was still dealing with the effects of the drug as he was wheeled in, which left him incapable of doing anything. Useless, even.
Peter didn’t deserve this.
“... Because it was an Avenger arrest and Mary admitted to what happened in 2000 she’s going to be held in a secure Avengers facility instead. Jimmy said the FBI approved Peter and May staying in New York because of everything.” 
Sure, yeah, an Avenger arrest. It was mostly a Pepper arrest. Pepper was definitely the strongest Avenger. And she wasn’t even an Avenger. Well a case could be made for her being an honourary Avenger. An Avenger by association. 
“Rhodey, I appreciate you, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
Pepper moved across Tony’s Medbay room, staying behind Rhodey, careful to keep her distance. Rhodey frowned, squeezing Tony’s hand. Tony squeezed back, thankful to have a wonderful med-team who reversed the drug’s effects instead of making him wait it out.
“Tony,” Pepper spoke softly, carefully, “Peter is your child, he is upstairs hurt and confused. I know it’s going to take you time to come to terms with everything, no one is expecting any less. But, that child you thought you’d never meet is here and you know how good he is.”
Peter was good. Undoubtedly one of the best kids out there. Kind, caring, doing his absolute best. Peter was a treasure. An anomaly. Spent the first half of his life in an abusive home, put into witness protection, full identity change and still lived a life full of trauma. And yet Peter was full heartedly kind. And he was Tony’s son. His child. The one he sent years running away from. Peter came from bad, lived right through it all still trying to make it to the other side. 
He was a ray of sunshine to Tony and the Avengers. Bright eyed and still so innocent, yet incredibly snarky. But the memories, they’re tainted now. Which of Peter’s mannerisms come from Mary? What parts of Peter come from Tony. Every moment from lab days to movie nights, team dinners all covered with the memories of what Tony did to Peter. And what Mary did to Tony. Tony left him with Mary to grow up, let him be in her presence and learn from her. 
It’s been fifteen years of guilt. Sixteen years of self-hatred. Twenty-four hours a day re-living the feeling of absolute torture. Five years of not being able to wear a watch because it felt too much like he was being chained. Eight years where Tony couldn’t sleep on a bed that touched a wall. Tony has struggled since the moment he woke up on the creaky mattress. He has struggled every time he goes outside to see someone who is pregnant, and whenever he see’s a child.
“I don’t know if I can. I’m not- I can’t- what if I look at him and can’t see anything past her. I can’t be a person he can go to if I see him and only remember where he came from.”
Peter was upstairs. His child, his son, who he abandoned. Tony knew that child Mary was carrying was his, of course he knew. He was forced to watch her as her pregnancy progressed up until the start of the third trimester. Mary ruined Tony’s life in the quest for a child. Tony didn’t want to ruin Peter’s life because he was running from the months of torture and a child he never met.
It isn’t like Peter’s life hasn’t already been filled with trauma. Peter already had to deal with being in witness protection, Mary trying to kill him, kidnap and sell him. Now not only would Peter learn how he was a product of rape, but he’s been raped too. Not only was Peter the product of rape, he was named after Tony. Mary had named Peter after the person she raped, and how was Peter supposed to live with that knowledge? Tony could hardly stand it himself.
“If you’re worried about Peter because of your past, then you’re already doing better than you think you are.” 
Pepper was too nice to him. She was too nice to a person who knowingly abandoned their child. Tony set Peter up for a life of misery. Because of Tony Peter had to go through all that he did. What happened to Peter was all Tony’s fault. He should have done better. Tony should have done better the night he was taken, and he should have done better when his fate was sealed. Instead Tony didn’t only let himself suffer but Peter as well. 
A knock at the door stopped the conversation from moving any further.
May Parker stood there, and it was obvious that she was tired. Her hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun, her face red, and there was a fading water stain on her old grey sweater. Even though she looked exhausted she kept herself to stand in a guarded way, like she was trying to keep the exhaustion and emotions away.
“I have a teen upstairs who exhausted himself out from his hysterical crying. A super soldier had to restrain Peter to stop him from hurting himself. We need to talk. Any chance we can be alone?”
Peter needed to be restrained. He was hurting himself in his hysteric’s and Tony couldn’t help but blame himself. If he had done better, looked at the pictures or not been kidnapped again Peter wouldn’t be in pain. Mary said everything, she screamed it all for Peter to know and now Peter was hurting. Tony should have been better. He could have done more to make sure this never happened. Peter was hurting because of the truth and the way it was delivered. Things should have been explained to Peter in a better way. Peter didn’t deserve this.
“Uh,” Tony hesitated. Pepper left the room but Rhodey stayed. “I’m sorry, Rhodey needs to stay here. I can’t- uh, we’ll not even get to a conversation if he leaves.”
Her eyebrows raised, but she seemed to accept this stepping into the room anyways.
Tony tried to pretend that he wasn’t bothered by her presence. That her brown hair wasn’t actually brown, that May wasn’t a woman standing over him in bed. She was just Peter’s aunt. May wasn’t Mary even if her name was one letter removed. Rhodey is here and he won’t let anything happen. He’s had Tony’s back since MIT, it’s not like Rhodey will turn his back on Tony now. They’ve been through too much together.
“So you and Mary?” The rest of the question left unsaid.
“He was born in April, right? Of 2001?”
Looking at May wasn’t going to work. She wasn’t using her nice face. She was too close. Tony was too guilty. He never should have left that party, not with Mary. It would have been so much easier if that night he’d gone to Happy and Rhodey before he left. Everything would have been easier had he just taken some responsibility.
“So you knew you had a child,” Angry, May was so Angry. Tony just needed to not think about it, “you knew about Peter.”
Rhodey’s hand was warm. Tony appreciated the comfort he was getting despite not doing anything that deserved it. If anything Tony deserved to be punished for what he’d done. For abandoning Peter with Mary. For letting himself get kidnapped by her again.
“I went missing in 2000. About half way through the year. Suddenly I reappeared in January of 2001. Rumors went around that I was in rehab or other’s believe it was a really bad bender, we never denied any of it. No one knew what actually happened until two years ago when I told Pepper what happened. I was supposed to be a playboy, no one was going to believe me.”
The silence was deafening. 
Every second that May didn’t speak was another second that Tony imagined a slow, painful death at her hands. She wouldn’t believe Tony, there’s no reason she should. Tony had a reputation, and people couldn’t see past that. He put on an impeccable mask for the public to tear apart so no one would know what he’s actually like. It was a great mask, a great cover, a great story, but it had come back to haunt him before and this will just be the same. May wasn’t going to believe that Tony Stark, Iron Man, an Avenger, was kidnapped by some Mary Benson. No one was going to believe him.
He never wanted anyone to know. 
What if no one believed Tony? He would lose all his friends, his life. Tony would only have Pepper and Rhodey. While once in his life they were all he had, now Tony had so much more. He didn’t want to lose the people he had now because of one person.
Tony needed to be alone. He can’t do this. Mary ruined his life, both now and sixteen years ago. She took a hold of Tony’s life and wouldn’t let go.
“So Peter is... Mary raped you?”
That was disbelief. That was disbelief. May didn’t believe him. Tony never gave her any opportunities to actually believe him. He took Peter out of the country without her consent and never told May about Spider-Man. Those were very big reasons to never believe a word out of his mouth. Tony wasn’t trustworthy. May will think things were the other way around. Of course she will, these things don’t happen to a guy because of a girl.
Tony needed to breath. He needed to answer May.
Words. Tony just needed to find words. He needed to answer her. Words. They do the things that lets him communicate. Words have always been easy. He just needed to vocalize. Admit what happened to someone who isn’t Pepper or Rhodey. Just confirm it.
Speak, Tony. Speak!
“Yes,” Rhodey answered, his voice strained, “Mary kidnapped him and abused him for months. Peter only exists because of it. Tony never wanted what happened to him and he’s been struggling ever since.”
Again there was silence.
The silence wasn’t very nice. It was tense and it hurt, sharp around all the edges. And Tony’s chest hurt and this was all his fault. There was no one else to blame. Tony should have done better.
“Oh. Tony... You- oh.”
She understood?
May understood. She understood. There wasn’t going to be screaming or yelling or arms waving in the air. No telling Tony he’s a bad person or that he’s a liar and did everything that Mary actually did. He wasn’t being told he was wrong for abandoning Peter or that he should own up to his mistakes. There was just understanding.
Tony finally looked up at her. His eyes were filled with tears making May blurry. But he could see her enough to see the pain she was in. The pain he created was written all across her body. Her hunched shoulders, the hands covering her face, the space between her eyebrows creased, the way May was leaning completely forward. Tony caused her pain.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, May.”
May straightened herself out, letting herself sob only once. “Tony, it’s not your fault. I don’t blame you. Peter won’t either. We’re family now so we’ll get through it. We’ve got this”
Family. Huh. How about that.
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