#tony watches over stephen after endgame

[alexendria-rose]

Endgame🖤

Doctor Stephen Strange X AvengerReader

Summary- Five years after returning from the blip. Y/n didn’t remember what happened. She was gone for what it seemed like five seconds after fighting in Wakanda. What was going on?

Warnings: Y/n knows Stephen already (I know he’s not an avenger in end game) sad endgame vibes. (Also Y/n is an assassin like Nat)

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“Y/n just go! Tony and I will handle this!” Stephen says as they walk out of the Sanctum watching people crash and run away from whatever was up in the sky. Stephen grabs Y/n’s shoulders looking at her.

“You need to get the rest of the avengers together, I believe in you, go!” He squeezes her arms gently before turning around and leaving her by herself knowing she’ll see him soon, that everything was going to turn out right. Oh boy was she wrong.

Y/n gasped at the air around her eyes wide as she looked at her surroundings, what happened? She looked around her to see some of the Wakanda warriors around here but not nearly as much. Where’s thanos? Where were the others? Bucky runs up to Y/n.

“What’s going on what happened?” Bucky says his eyes wide as he held his gun tightly to his chest.

“I-I don’t know. I felt like I blacked out for five minutes.” Y/n gulps running her hands over her face. That’s when she saw rings opening all around her. Stephen. He walks through the ring his eyes scanning all the people until he lands on her. “Stephen!” She yells running up to him immediately tackling him in a hug. “What is going on. What’s happening? Did we lose!” She couldn’t even bare gasping for air as she tried to get some sort of explanation. He pulls her back from the hug his hands resting on her shoulders locking eyes with her.

“I need you to listen to me. We don’t have long. Thanos succeeded. We’ve been gone for five years. They need our help though. Thanos is back. That is all I have time to explain.” His says his voice soft and gentle as he looked at her. Her eyes were wide. 5 years? 5 years! She didn’t let him see the panic in her eyes except she just nods slowly. He just grins. “Atta girl.” He grabs her hand noticing all the other sorcerers explaining to people and getting them to go through the rings. Stephen walks through gripping onto her hand as they walk through the portal. Her eyes widen seeing all the people walk through as well taking in the destruction that was already caused. She sees Steve grinning at the people who came back. Her eyebrow slightly quirking at him holding Thor’s hammer. (She knew it.) Stephen looks at her and smiles.

“That asshole is going to pay for what he did.” He smirks softly letting go off her hand before letting his cape allow him to fly up. She just chuckled pulling out her guns.

“Oh hell.” She mutters noticing thanos army starting to attack, but she just runs towards the danger immediately. She starts attacking Thanos army, Stephen by her side immediately his back against hers as they help each other out. One of them runs up to Stephen and she immediately turns around blasting his head off, another one on her right she kicks the thing in the stomach before shooting again.

“Did I ever tell you that you’re incredibly sexy.” Stephen chuckles using his magic against the aliens in front of him. She glances back shooting another one. Her aim perfect.

“Oh shut up.” She grins but gasped as an another alien dodged at her; she swiftly moves out of the way letting multiple bullets hit it in its back. She chuckles. “Really thought it had me.” Stephen chuckles deeply.

“I’ve missed you so much.” He laughs. She notices Clint running away with the gauntlet trying to get it somewhere. She starts hearing a horn play her eye’s immediately looking towards the truck.

“Take the gauntlet to the truck!” Steve shouts. She nods running up to Clint.

“Give it to me.” She shouts instead he just nods handing her the gauntlet, Clint immediately getting into action by shooting and attacking some of the aliens to help her out. She dashes towards the van, the gauntlet in one arm and her gun in her other hand. They all run up to, her aiming at their heads as she makes her way through. Fuck. Out of bullets out course. She groans taking out her daggers. Spider-Man or should she say Peter flies over her.

“Miss Y/n I’ve got it from here!” He exclaims, she smirks throwing the gauntlet in Peter’s direction. Him catching with ease. She runs into the aliens stabbing them and kicking them down to follow the kid to make sure he gets there safely, she looks up watching the ships above start shooting down, she dodges the shots trying to make it to Peter. She sees him fall onto the ground holding the gauntlet close to his chest, noticing a certain something going through the ships, she couldn’t help but watch. She watches the bright light going towards Peter noticing it was indeed a woman. Who was that? Y/n runs over to Peter helping him up.

“Well hello Peter Parker. You have something for me?” She asked smirking softly. Y/n tilts her head a questionable look placed on her face. “The names captain marvel.” Y/n hums looking her up and down. Peter looks towards the crowd of aliens running up to them.

“I don’t know how you’re going to make it past that.” He says nervously. Y/n smirks; watching Wanda and all the woman coming up. Where’s Natasha? She wondered. But she discards that from her mind focusing on what’s at hand. Y/n just grins taking her daggers out.

“She’s got help.” Y/n says the woman looking at her grinning. They all start walking towards the group watching the aliens charge towards them. Wanda blasts them with their magic them following swiftly behind. Y/n groans as the they rush towards her, she stabs them swiftly moving around so she doesn’t get crept up behind. She gets blasted down to her ass a smile creeping up realizing captain marvel made in to the van, but soon frowning watching the gauntlet fall beside the van. “Fuck.” She whispered under her breath. She watched Tony running up to it but quickly get tackled by Thanos. She looks over seeing Stephan handling water to make sure it doesn’t whip us all out. She looks between the two but sighs happily seeing that Thor got in the middle. She runs over to Stephan. “You look like you’re struggling there.”

“Oh shut up.” He groans but a small smile playing on his lips. He looks towards the fight between Thanos and now captain marvel before giving Tony a look and lifting a finger at him. Y/n squints her eyebrows.

“What is going on!” She exclaims. Stephen looks down.

“The only thing we can do.” He whispers under his breath. Her eyes snapping towards the fight, her eyes widening as Tony held the stones getting ready to snap.

“No!” She exclaims, she tries to run over but Stephen grabs her waist with his free arm holding her tightly.

“It has to happen.” He grunts but she just watches Tony snap his fingers and her heart dropped watching the energy suck it out of him, but also watched as the Thanos army started turning into dust. Her eyes welling up with tears realizing they just won but at what cost? Tony’s life. She watches as Tony eyes start to lose the light in them. Her heart clinching at his lifeless eyes, she wiggles herself out of Stephen’s grasp rushing towards Tony.

“We’re going to be okay…” Pepper says her face trying to be strong for him. “You can rest now.”she whispers. Y/n runs up them placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder trying to not let the tears come out.

“She’s right… it’s time to rest.” Y/n gulps wiping the tears that were starting to spill. That’s when he was gone, his wheezing had stopped, his breathing had stopped and all Y/n could do in that moment was grab pepper holding her shoulders tightly to her chest as she started to sob. Y/n heart dropped sniffling lightly as she ran her hands through peppers hair.

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Y/n looked at herself in the mirror looking at the black dress that hugged her body. Her eyes were red and swollen from the crying. She couldn’t believed she lost Tony and Nat. It felt like it was just yesterday that everything was good, no Thanos, no aliens, no avenger breakup just them together eating at the compound after going on a mission. She looked around the Sanctum bedroom knowing she owed Stephen for gracefully letting her stay her since their compound was destroyed due to their battle with Thanos. She hears a soft knock on the door, she wiped the tears that were starting to fall quickly.

“Come in!” She mutters softly flattening her dress to make her look more presentable. She door opens revealing Stephen dressed up in a suit.

“Are you almost ready?” He whispered gently moving his way across the room to her his hands tucked into his pockets.

“Yeah unfortunately.” She sniffles lightly grabbing her purse from the floor. Stephen inches his way towards her before cupping her face.

“Are you okay?” He asked, she looked down at his hands. Stephen has always been a flirt with her, but never this close unless he was trying to get her to focus on the situation. She hitches a breath trying not to let the tears fall.

“No, they were my family. The only family I had, and now they’re gone, they’re gone and I couldn’t do anything.” She sobbed. “Especially Nat, we grew up together in the red room. She was like a sister Ive always wanted and now she’s gone.” She bites her lower lip to stop the tears, she was stronger than this she knew Nat wouldn’t want her to feel this way.

“They saved us, they saved us so you could come back, so we can all come back. Do not blame yourself. It needed to happen.” He wipes her tears with the pad of his thumb. “You are such a strong woman y/n but it is okay to mourn for them.” As soon as he said that she fell into his grasp tugging on his suit as she cried into his chest feeling the emotions she tried to shut down, tried to hide but she couldn’t hide from him. Stephen is the only person she could open up to in this situation cause the two people she loved and adored was gone.

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It’s been a few months since the unfaithful day of Thanos attack. The world was trying to be the world again. Trying to build up what was once gone. The compound was finally rebuilt thanks to pepper but y/n didn’t want to leave Stephen’s side. She would constantly get nightmares of her past lately not realizing losing people would trigger her brain, but she was happier at the Sanctum. She helped Stephen whenever she can, she stepped down for being avenger for the moment so she could find herself again and be the happy girl she once knew. Nat would’ve wanted that for her and as well tony would too.

Y/n sat by the fireplace reading a book trying to distract her thoughts when Stephen entered the room with a huge winter jacket on. She crinkled her nose looking at him with confusion written on her face.

“What the actual hell are you wearing.” She laughed softly placing her book on her lap.

“Winter downstairs. Wouldn’t recommend going down there.” He chuckled deeply removing the coat placing in on a chair. He continued to look at her a soft look placed on his face. She tilted her head.

“You know, the compound was just built recently and I know I’ve extended my stay long enough; so I was thinking of going back.” She mumbled her finger trailing along the book her eyes following the movement of her finger. Stephen groans a bit rubbing his face.

“No.” He states his eyes locked on the way she was tracing the book but she quickly looks up at him with his statement. She laughed softly.

“No?” She questions standing up from the chair crossing her arms. “I don’t think you have an opinion on the matter.” Stephen rolls his eyes at her sass.

“You’re not ready yet.” He mumbles moving his way slowly towards her- his eyes piercing into her own.

“I cannot stay here forever.”

“Why not?” He snaps; his body mere inches from her. He slowly reaches out to grab her hand, his scarred one rubbed against her soft grip. She furrows her eyebrows her eyes trying to read his face.

“Because I cannot burden you Stephen.” She mumbles softly.

“You do not burden me.” He grumbles out moving his hand out of hers before using that same hand to place on her cheek. “I need you here.” She chews on the side of her cheek confused on what was happening.

“What do you mean you need me?” She asked her eyes moving towards his hand.

“Oh my god you’re so dense Y/n.” He groans before bringing his head towards her- his lips immediately catching her lips into a passionate soft kiss, her eyes widen at the contact, not sure what to do but when her brain starts to comprehend she flutters her eyes close allowing her lips to kiss him back. Her arms wrapping around his neck, his hands dropping down to her waist. He pulls back his eyes still closed placing his forehead against hers. “That’s why I don’t want you to leave.” She opens her eyes to look at him, his eyes already on her scanning her face.

“I’m not an easy person to love Stephen.” She whispered softly, her big doe eyes pleading with him to let her go but part of her knew she didn’t want that.

“I’ve heard I’m a great teacher.” He smirks softly rubbing his nose against hers. “Let me teach you, please.” She giggles softly looking down.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Good.” He says his lips softly placed against hers again.

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[ao3feed-irondadspiderson]

Spiderman: Forgotten Home

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57967687 by Moderna After Doctor Strange's spell erases Peter Parker from everyone's memory, Peter struggles to rebuild his life in a rundown Queens apartment. Juggling two jobs and his Spider-Man duties, he watches over MJ and Ned from afar. Amidst the calm, a mysterious virus begins targeting mutants, drawing Peter into a dangerous investigation. As he uncovers the threat, Peter finds himself facing Tony Stark and the Avengers, confronting his fears as they fail to remember him. Who is behind the virus ? Can Peter protect those he loves without revealing his identity ? And will the Avengers ever remember who he truly is ? Words: 1581, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider - Fandom Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: Gen Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Michelle Jones (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Hulk (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, General Ross, Stephen Strange Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Avengers Team Members & Peter Parker, Happy Hogan & Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Morgan Stark (MCU), Peter - Relationship Additional Tags: Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Peter Parker, Precious Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker-centric, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Protective Tony Stark, Protective Avengers, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony survive the snap, Prosthetic Arm, Blood and Violence, Virus, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Poor Peter Parker, Mentioned Thanos (Marvel), may p - Freeform, Dead Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Mentioned Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Mentioned Uncle Ben Parker (Marvel), Post-Movie: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Tony Stark is alive read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/57967687

[inkblot-inc]

What We've Lost

Summary: The prequel to To Be Back In Step; Set a bit post-Endgame. Essentially the pot before it boils over, the pot boiling over, and then having to put more water in the pot to restart making the ramen, and then watching that water come to a boil like a hawk.

Pairing: Christine Palmer x Reader, Wanda Maximoff x Reader (Platonic)

Warning(s): Dark Themes; This is an angsty boi, but hey read TBBIS and you get a happy(?)..-let’s use a neutral word- decent ending for the Reader, The buildup to dark!reader, 616- Chrissy being a bit of a dumbass, Stephen is still a self-ingratiating dick (as per usual in this universe), R and Wanda being two sad bitches with overwhelming powers and trauma and grief….so besties. Also Language (because, again, this is me we’re talking about here-)

Notes: The patience you and I needed to have to get this here- when I tell you this shit has been in the works and sitting in my doc before it was even requested, before TBBIS was even finished, I mean that shit. (Mainly because I had so much more that I wanted to write here, TBBIS just wound up done quicker. To be fair to myself, this shit is just about QUADRUPLE the length of TBBIS-) But I also mean it when I say life has been kicking my ass like this is Mario Strikers T-T. but hey hey it’s here! so I hope y’all enjoy :3

Word Count: bud, you're looking at a little more than 8.3k

*squints* I give NO ONE permission to repost or translate my work. Make your own shit

“When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn’t say what we lost.”- Steve Rogers, Captain America

-----

You were so tired.

Too many people had to die for this “plan” to work. You watched as Tony Stark snapped his fingers to undo this entire mess while stewing on the fact that this shitshow could’ve and should’ve been avoided.

As much as you wanted to just be done with everything after the battle, you had to tend to your duties as Sorcerer Supreme.

You spent your first few weeks back making sure everything was functioning properly. It was probably the most important of the duties The Ancient One prepared you for. The people that were brought back from The Snap in less-than-ideal conditions were moved to safety, those that had loved ones were taken to them as well.

There was an incident in New Jersey that you were meant to look into and fix, but it was suddenly marked out of your jurisdiction as those below your station marked it as “Dealt With”. Trusting this, you had to use your astral form for the last bit of your maintenance. The conditions of the mystical and spiritual worlds needed to be accounted for and settled as they’d gone awry in your absence.

You’d think they have someone able to handle this while you were gone.

As soon as you were sure the time to be selfless was over, you headed out. Despite your fatigue from restoring balance and the heavy decline of adrenaline, you managed to have your sling ring finally take you to the one place you wanted to be. Looking up at your shared penthouse, your only concern was making sure Christine was okay and making sure this dusting mess didn’t take too much out of her, whether she was or wasn’t dusted herself didn’t matter to you.

The lock was stubborn as your key didn’t slide in anymore. Using some quick magic, you simply undid the lock yourself before making your way inside.

You almost thought you had the wrong house.

The walls were repainted, taking you back to the few swatches you remember Christine showing you. They complimented the ebony wood perfectly, just like she said they would.

It was everything else that made you raise an eyebrow.

The sleek metal accents clashed heavily with the questionable minimalist paintings, neither of which you remember being mentioned between the two of you, the big L-shaped couch sitting in the living room instead of the cozy pair of couches you’d gotten shortly after getting this place. These pieces were gaudier than you’d like, and they weren’t really Christine’s style either. One look at the pictures over the mantle of the newly finished fireplace told you why:

Strange.

Pictures of Christine and Stephen together, new pictures you’d never seen, sat in frames. Your eyes rested on the “centerpiece”.

Their wedding photo.

You immediately felt your heart drop, seemingly drilling a hole for the rapidly growing pit in your stomach. You sunk to your knees, eyes fixed on the five by seven.

An icy numb feeling took hold of your body. Coddled by despair and reassured by slowly building anguish.

Then you heard it. The soft click of the door shutting somewhere to your left. Your eyes clenched shut at the sound of those familiar light steps. She was still in her work clothes. She changed shifts.

You didn’t even flinch as you heard what must have been groceries abruptly fall to the ground. It wasn’t until you heard her voice, brimming with a series of emotions that your shoulders jumped involuntarily.

“Y/n?”

You slowly turned your head to look over your shoulder to see her looking right at you. Christine was still in her scrubs, light auburn hair tied back in her usual fashion. As you’d guessed, she’d just gotten off of work.

Taken out of her stupor, Christine rushed forward, joining you on the floor and wrapping her arms around your shoulders. you could only manage to loosely grasp her biceps as your eyes began to water.

Nothing truly registered as Chirstine continued to check you over, proclamations of relief and confusion tumbling out of her mouth as your gaze stayed on the resident of her fourth finger.

That’s not your ring.

Christine stopped fussing over your haggard appearance when you had yet to say a word to her. Bringing her hands to cup your face, your eyes were glassy as you appeared to look through her, hyper focused on the bit of cool metal that met your skin.

“Y/n, baby, talk to me.” Her honeyed words came out thoughtlessly before Christine took a pause, unsure if it was for your benefit or her own.

For you, the phrase brought anything but comfort, because it was tainted. It was scalding ice as your head all but tore from her grip.

“Let go- Let go of me!”

You skittered backward, your palms slipping slightly on the hardwood as you try to keep balance. You go to collect your thoughts when all that keeps running through your head is that this shouldn’t have happened.

This shouldn’t have happened to you.

Whenever something seems to be going right for you it always comes back to-

You both heard a familiar hiss and crackle as orange sparks form into a portal, one Stephen Strange stepping into the room. His steps stop short at seeing your figure in his home.

But you supposed that’s expected.

There’s a lull in the tense atmosphere as Stephen levels his gaze with yours. “Y/n, your presence is presently required at Kamar-Taj. If you’d come with me, please.”

Your eyes squint on reflex at the out-of-place request, taking you out of the vacuum you felt sucked into. While you certainly could understand why they would need to see you, you’d been gone for an especially long time no doubt, you didn’t want to go anywhere with Stephen Strange right now.

One look at the expression on your face was enough to let the sorcerer know you wouldn’t exactly be compliant. “Please, Y/n. It’s urgent.”

Rising to your feet, your jaw clenched as you got ready to deny him with eyes focused back onto Christine. You wanted to talk, to figure out what had happened on her end, and if she was okay, your own pain set aside.

While you were still gathering your bearings, it seemed that Stephen’s courtesy and patience only ran so far as you were brought into another portal he’d quickly created, bringing you to Kamar Taj himself.

Regaining your balance was easy, but the disdain you felt for your situation came tenfold as you were thrust back into a situation you had not wanted to deal with at the moment, nor did it matter nearly as much to you right now.

You weren’t slow. The love of your life had apparently moved on and married Stephen. While that reality broke you, Christine was still your friend. You were both adults, and you wanted to speak to her. Initial hurt and even anger aside, if she was happy now then… That’s all there was, wasn’t it? You don’t know that you could even deny her that, you’d just wish she would have been happy with you.

Like she could have been.

As you watched Stephen walk up the steps to the temple you merely watched him before speaking up, “Take me back.”

Stopping short, Stephen turned around to address you, “Again, the matter is urgent. It has to do with your title of Sorcerer Supreme.”

At this, you merely let out a sigh before begrudgingly moving forward to follow. “Let’s get this over with then.”

making your way into the main corridor, you observed that the other masters of the Mystic Arts were in attendance, seated and waiting. They all stood up to bow as you and Stephen came into view. You bowed toward everyone out of respect before moving to make your way further into the hall, only to be stopped by Wong.

“Well, are you going to let me through?”

Wong kept his hand firm on your shoulder keeping you in place, “You must remain in the center for the proceedings to commence.”

You furrowed your brows, “Why? I’m not being tried for a crime or misconduct, it’s a matter of discussing upkeep while I was away, correct?”

Wong merely remained silent before moving past you to take a seat of his own. “Stay here.” You school your face as everyone goes past you, feeling another brush pass your shoulder.

Once you made your way to the center as requested and everyone else was situated, Stephen spoke up. “We may now begin if everyone is ready.”

You actually raised your hand, though it was unnecessary seeing as though you were at the front of everyone’s vision. “Actually, I would like to know what this gathering is about specifically, seeing as though this is the first I’m hearing of it. Great confusion, as you can imagine.” Even now you couldn’t completely get rid of your snark brought on by annoyance of being left in the dark.

It was Sara who spoke up, “You have been assumed dead, lost to us, for five years, Dr. L/n, and while you have been away many things have had to change.” Her tone was light and even sympathetic. easing into this information seemed the best way in her mind.

One of the masters a few seats down spoke next, “Yes, and one of those things was finding someone to be suited with the title of Sorcerer Supreme in your sudden absence.” They were less subtle going forward and you weren’t sure if you appreciated that or not. Their hands remained folded in front of them as they continued. “Stephen Strange was appointed Sorcerer Supreme in your place. We are here today to give our verdict on who will maintain that title going forward.”

At this revelation, you closed your eyes, taking a second to let the words sink in. Again, logical choices that you could bring no fault to, but as you ran your thumb over the face of your pocket watch in your pants, something began to stink.

While you had been gone for the last half a decade, and you truthfully couldn’t have known what transpired between then and now, you knew one thing: none of this was supposed to happen…but you couldn’t specifically remember why. There was a sudden haziness to your memories that unsettled you.

You simply stood quiet as you listened to them deliberate. Though you had been gone and more than likely behind on mystical affairs, it wasn’t really your fault or intention that you’d been essentially dead for five years.

Some wanted to keep you on, being chosen by the late ancient one herself and wanting to honor that. You’d done especially well as Sorcerer Supreme. Others viewed this to be a moot point as the cycle of Sorcerer Supreme continues with or without you there, and it’d be tedious to catch you up to speed when they already had someone appointed that didn’t need such things. Your eyes were brought back to Stephen, who carefully kept his gaze from meeting yours. 

“While we’ve honored and appreciated L/n’s work as the Sorcerer Supreme, the world has changed much while they were…away. The physical and the spiritual plaine have been set off kilter by The Snap five years ago. We need the Sorcerer Supreme to help guide that hand, and preferably one who has seen the damage firsthand.”

“While I agree, Y/n L/n was appointed Sorcerer Supreme by the Ancient One herself who taught them to lead this role, and it was of understanding that the current Sorcerer Supreme was to choose the next. While Dr. Strange’s work is also appreciated a great value, there are also those that see it as no longer necessary now that the rightfully appointed is back. Informing L/n of the current state of affairs is but a small price to pay in their unexpected disappearance.”

“Need we all be reminded how this “disappearance” occurred in the first place? I think we all are aware that it was also Y/n L/n’s duty as Sorcerer Supreme to protect the time stone, and somehow the Mad Titan, Thanos, acquired it without issue. Their incompetence led to not only their disappearance, but half of the population! It was Stephen Strange who tried to fit everything back together with some success before everyone was brought back. I believe the choice is obvious,”

“Well, Dr. Y/n L/n, how do you plead in this course of events?”

How do you plead?

This wasn’t a discussion or even a fair trial. This was more like an arraignment.

Why were things playing out this way, as if the very snap was your fault? You recall going to Titan and having the plan go smoothly, you could see Tony Stark and his spider-powered charge making headway getting the gauntlet off of Thanos’ hand. You even remember getting ready to subdue Peter Quill to stop the stupid decision you knew he was gearing up to make.

Everything was working until it wasn’t.

You’d somehow lost focus as you’d felt the shift that came with not having the time stone on your person. You lost the time stone. How did you lose the time stone?

 Your eyes flitted to Stephen as you tried to get your mind to cooperate with your mouth as it felt almost like trying to wade through a pool of molasses. Something fucking stinks.

“While I cannot excuse the loss of the time stone, I can only assure you that my integrity as the Sorcerer Supreme, as merely a user of the Mystic Arts rather, that it will never happen again naturally. The circumstances were grave and cannot all be placed on one individual, but they occurred in part because of me, and I accept the consequences that come with oversight that happened on my part. I would-”

Someone's trying to speak through you.

You stopped to take a deep breath to refocus and gain control. “.... I would also like to bring to mind that the rest of my actions during my time as Sorcerer Supreme go unnamed and uncredited while they are overshadowed by this singular lapse in judgment. Even before knowing the state of things at present, ensuring the safety and stability of our world was the first thing I took to after the battle with Thanos was over. Several issues that were left to fester, in my absence I assume, were handled efficiently. I assure you my absence has not hindered my ability on that front. I simply wish to continue my role as the Sorcerer Supreme in whatever form that takes and bring things to rights now that I’m present. That is all I can ask of any of you.”

While you were able to cut whatever ventriloquist act was going on short, you couldn’t double back now. But you did offer some sort of truth by the end. You see Stephen’s eye twitch out of the corner of your eye. Him with a few other masters were unsettled with the latter half of your statement while others seemed to genuinely think this over. With your statement given, you merely had to wait while the rest of the Mystic Arts users decided. Your head was only somewhat clearer than it had been by the time you got there, and the more it cleared up, the angrier you got.

But even that felt subdued while you were in the temple.

‘What the actual fuck is going on?’

As that question occurred to you, the door to the main corridor was opened by none other than Stephen Strange, and you were almost certain that he was a key player in your plight.

Stephen simply stepped to the side as he held the door open for you to pass through, “We’ve reached a verdict.”

You heaved one more sigh as you made your way back to the main room. By now the outcome was already a foregone conclusion, and maybe that’s why you couldn’t be bothered to fight harder. Everything seemed to cast you in dim lighting, and what were you to do about it?

Why couldn’t you fight harder?

You just walked to the center of the room awaiting the words you knew were coming.

“Everyone that is present, as Masters of the Mystic Arts, have come to the decision that Stephen Strange will fulfill the role of Sorcerer Supreme. Y/n L/n, you, still recognized as a fellow Master of the Mystic Arts and gifted sorcerer, are implored to teach the next of us here at Kamar Taj to be of use-” The rest of whatever shpiel was white noise as you took in their words.

Be of use…

Is that all they cared about?

Surely you weren’t the only one that knew something didn’t sit right. While you’d been made to wait for hours as the council went back and forth their view on the entire matter made it all feel like padded time. Was no one considering the fact that this entire "trial" felt so fucking empty? Why couldn’t you put it into words.

You know things weren’t supposed to be this way.

The green glow by your hip drew your attention to the now empty Eye of Agamotto on your belt. Its glow subtlety made its way up to your temples and passed through your ears with a new sense of clarity. Vague confusion became clear anger as you realized your words were purposefully getting caught in your throat, having to listen to an incomplete verdict. Not being allowed to speak at your own sentencing, for lack of a better term, was probably just what they wanted anyhow.

You stood stock still with a mask of neutrality as you waited for this meeting to be over. They need nothing else from you; You don’t have the time stone anymore, and the third Eye of Agamotto chose you. Its scope of power was outside any of their purview anyways, today only served to prove that.

As the meeting wrapped soon after, everyone began to filter out of the main room to leave, you being one of the last.

You felt a small pat on your shoulder.

“Hang in there, Y/n.”

Looking at the back of Stephen’s head as he made his way out, you didn’t hesitate to kick him in the back. There was only one thing left on your mind as that anger you felt bubbling up came back with a vengeance. “This was all you!”

Stephen, now on the ground, turned onto his side to look up at you, his gaze was almost a smug indifference that made you want to tear it right off of his face. “Look, Y/n, if this is about Christine, it was her choice. That had nothing to do-��

“Don’t try and feed me that bullshit, Strange! You preyed on her vulnerability at my ‘supposed’ death, you piece of shit!” You slammed another bout of kicks into his exposed side as the situation became all too clear. “You gave Thanos the fucking time stone! You got rid of half the goddamn planet, you got rid of me, so you could finally get what you so badly wanted, Stephen! You couldn’t leave well enough alone! You couldn’t stand that someone was naturally beating you at life that you had to go and royally fuck it over so that you, Dr. Stephen Strange, can come out on top!”

“I’m sorry that you feel that way Y/n, even if you have sich a distorted memory of those events. But what’s done is done. We can’t change the past, but we can continue to move forward in the present. I hope that you are able to do that with time, L/n.” The manufactured sympathy wasn’t lost on you. The calm and placating voice he used to mock you seemed to echo as he finally left the main room with an air of superiority.

Watching the doors come together leaving you by yourself, you let out a scream of frustration as your head rested in your hands. You took a look around the hall. You felt your emotions wash over you as the events from the past few days crashed on top of you and knocked you down. The anguish, the confusion, the anger, the sadness. All of it amounts to this foreign, grating feeling of helplessness.

Your eyes stayed to the floor as you mulled over what you would do next, and one thing became clear: You wouldn’t stay here.

You flexed your fingers at your sides as you began to think quick on your feet, they wouldn’t leave you alone for long if they were smart.

Making a small formation with your hands, two portals appeared in a ray of green sparks, one significantly smaller than the other. Taking off your sling ring, you tossed it into the smaller portal leading to a pocket dimension. Facing the bigger portal, you didn’t hesitate to walk through.

You were thrust into the new environs of Romania, close to the Carpathian Mountains.

Looking up, you saw the sun just starting its descent as you looked for any people around. Finding none, you released a quick sigh of relief. Heading toward the mountains to prepare for nightfall, you felt an odd spike of energy.

Magic specifically.

It wasn’t a signature that you recognized all too well, so you weighed your chances. Worst case scenario, they’ll be associated with any of the people you left in Kamar Taj which seems unlikely. They could attack you too, but you could handle them quick enough if you had to. Best case: You get some supplies from a random magic user and go about your way. With your mind made up, you made your way closer to the source of the magic signature.

-----

By the time the sky had gone from peachy orange to plum purple, you’d reached an isolated cabin. Your footfalls quiet, you made sure to conceal your own signature as you made it to the door. Knocking lightly on it a good few times, you stood waiting for someone to answer. No reason not to put your best foot forward.

Eventually, you heard movement from inside before the door slowly opened up revealing someone you didn’t think you’d be seeing anytime soon. “Ms. Maximoff?”

Her own eyebrows furrowed as she took in who was standing in front of her. “Y/n? Y/n L/n?”

Slowly nodding, you looked behind you needlessly to see if there was anyone else behind you before focusing back on her. “Yes, can I come in?”

Wanda also looked out her door to see if there was anyone with you before stepping aside to let you in. “Please.”

Looking around as you walked through, you breathed some warmth into your hands coming from outside. Wanda directed you to a couch as she only stared after you for a second, still confused and even cautious. You hadn’t seen each other since the battle with Thanos as you found yourselves fighting alongside each other.

Wanda idly stoked the fire in the hearth with the poker while her eyes were far away, her mind running quickly in a moment of anxiety. Were you here to issue your own punishment to her for what she did in Westview? Would she be going to a high security prison again? She would have to after all that she’s done. No one would be satisfied with less.

Wanda thought she’d gone far enough away to be left alone and for her to rid the public of her presence, lest they think ill of her owning a house on a row-home corner. When Wanda made her cabin here, she figured it was perfect. She was as close as she could be to home with Sokovia having been blown to bits years ago.

You watched as Wanda Eventually settled in her own seat on the couch, leveling you with her own gaze. “You’ll have to forgive me for the sudden appearance, Ms. Maximoff. I didn’t even know that I’d wind up here really,”

Wanda merely gave a bit of a forced laugh through her nose as she used a waiting tea kettle to refill her cup while red wisps brought another cup out presumably from her kitchen area. “Only if you forgive the lack of hospitality I’ve been able to prepare.”

You let the corner of your lips pull upward as you took the now filled cup of tea, cradling it for more heat to run through your cold hands. “Done.”

-----

There was a common ground between the two of you: You had no one else. You found out that Wanda was behind the incident in Westview, New Jersey as well as why the incident occurred in the first place. Apparently “dealt with” meant they just lost her when she went MIA from the scene. Wanda Maximoff had your sympathies beforehand, but it feels like the world is especially cruel to a select few.

After you explained what had happened in your life recently, Wanda felt a similar bout of sympathy, and she allowed you to stay at her cabin. Her hesitation at you being there all but went away the more the two of you began to talk.

As the weeks turned into months, you and Wanda had come to make your own piece of peace with each other in this cabin and an easy friendship was born between the two of you. Willfully living life without using your powers substantially was a much-needed respite for the both of you. It almost helped remind the both of you that you were human first.

You'd taken to putting together a farm and orchard. It was tiring work and successfully growing them was even more so, but it felt just as rewarding. You eventually used your own sorcery to keep livestock in their designated area to graze in while also helping tutor Wanda disguise and eventually remove her own magic signature so that neither she nor the cabin would be found by others. 

You were content...for the most part.

The longer you stayed in the cabin, the more your mind filled with thoughts and memories of Christine.

This newfound experience of domestic bliss you had with Wanda was welcome but mocking at the same time. Taunting you of all the things you could have done with Christine; the simpler things that were few and far between.

~~~

Giving the pot a final stir, you cut off the heat of the stove before feeling two arms wrap loosely around your waist. You give a brief laugh through your nose before looking over your shoulder to catch the eye of the auburn-haired woman. “Yes, can I help you, Chrissy?”

Christine gave you a brief squeeze, “That depends: Are you still holding the kitchen on lockdown?”

You gave her an exaggerated noise of agitation, “I’m simply trying to make us a perfect dinner. If you want half ass we can still order out-”

Christine placed a few quick kisses on your cheek, “Now I never said that. Spaghetti’s never smelt so good, Y/n/n.”

You let out a small thank you with a grumble as Christine moved away to grab plates and utensils for the both of you.

It was the end of your first week in the new house after unpacking. The both of you were still getting used to the new layout and where everything was when you decided to make dinner for the two of you.

Christine made sure to show you her appreciation later that night...

~~~

It was seven months after you’d started staying With Wanda that you’d discussed actually going into the local market to get other supplies and groceries for the cabin. For you, it was all a part of doing things without jumping to using your powers like you had been. Initially, anyway.

There was a darkness that you couldn’t seem to slip out of while you were here, being reminded of you and Christine together and happy, only to remember that she was married and happy to Stephen Strange on the opposite end of the planet.

You just wanted to have a reason to step out and clear your head now and again. You chocked it up to going stir crazy.

Wanda was immediately against this to begin with, not wanting to risk a single appearance in the public.

You set down the drying cloth on the counter as you put the last clean dish away, having just ate dinner together.  “I just think it’s something we can consider at this point. Get into a new sense of normalcy, you know?” You kept your eyes trained on the empty sink as you heard Wanda's movements become stunted.

Wanda’s relaxed mood was almost immediately choked out by your proposition, “No. Absolutely not.” 

You could feel her want to leave both the room and the conversation, but you pushed it forward still. “Wanda, hear me out please,” You knew she would react this way, practically expected it, and kept a steady stance.

Wanda stared across the kitchen island at you with her head tilted, her palms resting flat on the surface of the island. “We’re not doing this, Y/n and We’ve talked about this before. I’m not giving anyone any kind of fuel to have the public hate me any more than they already do. End of discussion.”

You kept your voice level as you too leaned on the granite top. “You don’t even have to come with me, Wands. At the very least I want to do this for myself.”

“No, you’re not going either! You have people actively looking for you too, Y/n!”

“They won’t find me out here, you know what I’m capable of Wanda. I’m just asking you to trust me.”

“I do trust you-- I just-” She releases an unexpectedly shaky breath as she leans back on the cool metal of the fridge behind her. Her eyes shut as her arms cross tightly over her chest as if she’s hugging herself.

You come around to stand directly in front of the redhead with your hands resting on her shoulders. You watch as she takes a couple of breaths before tilting her head downward, looking at the ground.

“You are my best friend Y/n, my only friend that's still around. I trust you more than I have most people in my life. It’s everyone else that I don’t trust-- that I…I can’t trust. Not right now. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

You bring Wanda into an embrace as your thumb runs up and down on her back in a calming gesture.

And you didn’t bring it up again.

You understand Wanda’s worry- Wanda’s fear, and it wasn’t necessarily unfounded. Wanda has quite literally lost everything trying to trust in others, and for her, the safest hands her loved ones can be are her own. That’s not something you can just will away. Wanda would have to come around to the idea on her own, and that was something you were willing to forget about.

—----------

A few more months went by, and the leaves began to fall again. You were behind the cabin making your rounds in the pasture. Currently wheeling out the chicken feed, you slowed your pace when you saw Wanda make her way out of the cabin.

You could tell Wanda was a bit uneasy as she made her way up to you. “Everything alright, Wanda?” Her movements were a bit jerky, hesitant as she nodded briefly.

Wanda didn’t know how to go about the conversation she wanted to start, “...We have an excess from the harvest again, don’t we?” It wasn’t a surprise or even a real question; there was always excess.

You carefully set the wheelbarrow off to the side, “Yeah. I still have to place all the extra in another pocket dimension like usual. I’ll probably do that after I finish up here,”

“You aren’t worried it’s going to waste, wherever you put them?”

“Mm, sometimes. I try and remember to cast preservation protectants on everything before it goes in. No big deal.”

Wanda knew how you felt about things as they were now. You trusted her enough to not have your mental barrier fortified all the time.

Wanda knew this sort of monotonous routine was eating away at you.

You thought about Christine Palmer more than you cared to admit out loud. What you'd had together was something you didn’t think you’d ever find again, and it was almost cruel how you were trapped with those memories.

A sort of malice began to build up inside, and it upset Wanda to see you that way. Even if you hardly showed it.

This cabin was supposed to be a peaceful place where you both found solace, and yet, that was getting corrupted for you more and more.

Wanda looked in the direction of the small barn, “Maybe you could see if the locals would take them. At the markets, I mean.” Maybe more room to stretch your legs or even new scenery would help you.

Your eyes widened at Wanda’s idea, “Are you sure, Wands? That’s not necessary, really-”

Turning to rest a hand on your forearm, Wanda stopped you from rambling on. “I’m sure, Y/n. A new sense of normalcy, remember? That’s all this is.”

It took a bit more reassurance from Wanda before you conceded and grabbed a heavier coat while she got a few crates together for you to take along with you to the open market.

Wanda double checked everything for you before sending you on your way, telling you to at least be home by five.

Watching you head off into the sea of trees, Wanda cradles her cup of tea closer to herself, resisting the urge to call you back as soon as she couldn't see you anymore.

Wanda had no desire to visit other people, but that didn’t mean she’d deprive you of the opportunity. She was also worried for your mental state that seemed to get worse under the surface.  You’d been nothing but understanding of her, offering to help her through her own plights. Wanda could definitely do the same for you on this front, especially when all you seemed to want was space from familiar surroundings. Even if that small want was enough to scare her.

And even further; the thought that her fear wasn’t misplaced.

—-------------------

You move around people with practiced ease as you make your way through the smaller marketplace, it being more full than usual due to the upcoming holidays. Even with all the customers around, you made your way to the back of a specific stall.

You tried not to spend too much time here any other week, but you were cutting it a bit close today with all the pedestrian traffic.

Reaching your destination, you went around the back of Octav’s shop. This was the most reliable vendor you found in the marketplace to drop off your goods. Octav was a plump old man who never asked too many questions and ran his shop like a well-oiled machine.

You set the two full crates down, “Octav, you and the wife doin’ alright?” You made small talk as you passed the man your crates over the counter.

“We’re good. Our daughter and her family are coming down in a few weeks for holidays.” He would unload your goods and then refill them with his own wares for you to take back to the cabin.

“Well, I know there are a few chickens in there, a lot of produce too. You should really show out to the family; Have a big dinner and all that.” 

Octav passed the crates back to you with a small smile and a nod. “My Vena will like that, she likes cooking.” He was never much of a talker.

You give a quick nod back, “Well I’m off, have a good one Octav. Be seeing you,”

“Wait”

You turn your head to look back at the older man, a brow raised in confusion. He gestures for you to come closer with a small hand movement. quickly checking around you, you get closer to his market stall.

Octav places a hand on your shoulder, “There was a man looking for you the other day,” he spoke in a lower voice, his English was highly accented and slightly choppy.

Your eyes narrowed at the counter as you took in what the vendor said. In a way you should’ve expected this. You didn’t notice yourself getting sloppy, but who’s to say Strange didn’t have people checking every crevice they could find.

“What’d they look like?”

“He wore an odd getup with a big red cape. gray hair on the sides with a goatee, pretty tall. Very American.” Stange. Of fucking course.

“He was alone, asked everyone if we’d seen someone who looked enough like you that I just let him pass on through. He made a big stink of things too.”

You let out a sigh as you rubbed the space between your eyebrows trying to relieve the headache that was bound to start. Looking back up at Octav, you set the two crates on the ground. You kept your hand out of view as you made a quick portal to your pocket dimension, the crates easily dropping into it.

You adjusted the cap on your head to sit a bit lower, throwing the hood of your jacket up as well. The last thing you need to do is panic or draw attention to yourself. Blend in and get to safety first.

Octav merely watched you with a glint of concern in his eyes, “Are you in trouble with that man, Y/n?”

You stopped rooting through your pocket for a second, “Something like that- hey look. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be alright but listen, you get home safe Octavy, it’s just starting to get dark out here. Give Vena and the family a hug for me will ya? I gotta get goin’.” You made sure to thicken your Romanian pronunciation as you finally got your pocket watch out to check the time. 5:27. You’re already late getting back.

Turning to head out of the market, the last thing you catch the old man murmur was a quick “be safe” before you made your way to the edge of the market square.

You had to think this through. If Strange was roaming around this area looking for you, it would only be a matter of time before he found Wanda and the cabin, magic signature or not. He could be thorough like that. Stephen Strange was stupid, but he wasn’t dumb. If Strange found Wanda he more than likely would take her in to punish her further for the Westview incident, and you simply weren’t willing to let that happen to your friend.

Stephen Strange was here to get you, and he would get only you.

There wasn’t a way to avoid being found without raising further suspicion in the area with a zero-energy signature area of land that simply wasn’t there before. There was no way out of this.

You could almost feel the presence following you before you stopped in a clearing. “Don’t waste my time, Strange. Your cloaking has always been shit.” You looked over your shoulder as you watched Stephen appear a ways away. His eyes narrowed on yours with a clenched jaw. “What a year will do to you, those frown lines are much deeper than they were before.”

You were making your way to the smaller wooded area, not too far from the market entrance, where you cloaked a Waystone to get back to the cabin to alert Wanda when you stopped short of uncovering it...

You dug around in your pocket and grasped a small roll of paper you kept in your coat in case of emergency. Rolling it between your thumb and middle fingers, you inconspicuously flicked the paper at the travel-point instead before you changed course walking away from the Waystone and further into the woods. He’s already here. Wanda needs to get clear and quickly.

His glare was unwavering, “All the stress from work if I had to guess.”

You let out an empty hum as you faced forward again. You heard him take a few steps toward you. “I’m not going back, Strange. I feel like you know that.” You could feel your powers surging from within, ready to defend yourself.

Stephen let out an exasperated breath as his own powers were licking at his palms. “Can we skip the dialogue and quit the running Y/n? Seems it’s all you ever do these days.”

A smile crept over your face, but there was no warmth behind it as you turned to face the ‘Sorcerer Supreme’. “Well, here I am. Not running.”

There was a stillness in the air as you both anticipated the other striking. When you saw Strange blink was when you struck him with your own magic. There was no wind up required as your Eye of Agamotto, still fastened to your hip, crackled to life. Green lightning hit him hard and fast, knocking the sorcerer backward. You hit him with three more in quick succession as you carefully angled yourself further and further away from the cabin.

It had to only be you.

Strange began to retaliate with his own strikes to try and gain the upper hand. It wasn’t fully effective, the attacks only pushing you back bit by bit…Like he was holding back….

This almost felt like a-

You were blindsided as another portal appeared by your head as an unexpected Wong came flying out and leveled you with a full force kick to the temple, knocking you out instantly.

As you slumped on the ground, Stephen came to stand above you, his face twisted in a grimace before he looked at Wong. “That could have killed them, you know?” He was uneasy, but there wasn’t any real heat behind his words.

Wong also looked down at your limp form, “It was the quickest way. They would have gotten away otherwise.” He quickly used his sling ring to make a portal to Kamar Taj, Strange following after him.

Stephen turned to face your body and used his own sorcery to lift and bring you through the portal before it closed.

With nothing but a note, Wanda was left safe and sound...and alone once again.

~~~

You and Christine laid together in bed, you on your stomach and Christine on her back. Her nails running up and down your back mindlessly as you both just talked softly and enjoyed each other’s company.

“These moments with you are the ones that I love the most.”

grabbing her free hand, you intertwined your fingers together before kissing them. “Me too,”

You felt the pace of Christine’s nails slow down, “It’s a shame we won’t be able to have any more of them.”

Your brows furrowed before turning to face Christine as she still has that same small smile on her face. “What’re you talking about?”

Christine’s face only showed confusion at your response, “I’m with Stephen now. We won’t have any of this anymore. It would be me and him”

“You and Stephen?”

“Yeah, he and I are married now. Don’t you remember?”

Abruptly the scene began to change as the walls around you became darker, the bed became bigger. You didn’t recognize any of the pictures hanging on the walls anymore.

You could feel your world beginning to fall in on itself as your heart rate hit an uptick. “Wait, it wasn’t supposed to be like this! We were- I was!-” there were so many things that you wanted to say- needed to say.

Christine had a sympathetic smile on her face now, everything just felt cold. “I know, Y/n/n, but-”

The doorknob to your shared bedroom began to turn, and through the open door came the last person you ever wanted to see.

“Oh, back already, honey?” Something twisted in your chest when you saw Christine’s face light up when her eyes rested on Stephen Strange.

His answering smile was coy, and one you wanted to erase from his face forever. “I just went to light the fireplace; it wasn’t that long.”

All you felt was cold. Why was it so fucking cold?

~~~

Suddenly it was as if you were having an out of body experience, moving further and further away from Christine. A bystander in your own nightmare, you couldn’t look away nor would your eyes shut as Christine brought Stephen in for a deep kiss while maintaining eye contact with you. You were made to watch as Stephen Strange ruined Christine in every way for you. You could almost feel the warmth she had for you dissipating as she grew further and further away from you until she was gone.

Ah... That's why you felt so cold.

You woke up in a cell of sorts. Looking around, you recognized the artifacts around the larger room: You were under the main temple of Kamar Taj.

The cell was reinforced with magic that you couldn’t break through, not for lack of trying. Your Eye of Agamotto was still on your person, not that anyone else could remove it anyhow. The cell would almost fight back as it threw your own magic at you. Soon enough, you heard the familiar hiss of a portal appearing as you watched Stephen Strange step through.

Your face immediately set into a scowl as you watched him come closer. “What do you even want with me now, Strange? You’re already the Sorcerer Supreme.”

Stephen’s face was kept neutral as he stood in front of your cell. “The knowledge of the Sorcerer Supreme is unique in that there are things only they know. They pass this knowledge onto the next Sorcerer Supreme before they die and so on. You’ve caused a bit of a hiccup in this cycle,”

Your eyes rolled to the ceiling, “I would say sorry for living, but I fear that it wouldn’t be giving a genuine apology.”

Stephen continued like you hadn’t spoken. “We’ve all come to the conclusion that since you hold sacred knowledge that you can’t just be left to your own devices, as recent developments would have you placed as a risk to the natural and mystic world. All of us at Kamar Taj have discussed how to proceed with your presence here going forward. One option was to simply fix the cycle and have you die-”

“Sounds lovely, honestly,”

“-The other was to have you live out your days here at Kamar Taj and put your knowledge as former Sorcerer Supreme to good use and teach and assist the other students here in the mystic arts as, regrettably, you know things that even I do not. You have proven too volatile to be left to yourself, so you will stay here. This is the best-case scenario that I could persuade the other masters to compromise on.”

“Mmm…Dying still sounds pretty compelling,”

You could tell Stephen was fed up with you, “Would you just listen?! This isn’t a joke Y/n-”

You abruptly stood up, marching straight up to the barrier separating you and Strange. “No, it IS! It honestly is! You cannot be serious right now. This offer I’m meant to leap at because I get to live! I get to live on fucking house arrest in a place I hardly recognize! I get to clean up more messes of ingrates and tutor you on how to do your job in a position that you shouldn’t even hold! Do not come and propose this ‘ideal compromise’ to me as if you did not orchestrate the fucking disintegration of my entire life! Every single piece of goddamn happiness was ripped away from me! By YOU!”

You throw your hands in the air, green sparks fly all around your cell as you unceremoniously fall back onto the ground. Stephen says nothing as he looks at you with a stare that almost reads as regret before it’s gone.

You stare blankly at the ceiling, “Go to hell and stay there, Stephen Strange.”

Without another word, Stephen leaves the room.

If you were lucky, they would just put you out of your misery and be done with it.

But of course you weren’t.

You were kept alive and in your cell like a trapped animal.

You almost felt like the magic mirror or the genie in a bottle. Others came down to see you in latch ditch efforts to fix problems beyond their ability, Stephen more often than not was the one to see you.

You didn’t teach anyone, and maybe that was for the better. You’d been relegated to the scary monster in the basement that others were warned to stay away from. Any sane or rational person would ask why, it wasn’t like you were a criminal. All it did was isolate you further.

And with that isolation came anger.

Came resentment.

You committed no crime and here you were. Made to be a prisoner of life when life had nothing left to offer you. It was like some sick joke. Too dangerous to live but still too valuable to be killed outright.

The Sorcerer Supreme was recently called away with a disturbance in New York, so you hadn’t seen him much. Maybe that was to his own benefit.

In your time alone you were almost haunted by the happy memories that you had, and your mind kept coming back to Christine. How content both of you were with each other until Stephen Strange ruined it all. The reality of things was thrown in your face every time you looked at where you were; every time you looked at the simple band on Strange’s ring finger.

Resignation soon turned into malice. And it continued to grow the longer you were in the presence of Doctor Stephen Strange. Memories gone by became dreams of watching the light leave Strange’s body, falling limp and lifeless. These dreams were what fed you.

There was a familiar magic signature that pulled you out of your stupor as you sat up. What’s going on now?

You ran your thumb over the cracked face of your pocket watch as you heard rapid footsteps above you. Thinking about Christine was pain, but a sort of numbness set in. You couldn’t blame her for how things turned out between the two of you, but you could definitely blame him.

[ao3feed-drstrange]

Spiderman: Forgotten Home

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/SuEmXgG by Moderna After Doctor Strange's spell erases Peter Parker from everyone's memory, Peter struggles to rebuild his life in a rundown Queens apartment. Juggling two jobs and his Spider-Man duties, he watches over MJ and Ned from afar. Amidst the calm, a mysterious virus begins targeting mutants, drawing Peter into a dangerous investigation. As he uncovers the threat, Peter finds himself facing Tony Stark and the Avengers, confronting his fears as they fail to remember him. Who is behind the virus ? Can Peter protect those he loves without revealing his identity ? And will the Avengers ever remember who he truly is ? Words: 1581, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider - Fandom Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: Gen Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Michelle Jones (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Hulk (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, General Ross, Stephen Strange Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Avengers Team Members & Peter Parker, Happy Hogan/Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Morgan Stark (MCU) Additional Tags: Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Peter Parker, Precious Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker-centric, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Protective Tony Stark, Protective Avengers, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony survive the snap, Prosthetic Arm, Blood and Violence, Virus, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Poor Peter Parker, Mentioned Thanos (Marvel), may p - Freeform, Dead Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Mentioned Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Mentioned Uncle Ben Parker (Marvel), Post-Movie: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Tony Stark is alive read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/SuEmXgG

[abitnotgoodiebag]

TSBingo Free square

title: guardian angel (art) card #: 3105 square: free warnings: character death pairing: ironstrange

[that-yandere-life]

Hi could you do one woth dr strange x Tony's daughter reader would love to know how that plays out.

[Warnings: Yandere Themes *Obviously*, Death (Kinda murder kind not), Mentions of the events in Endgame, manipulation, age gap (all 18+).]

Stephen didn’t mean for it to happen but he fell for you who just happened to be Tony Stark’s kid, something that he knew would lead to an all out war if found out.

For one you were younger than him so there was that age gap to consider, not to mention that Tony would never willingly bless the relationship between you two.

At first he tried to quietly woo you, which was working but unfortunately eventually his efforts were noticed by Tony as nothing gets by him when it comes to you.

After a very heated discussion Tony told him under no certain terms was he to be allowed to speak with you ever again, he was not going to have it.

Of course Stephen was not about to let you go that easily, and he had many places that he could hide where Tony would never find the two of you, hell he could create a dimension just for the two of you.

Although he really didn’t want to have to force you into a life of solitude if he didn’t have to, he also knew that if he eliminated your father that you would never fall for him.

There weren’t many options, until Thanos came into the picture and then he had more of plausible deniability if something were to happen to Tony, especially since you were not a part of the fight.

Looking into the futures trying to see a possibility where they won and the Earth was put back to it’s prior state, seeing two futures but only one where Tony sacrifices himself for the greater good.

That was the one he chose, that way Tony would die but he would always be remembered as the hero that saved humanity to everyone including you.

There was no way that you could possibly blame him for the outcome as it would be Tony’s choice to make the call and take the stones to snap.

Upon the fight finally being over you were obviously in mourning, every single person that ever knew him was in mourning.

Sans Stephen of course, he was all too happy thankfully able to hide that fact with his usual resting bitch face that looked solemn enough for the occasion.

However he was really there to pick the pieces up of your broken heart, to help mend them back together and aid you in starting over in this new life without your Dad.

Holding you as you openly weep and scream about how things aren’t fair, that your family didn’t deserve to have this happen.

Painfully he watched as you fell apart in his arms, hating that he was technically the one to do this to you even if you would never be aware of that fact, he would take that secret to his own grave.

Promising you that he wouldn’t leave you too as you begged him to tell you that out of anguish, pulling you that much closer to him kissing the top of your head gently.

Wishing that he knew the right thing to say to make your tears dry, but there was nothing to say, you had to process and deal with this on your own, sure he would be there every step of the way but you had to take the initial step.

Slowly manipulating your view of the world as time went on, bending your will to think the same way that he did, wanting to mold you into the perfect darling.

Effectively doing so, taking the place of pretty much everyone in your life because you couldn’t stand the sympathy everyone approached you with, including people that didn’t know you.

All you would ever be at this point was a shadow of your father which sometimes was okay with you, other times it made you feel like you weren’t your own person anymore and that you had to try and live for him.

With Stephen you didn’t feel that way, you felt like you were just yourself and that nothing else really mattered.

In fact he even encouraged you to follow your dreams when your family would snicker and jest at your goals in life thinking that they weren’t good enough for a Stark.

A breath of fresh air is what his presence seemed to be for you, drawing you to him automatically, needing desperately to drink that essence he provided.

Until you were with him nearly constantly when you weren’t doing something important, practically moving in without either of you realizing.

Patience was key when it came to you, and it fully paid off the moment that his lips touched yours one night, tasting the wine you had been drinking still lingering.

Stephen had now achieved everything he had sought out to do, and you were and would always be his.

[Oh gosh this got a little darker than I intended but once I started I couldn't stop! I hope that you still enjoy! <3]

[averagewriter-inthedark]

To Infinity & Beyond ♾ | Doctor Strange Imagine

My Marvel Masterlist

Pairings: Doctor Strange x female!reader/enhanced

Content warnings: fluff, mentions of violence and death. Set after the events of Endgame | Female reader (she/her)

Premise: Having gained powers to conjure illusions after being exposed to the reality stone, Y/n L/n never thought she would ever find purpose in the world—even after being recruited to the Avengers. But after the mad-titan Thanos wiped away have the universe for five years, the aftermath grants her not just her wish, but something so much more.

——————————

“I always thought I’d be alone,” her soft voice rang out in the darkness. “Wouldn’t find purpose or even friends.”

“Why is that?” he asked gently from beside her where they laid on the roof of the Sanctum, watching the stars sparkle in the sky. The constellations appeared to be dancing after she gave a flick of her hand shortly after climbing up. He felt her shrug underneath his arm—the gentle brush of her head against his shoulder from the movement.

“It just didn’t seem in the cards for me. I was always on my own since I was a teenager—having been raised in the foster care system my whole life. Those types of connections never felt they would work for me. School was the only escape—and it wasn’t until I started working for Jane and Selvig that I felt some stability,” her voice lowers as the memories started to fill her mind.

“Then this power came,” the red-ish gold glow emitted from her fingers, causing him to turn him head. “—and I thought it was it for me. I was scared what it meant—not understanding even after Thor tried his best to explain. The way it affected Jane before I absorbed it made me believe I would die—cause she was dying with it in her. Even after they removed it, a piece still lingered and I didn’t know how my life would be.” She paused to sigh, “—but then the Avengers came and changed that.”

“And how was that—in the end?” The glow subsided from her hand and she set it back to her side.

There was a moment of silence before she spoke again, “It was good,” a sad smile took over her features. “I enjoyed my time with them.” She looked up so she could meet his eye. “If I hadn’t stayed—if I hadn’t helped,” she corrected, tone becoming soft, “I wouldn’t have met you, Stephen.”

Stephens eyes twinkled when they looked down at her, his hand coming up to stroke her hair. He pressed his lips to her forehand, letting his mouth linger for a bit while saying, “All because of some gems with power beyond anything we’ve seen.”

2018 was the first time Y/n L/n met the Master of Mystic Arts, Stephen Strange.

It would be a point in time that would change the trajectory of her life. Never did she think a simple meeting regarding Thanos would lead to the outcome they endured.

“Ms. L/n?” The voice startled had her jump from her spot on the couch when a glowing orange ring filled the room and a man stepped out from it. “You’re the one they call ‘The Illusionist’ correct?”

“Uh yes,” Y/n squeaked out, “who the hell is asking?” She did not recognize the man in blue and red—not having been part of the Avengers.

“My name is Doctor Stephen Strange,” he introduced himself before nodding his head to the portal, “I’d like you to come with me please—it is very important.”

Y/n was about to question the reason for urgency when two men stepped from behind Stephen making her eyes widen. “Tony—Bruce!” She hadn’t seen Bruce since Sokovia and for Tony it had been few months. After the Accords fiasco Y/n kept to herself and stayed at the tower.

“Hey, Houdini,” Tony greeted, ignoring her small glare at the nickname. “Sorry for popping in without calling first, but we’re on the clock apparently.”

Bruce gave a wave, “Hey, Y/n. Tony’s right— you gotta come with us.” So that’s how Y/n found herself in the New York Sanctum for the very first time. And it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Strange and Wong explained the origins of the Infinity stones—which gave Y/n some answers to questions she had wondered considering her power came from the reality stone. Strange had noticed her curious expression, “Your power comes from the reality stone from what I hear.”

“Yes it does,” she confirmed without looking away from the projection Wong had conjured. “Was an accident. Still don’t understand it much—I just call it illusions whenever I use it—hence the nickname.”

Strange comes to stand beside her, hands clasped in front of him. “I would say you’re manipulating the reality around you,” he says then adds, “seems more fitting don’t you think?”

Y/n looked at him, brow raised. “Hmm, never thought of that. I guess you’re right—you would be the expert about this I assume.” She let out a small laugh, crossing her arms while turning back to the others. Wong finished telling the origin of the stones and then the topic of Thanos was brought up.

“So Thanos already had the mind stone and gave it to Loki in hopes of collecting the space stone,” Y/n put the pieces together, “—but Loki failed. Now Thanos is after them all.”

“Yes,” Strange agreed, “there are two stones on earth. The others are out in space somewhere but considering the information Dr. Banner has told us, Thanos has more than enough resources to get all six in a short amount of time.”

Y/n couldn’t help but let out an exhausted sigh—pinching the bridge of her nose, “Ross is so going to put me in the Raft.”

Everything seemed to happen so fast Y/n could barely blink. One minute Tony is about to make a call to Steve, the next they are in the city streets fighting two of Thanos’ children. She used her powers to distract them by conjuring multiple versions of the group so they were unable to detect the real ones.

Ebony Maw, however, had powers just as strong and managed to erase her illusions with a flick of the hand. Y/n did her best to combat the alien while helping Strange since Tony was busy with the bigger guy. When the sorcerer became incapacitated allowing Maw to take him, Y/n used all her might to conjure a stairway to the ship—surprising herself when she was actually able to ascend them.

It was something she had never done—bending reality to form physical matter. Although it worked, each time she stepped on a stair it would disappear so Y/n had to run up them before the illusion completely disintegrated.

When she snuck onto that ship, she had no idea she would not be retuning to Earth for nearly five years.

It was one fight after another when the fuzzy feeling went away after consuming for what felt like five seconds. The last thing she remembered was Tony telling her to stay and her crying out for him. So when she opened her eyes and saw Tony was not there, but everyone else was confusion filled her veins.

“Y/n,” a familiar voice called out and she spun around to be met with Stephen.

“Strange,” she breathed in relief. “Where—Where’s Tony—what happened?” The Titan they were on looked similar yet different and Tony was nowhere to be found.

“It’s been five years,” he continued before she could interrupt—seeing the look of shock on her face. “It was the only way—they succeeded and now it’s time to finish the job.”

“What?!” She exclaimed, watching him start to wave his hands. “W-what the hell do you mean it’s been five years? What did they do?”

He just looked at her with sympathy, “I’m sorry, but there’s no time to explain,” with another circle of his hands, the orange ring illuminated and a portal showing destruction opened. Y/n stepped in front, hands glowing while looking around the scene in front of her. When her eyes landed on Tony, seeing the look of shock on his face mixed with relief she knew something had to have happened.

She didn’t want to believe Stephens words were true and it had been five years—but the distinct aging from Tony told a different story.

After blood and chaos, the battle came to an end—and Y/ns lost a piece of her heart. Tony was gone—as was Natasha. Yes they were victorious, but was it really worth all the loss?

Following the funeral Y/n found herself seated at one of the benches on the lake house patio. Her eyes were closed—but her mind was elsewhere because when Stephen found her there was an illusion playing out where Tony and Nat were seated in front of her. It stopped him in his tracks. The images of the two looked so real, Stephen felt it was if they were really there.

His eyes fell on Y/ns tear stained face and his heart clenched. “Y/n,” he softly said, making her stop the projection. She let her shoulders deflate, opening her eyes to stare out to the lake while he slowly moved toward her. “Mind if I sit?”

“Go ahead,” she replied, turning away to wipe her face. “I thought you’d be gone by now.”

“I was heading out,” he nodded, clasping his hands in his lap as he sat down beside her. “—thought I’d pay one last respect to Pepper before leaving.” He waits a moment before adding, “And I wanted to see you as well—see how you’re doing. I know you and Tony were pretty close.”

Y/n let out a tired laugh, “We had our moments. I cared for him—he helped me after everything happened with the Accords and Thor was gone. I didn’t have a place to go, and Ross was hesitant of letting me out in society because of my powers. Tony managed to convince Ross I wasn’t a threat and could stay at the Tower.” She looks down, heart swelling at the memory. “He was a good man—despite the mistakes he made.”

Stephen agrees, taking a moment to let the words linger before speaking again. “Are you going to be okay?” She turns to look at him before shrugging.

“I was on my own long before I met the Avenger. Being alone is not something I’m a stranger too. I’ll manage—see where life takes me.”

Stephen places a hand on her shoulder, waiting for her reaction before saying, “You’re never alone, Y/n. Look around,” he gestures to the various people around the lake house. The Bartons were still there—Clint having a conversation by the lake with Wanda, and Thor was with Banner. Peter and his aunt were with Harley, Rhodey, Happy and Pepper while Morgan clung to her leg.

It was bittersweet.

“I may not have been an Avenger,” Stephen begins, capturing her attention again. “But I saw the way you all share a special bond. It’s unbreakable—and you will always have them even if you don’t realize it.”

Y/n processed his words, feeling a sense of hope fill her veins and a smile soon made its way on her face. “Thank you, Stephen. I really needed to hear that.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied genuinely, “and if you ever need anything the Sanctums doors are open to you.” He’s surprised when her hand comes up to take his, feeling the warmth of her palm.

“I might take you up on that,” she told him, glancing back at the lake briefly, “—and you don’t be a stranger either.” She squeezes his hand. He laughs, promising to not be and she put her hand back in her lap. “Things are gonna be different now.”

He follows her gaze to the lake, smiling at the sight of Morgan on Peters shoulders and Harley chasing them. “They will, but we’ll get through it,” he briefly looks to her adding, “together.” That seemed to make her smile.

“I know I shouldn’t make those illusions,” Y/n then said, letting her eyes flicker to the floor. “It’s just—It’s just nice to see them like that. To remember how they were. I never got to say goodbye to Nat, you know.”

Stephens face turns solemn, remembering Tony wasn’t the only one she lost. “I’m sorry. I wish there was—.”

“No,” she stops him with a soft voice, “There was nothing we could do—you saw the possibilities and what needed to be done. The universe was saved because of Nat and I know she’d be proud to know we were victorious—that her sacrifice was not in vain.” Y/n thinks back to her time with the amazing woman, “And although I’ll miss her, I know she’s at peace.”

A silence takes over between the two and he waits a moment before speaking. “You shouldn’t feel bad about your illusions.” When her tilts in confusion he continues, “—if remembering how they were helps you cope, then you should do it. You have a gift, Y/n—and you shouldn’t feel guilty of using it. Especially if it helps you.”

She leans back against the bench, a little shyly, “I wouldn’t call it a gift—.”

“But it is,” Strange interjects, surprising her more, “It’s not everyday someone comes in physical contact with an infinity stone and survives, let alone is given a power. Wanda and her brother were the only ones to survive the exposure of the mind stone—,” he nods to the redhead talking to Clint. “—It chose them.” He looks back to her to see Y/n already had her eyes on him. “Just like the reality stone chose you. You’re special, Y/n.”

Gratitude erupts in her, and Y/n smiles once again at the man. “You know, for someone who says he doesn’t have a way with words, you really know how to make someone feel better.” The statement makes him laugh.

“I was someone who would take everything and anyone around me for granted. Didn’t really see the value in things,” he gives a shrug, “—but I’ve realized that isn’t how one should view life. I needed to do better, and I hope saying it also helps others.”

“Well it does,” she tells him. “And someone should tell you that everyone in awhile.”

Stephen raises a brow, an idea coming to mind. “Maybe you can be the one.” Y/n didn’t know what exactly he was implying, but it was enough to cause heat to rise. She turned away when he started to smirk, biting her lip to stop the smile from peeking out.

Funny what life brings you—even in the strangest of times.

“You know something came to my mind,” She suddenly says, making his brow, “All of us had some contact with these stones at one point—none of us having known each other prior,” she pauses glancing at the new friends she called family. “But these little gems with power beyond anything we’ve ever seen, managed to bring us all together,” her eyes meet his, bittersweet emotion filling them.

The corners of his lips curl up, “I guess the universe had a plan for us.” She mirrors his expression, mischief twinkling in her gaze.

“What’s that thing Buzz Lightyear always said?” she paused, laughing when Stephen already started to chuckle at the joke she was implying. He took her hand again and together they said the words.

“To infinity and beyond.”

[friendofhayley]

Sorry for the wait! I feel like I fell into a pit last month...a Marvel pit, that is. Sorry y'all, but in August all I read and rec was Tony-centric stories! Thank you to all the Team Iron Man writers out there! This fic rec includes 17 fics starring WinterIron, IronStrange, FrostIron, and Misc.

WinterIron

1. Still Waters by @tsuki-chibi | i love this author so much - Tony is a silver fox - why do people stand up for Wanda again? - AU of Ultron - 12k

James didn't know what to think when he stumbled across an older version of Tony Stark who claimed to be from the future. He had no idea that agreeing to help Stark to stop the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver would change everything.

2. Classic Sci-Fi by @notdoingsohot | Steve is a bad friend, but we knew this - Loki's a bro but not at all - '40's Bucky is cute af - all the feels - 18k

Bucky wakes up to Steve telling him he's lost his memory, but not to panic, it'll only last a few days. Easier said than done when the last thing Bucky remembers is fighting Hydra with the Howlies in WWII.

He tries to make the most of it however, and there's this guy... Tony Stark. It's pretty clear the guy hates Bucky's guts, which is unfortunate because god damn is he a sight.

He tries to figure out what he did to wrong Stark, but everyone just tells him he doesn't want to know.

3. Changing Fate by Wix | time travel - it's technically pre-slash but it's gay - everyone needs a hug - tried but true trope - 27k

Tony dies in Siberia under the hands of Captain America, but fate doesn't leave it there. He opens his eyes several years earlier amidst the threat of Loki's invasion and the first assembling of the 'Avengers'. Tony may not understand why he got this second chance, but he's going to do better with it - and he's decided that he's going to share it. With a Winter Soldier who could really use a different hand than he was dealt.

Never let it be said that fate doesn't have a sense of humor.

WinterStrange

4. List of Questions (Civil War Team Iron Man) series by izumi2 | this series is so fucking good - there are so many things that did not make sense in any universe that this fic fixes - listen, I wouldn't trust Team Captain America with anything - 28+ parts

Unrelated (or not) one shots. You can read separetely or as part of the same 'universe'.

'What if' situations where questions are raised and answered in an AU.

5. Another Way by @respect-tony-stark | this is literally such a slow burn and it's fucking great - this fic is a balm to my soul that never stops giving - Tony has mental illnesses that needs to be treated!! - #teamironman - 85k+

Everyone assumed things started to fall apart during their Civil War, but Tony could tell dynamics were off way before then. It started after Ultron. Tony was trying to hold onto the pieces just as much as everyone else, but maybe the team didn't want to as much as they thought they did. Tony just hoped that Steve and everyone else would get over Ultron.

Then Tony found out about a certain Winter Soldier and December of 1991. Tony wasn't irrational. He'd give Steve a chance to confess, but there were a lot more things wrong with their team than secrets. It was time for Tony to realize that.

6. A Second Chance (To Get It Right) by DobbyRocksSocks | this is what I wish Endgame had been - hindsight is 20/20 and it's delicious - the Steve & Tony interactions hurt - just crying about Aunt Peggy - 22k

Stephen knows there's only one way to win the war against Thanos. Tony wishes he knew what the hell was happening, and just how he's waking up in 2010 with JARVIS telling him the time and date.

7. Poison in My Veins by ArcticVulpix | listen, watching the What If...? episode right after this made me feel justified - JARVIS loves Sir so much - not SHIELD friendly because fuck them - also the reason why I went on a tangent while showing my partner Iron Man 2 - 2k

What if injecting Tony with an unknown chemical during the Palladium poisoning incident had more realistic consequences? After all, they couldn't know what medication Tony was on. And how it would react to their 'cure'.

JARVIS is not happy.

8. ironstrange vs. the rogues series by imposterhuman | feat. some juicy past-Stony - it's just great to see peeps take Tony's side - Rogues didn't realize how much shit Tony put up with to help them not fail as a team - #teamironman - 13+ parts

the rogue avengers return, only, tony isnt alone this time

9. Tony and the Neurosurgeon by ArcticVulpix | part of a great series [Anyone But Steve Rogers] - cw: mind control and sexual harassment - Clint is a bro - protective JARVIS - 10k

JARVIS would only accept the best for sir. So a doctor who can keep up with Tony's banter and with a high enough intelligence to understand him was pretty high up on the list.

FrostIron

10. Tears by Arabesqueangel | dying after getting rejected from soulmate AU - enemies to lovers - Thor: Ragnarok canon-divergent - Jotunn Loki is best Loki - 11k

Thor says they are headed to Earth. Loki is understandably dreading their arrival. It's not just his own actions on Earth the last time that are causing him pause. It's the knowledge that Tony Stark is his soulmate and he can never know... no matter how much it hurts.

11. Things That Are Never Meant by katling | Civil War canon-divergent - Pepper is a BAMF - Wanda is straight-up evil in this one - some people are OOC - 28k

When Tony Stark disappears from Siberia, the aftershocks shatter some people and rebuild others. And when Tony returns, nothing will ever be the same again.

12. Tony and the Trickster by ArcitcVulpix | bless this author for their fics - I just love the way Loki *clenches fist* tricks people - one-sided Stony - people stand up for Tony! - 6k

As usual, it started because Loki was bored.

Is there really any more else to say?

13. The Power of Faith series by Draysmeria | this series! is an epic amazing story - AU from Avengers to Endgame - FrostIron vs. the world - I love the pagan representation - 5 parts

Loki has been Tony's God for a long time and there was nothing Loki could do that would turn Tony away from him, even if he attempted to invade earth. Stronger together than apart they embark on a journey to rid the universe once and for all of their ultimate enemy Thanos. It is not always easy navigating heroes, villains and interpersonal relationships, but with the power of their faith in each other, everything is possible.

14. Proof That DUM-E Knows Exactly What He's Doing (And Why JARVIS Should Stop Bossing Him Around) by NamelesslyNightlock | this is mostly told from the POV of DUM-E - the bots care and love for Tony so much - enemies to strangers to lovers - idiots in love - 14k

When DUM-E touches something he shouldn’t and it makes someone new appear in the workshop, DUM-E doesn’t know why JARVIS gets so worried. Clearly, he and Loki are going to be the best of friends.

Misc.

15. you want a war? (you don't know what you're asking for) by graveltotempo | Pepper and Rhodey are salty - Tony isn't in this story - I love a #teamironman story about consequences - Aunt Peggy - 12k

“And now? Now you’ve all betrayed,”  Steve flinched at the choice of words, “Stark, and Potts and Rhodes are not going to sit and take it.”

Natasha frowned at the phone. “What does this mean for us?”

Fury laughed - an ugly laugh with no myrth in it. “It means that Potts or Rhodes are the ones who sent me this phone because they wanted me to contact you. They wanted me - and you - to know that they are with Stark, that they are the line of defence between him and us.”

16. Tony Stark Defense Squad series by ArcticVulpix - Pepper/Tony - I love seeing the Defenders and Fantastic Four interact with the Avengers! - Carol and Jessica Jones putting Steve back in his place - Aunt Peggy - 20+ parts

Tony has recovered in the year following the Civil War, with his friends' and new team's help. With the Rogues coming back though, those friends aren't going to let them hurt Tony again.

17. From Little Things Big Things Grow by katling | Iron Husbands - this story is super amazing and makes me angry at Steve - Defenders and Fantastic Four are in this too! - hey, Team Cap are assholes - non-canon character death - 32k

In a harsher universe, Tony Stark lets Clint Barton's comment in the Raft slide off him but what would happen if he didn't? What would happen if that comment was the straw that broke the camel's back? What would happen if Tony didn't go to Siberia? If he turned his attention away from the Rogue Avengers and looked towards others to help him protect the world and the universe, even if those others come in strange packages?

[lizzie-is-here]

acta, non verba

avengers: endgame: part ii

summary: you’re entering into the fight of your life, and you aren’t tolerating casualties.

wordcount: 10k

warnings: death, violence, arguing, a theme of not being able to move on, cussing, interviewers being lowkey misogynistic, fluff and a happy ending

series masterlist

“What. The. Fuck.” Your first words after waking up were as explicit as ever, and as you watched people reappear in the Wakandan field, you narrowed your eyes. Were you tripping balls? The last thing you remembered, you were turning to dust in your best friend’s hands, and now you were stumbling along the edge of the woods, very confused and pretty sure that that tree wasn’t there the last time you’d seen it.

Then someone began materializing right in front of you. You quickly recognized the brunet hair, the tall figure, and the metal arm.

“Bucky!” You scanned him for any injuries as he stared at you confused.

“What the hell happened?” Before you could answer, a glowing orange circle formed nearby. A few Wakandan soldiers along with T’Challa, Sam, and the tree alien walked over, watching curiously as a man in a red cape stepped out.

“You need to come with me. It’s been five years, and they need us.”

It’d been what? You froze, turning to exchange a horrified glance with Barnes. It hadn’t been some weird hallucination. You’d died for five years, and now, by some twist of fate, you’d returned from the dead.

The man introduced himself as Stephen Strange and gave everyone a short while to prepare. He explained that Thanos had returned from another time, the Avengers had traveled in time to get the stones and bring everyone back, and now you were heading into the fight of your lives. It was a lot to absorb.

Shuri sped down the hill on a hoverbike, brand-new shoes clean and ready for battle. You chuckled as she showed them off, T’Challa rolling his eyes as his little sister.

“Hey, can you help me pull my hair up?” Bucky asked. This had become sort of a habit between you two. His old, HYDRA-made arm pinched his hair, and by the time he’d gotten the new one you’d both grown used to you doing his hair. You nodded, carefully pulling the bothersome strands from his face and tying them up in a bun.

“Will you be alright?” the cloaked man asked. You nodded. He stepped aside, making circular motions with his arms. Orange sparks flew as Sam connected to a comm.

“Cap. Cap, can you hear me?” He smirked at you, stifling a laugh. “On your left.”

When the portal fully opened, your eyes widened at the wreckage. Your past home, destroyed. The compound was nothing but rubble as you stared out onto the battlefield. From the looks of it, the team has gotten separated, leaving Steve alone to fend off an army.

A short ways away, Tony sat up. His hair had grown more grey, but his smile lines were deeper. Good. Thor, on the other hand, looked completely different. In his defense, though, the added bulk and messy beard made him look truly like a Viking berserker.

Another portal opened, revealing Strange along with a few aliens and a bearded man. Then, Peter swung through in his new suit, causing you to sigh in relief and wave at him.

As Stephen continued to open countless portals, you watched in awe. It was an intimidating sight; holes opening between space to coalesce into a massive army, rivaling Thanos’s itself.

“Avengers!”

Steve held out his hand, and you screamed in excitement as Mjolnir flew into his hand. You knew it. You whooped and cheered across the crackling and shuffling surrounding the area.

“Assemble.”

You had never had more fun kicking ass. The alien enemy was relatively flimsy, their only strength in numbers. They fell with a few strikes.

The Leviathans that had once caused so many problems during the Battle of New York were now felled easily by Scott, who towered above the battlefield. Brutes that stood well over any human were taken out with ease, even Shuri was racking up kills like no one’s business.

The new additions to the team also provided more fun. You were tugged from a mass of enemies by a gorgeous woman on a pegasus -a goddamn flying horse. You were sure you’d seen everything this world had to give- who dropped you near Tony and Pepper, the latter of which was donned in a royal blue suit.

“Stark!”

“(Y/N)!” He sprinted towards you best he could in his suit, yanking you into a hug. “Holy shit, I’m so happy to see you. I can’t wait for you to meet my daughter.” You were sure your heart got stuck in your throat.

“You have a daughter?” you asked, teary-eyed

He laughed and Pepper smiled at you from beside him. “Yeah, her name is Morgan. After-“

“After Pepper’s senile uncle?” you half-blubbered. They laughed and shoved you.

“Save the tears, hon,” Pepper said, ushering you back into the fray. You playfully saluted before sprinting off, making it your mission to have a get-together with your friends in the midst of a battle for the universe.

You spotted Wanda a short while later, power coursing through her as she furiously crushed droves of aliens with little effort. They never stood a chance against her, a few scrambling away when they saw the expression on the witch’s face. Her eyes glowed red with energy.

You ran past her, throwing her a sympathetic smile as she wiped out a few space dogs behind you, always watching your back. As you continued your trek, you gripped a modified gun in your hand, blasting at anything that moved while your sword swung in your other, slashing and stabbing at anything that got too close. You fell into your mind as you blasted a hole through a giant alien’s head. You didn’t even look back as his body crumbled.

It was easy to return to this rhythm, you thought as you flowed like water through the field. You slipped between fighting pairs, surveying your allies to watch carefully for anyone becoming overpowered. They were all holding their own.

Steve and Thor exchanged Mjolnir and the battle ax -which you’d later learn was called Stormbreaker- as if they were playing catch. You were tempted to try and pick one up, but you pushed down the impulse. There was no time for that.

“(Y/N)! Duck!” You didn’t have any time to search for the voice before you quickly obeyed, a large fist barely missing your head. You shot at the thing’s knees (You thought they were knees? Alien anatomy was way out of your field of expertise) before sliding out of the way, watching as Sam flew in to stab the alien with his wings. The sight had you shuddering and gagging, imagining the deep-cleaning he’d have to do on the tech.

“Cap!” Clint’s voice rang through your earpiece, barely noticeable over the sounds of battle. “What do you want me to do with this damn thing?” You guessed he was talking about the new gauntlet Tony had made, but his lack of specificity had you sighing.

Your suspicions were confirmed when Steve shouted his response. “Get those stones as far away as possible!” he yelled.

“No,” Bruce called back. “We need to get ‘em back where they came from.”

“No way to get ‘em back, Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel,” Tony said. This wrinkly-ass grape truly was the source of all of your problems. Knowing that you couldn’t land a hit on the titan quite yet, you instead took out your anger on the nearest enemy, spearing it on your sword to yank it closer before shooting it.

Scott’s voice rang from above you and in your ear. “Hold on! That wasn’t our only time machine.” A faint tune carried over the terrain. What the fuck? Was that “La Cucaracha”?

“Anyone see an ugly brown van out there?” Cap asked. You ran through the field, scanning the area for a rusty car amidst the chaos.

“Yes!” A woman yelled over comms. “But you’re not gonna like where it’s parked!”

“Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?” Tony asked.

“Uh, maybe 10 minutes.” Great.

Steve’s voice crackled. “Get it started. We’ll get the stones to you.” You groaned, flinging your own hand to your earpiece.

“Let’s hot potato this shit, folks.”

As you sped past Dr. Strange doing some cultish magic, you managed to spot Clint running with the gauntlet. It appeared Thanos saw him too. T’Challa reached him before you did, knocking back an incoming horde.

“Clint! Give it to me,” he said. As they traded off the glove, you struck down aliens that made moves to take it, most of them too distracted to see you sneak around them. The prince made it a ways across the rocky terrain before he was struck by Thanos’s double-sided sword.

Hm, you’d never fought another sword-weilder. You ran forward to take a crack before Wanda landed in front of you, stopping you in your tracks.

“You took everything from me,” she growled, and you watched from your spot several paces away from her.

“I don’t even know who you are,” Thanos said. Wrong choice of words.

Wanda rolled her shoulders back and tilted her head, smug in her posture. “You will.” Her hands glowed red as she lifted chunks of earth and rubble, flinging them at the titan. She managed to get up close before he brought the sword down, which she caught effortlessly, pushing it back and snapping the blade in half.

She wrapped tendrils around Thanos, and as you watched her flick her hand, you realized what she was doing. The witch was tearing him limb from limb. You gaped as you saw ligaments straining under the force, his face wrenching up in pain.

“Rain fire!” He shouted. Followed shortly by, “Just do it!” If you weren’t so focused on getting Wanda to safety you would’ve cracked a joke. She threw a forcefield around the both of you as blasts of energy rained onto the teams. Many sorcerers blanketed the field in energy shields that glowed a bright orange, each one showcasing intricate designs and patterns.

“Uh, is anyone else seeing this?” Pepper asked over her earpiece. What was it with people and not specifying things? These were comms, not a facetime call. Evidently, the problem was solved and not something you had to worry about. You focused instead on making your way to Thanos.

He had retrieved his broken sword, and once he made eye contact with you, leveled it at your approaching figure. You mimicked him, vibranium blade shimmering in the setting sun. A smirk crept its way across your face as you stalked closer.

You had to distract him so they could get the gauntlet to Scott. Charging forward, you swung. His blade quivered under the blow, Wanda’s strike already weakening the integrity of the metal.

You continued to strike, barely giving the alien a moment to think. He dodged the best he could, parrying your strikes with growing panic. Bingo.

As soon as he took a shaky step back, you wrenched a knife from your belt. Hoping that his sword was weak enough, you stabbed the knife clean through the massive blade. As he took a second step back in confusion, you spun, slamming the hilt of your prized sword against the hilt of the knife. The sword shattered.

“Haha, motherfucker!” you screeched, reeling back when he punched you. You went tumbling, still laughing when you rolled to a stop before cradling your jaw.

You braved for another strike, but you were instead met by a streak across the sky. Like a comet far too close to the ground. It shot straight through Thanos’s ship, exploding the interior and powering down the guns.

“Danvers, we need an assist here,” Steve said. So the comet had a name.

You grunted as you stood, wiping the dust and rubble from your sword and watched as a new group of aliens spilled from the wreckage. “Yeah, you’re cool and all,” you muttered into your earpiece. “but we’ve got another wave incoming. We need to start wiping them out in bigger chunks.”

“How many have you taken out, (L/N)? 10?” Strange asked, slightly patronizing.

“73, for your information, Stephen. But I’m also not one of the ones that glows and can fly, so…” you snarked. “I’m literally just out here with a pointy stick, but hey, the pointy stick’s the reason nutsack-chin man doesn’t have a sword anymore.”

“Alright, enough,” Tony chided. You watched as Thor and Steve tag-teamed Thanos, both using Stormbreaker and Mjolnir in tandem. He shrugged them off before landing a powerful blow to Steve’s head.

The comet shot past, gauntlet in hand. Well, until the titan snatched it from her. She and Thanos duked it out, with her tanking a direct punch from him before he yanked the Power Stone from its place and sent her flying back.

He dove for the gauntlet, putting it on as you and Tony both ran toward him. You leapt up, wrapping a cord around his neck as the Iron Man went for the glove. Glancing down at your friend, you raised an eyebrow. His suit was changing, the right hand morphing and the tech rearranging as he wrestled.

“Tony…” you hissed, wrenching Thanos’s head further back with a harsh tug. You were sure the cord was cutting into his neck, but you didn’t pay a moment of attention to him. You were trying to figure out Tony’s plan. Trying to slip into the mind of the genius billionaire.

While you were still stuck in your mind, Thanos managed to get a hold of your neck, throwing you at the same time as he kneed Tony away.

“I am inevitable,” he said.

You prepared to waste away. At least you would die trying. Go down fighting and all that bullshit army recruiters used to wrangle in young folks to die in war.

But then he snapped, and nothing happened.

Tony rose to his knees beside you, and you weren’t sure whether to laugh or cry because the stones were in his hand, and as they fell into place on the gauntlet the suit had fully formed, you felt the power surge from his body. It made you flinch away.

He threw you a sideways grin, similar to the one he’d given when you first met him, before turning back to Thanos.

“And I… Am… Iron Man.”

You got tunnel vision once he snapped, running toward him to help him rest against a random pile of rubble. Still unsure of what he did, but with one mission in mind. Keep Tony Stark alive.

The right side of his body was charred and burnt, but you managed to ignore the smell of burning flesh as you yelled for help.

Rhodey was the first to land. He knelt beside you both, not saying a word.

Then came Peter. “Mr. Stark? Hey!” His breaths shook. “Mr. Stark. Can you hear me?” You thought you heard Tony wheeze a response, but your ears were ringing and your eyes were watering so you weren’t too sure. The kid kept trying to reach his mentor.

“It’s Peter. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark. We won, Mr. Stark. We won! You did it, sir, you did it.” Pepper knelt beside the boy as he began to sob. “I’m sorry. Tony,” he held on like maybe he could save him, but Pepper gently pulled his hands away.

“Hey,” she whispered.

And he finally reacted to someone. “Hey, Pep.” He laid a hand across hers where it sat atop the glowing arc reactor.

“FRIDAY?” she asked.

“Life functions critical.” Even the AI sounded dejected.

He gave her a teary smile, unsaid words passing between the couple as you frantically wracked your brain for any solution to this.

“Tony? Look at me.” He obeyed with a weak groan. “We’re gonna be okay.” And all you could hear was you saying that to Nat five years ago, and now you couldn’t even find her now. You had to do something.

“No, hey. No going to sleep just yet, Stark.” A few people murmured behind you, and you heard Steve whisper, “Someone get her, please.” You carefully took the glove, watching Tony’s eyes as they followed your movements.

“You’ve still got a life ahead of you, Tony. Keep that heart beating for just a little longer.” You were aware that you were gambling your best friend’s life on a hunch, but hey. You had a history of being right.

Once you found what you were looking for, you manage to yank the Soul Stone from the glove. Every other stone had powers. Why wouldn’t this one?

You clasped it in your hand, waiting for the energy to flow through you. When it did, you laid your hand on Tony’s chest, praying for the first time in your life and hoping that he would live.

You kept your eyes wrenched shut, not wanting to even entertain the possibility of failure. When nothing happened, you choked out a sob.

Then a hand took yours.

“You just have to have it your way, huh, kid?”

His voice was still weak, body still battered and burnt. But his breaths were stronger. His vitals were rising.

Pepper gasped from beside you and tugged her husband close as you stood, Soul Stone still in hand. Your head spun as you stumbled, reaching out for someone to hold on to.

As sure as you’d made sure Tony was stable, you sighed in relief. Then everything went black.

———————————————————————

You woke up in the Avengers’ Tower lounge in someone else’s clothes. A henley and a very large pair of sweats. The room swarmed with action. However, the moment you groaned slightly and moved an inch, you were immediately surrounded by a slew of concerned superheroes.

“Hey, Ms. (L/N). Are you alright?” Peter.

“Oh my God, (Y/N), they have bad news.” Wanda. She was crying.

“Hey, welcome back to the land of the living.” Sam.

“Shut up, she wasn’t dead.” Bucky.

You sat up all the way, head spinning. “What? I… Is Tony okay?” Steve approached from behind.

“He’s at the hospital. He’s gonna make it but they might have to amputate his arm,” he said, swallowing hard. “They said that he’s not in much pain; the energy burnt off his nerve endings.”

“Oh, that’s… that’s good.” You turned to Bucky, half-heartedly tapping him on the side of his metal arm. “You two will match,” you said. He chuckled nervously.

Wanda was still sniffling. “You said there was bad news, Wands?” Your question had her crying again, even harder than before. You looked around the room in mild panic, searching for answers.

Steve sat next to you, taking a few deep inhales. “It’s Nat.”

———————————————————————

Nat’s funeral was held a few days later. You tried to reach out to her family, but all contact led nowhere.

Tony was dismissed from the hospital a day before, with his right arm amputated and a new slew of jokes in his arsenal. He was particularly interested in picking on Bucky, who had attempted several times to get you to make him stop, though unsuccessful. You were enjoying the teasing. It was a ray of light amidst the somber scene.

Nat had left you a few letters in the drawers in your room, luckily at the Tower. You read through each one with Wanda, who had a set of her own. It ended with a lot of tears and wine.

As you got ready for the funeral, you put on a black silk dress. It felt a bit extra, but you knew she would’ve loved it. You wiped under your eyes as a knock sounded on the guest bedroom door. Pepper had invited you to stay at their lake house before the funeral, and you’d spent all of your time learning all you could about Morgan (Y/N) Stark. That’s right. You’d nearly sobbed when the little girl had told you her middle name.

“Hey.” Bucky cautiously leaned through the doorway and peeked his head inside. You gave him a small smile, fiddling with a necklace she’d given you as a gift for your birthday one year. She’d claimed it was because she felt guilty for getting you stranded in the middle of Texas for a week, but you knew she’d seen you eyeing it in a store.

Your hands were shaking as you tried to open the clasp without chipping your nail polish. A minuscule scratch formed and you wanted to just give up then and there. A small, pathetic sound escaped your lips.

“Here, c’mon doll,” he muttered, taking the necklace and, after making sure the small bird charm was facing the right way, gently clasped it. You turned around and rested your head against his chest, trying your best to forget that you weren’t about to go to your friend’s funeral. If you tried hard enough, you could pretend that you were back at the compound, five years hadn’t passed, and you weren’t missing a piece. Maybe your dress was some pretty shade of pale blue instead of sleek black and you were about to go on a date with the super-soldier you were leaning against.

But the new voices outside shattered your fantasy. You could hear the new group -the Guardians of the Galaxy or some bullshit that you weren’t ready to care for yet- muttering about Earth traditions and whatnot outside your window.

Taking a calming breath, you shook your hands out, trying your best to chase off the odd tingling that hadn’t quite left ever since you’d wielded the Soul Stone. “So, what’s it like coming back from the dead twice?” you asked him. He chuckled.

“Weird. I feel like, just as I caught up to the modern world, I got set back again.”

You nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. That’s okay. We’ll learn together.” Bucky looked mildly hopeful at that, but his eyes quickly clouded over with some hidden emotion. You frowned.

“Hey. What’s up?” You tapped his nose before turning back to the bag you’d packed, rifling through it to retrieve a few pairs of earrings that matched your outfit. You plucked out a knife that had once been Nat’s, reminiscing about when she’d given it to you. The Battle of New York. Tugging a holder up your thigh, you slipped the blade into it.

He wiped his face with his flesh hand, checking the door to make sure no one was listening. “It’s Stevie, he’s going back in time to return the stones?” he said, asking to make sure you knew. You nodded before he continued. “He wants to stay back there with Peggy.”

You dropped a small pair of gold studs in shock. He scooped them up for you and held them as you put in gold hoops to the bottom piercings. “He’s trying to do what?” you whisper yelled, wincing when you accidentally stabbed a bit too hard. “That’s -shit, ow- actually really inconsiderate to you, Bucky.”

He shrugged, frown still stuck on his face. “Well, I mean… it’s the happy ending he always wanted right? If he’s happier back then… I can’t make him stay.” He sounded unsure of himself.

You gingerly took the gold studs from him, putting them on before sitting up on the dresser. “You deserve a happy ending too, you know?”

Bucky stared at you as if you were the first person to tell him that. You sincerely hoped you weren’t.

You both jumped when the door opened, revealing Steve, who cast a suspicious glance between the two of you. His eyes were slightly red.

“Hey, it’s- it’s starting.”

The ceremony was quiet. No public allowed; too much of a security risk and far too personal. Tony pulled you into a gentle hug, carefully avoiding his right arm, which was now replaced by a nanotech arm similar to his suit.

There wasn’t even a body to bury. Or cremate, as she had preferred.

So instead, you buried stories. Some last memories of the assassin. You told them about how she would buy the most frivolous trinkets on missions, just because the money was given by SHIELD. How she never quite got over the habit of nicking small things from stores. Hell, you weren’t 100% sure if the necklace you were wearing was stolen or not.

Hours passed, and tears were shed. The new team members listened intently, soaking up the stories of one of the original Avengers. When everyone dispersed before dinner, you followed Steve as he headed to a platform where Bruce manned the controls. Time travel, made possible by quantum mechanics.

All you knew was that the stones had to be returned to their time, otherwise those timelines would split into a branch reality, spelling disaster to all in that timeline. And it appeared Steve was up for the task.

You grabbed his hand, yanking him a bit harsher than you meant to.

“(Y/N)?” For just a moment, his face morphed into one of surprise and confusion before he schooled it back to normal. Many of your team members still looked shocked to see you, as if you were a ghost.

“Is it true? You’re staying in the 40’s with Peggy?” He stared down at you, and you could see his heart crack. You bit the inside of your mouth, pushing down the rising bile.

“Buck told you?” So he confessed. You weakly punched his chest, tears welling up.

“You weren’t even going to say goodbye? I was going to lose a sister and a brother all in one day? You were going to leave your best friend behind, who still needs you?” Steve had the sense to look mildly guilty at that, exchanging glances with Bucky and Sam, who had followed.

You punched his chest again, harder this time. “You don’t get to do that, Steve! Fucking hell!” Even as they reached for you, you slipped past them grabbing a small device from Bruce.

“Is this an extra suit?” The mixture of Hulk and man nodded.

“Why? Did something-“

“I’m going instead of Steve,” you announced, your tone leaving no room for argument. Said man ran up behind you, trying his best to persuade you from making a rash decision and possibly get lost in space-time.

He managed to snatch your arm as you activated the suit, which formed perfectly to your body. Nanotech was so cool. “(Y/N), please. I wasn’t sure if I was going for sure, I just-“

You raised your hand as you grabbed an extra suit and a few extra Pym Particles, small red vials that seemed to power the suit.

“Why did you-“

“Save it. Bruce, send me back.” The scientist shot a few nervous glances at you and Steve, before nodding.

“See you in a minute,” you waved to them, gone before you could hear Steve’s gasp.

———————————————————————

Morag, 2014: Power Stone

With a quiet shout, you popped out of the quantum realm and onto an alien planet. The suit immediately disappeared, leaving you in your dress. Not exactly up to dress code for a mission. Especially one to space.

You checked the directions on a pop-up screen, strolling toward a large temple a ways away. The 2014 version of Peter Quill was passed out on the ground, but you simply sidestepped him on your way.

Once you made it inside the building, you gently set the stone back in its case on the platform, watching as lasers shot up around it.

Easy. You reactivated the suit and put in the next location. Asgard.

———————————————————————

Asgard, 2013: Reality Stone.

This was one of the weirder ones. After successfully re-stabbing Jane Foster with the Aether, you were in the middle of sneaking away when a woman stopped you. Her posture was tall, regal. She was definitely nobility.

“Who are you?” she questioned, eyeing your outfit. You stammered, not sure what to say as recognition crossed her face.

She smiled. “You’re one of Thor’s friends? He just left. I’m his mother, Frigga.”

You nodded as she placed a gentle hand on your arm. “So, I take it that whatever his plan was, it was successful?”

“Yeah, actually. Just dropping these back off.” You held up the case of Infinity Stones. The kind woman checked behind her for any guards or passerby before leaning in.

“Please tell him to eat a salad, dear,” she said as you readied for another jump. You saluted, smiling as you disappeared into nothingness.

———————————————————————

New Jersey, 1970: Space Stone.

When you arrived in a dusty basement, you were immediately met with an unbearable humming of machinery. Letting FRIDAY scan the room, you rushed to return the Space Stone to its container before a door opening caught you off guard.

In walked Peggy Carter, founder of SHIELD and one of your biggest role models. In your panic, you froze on the spot as she narrowed her eyes.

“Who are you?”

“Uh… (Y/N).” You furiously searched your mind for a surname. “(L/N)…” All of your years of training, flown out the window. She nodded, still suspicious.

“Are you related to the (L/N)’s that had a baby a while back? Donovan, I think his name is. Cute kid.” You shook your head.

“Never met them,” you shrugged. She pointed to your dress.

“I’m guessing that’s not dress code?” she asked, her voice lilting. You laughed nervously, backing up as she tilted her head.

“I’ve gotta go!” you chirped, slamming the button and zooming to your next destination.

———————————————————————

New York, 2012: Time and Mind Stones.

You reappeared on a rooftop, a bald woman in yellow robes casting magic towards an incoming Chitauri. You supposed she was another sorcerer.

“Ah, Ms. (L/N).” Woah.

“That’s me,” you said, shoving through the case to retrieve the green stone. “I think this is yours.”

She gratefully took it before returning it to its rightful place in the eye-shaped necklace she wore. “I’m guessing you’ll need a boost to get to the Avenger’s Tower to return the other stone?” You nodded, deciding to roll with the fact that she apparently saw the future.

“That’d be great, please.” She opened a portal, easily fending off blasts with her other hand. You slid through, dusting off the silk dress. So, your options were to either confront the past versions of your teammates or sneak around. Hm.

You trotted through the halls, searching for a passed-out Captain America. Steve had told you all about his fight with himself, each detail making you laugh harder.

“Loki.” There he was. Next to him stood Nat, who apparently had woken him up from the Scepter’s control. You were so focused on seeing your friend alive again you didn’t notice her gun aimed at you until she jolted it. You held your hands up.

“I’m not Loki. Didn’t you just do this whole song and dance with Steve?” They both stared at you, confused. “Listen, I really don’t wanna deal with this whole argument thing, so just take the goddamn glowing rock.” You chucked the Mind Stone at them, punching in your final location.

Nat caught it, rolling it between her hands before nodding. “That’s not Loki. It’s some… different version of (Y/N).”

“Oh, yeah,” you said, not quite paying attention. “I’m from 2023.”

“What?”

You waved with only your fingers, disappearing once again. “Have fun with the next few years! And keep an eye on SHIELD!” You weren’t too sure if telling them things about the future would affect much, but it was worth it to see the shock on their faces.

———————————————————————

Vormir, 2014: Soul Stone.

The last stone to drop off was going to be the hardest. The icy wind whirled around you, spinning in a spiral around the tall mountain you arrived on. Your dress did little to drive back the chill.

A ghostly figure cloaked in black floated towards you, and you unsheathed your knife and pointed it towards it. When it got closer, you caught its face. The Red Skull. Founder of HYDRA and, you know, a Nazi.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” you asked, still wielding the knife. He sighed, as if he’d been through this multiple times.

“(Y/N), daughter of Donovan. I am the guide of all who seek the Soul Stone. You, however, are too late. Another-“

“Yeah, yeah, Clifford. I got it right here.” You held up the stone. “But I’m here to strike a deal.”

He looked surprised at that, as if your proposition was a new event in his seemingly endless time on this desert planet. “Yes?”

“Natasha Romanoff just died here, right?” You tried to push down the fact that her body was probably still bleeding out on the rocks below the spire.

The Red Skull held up a hand. “You cannot bring her back. It is an everlasting exchange. A soul for a soul.”

“Yeah,” you said, once again waving around the orange rock. “A Soul-“ you pointed at it, to which it glowed brighter. “-for a soul.” You gestured to the rocks below. “Everlasting and all that fun shit.”

He thought it over, considering the rules of exchange. He held out a skeletal hand. “I will try.”

As you handed off the last stone, the mountain began to glow, and you faded from the peak. When you awoke, you were laying in a puddle of water, floating face up.

You jumped up, going to wring water from your clothes and hair when you realized it simply slid off, as if it wasn’t quite soaking it. You tilted your head and began shaking it to remove the water in your ears when a voice behind you startled you.

“So you wore the dress?”

Spinning around, you saw your best friend. Her hair had grown out in the five years since you’d last seen her, but the ends remained blonde. It looked good.

“Oh my god, you’re okay.” You hugged her, sighing in relief. “That Spirit Halloween decoration actually did something right in his miserable life.” She laughed, loud and boisterous as it echoed around the quiet planet.

You grabbed the extra suit and Pym Particles, handing them to her and typing in the coordinates.

“Did you know Steve was gonna try and spend his life in the 40’s with Peggy? Go talk some sense into him, for fuck’s sake.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Did they even kiss? Or, ya know, know each other for longer than a few months?”

“I don’t think so, I think he’s just batshit. Oh!” You perked up as you finished readying her suit. “Tony almost died wielding the Infinity Stones, but I saved him.”

“Oh, really? Seems like I’m gonna have to yell at him and Steve.” You laughed, smiling at her. She was different. It was like this was the first time she’d truly breathed since you’d seen her last.

“Alright, ready to go?” You both pressed the buttons at the same time, ready to return home.

———————————————————————

Earth, 2023.

When Natasha Romanoff returned on the platform, Steve and Bruce were still arguing.

“Why did you let her go? She didn’t even have a weapon!” Steve yelled as Sam tried to calm him down.

“Man, she was trying to keep you from making a dumb mistake,” the latter said, not even noticing the redhead.

She rolled her eyes. “Back from the dead and the first thing I hear is Steve yelling. Great welcome home gift,” she joked, watching as they gasped.

After they got over their excitement and called over everyone else (which led to Clint and Wanda full-on sobbing) they noticed someone missing.

“Where’s (Y/N)?”

———————————————————————

Earth, 2004.

You thought you were prepared when you logged in the date and location for your true final stop, but seeing the hustle and bustle in your childhood home still took you aback. The windows were open as usual, since Vivian insisted that you all have “fresh air” for her houseplants. You could hear your mother chasing Jacob in a futile attempt to make him take allergy medicine and see your father cooking dinner.

When you made it to the door on shaky legs, you gathered your strength. You knocked. In all honesty, it was barely even a tap. But the door swung open anyway.

“Who are you?” your mom asked, staring with suspicion. You were at a loss for words.

“I-“ Your voice was all she needed.

“(Y/N)? Honey, you look… older… Don! Vivian, Jacob! Come here!” she yelled into the house. As the other three made their way to the door, your eyes watered.

“Hi,” you whispered.

“Come in, and explain what’s going on,” your dad said, still slightly suspicious. Jacob seemed to not quite recognize you yet, still confused.

They led you to the kitchen table, letting you sit in your usual seat. Your dad set a plate of roast in front of you, and your heart ached.

They all sat down around the table before your mom spoke up. “So… what’s happening here?”

“I’m (Y/N), just from the future. 2023.” There was no point in sugarcoating it. While Vivi and Jacob stared in shock, your parents just nodded. They’d seen crazier.

“A lot has happened in the past years, but I need to tell you something. You all need to stay safe, because I-“ Your father shushed you.

“You don’t need to tell us anything about our futures,” he said, sipping wine from a plastic cup. You’d forgotten about that habit of his.

“But-“

“Listen to your father, hon,” your mom murmured behind a mouthful of food.

Vivian eyed you from her seat. “Are you really from the future?” You nodded, carefully chewing a carrot.

“It’s crazy. Aliens are real, which is pretty cool. I don’t just mean like, a few, the whole universe is populated. I’m friends with some of them.” You wanted to tell them all you could. Tonight was their last night alive, anyhow.

“There’s superheroes. I guess I’m kind of one.” Jacob’s eyes went wide as he dropped his spoon into his soup.

You laughed at his excitement. The tears were still making their way through. “I’ve gotta go back soon, I just wanted to stop by and say hi to you guys.”

And you ate dinner with your family one last time.

Vivian told you about how freshman year went and how she was still convinced that Sergeant James Barnes is a total hottie and you told her that he was still alive and still looked the same, and was also a total sweetheart. She squealed when you told her you had a crush on him and your parents teased you.

Jacob asked about superheroes, and while you couldn’t spill too much, you told him all about your exploits and just left the names out. You also didn’t mention that half of humanity died for five years, or that the past version of you was headed this way at that very moment, brainwashed and on a mission that would prove fatal to everyone in this home but you.

When they both left to watch TV in a separate room and you were left alone with your parents, the tears finally spilled. They both scooted closer to you and hugged you close as you blubbered your apologies.

“I’m… guessing we won't make it to see you in the future?” your mom asked, rubbing your back. You shook your head into her shoulder, feeling like all you’d done for the past few days was cry.

“It’s my fault,” you whispered . “It's all my fault.”

“No, hon, it’s not,” your dad said. “Whatever happens, happens. We can’t change that.”

You stared at him incredulously. “Yes you could. Just stay vigilant tonight and don’t worry about hurting me because you won’t and even if you do-“ They both shushed you, cutting off your ramblings.

“It’ll all be alright, just breathe.” You tried, hiccuping as you evened out your breaths. Your heart raced as the wind rattled a window.

“Can- can I get something from my room?” you asked. They helped you up, following you as you walked around the bedroom you hadn’t seen in 15 years. Well, 20 now, you guessed.

Carefully, as if it would dissolve in your grip, you tugged a box from under your bed. Inside laid a few USB’s and several stacks of photos. “Can I have this?” you asked.

“Take anything you want, sweetie,” your mom said, helping you fold the cardboard box to keep it tightly shut. You rested it on your hip, hugging them both before walking into the living room where Vivi and Jacob sat.

“I love you both, okay?” you asked, letting them hug you.

“Go get your man,” Vivi whispered not-very-subtly, causing laughter to erupt. Jacob simply hugged you before rushing back to the couch. Typical.

Your mom and dad walked you to the door, giving you one last hug and kiss on the head.

“It’s alright, (Y/N). Whatever happens, you’re gonna be okay,” your dad muttered, giving you a tight squeeze.

You chuckled, all watery and light. “I hope you can forgive me,” you whispered back. Your mother shook her head.

“There’s nothing to forgive. Take care, little bird.” The nickname had you gently touching the necklace you wore, nodding before activating the suit.

“Goodbye.”

———————————————————————

Earth, 2023.

“Well, where the hell is she?” Tony asked, tapping away on the screen with his non-metal hand.

“I don’t know. I don’t think she’d just up and leave,” Nat responded, itching the tactical suit she wore. Maybe you got lost?

Steve nodded in agreement, wincing as he considered how upset you’d been with him. “She wouldn’t.”

Their questions were answered when you reappeared, clutching an unassuming cardboard box with tears in your eyes. You sank to your knees on the platform, allowing the suit to dissipate as you clutched the box to your chest.

A few people ran forward, Sam trying to take the box from your hands. You resisted, curling in on yourself. This was all you had left of them now.

“Where did you go, kid?” Tony asked, wiping your face. “Did… you get food?”

“I went back home. The night of…” you couldn’t finish the sentence, staring off into space. He sighed in realization. Whether the trip would set you back or provide closure was yet to be seen.

“Oh, hon.” Nat hugged you. “Can we take the box and put it inside? What’s in it?” You nodded and handed off the box with a sniffle. “Pictures and videos.”

She grunted under the weight and readjusted her grip. “Holy shit, this is heavy. Can someone help her?”

Bucky stepped up, perhaps too quickly to be casual. He took the box with ease, only using one hand.

“Are you alright?” He asked as you both went inside, leaving the rest of the group to disperse and celebrate Nat’s return. You nodded.

“It hurts, but… I feel lighter? Is that the right word?” He shrugged.

“Probably. I get it, though.” He gently set the box down on the guest bed. “It’s how I felt after they got him out of my head.” Tapping the side of his skull, he plopped onto the bed as you unclipped the thigh holster holding your knife and tossed it haphazardly into your bag.

“Does it get better?” you asked, almost taking back your question when he hesitated.

But then he let out a light sigh. “Yeah. Maybe not great yet, but better.”

You laid down next to the super-soldier, closing your eyes. “Everything is about to go crazy,” you mumbled. You could feel him nod from next to you.

“The original six are talking about retirement,” you added, listening to the conversations outside. He elbowed you gently.

“Are you?”

“Nah,” you sighed. “I’d get too bored.” He hummed an assent. “‘M gonna take a break, though. Preferably not deal with the government anymore.”

He scooted around a bit before turning towards you. “Do you think we can be assholes to them now, since we technically saved the universe?”

“Honestly, I’m so done with caring about the government. No more diplomacy for me, just straight to the facts. What are they gonna do, arrest me? I think the fuck not,” you grumbled. He laughed, unwittingly sending a slew of thoughts spiraling through your head.

Fuck.

You blushed, sitting up. “You ready to head back out there?” He nodded, joining you. Quick footsteps and a door slamming had you both jumping, with Bucky reaching an arm out in front of you. Aww, he was sweet and protective. This man really was-

“Auntie (Y/N)!” Morgan barreled into the room and into your arms, knocking you backwards from the force. “It’s time for dinner,” she whispered aggressively in your ear, shimmying around on your lap and definitely causing your skirt to ride up. You let her tug you off the bed as she grabbed Bucky’s hand as well, swinging in between the two of you.

She led you both outside to where several boxes of pizza sat. Everyone was gathered around, already having dug in. As odd as it was to see a tree and raccoon eating alongside a giant grey man and blue alien, you shrugged it off and grabbed a slice.

As you went to sit down, you bumped into a new kid. Did he have superpowers?

“Oh, hey (Y/N).” Wait, he sounded familiar…

“Are you that kid-“

“From the garage Tony stayed in? Christmas 2012? Yes. My name’s Harley.” You shook his hand, balancing your plate and drink on the other.

“So, are you super powered or…” He shook his head, walking with you as you sat around Tony’s fire pit. The sun was beginning to set and Shuri was pouring a suspicious amount of firestarter on the logs.

You sat in the grass, not quite caring if dirt got on your dress or if the blades made you itch. You were with friends.

Once everyone had their food and was gathered around, Tony and Steve stood to make a toast. Albeit, they were using soda cans instead of champagne flutes, but you all deserved a break after saving the universe.

“So, we did it, folks,” Tony began, causing a few claps to ring out. “I’m not gonna lie, I’m not the best at this speech shit- stuff,” he corrected after Morgan perked up at the curse. “But hey, I can’t be great at everything. I’ll leave the speeches to Rogers over here.”

Steve shook his head in exasperation and stepped forward. “We still have a lot to figure out. Many of us will retire, and many new allies will step up. It’s gonna be a lot of change.” He exchanged a glance with Stark. “But change can be good. It can be what we need to learn and grow past what we thought we could do. Whether that be saving the universe or just getting up in the morning.”

“Many of us fight battles on our own. We feel like we have to shove them down and avoid talking about them because we’re supposed to be the ones that people look up to.” He looked over at you.

“But we’re family. And family helps each other. And you’ll always have a shoulder to lean on or a helping hand so long as we’re around. We stick together, no matter what.”

“To the universe, and to us.”

The small area erupted into cheers and claps, even Fury and Pym offered a few congratulatory remarks. You caught Tony saying to Nat, “Rogers is always good at that shit. I feel like I need to take public speaking lessons from him.” Once Steve sat back down, you nudged him.

“Finally came to your senses?” you asked, no anger in your tone. He nodded, a smile on his face.

“You just had to knock some sense into me.”

“That is my field of expertise,” you joked. Clint carefully lit the fire, Pepper coming out from the house with a bag of marshmallows, chocolate, and some graham crackers in hand. Morgan followed with long, pronged pokers. Why was the child given the sharp sticks?

You rushed forward to let her hand them off to you, covering the ends so as to not poke anyone. As the fire roared, a few people called dibs on the prongs, beginning to cook their marshmallows to their liking. You watched. So much could be learned about someone by how they cooked their s’mores.

Peter meticulously turned his, explaining s’mores to Shuri, who had evidently never had one. The former considered this a crime. His marshmallow was perfectly golden when he removed it from above the flames.

The raccoon ate it straight, not even bothering to heat it up.

You brought a marshmallow on a stick over to Bucky, passing it to him as he watched the teen. Just as you thought he was going to imitate him, he stuck the treat straight in the flames, letting it blacken as you laughed.

He blew out the flame and let you make the s’more before biting off over half of it in one bite. Sam stared before voicing his disgust. Something along the lines of “That’s gonna give you cancer. He’s just eating straight charcoal at this point.”

You ignored his annoyed ramble, turning back to Bucky when you spotted a bit of melted marshmallow stuck by his mouth. What an opportunity.

Leaning forward, you gently scrubbed the spot with your thumb, ignoring the blush that crept up his face. You stayed intently focused on the task until the sugary substance was gone. When you sat back, satisfied with your work, you could hear Steve nudging his friend and harshly whispering to him. No doubt teasing him.

You smirked at Nat from across the fire pit as she raised an eyebrow, flitting her gaze between you and Bucky. He was still flushed, but when you looked over at him, he averted his gaze. You could get lost in those eyes, his voice, his mannerisms. Your mind drifted as you blatantly stared, imagining holding his hand or-

Peter and Shuri’s laughter interrupted your train of thought as they recorded Harley, who had put hand sanitizer on his hand and lit it. “Look! I’m on fire!”

———————————————————————

Even though Tony claimed to be bad at public speaking, he was the one chosen to give the speech that would be broadcasted around the world. Limited information had been given to the public about the means of returning half of the population, but most had been kept under wraps.

The world knew nothing of the time heist, the death of Nat, or your help in reviving both her and Tony. All they knew was that the Avengers had retrieved the Infinity Stones, Thanos had somehow returned, and Tony had snapped.

Simple as that.

The team sat in the front row, surrounded by government officials and civilians, multiple cameras flashing as Tony approached the podium. He cleared his throat and you shot him a thumbs up and encouraging smile.

“Everybody wants a happy ending, right? I know it doesn’t always roll that way, but I’m happy to say that it worked out this time. Amidst all this celebration, I hope families are reunited, I hope we get that back and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored, if there ever was such a thing.” He waved a hand at Clint’s family in the seats in front of him.

“God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren’t alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean, I wouldn’t have been surprised, but come on. The epic forces of dark and light that have come into play.”

“And for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's gonna have to find a way to grow up in.” The young girl giggled as he waved to her from the podium where he rested his arms. He looked at her like she was his world. You knew she was.

He rested his chin on his hand before continuing. “I know everyone’s been pretty affected by the untimely deaths of half of our world. I mean, not that death at any time isn't untimely, but there was some extra grief in these past five years. Trying to heal and grow. Then again, that's the hero gig. You gotta roll with the punches.”

“But, sometimes you’re ready to be done with the fight, and I’m excited to announce that a few of us are retiring.” Some reporters shouted and more flashes erupted. “You know, the original ones. Minus (Y/N). She’s sticking around to keep these hooligans under control.” He thrust a thumb at the newbies as laughter echoed around the steps of the courthouse.

“I’ll miss this. I know the others will too. This was probably the best part of our lives. But as a wise person once told me, ‘Part of the journey is the end.’ And she’s always right.” He winked at you. “What am I even tripping for? Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to.”

As he stepped back, applause burst forth, almost deafening as you ran forward to give him a hug. “Hope you don’t mind me stealing your weird philosophical shit from 15 years ago, kid.” You shook your head, reassuring him that it was fine.

The “Original Seven,” as the press had begun calling the Avengers present for the Battle against New York, were asked to stick around and answer a few questions, much to your chagrin. You reluctantly sat down at a nearby table that they’d set up, all of you crowding on one side.

As soon as the microphones were set up and the cameras of every popular news station were rolling, hands flew up.

“Mr. Barton, there’s rumors you were a makeup artist. Is this true?”

“Captain! Are you involved in a relationship with any of your team members?”

“Ms. Romanoff, what’s your diet?”

You hated PR. After so many years dealing with their bullshit, you figured now was a better time than ever for a new beginning. Clapping your hands into a mic, you waited for them to quiet before clearing your throat. “One at a time, please.”

“Thanks, kid,” Tony mumbled, sipping a coffee he’d hassled Rhodey to buy for him. The billionaire rolled his eyes as many reporters complained. He pointed at one, a curious smirk on his face.

“Christine Everhart-“

“Vanity Fair?” he guessed. She shook her head.

“World News. Will we get a new Captain America? A new Iron Man? Or will the new Avengers be completely different?” Tony turned to you, flinging a hand and getting dangerously close to your face.

“Ask (Y/N).” The blonde looked expectantly at you. You shrugged.

“Fuck if I know. I’m just gonna play it by ear.” A few eyebrows raised at your choice words.

Another reporter stepped up. “Mr. Barton, are you wearing a hearing aid?”

Clint looked up from where he was fiddling with a microphone, not even attempting to conceal his attempts to dismantle it. “Yeah. What about it?”

“Was there an… accident?”

“Nah. Just years of explosions and a few up-close encounters with very loud jet engines,” he explained, unscrewing the cover for the battery compartment with an arrow he’d pulled from nowhere. It let out a screech as he yanked the batteries out, everyone flinching away.

“Yeah. Like that.”

———————————————————————

“Are you gay?” Is the first thing you were asked when you arrive at the tower. Peter and Shuri were vibrating on the spot, eyes wide and clothes smelling faintly of coffee. You shook your head tiredly.

“If someone’s hot, they’re hot.” You dismissed the odd question, trudging to the kitchen to grab a snack. You unbuttoned your blouse and shrugged it off, tossing it over the counter and standing in your tank top. Your muscles ached, each movement straining some new injury you hadn’t been aware of until you almost collapsed from the fatigue.

The fridge was pathetically empty, emptied out from the surplus of residents in the Avengers’ Tower. Luckily, the new additions were beginning to empty out and return to their normal homes, whether that be space or just down the street. You sighed and shut the fridge.

Luckily, your room had remained relatively the same. Nat had been kind enough to keep your plants alive and shelves dusted. Your skincare and haircare products had already been replaced, sheets fresher then they’d ever been. You flung open your closet, grabbing the nearest pair of sweats and a shirt you’d stolen from the dryer.

You were still tying the drawstring when you made it to Bucky’s door, knocking lightly before pushing the door open with your hip. He was on a laptop, surprisingly, perusing a realtor website. You smiled when he jumped up, spotting you leaning against the door frame. Your hair was tied up, a few strands managing to escape your lazy attempt at looking more awake.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

The quiet was unbearable and wonderful at the same time, allowing you to stare while also making you aware of your state. You brushed out wrinkles that weren’t there before straightening up again.

“I was just gonna head to the grocery to grab some more food. They’ve ransacked the fridge.” He took the unsaid invitation, hopping off the bed and closing his laptop.

“Is this an invitation to beat them up or help you with groceries?”

“Both.”

———————————————————————

Bringing Bucky grocery shopping tended to end in chaos. You knew this. But you brought him anyway. Normally, you would both take a cart and split up, the strategic efficiency that had been ingrained in you seeping into your everyday life. Today, however, he stuck beside you, so close you occasionally bumped together.

Not that you minded in the slightest. He helped you reach your favorite tea when you discovered they’d moved it after five years, checked the eggs to make sure they weren’t cracked, and even waited patiently as you perused the makeup, curious to see what trends had changed.

When you managed to check out and hop in the car, you watched as rain started to drizzle. You sat for a while, letting your quiet music fill the air.

“Thanks…” Bucky whispered.

You furrowed your brows. “For making you load the bags?”

“No,” he laughed, poking you. “For talking some sense into Steve.” You nodded, considering your words.

“Yeah, it’s all good.” Mentally slapping yourself at your less-than-poetic choice, you turned around, digging through the bags until you found a bag of plums, passing one to the brunet. “…Are you gonna move out?”

A moment of hesitation. “Yeah, I think so. I think it’d be better for me to try and live on my own.” You knew he was right, but you’d still miss seeing him so often.

“I’ll come and visit you, if that’s what that frown’s about. So long as you help me move in,” he said, causing you to meet his gaze. You held his stare as long as you could before you both looked away, heat rising to your face.

“Why not? Anything for my favorite 106-year-old super soldier.”

The two of you spent longer than intended chatting, discussing where he would move and how long of a walk it would be, his means of transport and income. You offered to buy him any apartment he wanted, but he’d refused to do so.

As he ate the plum, you rambled about a few apartments in Brooklyn that had decent reputations, some even having extra accommodations for soldiers and veterans. He’d listened carefully, jotting down a few notes in a book you recognized to be Steve’s from when he emerged from the ice.

At some point, you’d laid your head against his shoulder, already dozing off again. Your phone lit up with a text and Bucky picked it up, typing in the passcode he knew by heart to open the text from Tony.

“‘Where the hell are you two? Fish emoji,’” he read.

“Is it a tropical fish or a tuna fish?”

He peered at the screen. “…Tuna.”

“It means he’s sad. He’ll be fine.”

You closed your eyes again, sighing when his chin rested atop your head. Then, a thought crossed your mind and you bolted up.

“Shit, we have ice cream.”

a/n:

writing angst in any form: 😬

closing off the infinity saga with some domestic shit and a happy ending for my babies: 😌

hope y’all enjoy, literally shaking w excitement for tfatws. reader’s gonna be on some hot gurl shit 🤍 also tony’s speech at the end is my favorite thing ever so i tried to incorporate it a bit

[possibleplatypus]

#20 if you haven't gotten asked it yet

What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Omg you come into my inbox and ask me this... 🤣🤣🤣 you already know what my answer is going to be, right?

I can't really think of any ship that comes close to what Steve and Bucky have in the MCU. Like I think about other ships, even canon ships, and they don't hold a candle to the unconditional love that these two men have for each other, whether you see it as romantic or platonic or whatever.

Like, I think Pepper is good for Tony-- too good, in my opinion-- but he nearly gets her killed several times (like giving her strawberries, which she's deathly allergic to, and challenging his enemies to attack the home she lives in. Come on). Thor and Jane broke up off screen. Bruce and Betty-- what happened to Betty?? Bruce and Natasha-- we're not gonna talk about that 🤢 Clint and Laura are barely developed, for all that Disney turned him into a mass murderer for kicks after she died. Stephen and Christine-- I never got the vibe that he would destroy the universe for her in his own movies, she was very much not important in the grand scheme of his story. Wanda and Vision-- okay this is a very sad ship and I haven't watched Wandavision but I understand she puts a spell over a whole town(?) while grieving for him, and in What If he fed a lot of people to her when she turned into a zombie, so that's not great. Etc etc.

The only ships I can think of that are as healthy as Steve and Bucky's relationship, with their mutual respect and love, are T'challa and Nakia, and Carol and Maria. Where they are friends as well as lovers.

And not to throw shade at those other ships, which I like, but none of them have the epic love story that Steve and Bucky have, that spans their entire lives, from childhood to world-weary adults (including their time spent in captivity/frozen under the sea), and have them losing, finding, and choosing each other, over and over again. A love story that spans three movies (even if one of them was Iron Man 4). That have them loving each other no matter what-- like, you know that Bucky would love Steve if he was a sickly 90 lb asthmatic or the superhuman masculine ideal, and Steve would love Bucky if he was a smiling, dapper gentleman soldier or an elite assassin with his mind ripped to shreds. They will, and they have, gone to the ends of the earth for each other.

I think it's the type of love story that could only be written unintentionally, because Marvel/Disney don't spend nearly as much time establishing this kind of intensity between their other pairings, even the canon ones. (Not to mention their hasty backtracking and no homoing of the two in Endgame *ugly laughter*)

salty asks

[stefencestrange]

I’m just putting this out here for no one to see, but if you think that Stephen is out of character in NWH, please rethink. No he is not a variant. No he is not a Skull. He is Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange—the one and only.

his solo film delves into his egotistical nature, with a direct quote of him: ‘I can and I will’. He takes one look at the Eye, and decides to use it without knowing the consequences. Stephen ‘Try me, Beyoncé’ Strange does what he wants, when he wants

“oh but he’s too not-serious and joking”: did you watch Ragnarok?? He literally fucked with Thor for the fun of it. So yeah, I’d say he’s entitled to hold a mug that reads ‘oh for fox sake’, and that he is able to wink (not for the first time, remember IW and Tony?) and smile with Peter

In contrast to his role in IW and Endgame, yeah he’s not as serious because he doesn’t hold the stakes in his hand. He doesn’t have the Time Stone to worry about. He doesn’t have all the painful answers. And with these outcomes, he saw what Peter Parker meant to Tony; perhaps Stephen helping the kid is a way to say sorry to Tony

“but it just seems so irresponsible of him”. Are we talking about the same man? Once over, as seen in his solo film, he has done spells without knowledge of the full consequences before. He started to fracture time before Wong and Mordo intervened, but then used that to his later advantage to stop Dormammu.

Additionally, we don’t know the full story of the trailer. There is evidently a lot cut out. There could be a whole scene of him and Peter where he reiterates that once the spell is started, it can’t stop. And Peter may just be swept up in the moment that he temporarily forgets the necessities; May, Ned and MJ. Also, it was us as the internet that decided he was to be the responsible one in DSMoM. But with review of his character, it’s evident that he’s not. He is not the responsible one: he annoyed Dormammu into submission using an item he had no idea of its full power; only changed his joking demeanour in IW after viewing the outcomes. Perhaps DSMoM is going to explore his growth to become the Sorcerer Supreme, because I don’t think Marvel named him that off-screen. Anyway, that’s all I’ve gotta say. Please reconsider his character before saying that it’s ‘not your Stephen Strange’

[starlight-loki]

The Thin Line Between Life and Death (Loki x Mystic!Reader) -- PART 1

Or, That Time You and Loki Saved the World

Request: is it alright if you do a loki x reader fic where reader's got powers like strange and wields one of the infinity stones and almost dies trying to save everyone? -- requested by anon

Warnings: this is darker than other fics i've written so far: descriptions of nausea, mentions of anxiety, and major character deaths (but not Loki, I promise).

Word Count: 4.8k (hooo weeee man, if I didn't split this into 2 parts it would've been like... over 10k omg)

A/N: For context, please read this headcanon first if you'd like to know a bit more about the reader and Loki's relationship as well as to sort of set the scene for this fic -- otherwise, if you're cool with jumping right in, enjoy! This was so much fun to write :)

Also this doesn't follow the events of Infinity War/Endgame at all; this is sort of... my take on it, I guess you could say?

Everything started going downhill when you began getting visions.

They weren't anything concerning at first, in fact they were almost cryptic, really: manifesting themselves in your dreams in subtle -- almost metaphoric -- ways. First it was simply the colour orange, which then progressed to flashes of amber light at random occasions during the events of your dreams, then it became fire. For a while, fire consumed your dreams nearly every night, burning through cities, forests, and even planets.

The Ancient One had told you from the start that dreams carried messages from your subconscious. They weren't something to be dismissed, even the most simplest elements. They were to be respected, listened to, and were meant to encourage you to shift mentally and emotionally in indescribable ways.

You figured the fire was symbolic for the stress and worry you were feeling, with everything moving so quickly over the last few days.

After all, the threat of Thanos was looming more and more. No longer was he a whispered rumour that was occasionally passed around at dinnertime with the rest of the Avengers. He was an actual threat now, and the Avengers were holding meetings twice a day to try and develop a plan of attack.

He had the power stone. It was only a matter of time before he found the others.

Twenty-four hours before everything changed, a vision came to you differently than all the others.

You were in the kitchen preparing lunch for yourself when your ears began ringing. Whispers filled your mind from the inside and spoke to you in a language you didn't understand, yet chilled you to the bone at the same time. There was a blinding flash of light that nearly paralyzed you, and as you strained to focus your eyes, you noticed a small orange stone materialize in front of you.

The soul stone.

It glided closer and closer to you, and as it did so the whispers grew louder. The lives of thousands flashed before your eyes. Their deaths did, as well. It was showing you the cycle of humanity -- birth, life, death, repeat -- almost taunting you that this seemingly inevitable thing could be controlled.

You gasped, dropped the plate in your hands accidentally. It fell to the floor with an earsplitting crash, and as quickly as the soul stone arrived, it disappeared in a swirl of orange smoke.

Your hands were shaking as you knelt down to collect the bigger pieces of the now-shattered plate. A hand on your back made you flinch in surprise and you instinctively curled closer towards the kitchen cabinets in an attempt to protect yourself.

"It's just me." Loki's soft voice seemed foggy and distant as your brain continued to adjust from the voices and the ringing you had just heard. "Are you hurt?"

You shook your head and sunk to the floor, half in defeat and half in relief that you weren't alone anymore. These visions were growing far too intense for you to handle.

You looked up at Loki, who exchanged an anxious expression with you. His green eyes searched your face, seemingly looking for an explanation of what had just happened to you.

"I saw something," you whispered, absentmindedly gripping the plate shard in your hand tighter. "Loki, I think I saw the soul stone."

His eyes widened as he knelt down beside you and gently pried the glass out of your grip, setting it down out of your reach. He replaced the broken piece in your hand with his own, and you sighed shakily as his thumb gently stroked the top of your hand.

"Did it show you anything?" He asked quietly, and you nodded quickly in response.

"I saw life, death... everything." You felt far removed from you own voice, almost like it didn't belong to you. "It's been happening in dreams too, but I've never seen the stone itself before."

You gazed at Loki, who almost seemed to disappear into his own thoughts at your mention of the visions you saw. You knew all too well about the Tesseract, and the way it had tormented Loki once before. The infinity stones were not gentle to humans, or gods for that matter.

"Do you think this has something to do with Thanos?" You asked, your voice trembling as you whispered. "Do you think maybe he managed to get the soul stone?"

Loki shook his head slowly, but it wasn't without hesitation.

"The soul stone is far away on Vormir. It's guarded heavily. I doubt-"

"Hey, you two okay?"

You glanced up quickly just as Tony stepped into the room. His eyes swept over the mess of a broken plate on the floor before landing on you and Loki, huddled together in the corner of the kitchen as if your lives depended on it.

Tony looked as exhausted as you felt. No one had really slept well in the last few days, but you couldn't imagine what it was like for Tony: he had been staying up until ungodly hours of the morning with Steve, Vision, and Rhodey, trying to formulate a plan of attack.

"Yeah," you shook your head as you tried to clear the last of the visions out of your mind. "Sorry, that was an accident. I'm just... really tired."

Tony gave a perfectly-timed yawn as he knelt down and began to pick up the broken pieces of the plate you dropped.

"I feel ya, kid."

You watched as him and Loki exchanged resigned nods of acknowledgement, and you grabbed Loki's hand before he could step forward to help Tony clean up the mess.

Should I tell him? You asked telepathically. About the soul stone?

Loki gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

Not yet. His voice echoed through your mind like the whispers from the soul stone moments ago, bringing you warmth rather than fear. Until we fully understand why these visions are occurring, I believe it would be best to not burden Stark with any more details. It would only cause more problems.

You nodded in agreement as you pushed yourself up onto your feet shakily. You stepped forward to help Tony clean up the mess, only feel your head spin violently. You lurched forward, grabbing onto the counter as you tried to stop yourself from falling.

"Hey, whoa!" Tony sprang up and grabbed your shoulders just as you felt Loki's arms wrap around your waist in an effort to keep you standing. "Easy there, kid. Jesus, are you okay?"

"I feel sick." You mumbled, squeezing your eyes shut in an attempt to keep the room from spinning. Even with two people supporting your weight, you still felt as though you were going to fall over.

"Go sleep, okay?" Tony told you sternly. You made a sound of protest and tried to help him continue cleaning up. Tony shook his head in response.

"Don't worry about this, we'll clean it up." His gaze shifted over to Loki, who still held you tightly. You could feel his hands trembling ever-so-slightly, and you placed your own hand over his weakly as you attempted to silently reassure him that you'd be okay.

"Loki, make sure Y/N gets some rest."

"I will."

Loki scooped you up into his arms in one fluid motion, causing you to wince as spots danced in your vision. You buried your head against his shoulder, squeezing your eyes shut as you tried to hold yourself together.

Has this ever happened to you? You manage to ask Loki telepathically as he set you carefully down on your bed. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of your face before crawling into bed beside you.

Not to this degree, he replied. You couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped your lips as he gently pulled you close, cradling the back of your head. The infinity stones all have variable levels of energy, but I have never dealt with the soul stone before.

Do you mean their frequencies vary depending on their roles?

Precisely.

You sighed defeatedly, troubled by the fact that -- out of all the infinity stones -- the one that boasted power over life and death itself just had to come find you.

You knew mystics seemed to have some sort of connection to the stones, seeing as Stephen knew the time stone and guarded it with his life. You had hoped, though, that if another stone were to find its way somehow to another mystic, it would be Wong, not you.

Loki nudged your chin up ever so slightly with his fingertips, encouraging you to look up at him. He gave you a warm, gentle smile as he caressed your cheek slowly.

"Rest now," he whispered, placing a kiss on your forehead softly. "I will stay with you, I promise."

You nodded halfheartedly in response. Every cell in your being longed for nothing more but rest, yet at the same time you were afraid to close your eyes in case the soul stone was still lurking somewhere in your mind. Waiting for you.

It felt as though you had only just closed your eyes, when the sound of thunder jolted you out of your sleep. You felt weightless as you opened your eyes slowly, taking in the purple hues of clouds above you. As you felt yourself float higher, you realized with a sickening sinking feeling that your body was still in your bed, far away from where you currently were.

Your spirit had separated from your physical body, and no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't seem to be able to get back.

You glanced upward as you continued your ascent just as two towering structures came into view at the top of a cliff. The whispers that had filled your mind earlier that day resumed, and you cried out in fear, clutching your head in your hands. It only made them grow stronger.

As flashes of orange began filling your vision, your blood ran cold as you realized where you were.

Somehow, your spirit had found its way to Vormir.

Reaching the top of the cliff, you stepped carefully onto the platform just as a hooded figure glided towards you.

Never before has this stone ever summoned a soul into its presence. A chill ran up your spine as the guardian's voice echoed in your mind, crackling like ice.

Many have sought this stone, but it belongs to no one.

"So why did it bring me here?" You demanded, curling your arms around your middle in an attempt control your nerves. You were vulnerable here. You were powerless without your physical body -- incantations and even the mirror realm would be of no use to you in this state.

The soul stone seems to have taken a certain interest in you. It sees potential... for what is yet to come.

"I don't understand." Your own voice seemed to wrap around you in an endless echo. You instinctively took a step back as your head spun from sensory overload.

You walk the line between the living and the dead, mystic.

"But I'm not the only mystic. There's more out there like me, surely they experienced the same thing? I mean, there's Stephen-"

No. Your breath caught in your throat as the hooded figure raised its head to gaze at you, and your eyes met fiery blood red irises. You turned your gaze to the ground in an attempt to divert your fear and calm your racing heart.

Stephen Strange is already in possession of the time stone, the guardian explained slowly. There are no other mystics who possess the strength -- or courage -- to cross over into the land of the dead.

"But I'm not dead." You protested, ignoring the small voice in the back of your mind that drew your attention back to the fact that you were currently a spirit on another planet, far away from your body. "I... I've been training in the mystic arts for a few years now. Never in my life has anything like this happened. Why now am I suddenly getting visions?"

There is another who seeks the soul stone as we speak, the guardian replied. To your relief, it kept its distance from you. He yearns to own it.

"Thanos," you whispered, feeling a cold chill run up your spine as you spoke his name.

Yes, mystic, the guardian nodded solemnly. However, there are elements of the soul stone that the Titan has not tried to understand. Just like how life and death are two sides of the same coin, so too does the soul stone have another aspect.

You gasped as the soul stone materialized in front of you, hovering level with your line of sight just like when you were in the kitchen back at the Compound. You watched as it began to spin, gradually growing faster and faster, until it split neatly into two halves.

The soul stone embodies both the physical and the spiritual, and thus each aspect is acquired through complete mastery of its respective lesson.

The guardian's words echoed in your mind as you gazed at the fragments of the soul stone curiously. The fear you had felt in connection with your earlier visions was gone now. In its place, all you felt was awe.

As one of the pieces of the soul stone began gliding closer to you, you reached out your hand in an attempt to touch it. It looked so warm, so inviting. You longed to know what it would feel like to hold a piece of ancient power in your hands.

No.

You flinched, glancing at the guarding whose voice boomed in your head. As if to reinforce his words, the shards of the soul stone vanished into thin air.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" You asked quietly. "You said there's a connection between myself and the soul stone, I don't understand."

You must earn it. It does not come willingly to anyone.

"Then I don't want it." You shook your head, taking a step back. "I don't know why any of this is happening, but I want it to stop. I want to go home."

Very well.

The guardian raised his hand, and you felt yourself being pulled backwards slowly, back the way you came.

I offer you a piece of advice, mystic, the voice in your mind echoed out louder than ever. In order to gain the physical shard of the stone, you must lose the one you love. To gain the spirit shard, you must know the path that leads you back to them.

There was a sharp tug around your middle, and you felt your heart freeze in your chest as you began plummeting down the cliff. You squeezed your eyes shut as the wind echoed like a jet plane in your ears.

Remember this, the guardian's voice was distant now. You had to strain to register the words in your mind. The spirit shard cannot be found on Vormir. The fate of the physical shard is being decided as we speak. Use this knowledge wisely, mystic.

An image flashed in your mind of a titan ascending the mountain, towards the top of the cliff upon which your spirit had just stood. You caught a glint of purple, blue, and red flash from his hand.

You gasped, bolting upright as the heavy sensation that accompanied falling back into your body ran through you. You were trembling, drenched in a cold sweat, and you yelped as two hands planted themselves firmly on your shoulders.

"Relax!" Your heart sped up in your chest as you tried to fight off whoever was holding onto you. "Y/N, relax, it's me!"

Loki came into focus in front of you, his eyes never straying from yours as you tried to catch your breath. His hands were steady, but you caught a flash of fear in his eyes as he gazed at you.

"What happened?" He whispered, pulling you into a protective and firm embrace. Your breath caught in your throat as your mind wandered back to the visions that flashed behind your eyes moments before you woke up.

"Thanos." Your voice felt far away, almost foreign to you, as you replied softly. Your trembling hands reached up to pull Loki even closer to you. You were afraid you'd lose control and end up separated from your body again. You didn't want to be alone once more.

"What?"

"Thanos." You repeated again, glancing out the window into the now-darkened sky to make sure you were no longer on Vormir. You couldn't trust yourself. "Loki, I saw him. He's got more stones. He found the Tesseract."

Loki pushed you away, only to wrap his hands firmly around your arms. The fear he had hidden so well moments ago was dancing like fire in his eyes.

"That's impossible," he said slowly, and you weren't sure if those words were for you, or if they were an attempt to convince himself. "You hid the Tesseract yourself, you took it from me and-"

"I know what I did." You snapped. You winced as Loki recoiled away from you ever-so-slightly. "I'm sorry. I'm just... Look, you have to believe me Loki. Please. I was on Vormir, or at least my spirit was. The guardian of the soul stone was there, it spoke to me, I-"

"I believe you." Loki's soft whisper stopped the rambling thoughts that were pouring out of your mouth, and you nearly cried in relief at his words. His expression softened as he took in your torn, distressed expression, and he kissed your forehead softly.

"I believe you." He repeated again, pulling you close.

"We don't have much time." Your voice felt tight in your throat as you spoke. "Right before I woke up, I saw Thanos approaching Vormir. The rest of the stones are on Earth, Loki. I think he's coming here next."

"We need to tell the others."

"Will they know what to do?"

Loki's gaze burned into yours determinedly as he took your hand and helped you up off your bed.

"All we can do is hope."

The two of you raced down the hall, pounding on every door you passed as you tried to wake everyone up at once. Tired groans of protest echoed from within a few rooms, only encouraging you to knock even louder on the Avengers' doors.

"Everyone up!" You exclaimed. You couldn't ignore the way your voice and hands trembled as you made your way down the hall. "Emergency meeting, now!"

The Compound slowly came to life once more as you and Loki reached the end of the hall, and the two of you were met with numerous confused and somewhat alarmed looks.

"What's going on?" Steve asked, effortlessly keeping up with your strides as you made your way to the meeting room.

"Y/N had a vision." Loki explained, taking your hand and giving it a small squeeze in an attempt to comfort you. "Thanos is coming."

"What!?" Bruce's shocked exclamation echoed out from behind you as he jogged to keep up. "We were monitoring his whereabouts, just a few hours ago he was still light years away from Earth looking for the other five infinity stones-"

"Yeah, well, he's managed to get two more," You answered as you sat yourself down in a chair in the meeting room. Loki sat close beside you, resting his knee against yours in a silent gesture, as if to communicate he was right by your side through all of this.

"He's on Vormir as we speak," you continued as everyone took their seats around the table. "He's looking for the soul stone. That's infinity stone number four. He'll be coming for us next."

"How do you know that?" Natasha's question sounded out from the other side of the room.

"There's six stones in total, right?"

Your question earned slow nods from the Avengers sitting around you.

"I saw his glove. He's got the power stone -- as we know -- as well as the reality stone, and now the space stone too."

"The Tesseract was destroyed along with Asgard." Thor remarked, frowning as he took in your words. You looked over at Loki quickly, the two of you exchanging anxious glances, before you looked back at Thor and shook your head.

"The Tesseract was... misplaced." You answered slowly.

Everyone flinched as Thor banged his fist against the table, his gaze immediately shifting away from you as realization burned in his eyes.

"Loki!"

"I assure you brother-"

"I knew it was a bad idea bringing Rock of Ages here onto the team." Tony interrupted pointing an accusatory finger at Loki. Several other Avengers nodded in agreement.

"It wasn't his fault!" You exclaimed loudly. The room felt silent as everyone frowned at you in confusion. "It was mine. I should've destroyed it but I didn't. I just opened a portal and... threw it in."

"Do you know where it went?" Steve asked you.

"At the time, I didn't. I had no idea Thanos was out there looking for the stones at the same time. I just wanted that thing far away from us. It's caused enough trouble, and we didn't need any more."

Loki squeezed your hand and gave you a soft smile as he heard your reply.

"There are two stones left," you continued, glancing around the room worriedly as you thought about the threat of Thanos looming over your team like a dark shadow. "Stephen is guarding the time stone downtown. Assuming he's kept his guard up as usual, he'll be one step ahead of Thanos and he'll already be taking precautions to keep it out of his reach."

You paused, glancing nervously over at Vision. His eyes met yours in understanding, and he gave the slightest nod in acknowledgement.

"The other stone," you continued quietly. "Is right here in this room with us."

A strange humming sound caused a hushed silence to fall over the Compound. You frowned, straining your ears as you tried to listen.

"Does anyone else hear that-"

Tony's question was cut off by an explosion that took out the entire side wall of the Compound. The force of the blast knocked you to the ground, and your ears rang violently as you tried to orient yourself once more with your surroundings.

"This is too easy. Everyone in one room together, how... pathetic."

You glanced up to see Thanos looming over everyone, an already victorious grin on his face as he examined the aftermath of the blast he had caused.

"I would've thought you'd make it more difficult for me."

The stones on Thanos' gauntlet began to glow, and you felt an arm yank you backwards and into their grasp before a ray of purple light blasted throughout the room. You glanced behind you to find Loki, his jaw clenched as he stared in fear towards Thanos, before casting a protective spell over the two of you.

You tried to pull away, to gather up the other members of the team and bring them to safety, but Loki's grip was firm and unrelenting.

"They need help!" You exclaimed in protest. "Everyone's vulnerable, all our defense and weapons are two floors down-"

"You go over there, and you'll get killed." Loki muttered through gritted teeth. "I can't lose you. Stay here."

"But-"

"Stay here!"

Loki trembled as he tried to keep his shield up. Pressing yourself closer to him, you cast the strongest protective spell you knew and placed it overtop of his. Green and gold magic intertwined together, forming a tightly-knit dome over the two of you.

"I think I can get Bruce," you whispered, nodding towards the corner of the room. "He's not very far-"

Your idea was suddenly interrupted as Thanos raised his gauntlet, and the soul stone began to glow.

You watched in horror as every member of your team outside of your protective dome was wrapped in an orange aura, and lifted off the ground.

"No!" You yelled, stumbling forward and pushing your protective spell further outwards in an attempt to save those closest to you. A spark of energy backfired, burning your hands and causing you to stumbled back with a cry of pain.

"I can't get to them," you gasped, glancing at Loki in horror. "I can't get past the soul stone."

Thanos heard your words, and he shifted his gaze in your direction with narrowed eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" You demanded, watching as Steve and Tony, among others, struggled to be released from the titan's invisible grasp.

"Those who play hero only bring more war," Thanos stated, glancing behind your shoulder at Loki and smiling coldly. "I'm putting an end to this child's play, once and for all."

"Let them go!" You yelled, reaching forward in a weak attempt to save your teammates. Your gesture only earned a piteous laugh from the titan.

"You're choosing to play a bold game, mystic." Thanos continued. "By keeping that shield of yours up, you're creating more pain. All you are doing is delaying your death."

"It'll give us more time to plot yours." Loki retorted from behind you with gritted teeth.

"Bold as ever, Asgardian." Thanos smirked. "But not strong enough. Neither of you are."

You glanced desperately over at Tony for any sort of help, but all you exchanged were helpless glances.

"There will be no more heroes," Thanos boomed, raising his gauntlet triumphantly. The soul stone began to glow once more. "No more martyrs. No more humans. Only gods."

"I believe in you, kid." Tony gasped out. "You can do this."

"I can't." You cried out, your heart racing as you glanced between your teammates and Thanos. "I don't know how."

You managed to catch a determined nod from Tony, before a loud snap reverberated through the room, knocking you and Loki backwards.

There was a gust of cold air as Thanos opened a portal with the space stone, smirking victoriously down at the two of you.

"We'll meet again, mystic."

Thanos pulled a now-unconscious Vision towards him with his gauntlet and disappeared, the portal closing as soon as it opened. You lowered your shield to run for your teammates, who were still hovering unconscious in mid-air, only to be stopped by Loki.

"Look."

You watched in horror as, one by one, each member of the Avengers dissolved into ash and vanished before your eyes. Crying out in disbelief, you lowered your protection spell and raced forward before Loki could protest.

"Tony!"

You tried to reach for his hand, to pull him out of the orange aura that held him captive. As soon as your fingers brushed his, he turned to ash immediately.

You sunk to your knees, the sudden silence that fell over the Compound feeling like a graveyard. You heard Loki run towards Thor, calling his name over and over again, before he too fell silent.

You caught his gaze from across the room, and a cold chill shook your insides as his eyes mirrored the same terror you felt inside yourself.

Unable to find the strength to stand, you crawled over to where he sat and buried your face in his shoulder. As soon as Loki's arms wrapped around you, you were unable to stop the sobs that wracked your body. You felt him trembling and realized that he, too, was crying.

"They're all gone." You whispered, your voice distorted through your tears. "Everyone's gone."

Loki didn't reply. Instead, he pulled you closer and ran his hands in small circles upon your back, almost as if he were memorizing the feel of you in his arms.

The sound of your cries echoed out through the Compound and reverberated back towards the two of you, piercing your skin like little knives. You squeezed shut your eyes, hoping that this was all a bad dream and -- when you opened your eyes again -- the Avengers would be right back in this room with you and Loki, ready to formulate a plan of attack.

When you opened your eyes, however, nothing changed.

There was only one infinity stone left.

Everyone was gone, leaving only you and Loki.

Thanos had won.

END OF PART ONE.

Taglist: @startrekkingaroundasgard @delightfulheartdream @justasmisunderstoodasloki @marvels-mischief @k8obr @pastyoverlord265 @lowkeytesss @levylovegood

Taglist for this fic only: @littleredstarfish @treblebeth @taylordani03

[lafourmii20]

My favorite pairing is probably DrPepperony if I had to choose one, and I'm a sucker for 30 (the protective one). While I tend to swerve to "people protecting Stephen", please write it however you'd like - if you're interested in this combination. :)

Thank you for the ask, @aelaer 💕

I love drpepperony and I was very happy to write this OT3 with this prompt. It's a bit longer than I thought, and maybe not exactly what you imagined. I hope you like it!

~~~

drpepperony, pre-relationship (could almost be read as gen), hurt stephen, with a bit of blood, protective pepper, protective tony, not clint friendly (sorry i had to find sort of a bad guy), post Endgame but Tony lives and Steve died

~~~

“If you’re so powerful, why couldn’t you save her?!”

Clint’s shout echoed on the lawn, all the way to the cabin. Tony instantly got to his feet.

“Stay with uncle Happy, Maguna.”

He left his drink on a table, and his daughter under Happy’s careful watch, and hurried outside. When he pushed the front door, he frowned, deeply unhappy with the scene.

“I’m sorry,” Stephen whispered in such a thin voice Tony wasn’t sure anyone heard him –not sure the guy even wanted to be heard.

“You’re sorry? Is that what you just mumbled?” Clint answered, his tone getting angrier and angrier with each word.

“I am truly deeply sorry,” Stephen articulated more clearly this time.

It did not seem to appease Clint. At all.

“Well, great! You’re sorry. But Nat is dead because of you. And your sorry ass apologies won’t do shit to bring her back!”

Clint was furious. He was grieving. But he was taking it out on the wrong guy.

“It’s all your fault!”

Stephen didn’t move, didn’t even blink when Clint lurched forward and punched him square in the face. He fell backwards and blood splattered on the ground.

“It’s all your fucking fault!” Clint bellowed as Sam and Bucky restrained him, tried to stop him from attacking again.

He almost tore free, and Tony took a step forward. He was all for letting his fellow Avengers sort things out between themselves the way they wanted to –and if they had to punch some sense into each other from time to time, well it was their business. But no one was getting beaten up, without even trying to resist, on his lawn.

But before Tony could say anything, Pepper stepped into the scene.

“What is going on here?” she asked in her no-nonsense voice. Se didn’t wait for someone to answer –as if there even was a correct way to answer when she used that voice. “No one is fighting in my home! Today, we celebrate those we brought back, and we grieve those we lost. This is not a time for fighting and I will not tolerate it. Is that clear?”

Clint might try to protest, there was no way he would sway Pepper. He was an Avenger. She was even more dangerous, Tony thought with pride. Looked like he could let his wife handle the dirty business.

He crossed the lawn, got to the poor wizard still slumped on the ground, haggard and defeated. His nose was bleeding profusely, and the corner of his eye was starting to turn purple. Tony grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Come on. Let me take care of you.”

Stephen looked up at him. There was a deep sadness, a resigned look in his eyes that broke Tony’s heart. Then Stephen got up and it was gone. They walked silently through the crowd, crossed the lawn and reached the house. Tony pushed him as carefully as he could in a bathroom.

“Here we go,” he said softly, helping Stephen sit on the edge of the tub. “Fri, where’s the first aid kit?”

“Under the sink, boss,” the AI answered immediately and Tony dived under the sink to retrieve the little box, opening it to get some cotton balls and antiseptic, though he wasn’t sure what to do with those. “May I suggest the ice pack, boss?”

“You’re the best, baby girl.”

“Of course,” she answered, and Tony chuckled.

He went back to Stephen with a slightly wet towel to wipe off the blood while he handed him the cold pack. Stephen’s fingers shook wildly when he took it and pressed it on the side of his head, with a painful wince.

“You don’t have to do all this,” the Wizard of Oz finally said. “I’m okay.”

“Yeah, look in the mirror, doc, and tell that to your face,” Tony scoffed.

He got a brief glimpse of a smile before he moved the towel over nose, lips, chin, and all the mess of blood that covered Stephen’s face.

“Why didn’t you send Clint to the Sinister Dimension or whatever the name of that hellish world is?” Tony asked, trying not to wince with Stephen every time the towel stroked over a sensitive area.

“Dark Dimension,” Stephen corrected.

“Sure.”

A moment of silence passed. Tony took the time to rinse the blood out of the towel before applying it again. It seemed like the bleeding had stopped. That only left the big ugly contusion at the corner of Stephen’s eye. Ouch, that looked painful.

“Fri, can you scan our good doctor? Make sure there are no deeper wounds?”

“I’m fine,” Stephen protested with another wince that said otherwise.

“Fri?”

“The good doctor is right, boss. No deeper injury.”

“Great.”

As Tony looked at the slumped and beaten up form in front of him, it seemed that nothing was great. If there were no physical wounds, it seemed that there was a more profound, more painful, psychological one. That man was wounded, burned out, and morally exhausted. And Tony was suddenly filled with the impulse to help him, to fix this, whatever this was.

He wanted to see the powerful and cocky sorcerer he clashed with, when they first met.

He wanted the weirdly flirty wink after great prowess of magic, and butting heads with someone that didn’t take his nonsense but actually listened to him, and compromised.

“So, why didn’t you stop him?” he asked again after a minute of almost comfortable silence.

He threw the bloody towel in the laundry basket and leaned against the sink, watching Stephen intently.

“Because he’s grieving. And he’s right,” Stephen answered in a too small voice.

Defeated.

Tony was not taking any of it. If Pepper had to protect Stephen from Clint, Tony would have to protect Stephen from himself, apparently. It was far from the weirdest thing he had ever done.

“Bullshit. It’s not your fault.”

Stephen arched an eyebrow behind the cold pack, before he winced and dropped it. Tony picked it up for him and, instead of giving it back to the wizard, he brought it up to Stephen’s face and gently hold it up against his temple. Stephen just sighed, closed his eyes for a second, letting Tony take care of him. The situation was slightly more intimate than Tony anticipated but it warmed his heart to see Stephen accept his help. And yeah, he could see himself get closer to the wizard in the near future.

“It’s not your fault,” he repeated.

“It kinda is. I chose this path, the one where Natasha and Steve had to die. Their deaths are on my hands.”

“That’s just pure bullshit! You didn’t push Nat on Vormir, she jumped. You didn’t put the gauntlet on Steve’s hand, he took it and snapped his own fingers knowing he would not survive it. You did not murder them. They chose to sacrifice themselves to save us all, and believe me, I would have done the same thing, without blaming you. You know what you did?”

“Wallow in self-pity, dishonoring their great sacrifice?” he whispered defeated and seemingly disgusted with himself.

“No.” Damn, that man really needed to be protected from himself. Tony knew a thing or two about blaming himself for everything, but Strange was on another level completely. “You put us on the right path, you risked your sanity to view all those possible futures and other timeline. You are a hero.”

That seemed to finally shut Stephen up. He blinked, looked up at Tony, but this time, there was something different in his eyes. A deep emotion Tony couldn’t really name. It made his heart race.

Stephen’s hand rose, lightly touched Tony’s at the side of his head. It was delicate and far more intimate than he expected. But before Tony could say anything else, the bathroom’s door opened, and Pepper stepped in.

Stephen quickly took his hand away, but Tony kept his position. There was nothing he wanted to hide from his wife. Besides, if something ever happened with the wizard, he was pretty sure Pepper would want to be included. Yep, that would be very nice actually, the three of them in the cabin. Tony could almost picture it.

Wait, he was thinking a bit ahead of himself, wasn’t he? Well, who could blame him, he was a futurist, after all.

“Are you okay, Dr. Strange?” Pepper asked.

“You can call me Stephen. And yes, I’m okay. Tony took care of me.”

Pepper looked at her husband. Tony winked, she smirked in return. His hand was still pressed against Stephen’s head –there was a cold pack between them, but did that really matter?

Pepper went to Stephen’s other side, carefully took his chin in her hand to examine him –and there was no cold pack or any medical supply to excuse the proximity. Stephen tensed for a second, then he relaxed in her grip.

“You did well,” Pepper finally concluded, with a small stroke on Stephen’s cheek. The wizard shuddered. Then she stepped back and the fluttering moment was over. “Tony, you stay with him, I’m gonna send everyone home,” she ordered more than asked.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Tony answered immediately.

“And Stephen?”

“Yes?”

“Stay for dinner with us tonight. Please?”

A moment of hesitation, blue-green eyes jumping from Tony to Pepper, a gulp and finally.

“I will.”

Well, well, well, Tony thought. That was a very interesting turn of events. He couldn’t wait to see where all of this would lead them.

~~~

Inspired by this intimacy prompt list

Prompts filled: 3. touching foreheads (ironstrangefrost) 23. wearing someone’s clothing (ironstrange) 29. kissing while mad (ironstrange) 59. height difference (ironstrange)

[quartzwriting]

Whatever It Takes

Pairing: Doctor Strange X Fem!Reader

Description: After Stephen flew away as dust, you had taken care of the world. But The Avengers approached you with an idea to bring everyone back. You joined them, now finding yourself up against Thanos alongside your partner again.

Warnings: Funeral scene

Word Count: 1.8k

A/N: Originally posted to Quotev

Part 1: Infinity War Story

Part1.5: Hypothetical Endgame (original plot)

Five years later, and you and the Avengers were so close to victory.

After spending weeks stranded on a ship with Tony and Nebula, starving and so close to not making it, being brought back to Earth gave you a spark of hope.

You took over in protecting the Sanctum, and staying in contact with the Avengers. Spending countless hours perfecting your magic, getting stronger and being the best you knew Stephen wanted you to be. You still grieved, and fell into a depressed state while trying to improve your magic. What else did you have to live for when the one you love is gone? That spark of hope soon began to die.

When they called you to help with their idea of time travel, you instantly took up the offer, wanting everything to be back the way it was. You were assigned in getting the Time Stone, and went back to 2012 to only find The Ancient One protecting it. She recognized you, oddly since this was a past version of her, but that told you she probably saw into the future ahead of time. She gave you the stone when you told her Stephen gave it up, and said that he did that for a reason.

Things seemed to be falling into line perfectly, when the stones were together and Bruce reversed half the universe dying. But that's when chaos erupted. Destruction, ruin, and fear when Thanos showed up.

Now you watched in shock as Cap laid there, badly beaten and out of breath, knowing you needed to jump in. The cloak flowed around you, dancing in the wind as you flew down to stand beside Steve. You stared down Thanos, and summoned energy to create the Rings of Raggadorr. You felt your body shake with power, energy flowing around you catching the cloak and your hair. Thanos had taken down Tony, Thor and Steve now...

But he still had to go through you.

There was shuffling at your feet, and Cap started to get back up. You shook off one of your rings and offered a hand to pull him up. Your hands stayed locked when he fully rose, and he gave you a solid nod. His blood and dirt soaked face, his pale graying skin, pained your heart. Yet he stood with you, ready to keep fighting.

Whatever it takes.

Then there was a sparking sound, and you whipped your head around. You knew that sound, the sound of a sling ring portal opening. Portals began to open around the battle field, people stepping out in large numbers and recognizable faces all coming together. A massive Wakandan army, a goddess on a pegasus, friends of Steve and Tony, Pepper in a Iron Man suit, sorcerers baring the mystic arts and countless more powerful beings.

At the centre of it all, was Stephen.

It hit you that this was his plan from back on Titan, and he called everyone here to finish it.

Without hesitation the cloak flew you over to him, and you couldn't help yourself but threw your arms around him. He did it back and the cloak left your shoulders to rest itself on his.

"Sorry I’m so late," He said, and hearing his voice again was enough to make your eyes water, "but this is how we win."

You looked at him taking in the features of his face; his determined filled eyes, and tight jaw. This told you he was ready for a fight. Glimpsing around you, warriors of all different abilities surrounded the area. Something told you that this was it, the fight of your life.

And you were ready.

"Avengers!" Captain America called out to your army.

You glanced at Stephen, smirked, and threw your hands down to summon a spell. It exploded around you, powerful energy engrossing your body. His eyes lit up, and he smiled.

And you were an Avenger.

"Assemble..."

You ran into battle, and all the strength detonated.

You found yourself battling will all the power built up over the years, and also all the trauma and the pain. Let it all go. Patterns forming and sparks flickering from your hands, exploding with everything you had bottled up inside.

You fought aliens that you plowed through in no time. You fought with a large ensemble of other women Avengers, a special moment that will stick with you. You fought Thanos off for a bit, wanting to avenge the one you love. You fought to help pass along the gauntlet with the stones, ready to finish this.

And you fought back to back with him, Stephen. A feeling incomparable to anything else.

This course of events went by so fast, and you kept up perfectly.

~~~

You were exhausted and just when you thought you couldn't summon anymore power or energy, your enemies began to fade away into dust. Breathing heavily and taking a long sigh, you looked around at your fellow warriors and Avengers around the battle field.

You were looking for one person, and he was behind you.

Using the last scrapes of adrenaline left in your veins, you broke out into a run. Nothing else mattered to you when you jumped onto Stephen, but the rush of having him right there. It was almost surreal, you watched him die in your arms years ago.

"We won?" You asked frantically, eyes wide with excitement and relief as you looked up at him.

Stephen chuckled, and it filled your heart with happiness, "Yes, we won."

You wrapped your arms around his neck and held him tightly.

"And I thought you fighting on Titan was the most powerful I've seen you."

You tried to laugh, but it came out as a choke as tears threatened to fall.

He held your face, looking past all the dirt and scratches and blood, and seeing the one he loves. "I'm so proud of you."

You threw yourself forward and kissed him. You've been waiting for five years. His arms snaked around you, one wrapping around your waist and the other cradling the back of your head. This feeling, of being in his arms, you missed it so much.

"I missed you so much," Your voice shuttered in between kisses.

"I know, (Y/N). I know."

Then you realized something, "You gave up the stone for me..."

"They needed you alive," He replied, leaving a soft kiss on your lips that lingered, "and you did it. I'm so so so proud of you."

Cries interrupted, and you parted to see a few people crowding around a body.

"Tony..."

~~~

The funeral was small and quiet. Hushed conversations and mutual sadness swept through the air around Tony and Pepper's property, everyone dressed in black to show their respects.

You and Stephen were sitting by the lake. Throughout the day, the tears threatened to burst from your eyes, but you held them in. It was beautiful out here, warm sun and fresh wind dancing over the water, but it didn't change your mood.

"I'm gonna miss him." You said.

Stephen cleared his throat, "I will too. But you had five years to know him."

"Yeah." You forced yourself to smile. "He sure was something." Memories ran back into your mind. "I remember when we were stranded on that ship, he was ready to die and going insane when we got back. And arguing with him was a real chore."

Stephen laughed.

"I'd come visit him here when I needed time away from the Sanctum. I remember when Morgan was so tiny. She likes our magic you know."

He chuckled, "Well, we're going to have to visit her and Pepper regularly than."

You smiled for real, "He was a good friend."

Stephen squeezed your hand, a gesture that answered what words couldn't. Silence fell for a little, then he fully turned to you.

"I'm sorry you had to spend five years trying to figure this out, and me leaving you. It was only a split second for me." He looked pained, that look in his eyes that told you he was vulnerable. "But it had to happen for it to work out in the end. It had to be, so it could be like this again. So I could be here for you again."

You reached up and stroked his cheek, he leaned into your touch while not breaking eye contact.

"I'm just happy you're back."

"But you went through so much."

"I know."

"You haven't told me much about that yet."

You took a deep breath, "Stranded in space, starving and dying. Long days of trying to think of anything I could do to reverse it and working with the Avengers to do so. Protecting the Sanctum by myself, and trying to piece back together Kamar Taj and the other sanctums. Feeling alone for so long...years of wish for you back..."

Stephen instantly pulled you into him when you held back a sob. Stroking your hair and kissing your face, "I'm so sorry"

"It's not your fault..."

"If I had the chance," He started, "I would have taken your place."

Your heart broke even more.

"Don't say that."

"I would have done it in a heartbeat."

You both sat there in each others presence in comfortable silence. Then Stephen opened his mouth to say something to add, but he was interrupted.

"(Y/N)..."

The sound of a familiar voice made you turn your head, and Peter Parker was standing behind you both. He must have heard you talking about your experience. You bonded with Peter back when this all started. He is the sweetest and purest human you have ever met, and seeing the pain in his tear glittered eyes made your heart break all over again.

You instantly stood up and the two of you fell into each others arms, and the quiet sobs of you both choked out. You both cried for Tony, and you both cried for your time spent.

"Don't cry honey," You held Peter tighter, "he wouldn't want you to."

The boy looked up at you, "He wouldn't want you to either."

More tears streamed down your face, and you did your best to wipe his away. A bit away you could see his aunt May watching you both, pained at the sight she was seeing.

"You went through it all..." Peter choked, and you nodded. "What was it like?"

There was only one word to describe it: "Hell."

Peter went back into hugging you, as if he was trying to make your five years of agony better. It was like he was trying to pull the pieces of your shattered heart back together. This is what you did for him back when he was crying over Tony's body back when the battle ended, holding him to give him someone, and he wanted to return it. You smiled and looked over your shoulder at Stephen, who was trying to keep a neutral face. But you knew that face, and he felt for you.

You turned back to the boy holding you tightly, "I never forgot you though, Pete."

"I hoped you wouldn’t forget.”

[ao3feed-drstrange]

Spiderman: Forgotten Home

by Moderna After Doctor Strange's spell erases Peter Parker from everyone's memory, Peter struggles to rebuild his life in a rundown Queens apartment. Juggling two jobs and his Spider-Man duties, he watches over MJ and Ned from afar. Amidst the calm, a mysterious virus begins targeting mutants, drawing Peter into a dangerous investigation. As he uncovers the threat, Peter finds himself facing Tony Stark and the Avengers, confronting his fears as they fail to remember him. Who is behind the virus ? Can Peter protect those he loves without revealing his identity ? And will the Avengers ever remember who he truly is ? Words: 1581, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider - Fandom Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: Gen Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Michelle Jones (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Hulk (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, General Ross, Stephen Strange Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Avengers Team Members & Peter Parker, Happy Hogan/Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Morgan Stark (MCU) Additional Tags: Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Peter Parker, Precious Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker-centric, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Protective Tony Stark, Protective Avengers, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony survive the snap, Prosthetic Arm, Blood and Violence, Virus, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Poor Peter Parker, Mentioned Thanos (Marvel), may p - Freeform, Dead Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Mentioned Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Mentioned Uncle Ben Parker (Marvel), Post-Movie: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Tony Stark is alive via https://ift.tt/cXb0Rah

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Endgame III 🔥 | Dark Phoenix Series P.5

Takes place during the second act of Avengers: Endgame

Read parts 1-4 here -> Series Masterlist | Marvel Masterlist

Characters & Pairings: Dr. Evelyn Alice Stark (OC)/The Eagle/Host of the Phoenix Force, Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch (platonic), Doctor Stephen Strange (slight romance), Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (implied slight), Tony Stark (platonic/nephew), Howard Stark (Platonic/brother), Steve Rogers (platonic/best friend)—a lot of the marvel characters will be involved in this series since it take place during phase 3 & 4.

Content Warnings: light angst, fighting, profanity, blood. Slight canon divergence | Female OC (she/her) | Wc: 4k +

Premise: Reunited after seven years, Evelyn Stark & Steve Rogers have a lot to catch up on. For starters there’s the topic of Eve’s state, then the potential time heist which could bring half the universe back.

——————————————————

“Are you okay?” Was the first question Steve asked Eve the moment they sat down at her dining room table. She prepared some tea and brought over a tray with sugar, honey, milk, and a few cookies on a plate.

She gave him a choked laugh, “I could be better, but I’m alive.” He thanked her as she handed him a mug. Now that it was Eve in her own body, Steve could see the drastic changes in her features. Not only was the hair an obvious change, but her complexion was slightly paler compared to her tan the last he saw her. Her cheekbones were more pronounced and her eyes were an amber shade instead of deep brown. Eve still looked beautiful, but Steve could see the sadness in her.

The clinking of the spoon stirring her tea filled the silent void. Bringing the mug to her lips, Eve took a sip after saying, “I’m fine, Steve. You can stop worrying.”

‘Oh right,’ he thought with a sigh, ‘she can read minds now.’ Her chuckle confirmed he was right. Steve shifted in his seat, “That’s gonna take some time getting used to.”

“Believe me,” she takes a bite of a cookie, “I’m still getting used to it.”

“What exactly happened, Eve? When you woke up?” Tony hadn’t said much to him, and Nat explained the best she could. But Steve wanted to know first hand from Eve and how it’s affected her the past five years.

He then remembered what the entity had told him, ‘I see what Evelyn sees. I hear what she hears. I feel what she feels.’ If it’s true, then it meant the entity was watching the conversation unfold through Eve’s eyes. It sent chills throughout Steve at the thought of being watched.

“Well,” Eve began after taking another sip of tea. “I assume you can imagine the feeling of waking up after being unconscious for an entire month to find out half the universe was erased and you probably should’ve been dead.” She gave a shrug, “Add on the fact there was a voice in my head calling out to me, plus I could hear everyone else’s voice despite their mouths not moving.”

Natasha’s words from earlier filled his mind, “she just kept saying, ‘it’s in my head. Get out of my head.’ Then lights exploded and the monitors went crazy. I’d never seen anything like it.”

Eve continued, “Then the pressure in my head became too much and I knocked out again. When I woke up—the next day, thankfully—Tony was loading the car saying we were gonna go someplace quiet.” There was a sense of longing in her tone when she goes on to say, “Him, Pep, and Morgan are the only ones I’ve interacted with face-to-face the past five years. Sometimes I’ll see Happy—or even Rhodey, but I haven’t been to the city since twenty-eighteen. The one time I did….” She trailed off, bringing a hand to her mouth when she shuddered. Steve could see the pain in her expression as she thought back to the memory. “It was too overwhelming. So many voices—it was like chaos in my head.”

For about ten minutes, Steve listened intently to Eve as she recalled the following months after Thanos. It hurt him to hear how isolated she felt, not being in full control of her own body, and dealing with the loss of her friends like everyone else.

“You’ve found something,” she says once she finishes. “A way to reverse it?” Steve didn’t even question her, he was already thinking about it.

“It’s a working theory,” he replies, finishing his tea and placing the mug on the tray. “Tony doesn’t think it’s possible. Says it will only make things worse.”

“He’s right to feel that way. Tell me more about it.” Steve proceeds to give Eve all the information he, Scott, and Nat had gathered. First he goes on to talk about Scott’s journey in the quantum realm. Then it shifts to the theory of going back before Thanos to get the stones and ends with Tony’s argument from earlier in the day.

“I get that he’s scared, Eve. I am too,” he leans forward, connecting his eyes with hers. “But this is a chance we gotta take. We can go back and undo this.”

Eve stays silent, glancing at the bottom of her empty mug. “When you mess with time, it can mess with you back. You know that, don’t you?” Of course Steve knew. Everything came with a risk.

“I know, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

They continue to discuss theories and possibilities for the next half hour. At one point Nat texted him, ‘you still alive in there?’ To which Steve replied with a thumbs up emoji.

They were finishing off their second cup of tea when Eve said, “I’ll talk to Tony, but I can’t guarantee he will give in. Although…” she pauses to light a cigarette with a lighter Steve was sure was from the 40s. The action surprised Steve since the last time he saw Eve smoke was 1944, just before she found out she was pregnant. Getting a closer look at the lighter, Steve was pretty sure it was the same one she had. Or just one she found that closely resembled it. When she offered him one Steve politely declined.

The woman took a deep inhale before letting the smoke release, putting the tin she kept the cigarettes in a drawer beside her. “Considering you went to him first and put the idea in his head, he’s probably already working on something.”

Steve tries to ignore the feeling swirling in him. He didn’t want to get his hopes up just yet. “And you think it will be enough for him to help?”

Eve takes another drag, “If Tony can guarantee that going back in time will not affect the present, then it will be. Believe it or not, he feels just as much guilt as you and I. It may look like he’s doing good—married with a daughter and living in the countryside. But whenever I visit I always catch him looking at the photo of him and Peter. The guilt is there and the hope an opportunity will emerge.” Eve pauses again to finish the cigarette before putting the bud in the ashtray. “Tony will do what he can if it means saving the kid and keeping his own.”

Steve nods, confident Eve could get through to Tony. Then the question popped in his head, “What about you? Will you help us?”

She scoffs, giving him a look of ‘do you really have to ask?’ Eve gets up to retrieve two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. “I’m not one hundred percent confident things will go as planned,” she pours an inch of liquid into each glass, “because quite frankly it’s never that way for us. But if this is our only chance to bring everyone back,” she locks her eyes with Steve as she slides over the glass, “then I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Clinking the glasses, the soldier keeps her gaze as he repeats with determination, “Whatever it takes.”

Saying their goodbyes, Eve walks Steve out where she is greeted by Natasha and Scott. The two women embrace, exchanging a few words and promising to catch up at a later time. Scott shakes her hand, flinching slightly by how warm it was despite the cold breeze they were having. Eve nods to him, “it’s nice to see you again, Scott.”

Once said and done, Eve turns to Steve to say, “I’ll talk to Tony tonight. I recommend finding the others in the meantime.” The two hug, promising to keep in touch. Steve leads the others away and they wave to Eve while getting in the car. She returns the gesture, watching them pull off her driveway and onto the road before heading back inside.

“Finally,” a voice sighed, causing Eve to jump back at the sudden sound. “I thought they would never leave.”

The woman rolled her eyes, moving to her office to begin constructing blueprints and potential theories of traveling the quantum realm. “Tell me right now, can we pull this off?”

“Not feeling confident in your friends, are you?” There was an amused chuckle which angered Eve. “Oh, calm down, Evelyn. Would it kill you to laugh every once in a while.”

“Geez, I don’t know,” she replied sarcastically, practically slamming a notebook on the desk. “I haven’t had a reason to laugh in five years—not since my mind and body have been taken over by a cosmic entity!” The silence that followed was unnerving. It’s never been so quiet for Eve with the constand looming presence of the entity—the only time being when she’s pushed to the dark void.

“I’m going to give you a moment,” it replied, unfazed by her reaction. “Because I can feel the excessive amount of stress and anxiety you have over this situation with the stones. It’s suffocating, Evelyn. So to put you at some peace of mind, I do believe it is possible to accomplish this ‘time heist’ your friends are working on.”

It did give her some peace—or at least a speckle of it. “Fantastic,” her tone implied she wasn’t so sure. And not to mention, the entity could tell she was lying.

“Have more faith, Evelyn.”

“I'll have more faith when half the universe is back,” she grumbled, rolling out a large piece of sketch paper. Eve poured an array of colored pens, pencils, and markers onto the desk, some falling to the floor. “Onto another matter,” she then said, taking a pencil to start sketching. “Why didn’t you tell Steve your name?”

Eve could’ve sworn she felt them roll their eyes. “It’s not really a name as I’ve said before. More like a title—something a few civilizations coined.”

“And you’re keeping it to yourself because?” She drew out curiously.

“Why not, Evelyn? Keeps the mystery, doesn’t it. I quite frankly enjoy others not knowing. Although I do believe Thor is aware—he’s got the most knowledge of me out of all your friends.”

The woman huffed, rolling her eyes once more and continuing to focus on the blueprints in front of her. “Whatever floats your boat—or wings, P.”

Later that night, Eve let herself in Tony & Pepper’s home after he texted her saying they needed to talk. On her way out she had replied, ‘yeah, I was thinking the same.’ It was a peaceful night with the sun having set by the time she reached the house, deciding to take the almost 30 minute walk around the lake instead of driving. Eve was in need of clearing her head—as best as one could with a cosmic entity constantly pestering it, and walking during the late evenings was the cure for it.

“Tony?” She called out gently, not wanting to wake Morgan if she were already asleep. The lamp in the corner of the living room was on, as were a few candles scattered around. There was no sign of anyone from where she should see

“In here,” he replied from the opposite end of the living room, close to his office. Closing the door, Eve removed her jacket before hanging it on the rack and moving further into the house until she finally reached Tony. He was leaning against the wall with his gaze firmly set on the table. When her eyes landed on the projection shown, Eve felt a tightness in her chest.

“Is that what I think it is?” Footsteps echoed from her boots, Eve stopping just before the model. It was almost like an oval shape with an endless loop, similar to a rollercoaster. Tony still hadn’t answered her. Although, the woman already figured what the model represented. Eve brought her hand up, glancing at Tony, “May I?”

When the man nodded, Eve slowly spun the model so it faced her rather than viewing it from the side. Here she was able to clearly read all that was in the image. A small smile lifted from the corner of her mouth, “I thought it would take more convincing on my end, but you never fail to amaze me, Tony.”

There was a low chuckle from her nephew, “I guess all it took was a little push.”

She watched him push off the wall to pour two small glasses of whiskey from his small corner bar. Accepting the glass, Eve nudges her head toward the stairwell, “from Pepper?” They clinked the glasses and each took a sip of the burning liquid. “Or Steve? Cause I sure as hell haven’t said anything. Yet.”

“A little of each I suppose,” he replied with a sigh, moving to take a seat in his chair. Eve placed herself in the one next to him. Tony takes another sip and Eve notices the linger of sadness in his eyes. “I was just thinking. About the kid, you know.” She nods, understanding where he was coming from. “

“It wasn't fair,” Eve thinks aloud, looking back at the model with a newfound hope. “It wasn’t fair for any of them.” Her thoughts drift to her friends. A memory of Eve playing poker with Sam and Steve while Vision and Wanda looked on. Then there was Peter’s bright smile when he watched her work with awe. Finally, a bar in 1943 where Eve could be seen pouring shots on the opposite side of the bar with Steve and a young Sergeant Barnes.

A light pressure could be felt in the back of her head causing Eve to close her eyes. As much as she tried to ignore the feeling of her 24/7 companion, Eve could never avoid it.

“I know,” Tony’s voice cut her from her thoughts. When she looked back at him, Eve let her gaze draw over his features. Crinkles and grey hair took over after years of stress and being the hardworking man he was. Having to chase a toddler around also took credit. Then there was the looming feeling of guilt which can easily wear a person down. Tony had lost a lot of weight after Titan, but managed to gain it back over the years with the help of friends and family.

The resemblance to Howard was uncanny. In the beginning when Eve first woke up from the ice, she would avoid Tony’s gaze at all costs. It took months before she could even look him in the eyes without wanting to cry because all it did was bring her pain. Pain and grief over the loss of her life and loved ones. A part of Eve died the day she woke up.

A part she could never revive.

“How confident are you in this?” A gentle tilt of the head toward the model had Tony look back at her with mock offense. It made her smirk.

“Are you doubting me now, Evie?” She scoffed at him, taking another sip of the liquor. He pointed a finger before she could answer, “Actually don’t answer that. I already know.” He was referring to pretty much every major conflict they’ve had in the last decade.

“Don’t get me wrong, Tony, there’s been moments. But you always prevail.” She sees him smile at that. Fiddling with her now empty glass, Eve looks to the floor. “You already know what I’m gonna say.”

He nods, placing his own glass on the nightstand beside the chair. “Cap got to you?” The accusation results in a glare. “What did he think of your little friend?”

“Concerned,” she replies with a sigh. “As expected. He tried to keep his thoughts quiet, but of course I heard everything. There’s a bit of distrust—not to me, per say.” Eve then hears a sarcastic laugh in her mind. ‘Typical.’

Eve returns the subject back to the matter at hand. “Time travel, Tony. Who would’ve thought? Howard and I used to talk about the possibilities when we were kids. It was one of his goals to one day figure out the key to unlocking it.” A small smile made its way on her lips at the memory. She turns her eyes to Tony. “He’d be proud of you.”

Not used to the praise, especially by family members, a light blush coats Tony’s cheeks and he brushes it off. “Eh, he would’ve done it first if he were here. But I’ll take the credit where it’s due.”

Eve shook her head while chuckling. Then became serious, “We should go tomorrow. They’ll be at the compround and I wouldn’t put it past them to figure out something with what little they have. We don’t need them to get trapped in the quantum realm if we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he shrugged, knowing she was right. There was still a lingering doubt. The thought of losing everything he had by going back to fix everything He thought back to his earlier conversation with Pepper before saying, “It’s just too big of a risk.”

Eve gave a knowing smile, “We’re superheroes, Tony. This life, regardless of how careful we are, comes with a risk. We all accepted that when we took on the role.” For Eve and Steve the oath dawned on them in 1943. Now 80 years later, the oath still stands.

Silence fills the room as Tony stays deep in his thoughts. The decision had already been made, but the man still had his worries. Eve had them too, there was no doubt about it. Every mission, every endgame, there was always the fear of the worst. The ‘what if.’ Focusing so much on the bad ‘what ifs’ cost them a lot. Neither wanted to make the same mistake.

Suddenly, Tony rose from his seat and began compiling the data together. “While I work on this, there’s something in the garage you may wanna take a look at. I figured you would clean it up better than me.” This caused her to raise her brow. He waved a hand to dismiss her, “Just go, I’ve got this sorted out.”

“Okay,” she muttered, putting the glass next to his before departing. Eve grabbed a water bottle on her way through the kitchen to get to Tony’s large garage. Which could also be described as his makeshift workshop. Flicking the lights on, Eve took in the scene before her. The cars were parked in the driveway giving more space to the area. Some of Morgan’s toys were scattered along one side while Tony had an array of supplies and materials on the opposite end.

There, leaning against the wall and almost hidden by stacks of boxes, was a familiar object made of the strongest metal on Earth. A tightness filled Eve’s chest. It had been seven years since she last saw the shield. Eve shivered as she remembered the cool Siberian breeze. Blood painted her knuckles and lips. Discarded wings sparking from where they were ripped off laid on the floor. And a gun pointed at her best friend.

She had aimed at his wrist, the man grunting when the pain erupted causing the shield to drop from his grip. It left an echo in its wake, while two super soldiers stared one another down. “Eve,” he pleaded, exhaustion in his tone and blood running down his cheek. For Eve, there were unshed tears brimming her eyes.

“Go,” she ordered, voice wavering as the anger caused her entire body to shake. It shocked Steve she was even saying it. “Go and never come back, Steve Rogers.”

The Captain could see her finger hovering over the trigger. Believing she would shoot him again, Steve lifted off of Tony and went to the shield, but a bullet zoomed past him into the column freezing him in his tracks.

“I didn’t say take the shield,” her tone was cold. The gun was still trained on him and Steve made no move to tempt her. Despite the pain in his heart, no argument followed. No more words had to be spoken for him to understand the message. “I gave you that shield, Steve Rogers. I’m taking it back. And if you ever show your face again, mine will be the last thing you see.” She lowered the gun, but her gaze never faltered. “I hope it was worth it. Because you can never come home again.”

And so Eve took back the symbol of Captain America. But the second she got back home the shield was placed in Tony’s care. She didn’t care what he did with it as long as it was away from her. In all honesty she expected him to melt the metal down to repurpose it.

Thankfully, he didn’t.

Taking it in her hands, the shield was cool against her skin. Her reflection stared back at her against the glare from the light. It was odd for Eve, seeing the red that now painted her hair and drifted into a dark brown.

Using her right hand, Eve removed a thin layer of dust coating the surface. Her eyes trailed over the most obvious feature. The scratch marks left behind from T’Challa.

Now Eve understood what Tony was trying to tell her.

The Avenger brought the shield over to the work table before rummaging through Tony’s tools. Once gathered, she pulled on a mask to protect her face when the bright glow of the blowtorch filled her vision. The Eagle had work to do.

“Somebody peed my pants,” Scott, back to his normal self, announced after going through the quantum realm in their attempt at traveling through time. The man was in a daze.

“Oh, thank God,” Natasha claps a hand to her chest in relief.

“But I don’t know if it was baby me or old me. Or just, me me.

Bruce, now in his hulk-human hybrid glory, throws his arms out in celebration. “Time travel!!” He’s the only one smiling by what he just witnessed. Everyone else just looks at him with disbelief. “What?” He says when Steve puts his hands to his hips and walks away. “I-I see this as an absolute win.”

The cool air hits Steve as he exits the compound's glass doors. All he could do was sigh while his mind processes what just happened. Thankfully, Scott was okay. But they still had a long way to go. Bruce was doing the best he could with what they got, but everyone knew they needed a certain someone to help them.

Speaking of the devil—literally—the sound of a car’s engine had Steve glancing up from the ground. His posture straightened, watching as a speeding Audi drove up the road and turned the corner with a loud screech. Steve didn’t even flinch when the car strolled past him a few inches before reversing and pulling to a stop.

When the window rolled down, he was met with the one and only Tony Stark. Steve’s brows raised, face reading ‘wow, wasn’t expecting that’. “Why the long face? Let me guess, he turned into a baby?”

The frown from Cap couldn’t hide the truth. “Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?” One look into the passenger seat and he knows Eve is not with Tony. Something in his stomach drops, thinking she backed out on her word. But Eve Stark never breaks a promise. And considering Tony was at the compound, chances are the super soldier was on her way.

“It’s the epr paradox,” Tony opened the car door to exit. “Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might wind up pushing time through Lang. It’s tricky, dangerous, somebody could’ve cautioned you against it.”

“You did,” Steve points out for the both of them. Tony didn’t bother hiding his smug expression.

“Oh, did I? Well thank God I’m here. Regardless, I fixed it.” Wrapped around his hand, just below his knuckles was a device resembling that of a watch. “A fully functioning time-space gps.” Two fingers lift up when Cap smiles at him. “I just want peace. It turns out resentment is corrosive and I hate it.”

“Me too,” Steve agrees. Tony takes a moment to gather his thoughts, remembering Eve’s words from the night before.

“We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities. Bring back what we lost, I hope yes. Keep what I found—I have too. At all costs.” Taking a few steps, Tony stops in front of Steve, “And, maybe not die trying would be nice.”

Steve nods, feeling the hope rise in him. His hand goes out, “Sounds like a deal.” Tony takes it in his firmly, the two shaking to seal it. They shake hands for a good bit before Tony releases. It’s then Steve asks, “Where’s Eve?” The brunette had yet to show and there was no sign of her just yet.

Tony takes a quick glance over his shoulder, “She should be here soon. She needed to fix something up real quick.” A few taps to his watch and there was a blinking red dot in the center. “Looks like she’ll be pulling around the corner in just a sec.” Clinking the lock button on his car, Tony starts making his way inside, “I’ll leave it to you two. I’ll be inside cleaning up whatever mess you guys started.”

Without another word Tony disappears into the compound, leaving Steve standing in his place. A few seconds later, as predicted, a rumble of an engine hit his ears and Steve turned to see a figure on a motorcycle zooming down the road. Unlike Tony, they slowed down when maneuvering around the corners and slowed to stop right behind the Audi. Reddish-brown hair peeked from beneath the helmet, and a brown leather case-like object was strapped to their back.

When the helmet was pulled off, Eve Stark was revealed. “Steve,” she greeted with a smile. Steve mirrored it as he watched her kill the engine before swinging her leg off the bike. “Am I late?” She asked, putting on her sunglasses.

The man couldn’t help but chuckle, going as far as to bring her into a hug. “You’re right on time.” Eve patted his back gently, pulling away so she could remove the case attached to her. He watched with curiously, but recognized the familiar shape.

“I would’ve been here earlier,” she told him, moving it in front of her to unzip the bag. “But I had to do some finishing touches,” Eve revealed the newly refurbished vibranium shield, causing Steve’s eyes to widen. All he could do was stare as she held it out to him.

“Eve, I don’t know.”

“Why?” She tilted her head, brow raising beneath her sunglasses. “We made it for you.” Flipping it over, Eve had a teasing smile. “Between me and you, I think Tony would prefer it out of his garage before Morgan takes it sledding.” Both the soldiers laughed, Steve placing his arm in the holster. Where it belonged.

Eve stepped back, admiring the Captain with a proud look. It felt like they were back in the 40s getting ready for an ops mission with the Howling Commandos. The Captain and the Eagle once again.

Steve lifted his head back to her after taking in the shield. “Thank you, Eve.”

“It’s not just me you’ll have to thank,” she points out. “Also, will you keep that on the downlow? We didn’t bring one for the whole team.” Eve lifts the bag to lay it over the seat before giving Steve a look. “We do have a team, right?”

At this Steve shrugs, not really knowing how to word the group they had. “It’ll be one. Once everyone else arrives. Rocket, Nebula, and Rhodey are on their way. From there Banner and Rocket will go get Thor.” Eve grimaces, familiar with what became of Thor. It pained her to know how hard he took the defeat. Between all the Avengers, Thor lost the most when one stopped to think about it.

“You think he’ll be on board?”

“Let’s hope,” Steve replies, not feeling too confident either. The two make their way into the compound, Steve placing the shield in a safe place and joining up with the others. Hugs were exchanged, kind words spoken, and then it was game time.

They were gonna bring everyone back. After five years when they thought all hope was lost. It was time. And whatever risks and consequences that followed would be worth it.

The Avengers were ready to assemble.

…………………..

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