#so here’s to the next week of explosions in the sky

[bookwyrminspiration]

wishing everyone with noise sensitivities, anxiety, adverse reactions to or bad memories associated with loud noises, who are easily startled, who have anxious or easily started pets, or anything else that makes things like fireworks and celebrations difficult as peaceful of an evening as possible on the 4th and the week following <3

[lostgirlmuseum]

The Signal

Made this using images from Pinterest ^ Word Count: 6.1k 

Pairing: Bucky x f!reader

Summary: You and Bucky get separated from the team after an unfortunate mishap, of which Bucky blames you. Except you’re not at fault! You thought… you aren’t too sure anymore.

A/N: Thank you all so much for all of the positivity on my first fic, I am actually BLOWN AWAY. You are all so kind!! I actually started writing this all the way back in February of 2022, but seeing the response gave me the motivation to finally finish it. 

Warnings: Nothing absolutely horrible, just a bit of angst and fluff(?), plus a little gaslighting and violence.

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“Everything is going to be okay. We’re fine. Everything is fine. Everything–” She repeated the mantra over and over again, not quite believing it.

“Will you shut up?” Bucky growled. 

Only an hour prior had both of them been sneaking through a dense forest and scoping out a running ex-HYDRA base deep in the frozen woods. Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Sam, and Y/N were used to missions like this, except this one required a higher level of subtlety and a successful sneak attack was critical. Their intel informed them that the base was rigged to blow if any unrecognized technology was detected, including any disturbances in the radio waves. Because of this, they all turned off their communications signals once they approached the range of the base. At least, they were supposed to.

“I’m just trying to keep myself from freaking out.” She grumbled, slightly trailing behind Bucky as they crunched through the brittle layer of snow.

“Why? You should be freaking out. You should very much be freaking out right now. Considering we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no connection to anyone who can help, and I’m stuck with you.” He recognized he was being cruel, but he didn’t have the strength to stop.

“It wasn’t my fault!” 

“The sooner you stop lying to yourself, the better.” Bucky responded without even looking over his shoulder. He hadn’t looked at her for the majority of their trek to the nearest safe house since they got separated from the rest of the group by the explosion.

“This is not my damn fault! I turned off my signal, just like Steve told us to.” She struggled to keep up with him, but she wouldn’t tell him that. She couldn’t show him any weakness–he’d just use it against her.

“Except you didn’t!”

“How are you so sure it was me? There were five of us!” She awkwardly jogged to get a bit ahead of him, and turned around to face him as she walked backward. “What makes you think it wasn’t you?”

“Please, like I would ever be so careless.” His gaze remained on the terrain ahead, and it looked like the trees of the woods were starting to thin out, signaling an exit soon.

“And I would?”

“Yes! Yes, you would. I knew from the start it was a bad idea to take you along. You can’t even follow simple instructions like turning off a signal.” He managed to pass her again, leaving her to struggle to stay next to him. He saw out of the corner of his eye her pointing a finger at him.

“I’m trying really hard not to take your attitude personally. You’ve been acting like a dick for the past week, but I’m sick of it.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” 

“Don’t call me that.”

“Sweetheart?” He finally glanced at her. 

“Yes.”

“Why? Is it reserved for Steve?” Bucky’s eyes quickly returned to the path in front of him.

“What are you on about?” Genuine confusion laced her voice, but her question went unanswered as they reached a block in their path. 

“Y’know your genius safe house plan?” Bucky gestured to the map balled up in her hand, the thing they had been using to guide them to safety. “Well, looks like we’re here.”

“This can’t be right,” she shook her head, quickly unfolding the map, “maybe we got turned around.”

“Just look up.” 

She followed Bucky’s gaze to the sky, at which she finally realized the ridiculousness of their situation. They were stranded at the bottom of a steep cliff, which looked to stand nearly a hundred feet in the sky.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Because who the fuck puts a safe house on top of a cliff? “There’s got to be an elevator or something, there’s no way we’re expected to climb this.”

They both scanned the base of the cliff, looking for any indication of a secret passage to the top. She ran her hand along the jagged rock and ice, and bit her bottom lip as she concentrated on the wall, eventually spotting a thick rope among a couple vines. 

“Shit.” 

Her voice gained Bucky’s attention, and he looked over to see her holding not one, but two ropes, each attached to a relatively large weaved basket. It wasn’t quite big enough for the two of them, but one person could definitely fit. 

“After you,” he mocked, gesturing to the basket that was meant to work as a (sketchy as hell) pulley system.

Instead of answering, she merely pointed to the inside of the damp basket. Bucky peered his head over to see the bottom had completely fallen apart, leaving a gaping hole where a person would supposedly stand. 

“Looks like we’re climbing.” Bucky sighed.

“I can’t–” 

“Afraid of heights?” He snapped.

“No, but–” 

“Good. Then there shouldn’t be a problem.” 

He grabbed a knife from his belt and efficiently cut both sides of the rope from the basket. She watched, dumbfounded, as he took one rope and tied it around his waist. Then, he gave the rope a hard tug, and satisfied by the lack of give, turned to his belt and grabbed three more knives. He grabbed duct tape out of his tac pants, and expertly taped one knife to the bottom of each shoe. Finally, he tossed her the duct tape, knowing she already had her own knives. She watched both impressed and annoyed as he firmly stuck his feet as best he could into the ice and rock of the cliff, and used the other knives in his hands as leverage.

He made it about ten feet up before glancing back down to see she hadn’t moved.

“Are you coming or what?” The impatience of his voice stung almost as much as the cold did her nose. 

She looked at him, then the rope, and then the knives attached to her legs, before making a move. Unlike Bucky, her combat boots came equipped with hidden spikes that could be used for climbing (although she had never used them for such activity, and normally used them as a treat when fighting, basking in the pride of catching her enemies off guard with a swift kick and metal spike to the face, groin, etc). She adjusted the spikes to be poking out of the toe of her boots, and tried not to think as she grabbed the second rope and knotted it around her waist. 

Ignoring her left hand, she grabbed only one knife opposed to Bucky’s two, and stabbed it into the ice. She cautiously looked down at her feet as she began her climb, and looked back up at her hand as she found purchase a foot above her head. Already exhausted from the fighting and explosion earlier, she winced at the tension in her right arm as she pulled herself up. 

At the slow pace she was going, Bucky was already 15 feet in the air by the time she was 3 feet off the ground.

Bucky looked down to see her far behind, and raised an eyebrow when he saw her climbing with only one hand.

“You’re supposed to use both hands, you know?” He mocked.

She rolled her eyes, but said nothing, as she let her left hand join her right hand on the handle of the knife protruding from the rock. Bucky noticed her silent grimace as she successfully pulled herself up to the next level. He continued to watch as she stiffly removed her right foot from the wall and placed it above her left foot, before once again grabbing the single knife with both her hands and pulling for a second before letting out an agonizing cry.

Out of curiosity more than frustration, he called down.

“What’s going on down there?” 

She briefly looked up at him before looking back at the ground, “I can’t climb.”

“Missed the training day on it?” 

His sarcasm went unappreciated as she growled.

“My wrist is broken, asshole.”

Her wrist is broken, and she’s climbing? What is she thinking?

“And you’re still trying to climb? You should’ve told me.” 

“I fucking tried telling you! But everytime I try to say something, you interrupt me! Constantly! Besides, what’s the point in telling you if you’re just going to brush it off?”

Bucky swiftly removed the knives in his hands from the cliff, and held onto his rope, before half-hopping and half-climbing down the wall to the ground.

“Bucky, just go,” she sighed, “I’ll figure something else out. I’m not going to be a burden on you.”

She said it in part because, yes, she didn’t want to burden him, but also because she didn’t want to hear his whiny complaints.

He ignored her protests and gently reached for her left hand, inspecting the incredibly swollen wrist. He winced at her soft whimper. He let go and simply looked at her.

“Hop down.” 

She didn’t like that he was ordering her around, but his voice was void of any emotion, and out of curiosity and self preservation skills, she obeyed.

“C’mon.” Bucky turned around so his back faced her.

After a couple moments of silence, he looked over his shoulder to see her face twisted in confusion.

“C’mon now, just get on.” He repeated, squatting down a bit more. “You’re going to have to hold on tight.”

Ignoring the absurdity of the situation, she did her best to climb onto his back, at which point he gently grabbed her non-injured arm and wrapped it around his neck to encourage her to not be afraid to cling to him.

After what likely was about twenty minutes of climbing in utter silence, minus the whipping of the cool wind, Bucky made the mistake of looking down. The good news was that they were almost at the top–probably about a quarter of the climb left. The bad news was that meant that they had already climbed about 75 feet, and despite Bucky’s fearless persona, he was not fearless.

“Fuck.” He whispered.

“What’s wrong?” She rested her chin on his right shoulder.

“Nothing… I just didn’t realize how high up we were.” He grimaced the moment he said it. He’d shown weakness. He’d given her ammo. “Gonna make fun of me now?” He started to shake just a little, and prayed that she would assume it was because of the cold and not his anxiety…even though it had been cold for the entirety of the climb.

“No.” She stated.

His head started to spin from the memories. He tried to push through it, but all he could think about was the first time he was this high up. It was as cold as this too. He felt as his left arm subconsciously twitched. 

The first time I was this high up, I still had two human arms.

A sweet voice interrupted his thoughts. 

“I think I can see the compound from here.” 

It was a stupid joke, but he couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“You know, I’m pretty scared of the ocean.” She continued.

He didn’t respond, unsure of where she was going with this. He continued to pull themselves up.

“Just deep water in general scares me. My brother always made fun of me for it.” 

Don’t look down, Bucky. Don’t look–

“One time when I was like–fifteen? I think? My family took a trip to this really big lake. We got on one of those pontoon boats and went out into the water.”

He was glad that she was so close to him, otherwise the whipping of the wind would’ve been too loud to hear her calming voice.

“My brother thought he was really funny, and told me to look over the edge of the boat while we were still in motion.”

He tried to grunt to indicate he was listening, but no noise came out.

“He pushed me right as my dad started speeding up. I fell in, and freaked out. Especially as I watched the boat leave me behind.”

He continued to listen to her and focused on her voice, and the vibrations. Her tone was casual, but he couldn’t help but sense she was telling him a secret.

“Luckily, my mom saw what happened, and got my dad to turn around.” She chuckled. “He claimed he was trying to help me get over my fear. But I got my revenge later that day, so it was fine.”

“What’d you do?” Bucky finally spoke up.

“Well, he’s afraid of peanut butter.” She tried to shrug, despite having one arm around his neck and the other hanging limply. 

“Do you mean allergic?”

“No, I mean afraid. The stuff freaks him out. He won’t go near it. He’s weird like that.” She sighed in remembrance, and continued.

“So once we got back to the house I grabbed some peanut butter, and slathered it into his hair when he wasn’t looking.”

Bucky looked up again and was surprised to see how close they were to the top. When did that happen?

“He screamed so loud–it was hilarious.” She smiled. “He ran to take a shower, flailing around and being dramatic. ‘Mom! She put peanut butter in my hair! My hair! Mommy, get it out!’” 

Worried that Bucky was judging her, she quickly added,

“He was seventeen at the time, by the way.”

Still no answer.

“I don’t think he’s forgiven me yet.” She whispered more to herself than Bucky, but he still nodded as he grabbed at the top of the cliff.

“We’re here.” Bucky didn’t mean for his voice to come across gruff, but the cold wasn’t helping his throat. 

“Thank you for carrying me.” She smiled once she had both feet on the ground. It didn’t reach her eyes, but he could still tell she meant it.

Slightly embarrassed, Bucky attempted to grumble out a ‘Thank you for distracting me,’ but he wasn’t sure she heard it.

Come on, you can do better than that Barnes. Just apologize to her, he thought.

“Listen, I know I’ve been acting like a–”

Bucky’s words were cut off by a mysterious and sudden mangled…shriek?

“Oh my God, Bucky.” She patted his arm to get him to turn around.

He obliged, and his eyes became saucers when he saw what had made the noise. 

At the top of the cliff was a partially snowy but also grassy plateau, inhabited by a herd of roaming goats. So, so many goats. 

“Look at all the goats!” She gasped.

Right as she had said it, one goat had snuck up to them and started biting at Bucky’s prosthetic. 

“Get off,” he quelled his shock and grumbled as he shook the animal off of his hand.

“Aw, it likes you.” She giggled, falling to her knees to pet the goat—more like ‘goats’, plural, because the animals seemed to multiply, and fast. 

“Let’s get inside. We need to fix that wrist.”

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Beside the disturbingly large population of goats, and the absurd location of the safe house, the house itself was fine. Well, it was shaped more like a barn, but it was decorated like a house. After coaxing Y/N away from the “adorable” (her words, not Bucky’s) goats, and inside, Bucky led Y/N to the forest green rug where he had started a fire in the fireplace. 

When he finished briefly looking around, Bucky grabbed some ice that had frozen outside the barn and wrapped it in a cloth from the kitchen. With her permission, Bucky carefully placed the ice pack where he saw the most bruising around her wrist. 

“So,” Bucky had settled himself across from her, so they could face each other as they talked. He couldn’t help the pang of sadness he felt as she stood up and backed away to sit on the couch.

She wouldn’t move away if I were Steve, he thought, staring into the fire. They’d probably cuddle up together like they do on the couch during movie nights at the tower. 

Y/N didn’t want to move away from Bucky, especially now that he was being amicable again. But the heat from the flames was melting the ice that cradled her wrist, and she didn’t want to add ‘soggy’ to her list of problems.

“So?” She asked, noticing Bucky never finished his thought.

“I’m just thinking about the logistics of this. There’s a high possibility we could be stuck here anywhere from a week to a month. Your signal was fried in the blast too, right?”

She nodded, and released her right hand from holding the ice, letting it balance on her wrist, as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her signal. Definitely fried. 

He pulled out his own signal from where he had kept it in his pants pocket, and showed her how it was crushed. “Well, without our signals, our team can’t track us. We just have to hope that they’ll figure out that we made it to a safe house, and that they don’t check this one last. Because I’m pretty sure there are at least two more safehouses dedicated to the vicinity of the Hydra base, right?”

She nodded. “We got unlucky with this one.”

“First thing we need to worry about,” he raised his eyebrows, trying to gain her attention, “is food. I looked at the kitchen pretty quickly and there’s not that much stuff stocked. A couple cans of beans, and such. Not nearly enough for how long we’re going to be here though. So unless we want to climb back down again, and see if we can find any food anywhere…”

She squinted and tilted her head as if she was a confused puppy.

“We’re going to have to kill a goat.” He finished.

Her eyes went comically wide. “I am not letting you kill Cheetoh!”

Bucky shook his head, exasperated, “You’ve already named them?”

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The longer they were there, the worse the winds got. But that didn’t stop Bucky from hearing the strange overlap of whipping winds, leading him to lean into the noise from his spot on the couch. 

“Do you hear that?” Bucky nudged her.

“It sounds like the wind got a lot worse,” She nodded.

“No, something’s off.”

At Bucky’s concern, Y/N got up off the couch and beat him to the doors. She looked at Bucky, who stood directly behind her, before pushing hard to get the sliding door to budge. Instantly the biting cold attacked them again, and she had to place her right arm over her forehead to keep her hair from whipping into her eyes. Everything outside seemed to be an array of grays, until she was able to spot a shadowy figure emerge from the settling fog. A person appeared, as well as a helicopter.

“Sam?” She called, hoping her voice carried far enough to be heard above the wind.  

“Y/N! Bucky! Thank god you guys are okay,” Sam called back, and was quickly met by Y/N who had run the rest of the distance to meet him. Bucky was shortly behind. 

“I’ve never been so happy to see your face, Sam.” She giggled, setting her right hand appreciatively on his shoulder. 

Quickly spotting Steve exiting the chopper, Bucky hid a scowl as he watched Y/N light up and bound over to the bundled up blond, while calling, “Steve!” He wished he had looked away before seeing her pull him in for a hug.

Wanting to distance himself from the interaction, Bucky stood by Sam.

“How did you find us so fast?” Bucky shook his head, and raised his voice, as the wind started to pick up again. 

“My signal, man.” Sam yelled back, despite being three feet apart. 

“What?” Bucky wondered if he heard him right. 

Sam reached into the left pocket of Bucky’s under jacket, and pulled out a small familiar looking device. 

Bucky felt a punch to the gut as he suddenly remembered.

The group had just landed the quinjet deep into the forest. They couldn’t land too close to the base and risk setting off alarms, so they settled for a three mile hike away. Bucky and Sam were meant to approach from the north side, while Steve, Natasha, and Y/N planned to approach from the south side, so the group split off after the jet to take opposite round-a-bout paths. It was about two miles left to go when Sam started complaining. 

“Dude, does this thing actually fit in your ear?” Sam gestured to the communications device in his hand. “Because it keeps falling out. It’s getting on my nerves.”

Bucky gave a short grunt, which Sam translated to a ‘yes, it does fit in my ear.’

“I can’t,” Sam finally huffed, “I give up. I don’t have any pockets, can you hold this so I don’t lose it?” 

Simply wishing for Sam to shut up, he obliged, and shoved the tiny device into his pocket for safe keeping. Neither of them thought to turn it off first, because in their minds, and past experiences, it always stays turned on in the field. Excluding the moments when people turn them off in acts of defiance. 

About a mile later, both men heard a small rustling to their right. In hindsight, it was probably just a rabbit, but Sam suggested he go check it out, just in case. That’s what led to the two splitting up, but Bucky wasn’t worried. He knew that if there was a problem, Sam would’ve made it clear immediately. He also knew that Sam knew his way to the base all on his own. 

Bucky arrived at his location at the same time that Steve’s voice buzzed in his ear. At this point, the extra signal was long forgotten. 

“We’re in position.” Steve’s voice rattled. 

“10-4.” Bucky responded. 

“Alright, going dark now. Turn off your comms, let’s go.” 

Steve’s voice was followed by the soft beep of Bucky’s signal as he turned it off. 

He didn’t realize Sam’s signal was still active in his pocket.

“It was just bad luck dude, don’t feel too bad. I should’ve turned it off before I gave it to you, and I shouldn’t have assumed you’d turn it off yourself.” Sam tried to hide his pity with a half-smile.

“I–I was the leak?” Bucky whispered right as the wind started to calm again. He stared at the small device as Sam hid it in the pocket of his own coat. If only Sam had worn that on the way to the base.

“Yeah,” Sam said at a normal level now that the noise had nearly ceased, “but everyone’s safe now, that’s all that matters.” Sam reassuringly pat Bucky’s shoulder twice before looking back at Steve helping Y/N into the chopper.

Bucky let out a short hum, and focused on the ground. He wanted to crush that stupid little signal. He hated the way it made his chest feel tight, and his heart heavy with guilt. 

Sam’s voice interrupted Bucky’s thoughts.

“Those are a lot of goats, man.”

Before Bucky could respond, Steve appeared in front of them.

“Hey Buck,” Steve smiled, pulling him in for a quick hug, “I’m glad we found you so fast. Are you injured at all?” Steve pulled back to examine Bucky’s form.

“No, I’m fine,” Bucky swiftly assured, before feeling the throbbing of guilt consume him again, “but Y/N’s wrist is broken.”

“Don’t worry, I know. I already told her I’d take her straight to medical once we get back. Speaking of, we should get going.”

“Right.” 

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Three hours later, the group made it back to New York. As the ramp lowered, Bucky quietly pulled Steve aside.

“I can walk Y/N to med.” He nodded to where she was sitting, staring off into space.

“You sure?” Steve struggled to hide the surprise in his voice.

“Yeah.” Bucky nodded.

“Okay.”

Bucky gave his friend a firm pat on the shoulder before sauntering toward Y/N, who remained in her seat.

“Come on, Y/N.” He held out his right hand, offering her to take it.

“Huh?” She blinked twice, and stared up at him, eyebrows scrunched.

“I’m walking you to med.” 

“Oh. Okay.” She paused for a moment before standing up. “So much for being stuck for months.”

“Yeah, I guess that calculation was a bit off.”

“I’m just glad we’re back home. And that you didn’t need to kill any goats.”

“I was going to leave Cheetoh alone.”

“I don’t know if I believe you.”

The rest of their walk was relatively short, but silent, until they reached the doors of Dr. Cho. Bucky didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, as Dr. Cho was given a heads up to Y/N’s injury, and already whisked her away.

Bucky rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet for a minute, until he decided it would be uncomfortable for all parties involved if he stayed. He knew she’d be alright, he convinced himself, so there was no need to be in the way.

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A couple of the Avengers found themselves mentally recovering in the lounge, waiting for Y/N to get out of her evaluation.

“She’ll probably be out for two months. Broken wrist and all that.” Steve relayed, taking a seat on the couch.

“Two months?” Sam repeated, looking up from his bag of chips.

“I think she’s pretty bummed, so try not to mention it.”

As if on cue, Y/N entered the room.

“Hey guys,” she smiled, waving with the arm that wasn’t in a cast.

“Hey Hon. How’s the wrist?”

“Really, Tony?” Natasha glared at him.

“What?” He feigned innocence, throwing his hands in the air.

“It’s fine guys. It doesn’t hurt that bad, I’m more embarrassed than anything.” 

“Embarrassed by what? I think that cast makes you look tough.” Sam added, doing his best to cheer others up as always. “And hey, you and Bucky can be twins now.”

“Yeah, kinda. Look at that Buck!” She lifted her left arm in the direction of Bucky, who had been silently brooding in the corner. The bulk could be seen under the fabric of her hoodie, but she felt the need to emphasize the point by taking the pullover off.

She first tried tugging the sleeve off her cast, but it was a bit too snug. After a couple more moments of failing, she switched tactics to just pulling off the hoodie from over her head, but that got her stuck in an awkward position too.

After a second too long of borderline uncomfortable silence and shuffling, Steve spoke up.

“Do you want help with that?”

“Nope, I got it. Just gimme- a second…” 

Somehow she had gotten the garment twisted around her right arm and upper body.

“Hon, just let us-” Tony started, but was quickly cut off.

“You know what? It’s suddenly cold again. There’s a weird draft over here.” Y/N quickly tugged the hoodie back down and gave a weary smile. “I’m going to go to my room.”

She ran off before anyone could offer an opinion. Unsurprisingly, Steve was the first to speak.

“I’m going to go check on her.”

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A soft knock came to her door.

“Come in.”

“Hey, Y/N.” Steve gave a sympathetic smile as he gently closed the door behind him.

“Hi Steve, what’s up?” She looked fine, but he could hear the strain in her voice.

“Nothing, I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” He stood in front of where she sat at the edge of the bed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got a little frustrated, it’s no big deal.” She shrugged it off, avoiding his eye line.

“It’s okay to feel frustrated.” 

“I know. I shouldn’t though. It’s my fault, anyways.”

“How so?”

She cast her gaze to the floor and swept a hand through her hair.

“Well, I think the whole reason we were ambushed was because of me.”

“What? Why would you say that?”

She took a deep breath.

“After Bucky and I got stranded after the attack, I was sure it wasn’t my fault. But then he started saying things, and they were mean… but he was also right. I started second guessing myself, and I thought about it. I mean, out of all of us, I’m the newest. And I was so sure that I turned my signal off…but now I don’t know. I can’t remember. And if it really is my fault they found us, then it’s my fault that fight happened, and it’s my own doing that this—” she pointed to her cast, “happened. I just feel stupid.”

“You weren’t the leak, Y/N.”

“What?”

“It was an accident. Bucky was carrying an extra signal, and no one thought to turn it off.”

“Bucky?” She looked bewildered, shaking her head at this fact.

“Yes.”

“Does he know?”

“Um…I’m not sure. I didn’t tell him. We never had a proper briefing after the chaos derailed our schedule when we got back.”

“I have to go find him.” Her shock turned to a quiet determination of which Steve decided not to push her on.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you still want your hoodie off?”

“Yes please.”

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“Buck, wait up!”

Bucky slowed his jog around the track to a stop when he heard her voice.

“Y/N?”

“Hey.” She gave him a sweet smile once she caught up, one he felt undeserving of.

“Is there something you need?” 

“No. I just had to tell you something.”

“I’m listening.” He nodded, crossing his arms. He didn’t mean it in a defensive way, it just happened.

“First of all, you should know it’s not your fault.”

“What?” 

“I just found out how we got ambushed, and I figured I should tell you.”

“Oh.” He fought the urge to look away.

“Sam gave you his signal, right? But it was never turned off. It was just an accident. But I needed to tell you, because I know you’re going to blame yourself when they tell everyone at the briefing.” Her concerned tone and eyes met him for the briefest second before he wiped his hands down his face.

“I feel like an asshole.”

“No, please don’t.” She softly touched his elbow.

“I’m going to be honest Y/N, I thought you were going to take it a lot worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you found out that it was me. I was worried you were going to get really mad.”

“Wait, you already knew?”

“Yeah? Sam told me right when he found us…I thought you knew I knew, isn’t that why you just told me all that?”

“I thought you didn’t know. I wanted to be the one to tell you before the briefing, to tell you not to worry about it, because I knew you’d take it hard. But–but you already knew?”

Bucky just stared, jaw dropped at a loss for words.

“And–” She scoffed, “—and you didn’t tell me?!”

“Y/N, I-” 

“Don’t ‘Y/N’, me! You—you, jerk! I can’t believe you knew all this time that you were the leak, and after belittling me and convincing me it was my fault, you didn’t tell me the truth!” She laughed in disbelief. “You selfish, cold-hearted, dickhead!”

He wasn’t sure what to say, but it didn’t matter, because she kept going.

“I’m stuck off missions for the next two months with a broken wrist, and you let me think it was my own doing! You made me feel like an idiot!”

“I was going to tell you—”

“When? After I was already told at the meeting? I can’t believe you!” She turned around briefly as if she couldn’t even face him, but quickly turned back. “To think I felt bad for you when I found out it was you who got us ambushed!”

With each insult she managed to get a little closer to him. So close, in fact, that Bucky was struggling to even comprehend what she was saying anymore. All he could think of was how close he was to her, how his hands were just itching to grab her waist. His head was nearly empty when he finally did carefully grab her and pull her closer to him. She paused her rampage to look up into his adoring eyes at his sudden movement.

“Bucky?” She whispered, a swirl of confusion and intrigue.

He replied by placing his lips gently on hers, feeling the warmth of her touch. She reciprocated, kissing him back for a couple seconds before bringing her hands to his chest to furiously push him away, followed by a swift slap to the face.

“Jeez-” The sudden change from bliss to reality was shocking.

“I can’t believe you James!” She yelled, her flustered look from both the kiss and her rage. “I can’t believe you just kissed me! I have a right to be angry, fuck you for thinking you can shut me up by locking my lips!”

‘Shit, I messed up,” he starts to think, about to spew apologies, when he gets cut off by her grasping his hoodie in her hand and pulling him back in for another kiss. The moment his shock subsides and he sinks back into the waves of her kiss, he’s just as abruptly taken from it, head dizzy as she parts from him just to slap him across the cheek again.

“Ow! What was that for?” He brings his hand to the sting. He’s so dazed and confused, a hurricane of thoughts and emotions all fighting for his attention.

“You make me so mad! I’m fuming right now! You are so selfish—”

She cuts herself off, pulling him in for another kiss, one that he’s still not prepared for. His frustration rising at her antics, he brings both hands to either side of her face and holds her steadily against him, resulting in their first kiss that lasted longer than five seconds. When he finally feels her about to let go for breath, he lets his lips leave hers, and continues to cradle her head, their foreheads resting against each other as they both gasp for breath. 

“You’re not going to slap me again, are you?” He carefully asks, looking into her eyes.

“No.” 

“You’re sure?”

“No.”

He laughs and slowly lets go of her.

“You okay?”

After a few seconds of silence, she responds with hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“I’ve already given you enough reason to hate me, I was sure that if you found out I was the leak, you’d finally hate me for good.”

“I don’t hate you Bucky. I always figured you kind of hated me. Lately you’ve been acting kind of like-”

“A dick, I know,” he nods. “And I’m sorry for that. Really, I am. It’s just-” Bucky’s voice seizes as she sees him look intensely at her mouth.

“It’s what?”

“Can I please kiss you again?”

She slowly nods, and allows Bucky to kiss her for the fourth time. It was fucking heaven to him. Regardless, he abruptly pulls back when a thought crosses his mind.

“Shit, what about Steve?”

“What about Steve?”

“Don’t you like each other?” 

She couldn’t help but think his concern was cute, the way he acted like he was talking about middle school crushes.

“Bucky, no,” she laughs, “Steve and I have just always been really good friends. You know, when people are nice to each other, and they like to hang around each other?”

“I just always thought that-”

“Never. He’s my friend. And I can guarantee you he feels the same as me.”

She lets him process the information, watching him nod to himself as if taking it in.

“Oh.”

“Are you jealous?” She smirks, giving him a flirty shove.

His cheeks go pink as he starts to stutter.

“Jea- jealous? No, not jealous. Just-”

Was he jealous? Was it emasculating to admit it? It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t care, he’s sick of lying.

“Okay, maybe I was a little bit jealous.” He mumbled, drawing his attention to a pebble on the ground that he was toeing. “So, you do like me, right?” 

She lifts his chin upwards and gives him the softest, sweetest, slowest peck. 

“Does that answer your question?” She flutters.

“I think so. But the slapping earlier was a bit confusing.” He teased.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright, it was well deserved.”

“No, I still shouldn’t have hit you.” She said with certainty. “But I am still a little bit upset that you didn’t tell me.”

“Doll, I know I should’ve told you that you weren’t the leak. I wish–”

“No,” she shakes her head, “I’m upset you never told me how you felt about me. Instead you acted-”

“Like a dick, I know–”

“No, I was going to say like a child. But yeah, a dick, too.”

They just stood together for that moment, appreciating the start of something new. New, and beautiful, with a lot less animosity, and a lot more kisses.

A/N: If you’ve made it this far, thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope you liked it. If you feel like it, please lemme know your thoughts! I hope you have a peaceful day/night 💕

[writinganything]

HI sooo I was wondering if you could write Soft Gwinam x reader from all of us are dead like in the apocalypse and like how it would go with those two like what would they do when he turns into like half zombie thing stuff like that (I don’t know if you do Soft Gwinam so sorry if you don’t😭😭😭)

Sorry I’ve left Tumblr for a bit but here it is

Warnings: Kinda depressing, talking about kys

He’d protect you at all costs

I feel like he would ask you if you want to become a halfbie like him. If you do, he would bite you the less painful he can. If you refuse, he’d still respect your decision.

He kills every zombies in a room and throw them out before hiding you there because he knows you would be too scared to stay near them even if they’re dead

He’s the one to go find food for you to eat

One day, when he was cuddling you to sleep, he confessed on how if something ever happened to him he wanted you to take his knife and look for Cheong-San and everyone else. Because even if he does everything to keep you happy and safe, what if something happens?

If you know your constellations/stars ect, I imagine you teaching them to him at night when the sky is clear. It makes the world stop for a while and you guys forget that flesh eating monsters are hunting you down.

He tries his best to make you forget about the apocalypse I could say. He goes to find food for you to eat, take a shower if it’s available and keep a conversation.

He teaches you how to survive

“I would still love you if you decide to go with them you know?…” he said one day, referring to the other survivors. He gets insecure about himself on if he can really protect you and that you must find him annoying or smtg but you always comfort him.

But after all this time in an apocalypse that didn’t seem to be ending, you were getting tired. Seeing your old friends now laying chasing you around to make you become one of them or laying dead on the ground was becoming too much for you to handle and your mental health had deteriorated. You haven’t had a proper meal in weeks and despite your efforts to keep it up…giving up didn’t look so bad.

Plus, your boyfriend’s rivalry with Cheong-San was upsetting because it was all he could talk about sometimes.

Ofc when Gwi-Nam saw your state, he blamed himself and damned the whole world for letting this happen.

The same night, you had an argument with Gwi-Nam.

You tried talking to him about how he should stop blaming everything on Cheong-San and because you were becoming sick of it, but he didn’t listen and took it personal. This soon transformed about your mental state, then how dangerous it was outside, then how he wants to make you join them to make you happier.

Then you started getting angry at how he wasn’t making any sense. He hated Cheong-San but wanted you with him and his friends??

“As long as you’re safe, I’m surviving and if I have to leave, I will” is the last thing he said.

The next day, you thought he was taking you out to take a shower like he usually does but instead, he took you somewhere else.

And there, there was your friends. Still alive.

You ran toward them, happy to see them and when you turned around, Gwi-Nam wasn’t there anymore.

Time went by and you missed your boyfriend, wondering how he was doing and where he was. The only updates you got were from Cheong-San.

Until there wasn’t any updates anymore. Cheong-San and Gwi-Nam were dead. From an explosion.

[layce2015]

The Boys (Soldier Boy x Female!Supe!Reader)

Chapter 7: Here Comes A Candle To Light You To Bed

First Chapter / Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

One Week Later

(A/N: Smut incoming)

”Jesus, (y/n)!” Bethany exclaimed over my phone and I sighed as I sit on the bed, wearing a sky blue silk robe. After the fiasco that was Herogasm, the boys and I went to my house and stayed there for a day before we moved on. We didn’t want Homelander or anybody else to find us and since now that Hughie’s girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend, put out a statement over on Instagram saying that the explosion was caused by Ben.

And Vought does have me on file on being alive and where I live so someone there will make a connection and come knocking. So now we had been hiding out at Legend’s home that he had out of the city. During all of this, I did try to call and give Bethany updates of everything that’s happened and just now I was able to give her the full story.

”Yeah…” I sighed. “Can I do anything to help? Maybe I can talk to Steven and we can offer our home…” Bethany said and I shake my head. “No, no! I’m not putting you guys in danger.” I said and Bethany sighs. “I’m serious, Beth. This could get a lot worse than it already is. Plus if that asshole Homelander gets to you guys, I’d never forgive myself.” I added. “Alright, but if you need anything and I mean, anything, just call me and I’ll be there.” Bethany said and I smiled. “I appreciate it, Beth.” I said.

”Of course, you’re my best friend and I know that you can take care of yourself, I still want to protect you.” She said and I smiled at this. “I’ll let you go, just be safe and be careful.” Bethany said. “I will.” I said then I hang up and sighed as I put my phone away.

I get up from the bed and walk to the curtain window and open it to let some sun in. I fold my arms across my chest and think over the last few days when I heard footsteps behind me. I look over my shoulder and see Ben coming back into the room, wearing that really silly light green silk robe with a flowery design on it.

”You know you look fucking ridiculous in that robe, right?” I tell him and he looks down at it then looks back at me with a flirty smirk. “Well, if you wanted me to walk around naked, all you had to do was ask.” He said as he slowly starts to undo the robe strap. I chuckle and shake my head at this as he removes the strap off his robe and I could see he was naked underneath the robe. The past week, every morning and night, Ben and I had been fucking like rabbits as if there was no tomorrow.

What with the whole ordeal at Herogasm, it’s been harder to get out there and find Mindstorm, who seemed to have taken notes from me as he seems to have disappeared. Ben told Butcher that he remembered that Mindstorm had bought  eleven abandoned cabins, so there might be a chance he’d be in one of them. So whenever Ben and I were left alone, we just headed to the bedroom and make up 40 years worth of lost time.

“What? Are you already up for another round? We just finished like about thirty minutes ago.” I said as Ben pulls me to him. “As I’ve told you, sweetheart, I have a lot of time to make up for.” He said, in a low gruff voice, and he leans in and kisses me. Our lips molded together, perfectly, as we make-out and I run my hands up and down his chest.

I lower my right hand down his chest, over his abs then down to his lower abdomen and wrap my hand around his half-hard dick. I hear Ben inhale through his nose at this as he continues to kiss me but then he starts to grunt and groan once I started to move my hand, stroking him.

We break the kiss but our foreheads were pressed against each other and our lips were only inches away as he groans at the pleasure I was giving him. I stroke him slowly at first then started to go faster and Ben starts panting. “Fuuuuck….” He whispers and I smile, proudly, as I continue. 

Once his dick was full and hard, I then remove my hand off of him then shoved him onto the bed. He falls back on the bed then sits up, his robe had opened up and I could see his cock full and standing at attention. I give Ben my best bedroom eyes as he looks at me, lust swimming in his eyes, while I saunter over to him.

He then starts to stroke himself but once I stand in front of him, I smack his hand away from his dick and I kneel down in front of him. I start licking his shaft as Ben starts to pant a bit but then groans the moment I wrap my lips around him and started to take him deeper in my mouth. “Fuckin’ hell, sweetheart.” Ben groans and I start sucking then he inhales, sharply. “Shit!” 

I smile and raise my eyes to look up at him as I continue to sucking his dick. He looks down at me and his jaw slackens and his eyelids were hooded. “God, you have no fucking idea how fucking hot you look with my dick in your mouth right now.” Ben growls as he starts to jerk his hips and I hum in approval at this.

I continue doing this for few more minutes, getting turned on even more from the noises Ben was making, before I pull my mouth off of him, lick my lips and give Ben a seductive look. He grabs my face and pulls me towards him and crashes his lips upon mine. I jump up on his lap, straddling him, and continue to make-out with him while he starts to pull off the sash of my robe and yank my robe off of me.

Then he grabs his dick and runs the tip over my entrance, which made me gasp. His free hand grabs my hips then he guides me to take in his cock into me, the both of us moan into each other’s mouths until he was fully sheathed inside me. “Fuck.” I moaned and I hear Ben chuckle. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close to his chest, my breast pressed up against his chest and he kisses the top of them as I start moving my hips.

I gasp and moan as he was hitting all the right buttons inside of me while he continued to kiss my boobs then moves back to kiss me on the lips again. I then push him back to lay down and I sit up as I start to bounce on his cock and Ben throws his head back into the mattress.

”Fuck!” He groans and I smile at this. “Yeah? You like that?” I asked him, seductively, as I continue to move my hips. “Fuck, yeah, I do. This pussy was made for me.” He pants then he jerks his hips upwards to meet mine and it was now my turn to throw my head back and let out a loud moan. “You’re so good for me, (y/n).” He whispers as he grabs my breasts with both of his hands and I grab his wrists, holding them in place, as I continue to ride him while he bucks his hips up in time.

For a few more minutes, we keep going at it until I felt the familiar sensation building and building within me. “Ben…” I gasp, my eyes still closed. “That’s right. You gonna cum for me? Huh? You want me to put a baby in you?” He asked me and something about that turned me one even more as I clench around him. “Oh, you like that? Want me to fill you up? Have my babies?” Ben asked me and I nod. “Yes, yes, yes! Give it to me!” I plead and he chuckles.

”Then take it, princess. It’s all yours.” He growls and I felt myself explode over him and he follows not to far behind and I feel him paint my walls. Both of us scream out in ecstasy as we ride out our orgasm until I collapse on top of him, both of us catching our breathes.

”Holy shit.” I whispered and Ben chuckled. “I swear I’m never gonna get tired of you.” Ben said as he turns on his head to look at me. I scoff at this before he continues. “I’m serious, (y/n). It doesn’t matter how many times we do this, it just gets better and better.” 

I look at him as I start to sit up and he does as well, he places a hand on my cheek and strokes his thumb over my cheek and I just could tell by the look on his face and in his eyes that he was telling the truth. “You’re really serious.” I stated and he nods. “I love you, (y/n). And not just for sex…” he said and I chuckled. “I would hope not.” I said and he rolls his eyes.

Then he gets this look like he was thinking over his next words, carefully, and I tilt my head at this. “Ben?” I said and his green eyes met my (e/c) eyes. He stares at me for a moment, takes a deep breath then starts to speak. “(Y/n), I…” he started to say before we hear footsteps and the door to the bedroom opens and in walks Butcher, Hughie and Legend.

“Oh, what the fuck!? Seriously you two?!” Legend exclaims, annoyed, as I quickly get up to my feet and Ben closes his robe to cover himself. “Oh, God.” Hughie said and he turns away to not look at me as I grab my robe off of the floor and put it on. “Fuckin’ hell.” Butcher mutters. “Would it fucking kill you boys to fucking knock?” I asked them, angrily, as I tied my robe sash.

“Yeah. What's the problem?” Ben asked, annoyed. “What's the problem? This bed has seen two Jaclyns. You know that? Smith and Bisset. Y-You're treating it like a Reno cat house.” Legend exclaims and Ben rolls his eyes as he goes to the bedside table and pulls out a cigar. “Jesus.” Ben grumbles.

“The problem is you gave me 11 of Mindstorm's last-knowns. So far, I've had a look at three and found fսck all. I-I'm chasing me fսcking tail here, mate.” Butcher said, sounding exasperated. “Sounds like that's three down and eight to go.” Ben grumbles. “Yeah, and that's gonna take weeks, and weeks I don't got.” Butcher argues while Legend looks over the bed.

”Egyptian cotton sheets and now I got to fսcking burn 'em.” Legend groans. “The deal was, we get the rest of my team, then we get Homelander.” Ben said to Butcher as he lights his cigar. “And what I'm saying is I could use an hand figuring it out.” Butcher said, annoyed. “I told you. Mindstorm's a paranoid fսck.” Ben said as he stands up and walks up to Butcher.

“But, hell, if you could hear everybody's shitty thoughts, you'd be, too. Look, he bought up all these run-down cabins all over the place. He's Howard Hughes without the piss jars. He's batshit crazy.” Ben goes on. “Mindstorm's not crazy. He's bipolar.” Legend corrects.

”He's bipolar?” Hughie asked. “Yeah.” Legend said as he gathers up the bed sheets. “Does he take meds for it?” Hughie asked, concerned. “I believe so. At least he did.” Legend said as he starts to walk out for the room. “God, it smells like sеx and Bengay in here.” Legend grumbles and I roll my eyes.

”Lithium prescriptions aren't that common. I mean, I doubt he's making it. Maybe...i-if we look at the cabins and we...” Hughie said and Butcher looks at him. “And then check the local pharmacies.” He finished and Hughie nods. “Yeah.” Hughie said. “See who's handing out lithium. Nice one, Hughie.” Butcher said, proudly, and he pats his shoulder.

”We're gonna need more reefer.” Ben said then he smiles and I roll my eyes at this. 

*3rd Person POV*

“Okay, satellite view has Mindstorm's place about two miles in, due west.” Hughie said as he looks at his phone while Butcher opens the trunk of his car. “Two miles? Fuck me. We could've parked closer.” Butcher complains as Ben grabs his shield then Butcher grabs a bag. “So, do you two mind telling us what we're walking into here?” Butcher asked as he closes the trunk and Ben takes a puff of his cigarette.

”All you got to know is, if he tries to make eye contact with you, close your eyes.” (Y/n) warns them. “Or what?” Hughie asked, confused. “Just don't make eye contact with him, then you got nothing to worry about.” Ben tells him then he turns away and walks off, smoking the weed, (y/n) follows him.

”Hey, why do you keep buying him, like, Hefty bags full of weed?” Hughie asked Butcher as he takes out the Temp V. “Better high than mental. Takes the edge off his PTSD.” Butcher replied. “Wait, he has PTSD?” Hughie asked, shocked. “Yeah, I saw it at Herogasm. It's why he keeps blowing the fսck out of everything. We got to keep that cսոt dozy as a lamb.” Butcher said, in a quiet voice, while (y/n) walks along the edge of the woods, looking around as Ben smokes.

”So, just to recap, uh, he's radioactive, highly traumatized and heavily self-medicated. Feels good, feels right.” Hughie scoffs. “Tell me about it. I mean, what sad bastard self-medicates like that, eh?” Butcher asked as he hands a doses of Temp V to Hughie.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned pizza restaurant called Buster Beaver’s, Noir walks in and looks around at the old building. To his right, was a painted murial of the characters from this former business, including an eagle, a pig, two horses, a sheep, a pig, a squirrel and the lead himself, Buster the beaver.

Noir opens some old cans of beans and pours them in a bowl before he sits down and contemplates. Ever since hearing about Soldier Boy return, Noir was actually scared. Then all the characters from this franchise appear before him, as if coming out of their hiding places, and walk up to him.

“Earving, sooner or later, you're gonna have to t-t-talk about it. Remember when you were nine, a-and you hid in that ball pit right over there, after you p-p-p-paralyzed Lewis Frankel? This is just like that.” Buster tells Noir before he sighs. “You can't hide from Soldier Boy. We're your best pals, aren't we? We got you through that erection in the seventh grade, that Hard Rock Cafe m-m-massacre in Lagos. And by golly, we'll get you through this, too.” Buster said and the other characters agree.

”You got that...”

”That's right.”

“You're our friend.”

But Noir gets up, grabs his chair and walks away then sets the chair down. He sits down in it then folds his arms across his chest, his back facing his cartoon friends.

*(y/n)’s POV*

We walk along the forest, no one was talking, until Ben stopped and turned to me, Butcher and Hughie. “What’d you say?” He asked us and we stop and stare at him. “What?” I said, confused. “What?” Ben asked back. “Nothing, mate. No one said nothing.” Butcher said and Ben looks between us then walks away. Butcher, Hughie and I share a look before I go over to Ben sighs.

”Hey…” I said to him as I catch up. “You okay?” I asked him, concerned. “Fine.” He replied, flatly. “You sure?” I asked but before he could respond, he looks down and I noticed that we had hit a wire. “Oh, fսck.” He growls and a bomb goes off a few feet in front of us and we get blown back and roll.

Smoke swarms us as Ben and I look around but couldn’t see Mindstorm. The smoke cleared and I see Hughie leaning over Butcher, who looked like he had fallen asleep. “Butcher, wake up. Wake up!” Hughie exclaims as Ben and I walk up to them. “Fսcking freak slipped away. He's gonna pick us off one by one.” Ben said as he looks around the woods.

”Come on, wake up, Butcher. Butcher! Wake up.” Hughie exclaims, panicking. “No, you're wasting your time, he's gone.” Ben tells Hughie. “What did Mindstorm do?” Hughie asked us as he turns and stands up. “Well, if it's his usual MO, trapped him in an endless nightmare till he dies of terminal dehydration.” I informed. “No, there's got to be a way we can wake him up.” Hughie said.

”Mindstorm put him into this. He can snap him out.” Ben said. “Okay, great, great. Uh...” Hughie stammers but Ben talks over him. “But he's about to be dead.” He said. “Wait, wait, just hang on. If we, if we, if we grab Mindstorm, we make him help Butcher...” Hughie negotiates. “No way.” Ben said a she turns away. “And then, and then you can kill him, Then you can go to town on him, man. I don't give a fսck.” Hughie exclaims then Ben turns to him.

“Hey. If you're gonna act hysterical, I'm gonna slap you like I'm Connery. Now, unless you want to end up like your friend there, it ain't worth the risk.” Ben tells him, firmly, and Hughie glares at him. “Look, chin up, okay? Deal's a deal. You help me finish this, I'll kill Homelander. Butcher would have given up his life for that in a heartbeat. So, we doing this or not?” Ben asked and Hughie groans and goes to grab the bag.

”Leave it. We got to move fast.” Ben said as he walks ahead but stood and raised a hand. “Ah. Do you hear that?” Ben asked. “No.” I said. “Uh...” Hughie said then he clears throat. “You might want to lay off the weed, huh?” He asked. “And you might want to gargle my ballsack.” Ben retorts as he walks off.

Hughie sighs, exasperated, then turns to me. “Can’t you…I don’t know…talk to him?” He asked me and I sighed. “I, uh…” I stopped as I see the pleading look in his eyes then look over at Butcher. “I’ll see what I can do.” I said as I walk over to Ben.

”Ben….” I said, cautiously, but Ben sighs. “Forget it, (y/n). You heard what I said.” He grumbles and I sigh as well. “C’mon, Ben, it’ll just take a second. We can kill him right afterwards.” I said and Ben stops, turning to me. “I said no. You know how dangerous Mindstorm is. If we even give him an inch, he’ll take a mile. We kill him, then Noir and then Homelander. Butcher would want it that way.” Ben said, firmly, and he starts walking again. 

“Would you say the same thing if Mindstorm had gotten me instead?” I asked and he stops in his tracks. “Don’t pull that shit.” He growls and I see Hughie looking at me with fear. “Would you?” I asked Ben. He keeps his back facing me, stands there for a few more moments then huffs at this and continues on.

“Still can't believe this shit is legal. We locked up so many assholes for it back in the day.” Ben said as we continued on into the woods while he looks at his blunt. Then he stops and turns to us. “What the fսck did you say?” He asked us. “Uh, uh, literally nothing.” Hughie said then he kept shooting glances over his shoulder.

“Jesus. How hard?” Ben asked him and Hughie turns to him. “What?” He asked. “How hard did Butcher suck your dіck that you miss him that much? Hmm? His mouth must feel like a Hoover Deluxe.” Ben said and Hughie scoffs in disgut. “God, every single thing you say is so gross.” He said then he turns to me. “How do you stand it?” He asked me and I shrug. “You get use to it.” I said and Hughie sighs then turns to Ben.

”Look…He saved me, okay? More than once. So I owe him.” He said. “Oh, bullshit. You're on a mission. You get the job done. Okay? I stormed Normandy. I fought the Nazis. You want to know what I do when I'm sad or scared? Fսcking nothing. 'Cause I'm not a fսcking pussy.” Ben said and Hughie chuckles softly. “You didn't storm shit. Your whole Marlboro Man act? It's fսcking crap.” Hughie spat and I look at him. “Hughie…” I said, waringly, but he kept going.

“And I...” Hughie started to say but Ben slaps him across the face, pretty hard. “Oh...” Hughie gasps then pants as Ben gives him a stern hard look then points at him. “I warned you.” He said, calmly, then he shakes his finger then walks away while Hughie massages his jaw

”Word of advice.” I say to Hughie as I walk up to him and he looks at me. “Don’t believe everything Legend tells you. He’s full of shit just as much as everyone in Vought.” I said and I walk away from him. 

*3rd Person POV*

Black Noir continues to sit there, still trying to process everything. Then Buster comes up to him. “Come on, Earving. Me and the others have something to sh-sh-sh-show you.” Buster said and Noir turns to him and the cartoon beaver holds a hand out to him. “C-C-C-Come on!” He exclaims, happily, and Noir gets up from his chair and lets Buster lead him back towards the stage area.

”Something you pushed d-d-d-deep, deep down.” Buster said and Noir sits in the chair. Buster stands on the side of the stage where there was a red curtain and a spotlight on Buster. The curtains open and reveals a gym area with a banner up top that said Vought America, the various animal characters acted as members of Payback. The two horses were the TNT Twins, the goat was Mindstorm, the fox was Crimsons Countess, the pig was Gunpowder, the squirrel was Mystic Shade and the eagle was Soldier Boy.

The team were on the edge of the mat as Soldier Boy and Gunpowder were sparing. But, of course, Soldier Boy beats him up and Gunpowder falls back on the ground, blood pouring out of his nose and mouth. “Okay, that’s enough!” Mystic Shade tells Soldier Boy, who rolls his eyes. “Lighten up. I'm just playing around.” Soldier Boy said, nonchalantly, as Mystic goes to Gunpowder. “You fսcking pussy.” He grumbles as Gunpowder groans.

Soldier Boy turns around and see Black Noir, played by a black sheep, entering the room. “You're late. We started at 3:00.” Soldier Boy said. “I really wanted that movie.” Noir tells him. “The hell are you talking about?” Soldier Boy asked him. “I just got off the phone with my manager. It's a no-go on Beverly Hills Cop.” Black Noir said.

“Oh. That.” Soldier Boy laughs, uncaring. “I was...I was born to play Axel Foley. Why would you say all those horrible things about me to Don Simpson?” Noir asked him. “Jesus, Ben, really?” Crimson asked Soldier Boy, annoyed, and he turns to her and holds a hand out to her. “Zip it, cooze.” He growls then turns back to Noir. “The guy's supposed to be funny. You're not funny.” 

“Well, I could've been.” Noir argues. “You're not good enough. Now shut your cock hole and get to work.” Soldier Boy ordered. “But-but wait…” Noir tries to say but Soldier Boy grabs him and starts to punch him, repeatedly. The rest of the team gasp at this and shout at Soldier Boy to stop as he continues to beat Noir up pretty badly. Noir tried to crawl away but Soldier Boy grabbed his leg, pulls him back in and continues to pummel him.

Then Soldier Boy stops the attack and looks around at everyone. “Which one of you wants next? Huh?” He asked as he points around at them. Everyone stands there and looks down while Mystic Shade glares up at him. “Thought so.” Soldier Boy growls but Mystic takes a deep breath, stands up and steps forward.

”I’ll volunteer.” She said, firmly, and everyone gasps, in shock, at this while Soldier Boy raised an eyebrow at Mystic. “Shade, don’t.” Gunpowder said behind her but Mystic ignores him as she stands her grown while Soldier Boy chuckles. “Wow, you are serious.” He said, with a bit of humor in his voice.

”Why not? I’m on the same strength level as you. I can handle it. Plus…I’m not scared of you.” Mystic said and everyone lets out a noise of surprise while Noir kept panting and groan at the pain. Ben looked a little shocked at this while Thomas whispers. “Oh shit.”

”Come on, Soldier Boy. You wanna fight? Or are you too scared that a girl is gonna beat you?” Mystic challenged and Soldier Boy takes a step closer to her. “What do you think you’re doing?” He asked Mystic, in a low voice. “Proving a point to you once and for all.” Mystic said and she gets into a stance. Soldier Boy takes a step back then gets into a similar stance as they stare down each other, like in a western movie.

The duo waited to see who would make the first move until Soldier Boy goes to punch Mystic, who blocks it with her arm. She goes to punch him but he grabs her arm and throws her over to the side. Mystic goes flying in the air, lands on the mat and rolls a couple of times before getting up.

Soldier Boy comes at her, with a fist raised but she catches it but his other fist collides with her face. She then punches him in the stomach as hard as she could, he doubles over and she uppercuts him. The others gasps at this as Soldier Boy wipes his mouth with the back of his hand then he charges at her and they continue to fight.

Mystic ends up on the ground and Soldier Boy on top of her, holding her arms over her head on the ground. “(Y/n), stop.” Soldier Boy ordered her. “Why?” She asked and Soldier Boy doesn’t answer. Taking this opportunity, Mystic headbutts him and he lets go of her arms and she grabs him, flips him over and pin him to the ground.

”If you didn’t want a fight, then don’t ask for it.” Mystic said then she stands up and walks away, the others staring at her in shock as Mysitc leaves the room. The teammates stare at the door, in shock and disbelief at what just happened. Soldier Boy sits there for a moment before he recovers and gets back on his feet.

The others turn to look at him and he glares at them. “I let her beat me. So none of you better be getting any fucking ideas! Understand?!” He yelled, in a commanding voice. The others cower back at this then Soldier Boy walks over to Noir. “As for you…” he growls as he looks down at Noir’s bleeding face. Noir flinches, scared that he would take out his anger on him again.

“You think you can be me? You're not a movie star. You're not shit. I see you getting out of line again, trying to move on up, I will put you in the fսcking ground. Understood?” Soldier Boy threatens and Noir whimpers at this.

*(y/n)’s POV*

We walked through the woods a bit till we came upon a clearing and see a road and hear voices. “Maybe we should walk back to that town we saw.” A female voice said and we get to the road and see a priest and a nun standing on the road, looking into the hood of a car. “It was, like, five miles away. It'll take forever to get there. We're never gonna get to the retreat now.” The priest said as we get closer to them and the priest turns and jumps a little.

”Oh! Oh, you startled me. Are-are you two superheroes?” The priest asked us as we get closer to them. “Yes, Father. You folks need some help?” Ben asked them. “Yes. Yes, please.” The nun said, appreciatively. “Okay, well, it's not safe. There's a fugitive in the area. You should get out of here before you get hurt.” Ben tells them. “Uh, well, we can't. I don't suppose either of you know engines?” The priest asked us and Ben looks over at me and Hughie. 

Ben and I stare at each other for moment, not really buying this, before he turns back to the priest. “I'll have a look.” He said and he goes up to the car. “Oh, I'd appreciate that very much.” The priest said as Ben looks into the hood.

“Uh, so, where you guys headed?” Hughie asked them. “We're just on our way to a Samaritan's Embrace retreat over there in Danville.” The priest said just as Ben pulls out his gun and shoots the priest in the head. “Oh! Oh, my God!” Hughie shouts as the nun screams. “Oh, my God! What the fսck?!” Hughie exclaims to Ben. “This is Mindstorm's MO. He brainwashed them. That priest was gonna shank us. And she will, too.” Ben said as the nun kneels down to the priest and cries.

”Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa.” Hughie exclaims. Father Wallace, no!” The nun cries. “Hey, hey, she doesn't look brainwashed to me.” Hughie pleads to Ben. “Take my word for it. Everyone's coming for us. Everyone, every day.” Ben tells him as he goes to aim his gun at the nun but Hughie stands in front of him. “Whoa, no! No, no! You have PTSD! You have PTSD, and you are super fսcking stoned. All right? Maybe this isn't what you think it is.” Hughie said to Ben, quickly.

“Move.” Ben orders him. “She's a human being. A nun. And if there's one thing I know...” Hughie started to say until the nun jumps on his back. “Die, you fսck¡ng cocksuckers!” She screams and Hughie screams. “Oh, my God! Do something!” Hughie shouts as Ben tries to aim his gun at the nun but Hughie kept moving. “If you stay still, I...” Ben said and I roll my eyes then pull my knives out and use my powers to move the knives to the nun and stab her in the back. Then I got a good angle with a knife to stab her in the head.

“Oh! fսck me! No!” Hughie screams as he shoves the nun off of him. “Hard pass on this Exorcist shit!” Hughie shouts before panting. “What's black and white and red all over?” Ben jokes and I turn to him. “Really?” I said as I wave my hand around and the knives pull out of the nun and I grab them. Ben rolls his eyes at me then turns to Hughie.

”Okay, first off, I don't have shell shock. Fuck you. Second, this is what I'm talking about. This is being a soldier.” Ben said as he glares at Hughie then he walks off. “Come on.” He said as he heads into another part of the woods. Hughie whimpers then signs the cross and I go up to him and place a hand on his shoulder and patted it before following Ben.

*3rd Person POV*

“By 1984, things had gotten so bad. There was only so much m-m-more of Soldier Boy's abuse you could take. So when St-St-Stan Edgar made you an offer in Nicaragua, you jumped at it.” Buster tells Noir as the curtains open again and shows the black sheep as Noir and a monkey as Edgar. “Vought's really okay with this?” Noir asked him. “Sometimes, old soldiers just fade away. I don't want the details. Just do what you need to do.” Edgar tells him.

”Why now?” Noir asked. “Vogelbaum has a replacement. Just a child, but they're convinced he'll be stronger than Soldier Boy. And he can fly. Will the others go along?” Edgar asked. “Everyone but Gunpowder and Mystic Shade. Why not take her as well? She’s just as powerful and as invincible as Soldier Boy…” Noir said. “It was considered but…she’s too important. Good luck, Earving.” Edgar said. “Can you please stop eating those in front of me? I'm allergic.” Noir pleads to Edgar, who stares at him then takes another bite of his peanut.

The scene switches to then Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade fighting the Russian soldiers. At one point, Soldier Boy kneels down and holds his shield in front of him and Mystic Shade runs towards him, jumps up and lands on the middle of his shield and he pushes upwards to where she flies in the air and uses her telekinetic powers on her knives to fly towards the oncoming soldiers.

She lands some feet away and continues to fight soldiers when Noir comes up behind her and hits her in the back of the head. She grunts and stumbles forward on the ground then Noir grabs a large rock while Mystic was dazed and confused. “I’m sorry.” Noir mutters then he slams the rock onto her head, knocking her out, and he moves away.

Soldier Boy then comes up and sees Mystic Shade on the ground, knocked out. “(Y/n)?” He asked, concern laced his voice, as he comes up to her to check on her but then Noir, Mindstorm and the twins come up. “What the fսck is this?” He asked, angrily, as he looks at his teammates. “Something we should've done a long time ago, you piece of shit.” Noir growls.

”TNT detonate!” The twins shout and they fire their beam at Soldier Boy and he flies back then he gets up and Mindstorm punches him. Then the team dog piles on him and starts to beat him up. “Hold him down.” Tessa shouts but Soldier Boy was able to knock them off of him. Noir then runs at him but Soldier Boy turns and used his shield to knock him back.

Noir flies back and hits a military car that started to catch on fire. Soldier Boy grabs Noir and slams his face against the burning metal and Noir screams in pain as he felt his skin melt and burn off. Soldier Boy raises his shield and slams the edge of his shield into Noir’s head two or three times before Noir falls over into the ground, passing out from the pain.

Soldier Boy turns around as the twins and Mindstorm get into a stance. “Get him, Mind storm. Scramble his fսcking brains.” Thomas said as Mindstorm uses his power and Soldier Boy grunts in pain as he felt a sharp pain in his head. Then Crimson Countess jumps on his back and put a gas mask over his mouth and nose. Soldier Boy grunts, coughs and gasps into the mask then he falls forward on the ground. But before he felt the gas completely take over, he looks over at Mystic’s unconscious body and his last thought was for him to try to reach out to her. But the gas took away his last bit consciousness and he goes down. “Fuck you, mοthеrfսckеr.” Crimson growls and the curtains closed as Buster appears on stage again.

“This is some tough stuff, I know. But when you gave him to the Russians, you knew Soldier Boy would come back one day. You need to f-f-f-face him. No one really knows you. But we know how s-sensitive and s-s-scared you are.” Buster tells Noir and the other animal characters come in and chimed in.

“Yes.”

”We're here for you.”

”Hey, we got your back.”

”We're here for you.”

Noir looks down. “It's okay. Bravery isn't having no fear. Bravery is having fear, but you d-d-d-do it anyway.” Buster said. “Time to finish what you started.” The birds sing and Noir sits there and takes in a deep breath as he decides on what he was gonna do.

*(y/n)’s POV*

We walked in deeper into the woods until I heard a noise. “You guys hear that?” I asked and the boys stop as we hear what sounds like wind chimes. We head over to the noise and see a large abandoned looking barn and I see Ben taking in a deep breath and we cautiously walk up to the building.

We enter the building and Ben pulls his gun out while I pulled a knife out. We walk, quietly, in and look for any signs of Mindstorm. Ben stops and holds a hand up to us to stop and I look over to see a mirror that was at an angle to where we see him hiding on the other side of this shelf we were leaning up against. 

Ben holds up his shield and his gun, getting into a stance. I pull out a blade and get ready but then we heard a pop noise behind us. Ben and I turn around and see Hughie’s clothes were in the floor but he was gone. Then we look towards the mirror and see Hughie grabbing Mindstorm and disappearing.

“Shit!” Ben growls and I sighed. “The hell is that kid thinking?” Ben growls. “He’s probably thinking; this is the only way to save my friend.” I pointed out and Ben sighs. “What a fucking pussy.” Ben grumbles. “I can’t say I blame him.” I said and Ben turns to me. “You seriously taking his side? When you know how dangerous Mindstorm is?” He asked me, angrily. “Yeah, because I’d do the exact same thing if it was you.” I said to him and I turn away from him.

”(y/n).” He said, in a firm tone, and I stop but still had my back to him. “You seem so…different.” He said and I scoff and look over my shoulder at him. “That’s what happens when you retire and lose the person you love.” I commented and he raises an eyebrow at this. “C’mon…let’s go and find him.” I said and we walked on.

Later, we ran across the woods until Ben grabbed my arm to stop me. He points ahead and we see Hughie and Mindstorm and they were indeed by Butcher as it looked like Mindstorm woke Butcher up. At that moment, Ben pulls out his knife and throws it across the air and it hits Mindstorm right in the face.

I was a bit startled at this as Ben runs over to Mindstorm. I follow after as Mindstorm pulls the knife out of his face and Ben slams his shield against him, knocking him down. Then pulls out a pillowcase and wraps it around Mindstorm’s head so he wouldn’t use his powers on Ben.

“Hey, wait, wait, wait.” Hughie exclaims and Ben turns to him then he punches Hughie so hard he goes flying back a few feet. Butcher turns to Ben and his eyes glow yellow. “Stop!” I shout as I put up a shield between Ben and Butcher. “Enough, both of you!” I growled and Butcher glances at me then turns to go to Hughie and I look over at Ben, who glares at me then at Butcher before he grabs his shield. I remove the shield and sighed.

Hughie coughs and groans as Butcher kneels to him and Ben goes to Mindstorm, kneels down and grab his shirt. “Hiya, Dan.” Ben greets him, sarcastically. “It's-it's not what you think. It wasn't my idea.” Mindstorm said. “Oh, I know. It was Noir's, but how does that work, huh? 'Cause no way he makes a fսcking move without Vought.” Ben said. “They gave him the green light.” Mindstorm said, panicked. “Why would they do that?” Ben asked him and I go over Hughie and Butcher.

”You okay, kid?” I asked Hughie as Butcher helps him to his feet. Hughie nods and we look over at Ben and Mindstorm, who seems to be telling Ben something. “What? That's impossible.” Ben shouts and he stares at Mindstorm then he starts to hit him with his shield. Then he does it again and again and again and I see Mindstorm stopped moving but Ben kept hitting him. “Ben.” I said, loudly, but Ben kept smashing Mindstorm’s head in. 

“BEN, THAT’S ENOUGH!” I shouted as I go to him. Ben screams out his frustration as he kept hitting Mindstorm until I grab his shoulder and pull him away. “I said ENOUGH!” I said as Ben turns to me with a death glare but I don’t cower back. “He’s dead!” I shout and Ben pants then his glare softens to what looked like shock and disbelief. “Ben? What’s wrong? What did he say?” I asked him but he walks away from me and I furrow my brow and look down at Mindstorm’s dead body, blood seeping through the pillowcase.

That night, we were back at Legend’s house and I was sitting in the living room as Ben was locked up in the bedroom. I ran my hand over my face before I let out a heavy sigh, Ben wouldn’t tell us what Mindstorm said to him but I could tell that he shocked him. I decided to head down to the bedroom and get to the door until I hear Ben on the phone, asking for Homelander.

I stopped at this and lean into the phone. It was silent for a moment before I hear Ben speak. “The situation's changed. I thought we should have a conversation.” I hear him say and there was a pause of silence before he speaks again. “Fall 1980, I get called into Vogelbaum's lab for an experiment, some shit about genetics. I still remember the Penthouse I used. June. Danielle Deneux, bush like a Pomeranian. I beat my meat into a cup. Turns out...Vogelbaum made a kid. Born spring 1981. A boy.” He said and I gasped, softly, at this. 

No, no…there’s no way. I thought as Ben continues. “You know what the bitch of it is? If they'd have just kept me around, I'd have let you take the spotlight. What father wouldn't want that for his son?” He asked and I place my hand over my mouth.

I was standing out on the balcony of Legend's house and looking out to the starry night sky, the warm breeze blowing slightly in the wind. I wrap my arms around myself, trying not to have a breakdown after hearing what I heard.

Homelander is Ben's son?! What the actual fuck?!

I bit my lips then let out a heavy sigh, right as I hear footsteps behind me, and I lift my left arm, balled up my fist and lean it against my lips. "There you are." Ben said as he comes up next to me. "You okay?" He asked me and I sighed through my nose.

"I just overheard your phone call." I said, plainly, and I turn my head to look at him. He doesn't say anything, just looks down for a moment. "Of course. The biggest, egotistical, attention seeking psychopath had to be your son." I spat, annoyed. "Don't tell me you're mad at me." Ben said, sounding annoyed himself.

"I'm not mad at you, Ben." I said, sharply, as I turn to face him. "I'm mad a Vought! I mean, after everything you do after they asked you to do it, that's how they treat you? Take your DNA then get rid of you to have this supe kid to replace you?!" I exclaimed, angrily. "It's bullshit."

"I know. If they would've told me about him, I would've gladly stepped down and let him take over." Ben said as I wrap my arms around myself again. "We could've had that retired life we talked about..." he said and he and I look at each other. "I, uh...remember that one time, I told you I wanted to have a family?" He asked me and I nodded. "Well, I wanted you to be that woman. I wanted, still want, you to be my wife, have my children. Hell, after Nicaragua, I was gonna ask you to marry me." He said and my jaw drops slightly at this then I turn my head away as my heart feels heavy at his words.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked me and I bite my lips again. "Do you...not want that?" He asked me, sounding a bit worried, but I turn my head to him. "No, it's not that. I would love nothing more than to have that life too. It's just..." I stopped then sighed as I look down. "There's something I have to tell you." I said. "What is it?" He asked me and I take in a deep breath and let it out.

"After Nicaragua, I was a total mess. Everyone else acted like everything was normal after we had a funeral for you. I was actually scared that if the Russians were able to kill you, then I could be next. And then...a couple of weeks later, I found out I was pregnant." I explained as I look at him and Ben's eyes widen in shock at this.

"What?!" He asked, surprised, and I nod a bit. "You...you were...pregnant?" He asked and I nod again. "When I found out, that was when I retired from Payback. I didn't want any stress about being a superhero or that I could be sent somewhere and be killed. So I got a home and did everything I could to stay relaxed and be ready when the baby came." I said and my heart was beating hard and fast against my chest, my stomach started to feel sick as I got ready to explain what happened next.

"But a month or two later, I had a miscarriage. And I felt horrible because I lost the only connection I had with you." I said as my eyes filled with tears. I go to look at him as a tear runs down my cheeks. He had a shocked but also sad and disappointed look on his face. "I don't really like talking about it, so....all I'll say is that, I was just in a very bad way for awhile." I said and Ben gives me a sympathtic look, which was a look he barely would give.

"I'm sorry, (y/n). I should've been there for you." Ben said and I give a small sad smile. "You being a comforting type? Doesn't really sound like you." I said, in a bit of a teasing manner. "Like I told you before, you're the only one that gets to see this side of me." Ben said and I scoff out a chuckle as he places an arm around my shoulder and we stand there in silence for a few moments.

"Sounds like both of us need a drink." He said and I nod. "Alot of it." I added and we chuckled before we head back inside.

We sat in the room and drank and talked for a bit before I chuckled a little as a memory appeared in my mind. “What?” Ben asked me and I turn to him. “So, you were planning on proposing to me, right?” I asked him and he nods. “Yeah…” he said and I chuckle. “But I thought…” I said then I started to mimic him singing. “If you want to be happy. Living a king's life. Never make a pretty woman your wife.” 

He scoffs and rolls his eyes as I continue to laugh. “Yeah, that’s true. But I neglected to account for a pretty woman like you getting me while my shield was down. I’ve never been quite the same since our first night together.” Ben said and I smiled at him as I felt my face turn red. “Plus when I did that song, we weren’t together.” Ben said and I chuckled. “Oh, yeah, we’ve broken up so many times I’ve lost count.” I said.

Ben laughs with me and I give him a curious look. “How the hell are we gonna keep a marriage if we keep breaking up?” I asked him and Ben looks me over. “Because I’ve had way more time to think this over and it was one of the only things that kept me sane during the times the Reds experimented on me.” Ben said then he looks down.

”I wish I still had the ring.” Ben mutters and I frown before I reach over and place a hand over his. “It’s okay, Ben.” I said and he gives me this look like he was thinking something over. “What?” I asked him and he shakes his head slightly. “Nothing, just…lost in thought.” He replied then he takes a sip of the drink and I don’t push further as I know how he gets when you push on a subject he doesn’t want to talk about.

So the rest of the night we spent drinking and talking, with the worry of what’s to come plagued the back of my mind.

@winchestergirl1720 @deans-spinster-witch @mimaria420 @wirdbeimaufhebengebunden @kitsun369 @jesllianaquilesrolonsworld @deangirl96 @demodemo909 @cassiecasluciluce @mostlymarvelgirl @onlyangel-444 @mayafatimakhan

[kitthepurplepotato]

Chapter 17 - Drama in the air ✈️

Winter wonderland #1

Summary: The gang makes their way to the Winter Cabins. Somehow, everyone is grumpy today. Also, why does Rody and Katsuki hate each other?!

Warnings: Swear words, a tiny bit suggestive, a lot of tension for some weird reason.

Second warning: the “Winter Wonderland” storyline will contain other background relationships (Kirishima x Bakugou, Tamaki x Mirio, Kaminari x Shinsou, Todoroki x Yaomomo) and NSFW stuff (NOT with them. Khm), but I’ll leave a warning before it happens! This chapter is safe!)

First Chapter Master List

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

“Welcome aboard, my friends!” Rody’s voice comes through the speakers. “I’ll do my best to not drop you all into the ocean!”

“I want to go home.” Tamaki whimpers with his face hidden in his best friend’s neck, who’s wearing a plain T-shirt with “emotional support animal” written on the front. You can’t help but giggle. That guy looks like he knows how to have fun.

“Are you getting off on being an asshole?” Katsuki yells towards the front, annoyed. Izuku sighs next to you.

“Guys, can you just get along? I still don’t understand why are you so mean to him, Kacchan. You frowned at him back then, too.”

“Hey, the guy literally just made the octopus-chicken EMO guy cry and I’m the asshole?” Katsuki retorts. “Look at him! He’s about to hyperventilate!”

“… and calling him an octopus-chicken is better? “ Shouto adds.

“That’s a fair point, Blasty.” Kaminari chimes in, too.

“What a loud bunch! I like that! And to answer your question, I do not get off on being an asshole. I leave that little kink to you, brother.”

“Oh you are so fucking dead.” Katsuki stands up, palm making tiny explosions. Eijirou tries his best to sit him back down and you swear Tamaki’s soul just left his body for a second.

“I miss home. Can we go back? I can float us.” Izuku whispers into your ear.

“I don’t think we can open the door without crushing everyone thanks to the pressure up here.” You whisper back.

“Bummer.” He sighs again, clearly overwhelmed by all the loudness after being home for so long.

“Think about the cabin, though. We will have a fireplace, a nice cozy bed… we can keep each other warm during the night…” your palm on Izuku’s thigh slowly creeps further, caressing his inner thigh and Izuku almost chokes on his saliva, his face as red as a lobster’s.

“Oh my god, respectfully, can you not eye-fuck each other while I’m risking my life to keep this plane afloat?!” Kirishima moans with a blush on his face.

“Bro, they’ve been together in the same house for weeks yet they still can’t keep their hands off each other. I want that.” Kaminari adds longingly.

“Find yourself a horny little girlfriend then.” Shinsou pouts, staring out of the window. For everyone’s surprise, Kaminari doesn’t say anything back just sighs with a lovelorn expression.

“Okay, let’s leave all the baggage in the baggage compartment, this is a fun trip!” Rody’s head pops our from the front and everyone screams in unison.

“KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!”

“There is no road. Just clouds… ahh, nevermind. “

~•🥦•~

“Time to change into something warm, guys! We are approaching our main destination!” Rody’s voice comes through the speakers once again.

You look out of the window right away and you can’t believe what you are seeing; there is a small island right under the plane, covered in white and there is fresh snow falling from the sky, but only around the island, which makes it look like it’s a giant snow globe. It’s absolutely magical.

“Wow.” Katsuki stares out of the window with childish glee. Izuku looks at him with nothing but fondness, probably remembering their childhood when Katsuki’s gaze was constantly this pure. “Look at those mountains, Ei.” Katsuki mutters dreamily, completely fascinated as the island comes closer and closer, revealing more and more about itself as the plane approaches the land.

“You wanna climb that massive one, don’t you?” Eijirou snickers with his head resting on Katsuki’s shoulder. They are so fucking adorable, goddamit!

“Duh.” Katsuki snickers back proudly.

“Fuck, I forgot that it’s gonna be winter!” Kaminari freaks out. The guy is wearing a single leather jacket. You can’t help but sigh.

“Well, luckily for you, your boring ass roommate didn’t.” Shinsou murmurs under his nose, rummaging in his massive backpack as he speaks. After a few seconds, he takes out a winter coat and drops it on Kaminari’s head.

“Oh my god, I love you.” Kaminari goes for a hug with the coat still on his head. Tamaki giggles.

“Oh my god, Katsuki, he laughed! He’s not terrified of us!” Eijirou mutters, swiping a stray tear off his face.

“I mean, Denki is so dumb it’s literally impossible to be scared of him. I mean look at his face. Oh wait, you can’t see it. But you know what I mean.”

You really feel like you shouldn’t be listening in right now. Katsuki is so serene it feels like this version of him is reserved for Eijirou and Eijirou only.

“Sweets, look! You can see the cabins from here. On the top of that mountain!” Izuku steals your attention away by nuzzling into your neck, his finger pointing at the window. “Look, they have an onsen as well! By the look of it, every cabin comes with one…” He smiles knowingly. You can’t help but blush.

“Izu, behave yourself.”

“Hey, I’m on a holiday! I’m happy. Let me have this.” His sad smile shots an arrow through your heart. Fuck, you are such an idiot.

“Sorry. It’s just… I’m more excited about the massive fireplace. I hope there is fluffy rug in front of it. Like in the movies, you know.” Your blush can not be more obvious at this point, but you don’t care; by the look of it, everyone is too busy staring out the window to listen to your conversation anyway.

“If not, we can put some blankets down. Or I can just bring the mattress out. With black whip, of course.”

You can’t get over Izuku’s lovesick face and you never will. You still can’t believe you are the one who makes him look like that. He’s so handsome, but also so adorable, so sexy but so sweet, just the perfect combination of them all.

“I love you so much.” You mumble out loudly and Izuku shines brighter than thousand suns.

“I love you more.”

“Don’t start!” You giggle as the plane starts its landing.

“We are about to land! Buckle up, buddies! Don’t forget to clap later on!” Rody announces excitedly.

“What kind of idiot asks for people to clap? Now you ruined it!” Katsuki yells back and the bickering starts again.

“It was so peaceful…” Eijirou sighs, clearly given up.

“Well, if everything would be perfect it wouldn’t really feel real. But this does.” You smile at Eijirou who smiles back knowingly.

“I weirdly know what you mean.”

~•🥦•~

“Wow.” Tamaki is the first one to make a comment about the mesmerizing sight in front of you; you landed on a big chunk of concrete in the middle of a small hill; yes, you heard it right, that’s what these people call an airport apparently; and you can see most of the island from this point. There are cute shopping streets and pretty, modern buildings on your right side then you see some residential houses on the left side, quite far away from the main area of the city (the island is one city, or at least that’s what you’ve been told) then you have a bunch of mountains with small cabins scattered around one of them, then there is a massive mountain, so high you beg whoever is up there that the boys won’t want to climb to the top of it, because you definitely fucking can’t. By the look of it, there is heavy snow in the mountain area and a light one around the city center. Needless to say it’s really cold but the view warms your heart enough to not feel the chill that much.

“Welcome!” Rody climbs out of the plane, cracking his bones dramatically, his actions followed by an even more dramatic sigh. “The owners of the Island are waiting for us in that park there, so I’ll leave the explanations to them. It’s a good starting point as you have the shopping center and the massive grocery store close by, so we’ll be able to get some grub before making our way to the cabins.” And indeed, there is a cute park right between the shopping and the residential area. It’s quite far away but you knew what you are getting into when you said yes to another “camping trip”, so you just take a deep breath and pray to be strong enough to be able to get down there then up the MOUNTAIN (!), because by the look of it, there are no cabins anywhere else so that means you’ll need to do another hike to be able to get to your accommodation.

“Why do I feel like there is no bus to the cabins?” Kaminari mutters tiredly.

“Your lazy ass should’ve said yes to this trip if you can handle it, Pikachu.” Katsuki rolls his eyes annoyedly. “Bus? To the mountains? I would ruin the fun part.”

“Sorry, someone actually wanted to rest on their holiday.”

“When was the last time you got laid, Kaminari?” Katsuki retorts, clearly trying his best to shut his trap but this is Bakugou Katsuki. He just… can’t.

“When was the last time you got laid, Bakugou? You seem quite grumpy as well.” Rody tries to “help”, but needless to say that comment angers Katsuki to no end.

“You really don’t want an answer for that, Rody.” Eijirou laughs, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed.

“This morning, fucker.” Katsuki answers anyway and everyone who doesn’t know about Katsuki’s fiancé gawks in the background.

“Wow.” Rody is clearly rendered speechless. To be fair, you are not surprised.

“Fuckface.” Katsuki mutters under his nose and makes his way down the hill, taking Eijirou with him.

“Sorry man, I was just joking! I’ll be nice! Please tell me more about this girl…” Rody tries to get out of the awkward conversation, but he only makes it more awkward.

“Girl? Huh. That’s the kind of guy you are? What will your next comment be? “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve?””

“Okay, guys, there is no need for this! I’m quite sure he didn’t mean any harm.” Mirio tries to butt in. “Love is love, it doesn’t matter what shape it comes in. Thank you for telling us about your boyfriend, Katsuki, I’m really proud of you!”

“Fiancé.” Katsuki mutters under his nose, with a slight blush on his face.

“Okay, I feel like my friendly teasing is not really working with you, Bakugou. I am not homophobic. I’m sorry for assuming your sexuality. You just don’t look gay to me.”

“Oh, sorry, I’ll take my rainbow colored feather scarf out of my bag quickly, what the fuck?!”

“Kats, he has a point. We look extremely… heterosexual.” Eijirou adds.

“Second that.” Kaminari butts in.

“Sexuality has nothing to do with looks or behavior, but I feel like conversation is getting out of hand so please, let’s just… let this one go, Bakugou, my friend. I repeat, he meant no harm.” Mirio decides to end the drama; Tamaki is not having a great time, clearly shaking from the stress.

“You two are my best friends, can you please get along?” Izuku sighs, exasperated.

“I’ll behave.” Rody sighs as well. Katsuki doesn’t say anything just makes his way down once again.

“I wanna go home.” Tamaki mutters into Mirio’s ear who only taps the guy’s shoulder a few times to calm him down.

“Trust me, by the end of this trip they will be best buddies.”

Hm. You certainly doubt that.

~•🥦•~

“Welcome to my Island, young folks!” An old man and an old woman comes up to you guys once you reach the park Rody was talking about.

“Always so modest.” The old woman rolls her eyes at the man next to her, trying her best to keep her smile in place. “Welcome, young heroes! We are absolutely thrilled to have you here. We might not live in Japan, but we know all about your work! Your friend here is more than keen on boasting about his bestie, Deku! The whole village is a fan of you guys, so please be nice if they want a picture! We don’t really have heroes here so… you know. We see a lot of stupid celebrities here but not ones we actually respect, so…”

“I like this hag.” Katsuki adds. The death stare he gets from the woman is worth every penny.

“Hag is a good thing in Katsuki-language. He calls his mother a hag too and trust me, he loves her so much. Absolute mama’s boy he is.” Eijirou tries to save the day.

“I ain’t a mama’s boy, what the fuck?!”

The old man cleans his throat.

“I guess you have a lot of questions about this island, but before you fire away, please let me give you a brief introduction.” The old man says proudly. “This Island is the most expensive tourist destination in the area, mostly, because you can only come here by a private jet. I’ve been trying to get an actual airport here, but the island is so small they don’t want to spend the money on it, so yeah. Most of our customers are celebrities, millionaires, musicians who are supposed to be dead but actually, they are not… uhm… Nevermind. There are only a few hundred people living here, mostly the owners of the restaurants, stores and other staff members. This island has three parts; you have the residential area, the tourist area and “winter wonderland”, up in the mountains. That’s where you guys will be staying.” The man grins. “The tourist area is for the people who come here to rest while “winter wonderland” is for the adventurous folk. This bit around us is for the people who enjoy window shopping and walking around the city, it has several shops, live entertainment, amazing restaurants, several 5 star hotels with saunas, onsens, indoor pools and a lot of cute stuff. The “winter wonderland” area on the other hand is… well…” the man laughs. “First of all, you’ll need to climb up that hill to access your lodge. There are no roads to go up by a car, but trust me, the view will worth all that sweat. It’s also a good starting point if you want to climb the big mountain! If you like hiking, you’ll love this place. You can also order food and goodies from the iPad inside your lodge! We have a few guys with flying quirks who can easily deliver to the area! I must warn you, there is quite a lot of wildlife up there so don’t freak out if you hear noises coming from the forest. We try to feed them as much as we can so they don’t eat our customers, but…”

“Robert, what the fuck.” The old woman sighs, but then she looks at Katsuki’s sparkling eyes and starts laughing. “Looks like that youngster likes dangerous things.”

“I mean, we are heroes. We life for the thrill.” Eijirou grins. On the other hand, Izuku looks like he’s about to throw up.

“Can I stay down here with Sweet Pea, then? I don’t want her to get eaten by wolves.”

The old woman laughs.

“Oh, honey, my husband is just being silly, those animals are lovely. Even the wolves. I stayed up there myself when I was younger and I’m quirkless.”

“Ahh, the good old days! Do you remember when Lady Arianne ate from your hands? Such a huge beast she was, yet she never even barked at you.” Robert looks at his wife with a fond look on his face.

“I miss her.” The woman sighs.

“So why is it winter up here?” Kaminari asks the million dollar question, clearly too impatient to wait.

“That’s my quirk!” The old man grins. “I can change the weather. Permanently. It took me several years to get a yes from the government and I had to buy a whole island to be able to do so but I made it!”

“I thought he’s joking when he said he’ll buy an island one day.” Robert’s wife giggles. “He’s a madman.”

“How do you know Rody?” Izuku barges in, finally looking less constipated.

“Oh! This is my father and mother in law!” Rody grins giddily while the two sigh exasperatedly.

“No, we are not. You are not married to our daughter. I told you to stop spewing bullshit, son.”

“You just called me your son!”

“Fuck.”

“Like mother like daughter, of course she also had to find a madman.” The old woman sighs again with a fond smile on her face.

“You see? I’m a perfect addition to this family. Plus, I’m helping you with customers. I’m super useful! And I bring her over all the time, so really, you should thank me for being able to see her so much!”

“Okay, Rody, now shut the fuck up and lead the way before it gets dark.” Robert taps Rody’s back a few times and makes his way towards the nearest pub that has his face on the logo. “If you have any questions, ask Rody or call us. My throat got dry from all the talking.” He dismisses everyone and for a few seconds there’s only an awkward silence as everyone tries to comprehend all the information they’ve got.

“Okay friends, let’s do some grocery shopping before we go up, okay?” Mirio jumps into the air excitedly, pulling Tamaki with him towards the nearest supermarket.

“Yup! Let’s go!” Eijirou follows like a good puppy and everyone makes their way after them except…

“Izuku?”

“Just go with the others, I just. Want to… look around alone a bit.”

Your heart skips a beat. Is he… not happy? Did you do something wrong? Was that little mess up in the plane enough for him to loose himself in his negative thoughts? Fuck. Fuck.

You can’t help but spiral. You really want him to have fun. You really want to see him smile. You just want him to be the happiest nerd in the whole wide world but somehow, you feel like you are the reason he can’t chill right now. Is it because you are weak? Is he still worried about the beasts?

“Stop overthinking. That’s my job.” Izuku giggles and leaves tiny kisses on your cheeks. “I’ll be fine. Now go. Enjoy their company because I will steal you as soon as we get our cabin key.”

You try to believe him. You must. He’s smiling and he looks happy and it doesn’t look forced.

“Are you sure? You really freaked out when Robert said…”

“Sweet Pea…” Izuku jumps into your words, pulling you closer as he speaks. “Yes, I freaked out but then I remembered who are you with. These guys are the top heroes of our country. I might be injured, but I can take care of any danger with black whip if I need to. I just had a moment, that’s all. Go.” Izuku leaves one last kiss on your mouth and makes his way towards the small, cute shopping street on the other side.

“See you here in an hour?” You yell after him, and Izuku smiles.

“Yes. Pinky promise.”

… Next Chapter!

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Potato ramble:

- Sorry if the chapter feels dry, but I had to give you a lot of information about the island otherwise you would have been like “okay what the fuck how.” 😂

- So what can be Deku’s problem? Tell me your opinions!

- Also, feel free to ask questions, but before you do:

Katsuki and Rody’s hate for each other will be explained in the next chapter

The reason why Rody’s girlfriend works so hard while her parents are millionaires will also be explained eventually!

- oh, and this is for those who doesn’t like all the other ships in the story: well, I’m sorry, but this is my story and I wanted to do more than just write a character x reader story so uhm… deal with it? Ignore it? Be nice? I would also like to add that I’m an absolute multi shipper so even though I usually write with KiriBaku, I’m an absolute Bakudeku lover as well, so… yeah. All your ships are welcome here. Like, I totally ship Kaminari and Jirou and I’ll be so mad if they won’t be canon. 😂

- On a more personal note: I’ve been feeling like shit mentally for the last few days so if I’m ever late with some chapters, I’m sorry. I’m trying to write every time I feel relatively okay, I still can’t believe I managed to finish this as I was about to make a post about this being delayed so yeah, be patient with me. It’s hard to write about fluff and happiness when you feel anything but that. 😂 but oh well, real life sucks am I right?

TL: @garfieldthomas @porusuniverse @stickygumchewer @sixxze @mily-moo @aei-sedai-moiraine @aymasakusa @katsuari @kenzie-deadly @shiviwrites07 @lukerycyja-reblogs @cloroxisadelectabletreat @coffeent @kisskissshutmydoor @bobcar1 @yazminetrahan @cringefan @ronimacaroni77 @thekookiecorner @dangerousluv1 @emperatris-rinaka @shotos-angelic-whore @angelsdemonsmonsters @norvacaine @rei165 @unofficialmuilover @yao-ai @happydragonfrog @eeerreehhh @vinivave

[ivystoryweaver]

The Only One

Episode 7

prev | Fic Masterlist | My Masterlist

Summary: The last time you saw Poe was right before he blew up Starkliller Base - a huge victory for the Resistance. Things go to hell after that and you are separated from Poe, needing to rely on your instincts...and the Force. A huge secret starts to be revealed.

a/n: This Episode glosses over the events in the film The Last Jedi. You don't have to be knowledgeable about the sequel films to continue the story - everything that relates to Elia is summarized here. She is a bit separate from Poe during film events, so this is not a re-telling.

Pairing: Poe Dameron x female original character. Fic is written in second person, but the female "you" has a name (It reads basically the same as any other xreader)

Word Count: 1.6k

Content: violence, action, little angst (no more than in the films), not beta'd

PREVIOUSLY on "The Only One"...

He turned around one more time, granting you another sweet smile. “Wait for me, Ells. I’ll be right back.”

Somehow his humor and good nature gave you hope. Poe always gave you hope.

“May the Force be with you,” you whispered to no one really. Or, to all of them.

The next week was hell.

Which was, perhaps, what a demon like yourself deserved.

At first, the Resistance buzzed with the thrill of victory. Poe and his team destroyed Starkiller Base after Rebel legends Han Solo and Chewbacca worked together with the stormtrooper who defected and a young woman named Rey.

But before you could celebrate or have much of a reunion with Poe, the stormtrooper, who you learned was named Finn, was sent to medical in critical condition, while Rey supposedly flew away to find Luke Skywlaker.

Kylo Ren had murdered Han Solo.

You thought taking out Starkiller Base would give the Resistance a huge advantage in the uphill battle against the First Order, but the New Republic had suffered tremendous losses, crippling, if not obliterating support for the Resistance.

Your assignment kept you apart from Poe for days, so you hadn’t seen him since that fateful moment directly before the Starkiller Base battle.

...where he kissed you and asked you to wait for him.

So many had been lost since then - the chaos, nonstop. After the most recent attack took out most of Resistance command, someone named Holdo took over.

You were dying to see Poe, desperate to see for yourself that he was okay. Every time something else exploded, you felt sure you’d receive a report of his death. The stress piled up as you worked separately from Poe, thinking he might die, or you might die.

To make a desperate situation worse, the attack on the ship's bridge left Leia seriously wounded. And directly before Holdo took command, Poe was demoted, which infuriated you.

And, aside from the fact that you were (thankfully) able to focus, or hyper focus, as it were, on computer programming and other computer tech needs, the news of Commander Dameron's demotion was all you could think about...

...or talk about.

Thankfully, Perrha was with you for the past few days and was a wonderful grounding force for you.

Now, the Resistance was trying to safely land transports on the planet Crait.

Everyone watched in horror as one after the other, the First Order blew them out of the sky. You kept yourself busy working, tears streaming down your face at the thought of Poe being on one of those obliterated ships.

Poe felt the same way.

After maybe the worst week of his life (aside from when his mom died), Poe woke up from the little nap Leia's stun gun gave him. He listened patiently as Leia explained Holdo's plan, then watched in horror as transport after transport was obliterated.

"Where's Elia?" He asked Leia, as if she might somehow know. He had lost too many today, not only on the bridge, but when some of his closest friends died in the hangar explosion.

Leia shook her head, unsure.

Poe stared out into space. "Which one is she on?" He murmured, thankful that his new friend Finn was at least safe for the moment. Hopefully.

The planet's surface was so close. You and Perrha might make it through this. But who could be sure what awaited you on Crait, with the First Order bearing down hard?

As you entered the planet's atmosphere, the transport closest to yours exploded - near enough to your own that the blast and debris wreaked havoc. You were taking serious damage - hit hard enough to crash, just not to explode instantly like the neighboring transport.

Everyone around you was astoundingly calm, focused and professional, but a crash landing would not be avoidable.

Perrha's eyes met yours frantically as fire, debris and smoke filled the transport.

"We're not gonna make it," they gasped, coughing from all the smoke.

Panic gripped your heart. You didn't want to die. For once in your life, you really wanted to live and not just in terms of survival. You wanted to help the Resistance. You wanted them to win. You needed to learn about the Force, and ascertain from Leia if you were truly doomed to be a servant of the darkness.

Perrha was your friend and so was Poe. Your very best friend. Your heart broke as you thought of never seeing him again. It couldn't end this way.

So instead of giving in to despair, you opened yourself up to the flow of energy - no. The Force. A wall of fire swept through the transport.

"No." Your voice could barely be heard over the commotion. It wasn't a plea but a command.

Perrha cried out your name as you stretched out your hands and literally pushed the fire backward.

Your breathing steadied, your countenance - a mask of serenity. Your eyes fluttered closed as the Force surrounded you, flowed through you.

The fire would not touch you. Nor Perrha.

The remaining Resistance fighters watched from their transports, in awe, as a transport-on-fire gently touched down on the planet's surface.

You heard nothing. You only felt.

Calm.

Finally, you heard Perrha screaming your name. "This thing is gonna blow, come on!" They quite literally jerked you away - your boots thumping on the planet's surface as you ran for your life.

The ship exploded, knocking the survivors to the ground with a concussive force - dangerous, but not fatal.

Your ears rang, dusty salt filled your lungs, but Perrha hauled you up. You ran again, as fast as you had ever in your life.

The First Order had entered the planet's atmosphere and took up position at the mine entrance - the old Rebel base. Unfortunately, your transport's crash left you quite far away on foot. But thankfully, the First Order would assume your exploded crash site would leave no survivors - giving you time to run.

A battle raged overhead and in the distance. Blaster and cannon fire, and boot prints turned the ashy, salty surface blood red.

Your group finally made it to the mine, but there was no getting in the front entrance. The huge blaster door was sealed, but under heavy attack.

"Is there another way in?" You wondered aloud.

"Is there another way out?" Perrha countered, panicked. "Are they trapped in there?"

Your ragtag team rallied, determined to find a way to either get in to the safety of the mine, or help the remaining Resistance fighters escape, if they were trapped.

Suddenly you saw an old rust bucket ship zoom overhead and land at the edge of a shallow cliff.

Your team arrived just in time to see a young woman...making dozens of piles of rocks...float. This action served to clear a blocked path, allowing the Resistance fighters to escape the mine.

You saw the stormtrooper, Finn. The young woman must be Rey. You were so distracted by her dazzling display of the Force, that you almost didn't notice that just beside Finn...

was Poe.

Finn raced into Rey's arms for a hug, but it was Poe who noticed your ash-covered, singed, rag-tag crew, confused, for a moment, as to why you would have appeared with Rey.

"Elia," he breathed, pushing his way past anyone and everything in his path, including the huge boulders Rey had lifted moments before.

You were an adorable mess, most of your hair had tumbled out of your twin buns. Soot tarnished your cheeks and clothes. By some miracle your unlaced boots stayed in place while you ran for your life.

As Poe clambered toward you, your hands anxiously grabbed for your backpack straps…only to come up empty.

“M-my backpack,” you gasped, frantically touching your arms and chest.

Okay, people were dead.

Your transport crashed and exploded.

You only survived because you wielded the Force and ran for your life.

The First Order was bearing down.

Poe was alive!

But your brain?

“My backpack,” you repeated, desperately, craving the familiar soothing touchstone of its frayed straps.

“Here, sweetheart,” Poe gently offered, reaching for the fallen strap, to pull it back onto your shoulder. “Looks like the other one got burned.”

Which meant…

You grabbed for the other strap urgently, realizing the little pack might have been destroyed, leaving your wings out in the open.

Poe, so relieved to see you alive, wishing with all his heart that the could throw his arms around you, tried to understand…

“No, no no …” You shook your head, eyes wide with horror.

“Ells?” He asked, confused, holding up his hands in a supplicating manner, trying to show you he wouldn’t touch you if you didn’t want him to. “Baby, are you hurt?”

“I can’t…my backpack,” you gasped, short of breath. “I can’t…” Shaking your head rapidly, you backed away, running into Perrha…who got a look at your exposed back.

“Oh, Elia. A-are you - w-what happened…” they trailed off, glancing at Poe, confused at the sight of your tightly furled, dark wings. Perrha wasn’t sure if you were burned, or what was going on.

“What is it?” He demanded. “Is she hurt?” He reached for your arm to turn you around, but before his hand made contact, you clenched your fists and cried out.

“No!”

…sending tiny bits of rock flying outward from you body in every direction.

This got Rey’s attention.

As far as the young Jedi trainee knew, she and Leia were the only ones capable of this sort of thing.

Poe backed away, stunned, brushing bits of gravel from his face and hair, exchanging worried glances with Perrha, but determined to make sure you were all right.

He thought to approach you, but stopped short at a miraculous sight.

Your hair had tumbled down, beautiful and wild, your eyes closed in concentration.

Hands clenched by your sides, you held yourself still as bits of rock and earth circled you slowly.

And behind you, dark, slick wings unfurled.

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[fooled-around-and-fell]

A Call Home

Summary: Peter went back to see his grandpa, leaving you in Knowhere. Out of a sudden, your intergalactic pager beeps. Earth's in trouble.

Genre: angst, fluff

Pairing: Peter Quill x female reader

Tag: @nix-rose-q

Warning: kissing, cursing

Masterlist

Peter did stay in touch. For a while.

You caught up with each other every week, and then things got busy.

Once every two weeks.

Once a month.

Then he didn't call back.

Three months after that, he apologized for not staying in touch. Things got busy on his end. You both promised to talk soon.

One year later... radio silence.

You figured he must be enjoying his life back with his grandpa, so you didn't try to reach out to him anymore as to not bother him.

It didn't go unnoticed by the team -- your sudden silence, your absence. You didn't go day drinking like Peter did, but they knew something was bothering you.

"There you are."

You heard Rocket on the rooftop where you were sitting.

"Mind if I join you?"

"By all means."

He sat next to you, joining you in enjoying the view.

Knowhere was doing so well under Nebula's care. She's attentive, caring, no issue you have will go unnoticed by her.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine, Rocket."

"You always say that, but you don't really mean it."

You chuckled and rolled your eyes. "I will be fine."

"Yeah, well," Rocket sighed. "We're here for you. Quill leaving was definitely unexpected, and I know how much he means to you."

You glanced at him.

"Oh come on," He chuckled. "You were so obvious. I'm surprised Quill didn't pick it up himself."

A blush spread across your cheeks. "Are you here just to tease me, or?"

"Relax, relax, no need to get defensive." He smirked. "Just thought you might like some company."

Out of nowhere, your pager beeped. It was the pager Nat gave you before she passed. It hasn't beeped ever since you last visited -- since Thanos.

"Looks like you're going home." Rocket said. "Better take Milano 2.0. Say hi to Quill for me, and tell him to call us. We miss him around here."

You sighed. "This can't be good."

Milano 2.0 was something you and Peter built together. The original Milano was sort of destroyed after a battle, so 2.0 was a small project you both did -- an attempt to save as much of it as possible.

You and Peter first met when he saved you from an explosion at a nearby planet. It was anything but romantic. You were trying to steal something, and Peter was trying to stop you from stealing it.

Then he realized you were also human -- the only other human he's ever met out in space. So he decided to help you with your job, and you both became friends.

If only Peter knew that was also when you started having a crush on him.

Peter looked out the window to the sky above. For a second there he thought he saw a shooting star, but it must've been in his head.

"4 down. 9 letter word. Starts with G, is a protector or a defender." Jason said, wanting Peter to help him with his crossword.

"Guardians." Peter said, his lips playing a longing smile.

Jason was beyond happy when Peter came home. It felt like his life was finally complete, everything was right again. But he also knew that Peter grew up not on Earth -- it was confusing to him at first, all of this.. space work Peter rambled about, but once he mentioned his friends Rocket, Nebula, Drax, Mantis, Groot, and you? He understood immediately. Albeit the weird names, you were his family just as much as Peter was his. And he knew Peter missed you.

"Peter, talk to me." Jason put his newspaper down.

Peter sighed. "This past.. what, year and a half? Has been amazing. Being home feels so good after all the stress I've been through. But.."

"But you need to go back out there."

Peter looked surprised. "How did you know?"

"Pete," Jason chuckled. "You don't have friends here. And every time you talk about your friends, I can feel how much you miss them. Do you even still talk to them?"

He sighed. "I.. have been avoiding their calls, actually."

"Now why would you do that?"

"I just-" He sighed again. "Every time I hear their voices, see their faces, I want to be there. But I know you need me here-"

"Whoa, whoa, Pete." Jason laughed. "I've been here for 38 years without you, I think I'll do fine."

"So you don't need me here?"

"Don't get me wrong, son, having you here has been amazing for me, too." Jason explained. "It's the best thing that happened to me. But you need to get a move on in your life, kid. Your future isn't here at home, mowing lawns and driving me to the hospital."

Peter chuckled. "Didn't know you still had one last lecture for me."

Jason laughed in return. "Don't tempt me, kid."

"Anyway," Jason continued, "Tell me about this girl you have a crush on."

"It's not a crush." Peter rolled his eyes. "She's just.. she's amazing."

Jason smiled as he listened to Peter talk about you. How you two met, how his world managed to light up whenever you're in the room, how you stood by him when everything crumbled down.. and how he possibly have broken your heart.

Peter was enjoying the last of his fries when there was a blast nearby. It was big enough to cause an earthquake, and Peter had to call the nurse to pick Jason up so he could check what's going on.

"Stay here, okay?! I need to go help as much as I can!" Peter yelled out before running towards the blast.

If it were any regular explosion, Peter would've ignored it. But he saw what could've been people flying, so it had got to be something serious.

When Peter got to the scene, he saw War Machine, Dr. Strange, and -- is that you??

"Y/n??" Peter yelled.

You diverted your attention for a second, before being hit by the octopus-like thing attacking you.

"Fuck!"

Peter ran and broke your fall, getting hurt in the process.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Get back!" You said, blasting your gun at the giant octopus.

"What the hell is that?!" Peter asked, taking cover behind you.

"I don't know, I'm just trying to kill it!" You ran behind a car. "Peter, you don't have a gun, get out of here. You're a civilian at this point."

"Then give me a gun!"

--

Turns out the big-ass octopus was sent by Wanda, who was hunting a girl named America Chavez to help her get her sons back. You didn't even know she had kids.

You were finally left alone with Peter, and decided to visit his house that was nearby.

The walk was absolutely silent. You didn't expect to meet Peter -- though you wanted to. And now that it happened, you don't know what to say to him. It's been a year since you last talked, and you were expecting he'd give some lame excuse to why he stopped calling.

"So," Peter started. "I know you're probably mad at me for going MIA."

You sighed.

"I think I'm ready to go home now."

Ignored.

"You know, I missed you. A lot."

When you didn't reply again, Peter stopped you from walking by standing in front of you. "Remember what you promised me?"

Your eyes shot up to look at him in disbelief. "You shut me out first. You stopped calling. You stopped answering my calls. You were the one who-"

Deep breaths.

"I get it, Peter." You said. "You're with family, you want to spend time with them. I don't blame you -- I know I shouldn't. But I'm just.. still pretty mad at you."

Peter clenched his jaw. He knew it was his fault. He reached to hold your hands and put them on his chest, right on his heart. You could feel his heart racing.

"Look at me." Peter said, lifting your chin. "Please."

Staring at pleading eyes, how could you stay mad at him? He looked like a lost, kicked puppy.

"That day I left," Peter said. "I knew what you wanted to say to me."

"What?"

"I knew- I know."

Your breath quickened. The day he left was the day you wanted to tell him you've been in love with him.

"I.." He held your waist gently. "I love you. I couldn't say it to you the first time because I was so messed up. I had unfinished inner issues that I had to resolve, and I.. I didn't want to drag you on, not knowing how I'd end up."

It felt like a panic attack, but in the best way possible.

You hadn't realized how long you stayed quiet, just looking at him and listening to his heart.

"Say something, please." Peter broke your trance.

"I.." You gulped. "Why- You- Oh fuck it-" You pulled Peter by his collar and kissed him.

Peter's hands immediately found the back of your neck and pulled you in closer, if that's even possible. You struggled to keep your composure. His hands clawed and grabbed your hips gently, but you knew the desperation was there. The need to be alone in a room and just fuck the shit out of each other -- you felt it too.

You broke the kiss to get some air, but Peter let out a small 'no' before pulling you back in.

It was hungrier, yearning for a taste of everything. It felt very, very hot. Peter's touch burned you and felt like it left marks. Your lips felt bruised and swollen, but fuck you couldn't get enough.

"Pete-"

He only hummed, lips still busy leaving kisses down your neck.

It felt like you were drunk, there was a coil in your stomach and it made you want to jump into his arms. If it weren't for his neighbor who yelled "get a room", you probably wouldn't have stopped.

You finally pushed him away before you got too dizzy and passed out. Peter chuckled and still managed to hold you close to him.

"I'll.. I'll go bring in the ship." You panted.

"Milano?"

"Yeah."

"Good." He smirked. "We can make even more new memories there."

.

.

.

a/n: I'm so thirsty.

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Remember S/O sacrificing themselves for Task Force Defy?

Yeah that but for AR team, which is arguably worse since they only have one life

(GFL) AR Team's S/O sacrificing themselves

M4's eyes shut as S/O's life signs go flat on her display.

Yet another person she cared for has died for her.

And like the ones who did, they only had the one life. Just like her and the rest of AR.

M4 remains still until M16A1 takes her into a tight hug, but only for a brief moment.

They still had to leave the AO.

(M16A1) "...M4-"

(M4A1) "Please...Don't say anything right now."

SOPMOD is about to say something before RO635 and ST AR-15 stop her, shaking their head.

The ride back home was quiet, with M4 silently staring at the Black Hawk's floor.

ST AR-15 is the one to give the debriefing while M4 leaves for the dorm, alone.

T-Dolls can't cry, not physically as far as M4 was aware.

But the emotions swelling through her systems were probably the closest she could, staring at the photos of herself and S/O, all smiling with the rest of AR.

They gave their life so the rest of the team could continue living.

(M4A1) "I...Suppose I can't blame you, S/O...Not when all of us are willing to do the same."

Their passing hurts her far more than she thought it could, but she makes sure to never forget it.

It was her fault that they got themselves killed, and she swears to herself that not one person would sacrifice themselves for her again.

That failure would continue to haunt her for as long as she was activated.

STAR grits her teeth as she punches a hole into the nearest wall.

(ST AR-15) "...GOD, DAMN IT!"

S/O's signature went quiet as soon as the explosion rocked the building.

They had finished their mission in destroying an experimental Sangvis Unit.

But S/O wouldn't be joining them on the ride back to base.

If only she had been fast enough to come help...!

(SOPMOD) "STAR-"

(ST AR-15) "Shut up. Don't say a word, SOPMOD."

STAR stomps away from the rest of the team before trying to regain what shattered composure she had left.

She doesn't give herself a moment to think, training even harder the moment she returns to base.

She was weak, that is why S/O died, because of her.

M4A1 tries to talk her down but STAR ignores her as she's moving equipment back to the dorm.

(M4A1) "STAR, please slow down."

(ST AR-15) "I'm fine."

STAR spat out, but as she turned to keep walking, she fell over. She slammed her fist into the ground, denting the concrete floor as her eyes shut.

(ST AR-15) "I'm fine. I'm still here, and S/O isn't!"

M4 takes her into a hug and STAR doesn't resist, just putting her head into her shoulders.

SOPMOD goes completely silent when S/O's vitals do the same.

Her weapon almost drops out of her hand, but SOPMOD quickly catches it and just quietly leaves for the LZ.

SOPMOD's usual smile is completely absent for the next week, with her barely uttering a word for the duration.

(RO635) "SOPMOD?"

RO enters S/O's quarters with the lights turned off, but she knows SOPMOD was on the bed, alone.

SOPMOD held her knees to her chest, silently staring at the wall, she didn't even move when RO sat next to her.

(SOPMOD) "I know S/O wouldn't want to see me like this but..."

She buried her head in her arms, her voice trembling as she did so.

(SOPMOD) "...What do I do without them?"

RO gives SOPMOD the tightest hug she can, which SOPMOD reciprocates.

From then on, SOPMOD permanently has S/O's dog tags with her every operation, eventually recovering.

Though, nothing is as fun anymore for her.

With S/O gone, how could it?

M16A1 silently exhales through her nose as she couldn't detect S/O's vitals anymore.

She wants to scream into the sky, fill the nearest enemy full of holes in rage, but knows that won't bring S/O back.

Nothing will.

And she knows better than to cry about what she can't fix.

Upon arriving at the bar, M16A1 grabs a bottle of Jack Daniel's and begins chugging it, slamming it down onto the counter, near breaking the bottle.

Though, drinking was becoming less and less fun by the day.

Doubly so now that she was missing one lover and drinking partner.

Though she asks for a second cup and silently sits it next to her, her lips forming a wry smile.

(M16A1) "...I'll make sure to drink yours, S/O."

She raises her bottle to the air, with no one to put their drink to hers.

M16A1 moves on, but the hole S/O leaves in her metaphorical heart would stay there as long as she could remember.

Much like her scar and eyepatch, she makes sure to have S/O's picture with her no matter what.

RO hand rests on her chest as she reads the team's vitals.

S/O just died to save her and the rest of the team.

Something she would be grateful, and resent S/O for eternally.

Because now, RO could never speak to them again and lecture them for doing something so reckless.

RO is the one to debrief the Commander, trying her absolute best to keep her emotions in check.

(RO635) "...S/O died in the line of duty, Commander. They were the reason we came home at all...Please make sure their family is informed of that. S/O was a hero."

RO continues on, trying to convince herself of that to make their passing hurt less.

But it doesn't.

RO avoids anything that reminds her of S/O for the first few weeks, but breaks down when no one is looking as she finally enters the dorm alone.

(RO635) "S/O...I'm so sorry..."

[clone-anon]

Finding a Way

Pairing: Hevy x GN!Reader

Rating: SFW, we’ll say PG-13

Word Count: 2522

Warnings: Explosion at Rishi Station, some angst but plenty of fluff, description of injuries and healing, kissing, cuddling

A/N: This was written for @sinfulsalutations as part of the @rare-clone-fic-exchange. I hope you enjoy this. It's my first time writing Hevy, but I love him.

Summary: This is a Hevy Lives AU. You're a GAR contractor who takes supplies to various outposts, including Rishi Station. You strike up a friendly relationship with Hevy and are devastated to learn of the explosion, doing what you can to reach out to him once he heals, and getting a lot closer along the way.

Other characters mentioned: Domino Squad, 99, and OC clone medic Shots

Hevy did not like Rishi Station. All that training just to get here? The time passed in the usual way.  You connected via comms, bringing a shipment of cargo in for the squad.  He acknowledged when you asked for permission to land.  Your job had you skipping around to various outposts bringing supplies. Sometimes, you were the only outside face they saw for many rotations. 

You landed and Hevy greeted you as you got off the ship.  Echo confirmed the cargo you brought was exactly what they ordered. Ration bars, dehydrated soup mix, standard issue soap and shampoo, and five sets of spare blacks.  The boys all helped you unload the cargo and Hevy decided to walk you back to the ship. He didn’t have to. He wasn’t sure what propelled him forward, but he thought it would be a nice gesture.

“Thanks, Hevy,” you said, just before boarding.

“My pleasure,” he replied.  He smiled slightly and gave a small nod.  You returned the smile and had a feeling this was going to become your favorite stop on this route.

Every two weeks you would stop at Rishi Station with supplies and every two weeks Hevy would be there to greet you. You got to know Domino Squad well and made sure it was your last stop of the day so that you could take your time without having to worry about where you were headed next. You started including a few things that were not standard issue, just so they didn’t feel forgotten out there. They appreciated the fresh fruit, candy, and puzzles.

“You don’t have to do that,” Hevy said, as he watched his brothers immediately start scrutinizing one of the puzzles, excited for something new.

“I know,” you answered, “I just thought you’d like it.”

“I do,” he said with a smile. “I mean, er, we do. We definitely do.”

He walked you to your ship again, but instead of boarding right away, you stood outside long enough to look at the stars. You didn’t want to stay out too long with the local fauna being what they were, but you loved how clear the sky was tonight and you were really starting to like Hevy. He was strong and loyal to his brothers, but there was a gentleness to him too.  You looked at the night sky together and showed him some of the routes you took, your finger tracing a course between dotted planets. Hevy committed them to memory so he could think about you flying around out there, somehow close even if you weren’t there with him.

“If they ever let me off this moon, can I take you on a proper date?”  The question escaped his lips before he even had the chance to stop himself.

“I’d like that very much,” you replied.  “I live on Coruscant. I’m sure we could find something to do.”

“It’s a date then,” he said, reaching for your hand. You softly clasped his hand in your own, giving it a light squeeze and feeling heat fill your cheeks.  You were stuck staring into each others eyes and smiling when your chrono went off, reminding you that you definitely had to leave.

“I’m sorry,” you sighed.

“I understand,” he said, giving your hand a squeeze in return and letting it go. “Until next time.”

You nodded with a grin and got on your shuttle. He watched you fly away before rejoining his brothers.

There was not to be a next time, though.  You’d never go back to Rishi Station.  Several rotations after you left, there was an attack.  You heard about it from some other troopers on your route and your heart dropped to the floor.  It was another rotation before Echo managed to find you through a GAR database and managed to contact you.  They were back on Kamino with Hevy.  He’d nearly died, but somehow, the side panel on the bomb they made managed to stay intact and push him out of the building, protecting him from certain death.  Still, he was badly injured and the Kaminoans weren’t sure he would make it. If several jedi generals hadn’t intervened, he might not have found himself in a bacta tank. He had massive burns all over his body and a massive concussion along with internal bruising.  The recovery would not be easy.  His armor had been mostly destroyed, but it helped save him.

When you received the message, you read it as quickly as you could, hoping against hope that it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. You started crying when you read that Hevy was alive. Although your heart broke every time you got to know a clone and found out the war had taken them, Hevy was special to you. You gave yourself a moment to let the tears flow as relief swept through your being.  Once you were ready, you read the rest of the message. Hevy was doing poorly, but they were trying to keep him alive long enough for him to heal. Echo and Fives had joined the 501st and Hevy was set to join too, as long as he pulled through.  He was stuck on Kamino in the meantime.  He and Fives wanted you to know, but they couldn’t say more than that.  You immediately asked if you could come and see him, but the Kaminoans didn’t want that.  You didn’t really have a reason to be on Kamino and sneaking you in so you could visit had its risks.  Your heart sank again, but in your correspondence, Fives had an idea.  He asked if you could send a voice recording for Hevy and they could play it to him to try to help lift his spirits. They didn’t know if he could even hear it while in the bacta tank, but it was worth a shot.

And so, Echo and Fives found themselves standing outside Hevy’s bacta tank playing your recording multiple times a day. Hi Hevy. It’s me. I heard what you did and what happened. I’m proud of you and you need to get better. You still owe me a date. Promise me you’ll be there.  When Echo and Fives had to ship out with the 501st for their next mission, they gave the recording to 99, who sat there diligently playing your message at least once a day and keeping Hevy company.  After a couple rotations he started to notice Hevy’s hand twitched when he heard the recording.

Hevy heard your voice and his brain was trying to comprehend where he was. Was he alive? How was he alive? He felt himself floating and could hear 99’s voice after yours. He wished more than anything to see his brothers and to see you.  He promised himself he’d find his way back to you. 

It was only one more rotation and he was out of the tank.  He was greeted by 99, a medical droid, and a clone medic named Shots. 

“Glad to have you back, Hevy,” smiled 99, as the droid and Shots helped Hevy dry off and lay down.

“Glad to be back, 99,” he replied.

Shots and the droid started scanning Hevy and he just rolled his eyes.

“I just woke up,” he protested.

“Yes, but the faster we scan you and confirm you’re fine, the sooner you can leave,” Shots retorted with a grin. 

Hevy sighed and waited, keeping a particular eye on the droid.  There wasn’t a single clone he knew who loved the medbay or wanted to spend more time there than they had to.

“Okay, looks like your burns healed, internal bruises are mostly gone, and you have no signs of concussion,” Shots reported. “We’ll get you a training session to see how that goes, but barring any major issues, you should be ready for duty.”

Hevy was pleased with the news.  99 walked him down to his temporary quarters and told him what happened during and after the explosion. Hevy took in the information and accepted that it just wasn’t his time yet. At least they had been successful in defending Rishi Station. 

“99?”

“Yes?” 

“There was another voice. When I was in the tank. I heard your voice and one other.”  He didn’t want to give too much away, but he had to know.

“Oh yes,” 99 replied.  “Echo left this for you. Something about communicating with a supplier?”

Hevy smiled. “Thanks 99.”

A couple rotations later he passed a physical exam, was cleared to join the 501st, and headed out into battle, but not before following the instructions Echo left for how to contact you.  It all seemed to happen so quickly in your mind.  He nearly died and they were already sending him into battle. In his message, he explained what he remembered and promised you he’d be on Coruscant soon.  You wanted to see him before he headed into battle, but knew that’s not how the GAR worked.

You kept yourself busy in the meantime, still delivering supplies to the outposts and adding a new stopping point. Every time you went past the old route that would have taken you to Rishi, you smiled to yourself. You missed that stop. You missed him.  You were thankful you got to have some text correspondence while he was gone so you knew he made it through each day. He wasn’t allowed to say much about where he was or what he was doing as that was on a need-to-know basis and the army certainly didn’t want to risk soldier’s transmissions being intercepted while communicating with a civilian, but you heard from him and that got you through the day.  Your messages started getting more personal, allowing him to know you and asking questions about him. You told him about a cool plant you saw in the market or the new flavor of ration bar which did not taste as good as was advertised.

On his end, Hevy looked for a new message from you every chance he got. They always made him smile.  He loved reading about life on Coruscant, learning about your friends and the places you liked to go. He loved all the little details too.  He had gotten to know you and really liked you before the accident, but he was seriously falling for you now. He would be on Coruscant soon and felt his heart pound as he wrote, “So what about that date?”

On your end, you had to read the words over and over, just to make sure you still weren’t making it up.  You replied, “I’m ready when you are.”

The day came and your mind was only on him. You didn’t pretend to care about work that day, so much as deciding to take the day off so you weren’t distracted while flying.  Hevy wore a new set of fatigues and stood a little awkwardly at your predetermined meet-up location, but he didn’t have to wait long.  As soon as he saw you he ran to embrace you. It felt like the most natural thing. You held on to his back and shoulders, subconsciously trying to make sure he was really here. You breathed deeply and felt tears coming to your eyes. You pulled away from the hug a little, your hands tracing down each arm and resting on his hands.

“You’re here,” you said, looking up into his beautiful brown eyes. “You’re really here.”

He hugged you again. “I finally made it, cyare.”

There was so much you wanted to show him.  You took his hand and led him through that part of town, stopping at one of your favorite places to eat.  He wanted to try more food than he could possibly fit in his stomach and you told him you’d just have to bring him there back again and again.  Now that he was here you could take your time. Even though the war was still going on, you had this moment right now and you weren’t going to waste it.  Hevy loved walking around with you and held your hand the entire time, not wanting to let go. You walked him through a small festival, enjoying the music while lights shown through blown glass art in every color.  It was beautiful, but it was even better that you were sharing the experience. You chatted well into the night until the festival was starting to shut down. 

“I don’t want this night to end,” you admitted.

“I don’t either,” he agreed.

“When do you ship out next?”

“A week. The 501st boys really needed a break. I just joined them, but they’ve been out there fighting for a long time without shore leave.”

“Hevy,” you retorted with a grin, “You are part of them now and you need a break too. Besides, you just got blown up.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough.”

You looked down and thought for a moment.

“What is it,” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

You shook your head. “I was just wondering if maybe you’d like to spend the night at my place. Nothing more than… I don’t know if that would be too much.”

“I’d love to,” he answered. “I’d also love to kiss you.”

You beamed and leaned toward him.  His lips planted firmly on yours made you both smile. As he pulled away you surged forward just a bit to leave one more little kiss for him.

He took your hand and let you lead the way. You were just one level down and it wasn’t long before you let him inside, suddenly wondering why you hadn’t cleaned up more. Hevy didn’t mind though. He didn’t even notice. He liked seeing where you live and seeing your personality in the little items you had around your home.  After you both took your boots off, he grinned and picked you up, kissing you again.

“Oh! Hevy!” You looked down, a little unsure.  He calmly looked up at you, happy to have you in his arms.

“I carry a Z-6 rotary cannon,” he said confidently.  Then, a little softer he added, “I could carry you anywhere. Just say the word.”

You leaned down and rested your forehead to his, placing your arms on his shoulders and smiling down at him.

You whispered, “For tonight, how about you just take me that way.” You tilted your head and looked down the hallway toward your bedroom.

He grinned, “I can do that.”

You found yourselves in bed, snuggling against each other. While the environment was new to him, because it was you and your home, he immediately relaxed. Right now, the war didn’t exist. Right now, he was with you. He was alive and here and happy.  He settled against the pillow and pulled you a little closer.  You kissed him again.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” you said quietly.

“So am I, cyar’ika.”

You listened to his heartbeat and felt his chest rise and fall with each breath. It was comforting.  It wasn’t long before you fell asleep in each other’s arms, wanting nothing more than to steal away any moment with him you could get.

[issacballsac]

DATE NIGHT

Gender Neutral Reader

After mustering all the courage he’s built up for exactly 1 week, 2 days, 7 hours, and 45minutes he’s finally landed a date with you—to none other than the Planetarium!

So here he was standing stiffly at your door. Seemingly overdressed he silently shifted in his formal clothing. His deep blue eyes shaking ever-so-subtly as his left hand reach to knock on the entrance.

A loud bang rang from the closed door followed by a couple curses as you swung open the door for your date.

“Hey, you ready?” You said between breathes, evidently having rushed before hand to prepare.

His lips cracked into a small grin, “Yeah, the place isn’t far from here!”

“Then what’re we waiting for?” Grabbing his arm and locking the door behind you the two of you began on your journey to the stars(figuratively speaking of course).

Practically bursting from the seams with excitement, Logan couldn’t contain the light that radiated off of him.

Teasingly scoffing at his explosive behavior, “Well aren’t you excited?”. A foreign grin spread across his face as his head whipped towards you. “Obviously!” He whisper-yelled, irises forming into the very stars he had adorned so much.

Subtly adjusting to your seat you reclined to face the man made sky. Logan’s shifting made it difficult to concentrate on any other star than the one right next to you.

The words of the operator were drowned as your other senses failed you, eyes zoning in on every detail of your date.

“You’re beautiful man.” Logan tensed in his seat slowly making eye contact with your fierce gaze.

Audibly coughing Logan immediately averted his eyes, “They’re going to show another nebulae soon.” He smoothly changed the topic.

“No amount of dead star dust could be more intriguing than you.” Intently staring at the dome he hesitantly took in minimal glances of you.

Breaking the tension you comment, “Maybe we should get some food after.” Logan sighs at your normal remark.

Another hour had passed before the show had ended. “Got any preference for food?” You turn to Logan for any and all suggestions. “Anything is fine, really.”.

Opting for smaller snack-type food you bought some popcorn for the two of you. “This has a lot of butter, but, it’s fine.” Your fingers shimmered with the grease of butter.

Waving the glistening nubs in his face tauntingly you grabbed another handful of popcorn. “If it’s that greasy to you I can just feed it to you.” His words worked faster than his mind, as just when he fully processed the extent of his words.

“Go ahead, it’ll protect my beautiful fingers!” Batting your eyelashes at your date as he fed you a piece of popcorn. “Still buttery as hell but it’s much better with you.”

“Does your confidence ever falter?”

“Never! So how about a real dinner?” He sighed with exasperation, it was going to be a long night.

[blossom-works]

What if...

A/N: Branching off my first Hades x Reader, what if he didn’t die in the seventh round of Ragnarok? What if Qin Shi Huang ended up the loser and Hades the victor?

--- 

Anxiously sitting on the couch, you watch the battle play out between your husband and the former emperor of China. You will admit, Qin Shi is a formidable fighter. You do not think your husband has not had so much fun since Beelzebub came to Helheim. A funny memory of yours. You were just about to enter dreamland when a large explosion came from one of the castle’s towers. You also remember Hades coming into your shared chamber with his clothing tattered. He had a grin on his face as he told you Beelzebub’s misinterpretations. 

While your husband has taken on more damage than his opponent, he has no intentions of giving up. You can only hope that the medical attention here can reverse the damage. You have noted that Qin Shi’s abilities allows him to see his opponent’s “stars” or weak points. The only problem though, he is fighting with a God. The King of the Netherworld. A man who has a family to come home to and a brother to avenge. With a last thrust of his Desmos, Hades lands the final blow. He pierces straight through Qin Shi’s chest, killing the old soul. They fighters share a moment of appreciation. A king fighting a king, and a king winning as a king should. 

Qin Shi’s body falls flat on the ground, his body and the Valkyrie sister vanishing to Niflhel. Tired, your husband leans against his spear as he watches. The stadium is quiet. The match has left everyone, not just you, on the edges of their seat. Your brother-in-laws are no different. As much as Hades loves his brothers, they share the same affection. Suddenly, the side of the Gods erupt in cheers. The King of the Netherworld has proven how powerful he is. He is not a legend but a God. Your chest deflates from holding your breath for so long. You can now relax knowing that you will have company as you sleep. 

Teleporting, you appear by your husband’s side, gently taking the bloodied spear from him. You may be smaller than Hades, but you do your best to support his weight. Step by step you help him to his entrance tunnel. The announcer as always, is hyping the crowd, loudly stating the winner of the match. 

“I can’t believe you did something as stupid as cutting your chest open. You’ll be hearing about this for the next week.”

“I expect nothing less from you my love.” Hades laughs. His blood covered body is now staining your clothing. When the two of you enter the tunnel, a bunch of nurses surround you two. They guide the king down to play on an extravagant gurney, Hades’ bident is still in your palms. 

“I’ll visit you when you’ve been thoroughly checked out.”

Hades gives you a simple nod as he is wheeled off. Looking down at the spear you wince in disgust. The blood on it has started to oxidize and there are patches of red on your white clothing. Snapping your fingers a servant from your domain arrives. 

“You called m’lady?”

“Yes, please clean Hades’ bident and bring me a change of clothing.”

Now presentable, you head to the room where your family spent before the match began. When you open the door you are surprised to find it empty. Hermes comes from behind you and tells you where your daughter is. Apparently, she asked the servants to bring her to the sky box since she wanted to see you. Making your way back to the terrace, sure enough, you hear your daughter’s laughter. She sits perched on Ares’ shoulders, giving her a new vantage point. Zeus is behind them as he tries to tickle his little niece. 

“Mama!”

Quickly she jumps off her cousin’s shoulders. With your fast reflexes you catch her before something can happen. She may be a goddess, but she is still a child. She started talking about how worried she was during the fight. Hades thought it would be best if she watched the match in the specialized room on the screen instead of in person. A request you did not and still do not understand. She cheered for her father the entire time. The owl she was gifted as a newborn unfortunately had to suffer through some serious whiplash. 

“Where’s daddy?”

“He’s getting some medical attention right now sweetheart. We’ll see him when the doctors are finished.”

A little disappointed but understanding, she nods. Zeus insists of transferring to the tea room as preparations for the next round starts. While waiting, your daughter plays with her cousins and uncles. It is not often that your family comes to Valhalla. Not to mention that she is the only child in Helheim, it can get quite lonely for her. A topic that you and Hades have frequently discussed. Sitting on your lap is her little owl she named “Ow Ow”. A knock comes from the double doors and Hermes answers. 

“Hades is ready for visitors.”

“Yay! C’mon mama! Let’s go see daddy!”

“Hold on there. What do you say to your uncles and cousins for the hospitality they’ve shown you?”

“Oh, thank you for the tea and for playing with me.”

You give her a pat on the head as praise. Saying your farewells you follow the nurse to your husband’s private room. Upon seeing her dear father, your mini you runs up to him, totally forgetting about his injuries. With a huff he envelopes her in his arms. You sit on the other side of the bed, Hades is now surrounded by his family. You and your daughter share a look, and then attack your husband with a kiss. Each of his cheeks gets a firm kiss from you two. A daughter who is glad to see her father again. A wife who is happy to have her husband coming back home with her. A husband who is happy that he avenged his little brother and most importantly, to have his girls in his arms. 

--- 

A/N: Should I make more Hades content with this story line? If so, what would you like to read?

[ladye-zelda]

Oooh fun! How about the word 'pearl'?

-Sky Floor

After so many months, Link had finally found it.

It was slimy to the touch, covered in deep green sea moss as he pulled it out of the pool. It’s size was perfect enough to be held in his hand comfortably enough, which made it even more special. He took out his special knife from his back sheath, scraping the slimy stuff off it’s shell, revealing the intricate patterns of deep blue and purples. An oyster.

Using his knife again, he cut along the ribbed edges of the oyster, trying to pry it’s mouth open. It was quite a stubborn bloke, but Link wasn’t about to give up either. It had been the first oyster he had seen in a long time, right when he had decided it. He couldn’t wait for the next opportunity, if there was one.

After much prying and praying, up until he thought his knife blade was going to break, the oyster relented. With a snap, the mouth was open.

And right hidden in it’s center was what he was looking for. A pearl.

Link took the pearl from its mouth, tossing the oyster aside. It was perfect. More than perfect. He saw his own reflection in the milky texture of the smooth object, colors of blue and pink shining off of it’s surface. It was a lot smaller than the pearl his grandmother had been buried with, but it would do it’s job just as well.

He curled his fingers around the sphere, holding it close to his chest. Only one more thing to do now.

———

“What is so important that you have to drag me out here for?” Tetra chuckled, allowing Link to guide her down the beach. “And what is with this blindfold?”

“You’ll see,” Link said, watching the sun slowly sink over the horizon. His heart was thumping inside of his throat, his brain yelling at him to turn back now and wait until another day to try this again. But when would be the next opportunity.

“Okay,:” Link said, stopping. He let go of Tetra’s hand, taking the blindfold off of his captain.

Tetra blinked a few times, before looking around. Her gaze caught the sunset, and she gasped slightly.

“This island has the most beautiful sunsets,” Link said. “I thought you would’ve liked to see it.”

An eruption of orange filled the sky. The sun hovered just above the ocean’s waters, sending glittering lights reflecting from the choppy surface. It’s waning light casted everything in a golden glow, sending off an explosion of magic and color before it was to disappear beyond the waves.

“There’s… something else.” Link began to lower himself to the glowing golden sand, swallowing down the nausea threatening to escape. Well, here goes nothing.

Tetra broke her contact with the sunset to look down at him confused, but her eyes widened when she saw what he was doing. He held out his hand, offering the pearl that he had gathered earlier that week. “Tetra, goddess of the ocean,” he said, “Pirate Queen of the Great Seas, captain of the Loreley, will you do me the honors and marry me?”

Tetra looked down at the pearl, her wide eyes glistening from tears that had begun to sprung up. “About time you asked, chu chu head!” Tetra tackled Link into the sand, both laughing and crying from joy.

[koolkat9]

Royal Red Bros Week - Day 5

@royalredbrosweek

Prompt: Badly Injured/Verge of Death || Bonding

Rating: T

Relationship: England + Canada

Word Count: 1015

Read on AO3

Author's Note: So while working on this fic I was reading All Quiet on the Western Front for school so a lot of this fic was inspired by scenes in chapter 4 with some of the descriptions in this fic being descriptions in the novel.

Your Sword and Shield

Arthur hadn’t heard the first ‘take cover.' Instead, it was Matthew hurtling towards him and knocking him into the mud, followed by the first whistling then an explosion erupting that gave it away. Clumps of dirt rained down on them, though with Matthew practically on top of him, they never hit him.

The darkened sky popped with white, red, green. Like fireworks, but far more deadly. For a moment, he wondered if Alfred managed to get to safety or at least shield himself with something.

Before him, Arthur spotted a sinkhole made by a recent explosion.

“Matthew?”

There was no reply.

“Come on lad,” Arthur shouted, figuring Matthew couldn’t hear him above the heavy fire. “We need to get into the hole. We’re going to die out here if we…”

When Arthur managed to turn around he found his son limp on top of him, crimson trickling out of his mouth.

“Matthew…MATTHEW!” Arthur shouted again, shaking Matthew’s arm. “You need to open your eyes lad before–”

He was cut off by a shell exploding right next to them, tossing the both of them across the field. At least Arthur was finally free, but now he had to get himself and his giant of a son somewhere safe. Luckily they were tossed near a hole. Dragging Matthew with him, he jumped in.

As safe as they could possibly be, Arthur began to inspect the damage to Matthew’s body. The boy had already grown pale, his breath shallow, skin growing colder. His back was bloody from the barrage of fire, his side had a nasty gash from getting too close to an explosion. Grabbing his and Matthew’s field dressings, he attempted to wrap up the wounds.

Minutes later, when the gunfire and explosions finally died away, Alfred came to find them.

“Take your brother,” Arthur commanded, trying his best to carefully lift Matthew for Alfred to reach.

“What hap–”

“You know him. My sword and now my shield.”

Alfred went to say something else but pressed his lips together again. With Matthew out, Alfred reached for Arthur. Arthur batted his hand away and climbed out himself.

“God, what did you do this time Matt?” Alfred reprimanded, picking his brother up.

Arthur was already heading back towards the truck.

“Hey slow down,” Alfred barked.

“We need to get him medical attention if he’s going to survive.”

“Arthur.”

“We need to go.”

“You’re going to get him killed,” Alfred barked. “He thinks about you before himself every time.”

“He’s an adult,” Arthur snapped back, whirling around to face his other son. “He makes his choices. And he does the same for you. For Alastair. Even for Francis, though he won’t admit it.”

“Well…You–”

“We need to move. Or else he really will die. And you and I both know the pain of regeneration.”

— — —

When Matthew began to stir, he could tell he was in the hospital before he even managed to open his eyes. The stench of death and sick mixed with that distinct hospital smell. He let out a slight groan, the pain of his back and side catching up to him.

Instinctively, he went to push himself up having been laid on his stomach only for someone to gently hold him down.

“Relax love,” A gentle voice whispered. A voice he hadn’t heard since he was a little boy.

“Dad?”

“Shhh. Just lay down. Are you in pain?”

“Mhm…”

“Okay. I’ll see if the orderly can get you anything for it.”

Matthew heard shuffling, footsteps. A pained ‘no’ ripped from his throat.

“It will only be a moment,” Arthur murmured.

“Please…stay…”

For a moment, Matthew could picture himself, no more than six standing in the hallway as Arthur was about to set off for England. So many moments like that throughout his childhood. And as much as he wanted to cry out ‘stay,’ he never did. Not that it would have probably made a difference. But now…

“I…I don’t want…” Matthew trailed off.

“Okay…Okay, I’ll stay.”

Arthur took a seat beside him once more.

They were quiet for a moment, only the hurried steps of medical staff and the occasional screaming of a patient filling the room.

“You’re okay right?” Matthew finally asked.

Arthur’s face looked unfazed, but his eyes sparked with something Matthew couldn’t quite place. It made him shutter.

“I’m not the one in the hospital bed,” Arthur answered shortly.

“True…”

Silence again. Or as silent as you could get in a field hospital.

“Am I going to make it?’ Matthew asked.

Arthur was quiet for a moment. Closed his eyes and took a breath. “I don’t know. The orderlies don’t seem to think so, but they don’t quite get how our bodies work. But either way, I’m going to get you out of here and back home as soon as possible.”

“No. No. I’ll heal. It doesn’t take too long, so I’ll be back out there–”

“You’re going home to recover. Especially if you really are going to die. I don’t want you to have to go through the reset in this place.”

“But I have to–”

“You don’t have to do anything. You’ve done more than enough. I’m standing here because of you. But I can’t have you out there in a weak state.”

“Dad I–”

“That is an order. You will be going home in a week if I can help it.”

Matthew paused for a moment, simmering in the command he was given. “Can I at least go stay with Auntie Niamh? That way I’m not making a long trek across the ocean like this.”

“I suppose… that would be best,” Arthur said slowly. He coughed awkwardly. “I’ll figure out the details. Just…rest for now.”

“Okay…B-But you’ll stay right?”

Arthur’s unreadable eyes finally softened ever so slightly. “Of course.”

As sleep crept in, Matthew felt Arthur brush his bangs out of his face. Just before he nodded off again, Arthur pressed a kiss to his forehead. And for a moment, Matthew felt no different than that six-year-old boy, but now his father would stay.

[ichig00]

When you know, you know

A/N: Inspired by the song Margarete of Lana del rey with my thoughts of it when I'm listening to it. Enjoy:)

:fluff, romance, etc.

The sky is painted in deep blue sky decorated by stars twinkling above with the pale moon light. The city lights beneath are wonderful to your eyes. It's breathtaking to feel on the top of the world. It feels so free as the cold wind passes your face and dances with your hair.

"Beautiful." You mumbled but enough to hear by the man who stands beside you, who admires the view and the women worked of art beside him. "It is." He said back, you looked at him but he immediately looked away, avoiding your gaze. Pretending his not looking at the most beautiful woman he'll ever see in the world in his life.

A 'poem'. That's what he thought of you in his mind and heart. You're a poem he will never get tired of reading again and again. A poem that made him feel every emotion a man can feel. You're as beautiful as one, as painful too at the same time. Because there are poems that are said a loud, but there are also poems that are hidden underneath the darkness. Just like his feelings towards you.

"Let's go." You said and started walking over the elevator to get down from the Eiffel Tower. Your mission in paris is done. It was a tiring week of mission here, you thought the first time you'll set a foot in this city would be your honeymoon but you're wrong because you came here for work, but hey- atleast the man you love is with you as you set your foot here for the first time.

He followed you from behind and stood next to you when you were in the elevator. No one said a word, but two hearts beating is heard quietly. You're both exhausted from the mission, hungry too.

"Wanna grab something before we went to the hotel?" Leon asked, breaking the silence between you as the elevator goes down queitly. Good thing the D.S.O. found a way to occupy the tower to avoid people getting involved as you both defused the bomb pla ted by terrorists that surrounded the tower, and that could possibly destroy this beautiful city.

You saved lives once again.

"Sounds great." You replied, agreeing on what he said.

You both hopped on the car that is waiting for you outside of the tower to escort you back to the hotel you've been staying. "Wait, why won't we just get food from the hotel?" You asked Leon while sitting down at the backseat with him, frowning at your own realization.

"Hmm.. I miss fast food." He just replied, which made you laugh a little. Typical Leon. But you admit you missed fast food too, getting tired of eating fancy food or nothing after a while.

The ride waited outside with your weapons on  it as you entered a fast food chain. You both ordered, and Leon insisted on paying for it, but you tried to argue but then give up because of tiredness and also because you know Leon will never back down on this. He likes treating you on every chance he could take, so you just let him be.

While waiting for your take outs, a couple entered the establishment with their newborn baby carried by the mother. The giggle of the baby is loud enough for you to hear. You couldn't help but smile sweetly as you watch them take their orders in the cashier.

Only if you could've had that normal life, have a loving husband. Be normal for once, holding a child instead of guns. Having mini you running around your place, your house fills with giggles and laughters instead of hearing gun shots and explosions everyday.Everything of that is what you asked for, but would probably never have it.

Because the line of work you have is not normal in the first place. Having a family is nearly impossible.

Your work worns you out, and you're very tired of it. You hate it, hate how after the happenings in Racoon city could turn your life upside down forever. Only Leon, Sherry, and Claire were the good ones that happened to you since the incident.

"You really fond of kids, huh?" You heard Leon ask, you glance at him. He's standing beside you as his arms cross above his chest while his gaze holds you. You smiled and hummed in response, having no energy to let out a simple reply.

"Would you like a boy or a girl?" He asked more, your eyebrow raised at his question. "It doesn't matter, does it? And when did you get so curious about these topics?" You asked, smiling while looking at him in a weird way. Hs shrugged his shoulders, playing it cool as his eyes shifted on the family who is now sitted in a table with a huge smile on their faces.

"Is it that bad to ask?" He answered with another question. You just let out a laugh, and finally, your take outs are now ready to go.

You arrived at the hotel at 12 past midnight. Tired but still had the energy to eat. You and Leon sat at your own bed and ate your food there. You share a room since it's too difficult for the both of you to reach out to each other during emergency times. It happened before, and that causes a little argument between the two of you.  

Both of you were quiet as the televesion goes on whatever movie that flashes the channel once you had opened that up.

The movie flashes a scenario of a happy family, just like what you've imagined earlier. You sighed at what you see before chugging down the whiskey that Leon had ordered from the hotel.

"If you didn't went to Racoon City that time. What do you think you're doing now?" You heard Leon ask from the bed beside yours. You looked at him again. Weirded by what you've just heard but a smile growing in your face. He never asked questions like this, so it is pretty weird for you. He raised an eyebrow at your look, but you shook your head to avoid laughing at him and let out a scoff.

"I'll probably have a normal life, obviously. Probably dating some dude or even planning futures with him." You simply answered and started cleaning up your bed. "Sounds nice." He said, making you smile.

"It is.. What about you, though?" You asked back after cleaning your hands with wipes. You went over to Leon's bed and sat at the edge of it, looking over to him while waiting for an answer. He smiled, shaking his head. "Probably married." With you. Of course, he didn't say the last part out loud, even though he really wanted to.

"Damn, you're old." You insulted him, followed by your laugh. He glared at you. "Hey! We just have 3 years age gap, you know?" He protested, but that didn't stop you from making fun of him.

Without a minute passed, both of your comms lit up. You didn't answer and let Leon answer his since you two are in the same room together. "I know you guys are tired, so I asked the higher-ups if they could grant you a  3 days break." Hunnigan started once Leon answered  the call. You snatched the phone from Leon, earning an 'Hey!' from Leon. Suddenly, you had an energy from the upcoming news that Hunnigan might present to you. You feel like this is going to be a good one. 

"And??" You ask Hunnigan, waiting for her to continue her news. "They said yes! Enjoy your vacation now! Take care!" She said from the other line, making you squeal from excitement. "YES! thank you so much, Hunnigan! I love youu!!" You showered her with kisses, making her laugh from the other line.

"You guys deserved it so much, enjoy Paris!" And then she ended the comms. You smile widely as you give back to Leon his phone. He just chuckled and shook his head at how excited you are. Questioning on how much energy you still got inside you.

"We deserve drinks, Leon." You said, looking back at him after the moments of you jumping from happiness.

"Damn right, we do." 

-

"Leon! There! Let's take a picture!" You said, smiling widely as you pull him to the front of Arc de Triomphe. "Geez, slow down." He said as he stood beside you while you raised your hand with the camera and took photos.

"Come on, Leon! Just smile!" Leon rolled his eyes but still smiled while his hands were on his pockets. "Your turn." He said and snatched the camera from your hands. You happily stood in your place and readied yourself for the picture. Your newly bought dress that you bought earlier because you didn't brought much appealing clothes for a vacation is flowy as you tried different posses on.

"Good thing I brought this camera." You said while looking at the photos taken in the camera. "Yeah, I never knew you would get a chance to use that." Leon agreed who's standing beside you.

You pretty much enjoyed your day with Leon going to many pastry shops, museums, and other tourist spots until both of you get tired.  You went back to the hotel after that and went straight to the restaurant of it to eat before going back to your room.

"Im starved." You complained as you sat down waiting for the food you two ordered. "After all you ate whole day?" Leon asked, his lips curving upwards. "Are you calling me greedy?" You asked as your eyebrow raised upwards. "Kinda." He said with a shoulder that shrugged off. You rolled your eyes in response but smiled.

Food arrived, and you both ate peacefully as you both share dishes that you both ordered differently, trying new dishes and commenting on how good or shitty it taste. Finally, one normal day after the Racoon City. You felt normal all of a sudden, with no worries if you would be dead later or tomorrow. No earned scars or bruises, no enemies trying to kill you. Just normal things like normal people have, not some kind of super heroe bullshit.

"I'll use the comfort room." You excused yourself and went to the comfort room not far from the table you and Leon seated at. It felt like a date, and you would be lying if you didn't think of it the whole day. A date with the person you love the most for years, a date with Leon Scott Kennedy.

After your business in the bathroom, you went out and were about to walk back to Leon, but you were stopped by a clueless child who was waiting outside the door of the ladies' room. "Mommy?" He asked when you stepped out.

"Oh, sorry, little one. I'm not your mommy." You said smiling at how cute the child is. HE might be about 4 years old and wearing a blue polo shirt with white pants on. 'So adorable', you thought tonyourself as you try not to pinch his cute pinkish cheeks.

"Did you see her? She went that way." He asked, stuttering in his words as he pointed at the laidies comfort room. You couldn't help but smile at his cuteness. You kneeled down to level his height as you slowly shook yourself. "No baby, I don't think someone is there. Should I check again?" I asked, he nods as an answer. Looking down at his fingers as he plays with it, making you giggle as you stood up again and opened the door to the women's comfort room.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" You asked as you tried to see under the cubicles for a presence of someone. "What's your name, little one?" You asked, looking down at the child. He looks up at you. "Louis." He answered with a shy tone. You smiled in return and thanked him.

"Louis is here, waiting outside!" You said again, trying to look from the door if anyone else is in the room since when you entered it, you noticed that you were alone in there.

After seconds of waiting for answers, you were only greeted by the queitness of the room. You sighed. Did he really saw his mom this way? Or maybe his mother had already left.

You went down to in the child's height again. "Louis, I don't think your mommy is here. Would you like me to help you find her?" You said, asking worriedly. The child nodded with a teary but hopeful eyes. "Don't worry Louis, I'll help you find your mommy." You said with an assuring smile, the child mumbled a 'thank you'.

"Come, let's go look for mommy?" You asked, lending out a hand, which he gladly accepted as he wiped off his tears in his eyes. You smiled and went to your pocket for handkerchief and help him wipe off his tears and snot.

"We'll be okay, Louis. I promise."

Next

[nautiscarader]

Let's spend midnight up on the roof (Wendip,G/T)

Let's spend midnight up on the roof (Wendip,G/T) (Ao3)

Dipper Pines could not believe his sister could fall asleep so easily. Then again, after a week in Gravity Falls, where nearly each day was spent either chasing some mythical creatures or beings or being chased by them, they both deserved rest.

But the journal… a curiosity that trumped gnomes or gobblewonker prevented Dipper from falling asleep. He carefully turned each page, reading what once would have been pure fantasy for him, but now was an exciting - and potentially deadly - possibility.

KNOCK, KNOCK!

Dipper let out a girly shriek and jumped in place when he heard someone knocking on the glass of the triangular window. He was even more surprised by the identity of the intruder.

"Wendy?!", Dipper asked, staring at the red-head, waving at him to let her in.

"'Sup, dude", she asked nonchalantly, "Wanna go up on the roof?"

It took the flabbergasted Dipper a moment to even form a response, and another one to verbalise it.

"Th-the roof?"

"Yeah, like we did earlier. Come on, I have a ladder here."

And with that, she took a step up the rope ladder she was on, giving Dipper a room. He hesitated for a bit, but once she also gave him a hand, he got onto the sill and then followed her up.

One step at a time, Dipper climbed up until he arrived at the same secluded part of the roof from which they were throwing pinecones earlier that day.

"Okay, but why would you go here so late-"

Dipper's voice broke as soon as he looked up, with the answer to his question thrown in his face.

For when his eyes adapted to the darkness, he was met with not just starry sky, but an explosion of lights, spanning his entire field of view. And smack in the middle of it, streaking across the sky like a river full of diamonds was something he only saw pictures of - the Milky Way.

And before he knew it, he was sitting next to Wendy, as his knees gave up, his mouth still open as he tried to absorb as much of the cosmic beauty as possible, finding it difficult to breathe.

"First time seeing something like that, city boy?"

"Yeah… I mean, we've been to a planetarium once, but this… This is so much better."

Dipper moved his head from one side to the other, making Wendy curious.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, trying to find some constellations I know. I mean there is Little Dipper.", he pointed to the group of stars looking like his birthmark.

"Yeah", Wendy said, "I never bothered with them. I just like coming up with my own shapes. And names. Like, there is a star named Beetlejuice, right?"

"No, it's Betelgeuse."

"Beetlejuice"

"Be-tel-geuse", Dipper repeated slowly.

"Bee-tle-juice."

"HEY, GUYS!"

Both Dipper and Wendy jumped in place when they heard a third voice.

"Mabel! What are you doing here?"

"Me?", she countered, "What are YOU doing up so la-"

Mabel stopped as the sudden realisation hit her, her eyes shifting from one to the other.

"Oh, I see…", she spoke with mischievous tone, "Not gonna interrupt you two".

And with a sly smile still lingering on her face, she climbed down the ladder.

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"Beats me.", Wendy shrugged,"So, you wanna do some renaming?"

Dipper hesitated for a moment.

"Uh, sure. Are-are there any rules, or…"

Wendy snickered.

"Man, you do like to overthink stuff. I'll go first… This is Blerblonia, the brightest star in the constellation of Stinking Cheese".

"Where?"

"There." Wendy took his hand traced a wedge-like shape between three stars. "Now you name the other two."

"Okay", Dipper took a moment to come up with something creative. "This one's gonna be Pineconis, and this one Alpha Soda."

"Nice. Now find some cool shape."

"Okay… there! If you connect these five you get…a Lawnmower!"

"How?", Wendy asked, unable to follow his logic.

"How should I know? There is a constellation called 'Hunting Dogs', and all it is are literally two stars. TWO! You know what you can draw with these? A stick. Or maybe a bone."

Wendy laughed.

"Okay, I think I see your lawnmower… So I will name these a Stretched Ferret", she pointed to a few stars lining up. "And the brightest one will be called…Tim"

"Okay, I can see i-Wait, you have used one of my stars!", he protested.

"So what? It's like that crossword-making game, now I can snatch your points."

She shot him with a wicked grin.

"Oh, it is on!", Dipper corrected his position, took a sip from a can and pointed his hand up. "Say goodbye to your Cheese constellation, I'm making a whole Charcuterie Board with Beta Brie-onis and Gamma-Gouda! Here, and here, and here…"

And with that, they spent the next hour or so making up silly names, until even their desire for unrestricted silliness had to move aside when tiredness stepped in. And when Dipper Pines hit the bed, it only took him a few seconds to fall asleep, letting even the precious journal be forgotten for now…

xxxx

Dipper Pines let out a deep sigh, staring at the vast Milky Way spanning the night's sky. In the ten years since he first saw it, on the same roof he was now lying on, it hasn't lost anything of its beauty…

"I thought I'd find you here". Dipper flinched when he heard a familiar voice and saw a familiar face in the hatch. "May I join ya?"

"S-Sure", Dipper replied, still feeling the same fluster towards Wendy as when he was twelve. "I mean, it is your secret spot"

"Heh, not so secret. Pretty much everyone has been here. I should be charging money for it…"

An awkward silence fell between the two. The same silence that started earlier that day when the Pines have returned once more to Gravity Falls, and Wendy realised how much one person can change in a span of a year.

"So…", Dipper spoke again, "Do-do you want to rename some stars?"

"Dude", Wendy shot him with a judgemental stare, "Are you for real?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're right, that is a bit childish, and-"

Wendy burst into laughter.

"Dipper, I'm messing with you", she punched him in the arm, "At least that hasn't changed about you."

She moved closer to her friend, and before he could verbalise any of his worries, Wendy pulled out her phone.

"Actually, I found this cool song that fits what we were doing. Wanna listen?"

Dipper nodded. Wendy took a moment to find it and hit 'play'.

Let's spend midnight up on the roof letting stars stare us in th'face no one is gonna care that we are rediscovering their names.

"Wow, that is pretty spot on", Dipper commented, his eyes meeting Wendy's, her loving gaze being the only response.

When I reach my hand to you How can I disagree with fate? I make my decision: happiness or hate.

Dipper felt her fingers intertwine with his, his heart's beat mixing with the one from the song.

It's not so hard to see, I've got the whole world within my reach especially with you lying next to me.

With Wendy's face just inches away from his, he closed his eyes, still seeing the myriad of stars, including the two brightest ones of emerald shade…

Let's spend midnight up on the roof watching stars with naked eyes, and let everyone see naked us under naked sky.

At the same time, the two young adults jumped back, their eyes open wide and faces covered in various shades of red.

"Woah, woah, this is a lil' heavy."

"Y-yeah, I agree.", Wendy quickly turned the music off, "We're not there yet."

Another long silent pause fell between the two as they both tried to comprehend what Wendy has just blurted out.

"…yet?"

Wendy sighed and without much deliberation jumped the chestnut-haired boy, cutting him off from the starry sky he was staring at.

He wasn't complaining, though.

Okay, so this a first songfic I have ever written.... kinda. There is a Polish song called "The roof", and I heard it on the radio, lying in hospital, I thought "oh, this IS a Wendip song!". So I spent some time not just translating, but also trying to match the rhythm and rhymes - not the whole song, just the chorus and a verse, and I allowed myself to move a line ore two.But I think I haven't failed that much.Lemme know if you want full literal translation to see how I've done my job.

Happy Valentine's day!

[beefromanoff]

Project Mockingbird Ch. 14

summary: the aftermath of the attack, the reunion, the recap.

pairing: Bucky Barnes x OC

author's note: hiiii, not much to say with this one, but I have the next chapter ALMOST done as well so be prepared for a double update this week!

tag list: @bangtanxberm @scott-loki-barnes @kayhi808 @charmedbysarge

(let me know if you want to be added <3)

chapter list

_______________________________________

“We need aerial pickup in the woods outside the generator, my coordinates. Get medical ready, tell them we have an incoming Avenger.” 

Her eyes flicked up to Bucky at the last word, surprise lighting them up. His face was a standard mask of annoyance mixed with…was that relief? Blue eyes trailed over her body before meeting hers once again. He regarded her for a moment before speaking again. 

“So when were you gonna tell me you learned to fly a Quinjet?”

Typical. He does something heroic and chivalrous, but still has the same attitude problem. Some knight in shining armor. “I was waiting t’see if y’brought me a souvenir,” She croaked through her raw, burning throat.

As the smoke from the explosion began to clear, Charlotte's ears were still ringing from the deafening blast. She blinked, trying to regain her bearings as she looked around to assess the damage. Tears streaked through the dirt on her cheeks as her eyes burned, her whole body buzzing at how close she’d come to the end. She’d tried to stand a few moments ago, but nearly vomited at the pain in her ribs. Now seated against the base of a tree, she could feel the pain beginning to cloud her mind as the adrenaline wore off.

"Charlotte, hey, stay with me," Bucky's voice cut through the haze of confusion, filled with concern as he knelt in front of her. “Medical is almost here.”

Groaning, she sat up a little straighter. “Th’shouldn’t come outside the shield,” she paused to cough. “S’too smokey and there could be another detonation. We need t’move.”

Bucky regarded her grimly, eyebrows raised, but didn’t argue. “Okay. C’mon.” He helped Charlotte to her feet, his arm wrapped around her waist, steadying her as she stumbled slightly. She favored her left leg, still peppered with glass from the windshield, putting her arm over his shoulders for stability.

"That was quite the entrance," Charlotte groaned, her voice shaky as she leaned into Bucky's firm grip. “B’you could have stuck the landing a little better."

Bucky offered her a small smile that didn’t meet his eyes, shouldering the majority of her weight as they began to traipse through the shrapnel-littered woods. The pain must be bad if she was cracking jokes, begging for a distraction. 

“Y’could have shown up a little sooner, too.” She forced out between shallow breaths. 

“We stopped for burgers halfway,” He humored her. “You seemed like you had it handled.” He didn’t mention the way they’d been white-knuckled the whole flight back, nearly silent as they prayed they’d make it in time. The way he’d paced the floor, ready to rip the enemy aircraft apart with his bare hands when he finally got to it. The way he heard those words and was ready to throw himself out of the Quinjet just to get to her. She’s not gonna make it.

“D’you bring me one?” Her weight was getting heavier on his shoulder. 

“Yeah. Yeah, we did.” Bucky hoisted her arm higher around his neck, taking more weight off of her leg. “Hope you like mustard.”

As they finally approached the edge of the shield, they were greeted by the sight of a medical cart waiting to transport them back to the safety of the compound. The first rays of dawn were beginning to lighten up the inky sky, breaking up the darkness. When they reached the cart, Charlotte eased herself into the flatbed of the cart with Bucky's assistance, taking a slow breath as she leaned against the edge. Hopping in behind her, Bucky patted the hull of the cart, signaling that they were ready to go. 

The journey back to the main building was quiet, the only sound was the hum of the cart's engine and Charlotte’s occasional sharp breaths when they hit a particularly large bump. Bucky didn’t speak, but his eyes clocked every wince, every muscle tensing in her jaw. He glanced up ahead, seeing the compound buildings beginning to come into view.

As Charlotte sat in the medical cart, her mind was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut as the adrenaline that had fueled her during the attack was nearly gone, leaving her feeling drained and emotionally raw.vShe couldn't shake the feeling of disbelief at the suddenness of the attack, the way it had shattered the peace and security of the compound in an instant. It was a stark reminder of the ever-present threat posed by HYDRA, lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike when least expected. She’d allowed herself to get comfortable, to live in the delusion that there was a life after them. That they’d one day stop looking for her and let her go free. 

That delusion had brought one of the world’s most dangerous organization to the doorstep of the only people who had offered her a home. A family.

The thought of losing any of them was almost too much to bear, a prospect she couldn't even begin to contemplate. To think that it might have been her fault, her presence that lured them here…she couldn’t even let herself finish the thought.

Rounding the final corner and emerging from the treeline, the hangar and main building grew nearer. With them, the crowd of people gathered in front, clapping and cheering. The sound made Charlotte open her eyes. Standing outside the SHIELD headquarters were the two dozen agents who’d been there through the attack, had been under her assumed command. At the front of the crowd stood Calla, clapping furiously with tears in her eyes. Beside her, still in full battle gear, was Sam, Steve, Nat, Wanda, and Peter. All of them looking beautifully clean and unscathed. All of them cheering. Charlotte felt a wave of relief wash over her, finally accepting that it was over. The cart jolted to a stop, whistles and applause filling her ears. There was a knot in her stomach that she wasn’t ready to address yet, a maelstrom of emotions clawing through her, demanding to be felt. Instead, she focused on the physical feelings. People patting her shoulder, squeezing her hands, sliding under her knees and lifting her out of the cart. 

Opening her eyes, Charlotte saw dozens of faces beaming at her. Calla was holding one of her hands, the other was draped around the shoulder of whoever was carrying her. The feeling of vibranium under her knees told her all she needed to know. As Bucky walked through the crowd, they eagerly parted to let her through, the cheers never ceasing. The doors to the medical wing slid open with a whoosh, cool air conditioning wafting over them in contrast to the spring humidity. 

In the distance, she could hear Natasha’s voice telling the agents to give her some space, before Steve thanked them for their bravery and asked them to give their statements to Intelligence before heading home for the end of their shift. There was a hallway, a turn, and then she was being gently set down on the all-too-familiar medical bed. 

“From what I hear, we just need to put your name on the door,” Calla quipped, washing her hands in the corner. 

Charlotte mustered a chuckle, but anything beyond that threatened to set her throat on fire. 

“Okay, let’s get you cleaned up. What hurts the most?” Her eyes raked over Charlotte, fingers assessing each wound. Angling her leg, Charlotte nodded to the shards of glass protruding like spikes all down the side. Calla masked her concern like a true professional. “That seems like a good place to start.” 

She pulled a stool beneath her and slid her hands into a pair of gloves as Maddie, the lab tech, wheeled in a tray of first aid supplies. “Sargeant, would you mind lending a hand?” Calla looked expectantly up at Bucky. 

“Yeah, uh, sure.” He cleared his throat and stepped toward the bed. 

“Grab those scissors in the top drawer,” She nodded her head to the counter behind Bucky, shining a small flashlight in Charlotte’s eyes. He obliged, crossing the room to stand beside the bed. “Thank you. I need you to cut the left leg out of Ms. Rossi’s suit.” 

“You, wait, what?” Bucky looked incredulous. 

“I can’t effectively clean and stitch her up with the suit on, and I can’t take it off while Ms. Rossi still has glass sticking out of her leg. If I pull the glass out before taking the suit off, she’ll lose even more blood.” Her tone was calm but firm as she continued to work, cleaning a wound on Charlotte’s forehead. “So in order to get her taken care of and out of pain as quickly as possible, I need you to take those scissors, cut up the center of her suit, and get me access to the wounds.”

He stood, frozen, beside her bed. 

“Now, Sargent.” 

With that, he sprung into action. Setting the scissors down at the foot of her bed, nimble fingers unlaced her boots, gently removing them and tossing them to the side. They landed on the floor with a solid thump. Cold metal touched her ankle as he lifted the hem of her suit away from her skin and slid one scissor blade beneath it. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he carefully but quickly cut a line up the top of her leg. As he worked, Maddie tugged the fabric over the glass on the side, freeing the wounds. Once the scissors had reached her thigh, Bucky stopped. 

“Good,” Calla pointed. “Now bring the cut around the outside of her thigh so we can peel the fabric back all the way.” 

Charlotte could have sworn he flushed, but he did what he was told. Calla pulled the flap of fabric to the side, revealing a mangled mess of her leg. Blood, old and new, caked her skin and dozens of large pieces of glass stuck out the side, running from her ankle nearly to her hip.

“Sargant, one more thing. Could you hand me that towel?” Calla’s tone was warm and calm, smiling as Bucky dropped it into her hand. Offering it to Charlotte, she gave a clear instruction. “Bite down.”

Bringing the towel to her mouth, Charlotte didn’t have time to question before Maddie dumped a copious amount of antiseptic onto her leg, setting her whole body on fire. She bit into the towel so hard her jaw ached, a muffled scream filling the room and setting her throat ablaze. Out of the corner of her watery eyes, she swore she saw Bucky wince. The wave of pain caused sweat to bead across her forehead, her leg throbbing. They made every effort to work quickly, but that did little to quell the agony. 

Forcing herself to breathe through her nose, Charlotte clenched her eyes shut, telling herself all the same things she had in the past. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. It’ll be over in a minute. Pain is just my body telling me something is wrong, and I already know something is wrong. I don’t need the pain. I don’t feel the pain. I don’t feel th-

“Oh, shit,” Sam’s voice called from the doorway, pulling Calla’s eyes up to his for just a split second as she dropped a particularly large shard of glass onto the tray beside her. Steve and Nat pushed into the room, taking in the scene. Charlotte on the bed, eyes closed and sweat dripping as she bit down onto a towel. Calla and Maddie furiously working on her gruesome left leg, one set of hands carefully extracting shrapnel while the other cleaned and stitched the wounds left behind. Bucky standing beside the bed, hands behind his head and a grim look on his face. His helpless eyes met Steve’s and a look passed between them. Guilt? Understanding? Their unspoken conversation was interrupted by Natasha slid a chair bedside, gripping Charlotte’s right hand as her eyes flicked open. They were red from all the smoke, but alert. 

“Hell of a showing back there,” Nat gave a reassuring grin, squeezing her hand. Charlotte groaned, rolling her eyes. 

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you might be born for this ‘saving the world’ gig after all.” 

Charlotte shot her a sidelong look, narrowing her eyes. Raising her hands defensively, Nat joked, “Listen, all I’m saying is it took Sam years to learn to fly a Quinjet and Bucky still refuses to use comms correctly. You’ve got ‘em both beat.” 

“Hey,” Bucky frowned at her. 

“Am I wrong?” 

Nat’s attempts to distract everyone from the tense situation were effective. Calla and Maddie had worked their way up Charlotte’s leg, staunching the bleeding and leaving a web of dark stitching and angry red cuts in their wake. As Maddie tied off the final stitch, Calla tugged her gloves off with a snap. “Alright, looks like we salvaged the leg.” She winked at Charlotte. “Let’s take a look at those ribs.” 

Attempting to prop herself up on her elbows, Charlotte winced, eyes squeezing shut. Several pairs of hands reached out to support her, Nat being the first to reach her thanks to her proximity. 

“Woah, take it easy,” Calla braced her other arm. “Gentlemen, give us a minute?” She nodded to the door, with Steve, Sam, and Bucky filing out obediently. When the door was shut behind them, she returned her gaze to Charlotte. “Is it alright if we go ahead and remove the suit? We’ll put a medical gown on you, I know how much you love those.” 

Charlotte scoffed but held her arms out long, granting them permission to tug the sleeves off. With the three sets of gentle female hands and a few more slices from the scissors, her suit lay in a stained and crumbled heap on the floor. For the next fifteen minutes, they set to work cleaning her various cuts and abrasions while Nat held her hand. Charlotte closed her eyes and leaned her head against the pillow, the exhaustion catching up with her. She had a difficult time processing all that had happened in the span of a week. The team leaving for their mission, her outburst with the agents, meeting Calla and finding out the bombshell about her relationship with Sam, learning to fly a Quinjet, the attack in the dead of night, almost being blown up, being rescued by Bucky…again, the heroes reception she’d received when they returned. It was too much for her muddled brain to process at the moment. 

“Alright, Char, you’re as good as new. Or at least you will be in a few days.” Calla squeezed her arm. “Thanks, Maddie, you’re good to go back home. Thanks for coming in on such short notice. Take the rest of the day off. Oh, and tell the guys they’re good to come back in.” 

“Thanks, Maddie.” Charlotte’s strained voice called after her. 

“No problem.” Maddie smiled. “I hope I don’t see you again anytime soon.” 

Laughing into a cough, Charlotte adjusted her position against the pillow, the white medical gown just as unflattering as always. Chairs squeaked across the floor as all three men rejoined them and took a position around the bed, looking at her expectantly.

“Good morning,” She raised an eyebrow. 

“Good morning.” Steve chucked. “How do you feel?” 

“How do I look?” 

“Like you just about got blown up,” Sam teased. 

“Yeah, not the best way to get blown.” She yawned, ignoring Steve’s choked laugh and Bucky’s raised eyebrow. “But you should see the other guy.” 

“I don’t think there’s much left to see.” Nat chimed in. 

“Guess that means I did my job.” 

“You did great, Charlotte.” Steve’s tone was warm, reassuring. The atmosphere thickened as smiles faded in favor of a more serious tone. “If you hadn’t been here, hadn’t acted when you did…things would have turned out much differently. Thank you.”

“Yeah, I’ve grown pretty fond of this place.” Natasha squeezed her hand. “Thank you for protecting it.” 

“This place,” Sam stood and crossed the room to stand by Calla, still typing notes into her computer. “And the people inside it. I owe you one.” 

Charlotte smiled. “No, you don’t. I’m pretty fond of it too. The place and the people.” She winked at Calla. 

“Sam, something you’d like to tell us?” Steve raised an eyebrow at Sam’s arm draped around Calla’s shoulders. 

Chuckling, he met Calla’s eyes. “Guys, this is Dr. Calla Arturo. My fiance.” 

Bucky let out a whistle as Steve grinned and stood to hug Sam. Nat simply picked at her nails, winking at the couple, another secret well kept. 

“I’m sorry, we have a lot to catch up on, it sounds like. Can someone order breakfast? With coffee?” Charlotte pleaded. “Lots of coffee?”

“Coming right up.” Nat popped up and strode out of the room to make the order.

Half an hour later, feet still clad in combat boots were propped on the edge of Charlotte’s bed, the smell of coffee filling the air. A cart sat full of discarded, empty dishes near the door.  The food was all but devoured the minute it was wheeled into the room. Now that everyone had given up on going back to sleep as the morning stretched on, Calla made a round, refilling everyone’s coffee before taking a seat beside Sam. 

“So we get to the source of the tremors, and we find nothing. Nada. Zip. It’s a complete ghost town,” Sam explained. “At first, we thought maybe they took everything underground, or it was cloaked somehow. We ran every scan possible, combed through the whole one hundred mile radius. We found nothing. So we camped out overnight, figured we’d do the same thing the next day.”

“We reviewed the initial reports of seismic activity, and sure enough, we were at the exact coordinates.” Nat shrugged. “It seemed like a fluke, somehow the coordinates got skewed. We were positive we missed something, kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then…”

“We got the distress signal from SHIELD.” Bucky met Charlotte’s eyes. “The signal that the compound was under attack.” 

“That was when we knew it was a decoy.” Steve’s eyes looked pained. “We knew it was an attempt to lure us away, leave it vulnerable. The furthest point away without going off-planet. We were just lucky it wasn’t a trap.” 

“So we got the hell out of dodge and came back here.” Nat’s gaze was unfocused, remembering. “We flew back as quickly as we could, we were on the live comm feed with the command center. We heard everything that was going on.”

Charlotte’s blood chilled. They’d listened to everything. Had she sounded like a complete rookie? Her adrenaline had been pumping so strongly, she couldn’t conjure more than a hazy recollection of what she said. 

“We didn’t think we would make it in time.” Steve was somber. “We heard you go back, try to extract the information. When they kept counting down and you still hadn’t gotten out…we were still flying over the woods outside the shield. It wouldn’t have been possible for us to get the jet to the landing pad and get out to you, and there was nowhere to land it with all the trees around you.” He glanced at Bucky, who’d set his jaw defiantly. “As you know, Bucky decided to take matters into his own hands.” 

Charlotte raised her eyebrows at Bucky, waiting for him to chip in. 

“If I would have known saving you would be this demanding of a job, I would have asked for a raise.” His dry tone was nothing new, but for some reason it struck her wrong. 

“I don’t remember calling for your help, Sergeant.” 

“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you’.” 

“Gee, thanks, should I replace our next training session with an hour of groveling and falling at your feet? That seems to be the reaction you’re looking for.” 

“As tempting as that sounds, I think you’ve done enough falling for a while.” He nodded his head at the wrapped, gauzy mess that was her left leg. Charlotte’s hands curled into fists, gripping her coffee mug so tight the ceramic creaked. 

“Anyways,” Natasha cut in pointedly. “We made a note to keep parachutes in every Quinjet from now on, but thankfully, Cap’s shield did the trick this time. We don’t want to lose anyone. We’re a team. A family.” The last word seemed to be directed straight at Bucky, her eyes staring daggers at him, a warning not to be so…Bucky. 

“And now you’re caught up.” Sam joined. “Now tell us what we missed, because clearly it was quite a bit.” 

Calla raised her eyebrows at Charlotte, grinning. They exchanged a look, debating who should launch into the story first. It was Calla who took over, unable to keep her excitement at bay. She told them about her quiet morning after Sam and the rest of the group left, how she’d gone to get coffee and found Charlotte about to choke out one of the agents. A collective groan came from the group when she told them which one. His ego didn’t exactly fly under the radar in their training sessions, either. She told them about Charlotte’s flying lessons, missing surprisingly few details, and their dinner at her apartment, then the ultimate interruption of the attack. 

Calla nodded in agreement, her expression grave as she recalled the moment they had felt the first explosion rock the city. "Charlotte didn't hesitate for a second," she said, her voice tinged with admiration. "It’s like she just…locked in. She took off running before I could even process what was happening, started giving orders the whole way. She’s a natural” Calla gave Charlotte a watery smile. “She made sure everyone had explicit instructions to keep the shields up even if she went down. She flew out not knowing what she’d see or if she’d come back. Everyone is right to call her a hero."

Charlotte winced slightly at the word. It felt unfamiliar, foreign. It wasn’t a good fit. Not when she felt like she’d barely escaped with her life. If it hadn’t been for Bucky, she wouldn’t have. Prick as he might be, he was right. He had saved her. Again. 

Bucky remained silent for the most part, his gaze fixed on Charlotte as she and the others watched Calla recount the events. There was a fire in his eyes, a barely contained anger. Had Charlotte glanced over to see it, she might think it was directed at her. A result of her handling the situation poorly, or not acting as he would have. It was Steve, however, that looked over at him, seeing something else entirely. Bucky wasn’t a touchy-feely person, that much was blatantly apparent. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel at all. In fact, he felt more deeply than most people, the love for those he cared about able to blind him at times. As he sat and watched his friend watch the dark-haired girl on the medical bed, he just knew. 

His friend was utterly blinded by what he was feeling.  Nat raised her mug. “To Charlotte Rossi, Mockingbird, Avenger of the Avengers.” A chorus of agreement sounded around the room, mugs clinking in the air.

“To Charlotte.”