#My mom (who was the one to introduce us to star wars mind you) and I watched from the sidelines | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

apocalypticgargoyle · 3 years

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𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙆 | 𝙠𝙖𝙧𝙡 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙤𝙗𝙨 (18+)

edit by 🐓 anon. im still screaming over this.

∘ request: [insert the 14 asking for more Sapnap humor in a pt. 1.5 of Meet the Jacobses]

∘ pairings: edgy!Karl Jacobs x fm!reader

∘ warnings: smut (18+), nsfw, language, drinking, mentions of Todd the frat boy, lots of dialogue, biting, asphyxiation

∘ links: 𐐪 ao3 𐑂 𐐪 previous part 𐑂 𐐪 submit an edgy!karl edit 𐑂

∘ a/n: this one goes out to the babes in the gc. ily.

i stole the Brick idea from the Jesse McCartney movie, Keith. I'm sorry. [tw for that link - sad & jesse mccartney not talking about beautiful souls]

also thank you everyone for your support on this series. when my friends and I conjured this up, I never thought I would be at the point where I get to share peoples art/paylists/etc. I'm so thankful for all of you.

okay I'll stop crying. happy reading and have a great week! :)

The sun beat down against your skin, your mind drifting to whether or not you should apply more sunscreen. Karl jumped into the light blue water in front of you, the water splashing out to almost completely soak you. You frowned at him as he came up for air, blowing you a kiss mockingly.

Sapnap’s cousins started tackling Karl, the chorus of laughter echoing around the pool. You stretched your legs out beneath the table, leaning into the shade of the umbrella as you watched them roughhouse.

Sapnap came out from the pool house, opening a beer bottle for you before taking the seat beside you. He sighed, buttoning the top of his shirt as he watched the boys. “Did you have a good time at the party yesterday? I dipped after an hour,” he asked, pushing his sunglasses to rest on top of his head.

You shrugged slightly, taking a sip of your drink. You couldn’t wait to tell your roommate how lavishly you’d been living. The fact that you were lounging by a heated pool, drinking beer from Copenhagen with the sons of millionaires was nearly mind-boggling to you.

You wet your lips, squinting your eyes as you looked at him. “I honestly have no idea. I was kind of just there as a Karl accessory,” you joked, making him chuckle softly.

“Yeah, I get that,” he flipped off one of the cousins as they threatened to throw water at him. “It’s always the Karl show around here,” he added. You raised your eyebrows at him and he backtracked. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. He’s a good guy; everyone’s just obsessed with him.”

You nodded slightly. “Yeah, he’s definitely the star baby,” you joked, making him laugh. “I need to ask you…” You bit your lip voice trailing off as you searched for the night words.

He sent you a closed-mouth smile. “About my mom and Karl?” He asked, biting back a blithe expression. It shocked you how calm he was about the situation.

You chuckled nervously. “I swear I won’t bring it up again, I’m just,” you cut yourself off, unable to describe the question marks pulsing through your thoughts.

He snorted, taking a sip of his drink. “I know right,” he reassured. “When I found out, I almost broke Karl’s nose,” he chided. “Not that I was like… angry it was my mom but out of how weird it was.”

“Yeah it is really fucking weird,” you agreed, laughing slightly.

He gestured as if to thank you for understanding. “I mean, Karl’s a great guy. He was my best friend for a long time but…” He made a face suggesting his discomfort and you snicked. “That’s my mom, man.” You giggled wholeheartedly at this, making him laugh too.

“What are you guys talking about?” Karl asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, dripping wet from his pool time adventures.

“Speak of the Devil and he shall appear,” you joked, making Sapnap wink at you. “Tacitus’ Annals,” you answered, making Sapnap nod at you.

He chewed on his lip, with a calm expression as he supported your lie. “I was telling your girlfriend how much I enjoyed his love of Nero,” he continued, you bit back a smile.

Karl ruffled his hair out in a towel. “Come on now,” he grumbled, calling the two of you on your bullshit.

Sapnap squinted as he looked up at him. “Karl supremacy. As always,” he answered with a touch of quiet sarcasm, making Karl roll his eyes playfully as he took to the other seat beside you.

Karl ran his fingers into his hair. “You wanna get matching tattoos together, Sapnap?” He quipped; Sapnap sending him a smug expression.

“Why? What were you thinking?” He asked, knowing he was walking into whatever Karl was setting up.

Karl pulled the leg of his swim trunks off his leg a bit, furrowing his brows. “I wanna get your mom’s name on the top of my thigh,” he teased, biting his lip. You rolled your eyes playfully.

Sapnap let out a sarcastic laugh. “Oh my God, that’s so funny. I totally didn’t see that coming.”

Karl took a sip of your beer and you spoke up. “I think you’d look good with a tattoo, Sapnap. All jokes aside, you’ve got a great body,” you mused, sending him a wink. Sapnap bit back a smile looking at Karl, who you could already tell was glaring back at him. “Side note, I was meaning to ask you. There’s a guy that’s in Karl’s frat,” you paused, trying to remember what Karl had said Todd’s real name was when you were pinning his auction number on him.

Sapnap raised his eyebrows. “Oh, Mark?”

You pointed at him. “Yes, the fake Romney.”

Sapnap snorted. “He did that on campus too?” Karl nodded, a look of disappointment spreading across their faces.

“Speaking of Todd Mark, the king of the Brick” Karl kicked his feet beneath your chair before continuing, “I heard there’s a bonfire tonight,” he probed, making Sapnap slowly shake his head in disapproval.

You raised an eyebrow at the two. “What’s the Brick?”

Sapnap seemed to have already made up his mind on the situation. “A fucking cesspool,” Sapnap grumbled, sipping from his bottle as Karl tsked. Sapnap tilted his head. “You really wanna take her to the Brick? People get together and smoke crack over there. The fact that,” he paused to furrow his brows at you slightly, “Todd Mark? is the benefactor should say something,” he stated, lips curling into an uneasy expression.

You peered over your shoulder at Karl as if to ask if he were crazy. Karl swatted off your gesture. “They don’t smoke crack this time of year. All the locals are back visiting for break.”

Sapnap shook his head again in unease. You chewed your lip, leaning back in your chair. “I don’t know… Sapnap, do you wanna have a movie night instead?” You joked, making Karl sigh behind you.

Sapnap mimicked your mock severity. “Yeah, a stay in and cuddle?”

“Of course,” you repeated.

Karl wheezed. “No, we’re going.”

Without missing a beat, Sapnap chimed back. “Maybe you can take my mom instead?” Karl’s expression flattened at his words and you nodded, high fiving Sapnap in mock victory.

Despite Sapnap’s hesitation, you all went to what they referred to as The Brick. In reality, it was a spot on the edge of a lake. They only called it the Brick because of Todd’s dad, a racecar driver who claimed the post back when he was in high school and later bought it. A large bonfire burned in the center of the space, various people around your age and a bit younger were either dancing to the music coming from one of the souped-up sports cars or shotgunning beers. You pushed away the thought of your stingy fire marshall back home who―more than once―had reported you and your family for “overactive cookouts.”

“Overactive,” meaning your dad and Clay were failing at not catching hotdogs on fire when the two would get lost in a chat about a mutual videogame when the families would cross the fence line in the summer.

As soon as you had stepped foot on the gravel, Karl was welcomed back like some kind of celebrity, so you stayed close to Sapnap. He would lean towards your height, pointing people out that Karl had mentioned in the past or those worth noting. You nodded along, soaking in what he had to tell you and laughing at his jokes.

A random guy strolled past the two of you, making Sapnap purse his lips. “Hey, Sapnap. How’s your mom?” One of the countless jokes thrown at him since you’d arrived.

He tilted his head with a mock look of questioning. “Didn’t your parents just get divorced, Jeff?” He deflected. Jeff’s face dropped slightly as he moved on. You always found yourself struggling not to laugh at how well Sapnap was at counteracting the jabs at his mom and Karl. Most of you felt guilty for how long he had dealt with it.

Karl watched you carefully as you sat down beside Sapnap on one of the vast benches; hands shoved in his pockets as the group around him caught up. You were glad to have someone around like Sapnap, despite the fact that you often went to parties. In the past, it was more of a bi-annual thing, but since being with Karl, you found yourself shoulder to shoulder with nameless people in a line doing shots every other Thursday.

You laughed as Sapnap joked about avoiding the drinks at the Brick because of the mites in the water and the STDs in the beer. “So, I never asked how you met Karl?” He queried, sticking his hands into the pocket of his Baja hoodie.

You smiled slightly. “Uh…” Shameless thoughts of you on your knees in a random building when you barely knew his name paced through your head like a quickfire of serotonin. “We had a lecture together and he liked my handwriting.” Sapnap smirked, chuckling slightly at your words.

Karl’s eyes were trained on the two of you, demeanor shifting each time one of you leaned towards the other to hear over the music or the two of you bumping each other’s arms to grab your attention. You knew he wasn’t jealous, but his look of curiosity was almost hilarious to you. Sapnap stuck by your side while Karl introduced you to his friends. He was basically your encyclopedia on the newer people as Karl would go off on a tangent with them.

The fact that Karl was so close to all of them and was so popular made your heart swell with pride. You were used to Karl’s deadpanned glares at most of his frat brothers and his snide comments, but now he was welcomed back like he was some kind of hero returning from the war.

After saying goodbye to Sapnap for the day, you threaded your fingers with Karl’s, enjoying the time where it was just the two of you. He brought the back of your hand to his lips, smoothing a kiss against your skin. “So… Sapnap’s mom…” you began, making him chew the inside of his cheek. “Where… did it happen?”

He looked down at you with a perked eyebrow before raising his sights forward, pulling you off the street where the two of you were walking. You followed him as the pair of you snuck through between the houses and across the backyards until the two of you were at Sapnap’s house again. Through the front windows, you could see him talking to his sibling in the kitchen.

Karl grabbed your hand, leading you along the side of the estate and toward the pool house. You wanted to groan at the thought before he pulled you through the door with him. “Are you serious?” You hissed, looking around at the dark place. Karl fought not to smirk as he peered out through one of the windows, watching the lights in Sapnap’s house turn out.

The moonlight streamed through one of the slender windows, illuminating his face and washing his features clean. Your gaze trailed along his arms; his tattoos peeking out from beneath his hoodie as he reached up to lock the door.

He turned back to face you, walking closer to you. “Did you have fun today?” He asked, plopping down on one of the couches and pulling you into his lap. He moved your arms to rest around his neck, pressing his lips to your skin. “I feel like I didn’t see you at all. Sapnap’s a bogart,” he muttered jokingly, settling his hands on your hips.

You scoffed before leaning toward him, pressing your lips against his. “Make it up to me,” you murmured, raking your fingers into his hair. “I think I selfishly need you to ruin me here; you know. Like a cleansing of you and Ms. Scarlet,” you chided.

He bit his lip, eyes pulsing with lust as he fought not to grin. You pressed your lips against his, turning to lay back on the couch and yank him on top of you. He chuckled into your kiss, as your hands moved to curl into his hair. His lust was a taste you could get drunk off if given the chance as his hands traveled the length of your body, moaning as you ground your hips against his, gripping into his clothes.

He leaned off of you momentarily to pull his shirt over his head as you slipped out of yours, you wrapped a leg around him, pushing him onto the couch instead and pinning him between your thighs as you straddled him, running your hands up his tattooed chest and connecting your lips again.

One of his large hands covered your breast as you began to grind your hips against his. His teeth grazed against your skin as he caressed your body while you moved against him, trying to create as much friction as you could against his jeans. He ran his fingers along the hem of your underwear, his lips curling into a smirk as he moved slightly to get a better look. "These are nice. Did you plan this?" He leered, snapping the elastic against your hip playfully. You rolled your eyes, pulling his chin towards you and pressing your lips against his. Every movement of his body seemed to lick at the fire deep within you.

You smirked breathlessly as his lips settled against your collarbones. “These are my church clothes. I had no other motive,” you jousted. His hand reached up to rest against your collarbone, his fingers lightly curling around your neck.

“Of course, how could I not realize,” he jabbed, pressing his lips and tongue against your neck. You moaned, tugging at his zipper before wrapping your hand around his cock, pumping him into harder arousal. He groaned against your neck, bucking into your hand lightly. His head tilted back against the couch beneath you, cheeks flushed at the attention. His teeth nipped at your skin as you ground yourself against his thigh, basking in his noises of pleasure.

His cock pulsed in your hand, making him grab your wrist and pull you beneath him. He gripped one of your legs, resting it in the crook of his elbow as he pushed himself into you, connecting your lips to swallow your moans. The feeling of him inside of you sent a wave of pleasure through your body. His voice was low in your ear, murmuring your name as if it were a curse. You moaned as he took one of your hands, lacing your fingers together beside your head as he kissed you again, tongue slipping into your mouth.

His thrusts became more rhythmless, his hold on you driving him deeper as the pool house filled with the noises of your whimpering moans. Karl’s breath was warm on your neck as he took advantage of your submissive state. He moved his hand from around your leg, wrapping his fingers around your neck again. Your body shivered, waiting for the pressure of his hand as his hips rocked against yours.

He chuckled darkly, teeth grazing against your shoulder before his lips hovered beside your ear. “Beg for it,” he commented, voice strained as he thrusted into you.

You swallowed, fingers digging into his back. “Choke me,” you groaned, “please.” His hand tightened around your neck, breath hitching in your throat as his thrusts became rougher. He bit back a smug grin at the way you reacted to his antics, relishing in your body beginning for more.

He relaxed his hand, pressing his lips to yours as you struggled to inhale. Heat ran through your body as your leg curled around his waist, nails raking down his back.

You leaned away from his lips, voice coming out unevenly as you moaned his name. His movements became sloppier as you groaned in bliss, tugging the flesh of his bottom lip between your teeth. You tipped your head back slightly as you reached your climax, riding out your pleasure and sending him over the edge as he pulled you closer to him, his hands digging into your hips as he encouraged you to continue grinding against him. You exhaled deeply, pressing your lips against his neck and his cheek before kissing him breathlessly as your movements slowed.

You pulled on your shirt, Karl’s hands moving to rest on your hips as he pressed a kiss to your neck. “Should we leave a note for Ms. Scarlet?” You joked, making him chuckle as his arms wrapped further around your waist, cheek pressing against your shoulder.

“Who?” He teased.

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five-rivers · 3 years

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@lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks came up with this op!Danny/Marvel AU!

BTW I need help naming this newest proof that I can't keep anything to a short little one-shot.

Loki was not, and never had been, a good man. For that matter, whether or not he’d ever been a good boy was debatable. His mother would argue that he had, but she would very likely be the only one. Well, except for Thor, perhaps, but that was because he was an idiot who could drown in three inches of nostalgia. Like he didn’t remember every time Loki had humiliated him. Maybe he didn’t, for all that he kept falling for the same trick over and over again.

It made Loki’s late nights studying the arts of illusion, misdirection, and lying seem redundant. Almost. Not everyone was as dense as his big brother.

No. Loki had never been a good man. He had, however, been a free man.

Free to run or hide. Free to explore the nooks and crannies of Asgard, to uncover her secrets in ways few cared to do. Free to walk hidden paths between the Nine Realms and even farther flung territories, where his people did not and had never ruled, to play games, make deals, have adventures, take risks. To be. To exist as his own creature.

He had been free. He had.

But on one of those little secret excursions, he had discovered something that had made even his flippant, slippery heart clench with fear. A ravening plague, spreading across the stars. The death of half of everything on the horizon.

Loki was not a good man. What cause did he have to care for all the sundry others in the universe? There were too many. It was too much to ask.

But Asgard—His home, even though the had long ago realized the blood in his veins originated on very different soil. That was different.

Asgard, he could help. Asgard could survive.

But it had to be strong. It had to have strong allies. None of this barely-held peace, this enemy eternally at their gates. It needed strong leadership. Not his brother’s simplistic view and longing for the glory of war.

Loki was not a good man. But he was one who could get things done.

Before he knew it, he had burned all his bridges behind him. In one case, a literal bridge that was literally broken.

And he fell.

And he fell right into the hands of the one he had feared enough to do this. Broken enough for poison to drip into the cracks. No one knew where he was, no one could know where he was, except, perhaps, Heimdal, and Loki sincerely doubted Heimdal cared. No one was coming for him. No one was looking for him. No rescue was forthcoming.

He was alone.

Asgardians were considered gods for a reason. Their bodies and minds were much more resilient than the average mortal’s. But Thanos’s people had been titans, and there was a reason for that, too.

Thanos enjoyed breaking him.

And Loki turned his lies on himself. A skilled master of games always had one gifted opponent, even alone. Hadn’t he wanted to rule? To command? To see a world, any world, prostrate at his feet? To be given the recognition and praise of which he was so worth?

To pull something, anything, out of the fire?

(If he had spent less time learning how to spin lies and more on how to see the truth, he might not have believed it. A better, wiser, man would have. But Loki was not a good man. And he was very skilled in his craft.)

So, his new master put a weapon in his hands, and he went off to conquer a world.

Danny was used to rude awakenings. He was used to those rude awakenings being full body chills and ghosts, not someone knocking on his door.

Blearily, he pulled himself out from under the blankets. Quasi-military government facility or not, the beds were comfortable. Maybe Mom or Dad had gotten themselves locked out of their room? Or Jazz—No, not Jazz, she hadn’t come with them. She was at college, not being flown places by Mom and Dad’s suspiciously generous new consulting job.

At least it wasn’t the GIW.

He stood on tiptoe (curse his perpetually short body) to peer out the peephole. His parents’ buff, one-eyed, and incredibly imposing new boss stood in front of the door, hands on his hips, slightly sweeping back his long dark coat. If Danny listened carefully, he could hear two other people near the door, and… was that an alarm? Yes. Faint, but present, was a warning klaxon.

Okay. Danny would bet his right arm that something had gone horribly wrong with whatever his parents were consulting on. Didn’t explain why the boss was in front of his door.

Unless they’d gotten the rooms mixed up, somehow?

Ugh. Danny wasn’t paid enough to deal with this.

He opened the door. “What-?”

“Phantom,” intoned eyepatch guy with great solemnity.

Danny immediately tried to close the door. The guy stuck his foot in the jamb, and, sure, Danny could have crushed it, but that would be a jerk move. He didn’t think this guy was going for a pirate look, after all.

“We need your help.”

“I’m not sure what you think I can help you with,” yelled Danny over the beating of the helicopter blades. He’d remained stubbornly in human form. “My parents are the scientists. This sounds like a science thing. Not a punching-people thing.”

“We spoke to them earlier,” said Fury, “and we have plenty of scientists working on the theories they brought up. You’re the one with practical experience.”

“Practical experience in what?”

“Interdimensional portals,” said the woman, who had yet to introduce herself.

As if this whole thing wasn’t already giving him a bad feeling. “My parents built an interdimensional portal. Again, you should be talking to them. They’re the ones you’re paying.”

“We could pay you, too,” said Fury, “but we assumed you would want to avoid letting your parents know about this, as you’re still a minor and they have control of your bank accounts.”

Danny stared flatly. “This is blackmail.”

“We aren’t threatening you,” pointed out the woman.

“Emotional blackmail,” said Danny, glaring, daring her to challenge him on whether or not he actually knew what blackmail was.

In the meantime, the helicopter landed. Danny unbuckled and hopped out, trailing slightly awkwardly behind Fury and the woman. He didn’t want to stand out, but he suspected that, being the only kid here and being in the general vicinity of Fury, who radiated authority, that was a lost cause.

“This is Agent Coulson. Coulson, this is Phantom.”

Danny’s mouth went dry(er) at how casual the introduction was. His eyes went nervously to all the other people running around the field. With all the noise, it was unlikely anyone had heard, but still…

“Can you not? Secret identity and all? Unless you’ve told everyone herealready, which, rude.”

Fury sighed. “How bad is it?” he asked Coulson.

“We’re not sure,” said Coulson. “That’s the problem. Big fan of your work, by the way,” he added as an aside to Danny. He glanced at the woman. “Agent Hill.”

“Background?” asked Fury as he led the way into the building.

“The first energy surge was four hours ago. Dr. Selvig’s equipment picked it up – He’s the head scientist on this project.”

“Dr. Selvig isn’t authorized to test,” said Fury. “We wanted to run his plans by the Fentons.”

“He wasn’t testing. He wasn’t even in the room. He called it ‘spontaneous advancement.’”

“It turned itself on?”

“What are the energy levels?” asked Fury before Hill’s question could be answered.

“Climbing,” said Coulson.

“Mr. Fenton,” said Fury, “any comments?”

“Look, I don’t even know what this thing that you built looks like or what it’s a door to.” Danny frowned as a thought occurred to him. “You’re not expecting me to fight whatever comes out of it, are you? Because, unless you’ve got a ghost portal down there, I can’t make guarantees.”

“It’s called the Tesseract,” said Coulson. “It’s supposed to be a connection to the other side of space. A source of unlimited energy. At least,” there was a note of humor in his voice despite the evacuation taking place around them, “that’s what the scientists say.”

“A door to space?” asked Danny, firmly shoving down his excitement at the prospect. “Like, a Stargate?” It was no good, he could practically feel himself sparkling. He took a firm grip of his core and reminded himself he might need to fight before the end of the day.

“Well, no,” said Coulson. “It’s this little… cube… thing.” He made a shape with his hands.

“Oh,” said Danny, mind still whirring. “You know, if it’s really a tesseract, it isn’t a cube in just three dimensions, so bigger things could come out of it than you’d think.” He’d seen some weird portals in the Ghost Zone.

“Well, right now, we’re just getting energy.” They entered a large room with an extremely sci-fi setup. It looked like they were planning to shoot some kind of laser across the room onto a platform surrounded by strange-looking panels. There were men with guns scattered around in what was probably a well thought out formation Danny couldn’t see. There was also a dude with a bow sitting up in the rafters. He frowned down at Danny as he noticed Danny noticing him.

“Dr. Selvig!”

“Director!”

“What do we know?”

Danny allowed himself to be distracted by the centerpiece of the room, a piece of machinery built around what was indeed a little cube thing. He tilted his head and approached, trying to get a better view of it around the people in lab coats and protective gear currently swarming it. He caught mention of radiation a grimaced.

It was unlikely to kill him, but, really, everyone here should probably be wearing more PPE. You never knew what was going to come out of an interdimensional portal, after all. Except trouble. Trouble was a pretty safe bet.

It was pretty. Blue. Reminded him a little of a blue raspberry ice pop. Part of him wanted to lick it. Which was stupid. He didn’t want to wind up half what-ever-lived-on-the-other-side on top of his regular ghost nonsense.

“Mr. Fenton?”

Danny jumped and turned, refocusing on the adults, who had multiplied while he’d been daydreaming. The guy with the bow had joined them.

“Mr. Fenton? Like the Doctors Fenton I spoke to earlier?” asked Selvig.

“Yeah, it’s—”

This, of course, was when everything decided to explode. Sort of.

The blue cube shot out a beam of energy that had more than a little in common with the Fenton Bazooka’s portal setting. The beam terminated on the platform, a portal rapidly forming.

Danny slid into a fighting stance, and barely even noticed as blue energy washed over the room, throwing many less-prepared people back.

Something shaped like a man stepped through the portal.

Danny did not break his stance. Still. “An alien,” he whispered, eyes wide. If they were friendly, maybe they’d answer his questions about space. If they weren’t friendly, maybe they’d answer his questions about space after Danny beat them up.

(Danny did not go ghost. Did not even think about going ghost. There were too many people here, and the space was too open.)

Fury attempted to negotiate. Danny approved. Not everything that came through an interdimensional portal was necessarily evil.

Except this guy apparently was. Go figure. He could also deflect bullets and was very good with throwing knives, which led to Danny having to pull several of the gun guys out of their own line of fire as well as the alien’s line of knife. Who would have thought an alien’s weapon of choice would be throwing knives? The energy-blasting spear was much more in line with his expectations.

The bow guy proved to be more competent than the gun guys. This didn’t really surprise Danny. Bow guy sort of had to be competent. Otherwise, no way would they let him go around with a bow. Like, seriously. A bow.

Even so, bow guy was fighting an alien and—

“You have heart,” said the alien, raising the spear.

Danny pushed bow guy out of the way, and his mind fuzzed out.

(The human part of it, anyway.)

Loki didn’t know what a child was doing here, and he didn’t particularly care. The boy would do for a hostage, at least. He had a mission he had to fulfil, or else…

Or else.

“Please don’t,” he said turning with a shadow of his usual lazy affect, vaguely insulted that the human thought he could be sneaker that him, “I still need that.”

The human went on and on, apparently burdened with the delusion that he was on the same level as Loki.

Loki was burdened with other things. A glorious purpose. Glad tidings. Freedom. What could be better than freedom?

“A world free from what?” asked the human.

“From freedom,” said Loki, and wasn’t that what he believed, now? Wasn’t that what he’d been shown? “Freedom is life’s great lie.” He would know. He was an excellent liar. “Once you accept that, in your heart—” He batted away an arrow and tsked. “Shield me, boy,” he demanded. Had Thanos misrepresented the scepter’s powers? Or was the boy merely—

A dome of green surrounded him and the boy, thrumming with magic the likes of which he had only seen once, in a tome thrice forbidden.

“Oh,” said Loki, almost purring. “You are interesting. What are you?”

“Half human, half ghost,” replied the boy, tersely.

Loki had never heard of such a creature. No matter. He’d be sure to make good use of him.

“Grab the scientist,” he said, nodding at the balding man who had been with his brother when he’d fought the Destroyer in the desert.

Loki wanted the archer. He seemed interesting. Useful.

Fenton was under thrall. Phantom knew what that felt like. A hundred feet under red water, trying not to drown, whispers everywhere. Pulling. Pushing. Prodding.

This was different, but the principle was the same.

Neither half of him could truly ‘fight’ the other. Fenton and Phantom were a single entity. Not two in lockstep. Even so.

Fenton grabbed onto Dr. Selvig, as ordered. Phantom made sure that was all they did.

“What are you doing, boy?” snapped Loki. “Follow me! Bring the scientist.”

And so, they followed.

Loki breathed. Acquiring Barton had been the right choice. The boy was powerful, but, perhaps because of his unique biology, did not have Barton’s presence of mind, and couldn’t have led him to such wonderful allies.

Allies.

These weren’t truly his allies. Nor were they subjects. They were…

Loki forced himself to breathe. He just had to follow the mission. Follow the mission, let Thanos’s army through. He’d been promised this world. He would have this world.

And then he could be… His mind stuttered over the next word, and he shook his head, trying to drive out the painful buzz of Thanos’s herald and mouthpiece trying to contact him.

He looked up at the drones bustling around, all according to his will. Except the boy, who stared at him, somehow managing to be both utterly blank and challenging at the same time.

He was alone, here.

He was alone.

But what did it matter? Bad men always wound up alone, and Loki… Loki could never be a good man.

#danny phantom #marvel cinematic universe #avengers #dannymay 2021 #dannymay 2021 day 28: alone #dannymay #danny phantom x marvel cinematic universe crossover #op!Danny/Marvel #Not much op!Danny yet tho

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strangerthings4theories · 3 years

Text

Mirror Images: Billy And El Are Reflections Of Each Other

As you read this post, hold the following concepts in your mind: yin and yang in Chinese philosophy. The Light Side and Dark Side in Star Wars. The real world and the Upside Down in Stranger Things.

That, my friends, is the level of thematic significance the Duffers are giving Billy and El. And it’s my top reason for believing Billy will come back.

Why?

El is arguably the main character of the show. Any character who’s linked to her so profoundly will be a Big Fuckin’ Deal.

You cannot, CANNOT, create such a consistent dynamic by accident, which tells me that...

...the Duffers have huge intentions for Billy. He will become more significant to the show, not less! If you think he’ll return just for flashbacks or memories, you’re not thinking big enough.

Buuuut I’m getting ahead of myself. First let me show you what I mean when I say Billy and El are mirror images. It’s pretty mind-blowing...

1) The broad strokes of Billy and El’s lives echo each other: their family backgrounds, their traumas, and their journeys in the show.

>>They’ve suffered under abusive fathers. In fact, in S2 they have encounters with their fathers in back-to-back episodes - El with Brenner in episode 7, Billy with Neil in episode 8.

Both fathers are likened to the Mind Flayer in the power they wield over their children. In episode 7, El’s hallucination of Brenner tells her she has a “wound... growing and festering” (my paraphrase), a clear reference to the tunnels of the Upside Down. Kali, as the creator of the hallucination, is trying to tell El that he is the source of the wound, and El won’t heal until she’s confronted him.

In episode 8, the title card “The Mind Flayer” opens on Neil driving back to the Hargrove house, implying he’s the real Mind Flayer in Billy’s life. As I’ve argued elsewhere, Billy won’t heal either until he’s confronted Neil.

>>Billy and El lost their mothers because of their fathers. Brenner fried Terry's brain with electricity for daring to defy him. Billy's mother left for an unknown reason, but we’re led to believe she couldn’t take Neil’s abuse anymore. The way she's presented in Billy's memories leads me to believe she has since passed away.

Billy and El are both devastated by their losses. When El tells Billy at Starcourt, “[Your mother] was pretty,” she’s trying to tell him she understands.

>>Billy and El have “adopted” sisters, Max and Kali. Max represents Billy's better nature; Kali represents El's darker nature. In the same season where Billy constantly insists Max isn't his sister - thereby rejecting her - El finds Kali and embraces her. This symbolizes Billy and El’s complementary journeys: Billy is learning to accept his light while El is learning to accept her darkness.

>>Billy and El are wounded and angry because of what’s happened to them. In S1 El worries she's a monster, and in S2 she nearly kills a man in her anger, only to stop herself at the last second (against the wishes of Kali, her darker nature). Billy lets his rage define him. He's turned into a bully over his teen years, and in S2 he nearly kills Steve. Max (his better nature) stops him.

>>Billy and El are viscerally connected to the Upside Down.

The Upside Down is pursuing El. We’re not sure why yet, but their predator/prey dynamic is the main source of conflict in the show. Brenner says to her in S1, “It [the Upside Down] is reaching out to you ‘cause it wants you. It’s calling you. So don’t turn away from it this time.” His words form the backbone of the narrative:

In S1, El opens the first Gate, introducing the Upside Down to our world and setting the events of the show in motion. At the climax, she defeats the Demogorgon, the Mind Flayer's first servant.

S2 deals with the evolving consequences of El opening the first Gate. At the climax, El closes the Gate (symbolically “turning away" from the Upside Down) and catches the Mind Flayer's attention in the process.

In S3, the Mind Flayer comes after El to kill her. She runs from him, and her friends intervene to save her.

In future seasons, the Mind Flayer will regroup and try again but to corrupt her this time, not kill her. The climax of the entire show will hinge on the resolution of their conflict. El will be forced to stop running and face the Mind Flayer head-on.

In S3, Billy is caught by the Mind Flayer and turned into his instrument to hunt El down. This creates a yin/yang situation where Billy and El are revolving around each other, with the Mind Flayer in the center pulling on them both. At Starcourt, El saves Billy's soul by bypassing the Mind Flayer completely - building “the rainbow bridge.”

If you remember that Brenner and Neil, their abusive fathers, are likened to the Mind Flayer, their interaction becomes the story of Billy re-enacting his trauma, and El helping him heal it.

2) Runaway Max gives us a special case of Billy and El mirroring each other.

In S1, one of El's biggest moments happens in episode 6. Mike and Dustin have been cornered by the bullies Troy and James. Right when all hope is lost, El shows up and breaks Troy’s arm. After that, she confesses tearfully, “The gate. I opened it. I'm the monster.” This brings forward her inner struggle - am I a monster for the things I do? - which she will no doubt revisit in future seasons.

Keep in mind that Troy is around 12 years old, and El breaks his right arm.

Jump forward to S2. At one point, Billy complains, “Yeah, we're stuck here [in Hawkins]. And whose fault is that?” - implying it's somehow Max's. She disagrees. “Yours,” she mutters under her breath.

In the show, we never get an explanation. Runaway Max tells us everything.

Back in California, Billy is spiraling deeper and deeper into a pit of rage. One fateful afternoon, he takes it out on Max and her best friend Nate, a 12-year-old boy. When Max resists him, he seizes Nate's right arm and twists it behind his back. He holds it there, watching Max.

“What are you going to do?” he asks, a crazed look in his eyes.

When she does nothing, he breaks Nate's arm.

The fallout is catastrophic. Within weeks, Neil decides they should all move away from California for the good of the family.

Now think about this. El breaks a 12-year-old boy's right arm to save her friends from bullies. Billy breaks a 12-year-old boy's right arm... because he is the bully.

It’s part of the wider pattern: El is light, Billy is darkness.

3) The Duffers use physical markers to underscore Billy and El’s similarities.

>>When the MF wrecks Billy's car, Billy's forehead smashes into the windshield, leaving a gash. At Starcourt, he slams El into the wall, giving her a wound in the same spot. Thematically, their wounds tell the story of Billy suffering abuse, then turning around and inflicting it on El. He’s perpetuating a cycle, and it’s up to him to stop it.

>>Both Billy and El are limping by the time they reach Starcourt. El's leg is injured from the Mind Flayer, while Billy injures his in the car crash. These wounds tell the story of El, the “innocent,” suffering pain through no fault of her own while Billy, the “guilty” one, is being punished for his crimes. (I put those words in quotes because I believe the show will challenge our assumptions.)

A sad footnote: El has Max and Mike to help her walk. Billy has no one.

>>In S2, Billy gets a nosebleed out of the same nostril as El. This says a LOT, marking him as a future “superhero” and putting him in the same class as El, Kali, and El's mom Terry.

Off the top of my head, only two other characters get nosebleeds, Mayor Kline and Steve. But the blood never comes cleanly out of one nostril the way it does with El. I believe that was a purposeful design choice to avoid muddying the symbolic waters.

...

Y’all, I’ve already hit my picture limit for a single post, and I’m not even done yet :p So I’ll stop there for now. Eventually I’ll show you how El is connected to the Demogorgon in the same strange way as Billy.

You see what I mean though? There is no fuckin’ way Billy is dead for good. Why would the Duffers give him this much resonance with El, then drop him?

It makes no sense.

If you ask me, they’ve got plans for our boy. World-altering plans. He’s not just coming back; by the end of the show, he’s gonna be a Big Goddamn Hero.

»»————-　✼　————-««

Billy Is Alive - A Meta Series

#billy hargrove #el hopper #billy hargrove is alive #stranger things theory #stranger things analysis #neil hargrove #martin brenner #terry ives #billy hargrove's mother #kali prasad #max mayfield #nothin' but parallels all the way down

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guacam011y · 3 years

Text

***SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5 OF WANDAVISION***

HOLY SHITE MY MIND IS BLOWN

TOMMY AND BILLY CRYING

“Do you want me to take that again?” “Take it from the top?”

Agnes knows ! Tiger - Ralph

“Dark liquor” Vision being concerned

Billy and Tommy aged up?!

I DO NOT TRUST HAYWARD

SCARLET WITCH - TALKING ABOUT HOW WANDA DOESN’T HAVE A CODENAME

SIS STRAIGHT UP TOOK VISIONS CORPSE

HEX — HER POWERS GET REFERRED TO AS HEX POWERS SOMETIMES IN THE COMICS

CAPTAIN MARVEL REFERENCE

NORM SAYING NONE OF IT IS REAL

SPARKY THE DOG - VISION HAD A STAND ALONE AND STOLE A DOG

HER ACCENT

LAGOS

SHE DOESNT KNOW HOW ANY OF THIS STARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE

EVAN PETERS AS QUICKSILVER

DARCY GOING “SHE RECAST PIETRO?” MOOOD

X-MEN, START TO THE MULTIVERSE?!

WANDA CAN’T BE THE ONLY ONE CONTROLLING IT

IS MONICA MAD AT CAROL???

MONICA X DARCY?! WHAT A POWER COUPLE THAT WOULD BE

SIS REALLY ENDGAME - ENDGAME ENDED WITH TONY’S FUNERAL AND WANDA PROBS WENT STRAIGHT FROM THERE AND STOLE HER DEAD BF’S CORPSE (can’t really blame her, it looked like they were trying to experiment on Vis and could it be Hayward behind it?)

WHO WAS THAT ENGINEER THAT MONICA WAS GOING TO CONTACT?

BABY VISION

AND AGNES DEFINITELY KNOWS SOMETHING

DARCY FINALLY GOT HER COFFEE

SO VIS SAID THAT WANDA COULD’VE MADE EVERYTHING SUBCONSCIOUSLY AND THAT OVER TIME SHE BECAME AWARE OF IT, AND SIS DEFO HAS SOME CONTROL BUT IT’S NOT ALL HER. I THINK AGNES IS AGATHA HARKNESS AND EITHER MEPHISTO IS BEHIND IT OR IT’S NIGHTMARE AND THEY’VE MAYBE POWERED UP NIGHTMARE

***FURTHER UPDATES AND EASTER EGGS***

Auntie Agnes and Agnes saying she has a few tricks up her sleeve - we should definitely take note of that seeing as Agnes definitely has something to do with the whole situation

Wanda and Vision’s house changed again, being inspired by Family Ties, possibly Full House and Growing Pains

“Do you want me to take it from the top?” It seems as though when someone, this time Vision, steers away from the script, things either reset themselves or people become aware to some capacity, although Agnes probably already knows

Speaking of Growing Pains - It had a spin off called “Just the 10 of Us” in which the director for Wandavision, Matt Shakman, was apart of the cast - and seemingly also inspired the theme song for this week

We should definitely keep an eye on Monica and her potential for powers. With Maria last episode revealed to have gone by the name ‘Photon’ (which is a name that Monica uses as one of her aliases in the comics) and could inspire Monica’s name as she develops her powers - those scans didn’t look 100% normal. Monica has also used the Captain Marvel monicker in the comics

Wanda’s energy field and such being referred to as “Hex” short for Hexagon, could be a little nod to the comics where Wanda’s powers are sometimes called Hex powers

She’s never been referred to as the Scarlet Witch on the big screen - and it seems as though she soon may earn that code name

So we now know that Wanda stole Vision’s corpse from S.W.O.R.D, but did she actually re animate him fully? He’s still got the gem in the centre of his forehead, but the last time he had it was in Infinity War where it promptly got ripped out by Thanos - so has Wanda found her own way of reanimating him and he’s alive or is he dead and just a trick of the mind - though from other trailers/previews, Vis is seen trying to and looks successful at leaving Wanda’s barrier

They had a little call back to Captain America: Civil War with the Sokovia Accords, which were targeting the Avengers in general but were created when Wanda lost control of her powers and killed civilians

A little joke towards Vis as playing “Father Knows Best” in their little suburbia - Which was a sitcom that ran for 200 episodes in the 50’s

Sparky ! A little nod to the little green dog from the Walta and King comics run for Vision and unfortunately soon meets the same fate 💔

A little nod to Endgame when we hear from Monica that Wanda definitely could’ve taken down Thanos by herself had Thanos not rained fire - and Jimmy arguing that Captain Marvel could’ve just as easily done it - which leaves Monica with an angry look on her face

Good ol’ dial up internet

Can Vis “save” the residents of Westview? He can still seemingly interact with people’s minds, with or without the mind stone - Norm soon comes out of his trance as Vis snaps him out of it and asks to call his sister and that he has to save them all from “her” - now this “her” could be Wanda...but it could also be Agnes and then Vis shuts him down soon enough again and Norm goes back to his sit com self

Billy and Tommy are fully aware, or at least suspect Wanda’s abilities - after asking her to bring back Sparky from the dead and speaking of Billy and Tommy - could they be semi permanent fixtures in the MCU, it would help to introduce the Young Avengers eventually. They'll do Young Avengers at some point since Kang is supposed to be a thing in the third Ant-Man.

Teddy, unfortunately, I don't think will be here for a bit (I really hope he is though!). I think the guy they hired that everyone is rumoring to be Teddy might just be an episode about Billy coming to terms with his sexuality and Wanda and Vis learning to accept it in the way that era of tv they're in would go about with that kind of episode and the dude is just a dude - but again, I really hope it’s Teddy 😭

Wanda leaves the hex after a mini missile/plane tries to shoot at her - and she’s in her Scarlet Witch costume and is seemingly mostly back to her “normal self”, which includes her accent !

Lagos brand paper towels - “For when you make a mess you didn’t mean to” - a nod to Civil War again in which Wanda accidentally blew up a building in Lagos and caused the Sokovian accords to come to fruition

The mail man again - I also think he was in the commercial but anywho - “Your mom won’t let him go far” similar to “Much like she won’t let anyone leave” a potential nod to Wanda or Agnes not letting anyone leave?

“We can’t reverse death” and yet she brought Vision back - keeping in mind that he’s an android but still a little foreshadow to what happened at the end of the ep? Better yet, could Pietro coming back be a distraction for Wanda? Agnes or whoever introducing someone that Wanda lives in hopes that she won’t go full on breakdown superpowers or just to give her an attachment to Westview even more and make her not want to leave at all

“She recasted Pietro” EVAN ! I’m so pumped for this - it seems this could turn into the X-Men making their debut earlier than expected possibly? In any case, it’s a nice little Easter Egg to the previous Fox franchise of X-Men movies where Evan played Peter Maximoff “Quicksilver” alongside James McAvoy as Prof X, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and so many others - and with Deadpool being confirmed as Disney’s first R rated film, it seems Mutants are definitely on their way to the MCU

Agnes is definitely Agatha or a gender bent Nightmare

The way Billy shed himself and Tommy up was scary - definitely a little nod to his powers coming in

Multiple different perspectives of Wanda saying that Monica left

Red Hex dialled up to around light sources (computer, window, etc.)

Vision mentions reading Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man - which could refer to Mutants entering the MCU, Mutants being superior to humans

Agnes calls herself Auntie Agnes - in episode 2 during the title sequence in the grocery store there’s a product called ‘Auntie A’s Kitty Litter’

Agnes refers to herself as a Tiger and in the episode, there’s a Tiger on the dining table in the kitchen - could that be a listening device, her eyes and ears?

There are no other children in Westview - Billy and Tommy are immune because they have no prior trauma

Elizabeth Olsen’s photos are real and slightly altered with Sokovian flags in the background

In the birthday shot of Billy and Tommy, they have ‘1,2,3,4,5’ candles all on one cake

In the holiday photos, Vision goes from Turkey to Easter Bunny, to Santa and progressively gets more unhappy - realising he no longer wants to play along in Wanda’s Hex

During Monica’s callbacks to seeing Wanda’s pain inside her head, we see a new shot of Wanda crying - it looks like it’s around the time she stole Vision’s corpse, as the outfit she’s wearing is very similar, if not the same - could this be an after shot of when she’s trying to bring Vision back?

During the scene where we see the footage of Wanda stealing Vision’s corpse, the S.W.O.R.D logo that appears on the table has 8 stars around the rim of the logo but then has a 9th one in the middle - could this be a little Easter Egg to the nine realms of the Cosmos? And there’s also a map showing Cape Canaveral, could that be where S.W.O.R.D’s headquarters are?

Wanda and Pietro were born in 1989 to Irina and Oleg Maximoff - who were killed in an air raid when the twins were 10. In the comics, Wanda and Pietro were raised by Django and Maria Maximoff, before their true parentage was revealed as being the children of Magneto, however, in the comics this has been retconned so that Wanda and Pietro are no longer Mutants and the High Evolutionary had just disguised them as Mutants (something I think they should undo tbh - MARVEL, PLEASE MAKE WANDA AND PIETRO MUTANTS AGAIN!!!)

Speaking of the air raid, that was also referenced in Age of Ultron by Pietro and Wanda - “We were 10 years old, having dinner the four of us. And the first shell hits 2 floors below, makes a hole in the floor” - was the beeping Stark toaster be what that was referring to?

WHIH reappears for a brief cameo as the news service in the MCU - and Hayward cuts off Jimmy as he was trying to defend Wanda’s reputation, in which Jimmy then turns to Darcy and says “I try not to speak ill of people” Darcy then follows up with “Then allow me, Hayward’s a-“ and then she’s cut off by a shot back to Hayward saying the word “Terrorist” which would make sense as it seems with Vision’s corpse, he may have been trying to make sentient weapons and by subverting Vision’s will and blaming Wanda of doing the same. In the footage shown of Wanda stealing Vision’s remains, we see Vision broken up into parts and S.W.O.R.D seems to be experimenting on him and this seems to be the robotics/nanotech project that Hayward was referring to. Monica asks Hayward about the footage saying “When was this?” to which Hayward replies saying “9 days ago. Maximoff stormed our facility, stole Vision’s body and resurrected him” - this would mean that Wanda took Vision 2 weeks after the events of Endgame, about a week before Monica returned to S.W.O.R.D and Hayward didn’t tell her any of this and when he sent her in there, he knew exactly what he was doing - with her reputation after Civil War, this makes it easier for Hayward to paint her as the villain.

Back in Westview, Tommy wears red and Billy wears green - which are the colours that Wiccan and Speed wear in the comics, respectively. And it’s also the colours that Wanda and Vision are known for and appears quite a lot in their wardrobes

More in regards to Sparky, he was the synthezoid dog in Tom King’s run of Vision - the story being that he was originally a dog named Zeke who unfortunately passed away after digging up the Grim Reaper’s corpse and getting zapped. The Grim Reaper’s helmet appears during the title sequence of Episode 2 in the floorboards. Could Sparky have been trying to dig up a similar thing when he was caught by Agnes and consequently killed?

Monica mentions that she knows this aerospace engineer, they’re never shown but she is seen texting them. Could it be Reed Richards a.k.a Mr Fantastic? Hayward did mention that some astronauts used to work for S.W.O.R.D before a mission went haywire - though it seems a bit lacklustre to introduce such highly anticipated characters this way. Could it instead be the Skrull daughter of Talos that Monica befriended at the end of Captain Marvel? She mentioned that they had extraterrestrial allies in episode 4 working with her and Fury as apart of S.W.O.R.D - in the Spanish subtitles they use the feminine articles for this engineer - so I think it’s more likely to be Talos’s daughter

The board that we saw in Episode 4 now includes the mailman, drivers license and all - could he be Jimmy’s missing witness?

The tension in the room after Jimmy references Carol is similarly seen when in Spider-Man: Far From Home, where Peter asks Skrull Fury/Talos “How about Captain Marvel?” To which Talos replies “Don’t involve her name”. Fury, Monica and Talos were all on the side of the Skrulls by then end of Captain Marvel and the space station that Fury was on maybe apart of S.W.O.R.D. So did Carol betray them?

A slight reference to Captain America: The First Avenger is made when Monica pulls a Peggy Carter and shoots at something to see if it’s bulletproof, in Peggy’s case it was the iconic Captain America shield and in the case of Monica, it was her clothes that she was wearing after Wanda threw her out of the Hex

Abilash (Norm) never states that Wanda is the one that Vision has to save them from, it’s just “her” - could this instead be Agnes?

When Billy is training Sparky to sit, he puts the treat by his ear up to his temple - a future reference that Billy will one day share the same powers as his mum?

During the scene in which Wanda leaves the Hex briefly, she turns the guns onto Hayward but none are trained on Monica - she may still trust Monica slightly, whereas with Hayward, she slightly more pissed off because of what he was doing to Vision’s remains. And turning a bunch of guns on the people you don’t trust? Like father, like daughter as Magneto pulls a similar move in one of the X-Men films - Hopefully, the big cameo they keep teasing will be Ian McKellan as Magneto or the Magnus of this House of M adaptation

During when Agnes “found” Sparky, she says he died from eating too many leaves from her plants - in the Tom King Vision run, one of Vision’s kids ends up killing Sparky and sees inside his stomach that there’s a plant that Agatha Harkness grows in her garden

All the names that appear during the credits that Wanda tries to run to end the show and to stop Vision from talking are names of people who work on the actual Wandavision show itself

When Evan Peter’s version of Quicksilver shows up, he says “Does a long lost bro get to squeeze his sister to death or what?” I DO NOT TRUST THIS PIETRO - Similar to Wandavision, the Fox X-Men movies moved up decade by decade - First Class was in the 1960s, Days of Future Past was in the 1970s, Apocalypse was in the 1980s and Dark Phoenix was in the 1990’s - which would make even more sense as MCU! Pietro wasn’t born until 1989, whereas Peter was active during the 1980s. I reckon that this Pietro is Jimmy’s missing witness, Agnes’s husband Ralph and is disguising itself as a comforting presence to Wanda as Vision no longer brings comfort and is trying to bring Wanda back to reality - and when he shows up, the mirror in the background behind Wanda is slightly distorted but his hand looks red and in the shot as well, there seems to be a grey arm reaching towards Pietro - in the shot itself behind and in front of Wanda, there’s nothing there but in the mirror, there is! Either way, I do not trust this Pietro and it’s just an entity trying to give Wanda the last thing that could make her happy - but it won’t last, as everything is already breaking down around her.

I seriously seriously love this show so much 💙

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steves-on-a-plane · 3 years

Text

First Date

Words: 1493 Pairing: Bucky x Reader Warning: none Summary: Reader and Bucky have been set up by their mutual friend Sam Wilson. Things start off awkward at first, but after Reader shares a bit about herself and her life, Bucky warms up enough to share some details about his own life.

“James?” You asked the man sitting at the table with uncertainty. Well Sam had been right about one thing, he certainly was handsome. He had steely blue eyes and a strong jawline. He was wearing a motorcycle jacket and a pair of riding gloves. He looked up from the book he’d been reading. “I’m Sam’s friend…”

“[Y/N].” He finished for you in a gravelly voice. “Please sit down.” He invited you to join him at the table’s only other empty seat. So you shrugged off your jacket and sat down. It was a nice enough night, just over fifty degrees out, but you’d wished you’d worn something warmer.

“I should have worn a sweater.” You mumbled mostly to yourself.

“You could keep the jacket on.” He suggested in a way he thought was helpful.

“I would but it doesn’t quite fit. It’s been too small for a while now.” You confessed. “But it’s my lucky jacket.” He leaned sideways in his seat to steal a peak at the jacket in question.

“You have a lucky denim jacket?” He straightened in his chair again.

“I’ve had this jacket since I was in high school. I took my SATs in this jacket, wore it to my first job interview. What can I say,” You shrugged. “Just because something’s old doesn’t mean it’s outworn its usefulness.” This made him laugh for some reason. “Reading anything good?” You attempted to read his book’s title upside down.

“Oh, not really.” He shrugged.

“I’ve never read Lord of the Rings. Is it your first time through?” You asked him.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “You, ah, you read?”

“Are you asking if I know how to read?” You question.

“What? No I was just…”

“Relax.” You smiled at him. “I was just teasing. Tolkien’s not my thing, though. I don’t need to read three pages about the Baggins’ legacy handkerchief collection. Now the Star Wars novels…” You let your sentence trail off as you nodded with approval.

“They have Star Wars books too?” He seemed almost exhausted by the idea.

“Hundreds of them.” You confirmed.

“Have you ever eaten here before?” He questioned, bringing his attention to the menu.

“No, I assumed you had.” You said, also picking up your menu.

“Sam recommended it.” He mumbled.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s great then.” Sam was a bit of a foodie so there was a high probability any place he recommended was good. As you skimmed the menu, scanning your options you noticed the prices were a bit over your own budget.

“This place seems…expensive.” You commented, unable to phrase it more delicately.

“Oh? You don’t find Forty-five dollars a reasonable price for pasta and chicken?” He scoffed.

“I know a place not too far away, do you maybe want to get out of here?” You suggested. James looked down at the menu in his hand, seeming to weigh the options.

“If Sam asks, we both had the steak, and it was delicious.” He smiled getting to his feet. You put your lucky jacket back on and followed James out of the restaurant. “So how do you know Sam?” He wanted to know once the two of you were walking in step together.

“Ah, work…sort of.” You told him vaguely. “You?”

“Same.” He replied quickly.

“Are you a veteran?” You questioned.

“You could say that.” He sighed. “You?”

“No, my Dad was. Vietnam.” You explained. “I met Sam while I was helping out the VA.”

“You said was. Is your father…” He couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“Yeah. It’s been years now, so my mother and I have adjusted to life without him, but there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel like there was more we could have done for him.” You shook your head. “I’m so sorry, this is a terrible conversation for a first date.”

“No, no it’s fine.” He insisted. “Much better than asking me about a childhood pet or I don’t know, my favorite color. It’s refreshing to have someone share their life so openly.”

“Oh? It can go both ways, ya know.” You elbowed him playfully.

“What do you want to know?” He asked stuffing his hands in his pockets. You continued walking, taking a minute to think of something interesting to ask him.

“What is something you’d never bring up on a first or second date, but your romantic partner should know?” You asked. He stopped walking, which surprised you. You stopped too, turning to look back at him.

“I’m a hundred and three years old.” He said before continuing down the street.

“Okay, well if you’re not going to take it seriously, don’t open the door to…” You rolled your eyes before chasing after him.

“I’m being serious.” He insisted, not looking at you.

“How can you be a hundred and three years old? The only person who looks as good as you and is that old is Captain America. The internet says he’s up on the moon or whatever but either way you’re not Captain America. So how could you possibly be that old?”

“Never mind. Forget I said anything.” He mumbled. You wanted to prod some more but you’d reached your destination. “C’mon.” You tugged him by the elbow towards a small hole in the wall restaurant.

The restaurant wasn’t much. It was certainly small with only about ten tables. The décor was simple and slightly outdated. Along one wall was a mural of Italian wine makers stomping grapes. There were yards of faux grape vines winding and twisting like trim across the top of the dining room. Some sections of vine even had plastic grapes dangling from them. The tabletops were well worn, their red and white gingham patterned had faded slightly over the years. It wasn’t much, but it was warm and the food was good.

“Best pizza in the whole city, I swear.” You promised as you dragged him inside.

“This place doesn’t even look open.” He commented with uncertainty. There was no one in the dining room when you arrived, but at the sound of the bell over the door, A short woman in an apron stepped out from the kitchen. A teenage boy in all black stumbled out beside her.

“I’m so sorry, but we are closed for tonight. You come back tomorrow.” The woman started to say in her thick Italian accent.

“Ma, it’s me.” You rolled your eyes. Your mother squinted at you, before putting her glasses on. She beamed with a smile once she recognized you.

“[Y/N]? But you are supposed to be out on a date, not here.” She argued.

“Well, I brought my date here. Ma, Marco, this is…” You began to introduce him.

“Bucky, Ma’am. My friends call me Bucky.” He introduced you.

“Are you taking good care of my [Y/N], Bucky?” Your mother asked.

“Ma, leave him alone. He hasn’t even been able to eat yet.” You told.

“Not eaten?” You mother seemed scandalized. “You left an hour ago to go to that fancy restaurant! Sit, sit, both of you. Marco, go get table setting for your cousin!” She ordered the young boy.

“è bello, no?” You mother whispered to you. You wanted to chastise her, but Bucky replied back in Italian.

“Non bella come tua figlia.” He smirked.

“I will cook something special for you, Bucky.” You mother decided.

“Just pizza will be fine, Ma!” You called after her. “So, you speak Italian?” You quested as the two of you sat at the nearest table.

“You don’t?” He continued to smile.

“Not since my dad…” You confessed looking around.

“I’m guessing this was his place?” He nodded towards the large neon sign behind the bar proclaiming the restaurant as Antonio’s.

“It was my grandfather’s. Then my dad took it over and he was a terrible cook.” You laughed. “He hired my mom to be his chef, that’s how they met. They were a perfect team for over thirty years. Since then, we’ve been doing everything to keep it afloat. It’ll kill both of us to lose it.”

“I really am a hundred and three.” He said again, not knowing what else to say. “I tell people that I wear these gloves because I have poor circulation, but the truth is…” He tugged off his right glove first, then his second. You noticed, even in the dim lighting of the restaurant his left hand seemed to be made of metal. “It’s vibranium.” He told you flexing his fingers so you could see them.

“Bucky.” You repeated. “A hundred and three. Are you the guy they were looking for all those years back? The one they thought did the Socovian Accords bombing?”

“How can you be sure I didn’t do it?” He asked.

“I just have this feeling about you.” You shrugged. “Like you’d never hurt a fly. So, tell me, Bucky. How do I get to be a hundred and three and still look as good as you?”

#Bucky Barnes #Bucky Barnes x Reader #Bucky Barnes Reader Insert #Bucky Barnes Fan Fiction #Bucky Barnes Fan Fic #Bucky Barnes FF #TFATWS

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stigandr-the-cat · 3 years

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AHHHHHH THANK YOU AGAIN TO @ghost-party for listening to me babble for hours on end and letting me join your collab not to mention beta reading!!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH TREASURE OF MY HEART 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

A/N : Update because i realized i have zero context for this. 😅

Modern! Single dad! Reiner with GN reader. Theme is meet-cute. 4.8k mentions of death, war, and injury. More along the lines of fluff with slight smut so minors DNI. ENJOY 😊

The young woman ran from Eldia, from a home torn apart with war. One arm caged her son Reiner against her chest, the other hand held fast to the child of her sister, the rest of their family dead. Still in the throes of grief that threatened to tear apart her soul, her only thought was to save the children in her arms. A prayer that they soon would find themselves someplace safe and far away from this nightmare dragged into daylight was whispered unceasingly on chapped lips.

Years later, at 24, Reiner Braun has worn each stage of life like too-tight skin. Skin split down his back as he tried to find freedom with each forward step. Each new layer would crack across the knuckles, dripping blood-soaked memories. More cracks formed down his chest, broken and straining against the strong beat of his heart. He had run from childhood into the military without a second to breathe let alone think. A military that sent him to that first forgotten home to kill his own people that everyone was raised to see as monsters. Yet on the return, he could only see them as a single entity being lead to slaughter. The sight of his mother's tears when he had left burned in his dreams before turning into the screams of comrades who hadn't come home. With that, he now carries himself like a broken weapon, only good for being melted down and used for scrap.

Upon an old motorcycle, Reiner settled down in the traffic, kickstand on the road. They hadn't moved in a while, and from what little he could see, they wouldn't be for a while. As if the sky above had conspired against his desire to have a peaceful night with half-forgotten family before returning to the apartment — to the death that waited. A clean, loaded rifle, with the barrel ready for him to swallow so he could greet the stars above. Would they be welcoming in their cold light? Most of them were long dead after images, just as he was only the mirage of whatever broken mold there had been before. Still, he would say his goodbyes while they welcomed his brother's baby girl into this broken world.

Slowly, traffic moved forward after an age of stillness. A silent prayer of thanks to whatever power kept the world spinning escaped Reiner's lips. The thanks turned into that sharp inhale of one who is trying to stay calm when faced with carnage. His eyes widened at the sight of the crash, one car so mangled as to be unrecognizable, trapped under a jack-knifed semi-truck. Blood dripped down a mangled hand, a ring glinting in a shaft of sunlight. Reiner wasn't sure if he felt envy or pity for the poor bastard. He crawled past and on towards the hospital where his family waited.

"Mr. Braun?" Reiner stood and turned towards the voice, faltering for a moment when he saw a policeman standing with a doctor. Their expressions were agonized, bodies as stiff as corpses on a sting.

"Yes?"

"I'm Doctor Cooper and this is Officer Forger. I'm afraid we have terrible news."

Reiner had known something was wrong when the nurse at the desk had, with the face of a ghost, told him to sit when he gave his name. How she had whispered into her phone, "He's here," when his back was turned. He sat stone-still, mind spinning. What could it be? What could be so bad that not one of the family could greet him? His heart thumped against cracked ribs, the scabbed-over, broken skin now oozing fresh blood at the strength of it. Fear filled his blood, choking the air.

"There was an accident. Your mother and brother were involved in a car crash and died. Your sister-in-law, upon hearing the news, became frantic, and in the attempt to restrain her, stitches from the caesarian tore open. We tried to save her but sadly were unable to do so."

Reiner felt the world stop, a shuddering breath turning to poison in his lungs. The car under the semi… Had that been them?

"What about..." His voice faltered before the soldier in him took over. "What about the baby? Gabi?"

"She’s fine. Healthy baby girl. There will be paperwork and other legalities to take care of, but it looks like you’re the only family she has left."

At nearly 30, this latest skin Reiner wears hardly fits him any better than others in the past. It still bleeds at the knuckles, staining his hands crimson. The baby turned toddler and now child, calling him Dad, not Uncle, even as Reiner tried to convince her otherwise. Gabi is as headstrong as both he and his brother combined. She has learned from her friends that he fits the definition of a dad, and so he is Dad. As such, he has taken this new name like a vow to be the best he could be. The rifle was long ago sold, his old uniform and medals placed in a locked box at the back of his closet, left to rot. The apartment that would have welcomed his death has now been left behind. With his daughter, they have made a faraway condo their home.

"Dad! It's time for the park!" Gabi calls, her little feet dancing loudly at the back door.

"I hear you, I hear you. One second," Reiner calls back from the kitchen, filling a water bottle before adding it to a backpack, along with some snacks.

Gabi continues to stamp her feet and huff as he puts on his jacket and shoes. Then they are out the back door, to the gate that leads from their backyard into the park. Gabi is already running top speed to the playground. Reiner just lengthens his strides to keep up, not even trying to get her to slow down. It’s as futile as trying to stop a rocket with bare hands.

At the park on the benches, three moms sit like The Fates squabbling over their single eye. He takes his place on another bench, close enough to hear them but only just. His mind is more focused on watching the children than listening to their continual tainted stream of gossip.

"Did you hear? The old condo sold, and apparently it’s the sister of that shrew," one hisses.

"They’re going to be living next to each other. It’s a family," a second observes. She must have spent the night over Facebook and wine again.

"Oh, look... Here comes the shrew. The kid must be the sister’s," the final woman — the ringleader — observes.

This catches Reiner's attention. He looks up from the kids to see the new arrivals. You are heart-stopping, wearing a black leather jacket and light pink shirt, snug jeans, and leather boots. Your hand is intertwined with one belonging to a small child, puffy in their coat and boots, and you silently encourage them forward to the swings. They look back at you before running towards Gabi to introduce themselves. Already her hand is taking the place of yours, and they are off running and tumbling across the playground.

Reiner has heard of you before, sure, the mothers only calling you “the shrew.” The only other single person on this block, they tried to set you two up as soon as they learned he was also single. But he never agreed and neither did you. An action he now regrets as his eyes drift back over you, a warm smile dancing on your lips as you stand before The Fates while they weigh you in the scale of their own image. He knows they already find you both lacking. Their ideal of white picket fences with a spouse and two children, with the only variant being what pet you own, doesn’t match the lines you have drawn around as your framework. And yet you stand, head high, knowing you are your own ideal. It is like looking at a river breaking the bonds others would have forced on it — magnificent, leaving him hungry for any scrape of attention you would throw at him. A shriek of delight recalls his attention to the children, even as he strains to hear the nectar that drips from your lips.

"Yes, my sister bought the condo next to me. Rin is the kid's name. I'm watching them today. Yes, my sister will be wanting to join the Facebook group. No, I still don't have a Facebook and won't be joining." Your voice is clipped against the torrent of questions.

Finally, you get away from them and come sit next to him. He can feel the blush rising to his face.

"God, they’re catty. I almost thought they were going to try and eat my heart." Reiner chuckles at this. "I'm Y/N. And you?"

"Reiner Braun."

"Which one is yours?"

"The one with dark brown hair leading the group. Her name is Gabi."

"Cute. Not even five and already a leader."

"Six, actually."

"So close."

"Not in her eyes."

"No, you’re right. Never in the eyes of the child is ‘close’ good enough when it comes to their age and how they wish to be treated." Reiner lifts an eyebrow. "Rin has to say their exact age down to the day and expects everyone else to do the same. But they also desire to be given the same respect as a child twice their age." You pause, eyes wandering the outlines of him. "Househusband?"

"No, our tale is a bit more tragic. She was my brother's child, but our family is... Our family is gone." His voice is ice numb, with the passage of time scabbing over those wounds. Yet he hears you suck in broken air at the revelation.

"I'm sorry to ask."

"I'm not. She changed my life for the better, even if it came with heartache."

"You don't look like a philosopher, Reiner Braun, but you talk like one."

"Oh, do I?"

"Just a bit." You offer him a small smile and it is a sunbeam through the rain.

The conversation is molasses, honey-sweet and slow, an amber spyglass that sharpens and colors in the lines you both have drawn around yourselves. He learns about what you call a sedentary life of living and working from home, broken up with family events and vacations. But it is a life you love, even in solitude. The way your eyes glow with each spilled word has his heart skipping like the children you both watch in between shy glances made of the spun sugar of new yearning.

You learn about Reiner's struggle with being thrust into his guardianship soon after his return home from war. His struggle to find a job that would allow him to be there for Gabi. The path that eventually led him to be a building inspector. He can feel the words rise from places within him that are both featherlight yet suck at his soul like tar. This time, his glance is rewarded with your eyes locked on his, your lip caught in your teeth.

"I know I should say thank you for your service, but your eyes look so haunted." There is compassion written in your eyes that says more than a thousand speeches about the honor he should feel from being a soldier, about doing his country proud. It's overwhelming, so he looks away, afraid to break at this lightest touch of tenderness.

Far too soon, the sky begins its slow turn to dusk. Far too soon, it is just Gabi and Rin running around. Far too soon, you both are the only ones left, yet there is no move to leave. It is comfortable, sitting together as the children run. As if it is a comfortable silence built by months and years of understanding and not just moments and hours.

"It's getting late, but I don't want to say goodbye." Your voice is whisper soft.

"Then don't. You’re both welcome to come over for dinner." His boldness is a surprise, even as he waits with bated breath for your answer. The words begin to slip from your smiling lips.

A discordant, jarring noise fills the air, making you both jump in fright before turning to nervous laughter. You hold up your phone, wincing as you see the name across the screen — a reminder of something previously forgotten.

"Hey, sis."

"What do you mean, ‘Hey, sis’? Where is Rin? I've been texting you for the past ten minutes and haven't heard anything back. Are you guys okay?" Pulling the phone away from your ear as the person on the other end shouts, Reiner grimaces in sympathy.

"Yeah, sorry, Rin is fine. We’ve been having lots of fun at the park. They made a friend."

The voice on the other end goes soft after your apology, so much so that he can't hear it. Not that he should have been listening to your conversation. He turns to face the children, watching them laugh as they go down a slide, tangled together. The blinding brilliance of childhood friendships made in innocence.

"Sorry, Rin was supposed to be home by now. Raincheck?" You offer a small smile in apology.

"Of course." He recites to you his phone number before turning to the children. "Gabi! Rin! Time!" His voice is loud enough to carry but not a shout, never a yell in anger. The two children pop up like weasels before scrambling over.

Rin holds on to Gabi's hand and won't let go. Gabi, too, has a determined look about her that he has seen for so long yet it still affects him, filling him with pride over how fierce she is.

"No. I want to keep playing with Rin. Can they sleep over?" Her voice is the high-pitched whistle of a fire in the clouds. Until you get down to their level, a serenity about you like the sea.

"I promise, you and Rin can play again really soon. Rin is moving here next month. But I'll try and get Rin down here again before then, okay?"

"Okay," She grumbles, the two dropping their interlocked hands. Rin wrapping their arms about your neck, head tucked against your shoulder.

Cooing to the child, you give Reiner one final smile before leaving.

"I'll text you later, Reiner." How you say his name has him weak-kneed. He wants to hear it again, bottle the sound and use it to fuel this newfound addiction. So lost in his name written in your voice, he stands rock still as you walk away.

"Dad?" Gabi tugs at him, her small hand hardly wrapping around his first couple of fingers.

Shaking off the spell of your voice he turns to her, kneeling himself. "Yeah, sweetie?"

"What's for dinner?"

"How about breakfast?" he asks, grunting softly as he picks her up with one arm, the other grabbing the backpack.

"Can I have waffles with whipped cream?"

"Sure, if you ask nicely."

"Please, Dad!" she squeals in delight.

"I'll get it ready. Why don't you go take a bath and get in your PJs?" Setting her down to open up the back gate, he holds it open for her before locking it once he is through.

"Okay!" Hardly remembering to take off her boots and coat, she is running up the stairs, unable to contain her energy and excitement. Reiner smiles at this blessing he has been given. A tree growing again after a fire, healing from its damage.

Reiner has learned the relaxation his mother taught him was in cooking, in feeding those you love with creations of your hands. He remembers her soft songs in a language he cast off. He hums them now, the words long lost to the decay of time. Soon the smell of waffles and eggs fills the small kitchen. Behind him, on the chair where he left his coat, his phone dings loudly once, twice. Work probably, some contractor asking him for the punch list. So he ignores it in favor of not burning their dinner.

Gabi babbles her thanks in between half-chewed bites of whipped cream mixed with syrup dribbling down her chin. Reiner tries to remind her to chew her food, which she apologizes for as more slips down her face, causing him to sigh. When she is satisfied, he sits her on the kitchen counter with gentle hands and cleans her face. How these hands have changed, but still, a scar across his palm catches at the soft skin. These hands are still marked with cracked skin, knuckles with fresh blood that slides down the back of them. He prays she never sees the ache of the bleeding wounds.

Gabi uses the last bit of her energy, squirming under the wet cloth before collapsing against his chest. In the soft silence of their home, he avoids the one stair that creaks before helping her brush her teeth and braid her hair to sleep. Her eyes have gone glassy, hands grabbing around his neck, soft breath against him. She is a gift he never would have deemed himself worthy to have. Already asleep, he tucks her in bed before kissing her forehead. Satisfied with checking that the window is locked, he turns the combination night light music player on before he leaves.

This new life is made of cotton, a cushion against the harsh turning of the times. Looking at the small mess in the kitchen, Reiner remembers his phone going off and puts off the latter in favor of just checking. Surprised delight works a smile up to his face as he sees a new number flash across his screen.

Rin's home safe. Wouldn't stop talking about Gabi and how much they love her. Had to admit, I thought her father was pretty neat. Is the dinner invitation still available if it’s just me?

Of course! Oh, I just looked at the time. Sorry for the late reply. If you want to come over, you’re welcome, but I don't want to disrupt your evening.

You're fine. I figured you were taking care of Gabi. How is she?

Sleeping like a log after playing with Rin. Thank you for letting me know you both are safe. I have to admit, I think you're pretty neat, too.

I'm glad we agree. I can be there in a couple of minutes. I'm back home now.

I'll have a plate of waffles ready for you.

Reiner sets down the phone before looking to make sure that it's only a messy kitchen he has to worry about. Satisfied that it looks decent, he finds no toys left on the floor like landmines. In the small kitchen, he sets up a plate. There is excitement trembling in his hands at the thought of seeing you again in the near dark. What sides will he see from this new angle?

But there is worry weighing on his shoulders, wondering how will you see him? The darkness is a theater screen that plays out the harshest memories of our past. Will the shadows that line his face be too much? Will you see the cracked skin and turn away, squeamish at the sight of blood? His thoughts are quicksand and cold rain, draining even as his breath speeds up.

He has already been given a new direction and blessing in his life with Gabi. Is there the possibility of the hope that he might be blessed with love? Someone who will hold his hand as he continues to bandage the cracks and seal them together? His chest heaves at the strain of racing thoughts, even as he is still blocking out the world lost in the mire. The crack of a stone on wood startles him.

The soldier he has restrained for years rises within, ready to fight to protect the life that sleeps peacefully above. He is quick to rush outside, only to hear giggling. Confusion twists around his head like a halo, the soldier retreating to the corner of his soul where he forces them to find peace. He finds you smiling, another small rock in your hand which is quickly dropped. With a look of false innocence fighting against an overwhelming smile, he can feel his own smile forming in response.

"I wonder who could be throwing rocks at this hour?" He looks around ready to see how far you will take this act.

"Must be a delinquent punk or a ghost."

"Well then, my chivalry demands I let you in, at the very least, to keep you safe."

Your hand coming up to pat against his chest has his head spinning, the lingering heat blooming and unfurling like vines, pulling his cracked edges back together. He hardly remembers the plate he had fixed for you. He cracks open two sour orange beers that he hopes pair well with the sickly sweet of the whipped cream and syrup. He sips at his can while you eat, your content moan at the food nearly setting him on fire. The dark clouds of his earlier thoughts change to different desires.

Those thoughts stay and linger after you set down your plate, thanking him. They rage when you move closer to him. The purse of your lips as you sip at the beer. How your eyes linger on his face before turning back to the sky. The stars that once looked so cold now point out the lights in the dark. Those lights dance across your skin, and he knows you are another light in the dark, calling to him — a blessing he feels unworthy to touch as you pull his arm around your shoulders, leaning into the warmth of his chest. He keeps his vision trained on you, drinking in your soft light. He pulls you closer, until you’re squished against him.

It’s a picture and a movie he will treasure in his heart, the soft exhale of your breath across his chest causing shockwaves. He thinks about leaning down and kissing the crest of your hair. Tensing to ask if he can, the first drops of rain hit. It’s a deluge in a moment, soaking you both as he lifts you into his arms to carry you to the warm safety of the living room.

"Wait, Reiner!" Your laughing hand against his face pulls his attention to your eyes. "Let's dance — please." Your voice is a whispering beg, and he would fall on his knees to hear that sound again.

Reiner is careful in how he sets you down, steadying hands against your waist. Your own hands wrap over his to guide them. The cold rain is nothing against the heat in his chest as he twirls you in the downpour. If happiness were a sound, it would be your laugh and sigh. The gasp you make when he picks you up and dips you back is a benediction. Your hands travel the path of his shoulder and waist to cup his face, pulling him again to your rainwater-soft lips, warm breath against his before the movement is sealed.

When you pull back to breathe, he catches your lower lip in his teeth, finding he finally can breathe. Your arms loop around his neck as you pull in closer to him. His arms lower to your thighs, pulling you up. He starts walking into the condo. Soon, your back is against the wall, legs wrapped around his waist. His heart is beating hard when he finally pulls back, pressing his forehead against yours and pressing a soft kiss to it.

"If this is too fast, tell me to stop." His voice is shaking with desire.

"But we both need to get out of these wet clothes." You nip at his lip, pulling him back into a kiss that quickly turns deep, his tongue scraping across teeth, the taste of beer and waffles lingering in your mouth.

Laughter bubbles soft in pressed-together chests. Soaked shirts and pants abandoned on the floor. Warm kisses press against cold exposed skin. He moves to your neck, placing kisses there. When you tug on his hair, he growls softly before nipping at the skin and moving back to your lips. Again, he is carrying something precious in his arms as he climbs the stairs. Again, he steps over the one that creaks, walks down the other side of the hall until he is pressing you against his bed.

Heat crackles, electricity flowing like circuits finally connecting at last. Soft thighs rub against his own. Nails scrape down his chest and back until he is keening. The heavy weight between his legs presses against yielding hips. The last of the soaked clothing is stripped away, cast off into the darkness. Moonlight plays across your skin, making him swear you have been sent from the stars to guide him home.

"Dad!"

He pulls away quickly, a groan leaving you both. He places a soft kiss on your stomach before trying to find some sweatpants, calling back that he will be there in a second. Looking back, you are smirking, swaddled in the thick duvet, finger pressed against your lips even as your eyes travel the length of him. Padding out and closing the door behind him, Reiner shakes his head at this sweet, tormenting twist of fate.

"Gabi?"

"Down here!" He turns, going down to the living room.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"I was thirsty, so I was getting some water. I came down and saw the clothes on the floor." He can just make out the confusion across her face.

“Oh, I was outside and got caught in the rain, so I took them off as soon as I came in." His body flushes with embarrassment.

"Okay, but why are there two pants on the floor? Are you having a sleepover?"

"You know, I think it's time you go back to bed. Did you get your water?" His voice is cracking, mind spinning, eyes widening with horror as his breath speeds up.

"You are having a sleepover! Can I come join?"

"Gabi! No!" He is too quick, too loud, fear making him desperate.

"Why not?" She is pouting.

"Because." He pauses. "They’re already asleep and I don't want to wake them up."

"Oh, okay. Wait, why do you get to have a sleepover and I don't?"

"Come on, back to bed with you. I'll explain in the morning." He hopes for once she will be too tired and leave it alone.

"Fine." The sigh of relief cascades through his whole body.

Gabi, with a glass of water in her hand, trudges back up the stairs, little legs making her step on the creaking one. He really should fix it. Reiner grabs the clothes and goes back to his room, caught between shock and hysterical laughter, wondering if you heard all that transpired. He hopes to find you laughing. To press against you again, happiness wrapping around you both. To lose himself in your embrace. Instead, he finds you have pilfered one of his shirts and are curled up in his bed, asleep. Not having the heart to wake you, he goes to hang the clothes up in the attached bathroom’s shower so they can dry. Coming back, he leans down to kiss the space behind your ear, enjoying the mewl you let out from the contact.

"Hey, do you want to bed to yourself?"

"No — cuddles." Your arms are already grabbing for him. "Maybe I'll wake back up so we can continue."

"Don’t worry about that. Let yourself sleep. I'll still be here tomorrow,” he mummers against sleep-warm skin as he tucks you two together, bodies nestled together like puzzle pieces. Already, you are drifting back to sleep, face pressed against his chest, arms and legs tangling with his. A sob claws its way around his chest. Questions of why he was blessed and saved with first Gabi and now your brilliance in his life. How you feel like a permanent fixture, even within only hours.

He can feel sleep tugging at him, but still, his thoughts slip out. "Is it strange that I can already see us as a family?"

"No — not if I say yes." The words press themselves deeper into his skin, until they sink to his heart, a new bandage forming over the cracks.

His breath catches before he pulls you closer, lips pressing kisses into your hair.

That night, when he dreams, he doesn't see a mother's tears. But he remembers. When he came home with some groceries he had gotten for doing some work for a neighbor, and how his mother patted his head and told him he would be an amazing husband and father one day.

Reiner notices the next morning that his skin is healing, scars becoming thick with scales like armor. His role as father fits him far better than before, his hand having found yours.

#meet cute collab #attack on titan #aot #aot reiner #aot x you #snk x reader #snk reiner #snk #reiner x reader #reiner braun #reiner fluff #attack on titan reiner #shingeki no kyojin

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study-coffee-chicago · 3 years

Text

Stars on your Sleeve (A Ranger! Jay imagine)

Not a Halstead sister fic, just Jay and the reader as a child. (Sort of daddy! Jay)

The rain drummed down on Jay's tan helmet, the sound soothing him as he focused his eyes across the dark of the Tabernas Desert. Despite it being cold and wet, his focus was razor-sharp. He looked through the scope of his sniper at the sparsely vegetated, and sandy yet rocky terrain. He kept his eyes peeled for anything or anyone out of the ordinary, most notably Los Rebeldes.

Los Rebeldes (The Rebels) had thrown over the Spanish government and turned it into a warzone. Anyone who went against them was instantly killed. Anyone who refused to serve in their army had their families taken away. Jay didn't care much about the politics of the matter. All he cared about was making sure that no more innocents were harmed because of some fringe group getting their way and wanting to keep it that way. It wasn't Afghanistan, but it was the same goal.

When the war broke out, he knew he had to come back, to fight and protect. So, when Mouse had mentioned that was going to reenlist, Jay had been right behind him, despite Hailey arguing with him. They had been married for a year at the time and she didn't want to lose her husband to the gruesomeness that was battle. But, he told her he'd be safe. He told her that he had Mouse and all the other platoon members that would keep him safe, just as he would do the same for them. And now here he was, three weeks left of his deployment, still safe, and as ready as ever to get back to his wife.

As he looked into the scope, something being swept across the land caught his eye. And then, the wind died down, stopping it. He moved his sniper to be directly looking at it close up. Wet and matted, covered in dirt, but no doubt had it been loved by a child for many years. Then, he saw something out of the corner of his eye and moved around once more.

The feet were small, wet from the rain. He couldn't see much else because the rest of the body was hidden behind a bush. If he could get closer, he'd be able to see that the toes were starting to turn blue. It hadn't dipped below freezing, but the rain made it feel like it had.

"Mouse, I see something on my nine. Does that look like a kid to you?" Jay radioed.

Mouse turned his gun from where he was fifty feet away from Jay and zoomed his scope in as close as he could. "Oh my God."

That was all the confirmation Jay needed. "Mouse, I need you and Logans to cover me. I'm going to get them."

"Halstead, you can't--"

"Logans, I can and I will. It's a child, they're defenseless and last I checked we're here to protect them, so cover me."

He spotted the teddy bear still laying on the ground about one hundred feet away from who they presumed to be the child.

Jay held his gun in front of him, using the light from his sniper to guide him toward the child. Mouse was right behind him and Logans was a few yards behind them, walking backward to watch their six.

Jay stopped. "What are you doing?" Mouse asked as Jay reached down.

"I think this belongs to them." With his gun still trained in front of him, he grasped the sopping wet teddy bear. He noticed it was missing an eye. And then, he continued walking, boots heavy against the ground.

Jay continuously checked his three and nine as they got closer and closer to the child. For all they knew, this could be a ploy to take the three of them prisoner. But, there was no one.

"I'll run ahead, go check to make sure there's no one there," Logans volunteered.

"Copy," Jay answered, a few feet away from the child. Logans ran up ahead without even glancing down at the child, his main mission to make sure his fellow brothers in arms were safe.

Jay swallowed as he saw what lay on the ground in front of him. A girl, no more than ten, lay on the cold ground only wearing a dress and a small locket, which were now sopping wet. Her fingers and toes were a pale shade of blue and her lips were cracked and purple.

"All clear," Logans said as he ran back behind Mouse to watch their six once more.

Jay swung his gun behind him and took off his helmet. "Jay, what are you doing?" Mouse asked.

"I don't want to scare her if she wakes up, Mouse."

He leaned down and pressed his fingers to the girl's neck. "I've got a pulse. It's slow. She's probably slightly hypothermic, but it's there."

Jay balled his hand into a first and placed it on the girl's chest, rubbing hard and fast, hoping to warm her up.

You woke with a start. You widened your eyes as you saw someone crouched above you, brown hair, freckles, and green eyes with water dripping down his face. You tried to back away, but you couldn't feel your fingers, and that made it hard to push yourself up into a seated position.

The man took his hand off you and then held both his hands up in a sign of surrender. "This is Halstead to base, patch me through to Diaz," the man spoke into something like a walkie-talkie that was strapped to the band in front of him.

"Copy, Halstead. Patching you through to Diaz."

You jumped, not knowing where the second voice was coming from and Jay noticed. "Hey, hey, estás segura, cariña, estás segura." He used one of the few phrases he could say in Spanish to tell you that you were safe.

Upon hearing your first language, you relaxed a little. Then, you noticed the patch on his sleeve. It was the one with the red and white stripes and the stars. Your mom had always told you that if anything happened, to look for the men with the stars and red stripes on their sleeves because they would help you. That was one of the last things she told you five years ago and you were glad you had remembered.

"Diaz," you heard.

"Hey, Emilia, I've got a little girl here, signs of hypothermia, can't be more than ten. I got her to wake up. I have no idea if she speaks English, so what do I do?"

"First off, ask her her name. I know you know how to say that."

"¿Como te llamas, cariña?"

"Y/N," you answered.

"Y/N. Me llamo Jay." He picked up the teddy bear beside him. "Diaz, how do I ask her if this is hers?"

"¿Es tuyo?" Emilia answered.

"¿Es tuyo?" Jay repeated, his horrible Spanish accent showing.

You nodded and Jay held out your teddy bear to you. Slowly, you reached your hand out and took it from him and then, despite it being sopping wet, hugged it tightly to your chest.

"¿Hablas inglés, Y/N?" Jay asked.

You nodded, telling him that you did in fact speak English. At the orphanage you and your older sister had been at, the workers spoke both Spanish and English. And, since you had been there for five years, you had picked up most of the language.

"I'm Jay," he told you once more and then motioned behind him. "That's my friend Mouse and way back there is my friend Chad. I promise we won't hurt you. Now, can you come with us?"

"Stars on your mangas. Yes, I come," you answered. Despite having been around English for five years, you were bound to make mistakes sometimes.

"Diaz, help me out here. Mangas?"

"Sleeves, she said you have stars on your sleeve. I think she's talking about the American flag patch."

"Thanks. Can we get a truck to our location stat? I don't think we could carry her all the way back there seeing as it's a three-hour trek. She might get worse."

"Copy. Pulling location and sending emergency trucks your way. Want me to stay on the line?"

"That'd be great. Thanks, Emilia."

Jay took off his heavy coat and held it out you. You nodded at him and he wrapped it around your small body. "What's your bear's name?"

"Osito."

Diaz chuckled on her end. "Translates to teddy or little bear," she told Jay.

"Thanks for the info."

Despite the heavy jacket, you shivered. Jay wrapped an arm around you. "Help will be here soon, Y/N. For now I just need you to stay awake for me, can you do that? Diaz, how do I tell her not to sleep?"

"No despierte," she answered.

"No despierte, Y/N, no despierte."

"Halstead, emergency's thirty minutes out," Mouse told him. "It's your call. Go back to where we were or stay here."

He looked to you. He didn't want to move you if you weren't comfortable. "Wait here or wait somewhere else?" he asked you.

"Here," you answered.

"You heard her boys, we're staying here."

***

You didn't know how long it had been, but the nice soldier, Jay, had let you drink out of his big, round water bottle. He told you it was called a canteen. You had never heard that word before. He had helped you hold it since your hands were still numb and blue from the cold. Once you took one sip, you didn't stop until it was all gone.

Jay didn't mind that you had drunk the rest of his water, which was only half full when he had given it to you. You probably needed it more than him anyway; he had no idea how long you had been out in the desert without anything to drink.

You heard a truck motor in the distance, causing you to jump. "This is Halstead to Base," Jay started, "is there a truck heading towards our current location?"

"There is," the voice on the other end answered. "Do you see them?"

"I see them!" Logans yelled to Mouse who relayed the message to Jay.

"Copy, yeah we see them."

The noise grew louder and you squeezed your eyes shut. "Diaz, you still there?" Jay asked.

"Still here. What's up?"

"Can you tell Y/N that the truck is just to help her and then we're taking her someplace safe? I know she understands English, but I thought it might be a little hard for her to understand since there might be some military words mixed in there that she doesn't know. She looks pretty scared to me."

"Yeah, I can do that."

Over the soldier's radio, you heard a woman, who introduced herself to you as Emilia, speaking Spanish. She told you that there was a big truck coming your way and inside were a doctor and a nurse who would help get you better. Then, they'd take you back to a big house with lots of people where you could rest and eat some food. She told you that you'd be safe there.

"She seem calmer to you, Jay?"

"Actually yeah, she does."

"Halstead, truck's here!" Mouse yelled.

"Copy!" Then, he turned to you. "Hey, I'm gonna pick you up now and carry you over to that truck." He pointed ahead of him. "More of my friends are in there and there's doctors who can help you get warm. Are you okay with that?" You nodded, understanding most of what he was saying. "Okay, up you go. One, two, three."

He picked you up as the doctor and nurse jumped out of the back of the truck.

"A kid? How'd you find her?" the nurse, Ava, asked.

"I saw her teddy bear on the ground and then I looked and there she was. I don't know what happened to her. All I know is that she's showing signs of hypothermia and her name's Y/N."

"Okay, let's get in the truck and we'll take a look at her in there. That way me and Colin can actually see what we're working with."

"Copy," Jay answered. He climbed into the truck behind Ava and Mouse and Logans followed.

Jay went to set you down on the stretcher that sat between the two benches of the truck, equipped with an IV pole and other medical supplies, but you held onto his shirt. You didn't know what these people were going to do to you. The other guy didn't have stars on his sleeve. He could be bad.

"¡No! !No, lo tiene una bandera! ¡No me voy!"

Jay looked at Nurse Ava and Dr. Collins, seeing if they understood what she said, as you put your face into Jay's shirt. When they just stared back at him with a blank expression, Jay wanted to kill whoever decided not to send a bilingual nurse or doctor. If they couldn't send one of them, the least they could've done was send a translator with them.

"Mouse, get Diaz on your radio. I won't be able to hear her through mine since Y/N's covering it. Diaz, you can still hear us though, right?" Jay asked.

Jay heard muffling from underneath him and he took it as yes.

"Diaz, it's Mouse. You hear me?" Mouse asked, moving closer to Jay so they could both hear and speak into his radio.

"Loud and clear. Need me to translate?"

"Please," Jay replied.

"Okay. What she just said was that she doesn't want to go to him--I'm assuming him means Dr. Collins--because he doesn't have a flag on his sleeve," Emilia Diaz answered.

"Okay, let me try something."

"Oh God," Mouse muttered.

"Y/N," Jay started, causing you to move your head to look up at him. "This is a doctor. I know him. Es amigo."

"¿Su amigo?"

"Sí," Jay answered, confirming that the doctor was in fact his friend.

"He will not hurt me?" you asked.

"I promise he will not hurt you."

You looked at Dr. Collins and he smiled at you. "Okay," you said.

"I'm gonna put you down now."

He set you down on the stretcher and spoke loudly so that it could be heard through Mouse's radio. "Diaz, I'm gonna need you to translate this stuff because I doubt she knows medical stuff in English."

"Gotcha, doc," Diaz replied.

"Y/N, I have to tie off your arm and then put a needle in it so that warm saline gets into your body. That way, you'll warm up and your toes and fingers won't be cold anymore."

He waited for Diaz to translate and waited for your expression to change when she mentioned the needle to you. It did.

"I promise you'll only feel a small pinch."

"And you can squeeze my hand really, really hard," Jay added.

Diaz translated and you looked to Jay who had stretched his hand out towards you. You took it and the doctor counted down from three, in Spanish, but on one he stuck the IV in your arm and you squeezed Jay's hand as hard as your numb little fingers could.

You relaxed once the needle was in, starting to feel warmer.

Nurse Ava looked at your locket and whispered something to Dr. Collins. Jay knew what was up. They needed to take your necklace off right away and then put it in a bag to be looked at by tech so that they could be sure that there were no cameras or microphones in it. Nobody would put it past Los Rebeldes to use kids to find out what American soldiers were doing.

"Sweetie, we need to take off your necklace," Ava said. "We just need to look at it and you can have it back tomorrow."

"No. It is mine," you answered.

"I know it's yours, which is why you'll get it back tomorrow." She wanted to say that she had to take your teddy bear too, just to make sure that there were no microphones or cameras in there as well, but she could only fight one battle at a time.

She turned to Jay and spoke really fast so that you couldn't understand her.

"I know. I'll handle it." Jay crouched down next to you. "Y/N, we know that this necklace is yours," he spoke slowly, so that you were able to understand, "Because of the stuff the doctor put in your arm, you're gonna warm up fast. And, sometimes if there's metal on you, it can burn you because you heat up too fast. ¿Entiendes?"

"A little," you answered Jay's question of if you understood what he had told you.

"Diaz, can you repeat what I just told Y/N about her locket?"

Diaz translated what Jay had told you into Spanish, and he watched as you nodded in understanding and reached back to undo the clasp of your locket. But, you couldn't get it. Ava reached over to undo it, but she couldn't get it either.

"The clasp is so rusty that it's stuck," Ava said.

"Let me take a look," Jay said and moved behind you. He gently touched your neck as he grabbed the chain of the locket and then looked at the clasp. Ava was right. There was no way this was going to come off easily.

"Y/N," Jay started. "Ava's gonna pull the necklace a little bit and when she does I need you to sit really still, okay?"

"Okay," you answered.

"What are you doing?" Ava hissed so quietly so that you couldn't hear as Jay reached into a pocket of his cargo pants.

He pulled out his pocket knife and flicked it open. "It's our only option. I'll just go right through the clasp because it'll be easiest."

"Fine." She pulled on the chain of the necklace, moving it so that it was far away from you, but not so much that it was choking you.

"Y/N, I need you to stay really still."

You nodded and then you felt the necklace fall off, the heart-shaped charm falling on the floor of the truck.

"You broke it!" you yelled.

Your sister had given that to you when she heard people coming into the orphanage two days ago. She had quickly clasped it on you and told you to hide in the crawl space under your shared bunk bed. Inside the heart-shaped charm was a picture of your dad on one side and a picture of your mom on the other. Your parents had given it to your sister for her tenth birthday and she always let you look at it when you missed them. You had gotten the teddy bear and she had gotten the necklace. But, now you had both, the only picture of your parents inside that locket and now it was broken.

Jay rushed to pick it up before it bounced out of the truck. "Got it!"

"But you broke it!"

Jay laughed at how you thought it couldn't be fixed. "No, we just need a new chain to put the necklace on. It's okay."

"You can fix it?"

"Yes, I can fix it." He knew that if he could get his hands on a chain and a clasp that he could, but he wasn't going to tell you that. All you needed to know was that it could be fixed.

"Do not lose it," you told him.

"I will not lose it, Y/N. I promise."

You yawned, the tiredness of the last few days finally taking over you as you started to warm up. You were safe and the stretcher was softer than the ground you had previously been on.

Jay moved his jacket from behind you and placed it over top of you like a blanket. "You can sleep. It's safe. You're safe." he told you.

You clutched your teddy bear as you snuggled into Jay's jacket, allowing the sound of the truck and the quiet whispers around you to lull you to sleep.

***

"You are not taking her teddy bear!"

"Halstead, we have--"

"Listen to me! You do not have to do anything. That girl was cold, terrified, and alone when I found her. That stuffed animal was probably her only comfort item, besides that necklace, which we have already taken away from her for the night by the way, so there is no way in hell I am letting you take it away from her!"

"Mmmm, ¿Qúe estaís haciendo?" you asked, rolling over and trying to remember where you were.

Jay shut his mouth the minute he heard you talking. "Emilia," he said.

"She asked what we doing," she translated, as their superior officer stared at the two of them.

"That's a damn good question," Jay said, crossing his arms and glaring at his superior officer. "Care to explain what you were going to do, Captain?"

"I'll handle this," Emilia mumbled, knowing that a fight would just break out and Jay could get in trouble for going up against a superior. She, not as much though since she was just a translator.

Emilia explained to you that you were in the hospital part of the big house she had told you about over the radio earlier. She asked you how you were feeling and you said good, warm. You also mentioned how the bed was soft and she smiled at your innocentness.

Then, Emilia asked if you wanted to take a bath, a warm bath. You said yes. She asked if she could take Osito and give him his own bath, make him all nice and clean for you. You agreed and handed her the bear, causing Jay's eyes to go wide.

Emilia called for Ava and said that you wanted to take a bath. You looked up at Jay. "You come, too?" you asked.

"Where are we going?" Jay asked as enthusiastically as he could.

"I get a warm bath! So does Osito!" you exclaimed.

Jay chuckled at your cuteness. Even though you were eight, you still spoke like a five-year-old since English was your second language. But, he didn't mind; knowing two languages at your age was an accomplishment in and of itself. After all, he could only speak English.

"I'm sorry, but I can't come with you," he answered, squatting down so that he was eye-level with you. "But I'll be here when you get back."

"You keep Osito safe?"

"I will," he answered.

You nodded and took Ava's hand and headed out of the room in Med Station to take a bath.

"What did you tell her, Diaz?" their captain asked.

"I just asked her if she wanted a bath and that we'd wash her bear for her. That way, we can check it out while she's gone."

"Good thinking. I'll leave you two to bring it to security."

"Yes sir," both Jay and Emilia answered.

"That's not all she told you was it?" Jay asked as they made their way through the compound and to the security sector.

"She uh, she said she's never had a warm bath before, that the water was always cold at the orphanage," Emilia answered sadly.

"So she has no family?"

"She mentioned a sister, but when I asked where she was, she didn't answer, and that's when I mentioned giving the bear a bath. Something had to have happened there for her to leave and walk across the desert all alone."

"Poor kid," Jay sighed. "Now, where are you gonna wash her bear?"

"Me?" Emilia asked. "Oh no, Halstead, that's your job. I'm gonna go look for some clothes for her. Figured I'd be better at that than you."

"So you just want me to walk into a barracks full of grown men with a stuffed animal?"

"Precisely," Emilia smiled. "And, if I recall correctly, you still owe me a favor."

"Yeah, from when we were sixteen and my car broke down and you gave me a ride home!"

"Favor's a favor. Now get going. Don't want Y/N to think that you stole her bear. After all, you did promise to keep Osito safe," she laughed.

Jay rolled his eyes as he continued walking towards the barracks and Emilia went to the left to try and find you some clothes that might actually fit you.

He walked into the barracks and then into the communal bathrooms. He turned on one of the sinks and put your teddy bear under the cold water and wrung it out, not so hard that he'd rip it, but hard enough that he could get all the dirt out. He repeated the process for ten minutes until the water finally ran clear.

"The hell you got there, Halstead?" a fellow soldier of Jay's asked.

"I found a little girl when we were out last night and we have to get it checked for mics and cams, so to get it away from her, Diaz promise that the bear would get a bath...which meant that I gotta wash it," Jay answered, grabbing some paper towel to dry Osito off as best he could.

"I bet she'll appreciate that," he answered.

"Yeah," Jay agreed and then left to go bring the bear to security.

As expected, there were no microphones or cameras in it...which Jay could've told them that. Then, he walked back to Med Station just in time to see you walking back in your room along with Ava.

"Osito!" you exclaimed, running up to Jay.

"Here you go, cariña. All nice and clean." He handed you the bear and you hugged it to your chest.

"Look! My dress has bears on it!" you exclaimed, referring to your hospital gown. Somehow, someway, the nurses had children's gowns on the base. Jay wondered if they had expected more child casualties here and the thought made him internally shudder.

"I can see that. How are you feeling?"

You pursed your lips, trying to think of the word in English. "Clean!" you answered.

Jay laughed at this. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, I'm gonna be right back okay? I'll be right over there." He pointed out the door to the nurses' station.

"Okay, Jay."

Jay. His heart swelled when he heard your little voice say his name. And at that moment, he knew he'd do anything and everything to protect you. He didn't know what you had been through, but he knew that he'd make damn sure that you wouldn't get left behind again.

***

Jay was abruptly woken from his sleep by Dr. Collins. "Whoa, whoa, Halstead. It's Dr. Collins," he quickly said, putting his hands in front of his face in a protective position as Jay started to swing.

Jay shook his head and slowly lowered his hands. "Sorry, habit."

"No big deal. I suspect most people here would do the same. Now, I need you to come with me."

"Why?" Jay asked, slipping his feet into his boots.

"The girl you brought in--"

"Y/N?"

"Yeah, her. She keeps asking for you. She woke up and she won't go back to sleep and she said she wants you."

"But why me?" he asked as they exited the barracks.

"You were the one who found her, correct?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with it?"

"What did you say to her when you were there?"

"I told her that she's safe, told her my name, and then asked if she wanted to wait where we were or somewhere else. She said she wanted to wait where we were, so that's what we did."

"I see," Dr. Collins started, "you gave her some semblance of control."

"What?"

"You asked her if she wanted to stay there or go somewhere else and actually did what she wanted. She feels safe with you. She trusts you, Halstead."

She trusts you, Halstead.

They entered Med Station and then walked to your room. Jay heard your quiet sniffles before he saw you.

You were clutching your bear to your chest, Ava was next to you trying to get you to sleep, but you just shook your head back and forth. It was too dark, too quiet. You wanted your sister.

"Hey, cariña," Jay whispered, crouching down in front of the bed.

"J-Jay," you stuttered through tears.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's wrong?" he asked slowly, making sure that you could understand.

"I can not sleep. Miss sister."

"You miss your sister?" he asked. You nodded. "I miss my brother sometimes, too. And my wife."

Wife. You didn't know that word. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. He pointed to his wedding band and you understood what he meant. He had a princess at home. Your dad always told you that your mom was his princess and she always said that he was her prince. And, the rings were to make sure they stayed prince and princess.

"¿Princesa?" you asked.

"She is my princess, yes."

"Is she pretty?"

"She is really, really pretty."

"You cry for her and your brother at night?"

Now that, that question took Jay off guard. But, he did occasionally do that...like when he missed their wedding anniversary because he was overseas. "Oh, yeah," he answered. "Adults cry too and it's okay."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, how about we go to sleep and you can tell me about your sister tomorrow. I will tell you about my brother and my princess tomorrow, too." He made a conscious choice not to use contractions when talking to you because, if your speaking was any indication, you hadn't picked up on those yet. But, wow, he was still impressed by your English skills.

Ava stood up and turned off the light. She went to leave but was stopped. "Too dark," you said.

Jay reached into one of the many pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out a flashlight. He clicked it on. "Better?" You nodded. "Now, how about you go to sleep?"

"You stay?"

Jay wasn't planning on staying, but when you asked that, he knew he couldn't say no. "I will stay."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Jay hadn't broken any of his promises to you so far, so you expected him to still be here in the morning when you woke up.

***

It had been a week since Jay and the others had found you and your strength was finally back up to where it normally was. Jay had introduced you to his wife, Hailey, over a Skype call and he was right, she was pretty. When Jay told a joke, that you didn't understand, Hailey laughed, which caused you to laugh, too. And, before Jay knew it, he was laughing as well.

From that call, Jay had learned how old you were because Hailey had asked you. You were eight and your favorite color was purple. Your favorite animal was a bear and your favorite food...well you didn't really have one because all your food at the orphanage was boring and bland. You were fed for survival there, not enjoyment.

Stateside, Hailey's thoughts were littered with the little Spanish girl that Jay had saved. She'd be lying if she didn't see a connection between you two. How much you trusted him and how he looked at you with the light in his eyes that was only ever seen when he was at home. During these months on deployment during their weekly Skype calls, Hailey had only seen that light once: the call when you were next to him.

"You seem happy," Mouse pointed out as Jay was tying his boots the next morning, about to go grab breakfast from the chow hall.

"They said that Y/N can go outside and play now. She's been asking to go outside for the past three days. And now she finally can."

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"She's just a kid, man," Jay answered. "And the way we found her, what she must've gone through. I just want to make her feel safe."

"I get it. Just don't get too attached. You gotta go out one more time before you leave."

Mouse was right of course. He did have to leave the base and go into no man's land one more time to stand guard with Mouse, Logans, and a few others before the end of his deployment in two weeks.

Jay slumped his shoulders. "What if something happens to me when we're out there?"

"What?" Jay had never spoken like that before. His focus was always on the task ahead of him. His best friend had never heard him ask a question like that before in their three deployments together or during risky raids back in Chicago as part of the Intelligence Unit.

"What if they find us and we don't come back? What's Y/N going to think? That I abandoned her? That I broke a promise to her?"

"Jay, man, you are getting way too close to this kid. If it's gonna affect the way that you do your job, you gotta take a step back."

"I know that. What if I-- you know what? Forget it."

Jay stood up to go brush his teeth, but Mouse followed him.

"C'mon, Jay. Talk to me."

Jay sighed. "Fine. But not here. Let's go grab our guns."

After grabbing their guns, the two walked to a secluded space on the base, a place where they usually cleaned their weapons. And, since it was so early, no one was around they could talk freely. But, they had to make it look like they were here to clean their weapons, which is why Jay had his sniper rifle on the table, already unscrewing it, ready to clean the barrel.

"What if I didn't go?" Jay asked breaking the silence.

"Go where? What are you talking about?" Mouse asked, taking apart his gun as well.

"What if, the next time we have to leave Base, I didn't go. What if I just stayed behind."

"You can't do that! One, Smith would find out pretty damn fast. And two, you can be dishonorably discharged for insubordination for going against the orders of a superior officer! Are you crazy?"

"Smith's got kids, right?" Jay asked, referring to their captain.

"I think so. Why?"

"Maybe if I talked to him and told him the reason that I want to stay back is because of Y/N, then maybe he'd let me."

"You know you wouldn't be getting out of this unscathed, right? You'd be on kitchen or latrine duty for the rest of the tour."

"I know that," Jay groaned.

They worked in comfortable silence for a few minutes until Mouse broke it. "You really have a soft spot for this girl, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah I do." Jay paused, putting his gun back together. "I just, I wonder where she's gonna go after she gets better. She was at an orphanage before we found her, a place that was supposed to keep her safe, Mouse. And, the way we found her, they obviously didn't do their jobs."

"You know who might know where she's going?"

They both looked at each other and nodded. Diaz.

"Emilia," Jay said in a sing-song voice as he saw Emilia round the corner in the chow hall with her breakfast.

"Oh, no. You only use that voice when you want something," she said as she headed to her table.

Jay and Mouse sat down across from her. "Well, you're not wrong."

"The number of times I heard that voice in high school when he wanted to cheat off my homework was astronomical, Mouse," Emilia said.

"In my defense, it wasn't cheating. It was checking my answers." Emilia raised an eyebrow. "Fine. It was checking my answers and changing them."

"That's better. Now, what do you two want?"

Mouse held his hands up in surrender. "It's all Jay this time."

Emilia turned her attention to Jay. "What do you want?"

"I know that you're on good terms with basically everybody here, so I was wondering if maybe you'd know where Y/N is going once she gets better?"

Emilia sighed, knowing the attachment Jay had to you. "Last I heard is that she's gonna go back to another orphanage."

"Any idea when that might be?"

"Maybe a month, month and a half at most."

"So, we'll essentially be getting her to feel comfortable and safe here and then she'll just up and move again."

"When you put it like that, yeah. I'm sorry, Jay."

"Yeah, thanks." He turned to Mouse. "Let's go grab some breakfast."

***

Jay walked into Captain Smith's office, nervous as hell. "Captain," Jay spoke with a curt nod.

"Halstead, what can I do for you? I've been meaning to tell Diaz that that was a good idea on how to get the little girl's bear away from her."

"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to pass that on to her."

"How is the little girl?"

"Doing better, sir. She's been asking to go outside and play, so I'll probably stop by later to take her outside, maybe start a soccer game."

"She'd probably like that. Now, I can tell that you didn't just come in here to update me on how she's doing. Would I be correct?"

"You're correct, sir. I came to ask you if there is any way that I don't have to go out on my next scheduled guard post."

"I'm assuming that I don't have to tell you that if I tell you that you have to go and you refuse, that that would be grounds for insubordination."

"No, sir."

"Can I ask what prompted this?" Captain Smith had heard stories about Jay's time in Afghanistan and the man in front of him never backed down from a fight.

"It's Y/N, the girl I rescued, sir. She feels safe with me and I don't want to leave her. I don't want to be another person who leaves her." Jay hoped his captain understood the unspoken words that the sentiment conveyed.

"Halstead, I understand where you're coming from. I have kids of my own and I'd be lying if I told you that whenever I have to go off base in combat, that they aren't at the forefront of my mind. But, it's what we signed up for. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do.

"I understand, sir. Thank you for your time."

***

"Hey, cariña," Jay said happily as he walked into your room just before ten o'clock. "Did you get new clothes?" he asked, overexaggerating his surprise.

"Yes! Emilia give them to me!"

You were currently in a pair of shorts and a way too big t-shirt that was made tighter by bringing the back together using a hair tie. Emilia had taken a pair of shorts she had with her (no doubt to be used on one of the rare days when they got to go into the city) and had cut and sewn them so they were smaller.

"She did, did she?"

"Yeah!"

"Are you ready to go outside?"

You jumped out of bed at that. "Go outside! Go outside!"

You grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out of the room. Who knew you could have so much strength in that little body of yours? Jay could barely stop and tell a nurse where you were going. But, then he laughed, seeing as you were going in the wrong direction.

"Wrong way, cariña," he laughed as he stopped walking.

"Oh." You scrunched up your eyebrows. "You go first."

"Okay, I'll go first. Do you want to keep going mano a mano so that you don't get lost?"

Your eyes lit up when he spoke the bit of Spanish. You nodded and Jay continued to hold onto your little hand as he led you outside.

When you and Jay got outside, you were met with a big group of soldiers, some women, but mostly men. One was holding a soccer ball. Jay put his fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle to gather everyone's attention.

The one holding the ball turned to face them. "Can you guys add two more?"

"I think so. What's her name?" the soldier asked Jay.

"Her name's Y/N."

"Hi, Y/N. Do you want to be a captain? You get to pick who's on your team."

You looked up at Jay as if asking for his permission and he nodded. "Okay! But, I want Jay and Emilia."

"We can do that." Then, he turned back to the group. "Hey, whoever wants in on this game, line up! Me and Y/N are captains. And, she's already got dibs on Halstead and Diaz!"

A few grumbled, they knew Jay was one of the best at soccer having played in high school, and kept it up as a hobby after that. Everyone lined up and you started picking teams. Jay mouthed something to the other captain and he nodded, knowing that they were going to let your team win and not put up a fight when you went to score goals.

***

"Hey, Halstead!" Logans yelled to Jay once he had dropped you off to your room for lunch...and a bath seeing how dirty you had gotten playing soccer in the sand.

Jay turned and raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected to see Logans right now. But, he didn't mind. The two had grown close just because they had to go on missions together.

"Few of us are going into Seville, wanna tag along?" Chad Logans finished.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Mind if Emilia comes too? You know, for translation purposes."

"Yeah, for translation purposes," Logans mocked.

Jay laughed. "Dude, you've got it all wrong. We went to high school together and one time we got dared to kiss each other, and it was like I was kissing my sister."

"Talkin' about me, Halstead?" Emilia asked, sneaking up behind him.

"Jesus Christ!" Jay jumped. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Aw, the man who plays with big guns is scared of a little translator. I'm honored."

"Shut up," Jay retorted, rolling his eyes. "So, assuming you didn't hear the first half of our conversation, you wanna head into Seville? Apparently, there's a bit more room on the truck."

"Sure, why not. I'm off for the rest of the day anyway."

"Good, because we're getting Y/N's necklace fixed and I need you to translate."

"And make sure you don't get ripped off."

"That too."

***

"What about this one?" Jay asked Emilia, holding up a silver chain.

"Jay, I know you're a man, but Jesus, I thought you were smarter than this!"

"What? What did I do wrong?"

"Take out the locket and look closely at it along with the chain. Go."

Jay pulled the locket out of one of the many pockets of his pants and held it next to the chain. "So? One's silver and one's gold."

"Exactly. You can't have a silver chain go with a gold locket. We need to find a gold chain. C'mon, put it back and we'll keep looking."

"Women," Jay scoffed.

"I can almost guarantee if you said that to Hailey that she'd have your balls in a blender so fast, Halstead."

"It's why I married her. Strong, independent, beautiful, and not to mention she's the one who calls me out on my shit almost daily."

"As she should."

"You should come around more often when we're both Stateside again. I think you and Hailey would get along really well. Also, you can see Will."

"Would you stop trying to set me up with your brother? He's not my type, we've been through this, many, many times actually."

"But, if I remember correctly, you do have a thing for doctors."

"It was my freshman year of college and he was a med student. Don't blame me for liking guys who are a few years older than me. They're more mature for one."

"Will's older than me," Jay pointed out.

"If he's anything like you then, he sure as hell ain't mature."

"That hurt, Emilia, that really did."

"Shut up. Now, let's keep looking, we only have a limited amount of time here in the city."

The two friends continued to walk through the cobblestone streets of Seville and look at all the small booths. Jay had bought some hard candy, despite Emilia telling him that he should save his money for the chain. To which he replied by saying that he had more than enough money and that Emilia was here to make sure that he didn't get ripped off after all.

"You're not gonna eat your candy, Halstead?" Emilia asked.

"They're not for me. They're for Y/N."

"I should've known when you got the bear-shaped ones and got a mix of flavors. I know you don't like grape-flavored stuff."

"Who does? It's gross! Tastes like medicine."

"I like it!"

"Of course you do, if my memory serves me correctly, the day we took the ACTs junior year, you came to school high on that nasty grape cough syrup."

"I was not going to reschedule that test and put myself through that panic again. So, yes, I came to school when I probably shouldn't have. But, I was not high!"

"Whatever you say."

"I still scored higher than you. There was no I would've been able to do that if I was high...or maybe there was. You weren't the brightest crayon in the box back in high school."

"Crayon in the box? What are you? Five?"

"Yes, now c'mon, let's keep looking for that chain before that candy ends up melting into a big ball of multi-colored goo."

***

"What about this one?" Jay asked, holding up a gold chain.

"You know, that one might work. Just let me talk to the seller for a second to see if we can slip the charm on it to see if it looks good and if it fits."

"Go for it. That's why I brought you, isn't it?"

"Shut up."

Emilia started to talk to the woman who ran the small jewelry booth and asked her if they could slip the locket on the chain to see if it fit. At least, that's what Jay assumed they were talking about...he barely spoke Spanish save for a few key words and phrases.

"What do you think?" Emilia asked as she held up the chain with the locket on it. "I think it looks good."

Jay looked at it. The chain was definitely cleaner than the locket. The locket had some dirt and grime stuck in its little crevices, but he figured once it got cleaned the colors would probably match up nicely. He figured that you'd just be excited to get your necklace back, no matter whether or not the gold from the chain and the gold from the locket matched perfectly.

"Me too," Jay agreed. "Just tell me how much it is."

She spoke to the shop owner one more time and then told Jay how much it was and he paid for the chain.

"Do you think she'll like it?" Jay asked as they continued their walk through the town.

"Jay, stop second-guessing yourself. She'll love it. Where's all this coming from? I know kid cases used to hit you hard, even when you worked for the police back in Chicago, but I've never seen something like this hit you this hard."

"You know I did two tours before this, right?"

"We've been best friends since high school, kind of hard to forget something as big as that."

"Right, sorry. Uh, on my last tour, there was this- there was this eight-year-old girl. She uh, she had a beautiful face, dark skin. My nine--the bullet from my gun--it went through a combatant and then through a doorway."

"Jay, you don't have to justify this. If it brings you back there, I don't--"

"No, it's okay. You deserve an explanation." He was quiet for a moment. "Anyway, the bullet went through the doorway, and then it uh, it ripped open her neck." He closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself not to cry. "She didn't die right away though. I sat there, with her. I held her hand, told her that she wasn't alone. Sometimes, I still have nightmares about it."

"So, when you saw Y/N, you thought that you could save her because you didn't save that little girl?"

"Exactly. What makes it worse is that she's the same age as that girl was when I, when I--"

"Jay, you didn't shoot her. You had no intention of shooting her. It was an accident. I know I can't erase what happened, but it was not your fault."

They walked in silence after that, neither knowing what to say.

"What do you think about me bringing Y/N home with me when I leave?" Jay asked after they walked in silence for ten minutes, just looking at other booths.

"Like adopting her?"

"When you put it like that, yeah I guess."

"I think that you and Hailey share one brain."

"What do you mean?"

"Hailey asked me the same thing. And before you ask how I talked to her, remember that I work with computers, Jay. And, Mouse knows how to hack said computers."

"So, you called her?"

"Precisely."

"And what'd you two talk about?"

"The usual, how you were doing, how she was doing. She also said that she hasn't seen you this happy on base in a long time. She wants the same thing you do, Jay. Even though she's only seen it through one video call, she knows how good you are with Y/N and understands how much it will break her when you have to leave."

"So, she wants to adopt Y/N, too?"

"Yes, dummy! But, you guys need to have a conversation about that because I don't think I was supposed to tell you."

"You think it could happen? Us adopting her even though I'm in a different country right now?"

"I'm sure there have been other scenarios like this one before. But, you'll have to talk to Hailey about this, because she probably has some connections who can work with you Stateside on this because of you two being Chicago cops and all that. But hey, if it does somehow work out, you and Hailey seem like you'd make great parents."

***

Jay and Emilia barely made it back into Base before their names were being called.

"Halstead! Diaz! We need you to Med Station now!"

The minute Jay heard Med Station mentioned, he took off running.

"What's going on?" he asked the nurse who stood in front of your room.

"Did she go outside today?" she asked.

"Yes, we played soccer. Why is she screaming? What's wrong?"

"She was bitten by a tick and has what we call tick paralysis. Even though we got a translator in there to explain what was going on, she won't let us remove it. And, we need to give her some antibiotics as well, which requires an IV and she won't let us do that either. She just kept asking for you."

"You want me to get that tick off of her and plunge that needle into her? No way!"

"Jay," Emilia started, "it might be the only way to stop the paralysis and to get her to calm down. She trusts you. I know it's gonna suck because you're scared of needles, but you have to do it."

"Can't you do it? Please Em."

"She's asking for you."

Jay sighed. "All I have to do is get the tick off and then push the meds?"

"Yes, that's all."

"Okay."

He entered your room and to say that you were distraught would be an absolute understatement. You had tears running down your face at an alarmingly fast rate and your cries had reduced to panicked whimpers. You were staring at your legs, willing them to move, but they just wouldn't.

"Hey cariña," Jay said gently.

"J-Jay?" you asked, looking at him.

Jay crouched down next you and took your little hand in his. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Is it okay if I help you feel better?"

"How? I no want an aguja," you whined.

Jay looked to Emilia. "Needle," she translated.

"Y/N, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. I don't like agujas either. But, they have special medicine in them that make you feel better. And, once I get the insect off of you and give the medicine, you'll feel all better."

"You promise?"

"I promise. And, I have a surprise for you, too."

"You do?"

"I do. But you have to let me give you the medicine and then you can get it, okay?"

"Okay."

"Can someone get me some gloves?" he asked.

A nurse came back with a pair of blue surgical gloves for him. "Would you like some help with this?" she asked him.

Yes, Jay had seen needles inserted into IV lines dozens of times, but he's never actually done it. "Please," he answered.

The nurse helped guide Jay's hand to where he was supposed to put the needle into, but you were intently watching his every move.

"Miras otro lado, cariña," Emilia said and you proceeded to look at the wall on the other side of you instead of looking at Jay putting the needle in.

"3...2..." Before he got to one, he pushed, causing you to let out a small whimper that absolutely broke his heart.

"She should be out soon," the nurse said. "And then we can remove the tick and she'll be back to normal in no time. Good work, Halstead."

"Thank you ma'am."

Jay was about to leave, when he remembered something. "Where was the tick?"

"It was on her foot."

"Because she didn't have shoes on when we were playing soccer earlier," Jay stated as he put the pieces together, once a detective, always a detective.

"You can't blame yourself. You didn't know there'd be a tick."

"Jay," Mouse said as he entered the room. "Hailey's on the phone for you."

He looked at Emilia. "Promise to come get me when she wakes up?"

"I promise."

***

"Hey, Hails."

"Hey, Jay. What's wrong?" she asked, immediately concerned at how down Jay looked.

"It's just that, me and Y/N went outside and played soccer today, and then I got back from going to Seville with Emilia to get stuff to fix her necklace, and then she got bit by a tick. She had tick paralysis. She couldn't move her legs, Hailey. She was so scared. I had to push the needle into her and I felt so bad because I know it hurt her."

"Oh, honey. It's okay. She's gonna be okay and she'll love you for fixing her necklace that she won't even remember how much that needle hurt."

"Thanks, but that doesn't make me feel any better. I was the one who hurt her."

"No, you made her feel better. Without that medication, she probably would've stayed paralyzed. Don't beat yourself up here Jay, you're trying your best."

"But what if I'm not?"

"Jay, listen to me. That little girl loves you. You're the happiest I've ever seen you when you're with her and when you're talking about her."

"Emilia told me you'd say that."

"Because it's true. Wait, what else did she tell you?"

"Hey, don't be mad at her, but I like the idea of adopting Y/N, too."

"Really? You don't think it's too sudden or that it's the wrong choice?"

"Not at all. I think it's the right choice, actually. They were gonna send her to another orphanage in a month anyway, so if we can get everything set up somehow and get the paperwork in order, I think it would work," Jay answered.

"I'm pretty sure Voight has some contacts at DCFS who know how these types of international adoptions work. I'll reach out."

"Awesome. Think you could convince Ruz to help you paint the guest room purple?"

"For Y/N's bedroom? You're getting way too ahead of yourself, soldier. Let's just get the paperwork sorted first."

Jay talked to Hailey for a few more minutes and then started to walk back to his barracks to change and have a shower. After being out in the heat of Seville in the middle of the day, it was very much needed. But, he stopped when he saw Captain Smith approaching him.

"Halstead."

"Captain," Jay said and then stood at attention.

"At ease. I heard you did a good thing to help Y/N with that tick paralysis scare she had a bit ago. You really care about her, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"About that change in position you asked me about earlier, after seeing how good you were with her, I think I can take you up on that. That is if you're still okay with it."

"I am. Where am I needed, sir?"

"Report to the kitchens at 0500."

"Thank you, sir."

***

Jay was almost asleep in the very uncomfortable chair in your hospital room when he heard your soft whimpers. You hadn't woken up yet after being given the antibiotics and the sedative, but it was nighttime and Jay didn't want you to wake up and he not be there, since it was dark. He didn't want to you wake up and be scared all alone.

"Y/N, cariña, what's wrong?" He turned pulled his flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on to be met with your tear-stained face.

"I-I scared."

Jay moved his chair to be closer to you. "Why are you scared, cariña? Maybe talking about it will help?"

"I scared of not feeling my legs. What if happens again?"

"Oh, cariña. The reason that happened is that an insect got on your leg. But, the doctors took it away so it can't bite you and hurt you again."

"You sure?"

"I am very sure. Now, I don't know if you remember, but I told you I had something for you before I gave you that medicine earlier. Do you remember that?"

"A little bit."

Jay reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the necklace. He had locked the candy in his trunk back in his barracks so that his body heat wouldn't melt it and so that no one would steal it.

"I told you I'd fix it," he said as he held up the necklace, the locket spinning in small circles.

"You did it! You did it! Thank you, Jay!"

"You're welcome. want me to put it on you?"

"Por favor."

Jay unclasped the necklace and carefully put it on you and then secured the clasp. The minute it was on, you opened the locket and looked at the two pictures in there, you looked at your mom and dad, at your mami and papi.

"Is that your mommy and daddy?" Jay asked carefully.

"Yes, my mami and papi," you answered, still looking down at their pictures. "I miss them."

"I miss my mommy and daddy, too," Jay answered.

"Your mami and papi in America? They see you when you come back?"

"No. Actually, uh..." God, he really hoped you knew the word dead in English because he didn't feel like trying to explain it to you. "They died. I don't have a mommy and daddy either."

"You do not?"

"I do not. But, I know they still love me. And I know yours still love you."

"Because they are always in my corazón." You pointed to your heart, your actual heart, not the locket.

"Yes, they will always be in your heart, that's right."

"When I couldn't sleep, my mami or my papi would lay next to me and tell me a story. Will you do that, Jay?"

"You want me to lay next to you?"

"Yes, please," you said. Jay started to get on your bed, but you stopped him. "No!" He abruptly froze. "You have to take your shoes off. Mami always said no shoes on the bed."

"You know what? You're right! How could I forget that? My mommy always told me the same thing."

Jay removed his heavy boots and then got into bed next to you. You immediately laid your head against his chest, just like you had done when your mami or papi was in your bed about to tell you a bedtime story, which shocked Jay.

"Okay, cariña, what kind of story do you want?"

"How you meet Hailey?"

"How'd I meet Hailey?" You nodded excitedly. "Well, I was policia in Chicago and so was she, but we didn't work together."

"Why not?"

"We were in different units."

"Like how you a sold--" you furrowed your eyebrows as you tried to remember the word in English, "--soldier and how Emilia es intérprete, like how she speaks English and Spanish?"

Jay assumed that intérprete meant translator, so he nodded. "That's exactly right! You're so smart! Me and Hailey were in different units, so we didn't work together. But, one day, my unit got called to a robbery. Do you know what a robbery is?"

"Where they take something that isn't theirs and they do not pay for it."

"That's right. Hailey got called to that and tried to take it away from me, but we had to work together."

"You no like her at first?"

Jay chuckled because no, he did not like her at first. But, he had to admit, her commanding the attention of everyone in that bank, well that was hot, it was really hot. "No, I didn't. But, then I saw how good of a person she was and we got really close."

"Like you and Emilia?"

"Kind of. But, we met in school. And, we don't kiss."

"Just amigos."

"Just amigos," Jay confirmed.

"Then what happened? With you and Hailey?"

"It took me a while to actually kiss her," he admitted.

"How long?"

"Almost four years."

"That's a long time! Why it take you so long?"

"Because I was scared."

"But you big and strong. You no get scared. Only kids like me get scared."

"That's not true. Adults get scared, too." You cocked your head to the side. "Oh yeah, adults get scared, too."

"When are you scared?"

"I was scared earlier when I had to put that needle in your arm to make you feel better."

"But why? You didn't have it go in your skin. It didn't hurt you."

"I was scared I was going to hurt you. I didn't want you to not like me because I had to poke you with a needle because I don't like them either."

"So you scared of n-needles, too?"

"Oh yeah. When I was little and had to go to the doctor's, my mom would always have to give me ice cream to make me get needles in my skin."

"Like how you promised me the necklace?"

"Exactly."

"You tell me another story?"

"What do you want to hear?"

"How you meet Emilia?"

"Oh, now this, this is a good story. When I was a little older than you, probably twelve, I was at the park with my big brother, Will, and we were playing soccer. Emilia came up and she wanted to play, too. I told her that she couldn't because she was a girl. I know, mean right? Then, Will told me that she could play and that I was being mean and she beat me at soccer. She played so much better than me..."

He looked down to see if you were paying attention or if you were confused because he hadn't stopped to check for your comprehension, but he was met with the cutest sight in the world that made his heart swell out of his chest. You, were asleep on his chest, one hand gripping your locket and the other holding his army green t-shirt in your little fist.

***

"Hey lunch lady, how's it going in there?" Emilia asked as she held your hand and you two made your way into the cafeteria a few days later.

"Technically, it's breakfast and I'm a man, so it's breakfast man to you."

"Fine. How's it going in there, breakfast man?"

"It's fine. But good god, if I thought the barracks required a lot of cleaning, this place requires a fu--"

"Jay! Little ears!"

"--A lot. This place requires a lot more cleaning than the barracks."

"So, what's on the menu today?" Mouse asked.

"Same old, same old." Jay shrugged. "Oatmeal, eggs, and sausage."

"And coffee."

"That too, obviously."

"I want that bowl of oatmeal," Mouse stated as he tried to reach for it, but Jay pulled it back towards him.

"Nuh-uh. Get your grubby hands away from this. This is for Y/N."

He handed the bowl to Emilia who passed it to you. "It's got bananas in it!" you exclaimed excitedly. "But, what's this stuff?"

"Mantequilla de cacahuete," Emilia aswered you in your first language. "How did you get ahold of extra peanut butter, Halstead?"

"A chef never reveals his secrets. Now get outta here. You're holding up my line."

"Don't forget about the call with Hailey today," Emilia reminded him.

"I can't ever forget about those. But for this, I'm counting down the minutes."

***

"Hey Hails," Jay greeted as he answered his video call with his wife. "Is everything alright? You missed the call last time."

"I know, I'm really sorry. I was just trying to get all this paperwork in order and I had to find all your information and had to get references and-- I'm sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Hails, it's fine. I'd listen to you ramble all day when I'm out here. I just love to hear your voice."

"You're so whipped, Halstead."

"As are you, Mrs. Halstead."

"I love it when you call me that."

"Mrs. Halstead, do you have any update about the Y/N situation? I didn't mention anything to her yet because I didn't want to get her hopes up."

"Actually, that's the main reason I'm calling you...and because our calls are scheduled. But, everything's in order. I just finished the home inspection literally five minutes ago."

"So that's why the house is so clean."

"Shut up. Anyway, everything's in order. She just needs to get a few documents in order, which Emilia is helping me with since we need Y/N's picture. She also got me in touch with your captain and he reached out to someone he knows who works in some office or something for foreign-born orphans near where you guys are to get a passport for Y/N. They'll just need to interview you a few days after you get home, but they said unless you're not the person you say you are, that we should be able to keep Y/N."

"You're serious?"

"100%."

"Shit, Hails, this is- this is amazing. I love you, you know that? We're gonna have a daughter."

"It's amazing isn't it?"

Jay's eyes began to tear up. "Yeah, it is. And to think, if I would've just glanced over that teddy bear like it was nothing, then she wouldn't be coming with home me, home to us. I know I haven't even known her for three weeks yet, but I just want to do everything in my power to keep her safe, to make her feel loved."

"That's what a dad's supposed to do."

That's what a dad's supposed to do.

"I'm gonna be a dad," Jay realized. "And you're gonna be a mom. What if I'm no good at this, Hailey? What if I mess up like my dad did? What if--"

"Jay, listen to me. You are going to be a great father to that little girl. You know how I know that? Because you're not even her dad yet and that girl loves you. She loves you, Jay. She loves you so much."

"And I know she's going to love too, Hailey Halstead." The phone binged, telling him that he had only one more minute to talk to his wife. "You're going to be a great mom, Hails. Now, I have to go tell Y/N the good news. I have to go tell our kid the good news."

***

Emilia was sitting in front of you on your bed and your tongue was slightly hanging out of your mouth in concentration as you focused on braiding her hair. "Emilia teaching you how to braid, cariña?" Jay asked.

"Yeah! I know a little before, but she helping me."

"That's good. Maybe you can braid Hailey's hair at home."

If you weren't holding Emilia's hair, she would've whipped around to face Jay. She knew what that sentence meant.

"Are you almost done, Y/N? I think Jay needs to tell you something," Emilia said.

"Are you leaving?" you asked, turning towards him and letting go of Emilia's hair altogether. Whenever people said that they had to tell you something, it was almost always bad news. "I do not want you to leave! Please stay!"

You jumped off the bed and grabbed onto Jay.

He crouched down to your height. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm not leaving you, I promise."

"Jay, let me take it from here, okay? It might be better if I explain it to her in her first language."

"No, I should do it. You're not gonna be with me all the time back in Chicago. I'm gonna need to stop relying on you at some point."

"Okay, but I'll stay here in case she gets confused."

"Y/N, do you know what adoption is?"

"¿Cómo adopción?" you asked. The word sounded similar in both languages, so you hoped you and Jay were talking about the same thing.

Jay looked to Emilia and she nodded. "Adopción, sí," Jay confirmed. "Me and Hailey talked and we want to adopt you. Do you want that? To come home with me when I leave and live with me and Hailey?"

"You be my mami and papi?"

Jay knew that he was going to have to answer this question eventually, but he didn't want you to feel like he and Hailey were replacing your real mom and dad. "Um, yeah, we would. But, you don't have to call us that," he added quickly. "You can call us Jay and Hailey if you want. We don't want to take the place of your parents because they're very special to you."

"And they always be in my heart?"

"That's right, they'll always be in your heart."

"But, you and Hailey be my parents in real life and not just in my heart and I go to Chicago with you and see the snow?"

"That's right. If you want--"

You hugged him, which took him off guard, but he wrapped his arms around you and held you close.

"Thank you, te quiero."

Emilia put a hand to her mouth and held back tears after you said that.

"What? What did she say?" Jay asked anxiously.

"Jay, she said she loves you."

And, before Jay started to cry, he barely choked out, "Me, too. Te quiero, cariña."

***

The flight from Spain to Chicago went surprisingly well for you and Jay. The flight was late at night because, before finding you, he had hoped he'd be able to sleep on the flight home. But, you had never been on a plane before, so during the entire plane ride, Jay stayed awake just in case you got scared or your ears popped and started to hurt.

Jay had saved the hard candies that were shaped like little bears for the plane ride and you both ate them. He told you that they were all for you, but you insisted on sharing them. But, whenever he'd get a grape-flavored one, he'd hand it to you since he hated that flavor. You didn't like the lime ones very much, so you gave him those ones. But, both of you had the same favorite flavor: strawberry.

During the flight, you ate candy and Jay showed you all the places in Chicago that he would take you to from the flight magazines. He showed you Navy Pier, the Bean, the Chicago theater, Gino's East, Miracle Mile, and all the other things in those touristy magazines. You had never gone on a Ferris wheel before, but from the picture in the magazine about the one on Navy Pier and from Jay's description, it sounded super fun!

The fasten seatbelt sign came on as you were starting to descend into Midway airport. Despite all the bad memories he had here with Keyes kidnapping him all those years ago before he reenlisted, and before he even met Hailey, he knew that this new happy memory, of bringing you home, would outweigh that horrible memory.

He looked over to make sure that you had your seatbelt on and snapped a picture of your sleeping form. You were using Osito as a pillow and had a blanket messily draped over you, and one hand lazily rest on Jay.

Luckily for Jay, you didn't wake up when he maneuvered himself to be able to put his seatbelt on. But, the minute you hit the runaway, your eyes shot open.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Jay reassured you. "We're just getting on the ground again."

You grabbed the hem of his shirt and squeezed a little bit until the bumpiness died down and you came to a slow roll at the end of the runway.

"We here? In Chicago?" you asked.

"We are. Welcome home, cariña."

A/N: This has sat in my drafts for a longggg time. But, I got inspired today and ended up writing 5k words to finish it up. I'm thinking of writing a part 2 to this when the reader is in her teen years. What do you think? Side note, daddy! Jay and big brother! Jay are my two favorite Jays if you couldn't already tell! Please reblog/like and comment and tell me what you think! Also, if you want to be added to my taglist, just comment and I’ll add you!

taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox

#jay halstead #chicago pd #jay halstead imagine #ranger! jay #fanfiction #chicago pd imagine #chicago pd fanfiction #imagine #writer #writing

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moonlit-imagines · 4 years

Text

Headcanons for being a Party Member

Stranger Kids x reader

warnings:

a/n: 💖💖 these ones were kind bad but i hope you like!

prompt: anonymous: “Hi! Can you make a headcannon for Stranger Things of just being in the party? Sorry if its too vague. Thank you so much for giving us so much free content!!”

you’ve known the boys for a long, long time

your mom was friends with joyce in high school, so you knew will your whole life

he introduced you to mike and soon lucas and dustin had joined the mix

let’s face it, you guys weren’t the most popular, but as long as you had each other it was fine

“at recess do you want to play castle?”

“yes! but we need to make up our characters”

will the wise was born that day, it just stuck

you guys were obsessed with star wars when it came out

“i’d totally be a jedi” -mike

“mike, you’d cry at the sight of any alien creature”

“not true!”

“i think lucas would be a kickass pilot, though”

“i’d get the princess, too” -lucas

dustin ended up playing lightsabers with you, though

you’ve accidentally knocked down tons of stuff in mike’s basement

“cut it out, you guys!”

“soooorryyyyy”

“you are not!”

AV club was just the 5 of you acting afool under adult supervision

mr. clark was still proud of your young minds, though

D&D campaigns, you were the rogue

you were also easily distracted during the game

“anyone want chips, im gonna get some chips”

“no! you can’t leave now!”

“watch me”

playing with mike’s toys while he’s not looking

battling them with lucas, dustin, and will

until mike started protesting

bike rides around town until sunset

SLEEPOVERS

“who the hell is snoring?”

“i think it’s dustin”

“PILLOW FIGHT!!!”

“kids, time to sleep!” -any parent

“let’s watch a scary movie”

“no! i mean—i’m tired” -mike

depending on which house you were staying in, you’d have a great time

will’s brother, jonathan, was always nice to you

nancy...not so much

“hi na—” *door slams* “oh...”

erica always intruded on your sleepovers at lucas’s

“i wanna play! can i play?”

“no, erica, go play somewhere else”

“you’re so mean, lucas”

“bye!”

dustin didn’t have any siblings, but he did have a cat who was pretty nice

“hi mews!”

the night will disappeared was a night you’ll never forget

you were so determined to find him, he had to be around somewhere

you ended up getting in deeper water than you’d originally thought when you met eleven, who apparently had superpowers

“mike!!! you’re mom is gonna kill you for bringing a random girl in the house”

“i know! shhhhh”

she was weird to say the least

and it was pretty scary sneaking around with her

“dude...she has the force”

“shut up!”

after a long week of fighting with your friends and encountering inter dimensional monsters and the government, you realized your life would never be the same

your mom was pretty protective over you for a while

the party had to come to your house instead for the next few months

“sorry guys, she’s just...really upset about the whole thing”

“it’s okay, y/n. we don’t mind”

being each other’s support system

especially when it came to will, he really worried you guys

“today is will’s doctor visit, hope it goes okay...”

spending HOURS in the arcade, struggling to beat other people’s high scores

“i’m gonna do it! i’m gonna get the top score!”

“in your dreams, y/n”

hAlLoWeEn

you knew you weren’t supposed to dress up at school but no one was paying attention to you when you told them

unfortunate.

there was a new girl who mike hated right off the bat

but lucas and dustin wouldn’t stop fighting over

“you two are the worst, you know that?”

trick or treating and dumping your candy later on to trade, the most effective way to get the best halloween

“nougat, disgusting. anybody want it? i’ll give it to you for free”

*dustin and you simultaneously* “ME!”

dustin’s “pet lizard” scaring the hell out of you

“dart makes me...uncomfortable”

max pulling you aside to ask why mike hates her

“uh...he’s a dick? i don’t know”

you and max ended up getting along pretty okay, though

she did complain about mike a LOT though

and when lucas filled her in on the demogorgon/upside-down/eleven situation, EVERYONE was pissed

you guys realized that the upside down stuff was not over and there was an epic teamup with all of you yaaaay

steve harrington adopted you it’s true

eleven came back

that was cool

you gave her a hug bc like duh??? you missed her

steve babysitting you guys and then getting beat up by max’s stepbrother, billy

“can i hit him? i wanna hit him”

“do it!”

doing dumbass shit in the tunnels that ended up working out anyways! yay!

“we’re all gonna die we’re all gonna die oh my god i’m too young to die”

“Y/N STOP”

in the end everything was (mostly) okay but like, that was scarring

summer rolled around and el and mike were dating, max and lucas were dating, and dusting came back from camp and claimed to be dating some girl from faaaar away

“liar”

“i’m not lying!”

steve sneaking you into movies

he also gave you (and only you) free ice cream but only bc he knew you wouldn’t tell anyone else

robin and you talking while you hid in the break room to eat your ice cream

“so...what do you do for fun”

“kill monsters”

“oh...okay”

kinda sick of the party’s shit for a while, so dustin and you were off scheming with the scoops employees

bad ideaaaa!! the russians!! you were almost killed!!

rescue mission for steve and robin

“they’re high as shit”

“nO YOu aRe”

“wonderful, we’re screwed”

losing them fhdhdhsh

“y/n?!”

“what? i’m not a babysitter!”

being chased by russians but also the rest of the party showing up and updating you but also adults finally making an appearance and you wanting to cry because like what the fuck is happening

being chased by the mind flayer

“GUYS IF WE DONT MAKE IT I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW I LOVE YOU”

“Y/N. STOP SAYING THINGS THAT MAKE US THINK WE’RE GOING TO DIE”

eek that night sucked

you also almost fell down the hill that cerebro was placed on

and then uhhh hopper died so that was really bad and will ended up moving away with el and everyone was very sad

your mom cried when joyce left :(

you cried way too much

might i add going over to lucas’s to hang out with erica bc now you guys are friends lmaooo

“why are you here, y/n?”

“erica wanted me to come over”

“you two are impossible”

and to end this on a high note, the remaining party members in town were finally working through their differences as you all grew up and knew that it’d be impossible to separate for good

also pizza nights every week (sometimes accompanied by an older teen bc why not)

“if you guys eat all the damn pizza we’re gonna have a problem”

“we can’t help it! we’re growing!”

taglist: @locke-writes // @queenofthehairharrington // @praellee // @bonniesbabybunnie // @lotsoffandomrecs //

#stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #the party #the party x reader #the party imagine #mike wheeler imagine #will byers imagine #lucas sinclair imagine #dustin henderson imagine #eleven hopper imagine #max mayfield imagine #steve harrington imagine #robin buckley imagine #jonathan byers imagine

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spideyanakin · 4 years

Text

In My Life

Tom Holland x Reader

Part 2

Based on In My Life By The Beatles

Synopsis; Nikki doesn’t approve of you and Tom

A/n; I don’t see Nikki doing that at all but for the sake of this fan fiction 💀

Requested by; Anonymous // Hey! Please do a Tom Holland imagine where the reader meets Tom’s family for the first time. Everyone seems to be welcoming but at the end of the evening, when the reader and Tom are doing the dishes, Nikki pulls the reader to the side and blackmails the reader saying that she has to get Tom to break up with her. She does so out of fear and they break up. A few days later Tom finds out about what Nikki did and he immediately tries to get the reader back and it’s all fluffy and cute?

🧚🏻‍♀️Masterlist🧚🏻‍♀️

Saying that Tom had been busy with his script was an understatement. He had worked on it for so long now he was longing to finish it. But the amount of work that was added on set placed even more pressure on his shoulders.

So when Tom first met you he wasn't the friendliest. But little by little as he walked every day on the set of Uncharted, he slowly fell for you. He fell for your smile, your eyes, and just the daily brightness you would bring to set with you.

Berlin was certainly a place Tom would remember.

It was the city he'd met you. The city that made him fall for you. And the city where he felt all his stress come off his shoulders.

And months later he was back to London, and back with you.

He'd come to Berlin stressed out of his mind and came back relaxed holding your hand like it had been missing from his.

After five months of relationship, Tom was ready to introduce you to his parents. You'd had already met his brothers, all of them being as friendly and nice as the other. But his parents were a whole other story.

Tom was way too excited, and you had to admit you were a little stressed. No matter what Tom said meeting his parents was a huge step. One that you were a little scared to take.

You walked into the house both his parents and brothers being more then welcoming.

"Mom, dad this is Y/n" He introduced you like the most precious gem in the world. You smiled brightly as Nikki put on a fake smile.

You see she was fine with her son being an actor. She knew him and raised him. She knew he would never let his work get in the way of his personal life.

She clearly knew that if he had a role where he had to make out with another girl, he wouldn't let that get in the way if he had girlfriend. She knew his work and how professional he made sure everything was.

But with you it was different. She didn't know you and she especially didn't know if you would break her son's heart running off with another actors after a heated scene on set.

During dinner, she tried to make it look as everything was ok when inside she was boiling up.

"So... Y/n? What's your next big role?" She questioned as she took a bite of her food.

"Well it's pretty much a secret but I got cast as Satine in the new Obi-Wan series. As a Star Wars fan Im pretty excited." You smiled brightly as you answered her question. "Im really proud of that role." You nodded the smile never leaving.

"No way," Harry exclaimed as excited as you were. "Why didn't you tell us!?"

"I just got the call." You replied as you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

"That's insane."

"Im sorry who's Satine?" Nikkie asked not following the Star Wars franchise at all.

"Duchess Satine. Obi Wan's love interest. But they can never truly be together because he's a Jedi and she's a Duchess." Sam explained and Nikki's blood boiled as she heard you were going to have to kiss another man. Potential competition for Tom.

"Oh. And who plays this Obi-Wan?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well I know they're taking Ewan McGregor, but if they cast you as young Satine did they cast a young Obi-Wan?" Harry asked you.

"No, they're keeping Ewan just using some special effects to make him look a little younger. But I mean he weirdly hasn't aged at all." You chuckled. "I met him during my last few auditions and it was insane. You feel like he just finished shooting Revenge of The Sith." You chuckled.

"Oh my God are you going to meet Hayden?" Harry asked getting way too excited.

"That's a secret." You winked. "You'll just have to watch the show." You shrugged.

"Ewan as in, the actor who played your father in the impossible?" Nikki asked Tom.

"Yep! So glad she got the role, I mean I love Ewan he's so nice." Tom gave a bright smile.

"Well... Nice." Nikki added even more of a fake smile. She clearly knew Ewan's charms and wondered if you would possibly break Tom's heart and run away with him breaking Tom into a million pieces.

I mean actresses were always the same right? One runs off with the director, while the other with her love interest.

At least that's what Nikki always heard, and she wasn't going to have her son date an actress.

The rest of the dinner went well. You had the chance to have a Star Wars debate with Harry and Sam but you were far from knowing your fate when the dishes had to be made.

You smiled at Tom, confidence rising as you thought you'd made a good impression on the whole family, but when you were met with an angry Nikki on your way back from the bathroom, your new-found confidence fell.

"I don't want you to see my son anymore." She deadpanned.

"Excuse me?" You let out an awkward chuckle not quite understanding what she meant.

"I want you to break up with my son." She said again her tone getting even more serious.

"I- But- I don't want to. I actually really like him-" You said a little awkwardly.

"Well then break up with him. He deserves better than an actress who runs away with each other actor she gets the chance to kiss."

"Im sorry?" Your eyes widen at her comment.

"You heard me." She folded her arms. "You leave my son or I will make sure they take someone else to play Satine. All I have to do is make a few calls. If I recall I still have Ewan's phone number. I can ruin your career in one click." She replied in a tone that left you speechless. You were about to tear up when you picked up the last of your courage.

"This won't ruin my career." You replied finding all your cold blood.

"Yes but spreading a rumor would..."

You stayed speechless for a little while, the both of you unaware that Harry had watched the scene from the start with a dropped jaw.

"Alright." You looked down trying not to cry. "But just know that I love your son very much and you're making a big mistake for his happiness." and without another word, you left towards the kitchen trying to find a way to leave this place.

"You ok love?" Tom asked as he placed an arm around your waist. You gave him a quick nod and looked back to see Nikki shooting daggers at you behind Tom's back.

Your phone rang in your pocket as your best friend called.

"Do you mind, it's Bella?" You looked at it and it back to Tom.

"Not at all. Go." He smiled and kissed your forehead.

The call had nothing to do with what you were about to say you felt like you couldn't stay much longer after the comments Nikki had made.

"Im going to go." You gave Tom a tight smile. "She says there's a problem with her dog and she needs me." You sighed knowing very well Tom would buy it. She knew your best friend aka roommate's Doberman was hard on everyone and sometimes it would take two people to help wit hit. "It's kind of an emergency." You said.

"Alright, well let me drive you home." He said.

"Oh no please stay with your family." You smiled. "It's late and you're tired. I'll call an uber."

"Alright." It was the last thing Tom wanted to do but for some reason, he felt like you needed some space. He pushed it on the fact that you'd just met his parents.

"I'll see you." You smiled as you pressed a quick kiss to his lips and moved towards the door no one to stop you from leaving this place. Harry looked at you leave, a frown painting his face.

You started walking towards your house, which was about an hour's walk from here. You didn't know what to do from the shock of the conversation. Your mind felt blank. You took one step after the other until you arrived at a bridge.

You watched the water for a few minutes before digging into your pocket to grab your phone.

"Hey." Bella's voice cheered over the phone.

"Bella... Something happened... Tom's mom... doesn't want me to see him again."

"What?" You heard a gasp and then a blank silence from the other hand of the phone. You stared at the water for a few seconds.

"Can you come pick me up?"

Before you knew it you were eating a pot of ice cream in front of Lord of The Rings cuddling your friend's Doberman.

"You ok?"

She asked sitting next to you placing a cup of hot chocolate in front of you.

"You know what always bothered me?" You questioned as you placed another spoon full of ice cream in your mouth.

"What?"

"That Gandalf didn't understand the Mellon door thing." You pointed towards the tv where that scene was happening.

Your friend looked from the tv and back to you.

"Y/n..."

You stared at the tv for a while before starting to tear up.

"Of course im not ok. My boyfriend's mom wants me to break up with him." You sobbed and turned your attention back to your friend. "I thought I made a good impression but then she goes on and says that actors are cheaters." You cried onto her shoulders.

"Can't you just tell him?" She asked as she lowered the volume from your movie.

"I can't break up a family..." You sniffed.

A week later and you were dodging Tom's calls like the plague. Every message he would send you you'd respond with nothing more than a word or two saying you were busy.

Every fiber in your body wanted to stay with him, but you had to put your career first. You knew Nikki could do a lot of damage and you weren't going to let that happen.

So after a week, you thought it was time. Time to finally break it up. Break up the one relationship you were happy about in years.

"Tom?" Your heart pounded in your chest as you typed his name.

"Yes?" He replied way to quick for your liking. "Are you finally going to talk to me? 🧐"

"I think we need to break up." You replied every word feeling like weights on your fingers as you typed. Before you could even type anything your phone lit up with a call from him.

"Just please forget me." You felt the tears leave your eyes as you sent the message dodging his calls.

A flow a call and messages from him appeared on your phone but you felt too weak to reply. Instead, you simply dropped your phone on the counter and left to your room, ready for a movie marathon to take your mind off him.

"What the actual fuck." Tom groaned in frustration as he threw his phone on his couch. "What the hell did I do?" He groaned as placed his head in his hands.

Nikki watched the scene a small smirk painting her face.

"You ok honey?" She came near him rubbing circles behind his back.

"No." He sighed tears almost spilling. "Y/n broke up with me. She's been avoiding me for a week and now she said she wanted to end things." Tom spitted out.

"Oh, im so sorry... I'm sure you'll find another girl." She gave him a soft fake sad smile as she patted his shoulder.

"Oh please stop mom. Like you aren't glad she did what you asked her after you blackmailed her." Harry deadpanned before sipping his coffee sick of what this was doing to Tom.

"Excuse me?" The woman replied as she shot daggers with her eyes towards her son.

"What? You're going to deny it now mom? I saw you talking to her, the poor girl was frightened." Harry said again dropping small bombs into the living room.

Nikki didn't say anything and glared at Harry.

"What's that now?" Tom lifted his head from his hands, quickly wiping some tears that had slipped his eyes.

"Mom blackmailed your girlfriend into dumping you." He pointed to Nikki with his cup of coffee.

"What?" Tom's eyes went wide as he looked at his mother who's face twisted.

"What? It's not like you actually loved her? She's an actress Tom!" Nikki said in defense.

"And?" Tom stood up in anger.

"And actors are cheaters, you didn't really think you'd have a life with her?" She replied.

"Yes! Yes, mom! I love her. And plus IM AN ACTOR! What does that even mean actors are cheaters? In that case, are you saying that I'm a cheater too?" Tom almost raises his voice not taking any more of this conversation.

"Tom, your different... I raised you well..."

"I'm out of here," Tom said before grabbing his phone and leaving his house in a hurry.

"Where are you going?"

"To find the girl I love." And with that, he slammed the door rushing for your house.

"You!" Nikki pointed to Harry who looked at her with a sheepish grin.

"It's his life mom." He raised his hands in defense as he walked away.

Tom arrived at your house in a furry. He murmured curse words on the way there, wishing he could take all his mother's words back and mend things.

He didn't wait for a green light to walk into your apartment building, knocking on your familiar door. Tom heard the Doberman's barks and footsteps quickly following.

He was met with your puffy red-eyed face. You froze as the door frame your eyes lit up in shock as you met his.

"Look Tom..." you said as you played with his ends of your hoodie.

But instead of replying Tom smashed his lips with yours never wanting to let you go. Your eyes lit up in shock but you couldn't help melt into the kiss.

"I know... I know about everything." He slightly pushing away but still holding you in his arms. "Im sorry for what she said, but know that I don't believe a single word."

You stared into his eyes before letting your tears fall, the pressure being released from your shoulders.

"I love you, Tom."

- Tag List -

@averyfosterthoughts @justifymyfeelings @slytherinambitious

#tom holland x reader #tom holland x reader #tom holland #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x reader fluff #The Avengers #peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #tom holland imagine #spider man imagine #spiderman x reader #spiderman #spider man #spider man x you #spider man x y/n

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mimiwrites2000 · 3 years

Text

If The Stars Could Speak

a one shot

AO3 ~~

Pairings: Armin x Annie

Words count: 5284

* spoilers for chapter 131 and up

Summary:

One life time is not enough. Maybe two or three. They would relive their lives, over and over again. As long as they met again, under the same sky, beneath the same stars. But the stars sometimes opted to play, and one time, the stars entertained them being enemies in one of those lives. However, it is said that fate can pivot the stars malicious plots, deciphering them and blowing them apart in the vastness of the black sky. With a careful eye at the clear sky, reading between the glimmering dots, fate found the way to bring them together, where they belonged: by each other’s side, in that life, and every following one.

This is a two chapters fanfic, wrote by mimiwrites2000 (@mimiwrites2000) and XianKar, (@xiankar) it's a part of the Summer Fic Exchange (July - 2021), under the prompt: Stargazing in a Field

Chapter One

Myths weren’t something Armin believed in, however, in his training days, through the after math of the war, he only got to wish for these myths to be true. Annie, didn’t know of the truthfulness of these myths, but what she knew was her inevitable answer.

written by : mimiwrites2000

After a whole day of training, jogging, running, climbing, a bed of rocks would be a luxury.

Trainees sprawled on the ground, each barely covered in their sleeping bags. A hot summer night. Sweat, despite its pungent smell, cooled their bodies. It couldn’t be compared to the drizzle of a hot shower, but in the shadows of the uneasy night, it took their minds off that exhausting day.

However, Annie’s work wasn’t over.

Curled on herself in the sleeping bag, her eyes scanning her surroundings; laying her eyes on each cadet, reciting their info, their full name and what they assume their goals were, where they were from and any extra notes about them.

She had been in the training corps for only a few months, but she had already memorized every trainee and every single detail about them.

As much as it would heave a weight off her shoulders, asking Reiner and Bert for help turned to no avail, or more like to actually work on the mission, but for whatever reason, they weren’t cooperative with her. She had to do that all alone.

If she wanted to go back to her father, then she couldn’t wait for them to snap out of their daydream, she had to do it on her own.

Three bags spread closely together caught her attention, whispers emitted from them. Annie found herself listening intently, convincing herself that it was for mission’s purposes only, of course.

“Go to sleep,” a girl's quiet, tired whisper. Annie connected the voice to a stoic girl with outstanding, remarkable skills. Silk black hair; Mikasa Ackreman.

“No! Do not tell me what to do!” a boy retorted, she immediately knew who he was as well; Eren Jeager, the brunette, the boy who saw his mom being devoured by a titan.

“I didn’t mean to…” Mikasa said, her tone hurt.

“You saw him as well, didn’t you? He held that finger to me, that finger, Mikasa! Shadis didn’t see him!”

“If you don’t tone down your volume, he might as well hear you,” a third voice joined their conversation.

“You saw him! Didn’t you, Armin? You did, right?” Eren exploded in a loud whisper.

Annie was sure everyone in camp heard him.

Armin Armin Armin… she heard that name before...

“Yeah…”

“Yeah? And? Armin please...” Eren turned in his sleeping bag, facing Armin.

Annie was sure she memorized everyone in the training corps.

Armin Armin Armin…

“I’m not sure you can do anything about it,” Armin concluded, his voice… labored.

“What?” Eren half shouted, Annie glimpsed Mikasa nudging him with her elbow, “Ouch Mikasa that hurt!” then with a lower voice, he continued: “is that all you got to say?”

“Eren… please… just pay it back to him, tomorrow, give him the finger, ok?”

“Only that?” Eren replied, disapproval evident in his voice.

“Look, I’m tired, I’m going to sleep, goodnight Eren, Mikasa,” Armin turned his back to them, ending the conversation. Eren followed with a frustrated muttered rant that Annie couldn't catch a word of, before it quietened down, trailed by the slow breathing of the exhausted trainees.

No more conversations could be heard from around the camp. Annie was about to call it a night and try to get a few hours of sleep, when ruffles shook her awake.

The sound coming from the third sleeping bag beside Eren and Mikasa, Armin.

He stood up, slowly pushing the sleeping bag while watching his friends’ faces.

Ah, that Armin.

She remembered him, the blonde, the poor guy whom the constructor made fun of his name on the first day.

Now that she thought about it, he never shone in any training whatsoever. No wonder she couldn’t remember his face.

As sneakily as possible, he carried his military boots, being extra cautious to not drop them, and while keeping an eye on Eren and Mikasa, he prowled away.

Soon enough, he disappeared in the forest, behind trees and bushes.

None of her business, maybe he just wanted to relieve himself or something.

None of her business.

Of course.

As sneakily as she could, Annie followed him.

Fortunately, due to her harsh training since her childhood, stealth was like a second nature to breathing for her.

Step after step, careful to not crush any especially dry twig; any undesirable sound could wake up the whole forest at the quietness of the night.

At first, she thought she lost him, but then, a particularly loud hiss was uttered from some place nearby.

Timidly, she walked towards the sound.

And there he was.

Sitting on a boulder, with his back facing her. His military jacket draped beside him, he seemed to be checking something out.

Annie swiveled her head around, tilting it up and down, trying to steal a glance at what he was doing-

His arm, drenched in red, a bunch of tangled, brown-spotted bandages on his lap. She could only see the side of his face, but it was enough to indicate the contours of pain on his expression.

He hissed and groaned, dabbing at the wound with another fabric that was rapidly dying red.

She swallowed, half of her mind telling her to turn around and go back to camp, the other half encouraging her to stay and watch what he would do.

She shoved the marginal voice telling her to offer help to the back of her mind.

She looked up, the moon creeping from between thick branches, clouds covering it up every now and then, swathing the whole forest with pitch black darkness, before they unveiled it again.

A serene night, Annie thought,

She turned her eyes back at him.

His attempts to heal himself would make a toddler laugh.

Shrugging, she stepped forward and said: “You’re doing it wrong.”

If the show he was putting on a moment ago wasn’t funny, then the way he jumped would be hilarious.

He flinched, turning around so fast that he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Thankfully, he didn’t fall on the open wound.

Annie didn’t move, standing there awkwardly. Did she have to go help him up? Or maybe just leave him there?

A hiss followed by a groan fixated her legs to the ground.

She looked around, no one was there. With tentative steps, she made her way to him.

“Are you alive- oh”

Sprawled on the ground, Armin gazed at the dark sky.

Annie tilted her head up, trying to decipher what exactly paralyzed him.

The dark sky adorned with small lights scattered on it, the moon shining in the middle.

Just like any other night.

“Oh hi Annie,” he said, his voice breathy, as if air was knocked out of his lungs.

Annie glanced again at the sky…

Well, as she gazed longer at it… she noticed something… different.

Despite the moon shining brightly in the middle of the darkness, the stars shone just as bright.

The moon’s glow didn’t overthrow them. They tingled as if they had the sky all for themselves, harmonizing in a symphony of a quiet beauty.

“You know, they say stars are other worlds,” he said, “they say other lives, where we’re reborn over and over again. Each star is a different world where we live a different life.”

Annie blinked, slowly.

One

Two

Three

“You can’t get up.” she said.

“I can’t,” he replied.

She looked at him, a small smile, pulled at his lips. She sighed; he looked like a small kitten in need of rescuing. Stretching her hand to him, it took him no time to take it.

One single pull, and he was staggering on his feet, hissing.

“I didn’t pull you from your injured arm, right?” Annie asked, surprised at her question.

“No no no, it’s just that… you know my whole body is sore after training, that’s all,” he covered his injured arm, trying to put on a smile but failing miserably.

“Go to the medics,” Annie said, already turning her back to him.

“W-wait!” he tried to reach out to her, hissing in pain at his unexpected jolt.

She halted, looking at him over her shoulder, waiting impatiently for him to continue.

“I… uh…” tilting his head down, looking at his feet, “can you… not mention any of this… to anyone...?”

His voice was so quiet, it almost drifted with the wind, going unheard by Annie.

She started towards the camp, throwing a simple sure over her shoulder, not turning around.

“I don’t believe in those myths by the way…” he muttered. Annie heard him, she stopped in her tracks for a second, before continuing.

“Nor do I,” she said under her breath, unaware that he heard her.

When she covered herself again with the sleeping bag, the hot summer night seemed to have mercy on them and cooled down a bit. She replayed her encounter with Armin, thinking of all the astronomical myths people entertained back in Marely…

That was when she realized that she didn’t introduce herself, but he knew her name anyway.

~~~

He thought he would sleep for three days straight after everything ended.

He never expected that sleep would depart his eyes for such a long time. He decided that getting used to the fatigue accompanied by the unbearable headaches would be much easier than forcing himself asleep.

Insomnia wasn't a foreign guest. Sleepless nights of sore muscles and whirling thoughts frequently happened to him. But that night, for the first time since he was born, worry of the titans evaporated with no trace behind it, one less burden to overthink.

Armin looked down at his hands, scratches aggravating them. He somehow managed to get enough scratches to leave marks within two days without healing powers.

He had to get used to it, he must be more careful.

Two days since it ended.

The ending of a new beginning.

He tried to swallow, his mind like an over-inflated balloon that would pop at any moment.

Taking in a shaky breath, his chest tightening on his lungs, and the breath he took clustered within his ribs, pushing against his throat.

Armin buried his face between his knees, secluding his eyes from the flattened earth surrounding him.

Thinking of the rest he left behind in military forts, each with their own thoughts. He doubted anyone was asleep, perhaps they fell in and out of pulsating naps, shaken awake with dripping cold sweat and bile in the back of their throats.

Instead of flipping through one nightmare to the other, he sat on the cliff, with his knees hugged to his chest, watching the horizon braced in dark blue tinges, stars shimmering above, oblivious to what their gleam fell upon.

On his left, the ground flattened, as if no life ever existed, on his right, traces of buildings, vacant of any life, fighting to stay erect.

As he sat on top of Fort Salta past midnight, he finally got a moment for himself, away from the chaos, just for a few moments.

He wasn’t aware of the blue pair of eyes watching him from afar.

Annie stood still, gazing at Armin’s hunched back.

She’d been standing there long enough for her legs to go numb, but she didn’t move an inch, nor did Armin shift.

These moments in which she wished approaching others wasn’t as hard.

She couldn’t sleep, obviously, just like everyone else, but her mind befell to be… less chaotic.

She had her father, she got rid of her titan’s powers, and now she would live the rest of her life in peace.

Or as peaceful as the following days would allow her to.

Annie wanted to comfort Armin, tell him everything would be ok, an obvious lie, but perhaps it could lift an unremarkable weight of his shoulders. However, she knew no words could help him out, especially that relief evidently showed on her since the war ended.

It’s like that one person who fakes sympathy, or at least that was how she saw herself.

“Annie?” she flinched. She didn’t see when Armin noticed her presence. He turned his head, watching her, surprised, he clearly didn’t expect to see her there.

“Armin,” she acknowledged, not knowing any other way of responding.

After a moment of silence, Armin pressed his lips together, before he said: “Do you want to take a seat?” patting the ground beside him.

She swallowed, as she took a step closer to him.

Annie had no idea what to talk about, she didn’t know from where to start. She had many questions, questions that she knew Armin was the only one who held the answers to.

She wanted to know about their next move, were they safe? Where did they stand? Where should they go? Would they go back to the island?

One look at his face, and she decided that all these questions would have another time to be answered. He had enough on his shoulders, and he certainly wanted a moment of peace. She contemplated going back to the tent, to leave him alone with his own thoughts, in his own world.

“Come on, sit down, aren’t you tired?” he asked.

She sat down, on the spot beside him.

A serene night, Annie thought. The breeze cool and soft on their skin. No crickets could be heard. A peaceful night, charged with tension and the buzzing thoughts in their minds.

It reminded Annie of these nights she spent on the island, the summer camps they had in their training days. They would spend nights in the wilderness, passed out after a long, exhausting day.

“I don’t know where we should start,” he muttered, his voice echoing in the quiet of the night, “I don’t know if we should go back to the island, or… I don’t know.”

She wondered if he could read minds.

“Don’t think about it,” came her answer, while she watched the sky.

“I’m the commander, if I don't think about it, then who would?” he shook his head, a strangled chuckle left his lips, “I don’t even want to think about how Commander Hanji tolerated all these years…”

A commander.

If he earned the title in different circumstances, she would’ve been so happy for him.

She watched him from the corner of her eyes, his head bowed down, scrutinizing his feet. His back hunched, curved with all the burdens in the whole world, all pressed into a humongous boulder, sitting right in between his shoulders.

No matter how she looked at him, every single way, in her eyes, he seemed to be missing something…

It was then that Annie realized… Armin was far from complete without them.

Eren and Mikasa.

A piece of him lost forever, a wound that could never be healed.

They completed him, and he completed them.

One was gone forever, and the other… Mikasa’s whereabouts remained unknown.

The question at the tip of her tongue, but he bet her to it.

“Mikasa said she was going back to the island, to give Eren a proper burial,” he grazed the ground with his military boots, leaving divisions in the sole’s trace, “I have no idea how she’ll manage to go back on her own… but she looked like she had a plan.”

She didn’t.

Annie almost said, but held herself back, there was no need to make him overthink more than he already did. If she knew him well enough, then he had thought about that enough for his brain to burn into a char.

“So,” he said, straightening his back, contemplating the horizon, trying to fill the silence, “how is your dad?”

Annie bit the inside of her cheeks.

She felt guilty. She was, with no doubt, the least burdened, and she admitted it to herself the same night the war ended; she reunited with her father, a long happy life waiting for her with him. That was all she ever wanted and what she finally got.

Talking about being fulfilled and happy sounded as bad as being proudly selfish.

“He’s ok,” she concluded, that would be the best answer.

He hummed, tapping his foot twice: “I’m happy for you.”

She swiveled her head, only to be met by his smile. An exhausted smile that didn’t reach his eyes, but still a smile nonetheless.

“Thanks…” she retorted, looking away, putting a strand behind her ear.

Silence swathed them, not an awkward nor a comforting one, but the tensed silence fraught with many questions and words, suppressed inside of their heads, waiting to be unleashed.

She tilted her head up, scrutinizing the stars; they were bright, so bright that the moon, with all its light, couldn’t overthrow them.

Just like that night, the first night she met him.

She wondered if he could remember…

“I sometimes wish for it to be true,” he said, Annie turned to him, “if the stars are different worlds… you know, I think I’m up for another life, with better circumstances.”

Annie hummed, holding back a smile, so he did remember.

“What about you?” Armin asked, watching her.

She thought about it, tapping her toes, before she sighed and said:” I don’t think I want to go through getting to know whole lot of people again.”

Armin snickered, and Annie found that she could live of that sound.

“What if you only meet us all over again?” He inquired.

“You think so?”

“I don’t know, I’m just saying.”

“And if so? You think I would remember you?” She asked.

Armin went silent for a while, before he said: “I’d hope so…”

There was something in his voice, the way he said it… hope. Too scared to hope, too scared to even think of a higher expectation. The anticipation, the thoughts, the imaginations that one could never dare unleash, keeping them encapsulated withing their minds. These hopes hurt, yes, but the pain is a hundred times more bearable than if it went out, to the outside world, under the danger of others eyes.

And then they fell into silence, both thinking of the possibility of living another life.

Too scared to wish for another life.

“Astronomy classes in training were false, by the way,” she said, casually.

The hasty turn of Armin’s gaze on her made her recite what she said, in case she said something wrong. His face didn’t indicate anything though; his face perplexed, with a hint of surprise, before he inquired: “what do you mean?”

“Well…” she looked up, the stars looking down at her. They whispered words of encouragement to her, or so she imagined.

She started off, talking and talking. First starting with the false information from their training days, then correcting it based on Marley’s advanced technology and science, and the classes they had in the warrior training’s unit.

At that time, when she was nine, she thought these classes were as useful as a plastic gun in a war. What use would these classes be in battle?

She never imagined she’d be telling a guy, from the island of the devils, this information she once thought was unusable.

He listened intently, nodding his head, inquiring about details, as if it was the first time he heard about them. He didn’t tell her that he already read all that she said from books he got his hands on in Marley. He kept listening to her poor explanation, hiding a smile, each time she came short of a sentence she just flailed her hand and assumed he understood.

The soft breeze brushed her hair on her face and he imagined caressing it behind her ear.

He wanted to tell her, over and over again, how he would be forever grateful that she was out of the that damned crystal. To obliterate every single memory of that clear hump of rocks, and every single memory of Annie lifelessly floating amidst it.

Sitting beside him, her cheeks dusted with life. Her blue eyes peeking through her lashes, shinning with life. Her warmth, beside him, radiating off life.

He wanted to feel this warmth, to press her against his chest, kiss her head, run his fingers through her hair. To Hear her words whispered in his ear. Her skin against his. His fingers on her and her hands on him.

He wanted to be with her.

And he finally could.

Armin shivered at the thought.

“Are you ok?”

Armin nodded; words clogged in his throat.

Then it turned silent again, but a different silent, a comforting one, where they knew they stepped over a line in their life. From that moment on, they turned a new page, a new life.

The beginning of a new story, a new chapter. Overwhelming for all it was indeed, the novelty of this new world, this new responsibility.

They gazed at the horizon, words ceased through the night, until the thin line of dawn broke from afar, a shy orange harbingering itself to the darkness of the sky, ready to take over.

Through the night, Mr. Leonhart would check on his daughter, from afar, watching her, scrutinizing her gaze on the man sitting beside her.

Annie never looked at anyone like that before.

With the way she was looking at Armin, Mr. Leonhart would’ve thought she changed into a totally different person.

But no.

It was her, but with a change of heart.

The countless questions in Mr. Leonhart's head could overflow out of his skull, who was he and how did they meet? Is he good for her? What did she think of him? What did he think of her? Was he good enough for her?

He had enough time to ask her all that.

But in that moment, he relished in the light his daughter found. The comfort she showed around that man.

Annie went through way too much.

Mr. Leonhart made her go through way too much.

And if that man, Armin, lightened her life while she was on the mission, then Mr. Leonhart should thank him until his throat turned dry.

When the sun shimmered in the warm morning, Mr. Leonhart walked out of his tent, only to find out that Annie, his daughter, the former female titan, one of the best warriors in the whole world, had her head on Armin’s shoulder, snoring softly, as he wrapped his arms around her.

Both fast asleep.

Mr. Leonhart bit back a laugh, wondering if he should wake them up, or let everyone else witness this moment with him.

~~~

Three years had passed since the ending of the war. On their way back to the island, Annie had trouble sleeping on the ship.

Her room was vast, with all necessary elements of leisure; a big comfy bed, a silky nightgown, a bath with dozens of oils and fragrances that Annie could never pronounce their names, however, she didn’t find it in herself to fall asleep.

So, she got up, going to the highest deck, watching over the ocean.

A bucket of darkness, with gleams of the moonlight reflecting off it, creating an endless cascade of glimmering diamonds, scattered upon the vast black.

It wasn’t intimidating.

If anything, it took her breath away.

A hypnotizing black.

“Mind if I join you?” a voice called from behind. She didn’t have to turn around to know who the speaker was, she memorized his voice like the back of her hand.

“I’d love that.”

Approaching her, he rested his hand on the lower of her back, and she turned her head, expecting a kiss on the lips, but instead, he kissed her forehead.

Something was off.

She raised an eyebrow.

He smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, a scared smile, a nervous one.

He averted his eyes from her, escaping her questioning eyes.

“Do you remember…” he started, tilting his gaze up, watching the starry sky.

“I do, of course I do," she sighed, "first time I met you,” she completed his sentence, her gaze following his.

He smiled, a genuine smile, not a timid one.

“It was a night similar to this, the moon was out, but the stars…” he shook his head, the inside of his lower lip curling outside.

“Shiny,” Annie concluded.

It was this simple. The moon out, despite its strong light, the stars remained unaffected, unbothered.

"Do you ever wonder..." Armin started, "if myths, perhaps, were true?"

Annie took a moment before she replied: “Are you thinking of the many universes out there?"

"Yeah..."

Armin talking about myths and legends would be, perhaps, a sight no one believed unless they witnessed it with their own eyes. The rational, logical Armin, who always finds a reason behind everything, speculating if he could live another life on one of these stars.

"Do you believe in it?" He asked, eyes scrutinizing one star after the other, as if he looked close enough, he would see himself, in another life, waving at himself.

Annie thought about it for a second, wondering if it was true, if she could really live another life, in a different world.

"I'd love for it to be true..."

"Do you?"

"Yeah..."

A star after the other, Annie found herself observing them as well.

"Would I find you in my other lives though?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

Armin glanced at her, holding back a chuckle: “Find me in whatever place that world have books in, I'll be there waiting for you."

In a monotone voice, she replied: “You wouldn't look for me in a donut shop?"

At that, Armin threw his head back and laughed. Annie smiled, bubbles of proudness fizzed in her stomach, proud that she made him laugh.

“Yeah…” Armin sighed, as the laughs ceased, his eyes fixated on the stars, never wavering off of them. His intense concentration made Annie think that he was deciphering a new language out of the stars' alignment.

“Annie…” Armin swallowed, finally swiveling his eyes to her.

Her heart skipped a beat or two, his nervous eyes and shaky hands…

“Can I ask you something?”

Annie nodded, too scared to try out her voice.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while…” Armin was doing his best to not chicken out, and to keep his eyes on Annie’s.

He sighed, clearing his throat, shifting on his feet, averting his gaze.

He already ruined it.

But that was when Annie clamped his head in her hands, fixing him in his place, making him look in her eyes. A dust of a blush on her cheeks, as she gazed into his eyes.

In the darkness of the night, his eyes weren’t much different than the ocean they were sailing in. a bottomless, endless blue, with a highlight of a white glint in them. The moonlight reflecting off them.

Like the stars above, Annie thought.

The endless blue that she fell into, and she was falling falling falling.

She let herself fall, knowing that, even though she dove in the deep of the unknown, she was safer than ever.

“Armin,” she whispered, his breath warm on her face, contradicting the chilly ocean breeze.

If he didn’t have anything to say, she would’ve captured his lips, kissed him until her lungs gave out.

Armin must’ve seen that in her eyes, and to make sure he gets to end his words fully, he grasped her wrists, pulling away.

Holding her hands in his, he took a deep breath, and started before he could get nervous again: “I’ve known you for so long, and…”

He stopped.

Whatever words he wanted to say vanished from his mind, completely erased.

Annie sighed, and from her reaction, Armin assumed that he looked like an idiot.

Until she laughed.

Her laughs echoing on the waves and through the empty horizon. Those rare laughs that she kept only for him. Those rare laughs that he never got to hear in their training days.

But after the war, and after they got to spend more time around each other, Armin got lucky enough to hear her laugh most often, blessing his days and nights.

Her laughs a little bit louder than a quiet sound, but it was enough to lift his heart, and make his breath hitch in his throat. Enough to make him want to kiss her lips, only to elicit more giggles from her. But not this time, he had to hold himself back from kissing her, determining his mind to finish what he came here for.

No distractions.

When her laughs ceased, he found himself mesmerized by the moonlight on her skin.

Her skin velvety under the moonlight, soft, smooth, elegant. Her hair framing her face, moving with the breeze, as tender as silk. The nights he held her close to him, kissing her head, running his fingers through her hair, these moments he got to spend with her, having her all for himself, and she having him all for herself.

And her eyes.

The only ocean Armin would willingly drown in, and never ask to be rescued, because it’s the safest place he would ever be at, surrounded by her, in an endless dream that he lived, bit by bit, entirely true.

The feelings he gets when he looks in her eyes, the tingles, his heart skipping a beat, all never ceased. No matter how many mornings he wakes up beside her, all the nights he sleeps in the same bed with her. The feelings ignite in him again and again, coming stronger than before, like an avalanche taking all over him-

“Annie, will you marry me?” he said, the words slipping out of him, casually, as if they danced on his tongue for so long, a mantra, that reiterated in his mind for so long, echoing in his mind, waiting to be out, and the time for it, finally, ticked.

Annie froze, caught off guard for a second, before she launched herself on him, capturing his lips, kissing him like it was the first time.

It always felt like the first time.

Her lips, his touch, her scent, his skin.

Always like the first time.

The fire, the warmth, the comfort, the passion.

Always like the first time.

She couldn’t step far from him after they pulled away, resting her forehead on his, her arms around his shoulders, she repeated one word over and over again,

“Yes, yes, yes…”

Each yes for every life they would live, in every universe.

Peppering kisses all over her face, her cheeks, her forehead, her eyebrows, the corner of her mouth, all the while she’s giggling, Annie Leonhart, the love of his life, giggling in his arms-

He froze.

Still in a fit of giggles, Annie asked what went wrong.

“I don’t have a ring.”

She blinked, slowly blinked, before she said: “Would you think that would change my answer?”

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other: “I mean…”

She kissed him again, swallowing whatever words he wanted to say.

They spent the rest of the night sitting on that deck, overseeing the ocean, while they held each other.

Every now and then they would laugh; they just got engaged.

It was those moments that made them push forward, to keep going.

Stars watching over their love, their only witness to their stolen kisses and touches, love confessions and hugs.

If it was for Armin, he would relive this moment for as long as he lived.

Under the same sky, under the same stars, in different lives.

And Annie’s answer will always be yes.

In Armin’s cabin on the ship, a letter was left open on the desk, the date on it went to two weeks prior. In a messy writing, smudged by tears, Mr. Leonhart gave Armin his blessing, agreeing to marry his daughter.

well, I hope you enjoyed it! this was for the lovely XianKar, amazing writer and an incredible friend, I'm so glad I got to meet you! feedback, comments, kudos, are all appreciated! thank you so much for reading!

#aruani #aot #snk 131 #like I could hug you if you tell me about your fanfic #ao3 #armin arlert #annie leonhart #armin x annie #Mr Leonhart #uwu I hope you enjoy #feedback is always appreciated #love you guys so much #thanks for your support

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unmaskedagain · 4 years

Text

Ladybug: A Young Avenger

Hey Everyone, I got prompt for a civil war ML crossover fic but I was really into Team Iron Man on Ao3 for longest of times and, after endgame, I kind of need some team fluff. So I tweaked the prompt. It’s still team Iron man; just… not the way you’d expect. (Also did anyone know else know that Penny’s last name was Rolling?)

It took Tony Stark all of five minutes to figure out Ladybug’s identity.

“Jarvis, buddy?” Tony called out.

“Yes, sir?”

“What’s up with teenagers and being bug-themed heroes wearing inappropriate costumes?”

The A.I took a moment before answering, “…I, for one, blame Vine.”

Tony sighed. First fifteen-year-old Peter Parker aka Spiderman. He took the kid on an as an intern the second he learned about Spiderman. Now fifteen-year-old Marinette Dupain-Cheng aka Ladybug.

He groaned.

What could he do? He needed help.

Captain America needed to be stopped. The Winter Solider needed to be taken down. Team Cap had gone too far.

It was war.

Getting Harley Keener, a mechanical mastermind to agree to be his intern was a bit like chewing nails but Tony always knew the kit would agree. Getting Peter Parker, a child genius with a bright future as a scientist, to agree to be his intern was a piece of cake. Honestly Tony could’ve asked for the kid’s soul in repayment and Peter would’ve asked if he wanted on a silver plate or if plastic was okay? Getting Riri Williams, an engineering prodigy to be his intern, was easy. Too easy; her mom practically threw her at him, all while making him swear into a recorder that he wouldn’t sue. No matter what. Introducing the kids to his labs made him feel like Willie Wonka hand-delivering the golden tickets.

They were all future scientists and engineers like Tony. They grew up worshiping at the altar of Stark Industries like ever future MIT graduate did.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, on the other hand, was an entirely different beast who played an entirely different game. She was a fashion prodigy who had designed for stars like Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale. She had interned for Style Queen Audrey Bourgeois, had her clothes walk the runway during Paris fashion week, and had a summer job that somehow lasted over a year, working for Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-Chief for Runway Magazine when the scary woman took over Paris: Runaway. Said job ended when Miranda when back to New York. Marinette only prayed to the fashion gods. So when Tony Stark, god of the nerds, showed up at her door, she only blinked once.

Said girl sat between her parents, with cool blue eyes glaring at him suspiciously. Luckily Tony was smart enough to bring Pepper with him.

Pepper Potts smiled at the family in front of her; two bakers and the daughter, who made the most delicious macarons that she ever tasted. “So you see, after Tony came across Marinette’s wonderful re-design sketch of his suit on her website, he was very impressed with her talent.”

“But to take Marinette on as an intern?” Sabine asked. “Excuse me, but Marinette has always leaned towards the arts than science.”

Tony gave the woman his best charming smile, “What is science if not another form of art. We both create, strive to better our talents, work to make names for ourselves; experiment and test out hypothesizes. Granted no one in my field ever created the disaster that was crocs.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes, “Didn’t your father help on the Manhattan Project?”

Silence.

Pepper cleared on her throat. “Tom, Sabine, before anyone agrees to anything I’d like to go over safety procedures in place. Would you mind stepping outside with me, I could use a bit of fresh air.”

Tony and Marinette just stared at each other as the three left the room. When the front door closed behind them, Marinette leaned forward, “What do you want?” Her patience had reached its end.

“Aren’t you being a little rude?” Tony smirked.

“Aren’t you a little old?” Marinette snapped back. “What do you want?”

“I want Ladybug’s help.”

Marinette flinched back in shock. Her heart raced in her chest. “How do you know?”

“I’m Tony Stark,” He shrugged easily, picking up a mint chocolate Macron. “I know everything.”

Marinette fought the fear racing through her, and steeled herself like Miranda and Audrey had taught her, “So Iron Man’s wanted Ladybug as an intern? So what does Iron Man get? What does Ladybug get? What does Tony get? And what does Marinette get?”

“You made clear distinctions,” Tony said approvingly, his business-side gearing up. “But I am Iron Man.” He said. “You come to New York for this spring break and for the summer. I get Ladybug’s help in handling a personal issue that has developed within the Avengers. Ladybug gets training from the Avengers. Marinette gets to add Stark Industries and a personal letter of recommendation from Tony Stark to her resume.”

“On the condition, that identities stay secret from the media,” Marinette crossed her arms. “I don’t suppose I can hide it from the rest Avengers for very long. And I get an additional letter of recommendation from Pepper Potts. Pepper takes my friend Chloe on as an intern; she’s the hero, Queen Bee. And only one who knows my identity, besides you. Also, I actually do get to help design your next suit. My expenses?”

Tony smirk widened. The girl knew how to cover her bases. She even wanted to have an Ally with her should things take a turn. “All paid for by me. First-class all the way. You and Chloe will stay in the Stark Tower on the same floor as the other interns.”

“Other young superheroes, you mean?” Marinette guessed, causing Tony’s eyes to twinkle in joy. “Spiderman, Iron Heart, and WarIron. Based on their sizes, I had guessed they were young; teenagers probably. Why didn’t you ask Chat Noir too? Or why aren’t you? Because you’re not, you would’ve mentioned it by now?”

“You mean the Agreste kid?” Tony said, not noticing Marinette’s eyes widen in surprise. “He’s not serious enough for me. I play games but he goes too far. Surprised you haven’t dumped him yet. Get a better partner.”

Marinette took a bit of a macron to get a moment to think. Adrien was Chat Noir. In retrospect, it made a lot of sense. Both were socially immature, and a bit naïve. Each had an idealistic view of things and didn’t let the real world break them of it. For example Adrien and his dealing with Lila’s lies. Chat Noir and Ladybug turning down his advances.

“Very well,” The bluenette finally agreed. “I agree to be your intern. Shall we discuss my salary now or later? Well, need to before I or my parents sign any contracts.”

It was Tony’s turn to narrow his eyes. Not one; not a single one of his interns: Harley, Peter, or Riri ever asked about how much they’d get paid. They’d all assumed it was an unpaid internship and was surprised when their contracts included a salary. “You’re a shark.”

Marinette hummed, “You should see me when there’s blood in the water.”

That was something Tony was looking forward to seeing.

The official paperwork was signed three days later; Marinette was officially a Stark intern. Due to go to Orientation for spring break in New York in a few weeks.

Those weeks flew by. She let Fu know she’d have to go back and forth for a few weeks. She didn’t bother telling anyone else. Her friendships in the class had dwindled dramatically. While most weren’t her outright enemies, her classmates tended to avoid her. If they couldn’t do that, they were beyond cold to her. It was Lila’s doing. She got her hooks into the class, who all wanted to tie themselves to the golden goose, and when it was clear that Lila and Marinette didn’t like each other, they picked sides. They chose their meal ticket over their lifelong friend.

Honestly, it made Marinette almost wish that Lila had lied about her instead; accused her of being a bully or something. Anything. Because at least then her ex-friends would have somewhat of a reason to be ex-friends. Even if it wasn’t a very good one. Instead, they were just bad friends all on their own.

Still, Marinette didn’t mourn their loss as she sat in the back of the class with Chloe on a Sunny Tuesday morning, and they were living for New York that Friday. She had a steadily rising career in Fashion. She had worked under Miranda Priestly and Audrey. From them, she learned it was best to drop fair-weather friends and how to spot wannabes, fame-seekers, and gold-diggers from three miles away.

She was happy with Chloe as her bestie. The girl had turned a new leaf and proven her loyalty to the point where Fu made her a permanent hero. And the Blond had been ecstatic when Pepper Potts had shown up at their door. She had hugged Marinette a full five minutes for getting her the internship. All while screaming with joy.

Both girls were excited to go. Though Marinette did encounter one downside. The night before, Jagged Stone and Penny Rolling; or as Marinette deemed them #RollingStone, called her. Or rather Penny did the talking. Jagged was trying to wrestle his newest jacket away from Fang’s teeth. Penny offered Marinette a chance to spend her spring break traveling around on tour with Jagged, as his personal stylist. Marinette had no choice but to turn the job down. She loved her honorary Uncle Jagged but she already signed the contract.

That morning Lila had spun another set of lies. The first was about helping Tony Stark fix his Iron man suit when she was traveling in America. The second was about the newest song Jagged Stone wrote about her. It was exhausting to listen to but the class hung on every word.

Bustier had just finished her first lesson of the day when she invited Alya to stand up.

The glasses-wearing girl grinned at the class, “So as everyone’s aware; there’s a class pool party is this Saturday; first day of spring break, baby!” The class cheered. “Everyone who’s invited should’ve gotten their invitation. Don’t want any drama,” She cast a cold look to the two girls at the back of the class. “Invite only. So no party crashers. Marinette, Chloe what are you doing this Saturday?” Alya smirked at her call out that the two girls weren’t invited; that they were the only ones who weren’t.

As if on cue, the classroom’s door burst opened and in walked Tony Stark, followed by a very apologetic looking Pepper, “Marinette; it’s time to go! Grab Pepper’s minion and let’s go.”

There were gasps from the class. Max sat up straight. Iron Man was in front of him, in his class, this was the best day of his life.

Marinette just sighed, “Did you kick the door open, Tony?” Disapproval clear in her voice.

“…No?”

“I can’t go now!” Marinette explained. “I have class. We weren’t supposed to leave until Friday, remember.”

Tony waved her off, “Details. Spring Break starts now. Queenie, Mari; chop-chop! New York is waiting!”

Bustier decided to step in. She may not always be the best teacher but she refused to allow a strange man, even if that man was Tony Stark, to take away any of her students. “Mr. Stark, can I ask what you want Marinette and Chloe for?”

Thankfully, it was Pepper that answered as she closed back the classroom door, “They have been employed as interns for Stark Industries. They’ll be attending orientation during their spring break at Stark Tower.”

Max actually fell out of his seat. Because this couldn’t be happening. Stark industries rarely ever took high schoolers’ as interns. Tony Stark only chose the best of the best. How could Marinette land the job?

“Marinette’s my intern,” Tony grinned. “Blondie’s Pepper’s. Who else is gonna teach her how to rule the world.”

A slow smile spread across Chloe’s face, “With an iron fist.”

Tony pointed at her, “You scare me. Pepper get your intern!”

The other students were amazed. Marinette was Tony Stark’s intern. Chloe somehow got Pepper Pott's attention. What had they missed? Why didn’t Marinette tell them? How?

“That’s what we’ll be doing this Saturday, Alya,” Chloe drawled. “In New York, hanging with the Avengers.” Causing Alya to flush with anger. “We couldn’t come to your pool party even if we wanted to. Which we don’t.”

“He found my sketch of a potential Iron man suit design,” Marinette explained, continuing the story Tony had told her parents. “He loved it and offered me the job a few weeks ago.”

“Weeks?” Nino asked. “And you didn’t tell us? Dudette, not cool.”

Alix nodded, her arms crossed, “Yeah I thought we were friends!”

Marinette and Chloe just looked at them like they were stupid.

Alya put her hands on her hips, “Mr. Stark, why didn’t you ask Lila Rossi to be your intern? She helped you with your suit before. She’d be much better than Marinette!”

The girl in question face turned bright red, “This can’t be happening.” Lila muttered.

Tony looked honestly confused, “Lila? Who’s Lila? No one ever helped me with my suit except the kids I already got as interns.” He looked at Pepper. “Do I know a Lila Rossi?”

Pepper shook her head, and turned fierce eyes towards Lila, “Miss Rossi, please refrain from lying about Tony Stark and or Stark Industries. Or we will sue you on the grounds of defamation.”

Lila squeaked. Sue? She couldn’t be sued. Her mother would kill her if she got a lawsuit from Tony Stark.

It was the rest of the class’s turn to look confused.

However, before anyone could ask any follow-up questions, the classroom door burst opened again. Jagged Stone strutted in, followed by a very apologetic look Penny and happy Fang with, what looked to be, the arm of a leather jacket.

“Marinette!” Jagged yelled. “What’s this about you not coming on tour? I need my favorite stylist, love.

Marinette just sighed, “Did you kick the door open, Jagged?” Disapproval clear in her voice.

“…No?”

The bluenette just shook her head, “I have plans this Spring break. I’m sorry.”

“Plans?” Jagged whined. “What could be better spending your Spring Break with a Rock Star? You can even bring your Blonde. Penny could use an assistant!” He paused, finally noticing it wasn’t just kids. “The bloody hell is Tony Stark doing here?”

The two famous men eyed each other. The women they came with just looked so done with the world.

Tony crossed his arms, “I got custody of Marinette for Spring Break; you snooze, you lose.”

“What?!” Jagged hissed. “She’s my designer.”

“She’s my intern!”

Jagged glared, “I knew her first. By rights, I get custody.”

“I have a contract that says otherwise!” Tony taunted the Rock Star. “Her future is Stark Industries.”

“Her future is Rock and Roll!” Jagged yelled back.

Both men glared at each other.

“Pepper!”

“Penny!”

Both women groaned. How was this their lives? Why what was this their lives? What bus full of nuns and orphans did they rob in a past life?

Penny smiled, “Marinette means the world to us. I’m her honorary Aunt Penny,” She held out her hand for Pepper. “Jagged’s her honorary Uncle. We’ve known her for years. Contracts were already signed?”

Pepper nodded, “Tony doesn’t play when it comes to his interns. He won’t budge. Trust me; we’ve done this three other times. Marinette’s his kid now, all but legally.” For now, Pepper didn’t bother to add. Every now and then she found discovered a new set of adoption papers with one of the interns’ names on it; one time she found three sets for all three. Plus if Tony kept hinting any harder, May was going to gut him. “She’ll be in New York for Spring break and all of the summer.”

“Summer!” Jagged whined. “He gets custody for summer too! No!” he shook his head. “Not happening. Call our lawyers, Penny. We’re going to family court!”

Tony blew him a raspberry. Tony Stark blew Jagged Stone a raspberry. The class could only blink, trying to process what was happening.

Marinette just wanted the earth to open up and swallow her.

“Marinette already designed your clothes for the tour,” Penny tried to placate. “They’re amazing. We can call and skype if we need any additional tips. We have a concert in New York over spring break so we can go and see.” They didn’t. But Penny would be damned if she could have one booked within the hour. Anything to stop jagged from mention family court again. “Most of our summer is free too, we can visit Marinette whenever we want.”

Jagged huffed but didn’t say anything.

“Well not whenever you want,” Tony teased.

“Family court!” Jagged hissed.

“Tony!” Pepper said warningly. She was not going to let this going to court. No matter how lovely Marinette was. “Be nice.”

Tony pouted.

Marinette raised her hand, “You guys know that legally my parents still have custody of me, right?” There was no answer. “Right?!” Nothing.

The bluenette just sighed.

Alya took that moment to break in, “Jagged, don’t you want to say hi to Lila? She’s right here,” Alya pointed to her bestie. “Oh, can we listen to the songs you wrote for her? Can you tell us how she saved your cat from getting hit by a plane?”

The look Lila gave Alya could’ve killed a thousand men.

Jagged looked affronted, “Lila? Who’s Lila?” He looked at his fiancé. “Penny, do I know a Lila?”

“No!” Penny glared fiercely at Lila. “Jagged Stone has never written a song about an underage girl before. He has never owned a cat. What parents and airline would careless enough to allow a child to rush onto a runway for a pet? Refrain from spreading any further slander. Or we’ll hit you with a lawsuit so fast you’ll get whiplash.”

“I’m allergic to cats by the way,” Jagged told the class. “All fur actually. That’s why I got Fang here.” He pointed the crocodile who had made its way to Marinette for cuddles. “I’ve had him for twenty years. He’s the only pet I’ve had all that time.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and took the crocodile in her lap.

“Twenty years?” Kim’s eyebrows furrowed. “Whoa, that’s long that we’ve been alive.”

Nino glared at Lila, “Yeah it is.” He finally realized the girl was lying. Most of the class had in fact.

“Enough of this,” Tony waved. “Marinette, Chloe, time to go. Leave the dinosaur.”

Bustier took a deep breath, “No one is taking Marinette or Chloe anywhere. Until I get a note from their parents verifying that is. I’m going to have to ask you all to leave.”

Penny and Pepper nodded understandingly. Jagged and Tony just looked shocked.

“But I’m Tony Stark!”

“I’m Jagged Stone, love!”

Bustier just rolled her eyes and shooed them out of her class. It took some handling, and eventually, the women had to drag the guys out. The teacher shut the door with a sigh of relief. She brushed off the imaginary dirt on her clothes. “Marinette,” She called. “If you could tell any future visitors to wait until after school to pick you up, with a note from your parents that would be most helpful.”

“Sorry,” Marinette blushed, a deep dark red.

Bustier walked back to her desk before pausing. “Is that Crocodile still in my class, Marinette?”

“…Yes.”

“I think he’s here for the rest of the day,” Chloe shrugged. “Unless you want to invite Jagged back?”

Bustier paused. No. Never again. “No. No. Fang can stay for the day.”

When the lunch bell rang, Marinette found that it was easier to avoid her classmates' questions, as they were too busy yelling at Lila. It wasn’t long after that Ladybug had to take down Lila’s seventh akuma form.

Marinette and Chloe left that night to New York. Somehow he managed to convince their parents that missing three days of school to study in the most advanced building in the world was a good thing.

When they got to Stark Tower, they were given a quick tour. Then Pepper took Chloe to show her where she would be working. And Tony took Marinette the workshop where three other kids were already working.

The oldest one glanced at her and snorted, “God he kidnapped another one.” He was the tallest in the room with dark brown hair and a smirk on his face.

The other two snickered.

Tony looked affronted, “Oh please; your parental units practically threw you at me.

The younger looking boy smirked, “Aunt May threatened to shank you next time you took me out of school early.” He had light brown hair and big brown eyes

The genius pointed, “You tell Aunt Hottie to leave me alone.”

“HI, I’m Marinette!” She waved happily. “He keeps mentioning he has custody. And I’ve become moderately concerned.”

“And you should be,” The other girl in the room laughed. She was a pretty brown-skinned girl with black wild curls. “Name’s Riri.”

“Harley,” Said the first boy who spoke.

“Peter,” The other boy introduced.

Marinette nodded and eyes them, “WarIron,” The pointed at Harley. “Iron Heart,” Then at Riri. “Spiderman, right?” She pointed at Peter.

The three looked at Tony with questions in their eyes. Tony raised in hands in surrender, “Hey, I told her nothing.”

Harley eyed the new girl, “You’re from Paris, right?” She nodded. “Ladybug, I’m guessing.” Marinette blushed. “Welcome to the Young Avengers, I guess. Why’d he bring you in?”

Marinette shrugged, “He said to there was a personal problem happening with the Avengers. He wanted my help.”

The teen froze. Peter just shook his head, “You didn’t, Tony!”

Tony looked sheepish.

“What?” Marinette asked.

Riri rolled her eyes, “That personal problem? It’s called ManHunt.”

“I’m sorry?” Marinette asked. She was going to have to hunt a man?

“It’s a game,” Harley explained. “Team Iron Man versus team Cap. One team hunts the other in a sort of hide and seek type of thing and tries to capture as many members as they can. Last time we played it, Team Cap crushed Team Iron man. It’s why Tony brought us all in. Revenge.”

Said Man didn’t look one bit ashamed, “Rules were since Thor and the Big guy are gone I can bring in whoever I want to replace them.”

Marinette tossed up her hands, “You brought me here to play a game?” Unbelievable.

“No,” Tony said. “I brought you here to take out the Winter Soldier.”

“Say what now?”

“Welcome to orientation,” Was All Tony said to her question.

The kids trained together for a week; Chloe, a girl named MJ who was Pepper’s other interns, and a boy named Ned who was a tech intern, were brought in as well. When it turned out that Kagami was in New York City for a fencing tournament. Tony was happy to bring in the scary girl as well. (And somehow get her mother to agree to let her stay for Spring Break) He made practice stealth and learn hand signals. Tony drilled them on the Team Cap’s strengths and weaknesses. They reviewed videos of previous missions until they had everyone’s fighting style memorized. Tony went over body anatomy aka where the best place to hit them was. They memorized plans and scenarios to take out each specific member of Team Cap.

The teens spent a lot of time in the lab creating gadgets to use against the Avengers. Each one straight out of a spy movie.

As far as Tony was concerned this was War. And there would be no prisoners.

Team Cap consisted of Captain America, The Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, The Falcon, Antman, along with several Shield employees which included Fury, Melinda May, and Coulson.

Team Iron man consisted of Ironman, War Machine, Vision, Maria Hill, The Wasp, Quicksilver, Daisy Johnson, and a bunch of names Stark employees: I.E the interns. (Black Panther refused to participate. Though he and sister would watch from Wakanda.)

Each team had a total of thirty players; no more, no less.

The game would take place at the compound. Anything area within the compound legal territory was free to use. The living room would be home base and were all ‘out’ people had to stay. Until they were freed. Or until every member of the hiding team was captured and then it was Game Over. Everyone could communicate with their own team using special mics; normally only taken out for missions. However, those imprisoned in the home base couldn’t communicate with their team.

On Saturday, just before sunset; the main superheroes of the avengers met up. Tony facing Steve. Rhodey glaring at Bucky. Vision versus Wanda. Hawkeye to QuickSilver. The wasp against Ant-Man and the Falcon.

Steve smiled, “Tony.”

“You ready for war, Cap?” Tony asked.

“Training exercise,” Steve corrected his husband. “I trust your team is ready.”

Tony smirked, “Oh you have no idea. Your little spies are already hiding in the shadows.”

“Like your team isn’t?”

The alarm went off.

Tony suited up, “You have 1000 seconds, Steve.” His helmet shut. “I’d get running.”

Steve rolled his eyes. His team split up, running into the growing shadows.

The game had started.

Marinette waited, hiding in the shadows on the roof. Her ladybug costume was all back with little red polka dots; mostly easy to move around body armor. This wasn’t her actually Ladybug suit; Tikki, while willing to create a new suit design, decided it wasn’t a good idea to involve magic. So Marinette designed herself a new suit, and Tony help her trick it out.

Tony had pointed out the all-good hiding spots located in the Compound. She was the overly large landing pad. She forced herself to stay completely still. Even when she saw the Falcon take flight with WarIron right on his tail.

The smallest of moments caught on the corner of her eye, the glint of metal. An arrow, she realized. She smiled. Hawkeye.

She watched the man take stock of the room, looking in every possible place a person could hide. Unfortunately for him, Marinette had a bit of luck on her side.

“All clear on the roof, Cap,” Clint said into his mic. “I’ll keep a lookout from up here.” There was silence as he listened to Cap’s orders. “Okay. Will do. Stay invisible, got it. Over and out.”

The second the conversation had ended, Marinette through a smoke bomb at his feet. Before Clint could even finish saying, “What the he-” Marinette was on the attack. Using the smoke to her advantage, she swung her yo-yo at Hawkeye’s feet. The String wrapped around his legs, tripping him. Five seconds later, Hawkeye was hogtied on the ground.

Marinette touched her mic, “Tweety Bird down. Bringing him to home base now!”

“Copy that, Ladybug,” Tony said. “Be careful.”

Clint looked up at his assailant; expecting to see Tony or the Wasp, any avenger. Instead what he saw, was a teen girl with a scary blue-eyed glare on his face, “Who are you?”

Marinette leaned down, “Your reckoning.” She hissed.

“What the fuck!” He said as he was thrown over the girl’s shoulder and carried to home base.

When Marinette got to home base, she saw Harley putting a rather put out Falcon on the ground, Spiderman with five webbed up shield agents, Chloe had brought in two, Kagami and Riri brought in six. MJ and Ned both brought in one random shield agent. Marinette tossed Hawkeye on the couch.

It had been twenty minutes, Clint knew by the clock on the wall. Twenty minutes since sunset and the game had started. And they had already lost just over half their team to a bunch of teenagers.

Clint couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had Tony unleashed on them.

“Foghorn Leghorn secure,” Harley said into his mic. “Tweety in his cage. The shadows are all accounted for.”

“I’m Tweety,” Clint told Sam.

Sam paused. “…Am I Foghorn Leghorn?”

“Wasp and Vision on their way with The Blue Fairy,” Tony’s voice rang their ears. “They’ll play guard dog. QuickSilver is down; Miss Tuffit got him. Seven minions gone; Captain Hook and his jolly crew got them. Over and out.”

“Queen Bee, MJ, guard the Home base until they get here,” Harley ordered. “Guy in the chair, Mj, back on monitor duty. Fulfill mission Top hat ASAP.” They nodded and left the room.

Top hat was important. The two were trying to hack into Team Cap’s communications, once they did; it was game over.

“The rest of you complete the assignment,” He told them.

Then all split up again. Vision and Wasp arrived with Scarlet witch just as they were leaving. All three avengers gave the kids confused looks as they left.

It would take Marinette another hour before she came across another member of Team Cap. And she didn’t so much as come across, as she did respond to Peter’s cry for help.

“Captain Sparkles!” Peter yelled in their earpiece. “Training yard. I’m trying to hold hi-No I won’t give you back your shield! Hurry! Over!”

“I’m around the corner,” Marinette hissed into the mic as she ran for the yard. When she arrived it was just in time to catch the shield that was flying at her face.

She held the shield tightly in her hand, feeling like Wonder Woman, as she stared down Captain America.

Steve looked at the young girl who had joined the fight, “My shield, miss?” He was aware that Spiderman had landed behind him.

Marinette smiled sweet. Then she launched the shield at him with such brute force, he was lifted off his feet. “The Name’s Ladybug.”

Steve didn’t catch the shield in time and it bounced back to Spiderman.

Captain America glared at the two teenagers.

Then the fight was on.

Spiderman hits Steve with his shield, distracting him. The shield falling to the ground. Ladybug barges Captain America backwards. Steve shoulders her to the floor. Marinette lands on the ground; pain flaring across her shoulder. Spiderman punches Steve who just lifts him and slams him against the ground. Spiderman raises a fist but Steve twists it. A web shoots out of his hand, the sound of a small explosion fills the training yard.

Marinette takes the distraction to trip Captain America and jump up. As Steve falls to the ground, Marinette uses the electro-shooters that Riri made and shocks the dear life out of him. It wasn’t enough to bring him down but then Peter added in his own shocking web-shooters.

Yet Steve still looked ready for another round of their fight. Marinette quickly picked up the shield and slammed it across his head. Steve Rogers fell forward in a slump.

Spiderman webbed up with quick-drying cement.

Both teens breathed heavily; struggling to catch their breath, tense from the fight. Marinette could even find it in herself to unclench the shield.

“Captain Sparkles is down, over,” Marinette said into the Mic.

“We’re bringing him in, over,” Spiderman added.

There was a moment of silence.

“…What the fuck?” They heard War Machine say.

When Marinette walked in with the shield in one hand and helping Spiderman carry Cap with the other, the avengers present quietly lost their shit. Kagami nodded, where she stood over Fury who looked more pissed than ever before in his entire life. Chloe stood over Coulson, who just looked put out. MJ and Ned looked overly pleased. Their mission had been a success but it only lasted long enough to get Fury and Coulson. After that, Team Cap was smart enough to ditch the communications, figuring something was up.

“Who’s left?” Spiderman asked in the Mic. “Over.”

“Stoneheart,” Kagami answered bitterly, referring to Melinda May, into the Mic so the team could hear them. “She took out Daisy and got away. Hill is after her now.”

“Jon Snow and Miss Tuffit,” Chloe said referring to the Winter Soldier and Black Widow. “Iron Man and WarIron are after Small fry. War Machine has eyes on Miss Tuffet.”

“I’m closing in on Miss Tuffit, over.” War Machine said.

Marinette looked at her team, pressing on her mic, “Guy in Chair, Mj, I want you on Stoneheart’s tail. Spiderman go be back up for the War Machine. Iron Heart, meet me on the Location 12. Over.”

“What are you going to do, over?” Harley asked.

Marinette clenched the shield in her hands, “I’m going to go tell Jon Snow that Winter Is Over. Queen and Dragon with me. Over.”

The battle with the Winter Soldier was epic. The showdown happened in the gym. It turned out they weren’t hunting for the Winter Soldier, the Winter soldier was hunting for them. The second they walked into the gym, the doors closed behind them.

Bucky jumped down from the rafters. He stared at the girls. He had seen them fight. None of them fought with any ounce mercy but plenty of skill. But they were clearly just kids. Just Dames in over their heads. He’d go easy on them. “Shall we, Ladies?”

Ladybug, Queen Bee, Iron Heart, and Dragon shared a look before giggling.

The Winter Soldier only just barely stood a chance.

The girls laid Bucky gently on the floor on home base. He grunted and glared at them.

A few minutes later, Tony and Rhodey walked in with the Black Widow. The last of Team Cap.

Tony smirked, “Game over.”

Rhodey shook his head, “Record time; two hours and four-two minutes. Beats the last one by about seven hours and sixteen minutes.”

Then they debriefed. Video of the fights and footage was seemed was shown so everyone could see where they could improve. The image of tiny Ladybug clocking Captain America in their head with his own shield was rewinded and watched seven times.

Tony fell over laughing, “I’m putting on Youtube!”

“I will divorce you!” Steve snapped but couldn’t fight the smile on his face.

Once The random agents of shield and Stark industries left, Steve glared at Tony. His team had gotten demolished. In record time. “You brought in outside heroes, that’s not fair.”

“No,” Tony laughed. “I brought employees of Stark Industries as agreed upon. Everyone meet WarIron,” Harley lowered his helmet. “Iron Heart,” Riri lowered his, “You know Spiderman already,” Peter took of his mask and waved. “MJ, and Ned” Both teens nodded. “Ladybug,” Marinette took off her mask. “Queen Bee,” Chloe glared as she removed hers. “Dragon!” Kagami took off her black mask. “The interns. Otherwise known as the Young Avengers.”

“Oh, fuck you too Stark,” Clint complained. “Did you see what they did to poor Bucky. He’s the deadliest assassin in history, and I felt they went a little rough.”

Bucky nodded with a wince, “Can I have my arm back.”

Steve looked at the bluenette still holding his shield, with a charming smile.

Kagami glared. She held the metal arm like trophy. “Spoils of War.”

Marinette giggled.

Being a intern was going to be fun.

#ml fic #ml salt #adrien salt #marinette dupen chang #Marinette deserves better #Avengers #stony #tony stark #team iron man #peter parker

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