#they saw hawkeye nearly kill hawkeye however hawkeye ended up getting away. now for the weather

[rosaacicularis]

hero/villain au where both grian and scar are named hawkeye. scar because he has a bow and arrow, and grian because he has hawk wings

[dameafterdark]

Fanning the Flames [Roy Mustang x Black Femme Reader]

CW: workplace sex, oral sex, vaginal penetration, blow job, body worship, pubic hair, making out, light femdom, tickling, enthusiastic consent, boss/employee relationship, semi-public sex, porn with plot, BBW reader

WARNING! The contents of this fic are NSFW! Read at your own risk!

word count: 5769

summary: After transferring to Central Command, you’re determined not to let a certain smooth-talking colonel distract you from your job duties.

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You never could have imagined meeting a man like him when you walked through the doors of Central Command. But then again, trivial things like infatuation and love making were the last thing on your mind. Bright eyed and eager to impress, what mattered most to you were your ambitions. You didn’t have time to fool around with romance; a cushy job in Central was everything you could have hoped for as a fairly new recruit. And besides, the higher ups didn’t look too kindly upon fraternizing. 

You had heard of the twenty-something aspiring general long before you sent in your letter of acceptance, but didn't think much of him. You learned long ago not to get involved with military gossip, especially the kind that involved sleazeballs like him. You know, the type of man that flirted with anything on two legs with a pretty face. You barely liked guys on a good day, so you were certain you’d have no trouble rejecting his advances. Lay low and work hard was the motto you repeated to yourself every morning as you ironed your uniform.

Unfortunately, your name was on everyone’s lips before you had the chance to introduce yourself. It couldn’t have been avoided, and you were naive to think it could. Being the only non-native Amestrian in the Central forces was mostly to blame, but you figured your looks also had something to do with your sudden popularity. After all, you were below average height, and your round curves rivaled the thin waifish figures of most Amestrian women. It definitely wasn’t the “ideal” body of a soldier, but that never stopped you in the past. Your brown skin, head full of tight curls, and full lips were impossible for others to ignore. You demanded attention whenever you entered a room, whether you wanted it or not. 

And as soon as the two of you made acquaintances, you knew something was bound to happen eventually.

From the moment he uttered that first sultry “Hello” and took your gloved hand in his, kissing the back of it like he was some sort of prince out of a fairy tale, your heart decided on its feelings faster than your brain could process. He pushed the knife in deeper with a little coy smirk that made your breath hitch and your stomach tighten.

“(Y/N), at your service,” you stated, doing your best to hide the tremor in your voice. “It’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Colonel Mustang.”

“Please,” he said as he let go of your hand, his eyes never leaving your own. “Call me Roy.”

Those four little words sparked the first ember, and from then on you walked with fire in your chest and heat pressed against your cheeks. And no matter how often you dampened those flames, they always reignited into an inferno.

You weren't the one to give into your primal urges, though. You were a professional, for God’s sake, and after clawing your way up through the ranks you’d be damned to throw away years of hard work for a pair of bedroom eyes. Especially when so many others only saw your job offer as an Affirmative Action-esque handout. 

It’s not worth it, you’d mumble under your breath while sorting through piles of paperwork, doing your best to avoid meeting the colonel’s gaze as he sat across the room from you. Knowing what might transpire if you did. For weeks you daydreamed about making that connection with those steely grey eyes that followed your shapely figure wherever you walked, most likely imagining what was underneath. Truthfully, you wanted him to want you. You desired to be desired by the man that tossed out flirtatious remarks right after another, remarks you pretended to hate yet secretly made you giddy. Steely eyed with a boyish charm, he was 100% your type. And you had no idea what to do about it.

At first, you resisted him under the pretense of “work professionalism” and your “commitment to duty”. Sure, you'd play with him a little every now and then just to watch him squirm. Pursing your lips in the shape of a kiss whenever you caught him staring, bending over with the right side showing after “accidentally” dropping something in front of him, giving him a peek at the black skin tight crop top you wore in lieu of a bra whenever you stretched your arms. 

And he'd respond by taking every opportunity to get close to you. Like placing a hand on your waist whenever he moved past you and letting it linger a few seconds longer than it should have, or coming up behind you to whisper something in your ear until goosebumps lined your spine. 

“Your uniform is looking pristine today, (Y/N),” he complimented you one day after you dropped off another pile of urgent documents on his desk. “But I know something that will look better on you.”

You rolled your eyes in response, but decided to humor him.

“And what would that be, sir?”

“Me.”

You couldn’t help but laugh as you made your leave. Sure, it was predictable, but it was earnest, and the more desperate he got the more it amused you. 

It was all in good fun, at least in the beginning. But after the first couple months, you could sense his growing agitation as each day passed. His movements became strained, his eyes hungrier, his muscles more tense. One day, as you sat at the edge of his desk with your ass just inches away from his hand, you could visibly see him clench his fist as if fighting against an insatiable urge. The sight gave you a rush of power unlike any other.

By the end of your three month mark, the entire department was making bets on when the two of you would finally hook up. Which became a nuisance in the eyes of one person in particular.

That’s right, it wasn’t just your position you had to worry about. Although most of the other military members were quite welcoming to you on that first day, First Lieutenant Hawkeye was the exception. She gave meaning to the phrase “if looks could kill”. Sure, you pretended not to notice the daggers she shot in your direction every time you dared to banter with the roguishly handsome colonel, but that didn’t make it any less intimidating. However, you were no stranger to workplace rivalry, especially in the military. No blondie was going to run you out, not after you worked your ass off to get there.

All of your resolve, however, was put to the test one fateful Friday evening.

Central Command was nearly empty. The rest of the officers had gone home for the day (or were sent home, in Hawkeye’s case, but you didn’t find that out until much later). Apart from a few stragglers hanging around in the hallways, you were pretty much the only one left… apart from him, of course. You’d only been there for a few months, so you had taken every opportunity to build your reputation as a workaholic, refusing to go home unless ordered to. You were hoping it would show your diligence and dedication to the right people. You could practically taste the promotion, you just had to hang in there a little longer. If you could resist the colonel for another few months, you’d be a shoe in. You just knew it.

You headed towards his office to drop off one last pile of paperwork. One he was certain to ignore until the following week, but at least it would’ve been out of your hands and his responsibility. You gave the door a quiet, yet firm knock with the back of your knuckles and waited for permission to enter.

“Come in,” he crooned, his voice sounding more alluring than authoritative. 

You opened the door slowly, clutching the thick pile against your chest before heading inside. When it closed behind you, you clicked your ankles together and gave your colonel a firm salute.

“At ease,” He said off-handedly, placing the file he had in hand onto his desk. You heard him crunching on something, most likely one of those peppermints he always kept by the phone. He focused his rigid eyes onto you, clasping his hands together to form a small tent for his chin to rest on. 

“The paperwork you requested, sir,” You gave a staunch reply, hoping to hide the nervous butterflies that suddenly began to flutter about in your belly. Ah, what was it about that look in his eye that made you feel so skittish? It wasn’t so intimidating when there were people around, but now that you were finally alone...

“I told you, there’s no need for these formalities when it’s just the two of us.”

“With all due respect, this was how I was trained. Sir,” You put extra emphasis on that last title and flashed him a cheeky grin, knowing how much he loved hearing you call him that. It did something to you, seeing his breath hitch and his grip tighten. If he was attempting to hide his arousal, he was doing a pretty shoddy job.

“Were you also trained to put in 12 hour days without clearance?”

Welp. He got you there. So much for all that overtime pay. Not like it would've been approved by HR, anyway.

“...No, sir. But you asked to have these forms done by the end of the week, and I promised to follow through.”

The colonel raised an eyebrow in amusement, not bothering to show restraint as he looked you up and down. The way his eyes were devouring you was enough to make you question all your morals.

“Or maybe you were just looking for an excuse to get me alone.”

You felt your face heat up at his comment, which only got worse when he flashed that usual shit eating grin of his.

“And what if I was?”

“Then I’d forbid you from working so hard and offer to take you out instead.”

You blinked a few times in disbelief, unsure how to interpret his words.

“...What?”

“You’re still pretty new to Central, aren’t you? You’ve been working so much, I doubt you’ve gotten the chance to really explore the city. I could be your tour guide.”

“Are you…?”

“Asking you out? Affirmative.”

Your lips parted in shock, then formed into a grin as the corners of your lips crept up.

“Isn’t that a bit inappropriate, colonel?”

“It could be. But only if you wanted that.”

“Sir.”

“Please, (Y/N), I said call me Roy. We’re close enough now, aren’t we?”

“...Roy,” his first name was unfamiliar on your tongue, yet rolled off like smooth silk. It felt odd to call your superior out of his title, but you’d be lying if you said it didn’t excite you.

“Yes?”

“Your offer is tempting, but I’ll have to decline. I can’t risk losing my position.”

“Who has to know?”

“People talk, you know.”

“Then let's give them something to talk about.”

It was corny, but genuine. You could tell he was really trying, perhaps as an attempt to live up to his womanizer reputation. It made you wonder if that was all an act.

“What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Why don’t you come here and find out.”

Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t have hesitated to obey a command from your superior. But hearing him toss aside the suggestive comments for a more direct method of flirting had taken your head for a spin. After months of playful teasing that usually led to nowhere, you suddenly found yourself on a direct course to somewhere. 

It was foolish to fall for a man like him, but there wasn’t a single thing stopping you from taking the plunge. You were about to dive in headfirst without bothering to take a breath.

“Alright, then. I guess I’ll have to come to you.”

He stood up abruptly, pushing his chair back so he could come round the desk and make his way towards you. Your heartbeat steadily increased the closer he got, pounding against your rib cage until it felt like you’d explode. In just a few short seconds, the colonel’s face was inches away from your own and you could practically smell the peppermint candy he had been sucking on just moments ago. You didn’t realize that you’d backed up against the wall until his right arm was suddenly beside your head. He leaned in close until you could smell of his expensive cologne wafting in the air. It reminded you of your dad’s aftershave, with hints of sandalwood and bergamot. 

You’d never been so close to the colonel before and hadn’t realized how much height he had on you. He wasn’t anywhere close to being six feet, but you had always been on the shorter side, and the confidence oozing from his aura was making you feel three inches tall.

“(Y/N),” he said with a stern tone. “I’m going to ask you something, and I need you to give me your honest answer.”

“Sure.”

“That’s an order.”

“... Yes, sir.”

He took a deep breath, his eyes boring holes into you as you waited with stalled breath for him to go on. A few moments passed; you noticed part of his face twitch before he took a big gulp.

Was Roy Mustang… nervous?

“Do you…” He finally spit out after several long seconds. “Do you… want this to go any further?”

You stood there quietly for a moment, wondering if you’d do permanent damage to his ego if you toyed with him any longer. You decided on a mix of genuine honesty and playful taunting, just to keep him on his toes.

“What kind of woman do you take me for, Roy?” you teased, crossing your arms while donning an amused smirk.

“A phenomenal one,” he half-whispered. “One I’d be honored to know more intimately.”

“And once you’ve known me?” you said, meeting his famished gaze. “What will happen?”

“Whatever you want. I could give you space. I could never give you space again. It’s your choice.”

“My superior has handed me the reins,” you goaded gleefully. “What will our colleagues think when they hear of this?”

“I’m serious, (Y/N),” he growled with an unfamiliar sense of urgency. “If you want this… whatever this is, to end here, just say the word and I’ll obey without question. This will never happen again, and everything will go back to the way it was.”

You fell silent, your smile fading away as the conversation began to fall out of your favor.

“But,” he continued, letting out a sharp exhale. “...If you’ll have me. We could m-”

You silenced him with a kiss on the lips, one that left him red faced and dazed. It was a risky move, but one you were more than willing to take. You pulled away after a few seconds and held back a chuckle when you saw his shocked expression; certainly, those long months spent building up tension had paid off. Armed with a silver tongued response, you let your words sink into him like teeth in supple skin. You leaned in close until your breath wisped across his ear.

“Does that answer your question?”

He stared at you with wide eyes and mouth agape for a few moments before pulling you into his embrace once more, kissing you deeply.

His kiss was ravenous, but his hands rivaled that hunger, taking in palmfuls of you as much as he could with all those layers of uniform covering your body. You felt his tongue against your own and relished the sweet peppermint flavor while strong hands slid under the fabric of your outerwear, causing your back to arch further into his grasp. You felt his hands on your back and then again on your hips, groping every curve until his appetite was satiated.

Desperate to get closer, he suddenly pushed you against the wall and grabbed the backs of your thighs as he prepared to lift you up. You let out a tiny yelp a little too late, a weak attempt to warn him of your weight, but your words failed to reach his ears and soon you found yourself in the arms of the Flame Alchemist. Your legs instinctively wrapped around his waist as his hands rested comfortably on your ass, cradling each cheek in his wide palms. You looked down, realizing that your concern for his strength was unfounded. It was as if he was carrying a basket of feathers; there wasn’t any sign of strain to be found in his expression. Your anxiety returned to passion while your hands found their way into the jet black fields of his hair. You found yourself grabbing fistfuls of it as you kissed him deeper and deeper, smiling against his lips every time he moaned from the action. 

Abruptly, he pulled away, eyes soft with desire and longing. You opened your mouth to speak, but he silenced you with another wet kiss before carrying you towards the burgundy couch on the other side of the room.

He laid you down carefully on the velvet cushions, as if you were made of delicate porcelain. Your uniform was already in shambles; the hem of your top coat had ridden up, exposing your disheveled black undershirt and your lack of a bra, and your outer apron was practically on backwards. He took in the sight for a moment; his eyes lost in a lustful haze before finally doing something about it. He dug his fingers under the waistband of your pants in search of the buckle, causing you to let out a surprised squeal right before bursting into giggles. 

“Stahahap!” You weakly batted his hands away. “It tickles!”

You were doomed as soon as the words escaped your lips. With the narrowing of his eyes and a mischievous grin, he placed his fingers in the same spot you just pushed him away from and dug into your belly with a gentle, yet maddening touch.

“Ticklish?” He asked, already knowing the answer. You would’ve spat back a retort had you not been laughing so hard. Feeling him wriggle around in such a sensitive area was more than you could handle at the moment.

“Aaaaah! Roy!! Nooohoho!”

“Ah, now she calls me Roy. Who knew all I had to do to get you to obey me was to tickle you.”

“Nonononono- AAAH!”

Your little outburst was due to him raking his nails down the length of your now-exposed sides, which made you arch your back and push yourself further into his grasp once again. He quit the unbearable wriggling, trading them for soft and gentle strokes, but even those were enough to make you squirm. Your laughs quieted down to muted giggles, ones you tried to mask by covering your mouth with both hands. He took care of that swiftly, taking both wrists into one of his big hands and pinning them above your head. You could feel the heat radiating from his palm, and it made you sweat even more.

“There will be none of that,” He said with an amused smile, looking you up and down as you laid there at his total mercy. Heat crept up your neck and into your cheeks, and you quietly thanked whatever deity was out there for giving you so much melanin.

“Aaahaha… pleeease…” You half-heartedly begged, not for his hands to leave your skin but to continue touching the rest of you.

His free hand trailed up your side, purposefully tickling your bronze skin every inch of the way up until it reached your chest. Now only protected by a thin layer of dark cotton, he began to caress one of your budding nipples as it poked through the fabric of your undershirt. You let out a small moan, unable to hold yourself back. He gave the same attention to your other nipple, flicking the swollen tip until you began to whine. The gentle stimulation was enough to drive you wild, despite the fact that he had barely touched you.

“Why don’t we remove this troublesome uniform so I can find your other sensitive spots?” He cooed, eager to continue his exploration of your body. He released your wrists momentarily and waited for you to undress. You rolled your eyes but obliged, pulling off your unbuttoned top coat and white gloves while he got to work on his own clothes. You scoffed at him as he fumbled around with his own gloves and pants; you assumed the colonel would be a pro by now, with all the “experience” he bragged about having with the ladies, but seeing him awkwardly stumble around like a preteen about to lose his virginity was enough to make you laugh out loud. He put an end to it quickly, however, with another scurry of fingers up your sides. You shrieked again, curling up into yourself to get away from those torturous touches.

“How dare you mock your superior,” he joked, finally managing to undo his belt buckle. His pants slid off unceremoniously; he kicked them across the room and flinched when they landed on an expensive vase, subsequently knocking it over and shattering into pieces. You covered your mouth again, failing to hide another laugh. However, one look at his dejected expression made you regret poking fun at him.

“This is not exactly how I imagined this going,” He mumbled, furrowing his brows in frustration. 

“It’s alright. It’s cute.”

“How dare you call your superior officer cute. I should punish you for that.”

“You’re such a big baby. Stop whining and touch me already.”

“Look who’s giving orders now.”

“Shut up and do as you’re told.”

“As you wish, ma’am,” he teased as he leaned forward, pulling your pants down your thick legs and tossing them aside, this time with a bit more care so as not to break any other valuables in the room. All that was left were your black lace panties and matching undershirt.

He unbuttoned his top coat, removed his white undershirt, and placed both of them on the floor beside the couch, and finally it was your turn to admire his form. You knew the Flame Alchemist was strong after fighting in two different wars, but you had never gotten the chance to see his body in its full glory without the layers of his uniform hiding it away. The muscles in his arms bulged with every movement, complemented by thick veins that ran from the back of his hands to his forearms. He must have been committed to his core workouts as well; he had a well defined six pack that rose and fell with each haggard breath he took. It was enough to make you go feral. You couldn’t stop yourself from reaching out to caress his milky pale skin, which flinched at the sudden contact. It was warm beneath your fingertips, and after a taste you wanted more.

It would have to wait, though, for he was a gentleman and wouldn’t dare come before his lady. 

He crouched down and planted a gentle kiss on your stomach as he began his worship of you. Your skin quivered from the tender gesture and you struggled to hold back another tittered reaction for fear of ruining the moment. Biting your lip failed to stifle the giggles bubbling in your throat as he kissed, licked, and sucked every inch of your exposed belly. He flittered his lips along your sides, moving from waist to navel until his tongue dipped into your belly button. Each subtle movement sent electric currents throughout your body, filling you with pleasure as he adored every centimeter of your seldom touched skin.

Moving downwards, his lips grazed your thigh crease as they continued their descent, but when he went to spread your legs you grabbed his shoulders to stop him. He looked up, brows furrowed with worry at your tense expression.

“Wait,” you said as insecurity overcame you. “I don’t… like how I look down there.”

He said nothing, his gaze returning to the empty space between your thighs that he planned to fill himself. He rubbed the tops of your legs with the lightest pressure, making you writhe in place. He looked up at you again with puppy dog eyes, begging for you to let him in.

“May I?”

You hesitated, but nodded in response. He slowly pushed your legs apart, and suddenly you felt more exposed than ever before. The scars that dotted your pantyline were front and center, the ugly browns and bumpy red ridges garnering all the attention from your colonel. Your pubic hair was wild and unkempt, so much that he’d have to sift through the strands like a man on a safari. Surely, seeing these scars, along with the state of your pubic hair, had turned him off completely.

“It’s just… been a while,” you continued your lament. “A long while.”

Still saying nothing, he leaned forward and surprised you with more gentle pecks directly on the scarred skin you had spent years hiding away from the light. He added his tongue, pulling your thin lace panties to the side and carefully spreading your lips so he could begin to feast. That first lick sent your mind soaring to the heavens, causing your hands to clutch the stiff fabric of the couch for leverage. The space between your legs increased as you opened yourself to him, allowing him access to your seldom shared treasure. Your insecurities quickly faded into nothing, and you surrendered to him body and mind.

Admittedly, it took awhile for you to cum. Longer than you wished. But he was dedicated to your pleasure, keeping his face planted between your thighs through every guttural moan or sudden thrash. You made sure to let him know he was doing the job well, your moans growing louder whenever he licked your clit in just the right way. Alternating between sucking and flicking, he finally found the rhythm that suited you best after several long minutes of trial and error. He kept going, refusing to change his pattern until he heard those magic words.

“I’m gonna come,” you cry out in a breathy voice. “I’m gonna come I’m gonna come I’m gonna-”

An explosion of stars in your peripheral, plus the involuntary curling of your toes, told him all he needed to know. Waves of pleasure washed over your body as your mind went fuzzy, like television screens after a long day’s broadcast. Your chest rose and fell in rapid succession, and upon opening your eyes you were greeted by a victorious smirk from your baby-faced superior. He leaned his cheek against your thigh, lazily kissing along your path of scars until he reached your knees.

“You’re amazing,” he uttered in between smooches. His fingers traced constellations in your skin, making you flinch now and then from the ticklish sensations. You tried to grab his hands, but he was faster, and made sure to take advantage of your vulnerability and increased sensitivity by tickling your hips until you screamed.

“And you’re a menace!” You cried out, playfully slapping his cheeks while he laughed at your expense. 

Once you regained logical thought, you pushed yourself up and faced your superior officer head on. He had given you a taste of pleasure, but you craved more. You wanted him inside you, and you wanted him your way. It was time for Roy Mustang to take orders.

“Lay down,” You commanded, a sudden authoritativeness washing over you. Roy seemed just as shocked as you, but followed your command willingly. He laid back on the couch across strewn cushions and scattered pillows, allowing you to take full reign over him. He wasn't moving fast enough to your liking, so you pushed him down and wrapped your hand around his throat with enough pressure to hold him in place without affecting his breathing. You kept your thumb and forefinger in the shape of a V, careful not to press down too hard too quickly. Your fingers rested comfortably on the sides of his neck as he looked at you with eyes full of affection.

“(Y/N), I never took you as an aggressive one,” He teased, showing no signs of fighting back.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Roy,” you ran your thumb over his bottom lip and caressed his freshly shaven face as he watched you, holding back from acting on his arousal.

“Well, I’d certainly love to find out.”

You released him from your grasp and carefully stood up on the unstable cushions, lifting your undershirt over your head and sliding your panties down until you were stark naked. Stark naked, in front of your superior officer, who was gaping at you like he’d just discovered the eighth wonder of the world. You crawled on top of him, seizing the waistband of his own briefs before yanking them off unceremoniously. They were discarded next to the couch with the rest of the wrinkled pieces of your uniforms.

Finally, you saw his member in all its glory. It was pale, with a hint of rosy hue, and exactly the right shape for your preferences. If you had to guess, it was at least 8 inches erect. He’d teased you with his dickprint for those long months, aware of how its size and girth demanded your attention every time you were lucky enough to sit next to him in a meeting. How long had you yearned to feel it for yourself?

You took his rock hard penis into your hand, gathering all of the saliva in your mouth before taking it in. You licked the tip with a flicker of your tongue, smiling to yourself when you saw him writhe where he laid. You wrapped your mouth around him as he cried out in pleasure, finally giving him the relief he desired. Your head began to bob up and down as your tongue licked the entirety of his member. You felt it twitch in your mouth every so often as he began to pulsate, grunting every time the tip hit the back of your throat. You suppressed the urge to gag, slowing down whenever that sick feeling arose, then returned to the same deliberate rhythm when the feeling passed. You could tell the ebb and flow was driving him mad. It was time to give him more.

“Do you have a condom?” You asked, ready to go all the way.

He nodded, reaching over the side of the couch in search of his pants. He fumbled around for a bit, letting out a frustrated curse every once in a while before he found what he was looking for. He ripped off the plastic wrapping and pinched the tip as he slid it down over his painfully erect penis.

When he was ready, you climbed on top and spread your legs.

“Do you want me?” you said, pressing the tip of his head into your vagina. He let out a groan and pushed his hips upward, desperate to get deeper inside of you.

“Yes,” he murmured.

“How badly do you want me?”

“I want you so bad,” his pleas became more urgent, almost turning to whimpers. “Please, let me feel you.”

You obliged, taking him into you. You were still quite wet from his masterful oral skills, so his member slid inside easily without much discomfort. The cry of pleasure that came from him almost caused you to stop in place. You lifted yourself up, then back down again, your cheeks making a smacking sound as they slammed against his thighs.

“Fuck,” he sighed with eyes closed, grunting with every long stroke. “You feel so good.”

You silently agree as your body rises and falls in a steady pattern. He feels so good, so unbelievably good inside you, and all you wanted in that moment was to make him feel as good as you did. You bounced around, testing out different angles to see which gave the best reactions, then settled on one and sped up your strokes.

“Tell me you love it,” you demanded, dripping with sweat, seeking affirmation of a job well done. 

“I love it. I need it. Please, give me more.”

You could feel him getting close. He squeezed his eyes shut, clutching your hips for dear life as you rode him into dawn and let out more than a few moans of your own.

Finally, he reached his peak. You could feel his warm cum bursting inside you, protected only by the thin lubricated condom. You sat there for some time, delighting in the random pumps and twitches as he continued to burst inside you. 

Exhaustion finally hit, and when he pulled you into an embrace you didn’t bother protesting. The two of you laid there for however long, lost in a world of ecstasy. One hand was wrapped around your shoulder while the other stroked your wild curls. You closed your eyes and melted into him, making sure to enjoy the moment as much as possible before it was over.

“Roy,” you spoke up after a long bout of silence. “What happens now?”

He didn’t answer for a moment, continuing to caress your frazzled curls and rubbing the back of your neck every now and then. Seemingly lost in thought.

“I told you,” he spoke up after some time. “You call the shots.”

You clenched your fist as it rested against his chest. You could feel his heart beating rapidly, unwilling to let the excitement go.

“I want more of this. I want more of you.”

He responded by cupping your cheek in one hand, pulling it towards his own face so he could address you properly. For once, you felt shy as you made eye contact with your colonel.

“What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Uh, nothing. I have to tend to my garden, but that won’t take long.”

“Let’s do dinner at 7. Then I’ll tend to your garden afterward.”

He was truly something else. You scoffed at his ridiculous innuendo, gently backhanding him for daring to be so cheesy at such a time. He simply smiled back, pulling you in closer so he could kiss you again, and again, and again.

Work, promotions, envious colleagues… all of that could wait. Right now, you had everything you wanted. You’d figure the rest out later.

After all, you were a phenomenal woman. 

[hrtthrbromanov]

Hi! Hope your having a great week! Anyway can I request an idea where reader is a new avenger recruit that comes off as shy and gets teased cause they don’t know why she made the cut? But someone on the team took something that belongs to her and that’s why she was picked... her temper is awful. She ends up stabbing the person without a second thought. But she’s super sweet yet a psycho.

A/N: Thanks so much for the request, babes! I hope this is what you’re looking for. I had fun writing this! 

Summary: You’re a new recruit for the avengers, and although you’re shy, you’ve sure got a temper. What happens when someone takes something that belongs to you?

Warnings: Language, asshole Bucky and Clint

................................................................................................................................

You couldn’t believe it. You were standing in front of your heroes. Well, basically everyone's heroes, but that's besides the point. You’d finally made it. Avengers recruitment, what could really make or break the rest of your life. No biggie. 

You were all broken off into groups, some with the Black Widow, some with the Captain America, but you were in the group with leaders Winter Soldier and Hawkeye, or, as they insisted you called them, Bucky and Clint. An odd pairing, sure, but the two both had the same poor, rather sad, attention span. 

You were standoffish, choosing to watch and practice alone, in the back. You didn’t like standing out, even though you knew that's what they were looking for. 

Toying with a bracelet around your arm, you slid it off, twirling it between your fingers. You nearly jumped out of your skin when you felt a hand being placed on your shoulder, and a shadow appear in front of you. 

“Whatcha got there, dollface?” 

It was the Winter Soldier- Bucky. Your heart nearly leaped out of your chest as you wracked your brain for an answer. Was there a wrong one? Is this a test? 

“Uh. Bracelet.” 

“Oh, this old thing?” It was Clint this time that spoke, grabbing the bracelet from your hands. You reached for it timidly, but he held it just out of reach. 

“H-hey! Give that back.” 

“Ruh-Roh, someone’s getting mad, huh? Buck, catch.” Clint threw it over to Bucky, who then proceeded to hold it over your head, making you jump for it like a fool. 

Unbeknownst to you, the one and only Captain America had been watching this whole thing unfold, completely abandoning his group. 

This went on for a little bit, the back and forth. You could feel yourself getting angrier and angrier, but before you could pounce, Steve called for wrap up. 

“Whoops, looks like it’s time to go. You mind if I hang on to this?” Clint said, a snarky tone in his voice. The two boys laughed as they made their way to the next room of recruitments. You stomped your foot angrily, steam pretty much coming out of your ears as you glared at anyone and everyone. 

“Hey, calm down. It was just a bracelet. I’d be honored to have my bracelet taken from them.” It was another recruit, having to put their two cents Into your business. 

“If you do not shut the fuck up, you’ll be my new bracelet when I shove my hand up your ass.” That seemed to scare them away, as they backed up slowly, hands raised in defense. 

You began to pack your stuff like everyone else, just ready to go home and blow off some steam. Slinging your bag over your shoulder, you made your way to the door. Before you made it outside, however, a voice called you back. 

“Y/N? Can I speak to you for a second?” 

It was Steve Rogers himself. What would he want with you? Nevertheless you made your way over to him, as he watched the last few people trail out of the gym, he forced a smile, resting his hand on your back. 

“Welcome to the team, kid.” 

____________________________________________

“And this is the kitchen. We spend a lot of time here.” 

You chuckled quietly, running your fingers lightly over the kitchen counter. You were in awe the entire tour, pretty much still in shock from when you were told you had made it in. Steve had been very warm and welcoming, and so had the others you had come across while getting the grand tour. 

You hung on to every word Steve had told you, anxiously awaiting the next move. You were the quiet type, which he had pointed out many times already, but you were a firecracker. It didn’t take much to set you off, which is why you were so ready to get onto the field. However, he told you that might not be for a while.

Just as you were about to head back to your room to do a little victory dance, the team entered the kitchen, apparently getting a pre-debriefing snack. You could feel your heart pick up and your hands start to sweat as they all filed in, and you smiled. Your smile dropped, though, when you saw the two dicks who took your bracelet. 

“Hey, recruit. You okay? You look like you saw someone kick your puppy.” It was Natasha, and you quickly wiped the steamy look off your face and turned to her, nodding bashfully. 

“Y-yeah. Just still in awe, that's all.” Your voice came out a squeak, and you went to go toy with your bracelet, a nervous habit of yours, only to be reminded that it wasn’t there. You sighed and moved to the back of the room, away from everyone. 

You thought you were safe, and that they’d all be leaving soon, so you try to sneak out the door unnoticed, but you should’ve known that wasn’t possible with literal super humans. 

“And where do you think you’re going, your shyness?” Tony spoke up, making the rest turn to look at you. 

“That was a good one.” Came from somewhere in the room, to which Tony shot them a glare and a shake of the head, clearly telling them that they were ruining his creative sparks. 

“Me? Oh, I was just, uh..”

“Go on. Spit it out, doll.” It was him. Bucky. And right now, he was on your shit list, along with Clint. You shot him a dirty look, before letting out a sigh and a forced smile. 

“Just to my room, is all.” 

“Oh, come on. You don’t want to sit and talk with us? That hurts my feelings.” Clint replied, a fake pout on his face. 

You really didn’t know what to say, you were under the gaze of the most famous superheroes in the world. You just stood there, face heating up as you slowly stepped backwards. 

“Come on guys, she’s shy. Cut her some slack. She’s probably gonna go over analyze why she got in in the first place.” Your eyes cut over to Sam, and before you could defend yourself, they all started in on you. 

“You know, why did you get picked?”

“I don’t really know..” Your voice came out quiet hush, and you didn’t think anyone heard you, until Steve came to your side. 

“Alright, cut it out. Lets let her get settled before we start giving her a hard time, yeah?” “Oh, don’t be all soft, Steve. She’s fine. You're just a lady kiss ass.”

They all began to gang up on him instead of you, and while you felt bad, you were also relieved. He shooed them off as they were all called into the debriefing, and they made their way out, but two strayed from the pack, and you huffed. 

“What do you want?”

“Oh, come on, sweetheart. I think we all know why you’re here.” Bucky held up your bracelet, “Poor little girl, too shy to stick up for herself.”

“Give it back, Bucky.” You clenched your fist at your sides, and they both chuckled at the sight. “Why? What’re you gonna do? Hit me?”

You could feel the anger bubbling inside of you, the instantaneous need to just break something in half. Without thinking you walked over to the kitchen island, grabbing a knife out of its holder. You pointed it toward the two men, waving it around.

“Is this what you want? For me to prove myself or something? Fine!”

Your next move wasn’t very well thought out, as you jammed the knife into Clint's thigh. You rolled your eyes as he let out a scream, and Bucky dropped the bracelet in shock. 

“She just fucking stabbed me, dude! Oh, my god. We have to get out of here before she kills us.”

Clint hobbled over to the door, and you gave Bucky a pointed look, causing him to gulp and chase after his injured friend.

“She's crazy, dude. Fucking psycho.” 

You shrugged, picking up your bracelet and sliding it back on, admiring how much better your wrist looked with it on. 

[fullmetalscullyy]

the way it was - chapter 34

summary: what if riza never went to war? riza hawkeye has just married the man she loves. six months into their marriage, an unexpected surprise stops her from following roy to the military. a canon divergence au that explores what might have happened had riza been unable to join the military. there will be plenty of family fluff, angst, and royai.

rated: m | warnings: no archive warning apply

read on ao3

1914

and though my edges may be rough

i never feel i'm quite enough

it may not seem like very much

but i'm yours

Roy’s home office was quiet. Riza poked her head in after putting Mia to bed to ask if he needed anything while he worked. Currently Roy was sitting in his chair, both hands clenched into fists and resting upon his cheeks. A blank stare looked up the paper in front of him while his hair stood up on end in places. One strand pointed outwards, straight towards Riza, like a long finger beckoning her into the room. Given his current state of appearance, she would have entered regardless.

It was the last week of the year. A new one would begin with the next and while it was normally a joyous celebration in their household, Riza felt nothing but foreboding.

The homunculus’ plan would be set in motion in the new year. Roy knew that much but didn’t have a definite date. The thought twisted Riza’s stomach violently, making her fear for her children’s future.

“It’s coming soon, isn’t it?”

Snapping from whatever had clouded his thoughts, Roy’s head jerked upwards. He blinked at her, looking worse for wear. “What?” His throat was cleared as he recovered from being a million miles away. The papers on his desk were slowly sorted and shuffled into piles.

Riza entered the room and walked around his desk. “Whatever you’re planning for, it’s coming soon.”

“It is.” His shoulders slumped even more, rounding forwards.

Riza perched on the edge of his desk and crossed her arms over her chest as she studied him closely. Her eyes narrowed to scrutinise his appearance while he was distracted. 

His counterattack was clearly taking its toll. Everything was weighing him down and it was beginning to show. His shoulders drooped. There were dark circles underneath his eyes, leaving them look bruised. Even his hair hung limp over his eyes - the result of him running his hands through it so often.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

A tired, but appreciative, smile was shot her way. “I wish there was but… It all depends on the answers I get back from others. Right now it’s just a waiting game until I’m essentially summoned by the homunculi,” he scoffed lightly.

Roy tipped backwards in his chair. His face lifted towards the ceiling while his hands rubbed at tired eyes. Riza felt a wave of sympathy wash over her.

“Any news on the others?”

“Increased strength from our enemies in the south,” Roy swallowed. “Fuery was sent right into the middle of it.”

Riza reached forward and squeezed his shoulder in comfort. She hated hearing how hoarse his voice sounded.

“Havoc’s fine but he’s feeling frustrated,” Roy continued, making an already neat pile of paper even neater. He just needed something to distract his hands with. “He’s stuck in a position he shouldn’t even be in. Breda’s gone dark. I don’t know where or how he is.”

“Breda will be okay,” Riza reassured with confidence. “He’s one of the most resourceful men I’ve ever met. There will be a good reason for him going quiet, I’m sure.”

Roy nodded weakly. “Falman reported from the north. The Elric brothers came and went. It… wasn’t without incident,” he added carefully, with a frown.

Riza shook her head fondly but still felt worry coil around her ribs. Judging from stories about their previous adventures, it rarely was a peaceful encounter with them. She just hoped they were all right.

“But they’ve been split up.” Roy bit his lip worriedly. “We lost contact after that.”

“You need sleep,” Riza murmured, running a hand through his hair.

“How can I sleep when everything is like this?”

“How can you expect to fight it all when you’re extremely sleep deprived,” she countered.

Maes’ night habits had eased as time progressed. They were both getting more sleep. He had the odd day where it was a struggle, but nothing compared to his first few weeks after birth. That was a nightmare that passed by in such a blur Riza barely remembered it. However, they still had some catching up to do. Looking after him and Mia was difficult to juggle, especially with Roy working so much. They’d still to find a routine that worked and were slowly easing into something that was relatively manageable.

Roy muttered something quietly underneath his breath.

“It’s because you know I’m right.” Riza nudged his shoulder affectionately with a closed fist.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled.

“Is there anything I can help with tonight, if you’re not going to come to bed? Anything I can get you?”

“I don’t know,” was his honest reply. If anything, it made him sound even more tired. “I just…” His hands found his hair, gripping onto the strands tightly in frustration. “I need action,” he mumbled.

“There’s nothing you can do this late at night, Roy.”

“There is. There’s plenty I can be doing, but I’m stuck here.”

Her hands folded together to rest atop her thighs. “Bradley has a tight leash on you still?”

Roy nodded. “I’m not to leave the city. Otherwise…” His expression turned stricken, quickly glancing up at her.

“I understand.”

“I hate it.”

“I do too. Especially when it’s upsetting you… But, you can’t be the hero all the time, Roy. Give yourself a little break, because you really need it. The Elric brothers will be okay. They have allies throughout the country. They’re not short on people who will help them if they need it.”

“Yes, but –” He sighed heavily.

“But it’s not you?” Riza guessed, and she was right.

Roy nodded minutely.

“You sound like their father.”

Roy scoffed once, twice, then snapped his mouth shut without a reply.

Riza grinned at him.

“I keep replaying the same thing over and over in my head, the more I look at this…”

Glancing over her shoulder at his desk, Riza saw the mess of notes still spread over the surface. A drawing of the ouroboros tattoo caught her eye, followed by a map of the country, covered in scribbles and notes. A map of Central was there too, the same one she’d seen at the hospital when Roy and Havoc were there. It had all the labs circled on it, the ink slightly smudged and the paper crumpled at the edges.

“What’s on your mind?”

His spine straightened as he took a deep breath. It was held in his lungs for a beat, before rushing outwards with his speech. “Hughes.”

Momentarily thrown, her eyes wandered off to the side, no longer focussing on his work.

“When it comes down to it, I’m going to have to ask them,” he admitted.

“Ask what?” Her head slowly turned to face him. Riza’s stomach dropped as she watched his jaw set in determination.

“Ask if they killed Hughes.”

“You’re going to do it outright?” Riza swallowed past the lump in her throat. “That’s –”

“It’s the only way I’ll get a straight answer,” he replied firmly.

“Roy…”

“I have to ask. I have to know. I can’t stand back and do nothing about it.”

Riza balked at his forceful tone and the action caught his eye.

“What?”

“I just - Roy we talked about this,” she replied. She was almost pleading with him.

“I know, but I still have to ask them, Riza. When it all boils down to it I have to find out. The military has already buried the truth but I won’t let that happen to Hughes. He will have justice.”

She felt like rubbing her temples but stopped herself. Riza’s head tipped down to look at her joined hands. She squeezed them tightly as she tried to keep a hold on all the emotions roiling inside of her.

They killed for Hughes for pushing too hard. They’d do the same to Roy eventually, even if he was important to them. Or do it to her. He had to play by their rules and keep the peace. If he didn’t, then…

“I can’t stop you from asking.” She tried to make her voice strong and even but it shook slightly. “I don’t want you to but I can’t stop you.”

Riza stood from leaning against his desk and walked towards the door. She needed some air. Desperately. The anxiety and fear that was creeping over her was getting worse. It was like her chest was being squeezed inside a vice.

“They can’t get away with what they did –”

Roy was indignant as he called after her but they’d already gone through all of this. Riza felt something begin to break inside of her chest as she clenched her fists by her side. Her nails dug into her palms painfully, but she barely noticed as she retreated from him.

“We’re not arguing about this again,” she nearly growled. The control was slipping the more the vice squeezed on her chest. It almost felt like she couldn’t breathe.

“Arguing,” Roy echoed. “Who said there was anything to argue about?”

“We’ve been through this Roy and I’m not doing it again,” Riza snapped, spinning around to face him. One finger lifted to point at Roy’s chest. “I’m not going through all of that after it was put to bed already. You’re not getting revenge,” she stated simply.

Roy’s eyes narrowed slightly at her, tightening around the edges. Before, it may have made Riza pause, but now she felt no hesitation. Because this wasn’t just anger at the injustice Maes and his family suffered. It was hatred too. Riza could see it clearly in his eyes. It was directed towards those who had murdered his friend. She wouldn’t let him give in to it.

“Riza –” He was almost seething but Riza would not let that talk or that behaviour fly now.

“Stop it,” she growled.

Riza stormed out of his office. She was getting worked up and needed to remove herself from the situation.

He couldn’t give in to that hatred.

In her mind’s eye Riza pictured their children. Their perfect, innocent faces smiling happily. Their expressions twisted in horror when they were told about what their father had done in memory of their beloved Uncle Maes. If she brought them up now, would they be enough for Roy to see sense?

“You can’t tell me not to do anything. I have to know.”

“That’s fine,��� she relented. “But exacting justice, Roy? By your own hand? We’ve been through this –”

“And are you going to stop me? Would you stop me tonight if I left to do it?”

It was a challenge but it still pissed her off. She wouldn’t back down from it either. Instead she glared at him after he asked the question.

“You can fucking bet I would stop you,” she hissed. “You are not to get revenge for Hughes’ murder,” she forced out. “You can ask them, sure, but I will not let you take the matter into your own hands and perform your own punishment. That’s not who you are and you’re better than that.” Riza shook her head. “The man that would do that is not my husband.”

“Mummy?”

Mia’s voice sounded from behind them. She was impossibly quiet and sounded extremely upset.

Riza whirled around and saw Mia standing on the second step. Her hand gripped the banister in a white knuckled grip. Her eyes were wide with tears pooling in them as they switched between Riza and Roy.

“Daddy?”

Riza shot him a warning glance, telling him to shut up, but also telling him that their conversation wasn’t over. She noted Roy’s stricken face. However there was still an ember of his plight present in his eyes. Riza would be more than happy to continue this later but only once Mia was asleep and they were both calmer.

“Mia? What are you doing up?” Riza’s voice was soft as she approached their daughter. Crouching before her, Riza became eye-level with Mia and readjusted her pyjama top. One shoulder had slipped over to one side haphazardly.

“I…” She bit her lip, casting her gaze to the side worriedly. “I heard you both shouting.”

Riza’s gut twisted painfully. Her breath caught in her throat as she sucked it in.

“I didn’t like it.”

Guilt flooded Riza. Regardless of the topic of conversation, they should have been quieter. “Sorry, Mia Bear. Dad and I were just having a discussion.” Riza ran her hand over Mia’s hair and cupped her cheek to try and soothe her.

“You were very loud.”

Riza hugged her daughter, placing a hand on the back of her head so it rested against Riza’s shoulder. “Sorry. We didn’t mean to be.”

“Will Daddy really leave tonight?” Her head cocked to the side before looking over Riza’s shoulder at Roy. “It’s really late. And what does revenge mean?”

Mia didn’t know the meaning of the word. There was no way she should either. She was too young. It would only upset her if it was explained.

Riza prided herself on always telling her daughter the truth and explaining things as best as she was able, but this was not one of those times. It would only upset her. Plus, Riza would never let Roy stoop so low to that anyway.

“No,” Riza reassured, pulling away and cupping her daughter’s face gently in both hands. “He’s not going anywhere tonight.”

“What does that word mean?”

She was far too inquisitive for her own good. Once again, Riza brushed it aside. It pained her to do so because her father did that with her mother’s condition and ultimately, her death. She’d sworn she’d never do it to a child of her own if that ever came to pass, but she had no time at the moment to describe the intricacies of the word and what that meant her father might possibly do if pushed hard enough.

She and Roy needed to talk. Badly.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?” Riza smoothed her daughter’s unruly hair down. Despite her fringe being styled like Riza’s and her hair falling below her shoulders, it reminded Riza so much of Roy’s hair. It still had a mind of its own and didn’t obey any laws of physics or hairspray.

Mia yawned. “Okay,” she mumbled, appeased for the moment.

Riza hoped that by the morning, she’d forgotten about her mother’s promise.

“Up to bed with you now, okay?” Riza smiled at Mia. “I’ll come and tuck you in.”

Mia looked over at Roy. Without warning, she hopped down the last two steps and rushed over to her father. He’d been staring straight ahead, stricken, but Roy jumped in fright when Mia’s arms slung around his torso. He looked down at her face. One cheek was pressed into his stomach as she squeezed her eyes closed tightly in her hug. Riza watched with a pained chest as Mia’s hands fisted in his t-shirt.

“I love you, Daddy,” Mia whispered into his stomach, giving him an even tighter squeeze.

“Time for bed, Mia,” Riza called gently, her voice hoarse.

Mia nodded and smiled up at her father. A wobbly smile overtook his face and he nodded.

“Love you too, Mia,” Roy whispered. It was as quiet as a breath. “So much.”

“Come on, Mia.” Riza extended her hand for her daughter to take.

“Will Dad be okay?” Mia bit her lip worriedly, looking over her shoulder at him.

“He’ll be fine.” Riza shot him a look, noticing him swallow thickly as he stared after them both. She couldn’t be sure from the distance between them, but it looked like that ember in his eyes had fizzled out. “I’ll talk to him when I come back down.”

“Okay,” Mia whispered.

Their daughter walked ahead, up the stairs and out of sight.

“Think about one thing,” Riza stated quietly. “If you do go ahead with your own brand of justice, is that the father you want to be?” Her voice was flat as she asked her question. “Is that the home you want to build with actions like that?”

Roy had been staring after Mia, and finally, his eyes settled on her. A breath was sucked into his chest, the movement shaky as his chest heaved loudly.

They would talk but Mia was more important at the moment.

Turning away from him, not bothering to wait on an answer, Riza walked up the stairs to their daughter’s room. She ignored how heavy her footsteps were. It matched the heavy weight in her heart. As she ascended, she just prayed she wouldn’t hear their front door close. Her breath had been held as she climbed slowly. The exhale was quiet, but she heard no sound from the floor below. No door slammed and no floorboards creaked with movement.

Mia first.

“Sleep well, Mia.” Riza tucked her daughter into bed tightly and bent forward, pressing a kiss to her nose. Mia giggled and sighed happily.

“Night, Mum,” she mumbled tiredly.

The house was silent when Riza descended back down the stairs. She had hoped and prayed Roy wouldn’t leave tonight, but as she searched their house and he was nowhere to be found. Tears flooded her vision. Blinking them away, Riza’s footsteps were heavy once more as she made her way to bed.

She hadn’t been able to get through to him. Again.

However, Riza’s thought was banished from her head when she passed by Maes’ room. The door was cracked open which made her panic slightly. She’d left it wide open so she’d be able to hear him through the night if he woke.

Roy was bouncing Maes in the centre of the room. He was fussing quietly, one fist flailing above his head as Roy tried to settle him. His back was to the door as he stared down at their son. Riza heard a sniff and her heart broke.

“I’m sorry, Maes,” Roy whispered against their son’s head. He moved to kiss his forehead. “I’ve hurt her again. I let my emotions run away with me and…” Roy sighed and Riza heard his breathing hitch. “And I would’ve hurt you and your sister too if I’d gone through with everything. I would have been a big disappointment. You’d have thought me a monster,” he gasped quietly. “I’m so sorry.”

Fresh tears appeared in Riza’s eyes. She backed away from the door to give Roy some time alone to process and deal with everything. Despite feeling exhausted after their discussion, a tiny sliver of hope coiled its way around Riza’s ribs. They still needed to talk but witnessing that scene was a promising start.

Once in bed, Riza pulled the sheet up and underneath her chin. She curled into a ball, back to the door, as she waited for Roy to come to bed. Fatigue was threatening to pull her under. Riza fought it as best she could but eventually it tugged hard enough.

She was dozing when Roy slipped into the bed. Disorientated, her body jerked as she was pulled roughly from the half-asleep state she’d been fallen into. Settling down, Riza’s eyes blinked open and she grew still, listening to his movements. From what she could tell, he was on his back.

Roy sighed, a long drawn out sound, then scoffed in disgust. Riza felt the bed dip as he rolled towards her. She held her breath. Her shoulder tingled in anticipation when she saw the shadow of his hand hovering over it, but ultimately he pulled away before he could touch her.

“Are you awake?” His whisper broke through the loud silence of the room.

Riza nodded.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, sounding defeated and miserable.

“I thought you might really leave,” Riza admitted.

“I did it once.” She heard him swallow, then pull away from her completely. Her back felt cold now that his presence was no longer there. “I won’t make that same mistake twice.”

She rolled over to face him. “You’re willing to talk about this?” Riza searched his gaze, almost begging him to reconsider dealing with the whole thing by himself.

Roy nodded, staring up at the ceiling. Both hands scrubbed at his face before falling back to his sides, his limbs heavy. “Of course. But… I’ve made my decision.”

Riza stiffened and Roy noticed. He turned his head to finally face her.

“I’m staying,” he reassured. “And… And seeing your face, that look on it, and hearing Mia’s scared voice…” Roy swallowed, glancing away, unable to look at her. “I took one look at little Maes and… Everything just fell away.”

“Because big Maes wouldn’t want you to do it either,” Riza whispered.

“Big Maes?” Roy barked a laugh, filling the quiet room with his sudden amusement.

Riza smiled wryly. “I thought that might make you laugh.”

“It did. Big Maes and Little Maes…” Roy shook his head fondly. His amusement flickered out, replaced by quiet contemplation. “The perfect combo,” he smiled sadly. “I thought it might be too strange naming him after Hughes.” Roy swallowed. “Just one look at him and it’s like he’s really here,” he admitted.

Riza reached over to make first contact, brushing his fringe away from his forehead. Her thumb swiped over the skin underneath once to comfort him. 

“I don’t think of him as Hughes, obviously,” Roy reassured, “but… It’s like a connection to him.” He turned his head to look at her. “Does that make sense?”

She nodded. “It does. I’m glad we got through to you. Maes always could talk you down so easily.”

“You do it so much better, though,” Roy sighed, rolling and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He shifted over, moving so she was flush against his bare chest.

“Really?”

“You think you don’t?” His hold on her tightened.

“There was a time when I did –”

“When?” He pulled away to look down at her with such concern on his face.

Riza shook her head. “It doesn’t matter –”

“It does. When?”

“When you first came back from Ishval. You were struggling a lot and I felt I couldn’t get through to you.” Her admission was quiet as she whispered it against his skin. “And then after Maes died. I… Well, I thought I was going to lose you to your grief and anger and didn’t know what to do.”

Fingers were placed gently against her chin. Roy tilted her head up slowly, tenderly, so she was finally looking right at him, however there was a fierce fire in his eyes.

“You were always the best at it,” he promised. “One thought of you and it kept me grounded. I think of our family and realise that you’re my top priority, despite my duty. You always were.”

“It’s been hard to juggle for you.”

“It has.”

His eyes stared into hers and Riza found herself pinned by his gaze but didn’t mind it one bit. She never had. Those dark depths were a comfort.

“That’s what happened tonight. It’s still raw and I let my emotions and frustration and fatigue get the better of me.”

“That’s why you need more sleep,” she added, teasing him lightly to try and lighten the mood.

Roy chuckled. “You’re very right about that one.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You always are.”

He turned quiet and Riza was content just to hold him. She was giving him all the time he needed to voice what he needed to say.

“If I lost myself to all of this…” His eyes closed and shame overtook his features. “That’s not the husband or father I want to be. I don’t want to be a monster again.” His voice grew hoarse, causing Roy to clear his throat. “I don’t want my kids to think of or remember me like that.”

“Only you can make that choice.”

“I know,” Roy nodded, “and I choose you. I choose all three of you. There’s no contest and never has been. It’s the easiest decision to make, like breathing.”

Riza angled her head and pressed her lips against his.

“I’m sorry for hurting you again,” he whispered huskily against her lips. His breath mingled with hers, warming the skin of her face in the same way his love and her relief was washing through her body.

“Thank you for coming back to me.” Silently, she wrapped her arms around his torso and cuddled into him.

“I always will, Riza.” His breath tousled her hair gently, tickling her. “You always bring me back.”

“I understand this is important to you,” she added, “it’s important to me too. I want to find out what really happened to Maes too and see the culprit be brought to justice but there’s other ways to do it.”

“I know,” he replied solemnly.

“I know how angry and frustrated you are about everything… Promise me one thing?”

“What?” He lifted his eyebrows in anticipation.

“Just… Think of them when it all boils down to it. Think about what you told me about not wanting to become a monster for our kids.” Riza’s voice almost shook with emotion as she spoke. “You tasked me with keeping you on the right path, and I’m trying, but when you fight back like that it makes it impossible.”

“My anger blinded me. I’m so sorry. It’s not an excuse, I know, but it did.” Shame coloured his tone.

“You saw sense, though,” Riza soothed him as she caressed his cheek gently. “And that’s what matters. When the time comes, think of Mia and Maes and your role in their life. Think of what you want them to see you as. Please.”

“And you too,” Roy insisted, his voice turning husky. His grip on her adjusted, holding her tighter against his body.

His inclusion of her made a tiny smile appear on her lips. She pressed a kiss to the column of his neck, seeing his Adam’s apple bob.

“And me too. Don’t let that hatred fool you, push you into something you don’t want to be. Not only for our sake, but for your own, and for Hughes’ memory. He wouldn’t want to see you turn into someone like that either on his behalf.”

“Always, Riza,” he breathed, sealing his promise. “Always, for you three.”

[thanks--for--listening]

in the absence of light

sup party people I couldn’t leave FMAB alone so here we are with a new fic. this one is mustang’s pov but i’ve got another FMAB fic from a different pov that’s almost done so look out for that relatively soon. also on ao3. 

~~

The dark made everything feel unfinished. He knew the battle had ended, knew the real work would start as soon as everyone was able to stand, but for now, sitting in a hospital bed the day after the end of the world, all Mustang felt was a restlessness he couldn’t quite place. 

It didn’t make sense. Hawkeye had come in and out of surgery already, was resting beside him in the room he’d demanded they share. There were soldiers still in recovery, but everyone he knew, everyone he’d worried about, would be fine. The rest of his group would require only time and patience to heal, so he wasn’t sure why he still felt like he needed to keep his guard up. 

Maybe it had something to do with what he saw. With nothing new to replace it, the images he was greeted with when he opened his eyes mirrored the ones he saw when he’d tried to sleep: Hawkeye lying on the ground, sinking in a pool of her own blood. Edward screaming in agony as something indescribable opened him up and swallowed him whole. The never ending light he’d found at the other end of the transmutation circle, the shadowed being staring at him like he meant absolutely nothing. 

He remembered it’s voice. It didn’t give him much attention, ignored his questions and desperation. “You’ve seen horror from the perspective of the perpetrator,” it told him. “You seek a balance that can never be reached. Your mind is teeming with visions you pray can replace the ones you long to forget.”

“I don’t understand,” was all he’d managed to say. 

It didn’t have a face, but he swore the thing smirked at him. “You’ve made it too easy for me. You always do.” 

The darkness came soon after. It wasn’t until he felt the ground underneath him and the hands on his shoulder that he knew he’d returned, and that he’d left something irreplaceable behind. 

“You’re supposed to be resting, Sir.” He could hear the sleep in her words, shifted his head in the direction of her voice. 

“I haven’t so much as moved in the last hour, Lieutenant.”

The springs under her bed groaned, and he imagined she was easing herself up. Part of him wanted to tell her not to move, that her wounds were still fragile and her lost blood only recently replenished, but he had already grown tired of the incessant hovering of his nurses and other staff. He imagined she wouldn’t take too kindly to getting the same treatment from him. 

“I can hear you thinking from here, Sir. Your mind needs rest, too.”

The smile crept up without his permission. She’d found her way through his defenses, snuck in when he wasn’t looking. He’d spent so much time hiding, but she saw everything, heard each unspoken word and thought that ran through his head. He hadn’t meant to get used to it, but the damage was done, and despite what he told himself and the rest of the world, he knew that the selfish part of him never wanted to let her go. 

“There’s a lot of work to be done, is all.”

“You’ve never been able to lie to me, Colonel. I don’t imagine now would be a good time to try and start.” She waited a moment, before asking, “Does it have to do with your sight? The doctor said you may feel disoriented while you adjust.”

He shook his head. As she spoke, he tried to picture the look she was giving him. When would all traces of sleep disappear? Would she stare at him with pity now that she knew he couldn’t see it? He cycled through faces like pages of a book, searching desperately for one to replace what he kept coming back to. 

“Is it—“ she hesitated, before asking, “is it something you saw during the…”

“When they forced me through the portal?” Her silence confirmed the words she hadn’t said. “No. Not exactly.”

He could hear the uncertainty in her silence, the mental debate over whether to voice the question he knew she had. He wasn’t sure why, but part of him wanted her to. Talking about the things that mattered wasn’t usually a behavior he engaged in willingly, but this...something about it was different. 

Maybe it was him. Maybe he was different. 

“You can ask me about it,” he told her after the silence began to linger. “If you’d like.”

She didn’t wait very long after getting his permission. “What did you see?”

Mustang searched for the words. “I remember that it felt like falling. Or, it would have, if there’d been any sort of direction. The universe seemed to unravel all around me, which was unnerving, for the most part.”

“For the most part?”

“There was a moment, right before I landed onto something like a surface, where I felt like everything made sense. Like something inside of me clicked. I knew if I managed to stay there, to spend more time in that feeling, that I’d know the answers to all my problems. I’d know everything.”

“But you didn’t stay there,” Hawkey guessed. 

Mustang nodded. “As soon as I felt it, it came crashing down, and I crashed along with it. There was...there was a door. It towered over me, and there were carvings all along it that I couldn’t quite make out. Everything felt important, but the door…there was something different about that. Something powerful.”

“Do you remember what it looked like?”

He shook his head. “I tried to memorize what I saw, but It found me first.”

“It?” She sounded so young when she asked. An old but new face flashed in front of him, the girl he’d met when he was just a boy himself. He didn’t see her as often as he liked. In his quiet moments, he often wondered if he was to blame for that.

“There was this being. Everything but the door was white, including it, but it somehow cast a shadow. Or perhaps it was nothing more than a shadow. It introduced itself with many names, but the one that stuck out was Truth. It was the person they wanted me to see. The reason they sent me in there.”

“Is it the thing that took away your sight?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you weren’t the one who chose to do the transmutation?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” For a moment, he was glad she’d never tried her hand at alchemy; if she had, he knew she’d commit the taboo just to lecture the being about fairness and justice. The thought almost brought a smile to his lips. 

“I’m not sure. It didn’t give me much of a chance to speak my case.”

“How could something called Truth not see the lies of the transmutation? Why would it take something from you when you didn’t do the unforgivable act?”

The conversation played through his mind, reminded him that he was already guilty enough for punishment before he ever got pushed through that portal. Maybe it was shame, or cowardice, or maybe he wanted to protect her from the fact that their efforts, however valiant, would never make up for their actions. Whatever the reason, he decided to keep that bit to himself. 

“I suppose,” he said instead, “that intention has nothing to do with it. I went through. I saw what I saw. And for that, I had to pay a price.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment; when she did, her voice had dropped to almost a whisper. “I’m sorry. I should have stopped them.”

He shook his head. “There was nothing you could do.”

“It doesn’t matter. I was supposed to protect you, and I failed.”

“You did nothing of the sort.” God, he longed to look into her eyes, to find the moment when she began to believe him. He didn’t care about seeing the world, would have given his sight up willingly if he could have kept her. Her voice could remain steady but her eyes would betray her, would have shown him exactly what she felt, and now...now all he could do was hope his words would be enough.

“I shouldn’t have let them capture me in the first place. If I hadn’t been injured, maybe—maybe I—“

“Lieutenant.” He tried to drown his sentences in emotion, to go against his own nature because she had to know, she had to hear the sincerity he wasn’t sure he could show her. “You have saved my life more times than I could ever repay you for. If anyone here should spend their time lamenting about failing, it should be me.”

“Colonel—“

“They nearly killed you, Hawkeye. Only because they knew that you—that I—“ he took a breath. “That your death would be the only thing that could have made me do something as unforgivable as that.”

Neither of them said anything for a moment. He found that confessions fell off his lips with ease when he didn’t have to look them in the eye. He didn’t want to know what that said about him. 

She spoke first, her voice soft but stable. “I never got a chance to thank you for listening to me. When I told you not to do human transmutation.”

“I almost didn’t.”

“I know. But I’m glad you did. Even though they—even though it happened anyway, I’m glad you didn’t choose it.”

He thought about the moment. The stain on her neck had spread so quickly, the blood dying her white blouse faster than he thought should be possible. It was then, when they’d thrown her in front of him and asked him to choose, that he finally understood why the Elric Brothers had done it. The entire world was at stake, and yet for a moment he’d wondered what good any world was without her. 

Had she not begged him, her voice faint but her purpose clear, he wasn’t sure they would have needed to force him into it. In that moment, when he watched the life drain out of her, he might have done anything to bring her back. The lines she’d stopped him from crossing had faded as quickly as the color in her skin, and he knew any strength he’d had was nothing more than an appearance for her sake. 

If he was braver, he would have reached for her; instead, he whispered, “I’m glad you followed orders. If you hadn’t walked out of there…”

“I had to, Sir.” He could hear the smile now, and when she spoke, he swore he could see it. “You wouldn’t make it a day without me.”

He wasn’t sure when they were allowed to laugh again, when the devastation and the trauma of their fight would fade enough for something like humor to make another appearance. He did it anyway, let the sound fill the room around them, let it hide their wounds for a moment, take them back to a time when laughter was all it took to make everything okay. 

“Starting tomorrow, we’ve got a lot of work to get done.”

“Yes, Sir. I haven’t forgotten our purpose.”

“Until then,” he told her, “do you think you could do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

He put his head back down on the pillow beneath him, closed his eyes out of habit. “Will you tell me what Alphonse looked like again?”

As he laid there, she described the way Al’s thin frame drowned in the coat Mustang threw their way. How his blonde hair reached long past his shoulders. How his eyes held both exhaustion and wonderment in them. She told him that he never stopped smiling, not once since the moment his body materialized in front of them. He looked a little like Ed, she mentioned, but every sharp edge of the eldest brother was rounded out, and Al towered over him by at least a few inches. 

Even though she’d told him before, had commented on his appearance the moment he’d come back, Mustang still laughed at the last detail. With every word, he began to build a picture, not just of Alphonse but of all of them: Ed standing next to his brother, his crew bursting through the hospital doors, and Hawkeye, sitting beside him, smiling as she told him every detail. He knew then, that no matter what happened to him, whatever the cost he paid for creating the world he’d once envisioned, it would be worth it, so long as they could see it.

[blushdressshop]

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spend the pillsand also to stuff so now in human start popping up moreand more around the world also Mays ex husband Garner egrets in humidified enter into this horrible monster called flash also grant one was to try to start by Dragon even though the avengers just fishing that Daisy also says about her dad who wasn’t such a bad guy after all he gets his memory erasedand start a new life may decides to take a break from shieldand Fitzsimmons finally start dating however risingand going Simmons is in the same room as the monolith which shield has occasional memory that’s the portal through which you go to this terrible ugly planet with an original inhuman monster hive lives she was the inspiration for Hydra away quick positive video here I really hope it doesn’t feel like I’m talking down you guys by saying in case your memberand that’s her stuff a lot I genuinely does make this as easy to followand not confusing as possible is especially for people who are defense of the stuff that haven’t washed all this already of this information is slightly hard to keep track of you a second thatand gets into that placeand he said last night was abandoned there a long time ago they become friendsand survive together after many years of service Frank S returns home to his family from his militaryand shady servers daysand it’s super niceand emotional however around this timeand Cerberus leaks with Cerberus was actually about including the video that it is a guiding shot to this guy called David whose nickname micro will be back in a sec agent orange transfer for doing this because he’s not a big fan of Frank’sand so with the help of the Cerberus squad including Frank supposed best friend Billy Russo he sets up a three way gunfight between three gangs in a park to kill Frankand his family Frank’s wifeand children are brutally murderedand Frankish on the head but survives after this Frank is enragedand devastated answer decides take matters into his own hands he uses his military trainingand pure anger to hunt downand kill everyone in the gangs involved with his family’s death he does this under the vigilante guys of the punisher first just make a plan though so that takes a little time now micro is a hackerand NSA analyst these to help a Daisy when she was working as a hacker’s analysis info that Cerberus doing legal stuffand he starts leaking it so agent orange triesand killed his men shoot microand think they killand really the bullet his phoneand so survived because phones are bulletproof in this world Michael doesn’t hidingand pretends to be dead even from his wifeand kids who he watches from security cameras Scott Lange has finally finished serving his time in prison for his crime that really was not badand is released going to stay with his old cellmateand pal Luis he wants to see his daughter but his life is moved on to another guyand so that’s difficult in its with Luis his new friends Kurtand Daveand try to get a job at Baskin Robbins but Baskin Robbins always finds out tech is having run by Darren cross hang pencil protégé along with Hank’s daughter hope while Hank is on the world they some old tales of Hank’sand process about his own version of the suit called the yellowjacket only this one is way deadlierand fliesand shoots lasers cross also plans to sell this tech to Hydraand the 10 ringsand just the worst people thanks not too happy about thisand try to think of a plan to stopand even where Scott Lange ever since the very public Vista quick job I think Scott could be a good choice to take on the object stuff before gets into the wrong hands through a series of people think it’s got a tip about as mentioned Rob Casillas to see how good Scott really is what Scott eventually does only to find the entrance to he takes it tries it onand is terrified by the experience Hank is impressed with the skill cc but when Scott tries to return the suit he’s caught by the policeand cost breakdown in jailand tells of his pregnant with cross help is not awfully happy with how things are developing as she was to wear the MS student takedown cross but Hank does a letter because of how her mother died all those years ago so they trained Scott until he becomes great at the shrink tricky stuff even to friendsand called Anthony very good Scott also starts to get romantically involved with hopeand Hank reveals to help our mom diedand she is all well I totally understandand forgive you know dad even though you really could is only sooner I’m an adult you know they’re good now Scott needs advice from an old avenger space to steal the yellowjacket suit is there only to discover that it’s been renovatedand it’s now the new venture space is not by falcon who fights in man is defeated but also impressed by Scott’s abilitiesand less just called Scott’s good fortune that it wasn’t patient who was on patrol that day also by the way crosses going crazy because pen particles mess with the brain after all this Scott goes in to steal the yellowjacket suit but gets caught so him across FIFO while in a helicopterand then a briefcaseand in Scott’s daughter’s room to save his daughterand kill cross Scott go subatomicand saves the day but is temporarily trapped in the quantum realm where Hank’s wife Janet was left however he manages to get outand it’s all good after all this Hank believes that hope is finally ready to become a heroand so gives her the lost barber Scott is back his familyand his daughter Anna’s dosing hopeand never once happy now go back to the moon real quick a place we haven’t been for a while where the go inhumanand potentially the most unlikable character in this entire universeand human arguing about this American flag I am only mentioning this to see him forget that there’s an entire inhuman civilization just living on the moon while all this is happening back on earth the tomb salvaging company shows up in the area were scurvy’s to beand picks up small font Exceland some of this ends up in the hands of Hydra uses it to build a giant robot called ultimo but the manager show up at least those are leftand defeated now were getting into the Netflix world for a while first off Jessica Jones gets new job from Joy Meacham the sister of one Meacham was running red Enterprises will be manipulate it by’s dad was being controlled by the hand I give it a second to sink in again anyway she is Jessica to investigate the people around so she can blackmail them later if need be also Wilson Fisk is stilland by his he I mean jail because he such a big crime boss he start making connections there that Frank Castle has finally gotten all the resources he needs to kill the gangs he thinks were solely responsible for his family’s murder so starts going around doing that in the most brutal way possible starting with the Irish Mafiaand a gang called the dogs of hell is all happening in or near Hells kitchenand that Murdoch starts noticing the stuff so he starts investigating eventually as daredevil in a newand improved suit by the way he comes face to face of the punisher which ends with a bullet to the face that is seriously injured but survives fighting keep fighting that the vigilante stuff while Cassidy is going around the city killing pedophiles in such an entry castle manages to kidnap daredevil Jenny into a chimney where they learn about each other’s pastsand ideologies Castle takes a gun to daredevil’s hand pulse of the criminaland hasn’t had to shoot the criminal or he’s can do it because castle things killing your enemies is the way to go hello I thought a lot of the people daredevil Scott daredevil to try to kill anyway daredevil breaks outand has to fight through some angry bikers Castle unleashes on them later on Frank it’s kidnap by the Irish who brutally tortured him but eventually he gets out with their troubles help explain the situationand himand daredevil cool now but that is arrested that the craziness is now over but nope just now Electra shows up his old girlfriend then ninjaand potentially secret weapon for the handand she’s like a let’s find together because I see her doing that nowand so they do if I think he was a mainly with franking space to Karen what happened to his familyand the bondand become best is so daredeviland Electra are going around fighting the accuserand ultimately come across this giant pit the hand is digging in order to get Dragon bonesand to become immortal that still going on their tax by handand just until state shows up to save the day meanwhile on the lower side of things the punisher trial happensand during that Frank saw like an Angus into jail where he meets Wilson Fisk Fisk is like Frank nothings working everything but my biggest rival this person helped kill your family soand Frank Sykes say no more so he takes a that guy that this double crossesand try seven killed by Frank is just too good for that so Fisk lets them goand Frank tells Fisk to kill him when if he sees them again Frank it’s a geland mean wild animals like snow but again then ninja he thought he go before was brought back by the hand also their little kids being drained of their blood also for resurrection purposes through similar shenanigans the punisher keeps going around killing guys involved with his family’s murderand I will still have conflicting ideologiesand punish ends up killing an old Marine buddy of his Electra stick have a falling outand cystic trust tablets are killedand she didn’t like that so she tries to kill him will saves the dayand sticks kidnapped by the hand so Matt goesand save steak but while he’s doing that nobody reveals that Electra is a black skyand should be leading the hand she almost does but ends up joining their double insteadand the five images together real lasted I’m on right there after a hostage situationand Electra go up against like an infinite supply of hingesand Electra ends up sacrificing yourself for daredevil the punisher also shows up at the last minute to get daredeviland assist which is a pretty awesome moment not to lie no booze killed for real this time by stickand the good guys win except the hand takes Electra’s bodyand uses their Dragon magic to bring her back to life so she can work for them one of the five leaders of the hand the main one Alexandra comes to oversee her resurrection fog equatesand hours for Hogarth from Jessica Jones reveals he’s daredevil to Karenand the punisher goes off to kill everyone was involved with his family’s murder micro also wants answers about the whole Cerberus thing as a goes into Frank’s houseand puts the disk there with the video on it Castle’s unit in Afghanistan tortureand killing that innocent guy which Frank findsand takes with them tiny little break from the granite stuff here a witch just straight up which shows up in Londonand steals a magical artifact called the dark scepter however long case aliasand more masters of the Mystic arts show upand stop her a reminder that there’s magic in this world back to the streets now the gauge is now working at Pops barbershopand I know people disagree on what years these Netflix shows in particular take placeand they are confusing but based on the research I did this seems to check out anyway Luke also works of the barand one evening because he such a player he starts floating with detective Misty Knight the club Lucas working is also my cottonmouth now is a big shot crime boss’s cousin Mariah is a City Councilmanand is also pretty shady just more low key than enough strike is a hammer check from Justin Hammer for some good money but the operation goes wrong look secret half brother Willa striker is also involved here at the highest level is a big criminal now is now called diamondbackand is cottonmouth’s boss basicallyand so he sends in his body shades to make sure everything is running smoothly godmother still cool because these be friends back in the day but because the guy because the deal to go wrong is involved with pop one of cotton’s goons goes against disordersand shoots at the barbershop killing pop through this link in contrast to fightingand looks all like I really care for but not my radar so stop doing illegal stuffand calmness like know so we can start messing up his operation Luke also teams up with Claire Temple daredevil hotel buffet crimeand start a romance energy gets his hands on some bullets I can actually penetrate Luke’s impenetrable scan forand use them thoughand up having an argumentand so she murders him with a mic standand because the new big crime boss with shades help diamondback decides to team up with their setting out a plan to run the crime will do Harlem well Mariah does all the boring political stuff diamondback also shoots a cage twice with those magic bulletsand reveals that he’s actually his brother Claire takes her to the doctor who originated the experiment on themand they send an asset or boiling water something painfuland basically he’s restored to full strength while diamondbackand Mariah are running like a spear campaign against the cage to turn the people filed against them they do this through politicsand super shock loves Lucas backand FaceTime back in the police eventually diamondback shows up in a terrible super suitand even the punch each other for a bit is the end against diamondback partly with helping New York Spiderman style despite all his heroicsand proving himself a good guide to the policeand the people Harlem Lucasand back to prison because been discovered as Carl Lucas back in the day with your call despite being innocent broke out of prisonand so still needs to service time however one of Luke’s barbershop friends is a file that proves his innocence so he’s getting out soon also diamondback is taking them but I doctor who did this experienceand Luke so he’ll probably have some modifications the next time we see them there is a little bummed out that Luke is in jailand that they can’t get a cup of coffee for a while but she keeps itself occupied by starting martial arts training with help from Colleen way that martial artist to statically buy land but doesn’t really know that the hand is evil a bunch of little stuff happens here now firstly that kid who Iron Man said a while back Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider which gives in special abilities like superstrength the ability to climb the wallsand having a dead uncle because he’s a genius kid he also designs web shooters that shoot superstrong webs also because he’s a good kid he realizes if you help people using his new powers he’s responsible for one bad stuff happens so he designs a pajama looking costume takes a living Spidermanand starts fighting little crimes in Queens now over with the Masters of the Mystic arts page 1and Margot find a group called the Dragon Raiders just FYI also falcon is still pretty impressed by thatand I guys a while back I think she could be a valuable asset to the team so he finds a way to contact with them through Luis about potentially joining the avengers Scots like well I cannot stay with my daughter right now but if you really need me yes give me a call we had about the shield team in a while but they’re still doing stuff around these husband Andrew turned into an inhuman call mile he did that is now a giant monster whose sole purpose really is to hunt other humans with humans popping up around the world now shields main mission objective is protecting in humansand training them is made harder because the government treats a group called the ATC you which is designed to track down superpowered people like humansand take them then basically they’re designed to replace yield now that shield has had to go underground in the ATC you is this guy called Malik once again is a big secret Hydra guy said he thought we were done with Hydra you were sorely mistaken the reason this ATC you exists is so Hydra can get a hold of all these in humansand use them you guessed it to make a super soldier army is not getting that seriously 99 of Hydra’s plans so shield in the ATC are fighting for to try to get Simmons off at alien planet which eventually doesand what is still working on rebuilding Hydra I guess Marilyn Stucker’s weightless cool son Werner to join him in a nutshell the main thing is shield us to start up a team of humans the inhuman hunting monster is out there going after them thing of lash is like a less strong or cool version of the book he changes in this monster at different times Olson is asking pretty close to one of the higher ups at the ATC you who isn’t actually evil but then worksheets are in the throat cycles is like I just have to crush discussed just Hydra also wants to get to the matter because they want to bring Benjamin back because they think will be a big secret weapon for them so word fits in Colson end up on an alien planetand cousins like mandatory wordand he crushes Ward’s chest with his robot handand then goes back to think that’s the end of Ward but then the superpowerful clinical human eye possesses corpseand then makes its way back to earth I was now leading Hydra through Ward’s bodyand he’s observing people for strengthand you know typical evil villain stuff so that any rent is still in and now going to basket CCI festand that’s what the iron fist does ever he starts missing homeand gets bored because he’s kind of a spoiled brat so just ramp runs away when the pass is open his eyes to go back to New York to take packs company because that’s I think it works because he’s also kind of a thundering dumbass doesn’t work focuses old friends join Ward Meacham if it were just go with it think is a crazy homeless person understandably wards think that that Harold is still kind of running the company while being controlled by the hand which he started to get kinda sick of becomes friends with Colleen at the dojo he also meets Claire Temple bananas put in a mental hospital he breaks out there with the power of the iron fist stocking 30 with Colleenand Bruce’s friends that it actually is an is coming back with the help of Jerry Hogarth he kinda sucks a business though because he’s been living among city in another dimension for the past decade ends of meeting Harold whose IK we should work together can sometimes take a controlling me so you can go kill themand I like gathers the main purpose in life I had to hand them gal the hand is still selling heroinand Denny’s unhappy about that science of beating herand agreeing to a series of challenges the loser has to pack upand get out of the city anyways but Manga breaks the promise but she’s got ancient society superpowers so there’s not much you can do about it Danny keeps consistently sucking a ring’s company so he’s married now by the board along with the Meacham’s words also super pissed at is that Harold is he took all of his money so he tells Harold bio comes back thanks to the hand Danny Colleenand Claire go to Chinaand take them gal realizes that Ward killed him so he frames them for drug possessionand so Ward gets locked up in the asylum Harold of its joy to be his new number two Danny also made potato Colleen so teacher was also secretly when the 5 m of the handand find out about thisand is in the fan now this guy called divers who isn’t that Dallas is days old friend from and he shows up to help Dannyand Colleen Joyce into saying that the hand probably his neck in the end after helping Dallas is like take the path to come on is open right nowand you’re supposed regarding it what the hell manand I was like well you know is boringand decides to team up with Haroldand joy to take on handand the Kudo but the kudos now working with wordand long story short is defeated but runs away Dallas is not a Danny but they work it out kind of data gets frame for drug stuffand goes in the runand Harold is the bag on the endand tries to take over the company Danny Lord in the big final battle team up kill Haroldand burn his corpse so he will come back to life now Ward is running the companyand Dallas teams of joyand maybe not out to kill Danny down the lineand then sends a team led by lecture to come on which again has no iron fist protecting it they kill a bunch of the monks there it’s pretty brutal the entrance is then close for safety so no one knows when it’ll open up again because back to check out the passand find the city is goneand some abilityand he realizes he probably should state to protect it also Luke Cage sends Claire letter from prison because there still thing overand cover Taj at this point Casillas is starting to get kinda pissed with Angel on it if you like his training isn’t getting him what he wants to start having some friction with most the Masters there also finds out that the angel on his drawing power from the dark dimension which he thinks is pretty have a critical because he must use the dark dimension to see his dead family againand to gain immortality but the angeland told him no because a bunch of people that the ancient one is withholding informationand they should bring tomato from the dark dimension to earth to golf it in eternity forms to rise up against the ancient one they break into the libraryand cover tiesand steal some pages from the ageless book about the dark dimension one tries to stop them but they get away in the end one point Rogers well the shielding goes to Mexicoand meets the human called yo yo who has superspeed who eventually joins the ranksand eventually becomes next girlfriend also Bobby Hunter leave the team because they were so staff spent off but that didn’t happen somewhere venturesand Sue Shield has an inhuman team but highest the inhuman Hydra God takes control of Daisy’s mind because he can do thatand turns against the team just as a vision of the future where one of them diesand other important detail there’s this group called the watchdogs which is basically inhuman racist who are going around killing humans as they plan by the way is to make every human in the worldand in human goes against Dr Ratcliff a scientist who he thinks can help them re create the original Cree experiment that native humans in the first place he realizes he needs actual Cree blood to do it so he sends a signal to the Creed to get some to come downand they do in a fight ensues they’re both taken out but also rendered useless however some Cree blood from daisies used from when she was saved without original Cree corpse long story doesn’t really matter experience go half rate asand it turns peopleand these gross disfigured mindless things meanwhile Scott laying after successfully cross job is still training is at man with Hankand hope that at some point here he upgrade to suitand test out new tech that allows him to become giant he tries it onceand passes out but hey it works Peter is continuing to Spiderman around the city at one point stopping a car crashand getting caught on camera the footage is uploaded to YouTubeand catches the eye of Tony Stark who keeps it in his watch later until he really needs it he’s got bigger stuff to think about right now is right around this point people are starting to take more notice of how much damage the superheroes have actually caused in their superheroand the guy who’s all over this is unsurprisingly general Ross from the days he needs of the presidentand his appointed Secretary of Stateand start talking about how they can keep the stuff moreand check the start of on the ideas for the Segovia cords basically a way of regulating superheroes with more oversight by forcing them to register with the government while this is happening Frank Castle continues his killing spree of people who were involved in this family’s murder going from truck murder to sniper murder to the bathroom murder is getting what he thinks is all them in a decides to move all of his life is the whole point the punisher was to avenge his family so that’s done now or so he thinks also after lectures not has stopping daredevil for a few months now because he’s just too sad things are not bad though foggy Nelson get some helpand I got in the barbershopand clears the cages nameand Lucas at a prison loop is up with Claireand they get that coffee they’d wanted Jessica Jones comes across lecture during one of her cases is still doing whatever the hand once rememberand objective Dragon bones under New York immortality the only problem is those Dragon bones are essential foundations for the city so the removal of them is causing serious earthquakesand could eventually to the whole city collapsing is also hiring a bunch of Harlem kids to help them kill and or clean up the mess is left behind by their enemies cages about this news like I got to protect the people of Harlemand Danny Randy is about this is like I gotta take a hand saw this lease to them crossing pathsand having a bit of a fight every day become friends because of their mutual friend Claire through fortuitous circumstances Jessica’s tracking guy connected to the handand that Murdoch ends up being her lawyerand also gets interested in the case so all four of them end up at the hands buildingand start fighting their ninjas electro sent into daredevil surprise but doesn’t remember him remind you of anyone but they all managed to get out of thereand go hide out in a Chinese restaurant where the become more acquainted state gets kidnapped by the hand but gets out of there by cutting off his own hand get itand goes to talk to the team Alexandraand had followed to see Alexandraand the hand is a whole knee iron fist alive because his iron fist is the key to open the gate to the sweet sweet Dragon bones if I happens electro starts remember who she isand that offenders get their hands on one of the hands main leaders also have their superhero team name is the defenders this guy is not of much help thoughand so stick to set off is not happy about this because they’re running out of there immortality juice the defender starting though because they’re like if the hand need you Danny we should probably had your wayand then he does what he does bestand is a whiny baby so they’ll punch him for a whileand then time however stickand typical stick fashion thinks that he might in the world so I’m getting kill him but lecture shows upand kill stickand tasty on fist to the hand she also kills Alexandra as she wants to be in charge I guess Jessica Jones find out more about that whole get it will found a while back with hands digging for Dragon bones after Lilith over the police that offenders minus Danny fight the hand plus the got Colleen to help Danny accidentally opens the gates of the Dragon bones because of course he doesand other defenders are fighting to hand in a lecture while also trying to block building so the hand can destroy New York the kudos guild Misty Knight loses an armand the offenders whenand get out of there butback to talk to Bucky I mean Electra yesterday heard the building collapses on the master kissingand that he saved by some nuns think look that they savedand that doesn’t actually die thank God it’s time to introduce another very important character very late in the game a Stephen strange is an amazing surgeon but he’s also super arrogantand kind of addict’s ex girlfriend also works with him called Rachel McAdams one day he’s drivingand textingand he crashes his car crushing his amazing surgeon hands in his life because he can’t be an awesome surgeon anymoreand he somehow even more awful to sex than usual really his life is just falling apart he starts to find ways to heal himself however ridiculous eventually he comes across Jonathan born the guy who trained with the ancient oneand was cured so strange has two Taj is there more to one of the masters takes into the ancient one because of all the crazy ultra dimensions there are at least the trip used ones he’s like help me learnand she’s like no your grossand sad in a terrible person but he pleadsand stays her door so she reluctantly changes her mind so strange that’s learning how to control the Mystic artsand other dimensionsand make hologram shieldsand whatnot with the help of Moto the ancient oneand the bookkeeper Wong who he befriends is about the different symptomsand how they protect worldand trains for several months along the way he also stumbles upon the times done sitting in a handy necklace the INI tomato figures out how to been time with it more unwanted like you don’t do that you could get stuck in a time loop anyway at one point you stuck to Mount Everest restraining just while all this other stuff is happening remember Stephen strange is getting great a magic this whole time so U ventures all trained upand going on missions also still looking for Bucky the next hydrogen in Lagosand think it might finally be Bucky but as they get there they realize it’s actually Brock Romo crossbones who understoodand is planning on suicide lineup himselfand Capt. From the capital nation to be only the abandoned government found wanting to you is down for lack of probably racial stories are for slavery would like we enjoyed helping our countries pushed the right from overcorrection Levi Roberts reports be noticeable degree for nearly a century was to story one of America’s years and will grow as he never heard her needs needs degree beating my hair as See Other related products: God Made Scots A Wee Bit Better T-Shirt

[the-gedonelune-times]

Proof Of Innocence ch. 4

The final chapter is finally here. I’ve honestly had so much fun writing this small series and I hope you guys have enjoyed it! Thank you guys so much for the support for this, it makes me want to continue writing more small series in the future! 

You can read the previous chapters down below:

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

“What is it you want to talk about?"

My voice was low and threatening and it ended up sounding like a growl.

"My, my, no need to show such hostility, I'm here to only talk, besides, if I wanted to fight you, you'd already be lying in a pool of your own blood by now."

I watched as he got up from his seat on the rubble and began heading in my direction. I, in turn, made sure to keep a good distance between us in case he were to try anything.

"Alright, so what is it you want to talk about."

"You, to be more precise, do you remember a man named Maximillian?"

"Of course, he's my father, but how do you know him?"

"Ah, he was a friend of mine, I've known him for a couple of years."

"Impossible. My father would never associate with the likes of you."

"Oh? Pray tell, what makes you come to that conclusion?"

"Oh please, as if I have to explain. I mean look at you, there's not a single good bone in your body, I could sense it since the day I first saw you."

"So you think your father was some kind of saint?"

"I never said that. I know my father had gotten himself into bad situations because of his past, but he would never stoop down to your level."

"See." The man inched closer. "That's where you're mistaken, young lady. Your father's past is filled with nothing but darkness. He was part of an organization I worked in and was one of the higher-ups. He only got to that position by carrying out the tasks given to him, do you even know how many people he's murdered?"

"W-What?"

"He's killed countless people and torn apart villages with the snap of his fingers. But you see, he made a mistake when he took on a mission at Graceus. He fell in love and soon he had a family, he let that get the better of him, thus, he became vulnerable. But you know something? I bet in his final seconds of life, he was happy he had a daughter to follow in his footsteps and trail down the path of darkness."

"What the hell are you blathering about?"

As I spoke, I summoned my staff and got into a defensive stance; ready to deliver a blow, should it come down to it.

"You are the only child out of his other six that even have dark magic in your veins, you reek of forbidden magic, face it, you're evil, a child born from a monster. Isn't that why the rest of your family abandoned you? Or perhaps it's the reason for your exile from Graceus?"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Oh? Can't handle the truth? Can't handle that one day that darkness will one day take over you and plunge you into nothingness? Fear not though, once it happens, we here at Hawkeye will welcome you into our organization with open arms."

"No, I just can't handle that annoying mouth of yours!"

I was furious as I lunged at him, landing a heavy attack on him which sent him flying into the air, then, in what seemed like slow motion, I conjured up chains which wrapped around his body before yanking; sending him flying into the ground below. Debris from the stone ground went flying, including dust which clouded my vision.

I was on high alert now and I tightly gripped my staff and waited for the dust to settle before making my next move.

"I gotta say, you really are something."

Just as the dust had settled, more came flying up as a large object soared into the air. When I looked up, I noticed that the man, who should have sustained injuries, was now hovering in the air with a pair of jet black wings.

"My attacks..."

"Your attacks were weak, child. Now, gaze before me, Draven and see how a real attack should be!"

I let out a scream as I dove to the ground to avoid getting hit. Draven had sent fatal wind-slice attacks my way. After having nearly dodged them, I watched as they went soaring into the cave wall on the other side, it had split many of the old pillars and stone in half like it was nothing.

"My advice? Take up my offer, or die here."

"I refuse!"

I could feel my arm burning and in the next moment, a flurry of light arrows began raining down on Draven, who of course, brushed them away like they were nothing. 

"I won't take up your damn offer, no matter what happens and I refuse to die here!" 

Besides...I made a promise to someone special to me...

Hey, come back in one piece, okay?

No promises..

This was for not only Viggo's sake, but for the sake of Gedonelune as well. If I didn't put up a fight here, then I knew the tensions between Gedonelune and Graceus would amp up and an impending war could come true!

My heart burned with desire as I sent flurries of attacks one after another. Each one had barely made a scratch on him, or they never even reached him, I was beginning to run out of options and mana,,,

"Now come on, is that all you got!"

Charging down at me, Draven managed to grab me by the neck and send me flying into a nearby pillar. The moment my back came into contact, I let out a cry before sinking to the floor in pain. In the process, my staff had gone flying elsewhere, leaving me pretty vulnerable to whatever attack was going to come next.

"Persephone Onyx."

Draven's voice echoed from above. Even though I couldn't get up, I knew he was towering over me his hand already holding a charged attack which he was probably going to use to finish me off.

"I'm going to give you one last chance. Join us or meet your fate right here in these ruins."

"Stick it up your ass Draven..."

"I see, so that's how this is going to be. Fine then. Farewell."

Just as he was about to unleash his attack, a familiar voice echoed in the ruins

"Hey, assclown. If you want a fight, then come and fight me!"

"Viggo..?"

B-But how?!

"Oh? You must be the misfit that I hear so much about. Shame I haven't really gotten to meet you until now. At least I'll have fun using you as some target practice before obliterating your friend."

Draven's attack, that was once meant for me, was now hurdling towards Viggo who stood there like nothing was going on. He smirked and grabbed out his pipe before covering the area in smoke. It was unknown if he had been hit or not, surely if he had then there would have been a verbal warning of it. 

There was one, but it wasn't from Viggo, it was from Draven who was currently getting pummeled by smoke fists in all different directions. Without being able to see, he was at the mercy of the smoke, which was playing in Viggo's favor. Even when the smoke had died down, Viggo still sent flurries of his own attacks at Draven, but not all were with magic. In fact, Viggo was pulling his weight with his own personal punches, landing one hit after another to the point where he had even sent Draven flying,

When Draven began throwing his own, they were perfectly matched in strength until...

"I've had enough of this!"

With a flap of his wings, Draven managed to send a wind-slice, much like the one he had sent at me, but at Viggo. Unlike me, however, Viggo....couldn't avoid it in time and was hit. Things moved in slow motion, one minute, Viggo was standing there and the next, he too was sent into one of the crumbling marble pillars. The only difference was that I heard a snapping sound, followed by a heart-shattering cry. 

I pushed myself up with what little strength I had and looked over at where Viggo was sent flying. All I saw was Viggo's body surrounded by rubble, while Draven looked on with a satisfied smile. 

For the first time in forever, I found myself on the verge of breaking down, my eyes were burning with tears, my chest hurt and my whole body was shaking, *No...he can't be dead...*.I kept telling myself this over and over while gripping my head and tightly shutting my eyes. Within a few moments of staying like this, I felt my hair being tugged upwards, along with my body where I came face to face with Draven.

"Have you finally given up?"

"No..."

"You've got to be kidding me."

He began to laugh loudly before dropping me back down to the ground, where I landed with a *thud*

"You see Draven..."

 I slowly began to pick myself back up once more; this time I used the remaining pillar as support to help me stand up on my own.

"I'm done with your bullshit..."

For some reason, the tattoo on my arm was beginning to burn brightly, causing my shoulder to throb with a dulled pain. Meanwhile, dark smoke began to dance around my feet until they were shrouded in the darkness itself. I could see only red at this point and as I held my hands, I began to speak an ancient incantation which made Draven's eyes go wide.

My veins were now clearly visible and were covered with thorned tattoo's that ran up my arms completely.

"Draven, my word of advice for you? Run..."

The moment I smiled, black-smoked covered spiked chains came hurtling towards him at high speeds, each one was thorn-like tipped and dug into his skin the moment they wrapped around him. He was in mid-flight when he was caught and was now desperately trying to free himself from the restraints. 

When I saw this, I quickly jumped into action and rushed over to a pile of rubble, jumping off of it and then kicking myself off of the wall right next to it, which sent me into the air backward. With perfect timing, I managed to swing my foot downwards while mid-flip, fiercely kicking him down to the ground below where he let out a groan of pain.

I hovered in the air, right above his body for a few seconds before slowly floating down to the ground, right in front of him. He was coughing and spitting out dust from his mouth. He tried lifting his head and with a swing of my hand, I sent his face back down to the ground below. 

"I'm done messing around Draven."

"So...you going to kill me now, or what?"

I had to stop and think about that question for a moment...I...I had never killed anyone before, how could I even think about killing someone now? Sure, he had tried to kill me, Viggo and quite possibly others and yet...I don't think I could bring myself to kill him.

"I knew it, you're weak!"

As he lunged at me, the chains that bounded him had begun to tear and shred his entrapped wings. I ended up grabbing his arm and twisting it before kneeing him hard in the jaw; which ended up knocking him out cold. I was breathing heavily now as I staggered backward, almost tripping on my own two feet.

I looked down at him and then, with a wave of my hand, more chains appeared and now wrapped around his wrists. I closed my eyes and felt a cool breeze wash over me as I mana drained him just a little bit. Yes, mana bending and draining were forbidden uses of magic, but...I had to do it, I had no other choice...

Once I felt a little bit more energy wash over me, I quickly ran over to the pile of rubble where Viggo had been, picking up my staff that had been previously thrown elsewhere during the fight. When I got to the rubble. I was prepared for the worst, but I was relieved to know that he was alive. He was beaten up pretty badly and was pretty much out cold. But at least he was alive.

"I wish I could do something for you.."

Right as I spoke, I noticed my shoulder was glowing, on it, two new pieces appeared; another rose petal and a thorned vine that wrapped around the incomplete markings. A shimmering light began to rain down from it and land on Viggo and I watched on with tears as he opened his eyes.

"Seph? Is that you?"

"Viggo! You're awake-- and your arm!"

Shock was plastered on my face as I looked down at his arm, it had once been broken horribly, but now...

"Huh? Did something happen to my arm?"

"Yes, wait, do you not remember anything that just happened?"

"I remember breaking out from the detention chambers because I could sense you were in danger. I asked people in town if they had seen you and some elderly man told me where you were after I told him that you were in trouble. When I came down here, I saw you in pretty bad shape and that guy...he was the one I got a glance at before, but I can't remember what happened after that."

"Well...you saved me, Viggo..." I smiled and gently touched his cheek

"Did I? Does that mean I get a kiss?"

"Not a chance, idiot."

"Worth a shot." 

Viggo let out a pained chuckle, it must have been from all the bruises. The magic may have saved his arm, but it didn't heal up the cuts and bruises.

"Oh yeah, I pulled something off that lunatic."

"Huh- wait...is that!?"

Viggo pulled out a small sphere that gave off a great deal of magical energy, probably enough magic to equal that of hundred elite magical knights at the Ministry.

"This must be the thing that was stolen from the MInistry! We have to hurry and take this to them!"

"That won't be necessary. We can go ahead and take that from you right now."

"Huh?"

When I looked back at the new voice, I saw a rather tall man with golden hair coming my way. He was being accompanied by two other ministry members.

Standing up, I faced the three new people and I held out the sphere in my hand.

"After you take us, you have to drop all charges that were put against Viggo and I. Your culprit has already been caught."

"Who said you had charges against you?"

"What...but.."

"I should have mentioned that earlier." Viggo spoke up "When I broke out of the detention chamber, the so-called ministry members that threw us in, were nothing more than fakes. They turned to smoke the minute I attacked them."

"So then that means you...and you" I pointed at Klaus and Vincent "Weren't actually around?"

"No, we and some of the prefects were busy investigating the recent spike in unstable magic, I'm sure you've seen the effects of it, through the terrible weather we've had."

"Yeah," Vincent spoke up this time. "Someone had purposefully tampered with it and we had to go out and find out who. We've all been gone for at least a few days."

"Hang on a second" I put my hands to my head and rubbed gently. "So, then that means, the Zeus, Lucious, and Hiro that I talked to?"

"Must have been fakes created to talk and act like them."

"Why go through so much trouble for all of this?"

"Must be scared of us, Sephie." Viggo laughed

"Well, I'm not sure of everything just yet, but given that the sphere in your hand is not only one of the many peace offering between Graceus and Gedonelune, but also a magic stabilizer for the land's magic. It helps maintain and protect the ancient magic in the land from spilling out."

"So if someone bad were to have used this for evil..."

"Yes, it very well may have destroyed Gedonelune and many other lands."

"Now.." Klaus cleared his throat and opened the palm of his hand. "May I please have it, so I may return it to its rightful place."

"Oh, yeah, sorry." 

I quickly handed the sphere over to Klaus who quickly but it into some magical container. 

"Now, about this culprit that you said you caught?"

"Oh yeah, he's over...there?"

When I looked over, there was no sign of Draven except blood and a few of his feathers from his wings that were torn out from the struggle.

"I swear he was right here!"

"I see. Well, then, you four over there, don't just stand there, start gathering evidence!" 

Klaus began barking orders at a few others that had come down with him, then he sighed and placed a hand to his forehead. 

"I swear, I don't get paid enough for this. Anyways, I should probably go ahead and thank you for helping us retrieve what was stolen. You've done a great service for us, so thank you, Persephone."

"I can't take all the credit, Viggo played a part to. If he hadn't shown up, then I...I might have been killed down here."

"I see. Viggo, thank you for your contribution to this case."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just don't tell anyone else about this, I'll start looking like a good guy."

I burst out laughing at his comment and afterward, Viggo and I were both escorted back onto Academy grounds and taken into the infirmary for our sustained injuries.

--------------------------------

After about a day, we were discharged and allowed to go about our days like usual, the only difference was that we had been exempted for classes for a few days after everything that had happened.

Now, after what seemed like forever, Viggo and I were out sitting by our usual spot.

"Thought you should know that the Ministry found some kind of pin lying on the ground in the ruins."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they know some more info on the guy, they just don't know his whereabouts right now. Though, considering the condition we left him in, he probably couldn't have gone far."

"I hope not. If he has, then that means more trouble."

"You seem worried."

"Yeah, worried that I'll have to do more work."

"Viggo gave a small snort. "You sound like this Day Class student I know who comes into the detention chamber sometimes."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Oh, hey Seph. There's something I wanted to ask you back there in the ruins."

"What?"

"Why are you such an idiot?"

"Seriously..."

"Yes, seriously. I get that you were doing this to clear my name and all, but you went to some serious lengths to achieve that."

"Is there something wrong with that? So what? I wanted to prove you were innocent."

"Look...you're really not making this easy for me to say."

"Well, then improve on your wording."

"Alright, you want me to be straightforward and ask then?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Fine, do you like me?"

"Well, yeah of course I do, you're probably one the coolest people here."

"Not like that, you idiot."

"Hey!"

"You're the dense one here, okay. See, I'm asking if you love me."

Oh dear gods, he actually said it. My face became hot and suddenly I was acting like those love-struck fools in the Day Class during the Love Holiday.

"Where is this coming from, exactly?"

"Well, to be honest, I had been wanting to bring this up to you for a little while. Probably around the time, I started liking you."

"Wait, hold on, you like me?"

"Yeah? Got a problem with it."

"Not at all, I like you too-"

Did....did I really just say that out loud? I felt like hiding away in a dark cave at this point and I was becoming embarrassed, so much so that I was beginning to find it hard looking into his eyes. This wasn't like me at all, normally I was cool and collected, why...why was I feeling this way? Were my true feelings for Viggo beginning to show themselves? I had a million thoughts running through my head which all came to a standstill when I felt Viggo's hand wrap around mine.

I gently squeezed his hand back as we sat in silence. I had spent so many years, wanting to feel love again and I...I felt it with Viggo. He made me feel safer than I had ever felt before. But, I'd never tell him that...probably.

"Hey! Persepho- Oho? We got a couple of lovebirds here."

"Shut up, Zeus."

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"Listen, we need you in the Headmaster's office, Schuyler wants to see you."

"The headmaster?"

Viggo and I looked at one another before getting up and following Zeus to the Headmaster's office. We didn't know what to expect and quite frankly, I was a little scared considering that I had broken quite a few rules during the recent events. I could feel my heart practically leap into my throat when Zeus knocked on the door and alerted Schuyler of our arrival. I felt even more uneasy when Viggo let go of my hand.

"Come in."

Schuyler's voice came from inside and Zeus opened the door and walked in, with us following close behind him.

"I brought her, just like you asked. But Viggo here refused to stay behind."

"Listen, if she's in trouble then don't make her have all the blame."

"No one is in trouble here. In fact, I wanted you to come and see me so I could give you a few things. I noticed that you have not worn an official Night Class uniform since you've been here. So, I'm here to provide you with one."

"That won't be necessary."

"What?"

"I have one, already/ It needs to be sewn up a little bit but it's still usable. Besides, it means a lot to me because it was given to me by someone special."

I looked over and noticed that Viggo was now looking away, avoiding any and all eye contact with me.

"I see, well then. With that uniform, I expect you to be wearing this at all times."

Schuyler pulled out a box and sat it on the desk; inside was a special Night Class pin.

"Is that..."

"Yes, this means you are an official deputy prefect for the Night Class, due to the recent incident, there was a unanimous vote to have you be a part of the prefect team. I hope to see good things from you Miss Onyx. Do try and stay out of trouble though."

"Way to go Seph, look at you climbing the ranks."

"Now that we've gotten all of this taken care of, you may be all dismissed back to your regular duties."

Schuyler shooed us out of the office and we all left. Zeus had split off from us and went on his own while Viggo and I walked down the hallway together.

"I'm proud of you, I mean hey, who knows, you might be a real prefect soon."

"Don't get your hopes up too much."

I laughed and then smiled when Viggo grabbed my hand again. 

After all the things that had just happened, I was beyond relieved to return to life here at the Academy. Things have changed since then though, I've had to take on more responsibilities, like balancing my academics and my deputy prefect duties. It was going to be a challenge, but hey, challenges are what makes life more exciting, right?

[heartfeltheart]

Alchemy: Magic Vs. Science

Chapters: 15/25 Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist/Harry Potter Rating: T Relationships: Edward/Winry, Lan Fan/Ling, and May/Alphonse. Primary Characters: Edward Elric, Severus Snape Additional Tags: Crossover, Teacher!Edward, BrOtp Edward/Severus. Sassy beyond measure. Series: Part 1 of 9. Summary: Magic and Science, are they the same or are they completely different? It just takes one person to point out all up and downs. Along with breaking the stereotypes that come up with being a wizard, alchemist and most of all being human. Thank you, @amynchan! D/C: I do not own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist. Discord: La Red(Mesh Mash of… stuff.): https://discord.gg/KYjmVAb Alchemy Series: https://discord.gg/DejEYNJ

“English and Edward’s accented voice.” “Amestrian or another foreign language.” “Written notes.” ‘Thoughts.’ First Name: Informal Last Name: Formal (Or used to annoy others)

"BASTARD!"

"SHORTY!"

"WE ARE THE SAME HEIGHT NOW, STOP SAYING THAT!"

"...Really?"

"You barely noticed."

"SHUT UP!"

"MAKE ME!"

Complete and utter chaos is the only way that the Auror's could describe the scene before them. The moment that Colonel Elric stood in front of an inconspicuous looking wall and yelled out 'Colonel Bastard', they wondered if the muggle had lost his mind. Then to their complete and utter shock, someone responded with a scream that they could only describe annoyance and disbelief. A light filled the alleyway and once it went away, the wall was gone, revealing two muggles. One was the fire street performer from earlier and the other one was...half naked and crying.

Colonel Elric walked up to the shorter of the two muggles and they started to argue in a different language. As those two argued, the other man started to blubber, cry and sparkle. If that was some type of magic, they do not want to know...

Soft footsteps reverberated from the entrance of the alleyway, and they turned to see a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes with a dog. The canine kept looking towards their way, occasionally baring its teeth at them warningly. His mistress paid no mind to them as she headed towards the end of the alleyway of the arguing men. She appeared to be completely unperturbed by the scene before her. One of the Auror's called out to her, to remove her from the scene, when the blonde pulled out a small muggle metal object from her person. Only one or two of the Auror's knew what that object was, their eyes went wide when the women pointed her gun at the arguing man. Without warning.... three bangs filled the air.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Elric and Mustang stopped their argument, their eyes wide in complete fear as they saw three bullet holes on a dumpster that was right next to them. Smoke trailed through the bullet holes only seemed to intensify the tense atmosphere. No one spoke as they feared the beauty will turn her weapon on them.

"H-h-he-e-e-l-l-l-o-o, Lei-" Edward cleared his throat with fear clearly evident in his voice. "Lieutenant Hawkeye!"

"It's Captain Hawkeye now, Colonel Elric." Hawkeye stated in English, her voice is extremely lightly accented. It was far better than Elric's by miles.

"Captain?" One of the Auror's asked with a look of befuddlement. "Colonel Elric?"

"What the bloody hell just happened?" The Head Auror yelled out, ignored the previously asked question. He pointed a hand at Hawkeye, who still had her gun out. "You nearly killed them with that-that-that-"

"That's a muggle weapon called a gun..." One of the other Auror's piped up but paid any mind to him.

"You could have missed and killed them!"

Elric and Mustang glanced at each other with wide eyes, looks of complete shock that quickly turned into amusement. They wrapped an arm around each other's shoulders and began to laugh. It appeared whatever anger they had for each other earlier had gone and they actually looked like friends for once.

"Hawkeye missing her target?"

"She never misses! Never!"

"Who do they think they are?"

"I told you that they are idiots."

The Auror's knew that Elric and Mustang were making fun of them, even if they could not understand what was being said. They wanted to yell at them, to tell them what they are blabbering about. However, the fear of being shot by the woman or get mauled by her canine kept them quiet, including using their magic to use a spell to figure out what is being said. The gun was still spewing out smoke...

"OWWWW! What the hell Fullmetal! That was my foot!"

"Stop pulling my hair, Bastard!"

"Stop stepping on me then! You still have your automail!"

"Then move your foot!"

Hawkeye let out a sigh, she knew something like this was going to happen. It was inevitable. This was just a time bomb, ticking away to explode in complete insanity. There was only one cure for such situation...violence, intimidation, and fear.

Bang!

Bang!

The bullet soared through the air, narrowly missing Elric's right arm and Mustang's eye. Both males eyes widen in complete fear. They know that Hawkeye never misses, but that still puts the fear into them. Warning shots... They need to behave properly in front of government officials...fun.

"That's two warning shots. You know what comes next." Hawkeye stated, she casually reloaded her gun to emphasize her point.

"I am sorry, Captain Hawkeye." Edward apologized.

Hawkeye gave Mustang a pointed look and the man apologized for his own behavior.

"I apologize for my behavior." Mustang strained out, he and Elric untangled from each other and stood at an arm's length from each other. A shadow fell over them and both men swore they saw sparkles before they were engulfed in an, oh so familiar Armstrong embrace.

"Oh! Friends making up and being friends, such a glorious day!"

"Get him off from me!"

"Armstrong!"

If the Auror's weren't terrified already, they were most diffidently now.

-.-

"So... Mustang."

"Fullmetal?"

"First off, THE FUCK? Seriously, the Fuck? Why are you here?"

"Well, as per usual, I'm-"

"And SECONDLY, STOP calling me that! Really! Just 'Ed' works, for the millionth time. Are you getting deaf, Old Bastard?"

"You're still a Colone-"

"And you're still a Bastard!"

"Oh? Well, you're still a ShRiMp!"

Hawkeye sighed, sensing another argument approach. She looked pointedly at them, loudly cocking her pistol to make a point. Forget the fact they are currently in the British Ministry of Magic and surrounded by stick-wielding idiots, this was a matter of her losing her sanity. It just took that single click to get Elric and Mustang attention. Both men wrapped an arm around each other's shoulders and shook each other's good hands as a sign of friendship. An extremely forced and terrified friendship. Hawkeye gave them one last look before she continued of forward.

The moment that Hawkeye turned away, Elric and Mustang glared at each other. That went away whenever the brown-eyed blonde turned around, it was all smiles and laughter. The Auror's, Ministry Official's and many bystanders watched the scene before them with different views. Many view the Amestrians as complete idiots, there was no way they are high ranking military officials with that type of attitude. Another group saw this as an opportunity to use in their favor. If this is how they run a country, then everything will be far easier for their own agenda. The last group watched on with hidden mirth. It was amusing to watch, to say the least.

Especially the fact two grown men are terrified of a small dog and said dog's owner.

Then again, it was all fun and games until someone loses an eye or limb. In this case, it might as well be both.

After walking through the sixth corridor, Mustang cleared his throat to get Elric's attention. The Golden Blonde inconspicuously glanced over to see his superior officer giving him a look they needed to discuss something. A discussion that needed to be kept under wraps and no arguing from either of them. With a humph, Elric fell into step with Mustang without forcing their interaction to seem fake.

"Yes?"

"Is there anything else I should know before we enter?"

"Besides the fact no one seems to have common sense, whatever logic they have goes through one ear and into another and I am being honest here...I am surprised I haven't maimed or killed anyone. Or myself for that matter..." Elric rotated his left arm as he spoke, Mustang was "Besides the obvious... if you thought the Military was corrupt from within, you'll have a field day here trying to dig up every conspiracy this place has to offer."

Mustang facepalmed, he did not even bother to hide his annoyance. The last thing he needed is more conspiracies, let alone in a place filled with whackos. "Politics?"

"...I just told you..."

"Fullmetal."

"Tch. Fine. The British Ministry of Magic... What I know mostly deals with the children. I know from what I have heard from my friends here, students, and you get the picture..." Elric reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he caught sight of a woman wearing nothing but a horrid shade of pink. The mere sight of it nearly blinded him and by the looks of it, his military friends had a similar issue with it. "This ministry is controlling every aspect in that school. They are not teaching any subjects that could help them in a... muggle setting... They are ensuring what is taught to them, makes them stay in this idiotic world. With no chances of being able to blend into any other society. This government makes everything seem so loony, but in the background, all that is them controlling everything."

"...Are you correcting it?"

Elric slowly shifted over to look at Mustang with a deadpanned expression. Mustang gave him a slide glace to see the Golden Blonde's own expression, he coughed into his gloved hand and took that as his answer. "Should have known the answer already."

"Well no duh..."

"Here we are..." One of the Auror's said opening large oak doors to reveal a room that had a long table with chairs surrounding it. The walls had paintings, all of whom Elric assumes to be past officials of the Ministry of Magic. Now for the upcoming headaches that only meetings, paperwork and people that have nothing to do with politics could do.

-.-

Severus stared the piece of paper that laid on Edward's desk. It was a clear outline what the Alchemy Teacher expected to be done while in his absence. In this case, Severus was currently subbing for said teacher and was left at a loss. He would have thought being a potion's master would give an edge along with studying Edward's notes. It appeared none of that is helping him at that moment.

In the unspecified amount of time that Severus had known Edward, he had always managed, if only just, to grasp Edward's understanding and logic of the world. Even at Edward's most confused, angry, or seemingly deranged moments, Severus had managed to work out what was needed to maintain at least a basic conversation with the blonde. Today, looking at Edward's notes for his class, he was at a complete at a complete loss. For the first time since his own school days, Severus had zero ideas of what to do.

"Sir?"

Severus glanced over to see one of the Alchemy student's starting at the piece of paper on the desk. Judging from the student's expression, they knew what was written on it. "What?"

"Need help translating it?"

Severus looked at the student, a Hufflepuff, the piece of paper, back to the student and back at the paper. Without saying a single word, he pushed paper towards the Hufflepuff's direction. For his own credit, the Potion's Master did not take away any points. Especially after the student took the paper and went up to the chalkboard and started to write down what was needed to be done. Apparently, Edward had coded the instructions just enough for one of his students to decode it.

The topic of the day is... Noble gases.

"We are to write an essay on one of them of our choosing."

"That's it?"

"Hahaha.... no. Once we are done with that, we must write another report on how the element of our choosing interacts with five other elements on the periodic table. That is where you come in." The Hufflepuff put down the piece of chalk once they finished writing on the chalkboard. They placed the paper back on the desk and pulled out a giant chart from the said desk. The Hufflepuff placed the chart on another chalkboard to reveal a periodic table. "You are to assign each of us those five elements and write it down for Mr. Elric's knowledge."

"And you got all of that...from that?"

"Yes."

"Five points from Hufflepuff."

So close...

-.-

Vigilance. Utmost vigilance. These people were acting like complete idiots, the first moment Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody first saw the Amestrians, his first thoughts were that they have no business being in a military. They are carefree, obnoxious, and completely unbelievable in his eyes. This meeting seemed like a complete waste of time. That train of thought completely when the leader cleared his throat and went from being an idiot to an actual leader. Someone he must keep an eye out on.

What surprised Mad-Eye the most is that he thought the woman, Captain Riza Hawkeye, is the leader of the bunch. No. The supposed moron is the leader and highest ranking officer of the bunch. The way he spoke, his posture, that looks in his eye and everything about that man screams danger. It didn't help how the man used his hands emphasize his points, said hands that created such realistic flames.

"Hem. Hem."

Mustang stopped talking when that same woman from earlier, who is dressed entirely in an atrocious shade of pink and reminded him of a toad, give him a familiar looking smile. The same type of smile he had seen on people that have ulterior motives and hiding something within their own selves. For Truth's sake, he has own version of that smile. "Yes?"

"You stated that your home country of Amesty-"

"Amestris." Elric interrupted, no hint of remorse in his voice. He gave the woman a blank stare while said woman momentarily glared at him for interrupting her. "Get it right."

"Fullmetal..."

"I am not apologizing."

"Colonel Elric."

"..." Elric felt a drop of cold of sweat slide down the back of his neck when he felt Hawkeye give him the 'look'. He looked over at the frog and said an apology.

"As I was saying..." The woman continued, not bothering to acknowledge the apology. "You had stated that your home country, magic is impossible to do? Could you explain how is that even remotely possible?"

"Ah...That questions, I expected one of you to ask us that earlier." Mustang stated, he leaned against his chair and gave the woman a fixed expression. "We suspect it had to do with an event that occurred over four hundred years ago..."

Elric kept his expression transfixed on Mustang as the man spun the tale that caused so many deaths, heartaches, and so many broken promises. Mustang did not mention anything about Father, the homunculus, how deeply rooted the former is in the Military and so on. Only gave enough information to satisfy the Ministry Officials hunger.

Sometime later...

"These sparkles have been passed down the Armstrong family for generations and generations!"

Roy and Edward leaned slide down their respective chairs as they watched Alex go on about the Armstrong family line. One of the wizards couldn't hold back their curiosity about Armstrong's sparkles. Roy had a mental debate on whether to allow any sort of questioning towards his unit. Especially if they are personal, however... it is all going to come out one way or another.

"One question, only ask one question to each of us. Only one, don't waste it. Oh, one more thing...we are not responsible for the after effects."

The first question just had to be about the sparkles...why does it always have to be about the sparkles...

"I asked Winry to marry me...and well... I guess...I have to invite you..."

Roy looked at Edward with a look of shock. His young subordinate is getting married, Edward is getting married and is growing up. He reached over and nudge Edward with his elbow. "Are you sure you were the one that popped the question? It could be Winry that popped the question. Times have changed."

"...In all honesty... I'm waiting for Riza to ask you once Grumman passes the law."

"What law? What law? Fullmetal!"

"Nothing. Nothing. Nothing."

Roy stated at Edward before he let out a frustrated sigh. If anything, he wouldn't mind if Riza does pop the question. The only issue was the anti-fraternization law that were in place, preventing any sorts of relationships to occur between military officers. Maybe one day...maybe one day. "Where is the wedding taking place?"

"Resembool, I don't care really. Wherever Winry wants to get married."

"...Rush Valley?"

Edward paled at the thought of having his wedding at Rush Valley. It did not look pretty, not one single bit. "...Uh...Whatever makes her happy..."

Roy snickered under his breath, he needed to even the ground between them. "How's being a teacher? Killed anyone yet?"

"Ugh......" Edward slid further into his chair in complete despair. "Don't even get me started, now I know how Teacher feels like... I apologize every time I ever acted like a complete brat."

"...Did you just apologize?" Roy nearly jumped out of his seat at the fact Edward just apologized to him. Edward Elric. Apologizing. Nope, nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. What the hell have they done to him?! By the looks of it, Edward looked just as horrified as himself. "To me?"

"This place is messing with me..." Edward's body went entirely slack in shock realization.

-.-

"Go read my files." Elric stated in a bored turn, it was his turn to be asked his single question. The question of the day involved his younger brother, Alphonse. Curse the fact he mentioned his brother and people remember that one thing about his. "You have my files."

"All we have on file is that you have a younger brother by the name of Alphonse Elric and that he is also an alchemist." The hideously dressed toad woman, Umbridge, stated with a clipped voice. She had Elric's files on hand. "Elaborate on ho-"

"I am going to stop you right there." Elric cut her off, raising his hand up to cut Umbridge off. "Only one question, you already asked your question and I answered it."

"No, you did not answer the question."

"Yes, I did."

"No, you did not."

"Yes, I did."

"No. You did not..." The sickly-sweet smile that made Elric look on with hidden disgust. The woman was obviously not to be trusted and reminded him of all thing things he hated. Fake, distrustful, and far too cheerful for his taste.

"Yes, he did." Mustang intervened before the fight escalated anymore than it already has. "You asked about Alphonse Elric, Colonel Elric answered that question by saying for you to read his files."

"I asked how what his brother does for the Amestris Military, what he responded did not coincide with my question." Umbridge said in a sugary tone that hid the poison in her honeyed words. "Colonel Elric had commented that he did his work alongside with his brother, we just wanted to know what is said brother's role."

Elric and Mustang glanced at each other wondering how to make the women understand that they were not going to add any more information on Alphonse. The only connection that connects him through the Military his older brother. That's it, nothing else. What he does vary depending on the situation, Alphonse primary objective is to keep his brother in check or get the brother out of trouble. There's that other thing but that subject is not going to be breach any time soon...

"I already answered your question. Do you understand what we meant by one question? Do you even comprehend what that means?" Elric stated in an authoritative tone that made Mustang's Unit straighten their backs as if they were expecting an order. Mustang grinned at the Golden Blonde's tone of voice, it reminded so much of his own. Dare he say it, that he is looking at Elric with pride. "Do you understand what I am saying to you?"

"You make it seem like they do not comprehend their own language." Mustang commented offhandedly.

"I'm not surprised, they do not teach language at that cesspool. They do not have any type of class that teaches them the common fundamentals that are needed to be taught in any school." Elric muttered under his breath just loud enough for Mustang to hear. "Too bad they don't have a class that teaches them common sense. They all need it...severely."

"Ah...is this what you have been facing since you started teaching at Pigwarts?"

"It's Hogwarts, Colonel Bastard." Elric corrected Mustang with a snort. "Yes, at least you don't have to teach them... I must teach them subjects they should have already knew before even entering the school. No English, Math, Science, or other subjects that are needed to get by in this world."

Mustang expression went blank as he went over what Elric just informed him. The mere thought of it made him pinch the bridge of his nose to hold back his frustration. This assignment seemed to be getting better and better. "This is a complete waste of time."

"The adults in this world are useless, there is still hope for the younger generation that hasn't been tainted by their parent's view of the world." Elric mumbled under his breath.

That perked Mustang's interest, he leaned forward and gave the Ministry officials a charming smile. "Tell me about this school of yours, Pigwarts..."

"Hogwarts." Elric coughed out, elbowing Mustang in the ribs.

Mustang considered himself lucky at the fact Elric's right arm is his actual human arm. If it was still an automail limb, there might have been a broken rib or two. For now, glaring will suffice for a later time. "Hogwarts...public or private?"

-.-

"As I said before, this was a complete waste of time." Roy stated under his breath, downing down on a cup of hot coffee. He did not care for the fact he was burning his tongue in the process. "They have nothing to offer us, they are still recovering from a war that occurred years ago and the government has its grimy hands on everything. It reminds me of Amestris before the Promise Day."

"I warned you, this place has nothing to offer Amestris. The government is interlaced into every crook and crevice of the British Magical World. They make things seem kooky and insane, to hide the fact there are dark intentions behind every move they do." Edward stated in a calm tone, he slowly drank a cup of tea. He sat with his legs crossed, arms crossed and his eyes were closed. Roy was sitting next to him in a similar position and the rest of the unit is sitting around them. "The comparison of rebuilding a government and country, between Amestris and here... it's laughable. As you said, they are recovering from a war that occurred years ago and shows no progress of fixing itself anytime soon. Amestris has already redone the government to ensure what had happened, will not happen again...Colonel Bastard?"

"Yeah, pipsqueak?"

"Does the Military have control off all the schooling system?"

"Mainly in the Academy, they have been pushing schools to teach subjects geared towards alchemy. Beside that...no. There has been talking to rearrange the system to allow the schools to stray away from that and be more creat...I'm getting off topic here... Nope. If a kid wants to go out into the world, we will give them the necessary tools for them to survive. Unlike here!"

"...You really don't like this place, don't you?"Edward asked with a deadpanned expression.

"What makes you think that?" Roy responded dryly.

"Look...I won't blame anyone for not wanting to create a..." Edward waved his free hand around trying to find the word. "Treaty, truce, agreement, whatever the hell you want to call it, between those idiots and the idiots back home. It benefits them more than it will benefit us in the long run."

"Shouldn't you be trying to convince me to think otherwise?" Roy turned his head to see Edward staring at his own reflection in his drink.

"I'm thinking about my students, dumbass." Edward didn't bother to look at Roy as he stood up, he placed his cup of tea on the table. He reached towards his chair to pick up his coat, he swung the coat of his shoulder and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants. "They are the future of this place. If you want to change, you have to start from the beginning."

"Ugh...why do you always make things so complicated..." Roy grumbled under his breath, he watched Ed leave the café they were in and disappear down the street. He glanced down at Edward's drink and stared at it with a blank expression. "...Did he pay for his...?"

"No."

-.-

Amestris.

The Promised Day.

Non-Magical.

Alchemy.

"What the bloody hell should I do?"

Minister Millicent Bagnold sat behind her desk, scanning through many documents that were created for possible peace negotiations between Magical Great Britain and Amestris. She sat in her office as she tried to process what had occurred the last three days. It was constant meetings with Amestris representatives and Prof... Mr..... Colonel Elric. Despite what had occurred in the meeting, the Minister has a feeling that General Mustang played them like fools, and they fell for it. From the information provided for them by the military officers, the Wizarding Community have everything to gain if the negotiations go through.

What would Amestris gain from it all?

Nothing much. By the looks of it, they gain more by making not having to deal with them in the first place. They just went through a civil war almost two years ago, and they made more progress of recovering then themselves in the last couple of years. Self-sufficient. Do they need this to go through? No. Then why are they making the effort of coming here?

Millicent scanned through the files to pull out a particular file. Printed in bold red ink on the front of the file is the name, Edward Elric. This file was given to her by General Mustang's assistant personally and hasn't been seen by anyone else. She slowly opened the file and the first thing she saw is a muggle picture of a young boy that looked eerily like Colonel Elric and another one that is clearly is to be the young man. Scanning through the file, the Minister's eyes widen at the personal achievements of the Former Alchemist.

Millicent sat back on her seat, she rubbed her chin with her free hand as she held up the files for her to read with her other hand. There appeared to be multiple gaps in the story behind the Promised Day, but that is something for her not to worry. That is a personal issue that Amestris needs to hide. For Merlin's sake, the Ministry has so many secrets that it has its own branch for that. Should she consider looking into it? No. She'll leave that alone.

The Minister pulled out her wand and flicked it. The moment she did, her personal aid opened the door to her office and walked in. "Madam?"

"Bring me everything we have on Van Hohenheim."

-.-

"My butt..." Edward grumbled under his breath as he tumbled out of Dumbledore's fireplace. He looked up to see that he was the only one in the office besides Fawkes the Phoenix. The bird stared at the Blonde with curious eyes, said Blonde stuck out his tongue at it. "Class should still be in secession right now."

The Phoenix cooed out, Edward swore it was mocking him.

With a grunt, Edward picked himself up and headed out of the office. He headed towards his class to relieve Severus for subbing his class. Knowing Severus, he could be hitting his head against the wall trying to read his notes. That reminds him...he'll have to ask his Wednesday class about that. At that thought, Edward grinned. Said grin turned into a frown when he saw the Kooky Cat Lady walking towards him.

"Mr. Elric." Minerva stated in a clipped tone, she walked up towards the Alchemy teacher.

"Profezor McGonagall." Edward stated back in a bored tone.

-.-

'Late, late, late. I'm late for class!' A first-year Hufflepuff ran through the hall trying to get to his class. He had lost count of time, took the wrong staircase and had to go back to the Hufflepuff common room for his forgotten books. He stopped running when he heard harsh whispers up ahead of the hall. In a knee-jerk reaction, the Hufflepuff hid and cursed at the fact that he needed to get through that hall to get to class. Taking in a deep breath, he moved forward in hopes of not getting noticed. The closer he got, the whispers got clearer.

"Zere is a difference petveen being harsh and being strict."

Mr. Elric?

"They are children, we should not be treating them like you have been doing so."

Professor McGonagall?

"You cuddle your stutents. I enzure zey are prepared for the vorld outside zeze valls..."

What was said after that caused the Hufflepuff to pale, he retraced his steps and decided to take another route. He did not want to get caught in the middle of that crossfire. Then...there was silence. The Hufflepuff heard stomping heading towards his way and he quickly hid behind a suit of armor. He peeked between the legs of the suit of armor to see Mr. Elric stomping down the hall, all the while cursing Professor McGonagall under his breath.

The first year held his breath hoping to not be seen by the Alchemy teacher. However, his prayers were heard by someone that has a twisted sense of humor. Mr. Elric stopped stomping and cursing, he stopped in the middle of the hallway and slowly turned around. The Alchemy teacher looked at his direction and raised an eyebrow. "Cedric? Vy are you hiting? Should you be in class?"

"Sorry, Mr. Elric!"

-.-

Severus severely regrets having Edward lower the standards for students learning Alchemy. It was obvious this class had no reason, or smarts, to learn Alchemy. The assignment has been given out and he could see how lost they are. The last two classes at least knew what they were doing, or asked their fellow classmates for help.

No.

Not them.

All of them are too proud to ask for help.

Slam!

Everyone in the classroom looked over at the main entrance of the classroom to see that Edward had kicked the door in. His hands were in his pockets, a sour expression, and tension seemed to exude from him. He paused when he took note at how quiet it was in the classroom. Glancing around, Edward wonders why it was so quiet. Friday class is the talkative class. The silence wasn't helping his mood at all.

"Vy so quiet? Did Brofezor Snabe do something? Zefferus, did you do zomething?" Edward asked he closed the door behind himself as he walked into the classroom.

Severus raised an eyebrow at Edward, he took note at how heavily accented Edward's voice is. Judging by that fact, Edward isn't having a good day for far. "They are clueless of the assignment you assigned."

Edward snapped his heads towards his students, said students kept their gazes down on their papers. They do not know whose worse, Professor Snape or Mr. Elric. It doesn't help that the both of them are in the same classroom. They peaked up to see the teachers started to bicker and that caused many of them to turn in their heads in confusion. This type of behavior isn't exactly seen on a day to day basis by each person, it is only shown when both males are in the same place.

"Tonight?"

"Do you want to know what happened?

"...Do I have to continue substituting for you today?"

"Well...you still have another 30 minutes..."

"Mr. Elric..."

"Fine, fine, fine. Go torture some unfortunate soul that isn't me."

"How tempting..."

-.-

Severus sat on the leather armchair in Edward's room. He gulped down a glass of firewhiskey as he took in what Edward just told him. What he was just told made him wonder how the young man in front of him is still standing, let along living. That also included the country of Amestris, just how in Merlin's beard is that place is still existing.

Edward was laying on a love seat that was covered with multiple blankets and pillows. He had one arm laying across his face to cover his eyes and in his other hand, he had a glass of firewhiskey. The Elric's tone was low and precise that only added the seriousness to what he was saying to Severus. "My father... He wanted to sacrifice himself to bring my little brother back. I couldn't allow him to do that. We made a promise you see... to not use a human life for our own needs. In the end...I traded my door to my Alchemy for my brother."

"...You met and beat God?"

"Truth, we call him Truth and he's an ass."

Edward raised his hand and peeked over to see Severus serving himself another glass of firewhiskey. "Too much information?"

"You ended up losing your leg and brother, which resulted with you sacrificing your arm for your brother's soul. Joined the military at the age 12, got caught in so much nonsense and a huge government conspiracy that involved your 400 and something-year-old father...All because you attempted to bring someone back from the dead..."

"People do stupid things for things for their loved ones."

Severus raised his glass in agreement before drowning it down.

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[scentedbygunpowder]

Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019 Day 7: Unconditional/Rules/Because I Said So Word Count: 1620 Author: Katie/Ally (scentedbygunpowder) Rating: G Characters: Riza Hawkeye, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Roy Mustang Summary: Rules and conditions. These are things that the Elric brothers sometimes have trouble with, feeling them either restrictive to or an asset to their mission. Riza, however, views them differently. She can only hope that in time they’ll learn to listen to them a bit better.

~*~

Unconditional/Rules/Because I Said So

“No.” Mustang’s voice was sharp as he spoke.

“What?”

“Why not!”

Edward and Alphonse’s voices rang out at the same time, both questioning what Mustang had said, and both seemingly upset at this answer.

Riza stood where she was, watching as this confrontation went down. It was going exactly how they had been afraid that it would. They expected this sort of reaction from Edward just about any time, but this time Alphonse was upset as well, which wasn’t nearly as normal.

Mustang did not waver, though. “When you accepted this assignment, Fullmetal, it was on the unconditional terms that you would follow ever order given.” His attention turned to Alphonse. “And you were allowed to participate under the same rules, Alphonse.”

“But this is an exception!” Edward insisted, pounding the point home by hitting the desk.

Mustang remained unmoved. “Unconditional means that there are not conditions—or exceptions. Can you understand that, Edward, Alphonse?”

“But that’s not fair!” Edward said, clearly angry.

“Please, Colonel, it could be a lead!” Alphonse was trying to bargain still.

Mustang stood up, planting his hands firmly on his desk. “I’ve made my decision and it’s final. There is no more arguing.” It was clear he was done with the subject, and that there was no swaying his mind.

Ed turned, red-faced and angry, and stomped out of the office, Alphonse following after. The door slammed shut behind both of them, and Riza sighed inaudibly from where she sat at her desk. Of course the boys wouldn’t take it well. They never did when they were told no, and especially not when they felt like they hadn’t been heard or considered. Riza knew better, but the boys couldn’t accept that, and didn’t have the trust in Mustang yet to accept his word at face value. . They hated it, even if the Colonel had good, if unknown, reasons.

She had given it a few moments, to see if Alphonse would open the door and apologize for Edward, as he did a good portion of the time. But it seemed that Alphonse was mad this time too. Riza sighed and walked over to Mustang’s desk with some papers for him to sign. He was clearly frustrated, as she angrily rearranged his desk.

“I wish they’d understand.” He said, his face clearly troubled. Riza could read between the lines of what he was saying, though. “I’m trying to protect them.”

“I know,” she replied, knowing that he would hear her unspoken words as well. “I know you’re trying to.”

“It’s so frustrating!” he said. “I’m only doing what’s best for them, same as I would any other of my men.” “I care about them and I want to protect them.”

“I know, sir. Unfortunately, you know as well as I do that they will not listen and explaining it will only give them more information.” She said. “I know you do. I do too. But they’re teenagers, and its our job to keep them from danger.”

“Yes, there is that, problem.” He said. “I know. They’d get themselves in trouble by being too involved.”

“In time I’m sure they’ll understand.” She said. “You were stubborn too. You learned. Give it time.”

“Hm. Perhaps you’re right.” He replied. “…You have a point.”

“They have to, sir. In this life somethings are unconditional.” Her voice was firm. “They’ll learn that we love them no matter what and are just trying to protect them.”

“True enough, Lieutenant.” He said, reaching for the papers in her hands. “We’ll just have to be patient.”

~*~

“I’m sorry, Ed, but that’s against regulations.” Riza said.

He looked at her, surprised, and then a little defiant. “So what?” he asked.

“So we can’t do it.” She replied to him, as if it were the most obvious thing.

Ed scowled, clearly not happy with her answer. “But we break regulations all the time!” he protested.

“We bend them,” she clarified, “and only then with good reason and good planning.”

“Ugh!” Ed threw himself into a chair. “All we want to do is turn that closet into a study room! Who cares about the size of it! It’s a stupid rule.”

Riza sighed. She understood what he was saying, she really did. But it didn’t make a difference. The regulations were there, and that’s all there was to it. “The rules are in place for a reason, Ed,” she said calmly. “It doesn’t matter if we like them or not, they’re there for a reason. The regulations say that the closet is too small to turn into a study room, then it’s too small. We have to abide by that.”

“But aren’t there rules you’d like to break, Lieutenant?” Alphonese asked her, obviously neither brother was ready to let this go.

One rule in particular jumped to her mind. She would love to change that for her own, personal reasons. But she understood how that could destabilize the whole of the military. “Of course,” she replied smoothly. “But just beacause they aren’t what I want doesn’t mean that they aren’t for good reason.

Ed humphed. Riza tried again.

“Do you have any personal rules you live by?” she asked both of them. “Ones that you hold in high regard.

“Of course.” They replied, almost immediately.

“And are these rules always what you want or are convenient for you?” she asked, knowing that they would see this point coming a mile away.

They exchanged looks. “Well, no.”

“Would breaking them do anything good for you?” she pushed then.

“No,” they admitted, although it was clear that neither of them wanted to.

“Then it’s the same.” She said. “Regardless of how the rule affects you personally, or if you understand why it’s in place, it’s there for a reason.”

The boys clearly weren’t happy, but they fell silent anyway. The silence stretched on, Riza working on more paperwork, and the boys clearly thinking things over.

“Lieutenant?”’ Al asked, hesitantly, quietly.

“Yes?” she responded, not looking up.

“Do you have any rules you live by?” He seemed genuinely curious about her rules, and she looked up at his tone.

“Of course.” She replied without hesitation.

“Are they always easy?” Ed got in on the conversation, seemingly curious as well.

She put down her pen, turning to face them better. “Of course not,” she said. “Some are very difficult. But some are very easy. But I have them for a reason.”

The boys exchanged looks. “What’s one of them?” Alphonse asked.

“You mean the easy ones? Care for my teammates, no matter what.” She answered. “Always look out for them.”

“Oh.”

They fell silent again.

“Do you have ones that are easy and hard?” Edward asked her after a moment.

Riza thought for a moment. “Yes,” she said. “Although the base of it is always steady and true, sometimes the application can be hard.”

“What is it?” Edward asked.

She smiled up at them. “To care for the two of you no matter what—even if you drive me crazy at times.” There was a slight teasing tone to her voice, and a surprisingly gentle smile on her face.

“Oh.”

The boys looked at each other, then fell silent again, clearly contemplating this.

~*~

“Fall back!”

Riza yelled it out at the two boys, who were right in the middle of the action that was happening now. She saw Ed’s mouth opening, and she cut him off.

She didn’t have time for this. She didn’t have time to explain. It was now or never time.

She didn’t give him time to argue. “Because I said so!” she snapped out, and the boys fell back, running towards her and her defensible position. It gave their enemies—a violent anarchy group—time to surge forward, but not for long. There was a snap, and Riza was pushing both boys’ heads down, getting them out of the way as Mustang applied his flame alchemy to end this group’s violent behavior.

She felt Edward try to look up, and she pushed his head down again. “Keep your heads down!” she said.

“But—“

“Please, Ed,” Riza said. “Just do as I say.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again, complying with her instructions. It wasn’t until she got the all clear that she let them up to see the burned ruins Mustang had left in his wake, although he had only lightly burned the anarchists himself.

“Woah…” Ed said, his eyes wide.

Riza forgot that he had never seen the scorched earth that could be left behind by Mustang’s flames.

“No wonder he could kill Lust,” Al said, looking around in surprise.

Riza shook her head. “Come on. We’ve got work to do.”

They followed behind her, clearly, to her at least, shocked, even as they started making sure that people had the first aide they needed and cleaning up the area.

When they paused to take a break, Riza looked at them. “You know, boys, I’m really proud of you.”

They exchanged looks. “For what?” Edward asked.

“For falling back when I said to. I’m proud of you for following my directions.” She clarified.

Edward grinned. “Of course we were going to do it,” he said. “I thought it was obvious.”

She looked at the brothers curiously. “What do you mean?”

“We trust you, Lieutenant,” Alphonse said.

“Yeah,” Edward agreed. “And that means that if you tell us to do something, we’ll do it just because you said so.”

The boys got back to work repairing the damage, and Riza looked at them in shock, her lips finally curing up in a smile. It had taken some time, but she was glad that she had finally earned their trust in her.

[green-eyeddragonfanfiction]

War of Attrition: Chapter 16

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier x Reader Summary: Best friends with Steve Rogers, renowned Howling Commando, and married to one James Buchanan Barnes, your life wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as it could possibly be in the middle of World War II. Then you fell from a train in the Alps, and everything changed. You spent nearly 70 years as a tool of Hydra alongside your beloved, though your past with him was more often than not forgotten. Sokovia climbs higher but neither you nor the Avengers have found a way to stop it without either killing everyone on the floating rock, or everyone down below. That, however, is a a problem left to Steve, Tony, Natasha, and the others. You focus on staying alive, hidden, and saving as many people as you can. Down below, Bucky does the same. How long can your luck hold out? Warnings: Swearing (always), violence, extreme action featuring a robot-killing cyborg and adorable drones, major character death Word Count: ~4,112 A/N: :( Please read warnings!

Masterlist // Book One // Book Two

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

“He seems nice,” Alfred said a bit too cheerfully in your ear.

“I’m just glad he’s not the enemy anymore,” you muttered, watching trash and debris settle in his wake.

Bucky scoffed. “He and Steve’ll butt heads and you know it.”

You nearly smiled at the thought, but quickly pushed the idea away. Bucky was almost definitely right, but at least the kid would have someone good to look up to and learn from. “Time to get back to work.”

“Alright, we’re all clear here,” said a voice over the comms. If you had to guess, it was Hawkeye. He was the only man of the group you didn’t know the voice of by now.

“We are not clear,” Steve said, and you could hear the sounds of combat in the background to corroborate his statement. “We are very not clear!” he said, the sound of screeching metal following a second later.

“Alright, we’re coming to you,” Hawkeye told him.

“They are gathering in the town center, near the other end of the rock,” Alfred informed you.

“How are things looking on this end?” you asked, eyeing the sky warily. You vaulted up on top of one of the lower buildings, hoping to get a look around without being too exposed.

“Activity in this area is nearly nonexistent. It seems the enemy is focusing on trying to kill the Avengers. Still, it seems that a few smaller patrols are in the area, attempting to eliminate any stragglers.”

“So stay in the area to help the people the Avengers can’t get to and hope Steve, Natalia, and the others can take care of things on their end?”

“That is the path most likely to lead to the survival of all remaining citizens, Madam,” Alfred said quietly.

“Are the drones still functioning? Protecting the people and updating them on the situation?” you asked as you looked around the city. Sure enough, you could see bots flying towards the other end of the rock and quickly hopped two stories back down to the ground so they wouldn’t spot you.

“Correct, Madam. I-”

“What do you got, Stark?” Steve asked Tony over the comms, and Alfred quieted instantly so you could hear.

“Huh? Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city,” Tony said quietly. “That’ll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear,” he said, though it was clear from his tone what he thought of the idea.

“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan,” Steve said resolutely.

“Impact radius is gettin’ bigger every second. We’re gonna have to make a choice,” Tony said sadly.

“Hear that, Buck?” you murmured softly. He grunted an affirmation, but Steve wasn’t done talking.

“Cap, these people are goin’ nowhere,” Natalia said. She was close enough to Steve that you could hear her through his comm, too. “If Stark finds a way to blow this rock...”

“Not ‘til everyone’s safe,” Steve said obstinately.

“Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There’s no math there,” Natalia said, shocked that she had to spell it out for him.

Bucky suddenly sounded frantic. “I’m coming up there. They’re not gonna blow you to hell. I’m bringing the Batmobile up and-”

“I’m not leavin’ this rock with one civilian on it,” Steve said, cutting off Bucky’s harried planning.

“I didn’t say we should leave,” Natalia said solemnly. A pause, then, “There’s worse ways to go... Where else am I gonna get a view like this?” She sounded resigned and suddenly you wanted to yell at her. Yell at them both. They didn’t give up, not those two. Never those two. It wasn’t in their nature.

“Don’t do it, Doll,” Bucky said quickly, always knowing where your mind would go a split second before you did.

“I gotta, Buck! They’ve given up and-”

“Glad you like the view, Romanoff.” You froze, hardly daring to believe your ears. You knew that voice. “It’s about to get a whole lot better.”

“Alfred?” you asked, shocked, already heading towards where Steve and the majority of the citizens had holed up.

“A SHIELD helicarrier has appeared on the other side of the rock, Madam,” Alfred informed you, sounding nearly indecently pleased.

You fought the urge to throw your arms in the air and cheer. “Coulson and Fury, you sly dogs! Man, I’m so glad we didn’t actually kill him,” you said, grinning widely.

You could hear Bucky’s snort of amusement over the line.

“They have a place to go now,” you heard Bucky say faintly. You could imagine him staring towards the rock in the sky, trying to glimpse it and the helicarrier, which were now dancing in the clouds.

“Alfred, send all remaining drones to search for survivors. Get the drones guarding civilians to lead them to the helicarrier,” you said, skating almost lazily towards the other side now that you had a second to catch your breath and the problem of getting civilians off the floating rock had been solved.  

The comms crackled to life again. “This is SHIELD?” Pietro asked, and you could hear the smile in his voice.

“This is what SHIELD is supposed to be,” Steve said. You could imagine the smile on his face in your mind’s eye and a pang of sadness went through you.

“I miss him,” you said quietly.

“Me too,” Bucky said instantly.

“This is not so bad,” Pietro said, and you could imagine the grin on his face, not cocky for once.

“Falcon and War Machine have appeared on the field... or, more accurately, in the sky,” Alfred informed you. “They are protecting the SHIELD helicarrier and the lifeboats ferrying people from the rock to the ship.”

“Got it, Al. How are the citizens doing? Making their way over to the helicarrier okay?” you asked, slowing down a bit and watching your surroundings a little more closely now that you were getting close to the center of all the action.

“Affirmative, Madam. They should rendezvous with the other survivors soon,” Alfred informed you.

“What about you, Buck? It sounds like they’re gonna blow that rock to hell as soon as the people up here are clear. It there’s anyone in the splash zone-”

“Don’t worry, Doll. Alfred and I managed to get the shield reactivated. The drones are busy clearing the last of the people out of the city. A few refused to leave, but most are either on their way away from the city in cars or they’re in the abandoned base, protected by the shield. We’re lucky for once, Hydra had another shield prototype nearby and thanks to Alfred we managed to get it up and running. The extra power from the drones should hopefully protect us from any rocks that manage to make it this far over,” Bucky told you, a hint of pride working its way into his voice.

You nodded, yet another weight rolling off your shoulders. “Good job, Bucky,” you said with a real, honest to goodness smile.

“You too, Doll,” he said fondly.

“I got it!” Tony’s voice came over the comm, interrupting your conversation. “Create a heat seal. I could... I could supercharge the spire from below,” he said, a little frantic.

“Alfred?” you asked, narrowing your eyes.

“A moment, Madam,” Alfred said quietly. You were close enough to the fight now that you could hear the frantic screams from the citizens and the explosions from the Avengers and the death bots. “It is possible, if they can find enough power,” Alfred said quietly.

“Thor, I got a plan!” Tony said a moment later. You fought back a smirk. Yeah, a lightning blast from the God of Thunder would do the trick.

“We’re out of time, they’re coming for the core!” Thor said, grunting a second later as he presumably fought off a bot or ten.

“Rhodey, Falcon, get the rest of the people onboard that carrier,” Tony said quickly.

“On it,” came what you assumed was War Machine’s voice a split second later.

“Got it,” you heard Falcon echo.

“Avengers, time to work for a living,” Tony said. You saw the red-gold streak of him fly far above your head, towards the center of the rock, and cursed.

“I gotta stay and make sure all the citizens get onboard. Some of them haven’t arrived yet,” you said as Drones Seattle, Orlando, and San Diego joined you again.

“And then you get on one of those lifeboats and you get off that damn rock,” Bucky said sternly.

“Nah, I like it up here. Very comfortable, super easy to breathe. Prime real estate, perfect view,” you said dryly.

“(Y/N),” Bucky said testily.

“All of the remaining active robots have moved towards the center of the rock. Or, more accurately, towards the Vibranium core holding the rock together,” Alfred chirped.

“The robots want to drop it early,” you said, eyes widening in horror. “They don’t care if it’s high enough yet. They’re content to wipe billions of people from the face of the earth rather than let the Avengers stop it.”

“It would seem so,” Alfred said gravely.

“They’re trying to leave the city!” Thor said suddenly, drawing your attention.

“Shit,” you swore, running up the nearest building to get a better view of the robots’ path of egress. Sure enough, a veritable wave of death bots was headed towards the edges of the city.

“Can’t let ‘em, not even one. Rhodey,” Tony said urgently.

“Sam,” Steve said, just as tense.

“I’m on it!” Rhodey said. You could hear his thrusters strain to push him faster towards the largest pack of bots.

“Got eyes on ‘em,” Sam said. You could see the sun glint off his wings as he streaked towards the other escaping mass.

“Alfred, all drones not currently helping citizens, now,” you said, panicked. Tony was right. If even one of them managed to make it out of this alive, this fight wouldn’t be over.

“Understood.” Immediately, all of the drones that had been around you shot off in every direction, jets propelling them at maximum speed through the air. You hopped back off the building and ran as quickly as you could towards the area the lifeboats were docking at, hoping against hope that they’d finish loading before the Avengers blew the rock to pieces. “Tony Stark has flown to the bottom of the city. According to my calculations his suit should be low on energy after the extended fight,” Alfred said after a minute or so.

“He’s creating the heat seal,” you guessed, looking around the area for any stragglers while doggedly staying out of sight of the SHIELD personnel and any stray Avengers.

“That is likely, yes,” Alfred agreed.

“Does he have enough power to do it?” you asked, frowning. You used backscatter and managed to spot a few people still hiding and quickly ran over to them. One was trapped under a fallen slab of concrete and it took every ounce of your strength to lift it so the young woman could wiggle out from under it. Someone- probably her husband by the looks of it- thanked you profusely as he picked her up and carried her towards the lifeboats.

“Unknown,” Alfred said dubiously.

“Send him a drone. Let him drain it. That heat seal has to work or-” you bit your lip and didn’t let your thoughts go that way. “It just has to work.”

“Of course, Madam. Drone Indianapolis is on its way.”

“As soon as it gives Tony what’s left of its battery, let it drop and activate self destruct once it’s far enough away, okay? I don’t want Tony getting his hands on it. He’s too smart for his own good.”

“Of course, Mistress Barnes.” A pause, then, “Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, Thor, and Agent Barton are moving this direction. I recommend moving with care,” Alfred warned.

“Got it. Thanks, Al,” you said, moving near silently through the streets, looking for any last minute stragglers. You didn’t want to leave anyone behind. To get a better look, you jumped up on the nearest building, backscatter letting you scan everything nearby for signs of people.

“Incoming,” was the only warning Alfred could give before a quinjet raced by overhead, firing on the city square, not even a block away. Even a split second glance at the cockpit told you the pilot wasn’t human. In was the largest of the robots, similar to the one that scared you so violently last night.

“It’s firing on the civilians,” you breathed, already rocketing towards the jet. The sound of gunfire couldn’t quite block out the roar of rage from the Hulk, though.

Steve and Natalia are there, a small part of your mind screamed at you.

You built up as much speed as you could, grateful that the robot had stopped midair to concentrate fire on a single spot.

You ran out of roof to run on, but you’d already jumped, leg outstretched as you soared through the air, aiming right for the machine gun attached to the bottom of the plane.

The time in the air felt like a small eternity. You could barely hear your heel jets as they propelled you just that hair farther and faster.

Your foot connected to the gun with and almighty screech of metal, the force of the hit tearing it from the retractable arm that attached it to the plane.

You had a single moment of victorious elation. You did it. You stopped the robot from firing on civilians. On Natalia and Steve.

And then you were falling.

“Oh, shit,” you breathed, stomach swooping uncomfortably as gravity took effect on your body once more. Now, with the added weight of the huge gun clenched in your talons, you were hurtling sixty feet towards the ground. If you were unlucky, your momentum would carry you too far and over the edge, and then you’d be falling much, much farther.

“(Y/N)?!” Bucky yelled over the comm, alarmed.

“Fuck, oh fuck!” you gasped, trying your best to flick the gun off your foot. If you landed with it still attached you sure as hell wouldn’t survive. Hell, even without it you might still not survive.

It slid off your talons, but the ground was getting uncomfortably close, and-

A pair of arms caught you and you blinked, confused for a second. There hadn’t been anyone under you a second ago, and-

“What, you think you’re the only one allowed to be a big damn hero?” said a playful voice. He shifted and, with the sun behind his head and the immediate danger of ending up a pancake (again) passed, you were able to get a good look at him.

Pietro Maximoff was smirking down at you.

“You think you can stand?” he asked, giving you an appraising stare.

You nodded numbly. Somewhere in the back of your mind you registered Hawkeye carrying a kid towards the lifeboat, giving you and Pietro a confused stare as he went.

Oh, that’s good. They’re alive, your mind supplied, still racing from the adrenaline.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” he asked playfully as he set you down, hands hovering to catch you if you faltered.

You shook your head. If you talked, then they’d hear you over the comms and you knew your voice modulator had been damaged in the fight, and-

“(Y/N).”

You froze, mind coming to a complete stop.

Pietro turned around to look at Steve, brow furrowing in confusion. “You know her? She has not said a word to me,” Pietro said in thickly accented English, sounding just a little bit offended.

But Steve might not have heard him, judging by the way he didn’t even look at Pietro. He was staring at you and you knew, even with the nanoskin and mask hiding your features, that he knew it was you.

You had, after all, just used your cyborg legs to take down a quinjet gun.

“(Y/N)? Was that Steve!? (Y/N), you have to get out of there!” Bucky hissed urgently in your ear.

Where were you supposed to go? On the lifeboat with Steve and the others? To SHIELD, who you knew wanted to take you in?

“(Y/N), please. I can see that look in your eyes. You’re looking for a way out. You don’t have to. Please, Natasha, Sam, and I have been searching and-”

“Jump, Doll,” Bucky said, snapping you from your quickly spiraling thoughts.

“What?” you breathed, shocked.

“We have arrived,” Alfred said.

Steve thought you were talking to him and he took a small step forward, still hesitant, looking at you like you were about to run away any second. “It’s alright. We want to help. Natalia and I. Sam, too. Please let us help,” he said, smile strained.

“Jump. We’re waiting right below. We’ll catch you, I promise,” Bucky whispered.

You turned your nano-disguised eyes on Steve. “We have to go. Now. All civilians are onboard.”

Steve looked wary, but nodded.

Pietro gave the two of you one last glance before he flashed away towards the center of town.

Steve watched you for a moment but when it was clear you weren’t going to move before him, he gave you a tentative smile and turned his back.

And the moment his blue eyes weren’t on you, you powered on your heel jets and flew off the side of the rock.

“(Y/N)! No!” Steve yelled, not fast enough to catch up with you before you were off the edge. For the second time in five minutes you felt the horrible feeling of your stomach flying up into your throat. Below you was a fluffy expanse of cloud... and a single flying black car. It moved the second you were jumping. You knew Alfred was adjusting the position based on your trajectory and a second later you were landing heavily on the hood, wincing as your toe talons made four large gouges in the paint in an attempt to hold onto the smooth metal.

A split second later Bucky was pulling you into the car, and, just before you got tugged inside, you glanced up. With your enhanced eyes you could see the look of shock, hurt, and longing on Steve’s face, clear as day.

Then you were in Bucky’s arms, the site of the floating city completely blocked out by the hood of the car.

“Go. Go go go. Or he’s gonna jump after us,” you hissed, and not even a second later the engines throttled you forward at full speed, at a slight angle so that you’d slowly make your way back down to the ground.

“Please tell me the cloaking works,” you said, throwing worried glances out the window for any sign of Falcon, War Machine, or Iron Man (or, god forbid, Steve).

“I’m afraid cloaking has not been successful yet, Madam,” Alfred informed you.

“Then just drive, Al. Fast as you can away from this place.”

“Yes, Madam,” he said amicably.

You finally turned your attention on Bucky, who hadn’t let go of you since he first got his hands on you.

You looked away almost immediately again. He looked pissed.

“You’re angry,” you said, staring determinedly at the rapidly-approaching cloud cover.

“Yes.”

“Because I almost got caught,” you said quietly.

His grip on you sagged, which made you look at him, surprised. His grey-blue eyes were sadder than you could recall seeing them in recent memory. “No, Doll. I’m angry because you almost got yourself killed,” he said softly.

You grimaced and buried your face in his chest. “I’m sorry, Bucky. I couldn’t help it. They were attacking people and then that super death robot almost hurt Natasha and Steve and their friends and I just-” you bit the excuses off and wrapped your arms around him, giving him a tight squeeze.

Bucky stayed quiet for a minute, but he held you close and buried his nose in your hair, taking a second to reaffirm that you were there, safe, with him. “Next time an army of evil robots attacks we’re not splitting up,” he said testily, the effect somewhat ruined by the way he pressed feather-light kisses to your temple.

You looked up at him, tentative smile on your face. “Deal, Buck.”

You watched the video feed from the Batmobile, wincing as giant rocks pummeled the town of Novi Grad. The last thing that Bucky had done before coming to get you was piling all of the pilfered research into the hood and back seat of the Batmobile along with your portable workspace, but everything else would be lost to the damage.

You had a few of your drones keeping a lookout on the area. The shield around the old Hydra base seemed to be holding out, but the town had no protection and areas of it were reduced to rubble in seconds. A significant portion of the rocks landed in the lake, but not enough to spare the town. You watched with bated breath as Tony weaved between giant chunks of debris. You and Bucky both breathed easier when he made it out of the worst of the debris field, nearly missing Thor falling into the water in the process. It was a bit longer than you would have liked, but eventually the Asgardian flew out of the water, hammer leading the way.

Eventually, the sky cleared, and the sun shone through the hole in the clouds, onto the destroyed city of Novi Grad. Even some buildings on the edge of town hadn’t been spared the destruction and you were thankful Bucky (with the help of your drones) had decided to evacuate the entire city.

A flash of light at the edge of the crater drew your attention and the closest drone was already zooming in on the source.

The red man- the man that Alfred was fairly sure was an android- was standing near what had to be the last of the death bots, reduced to a melted heap of scrap.

You finally waved the screens off, letting the view of the rapidly-passing surroundings appear once more. You shifted in Bucky’s lap, eyes drifting closed.

“We did it,” you said quietly, a small smile on your face.

“We had a little help,” Bucky said quietly and even without looking you could tell he was smiling a bit, too.

“Feels good,” you admitted softly. “Helpin’ people,” you clarified needlessly.

“Mm.” An affirmative hum that you felt vibrate in his chest.

“Need to find a new place to live for a while,” you said tiredly. Fighting as hard as you did today had taken a lot out of you. You didn’t have the stamina that Bucky did.

“Me an Al will take care of that. Get some sleep, alrigh’?” he said gently, placing a tender kiss to your hair.

“Good idea,” you mumbled, already halfway unconscious.

Bucky’s POV

Eventually your breathing evened out and you relaxed against him and Bucky couldn’t help but smile down at you. He’d nearly lost you again today, but it seemed that after seventy years of bad luck the two of you had finally found some good fortune. Either that or someone else’s good fortune outweighed your terrible ones.

“Where would you like to go, Master Barnes?” Alfred asked quietly so as to not wake you.

Bucky mulled it over for a bit, thinking. The Batmobile’s flight systems only lasted an hour at most and, now that Natasha, Steve, and Wilson knew you were in Europe, they’d search high and low for signs of you. It’d be too risky to go back to the boat. They’d likely expect you to run far away as soon as possible, likely by plane.

Somewhere close. Ideally a place not monitored too closely like the huge world powers tended to be.

“Bucharest, Romania,” he said finally. He was ninety percent sure he knew Romanian, though languages didn’t always come easily until he was thrown headfirst into them. Not to mention you’d talked about that bar (which was really more of a black market or speakeasy) in the city that catered to... well, people like you and him.

Well, not exactly like you two. No one was exactly like you two.

“Confirmed. Plotting a course now. I recommend changing the Batmobile’s exterior soon after a base is established, as it is likely all of SHIELD and the Avengers know what to look for now.”

Bucky sighed, already having thought about it. If the Batmobile wasn’t so useful (and your pride and joy) he would have already ditched it. “Got it, pal. Let me know when we’re getting close?” he murmured.

“I will, sir. Shall I wake you if either of you exhibits the symptoms of night terrors?” Alfred asked kindly.

Bucky nodded his head. “Please, Alfred. Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Master Barnes. Enjoy your nap.”

Bucky was asleep within five minutes, lulled to sleep by the dull roar of the engines and your even breathing.

Next Chapter

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[oreramar]

A thought in my head, which I am getting out by dropping it into the abyss of tumblr...

If you’re a fan of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga/Brotherhood, you’ve probably seen people analyzing the deaths of the homunculi and the ironies therein before, whether in full essay format or in super simplified lists. Gluttony is eaten by an ally/brother homunculus, Greed finds peace and satisfaction in self-sacrifice for the sake of the friends he always wanted and actually had in the end, Envy commits suicide after being called out on his jealousy of humans despite his outspoken derision of them, etc. etc. 

I recently saw one of these simplified lists elsewhere online and one of the points this person put up bothered me. Well, two, actually, but the one about Pride is something I’d want to get into separately if at all.

This is about Lust’s death, and Mustang’s part in it. This is about the idea - held by some fans, but not all, I’m certain - that it was ironic because she was killed by a womanizer.

This is based on a misconception. I want to pick at it a little bit, for the sake of my own brain if nothing else. I’m sure others have made this analysis before. I’m going to do it over myself anyway. So, here we go:

Mustang was not, in actuality, a womanizer, or anything similar. He just made sure he appeared that way for his own reasons. For one thing, it made him seem less of a threat to senior officers as he climbed the ranks. A young officer with obvious laser focus on higher and higher seats, on more and more power, on getting into positions of command further up the chain and giving all he had to get there? That’s a concern. But a young officer with an almost lackadaisical attitude about him, one who, yes, does his job and all and even generally seems to do it well, but who primarily seems to have flirting and dating and general fooling around on the mind whenever he can spare a thought? Not such a big deal. Sure, he’s still getting promotions despite his relative youth, but it’s not like he’s gunning for them, right?

For another, it masks his information network, his alchemical notes, and the off-the-record missions he gives his closest and most trusted subordinates. Those dates he goes on, almost every time with a different girl? Totally just dates. He’s a young playboy officer. Everybody knows it. It doesn’t even bear thinking about.

Except...no. Not dates. Not girlfriends or romantic or sexual interests. Those are his adoptive sisters masquerading as the interest of the day, and those are information trading meetings masquerading as fun, easygoing, inconsequential nights out on the town.

His alchemy notes, encrypted as a harmless little black datebook. This is entirely in keeping with his persona. A cookbook written by a scientific researcher with no further explanation or apparent reason honestly stands out more. But Mustang’s datebook? Who’s going to think twice about it? For that matter, who’s going to want to sit and try to decipher whatever’s on the surface of that just on the assumption that there’s more to it?

And those missions. Everybody who knows of Mustang’s office habits knows that when Lt. Hawkeye is out on leave, Mustang takes it as an excuse to slack off and fool around on the job. Without her watchful, strict, no-nonsense eye on him, he feels free to call up his favorite ladies and pass the time in flirty chitchat. What an idle fool he is, unable to discipline himself and focus on anything other than pretty women and petty charms when left to his own devices, right?

Only on the surface, really. The readers and watchers of the manga and Brotherhood know better. We got to see “Elizabeth” on the other end of the line. We caught the double meanings of their conversations after that was revealed. But to an outsider, who doesn’t already know what’s up? Clearly Mustang’s up to his womanizing ways again, and there’s nothing more to it.

So that’s Mustang and womanizing. Now let’s bring it around to Lust and the lead-up to her incineration. Let’s look at Mustang’s motivations to crisp her down to ash and bones.

First, there’s her part, however small, in Hughes’ death. Mustang’s been on the hunt for his friend’s killer since it happened of course, and while Lust wasn’t the one, she pretty much admitted in their confrontation that she was at least involved. She said it was too bad she couldn’t finish him off herself. That’s the first thing that set him off, even before attempting incinerations.

Second, she nearly killed Havoc, one of Mustang’s subordinates. She definitely paralyzed him, as we discovered later, but there was certainly intent to kill. That drove him to try to rip the stone from her very chest in an attempt to save Havoc’s life. She also attempted to kill Mustang after this, and, most cruelly of all perhaps, left him to slowly bleed out while watching Havoc do the same.

And finally, when Mustang caught up with her, she was about to kill Hawkeye.

Vengeance and protection, for the sake of his friends and loved ones. That’s what drove Mustang to go as far as he did. That’s why he reduced her to ash over and over and over again, until her apparent immortality ran out and she faded away forever.

Lust wasn’t killed by a womanizer. She was killed by someone who simply wore the mask of a womanizer. 

Her death wasn’t ironic because she was killed out of lust, or even by a man who lusted.

It was ironic because she was killed by a man who loved.

[crying-over-spilled-feels]

When the World Comes Crashing Down

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon characters; they belong to Marvel and Stan Lee. If I did own the characters, well, I would make several changes, notably what happens to the Avengers and Loki during the battle to stop Thanos and reverse the destruction.

               He thought it was a game at first; the boys loved to play hide-and-seek.

He thought it was a trick of the light.

He thought it was a trick of his eyes as an after effect from all the combat he’d seen in his life.

He thought it was only a hallucination.

He thought it was only a dream.

He though it was only a nightmare.

He never thought it would be real.

Clint Barton screams as he crashes to his knees in the middle of the park, his face already completely soaked with tears as he curses loudly.

               Clint finds out he isn’t the only one. He isn’t the only one who lost family in the ‘Snap’ as the news and the Avengers are calling it. However, he is the one who lost the most family in the mad Titan Thanos’ destructive, genocidal plan to wipe out half the universe. The numbness that travels through Clint’s body as he returns to the farmhouse, what was once his safehouse, chills him to the core. Cooper and Lilah were in high school, and Nathaniel was barely in elementary school. All of his children deserved a better life. None of them deserved to vanish away into dust before their father’s eyes while spending a summer day at the park as a family. And, Laura… Laura, his doting, amazing, beautiful, and intelligent wife who stood by his side beside everything. She had his back when he was a top S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, even at the potential danger to her own life. When Clint returned home from Budapest with a potentially life-threatening injury, Laura didn’t demand he quit trying to save the world. Instead, she nursed him back to health and let Natasha stay over as the redhead’s injuries healed as well. God, he loved her; Clint doesn’t understand why his Savior couldn’t stop Thanos from killing half the universe. Perhaps the Infinity Stones were too strong for even Him to wield, though Clint knows that the very idea of that is blasphemous, so he strikes it from his thoughts. Perhaps God knew the Avengers could find a way to solve the crisis presented by Thanos. However, that is no comfort for the grief-stricken man known as Clint Barton as he comes home to an empty house, devoid of laughter, happiness, and sense of purpose now that he is a family of one.

Natasha calls as soon as she gets back to the United States from Wakanda. She tries to understand her best friend and partner’s grief, but no one can really understand what it is like for Clint. Not even Thor could understand, and the God of Thunder lost his entire family from countless wars and Thanos’ greed. However, Thor did not have to suffer the loss of a wife and three children, some of the purest bonds that exist in all of the galaxies. And for that, Clint believes that the Norse God of Thunder should be extremely grateful.

“Clint?” Natasha gasps as Barton picks up the phone, his breath shaky on the other end of the phone as he tries to regulate his breathing.

“Natasha?” Clint chokes out a sob, glad to hear his friends’ voice, even if it is just over the phone.

“Hey. Is everyone---?”

“They’re all dead, Nat!” Clint screams into the phone before quieting himself and realizing that Natasha is not to blame for this crisis. “The Snap or whatever in Hell’s name we’re calling it killed my entire family! Lilah, Cooper, Nathaniel, Laura,” he continues, his voice cracking after each voice before tears consume him as he breathes out Laura’s name. “I had to watch them fade to dust in front of my eyes! If I ever find that genocidal maniac known as Thanos, he’ll regret ever messing with the Barton family!” Clint growls, and Natasha has never heard her friend sound so animalistic in nature before.

Granted, he has never lost his entire family, and Natasha merits that he could never talk again and that would also have been an acceptable response to this tragedy. So, in order to spare her best friend the pain of describing the scene the occurred at the farmhouse, she sticks to telling him of the battle against Thanos. She tells him how Tony is trapped in space with Thanos’ recently converted daughter Nebula. In addition, she tells him of all of their fallen comrades who perished in Wakanda. When Clint says nothing about the death of their friends and comrades, particularly Wanda whom he took under his wing after the battle in Sokovia went south, Natasha begins to worry. 

“Are you there?” Natasha inquires, concern lacing her voice as she finds it eerie that Clint wouldn’t even make a peep, not even about his family.

Surely, he, too, didn’t disintegrate into dust. The Snap wouldn’t have a second wave of casualties, would it? Was that even possible?

“No, I’m not. The Clint Barton you once knew is dead, Nat. He’s gone just like his family.”

Clint hangs up on Natasha, and the Black Widow’s resolve breaks. She allows a single tear to run down her face, not even bothering to wipe it away when Steve comes to tell her goodbye and good luck.

                 When Clint makes his plan for revenge against the genocide of half the world, he emerges from the farmhouse, sporting a new haircut to mark his transition from Hawkeye to Ronin. To mark a superhero’s descent into lawlessness and vigilante status, one must change his or her hair. At least, that is the story Clint has always heard from the other agents at S.H.I.E.L.D. during his time at the Academy and when he mentored the younger agents.

“How’re you holding up?” someone asks Clint when he emerges from the house nearly a week later to buy food and other rations for himself for his journey to rid the world of other genocidal maniacs.

“Children don’t deserve to die in Thanos’ Snap,” Clint mutters through gritted teeth, setting his supplies on the counter where the clerk can check them out. “Least of all, not mine,” he whispers, taking his bags of supplies and settling them in his undercover backpack Fury had gifted him after basic training at the Academy.

Oh, how long ago that had been. That had been before he met Natasha for the first time. That had been before he became a top S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. That had been before…. Before he met Laura, the love of his life. The backpack was not only practical; it was meant to transition Clint back into a life of isolation, recklessness, and overall secrecy. If he was to become a shadow of his former self, so be it. There would be no one around to witness the fall. 

When the world comes crashing down, sometimes even heroes add excessive amounts of red to their ledgers in order to soothe the pain of guilt and anger surrounding the innocent lives lost at the hands of madmen.

Author’s Note: And there it is! This is my first Endgame fic, so I hope everyone enjoyed this little look into Clint’s mind. Clint has always been one of my favorite Marvel characters since I first started watching Marvel in May of 2018. Captain Marvel was actually my first superhero film I saw in theaters with Avengers: Endgame as my second. My friend AJ and I went to see them both on my day off, and we absolutely loved them! I nearly broke down into tears during the first five minutes in the scene with Clint’s family, because I just love the Barton family so much and I didn’t want anything to happen to Clint’s world. You can imagine how upset I was. Anyway, expect more Endgame stories from me; I was really inspired through much of the movie, especially with a certain Clint and Natasha scene. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. Anyway, I have to prepare to go to work soon, so I’ll cut this Author’s Note here. Happy Memorial Day, everyone; bless all the soldiers who gave their lives to fight for what they believe in. Thank you for your service. Until next time, dear readers. Have an amazing day, afternoon, or night!  

[hiddlestoned4ever]

Drawn Between Worlds - Dr Strange/Loki x Reader

Chapter 1 (Chapter 2)

Plot: After you started working for SHIELD, you got drawn into the Avengers group and helped them stop Loki and his Chitauri army from destroying New York completely. That was two years ago. However, Loki's dangerous behaviour didn't stop you from keeping your interested in him. Or perhaps it is his mischievous self that's the very reason for it. But as a long-lost associate turns up, you find yourself being drawn between worlds and feelings as old emotions come back while new ones develop.  Words: 3299 Warnings: None

It's been over three years since you lost connection with your ex-colleague at the New York Hospital, Doctor Stephen Strange.

It's been nearly two years since New York almost went in total ruins because of the God of Mischief, Loki.

Not long after Stephen and you lost contact, you quit your job at the hospital and somehow managed to get a job at SHIELD: It started out as a spot in front of the computer, but as you continued to train beside that, and Fury, noticing your improvements, you were asked to become an agent out in the field. Of course, you knew what that would mean. Long days, dangerous missions, the risk of being caught...tortured...killed. As you love helping people, getting out in the field was just a bigger step in doing so. Fury teamed you up with agent Barton and Romanoff whom you became close friends with really quick. In fact, they were the only close friends you had at that moment. 

However, that changed when you joined more missions and sometimes they required an allegiance with the billionaire, Tony Stark. The city's own Iron Man. To your surprise, the two of you actually got along very well despite his annoying behaviour at times. You suspect it's because he reminds you of Stephen. He was also a rich, elegant type who had everything but then lost it all in the blink of an eye.

If you hadn't made the decision to go out in the field, your life would probably have turned out much different than it did when Earth got threatened by a domestic power from far away. A power you never knew existed but was soon to know just how powerful it could be.

In SHIELD's hands, you had the Tesseract. A blue, square formed stone with power beyond imagination. It came from outer space which probably speaks for itself: Too powerful for men alone to tame and too dangerous in the hands of the wrong person.

And that's exactly what happened.

One night, the Tesseract had behaved oddly, and everyone got shocked when it suddenly opened a portal and when it closed, a man had come from it, kneeling with his head down. But that was the first mistake. It wasn't a man at all.

It was the God of Mischief. 

Present day...

"Morning," you say to Tony on your way out with Clint in my heels. The billionaire just lifts his hand at you in a wave. It's early in the morning and the day before, you and Clint talked about going for a run.

After you stopped Loki, most of the team split up. Thor returned to Asgard with his brother and the Tesseract, Clint, Natasha, Bruce and Steve went separate ways, while you stayed at Stark's tower to help Tony rebuild it. With the resources and equipment Tony has, it took shorter than such a project usually would. Almost two years later, Tony opened up his home and invited the rest of the team to stay for a couple of days as a reunion. For the short time, you have been together with the Avengers you usually were busy fighting, but you've all become quite close despite your rather heavy, on the edge, discussions once in a while. But when you work together, everyone using their own qualities, you make a pretty damn good team. They have become your new family. 

"Hey, just a sec, I'm gonna grab my water bottle," Clint tells you and stops once he reaches the kitchen. You turn on your heel.

"Can't you run without it?" you ask him as he opens the refrigerator.

"He needs the water to cool himself down so he can keep up with you," Tony teases while typing on his iPad, probably reading the latest news. Clint casts Tony a stern look he doesn't see and closes the fridge.

"She's not faster than me," Clint comments.

"Oh, I don't know..." Tony adds, then leans his head back a little and smiles at him. Clint turns to you and you spread my arms to your sides with a smile.

"What can I say? For once, I agree with Stark."

"That's my girl!" Tony calls from the couch, raising a hand with the thumb up. You give him a smile, then go over to Clint to drag him after you.

"Come on, Legolas."

Half an hour later...

"Come on, Clint! What are you doing back there, picking flowers?" you ask as you run backwards, watching your friend a few meters behind.

"Now, don't get too self-confident, Y/L/N," he warns you, slowly setting up the speed. You are almost done with the round. It's the perfect time for a run because it's not too hot, nor too cold, and you get to watch the sunrise over New York City.

When you have turned and are now running forward again, your head instinctively turns to the left as you spot something. Three men are trying to break into a jewellery store. As Clint reaches you, he stops.

"Who's the one slowing down now? Come on, we're almost done," he tries and almost starts running onwards when he follows your look. "Ah, looks like this morning's workout will be a bit more strenuous."

The two of you give each other a smile.

Back at the Stark Tower...

Both Clint and you enter the building sweat and a tad out of breath. On your way to the bathrooms, Steve passes.

"Had a good run?" he asks, clearly on his way to the training room by the look on his outfit: grey shorts and a black t-shirt.

"Yeah, got to prevent some cocky men trying to do a break in," you reply.

"So a bit of free action, not bad," Steven says proudly and continues on his way to work out.

Once you walk on as well and are about to part ways, you turn to look at your friend. "The domestic life has made you sloppy, Hawkeye," you smirk and go into the bathroom. Clint laughs and goes into the bathroom down the corridor.

An hour later...

You are dressed up in jeans and a simple grey t-shirt with a V-neck as you're heading to the living room to catch some breakfast. Or closer to brunch would be more correct. By the kitchen table, you find Clint already half done with his food. "Mm, there's some fresh toast for you on the counter," he mumbles while chewing. You thank him, get a plate, then the toast, and sit down opposite him.

"Heard you two prevented a burglary this morning," Tony's voice speaks up behind you.

"Yep," Clint replies as he picks up his glass of water. "Got to teach those guys a lesson."

Tony hums in agreement, snatches up half a toast from your plate and quickly turns in the direction he came.

"Hey!" you call after him.

"Thank you!" he shouts back as he disappears around a corner. Even though Tony could be an annoying ass and hit on practically every woman he crosses, he still amuses you once in awhile. After all, he's not the first prick of a billionaire you've been around. Tony reminds you so much of Stephen at times that it feels like he's here too. You were quite close, only on friend bases, but it all changed when he ended up in a pretty bad accident. After that, he changed. There are a few times you miss him hugely: or actually a lot of times, and you can't help but wonder where he is now.

"Hey, you okay?" Clint's voice brings you out of my thoughts. Looking up at him shortly, you give him a "Yeah." Then you rise to your feet, put the plate away and marches out. Just as you do, Bruce comes in the room. He looks at you as you pass him, then turns to Clint.

"Did something happen?" he asks.

Getting into your room and dropping down on your bed, you stare up at the ceiling. That's when you realize how tired you are. Willingly, you let your eyes shut close and soon, drift off into dreams about your life before you met the Avengers.

* * *

*Knock knock knock*

When there isn't any answer, Steve opens the door and finds you on the bed. Eyes closed, hands shaking, and you mutter something in your sleep. It sounds like a name, but Steve can't quite hear the letters coming from your mouth. Your body starts to move more and your voice becomes a sob. Steve sits down on the bed and places his hands on your shoulders.

"Y/N...Y/N, wake up," he speaks softly at first, but when you don't respond to him, he raises his voice and shakes you harder. "Y/N!"

With a start, you open your eyes and sit up, looking rather startled by the whole situation. You were just back in the past, but seeing Steve draws you back to the present.

"You okay? Sounded like you had a nightmare," Steve says, stroking your back gently. As you lift your hand to rub your head, you notice your cheeks are wet.

I’ve been crying? And Steve saw it?

The thought makes you get up on your feet. "Thanks for checking on me, but I'm okay," you partly lie. Hesitantly, Steve gets up too.

"If you say so. Dinner is ready if you want some."

"Yeah, I'll be right down," you respond. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom first."

Steve leaves you so you can do what you need and heads downstairs to the others. It doesn't take too long before you're there too. During your meal, everyone except you is busy talking about this and that: life both inside and outside the Avengers circle. You try to make it seem like you're listening, but your mind keeps going back to the dream you had.

It's been awhile since you've had a dream like this one, but every time you do, it pains you to wake up.

After the dinner, you all move over to the couches to let the food sink. To be social, you follow along, sitting down beside Clint, who's sitting beside Natasha. Tony, Bruce, and Steve are sitting on the opposite couch. They all keep chatting like they did at the dinner table. Outside, the stars begin to shine.

"Have any of you heard from Thor?" Clint asks all of a sudden. The team looks at one another.

"No," all of them mutters at the same time.

"Why? Afraid his brother is gonna run away and create chaos again?" Tony asks. By the mention of Loki, you think back to the time he came to New York.

"Nothing wrong in being secure," Clint says taking a sip of his drink.

"Thor hasn't been on Earth for a long time, perhaps things are going well up there," Steve says.

In the meantime, you relive the moment you saw Loki for the first time. It was in one of the hallways in SHIELD's flying machine. Tony, Steve, and Natasha had just brought him in after catching him in Germany. Dozens of SHIELD police escorted a handcuffed Loki to a glass cage. At that time, you were with Banner in the lab. When they passed you, Banner stopped working on the chitauri sceptre to look up, and so did you. Loki eyes you as he walks, nodding and smiling. Banner looks away and rubs his head while you keep your eyes on him and he on you. That smile on his lips. That's lure, sly smirk... it has definitely been stuck in your mind ever since.

"And how are you doing over there, Y/L/N?" Tony asks when he sees the rather lost expression on your face. His question makes the rest of them turn their attention to you as well. You turn your head, returning from the past once again, looking at Tony first, then the rest of the gang in turn.

"I'm fine. I'm...just gonna get some air," you say and get up to leave. They all follow you with their eyes as you do so, and Tony takes yet another gulp of his drink.

"Has anyone tasted this? It's a hella go-"

"Language," Steve comments while drinking his own drink without looking up at Tony.

As you get into the elevator, you're greeted by Jarvis.

"Good evening, Ms Y/L/N," his voice says.

"Evening," you greet back and the door closes.

"Where would you like me to take you?"

"Up."

"It's rather cold out tonight," Jarvis tells you, making you lift the corner of your mouth up into a smile.

"Thanks for the warning, Jarvis."

When you open the door to the roof, the wind immediately hits you and makes your hair flicker in the wind, looking like the curls are dancing. It feels like you couldn't breathe before, but now, you take a big breath in and let it out in a loud sigh. While walking to the centre of the roof, you cross your arms and look over the City. It has always been your home, and you love living here. Thinking of the many events in your life, you never thought you would end up where you are now. 

"Hey."

Turning by the sudden voice, you see Natasha coming out. She comes up beside you and joins in to admire the lights from windows, the sound of traffic and the stars and moon shining down on it all.

"I know it can be a handful with all the boys, but do you want to talk about it? Girl to girl?" she asks after a short moment in silence.

"Not really," you respond.

"Come on! Ever since we stopped Loki, you've been living with Stark. A girl talk will do you some good."

Looks like you don't get much of a choice after all.

"Steve told me about your nightmare. According to him, you kept saying a name. I'm gonna take a guess and ask if it's a guy?"

You bring your gaze down as you come to think of him.

"Okay, someone from the past? A friend? Ex-boyfriend?"

"A friend," you answer, a bit hesitating. "Or more like an ex-colleague. We worked together at the hospital."

Natasha nods. "I see. So a doctor. Has he contacted you? Is that why you've been a bit off tonight?"

"No...I've just come to think about him a lot lately."

"What made you split roads?"

As Natasha keeps bombing you with questions, she does ask them carefully. The last thing she wants is to upset you more than you are. You make a quick contact with her before continuing to look at the city below you.

"He ended up in an accident. A really bad one. After that, he just shut everyone out. I couldn't stand by and watch what he was doing to himself. It's over three years since it happened. I don't know where he is, or even if he's still alive." The last word came out more as a sob. You don't want to think that thought, but how could you not?

"I'm so sorry. It sounds like after this long time, he still means a lot to you," Natasha says and rubs your back.

"Yes..." you sigh. "I don't know what I'm expecting, I did storm out of his apartment saying 'goodbye'. He sent me emails in the beginning, but I never replied. I didn't know what to say. But I do now, but I have no way of contacting him."

"He was more than a friend to you, wasn't he?"

A tear rolls down your cheek and you bite your lip, trying to hold back more tears, but your emotions are too strong. Natasha brings you in a tight hug as she lets you grief.

The night didn't do you any better. Once again, you were trapped in a dream you didn't want to escape from. It's the only times you actually get to see his face again. Stephen's beautifully formed face and body. His smile warming up the atmosphere, his gently, dark voice learning his skills as a neurosurgeon. He was truly something special to you.

Evening, the next day...

Only an hour after you and Natasha have returned from the stores, guests were already filling up the living room as the night was filling the city with darkness. An idea had occurred to Tony that it would be great to have a party. Therefore, you and Natasha got the mission to buy some food for the evening. That also gave you the chance to buy new dresses for the occasion; A dark blue, knee-length one for you and a silver floor-wide one, with a split on the right side, for Natasha.

As for the food, Tony has his own hired chef and cook who prepare the meal and a bartender who fixes the drinks. That way, you all can hang out the entire evening without having to worry about cooking. You and Natasha decided to go for tapas which makes it simple for you to eat when you want to.

As for the guests, you don't know half of them, but you suspect that Tony just invited some random people too, because who would want to miss a party hosted by Iron Man?

At the moment, Tony is catching up with Rhodes. Steve and Bruce are at the bar, Natasha and you on one of the couches with a drink each. Clint is not to see. You notice that Natasha is now the one who seems a bit distant.

"Why don't you go over to him?" you ask her, making Natasha frowns her brows.

"What?"

"Oh, cut it out," you chuckle. "I know. In fact, I think everyone knows."

When she hesitates in her words and looks down, you lean forward, supporting your elbows on your knees. "Hey, it's okay. Bruce is a nice guy. He likes you too."

"He said that?" Natasha asks, a bit hopeful.

"... Not exactly, but it's not hard to miss that he does. I can't promise how things will go if you make the move, but I can promise that if you walk away, you'll regret it. Don't do the same mistake I did."

Your advice seems to make an impact. Natasha nods understandably as she rises to her feet and walks elegantly over to the two men. You watch as Steve makes a lousy excuse to leave but runs into Sam and they start to catch up. Not long after, you get company by Clint who sits down beside you.

"And how are you doing?" he asks as he's turned to you. To you, Clint is the most loving one of the guys. Even if he has a girlfriend, he truly cares about everyone. He's the one you've grown closest too.

"Yeah, I'm fine," you say, partly true. "I'm just gonna miss you all so much." You drop your head down on his shoulder.

"Mmm, I know, I'm gonna miss you too," Clint answers.

"Who's gonna be my jogging partner? Because there's no way I'll get Tony to run for no reason."

Clint chuckles and agrees that that's very much true.

"We'll meet again," he says, trying to cheer up the mood. "It's not like we'll never come back. We are the Avengers after all."

"Yes, you're right. The world will never be fully out of danger."

"Lucky for us," Clint comments and gives you a short smile.

After several hours, all the guests went home, and you sit with the group in the living room, chatting. You're feeling tired yourself, but Tony has plans to keep this party up going for a while longer.

"Who's up for seven minutes in heaven?"

Everyone lets out a loud groan.

A/N: So this story has some plots based on the movies as you’ll see if you continue to read it. I’ll also get to infinity War later on but that will be a while so don’t worry if you haven’t seen it yet :)

[green-eyeddragonfanfiction]

War of Attrition: Chapter 14

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier x Reader Summary: Best friends with Steve Rogers, renowned Howling Commando, and married to one James Buchanan Barnes, your life wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as it could possibly be in the middle of World War II. Then you fell from a train in the Alps, and everything changed. You spent nearly 70 years as a tool of Hydra alongside your beloved, though your past with him was more often than not forgotten. Per usual, trouble follows the Avengers around like ugly on ape. However, their timing presents an opportunity to you and Bucky, and the two of you use it to the fullest. Warnings: Swearing (always) Word Count: ~4,380 A/N: I apologize for the slow updates. I’m taking summer classes so it’s quite likely you won’t see updates from Monday to Thursday.

Masterlist // Book One // Book Two

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

“Shit!” said a voice you recognized from countless interviews and reports. Anthony Edward Stark.

“Language!” said a voice you’d know anywhere. Steve Rogers. You nearly laughed at that. It seemed that Steve’s knee-jerk response of rebuking your and Bucky’s foul language had survived the ice.

Bucky paused the audio log and brought up a different one. “At long last is lasting a little long, boys.” Natalia.

“They’re here, (Y/N). Attacking the base.”

“No sign of War Machine or Falcon. I’m sending the drones in,” you told Bucky over your comm. There’s little to no video surveillance equipment in and around the base and you wouldn’t let Bucky go in blind, not with the Avengers and Hydra after you.

“Got it, Doll. I’m getting close,” he said quietly. Your drones flew over the thick canopy of trees and, though you knew he was somewhere below them, you couldn’t spot him with their video cameras until you set them to infrared.

You and Bucky had mobilized quickly after he told you about the Avengers’ attack. There was a perfect opportunity to sneak in and retrieve the data you needed after the Avengers vacated with whatever or whoever they were after but before law enforcement showed up. If they happened to take the data you needed... well, that’s a bridge you’d cross when the time came.

From your bird’s eye view you were able to survey the damage the Avengers were unleashing on the Hydra base and, though you appreciated the sight, you really hoped they’d leave the base in one piece. The Hulk was being particularly effective, smashing through entire guard houses like they were paper-mâché.

“Try to stay out of sight. I don’t think Steve or Natalia will let you escape if they-” you paused, eyes flicking to one of the other screens. You swore you saw something, but-

Your gaze was drawn to another screen. The same silver-white flash that had appeared in the first one was now occasionally flitting through the other ones. You saw it rush past Hawkeye and flip him onto his ass. Turned out it was a person, who stopped long enough to taunt the archer.

A boy, really, in his early 20′s at most. White-blond hair and a cocky grin that almost reminded you of the old Bucky.

“We have enhanced Hydra hostiles on the field, Buck,” you said quickly, trying to keep an eye on the speedster as he made his way around to the other Avengers.

“Understood,” Bucky said gravely, moving with even more caution than before. You watched as the fast kid tried to do the same thing to Steve that he did to Hawkeye, but he only half succeeded. Steve landed in a graceful crouch and immediately warned the others.

Iron Man was blasting away at the Hydra troops on the ground. If there was any doubt in your mind that Hydra had access to a Tesseract-level technology, it was eradicated by watching the Avengers fight the bastards.

A particularly loud blast sounded off near you and you knew from the way the room shook subtly that it wasn’t from the video/audio feeds.

“Town’s taking fire. If it gets any worse I’ll have to start evacuating the people,” you frowned. You didn’t want to leave your spot; this was the only way you could help Bucky at the moment. You both decided it was too dangerous to go in together. If either Hydra or the Avengers got a hold of you it’d be the job of the other to free them.

“Got it. Keep me updated. I’ll keep my distance until they clear off. See if you can’t get a drone inside the building; I’d like to know what Steve’s team is after.”

You watched as Iron Man- Tony Stark- fired an explosive from his suit. It buried itself in the ground and a second later the shielding faded, opening the way for him and the rest of the Avengers.

And, unknowingly, you.

“Shield’s down,” you said, already sending a few drones into the Hydra compound. They had cloaking so it was unlikely even Stark’s advanced sensors would pick them up. You didn’t know if Hydra’s technology would be able to, but you hoped they’d be too preoccupied to notice your snooping.

You watched the screens that had the live feed from the drones inside the base while also keeping a close eye on the status of the town. A few of Tony’s bots had flown in, but the townsfolk weren’t exactly appreciative of the gesture. You watched as someone chucked a bottle of something corrosive at the bot closest to the statue in the center of the city, wincing as it ate through the metal.

However, your attention was drawn back to the main screen when you caught sight of a flash of red and gold.

One of Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits was standing in place, turning slowly with its hand raised. You knew immediately that Tony wasn’t inside it. The man didn’t seem able to sit still for even a second.

Your eyes narrowed as your drone slowly crept further into the room, just a few inches below the ceiling. You kept waiting for the suit to turn and blast your drone out of the sky, but it never happened. The camera panned, revealing the rest of the room to you.

Computer servers, research equipment, and a lot of dirt. You narrowed your eyes at a hole in the wall and it took you a second to realize it was a hidden doorway.

“Betcha anything Tony’s in there...” you mumbled distractedly.

“What’s that, Doll?” Bucky asked, though he sounded slightly preoccupied. You supposed he had a lot to pay attention to on his end.

“Drone Phoenix found the main information hub... and a secret door. Tony’s suit is on standby, and I’d bet Alfred that the man himself is in the secret room.”

“You gonna send the drone in?” Bucky asked quietly.

“Nah, hallway’s too narrow. If I time it wrong there’s no way Tony won’t hear it. Hell, it might even hit him in the head or something. I’m gonna set her down and let her watch. With any luck we can find out what Steve and the others are after.”

“Any sign of explosives? Plans to blow the place up?”

You frowned and flicked through the other screens, but didn’t see any sign of tampering from either Hydra or the Avengers. “None that I can see. They seemed pretty single-minded. Don’t think they plan to blow the place to kingdom come, though.”

Bucky let out a tiny sigh of relief. “Alright, keep me updated. Now that the shield’s down Hydra has better things to do than keep a lookout for me. I’m gonna get a little closer, keep an eye on Steve’s team.”

You bit your lip as you flicked back to Phoenix’s feed. “Alright. Drone Chicago is keeping an eye on you. Be careful, alright?” you asked, worry seeping into your voice.

“Always am, Doll,” he responded instantly.

You rolled your eyes at that, but bit back any snarky response because you watched something flash across the screen.

“The speedster’s in the secret room with Tony,” you said, panic setting in slightly. That was Howard’s kid down there and he didn’t even have his suit and- “Bucky, I-” your words died on your lips as the screen flashed again. You slowed the video down enough to confirm that, yes, the speedster had left the room, but this time he was carrying a young woman in his arms.

“Alfred, run facial recognition,” you said distractedly, eyes glued to the screen.

Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. You pleaded silently. You didn’t have any right to watch over and care about Howard’s kid, but you did anyway. You flinched as one of the gauntlets of the suit flew away from the rest and rocketed down into the room. That was a good sign, right?

“I’m afraid the footage is not of a high enough quality to get an accurate match, but I will do my best,” Alfred said dutifully.

“Thanks, buddy,” you mumbled, dread settling deep into the pit of your stomach. He still hadn’t come back out. If the speedster had gone in there to kill Tony, there was no way in hell you’d make it there in time to save him. He was long dead without his suit there to protect him. If by some miracle-

You watched, shocked, as Tony walked back out of the secret hallway, a glowing scepter in-hand.

“He’s alive. I know what they were after, too,” you breathed, relief and apprehension warring in your head in equal measure.

Bucky made a grunt of acknowledgement about Tony’s status. “What did they get? Data? Weapon? Artifact?” he murmured.

You leaned back in your chair, staring at the frozen image of Loki’s scepter in Tony’s armored hand. You ran a hand over your face and blew out a long sigh.

“All of the above.”

“So what is it?” Bucky asked, looking up from the tablet at you.

You didn’t even look up from the screen as you fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to find even a single scrap of data. Someone, presumably List, had thoroughly deleted nearly every piece of information on the servers and you were scrambling, trying to salvage anything you could. It didn’t help that a SHIELD or Avengers cleanup team was likely on its way, meaning you and Bucky had to be far, far away by the time they showed up.

“If you’re asking me exactly what it is and what it does, I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you. Not without more information, at least. What I do know is that it first appeared in the Battle of New York on May 4th, 2012, in the hands of Loki, brother of Thor. While in his possession it exhibited mind-altering powers along with the ability to fire energy blasts. From my own experience, I can say it definitely resembles the Tesseract in its power and abilities. It disappeared after Loki was defeated by Steve and the rest of the Avengers. I shouldn’t be too surprised SHIELD got its hands on it. Chances are it went to the Hydra operatives hiding in SHIELD and stayed there after... well, everything happened,” you said, wincing. You’d been part of “everything.”

Bucky frowned as he stared down at the tablet, which you knew had various images of the scepter on it, along with the video recording from Drone Phoenix. “If I had to guess I’d say they’re using information they obtained from the scepter to do experiments on people. It would explain why they took ‘volunteers’,“ Bucky said with a hard, angry edge to his voice. “It would also explain the speedster and the girl with the weird red energy hands.”

You sighed and slammed your hands down on the table in frustration, making Bucky jump and reach for his gun. He looked over at you and relaxed slightly, concern lining his features. “What’s wrong, Doll?” he asked quietly.

You growled and fought the urge to kick the table across the room. “Hydra was damn thorough and I don’t have the time to work my voodoo computer magic with the authorities on their way,” you spat, renewing your efforts despite your words.

You froze when you felt Bucky’s arms go around your waist, not having heard him walk over to you. “It’s gonna be okay, Doll. If we can’t get the intel before the authorities arrive we’ll just break in and steal whatever they get later,” he said soothingly.

You snorted and leaned back in his arms, though you resumed digging through the deepest recesses of the computer you were on. “I love you, you know that?” you asked, smiling softly.

You felt his smile against your skin as he placed a gentle kiss to the back of your neck. “I did, actually,” he said. His breath ghosted against your skin and you fought back a shiver. “But I still like hearin’ it.”

You huffed out a laugh. “Go look for any hard copy files? IS-003 was developed in the late 40′s so it’s possible the information about it was never transferred into the digital era.”

He placed one last kiss to your cheek before he let you go. “Now that I can do,” he said determinedly.

“Start with the secret room?” you said distractedly as lines of code flew across the computer screen. “And don’t touch the giant space whale monster!” you warned him as he disappeared around the corner.

“Yeah, yeah. I heard ya. Touch the giant space whale monster!” he called back.

You were so engrossed in your work it took a second for his words to sink in. Your head whipped up so quickly you almost gave yourself whiplash. “James!” you said, exasperated. You could hear his low rumble of a chuckle echoing up through the hallway. You rolled your eyes and returned to your work, hoping his curiosity wouldn’t get the better of him.

Alien contaminants weren’t your specialty, after all. If he wasn’t careful, he’d embody the phrase “curiosity killed the cat.”

You closed the door as Drones New York and Houston came in, toting the last of the boxes filled with files between them.

“In the spare room, Alfy,” you said distractedly. As you meandered after them you flicked through the meager files you managed to salvage from the Hydra base’s servers, looking for any mention of IS-003. So far, the only things you found were records of the human experimentation they’d been performing since they obtained the scepter. The information was grisly, which didn’t surprise you. Hydra cared little for most of its patients, and this experiment was no different. Only two out of the nearly one hundred test subjects had survived; Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, twins from Novi Grad. “Got the names of the speedster and the red one,” you called out into the apartment.

Bucky’s head popped around the corner from his spot in the kitchen. Now that you’d stopped long enough to take in some of your surroundings you noticed a sinfully delicious smell wafting from the kitchen. “Are they names we should know?” he asked distractedly.

You shook your head and flipped the tablet around so he could see the photos you’d found of them both in the data and online. “Nah, their names are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Twins. Locals. Orphaned at ten when a bomb collapsed their apartment,” you said, frowning.

Bucky’s expression went stormy. “They’re just kids...” he muttered bitterly.

You sighed. “Young adults, technically, but yeah... not that much younger than we were when we signed up to fight in the war...”

“They volunteered,” Bucky said, half-question, half-statement.

You nodded and let out a long sigh. “Yeah... doesn’t say why, or if they knew who they were signing their lives over to. Judging by their psych evals, though, they didn’t really care. Hydra offered them a chance for power and they took it. They stayed, even when everyone else around them started dying.”

Bucky frowned and leaned against the doorway, absently turning the spatula over slowly in his hand. ”Sounds like there’s a story there,” he said, lost in thought.

You bit your lip and nodded. “And I have a feeling we should look a little more closely at them... but for now, we have work to do. IS-003 first, freaky twins later.”

Bucky’s gaze focused on you and he tsked. “No, food first. When was the last time you ate?” he asked knowingly.

Your brow furrowed as you thought about it. You couldn’t remember.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “That’s what I thought. Food’ll be ready in ten. Wash up,” he said waving you away with the spatula. You nodded and turned on your heel, nose already buried back in the tablet. “And no phones, experiments, or tablets at the table!” he called testily after you. You waved his protest away as you turned into the room.

An hour later you sat back-to-back on the floor in the spare room, buried in files and blueprints and tech. Holograms flashed as Alfred cycled through information, bathing you and Bucky in shifting blue, orange, and green lights. You worked silently with 40′s swing jazz playing softly from the speakers in the living room. You didn’t have to speak to communicate with Bucky. Working together for the better part of 70 years meant that you could practically read each other’s mind. Occasionally your thoughts floated over to the bottom shelf of your refrigerator, which was now full of biological samples. Bucky had been less than thrilled with putting scientific samples right above the food, but you didn’t have anywhere else to store them on such short notice and they’d have to stay there until you ordered or made the machinery you’d need to analyze all of them.

It was possible IS-003 was one of them; the labels on some were faded or lacking them altogether (while that specific practice was appalling to you as a scientist you weren’t all that surprised by it. Hydra was paranoid at best). Until then, your best bet was searching through every piece of information you’d stolen from the base. The authorities had arrived not long after you’d left and they’d quickly cleared it of nearly everything you and Bucky hadn’t taken yourself. Only the heavy machinery that couldn’t be removed easily had been left but you wouldn’t be surprised if that was gone by the end of the week, too.

So it was a surprise when, in the middle of the night, the lights of the base turned back on. You and Bucky both looked over the largest screen on which Alfred had already plastered the video feed.

“What the hell?” you asked quietly. “How did someone get inside without the other sensors going off? I calibrated those myself,” you said, glaring at the screen.

“The sensors you placed at the perimeter have not been activated since the authorities left over eight hours ago, Mistress Barnes. I have been monitoring them closely as you requested and can confirm there was no mistake. No one has entered or exited the building,” Alfred informed you, which only caused you to frown harder.

“So the base just turned itself on?” Bucky asked quietly, looking up at the screen in disbelief.

“It would appear so,” Alfred said dubiously.

You frowned and turned your head so you could look over your shoulder at Bucky, who was peering at you with a single grey-blue eye. “Secret entrance?” you asked.

Bucky shook his head. “Alfred and I both checked. I don’t think there’s a way in hell both of us missed a hidden entrance.”

“Remote activation?” you guessed, turning back to stare up at the screen. Even more lights had come on in the last minute or two and the power usage was spiking. Someone was doing something down there and they were using a lot of energy for whatever it was.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at the screen. “Who else do you think has that kinda access to that base? From what information we have, all of the Heads of Hydra should be dead or locked up now.”

You harrumphed and leaned heavily into Bucky’s back. “We’re gonna have to check it out, aren’t we?” you asked, resigned.

Bucky turned and pulled you into his lap, and you grumbled as papers fell a few inches to the ground or were messed up as you moved. “Well, we don’t hafta do anything we don’t wanna do... but I think that’d be best, yeah. If it’s Hydra we shut ‘em down, and if it’s not...”

You buried your face in his neck and wrapped your arms around his waist, taking comfort in his familiar smell and warm embrace. “We see what they’re after... and go from there.”

“I don’t like you goin’ alone,” Bucky’s voice said in your ear, slightly digitized over the comm.

“I heard you the first fifteen times you said that, Buck. But someone has to stay with the research and keep an eye on the other sensors and video feeds. You bein’ here won’t do us much good if we both walk into a trap we coulda otherwise seen comin’,” you murmured as you passed over the edge of the property.

“Well your sensors are workin’. They just lit up like a Christmas tree... Gotta say, that’s a nice angle,” Bucky said somewhat filthily.

You rolled your eyes. “Focus, Buck.”

“I am focused,” he said, all suggestive and flirty.

“James,” you hissed as you crept closer to the base.

“Relax, Doll. I’m keepin’ my eyes peeled. Just get in and out fast, alright?” he appeased.

“I’m getting close. Keep communication limited to vital updates only. Talk to you on the other side,” you told him, voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Alright, Doll. Good luck,” Bucky said quietly, his dislike of this entire situation evident in his tone.

You couldn’t help yourself from saying one last thing. “Don’t need luck, Buck. I have you.”

You could hear him huff out a laugh and could picture his exasperated smile in your head, but you had to focus.

You pushed open the door, thankful for the sound of heavy machinery that covered the high-pitched squeak of the rusty hinges. The machines on the first floor had been moved around. In fact, every single one of them was missing. The sounds were coming from the next floor up, along with a high-tinny voice that took you a second to place.

“There are no strings on me!” it sang over the loudspeakers, barely audible above the din of metal on metal.

Pinocchio? you mouthed, confused. Why was a movie that came out circa 1940 being blasted out in the speakers? And why only that one line, over and over?

Something odd was happening.

You followed the loudest sounds, moving slowly and carefully through the hallways. When you finally turned the corner and found the source of all the noise, you froze, dumbstruck.

The machines had been automated by someone, churning out humanoid robots at an unholy speed. You looked a little more closely, frowning as you saw bits and pieces you recognized.

It reminded you of Tony Stark’s bots- the Iron Legion- but something was different. These were sleeker, darker, all hard lines and angles. They lacked Tony’s bright colors that were so signature for all of his suits and robots up until this point.

You stayed in the shadows, not wanting to risk getting closer. If they had even a sliver of the sensory tech that Tony’s bots did, they’d notice you the second you got too close. In fact, you shouldn’t stay here any longer than you had to.

What struck you as odd, though, was that you hadn’t seen a single human. you thought you’d spotted one earlier, but it was simply a taller, more advanced bot than the rest.

It had sent a shiver down your spine, just the wrong side of the uncanny valley. It was dangerous.

Satisfied by your recon, you quickly retreated the way you came, fighting the urge to break into a run, to put as much distance between you and the robots as possible.

The moment you were outside and far enough away, you were talking. “Something big’s goin’ on, Buck. The base is churnin’ out robots kinda like Tony Stark’s, but meaner lookin’, packed with more weapons. Didn’t see a single human being.”

Bucky’s voice immediately set you slightly at ease, even as you broke into a run and began sprinting through the woods towards town. “’Like’ Tony Stark’s? You don’t think they’re his?” Bucky asked.

“I’ve studied Tony’s tech pretty closely. I know his style, and this isn’t it. Some’a the parts are his, though. I recognize the method of construction as well, so it’s definitely based on his tech.”

“But you still don’t think they’re his?” Bucky asked as you reached the edge of town.

You frowned. “I dunno for sure, Buck. It always could be, but I’ve kept an eye on Stark Technologies. He’s going legit. Clean energy, alternative fuel, tech to save the world. As soon as his weapon contracts ended he didn’t renew them. I don’t think he’s suddenly gone rogue. This feels like somethin’ else.”

Bucky grunted as he chewed on the new information. “Balcony door’s open,” Bucky said, probably watching your progress on his screen.

You rounded the corner and glanced up at your apartment’s balcony; three floors up and the third one from the left. Sure enough, the door was left ever so slightly ajar. “Shouldn’t leave the door open, Buck,” you chastised.

“I have your drones poised to shoot anyone who ain’t you or me,” he retorted.

You sighed and gathered energy in your legs, leaping at the last second. You made it as far as the second floor before you had to jump again, hands digging into the wrought iron as you gathered strength again. You jumped up and over the railing of your balcony with ease, metal feet clanking ever so softly against the ground.

Sure enough, three of your drones were facing the doorway, energy guns pointed directly at you.

“Welcome back, Mistress Barnes,” Alfred’s voice chirped out from the closest one, Drone San Diego.

“Thanks, Alfred,” you said, giving it an affectionate pat as you closed the balcony door then closed the shutters that’d stop anything but the largest missiles. Bucky was standing in the doorway of the spare room which was filled to the brim with tech and Hydra intel. He stared expectantly at you, arms crossed over his broad chest.

“So, we stayin’ or runnin’, Doll?” he asked, though he sounded like he already knew the answer.

You thought about the residents of Novi Grad, how Hydra had destroyed their lives. How yet another threat loomed on their doorstep and not a single one of them knew.

And how you could help them.

Your jaw clenched as you looked Bucky dead in the eyes. “We’re stayin’. And fightin’.”

Bucky’s eyes were alight with amusement, even as he let out a long-suffering sigh. “Somehow I knew you’d say that.”

Next Chapter

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Meet the New Characters in Marvel’s Hawkeye Disney+ Series

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With WandaVision on the way, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier nearly ready to drop, Marvel’s next Disney+ series, Hawkeye, has flown a bit under the radar since its announcement. That changed yesterday, with new set pictures and a massive casting drop. But who the heck are all these characters? And what might the cast tell us about the story? We have some guesses, and only a couple of them involve the Circus of Crime.

Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld)

Probably the biggest news is the finally official confirmation that Kate Bishop would be a co-star of the show. Hailee Steinfield plays this possibly future Young Avenger as she joins her namesake hero (Jeremy Renner) on a quest through New York City.

Bishop was created in the comics by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung as part of the 2005 Young Avengers team. She’s the daughter of obscenely wealthy and inattentive Manhattanites, who discovered her father was a bad sort, was the victim of an assault, and became a martial arts/weapons prodigy because of it. She joined the Young Avengers when the team attempted to save her and hundreds of other guests at her sister’s wedding. The fledgling heroes screwed it up, and Kate ended up saving everyone with her martial prowess.

At the time, Clint Barton was dead, so she took on the name Hawkeye to honor his place in the Avengers. She eventually moved to the west coast and opened up her own detective agency/branch of the Avengers, and is now the far more popular Hawkeye.

For purposes of what looks like this story, she became a good friend/little sister to Clint, and he called her in to help him fight off various criminals trying to steal his apartment building from him.

Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga)

Eleanor Bishop is Kate’s mother. She spent most of Kate’s childhood estranged from Kate’s father, Jack, until she supposedly died on a trip to Colorado. It turned out her husband, Derek, was deeply involved with Marvel’s supervillain underworld, and she was trying to get away from him when she was killed.

Her death was suspicious, though, and when Kate was older, she started investigating her father’s ties to Madame Masque as a means to discover if he had a hand in Eleanor’s death. She discovers some evidence that her mother may be alive, but not before her and Clint get into a scuffle with Masque and her team that ends with everyone getting away, and Masque’s mysterious partner being revealed: Eleanor herself.

We’ll stop there because it gets weird after that (Eleanor is a half-vampire on the board of the Masters of Evil don’t sweat it), but for the purposes of the show, Eleanor is alive and working with the same very bad people Kate’s father was, only for revenge.

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Kazimierz Kazimierczak: Clown (Fra Fee)

Kazimerz was created as part of the beloved Matt Fraction/David Aja run that much of this show seems to be drawing from. He was born into a Polish circus family that met tragedy and led to him emigrating to the United States. He lost another friend in an explosion, and that caused a break in Kazimierz, leading to him killing people indiscriminately and eventually farming out his services as a mercenary.

Kazimerz worked with a number of New York crime groups to clear out Clint Barton’s Brooklyn apartment building, and was part of the climactic battle between the Hawkeyes, the apartment residents, Lucky the Pizza Dog, and the Tracksuit Draculas. Please note that as awesome as that sentence is, the execution of the comic is even better.

Jack Duquesne: Swordsman (Tony Dalton)

The Swordsman is enjoying something of a renaissance lately. Jack Duquense was one of the Avengers’ earliest villains, a drunk gambler who taught Clint Barton how to fight with bladed weapons as a member of the Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders. He bounced back and forth between good and bad, joining the Avengers under false pretenses as a double agent for The Mandarin, then turning on the bad guys, then returning to a life of crime, then eventually completely reforming and joining the Avengers full time.

He sacrificed his life in battle with Kang the Conqueror to save his teammate Mantis, after which he was resurrected in a Coatati (alient sentient plants) body and it turns into a thing in Empyre, but that’s probably irrelevant to the Hawkeye show.

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Unless there’s an intergalactic war between the reunited Kree/Skrull empire and the plant people, but that seems like more of an MCU Phase 6 thing.

Yelena Belova: Black Widow (Florence Pugh)

This is the other big news from the cast announcement. Yelena Belova is a fellow Red Room trained Russian assassin (along with Scarlett Johannson’s Natasha Romanoff), and it looks like she’s taking over as the MCU’s Black Widow after the upcoming movie.

Clint and Nat have a long history in the MCU, and an even longer one in the comics – Nat is, along with Mockingbird, one of Clint’s most important exes, and the crux of the very good Tales of Suspense story from a few years back that saw Hawkeye and Winter Soldier teaming up. However, that was Natasha, not Yelena, so it remains to be seen exactly how this new Black Widow will fit into Clint’s life.

Maya Lopez: Echo (Alaqua Cox)

ECHO IS AWESOME. She is a deaf, native, good Taskmaster – she has “photographic reflexes”and can replicate anything she sees. However, she was primarily a Daredevil character until New Avengers, when she was revealed to be the first character in the Marvel Universe to wear the Ronin outfit – the same Ronin costume that Clint was wearing in Avengers: Endgame. She’s also the daughter of…

Willie Lincoln: Crazy Horse (Zahn McClarnon)

Crazy Horse worked for The Kingpin and died at Wilson Fisk’s hands, but as he passed, he made Fisk swear to raise his daughter. Fisk did, giving Maya the best of everything, and sending her to the best schools before bringing her in as an assassin he pointed at Daredevil.

When she discovered that he was Matt Murdock (who Maya was involved with in her civilian identity), she realized the lies Fisk had been telling her, and left his service. She later reappeared, disgraced, as Ronin, and joined the Avengers. She met Barton through her Avengers work, and they eventually slept together during Secret Invasion.

Lucky the Pizza Dog (unknown)

Lucky is a VERY GOOD DOG. If you don’t believe me, just look.

📷 | Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop and Lucky The Pizza Dog on the set of “Hawkeye” on December 2, 2020 in New York. 🏹 (Credit: @CreamOrScream) pic.twitter.com/qxNNzwmT9Y

— Hailee Steinfeld News (@HSteinfeldNews) December 2, 2020

Lucky is a good pup who Clint liberated from the Tracksuit Mafia during their squabble in Brooklyn. Lucky was also the POV character for one of the best issues of a superhero comic of all time, Hawkeye #11.

Hawkeye doesn’t yet have a premiere date, but we expect it in late 2021 or early 2022.

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