#constantly thinking about nat saying we didn’t make it out. none of us.

[novelconcepts]

There’s a line from American Gods I keep coming back to in relation to Yellowjackets, an observation made early on by Shadow in prison: “The kind of behavior that works in a specialized environment, such as prison, can fail to work and in fact become harmful when used outside such an environment.” I keep rotating it in my head in thinking about the six survivors, the roles they occupy in the wilderness, and the way the show depicts them as adults in society.

Because in the wilderness, as in prison, they’re trapped—they’re suffering, they’re traumatized, they’re terrified—but they’re also able to construct very specific boxes to live in. And, in a way, that might make it easier. Cut away the fat, narrow the story down to its base arc. You are no longer the complex young woman who weighs a moral compass before acting. You no longer have the luxury of asking questions. You are a survivor. You have only to get to the next day.

Shauna: the scribe. Lottie: the prophet. Van: the acolyte. Taissa: the skeptic. Misty: the knight. Natalie: the queen. Neat, orderly, the bricks of a new kind of society. And it works in the woods; we know this because these six survive. (Add Travis: the hunter, while you’re at it, because he does make it to adulthood).

But then they’re rescued. And it’s not just lost purpose and PTSD they’re dealing with now, but a loss of that intrinsic identity each built in the woods. How do you go home again? How do you rejoin a so-called civilized world, where all the violence is restricted to a soccer field, to an argument, to your own nightmares?

How does the scribe, the one who wrote it all out in black and white to make sense of the horrors, cope with a world that would actively reject her story? She locks that story away. But she can’t stop turning it over in her head. She can’t forget the details. They’re waiting around every corner. In the husband beside her in bed. In the child she can’t connect with across the table. In the best friend whose parents draw her in, make her the object of their grief, the friend who lives on in every corner of their hometown. She can’t forget, so she tries so hard to write a different kind of story instead, to fool everyone into seeing the soft maternal mask and not the butcher beneath, and she winds up with blood on her hands just the same.

How does the prophet come back from the religion a desperate group made of her, a group that took her tortured visions, her slipping mental health, and built a hungry need around the very things whittling her down? She builds over the bones. She creates a place out of all that well-intended damage, and she tells herself she’s helping, she’s saving them, she has to save them, because the world is greedy and needs a leader, needs a martyr, needs someone to stand up tall and reassure everyone at the end of the day that they know what’s best. The world, any world, needs someone who will take those blows so the innocent don’t have to. She’s haunted by everyone she didn’t save, by the godhood assigned to her out of misplaced damage, and when the darkness comes knocking again, there is nothing else to do but repeat old rhymes until there is blood on her hands just the same.

How does the acolyte return to a world that cares nothing for the faith of the desperate, the faith that did nothing to save most of her friends, that indeed pushed her to destroy? She runs from it. She dives into things that are safe to believe in, things that rescue lonely girls from rough home lives, things that show a young queer kid there’s still sunshine out there somewhere. She delves into fiction, makes a home inside old stories to which she already knows the endings, coaxes herself away from the belief that damned her and into a cinemascope safety net where the real stuff never has to get in. She teaches herself surface-level interests, she avoids anything she might believe in too deeply, and still she’s dragged back to the place where blood winds up on her hands just the same.

How does the skeptic make peace with the things she knows happened, the things that she did even without meaning to, without realizing? She buries them. She leans hard into a refusal to believe those skeletons could ever crawl back out of the graves she stuffed them into, because belief is in some ways the opposite of control. She doesn’t talk to her wife. She doesn’t talk to anyone. It’s not about what’s underneath the surface, because that’s just a mess, so instead she actively discounts the girl she became in the woods. She makes something new, something rational and orderly, someone who can’t fail. She polishes the picture to a shine, and she stands up straight, the model achievement. She goes about her original plan like it was always going to be that way, and she winds up with blood on her hands just the same.

How does the knight exist in a world with no one to serve, no one to protect, no reason propelling the devastating choices she had grown comfortable making? She rechannels it. She convinces herself she’s the smartest person in the room, the most capable, the most observant. She convinces herself other people’s mysteries are hers to solve, that she is helping in every single action she takes. She makes a career out of assisting the most fragile, the most helpless souls she can find, and she makes a hobby out of patrolling for crimes to solve, and when a chance comes to strap her armor back on and ride into battle, she rejoices in the return to normalcy. She craves that station as someone needed, someone to rely upon in the darkest of hours, and she winds up with blood on her hands because, in a way, she never left the wilderness at all.

How does the queen keep going without a queendom, without a pack, without people to lead past the horrors of tomorrow? She doesn’t. She simply does not know how. She scrounges for something, anything, that will make her feel connected to the world the way that team did. She moves in and out of a world that rejects trauma, punishes the traumatized, heckles the grieving as a spectacle. She finds comfort in the cohesive ritual of rehabilitation, this place where she gets so close to finding herself again, only to stumble when she opens her eyes and sees she’s alone. All those months feeding and guiding and gripping fast to the fight of making it to another day, and she no longer knows how to rest. How to let go without falling. She no longer wears a crown, and she never wanted it in the first place, so how on earth does she survive a world that doesn’t understand the guilt and shame of being made the centerpiece of a specialized environment you can never explain to anyone else? How, how, how do you survive without winding up with blood on your hands just the same?

All six of these girls found, for better or worse, a place in the woods. All six of them found, for better or worse, a reason to get up the next day. For each other. And then they go home, and even if they all stayed close, stayed friends, it’d still be like stepping out of chains for the first time in years. Where do you go? How do you make small choices when every decision for months was life or death? How do you keep the part of yourself stitched so innately into your survival in a world that would scream to see it? How do you do away with the survivor and still keep going?

They brought it back with them. Of course they did. It was the only way.

[priortoallthoughts]

Bad Batch Cuddles

Rating: G

Word Count: 1.9k

Pairing: gn!reader x bad batch

Warnings: None, just fluff

Summary: Reader is a medic for the Bad Batch who suffers from chronic nightmares. The Bad Batch learns that cuddling helps and they are on the job. This is how that came about.

[Part 2]

Masterlist

Nightmares are nothing new to you; you’ve dealt with them for as long as you can remember. It’s tiring, the constant interruption of any sleep you attempt to get. Your coping mechanisms, ones you’ve learned through hard experience, only do so much night after night.

When the war starts you join as a volunteer medic. You figure why not put your skills to use where they were needed the most? It did nothing to help you sleep, the nightmares are only that much more vivid now, but you think it’s a fair trade for the lives you save every day. It’s your passion, and you wouldn’t give it up for anything.

The GAR moves you around at any given moment depending on what it needs. Sometimes you’re on a Venator-class star destroyer serving under a Jedi general. A few times you work on one of the Republic medical stations with the Kaminoans (you weren’t sure how to feel about them if you were being honest.) But your longest stint anywhere, and where you were still, is working with Clone Force 99. They tell you to call them the Bad Batch.

You think it’s a bit funny, but you do it anyway.

They’re the ones who help you discover that nothing works to keep you asleep through the night quite as much as cuddling with someone else.

The first time you have a nightmare around them, you wake up in a cold sweat, heart pounding, in the little cot set up for you in the Havoc Marauder.

You slip past the boys still asleep in their bunks and make your way to the cockpit.

It’s cooler in there, causing you to shiver when you step through the door. The blur of stars in hyperspace is as mesmerizing as ever, and works to calm you down.

You sit it in the copilot seat. It’s always a good idea to leave the pilots seat open in case something goes wrong. And considering the Bad Batch’s propensity for things going wrong, it’s more likely than you care to admit.

Hours later, when your eyes are dry and hurting, you finally feel like you can go back to sleep. A quick sneak back to your cot and you lay there for the rest of the night.

Hunter asks you about it the next morning.

“Oh man, I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Curse your inability to be stealthy! Of course you would wake up the one with enhanced senses!

“No worries,” he assures you with a smile. “You we’re getting restless before you woke up, wanted to make sure you were okay.”

You gave him an awkward smile. “Nothing to worry about, it was just a nightmare.”

Should you tell him that it’s normal? It would probably be a good idea. But what if he thinks constantly being woken up is too much of a hassle and wants a different medic? You were supposed to be helping them, not making them loose sleep too!

“I figured as much; it happens to all of us.”

He claps your shoulder and walks away before you could say another word.

Since then, one by one, the rest of the boys all find out about your nightmares. Wrecker is sitting up in his bunk one night when you jolt awake in your cot and end up meeting his eyes. Crosshair stays back with the Marauder during a short resupply where you proceed to fail miserably at taking a nap. Tech is tinkering with something in the cockpit when you come in one night.

You’re not actually sure if he’s been to sleep at all yet, which only makes you feel a little better about accidentally disturbing him.

“You know,” he starts as soon as you walk in, “there are many studies about the psychology of chronic nightmares and their causes in nat-borns. Do you know if you have any hereditary diseases or other underlying sleep disorders that could contribute to your condition? If we scanned your brain, we could see if there’s a physiological reason for it. As a medic, it would be simple for you to do.”

You’re so astonished, both by his concern and the heat crawling up your face, that you can only giggle before going to sit on the floor next to him.

“Hate to say it, but I’ve done that. Nothing physiological,” you sigh.

“Then it is psychological?”

“Not that I’ve ever discovered.”

Tech looks up in surprise. “I find it quite fascinating that nat-borns can have something wrong with them for no discernible reason.”

You snort. “Suppose being a genetically enhanced clone has some perks then. At least you know exactly how and why you’re different.”

“I’ve never heard someone say being a clone is a good thing.” Tech’s voice goes soft, and your heart breaks a little for him.

Being a medic has let you see the humanity in the GAR soldiers, that they’re so much more that just clones. You also see that you are one of a few who think so.

You lean your head down on his shoulder, causing him to perk up.

“Perhaps what you need to alleviate your nightmares is to sleep with someone.”

“Tech!” You sputter, trying to keep your voice down. “You can’t just say that!”

“You misunderstand, I did not mean that in a sexual sense, though that would also work.”

The sound that leaves your throat is absolutely mortifying.

“The sensation of touch releases oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin. These hormones make you experience feelings of happiness, relaxation, improve your mood, and lower levels of depression. In your case, theoretically, it may help alleviate your nightmares enough to sleep soundly through the night.”

Once again, you felt astonishment flood through you. It’s hardly a lot of research that Tech did, but the fact he did it for you had you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

“So you’re saying I should cuddle with someone?”

“In layman’s terms, yes.”

“Are you volunteering?” You’re hoping you didn’t sound desperate, because if cuddling is the answer after all this time you’re gonna hold onto these boys like a gundark does it’s next meal.

Wait, that’s morbid.

“If you feel like it would help, it will also make a good experiment to see how such a release of hormones could affect us clones and you differently.” As he stands he offers his hand to you. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

When you follow him back to his bunk you have no idea that it will be the best night sleep you can ever remember having in your life.

It only goes uphill from there when the others find out what helps you, touch starved as they are.

Tech likes to sleep on your chest, partly for his own comfort, but you’re also convinced he documents your heart rate and respiration for his own study. You notice that he changes small things about the way he lays depending on how well you sleep some nights, like he wanted to see what brings about the best results. And if you cuddle him just a bit more when you catch on, well neither one of you says anything.

Wrecker is the most enthusiastic about this turn of events. He is the most tactile out of the four of them, so nights with him are the cuddliest. With him, he loves to be the big spoon, and you’re not complaining in the slightest. You feel so small in his arms. It’s the warmest and safest place you can ever be, and on the odd night you still wake up he’s holding you just that much tighter and assuring you that he’ll fight off every nightmare you have and keep you safe.

Hunter has to figure out which position sets off his senses the least, but he learns for you. It’s slow going, but eventually you both figure out that you laying on top of him is the best. You get a nice body pillow that hugs you back, and he gets a person shaped weighted blanket that actually manages to calm him down. The night you try that position you both sleep so well that it takes Hunter a few minutes to let you go when he wakes up, which is lovely since he usually has to move during the night.

Crosshair….

Well, Crosshair makes it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want any part of cuddling with you. The rapport you have already built with him as a medic is not ideal, but at least he’s civil with you now. You didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that, so you leave him be.

The others take turns sleeping with you each night if they can. You rotate around their bunks so much you hardly sleep in your own cot anymore; the only times you do now is when they're off on a mission that you can’t join them on, even if you do double as a field medic for them.

Everything changes one night, though.

It’s another resupply when Crosshair stays behind that the others are trapped in town for the night because of a sandstorm. As capable as they were – a sandstorm wouldn’t have slowed them down much, honestly – Hunter didn’t want to needlessly risk it. So, he, Tech, and Wrecker stay in the town, leaving you and Crosshair alone in the Marauder.

You’re nervous for it, though you’re not certain why exactly. Maybe it’s the antsy feeling that grows in you the closer it came to go to sleep. You knew a nightmare will come tonight.

“Hey… Crosshair?” You stand a few feet away from where he cleans his rifle.

“No.”

You almost wince. You suppose it’s a bit obvious what you want to ask him.

“Right, sorry.”

You putter away to the bunks and proceed to strip away Wrecker’s, Tech’s, and Hunter’s (not Crosshair’s; never Crosshair’s) blankets and pillows to toss onto your cot. It’s something you do when they’re all away – a poor approximation to being in their arms, but it smells like them and it’s warm, so you make it work.

When Crosshair comes in from locking down the Marauder he takes one look at you and scoffs. “You look pathetic.”

You crack your eyes open. “Better pathetic like this than pathetic because of a nightmare,” you mutter before closing your eyes again.

“You’re going to give us a bad name if you keep looking this pathetic.” You hear before the blankets are ripped away from you.

“Hey!” You jolt up and try to grab them back but he’s already tossing them on the floor.

You freeze when he pulls the last remaining cover up and slides into your cot next to you. You’re staring at him in shock when he scoffs again and practically manhandles so you’re tucked into his front, chest to chest.

When your hands shakily move around to hold his middle, slowly in case he pulls away, he puts his around your back and pulls you closer.

You let yourself melt into it, lest you miss your chance to accept what he’s never offered before. Whatever has come over him, you’re going to take full advantage of it. Your legs tangle with his and in Crosshair’s arms you can finally sleep knowing no nightmare would dare to disturb either of you.

“Thank you,” you whisper into his chest as you drift off.

“Don’t mention it,” he whispers back, voice softer than you’ve ever heard. “Ever.”

And after that night, Crosshair is one of your favorites to sleep with.

[procrastinatingsapphictrash]

My Tasha

Word count: 7334

Genre: Mostly angst but the ending is fluffy

Pairing: Natasha x fem!reader

Warnings: A sort of suggestive scene? I think that's all (let me know if I need to add any)

Request: congrats on those 500’ love!!! they are well deserved for all of your amazing words 🥺 i was just thinking how cute it be for nat to take a liking to reader, so she tries all those “seductive” tricks the red room taught her, but r just reads it as a cocky fuckboy thing and rejects her? soft!nat appearing later to ask her out? 🥺

Summary: Natasha tries to seduce you at a party but you misunderstand, assuming she's just using you. Both of you mope before realizing what happened.

A/n: Finally I finished this! It was supposed to be 2000 words max but I got carried away and @teenwonder I blame you since you were the one who sent in this idea. I actually really like how this turned out, even if it differs from the prompt slightly so I hope you guys like it too because this probably took at least ten hours to write and I have lost way too much sleep over it. Enjoy!

Natasha looks in the mirror and lifts the corner of her mouth into a slight smile. She looks hot and she knows it, spending hours in front of the mirror perfecting the look. Her eyeshadow screams seduction and her lipstick highlights and colours the natural shape of her lips. Her lashes are curled to perfection and her makeup is applied with the technique she learned years ago that was guaranteed to make people stare. Her hair is straightened because it matches the look and also the last time she straightened it you had complimented her hair so she knows you like it.

Her dress is black, the colour that looks best on her, with a neckline that is dangerously low and the bottom riding dangerously high on her thigh. Her heels are her go to ones for anytime she wants to seduce anyone, they manage to work every time and have become a small symbol of luck for her and tonight she needs all the luck she can get for tonight’s party.

Usually people are easy to seduce, she just has to figure out the likes and dislikes of her target and play up to them. Tonight shouldn’t be much different except for the big added aspect of her actually caring. She’s never had to seduce someone she’s wanted to before so she knows it’s going to be harder than normal. Taking a deep breath she pushes the nerves away and smirks at her own reflection before going to meet everyone in the main room.

Your breath hitches when she walks in and you quickly look away so it doesn’t seem like you’ve been waiting for her arrival. She’s gorgeous, she always is, but tonight there’s something about her that’s different, like she put more effort than usual. You force yourself to stay calm and look away, pretending to still be interested in the conversation you had been having with Carol that you zoned out of the moment Natasha entered the room.

Carol’s looking at you strangely. “What?”

She gives a half laugh. “You think I didn’t notice you drooling over Natasha.”

“That obvious?” you ask and she nods. “Damn.”

“Damn is right, she’s smoking!” Carol whisper-yells, glancing over quickly and then back to you.

“Carol!” you exclaim aghast.

She laughs again. “Don’t worry I’m not trying to steal your girl, after all I have Valkyrie.”

“Yes and you constantly remind me of that.” you mumble which she ignores.

“I’m just saying that some people are already staring at her and are going to be all over her soon, you need to make your move quickly.” she finishes.

“I will.” you tell her, with no real intention of going to talk to her.

“Sure you will,” she says quietly at first before yelling in Natasha’s direction, “Hey Romanoff! Come here.”

Natasha is surprised and she hopes Carol isn’t calling her over because she noticed her staring. Logically she knows that Carol doesn’t want to date you and is dating Valkyrie but it looked far too much like flirting in her opinion. There were whispers and giggles and at one point you got all flustered and embarrassed. She doesn’t like how possessive she feels over you when she has no right to but somehow when it comes to you she can’t quite control herself.

Showing none of the inner thoughts that go through her head she weaves her way over to you. At first some of the team is staring because they got startled by Carol’s yell but a small glare gets them to look away again.

“Hey.” Carol greets when she walks over.

“Hey.” she says back with a smile and it’s not her fault if the smile is a little flirtier than normal and directed more towards where you’re standing. “What’s up?”

“I want to go find Valkyrie and see what’s taking so long for her to come back from the bar but didn’t want to leave Y/n all alone at a party and since you were alone too I thought it would be a great idea for you guys to spend the party together!” she explains quickly. “I’ll come back soon!”

With that she leaves and you and Natasha are left looking at each other awkwardly. She wants to say something to break the silence but all her earlier confidence is gone and she feels like a schoolgirl with her first crush. Which is half true, she is definitely not a schoolgirl but she’s never had feelings like this for anybody before.

“You don’t have to stay here.” you offer, feeling bad that she was forced to come here and babysit you. Carol is your best friend but sometimes you just can’t stand her. This is so uncomfortable and Natasha is looking at you weirdly and you just know that she’ll apologize and leave so she can spend the party with people who actually know how to have fun.

“I know but I want to.” she says and you can’t help looking away shyly and smiling. She smiles herself at your cuteness, now slightly more confident knowing that she can make you react like that.

---

She smirks as for the thousandth time that night you struggle to keep your gaze from dipping below her neck. The dress was a good choice and judging based on your lack of eye contact you appreciate it. She knows you find her attractive, it’s hard not to know that with you staring at her boobs every few seconds but as the night goes on she’s more and more hopefully that you want to date her. Your flushed cheeks and occasional stuttering give you away.

Some guy interrupts your conversation and she resists the urge to punch him. She doesn’t know what he’s here for and shouldn’t punch people for interrupting a conversation with a girl she really really likes (she doesn’t allow herself to consider love just yet).

“Hey beautiful.” he greets her, stepping into her space and ignoring you. Against her better judgment she does punch him and giggles as he staggers backwards muttering about bitches under his breath. Really the punch shouldn’t have affected him that much, it was light and not in an area that would cause serious injury, he was just weak.

“Holy fuck.” you whisper under your breath.

“That didn’t bother you, did it?” she rushes to confirm, not wanting to have upset you by resorting to violence. She wasn’t quite sure how to take your holy fuck, whether you meant it in a good way or not.

“It was so hot.” you breath and then immediately clamp a hand over your mouth once you’ve realized what you’ve said out loud.

You’re about to apologize but she speaks first. “Really?”

You don’t understand how she makes her voice sound so smooth and seductive but it makes your knees weak. You’re nervous but there’s no point in taking it back now and it does seem like she’s flirting with you so you continue.

“Yeah, what can I say I like strong women who don’t take shit from men.” you say, moving closer to her. You haven’t flirted very much before but judging based on how her eyes darken slightly you think it’s working.

She reaches out and runs her hand down the side of your face slowly, making you shiver. “Looks like we have the same type.”

She keeps her hand there for a second then leans in slowly, giving you time to pull away. You’re frustrated by how long it’s taking and try to take a small step towards her so you can kiss her. It doesn’t work well since you forgot you’re wearing heels and lose your balance, making her laugh, her breaths dancing over your lips. And then suddenly she’s not moving slowly anymore and her lips are on yours and it’s all you can think about. Your other senses are all dulled and you kiss her harder to prove that this is real.

After a few seconds she pulls back. “I didn’t want people to see,” she explains when she sees your pout, “hallway?”

You’re not sure if it’s even possible for you to do anything but nod and take her hand as she leads you out. Inside of taking you to the main hall she takes you to a side one that doesn’t get used often and only the avengers have access to. Glancing around again to make sure nobody notices she pulls you inside and immediately you’re kissing again.

She presses you against the wall and you grip her shoulders tightly, your nails dipping into her bare skin. When she pulls back again she notes in satisfaction that your lips are smeared with her lipstick and she applauds her choice of bright red. Inside of going back to your mouth she kisses along your jaw and your neck, the lipstick marking you. Happy with her work she moves back to your lips, humming happily at the feeling.

She likes it even more when she feels your mouth open to let her in, taking the opportunity to explore your mouth with her tongue. You let out a small whine and the noise reminds her of where you are.

“Come up to my room?” she asks, smirking. You’re about to say yes when you notice her smirk. It bugs you for some reason, it makes it seem like she’s winning some sort of prize. Breathing heavily you look more closely at her and notice her heels. It’s her seductive mission heels. And then you realize she often wears a black dress to seduce people as well. You feel like a complete idiot, she doesn’t want you for anything more than a quick fling. This was a calculated move on her part.

“No.” you tell her firmly, only able to hold back your tears due to sheer anger. You thought that you were friends, how dare she try to play with your feelings just because she knew she could. Taking advantage of her shock you push past her, running out of the hall and back into the party. You look like a disaster so as quickly as possibly to rush to the doors and leave, running to your room, thankful that everyone seems too invested in their own conversations to notice you going.

You keep running until you reach your room. It didn’t look like she was following you but you don’t want to take any chances. Flinging off your heels because they’re uncomfortable you launch yourself onto your bed and curl up, pulling the covers over your head and putting your face into a pillow. You’re probably getting her lipstick all over right now but you don’t care, you don’t have enough energy to care right now.

You berate yourself again for how stupid you are. You got so caught up in your own emotions that you didn’t even consider that it didn’t mean the same to her as it did to you. It’s so obvious in hindsight. How after one kiss she wanted to sneak away so nobody saw, her glance back at the room before you entered the hall. She wasn’t looking for a relationship that much was clear. She invited you to her bedroom, not on a date.

You try to reason with yourself to make the pain go away but it doesn’t. You weren’t super close but you considered her a friend. Apparently she didn’t consider you one if she was willing to put your friendship aside for sex. You briefly consider that maybe she didn’t know about your feelings but you shake that thought off. She’s smart and reads people easily, she knew she just didn’t care.

You hate the tears that roll down your face. You can’t tell if they’re from sadness or anger and it doesn’t matter. Nothing seems to matter right now. Sobs wrack your body harder and you scream silently into your pillow. You hate this so much, you hate crying and you wish you could hate Natasha but you can’t. You hate yourself for letting yourself get hurt like this though.

---

Natasha watches you leave. She wants to run after you but the look on your face when you pushed by her stops her. You looked so disgusted that you had just made out with her and she can feel her heart breaking into a million pieces just thinking about it. She doesn't know what she did to get it. It’s obvious that you regretted kissing her but it hurts that you seem disgusted by it.

She allows herself a few moments to stand there and try to comprehend what just went on, a single tear dripping down her face. Swallowing hard she wipes it away and takes a breath to collect herself. She makes sure her dress is straight and runs her fingers through her hair so it doesn’t look too wild.

It doesn’t really matter what she looks like, she’s planning to slip out the back of the hall, the opposite way that you went, so it’s unlikely anyone will see her but she wants to be prepared on the off chance that the halls aren’t empty. Biting her lip to stay calm she walks out the end of the hall and slowly makes her way to her room.

She feels so stupid. She’s not even mad at you for feeling disgusted she’s mad at herself. She got so caught up in her own feeling that she never stopped to think about the fact that you don’t like her back. For a moment it seemed like you did but that was probably you being too nice to say no to her.

Her heels seem to mock her as she walks up the stairs with the way they clip clop. So much for lucky heels, she’ll never be able to use them again without remembering how badly she failed. She tugs on her dress from both the top and the bottom, trying to pull it longer in both directions. She felt so confident in it earlier in the mirror and especially when she caught you staring but now she just feels dirty and slutty.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” she mutters out loud to herself when she finally gets to her room. Looking in her mirror upon entry only makes things worse. She’s lucky that she didn’t see anyone in the halls because even after her attempts at cleaning up she looks like a mess. Her makeup is smudged all over and she can see the upset written plainly on her face.

Usually it’s easy to hide her emotions but usually she doesn’t feel such strong ones. You make her feel and she hates it. Only earlier today she loved that you made her feel. She loved the way her heart fluttered thinking about you and how she wasn’t always perfectly composed. You made her feel normal. But now she hates the way her heart betrays her, happy at even the thought of you.

Her only option right now is to forget and she thanks herself for always keeping a bottle of vodka in her room. A bad habit perhaps, but she rarely drinks from it and it is perfect for this situation. Drinking doesn’t help much, even after a while the hurt is still fresh in her mind, but it stops her from overthinking. When she eventually leaves the bottle and slips into bed it’s nobody’s business but hers if she cries herself to sleep.

---

You bury yourself deeper into your covers when you hear knocks at your door, hoping that whoever it is will go away soon.

“Y/n open up!” you hear Carol shout, still pounding on the door. “Unless Natasha’s with you, don’t think I didn’t notice you left the party earlier.”

Carol’s mention of Natasha makes a lump form in your throat and suddenly you feel the sudden urge to take a shower and wash all of her off you. You must have stayed silent for too long because Carol’s knocking stops and she speaks again.

“If you don’t say anything in five seconds I’m coming in.” she tells you.

You don’t know if you want her here or not. Carol is always good at making you cheer up but you feel embarrassed to tell anybody what happened.

“Four.”

Carol would understand though, she’s never been one to judge people for things and she was the one who helped push you towards Natasha, telling you she liked you back.

“Three.”

You realize that Natasha’s lipstick is still all over you and you’re still wearing the dress from last night. It’s too late to fix the clothes but you try to wipe the lipstick from your neck as quickly as possible (spoiler, it doesn’t go very well).

“Two.”

You’re still not sure if you want her to come in so you open your mouth to try to tell her to go away but the lump in your throat prevents you from speaking.

“One, I’m coming in now.” she says, opening the door. “Is that Natasha’s lipstick?”

It’s too much and you get overwhelmed, bursting into tears. Her grin of triumph from when she saw the lipstick quickly disappears and she rushes over to comfort you, wrapping you in a big hug.

“Do I have to kill her?” she asks, when you’ve calmed down a little bit. If you didn’t know Carol enough to know she’s actually a huge softy you would think she is dead serious.

“No,” you tell her, managing a weak smile at how quickly Carol comes to your defense.

“Are you sure?” she asks. “You have her lipstick all over you and you’re crying because of her. What did she do wrong?”

“It’s not her fault,” you protest. Natasha and Carol are friends and you don’t want them to stop being close because of you.

“It’s not her fault you’re crying?” Carol asks skeptically.

“I-um, she,” you stumble over your words because technically it is her fault you’re crying. “She didn’t mean to.” you finally settle on saying.

Carol doesn’t look any happier with the situation than she did before. “Please tell me what happened Y/n so I can go beat her up for you. Did she try to force herself on you or do anything you didn’t want?”

“No.” you say, shaking your head. Natasha may have only been looking for a one night stand or short fling but you can confidently say that she would never do that.

“Okay, then what did she do to make you so upset? It doesn’t look like she rejected you.” Carol is both stubborn and curious and you sigh knowing you’re not going to be able to get out of this conversation without telling her what happened.

“At first it was really nice, we were talking and then we were kissing. But then-” you pause and take a deep breath as Carol rubs a hand comfortingly on your back. “But then she asked if I wanted to go up to her room.” you pause again, trying not to cry for the second time this morning.

“What did you say?” Carol asks softly, knowing this is hard for you.

“I almost said yes, I was planning to say yes,” you tell her, “but then I looked down at her heels.”

“Her heels?”

“She was wearing the heels she always wears for missions where she has to seduce shady old men.” you explain. “And her dress seemed different than normal, like one she’d wear on a mission and she was smirking at me, like she got exactly what she wanted.”

“She treated you like a mission.” Carol states, a hard look in her eye. “That bitch.”

“Carol,” you warn, “you’re her friend too.”

“And as her friend I’m going to give her some friendly advice.” She emphasizes the word friendly giving the impression that it wasn’t going to be friendly at all.

“It will only make things worse.” you tell her. “I just want to forget about it.”

Carol keeps the hard look but softens a little, smiling at you. “Okay, whatever you want. We could spend the day watching movies and eating ice cream?”

“Okay.” you tell her. You’ve never been heartbroken before but you’ve seen movies and apparently this is what everyone does.

“I’ll go get the ice cream while you pick a movie.” she tells you, standing up. “I’ll even watch a disney one if you’d like.”

You give a halfhearted cheer, trying to convince Carol that you’re excited. She frowns as she leaves the room, that cheer was obviously fake. Any other time and you would be beyond happy that she was agreeing to watch Disney movies with you, you’ve been begging her to for almost a year. She can’t help but feel anger at Natasha and anger at herself. Anger at Natasha for playing with your feelings but anger at herself for pushing you to be with Natasha. She should have realized Natasha wouldn’t treat you right but she was so caught up in trying to pair you together that she didn’t see it.

---

Natasha wakes up as normal, feeling a headache forming already. Glancing towards her alarm clock she sits up in shock when she reads how late it is. She’s never in bed after noon. She groans when she realizes sitting up that quickly was not a good idea and makes her feel nauseous. She takes a few breaths, in and out, to calm herself and tries to remember why she drank so much. She was upset, she remembers that. She was upset because her plan didn’t work.

She feels a sharp pain in her heart when her mental blocks seem to go away and she remembers everything that happened, how the night had been going so perfectly and she had felt so happy only for it to all come crashing down when you ran away, disgusted that you kissed her.

“Stupid.” she tells herself, getting out of bed. She reminds herself of that as she goes about her normal morning routine, washing her face, brushing her teeth and getting dressed. She was so stupid to risk your friendship for something more, now it would be a miracle if you still wanted to be around her. Even if it hurt to pretend you hadn’t kissed she would go back to being friends with you in an instant if you still wanted her. She tries not to think about how big of an if that is.

When she is presentable she decides to head down the kitchen and grab some food. It’s been awhile since she last ate and there’s no use in trying to hide away and avoid her problems; she will either see you and have to confront them or you won’t be there. She knows that hiding away will only make things worse and appear weak, if she leaves her room and pretends everything is normal it will make her seem less hurt than she is.

“Hi Natasha.” Tony says in a weird voice when she enters the kitchen, waggling his eyebrows. She does her best not to show her obvious disappointment that almost everybody is here. The one upside is that you’re not.

“Hi Tony.” she says tiredly, walking over to grab a piece of bread and plopping it in the toaster.

“So Natasha,” he starts, oblivious to her unrelaxed mood, “how was last night?”

Natasha whips around lightning fast, staring at him. “What do you mean?”

He couldn’t possibly have heard, could he? She had hoped to talk to you before word got out about the rejection, to try to keep it on the down-low because the guys would never let her live it down. She assumed you wouldn’t tell anyone but you did leave the hall in the direction of the party so maybe you decided to stay.

“I mean with Y/n.” he says casually as Natasha fights to keep a straight face as her heart beats wildly in her chest. “Don’t think we didn’t notice how you both left early.”

Natasha lets out an almost unnoticeable sigh of relief. He didn’t know anything important.

“Well that may be the case but I can assure you nothing happened.” she tells him.

“Then where is she now?” Tony challenges.

“I don’t know, if you haven’t seen her she’s probably in her room.” Natasha responds smoothly. It’s just her luck that after being rejected by the girl of her dreams Tony thinks they got together.

“And where were you?”

Natasha gives him a deadpan stare. “My own room.”

He scoffs. “First of all you could be lying to us, I know you spies are good at that. But if you aren’t you need to get some balls and ask her out already.”

Natasha scowls. “A man’s balls are the weakest part of his body, I am good without them.”

Tony has enough self preservation to step back for a second. Natasha lets him think that her annoyance is solely over his sexist statement but really it wasn’t that bad and she’s just upset that she can’t have you so she really doesn’t want to be talking about asking you out.

“You should.” Clint speaks up.

Natasha rolls her eyes. “Not you too.”

“See Clint agrees with me and I bet the others do too.” Tony says smugly. Natasha lets her eyes move slowly around the room and one but one they all look away when she catches their eye, showing her that while they are too nervous to outright say it, Tony is right and they do agree.

“I don’t care about that,” she says, “I am not and that’s the end of the story.”

“What not?” Tony persists. “You like her, you can’t deny that, so give me one good reason not to.”

“Because she wouldn’t want to and I respect that.” Natasha says calmly. Inside she feels her stomach twisting and she wants to break something. She may be good at hiding her emotions but this conversation is proving to be next to impossible.

Tony scoffs again. “There’s no way, that girl is so in love with you it’s ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous is that you assume things about other people and can’t let this go.” Natasha tells him icily. “You don’t know what she’d say.”

“Then you don’t know either.” Tony counters.

“Then why did she say no when I asked her out last night?” Natasha snaps at him. There are gasps all around the room and to her mortification she is barely holding in the tears that spring to her eyes.

“What?” Sam asks in disbelief.

“I asked her out, she said no and that’s that.” Natasha explains, trying to keep her composure but failing when a tear falls down her cheek. “Excuse me.”

She hurries out of the room, no longer able to handle the talk of asking you out and the disbelieving stares. As she gets back to her room and lies in bed once more she notes in annoyance that she never got her toast. Not that she’s hungry anymore anyway. She doesn’t feel anything anymore except sadness and emptiness. She knew her feelings for you were strong but now that she knows for sure that you don’t want her they feel even stronger and it makes her realize just how much this meant to her and how much she lost.

---

“Hey.” Carol greets as she walks in the kitchen and heads straight for the freezer.

“Morning Carol.” Bruce says, looking shocked when he sees the amount of ice cream she’s holding. “Ice cream for breakfast?”

“It’s for Y/n.” Carol explains.

Tony’s expression turns dark. “What on earth does she need it for?”

“Girl problems, also known as none of your business.” Carols says, in an admittedly sassy voice.

Tony glares. “By girl problems do you mean what happened with Romanoff last night.”

He may tease Natasha but she was like family to him and he would not allow your feelings to be coddled while you stomped all over hers. He doesn’t care if you feel bad for rejecting her, you had flirted and let her on for too long and feeling bad was the least you deserve.

In an instant Carol is across the kitchen and inches from his face. “How do you know?”

“Hey, calm down.” Bruce says, stepping in when he notices Clint and Sam have both tensed up, presumably to defend Natasha’s honor. Even though he’s a man himself he doesn’t understand them sometimes, Natasha was more than capable of taking care of herself and starting a fight between Tony and Carol, the two most stubborn on the team, would only be a headache for weeks to come.

“How do you know?” Carol asks Bruce, thankfully stepping back from Tony.

“She was here a few minutes ago and told us.”

Carol curses under her breath. “That bitch.”

“Hey!” Clint says loudly. “If anyone is a bitch here it’s Y/n.”

“Yes because it’s all Y/n’s fault.” Carol says sarcastically.

Sam decides he’s had enough of Carol. “Yes actually, it is.”

“Bullshit.”

The three of them go back and forth with Carol, mainly cursing and getting a little off topic.

It’s when Carol calls Tony an idiot that Bruce speaks up. “You weren’t here to see Natasha cry.”

“What?” Carol turned to face Bruce, shocked. He isn’t one for petty arguments so she believes what comes out of his mouth. But why would Natasha cry? It doesn’t make sense, she was the one who broke your heart, not the other way around. “Natasha never cries.”

“Well she just did.” Tony says but it’s not in a confrontational tone anymore. He’s not sure what Carol knows but it’s obvious she didn’t know fully what happened.

“Why?”

“It was partly my fault,” Tony admits, “I was teasing her about asking out Y/n and she kept saying no and eventually snapped and told us that she did last night but Y/n rejected her.”

Carol scrunches her brow in confusion. “That’s not what Y/n told me- OHHH.”

“What?” The voice comes simultaneously from all four men at once.

“They are both idiots.” Carol says, smiling and laughing for the first time since entering the kitchen. “They are both huge idiots that don’t know shit about feelings.”

“What?” Tony asks again, wanting to know what Carol’s thinking.

“Okay I’ll tell you but don’t interrupt.” Carol warns and looks at all of them to make sure they nod in agreement. Once she is satisfied she starts. “So this morning I found Y/n in tears and covered in Natasha’s lipstick. Apparently they had fun at the party last night and then snuck away to makeout. Y/n was upset because Natasha asked her up to her room instead of on a date and she noticed that Natasha was wearing her mission heels, do you know them?”

“The ones that she uses to seduce old men for Shield?” Sam asks just to make sure.

“Yep.” Carol confirms. “So anyways Y/n is upset because she thinks that she was just some sort of challenge to Natasha so she left her there…”

“...but Natasha was actually serious about her.” Clint finishes.

Tony laughs. “They really are idiots.”

“I am definitely telling this story at their wedding and to their future kids.” Sam says, also laughing.

“Well first they need to actually talk to each other about this.” Bruce points out, lowering the happy mood of the room. “Right now they’re both in their rooms miserable and feelings like the other doesn’t want them.”

“We should get Natasha to talk to Y/n,” Carol suggests, “because I know that Y/n won’t believe us unless Natasha is the one to tell her.”

“Okay I volunteer to talk to Natasha.” Tony suggests.

“No.” Carol tells him.

“Well you’re Y/n’s best friend so she won’t want to talk to you either right now.” he counters.

“Yes but you’re also a horrible option, I think Bruce would be best for this.”

Bruce looks around the room. “Me?”

“That does make sense,” Clint agrees with Carol, “out of all of us you’re the best at calming people down and she’d be most likely to believe you quicker.”

“But-”

“No buts Brucie, don’t you want to see them together?” Tony pleads.

“Yeah come on Brucie,” Sam mocks Tony, “do it for love.”

Bruce sighs as he watches Tony pout and Sam flutter his eyelashes ridiculously. “Fine.”

“Get straight to the point,” Clint advises, “because she will kick you out if you don’t.”

“Okay.”

Bruce leaves the kitchen to head to Natasha’s room. It took ages for him to be convinced to join the avengers and every day he can’t tell if he regrets his choice or loves his choice. Certainly no other job in the world would force him to go talk to his scary assassin coworker so she and his other coworker can get together. He really isn’t paid enough for this.

A knock startles Natasha. She didn’t think anyone would come after her because she assumed they would all be too scared when she’s in a bad mood.

“Who is it?” she calls out.

“Bruce.”

“Bruce,” she sighs, “I’m sorry but I need to be alone right now, I hope you of all people can understand that.”

“No.” he responds, surprising both her and himself with how determined his voice sounds.

“Bruce-” she starts but he interrupts.

“Hear me out first Natasha,” he begs, “please.”

She thinks about it for a moment before giving up and sighing, she’s not in the mood to spend time arguing. “Fine, but you have to stay outside the door.”

“If that’s what you want.” he agrees, pausing a second to figure out how he wants to word things. “I just came back from an interesting conversation with Carol in the kitchen.” he settles on saying.

“Oh?” She tries not to think about what that means. Carol is your best friend and after her scene in the kitchen this morning she doesn’t think there would be any other reason he would bring her up.

“She was getting ice cream for Y/n because apparently she’s upset.” he offers as a means of explanation.

“Oh.” she says again and it’s so quiet she doesn’t think he heard her. “You can tell Carol that I’ll apologize to Y/n tomorrow, I need to gain control of myself first.”

She never thought about how it would be from your end of things. She forced you into more than you wanted and tried to ask you out and she selfishly focused on her own feelings when you probably were upset that she kissed you. Or you thought you would lose her as a friend. She doesn't think she is capable of talking to you without breaking down right now but in a few days she’ll be fine and able to pretend nothing changed.

“That’s not what she was upset about,” Bruce tells her, “Carol says she was upset because she thought it didn’t mean anything to you.”

“What, why?” Natasha can’t help but let her interest be taken. She doesn’t want to get her hopes up, what Bruce said could mean a lot of different things.

“I feel like I’m in middle school and there’s broken telephone being played between two crushes.” Bruce jokes.

“Bruce, tell me why.” Natasha demands. Her voice is soft but they both know if Bruce stalls any longer she’ll drop the sweet act.

“Well Carol said she said that it seemed like you were acting as if she was your mission to seduce and not like you actually wanted to be with her.” Bruce says, relaying the information.

“Crap.”

Bruce waits for Natasha to elaborate but she doesn’t say anything. “Are you okay in there?”

“Yes, thank you Bruce,” she says, “I need to go fix this, you can leave now.”

He can’t help but feel relieved as he speeds away down the hall. He is never going to do anything like that again, it was way too awkward. He still doesn’t understand how the others forced him to do this, damn his heart for being persuaded it was a good cause. The one upside is that talking to Natasha did seem to work and with any luck she’d be able to fix her mistakes with you. If she didn’t he did all this for nothing and may very well hulk out.

---

Natasha paces back and forth in her room. If Bruce was right (and she has no reason to believe he would lie) you didn’t run away because you didn’t like her, you ran away because you thought she didn’t like you. She winces when she thinks about it. Looking back she can see why you were mistaken and thought she didn’t have true feelings for you because she did treat you like a mark. She analyzed what hairstyle and dress you would like and wore her good luck heels. Even the way she talked and acted was calculated to be exactly what you’d like.

She’s stupid, so stupid and if she had just asked you out in a normal way instead of trying to seduce you she could be on a brunch date with you right now. It had never occurred to her to try it any other way, she was taught that seducing was the easiest way to get people to like you so why should it be different for a normal date? In hindsight using red room techniques to get a date is a horrible idea and she can’t believe she didn’t see it before. Maybe she hasn’t shaken off the red room ideals as much as she thought she had.

The thought scares her, her entire life upon leaving the red room has been dedicated to being a force for good, the opposite of everything the red room stood for so to realize that they still have their claws in deeper than she thought is terrifying. She takes a deep breath and tries to make it go away, which is mostly successful as the thought is reduced to the back of her mind. She can take her thoughts and analyze them later, which is another thing the red room taught her to do she notes, but right now she has to focus on the thing that’s most important, fixing her mistake.

As she walks through the halls to your room she runs through things she should say in her head but nothing sounds right. Perhaps it’s for the best though, that way you can tell she’s genuine and not performing another script. She pauses as she reaches your door, finding herself almost shaking with nerves. What if you don’t want her anymore or Bruce misunderstood or worst of all you still think she doesn’t care?

She almost turns around and goes back, unfamiliar with this type of fear but she knows that if she does all chances of fixing things and having a relationship with you will be reduced to zero. Taking a deep breath she turns the knob and pushes the door open.

You don’t look right away when you hear the door open, too lazy to care. “What took you so long, you were supposed to be back with the ice cream ages ago.”

“I-”

You spin around quickly. “You’re not Carol.”

“Nor do I have ice cream.” She tries to joke but it falls flat.

“Why are you here?” you ask and she winces. It’s blunt and straight to the point, your tone quiet but practically screaming at her to get out.

Since you got straight to the point she decides to do the same. “To ask you out.”

You must look even more shocked than you feel because she quickly jumps in to explain. “That’s what I was trying to do at the party last night, although I know you assumed that I didn’t mean it. I know you noticed the heels and I know I was smirking and it seemed like I was playing you but it really was genuine, I was just trying to do it the wrong way. I was always taught in the red room that to get people to like you romantically the best way to do that is to seduce them but obviously that is wrong and I didn’t realize until too late.”

There’s a lot of information to take in but your mind gets stuck on one question. “How do you know all that about how I felt?”

“Carol talked to Bruce who talked to me.” she says, looking slightly embarrassed at how elementary that sounds. “So?”

“So what?” You know she wants to know if you’ll go out with her for real and you really want to immediately say yes but you also want to hear her ask you properly.

She seems to understand. “Will you go on a date with me Y/n?”

You hesitate one moment before responding. It’s unnecessarily mean but you just spent a good portion of last night and this morning crying over her and besides, she looks absolutely adorable as she shifts her weight from side to side nervously. She looks exactly how you want her to look, no makeup and wearing sweatpants. It’s natural and genuine and everything you would have loved to see last night.

“Yes.”

“Oh thank god.” she laughs in relief, the pitch of it breathier than normal.

“I like it when you do that.” you tell her.

She furrows her brow, confused. “Do what?”

“When you laugh like that or wear old clothes, like you’re not trying to impress me.” you explain.

“So when I do the opposite of what I did last night?” she asks, laughing at herself for being so stupid. Of course you didn’t fall for all the acts, if you did she wouldn’t like you as much as she does. You make her feel different and that’s a good thing, she shouldn’t have to act around you.

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong last night was hot,” you tell her, “but it’s not you. That’s agent Romanoff putting on whatever mask she needs to be for the night, this here is my Tasha.”

“Your Tasha, huh,” she teases, “possessive much?”

“Sorry.”

“No,” she tells you, “I like it. I don’t need to put a mask on around you because you’re you and I am your Tasha. But you’re also mine.”

“All yours.” you confirm and she visibly shivers. “Apparently I’m not the only possessive one.”

“Apparently.” she says looking at you in a way that makes heat rise to your cheeks.

“Since we wasted time last night maybe we could start with a movie date right now?” you suggest shyly, changing the topic.

“Well we do have time to make up for.” she agrees, sitting down on the bed beside you. “What movie?”

“Mulan.” you tell her pressing the remote to drop the tv down into your room. There were definitely benefits to living with Tony.

“A disney movie?” she asks skeptically.

“Have you seen it?” you ask already knowing the answer before she shakes her head. “Then don’t knock it, it’s a great movie.”

“If you say so.” she says, still slightly skeptical but much more open to it. Even if the movie is garbage she doesn’t think she’d mind watching it with you. She definitely doesn’t mind it when your head drops onto your shoulder and you fall asleep, tired from the emotional rollercoaster you just went on. And when the movie ends she doesn’t move, happy to have you there, even when hours later her shoulder is all tense and cramped. It scares her how much she feels for you already but it also feels freeing, she knows she is not just the product of the red room because their biggest rule is to not fall in love and she’s definitely going to break that soon, if she hasn’t already.

---

Taglist: @fayhar@xxxtwilightaxelxxx@acertainredhead@madamevirgo@megaqueenmaeve@cherryblossomskye@aaron-despair@chickenhavewisdom@emril-osvigne@nyankitty987@agathaharkness-simp@midnight-lestrange@usernames-are-difficult (couldn't tag)@thewidowsghost@nyx-aira@stephanieromanoff@Satxnsupreme@likefirenrain@wlwlovesreading@natashadeservedbetter@stop-drop-and-drumroll@peggycarter-steverogers@casperlikej@redswing@mochamoff@king-star@blackbat2020

[callme-barnes]

Drunk Crushin’

*GIF is not mine*

Summary: You have a night out with the girls to get your mind off of your ex. Now your in the tower confessing things you wouldn’t be if you were sober.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader (with powers)

Word Count: 1,842

Warnings: None

A/N: Please do not repost my work anywhere! I wrote it for Tumblr so it stays on Tumblr. I’m trying to get back in the swing of writing things because well, I love writing. It’s been literal years since I’ve written anything so please be kind. I kind of just put this out as it goes. I don’t want to think about it too much or I will never publish anything. Anyways, for this pic I gave the reader the ability to manipulate nature but it doesn’t play a huge part in it. All mistakes are mine. Enjoy otherwise!

_______________________________________________________________________

The euphoric feeling of the satin dress on your skin was mixing in nicely with the feeling of too much alcohol in your system. The alcohol heightened the smooth sensation on your skin and the music caused you to sway from side to side to the rhythm, flashing lights dancing across the exposed skin of your legs, arms, and chest. Natasha and Wanda surrounded you, the pair of them a lot more sober than you were.

“Y/N/N...how are you feeling?”

You managed to open your eyes at hearing your name, although it sounded muffled due to your intoxication.

“I feel...amazing! Who...who needs men. Right? Right!”

Wanda couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her lips at your response

“Babe maybe we should have you drink some water. You’ve been on the dancefloor for hours” she mentioned in slight concern but also was amused at how carefree and happy you were in that moment.

“I’ll take...I’ll take another shot” you said blissfully, looking at Natasha and Wanda before you reached over and moved your arms around each of their shoulders

“Thank you guys so much...I...I needed this so much. I can’t believe...believe he would do something like that. I mean...what...what the fuck was he thinking?! And in my bed for fucks sake”

Wanda and Natasha moved to walk you towards a small corner booth, Wanda excusing herself so she could get you some water.

“Don’t worry about him babe. He was a fucking asshole. I couldn’t stand him. If I had a chance to cut his head off I would”

Y/N laughed to herself as she leaned into Natasha, resting her head on her shoulder, her own head spinning.

“I love you Natasha. And you Wanda!”

Wanda laughed at your coo and she slipped into the empty seat next to you helping you get your water bottle open

“I love you too babe. Now, let’s get you sobered up just a little and get you back to the compound”

You don’t even know how the conversation was started due to your head not really remembering any complex thoughts, but your mouth was running as if you knew exactly what you were talking about.

“He’s...holy fuck, if I could get my hands on that man. He is probably...probably the hottest man I have ever laid eyes on. I’m glad he managed to get into this era because...I mean, the 40’s didn’t appreciate him much”

Natasha had her arm wrapped around your waist, your heels clacking on the hardwood floor and your dress had ridden up dangerously short above your thigh. You were smiling to yourself as images of Bucky Barnes flooded your mind, your intoxicated brain flashing the most sinful, perverted thoughts.

“Have you seen the man workout...when he’s all sweaty and...out of breath”

Wanda set your stuff down on the counter with a small smirk on her face as she listened to you go on about the super soldier, having known all this by now. She had always agreed not to read your mind but you didn’t exactly make it hard to notice sometimes. She was pretty sure everybody in the tower knew about your crush on Bucky.

“Sorry Y/N, you’re the only one who has noticed that I’m afraid”

Natasha set you down on one of the stools, Wanda moving to stand next to you to keep you upright. You swayed a bit to yourself, looking around in a haze.

“Oh come on! Don’t tell me. We’ve all been in the same room with the guy! He once took his shirt off during a sparring match with Steve and I haven’t stopped...thinking about it since. But you gotta....you gotta shhh because my boyfriend would get mad if he knew”

Natasha laughed slightly as she took some snacks from the cupboard noticing Bucky walking into the kitchen Before he got a chance to ask what you guys were up to, you let out a scoff as you looked over drunkenly at Wanda

“Oh wait….I almost, forgot! I don’t even...have a boyfriend! Not anymore. Fucking bastard. He...you know what. Fuck that guy. I think I’m pretty hot, I am a...I can make life grow with these hands!” you say as you hold up your hands in front of both you and Wanda, Wanda reaching over and grabbing onto them causing you to lean into her chest, your eyes looking up

“You think...you think I’m hot don’t you Wanda?”

Bucky watched the display in front of him, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge then looked over at Natasha

“What’s all that about?”

Natasha ate a chip and looked over at Bucky speaking quietly, “She found Leo in bed with another woman this morning”

Bucky’s eyebrows shot up, a bit in surprise but more so in disdain. He figured that’s how that guy would go out. Bucky would constantly see his wandering eyes when you would bring him around, even go far as catching up all up on some girl once. Leo had just laughed it off and said it wasn’t what it had looked like before before walking back to you. Since that day Bucky made sure to keep a close eye on him, which put Leo on his guard and just made it harder to catch him

“Asshole. How did she take it? Why didn’t she tell me?”

Natasha looked at Bucky with a knowing stare, “You know why she didn’t tell you. She hasn’t exactly been that open about her relationship since that day you told her you caught him on some girl at the BBQ last year”

Bucky drank more of his water and sighed, his gaze moving up to see you interacting with Wanda. He couldn’t help the slight smile that was on his lips as Wanda pushed hair from your face and spoke to you in a quiet, calming voice.

“Whose Natasha talking to? Hey Nat! I’m the drunk one here you’re not supposed to be the one talking….to yourself”

Natasha smiled in amusement as she ate more chips from the bag, “I’m not babe, I’m talking to Bucky”

Your eyes widened immediately as you straightened up from Wanda’s body and fumbled around with your hair, “Holy shit! Why didn’t you...tell me. Wanda how do I look?”

Wanda let out a laugh and shook her head as you loudly whispered to her, her hand going to hold onto you and smooth out your hair

“You look lovely Y/N/N”

You looked in Bucky’s general direction, a smile on your face at his words. You brought your chin to rest on your open palm on top of the counter, your eyes closing and opening so you could try to focus

“Y/N, Wanda and I are going to get out of this clothes and we’re going to bring you a change of clothes. Are you okay with Bucky for a few minutes?”

You let out a soft grumble in agreement, your eyes now just staying shut.

“Yeah. I mean as long as...he doesn’t take off his shirt because I wouldn’t remember it in the morning and that would be...a waste of a strip tease”

Bucky laughed a bit as he walked over and stood next to you to keep you upright, “Don’t worry doll my shirt will stay on”

Wanda and Natasha laughed to themselves before making their way to their rooms to change. Y/N felt her body sway to rest against Bucky’s torso, her head on his chest before Bucky moved to rest a hand on your waist

“Come on Y/N we should get you in a more stable seat”

You groaned as Bucky helped you up off the stool and made his way to the couch

“Bucky, you were right. I’m sorry, I should have...listened to you”

Bucky moved to set you down on the couch, taking a seat next to you “Right about what sweetheart?”

“About Leo...he was, he’s an asshole. That day at the BBQ, I knew...I knew you were telling me the truth. I just..do you know I had caught him talking to other women all the time? On his phone, when we went out. I just...I was so embarrassed. I didn’t want it to be true”

You moved to lay your head down in his lap and sniffled, “I tried everything, he just...I should have accepted that he didn’t want me”

Bucky moved his hand to push your hair out of your face, his other hand resting around your form “Don’t beat yourself up Y/N/N. He never deserved you. He’s an idiot if I’ve ever met one. And I’ve met many. If you want I can go scare him for you. You know, rough him up a little bit”

You laughed softly and shook your head, “It’s okay. Thank you though”

Bucky looked down as he continued to run his hand through your hair, watching as you held up one of your hands, “I should’ve choked him out with a vine when I had the chance”

He let out a loud laugh at this, his hand reaching up to take yours and set it down on your hip, “Calm down there Little Shop of Horrors”

Nat and Wanda entered the living area, clothes in hand, “Alright little lady let’s get you out of these clothes. Thank you Barnes”

Bucky helped you sit up, getting up when Wanda and Natasha sat down,“Bucky can’t leave. He smells nice, and he’s comfortable”

“Bucky can’t watch us change you sweetie. Remember, waste of a strip tease?”

Bucky smiled and turned around as Nat and Wanda helped you out of your dress and into a large t-shirt and shorts, “It’s okay I’d strip for that man any day”

Wanda scoffed with a laugh, Bucky’s smile growing into a happy little smirk at your words

“He’s still in the room lady behave”

“Oops, sorry”

You let out a drunken giggle as Wanda and Nat finished up, “Alright Bucky you can turn around. You’re welcome to join us. We’re just going to pop in a movie so we can keep an eye on her for the night”

Bucky nodded as he took his seat next to you again, letting you get comfortable in his lap again, his hand finding a comfortable spot on your waist.

“Psst...hey Nat you think I...got a chance with Bucky?”

Bucky looked down with a small smirk since Natasha was on the other sofa turning on the TV, “Absolutely doll”

You let out a content mumble of ‘thank god’ before stretching out your arm across Bucky’s lap.

“You know she’s not going to remember any of this when she wakes up right?”

Bucky looked up at Wanda before looking back down at your form

“Oh I know. That’s what’s going to make my days so much better for what I have planned”

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Too Kind

MAIN MASTERLIST

Avengers x Stark!Reader

Word Count: 3,950ish

Summary: You’re smart just like your father, Tony Stark. But too kind for your own good.

Notes: This was a requested one, but it was also one of the ones that got deleted. I hope that whoever requested this enjoys it. (REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN. CLICK/PRESS HERE FOR GUIDELINES.)

You’ve always been told that your mother was the nicest woman on the planet. And that you were very much like her in that way. Unfortunately, your mother died during childbirth leaving you with your father, Tony Stark. You definitely got his brains, but you were definitely not as loud and rambunctious as him.

When you first met the Avengers, they were surprised that you were Tony’s daughter. In their eyes, you were too nice, too forgiving. You hated violence, but you understood why your father and the other Avengers did what they did. None of what made you you was a bad thing. It’s just, the Avengers were afraid that one day you’d get deeply hurt by your kind and forgiving nature. They couldn’t stand to see you sad so they did whatever they could to protect you. But they knew, that the one that would end up hurting you the most was Tony.

Not that he was a bad father, he just was blind to how his actions affected people. Especially you, his daughter. Tony would spend a lot of time in his lab or away on missions. He did try to make sure a night was set aside every week for just the two of you, but that slowly faded away once Peter Parker came into the picture. The Avengers saw what was happening and felt extremely sorry for you. They would always try to get you to talk about it, but you would always give him an excuse though and never talk unkind about him. This made the Avengers hearts break but also made them love you more. You were a better person than they would ever be.

One morning, you were having breakfast in the common kitchen of the Avengers Tower. Steve was brewing coffee while Sam was making waffles, bacon, and eggs, and Natasha was cutting fruit. Tony drudged in after a long night in the lab, going straight for the coffee.

“Good morning, dad!” You greeted with a large smile on your face.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Tony greeted in return, grabbing a cup of coffee before walking to press a kiss on your hair. “Have any plans today?” He moved to sit in the empty chair next to you.

“Just school and then a big science project I need to work on this afternoon.”

“Science project? That sounds interesting. Need any help?”

“You aren’t too busy to help?”

“I’m never too busy for you, sweetheart.” The other Avengers eyed each other, carefully watching the interaction. “Why don’t you come straight to the lab after school?”

“Really?”

“Really.” He leaned forward, kissing your cheek, before standing up. “I’ll see you after school.”

“Yeah, see ya then, dad.”

Tony smiled at you before heading back to the lab. The three Avengers in the kitchen with you moved to sit down at the table.

“That will be nice,” Natasha said, slowly. “When was the last time you worked on something in the lab with him?”

“Oh, a few months, I think,” you answered. “But he’s been busy, saving the world and helping Peter get his feet on the ground now that he’s an Avenger.”

“You know you don’t have to do that, Y/N,” Steve said.

“Do what?”

“Make excuses for him. He’s your father, he should spend more time with you than he does.”

“He spends time with me. It’s just that Peter doesn’t have a father in his life. Dad feels the need to step into that roll. It’s alright.”

“I don’t know how you do it, Y/N/N,” Sam said, shaking his head. “I don’t know how have been able to maintain such a positive attitude throughout everything.”

You just shrugged your shoulders. “It’s not that hard.”

“You know that if it gets too much for you, that we’re here for you right?” Natasha comforted. “Any of us would gladly put your father in his place.”

“I know that, Nat. But I don’t need any of you hurting each other. Thanks for the offer though.” You stood up, swinging your backpack over your shoulder and putting the dishes you used in the sink. “Thanks for breakfast guys! I’ll see you after school!” And then you were gone.

Steve sighed. “I’m worried,” he said. “She’ll break one day. He’ll do something to hurt her and I can’t bare to stand by and watch it.”

“We can’t do anything until she says,” Nat said. “If we do anything, she’ll be disappointed in us. All we can do right now it remind her that we’re here for her and watch carefully.”

~~~

School went slowly, with you constantly watching the time. All you wanted to do was go home and work in the lab with your dad. It had been longer than you’d like to admit since it was just you and Tony in the lab. When you got home, you swung by the kitchen for a snack before making your way to the lab. As you neared, you heard laughter coming from the room. You entered to see Tony and Peter working together on a new Spider-Man suit, laughing. Bruce was on the far end of the lab, minding his own business. You slowly came up to your dad and Peter.

“Hey, dad,” you greeted, smile on your face. “Hey, Pete.”

“Hey, sweetheart,” your dad turned around. “Spidey here ruined his suit during lunch today, so we’re just fixing it up. Mind if you wait a little before we start on your project?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Hey, Y/N,” Bruce called, having heard the conversation. “I can help you if you’d like.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay Bruce,” you shook your head. “I can wait. I’ll just be up in my room until you need me, okay dad?” But Tony wasn’t listening, he was back to work with Peter. “Dad?”

“Huh?” Tony hummed, not moving to look at you.

“Just have FRIDAY tell me when you’re ready.”

“Oh, yeah, okay.”

You smiled kindly at Bruce before heading to your room. Bruce sighed as he watched you leave. He knew you had hope that Tony would call you down tonight, but this hadn’t been the first interaction like this that he had witnessed. It hurt him to see you seemly so naive to what was happening to you.

You never did get called down to the lab. But instead of hiding out in your bedroom to do homework all night, you eventually moved out into the common area. Nat, Steve, Sam, Wanda, Vision, Rhodey, Bucky, and Bruce were all already out there, putting together dinner. Bruce had already told them what he had witnessed in the lab and they all already had to stop Bucky from barging down there and giving Tony a piece of his mind. They all smiled though, at you as you walked to the table and set your things down.

“How was school today, Y/N?” Rhodey asked.

“It was school,” you answered with a shrug of your shoulders. “Not too terrible, but also not too amazing.”

“Anything we can do to help you with your homework?” Steve asked.

“No,” you shook your head. “I just came out because I didn’t want to be alone while I worked.”

They all eyed each other and silently promised each other that they wouldn’t let anything ruin your night. They all pitched in to help you with your homework, even though you never asked. All of you worked together to make dinner, laughing and dancing around the kitchen. It was a night to remember. You fell asleep at the table, head fallen into a textbook. Bucky gently took you in his arms and tucked you in for the night. Wishing you sweet dreams with a kiss to your forehead.

You woke up and did your routine like any other day. This time was a little different though, both Peter and Tony were at the table eating breakfast before you.

“Good morning,” you said with a smile.

“Good morning,” Peter replied.

“Did you spend the night Pete?”

“Yeah, by the time Mr. Stark and I were finished, it was too late.”

“Hmm,” you hummed, grabbing a yogurt and a throw-a-way spoon. “Did you get everything fixed?”

“We did,” Tony answered. “Even started designs for a new suit for him.”

“Oh… I’m glad you two got some work done. I’ll see you guys after school.”

“Have a great day, honey!” Tony shouted as you entered the elevator.

~~~

School was the same as the day before, only this time you were coming home with an award for first place in your classes science fair. You were so excited to share the news with your dad. You went straight to the lab to show him.

“Hey, Dad!” You excitedly greeted as you rushed in. “Look what I—“

“Can’t talk right now, sweetheart,” Tony interrupted, heading to his waiting suit. “Peter’s in trouble. I’ll talk to you later though.”

You couldn’t get another word in before he was gone. You waited to move until you couldn’t hear or see hie suit anymore before you went to the common area. Bucky, Vision, and Wanda were in there, sitting around the room.

“Hey, Little Stark!” Bucky said when he sensed you. “How was school? Did your project go well?”

“It did,” you nodded, pulling out the award. “I got first place.”

“You did?” Bucky jumped up to see the award. “Congrats!” He spun you around, causing you to laugh.

“Thank you, Buck.”

“We have to celebrate!”

“Have you showed your father?” Vision asked. “I’m sure Mr. Stark would be so proud.”

“I tried,” you said. “But apparently something happened with Peter that he had to hurry and get to him.” You could see the looks of disappointment with a hint of anger they were giving you. “But that’s okay. I’ll just tell him when he’s back.”

~~~

Unfortunately, you didn’t get to see your dad for the rest of the day or before you left for school the next morning. It did disappoint you a little, that he seemed to be so busy as of late, but you also understood that the things he did were important. You were sitting in your math class, waiting for it to start, when the windows shattered and five people dressed in black from head to toe came bursting in. The classmates around you screamed while you jumped in shock.

“Nobody move!” One of the five shouted, a man’s voice. Each of them were holding up guns. “Stay where you are and nobody move!” You and your classmates froze in your spots. “Very good. Now, those of you standing, get in a seat.”

Your classmates quickly did as they were instructed. You kept your backpack that was resting in your lap close. Your father and the other Avengers, had you carry a bracelet in your bag in case of emergencies. Once you put it on, it would activate a signal for help and would form a Iron Man gauntlet onto your hand for protect. You kept your head down as the five people moved to surround the room on all sides.

“We’re looking for Spider-Man!” Another one yelled, again a man’s voice. “We’ve seen him come and go from this building. If any of you know who he really is, better fess up before it’s too late.”

You could feel the eyes of your classmates on you. They all knew whose child you were and who you considered family. So of course they would look at you for that answer. As carefully and quietly as you could, you slipped your hand into your bag and grabbed the bracelet.

“If any of you know the truth about Spider-Man’s identity,” a woman’s voice shouted. “Fess up now or one of your classmates are going to get what’s coming to them.”

You tensed at the sound of all of their guns cocking. You hated violence, but you weren’t about to let any of your classmates get hurt if you had any say. You took a deep breath before slowly standing up from your seat. Suddenly, all eyes and guns were on you.

“I-I-I know…” You shakily said. “I know who he is… I can take you to him.”

“You’re Stark’s kid,” a fourth voice snarled. “She would know who Spider-Man is. She lives at the Tower with the other heroes.”

“Come here, then,” the first man ordered, seemly the one in charge.

You slowly walked towards him, slipping the bracelet fully onto your wrist. You tried hard not to breathe a sigh of relief when the bracelet fully conformed to your wrist and slowly began forming over your hand. You knew that the Avengers would be here soon.

“I know what class he should be in,” you said, quietly.

“Then take us to him,” the first man growled.

You nodded, turning to head towards the door. But before you fully turned, you lifted your hand and used the gauntlet to take out the two people in the back.

“Foolish girl!” The man shouted.

He aimed his gun at you, but you dodged the bullet. All of your classmates took cover under their desks as a fight began. Another one came up began you, shooting at you. The bullet graze your right side. Causing you to scream out in pain. But you kept going. You quickly took out your shooter before taking out another one of the attackers. Leaving just the main guy. You help up your gauntlet covered hand as he held up his gun. You could faintly hear the emergency vehicles coming closer.

“You stupid girl,” the man snarled. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I would do anything to protect another’s life,” you said. “That’s how I was raised.”

“Too bad no one will be able to save yours.”

~~~

The Avengers were all in various places around the Tower, going about their own business when FRIDAY sounded the alarm.

“Miss Stark has used her panic bracelet,” FRIDAY announced to them. “She is currently at the school.”

All of the Avengers rushed to suit up.

“Where’s Tony?” Bruce asked, planning on waiting behind until he was deemed needed.

“He hasn’t been seen since yesterday,” Steve answered. “I’m sure that FRIDAY has told him and he’ll meet us there.”

~~~

The man finished his words and two shots were heard. Both the man and yourself falling to the floor. As you fell, you could faintly see Bucky outside the window, sniper riffle in hand. You looked down to see yourself bleeding from the center of your chest and the side where the bullet grazed. Breathing had become difficult. You heard someone running and jumping into the window.

“No, no, no, no,” Bucky rushed, kneeling beside you. “Doll, stay with me.” His metal hand came to press on your wound as his other went to the comm piece in his ear. “I need emergency medical services on the East side. Y/N’s been shot.”

“Bucky…” you rasped, black dots slowly filling your vision.

“Sshh… save your breath, doll. You’re going to be fine.”

“Oh my gosh!” Steve exclaimed, him and Natasha running into the room. They knelt on the other side.

“D-dad…?” You croaked. “W-here’s my d-dad?”

“He’s on his way, sweetie,” Nat said, trying to comfort you.

“T-tell him-m… that I-I’m sorry… I tried… an-and that I for-forgive him…” You barely got all that out before your world went black.

The EMTs arrived almost right after you fell unconscious. The team struggled to stand by and watch them rush you away in an ambulance. They quickly followed behind, arriving at the hospital right after you. You were immediately rushed into surgery and the team was forced to wait in the waiting room. Bucky and Steve were pacing; Vision was floating; Wanda was sitting in a corner, trying to block out everyone’s racing thoughts; Natasha was sitting in a chair, leaning forward with her hands clasped in front of her; Sam was leaning back, arms crossed and foot tapping; and Rhodey and Bruce were trying to get a hold of Tony. They had been there a little more than an hour when Tony and Peter rushed into the waiting room.

“Where is she?” Tony asked, clearly out of breath. “Where’s my daughter?”

“You would know if you answered the emergency alert that was sent out!” Bucky shouted.

“We were a bit busy trying to find these guys and were threatening Peter!”

“You mean the same guys that broke into the school and threatened Y/N’s class?” Steve growled.

“What?” Tony shook his head. “No. They… They… oh my—”

“And you were too busy to come to your own daughter’s rescue?!” Steve continued. “But, why is that a surprise,” Steve chuckled darkly. “You’re always too busy for her.”

“I don’t like the way you’re talking, Rogers. Be very careful.”

“But it’s true!” Bucky yelled. “Time and time again she’s tried to spend time with you, but you push her aside. Either for a mission or for him!” Bucky pointed at Peter, who immediately looked like he wanted to disappear.

“That’s not true!” Tony retorted. “I spend plenty of—“

“It is true, Tony!” Nat yelled, coming up to face the man. “Just in the past two days, you’ve ignored you twice to spend time with Peter. No offensive, Peter. This really isn’t your fault.”

“Did you know that she got first prize in her science class for the project that you didn’t end up helping her on?” Bucky questioned your father.

“I told her that I’d help her after—“

“After you were finished with me,” Peter interrupted Tony. Everyone turned to look at the poor teenager, who was feeling incredibly guilty. “But we never finished. Or even asked her to stay.”

Tony got quiet, immediately searching in his memories for the events of the past few days. And, unfortunately, his teammates were right. He searched his memories back farther, realizing that it made been months since he’d spent any alone time with his own daughter. Tears pricked his eyes.

“What have I done?” He quietly asked, turning the attention on himself. “What have I done?” He ran his hands through his hair, feeling a panic attack coming on. Tony backed up into the wall. “She’ll never forgive me… I’ll never forgive myself… she’ll die not knowing how much I care for her…”

“Tony, Tony,” Rhodey quickly came up to his spiraling friend. “We can’t think like that. Yes, we haven’t heard anything. But Y/N is not going to die.”

“And she’ll forgive you,” Bucky said. “For whatever reason… her last words before she— she wanted you to know that she was sorry and that she forgave you.”

“She was sorry?” Tony repeated. “How—why?”

“She felt like she didn’t try hard enough for you,” Nat answered.

“What? How could she feel that way? And… and how could see forgive me?”

“She was always forgive you,” Bruce replied. “For everything. She always gave you a reason.”

“I’m a terrible father.”

“Damn right you are,” Bucky agreed.

“Bucky,” Nat scolded.

“No, no, Barnes is right,” Tony said, hanging his head. “And if she doesn’t make it… I’ll never get to make it up to her…”

~~~

It was a long and tormenting wait. They were all constantly moving, constantly changing positions. It was scary, not having heard anything after seven hours of you being back there. They were really starting to fear the worst. By the time the tenth hour came, most of them were prepared for the worst when the doctor come out and called for your family. They all rushed up though, Tony in front.

“Surgery was rough,” the doctor started. “She flatlined a few times. We won’t know the full extent of any lasting effects until she wakes. She’s currently in the ICU. We’ve put her in the most secluded area of the ICU so that you all can come back.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Tony said.

“Why don’t we all go back to the Tower and change, bring food back, so that Tony can have some time with Y/N?” Natasha suggested.

The team all nodded in agreement. They left Tony will reassuring smiles and pats as they went to leave. The doctor walked Tony to your room, where he became frozen at the door. His heart broke into a million pieces at the sight of you hooked up to wires and tubes breathing for you. He didn’t try to stop the tears that began to trickle down his cheeks as he took in your body. He’d never seen you, or anyone else, look so fragile. It was clear that you had lost a lot of blood and that the surgery took just as much of a toll on your body as the bullet wounds had. Slowly, his heavy feet made their way to your bedside, pulling the chair up with him. Tony plopped into the chair, immediately grasping your hand in both of his. He held his head to the hands, crying into them.

“I promise that I’ll do better,” he cried. “Be better… for you… you deserve a better father than me… and, from now on, I promise to be the father you deserve…”

He stayed by your side, for days. With the other members of the team switching off to be there for you as well. A week after surgery, the doctor gave the go ahead to take the breathing tube out of your mouth. It was now completely up to you and your body as to when you would wake up. At this time, none of the team members left the hospital. They all wanted to be there when you woke. It was other two days before you flinched. They all were immediately on edge, watching for more movements. Your eyes fluttered next, clearly taking a while to adjust to the bright hospital lights. Tony stood, so that he could be the first one you saw.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he smiled, a teary, tired smile, as your eyes met his.

“D-dad…” you rasped. “I—“

“No need for that,” he shook his head. “You need to rest some more.”

“Hey, doll,” Bucky greeted as him, Steve, and Sam walked up to the other side. The other team members quickly surrounded the bed. “You gave us quite the scare.”

“Never do that again,” Tony pled, holding a kiss to your forehead. “I am so sorry, Y/N,” he whispered, letting a tear fall onto your face. “I am so sorry.”

“Let’s give them some space,” Wanda said quietly. “It’s good to have you back with us.” The team went to wait just outside the room, leaving the father-daughter you alone.

“I’m so incredibly sorry for the way I’ve been treating you, Y/N,” Tony cried. “I don’t know how you could ever forgive me.”

“Be-because… I… love you… as a daught-ter should love… her father… unconditionally…”

“You’re too good for me. Too good for this world. I love you, honey. So, so much.”

You gave your father the best smile you could. “Start over?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “And, first things first, I’m taking all time off so that I can just focus on you and your recovery. Show you that I mean it.”

“Okay,” you nodded. “You just can’t go polar opposite, helicopter parent. Okay? I don’t know how I’ll be able to handle that.”

“Oh, sweetheart, that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”

[rebeccccccaaa]

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞

____________________________

𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: A true enemies to lovers ;)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: smut 18+, angry makeout turned soft, gross fluff, bit of angst? 

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: angst? (i still don’t really know what classifies as angst), confused feelings, age gap (reader of age), hate sex 18+, angry makeout turned soft, smut 18+, vulgar language, brutal insults, it’s just all mean

𝐀/𝐧: i literally cannot help falling in love it’s literally a problem. like words of affrimation is my one of my love languages. i’ll try not to include the next angst/smut lmao

_____________________________

(𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 | 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞)

“Wow,” Steve sighed.

Bucky had told him everything; not detailed but what he should know. 

“Is it love?”

“I don’t fucking know, man. And it’s pissing me off,” Bucky sighed dramatically, making Steve chuckle.

“That’s crazy, man. Weird to think about; like you and her…” Steve gestured his hands together then cringed.

“Can you not?” Bucky laughed.

“I don’t know what to tell her. I don’t want to fight anymore but she doesn’t know that and I can’t just say, ‘Hey, when we slept together I realized I don’t fight you anymore because I think like you?’ She’ll kill me!”

“Who’ll kill you,” Nat said, returning with Tony, Clint, and Sam from the Hydra base.

“Nobody,” Bucky mumbled. 

“Ok,” Nat continued walking to the medbay where you, Banner, and Cho were while Sam stayed with the boys.

“How is she doing?” Tony asked.

“Not good,” Banner said, biting his nails.

“What?” Nat gasped.

“She was in an extreme critical condition and no one was here to give her blood. Cho doesn’t share blood type, I’m radioactive, you guys were gone, and Steve and Buck have the serum,” Banner said. 

Tony and Nat looked at each like they had something to say.

“What?” Banner asked.

“You’ll never guess what we recovered at the base,” Tony said, opening a slot in his suit.

He pulled out a tube similar to the shape of a pen that contained familiar blue liquid inside. Banner’s head shot up again looking back and forth between Nat and Tony. 

“Will it work?”

“This could save her life,” Bruce whispered.

ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜs ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ

You grabbed our basket of laundry and walked back to your room. You turned the TV on and folded your clothes. You were still recovering from the last mission you went on with Bucky; you haven’t  really spoken to him since. You two haven’t even fought since the day you came back. 

Banner and Cho had injected the infamous super soldier serum Hydra refined. Apparently the entire charade of a fundraiser was to present a new type of serum to a shitty ‘board of directors’ a part of Hydra. 

And now you were the only human being on earth to have it in your system.

Tony and Bruce were constantly running tests and safety precautions on you for the past three months and you were feeling fine. Better than before; maybe a little taller. 

The effects heightened senses similar to Peter’s radioactivity, enhanced strength like the boys, and intelligence; by that you were able to retain more information and perceive complex data.

This was on top of what powers you already possessed. So now you were basically Tony, Peter, Wanda, and Steve wrapped up in a beautifully dainty bow. 

Natasha has been re-training you alongside Steve, and you were slowly becoming stronger than them surprisingly. Wanda was still way more powerful than you though.

You finished a session with them and they advised you to rest but with the serum you practically didn’t need recovery time; maybe just a hot shower. 

So here you are folding your clothes filling the time.

A light soft knock on your door disrupted you. You walked and opened the door finding none other than Bucky; truthfully the last person you expect.

“Can I come in?” he asked you.

“Uh sure. I’m folding laundry,” you said, stepping to the side to let him in.

“That’s alright.”

“What’s up?” you continued folding your clothes after turning the TV off.

“How are you doing?”

“Alright. Kinda feel better than before,” you smiled softly.

“That’s great.”

There was silence that coated you two. You were getting slightly annoyed as to what was going on with him. He’s been weird since the night you two hate fucked. And you weren’t having his shit anymore.

“What’s wrong with you?” you asked bluntly.

“What do you mean?” 

“Why have you been acting this way? Why aren’t we fighting?”

“I thought you didn’t like fighting.”

“I don’t which is why I’ve always hated you and vice versa,” you started to raise your voice in frustration.

“Maybe I don’t want to hate you anymore.”

“Why? Buck, we don’t fucking like each other! Sometimes people don’t get along and that’s us!”

“Fuck, Y/n. You’re so fucking stubborn. Don’t you realize how exhausting it is. We’re always yelling and fighting and throwing shit at each other. It doesn’t have to be like that anymore. These past three months we haven’t fought-”

“We haven’t talked in three months!” you yelled. He grabbed the back of your neck and pulled you flushed against him.

“Godammit, woman.” 

“Fuck you,” you said.

Bucky kissed you and you tried to push him away only making him grab you wrists and push against the wall. You furrowed your brows kissing him back however. He was so addicting and you hated it. The kiss slowly turned soft and sensual; your tongues swirling around each other. 

He pulled away and found you had your eyes still closed. He went in for another kiss but you turned your head away; him not knowing that you didn’t want to give in again. You could hear and feel his heartbeat beating incredibly fast; as was yours.

“Can we start over?” he whispered against your ear, his forehead resting against your head. 

You didn’t respond so he got off you and walked out of your room closing the door behind him. You wished then you would’ve said something. You breathe out not realizing you were holding your breath. 

You went to finish folding your laundry but another knock echoed in the loud silence. And you knew exactly who it was.

You opened the door meeting your eyes with his. 

“Hi, I’m Bucky,” he smiled.

“What are you doing?” you tried not to smile.

“I heard you were moving in today and thought it would be neighborly to drop by and say hi.”

“I’m not playing this charade with you,” you cracked a smile as he stepped closer to you.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he whispered before grabbing your face and kissing you devotedly. 

You laughed in the kiss and Bucky kicked the door closed with his foot. You wrapped your arms around his neck basking in the kiss. He pushed your basket of clothes to the floor, neither of you really caring too much if it landed alright. 

You’ll make him redo it if not.

His hands brushed against your hot skin under your shirt after he laid you gently on your back. Not long after he whined, a way of begging you to take your shirt off. He tugged at it and you sat up finally letting him take it off. 

His hands cupped your breasts while trailing kisses down your jaw and neck. He moved down your body and down the bed, standing up to strip himself of clothes. He did the same to you after he was bare. He settled between you and just watched your face. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he tucked a strand of hair behind  your ear.

“God, our fights killed me every fucking day. You’re so sexy when you’re mad,” he joked.

“Shut up,” you laughed turning your head away.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked seriously and gently.

“Yeah, I don’t want to fight anymore either,” you cupped his face. 

“Ok,” he kissed you. He gently flipped you onto your stomach.

“Bedside?” he asked referring to condoms.

You nodded biting your lip, bringing your knees under your hips pushing your ass up for him. 

Bucky wrapped his dick and pumped it a few times, rubbing your back softly with his other hand. He looked at your glistening pussy smiling knowing how wet you’d gotten because of him. He lined himself with your entrance and pushed himself in. 

He stopped when he felt your body ever so slightly tensed up. You breathed heavily but urged him to continue. He moved in and out of you moaning. His hands rubbed up and down your back and your body trembled under him. 

He leaned down and pressed kisses on your back slowing down a bit. You wiggled your hips wanting more and Bucky moved his hand up the front of your body. He pulled you up so you were pressed against his chest kissing your shoulder. 

He moved widely fast in and out of you chasing his high. You were shaking against him, feeling your oragsm approaching insanely quick. You threw your head back onto Bucky’s shoulder. One of his hands played with your breast while the other reached down and rubbed your clit. 

When he did, your body jerked and you moaned louder making Bucky smile. He moved faster and seconds later you both tumbled over the edge. Bucky moaned your name and bit you shoulder trying to suffice his moan. You didn’t give a shit though.

Your eyes rolled back and your hand wrapped around to grab Bucky’s face while the other around his hip, pulling and scratching him pleasurably. You moan, not you practically scream at how intense your oragsm hit you. 

He fell forward softly trying not to crush you  and kissed along your shoulder blades. You panted heavily under him, desperate to catch your breath. You laughed a bit after making him laugh too.

“That was … holy shit, wow,” you gasped.

“Good,” he smiled at you.

“What on earth do we say to others?” you rolled under him so you laid on your back.

“Eh, let ‘em figure it out,” he buried his face in your neck making you laugh. 

You two went another round or two... or seven, until you guys finally rested and slept for the night. Suspiciously no one came looking for either of you.

The next morning you woke up in Bucky’s arms feeling strikingly sore. You never got sore. But considering you and Bucky are both enhanced and went on for hours last night, it doesn’t actually surprise you too much that that’s what it took to get you sore for the first since you've been enhanced with the serum.

You rolled over seeing Bucky still asleep. You were so confused. 

Bucky stirred before opening his eyes meeting yours and smiled pulling you close again. He closed his eyes again and traced little patterns in your skin. 

“What going on in that pretty head of yours, baby girl,” he asked.

“We hate each other,” you whispered.

“We don’t have to,” He opened his eyes again.

“This is a very slippery slope we’re approaching.”

“I know, but I want it. Do you?”

“Yeah,” tears formed in your eyes.

“What if this doesn’t work out though? We’ll hate each other even more,” you said, your voice breaking.

“I don’t know, I don’t think I could ever hate you again. I don’t think I ever really did. Disliked, yeah. But not hate.”

“I’m sorry i treated you like dog shit,” you sniffled making Bucky laughed.

“I’m sorry too.”

“Bucky?”

“Y/n?”

“I hate you,” a tear fell slowly down your cheek. 

“I hate you too," he chuckled, kissing your temple before closing his eyes again.

TAGLIST FOR SERIES:

@hoeforcuteguyswithcharmingsmiles  @sweetlikesugar9 @thefifthweasley @thefallenbibliophilequote​ @perfectlymaximumphilosopher @kenopsiababe @montypythonsholysnail @smoochesfroggos @emmabarnes @furiouscopshepherduniversity  @ddowii  @mrsdancing

[the-bau-quinjet]

Can you please do like a sequel of Shut Up where Bucky and the reader team up against Sam????

Oops...

Warnings: fluff!!

Word Count: 1438

a/n: Sorry this took so long! It took me a while to think of a prank that wasn't too terribly mean...

Shut Up!

Masterlist

"Y/N." Bucky whined, his hands holding tightly to one of your own. "We have to do something to Sam!"

You laughed at his childlike behavior. Ever since your first date with Bucky, which went surprisingly well considering how nervous the both of you were, Bucky has been pestering you about teaming up against Sam.

Rather than responding, you pulled out your phone, quickly playing the video of Steve in his Captain America suit rattling on about patience.

"We need a plan first." You laid back on your bed, pulling Bucky along since he still held your hand.

"One: why do you have that video so readily available? Two: I have a plan." He smiled maniacally. "Turn him into a bird."

You scrunched up your face. "One: for moments like this, duh." You answered his first question.

I am definitely 100% in love with her. Bucky's thoughts ran wild.

"Two: I already made you a cat. You need to be more creative." You laughed at his pouty face.

How is he so perfect?

"Like what?" He bounced on the bed, fully embracing the childlike temper tantrum.

"I don't know. We could make Friday only call him Bird Brain for a day. Or make it so Redwing only responds to being called 'toy plane'." You thought about random prank ideas, trying to think of something that would bother him, but still be funny. Bucky looked at you fondly as you listed ideas.

How is she so perfect.

"I've got it." Bucky grinned smugly earning a raised eyebrow from you. "Can you make it so he can only say song lyrics?"

You thought to yourself for a minute before finally nodding.

"Embarrassing song lyrics?" He added, the mischief clear in his eyes.

"Now you're talking. What are you thinking? Early Jonas Brothers? High School Musical? Hannah Montana?" Your smile grew with each new artist you listed.

"Perfect. Now we just have to think of a way for him to eat something we give him."

Bucky was pacing, clearly deep in thought.

"Actually, I didn't need to make you eat that cookie. I could've just turned you into a cat with the flick of a wrist." You grinned at his wide eyes.

"What? Why then?"

"Because. It was more fun to see how paranoid you were about eating anything I gave you."

Bucky pouted, although he had to admit it made sense.

I am definitely in love with this man. You shook your head, trying to clear the thoughts.

"C'mon. We've got to make a plan."

-

You worked your magic on Sam on a day when you knew everyone would be around the compound. He was minding his own business, trying to watch a movie when you and Bucky suddenly appeared.

"Hey, Sam. How you doing?" You asked with a fake air of innocence.

"I'm hot. You're cold. You go around, like you know-" He instantly burst into song, eyes widening. He threw his hands over his mouth, trying to prevent anything else from coming out.

You played it cool, but the twinkle in Bucky's eye easily gave away your prank.

"What's going on? This can't be happening. Don't tell me it's a song!" Sam switched songs, eyes narrowing. He continued singing, despite his clear protests.

"Oh, it's a song." You grinned, leaning into Bucky who wrapped an arm around you.

I love her so much.

Sam shook his head in response, leaving the common area. He figured it would only last a few hours, so all he had to do was avoid people talking to him.

What he didn't account for was Tony's "impromptu" team building night. In reality, you suggested to Tony that maybe the team needed more time together not fighting anyone, and he ran with the idea.

"Alright party people! What should we play first?" Tony gestured to the massive table filled with various board games.

"I've always loved clue!" You grinned, knowing what would come next.

"Clue it is! Who does everyone want to be?" Tony questioned, laying out the various pieces.

"Who will I be? It's up to me. All the never ending possibilities, that I can see." Sam immediately burst into song, surprising most everyone around the table.

"Oh, I wouldn't say never ending, Sam. I think there's only six!" You patted him on the shoulder, a wide smile on your face.

"What did you do?" Steve asked, eyes narrowing in on you and Bucky.

"Oh, don't worry Cap. It'll only last another..." You glanced at the clock, "four hours." Bucky hid his face in your neck to prevent himself from laughing too obnoxiously.

I love him so much.

"Games and a show. I like it." Nat winked at you, always a fan of your pranks since none were ever directed at her.

"What was he even singing?" Clint stared at you, again unprepared for Sam to answer in song.

"Cause we rock. Camp Rock. We rock, we rock on." Sam glared at you, the expression really not matching the joyous music filling the room.

"He can only sing songs from Disney Channel Original Movies or people who were once on Disney Channel." You smiled to yourself, happy with the limits on the spell. "I do believe the last two were from Camp Rock."

"This should be an interesting night." Bruce shook his head, never one to understand the draw of practical jokes.

"That's an understatement." Steve shook his head. He finally had you and Bucky getting along, so of course you'd do something like this.

-

"Moving on." You pointedly glared at Clint, knowing he was about to bring up Budapest again. "Let's play a team game next."

"Charades?" Bucky suggested, trying to keep it simple enough.

You all split into two teams, Sam being sure to put himself against you and Bucky.

"Sam, you're definitely going down." You goaded, trying to draw out another song.

"Hey now, We no longer wait around. My team's stronger like weights now." He started rapping, or as close to rapping as it gets on Disney.

"Oh my God. That's even better than I expected." You laughed so hard, tears sprung up in your eyes.

"Disney raps now?" Tony questioned, also laughing at Sam's embarrassed face.

"Yes. Lemonade Mouth. An underrated film, honestly." You nodded, completely serious only earning more laughs from the team.

I. Love. You. Bucky's thoughts were written across his face, but somehow went unnoticed by you.

-

"That's okay, Sam." Bucky grinned. "Nobody's perfect."

"Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has those days. Everybody knows what, what I'm talking 'bout. Everybody gets that way."

You couldn't stop the smile from forming you your face, although rather than laughing at Sam's embarrassment you were now just enjoying Bucky being happy.

I. Love. You.

-

"I hate you both." Sam cleared his throat, no longer used to the sensation of speaking.

"It was Bucky's brilliant idea." You smiled at him. I love you.

"Well, it was Y/N's brilliant execution." He pressed a kiss to your nose. I love you.

"Dear Lord. I can't take this anymore." Wanda erupted, in a similar fashion to the night you turned Bucky into a cat. "I get it. You two love each other. Now, please! Learn how to control your thoughts!"

You and Bucky were wide eyed, stares flitting between Wanda and each other.

"You love me?" Your voice was soft showing how unsure of yourself you were.

Bucky nodded before voicing a similar question. "You love me?"

"Oops..." Wanda hid behind Vision, trying not to draw anymore attention to herself. Thankfully, all eyes were on you and Bucky.

"I really, really do." You whispered, eyes solely focused on Bucky.

Bucky pulled you in for a kiss, heart bursting with joy. He never thought he'd find someone to love him, let alone someone as incredible as you.

"I love you." Bucky whispered against your lips, kissing you between the words.

"I love you too." You kissed him right back, heart fluttering.

"I liked it better when they were constantly fighting." Sam muttered under his breath, earning a punch in the arm from Steve.

"Let them be. They're in love." He sighed with a happy smile. He couldn't help but think about how much Bucky deserved to be happy.

"I don't know if this is the cutest or grossest thing I've ever seen." Nat commented, eyes still focused on you and Bucky's whispered words and soft kisses.

"Grossest. Definitely the grossest." Clint added on, needing to jump out of the way as you and Bucky took off for your room, paying no mind to the many teammates laughing at you as you passed by.

Permanent taglist:

@averyhotchner @jesuswasnotawhiteman @madewithsebstan

[deanstead]

For You

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Requested by anon: could you do one where reader is not interested in jay cause she thinks he's one who has a new girl every night but he’s constantly trying? She’ll slowly fell for him too? maybe with a little smut if you write?

Warnings: none, a lil fluff!

A/N: First one for 2021~ Happy New Year! This became a little longer and it feels a bit segmented because of the nature of the request, so I hope this turned out okay! Sorry, I’m not writing smut/NSFW currently so I replaced it with a lil fluff instead, hope that is okay! Enjoy, and feel free to send in more requests! 

---

Jay pushed the beer towards you as he slid into the seat opposite you, a small smile gracing his lips. “Y/N, how about it?”

You looked up at him, internally rolling your eyes. “I told you, Jay, no.”

Jay didn’t seem like he was giving up easily though. “It’s just a dinner, come on.”

Your eyes studied the man sitting across from you at a table in Molly’s. “Jay, you’re asking me on a date.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Jay asked, a hint of mischievousness hidden in the tone of his voice that was almost drowned out by the noise in Molly’s.

You shook your head, although you were still smiling. “I told you, Jay, I’m not going on a date with you.”

Jay remained silent, watching you, as if waiting for you to say more.

“I’m not going to be another one of your conquests.”

The words bounced between you and Jay and for a moment and you could have sworn you saw his face fall for just an instant. “Y/N.”

You shook your head and smiled. “No, Jay. We can hang out here, but there is no way I’m going on a date with you. I’ll see you around, okay?” You pushed off your chair, waving at him as you went to re-join your friends at the next table.

Jay watched you for a little while more, as you leaned on the table, laughing at something, the dim light of Molly’s bouncing off your hair.

“You’re not a conquest.” Jay muttered to himself, before he got up and went back to the bar to join his brother.

---

In a way, you were glad that Jay had seemed to revert back to his old self... mostly. You felt you were seeing him more and more often these days but he hadn’t tried to bring up the topic of a date again.

You treasured him as a friend and really didn’t want that to change. Jay was sweet and looked out for you, but you’d be damned if you let him treat you like another one of those girls he flirted with and probably slept with every other night.

No way in hell.

So you never let it get too far, you drew a line between yourself and Jay and made sure you guys stayed as friends, not just for him but for yourself too. You might as well have a sign flashing at him that read “Not Interested”.

Yet, you allowed yourself to be dragged out here, you mused, as you looked up at Will and Natalie. Stupid Natalie.

You couldn’t believe you had let her talk you into coming for dinner with her and Will… and Jay. This smelled suspiciously like a scheme of a double date but you swallowed back a sassy comment.

“We’ll take two steaks, both medium.” You were snapped out of your thoughts by Will talking to the waiter.

Jay looked at you and you leaned over quietly to point out your order to him – a double cheeseburger.

The waiter turned to Jay as he finished taking down Will’s order. “I’ll have the beef burger. She’ll have the double cheeseburger, can you make sure there are no tomatoes in there.” Your head snapped up, surprised Jay had remembered.

“And there’s no other sauce in there, is there?” Jay asked, not noticing your reaction at all.

The waiter nodded. “Just the barbeque sauce, sir.”

Jay nodded back at him, as he handed the menu back. “That’s fine. Make sure there’s no mayonnaise on the plate, and can we have the salad dressing separate as well, thanks.”

The waiter nodded, jotting down the orders, while you continued to stare at Jay.

“What?” Jay asked, finally feeling your gaze on him.

You raised an eyebrow. “You remembered?”

Jay just smiled back without saying anything as Will smirked across the table.

You had mentioned it just once – tomatoes were a no-go and mayonnaise even more so. You hadn’t even mentioned the salad dressing, you had just wrinkled your nose at how your fries were all soaked in it.

Jay was indeed something.

---

“Heya.” Natalie slid into the bar stool next to you. “Sorry I’m late, I got held up today.”

You smiled back at your friend, taking the last swig from your beer and flashing a smile at Herrmann to ask for another.

As Herrmann pushed the new pint of beer towards you, Natalie cleared her throat. “So…”

You inwardly groaned. You should have known this was coming.

“You’re really not going to give Jay a chance?” she asked, angling her body towards me.

“Nat, come on!” You whined. “Is this why you wanted to meet me?”

Natalie chuckled. “Well, about 50%...”

You shook your head. “No, I’ll tell you the same thing I told him weeks ago. I’m not going to be another one of his conquests.” Natalie tried to argue but you continued. “How awkward is that going to be? I mean, look, he’s not some random guy I met in a bar, he’s my friend and I’m not going to… no way am I going to be another one of those girls.”

As you finished your sentence, you nodded your head further down the bar, where Jay sat. Natalie looked up just as a girl slid towards Jay. Even from this distance, you could see her batting her fake eyelashes at him and a small laugh escaped your lips.

“No way.” You repeated, enunciating each word pointedly.

Natalie didn’t say anything but instead tapped your arm. “Wait, just watch.” It was almost as if she knew what was coming, and was just waiting for it.

You and Natalie watched as the girl twirled her finger in her hair, moving closer to Jay. “Why are we watching Jay like this, Nat?”

“Because.” Nat replied, without turning. “You’ll see.”

Jay smiled at the girl and slid off his seat. “I could have told you that would happen.” You commented before Natalie cleared her throat again.

You looked back up, your eyes widening slightly in surprise as you watched Jay nod politely to the girl before heading further into Molly’s, leaving the girl with a disappointed look on her face. Natalie turned back, smirking at me.

“I swear, Jay’s trying. That’s probably the tenth girl he’s let down since.”

You cocked an eyebrow at her as you saw Jay’s eyes fall on both of you.

“Hey ladies, didn’t see you here.” Jay smiled, his eyes lingering on you a little longer. You cleared your throat and turned back to the bar as Jay slid into the seat next to you.

“Not your cup of tea?” You asked, smirking at him. Jay laughed and shot back, “You would know.”

You rolled your eyes as Natalie put a hand on your arm. “I’ll be back in a while.”

“Wait, Nat…” You tried to stop her but she was already gone.

You turned back to Jay who was still smiling. “So… do I get points for trying?”

“Yeah, nice try.” You responded as he laughed.

“I’ll get out of your hair, but this isn’t over.” Jay warned mockingly, pointing at you, his green eyes twinkling.

“Bye Jay.” You sang, as he floated off to his colleagues.

Your thoughts wandered back to the scene you had witnessed while you were waiting for Natalie to come back. That was new, seeing Jay blow off a girl that he would usually disappear out of the bar with. You couldn’t help but admit to yourself that he seemed to be changing. Or at least, trying to.

You shook your head, hoping the thoughts would be shaken out as well.

Jay looked back at you as he stood next to Kevin, smiling slightly at the way you were shaking your head. The faint sounds of his team’s conversation around him. He sure as hell wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

He might have the occasional fling here and there, but contrary to what everyone thought, he didn’t fall into bed with every single girl that flirted with him. Some nights, he merely walked them out to get a cab. But if he needed to prove to you that he was done with flings, and that he was serious about you, then that was what he was going to do.

---

You inwardly groaned as you trailed behind your colleagues. Being the only female engineer in your company sounded great but was definitely not. You could handle the regular snide comments and sexist jokes, but you hated the ‘team drinks’.

They could only be called that if your colleagues actually behaved like a team. They just used this opportunity to get drinks, force you to have more drinks than necessary and have their hands linger on you for longer than was comfortable. It never got too far but that didn’t mean it was okay.

You sighed as they pushed open the door to Molly’s and led the way in. It hadn’t even been a good day, you were tired and cranky, and you just wanted the day to end.

You spotted Jay as you followed them in. He smiled and waved but you made a face and rolled your eyes at them, which caused him to cast a concerned glance at the group before you nodded at him, turning to reluctantly follow them to an empty table.

Before long, the table was full of drinks. Ben the sleaze had brushed his hand against your thigh at least three times and you weren’t even halfway through your first beer.

As your colleagues started to get more alcohol through their system, the comments began. You tried to tune them out, staring at a spot on the wall before turning to watch Herrmann and Stella behind the bar.

“Hey Y/N, how about another drink for you? Something stronger?”

You smiled and shook your head. “No thanks.”

“See, with women, they don’t always mean it when they say no.” One of the guys at the other side of the table slurred.

You swallowed down the rise of anger from your gut and ignored the comment instead. They were rowdier than usual, though, so although they usually moved on quickly, they didn’t this time.

“Come on Y/N, we know you don’t really mean it. Just one more drink.”

You shook your head again, more firmly this time. “Guys, I really don’t feel up to it tonight, alright? I’ll pass.”

That only seemed to make them more determined to get that drink in your hand.

They pushed a fresh glass of beer into your hand. You could feel someone’s hand on your shoulder and someone else was pushing your hand upwards, as if they felt you needed help guiding the glass to your lips.

“Hey, that’s enough.”

Jay.

You weren’t really feeling threatened or scared but you still felt a flood of relief when you heard his voice.

“I could hear her say no two tables away, you guys deaf?” Jay asked.

Your colleagues looked at each other. “Hey, we’re just having some fun.”

“Fun is when all parties enjoy it. You disrespect anyone else while you’re here, we’ll have something to talk about buddy, you hear me?”

Jay turned to you. “Come on, you’re done here.” Authoritatively, he grabbed your wrist, tugging you out from your seat. You didn’t complain but followed him as he led you out of Molly’s.

“Thanks Jay.” You said, as the outside air hit the both of you in the faces.

Jay turned back to you, cracking a smile. “And here I thought you might chew me out for that.”

You raised an eyebrow. “For helping me?”

Jay laughed, “For interfering, because…” he paused and put both his fingers up in the air in quotation marks. “You’re a strong independent woman.”

You laughed along with him. “There’s a fine line between helping and interfering. And you get full marks tonight for the differentiation.”

Jay smiled back, chuckling. “You okay?”

You nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine. They’re a little rowdier than usual tonight but I’m kind of used to that.”

“You should never have to get used to that.” Jay half snarled, throwing a dirty glance back at Molly’s front door.

You chuckled as Jay turned his attention back to you. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

The short walk back to your apartment was mostly silent, but a comfortable one. You stole a glance at Jay. You didn’t really want to admit it but you definitely felt a little flutter when he had stood up for you today in Molly’s and if you were being totally honest with yourself, it wasn’t the first time you had felt it.

“Thanks Jay.” You said again, as you reached your apartment.

Jay smiled back at you. “You sure you’re okay?” You could feel Jay’s eyes hovering over you even if you weren’t looking at him.

You nodded and then shrugged. “Just a bad day, I guess.” Jay’s eyes softened.

“I’ve got a listening ear if you need one. Anytime, okay?”

You smiled, “Thanks for being a knight tonight. And you didn’t even flirt.”

Jay chuckled, “Do I get extra marks for that?”

You wiggled your eyebrows back at him. “We’ll see.”

---

It had been a few months since that night that Jay had tried asking you on a date and absolutely nothing had gone according to your plan. You had been so sure you wouldn’t fall for him, so sure that you would stand your ground to just be friends.

But Jay had ruined it all bit by bit.

It was obvious to everyone the changes Jay had undergone the last few months. And honestly, no one would shut up about it either. Which was anything but helpful.

Natalie was talking about something and you were only half listening as you watched the door, noting with mild concern the little tug of disappointment you felt every time the door opened and it wasn’t Jay who walked in.

“Nat.” you interrupted her.

Natalie looked up at you. You took a deep breath, “I should just dive in, right?”

A look of confusion crossed her face for a brief moment before she broke into a smile.

“How long have you been thinking about this?” she asked.

You shook your head. “Too long for comfort.”

Natalie gave you a pointed look. “What are you still doing here then?”

You grabbed your bag, making a beeline for the door. As you crossed the threshold of Molly’s and stepped out onto the street, you came face to face with Jay.

“Leaving already?” he asked, a small look of disappointment crossing his face. If you hadn’t been watching him, you might have missed it altogether.

You hesitated but took a deep breath. “Actually, I was on my way to you.”

Jay smiled but looked intrigued.

“You ever going to ask me out on a date again?” The words tumbled past your lips as you unconsciously clenched your hands in your pocket. Maybe it was a good thing you had had some alcohol before talking to Jay.

You could literally see Jay’s eyes light up, his smile broadening.

“Seriously?”

You smiled. “Unless you decided you don’t want to…”

Jay didn’t let you finish your sentence as he stepped closer to you, one arm snaking around your waist and the other hand cupping your face, his thumb caressing the side of your face gently. “Not a chance.” He whispered, as he leaned forward and his lips found yours.

It was everything you had imagined and more, you could almost feel your knees buckling but Jay just pulled you in closer.

The both of you pulled away and you looked straight back into his green eyes. “Don’t make me regret this.” You whispered.

Jay chuckled, “Oh, never.” He smiled, his hand still resting on your back, his bright green eyes twinkling back at you.

[heyitssmiller]

Clandestine: Chapter Fourteen

We’re here. The final chapter. Y’all. I’m gonna cry.

@lumosinlove thanks for these characters!!

@donttouchmycarrots thanks for being my partner in crime during this whole mess of a story <3

And thank you, lovely readers!! For sticking with me for this crazy rollercoaster of a story, for encouraging me when I felt like quitting, and for always being so, so wonderful. I appreciate y’all more than I can say.

CW: prison, food, anxiety

Clandestine Masterlist

.

The drive back was silent, punctuated sharply by the two empty seats in the van. It was something they should’ve seen coming, but yet were completely blindsided by. Sirius had been on their side for so long now, it seemed odd to picture him anywhere else. It was like he’d been there for years already, fitting in seamlessly and making friends fast, filling a gap that hadn’t been obvious before but felt like a chasm now. He belonged in Gryffindor with them. And Regulus, while more reserved and distant than his brother, didn’t seem to deserve the fate he’d found. The main motive that kickstarted this whole mission had been him – all for him – and he still couldn’t avoid being dragged down with the Snakes.

Remus was on the phone with a contact from the FBI – he had been since they’d taken Sirius away – trying his hardest to find any loopholes he could. He was… actually strangely calm. Methodically tackling one idea after the next, his analytic brain working overtime. Logan could understand, though. Being productive was helpful. It was when things settled down and got quiet, when all you could do was sit there and wait…

That was when things got tough.

His leg bounced up and down in anticipation the closer they got to the cabin, his one-track mind stuck on one thing and one thing only – getting a blond safe-cracker into his arms again. Not having Leo with them had been like missing a limb, making everything feel out of balance. And even thought he was safe, he was still too far away. Logan couldn’t stand it.

Finn reached over and placed a hand on Logan’s with a knowing smile. He was ready to be home, too.

Gravel crunching under their tires only fueled the eagerness. There were lights still on in the cabin, a warm, inviting pull. The front door was open before the cars had pulled to a complete stop, revealing Leo and Hope and Lyall. Julian was presumably asleep, given the hour. Logan’s seatbelt was thrown off and the door closest to him was yanked open, Finn hot on his heels.

Leo bounded down the steps of the porch and flung himself at the two of them, finding every inch of space between them and filling it, a soft sound escaping from his lips as he held on tight in a one-armed grip. Logan and Finn both stumbled back a few steps at the impact but quickly returned the embrace, Logan’s face buried in the junction between neck and shoulder and Finn’s forehead pressed against the blond’s. They seemed to take their next breaths in tandem, slow and steady, as they leaned into each other. Time slowed, everything in the periphery faded, and the world, previously off-kilter, evened out in equilibrium.

Finn suddenly realized he felt the coarse, scratchy texture of Leo’s sling pressed up against him and pulled back a little. “Careful, baby.”

That made Leo pull back. “Why?” He glanced over them nervously. “Are you hurt?”

Logan sighed long-sufferingly and cupped Leo’s face in his hands, looking him in the eyes with a fond expression that belied his exasperation. “No, but you are,” he moved his hands to smush Leo’s cheeks, causing Finn to laugh, “so take it easy.”

Leo smiled – a real one this time, not one of the fake ones he’d given them before they left – and relaxed. After a quick kiss from Logan he asked, “So it went well? Mission’s done?”

Logan and Finn both froze at that. Finn looked over to Remus, who was still on the phone (like he had been for the past hour at least) and frowned.

“Not quite.”

“We can talk inside,” Leo said, looking worried again. “there’s lots of food for y’all.”

He wasn’t wrong. Food covered pretty much every open surface of the countertops, ranging from pancakes to grilled cheese to the cinnamon swirl muffins Leo brought to their first briefing all those months ago. Finn smiled at the memories and instantly snagged one on their way to the kitchen table. His eyes landed on Talker, who was explaining something to Hope as she took a look at his leg. Nat, Kasey, and Alex were piled onto one couch, looking tired and each with a grilled cheese sandwich in hand. He could see Remus on the porch every once in a while when he passed by a window as he paced, phone pressed to his ear.

It didn’t bode well.

Logan sat down with a plate of pancakes drenched in syrup and started telling the story, voice a quiet murmur and only interrupted when he shoveled food into his mouth. Finn wondered how none of them had really seen this coming. In hindsight, it made sense that there would need to be a trial – after all, Sirius and his brother weren’t innocent. Finn wasn’t sure what happened next, though. Criminal trials and sentencing weren’t part of the job for them. He hoped they could get the brothers out of this mess, though. If anyone could find a way to do it, it would be Remus.

At least the Snakes were done for. The information on the flash drives was enough to lock them away for a very, very long time.

He took a bite of his muffin, no longer really hungry, and listened to Logan talk.

***

Remus sat down on the porch swing, tired and stressed and not at all ready to quit. He listened to Alice, his only contact in the FBI, rattle off some statistics that he couldn’t even begin to understand. And he wasn’t trying to be rude – that really wasn’t his intent – but he needed to act quickly about this. So he grimaced and cut her off. “Can we get them placed in another prison? Or even in solitary until we can figure something out? If the Snakes can get to them…”

Well. Remus didn’t think they’d show much mercy to the two people mainly responsible for putting them in jail.

Alice sighed, the sound of her rummaging around in her desk filtering through the phone. “We can try. Since they did help you guys, we should be able to swing it. If something jeopardizes their lives, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Remus’ heart twisted – a deep, chronic ache under his ribcage that refused to let up. “Do it fast. I’m going to start reaching out to lawyers.”

“Lupin, it’s four in the morning.”

“I know.” He ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated huff. “Thanks for all the help, Alice.”

He hung up, then braced his forearms on his knees, hands gripping his hair, and breathed.

If there was one thing Remus Lupin was good at, it was planning. It was his job, and a big part of the reason he’d switched from field work in the first place. He relied on structure to get through his days, needed the stability in order to function.

There was none of that.

This was being adrift at sea, constantly assaulted by the waves and the current without rescue in sight.

And Remus had no idea what to do.

His phone pinged, catching his attention. A text from Alice flashed across the screen.

I’ve got a friend who’s a lawyer, and she’s a damn good one. I know you’ll want to do your research on her yourself, but I can vouch for her too. Here’s her contact if you want to reach out.

The contact number and email were listed under the name Dorcas Meadowes.

***

Dorcas Meadowes was, to put it simply, awe-inspiring.

Black curls, a dark complexion, and a serious, no-funny-business expression on her face. Her office was neat and organized, a few pictures around the place of her and a blonde girl with a wide grin and freckles. There was a small pride flag on her desk. Without a word, she motioned for Remus to sit, cool and composed and ready to get to work.

That was all it took for Remus to instantly respect her.

“So I’ve heard some of the story from Alice, but I’ll need you to start at the very beginning. Don’t leave out any details, tell me everything.”

Remus did, settling into the chair and getting comfy. It was a long story, after all. When he was done he looked back up at Dorcas, whose face was expressionless except for a single, raised eyebrow.

“That’s…” she trailed off with a low whistle.

“Yeah.”

“Well, the good news is that, if we’ve got enough evidence to back your story up, we can reduce his sentence by a lot, maybe even get him released.”

Remus sagged back into the chair, relief taking over and wiping out the tension radiating through his muscles. “Great.”

He’d known, logically, that they’d be able to reduce his sentence. With all the work he put into taking the Snakes down, there was no way they’d give him a full sentence. But getting him out of there for good…

Remus had never wanted anything so much in his life.

Dorcas leaned forward, powering her laptop on. “We’ll go visit him in the next few days and tell him what’s going on, but first we need a plan. Here’s what I’m thinking…”

***

Sirius hated this.

He was bored, he was tired, and – more than anything – he was lonely.

In Gryffindor, he’d become so accustomed to always having at least someone with him at all times. It was usually Remus, but he’d also grown close to most of the team. And it was nice at the time – god, did he miss it. But it was painful now. He’d witnessed what his life could be like, happy and surrounded by friends and possibly in love, and now he was back to the way his life used to be. Alone and on the wrong side of the law.

He hadn’t seen Reg since they’d been escorted into isolation for their own safety. Which don’t get him wrong – he was grateful for it. Knowing Riddle, they wouldn’t have survived the night if they were all being held together. But it was too quiet now.

The door to his cell rattled and Sirius looked up sharply. A guard was standing there, unlocking his door and opening it.

“Come with me,” the guard said, sounding bored as he opened the door further and held out a pair of handcuffs. Sirius looked at him hesitantly, not moving an inch. The guard rolled his eyes. “You have visitors.”

Sirius perked up at that, the only thought running through his head being Remus. He knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t going to take this sitting down. He’d be fighting to get Sirius free, no doubt about it. He wasn’t sure who else would be visiting him, anyways – if someone was here, it was sure to be Remus.

So Sirius got up and held his wrists out to be cuffed, then watched as the officer pointed down the hall.

“This way.”

It took all the self-control Sirius had to not run, to slowly put one foot in front of the other until he finally reached his destination. The guard moved around him to open the door and then Sirius was moving again.

He spotted caramel curls as soon as the door opened to the visitation room and felt his shoulders sag with relief. “Remus.”

Worried brown eyes followed him as he crossed the room quickly to sit in front of him, separated by a thick wall of glass. The movies weren’t lying, apparently. But it was so good to see him that Sirius didn’t care.

Remus looked tired. Unfortunately, that didn’t surprise Sirius at all. He knew the tendency to overwork all too well at this point. More than anything, it made Sirius want to get out of there, to wrap him up in his arms and let him take a nap there, to make sure he was taking care of himself. He settled for giving him a stern look instead.

“You need to get some sleep.”

Sirius expected a sharp, witty retort. Some sass, a comeback of some kind. Instead, Remus did the unthinkable and just smiled. “I missed you.”

Sirius sighed, softening at the gentle admission. He’d missed Remus too, of course. More than he could really put into words, and it had barely been a day. The smell of his shampoo, the quiet, reassuring presence of him by Sirius’ side, those eyes that just seemed to see right through him and know even the things Sirius tried to keep hidden. He found he didn’t mind it too much - not when it was Remus.

“I missed you,” he echoed in agreement, refusing to look away until someone cleared their throat loudly. Sirius looked over to a woman sitting next to Remus, looking unimpressed. Sirius hadn’t even known she was there, as wrapped up in Remus as he was.

Remus, to Sirius’ endless delight, blushed. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Remus blush before. It was cuter than it had any right to be. “Um, Sirius this is Dorcas. She’ll be representing you in court.”

Right.

He had to go on trial.

Dorcas took over from there. “We think, with the evidence we have, that we can get the charges reduced, maybe dropped if we’re lucky. If you can think of any evidence we don’t know about, we can use that to strengthen your case, too.”

Sirius nodded, relieved. That sounded better than he thought he’d get, to be honest. “What about Reg?” he asked, looking between the two.

Dorcas was very hard to read, Sirius realized. And Remus looked confident… until he looked over at the lawyer. Then his expression flickered.

And Sirius’ heart sank.

“That’s a bit trickier,” Dorcas stated slowly, treading carefully. “The thing is, he never tried to get out. He stayed with the Snakes. And I know it’s not easy to get out of situations like that,” she rushed to continue when she saw the look on Sirius’ face, “but the fact still stands. And he didn’t do as much to help take the Snakes down, not like you did. We can probably reduce his sentence, but he’ll be in prison longer than you. I don’t think we can fix that.”

Sirius felt himself being torn in two different directions. He wanted to be free, to be able to live his life again. Maybe make a home in Gryffindor (or maybe move in permanently with a certain spy), get a job as a consultant. He’d make sure the poor houseplant in Remus’ apartment survived, the poor thing, and he’d keep Remus’ favorite tea stocked in the cupboard. He’d be able to relax for – well, the first time in a very long time.

But his brother.

He was the main reason Sirius got out in the first place. The reason he ended up in Gryffindor, this entire mission was for him. To get him out, to make sure he was safe.

What was the point, if he was stuck in jail while Sirius got to walk free?

He could practically hear his brother telling him how stupid he was being in that dry voice of his, but he pushed the thought away. He’d made up his mind, and it was practically impossible to sway him when that happened.

Sweet, caramel eyes might test him, though.

Sirius looked up at Remus guiltily, dreading the response he was going to get. But yet again, Remus took him by surprise and smiled sadly.

“I understand.”

Those words hit Sirius like a freight train. He sucked in a deep breath, eyes stinging and throat getting tight. “I’m sorry.”

Remus just shook his head. “Don’t be.”

Sirius loved him.

Remus glanced over at a confused Dorcas. “He can’t leave his brother. Whatever sentence Reg gets, Sirius wants to do the same.”

She was silent for a long time, looking back and forth between the two of them. Then she sighed, seeming resolute. “Well then we’d better get those charges as low as we can.”

***

Four Weeks Later

.

Leo found Remus in the courthouse hallway during the trial recess before they were supposed to reconvene for the sentencing, looking seconds away from pacing from one side of the building to the other. The past few weeks had been hard on all of them. Between coming to terms with everything that had happened in the recent months, to trying to figure out the evidence they needed to bring forward to try and get the charges dropped against both Sirius and Regulus, to the strange feeling in the Agency brought forth by Sirius’ absence, it had been weird for all of them. Remus had been hit the hardest by all of it, though – and understandably so. That didn’t make it any easier to watch, though.

He’d been running himself to the bone the past four weeks, going above and beyond to make sure everything was in order for the trial. He looked ready to drop, if Leo was being honest.

But he understood. If it were Logan or Finn in Sirius’ place… well. He’d already figured out just how far he’d go for them.

He put a hand on Remus’ arm, trying to be as calming as possible. “You’re going to be ok,” he said carefully, choosing his words meticulously. He didn’t want to be cold, but he didn’t want to get Remus’ hopes up only for them to be dashed.

Carmel eyes met his own, and Leo sighed at the stress he saw there. He looked tired – so tired.

“What do you need?” Leo asked quietly, hoping for some sort of guidance on how to help him, how to get that look off of his face.

Remus just laughed under his breath, a sad sound. “There’s a lot of things I need.” He shuffled on his feet, gathering his sleeves in his hands. “But a hug would be a good start.”

Not hesitating, Leo gathered him into a hug, the stretch pulling at the scar tissue in his shoulder that was finally free of a sling. Remus was tense and still for a while, then relaxed into it. Leo wished he could do more, wished he could make any sort of difference in this situation. But everything was so far out of their control now; the only thing left to do was wait.

“Whatever happens, we’re here for both of you. You’re not alone in this.”

Remus stepped away with a fake attempt at a smile. “Yeah.”

There was a visual cue that neither of them seemed to catch and people started filtering back into the courtroom, making Remus’ face grow paler and more pinched. Leo stuck by his side as they walked back inside, trying to ignore the soft sound Remus made when he saw Sirius again – all the way in the front, in a jumpsuit that looked too big for him, hair longer and eyes a little duller than they remembered, fidgeting with something in his cuffed hands. Regulus was next to him, head down and avoiding everyone’s eyes. Leo just stuck to Remus’ side as they squeezed into the row of chairs with the rest of the Agency, making sure Remus was right in the middle, surrounded by so many of the people who cared about him most. Finn and Logan sat down next to him with grim smiles.

Leo reached over to tangle his fingers with Finn’s, feeling him squeeze back gently. The bruises were completely gone from his face, and he was walking limp-free now. He dropped his head onto Logan’s shoulder, having to angle his shoulders down to rest somewhat comfortably against the shorter man.

Leo would never get over the height difference.

“I’m taking a nap when we get home. This is so stressful, oh my god.” Finn sighed, making Leo smile.

Home.

That was still somewhat new for the three of them. After a few days back in their separate apartments in Gryffindor, they’d realized how incredibly codependent they’d become during their mission. Leo would find himself staring up at the ceiling most nights, worrying about the other two, until he’d get a phone call from one of them and they’d end up driving to each other and collapsing in bed together, squished together just like those hotel rooms they’d shared. And it had gotten to the point where there wasn’t any point living in different apartments when they ended up together most nights anyways, so Leo and Logan had packed up their things and moved in with Finn. He had the largest bed, anyways.

So yeah. They lived together now. And Leo was ridiculously pleased about it.

They were taking that vacation in a few weeks, too – the one Finn had first brought up in the back of a getaway car, tears in his eyes and blood on his hands. Somewhere warm, just like he’d promised. He’d get to watch Logan tan and Finn turn red like a lobster, only to go straight back to pale. They’d get some time to relax and not stress about work – just themselves and the vast expanse of beach and water in front of them.

Leo couldn’t wait.

“We’ll take that nap together.” Logan answered Finn quietly, turning his head to meet Leo’s eyes as he pressed an affectionate kiss to Finn’s head. Leo smiled at him, the sense of one chapter ending and the next beginning washing over him.

Whatever came their way, they’d be ok. They’d proven that already.

The crowd hushed as the judge sat back down, face impassive.

“We have reviewed the evidence and testaments brought forward in defense of Sirius and Regulus Black.” He started, looking down at the two in question critically as everyone in the courtroom seemed to hold their breath.

“It still doesn’t change the fact that they committed crimes while with the organization,” the judge stated firmly, then continued, “Regulus and Sirius Black are hereby sentenced to one year in prison.”

The gavel slammed.

Remus sat there in quiet disbelief.

They’d done… everything. They’d worked so hard for the past month in attempts to let Sirius and Regulus’ sentences reduced – and that was technically a reduced sentence – but it was still more than any of them had been expecting.

A year.

They hadn’t done enough.

Remus almost missed all the movement around him, too busy staring at the back of the seat directly in his line of vision, but his gaze snapped up when an achingly familiar voice called his name.

Sirius slowed to a stop as he passed Remus on his way out, eyes wide and frantic. Desperate. It broke Remus’ heart, more than it already was. “Wait for me?” He asked intently, like his sole focus was on Remus and his answer. He shoved his open palms out, revealing what he’d been fidgeting with during the entire trial. Remus looked down to find an origami flower, conveying all of Sirius’ hopes for the future within the delicate folds.

Remus wished more than anything that he could reach for him; to pull him in tight, hold him close, and refuse to let the guards take him away. He also had the half-formed plans of a jail break already in mind, even though he knew Sirius would never agree to it. It was then that his eyes locked with the gray ones he’d come to know better than his own and he knew – he knew that he’d wait, however long it took.

Remus loved him.

It wasn’t a grand revelation, it wasn’t sudden. In all honesty Remus had probably felt that way for a long time now, the truth prodding at the back of his head, nagging at his subconscious. He loved Sirius, plain and simple. Simple except for the fact that one of them was going to jail for a year. And yet, no matter how complicated it got, no matter how much time went by, it was the easiest decision Remus had ever made.

Well. If love made people crazy, Remus was certifiably insane.

He smiled a little tearfully at Sirius and nodded fiercely, picking up the paper flower delicately.

 “You know I will.”

[xx-narcissa]

Can’t Wait Any Longer

warnings: kidnapping, poisoning, noncon

a/n: i wasn’t comfortable with full on smut right now, i’m still easing into it. but i hope that this was written to your liking!

pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Female!Avenger!Reader

request: “We can have dark! r x nat where r is an avenger and is in love with nat but nat never pays attention to her, so r decides to kidnap her maybe with some smut only if you feel comfortable.”

Masterlist

(not my gif)

Your blood boiled as you watched the scene in front of you. Bruce kissing her hand in front of everybody with no shame. He should be ashamed. That was your hand to kiss and he was just all on it! And she let him. Giggling and blushing like a middle school girl getting a love note from her crush.

“Aw. Young love.” Tony chuckled and took a big sip of his beer. You wanted to smack the glass bottle out of his hands for that comment. “Better enjoy it while it lasts, Bruce.”

Yeah. He better enjoy it. Because you’re going to make it your mission to take her back. Although you never really had her in the first place. But she’s yours. Bruce doesn’t deserve her. Nobody deserves her. Because they could never give her what you can. They could never love her like you do. She just doesn’t see that. Always brushing you off to the side.

It was a mission in Canada, so naturally it was pretty cold. And seeing as it was the middle of January, it was very cold. You offered her your jacket. “No, you keep it. I’m fine.” Even when you insisted, she turned you down. Yet later you see her casually sporting Steve’s jacket. What’s up with that? You wanted to confront her. What did his jacket have that yours didn’t? But Wanda assured you it wasn’t a big deal. And that’s not even the only time she’s done something like that. You and her were in the kitchen after a mission, and she complained about her shoulders being sore. So you offered to massage them, claiming you know a really good way to relieve tension. You didn’t. But it was just an excuse to be able to feel her. She turned you down. Then later she’s bragging to Wanda about how good Tony is at massages. What was so special about him? Nothing! But it seemed like Natasha would stop at nothing to push you away.

You don’t even know what you did to deserve that kind of treatment. Sure, you flirt with her a lot. But it’s never to a creepy extent. Just casual compliments and offering to do her favors. If she wasn’t into you, she could just turn you down using her words and then maybe you’d back off. But instead she was playing hard to get.

And that only made you want her more.

-=-

There was a mission today. A two person mission. You and Natasha. This would be a perfect chance for the two of you to get closer. It’s a week long stakeout. Usually you don’t like stakeouts, since you feel it’s a waste of your powers. You can literally summon fire with your hands and not get burnt and they want you to watch a building? How boring. But since it’s with Natasha, you won’t complain. Alone time with her is a reward in its own. And it gives you a chance to finally execute the plan you’ve been working on for weeks.

“Guess this is where we’re staying for the next week.” You sighed as the two of you entered the little apartment. The wallpaper was moldy and peeling, there were roaches crawling around, and it smelled like 50 diseased rats died in there.

She gagged and put her bag on top of the counter. “Well let’s just try to get this done quickly, so that we don’t have to spend any extra time here. It’s disgusting.”

Nodding in agreement, you continued to explore the apartment. There was only one bedroom with only one bed, so you made a mental note to let her sleep there, since it looked cleaner than the couch. The shower was just as disgusting as the main room, but you brought shower shoes so you could live with it. After your quick tour, you met back up with Natasha in the main room, where she was going through her bag.

“I’ll take the couch. You can have the bed.” You offered and sat down on the counter.

“Are you sure? That’s nice but I don’t want to take it all for myself. We could alternate if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. And trust me, the bed is way cleaner so if I were you I’d just take it.” You snapped. She flinched, and you knew you took it a bit too far. It’s just annoying when she constantly declines your offers when you’re just trying to be nice and make her comfortable. “Sorry. Just…yeah. You take the bed, I’ll go check the perimeter and see if there’s anything to eat nearby.”

After your perimeter check you picked up some sandwiches at the small subway they had down the street and brought them back up to the apartment. “Thanks, I’m starving.” She sighed happily when you walked in with food. To be honest, being back in that nasty apartment killed your appetite a bit, but you hadn’t eaten all day so you sucked it up and ate.

The two of you ate and got to talk a bit, getting to know each other some more. Well, she got to know you. But you already knew plenty about her. You’re just a good listener like that. The most important thing was that she was starting to trust you more, which would be a key part in putting your plan into motion.

Once you guys finished your mission and got all the information you needed, you still had a day to spare. So you decided you’d stay and just not tell them you were done yet, so you can get a little vacation, even if it is in a dingy, dirty apartment. It was your last morning there, so you wanted to surprise Natasha with some homemade breakfast. Special recipe.

“Good morning! You want pancakes?” She thought for a second before nodding. Great, she took the offer with none of her usual resistance. You placed some pancakes on a plate and gave her a glass of orange juice. “Tell me if you like it.” You smiled and sat down next to her to watch her eat. She ate the first bite cautiously, then ate the rest rather quickly.

After drinking all the juice, she slammed the cup onto the table. “Those were the best pancakes I’ve ever had.”

“Well, you know, I could always make you more.” You smiled and ran your fingers up her arm. And she smiled back. That’s a win in your eyes.

“I think I’ll have to take you up on that offer. But I’m pretty full right now. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go take a quick nap.”

You waved her off and then put the dishes in the sink. Everything was falling into place and you couldn’t be happier.

-=-

When her eyes opened, she didn’t know what was going on or where she was. It seemed like some abandoned factory by the looks of it. Her clothes didn’t belong to her. And she couldn’t even get up to look around, seeing as she was tied up on the floor.

In the shadows, she saw something moving. Maybe it would be her captor. And she could kick their ass and escape.

“Oh, you’re up! Great.” Her heart and her mouth dropped at the voice. “Sorry about the location. Couldn’t find anywhere comfortable on such short notice.”

She looked up at you with tears forming in her eyes. “What’s going on, why are you doing this? Are you being brainwashed or something?”

You laughed at her stupid questions. “What ever do you mean? This is all me, Natasha. I’m sorry to have to do this, but you brought it onto yourself. You could’ve had this.” You motioned towards yourself and got closer to her. “But no. You wanted to toy with me. Play hard to get. Pretend you don’t want me and then flirt with everyone else right in front of my face. Well I’m done playing those games. So no more playful flirting. I’m taking what’s mine.”

“You’re sick. I swear, I’m not to get out of here and then I’m going to kill you! Slowly and painfully.” She screamed and squirmed around in her restraints.

All her struggling was amusing to you. It gave you a good laugh. “I know you’re a trained assassin, but it’s not like you have superpowers. Without a gun you really pose no threat to me. Hell, if I’m not careful I could kill you right now.” Your hands ignited, displaying your pyrokinesis, just in case she had forgotten that you could burn her to a crisp whenever you would like.

It worked, because she shut up. She looked down at the ground in silence, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh, cheer up. Once your spirit is broken down enough and I know you won’t try anything funny, I’ll untie you and we can leave and live a happy life together. I might hurt you, but it’s just because I love you. I love you so much and it hurts me when you flirt with other people. So once you’re as loyal as I am, then we’ll get out of this smelly place. Okay?”

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t do anything. That angered you. So you slapped her in her face. The force being enough to topple her over. And that wasn’t even the hardest you could’ve hit her. “Answer me, bitch!” You yelled and got close to her face, probably getting some spit on her but you didn’t care. “Do you understand me?”

She nodded frantically and tried to move away from you. So you let her squirm for a second before pulling her back. Seeing the Black Widow shaking in fear really turned you on. You needed to see her. To feel her.

“You know, you should thank me. I changed your clothes and I didn’t even touch you down there. I restrained myself.” You grabbed her hips and dug your nails into them, pulling her closer. “Mainly because I want to hear you when I fuck you. I want to see what your pretty little face looks like when you’re all filled up. But also because I’m decent. So, yeah, you’re welcome.”

You closed the gap between you two and your lips collided with hers. For you it was heaven. It was erotic and steamy and everything you’ve ever wished for. But for her it was a completely different story. It was hell. Sloppy, painful, and lacking any true feelings. Even if she wasn’t kissing you back, you still enjoyed yourself. Your hands went underneath the shirt you gave her, cupping her braless breasts. She involuntarily leaned into your touch, moaning softly, allowing you to slide your tongue into her. Your hand slid down, cupping her heat through her panties, feeling the wetness of her arousal. “See? You’re enjoying yourself,” You pulled away from the kiss to say. You kissed down her neck, biting and leaving marks. She hated how her body betrayed her and got turned on. But there wasn’t anything she could do about it. You were in control.

And she hated the feeling of emptiness she felt when you stopped and stood back up, leaving her still on the ground. “Yeah. We’re gonna have so much fun. Not yet, but soon. Until then, I’ll be back. I’m going to go get some food. You stay here.” You laughed at your own sentence, “Get it? It’s funny ‘cause you can’t go anywhere!” You continued to laugh until you had left the warehouse, leaving her alone and confused.

You were gone for probably two hours. But to Natasha it felt like days. The whole time she was looking for a way out, yet there was nothing. You were thorough with this place, making sure there wasn’t anything sharp she could reach to cut the rope, or anything she could climb on to get out through one of the windows.

When you came back, Natasha was curled into a ball silently crying. “Cheer up. I got you some food from this nice ramen place. Maybe I can take you there one day.” You put the food down on the floor in front of her and even gave her some water.

“You know, they’re going to wonder why I never came back. And then they’re going to find me and kill you! Pervert!” She spat. Instead of arguing back like she wanted you to, you laughed and walked away, leaving her alone to eat. The rest of the day she sat there thinking about how alone and scared she was. She didn’t know if she’d ever see her family again.

You won. This time.

[stressisakiller]

As You Wish

Steve Rogers x Reader Soulmate AU

(As you wish Part 2)

Summary: What happens when after moving into Stark Tower you run into a certain Captain

Warnings: None really, fluff, like one cussword a little bit of spice

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N: Fluffy chapter yay!  Let me know what you think and if you have any requests for future chapters! Thank yall for reading!’

<< Previous   Next >>

Life working side by side with Tony was dangerous. When Killian attacked Tony it was you not Pepper who was taken and subjected to the Extremis serum. This caused you to heal crazy fast and gave you super strength, which was pretty cool but not very useful for someone who spent most of their time in a robotics lab trying not to crush something when it wasn't working.

You later discovered that Killian mistakenly believed that you were in fact Tony's soulmate, while you had always thought that it was Pepper. She quickly refuted your claim when you told her, pulling the back of her jeans down enough to show the smiley face that graced her butt cheek. Turns out that her soulmate was none other than Happy the head of security.

 About six months after the battle of new york, after Tony and the whole Killian/Mandarin situation, Tony asked very nicely if you would move into the Avengers tower with him. He needed to get the Avengers tower going, and after everything that happened and his panic attacks, he really didn't want to live there alone. He was also hoping that if you lived in the tower that the avengers would be more willing to as well. By this point you had met and become friends with most of them save for Captain America, he hasn’t been around much. He was trying to find his place in this new world and taking as many missions as Shield will give him in order to feel needed 

The tower was much different this time than the last time you had been there. There was less plastic film and dust everywhere and all of the construction work was done. Most notably, the wall on Stark's living room floor was no longer a gaping hole.

The top eight levels of the tower were for the avengers. The penthouse was where Tony stayed, no surprise there. The level directly below was his lab space which was restricted access for the most part and then there was the common level under that. The common level was composed of a large kitchen and dining area, as well as a massive living room with the biggest tv you had ever seen. This floor also houses a theater, and an arcade room equipped with pool tables and any other game you could think of. Tony is such a child sometimes, not that you were complaining you loved to play pool. The next three floors are where you and the rest of the Avengers would live. You would each get your own suite that you could arrange and decorate however you saw fit. Each suite includes a kitchenette, and small living room that was separate from the bedroom, and a massive ensuite bath. The lowest two levels were dedicated to the training room and medical ward, as well as a giant pool and sauna area, these floors allowed for outside access as long as they were vetted.

Six months later, life in the tower was going well. You, Tony and Bruce, were the main people living there. You could understand that though, Nat and Clint were constantly out on missions for shield and mainly stayed on base in DC. Tony told you that Steve was currently living in an apartment in DC. He didn't want to live on base but he was running missions for Shield on and off. Thor was off-world with Loki so life was pretty quiet. 

 Then there was a mission that the Captain went on that didn’t go the way he thought. He was wounded and brought back a captive. You were in the common area when the door was thrown open and a bloody Steve Rogers burst through carrying a soaking wet girl over his shoulder.

“The Medical wing, where is it?” He questioned voice hard from pain or fatigue or both. 

“This way.” you hurried off, not looking behind you, you knew that he would follow. 

When you arrived, you called for Dr. Cho and Steve told her what was going on and placed the girl on a stretcher. The nurses pushed her to a room to monitor her until she woke up. He was then shown to a separate room to be looked over and have the bullet removed. 

 That night Tony pulled you into the living room to watch your favorite movie, the princess bride. It was about halfway through when an exhausted Steve came through the door and flopped down on the couch beside the one that you and Tony were currently lounging on. It was coming to your favorite part, Buttercup was currently yelling at the Dread Pirate Roberts and about to push him down the hill.

“Oooh,” you said hitting Tony’s shoulder, “I love this part,” you spoke along with Wesley as he rolled down the hill, “As you Wiiiisssshhhh.” you clapped your hands together, “that will forever be the best reveal ever.” 

You didn’t notice Steve’s stare as you said those words. Holy Shit he thought his tattoo finally made sense, and yet the girl that fate said was perfect for him had her legs thrown over Tony’s lap and was leaning against him while watching the movie. He stood quickly and stomped out of the room, today was just not his day. 

 You look over at Tony confused when Steve left.

“What the hell do you think that was about?” you asked, growing more confused as you noticed the smirk on Tony’s lips.

“Why are you smiling like that?” You had to stop yourself from slapping him when he started to laugh.

“What the hell, Stark, tell me what's going on?”

“I think that Capsicle just realized that you're his soulmate.” He said through chuckles.

“What the fuck do you mean he realized that I’m his soulmate?” you asked your whole body going still as you waited for him to elaborate.

“I thought you had realized this earlier,” he said looked genuinely confused, “The captain is your soulmate, I’ve known since we had that movie night after finding him in the ice. Your tattoo is his dog tags with the flower of his birth month and a phrase that I’ve heard him say multiple times while next to him in a fight.”

You just sat there frozen trying to comprehend what exactly the man sitting in front of you was saying. 

“You know, he may be a little jealous that his soulmate was cuddling someone else since he probably doesn’t realize that you're like a sister to me. You should probably go after him.”  His words seemed to break you from your trance as you threw yourself very clumsily from the couch to follow after him.

“Jarvis, where did Rogers go?” 

“He is in the training room miss.”

“Thanks, J”

You ran all the way down, opening the door you were met by the scene of Steve hitting a punching bag so hard that it broke and flew off of its chain.

“You know, I’m not sure that those are made to withstand the punch of a super soldier, maybe I should design one that can,” you said leaning against the wall and trying not to show the fact that your heart was beating a million miles a minute.

“And why would you feel the need to do that, I’m sure Stark has plenty of things that he needs you to design that are more important than a Steve-proof punching bag.” You could tell that he was gritting his teeth as he spoke, reaching for another bag. You step towards him slowly, making sure not to walk too quickly from fear of him leaving.

“Well I’m sure that the great Tony Stark can take care of himself, and anyways, I think creating something to make my soulmate's life easier is more important.”

He slowly pulled his eyes from the punching bag that he was hanging onto the hook to look at you, pain obvious in his eyes.

“Really? Cause you seemed pretty comfortable with him.” you could see the vulnerability in his eyes as he spoke, he had gone through so much already.

“Yes really, Tony is more like an annoying older brother than anything. I’ve been working around him for the past five or so years, trust me when I say that I have no desire to date him. You on the other hand.” You made sure that your voice turned teasing on the last words, you wanted to make him smile, you hadn’t gotten to see that yet.

“Well good, cause I think I may have to kick his ass if you did.” You could hear the teasing lilt in his voice and the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. But as quickly as it came it was gone.

“How long have you known?” his voice cracked a little as he spoke. You let out a small huff of a laugh.

“Would you believe me if I told you that Tony had to tell me when I was confused as to why you left the room?” His eyes snapped to yours.

“Really? You didn’t know?”

“After not meeting my soulmate by the time I turned 25 I just pushed it to the back of my mind, I stopped trying to figure out what my tattoo meant and I focused on my work. Plus there were a couple of life-threatening instances that distracted me." You joked. You weren't 100% sure how to handle this situation, your main friend group consisted of a playboy philanthropist and a science nerd that turned into a giant green guy when angry, not really the best people to show you how to be vulnerable.

“I understand that," he said pausing before continuing, "part of my problem was that my tattoo didn’t show up until after I came out of the ice.” he looked down at his hands and you noticed that they were fidgeting, he must be just as nervous as you.

“I didn’t know that,” you murmured, deciding to ask the question that was begging to be asked.

“What is your tattoo, if you don’t mind me asking?”

He shook his head, “Not at all.” he stepped towards you and pulled up his sleeve, and turned out his arm so you could see the flesh just under his armpit. As soon as you saw the tattoo you burst out laughing.

“Of course that’s what my mark is, man I’m such a nerd.” You clutched your stomach as you laughed, tears coming to your eyes from the range of emotions that you are currently going through.

“Can I ask why I have this tattooed on me?” He questioned, clearly curious to the reasoning as to why he had a movie quote on his arm forever. You were finally able to pull yourself together and sober up from the surprise of his tattoo.

“That movie came out the year after I was born and it was my mom’s favorite movie to watch with me, we watched it at least 4 times a year. But we always made sure to watch it on my birthday as a family, it became an integral part of my life, plus it’s just sooo quotable.” you said with a smile, “Do you want to look at my tattoo?” you asked motioning at your arm with your head. He slowly nodded, not able to find the words.

You slowly pulled your sleeve up, showing him the inside of your forearm and the dog tags that graced your skin. He stepped forward gently taking your arm in his hand so that he could study the markings on your skin. Tracing the outline and the words that he could see before smiling.

“What does it mean?” you asked softly looking at him through your lashes.

“It’s um,” he cleared his throat, “it’s my dog tags or at least the lower one is, it says my name, then Captain America and the city I was born in, Brooklyn. The top one however is something that I always seem to say when I’m getting beat up in a fight in order to remind myself that I could do it. And the flower… I think it’s the flower from my birth month? I was born in July so I think it’s a reference to that.” You nodded at his explanation, his fingers still gently tracing over your skin, causing goosebumps to pop up from the feeling.

“So, would you like to watch the movie with me? We can start it over so that you won’t be lost. I know that you struggle with pop culture, old man.” You smirked at him as you spoke, he just rolled his eyes.

“Be careful, this old man could still show you a thing or two.”

You laughed out loud at that, your laugh changed to a squeal when you felt him wrap his arms around your legs and throw you over his shoulder. 

“Ahh, let me down!!” you beat at his shoulders trying to get him to release you but he wouldn’t budge, he just continued to carry you until you ended back in the living room and he threw you down onto the couch. He wasn’t even breathing hard after carrying you up 2 flights of stairs, jerk. 

Tony was nowhere to been seen as you restarted the movie. You ran and grabbed some more popcorn to share, pouring in some M&Ms before plopping back down next to Steve and pulling on your couch blanket. It didn't take long for you to cuddle into his side and for your eyes to droop. 

Steve smiled at you when he realized that you had passed out before you even got to the part he had walked in on earlier. He didn't mind though, he just got comfortable and pulled you in closer before allowing himself to relax and fall asleep. 

Tagged Users: @writerwrites

[procrastinatingsapphictrash]

Creative planning

Word count: 2144     

Genre: I think a bit of angst mixed with fluff???

Pairing: Natasha x gn!reader 

Warnings: Swearing but not much and in a friendly way (let me know if I need to add more)

Request: Can u do natasha x reader where natasha fall in love with the reader because they always have stupid atypical plans that always work. And at first none of the avengers believer that the plan will work but it actually work. That’s it!

Summary: Reader always has creative plans for missions that always work and Nat seems like she doesn’t like them except she actually does and is just bad at feelings.

A/n: So this was requested by @fayhar so I hope you like it but if I’m honest I didn’t follow the request exactly so I’m sorry about that, but I hope you like it anyways. Also sorry this is a few days later than I said but I procrastinated but I’m writing a lot now so hopefully all other requests will be out soon.

You glance around at the rest of the team, biting your lip when all you can see is frustrated faces. It’s your first time making a big suggestion and it is not going over nearly as well as you had hoped. You thought your plan was pretty solid, albeit weird, but the team doesn’t seem to agree. 

“We need a real plan, not the plot of some animated action movie meant for kids.” Tony says, his annoyance coming through with his voice. 

Clint shoots Tony a look and softly says, “Y/n, I know you’re trying to help but Tony is right, this doesn’t seem realistic.”

“I agree,” Natasha interjects, “anyone have any more viable plans?” The room is silent after that and you can tell everyone is thinking hard. You’re trying to help as well but your mind is consumed with doubt. Although it wasn’t the most conventional plan, you really thought it could work but they thought it childish. Clint was the nicest to you about it but that’s only because he saw you as a kid he had to protect. You loved being a part of the team but sometimes it was hard to prove yourself when you were both the youngest and newest avenger. You rack your brains trying to come up with a new plan but your mind keeps getting stuck on what you already came up with. It was different from what the team normally did for sure, but you just knew it could work. 

“I know you shot it down already but please consider what I’ve suggested,” you speak up, “it’s different but I think it will work. Besides it’s not like anyone else has any great ideas.” 

While they don’t seem to accept your plan right away this time they seem to give a little more thought. Wanda whispers something to Steve and you can see Natasha and Clint exchange looks. 

Finally Steve speaks up. “Y/n is right, maybe not about the plan but we don’t have any other ideas. I think this is our best change against Hydra for now.” 

“Hydra is a formidable enemy whose goal is to control the world and you expect us to follow a plan that is completely ridiculous.” Natasha argues harshly. You struggle not to let any emotion show because you knew you had to appear strong but what Natasha thinks means a lot to you, so it hurt she had absolutely no confidence in your plan. You have always admired her a lot and if you were to be truthful you’ve always had a little bit of a crush on her.

“This plan does seem a little out there,” Wanda interjects, “but maybe that’s what we need for this mission, Hydra won’t be able to predict it.” 

“Ok,” Tony agrees, “what the hell, let's do it.” 

Fifteen exhausting hours later and you were all on a jet heading back to the compound. Even though it had been one of the hardest and most tiring missions you had been on to date you couldn’t help but smile at the fact that you were the one that helped the team out. 

“Good job Y/n!” Steve praises seeing your grin so you smile back even harder and go to respond when you hear a scoff from the other side of the jet. Natasha is sitting there and although her face betrays nothing, everyone who heard knows it’s her. You don’t know why she hates your plan even though it worked but although it bothers you, you try to brush it off, as Steve squeezes your shoulder in silent support. Even when Natasha exits the jet and heads straight to her room without a word to anybody you manage to keep a smile while talking with a few of the other avengers before you get too exhausted and decide to call it a night. 

As you lie in your bed after you showered and were drifting off you think about the day. You understood the lack of confidence in your crazy plan at first but you finally feel like you proved yourself and showed why you were asked to join the avengers. You also question Natasha’s dismissal of your success but you can never tell what she’s thinking so you brush that aside and fall into a peaceful sleep, optimistic about what is to come. 

---

“Hey Y/n can you look over the plans for the next raid?” Tony asks, shoving some papers in your hands as you walk past him in the hall. 

“Of course!” You respond cheerfully, taking the papers and continuing to make your way into the common room. It had been around ten months since you had first helped create a plan and ever since then the other had been turning to you for help with stuff like this and you became known for coming up with the craziest ideas that always ended up working. 

When you got to the common room you plopped yourself on the couch and started brainstorming beside the only other occupant of the room, Natasha. Out of all the avengers you were still slightly wary of her. You admired her a lot (not to mention kinda wanted to kiss her) but although she didn’t seem to hate your plans as much as she first did she didn’t seem to like them either. You did your best to impress her especially when she would help train you but sometimes it got discouraging because she never seemed to care that much. She was also the only avenger you didn’t consider yourself friends with, which is why you were fairly surprised when she spoke up. 

“What are you working on?”

“I’m just reviewing the mission plans for our raid of the Hydra base in a few days, Tony did a pretty good job though, so I won’t change much.” You respond honestly. 

“None of your weird ideas?” She asks. 

“Probably not, don’t worry,” you say laughing slightly although you don’t feel like it, “I’m just going to see if Steve has any ideas, see you later.” You leave the room in a bit of a rush, making sure you have all the plans. Natasha watches you go with a frown. She can tell she offended you when she asked that but she was just meaning to tease because although she was skeptical at first, she now really loves your plans. 

While she unhappily stares into the hallway you left through, she feels a tap on her shoulder and turns around to see Clint hanging upside down from the vent. 

“What’s wrong Nat?” He asks. 

“Y/n thinks I hate her. Or at least that I think she’s stupid.”

Clint laughs. “Once she gets to know you I’m sure that will change. Remember how long it took for the others to warm up to you?”

“But I like her and I want her to like me now!” Natasha replies in a tone that has a small whine to it. 

“So you like her, no biggie,” Clint says, “eventually you’ll become friends. WAIT-do you mean you like her, like you want to date her?” Natasha doesn’t respond and instead just nods, looking away from Clint. 

“You know it may seem complicated but just be nice to her and give her compliments out loud instead of in your head.” Clint advises.

“You know I think that’s the only helpful thing you’ve ever told me,” Natasha jokes, wanting to change the topic, “when did you get so good at this?”

“Well I do have a wife after all,” Clint answers, “maybe you should trust me on this.”

The past month has been confusing to say the least. You brush your hair in the mirror, wanting to look presentable for when you were having dinner with Natasha later because she randomly asked you to. It isn’t a date or anything, in fact you don’t know why you’re doing this because all she said is that she wanted to talk to you, but the idea of eating dinner along with her makes you nervous. This was the first time the two of you were going to do something without any of the others. At first she didn’t seem to like you at all but recently you noticed a huge change in the way Natasha was acting towards you. She seemed to actively seek you out to spend time together and started complimenting you more, especially on your ideas relating to avengers missions. You take a glance at your watch and decide to head down to the kitchen to meet up with Nat. The whole way down you can feel your entire body almost shaking with nerves but you push it aside. 

“Hey Y/n,” Natasha says softly upon your entry, “I made us some pasta, I hope you don’t mind.” 

“I’ll never turn down pasta.” You respond while smiling and grabbing a plate. 

“Great,” she says, looking a little relieved, “Are you good to just eat at the counter?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I, I’m not the queen.” You answer her, laughing slightly. She mumbles something under her breath but you can’t hear it properly. 

“What was that Tasha?” You ask her. 

“Nothing.” You look down at your food and both of you lapse into silence. Neither of you speak for what feels like an hour but was probably closer to ten minutes before you start to get a little annoyed. 

“Are you going to speak?” She stares at you and doesn’t answer. “Well are you? Because you said you wanted to talk to me but now that I’m here you don’t say anything. Not to mention I can’t even tell if you like me or not.” She seems surprised by your outburst but you can’t find it within yourself to care. It was all true you had no clue what she thought about you with her acting cold towards, then suddenly switching to being nice and as much as you liked her you would much rather just know what she thought than be constantly confused. 

“I do like you.” She says after a few moments of very awkward silence. “I just don’t know how to talk to you properly.”

“You didn’t know how to talk to me???” You ask, completely shocked. 

“Yes,” she replies honestly, “at first I just didn’t talk to you because I didn’t like you-”

“Ouch.” You interrupt and she rolls her eyes at you. 

“Anyways as I was saying,” she takes a pause to playfully glare at you, “the reason why I didn’t like you was because unlike everybody else you were unpredictable and I don’t like not being in control. You are just so different from people I’m used to-I mean this in a good way, like how you always have super creative plans.”

“Oh wow that’s not what I was expecting at all,” you tell her, “I just thought you hated me.” She nods looking remorseful. 

“Sorry, at the very start I may have but honestly that’s the last impression I wanted you to have of me. If you can’t tell recently I’ve been trying harder to be more open.”

“I have noticed actually and although I was a bit confused by the sudden change it was nice.” Natasha smiles at that and sits up a little taller before shrinking back down and biting her lip.

“For the sake of honesty, there was another reason I didn’t like you much,” she pauses to take a deep breath, “you made me feel things, things I can usually control.” You can’t believe what you are hearing right now and think you must be dreaming because unless you are interpreting things very wrongly it sounds like Natasha is confessing feelings for you. 

“Tasha,” you say slowly, “you have feelings for me?” She nods and you can’t even begin to process it. You must have been silent for too long because she stands up and starts to move away. 

“I’m sorry Y/n, we can drop it if you want just please say something.” 

“No, we are not dropping this,” you say seriously, watching Natasha’s face drop as you inwardly smirk, “at least not until you take me on a date first.” 

“You’re an asshole.” Natasha deadpans before coming over to hug you. “I will definitely take you on many dates.” 

She’s true to her word and two days later you find yourselves cuddled in your bed after having dinner at a restaurant. She’s spooning you, pressed up against your back and you can tell by her breathing that she’s almost asleep. 

“So you like my plans?” You ask cheekily, remembering your conversation from last night. 

“I love your plans,” She responds before planting a kiss to the top of your head that nearly makes your heart melt of happiness, “even if you are an asshole sometimes.”

[andilovetowrite]

The Chosen Couple (Part 2)

Peter Parker x Reader

(The reader is an Avenger)

Summary- Peter and you have a movie night to celebrate the school year ending, but the night takes an unexpected turn.

Warnings- Lots of fluff, interrupted confessions and some minor angst. I think a swear word or two with some fighting, but nothing graphic. Oh, also someone getting shot...

Posted: April 24,2021

Word Count- 2k

Here is Part 1 and Part 3

Watching Harry Potter on a rainy night in Queens while sipping coffee under a soft blanket with your best friend is the best way to live life. You both were almost halfway through the first movie, seeing Hermione and Ron argue back and forth. Meanwhile, Peter and you were too busy having one of your own.

“Okay, Ron is clearly out of place for wanting to go run around the castle, especially as a first-year!”

“But he just wanted to explore and figure out why Snape was a rat! Plus, they didn’t ask Hermione to come along with them”, Peter argued back, crossing his arm over his chest, making his biceps bulge against his thin sweatshirt. Resisting the urge to look at them, you retorted.

“Thank god she was with them! Otherwise, they would’ve died in the first 10 minutes.”

“Nuh-uh, they are smart.”

“So they think” We stared intently at each other until Harry’s voice cut in from in front of us, making both of you look back at the screen.

Looking at Peter from the corner of your eye, you tried to suppress a smile, but it broke through, making him smile as well. You let out a small laugh, grabbing another cookie.

“We do this every time.”, Peter said, elbowing you lightly.

“I know”, you said, playfully rolling your eyes, “you should just admit that Hermione makes the best decisions.”

Chuckling, he threw a few chips at you, making you gasp. Jumping up, you grabbed the pillow closest to yourself, chucking it at him. Hitting him smack across the face, his eyes widened. Throwing a hand over your mouth, you tried to stop the bursts of laughter that threatened to burst from you. “I’m sorry! I thought you could dodge that? You know, with your Peter Tingle?”

Peter groaned, throwing his head back. “Oh my god! Don’t ever say Tingle again. May saying it as it is bad, but you too?”

Smiling at his expressions, you sat down again, starting the movie again. He grabbed you closer, resting his head on your shoulder, arm wrapped around your waist. Usually, you wouldn’t mind, but this time, your heart was racing, whether it be from all the laughing or the fact that you and Peter looked very much like a couple, with his hoodie on you and arms circling your body, basically cocooning you. Hoping he couldn’t hear your heartbeat, you were proven wrong when he raised his head, looking concerned.

“You alright? Your heart’s going crazy.” Nodding too quickly, you looked back at the screen, trying to look engrossed in Professor Quirrell. You realised your mistake too late. “Okay, now I know something is wrong because you don’t even care for Voldemort’s funky face!”

“Nothing, I’m just exhausted”, you said, faking a yawn, “Sorry Pete, but I think I’m going to hit the hay. See you in the morning!” Standing up in one go, you started walking towards the door hurriedly, but a thin, sticky fluid attached to your elbow pulled you back in.

Ugh, you thought, wanting just to go back to the compound and get under your bed, burying these feelings under layers of logic and facts. Which all said that Peter thought of you as a friend, and saying anything would ruin what you have right now. Gasping as Peter pulled you back, you fell back, straight into his arms.

“Uh uh”, he said, clutching you to him tightly, making you feel his abs behind your back, which, unfortunately, didn’t help the red tint adorning your cheeks. “You never bunk movie nights. Especially not Harry Potter.”

He looked up at you, a soft pout on his lips, as he cocked his head to the side, puppy eyes showing through. You gulped harshly. “Uh, so…. I’m just a bit bored. I mean, I know every single line to Philosopher’s Stone.” Inwardly sighing at your answer, you looked at him, trying to judge what was going on in his head.

“Aw, c’mon. Every line?”

Glancing at the screen, you recited the following line without even trying. “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that”, you said, along with the voice of Dumbledore in the background. Raising his eyebrows, Peter nodded, still looking skeptical.

“Alright then. I mean, it is your night; let’s do what you want”, he said softly, smiling. Gazing at Peter, you grinned back, staring into his warm, brown eyes. Seconds passed, but you honestly couldn’t let your eyes leave his. And I could feel a low tingling in your abdomen. This moment felt so familiar but so foreign at the same time.

When you dad and mom left you at Tony’s place when you were only ten years old, you remember asking the mysterious man, who turned out to be your uncle, to see the brown-eyed boy across the street. He reluctantly agreed, driving you in his fast, flashy car to your old house. Running out of the vehicle, you bolted up the stairs, not stopping till you knocked on Peter’s door. He had opened the door immediately, flashing a conserved, small smile at you. Looking at him, you remember bursting out in tears at the sight of him, pulling him close to give him a bone-crushing hug. Shocked by it, Peter hugged you back, whispering soft words into your hair. Then when you were finally able to stop the steady flow of tears down your cheeks, he slowly pulled off you, staring you in your glassy, tear-riddled eyes. After promising each other that you would constantly visit the other person’s house and try and call each other, you mournfully said goodbye. You began walking sullenly back into the car, where Tony took your hand and told you to call Peter downstairs. After that, he took both of you out to ice cream, ruffling Peter’s hair and winking at you in the back seat.

Another time was right after your first fight as an Avenger.

It had been a small mission, just stopping a drug cartel from taking place. You remember Peter knowing that you were avenger straight away, him being the first one to ever see your controlled powers. Tony had been preparing you for this mission for months, making you train with Natasha and Steve for weeks on end. The instructions had been simple. Infiltrate the market, grab the dangerous serums that were being traded and knock out a couple guys. Simple, right?

Not that much. The first part of the mission was fine, when you went with Nat to the back of the market. You kept telling her that you could take care of yourself. All you had to do was stay at the exit, make sure that no one would escape the place before the police showed up. Pushing Nat out, you told her to go help out Tony in getting the serums. Reluctantly, she had walked away, making you stand all by yourself. Not but five minutes later, you wished she didn’t go away.

The back door had flung open, the metal flying at your face. Feeling the purple light buzz in your palms, you were able to narrowly throw the thick door to the side. Five men had run out, none of them having any weapons in their hands, and you could hear Tony in the background blasting off. Pushing yourself off the ground, you tried to grab the running men, throwing any materials in front of them, making their escape hard. However, this was the bad part. Casually walking out of the back door, a dark haired man with one arm raised his arm, a small hole in his metallic arm and shot at you. You weren’t even able to see who he was. Falling to the ground, you grunted, running your hand over the small bullet hole in your thigh. Pressing the com in your ear, you called the team, asking for help immediately. You hadn’t ever been shot in your life, so the blinding pain that had gone up your body had you whimpering on the ground. Thor had arrived soon after, looking around to find who shot you, but the man had disappeared. He picked you up, quickly flying you back to the tower, but you wouldn’t have known what had happened next, since you blacked out the minute your head hit the nurse’s bed. When you had woken up, the first thing you saw was a worn out Peter. Slumped back on a chair, fast asleep was Peter. you saw Tony walking back and forth outside the door, but when he saw you looking around, he had run in, quickly hugging you.

“Are you alright? How the hell did you get shot?!”

You opened your mouth to speak, but found you couldn’t say anything, your throat parched. “Oh yeah”, he said, handing you a small glass of water. Gulping it down quickly, you placed the glass down, looking at Tony, your eyes almost falling down. “Some guy walked out after you got the package. Had some type of electronic arm and had bullets in his arm. Couldn’t get a good look at his face though.”

Tony cursed under his breath, telling you to stay put, but before he could go, you grabbed his suit, pulling him back. Whispering, you asked him, “How long has Peter been here?”

“Oh, the kid has been here for 3 days straight”

“Three days!?”, you asked, forgetting to be quiet. Jumping up at your voice, Peter ran over to you, his hair messy and eyes red and puffy.

“Y/N!”, he exclaimed, practically throwing himself on you, hugging you tightly. “I thought you had died when you didn’t get home that night”. Shuddering against your shoulder, you pulled him closer.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily”, you said, trying to make the air lighter. Looking at Tony who was standing at the door, he gave a tiny smile, walking out and leaving both of you alone.

Thinking back on these times, you could feel your heart squeeze tighter at the thought of ever losing your best friend, but you couldn’t take it anymore, couldn’t act like you two were just friends. Okay, Y/N, you can do this. After years of convincing yourself that you didn’t like Peter Parker, you were done with the lies and foreign feelings.

But suddenly, just as you were about to open your mouth, the lights flickered for a beat and then completely blacked out. Blinking quickly, you tried to get your eyes to adjust to the darkness, blindly reaching for your phone but going face-first into Peter’s body instead.

“Oof”, you said, pushing yourself off him Laughing, we both tried to compose ourselves, stumbling around the room. Tapping your wrists slightly, a small purple light showed up, lighting up the place around us.

“Okay, why don’t I go find a flashlight?”,Peter asked, walking towards his room. Nodding, you went the opposite direction, towards the door, hoping to get some light from the road outside. But when you got closer, you saw the mysterious box Tony gave Peter earlier. Curiosity took over you as you moved closer, carefully opening it to see what Peter was so embarrassed about earlier. To say you were shocked was an understatement.

Inside the wooden box was a small bouquet of roses. Fresh red, white pink roses. Next to them was a small box of chocolates. Specifically, Dairy Milk. Under that was a book. Your favourite book. In a brand new cover, crisp and clean against the red paper in the box. Stunned, you carefully picked it up, running your fingers across the embossed cover page. But your attention was detoured because there was a black card at the bottom of the roses, crumpled up hastily. Ah that's what Peter read earlier!, you thought, picking it up, smoothening it out. Your eyes roamed the page, reading the sprawled writing of Tony’s writing.

Hey Peter. Found this under your bed *smirking face*. Thought you might need it soon. Go get her Underoos!

Feeling your face heat up, you read the card again and again. Could it be for you? Could Peter actually like you back? But you got your answer quite quickly.

“What are you doing?!”, Peter asked, running quickly to you, webbing the box shut.

“Uh, just checking out what was in the box…”, you said, crossing your fingers behind your back. “Who’s it for Peter?”

He stared at you, and for a second, you thought he was going to say your name, tell you that he liked you back, tell you that he wanted to be more than friends. But it all went down the drain, and your heart sunk to your stomach when he blurted out. “MJ! It's for MJ.”

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

Oof, Peter. MJ? That’s not gonna go well. Anyway, thank you so much for reading all the way down till here, and I’ll be putting out the next part in a few more days.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 11:  A Turkey Called Marv

Summary: Nat, Clint, Evans, Lawson and the rest of her SHIELD team throw Katie a leaving party once news of her resignation spreads across the Triskellion before Katie and Steve head to New York to spend their first Thanksgiving as a couple with Tony, Pepper and Bruce.

Paring: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: None for this chap, bar a bit of bad language and teeth rotting fluff

A/N: Accompanying One Shot- The Life Of Marv. 

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

Chapter 10

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

November 2013

News of Katie’s spectacular resignation spread like wildfire through the Triskellion. Evans, Lawson, Natasha and Clint had all been pretty upset but had understood when she had explained why she was doing it, even if Natasha didn’t necessarily agree. They had no intention of letting her go quietly, however, and the team took it upon themselves to organise a small Leaving do at Lori’s which was in full swing. Background music was playing, food had arrived and the drinks were flowing. Steve was talking to Lawson, Rumlow and Evans by the bar, leaning against it, an easy smile on his face as Katie stood with Clint and Natasha a bit further down the bar as Clint was talking to them about his latest home improvement plan.  

“So I thought about putting in a pool.” Clint mused, “Now the kids are bigger I thought it might be nice to have one. Maybe even a pool house round it for bad weather.”

“How ambitious.” Nat quirked an eyebrow.

Clint grinned. “That’s my middle name.”

“Really?” Katie asked. “I always thought it was Robert.”

“What?” Clint looked at her as Nat snorted out a laugh.  "Francis.  Why would you think its Robert?“

Katie shrugged "You look like a Bob.”

“Wait… so it’s not Ambitious?” Nat asked, winking at Katie. “How boring.”

Katie nodded, draining her glass.  "Bob would have been better.”

"Right,” Clint started, pulling himself taller. “I hate both of you.”

The girls laughed and Nat turned to Katie. “So what’s in the pipeline for you now Nova?” “I have no idea.” Katie shrugged and she didn’t. “I guess I’ll just get more involved in the family business.”

“You gonna move to New York?” Clint asked. She shook her head. “Probably spend a bit more time there but, I’m not moving back.”

“Nah, she can’t leave lover boy.” Natasha looked at Clint and Katie rolled her eyes. Truth is Nat had hit the nail on the head. No way was she leaving Steve in DC to move back to the tower. Although they had only been together seven months she had spent over a year of her life being ‘with him’ one way or another and the thought of him not being there terrified her.

“You know, to be fair Nat, they’ve been going out a while now. Things are probably starting to cool off.” Clint teased “Oh trust me, there’s no problems in that department.” Katie sniggered, looking over to where Steve was stood.

“And would you look at that. I’m out of alcohol…” Nat said, suddenly “And so is Stark.”

“There’s a bar over there,” Clint pointed

“Cheers…”Natasha took Katie’s glass and handed it to him along with her own. Clint shook his head taking the glasses with a sigh.

“So… now he’s gone…” Nat glanced over at Steve then back to Katie “Gimme details…”

“Details on what?”

“Throw me a bone here Stark. I’m working on a dry spell.”

“Why are you so obsessed with my sex life?” Katie groaned. “You’re constantly trying to get me to talk about it.”

“Hey, look, up until a few months ago I was convinced he was a virgin.”

“Well then you’re a dumbass.” Katie smirked “Like I said, he’s Captain America, had girls throwing themselves at him back in the day.” “So he was until the serum?”

“I never said that.” Katie flushed.

“You’re such a shit liar.”

“Can we change the subject?”

“Ok, answer me one question and then I’ll drop it.” Nat pressed.

“What?” Katie snapped with an air of playful frustration. If she was honest, it was quite nice to have a girlfriend to chat to about these kind of secrets.

“Did the serum enhance…everything?” Nat wiggled her eyebrows.

Katie glanced over at Steve and smirked before she looked back at her. Fuck it.

“Well if it didn’t, I’ve no idea how he managed to stay upright before.” she smirked "I’m a lucky woman”

The red head threw back her head in a dirty laugh, a laugh that Katie had never heard from her before and it made her snigger at the sight of the normally composed assassin letting loose.

“What I miss?” Clint asked as he reappeared, handing them their drinks.

“I’ll explain when you’re older…” Nat said, patting his chest fondly.

*****

The next two weeks flashed by and before they knew it, it was the morning before thanksgiving and they were at the Tower in New York. Last year Katie and Steve had spent Thanksgiving as friends. This year they were spending it as lovers, and Katie was also excited to be spending it with Tony, although she would never admit that out loud.

Steve was also looking forward to it as well. Tony had mellowed to him somewhat over the past few months, especially when he had found out Steve was supporting Katie’s decision to quit SHIELD and not trying to stop her as he had original thought the Captain would. He was also looking forward to Katie’s damned fine cooking as well. Despite the fact that Tony had offered to cater in as Pepper was away until the very last minute, his girl had insisted on cooking it herself, especially now she had plenty of time on her hands.  

As such, Steve and Tony had left her in the kitchen area of the main living quarters at midday to head down to the lab to discuss some further upgrades to the Tower. When they left Katie had been surrounded by bags of flour and ingredients, and when Steve returned he found her at just gone 5:30 surrounded by 3 pies (one apple, one pumpkin and one blackberry) pans of vegetables prepped ready for the and a turkey in the oven ready for JARVIS to turn on in the morning. She was stood at the sink, gently humming, the kitchen now clean and the smell of her baking making his mouth water.

“What are you doing Soldier?” Katie asked, jumping a little as Steve’s arms came around her sides, reaching for the sink, effectively trapping her between the counter and his body.

He laid his chin on her shoulder. “The dishes,”

“I’m only leaving the pie dish to soak.” She informed him, turning her head to give him a quick kiss. “The rest are going in the Dishwasher.”

“Oh because God forbid her majesty would actually wash a dish.” He teased and she rolled her eyes.

“You don’t wash them much either. How many brushes did you break last week?”

“The plastic is bad quality.” Steve pouted.

“Nothing to do with your ridiculously large hands being too rough.” “You weren’t complaining last night.” He grinned, lips warm against her neck as he gently nipped under her ear. Katie squirmed a little and then swatted him in the face with the dishtowel, and he laughed out loud.

“Seriously though Doll face, are you nearly done? You’ve been in here all afternoon. You do know we’re not eating till 3 tomorrow, right?” His hands squeezed her hips and she tossed the dishcloth down and turned to face him, her hands sliding up his chest to his shoulders.

“Yeah but the more I do now, the less I have to do tomorrow, and let’s face it, it’s not like I have anything else to do, on account of being an unemployed bum.” She shrugged making Steve laugh again.  “Plus, I just want everything to be, you know…right.” she shrugged, and she did.

“It’s a dinner.”

“It’s Thanksgiving” She corrected him.

“Yeah, and last years was pretty cool, remember?”

“Yeah but…” she trailed off, biting her lip. Steve knew that look well enough now to know there was more to this.

“What?” He probed gently.

“Nothing, just, well I never had a boyfriend over for Thanksgiving before. Or Christmas come to think of it.”

Steve smiled “I like being your first…” Katie grinned. The whole ‘I like being your first’ thing had started off by her saying it to Steve but they’d fast come to realise that they actually both had a world of inexperience between them when it came to relationships, and it was nice that they could be each other’s firsts in a lot of ways.  “Honey, tomorrow is gonna be great.” He assured, tipping her face up to look at his “Don’t sweat it.”

“Did you seriously just say don’t sweat it?” she sniggered.

Steve groaned “I told you I spent the afternoon with your brother…”

She giggled and leaned up to catch his lips in a soft kiss.

“Getting kinda tired of catching you two making out in a kitchen!” Tony chose that time to waltz in and open the fridge door, pointing to them as he did so. “You got your own floor, piss off and go use it.” ******

Katie woke the next morning to find Steve’s side of the bed empty and cold. It wasn’t unusual for him to be up earlier than her, she knew he would either be out running, in the gym or making coffee. She climbed out of bed and walked to the blinds of the bedroom, instructing JARVIS to open them, the AI being one of the many perks about being 'home’. The New York skyline stretched below her and as she glanced down she saw the people gathered on the sidewalks, attention turned to the streets, obviously waiting for the Thanksgiving Parade. She had asked Steve if he wanted to go and watch it in person but he had said he would prefer to stay in and watch from the tower as he didn’t fancy getting mobbed in the street. Being recognised by one person every so often was fine but in those crowds if one person spotted him then it would spread like wildfire. Besides, as he had pointed out, her floor had an awesome view so they could watch out of the window with a drink. Katie frowned as suddenly a large brown turkey shaped balloon floated in front of her eyes. The parade wasn’t supposed to start until nine and that meant by the time it made its way to the Avengers tower it would be… she turned and glanced at the click and gave a yelp. She had slept in until Ten. 

Steve heard her before he saw her, not that he needed super hearing to hear the loud yell of "how fucking late?” coming from the bedroom. Grinning to himself he turned back to the griddle on the island of the kitchen, flipping a pancake with one hand and drinking a coffee with the other. “Why didn’t you wake me?” Katie grumbled to him as she leaned in the kitchen doorway, taking him in for a moment. He was freshly showered, dressed in a loose grey t-shirt and sweats, hair still a bit damp and spiked up in a way that made her smile. “Because you were up early yesterday and I thought I’d make you breakfast for a change.” He shrugged as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into the back of his shoulder. The smell of his shower gel mixed with the smell of the pancake mix, made her nuzzle her nose into him to inhale deeply. “You smell good.” She eventually spoke again. “Good to know.” A grin tugged at the corners of his lips at the fact she was still clinging to him. “I just saw a giant inflatable Turkey.” Her hands dropped and slid under his T-shirt, gently rubbing at his stomach. “What?” Steve paused. “The parade”

Steve smiled. “You know when I was a kid, the parade was the best part of Thanksgiving.” “Yeah?” she mumbled, her cheek still pressed to his shoulder.

“Yeah. Me and Bucky used to come into Manhattan with his family and my ma if she wasn’t working and stuff ourselves on popcorn and warm mixed nuts” He smiled to himself at the memory. They always picked out their favourite balloons, ate until they thought they would burst, and made Rebecca, Bucky’s younger sister laugh till she cried by pretending they were in the marching bands. But once the war started, the parade had ended. He had never realized that they started it up again until Tony and Katie had mentioned it last night as they had sat eating takeout. Part of him had wanted to go to the street to watch it but after seeing that morning how crowded it had been on his run he was happy to watch it from the comfort of Katie’s floor. He turned to face her for first time that day, her arms still round his waist. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail, face fresh, eyes bright and she was, as ever, in one of his shirts and not a lot else. He leaned forward to give her a quick kiss and when he moved away, she quickly closed the space to give him another, letting her lips linger on his for a second. “I’ll burn the pancakes.” He murmured and she grinned, pulling away. “I’ll make fresh coffee.” She pat his chest and turned to the machine. “Hey JAR…Hit me with some Christmas tunes, buddy” “The usual Miss Stark?” “As long as it has the Pogues on…” “Wouldn’t dream of not doing” the AI replied and then the apartment was flooded with the sounds of ‘Fairy Tale of New York.’ “It’s November.” Steve turned to look at her, but she simply grinned to herself and turned around, singing to him. He couldn’t help but laugh, he knew from last year that Christmas for her started at Thanksgiving and ended on New Year’s Day. Plus the fact that the previous year she had spent Christmas day fighting a bunch of exploding super soldiers meant that she was going to enjoy this year as much as possible. He shook his head, a low chuckle escaping before he turned back to his pancakes. They dragged the cushions off the couch and ate breakfast sat by the huge floor to ceiling windows of the penthouse, Katie sat between Steve’s legs as they both watched the parade. Suddenly, a large green balloon floated by the window and Katie gave a loud squeal when she saw what it was. A Hulk float. An amused smile spread across her lips as she watched the balloon bob in front of the window, twisting to the sides in the air as it wrestled with the wind. “Oh my God!” Katie giggled again, gently tapping Steve’s right calf but he had already spotted it. A massive shield was coming out, followed by Iron Man’s mask, Thor’s hammer, a bow and arrow, Natasha’s Red Widow symbol and her own Nova star. She turned to look at him, a little smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth and when he met her eyes the smile broke out across his features. Laughing in disbelief, he shook his head, turning his attention back look at the shield float bounce down the street. “That’s pretty cool.” He allowed himself a slightly smug and amazed sigh, and it was. If anyone had told him all those years ago that one day he would feature in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade he would have told them that they were mad. Yet there it was. He found himself smiling as he thought about how his ma and Bucky would have reacted. When they had finished eating, Katie leaned back into him a little more, slouching so that her knees were bent and her feet rested on the bottom of the window. His arms reached round her neck, and he kissed the back of her head as they continued to watch the floats, the gentle sound of Bing Crosby “White Christmas” now playing through the room, the two of them simply enjoying the closeness of one another. ***** Eventually it was time to head downstairs and join Tony, Bruce and Pepper for their dinner. Katie and Pepper left the men to it and finished off the prep before calling them all to the table. As was tradition, as ‘head of the house’ Tony carved the turkey with his usual, trademark drama and they took it in turns to give a few things they were thankful for. Tony was thankful for his friends, family and a decent brand of scotch he had in the cupboard for later, Pepper was thankful for being so fortunate and being surrounded by people she loved, Bruce was thankful for being welcomed into their family home, not just for today but since he had taken up residency just after the Chitauri Battle, and Katie was thankful for being in the presence of people she cared for, and for the last year being so much better than the previous twelve months. She shot a wink at Steve as she said that and he beamed before he realised they were waiting for him.

 "Okay, well…” He cleared his throat. “I guess I’m thankful for being given a second chance, being welcomed by you all…and for, err, you.” He grinned at Katie who gave him a playful roll of the eyes but the flush on her cheeks told him she had understood.

“Awww.” Pepper smiled, as Tony made a gagging noise which resulted in Katie throwing a carrot at him. He pointed at her, frowning.

“No food fights on my floor, Kiddo.” He said sternly and she simply raised an eyebrow at him, taking a sip of her wine.

The food was good, not that anyone expected anything else. Both Tony and Banner managed two servings whilst Steve made it through three. And then there was the pie. Steve scoffed down a piece of each, whilst everyone else could only face one, but no one cared. And he found himself secretly pleased that there was enough left for him to scoff later on.

“I’m so glad I wore leggings.” Pepper sighted, leaning back and massaging her stomach.  

“Tell me about it.” Katie moaned. “I’m so glad this denims have an elasticated waist.” She pulled at the middle of her long maroon peplum style top. “Think I’m having a food baby.”

“Yeah, I gotta hand it to you Kiddo…” Tony leaned back in his chair, undoing the top button of his pants and massaging his stomach “That was absolutely awesome.“

Steve’s hand dropped to his girl’s leg under the table and he gave her knee a little squeeze as she reached for her wine glass, before he moving his arm to drop it round the back of her chair. "I certainly prefer the Turkey dead and cooked anyway” Tony added and Katie groaned. “Are you ever gonna let me live that down?” She looked at him. “No” he shook his head. “What’s this?” Steve asked, setting his glass down. “Did she not tell you about the time she brought home a live Turkey one year? Katie sighed as Steve sat up, turning to her, smirking "No…” “I was seventeen and going through a meat is murder phase.” She waved away the comment with her hands. “I was in the way home and saw him. He was the only one left in the farmyard so I liberated him” “By liberated she means stole.” Tony quipped, standing up to retrieve two more bottled of Rijoca from the wet bar as laughs rang round the table. “No one came looking for him.” She shrugged. “Marv lived a happy life for five years in our back garden” “Marv?” Bruce looked at her, a smile creeping across his face. “After the character from Home Alone.” She replied simply

“You had a turkey called Marv?” The scientist deadpanned and she nodded.

“He was a great pet. Used to chase Tony around” “The bird was a fucking menace.” Tony frowned, topping everyone’s glass up. Settling back into his chair, Katie noticed Pepper giving him a look and he started suddenly as if he was remembering something. He leaned forward and looked at Katie. "So I know we don’t do Thanksgiving gifts kiddo but I was thinking yesterday about something you said to me once, about having a vision for a publishing company.”

Katie stole a look at Steve who simply shrugged. It was true, when she had first graduated she had thought about setting up a publishing company, but one that dealt with unknown writers. Her favourite books in the world were the Harry Potter series and during her degree she had been lucky enough to attend a small seminar held by JK Rowling, who had openly discussed her life before becoming a famous author. She had been a single mother, struggling to make ends meet, and even after she had written the books it took her years to get a deal, being rejected by four different publishers before Bloomsbury (a small, independent group) took a chance on her and it paid off for both of them. Katie loved the rags to riches story and since then had always harboured a desire to do the same thing for other authors but it had never really been much more than a pipe dream.

“It was an idea I once had.” She shrugged, looking at Tony. “Then things went a bit crazy.” “Well… how about we make it a bit more than an idea?” Pepper said. “What?” Katie frowned, looking at Pepper, then he brother who nodded. “I want you to put a proper proposal together, business plan, mood and story board that type of thing.” He said, waving his hand in that Tony-esque manner “Then we’re gonna look at what we need to set it up and take it to the board. Run it as a Ltd company under the Parent company of Stark Industries, but you’ll be the Managing Director.” “I…, I can’t run a business!” She stammered. “Didn’t you run the UK branch of SI for a while?” Bruce looked at her, smiling. “That was different.” She pressed. “Why?” Steve asked. “Shut up Steven.” She shot without even looking at him.

There were a few chuckles round the table before Tony continued. “Look, you don’t need to work.” He shrugged. “You have enough capitol behind you plus the revenue from the business as it to live your life out as an IT girl,  but we both know you’ll end up killing someone if you get bored, and that’s likely to be Cap seeing as you see him most so this is for him as much as you.” “Thanks Tony.” Steve tipped his glass to the Inventor who winked. Katie pondered. It really had been a dream of hers since leaving Uni, putting her degree and passion into her work and she would be lying if she said the thought didn’t excite her but it was a hell of a big commitment, and what if it all failed?

“I’ll help you.” Pepper smiled at Katie who was biting her lip. "I’ll proof read the proposal and I’ll be there every step of the way whilst you set up.” She leaned back in her chair. "The week before Christmas there’s another board meeting. I suggest we use that to pitch the idea.” 

“I think this could be a great opportunity for you and Stark Industries.” Tony looked at Katie. “And you’ll get full autonomy over it all, I promise.” This was amazing. She looked at Steve who nodded encouragingly. “What is it you keep saying to me? You’ll never know until you try?” he smiled at her. She took a deep breath and looked around the table before throwing caution to the wind and letting out a huge grin. “Ok. Fuck it. Let’s do it.” **** After another half an hour or so of chatter, and a bottle of champagne to celebrate Katie’s agreement to the business idea, everyone chipped in to clear the table before retiring to the plush living area of Tony and Pepper’s floor for more drinks and chat. Then the alcohol really did began to flow, Steve and Tony moving onto the scotch,  the soldier watching as everyone around him descended into that well recognised drunken haze. And then out came ‘Drawing Without Dignity’, a game Steve had never played before which was really rather vulgar, but he couldn’t help but enjoy it. The game fast slid into chaos which was to be expected with an extremely competitive Super Soldier who had a natural advantage as he could actually draw, an equally competitive billionaire and a normally mild mannered scientist who also was quite cutthroat when it came to winning it turned out.

Pepper and Katie spent most of the time sniggering at the bickering men, and at the point when they were laughing that much when it was their go, the three boys got so frustrated they banned them from playing. For that, the next time Steve asked Katie what one of the more risqué sayings meant (he had cringed at a fair few of them over the course of the evening) she lied to sabotage him earning her a full on Captain glare. “That was a pretty shitty thing to do.” He grumbled at her as Tony and Bruce were both howling with laughter. “Not my fault Captain Badass doesn’t know what Rimming is!” Katie shot back, wiping away her tears. Steve had to bite back his own laugh at the ridiculous nickname, instead he fixed her with another glare which she returned with a simple shrug of her shoulders. The game ended, and Steve and Tony called it a draw, which was probably the easiest thing to do since Pepper had stopped taking count and tallying towards the end. It was now well after ten pm and Steve looked around the room as Tony stood up, a little unsteady on his feet, teetering back over to the bar.

“I think maybe we’ve had enough.” Pepper hiccupped slightly looked at Tony who had been reaching for another bottle of liquor, wheeled round slightly too fast causing him to stumble into the bar.

Katie cackled as Tony looked at Pepper “Shut up Mom.” he grabbed another bottle of scotch in one hand and the open bottle of Krug the girls were drinking in the other. He walked carefully over towards the sofa, as he dropped down into it heavily, handing the champagne to Katie who was on the floor in between Steve’s legs, her back resting against the sofa. She took it and poured herself and Pepper a glass, quite pleased that she didn’t spill any.

“You know he…he can’t get drunk!”  Tony handed Bruce a now full glass, pointing to Steve.

“That’s sad.” Bruce surmised, taking a sip of his drink before Tony sat bolt upright, and pointed at the scientist.

“Hey, I wonder if Hulk can get drunk?”

“That’s an…that’s an…ex…exper-expediment I don’t think we should do.” Bruce shook his head, hiccups punctuating his speech.

“Absolutely not.” Steve shook his head as Katie cackled.

“But it would be for science purposes.” Tony pressed

Bruce wrinkled his nose and shook his head “No Code Green.” “Spoil sport.” Tony sniffed

They stayed for another hour or so, until Pepper fell asleep. Katie’s cheeks were flushed pink and when she asked for a bottle of water Steve knew it was time to go. After asking Tony if he needed help clearing anything up, which he declined stating housekeeping would be in at some point tomorrow to deal with it, Steve stood up, surprised to find he actually felt a little bit of a head-rush. Ok, so maybe the three bottles of scotch they’d managed to go through had had a little effect after all, but he felt the fizziness ebbing away as he pulled Katie to her feet and she grinned up at him.

“Wanna carry me Soldier?” she asked.

He arched an eyebrow and in one swoop had her over his shoulder, causing her to shriek with laughter as she clutched at his navy blue cardigan jacket.

“Night!” She waved from her upside down position. Tony and Bruce waved distractedly from where they were now trying to mix some form of cocktail at the bar.

“You can put me down now.” Katie patted Steve on his back as they boarded the elevator. “Steve…”

He smirked to himself, ignoring her giggles and protests, swatting lightly at her ass, and didn’t put her down until they reached  the bedroom where he tossed her onto the bed and set about showing her exactly how thankful for her he was

******* If you want to read more about Marv the Turkey, check out the One shot: The Life Of Marv. As with all SSB One Shots, they don’t need to be read to understand the main story...consider them tasty little side dishes.

********

Chapter 12 Part 1

**Original Posting**

[dontcare77ghj]

Parenting

Steve x reader x Bucky x Tony

Spiderman was Peter Parker. Peter Parker was only fourteen. Tony had found videos of Spidermans earlier days and had made it his goal to find out who the hero was.

It had taken him a week, a week in which he refused to sleep, but he did find out Spiderman's identity.

He'd tracked down Spiderman's identity to a then thirteen-year-old Peter Parker. Tony, being the secret dad he'd always been, had offered to help the spider boy with his powers and trick him out with a new suit.

Everyone on the team could fondly remember Peter's first visit to the Tower. The boy, who was quite small for his age, was looking at everyone and everything with wide eyes and taking everything in eagerly.

You were all for the kid learning how to defend himself and how to understand his powers better.

Bucky enjoyed being around the kid because he never once made him feel poorly about his metal appendage.

Steve was on the fence. A part of him liked being around the kid, and Steve couldn't stand the idea of this kid not knowing how to defend himself properly. But Peter was thirteen. Steve wanted the kid to be a kid.

It was only after being around the young genius for a week that Steve backed off on the too young argument. That boy was wiser than his years and had been through more than any other kid his age.

Peter had been training with the Avengers for a year when his world shattered. May Parker had been in a hit and run and had not survived.

Tony had refused to let this kid go into the system and had filed all the paperwork immediately to get him, and the three of you registered as his guardians.

Peter shut himself away for a while during his grieving process. In his mind, he was alone, but the four of you refused to allow him to continue thinking that.

The four of you always made sure that Peter knew you were there, constantly made sure he knew you cared about him, and after a couple of months, Peter accepted this fact.

He was just a kid, but he was your kid.

"Morning, Pete," You smiled at the child as you placed a jug of milk on the table.

"Morning, kiddo." Tony greeted, flipping a pancake onto a stack next to the stove.

"Morning Y/N, morning Tony." Peter yawned, stumbling into the nearest chair.

"Someone looks like they need more sleep." You smirked, taking the pancakes over to the table.

"I stayed up all night to finish my English assignment." Peter groaned, hitting his head on the table.

"Don't dent your head." You said as  Tony told him, 

"Don't dent the table." 

"Okay, moms." Peter snarked, slowly raising his head and leaning back in the chair.

"Eat." You ordered, putting a large plate in front of him. "Spider kids with enhanced metabolisms need as much as super soldiers. Especially ones who stayed up all night."

"Are Bucky and Steve still on their run?" Peter asked between large mouthfuls.

"Chew your food, Underoos," Tony told him, placing a plate in front of you. "It's not going anywhere."

"They should be back soon." You assured the teenager, leaning up to kiss Tony in thanks.

"According to my calculations, they should be back in five, four, three, two, one." Tony counted down and then pointed to the elevator doors, which didn't open.

"And you're incorrect. Must be your old age." You teased, causing Peter to laugh and Tony to scowl.

"That's it, no more pancakes," Tony said, reaching forward to take your plate.

"No. Not my pancakes. I love you." You said, pulling the plate away from him and kissing the man.

"There is a child present, you two," Bucky said as he and Steve entered the floor. "I thought we agreed to keep those activities in the bedroom."

"Gross." Peter coughed, refusing to look up from his pancakes.

"Only when the kid's home," Tony smirked, pulling away from you and turning to the two.

"He's kidding." You assured the teen as Steve sat next to you. "Good run, hon?"

"Good run." He confirmed, kissing your cheek. "Though I'd prefer to stay in bed with the two of you."

"Did Bucky and Sam make it a competition again?" Peter asked, passing Steve his box of old person cereal.

"Sam started it." Bucky pointed out as he poured himself a coffee. "I just finished it."

"Good for you, babe." Tony smiled, kissing him and handing over a stack of pancakes as large as Peter's. "Take that to Steve."

"Pete, don't you have to get going soon?" Steve asked, glancing at the clock.

"Oh shit." The teen cursed, hurrying to finish his food.

"Language." Tony reprimanded with a smirk.

"Relax, Pete, I'm driving you. You'll get there on time." You said, causing the spider to choke on his food.

"Are you sure? Because I could walk." He stuttered as Tony and Bucky snickered.

"I am a good driver." You narrowed your eyes.

"You learned from your sister, doll. Not the best instructor you could have had." Bucky said, patting your hand gently.

"I'm telling Nat you said that." You told him. "I'm a great driver, now hurry up and finish your breakfast. You have Spanish first up." You said, standing from the table and kissing Steve's cheek.

"Why does he get a kiss?" Bucky whined as you prepared to leave.

"He didn't laugh at my driving."  You smirked as Peter joined you. "I'll be back. I love you!"

"Love you too. Have a good day at school, Pete." The three replied.

"You're hogging all the blankets, Steve," Tony whined, pulling the thick blanket towards him. 

"Now, I don't have any blanket." Steve sighed. "Buck, can you bring the comforter out here, please?"

"I have Y/N, and Pete curled up with me. We need a lot of blankets." Tony said, throwing his arm around Peter as you burrowed further into his side.

"Don't worry, Stevie. You can cuddle with me." Bucky announced, entering with the comforter in hand. "Once I get the snacks." He said before moving back to the kitchen.

"You better not be bringing back any of that black licorice crap." You called, continuing to watch the screen as Peter flicked through movies.

"No-one is making you eat it, kitten," Bucky said as he reentered, balancing bowls of snacks in both hands.

"No I'm with Y/N on this. It's gross." Peter piped up, staring disdainfully at the bowl in Bucky's hands.

"Don't make me take you out of my will." Bucky mock narrowed his eyes as he curled up with Steve.

"You'll still be in mine, Spider-baby." You said, reaching over Tony and taking his hand.

"Everyone knows the only movie snack is popcorn," Tony said, pulling the bowl onto his lap.

"Say that to my M&M's." You snorted as Peter grabbed a handful of the chocolate.

"Steve, who's side are you on?" Peter asked the blonde.

"I like both, but I prefer Doritos." Steve shrugged as you, Bucky, and Peter all descended into laughter. "What did I say?"

"Nothing, honey." You shook your head. "Just something Peter showed us a while ago."

"I'm getting worried about the three of you on the internet." Tony shook his head. "Underoos, you better not be choosing Star Wars again."

"I already promised I wouldn't." Peter raised his free hand in innocence. "Bucky said he has not seen Batman I'm changing that." He said, clicking on his desired movie.

“Thanks, kiddo.” Bucky smiled.

Non-reader POV

After watching three Batman movies, the night had turned into day and the group of five were all in varying states. Peter was fast asleep, drooling on Tony’s shoulder, Y/N rested her head on the billionaires other shoulder, said billionaire was half asleep, arms wrapped around both people, and only Bucky and Steve were coherent enough to make a decision.

“Do we move back to bed?” Steve whispered to the brunette.

“Nah, better not risk it.” Bucky shook his head, grinning at the sight of his family.

“We should probably lay them down properly.” Steve suggested, getting a nod in return.

Both men slowly moved over to the three and began to gently lay them down. 

“Go back to sleep, bud.” Bucky whispered as Peter’s eyes blearily opened as he Steve moved the boy.

“’Kay, ‘ight, dads.” Peter mumbled, closing his eyes and falling back to sleep. Both Steve and Bucky froze at the name but smiled after a second. 

“Night, kiddo.”

Reader POV

“Okay we’re here! Christmas can start!” Tony announced, entering the living room with a sleepy Peter.

As Tony had announced, Christmas had come. It was your fifth Christmas as a closed poly group but it was your first Christmas with Peter. Peter had been with the four of you for almost a year and a half now.

The four of you had spent months plotting and planning the entire day out to make it the best for your spiderson. If not to show your love but to distract him from his grief.

“Why did we have to get up at five again?” You asked as Bucky handed you a coffee. “Thank you, Buck.”

“Because it Christmas you grouch!” Tony said, sitting on the floor next to Steve. “Present time!”

“How much coffee have you had, Tony?” Peter groaned, sitting next to Bucky who wrapped an arm around him.

“Would you believe me if I said none?” Tony asked, playing the role of Santa and handing out presents.

“Are any of the other Avengers going to join us?” Peter asked, looking between you all.

“Later they will. Bruce and Nat didn’t want to get up at five and Clint’s bringing his family and Wanda at around three.” You told him with a smile.

“Besides you don’t want to wake Bruce or Nat without warning.” Bucky chuckled. 

“Code green?” Peter rose a brow.

“Yep.” You nodded. “And after training for years as an assassin, your reflex’s get really good.” You told the boy.

“Alright you four,” Tony started. “Present time.” He said, gesturing for you all to open your gifts.

“We might have gone a little overboard.” You said after all the gifts were opened. It was nearly half-past seven and the floor was covered in wrapping paper.

“It was our first Christmas with Pete, we had to.” Steve shrugged, pulling Tony in closer.

“Oh! That reminds me!” Peter exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “Wait here.” He told you all before running towards the elevator.

“That was strange, right?” Tony asked after a second.

“Not stranger than anything else he’s done.” Bucky shrugged. Within minutes Peter was rushing back out of the elevator, holding four bags.

“Merry Christmas!” Peter grinned, handing each of you a bag.

“Oh Pete, thank you.” You smiled, leaning up and kissing his cheek.

“Yeah thank you, Peter. You know didn’t have to, kiddo.” Bucky added, wrapping his arm around the teenager.

“I know, but I wanted to.” He shrugged. “Go on, open them!”

“You got it, Underoos.” Tony nodded.

Opening your bag you pulled out a selection of small chocolates, jewelry that you loved, and other small trinkets that were incredibly thoughtful before pulling out a mug.

“Oh Peter. It’s perfect.”: You said, holding the mug close. It was a normal sized mug with a picture of a cartoon Yoda on the front. Above and below Yoda were the words ‘Yoda Best Mom.’

“I didn’t want to overstep or anything, but I really love being here with you all. I can’t ever thank you enough for all you’ve done for me. You didn’t have to train me, you didn’t have to take me in, and you didn’t have to be so nice to me but you have. And I really appreciate it and I love you guys.” Peter began to stammer, refusing to meet any of your eyes during his speech.

“Peter, look at me.” Tony said as he and Steve shifted closer. “We love you too, kid.”

“We really do. We love you being here. You’re like our kid.” Steve smiled at the teenager.

“Not like. You are our kid, Pete.” Bucky said, putting on a dad themed hat.

“We love you, Peter. You don’t need to thank us for anything.” You said, pulling him into a hug. Within seconds, all three of your partners had joined the hug.

“I love you, mom and dads.” Was whispered as the five of you clung to one another.

Peter Parker was fourteen. Peter had been through many tragedies in life but never allowed them to break his spirit. Peter Parker was Spiderman, but he to the four of you he was always your spider-baby.

All Taglists are always open.

Taglist

@rvgrsbrns @smilexcaptainx @hopingforbarnes @starlingelliot @piper-koko-barnes-rogers @jelly-fishy-babie @skeletoresinthebasement @agent-barnes40 @reann-loves-sebstan @skadikh @summergeezburr @buckybarton03 @miyaeadys-blog @bindythedemon @natasharomanoffismywife @keenmarvellover

[of-a-chaotic-mind]

Team Vacation

Summary: Reader and Quill have had a fwb relationship for a while but have both secretly caught feelings. During a team vacation, Pepper manages to get Reader to reveal her feelings to an eavesdropping Quill.

TW/CW: Peter Quill x Stark!Reader. I’m not sure how to describe the timeline/au/whatchamacallit but basically none of the heroes died I’m looking at you Tony, Nat, and Vision or retired I’m looking at you Steve, no not you Clint, you’re perfectly fine but it is post Endgame. For clarity’s sake, Peter = Peter Parker, Quill = Peter Quill lol. Pretty fluffy but also some hints at a fwb relationship. Obvi Quill & Gamora aren’t a thing in this weird ass AU I’ve cooked up lmao.

Requested?: No

Word Count: 1,343

Author’s Note: I’m honestly not sure where this idea came from but here it is! I will say that “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” by Elvin Bishop came to mind while writing it lol. It actually turned out a lot better than I thought it would XD. I hope you enjoy it and as always Requests are Open!

    I press play on the Awesome Mix on Spotify as Quill, Gamora, and Thor finally make their way over to my car, after convincing Groot, Rocket, Drax, and Mantis into an SUV with Nat & Steve. Quill loses the battle for shotgun as Thor simply lifts him up out of his way and takes a seat in the front passenger seat. Gamora and I both stifle our laughs to save Quill’s ego. As I shift into drive and begin following the SUV, Quill grumbles something about, “Why does it have to be raining? The day we have to arrive on Earth and it decides to rain.”  

    I see Gamora roll her eyes in my rearview mirror as Thor tries to cheer Quill up, “You’ll love Stark’s home. It is very cozy indeed and there is lots of land and space to roam. It will be quite an adventure.”

    “Why again did he insist that we join in on this team vacation?” Peter inquires.

    I chuckle at his whiny demeanor, “Call it extending an Olive Branch. After everything we all went through, he and Steve decided everyone deserves a bit of a vacation and Steve wants to welcome you guys into the family. Besides, even Carol was able to clear her schedule for a bit and join us.” His next bout of mumbling and grumbling is indecipherable so I train my focus back on the road. Within no time the rain retrears and we are turning onto the long, winding driveway that leads to my brother’s estate. As we pull up to the house, Morgan races out to greet everyone and of course her big “brother” is right in tow behind her. Peter lifts Morgan onto his shoulders so that she is eye level with Thor; they’re both giggling their heads off.

    Tony makes his way over to help carry luggage into the house and Pepper joins Nat in watching Peter and Thor chase Morgan around the yard. I step out of the car and join Quill on the other side, “Do you really think it’ll be so terrible to just spend some time with family and friends? It’ll be nice to feel like you don’t have to be constantly doing something won’t it?” With this, I leave him to his moping and join Tony in carrying in luggage.

    Once all the luggage has been carried in and delivered to the proper rooms, I make my way to my own room to change clothes and get ready for dinner which Tony says will be ready soon. I find my room easily and close the door behind me as I enter. A mischievous grin makes its way onto my face as I hear Quill singing in the bathroom as he showers. I quickly change clothes but before I can finish Quill is exiting the bathroom and leaning against the door frame, “I was wondering who I’d be bunking with. Seeing as there’s only one bed I was desperately hoping it’d be you.”

    Knowing Pepper and everything I had confided in her about, she probably did this on purpose and I make a mental note to thank her later as I pull on my flannel and make my way towards the door to join the others outside, stopping on the way to kiss Quill on the cheek, “You can thank Pep for that. See you outside, dress warm it’ll get cold even with a bonfire going.”

    I find Pepper in the kitchen sipping hot cocoa, “Assuming you’re happy with your roommate. Hot cocoa?”

    I nod, “He seems to be as well, and yes please.”  

    “Well, do be careful because your brother will be asking questions when he puts two and two together and realizes you’re not bunking alone as planned,” she says as she starts a hot cocoa k-cup in the Keurig.

    I giggle, “You and I both know it’ll be a hot minute before he takes a breather and notices anything. He’ll be busy with making sure no one destroys anything important.”

    She hands me a mug of steaming hot cocoa, “Fair enough.” I smile as we both wander out onto the porch. I watch as Bucky and Sam bicker back and forth about who knows what as they man the grill with Dr. Banner. Rocket is begging Tony to let him light the bonfire with a flamethrower. Gamora and Nat have made themselves comfy on the porch swing and Pepper and I join them, taking seats in a couple of rocking chairs. The four of us laugh as Nat points out that Steve is having to explain the concept of a bonfire to Drax and Mantis. Groot is talking to the large oak tree from which a tire swing hangs. This tire swing holds a still giggling Morgan and is being pushed back and forth by Thor and Peter. The only ones unaccounted for as Quill steps out onto the porch, are Clint, who is arriving tomorrow with his wife and kids, and Wanda and Vision, who will be arriving shortly, they had to stop at a store for Paprikash ingredients.

    My eyes follow Quill out to the fire where Tony and Rocket are still locked in debate about the flamethrower but my focus is torn away by the women giggling around me. I glare at the three of them, “What?”

    “I honestly didn’t think you’d be as obvious about it as Quill is,” Gamora laughs.

    “I’m- I- How?” I stutter out.

    “Oh please, if anyone so much as mentions Earth or Stark or anything else having to do with you, Quill is off on in a daydream or rambling on about how amazing you are. I’d be surprised if he hasn’t fooled around and fell in love.”

    I tear my gaze away as Nat chimes in, “So I wasn’t mistaken in thinking that those two had a little something going on? (Y/N), was quite excited when Steve mentioned wanting the Guardians here for this little vacation.”

    Pepper nearly dies of laughter, “Oh they have more than just a little something going on. I wish they’d hurry up and admit their feelings for each other.”

    My head whips back around, “I’ll admit, he’s a hell of a good time but I do not have feelings for Quill,” I state defensively. However, the look Nat gives me says she calls my bluff and knows I’m lying, so does Pep and Gamora.

    “Yes, you do. You know how I can tell? I’ve known you for years and never have I seen you as hung up on a guy as you are on him. If you didn’t have feelings for him, you would be flirtier with other guys and still go on dates,” Pepper states and I almost think I notice her eyes flick to the side and back but brush it off as her checking on Morgan or Tony.  

    I sigh in defeat, “Fine, you caught me but let’s be careful about Tony, I’m not sure how he’d react.” Just as the words tumble out of my mouth, Tony is yelling that the food is ready and I’m dragged off to join everyone else around the now lit bonfire and the grill and tables laden with food. Morgan waves at me from Thor’s shoulders as I approach. I wave back and because I wasn’t watching where I was going, I bump into someone. This someone chuckles and pulls me in front of them to wrap their arms around me and I quickly realize it is Quill, “Glad to know you feel the same.” I look up at him and as he kisses my forehead, a smile grows on my face. I glance over at the ladies and they all grin triumphantly. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Rocket forking over some money to Thor. I wouldn’t doubt that they had a bet running about me and Quill. I find this amusing but decide to tune into the speech my brother is giving and soon he finishes with, “Everyone enjoy your stay! Let’s dig in!”

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