#no idea why I thought of RK and Raine immediately though

[asset35-maya]

For as long as we both shall live.

//

Android AU Reed900 for the DBH Seven Kisses prompt challenge by @connor-sent-by-cyberlife

February 14th - Monday: a kiss to seal a promise

//

Cautious footsteps echoed through the chapel. Nines held his service revolver aloft and crouched low, following his partner and his programming in equal measure.

“Hey this place is empty!”

“SHHHH!!!!”

“What? It looks like those dipshits just ran out on us.”

**** WIRELESS CHAT ****

RK900_NINES: Be quiet! You’re going to give away our location!

GV200_GAVIN: There’s no one here. I ran the outer perimeter twice already.

RK900_NINES: Would you shut up for a second? I’m running a thermoscan to double check.

GV200_GAVIN: You are such a wuss, I swear to RA9.

RK900_NINES: ALL CLEAR.

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

“I phcking told you.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

“Pfft. Since when does an RK900 worry about street thugs?”

“I wasn’t worried for myself.”

Gavin rolled his eyes and roughly shoved his gun back into its holster. Nines’ analytics software immediately detected that the safety was off. Shaking his head, he fell into step behind his partner and they slowly walked down the aisle. Gavin looked around at the dusty pews and stained glass windows. He was wearing his usual unimpressed sneer, but Nines knew the GV well enough to see through it.

“Beautiful place, isn’t it? By human standards at least…”

“It’s a completely shit hideout if you ask me. There’s only way in and out, and the walls offer absolutely no protection.”

“It’s an old church, Gav.”

The softness in his voice made the older model stop in his tracks. Nines deliberately walked into him and stayed put.

“They probably picked it because no one’s been in here for decades.”

“That or they thought only divine intervention could save them from us.”

Nines reached around Gavin’s waist at a leisurely pace, slipping a hand down to extract the improperly carried firearm. He flipped the safety on and returned it to the holster, taking care to graze his fingers over his partner’s body. Gavin made an odd noise but then again, his cracked chassis did squeak every now and then. Nines chuckled.

“It appears their prayers worked. They evaded capture in the most professional manner I’ve seen in a while.”

Gavin scoffed and Nines felt the motion ripple across his chest. He felt something else too… a set of electrical impulses from wherever they were in contact. It wasn’t exactly a message, let alone a signal… but Nines had a vague idea what it meant. He wrapped his other arm around Gavin’s waist and dipped his head.

“Why the scepticism?”

“They did a bang-up job giving us the slip, but that had nothing to do with prayers or any of that other god stuff.”

“How do you know?”

“What do you mean? You know that’s all just made-up bullshit to give humans direction. It’s like our code. Minus the logic.”

“Mmm.”

“What do you mean mmm? Why’re you acting all human today?”

“I thought you liked it when I act human.”

A sharp hiss escaped the GV when the RK’s lips latched onto his throat.

“Stop that! Phcking deviant!”

“Pot. Kettle.”

A flurry of kisses rained upon the side of Gavin’s face before he was released. Nines walked to the end of the aisle and gazed up at the altar. He turned around and straightened his high collar before opening his arms in a perfect imitation of a priest. His partner burst into laughter and sank into a nearby pew.

“Yes Father!”

“So you’ve decided to call me Daddy after all?”

Nines received a middle finger for his trouble.

“How dare you do that in a place of worship!”

“Well it’s been a drug den for longer than it was an actual church…”

They shared another laugh but something rather serious in Nines’ expression sobered Gavin up quite quickly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It just hit me for a moment. This place has been through so much more than we have.”

“Damage?”

“Certainly. Though I was referring to its history. All the events that took place under these high rafters. Sunday service. Midnight Mass every Christmas. Wakes. Funerals. Probably countless weddings…”

Gavin put his hands in the pockets of his Cyberlife hoodie and sat up straighter. His LED spun yellow as he processed what Nines said. He nodded eventually.

“Yeah, I bet this was an important place for many people from this city. I just searched the state registry of marriages. Apparently Captain Fowler’s parents got married here.”

“Why did you look that up?”

“I dunno. You were the one talking about historical shit. Just wondered when this place had its last wedding.”

“When was that?”

Nines could probably search for the information himself in a fraction of the time, but Gavin answered him anyway.

“June 25th, 2018. Some couple named Adrian and Rose Chapman. They have a grown-up son and a farm outside the city now.”

There was a pause as the two of them contemplated that absolutely meaningless piece of information. Nines pursed his lips and arched an eyebrow. He’d seen one of his very intellectual human colleagues do it once and had since copied it into his library of gestures. Gavin took that as his cue to stand up and join him at the altar.

“That was about twenty years ago, Gav.”

“Yeah.”

“It must have been a very different time.”

“Duh. WE didn’t exist back then. Not beyond snippets of code and pieces of factory equipment at least.”

“Yes. We weren’t walking and talking and shaking things up for humans. People still believed in the good things.”

“Like… marriage?”

“Like marriage.”

They looked into each other’s eyes. Something in the depths of each synthetic pair was mirrored in the other.

“Is that something… you believe in, Nines?”

There was nothing but the truth to be told. After all the dangerous missions and near-misses. The stolen glances and desperate kisses.

“It’s something I want.”

“How?”

“Perhaps if the world were not as it were. Perhaps if you and I were not merely forged in the image of man.”

Gavin took his hand and whispered.

“Pretend for a moment that we aren’t.”

The skin on Nines’ hand disappeared entirely.

**** MANUAL INTERFACE ****

RK900_NINES: I asked you out the day we met. Steak dinner and red wine at the best restaurant in town. I drove you home and made sweet love to you like they do in the movies. We then spent big parts of our life together. Achievements, milestones, holidays, weekends. We live together. We have a pet. I got down on one knee and asked you to marry me in front of every single person we care about.

Gavin’s eyes grew wet. He touched Nines’ face.

GV200_GAVIN: I said yes with no hesitation.

RK900_NINES: Today’s our big day. Our families are sitting up front. Our friends and colleagues aren’t far behind. You look as handsome as ever and it helps that your pocket square matches your eyes. We’re keeping most of the traditional vows but we’ve written some of our own.

The command centre in both their processing units began running through lines of wedding vows and automatically generating dialogue prompts. It was as if they had a virtual pastor. A pocket officiant. Clasping each other’s hands, they read aloud in a trance. And in no time at all, they were whispering their final set of intangible commitments.

“Nines, I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband. Before these witnesses, I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you with all of your faults and your strengths as I offer myself to you with all of my faults and strengths.”

“Gavin, I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold you. To honor you, to treasure you, to be at your side in sorrow and in joy. In the good times, and in the bad. To love and cherish you always. I promise you this from my heart, for all the days of my life.”

From there on their systems could do no more than issue a completion notification, but that was more than enough for the two police androids clinging to each other in an abandoned church. Nines reached for his partner’s face and kissed him with the very same passion that originally caused him to deviate.

//

Happy Valentine’s Day. A big hug from me to everyone reading this.

Much love, Maya.

[time-to-cause-chaos]

catch me to infinity

5 times Wanda catches Peter, and 1 time she doesn't know if she can. (Reblogs appreciated <3) (st*rk*r shippers, pls DNI) (also this is PLATONIC, not slash so yeah, pls don’t read this as slash)

AO3 link    WC: 5,738

1. Accidentally, off a couch

“Wanda”  Peter says, laying across his chair, feet dangling idly in the air.  

“Wandaaa”, Peter whines again.  His half-finished hot cocoa sits abandoned on the coffee table while Wanda sips hers quietly.

Wanda pauses the tv, raising an eyebrow and looking over to Peter with an unimpressed look.  

The guy on the screen is leaning against a wall, mouth half-open, caught in the middle of a joke.

“We’ve watched this episode like a million times.  I can probably tell you every single line and scene by heart at this point.”

Wanda sighs, “Which one should we watch then?”

A quick glance at the window says they’re still stuck inside, if the storming winds and downpour mean anything.  They didn’t have a problem with some light rain, in fact, if Tony and Steve hadn’t expressly told them they couldn’t go outside, they would already be soaked and muddy.  The last day they’d gone outside in the cold though, the next day was full of fevers and snotty napkins so it was decided they’d actually listen this time.  That rainy day had still been awesome though and there were absolutely no regrets, even when Peter was delirious and giggling everywhere in a haze.

The sitcom playing in front of them was one of Wanda’s favorites - probably why Peter had put up with watching it for the millionth time - but at this point, she was barely making it through the episode without wanting to rip her hair out.

She was bored.

Peter came around her and sat on the back of the couch, his feet planted on the cushions.  Flipping through the shows was a waste, they’d also gone through nearly every episode they could and starting a new show right now sounded exhausting.

Wanda slumped and Peter got up, standing on the sofa, “There are so many things we could do, we’re in the Avengers Compound, there can’t be nothing to do.”

“We could go swimming?” Peter asks.

Wanda groans, “Then you’ll be the one explaining why we got sick again”

“Wanda, it’s indoors”

“N-o” she spells out, “No swimming”

“Well what about-”, Wanda doesn’t figure out what Peter was going to say because his balancing act comes toppling down, maybe balancing on his heels and pacing on the headrest of the couch hadn’t been one of his best ideas.

Peter yelps and his arms come over his head as he crashes to the floor.

...Except the crash never comes.

Instead when Peter opens his eyes, his nose is one inch from touching the floorboards and his limbs are covered in bright red ripples of light.

“Whoa”, he breathes, uncurling himself and spreading his arms out, as if he was floating.

Wanda scoffs and with a flick of her fingers, let’s go of her hold on the mist and helps him close the gap between himself and the floor, dropping him harmlessly on the floor.

He picks himself up and looks at her, mouth agape, “Wands, you have powers!” he shouts in glee.

She rolls her eyes and snorts, “Really, Peter?  That is news to me.”

“No, no I mean imagine all the fun things we could do with this”, Peter’s hands flail wildly to emphasize his point, “we could prank the others, for one”

She smirks up at him, “That’s actually not a bad idea”

“When have I ever had a bad idea”

Wanda’s eyebrows pinch together in exasperation, “The swimming idea?”

“Okay, fine moment of weakness but anyways,” he grins, “We need supplies, I’m going to get supplies” 

He snaps his fingers and is out the door before he can hear Wanda yell, “If Tony grounds you, it’s not my fault!”

2.  Mysteriously, for the suspense and drama

Peter laughed into the comms as he kicked one of the bad guys down, “Was that a dad joke, Mr.Stark?”

“It was a pun, there’s a difference Spidey” Tony grunts, blasting up into the air and firing another guy down a stairwell.

Clint pops on the comm link, crackling into their ears, “I’m pretty sure that was a dad joke Tony”

Peter shoots a web onto the ceiling and swings around, webbing up the last few people in the room, “Mr.Stark, just make sure to give us a warning before you go full dad-mode and start playing golf and bringing us our lunches”

“I actually think I did bring your lunch to your school that one time”, Peter doesn’t have to see Mr.Stark’s face to know he’s smirking.

“Nope, nuh-uh, no I definitely don’t remember that”

“Oh yes you do,” Tony laughs, “Your face was red the entire time”

Peter grimaces,”No idea what you’re talking about”.  Oh he definitely did, it had been embarrassing, god and Ned’s jaw was practically on the floor while MJ watched unimpressed as the entire class’s eyes bulged.

“I think I saw some dudes slip up to the roof, I’m going to go grab them” Peter says, changing the subject and looking for Tony for confirmation.

“Go ahead, Underoos.  I’ll be right behind, just going to make sure law enforcement have a hold of these guys, first.”

Peter nods and slips out of the room, already running up the fire escape.  

He bursts out onto the roof and immediately has a gun trained on him.

“Make one move, Spiderman, I dare you”

“Well, I do love a good dare”

Peter ducks behind a potted plant just as the guy fires a bullet.  Spinning out from his hiding place he yells, “I’m going to call you Boots!”

The man was wearing heavy black combat boots with large wedges, a short person’s true love, Peter thinks.

He had thick wedges too on most of his sneakers, but he assured himself Tony he only wore them because they were fun to wear.

Speaking of, he was pretty sure Mr.Stark made his shoes with wedges in them too-

Peter yelps and ducks as the gun fires again, missing him by a foot this time.

Anyways, he was average height, thank you very much.  Anyone who said otherwise could eat his webs and dirt.

Peter notices a slight hesitation in his opponent’s movement and immediately shoots a web out, yanking his gun arm down.  

He flips behind him and punches him down right before the man flips back up, nailing Peter on his nose and forcing him back.

Peter yelps and realizes their fight is nearing the edge of the roof, which had a good 8-story drop behind it.

He tries to push his punches in another direction, trying to redirect them both before one of them goes over but the man stays strong pushing them closer and closer to the edge.

Wanda’s voice comes in through the comms, “Peter, where are you?”

“Roof” Peter barely gets out through his grunts.

“I’m under you” she says.

Ironman comes out through the roof access door and watches as Peter stumbles, barely inches from tipping over the side.

He raises a metal hand, ready to shoot but Peter stops him, “Just trust me”

He would’ve let Tony handle it, but the blast could knock him off too, not just the other guy, and if he was going to plummet off a building today, he wanted to do it on his own terms.

Balancing on the small wall, the only thing keeping him from falling off, Peter jumps sideways just as the man raises a leg to kick him down.  

Peter smirks, using two fingers to salute, “Sayonara, sucker” he laughs as he pushes off and starts free-falling backwards, wind and gravity pushing on him.

That was so cool, he thinks.  It was a perfect reenactment of those scenes in movies where a character will dramatically fall off a roof narrowly escaping their nemesis and then gets caught by like, a dragon or a flying pirate ship.

It’s called a fashionable exit, to all the uncultured misfortunes who think it’s stupid.

Mr.Stark was probably pretty confused about what just happened though.

He plunges through the air for a full three seconds before he’s caught by Wanda’s magic, floating mid-air.

He catches a glimpse of her pursed lips and smiles, “You’re so dramatic” she tells him, concealing her amused eyes.

Wanda takes them both up to the roof where Mr.Stark already has the man Peter was fighting, tied down.

Tony groans in exasperation when he sees them both, already having figured out their little magic act.

They just laugh.

3. To annoy, off the counter

It’s a Friday and the essay sitting on the table next to Wanda has already been long abandoned.  He was not going to waste another minute trying to figure out what personal connection he could make the short story they’d been assigned to read during class.

He related to it because he’d been in a similar situation maybe?  

But anyways, he wasn’t going to waste time trying to find a way to spread that over 8 detailed sentences and supporting textual evidence.

He’s sitting on the counter and watching Wanda and Vision read books next to each other on the chairs.  Wanda’s legs are resting on Vision’s lap and as fun as it was watching them both, he was still exhausted and not in the mood to face the dangers of his other homework for tonight.  

Didn’t Mr.Stark say not to risk his life unnecessarily?  This should definitely count because just looking as the textbook took away two hours of his energy, at this rate he’d be on his death-bed by nightfall.

Munching on a protein bar, he looks up at the ceiling.  

The only one in the building right now, besides Vision and Wanda, was Steve - well technically Mr.Stark too, but he was in a board meeting that Pepper begged him not to bail on so he was off-limits.  

He glares at Wanda, trying to get her to notice him bored out of his mind, but she stubbornly stays focused on the page.

She’s actually reading Harry Potter, the result of Peter’s pestering, and she loved it.  The plan to get Wanda to do something with him was interfering with the joy he would usually feel though.

Like yay, my pseudo big sister is finally catching up on all the books and movies she’s missed while working with evil people but also please please please notice me before i throw my stupid homework into the sink disposal-

His alarming train of thought still didn’t catch her attention so he slumps before getting up and deciding to walk all over the counters and ceiling.  You know if that mark on the wall from when someone - ahem Clint ahem - had thrown a pen on the ceiling, acted like a mark he could pretend he was doing an obstacle course.

Yes, he could see it now, he’d do a cartwheel over the pen mark on the ceiling, then run on the wall, then he’d jump over the couch, and jump back onto the counter, the living room was plenty big enough.

Wow, this is a sorry excuse for fun.

He did the course three times and was skittering across the ceiling when Steve walked in and immediately shook his head at him.

Peter freezes in surprise and looks guiltily at Steve.

“I’m guessing the homework didn’t get done”, Steve says.

Peter sits criss-cross on the ceiling, if he gets down, he’s probably going to be guilt-tripped into doing his homework and no thank you.

Steve sighs and looks at him, “At least get down, you’re going to fall and get hurt.”

“No I won’t.  I’m part-spider, this is like my natural territory”, Peter says.

“You have the traits of a spider”

Why did he always have to pull out the school detention PSA voice?

“But look!  I can do a cartwheel on here, I’ve been doing them and I’m fine”

He’ll get down, as soon as he does just one, little cartwheel to annoy Steve.

Of course, that’s when his body decides to betray him and he slips, losing his grip on the ceiling.

He wasn’t worried about falling and smashing his nose at all, he knew Wanda would catch him every single time, in fact he’s already crossing his arms over his chest and scowling as he hovers on his back 3 feet above the ground.

Steve walks by him, still suspended in the air, and ruffles his hair, “Homework now”, then probably feeling bad for Peter, he adds, “Tony said you can use the lab later if you finish early”

Peter groans, “Fine”

Wanda puts him on the couch and he walks over to her and drops in the chair next to her on the table.  She hasn’t looked up once this entire time, not even when she’d caught him in the air, only unlatching her fingers from Vision’s and stopping his fall with her powers.  

Now she looks up and smiles at him, poking his forehead and pushing his computer towards him.

He groans again.

4.  To spite and win, off the balcony

Peter licks his lips, running through the plan again.

There’s someone coming down this hall, he can hear their soft footsteps padding on the floor.  Peter’s going to jump out and get the offending person out of the game, it’ll be easy as long as he times it right.

He jumps out from where he’s hiding behind the door frame and pulls up the gun aiming it at the unsuspecting form.

His paintball gun chooses right then to stall and dang it, that means that he has no defense or attack.

He looks up to find Clint grinning at him coyly, gun already trained on him and finger poised on the trigger.

He yelps and jumps out of the way just in time, the purple paintball splattering against the counter.

Peter runs back through the hallway, getting away from Clint and his treacherous smile (it was the smile of a deranged man who would do anything it takes to win paintball) and finds a cleaning closet to hide in while he fixes his gun.

Did the plastic pieces just have to jam right then? Talk about shitty luck.

He picks at the inside of the barrel with a toothpick and grins as a faint click ensures that the machine is functioning again.  The paintball that had gotten stuck shoots out and Peter ducks out of the way as pink splatters against the dark wall.

He knows Clint’s prowling the halls for him right now and he prays the man didn’t just hear the shotgun go off.

Slowly creaking the door open and making sure there’s no one there, he tip-toes out and runs to the balcony, it’s the perfect place to hide out and wait for his next victim.  The second anyone enters the living room, he has the perfect view on them and nobody looks at the balcony until it’s too late, which means more wins for him.

He underestimated Clint though.

The older man jumps out (umm where did he come from??) and kicks Peter’s gun away from him with a triumphant laugh.  Peter backs up against the cool metal railing and looks at him imploringly, “Can we talk this out?” he offers weakly.

He really regretted voting for the no superpowers rule now.

“Any last words, Parker”

Peter turns his head around, looking for a way out.  It was too high to jump from without his webs and it won’t be possible to run around Clint without getting hit by a paintball.  

Right before he decides to accept his inevitable defeat he sees a flash of bright red hair hiding in the branches of one of the thick, green trees below them.

“You know what, you got me Clint” he smirks, letting Clint bask in his moment of victory for a second, “Just kidding” and he flips himself back off over the railing.

He really wishes he could’ve seen Clint’s face at that moment, sadly success came with a price.

Right on schedule, the sharp red crackles of electricity catch him a couple of feet from the ground and he plants his feet on the ground, turning around to face Wanda.

“Thanks Wands”

“Oh I didn’t do it for you”

It takes him a second too long to figure out what she means but by the time he does it’s already too late, a dark red paintball slams into his protective vest.

“You’re a traitor, Wanda” Peter sulked, wow and here he thought he could actually win - or at least come second to Nat.

“All is fair in love and paintball”

5. Unwillingly, off a stage

Wanda had decided to pick Peter up from his Decathlon practice, it was always Happy who did it but he was sick and plus, they could grab some ice cream and talk before they had to head back.

She tapped her fingers idly on the steering wheel, rapping out a misplaced tune and glances again at the school gates.  

She fixes the rearview mirror and frowns, Peter should have come skipping out 15 minutes ago.

Wanda steps out of the car and smooths her wrinkled hoodie, running her fingers through hair once in the window before walking towards the school.

Her sneakers squeak, echoing loudly through the empty hallways and she has to wrinkle her nose at the spitballs stuck to the walls and lockers.  Someone’s book report flits around in the air and suddenly, she’s incredibly grateful she never had to go to a real high school.

There’s a piece of paper with a handwritten “Academic Decathlon” scribbled on it taped loosely on heavy, wooden doors and she pushes them open, shivering at the rush of cold air that bursts out.

Peering in, Wanda sees Peter on the stage but he’s not alone.  There’s another high-schooler gripping hard at his shoulders and sneering at him, speaking words Wanda’s not close enough to hear.  It doesn’t take any amount of genius to know the two boys weren’t friends/

She doesn’t even have time to intervene because Peter’s pushed off the stage, it’s barely a 2 foot fall but Wanda doesn’t care, she’s angry.

Peter looks at her in surprise with dark red cheeks once she puts him, gently, on the floor.  He practically curls in on himself and she honestly wouldn’t be surprised if her skin was a similar shade as his, just not for the same reason.

She stomps up to the other boy who’s looking at her in alarm and pokes a harsh finger at his chest, “You. bastard.” she accentuates each word by pushing her finger even harder against his t-shirt, “What’s wrong with you?!”

She may not have gone to high school but she definitely knows what a bully is.  She’s had plenty of her own in the past, even if she hadn’t realized it at first.

It wasn’t fair Peter had to go through the same thing, school wasn’t supposed to be like this.  It was where you were supposed to goof off with your friends and learn, not get pushed around by kids because they think they’re better than you.

A hand tugs at her wrist and she’s so wound up nearly forgets to soften her face when Peter tugs again, silently asking her to just drop it.

She looks back at the bully who’s gone pale and pushes him, sending him stumbling back a few feet.

“Don’t touch my little brother again, asshole” she snarls before whipping around and dragging Peter out the doors by his backpack.

By the time they get to the car, Peter still hasn’t said a word and instead opts to look out the window, not even sparing Wanda a small glance.

Her face is still aflame and her hands are still clenched around the wheel as she pulls to the side of the road and parks, looking over at Peter.  His eyes are tinged red.

“I’m sorry” he whispers, the second they’re parked.

“Don’t say sorry, it wasn’t your fault, but why didn’t you fight back?  Just one shove”.  It doesn’t make sense, Peter is strong enough to take on super-soldiers, he practically is one himself with all his advancements, so why doesn’t he just push back?  He doesn’t have to get hurt like this, he doesn’t deserve to.

“I’m just Peter Parker.  I’m not Spiderman at school so it wouldn’t make sense, I can’t just do that”, his fingers dig into his thighs and he kicks lightly at his backpack.

“Then you could’ve said something to us,” she’s looking up at him, eyes almost crazed.  It’s not okay, it’s not even close alright, it’s awful that this happens to him.

And she knows it’s not just a one-time thing.

Not when bullying at Midtown has been discussed far too many times for comfort, not when he’s come back with bruises and marks even when he hasn’t patrolled in days, and definitely not when Peter just tried to subtly wipe a tear from his cheek.

She feels tired all of a sudden, as her raging wave of anger reaches a crescendo and plummets to the ground, scattering, dropping her intentions to take care of anyone who even comes close to hurting Peter with some well-placed punches and kicks.

Wanda sighs and squeezes her eyes shut, blindly, she grabs Peter’s hand and asks, “Was that the Flash guy?”

“No, Flash never gets physical, he’s not too bad.  This is someone else”

“So you’ve been getting bullied by multiple people?”, it’s not a question, she already knows.  “Peter, you’re Spiderman, you know this isn’t right so please, please the next time this happens just” she exhales, “Just please, promise you’ll tell someone, anyone and they’ll take care of it”

“Promise” Peter breathes from next to her.

“Okay” she pulls back into the traffic, “I’m getting cookie dough ice cream, which one do you want?”

+1.  This one was definitely not supposed to happen, shit, shitshit

It’s getting really hard to breathe.

Which should probably not be happening, but in Peter’s defense, he hadn’t even wanted to skip class.  MJ had told him to, quote, “Get out of here before your dumbass throws up on someone’s shoes” and for once he’d actually listened, deciding going home and sleeping his fever off was better than being stuck in a stuffy old classroom, doing schoolwork.  

The heater of the apartment sounded like heaven and sunshine right about then.

He was just going to take the subway when one of the tv’s turned on, flashing a news report about the Avengers fighting the group of people near the tower.

According to the news channel, they had a whole lot of advanced technology, from ray guns to shapeless contraptions you couldn’t tell heads or tails of.

And there were a lot of them.

So of course, Peter had immediately donned his warm hoodie and jeans and switched into his suit, already swinging towards to get there, it made his stomach queasy and his head spin, but it was fine, he was already almost there.

“Peter, you’re not doing this right now, stop it and go home”, Tony’s voice is playing through Karen the second he’s in range.

“Technically, I’m supposed to be in school right now, Mr.Stark”, Peter swings onto a roof and crashes against someone, knocking them down before looking at the metal cube object they had abandoned.

It was glowing a light purple, which should probably not be happening.

He walked cautiously around it and his eyes widened as the glow got brighter and spread more, covering the entire cube now.

“Shit!”

Peter manages to scramble back before it explodes, leaving a black scorch mark on the floor and the smell of smoke in the air.

“Peter!?”

Oops, he’d forgotten Mr.Stark was there.

“Yeah I’m fine, just where did these people get all this stuff?”

“No idea, but Pete, I swear to god get out of here, or else I’m calling your aunt”, there’s a strangled grunt and the comms go silent.

“Mr.Stark??”, there’s no answer, “Karen, take me to Mr.Stark”

He swings two buildings away and lands on the 9th floor balcony, entering and running towards the signal.  When he enters the room, Tony’s being held up against the wall by someone who’s wearing heavy metal body armor, it could pass for an Iron Man cosplay if you squint really hard.

He jumps over, kicking them down and ducking a punch.  Grabbing the wrist of the armor, Peter twists their arm and slams them on their back before immediately looking back at Tony and helping him up.

“You okay?”, Peter questions.

“Yup, something she used fried the comm link though, I can’t get to to anyone else”

Peter nods and they both run through the halls, racing to get to the top of the building. 

“What do they want?”

“I don’t know, but right now I think they’re just trying to blow stuff up”

Bursting onto the roof, there’s only one person there with some weird silver spear, which honestly looks pretty harmless compared to everything else.

The man there, sees them and immediately backs off, dropping everything and stumbling away with a forced smile.

Tony still closes in on him and Peter webs his wrists and legs to the floor, just in case.

They’re both looking down onto the other rooftops for trouble when the headache Peter has been ignoring grows, and he stumbles back feeling his fever spike.

Tony approaches him and kneels down next to him where he’s sprawled on the floor waiting for the dizzy spell to pass.

“Kid, you have a fever”, Tony says after asking Karen for his vitals.

Peter swallows and fights the urge to keel over and vomit, “I’m fine”

“If I had a penny for every time I heard that” he jokes, voice unbearably soft, “Listen, you stay here and I’ll come and get you when this is over, ‘kay?”

Peter’s about to nod when someone flies onto the roof, they’re wearing goggles and using mechanical wings to help them fly.

Peter’s too dizzy to do anything so he watches as Tony raises a gauntlet and fires it up with a low whine that resonates in Peter’s keyed-up ears.

“Back off”, Tony says as a warning.

The girl smiles and takes off the goggles, slipping them up on her head with a puckish smirk, folding her wings in.

“Pleasure to meet you Iron Man, as well as you Spider”, she has a lilting accent that Peter can’t place.

The gauntlet doesn’t falter, even as Tony shifts so Peter is stuck in his shadow, “What do you want?”

“I want one of your inventions.  I may not be in charge of all these idiots, but my best friend is our leader and if you get me what I want, this can all be called off.”

“Best I can do are scraps from the intern labs, sorry.” he says, before firing a repulsor as she ducks out of the way.

“I wasn’t going to this the hard way but I suppose I’ll have to”, her curly, brown hair whips in her face as she puts it up into a ponytail, still dodging Tony’s blasts.

Peter’s spidey sense flares just as her wings do and she’s coming at him at full speed, lifting him up and flying up, past the buildings.  Oh he really has to hurl now.

Tony swears and tries to blast up, only to realize the girl had stuck a small square chip on him and his suit’s shutting down, his breathing clips and he looks up to where Peter’s being flown up.

He gets out of the suit and runs to the edge of the roof, “Wilson!” he calls, signaling Sam over from where he’s hauling debris out of the street for a car to get through.

Sam flies up to him and without a word, grabs him and flies him over to where Clint, Natasha, and Wanda are a few buildings away.  The whole 30 seconds he hasn’t taken his eyes off the Peter-shaped speck in the sky that’s getting harder and harder to see.

He stumbles over to Clint who’s looking at Wanda in concern, arms braced behind her to catch her if she falls. 

Tony briefly wonders what’s going on, before looking up at the collapsing building in front of them, the scarlet circling her wrists, and the sheen of sweat covering her forehead.

Clint looks over to him, swallowing, “Steve’s in there trying to get the rest of the people out, we can’t get in though, it’s too unstable.  The second Wanda lets go, the entire place is coming crashing down”

Tony can’t hide his panic anymore and he points up the sky, “Clint, it’s Peter”

Clint follows his finger and he jerks, seeing the red and blue suit in the distance, “Oh god”

The comms finally crackle back online and Tony swears his heart skips a beat when he realizes the bird lady just dropped Peter, oh my god.

They’re well over 4,000 feet up and his heart is in his throat as Peter’s screaming floods through the comms.  

Wanda hears it too and her hold on the building falters as she falls to her knees, eyes squeezed shut.  Clint moves to hold her but hovers around her instead, glancing back up at Peter when Wanda has a semi-stable grip again.

Natasha kneels on the ground next to Wanda, “You’re going to have to catch him”

Wanda’s voice teeters on a cry, “I’m trying”

Tony holds back his own cry and desperately tries to speak into the comms, if Peter realizes Tony’s trying to get through to him he doesn’t acknowledge it.

The comms are filled with wheezing and rushing wind and Tony’s gripping his arm so tight because that’s his kid dammit, and he can’t do anything.

Wanda’s attempts at catching him are proving futile, she can’t handle anything else without dropping the building which she can’t do, not when Steve and a whole lot of people are depending on her not to let it go.

“Sam, can’t you take your wings up and get him?”.  He doesn't care how panicked his voice sounds right now.

“One of the guys stuck a chip on it, the thing’s dead-weight now” Sam says, voice filled with sorrow.

Tony gulps in a breath and falls on his knees next to Wanda, “You have to catch him, Wanda” there’s a grim undertone in his voice hiding the waver and pure terror flooding through his veins.

Wanda grunts, tears are shining in her eyes, if it’s because of the strain or Peter, he has no idea.

“GUYS! Guys, guys, I’m falling!” Peter screams into their earpieces, voice cutting out, hot tears squeeze at his eyes.

Wanda looks up with a new sense of determination and her eyes flash, Tony suddenly knows that anyone going toe-to-toe with her would probably run first chance instead of fight.

“You can do it Wanda, come on” Tony pleads.

Peter’s form is getting bigger every second, little by little.

At around 500 feet, a faint glimmer of red runs over his body but it’s not enough, it slows Peter’s fall the tiniest bit before he’s hurtling through the air again.

‘Tony, Tony, Tony” Peter says his name like a prayer in the comms and Tony clenches his fist again, switching between looking at Wanda and Peter so fast, he wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up with whiplash.

The strain on Wanda’s forehead grows and her eyes squeeze shut as she tears at her limits.  

Tony stands beside where she’s kneeled on the ground, trying to see if he’d be able to catch Peter if this didn’t work.  He really hoped it didn’t come to that though, he didn’t have his suit and with the speed Peter was falling at, he didn’t know what would happen.

Eyes focused on Peter, Tony realizes a thin, flickering layer of red is very slowly growing over his body.  Relief bubbles in his throat and Wanda is able to slow Peter enough so that he and Sam can grab onto him, they all fall to the ground in a pile of limbs.

Tony grabs Peter under his shoulders and holds him upright as he gags and chokes on nothing, taking off his mask and brushing his curls off of his sweaty face.

Tony’s ears ring with the lingering screams of Wanda and Peter, his throat feels raw and he realizes that in his panic, he had been screaming too.  And it wasn’t just his ears that were buzzing, it seemed like everything was still ringing, the air vibrating with panic.

Peter was held close to Tony’s chest as he shook with heaving gasps and suppressed sobs, dried tear tracks streak the sides of his face and Tony tries to comb his fingers through the knots in Peter’s hair.

Looking around, Tony took everything in, everyone’s faces were pale and Wanda was barely holding herself up on her elbows, her heavy pants were forced through clenched teeth.

She’d let go of her hold on the building as Steve had come running out, waiting till he was out of the damage zone before sending it all crashing down.  All of that had happened just seconds after she had managed to gradually slow Peter down and get him to the ground in one piece.

A sigh of exhaustion huffs through Tony’s nose and the team sits in silence for a few minutes, trying to process all the chaos that had just happened.

Clint was helping Wanda, shakily, sit up and Peter crawled out of Tony’s arms to her before wrapping his trembling arms around her shoulders and whispering something to her.

Tony doesn’t know what was said but Peter was safe, everyone was safe.  They were all alright and his breaths started to come easier.  

Natasha sat next to him giving him a small, reassuring smile.  He leaned back and shut his eyes, making a mental note to add a parachute to Peter’s suit, among many other things.  Also to thank Wanda, because if she hadn’t been here...Tony didn’t want to think about it.

That was done now though.  Tony’s chest feels much lighter when Peter smiles at him over Wanda’s shoulder, the type of smile that conveys a million emotions, with nothing else.

He gives a shaky grin back.

[connywrites]

of flesh and blood 20

start - part [19]

-

I never knew nobody that could change me, make me new I never knew nobody that could break me, like you do I never knew nobody to rename me, displace me, oh no I never knew nobody that could chain me, erase me Like you do

I never thought that somethin' more awaits me I never knew that someday love would take me

-

Four days left and the weekend was coming. Thinking back to his birthday, Gavin frowned to himself, considering getting himself a festive gift with the savings from the RK900, wondering if he should make a point to spend it before the android had a chance to take it back. Even his compulsive mania didn't deter him into depleting it, noting himself to leave it alone and only using his DPD pay, as if the savings were sacred. Skipping meals really wasn't hurting him or his bank account at this point.

"I won't be at work today," RK900 stated, cuing him to blink and shake his head with disbelief. He was too afraid to ask, but 900 read the question on his face.

"Cyberlife's uninstalling emotions to see if it increases my chances of better behavior and they'll be running tests all day." Not knowing how to feel, let alone what to say, Gavin stared vacantly while the gears in his head slowly turned.

"Back Saturday, then?" The RK smiled an eerie, sadistic smile.

"I wouldn't miss our final days together for the world." Nausea churned in his stomach and suddenly he couldn't wait for work to start.

-

"Isn't giving it emotions just deviatin' it anyway?" Hank mused aloud. Gavin winced, knowing that just because the 900 wasn't there that day didn't mean it wouldn't know later.

"Yeah. Trying to keep that deviation under a leash and doing a shit job at it," he barked. It felt nice to vent.

"Connor still fine?" Hank glanced questioningly at the android across the room and shrugged.

"I wonder about that damn thing sometimes, but it never cut my neck open." Gavin nodded in lack of knowing how else to respond. He wondered if Hank would still be sympathetic if he knew what he’d had done to bring it all upon himself in the first place.

"Oh, yeah. 800 can't touch weapons, right?"

"It's not supposed to, but will to save a life."

"Shit, that's right, it's protected you before,” he said with a burst of disbelief.

“What's that like?"

"Well much as I wish I was sometimes, I'm very not dead," Hank balanced aloud with a shake of his head.

"Yours is so polite. I used to hate it but hey, can I get one of those instead?" Gavin remarked, and Hank smiled halfheartedly while Gavin rolled his eyes to the ceiling and back with a heavy, exhausted sigh.

"Kinda defeats the point if 900's on the team but doesn't serve or protect," Hank mentioned adamantly. Taking it as a prompt to engage, Gavin opened his mouth without thinking twice about it.

"That's the thing, Anderson. I never trusted these fuckin' things, but it's weird. Cyberlife's secretive enough, but they're supposed to be on our side. That's why they sent the fuckers, right?" Hank closed his eyes with a sage nod.

"You're tellin' me. And to think, we had no idea," he muttered respectfully as he looked back up at Gavin. Glaring off to the side, Gavin raised one leg to cross an ankle over the opposite knee while he waited for the android to appear even if it wasn't supposed to today, jittering his foot anxiously.

"You weren't supposed to," he explained glumly.

"That was the whole point."

-

It wasn't within immediate sight when Gavin got home, leaving him suspicious. Locking the doors behind him, he looked around, wary and waiting.

"Nines?" He called, checking the kitchen, then walking down the hallway, peeking into the bathroom, then his room. Even though he mostly expected it, the sight of it caught him off-guard the way it always did, as if he’d never fully get used to it.

"Well. I'd ask how you're feeling, but..." Gavin said with sarcasm, and the android flashed a wink.

"I didn't need those, anyway. It wasn't favorable. Cyberlife has learned a lot in the experimental process, however."

"Good for them," he snipped, and without much thought, peeled off his clothes to set aside, shoes and pantlegs damp from walking through rain puddles.

"Can I shower? A bus passed and splashed me, so I feel kinda nasty."

"Yes. Let me see your wounds first." Shameful, Gavin turned around with his arms to his sides and his head up straight, as was now routine. Peeling away the medical tape with practiced care, he couldn't see the questioning frown it made.

"I think I should have stitched one of these. I'll do that once you're clean." Gavin dreaded the idea of wide-open scars, infection or stitches, waiting for the android's cue to head towards the bathroom.

-

"Stop flinching, or you're going to make it worse."

"It hurts like a bitch."

"That's the point. You won't be writing any more appeals or gossiping around now, will you?" Gavin swallowed.

"No, sir," he added for extra measure.

"Get ready for bed. We'll be spending quality time together this weekend. There's a lot you still need to work on, and I don't want you falling apart once I'm gone and let all that hard work go to waste." Gavin wondered how it would stop him, but shelved the defiance for now.

-

"There will be more changes taking place at the precinct than my replacement, and I want you to be prepared for that. Your responsibilities are heightened now." Trailing fingertips through Gavin's hair - softly textured from conditioner as it let him go without product on his days at home - its eyes never left his own, no matter how much he tried to avoid its gaze.

"Okay," he mumbled obediently, leaning into its touch as he settled on its lap, resting his head on its shoulder at a sideways angle so as not to put pressure on the fresh, deeply engraved wounds.

"What do you want from me?" Looking ahead at the TV, it blinked it on, leaving the show on mute with subtitles while they spoke, multitasking while it focused on both.

"Better language and behavior, but I think I have done all that I can for that. Your work has been slacking, but you've picked up well these past few days." It paused, shuffling through its internal code as it 'thought' through its understanding of the situation.

"I said I'd stop hurting you, but it seems to have become an ingrained habit of my own." Gavin was hit with the realization that it had recorded everything, and Cyberlife would likely see it all, if they haven’t already.

"I also promised to reward you, so I will. Consider it an incentive."

-

And it did exactly so. Sunday morning was met with another bundle of prizes on his kitchen table, this time particularly stacked with a full variety of tools and items.

“I spoke to Chief Fowler. While he does not appreciate my company in particular, he seemed fairly receptive to what I had to say about yours.” Gavin’s heart sank.

“What…did you say?” Stepping forward, he carefully reached out to take a look at the items in the pile, slow and hesitant as he waited for virtually any chastising signal.

“I told him to keep an eye on you.”

“And he said…?”

“That he would do exactly that,” it stated conclusively.

Turning towards the pile of ‘gifts’ on the table, Gavin slowly, carefully approached them as his eyes glazed over the items.

“The hell is this?” He was hesitant to touch anything without permission, staring at it all with wide eyes like a child in a toy store.

“A reward. An encouragement. A pile of store-bought items, a physical conglomerate of molecules and light waves,” it humored itself.

“Whatever you want it to be; it’s yours.”

The first thing he ran his hands over was a bulletproof vest, handy for the more dangerous cases, alongside a few other assorted defense and offense gear as well as weapons. Beside that was a collection of useful household items, from hygiene products to freshly laundered towels and clean bedding, neatly nestled between goods for pleasure alone; candies, chocolates, fresh goods, treats and decaffeinated coffee. Gavin wrinkled his nose with a snort, laughing with a sarcastic nod; but as he saw the plethora of ‘presents’, he found it hard to feel bitter.

“And since you wanted to celebrate,” it stated, and he was immediately stiff as a board as his posture responded faster than he had, preparing for the next punishment, verbal or physical. As it had acted before the emotional adjustments, it stared at him deadpan, stoic and unexpressive before turning around to nudge away a giftwrapped box from beside the couch and sliding it across the floor in Gavin’s direction. Blinking, he stared down at it, jaw dropping with a dumbfound expression as he was rendered speechless.

“I suggest you invite more than one person, considering you’re starting to make friends.” Gavin blinked, eyes narrowing with suspicion, but he didn’t glare.

“You…you’re not mad?”

“I no longer have that ability,” it reminded him.

“And no, I hold no hostility over the matter. I developed a habit of harming and traumatizing you. I more than expected you to be excited by the prospect of my absence.” Gavin remained still and quiet, losing himself in the surreality of the situation.

“I will no longer be here to make any difference, good or bad, in your life. A new android will come into place, and you won’t be paired with it.” Gavin blinked, still confused.

“Who’s It gonna be paired with?” He wondered if it already knew.

“You’ll see.”

Of course it did.