#I need to get new files of Loki scenes

[sappholily]

my opinions on watcher tv

i don't want to sound like a parrot and repeat things others have said so eloquently, but i do have a lot of opinions and questions. i hope you don't mind this post.

first and foremost, i am an artist and creator just like the boys, just like staff at watcher, and just like many watcherinas. i understand everyone who says "we didn't ask for this high quality, overly-produced stuff, we just wanted you". i feel the same way. but as an artist, i would hate having to create stuff that i'm not comfortable with and don't enjoy, just because it makes me money. i would want the freedom to create whatever without having to worry about bills. don't we all?

if ghost files and the production value is what they are satisfied in, i can't then come in and say "just don't do that". it's a creative outlet for them, it's what they want, and it's their creative freedom.

on the other hand, however, i can't imagine how they're spending 100k on per ghost files episode. maybe if they broke it down, more of us would understand where they're coming from? i get plane tickets and hotel rooms are expensive, but if someone would've told me to guess, i would've said maybe 10k-50k per episode. still a lot, but certainly not 100k.

i also understand everyone who says "you have to pay an artist for their work". of course! i am willing to pay, like i said in another post. i've been saving up for a professor plushie for the longest time! but when something doesn't seem worth it, i'm not motivated to pay for it. to me, paying $60/year for a few shows is not something that is viable for me. what is and was viable for me was watching ads, even if they were annoying.

but also, when will the new shows come to their platform? if they're short on money, does that then mean that the new shows won't be on the platform for a while? what's the timeline?

for a big change like this, it would've made more sense for them to ease into it. if they really wanted to have their own streaming service, why remove the shows that we've had access to for years? (and i understand that they're not physically removing the shows, but they're putting every other season on this platform i can't afford). why not keep existing shows on youtube and have other shows (behind the scenes stuff, worth it, etc) on their streaming platform? or even created patreon-exclusive shows?

another big question i have is did they consider other options? right now, it feels like they didn't. they didn't ask "would you be willing to pay more on patreon?" they didn't tell us "hey this isn't financially viable, what would you like to see from us (merch, new shows, exclusive patreon shows)?" they didn't promote their patreon outside of the end of episodes of shows to promote bloopers. i wish they had kept us in the loop about what was happening. i wish they had treated us like the community that they said we were. that's maybe a little parasocial of me, but after all, they're creating content for us (per their words), so wouldn't it make sense to tell us what was going on? idk.

like i said in another post, i was once part of their patreon because i enjoyed the bloopers and behind the scenes. i eventually stopped for a couple of reasons, but mainly because i could no longer afford the $5/month. and this is coming from someone who does not subscribe to multiple different platforms (as i've seen others say; "if you can afford to have multiple different subscriptions you don't need..."). i only subscribe to things that i absolutely love, though for a few months now, i haven't been subscribed to anything because i can't afford it. most of the content i watch is on youtube. i'm not someone who watches shows on the regular, i'm not someone who tunes in to the newest show (still haven't watched euphoria, still haven't watched the new loki season, etc). so paying for something like disney+ would simply be ridiculous for me. i don't have a daily coffee spending budget, i don't subscribe to things, i don't spend money because i cannot afford it. i'm not the only one.

i'm sure they researched the different options, specifically between starting their own streaming service versus joining another existing service. what i feel like they didn't do is research their own audience. even one single youtube poll would've been great.

overall, i just wish they had gone about this differently and had warned us or told us "hey we're thinking of starting a streaming service, what do you guys think?" or something. it's very frustrating to feel like this came out of nowhere. so many watcherinas are coming up with so many creative ideas to make watcher more money, and i'm sure they would've gathered those ideas and taken them to heart had they asked.

but i'm also not going to wish they fail. i also understand that they are their own people with different needs, etc., so i'm not going to send them hate, and should they go through with this decision despite the backlash, i will support them even if i can't participate. it is what it is, and though i will be sad, i can't do anything about it, therefore i won't lose sleep over it.

i hate that everyone is putting the blame on steven. i understand the frustrations of not wanting to watch wealthy men parade their wealth during an economic crisis, then ask for money to do said activities, but he isn't the only one making major decisions. (unless he is and we just don't know?) but the blame shouldn't be put all on him when he had to greenlight it with the others (again, unless he didn't and we just don't know, though i doubt that a lot).

i really hope they succeed. i wish them all the best, i'm just mourning rn lmfao 😭

anyway, what do y'all think?

#watcher tv #watcher entertainment #watcher #shane madej #ryan bergara #steven lim

[mochie85]

HELLO💖

had a quick thought that could maybe turn into something? Not sure lol

Okay well, I was crawling on the floor like an idiot trying to dig up my slippers from under the bed (I have short arms) and I had a thought…Loki finds y/n in a similar situation and just can’t help but stare, becomes a bit a flustered mess if you will, god forbid anyone catches him off guard tho (especially y/n), something fluffy or something funny, anything goes, up to you! He also may selfishly put y/n a similar situation or two after the first instance just to get repeat of his first view bc he’s a mischievous little prick, y/n isn’t stupid tho and catches on quick, starts playing into his games, and starts making it unbearable for him after she starts wearing skirts or something, ok lemme shut up now

Enjoy✨

To Fold and To Flex

One-Shot Masterlist Complete Masterlist

Summary: Loki didn't realize he was in love with you until he saw you from a new perspective. A/N: I hope you liked this @loopsisloops. Sorry, it took so long. Pairing: Loki x Female Reader Warnings: Mostly fluff. No details of smut, but very suggestive scenes. Dividers: @firefly-graphics

The cloud inside Loki’s mind wouldn’t lift. It wasn’t a headache perse, more of an annoyance. He’s felt like this for a couple of months now. A feeling of something he’s missed. It was almost within his grasp but he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out what it was.

It was better whenever he would spend time with you. The clouds would go away and he found joy in your laughter. He found excitement in your shared love of mischief. He found peace in the late afternoons with you, sharing your love of music with him.

However, whenever you were not around, the fogginess in his head somehow got worse. It traveled down his body, onto his chest. Squeezing him tight. Making him unable to breathe at times. What unexpected power you had over him?

You did not have any magical talents as a witch or perhaps a mutant. Loki has checked your file multiple times and asked both Wanda and Strange to look into you. Strange just rolled his eyes at him - the nerve! Wanda - Wanda wouldn’t stop smiling after Loki explained the situation to her.

“Maybe you should just hang out with her more often. Make those clouds go away for good!” She suggested with a smirk.

“What kind of half-brained idea is that? Would you tell an alcoholic to drink more liquor? Or an addict to take more of their narcotics?” Loki shouted back as he turned and walked away from her. They were ridiculing him. They must be. No one here ever thought him serious.

Hence, here he was, sitting up alone in his bed. His head in his hands trying to figure out where this heaviness came from. What was it about you that made him think of you at all hours of the day? Why does every melody he hears remind him of the twilight evenings listening to old records with you?

Walking down to the kitchen, he decided to raid Tony’s liquor cabinet. A habit he picked up from you whenever you needed to stop overthinking about something serious. Then maybe tomorrow he would confront you about your power over him and perchance he could bargain with you to let him go. You must have some sort of control or spell bewitching him.

Perhaps you had some elven blood in you, some Aether. And you weren’t aware you were doing it. He could help you! He could help you control your powers. Yes! It would undoubtedly lead to more time spent together. But if it’s for your own good. For your own safety. Then he would risk this dense cloud over his heart and mind a little longer to help you.

As he strode quietly to the kitchen, Loki could make out loud clinks of glass coming from the bottom cabinets of the bar. There could be any number of you still awake at this time and he turned to go back into his room. He found the thought of making small talk with anyone from the team tedious and insincere.

“Ugh, where are you?!” he heard your muffled groan. He stopped midstride, turning back around towards the kitchen, with a wide grin on his face. He was about to say some amorous remark about how you needn’t look any further, for here he was – the perfect specimen - standing in front of you.

But he couldn’t. He rounded the corner and was met with your curvaceous rear end in some remarkably tight leggings. Loki’s eyes widened. He tilted his head as his mouth opened to an appreciative shock. He found you on your knees as you were reaching for something deep in the cabinets. Your small grunts and curses invaded his head.

It wasn’t until he saw you, in that precarious position, that it hit him. A hard blow to the lungs. Like the clouded air was knocked out of him and all he could do was just stand there and look at your luscious arse.

I want her. He finally admitted to himself. Loki closed his mouth and snapped out of it. Is that drool coming out of my lips?

“Ugh…come on. Just a little closer,” you grunted. Loki bit his bottom lip at hearing your phrase. “Yes!” you breathed out as you found whatever it was you were looking for.

As if the gods themselves slowed down time, he watched you stand up. Your hair gathered to one side of your face. Your body slid up along his and he felt warmth emanating from you. The light in your eyes turned the color into a new hue. When you looked up at him, you had released your bottom lip from the bite you held it in.

And Loki’s heart skipped a beat.

“Shit!” You whispered. “I wasn’t stealing anything!” You said hiding the bottle of whiskey behind you.

“What are you hiding dear?” His wide smile made your heartache and double over. He pushed his arms under yours and around your waist, pulling you closer in his embrace. The scent of his cologne muddles your senses as he reached for the pilfered bottle you were holding behind you.

“When did you get here? I didn’t hear you come in?” you asked him.

“I haven’t been down here very long. I heard the sounds of thieving and was wondering who would be brave enough to rob the Avengers in the middle of the night.” You giggled at his words. Gods, he loved the sound of your giggle.

He took the bottle from behind you and opened the twist cap with his nimble thumb. The cap opened so fast it flew off the bottle onto the counter. Loki took a swig of whiskey. His eyes never left yours while his other hand still wrapped around your waist.

“Hey! That was mine. I stole that fair and square!” You stomped your foot. Gods you look adorable!

“Why are you up so late?” Loki smiled, offering the bottle back to you.

“My mind wouldn’t rest,” you said, taking the bottle and drinking a sip yourself.

“Couldn’t sleep either, huh?” Loki asked as you moved away from his embrace. He fought the urge to squeeze you to keep you in place.

“Ya. I’m still jetlagged from the mission.” You offered. It wasn’t a lie. But Loki knew it was only a half-truth. “That’s my excuse. What’s yours?” you quickly asked.

You, he wanted to say. “As I said, I heard someone trying to steal something in the kitchen. And I thought I would be proactive and stop the evildoer from doing any harm.” He teased you. “Or from stealing all of Tony’s beloved liquor.”

“Stop. I wasn’t stealing!” You jokingly pushed him on his right peck, feeling the strong hard muscle underneath. He caught your hand as it was touching him and he held it against himself for a short while before conventionality made it seem awkward. He couldn’t stop wanting to touch you.

“I’ll replenish what I sto-borrowed.” You said blushing. You busied yourself finding two old-fashioned glasses for the whiskey. Trying to hide the dimpled smile forming on your face.

Your hair had fallen down, covering you. Loki wouldn’t have that and he delicately pulled your strands back behind your ear. You turned to face him with a warm smile, “Thanks,” you said.

Loki was stunned. All this time, he never once saw you as anything more than a friend. How could he? He was resigned to the thought that no one here in this realm would ever want to be with him. He couldn’t – no, wouldn’t – think of anyone here that way because he didn’t want to get himself attached and subsequently get hurt.

So he turned off that side of him. Looked at the world through the hazy filter of friendship and amiable companionship. That cloudy filter inevitably obscured his view of you and your relationship together.

But one look at you in that indefensible position - your beautiful body offered up before him like a sacrifice to an insidious god - he couldn’t help but break that filter and replace it with lust-filled longing and a desperate stare.

It went on for quite some time. His stare. His longing. It was like he was looking at you through new eyes. Your soft supple skin, your buoyant laughter, that round curvaceous ass! He couldn’t stop thinking about that night he found you, on your knees with your plump cheeks in the air, tempting him to run his palm around you. He had to see it again.

“You got a little something…” Wanda said to Loki, breaking his train of thought. “…right here.” She said motioning to the side of her lips. “Are you drooling?” Loki quickly went to wipe his lips only to find them dry. Wanda started laughing.

Loki was upset at being mocked. “Why are you here? Come to give me more asinine advice on my predicament?”

“It’s the tower’s gym, Loki. I’m here to train. Just like everybody else. Although, you’re spectating more than you are working out. What, or rather, whom are you watching?” Wanda’s eyes followed Loki’s stare.

They watched you mount Wilson on the mat. Your arms and legs wrapped around him in a chokehold. Wilson tapped your arm, yielding to your capture. How Loki wished it was him your arms were wrapped around.

“Uh-huh. I’m glad you took my asinine advice! You’re welcome by the way.” Wanda provoked.

“I beg your pardon?!” Loki asked confused and heartbroken.

“I overheard Bucky trying to ask her out for a cup of coffee and she said she’s flattered but that she’s seeing someone.” Wanda relayed. “So I assumed you took my advice and asked her out. That’s why you’re drooling in the middle of the gym making that heart-eye emoji face.” Wanda rounded her fingers shaping them into a heart against her eyes as she walked back to her yoga mat.

Loki looked back at you. Were you being courted by someone already? Had he missed his chance? He watched as you bent down stretching your back. Your legs spread apart as both hands reached for your left ankle. You did a quick little bounce and reached over to your right ankle.

Loki groaned inside. He swallowed hard, as he watched you stretch your upper legs and back muscles. You stood back up and turned towards him. Both of your eyes briefly meet. Norns, I got caught staring. Loki quickly resumed his own workout of…for fucks sake, what was I working out? Loki conjured weights in his hand and he proceeded to do reps.

“Hey Silver-tongue, what’chu working on?” you asked as you strode towards him.

 “498, 499, 500…oh, hello darling. How can I help you?” You watched him do his bicep curls. His lean muscle stretched the thin fabric of his shirt. You could follow the veins in his arms as he made them taught and then relax.

“I was hoping for a spotter. I wanted to work on my quads.”

“I would be happy to oblige.” Loki quickly agreed. He had no idea what a spotter was or what part of your body the quads were located in. But seeing that you chose him over anyone else in the gym - over the seething Barnes who was watching with narrowed eyes over in the corner - he couldn’t help but be elated.

Loki quickly learned what he had to do and now he regretted putting himself in this predicament. How could he possibly get out of this without embarrassing himself in front of you?

He stood behind you as you carried a long bar over your shoulders with heavy weights on either end. You proceeded to do squats. Bringing your body down and then back up again. “What exactly am I to do again, darling?” Loki asked as you continued to do another squat.

“Watch my form. Make sure I’m doing it correctly. One misalignment could mean an injury or at the very least aching muscles tomorrow morning.” Oh, he was watching your form all right.

“And this is supposed to help…” Loki’s head tilted as he watched you squat down, “…your thighs?” Those delicious thighs.

“Yes. And I know you can take this weight off me easily if I can’t continue.” You grunted as you stood. The primal sound embedded itself in his imagination. “I know how strong you are. You can probably carry this weight with your pinky finger.” You complimented.

Loki huffed. “Are you flattering me? And they call me ‘Silver-tongue?’” he smiled.

“I’ve seen you Loki, I know how strong you are. You shouldn’t hide under so many layers.” You winked at him.

“Watch what you say around me, darling.”

“Or what? It’ll inflate that ego of yours?” you giggled. As you stood up from your last squat.

You watched him come closer behind you. A smirk on his lips as his tongue peeked out. He leaned in closer to your ear and whispered, “Or else, I’ll have to show you the genuine reason why they call me Silver-tongue.” His voice vibrated in your ear, tickling it, sending shivers down your side.

You dropped the barbell behind you. Loki caught it with one hand. “Looks like you did need someone to spot you after all.”

Is Loki flirting with me? You looked into his glinting eyes searching for that familiar friendly gaze. The one he always gave you after he said such things. The one where he placed you back in the box labeled ‘friend’. Only this time, it wasn’t there. There was something deviant in his eyes. As if you were seeing them for the first time. Clear and dark.

His eyes roamed your body as if he were imagining all the lewd things he wanted to do to each and every single part of you. You shivered at his gaze. What changed? You wondered. When did he stop being my friend and started wanting something more?

Neither of you could help it. The tension was too irresistible to fight. Flirting with the god of mischief was dangerous. You trusted your friend, Loki. The one you would spend afternoons listening to music with while he read to you on the couch. But Loki - the silver-tongued god of mischief? Silver-tongue was someone different. He was darker. More dominating. He was confident and arrogant. And you would be lying only to yourself if you said that it didn’t turn you on. Neither of you were bold enough to admit your feelings to each other. And both of you were too proud to give in. The two of you stuck in an endless game of cat and mouse.

You started wearing skirts to tease him. But he would play into it, knocking down whatever you had in your hand with his seidr, just to see you bend over. Short of doing “the Bend and Snap,” you teased him by running your hands up your thighs, then your hips. Lifting your skirt slightly as you slowly got up. You would roll your eyes secretly. You knew Loki was around somewhere watching you, but you didn’t know where.

You would get him back though! Whenever you would pass behind him you would drag your fingernails across his back, shoulder to shoulder. You never passed up the opportunity to touch him. You particularly liked it when he would wear his long hair up in a messy bun. You would have access to his long neck and you would run your fingernails lazily along the back.

 He would shiver in response. You especially liked it when he was around other people and you caught him off guard and he would just freeze and stop whatever he was doing. He’d close his eyes and just relish in your touch as you softly play with the hairs on the back of his neck.

It all came to a head one night when Loki was on his way down to the kitchen for some more of Tony’s expensive, top-shelf liquor. He heard some rustling in the cabinets again and wondered if it was you. Eager, he came around and saw you fishing the cabinets for the whiskey he purposely hid in the back of the cabinet. Loki stood there, mesmerized once again by your curvaceous body in your sleep shorts. The fabric riding up so high they barely covered you. His hand involuntarily moved closer. On their own, they reached out to you. You quickly found the bottle and stood yourself back up with ease. Those squats really do help.

“Darling,” Loki said as his hands curled around your waist. He couldn’t resist any longer. You were surprised to find him behind you.

“Loki. What are you doing here?” you asked. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

“No. Not with you running through my mind all night.” His hands felt warm against your body. He buried his nose on the side of your neck. His lips threatened to kiss your skin, but he was still hesitant. He knew that as soon as his lips touched your body, there would be no going back. He would crave you more and more and there would be no satisfying his addiction to you.

You placed the bottle down on the counter, forgotten, and placed your hands on top of his. You guided him up your torso, to your eager breasts. He moaned as he leaned into you. Your body was trapped between his growing length and the cold kitchen counter.

Your hands continued up towards his hair, splaying your fingers and reaching that sensitive part behind his neck. Making a fist in his hair, grabbing it, pushing his face closer to your neck, aching to feel his lips on your skin.

“Don’t tease me, Silver-tongue.” You simpered. That pet name does things to him. Only you would be able to call him that and make it sound so wicked. So desperate, yet so reverent.

“Unlike the way you’ve been teasing me, kitten? With those scratches on my back. Touching me the way you do.” He growled, giving in to the taste of your honeyed skin on his lips.

“I thought you liked my hands on you.” You asked naively.

“Hmm. Why do you think I started wearing my hair up?” One of his hands roamed up to your neck, while the other pulled your hips flushed against him. “Do you know how many times I’ve pictured taking you, bent over for me like a common harlot? Every time I see you bowed over, presenting your delicious curves to me like a maiden offering up herself to a selfish god.”

“Why do you think I started wearing skirts?” You asked playfully. You could feel Loki’s smile against your skin. He pulled your face towards his, finally capturing your lips in a deadly kiss. His thumb stroked your cheek as he sucked on your upper lip.

Loki broke off the kiss, his lips lingering a little longer over yours. “Come,” he commanded. He led your dazed figure back towards the bedroom hallways.

“What are we doing?” You asked beguilingly. We. He liked the sound of ‘we.’

“Neither of us can sleep. I know a couple of ways to make us tired,” he said as he picked you up over his shoulder, laying his hand on your delicious ass and smacking it.   

All Taglist:

@alexs1200 @a-witch-with-words @britishserpent @crimson25 @el-zef @fictive-sl0th @gigglingtigger @goldencherriess @huntress-artemiss @ijuststareatstuffhereok89 @immersed-in-mischief @kellatron55 @kkdvkyya @lokiprompts @lokisasgardianvampirequeen @lokisgoodgirl @lokisninerealms @lokischambermaid @loopsisloops @lucylaufeyson3 @luvlady-writes @michelleleewise @mischief2sarawr @muddyorbs @nopenottodayson @one-oblivious-nerd @ozymdias @salempoe @theaudacitytowrite @user13cabs @vbecker10 @wheredafandomat @xorpsbane

#writing ideas #fic prompt #loki fanfic #loki fluff #mcu #loki laufeyson #loki fandom #tom hiddleston fanfic #loki x you #loki oneshot #loki x reader #marvel fanfic #loki series #answering asks #answering things #sweet mutuals

[ijuststareatstuffhereok89]

For fanfic writer asks:

😈🛒✨🎶🛠️🎨🦅👀🤗🧠🤲😬✅⏳🥰

(sorry for asking for so many!)

wow, thanks for the homework! ^^

😈Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers? Sometimes I'll linger a bit too long in a will-they-won't-they story so people start to squirm a little, or I'll cut off a oneshot just before the smut begins. Always leave 'em asking for more!

🛒What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc. I think I always bring out a nurturing element to any iteration of Loki I write, no matter how intense or not-soft the incarnation is. I find that sort of thing in a man irresistible. Guess that's why I married someone who specializes in the pediatric side of dentistry. Mr. L is more maternal than I am lol

✨Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉 Aww gee...um...well...you've gotten better in the two years you've been here?

🎶Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately? I sure do! For Time and the Trickster I've been listening to the Murray Gold soundtracks for the Tennant Era on a loop to get into the mood, but honestly I listen more for the background noise than the mood.

🛠️What tools/programs/apps do you use to write? Google docs, because it's easier to pull up old versions of files in case I lose them.

🎨How do you feel about fan art of your stories? I will never be famous enough to get any fan art of my stories, but if someone ever did make something based off one of my fics, I'd marry them.

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants? I outline plots and chapter progression, but when writing each chapter, I give myself little checkpoints to hit, and then I kind of improvise how they get to each checkpoint.

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please! Welp, the first chapter of A Song for the Fallen drops on Friday. It's my first multi-chapter fic to not feature Loki in any way, but it's a six-part miniseries about love being SnappedTM out of existence, renewed hope, and a love triangle featuring Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, so there's that. It's going to be a bit lower-action, higher-drama.

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started? Follow your daydreams, and if the plot sounds too dramatic, it probably isn't dramatic enough.

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them. For me or you? I'm going to assume for me, and it's Loki. I think my favorite minor headcanon is that Loki is a man who loves scented oil being massaged all over his back, and that his favorite scent is lavender.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip? "As your eyelids fluttered shut and your sadness lulled you to sleep, Bucky’s lips kissed your imagination goodnight, and you felt warm at last." - A Song for the Fallen

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon? Any of my smut, but most certainly Dechire!

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to? A lot of actiony climaxes, for some reason, like an MCU flick. My last WIP ended with fighting a cult, the one before ended with someone faking their bloody death, and the one before that Loki almost lost his head. Like, I need to back off the mad climaxes for a while, they are pretty exhausting to write.

⏳How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter? A single oneshot or a chapter usually gets done in less than a week.

🥰How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics? Always!

#ask game #last time I answered this many questions at once they gave me a diploma

[gifsbysimplysonia]

The Marvels was super enjoyable for me. Seeing anything in 4DX is almost always guaranteed fun but I enjoyed the story. Getting to see characters I hadn't seen in a while return, connect and have new adventures was really fun. Kamala Khan is to be adored and protected at all costs.

Tom Hiddleston's back must be aching because of how Loki Season 2 ABSOLUTELY CARRIED Marvel this year. Secret Invasion was utter dog 💩 so having Loki and The Marvels remind me of why I was so invested in that Universe was really nice.

The Marvels also has three cameos I had no idea were coming, the ending which made me SO excited, then the mid credit cut scene which blew my mind (no post credit scene).

I have had one of the worst weeks on file, so being able to go out with my fam and have fun at the movies, followed by fresh McD happy meals where the hot & fresh food just HIT ... AND in which I got 2 of the figures I want (Goofy and Darth Vader) and then come home to an absolute banger of a Loki finale was just a super big blessing I really needed.

So to whoever was out there looking over me and mine tonight and granting me these gifts to remind me of what actually matters in life, thank you 🙏🏼 I needed that return to gratitude.

#personal #marvel #kamala khan #the marvels #ms marvel #loki #tom hiddleston

[farfromstrange]

Foreigner's God: Chapter 7

Main Masterlist

Pairing: Matt Murdock x OFC

Chapter Summary: There is something incredibly off about Tony’s behavior, and Eliza decides she can’t do it anymore. She’s done. The fight leads to several revelations. One, she might be going slightly insane and two, Clinton Church is actually quite the nice place to go to if you’re having a panic attack. Other than that, Matt is still himself. While that might lead to some tension between them, she’s never been happier to have a place to go to that isn’t lonely, and he cares. This friendship might just be all she needs, after all.

Warnings: this is so long, mentions of drug abuse, alcohol consumption, there’s some foreshadowing, Tony Stark is being slandered, a phone call with Peter, hallucinations, panic attack, religious imagery, confession, praying, S3 spoilers, Eliza’s ever-lasting guilt, arguing, yelling, daddy issues (not the sexy kind), crying, not feeling good enough, some bad humor & cliché age gap joke

Other characters: Natasha, Steve, Thor, Bruce, Tony, Clint, Peter Parker, Father Lantom & Sister Maggie, also some random homeless man just trying to help a girl out

Word Count: ~ 10k

A/n: I tried working out some of my own religious trauma with this one and also… well, this shit is plot-heavy so you might need a clear head to read this. If anyone asks, no I’m not okay. And no, Tony just acts like an asshole. He ISNT the villain. Still haven’t done him dirty enough, but we’ll soon be done with the slander. The next chapter will be posted tonight as well!

Likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated!

Read Chapter 7: right where you left me Here on AO3!

18+ MINORS DNI

The first time Eliza Bennett met Tony Stark was the day Loki destroyed New York. She’d only been working for SHIELD for a short amount of time back then, trying to get accustomed to her new life, her new identity. It’s safe to say she has always been exceptionally good at it. At being an Agent, being a hero, and every other thing way beyond her maturity level. She was never taught any better. Being an Agent in the field resembled her life at Hydra almost down a tee. Except she wasn’t killing people and she had her own free will, which was nice, but also not so much. She followed orders but she had a choice to stay or to start a new somewhere, get a taste of that human lifestyle everyone kept telling her about. It was new and scary, and she hated the fact that it didn’t feel like her.

May 3rd, 2012.

She was undercover at a gala when she heard the static rushing in her earpiece. “Mission’s over,” Natasha said. 

“What?” Eliza looked down at the glass of Martini in her hand, then back at the dance floor on which the Senator she was watching kept twirling his date around. “I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet,” she said. “I practiced my tango, like you told me to. It’d be a shame if I couldn’t show it off!”

The woman laughed. “I’d love to see it, but this is urgent. Pack up! We’re going back on the Helicarrier. I’ve got someone else covering our Russian spy senator and his bimbo.”

“Don’t call her a bimbo, Nat.“

“But it’s true. Admit it.”

“No.”

“Okay.”

Eliza left the party, the black limousine waiting for her at the entrance. The nice valet opened her the door, but he was dangerously pale around the nose. She cocked her head. Someone had been threatening him.

Natasha sat in the dark of the backseat, holding a file. She should’ve expected the redhead to make her appearance so soon. Urgent meant nothing less than time sensitive and when it came to matters with such a label, she was always first on every scene.

“Wait, weren’t you just in some Russian guy’s lair?” she asked her.

“Yeah, Coulson bailed me out. Threatened the guy. I almost had him. Ended up kicking his ass like the little bitch he was.”

“Did you get the intel?”

“What do you take me for?”

“Of course, you did. So, what’s up? What’s up with the urgency?”

“I know you’ve never done this before,” Natasha said. She handed the file over, her hand enveloped in black leather gloves. “But the fate of the world depends on it, and we could really use your help right now.”

She opened the brown folder, the first page a picture of a glowing blue box. “The tesseract,” Eliza choked out. An object with the most magnetic pull.

Fury never once allowed her to be less than ten feet of it. She had to stay in the circle. Why, she didn’t know, but he had his reasons. 

“Yes, it’s recently come into possession of a, uh… I don’t know what he is. An alien? Some guy with greasy hair and a spear. He’s not of this world, that’s for sure. He stole it from the base earlier tonight.”

“This thing has unimaginable power. How could he just steal it?”

“As I said, he’s an alien. And he’s Thor’s brother. Turn the page.” She did. The next series of pictures were screenshots from the security cameras. The man with black hair stared straight at the screen. He was attractive, sure, but the crazy in his eyes killed the mood.

“Jesus.” Eliza shook her head. Somehow the glow of his scepter felt… familiar? It was just a picture, it was probably stupid, but she felt drawn to it nonetheless. “What’s the procedure?” she questioned. 

Natasha smirked. “We’re getting the band back together.”

With the band, she meant the Avengers. The Avengers Initiative failed before. Imagine her surprise when the pair set foot on the Helicarrier to find the group of unlikely allies meddled together for the first time ever. None of them looked like they belonged there.

“I could imagine better things than to be trapped on here with the Hulk,” she told Natasha. “And the guy whose brother is currently threatening to take over the world.”

“He’s still my brother!” Thor snapped from somewhere in the distance.

“He killed eighty people in two days.”

“Well, he’s adopted.”

“And I’m a former Hydra operative. What’s your point?”

“See, so even you have made mistakes, earthling.”

Eliza glared at the blond man. He was attractive. He was tall and muscular and every woman’s dream. In that moment though, all he did was infuriate her to the point, her blood boiled.

“Don’t call me earthling, you daft Asgardian Shakespeare.”

“I feel like you have been misinformed about me. I’m Thor, the God of-“

“Thunder, yeah, I know. I don’t care.” She turned to the rest of the team. “If I end up squashed,” - she pointed at Bruce - “under the edge of a Vibranium shield,” - she pointed at Captain America - “shot with an arrow through the eye,” - her eyes narrowed at Clint - “hit with a magic hammer or ATTACKED BY A FUCKING METAL SUIT, MISTER STARK!” Tony felt her finger poke deep into his chest. “I will make sure we all die up here,” she finished. “You got that?”

But Natasha taught her all about control, so she swallowed the red threatening to expose her and focused back on the task at hand.

Tony was actually the only one to eye her with curiosity instead of fear. “Do they usually start this young?” he asked. 

Eliza used to be a very superstitious person. She didn’t trust anyone outside of her fellow Agents and even then she kept her distance. She was a scared girl in a big world, not knowing who she was or how she got there, with powers raging inside of her that she couldn’t quite grasp. The Avengers were a pool of strangers that she was tossed in without ever having learned how to swim.

So, naturally, when Tony made his jokes, she put her guard up. “No,” she told him, “We usually start younger.”

“So, baby spies?” He’s never been a particularly serious person.

It was twisted that this was the thing that enthralled him about her. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut for the life of him. Eliza was so frustrated to the point where she considered putting a bullet through his iron suit. Though when he flew that missile into space, she couldn’t help but pay her respects to his heroic antics. The careless man she’d met before somehow appeared in a different light then.

“You’re a great kid,” Tony said to her after the battle. “We should do this again sometime.”

That was four years in the past. 

Eliza warmed up to Tony instantly. The respectful, caring side of him. It was the original reason why she agreed to move into Avengers Tower in the first place. She ditched SHIELD for the Avengers. He mentored her. Tony was the first person after Fury to see something in her, willing to do just about anything to bring it out in her. 

Tony Stark made her feel loved for the first time in her life. Perhaps that’s why it hurt so much to see their once so-invincible bond break apart. 

Eliza asked herself where exactly they went wrong. Was it something she did or something she could’ve prevented? As so often, there was nothing to explain Tony’s behavior other than the fact that he was just Tony. 

Tony wasn’t the man he used to be, and he certainly didn’t portray as the kind of person he wanted to be. He turned from an idol into an antagonist – Eliza wished it would’ve been a sudden change, but reflecting on the past two years she realized it was meant to happen.

Eliza knew better than to try and make him see. He had to fall head-first into the abyss to realize his mistakes. He needed a swift kick in the ass and an excellent punch to the face. She couldn’t do that. Life had to do it to him.

Like Steve once said to her, “If holding onto something hurts you more than letting go, you need to let it go. If it’s meant to be, it’ll come back to you. If it’s not, at least you got rid of the pain.”

By the time Happy pulled up to the compound, Eliza accepted the fact that it would never be the same again. She had to let go eventually. She would give him one last chance, she decided, and if he decided to turn around and shit on it, she would take Steve’s advice and save herself. For once in her life, she had to listen. Holding onto the wrong people was her best talent, but sometimes even talent has to be laid off to protect your fragile little heart. 

“We’re here,” Happy snapped her out of her thoughts.

She dreaded every step into the compound. Her heart beat up to her throat. The oxygen supply sank with every passing second.

Eliza took the familiar road to Tony’s office. He was waiting for her behind the door. She hesitated, hand on the handle. She hated confrontation. She didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t her turn to apologize, but somehow she felt like she had to. Sad, wasn’t it? He had her judging guilty without even trying, even when she didn’t need to. She was just that dependent on his approval. 

She pushed the thoughts away. She wasn’t a child anymore, she was an adult. Adults don’t make their lives dependent on one person, no matter how much they mean to them. Adults are supposed to stand their ground. She had to learn how to do that. She did it the previous night, she could do it again. Tony didn’t own her.

“You came,” Tony’s voice sounded breathy, hungover, from the corner of the room.

Eliza exhaled, a mix between a sigh and a scoff. “You left me no choice,” she said. “Sending Happy to my place was a desperate move.”

“I couldn’t reach you. At first, I thought maybe you lost your phone, but then I realized you blocked my number. If anything, you left me no choice. I wanted to talk to you without dozens of people around to ask stupid questions.”

“Why?”

“You left before I could talk to you last night.”

“Seriously? You’re just gonna act like this is all it is? Miscommunication?”

Tony scoffed. She saw the bottle of Scotch on his table, the half-filled glass. It was ten in the morning.

“Are you drunk again?” she asked.

“You don’t get to do that.”

“I don’t mind day drinking, I only mind hypocrisy.”

“I asked you here to apologize for what I said.” He took a sip.

“You were drunk, Tony.”

“And I’m sorry for that. I had one too many drinks because I didn’t want to face Secretary Ross sober. Every time I see him, I’m reminded of Rogers and what he did.”

“What Steve did?” Eliza glared. “You both screwed up! It wasn’t just him.”

“Don’t you think I know that?”

“It kind of seems like you don’t.”

“Give me a break!” 

She flinched away. Her eyes fluttered close, her feet carried her a step back, and her arms instantly lifted themselves in front of her chest as if physically defending herself was going to block the words from entering her ears. It didn’t. 

Tony’s frown crumbled. He didn’t have the power of empathy on his side, but he saw the fear displayed in her eyes and he felt a sudden ping of regret. “I’m sorry,” he said, quieter this time. He opened his arms - a peace offering. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

“You’re drunk,” she whispered. The tears stung behind her still-closed lids. “You’re drunk,” she said once again. She opened her eyes again. “I know what chronically drunk people are like, so I know that anything you say could either be complete bullshit or the honest-to-God truth. Tell me, why should I believe anything you say right now?”

He watched the tears slide almost elegantly from the corner of her left eye, down her cheek, and her neck. He waved his hands a little. “I’m not drunk. I’ve had two glasses of Scotch to fight off the hangover.”

“There’s still alcohol in your system. Too much to consider it sober.”

“You’re right, I’m not sober.”

“I know. What I don’t know is what you want from me. My pity?”

“No!” Tony scoffed. “It’s just been hard for me,” he began to explain himself. “Ever since Rogers - Steve - left, I’ve been feeling like I failed. Do you know what that’s like? I’m the man who killed the Avengers. I saw it. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Oh, come on!”

“No, hear me out. When that little witch Wanda played with my head, I saw it. I saw all of you, dead. It was my fault. I’m comparing these two right now and I don’t see much of a difference. Look, I’m on my last straw right now.”

Eliza shook her head. “You could’ve told me,” she said. 

“I tried! I tried to tell you that this is my worst nightmare come true. So many times.”

“How, by calling me a lost orphan in front of the most powerful people in New York City?”

“You don’t understand,” he said. “I was drunk and angry and I didn’t mean it.”

“You’re right, I don’t understand because you’re not making any sense.”

“I made our friends enemies of the State. I did. Rogers, Romanoff, Wanda, all of them! I killed the Avengers.”

“And you know, Sam, Scott, even Vision, just because he’s in love with a fugitive. Can’t even say their names, can you?” 

“Jesus!” He scoffed. “You’re turning my words against me.”

“Can you blame me?” Eliza asked, challenging him. 

“This isn’t about blame.”

“What, you want me to feel bad for you?” She cocked her head. “This is on you, not me. If you’re waiting for the pity party, you’re not getting any.”

“Listen, kid. I know you’re struggling and I’m sorry I’m not there for you like I used to be, but this is hard on all of us. Especially on me. This shit show is getting on my last nerve. The press, Ross, fucking Rhodey and Happy- you know, it’s not easy when the world is resting on your shoulders,” he said. 

The exasperated laugh was an answer of heavy proportions. “Boohoo, cry me a river, Tony! Honestly, you either complain or apologize, you can’t do both and expect me to roll with it.” She wished she had the same glass of Scotch he was carrying only so she could swallow the horrendously bitter taste on her tongue, but she didn’t. She was glad she didn’t. She wanted to be better than him. She wanted her words to be sober. She wanted him to understand, for whatever the desperate attempts were worth.

Tony shrugged. “It’s true. There’s a lot more I’m carrying that you don’t know about,” he said, “and I’m glad you don’t.”

“And you don’t know about the shit I have to carry,” she replied. Her lip twitched into a sour smile. “But I’m glad you don’t.”

He smirked, but it was fake. The way she spoke left no space for interpretation of just how sour she was. She was mad, offended, disappointed, all of those things and yet, she came. She always did. 

“All I need is some time to clear my head, and Scotch. Lots of Scotch.” He poured himself another glass from the small bar in the corner of his office, a small mahagoni table overlooking the New York skyline behind the compound. The perfectly trimmed grass and bushes in the front yard lead to the small forest separating the Avengers from downtown. It was beautiful. 

“You need time,” she repeated his words. “It’s funny because when you say it’s hard on all of us, I feel like it only entails you. I had to clean up your mess, again,” she said. “I shouldn’t have to. I struggle too, you know. I’m not saying you aren’t, but maybe you should take your own words into account and think about the people around you. You aren’t the only one who lost, we all did.” 

His shoulders tensed. Something changed. Was that regret she saw in the colors around his soul? She could’ve sworn she saw black somewhere, but it was hard to tell with the mess he was and the alcohol that seemed to turn the shade of anger darker, and the pride threatened to consume him. 

“I always have to take care of everything. I trained you, Eliza. I made us a team. I got you all a job you could count on. You had all the benefits in the world. Healthcare, stability, housing… you had all of that. It was safe. You guys were safe. And yet - and fucking yet - we managed to blow up. We always do. Everything always blows up, no matter what I do, and I’m tired of watching it happen without having an ounce of control in it. I think it’s time I finally focus on myself.”

“How can you say that after everything that happened? I can’t take this anymore,” she said, and she meant it. “I have to soften all the blows. It’s not even my job!”

“You need to learn how to take responsibility,” he argued.

“Responsibility?” That was the last straw. “I’ve been taking responsibility since the day I got here! I’ve been cleaning up the messes you’ve made again and again. Now, I didn’t mind. We were a family, but lately, it feels like I’m just doing it because I’m supposed to. Maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I shouldn’t have accepted being used like that.”

“Being used?” Tony asked, voice dangerous as he rose from his chair. “I did everything for you. You got a home, money, and a job. You met people others can only dream about. What else do you want?”

“Maybe some appreciation, for a change. I mean, are you treating Peter the same way?”

“Peter- is this what this is about? Are you jealous of that kid?”

“No!” maybe a little. “My point is that I was around Peter’s age when we first met. After everything you learned over the years and what I’ve been through, don’t you think it’s my right to tell you your place?“

“Pepper took you under her wing, Happy worries about you all the time, I mentored you. I got you back on your feet. I made sure you didn’t go to jail. Hell, I even funded your drug addiction when I didn’t even know you were taking those stupid pills, and yet, I’ve never asked you to pay me back!” 

“Oh, please,” Eliza spat back. “What would you ever do without having my mental illness as a justification for your actions? Honestly, you’re acting like that’s all I am. Fuck you, Tony! I thought you cared about me.”

“I do!” he said. “All I ever did was because I care about you. I saw your talent when no one else did. Not even Fury shaped you the way I did. So don’t tell me you’re not being appreciated! I care more than anyone else on this planet. I saved your life, goddamnit!”

“Jesus Christ, Tony, why can’t you just listen?” Fresh tears pooled in her eyes. The water crept dangerously close to the brim, threatening to bubble over. Eliza wasn’t even surprised.

She’d cried more in the past couple of days than ever before. She was a wreck. Time had done its damage. Life had taken its toll. She was bound to break eventually, she just never thought it would happen like this. She never thought it would come to this. The world stopped spinning the day the Avengers left her behind.

“I’m so sick and tired of fixing everything,” she said. “I’m not your therapist. Hell, I’m the one who needs one. I’m not just some messed up orphan that’s become your burden. You were everything to me…” The ocean was too wide and she never learned how to swim. “I looked up to you. I idolized you and wanted to be like you. You taught me so much and yet nothing prepared me for the person you’d be.”

Eliza wiped her cheeks furiously with the back of her hand. “This isn’t you! Ever since you and Steve fell out and the Avengers broke up, you’ve been spiraling out of control. You changed! You turned into this wreckage of a man, a shell of who you used to be, and that shell is filled with so much sour hostility. The Tony Stark I know wouldn’t risk everything by putting down the guests at his party. He wouldn’t hurt his friends and family in front of everyone. The Tony I know would listen to what I have to say. He’d take my worries into account. The Tony I know would do anything to protect me, but you’re not there. You haven’t been there in a very long time, but I lived with it because I still had hope. I had faith in you, Tony.” 

He aggressively downed another glass of Scotch, knuckles turned white from the hold he had on it. 

“You taught me to always believe in the good in people, and help when someone needs it. I made it my personality trait. What happened, Tony? What happened to make you this way?”

“You don’t get to do that,” he said. “You don’t get to ask me what happened when you were the one who completely lost herself all those years ago!”

“I picked myself up again! I admit that I’m broken, but that doesn’t give me the right to take it out on people. That’s what you do. You blame everyone but yourself for everything that’s wrong with you-“

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about. You won’t listen!”

“Oh, I am listening. I am listening very well. Let’s talk about what I’m listening to, yeah? Except for the fact that you’re trying to make me feel bad for one stupid slip-up-“

Eliza interrupted him with a frustrated groan, “It wasn’t just one stupid slip-up, Tony. It’s a fucking series and I’m done watching!”

“Don’t interrupt me,” he said. “You call me a hypocrite, but while you accuse me of neglecting you, it’s you who won’t listen. You think you’re so smart, prancing around at night, behind my back, with a criminal? And then you have the nerve to pretend like you’re a good girl and lie to my face! That’s what hypocrisy is, Eliza! You’re a hypocrite!”

The words tasted like poison on her tongue.

Tony was nowhere near done. The fire just kept on burning. “You’re jealous of Peter? Well, he learned his lesson after I called him out. You didn’t. You did the exact opposite of what I told you. Fucking hell!”

“What are you even talking about?” she asked.

“Daredevil.”

“What?” The name rang in her ears. Her mind instantly went to Matt. It made her wonder just how much he knew.

“Don’t play dumb now,” he bellowed. “I know you’re working with him. You’re following down circumstantial leads that almost got you killed.”

“How would you even know?” 

“I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere, remember?”

“It’s not what it looks like,” she tried to justify herself, but it was essentially all useless. Her secret was out. What terrified her most was the fact that she didn’t care.

“It’s not? Who do you think is keeping the press off your ass right now? It’s only a matter of time before your little secret comes out and then it’s Ross knocking on my door all over again.”

“You didn’t listen to me.” She remained dangerously calm. “So I took matters into my own hands.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” He threw his hands up. “You’re not a vigilante! You were with Pfeiffer when he got shot. What did he tell you? Did he play into your suspicions?”

Eliza cocked an eyebrow. “How do you know I was there?” she asked. The truth itched the back of her brain.

Tony sighed, nostrils flared. “I put a tracker into your SIM card when I got it for you.”

“You did what?”

“In my defense, you tend to get into trouble quite a lot.”

It wasn’t that easily justified. He was monitoring her like a criminal because he didn’t trust her. If her heart hadn’t been broken already, it surely would’ve broken right then and there.

“This only proves my point,” he said. “You could’ve gotten shot over a suspicion! And now Pfeiffer is dead and his blood is on your hands.”

“Don’t you dare,” she ground her teeth. “It was Hydra, you and I both know that. You just don’t want to acknowledge the fact that we failed.”

“You’re paranoid, Eliza. I stand by that. People died because of your inability to stay out of shit that doesn’t concern you-“

“It doesn’t concern me? Tony, they stole my childhood, they experimented on me and tortured me! There’s nothing more of my concern than that stupid organization! This is so much bigger than we thought. You’d know that if you’d just listened.”

“I listened, I didn’t like what I heard so I’m cutting you off,” the statement was final, she saw it in his eyes. But Eliza was done for good. He could do whatever he wanted. She was done.

“You know,” she said, “We used to be such a good team. We swore to eliminate threats. What happened to that?”

“Agendas change,” he stated.

“No, not this time. You just want to control me. I don’t know why, maybe you’re scared or maybe you just don’t have any faith in me. Either way, I’m not gonna stop. We both know that.”

“You’re making a mistake.”

“Am I? Or am I just not following your orders?”

“Not following my orders is a mistake. Trust me. You’re doing the wrong thing, Eliza. You’re chasing the wrong ghosts. If you do this, I can no longer protect you.”

She shrugged. “I’ll take that chance.”

“You don’t understand. If you do this, I’m gonna stop. If you do this, you’re no longer an Avenger.”

“I haven’t been an Avenger since Berlin.”

The emptiness in Eliza’s eyes put a distance of miles between them. Tony was waiting for her to pull back from the edge of the cliff, to run back into his arms. He was waiting for her to make a different decision, one that didn’t entail losing her, but one look into her eyes told him that he was no longer welcome. He wasn’t just losing her, he already had.

“I didn’t ask you to keep the press off my ass,” she said to him. “If Ross wants to arrest me, let him. I’d rather go to jail than sit back and do nothing to save this city. If you decide to do the latter, that’s your choice. It’s not mine. I want to see them burn the way they burned me. If you try and stand in my way, I might just burn you too.”

“Are you threatening me?” Tony asked.

“No,” she smiled, “it’s a promise.” The door handle felt hot instead of cold under her hands this time.

She looked down. The veins underneath her skin were glowing bright red instead of faint blue. In the reflection of the window, she caught a glimpse of her eyes. She was standing knee-deep in her misery and the pain did little to help her stay in control. 

He’s lying to you. She tilted her head.  Her reflection moved towards her. The window turned into a one-way mirror. Smoke started to pool at her feet. The stranger was trapped behind the glass. She pressed her hand against it, eyes switching between Tony at his desk and Eliza, clawing at the door handle. A strange magnetism kept her tied to the metal. 

She tipped her chin. Leave. Her mouth wasn’t moving, so how could she possibly hear her voice, so close yet so far away? 

Don’t look back. 

“If you walk out that door,” Tony said, one last attempt to close the distance between them, “We’re done.”

Eliza pulled. “That’s fine by me.”

“Maybe you should just think this through-“

“I did. I made this decision on my own. Nothing you say or do can change that. I may not be an Avenger anymore, but at least I’m not the one that killed them. You killed the Avengers, Tony. You ruined us. Do with that as you will, but if I were you, I’d rethink the decisions I made.”

She wasn’t sure what came over her.

“Eliza-“

“No, I’m done. Paint me the villain, I don’t care. At least then I know I’ve done it right. Here,” Eliza reached into the pocket of her jeans. The film of pictures weighed heavy in her hands. She hesitated, though the decision was a conscious one. “Good luck cleaning up the mess you made.” She let the snippets fall to the floor. Her face was broken in half, eyes scattered around, all familiar faces that once had been there but were long gone. “I’m not gonna do it for you,” she said. “You can lie in this yourself.”

All the strength Eliza displayed at the compound magically evaporated the second she set foot outside. She didn’t even tell Happy why she was running or where, for that matter. She wasn’t even sure where she was going. All she knew was that she needed to get out; she needed to put not only emotional but also a physical distance between her and Tony and everything else that reminded her of the life before, and just get out of the life she once lived for good. It was over anyway. 

Happy gave her space, he always did. He thought it was because of what Tony said, but the truth was much worse than that. She couldn’t stand being around him. He would do anything for her and that thought was so suffocating, especially after the conversation, that all she wanted was to abandon him completely. It wasn’t for her good, it was for his. She would always push him away, she would always hurt him in some way, and he would always come back, no matter how hard she kicked him.  

Eliza only realized she was running when she came to a halt in front of the memorial established downtown. Their names were engraved golden on the metal plate. The Battle of New York. A silent reminder of the day the sky opened up and aliens invaded the planet. Proof that humans weren’t alone in the universe, after all. 

She’d torn apart the last piece of them she had left to prove a point. It was pathetic. Those were just names on a plate, meaning the world to people. The faces lay scattered on Tony’s office floor. People read the sign and remembered the destruction. No one cared about the faces behind the names, unlike they used to.

They used to be a family. The names on the sign slowly grew into strangers. Eliza felt like everyone else, bystanders watching from the outside. Just names, no faces. Those heroes saved the world once, but that was all they were. The memories of happier times slipped further away. It seemed like she’d watched the time fly by from her little bubble like she hadn’t been part of life back then, only a watcher amid the public eye. 

She’d told Natasha once, “I’m afraid that if I accept this to be true, if I accept this one good thing for myself, that I’m gonna lose it eventually. Because there has never been anything good in my life before and I’m scared. Good things don’t come to people like me, not without a price.“

How right she’d been. Yet she was foolish enough to accept Natasha’s reassurance. “Stark may not be the most promising person, but I think he’s onto something with this group,” she’d said. “You deserve this more than anyone. You deserve to be part of a family. No one’s gonna take that away from you. I can’t speak for the rest, but I, for one, will always be there for you.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

I guess always was a lie, too.

Eliza wiped her nose. “No,” she whined. “Get out of my head!”

The sight must have looked insane. Anyone walking by could have easily mistaken her for a psychotic. 

Why? It’s not like I’m doing anything.

“Then why the fuck are you talking to me?”

I’m… not? 

“Liar.”

Well, to be fair, you kind of brought this upon yourself. The young woman looked like her. Same hair, same body type, same eyes, but there was something eerily different about her too. In every nightmare she had, the demons didn’t have a face. She was tormented by memories and self-deprecating thoughts.

If hell was real, she assumed this was how Satan and all her demons spoke because she hated it and it made her want to die.

Did you really think you could continue lying to yourself?

“Peter, hey,” she spoke as soon as the line of her phone clicked. “How are you?”

“Liz?” the boy’s confused voice sounded from the other end. 

“Hi!”

“Is everything okay?”

She silently wiped the snot from her nose. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” she said, and then she laughed. She laughed as if what she’d said was the truth. 

“Oh, you just usually don’t call me unless it’s urgent,” he said. “So I thought something happened. Is it the Avengers? Do we have a mission?”

“Yeah, about that…”

He’s not gonna understand. 

“What?” The school bell rang distinctively in the background. “I actually have class right now, so if it’s not that important and you don’t mind, maybe you could make it quick? Or perhaps call back another time? Not- not that I think what you have to say isn’t important. It always is! It’s just- I’m kind of behind with my grades and stuff and I really want to get into MIT. Spider-Man has really been kicking my ass lately.” He chuckled.

You’re gonna hurt him.

Eliza copied him. “It’s fine. I just- I have something to tell you and all I ask of you is to just listen. Can you do that?” she asked. 

There was a pause. “Okay,” Peter agreed. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m officially done with the Avengers. That’s the truth.”

And you can’t change who you truly are. 

“What-”

“Hear me out. Don’t say anything. Please.”

Don’t fool yourself again.

“O-okay.”

“Truth is, I’m done, Peter. I’m no longer an Avenger and I no longer want to be. Tony said some things… he said and did some things and I just- I quit. I know you look up to him, it’s your thing. You see him as a mentor and I want you to continue doing that, but my time here is over. It was the second Steve got onto that ship, I just didn’t want to acknowledge it. I tried to stay strong, and I tried to keep my faith, but I can’t. You’re too young, you haven’t known them as long as I have – hell, you didn’t know them at all. It’s a good thing, Peter, because that means you’re still innocent. There’s still hope,” she said.

The tears clogged up her throat and it was getting significantly harder to breathe. “I know you wanted us to be friends and I’ll continue being there for you, but it’s time I face the facts. The Avengers are done, at least the way I know them. I should’ve left earlier. It was only a matter of time before this would all escalate. There are some things you can’t be involved with, like the things I’m about to do, the things you’re gonna hear about me… The less you know the better.”

The cabby stopped where she told him to, his head turned patiently, waiting for her payment. She exhaled into the phone. 

“Eliza, you’re scaring me,” Peter’s voice was small. 

“Don’t be,” she told him. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I’m just trying to make amends before it’s too late, that’s all.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but it sounds like you need me right now. Maybe I should-”

“Drop my number, Peter. It’s for the best.”

“What, no!”

“I’m sorry.”

The phone cracked between her fingers. Glass scratched the inside of her palm. She watched as the broken device fell to the ground. She stepped on it, once, twice, until it was nothing but flat garbage. The SIM card was broken entirely, and the tracker was disabled and gone for good. Tony didn’t have anything on her anymore. She could go wherever she wanted, do what she wanted and say what she wanted. She didn’t need him and he didn’t need her. It was over. She was free. Though if that had been the truth, she should’ve felt that way, too. She didn’t. Instead, she felt fucking trapped. She felt chained. War was only just beginning. 

Eliza stood alone in the middle of downtown New York. There were no walls around her, not a shield to protect her. People bumped into her on their way down the street. The briefcases of businessmen dressed in black suits hit the back of her knee, making her stumble left to right. They were all so focused on themselves, she was nothing but a mere rock in the way that could be pushed aside. In our most natural habitat, we’re all selfish assholes focused solely on whatever target we’ve set our minds to. 

The voices were so loud, she could hear the conversations overlapping. Her ears were ringing. Emotions swarmed the air like an army of mosquitos. The tornado was heading straight for the village, strong enough to destroy everything in its path. 

Congratulations, Eliza. You just fucked up everything good in your life. 

“We’re a team,” she remembered Steve saying. “Ain’t getting one without the other.”

“I think Steve might be onto something,” Wanda came up to her one night. “I don’t know a lot about working as a team, but you guys make it seem easy. Makes me want to try and be better, you know.”

“You might just be the last straw holding this team together,” Natasha said shortly before they arrived at the UN, a dreaded talk on the plane after the events in Lagos.

“We knew this would happen eventually.” The worst part wasn’t the words coming out of Steve’s mouth, it was the way he said them. He sat in the dark, glass of Scotch in hand, blue eyes endless like the dead sea. “In the end, I don’t think we were meant to be,” he said. “Every great hero falls eventually. I think this is it. This is our fall.”

She begged him to stop, begged him to find another way, but to no avail. You can fill in the blanks on this one.

At the airport in Berlin, she looked at her friends for the last time. She had the choice between helping Steve or staying on Tony’s good side. Back then, she truly believed in him. She promised her loyalty. As she watched her friends get carried away though, her heart screamed, “You made the wrong choice!”

Eliza crossed the corner into an alley just in time. She pressed against the brick wall, the darkness shielding her from the tourists and native New Yorkers crowding the streets. So many people, and so little space. The walls caved in on her. There was so much oxygen in the air and yet not enough to make its way into her lungs the way it was supposed to.

She tore the hoodie over her head. Sweat ran down her spine. Her chest ached and the burning was only getting worse. She tried to breathe - she tried to exhale, inhale, then exhaled again. She tried everything she could think up in her fogged-up brain, but the air tore through her lungs like a flaming fire.

She threw her head back. The stone dug into her skull. Her fingers tingled. Thousand little ants covered her skin. She scratched, she gasped, but the animals fed at her like a cannibal’s teeth. The sea brought its waves higher, water filling her chest, choking on salt. She was trying to stay afloat, but it was getting harder and harder to breathe and the current grew strong enough to pull her down. 

Tony was going to let the press eat her alive, and in tow with the press came Secretary Ross. She only read the first couple of pages of the Accords, but it clearly stated that any kind of mission had to be approved by the government first. Even just the suspicion of risk had to be shared before hunting down leads. No playing the hero without the official ‘go’. Those were the rules. She broke them, clean through. She was playing the vigilante, jumping into the line of fire, using the dark web for answers. She believed Hydra was still out there and she had proof, too. She was obligated to tell Secretary Ross since Tony refused to listen - technically. Technically, she was supposed to be the good girl and wait. Sit down, look pretty. Technically. 

Eliza was never one to accept technicalities. She rather fought for what she believed in instead of following the rules. It was foolish, she knew that. It was stupid, reckless, and lacking common sense. She was aware of all of that and yet when it came to her gut, she knew she could count on it. 

Secretary Ross would arrest her the second he found out. He’d incarcerate her. She didn’t even want to imagine what they’d do to her in prison. Being an Avenger she might as well just walk naked into a lion’s den. 

Hydra was out there. They were more than willing to kill her. While she was hiding in an alley, tucked away from the world, there were people out there getting kidnapped for human experiments. The only thing standing between Hydra and success was Eliza and maybe Daredevil, but she was the bigger threat. 

Eliza loathed herself. She hated her body, hated the mind she was in. None of what she had on her felt like it belonged there. She didn’t deserve the powers, she didn’t deserve the love and care she received. Her existence was trouble, it brought danger to everyone close to her. She was cursed. She knew she was cursed, she had to be. 

You care too much about people - you might just be digging your own grave.

“Hey, lady, you alright?” the homeless man next to the trash container leaned over. She hadn’t realized he was there.

Eliza blinked through the smoke standing up to her ears. “What?” she wasn’t even sure the words came out.

“You look a bit pale. Want some beer?”

She shook her head. “I- I need to get out of here.” Her fight or flight response was damaged, she knew that better than anyone. She needed to get out, she needed to go somewhere safe. Somewhere no one could find her. Somewhere she wouldn’t be recognized.

Sure you do. Run. It’s all you know how to do. Run from the truth, run from who you are. 

She bumped into someone. “Sorry,” she apologized. 

People turned to the disturbed woman running through the masses. She paved the way by elbowing her assailants in the ribs. She ran without destination. She knew New York like the back of her hand, but the many sounds and the people made it hard to focus on the map she had painted up in her head. 

Can’t you see everyone is lying to you? Open your eyes. This is all a lie.

“Stop it! Get out of my head!”

Not gonna happen. Sorry, sweetie. We’re stuck together now. 

“Who are you?” Something high and sharp pierced her eardrum. 

I’m you. The real you.

She couldn’t see five things, only the sun blinding her into oblivion. The white stairs set in stone seemed like enough of a haven. She jumped the steps and through the gigantic doors, not knowing exactly where she was until she smelled the distant scent of candles, rosemary, and roses. Three things she could smell. That was a good start. She closed her eyes and felt the cold of the steel doors, the cool air on her heated skin, and the marble under her boots. The world finally seemed to slow down. The walls put space between them. She breathed. It wasn’t good, but it was better than nothing. 

“Can I help you?” the voice startled her. She reached into the back of her jeans only to realize she wasn’t carrying any weapons. 

Wide eyes looked around. It was no wonder the voice echoed off the walls. She stood in one of the largest rooms she’d ever seen. The windows were painted with colorful pictures -  pictures that told stories almost every child knew. Wooden benches paved the hallway. Marble walls stood high and mighty above them, almost threatening. 

The balding man lifted his arms with a smile. “I come in peace,” he said. 

Eliza took another look around. “I-“ she exhaled. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

“Please, this door is open to anyone. Would you like to sit down for a moment, catch your breath?” 

She hugged her arms around her torso. Her legs did feel kind of wobbly. “Yeah,” she said, “sitting sounds good.” 

She followed him to the closest bench. He took place next to her, but he didn’t speak until she found her sound again.

“I’m sorry, I’ve never been to church before. This is all very new to me.”

“You seem like you’ve been looking for a safe space,” the man said. “There’s no place safer than church.”

“What do I call you? Sir? Or is it Father?” 

He chuckled softly. “I’m Father Paul Lantom, but you may address me however you like. You want to tell me your name?”

“Eliza,” she told him.

“Well, Eliza, what are you running from?”

“I don’t know, life. I gave up everything I once knew, abandoned the people I loved - it was all I had left and I threw it all away. I thought I did the right thing. But now… I think I just made a huge mistake. Oh, God,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that. Fuck!”

“Do you want to talk about it? I promise I won’t tell. I’m a priest, I’m under the oath of confession, no matter what you tell me.”

She wiped her cheeks. “So you’re like a therapist in a cloak?” 

Father Lantom laughed. “If that’s what you want to call it, sure,” he said. “I can tell you don’t have the best relationship with church. Would you still like to talk?”

“I don’t know. Faith and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms,” she said.

“Religious trauma, I take it?”

“How’d you know?”

“Well, religion is supposed to be comforting. You don’t appear comfortable.”

“I’m not.”

“You don’t have to see this as confession. When you say you struggle with faith, that’s your thing. I won’t talk you into something you don’t want to. God wouldn’t want that. You can just sit here and compose yourself in silence if that’s what you’d like. I’m just going to lend you some company and an open ear, if the need arises, to make sure you’re alright.” 

Eliza frowned. “What does God want, exactly?” she asked. “Why does he let bad things happen to people?”

“God isn’t a person,” the father explained. “He’s a spirit, a deity. He’s a name, not a face. He’s whatever you believe, whatever you want him to be. Some people might see God in their pets, while others simply see him as a voice of guidance. Others don’t acknowledge his presence at all and still believe faith will show them their way. It’s not about God, it’s about what’s in your heart. Despite what a lot of people think, he’s not in control of the world. Things happen, some bad, some good, and some might be even considered a miracle. But he’s not a hero. He’s our hope, our faith, and with these two things you can turn bad things into good ones. For yourself, for others. That’s the thing about religion, about God, about faith – you don’t have to believe in him for him to have your back. Just because you’re an atheist doesn’t mean you’re going to hell. God doesn’t differentiate. We’re all the same in his eyes. Metaphorical eyes, of course.”

She clung to his every word. What once used to be forced on her seemed like a whole different thing now. The faith she used to have was twisted. It wasn’t God she prayed to, it was the face of evil. Hearing father Lantom’s words changed something inside of her; it opened the doors to her heart. She pulled her knee up to her chest. The candles on the altar in the front flickered with the comfortably cold chill. 

“I abandoned my old life to do something I believe in,” she decided to tell him. “Does that make me a bad person?”

“You say you believe in it?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it your purpose?”

“I don’t know, I’m still trying to figure that out.”

“Look inside yourself,” Father Lantom said. “Do you have to do it? Could you do something else and still get the same results? Do you live for it, or do you think about it at night because you can’t get it out of your head? Does it feel right, when you think about it?” 

She answered instantly, “Yes, to all of it.”

“Then it’s your purpose. You made that decision for a reason. You wouldn’t have abandoned your old life to pursue something you only believe half of. Also, if it was so easy to abandon it all, maybe it wasn’t meant to stay that way in the first place. There’s always something waiting for you out there, sometimes it just takes some time for you to find it. It may come in the shape of a task, a purpose, or maybe even a person. And sometimes it’s all of that combined into one.“

“What if I’m not sure yet? What if I still question if I did the right thing?”

“You’re going to find the answer,” he stated. “Sometimes it just takes a while. That is something God can’t do for you. He can only guide you in the right direction.“

“Yeah, but how do I know that?”

“Let me tell you this: when the time comes, you‘ll know. There’s no guide to faith. When you’re on the right path, you’ll know because you’ll feel it deep in your heart.”

Eliza lowered her head. “I never saw it like that,” she admitted.

“Hardly anyone does.” He smiled. “Faith isn’t a task to be accomplished. You have to open your heart to it and when you do, you also have to enjoy it. It has to make you comfortable. If it doesn’t, it may not be the right time for you.”

She thought about it. No pressure, that’s what he was saying. She always thought religion, and going to church, always came with the pressure to dedicate yourself to the cause. She’d always imagined it had to be the way Matt saw God – having blind faith, always. Once in, you can’t pull back out. Just like that. 

This time, Eliza felt comforted. 

“So does God ever send you, I don’t know, signs?” she asked him then. 

“The way you’re asking I assume you’ve been asking yourself this for a while now,” Lantom replied. 

“Yeah, you could say that. A couple of days now, actually.”

“You met someone?”

“Yeah, how did you-“

“I’ve got a lot of people asking me this particular question lately. It’s like a global epidemic has broken out.” Eliza chuckled. He smiled at that. “Everyone’s seeing signs of God everywhere. It sounds crazy, and it probably is too, but I think it’s nice to hear some positive things for a chance. God knows I haven’t been getting much peace.”

“So it is possible?”

“Everything can be a sign, Eliza.”

“It’s like God sent me an Angel,” she blurted out. At this point, the confessions came straight out of the bottle. It wouldn’t stop. “When I first met him, I didn’t think much about it, but the things he makes me feel… no one has ever taken care of me the way he does. He understands me. He came when I needed him most – no, I needed someone and then he was just there and everything made sense. Or well, the things that need to make sense make sense, the rest is just… blegh.” 

“You want to have my advice?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Seems like this is something you should pursue before it slips through your fingers.”

“He’s just so good.”

“Who’s to say you don’t deserve it? Nothing good is ever truly good and nothing bad is ever truly bad. You can’t sabotage yourself just because you think the good things aren’t meant for you.”

“They usually don’t come to me,” she argued. “Or when they do, they break.”

“That’s fear talking. You can’t let that take over.”

“But-“

“Stop making excuses. Someone you speak so highly of seems like someone you should keep around. Maybe he is a sign of God, maybe not. Does it really matter?”

Eliza pursed her lips. “This all just seems so surreal.”

“I know it does.” Father Lantom slowly rose from the bench. She looked up at him. “Think about it,” he said. “And when you need any more guidance, you know where to find me.” 

“Father,” she pulled at his robe, “Thank you,” she said. 

He smiled, patting her hand. “Anytime, Eliza.”

“Would you, uh, mind if I went to the altar and tried to pray?”

“This is a church. Why would I mind?”

His playfulness awoke a feeling of warmth within her. She nodded with a smile, excusing herself and making the long road toward the front. The cross hung high as Jesus lay nailed to it. She knelt, the steps turning colder beneath her knees. 

“You know, when all else fails,” he turned back to her on his way to his chambers, “Talking to God almost always leads to revelations. He listens, even when you think he doesn’t.”

Eliza crossed her chest. She’d seen it in movies, but there was usually a lot more holy water involved. Father Lantom made her believe that there was no wrong way to speak to God. There was no right way to believe. She stared at the altar. How easy it must come to Matt, the times he went to church, the times he went to confession. It was almost like second nature to him. He carried his faith close to his heart, always.

“I don’t know how to pray,” she admitted into the high walls of the church. “But I’ll try because I need something to believe in. I tried to hold on to hope like I was taught. I thought I could do this on my own. God, I was so wrong. I have neither hope nor do I have my life under control,” she said.

Eliza stared up at the angels set into the ceiling. They soared across the sky, watching over her. God isn’t a face. Though as she looked up, she could’ve sworn she saw a silhouette in the clouds. Hidden between the angels and the endless blue, she liked to believe she wasn’t talking to a ghost. 

“I’m kneeling here right now with nothing left to lose,” she said. Her knees ached, but she suffered through it. She suffered in the hope that if she surrendered completely, the sky would provide her with answers. “I have these powers raging through me, powers I don’t even know the full extent of. They’re- they’re changing the way I’m changing, and they’re growing, they’re getting stronger, and I’m so scared of what’s gonna happen next. I’m scared of what’s about to happen to me. It’s different when almost no one believes you. It’s just that everything and everyone’s slipping away from me. I’m scared I might even lose the last good thing in my life before this is all over.” 

She sounded so desperate, so broken. Her cheeks were wet from the tears, lips salty with the taste. She was on her knees, begging, crying out; she felt like a little girl all over again. Submissive, at the edge of the cliff. 

“I’ve been surviving for so long, I forgot what living feels like. No one’s taught me how to. And I can’t live, not like this, not when the fate of the world is on my shoulders. I just need a sign, anything, to know I can win this. That all the pain was worth it. It’s tearing me apart. I don’t know how to hope anymore. I regained some faith in this, in you, and for the first time, I feel like I have a hold on religion. But these people I’m hunting, they’re set out to destroy everything in their path. I can’t keep faith knowing I might just lose everything.”

Her lip quivered, “I can’t lose him, God, I can’t,” she said. “I like to think he came around for a reason, perhaps even a sign from you. He’s led by his faith and his grief, and all he cares about is doing the right thing. He thinks you gave him a purpose. Maybe this is mine. Maybe this is what I was made for, though I haven’t quite figured out what this is. I just know he’s with me and I’d be damned to lose him. 

“I promise to worship at your feet every day from now on if it means we make it out of this alive, that these men get what’s coming for them. I’d do anything for that sliver of happiness. I need to finish this chapter once and for all. If I have to die to ensure everyone’s safety, I will. I’d do just about anything, I swear. Just make sure the people I care about don’t suffer for my mistakes. This is my battle. My sacrifice. No one else deserves to die.” 

“You have so much love left to give,” Natasha’s voice sounded in the back of her head. “Don’t throw that away. Fight for what you want. No matter the cost.”

“I’m willing to pay every price,” Eliza spoke, God as her witness. “I’m done being in pain. I want to believe in you the way Matt does. I do. I need to win. I need this. I’ve sacrificed too much. God,” she cried. “Just this once I am begging for you to listen to me. I know I’ve committed many sins, and I know I’m probably going to hell, but if there’s at least some salvation left for you to give me, I promise I’ll be forever grateful. I’m going straight now. No one deserves to suffer the consequences of my actions but myself.“

You need to learn to take responsibility.

“I’m your disciple,” she swore.

I’ve been struggling with questions of identity as of late.

“Just don’t let me down, please. God, I’m begging you!”

Who am I?

“I need answers. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find them, but I have to try. What I’m about to do, I’m gonna do for a reason. Please, forgive me.”

He listens, even when you think he doesn’t.

She crossed her chest. “Amen.”

In the corner, where the confessional booth had its place, father Lantom watched from the safety of darkness.

“Lord, have mercy on her,” he quietly prayed. “Give her all the strength you have because that girl needs it.”

Eliza rose from the marble stairs. She was fragile, barely an adult. Deep down, she’d missed so much, she just wished to be a child again. She needed to lay in the comforting arms of her parents. All the things she’d lost, she just wanted back. 

Father Lantom copied her, crossing his chest. His face had fallen, a worried crease above his brows. The shadow next to him shifted.

“I hope all that praying was worth it.” He watched her strut the hallway towards the door. “And I hope to God he listened to a word she said or else our boy’s gonna be in a lot of trouble.”

Sunlight fell on the face beside him. Soft features had all crumbled up in worry. She stared up at the father, the crucifix clutched tightly between her thin fingers.

“You think it’s her?” the woman asked.

“Hmm. I could tell the second she stepped in.“

“What should we do?”

“Nothing,” father Lantom stated. “If I learned one thing from listening to his confessions all those years, it’s that Matthew is his father’s son. He doesn’t give up, even when he should.“

“I wish he did,” she sighed. “Just once, I wish he’d stop.”

The metal doors fell shut with a loud bang. Eliza’s steps disappeared onto the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, swallowed by sun-hungry people and the summer air.

Father Lantom gave the nun a gentle smile. “Your son is resilient, Maggie. He never goes down without a fight, and he also never loses. Besides,” he looked over at the empty bench in the back, “I think Matthew finally found a match that doesn’t completely manipulate him.” 

Maggie kissed the cross in her hands. “I just hope you’re right,” she said. 

The last thing she wanted was to lose her son before she even got the chance to explain herself to him.

Matt could hear Eliza's heartbeat from miles away. He picked her up around the area of Clinton Church, but his abilities didn't quite place her in the confines of his favorite place in Hell's Kitchen, neither did he manage to pick up the father's signature voice serenading her and taking away some of the built-up anxiety. By the time he sought her out, she was on the run again, on the way to her apartment and then, sometime later, carefully making her way to the closest taxi cab.

She told the driver to stop two blocks from his apartment building. On her way, she made sure to take extra turns just in case someone was following her. He figured the action was intentional, just something she had gotten used to, and she wasn’t going to stop, especially not in times like these. 

Then, her scent filled his nostrils, followed by the steady thump, thump, thump of her heart. She came in and the world lit up. Her presence brought fresh air into the four walls he called home. Though there was something about the way she acted. Her voice dropped a few octaves, her steps dragging tiredly across the wooden floor. It made him worry. He wondered what happened. Even the last spark he had seen hours before had vanished completely, lost somewhere on the dirty streets outside. 

Foggy had poked around, asking him all kinds of questions about the night before after he quickly showed his face in the office. He asked about Eliza and if he could get her number to check on her, just to see if she had gotten home alright. Even Karen worried. Any normal person would be after the events that took place at the party. The worst part was that Matt had to make them believe that everything turned out alright. 

“I walked her home,” he lied. “She’s… what can be expected. Stark really got to her but I, uh, figured it out. She’s okay.”

“Man, that sucks,” Foggy pouted at him. “I thought he was the good guy.”

Karen only laughed sarcastically at his words. “Won’t make that mistake again, will you, Foggy?”

“No. No, I guess I won’t. I’m sorry. Tell her that.”

Matt wasn’t planning on it. 

“Don’t you have a front door?” Eliza asked from the staircase that lead from the rooftop to his apartment. “I mean, when you said ‘backdoor’, I imagined a ground-floor apartment, not this.” She gestured to the controversial entrance. 

“I thought it would be better if no one saw you coming,” he said. 

She hummed. No smart remark, not a single joke, nothing. The wood creaked underneath her boots. He tilted his head to listen closer. He analyzed the way she inhaled, slightly quivering with every second drag, and her voice was significantly more hoarse. 

She placed what he suspected to be a duffel bag on the leather couch. “I made sure no one was following me,” she stated, concerning his earlier words, no doubt. 

“Yeah, I heard.” He felt stupid just standing there, but he didn’t know what else to do. 

“So you’re stalking me now?” What was meant as a joke sounded way more serious. 

“What if I were?” he asked. 

“I’d be offended, but given the circumstances, I’d forgive you.” 

Matt chuckled. He moved over to the kitchen, his steps methodical, knowing exactly where he needed to go, yet his arms stretched further from his body in case something might end up in his path. 

“You want anything?” 

Eliza looked over at him. “Sorry, what?” she said. 

“You want anything?” he repeated his question patiently. He opened the fridge, his bicep straining against the white dress shirt that hung clad to his torso. He had long discarded the suit jacket and the sleeves were rolled up. “I’ve got beer, wine, and water. That’s about it. I, uh, don’t keep many groceries here. I have some leftovers from the Thai place around the corner. Oh, and there’s an apple. It’s all that’s left from the gift basket I got from our last client.”

She chuckled. The truth was, her heart hurt. Not just her head but her soul. The new environment made her feel exposed. At least at the church, she had found solace. Under Matt’s gaze which wasn’t even a gaze, to begin with, but an even closer observation of her behavior, she felt naked. She felt vulnerable. He saw right through her, still trying to cover it up to allow her some modesty, but goddamnit, she knew that he knew something wasn’t quite right. He could probably smell the holy water on her. He could smell the sweat of anxiety, the dried tears, and the blood from gnawing on her lip too much. She wanted to run, though she decided against it since he would’ve found her sooner or later anyway. She couldn’t hide from Daredevil, not anymore. 

“Have you eaten yet?” he asked. “You sound exhausted.”

“I’m fine,” Eliza intercepted. 

He fiddled with the fridge’s door handle. “Are you sure?”

“I’m fine, really,” she said. 

“Hm.” She was lying to him. 

Against her claims, he handed her a glass of tap water. His nod motioned for her to drink. A silent demand. She lowered her head. It worked. She took a small sip, keeping her eyes on him as he brushed past her, hand ghosting against her lower arm. He didn’t have to speak for her to know. 

Once again, she looked around the apartment. The sun was slowly coming down, darkening most of the apartment and if it hadn’t been for the gigantic billboard across the building, she would’ve been wandering in the dark. 

The billboard would’ve been quite a nuisance to a seeing person. There couldn’t be many people who would volunteer to take such an apartment for longer periods unless they were, like Matt, blind. He probably found the soft buzzing at night comforting. 

Eliza felt drawn to the different pictures flashing across the screen. She walked up to the window to take a peek outside. The glass was slightly milky in its natural state, slightly discolored too, but that’s what interested her in the first place. The architecture of the place fascinated her. It suited Matt, although it was nothing like what she had expected. 

She wiped at the window, removing some of the fog caused by the sudden change of temperature inside. Matt liked his apartment cold, she realized. The windows couldn’t keep up with the presence of two people without condensation starting to prickle at the edges. 

The billboard showed a commercial for an insurance company. Ridiculous, she thought. He probably didn’t even know about the kinds of pictures that flashed across his windows every night. Insurance companies, condoms, groceries, and from time to time, tv show announcements. Not that he would even care about the show that was put on in front of his apartment. It was new to her, all of this. He had a different perception of things. What she found annoying, he enjoyed. What he hated, she considered normal. She couldn’t see herself falling asleep to condom advertisements, but the colors were nice, so maybe it wasn’t all too bad even for a sighted person after all. 

Matt chuckled behind her. “Say it,” he said. 

“Say what?” she asked. 

“You think it’s annoying.”

“What?”

“The billboard.”

“Well, this place is a shithole.” She shrugged, “but I don’t know, I think it’s a nice shithole.”

His chuckle transcended into laughter. “Yeah,” he grinned into his glass, “Sounds about right.”

“Rent’s probably through the roof, right?”

“Oh, yeah. I got a discount because of the Billboard since no one else would take it, but it’s still a lot. Especially for someone who doesn’t even make money.”

“Expensive shithole then,” she said. 

He nodded. “Expensive shithole.”

The apartment's location was unfortunate, but the room itself wasn’t all that awful. Eliza stopped at the small wooden desk that stood in front of what appeared like a supply closet. Files were scattered around, a braille printer to one side and a laptop to the other. She traced her fingers over the rough wood, feeling the dots on the papers. She wished she could read Braille, but it seemed like a hard task to learn. 

“Thank you for inviting me over,” she said.

“Sure, yeah,” he said. “How was your, uh, meeting with Stark?”

Eliza stiffened.

“You know what, forget it.” He placed his hands on his hips. “I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business.”

She didn’t wait. “I quit.” Her nails dug into the paper. “I tore up our family picture and then I left.”

“What?”

“I left. I just… left.”

“Well, that’s- are you alright?”

“He knows about us, Matt!” The words came in a single breath.

“What?” he asked. 

“Not about you, about Daredevil.” she had to clarify. “He knows we’ve been working together,” Eliza said. “He’s known ever since our second night together. The press caught wind of it. He said he was the only one between the news and Secretary Ross. If he found out-”

“You’d go to jail,” Matt stated. She nodded weakly.  “Fuck! How did they- what is Stark gonna do now? He has to have a plan, right? He won’t just tell everyone. That’s not like him. Tell me that’s not like him.” 

She couldn’t do that. She wasn’t sure if it was like him. In the past? Definitely not. After what she experienced in the past couple of days? Who knew? 

“He said if I walked out that door, he wouldn’t protect me anymore.”

“God…Tell me you didn’t just walk out. At least not without negotiating a deal first.”

“I walked out.”

“Damn it, Eliza!” 

“I don’t care!” her voice cracked. “I don’t care, okay? Ross can arrest me, I don’t fucking care! I realize that now. I don’t care, even if it lands me in jail. The Accords are stupid rules. Why should I have to live by them anymore?” she said. “The Avengers are toast anyway. It’s not like I’m hurting anyone who doesn’t deserve it. I’m not making entire cities float. I’m simply fighting a fight no one else wants to. If that means breaking the rules, so be it.”

He began to pace the room. “This can’t be happening…” One of his hands got tangled in the mess of brown locks on his head. 

“It’s not about him. It’s not about me. This is about doing the right thing. You taught me that!” 

Matt turned around. “Do you even realize how much danger you are in?!” It was the first time he yelled at her and he regretted it the second the sound had finished bouncing his way across the apartment, and it slapped her right across the face. 

Eliza swallowed hard. “I-” she blew air through her nose. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” he cooed softly. He took a few steps closer. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“No, don’t touch me!” She shied away. Her armor faltered. The leather of the couch welcomed her with open arms. Teardrops pearled off the fabric, leaving even darker spots where the liquid slipped from her skin. 

He wanted to punch himself. “I’m so sorry.” He slowly fell to one knee next to the armrest. “I didn’t mean it. I’m not angry at you,” he assured her, but his words meant nothing. She was scared. 

Once again, she backed away until her thigh hit her duffel bag and she had to stop in the middle of the couch so as not to throw her belongings on the ground. Her hand remained in the air, a silent warning. He didn’t move, he remained on the floor, even though his knees hurt from the wood and he could feel his stitches barely holding on for dear life. He didn’t care though. This was his fault. 

She lowered her head. “I didn’t sign up for this,” she whispered. “I didn’t sign up for any of this.”

“I know you didn’t. The reason I yelled-“ he sighed, “The reason I yelled was not that I’m angry at you. It’s not your fault. I just don’t want you to get arrested. They’d put you into special containment. They would lock you up for good,” he explained. “From what I’ve heard, enhanced individuals are considered flight risks to the government, so if you were to get arrested, they could easily use that to their advantage. I can’t let that happen.”

Eliza nodded quietly. 

“I was wrong to raise my voice. I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she whispered.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” 

“Okay, I’m sorry. I- I just don’t want you to get arrested because of me,” he said. 

“But it wouldn’t be because of you.”

“No, it would be. You know why?”

“No ‘cause I’m not a lawyer,” she told him.

He hung his head, chuckling. “In the eyes of the law, Daredevil is a criminal. I read the Accords after we met. I wanted to know how far you’re allowed to go. You know they don’t just apply to you as a group?” 

She shrugged. Her fingers fiddled with the necklace around her neck. She had forgotten it was still there. A nervous tick he had picked up on when he first met her at the police station, out of his costume. 

“You know.” He nodded slowly. “I figured. You read them.”

“The first few pages,” she said. 

“Not all of it?”

“No, it bored me.”

He shook his head.

“What I read though, I remember. I remember every word.”

“Alright. Well, the Accords state that you’re not allowed to work on missions without the government’s consent,” he said. “You cannot take any cases that haven’t been checked out by either the Secretary or his committee, and when they say you have to pull out, you have to comply. You’re a dog on a leash. Or, the Avengers are. Since you signed them, you are legally obligated to follow the Accords. If you break them, you’re automatically breaking the law. You’ll become a felon, there will be court proceedings, and then, depending on the extent of the crime, you could go to jail.”

“You did your research, huh?”

“It’s not just a rule book,” he insisted. “The Accords are the law now.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Eliza snapped at him. 

“I know you do.”

“Then why are you trying to make me feel bad?”

“I’m not! I’m trying to tell you that the rules that apply to the Avengers as a group apply to you as well. You each have to follow the rules, even outside of working together. And you know why? Because you’re not the ordinary human population. The government doesn’t want you guys allowed to roam freely.”

“If I do anyway, I’ll go to jail. Yes, I’m aware. Hey,” she asked, “where are you going with this?”

“This whole thing is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode! These people can prove you’re working with me, that we were with Pfeiffer that night… They have the means to destroy you. Because of me, you’re in danger. That is where I’m going with this.”

“Oh, not this again.”

“You know, perhaps it’s better if we part ways. Spend some time apart until all of this has calmed down.”

“I made my choice!” Eliza cried. “This decision is entirely on me. My life, my rules. I take responsibility for what I did, and for what I’m about to do. This has nothing to do with you. You want to save this city? So do I.”

His breath came in hot, labored puffs of air. 

“It’s not just some personal agenda that drives me, I actually care about the people! Don’t make this about you, Matt, not right now.”

“I’m not making this about me!” he argued. “I’m just trying to take care of you. I can’t do that if you’re in the crosshairs.”

“I’ve been in the crosshairs from the beginning. I grew up with several targets on my back. Even the law has known me for as long as I can remember.”

“What if I can’t protect you anymore, what then?”

“Then I’ll die!”

“I don’t want you to die!” He was yelling without even raising his voice, something she had done the night of the party after she found out who he truly was. They weren’t so much different after all. 

Eliza wiped her cheeks. There weren’t any tears. She wasn’t crying, she doubted she had any tears left to shed, but she wanted to. The feeling burned in the back of her throat. 

“We’ve still got time,” she said. 

“Time? We’re running against time, Eliza! I may not be able to read the clock, but I know when a timer is running out.”

“I just have to be careful! We’re in this together now, Matt. We were the second you jumped into that Butcher shop to save my ass. Your desperate need to push me away just to protect me can’t control you. I’m not going anywhere. You gotta deal with that or else we’re gonna have a problem.”

“No, you’re gonna have a problem because you’re the one whose life is in danger and whose freedom is being jeopardized just by being with me. This- this isn’t a joke. This is your life you’re gambling with, you realize that, right?”

“I’m trying to tell you that I don’t want you to leave me!” she cried out. “Don’t you get that? I don’t want you to go.”

Matt’s eyes softened. “What?” he said. 

Her bottom lip tangled with her teeth in a desperate attempt to stop it from quivering. Like her entire body though, she kept shaking. It was deadly quiet when she spoke again, and her voice paid the price, “You’re all I have left.” 

He rose from the floor, situating himself on the couch next to her. She curled in on herself, too scared to even look at him. He reached his hand out. “Eliza-”

“You promised you’d be there for me,” she said. “That’s what I need you to do. To be there.”

“I’m not leaving,” he breathed. 

“Are you sure because you seemed pretty convinced just now?”

“No.” He reached for her. This time, she let him. He tugged at her arm, gently at first, though when she didn’t get the hint, he hooked his arm around hers and pulled her towards him. She fell into his open arms only hesitantly. “I just don’t want to watch you die, okay?” he admitted. “And I don’t want them to take you away.”

“Maybe you can take me away,” she muttered. Her hand began to claw at his chest, her lifeline. 

He chuckled breathlessly. “And where would I take you?”

“When this is all over, I mean. I heard Hawaii could be nice.”

“I’ve never been north of 116th street.”

“The more reason for us to change our identities and travel to Hawaii.”

“Sweetheart,” he said, “When this is all over, I will take you anywhere you want.”

They sat like this until the earth finished turning and the sun disappeared. Soft moonlight mixed with the ads crossing the billboard screen. His heart beat steady. She used the sound to come back to her body.

“The world feels so surreal,” she spoke into the comfortable silence. “Like I’m detached from its axis and I’m just spinning there like a broken record, lost alone in the vastness of space.”

She inhaled his cologne. Hints of sweat and rain, and sandalwood on his skin. He was so warm, a human blanket draped over her, almost like a shield from all the evil in this world. His grip tightened around her shoulders; she allowed herself to fall further into the embrace. She allowed herself to drown in his touch. 

“It’s like I’m bacteria floating around in an organism, but that bacteria doesn’t have a name yet. I’m just… there. No one knows who I am or what purpose I serve, but what’s for sure is that I’m meant to cause damage.”

“You’re not bacteria,” Matt told her.

“But what if I am? What if I’m the virus? This story seems to depend on my talent to destroy things. Everything’s just gotten worse because of me. Because I got involved.“

“They would’ve found another way to cause damage.”

“If I hadn’t gotten involved, this could’ve been solved without having people die for it,” she said and pushed away from him. His arm caged her, she needed to get out. Matt continued to keep his hands on her. He let her bring space between them, but as she tried to flee, he pulled her back gently so she was facing him. 

He didn’t need sight to see that she was burning red. The temperature of her skin mixed with the jitters told him enough to conclude.

“Hey,” he said, “you’re the one who broke this case wide open.”

“I don’t- what if that’s not true?” Eliza sniffled. “What if, in some twisted way, I’m the reason Hydra is doing this? You heard Pfeiffer, they’re trying to make more super soldiers, stronger than ever before,” she said. “They learned from Project Chaos, they saw what Strucker managed to achieve with the Maximoff twins. What if – just, what if – they’re doing this because we survived, and now they’re trying to combine the elements to make something far, far worse than what Wanda and I turned out to be.” 

“Yeah, but what if scenarios are just speculation? It’s not real, at least not until it’s proven. What we need to focus on are facts. Plain and simple. Facts are what make cases. That’s our start-of point. Asking yourself what if will only hurt you more. Believe me, I know.”

“What am I supposed to do then?” 

“Trust me,” he begged. “That’s all I ask of you.”

Eliza tasted the words on her tongue. She wiped the tears away, though the sticky feeling of dried salt on her cheeks remained heavy. She leaned down slowly, her forehead pressed against Matt’s chest. His hand went around her neck, holding her there. The other rubbed comfortingly up and down her back.

“What does that even mean?” the sound was muffled through the fabric. “I mean, what are we?“ she asked. 

Matt ran his thumb along her pulse point. “I’m just as confused as you are,” he admitted. He felt her pulse jump directly behind the skin. 

She hummed. “I wish we would’ve met before. You know, before everyone convinced us that life is war.” 

He pulled her closer. His chuckle blew through the tiny hairs standing off her scalp. “No one has proved us different,” he said. “Life is war, we were just taught to always fight on the front lines, no matter what happens. We were taught that being soldiers is the default for people like us. And now… now we can’t live without it.”

“We were just kids.”

“We didn’t know any better.”

“Yeah… we still don’t.”

“No,” he smiled, “we don’t.”

Somewhere in the distance, church bells rang out. Reality crept through the cracks in the floorboards and polluted them with its negative energy.

Eliza sat up again. This time, she reached for her duffel bag. “We gotta follow down that lead,” she stated, and so the mask went back on. 

The softness of Matt’s features was etched in seriousness. He began to peel the tie off around his throat. It was a fascinating transition. The caring man she knew as Matt Murdock turned within a matter of a few seconds and there he sat Daredevil. He didn’t have to put on the suit, his attitude spoke for itself. There was just something about him, something that enthralled her, even as he turned into a cold piece of stone. She knew there was a broken, gooey nucleus inside – the man he presented on the outside was just an act. He kept the real Matt Murdock under locks, tucked neatly away where no one could find him. 

Eliza should’ve felt honored to have him be so vulnerable around her. Yet, she believed there was still plenty to learn about him and this complicated piece of a soul he harbored inside.

“What do you have there?” he asked.

“My suit.” She opened the zipper. “Not the one Tony gave me. It’s my old SHIELD uniform. I asked to keep it before I joined the Avengers. Also,” - the cell phone fell into her hands -“I got a new phone. Tony used mine to track me.”

“So you just keep an arsenal of phones around you?”

“Yeah, why? You don’t?”

“I don’t think that’s something normal people do.”

“I’m not normal,” she stated plainly. “In this line of work, you better come prepared. I have a lot more where this comes from. I could fake my death and no one would know if I wanted to.” Eliza got up. She asked, “Where’s your bathroom?”

Matt pointed in the direction he memorized.

“Thanks.”

Her footsteps disappeared. The door fell shut. She turned the lock twice, making sure it was secure, only then did he hear the shuffling of clothes on the floor. He chose not to invade her privacy. Instead, he made his way into the bedroom. He took the suit draped over the sofa and changed into it with precision. The door stayed open, just in case Eliza came around. He didn’t care if she saw him undressed – hell, he was as open as one could be. Some part of him wanted her to, some perverted part he didn’t want to listen to. Not that he expected an attempt on her life in his apartment, considering no one knew she was there, but he could never be too careful. 

His stitches pulled hard. The leather didn’t do much to protect his wounds. He groaned, some sounded louder than he planned to. He was in so much pain, every inch of his body sore, and all he craved was a good night’s sleep. But he couldn’t think about that. There was no time to rest, he told himself. Not until the worst was over.

“You okay?” Eliza stood in the doorway.

Matt struggled with the belt. “Yeah, fine,” he said curtly. His shoulder burned - the one part that wasn’t injured was giving him the most trouble. 

“Need any help with that?”

He sighed in relief, nodding. She helped him get the rest of his body tucked into the suit. The leather sat securely around his waist and everywhere else where it needed to; he couldn’t have done it better.

She peaked up at him and he tried his best to reciprocate the action. Judging by her smile, he missed her eyes by miles once again. He chuckled. “Guess I’m getting old,” he said. 

“How so?” she questioned. 

“My back is killing me.”

“You are, indeed, an old man,” she swatted some dust off his shoulders, “but that’s okay.” 

He pinched her side. “Careful. This old man can still kick your ass.”

“Oh. Do I need to have the nursery home on the line?” She spread her thumb and middle finger to the sides, mimicking a phone. “Shall I tell them to book you a single or double room, grandpa?”

The baton flew in her direction. Right before it could hit her in the face, her hand shot up to catch the piece of metal. She switched between him and his weapon, not sure whether to be impressed or annoyed. 

“Fuck off!” he said. 

She smirked. “I’m getting you back for that.”

Though once the baton was back in the air, his arm was already extended to catch it mid-air, his height offering an opportunity he didn’t miss.

Eliza remembered their first meeting. The way he flipped the sticks of metal expertly, almost like what he was doing right there, in front of her, smug and knowing damn well what he was doing. “Show off,” she said. 

Like on the first day, he forced one of the batons into her hand. “Try not to kill anyone,” he retorted.

 She saw an opportunity too and she surely didn’t want to miss it. “No promises.” 

#matt murdock #daredevil #foreigner's god #matt murdock x original character #matt murdock x oc #matt murdock x ofc #matt murdock angst #matt murdock fluff #matt murdock smut #matt murdock x female!oc #matt murdock imagines #human disaster matt murdock #karen page #foggy nelson #daredevil fic #matt murdock fic #charlie cox #mcu characters #marvel #avengers #reader insert #ofc

[loki-is-my-kink-awakening]

Unconventional writer ask game: my answers

I was tagged by @insert-witty-user-name-here, thank you, my love. I've already tagged some lovely writers in the original post. 😘 Can't wait to hear from you all.

— How long have you been writing fanfiction?

Less than a year. I'm a baby in fanfic terms.

— Do you have a favorite word? (One that you love. Doesn’t necessarily have to be one you use all the time.)

'Close' and that's probably because of when it's used, such as when two characters find themselves stuck together, faces inches apart or limbs entangled. Also, that word can be used again when a character is about to come. Basically, during sexual tension or sex.

— Share a favorite run-on sentence that you’ve written.

Don't know if this is my favourite but it is the longest one I could find.

From Beneath The Stars:

When they would sit and talk for hours, when they sat at the cafeteria hours after finishing lunch with their legs entwined, when Mobius would lead him into the elevator with a hand on the small of his back or when he gave Loki those soft smiles in the archives as they sat with piles of files around them.

— Share a bit of a scene that you’ve written that still gives you FEELS.

From Preparing For A New Arrival:

That night, as they lay in bed together and Loki was fast asleep, Mobius gently caressed his stomach, softly stroking it. “Hello, little one,” he breathed out. “Your mother doesn’t think I know but I do. I’ll do anything to keep you safe, to protect you. You’re growing every day. I can’t wait to meet you.”

— What is your favorite kind of character interaction to write?

I think I enjoy when characters are at odds with each other but in a fun way. Like when one character is flirting and the other is trying not to fall for their charm. I love the game, the chase, the tension.

— Do you have a hyper-specific genre?

Does priest kink count? Coz I definitely have that and I want to write more of it for all my ships.

I also like writing kink fics and have a bunch that's are WIPs that I need to finish and publish. Specifically, I love characters having to do something, like praying or reading out loud, while kink or smut is happening. In Praying for Salvation, it's blow jobs and praying.

— Any personal or frequently used tags?

Probably smut, followed by angst.

— Share a joke or funny moment that you’ve written that still makes you laugh.

From Sorry, Not Sorry. This whole fic made me giggle while writing it.

“Loki, if you don’t stop apologising, I’m going to come!”

— Best editing tip?

I try to have at least one read through where I say the words out loud to see if it reads alright. I don't catch every mistake but I try my best. Occasionally, I have a beta too and that's amazing to have.

— What drives you to write?

Brainrot and horniness, basically

— Share something about your writing that you have wished someone would ask you about. Or alternatively, something that you are just really proud of.

I have no idea what I'd want people to ask me, so I chose this snippet from Praying for Salvation.

“Get on your knees before me and we will pray together.” His voice was smooth and Riley felt his legs obey before his mind had even begun to process what this meant. It was only when his eyes fell once again on Father Paul’s crotch that he felt he understood what kind of worship this would be.

“Let us begin. Our Father...” the priest rhymed off the prayer as he pulled down his zip. Riley tried to get words to come out of his mouth but he couldn’t find any. It probably didn’t matter soon anyway as Father Paul’s achingly hard cock sprang out of the confines of his tight jeans.

— Where do you draw inspiration?

Anywhere. Today, I was inspired to think of Steve Harrington dressed as a goth girl after seeing a goth girl walk down the street. That may be a fic at some point. I can't escape the thought of Steve in bouncy goth boots and Eddie just staring up at him (because they are tall boots).

— What is your biggest challenge in writing?

Work and my social life primarily. Also, having too many ideas and not enough time to write all I want or choosing to do events. They're great and I love doing them but they take up time.

— What is your immediate reaction when you receive a new comment on a fic?

Incoherent screaming. It's just the best feeling. I treasure each and every comment. I remember someone said recently they wanted to print out and pin nice comments to their wall and I feel the same. It's just amazing to get a nice comment.

I remember when I got this comment on Going Down In The Elevator I couldn't believe how thoughtful it was.

I just want you to know that this is hands-down the most realistic and in-character Lokius steamy one-shot that I have read thus far! Thank you for depicting an amazing scene!! Could literally see this happening in the show. Your dialogue for both Loki and Mobius is on-point!!

— 1-2 sentence preview from your current WIP?? (Only if you are willing.)

From an untitled Geraskier foot fetish fic I'm working on.

His mouth salivated and he laved his tongue again and again around the bard’s foot.

“Hmmmm, yes. Suck on my toes.”

— What story or scene are you most proud of?

I'm very proud that I managed to bash out this almost 8k Geraskier fic in a week - Bring Your Hunger. It was for a fic/art prompt swap for @thepassifloradiscord and it's my first Witcher fic.

It's got smut. It's got angst. It's got pining. It's got denial of feelings. It's got them eventually getting together at the end.

— Please link your profile so we can admire your works!

I'm Tears_and_smiles on Ao3.

#ask game #writer asks #fanfic ask game #lokius #lokius fanfic #loki #mobius #loki tv #geraskier #geraskier fanfiction #the witcher #the witcher fanfiction #jaskier #geralt of rivia #geralt z rivii #steddie #steddie fanfic #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #priley #altar boy and his priest #riley flynn #father paul hill #monsignor john pruitt #midnight mass #midnight mass fanfiction #cw: smut #cw: priest kink #cw: kink

[themculibrary]

Banter Masterlist

Accepting Publicity (ao3) - xmypandabear pepper/tony G, 4k

Summary: "Pro tip: saying it's nothing only makes someone more curious," he leant his hip against the nearby table, mind already doing the math and coming to an unsettling conclusion. "Kid, don't tell me you were at the 2010 Expo."

The kid opened his mouth, shut it, then said, "Is this like the whole, 'don't do anything I would and wouldn't do' or...?"

"Jesus."

//

The one where Tony doesn't believe he's a hero and can't handle having it thrown in his face, Pepper is Tony's Big Damn Hero and Peter is asked to help start Iron-Man's social media accounts (and is probably a hero, but that's irrelevant right now).

Bless this Ink and Our Souls (ao3) - Akira_of_the_Twilight bucky/clint/steve/tony T, 5k

Summary: Steve and Tony venture to Nelson & Murdock, Attorneys at Law to bless the ink that they will need for their protection spell.

Things get heated between Steve and Tony, and Matt Murdock reveals a secret of Tony's that leaves Steve stunned.

Clint Barton or, Why Hawkeye Should Be Renamed Captain Sexy Pants (ao3) - QuirkyChick clint/phil, steve/tony G, 1k

Summary: For the Avenger Kink Meme on LJ.

“Clint is voted sexiest man alive in some trashy woman’s magazine. The team proceeds to mock him mercilessly.”

Come on Closer (ao3) - Epiphanyx7 steve/tony E, 4k

Summary: [[... porn.]]

Or, the one where Steve wants to talk to Tony about something important.

Fighting, Flyting, Flaunting, Flirting (ao3) - Redring91 loki/tony M, 9k

Summary: -

“What’s flyting?”

“Tis a form of verbal battle performed in the courts of Asgard, where opponents trade insults in verse.” Thor explains.

“Offensive poetry?” Tony clarifies, because that sounds awesome.

Thor nods. “Loki was by far the best skilled at it – it was not for nothing he came to be known as Silvertongue. He ceased competing in official matches after a time though. He deemed there were none on Asgard who could claim to be a worthy match for his attentions.” Thor levels a thoughtful look towards Tony at this.

“So, you’re saying that Tony derailed the fight because Loki enjoys it when they’re insulting each other?” Clint says slowly.

Thor gives a rather helpless shrug. “Loki has always enjoyed flyting.”

-

hand over your heart (ao3) - cherryvanilla clint/phil, steve/tony M, 7k

Summary: If a top secret file on Phil Coulson and Clint Barton's relationship existed, it would look something like this.

NOT Just Married (ao3) - relenafanel steve/bucky M, 7k

Summary: Also known as the feel-good fluffy ficlet relenafanel promised after the end-credit scene of new Bucky feels from hell... Because I have your back and know you need recovery comedic AUs about BFFs being dumb in Vegas.

Stuck With You (Seriously?) (ao3) - Jaune_Chat steve/tony E, 2k

Summary: Steve and Tony are drugged, captured, and wake up in a very compromising position. There's really only one way out. Sex.

In other news, Tony thinks the Avengers need better villains. ;)

This Wasn't What the Brochure Promised (ao3) - kahn steve/tony T, 7k

Summary: "Do you think this is still a training exercise, or did we just get our asses handed to us by actual bad guys?" asked Clint.

Tony, Steve, Clint and Bruce spend quality time together in a cave. Tony does not build another arc reactor (even if he sort of needs one). Steve is all Protective Leader. Clint is terrifyingly good with a knife. Bruce bleeds and snarks. There is banter and embarassing amounts of schmoop and the boys get very touchy-feely.

Three Men in a VW (ao3) - Brokenpitchpipe steve/bucky T, 3k

Summary: Steve steps back into the car and closes the door, lips still tingling.

“You don’t like blondes,” Bucky says.

Sam chokes.

Who we are (ao3) - reclusiveq steve/bucky G, 3k

Summary: When Bucky comes home beat up, Steve is left to wonder why. His search for an answer will reveal a truth his friend may not be ready to share.

you and your high top sneakers and your sailor tattoos (ao3) - victoria_p (musesfool) darcy/steve M, 5k

Summary: In which Darcy Lewis punches Captain America's v-card. Yeah, she can't believe it either.

You're My World (ao3) - Teddy1008 sam/bucky E, 6k

Summary: “I… oh, I get it now.” Sam tilted his head, perceptive as ever, goddammit. “All this flirting with my sister, that was just to get my attention, wasn’t it? I know it was. Say it.”

“That wasn’t—” Bucky croaked, but Sam wasn’t having it.

He huffed a low laugh, and bulldozed right through Bucky’s feeble pretense. “You like it when I pin you against the wall? Take away all that power you have, that strength that your arm gives you? Make you feel small, maybe?”

your will is not your own (ao3) - Merideath darcy/steve E, 6k

Summary: Agent Lewis is sent to collect Captain Rogers from the wilds of Alaska. A snowstorm is brewing and Darcy's ride abandons them to the elements... or a tiny log cabin. She's pretty sure she watched that movie. It didn't end well.

#themculibrary #mcu #marvel #fluff #banter #banter masterlist #masterlists

[forallthepjostuff]

I need to know the pjo/marvel fic rn. Name and website.

Ok, I really wanted to answer this and go 'here it is!'....but to be honest, I don't remember the name, and I've been looking for it since I saw this and still haven't found it.

I'm assuming you're talking about the fic I mentioned where Thor's heard of Percy, and everyone's just confused as to how. Because, I'm not sure where it was, but I also remember mentioning a fic where Percy and Peter had already known each other and hadn't seen each other for a while.

So I don't remember that one but here's another one that has the whole 'Thor recognizes Percy' thing, Percy Jackson: The New Avenger by Firestar1218 on FanFiction.net. It's about Percy becoming a SHEILD agent after Annabeth and the others die, and joining the Avengers right before Loki escapes Asgard. Fair warning, it's incomplete, only 7 chapters, 11k words, some grammar mistakes and the last time it was updated was 2014. But it had a scene where Thor recognized Percy, which--because I was on a kick for that trope at the time--was all I wanted out of it, to be honest.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10583829/1/Percy-Jackson-The-New-Avenger

There's also the one I'm reading right now (that I found while I was looking for the original one I read) called A Hero's Fate: A Percy Jackson and Avengers FanFiction by bookaholic4ever on FanFiction.net that had a scene in the first chapter where Fury tells the Avengers to capture Percy because of him being suspected of terrorism, and Thor fanboys over Percy and then refuses to fight Percy and warns the Avengers against it because Thor's heard of what he's done. The summary also mentions another prophecy, but I'm only on chapter 4 out of 39. It's complete, and 74k words, but it also has a few grammar mistakes and the rest of the seven are all dead in this one, too.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13738012/1/A-Hero-s-Fate-A-Percy-Jackson-and-Avengers-Fanfiction

This is also the one I mentioned where Percy and Peter knew each other from before Percy found out he was a demigod. I forgot they become a couple in the end and that it's a series of a few one shots.

Then, of course there's my favorite PJO/Marvel fanfiction of all time, The File series by denimbeans on Archive Of Our Own, which is currently 237k words. The first two stories are complete, and the third story and the text fic in the series are, no joke, the only stories where I actively check for updates and read updates as soon as possible.

The first story is an AU of Blood Of Olympus, with one of the big things changed being that while Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus, Annabeth dies and Percy goes blind, and Percy gets brought to Atlantis to heal and mourn. Also this one does have descriptions that could possibly make someone slightly squeamish. The second revolves around Percy, who used to be a SHIELD agent (and used to be on a search and rescue team, and used to be a mercenary...basically this whole series is very much deserving of the Badass Percy Jackson tag), being Tony Stark's bodyguard, and then starting his own replacement for SHIELD, because this takes place after Civil War and after SHIELD'S file dump. The third one goes more in depth about the organization Percy starts, and is about the aftermath of Civil War, with Barnes standing trial and the Rogue Avengers in hiding. The forth is a text fic that follows along with the stories, includes Peter more, and is funnier than the others (also has Percy being slightly ominous and cryptic, which is always fun to read.)

I know they're probably not exactly what you want, but I hope they're close enough? Or the first two are, at least?

#the third is because I'd feel weird mentioning it without saying anything else about it #& the forth is because it's an amazing crossover of the two and needs to be recommended to everyone and anyone who wants a pjo/marvel fic #i have some more too if you'd like #and some more that i'm currently reading but haven't added to my bookmarks yet (i mostly read on ao3) #but seriously i looked and can't find it. which is so weird #in my ao3 bookmarks & my fanfiction.net favorites & then just...typing what i remember into google to see if any results sound familiar #nothing did #it's so weird. i remember reading it but i just...can't find it #i'm probably gonna keep looking and tell you if i do find it. but now it's irritating me that i can't find it so i'm determined to #hope you like the ones i did recommend though. and if you'd like more or something feel free to ask #....you probably weren't expecting a fucking block of text when you sent the ask huh? sorry #i just get excited about things and ramble about them whether it's vocally or in word form

[vvviktor]

The second loki season is coming out which means

💫spiteful rant about how i would change s1!!!💫

(nothing i will say is new or interesting but yk you gotta shit your brain out sometimes)

1. wanted it to be longer, like 10ish episodes instead of 6. I mean 6? 6 my ass. The first narrative distribution that comes to my mind is:

The first 3 episodes where loki manages to escape the tva guards or cops or whatever they're called and steals a tempad in their first encounter. Chase through time ensue (he actually influences the past in some way and the tva has to get there and "clean" the timeline everytime he moves). Loki doesn't really know what the fuck is going on. He tries anyway (survival instict game strong+bitch got magic and the tempad). Gets caught at the end of the third episode.

After that hes brought to the tva and meets mobius, they need him to help find a loki variant bla bla bla very useful since loki was actually hard to catch. 2?3? Eps where he gets to know mobius, become an accountant and see the power of the tva machine. Theres something wrong. Some partial truths come out. This post-thanos queen knows the best thing to do is play along and he does. Until they meet the variant.

During the rest of the episodes loki and the variant uncover some more truths, find Kang, some shit goes down, you decide how.

2. I would have preferred just a different approach to the series completely, like a deep dive into loki's character, not just "there is a situation. he's there. lets see what he does" and that's why i would have LOVED flashbacks of pre thor 1 life AND his sweet life on deck with thanos.

Since we've already seen the things thanos does (like with gamora and nebula etc) i wouldn't want torture scenes, they wouldn't add to the image we already have of thanos. I would rather see the aftermath/the inbetween moments and the idea is: he can't show weakness. His life depends on it. We see him trying to keep composure when he has to prove himself to thanos. We see him look into empty space while he gets flashes of memories of his suicide. Some of them are distorted. We see him in the dark, probanly after being in some way punished for failing thanos/ after the order tortured him to break him, whispering, praying to his father to hear him, hes sorry he was a fool he will never do it again but please have mercy on him. There is no answer. The realization of his father mistakes grows in parallel with his bloodlust. The mind stone offers relief. The mind stone offers horror. After some time clarity doesn't bring the same satisfaction as indulging in the fantasy of being in power, proving odin wrong, does. He's terrified all the time.

A flashback per episode could be interesting, either before or after or inbetween the episode's main story, always connected to it. We could use it for rapresentation too. Liks having a flashback of very young teen loki watching themselves in the mirror in their room and having the courage to shapeshift into a female form for the first time, maybe after trying on some make up or jewlery, with the insicurity and curiosity and fear and the joy of expressing yourself for the first time of that sweet sweet trans experience we all know about. And later in the episode our adult loki is femme trying to hide from the tva in the first 3 eps (since she doesn't know about the life files yet it would make sense).

Also family trauma! Social trauma! Woo

3. The tva is SCARY. It looks WARM BUT IT ISN'T. It's unsettling!!! Loki is unsettled!!! She goes wtf is this place!!! Killing hundreds like it's regular monday for you!!! What!!! Loki basically learns about fascism that day. Fun. ALSO NO REAL REFERENCE TO ANTISEMITIC TACTICTS LIKE THE FUCKING GAS CHAMBERS IM GOING TO KILL YOU DISNEY. THE TVA IS THE VILLAIN OK STOP PRETENDING U WHORE.

4. Mobius makes sense in his contest. He could be an antagonistic force that tries to manipulate others if you want. He can be the moral compass of the situation. I don't like that but you do you. Just stick with it you know? No narration that clashes with the characterisation.

To me the most interesting interpretations of mobius are:

Disilluded mobius: everyday he believes the tva less. He can admit he used to buy the lie, at first cause he thought it was true, but then, after actually seeing a variant pruned for the first time or smth like that he just convinced himself it all made sense in the grand scheme of things. Then remorse came around. (HIGHLIGHT ON REMORSE AND GUILT AND HORROR THANK YOU). Truth. He memorizes important data from files that could get taken away from him at any time if found suspect of treachery. He's been waiting for a chance to know more, to disrupt. Cue to Loki being found. Maybe he even kind of lost hope and then saw in loki the opportunity to at least run away. That's why he runs after loki when she follows the variant. He doesnt get there in time and decides to fuck around and find out now that he thinks he truly lost his chance and finds out the big tva secret.

(I wanna make it clear: this mobius IS a grey character. He did terrible things for the tva and let them happen because he believed in it at first and then didn't know how to escape. None of his crimes are absolved by good intentions)

Delusional mobius: this bitch is a delulu king. He pretends and pretends and pretends until he can't anymore. He only does paperwork. Giving Aziraphale in denial vibes. Don't really know what to do with him but im aware he has potential.

Secret third thing: kind of naive (?) Mobius. He has them Casey vibes. He believes in the tva's glorious purpose. The knows around but something feels off...mobius himself feels off...like something is missing...he can't really remember what....suspicious, mobius tries to understand why he feels like that and he and loki find out that broski got his memory wiped (again) cause he was being sus but the tva didn't kill him cause 1. He can useful to work with tought variants as he's really smart and friendly looking (can also manipulate thanks to that) 2. Ravonna felt too guilty. Basically the disilluded mobius who flied a little too close to the sun.

This one is my fave.

5. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PARALLEL UNIVERSE AND TIMELINE. PARALLEL UNIVERSES ARE A, B, C, ETC TIMELINES ARE a branching into a2 a3 a4 unless the tva snips the branches away to make A=a. There is no other way i can explain it im sorry. THE MULTIVERSE ALREADY EXHISTS AT THE START OF THE SERIES THE MULTIVERSE ALWAYS FUCKING EXHISTED. Every universe has a tva. Their goal is to make sure that parallel universes don't enter in contact with eatchother through timelines branching and "touching". That's the big tva secret: all that's propaganda about the scared timeline is bullshit because there are multiple universes and multiple tvas are working together to mantain "order". Yes it's a nightmare. Sometimes different universe's timelines can branch off and manage to touch and oh shit some variants get from their universe to another. Hence why some loki variants dont look like tom hiddleston, they are from another universe. Those are Crocki, Sylvie, and Boastful Loki (im not sure about kid loki but old loki is a timeline variant, he is our loki). Also i want boastful loki to actually be an interesting character and be actually a loki who realized he could never be worthy in odins eyes and decided to make his own hammer and be a real hero in his own way. Now that's a character that challenges whatever idea of "loki" we have. Because loki is not a title. It's a name. And to be a loki is to simply be Other. To accidentally be a vehicle of revelations by simply existing. What great truth does the Different bring? That there is more. There is simply more outside of what you know. Lokis are literally the worst for the tva those bitches are dengerously Different in a way that questions authorities. And if you dont agree you can literally suck my huge penis this is the hill i will kill for.

6. Sylvie. Yeah. It's time.

Making sylvie the love interest and a loki variant doesnt work. Glossing over the moral implication of incest discourse, it simply doesn't benefict sylvie as a character. Her background is almost non existent because of this. She references her family only once (to say she new she was adopted) and never again because guess what? It would be fucking weird if a scene where loki was remembering frigga and sylvie was participating in this by sharing memories about THEIR mom had romantic connotations. And so to make the romance more palatable to the audience she doesn't get to have a family. At this point it's either variant sylvie or love interest sylvie.

Variant sylvie: she can talk about her family now! Wow! The show always tells us she has such a difficult life and now we can actually see the traumatic aspect of it! By that i mean if loki was like "my mom died. She was the only one to believe in me. I loved her so much" she can go like "yeah i haven't seen her since i was like 12. I miss her so much. I understand you pain because i understand your love. It's the same as mine" and isn't that beautiful? Isnt that sad? What about her odin? Is he a decent father? What about thor? Does she looks back at her childood fondly or is the pain too much? Was her family disfuntional like loki's? Does she still long for that love? Even if (in case) it was fucked up? Does she till have to suppress that tiny pathetic child-like hope of her family recognizing something is slightly different? But How could they know? They have their daughter. This sylvie is just a reject. (And so se distances herself from the name loki and ta da! It makes sense now. Also i don't think giving her a random comic character name like sylvie is ideal. I liked @magpie-murder 's post about her name being Tökk and im putting the link if it works just give me a second i need it) Is she irrationally mad about it? About being unknowingly "abandoned" by her family? She does feel like a part of her died and she could never be' the same og timeline sylvie? Does she think about never seeing thor grow up? Does she think they would still love her if they met her now? She couldn't come back even if she had the means. That would make her bitterness and obsession for reckless revenge interesting and understandable. Just pure visceral violent desperate self destructive "one sided" familiar love, you know what i mean?

I think that her and loki talking about their families would make them bond and we could have loki reflecting on the nature of his trauma (i just really want him to say "maybe odin truly loved me. Maybe he thought he did. But he didn't do it in way i could understand, in a way that didn't hurt me. He just did it conditionally. I could only exist on his terms." And stuff like that).

With Tökk being short tempered and anger-driven, loki could feel himself slip into a similar dinamic to the one he was with thor and he could catch himself and be like wait. You are going to listen to me because we need eachother right now. We are equals. That would be cool. Yeah

Love interest sylvie: it's not sylvie bro. It's Amora The Enchantress Time babeyyyy. And

1. There is no happy ending even in this case she betrays his ass

2. Is she a timeline variant? Does she know our loki? Wow lets find out with this flashback! OR is she a multiversal variant? Maybe she doesn't exist in our loki's timeline and he's never seen her but she has a loki. And she knows him. Were they lovers? Friends? Enemies? A mix? Let's find out with this flashback! She carries that bias in meeting our loki.

3. I don't know what her goals are im tired you decide

7. Loki is genderfluid for real because im Smart. Maybe the lack of shapeshifting on screen is explained with loki didn't feel comfortable presenting fem because it was not well seen in Asgard (i know it had a different view of sexual acts but turning into a woman? In a patriarcal war society? It must be just another malevolent trick) but now literally doesn't give a fuck anymore theres so much shit going down who cares if you have tits now.

Yeah that's it.

My brain is mushy now

[loki-hargreeves]

Asgard: [burns]

#I'm never getting over this either #I think about these scenes on a daily basis #Loki #Thor Dark world #Thor Ragnarok #I need to get new files of Loki scenes #because I have them with such bad quality for gifs #ew #it will do for now #I can't wait to delete all the old Loki video files and download new and better ones #spring cleaning

[waitimcomingtoo]

I’m Not Half as Bad as You’ve Been Told

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Synopsis: Loki is arrested by the TVA for what he did to you 

This can be read on it’s own or as a spin off of in case you don’t live forever

Masterlist

Loki woke up in the Gobi Dessert in Mongolia after being ejected from the sky. The last thing he remembered was taking the tesseract after getting caught by the Avengers in New York. When he opened his eyes, he was met with four armed guards with their weapons pointed at them.

“Hunter B-15 with the Time Variance Authority here. Appears to be a standard sequence violation.” Hunter B-15 read off a small monitor. “Oh and look at that, you’re one of the TVA’s most wanted.”

“I beg your pardon?” Loki asked as he got off the ground.

“Hands up.” Hunter B-15 raised her weapon. “You’re coming with us.”

Before Loki could protest, he was knocked out and had a collar placed around his neck. He was brought to the TVA headquarters and handed off to Agent Mobius after being screened.

“Loki Laufeyson. I’m agent Mobius.” Mobius introduced himself as Loki tugged at his collar. “I hear the Time Keepers find you guilty of tampering with the sacred timeline.”

“The what?” Loki huffed.

“The sacred timeline. Looks like you stole the tesseract and committed crimes against the midgardian Y/n L/n.” The Mobius read off Loki’s file.

“Y/n?” Loki stumbled back at the unexpected mention of your name. “This is about her?”

“That’s part of your charges, yes. You’ll be given more details at your trial. But I’d ike to have a talk with you first. Come this way.” Mobius nodded towards the side and lead Loki to a room with a projector on a long conference table.

“What does this have to do with Y/n? Where is she? Is she all right?” Loki asked as he took a seat behind the projector. He had worried about you since the day you left him, even after you told him you never wanted to see him again.

“She’s fine.” Mobius assured him. “Even after you got a hold of her.”

“Is she here?” Loki hoped. “Could I see her?”

“No.” Mobius answered, making Loki’s face crumple. “She’s on Earth. You know, her home.”

“I know Midgard is her home.” Loki narrowed his eyes. “I also know how much she hated it there. But this all happened ages ago. Why am I being arrested for it now?”

“Well when you took the tesseract from its set path, the TVA was alerted and noticed that this wasn’t your first offense of tampering with the sacred time line. They saw that Y/n L/n never made it back to earth in 2019 after going to Asgard to retrieve the Aether. It went undetected at the time since the Aether made it back to earth like it was supposed to. She was supposed to go back as well, but she never made it. You were the one that kept her there.”

“How is that a crime?” Loki asked. “She wanted to stay with me. She was happy! She was happy on Asgard.”

“Was she?” Mobius raised his eyebrows and turned on the screen. “Because I think she was taken from her family, friends and home. Maybe I’m mistaken, though. Let’s take a look.”

Mobius pressed a button on a remote, and a projection appeared in front of them. Mobius began to fast forward through the foundational moments in Loki’s life until he got to what he was looking for. Loki watched in shock as an image of you, Thor, and Rocket creeping around a pillar in his home appeared on the screen. He wanted to shut his eyes and look away, but it had been so long since he’d seen you. He didn’t have the strength to look away from you now.

“I’m sure you remember why she was there.” Mobius said as he watched the scene unfold. “All she wanted was the infinity stone. She was trying to save the world. She missed her boyfriend and wanted to undo all the damage that Thanos had done. You couldn’t let her do that, could you?”

“The stone still made it back to earth.” Loki protested. “She said herself that she wasn’t an important part of the plan. And her “boyfriend” was nothing but dust particles. She-“

“Shh.” Mobius waved his hand. “The shows about to begin.”

Loki painfully returned his attention to the screen right as your first introduction played out. It was your job to distract Loki while Thor and Rocket collected the Aether.

Asgard 2013

“Who goes there?” Loki cringed at the sound of his own voice. He watched Rocket and Thor hide behind a pillar while you went out into the open. You walked into a room and found Loki lying on a couch, tossing something in the air and catching it. Loki sat up when he saw you, immediately on high alert.

“Who are you?” He demanded. “How did you get in here?”

“I’m so sorry, but my friends and I are here for the festival and I just had to sneak away to find you.” You gushed, trying to it best to look innocent. Loki took long strides towards you as he took in your appearance, highly skeptical of your story.

“My brother isn’t here.” Loki informed you, his voice thick with annoyance. “So you should best be on your way.”

“I’m not here for your brother.” You said coyly. You held his gaze as you signaled for Thor and Rocket to move to the next room.

“You’re here for me?” He cleared his throat to mask the disbelief in his voice. You nodded sweetly as Thor and Rocket snuck past you.

“Of course. My friends are obsessed with your brother, but I’ve always loved you. Won’t you show me a magic trick?” You batted your eyes flirtatiously, making a slight smirk appear on Loki’s face. Meanwhile, the present day Loki was watching the interaction with a pained expression. He remembered how it felt that first time you said you loved him. That was all he needed to hear before falling in love with you just the same.

“A magic trick?” The Loki on screen asked, mischief swirling behind his eyes.

“Well you are the God of Mischief, aren’t you?” You tilted your head to the side and looked at him through your eyelashes. A full, open mouthed smirk dressed his face now. His hand went to yours and it held it up, keeping your wrist tightly between his fingers. Loki brushed the fingers on his other hand over your palm and a diamond appeared. You looked at the beautiful diamond, weightless in your hand, and let out an unexpected gasp.

“Oh, Loki. That’s amazing.” You gave him an over dramatic sigh, but he completely fell for it. “But I don’t care much for diamonds. I haven’t any use for them.”

Loki felt a twinge of competition brewing in his chest, like he had to win your approval. You faked a yawn and his eyes gleamed with determination.

“You don’t like that? Well how about this?” Loki challenged and waved his fingers over your palm again. This time, a flower appeared. It didn’t look like any earthly flower. It was ten times more beautiful and smelled better than anything you had ever smelled before. The flowers colors were green and black with accents of gold, just like Loki’s outfit. You stared at the flower in amazement before looking up shyly at him. If you weren’t mistaken, the God of Mischief had a blush on his cheeks as he watched your face carefully for approval. Loki then picked up the flower and tucked it behind your ear. He began to lean in slightly, but you were interrupted by Thor and Rocket knocking over a vase. You noticed they had the stone and were ready to go. Luckily, you saw them before Loki did.

“What was-“ Loki began to turn his head towards the sound but you quickly put a hand behind his head and pulled him into a kiss. You felt his eyes flutter shut as you opened yours, catching sight of Rocket and Thor pretending to gag out of the corner of your eye. With one hand, you motioned for them to move. They quickly scattered and you pulled away from the kiss. Loki was fully blushing now but doing his best to conceal it, though his best wasn’t good enough. He seemed completely bewildered, making you wonder if he’d ever kissed anyone before. You touched your fingertips to your lips and felt a pang of guilt. This was your first time kissing someone other than Peter Parker in 5 years, and it made you feel guilty with how much you enjoyed it. Loki appeared to be just as lost in his thoughts as you were as he struggled to catch his breath. He ran a hand over the long black hair that you had slightly messed up in the back.

“Thanks for the flower. And for everything else. Bye!” You tried to make a quick escape, but Loki caught your arm.

“Wait!” He pulled you back towards him and looked at you with wide eyes. “Will I see you again?”

“No.” You smiled sadly. “I don’t think you will.”

“You’re not from here, are you?” He asked. “I know a Midgardian when I see one.”

“Good catch.” You let out a short laugh. “No, I’m not from here. I’m not even from this reality. I just needed to borrow something from your present. I’m from Earth, and I really have to get back.”

You tried to leave again, but Loki followed after to you and caught you by the waist. You stumbled back into his arms and blinked in surprise.

“Won’t you stay?” He asked hopefully. “We only just met. Do you have to leave so soon?”

“I do.” You frowned. “I’m sorry. I really need to go home.”

“All right.” Loki reluctantly let go of you. “If you must.”

You looked at him for a moment and chewed on your bottom lip, contemplating what to do. You looked behind you and saw Thor and Rocket preparing to leave. You motioned for them to leave without you before looking back at Loki.

“Do you have a pen?” You asked him.

“A what?”

“To write with.” You chuckled and motioned as of you were writing something down. Loki waved his hand and made a quill appear out of thin air, along with a piece of paper.

“That’ll work.” You shrugged and took the quill. You wrote your name and address down on the paper and handed it to him.

“If you’re ever on earth.” You smiled shyly. “Come find me.”

“I will.” He nodded eagerly.

“I really have to go now.” You said as you looked over your shoulder to where Thor was hiding. You turned back to Loki and gave him one last kiss, surprising the both of you.

“You’ll see me again.” You said softly. “Maybe not in this timeline, but the next.”

“That’s enough.” Loki interrupted, making the screen pause. “I know what happens. And since you’ve been studying me all my life as you claim, so do you. We don’t need to watch anymore.”

“I get it, you’re impatient.” Mobius held up his hands. “We can fast forward. How about we go to the part where you used magic to break her suit? Your brother was able to get back to Earth just fine, but she was stuck on Asgard. All because of you.”

Mobius pointed a remote at the screen and fast forwarding through Loki sneaking you to his bed chambers. He stopped when he got to you and Loki sitting on his silk sheeted bed.

“I don’t know why it won’t work.” You sighed as you touched all the buttons on your suit. “I must’ve run out of Pym Particles or something. I need to fix it so I can get back to Earth.”

“Right, right. Earth.” Loki said with disinterest. “What did you need to borrow anyway?”

“The aether.” You told him as the decor in his room caught your attention. You began to look at all his golden trinkets and stolen objects with awe.

“An infinity stone?” He was taken aback. “But why?”

“In the future, Thanos wipes out half the universe.” You began. “I’m on a recovery mission with the rest of the Avengers to collect the Infinity Stones to undo what he did. We’re trying to bring all the people back.”

“Half the people in the universe gone?” He gasped. “That sounds awful.”

“It is.” You stilled for a moment. “Honestly, I’m miserable. Absolutely miserable. All my family vanished. My boyfriend is gone. Half the Avengers are gone. The sky isn’t even blue anymore. It’s horrible.”

“So you aren’t happy there?” Loki asked as he walked over to you, a little jealousy bubbling when you mentioned a boyfriend.

“I hate it.” You admitted. “Everywhere I turn, I’m reminded of what I lost. That’s why it’s so important that we bring everyone back.”

“But what if your plan fails?” Loki wondered. “What if you don’t bring back all the stones? Or what if you do, but it doesn’t bring anyway back?”

“Then I don’t know what I’d do.” You shrugged sadly. “This plan is all I have. If it fails…”

“You don’t even want to think about that, do you?” He finished your sentence when you trailed off. You looked at him and nodded softly, grateful that he understood.

“Yeah.” You said quietly. “It’s too hard to imagine.”

“See?” Loki interrupted again. “She was miserable on Earth. She said it herself. I was trying to save her from a lifetime of misery.”

“I think you’re forgetting something.” Mobius reminded him.

“Forgetting what?” Loki scoffed.

“The plan worked.” Mobius said. “Thor brought the Aether back to her original timeline, and the Avengers were able to bring everyone back. She was supposed to go too, but she was left on Asgard. That was your first offense with the TVA.”

“Oh, screw the TVA.” Loki slammed his hand on the table. “She didn’t want to go back to Earth. She was unhappy there.”

“Is that why you told her Earth was destroyed?” Mobius asked. Loki stilled and sank in his seat as he was reminded of his lies. Mobius fast forwarded again, but didn’t play another scene. Instead, he paused on a clip of you looked utterly devestated. Loki had to look away, not wanting to see you in that much pain.

“Now, I’m not gonna play this part.” Mobius shook his head. “Because even I find it hard to watch. But you need to know what you did, so I’ll remind you.”

“You don’t need to do this.” Loki seethed. “I know what I did. I know what I told her.”

“Fine, then.” Mobius shrugged. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

Loki sucked in a sharp breath before looking back at the screen. The image of your desolate expression had never left his memory, so he really didn’t need to see it again to be reminded of what he had done.

“She tried to leave again.” Loki began as he stared at the screen. “I knocked her out with my magic. When she woke up, I told her Thanos had destroyed Earth and everyone on it. I said there was nothing left for her to return to.”

“She was devestated.” Mobius said quietly.

“I know she was.” Loki snapped. “She cried for a month straight.”

“So why’d you do it?” Mobius put his hands on his hips. “Why did you lie to her?”

“I didn’t want her to go.” Loki admitted, growing disgusted with himself. “I wanted her to stay with me on Asgard. She wouldn’t want to go back to Earth if she thought there was no Earth to go back to.”

“Why keep her?” Mobius wondered. “You barely knew her. Why hold her hostage like that?”

“She wasn’t held hostage.” Loki growled. “She was safe and loved and happy. No one on Asgard was taken better care of than she was. And I may not have known here when she first arrived, but we became inseparable after a while. We were almost married, for Odin’s sake. I’ll show you.”

Loki grabbed the remote from Mobius and pressed a button, fast forwarding until he found what he was looking for.

“Look.” Loki proudly pointed to the screen. “Watch this.”

He pressed play and watched as a memory of you and him played out on the screen.

“Where are we going?” You asked as Loki lead you somewhere with his hands over your eyes.

“Almost there. So impatient.” He clicked his tongue.

“You’ve taken me around the whole palace.” You chuckled. “I have a right to be impatient.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Loki stopped walking but didn’t remove his hands. “All right. We’re here.”

You pulled his hands off of your face and found yourself in front of two large green doors.

“Wow.” You said sarcastically. “Doors.

“Open the doors.” He rolled his eyes. You gave him a playful look over your shoulder before pushing the doors open.

“Oh my God.” You gasped when the doors opened. The room was decorated from ceiling to floor with all kinds of Asgardian wildlife. I’m the center of the room, your name was spelled out in the flower Loki had presented you with on the day you met. There was a running waterfall that cascading from the ceiling to the ground, leaving a soothing babbling sound throughout the room.

“It’s yours.” Loki said as he watched your reaction. “You mentioned once that you always wanted a garden. Now you do.”

“Oh, Loki.” You turned around and rushed into his arms. He stumbled back in surprise before hugging you back tightly.

“This is the nicest thing anyones ever done for me.” You mumbled against his chest.

“Well, you’ve been so upset lately. I wanted to cheer you up.” He said as he stroked your hair. It had been a month since he lied to you and told you that Earth was destroyed, and you were finally starting to act like yourself again.

“Thank you.” You pulled away to look at him. “I love it. It’s beautiful.”

“I truly hope you like it, darling.” He said softly as he brushed your cheek with his thumb. “It’s all yours.”

You looked into his eyes for a moment before your gaze fell to his lips. Since your last kiss, Loki had brought you food and kept you company every day. You had a built up a friendship with him since arriving to Asgard, but now you felt differently. There was a connection from the very first day, but it had gotten lost in your lament over your planets alleged destruction. Now, there was nothing stopping you from feeling that connection again. You hesitated before leaning it to kiss him. Just like last time, you felt his eyes flutter shut before he kissed you back. His hands cupped your face as you reached your arms around his neck. Loki watched your first kiss on the screen with a proud but mournful smile.

“Isn’t that something?” Mobius said as he paused the screen. Loki blinked back to reality and wiped his face, not realizing until that moment he had been crying.

“That scene speaks for itself.” Loki cleared his throat and tried to act like he hadn’t been crying. “You can see how happy she was. She loved that garden. And she loved me.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Mobius nodded. “But it’s hard to see past the fact that your entire relationship was built on a lie. She was only with you because she thought her home was destroyed.”

“She was with me for three years.” Loki said sharply. “The lie may have kept her there in the beginning, but she stayed willingly after that. She wanted to be on Asgard. She wanted to be with me.”

“Maybe. But she wasn’t supposed to be.” Mobius reminded him. “That wasn’t her timeline. She was supposed to be on Earth. She was supposed to be with Peter.”

“Peter?” Loki sputtered in disdain. “Peter Parker? Her little boyfriend from when she was a teenager?”

“In most time lines, they end up together.” Mobius said, knocking the wind out of Loki’s chest. “She went on that mission because she wanted to bring him back. Do you think she would have stayed, even for a second, if she knew her boyfriend Peter was alive back on Earth?”

“She told me they were 17 when the Thanos wiped out half the universe. That means Peter would’ve been 17 when he returned. She was 22 when she came to Asgard. She hadn’t been his girlfriend for 5 years. She had grown up. Her life went on. They would’ve had nothing in common anymore.”

“But she was supposed-“

“Who cares what she was supposed to do?” Loki snapped. “Why does the TVA get to decided what she was supposed to do or where she was supposed to be?”

“They’re the Time Keepers. They make the rules. And the rules say you can’t take someone from a different timeline and marry them. Oh, that reminds me.”

“Reminds you of what?”

“Your punishment. Mobius pressed a different button and a cloudy box appeared. “Go in there while I get the rest of your files.”

“What? I’m not going in there.” Loki scoffed.

“Don’t make me get the guards.” Mobius sighed. Loki clenched his jaw and looked at the ceiling, not wanting to be overpowered by the guards again. He reluctantly stood up, gave Mobius a sarcastic smile, and went through the cloudy portal.

As soon as Loki stepped through the portal, he stepped into his bedroom back on Asgard. He took another step forward, just as something stirred in his sheets. You sat up all the sudden, hair messy and wearing Loki’s horned crown. It was too big for your head and hung in your eyes, but the sight still took Loki’s breath away.

“Y/n?” Loki gasped and stepped forward.

“Hi.” You said before yawning. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Go ahead.” Loki nodded eagerly. He failed to see how this was a punishment. It had been so long since he last saw you that this felt more like a reward.

“I want our wedding to be earth themed.” You told him as you took his hands in yours.

“Our…our wedding?” Loki asked. He looked around the room and realized that he was not actually with you, but reliving a memory from years ago.

“Yeah.” You smiled shyly. “I just miss it so much. I want it to be a part of our special day.”

Loki found himself at a loss for words. He knew that when this memory originally happened, he had continued to lie to you and lead you to believe Earth had been destroyed. This time, he knew better and kept his mouth shut.

“We could have sunflowers.” You continued. “That was my favorite flower back on earth. And we could serve earth food and play earth music and-“

“Of course darling.” He cut you off and squeezed your hand. “Whatever you want. We will have it all.”

“Thank you. And if it’s not too much to ask, I want a minute of silence where everyone lights a candle.” You said quietly. “For Peter.”

Loki gulped and forced a smile, that line causing him just as much pain now as it did then.

“Of course.”

“Thank you.” You stood up from the bed and hugged him tightly. Loki hugged you back with a troubling frown on his face. He had forgotten how guilty he felt every time he had to lie to you. He pulled away and brought you into a long kiss, wordlessly trying to convey that he loved you and was sorry.

“I can’t wait. I can’t tell you how much I miss earth.” You sighed against his lips.

“Mm hm.” He gulped.

“I just wish I could’ve seen it one last time.” You frowned, eyes growing tearful. “I feel so guilty all the time. I would’ve died too if I had gone back with Thor when I was supposed to.”

“Then it’s a good thing you didn’t go.” Loki said weakly, knowing Thor was very much alive in your timeline back on Earth.

“I know.” You sighed. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to shake the survivors guilt. It makes me sick sometimes.”

Loki stayed silent as he fingers drummed against your waist. Before he could respond, his body jerked back and he suddenly reentered the room.

“Hi.” You said before yawning. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Loki looked behind him before looking back at you. The memory played all over again, forcing him to lie to you once again. When you told him how guilty you felt, he was sent back and had to relive the moment over again. Each time he had to lie to you, he felt more disgusted with himself. After the thirteenth time, he had enough.

“I just wish I could’ve seen it one last time.” You frowned, eyes growing tearful. “I feel so guilty all the time. I would’ve died too if I had gone back with Thor when I was supposed to.”

“I lied to you.” He admitted. “Earth was never destroyed. Thor and all the Avengers and your family, they’re all fine.”

“What?” You blinked in confusion.

“I’m not your savior. I didn’t save you from anything. I stole you from your time line because I fell in love with you the moment we met. You were the first person to show a a genuine interest in me, and I took advantage of that. And for that, I am deeply, deeply sorry.”

“Oh, Loki.” You sighed and stroked his face. “It’s too late for that.”

“What?” He frowned as he wrapped his hand around your wrist to keep your palm against his face.

“I’m not even here.” You whispered.

“All right Loki.” Mobius walked through the portal before Loki could answer you. “I got the rest of your files. Let’s go.”

“But…I can’t just leave her.” Loki held on to you tightly.

“She’s not even real.” Mobius shrugged as he held up his remote. It pulled Loki back through the portal and he stumbled back into his seat.

“Here’s the last one.” Mobius said, but Loki wasn’t listening. He was still thinking about how it felt to touch you one last time. He blinked back a tear before looking up at the screen. You were there once again, talking to one of the new maids.

“Oh, I wasn’t born here.” He heard you telling the maid. “I’m from Earth.”

“A midgardian?” The maid smiled. “Wow. You’re quite far from home.”

“I know.” You smiled sadly. “I miss it every day. But I’m happy here. I’m really happy with Loki.”

“If you miss it, why don’t you go back?” The maid asked, making Loki suck in a breath. He knew exactly what was coming.

“Go back?” You furrowed your eyebrows. “What do you mean? Earth was destroyed three years ago.”

“No it wasn’t.” The nurse laughed. “Earth is fine.”

The audio faded out as you turned to look at Loki. He felt like you were looking right through him, down to his rotten soul. Your face was frozen in horror and betrayal as you finally learned the truth. Three years after arriving on Asgard, you found out your home hadn’t been destroyed after all. It was all a lie. A lie told to you by the man you thought you loved.

“Stop.” Loki choked out. “Stop it. Turn it off.”

Mobius paused the screen and looked at Loki in silence. To his surprise, Loki was wiping his tears off on the sleeves of his jumpsuit. His eyes were red and full of remorse as he looked up at the screen.

“I don’t need it see it again.” He whispered. “I know she trusted me. I know I betrayed her. I did that.”

“So you understand why the TVA is arresting you?” Mobius asked softly. “You didn’t just steal the tesseract. You stole that girl from her reality. Even if she loved you, she was never supposed to be with you.”

Loki nodded before hanging his head in shame. He knew what he had done was wrong. He knew it the entire time he was doing it. Even though he betrayed you out of his love for you, he still betrayed you.

“You’re right.” Loki said sincerely. “She was never mine to keep. Never mine to lose either.”

“No, she wasn’t.” Mobius agreed as he watched Loki curiously. The look of utter remorse on Loki’s face was out of character after everything Mobius had studied about him.

“Could you just tell me if she’s all right?” Loki sniffled. “That’s all I ask. Is she okay?”

“She’s fine.” Mobius answered. “She’s fighting for the Avengers again and reunited with her family.”

“Is she still miserable?”

“No.” Mobius smiled a little. “Not anymore.”

“And…and Peter?” His voice was barely audible now.

“Don’t worry about that.” Mobius told him. “It won’t do you any good. And for what it’s worth, there are timelines that exists where she stays. There’s even a timeline where you two are alligators and rule a kingdom in a lake.”

Loki smiled too, grateful that you were able to move on after his betrayal. Mobius furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of Loki genuinely caring about another human being, something he was not used to seeing.

“I could show you one more thing.” Mobius offered sympathetically. Loki reluctantly looked back at the screen as the man his play. To his surprise, all the good moments of his relationship with you flashed before him. All the kisses and laughter, fond smiles and endearing moments played on the screen, bringing tears to his eyes. He leaned toward on the table to get as close to you as possible, reaching out towards you with his shackled hands. The screen went blank suddenly, and his smile fell.

“They’re ready for you.” Mobius said as he checked his phone. “I can take you to the court now.”

Loki stayed silent as he was lead to the courtroom and sat in front of the judge. All he could think about was the moments of happiness he had been able to relive.

“Loki Laufeyson.” The judge brought his attention back. “How do you plead?

Loki blinked a few times, your smile flashing before him each time he closed his eyes. He thought about he had caused that smile to fade with every lie he told, and that’s when he knew he had his answer. He looked the judge right in the eye and entered his plea.

“Guilty.”

#loki x reader #loki imagine #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki fluff #loki angst #loki series #loki spoilers #peter parker x reader

[rachaelswrites]

Future Memories

Loki Laufeyson x Daughter!reader

Loki learns the fate of his daughter as he watches his future at the TVA

Word Count: 721

A/N: This is my first Loki fic! If you all enjoy it, I’ll probably write more for him

Warnings: CONTAINS LOKI SPOILERS, brief description of death

Loki’s eyes watched as moments of his future flashed on the screen. Scenes of Frigga dying were now burned in his mind, alongside the validations of Odin, something he wanted his whole life. All he wanted to hear was Odin call him his son and to be treated like Thor. There were also scenes of him and his brother, ones Loki never thought would happen. Thor saying he always cared for Loki and wanted them to fight alongside each other. A new scene flashed onto the screen and Loki froze, hearing your voice, scared and confused. 

“Father?” you asked quietly, “When will I get to see you again?”

Loki looked at you with sad eyes. He was never getting out of here and the only reason you got to visit was because of Frigga and even then it was through an illusion. You weren’t really there but he wanted you to be. He wanted to hold you close to him again and tell you everything was going to be fine, “Soon darling. I promise,” he said. He stood up from the small bench he was sitting on and walked towards you. He crouched down in front of you so he could take in your face one more time. 

“I love you,” you whispered to him. You reached out to hug him but your arms fell through him, making tears well up in your eyes. You forgot that since you were just an illusion, you couldn’t actually touch your father. 

The scene ended and a new one slid onto the screen. The two of you were older now and Loki could tell, just from the way you carried yourself, that you were different. It was a good difference and he was proud to see how the person you’d become. 

You were looking out the window of the ship, gazing at the stars passing by you. Your vision was slightly blurred, due to the tears forming in your eyes. Your home planet was just destroyed and you had nowhere to go. You were scared and confused about what was going to happen next. 

Loki had searched the ship for you, wanting to check in to see what was going on through your head. He saw you sitting on the floor near one of the large windows and quietly made his way over to you, sitting down next to you. 

“Are we going to be okay?” you asked him, sensing his presence. 

“Of course we will Y/n,” placing his hand on your arm gently, “All we need is each other.”

The scene faded as a small smile appeared on your face. Loki’s heart ached to see you again. You were most important to him, more than Thor and more than Frigga. 

Thanos’ voice filled the room and Loki’s eyes moved back to the screen. He watched as Thanos had a hand wrapped around his throat and squeezed, a loud snap echoed through the room. His eyes went wide at seeing his own death on the screen in front of him but when he heard your voice call out for him, broken and on the verge of tears, he found it hard to keep his composure, “No,” he whispered as the screen panned to you and Thor, tears falling from his eyes slowly, “No.”

You were a wreck, sobbing and clinging to Loki’s now lifeless body. Your tears spilled onto his chest as you cupped his face in your hands, “Please wake up. Please please,” you begged, “I need you. Please don’t leave me.”

The ship started rumbling and you looked up at Thor. He had tears in his own eyes, seeing his brother lying on the ground and you, his niece, your heart breaking at seeing the only person you loved taken from you, “Y/n,” he said, “It’ll be okay.”

You shook your head and clung to your father even tighter, knowing that the increased rumbling of the ship meant you would be separated from him. As the ship shook, a wave of purple washed over you and you lost your grip on your dad and you cried out for him as you were sent through space. 

The screen went black and the words End of File flashed on the screen. Loki choked on his breath. How could that be the end?

Taglist

@ssebstann @peachyprincessss @emmy-writes-sometimes @dudele @prentisswrites @laura-naruto-fan1998 @multifamdomfan12 @aquariuslavenderhoney @taylorsmuseatthelakes @vxidsti1es @waxingmoonwrites @benbarnesbussy @imfaosoph @hallecarey1

#loki #loki spoilers #loki odinson #loki laufeyson #loki x daughter!reader #loki x teen!reader #loki x daughter #loki x teen #loki layfeyson imagine #marvel #marvel fanfiction

[diamond-coral]

Bargaining Chip

Hello! This is my first time posting on Tumblr ever:) I pulled this one-shot from a fic I posted on AO3 a few months ago but the plot is irrelavent and I changed it from first person to second as well as some details so it can be read as a stand alone. There’s some plot from the actual story but you really don’t need to know it at all.

There might be a few errors, especially because I changed the entire point of view and converted it to present tense from past tense so sorry:) 

Loki manages to get his hands on you and exchanges you and your body for his ticket to independence from the Avengers. Bucky gets to go first.

Dark!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Characters included: Loki, and a little bit of Tony, Steve, and Thor

WARNINGS: 18+ ONLY!!! SMUT (NON-CON TOUCHING, FORCED ORAL SEX (m receiving), KNIFE THREATS, DARK! AVENGERS, BUCKY’S AN ASSHOLE IN THIS, DEGRADATION, BASICALLY FORCED PROSTITUTION) READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

You awake in the passenger seat of your own car with only foggy memories of you and your partner before everything had gone dark. Your mission from the CIA...breaking and entering the motherfucking Avenger’s facility and managing to escape...you were so close. If it weren’t for him. In your haze, you look to see who could possibly have the audacity to be driving your car, and there sits Loki, the God of Mischief, who you had only scene on the news, driving one hand and inspecting something in his other.

“Good evening my lady. Sleep well?” he mocks without taking his eyes off the item in his hand which upon further inspection from you looks to be... a red leash?

What the hell?

“I do hope you like your outfit,” he continues. “I think I assembled quite the get up for you.”

Looking down, you let out a muffled scream that was cut off by a strip of duct tape. Your hands are bound in your lap, but that isn’t what horrifies you. It’s what’s underneath them. You take into account your bare legs, fully on display, with a black dress leaving little to the imagination. The top half is just as horrifying with it’s plunging neckline. Your legs end with a pair of strappy gold heels that ensures any chances of running away to be futile while your upper arms are adorned in golden bracelets accented with emeralds. Whether the emeralds were real or fake, you could care less. You have bigger problems to worry about.

“What the fuck?!”

Is what you try to say, but the gag only makes it come out as a mangled ball of muffled murmurs. Though the chuckle Loki lets out implies he understands your enraged speaking attempt.

“You, my dear, are going to be a bargaining chip. I heard about your little escapade at the Avenger’s facility last night. Impressive, I must say, but my brother and his little hero posse had been looking for you relentlessly after that. They are practically obsessed with catching the women that managed to break into their high security building.”

Loki takes a sharp turn into a parking garage, narrowly missing the wall. You squeal as your precious car runs over the curb.

“I forgot how much I hate mortal transportation devices. But Stark had to build this tower in the middle of New York to feed his ever-growing ego and now I’m the one that has to rely on a car to get me there,” he grumbles while pulling into a parking space. He takes a deep breath once the car is parked. “Now, I’m going to remove that gag out of your mouth, and if you scream, I will peel your skin off of your body in the slowest, most painful way imaginable. Understood?”

You nod frantically and he rips the tape off, extracting a whimper from your now stinging mouth. You open your mouth for him to take the wad of cloth out that was under the duct tape. As he extracts it, you snap your mouth shut in an attempt to bite him, but he’s quick to evade and grabs your jaw harshly.

“What did I say before?” he seethes. 

“You said not to scream. I didn’t scream. Now let go of my face.”

Loki roughly throughs your face to the side, letting go, and looks around the surroundings of the car, probably checking for any unwanted onlookers.

“Out of the car. Now,” he orders and you hastily oblige using your bound hands to open the door.

As you shut the door, you catch a glimpse of your own reflection and grimace. You look like a hooker. Aside from the skimpy outfit, your hair was pinned up and intertwined with gold strands. Your makeup is done as well. Sultry eye shadow and dark red lipstick.

“I didn’t know the God of Mischief was a makeup guru,” you jab.

He ignores you and harshly pushes you forward. “Walk.”

“Where’s my partner?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Loki replies. “She has other uses than the one I currently need you for.”

“And what use am I needed for?”

“I already told you. By the gods, you mortals are stupid. You are to be a bargaining chip, (Y/N).”

Your blood runs cold. “How do you know my name?” you ask.

“I know everything about you. Including your peculiar abilities.”

You stop dead in your tracks.

“Now, don’t worry,” he adds. “As amusing to me as it would be, I have no interest in enlightening the Avengers to your secret identity. As far as they will know, I am simply giving them the criminal that broke into their compound.”

“And what’s in it for you?” you ask as he guidesyou into an elevator.

After pushing a button, he goes to fix his dark green tie. “Clever girl now aren’t you?”

“Answer the question.”

“How about-no?” he muses and a soft ding resonates through the elevator.

The doors opened and, for a moment, you forget the predicament your in. Inside was the most beautiful penthouse you had ever seen. The opposite wall was made entirely out of glass allowing a view of the New York City night skyline. Everything little piece of furniture each looks as expensive as your car, but your focus becomes drawn to the minibar. The Avengers were all sitting there, laughing, and most were obviously drunk.

“Here James, try some of this,” Thor booms.

Bucky makes a face. “Why would I drink something from another planet meant for Gods?”

“Jeez Buck it’s the only thing that can get you and I drunk,” Steve slurs and claps Bucky on the shoulder. “It’s your birthday. Live it up a little.”

Bucky hesitates before grabbing the flask Thor offers him and throwing his head back, downing the flask in one go.

Loki seems to have enough of the party scene as he clears his throat to interrupt them.

“Gentlemen-”

Before Loki uttered another word all the Avengers clambered from their seats to grab their weapons, but their intoxicated state just makes it a comical sight. Captain America falls over in an attempt to reach for his shield below the table. Tony Stark’s iron man mask smacks him over the head as he fails to turn in time to catch it on his face. Sam Wilson chokes on his drink and falls backwards off his barstool in shock.

“I come bearing no ill tidings.” Loki spread his arms.

“Then why bother coming at all?” Thor growls, shifting his hammer to his right hand.

“I’ve come to make an offer.”

With that, Loki snatches your wrist and throws you towards him and the other men. You stumbled in you stilettos and let out a yelp as you land on the floor looking up at the 5 present Avengers: Thor, the Winter Soldier, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Falcon. They all look down on you with perplexed looks etched onto their faces.

“You guys have been so caught up and stressed about finding your security breaches that I was generous enough to do some finding myself,” Loki explains.

“And how do we know you didn’t just pluck some prostitute off the street?” Caps eyes rake up and down your body.

Loki scoffs. “Always the skeptic captain. Does this answer your question?” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a flash-drive.

Tony snatches it from his hands. “Jarvis, what’s on this drive?” he asks, holding the drive up to a scanner in the glasses he’s wearing.

“It appears to be the files you have been collecting the 2 vigilantes you have been tracking and-.”

“Okay thanks J!” Tony interrupts quickly before Jarvis could spill any more information. He proceeds to storm up to your cowering and kneeling form that hadn’t dared move and harshly grabs your jaw.

Jesus, what was with these men and your poor, bruised jaw?

“Why would you possibly need this information?” he asks calmly, but his eyes are feral. He studies you and his brows furrow. Did he manage to piece it all together that you were the alleged vigilante they had been hunting? He lets go of your jaw and throws you back on the floor. “What business do you have looking for them?”

Looking for them? You let out a sigh of relief.

“None of your business,” you spit.

“Anyways,” Loki continues, and the drive suddenly disintegrated in Tony’s hand while reappearing in Loki’s. “I will happily hand over this seemingly important information along with the girl for you to do with her as you please, but…” He pauses. “Only if you stop tracking my current whereabouts.”

“And why would we do that, Loki? You’re dangerous,” Steve notes.

“I was dangerous,” Loki interjects. “I have been a good boy haven’t I? I would like to lead a normal life without you imbeciles tailing my every move. If I slip, Thor here will know within the second if I’m involved with anyone wrong doings, won’t you brother dear?”

Thor grunts at that statement.

“Besides, Stark’s satellite can track any magical energy if I use it. Which I won’t.”

“Fine. Now hand over the drive,” Tony snaps and holds his hand out.

After Loki drops the small gadget into Tony’s hand, he hauls you up and spins you around to face him.

His voice is quiet and low. “Be glad I didn’t tell them about my plans for you friend. It would be a shame if they found out about her abilities...and yours.”

He spins you back around to face the 5 men whose eyes were now raking up and down your body. “Easy on the eyes isn’t she?” Loki mentions, hands falling on your waist making you squirm. “You know, I almost considered keeping her for myself. Her exotic beauty is that of a pleasure maiden on Asgard.” Your struggles are invigorated at his implications. “Enjoy your whore.” And with that, he gives you one final shove before vanishing.

It’s silent for half a minute before one of the men speak up.

“Alright who wants to take her for a spin?” Tony asks, clapping his hands together. “I vote the birthday boy gets first dibs. Huh, Buckaroo?”

You blanch at the idea. Were they really going to go through with what Loki wanted? What happened to the valiant heroes you saw on your screen?

“Wait Tony, you can’t be seriously considering Loki’s suggestion?” Sam Wilson sounds surprised.

Tony shrugs. “Why not, Birdie? It’s either this or high security prison and I don’t think she wants to rot in a cell.”

“She is standing right here and would rather rot in hell than do what Loki had in mind,” you hiss.

“Well it’s a good thing we weren’t asking for her opinion,” Tony says.

“Tony’s right, Sam,” Steve adds slowly. “We bust our asses out there. We deserve something nice.”

“Day after day we save this pathetic world, and no thanks are given. Just everyone saying what we did wrong. We should’ve left the world to fend for itself after they tried shoving those ridiculous accords down our throats,” Thor murmurs

Sam raises both of his hands up in defense. “Fine. Do what you want with her. I’m gonna head out.” And with that he leaves. Your heart sinks, watching the only glimmer of hope, your knight in shining armor, walk out the door. Your self-pity party is cut short by an arm snaking around your waist.

Bucky Barnes, trained assassin, mass murderer, and now current Avenger, puts his face in the crook of your neck and inhales deeply, sending shivers down your spine while you stand frozen like a deer in headlights. “What do you say, doll? Wanna finish what we started the other night?” His hand on your waist slowly drifts down to your ass.

You stomp your heel down on his foot eliciting a groan of pain. “Last time I checked, you were in the dirt, and I was driving away that night after a successful robbery. There’s nothing to finish.”

He moves quickly as he rips your hair out of what’s securing it up, using the opportunity to tangle his hand into the roots and drag you away to a separate room. He wrenches open and throws you in, leaving you to stumble and trip. A searing pain on your forehead signaled that you hit your head.

“How about we use that snarky mouth of yours for something better hmm?” His voice is ice cold with malice as he grips your hair and yanks you up.

You cry out in pain, tears pooling in your eyes.

“Not so tough now, are you?” he sneers down at you. Hearing the sound of a belt unbuckling and pants unzipping, you shut your eyes.

A tear escapes, cascading down your face, but his thumb gently wipes it away.

“Open your eyes, doll,” he coos.

You shake your head and screw them shut even tighter.

“I said...OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!” he roars and your eyes fly open only to see his member sticking out of his slacks right in front of your face. He’s almost fully hard as precum dribbles out of the tip. “Good girl,” he praises. “Now, since you can’t seem to keep your snarky mouth shut, let’s put it to better use. How bout that?”

You don’t move, and he sighed as you look down to the floor. You hear some shuffling, a small click, and suddenly something cold and sharp is pressing under your chin, tilting your gaze to his steel blue eyes.

“Let’s try this again.” He pushes the knife harder, digging it a little deeper, but not enough to draw blood. A knife. This dirty bastard has a knife. “Suck. My. Cock.”

Pushing all your pride aside, you direct your gaze to the task in front of you. Bucky lets out an approving hum and the knife is removed from your throat. You swallow before opening your mouth and dragging your tongue from his base to the tip before wrapping your lips around him and sucking lightly.

Bucky was no slacker down there, you had to give him that. You ease your mouth down his shaft and his head tilts back.

“Oh fuck that’s it,” he moans. “Take my dick down your throat.” He grunts. His metal hand fists your hair to push your head down, sliding a few more inches into your throat. “Oh-that’s a good whore,” he breathes.

A gag is torn from you and you slap your hands against his thighs to imply you couldn’t take much more. Bucky’s only response is another grunt as he jams the rest of his length down your throat leaving your only intake of oxygen to come from your nose which was now mashed right above the base of his thick cock. As quickly as he pushed you down before, he pulls you back off by your hair, letting you go to wretch, gasping for air and freedom. A strand of saliva still connects from his tip to my lips.

“I’m not done with you yet.” He snags your hair again. “Open wide, slut.”

You do just that and he begins to fuck your throat at his own pace, sliding his entire length down every time. Tears brim at your eyes, not just from the lack of oxygen, but the humiliation of the moment as well. The time passes much too slowly for your liking, minutes dragging on for eternity, before he begins to reach his climax.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum.” His cock twitches in your mouth.He holds your head with both hands as he releases straight into your mouth, warm thick strands of his release coating the back of your throat. He pulls out  with a pop and smirks down at you. “Good little sluts swallow” he orders.

You glare up at him, making a show of not doing anything.

“Well?” he demands and raises a dark brow.

You spit his own climax onto his expensive shoes.

“Why you-!” He raises his hand, getting ready to send a smack to your face.

“Barnes!” A female voice comes from the doorway as the door flies open. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

There stood none other than the Black Widow.

#dark!bucky barnes #dark!bucky x reader #non-con #bucky x female reader #dark!fic #loki x reader #avengers #idk how to tag this #fanfic #am i doing this tag thing right? #no i'm not #smut #dark!mcu #marvel #dark bucky x reader #dark!marvel

[darling-i-read-it]

Missed

Loki x reader

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: LOKI EPISODE 1 SPOILERS

Author’s Note: I literally saved this request to do after I saw the first episode besties and it was AMAZING!!!! I usually do my requests in the order I received them but I had to post this one now lol Loki supremacy

Requested: by anon, Sooo I'd love to request a short where the s/n meets the other timeline Loki and she had a relationship with the one who died in infinity war, I imagined a few lines from favorite crime by Olivia Rodrigo, I hope it's fine ♥️ thanks love, I really love your writing!

Summary: When Loki looks back at his memories he is happy to see you there. Then you happen to be at TVA as well.

Genre: angst then fluff

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

Loki was confused. He was confused and he didn’t like to be confused. He would much have preferred that he go wherever the Avengers had planned for him, especially if it meant back to Asgard. But instead he stood in front of a little device that held his every memory, confused and angry and worst of all, scared.

Memory and future.

He was almost nervous to see what else was there. His mother dying had been bad enough, what else would he have to watch?

But he did it regardless. The scenes in front of him started with Odin, telling him and Thor that he loved him just before dying. A pit formed in his stomach and he started to choke up. That was all he ever wanted to hear. Then Thor, telling him that he wasn’t all that bad. His brother liked him, his brother didn’t see him as a villain.

Then you.

You were smiling. How he loved and missed you. He had left you on Asgard and he truly didn’t mean to. Knowing that you were in his future made him smile. He let the small bit of tears he had fall down his cheek.

“You know I’ve always loved you right? Even when people told me you were the bad guy. You’re my favorite crime Loki”

Loki’s eyes closed for a minute, letting those words sync in, knowing that you meant it. Then the memories moved on to a couple more of Thor and him. The three of you and a woman he didn’t recognize teaming up.

And then his face was illuminated with blue as Thanos picked him up. He stood up quickly moving toward the screen.

There was a quick flash to Thor, being held down and then back to Loki as he took his final words and last breath.

The screen then changed to Thor over his body and you, shaking him, screaming for him to wake up. Your voice was raw with pain.

The file ended.

Loki didn’t know what to think at first. All he could do was wonder if that was it. How could that be it? That couldn’t be all that he was meant to do in his life. He couldn’t have his time cut off, right when he was getting to a place where he thought he belonged, could he?

The door opened and he figured it was a person coming to get him. He started to laugh dryly, shaking his head slightly.

“Burdened for glorious purpose,” he muttered before turning around.

What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

You.

You in the same uniform he was in, the same collar.

“Is this some kind of cruel trick?” he asked, not taking a step forward. He regretted the words when he said it because he saw the tears in your eyes. You ran up to him, throwing your arms around him. It almost knocked him over but he stayed steady, wrapping his arms around you. You smelled the same as he remembered.

“I thought I had lost you,” you said, crying desperately. You pulled away and he wiped your eyes carefully. That was when you noticed that his hair was shorter than it had been. His face just a little younger. “Loki?”

“I don’t believe I’m the Loki you knew.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I picked up the tesseract when the Avengers went back in time,” he explained. Your eyes went wide as you composed yourself.

“So you were just picked up after trying to take over New York?” He nodded. You let out a small breath and smiled a tad. “So young.”

“I suppose you are the person who cried over my dead body.”

“You saw that?” He nodded solemly.

“I am sorry you had to see it,” he said gently. Seeing you, a familiar face made him want to jump for joy.

“I knew I would see you again,” you said matter of factly. “You promised I would see you again.” You hugged him again and he breathed you in.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. His voice was very kind. He had always been kind to you his voice now reminded you of when you were just children and the innocence hadn’t been stolen from him yet.

“I apparently made the wrong choice somewhere and it wasn’t the right timeline. Last thing I remember, Thanos had just been defeated. Maybe I was meant to die. Either way, I’m glad I disobyed the time lords.” You grabbed his hands and held them tightly. “We have to get out of here.”

“I can’t use my magic.”

“Me neither. Come on, we’re smarter than this. We can out run Mobius and whoever else comes for us,” you explained.

“I believe this is the highest power,” he said. You rolled your eyes.

“I thought you were the highest power.” He smiled.

“It’s great to see you.” You kissed him. He leaned forward and you molded your bodies together, like you did every time you kissed. When you pulled away you had a determined look on your face.

“Believe me, it’s even better to see you. Now come on, we have to find a way out of here.”

“Are you going to fight your way out using only your wits?” he teased as he started to walk behind you.

“I have some combat training, thank you very much.”

“Yes, that combat training you took with me where we did anything but combat.” You nudged him.

“Perhaps we should watch that back in our memories. It was a glorious evening.”

“My point exactly. How do you think we can get out of here without magic?” You turned to him, stopping.

“Stop asking questions. We have never had a plan in our lives. Why now do you think we need one?” He wanted to kiss you again but refrained.

“Odin's beard I’ve missed you.”

#loki x reader #loki spoilers #loki show spoilers #loki imagines

[fncreature]

Another Chance: Pt. 3

A/n: Yes l know, it's like one scene, but it's four pages!! And it took this long!! And fight scenes are hard so I don't want to make you guys wait that long so I'm giving you guys this. I promise I have more soon. My own stuff and AC 4, soon, I swear I'm writing.

Captain Rogers met you in the hallway. “You look horrible” He said.

“Didn’t sleep” You yawned.

“Why not?” He asked.

“It’s hard to sleep on concrete” He stopped walking.

“You’re sleeping on concrete?”

“I made a remark. That’s my time-out corner, Captain Rogers.”

“I thought we were done with formalities.” He said.

“Well, I have to call you Captain Rogers. Complain to Fury, cause my only way out is death”

“I’m sorry, did you say death?”

“I’m an asset and I know too much so it’s death or this, and death looks a hell of a lot nicer right now”

“Kid, you have so much to live for” He put a hand on your shoulder, and you flinched at his touch, Captain Rogers added that to his mental file of concerns.

“Like what? You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and Fury’ll punish me for this. I can’t do anything I want, and the food here sucks. I’ve been craving Cheetos since two years ago.” The conversation ended as you saw the lab’s doorway.

“Hey!” Captain Rogers said, walking into the lab as Mr. Stark poked Dr. Banner with a little electrical device.

“Nothing?” Mr. Stark asked.

“Are you nuts?” Captain Rogers asked. You leaned in the doorway

“Jury’s out. You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?” Mr. Stark asked

“Is everything a joke to you?” Captain Rogers asked

“Funny things are.” Mr. Stark shot back.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doc.” Captain Rogers said.

“No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things.” Dr. Banner objected.

“You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut.” Mr. Stark said to Dr. Banner

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.” Captain Rogers said.

“You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables.” Mr. Stark shrugged.

“You think Fury's hiding something?” Captain Rogers asked, suddenly slightly intrigued, walking into the lab.

“He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?” He asked, pointing to Dr. Banner.

“Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and…” Dr. Banner obviously wanted to stay out of it.

“Doctor?” Captain Rogers asked.

“'A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube.” Dr. Banner said.

“I heard it.” He nodded

“Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news.” Dr. Banner said, directing it at Mr, Stark.

“The Stark Tower? That big ugly” He gets a look from Mr. Stark “ ...building in New York?”

“It's powered by an Arc Reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?” Dr. Banner asked.

“That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That’s what he’s getting at” Mr. Stark said.

“So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?” Dr. Banner asked.

“I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files.” Mr. Stark said casually.

“I'm sorry, did you say-” Captain Rogers started as you said, “What?”

“You’re breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D. 's secrets?” You asked eagerly. “All of them?”

“Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide.” He held out a bag of blueberries. “Blueberry?”

“Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?” Captain Rogers asked.

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.” Mr. Stark said.

“I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.” He said

“Following isn’t really my style.” Mr. Stark said.

“And you're all about style, aren't you?” Captain Rogers asked.

“Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?” Mr. Stark asked.

“Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?” Dr. Banner asked.

“Just find the cube, you idiots” You rolled your eyes. Steve walked out.

“Uh, for the record, you’re the only one that’s still in school, kid” Mr. Stark shot back.

“You wish” You blew off his comeback.

“I’m sorry?” Mr. Stark asked.

“I live here, I don’t go to school. And I did the homework, but I’m sure you didn’t want a fourteen-year old ruining your moment. And I’d never pull something like that in front of Fury” You added the last part quickly.

“Just can’t believe that that's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice.” Mr. Stark shrugged.

“The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us” Dr. Banner replied.

“What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit.” Mr. Stark said. “It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does.”

“And I'll read all about it” Dr. Banner said.

“Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us.” Mr. Stark told him. “And the kid”

Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare.” Dr. Banner shook his head.

You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart.” He pointed at the arc reactor in his chest. “This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a... terrible privilege.”

“But you can control it.” Dr. Banner said.

“Because I learned how.” Mr. Stark responded.

“I’m onmipowered” You blurted out. “And I don’t know how many people I’ve hurt because of it, and I still can’t control it. I don’t know how to learn, since I think I might be the only one. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s my terrible privilege, because I can’t hurt anyone here, no matter how bad they hurt me here”

“It's different.” Dr. Banner said.

“I’ve read about your accident, Dr. Banner. You should’ve died. But you didn’t.” You told him softly.

“So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life?” Dr. Banner asked.

“Yeah. Even if you hate what he does, you still saved people in Calcutta. Those people probably would’ve died if you weren’t there. And you wouldn’t be there without the other guy.” You told him, doing your best to provide comfort.

“That's nice.” Dr. Banner responded.

“I’ll let you two get to work” You said, using your hands to boost yourself onto the lab table.

You watched for an hour or two before Fury stormed in.

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?” Fury demanded

“Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you.” Mr. Stark shot back.

“You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract.” Fury told him.

We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile.” Dr. Banner told him, looking up from his computer.

“And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss.” Mr. Stark said. He suddenly looked down at his computer “What is Phase 2?” He asked.

A loud thud caused the four of you to turn around, to see Captain Rogers, with a large assault rifle on the table, and Captain Rogers looked pissed.

“Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons.” He said, and then turned to Mr. Stark. “Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow.”

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're…” Fury trailed off.

“I'm sorry, Nick.” Mr. Stark said. He moved the screen, so everyone in the room could see.

Weapon plans. ”What, were you lying?”

“I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit.” Captain Rogers said. At that moment, Thor and Agent Romanoff walked into the lab. Romanoff keeps her eyes trained on Banner. Banner looked back, mad.

“Did you know about this?” He asked.

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?” Agent Romanoff asked, tilting her head slightly.

“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.” Dr. Banner shot back.

“Loki's manipulating you.” Agent Romanoff told him.

“And you've been doing what exactly?” Dr. Banner asked her.

“You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.” Agent Romanoff said.

“Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy.” Dr. Banner told her angrily. “I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.”

“Because of him.” You piped up, answering for Fury.

“Me?” Thor asked, obviously stunned.

“Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.” Fury explained.

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet.” Thor said, deflecting the comment.

“But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled.” Fury continued

“Like you controlled the cube?” Captain Rogers asked,

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Thor argued.

“A higher form?” Steve asked.

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something.” Fury told Thor.

“Nuclear deterrent. `Cause that always calms everything right down.” Mr. Stark muttered sarcastically.

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?” Fury asked, turning the conversation off Thor and to Mr. Stark.

“I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep...” Captain Rogers was cut off.

“Wait! Wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?” Mr. Stark asked.

“I'm sorry, isn't everything?” Captain Rogers asked, walking up to Mr. Stark.

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.”

“Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?” Fury argued.

You gave a small shake of your head, always having hated arguments, and this one was amongst some of the most powerful people on earth.

“Did you always give your champions such mistrust?” Thor asked.

“Are you all really that naive? S.H.I.E.L.D monitors potential threats”

“Captain America is on watch list?” Banner asked

“You're on that list? Are you above or below angry bees?” Mr. Stark jabbed.

“I swear to God, Stark, one more crack…” Captain. Rogers trailed off.

“Threatening! I feel threatened!” Mr. Stark said loudly.

The member’s of Fury’s initiative argue, and you notice a blue glint on the edge of the screens.

A blue glint that was coming from the scepter.

“You speak of control, yet you court chaos.” Thor said.

“It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb.” Dr. Banner shook his head.

“You need to step away.” Fury told him

“Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?” Asked Mr. Stark, putting his arm around Captain Rogers’ shoulder.

He pushed Mr. Stark off. “You know damn well why! Back off!”

“Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me.” Mr. Stark went face to face with him.

“Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?” The Captain asked.

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.” Mr. Stark retorted.

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, I've seen the footage.” Captain Rogers argued. “The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

“I think I would just cut the wire.” Mr. Stark shot back.

“Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.” Captain Rogers shook his head, and you saw something change in Mr. Stark’s eyes, and you knew this would be a fight for the ages.

“A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!” Shouted Mr. Stark.

You didn’t know why, but you got an uneasy feeling, like something was very wrong.

“Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds.” Captain Rogers told him, puffing out his chest. Thor laughed at them. “You people are so petty... and tiny.”

Tony rubbed his head, moving away from Captain Rogers

“Yeah, this is a tea…” Dr. Banner started.

“Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his…” Fury trailed off.

“Where? You rented my room.” Dr. Banner asked angrily.

“The cell was just in case…” Fury argued.

“In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried!” He erupted, and you didn’t know why, but you felt a pang of something. It felt like jealousy. Maybe you really did want to kill yourself. “I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!” He started breathing heavily, and looked towards Romanoff. “You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?” He asked, grabbing the center, and you were up in a flash, and Romanoff and Fury both had hands resting on their guns.

“Doctor Banner... put down the scepter.” The Captain said softly, and Dr. Banner looked down, almost surprised that he was holding it.

And then the computer beeped.

“Got it.” Mr. Stark said, and Banner set down the scepter and walked over.

“Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all.” You really hoped that wasn’t a jab towards you.

“Located the Tesseract?” Thor asked.

“I can get there faster.” Mr. Stark said quickly.

“I can get there faster than he can” You piped up.

“Look, all of us…” Captain Rogers said.

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it.” Thor said.

Mr. Stark turned to leave, but was stopped by an angry Captain.

“You're not going alone!”

“You gonna stop me?” Mr. Stark asked.

“Put on the suit, let's find out.” Captain Rogers retorted.

“I'm not afraid to hit an old man.” Said Mr. Stark.

You looked over Dr. Banner’s shoulder to see what was going on with the Tesseract.

“Put on the suit.” Captain Rogers shot back.

And then you saw it, and you were pretty sure that Dr. Banner noticed it at the same time as you.

And your suspicion was confirmed when the Doctor’s voice yelled out, “Oh, my God!”

-

Taglist:

@acethecardsblog @broukaitlyn-blog

#another chance #avengers x reader #avengers x teen!reader #avengers x platonic!reader #avengers #avengers imagine #avengers fanfiction

[beyondspaceandstars]

Tales From the TVA - #3

Pairing: Loki x Reader Prompt: no direct prompt but inspired by my new love for gator loki Drabble Summary: Loki and his wife pulled some shenanigans together that landed them both working for the TVA. A little peek into some of their time there. Atl. Summary: You unexpectedly encounter alligator Loki. Word Count: 492

A/N: I realize this little TVA series I have going isn’t really, well, holding up anymore and/or relevant given the events in the series but i’m going to keep it going bc there’s something about loki just working an office job and getting into shenanigans

Masterlist

You had been ordered to the TVA library when the chaos erupted. Granted, you didn’t actually know anything was bound to happen — but then again, with a husband like yours, anything proved to be possible.

Cooped up in some corner table, you were reading files on a seemingly harmless variant. You couldn’t remember his name but his crime certainly stuck with you. The TVA stepped in after he…used grape jelly instead of strawberry on his sandwich. Truthfully, you didn’t understand how that causes a Nexus but, hey, you thought you knew a lot of things.

Having finished that file, you closed it and went to reach for the next one when something crawled over your foot. You tensed at the sensation, greatly confused. Was it rats, you wondered. Did the TVA have a rat infestation? Was that even possible?

Not wanting to cause a scene, you collected your files and tried as calmly as you could to move your seat — but that’s when you saw it. Under the table, staring at you with some kind of wonder, was an alligator. An alligator wearing…horns, to be exact. Very familiar gold horns.

"L-Loki?" You asked, stepping towards the animal. Did he… No. You shook your head. That was impossible — there was no magic here. So, how the heck…

"Darling?" Your husband’s voice rang out as he walked towards you with fast, quick strides. "Have you happened to have seen—,"

"An alligator?" You motioned towards the beast under the table. Loki furrowed his brows and came around to stand next to you. He followed your gaze, finding the alligator sitting there all cheekily.

"In fact," Loki nodded, "yes."

You shot him a look. "Why does that alligator look like you?

"Look like me?"

"Well, the horns."

Loki scoffed. "I guess, technically, he is me."

You gasped, a bit too excited. "There’s an alligator variant of you?"

"And you’re happy about this because…"

"I don’t know," you shrugged, a smirk still playing at your lips, "I’m just picturing all of Asgard but with alligators."

Loki let out a light laugh — something so rare but made your heart go wild. "That does seem quite amusing."

You hummed in agreement. "Does this mean there’s an alligator version of me out there?"

Loki looked greatly unsure on how to answer that. You two turned back to the alligator who you swore was smirking at you. "Maybe we need to look into that," Loki eventually said.

You shook your head. "I’m not sure I want to know."

"Probably wise," Loki admitted. He didn’t seem too thrilled about his own variants. "Now, I must get this guy back to where he belongs." With that, Loki began the process of wrangling the alligator which took a fascinating amount of time.

"Be careful with him!" You called out as the pair began walking out of the library.

Loki waved a hand in dismissal as he practically dragged his variant along.

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