#the sans who runs the condiment hall

[sui-imi]

classic, swap and fell Roo.

... and Roo.

(UnderEats is technically a multiverse thing, not an AU. but that doesn't mean there can't be alternate versions of Roo running around haha)

[strawberry--bride]

DIABOLIK LOVERS Haunted Dark Bridal ー Sharon’s Route [PROLOGUE]

Monologue

The most painful thing in this world,

is losing your home. Your place-to-be.

No matter how dire the situation,

if you are surrounded by people who love and care for you.

No obstacle is invincible. 

Then ーー Where do I belong?

Having long lost the place I once considered home.

I spent many years in a place which would provide for me. 

I had food, a roof above my head, a warm bed to sleep in at night.

But could I truly call this my home? 

Those doubts would lurk in the back of my mind, keeping me up at night.

Until one day, I was made a special offer. 

If I complied, I would be given the thing my heart longs for the most.

ーー A new home.

Location: Sakamaki Manor ;; Outside

Sharon: This is the place, right...?

( Woah...Amazing. I’ve never seen a house quite this big. They even have a garden! )

*Knock knock*

Sharon: Excuse meー! My name’s Sharon. I’m supposed to move in here today! 

...

...

( No response...? How strange. They should have been informed through the Church. )

*Knock knock*

Sharon: Hello...? Anybody home...!?

Sharon: ( What to do...? There doesn’t seem to be anyone home right now. It’s already getting dark. I can’t just stand here all night either. )

*Creaaaaak*

Sharon: ...Huh? Did the...door just open by itself?

( Does that mean I can go inside? I feel a little hesitant just entering someone else’s home butーー I was told I could live here so it should be fine, right? )

She enters the manor.

 Location: Sakamaki Manor ;; Entrance Hall

Sharon: Just as I thought, the inside is equally spacious. I can’t imagine just one person living in such a large house all by themselves. Cleaning must take quite some time as well.

She puts down her suitcase.

*Thud*

Sharon: Phew...

( ...It’s so quiet. Almost as if the house is deserted. I wonder if the owner is out at the moment? In that case, I should probably wait in the living room. )

Sharon looks around.

Sharon: I guess it’s...that way?

*Rustle*

Sharon: ...!!

( I...Did I just...step on something? It felt...strangely soft and... )

???: ーー Oi.

Sharon: ...Kyah!

Sharon: ( A person...!? Oh my gosh. I just arrived here and the first thing I do is step on someone! )

???: ...

Sharon: I’m terribly sorry! I didn’t think there would be someone lying on the floor and...!

( ...Speaking of which, what were they doing down there anyway!? ...Sleeping? No way, right? When you have a house this large, you definitely don’t need to use the floor as a bed... )

???: Haah...

Sharon: Oh no! Are you feeling ill, perhaps? In that case, I shall call a doctor right away!

???: ...You’re loud. How am I supposed to enjoy my Rachmaninov when you’re screaming the place down? 

Sharon: Rach...mani...? ...E-Either way, if you’re not feeling sick, then what were you doing on the floor?

???: Wasting his time away listening to music rather than making himself useful, per usual, I would assume. Well, I suppose it is best not to have any expectations of this man in the first place, as he will only let you down in the end.

Sharon: ...!? 

( A voice...? Out of nowhere...!? )

Sharon: ...Wah!!

( Where did he come from...? )

???: Now, who might you be?

Sharon: Ah...I’m sorry! My name’s Sharon. I’m an orphan at the Catholic orphanage downtown. I was told by our related Church that the resident of this manor has been so kind to take me in. Are you...perhaps the owner?

???: ...I see. It seems you are the next...sacrifice.

Sharon: Excuse me?

???: Nothing. I was simply talking to myself. ...Ahem. My name is Sakamaki Reiji. The second eldest son of this family and one of the residents here. ...The man you had the ‘honor’ of meeting earlier is Shuu. While you may not suspect so given his deplorable behavior, he is - quite unfortunately - my elder brother.

Sharon: Reiji-san...and Shuu-san, was it? It’s a pleasure meeting you both!

Shuu: ...

Reiji: I assume that is your luggage over there? A room has been prepared for you. We will have one of our servants bring everything upstairs.

Sharon: Thank you very much!

( Thank god...So there wasn’t any mistake after all. )

Sharon: Oh! Right! I actually brought a little gift with me! They’re homemade muffins I made this morーー

*CRASH*

Sharon: ーー ning...!?

Startled by the loud noise, she drops the box with muffins.

*Thud*

???: YOU FUCKIN’ BASTARD!! I swear once I get my hands on youーー! 

???: Ahaha! I can’t believe you actually fell for that one! Lame-o!

Reiji: ...

Shuu: Haah...

Sharon: ( H-Hold on, hold on, hold on! Eh? Eeeeh!? I’m not dreaming, right!? That person just punched a hole through the wall!? )

Reiji: Ahem. ...Allow me to introduce. The one who destroyed the wall is the youngest son, Sakamaki Subaru. Next to him is Sakamaki Ayato, the eldest of the triplets. 

ーー You two, explain this situation at once!

Ayato: ...Che. Reiji. I didn’t do anythin’! Not my fault that Subaru ate those prank chocolates I left out on the kitchen counter.

Subaru: Fuck off! You definitely did that on purpose! ...I can still feel my mouth burnin’...!!

Sharon: ( ...Prank chocolates? I guess he means those filled with mustard and other spicy condiments, right? I didn’t know people actually bought those. )

Ayato: Of course! I was hopin’ to catch Kanato. Can you imagine what kinda face he would make when poppin’ one of those bad boys in his mouth?

???: ...Say, did you hear that, Teddy? ...I hope Ayato sleeps with one eye open tonight. He might just run into...unfortunate accident.

Sharon: ...Eh!?

( Another person just appeared out of thin air!? )

Ayato: Keh. The lunatic’s here.

Reiji: Sakamaki Kanato, the middle triplet. 

...Kanato, If you wish to commit a homicide, please do so outside of the walls of this manor. It takes forever to remove blood stains from the carpet.

Kanato: I don’t recall having to take orders from you.

ーー However, you’re lucky as I happen to be in a good mood right now. I believe I heard someone mention muffins? 

Sharon: ...Ah, yes! I made these myse...Huh? ...Oh.

Shuu: It’s not blood, but I think the carpet will need some cleaning regardless.

Reiji: Good grief...

Sharon: Oh no...! The box must have slipped from my fingertips when I heard the sudden crash and...

Ayato: Ah-ahー Look what you did, Subaru. It’s always the youngest child causin’ trouble.

Subaru: HAAH!? All of this started ‘cause you left those stupid chocolates out!

Sharon: ...They turned out really good too. What a shame.

Subaru: ...!! ...O-Oi...You...Um...My bad.

Kanato: ...Unforgivable. 

Sharon: Eh?

Kanato: ...HOW WILL YOU MAKE THIS UP TO ME!?

Sharon: ( W-Why is he getting upset at me all of a sudden!? It was obviously just an accident!? )

Um...I’m not sure...I could make some new ones later?

???: There, there, Kanato-kun~ Relax! Even if the muffins were wasted, there’s a delicious snack just waiting to be devoured...

*Rustle*

Sharon: ...!

( Someone wrapped their arms around me from behind!? )

???: ...Right here~ ...Nfu~

Sharon: ...Eh!?

( I-Is he talking about me!? )

Reiji: ...And finally, the youngest triplet, Sakamaki Laito. 

Ayato: Oi, Laito! No way you’re gettin’ the first taste again! I still haven’t forgotten last time!

Laito: Eeeh~? It’s not my fault you’re so slow, Ayato-kun~ However, if you’re so insistent on taking a bite out of her, I wouldn’t mind sharing, you know? I’m sure it’d make for a refreshing and thrilling experience~

Ayato: Geh! In your dreams, you perv!

Sharon: ( Taste? Bite...? Why are they talking as if I’m their food!? )

Excusーー

Shuu: ...Strawberries.

Sharon: Eh?

Kanato: What are you talking about? I don’t see any strawberries around.

Reiji: Shuu. Explain yourself.

Shuu: Your panties. They had strawberries on them.

Sharon: ...!!

( When did he...!? Ah! When I stepped on him...! )

Ayato: Pfftー!! Strawberries! How old are you, five? That’s hella lame!

Laito: Hm...~ Strawberries are not bad but with such a lovely body, I’m sure you could pull off something a little more erotic~

Subaru: ...

Laito: Oh, my bad~ I forgot baby bro was in the room. I suppose talking about a woman’s underwear is still a little too much for him to handle.

Subaru: S-Shut up...!!

Reiji: ...Enough! No more on this topic! ...Haah. Is it really that much to ask for you lot to behave? Just for one day?

Ayato: ーー Anyway, Reiji. Who’s this chick anyway? Tonight’s dinner?

Sharon: D-Dinner...!? I’m sorry but...Why are you all talking as if I’m food or something!?

Ayato: Shut it! Nobody asked for your opinion, Ichigo Pantsu.

Sharon: I-Ichigo paーー!? I have a name...! ...It’s Sharon.

Ayato: Yeah, yeah. I-chi-go Pa-n-tsu.

Laito: Hm~ This Bitch-chan does smell sweet just like strawberries. Perhaps I should call you ‘Ichigo-chan’ instead~?

Kanato: She really does. I’m sure her blood would taste just as sweet...Oh? What’s that, Teddy? You’d like to have a taste? Fufu...Good idea. I was just feeling a little peckish myself.

Reiji: Haah...I shall be in my study room. ...Ayato, Kanato, Laito. Please treat our new resident with some respect. It would be a shame to lose another one so soon.

Sharon: ...Wait, please! I’m afraid I don’t quite grasp the situation yet!

Reiji: Haah...Good grief. You must not be very smart, are you? Did you truly believe you would be allowed to stay here for free?

Sharon: ...Eh?

Laito: Nfu~ He’s right, Ichigo-chan. Everything in this world comes at a price. In your case...That would be the delicious blood pumping through your veins...

Sharon: M-My blood...? 

Ayato: Heh. You seriously haven’t realized?

Kanato: Teddy...Humans are truly so foolish, aren’t they?

Subaru: Che...Stop beatin’ ‘round the bush already and just tell her.

Shuu: We are Vampires. So the only thing a human such as yourself would have to offer, is your blood.

Reiji: In return, you will be allowed to stay here in this manor. Food, clothes and all other daily necessities willl be provided as well.

Sharon: Vam...pires? That must be some sort of joke, right? It was the Church who arranged this place for me! They would neverーー! 

Besides...Vampires only exist in fairytales!

Reiji: Good grief. This is why I simply cannot deal with humans. Not only are they incredibly foolish, they are horribly naive and trusting as well.

Subaru: In other words, you were set up. Just deal with it.

Sharon: ...

( No way, right...? This has to be some sort of mistake? Or a bad dream...? )

Shuu: Pwaah...Anyway, you guys do as you please. I’m going to my room to nap.

Subaru: I’m leaving too.

Reiji: Well then, if you’d excuse me now.

The three of them leave.

Sharon: ...

Laito: Oh dear~? Is that despair I see in your eyes? You poor little thing! Don’t worry, Laito-kun wil make sure to comfort you. After all, there is no better cure for betrayal than pleasure.

Ayato: Don’t be so down, Ichigo Pantsu! It’s not that bad of a deal! You get to offer your blood to Yours Truly after all!

Kanato: Fufu...I’m sure we’ll get along just fine. If you’re lucky, you might even make it into my precious collection one day~

Sharon: ...!!

She suddenly pushes them away.

*THUD*

Ayato: ...Woah!?

Laito: ...Aah~ Not bad, Ichigo-chan! I like myself a feisty girl at times!

Kanato: Ugh! ...What are you doing!? I nearly dropped Teddy just now.

Sharon: ...

She runs upstairs.

Location: Sakamaki Manor ;; Hallway

Sharon: Haah, haah, haah...

( Say, God...? )

( Is this my penalty...? )

( Are you punishing me for my crimes of the past...? )

Monologue

I just kept on running and running.

As said question repeated itself inside my head.

That must be it.

Those guys were exactly right. 

Humans are foolish. I was foolish. 

Foolish to believe I would be given a new home.

After all, people like me.

ーー They don’t deserve a happy ending.

ーー PROLOGUE: END ーー

[ Dark Prologue ] ->

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch39: The Reunion Part 1: As Long As There’s Hope, We Have A Chance.

Intro: As the remaining Avengers continue their search for Tony, Steve and Natasha take a trip to Clint’s farm to find out what happened to the Archer and his family.

Warnings: Bad Language words. Discussions of miscarriage- if this is a trigger please stay away)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: Please heed the warnings…biggedy up to my girl @angrybirdcr​

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 38

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

It was eleven days post the Snap when Nat decided she couldn’t take it anymore and told Steve she wanted to go to Clint’s.

“I have to know.” She pleaded, looking at Steve. He sighed and glanced over her shoulder to Katie who merely shrugged offering him no back up. She knew where Nat was coming from, it was killing her not knowing what had happened to Tony.  

“Alright.” He acquiesced. “Let me grab a jacket.”

“I’ll meet you on the jet?” She asked. Steve nodded and watched her go before he turned to his wife who was studying him over her coffee. “If Barton was alive he would have been here by now.” Steve dragged a hand down over his beard as he dropped onto the sofa next to Katie. “I don’t understand why she doesn’t see or get that?”

"Put yourself in her shoes.” Katie sighed as she curled in on herself under a blanket on the sofa as a particularly nasty cramp hit her stomach. “You’d do the same thing for Bucky, or Sam, or me.”

"You know that I would.” He replied, noticing her shift in position and he frowned, but before he could say anything she placed her hand on his bearded cheek.

“Then just go, let her see. Plus, you could be wrong.”

“I suppose it’s happened from time to time.” He quipped and Katie smiled as he leaned over to press their foreheads together.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Not really.” She replied honestly, “But I’ve taken some painkillers, and Dr Kellet is coming over later. Thank fuck she wasn’t snapped.”

“I can ask Thor to go with Nat instead.” Steve looked at his wife who shook her head. “She asked you for a reason.” Katie said gently, “She trusts you. And I think if its bad news, she’s gonna need you, not Thor.”

“Are you sure?” He looked at her again and she nodded. He gave her a soft kiss, bumping his nose against hers, a soft smile on his face. “I love you, Doll.”

“I know.” She smiled back. “And I love you too, Soldier. Now go.”

As Steve had predicted, Barton’s farm was deserted. The two of them walked around, checking for any signs of life and Steve found his attention drawn to the picnic table not too far from where they had landed. It was loaded with condiments, plates, cutlery and scraps of food as a squirrel darted off the top from where it had been scratching through whatever other animals had left. Steve couldn’t help but remember the first time he had visited, when he had marvelled at the normality of Barton’s life outside the Avengers. Clint had kids, a wife, a complete alter ego. At the time Steve had almost been jealous, wondering if he and Katie could ever get that life. And then he’d gone and caused them both to be on the run, essentially ending that domestic dream.

And if he hadn’t, then Thanos certainly had when he’d snapped away their baby.

Natasha, meanwhile, had stalked straight into the house. Steve, hearing the door snap shut behind her turned and watched as she stomped straight back out and over to the barn at the far side of the yard

“Natasha?” he called.

She didn’t respond. With a sigh, Steve jogged after her, his boots slapping the damp grass of the lawn as he followed her into the barn. She dodged round the tractor in the middle, making her way to a door at the far side. Steve noticed a key pad at the side and Natasha clearly knew the code as a moment later there was a beep and it swung open to reveal what he supposed could only be referred to as an office of sorts, or as Katie would call it, a ‘man-cave’. There was a desk which sported some hi tech coms devices along with a computer. At the other side was a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall, a small couch, a stereo but none of that was what Natasha was looking at. She’d headed directly to some form of smaller room at the back and opened that to reveal a shelving unit of sorts. On one of them was an empty case that had clearly held a bow and arrow. Natasha then bent over and when she stood up Steve noticed she was holding a government issued ankle bracelet that had obviously at one point been around Clint’s ankle.

Not anymore, it was in two pieces.

“He’s alive,” Nat’s voice cracked. “Steve. he’s…he’s alive"

It was good news in a way, but then again, where was he? Surely if he and his family had survived then Clint would have brought them to the compound to find the rest of the team. But this looked like he had left in a hurry. Alone.

Which made Steve think that his family hadn’t been so lucky.

Natasha, satisfied that Clint was alive but clearly nowhere to be found at the farm, suggested they head home and see if they could track him from the compound. Steve hadn’t the heart to tell her that he didn’t think they’d have much of a chance and he knew deep down that if she was being honest, she probably thought the same thing. Instead, he nodded and they headed back over to the jet, which is when the pair of them heard something skulking around the side of the house. Natasha whipped out her gun as Steve spun, drawing himself up to full height. Exchanging a look, they both rounded the porch, cautiously approached, but as soon as Steve saw what it was, he relaxed.

“Hey buddy.” He courched down to pet the sandy coloured one-eyed dog that belonged to Clint, scratching behind his ear as the dog gave a little, desperate whine.

“Clint just left him.” Nat sighed, blinking back her tears. “He loved that dog, I don’t understand.”

“He won’t have been thinking straight, Nat.” Steve looked up at her, then around slightly, chewing the inside of his cheek before he made a decision. “We’ll take him home with us.” He stood up and, giving a sharp whistle, he was pleased to find the dog simply trotted behind him, up the ramp and happily curled up in a corner on a fleece Steve laid out for him.

“Do you know how old he is?” Steve asked, scratching the dog who rolled over, offering up his belly for a rub.

“Well when they found him the vets estimated he was about six months old…so seven now, give or take.” Natasha watched Steve who smiled, and made a cooing noise at the dog as he continued to pet him. “Never had you down as an animal lover, Rogers.”

“Always liked dogs.” He smiled. “I used to beg Ma for one all the time when I was a kid so she let us dog sit the neighbours. It set my asthma off, damned near killed me. So that put paid to that.” He took a deep breath and stood up, looking down at Lucky who flipped himself the right way up, pulling himself to a sitting position, his head cocking to the left. “Besides, I couldn’t just leave him there.”

“Katie’s right about you.” Natasha smiled. “You’re nothing but a huge softy under all that muscle.”

“Yeah, well, don’t tell anyone.” His brow raised. “I got a reputation to uphold.”

As they settled into the cockpit, Steve glanced at Natasha who was looking at the pieces of Clint’s ankle tag which she’d brought with her for some reason. But as he watched her turn them over in her hands, he had a sudden thought that there was someone else they should probably check in on as well. He voiced his thoughts to Natasha who nodded, and plugged in the co-ordinates for an airfield in San Francisco which was about thirty miles away from the address Scott Lang had listed on his house arrest details.

In little over an hour and forty later they pulled up outside Lang’s house and both hopped off the bike. No one answered so Steve simply kicked the door in and, once they were inside, they found it had been deserted some time ago. The remnants of a breakfast lay on a plate on the side growing mold and there was a mug and a plate in the sink. Natasha headed up the stairs, as Steve checked around the ground floor to see if there was anything that might give them a clue. The only thing he noticed was a calendar. The date of the Snap was circled, 23rd April, and next to it was written ‘QR- Research’. He didn’t have a clue what that meant. Letting out a deep breath he walked back into the hall and Nat came back down the stairs.

“No sign of anything being packed from his closet and his bed wasn’t made.”

“Well, his calendar seems to suggest he had a research date or something but other than that…” Steve trailed off as he spotted the red-light on the answer phone was blinking. He glanced at Natasha who inclined her head towards it and he reached out hitting the play button.

“Hi, Daddy” a little girls voice spoke and Steve and Natasha exchanged a look. Steve knew Scott had a daughter, but it struck him then that he had never even bothered to ask her name. “I tried your mobile but you’re obviously busy doing cool stuff with Hope and Dr Pymm…Mom said that you should come over tonight for five now your tag is off and it’s your favourite for tea. Oh and I got a new ant farm for you to try out. I love you, byeeeee!”

“Scott took two years house arrest to be with his daughter.” Steve shook his head, raising his eyebrows. “He wouldn’t just run out.”

“Think we’ve seen enough?” Nat sighed.

“Yeah.” Steve looked at her. “Let’s go home.”

***** “Well,” Dr Kellet looked at Katie as she sat up on the bed in the medical area of the compound, “there’s nothing physically wrong. Everything looks okay. I expect the cramps will settle down soon. It’s not uncommon with miscarriages, Mrs Rogers to feel some discomfort, especially when there’s been a procedure involved. And this, well, it wasn’t a normal miscarriage either so…”

Katie nodded and looked at her hands.

“How are you?” The Doctor asked and Katie looked up. “And I don’t mean physically.”

“I’m okay, I suppose.” Katie let out a deep breath. “I mean, I know there’s nothing I can do about it but it doesn’t stop me wondering you know, if I could have done something or-”

“Even in the case with normal miscarriages there’s nothing that anyone can do.” The Doctor spoke softly. “It’s a natural reaction, Mrs Rogers, you’re still in the grief cycle.” She clicked her bag shut. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. Give it time.”

“That’s what Steve keeps saying.” Katie mused, softly.

“How has he been?” “Amazing.” Katie smiled instantly. “He’s been an absolute rock, I know he’s upset himself but he just…” she trailed off. “It’s good that you have one another.” Dr Kellet smiled as she handed Katie her bag containing her pill. Neither of them spoke much, it was a silent gesture that made them both feel a little strange. They hadn’t even discussed the subject of her birth control going forward, but with everything that was going on Katie was suddenly struck with the thought that even the simple things like obtaining medical treatment was going to be much more difficult as they’d lost half the people that kept medical centres open.

Doctors, Nurses, receptionists, porters…

“I’m going to be meeting with the Local Authorities.” Dr Kellet looked at Katie as if she had read her mind. “All the remaining specialists have talked about how we need a, well, sort of a how we go forward planning session.” “Let me know if we can help in anyway.” Katie nodded. “That’s what we have the Stark Relief fund for.” Dr Kellet smiled before the two exchanged goodbyes and the Ob-Gyn left, leaving Katie alone with her thoughts which were disrupted when she heard her phone going. It was a message from Steve to tell her they were on their way home with good and bad news. Katie wasn’t sure if she wanted to know, to be honest, but she assumed the good news was Clint was alive, the bad news well, it didn’t bear thinking about. Deciding she would rather hear it in person, she replied and told him she’d leave some dinner for them both in the communal kitchen, and with that she headed off to find something he could cook.

****

Steve and Natasha landed home at just gone eight in the evening. And, given that they hadn’t eaten since breakfast, they headed straight to the kitchen with Lucky in tow and found two plates of lasagne waiting for them in the fridge, one substantially larger portion than the other. Whilst it was warming up. Steve gave Lucky a drink and then found some left over chicken and scraps of vegetables from the roast dinner the night before and placed them down in a dish for him to eat. Lucky wolfed his make shift dinner down, and so did they. Between them they ate their helpings, plus the leftovers, along with a helping of salad and then walked down the dimly lit corridors, dog on their heels. It was completely deserted.

“Feels odd doesn’t it?” Nat remarked “I mean it was always so busy.” “We will fix this Nat.” Steve spoke, and he wasn’t sure where his optimism was coming from, but seeing Clint was alive gave him more hope than he’d had that morning.

“Thank you for coming.” She said as they stopped by the stairs that led to her apartment.“I really appreciate it.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Nat.” Steve smiled, giving her a hug.  “Do you wanna take our guest or should I?” he gestured down to the dog. She shook her head. “Katie has a soft spot for that dog, plus you said yourself you’re a dog person. I prefer cats.”

That didn’t surprise Steve in the slightest and he found himself smiling slightly as he replied. “Alright, see you in the morning,” before he watched her up the steps and was pleased to see some of her usual Black Widow swagger had returned.

“Come on, buddy.” He turned to the dog which obediently trotted besides him, tongue lolling, his one eye trained on the super soldier.

Katie was awake in bed, the speakers in the room playing what sounded like the Trouble Man soundtrack as she lay on her side, facing the door, her hands absentmindedly playing with the pillow she had clutched to her chest.

“Hey.” he said as he walked in and she looked up, smiling softly. He leaned over to give her a gentle kiss before he frowned. “You’re crying.” It was a statement, not a question, as it was something she seemed to do quite a lot of recently. He sat on the edge of the bed and with tender hands, wiped her tears away with his thumbs as she sat up. “Is everything okay, I mean with…”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about Sam, that’s all.”

Steve bowed his head, swallowing a little. Sam had been such a constant in their lives since they’d met him some four years previously, and two of those years they’d basically spent as house mates. It felt strange not to have him round, laughing and joking. Quite frankly, Steve felt like someone had ripped away his arm.

“I miss him too.” He admitted gently, and Katie looked at him, reaching up to cup his face. Steve sniffed a little before he shook his head.

“So, what did Dr Kellet say?” He changed the subject. “Nothing much. Says I’m physically alright, any discomfort I’m feeling should be gone soon.” “Do you need anything? Pain relief or…” She shook her head “I’m okay, honestly.” She took a deep breath. “So, what did you find?”

“Clint’s alive.” Steve stood and shrugged off his jacket, laying it on the back of the chair by the dressing table. Katie gave a sigh of relief which was short lived as she spotted the look on Steve’s face.

“What is it?”

“There’s no sign of him. He’d bust off his tag and left. I don’t think his family made it.” Katie bowed her head “They’re gone? All of them?”

“I think so yeah.”

“Fuck.” Katie screwed shut her eyes as her head fell back and she looked to the ceiling.

“We do, however have a guest.” Steve added, looking over at her.

“Who?”

“Lucky.” At the sound of his name the dog came pounding into the bedroom and jumped straight up on the bed.

“I couldn’t just leave him there.” Steve explained as Katie smiled and leaned over to scratch the dog behind his ears, promptly causing him to lay down, his head in Katie’s lap. She wrinkled up her nose.

“He stinks!”

“Yeah well he’s been alone since Clint left, God knows what he’s been up to or eating.” Steve shrugged as Katie looked down at the dog who rolled over for a belly scratch and she obliged. “And it doesn’t look like Lang made it either.” Steve finished heavily, watching as Katie tickled the animal.

Katie shook her head sadly, a tear falling onto the bed as Lucky rolled back over and moved to lick the side of her face before he jumped down on the floor.

“Nat wants to give Barton a few more days to cool off before we look for him but I’m not sure he wants to be found.“  Steve dropped back onto the side of the bed, removing his shoes and then his shirt thinking back to what he had seen at Clint’s. He laid his palms flat on the bed and dropped his head gently, letting out a sigh. He heard the sheets rustle as Katie edged her way closer to him, leaning her head on the back of his shoulder, nuzzling her cheek against him.

"How is Nat?” She asked.

“A little bit better now that we know he’s alive.”

Katie nodded as she dropped a kiss to the back of Steve’s shoulder before he stood up, “I’m gonna take a shower, I won’t be long.”

“Okay. Where’s Lucky gonna sleep?”

“I dunno.” Steve eyed up the dog who was now led on his back on the floor as if he’d been with them all his life “Looks like he’s comfy there.” “Yeah, it does.” Katie smiled.

Whilst Steve was in the shower Katie went into the closet and pulled out one of the old duvets for Lucky to sleep on, folding it up and placing it at the end of the bed. Steve was out of the shower shortly and climbed into bed besides Katie, reaching over and turning off the light before he settled down on his back and Katie cuddled up to him, head on his chest

“So what have you been up to today?” He asked gently, his hand rubbing her back.

“Still trying to get a lock on where Tony is. Other than that, well, I saw the doctor,  made dinner and then I wasn’t feeling great if I’m honest. So I came back here and Thor sat with me for a while, just talking.”

Steve took a deep breath, pulling her a little closer as they both fell silent for a moment, before she broke the silence.

“You now, knowing Clint is alive makes me feel a little more optimistic.”

“Optimistic?”

“Yeah, think about it.” Katie’s hand traced hapes on his bare chest “That’s six out of seven of the original Avengers confirmed alive. Tony has to be as well, it makes sense.” “I’m not following.” Steve frowned. She propped herself up, so that she was leaning on his chest, her eyes locking onto his.  “Thor was talking before, those stones, they have a magic beyond anything we know. Thor doesn’t believe for a second that who’s left is merely a coincidence and neither do I. It’s happened for a reason. Tony’s out there, I can feel it. We just need to find him.” “Honey, I understand what you’re saying-“ Steve started, he wasn’t sure he agreed. He didn’t believe in fate, it was bullshit. But before he could say anything else she cut him off.

“Please don’t.” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t what?”

“Take this hope away from me.” She whispered, her eyes still locked onto his in the dim light of the room “Apart from you it’s all I have right now.”

He sighed and nodded, chastising himself. If it made her feel better who was he to try and make her think any differently just because he did? Eventually they would have to face facts but now, well he just wanted her to get through the next few days, one at a time. With that in mind, he bit back his response and kissed her head.

“Sorry, you’re right. As long as there’s hope, we have a chance.” She kissed him gently before settling back down, and it wasn’t long before she drifted off. *****

A week or so later, Thor returned from another scouting trip with no news or sign of his people and this time he set deep into a brooding depression, appearing only for meals. Not even Katie could talk him round. Pepper was keeping herself busy liaising with who was left at Stark Industries, turning her attention onto how they could help after Katie had told her about Dr Kellet and the Health Authorities. It kept Pepper busy and gave her something to focus on.

Steve, Natasha and Rhodey spent most of their time talking to the people who were conducting the census and the authorities, whilst Katie buried herself away with Rocket and Bruce trying to calibrate the scanners to reach further into space, bouncing off the NASA satellites to boost their range. But they continued to get nothing. The elephant in the room, however, remained Fury’s pager. In the two weeks they’d had it no one had managed to get working, not even Rocket, despite his attempts to fix the booster that was attached to it.

As the Nineteenth post snap afternoon drew to a close, the Racoon let out a frustrated sigh and downed the small screwdriver he had been using and shook his head.

“If I had the right parts I could sort this easy, but without getting up to Contraxier I wouldn’t know where to start.” “What’s Contraxier?” Katie asked.

“A market-slash-junk-slash-booze hole” Rocket shrugged.” You can find most stuff there. That’s where I stole Thor’s eye.”

Katie knew better than to ask.

“It’s so goddamned annoying.” Rocket continued. “I mean it’s a simple technology too, they’re ten a credit. All it needs to do is produce a magnetic field across each of these coils and bingo.” Katie looked at Bruce whose head had instantly shot up.

“Say that again?” The Scientist instructed gently. “These coils.” Rocket pointed to the item as Bruce walked over. “Each of them needs a magnetic core and then all of the little individual magnetic forces add together and it powers the…what?” He asked as Bruce looked at Katie and she grinned.

“An electromagnet?” She shook her head, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. “That’s all it is?” “I’ve no idea what you Terrans call it, but if that’s what that does then yeah.” “I can’t believe it.” Bruce picked up the device and slid it under the large magnifying glass Rocket had been using, letting out a groan of frustration. “I took my eye off the ball, I could have sorted this straight away…” “You’re kidding me right?” Rocket sighed “Seriously?”

“Bruce, we’ve had a lot going on, don’t...” Katie began to sooth the man who was now frantically rushing around, grabbing various bits of material as he continued to curse his stupidity.

With a final curse, he settled down at a seat, bending over the device, his nose barely an inch away from it.

“It was an electromagnet. A god-damned electromagnet.” Bruce shook his head as he stood up and placed the Pager on a plinth inside one of the glass cases he used to experiment in. He fiddled around with some wires, muttering to himself before standing back. As the three of them crowded round, the screen on the pager lit up and the word “SENDING” flashed across the screen.

Katie looked at Bruce, her face splitting into a smile as he looked at her, the corner of his mouth twisting upwards.

There was another glimmer of hope…

**** Chapter 39 Part 2

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Banner Ch39: The Reunion

Intro: As the remaining Avengers continue their search for Tony, help arrives in the form of an unknown face...and after two agonising years Katie is reunited with her brother.

Warnings: Bad Language words, grief, hellavulotta angst, SMUT (NSFW) NO UNDER 18s.

Pairing:Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist 

A couple of mornings later, 11 days post the Snap, Nat decided she couldn’t take it anymore and told Steve she wanted to go to Clint’s.

“I have to know.” she said, looking at Steve. He sighed and glanced over her shoulder to Katie who merely shrugged. She knew where Nat was coming from, it was killing her not knowing what had happened to Tony.  

“Alright.” he acquiesced, “Let me grab a jacket.”

“I’ll meet you on the jet?” she asked. He nodded and watched her go before he turned to his wife who was studying him over her coffee. "If Barton was alive he would have been here by now.” Steve dragged a hand down over his beard as he dropped onto the sofa next to Katie “I don’t understand why she doesn’t see or get that?”

"Put yourself in her shoes.” Katie sighed as she curled in on herself under a blanket on the sofa as a particularly nasty cramp hit her stomach “You’d do the same thing for Bucky, or Sam, or me.”

"You know that I would." he replied, noticing her shift in position and he frowned but before he could say anything she placed her hand on his bearded cheek.

“Then just go, let her see. Plus, you could be wrong.”

“I suppose it’s happened from time to time.” he quipped and Katie smiled as he leaned over to press their foreheads together.

“Are you feeling ok?”

“Not really” she replied honestly, “But I’ve taken some painkillers, and Dr Kellet is coming over later. Thank fuck she wasn’t snapped.”

“I can ask Thor to go with Nat instead.” Steve looked at his wife who shook her head. “She asked you for a reason.” Katie said gently, “She trusts you. And I think if its bad news, she’s gonna need you.”

“Ok, well, if you’re sure.” he looked at her again and she nodded. “I love you.”

“I know.” she smiled “I love you too. Now go.”

Barton’s farm was deserted. As the two of them walked around, Steve found his attention drawn to the picnic table not too far from where they had landed. It was loaded with condiments, plates, cutlery and scraps of food as a squirrel darted off the top from where it had been routing through whatever other animals had left. Steve couldn’t help but remember the first time he had visited, the normality of Barton’s life outside the Avengers. He had kids, a wife…at the time he’d almost been jealous, wondering if he and Katie could ever get that life. And then he’d gone and caused them both to be on the run, essentially ending that domestic dream. 

And if he hadn’t, then Thanos certainly had.

Natasha, meanwhile had stalked straight into the house. Steve, hearing the door snap shut behind her turned and watched as she stalked back out of the farm house and over to the barn at the far side of the yard. Nothing had changed.

“Natasha?” he called.

She didn’t respond. With a sigh Steve jogged after her and followed her into the barn as she dodged round the tractor in the middle to a door at the far side. Steve noticed a key pad at the side and Natasha clearly knew the code as a moment later there was a beep and it swung open to reveal what he supposed could only be referred to as an office of sorts, or as Katie would refer to it a ‘man-cave’. There was a desk and some hi tech coms devices sat on it along with a computer. At the other side was  a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall, a small couch, a stereo but none of that was what Natasha was looking at. She’d headed directly to some form of smaller room at the back and opened that to reveal a shelving unit of sorts. On one of them was an empty case that had clearly held a bow and arrow. Natasha then bent over and when she stood up Steve noticed she was holding a government issued ankle bracelet that had obviously at one point been around Clint’s ankle. Not anymore, it was in 2 pieces.

"He's alive," Nat said, her voice cracking “Steve. he’s…he’s alive"

It was good news in a way, but then again, where was he? Surely if he and his family had survived he would have headed to the compound to find the rest of them. But this looked like he had left in a hurry. Alone. Which made Steve think that his family hadn’t been so lucky.

Natasha, satisfied that Clint was alive but clearly nowhere to be found at the farm, suggested they head home and see if they could track him from the compound. Steve hadn’t the heart to tell her that he didn’t think they’d have much of a chance and he knew deep down she probably thought the same thing. Instead he nodded and they headed back over to the jet, which is when the pair of them heard something skulking around the side of the house. Natasha whipped out her gun as they both cautiously approached. As soon as Steve saw who it was he relaxed.

“Hey buddy.” he said, bending down to pet the sandy coloured one-eyed dog

“Clint just left him.” Nat sighed.

“He won’t have been thinking straight, Nat.” Steve said, looking up at her, then around slightly, chewing the inside of his cheek before he made a decision. “We’ll take him home with us.” He stood up and, giving a sharp whistle, he was pleased to find the dog simply trotted behind him, up the ramp and happily curled up in a corner on a fleece blanket Natasha laid out for him.

“Do you know how old he is?” Steve asked, nodding to the dog.

“Well when they found him in 2011 the vets estimated he was about six months old…so seven give or take.” Steve straightened up and he looked around. Clint’s ankle tag had gotten him thinking, there was someone else they should probably check in on as well. He voiced his thoughts to Natasha who nodded, and plugged in the co-ordinates for an airfield in San Francisco which was about thirty miles away from the address Scott Lang had listed on his house arrest details. In little over an hour and 45 minutes later they pulled up outside Lang’s house and told the cab driver to wait.

When no one answered Steve simply kicked the door in and once they were inside they found it had been deserted some time ago. The remnants of a breakfast lay on a plate on the side growing mould and there was a mug and a plate in the sink. Natasha headed up the stairs, as Steve checked around the ground floor to see if there was anything that might give them a clue. The only thing he noticed was a calendar. The date of the Snap was circled, 23rd April, and next to it was written “QR- Research.”

He didn’t have a clue what that meant. As he walked back into the hall Nat came down the stairs and joined him.

“No sign of anything being packed from his closet and his bed wasn’t made.” She shrugged

Steve nodded. “His calendar seems to suggest he had a research date or something but other than that…hang on…”

He stopped by the phone in the hall, the red-light was blinking to show there was a message. Steve hit play and they stood stock still listening to the message.

“Hi daddy” a little girls voice spoke. Steve knew Scott had a daughter, but it struck him then he had never even bothered to ask her name. “I tried your mobile but you’re obviously busy doing cool stuff with Hope and Dr Pymm…Mom said that you should come over tonight for 4pm now your tag is off and it’s your favourite for tea. Oh and I got a new ant farm for you to try out. I love you, byeeeee!”

Scott took 2 years house arrest to be with his family and Steve knew he wouldn’t run out. The only logical explanation was that he too had been turned to dust.

“Think we’ve seen enough?” Nat sighed.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded “Let’s head home.”

***** “Well,” Dr Kellet looked at Katie as she sat up on the bed, “there’s nothing physically wrong. Everything looks ok. I expect the cramps will settle down soon.”

Katie nodded and looked at her hands.

“How are you though?” the Doctor looked at her and Katie sighed.

“I’m okay, I suppose. I mean, I know there’s nothing I can do about it but it doesn’t stop me wondering you know, if I could have done something or-”

“Even in the case with normal miscarriages there’s nothing that anyone can do.” the Doctor spoke softly. “It’s a natural reaction, Mrs Rogers, you’re still in the grief cycle.” the Dr snapped her bag shut. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. Give yourself time.”

“That’s what Steve keeps saying.” Katie said softly

“How has he been?” “Amazing.” Katie smiled instantly “He’s been an absolute rock, I know he’s upset himself but he just…” she trailed off. “It’s good that you have one another.” Dr Kellet smiled as she handed Katie her bag containing her pill. Neither of them spoke much, it was a silent gesture that made them both feel a little strange. They hadn’t even discussed the subject but with everything that was going on Katie had to acknowledge that going forward even the simple things like obtaining medical treatment was going to be much more difficult as they’d lost half the people that kept medical centres open. Doctors, Nurses, receptionists, porters…

“I’m going to be meeting with the Local Authorities.” Dr Kellet looked at Katie as if she had read her mind “All the remaining specialists are, sort of a how we go forward planning session.” “Let me know if we can help in anyway.” Katie said “That’s what we have the Stark Relief fund for.” Dr Kellet nodded. The two exchanged goodbyes and the Ob-Gyn left, leaving Katie alone with her thoughts which were disrupted when she heard her phone going. It was a message from Steve to tell her they were on their way home with good and bad news. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know but she assumed the good news was Clint was alive, the bad news being perhaps the kids or Laura weren’t. Deciding she would rather heat it in person she replied and told him she’d leave some dinner for them both in the communal kitchen and with that she headed off to find something he could cook. Such a normal thing to be thinking about. It felt good.

****

Steve and Natasha landed home at just gone eight in the evening. And, given that they hadn’t eaten since breakfast, they headed straight to the kitchen with Lucky in tow and found the leftovers of Katie’s lasagne. Whilst it was warming up Steve gave Lucky a drink and then found some left over chicken and scraps of vegetables from the roast dinner the night before and placed them down in a dish for him to eat. Lucky wolfed his make shift dinner down, and so did they. Between them they ate the entire lot of left overs, along with a helping of salad and then walked down the dimly lit corridors, dog on their heels. It was completely deserted.

“Feels odd doesn’t it?” Nat remarked “I mean it was always so busy.” “We will fix this Nat.” Steve spoke, and he wasn’t sure where his optimism was coming from, but seeing Clint was alive gave him more hope than he’d had that morning.

“Thank you for coming.” She said as they stopped by the stairs that led to her apartment “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Steve smiled, giving her a hug.  “Do you wanna take our guest or should I?” he gestured down to the dog. She shook her head “Katie has a soft spot for that dog, besides, I prefer cats.”

That didn’t surprise him in the slightest. He found himself smiling slightly as he replied, “Alright, see you in the morning.” before he watched her up the steps and was pleased to see some of her usual Black Widow swagger had returned.

“Come on buddy.” he turned to the dog which obediently trotted besides him, tongue lolling, his one eye trained on the super soldier.

Katie was awake in bed, the speakers in the room playing what sounded like the Trouble Man soundtrack as she lay on her side, facing the door, her hands absentmindedly playing with the pillow she had clutched to her chest.

“Hey.” he said as he walked in and she looked up, smiling softly. He leaned over to give her a gentle kiss “You feeling ok?” “Yeah.” she sat up “What did you find?”

“Clint’s alive.” Steve shrugged off his jacket and laying it on the back of the chair by the dressing table. Katie gave a sigh of relief which was short lived as she spotted the look on Steve’s face.

“What is it?”

“There’s no sign of him. He’d bust off his tag and left. I don’t think his family made it.” Katie bowed her head “They’re gone? All of them?”

“I think so yeah.”

“Fuck.” Katie screwed shut her eyes as her head fell back and she looked to the ceiling.

“We do, however have a guest.” Steve added, looking over at her.

“Who?”

“Lucky.” At the sound of his name the dog came pounding into the bedroom and jumped on the bed.

“I couldn’t just leave him there” Steve explained as Katie smiled and leaned over to scratch the dog behind his ears, promptly causing him to lay down, his head in Katie’s lap. She wrinkled up her nose “He stinks!”

“Yeah well he’s been alone since Clint left, God knows what he’s been up to or eating.”

Katie looked down at the dog who rolled over for a belly scratch and she obliged.

“It doesn’t look like Lang made it either.” Steve sighed, watching as Katie tickled the animal.

She shook her head sadly, a tear falling onto the bed as Lucky rolled back over and moved to lick the side of her face before he jumped down on the floor.

“Nat wants to give Barton a few more days to cool off before we look for him but I’m not sure he wants to be found."  Steve shook his head, dropping onto the side of the bed and removing his shoes and then his shirt thinking back to what he had seen at Clint’s. He laid his palms flat on the bed and dropped his head gently, letting out a sigh. He heard the sheets rustle as Katie edged her way closer to him, leaning her head on the back of his shoulder, nuzzling her cheek against him.

"How is Nat?" she asked.

"A little bit better now that we know he's alive."

Katie nodded as she dropped a kiss to the back of Steve’s shoulder before he stood up, “I’m gonna take a shower, I won’t be long.”

“Okay. Where’s Lucky gonna sleep?”

“I dunno.” Steve eyed up the dog who was now led on his back on the floor as if he’d been with them all his life “Looks like he’s comfy there.” “Yeah, it does.” Katie smiled.

Whilst Steve was in the shower Katie went into the closet and pulled out one of the old duvets for Lucky to sleep on, folding it up and placing it at the end of the bed. Steve was out of the shower shortly and climbed into bed besides Katie, reaching over and turning off the light before he settled down on his back and Katie cuddled up to him, head on his chest

“So what have you been up to today?” he asked gently, his hand rubbing her back.

“Still trying to get a lock on where Tony is.” she said softly “And then I saw Dr Kellet, made dinner and then I wasn’t feeling great if I’m honest. So I came back here and Thor sat with me for a while, just talking.” He pulled her a little closer, his chest tightening at the thought of her hurting and him not being there “What did Dr Kellet say?” “Nothing much. Says I’m physically alright, any discomfort I’m feeling should be gone soon.” “Do you need anything? Pain relief or…” She shook her head “I’m ok, honestly.”

They both fell silent for a moment, before she broke the silence.

“You now, knowing Clint is alive makes me feel a little more optimistic.”

“Optimistic?”

“Yeah, think about it.” she said, her hand tracing shapes on his bare chest “That’s 6 out of 7 of the original Avengers confirmed alive. Tony has to be as well, it makes sense.” “I’m not following.” Steve frowned. She propped herself up, so that she was leaning on his chest “Thor was talking before about how he thought after Ultron that we had been pawns in someone’s intricate game, that someone we know now to be Thanos. But those stones, they have a magic beyond anything we know. Thor doesn’t believe for a second that who’s left is merely a coincidence and neither do I. It’s happened for a reason. Tony’s out there, I can feel it. We just need to find him.” “Honey, I understand what you’re saying…” Steve started, he wasn’t sure he agreed. He didn’t believe in fate, it was bullshit. But before he could say anything else she cut him off.

“Please don’t.” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t what?”

“Take this hope away from me.” she whispered, her eyes locking onto his in the dim light of the room “Apart from you it’s all I have right now.”

He sighed and nodded, chastising himself. If it made her feel better who was he to try and make her think any differently just because he did? Eventually they would have to face facts but now, well he just wanted her to get through the next few days, one at a time so he bit back his response and kissed her head. “Sorry, you’re right. As long as there’s hope, we have a chance.” She kissed him gently before settling back down, and it wasn’t long before she drifted off. *****

Clint had obviously trained Lucky to chase Raccoons as Rocket spent half his time over the next week dodging the dog’s pounces only to eventually solve the issue by screaming at the canine making him halt dead in his tracks, eyeing the animal in front of him with curiosity.

Thor returned from another scouting trip with no news or sign of his people and this time he set deep into a brooding depression, appearing only for meals. Not even Katie could talk him round. Pepper was keeping herself busy liaising with who was left at Stark Industries, turning her attention onto how they could help after Katie had told her about Dr Kellet and the Health Authorities. It kept Pepper busy and gave her something to focus on.

Steve, Natasha and Rhodey spent most of their time talking to the people who were conducting the census and the authorities, whilst Katie buried herself away with Rocket and Bruce trying to calibrate the scanners to reach further into space, bouncing off the NASA satellites to boost their range. But they continued to get nothing. And every night, Steve and Katie would disappear together, out walking Lucky in the grounds, the two of them just taking a moment to themselves and it fast became the time of day the two of them looked forward to the most.

The elephant in the room was Fury’s pager. In the two weeks they had now had it, no one had managed to get working, not even Rocket, despite his attempts to fix the booster that was attached to it. As the 19th post snap afternoon drew to a close, the Racoon let out a frustrated sigh and downed the small screwdriver he had been using and shook his head.

“Shit.” He said, hanging his head. “If I had the right parts I could sort this easy, but without getting up to Contraxier I wouldn’t know where to start.” “What’s Contraxier?” Katie asked.

“A market-slash-junk-slash-booze hole” Rocket shrugged “can find most stuff there. That’s where I stole Thor’s eye.”

Katie knew better than to ask.

“It’s so goddamned annoying.” Rocket continued. “I mean it’s a simple technology too, they’re ten a credit. All it needs to do is produce a magnetic field across each of these coils and bingo.” Katie looked at Bruce whose head had shot up.

“Say that again?” he said gently. “These coils.” Rocket pointed to the item as Bruce walked over. “Each of them needs a magnetic core. All of the little magnetic forces add together through the core and it powers the…what?” he asked as Bruce looked at Katie and she grinned.

“An electromagnet?” She shook her head, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. “That’s all it is?” “I’ve no idea what you Terrans call it, but if that’s what that does then yeah.” “I can’t believe it.” Bruce picked up the device and slid it under the large magnifying glass Rocket had been using “I took my eye off the ball, I could have sorted this straight away…” “You’re kidding me right?” Rocket sighed “Seriously?”

Bruce rushed around, grabbing various bits of material and settled down at a seat bending over the device, his nose barely an inch away from it.

“I’ll fetch the others.” Rocket sighed, wandering out of the room.

Rocket returned a few moments later, flanked by Natasha, Rhodey and Steve just in time to hear Bruce’s yell of success.

“It was an electromagnet. A god-damned electromagnet.” he said, shaking his head as he stood up and placed the Pager on a plinth inside one of the glass cages used to experiment in. He fiddled around with some wires, muttering to himself before standing back. As they crowded round, the screen on the pager lit up. The word “SENDING” flashed across the screen and they all looked at one another.

 Another glimmer of hope…

*****

Their excitement was short lived, as nothing came of the device. It simply continued to send the signal for a good 2 days on end, no one answering and Steve found himself wondering if whoever was on the other side had been dusted too.

“More census results.” Natasha said, tapping a button as Steve walked into the room, coffee in his hand, Katie following.

The 3D globe flashed up, along with numerous digital displays of numbers that kept rolling, and rolling increasing in front of their eyes.  He 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.”

Nat, Steve and Katie exchanged a glance before they followed him out of the room.

“What have we got?” Nat asked as they walked into the lab.

“Whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out.” Bruce said as they 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 said, 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 as she 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.

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, stepping forward as she instantly recognised the name.

“You know her?” Steve asked and Katie turned to face him.

“Kinda. 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.” Katie paused, looking straight at the woman “Who are you to him?”

“A friend” She said, vaguely “We 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 ask again, where is he?"

"Dead.” Nat said simply

“Dead?” Carol’s face slipped a little bit. “How?”

“Thanos.” Katie replied simply.

“The mad Titan?” 

“You heard of him then?”  Rhodey scoffed “Yeah well, he 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.

“He ain’t chasing them, he found them.” Steve sighed “He found them and eighteen days ago he used them wiping out, we suspect, fifty percent of the entire Universe.” “With a literal click of his fingers.” Rhodey added.

"Half the universe?" Carol mumbled to herself, "That explains it."

"Explains what?" Katie questioned.

"It's been chaos out there for the past two weeks, I've been getting distress calls from all over the galaxy." She sighed.

“Exactly why did Fury have a pager which connected him to you for emergencies?” Nat asked, her eyes still narrowed slightly.

“I have powers.” Carol spoke and Steve could tell she was picking her words carefully “From an accident”

“Accident?” he frowned “Yes, that occurred during Project Pegasus.”

Nat and Katie exchanged a glance that Steve didn’t miss.

“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.

“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.” Steve folded his arms across his chest.

“You were Fury’s first Super Hero.” Katie looked at her, 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 of what she could do.

“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. It wasn’t great news. A lead on Thanos had taken her to his home planet, even though it was assumed destroyed a while back. “There’s clearly been a big fight here but there’s no sign of anyone now. I have a few more potential leads thought, so I’ll follow them up.”

“Sweetheart.” Steve sighed gently, turning to Katie so she could step into his arms and press her face against his chest and simply stay there, the tears dampening his T-shirt as he gently stroked her head. 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, Steve knew that.  After a moment or so she pulled back, reaching up to wipe at her eyes and he looked down at her, his handsome face full of concern.

“I’m gonna go back to the apartment.” she said. “Take a shower…”

“Alright.” He 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 said, turning it to face him. He squinted a little. It looked a bit like Barton, but he couldn’t be sure. “I ran a facial recognition. Got a few hits, but we all look so different now, we all are so different now.”

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 this gang from the front lines, just like always, not as a vigilante that fought the bad guys from the shadows, hiding from a government that had declared him the enemy.

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. As much as Katie loved the facial hair, Captain America didn’t have a beard, but still, she was going to kill him for this...

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.

“Captain America doesn’t have a beard…”

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 vest. 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. His hair was still longer though, despite the fact she had trimmed it for him a few days ago. He’d wanted to keep it slightly longer on top, pushed back off his face. To be honest she liked it like that, it reminded her of when they had first met. That said she’d also loved his spikey short do and his longer no-mad locks…frankly he was gorgeous either way.

"You know I really loved that beard," she sighed as she looked up at him “Can’t believe you murdered it…”

“Murdered it?” he 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 ridiculously 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. They both needed this, needed the contact, needed to fill that gaping hole and emptiness they had both been feeling for the past few weeks. Katie slid her hands down, tugging up his top briefly as he 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.” she whispered.

He 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 which was shaking and then the entire building started to rattle and they looked at each other in confusion.

"FRIDAY?" Katie called out.

"Something has entered the atmosphere Mrs Rogers" The AI responded calmly, "A vessel is being brought towards the facility.”

And then there was a banging on their door, but Rhodey didn’t wait for them to answer. Wrenching it open he ran into the living room calling their names. Katie shot out of the bathroom and into the hall, Steve hot on her tails, grabbing his sweater off the chair and pulling it over his head as he headed into the living room.

"It's Danvers.” Rhodey look at Katie who took a deep breath “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. She burst out onto the lawns, where Pepper was already waiting, staring up at the sky. Steve followed along with Natasha, Bruce and Rhodey, all of them coming to a stop and watching as 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!

At the same time Katie let out a soft cry, 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, looking at his brother-in-law, there was guilt and fear plaguing his face in a way that Steve had never seen before. In turn, Tony studied the man in front of him, scared to ask the next question.

“Yeah, is err…” Tony looked up and his eyes fell first on Katie then Pepper who, following a gently nudge in the back from Katie, took the last few steps towards him

"Oh my God!" Pepper exclaimed, looking him up and down quickly, seeing how sickly he looked. Tony visibly sighed when he saw her, feeling like he was seeing the sun for the first time as she gently pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arm around his neck to hold him close as she sobbed against his hollow cheek. Tony breathed deeply, shaking slightly as he pressed a firm kiss on her cheek.

Katie who was watching the reunion covered her mouth with her hands and found herself shaking as the tears fell thick and fast. Eventually Pepper pulled away slightly and Tony placed his arm round her shoulder as Steve supported him on his other side. A couple more strides and he was in front of his sister looking into those green eyes, eyes that belonged to their mother. It had been almost 2 years since he had seen her, and he could tell she was scared, frightened about what he was going to say. But he only had two words for her.

“Hey Kiddo”

The sound of his familiar greeting broke Katie 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.” she sobbed as he brought a hand up, resting it on the back of her head.

“I’m sorry too.” He said, his voice choking slightly “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.”

“Thank you Bruce.” Katie said, looking back through the window into the room. Tony had his head lay on the pillow, tilted in Pepper’s direction, a smile spreading across his face as they talked. 

“I’m gonna stay with him.” She said, looking back to Steve and then to Rhodey. “Can you make sure that Nebula and Carol get some food and a place to stay?”

“Course.” Rhodey said as Steve pressed a kiss to the side of her head 

“I’ll be back later to check on him.” Bruce nodded. 

Katie watched the three men leave before she walked 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?” he asked. She 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, her tears forming “There hasn’t been a day over the last twp years I haven’t thought about you.” “Same.I wanted to call so bad but…” He trailed off, his voice cracking. “Stubborn ass hole, remember.” “That’s the Starks for you.” She smiled.

“What I said to you, 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 said softly as she looked at her hands, the tears falling onto the sheets “I should have told you about mom and dad.”

“None of that matters now.” Tony shook his head, gently squeezing her hands.

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. 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?” he frowned.

“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 smiled sadly at him. “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 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.”

“Why do you think Steve grew a beard?” she looked up at him

“Spangles grew a beard? 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.” she 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…but…” “If anything changes I’ll get FRIDAY to call you straight away.” With a deep breath Katie stood up, 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 then they 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 3 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  jumped at the chance to get back into the thick of it, but now 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 ok. 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.” He took a deep breath, “It’s not important.” “It is to me.” she looked up at him. 

“I’ve got you.” he shrugged “And well, as long as I do I’ll be fine baby doll.” “You’ll always have me.” she said gently, and then neither of them knew how but they were kissing again, picking up where they had left off before in the bathroom, the kisses growing violent as they both poured every bit of emotion into one another, both clawing at the other with a desperate touch. Steve fell towards her, 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. At that noise Katie let out a high pitched moan of her own as his hands skimmed down to the back of her thighs 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 slipped one of his hands into her shorts 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 before his hand moved to the button at the front of her shorts and hers 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 she 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 go. Steve could read her body signs better than she could herself and as her breath began to go 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. 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 his back and into his hair to begin their usual caress, these moments after he loved 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 ok in time.

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[inadaydream99]

Just friends, or maybe more? (Part 5)

Game night.

Ateez (all members) x reader

Fluff

———————————————————————

Your shift at work is coming to an end, the long day at the cafe finally starting to quieten as customers become less frequent.

You didn’t mind your job, it was only to help pay rent while you were studying for your degree. But over the summer you took as many shifts as possible, leaving you tired of making coffee, even the smell by the end of the day started to make you feel a bit sick.

The bell chimes to alert you of people entering and you immediately look in the direction of the door. Your eyes curl up in the corners as you see Hongjoong and Yunho walk up to the counter.

“Hey guys, what can I get you?” You greet them cheerfully.

“Hey (Y/N), I’ll have a small iced Americano please.” Hongjoong asks and turns to look at Yunho after.

“And I’ll have a medium latte, thanks.” Yunho smiles at you. You start making their drinks after they pay as they continue to stand at the register.

“Mingi said he’s picking you up after work. Are you excited for game night.” Hongjoong smirks at you, a teasing look in his eye as he waits for your response.

“Yeah, I think it will be good. As long as it stays lighthearted and no one falls out.” You laugh and hand them their drinks.

“I think it will be a good chance for some things to be put out in their air, you know, find out some secrets.” Yunho adds. You suddenly feel a little bit like they have something planned, your mind going into overtime thinking of any secrets you might have that they don’t know about.

“Haha, yeah. We’ll see” you laugh uneasily.

“Don’t worry, Yunho is just teasing you. It’s just going to be good fun.” Hongjoong reassures seeing the slight worry on your face.

“We’ll see you later (Y/N), thanks for the coffee.” Yunho says as they both walk out of the cafe.

~~~~

A few hours later and you’re just about to leave the cafe. You enter the staff room and pick up your belongings. Checking your phone you see a text from Mingi saying he is parked opposite the cafe. You smile as you quickly reply to tell him you are on your way.

You open the passenger car door and slide into the seat, looking over at Mingi as he starts the engine and pulls away.

“How was work?” He questions as you drive through the busy streets of the city, his eyes trained on the road ahead.

“It was tedious and boring, same as always.” You reply with a giggle, “what have you been up to today?” You continue.

“I was in the studio this morning, and then I spent the afternoon sorting out the games for tonight with Yeosang and Seonghwa. I was in charge of forefits.” Mingi smiles devilishly and you burst into laughter at his expression.

“Should I be worried? Judging by how the pranks the other day went there’s a good chance tonight could end badly.” You joke as Mingi protests your response and pouts, his eyes not moving off the road as you turn into the street by the dorms and park up.

~~~~

You walk into the dorms to hear the sounds of cheering coming from the living room. Walking towards the sounds you turn the corner to find all the guys standing around Jongho who is braking multiple fruits (namely apples and a few melons) in half. You look up at Mingi who is standing next to you with an entertained expression and laugh at your friends.

Wooyoung turns around and beckons you over to join in, placing his arm over your shoulder as you stand to his side.

“(Y/N)! I missed you today!” Wooyoung shouts over the noise, you pinch his cheek and coo at him in response, which he playfully rolls his eyes at.

“Ok now that everyone is here, it’s time to let game night begin!” Seonghwa exclaims and everyone immediately sits on the floor in a very misshapen circle.

“The first game is a good old classic, truth or dare.” Hongjoong addresses everyone, some groaning in response at the cliche start to the evening.

“I’ll go first.” Mingi exclaimes, “Yunho truth or dare?” He asks with a mischievous grin.

“I’ll pick dare.” Yunho confidently responds, some oooh’s made at his pick.

“Ok, I dare you to suck on Yeosangs big toe!” Mingi challenges still with a mischievous grin.

Yunho get’s up and moves over to Yeosang, peeling off his sock and, without hesitation, takes Yeosang’s toe into his mouth, sucking it. Yeosang pulls a face of disgust as the dare plays out and everyone snickers at his response. Once Yunho releases his toe he stands up and goes into the kitchen. He walks back in a few seconds later with a glass of water and sits back down in his place.

~~~~

You had been playing truth or dare for about an hour and a half now and so far Hongjoong had to tell everyone his most embarrassing memory, Jongho had to down a drink made of every condiment found in the cupboard and Mingi was dared to strip down to his boxers and run along the busy street.

It was now Yunho’s turn to ask truth or dare, you felt particularly nervous as you and Seonghwa were the only people yet to be picked.

You felt your heart skip a beat as Yunho’s gaze fell onto you, a smirk on his lips as he asks you “truth or dare?”.

“I’ll go for a dare.” You nervously reply, glancing around at the guys looking for some reassurance. You didn’t want to pick a truth because you could be asked about the bet and you didn’t want to give anything away.

“I dare you to kiss the person you think is the most attractive.” Yunho says looking very pleased with himself. You gulp and start thinking about who you should pick. You really should have expected this, being the only girl and the guys always fighting to be the one you choose.

“It’s ok, it’s just a dare. We all understand that it doesn’t mean anything more than that so just go for it.” Mingi says as he places his hand on your shoulder to try and comfort you.

You lift your gaze from the floor and stand up, moving in the direction opposite you. Standing in front of the person you have picked you hold out your hand to signify for them to stand up.

San stands in front of you and you move to place your hands of his chest, his securing around your waist.

“Are you ok with this?” He asks, making sure you are comfortable with doing the dare. You can feel your heart race at his caring words. You make eye contact with him and nod your head as you begin to lean in closer. Your noses touch, lips so close you can feel his breath on your face but not quite enough to be touching just yet.

Your eyes flutter closed as your lips connect with San’s. The kiss is a little stiff at first but you soon relax as he takes the lead, his hands caressing your sides to soothe you. You move your hands up his chest to around his neck, brushing your fingers through his hair on the back of his head. Getting lost in the moment you almost forget that there are seven other people watching you both.

You pull away after what feels like an eternity, but in reality is only a few seconds, slightly breathless. You miss the feel of San’s soft lips against yours instantly.

The room is silent, everyone starring at the two of you who are standing in the middle of the circle, still in each other’s hold. San clears his throat before stepping away from you and sitting back down in his place. You feel slightly awkward, a deep blush covering your face as you start to turn around to sit back down.

Before you can though, a hand grabs yours and pulls you forward, your body almost falling into San’s as he pulls you into him. You sit to his left with his arm around your waist. His face holding a smug look.

“Ok, that was not what I was expecting. (Y/N), it’s your turn to ask truth of dare.” Yunho is the first to speak, turning to face you. He seems to be directing a look of intrigue towards you and you’re not sure if it is because he is interested in the game continuing or the fact that he thinks he is onto something between you and San.

“Umm Seonghwa, truth or dare.” You mutter still trying to process what has just happened.

“I think I’ll pick a truth, I don’t fancy anything like your dare.” Seonghwa jokes to try and make the atmosphere a little less heavy.

~~~~

After a few more rounds you all began to run out of questions to ask and dares to make each other do so you decided to play some card games.

You check the time on your phone to see that it’s already 1am. Everyone had just agreed to watch a film, being that the card games were over and no one wanted to play Wooyoung’s suggestion of twister.

“(Y/N) can I have a word with you quickly?” Jongho approaches you, a delicate smile on his face awaiting your response.

“Of course.” You reply sincerely and walk down the hall to Jongho’s bedroom. Once in his room, he sits on his bed while you sit on Mingi’s facing each other.

“I just wanted to ask what that dare was all about? I think everyone was a little taken back by how deep it was.” Jongho questions you.

“I don’t even know.” You sigh, running your hand through your hair. “I guess we just got caught up in the moment? It was a far better kiss than I expected it to be and in all fareness I was only planning on going in for a peck, San took control.” You explain, feeling even more perplexed than before.

“I just think maybe you should be aware that San could be messing with you to win the bet. You know how competitive he can get, and honestly, I’ve never seen him show any interest in you as more than a friend until this whole favourite thing came about.” Jongho warns you, trying to break his thoughts to you carefully in order to not hurt your feelings. You stay silent, trying to process everything that’s just been said.

“I’m not trying to upset you, I just care about you way too much to see your feelings get messed with over a stupid bet. I’m not saying that San is playing with you for sure, cause honestly I don’t know. It’s just what I’ve observed since Wednesday.” Jongho continues. For the youngest member of the group, he sure is mature.

“I appreciate you looking out for me, I think I’m going to maybe have a little chat with San to clear things up.” You finally answer, a lump forming in your throat from what you have just been told.

“I thinks it’s for the best. If you need to talk at any time I’m always here for you.” Jongho says as he brings you into a tight hug.

~~~~

You both walk back into the living room where everyone is settled on the sofas and sit down next to Mingi, cuddling up to his side and hiding your face in his chest. He rubs his hand up and down your back to comfort you.

“Are you ok?” Mingi leans down to whisper. You look up at him with watery eyes.

“I will be, I just need some cuddles with my best friend.” You meekly smile at him and bury your face back in his chest.

———————————————————————

A/N - do you think San is messing with (Y/N) in order to become her favourite and win the bet or are his feelings genuine? You will find out soon! 😁

Thank you for reading chapter 5. I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think is going to happen next I am intrigued 😁

Requests are open!

[love-and-monsters]

Necrovember: Living

A zombie runs from humans.

Content warning: Mentions of dismemberment and organ consumption.

It was somewhat ironic that a zombie was hiding from a horde of humans, but there he was. Crouched in the trash and waiting for them to pass him by.

He’d been exposed by one of his arms falling off at the elbow, which meant he was sans his left arm. Typically, that wouldn’t be a problem. He had access to the local morgue, both for limb replacement and the occasional snack. Unfortunately, it was accessing the morgue in the first place that had ended with half the hospital chasing him into an alley.

It was his fault, too. He knew that. He had gotten complacent. But it was so easy to get into the morgue! People usually weren’t terribly worried about someone stealing organs, and he was very careful to steal what wouldn’t be missed. Limbs were typically the hardest to replace, but by rotating between the morgue and the funeral home, he could usually find something.

The reason he’d gotten caught was simply because he wasn’t paying attention. He’d been hungry and not paying as much attention as he should to the noises in the hallway. The door abruptly banging open had startled him and he’d turned around to see what was going on. His arm had rather unfortunately caught on the metal table he’d been standing against and, given that his nerves were all somewhat shot by his reanimation, he hadn’t felt it until his arm popped off onto the floor.

Naturally, that had the unfortunate result of freaking out the mortician who had walked in, and seeing a heart surrounded by several jars of condiments had not helped. The fact that The Walking Dead had recently premiered another season had probably contributed to the mortician going terribly pale and screaming about a zombie.

He’d grabbed his arm and attempted to push past her, but her scream had attracted quite a lot of attention. Several nurses and doctors had filed out into the halls and all of them were quite startled to see a man sprinting around while carrying his own arm.

He wasn’t sure whether they had also figured out that he was a zombie or if they were just concerned about him needing some medical attention, but he wasn’t terribly eager to find out. He headed past them, using their surprise as a distraction. It worked for only a moment before they charged after him.

Somehow, he wasn’t entirely sure how, he managed to make it out of the hospital, but he lost his arm in the struggle. Unfortunately, he had not managed to lose his pursuers. With some weaving and ducking, he managed to get into an alley before they could see him and crouched down until they passed him by.

He sat in the alley until he was certain they had passed on by, then he got to his feet, grateful that his undead status prevented stiffness. Ah well. He’d find another arm, he supposed. At least they hadn’t gotten his head.

[underletter-anon]

How about a note from UF sans to an s/o who just got back from a long business trip? Maybe what he's been up to and how much he missed them. 💙

A business trip to Venice, of all places. ...lucky, right? By the time it's over, you've concluded two things- one? People who enjoy business trips probably don't spend the entire time either doing business, or getting lost on the way to said business, and showing up late and getting reamed out for not taking it seriously. Fun.

Two, you may never leave home, or bonefriend again if you can avoid it. You'd known full well you'd miss the guy, but you had no idea how much you'd miss the little everyday ways that the gruff, sweet skeleton had integrated himself into your daily routine. You must have caught yourself starting to say something to him a dozen different times- the responding silence of your hotel room, achingly lonely.Needless to say, you were happy to be home, and eager to see your mate again. You were even prepared for the mess you knew would greet you- but coming home to a spotless house, you were not prepared for. You felt your stomach drop, and your suitcase fell from your hand forgotten as you ran inside, certain something terrible must have happened. You'd been gone for three days after all, there was no way Sans could have kept the house this clean for so long!

You were terrified you were going to run right into a pile of his dust. Instead you almost tripped over him. ...it's only as you stare at him, just lying there in the hall, passed out, covered in stains, and snoring, that you remember you'd talked to him only an hour before. Oh. Unwilling to wake him, you sigh, just glad he's okay, and carry him to bed- where you find flowers, and a note, on your nightstand.'sweetheart, i swear, ya got no idea how much i missed ya. been goin' outta my damn damn mind, day in, day out, not a damn thing ta take my mind off a ya bein'- wherever the hell that place is. ah, i don't even care, all that matters is you wasn't here. i get up, ya ain't made coffee. i grab donuts from muffet's, ya ain't here ta eat the ones i brought ya, 'cause i fergot that yer halfway around the whatever. i try ta ask ya where they sell boss's damn boot polish, and ya ain't here ta ask. i mean sure, I can jes call ya, but what if yer in a meeting? nah, i get ta ask fuckin' undyne, 'cause i sure as hell ain't telling boss i fergot. ...manage ta fergit ya ain't here long enough to find some damn video that makes me laugh my ass off, and i tell ya ta come see, but naw, ya ain't here.'

'...i ain't been able ta get ya off my mind since ya left. i can't stand not havin' my beautiful doll around fer three whole goddamn days. no way i deserve ya sweetheart, i ain't stupid, an' having ya gone so long? i just uh, i feel like yer gonna figure that out too, ya know? jes, find someone better fer ya, an' stay gone, or sumthin. maybe some tall classy dude that don't drink condiments, and bothers ta keep his damn socks off the floor, ya know?'

'so i uh, cleaned up a bit. probly kinda half assed, i dunno. jes figured the least i could do was give ya sumthin ta come home ta that didn't make ya wanna jes turn around and leave again. -stars, i love ya sweetheart. i love ya so much. don' ever leave me far that long again, i'm fuckin' begging ya. please.' -(uf!) sans.

...he just has no idea. You crawl into bed with him, put your arms around your skeleton love, and close your eyes, trying to convince yourself for just a little while that you'll never have to let go again.