#imposter Tony Stark

[nthflower]

Duggan i am coming for you. Emma baby I am coming to rescue from this evil man.

[thehighqueenofhiraeth]

nikolai lantsov = tony stark

no i will not be elaborating

[daydreamerdrew]

Iron Man (1968) #18

[milehighmechanic]

if i told you i was like. running out of money. im not. but if i was. would you. like. send more?

He's suspicious.

( Well, he could just tell her about the savings account that's already under her name, but----- )

"Yes, obviously."

[idk-bruh-20]

Irondad fic ideas #142

Tony is replaced by an imposter (maybe a rogue Skrull or a shapeshifter or agent of some kind), but when Peter shows up for lab day, he doesn't realize immediately, too thrown by Tony's brutally cold attitude.

His spider sense is warning him, but Fake!Tony's remarks are so cutting he can't help but react with hurt and self-doubt. Later he assumes his sense was just warning him that his mentor was finally ready to kick him to the curb

He should've listened to his spider sense instead of his anxiety, though. Because the real Tony has been kidnapped.

It's Ned who gets Peter to realize something is wrong. Ned doesn't for a second believe that Tony would just drop Peter like that. His questions and determination (and maybe some open-mindedness- "What if it wasn't the real Mr. Stark but a bad guy in disguise?") eventually get Peter to rethink the situation too

Peter goes back over the day, and he realizes... Ned is right. Tony would never say those things to him. He needs to trust in the kind of person he knows Tony is. Which means something is really, really wrong.

Meanwhile, Fake!Tony has been busy, alienating every person in Tony's life who could possibly look for him. He says awful things to Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, May... By the time Peter tries to go to them, they're all too hurt and pissed to even listen

So, it's up to him (and Ned) to rescue Tony Stark

They figure out that he's been kidnapped, track down the location, and Peter heists his way in.

He finds Tony in a cell, hurt badly. But maybe worse than that... hopeless.

Tony is laying there like he doesn't think anyone is looking for him. Like even escape seems pointless, since there'd be no one left to escape to. His captors have clearly explained their plan, probably boasting about the awful things they'd had Fake!Tony say. After hearing it, Tony doesn't blame his family at all for leaving him to die.

He's definitely not prepared when Spider-Man suddenly drops into the room.

As they escape, Tony is so moved by how much this kid believes in him. Enough to not just accept that he was capable of acting that way.

They defeat the imposter and get the real Tony to medical. The others are guilty and horrified. Peter stays close. Even though he knows it wasn't Tony speaking before, he still craves reassurance - both that Tony is okay and that he really does care - reassurance which Tony is more than happy to provide

[theidiotwhowritesthings]

marvel soulmate series ✨

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader (slow buuuuuurn)

Summary: Life threw you a curve ball when you walked in on  your long term  boyfriend making out with someone who definitely wasn’t  you. Since  living with him was no longer an option, you’ve ventured out  at the  advice of a work friend and found the absolute perfect loft to  reside  in. The only issue?

You suddenly have four very odd roommates. 

[00]: Welcome Home

[01]: Rebound Sex

[02]: Mismatched

[03]: Back Up Plan

[04]: Be Nice

MARVEL ONESHOTS

Sharing is Caring [Bucky Barnes x Reader] [1,262 words]

Fate is Definitely Drunk

[Steve Rogers x Reader]

Summary: Everyone has the words their soulmate will first say to them written on their skin somewhere. You have the most average words in the known universe so you assume you’ll have a soulmate that matches that. Fate ain’t happy you underestimated her.

[one] [two] [three]

The Asgardian Way

[Thor Odinson x Reader]

Summary: When a human hits puberty they get the name of their soulmate written on their wrist. You got the name of a mythological figure and assumed it meant his parents were real big fans of Norse legend. Then aliens fell out of the sky and everything changed.

Interwoven, but Tangled

[Sam Wilson x Reader]

Summary: The red string of fate connects the pinky of one soulmate to the pinky of the other. Not everyone can see them, but since you had this rare gift you figured it was your duty to make sure as many soulmates found each other. At the very least, you could make sure your friends found their special person. What happens when your best friend’s boyfriend isn’t her soulmate though?

[one] [two]

The Color of Blood

[Bucky Barnes x Reader]

Summary: In this world, a person didn’t discover color until they locked eyes with their soulmate. As an agent of SHIELD, finding your soulmate was hardly a priority. Especially since you were currently dealing with the shocking discovery that HYDRA had been pulling the strings behind SHIELD actions this entire time. Life was all about timing, and you were about to find out that your timing was absolute shit.

[one] [two] [three] [four]

Stolen

[Tony Stark x Reader]

Summary: You were an imposter. You were desperate. You were trapped with no other way out. The fact of the matter was, you hadn’t been born with words on your skin, but now you were wearing the words of a dead girl. How far would you go to save someone you loved?

[one] [two] [three]

[maletfwitch]

Can you make a story of Loki turning Iron Man into one of his iron man suits and turning himself into Tony?

Tony was testing out some new suit tech he was working on when suddenly he felt something poke the back of his head and heard “Brain back up commencing” as he felt his mind begin to be sucked dry by something in the suit. everything went dark for a moment but when he finally came to, he felt... different.

it was as if he was in some sort of cyberspace. with no body, he just floated. until suddenly he was greeted by his own face.

“Hello... Jarvis” The imposter said before letting out a chuckle.

“Who the fuck are you and what did you do to me!” Tony asked out in a now robotic and distorted version of his voice.

“I’m Tony Stark of course, obnoxious playboy billionaire.” The imposter said with his mischievous smirk and in a mocking tone.

Tony thought about who would do this and then it clicked. “Loki?!”

“Correct I was Loki, But now I'm Tony Stark. while you are simply just a program in my suit” He said.

“You asshole! You can’t get away with this people are gonna notice you’re not me!” Tony shouted in his robotic voice.

“Trust me they won’t. Your arrogant playboy persona isn’t exactly difficult to pull off. but if you’re so concerned you can help.” Loki said with a mischievous tone.

“I would never help you!” Tony protested.

“You sure about that?” Loki said before typing something.

“I would love to help you Mr stark.” Tony felt himself forced to say “Not funny lo- Oh Loki you make a much better and sexier Tony Stark than me. Stop That!” fighting the words being forced out of him.

“Don’t like that attitude looks like I'll have to reprogram you” Loki said before letting out a chuckle while he typed.

“Wait what! please... stop-“ Tony’s AI voice began to fade as he began being reprogrammed.

Loki was programming Tony to be the perfect AI assistant for his suit. he was changing his memories to make him think he willingly gave up his body to Loki and would now constantly praise him.

Loki then rebooted the new Tony “Good Evening Master Stark looking sexy as always” Tony Greeted him.

“Good Evening Tony, Quick question who makes the sexier Tony Stark?” Loki asked with a mischievous smirk.

“You of course Master. and I'm no longer Tony I'd rather be referred to as Jarvis now or whatever you’d like to call me. Tony never fit me the same way it does for you.” Tony now Jarvis replied.

Loki was amused at how easy it was to take Tony’s body and turn him into his own virtual assistant. He would immediately begin living his new life of luxury as Tony Stark. tasting expensive wines, throwing lavish parties, and driving expensive cars not that any of them compared to his suits.

As for the Avengers, he was able to blend in just fine as Tony with no one noticing any difference between the original and the imposter. with him having their full trust he could execute his plan to ruin the Avengers for good sabotaging them any chance he got. And while doing so he was gonna try to fuck some of them too, Steve’s ass in particular has been catching his eye in that tight suit of his.

[cryptid-moone]

[OUTDATED]

Haha designs (and I redid their super suits I'm sorry I took away penny's green suit it wasn't the vibe 😭)

Also finally character info stuff!!

Wilbur: so basically he hasn't changed too much from the movie and video game, he thinks things though a bit more (not by much tho lmaooo)

since he's a bit older the teenager crisis kicks in and I say he has imposter syndrome low key cuz he's teaming up with literal superhero's and his dad is basically Tony stark and in his mind he can't match up or make a name for himself without being tied to his dad and he feels like he doesn't like- measure up to the other three so we get a character arc 😈

Penny: she's still doing spy work but as a civilian she's still a celebrity as it's been like a year since she quit the show. She's still a bit shaken up by the events of the movie and has trouble opening up to the others, it gets better tho.

Small thing about the powers she gets in the au, she has empathy powers (can basically feel others emotions and vice versa) and on some level can communicate with animals. She gets a hold on her powers way easier than Wilbur.

Hiro: does hero work after the movie (never seen the show) he's still very sore about Tadashi's death (reasonably so) and is very snippy. He is super closed off the with others and that's kinda how he and Violet grow close 👀

Violet: a lot more open after both movies, still a hit stand offish though, she and Wilbur clash A LOT, like enemies type shit. At some point they're gonna have a really bad argument and someone's issues are gonna get aired tf out and they'll reach a understanding or find common ground and become friendly to each-other. Not now tho lol

[etherealstar-writes]

hey everyone!!

so i have a few woso fic ideas in mind and would love to know which one you all would be interested in the most. btw i also feel more comfortable writing ocs instead of reader insert so i hope that's fine :)

ordinary life - arsenal wfc x teen avenger!oc - teen oc fic where she is basically trying to hide her past of being involved with the avengers, and moves away to london to pursue a career in football by playing for arsenal. and after a while, the past that she'd tried her best to keep a secret from everyone and bury deep down begins to catch up to her - basically the infinite number of times everyone is too blind to figure out that oc is an avenger is so obvious but never connected the dots

star girl - ronaldo!oc fic series - in which 17 year old adrienne ronaldo is the oldest daughter of cristiano ronaldo, trying to live up to her father's standards and carrying the ronaldo legacy. her skills even surpass her father's and everyone on the pitch can't help but be intimated by her. she's loved by all the ronaldo fans, especially her supportive father who is incredibly proud to see her thrive while he prepares to retire soon. - basically her journey from transferring to the wsl and trying to fit in her new team arsenal after playing for real madrid for a year, and facing the criticism of the media of whether or not she can really live up to the ronaldo name

popular - matildas x stark!oc chaotic group chat fic - in which kyra accidentally adds a wrong number instead of mini's in her new group chat with charli and mini, and charli and kyra end up bonding with the imposter added, the two chaotic idiots too blind to realise that she's actually the daughter of the tony stark himself - basically adora stark is just waiting to see how long it takes for them to connect the pieces together

[romanoffsbish]

Imposters

WandaNat x Fem!Reader

Morgan Stark x Fem!Reader (Troublemakers)

Thanks for the fluffy request, hope this is close to what you wanted. @ameeelia07

2,442 Words

The anticipation of your girlfriend's return from their week long mission had been driving you insane as you sat alone in your apartment. It was a no contact mission, so most days you sulked around your place after coming home from work. The mess you'd accumulated was actually daunting, take out containers and blankets in nearly every inhabitable corner, and wrappers of all sorts decorated the place.

How you'd been able to trash the shared space in a week had made no sense to you; your breaking point had actually been when Liho found you. He'd been minding his business when suddenly his paw was attacked by a sticky wrapper. You had been sat on the couch when you heard a consistent crunching sound, then you'd curiously looked down to see Liho glaring up at you. Now though, everything was shining, as you'd used all of your extra energy to make the place spotless for their arrival.

———

Sadly they're running late as they were originally due back yesterday. The quinjet had apparently been having difficulties, so they got stranded in Greenland for the night, and most of today. Natasha had texted you at around 6PM to give you the bad news.

*Detka, we will not be in until midnight, so we're going to stay at the compound, but we promise to make it up to you in the morning*

The message hurt your soul, and your shoulders deflated. You refused to spend another night alone though. So, you got dressed in a comfy sweatsuit, and took yourself to the compound on your bike just as the sun was just beginning to set.

"Hey! Iron Man! Let me in!"

"Sorry, no fans allowed!"

"Stank! I'm not messing around."

"Hey, I said stop calling me that..." He grumbled, then you heard the ding, and saw the gate opening.

"Thank you Tony Baloney..." You giggled over the intercom, then rolled right on through, and left your bike at the bottom of the steps

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today kid?" Tony asks, as he pulls you through the doors and immediately into a hug.

You melt into his strong embrace, having honestly missed the man, and been very touch deprived for the entirety of the week.

"Seriously? Old Spice? Aren't you meant to be a millionaire? You really are a grandpa..." You playfully gag.

"Okay, no more compound for you." He quips, playfully peeling you off and pretending to push you back out the door.

"Well, if your faulty tech hadn't have left my girlfriends stranded, I wouldn't have had to come here in the first place."

"Oh, and here I thought you were here to see me."

"Silly man.. Now, who else is here for me to bother?"

"Bruce, Steve, Bucky..."

"Boring, Boring, Boring..."

"Pepper's here.."

"Wait! Does that mean Morgan is here?!"

"I was getting there.."

"Oh my gosh! Where ?!"

"The garden..."

You took off in search of your favorite Stark, and found her drawing one of the rose bushes, while her mother was sat off to the side working on paperwork. Pepper looked up to see you and you made a 'shh' movement so that you could sneak up on the tiny Stark.

"Mommy, look at —."

"Stop right there you heathen!" You shouted in a deep voice, and Morgan turned to you with wide eyes, before giggling at the sight of you in a fighting stance with a puffed out chest.

"You'll never catch me!" She shouts back before weaving in between the rose bushes to try and evade your grasp.

Eventually you snatched her up from under her armpits, and began spinning her around in circles, only stopping when Pepper speaks.

"Girls... No roughhousing in the garden"

"Sorry Mommy..." You both say, and Pepper narrows her eyes in your direction.

"What? Whenever she says it she practically gets away with murder, thought I could try.." You state with a shrug of your shoulders and the woman just walks over your way.

"Well Morgan, since your bestie is here, your dad and I will be going out to a fancy dinner does that sound good?"

"Heck yeah!" You both shout, and you pull the brunette even closer.

"Y/N/N.. You're squishing me." She grunts out, and you lighten your hold and place an apology kiss to her temple.

"Here's some takeout money, we'll be back by ten..." Pepper states, handing you three twenties, then she pulls you both in for a hug.

"Nice to see you Y/N/N, be good."

"I'm always good." You huff, then carry Morgan into the house while she's upside down.

"Y/N! We should get pizza, then we can watch Frozen, and ooh, we can play dress up." The tiny brunette begins to ramble, and you hum in acknowledgment while pulling up a local pizza spot.

Once the pies arrive, you'd set your girls room at the compound up for a movie sesh, and settled in with Morgan for a sing along.

"Olaf's an idiot." You grumble, and Morgan gasps from besides you, as you both watch the snowman sing about the summer time.

"That's not very nice..."

"Well the truth isn't always nice."

—

"Let it go!!!! Let it go!!!!" Morgan sings along, while simultaneously holding steady eye contact with you as you reach for the final cookie.

You lift the cookie from the box, watching as her eyes follow you and her expression hardens.

"When I'll rise like the break of dawn..."

"Is that a threat?" You ask with a quirked brow and smirk to rival your assassin girlfriends.

"Let it go, let it go.." She practically growls while standing atop the bed.

"Here I stand in the light of day. Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway..." She loudly sings along, then jumps across the bed to yank the cookie from your grasp, you bend it just right to split the cookie in half.

She overestimated her jump though, so you'd had to catch her by her foot. You quickly ate your half before pulling her body back up onto the bed as you laughed.

—

Anna: She froze my heart and only an act of true love can save me.

Hans: A true love's kiss. [he strokes her face gently then leans in to kiss her but then stops] Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you."

"That's what you get for agreeing to marry a man after one day." You laugh out, and Morgan gasps again from besides you.

"What about love at first sight?"

"Sweetheart, that's truly just a fairytale... Never ever believe love can just happen in an instance, it will never be a healthy one if it does. Love has to be built upon over time, it's not meant to be rushed, and with the right people it'll never feel like it was."

"If that was you, do you think Auntie Nat or Auntie Wanda could save you?"

A smile takes place upon your face at the thought of associating true love with your relationship, and you turn to face her directly to respond.

"Oh, most definitely... They're my soulmates.."

"Do you think I'll ever find my soulmate?"

"Of course you will sweets, you're a total catch. Anyone would be lucky to get to love you."

"Really?" She asks with an unsure expression, and you desperately want to know who'd made her this insecure, but you just reassure her the best you can.

"Yes really, I mean, I love you so much sweetheart. Everyone else here loves you."

"I love you too!" She squeals and jumps into your lap, and you tightly wrap your arms around her.

—

"That was a good ending, don't you think Auntie Y/N/N?"

"Yeah, I do..."

"Now, who do we wanna dress up as?"

"Scarlet Witch and you can be the Black Widow!"

You giggle at your girlfriends newfound title, and get up to find her crown that she herself hardly ever wears. Once you found her older suit, and the accessories, you lay it on the bed.

"Friday! Please make a copy of this costume in Morgan's size."

"Right away Miss Y/L/N, It'll be ready in ten minutes." She responds, as she begins to scan the items, and you begin to look for your other girlfriends suit.

"Thank you Friday."

"I'm going to attempt to squeeze into this, you think you can clean up some while I do?"

She nods, then starts to collect all the trash while you travel into your girlfriends bathroom. After a painfully long fifteen minutes, with two mini breakdowns mixed in, you're finally able to squeeze your not as toned body into the unforgiving suit.

"Jesus Nat... This shit is so uncomfortable.." You grumble while looking yourself over in the mirror one final time, before a bright smile forms upon your face as you set off to find your favorite troublemaker.

Morgan was waiting for you in the living room, already in her suit, and was apparently talking Sam's ear off.

"Y/L/N! Looking good!" He teases, making his way over for a brief hug, and uses your entrance as an excuse to leave Morgan's riveting conversation for later.

"Careful there Wilson, wouldn't want my girlfriends to know you looked my way."

Those two are rather jealous creatures...

He clears his throat before narrowing his eyes your way.

"Please, I'm too young to die.." He pleads before taking his leave and you chuckle.

Once he's fully gone, you find you're being pelted in the abdomen by plastic balls.

"Morgan, where did you get these?" You groan, and look all over for the source of her abundance of red balls.

"Ah-ah! It's Scarlet Witch to you, and a wizard never tells her secrets."

"Wizard?" You quip, then throw back her "magic ball" before running to hide behind the couch.

"Hey! That's my magic, get your own..."

After thirty tireless minutes of fighting your girlfriend's mini me, while being dressed as your other, you slump against the couch out of exhaustion. Your arm is draped over your face while you catch your breath, and then you're groaning as Morgan plops on top of you.

"I'm tired..." Morgan murmurs against you, and a confirming yawn follows.

"Me too Momo... Wanna call it a night?"

Her lack of response tells you she's already gone, so you hold the tiny Avenger close, then make your way upstairs. Too lazy to change, you just remain in the tight suit, and leave Morgan the exact same as you lay down in the center of the bed.

—

Pepper and Tony return a half hour later, sighing at the mess in the living room, but remain grateful at the sight of nothing being broken.

"Friday, where are the girls?"

"Asleep in the spare room that Romanoff and Maximoff use sometimes."

"Thank you."

At the sight of you two cuddling, Pepper opts to leave her there since the two of you looked rather adorable. Tony slipped into the dark room, and snapped a few photos.

"We really should hire her to be Morgan's nanny, she literally hates her 9-5, the scary redheads would love her being closer, and most importantly, Morgan absolutely adores her." Tony mutters as he quietly shuts the door, and his wife simply hums at the thought.

"It's definitely a shockingly good thought." Pepper teasingly agrees with the man before making her way to bed.

—

Natasha and Wanda's jet lands, and the only thing on their mind at this time is sleep. Well, sleep and being reunited with you, but sadly they think they have to wait until tomorrow for that. However, as they lazily trail up the stairs the spy notices your bike that they bought you for Christmas laying against a hedge.

"Y/N..." Natasha starts to say with a goofy smile on her face.

"... she's here." Wanda confirms with a smirk, having felt you were near as soon as the door to the building was opened.

They made their way to the kitchen to grab a quick bite, and then they quietly made their way to the place they'd expected you to be waiting. Natasha entered first, and audibly awed at the sight.

"Looks like we got ourselves a couple of imposters..." She quietly chuckles, and Wanda peers over her shoulder to see for herself.

"Oh my gosh, now that's just adorable." Wanda coos, and takes an exceptionally large amount of photos.

"Well, this does explain the many red balls littering the lower levels of the compound." Natasha says as she follows her girlfriend into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

"Those outfits can't be comfortable to sleep in." She sighs, and Natasha instantly confirms that yours isn't.

Wanda simply waves her hand, and suddenly both of your outfits are replaced by plushy pajamas, and the costumes are now folded on the desk.

"You're so sweet detka." Natasha mumbles as she places a kiss to her forehead, and pulls her in for a hug.

"I want them comfortable, and I also can't imagine cuddling up to that suit of yours."

Natasha rolls her eyes at the ulterior motive.

"She did look hot in your suit though..."

"She sure did..."

"I can't wait to come home to this same view one day, but with our own babies..." Wanda dreamily states as she leans forward to place a tender kiss to Natasha's lips.

"Yeah, we need to trap her quick." Natasha jokes, and smirks once Wanda slaps her chest.

"Seriously though, I also can't wait for us to start our family. We'll have tiny little Y/N's running around. Then we can convince her to finally quit that horrid office job, and not have to worry about her nearly as much." Natasha continues, and Wanda nods against her chest before pulling away and making her way to bed.

Wanda climbs into the bed beside you, and gently pulls yours and Morgan's bodies into hers with her strong arms, and places a kiss to your temple.

"Wands?" You sleepily mumble, and she runs her fingers down the side of your face.

"Shh my darling girl, go back to sleep."

"Nat?" You question, nearing frantic

"I'm right here dorogoy..." She whispers as she climbs in on your other side, instantly calming you down as she wraps her arm over your chest.

"I missed you guys..." You sleepily mumble with a tired pout, and the women take turns kissing it.

"We missed you too detka..."

"So much..." Natasha concludes, as she buries her face into your neck, and sighs as your scent works to calm her body.

————————————————————

[darkacademicfrom2021]

“When the tropes break”

Pairing: Loki x medstudent!reader

Word count: 15 K (yes, you’ve read that correctly)

Tags (this is a mess): soulmate mark, soulmate color blindness, doctor!reader AU, coffee shop AU, avengers but they all live happily in the compound like in 2012 fics, "there's only one bed! :0", oblivious idiots, slow burn, enemies to friends to lovers, found family trope.

Warnings: medical issues, needles, there's angst at some point, injuries, blood, car crash, imposter syndrome, anxiety.

A/N: I’ve been wanting to write a fic that combined all of my favourite tropes together and also make the reader a medical student, so here we are! 

“Look. I’m… not that kind of doctor”, tried to explain Dr. Banner, as you insisted on his door. He was wearing his pajamas, with a mug of what smelled like hot cocoa on one hand. You knew this was inappropriate —to say the least—, but you couldn't wait another second. Each time you tried to go to his office at the Avengers compound, you’d get kicked off without even having the chance to meet him.

“Please, Dr. Banner. I come from very far away, and my friend insists you’re the only one who can help me”, you tried, securing the door with your foot before he could even think of closing it before you.

Banner seemed to be thinking about it. Not yet convinced on whether giving you a chance or not —he was a busy Avenger, after all—, he asked:

“Who’s your friend?”.

“Peter Parker. He says he’s worked with you in Stark’s internship and he’s sure you…”, you began saying, but a familiar voice interrupted you from behind. You couldn’t see him, but you were sure you just heard Tony Stark chuckle from inside Banner’s house. You went dead quiet, and Banner sighed in frustration.

“Bruce, if the kid says this is worth it, it might be”, said Mr. Stark. Banner fully opened the door, to show Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff spread out on his couch, each with a mug of hot cocoa and wrapped up in cozy blankets. “Hi, dear”, he smiled at you.

You felt your insides turn upside down. Confusion, at first, for seeing the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on their pajamas, on what looked like a slumber party at three in the morning, in Dr. Banner’s living room. After the initial shock, you were struck with a huge amount of embarrassment, chilling out of fear of what they might be thinking of you. Like a bucket of ice cold water just fell on your back and you looked like you wet your pants in front of them. But they didn’t seem to be upset at your presence, or annoyed. Natasha Romanoff was surely drifting off, and Tony Stark seemed interested in your need for help —a need so desperate that you had to knock on Banner’s door at three in the morning. Truth be told, he was in for the drama.

Banner opened the door for you and gestured to you to sit on the couch by their side. You were still stiff, nervous, and stood near them while picking at your palm and wishing to not be sweating so much —they could probably sense it.

Stark stared at you in confusion, not entirely sure why you weren’t speaking yet. Banner, who seemed more accustomed to the feeling of anxiety over “celebrities”, offered you something to drink, and you accepted it kindly.

“So”, finally said Stark, watching you chug on a glass of water, “how do you know the kid? You seem older than him”.

“Slightly older”, you nodded. “He goes to science courses from my college. We ended up being friends”.

“What are you studying?”.

“Medicine. He goes to physiology classes, and asks really weird questions about genetics…”, you recalled, and soon corrected yourself, “but, of course, it’s irrelevant. I… I appreciate you letting me in. I went over five times to the compound in the past week and…”.

“You said you had a weird thing on your skin”, interrupted Banner. “Why me? You want to be a doctor, I’m sure you know plenty of them, and good. And you know I’m a biochemist and physicist. I don’t look at rashes”.

“It’s not a rash… it’s hard to explain”.

“Then show”, proposed Stark, and Banner blushed.

“No, you can’t do that. Don’t lift your shirt, I can’t attend you, much less here. Give me a description. You seem smart. Why me? Why us?”.

You sighed, fidgeting with the empty glass on your hands. You tried to recall the first thing that happened since that weird drawing appeared on you. It came with a terrible side effect, that had gotten you in a lot of trouble for the past week. No doctors would believe you, telling you you’ve gotten a tattoo while drunk. You didn’t.

“It’s a drawing, like a tattoo, but it isn’t. It appeared out of nowhere, literally. It grew on my skin from one day to another. I woke up with this strange mark on my collarbone, and next thing I heard was a loud, loud… ringing. Like bells being smashed against my eardrums. It hurt so badly. I opened my eyes again, after it happened, and… I lost color vision”.

“You… lost color vision?”, said Banner, frowning. “Like daltonism?”.

“No, like monochromatic vision. Achromatopsia, to be precise. I see everything in black, white and gray”.

“That’s so weird. Maybe a nerve issue?”, asked Stark, hyped up. He seemed to be getting involved, interesting in the case.

“I’ve done every test I thought possible. Nothing else happened, just a weird mark, a big headache with the loud noise and the loss of color vision”.

“Have you checked for mononucleosis?”.

“It’s not”.

“Aseptic meningitis?”.

“Nope”.

“Too much caffeine? It can happen”.

“Can it?”, asked Stark, a little bit freaked out.

“Not enough to cause this, no”, you kept answering.

“Sinusitis? Postconcussive syndrome? A stroke, even? Lupus?”.

“Haven’t you watched Dr. House, Bruce? It’s never lupus”, interrupted Stark once again. You chuckled, and finally gave in, sitting on the chair in front of them.

“It’s none of those things. I checked out for almost everything, even things not related. I tried to do a biopsy, but the flesh wouldn’t give in, as if it’s sealed on my skin. My pressure was fine, I’ve never had any health issues before, I never even needed to wear glasses”.

“Did this… loud ringing come again?”.

“No. And nothing hurt back. It’s like it just happened for my eyes to drop color”.

“I have a theory”, said Natasha, who apparently was awake. Stark and Banner nodded to let her talk. “Someone pulled a prank on you in your dorm and tattooed your body while sleeping. By some huge coincidence in the world, your retina just decided to give up on life and, boom, no more colors for you. It can happen, I once read a book about a painter that stopped seeing colors out of nowhere. Ruined his life completely. Couldn’t eat tomatoes because they seemed so weird”.

“I’ve read that book. Oliver Sacks, right? The neurologist. So cool. I think it was a concussion, though”, chuckled Banner. You rolled your eyes.

“Could you give it a chance and help me out on this? Please. I feel there’s something wrong about it. Something missing”.

Banner and Stark looked at each other. Stark seemed to be into the idea of investigating further. He always had a soft spot for the unfixable, the impossible, Peter would say. But you had a feeling this was something fixable. Maybe something you could understand at some point. What was that mark?

“You said your collarbone. That’s why you’re wearing a turtleneck? Is it that ugly?”, said Stark, and you pulled down your collar to show the mark. The bright drawing of a green snake, with its golden details implastered like the finest of the inks over your skin, showed just how precious that was to even resemble a tattoo. “Wow”, he swallowed.

“Well”, huffed Banner. “I stand corrected. That seems to be somehow relevant to us”, he said, eyeing Stark. “Doesn’t it remind you of someone?”.

“It does seem like one of his pranks, I guess… but, why?”, he frowned in confusion. You cleared your throat. “Oh, it’s nothing, dear. I don’t think our friend has anything to do with this. We’re gonna help you, though”.

“Your friend?”.

“Don’t ask. Tomorrow morning in our lab, is that okay? You can crash here, it’s too late for you to roam around the city”.

And so, next morning, you got admitted into the Avengers compound’s hospital room. You couldn’t even imagine the amount of things they had on that Tower, until you were soon surrounded by wires and pinched by dozens of needles, doing tests you’ve already done on yourself —just in case.

Three days in, and you could only trust yourself walking around the Tower in the middle of the night, when the lights were dead and you wouldn’t run up anyone. The days were hectic and filled with activities, and you could only give yourself permission to roam around when nobody else was there.

But little did you know, it was actually important that you could get your nightly steps, back then. Because they got your color vision back.

It was ridiculous, really. The moment it happened, you were too shocked to even talk. You didn’t actually remember much —you walked into the compound’s library, a place you haven’t visited before, and as soon as you saw a man sitting on the couch, long legs spread over it, you took a sharp breath in, almost scared at his unexpected sight.

As soon as he raised his eyes to meet yours, you heard a loud pitch again, and as everything became too bright for you to understand, your color vision came back to normal. You plummeted against the floor, too drunk on colors and noises to realize that the tall man had the exact same expressions on his face.

Equally surprised, he ran to you and helped you up. He was handsome. Very, very attractive, and you found yourself glad you could see colors again just to appreciate his deep and crystal eyes. You sank on that color palette of cold tones and warm stare for a while, until he walked you to the couch and helped you sit carefully.

“Are you alright?”, you asked him. “You seem pale”.

“I am always pale. Are you alright? You just fell”.

“Yeah”, you chuckled. I might have just fallen for you, you thought, and he blushed almost immediately, as if he could hear your thoughts. “I’m good. I’m Banner’s new experiment, and… well, I was…”, you muttered, unable to concentrate over his eyes on you. He was staring at you intensely, deeply, hearing word by word and taking in every bit of you, and that made you the most nervous you’ve been in your entire life.

“You’re the one that couldn’t see colors”, he stated.

“Yes, but… Somehow, now I do”.

“Yeah”, he smiled slightly, and dropped it quickly. He extended you a hand to shake and took in a sharp breath, as if composing himself. “I am Loki, of Asgard”.

“I am… wait, did you just say Asgard? Are you…?”, you asked, incredulous. He rolled his eyes and interrupted you.

“Yeah, yeah. Brother of Thor”.

“... the God of Mischief?”, you finished your sentence, and he stopped on his tracks.

“You know about me?”.

“I’ve read a lot about you”.

“The New York thing”, he seemed disappointed.

“At first, yeah. After that I got somehow fascinated with mythology. I’ve read all the tales. Are they true?”.

“I did not fuck a horse, if that’s what you’re asking”.

“No, that’s… well, that is sort of what I was asking”.

He chuckled, and you laughed too. When you threw your head back, his smile dropped to a concerned frown and observed your neck with attention. He extended a hand and moved your jaw without saying anything. You flinched and he didn’t register it, too caught up on observing your tattoo on investigation.

“This must be a joke”, he muttered. You straightened your back and he pulled his hand away. You shot him a glance, asking explanations, and he sighed out. “Let me guess. You love the medical sciences, and the color blue”.

“That’s… what? How did you…?”, but before you could finish, he got up and stormed out of the room with a “don’t even” hanging in the air.

The next morning, you found Loki on the breakfast table at six. You would normally go get your food at seven or eight, yet you knew he was there for the coffee early —his brother told you about it. So, you walked into the kitchen and began preparing two coffees. He soon grew nervous, as you thought he would, yet you didn’t go away. You placed a coffee cup in front of him and sat by his side, making direct eye contact. After a while of uncomfortable silence, he broke it.

“Now, what on the Norns do you think you’re doing?”, he asked with annoyance, his deep voice still hoarse.

“What did you do to me?”.

“What do you mean?”, he frowned.

“How did you give me my colors back?”.

He kept his mouth open, looking for the right words. He didn’t say anything, until you crossed your arms in annoyance, waiting for him to speak.

“I did nothing of the sort. And I’d recommend you don’t say you got them back as soon as you saw me, alright? Not in front of Thor, at least”.

“Why would I listen to you?”.

“That wasn’t a suggestion, it was a threat”.

“Are you threatening me?”.

“And are you not backing up from me?”.

 “You seem more scared than frightening, to be honest”.

“Oh! I see you two have already met!”, chanted Thor, walking in and placing a hand on the nape of your neck and an arm around Loki’s shoulders. “Brother, you’ll like this one. But don’t like them too much, or else you'll ruin them”, he joked, and winked at you. You blushed and Loki rolled his eyes, sipping at the bitter coffee you made for him after eyeing it for a while. “Are you busy today with all of those experiments? I’d like to get some coffee with you, if that’s alright”, he asked.

Loki raised his eyebrows, incredulous.

“I’m gonna be free until noon, we could go out!”, you smiled, and Thor helped you up off your seat with a hand and a charming glance. Loki pretended to gag.

“Is my brother flirting with you?” he asked, bewildered. “Blink twice if you need rescue”.

“It’s all good, we’re going out as friends!”, you explained to Loki, but Loki knew better of his brother. “You see, unlike you, Thor has been really kind to me since day one. I’d like to repay him the kindness with some cool coffee shop visits. You’re more than welcome to join, though”.

“Gross. No”.

“Loki! Don’t be so rude to our new friend”, Thor scolded him, not too surprised at Loki's bitterness. You laughed and said it was okay.

“We still have to celebrate, though”, you said, looking him directly in the eyes with a smug smirk, like a cat about to throw a mug off the table. Loki opened his eyes widely and gestured to you to shut your mouth, but you continued, with a grin plastered on your face. “You see, yesterday I just saw colors again. One of the things we’re investigating dissipated, so we’re okay on that. I can now see your blonde hair in person”.

Thor stood in place, confused.

“You didn’t see colors before?”.

“No, they went away some time ago”.

Loki was red head to toes, hiding his face behind the cup, hoping Thor was dumb enough to let it pass. Thor looked at him expectantly.

“My brother lost his color vision too”.

“Oh”, you said, looking at Loki, even more confused than before. “Is that why you were so weird with me? Why didn’t you tell me?”.

“Tell me, when exactly did you get your colors back?”, asked Thor, interrupting you.

“Uh… last night. I was on the…”.

“...kitchen, right? You were making coffee. We’ve met before, earlier, in the library. You wanted to be kind and make me some coffee because I was tired. Then, you hit your head on the kitchen and the colors came back. I was nowhere near you when you found out about that”.

“Loki, that’s not at all what happened”, you scoffed.

“That’s exactly what happened”.

“Tell me this, did you get them when you saw my brother?”, asked Thor, ignoring Loki’s whines.

“Yes? Can anyone care to tell me what’s going on between you two with this? Do you know anything about it? Did Loki do something to me?”.

“BROTHER!!!”, yelled Thor in ecstasy, hugging Loki tightly and spinning him around. You stayed in place, amazed at the situation developing in front of you. “Don’t be an idiot, this is too great!!”.

“I don’t see the colors too, brother. There’s a misunderstanding”, said Loki, arranging the collar of his suit and scoffing in disbelief. “And I suggest you stop trying so hard to find them”.

“Them who?”, you asked.

“Loki’s…”.

“...patience. Get. Out. We’re not getting coffee and we’re definitely not talking, ever again”.

Loki ended the conversation, and you rolled your eyes —what was up with him? What was all that about? Thor sighed out in frustration, and told him to talk to him later on that day. Loki reluctantly nodded, saying that maybe sometimes his position of big brother could actually be of help. Help for what? You wouldn’t know.

Thor smiled at you and offered a hand for you to take.

“Well, then. If Loki is so sure this is a misunderstanding, I shall take you all for me. Are we still good to celebrate your colors coming back?”.

“Absolutely, King of Asgard. I know a good coffee place around the corner”.

Loki felt empty once you two left.

He knew he was making a mistake, but he also knew Thor wouldn’t betray him like that. Still, something inside of him stirred and pained at the idea of that beautiful midgardian being stolen away from him by his brother. Maybe you’d rather the brother that wasn’t your soulmate —he was more pleasant, that was for sure. Loki closed himself off in his room and sunk on a book for the entire day.

  Life in the Tower was a bliss. Sure, there were many things you would have rather been doing —like getting your finals over with, or working on someone else in a lab, instead of your own body—, but you learnt a lot with Banner and Stark. They explained every single step they did, and you could still talk about nerdy science things for the rest of the day with mostly everyone around you. It was so different from home, yet it was so special.

The only one that wouldn’t interact with you at all was the, as everyone called him, Dark Prince.

Loki acted weird around you. He avoided being in the same room with you, and if he was obligated to, he wouldn’t be too concentrated on anything other than ignoring you —which he couldn’t do properly, because of how focused he was on not caring. You could tell, he was actively trying to hate you.

It wasn’t that it broke your heart, or anything of the kind. He just was intolerably mean. And you knew he had a good fame of being mischievous and even cruel, but something inside you knew, very deep down, he was a fragile soul hiding from something bigger —and you couldn’t figure out what it was.

Two weeks passed and there wasn’t much progress being made over the mark. The mark wouldn’t give in a bit of it for a biopsy. The mark wouldn’t hurt, yet wouldn’t feel like just a tattoo. It didn’t have texture, and it felt like it was something beneath the skin, beneath muscle —even beneath bone.

You were already closer to the Avengers around you, after a very few weeks of staying there and seeing them do their daily activities. You even had a routine of sorts. You’d wake up very early and get any lab test needed for later. You’d go to some classes at your college, yet leave early to get into the Stark’s laboratory, and keep on learning. You’d pick Peter Parker from school and go to get him a coffee on your work while talking about what you two had most in common, and then you’d go to the compound back and discuss the latest discoveries over your mark.

It was exhausting, only talking about science all day long for weeks. You thought it would be the biggest blessing you’ve ever had. It wasn’t.

So, one good night after a long day, you found yourself meroding the library again. You needed a book that would take your mind off somewhere else. You had a long list of fanfiction you were still to get through —but you needed the hardcover or paperback, the smell of the new pages, the creamy texture of sliding through a long and heavy book. You needed the silence and coziness of a true library, the warm colors that contrasted so well against the bright and cold lights of the lab and the hospital.

You grabbed a book, the first one that caught your eye, and laid over the long couch that was once occupied by the God of Mischief. What was Loki up to those days? You haven’t seen him at all, and you even began worrying for him. Was he sick? Was he eating? Was he sleeping well?

It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t care for you, you shouldn’t care for him either.

You closed your eyes, and let the cracking of the fireplace be the only sound filling the room. Your breathing slowed down and you felt yourself drifting away. Your shoulders felt less heavy and your feet were almost flying away.

You heard some light footsteps come out of the corner of one bookshelf, someone that had been hiding ever since you came in. You didn’t open your eyes, and pretended to be asleep.

The person walked up to you silently, and you could recognize the sigh. Loki seemed to be staring down at you, and you did your best to pretend to be still sleeping, even though you wanted to wake up and talk to him —desperately. But you kept your urges to yourself, and stirred in place to get a slight look at him without him noticing.

He sat on the individual couch that was just right by your side. You could see very little of him, but you saw his long fingers getting near you. You froze in place, pondering what he would do next. He, with a featherlight touch, lingered his hand over your hidden neck. You wanted to see what he was doing, so you pretended to move in your sleep a little more and allowed him more access to your neck.

Was that very reckless of you? Maybe.

But you, for a strange reason you couldn’t yet point out, trusted him not to hurt you in any way. Even if he only tried to push you away since you’ve met. Even if the only times you’ve talked it ended in frustration and mean sarcasm. You trusted him. And you knew it had to do with your colorvision.

He took a sharp breath in, and you could see the nervousness on his face. Your eyes were now completely open, and if he wasn’t so focused on your neck, he would’ve noticed. You saw his raw display of vulnerability. The mark. He wanted to see your mark better. Touch it.

You understood, then. The mark did concern him. It was his business.

He reached closer to your skin. Lowered the turtleneck slightly and grazed the mark with his fingertips. He was flustered, annoyed, tired. You could see the restlessness in his eyes, and below them. He hadn’t been sleeping well, it was obvious.

When his fingers touched the mark on your skin, you felt a tingling. You moved your eyes as slow as possible, as to not let him notice you were wide awake, and saw what he was doing. He was just touching it.

And the mark was glowing.

He sighed out once again, and muttered what sounded like a curse in old norse. Something about this was bothering him greatly, and you wanted to know. You needed to know. You clenched your jaw and the slight movement made him realize you were looking at him directly into his eyes. He gasped and pulled his hand away. You sat on the couch and frowned.

“So you know what this is”, you stated.

“What?”, he tried to compose himself. His eyes were slightly watery. Maybe it was the effect of the fireplace’s brim lights. Maybe he was too filled with emotions.

“I just saw it glowing, don’t play dumb and, please. Please. Tell me what it is. Tell me”, you asked him, this time a little less frustrated, and more needy. He chuckled and his eyes traveled between your neck and your face.

He got up and sat by your side on the same couch. Silently, he offered his hand. You grabbed it. He didn’t look at you, he looked at your hands, your fingers. He drew slow circles with his thumbs, caressing you.

He didn’t say anything, yet you felt the calmest you’ve felt in a long, long time.

“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you yet”, he murmured. His voice was almost a groan. Low and somehow colorful. It sounded like a dark blue, almost petrol —calm as the ocean, deep as the ocean. Dangerous as the ocean.

“Why?”, you whispered.

“Well, I…”, he moved his head, getting to the right words. “I know better than anyone how gruesome it can be to hide someone else’s truth. But I just can’t tell you now. I think I’m not ready to tell you”.

You paused before answering, and nodded slowly. You understood what he was saying, but you still were being eaten alive by curiosity and impatience.

“Will you tell me, someday?”.

Your shoulders were touching, and you allowed yourself to rest your head on his shoulder. It was almost as if his body was molded to be with yours. His hands molded to be around yours.

You breathed in his fresh scent, and wondered why was this man so close to you, right now, allowing you to be this close, allowing you to sync your breathing with his.

“Someday”, he muttered. He rested his head over yours, still drawing slow shapes on your hand.

After some silent time your body felt all the tiredness of the day and you began falling back asleep. He let you —he might have even encouraged it. He was so different from the Loki he had been the past few weeks. Almost as if the confirmation that your mark could glow, made him give up his goal to ignore your existence. And he was… gentle, to say the least. He was silently kind, and he felt like home.

You might have fallen a little more for him.

Over the course of the next week he stopped trying to pretend like you didn’t exist. He laughed at your jokes with the rest of the group. He offered you coffee while he did his own. He even accepted to go out on one of your coffee shop tours with his brother, once.

But you’ve never talked by yourself, without being under the veil of safety of a friend group.

Sometimes Tony Stark would bicker at him, yes, but ever since you told Thor you saw colors, he had gotten worse against Loki. He teased him endlessly about things you couldn’t understand, as if trying to get information off him.

One day, in a meeting, Tony Stark kept talking about a specific element on the periodic table he was sure could be mixed with tattoo ink to make it the exact texture of your mark. He was trying to give the mark a meaning, a justification, and nobody in the meeting was buying it.

Loki wasn’t even paying attention. He usually didn’t pay attention to whatever Tony said, as a general life rule. But this time, he should’ve, because Tony Stark was actively trying to catch him distracted.

“Anyway. Loki, could you pass me that blue folder right by your side?”, he asked nonchalantly. There were about seven piled up folders of different colors and the blue one was right in the middle.

Loki didn’t glue his eyes off his phone for a moment, except for a slight glance to the pile to find the blue one. He grabbed it and passed it over to Stark. Nobody moved for a while, and when Loki realized what he did, he stopped in place and looked around, trying to see if someone noticed.

Stark and Thor were staring at him with a smug grin plastered on their faces.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake”.

“I KNEW IT!”, yelled Thor in excitement, and fist-bumped Banner.

“Okay, Reindeer Games, this isn’t a joke anymore”, said Tony Stark, becoming way more serious than before. You watched it all develop in silence, amazed at how funny they all were.

Loki sat back on his chair, crossing his arms and sighing dramatically. He looked at you and winked.

“Everything is a joke, Stark”.

“No, no, it’s not. Because we’ve had in here at this little doctor-to-be having lower grades because of the amount of unnecessary experiments we performed on that weird mark of theirs, and you’re sitting here, knowing exactly what it is, and how dangerous it can be, and not saying a word. I know you think human lives are less important, but…”, and Loki interrupted him.

“I’m sorry. Have you said anything I told you? I thought we agreed on…”, he began asking you, and Stark talked over him, yet again.

“Excuse me, you knew?! You knew all of this and didn’t say anything?!”, both directed the blame to you. You sat in there, without any idea of what they were accusing you of.

“Listen. Loki touched my mark and it glowed, and he didn’t explain anything, but I don’t know anything about it. It just glows when he touches it”.

“I am so, so happy for you, brother. I might even start tearing up”, said Thor, placing a hand on Loki’s shoulder. Loki shook it off with a frown.

“Stop it. What did you tell Stark?”.

“Just to check it out… and I might have mentioned the color thing”, he winked.

“Yeah, Mischief. Hercules right here told me all about your color vision and how it’s all related to this little person right here. And I want you to tell me right now what’s up with that mark”, he said firmly.

You didn’t dare say anything. You thought you should have, but you couldn’t. Loki asked Stark to talk in private, and when they came out, Stark was nearly laughing, amazed at whatever Loki had explained.

You got up and walked to him expectantly, curiosity and fear eating you alive.

“It’s no harm. Don’t worry about it. You should take it as a cool tattoo and go back to your normal life. We’re done here”.

“But, Mr. Stark… what is it?”.

“Can’t tell you. Be thankful to this idiot right here that can’t get his shit together”, he pointed at Loki, and Loki blushed, hiding his face between his arms over the table. You sighed and felt tears in your eyes, but pushed them away.

“So… this is it? This whole thing ends here?”.

“I don’t see what the big deal is about, kid. You’re free to go back to your life now. No needles all day long, and you get to work and study like you used to”.

You get to go to your normal life now. It should be good, right?

As Stark said, no more getting your blood drawn every morning. No more waking up at ungodly hours just to be still behind in all your books and work. No more walking around the compound and greeting all of the Avengers you’ve grown attached to. No more coffee with Thor. No more laughing with Loki at his snarky commentary over TV shows —and, to that matter, no more Friday movie nights with the team—.

And still, no idea what the Hell is happening on your skin. Not a single answer.

You let some of those tears roll down your cheeks in the intimacy of your former room, while packing your stuff. You heard a knock on the door and you cleaned your face with a tissue.

“Come in”.

“You know…”, said Banner, leaning over the door frame with a kind smile. Banner was always so kind to you. “This isn’t a goodbye. We liked you too, you should be around more often, even if you’re not living here”.

“Oh, Dr. Banner…”, you sighed with a smile. “Thank you. I’d love to keep in touch”.

“Call me Bruce, it’s all good, kid”, he smiled. “And maybe, you know, you can also keep in touch with Loki”, he winked. You blushed.

“Wh… what? Why would I…?”, you stuttered, but Bruce closed the door behind him and left. You laughed incredulous. Everyone seemed to know more than you did, didn’t they?

But even though you thought you’d finally rid yourself of that God that caused so many problems and made your heartbeat race to an abnormal pace every time, you didn’t.

Because there you were, finishing up your shift on your half-time work, silently thanking the customers to not order any more coffee for the evening, when a big and blonde man stumbled over the glass door.

“Thor, you oaf”, scoffed Loki, and you quickly hid behind the counter.

“It’s here, isn’t it?”, he said, walking in and looking for you, calling your name. You had no other choice than to show up, faking a smile.

“Hey”, you greeted. Thor gestured to zip his lips and pushed his brother towards you. Loki did not want to be there, and it showed perfectly clear on his expressions.

“I’m leaving. Just came by to help my brother…”.

“Force your brother”, corrected Loki, ever so sassy.

“...to help him finally talk to you”.

“Ah, so you finally grew a pair of balls and decided to tell me what the fuck happened on my skin?”.

“Fierce. I like you”, he smirked. Thor smiled and left without turning back. “Listen, I’m…”.

“Sorry? You very well should. And you think that because you are somehow special you can crash into my workplace and just tell me here the big revelation of what we’ve been working on for the past two months? Just like that? You have a lot of nerve showing up here in the first place”.

“Well, nerves, I have. Have I told you I grew up with Thor?”.

“And you keep joking as if nothing happened. You’re an asshole”.

“I’m a God and a prince, and you should talk to me with more respect”.

“Ah. Then, Your Highness, I will escort you to the exit”.

“You see? You’re sarcastic, funny, attractive… We’re made for each other. That’s what I’ve come to tell you, actually. Your mark…”.

“I’m not interested! Do you think bathing me in meaningless compliments will help? You calling me attractive is a mock, and I won’t have it in my workplace. My boss will walk in at any moment, and I should be…”.

“Now, if you just let me for a moment”.

The entire discussion grew out of place, Loki and you making a scene, and it came to an end when you accidentally threw coffee at him. Unfortunately for you, your boss walked in at that very moment, and, giving you very little time to explain yourself, fired you instantly for assaulting a customer. And, honestly? Fair enough.

But now, you were sitting on the sidewalk with the man that —to some degree— got you fired, and nearly on the brink of tears again. He had a hand on the small of your back, trying to comfort you without a clue on how to.

“I’m sorry I threw coffee at you”, you muttered, your face buried on your knees. He sighed.

“I should be the one apologizing”, he said with a low voice, still unsure if he even wanted to say it out loud. No—he knew he had to. “Let me make it up to you”.

You scoffed.

“How could you possibly help me with this? You’re not even from this planet”.

“I’ll help you with job hunting. I’m gonna get you a good job”.

“I don’t trust you”, you sighed. “How can I know this isn’t a trick? Ever since we’ve met you’ve said nothing but lies”.

“Yeah, I’ll give you that”, he nodded and dropped his hand from your back. He fidgeted with his long fingers.

“I won’t be able to pay rent or feed my pets”, you said in a whisper, with a crack in your voice. Something inside of Loki broke in two pieces.

“Stay at the compound. Until you get a job”.

“Yeah, and I presume you’ll convince Tony of that?”.

“Yes”.

“The man hates you”.

“But he doesn’t hate you”.

“I doubt it. I wasted so much of his time…”.

“You didn’t waste his time. Everyone liked you, including him”.

“I assume you aren’t on that list”.

“I am”, he said, without missing a beat. “I do like you, I wouldn’t have apologized otherwise. And you’re kind of nuts, I like that”.

“I’m… flattered?”, you chuckled and wiped away a tear. He smiled compassionately, surprised of himself for caring that much for you.

“You know, I’m going to tell our kids we met because you assaulted me”, he joked, realizing he still had the coffee stain on his shirt and cleaning it off with a brush of magic. You laughed.

“You’ll have to teach me how to do that. It’s more practical than having to take it to the cleaners or cleaning it yourself”.

“I thought you had an assistant to take care of that”, he said. You frowned.

“Why would I have that?”.

“You’re a doctor”.

“I’m not yet, but, even if I were, assistants don’t do that. They answer calls and schedule the appointments, and…”, but Loki didn’t hear anything else, as he was deep inside a revelation. Yes, that was it.

He just found the perfect job for you.

  “Dr. Banner’s lab”, you answered the phone. “Alright, could you tell me your name and a phone number to contact you again? Great, thank you”, you scribbled down on a post-it and glued it to the table. Loki and Tony Stark observed from afar, Loki with a content smile and Tony, slightly impressed at the God of Mischief. “I’ll call you back in ten minutes, let me rearrange some other appointments and we’ll make you fit. It’s no problem, glad to be of service”.

“Who would’ve thought? They just had to drop hot coffee on you to gain your full attention”, teased Tony Stark. Loki’s content smile dissipated and turned into a frown.

“Whatever. I just felt guilty, it’s not like I will actually take action”.

“Keep lying to yourself, but not me”.

“They might be a friend at most. It’d be ridiculous of me to actually date them, just because—”.

“Just because they’s your soulmate. Just because the universe decided you two would be the perfect match, made for each other, two sides of the same coin, two drops of the same rain. You’re right. Silly me”, he punched his shoulder lightly, and, while leaving, he said, “well, good thing you don’t have feelings or anything, because we’re actually a little tight on the rooms now that there’s so many new people, so you’ll have to share a room. Pack your stuff and go to room 207”.

“What? Stark, wait—”, but he was rudely cut off by the door.

Loki sighed, defeated. This was gonna be harder than anticipated.

 “There’s something you might need to know”, said Loki, hurrying the steps behind you. You were walking way too fast back to your old room.

“It can wait! I’m back!”, you smiled, and Loki sighed.

“Yes, it’s about that, actually”.

You opened the door and stood there for a moment.

“The bed”, you pointed out. “This isn’t the room I’m getting, right? Which is it?”.

“It’s…”, Loki seemed embarrassed. “It’s this one”.

“It can’t be. This has a king-sized bed”, and paused. “And I’m not a king yet”.

Loki contained a chuckle. Norns.

“Stark said they’re short on rooms”, he explained briefly. “I’m not sure why they would put a marriage bed instead of two singles—because that’s what we are”.

“What are you saying?”, your heartbeat rushed.

“We have to share the room, apparently”.

“You’re not serious”.

“As a heart attack, darling”, he smirked.

“We can’t share bed, we’re… we’re not, we can’t— you know! It’s inappropriate!”, you stuttered and blushed and moved your arms around. Loki looked down and you could see he was slightly blushing too. He sighed.

“It’s what we’ve got. I’m tired. I want to sleep. Are you?”.

“I’m… going to talk to Mr. Stark”.

“Now?”, he glanced at the clock. It was almost two in the morning. “He must be snoring by now”.

“Or too focused on his lab to even pay attention to me and my problems”, you agreed.

“This doesn’t have to be a problem”, said Loki, sitting on the edge of the bed. “The bed is big enough for the two of us to not even touch”.

“I… I guess we can try”.

“Just tonight. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll deal with it tomorrow”.

“Alright”.

“Okay”.

“It won’t be weird”.

“Only if we make it”.

“And we won’t make it”.

“No, we’re fine”.

“We’re good”.

You sighed and trembled ever so slightly, sitting on the opposite side of the bed. Loki laid on his side and turned his back to you, without getting inside the covers. You did the same, but got into the cover. None of you changed into your pajamas.

Along the night, Loki turned around. He was awake, he couldn’t sleep. You couldn’t either, but pretended to. He tossed and turned, his legs couldn’t stay still, and his heart raced everytime he glanced at you. You were too still—too nervous. He was there. How could you sleep if he was there? And you were there, too. How could he even close his eyes?

Loki wasn’t sure what time it was when you got up and left. But the sun hadn’t settled on the sky, and it seemed like it was around four, close to five in the morning. You got up and left. You didn’t leave the room, but didn’t come back to bed. He sat on the bed again and looked for you.

“What are you—?”, he muttered, seeing you with a blanket and a pillow on the floor.

“I need to sleep”, you cut him off briefly. He sighed and laid on bed back again.

When Loki woke up, stiff and without having a single clue of what had happened, he looked around and found the room completely empty.

He frowned and made an effort to open his glued eyes. The blanket and pillow were folded over your side of the bed and your normal clothes were hanging on the desk chair. Your things were in the room.

He groaned your name, still half asleep, and heard no response. He couldn’t hear anything else than the birds chirping and couldn’t feel anything else than the sun rays burning on his face.

He finally got up and roamed around the room. Stark's plan was to bother him, and it wasn’t working quite as much as he’d liked to.

Maybe you’d accept to be in the same room and Loki would have to actually move his things in here, with yours. He realized you brought a pile of non-medical books. It was on the corner of the desk, and it seemed terribly balanced. He passed his fingers through the spines and found himself opening every book and reading some paragraphs, finding your annotations hilarious.

He sighed.

Fine, maybe it made sense you were his soulmate. Maybe.

What didn’t make sense was what he saw when he entered the kitchen of the compound.

His brother was drowning his morning sorrows on a huge mug of coffee —probably supposedly destined to be for soup— and groaning at his mother arranging the collar of his dress-shirt.

Loki immediately hid behind the door.

What was Frigga doing here? And why was his always-so-bedraggled brother wearing a silk white shirt and tight jeans? He observed Frigga scold his older son for not having braid correctly the strand of Loki’s hair on his own, and Loki suddenly remembered to put back Thor’s strand on his own braid. He must have been too caught up on braiding the damned strand that didn’t hear Frigga walking up to him and opening the door, ruining his refuge.

“Aren’t you gonna say hello to your mother?”, she smiled with open arms. Loki pressed his lips in a thin line and hoped it resembled a heart warming smile, hugging her and repressing a groan when she made use of the closeness to arrange the belt of his armor. “And why are you wearing Asgardian clothes on Midgard? Look at your brother, he is engaging much better with the culture”.

“He has never worn anything other than his leather pants and metal top for the past six months”.

“Loki!”, protested Thor. “That’s not true! I’ve been wearing suits, too!”.

“Yes. The buttons pop out everytime you sit. It’s dangerous”.

“Loki, watch your tongue”, scolded his mother. “And sit there by his side”, she indicated, and with a flip of her wrist Loki was changed into a marine blue suit with straight red lines that gave him a headache. Loki grunted.

“I want to complain about your choosing of the colors”.

“Don’t be so exquisite with your greens, son. I have something to do in here and then leave for more duties on Asgard, so you two are going to listen to me”.

Loki glanced at his brother, and Thor hid his face behind the mug. Loki instantly knew what was going on and started fighting back.

“Whatever Thor has told you, he’s wrong and he knows absolutely nothing of what actually is going on, and let me tell you, if you ever see me anywhere near a disgusting and useless being such as a mortal, then I’ll…”.

“Loki, zip it”.

“Fine. But I’m…”.

“No”.

Loki crossed his arms and didn’t say one more word.

“I’ve been looking at them for a while now”, she said, and raised a corner of her mouth, repressing a smirk. “You’d do well in accepting your fate. It’s not as common as you think, a double soulmate bond”.

“I don’t want it. I’m good on my own and they’ll be way better off without me”.

“That, I agree”, added Thor.

“Have I said you could speak?”, she frowned. “You’ll always be good on your own, Loki. That’s not the point of a soulmate. They’re not there to complete you, they’re there to share your fullness with you. Give them a chance”.

“No”.

“I’ll go talk to them, then”.

“Alright! Hold on”, he got up and stopped his mother from walking to Banner’s office. “I’ll ask them out for coffee. We’ll talk”.

“Good”, she smiled sincerely. “You won’t regret it, believe me. And braid your brother’s strand better”.

Loki rolled his eyes and groaned before leaving. Not without arranging the strand in front of his mother, of course.

  You were gladly submerged into one of your books, taking notes at the speed of light with a scribbling that no longer made sense —in your first year you were neat with your handwriting, but as the things you needed to learn got more and more complex and long you had to sacrifice it for the sake of saved time—.

The common room of the compound was filled with activity, yet each one of you were on their own thing. Pepper ran around, busy as always, in things you didn’t quite understand. Some of the Avengers were having breakfast over some friendly chatter, reading the news, fixing their own tech, texting family members, among other things. Thor was focused on a handwritten letter for his father. Peter was at school, which was weird, because Tony took him and it wasn’t nearly five in the morning when that happened. He went to school at eight. He also forgot his backpack and didn’t come back to pick it up.

But you were focused on your anatomy book. This class was giving you trouble. You needed to memorize way more things than your brain was capable of, and neither sticky notes, nor flashcards, nor Notion apps, nor reciting out loud, not even making songs of it would help you get it all in your head. You contained a groan against your notebook —you didn’t want to draw attention from others—, and went back to trying.

Loki walked in with his nonchalant and ever so elegant step, and sat by your side without hesitation. He left a cup of coffee by your side and sipped from the one in his own hand. You muttered a thanks without gluing your eyes off the book, and kept on taking notes. He stayed in silence, observing you, until breaking it with a whisper,

“You know I have no issue with the murder, but do you have to keep the bones in the bedroom?”.

“I thought that was where bones were supposed to be”, you answered, still looking at the stupid words in your stupid book. Loki smirked. “And what do you mean you have no issue with the murder?”.

“Don’t deflect it. Who did you kill?”.

“I got them from the cemetery”.

He frowned in confusion.

“And why would you do that?”.

“I’m… studying anatomy? Is the word medical student not specific enough for you?”.

“You have me! You can study my anatomy!”, he pointed at himself as if it were the obvious solution to your ‘problem’. Although it wasn’t a problem. You had bones from the cemetery.

“You are nuts”.

“Why? Too much flesh?”.

“Yes?! I’m studying bones, not— don’t you fucking dare say it. Don’t say it, Loki, I warn—”.

“I have one exposed bone you could stu—”

You smacked him on the head with your book. The bonk it made was more than satisfactory for him to shut up.

He sat by your side in silence when he realized you two had drawn all the attention from the rest of the room. His brother had raised his eyebrows suggestively and thrown him a look that said “you ought to ask them out now”. And Loki had to take a deep breath for that.

Not that he ever lacked confidence or charm to attract whoever he wanted to. He had lovers in Asgard and fanatics on Midgard, and he convinced an entire team of superheroes to deem him worthy of their trust —which he surely wasn’t—. He simply was…

How would the word be?

“A chicken!”, you said. He blinked his thoughts away.

“Beg your pardon?”.

“That’s what I need. I need to practice on my stitches, and what better for that than a chicken breast?”.

“I… you can stitch me up if you need to practice”.

“God. Stop offering yourself as a mannequin for my studies!”, you groaned. “Don’t you see how weird it would be? I don’t want to stitch your perfectly healthy skin!”.

Loki pondered that image for a while.

“It must seem mad, you’re right”, he nodded. “But consider that I merely want to help you. You seem stressed and my time is badly spent on tricks nobody appreciates around here”.

You closed your book and sat upright, tilting your head. His eyes didn’t glue off yours, and he seemed sincere —not that you had to doubt it at that point. You wondered what would be going on in that clever head of his, that he felt the want —no, the need— to help you.

“I mean, if it really doesn’t bother you, I could use some help with the memorizing…”, you muttered, pointing at your flashcards. Loki smiled.

“Of course”.

  “You’ll have to ask me two more times before we can actually share the bed, you know”, you joked when he came back with two coffee cups and a pan au chocolat to share. “I have a strict policy of three dates”.

“That seems too little”.

“Don’t slut shame me”.

“I’d say at least eight”.

“Are you kidding me? We’d be married at that point”.

“Well, aren't some of your people into that anyway? Like, saving yourself for marriage?”.

You laughed. Loki noticed it was a bright laughter, fresh. Fresher than the coffee he ordered for you, even.

“You call it ‘into it’ like it’s some sort of a kink and I love that”.

Loki chuckled.

“I hope my mother isn’t hearing what we’re making as conversation on this… date”, he took a sip and marveled at the taste. Way better than Asgardian’s, that was for sure. “Not that I actually think this is a date. What should we call this?”.

“A friends-date?”.

“An apology?”.

“Maybe a get-to-know-each-other-plus-coffee”.

“Passing time together because there’s nothing else to do”.

“You know, all of those things could be shortened as a date”.

“It is a date, then”.

“Good”.

“Fine”.

“Alright”.

Loki sighed and hid his face in his arms. His curls dropped off his shoulders and into the table like a wild river, and you noticed a strand of blonde hair braided behind his ear, hidden from plain sight. You’ve also observed the freckles on the nape of his neck, creeping up and very dispersed around his face. You hadn’t noticed them before —his face had a golden shimmer, rather than the white marble you’ve always seen from afar. He had a humane way of handling himself around life, but up close you could feel the magic glimmer from his skin.

You hunched over the table and rested your chin on your arms, imitating his position and still observing his beauty. He really was handsome. His hair seemed so soft and silky, you wished you could thread your fingers through it.

After a few more seconds he raised his head and rested a cheekbone over his bicep, his cheeks and lips squishing slightly as if he was making a little pout. You smiled.

You looked at each other in silence. You observed his facial features, each defined line of his face and each sharp corner. His eyes—always so defiant, always so keen, like a hunter—seemed relaxed and soft under your gaze. He was observing you as intensely as you were, and you wondered what he was thinking about it. What was he noticing?

You tilted your head and laid your cheek on your arm, like he was doing, and didn’t notice the neck of your sweater lifting down. His heart skipped a beat when he saw your mark, as if he hadn’t seen it before. He decided he needed to keep you by his side for longer than he planned. He’s seen your distress. He had to say something. You had the right and the urge to know.

He put his palm up over the table, inviting your hand to rest over his. You were hesitant, but he had the same warm gaze as before. It was alright, it said. You put your hand over his and he enclosed it with the other one.

You both observed the size difference. His hands, slightly calloused, veins marked and bony and yet—still soft. Not an ice cold skin, as you imagined him to have, but an inviting warmth that made you want to hunch closer to him, rest your whole face on the pads of his fingers.

You might have fallen for him a bit more.

He took in some air and decided it was time to speak.

“I have a mark too”, he murmured, almost purred. His voice gravel, a texture so specific you could associate it to a feeling. Summer rain. Tires over wet pavement, the humming of the car engines. His breathing wasn’t too labored but you could hear it still. Maybe he was closer than you felt him to be. You observed his long eyelashes, thick and heavy covering crystal green eyes, less like emeralds and more like jade stones, tints of blue merging too. “It’s yours”.

“You have my same mark?”, you asked in a whisper.

“I mean it belongs to you”.

You stayed in silence, without knowing what to say. His eyes were peaceable, gentle, still. He didn’t glue them off yours and wanted an answer, you could feel it. You still felt his firm grip on your hand, how he studied the way your fingers started caressing his hands without realizing, as an automatic motion. As if your hands were programmed to do so.

“What do you mean?”.

“It’s a special kind of bond… it’s hard to explain. What matters is that we might want to stick together. It makes me feel closer to you, and maybe it makes you feel the same way about me”, he explained. You nodded and then hunched closer to him. You muttered,

“So is it true?”.

“What is?”.

“Is it a soulmate mark? Like the color vision loss?”.

Loki smiled. For the first time in a long while it was a true smile, a fond one. He opened his mouth to answer, but a violent crash outside stopped his words. None of you let go of the hands of the other, but you incorporated yourselves on your seats and looked out the window. A car crash, an aggressive one.

One of the cars had smashed the back seats of the other one, and both of you ran to the accident without hesitation. You caught your heart on your throat when you realized that there was someone on the back seat, and that someone was your smart little friend, the one that got you into all of this in the first place.

“Peter!”, you yelled, running to get him out of the car and helping him. He was unconscious, and stuck. You couldn’t take him out yourself. Loki lifted up the other car and ripped Peter's seatbelt off, freeing him, and you laid him out on the street floor, inspecting his wounds. “Loki, call for help”, you said, and handed him your phone. “It’s 911”.

Peter hit his head and the broken glasses pierced through his arm. He broke a rib from the impact with the seatbelt, but it didn’t seem to have pierced any organ. He was breathing and his heart was beating. He was bleeding out and you did your best to stop the bleeding and keep him stable until the ambulance came, but you were sure he’d make it just fine, and that kept you sane throughout.

The paramedics came in flying and took him in, asking you questions. You and Loki went with them and waited in the hospital’s waiting room until a doctor came out and told you it was all fine. They had to monitor him for a day after he woke up and then he’d be good to go home.

He seemed to be recovering insanely fast, and Loki said something like you know how fast young bodies heal, as if covering him up for being a God like him, or something. You almost chuckled.

When May, his aunt, came to the hospital, she had brought Tony Stark and Happy with her. You were confused, to say the least. And now that you came to think about it, Loki seemed to act like he already knew Peter from somewhere.

“How’s Peter? What happened?”, asked May, rushing to the room.

“He’s just had a scratch”, said Loki, opening the door for her.

“A scratch? A fucking glass cut through his arm. He broke a rib! He had a car on top of him!”, you whispered to Loki when May was out of your reach. Tony walked past you and gave you a pat on the shoulder.

“He’s had worse”.

You frowned, but didn’t say anything else. You waited with them by Peter’s side until he finally woke up and cracked a joke. He was in a huge car accident and the kid was cracking jokes. He suddenly seemed to remember something and got up from the bed quickly.

“Woah, woah, there. What happened, kid?”.

“The driver! That’s what I was doing there, Mr. Stark!”.

“Take it easy, Peter. You’ve just been…”, you tried to get him back to bed, but he dismissed you with a hand wave.

“... under a car, yeah, yeah. Listen, Mr. Stark. The villain was in that car, that’s why I was there. I took that taxi and then when he realized I wasn’t the victim but that I was there to take him down, he put himself through that crash to get out. I wasn’t expecting to faint, I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark. I screwed up. I should’ve been more careful”.

You seemed to be the only one who didn’t understand a single word. Loki, on the other hand, seemed enraged at Tony Stark.

“You gave the kid a part in this mission?! Are you out of your mind?! If he were on Asgard he’d be less than five hundred!”, he yelled, walking up to Tony Stark and towering over him menacingly.

“Listen, Rock of Ages, I would never give him anything he couldn’t handle, okay?”.

“He clearly couldn’t handle this”.

“And how was I supposed to know that?”.

“Hey, stop!”, said Peter. “I can manage. I’ll be fine, I promise. I just… I need a computer”.

“What?”.

“I have mine in here”, you said. At least you could do something if you didn’t understand what was going on. You gave it to him and he put a pendrive on it. Immediately, FRIDAY popped up on the computer.

“Welcome, Spiderman. You seem to have put a tracker on the target. Would you like me to follow it?”.

Tony Stark smirked proudly at Peter. You stared bewildered.

“You’re Spiderman?!”.

“You didn’t know?”, frowned Loki. “How did you know Peter?”.

“He’s the little nerd at the back of my classes! He’s not… he can’t be Spiderman! What?”.

“Yeah… it might take a while to believe”.

“Hey, man”, chuckled Peter. “It’s not that hard to believe, is it?”.

Everyone fell silent. May put a hand on his shoulder.

“Well… you’re not exactly… you’re small!”.

“I—can’t believe this. My own aunt”, he shook his head in disapproval, and started typing. “Now, you’re a doctor, right? You think you can sign some papers and get me out of here?”.

“I’m just a resident. I’m not even one in this hospital…”, you said, looking for the nurse. “Maybe I can get you someone to…”.

“You seem to forget I’m here and I do what I please when I please. Just leave, kid. I’ll make sure it’s alright”, said Tony while texting the chief of the hospital. He entered the call. “Hey Richard, my man. From CEO to CEO…”.

Happy kept staring at you. He stared the whole time, and you were beginning to think he was about to get you kicked out or arrested. He stared as if he were thinking what to do with you.

Loki seemed to notice and stared back at him. Happy broke your eye contact to fidget with his fingers.

“What’s your problem?”, suggested Loki. You had to contain a smirk. Since when was he so protective of you?

Happy got up and walked up to you.

“Nothing, Loki”, he muttered, and told you, “I’d like to have a chat with you outside”. When Loki started following you too, he had to pause and roll his eyes, “alone. Jeez, Tony was right about you being so uptight”.

“I simply distrust your intentions with my friend”.

“No need to get so jealous”, chuckled Happy, as if all the nervousness he had dissipated as soon as he recognized only care for you in Loki’s eyes. “What I’ll offer might benefit you too, lovers”.

Now you were nervous.

Happy took you to the hall of the hospital, and texted some people. You tried to peek in out of curiosity but he moved the phone away and tsked at you. You grew more and more nervous.

“Well, spill the beans, Happy!”, you exclaimed with impatience.

“I’ve seen what you did in there”, he said without gluing his eyes off the phone. “With Peter”.

“What do you mean?”.

“You’re a doctor”.

“In formation”.

“Already going through your residence. You have the doctor’s title. You’re good in action, you reacted quickly and with confidence”.

“How…? Were you there?”.

“I have access to all security cameras —for legal reasons… only in New York”, he winked. First time he looked at you. He put his phone down. “It doesn’t matter how I know stuff, what matters is, Tony and I talked about this, and he gave me full control on the decision. I get to choose someone, and I choose you”.

“What?”, you raised your eyebrows, trying to figure out what the Hell Happy just said. Did he even say something, among all of those words?

“I’m offering you a job”.

“As what?”.

“Avenger’s medic”.

Loki, from the other side of the door, smirked widely. You blinked a few times and tried to process the information. Were you being asked to join the team as their doctor? It seemed like a dream you couldn’t even imagine. Your brain couldn’t conjure up such wild ideas, so it only made sense this was happening in real life.

“Are you serious?”.

“Yeah. You’d go into the battlefield in a nearby quinjet and run to the injured Avengers. That on a mission. If not, then you’d have your own consultory on the Tower and make all the check-ups and stitch them up or put bandaids on their knees when they fall off the stairs”, he said, and your brain went a thousand miles per hour. “If you want, you can still be Dr. Banner’s assistant, too. I think you can work those two jobs without issue. Ah, you’ll have to make a month or so long study trip to Asgard, so you can learn what kind of medicine measures would the demi-Gods require”.

“I…”, you stuttered.

“None of this should interfere too much with you receiving your residence certificates, and taking the board exams. Just texted your college and they would make special arrangements for you. We’re talking about the health of our heroes, after all, aren’t we?”, he smiled. Then, he asked, “so? What do you say?”.

“I… I don’t get it”, you muttered. “Why me? I’m not special in any way. I’m not a genius and I haven’t even actually graduated yet”.

“Aahh, you and your insecurities”, breathed out Happy, patting your back. “Yeah, I’ve got you all studied up. You say you’ll fail an exam and then receive a 98. And then feel like you’re not working hard enough. If my information is correct, you have anxiety weighed by a huge imposter syndrome and the feeling that no matter how hard you try, it’s never gonna be quite enough. Am I right?”.

“How the Hell—”.

“I know everything, remember?”, he interrupted you. “But let me assure you, my job is to find the best people for my best people. And I have no imposter syndrome here, let me assure you, I do a very damn good job. I choose you. You’ll graduate with honors and all. It’s up to you to accept this offer or not, now”.

“This is nuts”, you sighed out. You looked down, and then, with shiny eyes, hugged Happy. “Thank you! Thank you! This is such an honor, sir”.

Happy arranged his clothes after pulling off the hug —already familiar with all-too-excited youngsters— and cleared his throat.

“Call me Happy. Get ready, you start working tomorrow. The study trip is in two weeks, meanwhile, you’ll get personalized assistance on basic Avenger’s procedures. Banner will help you with details to treat the Hulk if it ever comes to it”.

You nodded and he walked off, leaving you to stare at a wall.

You’re a part of the Team, now.

  That night you were too hyped up to sleep. The momentary solution of the floor was beginning to take a toll on your back, and you ended up taking turns with Loki. That night was Loki’s turn. But you couldn’t sleep.

You roamed around the room, fixing your and his piles of books from the opposite sides of the place, moving your head to a melody in your mind. Loki was leg-spread on his side of the bed —even though you didn’t share it, you still had complementary preferred sides— reading a poetry book that had him enchanted.

“It’s late”, he stated after he glanced at his wristwatch.

“I can’t get down this high”, you said, still fixing the books. He closed the book with a small thud and laid on his belly, facing you from the feet of the bed.

“But you need to sleep. Tomorrow starts your probation, does it not?”.

“Well, yes, but—”.

He materialized a cup of tea over his open palm and carefully handed it to you. You accepted it, and he patted the bed for you to sit on your side. You shook your head.

“No, it’s your turn tonight, and—”.

“Would you stop being so uptight? Just sit here”.

You pressed your lips into a thin line and nodded, following his directions. His tone left no room for arguing.

He didn’t get off the bed, though. He sat right back where he was and kept on reading his book. He dimmed the lights with a flick of the wrist and didn’t move an inch after you finished your tea and laid on your side.

You stared up at him. He didn’t seem to notice or mind. His chest slightly raised up and down with tranquil breaths and his eyes flickered from word to word with enthusiasm, revisiting some paragraphs from time to time. You grew curious. You moved in place and accommodated yourself to look at his book better, and he turned his attention back to you.

“Tell me if you’re uncomfortable. Do you want me to leave?”.

“No, actually”, you muttered. “Would you read it to me?”.

He looked at you quizzically. Then, murmured back, “read this?”. You nodded. “Yes, sure”.

After a couple of poems, both of you started getting more comfortable together. You scooched closer to him and he let his hand mindlessly fall to your hair, caressing it gently. You could feel your own chest heaving at the feeling of his warm fingers on the nape of your neck, but you loved it. Your eyelids felt heavier, and his smooth voice seemed to have a massage-like effect on you. His voice is perfect for poetry, you thought, and relaxed even more under his touch.

After a while, Loki’s body began slipping off and instead of sitting with his back against the bed frame, he seemed to be almost laying down with his head elevated. Instead of bothering you, this allowed you to get even closer to him. You tentatively laid the crown of your head against his shoulder, and he —half asleep— instinctively passed his arm around you, not even once letting his hand get away from your hair.

You don’t remember when it happened, but you fell asleep to his words.

You realized you had slept in there when your alarm went off and your eyes opened in front of him. He was awakening at the same time, and groaned lightly at the loud ringing. You spend the night in a similar position —his arm was still around you like a blanket, and you had thrown your head on his chest, your whole body against his side, and your feet tangled like a married couple—.

You raised your chin slightly to meet his eyes and your noses brushed. He chuckled at your strong blush.

“Hi”, he said with a raspy voice.

“Good morning”, you whispered, still burning red, pulling a little away.

He let go of you and you got up to get ready for the day. He stretched in place and nuzzled his nose against the pillow, going right back to sleep. You smiled gently, placing a blanket on top of him and leaving for your new exciting adventure.

  Tony was not having it.

From the waiting area, Loki could hear Tony Stark’s whines over how long you’ve been taking for one simple procedure, complaining at your constant poking with different needles, and how… cold the stethoscope was? What is he, five?

Loki knocked twice and waited for Banner’s tiresome face greeting him. He nodded in silence and approached you while you scribbled down on Tony Stark’s health history and contained some grunts.

Your eyes perked up when you noticed him.

“Hi, Loki”, you received his kiss on the cheek. “Your check-up is not today, I think… uh… tomorrow at nine, right, JARVIS?”.

“Yes, Mx. Y/N, Mr. Laufeyson’s consult—”.

“Oh, don’t mind me, darling. Just came by to bring you this”, he left a cup of espresso over your desk. “I’ve noticed you didn’t have time to get it this morning”.

“Aren’t you just the sweetest”, you winked at him. He chuckled and left without much more to say.

You immediately went back to your consult. Banner and Stark, however, did not come back as quickly. After a minute of painful silence, Tony started.

“You two fucked last night”.

You mumbled in a professional tone that you didn’t and went back to your scribbling. They were not convinced.

“Your energy changed. You were tense with each other, and now he’s all suave bringing you coffee and calling you his darling”, added Banner. You rolled your eyes.

“We’re getting along better. Now that we have to, because someone couldn’t get me in a separate room with him”.

“Why don’t you just admit you two fucked?”.

“‘Cause we didn’t, Stark. And we’re not going to. We just hang out more often, you know, like friends do”.

“He didn’t call me his darling”.

“That’s because you’re not his friend”.

“Ah. Touché”.

Not another minute of silence went by, that Thor walked in with his disruptive and abrasive energy. You sighed exasperatedly and sat down.

“I see you and my brother have at last made benefit of your marking situation!”.

You frowned and hid your face behind a hand.

“I don’t have time for your riddles, Thor”.

“You and my brother have slept together! I peeped in his room this morning to get a hold on his potion’s book and found him sleeping in bed with no less than our little healer under his embrace!”.

Tony and Bruce looked at each other triumphantly.

“Thor, get out”, you sighed. “We just slept in the same room, and can you, for fuck’s sake, let me do my new job without talking about that certain someone?”.

"Alright. Alright", they said, and didn't plan on dropping off the subject for too long. You sighed and pinched Stark's arm with less carefulness than before. "Auch! Okay, I deserve that".

  You did not drink. At all.

There was a reason why you wouldn’t drink. There always was one. You’d have school early the next day —your stomach hurts when you drink wine —you’re training the next morning —you’re too busy to go out on a Friday night.

The real one was that you were actually a lightweight.

Of course, Thor saw right through you. Who other than your Asgardian best friend to take you to a party and try to get you wasted all night long?

It was Saturday, and you were getting ready to leave in two days for your Asgard trip, to learn about the Gods’ physiologies. Loki was sleeping soundly on the couch, and you mindlessly threw a blanket over his shoulders. He shrugged in place and kept on sleeping. Thor observed the interaction with heart-eyes.

“You two should go together to tonight’s party”.

“What party?”, you asked, throwing some socks into your bag.

“Tonight’s! Stark made one for our departure. It would be rude of you to not go. And you’re supposed to bring a date. Why not ask Loki?”.

You blushed and stuttered.

“Well, I— I’m never one for parties, you know… they’re not my cup of tea, per say”.

Thor rolled his eyes.

“Right, but you have no choice on the matter! You’re coming tonight, you should! No excuses!”, he beamed, and you sighed and threw some other clothes onto your bag. “Come on. Ask Loki, he’s been expecting to go with you”.

“What? Why would he?”, you frowned and your flushed face only deepened its color.

“My friend”, he patted your shoulder. As he got closer to you, you could see his tucked in shirt and dress shoes, something he would never wear on his cotidianity. You wondered why he was getting so well dressed for this event, and even in Midgardian clothes. “You’re blind to see his moves on you, aren’t you?”.

“Thor, you idiot”, you chuckled and patted his shoulder back, mimicking his seriousness on the matter. “There’s nothing going on between your brother and I”.

“You are a fool to think he wouldn’t be delighted to join you on the festivities tonight, my friend!”.

“If he was so delighted”, you pointed out, looking at how he so peacefully rested on the common room’s couch, and lowered your voice, “then he would’ve already asked me”.

“He’s just as dense as you are. But fine, if you won’t go with him, I shall take you with me”.

“Thor, I don’t want to go to the party”, you said, closing your bag. “Much less if it’s not with him”, you added, and regret flowed through your blood as soon as the words left your mouth. Loki’s eyebrow perked up, and you realized he was awake. He soon came back to his sleeping façade, and you rolled your eyes.

“So you have been waiting for him to invite you?”, asked Thor, expectant.

You dropped your ass on top of Loki, as if he was part of the couch, and he jumped up out of surprise.

“Excuse you?!”, he exclaimed, bothered. You rolled your eyes and got more comfortable.

“You’re excused. Did you know it’s impolite to eavesdrop?”.

Loki sighed and looked at his brother with impatience.

“Thor, you oaf. I don’t need you to be such a heartmatcher”, he growled the last word and something in your insides twisted and burned. Then, you realized you were very comfortably sitting on his lap. He didn’t say anything, so you just stayed there. “I can ask them out myself, just fine”.

“Oh, so you were going to ask me out?”, you smirked. “I thought the coffee thing was just to pleasure your mother’s wishes”.

He raised his eyebrows in amusement.

“As it happens, tonight my Mother will come too. And she will be expectant of me taking you as my… ahem, date of sorts”, he blushed slightly. “You know. Since we’re both going to Asgard”.

Your eyes shone with expectation.

“You’re coming with us?”.

“Why. Of course I am, darling”, he said as if it were obvious. Then, he took in a breath of air and readied himself to say the words. “I truly would be delighted if you accepted to come with me to this party, too. You know I care for you”.

You sat there in silence, too stunned to move, and you must have made no facial expressions at all, as Loki’s face fell in embarrassment as time went by and he didn’t get any kind of answer.

Thor, on the other hand, had sat on the opposite couch and stared at the two of you as if it were a rom-com of some kind. He was sure you’d accept, so Thor was in no way as nervous as Loki felt when you gave him no answer.

“But, uh, why? Are you sure? I… I mean, if your Mother is gonna be there you might as well try to find a better date than me, for the looks… like…”, you began stuttering once again. Loki chuckled and denied with his head. He took advantage of your closeness to him and surrounded his arms on your shaking body. Staring into your eyes, he said,

“I can’t find a better date than you. Are you coming or not?”.

His gravel voice made his words weigh in your chest even more, and that thing that turned around in your stomach was now set on fire and making you evaporate. He was a charming man.

“If you’ll have me, then yes, I’d love to be there”, you muttered and hid your face.

That embarrassment that had gotten you so peckish about the night prior disappeared as soon as you stepped out of your room, ready to pick up Loki from the compound’s library.

Loki, on the other hand, found his overconfidence vanishing as soon as he saw you walk through the library’s gates in your… not working attire.

“Well, you look… wonderful”, he gasped out, closing his book with a loud thud. You chuckled and made a little reverence.

“Your Highness”.

“Let us go to drink our body weight in liquor, shall we?”, he extended an arm.

His clothes were nowhere near an asgardian suit of armor, as you imagined they would be. On the contrary, a black suit with a dark green satin tie made him look like the true Prince he was, but with some more down-to-Earth undertones. His hair was messily tied in a low bun with a golden and thin hair tie. You couldn’t help the dreamily sigh that escaped you when he looked at you with his intense gaze.

You took his arm and nodded enthusiastically.

That night, Loki took you to the dance floor a couple of times. He swirled you around and you laughed until your bellies hurted. You had your good share of alcohol and started feeling increasingly more and more lightheaded and sleepy.

Loki introduced you to his Mother, and she seemed to be ecstatic to meet you. That, of course, only inforced the idea ingrained in your brain that that mark on your skin was the indicator of something greater bounding you to her son.

But whatever it was, be it the alcohol flooding through your veins, the heat of the moment, the fun you were having at the party, or the almost desperate need you had to know more about whatever made Loki so inclined to be near you ever since you’ve met him —or rather, ever since you threw hot coffee at him—, you felt yourself more and more confident to lean in and ask him for what you craved every time you looked up at his soft lips.

“Loki”, you whispered. He didn’t need to look down at you, he already had his eyes on yours, shining with happiness.

He felt so full of life that night, and he was sure it definitely wasn’t the Asgardian liquor. It had much more to do with your intoxicating perfume, the warmth of your body dancing against his, your fingers threading the hairs of the nape of his neck as he guided you through the dance floor with gentleness.

“My love”, he whispered back. He admired your eyes wrinkle with a wide smile and your cheeks warm up a little more.

“Hunch over a little. I want to kiss you”.

His heartbeat jumped in place and he felt an entire drum orchestra on his chest. He got himself together quite quickly, despite his fervent desires. Hunch to kiss you, he did not, but he got closer to your cheek and left a chaste kiss.

“You’re too drunk”, he whispered with a smirk.

“But I want it”, you whispered back, “you have my enthusiastic consent!”.

He laughed shortly and elegantly, and you frowned, still with a smile on your lips. You couldn’t stop smiling around him, it was crazy.

“Get some rest tonight”, he said, leaving another kiss on your temple, and added with the lowest growl he could muster —perfectly knowing the effect it had on you—, “and come collect tomorrow”.

  Loki was very entertained by the book he was reading. Not that he hadn't been before —midgardian literature, if searched well, ended up surprising him greatly. But this time, he found himself lost in between the pages of a book that rested over his nightstand.

He knew, of course, you were reading it. He had all the clues —it was also your nightstand, right?— and even a bookmark with a quote in your handwriting laid happily midbook.

Loki had a plan.

He read up until where the bookmark was, while you were working on Stark's lab. He didn't think he'd enjoy it as much as he did; it certainly was a bonus.

When you finished work, you got to the room tiredly and tossed yourself on the bed, right by him. You groaned in exhaustion and Loki chuckled, helping you off of your lab coat and threading his fingers through your hair.

"Hi", you muzzled your face against the blankets and made yourself a ball right by Loki's stretched legs.

"Hello", he said, laying on his side, forming a body cocoon around you. You hugged his waist and hid your face on his chest. "Second week and so tired, already?", he teased. You pinched his side lightly and laughed.

You stayed silent and then hugged him tighter, breathing in the scent of his thin sweater, smelling of soap and night. His heartbeat thrummed on his chest, as always. Maybe not always, maybe just when you were so close to him.

You peeked at him, and he looked at you back. His eyes wrinkled with smile. You mimicked him. He was so smiley lately. You liked it more than you wanted to admit.

"I don't want to sleep yet", you murmured. He was so close, your noses almost touched. Resting your forehead on his, you made some sort of a purr as soon as his hand traveled to the nape of your neck and caressed it gently.

He was so gentle.

"You need to rest, our trip is tomorrow… I could read to you, yes?", he whispered. His low and raspy voice resonated on his chest, you felt it with your fingertips. "That book you were reading".

"That?", you pointed at it with your chin. He nodded. "But you don’t know what happened before".

"I got to chapter sixteen, maybe you can tell me what happens in the next two and then I'll be updated", he winked. You laughed and kissed his forehead.

"Aren't you just the sweetest".

"You're possibly the only one who thinks that around here", he chuckled while incorporating himself in bed, spreading his legs for you to use them as a pillow.

He reached for a strand of hair and uncovered your face. You smiled.

"I wonder why I think that", you said, and he sighed dreamily. You lowered your voice, and whispered, “you know… you still owe me something from that party”.

“Ah, I said I can’t kiss you when you’re drunk”, he teased. “And you’re inebriated with work, right now”.

You laughed and pulled him over. His lips glided against yours sweetly, not repressing the smile forming at the corners. The kiss deepened as his arms surrounded your back in a tight hug and pushed you against him even further. You tangled your fingers on his hair. You kissed until you were out of breath.

He rested his forehead on yours and your face burned.

“Read to me, love?”.

Taglist: @lucywrites02 , @louieboo87 @the-departed-potato , @jesuswasnotawhiteman , @idontknow296 , @beksib , @spythoschei , @geekwritersworld , @whatafuckingdumbass , @mysticunicorn7 @shadowolf993 , @joscelyn02 , @t00-pi , @selfship-mishaps , @sallymagnoliaposts , @deadgirl88 , @theonewiththenerds , @vicmc624 , @spiderlaufeyson @theaudacitytowrite @bi-andready-tocry @alorev @justasmisunderstoodasloki @i-beg-your-pardon-laufeyson @theetoastyghosty @lokiprompts @sarahpaq08 @lostgreekgod @likeitloveitblogit @tsnelf7 @asgardwinter @lalalalokii @notmesimpingforanothabritishlad @xorpsbane

[thevalkyriecrash]

i watched avengers endgame for the first time a few days ago and the experience was fun bc i was on the phone making fun of it. but the movie was very very very bad. i can't even say steve was there bc he wasn't really. he wouldn't wear those fuck ass plaid rattan shirts so that's how i know it was an imposter they got some other white guy in there. and bucky was there for 2 seconds and all he did was stand gayly. they had sam fucked up too with the beard. but at least heee was there. and they gave natasha a mid ass death bc they hate women even though she was carrying the entire world on her back for this entire franchise. its a good movie if you have never seen any other movies and you were raised in a padded room and this is all they fed you. 0.5 stars only because tony stark died

[ao3feed-irondadspiderson]

Name On File

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52108594 by inkinmyheartandonthepage “Right, well, you see sir. We were going over the interns paperwork and, well, there seems to be-“ Sarah cut herself off, clutching the file tighter in her hands. “There seems to be…?” Tony prompted gently. “Well, we, uh, believe that one of the interns is an imposter,” Sarah rushed out. OR Peter Parker forgets to tell Tony's he's trans and SI thinks he's an imposter. Words: 2144, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 232 of We Forgot Peter Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones (Marvel) Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark Additional Tags: Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Mess, Trans Peter Parker, Teen Peter Parker, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, Parent Tony Stark, BAMF Tony Stark, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Stark Industries Employee Peter Parker, Stark Industries (Marvel), Stark Industries Intern Peter Parker, Tony Stark is Supportive, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Protective Ned Leeds, Ned Leeds is a Little Shit, Good Friend Michelle Jones (Marvel), Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Family Fluff, Trans Male Character, Light Angst, Worried Tony Stark, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Prompt Fill, Prompt Fic, Complete read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/52108594

[daydreamerdrew]

Tales of Suspense (1959) #58

[nessieart]

TEETH pt. 12

|| Before the Fall part 4 ||

WC: 5.5k, im so sorry this is so long

AN: Ok um, look. It’s a lot and uh oops? And listen here, CA:TWS is my favorite mcu movie ok? And we’re in it now. I wasn’t really sure i wanted to go this route, but now i am. Don’t worry, there’ll be more Tony soon! Promise! Thanks for following along with me and my writing journey! It means a lot to me! Enjoy.

Eventual Tony Stark x Reader.

Warnings: Canon level violence, cursing, depictions of violence, blood, guns, made up fantasy elements most likely. No y/n used. Nickname usage: Flowers, Poppy.

Summary: Chasing Ghosts might not have been the best decision after all.

Masterlist

Previous || First || Next

-*-

Tony had talked you down from your - anger? Panic? - episode. Now you sat on the floor of the dark hospital room, Natasha pulled Steve off to the side while you murmured answers to Tony’s questions. Your appearance returned to normal after Tony’s voice floated around the room.

“What the hell was that, Rogers?” Natasha whispers to Steve, she has her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

Steve sighs, his hands also on his hips, he looks at you for a moment. Your knees are drawn up and your arms are crossed over them. There’s a small smile on your face while you talk to Tony, he notices there’s a light in your eyes that wasn’t there before. You look up to Steve then, and give him an apologetic look. He can only smile down at you.

Steve looks back at Natasha, “She’s…different. Special. Supernatural,” he shrugs when she gives him a look. “She’s been a really good friend these past few days and she didn’t have to be.”

Natasha nods, "I've had my fair share of run-ins with supernaturals." Now it's Steve's turn to give her a look. And Natasha shrugs in response. She then pulls the flash drive out from her pocket, “Going after him is a dead end. I know, I’ve tried,” she looks over at you as you giggle at something Tony said. Natasha smirks, “Like you said, he’s a ghost story,” she turns her attention back to Steve.

Steve takes the flash drive from her, his eyebrows lowered and tone serious, “Then let’s find out what the ghost wants.”

-*-

“I just worry about you, Pop,” Tony says quietly. You rest your head in your arms as you play with the wristband. “I know you can handle yourself. But god knows you don’t have to do it alone.”

“I’m not alone, Tony,” you say softly. You look up at Steve and Natasha, they’re whispering to each other, you try not to listen. “I’m with Steve, and his friend. The red head.”

Tony groans, “Spangles and Triple Imposter, great.” You giggle a little, his nicknames for others were always amusing to you. You didn’t care for his coyote puns.

“There’s something I need to take care of before I can come home,” you say without thinking.

“Home, huh?” You can tell he’s smirking and your cheeks heat up a little. “I like the idea of you calling the Tower home.”

“I meant you, dumbass,” you snort. Tony’s quiet for a moment. “Two of my favorite people are in New York anyway,” you shrug.

“Two?”

“Peter and Bruce, duh.” Tony makes an offended noise and you laugh from your chest and it’s full and freeing. It feels good to talk to Tony, he always makes you feel better. Even if you haven’t seen him in months.

A throat clears across the room and you look up at Steve and Natasha, it seems their conversation has ended. Steve has a soft look on his face, Natasha has her arms crossed over her chest with a smirk.

“Hey, Tony,” you say, and he hums. “I have to go, I’ll call you later, ok?” You tell him as you get up off the floor, dusting your pants off after you stand.

“Of course, sweetheart, be careful,” you both say goodbye and the light turns off on your wristband. Two pairs of eyes are on you as you look at them, your face heats up again and you duck your head to look at the floor.

“So Stark, huh?” Natasha smirks, one perfect eyebrow raised.

You chuckle lightly, brushing your palms down your shirt, “Hm, yeah.”

“We’re heading out, you coming?” She asks and your head shoots up to look at her.

“Now, wait a minute,” Steve interrupts, “I can’t ask you to do this, Flowers,” one hand on his hip as the other is pointed towards you.

Your eyebrows lower, “You don’t have to ask, Steve, I’m with you on this. Wherever it goes. I’m here to the end, no matter what.”

Steve's lips part, and his eyebrows raise. He takes in your determined face and posture. He sighs once and nods, “Alright.”

-*-

You decided that waiting outside the mall was best for everyone. Two people trying to be covert was better than three, Natasha had said. You wondered if Leon was ok, or if he was part of the team that was trying to chase you down.

“JARVIS?” You say quietly to your wristband. Yes, Miss? He responds almost immediately.

“You can track people, right?” Of course, what is it you need? “Could you find my brother, Leon?” You chew your bottom lip as you wait.

There’s a dial tone, and then after a few seconds Leon answers.

“Hello?” Leon's voice sounds out from the wristband and you sigh.

“Sunny, it’s me,” you say quickly. “I don’t have a lot of time, where are you?”

“Where am I?! Flowers, you have me worried sick. Where are you?”

You chew your lip again, “Safe,” is all you say, and Leon heaves a sigh. As you’re talking, JARVIS brings up a holo-image. It must be Leon’s location. He was still at the Triskelion.

“You and Rogers have all of SHIELD on high alert because they think you know something about the Director’s death,” he says quickly and quietly.

“There has to be more going on here, Sunny, I think-,” you stop mid sentence, Leon’s dot on the mini map has started moving. You can hear shuffling and people talking in the background. Then a few car doors slam, and the rev of an engine can be heard over the speaker. “Sunny…?”

“I really hope you aren’t with him,” he says your name softly and you can see his dot move quickly out of SHIELD HQ. “I’ll do everyth-“ the call cuts out, and you’re left with tears welling in your eyes.

I’m sorry, Miss. I thought it prudent to end the call. It seems SHIELD was trying to locate you via Leon’s cell phone. Though they would have a difficult time with me in the way.

“That’s ok, J, thanks,” you sniffle. “Keep an eye out, will you?”

Anything for you, Miss. And you smile a little at that.

Five minutes later Steve and Natasha are rushing out of the mall exit near you. Steve ushers you away and into a truck, breaking in and hot wiring it and taking off out of the mall parking lot.

-*-

“Rogers, Steven. Born ,1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984. Jones. Born, 1923.”

“It’s some kind of recording,” says Natasha, she eyes you a little when she hears your birth year.

“I am not a recording, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am.” The computer voice echoes slightly in the giant room. The camera on top of the monitors goes back and forth, zeroing in on each of you.

It’s a little unsettling, you think.

On the monitors, a few pictures of a short man with glasses appear, “You know this thing?” Asks Natasha.

Steve paces around the hulking computer system, examining it, “Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He’s been dead for years.”

“First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain.”

Steve rounds back to his starting position, looking at the camera, “How did you get here?”

“Invited,” he sounds like he’s smiling. Creepy computer matrix face guy. You shuddered.

“Operation Paperclip, after World War II, SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value,” Natasha informs the group.

“They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own.”

“HYDRA died with the Red Skull,” Steve growls out.

“Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.” An image of a skull and tentacles appears on one of the monitors, then doubles.

“Prove it,” Steve commands. You’re a little on edge, Steve is furious, you can smell it, but he’s hiding it well. You want to comfort him but you don’t know how or if you should.

“Accessing archive,” Zola confirms. The screen flashes with old propaganda footage, someone you assume is Red Skull - because really? “HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly.

After the war, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For 70 years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war.

And when history did not cooperate, history was changed.” Zola finishes smugly.

Natasha steps forward, “That’s impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you.”

“Accidents will happen,” the large monitor shows targets killed by HYDRA. A few assassinations, an old newspaper clipping shows Howard Stark and his wife killed in a car crash.

Tony’s parents. It was all staged. They were murdered. Did he know? Oh Gods.

And you’re very keenly aware that one of the images that flashes is the masked man you met a lifetime ago. The Winter Soldier, they had said.

The final image is of Nick Fury with a big red [DECEASED] stamp over his face.

“HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom,” another array of photos go by. Bloodied corpses of giant wolves, big cats, and - oh - coyotes. Some of them look like poachers with their kill, but you know better.

You aren’t aware of the snarl that lets loose from your throat, or your skin rippling with want to Shift. HYDRA was behind your family’s murders, and those of your friends. You’re heaving in gulps of breath and only come out of it after Steve punches the monitor to get rid of the images that were flickering through dozens of Supernatural killings.

“What’s on this drive,” Steve demands, he puts a hand on your shoulder.

“Project Insight requires…insight. So I wrote an algorithm.”

“What kind of algorithm? What does it do?” Natasha steps closer to the monitor display.

“The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it.” The blast doors start to close suddenly, and Steve goes to chuck his shield to jam it, but it’s too late. Your wristband beeps rapidly as does Natasha’s phone.

“Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic, 30 seconds tops,” she looks worried.

“Who fired it?”

“SHIELD,” you and Natasha say together.

As the computer Zola taunts you all, Steve finds a drainage cover and pulls it off an ushers you and Natasha in, he crowds in on your both and lifts his shield over you all like an umbrella, yelling at the force of holding it aloft.

-*-

You had Shifted to escape the incoming STRIKE team. It was easier keeping up with Steve and weaving through the rubble of the destroyed Camp Lehigh buildings.

Steve placed Natasha’s unconscious form in the backseat of the pickup truck, and you took the front. Steve sped away as fast as the truck would take you all, foot to the floor on the gas pedal.

It was early morning by the time you made it back to D.C. Steve had ditched the truck somewhere off of i-95 a few miles outside the city, and you trotted beside him as he carried Natasha.

By the time you made it to your destination, Natasha had awoken and walked the rest of the way. Steve knocked on the door and a few moments later a figure appeared and answered.

“Hey, man,” Sam hedges, eyeing Steve and Natasha.

“I’m sorry about this. We need a place to lay low,” Steve said apologetically.

“Everyone we know is trying to kill us,” Natasha was leaning on you slightly, your shoulder blades coming up to her waist. She had an arm draped over you.

Sam pauses for a moment to take in the sight of you all. His eyes land on you, and his brows furrow. You lower your head a bit, ears pulled back.

“Not everyone,” he says, and moves to the side to let your group into his house. “There’s a shower in the back bedroom, if ya’ll wanted to get cleaned up. I have some spare clothes in there as well, so help yourself.” Sam looks like he’s just come back from a run, his shirt is damp with sweat and it sticks to him.

Steve nods, “Thank you, Sam, really,” he holds out his arm for Natasha to go ahead of him.

You help Nat down the hallway until she reaches the bedroom door, she puts her hand on your head and says a quiet thank you. Your ears go up and your tail wags just a little bit. When you enter Sam’s small living space he’s eyeing you, and you let out a small yip.

Steve takes notice of Sam’s unease, “Oh, right, you wouldn’t happen to have spare clothes now? Sweatpants and a shirt maybe?” He rubs the back of his neck and Sam just nods a few times and goes to a different room in the back. A few moments later he hands the garments to Steve, who nods in thanks.

Natasha is out in less than 5 minutes, she seems like a whole new person. Steve follows you into the back bedroom and puts the clothes on the bed. He places his hand on your head before he leaves.

You shift back to human and stretch out your limbs, your joints crack in relief and you slip into the clothes Sam let you borrow. Coming back out into the living space, Sam nearly chokes and spits out his orange juice when he sees you.

Steve chuckles softly as he goes into the back room to get cleaned up, Natasha following shortly after, she pats your shoulder as she goes by.

“Hi, Sammy,” you say with a wave. Sam’s eyes are huge as he stares at you, mouth slightly ajar and arms out wide.

He sputters as he tries to speak, his arm up and pointing to the back room, like a giant ass dog didn’t just strut down the hall and come back a tiny woman in oversized clothes.

“You eat breakfast yet?” You ask innocently as you come to stand next to him in his kitchen. He shakes his head at you, eyes still wide in disbelief. “Good, let’s get started!”

-*-

“That supernatural shit is real? Like Vampires and werewolves? True Blood?” Sam hasn’t stopped asking questions once you all finished eating breakfast. You’re very amused at his reaction, he’s taking it better than you thought he would.

You chuckle a little, “yeah, it’s all real, give or take a few things,” you smile over at him. Sam puts a hand on his head and paces around the living space. “You’re actually taking it pretty well, honestly.”

“There were literal aliens in New York a few years ago,” Sam says, turning around to face the group. “So, who’s to say what is or isn’t real anymore.”

They steer back to the conversation at hand, Sam interrupts every now and then to ask you questions about Supernaturals, which you answer.

“So, the real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?” Steve and Natasha had deduced that Zola’s Algorithm was on the Lemurian Star, a ship that was overtaken by pirates - who Fury had hired - and so was Jasper Sitwell, said SHIELD officer.

Sam puts a file down on the table in front of Steve and Natasha, “The answer is: you don’t.”

Steve picks the file up and you lean over his shoulder to get a look at it, “What’s this?” He asks.

Sam crosses his arms over his chest, puffing up a little, “call it a resume.”

Nat - she told you to call her that, all her friends do - leans in and takes a photo from the top of the file, “Is this Bakhmla? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?” She looks up at Steve, “you didn’t say he was a para-rescue.”

You lift up a few pages in the file, a photo standing out of Sam and someone next to him, “is this Riley?” You ask. Sam nods.

“I heard they couldn’t bring in the chippers because of the RPGs,” Nat speaks up, “What did you use, a stealth chute?”

Sam hands Steve another file, “No, these.”

Steve smirks, “I thought you said you were a pilot.”

Sam chuckles lightly, “I never said pilot.”

Steve sobers suddenly, putting the files down on the table, “I can’t ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason.”

“Dude, Captain America needs my help,” Sam exclaims. “There’s no better reason to get back in!”

-*-

You’re enjoying a nice iced tea with Sam outside a restaurant, seated near the end of a row in full view of an expensive restaurant, when he looks over at you and lowers his sunglasses and winks.

You’ve changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt, that Nat may or may not have stolen off a rack as you all made your way downtown. Ok, she did, but in her defense, you can’t save the world in gray men’s jogging pants.

You smile over at Sam, “what? Food in my teeth?” And your fangs extend only a little bit, but he notices and he shakes his head at you, laughing.

“Can you two stop flirting for 5 minutes?” Nat’s voice comes over your ear piece. “Or do I have to tell Stark?” You can hear the smirk in her voice and you laugh a little, pretending Sam said something funny so you wouldn’t attract attention.

“Oh please,” Sam says, he turns in his chair and kicks his feet up on the chair you aren’t sitting in. “You’d know when I was flirting, and that wasn’t it.” He looks at you again and winks.

Steve sighs over the comms audibly, “Can we focus please? We got incoming.”

Sam grabs his cell phone and dials the number Nat had given him, holding it up to his ear. “Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious.

The good looking guy in the sunglasses, your ten o’clock… your other 10 o’clock. There you go,” Sam lifts his tea in the air and you wiggle your fingers at Sitwell. After a beat Sam continues, “You’re gona go around the corner, to your right. There’s a grey car, two spaces down. You, the pretty lady and I are gona take a ride.”

Across the street Nat shines a cheap laser pointer on Sitwell’s chest.

“Because that tie looks really expensive, and I’d hate to mess it up,” Sam says and then hangs up the phone. You follow him to the car, Sitwell between you both on the sidewalk. Every couple feet Sitwell looks over his shoulder at you.

“Got something to say?” You raise an eyebrow at him when he turns around again.

Sitwell shakes his head, a smirk on his lips, “You’ll be sorry once SHIELD finds you.”

“I think you mean, HYDRA, get in,” Sam shoves Sitwell into the backseat of his car, "and shut up," and you push him aside and sit with him as Sam goes around the driver's side.

Sitwell turns to you, you really want to punch his stupid face in. “Pierce put a KOS on you, you know.”

You sneer at him, “I’ve lived this long, I’m sure I’ll be just fine.” When he goes to speak again your eyes flash at him and he promptly closes his mouth and faces forwards.

-*-

Steve pushes Sitwell through the roof exit of the high rise you all entered not too long ago, Nat following and you standing by the door.

“Tell me about Zola’s Algorithm,” Steve pushes Sitwell further.

“Never heard of it,” Sitwell smirks.

“What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?”

“Throwing up, I get seasick,” he almost falls and stumbles off the edge of the roof, but Steve grabs the lapels of his suit. “Is this little display meant to insinuate that you’re gonna throw me off the roof? Because it’s really not your style, Rogers.”

Steve smooths Sitwells suit down, all smiles, “You’re right. It’s not. It’s hers.”

And as Steve steps to the side, Natasha comes forward and kicks Sitwell in the chest and he plummets off the rooftop. You come over to look over the edge, grinning.

“Oh, wait. What about that girl from accounting, Laura …?” Natasha snaps her fingers, trying to remember a name. Your head snaps up to stare at Steve.

“Lillian, lip piercing, right?” Steve supplies. You’re grinning up at him and he's trying not to pay you any attention.

“Yeah, she’s cute,” Nat answers.

“Yeah, I’m not ready for that.”

You hear the whirring of a jet pack over the edge and a second later, Sam’s in his Falcon suit, wings spread out wide as he carries Sitwell and drops him onto the roof a few feet from where you’re standing. Sam lands gracefully and his wings fold into the pack on his back.

As you approach Sitwell, he sits back on his heels with his hands held up, “Zola’s Algorithm is a program.. for choosing Insight’s targets!”

Steve puts his hands on his hips, “What targets?”

“You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, all kinds of 'supers. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who’s a threat to HYDRA! Now or in the future!”

“The future?” You ask, “How could it know?”

Sitwell laughs, “how could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it.”

You share confused looks with your group.

“Your bank records,” Sitwell continues, “medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola’s algorithm evaluates people’s past to predict their future.”

“And what then?” Steve says seriously, his eyebrows lowered.

Sitwell starts panicking, “Oh, my god. Pierce is gonna kill me.”

“What then?!” Shouts Steve, he’s getting impatient.

Sitwell audibly gulps, “Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time,” he swallows thickly.

-*-

You’re in the backseat of Sam’s car with Nat and Sitwell, you’re in the middle of the two. Steve up in the passenger seat next to Sam, who’s driving.

“HYDRA doesn’t like leaks,” Sitwell says.

“So why don’t you try sticking a cork in it,” Sam snarks back.

Nat leans forward in the seat to come up between Steve and Sam, “Insight’s launching in 16 hours, we’re cutting it a little bit close here.”

“I know,” Steve says, he glances back at her and then you, “we’ll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly.”

“What!? Are you crazy!? That’s a terrible—“ Sitwell gets cut off as something hits the roof of the car and the glass of the window next to him shatters and he’s yanked from his seat and tossed across the highway into oncoming traffic.

You push Natasha to the side as a gunshot is fired into the car from the roof, then Nat pushes you to the side so you avoid getting shot. She jumps into Steve’s lap, pulls his head forward so he avoids a bullet, and then kicks Sam away from another bullet. Nat returns fire from her gun and Steve pulls up the parking brake and flings the person that was on the roof from the car and the figure tumbles a few feet away and corrects himself by digging his hand into the asphalt.

Your eyes grow wide, it's him. The masked man. Natasha goes to shoot at him, and your claws come out as you grip the seats, but before either of you can do something a large vehicle rear ends Sam’s car and you’re all pushed forward.

You're about to crash into the masked man, when he leaps up and latches onto the hood of the car, his knees kicking in the rear windshield spraying you in glass.

Natasha's still in Steve's lap, reaching on the floor for her dropped gun, and as you go to help, the front windshield is smashed in and a metal arm rips the steering wheel out of the car.

"Shit!" Same yells, his hands in the air because he has nothing left to hold onto. Nat finds her gun and fires a few times and the masked man jumps from your car to the hummer behind.

It rear ends the car again and the car begins to roll sideways.

Steve grabs Sam and pulls him, he slams his shield against the door and the trio glide on the broken door as the car flips over them. All you can do is watch as you're taken with the car across the highway.

When the car finally stops rolling, you crawl out of the back window. Cuts and scrapes and pieces of broken glass litter your skin. There's a gash above your eyebrow spewing blood, and you wipe it from your eye.

You barely have a second to catch your breath before there's a hail of bullets in your direction. You've lost sight of Steve and the rest in the chaos, and then you hear a thump, and an explosion from a grenade launcher. Your head swings around and you can see a flash of red ducking behind a car as Nat runs from bullets.

Another explosion and she's leaping the median into oncoming traffic and jumping off the side of the bridge. You can't see Sam in the confusion and decide to follow Natasha. What's a 20ft drop anyway?

You're about to jump when a bullet grazes your leg and you slip and fall 20 feet down, landing on the hood of a car on your back. The wind is knocked out of you as you try and gain your bearings. Down the block, you can hear bullets spray and ricocheting off cars, and you groan and roll off the hood of the car. Yep, that’s a broken rib - no make that two. You wince when you land on your feet and hobble towards the gunfire.

As you look over, you see Steve charging a man with a machine gun, shield raised, and he jumps the car and double kicks the man off the hood. Steve shouts your name and you follow his finger behind you, Natasha’s running from someone and you make your way over to her. As you near her a shot rings out and just when you push her out of the way, the bullet lodges in your stomach, you clutch it and crumble to the ground next to Nat.

You grunt and moan as Nat pulls you next to her to lean against the car, “You idiot, what were you thinking?” She rips a piece off the bottom of her shirt and presses it into your stomach.

You cough up a little blood as you try to speak, it's thick as it coats your tongue, “It’s… fine,” you pant out, “I’ve had worse. It’ll heal eventually. Get out of here!”

She gives you a concerned look, but she doesn’t make a move to leave. So you push her away, “Go!” Your eyes flash and you double over, and spit out more blood. Nat reluctantly leaves your side and runs down the street for better cover.

On the other side of the car you’re leaning on, you can hear fighting. It’s probably Steve, you think. You grab onto the window of the car and pull yourself up, it's a struggle, but you finally manage to do it. When you look through the car window you can see Steve fighting the Masked Man - the Winter Soldier.

You go to Shift, it’ll be easier to fight that way, you’re no use to anyone in your current injured state. Your skin ripples and the fur comes through in waves and disappears. You stumble back, it’s not working.

“What the fuck,” you mumble to yourself. Then there’s a piercing pain where the bullet entered, it shoots through you and you feel it all the way to the tips of your fingers and toes. No. It can’t be.

Silver. The bullets were silver cast. Your brow furrows and you try to Shift again, the pain is excruciating and you fall to your hands and knees, gritting your teeth through the pain. The blood hasn’t stopped oozing out of the wound and you’re starting to feel light headed, your vision going cloudy and dark around the edges when you try to stand back up.

“Bucky?…” you hear Steve say, and your head snaps up at him through the broken window. There, not even 10 feet from Steve is the Winter Sold— no, his long lost, thought to be dead best friend, James ‘Bucky’ Barnes. It makes your head spin and you hold onto the car with both hands, panting through the pain again.

“Who the hell is Bucky?” And before you can blink, Sam swoops down and kicks the Soldier out of the way before he can fire at Steve - who is too dumbstruck to do anything but stare. The Soldier regains his composer to fire his gun again, when Natasha fires the grenade launcher and you lose sight of them and fall back to the ground.

-*-

Rumlow and the rest of his STRIKE team had come in not a minute later, and detained and arrested your group. Steve, Sam, and Natasha in one armored vehicle and you in a large van. Steve and Sam protested and said you needed a hospital, or to at least let one of them accompany you in your truck. They were swiftly silenced and the doors to your van slid closed without a word.

You must have passed out on the car ride. Because the next thing you see are pale lights above you, and you're very aware that your torso is bandaged and your shirt is gone. The sports bra you have on feels damp and sticky. The table you're laying on is cold on your back and you move to sit up, groaning at the effort.

You go to touch your wristband and it's gone, small panic begins to rise in you because you can't get ahold of Tony. Did you lose it in the car crash? Did it fall off between then and here? Or is some HYDRA lackey messing with it and trying to get access to JARVIS?

Or-

In the corner of your eye you catch something silver and shining as it moves in the pale lights. When you look over, the Soldier is staring at you. There's a far off look in his eyes, like he's seeing you but not. You look around the room, it looks like an old run down bank vault. No one else is around, but you can hear voices from another room speaking softly.

There’s what looks like a dentist’s chair in the room with you both, there’s cables and wires and a halo of something you can’t place above it. Monitors around the back are blank, it looks like the cables connect to the chair.

You look back at his face, his hair is a little greasy and longer since the last time you've seen him. The tight black shirt he's wearing strains on his chest as he inhales sharply at your gaze.

You shuffle on the table and slowly swing your legs off the side, clutching at your injured stomach.

"D-do you remember me?" You ask, your voice a little hoarse. Your mouth still has a faint taste of blood and you swallow around the lump in your throat.

The Soldier's eyes refocus and zero in on you. He stares at you for a moment before he shakes his head ever so slightly. Only once. You grit your teeth as you go to stand, holding onto the table for support. You pant as you make your way over towards him. He's standing in the middle of the room and his brows furrow like he's confused.

When you reach him, you have to crane your head back to look into his vacant crystal eyes, "you killed my family." You punch him in his chest, but he doesn't budge. You go to slam your fist into him again but he catches it, in his flesh hand.

The tears you were holding back fall freely as you glare up at him. The Soldier tilts his head and watches the tears fall down your face, he goes to lift his metal arm but it whirs and groans with effort and only a cold metal finger catches the tear at your chin.

It's off putting, the gentle way he touches you. The hand that caught your fist doesn't squeeze or try to keep you there.

"James?" You ask softly, because you see it now. Through his curtain of long dark hair, you can see Steve's best friend from those grainy black and white photographs from the museum. And there's a far off look in his eyes again, like he's looking through you, or maybe he's seeing you and nothing really registers behind his eyes.

His brows crease and his eyes refocus and examine your face, "Petal…?"

-*-

AN: it was a long one and I appreciate you for taking the time to read! thank you for reading! It means so much to me! Comment, likes, RB<3

[missacidburn928]

Hump Day Sneaky Peeks 🖤

Seeing as how there seems to be a lull in my Imposter Syndrome today, I felt inclined to share what I have been working on...

Mafia AU: Enforcer!Bucky Barnes x POC!MafiaHeiress!Reader “Sunny”, Hitman!August Walker x POC!MafiaHeiress!Reader “Sunny” Summary: A tug of war of sorts has begun between two of the most feared men this city has ever known. All because you refuse to choose one over the other. Why would you when they’re both the best you ever had. Let the games begin. I get conceited when you say that I'm the best, say it again.

You’ve been eyeing him across the dance floor as you grind your ass against some basic white boy. Giving the poor soul hope that he has a shot. You would eat him alive. You need darkness and danger in the men you take to bed.

Hence you having your cake and eating it too, by warming his bed as well as the city’s number one hitman August Walker’s. Something about their darkness calls to you. Nothing feels better than being with a man who’s hands have taken countless lives but uses those same hands to wring pleasure from your body.

Bucky's finally had enough when he watches you whisper in the little twerp’s ear. A giant smile lighting up the man’s face as you lead him down the hall to the VIP restroom.

Bucky follows you under the pretense of your safety. That’s what he will tell anyone who asks anyway. In actuality he’s going to remind you what playing with a wolf gets you. No huffing or puffing. But he will devour you whole.

Slamming the door open, Bucky interrupts your little make out session. The boy even has a hand inching up your skirt. He grabs the unsuspecting fool by the back of the shirt and removes him from the room.

“You’re cut off buddy. Get the fuck out and forget about her before I leave you with a lasting reminder.” He pushes his suit jacket to the side, showing off his favorite blade with a deadpan face. The idiot speeds out of there.

“Buzzkill.” You pout.

“Tease.” He retorts.

“Possessive much?”

“Of you?” He looks you up and down. “Absolutely.”

Why did love put a gun in my hand...

Mafia!Avengers x POC!Reader "Jinx" Chapter 3: Madness in a smile. Won't you stay a while? Trauma molds us all in different ways.

“Do your worst Demigod for I have already felt the flames of Hel lick across my flesh.” You lift your shirt so that he can see your scars.

He reaches out to touch them, pausing to look you in the eye and get your consent. You nod your head, and he closes the gap. His battle roughened fingers caress the raised flesh. Reminders of your near death at the hands of someone sworn to love and protect you.

“Is that why you have your very own Garmr?” He asks. Fingers still tracing across your flesh.

“You noticed that did you? Hades is my protector, yes. I would never dream of chaining him up though. The only destruction he seeks is to destroy the one who harmed me. There is no need to fear him.”

“Fear is the farthest thing from my mind. More like respect and gratitude. To earn his favor would be to earn yours as well.”

“The fact that you made it into this room without so much as a growl from him speaks volumes. He growls whenever the Captain is around.” You laugh.

“He is rarely without Barnes though. Does he not growl at the White Wolf?”

“They’re kindred spirits I suspect. Devoted and loyal. He quite enjoys the White wolf. But don’t tell him that.”

Avengers AU. Steve Rogers x Mutant!Reader “Serenity”. Tony Stark x Mutant!Reader “Serenity”. Bucky Barnes x Mutant!Reader “Serenity”. The world is on fire, I'm so fucking tired And equally wired, so Am I to blame for my sick, frantic brain?

Notes: Found Family. Former addict. Used to use to help suppress her empathic powers. Can turn emotions into forms of the elements. Found by Clint and Nat. They’re very protective of her. Anger=fire. Joy=sunlight. Sadness=a storm. Excitement=blooming flowers. So on and so forth.

Steve and Bucky show up on my doorstep a few days later. Steve is upset that I chose to leave the way I did and that I asked Cho for drugs to numb myself. Thanks Nat.

“You’ve come so far. How could you so easily want to fall back into that darkness?”

“Easy Steve. I was tired of feeling. Not to mention the physical beating those emotions were taking on my body. If you have a better way to deal with it, please let me know. But that would be hard to do, seeing as how you are one of the main causes of that pain. How long did it take for you to realize I was gone? Before you left the compound? Or after once everything settled and you needed something else to focus on?”

“That’s not fair Serenity. I was taking care of my best friend. He needed me.”

“And I didn’t?”

“It’s not like that. Please, come on. You know I love you. I’ve told you this before. I wouldn’t abandon you like that.”

“And yet, you did. It didn’t even take Tony 24 hours to reach out and ask me to come home. So he can ‘lose himself’ in me and begin to heal. I refused to of course. Not until all this toxicity is dealt with. It’s been almost a week since the incident, and you finally showed up. Good for you Steven.”

“We were trying to figure out where it was safe to go for Bucky. Traveling under the radar is not easy. We got here as soon we could.”

“I call bullshit. And here’s why. If you cared to listen to me speak about things other than my dark past you would know that I have a place here on Clint’s farm. That it is my safe haven and where I go when I need a reset. You would also know that this place is safe for any of us. It would have been your first stop. But it wasn’t. So who told you I was here. Nat? Sam?”

“Me.” Bucky blurts out. “I told him we could find you here. Just as you said. I knew you would be here. We took a week because I was waiting for his emotions to even out before we put you through anymore pain. I never want to see you go through what you did that day ever again.”

“Bucky, I…” I can feel my body responding to his honesty. “I’m at a loss for words other than thank you.”

“Your eyes.” Bucky points out.

“What about them?”

“They’re amber. Almost glowing like the flames of a campfire. They’ve never done that before. Are you angry?”

“N-No. I’m definitely feeling something. But it’s not anger.”

“Than what could it be?”