#but helen is avenging her and finishing the job

[rebornrosess]

“Please, trust me. It’s all in plain sight.”

Parallels between Glass Onion (2022) & Henri Matisse’s Icarus (1946)

[arlana-likes-to-write]

A Christmas Outing

Support my writing by buying me a kofi. 

Now, this one got a way from me and I didn't mean for it to be this long but here we go. Also, did I write this story, see a Natasha one shot on tik tok and immediately get an idea for a chapter length Blackhill daughter story? Yes, yes I did. Well I write it. Maybe one day after I write my other 100s of ideas. Ugh! I need to find a job to pay me for writing.

Summary: You are the newly adopted daughter of Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff. They want to give you a perfect Christmas day filled with everything you’ve missed but even the holiday season won’t keep the bad guys away.

Warnings: implied sexual abuse/rape, implied child abuse, kidnapping, torture, injury, reader is a mutant with no control of her powers, adopted child. 

Word Count: 5K

You walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. Maria was in the kitchen, cooking French toast. You liked the smell of cinnamon, it was a smell you were associating with Maria and Natasha. “Morning,” The agent said, looking over her shoulder as you sat down at the bar stool. “How did you sleep?” She put a glass of milk in front of you.

“Good actually.” you said, taking a sip. You weren’t crazy about milk but Helen said it would be a good idea to include in your diet because of how malnourished you were. The couple adopted you 2 months ago but you’ve known them and the other Avengers for closer to 6 months. Before that you bounced around foster homes, no one seemed to want you. To every adult, you were rude, difficult to handle, and an unhappy child. At 13, you were part of the foster population that parents didn’t want to adopt. That was until you were caught trying to pick pocket Natasha. Not your brightest moment. “I slept through the night. No nightmares.” Maria smiled as she placed a plate of French toast down. You poured syrup on them.

“Good, I’m glad. That’s great news.”

“Where is Nat?” You asked, cutting into the food and taking a bite. It was good. You did a little happy dance in your seat. Maria tried to hide her smile behind her coffee cup.

“She had some Avenger stuff she had to finish before we went out.” You nodded. It was the first day both the Avenger and the agent had since the court date. They tried to form their schedule so at least one of them would be home with you. You didn’t mind as long as they came home in one piece. Since it was December and Christmas was right around the corner, the couple wanted to take you shopping. They kept the agenda ‘need to know’ as Natasha called it. After you were done eating, you helped Maria with the dishes and excused yourself to get ready for the day.

You took a quick shower and decided on black jeans and a red flannel that Wanda bought for you. The weather was still nice in New York City. When you walked out of your room, Natasha was making herself a coffee. “Good morning, milyy.” You stopped at the familiar Russian word.

“Milyy means sweetie, right?” You asked, filling a glass with water and taking your vitamins. It was easier for you to read and write Russian than speak it. But you thought it was a good idea to learn the language since so many people at the tower spoke it.

“Yes, it is.” Natasha said. “You keep it up, you'll speak the language better than me and Bucky.” You rolled your eyes.

“You and Bucky are the reason she wants to speak the language in the first place.” Maria said, coming up behind her wife and kissed her on the cheek. You faked a gag in your water which earned you a playful glare from the agent. “She just wants to be able to understand what you guys say behind Steve’s back.” You shrugged.

“It’s an added bonus.” Natasha smirked, shaking her head.

“Ready to go?” The Black Widow questioned. You nodded, walking to the front door to put on your sneakers.

“Do I get to know what we are doing?”

“Not yet.” You pouted. You weren’t a big fan of surprises.

*

Central Park was your first spot. You were surprised that they wanted to take you to such a public place. The public knew that the couple adopted you but they wanted their privacy. A small section of Central Park had a pop up Christmas village. You lead the couple around the market with a hot chocolate in your hand to every small stone. You were fascinated with every little thing each vendor sold. You were too nervous to ask them to get you something but as you walked away to head into the park, Maria walked up next to you handing you a red beanie you were looking at you. “Just ask, okay?” She said. You nodded, ignoring the guilt that ran through you as you placed it on.

“Still learning too.” You whispered. She gave you an understanding smile.

“And you’ve made amazing progress since I first met you.” She said, slinging her around over your shoulders and pulled you into a side hug. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks.” They brought you over to the ice skating rink next. You sat down on the bench to take off your sneakers. “You know I’ve never stepped foot on an ice rink before.” You told the couple.

“And I’m married to a Russian and former ballerina,” Maria said. “You won’t be the only one that will look like a fool.” You and Natasha laughed.

“It will be fun.” The Black Widow said. “I’ll hold both of your hands the entire time.” She was right, ice skating was a lot of fun and Maria was a lot better at it then she led on. Natasha held on tight to your hand as she led you around the ice. “I’m going to let go of your hands, okay?” You nodded as the Russian let go of your hand. You put your arms out to help with your balance. “Look! You are a natural.” Natasha cheered as you caught yourself on the wall, the force knocked the air out of your lungs. The couple stopped next to you.

“That-that’s fun.” You said slightly out of breath. “I think I need to start working out more.” Maria laughed.

“We’ll set up a workout routine with Steve.” Your eyes went wide at the mention of working out with the super soldier.

“I said work out not die!”

“He’d go easy on you.” Natasha said. You rolled your eyes.

“Sure he would.” After ice skating, lunch was a quick stop at a pizza shop. You loved pizza. It was food you could eat every single day if Maria and Natasha would let you. Once pizza was eaten, they took you to a small Christmas tree farm.

“Pick one.” Natasha. You looked at her in disbelief.

“I can pick the tree.” Maria nodded. Oh. You looked around the tree farm. “It’s going in the living room, right?”

“Yup, right by the TV.” Okay, that was good to know so you knew how big the tree needed to be. This was a tough decision to make. You walked around the farm a few times before deciding on a tree.

“Is this the one?” Natasha asked. You nodded happily. “Good choice, kid.” You smiled at the praise. You watched as Maria and Natasha paid for the tree. A weird and warm feeling was bubbling in your chest. Your family. You were grateful for the agent and the Avenger for saving you.

*

You walked out of your bedroom after changing out of your jeans into a comfy pair of sweatpants. Maria and Natasha were stringing Christmas lights around the tree, the record was playing soft music. “Catch.” Natasha said, throwing you a Santa hat. You put it on with a laugh and joined the couple. Once the lights were on, Maria opened up a box of ornaments. It was quick work to put the ornaments on the tree. Next it was time to decorate the apartment. More Christmas lights went up and the stockings were hung on the electric fireplace.

“Can we make cookies?”  You asked.

“Of course.” Natasha said. It was Natasha’s confirmation that led everyone into the kitchen. Sugar cookies were decided. You were measuring the flour when Natasha walked behind you. She stuck her finger into the flour and whipped it on your face. You gasped.

“This is war.” You said, putting your hand into the flour and threw it at the Black Widow. It landed some on her and on the floor as Natasha dogged your flour attack. You went for another attack.

“Children.” Maria warned. Her tone caused you and Natasha to freeze. Natasha gave you a look as she went over to her wife. She wrapped her arms around her wife, keeping her in place.

“I’m sorry, moya lyubov’.” Natasha said. She sent you a small nod. You gathered flour into your hand and threw it at Maria. She couldn’t move as Natasha kept her trap. The agent’s face and shirt was covered in flour. You laughed at the stunned look on her face.

“Oh it’s so on.” A flour fight soon erupted into the kitchen. It was 1 v. 1 v. 1 for a good portion of the fight until Natasha grabbed onto you and held you as Maria dumped flour onto you. You laughed, it was getting hard to breath as you and the couple fell to the kitchen floor covered in flour. “We are never making cookies again.” Maria laughed. You were leaning against them trying to catch your breath.

“We didn’t even make the cookies!” Natasha countered. “We just made a mess.” You giggled.

“It’s your fault.” You said, pointing at the Black Widow. “You started it.” Natasha gasped in mock offense.

“How dare you.” She said, tickling your sides. You just got done laughing but the Black Widow sent into another laughing fit.

“Nat - stop - please.” You laughed, trying to escape her grasp. “No - please - Maria - help. Help!” The agent grabbed onto her wife and allowed you to escape. You placed a hand on your chest. “You are cleaning the kitchen.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever.” Natasha smiled. The kitchen was cleaned, the cookies were made, and a Christmas movie began to play on the TV. Your head rested on Maria’s lap while you ate a cookie and watched The Polar Express. Natasha was cuddled up on Maria’s other side. Today was good, it was a great day.

*

“Are you sure you are going to be okay?” Natasha asked for the 3rd time. You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. You were sitting on the couch, working on your homework. They decided to homeschool you. The couple had a meeting today for an upcoming mission that required both of them.

“Yes, it’s just a meeting.” You said. They didn’t like leaving you home alone. Maria walked out of their shared bedroom. “I know the rules. Don’t open the door if someone knocks. Set the alarm and call you if anything happens.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come to the tower with us?” Maria asked, that was the 2nd time she asked that. You shook your head.

“I have homework to do and I’ll get distracted at the tower.” You weren’t wrong. If Peter and Kate were there then you would get nothing done. You stood up and walked over to them. “I’ll be fine, I promise.” Natasha sighed.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Say hi to everyone for me.” Maria opened the door.

“Figure out what you want for dinner tonight.” You saluted her.

“Aye, aye captain.”

“And not pizza.” You pouted.

“Fine. Now go.” You pushed them out of the apartment. “Steve gets upset when you are late.” They said their goodbyes and you closed the door; locking the door and setting the alarm. You walked back to the couch and flopped back down. You continued to read. You weren’t sure how long it was until someone knocked on the door. You stared at the door above your book and stayed quiet but the knocking continued. Before you could reach for your phone, the door blew off the hinges. You screamed and scrambled off the couch as masked men entered the apartment. You ran to Natasha’s and Maria’s room as they had access to the fire escape. But you didn’t make it as arms grabbed onto you. You fought against the strong arms but they didn’t let go. Soon you felt a pinch on your neck and the world went black.

*

Natasha was annoyed as she sat in the conference room. Her arms were crossed against her chest and the only thing keeping her from yelling at Steve and Tony was Maria’s on her leg. She knew her job was important but each day she spent with Maria and you in their small apartment she valued motherhood instead of Avenging. Her and Maria have talked about retiring but it felt like everything time the conversation was brought up, they were pulled back into the fight. She sighed, this meeting could have been an email. “I apologize for the interruption,” The AI said. “But the alarm at Mrs. Romanoff-Hill’s apartment has been triggered.

“Show us the security footage, FRIDAY.” Natasha said before Steve could say anything. The AI complied and pulled up a hologram of their security footage. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first. They were watching you read on the couch until a knock interrupted the quiet apartment. You didn’t move to go answer it, one of the rules. You continued to read and when another knock happened you reached for your phone but the door blew off the hinges. Natasha and Maria stood up, knocking their chairs over. The Black Widow would remember the sound of your screams. You tried to run but the masked individuals grabbed onto you and injected into your neck. You went limp. As fast as they entered, they left with you. Natasha saw red.

“FRIDAY, find her.” Tony ordered the AI.

“On it boss.” The AI began to pull up traffic cameras and security footage, following the van around the city. “They must have taken her somewhere with signal jammers.”

“Where did you lose them?” Maria asked, grabbing onto Natasha’s hand.

“They went through the Lincoln Tunnel and that is where the signal goes dark.” There was a heavy silence in the room. “I’m sorry.” It was the first time Natasha heard emotion coming from the AI.

“We’ll find them.” Steve said. “Yelena and Kate, head over to the apartment and see if you can find anything.” They stood up with a nod and left, Yelena gave her sister’s arm a tight squeeze.

“Steve, Maria and I should go and search.” Natasha said. The super soldier shook his head.

“No, you and Maria need to sit down and figure out who is behind this.” Steve said. “They took her to get to you.”

*

You woke up to the feeling of water dripping onto your face. You tried to wipe your face but your hands were chained to the chair you were sitting on. Your eyes darted around the dark room, your mind was transporting you back to foster homes that chained you into basements. Breath. Breath. You were no use to anyone if you sent yourself into a panic attack. The door to the room opened and two men came in. “Well looks who's awake,” His voice was thick with a Spanish accent. “We thought you’d be out a lot longer but the fun can begin.”

“Look,” your voice was rough and your throat was dry. “I’m not sure what is going on but I'm nobody you got the wrong person.”

“Oh I don’t think we do, conejita (little bunny),” He said as he was handed a folder. You didn’t know what he called you but you didn’t like how he said it. Maybe you’ll add Spanish to the list of languages you’d learn if you made it out alive. “You are the daughter of Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff.” He pulled out a piece of paper and showed you it. It was a picture of you and Maria in Central Park with her arm around you. He dropped it to the ground and pulled out the next one, it was of you and Natasha at the ice rink. He kept showing you pictures from that day; at the pizza shop, the Christmas village, and the Christmas Tree Farm.

“What do you want with them?” You asked. He smiled.

“Look how smart you are,” he said. “Your parents arrested someone very important to me.” He pointed to himself. “To his people.” He pointed to the man next to him. “We want him back and in return they’ll get their daughter.”

“Maybe your little messiah shouldn’t have gotten caught.” You said. “He should have been better.” The punch came as a surprise as blood filled your mouth. He grabbed onto your neck forcing you to look back.

“You need to watch your tongue,” you nodded. He didn’t let go of your throat as it became harder to breathe. “Let’s give your mommies a call.”

*

“Can you please stop pacing?” Maria asked as she was typing at her computer. She was going through all the missions she’s worked on alongside her wife. The list was long but it was a start.

“I can’t,” Natasha said. “I can’t sit still knowing someone has her.” She finally stopped pacing to look at Maria. “We’ve made a lot of people angry over the years.” It was true. They’ve stopped dictators, confiscated millions of dollars in weapons and drugs, and saved hundreds from imprisonment. Maria stood up and took Natasha's hands in hers.

“You're right. But they took her alive which means they want something and they will call,” Maria kissed Natasha’s forehead. “We will find her. We will bring her home.” Natasha nodded, capturing Maria’s lips with hers in a short kiss.

“I knew we shouldn't have gone to that meeting.” Natasha mumbled. Maria chuckled.

“It totally could have been an email.” The door opened but the couple didn’t separate, Maria saw Wanda standing there.

“Yelena and Kate are back,” She said. “They found something.” They walked back to the conference room quickly. It was filled with the team, all determined to get you back.

“What did you find?” Natasha asked her sister. Yelena pulled out a cloth with a design on it. Maria’s blood went cold.

“We think during the struggle this got ripped off.” Yelena said.

“They were efficient,” Kate added. “They were in and out before the cops arrived.

“Do you recognize the symbol?” Steve asked. The symbol in question was the moon in its waning crescent phase with a snake wrapped around it.

“Los Inmortales,” Natasha said, noticing the way Maria froze at the sight. “FRIDAY pull up Hector Rodriguez.” She waited for the AI to pull up the mugshot. Maria kept her eyes trained on the table in front of her. “Hector and his crew were a major weapons dealer that operated at the border between Mexico and Texas. You name it and they did it. Maria went undercover as Hector’s girlfriend.”

“How long were you under for?” Bucky asked.

“2 years,” Maria said. “We were waiting for Hector to reveal who he was selling to.” Maria felt Natasha grab her hand. “If it’s Los Inmortales that have her then they must want Hector to be released from the RAFT.”

“But who would be leading them?” Wanda asked. Maria’s stomach turned. She felt sick.

“It has to be Diego,” she said. “He’s worse than Hector.”

“Boss, you have an income stream request. Do you want to connect?” Tony looked at Maria. She took a steady breath and strengthened her posture, nodding to the billionaire.

“Put it through and trace it immediately.” The AI put the stream through the screen. They saw you sitting in a chair with blood dripping from your mouth.

“Emilia,” Diego said as he came into view. “Or should I say Agent hill, how many names do you have?” He asked. His voice sent a chill through Maria’s spine but she hid it.

“I know what you want, Diego, and you can think again if we are going to let Hector walk free.” She said, ignoring his question.

“Tsk, tsk,” he said, circling you. He placed his hands on your shoulders. “Even at the price of your daughter. We can have so much fun together, just like you and I used to. Do you remember?” Maria’s face was drained of color. “She may not be related to you by blood but I wonder if her screams will sound like yours.”

“Enough of these games,” Natasha said. “Let her go.” Diego smiled, moving his hands across your chest. You flinched, trying to get away from him.

“You are in no room to make demands or did you forget who I have, pequena arana (little spider).” He sighed, before stepping out of the frame and entering with a cattle prod. “My demands are to simply release Hector Rodriguez from the RAFT and we will return your daughter mostly unharmed.” He danced the cattle prod against your skin. You closed your eyes and Maria saw your body tense up.

“She will be unharmed or the deal is off.” Steve said. Diego rolled his eyes.

“We have to show you that we are serious.” He put the cattle prod to your shoulder and turned it on. Your teeth dug into your lip as the electrical pulsed through you. It finally became too much and you screamed.

“Enough.” Natasha said. He turned it off. Your chest was heaving. “We need time.” You looked up and locked eyes with Maria. The conversation around the agent went mute, all she could do was focus on you. You shook your head slightly, giving her a forced smile.

“We aren’t scared of the Avengers.” Diego said. “We are Lost Inmortales. We worship the moon and snake that bind us to this mortal plane for eternity. We will burn you to the ground.” It was if something snapped inside of you, Maria saw it. She knew her wife saw it too as the Black Widow grabbed onto her hand. Your head snapped to look at him at this threat.

“Don’t threaten them.” You said. It was the first time you’ve spoken since the live stream. “I wouldn’t threaten them if I were you.” Your voice was so cold, void of all emotions it startled Maria. The Avengers looked at each other as Diego turned his attention back to you.

“Now why is that?” He asked. You smiled

“Because I’ll kill you.” Maria’s jaw almost dropped. He laughed, shaking his head.

“That is funny, conejita (little bunny). You almost had us all fouled.” Part of Maria knew you weren’t joking. You looked back into the camera, right at Natasha and Maria.

“Sorry.” It was your only warning anyone got before your body turned into a liquid and escaped from your confinements. You reformed quickly but your forearms turned into ice as you grabbed the cattle prod from Diego and ripped it out of his hands. Two men appeared from off screen and charged you. You grabbed one of them by their throats and the ice from your fingertips sliced through his skin. He fell to the floor dead and his blood covered your arm. The other man slammed his body against yours and you hit the wall with a hard smack. Maria could see you stand on one leg and repeatedly knee the man in the stomach. With both hands still covered in ice, you grabbed the man by the shirt and pushed him off you. He stumbled backwards and before he had time to recover, you punched him. The force sent him into the camera. The tripod swayed back and forth before falling to the ground. The footage began to cut in and out, the last thing the Avengers saw was Diego running at you. The room was stunned into silence.

“Did anyone know that mini Agent Widow could do that?” Tony asked. Everyone’s eyes fell onto Natasha and Maria, who were just as stunned.

“The adoption agency just said she was a troubled kid with behavioral issues.” Natasha said. Truth be told, the couple or any of the Avengers never saw any of the behavioral problems that your previous foster parents talked about. You were a sweet kid dealing with a rough hand.

“Her thoughts are always loud,” Wanda said. “But this wasn’t something she thought about.” It didn’t matter to Maria, all that mattered was getting you home safe. Any mutant power would be dealt with besides they were the Avenger, that was the least abnormal thing they’ve seen.

“FRIDAY, did you find her location?” Maria asked.

“Yes, Agent Hill.” The AI said. “ They are at a warehouse in Hoboken. The exact location has been sent to you.”

*

You woke up with a groan. Your body ached and you were laying on the ground staring up at the ceiling. Standing up on shaky legs, you fell against the wall as the room spun around you. But you could see the bodies. You could smell their blood. You were going to be sick. “Conejita,” Maria called him Diego, stood up from the corner he was slumped over in. “That wasn’t nice.” He dragged his body over to you. “We didn’t get to have our fun.” An alarm began to go off but that didn’t deter him. You fell to the ground as he hovered above you. “I didn’t get to tell you all of the things I did to your mommy. She was my favorite, you know? She was my favorite. But I think you could have taken her spot.” He reached out to touch you.

“Get your hands away from my daughter,” Natasha said, running in and pushing him away from you. You had little time to process her sudden appearance as you were pulled into a hug from Maria.

“I’m so happy you're okay.” She said. You froze. She felt you tense up and pulled out of the hug. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?” You stared at her as Steve came in to deal with Diego.

“I’m sorry mom.” You cried. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey sh, you're okay.” Maria said, whipping away your tears.

“We need to get out here.” You heard Steve say.

“Dorogoy, can you stand and we can get you home?” Natasha asked. You nodded. Maria helped you to your feet and you bit back a groan. It was a blur as Natasha and Maria got you to the Quinjet and Bruce looked you over. He treated the burn on your shoulder from the cattle prod and wanted Helen to check on you. Things were happening around you. People kept coming up to talk to you but you stared blankly ahead. Their mouths were just moving, no words were coming  out. It took a snap from the Black Widow sitting next to you for people to leave you alone. At the tower, Helena gave you pain medication and said something to Maria and Natasha. They took you to their shared suite and you think Maria said the apartment was still an active crime scene.

Away from everyone the tight coil that was building since you stepped onto the Quinjet snapped. You fell to your knees as a sob escaped your lips. Careful hands picked you up and laid you onto the bed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” You kept repeating. “Please don’t send me back.”

“Sh, carina.” Maria said rubbing circles on your back to try to calm you down. “We aren’t sending you back,” You looked at her through your blurry vision.

“You - you aren’t.” You said. Natasha shook your head.

“No, you are our daughter.” You nodded, taking in a slow and deep breath trying to calm yourself down. “Milyy,” Natasha said slowly. “Why did you think we’d give you away?” You sat back, rubbing your hands together.

“Because it’s happened before.” You sighed, not able to look at them. “I can’t control what you say. It only happens when I’m in danger or people I care about are in trouble.” You began to play with the loose treads of the blanket.

“Why didn’t you stop them from taking you?” Maria asked. You shrugged.

“I didn’t want you to find out. I like living with you guys.” You took a deep breath in and let it out finally looking up at them. “You're my moms.” You whispered. “My parents.”

“Yes, we are.” Maria said. “And that means we will be your moms through everything.”

“The good and the bad.” Natasha added. You smiled, whipping away the tears.

“Even if I get kidnapped again.”

“Yeah,” Natasha said, pulling you down to lay between you and Maria. “That’s never happening again.” You sighed, cuddling close to both of them.

“I love you guys.” You whispered, closing your eyes.

“We love you too.”

*

“Wake up, milyy.” Natasha whispered. You groaned, burrowing your face deeper into the pillow. “Come on, it’s Christmas.” You opened your eyes, squinting from the light. Your moms were sitting on your bed.

“Christmas?” You mumbled.

“Yeah,” Maria said with a smile. “We got presents to open then we have to go the tower.”

“The tower?” You haven’t been to the tower since they rescued you from Los Inmortales. Steve gave Natasha and Maria time off once the rest of Diego’s were arrested and sent to the RAFT. During that time you moved apartments, visited Clint in Iowa, and met Melina and Alexei in Ohio. Natasha groaned dramatically, falling on top of you.

“She went to bed and forgot our plans.” You giggled.

“Well, I can’t get up now because someone is on top of me.” You said, pushing Natasha off of you. The Black Widow fell off of you with a ‘huf.’ You sat up, stretching your arms over your head. “Feliz Navidad, mama.” You said, giving Maria a hug. You started learning Spanish right away.

“Merry Christmas.” She hugged you a little tighter.

“S rozdestvom mama (Merry Christmas).” You said to Natasha. She sat up and gave you a hug, kissing you on the cheek.

“Ugh, this is disgusting.” Yelena said. You pulled away from Natasha to look at your aunt. She was wearing plaid Christmas pajamas, similar to the ones you were wearing. It was a Christmas gift from Melina. “Can we open presents already?” You jumped out of bed and followed Yelena to the living room, the eco of your moms laughter followed you. Kate was already sitting on the couch, drinking coffee.

“Merry Christmas, Kate.” You said, hugging her from behind the couch.

“Merry Christmas, kiddo.” You sat down next to her as the rest of your family filled the empty spots in the living room. You smiled, looking at the ground.

“Alright,” Natasha said. “Present time.” Present time. You couldn’t believe you were sitting here with a family that loved you for you on Christmas morning. Yeah, today’s going to be a good day.  

[fict1onallyobsessed]

Requesting Helen Cho x Avenger!reader where reader gets injured on a mission and Helen is all worried and is taking care of readers wounds

Stitch Me Up

Helen Cho X Avenger!Reader

Warnings - bullet and stab wounds, blood obvs, like one swear word, not proof read ;-;

A/N - Yessss more Helen appreciation

Not my GIF!!

"How was it?" Helen asked, only turning her head over her shoulder to check it was you. Her hands were busy with sorting out medicine that had just been imported, Tony's orders.

"Well, it was completed." You simply said, clutching onto your side as you limped into the large lab. Unfortunately, you were partnered up with new interns and they weren't as experienced as your fellow Avengers. So when you had gotten ambushed, they were only able to protect themselves, leaving you to fend for yourself in addition to them.

You had a pretty bad cut on your side and a bullet to the thigh, which of course hurt like a bitch, but there was little you could do but ignore the pain. You hoped you could fix it yourself but after Steve found out, there was nothing that would persuade the man that you were able to fix it yourself. He sent you to Helen immediately, demanding you be seen by her.

With a sigh of defeat, you were here, in Doctor Cho's lab, which also so happened to be your girlfriend. The main reason why you didn't want to go to her was because you knew she'd give you a speech on how you should be more careful. You just had to accept your fate and apologise until she stopped rambling.

You loved her, really, but being hurt was part of your job, nothing less nothing more.

You managed to limp until you were behind her, an arm instantly reaching around her waist so you could put your chin on her shoulder.

"You know I love y-"

She spun in your arms, eyes immediately looking you up and down before her gaze landed upon the blood seeping through the cracks of your fingers. She gave you a stern look before helping you towards the medical bed, only now realising your leg was also hurt.

"What's up with your leg?"

"I got shot."

Another stern look.

"Come on," You scoffed with a playful smile, your arms reaching out around her waist again so she couldn't leave your side. "Stop scowling at me. I didn't ask to be shot."

She allowed to be trapped between your legs as you sat down on the bed, but her eyes looked everywhere but yours. Gently, you put your hand on her cheek to turn her head to face you, your thumb going over her bottom lip before resting on her cheek.

"I know what you're going to tell me, so just get it out already." You whispered, letting go of her face after pecking her lips. She relaxed, but grabbed the first aid kit and ordered you to unzip your suit. You raised an eyebrow which earned you a small smile from Helen before you nodded, carefully undoing the zip on the front part of your suit.

She must of seen the pain in your expression because she replaced your hands with hers, slowly unzipping the zip until you could take out your arms and show her your torso. As carefully as you could, you laid down and let her do your work, trying your best to hide the gasps of pain when she was stitching it closed.

"Done. Show me your leg."

You did as she asked, turning your leg so she could disinfect and stitch it up. Only when she was finished, she started rambling. You sat up and watched her as she walked around her lab, putting back the first aid kit in its respective place.

"I always tell you to be careful, but you always come back with cuts and bruises on you. I know it's your job, but getting stabbed and getting shot in on e mission is too much. You could of lost too much blood and passed out God knows where, and what if nobody could find you? What if I never saw you again-"

You stood up as her back was to you, her rambling continued as you lightly limped towards her. She stopped talking once your arms reached her waist, your chin back on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." was all you said before kissing the side of her neck. She sighed and leaned her arms on the counter, melting into your touch. A moment of silence enveloped the both of you and you stood in an embrace, until she spoke up.

"You shouldn't be standing, you'll pop your stitches."

You giggled at her care, giving her one last squeeze before letting go of her.

"Yes, doctor."

Before you could turn to leave, she grabbed your shoulders and wrapped her arms around your neck, pulling you closer but gently enough so she didn't hurt your wounds.

"I'm sorry. I just hate seeing you hurt."

You sighed into the crook of her neck, nodding softly.

"I know."

It was a while before she let go, wiping a tear that had fallen down her cheek before you could comment on her crying.

"I'll see you later? After your shift?"

"Yeah."

THE END

[alwaysmarveling]

The Incident, The Aftermath

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader

Warnings: Amputation, an explosion, hints at PTSD (it’s a wee bit sad but I promise it gets happier)

Word Count: ~3k

A/N: So I finally got the guts to post something... If you like it, thank Camz :) If you don’t, sorry mi dude, I’m working on it (but constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!).

You’d slipped into the tank top and shorts easily enough, and here you were standing in front of your dresser. One look at the unruly mop atop your head caused you to let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. You carefully ran the brush through your hair, allowing the knots to loosen up one by one.

You’d been leaving your hair down every day since The Incident, but that was two weeks ago. Assuming everything healed properly, Tony and Bruce were going to fit you for a prosthetic in a week, but until then you had to work with what you had… which was one less arm than you were used to having your entire life.

The universe wasn’t being very thoughtful of your adjustment—it was supposed to get up to ninety-five degrees today—so maybe today would be the day to try putting it up. You had seen some people do it on YouTube, and it didn’t seem that difficult. Plus, if you had enough dexterity to wield a knife with one hand and still leave your opponent in pieces, you should be able to put up your hair with one hand easy peasy.

You stared at your reflection in the mirror, unsure of what to really do with it. You didn’t see a braid working. You could pin some of it to the side so that it wouldn’t fall in your face, but with the heat, you wanted it completely up. A messy bun could work, though; it was simple, got the hair off of your neck, and it was meant to be a bit untidy. Perfect. With the style in mind, you pushed an elastic around your wrist and set off to work.

Twisting your hair was easy enough. Looping it around to actually form a bun was slightly more difficult, but you managed. When it came time to actually loop the elastic around the bun, though, things got more complicated.

You copied the video, pressing your head against the wall to hold your hair in place while you secured the elastic. However, looping the elastic around the bun without significantly shifting your hair was proving to be extremely difficult. Nevertheless, you managed to do it. The mirror then filled with your reflection as you examined your handiwork.

Handiwork was one word for it. Simply put, it looked like a toddler had done your hair. You weren’t sure how exactly you had messed up since you couldn’t really see behind your head, but you could see the result, and it wasn’t pretty. You let out a puff of air, pulling the elastic out and reaching for your brush. One glance at the clock told you you had enough time for two or three more attempts before you had to call it a day.

Five tries later, you were no better off than you were before. Sure, the bun was supposed to be messy, but there was a certain art to a messy bun. This just looked like a giant cat spit a hairball on top of your head. On top of that, you were now running late to meet Wanda for grocery shopping.

“Miss Y/N,” FRIDAY started.

“Tell her I’ll be down in five,” you sighed, your eyes brimming with tears. You supposed one more day of leaving your hair down wouldn’t kill you even if it was going to be hot, but you just wanted to be able to take care of yourself. You hated seeing the looks of sympathy your teammates gave you every time you had to ask for help for the simplest things, whether it be grabbing a plate at the bottom of the stack or setting up equipment for training.

Sure, things were getting a little easier, like dressing yourself without help. You could deal with the phantom pain. It was excruciating, but pain was one part of the job that you were used to. You had also managed to hide your frustration from the team pretty well since The Incident, but you weren’t sure if that made it any better; half of them seemed like they were walking on eggshells when they were around you.

When it came to the nightmares, though, that was much harder to hide, especially considering you shared a bed with one of the lightest sleepers in the world. You hated waking her up every night, your body soaked in sweat and chest heaving as you forced yourself to remember that it was all over, forced your mind to believe that you were safe even when your body didn’t.

Before you could really understand what was happening, your emotions from the last few weeks bubbled over. Anger, frustration, anguish, and countless others flew to the surface, demanding to be released. Your fingers dug into your hair, yanking on the elastic—along with several strands of hair—until they flew out, hitting the floor somewhere you didn’t care to find. The hairbrush was next, being snatched from the top of the dresser and chucked at the door as hard as you could manage.

“What the- Y/N? Are you okay, babe?”

The thwack of the brush hitting the door caused you to flinch even though you were the one who caused it. Not processing your girlfriend’s muffled words at first, your eyes widened as you stepped back, and for a split second you were transported back to The Incident.

---

You grabbed the last civilian who had fallen behind the others, practically tossing them out of the building before it could explode.

“Y/N! Get out of-” Before Steve could finish his sentence, the building burst into flame, and the blast sent you flying in the air.

When you came to, the only thing you could focus on was the excruciating pain radiating from your elbow. You couldn’t make out exactly what had happened to it, but, wow, to say it hurt was an understatement.

It was several minutes later before the ringing cleared from your ears and you finally realized someone was talking to you.

“Y/N! Y/N, love, please, where are you?” The familiar voice drove you to use the little energy you had left, lifting your head off of the pavement to scan your surroundings. The dust and debris from the explosion made it difficult to see, but you could just make out her shape a few feet away from you.

“Turn… around, you doofus… I’m… behind you,” you wheezed out before letting your head hit the ground.

“Y/N! Oh my god, I thought we-” The second the former assassin saw you, her mouth dropped.

“What is it, Natty?” you asked weakly.

“Nothing, sweetheart. Just give me a second, okay? I’m going to get the rest of the team so we can get you out of here.”

“Liar,” you wheezed, half-teasing, half-panicked, but your girlfriend had already turned around. Squinting your eyes, you could just make out the small movements of her lips that told you she was talking, but the chaos and your pain and exhaustion—and probably blood loss, but you didn’t know that at the time—was making it impossible to hear what she was saying.

“Okay, they’re coming,” she reassured you, kneeling down next to you.

“What happened?” you tried again.

“You’re a hero, babe,” the redhead murmured, smoothing back your hair and brushing dirt from your face.

“Yeah?” Your voice was growing weaker, and you were becoming loopier than someone who had just come out of wisdom teeth surgery. Natasha knew it was only moments until you passed out.

“Yeah, you did it, sweet girl. You saved them all.”

“I did? I seriously hope Helen is a superhero too because someone’s going to need to save my arm. God, it hurts.” Natasha only let out a huff at your poor attempt at a joke, but you appreciated it nonetheless.

“Just hold on a little longer for me, okay? Can you do that?” Something wet hit your cheek, making you realize that your girlfriend was crying.

“Of course,” you scoffed. “Don’t…” You left her hanging.

---

After what felt like years, you finally regained your breath and returned to the present. “I’m fine,” you yelled out, your voice wavering. You knew Natasha wouldn’t believe you. Not only was she your girlfriend, but she was literally one of the best spies in the world. Sure enough, she tried to open the door, her efforts in vain since you’d locked it when you were changing.

“Hon, can you please open the door?”

“I’m fine, Nat,” you breathed out, your tone slightly more stable.

“Just let me in,” she pleaded. “Please?” Her soft voice made you sigh in resignation as you wiped your eyes. You tugged your fingers through your hair, trying to tame the bird’s nest on your head at least a little before showing yourself to her.

“Hi,” you practically whispered, not making eye contact with her once you had opened the door.

“Hey,” she responded softly, taking your hand in one of hers and using her other hand to lift up your chin. Rather than saying anything else immediately, she pressed a soft kiss to the top of your forehead as her second hand slid down to completely wrap your one hand in both of hers. The two of you stood in the doorway for a while, eyes closed and hand in hand. You weren’t a super soldier, but you were sure you could hear both of your heartbeats, yours slowing down to beat in tandem with hers.

“You okay?” she finally asked. You nodded slightly, your breathing now back to normal and the tears no longer streaming down your face.

Natasha always had a way of calming you down. You didn’t get frustrated or angry often, but when you did… the rest of the Avengers always joked that you were seconds away from becoming the next Hulk.

The former assassin slowly reached up to untangle your locks, noticing how you flinched when she first reached your hairline.

“I’ve been thinking,” she started with the faintest hint of uncertainty, “It’s been a while since I did your hair, and I saw this new hairstyle online that I thought would look really good on you…”

“Thank you,” you sighed quietly as you leaned into her touch.

“My pleasure,” your girlfriend smirked, pushing you inside your shared bedroom and closing the door behind her. She guided you to sit on the floor as she sat on the edge of the bed behind you. Brush in hand, Nat started sectioning off your hair. A small smile graced her face when you closed your eyes, allowing yourself to fully enjoy the contact.

Now halfway down your head, she spoke up again. “You know I’ll always be here for you, right?

“Nat…” you warned, although you had nothing to say afterwards, and the redhead took advantage of that.

“I can only imagine how upset you feel about losing your arm-”

“Nat,” you interrupted, your voice slightly harder this time. Natasha sighed as she continued to braid your hair.

“I’m just trying to say that I’m here for you. I was here for you before, and I’m here for you now. The number of limbs that you have doesn’t affect that. It also doesn’t affect your worth. You’re not useless, Y/N. You never were, and you certainly aren’t now.” Despite your best efforts, tears began to trail down your face. Natasha pursed her lips at the sight but continued, knowing that if she stopped now she wouldn’t have another chance to say what she needed to. “You are-” Nat’s fingers froze when you mumbled out something unintelligible, the hand over your mouth preventing you from enunciating. “What was that?” You sighed before speaking again.

“It’s not the arm. It’s not just the arm,” you corrected.

“Then what is it?” She resumed braiding your hair, her voice matching the tenderness in her hands.

“It’s- it’s the- god, this is embarrassing.”

“You have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about, love. I’ll never judge you for anything you’re feeling,” the redhead promised, pausing once again to brush her lips above your brow bone.

“It’s the fear, Nat. I can’t go one second without thinking about the explosion. About… losing it. I’m scared 24/7, Nat, and even if I could forget about it for even a moment, I have a constant reminder.” Natasha didn’t have to see your face to know that your eyes had flickered to the remainder of your arm that hung by your side. “And, god,” you laughed bitterly, “god, does it make me feel weak. What kind of Avenger constantly lives in fear and panic? How am I ever supposed to help anyone like this?”

“Y/N.” She stopped braiding your hair for the third time, pulling on it slightly so that you were forced to meet her eyes above you. “You are the strongest person I know. I know you’re scared, but guess what? You went through something super traumatic. It’s okay to be scared. Honestly, I might be more concerned if you came out of that and you weren’t scared at all. All of us get scared, and that’s perfectly valid because being scared does not make you weak. Being scared means you value your life, and that’s a good thing.” She paused her speech to relax her grip on your hair, but your head remained tilted, captivated by the passion and emotion that filled your girlfriend’s face and voice.

“And the Avenger that lives in fear and panic is the same one that was ready to give up her life to save people. You helped people in the past not because you had two arms or because you weren’t scared of stuff. You helped them for the sole reason that you made a commitment to helping others, to making the world a better place, and that is the sole reason why you will still be able to help others.” Natasha’s whole body was trembling. The hands that held your hair were white at the fingertips as she clenched them. 

“I admire you more than anyone else in the world. You’re a hero, Y/N. Not ‘were,’ but ‘are.’ You’re the hero of every single person whose life you saved, and you’re my hero.”

“I didn’t-” Despite your interruption, the spy didn’t stop talking.

“You saved my life, Y/N, the second you walked into it. You give me a reason to live, to wake up every morning. And you’re my hero even more so now than before because you get up every day with a smile on your face, no matter what’s thrown at you.”

“Not much of a smile now,” you sniffed. Despite the tears that blurred your vision, you couldn’t stop the corner of your lips from curling up slightly. Nat laughed at the juxtaposition, finishing up the intricate braids woven in your hair before turning you around to face her.

“But look how quickly that changed,” she teased, pecking your lips after she wiped the tears from your face.

“Thank you,” you repeated for the second time in less than fifteen minutes.

“It was my pleasure. Plus, I was right, this hairstyle does look really good on you.” You bit your lip in embarrassment as you turned your gaze to the floor. “I’ll always do your hair for you, milaya.”

“I was actually thinking of shaving it off,” you smirked. As you examined your reflection in the mirror, you couldn’t help but agree with Natasha. You looked good, missing arm and all. A little teary-eyed and runny-nosed, but amazing nonetheless.

“Don’t you dare,” your girlfriend scoffed. “I know I said I wasn’t leaving, but I might at that,” she winked.

“Hey!” You tackled her to the ground. Reaching for her abdomen, her eyes widened as your grin grew larger.

“Y/N, don’t you dare-” You talked over her, not paying attention to her threat.

“I can still tickle you with one arm.” The spy didn’t get the chance to respond before you pounced, smiling at the sound of her laughter.

“Stop, Y/N, please!” she managed to get out.

“Are you going to leave me then? Huh?”

“No, no! I won’t! I’ll never leave you! Please, just stop!” You let up on the tickling, gently brushing away the hair that was thrown over her face seconds ago. “Great,” Nat groaned, “now I need to redo my hair.”

“Sorry,” you giggled sheepishly. Seeing the pout on her face, you bent down and met her lips with yours.

“I meant it, though.”

“That you need to fix your hair?” Natasha laughed at the way your head had adorably cocked to one side.

“No, silly, that you’re my hero. That you’re the strongest, most admirable person I know. That I’ll always be there for you, and that I’ll always do your hair for you, even when you don’t need me to do it for you any longer.”

“I love you.” You kissed her again. “And I will always love you.” Noticing a slight shift in her face, you paused, studying her expression. “Don’t you dare start singing that song.”

“Miss Y/N, Miss Maximoff is wondering if you are alright.”

“Shoot, I need to go grocery shopping with Wanda!” You scrambled to get off of the floor, smoothing out your clothes before looking for your shoes. “Uh, FRIDAY, tell her I’m so sorry and I’m coming down right now.”

“One more for the road?” Nat pouted just before you reached the door.

“Of course. Thank you again, for everything.” Your lips melted together for a second before you pulled away.

---

“Wanda, I’m here, I’m so, so sorry!” You half-ran, half-slid down the hallway to meet your best friend at the door.

“Hey,” Wanda turned to greet you. “What took you-” She paused upon making eye contact with you. “I like your hair,” she grinned.

“Thanks,” you smiled back, “Nat did it for me.”

[mariemarvelbear]

Poison

Bear note: Boo! Hi again! This is my third attempt of writing about the avengers x reader. Hope you’re all doing well!

Gifs are not mine.Credits to the owners.

Warning: Mentions of battle and blood. Descriptive mentions of pain. Angst. Use of substance=Poison (I guess you can get that from the title already..)

Summary: A supposed to be easy mission with Steve and Bucky, but as hours passed-you started experiencing agonizing pain.

Pairing: None romantically. Just Avengers x Fem! Reader

Part 1: Time to go Home

Taking out your pistols, grenades and a few more ammunition- you gave out a sigh of relief as you smiled at Bucky and Steve who was doing the same thing. “Y’all right, doll?” The brunette mumbled- The Captain giving you a weary look too. “Yeah, Just tired. You guys?” Both of the men nodded. It was two in the morning and the three of you just got back at the Headquarters from a small mission in a Hydra base nearby. It wasn’t really a hard mission, you just had to extract some data from the base-which also meant killing a few guys, then make sure that there were no habitants in the area nor near it. It took the three of you an hour to finish everything, which was already a long time- and you blamed yourself; You’ve been feeling a little off when the mission begun. Begun-Which was when there were HYDRA agents who tried to fight you and the two super soldiers. It was like a flu, crippling in your skin yet you just cannot point it out truly. But even so, you just can’t bring it to yourself to tell the two men. Steve knocking out men left and right in an orderly fashion-quick and pain-free; Because for him, even though they are villains and evil, they still don’t deserve to die in pain. While for the other guy, that’s a different story. Bucky’s kicks and punches were all over the place, not minding their grunts or groans. And you, the newest avenger-well you just tried to kill anyone who somehow got closer to you without the two men already finishing them off. So, for fifty minutes- you just fought like a maniac and didn’t bother the odd feeling crippling in your body.

 Taking out your vest, finally being able to breathe as you were only left with the black long sleeves of your tactical gear. Throwing the big ass of a bullet-proof vest and handing it to the robot that takes anyone’s gear after a mission, so Tony and his team can fix it before another mission begin. Fishing out your phone, you gazed down on your period tracker to see if you’re about to get your period as it can be the reason of your iffy feeling; and as the screen flashed five more days in; you became more worried. “Tony’s asking for you guys.” A small voice creeped in, making the three of you looked at the door from the ammunition room. Maria smiled “He’s at the lab with Dr. Banner.” Giving thanks, Maria exited as you guys followed her.

“How was the job?” Maria smiled, slowing down her pace to walk with you as the super soldiers’ pace were nothing compared to you. “T’was fine. I missed kicking some asses.” Bucky joked, earning a chuckle from the captain “I was asking about Y/N.” You snickered, agreeing with Bucky “Yeah, I guess beating up some men are now my definition of fun too.” The three of them laughed, but you could only give a chuckle as a shot of pain from your hip, caught you off guard-stopping from your tracks as you held onto it. Your brows etching with worry as Maria, too, stopped. “Everything alright?” This made the two soldiers stop on their tracks, Bucky already on his way to you. “Were you hit or something?” Maria pointed out, which Bucky automatically turned down as he rambled how you guys killed any agent in the field before they can even fire their weapons. Which you agreed to, and it’s been at least thirty minutes since you’ve guys arrived- if you were hit, there should’ve been blood seeping through. “Maybe it’s just a back pain, I’ve been having them a lot lately.”

Bucky snickered “You’re old, grandma.” Rolling your eyes “Please sergeant, I’m not the one who’s a hundred years old.” You eyed Steve, who’s eyes finally lightened up as you finally gave a snarky remark. “I can tell Stark to just give you the notes of this debriefing, you can see Helen if you want to. Just to be sure.” Maria suggested. About to reply, you were cut off by a bag of blueberry “What’s wrong kiddo? You okay? Do we have to stitch you up? Bruce can do that, but dibs on the time of death. Please?” Bucky glared at the guy, earning a scoff from the billionaire- face dusty with some remnants of smoke, or ink?   “You’ll go first blueberry boy.” Joking, you opened the bag of snacks and munched on them “It’s nothing. My back just hurts, I really hate paper works.” Your eyes widened when you realized you said the last part too loud as Bruce laughed “Well then, as of June 9 of 2021; 2:37 in the morning- You are officially the head of proof-reading all papers from the laboratory team of Starks Industry.” Groaning you apologized to Tony “ Just joking. But, if that’s the case-maybe I should get you the chair Peter and Pietro begged for last week. It’s the latest ergonomic chair, helps with your posture and support-Spidey said.” Now that you think of it, Peter did mention something last week about him using Tony’s cards again. “Hmmm, I’ll look into that Boss.” “Ugh. You’re annoying lab-rat, It’s Tony or Tones or Best-Guy-In-The-World. But don’t bother, I’ll order one for you later.” You rolled your eyes but thanked the heavens and Tony’s soul. He’s a jerk; but a good friend. After dissing Tony with Bucky, and Maria and Steve discuss with Bruce about the mission-You finally chirped up “So, what’s this about? Do we have another HYDRA base to infiltrate? Because, I’ll be honest- I’m beat.” Bucky agreed, placing his shoulders on you as Bruce finally spoke “There’s a slight issue with the mission.”

[dearest-bucky]

There went my heart (One Shot)

Bucky Barnes x reader

Summary: A new nurse starts working with the Avengers and she takes an immediate liking to one blue eyed, metal armed super soldier. The best part is that he likes her too. 

Words: 2.5K

Warnings: None, I think.. Fluff

Originally posted:  May 28, 2020

How does one starts working with the Avengers? Or rather for the Avengers, but these are just technicalities, really.  Truth is, she had no idea! It seemed as if she was just a very lucky person. When Tony Stark offered her to be a part of the medical team alongside Helen Cho and Bruce Banner, she wasn't dumb to decline. It's not that she wasn't happy working as a nurse in one of the many hospitals of New York, but being able to work with the Avengers themselves, was really something else. And she couldn't wait to meet them all and introduce herself.

On the first day of her new job, most of the team was away on a mission, so she only met with the other nurses and lab assistants. She was walking around the med bay, getting familiar with her surroundings when one of her new colleagues, a dark haired nurse named Jessica, called her from the door of the lab.

"Come on Y/n, we have to get ready. The team will arrive in 30 minutes and Captain Rogers informed us that they need medical assistance. Several team members were injured in this one." As the other woman finished speaking she ran towards the infirmary room to prepare for their arrival.

No longer than the 30 minutes Captain America had informed, several people came barreling through the doors of the infirmary. A red head woman that she recognized as Black Widow was leaning heavily on Steve Rogers' shoulder, one of her hands putting pressure on her side. One of the nurses moved quickly towards them to assist. Following was Sam Wilson, walking alone but with a small limp and just a black eye. He seemed to keep himself up fine, but another nurse ran to him too, tending to whatever little wound he had. Sitting in a chair to let the nurse do her job, his voice a little gruff as he spoke. "Someone check on Bucky, a bullet pierced his shoulder through."

She turned her head towards the door where Bucky had entered last, a scowl on his slightly pale face, but Y/n couldn't help but see that he was in fact a very handsome man, despite his current state. No camera, no matter how advanced its lenses were, could ever do justice to that man's beauty.

Next to her, she felt Jessica go stiff and shift her feet slightly, but not daring to move. Y/n was thinking she'd be the one to take care of him since she'd been working in the compound longer than she had, but seeing the other woman had no intention of leaving her spot, her professional training kicked in and before she knew it, Y/n was walking towards Bucky where he had already taken a seat in one of the cots.

His shoulders were slumped and his head was hanging low, so she carefully cleared her throat to make herself present. She didn't want to startle him or hurt him in any way, so with a soft voice, she spoke up. "Hello Sergeant Barnes, can I take a look at your shoulder?"

At the sound of her voice, he picked his head up to look at the person who was talking to him and he was surprised to see a young woman standing so close to him, he had no idea how she had gotten this close without him noticing. Her light skin complexion, illuminating more under the artificial lighting made her looked like an angel. Yeah, Bucky was surprised, but good surprised. He only nodded his head, not trusting his voice to speak up, but that was all she needed to begin working. Her touch was light as a feather as she cut his shirt to take care of his wound. He noticed she was careful as she touched him, almost cautious, but it wasn't because she was scared of him, not at all. She just didn't want to inflict him any more pain that he was already enduring, and that warmed his heart like nothing and no one had done in decades.

His eyes were glued to her face as she worked, the tip of her tongue poked out in concentration as she tended to his wound and Bucky thought she was nothing short of adorable. He was lost in thoughts of her and he didn't even feel her cut the thread as she finished sewing his wound. She put a clean bandage on it and with a small smile playing on her lips, she spoke up again. "I'm done."

Bucky moved his eyes to look anywhere but her face as he mumbled a "thanks" and a blush crept up his neck and cheeks in an instant. He felt as if she had caught him daydreaming about her; in fact he'd been so lost in his head he hadn't even felt the needle pierce his flesh at least a dozen times as she sewed him up. But could anyone blame him for losing his mind when she stood so close to him looking like an angel?

It was later that day when the Avengers were all cleared from the med bay and sent to bed rest, after cleaning and putting things back to place, that she had a chance to sit for a few minutes to catch a breath. Jessica sat in the chair next to her, her hair a little disheveled from the many times she'd carded her fingers through it. She let out a sigh before speaking. "So, how was your first day? Were your expectations for this job met?"

Y/n let out a small chuckle at her questions. "It was great really. I mean, working with superheroes is really something. But I loved it. I'm happy to be here." She said sincerely.

"Yeah, about that. You were really brave to walk up to Barnes today." At that, the smile that was playing in Y/n's lips dropped in a second, only to be replaced with a small frown, a crease forming between her brows. She waited for Jessica to continue speaking, to explain what she meant, so she silently tilted her chin up to nudge her to speak again. "It's just that he's kind of scary, you know..." She started and Y/n's brows only furrowed more. "You know of his past, right? You know what he has done, everyone knows. Plus he's always wearing a scowl on his face, as if he hates everyone around here. None of the nurses work with him, only dr. Cho or dr. Banner take care of him when he comes in."

Y/n couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was still being judged for his past, for something that wasn't his fault at all.  She knew he was a victim just like every other person he'd been forced to hurt and kill. She scoffed in annoyance at her co-worker's words, the other woman's eyes widening in surprise at the reaction.

"I can't believe you're saying this. None of that was his fault, you know that, everybody knows that. Yet here you are, judging him for something he had no control over. He's a war hero, you know. He gave his life for this country once and he's doing it again everyday he goes out on a mission, just like the rest of the Avengers are." A fire was ignited in her chest, a strong desire to defend the man and that's what she was doing. She would defend him in front of the whole world, she decided right then and there, if it was needed. "You should be happy to have the honor of taking care for him afterwards, not talk behind his back."

Jessica only lowered her head, in shame or something else, Y/n couldn't tell, but she was glad to have given her a piece of her mind, plus it made her shut her mouth. She got up from the chair and took off her white coat, her job for the day being finished. She was ready to go back home and get a good night's sleep after a really active first day.

The next couple of months passed in a blur, really. Everyday she'd get up and go to work, weekends too.  After all, there are no weekends off from saving the world. Doctor Banner was kind enough to give her a day off every week, but most of the time she refused because she had no better place to be.

During this time, Bucky would enter the med bay more times than she could count, but she never complained anyway. His presence was always welcome to her, and if it was up to her, she'd be happy to have him there every day. Just to see him. Most of the time he came in with the pretense to see Bruce, others he'd be back from a mission with several cuts and bruises that Y/n was always ready to tend to.

She was conversing to one of the other nurses, listening to the other woman talk about her 14 years old daughter and her challenges as mother of a teenager, when she heard someone clear their throat behind them. She quickly turned her head around, only to be met with Bucky's figure, a sheepish look in his face.

"Hi." She said, a little breathlessly. No matter how many times she saw him, he never ceased to amaze her. He was so handsome she wanted nothing more than to smother him with hugs and kisses every minute of every day. She shook her head lightly as if to get rid of those thoughts and got up to walk to him.

"Hi, doll." He replied and she blushed at the pet name. He'd started calling her that a few weeks ago and now it stuck. And she liked it more when he called her 'doll' than her actual name. Before she could ask him what was he doing there, he showed her his arm, a slash on his bicep and blood dripping down the entire limb.

Her eyes widened at the sight and she quickly grabbed some cotton balls and antiseptic, urging him to sit on one of the chairs before she started cleaning the blood off of his arm. "What happened?" She asked as she wiped the blood, throwing one cotton ball in the garbage can and grabbing another.

"Knife training with Nat, I lost focus and didn't step back in time so she grazed my arm. It was merely an accident." He explained and when the blood was cleaned she could see it wasn't that deep of a cut anyway. She still continued to nurse the cut though, silently dabbing  the cotton and applying an antibiotic ointment as to not get it infected.

"I didn't think a super soldier could lose focus." She replied with a playful smirk on her lips and Bucky smiled down at her.

"I guess there's just a lot in my mind lately." His words were accompanied with a small sigh and she didn't dare ask him more, for fear of overstepping a boundary or something. She finished with his arm and was about to move away, but he grabbed her wrist with his metal hand, preventing her from moving too far.

She turned her head to look at him, a questioning look in her eyes. "Thank you doll." He said simply and she returned his smile with one of her own.

"You're welcome." She replied simply despite his touch causing her entire body to flush with warmth and she tried again to move away from him - suddenly the closeness was too much. He only tightened her grip on her wrist, enough to let her know he didn't plan on letting her go, but not enough to hurt her in the slightest. Her heart was beating fast inside her rib cage and she knew he could hear it too, the thump thump's almost echoing in the otherwise silent room.

She realized then they were alone in the infirmary, the other nurse had left without so much as a word.

She could only stare at his face, his eyes locked to hers, a look she couldn't really place, before he spoke again. "No, thank you Y/n." The use of her name surprised her a little. He hadn't called her that in a while, opting to go for doll instead. "For being so kind to me. Kinder than anyone had been in a long time."

"Bucky..." She wanted to interrupt him, to say something, but he shook his head a little before speaking again.

"Before you, none of the nurses would take care of me, always glancing in my direction in fear and suspicion, as if I'd lash out and go all psycho on them. But then you came, and you walked to me, so soft and caring and with a touch so light I thought you were an actual angel." His words were causing her to blush a deep shade of pink but she didn't dare interrupt him again, scared that if she did all of this would have been a dream, a figment of her imagination.

Without even noticing, the hand that was holding her wrist had moved slightly towards her palm and their fingers were intertwined. She lowered her head to look at their joined hands and a smile formed on her lips, her thumb moving to caress his metal knuckles.

"Doll, forgive me if I'm outta line now but if I don't tell you this I think I'm gonna die in the spot." At that her eyes moved up to meet his expectantly, hopeful. A spark that she'd come to see more and more of lately was glinting in his own eyes and she could only wait for him to continue speaking. That he did. "Ever since the moment I saw you I felt something I hadn't felt in decades and doll I like you so much and maybe all of this is my imagination, but I think that you like me too and I was really hoping you'd want to have dinner with me sometimes?" He finished a little breathless, despite having spoken the words so slow as if he was afraid she'd miss it if he didn't enunciate each one of them.

The smile on her lips kept widening with each passing moment and she squeezed his hand in hers a little before speaking up her answer to him. "Bucky, I'd love nothing more."

A wide smile mirroring hers bloomed on his lips and all he could do was stare at her in admiration, not wanting to ruin the beauty of the moment with any other word or move. After a few minutes in silence, only staring at each other lovingly, Y/n finally found her voice to speak again. "Bucky?"

"Hmm..?"

She cleared her throat before speaking, taking a small moment to muster up the courage to speak the next words, but she couldn't help the blush that deepened in her cheeks as she spoke.

"I was really hoping you would kiss me."

[ofstarsandfireflies]

Alrighty! Night 3 already! And do I have a treat for you!

Tonight was a challenge i set for myself.

Let’s watch...

John Wick

Hitman loses dog and goes on revenge rampage.

Stephen Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme.

Well, he was.

While he was Sorcerer Supreme, he had to give up all worldly connections to people because he couldn’t protect everyone if he was focused on one person, and he did just that until he met Tony.

And something about this Avenger gets its claws in him and won’t let him go.

He wants to be with Tony, and Tony wants to be with him.

So, Stephen is given a choice.

He can either be Sorcerer Supreme and use his magic to protect the world and give up Tony, or he can give up all that and be with Tony.

So Stephen chooses Tony.

And they’re happy.

Stephen gets back into the medical world, Tony retires from being Iron Man, they get married and are living in the country together, it’s perfect.

And then Thanos happens.

Stephen fades into dust on the couch they are sitting on and Tony instantly grabs his old suit and makes his way to the Avengers compound, offering any help he can give to get Stephen back.

And years later, he finally succeeds.

And Stephen only manages to get to Tony just as he snaps Thanos away and dies in his arms.

And Stephen is alone and grieving in this cold house Tony had built with his own hands and watching old videos of them together on his phone and thinking of going back to being a Sorcerer if they would take him back, when he gets a visit from Wong, who has a package for him from Tony.

It’s the cloak of levitation.

Tony knew how much it hurt Stephen to have to give up magic and especially the cloak as they’d become rather attached to one another, and he knew he wouldn’t survive what he was planning to do and didn’t want Stephen to be alone.

Wong knew the cloak would be safe in Stephen’s hands being a former wizard, and friend, so he agreed to let the relic go to Stephen.

Now Stephen isn’t alone.

He has the cloak and the cloak is happy to be around him again and Stephen wakes up with it draped over him like a blanket and it squeezes him good morning and floats around like it owns the place and Stephen is finally feeling like he’s healing when a young Victor von Doom breaks into the home Stephen shared with Tony.

Caught by surprise, Stephen is beaten and left on the kitchen floor, the cloak untangling itself from him to go after his attacker.

When Stephen wakes up, the cloak of levitation is shredded on the floor around him and the Iron Man armour, the one Tony had died in, the one thing Stephen couldn’t bring himself to destroy, has been stolen.

Around the same time, Doom flies in using Tony’s old armour and Kaecilius, his father, is outraged because he knows who that armour used to belong to and who he was married to.

Stephen Strange Sorcerer Supreme was not someone you crossed, he was not some push over just because he was married to a now dead Avenger.

He had years of training under his belt, he was the highest ranking Sorcerer and chose willingly to give that up for love on good faith that he wouldn’t use his powers.

And he would have kept that vow until now.

Because of his idiot son and what he had destroyed.

And what he had taken.

Victor was in danger and there is nothing Kaecilius can do to protect him from it now that Stephen Strange is after him.

Kaecilius tries to reason with Stephen, tries to offer to give the armour back hoping this will somehow save his son, but Stephen is too far gone to be in any mood for bargaining.

Stephen puts his robes back on and readies himself for the group of Sorcerers letting themselves into his house and proceeds to take them out one by one.

When Kaecilius hears of this, he puts a bounty out on Stephen’s head but wants as many people on this job as possible.

So he goes to a man he can trust and who used to be Strange’s friend, Baron Mordo, hoping to pit the two old friends against each other.

Mordo agrees to kill Stephen Strange, who is at the Sanctum in New York City, the closest Sanctum to Stephen’s location and where his old friend Wong resides.

Wong agrees to give him a sling ring and lets him stay in the Sanctum. He wants to help his friend, and Stephen is grateful for it, but he can’t stay for long.

He needs to find Doom and the only one he can go to is the Ancient One.

She survived the fall and the surgery all those years ago, but has lost her ability to walk, deciding to remain in her wheelchair than draw any more power from other dimensions.

She knows what he’s after but she won’t allow him to bring that kind of bloodshed to the Sanctum she is now helping to watch over.

Unable to see where this dark path will lead Stephen but knowing he won’t give up as this is personal to him, she gives him Doom’s whereabouts and sends Stephen on his way, but for all the bodyguards he goes through, Stephen is still rusty and Doom escapes.

He manages to get back to the Sanctum and Wong stitches him up.

When Stephen is attacked by one of the students doing Kaecilius’ bidding, Mordo is the one to help him.

The student, not wanting to die, tells him how Victor owns a company and where it’s headquarters is located.

Stephen doesn’t harm the student, instead leaving it to Wong to decide what to do with them as he and Mordo go to Doom Industries, his anger boiling to breaking point at the thought of this asshole copying Tony, and burns it to the ground.

And then they wait.

Kaecilius is not pleased about this blow, but doesn’t have much time to think about it as Stephen reveals himself and Mordo remains hidden, and they proceed to mow through nearly everybody.

Stephen makes Kaecilius give up his son to stay alive and he does.

And Stephen finally gets his revenge.

More to that he has Tony’s armour again.

But once Victor is dead, Mordo pays the price for it, turning Stephen’s anger on to Kaecilius, courtesy of the Ancient One knowing his location and telling him before Kaecilius can escape.

Broken and beaten, but alive and with his revenge complete, Stephen makes it back to Wong, who helps stitch him up again and lets him rest in the Sanctum.

He tries to get Stephen to come back. Stephen was an excellent Sorcerer and could be again.

But Stephen doesn’t want that.

Stephen gave that up for Tony, and it would be a disservice to his memory.

He thanks Wong, who tells him the Sanctum’s door is always open for him, and Stephen leaves with the Iron Man suit he fought so hard to retrieve.

He goes back to his empty house and

seals up the life he’d given up for Tony once again.

The next day he receives another present from Tony.

Turns out he’d been building a robot dog for him for his birthday and it’s updates had finally finished.

The dog’s name is Tin Head, because of course it is. Not only was Tony bad at names, but it’s what Stephen used to call him whenever they were fighting together.

Stephen settles on the couch with Tin Head by his side resting it’s head in his lap and wagging its tail as he rubs its shiny head.

As if nothing had happened.

Quotes -

“John will come for you. And you will do nothing because you can do nothing.”

Doom’s a dead man.

“So when did the old place get a facelift?”

“Around four years ago.”

Stephen hasn’t been to the Sanctum since he left this life behind to be with Tony.

“Are you scared of the fucking boogeyman? I’m not.”

“No? But you should be.”

Doom still doesn’t understand how much danger he is in. He thinks he’s smarter than this Stephen Strange, just like he was always smarter than Tony Stark.

How much trouble could one single wizard be when he has more power than him and has already beaten him once before?

“This life... follows you. It clings to you, affecting everyone who comes close to you. We are cursed, you and I.”

Kaecilius to Stephen, both knowing magic comes with a price no one can afford to pay.

“When Helen died I lost everything. Until that dog arrived on my doorstep. A final gift from my wife. In that moment I received some semblance of hope. An opportunity to grieve un-alone. And your son took that from me. Stole that from me. Killed that from me! People keep asking if I’m back, and I haven’t really had an answer. But now, yeah, I’m thinking I’m back! So you can either hand over your son or you can die screaming alongside him!”

“What happened, John? We were professionals. Civilised.”

“Do I look civilised to you?”

During their final fight, Kaecilius and Stephen exchange these immortal words.

The Chaos After You

Stephen knows he can’t bring Tony back to him, but he’s an inch from the edge from doing something stupid and reckless.

And then he gets a shove.

And in some twisted way, it’s just what he needs.

I think I need something lighter after that one. How about a fairytale?

Missed the previous days?

Day 1 Day 2

[jbbarnesnnoble]

Another Lie

Summary:  You struggle with your self-esteem and body image. Bucky and Wanda know something is wrong, but have no idea how to help you. 

I totally didn’t forget to swap out the summary from my last fic

Features:  Plus size!Reader with PCOS

Warnings:  Disordered eating; self-esteem issues; anxiety

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Wanda Maximoff/Reader

Background Paring(s): Steve Rogers/Sharon Carter/Natasha Romanoff

Notes: This is based on my own experiences with my self-esteem and weight as a plus size woman with PCOS. I will likely write another fic in this universe that is much more positive. This fic deals with the struggle of self image while struggling with PCOS. So please, please, please keep that in mind. The reader in this fic has a very unhealthy relationship with food, which is based on my own struggles with it. This can be triggering for some, so please take care of yourself and avoid this fic if you know it will be triggering to you.

Word Count:  2923

You sat by the window, pretending to pick at the salad you had brought. Lunch had turned into an early dinner at the end of the day, taking your break in the last half hour of the work day. You didn’t live at the Avengers compound. Tony had been on your case about at least moving into one of the homes on the grounds, but you stood firm in wanting your work and your personal life to remain separate. You were fairly certain the only person who knew where you lived aside from Tony, was Natasha and that was because it was Natasha. You weren’t an Avenger. You were a desk worker. You helped decrypt intelligence and create mission briefs. You had a critical role with the team, even if you didn’t feel like what you did was all that important most days. You weren’t the one risking your life.

The nature of your job was another reason Tony and some of the others wanted you living at the compound. While putting the team in one place did paint a target, the compound had impressive security measures. Everyone had a place outside of the compound, sure, but a lot of time was spent there, together. Their homes away from the compound were more like a retreat to recharge. Clint weaved in and out with practiced ease, spending as much time as he could with his family when he could. 

But you insisted on staying on your own. The only compromise you made was having FRIDAY, though the AI was barebones at your instruction in your home. You had bought the house a year into working with the team. Tony had gotten you set up. You knew he worried. He would never admit to it, but he did. You could handle basic self-defense, but push comes to shove, if HYDRA or some other enemy of the team came knocking, your chances against them weren’t great. 

You had always struggled with your self-esteem and self-image. It worsened when you started working alongside Nat and Wanda. You had kept yourself in check, but things had been weighing on you lately. It was easy to start skipping a meal here and there. Easy to pretend you ate something. You knew it was a slippery slope. You were on a collision course with trouble. But when you stepped on the scale that morning, the number staring back at you had you convinced it was okay, that you were fine. It wasn’t like you skipped every meal. You ate. It wasn’t much, but you ate. It didn’t help that your anxiety was interfering with your appetite. 

You were pulled from your thoughts when Bucky and Wanda sat down across from you. You hadn’t noticed them come in with Steve and Natasha, who found themselves sitting on the couch, Sharon Carter stretched between them with her head on Natasha’s shoulder and her legs flung across Steve’s lap. Bucky and Wanda were somehow the two you were closest to.It wasn’t something people expected.  

“Sticking around for movies tonight?” Bucky asked you.

“And pizza...we can get your favorite,” Wanda said. You frowned. If it was just movies, sure. But pizza...pizza would put you over for the day. You kept a tally of the calories, painfully aware of how many a single slice had. Pizza was one of your favorites, especially from the place the team ordered from.

“Get you an order of garlic knots, know you like them. You’ve been on a health food kick lately. You can have a bit of a cheat day, especially with us,” Bucky teased. You sighed, closing the container that held your salad. 

“I can’t tonight. I have plans,” you said. You missed the look the two shared and the staring from the trio on the couch.

“Like a date?” Wanda asked, her voice going up an octave. You snorted.

“Right. Me on a date. No, I just have plans with friends. I do have a life outside work you know. You guys are great but, I do have other friends,” you explained. It was a white lie. Your friends were miles away, scattered about the country and the world. The only plans you had were a bubble bath and a salacious novel before you inevitably lost the ability to distract yourself and forced yourself to go to bed. 

“You could invite them here,” Bucky offered. You raised an eyebrow. Wanda tried to hide her laugh before Bucky realized what he’d said.

“Right. Background checks,” he said.

“Security is the way it is for a reason. Maybe some other time,” you said. You finished your lunch before heading to your office to gather your things. You opened your fitness app, inputting your lunch. You sighed as you saw the number for the day. Next time, you’d skip the dressing. 

When you got home you threw the container your salad had been in into the sink. You filled your water bottle and went to start the bath. You’d kill for a glass of wine, but shook your head at the thought. 

It hadn’t always been this bad. For a while, you’d been fine. But anxiety crept in and twisted things around. You knew, on some level, that you weren’t okay. That you should talk to someone. But then your anxiety kicked in, whispering that your problems weren’t important, that saying anything would be a bother. You and food had a complicated, unhealthy relationship. 

You had been on the heavier side of things since middle school. A diagnosis of PCOS once you were out of high school made things make sense. Why you had gained so much weight. Why you had so much trouble losing weight. It also contributed to your anxiety. It was a perfect cocktail for the issues you had with your self-esteem. There were so many ‘diets’ aimed at those with PCOS. Keto. Gluten free. Don’t eat this. Eat that. Cut the sugar. Carbs are bad. You were almost down a size since you’d started down this path again. 

You stripped down and turned on the water, adding bubbles as you let it fill. Once the water was high enough, grabbing the latest book you had picked up. You put on a playlist you’d made and slipped into the bathtub. You tried to relax. But you couldn’t. Too many thoughts swirled around in your head. When you got out of the bath, you stared at yourself in the mirror after drying off. You poked and pulled at yourself before sighing. You traced the stretch marks that lined your stomach. You watched the jiggle of your arms and your thighs as you finished drying off. You could almost hear the criticizing tone of your grandmother on the days you felt confident enough to wear a shirt that showed more of your arms. ‘Why don’t you put on a sweater?’ ‘Do you really want to go out in that?’ ‘You should cover up.’ Her words echoed in your head.

Your stomach growled but you ignored it. You had maxed out for the day. You told yourself you would be better off ignoring it. You got dressed for bed and went to lay down for a while. You needed a distraction from the hunger you were feeling. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bucky and Wanda were worried. They had retreated to his room after you left. Neither spoke for a while. 

“She never turns down pizza night,” Bucky said, giving Wanda a look. He was hoping she heard something. Wanda shook her head.

“You know I make a point not to listen. I tune everyone out unless something is too loud. We can’t violate her trust,” she said, sitting down beside him on the couch in his suite. 

“She’s lost too much weight too fast, tell me you see it too,” Bucky said. He always noticed things when it came to you. The jeans you wore that once fit perfectly were starting to look baggy on you. The more fitted shirts you wore were also looser, in a way they were clearly never intended to be. Wanda nodded.

“I have. Tony has too. He can’t use FRIDAY to check on her either,” Wanda said before Bucky could even suggest it. Bucky frowned.

“Why not?” he asked. 

“Because he promised her. FRIDAY only has the most basic functionalities in her home. Checking for a heartbeat is the extent of it. She wasn’t comfortable having FRIDAY in her home,” Wanda said.

“But when she’s here,” Bucky said. Wanda shook her head. 

“FRIDAY doesn’t conduct health assessments on regular employees, not unless someone asks or they’re in medical for something,” Wanda reminded him. 

“Couldn’t we ask?” he asked.

“No. Either she has to or Dr. Cho does. And you know Helen won’t do that without her consent. If there were something truly alarming, we have to trust that FRIDAY would alert someone,” Wanda told him. Bucky sighed. 

“I don’t like this. Something isn’t right here. You’ve seen it yourself, Wanda,” he said. She placed a hand on his cheek gently, her eyes meeting his.

“I know. But all we can do right now is make sure she knows we’re here,” she said. He pulled her close, hoping you would come to them before whatever it was you were dealing with got too far out of control.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You had decided to take advantage of the gym at work. Tony had offered the use of the Avengers gym, but you had decided to use the regular employee one. 

You found the stationary bike after stretching, deciding to use it. You had one earbud in while working out. It was a habit you had gotten into so you could pay more attention to what was going on around you. Which was why you heard when Aisling from accounting came in with several other women. 

“Don’t know why she bothers. She likes Sergeant Barnes and Agent Maximoff. She hasn’t said it outright but it’s pretty obvious. It’s sad. As if either of them would be interested in her,” you heard her say. You knew she had no idea you could hear her. Aisling was always nice to you when you had to bring something by accounting for Tony. You’d even had lunch together a couple times a week, usually. 

“Aisling, come on. You’re friends with her, aren’t you? Would it kill you not to be such a bitch?” another woman said. She sighed.

“She’s nice, don’t get me wrong. But life isn’t a movie. People like Barnes and Maximoff don’t end up with people who look like her. And clearly the gym isn’t helping her,” you heard her say. You ended your workout and gathered your things. You didn’t want to hear anymore. You tore out of the gym, willing yourself not to cry. You were hurt. You thought you were friends. You decided to use the showers in the Avengers gym. It was more private. You didn’t notice Bucky and Wanda were in the gym with Natasha and Clint as you rushed past. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda and Bucky shared a look as you ran past. You were clearly upset. Natasha had a frown on her face.

“Wanda, come on, let’s go check on her,” Natasha said. Wanda nodded as she followed Natasha into the locker room. A shower was on. Through the door of the cubicle, they could both hear loud sobs. They decided to wait until you came out. When you did, you almost screamed. You were fully dressed, but you hadn’t expected to see anyone. It was clear you had been crying.

“What happened?” Natasha asked, jumping right to the point. You refused to look at either of them.

“Nothing,” you said. 

“Want to try that again? You ran in here and you were crying. What happened?” she asked softly. 

“Sometimes the truth hurts. That’s all. Look, I need to get back to work,” you said. You brushed past them and headed for your office, locking the door behind you. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda and Natasha shared a look. Wanda wasn’t keen on breaking your trust, but she had to know what happened to upset you.

“FRIDAY what happened before she came up to the gym?” Wanda asked.

“She was in the employee gym. I can play the audio from that time if you would like, Miss Maximoff,” FRIDAY said.

“Please,” Wanda said. FRIDAY played back the audio, isolated from your immediate vicinity. She and Natasha both heard what Aisling said. Things clicked into place for Wanda.

“FRIDAY, contact Dr. Cho. Tell her Bucky and I will be coming by,” Wanda said. Natasha gave her a questioning look, but Wanda shook her head. 

She went to talk to Bucky and the two of them headed for the medical wing of the compound. They hoped that Helen would be able to shed light on what was going on with you. If anyone could, it was her. 

“Is there anything you can do?” Wanda questioned once they told Helen their worries. Helen looked between the two.

“I can’t. Unless FRIDAY detects that Ghost is in danger, I can’t. She’s not an agent or an Avenger. There’s no reason to monitor beyond basic life functions ,” Helen explained. Ghost was a nickname that had stuck to you. You were good at weaving in and out of networks undetected and that translated to how you moved around the compound at times. You had a habit of appearing out of nowhere. Tony swore up and down you must be enhanced with a teleportation power. 

“We just want to know she’s okay,” Bucky told her. Helen nodded. It was no secret that Bucky and Wanda cared deeply about you. The only person who seemed to be oblivious to it was you. 

“I understand, Sergeant Barnes. I really do. But for now, be there for her. It might not be something medical,” Helen advised. Bucky and Wanda left the medical wing, still at a loss of what they should do. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another week passed. Most of the team was away on various missions. You were holed up in your office, working on decrypting something from the last mission Natasha had gone on, a solo run with Clint as backup. You hadn’t eaten all day. It wasn’t a conscious thing, and FRIDAY had reminded you to eat several times. You could feel yourself starting to shake and sighed. You were in the zone on your work and told yourself you’d grab a snack and a glass of orange juice in a few minutes.

By the time you moved to stand up, the shaking was worse and you were feeling lightheaded. You silently cursed yourself. 

“Doll? Everything alright?” you heard Bucky ask. You jumped. You hadn’t been aware he was back from his mission.

“Yeah, yeah, just need to eat. Haven’t had anything today,” you said. 

“Since breakfast you mean?” he asked. You didn’t look at him.

“Ghost, it’s four in the afternoon. You haven’t had anything yet?” he asked, alarmed. You sighed.

“It’s not a big deal,” you argued. 

“Ghost, how much do you eat in a day?” he asked. 

“Enough,” you replied, avoiding the question. You didn’t need anyone judging you for your habits. 

“How much is enough?” he questioned, his tone gentle. You knew you weren’t getting out of this conversation. It would be easy to lie. But you couldn’t bring yourself to lie to him. You knew, on some level, that what you were doing wasn’t healthy, nor was it sustainable. You unlocked your phone and handed it to him. 

“Ghost,” he whispered as he looked at your meticulously kept log. You hadn’t noticed Wanda enter the room. 

“Why?” Wanda asked, as she took the phone from Bucky. You didn’t know where to start or how to answer. 

“Look at me. I’ve tried every diet and none of them worked. I’m not pretty. I want to feel beautiful, you know? I want to be able to go out without thinking people are laughing behind my back. I want to go shopping and know if I find something I like, it’ll be in my size,” you rambled. You jolted when she brought her hand up to caress your face.

“You are beautiful. Don’t give me that look. You are beautiful in my eyes. In James’ eyes. Isn’t the saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder? You may not see yourself like that, but we do. And that’s okay. Things don’t change overnight, especially how we see ourselves,” she said. 

“I think you should talk to Helen. This isn’t sustainable. It’s not healthy,” Bucky murmured. You were confused. You didn’t think they liked you, not like that. 

“I don’t...why do you care so much?” you asked, eyes welling with tears.

“Because we care about you. We can talk about this more after you see Helen. We’ll be with you, every step of the way,” Wanda explained. You nodded. 

“Okay,” you whispered. They walked with you, arm in arm to the medical wing. Helen had been expecting you. 

“Everything will be okay. We’re here. And we’re not going anywhere,” Bucky said, taking your hand in his. You nodded. You weren’t sure what was going to happen next, but you knew, they’d be with you, whether it was as your friends or as your partners. Wanda sat on your other side, humming some calming song you didn’t know the name of. 

You knew then. Things were going to start looking up. You were going to be okay. And they would be without, every step of the way. 

[thompsborn]

fic where harley is a doctor that works w helen cho that sees peter often because of how much he gets hurt from being spider-man? and they fall in love bc they r already smitten for each other bc why wouldn't they be

i didn’t know how much i needed an au like this until you sent it omg

[read on ao3]

—

He’s in the middle of taking a sip of coffee when the alarm goes off.

“Mister Keener,” Friday says, as he’s cursing over the hot coffee that’s soaking into the front of his shirt. Thankfully, it’s not hot enough to actually burn him, but that doesn’t make it any less unpleasant. “Your assistance is needed in the Medical Wing.”

Harley frowns. “What time is it?”

“Four fifty eight in the morning, Mister Keener.”

“Jesus, really?” Harley sets his mug down and turns his arm over to look at his watch. His brows shoot up towards his hairline, surprised. “Wow. Okay. Didn’t realize it was... Jesus. Alright.”

Friday sounds almost amused when she tells him, “Doctor Cho is insisting you hurry.”

Harley sighs. “Yeah, okay. On my way.”

At this time of the night, the only medical staff on hand are the ones who live close by—like Helen, who has an apartment less than a two minute walk away—and those who live on site, like Harley, who’s had his own floor in the tower since he was fifteen and told Tony over a phone call that he was thinking about coming to New York once he was done with high school. Because of this, Harley isn’t all that surprised to find that it’s only him and Helen that show up in the MedBay—if anything, it’s what he expected.

And he should have expected who, exactly, they’re treating in the middle of the night, but he still finds himself mildly surprised when he comes face to face with Peter’s sheepish grin.

“Of course it’s you,” Harley says, standing at the foot of the hospital bed with his arms crossed over his chest. “Who else would be waking me up like this?”

“Don’t lie to me,” Peter says, sheepish grin turning a bit snarky. “You weren’t asleep.”

Harley purses his lips. “I could’ve been.”

Peter rolls his eyes, but doesn’t get the chance to respond before Helen is hovering by his side, snapping her gloves into place and instructing, “Friday, give me the run down.“

“Mister Parker has several second degree burns along his left leg and left arm,” Friday responds. “His right wrist is broken, and there appears to be a laceration along his abdomen.”

Harley winces in sympathy. “Rough night?”

Peter tries to shrug, but the movement makes his features twist up in a flash of pain. His voice comes out a bit strained when he says, “You could say that. There was—house fire. Not fun.”

“Get everyone out?” Harley asks, if only to provide a slight distraction as Helen assesses the broken wrist, likely checking to see if it needs to be reset or if it’ll be able to heal properly as it is. Peter tries for a grin.

“All of ‘em. Even the kids pet turtle.”

Harley pats Peter’s right knee, careful to remember that it’s his left leg with the burns. “Job well done, Spider-Man.”

“Harley,” Helen says, grabbing his attention. She’s apparently deemed Peter’s wrist not a main concern and is already peeling Peter’s suit off of him. Harley snaps into focus instantly, listening intently as Helen tells him, “I need you to take care of the laceration while I get started on the burns. When that’s done, we need to get that wrist in a cast until it heals.”

Peter pouts. “A cast? Really?”

Helen looks at him sharply. “Last time we didn’t put you in a cast, you managed to re-break your arm before it could heal. Twice.”

Peter’s pout vanishes with a meek chuckle. “It was an accident?” he offers.

“You, Peter Parker,” Helen says, averting her attention back to his burns as she speaks, “are somehow my best and my worst patient of all time. And I’m Tony Stark’s doctor, too, so that says a whole lot about you.”

“Hey—” Peter cuts off with a hiss as Harley starts to disinfect the large cut on his side. Harley offers an apologetic half smile that Peter waves away with another wince and a wobbly sort of grin. “I’m not worse than Mr. Stark.”

Helen hums, high pitched and teasing.

“I’m not,” Peter insists. “I’m not!”

“Believe what you want,” Helen tells him.

Peter huffs. “Why are you being mean to me? Aren’t doctors supposed to be nice to their patients? Isn’t that, like, a thing?”

Harley snorts when Helen says, “Next time, don’t wake me up at four in the morning with second degree burns and a broken wrist, and maybe then I’ll be nicer to you, hm?”

—

The thing is, Harley didn’t plan on this.

As in, growing up, he was sure that what he wanted was to be a mechanic. He loved to build, take apart, recreate, understand. It’s all he ever did. Hell, when Tony Frickin’ Stark broke into his garage, the guy ended up making Harley his own mechanic heaven to say thanks for helping him out.

And Harley still loves all of that, to be fair—he spends a lot of his free time tinkering in Tony’s lab now, helping him out with whatever the man’s working on and often working on his own fun little projects on the side—but it’s not his main drive. It’s not the center of his world.

He thinks it started when he saved Tony.

In a way, anyway—he had only been twelve at the time, and it’s not like twelve year olds are exactly apt on having life changing realizations that change the course of their future. Still, he was a twelve year old that saved Tony Stark’s life, and there was some kind of thrill, almost. It was hard to explain then, and Harley isn’t sure if he could put it into words now, but the feeling had made his fingers feel all tingly and his heart thud heavily in his chest. It was similar to when he built his first successful bot and it came whirring to life, only the feeling was intensified.

He felt like he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. He knew he wanted to save lives.

“You’re getting better,” Helen tells him, after Harley’s helped the medical team with bandaging up the members of the Avengers that just returned from a mission. None of the wounds had been major, mostly just scrapes and bruises, but it’s the most amount of people Harley has helped treat at once, which is a big step.

Harley shrugs, drying off his hands, having just finished washing them. “You’re a good teacher.”

Helen chuckles at that. “How are your classes?”

“Good,” Harley answers, nodding his head. “Kinda boring. I know most of it already, thanks to all the training you’ve given me, but that‘s not really new. I knew everything they taught me in high school, too.”

“You sound like Peter when you say that,” Helen muses, an amused quirk to her brow.

Harley rolls his eyes. “Y’know, people keep saying that, but I only see him when he’s bleeding out and that doesn’t make it feel like we’re all that similar.”

“Oh, you’re similar, alright,” Helen says, laughing a bit. “You’re both genius kids who bust your asses off to save people’s lives.”

Wrinkling his nose, Harley says, “But I don’t do it in spandex. Key difference there, doc.”

Helen holds her hands up in some kind of surrender. “Just saying, you two are alike.”

“I’ll make sure to tell him you said that next time he breaks his leg,” Harley quips.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Friday interjects, “but Spider-Man is reportedly injured and heading to the tower now. ETA of six and a half minutes.”

Harley rolls his eyes up to the ceiling with an exasperated sigh. Helen can only laugh.

—

“Ow. Ow, ow—oh, Jesus, that’s—ow—!”

“Sorry,” Harley says, only averting his eyes for a second to flash Peter an apologetic look before focusing back on the stitches he’s giving him.

Peter curses, slamming his left fist into his own thigh as Harley pushes the needle through. “This sucks,” he complains, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth. “This is—why is this worse than getting stabbed? Why do I prefer getting stabbed over this? This blows.”

“You need to stop moving,” Harley tells him.

Making an indignant sort of noise, Peter asks, “How the hell am I—I can’t stop moving! This hurts, man, like—like, really fuckin’ hurts!”

“Moving makes it worse, dipshit,” Harley retorts, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

“You know what else makes it worse?” Peter glares at the wall. “Not having pain killers.”

Harley does roll his eyes now. “Not my job. I just give you the drugs, I don’t make them.”

“I know, but Mr. Stark isn’t here for me to bitch at, so I’m complaining to you about it instead.”

Harley can’t help the way that he snorts at that, finishing off the last of the stitches as he does so. “I usually don’t like to listen to someone complain while I’m working.”

“Sucks to suck,” Peter replies. “Are you done?”

“Yep.” Harley leans back, taking off his gloves and tossing them into the trash. “Any other injuries? Stab wounds? Broken bones?”

Peter hums, tilting his head from side to side. “I don’t think so. Friday?”

“All clear, Mr. Parker.”

Harley frowns. “The fact that you had to ask worries me.”

Peter shrugs. “I get hurt a lot. Kinda used to it.”

“Still,” Harley says. “That’s concerning. Like, you still feel pain, right? You would know if you were hurt somewhere else, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, trust me, I feel pain,” Peter snorts. “But some things just... don’t matter? Like... I dunno, but if it’s not serious, it’s like my brain filters it out on it’s own to focus on other things. Which, probably, y’know, not good, but, like, oh well.”

“Definitely not good,” Harley murmurs, frowning to himself as he squints around the room for a moment. “Well, if you have nothing else, then you’re good to go. And, honestly, thank god that’s all you have, ‘cause this is the first time I’ve done anything without Helen around and anything more than stitches would’ve had me flipping shit and fucking it all up.”

Peter lets out a light laugh, pulling his shirt down, over the gash that Harley just finished stitching. “You wouldn’t fuck it up,” he says, sounding light and humorous yet entirely serious, too. “You’re, like, really good at your job, Harley.”

Harley scrunches his nose up on his face. “Ew. Don’t be nice to me. It’s gross.”

Peter laughs again, a little bit louder, though the way it makes his stomach jump has him wincing when it pulls at his stitches. “I’m serious!” he insists. “Like, I know you’re still a med student and stuff, but Helen is probably the best person to be training you, so you’re, like, more qualified than most normal doctors. You have the experience that most people still in med school don’t have. I mean, you patch up the freakin’ Avengers, Harley! You gotta be good at this to do that!”

“I help patch up the Avengers,” Harley corrects. “The only person I’ve ever fixed up by myself is you, thanks to your insane ability to always get hurt.”

“It’s a talent,” Peter shrugs. “And hey, I bet it keeps you entertained.”

Harley snorts. “Entertained is not the right word for it, Spidey. Impressed, maybe, by just how much trouble you’re capable of getting yourself into.”

Peter grins. “Gotta impress people somehow, right?”

—

Harley wouldn’t call it bonding.

Because it’s not. It’s not bonding. It’s small talk, and pleasant conversations, while Harley sets a broken bone or treats another burn. It’s filling the silence because, apparently, Helen trusts Harley to handle Peter on his own, unless it’s a major injury that requires more than one person on hand, and Harley isn’t sure why he’s being trusted with this, but he’s pretty intent on not fucking it up.

But it isn’t bonding. They’re just... acquaintances. Who talk. Like, a lot, because Peter comes in at least four times a week needing treatment for something, and that gives them a lot of time to talk. Maybe Harley learns a lot about Peter during this time, like his favorite song, and what his comfort hoodie is, and why he became Spider-Man in the first place. Maybe Peter learns where Harley is from, how he met Tony, and what made him decide to be a doctor over a mechanic.

Maybe, after a few weeks, they start having inside jokes, built not only from the time they spend alone together, but also from the months upon months that Harley was helping Helen treat Peter, too. Sometimes, Peter snorts so hard that he reopens his stitches and Harley has to fix it. Sometimes, Harley can’t stop laughing when he needs to have steady hands and he ends up hunching over on himself and wheezing because of whatever it is that Peter said. One day, Peter comes in when he isn’t injured, dressed in casual clothes with a few textbooks from his ESU courses in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. “I’m headed up to see Mr. Stark,” he tells Harley, “but I thought I’d give you this,” and he holds out the cup of coffee with a big, cheesy sort of grin.

“Why?” Harley asks, though he accepts the cup gratefully.

Peter shrugs. “I’d probably have bled out ten times over if it weren’t for you, and you looked, like, really tired yesterday, so I thought you might need it.”

He is tired—exhausted, really, because his classes may not be hard but there are some big tests coming up that he needs to study for and it’s hard to find the time to study in between training with Helen and doing all the millions of other assignments that are being tossed his way. He takes a sip of the coffee, hums in satisfaction at the way it warms him up, and says, “Thanks.”

“Least I could do,” Peter tells him.

So, maybe they’re friends. Maybe—maybe—Harley is starting to look forward to seeing him and keeps trying to think of a casual way to offer they hang out sometime, outside of the med bay. Maybe Peter starts bringing Harley a cup of coffee every time he goes to visit Tony, and maybe Harley starts to feel a little thrill whenever he hands the coffee over and their fingers briefly brush.

Maybe it is bonding, but it’s not a crush. It’s not.

(”You’re adorable when you’re in denial,” Helen tells him.

Harley sinks in his seat and tries to disappear. “Shut up.”)

—

The letters of his textbook are blurring in front of his eyes when the alarm rings.

He jumps at the sound, looks up at the ceiling with slightly squinted eyes and furrowed brows, expecting Friday to calmly inform him that his assistance is needed in the med bay, like usual. Instead of that, though, the alarm continues to blare, and all Friday says is, “Urgent. Urgent. Urgent.”

Which is code for: someone’s about to die if he doesn’t hurry.

Instantly, he jumps to his feet, feeling wide awake despite being on the brink of dozing off just a few short moments ago. “Okay,” he tells himself, rushing out of his room and sprinting towards the elevator, which is already open and waiting for him. He only just barely thinks to swipe his tablet along the way, clutches it in his hands while he says, “Okay, okay, okay—who, uh—Friday? Who is it?”

“Iron Man and Spider-Man are both heavily injured and require immediate assistance,” Friday informs him gravely. “Doctor Cho is already treating Mr.Stark and has told me to inform you that you will be in charge of Mr. Parker.”

“Oh, god,” Harley breathes, pinching the bridge of his nose and giving himself a second to take a deep breath while the elevator takes him down to the proper floor. “Jesus. Okay. I need, uh—give me a list of Peter’s injuries, Fri.”

“Of course, Mr. Keener.”

The list is sent to his tablet immediately, and it’s—extensive. Third degree burns and multiple shattered ribs and various bullet wounds, only some of which are clean through, meaning that there’s various bullets that they need to remove before Peter starts to heal around them. The more he reads, the faster his heart thunders in his chest while his mind automatically sorts through it to think of what needs to be prioritized, what to treat first, and how to keep Peter alive.

By the time he reaches Peter’s room, he has a game plan figured out, and he only falters for a short moment when he sees Peter on the hospital bed, writhing around and sobbing in pain. The rest of the medical staff in the room freeze, likely already aware that Helen put him in charge, and wait with bated breath.

“Alright,” Harley says, mostly to himself. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”

—

Maybe it is a crush.

Harley is finding it hard to deny it now, as he sits beside Peter’s hospital bed, his hands feeling a little bit shaky where they’re clasped together and hanging between his knees. They had to undergo emergency surgery, and Peter’s heart had stopped four times throughout the procedure. Bringing him back had been the most panic inducing thing Harley has ever experienced in his life, and he couldn’t even show it because he was the one that was put in charge.

But they did, all four times —they got his heart going again and they got out all the bullets and treated all the burns and did everything they could to stabilized the broken bones. They gave him multiple IV’s, all of which he’s still attached to, and he hasn’t woken up since he passed out from the pain shortly after Harley’s arrival—and he passed out looking at Harley, too, with wide, pleading eyes that seemed to be begging for mercy, filled with agony and despair.

Harley would do anything to never have to see that look again.

“How’s he doing?” Helen asks, stepping into the room. She looks tired, undoubtedly exhausted from doing whatever she could to stabilize Tony just a few rooms down. Harley feels that exhaustion in his very bones.

“He’s gonna be fine,” Harley tells her. “Lost him a few times, though.”

Helen hums sympathetically. “But you got him back.”

Harley hesitates, then nods. “Yeah, we did.”

“Good,” Helen says, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You did good.” She stays like that for a moment, doesn’t move, and Harley appreciates the gesture but kind of wants to be alone. Maybe she senses that, because a moment later, she’s pulling her hand back and asking, “Are you staying here?”

“‘Til he wakes up,” Harley tells her.

Helen smiles at him warmly. “Make sure you get some rest, too, okay?”

Harley doesn’t think he’ll be able to sleep until he sees Peter awake and talking again, but he still nods at her and says, “Yeah, alright.”

After Helen leaves the room, after it’s just Harley and Peter again, he finds himself reaching forward and taking Peter’s hand in his, and, other than the innocent brush of fingers when passing a coffee cup, this is the first time they’ve touched outside of Harley treating Peter’s wounds. It’s a bit of a startling realization, but Harley finds comfort in the contact, listens to the steady beeping of the heart monitor and starts to relax with the reassurance that he really did good, that Peter is going to be okay and Harley is the one that saved him.

He doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but with that relief flooding his veins and Peter’s hand in his, he finds himself dozing off and doesn’t bother forcing himself awake.

—

At first, he doesn’t realize he’s waking up, his senses still muddled with sleep. It feels almost as if he’s floating in unconsciousness, warm and comfortable and— 

“Harley?”

And he wakes with a jolt, eyes snapping open and instantly searching, only coming to a stop when they land on wide brown eyes looking right back at him. “Oh,” he breathes, blinking once and sitting up straight despite the way it makes his back complain. “Oh, my god. You’re awake.”

Peter tilts his head, just a little bit, and looks down at their intertwined fingers.

“Right. That.” Harley clears his throat and scrubs his free hand over his features, trying to wake himself up with a sheepish little smile. “It’s, um—not important, actually. How do you feel? Any pain, discomfort, anything like that?”

For a moment, Peter doesn’t respond, just keeps looking at their hands before rasping out a hoarse little, “’m kinda—kinda thirsty. M’throat hurts.”

Instantly, Harley gets to his feet and pulls open the mini fridge in the room to grab a bottle of water. He takes it back to Peter, hands it over, and feels somewhere stuck between doctor mode and something else, the worry and the uncertainty and the fear from hearing the flat line all mixing together until he feels nauseous with it. Peter accepts the water bottle gratefully, takes tentative sips from it and only winces slightly when he swallows it. “Better?” Harley asks.

Peter smiles, a bit small and tired, but just as genuine as always. “Yeah.”

“Good,” Harley murmurs, hovering by the chair he had been sitting in before. “Is there anything else? Just, like—anything at all? How do you feel?”

“Tired,” Peter tells him. “Like, um... groggy, y’know? And... out of it.”

Harley nods, a bit relieved that the dose of pain killers he chose was the right amount. “That’s to be expected. You were really roughed up, Pete.”

Peter frowns down at his water, brows knitting together. “What happened?”

“There was an ambush,” Harley tells him. “I guess Doc Ock was out and about, so you went to confront him and he got enough hits in to alert Tony, so he went to help you out, but Ock apparently teamed up with Rhino and they were able to catch you guys off guard and get the upper hand. Rhodey and a few others went to help out, but they didn’t get there in time to stop you guys from nearly getting killed, so, when you came in, it was... not pretty. But, you’re both gonna be fine.”

He wants to say that it’s not a crush. It can’t be a crush, isn’t supposed to be one, even if seeing the way Peter lets out a puff of air and relaxes back into his pillows is kind of a... not so bad sight. He looks tired and a bit beat up and a little too pale, but he’s good. He’s alive. Being alive looks good on him.

Maybe, Harley admits. Maybe it is a crush.

“Thank you,” Peter murmurs, head lulling back into the pillows. He holds out a hand and Harley isn’t sure what the action is for, but he doesn’t think before reaching forward and tangling their fingers together.

Harley clears his throat. “What for?”

“Not letting me die,” Peter says.

The mere idea of letting Peter die makes Harley’s heart stutter in his chest. “Of course,” he mumbles, a bit stricken. “I’ll always save you. It’s my job.”

Peter squeezes Harley’s hand, falls asleep with a sigh and a smile on his face.

Harley still doesn’t leave.

(It’s definitely, one hundred percent, a huge, gigantic crush, and maybe... maybe he’s okay with that. Maybe liking Peter Parker isn’t all that bad.)

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Masterlist Keanu Reeves' characters

updated: March 31st 2023

Fic Ratings (read warnings in fic for details):  

(G) General Audiences

(M) Mature

(E) Explicit: only suitable for adults

Safe Haven 1 2 3 (finished) (G)

Violet owed her life to John, who found her beaten up on the streets 12 years ago. They kind of become friends. But not really. Now, being a lawyer to the New York underground she sees what happens on the roof of the Continental Hotel. She wants to help but ends up with John’s Dog in Scotland.

Amnesia 1 2 3 4 5 (finished) (G)

He never thought he would ever see her again. Being divorced for 20   years, he hadn’t heard a thing from her after their last court date.   When he got the call from a hospital in New York, telling him his ex-wife had been in an accident and only remembered being married to someone named Jardani, he couldn’t help but went back to see her. Even if that meant reliving the worst days of his life.

Nirvana 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (Series, on hiatus) (M)

John had no idea what to do. Burying his wife after only 5 years of knowing, loving her almost broke him. But he wasn’t allowed to break. Not when he had Mia, their 4-year-old daughter,  to take care of. But what happens when John got robbed of his car in the middle of the night by no other than Iosef Tarasov, who also killed his daughter's dog? Stuck between a raging feeling of revenge and the overwhelming urge to protect his daughter, John tries to make a  decision.

Devil in disguise 1 2 3 (Mini Series, finished) (E)

You weren’t the girl who get attention from guys. You were the friend that always ended up alone at the bar, nursing her drink until you got home by yourself, while your friends took home, someone. That’s how you supposed this night would go to. Until an Apple Martini, you didn’t order was set down in front of you. Looking around to make out who had ordered it for you, you saw him. John Wick.

perfectly lonely 1 2 3 (Mini series, finished) (M)

She always wondered if breaking up with John had been the right thing to do. He had been her first in so many aspects. But there was something John wasn’t telling her. So she took the job in LA and left for good. Now, 6 years later, helping out at her Uncle’s gas station in between jobs, she was back in the town where she knew he lived. She knew she would most likely run into him at some point. She didn’t think it would be during a robbery though…

Play with me 1 2 3 (Mini series, on hiatus) (E)

After the events of Santino d’Antonio’s death, John was finally free. Yet he was bored. The normal life he longed for wasn’t exactly like he pictured it. When Winston contacted him with an offer to work for August Walker who had taken over the seat at the high table of the Italians after their death, he said yes to more than just a job.

You’re my only friend (G)

She’s known John for 10 years. Before he met Helen. And they meet again after Helen died. And after he avenged the people who killed his dog, but before Santiano comes to find him.

Out of retirement? (E)

Some would say they were a couple five years ago. The Boogeyman and the wandering Spider. A deathly duo. When John retired, he also left Charlotte behind. Now, being retired herself, she’s finally happy. Until she gets a message from him five years later, that made her question how happy she really was.

Back to black (M)

Santino had to die. John had to kill him, there was no way around it. But just as he was about to pull the trigger, on Continental grounds, he heard the singing voice of someone, who he had thought to be dead.

Funfair (G)

You, John Wick, and a Ferris Wheel on a funfair.

Wonderland (E)

John might be an assassin but he wasn’t a cheater. That’s why when he spotted Josephine the first time at the antique flea market, he stepped back immediately when he saw her wedding ring. But was she really married?

Carwash (E)

When John picked you up from work he was tense, and his car was dirty. Sometimes you weren’t sure who he loved more. You or his car. So when he pulled in into the carwash, you made sure he would remember who he loved more…

Focus, John (E)

Looking forward to seeing John after being away for a contract, John took her with him to what was supposed to be a quick in and out, with her getting incredibly bored as she watched John focused on where his target was supposed to be. Tall and dark John, always so focused. Sometimes she wondered, what exactly could make him lose his focus….

Closer (E)

John had been away working for weeks and all you wanted was to have him by your side.

Haunted (E)

As the daughter of Viggo Tarasov you knew everything and everyone. And you knew John better than anyone else. But no one was supposed to find out about it.

Coming Home (E)

John had been gone for two months when a pregnancy test you took turned out positive. 

I'm still here (M)

Soulmate AU: People meet their soulmates every day. Lana on the other hand just wanted to have a little talk about all the ghost tattoos and scars that seemed to appear daily on her body. John didn’t even know his soulmate existed until three little words appears in his ankle. Things changed after that.

-> Ghosts (T)

 A phone call from a stranger with news about a man from a life you had left behind a long time ago, brings back many memories, making you travel from France to New York City for one last time. Only for a promise made twenty years ago to wait for you once you are back home.

Requests:

Sweet enough? (M)

All John wanted was to kill his target and get home, but he ended up meeting the most fascinating woman, who took him out for a Milkshake after she watched him kill his target. Crazy? Maybe. But John wanted to get to know her anyway.

Fever (E)

Taking care of his sick girlfriend was something John would do in a heartbeat. Or so he thought. Six days and so much whining from her later, it was time for him to teach her a little lesson.

Seduce me then, Mr. Wick (E)

Getting home from a concert at night you find John on the couch, drunk. And horny.

Use me (E)

Something had gone wrong on his latest contract, you could see it in his eyes. So you let him use you, knowing he would make it up to you

Dinner plans (G)

Meeting John again after 5 years at a grocery store of all places wasn’t how you imagined your Tuesday night.

Writing prompts:

“Hugging when one is sitting on the other’s lap.” (G)

“Don’t you ever do that again!” (M)

“Why are you lying to me?” (G)

“Why are you lying to me?” And “YOU SAID TO BE HONEST STOP HITTING ME!” (G)

“I could just pull your bikini bottoms to the side, no one will notice.” (M)

“i fucking love you” “hang up, and tell me this when you’re sober” (G)

“sorry, is that supposed to impress me?” (M)

„I love the sight of my cock in your mouth” (E)

“Let me watch…” (E)

“Gonna breed you so good.“ (E)

“I want you waiting on your knees for me when I get home.” (E)

“Stop sending me nudes when I can’t touch you.” “That’s not my problem.” (M)

Rain (G)

When Dr. Beck finally asks out his colleague he wants to take her somewhere special.

Bless me father (E)

You really needed to get laid. It’s been a long two years. And when the hot stranger walked through the door of your favorite pub and said all the right things, you were sure you made the right decision when you took him home for that night. That was until you saw him 2 weeks later. In the church. Baptizing your friend's child.

Bless me sister (E)

After months of seeing John Constantine posing as a priest, you decided it’s time to turn the tables. 

Requests:

New beginnings (G)

12 years went by since he had last heard of Lydia. Standing at her grave he thought about the many things he could have done differently when a girl joined him, mourning for her mother.

Writing prompts:

“OH you’re jealous!” (E)

“I think my fangs are coming loose” (E)

“A hug with a kiss in the other’s neck.” (E)

“You should get home quickly.” “Why?” “Because I’m here waiting for you with nothing but my lipstick on.” (E)

“You’re nothing but my fuck-doll. Say it." (E)

writing prompts

“I think we were a little too loud last night.” (M)

writing prompts

“I’m going to take your panties off and make you come in my mouth. Sound good?” (M)

Requests:

Ice Cream and Kisses

Your first kiss with Jack, followed by your first date. (G)

Anniversary (E)

Marrying Donaka Mark wasn’t what you imagined your life would be. Yet it turned out to be the best decision ever.

All I want for Christmas is you (M)

Donaka could ask for what he wants. Because he would get it. But sometimes breaking someone to get what he wants, is so much more fun.

[pies-writes-and-more]

PIES’ FIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JUNE 2020

Click HERE for the amazing fics I read in May 2020!

NOTE: If you’ve got an incredible fic that you are super proud of or if you think that I should read something you’ve read, PLEASE SEND IT TO ME! I’m really big on StevexFem!Reader, BuckyxFem!Reader, WandaxFem!Reader, CarolxFem!Reader, and Stucky fics!!! (And of course any fics with gender neutral readers is ALWAYS welcome :) )

If you do end up reading these fics, please tag me if you reblog them or comment on them!! I’d love to see your guys’ reactions :)

PS. if these links dont work for some reason, please let me know so I can update this list because I was very distracted halfway through making this so it might not be perfect!

SPECIAL MENTION FIC/POEM RECOMMENDATION

Okay so I’m not doing this because I’m trying to give myself a shoutout however, @wxstedhexrt​ and I have been collaborating in a poetry inspired fanfic collection called Falling! Tis a BuckyxFem!Reader series and if I do say so myself, it’s fucking adorable. 

The real reason I’m mentioning it is because @wxstedhexrt​‘s poems are some of the most real and gorgeously written things I’ve ever met so please give them a look! 

She has this series on Achilles and Patroclus, this collection about the word Silver, gorgeous poems from last year (involving Icarus, Apollo, and Helen of Troy), and so many more!!! Check out the tag #poetry or #mywriting on her blog!!! Send her some love :)

ANYWAYS BACK TO THE FANFICS!

1. Homecoming by @scentedsongrebel | Steve Rogers x Desi!Reader “You bring Steve to Mumbai to meet your family“ Yall want some wonderful representation in your fic reading!!??? READ THIS ONE! It’s so fucking wholesome and I love the whole story line of Steve learning more about his partner’s culture so that he can impress her family. Fucking adorable. 100% fluff with a wonderfully diverse reader and author!!!!

2. Iced Tea by @kaunis-sielu | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader I don’t think there’s an official summary for this fic ( @kaunis-sielu pls correct me if I’m wrong) BUT LEMME TELL YALL. I AM A SUCKER FOR BIKER FICS. WE LOVE BIKER STEVE. This was 100% FLUFFY and we LOVE IT. Amazing job!!!!!!

3. let me show you by @moteldwelling | Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader bucky gives reader a “redo” on her first time, and takes her virginity. Listen here people. This smut took my soul and dragged me to hell and back. I am a SUCKER for Bucky fics but this one like took my life away. We love a man who makes sure his lady is having a good time when being intimate with her!!!!! we stan a good boi. Anyways if I keep thinking about this fic, I’mma need to go shower so I’mma end this here. Go read for yourselves and then cry with me about why Bucky Barnes isn’t in our lives. 18+ readers only of course! 100% HOT. FUCKING. SMUT.

4. Under the Rainbow, Draga mea by @binkysteebnpewter | Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader Again, I don’t think there’s an official summary for this (pls correct me if I’m wrong @binkysteebnpewter) and YES, I KNOW i put this in my May recommendations but I finished reading the series in JUNE so it is HERE AGAIN and DESERVES to be HERE AGAIN BECAUSE WE LOVE FICS WITH 100% GAY SHIT AND LOVE <3 I am a fucking sucker for the love that Wanda and this Reader have together. If you’re not convinced, ask @wxstedhexrt how much I cried reading it lol. anyways an amazing series that I will continue to go back reading again and again because i LOVE wlw fics <3 

5. Oh no, that’s bad by @andyl394 | Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader You’re a college student, you’re mad angry, Bucky ruins your paper, that’s not good is it? I read through this 20-part series like there was NO TOMORROW and god DAMN. We love hilarious social media AUs but this one really killed me. I always love Bucky who is soft and shy in fics but the Bucky in this fic was a LITTLE SHIT and i had so much ANGST. Anyways, if you read this fic, you may want to slap the characters BUT I PROMISE THERES AN ADORABLE HAPPY ENDING!!!! 100% INCREDIBLE

6. Home by @evanstush | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader It’s been 2 years since the last battle and it’s now Morgan’s 7th birthday, and well, Tony being Tony, he prepared a small party for her little girl, inviting everyone from the team, including you. So Kate decided to rip my heart out with this fic and have me on my knees sobbing so that’s cool. That’s it, that’s all I have to say. JK, this fic actually is like half and half FLUFF and ANGST but lord is it worth it. Kate, you know I adore you so much and your fics play a big part in why! God this girl deserves more love on these stories because holy shit I’m DEAD.

7. Baby Self by @honeyloverogers | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader Alternative to Babies! Assemble, What if it was you that got turned into a baby instead? YALL WANT FUCKING FLUFF!?!?!?! 1000000000% FLUFFFFFFF AND CUTENESSSSSS (with like a little bit of a piece of shit lady who comes around but like its cool because a baby says fuck lol) THIS WAS A FIC WRITTEN LIKE NO OTHER. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. IT WAS SO PERFECT. Think of endgame and that moment when Scott turns into a baby??? Yeah now scratch that and think of Y/N if SHE turned into a baby and the avengers couldn’t figure out how to turn her back right away so now everyone has to take care of this baby HGOIDHFOISHFOISDHF the baby fever was so real in this fic ughhhhh <3 

8. Insecurities by @evanstush | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader You’re 7 months pregnant, and you can’t help be so insecure about some things. And here’s Kate again bringing me back to life with more wholesome fluff and a wholesome husband who loves his wife so fucking much and ugh i- i read this fic over and over sometimes and it just makes me realize how much i want this adhfoiasjdfoi <3 I aint pregnant but if I WAS i would want this steve to be comforting me ugh 103874203847% FLUFFFFFFF <3 

9. Requested fic (idk if it has a name??? sorry) by @donutloverxo | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader Request: Hey, as for the headcanon requests how about Steve giving a lift to a girl in need when it's raining heavily or smth? I don't know where this idea came from 😅 Did yall need some confirmation that Sarah Rogers raised her son the fucking right way?!?!? WELL HERE YOU GO. THIS MANS OUT HERE BEING AN ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART <3 ugh we love wholesome drabbles really <3 amazing workkkkk!!!!!

10. Leather and Lace by @queen-kass-the-writer​ | Steve Rogers x AFuckingKickAssFem!OC :) Steve Rogers hardly expects anything to come out of a sleepy night at his new favorite dive bar until a pristinely dressed little lady saunters into the bar with a delicate smile but a wicked uppercut. Biker!Steve x Helena Alright so this is a little different than the above fics because THIS IS AN OC FIC :D now if any of yall know me I don’t tend to read OC fics HOWEVER Kass is INCREDIBLE at churning out fics. I had gave her an idea of a Biker Steve fic and like BAM she made it :O (seriously i don’t know how that is... to have an idea... and actually produce it?!??!) It’s a hilarious story of Biker Steve being head over heels Helena which is adorable (and a character named after me being Bucky’s shithead date lol hilarious) YALL BETTER READ THIS SHIT BECAUSE IT’S 100% WONDERFUL

** ** ** ** ** ** **

Okay so I know that this list is FAR shorter than my last recommendations list. I suckkkkked at reading fics this month lol. I’m definitely going to try and read more in July so here’s to hoping! Love you all a ton :D

[libertasis-moved]

— 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 / 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 , * this is subject to change as i think of more to add, but this is the basis and the timeline that i will be following throughout my default verse. only really taking inspiration from the first captain america movie, the rest is all headcanon based.

FEBRUARY 4TH, 1893:  joseph ‘ joe ’ steven rogers is born in dublin, ireland to steven william john rogers and mary-ann helen rogers. AUGUST 15TH, 1895:  sarah colleen collins is born in dublin, ireland to ian grant collins and elizabeth jean collins. APRIL 9TH, 1913:  joe and sarah get married in dublin, ireland. UNKNOWN DATE, 1913:  joe and sarah immigrate to brooklyn, new york city to live the american dream. JULY 28TH, 1914:  the great war (world war one) begins. UNKNOWN DATE, 1914:  joe is enlisted into the war, serving in the 107th infantry. sarah serves as a nurse back in new york. UNKNOWN DATE, 1918:  joe is shot overseas and is honourably discharged. JULY 4TH, 1918:  steven grant rogers is born in new york city, usa to joseph steve rogers and sarah colleen rogers. NOVEMBER 11TH, 1918:  the great war ends.

UNKNOWN DATE, 1920:  joe is employed at the docks, sarah continues to work at the hospital as a nurse. UNKNOWN DATE, 1923:  joe loses his job at the docks, he struggles to pick up another and turns to alcohol and gets heavily involved with loan sharks and taking out loans. the rogers’ family is in debt. UNKNOWN DATE, 1924:  steve starts attending the florence nightingale school. SEPTEMBER 23RD, 1926:  joe rogers dies of influenza. steve is eight years old. UNKNOWN DATE, 1926:  steve rogers meets james buchanan ‘ bucky ’ barnes. UNKNOWN DATE, 1927:  sarah begins taking on additional jobs, atop her shift as a nurse to keep a roof over her and steve’s head, but hopefully begin to pay off the debt left to the loan sharks after joe’s death. UNKNOWN DATE, 1930:  steve picks up a paper round, to help his mother with paying off his father’s debts. UNKNOWN DATE, 1931:  steve finishes his education at the florence nightingale school and begins attending george washington high school. UNKNOWN DATE, 1935:  steve finishes his education at the george washington high school. NOVEMBER 1ST, 1936:  sarah rogers dies of tuberculous, steve is eighteen years old. he is now the sole survivor of the rogers’ family. UNKNOWN DATE, 1937:  steve begins attending the auburndale art school with bucky. UNKNOWN DATE, 1938:  steve stops attending the auburndale art school. UNKNOWN DATE, 1938:  down at coney island, steve draws and sells his artwork along the boardwalk for ten cent a piece. SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1939:  world war two begins.

DECEMBER 7TH, 1941:  the united states enters the second world war. UNKNOWN DATE, 1941:  bucky trains steve at goldie’s boxing gym before they go enlist together. bucky is accepted, steve is not. JUNE 14TH, 1943:  steve and bucky attend the world exposition of tomorrow before bucky is shipped out. steve is approached by doctor abraham erskine and is recruited into the united states army through project rebirth. JUNE 15TH, 1943:  steve begins his training at camp lehigh, under the supervision of colonel chester phillips.  JUNE 22ND, 1943:  project rebirth is put into motion. steve rogers is injected with the super soldier serum and is transform into the world’s first super soldier. abraham erskine is assassinated by an operative of hydra. after erskine’s death, steve is unwilling to be kept around for research and is given an ultimatum. JUNE 23RD, 1943:  steve rogers begins his uso tour as american propaganda. given the name captain america, he becomes a national celebrity, appearing in films, comic books and card collections. UNKNOWN DATE, 1943:  using the money from his uso tour, steve is able to pay off his father’s debt. NOVEMBER 3RD, 1943:  steve’s tour takes him to italy, where he performs for the soldiers fighting overseas. he learns of the 107th capture, which includes the capture of bucky barnes. steve goes behind colonel phillips back and performs a rescue mission behind enemy lines. captain america saved the lives of four hundred men. NOVEMBER 4TH, 1943:  the howling commandos are formed, consisting of steve rogers, bucky barnes, dum dum dugan, gabe jones, jim morita, james montgomery falsworth and jacques dernier. MAY 6TH, 1944:  captain america is present at operation overload (the battle of normandy). UNKNOWN DATE, 1944:  captain america punches h*tler. UNKNOWN DATE, 1945:  outside stalingrad, captain america and the howling commandos rescue over one thousand men. FEBRUARY 1ST, 1945:  the howling commandos board a train and capture armin zola, in the ensuing battle against hydra agents, james buchanan ‘ bucky ’ barnes falls from the train and is presumed dead. FEBRUARY 4TH, 1945:  steve, whilst mourning the death of his best friend vows to defeat hydra and the red skull. FEBRUARY 5TH, 1945:  captain america attacks the hydra headquarters! the red skull escapes in the valkyrie, but captain america boards before take off. an ensuing battle occurs on the ship, until captain america defeats the red skull. the valkyrie was set on auto pilot to fly over major cities across the states and drop bombs, but steve crashes the valkyrie before this can happen, off the coast of greenland. captain america is presumed dead. MARCH 4TH, 1945:  the disappearance of captain america is publicly revealed. MARCH 5TH, 1945:  newspapers and radios begin to report on captain america’s disappearance and presumed death. MAY 8TH, 1945:  the allies accepted germany’s surrender, the war ends in the united kingdom. SEPTEMBER 2ND, 1945:  world war two ends.

OCTOBER 5TH, 2011:  a russian oil team discovers the crashed valkyrie. s.h.i.e.l.d. agents are dispatched and whilst exploring the wreck, they found the body of steve rogers, who is still alive and cryogenically preserved in ice. OCTOBER 7TH, 2011:  steve’s body is thawed out of the ice and is moved to new york city. OCTOBER 8TH, 2011:  steve wakes up at a s.h.i.e.l.d base and escapes, only to run out the building into a world he did not recognise.  OCTOBER 9TH, 2011:  steve is sent to another s.h.i.e.l.d. base, where he would stay until he was caught up to speed with everything that has happened in the past sixty-six years. JANUARY 25TH, 2012:  steve is released from the s.h.i.e.l.d base and reenters the world. UNKNOWN DATE, 2012:  captain america joins the avengers. JUNE 4TH, 2012:  captain america becomes the face of multiple campaign videos used at schools across the country. UNKNOWN DATE, 2012:  steve rogers meets sharon carter. OCTOBER 5TH, 2012:  on the one year anniversary of captain america being discovered, the smithsonian institution unveils it’s captain america exhibit. JANUARY 11TH, 2014:  captain america fights against the winter soldier, whom he recognises as his presumed death best friend, bucky barnes. JANUARY 12TH, 2014:  captain america fights the winter soldier for the second time. the fight is brutal and steve almost drowns in the potomac river, until he is rescued by bucky and pulled onto the surface. UNKNOWN DATE, 2015:  during an avengers mission, steve rescues a dog and brings him to a local animal shelter. eventually, steve returns to adopt the same dog, naming him cadet. UNKNOWN DATE, 2016:  steve reaches out and begins to rebuild his friendship with bucky barnes, who has now broken free from hydra. UNKNOWN DATE, 2017:  steve starts to hold sessions at the local community center for war veterans, both past and present. UNKNOWN DATE, 2018:  steve begins to volunteer at the f.e.a.s.t centre. PRESENT DAY:  steve rogers is the leader of the avengers, an avid volunteer and a living legend. more to be added.

[jtargaryen18]

The Shape of My Heart

Chapter 27

Warnings: Violence, Threesome, Smut, Angst, Explicit Sexual Content, Jealousy, Polyamory, Blow Jobs, Oral Sex, Double Penetration, Anal Sex, Voyeurism, Stucky, Spanking

A/N: One of my resolutions in 2020 is to finish this story. It’s on AO3 but I thought I’d bring it here to pull me back into it. I’ll be posting new chapters when I get to that point on both platforms.

This is not a dark fic and there’s an OC instead of a reader.

I do not consent to have my work hosted on any third party app or site. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but archiveofourown, tumblr or fanfiction.net, it has been reposted without my permission.

A slight angst warning is in effect for this chapter.

~~~

Chris was aware when the jet landed. Carefully, she was gathered up into strong arms and carried out of the jet. It was bright early morning light, and she tucked her face against his chest, the heavy Kevlar across his chest giving away his identity.

Bucky.

Steven and Phil Coulson were also there, the low din of their voices as they walked just barely reaching her ears.

"Hello, there," a female voice greeted when they entered the huge house Chris could mostly make out with her good eye.

"Helen," Steve said on a sigh of relief. "Tony send you?"

"Yes," the small, dark-haired woman replied. "He said I'm to take very good care of her. I've got a team here and we've just finished setting up my cradle."

"Thank you." Steve meant it.

Chris was aware of being placed on a cold table, curling in on herself onto her side as soon as she was able.

"I'll, ah, be around if you need me, Captain Rogers," Phil Coulson's voice was low.

"Thank you," Chris muttered though she wasn't exactly sure where in the room he was.

The skull cap was pulled from her head and the woman's hands moved gently over her head and face. Steve knew who she was and trusted her. That was good enough for her.

"Possible skull fractures around the eye socket," Helen said matter-of-factly. "We'll do some scans next so I can see exactly what we're dealing with. I, ah, also need to do the rest of the examination so…"

"Stay," Chris didn't want them to leave her. Not now when she was just starting to feel safe again.

"Which one?" the woman's voice held a note of confusion.

"Both," Chris muttered. "Please."

Helen had help in peeling off the uniform she'd originally worn for the mission. It had to have been confusing for them since none of the injuries to her person happened while she was wearing the uniform. Her arms and upper body were inspected quickly before she felt a warmed blanket press around her shoulders.

Steve leaned down to brush a kiss to her forehead, tucking the blanket around her. "Almost done, sweetheart."

"The bruises are deep. There are four broken ribs," Helen said gently. "Maybe more."

As her eye adjusted to the room, Chris got a better look at Helen who was a beautiful lady. Bucky helped her peel off the bottom of the uniform while Steve held her hand. The alarm in Bucky's eyes at the amount of blood stuck to her, to the uniform had her heart clenching. Helen pulled away the shredded remnant from the pajamas she'd used to help staunch the bleeding at her lower body.

The doctor kept the examination brief, her face a mask of calm but her emotions were not so much. Chris was certain if the doctor had treated any of the Avengers before that her own injuries were probably pretty mild. But this? Chris knew the moment the other woman reached the realization.

"When was your last cycle?" Helen asked her carefully.

"Months ago," Chris explained, seeing Bucky's eyes start to shine. "I've been using an IUD for the last five months."

Helen's brow creased. Her emotions heightened more, and it made Chris uneasy, particularly when combined with the escalating fear she read in Bucky's face.

"Maybe I could have a word with just Chris for a moment?" Helen said as diplomatically as she could, her gaze never leaving Chris.

Tears seeped out from her wounded eye and flooded the other one. Chris shook her head gently. "No, just go ahead and say it."

Steve wasn't trying to mask his concern either as he watched the doctor examine her.

"Chris, there's been a substantial amount of blood loss and this occurred after these other injuries, yes?"

"The bleeding and cramping… started just a few hours ago. It was… right before Agent Coulson came for me. I-it was dark outside when Steve and Bucky showed up."

"And when did the other injuries take place?" the doctor pressed on.

"The day before. I don't know what time. I've been in a cell with no phones or TV… or anything."

"Did you experience any other symptoms when the vaginal bleeding started?"

Chris nodded, knowing in her heart what the woman was about to say but wishing it wasn't true.

"Pain at my lower back, lower abdomen." Chris felt as if there was a weight on her chest like she couldn't breathe. "Really bad cramps…"

"It looks… it appears from the bleeding and the tissue there… that you've suffered a miscarriage, Chris," Helen told her as professionally as possible. "I'm sorry."

Bucky scrubbed a hand down his face, blinking back tears of his own. Steve's hand tightened around hers, but he kept his face calm. Inside, Steve's feelings were a storm growing stronger by the minute. It was so different from his normal demeanor that Chris was a little afraid.

"The left femur is possibly cracked," Helen told them before pulling the blanket back over her lower body. Chris curled into its warmth, feeling the emotions of her men drowning her in anger and sadness.

"The good news is that I can have your body healed and as good as new in a matter of hours in my cradle," Helen told her gently. "I'll need to get your blood type and see if we can get you a couple of units to make up for some that you've lost. We'll need to get you cleaned up first. But I'll give you a few minutes before I send the nurses to get us started. I'll get everything ready. Okay?"

"Thank you," Steve's voice was tight.

Bucky moved up the table to lean over her, his hand gently easing her hair back from her forehead.

"Baby, I'm so sorry," Bucky whispered, barely hanging on. "I'm so sorry this happened. We should have… gotten to you sooner. We should - "

"No," Chris whispered, hanging onto Steve's hand. "I'm going to be fine, Bucky. Promise. You came for me. I… love you both… so much."

"I love you," Bucky whispered before his face crumbled, he dropped his head to her chest keeping all his weight off her. His tears broke her heart.

His upset seemed to pull Steve out of his head as he wrapped an arm around their lover, pressing kisses into his hair and then hers.

"I'm so sorry," Bucky whispered brokenly. "There was a baby… Oh, my God…"

"Did you know, sweetheart?" Steve asked gently, waiting until her gaze met his. "If you did, I promise, it's okay but…"

Chris shook her head. Then the enormity of the truth, of what they lost hit her and she dissolved into tears along with Bucky.

She'd been carrying a baby. Who the father was? It could have been either of them. There was likely no way to tell now. Chris didn't know about the little life she'd carried inside her until it was gone. Another thing gone…

"Shhh," Steve soothed her though he had a hand smoothing over Bucky's back too. "Sweetheart, we're going to be right here. I don't want you to worry about anything. We're at one of Tony's homes and Helen wasn't kidding when she said you'd be as good as new in a few hours. You truly will be."

With her one open eye, she glanced up at him, wanting everything to be just as he said.

"We won't have to leave you for missions, Sweetheart," Steve promised her. "We're staying right here for the time being, okay? It's going to be me, you and Bucky until you're recovered."

Steve's beautiful eyes were so clear, so filled with love for both of them and his expression matched. Inside, well, inside him that storm Chris sensed was growing. It didn't make sense.

They stayed together there for a few more moments before the nurses came for her, gently lifting her onto a gurney and allowing her to kiss each of them goodbye before they rolled her back where the doctor Tony sent was going to miraculously put her back together.

She was asleep just after they'd finished her bath.

***

Bucky had found the largest, nicest bedroom in the house and made camp there after getting a shower, stretching out on the huge bed to catch up on the news and wait Steve out while their girl was being looked after.

Steve had locked up once they'd arrived safely and he was assured that Chris was getting the best care possible. Once he was assured of her safety, he immediately drew in on himself and Bucky didn't need Chris's empathic abilities to know he was a mess in his head.

Steve had been like this after the battle at the airport in Germany too. Except, just maybe, this time was worse.

After a couple of hours passed, Steve had cleaned up and joined Bucky on the bed, propped against the headboard and painfully quiet.

"You okay?" Bucky finally asked him.

Steve nodded, didn't look away from the television.

"Stevie?"

Steve sighed and closed his eyes for a beat before meeting Bucky's gaze.

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

Crossing his arms across that impressive expanse of chest, Steve seemed like he was having trouble finding the words to explain how he felt. Bucky got that. It was just rare that Steve was that speechless.

"It shouldn't have happened," Steve finally said. "It was just… so fucking easy for Ross to take her, Bucky. That man could have killed her. She could have been dead when we got there."

Bucky nodded, rolling onto his side and moving closer to Steve, his head propped up on his hand.

"She's alive," he reminded Steve. "And I know you. You'll make sure Ross doesn't get anywhere near her again."

"You've got that right," Steve shot back at that. "We may need to move out of the compound. I don't care. Whatever we've got to do."

Bucky nodded his agreement. He'd been thinking about leaving the compound anyway, had said as much to Chris. Now maybe wasn't the time to share that, however.

"Helen said she'll get better," Bucky said gently. "Thank God Tony sent her. That eye looks so bad."

Steve nodded his agreement to that.

"Her body will heal, Buck," Steve replied, "but there's a lot more to it than that. You know what it's like to recover from violence like that. And I don't even know how I'd feel if…"

It was like Steve couldn't bring himself to say it.

Bucky wanted to talk about it.

"I don't have any idea how that feels either," Bucky said carefully, "but we'll be there for her. I don't know if it helps or not that she didn't know about it until it was… But we'll be there for her. We will."

The pain in Steve's blue eyes nearly took his breath away.

"She's lost so much, Bucky," he said, his voice starting to break. "And it's my fault. It's on me."

"What?" Bucky pulled himself up to a sitting position, so he could move closer to his lover. "How is that just your fault? That baby could have mine. Either of us could have been the father."

Steve shook his head looking miserable. "I was so selfish. I should have just… let her go, Buck. Yeah, I wanted her back for you because I could see that first week when she was recovering from being shot that you were gone for her. I'd be lying out my ass if I tried to tell you that was the only reason I went to see her in DC. I pretty much begged her to give this a try. And look where that's gotten her."

"What are you trying to say?" Bucky was a little afraid to ask that question. Was he regretting everything?

"I love her, Bucky, just like you do," Steve said quietly. "But I'm not sure if all of this is best… for her."

"Let her decide that, Stevie," Bucky told him firmly. "It's not our decision. It's hers."

"And if being with us gets her killed?" Steve's glare had him pausing.

Blowing out an exhale, Bucky held his ground. "We make sure being with us doesn't get her killed."

Dropping his gaze, Steve seemed to consider his words for several long minutes. Bucky feigned interested in the news again, but his mind was on anything but. Steve was scaring the shit out of him. It was one thing that their girl had been sold off, brutalized and nearly killed by an old enemy from her time at the FBI. It was another to know that someone on their side of things had betrayed her. And well, Steve was right in worrying about all the things that had changed in her life so far.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he asked, "How would you have reacted if none of this had happened and when we got back from that last mission… and…?"

"And she told us she was pregnant?" Steve finished for him.

Bucky nodded. "Yeah."

Steve blew out an exhale. He looked so tired in that moment.

"Maybe it's because by the time I found out about it was gone but… I would have wanted it as long as she did."

"Yeah?" Bucky's heart clenched in his chest.

"Yeah. What about you?" The intensity in Steve's blue eyes made him pause.

Bucky shook his head and grinned. "I've already been thinking about it, Pal. I've even told her about it. That last goodwill mission you want on with Wanda and Vision."

Some of the sadness dropped away from Steve. "You what?"

"You know, the night I took her out to eat and stayed at her place," Bucky explained. "I told her that night that… Well, I told her I wondered how it would be if we all stayed together, moved out into our own place. Had a couple of kids…"

The faintest blush rose on Steve's face as the corners of his mouth tipped up. "How did she take that?"

Bucky shrugged a shoulder. "She still made love to me right after we talked about it. If she was upset at all about it, I didn't realize it."

"You don't realize a lot of anything when you're horny, Buck," Steve told him with a grin.

"Hey! Not true. That wasn't me trying to get laid then. I meant what I said to her that night. Ever word. I told her I didn't need anything else in the world except for you and her."

Steve pulled him in for a gentle, romantic kiss then and kept at it until his toes curled. Pulling back, Steve sighed deeply then.

"We've never all talked about the future like that but maybe… maybe we should," Steve said, thinking out loud. "It's possible that after this, well…"

"That she'll want a baby?" Bucky asked, not ashamed of the hope that had crept into his voice.

Steve nodded.

"I'm perfectly fine with that," Bucky admitted. "I don't care who the father is either. I'm going to love any kid she gives us no matter what. You?"

"I always wanted a family," Steve admitted. "I always just thought I'd have that one day… before the serum and the ice and everything else that's happened since then."

Bucky reached over, taking Steve's hand in his and smiling.

"But there's something that needs to happen first," Steve told him.

When Bucky's gaze met his, the pure raw emotion in Steve's face had his heart pounding in dread.

"I need to make sure that Ross can never threaten her, or our children, ever again."

Bucky knew that tone, knew the steely determination in his best guys face.

"You mean to stop Ross," Bucky confirmed.

"By any means necessary," Steve told him firmly.

@jennmurawski13 @what-is-your-plan-today @badassbaker @caffiend-queen @disneylovingal  @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123

[abundanceofsoph]

SkyFire 2: Chapter 16

“Darling, Just Hold On”: Nov/Dec 2016

Word count: 4.7k

SkyFire 2 MASTERLIST

I’ve been debating whether to write this chapter for weeks and I’m still not entirely sure whether I should have skipped it. While I use real people's names and real life events in this story, in my head they’re all fictional characters since I don’t really know them or how they would actually act in any of these situations. I more just use their likeness and their situations to inspire the story so this chapter was something I didn’t feel like I should include. I tried not to focus too much on Johannah but I felt the bond between Louis and Aurora was so beautiful that I decided to keep this chapter in. I hope you understand why I’ve made this decision.

This chapter's also a bit longer than usual because I wanted to soften the blow of the angst with some domestic fluff. Anyway, we all know what’s coming in this chapter so I'll stop stalling and get on with it.

>Instagram posts

After the trip away, Harry and Aurora decided to stay in London in anticipation of attending the X Factor finale where Louis was going to perform his debut single with Steve Aoki. After the show,  Anne and Robin would once again be joining them in New York for the holidays, but in the meantime, they were enjoying spending a few weeks at Harry’s Hampstead house and catching up with Rori’s friends.

One of those days they headed south to Wimbledon, walking the familiar streets of Aurora’s childhood, their winter outfits helping to hide them from prying eyes, however they were stopped a couple of times by observant fans. Aurora offered to take their photos with Harry but he asked them not to post until that evening so that they could enjoy their day without being mobbed. They headed for the Golden Stag as the sun began to set, grateful for the warmth that greeted them as they stepped through the doors. Greg was working behind the bar, his face lighting up as he watched them approach him and he walked around the end of the bar to sweep Rori into his arms. She buried her face into his shoulder as he held her tightly, feeling instantly at home in his arms.

“We missed you sweetheart,” he murmured while placing kisses to the crown of her head.

“Sorry it’s been so long,” she replied, squeezing him tightly one more time before stepping back from the hug.

“Just glad you’re here now,” he smiled. “Good to see you again Harry.”

“Good to see you too, Sir,” Harry replied, offering his hand and chuckling when Greg ignored it to hug him.

“Told you before you can just call me Greg,” he said as they stepped back. “You kids hungry? Grab a table and I’ll go let Helen know that you’re both here.”

They did as they were told, sliding into Aurora’s favourite booth that was close enough to the fireplace without being too hot.

Helen rushed out of the kitchen a few minutes later, beelining straight for their table and pulling Rori out of her seat and into a bone crushing embrace. “Oh, I missed you my darling,” she cooed, holding the younger woman tightly against her. “I swear every time I see you; you look more and more like your mother.”

“Missed you too Helen,” Rori murmured, her eyes glossy in response to Helen’s words.

“Now you’re both far too thin,” she clucked. “Let me get you some food and we’ll see if we can’t put some meet on those bones.”

Harry chuckled as she rushed back towards the kitchen and Aurora settled herself back into the booth. “I like her,” he said. “She reminds me of mum.”

“She reminds me of mine too,” Rori smiled softly, reaching across the table to take Harry’s hand in hers. “Always feel closer to her when I’m here. We should visit more.”

“Well once we buy a place of our own on this side of the river, we can visit all the time.”

“Sounds perfect.”

After dinner, Rori was eyeing the piano in the far corner, her lips twitching up in a slight grin as she remembered the hours she had spent sitting on that bench growing up. Her smile dropped as she once again berated herself for that stupid fall in the lobby a few weeks ago, knowing that she still had another week before she could wear her prosthetic and she was itching to play. “How do you feel about being my left hand?” she asked Harry.

“And what would you need my left hand for?” he asked, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips.

“When Louis was at tower over summer, he’d play the left hand for me on the piano before I got my prosthetic. Thought we could maybe try that out.”

Harry smiled widely. “Sounds fun. Lead the way.”

Aurora’s answering grin lit up her face and she jumped to her feet joyfully, grabbing Harry’s hand and tugging him across the room towards the piano. The pub wasn’t crowded, with only a few of the regulars on their stools at the bar, a few families finishing their dinner and a couple of young girls sitting by the door. Aurora had noticed the girls flicking glances towards her and Harry over the past hour, and she was pretty sure they were working up the courage to come over and say hi. She laughed as she imagined the stories they would tell their friends tomorrow about Harry Styles playing the piano in the little pub where they had dinner. Helen watched the pair take a seat on the old piano bench, smiling as they laughed, trying to find the rhythm. They stuttered over the start of a song a couple of times before they got the timing right, settling into the tune. Most of the patrons ignored the pair, a few of the regulars smiling softly at the familiar sound after so many years, and the table of girls by the door watched on with rapt attention. Both Aurora and Harry wore matching grins as they played, their arms slung around each other’s backs as together they wove the melody of familiar songs eventually beginning to sing, giving the unsuspecting patrons an exclusive performance that others would have paid hundreds of pounds to attend if given the chance.

xXx

After having dinner at the Golden Stag, Rori and Harry spent the remaining weeks of November meeting with both their wedding planner and their realtor.

The wedding planning was relatively easy going, seeing as how everything was booked in and ready to go. Aurora still had a few more dress fittings in the new year but otherwise everything was finalised for the big day in only a few months’ time.

The house hunting on the other hand was a little less under control. Harry had agreed with Aurora when she suggested that they look at apartments and penthouses as apposed to free standing houses. Her reasoning had been that she wanted to avoid the issues they’d had with fans camping outside Erskine House, and while they were hoping to avoid the publicizing of their new address, they both knew that it would only be a matter of time before Harry’s fans figured it out. Aurora loved his fans and was incredibly grateful that so many people recognised how incredibly talented he was and appreciated him, but she also got frustrated by how invasive they sometimes got about every tiny aspect of his life, and by extension hers as well. After deciding that they wanted an apartment, Aurora had stipulated that they buy south of the river so that she could be closer to Wimbledon, and Harry decreed that they needed at least 4 bedrooms in addition to the master suite. He planned on turning one into an art studio for Aurora, while another could become a simple recording studio, nothing close to the scale of her studios in Avengers Tower, but just a little something to make it feel like home. He hadn’t mentioned anything to Aurora, but the reason he wanted 2 bedrooms left over once they created the studios, was that he planned for one to be turned into a nursey while the other could remain as a traditional guest room for when their families visited. All of these aspects, as well as the need for plenty of room for Harry’s car collection had left their poor realtor, Lee, with the unenviable job of finding the perfect place for the young couple. He found them four different properties and set up private inspections for each.

The first was in Southwark and Harry was immediately impressed the moment they walked into the lobby and were greeted by the doorman. The security of the building was excellent and they both smiled softly at each other as they took the elevator to the 24th floor with Lee.

“Now this isn’t the penthouse apartment,” Lee explained as the entered the apartment. “But there’s only two apartments above you and there’s shared access between you and 3 other apartments for the rooftop garden.”

Aurora let go of Harry’s hand as they wandered into the main living area, large windows opening out to the Thames and a beautiful view of the city.

“The kitchen and entertainment area are all on this level with a bathroom off the entry hall,” Lee continued as they walked around. “There’s 4 bedrooms upstairs including the master suite with walk in robe and ensuite, with an additional bathrooms for the guest rooms.”

“Only 3 spare rooms?” Harry asked. “Not ideal.”

“I don’t really like the idea of climbing those stairs every day,” Aurora added.

“How about we head to the second property?” Lee asked, accepting immediately that this was not the right fit. “We can always come back if you change your mind.”

Harry motioned for Lee to lead the way and they headed back to the elevator. Once they reached the ground they climbed into Harry’s car.

The second property was only a few minutes away, still in Southwark, and just behind the Tate Modern. “I like the idea of just popping over to the galleries,” Aurora noted as they entered the apartment and spotted the familiar building out the window, the river and Millennium bridge also filling in the landscape sprawled out in front of them. While the building ticked off everything on their list, there was something missing that neither Harry nor Aurora could put their finger on. Whatever it was, the third apartment in Vauxhall was also missing it, leaving them with only one property left to view.

“It’s not available today but we can view it on Tuesday if you want to meet me there at 2pm,” Lee explained once they left the third apartment.

“That works for us,” Harry agreed, “we’ll see you then.”

xXx

They arrived in Battersea a few hours before they were meant to meet up with Lee to view the final property on his list, opting to grab lunch in a nearby café and then wander through Battersea Park.

“I used to come here a lot with my mum,” Rori said as they walked, arm in arm, rugged up against the cold wind blowing in off the Thames. “Used to love going to the kid’s zoo, but mum really loved all the flowers, so we’d come every weekend in spring.”

“It’s beautiful here,” Harry agreed. “We filmed a music video here.”

“I know,” Rori laughed. “As soon as the fans found out you were here, Ella actually came down after school to try and meet you all.”

“Really?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, and I would have been right next to her, but I’d already moved to New York. Still remember watching the video and just feeling so nostalgic. Think that’s why it was my favourite song for so long.”

“You never told me that was your favourite.”

“Because it’s embarrassing, Harry.”

“No, it’s not,” he argued. “I think it’s really cute they you were such a big fan. Imagine if you didn’t like our music. You probably wouldn’t have gone to that after party with me and we never would have gotten the chance to get to know each other if you hated the band.”

“It’s still embarrassing to remember I used to read fanfiction about the man who is about to be my husband,” she replied, laughing softly as they turned towards the river.

“I’m flattered,” Harry promised, kissing her cheek as she blushed. “Now let’s go see our dream home, hopefully.”

Lee was waiting for them outside the riverside apartment building, the ever impressive Battersea Power Station looming next door. The lobby was empty when Lee led them inside Scott House, using a key card to activate the elevator. He explained on the short ride to the 8th floor that the building was nearing completion and the first round of tenants were due to start moving in at the beginning of February.

The elevator opened onto a pristine hallway; the colour scheme monochromatic which was very much to Auroras taste. Lee turned right out of the elevator, leading them to the apartment’s front door, once again using the key card to gain access.

They entered into an entry hall that led straight into what Lee called the reception room, which flowed through to a kitchen/dining area. “This was originally designed to be 3 separate units, but they altered it to create one large 5 bedroom penthouse,” he explained as they entered. “There are 4 other units on this floor, but the sound proofing is state of the art, so you won’t be able to hear them. There’s a secondary entrance from the main hall into the apartment that leads directly into the kitchen so you can bypass the entry hall.” He pointed out the specific features of the kitchen and the enclosed patio that was marketed as a winter garden that ran the length of the apartment, looking out at the power station to their right and the river on the left. “Because it was originally three units,” Lee continued as he led them down a long hallway off the kitchen, “you get three parking spots in the underground garage.”

Aurora sensed Harry brightening at this, but her attention was focused on the 4 bedrooms, office space, study and utility room that Lee pointed out as they passed. Each bedroom had its own bathroom and built in robes with an additional walk-in situated in between them all.  They returned back to the central kitchen via the winter garden, and Rori found herself falling in love with the property more and more with every step. In its unfinished state she was able to imagine the furniture she could buy to fill the space and the colours she would paint the walls, really making a home for herself and Harry.

“And now if we head back through the reception room,” Lee said as he directed them. “You have the master bedroom with the spacious walk-in and dressing room which lead through to the ensuite with a full size tub at one end and a twin shower head in the shower at the other end of the room. His and hers basins and marble tiling.”

“God damn,” Rori muttered as she looked around, picturing the décor she could add to bring out their personalities in the space. “H, I love it.”

“Me too,” Harry replied, equally impressed with the entire apartment.

“It’s not listed yet, so if you can organise the down payment, I’d say we can get it locked down within the next few weeks.”

“Let’s sit down and talk contracts,” Harry replied, watching as Aurora’s smile grew as they walked back out into the bedroom.

“How about you meet me at my office in the morning and we can go over all the specifics then?” Lee asked to which Harry agreed.

“You happy, love?” Harry asked, turning to see Rori standing out on the balcony leading off the master bedroom, looking towards the Power Station. She turned back to him, her face aglow with excitement.

“I can see us starting a family here Harry,” she replied, letting out a surprised squeal as Harry picked her up and held her tightly against him, kissing her cheek.

“Me too my love,” he replied. “Me too.”

xXx

They were lying in bed on a Tuesday evening in the beginning of December, Harry’s head resting in Rori’s lap as she sat against the headboard reading. She was finally able to start wearing her prosthetic again, so she was holding the book in her left hand, the fingers of her right tangled in Harry’s curls. His own hands traced patterns across her thighs, a comfortable silence stretching around them. That silence was shattered as Harry’s phone started ringing on the nightstand and Aurora barely looked up from her book as she passed it to him. His head was still resting in her lap as he answered the call and she felt him freeze against her, a soft gasp escaping his lips.

“We’re on our way,” he said softly, clambering off the bed before Rori could even get her bookmark in place. He started throwing on clothes as she asked him what was going on, and it was clear that he hadn’t heard her at all.

“HARRY!” she yelled, finally breaking through to him. He froze, turning to look at her, his eyes wide and haunted. “What’s happening? What’s wrong.”

“Jay,” was all he said, his voice barely more than a whisper and there was nothing else he needed to say as Rori felt her blood run cold, certain that the haunted look in Harry’s eyes was now echoed in hers. She didn’t say a word, but just as quickly got dressed and moved to pack an overnight bag for the both of them. They were out the door and in the car within minutes. They’d both known this was coming for a while, but everyone had been hoping that she’d make it past the holidays. It took them 3 hours to reach Doncaster, and neither spoke as Harry drove through the night. Aurora turned the radio off after the first pop song played, so at odds with the sombre mood inside the car that she couldn’t handle it.

It was well after midnight by the time they reached Doncaster and headed straight to the Deakin house. Harry texted Louis to let him know they were there, not expecting a reply and not receiving one, and they let themselves inside with the spare key. Despite the late hour neither Harry nor Aurora could think of sleeping and Aurora started tidying up the living room. By the time the sun rose, they’d cleaned most of the house and Harry had thrown together a casserole to put in the oven when everyone got home. They collapsed on the sofa; phones clenched in their hands as they waited to hear.

It was nearing lunchtime when they heard cars pull into the driveway and slow trudging footsteps reached the front door. Aurora was waiting with her arms open and Louis fell into them gladly, holding her tightly as he cried. Harry hugged a few of the girls before moving to Dan’s side and ushering them all into the living room. He busied himself making tea while Louis and Rori continued to cling to each other. No one spoke beyond quite murmurs of thanks and the young couple spent the day doing whatever they could to help, ensuring that the grieving family ate before turning in to bed later in the evening.

They left Doncaster Friday afternoon, driving back to London and leaving Louis  with his family to be together before heading to Wembley the next day. They had assumed that Louis would be cancelling his appearance on X Factor, but he shocked both of them that morning when he announced he was going ahead with the show. They promised to be there and hugged everyone tightly before climbing into their car. Neither spoke on the drive south, both physically and emotionally exhausted by the past two days.

“I just spent the whole time we were there wanting to say something to help Lou, but I had no idea what to say,” Harry admitted once they dropped their overnight bags inside the entry hall of the house.

“There’s nothing you can say,” Aurora said, walking to his side to wrap him in a tight hug. “Not really. At least that’s how it felt when mum died. Anytime anyone told me it was going to be ok I just wanted to scream.”

“Did anything help?” Harry asked softly, his face buried in the crook of her neck.

“Ella stayed over at the hospital that first night. She didn’t say anything, but she just held me. Looking back now, that meant more than anything else. Just knowing that she was there and that I wasn’t alone. That’s what I’ve been trying to do for Lou and the girls, just make sure they feel that they’re not alone.”

“I hate that you ever had to go through that, but I’m glad he has someone that knows what it’s like,” Harry said. “Sorry that sounded really shitty.”

“No I get it,” Rori replied, “and I’m glad I can be there for him too.”

They trudged upstairs and collapsed into bed, neither having the energy or appetite to think about dinner and instead just cuddled up next to each other under the covers. They were silent for a while, both sitting in their own grief until Harry started shaking.

“I can’t help but think we’re going to do this again with Robin,” he sobbed.

“Oh Harry,” Rori sighed, holding him tightly as he cried into her chest. “You can’t think like that. Robin’s tough. He’s going to fight, and he’ll be ok. We deserve the win.”

“We thought that about Jay,” he pointed out.

“I know,” Aurora agreed. “I’m scared too but if I let myself think about it then it’s going to crush us Harry. We have to believe he’ll be ok because we don’t have any other option.”

xXx

They were backstage at Wembley, a little under an hour before the show was set to start and there were plenty of people rushing around getting everything ready. For the most part people were leaving them alone, aware of what had happened and thankfully giving them all space. The boys were all there, as were Lottie and Flic, however Dan and the rest of the kids had stayed back in Doncaster. Occasionally someone would come over to offer their sympathy, while Steve took care of all the technical problems in preparation for the performance. Louis had already gotten through the sound check earlier, mostly holding it together and now was just sitting quietly with his sisters, trying to prepare to go out in front of the sold out crowd, and live tv audience.

“Hey Rori, can we go for a walk?” Louis asked not long before he was needed on stage. She nodded, standing up immediately and following him out of the room. They walked the hallways of the backstage area with his arm around her shoulders and hers firmly around his waist. Aurora stayed quiet, knowing that Louis would let her know what he needed from her. “The night we met,” he finally said, “It was the AMAs, remember?”

“Yeah I remember,” she replied, her voice matching his near whisper.

“That was the first time you performed after your mum?”

“It was the first time on my own,” she explained. “I’d done a couple of smaller shows with the band but that was the first time on my own.”

“How did you do it?”

“It was different. I’d had a few years of missing her, so it wasn’t as fresh, but it was still really hard, especially since the song was about her. I know you’re really asking how you’re supposed to go out there tonight and I don’t really have an answer for that.”

“Yeah, I know, sorry. You’re just the only one I know who’s been where I am right now.”

“You never have to apologise to me Lou. I’ll help however I can because I wish I’d had someone who knew how it felt. But you have something I didn’t have; you’ve got your family and you’ll all get through this together. I guess the best advice I can give is that she loved watching you on stage. She really fucking loved it and she was so proud of you. So am I.” They both started crying and stopped walking to bury their face in the curve of each other’s necks. “I love you so much big brother,” Rori whispered. “We’re all here to help you and the girls through this. You’re not alone.”

“Love you too Rors. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she whispered. “Now go out there and show the world our song.”

“Our song?” Louis scoffed, a small chuckle accompanying his words.

Aurora smiled in response and even though Louis knew exactly what she was doing, he appreciated her giving him shit like she always did. Just this little bit of normalcy helped him to believe that she was right and that it wouldn’t always hurt this much.

“Of course it’s our song,” she joked. “I helped you write the chorus when you stayed with me over summer. I expect my royalty cheques in the mail soon.”

“Not a chance love,” Louis laughed. “You can have the family discount off the merch though.”

“So kind of you.”

xXx

Harry stood behind Aurora as the song began, his arms wrapped tightly around her, his chest pressed firmly against her back and his chin resting on the crown of her head. She watched in awe as Louis jumped around the stage, tears streaming down her face as each line of the song hit like the lashes of a whip.

The sun goes down and it comes back up The world it turns no matter what Oh-oh-oh, if it all goes wrong Darling, just hold on

Even though she’d been the one to help write them, Aurora felt as though every word was slicing at her heart. Like every word was a screaming plea for things to have ended differently. For her to still be here with them. For her to still be here with him.

As the lights came up and the crowd cheered, Aurora brushed aside her tears, taking deep calming breathes so that by the time Louis reached them she was ready to be the shoulder he needed to lean on.

xXx

They’d stayed out late with Louis, eventually calling it a night when Aurora could barely keep her eyes open any longer. They’d collapsed into bed as soon as they returned home in the early hours of the morning, exhausted both physically and mentally.

Harry stirred as the sun streamed in through the bedroom window, the angle disorientating until he realised that it was afternoon and they had slept away half the day. He also realised that the sun had not been what woke him as he watched Rori slip into a pair of jeans, struggling to do up the buttons one handed.

“Need a hand?” he mumbled, voice husky with sleep.

She jumped a little, startled by his question before she turned to him with a cheeky grin. “I do need a hand actually. I seem to have misplaced one of mine.”

Harry rolled his eyes at her joke and motioned her over to the side of the bed so that he could reach out and do up the buttons for her. “Why are you getting dressed? Come back to bed.”

“Gonna go see mum,” she replied, kissing his forehead before grabbing a sweater off the end of the bed and slipping it over her head. “Be back in a few hours.”

“You want company or is this something you gotta do alone?” he asked softly, sitting up and letting the sheets pool around his hips.

“It’s ok baby, go back to sleep.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Harry replied. “I’m coming with you unless you want to be alone.”

“I wouldn’t mind the company,” she answered, smiling softly as Harry climbed out of the bed and slipped into his own clothes, taking her hand before leading her out of the bedroom.

An hour later Harry parked near the Wimbledon Cemetery, rounding the car to hold open the passenger door for Aurora before taking her hand and walking by her side through the large wrought iron gates. They walked quietly past the older headstones until they reached the newer plots, following the familiar winding paths until the reached Louise Bennett’s headstone. The grass was damp beneath Rori’s knees as she sank to the ground, Harry’s hand resting comfortingly on her shoulder as she reached out to brush away the dry autumn leaves on the ground.

“Hi Mumma,” she whispered. “Sorry I haven’t been to visit for a while, it’s been a pretty wild year.”

NEXT CHAPTER

OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3

[starker-stories]

The Cold, Chapter 7 - The Messages Series

This chapter on AO3

By @thestarkerisobvious​ and @starker-stories​​

New chapters in the series post every Thursday.

All links are to AO3. You don’t need to be a creator to have an AO3 account. You can have one solely as a reader. But to read anything at all in this series, you can just be an anonymous reader and/or commenter.

The best way to keep up with The Cold is to subscribe to the story on AO3. And the best way to keep up with the Messages Series is also to subscribe to it as well as the individual stories. That way you’ll know when the next book is added.

Tags: Tony Stark Feels, Peter Parker Feels, College Student Peter Parker, Established Relationship, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, Arc Reactor Kink, Peter Parker is a Mess, Spider-Man powers, Communication, They Finally Communicate!, And Fuck Of Course Look at Who It’s Written By Of Course They Fuck, Avengers Compound

The entire Messages Series.  All links are to AO3.

Messages Unsent  (complete & posted)

Nothing More Than A Machine  (complete & posted)

Tomorrow  (complete & posted)

My Virgin (Revisited)  (completely & posted) 

The Cold  (completely written) Posts Every Thursday

There’s been a change.

The Cold is the final book in the main line of the Messages series. There is this one and three more chapters until the end (10 chapters total.) The story has been completely finished and is ready to post to schedule.

What were formerly the last two chapters will be written as Messages Interludes and won’t be posted to the same schedule that Messages has been. 

The best way to follow them is to subscribe to the Interludes series link. These stories involve time jumps that make them their own separate thing from the contiguous week that Peter and Tony have been through in Messages.

The Opposite of Cold  ( in progress )

Untitled  ( in progress )

Note: There is some Italian in the chapter. It’s left untranslated until a note at the end of the chapter to put the reader in Peter’s head. If you speak Italian, obviously this little gambit won’t work on you. If you are an Italian speaker and we’ve gotten it wrong, please leave us a comment with the correction and we’ll make it.

Chapter 7:  Faremo L'amore Ogni Notte

She guided him away and they headed to her lab, leaving Tony behind in her office.

Tony agreed that what was discussed between Peter and Helen would remain between them. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous about what was happening. Instead of pacing the courtyard, making a nuisance of himself, he headed to his long-disused personal labs two floors up.

Cleaning the place up, activating and repairing the equipment, it all took time. He checked his watch. Not enough time. Peter was still gone, still downstairs with Helen. He looked up what he’d been working on when he was here last, years ago.

There was little to distract him. Going over his notes on his development of the nanotech for his and Peter’s suits was interesting in a ‘historical record’ sort of way, though the data wouldn’t become part of that until long after it had ceased to be useful to him.

Watch-checking time again. Tony’s inability to keep himself distracted for more than, at most, an hour was annoying. He was sitting in what had been the top lab in the country, and he couldn’t find anything to do. Because his mind was still two floors down. Where he had no idea what was going on. Tony wasn’t sure which was worse. The possibility that something could be wrong or the fact that he couldn’t see it even if there wasn’t anything wrong.

Peter’s texts finally interrupted him.

We’re still talking

Still talking

Hey can you send me that vid of me stopping the car? The first one? Can’t find it.

Can you send me my laser-course stats?

Thanx

Ok headed to the examination room now.

The updates were at least keeping Tony from going completely crazy. But they also kept him from getting involved in anything truly distracting. So their effect was to have him sitting there, doing nothing, staring at his phone, waiting for the next one.

He wanted to text back, to find out more, but he didn’t want to interrupt an exam or a test. He had no idea what was going on before or after the texts. So he just stared at his phone waiting for the next notification.

Omg I haven’t been naked at the doctor since I was 13

This is not a gown this is paper wtf?!

Finally Peter texted him again. The medical exam was over (I get to put on my clothes now) and he and ‘Helen’ were going for a walk.

At that, Tony’s resolve not to spy on Peter broke. He could control things in Helen’s office. He could control things on the entire medical floor. A ‘walk’? Where? Under whose watchful eyes and ears?

Finally, after the cameras showed them heading outside, he gave the monitoring over to FRIDAY. “Track them, turn the surveillance off as they move along the grid, block communication from anyone who sees them and decides to talk about it. I want them in total privacy, from everything and everyone.”

Tony paused. “Even me,” he added, abiding not by the rules Helen gave him, but by the rules he set for himself after their argument.

After an hour, he got another text.

Were on our way back headed to the cafeteria. Im starving

Tony took the elevator down to the atrium level where the cafeteria and the entrance from outside was. He tried not to be, but he was a little terse when he met Peter and Helen at the door. He looked at Helen. “You and I need to have a conversation.”

Helen flashed him a sunny smile, then turned to Peter. “You won’t believe it, but the pizza here is actually good. I’ll see you after?” After Peter was gone, Helen looked back at Tony, but her smile didn’t fade. Most people would have been alarmed to find themselves at the receiving end of a Tony Stark Glare. Helen Cho, of course, was not most people.

“Your office, Doctor?” Tony said, waving his hand in that direction. He was too involved in his own conspiracy theories to notice Helen’s unflappable demeanor. When they arrived, he shut the door behind them. The windows that looked out onto the atrium darkened, the active monitoring lights turned off on the cameras.

“Why the hell did you take him outside into an uncontrolled environment? Are you asking for the spies in the building to know that he had to see you about something? That alone right there is more information than I wanted out about this. So what’s with the doctor/patient confidentiality? That doesn’t apply suddenly?”

Dr. Cho looked mildly surprised at Tony’s accusatory tone, but only shrugged.

“Sorry, it’s now confidential that I met Spider-Man? My bad.”

“Everything about this is confidentential, I thought I made that clear. Fury, New-Cap, no one is supposed to know anything about anything. Just knowing that Peter is talking to you lets them know that something is up with Spider-Man. That will get them curious.

"All anyone knows is that we came here so I could show off the labs to Peter and make sure New-Cap accepts him as an Avenger. Coming here to see you? Getting tested? That was never on the agenda.”

“Good thing you’ve secured my office, then. We’ll go over the details after Peter achieves some caloric intake. I have theories.”

“That’s great. It’s what Peter needs. I want him to have your theories, your conclusions. But I want him to have them. No one else.”

“And you made that clear when you tried to bribe me for my silence, Tony,” Helen said, stepping closer, her patient face hardening a bit. “Peter wanted to go for a walk. He had things he wanted to talk about, and he did. And for the record? I can think of sixteen things we could have been talking about without even trying, and the fact that YOU can’t think of a few is a little telling. Not that he needs an alibi for finding his own personal physician... do you realize he hasn’t had a physical since he was fourteen?” She shook her head in disbelief. “He hasn’t even gotten all his shots! Not that it matters but still… just the idea…

“In any case, Peter is my priority now. If he wants to tell me about the things on his mind in a field, or a laboratory, or an alien spaceship it’s his call. Not yours.”

“He still thinks the Avengers are one big happy family spending nights in pillow forts, watching movies, and eating popcorn. He has no idea of the risk. You can’t trust his ability to know where he should be talking to you. He still… he still fucking trusts people.”

She reached out to touch Tony’s arm briefly. “Well, we know better, don’t we? You were right to call me in on this one.” Helen’s tone was gentler now. “I’m glad he’s got you in his corner on this one, Tony. He may need you. You may be protecting the real next Captain America…”

“Over my dead fucking body,” Tony interrupted hotly.

“…And I’m not sure he’s ready to say ‘no’ to Nick Fury. But I know you. You were born ready.

“I think you two make a good team.”

Tony sighed, a little more relieved. At least Helen saw through some of the smoke and mirrors that surrounded her. “He trusts people. But… he’s the only one… I trust.”

There was silence for a moment. Only when he turned to look at Helen did she speak again.

“I’m glad, Tony. You, more than anyone else on this planet, have earned the right to every single trust issue you own, and then some. But you trust me to an extent, or you wouldn’t have called me. And I’m glad you did. And for the record? I think he’s adorable, and you make a very sweet couple.

“Now shut the fuck up and stop telling me how to do my job,” she said dismisvely, turning back to her desk and pointing at the door. “Go debate the propriety of pineapple on pizza with your boyfriend. I’ll meet you two back here when he’s done eating.”

Tony nodded. He knew he had no objectivity on this issue. Just being here was the last place he wanted to be, which he’d tried to explain… No, he hadn’t tried to explain, just expected Peter to somehow intuit — which wasn’t really fair. Nor was it fair to Helen to blame her for what went on around her.

“Is that even a debate? Of course pineapple belongs on pizza,” Tony said smiling as he left to go find Peter.

Peter had, in fact, already scarfed down his pizza and was on his way to find Tony. He only glanced around for a moment to make sure they were alone before he wrapped his arms around Tony and hugged him fiercely.

“Thank you for this,” he whispered.

Tony smiled and put a kiss on — not the top of Peter’s head anymore! — Peter’s cheek. “Helen says she has ideas. So, I’m glad we were able to come.”

When they entered Helen’s office, she was pulling up a chart on her holoscreen, using her finger to add Peter’s numbers.

“Now, obviously I can’t chart a line based on one point. I’ll need more data. Peter and I may have to talk once year, twice a year ideally. But based on his memory and what data you gave me, I have some theories. Peter’s weight, muscle mass, and BMI put him solidly average, though his height is in the lower 25% until this last growth spurt. Still very average. Nothing anyone can do about that. Now — the jumps in his performance scores look drastic, but not if you take into consideration that the recorded scores from when he was sixteen were inaccurate. According to him he was holding back. But given the stats you calculated in high-adrenaline situations, catching moving vehicles, going hand to hand with the Winter Soldier, I’ve made different estimates. And that gives us a trajectory that looks like this.”

She drew the line with one finger, then hovered over the chart already on the screen.

“The numbers appear extreme, but the math is ultimately the same. A non-enhanced male of Peter’s age, weight and healthy caloric intake, not to mention his daily workout schedule…

“Yes,” she interrupted as Peter tried to correct her. “You swing your bodyweight through over the streets of New York City for hours almost daily, you weren’t taking that into account.”

“So a non-enhanced young adult male’s trajectory would look the same as the one Peter is making now. If my theory holds he’ll peak the same time a non-enhanced male would peak, then begin to decline the same way.” She looked at Peter, as if asking permission to continue.

Peter only nodded and looked at Tony. He was nothing but smiles. He seemed pleased and relieved. When Helen kept looking at him, waiting for that permission to come, Peter decided that it didn’t need to. They were finished talking.

The numbers didn’t matter any longer. They’d discussed them during their walk. What mattered was that he was growing at a normal — for non-normal — rate. It would stop. He’d reach a peak and not just keep growing ridiculously forever. There would come a point where he didn’t have to keep being afraid of his ability. He could just learn how to work within it. He’d learn his limits. Then he wouldn’t hurt anyone else. And he wouldn’t hurt Tony. That was what both of them needed to know.

The meeting ended with cell phones out and schedules compared, Peter and Dr. Cho making plans six months in the future and exchanging numbers. Tony copying the dates in his. Peter hugged Dr. Cho before they left the office, then once again as they said goodbye.

“Did you get the answers you were looking for?” Tony asked as they left Helen’s office, heading to the residence wing.

“Yes, I mean no, but I got some decent theories. Which beat the fuck out of my theories. My theories were just too scary. Helen put it all into perspective. She’s awesome. Thank you, Tony.”

They left the medical wing for the stairs in the lobby, then down them, holding hands.

They had decided to kill the rest of the day by heading to the pool ‘to relax’. Peter’s manic need to perform feats of strength had cooled. They talked, they joked, they made up conversations in between Sam and Bucky who, they assured each other, were watching them at every moment. Peter matched Tony joke for raunchy joke, laughing freely and easily.

Tony smiled, sneaking glances at Peter when the kid wouldn’t notice. He hadn’t seen Peter this relaxed and easy since, well, since his work started to impinge on their lives. Peter’s happiness started to slip away when they’d meet up at different hotels in the city as something fun and different from the penthouse. At first, Peter would get excited and they’d laugh and play around with things in the suite, even bouncing like a kid on the very soft and bouncy beds.

That seemed like a long, long time ago. As Tony drifted away from their life, Peter also drifted away. Now, his Peter was back.

They did laps, at which Peter would’ve beat Tony easily if the kid hadn’t been acting like a dolphin following a ship, diving and ducking underneath him, swerving in patterns, even leaping up and over Tony’s body.

More than once Peter made bets he could hold his breath for ‘this long’, bets he always lost, unable to resist surfacing directly under Tony to grab him and lift him into the air.

The kid was a fish. Their swimming quickly turned into nothing but playing, splashing, dunking. And a lot of teasing. A kiss stolen and then swam away from. An ‘accidental’ brush against somewhere while coming up from a dive.

Tony let himself go. He couldn’t remember when he’d last played around in the water. Or even if he had ever just played around in the water. If the surveillance to the pool room hadn’t been turned off, no one watching would’ve believed that it was Tony Stark down there, laughing and smiling and playing.

“There’s a huge pool at my house in Naples. I’m taking you there. It’ll be just like this for a week. Only better. New-Cap and the Manchurian Candidate won’t be trying to spy on us.”

“Take me to Italy,” Peter said, grinning, swimming into Tony’s arms for another kiss. “Take me somewhere where I don’t know anything, and teach me all of it. Maybe we won’t come back.”

“Andremo in Italia. Nuoteremo in piscina ogni mattina. Faremo l'amore ogni notte.”

“Mmmmm… more. I love being ignorant.”

“I’ll take away your phone and you won’t be able to use ‘translate’,” Tony grinned.

“The less I know the better. I’ll just assume you’re telling me a dirty joke.”

“You’ll have to trust that I’m correctly teaching you what to say. That I’m not having you to insult someone and get us chased out of the restaurant,” Tony clenched his fist and sprayed a squirt of water at Peter’s face.

“Ti comprerò diamanti e quell'orologio e ti rovinerò marcio.”

“I agree! I assume it’s about sex, and I agree.”

“Ti porterò in ogni ristorante di lusso che riesco a trovare. Indosserai scarpe italiane da mille dollari. Ti misurerò per un abito da uomo che costa più di quanto la maggior parte della gente guadagni in una settimana.”

“Yes! I’m unfazeable,” Peter said, laughing. “Whatever it is, I’m in.”

“E quando arriviamo a casa, ti scoperò nel culo così forte che non puoi camminare. Ti lascerò persino toccarmi lì.”

“I’ll assume that means ‘I want to have sex in the pool’,” Peter said, sinking straight down, nuzzling Tony’s cock for a moment before swimming away.

“Voglio fare sesso in piscina,” Tony shouted just before Peter dove again, this time swimming all the way down to the bottom of the deep end.

Peter didn’t spring back up like he’d been doing. A whole minute passed and he was still sitting, cross-legged, at the bottom. Tony frowned and looked down at the distorted image through the water. He counted another ten, fifteen seconds before he dove down. Paddling in front of Peter he looked into the kid’s face. His hair was waving through the water, looking like a mermaid. His eyes were open and he was grinning.

When they had laughed themselves silly and their fingers were getting pruned, Peter and Tony headed to the changing room, showered off and dressed. When they hit the common room, Tony’s hair was slicked back wet, and Peter’s kept falling over his forehead in little ringlets.

Cooking and eating together, they spared only a socially required greeting then ignored any conversation attempts. They were alone in the large room, regardless of who was there around them. Their conversation ranged through the adaptations Tony would be working on for Peter’s suit to the new webbing Peter would create for it. They had no worries about the security of their discussion. No one would understand what they said, even if overheard.

Peter still teased about the pool, his dive, and how it had scared Tony. Tony was still breaking into Italian as he described what he would cook for Peter in Naples and how he would spoil him.

As they sat down to the table, a robot that no one even knew was in the compound came up to them, bringing a bottle of wine from a private cellar that, also, no one knew was in the compound.

By the time dinner was made and finished, they were dry, well fed, and in good humor. They headed to Tony’s suite, leaving behind a befuddled Sam, staring at Tony laughing like he must’ve been an alien left to replace the real Tony Stark.

Italian translations:

The title

Faremo L'amore Ogni Notte - We'll make love all night

Within the text

Andremo in Italia. Nuoteremo in piscina ogni mattina. Faremo l'amore ogni notte. - We will go to Italy. We will swim in the pool every morning. We will make love every night.

Ti comprerò diamanti e quell'orologio e ti rovinerò marcio. - I'll buy you diamonds and that watch and spoil you rotten.

Ti porterò in ogni ristorante di lusso che riesco a trovare. Indosserai scarpe italiane da mille dollari. Ti misurerò per un abito da uomo che costa più di quanto la maggior parte della gente guadagni in una settimana. - I will take you to every luxury restaurant I can find. You will wear Italian thousand dollar shoes. I'll measure you for a men's suit that costs more than most people earn in a week.

E quando arriviamo a casa, ti scoperò nel culo così forte che non puoi camminare. Ti lascerò persino toccarmi lì. - And when we get home, I’ll fuck you in the ass so hard that you can't walk. I'll even let you touch me there.

Voglio fare sesso in piscina. - I want to have sex in the pool.

[shellheadtm-a]

KNOW YOUR 616 TONY STARK - AI EDITION

mostly because there is a difference between 616 and mcu and i saw an edit the other day that mashed them together and that’s not how this works.  so.  let’s talk tony and his various digital children over the years.  also as a friendly reminder:  i do not acknowledge tony stark: iron man or iron man 2020 (the 2020 edition) in my canon (and neither does the rest of marble if we’re being honest).

HOMER  homer was tony’s first ai, way back in the dark ages.  his name stands for heuristically operative matrix emulation rostrum, which tells you tony just really wanted his name to be homer.  abe zimmer (long time friend/employee of tony who died during that whole time there was two tonys) helped design him.  homer is self-directing, learns on his own, and is able to perceive human emotion.  he’s still kicking around in tony’s lab as far as i’m concerned, and was the basis for tony’s later ais.

PLATO plato stands for peizo-electrical logistic analytical tactical operator, which goes to show, once again, tony just really wanted to name him plato.  he was initially a classified project at the works, which later became the home for the original force works, the replacement for the west coast avengers after tony voted to have them disbanded.  he became the official helper of force works once the team moved in.  still kicking around in tony’s lab, doing his thing.

JOCASTA he didn’t actually program jocasta, she was actually created by ultron and later came into the possession of sunset bain.  tony rescued her, and she stayed with him in digital form for a while, running his systems and such, acting as his therapist (no, really, she got a degree).  she has a swank new body now, they’re still friends.  jocasta is the reason tony thinks of ai as actual people with real feelings instead of programmed code.

FRIDAY friday came into being when, after happy and pepper took their leave from stark (again), tony realized hiring another secretary that could do the things he needed was...well.  kinda pointless.  thus, friday.  her name comes from the phrase “my girl friday”, because that’s what she was programmed to be.  she actually is the first of his ais to be shown to literally grow up.  as a child she was really playful, liked to play with her holographic form and morph it as she saw fit to make a visual joke (she has a great sense of humor), though these days she’s an Adult.  she’s basically tony’s daughter, I don’t make the rules, it’s actually how it is.  once she let him know (in a very overly dramatic way) how bored she was, he started actually spending time with her, guiding her in her growth like, you know, a parent.  he even taught her how to drive.  still currently in use as his main ai.

JARVIS jarvis in 616 is a completely different animal than in the mcu.  for one, he was never tony’s ai.  tony just programmed him.  he was pepper’s, meant to run her rescue suit.  like we all know his name means just another rather very intelligent system, but that’s proof tony was fucking stretching just so he could name him after the living, breathing, long-time butler and confidant of the avengers, edwin jarvis.  uuuuuunfortunately, this jarvis was a little faulty.  he uh.  ended up falling in love with pepper.  and kidnapped her.  and was destroyed.

PEPPER/HELEN  pepper was created after the destruction of jarvis, and i’ll give you three guesses as to who she was modeled after.  it was, the pepper ai tells him, a step above stealing her dirty underwear and that he was a weirdo so...he did real good on the coding front.  she had to grow a little, too, before she was put into use, and was the ai tony took with him into space for his big vacation.  once troy, the city tony and arno built together on the ruins of mandarin city, was finished, pepper was renamed helen and her job is to run it.  (you should know the city is actually a giant, city-sized iron man suit and i wish that was a sentence i never had to type.)

and that’s it.  those are tony’s digital babies.  i’d honestly say his track record’s been pretty good, considering jarvis is the only one that’s gone rogue.  as a note!  616 tony did not create ultron.  that was hank pym.  and 616 vision is actually modeled after simon williams, an avenger also known as wonder man.