#stark spangled arms engineering

[thegoldenavenger]

guess who watched given and immediately had to shove tony waist-deep into this fucking thing because [they forgot they already ”wrote” this au]

it’s me

unedited as always, light spoilers for given if you havent seen that and wanted to. 

anyways, tony stark is the high profile son of a business mogul based in LA because the mcu loves giving tony centric plot points to howard stark industries is capitalizing on the silicone valley fever.  after a major manic episode tony uproots his life and goes to school in new york, as far as he can physically move away from his stifling family and the pressure. 

tony’s done with building robots for his father’s business, he’s done being manipulated by the adults in his life and he abandons everything from the stark life.  he picks up a guitar, learns how to play it, and never looks back. 

tony finds he likes the life of a garage band.  he glides through classes and focuses on his fingering (not that kind) and absent-mindedly writing down notes for songs he doesn’t really think he’ll write. He really likes being that guy, bringing out a guitar and everyone groans but people request songs anyways.  besides, he’s never really been a fan of wonderwall. 

of course he plays piano, it was that or violin and his dad thought strings were for girls. he’s used to playing in front of a crowd, stiff collared and sweating under the calculating gazes of his parents’ party guests. just another new trick to show off. 

there’s something so indescribably different about playing guitar under cheap lights in a garage, the casually gathered crowd gaining interest and beer and his fingers feel like splitting over the strings of his instrument.  The noise, the whine as he coaxes his guitar to sing, amplified through speakers that thump with his bassist’s steady beat and he can feel the sweat slick down his back making his shirt sticky. 

tony’s lucky to have met the bandmates he had.  Pepper’s a riot on the drums and Rhodey is tony’s constant, reliable bassist and both of them have deigned to take him under their wing even if he’s less experienced and more annoying then they should have to deal with.  Being able to play with them, it’s more than tony could’ve asked for. 

he’s happy with his life, which is why he’s a little less than pleased when he runs into a short, scrawny blond holding a guitar with white knuckled fingers.  tony runs into him, and the boy jolts violently, the guitar slipping the grip like he’d tossed it. it’s a nice guitar, so tony instinctively reaches out for it. 

“why are you keeping the snapped strings on like this?” he asks, taking the chance to inspect the guitar. 

“Give it back.” The boy says. well, demands. Tony does nothing of the sort. Instead he straightens it out and sights down the fret board. 

“it’s a nice guitar, but leaving your strings like this is a bit--”

“I said: give it back!” 

The boy’s grip is surprisingly strong for someone so small, tony thinks distantly.

“Okay! No need to bite my head off about it,” He lets go of the guitar, but doesn’t leave quite yet.  “Look, these will work to replace those...” Tony digs in his bag for a second, taking out an unopened pack of his own replacement strings. Maybe not the exact match, but they’d do well enough. “Get them done as soon as you can, it’s a shame to see something that nice look like that.” 

He gives the packet of strings away and leaves. 

Tony doesn’t think much of this incident.  But he guesses he made more of an impact than he thought because now he’s been ambushed by the same blond boy.  

“Look, I can’t figure out how to change the string. Just show me!” 

“Can’t you, I don’t know? Youtube it or something?” Tony asks. 

“Don’t be an ass! I just--” Tony notices how startlingly blue the boy’s eyes are as he glares to the side. “I can’t undue the pins.”

It feels like pulling teeth, the way the words force their way past the kid’s lips. Like he’s spitting out something bad, admitting that he can’t do something. 

“I don’t have the right tools and I--I don’t want to break it more.” 

His fingers grip the guitar awkwardly, and Tony knows that kid hasn’t played even one chord before.  Probably hasn’t played even a guitar themed rhythm game with how unbalanced he’s holding the body.  

Tony rubs the back of his neck.  

“God, I don’t know why I tried!”

“It’s fine--” Tony blinks as he cut into the kid’s frustrated venom.  

“It’s fine,” he starts again, “I’ll help. Here.” He holds his hand out and is handed the guitar very reluctantly. 

He remembers his first snapped string. The shock, the sharp sting as it flicked against his hand.  But learning to play guitar was painful.  From the blisters to the muscle aches, the endurance. He finds himself smiling. 

He narrates what he does, his hands gliding over the sleek body of the guitar.  “See, you need to keep track of the pins. it’s easier with tools, I can lend you these ones I have an extra set. My name is Tony.” He shifts the guitar so he’s holding it properly, plucking a string and adjusting the peg.

“What? What are you doing?”

“Listen,” He says, as he twists a peg.  The blond gets that look on his face again, the squinty one with angry eyebrows.  Tony laughs, and strums the guitar. 

The chord comes out sharp and clear. 

“There you go, it’s all fixed.” 

Tony thinks it should be the last he sees of him.  Tony’s pretty sharp, so he noticed the graphite smudges on his fingers and the large portfolio on his hip. An art student.  There’s no reason to cross paths again when Tony’s classes are all music based and he should probably start paying rent for how often he’s fallen asleep in the computer labs.  

But apparently that kid isn’t finished with Tony. 

“Teach me to play this.”

Tony blinks. 

“I don’t even know your name.”

“If I tell you, will you teach me to play?”

Tony shrugs. 

“It’s Steve.”

Tony tries walking away. It’s not very effective. 

He can’t really dodge Steve, and finds himself followed all the time now.  Honestly, tony would be a little flattered if Steve didn’t look like he was swallowing a lemon every time Tony catches a glance at his face. 

To be fair, Tony is kind of relishing the attention.  He complains to Rhodey and Pepper and they both roll their eyes at him before they start jamming. It’s after one of these jams that he runs into Steve again. 

He’s standing outside the door, his face with angry looking eyebrows but his eyes watery. His face is red, he doesn’t have a jacket and Tony is getting reacquainted with the cold himself now that he’s let himself out of the steaming jam room. 

“Teach me how to play like that!” 

Tony tries ignoring him, but Steve is determined to follow him, even through the cold, dry night. Even when his breath hitches and his voice turns reedy.  

“Teach me! Teach-- Te--” Steve starts gasping every other breath and Tony spins around.  Steve’s flushed cheeks from the cold have drained away and now he’s pale, pale, pale. 

“Steve!” Tony stops, right there, his hands hovering over Steve like concerned birds, unsure where to touch. Steve looks, if possible, angrier than ever, still trying to speak even while gasping. 

“Please, Steve shut up!” Tony puts his hands over Steve’s mouth, he doesn’t know what to do. “I’ll teach you, or whatever, just! Do you have an inhaler or something?” 

Steve points to his bag, and after Tony is done rifling through it and hands Steve his uncovered rescue inhaler, he’s grinning the smarmiest grin someone having an asthma attack can possibly muster. 

Tony finds himself feeling distinctly played.  He doesn’t mind it as much as he should. 

Steve is an incredibly stubborn student and Tony is perhaps not the most patient teacher.  He grabs Steve’s hands more than once to force them into the right position and demands he try again, and again, and again.  It almost gives him flash backs, but Steve almost dares him to be less than serious about the lessons.  Like it would kill Steve if Tony treated him the least bit kindly. 

Tony brings him to his and Rhodey’s and Pepper’s jam sessions.  He grins and points and says “this is how a real rock star does it,” and plays with a loose fluidity he hasn’t felt in a while.  He sees Steve’s foot tapping and grins widely, like he’s won something.  He feels like he won something.

Steve learns the chords and how to read tabs and even how to restring his own guitar, though Tony finds himself doing it more often then not.  There’s something really endearing about the ferocious way Steve devotes himself to learning guitar.  

They sit next to each other, out of class but on campus.  Tony is demonstrating a fingerstyle more suited to an acoustic guitar even though Steve is learning on an electric. It sounds like shit, but they’re both grinning anyways.  

“Then what kind of music do you like?” Tony asks, shaking out his hand. 

“Just, you know. Stuff.”

“Come on, you have a favorite song, everyone does!” Tony says, blustering. “You already know what I like.”

“I wonder...” Steve says, trailing off. He stares into the middle distance for long enough that Tony is about to laugh to break the sudden tension and switch topics but Steve interrupts him. 

“It’s like...” and he humms something, his hand doing half-aborted conductions as he feels his way through a tune. He trails off and looks into Tony’s startled face.

“Did you, did you write that?”

“Not, I mean, not really. That’s just what came to mind.”

“Freestyle, just now?!” 

Tony can’t tear out his notebook fast enough, transposing the notes steve had hummed onto the page. Steve finally looks something other than stubbornly angry or determined as Tony pries him for another verse, to repeat this melody, to hum that again.

For once, Steve finds himself following along with Tony, watching as his hand rushes to keep up with their conversation, as the notes spill across the page and Tony grabs his guitar half way through to pick his way through half written melodies. 

Tony’s dark hair is short, relatively speaking. It curls at his neck. But his dark, dark eyes are the same and his eyelashes sweep against his cheek as he leans over to check his fingering on the fret. He’s sitting cross legged and when he looks up to grin at Steve, Steve is already walking away. 

“He’s a genius!” Tony starts as he barrels into the jam room. 

“Ohoh?” Rhodey laughs and Pepper dutifully plays the rim shot as Tony slides his carry case off his shoulder.

“I’m not kidding, look, listen!” he demands

tony does his damndest to get steve to write songs for the band.  he reaches out and compliments him and buys him lunch, and new pencils, and compliments him some more and well, he’s out of practice with the whole shmoozing thing now. it’s fun though, and tony thinks steve at least enjoys the attention. 

at least steve enjoys the attention enough to keep brainstorming with tony as they go through their guitar lessons.  steve has a certain way of composing, tony notices.  he pulls notes from the air that tony wouldn’t choose, but it compliments the way he and rhodey and pepper play.  still, tony can’t help but think the notes are being written for someone else. 

tony knows this life can’t go on the way it has been.  He’s been expecting a shoe to drop for years now. but he’d been preparing for his father to fly in and tie him back down to the californian mansion, or maybe someone from his past coming in to wreck his life. 

he’d been a mess before the move. even after it.  he’s always expected it to catch up, or for his touch to ruin the good things in his life now.  between being half in love with the three people who care about him, and spending too long hoping three thousand miles was enough distance to outrun his past, tony knew his number would be coming up soon enough. 

at least he’d been happy for a while. truly, genuinely happy. 

he was the son of a household name, popular in the tabloids for getting in trouble, and the internet was forever he’d been told.  so he was prepared for the past to come up. 

He had just been expecting it to be his past to come knocking. 

bucky barnes is tall, broad, and missing one arm. he’d be impossible to miss and yet somehow tony didn’t notice six feet of pure american beef stalking across the campus. it must be the arm, or lack of arm. maybe how he kind of hunches down to hide it? 

He approaches with only the sound of boots to announce his presence and Tony looks up startled, but it’s only Steve this man has eyes for.

“That my guitar, Stevie?” 

Steve has kind of locked up, his fingers white against their grip on the guitar. His face is turned away, but Tony can see the tenseness of his thin shoulders.  Tony isn’t good for much, but he’s not gonna sit back while Steve faces whatever this is on his own. 

“Well, I don’t see you playing it anytime soon.” Tony says. 

It’s like shattering a mirror, the moment Tony sees the threads holding Steve snap.  He looks at Tony with something like disgust as he jolts to standing. “I’m sorry,” he says, before bolting. 

He leaves the guitar behind. Tony knows it wasn’t him that Steve was apologizing to.

“Was it something I said?” Tony asks the air. 

Tony doesn’t know his name yet, but Bucky Barnes takes the seat across from him.  

“Might’ve been me.” he says, like a confession. 

turns out bucky barnes and steve might’ve been a thing. tony finds out through less than reputable means, but bucky says himself steve feels guilty about the accident that led to bucky’s hospitalization and amputation.  

he used to play guitar

the one tony’s been thinking of as steve’s.  

bucky’s hand is callused the way a working man’s is.  If tony tried he could probably find the places strings wore at until they hardened, but tony doesn’t try.  he can imagine well enough.  like he can imagine the summers spent listening to guitar plucked on windowsills or whatever sickeningly cute domestic childhood things steve and bucky got up to

and, because tony’s never been one to let himself go without a good rubbing in, he’s found a couple ancient recording on the internet of bucky’s old high school recitals.  he can hear the strings of bucky’s guitar through the tinny audio and though and suddenly he knows just who’s fingers the notes for steve’s song was meant for.

tony won’t let steve go without a fight. whether the songs were meant for him to play or not, tony wants to play them.  he wants the chance.  so he drags bucky into the band whether anyone wants that or not. 

bucky can’t play the guitar--right now, tony suspects with enough research and bugging of that cute radiophyscist that could change--but he still wants to reconnect with steve and it’s easy enough to use that to tony’s advantage.  bucky’s kind of a puppy once you get past the six feet some inches and what seems like solid muscle. 

tony takes him aside one day, with his guitar and set him down. “listen,” he says, and plays the skeleton of the song steve had been helping write. 

bucky blinks, recognition in his eyes and tony nods as he plays.  bucky gets it, tony thinks.  steve is supposed to be writing these songs.  he’s good at it, in a way that tony thinks he used to be good at things. like he was creating something worthwhile. 

“this is steve’s?” bucky asks, softly. tony doesn’t have to answer him.  “I remember. it’s familiar like... hmm, how did it go...” bucky’s hand twitches like his fingers want to find a fret board. “like... i never liked the winter / the cold never leaves soon enough / and i’m tired of waiting / for the sun to call your bluff... something like that...” 

Tony’s fingers have stopped strumming, and he stares at Bucky with widened eyes. 

“what?” Bucky asks and Tony whips his arms out, gripping Bucky’s shoulders as if to stop him from bolting.

“you can sing. no one told me you could sing.”

“well, it’s nothing much.”

“No, shut up.  it’s amazing. you have to sing with us.”

It’s almost harder than convincing steve to write with him was. but eventually tony has all his pieces lined up.  steve writing songs, bucky singing. him, pepper and rhodey doing all the hard work. 

tony can sing, but he’s never been drawn to it the way he had been with playing guitar.  RIP to his father’s weird brand of masculinity, but tony just liked strings. Still, he knew enough to help bucky strengthen his voice. to sharpen his consonants and find where his head voice and chest voices lie.  

he plays scales on the guitar and leads bucky through vocal exercises.  It’s like working on fingerwork with steve, only bucky’s got less of a temper.  He’s surprisingly earnest, taking criticism easily and turning around with the proper work.  tony almost feels out of depth with the ease he has coaching bucky.  

where steve would shove and huff and yell when he didn’t get something right, bucky would nod and clear his throat and ask questions before trying again.  steve would roll his eyes and grab tony’s card so he could pay for his half of the lunch. bucky would smile that half smile and thank tony when he picked up the tab. 

it was cute. 

or, well. 

tony makes steve play the scales for bucky and spends a couple weeks jamming with just the band.  he’s rusty, he says, too much teaching means not enough practicing.  bucky seems understanding if melancholy and steve’s face is stubborn as always. 

it’s while all of them are in the jam room that pepper announces they have a gig in two months.  

“it’s a good opportunity to debut some of the new songs we’re working on.” she says. 

“we should start doing group practices at least twice a week,” rhodey says, narrowing his eyes at tony.  

“ah, we don’t actually have lyrics for most of our songs.” tony says, haphazardly. 

“we have some, you can teach bucky those. or you can sing them like always,” pepper says, brightly. 

Bucky seems to perk up, catching tony’s eye. “you have songs?” 

“nothing that special,” tony says. 

“I’d like to learn them with you,” bucky replies. tony blinks. 

“two months is enough time to write lyrics.” steve asserts. “bucky and i have been working on them anyways.” 

“okay.” tony finds himself agreeing with the rest of them. 

They spend some times going through their set list.  Pepper and rhodey bring up some songs they like that bucky and steve will need to learn. they rearrange the order to accommodate the new song steve and bucky have been working on. 

tony bites his lips.  it’s perfect.  steve writing songs for his band. bucky singing in his band.  pepper and rhodey, perfect and constant.  tony’s hands on the neck of his guitar. it’s as perfect as it can get. 

tony’s glad that the impending deadline is at least forcing steve and bucky to come head to head.  he doesn’t know what happened exactly, to drive a wedge between the two in the first place. he doesn’t want to ask. he doesn’t want to know. but being forced to volley lyric timing and melodies back and forth is eating away at the distance between them. 

it’s also driving home the fact that tony’s the last thing on either of their minds.  he can hear it in the chords he picks out, that steve has written for someone else’s hands. and even though he isn’t going to school for literature he can read symbolism when the lyrics are as plain as what bucky’s been mumbling under his breath for hours now. 

“i thought you were done marching to someone else’s tune.” pepper says to him as steve drags bucky through another practice. 

tony shrugs his shoulders. “i think... i think i’m happy we’re all here. together. i think this is happier than i’ve ever been.” he looks down at his hands.  he’s got the calluses from guitar blisters like every other wanna be rock star, but his hands are rough for other reasons.  his knuckles littered with scars from welding, his thumb and forefinger smooth in the places he’d strip wires.  there’s a burn on his palm from touching something that hadn’t quite cooled.  

he might’ve loved building once. that could have been his life. but he’s sure he would have missed out on this: real friends, who cared about him. who wanted to play with him.  he’s not sure he would have had that, if he’d stayed.  

it’s happier than he thinks he deserves, really. 

the date of the gig draws closer and while steve has been writing and rewriting the song chords--and tony and rhodey and pepper all drag themselves through rememorizing the new versions--bucky hasn’t submitted any lyrics.  

it’s troubling but tony can’t help but feel relieved each time practice comes and goes without bucky’s voice rising in some new chorus or verse. 

each time, tony claps his hand against bucky’s shoulder and grins at steve and says, “you can do it!”

“why don’t you help?” rhodey asks one time and tony shrugs. “i think they need it?” he answers. 

and, increasingly, tony is sure he doesn’t want to help write someone else’s love story.  it’s bad enough seeing steve strike through the tabs tony had just played and know it’s because he wasn’t doing it the way bucky would’ve. steve keeps writing for someone who won’t play again. 

tony doesn’t mind standing in that much. a replacement is what he’s been his whole life. 

but having to sit next to steve and bucky and help spell out why they’re having such trouble? tony’s never been a saint. he can’t just say “you like each other!” without any thought to himself. 

ah. 

he thought it. 

“it’s fine, we’ll just use the instrumental version and lead with Star Driver.” he says. 

“I’m fine with it,” Rhodey agrees. 

“Well, Bucky doesn’t have a part in Star Driver.” Pepper points out. 

“Ah, then we’ll start with uh, Monaco, Bucky you practiced the lead for that one, right?” 

Bucky nods but Steve cuts in. 

“why can’t we do it as planned? That’s the way we practiced!”

“because we spent the whole rehearsal playing the same first chords waiting for someone to start. We’re playing tomorrow, there’s no more time!” 

steve, angry faced as always, steps forward like his short, skinny body was ready to fight tony right then. 

“what happened to ‘you can do it!’ did you not actually believe that?”

“Steve, c’mon...”

“we’re out of time! it doesn’t matter if i believe in you or not if you don’t follow up yourselves!” tony says. 

pepper looks to the ceiling like a prayer.

steve scoffs, “it’s not like you ever believed in us in the first place! you just take whatever new shiny thing there is to put in your band so you don’t get bored and have to fly back to california!” 

tony’s fist clenches and rhodey pinches his nose.  

“we don’t have time for this,” rhodey says under his breath but no one listens. 

“whatever.” tony hisses and spins.

the next day is fraught with tension as they prepare for the show.  none of them are willing to back out, even if they’re a mess. 

“did we decide on a set list.” tony asks rhodey.

“well,” rhodey trails off. 

“we’re doing it as planned,” steve interrupts. 

tony gives him an unimpressed glare, “well, i’m good enough at improvising, whatever actually happens.” he says. 

steve clicks his tongue and turns back to his guitar, tuning it. 

tony pulls a face. he glances up at bucky in the middle of it, and feels kind of bad.  bucky’s been nothing but nice, it’s steve that has a bee in his bonnet. but tony’s words probably hit just as hard if not harder for bucky. 

tony clenches his jaw. 

“Ah, Bucky, I...” He trails off as Bucky meets his eyes.

tony can sing. he even writes lyrics.  he’s the front man of the band, or was before he drug bucky into it.  so of course, after steve and hummed the song to him the first time he’d written some lyrics on the back of a napkin because he couldn’t get it out of his head. and when bucky had started outlining a sketch of verse, tony’d rewritten those lyrics like the impressionable boy he’d tried to grow out of. 

he just likes playing guitar more.  he’s always like working with his hands more than talking in front of a crowd.  but as the hot, heavy lights turn on them, and the crowd in the cafe all face them he remembers the first time he’d ever played.  not just guitar but anything at all. 

plucking the ivory keys of a piano, the discordant clanging echoing through the big house.  his mother had clapped and he frozen up, suddenly frightened at the thought of someone looking at him, of seeing him maybe fail.  his mother had slid into the seat next to him, her finger showing him where to hit. 

his father had swung in and scoffed, said if he was old enough to fool around he was old enough to actually learn. none of this coddling, maria, get the boy a real tutor. 

Pepper taps her drumsticks and lays out, her foot keeping a steady beat. Tony automatically joins in, his fingers following muscle memory.  tony’s used to the lights now, he even likes it.  the heat and the attention. 

he hears steve join in, the dual guitar melody working even though steve isn’t very talented yet.  Rhodey jumps in, the bassline smooth and grounding.  

They play the intro, then loop it when bucky misses his cue.  the second time they loop tony glances away from the crowd to see bucky, sweating by the mic. he catches steve’s worried eyes, sees white knuckled fingers again, and he takes a step forward. 

he gets close enough to bucky he can lean into the mic, and bucky jumps at his presence.  tony grins at the crowd. this is planned, he says with his grin and waits until the cue comes up again. 

“how did it go?,” he says into the mic, “i never liked the winter, i’m tired of the sun. as days go on, i fall apart, and i thought this might be fun.” he steps back from the mic and plays breathing in for the next part. 

“I never liked the winter,” bucky’s voice cut in, and if tony hadn’t been expecting it, well. “the rain won’t go away. but it’s fine, you see, because this is just the start.” 

tony let his fingers follow the frets as he leaned into the song. it was a mistake not to practice this. it was a mistake letting bucky debut a song no one in the band had actually heard the full version of. but tony hadn’t been lying when he said he was good at improvising.  

he followed steve’s lead well enough--hell, he knew enough of steve’s style he could ape a riff or two if need be.  and he’d written down enough of bucky’s half thought poems mumbled through jam sessions that he might well have had the whole song compiled in his notebook somewhere. 

He leans back in for the chorus as bucky’s voice swelled. “And even if you let go, there’s something holding on to you!”

the concert is a blur, with the stage lights and the crowd.  tony backs off as bucky finds his feet, manages to get back to his own mic and sing back up from there. it isn’t like he’d imagined. somehow, there’s room on this stage.  hearing bucky sing, for real, for the first time. it’s tugging something inside tony’s chest.  and even though the riff he’s playing wasn’t written for him he finds that there’s a flair here and there, a little space for him to improvise. 

there’s a place for him here. 

he can hardly believe it’s over, just the cheers of the audience that make him aware that his fingers have stopped moving and no one is playing any more.  it’s a rush to get back stage where rhodey and pepper clap his back and yell, and bucky and steve both look ready to have some kind of attack.

“that was good, right?” bucky asks

“good?” steve says, incredulously.

“that was amazing!” tony exclaims. he throws his arms over both their shoulders. “that was something else!” he grins back at pepper at rhodey who are hugging as well. 

“i want to...” bucky starts, then stops. 

“play it again, right?” tony says.

steve is the one who answers yes. 

“we will! we have to!” tony shouts.  he can barely stop from jumping for literal joy.  the sweat under his shirt makes the fabric stick to him when he moves and now that he’s not under the stage lights his skin is chilling fast but hell if he can focus on that. 

“i want to write more songs.” bucky says

“i want to, too.” steve says and they both look at tony, like if he tells them yes or no they’ll listen. 

like maybe they want him to have a say in this.

“i want to play them,” tony answers. he bites his lips. 

“i want to play songs your write for me. and, i want to play songs we write together.” 

he closes his eyes, his heart pounding in his chest. he can feel it again, the weight of someone watching him, the potential of failing in front of someone he cared about, 

“okay,” 

he blinks his eyes open. steve is staring, stubborn and determined, into tony’s face, like tony was a new fingerstyle he had to learn. bucky looked slightly confused.

“i did write the song for you... well, you and steve but--” 

tony inhaled sharply, looking at bucky for what felt like the first time in a long while. exhaling, he lowered his face into his hands. “nooooooo.” he whined. 

“this is why you can’t have nice things, tony!” rhodey yelled from somewhere behind him. 

“you’re always over thinking it!” pepper agreed. 

someone’s hands patted him on the shoulder. “i thought you knew, you were there when i came up with the first lyrics,” 

tony shook his head. 

“it was pretty obvious,” that was steve.

tony stuck a hand out to swat him, but found it caught instead. he looked up. “i guess it’s my fault.” steve said, “i’m not good at explaining things.” 

“neither am i.” tony grinned. “but i think i get it now.” 

“good”

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Rebirth

Chapter 5: Rescue And Requisition

Summary: Steve, aided by Peggy and the Stark siblings, heads to the HYDRA base on a rescue mission, but little does he know Katie has a mission of her own.

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Word Count: 8.2k

A/N:  This series is my contribution of sorts to the CATF 10 Year Anniversary Challenge.  As always, some creative liberties taken. And for anyone who is interested, Katie uses the term Midnight Requisition which is a military term- “To steal, scrounge. To acquire supplies for a unit from another without their approval or knowledge, usually after business hours/dark.” 

This is the LAST catch up post, Chapter 6 onwards is NEW CONTENT!!! And continues the story, I’m so PLEASED finally to be able to share it!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

SSR Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 4

As soon as Howard Stark saw Steve, the Inventor’s face split into a huge grin and he shook his hand with vigour. Katie then explained that they needed his help to go rogue and bust the men out from behind enemy lines, causing her brother’s face to split into a huge grin and nod. The three agents quickly bustled around Howard’s tent, Peggy and Katie talking in low, hushed voices as they hurriedly grabbed various pieces of equipment before the four of them quietly and efficiently left the base, Howard slipping the guards on the perimeter gate a decent wad of cash for their silence.

It took them a little over an hour and was just starting to go dark when they reached the private airfield where Howard had stationed his plane. The waning light suited them, as Katie pointed out, it would be easier for them to operate under the cover of darkness, less chance of being detected. More money exchanged hands, something Steve had always hated, the fact that money seemed to be able to buy you anything you needed no matter how morally corrupt, but at that moment he couldn’t have given less of a shit if he tried. Before long they were in the air, Howard informing them that the trip of just over a hundred and fifty miles would take them roughly an hour and a half, which was far less than the four hours or so he anticipated it would have taken Steve in the jeep.

“You’d have run out of gas after about fifty clicks.” He had teased the soldier who had inwardly groaned as Howard pointed out the flaws in his plan. But then again Steve hadn’t been thinking all that much had he? He never did when it came to the people he cared about. He was a jump first, think later kind of guy, and the serum hadn’t done anything to change that part of his personality.

“So we’re here…” Peggy spoke, leaning forward slightly in her seat opposite Steve, pointing to the map in her hands as he checked the straps on his chute. “The HYDRA camp is in Kreischberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges.” She moved her finger a little right and from the distance it travelled and the scale on the map, Steve estimated they were no more than five miles out.

“Looks like a factory of some kind.” Katie mused, glancing at the map where she sat next to Peggy, flicking her braid back over her shoulder.

“We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep.” Howard called from the front of the aircraft, which was now shaking slightly with a mild bout of turbulence.

“Just get me as close as you can.” Steve called, before he looked back at Katie and Peggy, his voice dropping slightly. “You know you three are gonna be in a lot of trouble at the lab.”

“What else is new?” Katie shrugged, and Steve heard Howard chuckle.

“I’m surprised Old Chester ain’t sent you packing yet, Kiddo.”

“Well like you’re his best mechanical engineer, I’m his best front line agent.” She shrugged, “no offence, Peg.”

“None taken.” Peggy said somewhat sardonically, before she snorted. “We all know I’m the brains behind this operation.”

“Don’t hear me arguing.” Katie shrugged before she looked at Steve. “And you’re gonna be in just as much trouble.”

“Well, where I’m goin’, if anybody yells at me I can just shoot ‘em.” Steve replied, grinning a little. His spirits had been lifted exponentially now he was actually about to do something worthwhile, despite the fact he knew he was going to literally leap feet first into danger.

“They will undoubtedly shoot back.” Peggy fixed him with a look.

“Well,” Steve looked round at his stage prop shield that he had brought with him, which was leaning against the wall of the aircraft, “let’s hope it’s good for somethin’.” His knuckles rapped on the metal as Katie gave a little shake of her head and a side smirk, bending over to check the laces on her boots.

“Agent Carter, if we’re not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late night fondue.” Howard called over his shoulder from the front of the plane and there was a moment’s silence as Peggy shifted a little awkwardly on the seat.

“Jesus, Howie, really? You’re doing this now?” Katie groaned as her brother chuckled.

“Hey, you asked me to come on this kamikaze mission.” He shot back. “I was just trying to lighten the mood a little.”

As the two siblings began to bicker Steve glanced at Peggy as he tugged on his gloves and the Agent rolled her eyes slightly. “Stark is the best civilian pilot I’ve ever seen. He’s mad enough to brave this airspace, we’re lucky to have him.”

“So are you two…do you…” Steve waved his arm between Peggy and Howard “…fondue?”

Peggy looked at him, completely ignoring his question and Steve supposed he couldn’t blame her, it was a personal question after all.  His eyes then flicked to Katie who had stood up and was making her way towards the cockpit, swaying a little with the motion of the aircraft. With a swift flick of her hand she slapped Howard round the back of the head.

“Ouch, Kiddo! Do you want me to crash this thing or what?”

“Stop being a schmuck.” She shot at him before Peggy extended her arm towards Steve, a device held in her hand.

“This is your transponder. Activate it when you’re ready and the signal will lead us straight to you.”

Steve took it from her. “Are you sure this thing works?” he looked at it a little sceptically, turning it over in his hand, his attention flicking to the cockpit.

“It’s been tested more than you, pal.” Howard shot over his shoulder and Steve looked at him before his eyes flicked to Kate who was looking out of the cockpit window straight ahead of them. She raised her arm and pointed at something, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

“Howie…” she began to speak but before she could finish her sentence the plane lurched violently sideways and Steve gripped onto the side as the sky was suddenly filled with flashes and bangs from anti-aircraft shells which exploded all around them. Realising that it was now far too dangerous for them to take him any further, Steve shot to his feet and made his way to the door, grabbing his shield as he went.

“Get back here! We’re taking you all the way in!” Peggy’s voice rose but for the first time since he’d known her, Steve completely ignored the agent, exhaling loudly before he dropped and shuffled to the edge of the plan.

“As soon as I’m free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!” he turned and looked up at Katie and Peggy.

“You can’t give us orders!” Katie scoffed, her hands on her hips.

“The hell I can’t!” Steve looked up at her, unable to stop the cheeky little smirk playing on his face, “I’m a Captain!” and with that he pulled his goggles down and flung himself out into the starry sky. The noise was deafening as he plummeted through the air, the sheer force of falling whipped his body with such ferocity he was sure his hair was going to fly clean off his head. With a sharp tug of the rip cord he deployed his chute and with a sharp jolt he was pulled upwards slightly before he began to fall at a much more civilized pace.

After what seemed like an age, Steve’s sharp eyes spotted the ground rising towards him and he landed heavily in a thud. With an easy, fluid motion he yanked his parachute down to the ground and then untangled himself from the harness. Once he was free, he glanced around and realised he’d landed on the outskirts of a thick, wooded area, the earthy smells of pine, dirt and damp filled his nostrils. He took a moment to get his bearings, pulling out the compass he had in his pants. He knew that from the direction the aircraft had been travelling in he needed to head due north. As the needle settled on the point, he realised he was currently facing East so he spun to his left and was just about to set off at a run when he heard something flying in heavily from above.

He spun round, just in time to see another chute sailing towards him and in a flash he whipped out his pistol as whoever it was landed with a thud some hundred yards or so behind him..

“At ease, Soldier,” a familiar voice, soft and quiet in the cover of night, spoke and Steve felt a cold feeling of utter shock and horror fill his chest.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He hissed as he strode towards Katie who was now untangling herself from her harness.

“Same thing as you.” She replied flippantly as she took a look around and began to take a few steps away from him.

“Are you insane?” He glared at her, his hand wrapping around her arm to stop her. He could have sworn she felt the tremble in his finger tips if it weren't evident in his voice.

“Not last time I checked, no.” She wrenched free of his uncharacteristically brash grip and spun to face him, her eyes blazing at him in the dim moonlight.

“You could get yourself killed!” He pressed, his voice carrying a little more than he'd liked. He failed to keep the element of concern out of it.

“Keep your voice down!”

“Damned it Katie, this wasn’t part of the plan!”

“No, it wasn’t part of YOUR plan.” She shot back. “It was, however, always part of mine and Peg’s.”

“Peggy knows about this?”

“Of course she does.”

“And Howard?”

“No way,” Katie snorted. “I'd guess Peggy is currently getting the full force of one of his verbal bashings.” At that she pulled out her compass. “We need to go North.”

“I know.” Steve said a little sullenly, a growl in his chest.

“So let’s move. Sooner we can fulfil our missions, the better.”

The plural of the word didn’t pass him by and through the downright anger and frustration, and dare he say it, fear he was feeling at the current situation, his logical side started to kick in and he knew there was nothing he could do about any of this now, bar keep her safe. So with a sigh, he shook his head and turned to follow her as she’d begun to walk away, his brain registering her last words.

“Missions?” he asked, stressing the word. “We have more than one?”

“One each.” Katie shot over her shoulder. “You’re on a rescue mission. Mine’s more of a midnight requisition.”

“Midnight requisition? For what?”

“Intel, tech, anything we can get our hands on.” She picked up her pace, scrambling up a slight incline. “I told you in the plane, I’m a damned good field agent and this isn’t my first raid. We’ve done a few over the past couple of months. But they’ve all been bust, well almost all anyway.”

“Bust?” Steve frowned “How?”

“They were smaller Nazi controlled labs.” She continued to speak as she weaved through the forest “The more we raided and the more intel we gathered, the more it became apparent we were right, Schmidt is marching to his own tune.” She paused and looked around. “The fight at Azzano wasn’t his first move, he advanced a load of troops into Norway a month or so ago of his own accord. Then, at Azzano, he opened fire on both Allied and Nazi troops alike.  My guess is, and Peggy agrees, that this base will likely be under his control alone. And probably house more information about where his other ones are hidden.”

“Others?”

“This won’t be the only one.” Katie shrugged as she looked at her compass and turned right. “And without that information, Steve, we’re fighting blind. We can’t defeat HYDRA if we don’t know where they are.”

“You should have told me.” He replied, his tone still a little sullen. He didn’t like being in the dark.

“What, so you could blow the plan in front of my brother?” She scoffed. “He’d have refused to take us had he known what I was planning, he was bad enough when I had a full troop behind me.”

“You led a troop?”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” She chuckled. “You know I’m actually an ‘honorary’ Lieutenant, thanks to Colonel Phillips. Didn’t go down well at first, most of the men weren’t keen on taking orders from a woman.”

“So that’s what you meant when you called them all jerks earlier by the stage.” Despite himself Steve felt a smile curl across his face.

“Yup. They soon fell in line when a few of them ended up with my fist in their mouth. Not to mention a good number also found themselves on the end of a Phillips’ Special.”

“A Phillips Special?”

“Yeah, the term coined for when they’re stripped naked and made to run ten miles round camp by the Colonel.” She shrugged. “For all his bluster, Chester’s actually been really supportive of both me and Peggy. That, and he doesn’t like subordination in any form.”

“You don’t say.” Steve muttered as Katie continued, her foot-falls light and quiet as she weaved her way through the thicket of the trees.

They continued for about an hour, alternating their pace between a jog and a fast walk. Had Steve been on his own he no doubt could have run the entire distance a lot faster but he didn’t raise that issue, and there was no point being frustrated about it either. Firstly, there was nothing he could do about it, secondly, to be fair, Katie kept up a decent enough pace and thirdly, had he been running as fast as he could have he would no doubt have run straight into one of the various HYRDRA patrols they encountered within the woods. As it happened, the pace they were going at was perfect for his sharp senses to alert him whenever a passing patrol was near, enabling them to duck out of sight.

Eventually, the trees began to thin out and through the gloomy mist that had descended, which he had to admit was incredibly useful to keep their presence as covert as possible, Steve saw the perimeter fence and gate to the camp. He stopped dead, his arm out causing Katie to also pause and as he studied the gate, trying to figure out the best way in, he heard the rumble of trucks coming from his side. He spun just in time to see them approaching down the road which led through the wooded area and he crouched down, pulling Katie down with him.  

“Reckon you can make the last one?” He asked, turning to face her.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “They’re not going too fast.”

Steve took another look around before he nodded and the two of them ran for the last truck, Katie springing up first and he heard her give a little sigh as he pulled himself up over the tail gate. “Crap.”

The reason for her curse soon became apparent as Steve landed in the back of the truck and came face to face with two HYDRA guards.

"Fellas." He nodded. There was a split second and they both lunged at him at the same time. He pushed Katie a little harshly to the right as he hit one with straight punch to the face, the other dropping with a groan as Katie had connected a well-aimed boot to his stomach. As both guards tried to scramble to their feet, Steve grabbed both their heads, smashing them together like a pair of cymbals before he tossed them straight out of the back.

“Impressive.” Katie looked at him, smirking and Steve rolled his eyes as she turned and looked carefully through a small tear in the side of the canvas of the truck. “They’re taking us straight in.”

“And then what?”

“I dunno, you tell me, you’re the Star Spangled Man with a Plan after all.”

“Oh for the love of…this isn’t some kind of fucking day’s outing!” He practically exploded and Katie groaned.

“Lighten up, Steve.” She turned away, looking back through the hole in the side of the truck. “It was a joke.”

“Well I see nothing funny about any of this, at all.”

“And you think I do?” Katie turned, her eyes once more full of an angry fire. “Let me tell you, Captain, my unit has seen things these last four months that no one should ever have to see. And you know how we dealt with it? By NOT dealing with it.” She brushed a piece of hair off her face. “We joked, made light of the situations we found ourselves in because they were downright fear inducing, and if we didn’t none of us would have lasted five minutes. So take that stick out of your ass and stop being so goddamned self-righteous.”

Steve blinked, but before he could respond to her angry outburst the truck slowed and then began to reverse. Eventually it came to a stop and Steve could hear someone at the tail of the truck so he gestured for Katie to get behind him, which she did. He simply raised his shield in front of his body and waited. The flap to the back of the truck opened and without hesitation Steve smashed the shield straight into the guard’s face, sending him flying backwards. Quickly and quietly, shield on his arm, he jumped out of the truck, turning to help Katie down and the pair of them turned left, jumping off the raised loading platforms and jogging, all the time keeping their bodies stooped and low.

There were lines and lines of tanks emblazoned with the HYDRA symbol and the two of them shared a glance at one another. It was clear to Steve that Katie and Peggy were right, Schmidt had been gearing HYDRA up to be far more than a science division for some time if this equipment was anything to go by. Together, they weaved their way through the lines of armoured vehicles, taking care to keep to the shadows and out of sight as they made their way towards a smaller outbuilding that looked like it led into the main base.

“Come on.” Steve gently nudged Katie and the pair of them ran across the ground. Steve hopped up onto a tank that was conveniently parked by the annex, offering his hand to Katie to pull her up. They both scrambled onto the flat roof and ran, hopping up onto a slightly higher roof before they reached a set of metal steps which led up the side of the huge base. Katie went first, scrambling as fast as she could up them where she paused on a platform approximately halfway up. She nodded to a thick, iron door which led inside the building and Steve moved to try it, shaking his head.

“It’s locked.”

“Yeah, and you have the strength of like thirty men or whatever.” She rolled her eyes “Open it.”

He looked at her, narrowing his eyes at the fact she was bossing him around but he didn’t argue. He moved towards the door, shaking his head “This isn’t gonna-“ he gave a sharp tug and with a squeal the door pulled straight off the hinges “-work.” He finished lamely, looking from the door to Katie who stood there, arms folded, smirking.

“If only you had as much faith in you as I have.” She said a little sardonically and once more he glared at her. Pulling out her pistol Katie made to go in the door and Steve put his arm out.

“No, I’ll go first.” He stopped her.

“That’s not gonna work because you need to prop the door back up, so when that guard patrol comes back it doesn’t look like someone broke in.” She shook her head. Steve let out an exasperated sigh, more frustrated that she’d pointed out yet another potential issue he hadn’t considered in his haste and she smiled at him, “This is what I’m trained in, stealth.” She shrugged

She stepped inside, keeping herself flattened to the wall as Steve followed, leaning the door back up before he paused as they both looked around, finding themselves in a corridor of sorts.

“Any ideas on which way?” He asked and Katie pondered for a moment.

“Well, the front of the camp is left.” She frowned and Steve nodded his agreement.

“So we go right.”

“Yup.”

“Keep behind me, stay in the shadows.” He couldn’t help himself but instruct her, but to her credit she didn’t argue, merely gave him a little salute as the two of them set off through the factory.

A short while later they reached another door, only this one was guarded, they could see through the etched glass window embedded within it. Steve signalled to Katie to keep back before he knocked. The guard turned and came towards them, and as soon as the door opened Steve punched him hard in the face before smashing his head between the door and the wall. As the guard went down he caught him, pulling him silently out before the two of them headed inside, taking care to shut the door behind them. They appeared now to be in the main munitions storage area of the factory, and it was busy. Guards swarming all over, people driving pickups laden with crates, and each soldier seemed to be carrying guns powered by some form of liquid that was glowing a bright, cobalt blue.  

They dodged between aisles, using whatever they could to keep out of sight and as they snuck between a collection of huge metal containers of some kind, they both paused as they spotted what appeared to be racks of small, rectangular shaped metal items all containing the mysterious blue liquid. It was eerie, like nothing Steve had ever seen before and he gently moved to a closer look, picking one up.

“What the hell is that?” Katie whispered as he turned it over in his hand.

“I have absolutely no idea.” He shrugged “Except, to state the obvious, it looks like some kind of grenade. But, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“We should take them back to the lab.” She stated and Steve nodded his agreement, sticking the item into the pocket of his fatigues before they set off to continue their search heading even deeper into the base.

After another fifteen minutes or so of dodging as many HYDRA agents as they could, and subduing the ones they couldn’t, they reached a large room deep in the belly of the base and Steve took a deep breath as he looked around the room at the huge metal cages that contained easily over a hundred soldiers, if not two. He felt Katie still besides him as she also glanced around, her eyes flashing as she scanned the room, her attention instantly shooting upwards when they saw a warden walking above the cages on some kind of gangway, in which the large, circular tops of the cages were embedded. Steve also spotted another guard weaving his way amongst the large cells on the floor and took a deep breath.

“Right,” he turned to Katie. “I’ll take the one up top first, then I’ll drop down and-“

Katie took an exasperated breath, “don’t you trust me or something?” She hissed.

“Of course I do, but-“

“Then you go up high, I’ll take the one down below. I can do this, I’m not some fairy-tale princess that needs protecting. And whilst I appreciate your chivalry, as well you know, now is not the time, Soldier.”

Steve inhaled deeply and looked at her, her green eyes bored into his and he gave her a sharp nod deciding to go along with her, despite every part of his brain screaming at him not to.  Without looking back, he ran around the side of the large room and found a set of metal steps which led up the side. He took them two at a time and then continued along the raised platform that ran round the side of the room, crouching as he went to keep out of the dim light that the small, barred windows let in. He spotted the guard coming his way and ducked even more, waiting, and once the man was within reach he grabbed his shield from his back and swung it with a huge arm straight at his face. The guard topped backwards and landed heavily on top of one of the cages out cold.

As Steve moved and began to search the guard for his keys, all the prisoners stood up, their eyes wide with shock and surprise.

“And who the hell are you supposed to be?" One of them spoke as the rest continued to simply stare at him in stunned silence and he didn’t miss the way a few of them eyed him up and down, taking in his helmet and shield painted in the stars and stripes of the American Flag.

“I’m…” Steve answered a little breathlessly as he hesitated for a moment as he began to look around for Katie, but he found no sign of her, “Captain America." He finished a little lamely, glancing back down.

"I beg your pardon?" Another man spoke, this one in a British accent as Steve grabbed the keys from the guard’s belt and ran back the way he had come. As heard he ran across the floor to the first cage, he heard the hisses and rumbles of excited murmurs he glanced up to see Katie jogging towards him.

"Merde," one of the prisoners uttered as all heads turned in her direction.

“Language!” Katie turned her eyes to the soldier who had spoken, giving a slight smirk which the man returned as Steve unlocked the cage he was in.

“You okay?” He asked Katie as they moved to the next cage and she nodded.

“Yeah, took him down with a choke hold then kicked him in the face for good measure,” she shrugged as they moved down to the next cage, then the next.

“Well, well, well, Lady Lieutenant!” A tall, wide man spoke and Steve saw Katie’s head snap in his direction, her smirk turning into a huge smile. “What took you so long?”

“Got here as fast as I could. I'll be outta here just as fast when Phillips finds out where I am.” Katie grinned, before she shook her head and sighed, her voice cracking. “Damned it Dum Dum, we thought you were all dead!”

“Take more than that to get rid of us.”

Systematically, they moved through the room, unlocking each cage as they went until they reached the last one, all the time Steve scanning the faces of the prisoners all as they all emerged, shaking hands and hugging one another. But the face he had been hoping to see wasn’t amongst any of them.

"Are there any others?" Steve whispered, pushing his way between the man he knew only as Dum Dum and an Asian man who was holding his dog tags up, looking slightly affronted.  “I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes." He asked, turning to the British soldier who began walking alongside him and Katie.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one has ever come back from it." The British Man spoke.

“Alright,” Steve spoke, considering his options as he continued walking towards the door through which they had entered. "The tree line's northwest, about eighty yards past the gate. Agent Stark knows where it is.” He stopped and turned, nodding towards Katie, his eyes returning back to the group of men “You follow and take your instructions from her, you got it?”

The British man and a few others began to nod, the excitement and anticipation of a fight was easily sensed and Katie stepped forward, shaking her head.

“Steve,” she began to protest but this was one order he was not going to let her ignore.

“You said your mission was requisition.” His eyes locked on hers “So use these guys and do it. Get out fast and give ‘em hell. I'll meet you in the clearing with anybody I find inside."

For a moment he thought she was going to argue but she didn’t. Instead, she took a deep breath and nodded, her eyes still locked onto his. In that split second, Steve hesitated. There was so much he wanted to say, but, he couldn’t find the words to express what he was feeling. He wanted to tell her to stay safe, to keep herself out of danger, make sure she got out alive…but instead he looked at her, swallowing and she gave him a soft smile.

“I know.” She said gently, “you too.”

Steve gave her another curt nod, his chest tightening a little as he turned to go.

"Wait, you know what you're doing?" A soldier shouted after him, and Steve looked back over his shoulder about to answer before he heard Katie quip.

“He’s knocked out Adolf Hitler over two hundred times."

The prisoners furrowed their brows, before glancing around at each other with confused expressions on their faces and despite himself Steve gave a little chuckle, looking at Katie’s grinning face once more before he turned around and jogged out of the door, her voice ringing in his ears as she issued instructions to the troops.

“You heard the Captain. Now the base is heavily armed so we’re absolutely going to have to fight our way out. On the way, we grab as much tech and weapons as we can. Not only to use but also for further analysis by my unit….”

Her voice died down as Steve picked up a jog, shield on his back and headed off back the way they had come.  It wasn’t long before a loud siren rang out and Steve took a deep breath, trying to push his worry away as shouts and loud explosions boomed in his ears, signalling the fight had begun. He continued making his way into the factory, fighting his way through a number of guards easily as gunfire sounded all around him, the angry yells and screams of fighting filled his ears as the freed prisoners began to engage with the HYDRA soldiers.

He fought his way up onto the gangway that circled the main factory floor, dispatching another guard with a swift, hard boot to the abdomen that sent him flying over the railing and he took a look around, the sheer size of the factory floor catching him off guard for a moment before he remembered what he was here to do. Pulling out his pistol he turned right, jogging round the gangway until he hit a dimly lit corridor. He continued round and, as he quickly made his way through in search of the isolation ward, he saw a short man in thick glasses, carrying a briefcase and a number of files in his arms emerge from a room. The man stopped dead, looked at Steve and then turned and sprinted away from him, heading round the corner. Steve began to run after him, but as he passed the room the man had emerged from, he slowed when he heard what sounded like someone talking, mumbling even.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the room, following the sound as it became clearer and then his heart stopped and he grew hot, his breathing deep as he knew that voice. It was weak but still so familiar, even if it had been months since he had heard it.

"Sergeant. 32557…"

He hurried through another door, glancing towards the end of the room and saw the man he’d come to this very place for, strapped to a reclined medical chair.

"Bucky?" Steve shot over, pausing at the side of the chair and looking down at his best friend. Bucky’s eyes didn’t move, instead he kept chanting his rank and number as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. "Oh my God." Steve swallowed was his eyes travelled over Bucky’s body, taking in the restraints that kept him strapped to the chair. He looked tired, weak, sick even, and it hurt Steve to see him in such a state. Bucky had always been the strong one out of the pair of them, normally looking after him. But, well, now it was time to return the favour.  He swallowed and began ripping the straps around him with ease.

"Is that…?"

"It's me. It’s Steve.”

"Steve?" Bucky murmured, his face breaking into a smile as recognition flooded his features.

"Come on." Steve helped Bucky to his feet, holding onto his arms as he steadied himself before he gently reached out and patted the side of his friends face.

"I thought you were dead," Steve sighed as Bucky frowned, his eyes fixed on where Steve’s face would normally have been, and when he instead found himself looking at Steve’s chest, he raised his eyes up wards, puzzlement etched across his face.

"I thought you were smaller.” Bucky swallowed and Steve kept hold of him, helping him to stand upright as he became more coherent. Whilst Bucky was gaining his senses, Steve took a quick glance around and his eyes focussed on a map pinned to the wall, various positions highlighted upon it across Europe. Committing it to memory he then slung Bucky's arm over his shoulder, for the first time ever bearing his friend’s weight.

"Come on," he urged as he began to lead him out of the lab.

"What happened to you?" Bucky asked as Steve pretty much hauled him out of the room, keeping him upright as he stumbled, his feet struggling for traction.

"I joined the Army." Steve replied simply.

As they made their way back down the corridor, Steve felt Bucky becoming able to bear some of his own weight, and then gently nudge at Steve to let him go so he did. Bucky followed behind a pace or two his arm clutched over his ribs.

"Did it hurt?" He suddenly asked.

"A little," Steve replied, his head still looking around.

"Is it permanent?"

"So far."  Steve nodded as they continued.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion which rocked the factory and the two men paused for a second before they picked up the pace. Eventually they emerged onto the gangway Steve had walked round before and immediately recoiled back as another explosion sent a huge ball of fire up into the air. Steve held his shield up to protect his face as Bucky ducked slightly, his hand gripping one of the railings, other hiding his face.  Turning away from the railings, Steve started to head up a set of stairs immediately behind him, Bucky following. The heat was stifling and it made Steve feel like he was stuck in a furnace as they quickly sprinted up the metal steps and emerged onto another gangway. Taking a right, they began to sprint down it, explosions and flames roaring below them. Steve’s brow beaded with sweat and he wiped it with the back of his hand, taking another look down.  He had no idea whether the fire had been started by the men led by Katie or some self-destruction ploy by HYDRA to prevent any of their plans or weapons getting into their hands, either way he found it hard to care. One less base to deal with he supposed.

“Captain America!”

Steve stopped dead, turning to his left to see two men on the other side of the factory by an elevator door. One was the shorter bespectacled man Steve had seen before, and the other he recognised also, but only from photos. Johann Schmidt, HYDRA leader. He was dressed in a long black trench-coat of sorts, a large silver buckle bearing the HYDRA symbol spanned his waist and he turned towards Steve as he handed the other man a silver briefcase.

“How exciting! I'm a great fan of your films.” Schmidt’s thick German accent carried across the factory as he began to walk over the gangway towards Steve. Steve took a deep breath, his jaw setting as he strode towards the man, the anger surging through his body.  “So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive."

At that Steve swung his right arm back and bridged the two or so feet in between him and Schmidt with a punch straight to the man’s face, the impact forcing the HYDRA leader back a few steps.

"You've got no idea," Steve snarled.

Schmidt merely smirked, before standing up, cracking his jaw slightly and Steve frowned at the way the right hand side of his face appeared to have sagged away from his eye socket.  "Haven't I?"

Quickly, the man’s fist flew towards Steve, but equally as quickly he raised his shield to block it. The metal vibrated in his hands and to his utter shock the item dented with the force of Schmidt’s blow. It was then that Steve recalled Erskine telling him how the man had taken the serum, and that it had enhanced him too. In a flash he reached for his pistol but Schmidt was too quick and laded a punch straight to the left hand side of Steve’s jaw. He was knocked completely off his feet, falling backwards onto the metal of the gangway, the pistol he had been holding slid straight out of his hand and over the edge. Schmidt advanced towards Steve but he threw all his weight into a huge double kick, which sent the man sprawling backwards.

As Steve got to his feet, the gangway he was on suddenly began to move backwards, separating him from Schmidt who stood up, the two men not moving a muscle as the metal walkway drew them both back to their respective sides.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!" Schmidt yelled as Steve stood still, his chest heaving, as Schmidt reached up for his face, grabbing at the skin at the left hand side of his jaw. As Steve watched, to his horror, he began to peel back the skin revealing that it was a mask, and underneath was a grotesque, featureless red skull.

Steve swallowed, his face wrinkling up as he tried to understand what the hell he had just seen. What he was still seeing, for that matter.

"You don't have one of those, do you?" Bucky mumbled, his attention also on the man in front of them.

"You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality,” Schmidt tossed the mask down into the flames, Steve following it with his eyes before he glanced back across the factory room “,you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind.” At that Schmidt turned to his right and walked towards the now open elevator “Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!" he gestured with his hand as he made his way into the elevator.

"Then how come you're running?" Steve yelled back. It was a pathetic shot really, all things considered, but it was all Steve could think about saying given what had happened. As expected, Schmidt completely ignored him and merely smirked as he pressed a button to his right and the doors closed.

Steve paused, still not completely sure what the hell had gone on when a large explosion rocked the platform they were stood on, causing both him and Bucky to duck once more from debris that shot up all around them.

They needed a way out. Steve’s eyes fell back on the elevator and he followed the shaft upwards spotting a set of doors right at the top which led, he assumed, to the roof. He followed the line of the ceiling, noticing there was a thin gantry that led over to the side they were on, and he spun round to spot another set of steps which led upwards.

That was it, their only way out.

"Come on," Steve turned around, grabbing Bucky’s arm and leading him to the stairs. "Let's go. Up."

Together they hurriedly climbed and reached the highest walkway that stretched across the factory floor that was now burning, Steve felt, hotter than hell itself. Explosions rocked the catwalks causing everything to shake and Steve glanced at the flimsy gantry that led over to the side they needed to be on, then back to Bucky.

“Let’s go. One at a time.” He moved to help Bucky climb over the railings to allow him to cross first. Bucky made his way tentatively across the thin beam of metal and as he was roughly at the halfway point, it began to give way. Bucky picked up his pace and threw himself off the edge grabbing the railings at the other side, but the gantry collapsed behind him leaving Steve stranded.

Steve watched as Bucky hauled himself over and then tuned to face him, the realisation that Steve was stuck evident on his face as he looked back at him.

"Gotta be a rope or something!" Bucky shouted hopefully. At that point another part of the factory below them fell with a loud crash into the fire below and Steve swallowed, shaking his head.

"Just go! Get out of here!" he bellowed, waving Bucky away. Bucky shook his head, his hands gripping the railing around the walkway.

"No! Not without you!" He screamed back, desperation lacing his tone.

Steve looked over at him, then peered down at the fire, before taking another look up. If he stayed where he was, he was a dead man. If he jumped and didn’t make it, he was a dead man. But if he didn’t jump, well he had no chance of making it at all.

Decision made, he pushed the now broken bars of the railings in front of him, bending it out of the way to create a gap large enough to jump through. He took a few steps back, once more gaging the distance before he sighed and grimaced a little at what he was about to do. His thoughts flashed to Katie, his only comfort out of all of this was that she wasn’t stuck with him now and had a good chance of having made it out. With a deep breath he set off at a sprint before he launched himself off the side, over the huge chasm below. His arms flailed, as did his legs as he spun them to try and maintain momentum, the flames and explosions licking at his boots and with a loud grunt he landed, his arms gripping tightly onto the remainder of the railing beside Bucky. Bucky was quick to grab him, hauling him over, the pair of them falling to the metal walkway. Steve landed with a grunt on his back and took a huge breath, turning to look at Bucky who was led besides him, his chest heaving.  

“Thanks.” Steve panted as Bucky looked at him, incredulously.

“You’re thanking me? Whatever, punk.”

Another large explosion rocked the gangway they were on and they both rolled over, before pushing themselves up, stumbling a little as they made their way hastily through the door, bursting out into the cold night air. Steve took a split second to gather his bearings, his eyes flicking to the front gate of the camp before he located a set of the metal railing type rungs the same as the ones he and Katie had used to gain entry at the side of the building.

“This way.” Steve instructed as he led Bucky towards it, and started to descend, all the time keeping one eye on his friend in case he lost his grip and Steve needed to catch him. When Steve’s feet finally touched down on solid ground he felt like yelling in utter relief, but they weren’t clear yet. Once Bucky landed besides him, they both set off at a sprint across the outside area of the camp. There were still a fair number of soldiers running around but they were too busy trying to escape the burning building to pay him and Bucky any attention. Nevertheless, they kept to the shadows and made their way out of the gate, Steve taking a sharp right following the way he had come with Katie before.

As they walked towards the clearing they were aiming for, the hushed sound of voices and chatter hit their ears and he heard Bucky take a sharp breath.

“Steve?” Bucky asked as Steve continued walking, his feet crunching over the frosty ground under his boots. “Is that…”

“No, it’s not HYDRA.” Steve assured him. “We found a bunch of other prisoners before you, got them out first.”

“We?” Bucky asked, “there was someone else with you?”

“Yeah, it was….” Steve trailed off as they emerged into the clearing and a number of men wheeled round, guns raised. As they spotted who it was, their weapons dropped but before Steve could say anything, Katie pushed through the middle and stopped dead, her chest heaving. She looked a little roughed up- some of her uniform was torn, there was a cut to her right temple, a trickle of blood having seeped down her cheek and the same side of her face looked a little red and bruised, but other than that, she seemed fine.

Steve felt relief flood his system at the sight of her, and without a word he strode quickly towards her and she threw herself at him, wrapping her legs round his waist as he held her tight, one hand supporting her lower back, the other gripping at the back of her head, fisting softly in her untidy hair.

“Thank God.” he mumbled, closing his eyes as he held her close, pressing his face into her hair.

“You’re late.” She stuttered and he let out a splutter of a laugh as he pulled back to look at her. “I thought you were gonna stand me up.”

“Never,” he shook his head, his eyes locking onto hers. They stood still, no attention being paid to anyone around them at all and Steve swallowed, his eyes flicking down to her mouth. His face dropped towards hers, and then a voice spoke from behind them, completely interrupting him and reminding him that firstly he was in the middle of a still heavily occupied with enemy troops forest and secondly, that they were most certainly not alone.

“Well, this is nice.”

Steve closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he set Katie onto her feet, stepping back out of her space, blushing furiously. She peered round him, as he turned and saw Bucky smirking at the pair of them. He jerked his face towards Katie, arching an eyebrow.

“Hey, Doll face.”

“Barnes.” She scanned him up and down, taking in his appearance before she smiled. “Good to see you in one piece.”

“Yeah, I hate to break this little reunion up,” Dum Dum spoke and they all turned to face him, “but I suggest we get moving and tie up with the rest.”

“The rest?” Steve frowned, looking around, and for the first time he noticed that there were a lot less men than he had anticipated “Where…”

“We split into three main groups. We took a few losses but most of us made it. My group managed to take a few vehicles.” Katie explained. “Some kind of tank, two trucks. We also found a huge storehouse too and loaded both trucks with as much as we could take, weapons, ammo, and equipment, what ration packs we could find.” She took a deep breath. “There’s an old abandoned allied base some ten miles South East which someone suggested would be easier for us to hold up in whilst we waited for help. I sent a group ahead with the seriously wounded along with support. Said we would meet them there.”

Steve blinked, astounded at her planning, although he knew he really shouldn’t be. He nodded and then looked around, before a huge explosion made them all jump and Steve turned to see an enormous fireball erupt into the sky signalling that the HYDRA base had finally gone up completely.

“Okay, let’s move.” He instructed, as Katie began to bark out instructions again, before she hurried forward and fell into step alongside Dugan, who pulled out his compass before he pointed and began to bellow out for everyone to make tracks.

“So,” Bucky fell into step alongside Steve, and Steve kept his eyes focussed ahead as they began to walk “Somethin’ going on between you two or…”

“Don’t know what you mean.” Steve replied, but couldn’t help the smirk that spread across his face as he continued to avoid Bucky’s searching glance.

“You’re a punk.” Bucky snorted, nudging him.

“Jerk.” Steve replied simply, the smile on his face growing bigger by the second.

***** Chapter 6

[suitofvibraniumarmor]

Tony Stark’s Exception

Summary: Tony Stark finds something he doesn’t mind being handed to him.  Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader Word Count: 1100 Warnings: Cursing, pregnancy, hospital childbirth.  Square Filled: First Child for @marvelfluffbingo​.  A/N: Tryinggggg to get some characters that aren’t Seb or Bucky for you lovelies since I just wrapped up IYJR and have Buckvember coming up, so be on the lookout this week! Happy Reading :)

After plopping into the backseat of the limo, press and fans nipping at his heels, Tony let out a deep breath. 

“Back to the hotel, boss?” Happy inquired from the driver’s seat. 

Tony squeezed his eyes shut as he thought. “Food first. Then hotel.”

Happy whistled as he carefully pulled away from the curb, the reporters and fans. Tony remembered his phone buzzing a few times in his pocket during the press conference, so he lifted up to dig the device from his pocket; several missed messages from Y/N had him wincing as he dialed her back. 

“Anthony Edward Stark!” she screeched into the phone the moment the line connected. “With all the motherfucking technology you have invented and carry with you, and I can’t get a hold of you when I need to! Are you shitting me! Oh, but let aliens come down through a hole in the sky —”

Tony cleared his throat. “Darling, you seem to be having some kind of emergency. Is it, in fact, aliens coming down through a hole in the sky?”

The depth with which he could hear her inhale told Tony that he was potentially in for an ass-kicking when he made it back to New York. 

“No, not aliens, not a hole in sky, but your fucking firstborn making it’s way through a hole —”

Tony interrupted her again. “Okay, breathe, deep breaths, like they taught you in the class. I’m on my way.” He disconnected the line amidst more screaming from his wife and told Happy to pull over. “I’ve got to get back to New York faster than we can get there in the limo.”

Happy frowned. “The airport is several miles away …”

“Not going in a limo,” Tony mumbled, accessing a setting on his watch as he got out onto the sidewalk. “Baby’s coming, so there’s no time.”

By the time Happy had put the vehicle in park and got out of the driver’s seat, Tony was fully suited up and blasting off toward the opposite coast. 

Sweat had plastered your hair to your face and forehead. The contractions had started so suddenly and progressed so quickly, there was no time for an epidural. Thank God Rhodey was in the city and FRIDAY had been able to contact him quickly — especially since Tony wasn’t answering any of his communication devices. 

“You got this, Y/N, you can do it, c’mon,” Rhodey encouraged, letting you squeeze the hell out of your hand and making sure his back was turned toward the business end of the bed. You didn’t care, but he was sheepish about these things, you guessed. 

You groaned as the urge to push hit you. “I am not a recruit, Rhodes, I am in labor. I appreciate the encouragement but maybe — yeow!”

The doctor finished checking you and started to gown up. “Mrs. Stark, we can’t wait any longer, I’m afraid. Time to push.”

Your whole demeanor changed at that point, from angry and frustrated, to downright afraid. Tears filled your eyes as you begged the doctor to wait just a few more minutes. 

"Tony will be here soon, I know he will! He was in California and it takes time to get here, even with the suit, but he wouldn’t miss this, I know he wouldn’t!”

As if to emphasize your point, a loud thud sounded from the hospital roof. You raised your brow and Rhodey grinned. 

“I would say he’s proving your point,” the man chuckled. 

But the pushing couldn’t wait; neither the doctor, your body, or the baby would have it with any more stalling. Knowing that Tony was there and on his way gave you a bit of hope that he wouldn’t miss your child coming into the world. 

“Hope I didn’t miss the main event,” Tony quipped, breezing into the room. He was huffing and puffing a little, but what did it matter — he was there. 

You let go of Rhodey’s arm (that man quickly excused himself from the room) to grab for Tony’s hand. He kissed you and then your sweaty forehead, apologizing for not being there sooner. 

“Forgiveness will have to come later, Mr. Stark,” the doctor spoke up, “I see a head coming down.”

“That explains the pain,” you groaned. 

Tony climbed on the bed behind you to give you something more sturdy to brace against. He held both of your hands in his set his cheek against your head. 

“We’ve got this, babe. You and me, almost three. Here we go.”

He kissed your cheek as you bore down and worked on pushing that baby out. Your labor had progressed quickly and delivery wasn’t so different: three pushes and a crying, screaming little girl made her way into the world. 

The doctors and nurses made quick work of cleaning her off after Tony cut the umbilical cord. He climbed off the bed so that you could be taken care, going between checking on you and stealing peeks at your daughter. 

When you were finally cleaned up and stitched up, a nurse came over with a swaddled bundle of pink and approached Tony. 

“Mom warned us you don’t like to be handed things, Dad, but …” 

“There’s an exception to every rule.” Tony held his hands out to take the baby into his arms. He held her so carefully, you gave a tired chuckle. 

“She won’t break, love.”

He carefully sat himself next to you and positioned the baby so she was half with you, half with him, requiring one arm from each of you to hold her stable. Tony put his free arm around you and shook his head. 

“Just can’t believe I managed something so amazing,” he breathed. 

You leaned your head against his shoulder and looked at your daughter. “And that’s coming from Iron Man.”

Tony laughed. “Iron Man pales in comparison to her.”

“I don’t want to bring you down, but I tend to agree,” you teased. “Hey, where’s Happy?”

“Probably on a plane from California to New York,” Tony answered, unfazed by anything save for his daughter. “You think she’ll be an engineer?”

You pretended to think for a moment, then shrugged. “We’ve got time for her figure it out.”

“Hey,” Tony beckoned; you looked up at him. “Thank you, for the most amazing gift anyone’s given me.”

You smiled. “It’s a gift for both of us. I love you, Tony.”

“Love you more, Y/N.” He pushed the blanket away from the baby’s face and gently ran his finger over her soft cheek. “And I love you, tiny thing, more than you’ll ever know.”

AllOfTheThings: @captain-s-rogers​ @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ @hurricanerin​ @horsesandbandsforlife​ @im-not-an-armrest-im-short​ @shynara51​ @sea040561​ @pinknerdpanda​ @xtina2191​ @jackryanplz​ @beakami​ @heartsaved​ @fullprunerebelstatesman​ @blackwidowismyhomegirl​ @averyrogers83​ @jennmurawski13​ @connie326​ @auriandthepussicats​

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Rebirth

Chapter 5: Rescue And Requisition

Summary: Steve heads to the HYDRA base on a rescue mission…and little does he know Katie has a mission of her own.

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N:  Once again, huge thanks to my beta readers and plugger of mind gaps where I was blocked @icanfeelastormbrewing​ and to @southerngracela​ from before she headed off on her little break. Any mistakes are my own. I’ll probably spot them once posted but, whatever!

For anyone who is interested, Katie uses the term Midnight Requisition which is a military term- “To steal, scrounge. To acquire supplies for a unit from another without their approval or knowledge, usually after business hours/dark.” For this one I have to thank a total douchebag I work with who I affectionately refer to ass Captain Asshat. Because he is a Captain, and an asshat. When I moved onto base a few years back he gave me a glossary of well used Military slangwords. But he’s still a total dick…

SSR Masterlist //  WIYPT Masterlist 

Howard had taken little convincing to agree to their request, Steve got the impression he was as fed up with the SSR’s stalling as Katie was. As soon as he had seen Steve, the Inventor’s face had split into a huge grin and he’d shaken his hand with vigour. Katie had then explained that they needed his help to go rogue and bust the men out from behind enemy lines, causing her brother’s face to split into a huge grin and nod. The three agents quickly bustled around Howard’s tent, Peggy and Katie talking in low, hushed voices as they hurriedly grabbed various pieces of equipment before quietly and efficiently leaving the base, Howard slipping the guards on the perimeter gate a decent wad of cash for their silence.

It took them a little over an hour and was just starting to go dark when they reached the private airfield where Howard had stationed his plane. The waning light suited them, as Katie pointed out, it would be easier for them to operate under the cover of darkness, less chance of being detected. More money exchanged hands, something Steve had always hated, the fact that money seemed to be able to buy you anything you needed no matter how morally corrupt, but at that moment he couldn’t have given less of a damned if he tried. Before long they were in the air, Howard informing them that the trip of just over a hundred and fifty miles would take them roughly an hour and a half, which was far less than the four hours or so he anticipated it would have taken Steve in the jeep.

“You’d have run out of gas after about fifty clicks.” He had teased the soldier who had inwardly groaned as Howard pointed out the flaws in his plan. But then again Steve hadn’t been thinking all that much had he? He never did when it came to the people he cared about. He was a jump first, think later kind of guy, and the serum hadn’t done anything to change that part of his personality. Dubbing him the star spangled man with a plan felt a little ironic all things considered when you thought about it, especially after his last performance.  All that considered, he was even more grateful that Katie and Peggy had appeared when they had. Another happy coincidence…

“So we’re here…” Peggy spoke, leaning forward slightly in her seat opposite Steve, pointing to the map in her hands as he checked the straps on his chute. “The HYDRA camp is in Kreischberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges.” She moved her finger a little right and from the distance it travelled and the scale on the map, Steve estimated they were no more than five miles out.

“Looks like a factory of some kind.” Katie mused, glancing at the map where she sat next to Peggy, flicking her braid back over her shoulder.

“We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep.” Howard called from the front of the aircraft, which was now shaking slightly with a mild bout of turbulence.

“Just get me as close as you can.” Steve called, before he looked back at Katie and Peggy, his voice dropping slightly. “You know you three are gonna be in a lot of trouble at the lab.”

“What else is new?” Katie shrugged, and Steve heard Howard chuckle.

“I’m surprised Old Chester ain’t sent you packing yet, Kiddo.”

“Well like you’re his best mechanical engineer, I’m his best front line agent.” She shrugged, “No offence, Peg.”

“None taken.” Peggy said somewhat sardonically, before she snorted “We all know I’m the brains behind this operation.”

“Don’t hear me arguing.” Katie shrugged before she looked at Steve “And you’re gonna be in just as much trouble.”

“Well, where I’m goin’, if anybody yells at me I can just shoot ‘em.” Steve replied, grinning a little. His spirits had been lifted exponentially now he was actually about to do something worthwhile, despite the fact he knew he was going to literally leap feet first into danger.

“They will undoubtedly shoot back.” Peggy fixed him with a look.

“Well…” Steve looked round at his stage prop shield that he had brought with him, which was leaning against the wall of the aircraft “let’s hope it’s good for somethin’.” His knuckles rapped on the metal as Katie gave a little shake of her head and a side smirk, bending over to check the laces on her boots.

“Agent Carter, if we’re not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late night fondue.” Howard called over his shoulder from the front of the plane and there was a moment’s silence as Peggy shifted a little awkwardly on the seat.

“Jesus, Howie, really? You’re doing this now?” Katie groaned as her brother chuckled.

“Hey, you asked me to come on this kamikaze mission.” He shot back. “I was just trying to lighten the mood a little.”

As the two siblings began to bicker Steve glanced at Peggy as he tugged on his gloves and the Agent rolled her eyes slightly. “Stark is the best civilian pilot I’ve ever seen. He’s mad enough to brave this airspace, we’re lucky to have him.”

“So are you two…do you…” Steve waved his arm between Peggy and Howard “…fondue?”

Peggy looked at him, completely ignoring his question and Steve supposed he couldn’t blame her, it was a personal question after all.  His eyes then flicked to Katie who had stood up and was making her way towards the cockpit, swaying a little with the motion of the aircraft. With a swift flick of her hand she slapped Howard round the back of the head.

“Ouch, Kiddo! Do you want me to crash this thing or what?”

“Stop being a schmuck.” She shot at him before Peggy extended her arm towards Steve, a device held in her hand.

“This is your transponder. Activate it when you’re ready and the signal will lead us straight to you.”

Steve took it from her. “Are you sure this thing works?” he looked at it a little sceptically, turning it over in his hand, his attention flicking to the cockpit.

“It’s been tested more than you, pal.” Howard shot over his shoulder and Steve looked at him before his eyes flicked to Kate who was looking out of the cockpit window straight ahead of them. She raised her arm and pointed at something, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

“Howie…” she began to speak but before she could finish her sentence the plane lurched violently sideways and Steve gripped onto the side as the sky was suddenly filled with flashes and bangs from anti-aircraft shells which exploded all around them. Realising that it was now far too dangerous for them to take him any further, Steve shot to his feet and made his way to the door, grabbing his shield as he went.

“Get back here! We’re taking you all the way in!” Peggy’s voice rose but for the first time since he’d known her, Steve completely ignored the agent, exhaling loudly before he dropped and shuffled to the edge of the plan.

“As soon as I’m free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!” he turned and looked up at Katie and Peggy.

“You can’t give us orders!” Katie scoffed, her hands on her hips.

“The hell I can’t!” Steve looked up at her, unable to stop the cheeky little smirk playing on his face “I’m a Captain!” and with that he pulled his goggles down and flung himself out into the starry sky. The noise was deafening as he plummeted through the air, the sheer force of falling whipped his body with such ferocity he was sure his hair was going to fly clean off his head. With a sharp tug of the rip cord he deployed his chute and with a sharp jolt he was pulled upwards slightly before he began to fall at a much more civilized pace.

After what seemed like an age, Steve’s sharp eyes spotted the ground rising towards him and he landed heavily in a thud. With an easy, fluid motion he yanked his parachute down to the ground and then untangled himself from the harness. Once he was free he glanced around and realised he’d landed on the outskirts of a thick, wooded area, the earthy smells of pine, dirt and damp filled his nostrils. He took a moment to get his bearings, pulling out the compass he had in his pants. He knew that from the direction the aircraft had been travelling in he needed to head due north. As the needle settled on the point, he realised he was currently facing East so he spun to his left and was just about to set off at a run when he heard something flying in heavily from above.

He spun round, just in time to see another chute sailing towards him and in a flash he whipped out his pistol as whoever it was landed with a thud some hundred yards or so behind him..

“At ease, Soldier…” a familiar voice, soft and quiet in the cover of night, spoke and Steve felt a cold feeling of utter shock and horror fill his chest.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He hissed as he strode towards Katie who was now untangling herself from her harness.

“Same thing as you.” She replied flippantly as she took a look around and began to take a few steps away from him.

“Are you insane?” He glared at her, his hand wrapping around her arm to stop her. He could have sworn she felt the tremble in his finger tips of it weren't evident in his voice.

“Not last time I checked, no.” She wrenched free of his uncharacteristically brash grip and spun to face him, her eyes blazing at him in the dim moonlight.

“You could get yourself killed!” He pressed, his voice carrying a little more than he'd liked. He failed to keep the element of concern out of it.

“Keep your voice down!”

“Damned it Katie, this wasn’t part of the plan!”

“No, it wasn’t part of YOUR plan.” She shot back. “It was, however, always part of mine and Peg’s.”

“Peggy knows about this?”

“Of course she does.”

“And Howard?”

“No way,” Katie snorted. “I'd guess Peggy is currently getting the full force of one of his verbal bashings.” At that she pulled out her compass “We need to go North.”

“I know.” Steve said a little sullenly, a growl in his chest.

“So let’s move. Sooner we can fulfil our missions, the better.”

The plural of the word didn’t pass him by and through the downright anger and frustration, and dare he say it, fear he was feeling at the current situation, his logical side started to kick in and he knew there was nothing he could do about any of this now, bar keep her safe. So with a sigh, he shook his head and turned to follow her as she’d begun to walk away, his brain registering her last words.

“Missions?” he asked, stressing the word “We have more than one?”

“One each.” Katie shot over her shoulder. “You’re on a rescue mission. Mine’s more of a midnight requisition.”

“Midnight requisition? For what?”

“Intel, tech, anything we can get our hands on.” She picked up her pace, scrambling up a slight incline. “I told you in the plane, I’m a damned good field agent and this isn’t my first raid. We’ve done a few over the past couple of months. But they’ve all been bust, well almost all anyway.”

“Bust?” Steve frowned “How?”

“They were smaller Nazi controlled labs.” She continued to speak as she weaved through the forest “The more we raided and the more intel we gathered, the more it became apparent that Schmidt was marching to his own tune.” She paused and looked around. “The fight at Azzano wasn’t his first move, he advanced a load of troops into Norway a month or so ago of his own accord. Then, at Azzano, he opened fire on both Allied and Nazi troops alike.  My guess is, and Peggy agrees, that this base will likely be under his control alone. And probably house more information about where his other ones are hidden.”

“Others, you mean…”

“Yes, others. This won’t be the only one.” Katie shrugged as she looked at her compass and turned right “And without that information, Steve, we’re fighting blind. We can’t defeat HYDRA if we don’t know where they are.”

“You should have told me.” He replied, his tone still a little sullen. He didn’t like being in the dark.

“What, so you could blow the plan in front of my brother?” She scoffed “He’d have refused to take us had he known what I was planning, he was bad enough when I had a full troop behind me.”

“You led a troop?”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” She chuckled “You know I’m actually an ‘honorary’ Lieutenant, thanks to Colonel Phillips. Didn’t go down well at first, most of the men weren’t keen on taking orders from a woman.”

“So that’s what you meant when you called them all jerks earlier by the stage.” Despite himself Steve felt a smile curl across his face.

“Yup. They soon fell in line when a few of them ended up with my fist in their mouth. Not to mention a good number also found themselves on the end of a Phillips’ Special.”

“A Phillips Special?”

“Yeah, the term coined for when they’re stripped naked and made to run 10 miles round camp by the Colonel.” she shrugged “For all his bluster, Chester’s actually been really supportive of both me and Peggy. That, and he doesn’t like subordination in any form.”

“You don’t say.” Steve muttered as Katie continued, her foot-falls light and quiet as she weaved her way through the thicket of the trees.

They continued for about an hour, alternating their pace between a jog and a fast walk. Had Steve been on his own he no doubt could have run the entire distance a lot faster but he didn’t raise that issue, and there was no point being frustrated about it either. Firstly, there was nothing he could do about it, secondly, to be fair, Katie kept up a decent enough pace and thirdly, had he been running as fast as he could have he would no doubt have run straight into one of the various HYRDRA patrols they encountered within the woods. As it happened, the pace they were going at was perfect for his sharp senses to alert him whenever a passing patrol was near, enabling them to duck out of sight.

Eventually, the trees began to thin out and through the gloomy mist that had descended, which he had to admit was incredibly useful to keep their presence as covert as possible, Steve saw the perimeter fence and gate to the camp. He stopped dead, his arm out causing Katie to also pause and as he studied the gate, trying to figure out the best way in, he heard the rumble of trucks coming from his side. He spun just in time to see them approaching down the road which led through the wooded area and he crouched down, pulling Katie down with him.  

“Reckon you can make the last one?” He asked, turning to face her.

“Yeah.” She nodded “They’re not going too fast.”

Steve took another look around before he nodded and the two of them ran for the last truck, Katie springing up first and he heard her give a little sigh as he pulled himself up over the tail gate. “Crap.”

The reason or her curse soon became apparent as Steve landed in the back of the truck and came face to face with two HYDRA guards.

"Fellas." He nodded. There was a split second and they both lunged at him at the same time. He pushed Katie a little harshly to the right as he hit one with straight punch to the face, the other dropping with a groan as Katie had connected a well-aimed boot to his stomach. As both guards tried to scramble to their feet, Steve grabbed both their heads, smashing them together like a pair of cymbals before he tossed them straight out of the back.

“Impressive.” Katie looked at him, smirking and Steve rolled his eyes as she turned and looked carefully through a small tear in the side of the canvas of the truck. “They’re taking us straight in…”

“And then what?”

“I dunno, you tell me, you’re the Star Spangled Man with a Plan after all.”

“Oh for the love of…this isn’t some kind of fucking day outing!” He practically exploded and Katie groaned.

“Lighten up Steve.” She turned away, looking back through the hole in the side of the truck. “It was a joke.”

“Well I see nothing funny about any of this, at all.”

“And you think I do?” she turned, her eyes once more full of an angry fire “Let me tell you, Captain, my unit has seen things these last four months that no one should ever have to see. And you know how we dealt with it? By NOT dealing with it.” She brushed a piece of hair off her face “We joked, made light of the situations we found ourselves in because they were downright fear inducing, and if we didn’t none of us would have lasted five minutes. So take the stick out of your ass and get a fucking grip of yourself.”

Steve blinked, but before he could respond to her angry outburst the truck slowed and then began to reverse. Eventually it came to a stop and Steve could hear someone at the tail of the truck so he gestured for Katie to get behind him, which she did. He simply raised his shield in front of his body and waited. The flap to the back of the truck opened and without hesitation Steve smashed the shield straight into the guard’s face, sending him flying backwards. Quickly and quietly, shield on his arm, he jumped out of the truck, turning to help Katie down and the pair of them turned left, jumping off the raised loading platforms and jogging, all the time keeping their bodies stooped and low.

There were lines and lines of tanks emblazoned with the HYDRA symbol and the two of them shared a glance at one another. It was clear to Steve that Katie and Peggy were right, Schmidt had been gearing HYDRA up to be far more than a science division for some time if this equipment was anything to go by. Together, they weaved their way through the lines of armoured vehicles, taking care to keep to the shadows and out of sight as they made their way towards a smaller outbuilding that looked like it led into the main base.

“Come on…” Steve gently nudged Katie and the pair of them across the ground, and Steve hopped up onto a tank that was conveniently parked by the annex, offering his hand to Katie to pull her up. They both scrambled onto the flat roof and ran, hopping up onto a slightly higher roof before they reached a set of metal steps which led up the side of the huge base. Katie went first, scrambling as fast as she could up them where she paused on a platform approximately halfway up. She nodded to a thick, iron door which led inside the building and Steve moved to try it, shaking his head.

“It’s locked.”

“Yeah, and you have the strength of like thirty men or whatever.” She rolled her eyes “Open it.”

He looked at her, narrowing his eyes at the fact she was bossing him around but he didn’t argue. He moved towards the door, shaking his head “This isn’t gonna-“ he gave a sharp tug and with a squeal the door pulled straight off the hinges “-work.” He finished lamely, looking from the door to Katie who stood there, arms folded, smirking.

“If only you had as much faith in you as I have.” She said a little sardonically and once more he glared at her. Pulling out her pistol Katie made to go in the door and Steve put his arm out.

“No, I’ll go first.” He stopped her.

“That’s not gonna work because you need to prop the door back up, so when that guard patrol comes back it doesn’t look like someone broke in. Amateurs!” She shook her head. Steve let out an exasperated sigh, more frustrated that she’d pointed out yet another potential issue he hadn’t considered in his haste and she smiled at him, “This is what I’m trained in, stealth.” She shrugged

She stepped inside, keeping herself flattened to the wall as Steve followed, leaning the door back up before he paused as they both looked around, finding themselves in a corridor of sorts.

“Any ideas on which way?” He asked and Katie pondered for a moment.

“Well, the front of the camp is left.” She frowned and Steve nodded his agreement.

“So we go right,” he stated, “In deeper.”

“Okay.”

“Keep behind me, stay in the shadows.” He couldn’t help himself but instruct her, but to her credit she didn’t argue, merely gave him a little salute as the two of them set off through the factory.

A short while later they reached another door, only this one was guarded, they could see through the etched glass window embedded within it. Steve signalled to Katie to keep back before he knocked. The guard turned and came towards them, and as soon as the door opened Steve punched him hard in the face before smashing his head between the door and the wall. As the guard went down he caught him, pulling him silently out before the two of them headed inside, taking care to shut the door behind them. They appeared to be in the main munitions storage area of the factory, now and it was busy. Guards swarming all over, people driving pickups laden with crates, and each soldier seemed to be carrying guns powered by some form of liquid that was glowing a bright, cobalt blue.  

They dodged between aisles, using whatever they could to keep out of sight and as they snuck between a collection of huge metal containers of some kind, they both paused as they spotted what appeared to be racks of small, rectangular shaped metal items all containing the mysterious blue liquid. It was eerie, like nothing Steve had ever seen before and he gently moved to a closer look, picking one up.

“What the hell is that?” Katie whispered as he turned it over in his hand.

“I have absolutely no idea.” He shrugged “Except, to state the obvious, it looks like some kind of grenade. But, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“We should take them back to the lab.” She stated and Steve nodded his agreement, sticking the item into the pocket of his fatigues before they set off to continue their search heading even deeper into the base.

After another fifteen minutes or so of dodging as many HYDRA agents as they could, and subduing the ones they couldn’t, they reached a large room deep in the belly of the base and Steve took a deep breath as he looked around the room at the large metal cages that contained easily over a hundred soldiers, if not two. He felt Katie still besides him as she also glanced around, her eyes flashing as she scanned the room, her attention instantly shooting upwards as they saw a warden who walked above the cages on some kind of gangway, in which the large, circular tops of the cages were embedded. Steve also spotted another guard weaving his way amongst the large cells on the floor and took a deep breath.

“Right,” he turned to Katie. “I’ll take the one up top first, then I’ll drop down and-“

Katie took an exasperated breath, “Don’t you trust me or something?” She hissed.

“Of course I do, but-“

“Then you go up high, I’ll take the one down below. I can do this, I’m not some fairy-tale princess that needs protecting. And whilst I appreciate your chivalry, as well you know, now is not the time, Soldier.”

Steve inhaled deeply and looked at her, her green eyes bored into his and he gave her a sharp nod deciding to go along with her, despite every part of his brain screaming at him not to.  Without looking back, he ran around the side of the large room and found a set of metal steps which led up the side. He took them two at a time and then continued along the raised platform that ran round the side of the room, crouching as he went to keep out of the dim light that the small, barred windows let in. He spotted the guard coming his way and ducked even more, waiting, and once the man was within reach he grabbed his shield from his back and swung it with a huge arm straight at his face. The guard topped backwards and landed heavily on top of one of the cages out cold.

As Steve moved and began to search the guard for his keys, all the prisoners stood up, their eyes wide with shock and surprise.

“And who the hell are you supposed to be?" One of them spoke as the rest continued to simply stare at him in stunned silence and he didn’t miss the way a few of them eyed him up and down, taking in his helmet and shield painted in the stars and stripes of the American Flag.

“I’m…” Steve answered a little breathlessly as he hesitated for a moment as he began to look around for Katie, but he found no sign of her “Captain America." He finished a little lamely, glancing back down.

"I beg your pardon?" Another man spoke, this one in a British accent as Steve grabbed the keys from the guard’s belt and ran back the way he had come. As heard he ran across the floor to the first cage he heard the hisses and rumbles of excited murmurs he glanced up to see Katie jogging towards him.

"Merde," one of the prisoners uttered as all heads turned in her direction.

“Language!” Katie turned her eyes to the soldier who had spoken, giving a slight smirk which the man returned as Steve unlocked the cage he was in.

“You okay?” He asked Katie as they moved to the next cage and she nodded.

“Yeah, took him down with a choke hold then kicked him in the face for good measure” she shrugged as they moved down to the next cage, then the next.

“Well, well, well, Lady Lieutenant…” a tall, wide man spoke and Steve saw Katie’s head snap in his direction, her smirk turning into a huge smile. “What took you so long?”

“Got here as fast as I could. I'll be outta here just as fast when Phillips finds out where I am.” Katie grinned, before she shook her head sighed, her voice cracking. “Damned it Dum Dum…we thought you were all dead!”

“Take more than that to get rid of us”

Systematically they moved through the room, unlocking each cage as they went until they reached the last one, all the time Steve scanning the faces of the prisoners all as they all emerged, shaking hands and hugging one another. But the face he had been hoping to see wasn’t amongst any of them.

"Are there any others?" Steve whispered, pushing his way between the man he knew only as Dum Dum and an Asian man who was holding his dog tags up, looking slightly affronted.  “I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes." He asked, turning to the British soldier who began walking alongside him and Katie.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one has ever come back from it." The British Man spoke.

“Alright…” Steve spoke, considering his options as he continued walking towards the door through which they had entered. "The tree line's northwest, about eighty yards past the gate. Agent Stark knows where it is.” He stopped and turned, nodding towards Katie, his eyes returning back to the group of men “You follow and take your instructions from her, you got it?”

The British man and a few others began to nod, the excitement and anticipation of a fight was easily sensed and Katie stepped forward, shaking her head.

“Steve…” she began to protest but this was one order he was not going to let her ignore.

“You said your mission was requisition.” His eyes locked on hers “So use these guys and do it. Get out fast and give ‘em hell. I'll meet you in the clearing with anybody I find inside."

For a moment he thought she was going to argue but she didn’t. Instead, she took a deep breath and nodded, her eyes still locked onto his. In that split second, Steve hesitated. There was so much he wanted to say, but, he couldn’t find the words to express what he was feeling. He wanted to tell her to stay safe, to keep herself out of danger, make sure she got out alive…but instead he looked at her, swallowing and she gave him a soft smile.

“I know.” She said gently “You too.”

Steve gave her another curt nod, his chest tightening a little as he turned to go.

"Wait, you know what you're doing?" A soldier shouted after him, and Steve looked back over his shoulder about to answer before he heard Katie quip.

“He’s knocked out Adolf Hitler over two hundred times."

The prisoners furrowed their brows, before glancing around at each other with confused expressions on their faces and despite himself Steve gave a little chuckle, looking at Katie’s grinning face once more before he turned around and jogged out of the door, her voice ringing in his ears as she issued instructions to the troops.

“You heard the Captain. Now the base is heavily armed so we’re absolutely going to have to fight our way out. On the way, we grab as much tech and weapons as we can. Not only to use but also for further analysis by my unit….”

Her voice died down as Steve picked up a jog, shield on his back and headed off back the way they had come.  It wasn’t long before a loud siren rang out and Steve took a deep breath, trying to push his worry away as shouts and loud explosions rang out, signalling the fight had begun. He continued making his way into the factory, fighting his way through a number of guards easily as gunfire sounded all around him, the angry yells and screams of fighting filled his ears as the freed prisoners began to engage with the HYDRA soldiers.

He fought his way up onto the gangway that circled the main factory floor, dispatching another guard with a swift, hard boot to the abdomen that sent him flying over the railing and he took a look around, the sheer size of the factory floor taking him off guard for a moment before he remembered what he was here to do. Pulling out his pistol he turned right, jogging round the gangway until he hit a dimly lit corridor. He continued round and as he quickly made his way through in search of the isolation ward he saw a short man in thick glasses, carrying a briefcase and a number of files in his arms emerge from a room. He stopped dead, looked at Steve and then turned and sprinted away from him, heading round the corner. Steve began to run after him, but as he passed the room the man had emerged from he slowed as he heard what sounded like someone talking, mumbling even.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the room, following the sound as it became clearer and then his heart stopped and he grew hot, his breathing deep as he knew that voice. It was weak but still so familiar, even if it had been months since he had heard it.

"Sergeant. 32557…"

He hurried through another door, glancing towards the end of the room and saw the man he’d come to this very place for strapped to a reclined chair.

"Bucky?" Steve shot over, pausing at the side of the chair and looking down at his best friend. Bucky’s eyes didn’t move, instead he kept chanting his rank and number as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. "Oh my god." Steve swallowed was his eyes travelled over Bucky’s body, taking in the restraints that kept him strapped to the chair. He looked tired, weak, sick even, and it hurt Steve to see him in such a state. Bucky had always been the strong one out of the pair of them, normally looking after him. But, well, now it was time to return the favour.  He swallowed and began ripping the straps around him with ease.

"Is that…?"

"It's me. It’s Steve.”

"Steve?" Bucky murmured, his face breaking into a smile as recognition flooded his features.

"Come on." Steve helped Bucky to his feet, holding onto his arms as he steadied himself before he gently reached out and patted the side of his friends face.

"I thought you were dead," Steve sighed as Bucky frowned, his eyes fixed on where Steve’s face would normally have been, and when he instead found himself looking at Steve’s chest, he raised his eyes up wards, puzzlement etched across his face.

"I thought you were smaller.” Bucky swallowed and Steve kept hold of him, helping him to stand upright as he became more coherent. Whilst Bucky was gaining his senses, Steve took a quick glance around and his eyes focussed on a map pinned to the wall, various positions highlighted upon it across Europe. Committing it to memory he then slung Bucky's arm over his shoulder, for the first time ever bearing his friend’s weight.

"Come on," he urged as he began to lead him out of the lab.

"What happened to you?" Bucky asked as Steve pretty much hauled him out of the room, keeping him upright as he stumbled, his feet struggling for traction.

"I joined the Army." Steve replied simply.

As they made their way back down the corridor, Steve felt Bucky becoming able to bear some of his own weight, and then gently nudge at Steve to let him go so he did. Bucky followed behind a pace or two his arm clutched over his ribs.

"Did it hurt?" he asked.

"A little," Steve replied, his head still looking around.

"Is it permanent?"

"So far."  Steve nodded as they continued.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion which rocked the factory and the two men paused for a second before they picked up the pace. Eventually they emerged onto the gangway Steve had walked round before and immediately recoiled back as another explosion sent a huge ball of fire up into the air. Steve held his shield up to protect his face as Bucky ducked slightly, his hand gripping one of the railings, other one shielding his face.  Turning away from the railings, Steve started to head up a set of stairs immediately behind him, Bucky following. The heat was stifling and it made Steve feel like he was stuck in a furnace as they quickly sprinted up the metal steps and emerged onto another gangway. Taking a right, they began to sprint down it, explosions and flames roaring below them. Steve’s brow beaded with sweat and he wiped it with the back of his hand, taking another look down.  He had no idea whether the fire had been started by the men led by Katie or some self-destruction ploy by HYDRA to prevent any of their plans or weapons getting into their hands, either way he found it hard to care. One less base to deal with he supposed.

“Captain America!”

Steve stopped dead, turning to his left to see two men on the other side of the factory by an elevator door. One was the shorter bespectacled man Steve had seen before, and the other he recognised also, but only from photos. Johann Schmidt, HYDRA leader. He was dressed in a long black trench-coat of sorts, a large silver buckle bearing the HYDRA symbol spanned his waist and he turned towards Steve as he handed the other man a silver briefcase.

“How exciting! I'm a great fan of your films.” Schmidt’s thick German accent carried across the factory as he began to walk over the gangway towards Steve. Steve took a deep breath, his jaw setting as he strode towards the man, the anger surging through his body.  “So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive."

At that Steve swung his right arm back and bridged the two or so feet in between him and Schmidt with a punch straight to the man’s face, the impact forcing the HYDRA leader back a few steps.

"You've got no idea," Steve snarled.

Schmidt merely smirked, before standing up, cracking his jaw slightly and Steve frowned at the way the right hand side of his face appeared to have sagged away from his eye socket.  "Haven't I?"

Quickly, the man’s fist flew towards Steve, but equally as quickly he raised his shield to block it. The metal vibrated in his hands and to his utter shock the item dented with the force of Schmidt’s blow. It was then that Steve recalled Erskine telling him how the man had taken the serum, and that it had enhanced him too. In a flash he reached for his pistol but Schmidt was too quick and laded a punch straight to the left hand side of Steve’s jaw. He was knocked completely off his feet, falling backwards onto the metal of the gangway, the pistol he had been holding slid straight out of his hand and over the edge. Schmidt advanced towards Steve but he threw all his weight into a huge double kick, which sent the man sprawling backwards.

As Steve got to his feet, the gangway he was on suddenly began to move backwards, separating him from Schmidt who stood up, the two men not moving a muscle as the metal walkway drew them both back to their respective sides.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!" Schmidt yelled as Steve stood still, his chest heaving, as Schmidt man reached up for his face, reaching for the skin at the left hand side of his jaw. As Steve watched, to his horror, he began to peel back the skin revealing that it was a mask, and underneath was a grotesque, featureless red skull.

Steve swallowed, his face wrinkling up as he tried to understand what the hell he had just seen. What he was still seeing, for that matter.

"You don't have one of those, do you?" Bucky mumbled, his attention also on the man in front of them.

"You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality…” Schmidt tossed the mask down into the flames, Steve following it with his eyes before he glanced back across the factory room “…you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind.” At that Schmidt turned to his right and walked towards the now open elevator “Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!" he gestured with his hand as he made his way into the elevator.

"Then how come you're running?" Steve yelled back. It was a pathetic shot really, all things considered, but it was all Steve could think about saying given what had happened. As expected, Schmidt completely ignored him and merely smirked as he pressed a button to his right and the doors closed.

Steve paused, still not completely sure what the hell had gone on when a large explosion rocked the platform they were stood on, causing both him and Bucky to duck once more from debris that shot up all around them.

They needed a way out. Steve’s eyes fell back on the elevator and he followed the shaft upwards spotting a set of doors right at the top which led, he assumed, to the roof. He followed the line of the ceiling, noticing there was a thin gantry that led over to the side they were on, and he spun round to spot another set of steps which led upwards.

That was it, their only way out.

"Come on," Steve turned around, grabbing Bucky’s arm and leading him to the stairs. "Let's go. Up."

Together they hurriedly climbed and reached the highest walkway that stretched across the factory floor that was now burning, Steve felt, hotter than hell itself. Explosions rocked the catwalks causing everything to shake and Steve glanced at the flimsy gantry that led over to the side they needed to be on, then back to Bucky.

“Let’s go. One at a time.” He moved to help Bucky climb over the railings to allow him to cross first. Bucky made his way tentatively across the thin beam of metal and as he was roughly at the halfway point, it began to give way. Bucky picked up his pace and threw himself off the edge grabbing the railings at the other side, but the gantry collapsed behind him leaving Steve stranded.

Steve watched as Bucky hauled himself over and then tuned to face him, the realisation that Steve was stuck evident on his face as he looked back at him.

"Gotta be a rope or something!" Bucky shouted hopefully. At that point another part of the factory below them fell with a loud crash into the fire below and Steve swallowed, shaking his head.

"Just go! Get out of here!" he bellowed, waving Bucky away. Bucky shook his head, his hands gripping the railing around the walkway.

"No! Not without you!" he screamed back, desperation lacing his tone.

Steve looked over at him, then peered down at the fire, before taking another look up. If he stayed where he was, he was a dead man. If he jumped and didn’t make it, he was a dead man. But if he didn’t jump, well he had no chance of making it at all.

Decision made he pushed the now broken bars of the railings in front of him, bending it out of the way to create a gap large enough to jump through. He took a few steps back, once more gaging the distance before he sighed and grimaced a little at what he was about to do, having no idea whether he was going to make it. His thoughts flashed to Katie, his only comfort out of all of this was that she wasn’t stuck with him now and had a good chance of having made it out. With a deep breath he set off at a sprint before he launched himself off the side, over the huge chasm below. His arms flailed, as did his legs as he spun them to try and maintain momentum, the flames and explosions licking at his boots and with a loud grunt he landed, his arms gripping tightly onto the remainder of the railing beside Bucky. Bucky was quick to grab him, hauling him over, the pair of them falling to the metal walkway. Steve landed with a grunt on his back and took a huge breath, turning to look at Bucky who was led besides him, his chest heaving.  

“Thanks.” Steve panted as Bucky looked at him, incredulously.

“You’re thanking me?” he shook his head “Whatever man…”

Another large explosion rocked the gangway they were on and they both rolled over, before pushing themselves up, stumbling a little as they made their way hastily through the door, bursting out into the cold night air. Steve took a split second to gather his bearings, his eyes flicking to the front gate of the camp before he located a set of the metal railing type rungs the same as the ones he and Katie had used to gain entry at the side of the building.

“This way…” Steve instructed as he led Bucky towards it, and started to descend, all the time keeping one eye on his friend in case he lost his grip and Steve needed to catch him. When Steve’s feet finally touched down on solid ground he felt like yelling in utter relief, but they weren’t clear yet. Once Bucky landed besides him, they both set off at a sprint across the outside area of the camp. There were still a fair number of soldiers running around but they were too busy trying to escape the burning building to pay him and Bucky any attention. Nevertheless, they kept to the shadows and made their way out of the gate, Steve taking a sharp right following the way he had come with Katie before.

As they walked towards the clearing they were aiming for the hushed sound of voices and chatter hit their ears and he heard Bucky take a sharp breath.

“Steve?” Bucky asked as Steve continued walking, his feet crunching over the frosty ground under his boots. “Is that…”

“No, it’s not HYDRA.” Steve assured him. “We found a bunch of other prisoners before you, got them out first…”

“We?” Bucky asked, “There was someone else with you?”

“Yeah, it was….” Steve trailed off as they emerged into the clearing and a number of men wheeled round, guns raised. As they spotted who it was their weapons dropped but before Steve could say anything Katie pushed through the middle and stopped dead, her chest heaving. She looked a little roughed up- some of her uniform was torn, there was a cut to her right temple, a trickle of blood having seeped down her cheek and the same side of her face looked a little red and bruised but other than that, she seemed fine.

Steve felt relief flood his system at the sight of her, and without a word he strode quickly towards her and she threw herself at him, wrapping her legs round his waist as he held her tight, one hand supporting her lower back, the other gripping at the back of her head, fisting softly in her untidy hair.

“Thank God…” he mumbled, closing his eyes as he held her close, pressing his face into her hair.

“You’re late.” She stuttered and he let out a splutter of a laugh as he pulled back to look at her “I thought you were gonna stand me up.”

“Never” he shook his head, his eyes locking onto hers. They stood still, no attention being paid to anyone around them at all and Steve swallowed, his eyes flicking down to her mouth. His face dropped towards hers, and then a voice spoke from behind them, completely interrupting him and reminding him that firstly he was in the middle of a still heavily occupied with enemy troops forest and secondly, that they were most certainly not alone.

“Well, this is nice.”

Steve closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he set Katie onto her feet, stepping back out of her space, blushing furiously. She peered round him, as he turned and saw Bucky smirking at the pair of them. He jerked his face towards Katie, arching an eyebrow.

“Hey Doll face.”

“Barnes.” she scanned him up and down, taking in his appearance before she smiled “Good to see you in one piece.”

“Yeah, I hate to break this little reunion up…” the British soldier spoke and they all turned to face him “but I suggest we get moving and tie up with the rest.”

“The rest?” Steve frowned, looking around, and for the first time he noticed that there were a lot less men than he had anticipated “Where…”

“We split into three main groups. We took a few losses but most of us made it. My group managed to take a few vehicles.” Katie explained “Some kind of tank, two trucks. We also found a huge storehouse too and loaded both trucks with as much as we could take, weapons, ammo, and equipment, what ration packs we could find.” She took a deep breath “Dernier, one of the men, he said he knew the area well as his group had been scouting it for a while and there’s an old abandoned allied base some 10 miles South East which he suggested would be easier for us to hold up in whilst we waited for help. I sent him ahead with the seriously wounded along with support. Said we would meet them there.”

Steve blinked, astounded at her planning, although he knew he really shouldn’t be. He nodded and then looked around, before a huge explosion made them all jump and Steve turned to see an enormous fireball erupt into the sky signalling that the HYDRA base had finally gone up completely.

“Okay, let’s move.” He instructed, as Katie began to bark out instructions again, before she hurried forward and fell into step alongside Dugan, who pulled out his compass before he pointed and began to bellow out for everyone to make tracks.

“So….” Bucky fell into step alongside Steve, and Steve kept his eyes focussed ahead as they began to walk “Somethin’ going on then between you two or…”

“Don’t know what you mean.” Steve replied, but couldn’t help the smirk that spread across his face as he continued to avoid Bucky’s searching glance.

“You’re a punk.” Bucky snorted, nudging him.

“Jerk.” Steve replied simply, the smile on his face growing bigger by the second.

[pinknerdpanda]

A Terrible Idea

Word Count: 3.9k

Characters: Biker!Bucky x Stark!reader, Brother!Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Steve and Sam

Warnings: Fluff, Angst, drinking, rivalries, language.

Beta’d by: @shy-violet-soul​ Thank you darling! xoxo

@star-spangled-bingo​ square filled: “First I love You” (bolded below)

A/n: I’ve been sitting on this one for a few weeks and I finally finished it last night. I’m a sucker for Biker!Bucky and I hope I did him justice. Feedback is very appreciated!

X

A Terrible Idea

This was a terrible idea. 

I’d had a feeling it was going to be from the minute I’d agreed to come, but now, pulling into the parking lot of the ramshackle bar, I know for sure I’d been right. Rows and rows of suped up, carefully polished and exquisitely maintained motorcycles lay between me and the entrance. I groan, unbuckling the strap under my chin and sliding the helmet off my head. 

“Oh come on, Princess. It’s not so bad,” my brother chuckles in front of me. He dismounts before holding out a hand and helping me down, far less gracefully than he’d managed.

I shoot him a glare, tugging the hem of my dress down and shaking out my hair. 

“Says you,” I grumble, ducking to check my reflection in the tiny side mirror. It proves a fruitless endeavor, and I groan again.

“You look fine, y/n,” Pepper soothes, as she steps forward between us. “It’s going to be fun. Besides, when was the last time you went out. You need to let your hair down and live a little.”

Tony’s arm winds around her shoulders, tugging her against his side. The look of adoration they share is so sweet it makes me want to vomit.

“Your version of fun and my version of fun don’t always seem to mesh,” I prop a fist against my hip. 

“Well that’s because our version of ‘fun’ is actually fun, unlike yours, which is just lame.”

“I hate you.” I mutter, rolling my eyes. 

“No you don’t baby sister,” Tony laughs. “You just hate being wrong. Which you are. A lot.”

The familiar roar of an engine cuts off any further argument as a shiny, metallic blue Honda Shadow pulls to a stop next to Tony’s Harley.

“Rhodey!” Tony cheers as he watches his best friend cut the engine and climb off. 

“Hey Tone. Pepper, y/n - looking beautiful as always,” Rhodey grins before turning his full attention to me. “I’m glad you came tonight. I thought for sure you’d stay home.”

“Well, it wasn’t for lack of trying.” Tony claps Rhodey on the back before ushering us all toward the door. “Alright, party people. Let’s do this.”

The bar is sparsely lit as we enter, fog billowing through the room and obscuring what little lighting exists. Stale cigarettes, beer and sweat coalesce into an oddly comforting fragrance, and I take a deep breath before exhaling. Maybe this wasn’t such a terrible idea after all.

A large man wearing a leather vest covered in menagerie of patches stumbles into me, the drink in his hand sloshing out and dousing me in a cold, hoppy shower. He turns, wide-eyed and apologetic before his expression twists into an unsettling leer, his eyes dancing over my body and making me feel more exposed than I already am.

The warmth of a presence at my back precedes the flash of fear that spreads across his face. I smirk at him, watching with interest as realization plays across his features, his eyes darting back and forth between me and my brother now looming behind me. Feet faltering, the man retreats, the remainder of his drink spilling down his front as he all-but-runs away.

“Jackass,” I mumble, adjusting the straps of my dress and turning toward Tony. “Thank you.”

“I’ve always got your back, sis. Besides,” Tony grins. “Syd Vicious over there knows better than to mess with me.” He shoots me a wink just as his name is yelled from the back of the bar and he makes his way toward the voice, Pepper and Rhodey in tow.

Rather than follow them, I make a beeline for the bar. I’ve been here all of three minutes and, already, I require copious amounts of alcohol. The bartender is tiny - slim and cute in her strapless leather dress and fishnets - but the look in her eyes speaks a warning that there is more to her than meets the eye. She smiles at me as I place my palms against the grimy surface of the bar and make a silent plea with my future drunk-self not to hit on her later.

“Two shots of tequila and a beer, please.”

She winks at me before turning to fill my request. 

“Not playin’ around are ya, sweetheart?” 

The voice startles me - not so much that it caught me off-guard, but more that the rich rasp of it sends a chill down my spine. Tilting my head slightly, I find the profile of a man, backlit by the lights flashing from the dance floor.

His hair is cropped short on the sides and only a little longer on the top. The line of his jaw is striking despite the scruffy beard peppering his cheeks. He glances at me sideways as he brings his drink to his plush lips and it takes a conscious effort to look anywhere but at his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows.

Two shot glasses and a bottle are placed in front of me next to two lime wedges and a salt shaker. I nod at the bartender, shooting her a wink in thanks as I take the first shot.

“It’s a party, right? Isn’t this what you’re supposed to do? Get lit and loosen up a little?” I quirk an eyebrow at the handsome man beside me before throwing back the second shot.

“What?” His voice is like velvet, warm and luxurious against my skin as he leans in closer. “No lime or salt?”

“What can I say? I like to live life dangerously,” I shrug before leaning against the bar, a smile curving my lips. 

He sits back, his fingers tracing the edge of his glass as he narrows his eyes at me. His gaze traces the shape of my body, but it’s not predatory or icky like the guy with the patches before. If anything, it makes my heart beat a little faster, even as I resist the urge to wrap my arms around myself.

I’ve never been one to feel completely comfortable in my own skin. I know, I know, everyone has body issues. But being the chubby girl in a family of skinny-ass bikers with model-like girlfriends and muscles for days does little for a girl’s self esteem. I’ve had boyfriends, but they all either wanted to “help fix” me by suggesting various diets and workouts or let me know how big of a favor they were doing by dating a “fat chick.”

Then there was Joey. He was gorgeous, funny, sweet and the sex was outstanding. I overheard him at the bar one night, joking with his buddies about how pathetic it was that I constantly “threw” myself at him. He showed at my doorstep the next night telling me how much he loved me and wanted to be with me. I made sure to let him know how pathetic it was to constantly throw himself at me and slammed the door in his face.

“You alright there, doll?”

The velvet voice shakes me from my self deprecation and I realize he’s staring at me curiously. Heat curls up the sides of my face and ears as his brows furrow. 

“Peachy.”  Mumbling, I grab my beer, taking a long swig and turning from his concerned expression.

His hand catches my elbow and I feel a jolt of electricity at his touch.

He says something, but I can’t make it out and I shoot him a questioning look. The music from the band has gotten louder and he leans in “Hey, I’m sorry. Did I do something?”

I shake my head and take another drink. He signals the bartender for two more beers before nodding to the back patio. He’s mouthing something that looks like “it’s too loud in here” as the bartender hands him the bottles.

He gestures to the patio and I feel him at my back as I make my way to the door. Several groups of people are scattered among the mismatched chairs and tables, but the air is crisp and the music is only a dull roar now. We settle into a pair of metal chairs in the corner and he hands me one of the beers.

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear myself think in there. M’name’s Bucky, by the way.”

“Y/n. Thanks for the beer, Bucky.” 

He smiles and in that instant the moon is eclipsed by the crinkling around his eyes and the cleft of his chin. “So what’s a pretty girl like you doing in a dump like this, huh?”

“Right.” Scoffing, I roll my eyes. “That line usually work for you or…” I trail off, gesturing with my beer.

He chuckles, holding his hands up in surrender. “‘S’not a line, just an honest question. You just don’t strike me as the kind of girl who hangs around these places, ya know?”

“Oh, so now we’re going with the ‘you’re not like other girls’ bullshit, huh? Smooth, Buck. Really smooth.” I quirk an eyebrow as he squirms ever so slightly. “Or is it because I’m too fat to be the stereotypical hot biker chick type?”

“No, no. You’re...that’s not...I didn’t…”

Laughing, I smack his arm. “Relax. I'm just fuckin’ with you. These places usually aren’t my kind of thing. Not any more at least.”

He sighs, some of the uncomfortable tension visibly draining from his face. “Yeah, me either. You're not by the way.” I tip my head questioningly. "Fat, I mean. You're gorgeous."

I shift, ignoring the heat prickling my cheeks. Unable to come up with a reply to his unexpected compliment, I clear my throat and change the subject.

“So, what brought you here, then, Bucky," I smirk, drawing out his name seductively and surprising myself. What the hell are you doing?

Bucky takes a sip of beer, a small droplet lands on his lip that he kicks away before nipping at his bottom lip.

"Duty and all that." He shrugs casually, despite the deliberate vagueness of his answer. 

I narrow my eyes at him, closing my hands around my bottle. The drink will be too warm for my liking after this, but I don't really care.

"Let me guess; club president and you've got to make an appearance at these shit shows for the sake of morale?" 

Bucky's brow quirks, his eyes twinkling in the starlight. 

"What gave it away?" He says dryly. 

I grin, unwrapping my hands and taking a long drink before replying. "The president patch on your jacket." I lean in and whisper. "It's a bit of a dead giveaway."

He chuckles then and the sound slithers down my spine. 

"You don't say." He eyes me curiously as his long fingers play over the neck of his bottle. 

The thought strikes me that he seems very...adept with his fingers. Gulping, I try desperately to push down that line of thinking as a warmth floods my body. You wanton bitch, keep it together.

"What about you, Doll?" He tips his head to one side, eyes still dancing over my face. It almost feels like he can read my mind and I hope to God he can't.

"My brother dragged me along. Said I wasn't allowed to stay home and 'hide from fun like a goddamn hermit' so...here I am." 

Bucky nods, placing his forearms on the table and leaning towards me. "I gotta say, I'm real glad he did."

The warmth from seconds ago creeps up my shoulders and neck and burns at my cheeks. Lost for words again, I smile and take another drink, draining the remnants of my too warm beer. 

"Y/n?" Tony's voice startles me and I whip my head around to find my brother stomping toward me, Pepper and Rhodey in tow. The redhead clutches the sleeve of Tony's jacket and she shoots me an apologetic look. The air suddenly sparks with tension and I glance between the trio very confused.

"Hey, Tony. What's going on?" I duck my head to meet his eyes, but he's staring over my shoulder, ignoring me.

"Barnes," he growls. "What the hell are you doing?"

I glance over my shoulder to find Bucky smirking, but I don't miss the muscle in his jaw twitching.

"Having a drink with a beautiful woman," he replies, his voice teetering between nonchalance and irritation. "You two know each other?"

"Something like that, but I'm guessing you already knew that," Tony grinds out as Bucky rises to his feet.

The two men tower over me and I shift awkwardly trying to find a way out from between them. 

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean, Stark?"

Tony rolls his eyes, a huff of humorless laughter punching from his lungs. "Right. You expect me to believe you just happened to strike up a conversation with my baby sister? Give me a break, Barnes."

Bucky steps back, giving me room to slide from my chair and stand a little distance from them. He gulps and shoots me a panicked look. 

"You're Stark's sister?" The words are hoarse and low, as though it hurt him to spit them out. 

Frustrated and confused, I whirl on my brother. "Tony, what the fuck is going on?" 

Tony tugs his arm from Pepper's grasp and shoves an accusatory finger toward Bucky. "He's a fucking White Wolf, y/n. The goddamn president, in fact."

The shuffle of boots behind me draws my attention and I watch two men approach Bucky, flanking him. The man on the right is tall, blonde and has a face too boy-next-door to match his worn leather jacket. The other man grins at me, deep brown lips parting to reveal a gap between his front teeth. Neither of the men strikes much in the way of fear in me, but the menacing looks they throw toward my brother send a prickle of anxiety through my bones.

"I'd bet money that douche-canoe is only using you to try and get to me." Tony crosses his arms.

The patio has grown deadly quiet save for the full hum of music from inside. The static in my head, however, is screaming in rage and I return my gaze to my brother. 

"Is that so? You don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell he could actually find my company appealing? Is it possible that once - just one time - in your fucking life, Anthony, that something might not actually be about you?"

Rhodey stifles a laugh and Tony glares at him. I cross my arms and lift my eyebrows, watching him expectantly. 

"All I'm saying is that it's too damn big of a coincidence." Tony sighs before continuing, lowering his voice and clutching my elbows affectionately. "You know what happened, y/n. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he's using you."

Hurt and anger roar in my ears as I step out of his grasp. Of course I know about the rivalry between the White Wolves and the Iron Legion. I may not be as well versed in club politics as I'd once been, but the feud goes back for generations. The fact that my brother finds it more plausible that a man would want to spend time with me because of a decade's old grudge rather than simply appreciating my company stings. 

"That's not it at all, y/n," Bucky murmurs behind me, his words dripping with sincerity as though he can read my thoughts. "I had no idea you even knew him. You have to believe me."

Tears burn at the back of my eyes and I take a deep breath before turning to face him.

"And now that you do?" 

Tony grumbles behind me, but I ignore him. Bucky's face is drawn in confusion as he meets my eyes.

"Now that I do, what?"

"Now that you know who I am. Does that change anything?" I sniff, wrapping my arms around myself and staring at the toe of my black boot.

A second pair of boots steps into view and I look up to find Bucky standing directly in front of me. His hands clench and unclench at his sides, but I can't tell if it's unspent anger or a hesitancy to touch me. Finally he places a finger under my chin, tipping my head back gently.

"Not a thing," he breathes, searching my face for something.

When I step backward, his hand drops back to his side and he hangs his head. I turn to face my brother.

"First, I love you. You're my brother and nothing will change that. But right now you're being a giant asshole. I don't give a shit if he's a Hell's Angel or a fuckin' priest. Who I speak to and spend time with is none of your business. I suggest you find something else to fill your time besides dragging me into your club bullshit."

Pepper grins at me over Tony's shoulder. Rhodey looks concerned and maybe a bit disappointed, but says nothing. Tony nods, opening his mouth but closing it again.

"Tony, that's enough. She's a grown woman," Pepper soothes.

His lips press into a tight line as he grabs Pepper's hand and leads her back inside. Rhodey steps forward, patting my shoulder before following his friend.

I turn back to Bucky, his face a wash of awe, confusion and appreciation. I smile at him weakly, tipping my head back toward the door.

"Next round's on me." I glance at his new companions. "You, too. Pull up a seat and Bucky can introduce us when I get back."

Without waiting for a response, I make my way back inside, my legs shaking slightly and my lungs begging for oxygen. Apparently I'd been holding my breath for most of our little exchange outside and I relish the scent of beer and stale cigarettes as I inhale deeply.

----

A few hours and many beers between my confrontation with Tony and now, I throw my head back, howling at Sam. 

"He didn't." I gasp dramatically. 

Sam wiggles his eyebrows at me as Bucky groans beside me.

"Oh he did. Got it on camera and everything."

Giggles break free from my lips as I look at Bucky, annoyance twisting his features as he glares at Sam. I clamp one hand over my mouth and the other on his thigh as the giggles continue. Bucky looks between the hand on his thigh and my face as his lips curve in amusement and his pupils darken. 

Steve clears his throat and stands. "Y/n it's a pleasure meeting you. I think Sam and I will head back inside and see what Romanoff is up to."

"Aw come on, Steve. I haven't even told her about the time…" 

Sam's words are cut off as Steve grips his shoulder harshly. Sam coughs and sends me a wicked grin before rising to his feet.

"Another time," he winks at me. "You two stay out of trouble."

The patio is nearly empty I realize as I watch the two men head back inside. Bucky chuckles beside me, placing his arm across the back of my chair.

"Some interesting friends you've got there, Buck," I muse, but stop as I meet his gaze. 

Bucky licks his lips, his pupils blown even wider now as he watches me. My mouth feels dry and I squirm under his heated stare.

Just when I think he's going to lean in and kiss me, he stands abruptly. 

"Dance with me." 

He holds his hand out to me and I stare at it, dumbly.

"Come on, Doll. It's just us out here, now. A pretty girl gets all dressed up for the evening, she deserves at least one dance." He wiggles his fingers invitingly and I oblige.

He grins as he helps me to my feet and wraps his arms around my waist. 

"There's no music, Buck." I slip my hands around his neck anyway and he pulls me closer, rocking gently side to side.

"Don't need no music," he mumbles before burying his face into the crook of my shoulder. "We can make our own."

My fingers tangle in his hair as I press my cheek against his chest. The leather of his jacket is softer than it looks and I sigh, allowing him to lead me in a silent dance.

The murmur of voices inside and the comforting chirp of crickets nearby bleed together in a soothing cocoon of white noise as our bodies sway.

"I never thanked you earlier." Bucky's breath tickles my neck and sends a pleasant shiver down my spine.

I pull back to look at him. "Thank me for what?"

"For believing me," he says simply. When I narrow my eyes at him, confused, he chuckles and continues. "Everything Stark...err...Tony..." he corrects himself awkwardly, "... everything he said about me using you, I was sure you'd walk away. But then you didn't. Instead you just unloaded on him and I gotta say, y/n, it was pretty hot." 

I chuckle, dropping my head to hide the blush creeping up my cheeks. 

Bucky continues, his voice carrying a more sincere tone. "I like you, y/n. A lot. All that shit between the clubs? I'm just…" he sighs. "I'm tired of it. All that happened between my granddad and yours? Who knows how much of it is even true or who's to blame." He pauses, dragging his teeth over his bottom lip. "What I'm trying to say is. I'd like to get to know you more but I don't want all this rivalry crap to come between you and your brother. Family is family, ya know? And I'd hate for you to get…"

Feeling brave, I cut off his rambling by pressing my lips to his and he goes still except for the tightening of his grip on my hips. I slide my hands to cup his cheeks and pull back.

"I like you too, Bucky." He smiles widely at me. "My brother and I will be fine, we just need to sit down and talk things out after we've both cooled down."

Bucky nods thoughtfully, his eyes dipping down to my mouth before meeting mine again. One hand glides up my arm and over my shoulder before resting against the back of my neck. His thumb brushes against the shell of my ear and I shudder at the sensation. He smiles broadly before pressing against my head, and dropping his mouth to mine.

Where the first kiss was slow and gentle, this one is firm and heated and does nothing to keep my stomach from coiling in on itself. I drag my tongue along the seam of his lips and sigh as he parts them. He kisses me like our whole damn lives depend on it and at this point, I'm beginning to think they do.

When we finally break free, breathless and chests heaving, he rests his forehead against mine and hums in satisfaction.

"Remind me to thank your brother for dragging you out tonight," Bucky mumbles, pecking my lips, once, twice. "Maybe when he doesn't want to punch me in the face."

I throw my head back, joy bubbling from the depths of my soul as my laughter breaks the quiet stillness of night. Bucky grins and kisses me again. A voice in the back of my head whispers over the surge of desire threatening to overtake me.

"See, tonight wasn't so terrible after all."

Like what you see? Want more? My SPN Masterlist is here, and MCU is here. Thanks for reading! :)

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[winterbuckytho]

When Is It Over

After being missing for 48 hours, Tony Stark comes into the restaurant and is escorted to the table James Rhodey was waiting for him at. Rhodey, always a patient and understanding man wanted to give Tony an absolute earful for disappearing like that. He and Happy had been just about to raise alarms when he got the text "I'm a genius and you know that but I had major breakthrough and can't talk to anyone else. You will never guess who's bed I woke up in."

Rhodey guessed wrong 17 times then finally gave up by texting back. "Uuuugh, I hate it when you’re right! Just tell me!!"

"One Sargent James Buchanan Barnes, the Manchurian Candidate himself. TMI, but we have no boundaries, he's an awesome lay btw. I'll send you info for a meetup and brunch. I need so much coffee."

And so not long after the two sat in a little known upscale place seated at a privately reserved table on a terrace over looking the sea, Rhodey asking how in the flying fuck Tony had ended up at a dick appointment in Wakanda.

"It all started a while ago but what happened last night started the night before last. I kept having this nightmare where Barnes is bearing down on Pepper and my reactor is busted and I'm trapped in my suit, pinned to the floor like a butterfly to a card by one of those creepy bug collectors. Pepper is right there but I can never convince him to not hurt her. Sometimes it's you or Steve and I guess because I watched footage of him before he started remembering stuff... God, the way he gunned after Steve, like a pretty Ultron. And I fought him myself in trigger mode, Christ, his eyes were colder than dry ice and emptier than Bruce's apartment right now... I had it again and sitting up after with a glass of warm milk thought about that exposure therapy thing, what is it called?"

"Systemic Desensitization?"

"Right, anyway, so I called King T'challa and it turned out Barnes was awake. So i asked to see him, explain what I want to try and do because I already have 15 flavors of PTSD, I didn't need a special designer one and reassured nothing like vengeance was even remotely on my mind. I just needed to see him outside the context I had him in before in Siberia so he agreed to have me."

"Whoa, that's a stupid idea. So what happened?"

"Well, he has a convalescent suite in the mines, most secure place on the planet I bet. From himself and from others. I went straight there and was on his doorstep at 2 the next morning. He was still willing to see me and the Princess seems to have figured out how to end his following through with the programming, so he opened the door and..."

--

"Stark, I understand I never even knew you and I fucked up half your lif-" Bucky Barnes began.

“I don't wanna talk about that Barnes..." Tony replied.

"Then what do you want?" Buck asked shaking his head a little at a loss as to why Stark would need to see him this bad. A cold fright made his belly feel full of squirming eels as he wondered what in God's name he had done now. 'Th-they say I'm alright now but before... I hardly remember being brought to Wakanda, everything after my arm was fried off... is just a smudge of awareness. Did I hurt him bad that day, he looks okay but what did I do..?'

"I... fuck, okay, this is one of those times where I am doing a crazy rich person thing, you know. I keep having these dreams... "I remember them all." you said. That's what you said and ever since I feel like I need to face you in a.... I don't know... unfiltered way? I need to know you're not going to... hurt me or Pepper or Steve or Rh-" 

Bucky stood in the doorway his blood chilled to slush in his veins. What did Tony want him to do? Act out some death wish? 'Absolutely fucking not. I will eat a gun before I endanger anyone else. I can't, I literally can't let it happen, even by the most unpredictable accident...' "Tony, what is it you mean for me to do? I'm not gonna fight you, I-i can't, I-"

"Shit, Sarge..."Tony says and aggressively goes in for a kiss. A hard confused long and breathless kiss.

--

"Oh my God, you did not!" Rhodey exclaimed his incredulity impossible to contain.

"You going keep talking or are you going eat your lunch and let me finish?" Stark says a little miffed even if he wouldn't say that word unironically.

"I thought you were in like, regular killer robots trouble, but this takes the cake, please do go on. I want every sordid detail. I can't tell if I'm more horrified at your taste in guys or frustrated with you for not telling me about what you were going to do."

--

'Oh god my heart is racing faster than that time it almost got its promised dose of metal shards before I could get the other reactor in. I might throw up. But uh yeah, I'll admit it. I'm definitely getting hard. Is this it? Is this what I need to make myself understand he's not a killing machine anymore? For an engineering genius I'm so fuckin' stupid... O-oh ah, is- is he... holding me?' Tony's mind went from one thought to the next so rapidly it almost made him dizzy. But as Barnes wrapped an arm gently about his waist and pulled him closer over the threshold and into his suite, his initial fright at his own actions became quieter and slowed till he was thinking nothing and only letting the electricity of it flow as neurons and synapses and receptors did their work. He could feel Barnes' lips tremble slightly against his as they kissed, cold metal under his palm as it slid up over the smooth curves up to the other man's shoulder, his need now becoming clearer by the second.

Bucky didn't understand what was happening and in ordinary circumstances would like to know and love someone before getting closer this way. It felt wrong at first and he was so hypervigilant he was half convinced his body was acting on its own to attack Tony until the man moaned deeply in to the kiss, the sound of it long and greatly pleased. Barnes pulled away a moment looking at Stark. "What is this? I... I’m afraid I don't understand..."

"You and me both, pal. Oh no, Steve is rubbing off on me.... But yes... I'm figuring something out. Can we go to your room?"

"I- uhm sure it's... uhm... on the left. End of the hall."

"Come on, I can make it fast."

"I... had no idea you..."

"Again. You and me both, pal. Turned out my heterosexual philandering was me performing gender conformity and trying to hide from anything real about myself. I think I swing both ways. Or multiple ways at once." Tony said leading to the bedroom. He took off his jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair by a small table in the room and sat on the edge of the bed. 

Buck sat next to him and said "Ah. Well, you're not alone in that. If I had a nickel for all the girls I had hanging on my arm while hiding the truth..."

"Wow. I mean... The length Steve was going for you... I didn't realize it was a two way street."

"Yeah, I'm fuckin' stupid for that boy. All those years... and then the first one I see his face again, the curse was lifted. Kinda like a fairytale." Barnes laughed.

Tony laughed too. A genuine happy sound he had been too anxious to properly make the last few months. Hearing Bucky say it like that, he knew they both loved the same things in their favorite star spangled dumbass. Another layer of fear melted and he grasped Bucky's metal hand. "Is this going to hurt what you got going for him? I can stop, find some other way to work through how I'm feeling about everything..."

"No, its okay. I...think I understand what you need."

"Oh yeah?"

"We were never properly introduced and until you know who a man is, he will always be a stranger."

'I'll be damned... that's kinda exactly what this is. I need to know him. I need to know him inside out like how I know Steve. It took almost dying together a few times for us to become friends. This is the express route for me and Barnes.' Stark sniffed and nodded then said abruptly, "But first I... I’m sorry. I'm sorry things went down how they did for you, I'm sorry for reacting that way when I found out our... connection. I- well I was going to say I'm sorry I blew your arm off but I'll say it when I'm sure I won't be lying. I had seen you kill a dozen people that day and I'm still scared shitless of you."

The room was quiet a moment as Bucky carefully gathered so he wouldn't burst in to tears before he could say it. "I'm sorry as well. I never got to apologize to any of their families before. So thank you too."

"Hey." Stark said quietly. He was beginning to truly feel something about Bucky other then that fever pitch fear. The time Barnes had come within a second of shooting Tony straight in the god-damned face came back to him but he didn't see that man in this moment. "I want to believe you so, come on. Make love to me and show me who you really are."

--

"Oo, you was being all smooth with it, okay, alright, Mr Stark, turn the swag on..." Said Rhodey.

"One of these days, Alice, right to the moon." Replied Tony.

"Ha ha, okay, I'll stop. One of these days...”

--

Barnes nodded and turned further to Tony reaching a hand out. He used the side of his index finger to take Stark's chin and tug lightly guiding him towards himself and beginning to kiss him in soft slow motions. "Do you want me to take charge a bit? Because I don't think I want you to make it fast."

"Hah~ I uh... don't mind, bottom, top as long as you're comfortable."

"How bout we work it both ways. I mean sure I'm big and can probably punch out that whole wall down in less than 3 minutes but I have a... softer side too."

"Being little spoon is nice..." Stark replied with a small smile pulling his tie vest and shirt off. He was endeared further to see Bucky blushing in the low warm light.

Bucky pressed him back on the bed and rolled half on top of him. His was so effortlessly strong his weight could barely be felt as he held himself from simply pinning Tony to the bed under him. Heat began to flush his body as the gentle kisses they traded became more passionate and hungry. A thrum of pleasure pulses outward from his pelvis and Bucky groaned in the ecstasy of it thinking 'Guess it's like riding a bicycle... it's all coming back to me now, huh?...uhn~' while his hips rocked forward pressing down against Tony.

It was a small gesture but so erotically charged, Stark's breath caught in his chest a second then he mirrored it with his hand sliding downwards to explore the stiffening shaft pressed against his thigh. He squeezed and stroked it marveling it a little for it's size and immediately wondering how much of Bucky's size was from the serum. He suspected from the way Barnes handled himself though that it was all Buck. He pulled the waist band of Bucky's pajama bottoms out and down exposing him. Tony's hand wrapped around it and he watched as Bucky's eyelids lowered and he breathed quietly "Oh God hahn..." pecs heaving as he gasped. Stark bit into his lower lip surprised how a sight like that could turn him on and quiet still more of his fear of the man. It humanized Barnes instantly like nothing else he could have made in the Avengers tower r & d labs.

Bucky's erection throbbed, Tony's hand feeling cool on it's hot skin as he took in the sensation just made it even more captivating but he paused a moment before raising himself to stand and pulled his pants off. As he did Tony took off the remainder of his clothes as well and soon they reconvened on the bed together. Tony waited for Buck to lie down then took a position that would serve well for oral. He was surprised to be further guided gently to straddle Barnes' face. They each used oral to the pleasure of the other and it was not long before the room was full of moans and sighs.

Barnes could never explain it but serving someone willingly in this scenario nearly made his mind melt with the extreme arousal building inside him. He moans softly his tongue massaging and circling sensitive skin, probing flicking at the entrance. He can't help how he is drawn in to the movement both soothed and excited by it, all the while feeling heat and soft textures and slick saliva slowly slathered up and down his length paired with a delicious friction he couldn't withstand in stoicism. His hips jerk and thrust up and his arms wrap around Stark's thighs pulling him down against his now wildly thrashing tongue.

"O-ohn hah! Mmm~!" Tony's breathes come fast and eratic as he tries to not be distracted from the task at hand. Which was enjoying Barnes' response to his sucking and licking of the man's cock. He is becoming increasingly intensely aroused to the point of loosing much of his control leaving him trembling and squirming as he struggles to keep his tongue moving. Finally unable to do much else he accepts Bucky's entire length in to his mouth allowing him to thrust himself in and out while Stark groans in deep pleasure at the many sensations.

Bucky came to a point where it wasn't enough and he needed to see his lovers face as well as become the more active party. He slowed his licking and paused one hand grasping Tony's arm and pulling him up to head of the bed French kissing him and enjoying the feel of their tongues sliding about one another. After a few moments they worked into missionary position. Bucky licked his fingers, massaged and stretching Stark making the man whimper and gasp pressing his head back into the pillows. Then he began to penetrate working his tip in slowly, setting urgency aside for a bit to be sure they were both on the same page.

Tony, experiencing great pleasure eagerly thrust his hips up as his calves rested on Barnes' broad strong shoulders. "I-it's okay, I'm experienced, you can go harder, go faster. Oh god~!" Even as he did it he was having a strong sense of sorrow derived from the way Bucky handled his body, with such a care, terrified of himself of hurting anyone. He knew this was because of who he was as a person and not just special treatment. Hydra had commited a deep sin against humanity by making such a man kill against his own will and every minute with the former Sargent made Stark's heart break for him, drowning the animal fear right out with the deep kindness that had stayed true in Barnes’ heart all these years.

Buck nodded now breathing heavily and started to thrust deep and hard at an almost relentless pace, grunting in a low tone his eyes scanning Tony's face drinking the pleasure he caused, this somehow just as pleasing as the direct stimulation of the sex itself. But still he maintained responsibility for both of their well being and carefully examined himself to be sure he could warn if he lost control of himself somehow. His ardor rose and swelled around him and to this he was perfectly happy to lose himself in the moment, his breaths harsh and fast as his powerful thighs and hips worked to thrust and his hands rose to lace his finger with those of both of Tony's hands holding them pressed to the pillow beside Stark's head on either side, Bucky's mouth exploring licking kissing Tony's throat and chest.

"That's it , oh don't stop, don't stop huhn!! Ah aaah hah~!" Tony groaned as he chased his orgasm. 

"Yeah? Ohn~ come on, come with me, come on baby..." Bucky told him between gasps and moans speaking softly into his ear.

It was one of the best climaxes he had ever had and he supposed it had something to do with how emotional the sex had been paired with Barnes commanding him to do it. 'I didn't even feel submissive till he took the reigns, and that's kinda how I like it.' Tony thought. Panting he said "You really must have given those girls a run for their money. And Steve?"

Bucky paused and smiled. It was honestly one of the most beautiful smiles Tony had ever seen. "Actually, I'd bet my left arm he's still a virgin. He's always so focused, no one ever wonders. They think a man like that would have been taken such a thing the first time it presented itself but our history together says otherwise. His birthday wasn't always July 4th, you know?"

"Meaning he didn't always appear to be the reserved type, a no kiss and tell sort of guy. Oh my God, that explains so much. Does he think it's too dirty or something?"

"Nah. He just wants the moment to be right. And it never can be with the world at stake every other day. He says to me, 'We can move to the country or the sea shore and no one will bat a lash. The ring can be made of the perfect materials for your hand and we can just settle down, when the fight is over’. He doesn't know... living is always going to be a fight. There's always a fight. It doesn't end until your heart stops. So he'll always be waiting for the right time and I'll always be waiting for him." His gaze was a bit melancholic, a bit proud and a lot yearning. His crystalline cerulean eyes swam with tears a moment before he closed them and leaned in to kiss Tony. 

Tony wrapped his arms around Bucky and now he felt more real than ever, there was no monster here. Just a man who was having the most rotten luck in history. And he still fought for more each day. 'Men like them really are cut from different cloth. I always thought my dad was just being a righteous asshole when he said that but no...'

--

"And I'm cured! Turns out the right guy can heal you with magic peen." Strk said sarcastically.

"Pft, really?"

"Well, of that one thing. My mind is still fucked pretty hard from everything else though. But I'm glad it's finally laid to rest. Dad would have wanted it that way. Mom would forgive him, why shouldn't I?”

"Jesus, did you just mature before my very eyes?" Rhodey said with a smile reaching out to put a hand on Tony's shoulder with a squeeze.

"Yep. Let's hope I don't have to fuck everyone who has wronged me to finally put my suit away." Tony sassed back patting the hand of his best friend.

He hoped that day would come though. That Steve and Nat and Bruce and Vision and Wanda and Sam and Clint could set down their suits and anger issues and come home so they could all be worth the wait together.

[writing-mermaid]

Siren, part 1 : Do you think I'm stuck up 'cause I'm always picking fights?

Summary : Y/N is a mutant, a Siren, the last of her kind, with deadly dangerous powers and a hidden past. If most of the Avengers likes and get along with her, Steve doesn’t, and it’s getting worse when Y/N and Bucky become close. After all what can bring two broken souls together if it’s not a dark past.

Pairing : Bucky Barnes x reader

Warnings : Language maybe

Word Count : 1 479

Square Filled : @star-spangled-bingo : Nick Fury

@buckybarnesbingo : Free square

Author’s note : I have this story on my WIPs for a little time. I hope that you’ll like it. This story is also my entry for @sourpatchkidsandacokecan ‘s Little Darlin’s Mystery AU Challenge, the prompt I chose is Siren AU. Don’t forget that feedback is appreciated and really important.

Song of the title : Can’t Pin Me Down - Marina and the Diamonds

Masterlist

Star Spangled Bingo masterlist

Bucky Barnes Bingo masterlist 

Siren masterlist

Buy me a ☕

“And this is the main entrance of the facility”, Fury states, showing the doors on the plan of the HYDRA base.

He presses a button and the plan disappears. He grabs two case files and make them slide on the table.

“Y/L/N, Barnes, the both of you are going”, he adds, sending the folders towards us, at each side of the desk.

I open mine, looking at the information printed on the white sheet and then, rise on my feet.

“This doesn’t look too complicated; I can do it by myself.”

“Same, I don’t need a partner, I can do it alone”, Bucky says, before standing up.

“The both of you sit down !”, the SHIELD’s director almost yells, “I’m the one giving the missions orders, the fact that the both of you are Avengers doesn’t change the fact that I’m the one in charge here.”

“Yes, sir”, I answer, sitting back on my chair, my blood boiling in my veins, Natasha watching me from aside, perfectly knowing that I rather work alone than with someone because of the abilities that made me a part of the Avengers.

Fury finishes his presentation while I am still angry at him for not letting me have a solo mission when I am totally able to do it by myself.

“You’re leaving in an hour”, he concludes.

Everyone around me pack their things and exit the room, Fury first. I am still sitting and move my chair from the right to the left and from the left to the right, sulking like a child. Yeah that’s really mature Y/N, congratulations…

“Y/N are you coming ?”, Nat asks, leaning on the door frame.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”

I follow Natasha out of the meeting room, my file in one hand, the other balled into a fist. I have already proved myself during missions, and I take my suppressing medicine that inhibit my powers when I am around people. Yeah, I must take suppressors, or everyone around would probably jump on me. That is, maybe, the worst aspect of my powers, thing that appeared during my teenage years.

“So, you think that mission is going to be easy ?”, she questions, while we are heading to my bedroom where I need to take my pill of the day.

“It’s just a recognition mission, just have to look, enter and see what HYDRA is up to. Nothing too complicated. I don’t understand why Fury needs to pair me up with somebody else…”

“Maybe because it must be really dangerous.”

“Reconnaissance mission Nat, I’m not a child nor stupid !”

I enter the room, Natasha on my heels and open the drawer of my nightstand to take a little box with the medicine the Wakandan scientists made for me based on the ones Helen Cho gave me when I first arrived here a few years ago.

“I don’t understand why Fury wants Barnes to babysit me”, I put the pill inside my mouth and swallow it with the small bottle of water that stand on my night table. “Like I can’t do anything by myself”, I continue, angrily, closing the cap.

“You’re the newest here, one day he will let you do solo mission.”

“That’s not as if I am a newbie Nat, I have worked for the SHIELD for five years now, trained for a long time before. And with all that I endured before; I had the hopes that somebody would entrust me with a solo mission…”

“Oh sweetheart, that’s not about your capacities or anything”, she says, putting one of my Y/H/C strands behind my right ear. “Fury is just being extra-cautious with HYDRA. They played with us so many times. Besides, going on a mission with Barnes is not the worst thing in the world.”

“You’re right, the worse for me would have been to go on a mission with Steve. I still don’t know why he hates me…”, I sigh.

“I don’t think he does. He’s just being extra careful and protective.”

“Steve Rogers, mother hen.”

We both burst out laughing just before someone knocks on the door.

“Come in”, I yell, trying to catch my breath, while Natasha is still crying of laugh.

“I just wanted to see if you were ready”, Bucky says, after he opened the door. “Is she okay ?”, he asks when he sees my red-head friend trying to calm down.

“Yes, don’t worry. Give me five minutes and I’m all yours.”

“So, in five minutes you’re all his”, Nat says wiggling her eyebrows, when Bucky closes the door after him.

“Nat ! Stop misinterpreting what I’m saying”, I slap her arm saying this. “You know what I meant.”

“Oh, please Y/N, I’m kidding, stop taking everything literally. Maybe you should get laid, it would do you some good.”

“Sex is not the answer to everything Nat”, I sigh.

“No, but it would do you some good. When was the last time you had a good shag ?”

“Nat !”

“What ?! Maybe you should try with Barnes. It would do you real, real good.”

The door opens at the same time, revealing a blushing Bucky on the other side.

“I’m ready”, I tell him, nonchalantly, trying to hide my embarrassment because of what Nat just said and that he probably heard through the door. “Are you coming ?”, I ask him, going towards the changing room.

Natasha leaves us and in silence, we walk to the elevator. When we reach the equipment floor of the Avengers facility, Fury is waiting for us, with Steve and Tony.

“Come here darling, I improved your suit. The fabric is more flexible. Totally in match with your fighting skills and those powers of yours”, he says, smiling and handing me the new black fabric.

“Thanks Tony, I really appreciate !”

While I am looking at my new outfits, I can feel Steve’s gaze all over me, and what he’s saying to Bucky.

“Be careful Buck, we don’t know what’s going to be in that HYDRA facility and I don’t trust her”, I hear him.

“She’s an Avenger Steve, and she worked for the SHIELD before that. You should trust her.”

“I’d like to, but I can’t. There are some blank years in her files, Fury seems to be the only one knowing where she was and what happened to her during that time, but he didn’t tell me and said that it’s hers to say when she’ll be ready to reveal it. And I don’t like this.”

“Let her prove herself Steve, I’m sure everything is going to be okay.”

He pats Steve’s shoulder and walks to his locker from where he takes his uniform.

“Go now, little one”, Tony pushes me towards locker room, “I want to see you in my outfits.”

“Out of context, that sentence would sound really suspect. And I’m not sure that Pepper would appreciate that.”

Tony sticks out his tongue and pushes me in the booth. “Make it quick, I want to see if it fits.”

I roll my eyes and start to change my clothes to those Tony gave me. The suit perfectly hugs every of my curves. I lift my arms above my head, and the fabric is really light and moves with all my movements, according to Tony, it’s also waterproof and it comes with removing gloves. I really must thank him for that new outfit.

“Marvelous !”, the genius billionaire says, when I go out. “I’m really proud of myself !”, he adds, admiring his own work.

“Please Stark, if you’re done, I’d like to talk to Y/L/N and Barnes before they leave.”

Tony and Steve step back, and Fury approaches us.

“Don’t think that I send you there as a team, not because I don’t trust each of you as agent and that you’re not capable to deal with it by your side, but we don’t know what to expect in that warehouse, we don’t know how many men are in there, nor what they’re doing. Barnes, you are strong and fast, Y/L/N is fast too, she is lighter, and has some skills that can help you outside if things become out of control. Now do you understand ?” We both nod. The Quinjet noise is heard and he gestures towards it. “I think that’s your cue. Be careful.”

With that, he leaves and lets the both of us deal with each other.

“After you”, Bucky says, letting me pass first, with that very 1940’s gentleman thing he has.

“Thanks”, I answer, stepping into the plane, putting the first emergency bag down and taking place behind the control.

Bucky steps in right after me and takes the seat next to mine.

“Are you ready, partner ?”

“As ready as I think I can be.”

The hatch opens, and we pass through it to go to the HYDRA facility.

Taglist :

@the-geeky-engineer, @feelmyroarrrr, @amrita31199, @realgreglestrade, @hellomissmabel, @mandy19875, @howlingbarnes, @belleetlabeast, @theashhole, @sebbytrash, @crazychick010, @bionic-buckyb, @callamint, @just-another-fangirl777, @learisa, @hello-sweetie-get-the-salt, @mokacoconut, @marvelbase001-blog​, @thefiregypsy, @iamthemaskhewears, @snowyseba, @theycallmebucky, @buckysberrie, @speakcroissant, @fangirlwithasweettooth, @tequilavet, @iamwarrenspeace, @melconnor2007, @jamesbarnesappreciationclub​, @mrshopkirk​, @poealsobucky​, @maiden-of-gondor​, @jurassicbarnes​, @abovethesmokestacks​, @thisismysecrethappyplace​, @arawynn​, @sebbys-girl​, @captainrogerss​, @murdocksmartinis​, @supersoldierslover​, @clintbartxon, @totallynotashieldagent​, @crazy-little-thing-called-buck​, @4theluvofall​, @supernaturaldean67​, @prettyyoungtragedy​, @papi-chulo-bucky​, @just-a-kj-blog​, @lenavonschweetz​,  @forever-graphically-frozen​,  @buckysglow​, @winterscldicr​, @whothehellisbella​, @bethanystan​, @re2d2, @asirenscalling​, @after-avenging-hours​, @mrs-squirrel-chester, @winchester-with-wings​, @angryschnauzer​,  @callingmrsbarnes​, @suz-123​, @writingruna​, @sugardaddytonystark​, @angelicthor​, @thatawkwardtinyperson​, @themistsofmyavalon​, @redgillan​, @loricameback​, @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​, @bringpietrobacktolife, @farfromjustordinary​, @you-and-buckyb​, @bucky-made-me-do-it​, @lovelykhaleesiii​, @newmooneyfanfiction​, @lovely-geek​, @fanfictionjunkie1112​, @thefanficfaerie​, @littlemarvelfics​, @cordytriestowrite​, @firefly-in-darkness​, @caplanreads​, @my-emotional-self, @imaginingbarnes-deactivated2020​, @searchingforbuckyfavs​, @buckybabybaby​,

[lixiepeach]

Roses

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Stark!reader

Warnings: Pining, a bit of angst, light fluff, probably a lot of cliches. 

Summary: Y/N Stark has a huge crush on Steve Rogers, but she’s scared to tell him.

A/N: This is for @kellyn1604​’s 5K writing challenge. I chose the prompt: “I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” This is also my first time doing a reader insert instead of an OC so I’m checking off a lot of firsts with this one.

You had a serious problem. Of course, you only realized this at the most inconvenient time. This time you were sparring with Natasha and of course, Steve had to be right in your line of sight squatting the weight of a small car. You can’t help but watch the sweat slide between the ridges of the muscles in his back, the way his perky butt stood out as he squatted low. You almost bite straight through your lip as Natasha lands a solid kick right to your abdomen, flattening you on the floor. You lay there, staring up at the ceiling, wheezing for breath as she stands over you, smirking. You have no shame. None at all. 

Natasha kneels on the floor next to you, leaning in close. “You let your guard down again, Y/N.” 

You lift your head up, glancing at where Steve was now stretching before looking up at her. “Can you blame me?” 

“Why don’t you just tell him?” 

“I’m definitely not his type, for starters.” 

Natasha tilts her head. “And what is his type?” 

You motion up and down at her. “You. Strong, brave, heroic.” You poke at your stomach. “I’m all soft and cowardly. He wants someone who will run into the face of danger, not from it.” 

“You’re sure that’s what he wants and that’s not just what you think he wants?” 

You shrug. “Look at his dating history. It’s short but concise. He has a type, and it’s not me.” 

********

You try to convince yourself that he would never go for someone like you, shoving your feelings to the side. You were a scientist. An engineer, keeping with the family tradition. You would build machinery that could bring down a building, but that was where your heroics ended. You hadn’t gotten your father’s selflessness to put yourself in danger to help others. Maybe you were selfish but you’d seen enough of it to last you more than a lifetime. You were more than happy to stay behind the lines, making sure everyone’s gadgets worked perfectly. So that’s where you buried yourself to avoid facing your feelings for the Star-Spangled Man. 

Of course, that was hard when you were currently doing updates on his suit and you needed him to try it out. It had taken you nearly a half an hour to build up the courage to message him to meet you in your lab and bring his shield. The prospect of being alone with him scared you beyond belief. What if you said something stupid? What if you just malfunctioned and melted into a pile of goo? Perhaps the latter would be a less embarrassing end than other situations you could come up with. 

Like forgetting to breathe when he walks in. Yeah, suffocating yourself was definitely more embarrassing than turning into goo. It’s not your fault though since he insists on walking around like a male model with his slicked-back hair and too tight t-shirts and perfectly fitting jeans, just tight enough to show off his lower body. Yeah, you had it bad. Real bad. 

“Hey.” He says, nearly stopping your heart with an award-winning smile. 

“H-Hi.” You smile back, but you’re sure it looks more like a wince from your inability to not stutter. You had gone through years of therapy to fix that. And this man in front of you had the ability to undo that with one word. 

“You said you needed me to test something?” 

You nod, swallowing your nerves, praying your hands don’t shake as they pick up his glove off your work table. “I fixed the magnet in your glove. It should work all the time now, instead of just being finicky. No offense of course to my dad but he’s got so much going on sometimes and he’s so sleep-deprived pretty much all the time, sometimes he forgets to put the right wire in the right place and I’ve seen what happens when he connects the wrong ones and I don’t want you to have to go through that recovery process so...I’ll stop talking and let you try it out.” You give him a nervous smile, inwardly berating yourself for your nervous banter as you hand his glove back to him. 

He smiles, his fingers brushing yours as he takes the glove from you, your heart nearly stopping in his chest. His hands aren’t as calloused as you thought they would be. You’d felt your dad’s hands and there was no expensive moisturizer that was going to save him. Steve’s hands though are surprisingly smooth, probably having something to do with the serum and his healing abilities. He only had callouses where he needed them. 

Steve slips his glove on, setting his shield on the floor before activating the magnet. You jump slightly as the shield snaps up onto his arm again, holding in place. 

He turns to you, smiling. “Looks good right now.” 

You nod, swallowing the lump in your throat. “Good! If it starts to act up again, just let me know. I’m happy to take another look at it.” 

Steve nods, fiddling with the shield as he hesitates for a moment. Your heart starts to pound in your chest as adrenaline rushes through you. Now’s your moment. You want to blurt out all of your inner thoughts, confess your feelings, tell him you love him and want to spend the rest of your life with him. 

“Hey, Steve?” You step closer, but your confidence fades as he looks at you. 

His blue eyes freeze you in place, stealing the words from your lips. “Yes, Y/N?” 

You gulp a little. “I-If you ever need anything else fixed...you can come straight to me. I know my dad likes to try and fix everything and he tends to just send the small stuff to me but I know he can get a little backed up and distracted and with your guys’ unpredictable schedules it can be kinda hard if you need something right away, so I’m here if you need anything. Anything fixed, that is.” 

Steve nods and you can’t help but notice a flash of disappointment in his eyes. Maybe you had just imagined it from your own disappointment in your cowardice. “Thanks, Y/N. I’ll keep that in mind.” 

You let out a breath as you watch him leave, hitting your work table in frustration at your own lack of bravery. One day. One day you would tell him. 

*********

You’re one day too late. Steve comes down to the rec room dressed to the nines and you can feel your heart breaking a little. He has flowers in his hands, daisies in a nice bouquet. You feel your hands shake as they hold your book, Steve looking like a dream. A dream you had envisioned many nights alone, but this one wasn’t for you. 

“How do I look?” Steve asks Sam who’s sitting at the opposite end of the couch from you. 

“Man, when you clean up, you do it nicely,” Sam says. “Who’s the lucky lady?” 

“One of the girls from accounting. Natasha set me up.” 

You can feel your heart breaking even more. Not only from disappointment but also from betrayal. You had thought of Nat as a friend, but maybe you had been wrong. Your breath catches as Steve turns to you, and you try to hide the disappointed look on your face. 

“Y/N? What do you think?” 

You nod, swallowing the lump in your throat. “You look great.” 

He smiles at you and your heart breaks all over again. “Thanks. I’ll be home late so no one wait up for me.” 

“We won’t,” Sam says jokingly as Steve makes his way out of the rec room. 

You try to go back to your book but you can’t concentrate on it, fighting the tears threatening to spill. You had wasted your moment and Steve had already found someone else. You get up from the couch, heading to the only person you know you can trust in the tower. 

He’s right where you expect him to be, hunched over his work table messing with something. You can’t really see through the tears, leading yourself blindly to his side. 

“Dad?” 

He glances up from his work, doing a double-take as he sees the tears running down your cheeks. He sets his tools down, reaching out for you. “Hey pumpkin, what’s going on?” 

You fall against his chest, clinging to his shirt. He smells like aftershave and metal but you don’t care, burying your face in his chest. “Why can’t I be brave like you?” 

He wraps his arms around you, and you can tell he’s staring at you. “What do you mean?” 

“Steve’s out on a date. I wasn’t brave enough to ask him and I missed my chance.” 

“It’s not your fault.” He rubs your back.

“Why can’t I just talk to him? Be smooth like you?” 

He sits you down on a stool, holding you at arm’s length. “I’m not always smooth. I almost missed my shot with your mom.” 

You tilt your head. You hadn’t ever heard this story before. “What do you mean?” 

“You know I met your mom while we were in school and she was literally the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I swear I thought I would die any time she even looked at me. It was like all the experience I had talking to women just went out the window. I couldn’t work up the courage to ask her out and the one time I finally did she already had plans with another guy. Two months went by before they broke up and I finally got the chance to shoot my shot and, well, you know how the story ends. So don’t give up hope. It’s just one date. You’ll get there.” 

You want to believe him. You really do. 

*****

It’s later that night and you can’t sleep. It was pushing eleven and the tower and quieted down as everyone either left for the night, went to bed, or to their respective workspaces to avoid sleeping. You had taken a page out of your dad’s book and buried yourself in your lab, working on a couple of things you had decided to put together out of boredom. Mostly it was a need for a distraction. You weren’t sure if Steve had come back yet and you were too scared to ask FRIDAY if he had or not. You weren’t really sure you wanted to know the answer to that question. 

Turns out you didn’t need to. 

The sly AI let you know that Steve had returned, and was currently in the kitchen. You push all your fear and doubt aside, your legs shaking as you get up and make your way there as well. You nearly turn and run as you walk in, Steve having taken his jacket off and was just in a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. You push the small shred of bravery forward, making your way further into the kitchen. Steve looks up where he’s sipping a cup of water next to the fridge. 

“You’re up late.” 

You nod, coming to a stop a few feet from him. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep. Decided to work on some stuff.” He nods, taking another drink. “Steve, there’s something I need to say.” 

He looks back to you, swallowing the water he had just drank. You don’t give him a chance to respond, knowing if you wait any longer, you’re not going to get it out. 

“Steve, I’ve been trying to say this for a long time and I keep talking myself out of it and convincing myself that I’m not good enough and I’m tired of being hurt and heartbroken so I’m just going to come out and say it. I’m a simple girl. I know that’s kind of surprising given my childhood and my dad and the fact that I could basically have anything I really wanted, but there’s only one thing I really want. I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” You take a breath, Steve not even blinking as he takes in your words. “I know you’re already seeing someone and by the looks of it the date went really well and I’m really late letting you know this and no matter how much it hurts I hope you two are happy together. I just needed to say it-” You’re cut off by Steve’s finger on your lips. You hadn’t even noticed him approach you in your ramblings. 

“I’m glad you did.” He moves his finger from your lips, staring down at you. He smells good, like spice and Italian food. “The date…didn’t really go well. I realized the gal wasn’t really my type and I also realized while I was sitting at the restaurant that I liked someone else. I kept imagining her sitting across from me instead of the girl from accounting.” You stare up at him, unsure of what he’s going to say. “You. I was imagining you.” 

It takes a moment for his words to hit you, but when it does you feel like your feet are going to float off the ground and you’ll lift right to the ceiling. You get the same feeling you do when you’re on a roller coaster heading down the big drop at the beginning like your stomach is still sitting at the top of the hill and all circulation has ceased except between your heart and your brain. You know you’re shaking but you’re not entirely sure you had stopped since you left your lab. 

“Steve...I...don’t know what to say...I’ve spent so much time...dreaming about this...I…” 

He wraps an arm around you, holding you close. “Then don’t say anything.” 

He leans down, pressing his lips to yours. They’re soft against yours, and you have to question Natasha’s opinion that he hadn’t done much kissing since the ’40s. Not that you had much experience to go off of. 

“God I wish I had confessed earlier.” You breathe for a moment, Steve smiling before pressing his lips back to yours. 

You’re not sure how long you stand there, lost in each other. Months of pent up emotions and feelings leaving you both. Steve leans his forehead against yours, breath fanning over your face. You didn’t want to move, but the exertion from all of the emotions that had just come to the surface has your body realizing how late it really is. 

“So, I know you just went on a date, but maybe next weekend we could go see a movie or something?” You ask as you pull away from Steve. 

He nods. “Sure. I’d love to take you out.” 

You smile at him. “Great. I’ll be sure to clear my schedule.” You turn, heading towards the door, but you stop, turning around to face him again. “Oh, and Steve? I like roses.”

[softbiker]

Steve Rogers Oneshot

Warnings: some language and violence

Word count: 3.1k

Summary: Steve and Agent 14 work together for the first time. Best laid plans go awry. 

A/N: Here’s another installment of Cap and our beloved barista agent - if you haven’t read ‘Extra Whip’ or ‘Tall Blonde’, you might want to look at those first so you’ll know what’s going on! As always, please let me know what you think! I really love these two together <3

“So…it’s a quick intel grab?”

“Yep,” Fury nods. 

“And you want me on this?” She glances up from the dossier in her hands. 

Another nod.

“Care to explain why? Considering you have perfectly good agents in-house who can handle this?” 

Fury just shrugs. “You’ve been out of the field for quite a while on your…assignment, figured you might want the chance to stretch your legs a bit.”

Her eyes narrow at him. 

“And the real reason?”

“…you were requested.”

The dossier snaps closed, dropped to his desk with a quiet thump. Agent 14 settles her hands on her hips, eyebrow lifted as she stares down her boss. 

“By whom?” 

With a whoosh, the automatic door slides open, and there he is, all long legs and purposeful strides and shoulders that overwhelm the doorframe. American jaw hidden under that scruffy layer of beard he seemingly refuses to shave. She wonders if anyone has even tried - stylists, publicists, all the staff in charge of their Avengers image - to get him to go back to his classic style, boyish bare cheeks and sweetly combed hair. The boy you’d take to meet your mother. But some time has passed now, since the rifts caused by the Accords were repaired and SHIELD’s prodigal son came home - rough around the edges and unapologetic. 

“Oh,” he sees her, breaks the rhythm of his stride for half a beat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt-”

“Not at all, Captain,” Fury waves off his manners. “We were just discussing your upcoming mission.”

Half-turned to watch him, a look of understanding passes across her face and she crosses her arms. To his credit, Steve doesn’t shrink from her gaze, merely squares his shoulders, looping his thumbs in his belt. She’s not looking at the way the dark blue suit strains across his chest. He’s not looking at the tight white catsuit she’s wearing, nor the dagger strapped to her thigh. Sarah Rogers raised a damn gentleman, thank you. 

Clearing his throat, Steve nods and takes a step forward, gesturing towards the dossier spilling onto Fury’s desk. 

“May I?” 

Without a word, she scoops up the file and hands it to him. It falls open to a set of blueprints - floor plans scribbled here and there with notes on suitable entry and exit points. Licking the pad of his thumb, he continues to flip through the file, scanning the provided notes on security details, including a very thorough breakdown of the guard rotation schedule.

“Impressive recon,” he comments, still reading. “Who’d you have on this?” 

“Couple of my best agents,” Fury shrugged. His good eye slides over to Agent 14 and he nods graciously. “Present company excepted.”

“Please, my ego’s not that fragile, Nick,” 14 sighs, sarcastic smirk tilting up her mouth. “You don’t have to pat me on the head and give me a gold star.” Leaning her hip against his desk, she spares a glance at the Captain, bemused eyes bouncing between their exchange. “He always tells us that he doesn’t play favorites - we all annoy him equally.”

“Even Stark?” Steve quirks an eyebrow. 

“He’s in a class all his own - and technically not an agent of SHIELD.” The scowl around Fury’s mouth deepens by a fraction. “Not that that’s ever stopped him.”

“If Pepper Potts can’t stop him, then it’s a lost cause.” Reeling the conversation back to business, 14 tamps down her smile. “So what’s our timeline here, boss?”

“48 hours. I want a clean extraction.” He points a finger at Steve. “No theatrics, Captain. No explosions. And for God’s sake, no toppling entire organizations without calling me first.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to send in the Star Spangled Man? Not exactly the best play for subtlety.” She turns her face to Steve with a placating gesture of her hands. “No offense.”

“None taken.” He rolls his shoulders, feeling the edges of the shield against his muscles. “This thing doesn’t exactly scream ‘stealth’.” The corners of her eyes wrinkle as she fights a smile, and if he seems to puff his chest a little, well, this suit is a bit tight on him now. 

“I’m trusting Captain Rogers’s discretion in this case, Agent.” How does a single eyepatch manage to look so stern? “Romanoff has taught him a thing or two over the years. Should be fine. Any further questions?” 

Their eyes meet over the dossier - no questions in that gaze; at least, none that Fury can answer. 

“Alright, then - please see yourselves out of my office.” Nick falls into his chair, kicking his feet up on the desk. “And don’t come back without coffee.” 

 **********                                                                                                   

It’s quiet in the cockpit. Autopilot holds the jet steady, somewhere over the Arctic Ocean. Starkpad in his lap, Steve runs back over their notes and schematics, holding the picture in his mind: two exit points on the south side, three on the east. Heavier security on the south side, near the main entrance; they’d have easier access to the server if they could get in that way, but it was too much of a risk. Too easy to be seen, and then they’d end up fighting their way out - which was the last thing they needed. He wanted in and out - efficient, quiet, clean. 

A glance over at 14, who has her headphones in, studying her own tablet. The soft blue glow of the screen lights up her features, soft shadows cast by her lashes. It’s been quiet since they loaded up the jet, each falling into their own preparations, little habits to find their headspace. She chews on her thumbnail as her other hand flicks through pages on her screen. 

Still an hour out, according to their navigation system, and Steve is certain the blueprints are tattooed on the backs of his eyelids. With a sigh, he abandons the tablet and swivels to the side to face his teammate. It takes a moment for her to notice him, pluck one of her earphones out with a sheepish little smile. 

“Sorry, did you say something?” 

“Not yet,” he shakes his head. Chews his lip. Cracks the knuckles of one hand. 

“Did you…need something?” she laughs a little, a nervous bubble and quirk of her eyebrows. 

He blows a breath past his lips and looks up. 

“Honestly? I’m bored,” Steve chuckles. “And I know you don’t want to talk about you, so I thought maybe we could play a game?”

Eyebrows arching up, she sits a little straighter in her seat. 

“A game?” 

Turning to reach behind him, Steve digs in his duffel bag for a few moments, producing a deck of cards. The cardboard is worn down, corners practically broken through, and he waves the pack in his hand, earnest offer in his soft blue eyes. 

“You like gin rummy?” 

Smile growing, she pulls out the other headphone and puts her tablet to the side. 

“I’m more of a Texas Hold’em girl, Cap.” 

  **********                                                                                                  

“Alright - you approach to the east, as planned. I’ll follow and cover you.” 

“Roger that, Captain.” 

Clock counting down, they stand in the gangway of the jet, conducting a final weapons check. 14 settles a gun on her left thigh, knife on her right and in each of her boots. Extra ammo in her belt. His own guns and knives in place, Steve spins the shield in his hands, before securing it on his back - he feels practically naked without it. Flag design be damned, he’s not going into a mission without it now. 

Two fingers tap at the comm device in her ear.

“Line 1, test.” Her voice comes through clear and soft in his ear. 

“Line secure.” 

They’re minutes away now, shuffling on their feet, prickles of adrenaline beginning to flex in their twitching fingers. It’s quiet, only the hum of the jet’s engines, the whir of the fans pressurizing the cabin. Steve’s jaw works back and forth. 

“Hey, can I ask you something?” 

She tilts her head to the side and lifts a brow in invitation. 

Steve scratches the back of his neck. “Just, uh…don’t tell Bucky about that, okay?” His smile, an embarrassed smirk aimed at the floor, is achingly sweet, his long lashes fanning against flushed cheeks. 

“Embarrassed you got cleaned out, Captain?” Oh, that grin, a cat with two paws in the cream. 

“Well, he taught me to play, back when we were kids…” he huffs, rolling his eyes. “He’d never let me hear the end of it.”

It’s soft, the way she considers him then, taking in the hunched shoulders, the curious blue eyes, the hand sweeping hair back from his face. Softer than a moment between strangers has any right to be, longer than one between friends should. The jet beats it’s way through the air, bringing them closer to their objective. 

She licks her lips. 

“Your secret’s safe with me, Captain.”

**********                                                                                                   

Not the plan, not the plan, not the goddamn plan.

Steve books it down the hallway, long legs and enhanced muscles letting him eat up the distance in seconds. Alarms blare at each end of the hall, echoing down the staircase as he throws the door open and leaps down one flight after another. On his left, a door slams open against the wall, kicked by a screaming guard who enters the stairwell with his gun, only to be on the receiving end of the red right hand of Steve Rogers. His feet barely slow as the unfortunate soldier slumps against the wall, taking the steps 3 at a time. 

Short story is that their intel was faulty; the long story is that Steve is going to throttle whoever sent him and 14 right into the lion’s den with no backup, no heavy firepower, and no goddamn plan. 

“14? 14 do you copy?” He pants into the comm, tapping the button repeatedly when he’s met with taught seconds of silence. 

With a growl, he bursts through a door to his left, marked ‘G’ for what he hopes is the ground floor. The planned rendezvous point with Agent 14. But the relentless static buzzing in his ear doesn’t fill him with much confidence, and he turns about, looking for her along the corners of the room. 

“14, what’s your location?” He can hear the harsh scrape in his voice, the tightness in his throat that threatens to close in his words, his commands. “Tell me where you are and I’ll find you.” 

A heartbeat, two. A breath between.

“Incoming, Captain -” His shoulders sag at the sound. “Bringing a few friends with me.”

He swivels his head back and forth, scanning the room - she was late, she was without backup, she was-

- Falling from the ceiling, a cable attached to her belt barely controlling the descent as she plummets downward headfirst, her knees curling up as she aims her gun directly upward. A limp arm dangles from the hole she dropped through, masked faces appearing in the space above; panicked shouts mingle with the shrill sirens, the clipped staccato of gunfire punctuating their frantic cries. 

About 10 feet above the floor, Agent 14 cuts her cable and backflips neatly to the ground, bouncing up on her toes and tensed to spring as her quick fingers change the clip in her gun. Her head whips around to find him striding over, boots stomping and tight-lipped authority. 

“Where’ve you been?” Concealed by his beard, the muscle in his jaw jumps. “We were supposed to meet back at the rendezvous point the minute something went wrong.”

Her eyes narrow and he could choke on the overbearing tone in his own voice. 

“The plan went south. I improvised.” The arch in her brow is imperious, immune, invulnerable. “And now I’m here.” The shouts above them grow louder, accompanied by pounding footsteps approaching from the stairwell. She runs a quick hand through her hair, pushing the sweaty loose strands away from her face. 

“Would you like to save this discussion for the jet ride home?” she quips, no longer looking at him as she eyes the stairwell door. 

Before he can answer, the door bursts open - guns pointed their way, a spatter of bullets erupting on sight. Twisting behind him, 14 crouches down, shoulder pressed against his back as he swings his shield in front of them just in time. In moments, there’s a phalanx of guards standing between them and their exit point, the jet, home.

“Stay back!” he yells over his shoulder, one arm reaching behind to tuck her against his back as he turns and shuffles them closer to the wall, finding marginal cover against a column rising up from the floor. 

“Yeah, no shit,” she mutters back, his enhanced ears catching the sass under the chaos of their failed escape. 

Pressed against the column, he edges back an inch, layering the shield and his own body against the hail of bullets volleying their way. With quickened breaths, he calculates their odds - each passing second, the number of goons standing between them and the quinjet grows. No reason to call in for support or evac; it would take too long for a SHIELD strike team to be deployed to their location, and the Avengers were otherwise occupied. 14’s fist curls against his shoulder blades, and he scans the room, maybe they could skirt the perimeter somehow…?

Her voice appears in his ear.

“I’ve got an idea.” The grip on the back of his uniform tightens by a fraction. “When I say, throw the shield on an angle, against that far wall, got it?” 

With little time to debate, he nods and adjusts his feet, turning his hips in a better stance to aim for the spot she’d pointed out. He slows his breaths, counting between each beat of his heart, each pounding bullet. 

“Now!”

A swing of his arm sends a bright red arc spinning across the room, the ricochet bouncing off one wall to the next at the corner, then arcs back to sweep out the legs of the front guards in the formation. On impact, it bounces away and clangs against the floor, rolling towards…Agent 14, who has already scooped up the rolling disc and is running back towards their enemies, drawing fire as she raises the shield in front of her face. 

Mid-run, she dives for the floor, holding the shield overhead to catch her in a somersault and then springing up to crash the shield against the nearest guards head. She spins and whirls, using the shield to block bullets as she pistol whips another thug, then kicks out the knees of a third and knocks him out with a shield blow to the head. Over her shoulder, she sees Steve approaching; she twists, kicking her leg around high and throwing his keepsake back to him, taking out the nearest guard with her boot. 

Running up on the last remaining soldier, Steve deals him a quick right cross - just like Bucky taught him - and turns to survey the damage…and his partner. 

She’s wondering if she’ll have to scrape his jaw off the floor. If he’ll say something. And for that matter, she’s unsure whether to be offended or flattered by his reaction.

“Don’t tell me you thought I was a full-time barista, Rogers?” Hands on her hips, chin raised, the perfect arch of her brow daring him to open his mouth and answer at all. The corners of his mouth twitch as he raises his hands in surrender. 

“In my defense, your resume is classified above top secret.” 

Rolling her eyes, 14 turns away and starts jogging towards the exit. Steve watches her ponytail swing for a moment, before shaking his head and following behind. 

 **********                                                                                                   

Fury doesn’t look up from his desk when the door glides open. 

“You know, I’m starting to doubt you learned anything from Agent Romanoff.”

“Well you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks.” Steve tucks his thumbs in his belt, planting himself in front of the director’s desk. Fury’s good eye rolls. 

“Sure, and when they get too old, we take them out of the field.” The folder in his hand snaps closed, punctuating his sentence. It slides across the table towards Steve. “Luckily for you, I trust 14’s judgment. Her report indicates there was a problem with the intel - the two of you ran into some unexpected company.”

Lips pursed, Steve nods, a stark crease forming between his dark brows. 

“We were caught off guard. They backed us into a corner, too, but we made it out. No injuries, but I wouldn’t exactly call the mission a success.”

Leaning back in his chair, Fury makes a noise of protest. 

“I wouldn’t exactly say that,” he shrugs, producing a shiny flash drive from his pocket. “14 always delivers.”

Steve blinks. Bullets and broken bones for this, such a little thing - the drive slides back into Fury’s pocket. 

“In short, Captain, I won’t be needing a report from you, unless you have an issue with Agent 14’s.” He taps the file with a pointed finger. “Feel free to look it over, leave your John Hancock if you’ve got nothing to add.” 

Mutely, Steve takes the file, his thumb flipping it open and scanning down the page with quick eyes. Speed reading was an underrated super-soldier skill, one that didn’t really make the history books, but he made use of it getting through the daily set of security briefings and news headlines and mission reports that came across his desk. A long-suffering sigh passes his lips. 

“You got a pen?” He glances up at Fury, who’s sipping at a familiar paper cup, green logo bright against the cardboard sleeve. Wordlessly, he extends a black fountain pen to Steve with his unoccupied hand, the only sound in the room the quiet slurp of his mouth against the cup. 

Placing the pen on top of the file, Steve returns it back to the desk and nods at the drink in Fury’s hand. 

“Americano? Dark roast?” A wry quirk of his eyebrow. “Pumpkin spice latte?” 

With a flat stare, Fury shakes his head. 

“Black coffee with a shot of espresso.” He takes a long drink. “14 knows just how I like it.”

On his way down, Steve takes the stairs at a jog, wondering how fast he can squeeze in a coffee run before his next meeting. Through the windows, the sun is strong and high, a spring morning with summer at its heels. He’s got 20 minutes to change, grab his notes, and be back down to the 10th floor for a weekly update from the team. 

Ah, what the hell. They can wait. 

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch39: The Reunion Part 2: Hey, Kiddo.

Intro: Help arrives in the form of an unknown face, and after almost a month of searching, Tony returns to Earth where he is re-united with his sister.

Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: Please heed the warnings… @angrybirdcr​ hit me in the feels with these ones...

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 39 Part 1

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“More census results.” Natasha said, tapping a button as Steve walked into the room, coffee in his hand, Katie following.

“I thought when you said you had news that someone had answered that fucking pager.” Katie mumbled, running a hand through her hair and Steve looked at her, taking a deep breath. He felt her frustration too, the excitement at having finally got the thing working had been short lived, as nothing came from it, at all. It simply continued to send the signal for a good two days on end, no one answering and Steve found himself wondering if whoever was on the other side had been dusted too.

Natasha ignored her completely as the 3D globe flashed up in front of them, along with numerous digital displays of numbers that kept rolling, and rolling increasing in front of their eyes.  

Steve placed his mug down and sighed, leaning over the table so he could get a closer look “God, this is a nightmare.”

“I’ve had better nightmares.” Katie mumbled, her eyes on the ever increasing death tolls.

“Hey.” Rhodey appeared in the door and they all turned to face him. “So that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing.”

“The pager?” Katie asked instantly, her eyes widening.

Rhodey nodded, and in a flash she moved, pushing past him and darting out of the room, Natasha hurrying behind her.

“They’re keen.” Rhodey quipped and Steve took a deep breath before he shook his head.

“I’m not sure how many more knocks they can take, Rhodey.”

Rhodey simply clapped him on the shoulder as they too headed to the lab, to find Bruce already explaining.

“Whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out.” Bruce said as they all stared through the glass sided container at the pager that had been running for the last few days.

“I thought we by-passed the battery?” Steve spoke from where he stood a few steps behind Katie.

“Well we did.” Rhodey replied. “It was still plugged in it just… just stopped.”

Steve looked up to his left before he glanced back at the item and took a deep breath “Re-boot it, send the signal again.”

“We don’t even know what this is.” Bruce began to protest and Katie cut him off, turning to look at him

“Fury did.”

“Katie’s right, just do it please?” Natasha stated, as she too turned from the object to look at Bruce. “Tell me the second you get a signal, I wanna know who’s on the other end of that thing.”

She turned to leave the room and Katie followed her with her eyes before Nat stopped dead due to the presence of a blonde woman she had never seen before in her life. She was dressed in a red and blue combat suit of sorts which had gold shoulder pads which led into three golden stripes across her chest, culminating in a gold nova-style star of some kind. Katie felt a little bit indignant at the sight if she was honest.

That star style had been given to her. And she didn’t like people taking her stuff.

Lucky gave a bark as Katie nudged Steve. He looked from the pager, to her, followed her gaze and immediately straightened up, drawing himself taller as he turned to face the woman as she eyeballed Natasha and spoke clearly.

“Where’s Fury?”

“He’s not here.” Steve stepped forward putting himself in between Katie and the newcomer as he eyed her up and down. “I’m sorry, and I don’t mean to be rude but who are you?”

“Name’s Carol, Carol Danvers.”

“Carol Danvers?” Katie frowned, moving so she was stood alongside Steve as she instantly recognised the name.

“What is it?” Steve asked and Katie turned to face him.

“When we took down Hydra at the Triskellion, Fury had the retinal scan we used hidden under that name, Carol Danvers.” Katie turned from Steve to scrutinise the small woman in front of her. “You were important enough for him to page when people started to vanish, and important enough for him to use your name to hide a clearance under.” She paused, looking straight at the woman before she repeated Steve’s question. “Who are you?”

“A friend.” Carol said, vaguely. “Me and Nick go way back. I gave him that pager so he could reach of me in case of emergency, I haven’t heard from him in over twenty years so I’ll politely ask again, where is he?“

"Dead.” Nat stated simply and Carol’s face slipped a little bit.

“Dead? I don’t…how?”

“Thanos.” Katie replied and Carol frowned.

“Thanos, the mad Titan?” 

“You heard of him then?”  Rhodey looked at her.

“I’ve been tracking him for a while.” Carol nodded. “Ever since he decimated Xandar, but he slipped off radar about a month ago.”

“Well he slipped off your radar and onto ours.” Rhody continued. “Came to Earth, wielding his infinity stones and…”

“He’s been chasing Infinity stones.” It was a statement not a question as Carol closed her eyes, her voice almost a groan.

“And he found them.” Katie sighed “He found them, and eighteen days ago he used them.”

“Well that explains it.” Carol bit her lip, her eyes flicking again to the now defunct pager.

“Explains what?” Steve questioned.

“It’s been chaos out there for the last couple of weeks.” Carol turned back to him. “I’ve been getting distress calls from all over the galaxy.”

“Distress calls?” Nat asked, her eyes still narrowed slightly. “What-“

“I have powers.” Carol cut her off and Steve could tell she was picking her words carefully.

“Powers?” He pressed. “So you’re enhanced?”

“Not intentionally.” Carol smiled a little, and then the dots suddenly connected in Katie’s head and her eyes widened.

“Project Pegasus.” Katie whispered, and Carol arched an eyebrow at her. “The incident that shut it down, that was you?”

“What the hell was Project Pegasus?” Bruce asked.

“It was a joint initiative between NASA and the Airforce to analyse and study new aircraft engines.” Rhodey answered, frowning.

“To the public.” Kate added softly. “In reality it was the cover used for the project to study the Tesseract.”

Steve let out a groan. “Why does everything come back to that damned cube?”  “Yeah well that ‘damned cube’ and I had an accident, and I absorbed its power.” Carol sniffed as she rubbed at her temple. “Has Fury never mentioned me to you guys? Not even once?” They all shook their heads.

“That’s a bummer. Especially seeing as you’re named after me.”

“Named after you?” Steve frowned

“My pilot tag” Carol smiled slightly as she looked round “I was Captain Carol ‘Avenger’ Danvers. You are the Avengers, right?”

“What’s left of them.” Rhodey folded his arms across his chest.

“You were Fury’s first Super Hero.” Katie looked at Carol, cocking her head slightly, studying the woman some more. “You’re what inspired him to put a gang of us together.”

“Apparently so.”

Before they had chance to question her further, Rocket walked in.

“Is that a racoon?” Carol frowned, staring at the creature who looked up at her, raising his eyebrow before he sarcastically replied.

“You want a photo or summin?”

Carol stayed that evening and they sat up late into the night as she explained everything about who she was, what had happened between her and Fury in the Nineties and for some reason, Steve and Katie both felt they could trust her. It was a boost, if anything, to have someone else on their side.

The next morning after a rest and food, she was preparing to set off again and had given their spirits somewhat of a lift with her promise to do what she could to help find Tony.

“I’ve got places I can try, favours I can call in, people I can speak to.” She said, scanning a photo of Tony into her device on the wrist. “And then I’ll go wherever the trail leads. If your brother is out there, and your friends, I’ll find them.”

Katie nodded.

“You should be calibrated to our coms.” Bruce looked up as Carol tapped again at her arm and nodded.

“I’ve boosted your scanners and your signals too.” she said.

Silently Natasha, Steve and Katie walked her out of the facility, Steve taking Katie’s hand in his as they rounded the corner that led to the doors. They swung open, revealing the now dark sky and Steve noticed Katie glance up, something which had become a habit, almost as if she was hoping to see a sign Tony was there. Which of course she never did.

Suddenly, Natasha gave a gasp whilst Steve jumped backwards, pulling Katie with him as Carol lit up like she was on fire, but when he looked closer he noticed it was some kind of bright energy that engulfed her as she hovered off the floor and turned to look at them, her eyes full of humour.

“Yeah sorry, should have warned you about my party trick.” she chuckled slightly.

This woman had some power, and it made Steve wonder why Fury had never introduced them to her before. But that was a question for another day.  

“I’ll be in touch.” She said and with that she was gone, as fast as she had arrived, shooting through the air like a star, leaving Lucky jumping up and barking in her wake.

Natasha looked over at Steve and Katie, and rightly reading the situation decided to leave them alone “I’m going to let Pepper know what she said about finding Tony.” She nodded to the couple and wandered back towards the doors as Katie looked back up again.

“Sweetheart?” Steve questioned, and she turned to face him, her eyes full of tears.

“This is it.” she shrugged “This is the best chance we’ve had, and probably will have and…” She couldn’t think of the words to explain how she was feeling. She was excited, excited that they had a plan. But then there was also a feeling of dread in her chest. Dread about what it was Carol was going to find, if she found anything. She wrapped her arms tightly round Steve as he pulled her to him, holding her close.

“Keep hold of that hope.” He said gently, his hand stroking through her hair. “Keep hold until we know any different.”

*****

“Titan is a mess.” Carol sighed, her hologram flickered slightly. It was three days since she had left the compound and this was the first they had heard of her since and it wasn’t great news. “There’s clearly been a big fight here but there’s no sign of anyone now. I have a few more potential leads though, so I’ll follow them up.”

“Sweetheart.” Steve sighed gently, turning to Katie who shook her head, pulling away a little. This had been her last hope, that Carol would find something. But they were still none the wiser and every day that past Tony’s chances were getting slimmer.  After a moment or so she took a deep breath, reaching up to wipe at her eyes and she turned to Steve.

“I’m gonna go back to the apartment.” Her voice cracked. “I need a shower.”

“Alright.” Steve nodded and to make sure he understood that she needed space, not from him, but just to be alone with her thoughts, she reached up, gently touched his cheek and stood on her tiptoes to kiss the whiskers that adorned his chin and face. Steve watched her go before he turned back to Natasha who was bent over looking at something on a tablet.

“What you looking at?” He asked and Nat glanced up at him with a sigh.

“Potential sighting of Clint.” she turned it to face him. He squinted at the still on the screen. Sure, it looked a bit like Barton, but he couldn’t be certain. “I ran a facial recognition. Got a few hits, but we all look so different now, we all are so different now.” Natasha shrugged.

Something about that line powered home to Steve as he headed back towards their quarters an hour or so later. The arrival of Carol four days ago had galvanised the group into remembering who they were, even if they didn’t feel like it anymore. They were the Avengers. Fury’s greatest plan, and the ones to whom the survivors of the snap were looking to for direction. 

Steve had realised recently that shield or no shield, he needed to be Captain America, even if he didn’t want to be. He had to lead his team from the front lines, not as a vigilante that fought the bad guys from the shadows, hiding from a government that had declared him the enemy. It was time for him to step up again, become who they needed him to be.

He walked into their bedroom and saw Katie was flat out on the bed, Lucky by her side. Gently he worked the covers up around her, flicked on the lamp on the night stand and gave the dog a quick pat before he pulled off his black sweater and moved into the bathroom glancing in the mirror. He scratched at his chin and gave a sigh.

Captain America didn’t have a beard…

*****

Katie woke up five or so minutes later and stretched, her feet kicking at the blankets which had been pulled up around her. She blinked and looked around, Steve’s black sweater was tossed over the back of the chair and she could hear running water coming from the en-suite as the door was slightly ajar. Climbing out of bed she strolled over to the bathroom door as the water stopped and she nudged it open further to lean against the frame, just in time to see Steve raise a towel to dry off his face. When he lowered it she could see the reflection of a familiarly clean shaven jawline.

The beard she loved so much was gone.

He locked eyes with her in the reflection of the mirror, almost nervously. Deep down Katie had known this was coming, it was only a matter of time seeing as he’d settled back into his role as leader of the Avengers as easily as he had left it.

She smiled and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his toned waist kissing his muscular shoulder which was bare thanks to his white tank. Wanting to be closer to him she pushed up on her toes to nuzzle behind his ear and his eyes closed when she kissed the side of his neck. He shivered a little at the contact, dropped the towel to the sink and turned in her arms loosely wrapping his own around her.

Katie just stared at him for a moment taking in his cleanly shaven face, the familiar sideburns, and sharp jawline.

“Come on, get it over with.” Steve rolled his eyes and Katie gave a sigh.

“You know I really loved that beard,” she looked up at him, “can’t believe you murdered it.”

“Murdered it?” Steve raised an eyebrow, as she reached up to gently take his smooth jaw in her fingertips.

“Yes, murdered it. But I’ll let you off, because you are incredibly handsome.”

Steve smiled a little crookedly and leaning down, connected their lips in a soft, slow kiss that quickly became heated, when his tongue touched hers. His hands slid down the length of her back, over her ass, his fingers skating the back of her bare thighs which sent a fire coursing through her body, drawing a soft groan from her as he continued to kiss her, hard, he realised how much he needed this.

They both did. Both were desperate to fill that gaping hole and emptiness they had both been feeling for the past few weeks, and as always, it was in one another they sought that solace.

Katie slid her hands down, tugging up his top briefly as Steve moved his kisses down the side of her neck. Her fingers grazed his hips then hooked into his belt to begin undoing it but his hands gently stopped her.

“Sweetheart.” He swallowed, his breath deep. “I don’t want to hurt you, you know after…”

“You would never hurt me, Stevie.”

Her voice was a soft whisper and Steve looked down at her once more, and then he knew he was kidding himself. Over three weeks it had been since they’d made love and that was too fucking long for his liking. His lips crashed onto hers but before they could resume where they had been, they were both jolted as, suddenly the air was filled with a loud rumbling.

Curiously Steve reached out to steady the mirror over the sink which was shaking, and then the entire building started to rattle.

Man and wife looked at each other in confusion and Katie cleared her throat.

“FRIDAY?”

“Something has entered the atmosphere, Mrs Rogers” The AI responded calmly, “A vessel is being brought towards the facility.”

No sooner had FRIDAY finished, there came a banging on their door, before they heard it open and Rhodey loudly calling their names. Katie shot out of the bathroom and into the hall, Steve hot on her tail, grabbing his sweater off the chair and pulling it over his head as he headed into the living room.

"It’s Danvers.” Rhodey looked at Katie who took a deep breath. “Kiddo, she found him.”

Katie’s chest began to heave, she felt like her heart was going to pound out of her ribcage. Her hand flew to her mouth as Steve dropped a hand to her shoulder.

“Alive?” She managed to whisper.

“He was when she found him.”  Rhodey replied gently.

Without a further word, Katie set off sprinting through the facility, not waiting for anyone. The blood was pounding in her ears, her heart thumbing in her chest as she burst out onto the lawns, where Pepper was already waiting, staring up at the sky. As Steve, Natasha, Bruce and Rhodey all came to a stop besides the two women, the massive space ship rounded the corner, carried by Carol who was encased in a golden orb of light.

Katie gently took Pepper’s hand in hers and squeezed her fingers, neither of them moving their gaze from the ship, as it made its way to the ground, deposited onto the grass. With a hiss the ramp dropped and there he was, being supported by a blue woman. He looked weak. He’d lost a lot of weight, needed a shave, a shower and he looked so pale.

But he was alive!

Katie let out a soft cry, her hands flying to her mouth and Steve swore as he spotted instantly how bad Tony looked. He sprinted forward, passing Katie who was rooted to the spot, and ran up the steps, taking Tony’s weight off the blue woman. Tony gripped his arm and looked at Steve, before turning his head to watch where he was going.

“I couldn’t stop him.”  He said quietly.

“Neither could I.” Steve replied.

“I lost the kid.”

“Tony, we lost.” Steve said gently. As he looked at his brother-in-law he saw there was guilt and fear plaguing Tony’s face in a way that Steve had seen before, in his own face when they’d returned from Wakanda. He stood still as Tony studied him for a moment, before he swallowed.

“Yeah, is err…” Tony looked up and his eyes fell first on Katie then Pepper who, following a gentle, nudge in the back from Katie, took the last few steps towards him.

Katie stood still, watching as Tony visibly sighed when he saw them both, and it felt to her like she was seeing the sun for the first time, as Pepper gently pulled her brother into a hug, wrapping her arm around his neck to hold him close as she sobbed against his hollow cheek.

Steve looked at her, his eyes shining with tears and Katie realised she was shaking, violently. Unable to stop her shudders, the tears continued to fall thick and fast and she tore her eyes from Steve’s as Pepper pulled away slightly from Tony. With one arm round Pepper and Steve supporting him on his other side, he took a couple more strides forwards and then he was in front of her.

Katie stared back into his brown eyes, brown eyes that belonged to their father and she took a huge, shuddering breath which was punctuated by a little choke, as the sheer emotion threatened to overwhelm her completely. It had been almost 2 years since he had seen her, and whilst she felt utter relief at seeing him alive, she was also scared, frightened about what he was going to say

But, when he opened his mouth, he only had two words for her.

“Hey Kiddo”

The sound of his familiar greeting broke Katie completely and she let out a loud sob stepping forward.  As she gently wrapped her arms round him she cried into his shoulder, babbling her apologies.

“I’m so sorry Tone, I’ve missed you so much.”

Tony brought a hand up, resting it on the back of her head, his own voice choked slightly as he pressed his face into her hair. “I’m sorry too, I’m so sorry my beautiful girl. God, I missed you.”

*****

“I need a cheeseburger.” Tony grumbled, and Katie’s face split into a grin as Pepper took hold of his hand from where she was sitting by his bed in a chair.

“Maybe in a few days, pal.” Banner smiled as he gently patted Tony’s shoulder. Katie looked up and Bruce jerked his head to the door of the room. She followed him out and the pair of them were joined by Steve and Rhodey who had been hovering at the back of the medic bay.

“He’s lucky.” Banner looked at Katie “The wound in his abdomen missed everything major and he appears to have fought off most of the infection thanks to Nebula, but I’ve given him a course of IV antibiotics to be on the safe side. He’s slightly dehydrated and a little underweight, but other than needing a lot of rest he should be fine.”

“Thanks, Bruce.” Katie smiled as she looked back through the window into the room. Tony had his head lay on the pillow, tilted in Pepper’s direction, a weary grin spreading across his face as they talked. 

“I’m gonna stay with him.” Katie looked back to Steve. “Do you mind?”

“No, of course not.” He shook his head.

She then turned to Rhodey. “Can you make sure that Nebula and Carol get some food and a place to stay?”

“Sure.” Rhodey said as Steve pressed a kiss to the side of Katie’s head 

“I’ll be back later to check on him.” Bruce nodded. 

Katie watched the three men leave before she walked back into the room. Pepper and Tony both looked up at her as she sat on the edge of Tony’s bed.

“Pep, could you give us a minute?” Tony asked. Pepper nodded and stood up, touching Katie’s shoulder once as she left, the door clicking shut behind her. Katie turned back to her brother who reached out with his cold hand and wrapped it around hers

“Kiddo, I’m so sorry.” “So am I.” She whispered, tears forming in her eyes. “There hasn’t been a day over the last two years I haven’t thought about you, Tone.”

“Shame. I wanted to call so bad, but…” He trailed off, his voice cracking. “Stubborn ass hole, remember.” “That’s the Starks for you.” Katie smiled.

“What I said to you in Siberia, it was unforgivable.” Tony’s brown eyes locked onto hers, shining with tears. “And I know it sounds stupid but I didn’t mean any of it, not really…“

“Rhodey told me why you said it.” She swallowed as she looked down, her tears falling onto the sheets “I should have told you about mom and dad.”

“None of that matters now.” Tony shook his head, gently giving her hands a squeeze.

She fell silent again, wiping at her face, before she took a deep breath, steeling herself as she knew she had to tell him what had happened to her in the Snap. Because if he found out of someone else…

“Tony, there’s something you need to know, before anyone else tells you.” She looked at him.

“What?”

“When Thanos…when he came to Wakanda…” the tears still fell “I was…I was pregnant, but we didn’t know and…” “Was? Oh no.” Her brother’s face scrunched up as his hands wrapped even harder round hers. “Kiddo I’m…” “Don’t.” She shook her head. “Don’t say you’re sorry, please.”

“I am sorry. Sorry I wasn’t there with you.”

“You’re here now.” She looked at him. He smiled and opened his arms and she lent down next to him, gently laying her head on his bony chest, closing her eyes and relishing his presence. It was as if the past two years had never happened, as she simply lay there whilst he comforted her, the way he always had done. 

“Nice hair by the way.” He quipped, making her chuckle. 

“Thanks. Part of my disguise.” “Mmmm doesn’t work. Can still see your face.”

“Steve grew a beard.” Katie looked up at him

“Spangles? A proper one?” Tony cocked his head to one side, eyebrow arching.

“Yup.” Katie nodded. “It was pretty impressive to be fair. I’ll show you a photo at some point.”

Pepper returned to the room at that point and Katie sat up, moving off Tony’s bed, pulling another chair up from the corner. He lasted approximately twenty more minutes before sleep overwhelmed him and he closed his eyes, out for the count.

“You should go.” Pepper looked over at Katie. Katie started to protest but Pepper cut her off. “I know you think you’re invincible, but you’re not. Maybe Steve won’t put his foot down with you over this but I will. You’ve had an ordeal, we all have, but you especially need to look after yourself. Go to bed.” “Damned.” Katie frowned “When did you get so bossy?”

“Comes from living with him.” Pepper jerked her head at Tony “The amount of times I’ve found him collapsed over a computer.”

Katie smiled fondly before she clocked the stern look Pepper was giving her and stood up. “Fine, I’ll go. But…” “If anything changes I’ll get FRIDAY to call you straight away.” Pepper smiled, nodding. With a deep breath Katie dropped a kiss to Tony’s head and left. The rubber band that had been wrapped around her chest for so long had slackened, but getting Tony back was the tip of the iceberg. She knew that the next step would be to find Thanos, and none of them would rest until they did. 

****

After making sure Carol and Nebula were settled, and thanking them both for what they had done to get Tony back to them, Steve walked back to the apartment, grabbed a beer and headed out through the patio doors into the large garden area to let Lucky have a mooch around. He felt much better than he had in ages, like someone had slotted a large piece of the puzzle back into place. Once Tony was stronger, maybe they had a chance of finding Thanos and reversing all of this.

And then, well, maybe he and Katie could have a shot at being a family.

He took a pull from his bottle and looked out over the grounds. It wasn’t a bad place to bring up a kid, he supposed. Or maybe they should get their own place, just like they almost had three years ago. The more he thought about it, the more he started to think that was the better option. Did he really want a kid surrounded by all of this? More to the point, he found himself wondering if he wanted himself surrounded by this anymore. A year or so ago, he’d have jumped at the chance to get back into the thick of it, but now, well,  he just felt tired.

He’d fought for so long, given so much, maybe it was time to get out, take a back seat like Tony had.

Taking a deep breath he finished his beer, called Lucky back to him and headed back inside. He’d just thrown his empty bottle into the recycling and was contemplating heading back to see how Tony was, when the door to the apartment opened and Katie stepped inside. She looked tired, but almost, dare he say it, happy.

“Hey.” He greeted her as she shut the door. “How is he?” “Sleeping.” She crossed the hall towards him “He’ll be out until the morning I expect.” “And you?” He asked, opening his arms.

She smiled, stepping into his embrace. “I’m okay. What about you?” “Me?” he asked.

“Yeah.” she looked up at him. “Everyone seems hell bent on making sure I’m ok, they seem to forget you.” Steve took a deep breath.“It’s not important.” “It is to me.” Katie looked up at him. 

“I’ve got you.” Steve shrugged. “And long as I do I’ll be fine.” “You’ll always have me.” She smiled gently, and then Steve hadn’t got the foggiest how it happened, but they were kissing again, picking up where they had left off earlier that evening in the bathroom.

The kisses grew almost violent as they both poured every bit of emotion into one another, each one clawing at the other with a desperate touch. Steve fell towards Katie, pushing her back into the wall which separated the hallway from the kitchen area and pressed himself tightly against her. She slid her hands up beneath his top, her nails digging into his back, stinging his skin enough to elicit a deep, guttural moan from his throat. At that noise, Katie let out a high pitched moan of her own as his hands skimmed down to the back of her thighs, fingers digging into her flesh as he gripped tightly, hoisting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and couldn’t help but mutter rapidly into his ear, amid tight, short gasps. “I need you Stevie, I need you, please.”

He dropped his lips to her neck, trailing his teeth along the arch of her shoulder. “I need you too.” His voice was dark and deep, which made her moan even more, and he didn’t wait for a response before hoisting her higher and carrying her into the bedroom where he dropped her down onto the bed. His hands gently reached down and they separated long enough for him to remove her top, Katie repaying the favour as she pulled his jumper and vest off in one move before she threw her arms around him as his lips dropped again to her neck. He popped the buttons on her denim shorts and slipped one of his hands down under the waistband, into her panties and she bucked at his touch as he gently played with the flesh letting out a groan as he found her ready for him, slick and hot.

“Fuck.” He mumbled as her hand fell to the buckle on his belt, their mouths still tangled together as he kissed her hard, needily before he tugged on her knees, pulling her flat down. Taking her shorts and underwear off in a swift glide down the bed, he shimmied out of his jeans and boxers, Katie taking the chance to hastily remove her bra before he fell onto her once more, using his knees to push hers apart. He propped himself on his elbows and dropped down to kiss her, slamming his teeth into hers in desperation as she was clawing at his back, arching up as she groaned into the kiss, his name falling from her lips as he pulled away slightly.

“You’ll tell me if I hurt you?” He looked at her. She knew he was worried, so she gently reached out, running her finger over his once again smooth jaw line.

“Promise.” she assured him. He swallowed thickly and as he worked into her, she let out a soft moan as he started to move, slowly at first, almost patiently as she hiked her legs up around him. He wanted to take it slow, he really did, but he found he couldn’t, and Katie didn’t want him to either. She was urging him on and soon they were fucking with avaricious force, both chasing a gratification they hadn’t felt in weeks, and the more he gave the more she wanted. 

Her hips met his with every drive forward he made as she writhed and mewled underneath him and it wasn’t long before she felt herself beginning to tumble. Steve could read her body signs better than she could herself and as her breath began to quicken, he pressed his mouth back to her neck, groaning himself

“You feel so good, so fucking good.” His mouth nipped at her ear as he spoke “I love you so much, baby.” And that was it, with those words she was undone.

“Stevie.” His name tumbled from her lips, in little more than a squeak as she tightened round him again and again. Then, as the heat burst between her legs and the lights exploded in front of her eyes she let out a short gasp, her nails digging further into his back, smarting the skin as she succumbed to her high.

Steve kept thrusting through her orgasm, the coil in his own belly tightening more and more. “Katie, fuck!” he closed his eyes, his head dropping to her shoulder and he spilled himself into her with a jerk and a moan before his elbows slowly slipped out from under him and he collapsed on top of her, their breathing coming in ragged gasps as they both lay delirious from the utter carnal nature of it all.

Katie’s hands gently trailed up Steve’s back and into his hair to begin their usual caress. Steve loved these tender, intimate moments that followed the sex, as much as the act itself. Gently, he moved his head to slide his nose against hers before he kissed her softly, tenderly this time as they held each other close. 

Skin to skin, soul to soul, the pair of them as together as they could be, each lending the other a soothing reassurance that whilst they were still grieving, and would continue to grieve for however long they needed to, they hadn’t lost everything.

They still had one another, and as long as they did, they would be okay in time.

**** Chapter 40

**Original Posting**

[bebraveridethedragon]

I’ve Got No Fucking Clue

Chapter 1

Warning: I don’t think there’s any warnings for this chapter.

Chapter 2

Douxie had managed to fall asleep in the middle of the night, luckily with no nightmares. When he woke up he felt energetic, surprisingly.

It must be the thought of seeing Nat again, or meeting any of the new people. Archie stood up from where he was sleeping on Douxie’s chest before arching his back and stretching.

“You ready Arch?” Douxie asked after he had gotten dressed and brushed his teeth. He doesn’t eat breakfast.

“Yes, I’m quite excited to meet everybody and to see Nat again.” Archie said. He jumped up onto Douxie’s shoulders before he walked out of the room.

It wasn’t until mid day that people started arriving. First was Nat with Bruce, and shortly after that Rogers had shown up.

“Nat!” Douxie yelled as he ran over to give her a hug.

“Hey Doux, Arch, how’ve you been?” Nat asked as she hugged him back.

“I’ve been great, I actually have friends other than Archie now. Although most of them are still in high school. Archie’s also doing good.” Douxie said.

“Well that’s good, now let’s go meet the man out of time.” Nat said. She turned on her heel and walked towards a jet.

A blonde man that reminded Douxie of Steve walked down the ramp. This must be Steve Rogers, Douxie thought.

“Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers. Is that Hisirdoux?” Coulson introduced Nat and Steve.

“Hey Coulson, it’s great to see you.” Douxie hugged Coulson.

“Hey Archie.” Coulson scratched behind Archie’s ear.

“Ma’am, uh hi Hisirdoux?” Steve waved awkwardly.

“Please, call me Douxie.” Steve nodded before turning to Nat.

“Hi,” she turned to Coulson. “They need you on the bridge. Face time.” Coulson nodded before leaving.

“There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon.” Nat said.

“Has he asked you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?” Douxie asked.

“Trading cards?” Steve looked confused.

“They’re vintage, he’s very proud of them.” Nat said. They started walking towards Bruce Banner.

“Dr. Banner.” Steve walked up to Bruce and shook his hand.

“Oh yeah, hi. They told me you’d be coming. They didn’t tell me a kid was going to be here though.” Bruce turned his attention from Steve to Douxie.

“I’m 19, not a kid.” Douxie smiled. Bruce raised an eyebrow in a challenging way, suggesting that he still considered Douxie a kid.

“Word is you can find the cube.” Steve said.

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce asked.

“Only word I care about.” Steve replied.

“Must be strange for you, all of this.” Bruce pointed to everything.

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.” Steve said.

“Gentleman, you may want to step inside for a minute. It’s going to get a little hard to breath.” Natasha interrupted their conversation.

“Is this a submarine?” Steve asked.

Bruce looked skeptical, “Really, they wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?” Bruce and Steve move to the side of the helicarrier and look over.

“Oh no, this is much worse.” Bruce said when he saw the engines.

The helicarrier started rising, and they all walked inside to the bridge.

“Gentlemen.” Douxie heard Fury say. Steve handed a 10 dollar bill to Fury which confused Douxie. He’d have to ask about that later.

Fury walked over to Bruce, holding his hand out. “Doctor, thank you for coming.”

“Thanks for asking nicely. So uh... how long am I staying?” Bruce asked.

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the clear. You’ll also have Hisirdoux helping you look.” Fury told him.

“Who’s Hisirdoux?” Bruce looked around confused.

“That would be the kid, although he prefers Douxie.” Steve answered.

Douxie huffed, “I’m not a kid.”

“You look pretty young to me.” Nat said. Douxie glared at her, she knew his real age and still called him a kid.

“Where are you with finding the Tesseract?” Bruce asked, getting back on topic.

Fury looked at Coulson to explain. “We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.”

“That’s still not going to find them in time.” Nat said. Only those close to her could tell she looked disappointed.

“That’s why Hisirdoux is helping.” Fury said.

“You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Bruce asked, getting back on topic.

“How many are there?” Fury asked.

“ Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?” Bruce asked.

“Agent Romanoff would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory please. And take Hisirdoux with you.” Fury said. Nat nodded before leading them down the hall.

“You’re gonna love it doc, it’s got all the toys. It also has extremely expensive stuff so try to keep an eye on Douxie.” Nat said. Douxie let out an offended huff.

Bruce chuckled, “Alright, I’ll babysit. Although I’m not promising I’ll be good at it.”

“Oh you don’t have to babysit him, just don’t let him break anything.” Nat laughed.

“I won’t break anything.” Douxie tried to defend himself.

“That’s what you say every time, right before you break something.” Nat said. Douxie huffed again before sitting down on a chair in the lab.

The chair broke right as he sat down.

“Fuzz buckets.” Nat and Bruce started laughing as Douxie groaned.

“Told you.” Nat said smugly.

“Haha, congratulations. You were right as always.” Douxie mock laughed.

“I’m going to leave you two now, see you later Doux.” Nat left the room.

“So how are you supposed to help me find the Tesseract?” Bruce asked.

“Oh I’m not looking for the Tesseract, I’m searching for Loki’s staff while you look for the Tesseract. But I can help you if you need help with anything.” Douxie responded.

“How are you supposed to find the staff?” Bruce asked, looking genuinely interested.

“Magic.” Douxie said while waggling his fingers. Bruce looked at him in disbelief.

“We’ve got a hit, doc your staying here but Fury wants Douxie to come with us.” Steve came running in saying. He looked confused as to why Fury could want a kid to fight a god but he wasn’t going to question it.

Douxie jogged out to where the jets were and saw Nat boarding one. He entered behind her and she smiled at him and Archie as she sat in the pilot seat. She told them where they were going and then started preparing for takeoff.

Steve joined them after a few minutes, wearing his Captain America get up. His helmet was off though, so it didn’t look too weird.

“Hey Spangles nice of you to join us.” Douxie said, smiling widely at Steve. He glanced at Douxie with a face that said I don’t know why your here but don’t mess anything up.

Douxie got that face a lot. He got it a lot from Morgana when he first started being Merlin’s apprentice. She never really liked him, she thought he was a screw up that didn’t deserve to be Merlin’s apprentice.

Yeah well, jokes on her Douxie thought. The flight to Germany was a long one, but not as long as it would have been on a normal plane. It was a few hours at most.

When they got there they heard Loki making a speech with everybody kneeling before him

“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.” Loki said, his arms thrust out.

One old man stands up. “Oh fuzz buckets.” Mutters Douxie.

“Not to men like you.” The old man says.

“There are no men like me.” Loki says.

“There are always men like you.” The old man argues.

“Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.” Loki points his staff at the old man. Steve jumps from the plane at the same time. Steve lands in front of the old man and uses his shield to deflect the blast from Loki’s staff.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” Steve says.

Douxie laughs from where he’s standing in the jet.

“The soldier. A man out of time.” Loki mocks.

“I’m not the one out of time.” Steve retorts.

The jet starts moving and Nat points a machine gun at Loki. “Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” Nat demands.

“Your puny guns are no match for me.” Loki says before shooting a blast at the jet. Nat moves out of the way while Douxie jumps from the jet.

“They might not be but we are.” Douxie says. He’s in a crouching position with Archie flying right behind him.

“You’re a wizard.” Loki states. Douxie can see a flash of fear before it’s replaced by a determined look.

He shoots a blast at Douxie but Douxie summons his staff and brings up a shield.

“Our turn.” Douxie says before Archie shoots fire out of his mouth and Douxie warps it to surround Loki. Loki desperately starts to put out the fire. He manages to get out and he summons more of himself.

AC-DC starts blaring over the radio on the jet and everybody looks up in confusion. Iron Man blasts the real Loki back before landing on the ground and pointing all of his weapons at Loki.

Steve, Douxie, and Tony surround Loki; Steve with his shield, Tony with his suit, and Douxie with his staff and Archie right behind him.

“Make your move Reindeer Games,” Loki puts his hands up in surrender and his armor materialized away.

“Good choice.” Tony says.

“Mr. Stark.” Steve says.

“Captain, why’s there a kid here?” Tony asked just now noticing Douxie.

“Hi I’m Douxie.” Douxie introduced himself.

“And the flying cat?” Tony pointed at Archie.

“Oh that’s Archie.” Douxie smiled at them before walking into the jet that had landed.

Steve and Tony followed him, pulling Loki with them. They were on their way back to the helicarrier when it started storming out of nowhere. Nat’s talking to Fury over her head set as she pilots the jet.

“I don’t like it.” Steve says, looking at Loki.

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily or being outshone by an emo teenager with his cat?” Tony asks.

“Actually, I’m a dragon that can transform into a cat.” Archie says from where he’s perched on Douxie’s shoulders. Tony shrieked and Steve jumped before staring at the cat in shock. Douxie started laughing and it was a miracle that Archie stayed on.

“Since when can you talk?” Asked Steve.

“Since always, but I felt like scaring you when you least expected it.” Archie replied easily.

“I don’t remember it ever being this easy. This guy packs a wallop.” Steve said after getting over the shock of a talking cat.

“Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?” Tony asked.

“Maybe he does yoga.” Douxie said. Tony pointed at Douxie showing his agreement.

“What are pilates?” Steve asked.

“It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle.” Tony said. Steve stared at him, unamused at his nickname.

“Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” Steve said after a couple beats.

“Really, he told me.” Douxie says.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you. Or put in a file.” Tony added that last part as an afterthought, looking at Douxie.

Thunder and lightning hit the jet, causing it to shake for a moment.

“Where’s that coming from?” Nat asked. No one answered.

More thunder and Loki was starting to look a little uneasy.

“What’s the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” Steve mocks Loki.

“I’m not overly fond of what follows.” Loki says.

Lightning hits the jet again and a thump can be heard from the top of the jet. The ramp is forced open and a man with long blonde hair walks in before grabbing Loki and then flying out.

“Fuzz buckets.” Douxie mutters before going to follow them.

“Stay back kid, let the adults handle this.” Tony says grabbing his bicep. He puts his helmet on.

“Another Asgardian?” Nat asks.

“Think the guys a friendly?” Steve asked after no one answers Nat.

“Doesn’t matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract’s lost.” Tony says before moving down the ramp.

“Stark we need a plan of attack!” Steve says.

“I have a plan. Attack.” Tony jumps out of the jet. Douxie rolls his eyes before he’s held back by a different hand.

“Tony was right, leave the fighting to us.” Steve says.

“I’d sit this one out Cap.” Nat says.

“I don’t see how I can.”

“These guys come from legends, they're basically gods.”

“There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.” With that Steve jumps out of the plane.

“They’re going to get themselves killed.” Archie says.

“So follow them, you’re older than both of them combined don’t let them bench you.” Nat says.

“But I kinda want to see how this plays out.” Douxie says. Nat smirked and got the jet as close as she could.

They watched as Steve jumped into the middle of the fight and immediately get hit with a flying hammer. Steve went flying, while Tony shot a blast at the Asgardian.

Douxie rolled his eyes, “Oh fine I’ll go help them.”

Douxie jumped out of the jet and landed right in between the Asgardian and Tony. Steve was standing up from where he was knocked down. Douxie used his magic to cause a small explosion that knocked them all over.

“Kid? I thought I told you to stay in the jet?” Tony says standing up.

“I’ve never listened to people before, why would I start now?” Douxie asks.

“Who are you?” The Asgardian asks.

“Hisirdoux Casperan, but everyone calls me Douxie.” Douxie answered.

“I am Thor, god of thunder. I’ve heard of you, the Son of Coul mentioned a wizard named Hisirdoux the last time I was on Earth.” Thor said. Douxie looked surprised at that.

“Cool, can we talk this out now. Loki’s just sitting by himself.” Thor nodded before going and getting Loki. They entered the jet and sat down.

“What are you?” Steve asked Douxie.

“A wizard, Archie’s my familiar.” Douxie answered.

They rode in silence the rest of the way to the helicarrier.

Chapter 1

This story is also on AO3 if you want to read it there.

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Destiny

Ch 2- Touche, Kiddo.

Co-Created with @icanfeelastormbrewing​

Chapter Summary: Tony and Natasha take Katie back to the first of several key points of impact in her life- the day Tony returned from Afghanistan…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So these chapters contain flashbacks of sorts- but they’re not flashbacks as Katie is watching the events unfold in front of her-a “Time heist” of sorts. However, to keep it clear and hopefully not confusing, the events she is watching are depicted in itallics instead of me trying to keep calling her 2010 v 2030 Katie…

Please let me know what you think- comments and re-blogs muchly appreciated.

You’re dead.” Katie spluttered, looking at Tony.

“Yeah, so they tell me.” He mused, taking a look around, observing his surroundings. “Which is kind of a bummer…” “So what the fuck is this?” she asked. “Am I dreaming? Having some kind of mental breakdown hallucination? Are you a ghost? If so where the fuck have you been for the past 7 years, asshole?”

“I wasn’t needed.” Tony shrugged “But, this is your party so to speak. I can be whatever you want to be if it makes you feel better. I mean, you did have strange dreams at times when you were younger. I distinctly recall one about a giant white rabbit chasing you through the streets of London with an ice cream cone as a hat.” “I was high when I fell asleep.” Katie shrugged, then she gave a moan “What am I doing talking to you? This is insane…I need to wake up.” She closed her eyes, pinched herself, yelping at the pain. When she opened them she saw Tony leaning against the tree trunk, one knee bent as his shoe pressed flat against the trunk behind him, arms folded. “Yeah, sorry Kiddo. Still here.” “This is all inside my head.” Katie took a deep breath “This is all inside my head, this isn’t real.” “What was it that Dumblebee dude said? You know the Wizard from Harry Potter?” Tony clicked the fingers on his right hand, pointing at Katie as she rolled her eyes.

“Dumbledor…"

“Whatever, the point is what he said. You know, that quote you loved ‘Of Course this is happening inside your head, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?’. You can’t have forgotten, you had it stencilled on the wall in your apartment.”

“I haven’t, trust me.” Katie said softly “It’s Jamie’s favourite too. He has it above his bed, Steve did it for him along with a painting of the Hogwarts Castle"

“Wow, he read them all already?” Tony raised an eyebrow “He’s 10.” “He’s smart.” Katie smiled “A real bookworm, and an artist. Announced the other day he wants to write and illustrate kid’s books now, not be a Baseball player anymore. Steve insists there’s time for him to come to his senses but…” 

"Cap still with the giddy optimism huh?" Tony arched an eyebrow and she felt her eye begin to prick with tears, and that familiar stinging sensation associated with trying to stave off the tears filled the upper inside of her nose and she looked at Tony before she rushed forward and he stood up straight. At the last minute, before she threw herself at him she stopped dead and reached out with a shaky hand, her palm pressing against the pin striped material of his waistcoat. He was solid, warm, she could feel his heart beating. 

“I…” she looked up at him, the tears once more pouring from her eyes “I don’t want this to be in my head."

Tony smiled, his own eyes brimming with tears as Katie slid her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. She breathed in his familiar cologne, a smell she hadn’t forgotten but one that hadn’t filled her senses in a long time. His hands gently rubbed at her back as he held her close, one hand creeping upwards where it rest on the back of her hair as he dropped a kiss to her head. His familiar fatherly-brotherly touch was seeping into her bones, quelling the deep, dark aching she’d been feeling since…well, she couldn’t remember. Steve was her home, her safe place, her rock, there was no denying that, but Tony was her childhood pillar of strength. He was the man that had band aided her knees and palms, tucked her in, fought the monsters under her bed and for that reason, he would always be a source of comfort and strength.

Even if this was just some whacked out hallucination.

And then, she felt another emotion. An emotion she remembered feeling before many a times watching Steve catapult himself off buildings, bridges, hanging off helicopters before dropping into rivers. It was anger. Anger at the self-sacrificing nature that drove her soldier to act first and think later...but she was feeling it here at her brother. Unable to quell it she pulled back and her right hand laid a stinging slap to Tony’s left cheek. His head snapped to the right and he gave an angry yell.

“Jesus Kiddo…what the fuck was that for?” “For dying, dickwad!” she yelled, the tears falling down her face. “You died and you left me...” “It wasn’t like I had a choice.” He sighed, dropping his head “This was always the end I was going to get, not the end I wanted but…”

“She took it well then.” Another familiar voice drawled and Katie stiffened in her brothers’ arms, and looked up at him, eyes wide as she turned slowly to see a familiar face looking back at her. Green eyes sparkling, red hair shining in the stray rays of sunlight that crept into the thicket as it fell forward around her face and shoulders over the top of her black leather jacket with a bounce Katie hadn’t seen for years.

“Nat…” she swallowed, wiping her eyes “You look…”

“Yeah, better.” She shrugged, “Whatever this is, it took us back to a time before it all went to shit. I think this was my hair in 2015 or 16…” “Leipzig you looked like that.” Tony mused as Katie stepped away from him, to scan Natasha up and down. “I, on the other hand, I’m not sure. But I look good so…” “Modest as always.” Katie grumbled as she stopped in front of Natasha, before they embraced as well. “How’s my little man?”

“Not so little anymore.” Katie shrugged “He’s like up to here now…”  she held her hand up to a point in the mjddle of her rib-cage “…and he looks just like Steve.”

“Yeah we actually know.” Tony cut in “We know about all 5 of them, she’s just making conversation. I gotta say, I’m kinda liking the fact Emmy hooked up with Parker. They'll make cute babies"

"Oh God, don't. Steve's already freaking out about them wanting to move in together." Katie laughed and Tony grinned.

"Henry...that wasn't after Hank Pym was it?" He asked and Katie shook her head.

"It was a name Steve liked. I picked his middle. And it was the other way for Flossie..."

Natasha snorted “I gotta say you gave Aurora a perfect name. After a princess...” “The Star Spangled Diva." Katie shook her head before she grinned “She’s ace.” “She’s a Stark that's for sure.” Tony smiled proudly.

“Steve says that. Says she looks like me and has your attitude. Drives him insane.” Tony smirked “Good to know. Been dead 7 years and still bugging the crap out of Spangles.” He nodded, clapping his hand together, rubbing his palms against one another in glee.

Katie looked at her brother for a moment before she shook her head. “Ok, so is this the part where the two of you give me some kind of pep talk, you know about the kids and my outburst before or…” “Well, we could.” Tony said, “But you always responded better to visuals, so we’re gonna show you.” “Tony I have no desire to see any of that again.” She shook her head “I already know I fucked up.” “We’re not here about the fact you cussed out Jamie.” Nat said gently

Katie frowned “Then what is this?”

“We’re more concerned with the fact you don’t seem to understand how much you matter to everyone.” The red head continued “What was it you said before? Something along the lines of not seeing the point of being in their lives?”

Katie looked down at her feet.

“You’re human kiddo.” Tony said “Humans are flawed. They fuck up...some of us less than others, granted.” Katie raised her head, cocking an eyebrow at Tony “You’re such a conceited bastard.” “True.” Tony nodded, “But all things considered I think I have a right to be. I mean my best achievement is stood right in front of me.” He shrugged “I’d like to include Moo in that but, well Pep’s done the hard work there really, bringing her up. You on the other hand, well that was all me.” he stepped forward and took both her hands “And I’m smug as fuck about it, because you’re an amazing woman Kiddo, you just need reminding of that fact so we can get you over this sudden lack of self-worth you seem to be displaying.” Katie shook her head, tears forming in her eyes “Tone…” “It’s true.” He shrugged, letting go of her hands “But, you’ll see for yourself. Come on.”

He turned and started walking up the path towards the Memorial Gardens and Katie watched him before she turned to Natasha. Nat nodded her head towards Tony’s back and with a shrug Katie turned to follow him.

“Might as well see what whacked out journey my subconscious has planned.” She muttered to herself, following her brother as he walked ahead of her slightly. As they emerged from the thicket of trees, Katie noticed the Gardens were completely empty and it was eerily quiet. Eventually Tony stopped by an orange Audi and Katie shook her head.

“What?” Tony asked “I liked this colour.”

Natasha walked passed Katie and opened the door, folding the seat forward so she could slip into the back. Katie watched Tony as he settled in the driver’s side before she took another look around. The sun was starting to set, sending streaks of lilac and burnt red across the sky before she climbed in and shut the door. Tony fired the engine and the familiar sounds of AC/DCs Back in Black hit her ears. Despite herself she gave a smile, glancing out of the window as Tony drove the car forward, the music filled her senses.

Suddenly, she frowned. Her head flicking to look out of the window to her side before she turned back to the windscreen as she recognised her surroundings which seemed to have changed when she blinked. “How…”

“We’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy…” Tony said, looking at her as she turned her head to meet his eyes.

“No, we’re in fucking California!” she practically exploded “How? That’s not possible!”

“Neither is seeing dead people but you’re managing that just fine.” Natasha drawled. Katie ran her hands over her face letting out a groan.

“I’m tripping…I have to be. Did someone spike my coffee before?”

Tony smirked as he pulled the car off the road onto the Military air base and drew up behind a row of blacked out SUVs, each flanked by an armed guard.

“Wait…” she leaned forward, looking at 3 familiar figures waiting on the tarmac as a huge C17 taxied towards them. “This…this is the day you came back from Afghanistan.”

Tony nodded as Katie opened the door to the car and climbed out. She took a few steps forward stopping in front of the car bonnet. Natasha stood by her left, Tony by her right as she watched the aircraft come to a stop.

“Come on…” Tony said, striding forwards “You know how I like to make an entrance, be kind of cool for me to actually watch it for once.” They weaved their way through the line of SUVs and Katie paused, stopping. Curiously, she cocked her head to one side and waved her hand in front of one of the guard’s faces. He didn’t even blink.

“They can’t see you.” Natasha said, “Think of it as being like A Christmas Carol…”

Kate looked at her, before she took a deep breath “So not quite a Time heist?”

Nat smirked and nodded “Almost, but not quite, no.”

“Fucking hell.” Katie shook her head and turned to make her way over to Tony who was now stood just behind Pepper.

“God her ass looks great.” He mumbled. Katie gave a snort as she stopped behind her 2010 self.

“Was I really that skinny?” she muttered, taking in her frame. Her waist was ridiculously tiny, emphasised by the sharp, black tailored suit she wore, her hair pinned back into a bun. She moved round to the side, taking in her profile. Her eyes were shining, her jaw tensing as she held back the tears. “Mind you, I don’t think I ate properly for the entire time you were gone…” “You’re not exactly fat now” Tony scoffed. She ignored him, her eyes still fixed on herself. As she watched, 2010 Katie turned to Pepper who looked at her, the pair of them sharing a smile as Katie extended her hand, Pepper taking it, squeezing her fingers.

The tars of happiness trickled down her face, as the ramp on the aircraft carrier opened to reveal her brother. His hair was longer, he looked thinner but he was alive and all things considered he looked pretty good. Dressed in a sharp grey suit, brown shirt and a brown tie sporting white polka dots. His face was a little bruised but his goatee was well groomed and he still wore that determined, arrogant look she knew so well As Rhodey helped him down the ramp, he waved away the gurney that was being wheeled towards him and unable to stand it any longer, Katie shot forward. Tony was barely at the bottom before she flung herself at him, not caring that his arm was a sling.

“Hey Kiddo.” he said softly as she buried her face into his neck.

“You fucking asshole!” she sobbed “next time, you ride with Rhodey, you got that?”

“Trust me, there will be no next time.” he chuckled as she pulled back and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Afghanistan is a shit hole.”

“It was you know…” Tony mumbled and Katie turned her head away from watching her past reunion with her brother to look at him. “But there was one thing that kept me going in that hell hole. And that was getting back to you. I couldn’t leave you. Not after what happened to Mom and Dad.” Katie swallowed and turned back to see herself and her brother walking towards Pepper, her hand linked in his as they stopped.

“Your eyes are red.” Tony looked at Pepper “A few tears for your long-lost boss?”

“Tears of joy” Pepper smiled back “I hate job hunting.” “Yeah, vacation's over.” Tony said simply, and he headed past Pepper towards Happy. Katie watched as the two men embraced and she turned to Pepper.

“Twenty bucks says the first place he goes is for a cheeseburger.”

“You know me…knew me…whatever, so well.” Tony looped an arm round Katie as they watched their 2010 selves climb into the car and set off.

“I didn’t even try and convince you otherwise.” She sighed, looking at him “I knew you’d refuse to go to the hospital. I didn’t see the immediate press-conference coming though, that was a curve ball.”

“That was an interesting one for us too at SHIELD.” Nat said, “As soon as Fury got the call about how you’d escaped and that you’d called one he dispatched Coulson.”

“God…” Katie shook her head “This was like 20 years ago now. I was so young, a baby…”

“Well, now you don’t look a day over 46…” Tony said, patting her shoulder.

She glared at him and he chuckled “Come on…” Tony said, patting her shoulder.

Katie cast her eyes once more at the tail of the Rolls which was heading over the airfield tarmac and the three of them walked back to Tony’s Audi.

**** “Higher Daddy!” Harry giggled as Steve pushed him on the swing lazily with one arm, all the time keeping one eye on Rori who was currently with Jamie, the pair of them hanging off the climbing frame upside down whilst Stark sat at the bottom, barking at them. Whilst all his kids seemed to have inherited some of the serum’s benefits in that they were rarely sick and on the whole pretty robust, they were still fifty-percent ‘normal’ for want of a better word, and his heart was constantly in his mouth when they did stuff like that. To his horror he watched, Rori pulled herself up and then tucker herself into a ball and flipping herself backwards off the frame, landing on her feet.

“That’s how to stick a landing.” She looked at Jamie, her tongue poking out at him before she trotted back over to her dad ignoring her brother’s shout of “loser…” as she headed off.

“Can you not do that?” Steve sighed exasperatedly as she stopped by his side.

“Do what?” she looked up at him, her green eyes frowning a little. “Throw yourself off stuff.” “Momma says you did it all the time.” Rori looked at him “She said you threw yourself out of an elevator with her on your back.” “That…that was different.” He finished lamely.

“How?” “Because I had no choice.” “Why didn’t you just push the button to take the elevator down?” Rori looked at him like he was an idiot and he groaned.

“Rori, just…oh, I dunno, go and play on the slide or something. And by that I mean slide down it, not jump off it.”

“Hey Dad?” Jamie appeared by his side and Steve looked down at him “You wanna play catch?”

“Why don’t you play with Stark?” Steve said “I need to keep an eye on Harry and Flossie buddy.”

“Stark just runs off with the ball. He never brings it back.”

“Well, try teaching him.” “I have.” Jamie whined.

“Jamie, don’t start.” Steve said sternly “You’re skating on thin ice as it is.” “I’ll play.” Rori offered. Steve could see Jamie was considering his options before he shrugged.

“Ok.”

The two of them headed off towards the small sandlot to the side of the park, Steve watching as he continued to push Harry in the swing, his gaze then turning to Florence who was asleep in the stroller. Eventually Harry got bored and wanted to play on the slide so Steve lifted him out and they made their way over, Harry’s hand wrapped around Steve’s as he pushed Florence with the other. He watched Harry as he climbed the steps and then moved to the bottom of the slide, crouching as the little boy whizzed down laughing, Steve smiled as he caught him and tossed him into the air slightly.

“Again!” he demanded. Steve let him down and he repeated the motion a few times before Steve checked his watch. It was getting a little late, granted it was a Saturday but he didn’t want to deal with the fall out of them all being over tired and cranky over dinner. Katie had dealt with enough tantrums and tears today.

“Kids, think we should head back.” He said as he approached the older two. Jamie looked at him, about to protest and Steve glared at him.

“What did I say before?” he asked firmly. Jamie took a deep breath and nodded.

“Ok Dad.”

Together they walked back, Jamie and Rori a little ahead as Steve kept pace with Harry. They took the path through one of the green parks that led to their road and Rori stopped at a bank of wild flowers.

“Hey, can we pick some for Momma?” she asked, turning to look at Steve. “The blue ones are pretty.”

Steve smiled “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Make momma smile?” Harry asked, looking up and Steve nodded.

“Yeah, yeah it will.”

He watched as Jamie and Rori headed off to a patch to the left to pick a few and Steve crouched down consulting with Harry as to which ones he wanted to get. He helped him pick a few before he turned back to see Jamie and Rori clutching handfuls each.

“You leave any for the bees?” He quipped and Rori looked at him.

“There are looooads…” she said gesturing with her hands, giving an eye roll that was ridiculously comparable to those of her mother.

“Well that’s me told.” Steve arched an eyebrow. “Ok, give them here.”

He took them gently, adding them to Harry’s and he laid them on the little shelf at the bottom of the stroller before the 5 of them made their way back home.

**** Tony parked the Audi haphazardly in a space outside the Stark Industries HQ main building.

“Nice parking.” Katie quipped.

“It’s out company, I own this parking lot. Well I did. And besides, like you keep saying, this isn’t real so what does it matter?” he asked as the three of them exited the car. Katie glanced over to where Obadiah Stane was waiting with the press and their employees, laughing loudly and generally acting like the big shot.

“Dick.” She mumbled. “I never liked him.”

“Yeah, I know. You told me a lot. And it turns out you were right about him.” Tony shrugged. “Who knew?”

She snorted and Natasha gave a chuckle. “I’ll leave you two to this one.” She said gently, leaning against the car, folding her arms. Katie looked at her, before she turned and followed Tony as he strode forward, watching as the Rolls pulled up. The people stood round the turning circle all started to applause and when the car stopped and Obadiah strode forwards, arms open.

“Look at this!” He opened the door, presenting Tony to everyone and pulling him into a hug “We were going to meet at the hospital.”

“No, I'm fine.” Tony said, turning to Happy who offered him the Burger King bag from which Tony pulled another cheeseburger.

“Look at you!” Obadiah chuckled “You had to have a burger, yeah?”

“Which reminds me…” Katie nudged Pepper as they walked around the back of the car “You owe me twenty.” Pepper snorted and shook her head, “Come on.”

Katie and Pepper headed inside, following Tony and Obadiah who were chatting away, the cameras flashing as they walked through the cool, marble clad reception are of HQ where the podium that the press conferences were held from stood to the side. Katie and Pepper stopped, Katie taking a breath as she watched Tony walking through the group of people, speaking to various until a voice by her side made her jump.

“Miss Potts, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Katie turned to see an unassuming man, with short dark hair and a kind face dressed in a black suit, a Visitor Tag attached to his breast pocket. She looked at him for a second before her attention turned back to Tony who was busy talking to a woman in a red suit.

“I’m not part of the press conference…” Pepper spoke to the man “But it’s about to begin right now”

“I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” The man spoke and that got Katie’s attention. She turned to look at him, smiling.

“That's quite a mouthful.” She grinned and Agent Coulson gave her a smile.

“I know. We're working on it.” He smiled as Pepper took the business card he was holding. Katie arched an eyebrow and smiled, once more turning her eyes back to her brother.

“You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA...” Pepper continued and Coulson cut her off gently.

“We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape.”

Katie turned to him, frowning and wondering exactly how they knew about it. Reading her facial expression, Coulson shrugged slightly and Pepper nodded. “I'll put something in the book, shall I?”

“Thank you.”

Katie was about to quiz him more when she heard Tony calling for her. She looked at her brother and he gestured with his head.

“Excuse me…” She strode forward and Tony put an arm round her shoulder.

“I need to speak to you.” He said “Before I talk to the world.”

“God, I remember this like it was yesterday.” Katie turned to Tony as they followed in the wake of themselves, everyone parting as Tony steered his sister towards the little break out room towards the back, which housed the coffee and vending machines.

“Yup…” Tony said as they ducked inside the room with themselves “It was a pretty life defining moment. For me anyway…”

“It was for both of us.” She said, watching as 2010 Tony clicked he door shut “This is where it all began. Iron Man, SHIELD…all of it.”

Tony smiled and they both turned their heads to watch their past selves.

“I’m shutting down the Weapons Manufacturing.” Tony said and Katie frowned.

“What? Why?”

“I saw out there what our weapons are being used for.” Tony shook his head “I don’t know how those terrorists got hold of them, because I sure as hell didn’t approve any bids to that particular group, did the Commercial Department negotiate them without me using your delegated authority?”

“Of course not!” she replied indignantly “What do you take me for? They must have been traded on the black market…”

“And that is exactly my point!” Tony said, nodding at her “We can’t police it all. So I want to shut it down. Focus our efforts elsewhere”

“What happened to you out there Tone?” Katie considered her brother for a moment and he took a deep breath.

“For the first time I met my Jiminy Cricket…”he looked at her “Tony Stark doesn’t want to be the most famous mass murderer in the history of America anymore.”

Katie frowned. “That Vanity Fair article. You read it?”

“Of course I read it, it was about me.” He shrugged “The reporter…erm..”

“Everhart?” Katie looked at him “You forgot her name after you banged her as well?”

“Whatever that’s not important.” Tony waved her off “But Kiddo,all those lives we’ve saved by advancing medical technology and the starvation prevented from intelli-crops, she mentioned none of that.”

“Because that doesn’t sell papers.” Katie shook us head “Whereas dubbing us Merchants of Death does.”

“War profiteering she called it. And she was right.” Tony implored “You know, Dad always said that peace means…”

“Having a bigger stick than the other guy, yeah, you told me” Katie looked at her brother.

“And it’s a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks.” Tony shook his head. “But what if no one was selling the sticks?”

Katie took a deep breath “People would then just make their own sticks, and they’d be harder to police.”

“But what if I told you I had a pretty big assed stick of my own? The biggest stick anyone could have.”

“I’m not…” Katie sighed, rubbing at her temple “Tony you’ve lost me”

“I wouldn’t have escaped if it hadn’t been for my cell mate out there. He saved my life” Tony tapped his chest “Not only did he build an electromagnet to keep a bunch of shrapnel from shredding my heart, he sacrificed himself soI could escape. His last words were an instruction, not to waste my life Kiddo, and I have no intention of doing so anymore.” He looked down at his feet taking a deep breath before he raised his head to meet her gaze “I don’t want my legacy, our legacy, to be about how many deaths we may or may not have been indirectly responsible for.”

“You really did have an epiphany didn’t you?” Katie looked at him, not a shred of sarcasm in her voice.

“It was my moment of clarity” Tony nodded “And I have a permanent reminder, as you know already from the calls and briefings….”

He moved his arm gently, wincing as he did so, loosening his tie a little and undoing the top few buttons on his shirt. He gently parted it and Katie gave a gasp at the small circle of light in the middle of his chest.

“This thing powered a suit I made. A metal suit. I shrunk the Arc reactor down in a damned cave, and that’s what’s now keeping the shrapnel in place…but it powered a heavy assed suit for 15 minutes. Just think of all the good we could do with it with it. Renewable technology, medical equipment…maybe some other form of potential peace keeping initiative with a slightly smaller metal suit.”

“Is this the big stick you were talking about?” Katie asked, arching her eyebrow. “A metal suit.”

Tony took a deep breath “In a fashion, yes. It could remove the need for…other sticks so to speak.”

Katie took a deep breath before she stepped forward and began to do his shirt back up for him, not saying a word as she mulled over what he had said. The fact they traded weapons had been something she tried not to think about, justifying it in her mind as a means to an end- if they didn’t someone else would. But remove that completely…

She re-knotted his tie and slid it up to his collar before she straightened it and stood back, rolling her eyes as Tony loosened it once more.

“I need you to trust me on this Kiddo.” He said softly and she looked at him, her eyes searching his. There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt there, quit the contrary. This was obviously something he vehemently believed in. And for that reason, she decided to back him.

“Ok.” She nodded “We’ll shut it down.”

Katie watched as her 2010 self and brother embraced, turning to Tony “You have no idea how much of a head fuck that was” she said as they followed themselves out of the room.

“Oh, believe me I do.” Tony said, as they stood at the back of the room, watching as Obadiah greeted the press, 2010 Katie walking up to stand besides him.

Tony sat down in front of the podium. “Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?” He asked, fishing the cheeseburger out of his pocket “Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can... a little less formal and...” Tony took a bite of the cheeseburger as Katie glanced at Obi, giving a shrug, before she sat to Tony’s left.

“Good to see you.” Tony looked at Obi who smiled.

“Good to see you.” He said, reaching out and touching Tony’s shoulder.

“I never got to say goodbye to Dad.” Tony said, looking around. He glanced at Katie, “We never got to say goodbye to our father.” He swallowed his food and placed the half eaten burger on the floor as he considered his words “There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts.”

Katie glanced at the floor as Tony paused for a second.

“Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels.” He once more turned to Katie who gently placed her hand on his back, giving a small rub over his suit jacket. Taking a deep breath he looked out over the room “I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that we had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

Out of the corner of her eye, as the members of the press began to call Tony’s name, Katie saw Obadiah shift slightly, frowning a little at what Tony had just said.

“Hey Ben…” Tony nodded to one of the reporters.

“What happened over there?”

“I had my eyes opened.” Tony stood and moved behind the podium, Katie watching his every move. “I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up.”

He glanced down at Katie and she gave him a small nod.

“And that is why, effective immediately, me and my sister are shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International”

The room erupted in commotion, everyone standing and talking at the same time. Katie took her position by her brother as Tony simply continued speaking

“…until such a time as we can decide what the future of the company will be.”

Obadiah placed his hand over Tony’s shoulder, trying to cut in a little and mentioned something about selling a lot of newspapers but Tony ignored him

“…what direction it should take, one that we’re comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well.”

At that he turned to Katie and the two of them left the stage, Tony’s arm looped around her shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her temple.

Obadiah continued to speak as Katie turned to Tony, watching themselves as they left the room.

“Wanna go watch the follow up fireworks?” he grinned and she gave a chuckle.

“Why not, we’re here…we may as well.”

They walked out to see their past selves climbing into Happy’s car and Natasha straightened up as they headed to the Audi.

“Have fun?” she drawled and Katie looked at her and shrugged.

“I suppose I never really understood the significance of that moment. Like I said to Tony in there, this is what kicked it all off. How Iron Man was born.”

Natasha looked at Tony, giving him a little nod “You were right to bring here her then.” “Just like I said.” He shrugged as he opened the door to the Audi, gesturing to it with his head “Now, get in Losers, we’re going Arc Reactor viewing.”

Katie rolled her eyes at Natasha as the 2 of them climbed into the car and Tony followed the Rolls that was working its way across the Stark Industries site. Eventually it stopped outside the large, glass fronted building which housed the Arc Reactor that powered the plant. The three of them exited and followed 2010 Tony and Katie inside.

“So this is a larger version of what was in your chest.” Natasha looked up at the huge power source, giving it the once over.

“Yup.” Tony nodded, “Pretty cool huh.”

Natasha gave a hmmm of agreement as Katie’s eyes strayed to herself as she stood with Tony, the two of them stood side by side, looking up at it.

“Not sure Obi is gonna be happy.” She turned to look at Tony who shrugged, his eyes not leaving the Arc Reactor.

“I don’t much care.” He shrugged “We’ve bowed to him and the board for far too long…” “Well, that’s kind of the point of a board” she looked at him.

“Yeah, but the two of us make the majority, as you know.” Tony shrugged. “Look, Kiddo, this is the right thing to do…we just gotta ride out the bow of this shit storm for while.”

“That’s…a mixed metaphor.” Katie snorted and Tony grinned. At that point the doors to the building opened and they turned to see Obadiah stood, cigar in his mouth, hands on his hips.

“Well, that..uh... That went well.”

“Did we just paint a target on the back of our heads?” Tony asked reaching up to undo his tie.

“Your heads? What about my head?” Obi asked walking behind them, pacing slightly. “What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?”

“Uh, optimistically, 40 points.” Katie offered as Tony whipped off his tie.

“At minimum.” Obadiah nodded.

“Yup” Tony agreed, hanging his tie over his jacket which was draped on the railings around the reactor.

“Tony, Katie, we're a weapons manufacturer.” Obadiah said softly, looking at him.

“Obi, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy.” Tony turned to face him.

“That's what we do. We're iron mongers. We make weapons.”

“It’s our name on the side of the building.” Katie chipped in and Obadiah shook his head.

“What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos.”

“Not based on what I saw.” Tony shook his head “We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better. We're gonna do something else” “Like what?” Obadiah asked “You want us to make baby bottles?”

“Tony thinks we should take another look into arc reactor technology.” Katie said “And I agree.

“Ah, come on.” Obi looked at her, then shook his head, waving his hands towards the item in question “The arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Guys’ come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up”

“It works.” Katie said simply and Tony smiled, catching her eye for a second as Obi scoffed.

“Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it.” He shook his head once more pacing behind the siblings, neither of who turned to face him “Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?”

Obadiah’s tone was almost sarcastic and Katie understood instantly that he knew about the one in Tony’s chest. From the smile on her brother’s face he’d also reached the same conclusion.

“Maybe.” Tony said, his smile growing bigger as he looked up at the larger arc once more before he turned to Katie, his smile growing bigger. She gave him one of her own as they both turned to look at Obi.

“Huh? Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years.”

“That's what they say.” Tony said, narrowing his eyes as Obadiah looked straight at him. Katie snorted.

“Obi, could you have a lousier poker face?” she rolled her eyes.

“Just tell me, who told you?” Tony looked at him.

“Never mind who told me…” Obi pointed towards his chest “Show me”

“It's Rhodey or Pepper.” Tony continued

“I want to see it.” Obadiah continued.

“Okay, Rhodey…” Tony undid his sling and looking around he began to undo his shirt to show Obadiah the reactor in his chest. The older man looked at it for a moment, glancing to the larger arc before he chuckled a little

“Okay…” he said as he began to button Tony's shirt back up, the same way Katie had earlier.

“Okay? It works…” Tony looked at him.

Obadiah sighed, giving a smile and looped his arm around Tony’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Tony. We're a team.” He gestured to Katie “The three of us, do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I.”

“I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?” Tony looked at him “But if I had...”

“Tony. Tony, no more of this "ready, fire, aim" business. You understand me?”

“Wasn’t that another one of Dad's line?” Katie asked and Tony looked at her, nodding.

“You two have gotta let me handle this.” Obi looked at them “We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat.” He said as Katie helped Tony back into his jacket. “I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low.”

Katie, Tony and Natasha watched the other figures leave the building and Katie sighed, her eyes flicking back up to the arc reactor.

“You know, that was a great trip down memory lane and everything Tone, but you’re gonna have to help me out here as to how, exactly, that’s supposed to relate to my apparent sudden lack of self-worth…”

“You backed my decision.” Tony said simply “You were one hundred percent behind me when I said I wanted to shut down the weapons manufacturing.”

“I know, but…” “If you hadn’t been, Tony would never have done it.”  Natasha shrugged

“Red’s right, you were always my sanity check. Despite what you may have thought to the contrary, I trusted your opinions Kiddo. Every key decision I made with SI was done with you by my side.” “That’s not true.”

“It is.” Tony pressed “Think about it for a second. The Charities, the deals, the partnerships, the take overs, the Arc Reactor...not one single big thing I did with that company, with our company, was done without you. Even when you disagreed I took that into consideration and modified stuff so that it was more in-line with what you suggested or thought.” Katie swallowed, shaking her head slightly, lost for words. Eventually she took a deep breath and looked at her brother “I didn’t realise. I always thought you did that simply because you needed my vote on stuff to make a majority…”

“Well you thought wrong.” He shrugged “But I’ll forgive you. The world only has space for one Stark genius.” “Good job you’re dead then.” She shot back and he looked at her, his eyebrow arching slightly, an incredulous smirk on his face as Natasha snorted.

“Touche, Kiddo. Touche.”

[stevieang]

Life As You Know It

Pairing: Tony Stark x Fem!Reader Insert, college AU

Word Count: 3500

Warnings: High school clique drama, implied bullying, mean girls, boy/girl best friends, vague reference to death if you look sideways and upside down

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Summary: You and Tony Stark were best friends, your mothers were best friends, and you were always there for each other.  You went to the same high school and attended college in the same town.  Maria Stark loved you like her own, and knew that, given the right amount of time and opportunity, more could develop between you and her son.  Would the two of you catch on?

A/N: Congratulations to @fanficfaerie for this follower milestone, it is so well deserved!  Thank you for creating and running this Disney Song and Quote Challenge, I am sure it is time consuming and taxing in ways I can’t imagine.  I appreciate the opportunity to participate, though I’m a tad nervous - I’ve never written Tony Stark before - hope this fits the bill!  

Quote: “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Winnie the Pooh 

You were fuming.  The good-girl, goodie-two-shoes rep that you so carefully cultivated with your teachers had always served you well.  It was a complete act, but only your besties had any inkling.  Until today, when the meanest of mean girls in your private school learned that you were responsible for a social media post detailing her daily atrocities.  Your best friend Tony Stark helped you erase all traces of a digital fingerprint, but somehow, Christine found out and, after enlisting her parents’ help, had your ass hauled to the principal’s office. 

As you listened to the adults yelling, lecturing, and threatening, all you could think of was the scene in “The Incredibles” when Dash’s teacher was trying to convince the principal to suspend him for putting a tack on his chair, to no avail.  Except in your reality, there was no parent in the room to defend or punish you.  Your parents were divorced, your Dad living on the other side of the country and your Mom, a pharmaceutical sales rep for a national company, always on the road.  You had a good relationship with both your parents, but they were of the mind that the biggest part of their job was to instill solid moral character and independence from an early age.  When you turned 16 and started driving, your mom made good on her plan to prepare you for adulthood.  You had to complete all necessary home and school functions, maintain an acceptable GPA, incur no disciplinary problems, and communicate daily with her about the little and big things going on in your life.  In exchange, you could come and go as you pleased, and have run of the house when she traveled, which was more often than not.  Your living situation was the envy of the school.  You weren’t about to do anything to mess it up, but today, it seemed you were on the fast-track to doing just that.

As your mom was out of town, the person they called, your guardian in absentia, was your Mom’s best friend since childhood, Maria Stark.  Mrs. Stark was used to being called in to various offices of authority to answer for her son’s behavior, ego, or infractions.  Tony started building internal combustion engines when he was 6, so high school was something he could have skipped altogether, but was forced upon him by his mother, to “foster social skills,” and help him get the “traditional teenage experience.”  He was smarter than all his teachers and never let an opportunity pass where he could point that out.  It was never well received.  You two made a great “we don’t fit the mold and we love it” duo.  

“Explain to me again why we’re here, sir, because I am at a loss to understand what rule this young lady has broken.”   Maria was elegant, sophisticated and, in her own right, a very smart woman.  When she asked a question, most likely she knew the answer; she was simply gathering information to support her argument against the unlucky person sitting across from her.

“Mrs. Stark, this young lady used social media to smear and defame the reputation of another student.  As the school handbook states, this is grounds for detention and possibly suspension, as well as joint treatment sessions with the school counselor.”  You leapt out of your chair, full of righteous teenage anger, intent on storming out.  Maria’s hand on your arm and supportive gaze cooled your temper; she wasn’t going to let anyone steamroll you.

The next hour was spent determining what evidence, if any, conclusively linked you to the incident.  Turns out, there was none, other than the suspicion of parents who were mortified that their daughter’s abhorrent behavior was now out in the world for anyone to see.  You admitted to nothing, and though Christine’s face was chartreuse as the rapidly-growing Twitter feed was read aloud, there was nothing that pointed to you, other than the well-known fact that you hated the girl’s guts.  It was the tragically classic scenario of a beautiful popular girl collecting herdmates to make fun of and torture girls like you, someone who didn’t fit nicely in any round holes. You left with a week’s worth of detention for the bogus crime of “lack of adherence to the school’s honor code” and a promise to clear your name when they found out you were innocent.  After you filled him in, Tony shared your disbelief, and immediately started plotting.

You and he sat in the backseat while Maria drove home, spending the entire time texting with back and forth about ways to get even with the principal, to continue to make Christine’s life terrible, and to find out who suggested you were responsible.

“Hey, you two.  I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I know it’s some kind of revenge plan.  I won’t have that, Tony.  I will not have you two digging yourself any deeper.”

Tony:  My mom knows it was you?

You: I never said a word, but she’s not dumb.

Tony: No she’s not, but do you want to tell her?

You: u think I should?

Tony: I would.

You: You would put up a billboard on the highway to announce you did it.  Not a great role model.

Tony: I’ll give you that.

“Ok, Mrs. Stark, no revenge.  I promise.”  You leaned forward to lay your hand on her shoulder.  “Thank you so much for being there today.  I’d probably be suspended if you hadn’t been.”

“Yes, you’re right, I’m sure.  Let’s forget all this and have some dinner, shall we?”

The Starks employed a chef, but when Mr. Stark was traveling, Maria often chose to cook.  Tony ate, but he preferred the company of metal and circuits to people, so he often brought his plate in his room.  When you joined them, he was required to come to the table, and Maria always prepared something you both loved to eat.  Tonight, it was vegetable and pasta salad with steak and potatoes, accompanied by calm and civilized conversation that focused on things other than what happened earlier in the day.  You appreciated not having to rehash the event, again, not being judged.  You looked at the mother and son sitting next to you and felt cared for, taken care of.  It was nice to not be a grown-up for once.

Tony’s thoughts were multiplying on how to get back at that little bitch Christine and her circle of hags.  He looked at you, his best friend, one of the few people in the world that cared about him without reservation or expectations.  He looked at you, the girl who stood by him at every step, every failure, every success, who encouraged his work, appreciated his failures, and called him out on his bullshit at every opportunity.  Senior year was in full swing and he knew he never wanted to be without you.  He also knew your insecurities and that made his heart bend even more, because he had them, too.

Maria looked at you and her son and smiled.  Your rapid-fire conversation was smart, witty, and, at times, vulgar, but with an undercurrent of true affection.  When she and her best friend delivered what would be their only children within a month of each other, they made a promise to remain a part of each other’s lives.  That promise had borne this friendship playing out at her dining room table.  Tony looked at you adoringly, and you returned it with a gaze full of laughter and spark, two things that were necessary if you were going to ever be more than friends.  Maria knew the ingredients for a great match were already there, all that was needed was time and opportunity, and there would be plenty of both.

Until there wasn’t.

After graduating from high school, you both attended college in Boston;  Tony blowing shit up at M.I.T. and you diving head-first into your double-major at Boston College.  He was famous before he arrived, but after? He was a magnet for all things flashy, fun, illegal, and new.  He was surrounded wherever he went; inundated with phone numbers, obvious invitations to a variety of one-night stands, and so much debauchery and alcohol that the head of campus security told the president of MIT, who then called the big man, Howard.  After the browbeating, the only change in his behavior was an improved ability to slide under the radar and avoid trouble.  You only found out on the increasingly-rare occasion you texted each other.

You lived in separate apartments, attended different schools, pursued different fields of study.  It was natural that you wouldn’t see each other as you once did.  You shied away from the big loud crowds that were Tony’s new normal, and he couldn’t understand why you enjoyed spending quiet time with friends that weren’t him.  The waning friendship hurt both of you, in ways the other didn’t recognize.  Tony sought out the company of an unceasing string of one-night stands and you finally decided to open your heart to guys whose names weren’t always in the paper.  Life went on, with a little less spark, less laughter, less heart.  The holidays were fast approaching, and this time, they felt different; and not in a good way.

Thanksgiving break was a quick one, spent catching up with family and marshalling your energy to push through finals.  For the first time in your memory, you did not want to go to the Stark’s home for the traditional day-after-Thanksgiving dinner, where everybody brought a dish of leftovers, the Stark’s added liquor and pizza, and you caught up for hours.  You tried to get out of it, but it was non-negotiable, from your mother’s perspective.  You planned on staying away from Tony, kissing Maria and Howard, and coming home with claims of a headache.  After the party, the Moms talked and compared notes about how glum their children became at the mention of the other’s name.  They each took it upon themselves to plant seeds that would ignite the feelings they knew you had for one another.  

“Hey, Stark’s here for you.”  You were on your bed, hair up, pencil through the elastic, piles of books and your laptop spread out everywhere.  The sigh that escaped did not go unnoticed by the playboy who didn’t bother to wait for an invitation to enter your room.

“I heard that sigh and I resent it.  What? No confetti? No nudity?  What the hell?  When did you turn into a grown-up?”  You snorted, knowing this line of questioning was meant to either convince you to do something you didn’t want to, or to help assuage his guilt.  “I grace you with my presence on a Friday night and this is what I find? The old lady librarian look?”  It didn’t matter to him what you wore, anything you chose made his heart leap, but damned if he was going to let you know that.

Your glasses slipped off as you leaned forward, doubled over in laughter.  “Guess so, T.  There’s this thing most neurotypical humans do.  It’s called “studying,” it’s in every college handbook ever printed, and if I don’t do it, I’m not going to Oxford.”  Your undergraduate work had led you to your calling, Cognitive Neuroscience studies.  Your entire life’s goal was to gain admission to the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience at Oxford, which meant every grade counted, every test and paper was important.  You had no time to indulge in dinner out, let alone participate in the Unequivocally Unchecked Life of Tony Stark.

His facade fell, a bit, as he sat next to you and gently placed your glasses back on your nose.  You immediately pushed them up to avoid his eyes, and pulled loose papers out from under his exceptionally toned butt.  Not that you noticed.  “C’mon, it’s Friday night, when’s the last time you left this apartment to do something other than study? I told our moms I would check in on you.”

“Ahhhh, so that’s why you’re here, Moms Mandate.”  Your disappointment must have been evident, even to the oblivious Tony Stark.

“No.  I’m here because I didn’t get to see you over Thanksgiving and I miss hanging out with someone who doesn’t kiss my ass.  Though, if you wanted to kiss anything of mine, I would be more than open to that idea.”  Tony rarely seemed awkward, he covered it so well with bravado that it took a trained eye to realize that insecurity bubbled close to the surface.

You surprised yourself, and him, when you slowly leaned forward and, at the last minute, kissed his forehead.  His expression caused you to cry with laughter, again, as you hopped up and grabbed something to drink.  A surge of pride filled you; you had unsettled the unflappable Tony Stark.  “You can report back to the Moms that I am fine.  Working very hard, achieving excellent grades, exhibiting an appropriate level of safety, enjoying my friends, and unsullied by neither man nor woman.”  He sighed and dropped his head in disgust.

“That is the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard.  C’mon, you’re coming with me, you are going to experience Boston nightlife and actually live the college dream.”  He was clearly thrilled with the idea, but you put the brakes on his party train.  

“Thank you for taking on the role of social protectorate, but I can’t.  I am not going to engage with you about why and how, I just need you to trust that I cannot go out tonight.”  His skepticism didn’t make you waver one bit.  

“Ok, then tomorrow night, and I am not taking no for an answer.  You are going to get all dolled up and enjoy a breathtakingly irresponsible night on the town.  My treat.”  Your heart flipped at the invitation, but it didn’t stop you from speaking your mind.

“As enticing as that invitation is, I do not want to be an anonymous member of the Tony Stark entourage.  I can find my own fun, thanks.”  You stood and opened the door, picking up additional reference materials and returning your attention to the task at hand.  “Bye T, thanks for stopping by, say hi to your Mom for me.  Please tell her I can’t wait to see her and your Dad at Christmas.”  

Tony Stark was unaccustomed to being dismissed.  He knew that other than his mother, you were the only person that could do it and cause him to pause and re-evaluate his behavior.  As he left, he knew he had to prove to you that he was sincere, that he wanted to hang out with you, help you lighten up, and watch you enjoy yourself.  You gasped and looked at him as he gently encircled your waist and hugged you.

“I miss you.  I want to spend time with you.  Please.”  You froze in his arms, unable to process what was going on.

“Sure, T.  Text me tomorrow and let me know what’s up.  We can meet up somewhere, no problem.”  Little did you know that Tony had much more in mind than a simple dinner.

You awoke to a confusing text.

Tony: When you read this, please head to the campus library and ask for the head librarian.  She has something for you

You: Ummmmmm, ok?

You’d be lying if you didn’t admit you were a tiny bit fluttery that Tony had taken the time to think about you to this degree.  You grabbed a bagel and your protein shake and headed over.  You knew the head librarian, Ms. Williams, very well and she smiled upon seeing you.

“One moment, dear.  I’ve got something for you.”

Follow this clue to the 8th floor.  You will find an old friend waiting in the Children’s Literature section, with your next objective. You complied, searching for the provided shelf number when you arrived at the 8th floor.

You laughed as The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh came into view, with a Pooh and honey pot bookmark stuck in the pages.  This book was a staple of your childhoods.  Your mothers gave each other copies, read the stories to you every night, and your favorite quote was under your senior picture in the high school yearbook.  Your excitement grew as you remembered how fun Tony could make the most mundane events.  You also wondered how the hell he had time to do all this between last night and this morning.

The bookmark was tucked into the page with the quote, and you smiled at his sweetness.  He knew how much it meant to you.  

 “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” 

Did you think I could forget these words? They mean as much to me as they do to you.  I wanted to remind you of how much you mean to me.  There’s a surprise waiting for you at your apartment, where you’ll find the next clue.

You practically sprinted back home, gasping when you saw a beautiful soft yellow dress hanging on your closet door, with an appointment card to a very expensive salon on Newbury Street.  You turned the card over and continued to smile - Tony had already paid for whatever you wanted done and had left a tip. He really could be thoughtful when he took the time.

It was early December, so you bundled up before heading out to your appointment.  When you left, you could not believe the transformation.  

You: Thanks Tony, I can’t believe you did all this.

Tony:  For you? Of course.  I’ll be by at 8pm.  Can’t wait to see you.

That felt different.  Your insides squished and squirmed - whether it was excitement or nerves, you weren’t sure.  You dressed, beautified, and waited.  

Tony: I hope you’re ready, beautiful.  On my way.

Geez, he was laying it on thick.  You laughed when he pulled up to your building in a regular old car he must have borrowed from someone’s father and jumped out to open your door.  You had no idea why he would not drive one of his ridiculously flashy fleet.  You were a huge Madonna fan in your younger years, and this struck you as the plot of her “Material Girl” video; was he trying to impress you by thinking he was just as “regular” as you were? Tony could never be described as “regular” or “average,” even if he didn’t have a dollar to his name.

Tony never really stopped.  He momentarily paused, he changed his focus, but his brain, his body, his mouth were always in high gear.  So when he got out of the car and saw you, it was a wholly different feeling.  He had never seen you look so beautiful - the dress wrapped within your white winter coat, your cheeks pink from the cold, your hair beautifully styled.  He hadn’t realized how long your hair had gotten and how much it changed your entire appearance.  

“You look stunning.  I did a very good job picking this out, didn’t I?” Now this was your best friend.  

“Yes, Tony, you did an amazing job.  I loved the clues, loved the book, loved everything.  It made me realize how much I missed you.”  You turned to him and asked him to stop.  “How much I missed the real Tony Stark.” His eyes closed as you softly kissed his cheek and let your hand land on his.

“C’mon, time for me to show you off and ply you with insanely expensive drinks.” He kept his promise.  The night was fun, like old times, but prettier and with alcohol.  You talked about everything and nothing, filling each other in, sharing your hurts and stories and plans, and reveling in each other’s company.  Neither of you wanted the night to end, so you invited him to your apartment for a nightcap.  You were shocked when he refused.

“No thanks, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”  Your eyes questioned and he saw the sting of rejection.  He looked at you, held your hands, and pecked your lips with his.  You stepped back, stunned. “You have no idea how much I want to, but I want to earn you, and I haven’t yet.”

“What does that mean? What are you trying to earn?”

“Someone I don’t deserve.  You.”  With another soft peck on the cheek, he was gone.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas break, you wondered if that night was a dream.  You and Tony awkwardly texted a bit, but didn’t see much of each other in the mad rush of finals.  After handing in your last project and dragging yourself to your apartment to make up as much lost sleep as possible, you were stunned out of your stupor by the sight of Tony waiting in front of your door. 

“You’re done, right?” His tired smile mirrored your own.

“Yes, thank the Lord in Heaven and every deity known to modern man.”  

“Good.  I wanted to show you something I’ve been working on.”  He stood and took out his phone, ready to press play when you put your hand over his.

“Tony can we go inside so I can sit down and maybe sleep for 2 days?”  He barely heard you, his nerves clearly a distraction, but he nodded and sat next to you, relaxing when you lay your head on his shoulder.

He apologized for leaving you hanging since your night out, for not paying enough attention to you, for not showing you how much you meant to him.  “My mom also slapped me once or twice to drive the point home that I’ve been a douchebag.  I’m sorry.”  He cued up the video on his phone and played it.  The introduction included the theme song to the “Winnie the Pooh” movie and cut to your favorite quote.  He took your silence for awe, then realized you were sleeping soundly.

As he tucked a blanket around you and kissed your forehead, he whispered, “You are the reason I am braver and stronger, and that’s because you’re smarter.  I hope you hear me because I can’t imagine saying it out loud again.”  You smiled to yourself as you snuggled under your covers and drifted off to sleep.

The End

[mayday1284]

"Whatever you want to be." A fic for Star's Writing Contest Challenge... Thing...

First up, cut to me panicking cos I wanna post on time.

Second up, I am tagging @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​, the creator of the challenge.

The prompt was Huddling for warmth (a classic)

There are NO WARNINGS.

There were many women in this world who would love to be stuck in a cabin in the woods with Thor Odinson.

  Y/N L/N was not one of them. Not because she didn’t like the avenger; far from it in fact. She had a not so baby crush on him.

So what happens when the two are stuck in a cabin and the temperature drops drastically?

(Idk man, summaries aren’t my thing)

Thank you for reading my spiel and enjoy!

There were many women in this world who would love to be stuck in a cabin in the woods with Thor Odinson.

    Y/N L/N was not one of them. Not because she didn’t like the avenger; far from it in fact. She had a not so baby crush on him.

The mission had taken a left turn when their jet went down from engine failure before dying a few miles back.

 Y/N had some small token of hope that Stark would get their SOS, but by now, she knew it would take them at least until morning.

Thor had found a safe house on their map and the two had set out in the freezing cold. And now Y/N was trudging through the biting wind.

    “Are you cold?” The kindness in Thor’s voice made Y/N melt slightly.

    “No.” She lied and pulled her coat closer before willing her teeth to stop chattering.

Thor let a small chuckle escape his lips before shaking his head. His arm went to rest around Y/N and a deep pink blush coated her cheeks as her head flipped to the side to stare at the hand resting on her shoulder.

Not long after, the safe house came into view into the distance; Y/N was forced to squint to see it and she couldn’t deny the smile that came onto her face as she thought of warmth. It took only a few minutes to reach it and Y/N was practically jumping up and down by then.

    The key was under the third rock from the house and while Thor grabbed it, Y/N shivered off to the side.

    “No offense, but I’m freezing over here, can we hurry this up a bit?”

Thor only smirked and slid the key into the lock before turning it and opening the door. He extended his arm as it swung open and smiled.

    “After you, my lady.”

    “Thank you.” Y/N curtseyed and entered the house.

Her hand reached for the lights and smiled as it lit up. There was one small main room and kitchen, then a hallway with what she assumed was the bedrooms and bathroom.

    Y/N smiled at the quaint fireplace and felt almost sad that they wouldn’t use it.

Thor looked around the house before closing the door and wiping his boots on the welcome mat.

    “We should get some heat going,” Y/N spoke and turned to Thor and extended her hand.

 “You deal with that, I’ll get the bags put away and find some canned something from God knows when to make.” A wide smile crossed her face and Thor mirrored the expression.

“Sounds alright to me.”

The avenger vanished down the hall to the boiler room while Y/N placed the bags in the rooms, giving Thor the one closest to the main room. She removed her shoes in her room before heading towards the kitchenette and searching the cabinets.

She pulled out some canned beef and dried pasta before finding some pots and testing the water.

“Bad news. No heat.” Y/N would have jumped at his sudden presence if those words didn’t come out his mouth.

“No what!?” Her jaw dropped as she spun around to look at him. He gave a slow nod as Y/N seemingly deflated, her shoulders dropping.

“Found some food, I see.”

“Eh, yeah, maybe it’ll be good if I can find some salt.”

Thor glanced around the kitchenette and pointed to the highest cabinet. Y/N’s eyes followed his finger and she sighed. There was no way she could reach that!

The man seemed to notice this as he quickly crossed the room before pulling it down. When he stood normally he came to the realization that their faces were very close.

Thor’s breath fanned on Y/N’s face and she cleared her throat before she looked down, trying to hide her blush.

“Thank you, my good sir. I’ll start the pasta if you set some bowls on the…” She trailed off as she noticed there was no table.

“Oh the couch?” There was a teasing tone in his voice.

“Sure.” Y/N shrugged her shoulders before filling the pot with pasta.

A cold breeze flew through the air and Y/N shivered.

“Maybe we should start a fire?”

Thor’s voice was faint as he leaned into the pantry and pulled out two bowls and some plastic forks.

“Good idea.”

———–

“Who knew that I could make year old food edible?”

“I believed in you all along.” Thor smile at Y/N as she giggled into her bowl before picking up the bowl and sweeping the last bit of beef in her mouth.

She set the bowl on the floor next to Thor’s which had been sitting there for a few good minutes now. Y/N felt bad that he finished so fast, maybe she should have made more.

The wind hadn’t let up at all, in fact, she was convinced it had gotten much worse. Y/N pulled the small wool blanket she found on her bed closer to her. Thor took notice and raised one of his eyebrows.

    “I’m fine, just cold.” She reassured.

“When I was a young boy, winters on Asgard were very cold.”

“Really? What did you do?”

“My mother would hold me close and huddle for warmth.”

Y/N blushed at what Thor was implying.

“We couldn’t.”

“Why not? Would it not be effective?”

The girl sighed. “What would the others think?”

    “They aren’t here.”

A mental battle was occurring at this moment. Oh, goodness how she wanted to, but it wouldn’t be good to give herself false hope.

It didn’t take long for her to give in. She sighed before speaking. “Ok. For warmth.”

Thor gave the girl a smile as she unwrapped her blanket from around her and huddled close to him. She tried to ignore how nice it felt, how warm he was, no matter how cold it was.

Y/N let out an involuntary sigh as she melted into his side. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it over the two of them and held her close.

    “Thank you.” Her voice was a low whisper as she spoke, the tiredness finally taking over her.

    “Any day my lady.”

In her tired state, Y/N had almost no control over what she said, but it still shocked her when the next words left her mouth.

    “What am I to you?”

    “Whatever you want to be.”

She smiled as her eyes closed and her breathing evened. And for the first time that week, she slept like a baby.

——–

The sunlight flitted through the windows and Y/N began opening her eyes. The cold wasn’t as drastic as the night before, but she would attribute that to the new sun-given warmth.

    The soft sound of humming filled her ears and a light pink hue coated her cheeks as she remembered last night; or should she say, what was said last night.

There was no way he thought about her as anything more than a friend, right?

    “Ah, good morning.” Y/N looked up and saw Thor’s face hanging over the couch.

    “What time is it?” She stretched her arms up and squealed under her breath as her back pulled slightly.

    “Just after eight am.” His face disappeared and Y/N ignored the small twinge of sadness at his smile leaving her sight.

    “Did Tony finally get back to us?”

    “Yes, they should be here soon. I placed your bag by the door.” Y/N stood and crossed the house.

She wondered if she should mention last night. What if he was just being kind and he didn’t really care for her?

Little did the woman know , when she thought, her face followed, scrunching up and a frown gracing her features.

“Are you alright?” She snapped back into reality.

“Huh? Oh yeah, jus’ thinking.”

“About?”

Y/N sighed, maybe she should just admit what she was thinking about.

    “What,” She paused, shifting on her feet. “What did you mean last night? About us?”

Thor crossed the room and placed his hand on her shoulder.

    “Just what I said.”

    “Well, great, but that’s very cryptic.”

    “I care about you, Y/N.” His voice was low and soft as he spoke and it took everything in her not to melt.

    “I care about you too, Thor.”

    “At some point, that changed.”

    “In a good way?” She tried not to let her voice pitch.

    “In a very good way.”

Y/N couldn’t help but glance down at his lips. Terrible idea, woman; why would you do that?

    “May I- may I kiss you?” She avoided eye contact as she spoke.

    “Yes please.”

Y/N laughed before capturing his lips in hers. They were soft and tasted kinda like chap-stick.

    The kiss was slow and soft, neither one sure what to do, and neither wanting to pull back. Thor now placed his hand on her cheek and she leaned into it ever so slightly.

A sudden rapping on the door shocked Y/N. She pulled back with a gasp and tried not to whine at the loss of his hand on her face.

    Tony opened the door and leaned against the door way.

    “So. You and the Asgardian, eh?”

    “Shut up, Tony.”

[imagine-loki]

You were saying, little mortal?

Title :You were saying, little mortal?

CHAPTER NO.: 2/?

AUTHOR: Solaramoonset

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine being a passive superhero fan. You’ve read a few comics, you’ve seen most of Marvel’s movies. One day on your way to work, you get pulled over and arrested. The police don’t explain why, only demanding you keep quiet. You’re taken to an abandon looking warehouse. Roughly you’re tossed into a makeshift cell. Really its just an office someone empty and replaced the normal door with a metal one. You don’t expect the voice behind you.

“So kid what are you in for?”

Its Robert Downey jr, sort of. Something is off and he seems confused to be called by that name. You hear a scuffle outside your shared cell. The door bursts open and in walks Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Although something is off about him too. You soon find all the “Avengers” actors there. You don’t know whats going on but the longer you are around them the more crazy you feel. They don’t seem to know their actor names, and you can’t find any cameras around. Its like for them this is real.

They decide to take you back with them (clearly thinking something is wrong with you). You find yourself sitting next to Loki. Having enough of this craziness you go on a rant, expecting you are ranting to Tom Hiddleston. Loki lets you say your bit, seemingly amused by you, before holding up his hand and bringing forth just enough seidr to glow and flow around his hand. “You were saying, little mortal?”

RATING: Teen

NOTES: Also on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18953773/chapters/45273334#workskin

CH2

Enid woke to gentle sway and the feel of being in someone’s arms. She groaned and looked up at a chiseled jaw, bright blue eyes and cropped blond hair. “You name isn’t Chris Evans, is it?” she muttered.

“Sorry Ma'am, I’m Steve Rogers.” he gave her a gentle smile.

“Please tell me buried under that boy scout and apple pie – ness there’s a troll hiding.” she pleaded as she looked round.

“Oh he’s hiding a troll alright but its hell to get him to show it. You know all that proper 40s manners and what not.” Gregory popped his head up.

“I have no idea what you two are saying.” there was a slight pink tint to Steve’s cheeks.

“Where are we going, by the way and why are you carrying me?” Enid smirked at Steve’s redden cheeks.

“Medical, you were in no state to walk Ma'am.”

“Spangles is right. You were out for fourteen hours give or take. You kinda gave me a scare, E. I told them everything. And maybe it’s time I tell you as well.” Gregory rubbed the back of his neck.

“Everything? What don’t I know? And as nice as this is, I think you can put me down … And don’t call me Ma'am, Steve. I’m Enid.” Gently Steve set her down. Enid took one step before her leg buckled under her. She was swept up in Steve’s arms again before she could hit the floor.

“E, you just traveled through the multi-verse. No one from your world has ever done that before, and for some odd reason, humans from that earth have a gene not present on any other Earth. I’m not entirely sure what bringing you here is going to do to you. Please, my lovely office empress, do this humble engine a favor and let spangles carry you to medical.” Gregory hovered near-by. A Snort sounded at Gregory’s ‘humble’ comment.

“Multi-verse?” Enid rubbed her temple, she could feel a head-ache coming on.

“Yep. Welcome to the MCU… well, one of the off shoots at any rate.”Steve had begun waking again.

“You don;t mind if I get a second opinion on that do you?” Enid asked softly.

“By all means do your own investigating but I think I’ve won our little bet.” Gregory smirked at her.

“Bet?” Steve asked as they turned into medical. A nurse rushed over.

“We used to discuss the marvel movies. Particularly the ones that got remade or rebooted. We debated the multi-verse theory so many times we decided to make a little bet. Gregory’s bet was that all the movies were true, just different Earths. My bet was lazy writing and trying to win back fan interest. If he won, Gregory wanted a kiss. If I won, he’d buy lunch for a week.”

“Wouldn’t that be considered cheating, since he already knew the answer?”

“Maybe, but I’ll allow it in our wager. You see Steve, the thing he failed to add was the who, where, and when. IT was implied that f he won I would be the one to kiss him, but it was never stated.” Enid smiled over a nurse’s shoulder.

“Dammit! How could I forget how easily you find loop holes? You should have been a bloody lawyer!” Gregory threw himself in a chair close to Enid. She laughed, as Steve looked back and forth between them.

XOXOXOX

Thor and Loki discreetly followed Steve, Gregory and the woman from the other Earth. Enid, Loki corrected himself. Thor snickered at the loop hole comment. He leaned close to Loki.

“Looks like there’s someone who likes to play your games brother. She is something special, after all it isn’t every day you choose to sit with someone new. Or follow them.” While Thor’s normal voice boomed, when he wanted he could whisper. Loki knew this whisper was meant as a tease.

“Perhaps brother, I simply wanted to see such blind adoration in her eyes again. When we met, it was like all her dreams had come true and were standing right before her. She did not fear me, or distrust me. I don’t think any one has ever been that happy just to meet me.” His last comment was muttered under his breath. He doubted Thor would have heard it.

“Be careful Loki, she may not have been seeing you, but this Thom Hiddstone instead. Gregory seems particularly attached to her. He will not make it easy for you to get close to her. If you have need of me, call.” Thor clapped Loki’s shoulder, exiting before they were discovered. Loki stood in the doorway until a nurse shooed him, Steve, and Gregory away.

XOXOXOX

“Am I to understand, you had Gregory Stark, alone on another world, a world I might add that didn’t have enhanced, mutants, or even super heroes, and you still lost him?” Sin’s voice was low and calm, echoing through the room. The demeanor of the men around the room changed drastically at the lack of tone. Nerves tics, began appearing.

“Sir, the avengers found us-”

“Not because you had Gregory but because you had capture Tony Stark and they had come to free him, If this report is true. Had you taken the elder Stark to another location, Gregory would be in our hands. Tell me gentlemen, do you have anything of value after this monumental disaster?” Her voice grew cold. The men knew they were about to die. Sin had a reputation that rivaled Red Skull’s.

“There was a girl with Gregory when we captured him. When the Avengers took Gregory back to their Earth, they took the girl too. She may be his weakness.”

“You are grasping at straws. I gave you a simple task, and you have failed me, failed HYDRA. My father, would not have tolerated failure, and neither will I.” Faster than anyone could register, Sin had a gun up. Six shots went into the leaders of the failed mission. One eyebrow rose and she looked around at the remaining men.

“Hail HYDRA!” Echoed around the room. Sin smirked. Her father, Red Skull, had been a merciless taskmaster and teacher. She had learned much from him.

[writing-mermaid]

Baby Mine

Summary : When his daughter has a nightmare, Sam doesn't hesitate to sing her the lullaby her mommy used to sing to her.

Pairing : Sam Wilson x OC daughter

Warnings : Nightmare, mention of an accident and death

Word Count : 957

Square Filled : @star-spangled-bingo : Nightmare

Author’s note :  My first Sam story !!! Let's hope that it'll be the beginning of many others ! And maybe some other stories with Saskia :)  Don’t forget that feedback is appreciated and really important.

Song of the title : Baby Mine - Aurora

Masterlist

Star Spangled Bingo masterlist

Buy me a ☕ 

“Daddy !!! Daddy !!!”

  Sam sits up on the couch. The cries come from Saskia’s room. Maybe he just dreamed about it and maybe she didn’t cry. He slumps again in the couch, looking at the stupid show on TV, that he doesn’t even really watch. A few minutes pass, and he hears nothing. That’s it, he dreamed Saskia’s cries. Sometimes it’s hard for Sam to distinguish if his daughter cries or not. He’s been so used to hear her cry when she didn’t.

  “Daddy !!! Daddy !!!”

  No doubt this time, Saskia is crying. Sam gets up from the couch and walks into the hallway of his personal floor in the Stark Tower. When he arrives at Saskia’s door, he turns up the unicorn lamp Natasha offered to his daughter for her fifth birthday. Saskia is sitting on her bed, her back against the headboard decorated with unicorns, birds and stars that Tony made for her, her teddy bear clutch to her chest.

  “What’s going on my little bird ?”, Sam asks, sitting on the side of the bed.

“There’s a monster daddy”, she whispers, big tears falling down her cheeks, looking around, with her big dark brown eyes that she inherited from her father.

“Where is the monster baby ?”

“I don’t know, but I saw its shadow”, she answers, hiding her face behind her cover. “It was so big, daddy”, she adds, her words muffled by the cover on her face. “It crawls on the wall.”

“Do you want me to watch and chase it from your room ? I’ll take my suit to do it and put Redwing on it too”, he smiles down at Saskia, removing the cover from her face.

“Go fetch Redwing”, she answers, a smile on her face, “I’m sure he can do this alone and be my hero.”

“Oh really, Redwing, I thought I was your hero”, Sam says, pretending to be shocked by what Saskia said, leaning to tickle her little belly.

“No, no stop daddy, you’re my favorite hero”, she giggles, sliding on her mattress.

“Do you want me to check ?”

  She just nods, and Sam rises from the bed, looking under every piece of furniture for the said monster. After five minutes, he comes back by Saskia’s bed.

  “It must have left”, he says. “Probably went to another room.”

“Maybe it went to uncle Bucky’s room to annoy him”, Saskia giggles again.

  Sam laughs loudly, if someone likes to annoy Bucky as much as he does, it’s Saskia. But Sam also knows that Saskia loves Bucky very much, and that he loves her back, as the other members of the Avengers. They all helped a lot after Janna’s death, he was lucky to have them in those sad times.

  “Daddy, can you sing me a lullaby ?”, Saskia asks, sitting once again against the headboard.

“Which one baby ?”

“Baby Mine”, she states, laying in her bed, her teddy bear still close to her heart.

  Baby Mine, just the mention of the song makes a lot of things coming back to Sam’s mind. It brings him back to the night before Janna’s death, one year and a half ago. She put Saskia to bed, while Sam was cooking dinner. He met her five years before during an Avengers mission. They clicked right away, Janna even made the first move, inviting him. She was so beautiful when he picked up for their first date. She was mestizo, green eyes, blond hair, Sam had to admit a little while later that for him it was love at first sight. The night before was like almost all their nights since Janna moved in and Saskia was born. Since day one, Janna sang the lullaby from Dumbo to Saskia to lull her to sleep. The next day, on her way to work, Janna get caught in an accident, and died instantly. It wasn’t an Avengers matter and when Sam arrived, it was too late. The love of his life died in a banal accident, caused by a drunk man who didn’t even have a license. Steve got him there while Bucky went to school to fetch Saskia. Sam spent the next weeks in a haze and Saskia didn’t understand why her mommy wasn’t coming home. Luckily for them, they have a family to support them.

  “I’m not sure I’ll sing this as well as mommy did”, he sheepishly responds to his daughter.

“Please daddy, please”, she pleads.

“Well, if you absolutely want to.”

 Sam takes a deep breath, winds up Saskia’s music box, which starts to play the Dumbo lullaby, and Sam starts to sing.

  Baby mine, don't you cry

Baby mine, dry your eyes

Rest your head close to my heart

Never to part, baby of mine

Little one, when you play

Don't you mind what they say

Let your eyes sparkle and shine

Never a tear, baby of mine

If they knew all about you

They'd end up loving you, too

All those same people who scold you

What they'd give just for the right to hold you

From your hair down to your toes

You're not much, goodness knows

But, you're so precious to me

Sweet as can be, baby of mine

  By the end of the song, Saskia has yawn three times and fell asleep her bear still in her arms. She’s softly snoring when Sam gets up from the bed, after watching at her sleep for a few minutes. He kisses Saskia’s forehead before lightning the night-light and turns off the lamp, before heading back to the living room where he slumps for the second time in the couch dozing in front of the television, before lulling himself to sleep with Saskia’s lullaby.

Taglist :

@the-geeky-engineer, @feelmyroarrrr, @amrita31199, @realgreglestrade, @hellomissmabel, @mandy19875, @howlingbarnes, @belleetlabeast, @theashhole, @sebbytrash, @crazychick010, @bionic-buckyb, @callamint, @just-another-fangirl777, @learisa, @hello-sweetie-get-the-salt, @mokacoconut, @marvelbase001, @thefiregypsy, @snowyseba, @theycallmebucky, @buckysberrie, @speakcroissant, @fangirlwithasweettooth, @tequilavet, @iamwarrenspeace, @melconnor2007, @buckybarnesappreciationsociety, @mrshopkirk, @poealsobucky, @maiden-of-gondor, @jurassicbarnes, @abovethesmokestacks, @thisismysecrethappyplace, @arawynn, @sebbys-girl, @captainrogerss, @murdocksmartinis, @supersoldierslover, @clintbartxon, @totallynotashieldagent, @crazy-little-thing-called-buck, @4theluvofall, @supernaturaldean67, @prettyyoungtragedy, @papi-chulo-bucky, @just-a-kj-blog, @lenavonschweetz,  @forever-graphically-frozen,  @buckysglow, @winterscldicr, @whothehellisbella, @bethanystan, @re2d2, @asirenscalling, @after-avenging-hours,  @winchester-with-wings, @angryschnauzer,  @callingmrsbarnes, @suz-123, @writingruna, @sugardaddytonystark, @angelicthor, @thatawkwardtinyperson, @themistsofmyavalon, @redgillan, @loricameback, @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan, @farfromjustordinary, @you-and-buckyb, @bucky-made-me-do-it, @lovelykhaleesiii, @newmooneyfanfiction, @lovely-geek, @fanfictionjunkie1112, @thefanficfaerie, @littlemarvelfics, @cordytriestowrite, @firefly-in-darkness, @caplanreads, @my-emotional-self