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ellestra · 2 years

Text

Home for Christmas

Not all resolutions were given the depth I hoped for (it felt like to much of it was cut and come on Disney nothing was stopping you from making it longer) but I was very satisfied that Tomas made up with his girlfriend. Even if it meant they went to Maroon 5 concert instead of Imagine Dragons. And it was nice of him to thank Kate.

And I suppose many of the theory channels were disappointed but I loved that Jack turned out to be nothing more than comic relief. And almost a hero (maybe even joining all the LARPers). The real villain in the family clearly is Armand the VII. The MCU's next big bad.

I was also glad none of the LARPers got killed. I loved that people only listened to them when they put on costumes. After decade and a half the civilians in the MCU know now that costumed people are the ones in charge in emergency and you should listen to them.

I was pretty sure that Maya’s story resolution will end up with her just cutting ties with the criminal world so this ending was fine with me. I didn’t expect her to kill both her main anchor points - Kazi and Uncle - but I suspected she would ask Kazi to leave with her (but he was way too much 2014 Nebula). This is what her father wanted so it had to end there before her own series.

Still, I suspect Fisk is not dead. We didn’t see the body and Echo series still needs a villain. Whether managed to block the shot or survived it he is going to be pissed and that conflict would be nice starting point of Maya’s trajectory of becoming a hero. But that Christmas Eve should teach him not to underestimate women.

However, his turn in this was a little disappointing. The way he was so easily left unguarded and vulnerable. The way you can't really feel how big a threat he is without watching Daredevil. The way he is basically on the run from the police anyway because Yelena managed to get him and Eleanor on tape. All this ending with him being taken down with so little effort makes Hawkeye being all worried about him getting involved feel disappointing. He's only scary because I watched Daredevil on Netflix. But there was not enough of that intensity here to really feel the danger (and him using Tracksuit Mafia as henchmen doesn't help as they are to inept to ever succeed). It needed more time to at least properly set up him being there in person. Although the way Vincent D'Onofrio just threw Hailee Steinfield aground looked awesome and properly Kingpin.

Although it wasn't as fun as the fight where Yelena is trying not to hurt Kate too much but also gets more and more annoyed but finally respectful was really well done. It is a start of a beautiful friendship for the next generation of Black Widow and Hawkeye.

I was also certain Yelena thing would be resolved by talking. Yelena’s interactions with both Kate and Clint were great. Of course Clint knew about Yelena and the whistle. Natasha would've told him who else (besides Laura and the she was hoping to get back and why it mattered so much. She already regained family that seemed irrevocably lot once (and saw that love isn't just for children) so she kept the hope it could happen again when Clint lost it. Of course she told him why. She kept Avengers going through the Blip all the way to getting means to reverse it even if it meant never seeing people she lost again. The important part was that they will be alive even if they had to deal with her loss afterwards. That they didn't get enough time together breaks my heart but I appreciate show taking the time to show us how much she mattered when Endgame didn't.

And I loved how in the end Clint admitted he and Kate are partners. Even if every time he says "Kate - no" she says "Kate - yes" they work really well together. It was great he took her in along with the dog (who got his proper name Lucky off screen - one more proof this episode left too much on cutting floor). Adopting new family members is a Burton family thing. Especially ones with really messed up family (although I was a little disappointed Yelena didn't come too). And now that he burnt the Ronin suit and got Laura's SHIELD watch too (he did marry Agent 19) he can properly retired (despite that great new outfit) and pass the name (Lady Hawk is a good movie but bad code name).

I just wish that Clint's time as Ronin didn't got swept under the carpet again like it never happened (yes, I'm complaining about lack of consequences). Kate sends her mother to jail for doing bad things but she doesn't even bat an eye when she learns about Clint. Yelena was right - just being one of Avenger is not a reason to ignore the bad shit they do. And yet, in the MCU, they never suffer any consequences (I suppose it's true to life but this is supposed to be a fantasy).

Still, I loved how Kate explains why Hawkeye mattered to her so much as a hero. The way he showed that you can still matter without superpowers or a suit. Just a guy with sticks and string fighting aliens and helping save the day and making her believe she could be a hero too. New Hawkeye even.

#hawkeye #clint barton #kate bishop #eleanor bishop #yelena belova #wilson fisk #maya lopez #echo #jack duquesne #armand duquesne vii #kazi kazimierczak #natasha romanov #tomas dresiarz #tracksuit mafia #laura burton #agent 19 #lucky the pizza dog #hawkeye series #hawkeye spoilers

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goddamnitkastle · 3 years

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The Ring

Happy Valentine’s Day!

So I finished my binge watch of the CW’s Nikita and well, I think we all know by now that I just love ripping off scenarios from other media and making Kastle fics. It’s my schtick and I’m gonna run it into the ground.

So here is an unconventional marriage proposal Kastle fic. Honestly this is probably how it would go anyway so it’s not like it’s beyond the realm of reality.

But first I want to give a huge thank you to my beta reader and editor, the amazing @joanofarkansass. This fic was initially, um, rough to put it nicely. But like a fairy godmother, she made it happen with incredible insight and gentle critique. I am literally indebted to you and I cannot thank you enough.

I also want to thank @evilbunnyking for reading the final draft, their awesome support, and catching every misplaced period and comma. Thank you!

And just a heads up, the canon in this is really screwy. Foggy and Karen know that Matt is Daredevil and Daredevil Season 2 is canon but basically just ignore the rest of the Daredevil/The Punisher Netflix/MCU timeline lol. Frank is a free man and clear of all charges here (yes that is unbelievable but just go along with it please and thank you). This is canon divergence borderlining on AU and slightly self indulgent and well, I don’t care ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Enjoy!

Karen pulls up right behind the police cruiser, about a block away from the 15th Precinct. She gets out and knocks on the windshield window, making Detective Sergeant Brett Mahoney jerk his head up at her in fear for a fraction of a second.

But once he sees her he lets out an annoyed sigh and gets out. Karen crosses the front of the cruiser to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk, trying to hide her laughter from scaring Brett.

“What’s got you nervous, Mahoney?” Karen asks as he joins her and pockets his keys.

“What’s got me... oh, you know, about to watch Frank Castle walk out and be a free man. Again.”

“Nelson and Murdock won the case. Unfortunately this was not the sequel to The People vs. Frank Castle that New York City was hoping for.”

“That you were hoping for?” Mahoney cracks, raising an eyebrow at her.

“No. Well, maybe Ellison was hoping for it, but… look I’m just glad he was acquitted and that justice prevailed. It’ll be a more positive ending to write up.”

Mahoney shakes his head and starts walking toward the precinct. Karen follows and falls into his stride.

“Look, I know he didn’t kill that mobster,” Brett starts. “As crazy as that sounds, given his track record. But he gave us a hell of a time when we arrested him…”

“Do you blame him? In the span of two years, he has been charged and put on trial for murder twice,” Karen says pointedly.

“Well, you didn’t hear me say this but… the guys did a great job convincing everyone that Frank Castle was a changed man.”

“He is a changed man, Brett.”

“Believe me Karen, I know. I thought Frank Castle was scary as a man who had nothing to lose. I was wrong. Apparently I needed to deal with Frank Castle when he’s got someone he cares about…”

Now it’s Karen’s turn to jerk her head up at him.

“What did he say?” she asks.

“Nothing incriminating, your reputation is safe... I guess. But it’s all over the man’s face Karen. He really…”

“I know.”

It’s a tense silence but the look Mahoney gives Karen is more perplexed than judgmental.

“Do Nelson and Murdock know?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“Jesus…”

“We kept it quiet for a while but when he was arrested we had to tell them. They’re… slowly coming around to it. Should only take another couple years for them to be sort of okay with us.”

“Yeah I doubt that,” Brett replies sarcastically.

Karen chuckles half heartedly in response.

He quickly sobers up again though. “Well if you’re both happy then… I am glad. You both deserve some happiness after this shit show.”

“Thank you, Brett. That’s really sweet of you.” Karen says, just barely able to hide the emotion in her voice.

“Like I said, you didn’t hear any of this from me. Alright, let’s go get him.”

Just then, the front doors of the precinct building burst open with Matt and Foggy dragging Frank away from a horde of pissed off cops.

“Shit,” Mahoney mutters. He jogs ahead toward the mob with his hands up to stop their hot pursuit.

Karen takes her .380 out of her purse and speed walks toward the commotion. She honestly hopes she’s not gonna have to use it but she’s glad to have the comforting weight of it in her hand. She catches up to Matt and Foggy as they let go of Frank. Matt tilts his head toward her, then lets out a deep sigh.

“Come on Karen, that’s not…” he says as he gestures towards her hand that’s holding her gun.

“It’s just Mahoney, Matt. They’re gonna kill him. We have to help,” Karen insists ardently.

“No, we have to get out of here,” Matt dismisses with a wave of his free hand.

“I’m with Matt on this one, Karen,” Foggy agrees. “You have no idea how lucky we got with this case. And that none of those cops tried to kill him just now.”

“Exactly, because of Brett.” She turns her attention back to Matt, who has his walking stick in a vice grip. “We can’t leave him behind.”

“The cops are just upset. They’d be stupid to try anything. He is their boss, and at the end of the day they have to follow his orders.”

“How can you be sure of that?” Karen argues.

The frustration is palpable between the three of them. Karen just then notices Frank’s silence. She turns to him and takes in his clenched jaw and that trigger finger of his tapping away against his thigh.

“Frank? Are you…”

Just then several loud shouts catch everyone’s attention. Mahoney is on the ground now and a cop has his gun drawn.

“Oh, that’s not…” Foggy gasps.

“Come on Foggy.” Matt grabs Foggy’s arm, leaving Frank and Karen alone.

“Let’s get to the car, Frank. Before this gets a lot worse…”

Frank’s expression had barely changed so when he whips his head toward her she can’t help but take a step back.

“Give me the gun,” Frank commands quickly.

“What? Why?”

“Give me the damn gun, Karen!”

He snatches it from her hands and runs back toward Mahoney and the cops.

“Where are you going?!” Karen shouts incredulously.

“To get your engagement ring!” Frank shouts back.

Karen is stunned and suddenly, the last month comes into focus for her. The jumpiness of his movements whenever she entered a room before he was arrested. His trigger finger tapping away more than usual during the trial. How his bottom lip began to tremble out of nowhere each time she kissed him.

Karen smiles as Frank bolts past Matt and Foggy. He takes on several cops at once, knocking them down like bowling pins. Karen makes her way to the boys as Foggy raises his arms in disbelief while Matt tries to pull him away.

“Unbelievable! Are you kidding me, Castle?!” Foggy yells. “Matt, can’t you do something?”

“I’m in the wrong suit, Foggy.”

“Damn it.”

“Matt is also technically blind Foggy. Do we really want to open that Pandora’s box tonight?” Karen reminds him.

“Come on, let’s get to the car. Looks like we’re gonna have to make an escape. And figure out how we can keep this quiet...” Matt muses.

“We almost got through this damn trial without issue, I swear on the Nelson name…” Foggy groans as he runs his hand over his face.

“Karen, come on,” Matt says as he passes her.

Brett is the last man standing and both men have their guns pointed at each other. Karen is about to join the standoff when Brett holds his hand out and reaches into his back pants pocket. He reveals a ring box. Frank takes it and starts running toward her.

“Go! Go! Go!” Frank hollers at her.

Karen bolts to the car, makes a beeline for the driver’s seat and slams the door shut. Frank joins her a moment later in the passenger seat, flushed pink and his hand wrapped around the ring box.

...

“I’m surprised you didn’t take me to Metro General. Or get us back in that service elevator at the hotel…”

Frank laughs and Karen is relieved that the last 24 hours haven’t deterred Frank.

“Seriously, what was your proposal plan?” She teases as she pokes him in the arm.

“Just... trust me Karen. Okay?”

The Williamsburg Bridge is shadowed by a deep orange sunset as they walk hand in hand. Frank suddenly stops and Karen’s stomach drops. He turns to her, tears in his eyes as he exhales a shaky breath.

Suddenly Karen can’t catch her breath, everything is about to change and she isn’t sure she is ready for it. “Frank, you don’t have to do this…”

“Yes I do. It’s tradition and I’m a traditional man. And the hell I went through to get this ring to you... I want to do this right.”

He gets down on one knee and Karen covers her mouth with her hand. Frank produces the ring box in his hand and opens it. It’s simple; a small, oval diamond on a silver band. It’s perfect.

“Karen. A long time ago now, in some diner, I told you that you had everything with a man that I thought you deserved to be with. I told you to hold onto it, use two hands, and never let go. But the truth was he didn’t deserve you. And I honestly don’t either. But I will spend whatever remaining days I have to be worthy of someone like you. I love you. Karen Page, will you marry me?”

Karen hoists Frank off the ground, holding his face in between her hands. Any doubt she was holding onto is gone now.

“You had me at ‘Give me the damn gun, Karen.’”

They both laugh as Karen holds out her left hand. Frank takes the ring out of the box, caresses her hand before sliding the ring into place. They crash into each other, their hands wrapped around each other’s necks.

“I love you too, Frank Castle,” she says when they finally break apart. She takes his hand as the darkness settles in around them. But the ring doesn’t feel like the weight of her .380. Rather it feels like it has always been there. Like home. And she’ll fight like hell to keep it that way and so will Frank. They’re in this together now.

#kastle #kastle fanfiction #meganerinff #frank castle #karen page #kastlenetwork #joanofarkansass #evilbunnyking #daredevil #the punisher #the ring #This might be my first fic with the entire Hell's Kitchen gang????#Wow only took 30+ fics to get here #Woo!

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naferty · 4 years

Text

Tony wakes up groggy, disoriented and with no recollection of where he is. At first, he thinks his room, but his room isn’t as white or spotless or has a strong sterilizing smell. It hurts his head just smelling it. Or maybe that’s just his head hurting in general from waking up somewhere unknown with no recollection of it.

He finds Rhodey sitting next to him, holding his hand and looking at his phone with his other. When Tony squeezes it Rhodey looks up and is relieved to see him awake.

“Tones,” he moves to sit on the bed. “How are you feeling?”

Tony frowns in thought. His head hurts and there’s a bit of throbbing pain in his left leg, but other than that it’s not too bad to warrant Rhodey’s concern.

“My leg hurts,” he admits, voice cracking. Rhodey quickly grabs the cup of water and a straw. Tony inhales the liquid in like a scorched animal in a desert.

“What happened?” he tries again, grateful his voice didn’t nearly send him into a coughing fit.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Rhodey moves strands of hair away from his eyes.

“I don’t - I don’t know.”

“That’s okay, that’s okay. Take your time. No hurry.”

Tony works his brain to remember something. Anything. The last thing he recalls is welcoming a new student to the academy. Hellcat if he remembered the name correctly. Something about hell and a cat is somehow involved. Sounded about right. After that, nothing. He had been with Pepper welcoming her, returned back to his tower and then he woke up in this bed with a headache and Rhodey next to him.

That had been in… August? Or sometime around there.

“We were welcoming new people. Hellcat? Daredevil?”

Rhodey frowns. Not a good look and not a good sign. “That’s what you remember?”

“Yeah, why? Did something happen?” Tony gives the room a quick scan. “Why am I here and why does my leg hurt?”

Rhodey squeezes his hand. “You got hurt, Tones. Got taken down while flying. Your suit took a lot of the damage but your leg still got nicked. Stress fracture. Not too bad considering everything. You’ll be getting a cast for it, though. Hope you’re ready.”

“Only if you carry me.”

“No carrying on my end. Someone else has that covered now.”

“Aww, Honey Bear, I don’t want anyone else carrying me but you. You know that.”

Rhodey shook his head. “Not these days, Tones. The honor of carrying around your ass goes to someone else now. Someone, I might add, that you absolutely love being carried by.”

“What are you talking about?” Tony lifts himself up to sit upright. Hurt like hell but now he’s able to get a better view of Rhodey. He notices his best friend has more of his War Machine suit on than usual. Where before he had been getting used to it. Now he’s wearing it with the same confidence as Tony does his own.

Not only that, but he can also almost swear that Rhodey looks a bit older now. He can’t put a finger on it, but somehow Rhodey looks as if a fair amount of time had gone by. A bit bulkier. Strong posture.

Where the hell as his Platypus been training recently for him to gain those muscles so fast?

“Well, uh,” Rhodey scratches his head. A nervous habit. A very telling tell. “There’s no easy way to say this.”

“Say what?” Oh shit, did something really bad happen besides him breaking his leg and not remember? Did whoever he had been fighting with do something to him? Run off with his spleen or kidney? Stolen his fridge of cheese? Hacked into his systems and stolen everything?

“Tones, what year is it?”

Tony blinked. Oh… crap. Usually, people only ask that question when memory loss is involved. Did his head get injured in the fall? How many years has he lost? It can’t be too many since Rhodey still looks more or less the same and it seems like they’re still in the Academy.

“It’s twenty-sixteen,” he says, fear slowly growing as his mind ran through scenarios after scenarios of what he could be missing from memory.

“Crap,” Rhodey rubs his forehead. Not a good sign. Never a good sign. “It’s okay, it’s okay, not too bad. Memory loss happens. Nothing we can’t handle together.”

“Honey Bear, what year is it?” His heart rate starts going faster. He’s terrified of the possibility of so much time going by and not remembering any of it.

“Tones, calm down. It’s not too bad. It’s twenty-nineteen. Only three years. We can handle this.”

“Three?” Tony repeats. Sure three doesn’t sound like a large number but it’s years! So much could happen in one year let alone three.

Rhodey hugs him. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll handle this together. I mean it. Not much has changed. We’re still in the Academy. It just has more students than before. You’ll run into a lot of new faces but it’ll be okay. You’ve made a lot of improvements on your armor and mine. You’ll get used to it again. I’ll help every step of the way.”

Tony takes deep breaths. It’s all easy to say, but it’s still a lot of time taken away. People change. Is he still friends with Pepper? What about Jan? Loki? Do people who used to tolerate him hate him now? Is he still helping around in the Academy or has Nick kicked him out of board meetings?

As if knowing exactly what he’s thinking, Rhodey tells him, “Pepper was here earlier, but she got called away. I’m sure she’ll be back soon. Jan couldn’t skip another class. It’s Thursday. She’s already skipped all day yesterday. Couldn’t do another.”

Rhodey pulls away. “You know Loki wouldn’t be caught dead caring for someone where everyone can see. He’s getting updates from Jan, but he does occasionally skulk around here.”

“Oh,” that answers some. What about the others? “Anything big happened?”

“A bit,” Rhodey admits. “Besides the Academy’s weekly attacks, some big events have happened. Nothing that’s changed your life too much, though.”

Tony exhales. Doesn’t sound too bad.

“Jarvis has a body now.”

He blinks. “...what?”

“Jarvis has a body now,” Rhodey repeats slower. Hands out and at the ready to catch him should he fall at the news. “Walking, talking body with working arms and everything. It’s really cool. You’re really proud of it.”

“He… he has a body?!” That’s… that’s incredible! Jarvis has always behaved like a person, even with his digital coding, and Tony has always considered him as an individual all his own. Sassy, sarcastic, but still loyal and humble. Jarvis getting a body? That’s got to be the greatest thing that’s happened to him, and Tony can’t even remember it!

It absolute sucks.

“Where is he? The body, I mean.” Jarvis is always with him, but physically? Where is that?

“In the tower preparing everything for you. Make it cast friendly,” Rhodey gives his left leg a pointed stare.

“Okay, is that everything?”

His eyes go back to Tony. For a millisecond Tony can see them land somewhere on his shoulder before they go to his face. It’s enough for Tony to shakily raise his left hand to touch it. His shirt is thin enough to feel everything underneath. Nothing out of the ordinary on his shoulder but when he runs it over his neck he stops. The skin under his fingers isn’t as smooth as his shoulders. Marks are present. Barely noticeable really. Faded but still there. Located where one would place a bite to mark a mate.

Rhodey knows the moment he realizes what it means. He gives rapid nods in confirmation. “Yeah, it’s exactly what you think.”

“I got mated?” Tony nearly screams in hysterics because - holy shit!

“Not fully mated,” Rhodey is quick to correct. “You haven’t signed marriage licenses or had any kind of wedding. You marked each other to keep people off you. You’ll get officially hitched once you’re both ready. At least that’s what you’ve told me.”

“Off me?” That’s a very odd reason for it. Who would even be on him anyway? Tony has no suitors, no interests in him. Did he somehow offend someone and they’re sicking people on him? Is the mark meant to do damage control for it? “Did I screw up and pissed off someone?”

Rhodey’s mouth falls open. “What - no! What? - how did you come to - no, of course not! Shit, Tones, how can you come to the worst conclusions?”

“Doesn’t the worst usually happen?” He doesn’t mean to sound pitiful. It just sort of happens.

Story of his life.

“Not recently, no.” Rhodey puts a hand on his shoulder. “Yes, you get the short end of the stick sometimes - actually, you get it a hell of a lot more times than I’d like, but it’s not every day and certainly not for this. This mark,” he points to it, “you have this because you and your mate just happen to have the hots for each other.”

“Just the hots? That’s not encouraging,” Tony looks down. “So it’s a temporary thing.” Once this quick hot honeymoon phase is over they’ll separate no doubt.

“You both call it love but I’m not about to feed that disgusting fire you have going. You both need to cool it with the affection. It’s traumatizing some of us.”

“Who am I even mated to?” The million-dollar question. Who ended up getting stuck with him? Who did he manage to convince to give him a try? From what he remembers, no one he knows has really caught his eye. In and outside of the Academy. No one, except for a certain Captain that he may or may not have had a crush on since his childhood. Odds are pretty low, the bottom of the barrel low, that Steve is his mysterious mate.

Oh, but how strong he could hope.

When Rhodey doesn’t answer right away Tony asks again. “Who’s - who’s my mate, Platypus? A new face? Someone outside the Academy? Who’s the unlucky person?”

“I don’t think he considers himself unlucky mating you, and don’t talk about my best friend like that.” Rhodey gives him a playful hit. “He’s a good guy. Don’t disrespect.”

“I love you, too.”

“Careful he doesn’t hear you say that. He’s a possessive asshole.”

“So a guy,” that doesn’t narrow down the list much but it is surprising. Tony really thought he’d get a girlfriend, but turns out he went and got a boyfriend instead.

Howard would be so proud of him for proving that right. ‘Why have a broad when you’ll probably be the broad?’

He didn’t know how to feel if he ended up mating to a male alpha. With the posturing and the aura of dominance he couldn’t create just waiting to be smacked across his face everyday, taunting him. Howard did always say he was a sorry excuse of an alpha. Better suited to be another alpha’s... well, you know.

At least he and this guy love each other, right?

“Who’s this guy?”

“Well, it’s -”

“I’m here! I’m here! Tony?” A voice interrupts. From outside the door, in came the one and only Steve Rogers. He’s breathing heavy and looks like he ran a marathon getting here but he’s smiling. Large and shining. “You’re awake.”

“Hi, Steve,” Tony says. It’s all he can think of saying. He honestly didn’t expect Steve to be here. They’re not exactly close from what he remembers.

Steve’s about to say more but Rhodey quickly stops him, dragging him back out the room and the two proceed to have a very hushed conversation. So hushed that Tony can’t guess what they’re talking about, but he does hear a very clear but very hurt, “oh” at the end. Then the two don’t realize their voices have gotten louder.

“Yeah.”

“So he doesn’t remember.”

“No. Sorry, Steve.”

“Now what?”

“We help him. Any way we can.”

“Would I be of any help, though? I’ll just cause problems.”

“Will you be able to keep away?”

“...no, I won’t.”

“He may not remember, but he still cares for you. Always has. Just gotta help him fall in love with you all over again.”

Hold on. One. Second.

Fall in love?

All over again?

Him?

With Steve??

When?

How?

Tony stops breathing.

The two return. Their hushed conversation over. Tony must be bug-eyed as he stares at them.

Steve stops in front of his bed. “Hey, Tony. I -”

“I mated you?!”

His shouting surprises the two. “Oh, you heard that?” Steve says.

Tony is speechless. It’s not a denial. Meaning, it could be very much true. He’s mated to Steve?

“Yeah, I’m you’re mate. Two years now. Could’ve been near three but you’re very stubborn,” the famous omega says so freely. As if being mated to Tony isn’t the worst thing in the world for him. “Rhodey told me you don’t remember anything in the last three years. So you don’t remember our time together?”

No, I - no.”

“Okay,” Steve looks down. Hurt. “I understand if you want me away while you heal -”

“No,” Tony says rather quickly. “I mean - help me understand. How did we end up together? How did I win you? No - shit, that came out wrong. You’re not a prize. You’re a hero and an icon. I just don’t get how I got this lucky.”

Steve has a smile. It’s small, but it’s there. “I don’t know about you being lucky. I think I’m the luckier one here. If you have to know, it took a lot of work on my part. It also took a lot of help from your friends. You’re really determined to ignore the signs right in front of you, Love.”

Tony makes a choking noise. Steve just called him Love. Steve Rogers just called him love! He couldn’t believe it. This is all a dream. It has to be. He’s never this lucky.

“Tony?” Steve frowns and moves around the table. Closer to him. He reaches a hand out. Rubs a thumb under his eye. “Honey, you’re crying.”

Is he? Steve pulls his thumb away. Glistening from a tear. Oh, looks like he is.

“I’m just overwhelmed,” he inhales, “and in pain.”

“Your leg?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go get the nurse.” Steve turns to do just that but Tony grabs his arm before he can take the first step.

“Wait. Stay. Please?”

“I’ll get her,” Rhodey offers and walks out the room, leaving them alone.

Steve sits on the bed. He grabs hold of his hand. “Okay, I’ll stay. I won’t go anywhere.”

“Thank you.” With his shirt, Tony wipes away the tears. “Could you - could you tell me how it happened? How did we -?”

“Get together?” The omega pipes in.

“Yeah. I just don’t believe it. Feels like a dream.”

“You better believe it, Mister. This is no dream and I worked really hard to get you. I’m not letting go.”

Tony laughs. It’s so surreal to hear Steve say that. For him of all people!

“Okay, while we wait for Jim let me tell you about the first time I tried asking you out. A lot of people got upset about it and trust me, it wasn’t because I was trying to get off the market.”

#text post #long text post #naferty writes #stony #stevetony #tony & rhodey #he's my alpha au #a/b/o dynamics #alpha tony stark #omega steve rogers #another attempt at waking up and forgetting who your mate is #but a happier outcome!#avac #avac stony

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fangirlinsweden · 4 years

Text

Nexus Part 3

Part 3: Vigilantes and History

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader, Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, Angst, Secrets, talk about death and loss (think that is all)

Word Count: About 2500 words

Summary: Y/N is a pain in the ass according to Steve. She is brought on to missions sometimes by Fury when they need help, but she is wild and does not listen to orders. She does what she wants. Now Fury has given her a place in the Avengers. And Steve is not liking it. Having to deal with her every day. He hates her. Or does he? And what is Y/N relationship with Bucky? They seem to get closer and closer.

A/N: This takes place after Avengers: Endgame, but Steve never left. Tony and Nat are still alive.

This is written for Gab’s @buckysmischief Birthday Challenge. My prompt is: “Did you bring us here to die?” “Obviously.” “I really can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

Daredevil steps out of the shadows. “You are friends with the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen?” Steve brows knitted together. “Well, yeah,” You shrugged and walked over to Matt. “Hey Red. I brought company because my Captain does not trust me.” You tossed your hair in Steve’s direction and then you and Matt hugged. In the hug you whispered something in his ear. Matt looked over at the two men and smiled. “The two of you do not need any introduction,” Matt looked at Steve and Bucky. “Neither do you,” Steve states and crosses his arms. Matt looks over at you and you shrug. “Steve and Bucky, this is my good friend Red,” you say anyway. They say hello to each other. “So Y/N, why did you want this meeting? Seeing as it’s not to catch up,” Matt asks looking at you. “There is some talk about Hydra setting up a secret base in New York,” you explain. “I was wondering if you had heard or seen anything?” “I have not heard about anything strange,” Matt answers and you nod. “Have you seen anything strange then?” Steve asked and Mat and you started to laugh. Steve’s eyebrows pulled together and he went more rigid in his body. He had no idea that Matt was blind. “No,” Matt gets out. “I have not seen anything strange. But I can check with the others.” “Yes, please,” You smile at him. “I am reachable on my phone.” “Who are the others?” Steve wondered walking a bit closer to Matt and you. “Other friends around the city,” you lift a shoulder. “You mean other vigilantes,” Steve grumbles. Bucky smirks and shakes his head slightly. “Well, yes,” You smile. “Who do you know?” Bucky lifts his brows. “It’s more a thing of who don’t I know,” You wink at Bucky. Matt's eyes sparkle as he looks at your face. “Do you know Deadpool?” Bucky leans closer to you. “Of course I know Merc with a Mouth,” You giggle. “We have done some missions together.” “Does that mean you know the X-Men as well?” Bucky had trouble standing still now. “Yeah,” you look at your nails. “She knows every hero in at least a 1000 miles radius,” Matt nods at your direction. “And she is one of the reasons that we got the Kingpin of the streets.” “Now I am working on closing down Hydra for good,” You try to keep your face neutral, but Steve’s eyes are on you and they narrow. You fake kick someone's ass in the air. Matt shakes his head and Bucky chuckles. Steve looks serious. “Hydra is not something to play with. I think maybe you are in over your head here, Y/N” Steve urge her and this time Bucky shakes his head more. “Don’t underestimate her,” Matt warns Steve. “No, please do, that would be fun,” You tilt your head and observe Steve. He opens his mouth and then closes it again. “Brainwashed Soldier, what do you think?” you look at Bucky and he smiles at you. “I am sure you can take care of yourself,” Bucky smirks. “I mean you are a grown woman that is trained by some of the best spies in the world.” Steve glares at Bucky, who only smiles at his friend and shrugs. Matt laughs then he stops quickly. “I need to go Y/N,” he says and tilts his head slightly to the left. “I will keep in touch.” And with that he disappears into the shadows. “I like your friend,” Bucky says and puts his left arm over your shoulder. You start walking back to the car. Steve quietly walked behind the two of you. It was obvious that Steve wanted to say something, but he did not. Maybe he wanted to talk to Bucky alone?

On the drive back from the meeting Steve was quiet, but you did not care. Bucky entertained you with stories about the two of them growing up in Brooklyn. “Do you miss it?” you asked Bucky when he was quiet for a while. “Yes and no,” Bucky answers. “I miss my family, but I am not the same man. And modern times have a lot of advantages.” “Have you tried looking for family members that might be alive?” you keep your eyes on the road, even though you wanted to see Bucky’s face. He sighs. “No,” Bucky looks to the side window. “Why not?” You ask and Steve clears his throat. “I think we should talk about something else,” Steve says with a firm voice. Bucky does not say another word. He just looks out the side window. “What do you want to talk about Captain?” you wonder and look in the rear-view mirror and meet Steve’s angry eyes. “Have you looked into if you have any family members left?” “No,” Steve looks away, then back. “I only looked Peggy up.” “Peggy, the love of your life?” you wonder what he would admit to. “I don't think you can call her the love of my life,” Steve scratched the back of his neck. “Specially not when he had a short relationship with Sharon, her niece,” Bucky grumbles and Steve looks even more pissed and a bit red in the face. “That almost sounds like incest,” you shudder. Bucky just chuckles and Steve presses his lips to a line. “I figure you want to change the subject again,” you muse and look at Bucky. He was looking out the window again. “What do you want to talk about instead?” “I don’t know,” Steve huffs. “Maybe how you can know so many vigilantes?” “That is a great question,” Bucky agrees, but he still looks to be somewhere else in his mind. “It’s kind of complicated,” You sigh. “That sounds like an excuse not to talk about it,” Steve says leaning forward slightly in his seat. “No, it’s not. It is complicated,” you counter getting a bit pissed at Steve. “But I can give you the cliff notes of the whole story. I grew up in a loving family as the only child.” “Spoiled,” Steve muttered but you ignored him. “My parents both were in the army, so we moved all over the US,” you continue while keeping your eyes ahead. “When both my parents were away on assignment I would stay in Brooklyn with my grandparents. Then my mother was killed while on a mission when I was 14 years old.” You could hear a small gasp from Bucky. “My father was devastated and was honorably discharged from the army to raise me. We moved to Brooklyn and I got to have a normal childhood for a while. Or if you can call it childhood when you are in your teens. My father started working security for some company here in New York. Sometimes I stayed with my grandparents when he was away on missions.” Steve is almost leaning in between the two seats in the front. You turn left and can see the compound in the distance. “When I was 17 he was killed in New York, while on his way back from an assignment. I moved in with my grandparents. I had my suspicions that my father's death was a hit so I started investigating.” The guard by the gates opened them so you could drive through. “While doing my investigations my grandfather died. I got more out of control dealing with not only one loss but two. My grandmother did the best she could, but I kind of went off the rails. I met Red one night I was out looking for information about my father's death. He helped me and through him I met other people that have become my friends. Then when I became 19 Coulson came across me on a mission and he recruited me to join S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury had already had his eyes on me so he was fine with it. I was also the official liaison between S.H.I.E.L.D and other heroes that worked alone.” With that you parked the car and got out of it. Steve and Bucky were still sitting in the car. Then they notice that you had parked and got out quick. “That was the cliff notes,” you started to walk away “Did you ever find out what happened with your father?” Bucky asked when he came up next to you. “Yeah,” you answered and did a small shudder. Bucky draped his arm over your shoulders. “But that's a story for another day.” You gave him a small smile. “Why not now?” Steve wondered. “Why should I share all of my life’s story and greatest tragedies with you when you won’t talk about anything real about your life with me?” you snapped. You were exhausted after telling the story and just wanted to go to bed. It still hurt to talk about your parents. The grief had never gone away, but it had gotten easier with time and it was a kind of feeling you did not mind carrying. You hurried your steps and left the two of them standing behind. All you wanted was to be alone.

Steve looked after Y/N. She had been honest and open with them. He knew there was so much more to her story then what she had told them, but the pain in her face had been raw. Bucky started to go after her, but Steve catches his arm. “Let her be for now,” Steve got out. Bucky looked after Y/N disappearing form and back at his friend. “She is hurting,” Bucky mumbled. “I've never seen that before.” “Neither have I,” Steve admitted. “She is right,” Bucky looked at Steve. “We never told her anything real and she was honest.” “I have a feeling she let some things out of her story,” Steve drags a hand through his hair. “She said she was giving us the cliff notes,” Bucky started to walk in the direction of his room. “That means that she would not give all the information.” Steve walked beside him and nodded.

The next morning you feel a bit weird when you walk over to Bucky’s room. The way you had parted with Bucky and Steve the night before was kind of embarrassing. Running away like a mad child, but you had done it and there was no taking back. You knock on Bucky’s door. Bucky opens the door standing there in only a pair of grey sweatpants and you smiled at him. “Good morning, Brainwashed Cyborg,” you wink at him and he chuckles. It was nice to hear it and you relax some. “Good morning, Doll,” Bucky smiled at you. It spread warmth through your body. “Want to train together?” You tilted your head to the side biting your lip slightly. “Yes,” Bucky nodded. “Give me ten minutes.” You nodded. “See you in the gym in ten minutes,” You smirked. “And be ready for some ass kicking.”Bucky just laughed and closed the door. You started to walk towards the gym, when you heard someone come up behind you fast. Steve pushed you up against a wall hard. “Getting rough with me, Captain. I like it,” you said and smirked. You leaned closer to his ear. “Just so you know my safe-word is Vanilla.” “You really should not talk to Bucky like that,” Steve almost growled at you. “Like what?” you ask with a sweet voice. “Like.. like.. He’s anybody else,” Steve gets out. You roll your eyes. “And you make fun of his arms and his past.” “Do you really think walking on eggshells around Bucky will help him feel like anything other than a monster?” You tilt your head to the side. “Ah…” Steve’s brows slip up. “I just don’t think what you are doing is right.” “As long as Bucky doesn't tell me to stop,” you leaned in closer so you could feel his breath on your lips. “Then I don’t give a shit what you say.” You slink under Steve’s arms and walk away.

While Steve stood there watching Y/N walk away Bucky opened his door and leaned against the doorway. The smirk on Bucky’s face made it clear that he had heard every word. “Don’t say a word,” Steve grumbled and stalked away. All Steve could think about was that he had almost kissed her. He wanted to kiss her. Why? “I don’t think I needed to say a word,” Bucky yelled after Steve and then shocked his head. Bucky did not mind the way Y/N talked and teased him. It made him feel like he was like everyone else. Or at least as close that he could come. She did not treat him with kid gloves. And they always had fun together. She had a way to get him to laugh more than he has done since the 40’s. He went back into his room to get ready to go to the gym. He also liked how she could handle herself sparring with him. In fact she got more shots in on him than Nat ever did when he sparred with her. So when she said that she would kick his ass, he knew that she was not lying. She would be close to doing that. He laughed and left his room. Ready to meet Y/N.

You sat in the bed in your room a few days later and knew it was time to tell him. No, them. You needed to tell them. You could not keep this secret anymore and you did not want to. Your wood box stood open and the content layed on your bed before you. Pictures from your childhood laid in a pill with a pink ribbon around it. Then there were a whole lot of old pictures that lay spread before you. Pictures your grandmother had saved. Pictures Peggy and Howard had given her. Pictures of the past. There were also letters tied together with an old blue ribbon to your left. A notebook full of sketches laid beside it. Two tickets to the Stark Expo back 1943. A pair of old dog tags. You lifted one of the pictures and looked down on the younger faces of Steve and Bucky together. Another picture was of Steve and his parents. As well as a picture of Bucky and his mother. You wanted them to know. Know your secret. A secret you've been keeping forever. You would start by telling one person first. Even if it was scary to tell him and to see his reaction, it was time. Maybe he would be mad. Maybe he would want nothing to do with you. Maybe he would be happy. Maybe.. There were a lot of maybe's. You left your room and went to the gym. It was empty. You went to the kitchen next. Clint sat at the counter with a big coffee cup in front of him, but other than that it was empty. You walk to Steve’s office, but surprisingly it’s empty. On a hunch you walk to the library and that is where you find him. Sitting in one of the big chairs reading a book. You walk in and he looks up at you. “Can we talk?” You asked fiddling with your fingers and having a hard time looking him in the eyes.

~*~* ~*~* ~*~* ~*~* ~*~* ~*~* ~*~ *~* ~*~* ~*~* ~*~* ~*~* ~*~

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the-cult-of-russo · 3 years

Text

Push and Pull (Part 12)

Pairing: Matt Murdock x OC

Warnings: cursing, mentions of human trafficking

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The next morning Daphne was woken by a knock at her door. She let out a groan as she rolled out of bed. Her hair was down and every which way and she was in some pyjama shorts and the t-shirt she kind of stole from Matt. It was soft and cozy and she deemed it great to sleep in. She squinted at the clock, seeing it was 8 am before she swung the door open. Foggy stood there, coffees in one hand and a bag of something in the other. He flashed her a sheepish grin as he took in her very sleepy state.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he said apologetically.

"It's 9 in the morning, Foggy. What did you think I'd be doing?" She asked incredulously.

"I kinda forgot you have your own work hours," one toothy grin later and the pair were sitting in her living area in their usual spots. She was alternating between sipping her mocha that he'd gotten her and nibbling on the croissant. She couldn't stay mad when he'd brought two of her favourite things to her.

"Any reason you're here?" She asked after a moment of weird silence. He glanced at her and shrugged.

"I can’t come visit one of my friends after a while?" It was a valid answer but his weird tense voice alerted her to his lie. She squinted at him and he squirmed under her gaze. It didn't take long before he cracked and she idly hoped he fared better when he was in court.

"Matt said I should check on you. And for the record I have missed you and wanted to come by anyway," he blurted out. She felt herself straighten up a little and clenched her hand around the coffee tighter.

"He told you?" She asked with a deathly cold tone.

He frowned and looked at her like she'd sprouted another head.

"I don't know what you think he told me, but I told him I missed seeing you and he suggested I should come and check in. Should he have told me something?" He asked, looking worried. She shook her head rapidly and downed the rest of her coffee. It was still a little hot but the burn distracted her from her thoughts.

"Did something happen?" He prompted softly. She wanted to tell him to fuck off and leave her alone. She would have if it was Matt. But this was Foggy and she couldn't even be a bitch to him if she tried. She blew out a breath and forced her muscles to relax. It did make her feel better that he genuinely seemed to not know what she was talking about and Matt hadn't just gone around talking about her behind her back. She'd rather talk to Foggy about it herself.

"I went to see him yesterday and he helped teach me some moves. In case I got attacked again. It went surprisingly well and I learnt some stuff. But then…" she trailed off with a sigh, tossing the coffee cup into the trash can near the sofa.

"What happened?" He asked carefully.

"I freaked out. He was teaching me how to get out of some holds. But then his hands were around my throat and I couldn't breathe," she started reluctantly.

"He choked you?!" He yelled. She blinked in surprise by his outburst before shaking her head vigorously.

"No! That's the thing. He didn't even apply pressure and suddenly I'm back with Keiran being strangled. It was ridiculous, Foggy. I knew Matt wouldn't hurt me and I just flipped out," she lamented, tucking her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

Foggy was quiet for a moment before leaning forward a little in his chair. When she looked at him all she saw was concern and understanding.

"You went through something traumatic, Daphne. You need time to process it, there's nothing ridiculous about how you reacted," he soothed. She scoffed and shook her head.

"I hate that it's still bothering me. I hate that I'm not over it yet. I thought I was stronger than this," she huffed.

"It's not about strength. If that's the way you wanna look at it then focus on the fact you got away. You went through an ordeal. Yet you got the upper hand and survived. You got out of there and because of you, that lunatic will get what he deserves. The mental stuff… that'll go away in time. It won't be forever," he murmured. She blinked at him for a moment before a small smile graced her face.

"You're a good friend, Foggy," she said sincerely. He beamed a smile at her and pretended to dust his shoulders.

"I know, it kind of my thing," he smirked.

"Mhm. Daredevil's sidekick," she teased. He looked thoroughly offended and it made her laugh.

"I am not the sidekick. That's what I want you to believe. Really I'm the mastermind behind the whole thing," he snorted. She smiled ruefully with a shake of her head.

"So…" he started again.

"I don't wanna talk about my feelings if that's where this is going," she interjected. She’d had enough of that for now.

"It's not. I was just wondering if you lashed out at Matt after all that. It would explain why he's been moping this morning," he quirked a brow at her and she tried to look innocent. He just blinked at her and this time it was her turn to cave.

"Fine. I was a grade A bitch to him and I do actually regret it. But I doubt that's why he's moping because he really doesn't like me anyway," she put her hands up in mock surrender. Foggy gave her a look and crossed one leg over the other.

"He doesn't like you? Even though he's saved your life, cooked you food and helped with training even if it did end badly?" He asked sceptically.

"Hey dude, he's your friend not mine. He's weird," she smirked at him.

"You're both insufferable," he groaned before standing. She didn't move from her comfy place on the couch and he shook his head like he was disappointed with her.

"You're not even going to see me out? Where have your manners gone?" He asked with mock hurt.

"I never had any," she grinned. He chuckled, leaning down to her spot to give her a quick hug before walking to the door.

"I'm tired of asking you both this, but maybe be a little nicer next time you see him. You're so similar and you'd actually get along if you tried," he chided, opening the door.

"Yes, dad," she saluted with a raised brow. With one last laugh and shake of his head, he was gone.

She was glad he'd come by. She'd gotten used to his visits and how easy it was to talk to him. She meant it when she said he was a good friend and she had no idea how he put up with Matt all the time. She spent the rest of her day in her pyjamas, watching Netflix and looking at her emails. She had a few potential clients and she found herself hesitant after the whole ordeal with Mr Lee. But she tried to tell herself that was different. It had turned into more than she expected but she'd done plenty of cases in her years as a PI and something like that hadn't happened. It wouldn't happen again.

Soon enough it was dark outside and she was considering going to bed. She was thinking of seeing Brett in the morning and seeing if anything was going on with the Italians and their upcoming meet. She just wanted to do something to keep her occupied. As she was closing her laptop, a knock sounded at her door. Her first thought was Foggy. Maybe he'd come to scold her some more for her attitude with Matt, even if it was 11 pm. But she looked through the peephole anyway as she got to the door. It wasn't Foggy. Instead there was an old lady she didn't think she recognised.

Opening the door, she looked at the woman warily.

"Ms Weaver? Private investigator?" She asked with a worried look. She instantly felt on guard. She never gave out her address. Clients would contact her via emails or phone and she would go to their house. The fact this woman knew where she lived and who she was made her suspicious.

"Who's asking?" She bit out. The woman sniffled, glancing up at her.

"Detective Mahoney sent me. My… my grandson's missing, please will you help me?" she pleaded. Brett's name put her at ease although she was confused why he'd be involving her. It wasn't like she didn't take missing cases before but it was rare and usually the parents or carers would seek her out on their own, not be sent by the police. Most of the time they were teens out partying, looking for a way to rebel and piss off their parents.

"Please, Ms Weaver. He's only 11. He's been missing for 3 weeks and the police… they can't find him. It's like he's a ghost," she broke down crying. She felt a pang of guilt in her chest watching the woman so heartbroken but her words smacked her in the face. A ghost. When it came to a missing person, that never meant anything good. It usually meant trafficking and usually there was little chance of finding the person. It made her feel sick.

"Come in," she murmured, opening the door wider to let her in. The woman looked grateful, wiping her eyes as she stepped inside. After Daphne shut the door, she padded over to her couch, gesturing for the woman to sit in the armchair usually reserved for Foggy. She walked over and sat down hesitantly, clutching her bag on her lap.

"Brett told me to give you these. It's his case file, all the reports and any leads they had," she murmured as she rummaged in her large purse and pulled out a file. Daphne took it, opening it and briefly flicking through it before closing it again.

"And don't worry about payment, whatever you need, I can try to get it," she insisted. Daphne pursed her lips before shaking her head.

"No," she frowned. The woman looked panicked, as if thinking she was turning down the case and shook her head desperately.

"I mean I don't want money. I'll take the case but I don't need payment," she clarified softly. The old woman looked relieved and Daphne had a feeling she would have struggled to give her anything. She wasn't about to take a penny off this woman. Especially when she wasn't sure if she could really help her.

"I need to be transparent. I'll take the case but I can't promise I'll be able to find him. I'll try my best but… I don't want you to get your hopes up," she sighed. She didn't want to hurt the woman anymore than she was clearly hurting, but it would only hurt more if she wasn’t up front about it. The woman nodded, hand over her mouth as she gave her a watery smile.

"Your best is all I can ask for," she said sincerely.

"I'll look it over, see what I can do and I'll talk to Brett too," Daphne smiled softly.

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me. That boy is my life," she murmured.

Daphne stood, the woman following suit as she walked her to the door. After more tearful thank yous that Daphne felt like she hadn't earned, she was once again alone. Deciding to abandon sleep, she stayed up all night with coffee as her only companion. There wasn't much to the file really, and that had been where police were struggling. There were the basic details about the boy, James Johnson, and the account of when his grandmother last saw him. He’d gone out on his bike to the park near his grandma's apartment complex where he lived with her and just never came back. Gone in the wind with no reason or no sightings from anyone else.

By the time 9 am rolled around, she’d scoured the internet for anything, any sightings, any news, but nothing. There weren't even any media covering his disappearance which was strange to her. She showered and got dressed, her patent boots and jeans along with a dark grey t-shirt and black zip up hoodie. She pushed her unruly hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head, case file stuffed in her backpack and her camera around her neck.

She made her way to the park where the boy last went. She wasn't even 100% if he even made it there but it was a start. It was quiet in the park, no kids there this early and cold. She looked at it through her camera lense, snapping some pictures for later, but nothing was standing out to her. With her camera still poised, she turned around and through her lens she saw something that made her tense. The Yellow Lily. It was the same Chinese restaurant the Italians and Chinese would be meeting in. Meaning the Chinese mob were somehow linked to this specific place. She remembered how not that long ago the Chinese were trafficking people, using them to incubate their drugs. She felt dread settle deep in her bones and she took off running.

She was breathless by the time she reached the station but she didn't know if Brett had made the connection. He would have found out about the meet after the boy was missing and it wouldn't have been fresh in his mind. But she knew this was more than a coincidence and if she was right, the boy needed to found ASAP and he probably wasn't even far. She burst into the station like a bat out of hell. She wasn't expecting to see Ms Johnson, especially talking to Matt, Foggy and Brett. Matt was already glancing in her direction, no doubt sensing her a mile away. She didn't have time to think about their last encounter.

"Oh, Ms Weaver! I was just telling these nice gentlemen about you helping me with my boy. Free of charge too," she smiled warmly at her. Daphne's chest was heaving as she tried to calm herself down a little.

"Do you have news?" The older woman answered hopefully.

"Uh… no. I just need to steal Detective Mahoney real quick," she gave her a fake smile trying to act like everything was okay. She didn't want to worry her.

"Jesus, Daph. Did you sleep at all?" Foggy chimed in. She'd almost forgotten he and Matt were there. She glanced at him and shook her head. With a desperate look to Brett, he seemed to sense it was urgent and ushered her into one of the interrogation rooms.

"What is it?" He asked warily. He sat down but she was pacing like crazy. The coffee she'd been drinking all night hadn't helped her jitteriness.

"I think the Chinese took him," she lamented, she couldn't hide the concern in her voice if she tried. Brett frowned with a groan, wiping a hand over his face.

"Shit. You sure?" He sighed. If she was right, things just got way messier.

"Not 100%. But the park he was last at, it's right across the street from the Yellow Lily restaurant. And who's meeting there later this week? The Italians and the Chinese," she said with a shake of her head.

"This is… fuck, this is bad," Brett muttered. She agreed with him.

"Look, I'll talk to my guys, put some feelers out and see if we can get more info before we go in guns blazing," he explained.

"Don't tell her... Ms Johnson. Don't tell her yet," she implored. He gave her a nod, they both knew this was bad and there was no need to worry her more. Not until they knew for sure what was happening.

"See, this shit is why I sent her to you in the first place," he gave her a weak smile as he stood, clapping her on the back. She almost rolled her eyes. She hadn't done anything special but she supposed fresh eyes and the new news of the meet had helped.

When they walked out of the room and back near the desk, Ms Johnson was gone and Matt and Foggy were talking to the person at the desk. She made a beeline for them.

"I need to talk to you," she said firmly, aiming it at Matt but not caring if Foggy followed or not since he knew about Daredevil anyway. Matt glanced her way with a tense nod, holding her arm much like he did with Foggy as they made their way out front. Foggy stayed put where he seemed to be talking about a case with the cop on the desk. Once out in the sun, she ushered them over out the way to the side.

"The Chinese?" Matt asked with a frown. She was glad his radar ears picked it up so she didn't have to go over it again.

"Might be. My gut says it is. When you're out doing your thing, could you ask around? See if anyone’s heard or seen anything? Or if they know anything about the Chinese and their trafficking operations?" she looked at him imploringly but it wasn't like she'd need to beg. He nodded resolutely.

"I'll see what I can find out. Someone's gotta know something," he affirmed. She breathed a sigh of relief. Between her, the cops and Daredevil, they had to find something at some point. Even something small that could lead to something bigger.

"Thanks," she breathed, worrying her lower lip with her teeth.

"We'll find him, alright?" He asked, trying to be reassuring. A bitter scoff left her lips though as she looked off at nothing.

"What? You don't think we will?" He probed.

"I hope we will. But trafficking… Do you know how many trafficking cases I've managed to crack? None. Because they covered their tracks too well. And the Chinese, they're fucking pros at this. So I want to find him, Matt, I really fucking do. But I can't give myself false hope and assure myself that we will," she said angrily. Matt's jaw ticked a little before he looked away from her with a nod. There wasn't much else to say. She'd just have to wait and see if he or the cops turned up any leads and she knew it would chip at her sanity.

"Ms Johnson thinks you're an angel. Wouldn't shut up about how nice you are. Almost told her she must have been talking to an imposter," he mused, trying to lighten the mood. She gave him the side eye and her lips quirked up slightly.

"I'm a lovely person, just ask Foggy. It's just you that's the problem," she retorted. He smiled ruefully as he glanced down at nothing.

"Well Foggy seems to think we're basically the same person, so that means the problem is actually you," he smirked. She snorted, half a mind to shove him down the steps and see if he'd actually keep his act up and fall or if he'd ninja his way out of it. She did appreciate him making her smile though. Maybe it was time she swallowed some of her pride.

"I uh… I'm sorry. About the whole… thing that happened the other day. I was angry at myself and embarrassed and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. Don't get me wrong, you're an asshole and most of the time I mean to be a bitch. But you were just helping me and it was uncalled for. I also appreciate you not telling Foggy what happened," she murmured softly. She couldn't look at him though. It felt uncomfortable and she wasn't used to apologising much. He seemed genuinely shocked she even said it before he smiled softly.

"It's alright," he replied. Now that awkward silence was back where they didn’t know what to say. She hated when this happened.

"I'm gonna head off. Let me know if you find anything?" She asked as she took a step back.

"Will do," he nodded.

"Oh and let Foggy know that if he wakes me up at the ass crack of dawn again, I'll murder him," she shot a toothy grin his way and he chuckled with a nod. She hopped down the steps trying to ease her mind of the worry for the young boy. There wasn't a damn thing she could do but wait now. Waiting was always the worst part.

#matt murdock x oc #matt murdock fanfic #matt murdock #daredevil x oc #daredevil fanfiction #daredevil

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fantasticstoryteller · 3 years

Text

New Amsterdam Chapter 134

The air was almost clear, and the bots were easily filtering it out. He’d even equipped each bot with a mini incinerator that could destroy the stuff as they went, so they wouldn't have to worry about disposing the stuff later. And the girl was being remarkably helpful in delivering their antidote to the affected while moving the unaffected out of the way as much as possible.

Normally Tony wouldn't have an issue with the girl, but the fact that she’d demanded payment struck him wrong. Besides, there was something about her that put his teeth on edge. He didn’t know what it was though.

The girl appeared again and tossed Tony the empty cartridges. “Got ‘em all,” she said with satisfaction.

“Good,” Tony swiped a few things to order her “payment.”

“Are you sure?” asked Dr. Stacey.

Tony hadn’t wanted to work with Dr. Stacey, but Pepper had (rightfully) pointed out that the last thing they needed was to risk Bruce to the contaminant. The stuff had superpowered and enraged Daredevil; they didn’t need to know what it would do the Hulk. And Dr. Stacey wasn’t that bad to work with; he could see working with her again in the future. Speaking of that, didn’t Pepper say that Dr. Stacey had moved into the Tower?

“I’m sure,” the girl said confidently. She turned to Tony. “What do you want to me do with the costumed guy? I’m not sure where he lives and while he’s safe where is for now, that won’t be the case for too much longer.”

“Bring him here,” Tony said with a shrug. In the grand scheme of things, one vigilante wasn’t that important as long as he wasn’t breaking things. “He can figure out where to go after he wakes up.”

“Kay.” She leaves.

He turns to Dr. Stacey. “Good work,” he said.

“Yes!” she said with a grin. “And now I think I know how to make it beat!” She turned and practically skipped down the hall as she left.

Tony watched her go, amused.

“So, where do you want him?” He turned again to see that the girl had Daredevil slung over shoulder, neatly settled between her two wings—and clearly dwarfing her. He wondered just how strong she was.

“Just tuck him up against the wall. He’ll be pissed if he wakes up on something soft.”

“Weird.” The girl follows his orders and he turned back to check on the progress of the drones sucking up the contaminant.

“The drones should be done sweeping up the last of that dust in roughly half an hour.”

“Kay. Dora should be able to hold that long.” As Tony was going through his date he heard her say, “Well, that’s not good.” He turned to see her swaying on her feet, blinking rapidly. Her face was absurdly pale her eyes were so shadowed they looked bruised—which they hadn’t earlier.

Odd. She looked like he did when he was about to—

She collapsed to the floor, one wing crumpled under body while the other sprawled haphazardly. “Sir,” JARVIS said softly into his com, “her body temperature appears to be dropping.”

“What happened?” demanded Pepper as she ran into the room. “What did you do?” She paused, taking in the unconscious teenager on the floor before turning to him with a frown. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” protested Tony as he pointed at her. “She just—fell over!”

Pepper spared him a look before turning to the girl again. She leaned out of the room and called, “Clint! Natasha! In here!”

A vent dropped to the floor quickly followed by Clint. Tony had given up asking how he got into the vents as he did. “What’s up?”

“Unconscious child,” Pepper said pointing. “We need to get her somewhere soft.”

“And a blanket,” added Tony. When the two of them looked at him he added, “The floor is probably draining the heat from her body.” Pepper glared at him for a moment, but nodded. She was respecting his decision to keep JARVIS secret from both Clint and Natasha.

It wasn’t that Tony didn’t trust them. Now that they knew about Project 23, they were as loyal to the cause as Steve and Bucky were. That didn’t change the fact that they used to work for SHIELD and he didn’t know if they would see the need to barter the information further down the line. Tony might not hold SHIELD in high regard, but he was well aware that they weren’t idiots. It wouldn't take much for them to add “Stark has highly powered, networked AI” and “breaches in cyber security” and get the right answer. Better not to risk it.

Natasha appeared behind Pepper almost as quickly as the girl could appear and took in the situation with a raised eyebrow. “Intruder?” she asked with a nod towards the girl.

“Guest,” said Clint. He tucked the sprawled wing around the girl and grabbed the bottoms of her wings and feet. Natasha grabbed the shoulders and head before the two of them picked her up. “She’s heavy,” grunted Clint as they carried her out of the lab, Tony and Pepper following.

Natasha, not working nearly as hard, frowned as they laid the girl out on the couch. “She’s really not.”

“Were you helping carry her? She weighs a ton.”

“Her wings are two-thirds her body weight.” Natasha’s lips thinned as she looked at the child. “She should weigh more.”

“Should she?” asked Clint looking at her.

Tony had to admit that Natasha was right. Looking at the girl’s face in the bright light of the room he saw that it looked painfully thin. He also felt a stab of guilt about being upset that she was charging. Maybe she desperately needed the food, and that was why Spiderman had told her it was okay to charge for certain things.

“She should,” agreed Natasha. “We should contact her parents.”

Pepper made a disparaging noise and they all turned to look at her. “Are you lot insane?” she demanded. She gave a snort. “No, you’re just the most stupid smart people I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting. Look at her!” She gestured to the girl. “She asked for payment in food and water. She’s clearly homeless!”

“No,” said Clint, looking disturbed.

The girl sneezed, rolled over onto her stomach, tucked one wing up against the free side while carelessly hanging her other wing over the side of the couch. The small bag on her back, tucked between the two wings, shifted with her and its contents, a few sketchbooks and a box of colored pencils, slid out. Tony sighed and grabbed one of the sketchbooks. “Well, she should have something to talk with Cap about,” he said wearily as he opened it.

“Tony!”

“What? She’s not awake to…” His voice trailed off and his throat dried as he looked at the pictures. As he flipped through the book. No. No, it wasn’t possible.

Was it?

#Spider-Man #Deadpool #Spideypool #interlude

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habibialkaysani · 3 years

Text

Touch (Laurel/Nyssa; T) - earth-44

Ships: Laurel/Nyssa

Summary: Laurel and Nyssa. Dinah and Amina. Green Arrow and the Black Canary. Daredevil and the Black Sky. The Flash and Vibe.

Across the multiverse, they go by many names, surrounded by different people at different times in their lives. But there is one golden link between the Dinah Laurel Lances and Nyssa Raatkos across the infinite earths - that they always find each other. And every time, their story starts with a single touch.

A/N: As I recently watched The Old Guard, I was inspired by the dynamic between Joe and Nicky and immediately dreamed up (as I so often do) a Lauryssa AU for those characters. So here is a little bit of it - and then there will be an expansion of that story as a separate fic, to come sometime soon I hope as it’s half-finished.

Read at AO3

Earth-44

(In which Laurel and Nyssa are immortals who have been together for a thousand years fighting righteous battles side by side as part of an army, a la Nicolo di Genova and Yusuf al-Kaysani in The Old Guard.)

The chains cut coldly on Laurel's wrists, drawing blood, but she barely noticed as she continued to struggle against them. She had eyes only for Nyssa. Even after an eternity of witnessing the love of her life die and come back, Laurel could not bear to even contemplate a world without Nyssa in it.

There were questions, vague and half-formed in her mind, about why they were taken, where the others were, particularly their newest recruit, Sarah Diggle, for whom Laurel and Nyssa already felt responsible.

Laurel wanted to know who these soldiers around them were, where they were going - and, of course, the age-old question about whether they had finally been caught, and if they would be put in a cage as a lab experiment.

But at the forefront of Laurel's thoughts was what lay before her, and that was her beloved, her partner, and her soulmate. Nyssa was sprawled on her front, having been shot when attempting to escape her restraints, and even now as Laurel's eyes moved down further, she winced at the sight of Nyssa’s lifeless body.

This was always the worst part. While Laurel and Nyssa were hardly strangers to immortality and its secrets, no amount of dying could make Laurel used to the agonising seconds and minutes before Nyssa finally gasped back to life. And the hard truth was that despite Nyssa's words that she would always come back, they both knew this was impossible to predict. Their immortality would run out one day, and every time they got caught in the crosshairs of another enemy, Laurel wondered if today was it.

"Nyssa," she whispered, feeling a surge of anger not at the tears that stung in her eyes but that one of the soldiers - a square-jawed blond man - was eyeing her closely. "Nyssa, habibti - wake up."

But Nyssa was still motionless in the armoured van. The soldiers had shot her squarely in the back, but that had been minutes ago, surely. She should have awakened by now. Unless…

"Ya Nyssa!" Laurel cried, louder this time, and the blond soldier grabbed her by the shoulders roughly.

"Oi. Shut up!"

Laurel just ignored him, reaching out despite her restraints to touch Nyssa's cheek. "Nyssa, please. It's me, habibti. Wake up!"

"I just told you to shut the fuck up!" the soldier barked.

"Or what?" Laurel shot back. "You can kill me too if you want. I’ll just come back, and make no mistake - I'll be angrier." The guard spluttered at that, unable to form anything coherent in reply, and Laurel went back to shaking Nyssa in an effort to rouse her. "Come back to me, my love. Please." For good measure, Laurel blessed herself and said a silent prayer, and somehow, miraculously, someone upstairs seemed to have heard her, because Nyssa then started coughing.

Automatically Laurel looked up at the heavens above - obscured, of course, by the armoured ceiling of the van, which should have made it less poetic - and thanked every deity she could name in her head. There was blood in Nyssa's hair as Laurel stroked it tenderly, leaning forward so her forehead touched the crown of her beloved.

"Are you okay?" Laurel asked softly in Arabic.

"I think so," Nyssa replied, also in Arabic, before switching loudly to English. "Very pissed off, though."

"As am I," Laurel said, glowering at the blond soldier. She softened, though, in an instant when Nyssa squeezed Laurel’s hand. "I'm just glad I didn't lose you. They shot you."

"You will never lose me, hayati. And I'm fine." Nyssa groaned in pain as she lifted her shirt and the two bullets that had temporarily stymied Nyssa popped out and rolled onto the floor. Laurel could see the exit wound knitting, just under Nyssa's ribcage, and she winced. As she did so, though, she could sense the blond soldier's leer before she saw it.

"Aw, are you two together or something? Is she your girlfriend?"

Nyssa just rolled her eyes, letting out a faint sigh of fatigue and exasperation as another soldier then joined in. They knew what was going to come next - Laurel and Nyssa had been together for over a thousand years, but one thing that had worsened, rather than gotten better, was the way the world saw them.

"Feel free to make out in front of us. Always found that hot."

"To call you childish would be an insult - " Laurel snapped, "- to children, that is. You speak like prepubescent boys guided by nothing but the pathetic newfound stirring of your loins. You could not even begin to fathom with your simple mind the depths of love I have for this woman. You lack the maturity to understand how her very breath awakens my faith and her smile strengthens my soul, that even after centuries together I fall in love with her more every single day. She is not my girlfriend, little boy. She is my moral compass, my north star, my guiding light when I am lost."

"And your wife," Nyssa added helpfully and Laurel almost forgot her anger for a moment as she automatically smiled. Nyssa had a way of doing that, of tempering the storm of emotions raging in Laurel's head at the best of times.

“Yes,” Laurel said. “And she is my wife.”

Slowly, the soldier crouched down so his face was uncomfortably close to Laurel’s. “So you’ve joined the twenty-first century. Congratulations. Why the fuck should I care about that?”

Laurel did not even flinch. "Because if you so much as touch a hair on her head, you will find out just how much." For good measure, she headbutted the man, with such force that he was knocked onto his back, his head hitting the van floor with a satisfying thump.

"Ralph!" one of the other soldiers yelped, immediately going to his aid.

"He does look like a Ralph, doesn't he?" Laurel observed.

“Yeah. I think he does,” Nyssa said after a moment. “That was nice, though.”

Laurel smiled. “Yeah?”

"Indeed, my love. Romance and stamina?” Nyssa said teasingly, her chained hand going behind Laurel’s neck to pull her wife towards her. “You must save some for the rest of us, dearest." And despite their circumstances Laurel laughed.

"What do you think, Nyssa?" Laurel asked quietly. "Do you think this could be like Marrakech in '67?"

Nyssa smiled back. "You read my mind." She waited, then leaned in as if to kiss Laurel, but at the last second they both moved so quickly the soldiers didn't even have a chance to think, let alone raise their guns. With her chained hands Laurel got a hold of the two soldiers nearest her while kneeing a third between the legs. She knew from the crunching sound she heard that Nyssa had probably broken some bones, and as Laurel caught sight of Ralph feebly stirring a few feet away, she kicked his face for good measure.

Then and only then did Laurel pull Nyssa towards her for a kiss, and she sighed contentedly in her wife's mouth.

"Keys?" Laurel asked, and Nyssa shook her head. The two of them rifled through the soldiers' pockets just to be sure, but they came up with nothing. "Shit.”

“It seems we are out of luck. They must have locked us in from the inside. We must simply await our fate, habibti."

“I hate doing that,” Laurel muttered.

"I know you do, hayati, but we are out of options."

Laurel looked up, met her wife's eyes. "How are you always able to stay so enduringly patient?"

Nyssa smiled back. "Why, from centuries of practice, of course."

As if on cue, the van ground to a halt, and when the doors opened by yet more soldiers, Ralph’s unconscious body rolled out with a thump.

Laurel cleared her throat. “Any chance you motherfuckers can get these chains off us?”

"Perhaps don't lead with that, my heart," Nyssa said, but it wasn't with a lot of conviction and she was unsurprised when the soldiers ignored her words and dragged her to her feet. Next to her, they were doing the same with Laurel.

"Habibti, I love you, but you know playing nice isn't going to get us anywhere," Laurel said, annoyance laced into her tone from how the men were gripping her shoulders with far more force than necessary.

"True. We are usually better judges of character," Nyssa said, speaking now to the woman who had orchestrated this whole fiasco - Amanda Waller.

Waller didn't reply, just glowered back at Nyssa.

"It's a nice plane, Amanda," Laurel said, as Nyssa was frogmarched onto the plane waiting for them.

"There's a TV, Laurel!" Nyssa called over her shoulder, and Laurel couldn't suppress her laugh if she wanted to.

"Ooh! Any champagne?" Laurel asked, her heart soaring when the words elicited a laugh from her love.

Her smile was short-lived, though, as Waller brought up the rear and the plane door closed behind them. This was Laurel's second worst fear come true, of capture and inevitable experimentation, and she wondered if it would lead to her greatest fear of all - that she would be separated eternally from her beloved.

She closed her eyes, as she was being strapped onto the seat of the plane next to her wife. The restraints around her ankles were unnecessarily tight and Laurel could barely move her wrists, but in that moment she felt the gentle press of a single finger hooking around one of hers. It was Nyssa, reassuring her through the tiniest touch that she was there, that she was okay, that they would be, and Laurel wanted so badly to seize Nyssa's hand and kiss it, but she couldn't.

So instead, she squeezed her wife's finger in return, and then murmured the prayer that she hoped was sent up to the heavens, for the two of them to emerge from this intact and together.

Tagging: @skydisneylover @stungunmilly2 @mewis-sisters @therewas-a-girl @bulbasaurfan93 @nyssalance @istanlena @abbyscameron @nyxxyn22 @ineedhelp25fan @theolivekiddo @me-and-sweatpants @rainboisland

#laurel x nyssa #lauryssa #black assassin #laurel lance #nyssa al ghul #arrow #the old guard au #the old guard #arrow fanfiction #mine #my fic #homophobia tw #fic: touch

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anika-ann · 4 years

Text

Hands Too Cold, but Heart of Gold - Pt.8 (M.M.)

The Date

Pairing: Matt Murdock x reader, onde-sided Steve Rogers x reader

Word count: 3850

Summary: Avenger!reader AU, love triangle. You go out with Matt Murdock and to your own surprise, it doesn’t end up a disaster. Quite the opposite.

Warnings: swearing, fluff, angst

Story Mastelist

────── ·❆· ──────

“I honestly don’t know why I’m freaking out about my outfit. He won’t even be able to see it! Why am I freaking out, Tasha?” you asked her on a verge of desperation, smoothening your dress for the millionth time.

As you got to the hem of the dress, all you wanted to do was to pull it over your head and change. Again. You stared at your reflection in the mirror, honestly considering it.

Natasha, standing behind you, put her hands on your shoulders to keep you in place and raised her eyebrow.

“Hey. You have every right to be nervous. How long has it been since your last date?” she asked gently, surprisingly so for a super-spy.

You bit your lip guiltily – of course, she found the root of the trouble. It had been too freaking long. The fact you were going out with Matt – an amazing human being – was not helping to sooth your nerves either.

“Almost two years.”

“Well. I think you’re entitled. But you’re gonna be fine,” she reassured you and you caught her honest gaze in the mirror. She squeezed your shoulders. “That guy? He fell hard – I hope you figured that out already. Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.”

You took a deep breath. “Thanks, Tasha. I really should go or I’ll be late. The taxi might even be here already.”

You picked up your coat, leaving the dresses you didn’t even want to count – Natasha had supplied you with too many of hers and still, you took the only dress you owned yourself – and grabbed your purse on the way.

You were insanely grateful to Natasha for her help – yet, your heart was fluttering nervously and ached a little. You wished Steve was here too, but you understood this was more of a ladies thing. You were sure he wished you the best for your date even if you hadn’t heard him say it.

You opened the door only to meet with Steve’s surprised face. His eyes measured you from head to toe and you fought the urge to hide – god knew why. That was until his gaze returned to your face and a smile appeared on his lips.

“You look beautiful, Snowflake,” he whispered, checking you out shamelessly once more. “He’s a lucky guy.”

You bit your lip, feeling the rush of heat colouring your cheeks. You lowered your gaze, examining your shoes; they had heels, you were about to kill yourself in them, why were you wearing them again…?

Steve chuckled at your reaction. You couldn’t help but feel like there was something foreign in that supposedly happy sound, something you couldn’t decode.

A hand appeared under your chin, fingers tucking a strand of your hair that fell in your face behind your ear. He kissed your forehead lovingly and you inhaled deeply, trying to calm down your rapidly beating heart. You knew he was trying to help, but it didn’t really work.

“Hey, Snowflake. Hold your head high, you look wonderful. It’s gonna be fine. If he upsets you, you not only can let him go, but you have five– no, six pissed off friends actually, I’m sure Thor would stop by for that – to punch Matt in his face. Understood?”

That finally made you relax and the tension in your shoulders eased with a huffed laughter. Steve’s eyes twinkled for a moment and you couldn’t but laugh again.

“Did you just say ‘pissed off’?” you asked incredulously and Steve shrugged it off – except a hint of a blush appeared in his cheeks too and hell, you could not miss that. You feasted your eyes on his embarrassment and only then gave Captain Language a proper hug, which was reciprocated tightly.

“I guess I’m nervous for you that much,” he murmured over your shoulder and the statement melted your heart.

“Thank you, Steve.”

He squeezed your waist once more, caressed your back and released you from his embrace, uneasy smile on his lips.

“Go. We wouldn’t want you to be late.”

You just nodded and made your way to the elevator. You sparred one more glance at Natasha, who joined Steve in the hallway, couple of dressed folded over her forearm. She grinned at you.

“Not to make you nervous, Frosty, but just because he won’t be able to see you with his eyes, it doesn’t mean he won’t appreciate your appearance! And other stuff! Considering all of his senses are heightened!” she called after you and you felt you face turning into a mask of horror.

All of his senses. Shit. What perfume did you use? How much could he— would he be able to tell you hugged-- did Steve just hug you to make Matt jealous and possibly make him think you were wanted, so he would value the fact you were going out with him more?

No, wait, you were the one who hugged Steve, which--- this was so going to be a disaster. You whined and slid into your coat, hoping it would make you invisible. And undetectable in any other way. This evening started swimmingly…

With you going down in the elevator, Natasha and Steve were left alone.

“Smooth, Rogers. Very subtle,” the spy exclaimed, patting his arm patronizingly. Steve shot her an unreadable glare.

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

“About the fact Mr. Hot and Devilish wouldn’t even have to make her unhappy. It’s him making her happy that you want to punch him in the face for.”

Steve grinded his teeth, his look turning murderous. “That’s not true. I want them to get together.”

“Sure,” she agreed, shrugging. “That’s why you marked your territory like a goddamned dog.”

The rush of irritation and shame at being caught hit him stronger than excepted. Natasha knew exactly how to push his buttons and it drove him crazy.

“I didn’t-“ he protested lamely, only to realize he indeed hadn’t. “She was the one who hugged me.”

“Yeah. Keep yourself telling that. She did hug you, but what happened before that, that was on you. I’m surprised you didn’t kiss her on her mouth. I don’t understand how one can be so blind— eh, sorry-”

Steve’s hands curled into fists and he paced to his room to change into something more suitable for workout. He needed to punch something and as much as he was pissed at Natasha for mocking him, he liked her too much to hurt her – the punching bags would have to suffice. Bags, definitely plural, because he would tear some today, no doubt.

“Have a good workout, big guy!” she shouted after him almost cheerily and he slammed the door with such force that dust of plastering snowed down around the doorway.

Snowed down. Fuck. That would be more than one ruined bag today.

────── ·❆· ──────

Entering the restaurant was one of the scariest things you had ever done. But the friendly space welcomed you, soft lights illuminating the room, white clothing on the tables, each with a candle on it, several people talking rather lowly. You gulped looking around – probably forgetting everything Natasha had taught you about subtle observation, because the hostess spotted you immediately and walked to you, assuming you were completely lost.

“Good evening. Do you have a reservation, madam? Are you meeting anyone here? Or I am going to look for a table for one?” she asked politely, professionalism never leaving her face.

You gulped. “Uhm… meeting someone actually. There should be a reservation for seven o’clock under the name Murdock?”

“Of course. Mr. Murdock is waiting for you. Follow me.”

‘Waiting for you?’ You were five minutes early! You were kinda hoping you would have time to calm your nerves-

Matt probably knew about you the second you entered the restaurant – still, it surprised you when he rose as you approached the table and pulled out your chair for you to sit down before helping you from your coat.

“Hi, Matt,” you greeted him unsurely, obediently sitting down. “Thank you.”

If he wouldn’t have stood up, you wouldn’t have recognized him – or at least it would take you a while. He wore a nice-fitting black suit with white shirt and crimson tie – not something you were used to; the only outfit you had seen him in was either his armour or the shirt he wore in the hospital, where you hadn’t really paid attention.

His face was partly hidden behind a pair of round red-toned glasses, making you feel like you were meeting a completely different person. You had already met Daredevil, you had met Matt, you supposed, and now you were meeting Mr. Murdock. Though the colour of his tie and glasses was a hint, sending a vibe of familiarity towards you.

“Your waitress will be here shortly,” the hostess announced, barely noticed.

Matt smiled at you. “Hi. Glad you could make it.”

You inhaled sharply. Was your nervousness that evident?

“Yeah. Yeah, me too. It… it was… okay, uhm, I guess you can tell I got hugged profusely. By Steve. And Nat. I was… nervous. Sorry,” you mumbled, watching the flame of the candle flicker as you exhaled. “It’s been a while since I was… out.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, his tone surprisingly soothing. It worked for you, okay. “It’s been a while for me too.”

That made you snap your head up.

“Really?” you blurted out. “I mean… you just seem like a guy who…”

He tilted his head, his eyebrow rising in challenge. “…yes?”

“Oh god, no I didn’t mean like…” You whined silently. Now it sounded as if you were saying he was a manwhore.

“I’m waiting for you to finish that sentence. Are you suggesting something?” he teased you and it ignited the flame of banter-queen that had revealed herself while on the mission with the Devil.

“I’m suggesting that you seem like a guy who can’t complain about the lack of attention from women – possibly men. I don’t know where your train of thought headed…”

He grinned, impressed and possibly satisfied with himself; he had every right. You found the uneasy sensation in your stomach resolve as you stepped into a more familiar territory of teasing. And with him grinning, damn, he was a handsome little shit.

“Thanks. I do have a rich nightlife, but…”

“Right. I can understand that there are different kinds of nightlife.”

“Exactly. Sneaking from bed every night doesn’t work well. And loading every potential partner with why I do it… it’s not that easy.”

“I’m sorry,” you whispered and Matt just shook his head.

“It’s my choice. I’m glad you’re here and we have this part out of our way.”

You bit your lip as he gave you yet another smile, this time softer. “I’m glad too. But are you suggesting there’s more?”

He chuckled dryly. “Well. Of course there is, but we can work with that later. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has some things that are important, yet not the best thing to discuss on the first date.”

The flutter of your heart caused by the mention of heavy baggage on your side turned into an excited one as you were reminded this was your first date – with a great man, who was as badass and cocky as he seemed understanding, sweet and gallant.

“Yeah. You think wine would help?”

“Absolutely.”

────── ·❆· ──────

The wine did help. You two made it through why you hadn’t been on a date for a while, which featured your struggle with the disease and you ‘dying’ and joining the Avengers. To balance the heaviness, you mentioned few stunts your friends in the Tower had pulled so far.

Matt told you about his best friend finding about his nightlife, but also about the work they did in their little firm with big ambitions, throwing in stories from college.

You laughed, your cheeks hurt and your belly too, your body was pleasantly buzzing and you hadn’t even noticed the restaurant was almost empty until Matt took off his glasses, toying with the earpiece of them.

“I like it better this way,” you noted deliberately and his fingers froze. “Uh-uh, no, leave them off, please. I really do like it better, if that’s okay with you.”

He sort-of looked at you shyly and you were welcomed by the warm of his brown irises, twinkling in the soft light of the candle.

“You sure?” he pried hesitantly and you nodded, hoping he could perceive that.

He resembled a lost but hopeful puppy and it was such a surreal look on his face – through the night, you had had an opportunity to know him a bit more, but this was… new. No matter what you had been discussing, there always had been confidence in him – more or less. You didn’t think he would be self-continuous about his eyes of all things, but it made sense. Your heart swelled.

“Yeah, Matt. I really am.”

Time flied and before you knew it, the waitress politely pointed out they were about to close the restaurant.

“Oh,” you let out intelligently, honestly taken aback. This time wary of being subtle, you checked the space – it was empty. Everyone was out. Oh.

“Of course. Bring me the check, please,” Matt asked, apparently unfazed. You could only wonder if he had been aware of their situation; given his abilities, he probably had. Huh. Guess he didn’t want to leave either – the thought warmed you heart.

He paid for you both, helping you with your coat again. Once you were outside, pleasantly cool air brushing your cheeks, he turned to you sheepishly.

“May I walk you home? Or do you prefer a cab?”

Your heels were killing you already; yet, the choice was clear, because you didn’t want the night to end.

“Walk?”

Your reward was his wide smile and silent request for your elbow. Damn the heels, this was worth it.

“Lead the way?” he asked as he folded his cane, his hand sliding under your arm.

You would be hesitant about the direction, but the Avengers tower was too much of a highlight to miss it. Still, you couldn’t help but tease him.

“Do you trust a woman with directions?”

He chuckled. “Well, I am blind, so I’m trusting anyone who can actually see where we’re going. Perhaps not any woman. I think we established a while ago that I trust you.”

Your heart skipped a beat at that, making Matt’s smile grow. Well, that wasn’t embarrassing at all, that he could read literally every reaction your body had. Not awkward at all.

“Thanks.”

You weren’t stupid enough to walk to the Tower. For all you knew, Tony had his eyes on everything within a half-mile radius at least and you didn’t want him to spy on you two. That man had no sense of privacy whatsoever.

“Well, I guess this is me,” you murmured, stopping in your tracks. Matt frowned and you cleared your throat. “Uhm… eyes and ears everywhere. I don’t want to…”

A flash of understanding appeared on his face and he laughed silently as he turned his whole body to you. He was close. Very close.

“That makes sense. Too bad it means we have to say goodbye now.”

“Technically, we don’t have to. Say it, that is,” you added at his confused expression. One corner of his lips rose higher, his free hand finding yours and running up your arm.

“Very true, Gerda.”

Your breath hitched as he used your nickname for the first time that night. His hands weren’t helping you to control your breathing either.

“We can always go with a goodnight.”

“Is a goodnight kiss too bold?” he whispered, leaning in just slightly, giving you a room to escape if you wanted to. You didn’t think you wanted to escape.

“Very bold…” His face fell, silent ‘oh’ escaping him. “But I’m okay with bold.”

“Mean woman,” he murmured, erasing the distance and meeting your lips.

Your heart positively stopped the moment it happened and it felt like eternity before it kicked back in.

His lips were warm against yours, gentle and hesitant at first. Your own hand deliberately shot up to his face as you realized a response would be appropriate, but dammit it had been a while and his mouth on yours felt so fucking good. Your fingers found his nape, pulling him just a little closer as heat coiled in your abdomen, welcoming the butterflies fluttering their wings in your stomach. You felt the grip on your elbow tightening and Matt took your lower lip between his, fondling with more boldness indeed.

You sighed in appreciation, your heart hammering in your ribcage that suddenly felt too small, even for your breathing. You retreated just slightly, needing some air, but aching at the thought of creating a distance between you and him. He inhaled deeply too, his hand on your jaw, his thumb caressing your cheek.

“Goodnight?” he tried out silently and you couldn’t help but chuckle, enjoying the tickle of his breath as he did the same.

“Fight me, but that didn’t feel like a goodnight kiss.” You shortly met his lips again, unable to resist – but aiming for only a peck that wouldn’t leave your fingertips tingling like the previous kiss. “Goodnight?”

“Goodnight indeed.”

He kissed the corner of your mouth before letting go of you and you pretended you didn’t feel cold all of sudden. At least his warm eyes were still watching your chin.

“Stay safe,” you whispered and Matt gave you one more gorgeous smile.

“I’ll try. Take care.”

You nodded and forced your body to spin on your heels to go, because if you wouldn’t do it now, you might as well end up going home with him or taking him to the Tower, which something you weren’t really ready for.

You started walking, snuggling into your coat, crossing your arms on your chest to keep yourself warmer. You spared one more glance at Matt, who was still standing where you had left him, raising his hand in tiny wave as you looked over your shoulder. Your cheeks burned as you got caught; then again, he hadn’t move from his position, watching you as well, so you had no reason to be truly embarrassed.

Or you thought so, until you realized the air actually was unusually chilly for September and to make it perfect, a snowflake fell on your nose. You looked around, realizing it started snowing.

Snowing. This wasn’t normal. Which meant… did you just…?

“Holy shit,” you muttered under your breath, unsure whether you should be horrified or not as you turned your palm up, catching few more snowflakes. You… you somehow did this. It was as terrifying as awesome.

In the end, you just giggled at what you had caused.

Let it snow.

────── ·❆· ──────

Natasha was standing in her room, staring out of the window as snowflakes slowly descended. None of them stuck, melting as soon as they collided with the surface, but there was no denying it really was snowing. And given the fact that the temperature needed to drop significantly for this to happen, there was no doubt whose doing was that – deliberate or not.

Your emotions were running high.

“Hey, Steve. What are you still doing awake?” she heard your astonished voice from the hallway and she bit her lip. This was definitely your excited voice; the date went well. The snow was a good sign.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

Natasha’s heart ached for her friend, simultaneously wondering if you could hear the subtle hint of pain in his voice. She suddenly felt guilty for helping you to get ready for the date – but it felt like the right thing to do.

“So you went to a gym? It’s after midnight. You’re making us all look like couch potatoes.”

Natasha could easily imagine that the soldier ‘casually’ shrugged.

“Felt like working out,” he explained easily. No shit. How many punching bags did he destroy this time?

“Is everything okay? I know it’s not the first time. Something troubling you? Talk to me, Steve,” you pleaded softly.

Natasha sighed. That would be your placing your hand on his forearm in comforting gesture, your eyes screaming ‘you can trust me’. You always did that, because it was the thing you two did and you two were so utterly hopeless it hurt.

“It’s nothing, Snowflake. Nothing you need to worry about. You look happy. I take it the date went well?”

His voice was strained and the spy had no doubt you could tell. Yet, you answered him, tiny chuckle bubbling in your throat. “Yeah. It did.”

“One more reason for you not to worry about me,” Steve offered kindly and Natasha just gritted her teeth. Rogers was such an ass. Noble, maybe, but bozhe, such an ass. “I’m happy for you, Snowflake.”

“Thank you. But we’re talking about you, soon. I need you to be happy too, Steve. You’re too important to me and too good not to be.”

Natasha agreed wholeheartedly, glancing at the flash drive on her nightstand. She had downloaded the conversation she had with Steve, him confessing his feelings for you, but now, it seemed worthless.

While she wished for you to be happy, she was hoping you could do that with the supersoldier who was head over heels for you. She had been sure you felt the same, but now she had doubts. You could easily fall in love with Daredevil, he was charming enough, and she had no right to interfere with your love-life.

“Okay. I promise I’ll tell you later.”

Natasha scoffed. Yeah, sure. On your deathbed, maybe.

“ ‘kay. Love you, Steve. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Snowflake.”

Natasha heard your footsteps trailing off and slowly went to open her door for a slit.

“Don’t say a word,” Steve warned her icily, a heart-breaking crack in his voice.

“I was gonna offer you a drink, an ‘I’m sorry’ and a hug.”

She heard him inhale and exhale shakily and she stepped out to find him resting his forehead against the nearest wall. His eyes were squeezed shut and she would swear it wasn’t sweat what gleamed on his cheeks. She pressed her lips together, hesitantly bringing her palm to his arm. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

“I’m really sorry, Steve,” she whispered tentatively, surprised when he bounced off the wall, looking her straight in the eye. His own were indeed glassy, but he wasn’t crying.

“You don’t have to be. She deserves the win, I’m happy for her.”

He said it with such conviction that if she hadn’t known him well enough, she wouldn’t notice how fragile the façade he had hastily built up was.

“Good. But you should know you don’t have to be, macho man. It’s okay to be angry, not just with yourself, but also with her and especially with him. You can be sad and you can be hurt. I know I’m not exactly the most open person when it comes to emotions, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel. And you can feel too.”

Steve escaped her gaze, but she could see his tiny nod. She took it as a victory and encouraged, she took his huge arm.

“Come on, Cap, let’s find out where Thor stocked the good booze.”

────── ·❆· ──────

Tags: @mermaidxatxheart, @murdermornings, @elisaa-shelby @ask-hellbent-tweek

────── ·❆· ──────

Thank you for reading! If you read for Matt x reader, this is it for ya, sorry ;) You can always check out Steve x reader ending or my other Matt Murdock fics :-*

#marvel #fanfiction #matt murdock reader #matt murdock imagine #daredevil x reader #daredevil imagine #mcu #avengers #avenger reader #matt murdock fanfiction #matt murdock #marvel fanfiction #love triangle #hands too cold but heart of gold #anika ann

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staticscreenwriting · 4 years

Text

Casual moths - chapter nine

Find the other parts on my masterlist here.

If you liked this part and wanna help me out, please consider a reblog. Thank you.

Chapter nine - mothers and bears

The sun falls in thick golden rays through the white curtains of Callie’s bedroom, casting it in a warm glow. There’s a wave of serenity washing over them as Angel pulls her closer to his body, trying to savour the peace and quiet of a Saturday morning.

“ We should get up, Daisy is gonna come knocking any moment now. She needs her cereal.”

Angel buries his head further into her hair, getting lost in the scent of her hair. The scent of flowers. The scent of her.

“ You gotta teach your kid how to properly make some cereal. Who puts the milk first. “

“ This is something that won’t leave your head, huh?”

“ Nah. It’s wrong.”

Callie’s body shakes with silent laughter. “ You know what? You just let her watch you do it your way a few times and she’ll copy it soon enough. She adores you. “

“ Does she? “ Angel says and tries to keep his voice as nonchalant as possible.

“ Uh-huh. It’s always Angel this and Angel that. You’d think you’re her boyfriend. “

“ Aw, you jealous mamí? “

“ Nah “ Callie responds before turning around and cradling his face in between her hands “ I’m happy you guys have such a strong connection. She’s my life. The most important person for me. There would be no you and I if she didn’t get along with you.”

“ Yeah, I’m glad she likes me too. “

“ Mama! “ a little voice calls out from the room across the hall. It’s not something Angel ever thought he would appreciate, having a kid around but something about this little routine him and the girls have established in the last few weeks feels — right.

Travis hasn’t shown his face since the run-in at the carnicería but somehow the situation still weighs heavy on both of them. Angel hopes and prays that this is it. That Travis has learned his lesson and has pissed off. But this is Angel Reyes and his life is never that easy. Things don’t just go right for him. If they do they don’t stay that way for very long. He’s constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop and things to nosedive.

“ Mamaaa! “ Daisy’s little voice calls out again making Callie let out a sigh before slipping on her pyjama pants and Angel’s shirt left discarded on the floor.

“ I’m gonna go feed the little monster, you go take a shower then join us. “

Her lips are smiling and so are her eyes and Angel can’t help but notice the flutter it sends through his heart. He hasn’t felt this way since fucking high school. It’s silly but it’s so so nice to feel this way again.

“ Alright. “

Callie throws him a wink before walking out into the hallway leaving him alone tangled in the sheets that still smell like her, that still hold the warmth of her skin. If heaven really is a place, he thinks, this must be it.

The kitchen smells like bacon and eggs and toast and a burst of laughter carries through the air coming from the open dining room.

Daisy is devouring a bowl of cereal, watching some cartoon playing on the tv in the living room as Callie puts some bacon on a plate.

“ Man, you girls are already throwing a party without me huh? “ Angel exclaims as he steps into the room, making the girls look at him with smiles playing on their faces.

“ Good morning, Angel “ Daisy says as she waves at him then focuses her attention back on the show and her cereal.

“ Morning princess. “ he replies then walks up beside Callie, placing soft kisses up and down her neck. “ and good morning to you too. “

Something about being with her is different than being with any other woman, Angel realises. Even the most mundane things feel remarkable, special.

“ Sit down, you goof. I made you breakfast. “

“ So you get really strong. “ Daisy chimes in, clearly having caught a small part of their conversation.

“ You don’t think I’m strong enough? “ Angel asks as he walks up beside Daisy and starts tickling her and ruffling her hair. “ You think I’m weak, huh? Huh, little monster? “

Laughter fills the air, fills the entire house. Joy lives here, in every corner and every room. It’s something Angel isn’t used to. It’s something he knew back when he was a kid but something that seemed to have gotten lost along the way. For a long time, he thought that’s what growing up is, losing a bit of happiness as you experience the world for what it is. Being here now though, he realises he was wrong. Joy and love can live everywhere, at all times. Life doesn’t have to make you bitter and angry and sad. Sometimes it just makes you stronger. Love harder. Hold on tighter to the people you love. The people that love you back. Maybe, if he tries hard enough and believes in himself, in the man he can be, maybe then he can let go of some of his demons and let love in.

That morning they sit at the dining table and have breakfast together and laugh and talk and just exist together in a world where bad things don’t happen and the sun filters through the curtains and the world has a golden tint to it.

Angel remembers then, what it felt like to have a family. One that loves unconditionally. One where secrets don’t exist and you don’t have to wonder if they’re keeping stuff from you, for your sake or theirs.

“ So, there’s a party later tonight. Do you wanna come? “ Angel asks Callie as he stuffs the last piece of bacon into his mouth. He hopes his words come of nonchalantly and casual though they are anything but. The club, that’s his family, his brothers. Up until he’s met her, it’s been the biggest part of his life, the most important thing. Recently though the priorities kinda shifted. It’s scary and confusing and he knows that the club should come first, always. But though his head knows it, his heart seems to not give a fuck. His heart is with his flower girls.

“ At the clubhouse? “

“ Mmh.”

“ Do you want me to come? “

“ Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t. “

“ Then yes. I’d love to. “

“ Can I come? “ Daisy asks, eyes sparkling with hope and adventure.

“ Aw babes, “ Callie replies, “ It’s a party for adults. “

The defeated “oh” that leaves Daisy’s lips almost breaks Angel’s heart. For a moment, Angel lets his mind wander to a future where there’s another little girl sitting at the table with them. One that looks a little like him. He’s honestly not sure his heart could deal with all that love. Having his own kid was never an idea he liked to entertain. It never felt like something he wanted or needed. Now that thought doesn’t seem all that delusional.

“ You can stay with grandma though, and play with the dog. And maybe go in the pool while it’s still light out. “ Callie tries to reason though all she gets in return is a sad shrug.” But Angel isn’t there. “

Yup. That’s it. He’s officially wrapped around this little girl’s finger. Completely smitten with her and the way she breaks his heart with her words.

“ Princess, how about this. Tonight mommy and I are going to a party and you stay with your grandma and then next week I’ll take you out somewhere. You can choose. “

“ Disneyland? “

He honestly should’ve expected that one.

“ Ah that’s a bit far but how about the carnival? “

“ Yeess !! “ Daisy cheers and enthusiastically claps her little hands in excitement. “ I wanna go on all the fast rides.”

“ A little daredevil huh? “

“ I don’t know what that means. “

“It means you’re brave and you like fun. “

“ It means I’m prone to suffer a heart attack at an early age, “ Callie murmurs around the rim of her coffee mug making Angel crack a grin.

A warmth settles around his heart as he lets himself take in this moment. Bad things exist, they are very real and very scary and they wait around every corner and Angel is still waiting for the other shoe to drop but right here and right now with his girls, life is sweet. And bad things don’t exist here. Not on a perfect golden Saturday morning.

“ There’s no reason for you to be this nervous. We’re only dropping the little one off. We’ll only be there for a few minutes“

“ I’m not nervous. What are you talking about? “

Callie doesn’t answer instead, she raises her eyebrow in mock disbelieve.

Okay, maybe he is nervous. So what? This whole meet the parents thing, it’s not something he’s done a lot before. There have only been two girlfriends that brought him home to meet their parents and both of those were high school girlfriends. Those relationships didn’t hold nearly as much importance to him as this one does. What if her mom realises the kind of person he is? What if she doesn’t think he’s good enough. Which he isn’t but — it’s one thing to be aware of it, it’s a whole nother thing to have her mother know it too.

The red door to the little one story home swings open, revealing the smiling face of a woman that looks just like Callie but older. She has the same warm eyes, the same kind smile. Something about the Cordell women makes you feel — home.

“ Hello. “ she says then glances towards Daisy who wraps her arms around the older woman’s waist. “ hello my princess. I’m so excited for our girls night. “

“ Grandmaaaa. Grandma look this is Angel. “

He tries to swallow the knot that’s building in his throat at the mention of his name. Being included feels incredible but being put in the metaphorical spotlight in front of Callie’s mom feels — terrifying.

“ It’s so nice to meet you, Angel. This little one won’t shut up about you. And this one “ she says and nods towards Callie “ hasn’t stopped talking about you either. “

Angel is well aware of how crazy he is about Callie. Of the fact that she never fully leaves his mind. That whatever he does he wonders what she’s doing at that moment. To hear that she thinks about him in return, it gives him a sense of pride, of validation.

“ Nice to meet you too. Yeah, I don’t know why they want to keep me around but I ain’t complaining. They’re — the best. “

“ They are. “ Mrs. Cordell agrees and grants him another warm smile. There’s no fakeness there. It’s sincere and comforting and motherly and he realises then, how much he’s missed a presence like this in his life.

“ oookay, we gotta go. “ Callie chimes in and Angel can’t help but smile at the red tint sweeping across her cheek.

“ You kids have fun alright? Me and the little miss here are gonna make pizza and watch frozen. “

Angel can’t help but admire the love these women have for their little girl, for their family. It really puts things into perspective.

Callie leans down to place a big smooch on her daughter’s cheek and tells her to be good and behave which Daisy only replies to with a charming smile and an “I’m always good”.

Angel doesn’t doubt it. This kid can do no wrong in his eyes.

Just as they bid Mrs Cordell goodbye and are about to turn away from the door, a pair of small arms wrap around Angel’s leg. “Byeeeee” Daisy mumbles against his jeans as she presses her face against him “I’ll miss you.”

Yup, definitely wrapped around her finger. “I’ll miss you too, kid.” And it’s the god honest truth.

As the scenery of Santo Padre moves past the window, Callie notices that wherever they’re going, it’s not the direction of the clubhouse.

“ Are you kidnapping me? “

“ What? “ Angel chuckles. “ Why would I do that?”

“ I don’t know. We’re not going in the direction of the scrapyard though. I know that much.”

“ Yeah … maybe I wanna take you on a little detour. “

“ Do you now? “

“ Mmmh. “

For a moment they let a comfortable silence wash over them, to relish in the knowledge that they’re existing together in this very moment. Hearts beating in sync.

“ Hey, Angel? “

“ Yeah?”

“ Are you happy?”

And for the first time in a really really long time he doesn’t have to think about it, doesn’t even hesitate as he answers.

“ Yeah, I am.”

She rests her hand on top of his and locks their fingers together. It’s tiny signs of affection like this one that he never thought he wanted but no never wants to miss ever again.

A few minutes later Angel pulls the car into a parking spot in front of a very familiar facade.

“ The shop! Oh, it looks almost finished, you guys did a great job! You told me the windows aren’t done yet. “ Callie gasps as she gets out of the car and walks towards the front door of the flower shop.

The windows are new, no cracks anywhere. There’s a decal on one window saying “Daisy’s flowers” in a swirly font surrounded by little daisies stencils.

“ Yeaaah I might’ve lied about that. Shop’s finished, babe.”

“ No way?!”

The look on her face makes all the work so worth it. He’s used to women looking at him as if they adore him but this is different. It’s usually either because they wanna fuck him or because they like the privileges that come with hanging around a patched member of the Mayans. Callie looks at him and she really sees him. All that he is and all that he can be. Callie adores him for his personality, for his actions. Callie likes Angel Reyes. Not the Mayan. Just Angel.

“ Let’s go inside. “ he says and unlocks the door, leading her inside by placing a hand on her lower back.

“ Wow, Angel! This looks even better than before, I — “ Callie stops in her tracks as her eyes fall onto the wall that, the last time she’d been here, had been smeared with a threatening message that still makes her skin crawl.

“ Do you like it? “ there a nervous edge to his words. He’s pretty sure she likes what he did to the place though he needs to hear the words. He needs the confirmation.

“ Did — did you do this? “ she points at her wall.

Where the treat had been scribbled, there’s now a beautiful mural of a bear and cub on a field of daisies underneath a starry sky. It’s incredibly detailed and colourful and — it’s perfect.

“ I did.”

“ This is incredible.”

“ It’s nothing, Callie. Honestly. I’m not much of a painter, honestly but I didn’t trust anyone else to do it. Trust me I tried finding someone but ... “

Before he even realises what’s happening, she’s got her lips locked on his, her fingers combing through his hair, her body pressed up against his. Angel Reyes has shared a lot of kisses in his life and yet not a single one can compare to her kisses. They always mean something deeper. Something real.

“ Angel Reyes?” she whispers as she pulls way.

“ huh? “

“ I’m in love with you.”

He’s heard those words so many times from so many different girls. Those words were always empty, hollow and fake. They never mattered.

They matter now though. More than anything else ever did. And for the first time in his life, he says it back.

“ I’m in love with you too. “

#angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes x oc #angel reyes x ofc #mayans fanfic #mayans mc fanfic #mayans imagine #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fanfiction #casualmothsstory

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geraltcirilla · 4 years

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YES YES thank you for all the staticquake commentary I love Daisy so so much like I adore her and her and lincoln were so freaking boring because yes?? He wasn't a person he had zero developpement or depth like every single other main character had a love interest that was another main character which is why those relationships worked and frankly daisy as the main character should've had one as well I freaking LOVE her and sousa and i'm SO glad she got her happy ending but I wish (part1)

(part2) But I wish it happened sooner all in all i'm so happy that it was sousa and they're so f*cking amazing together they became one of my all time fave ships in 10 eps but also I remember all the shit the writers put daisy through physically and emotionally and I get so pissed ( I will never forgive them for the fitz torture and the victim blaming and they knew they fucked up because they never put them in a room alone together ever again )

(Part3) It's like they thought we'd forget or something also her and fitz had such a good friendship like when he protected her from everyone when she just got powers also the way simmons forced them to stay when they all wanted to go home because of fitz and then they never talked about it again istg I love them but I think because they're the writers self insert relationship (they say it's based on them) they loose sight of some important shit that should be addressed

(Part 4) but all in all they gave me daisy so I'm all good and i'm ecstatic that she's going on space adventures with a man who will do and has done anything for her who's so solid and gets her so much who teases her who she smiles around more than anyone and her actual sister sorry for the rant I just have a lot of feelings about daisy I want a spinoff so badly if I get to see her be happy and in love and bond with her sis but if they're just gonna make her suffer more and ruin dousy no thanks

The reason I’m such a fan of Dousy is that not only do they have chemistry, it’s that Daniel Sousa isn’t some nobody. He was a main character of another TV series, one a lot of us have seen. So he was introduced and we already knew him and were attached to him and cared about what happened to him. And then the writers introduced him into AOS as the Chief Director of the entire Western Division of SHIELD, and a “legend among SHIELD”. So he was a big goddamn deal. And then the writers put him together with Daisy. Which I was stoked about because Sousa is such a cool character who I loved apart from Daisy, and seeing him with Daisy blew my mind and excited me a lot, as it seemed to do with a majority of the audience. It would be like if Scarlet Witch got together with Daredevil or some shit. You’d be like??? I can’t believe this one character I love got together with this other character I love and they’ve from entirely separate shows and universes?? Like the fact they met is a miracle but then them falling in love??

lol I don’t even know how to get into the Daisy/FitzSimmons stuff. There’s so much wrong with that. At first it was cute Daisy was written to be their cheerleader but then as time went on and Daisy seemed to care more about them than they cared about her with them continually putting one another first over her, or supporting each other if they hurt Daisy, or only focusing on saving each other rather than the team, and on and on, and it became less cute. Daisy literally went on a year long space expedition to try and find Fitz after he tortured her and couldn’t be bothered to apologize. Daisy is often treated by the writers as FitzSimmon’s slave and they couldn’t even be bothered to be a decent friend to her.

I also agree with you that the reason Fitz and Daisy had no relationship after he tortured her is the writers realized they fucked up and didn’t want to try and mend the relationship because it would mean admitting how severely Fitz wronged Daisy. In earlier seasons I would argue Fitz and Daisy were as close as Daisy and Simmons. In later seasons they have absolutely no relationship, Fitz is just the dude married to Daisy’s best friend and Daisy is just the best friend to Fitz’s wife. A friend told me that she didn’t think Fitz and Daisy shared a single one-on-one scene after the season 5 torture and that all their interactions after that were in group settings.

I’m kinda feeling lately that the only members of the team who I felt were consistently decent to Daisy were Mack, May, and Coulson. And the rest of them? It depends on how they feel if they’re gonna care about Daisy or not.

And yeah I’m basically with you on the spin-off. I want one so badly but I don’t want it to undo the happiness the AOS writers finally gave Daisy after all these years. If they’re gonna do it they can’t forget about Kora and Sousa, or I don’t want it.

#ask #anon #long post #aos lb #Anonymous #text

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nerdypinupcrystal · 4 years

Text

Every Breath You Take - Chapter 12: Send Me An Angel

MASTERLIST

I’m back y’all!!! Sorry for the wait, I really would’ve gotten this up sooner, but with finishing classes before spring break and this coronavirus hysteria going on, it’s just been insane! But here I am with chapter 12, quite a bit happens in this one, be prepared for a roller coaster of emotions. There may be tears. Enough of my rambling, onward to the chapter!

Chapter 12: Send Me An Angel

The air was tense with silence as we entered my apartment. Matt lingered in the doorway, hesitant to step inside.

“Well, come in.” I demanded.

He let out a sigh and entered further inside, closing the door behind him. I locked the door to ensure our privacy and pulled a couple water bottles out of the fridge.

I turned to him and saw he still had the black mask on. “Please take off your mask. There’s no point in having it on in front of me anymore.”

Matt reached up with shaky hands to remove the mask, revealing his familiar sweet face that was filled with remorse.

“Iris-”

“Say it.” I cut him off.

“What?” He asked, stepping closer yet still keeping a respective distance.

“Who you are.” I clarified. “I need to hear you say it, so I know this is real. That it’s not just in my mind. Say it.”

He let out an exhale as he handed me his mask. “I’m Daredevil.”

The tension in the air was so thick and heavy, I had to take a seat on the couch. I held his mask tightly as I looked up at him, he stood still in the same spot.

“How is that possible?” I asked, scooting back on the couch to make room for him. “You’re blind. How are you able to do all those things when you can’t even see?”

He tentatively walked to the couch, hesitant to sit down. I grabbed his hand and pulled him down to the seat next to me.

“New couch?” Matt asked as he took off his gloves and felt the soft, unfamiliar material of the seat cushion.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I redecorated.” I replied, thrown off by the question.

“I like it.” He gave a soft, sweet smile.

“Thank you, quit changing the subject.” I replied, getting a little annoyed. “I told you everything about me, Matt. And you know how hard and painful that was for me to do, so please extend me the same courtesy. I deserve that much after what you put me through for the past two weeks.”

Letting out a sigh, Matt turned to me and reached for my hand. “You’re right. And I’m so sorry for putting you through that. I know it wasn’t easy for you to tell me the truth about you, and it wasn’t fair to you that I wouldn’t do the same.”

He cleared his throat before he began. “You remember how I told you I lost my sight?” I nodded and told him yes before he continued. “That chemical did more than take away my sight. It enhanced all of my other senses. My hearing, my sense of touch, taste, it all increased to an extremely high degree. They were so sensitive to the point of it being painful to even hear the sound of footsteps. It was unbearable until I finally got control of it.”

“Are your senses still sensitive?” I asked.

“Extremely.” He replied. “It’s just less painful now. They help me when I’m out at night. I can hear the cries of someone in distress clear across the other side of the city. I can hear people’s heartbeats and how they change when they lie, or get scared, or...excited. That’s how I knew from the moment we met that you were lying about your name, and that you were scared.”

Oh fuck, that means he definitely heard the things I was saying about him to Lucy when I was drunk. But that’s not important right now, I’ll just cross that bridge when I get there.

“And the fighting?” I asked.

“You remember when I told you I lived in an orphanage after my dad died?” He continued when I nodded. “Well not too long after dad died, I met this man. His name was Stick. He was blind. He taught me everything I know. How to control my abilities and use them to my advantage, how to fight. He helped me.”

“What happened to him?” I asked, noticing the emptiness in his voice.

“He left. He abandoned me.” His voice cracked. “I started getting attached, I saw him as a father figure. He said I was being weak. Emotions and attachments were signs of weakness to him. So I was alone again.”

I reached for his hand, which made him eagerly grasp onto mine. “I’m so sorry, Matt.”

He held up my hand to place a gentle kiss. “I continued training myself as I got older.” He continued. “When I became a lawyer, I saw just how flawed and corrupt the justice system can be. I couldn’t just let crimes go unpunished and not get any justice for the victims. I work for the law, but I decided to take it into my own hands.”

“And Daredevil was born?” I interjected with a slight smirk.

“I didn’t pick that name, but yeah.” He replied with a chuckle. “So that’s it. Now you know.”

I reached for my water bottle as I processed everything. “Well...it certainly explains a lot. So I’m guessing part of the reason you disappeared from me for two weeks was because of the cuts and bruises you got from that night?”

He winced. “Part of it, yeah…..”

“What?” I asked, starting to get annoyed again. “What else is there?”

Matt looked guilty as he hesitantly replied. “I had a concussion after all, and I passed out in my apartment-” He was cut off by the sudden splash of water in his face from my now half empty water bottle. “I deserved that.”

“You’re damn right you did.” I growled. “I knew I should’ve checked your stupid, stubborn head!” I smacked his shoulder repeatedly. “Anything else? I know it takes around a week to recover from a concussion, but what about week two?”

Matt went silent. His jaw tightened and his sweet, stupid face was stuck in a deep frown. It felt like a minute before he replied. “I was...I was scared. I ran out on our date like an asshole without even thinking about how it would look, or how it would make you feel until it was too late. My mind was clouded with what we were doing, and then I heard someone being attacked, and I just left without a second thought. I didn’t plan on you seeing me like that. I was gonna make my way to Claire’s-”

“Claire knows?!”

“Shit.” He muttered. “Yeah...I kinda fell into her care the same way I fell into yours. I had put her in harm’s way just for helping me, I almost got her killed. You just got out of a horrible situation, I would never forgive myself if I put you in another one. So I tried to stay away and just make sure you were safe from a distance. I kept telling myself it was for the best, that you would be safer not being with me. But I realized that I was hurting you already. I didn’t know how to face you after everything. But Iris, I lo-I care about you too much, and I want so much to be with you. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry for doing this to you. I never meant to hurt you. I hate myself for keeping all this from you, but this is who I am. And it’s okay if you hate me. I would understand completely.”

I sat in silence, digesting everything Matt just told me. I looked at his beautiful face, he looked so drained and forlorn. Like he expected me to never want to see him again, to hate him.

“I don’t hate you.” I finally spoke.

Matt sharply turned to face me, his brown eyes widened. “You don’t? Why not? I deserve it.”

I grabbed his hand. “Matt, I faked my own death and changed my identity to get out of my abusive marriage. I’m the last person who should judge you for keeping a secret like this. I meant everything I said that night. You are a good man, and I support what you’re doing; as long as you don’t get yourself killed and take care of yourself.”

Matt’s body relaxed as he let out a shaky sigh of relief. “Thank you, Ir-”

He was cut off once again with a sudden splash of water in his face.

“But I’m still pissed at you for the disappearing act you pulled on me for two weeks!” I growled through gritted teeth as I hit him with the now empty water bottle Matt just sat there and took it. “I was so depressed, and you made me insecure thinking that I drove you away! I was fucking miserable, you asshole!”

He quickly pulled me into his arms. “I know, I’m so sorry!” His voice cracked. “Iris, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You’re right, I am an asshole. I was so fucking stupid, and I will to whatever it takes for however long it takes to make it up to you, I swear to God.”

I hugged him back tightly as tears ran down my cheeks. He rubbed my back and kissed my head while saying “I’m sorry” repeatedly. I lost track of how long we sat there in each other’s arms, but we sat like that until my breathing slowed down and my tears finally ceased.

I pulled away slightly to look at him. “Who else knows? You said Claire knows, right?” He nodded. “So who else?”

He cleared his throat before replying. “Foggy….”

I noticed the hesitation as he trailed off. “And?”

He looked at me guiltily. “And Lucy.”

“What?!” She knew this the whole time?! And she let me say all of that embarrassing shit that night knowing he was listening! “I’m gonna kill her.”

“It’s not her fault,” Matt replied, trying to ease my anger. “I didn’t even want her to know, but Foggy decided to tell her. I made her promise not to say anything.”

I took deep breaths to calm myself. “Okay, I guess that makes sense. But I’m still mad at her. She is so gonna hear it from me at work on Monday.”

“I’m sorry Iris. I really didn’t mean to cause you more pain.” Matt spoke softly as he held my hand.

I looked at his sweet face once more. “I understand why you didn’t wanna tell me, Matt. Your tactic was terrible though. It’s just gonna take a while for me to forgive you for that.”

Matt’s eyes widened as if he was hit with an idea. “If you give me this one chance to do so, I think I know how to make it up to you.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What do you have in mind?”

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

The Next Day

“I don’t know about this, Matt. What if someone sees me?” I shifted nervously on my feet as I kept checking my surroundings.

Matt gently held me by my shoulders to face him. “Iris, I promise you, it’s gonna be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you. You just stay hidden behind the bushes, and I’ll help you get inside when I know the coast is clear, okay?”

I let out a shaky breath and nodded. “Okay. I trust you. I don’t know why I’m so scared, I feel silly.”

Matt kisses my forehead. “Don’t feel silly, it’s okay to be safe. That’s what I’m here for. I’m gonna go inside, wait for me to signal you.”

He squeezed my hands before leaving me behind to enter the familiar building.

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

“Welcome to Amsterdam Nursing Home. How may I help you, sir?” The middle aged woman at the front desk greeted Matt as he entered.

Matt smiled, “Good afternoon. I’m here to visit Violet Williams, I called earlier.”

“Oh yes, Mr. Murdock. Glad to see you’ve made it, I’m Jane.” The kind woman smiled as she walked over to him. “I’ll take you right over to Violet’s room, she just finished her lunch. Would you like to hold my arm for assistance?”

“That won’t be necessary, thank you though.” Matt replied with his charming smile.

“I must say, it’s so nice for Violet to finally have a visitor. Poor dear has been here a little over six months now and hasn’t had a single person come to see her since. I just wish your visit was under better circumstances.” She finished with a saddened frown.

“I know, I truly wish her daughter was here instead. I know she loved her mom very much.” Matt replied, sticking to the lie he told.

“Did you know her well?” Jane asked.

“I did. We had been friends for a couple years before the...accident. I never had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Williams, but Ir- uh Lily talked about her so much, I feel like I know her already.” Matt wanted to kick himself for almost slipping up.

Thankfully Jane didn’t seem to notice. “Yes, I remember meeting Lily when she checked Violet in. Such a sweet girl. But very sad. I remember how sad she was when she left. I just can’t believe she’s gone.”

The crack in the kind woman’s voice made Matt feel a twinge of guilt for the deception.

“Did you tell Mrs. Williams?”

Jane nodded softly. “I did. She’s been taking it really hard, the poor dear. She’s just devastated. I hope your visit along with Lily’s possessions will give her some comfort.”

“I have a feeling it will help a little.” Matt replied with a knowing smile.

They stopped in front of Violet’s door. Jane gently knocked, causing a sweet and somber voice to call out. “Jane?”

Jane opened the door and ushered Matt into the room. “Hi, Violet.” Jane greeted. “You have a visitor. This is Mr. Murdock; he was a friend of Lily’s and he wanted to meet you.”

“Oh yes, I remember you told me. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Murdock.” Violet replied, holding her hand out in their direction.

“She has her hand in front of you, Mr. Murdock.” Jane whispered helpfully.

“I’m pleased to meet you too, Mrs. Williams. And please, call me Matt.” Matt smiled as he gently shook Violet’s hand.

“Only if you call me Violet.” She softly smiled in return. She then cocked her head in curiosity. “I don’t mean to pry, but Jane told you where my hand was. Are you blind as well, Matt?”

“It’s okay, Violet. And yes, I am.” Matt replied with a light chuckle.

Violet faintly giggled in reply, “What a pair we make, huh?”

Jane cut in, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have to go make my rounds. Will you be alright, Violet?”

“Oh yes, Jane, thank you. Take all the time you need. We’ll be just fine.”

“Okay, dear. Mr. Murdock, there’s a chair and a table three steps to your right, make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back in a little bit to check in.” Jane replied before exiting the room.

The moment Matt had been anticipating had finally come.

He listened for Jane and any other person’s heartbeats near the door as well as the window to ensure that the coast was clear.

“Is everything alright, Matt? Jane told me you brought some of Lily’s things to give to me.” Poor Violet’s voice cracked at mentioning her daughter’s name.

Matt set down his cane and briefcase to kneel down in front of Violet in her wheelchair. “Violet, I’m going to be honest with you. I’m here because of Lily...but I’m not here to give you her possessions.”

“I don’t understand.” Violet warily replied.

“Trust me.” He simply said, patting her hand before stepping towards the window.

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

I knelt behind the lush bushes hearing the rapid, anxious beating of my heart. I could hear the muffled voices of my mom, Matt, and another person in the room.

There was silence.

Then the window opened.

My heart paused when Matt stuck his head out the window, smiling that beautiful smile down at me.

He held out his hand to me and whispered. “Come on, it’s okay.”

I eagerly grabbed his hand, and he helped pull me through the window to my mom’s room.

I had to hold onto Matt’s arm tightly to keep my knees from giving out at the first sight of my mom in six months. Still so beautiful, her face radiating sweetness, her bright blue eyes my own resembled; her shiny strawberry blonde hair that was once down to her shoulders was now in a cute, short pixie cut. She still looked so young; too young for a nursing home.

“Matt? What’s going on?” Mom asked, her nervous voice snapping me out of my thoughts.

I let out a shaky breath, Matt rubbed my back in encouragement. I pulled away from him to slowly walk towards my mom. My mouth opened and the first words I could think of were to the song she used to always sing me to sleep.

“Stars shining bright above you” Mom let out a gasp, her eyes widened with tears.

“Night breezes seem to whisper ‘I love you’” She shakily reached out her hand to me, which I quickly grabbed.

“Birds singing in the sycamore tree

Dream a little dream of me”

“Lily!” Mom cried out, smiling through her tears.

“Mommy!” I cried back as I dove into her arms, being mindful of her left side.

Mom held me as tight as she could, saying “My baby, my baby” over and over. She rubbed her hand up and down my back, her hand reached up to my head to run her fingers through my hair. She paused her motions when she noticed my much shorter length.

“Did you cut your hair, sweetie?” She asked.

“Yeah...I dyed it too. I needed to change my look.” I took a deep breath for the hard truth. “I finally got away from him, Mommy. It just got so terrible.” I held her hand that was now on my cheek. “But we’re gonna be fine. God, you look so beautiful! I love your new haircut.”

I ran my fingers through her short locks. She held my cheek, her thumb ran across my bottom lip, feeling the cut on my lip that’s now healed into a scar.

Her eyebrows furrowed in worry. “Is he after you?”

I let out a sigh. “I don’t think so. But I’m not sure. That’s why we told them here that I was dead, so he couldn’t find me.”

“God, what did he do to you?” Mom started to cry. “What did he do to my baby?”

I wiped her tears, ignoring my own as I tried to console her. “It doesn't matter. It doesn’t matter now, Mommy. I’m okay now. I’m far away from him and that awful place. I have my own apartment now. I have it decorated the way I want. I get to listen to the music I want. I got a job, I’m making my own money. I work in a bakery, so I can bake you all the sweets you want. I’m playing the piano again. I play with other musicians. I have friends now, Mommy. They’re wonderful, you’ll love them.”

Mom smiled, tears still in her eyes. “So you’re not alone anymore?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m not alone anymore. I get to start over. I’m happy. For the first time in a long time.”

“And how about your friend, Mr. Murdock here?” She asked with a light smirk.

I blushed as I turned to look at Matt, who was standing against the wall smiling at us. “Matt’s really special to me. He was the first friend I made here. We live next door to each other, so it’s like he’s always by my side. He makes me feel safe.”

“Could you come here please, Matt?” Mom asked him.

“Of course, Violet.” He walked over and knelt by her side next to me.

“This sweet, beautiful girl is the light of my life. So I must ask, what are your intentions with my daughter?” I let out a surprised laugh at her question.

Matt smiled sweetly and replied. “I intend to treat her like a Queen, like how she deserves to be treated. I will respect and cherish her. And I will protect her till my last breath.”

“Will you make her happy?”

“Yes, I hope so. I will do my absolute best to make her the happiest woman in the world.” He replied, reaching for my hand.

Mom turned to me with a grin. “I really like him.”

I giggled. “I really like him too.”

Mom laid a tender kiss on my forehead. “I am so proud of you, Lily. You are so strong. I know you probably don’t think so, but you are. You were trapped with that monster Paul, but you never gave up. You protected me when I should have protected you. You saved yourself. You are so brave and so strong, nobody can take that away from you. Not Paul, not anyone. You’ve survived all this time, now you have the chance to live. Live and be happy, my sweet flower.”

I struggled to control my tears as I replied. “I will, Mommy.”

“Matt?” Mom turned to face Matt again.

“Yes, Violet?” He replied, his voice cracking.

Mom raised her hand to his face, he took off his sunglasses already sensing what she would do. Her fingers lightly traced the features of his sweet face as she spoke.

“Please be good to my baby girl. She’s been through so much pain and fear because of that monster, I blame myself for not realizing sooner how bad he was for her. She’s such a precious soul with so much love in her heart. Please don’t break it.”

“I won’t break it, Violet. You have my word. Nothing’s gonna harm her while I’m around. I swear on my father’s soul that she will never go through that nightmare again.” He replied with such conviction.

Mom kissed him on the cheek with a soft reply of “Thank you. Thank you for bringing my baby back to me.”

She turned to me and said. “I really really like him for you. And he’s so handsome.”

I let out a laugh seeing Matt blush at the compliment.

For the first time in years, my heart felt so full and happy. It was like a wonderful dream that I didn’t want to wake up from.

After spending a couple hours catching up with Mom, and promising to visit again soon, Matt snuck me back out the window and we took the next cab home.

I laid my head comfortably on his chest with his arm wrapped around me, feeling absolutely relaxed and content.

“Thank you for today. It meant a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome, I’m happy to do it. I know how much you wanted and needed to see her.” He replied softly, laying a kiss on my forehead. “I just want you to know, I didn’t really do it to make you forgive me. I just really wanted to make you happy.”

“I know.” I replied with a faint smile as I closed my eyes to the sound of his comforting heartbeat. “But I forgive you anyway.” His heart skipped a beat. “Just don’t do anything that stupid to me again.”

His arm tightened slightly around me. “Never again, I promise. I shouldn’t have done it to begin with. I’ll never forgive myself for hurting you like that-”

“Shhh.” I cut him off and whispered for only his ears. “Enough with the self loathing, Mr. Superhero.”

Matt gave a light chuckle. “I’m not a superhero.”

“You are to me.”

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

Annnnnnnnd that’s it!! Iris and Matt now know the whole truth about each other and everything is okay. I got teary writing the reunion between Iris and Violet, not gonna lie. I hope you guys liked it and I’ll do my best to get chapter 13 out a lot sooner. School’s closed for at least 2 weeks now so I have plenty of free time to work on it. The next chapter is gonna be a little bit of a time jump to Iris’s birthday, and things will really be picking up after that. Thanks to all who are reading this story of mine! Please be sure to reblog and leave a comment, I love reading your thoughts on the chapter, you can ask to be added to the taglist, and follow me to stay updated on the upcoming chapters. Well that’s all for now, until next time...*kiss noise*

@jobean12-blog @cametobuyplums @tomhollandeu @emilymarie0422 @lullabylike @persephone-of-tartaros @softpeachbarnes @redrehab @writeyourmindaway @probably-a-velociraptor @andrasta14 @spidey-babe-parker @redheadonfire20

#Daredevil #daredevil fanfiction #daredevil au #Matt Murdock #matt murdock x iris #matt murdock x oc #matt murdock x reader

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durrzerker · 4 years

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Taskmaster: The Line. Chapter 6: Wrecked

Standing in the safe room of Zemo's old Masters of Evil headquarters, Taskmaster stared down the barrel of a loaded pistol. Held in the hands of a nine-year-old girl with tears in her eyes, a gun had never been so threatening as it was now; not because of how he feared she might use it, but because he didn't know how far he was willing to go to stop her.

"Put the gun down, kid. I get yer pissed off -- but that's the last time to be holding one o'those."

"What? Afraid I dinnae remember how ta use it? Ya oughta have more faith, considerin' ya taught me." She snarled out those last three words like a slur, but what she was said was obviously true. Compensating for her small size and the weapon's kick, she was holding the pistol exactly right - wide stance, both hands in place, the sights aligned perfectly with her eyes - which were shockingly intense, black as beetle shells and just as hard.

"That so?" He replied coolly, trying not to let her see the anxiety that was coursing through him. If this theory was right - if these kids had the same photographic reflexes as Tony himself - then she'd be able to read his body language as easily as he read everyone else's; he couldn't lie to her or hide his feelings without doing so absolutely perfectly. "Yeah, I'll be honest...I don't even recognize you." Within every good deception was a hint of truth, so he started with that. It was important - because what he wanted to hide was that he overheard the whole conversation between Black Ant and Wolverine. "...What made you realize I don't remember you, then?"

Eyeing him suspiciously for a long moment, only lowering the pistol slightly, the girl took a deep breath. "That idiot partner o'yers dinnae when to shut up. Can't believe this. Been so angry at you...and ya dun ken what ye even did." Still, she didn't drop the gun entirely yet; there was more to this. "...I'm Cassandra. I was - am? - a student of yers. Before ya --"

Before she could finish, however, the entire building shook -- a massive crack splitting the air as the mercenary was nearly thrown off his feet.

For her part, Cassandra recovered remarkably well. Though she fell back against the wall of the armory hard, she didn't relinquish the pistol, planting one foot and grabbing the wall in a nimble move Taskmaster recognized as one of the Winter Soldier's. Either the Red Room had a lot to answer for, or she really had been taught by him. Neither possibility appealed to him, but the quake had more of his attention. "The hell was that?" Hastily grabbing a large syringe out of his first aid kit, he tapped it once and drove it into his arm. Inside was an experimental serum designed by Albino, Taskmaster's on-staff scientist who specialized in helping him close the gap between himself and the superhumans he often had to face. While he typically preferred to keep things purely skill-based, some jobs just demanded you bring out the heavy guns. These particular serums were created as an improvement of the Regenix that was meant to copy Wolverine's healing factor. While not nearly as fast as that, it was also a lot more stable than Regenix, which had a nasty habit of organ failure in its subject.

Already, the pain was starting to fade - it'd be a few hours before he was back to true fighting shape, though.

"Dinnae," Cassandra replied bluntly. "One o'yer many mistakes?"

"Har har. Let's go check on the others."

Leading the snappy little redhead out towards the living room of the mansion, Tony just barely ducked in time to avoid an enormous wrecking ball aimed directly for his face. "What the hell?"

Unsurprisingly, it was being held by a member of the Wrecking Crew themselves, who were currently in heated combat with Wolverine and Black Ant. "Tasky!" Eric shouted. "They're here for the kids! They're the ones who got hired to bring them back!"

"Hired by who?" Taskmaster snapped, lifting his shield just in time to intercept an oncoming crowbar from Wrecker. Even with the vibranium of his shield, he was nearly thrown off his feet, throwing his arm up high to dissipate some of the force. "Damn...zeroed in on me real fast, huh?"

"None of your business who hired us. All you gotta know is you're priority target, traitor! Eight figures on that ugly mask of yours!" Wrecker barked. Despite his great bulk, he was quick on his feet; no sooner had Taskmaster deflected that blow than another one rained down onto his head. Ducking to the side, pirouetting in a Captain America classic afterwards, Tony snarled and drew his sword, sweeping it across the man's back in a single stroke. It was only because he could feel the blade barely break the skin that he reacted in time to avoid the counter-swing from Wrecker's crowbar, anticipating it when he realized he wasn't really hurting the man. Damn tough idiots, he thought to himself.

Wolverine and Black Ant were similarly occupied. Demolisher, her enormous steel ball gleaming even in the dim light of the living room's chandelier, relentlessly swung after Black Ant, who shrank and dove between her legs before growing back to his normal size and kicking her in the back. "Hey! Why didn't you go after Wolverine? This could have been prime girl on girl action!"

"You're disgusting," Laura snarled, leaping over Piledriver as the blonde man attempted to crush her with a superhuman punch, she deftly swiped her claws across Bulldozer's face. His helmet, empowered much like the rest of the group by the Asgardian magic that gave them their powers, mostly absorbed the strike -- but the sparks that it created blinded him, causing him to crash into Piledriver in a running tackle. "They might be strong and tough, but the Wrecking Crew are morons to a man - or woman. As long as we don't let them surround us, we can hold them off!"

"We're already surrounded; they outnumber us," Black Ant complained, narrowly shrinking in time to avoid a thrown chair.

"No we're not," Taskmaster replied coolly. With his focus on Wrecker, he could easily avoid his attacks; while the man was strong and nearly indestructible, he had nowhere near the skill or agility to lay a hand on Tony as the skull-masked mercenary alternated between Spider-Man and Daredevil's moves, pirouetting and ducking as he slapped a button hidden on his belt under his cloak. "You boys are messing up my new -house-. I don't think the housekeeper's gonna care for that too much."

"The hell are you on about, Taskmaster?" Wolverine asked, but he didn't need to answer her; she found out herself a moment later.

Thirty thousand pounds of adamantium came CRASHING through the ceiling; called by the signal on Taskmaster's belt, the gargantuan robot landed with a ground-shaking quake. Twenty feet tall at full height, the otherwise dark-grey automaton was dressed in a giant-sized french maid costume, swinging a massive dusting brush hard enough to send Piledriver flying back and into the wall, unconscious.

"Cleaning time, you roid-raging D-listers!" Tony cheered.

"What the..." Laura trailed off, looking somewhere between exasperated and amused. Black Ant, for his part, nearly got his head taken off by a backhand from Demolisher because he had burst into laughter hard enough to nearly fall over. Still, despite the silly costume, no one could doubt TESS-one's effectiveness; pulling back from Taskmaster out of frustration that he couldn't hit him, Wrecker went after the robot instead. "Just a machine! WRECK IT!" He roared, hauling off with a swing that could knock Thor for a loop. The pure adamantium plating of Tess's armor didn't so much as dent, and before he could wipe the surprise off his face, Wrecker was spiked into the ground by an enormous overhand swat.

"Damn thing's indestructible!" Piledriver exclaimed. "We gotta fall back! Between this and Wolverine, we're outmatched!"

"And Black Ant!" Eric insisted, shouting with both hands cupped over his helmet as the Wrecking Crew started to retreat.

"Nope!" Demolisher called out before disappearing through the same hole she'd made in the wall of the mansion. Still trying to fend off a viciously angry Laura slicing and kicking at their heels, the rest of the group followed after her. "This ain't over!" Wrecker shouted. "You got no idea what world of shit you got yourself into stealing those brats, Taskmaster!"

Placing his hands on his thighs, exhaling from behind his mask, Tony considered that. "Kids are all okay?"

Laura nodded matter-of-factly. "Black Ant's gone to get them," she said, nodding to the other mercenary who was making his way towards the stairs. "I heard the Wrecking Crew approaching in time to get them all to a safe room on the second floor -- except Cassandra. I didn't want to interrupt you, and..." She trailed off, looking annoyed at nothing in particular.

For a moment, Taskmaster couldn't figure out why; then he suddenly laughed out loud. "Hah! You trusted ME to protect her! Admit it!"

"...Your dedication to this mission so far has been -acceptable-," she stubbornly conceded. "Why is your robot dressed like a maid? It's not a sex thing, is it? Please don't let it be a sex thing."

"Of course not. Tessie's too pure for all that. She's saving herself for marriage." Tony made his way over to the idling automaton, patting it on the side. "Aincha, girl?"

"Hilarious," came a new voice. "If you two are done discussing fetishization of Taskmaster's pet robot, you should know that you aren't out of danger yet." Wolverine and Taskmaster both immediately set themselves into defensive positions as a masked woman in a skintight blue costumed stepped silently through the hole in the wall, a hooded black coat with yellow trim adding a severity to her otherwise sleek look.

"Who the hell are you?" Tony snapped, lifting his sword warily.

"...I'm the new Spymaster," she replied coolly, placing a hand on her hip. As her coat shifted back a little, Taskmaster could see a futuristic-looking pistol on her belt; some kind of energy weapon. "The Hub sent me. I'm supposed to help you extract a bunch of kids? If that's true, we need to hurry."

"We've been hurrying all night," Wolverine assured her. "You, however, took your sweet time getting here. Are you sure we can trust her, Taskmaster? I can't get a read on her at all - her smell's blocked, voice modulated...even more than yours."

Tony considered that, but ultimately nodded. "If she's here from The Hub, she's trustworthy. Besides, there's no one that the three of us can't take down together if she -does- try some bullshit."

"Finally, I'm being included!" Eric interjected as he descended the steps, the children in tow. Cassandra had joined them some time during the battle, wisely seeking out her fellow Scions instead of trying to get involved.

"...Yeah!" Tony replied, opting not to tell him that he was referring to TESS-one.

"Hey, who's she?" Eric asked of the newcomer.

Hub's agent. Black Ant, this is Spymistress--"

"Spymaster," she quickly corrected.

"...Spymaster, which is confusing but hey, it's a brave new world. She's gonna see to our extraction. Wolverine's got a point. What took you so long?" Taskmaster couldn't help but nurse a feeling of familiarity, despite having definitely never met this new Spymaster in his life. He'd trained the last one, sure - but that guy had died years ago. "...And do I know you? Did I train ya?"

"In a sense," she replied. "Hub warned me your brain was a bit soft, though she put it nicer. Let it suffice that I know how to handle myself, and you're to blame." Her wry tone, with the help of her voice modulator, almost held a hint of sincere irritation at the question, but Tony didn't miss that little detail. Not entirely. "As for the delay, The Hub decided it would be pragmatic for me to investigate this matter to make use of how to successfully extract the children. I've been following the Wrecking Crew for hours; I've got a cloaked quinjet on the roof, but you need to know something first. I placed a tracker on Piledriver. They're going to leave Bagalia, try to get in contact with their employer. You have to intercept them."

Exchanging a look with Taskmaster, Laura was the first to ask, "...And do you know who their employer is?"

Lifting her phone, Spymaster turned it around and used a hidden device on the back to project a holographic image, tossing the chip she extracted from the phone on the ground. The image was impressively high-resolution; so much so that Tony could count the strands on the moustache of the face displayed.

"You gotta be kidding me," he growled, barely above a whisper.

"I'm deadly serious," Spymaster assured them all, looking between Taskmaster, Wolverine, and Black Ant. "These children are considered property of the United States government, and the Wrecking Crew was just the first wave. I managed to jam their comms, but if they manage to get too far out of the city, you're going to have hell brought down on your heads. Now get the kids ready and let's go. Clock's ticking."

She turned to the children, who warily ducked behind Black Ant with surprising speed. Her body language softened immediately, her professional demeanor disappearing even with her mask on.

Taskmaster didn't see it. He was still staring at the projected hologram of General Thunderbolt Ross.

#taskmaster #tony masters #marvel comics #fanfiction #taskmaster: the line #eric o'grady #black ant #laura kinney #wolverine #x-23

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deniigi · 5 years

Note

I heard you that you were taking prompts and I thought that maybe seeing Brett or Foggy interact with Daredevil and Miles-Spidey from your ITSV verse would be pretty cool. Feel free to throw this away if it’s not what you’re looking for!

I actually have something similar-ish to this in my drafts.

I’m putting this one under the cut since it’s a little longer.

Lol, so the premise of the larger piece this is from is that Technicolor Peter’s mutation reacts violently to the appearance of other spideys and kind of puts him into a berserk mode so all he wants to do is tear them limb from limb. Doesn’t show up much in this bit, but that’s the working idea here.

———–

“Put your hands up,” Brett called, full-voice.

Surprisingly, the four masks did this without question.

“Get on your knees.”

It was almost like they could sense the guns. Brett didn’tlike to aim one at anyone, but this shit was going too far. And Peter wasspeechless with fury this time. He’d tangled with a few of these characters onthe way to this particular alley and, to Brett’s surprise, had come out onbottom. Scrambling off from beneath one after the other.

Brett wasn’t sure if it was the quality of the costumes or thedesigns that pissed him off, or if it was the challenge to his territory, but anywayaround, little Pete was not havingthese cosplayers that night. He stayed crouched low against a nearby wall, morespiderlike than Brett had seen him.

Unhappy.

This was one unhappy Spidey.

He realized belatedly that his suspects were chatteringamong themselves and repeated the command for them to kneel.

“Dude, we gotta kneel,” one of them—the smallest one—hissedat the others.

“We don’t have time for this,” the one in the white suitsnapped.

“We don’t have timeto get shot either,” the small one insisted.

Boy had some sense in his head, then. That was a relief.

“He won’t shoot, he’s got no reason to—”

“Now. He’s got noreason to now.”

Brett really liked the small one. He glanced over to Peter,still sunken into the wall, and jerked his head a little. Asking him if he hadanything to say to these guys before they got to the hand-cuffing part of theevening. He didn’t respond.

Well, alright then.

“This is the last time I’m gonna say it, y’all. Get on yourknees,” Brett called.

“Hey, can you take a bullet?” the second tallest of thegroup asked the tallest over his shoulder.

“Take a—do I look like Superman to you???”

The second tallest Spidey turned his head to the side justbarely and shrugged lightly.

“Well, I mean. You dowork for a newspaper.”

“Is that seriously your baseline for bulletproof right now?”

“Yes?”

“Hey,” Brett called to get their attention. All four wentrigid and then eased up.

“Okay, alright, everyone shut up,” the tallest guy said tothe others. “This might be a good thing. We can make this work.”

Make what work? And why the fuck were they still blabberingon?

“This is it,” the smallest one moaned, “This is it. My dadis gonna kill me.”

“Same,” the white spidey sighed.

“No one’s dad is killing anyone,” The tallest guy said. “Weare just going to explain to this very nice officer and his very nice,marginally feral Spidey what’s goingon and through exuberance and charm, we will find the chain and then be righton our way—right, officer?”

Oh. That had been for his benefit, then, had it?

Ha.

Nice try.

****

“Name?”

“Parker.”

“Given name?”

“Peter.”

“Listen, sir. This is not a funny joke.”

“No, you listen, my friend. I am hilarious, but also 100% not trying to be funny right now. Name:Peter B. Parker. That one’s just Peter Parker.”

“So he’s your nephew, sir?”

This made the blond kid scream into his cuffed hands andsent the other two kids—kids becauseof fucking course they were—into peals of muffled giggling. The big uncle wasbeyond unimpressed.

“Yes,” he said, totally deadpan.

“Oh my god, no,”the blond kid burst out, “No, no, no.”

“He’s my nephew,” the uncle said tightly.

“I’m not. We’re cousins at most—”

“They named him after me ‘cause I’m so fucking handsome.”

“Oh my GOD, B. Shut the fuck up right—”

“They saw greatness and knew exactly what to do.”

This guy was. Well. He actually was kind of a riot. Half thestation was pretending like they weren’t giggling.

Funny, they were. Yes. But that did not make the situationone iota less unbelievable. Peter B. Parker had a state ID which literally,actually read ‘Peter Benjamin Parker’ and, for all that Brett could tell, itwas not a fake. He snuck it off to forensics to see if they thought it was afake, and while he and Steph held it, it fucking buzzed and zipped andshattered into color before resuming its normal corporeal form.

“Well, this is interesting,” Steph said.

Interesting, on the forensics team, was code for ‘bad.’

Steph and Kev came with Brett back into the bullpen wherethe blond kid was firmly renouncing any relation to his uncle. He was kind of ariot too.

“I’ve never met this man in my life,” he kept insisting. “Ionly know these guys. They were all, hey let’s do Halloween early—let’s allpretend to be Spiderman which is just silly,right?”

“Sir, do you have an ID?”

“And I said, like an idiot, no, yeah. That’s sounds likeit’ll be a great time, and really,it’s only karma that we’d end up getting arrested.”

“Sir,” Isabel said slowly, with immense patience.

“It’s a onesie, ma’am, not a whole lot of room for pockets.”

“Sir. It will be easier for all of us if you have an ID.”

“Yeah, Peter,” theuncle said nastily, “You heard the lady. The cheek of you, talking back likethat.”

“Oh my—he’s not myuncle. I swear.”

Isabel looked between the two of them and like. Even Brettcould see the resemblance there. From a distance even. Nah, man. Nice try.

“He’s not. This isjust a biological accident—”

“That’s what his mama calls him,” the uncle stage-whisperedto Isabel. He had absolutely charmed Isabel. They needed to get him a differentofficer for booking ASAP.

“Oh my god,” Blondie moaned into his hands. “This was amistake.”

Isabel could not keep her face straight. She asked for theID again and this time Blondie dug through his suit and shoved it at herwithout eye contact.

“Peter Parker,” she read.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You know, we’re familiar with a kid with this same name.”

“I am not even a little surprised, ma’am.”

“Are you guys all related?”

“Biologically and theoretically speaking—”

“Yep.” Uncle had this shit on lockdown. Blondie glared athim and pursed his lips. Kid looked like a model. Also a little homicidal. Heand Uncle probably ought to be placed in different holding cells.

Steph and Kev were entranced by these people. Even more sowhen Blondie’s ID did the same buzzing-zapping thing that Uncle’s had inIsabel’s hand. She nearly dropped it.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Well, most likely,it was the misalignment of particles from—”

“Act of god.”

Thanks, Uncle B. Blondie mugged at him with every bit of hisjaw he could weaponize. The kids were just about in tears. The girl looked kindof familiar, actually, now that Brett got a good look at her.

“How old are you?” he asked.

Silence among the children.

“Sixteen,” she said.

“Name?”

“Uuuuuh.”

Yeah, that’s what he thought.

“Need your name, honey,” he said. “Ain’t no use in making upone now.”

“Gwen.”

Now, was that so hard?

“And you?” he asked the young black boy next to her. Hedropped his eyes immediately.

“Miles.”

“How old are you, son?”

“Uh.”

Gwen elbowed him right in the ribs and gave him a Look.

“F-fifteen?”

Ummmm, no. Try again.

“Fourteen, sir.”

That was better. Someone had disciplined the ever-lovingshit out of this boy. He was good and respectful.

“What were you two doing out in the middle of the night withthe dream team over here?” Brett asked. “You guys forming a cosplaying club orsomething?”

“Uh.”

“We aren’t cosplaying,” Blondie snapped. “That guy’s thereal Spiderman.” He pointed at his uncle, who was offended as hell at theaccusation. “He got bit by a radioactive spider and then I got bit by a radioactive spider and then Gwen got bit by a—”

Okay, Brett got the idea. He looked at Uncle B.

“You’re Spiderman, then,” he said flatly. Uncle B thoughtabout it like a guy trying to remember where his damn keys were.

“Mmmmm, sure why not?”

What.

Who the fuck was he?

“Peter B. Parker,” Brett repeated. “Spiderman.”

“Pretty much.”

“Peter Parker,” Brett started.

“No, no. Peter B. Parker. The B’s important.”

This was ridiculous. Steph and Kev poked at the guy from theside and he lit up like he’d touched a live wire. His body jerked and burstinto colors like his ID had.

What.

The fuck.

“I’m—okay, you. You seem like some kinda scientist,” Brettsaid to Blondie who went stiff as a board and started stammering. “What thefuck is happening?,” Brett demanded. “I already got the night crew to dealwith, I don’t need any more crazy in my life right now.”

“Uuuuh. Can I? Have counsel?”

#fic #into the multiverse #dreamcoats verse #that person who sent me a message about getting Miles and Brett to interact a million years ago is responsible for this #I haven't stopped thinking about it since #ficlet

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headfulloffantasies · 5 years

Text

Eyes to See

Peter Parker wakes up in Matt Murdock’s body.

Fandom: Spider-Man and Daredevil

Rating: G

Words: 2585

Ao3 link

Peter couldn’t find his mask. He’d searched everywhere, high and low. His school locker, the bottomless pit of his backpack, the dust encrusted confines of his closet, even the crevices of the washing machine. The mask was nowhere to be found.

“May?” He yelled out into the apartment. It took a full minute of silence for him to remember that she was out getting groceries.

Peter stood in his bedroom with his hands on his hips and considered where else in the universe his Spidey mask could have wandered off to. Actually, now that he thought about it, maybe he didn’t need the mask right now. It was a good excuse not to go on patrol. He was so tired. More tired than he had any right to be. Actually, Peter was just going to take a nap right now. Just for twenty minutes. Little nap. Baby nap. Peter closed his eyes.

When Peter opened his eyes he couldn’t see. He tried reaching for the lamp next to his bed, but his fingers met cold concrete. The reek of piss hit him in the face.

Peter groaned. The sound vibrated in his skull, louder than a train whistle. He clapped his hands over his ears. Peter blinked. He still couldn’t see. Where was he? There was something over his face, blocking his vision. Peter tugged at it. It felt like a helmet.

Coarse ground scraped under him as he wrestled with the offending helmet. He wasn’t in his room. What was going on?

“Matt?” A voice yelled. Peter hissed as the sound crashed against his skin. He could feel the air displaced by the person running towards him. The footsteps on the ground slammed into his chest. He tugged harder at the helmet.

“Matt, buddy, are you okay?” The voice was a foghorn.

A pair of hands clasped Peter’s elbows and in a rush Peter could feel every callous and smell the sweaty palms. The person sighed and Peter’s nose filled with toothpaste, mustard, salami, bread, salt, strawberry. His stomach turned.

“Oh man. Don’t be sick, Matt. I just got new shoes.”

“Who’s Matt?” Peter’s voice came out all gravel.

Peter realized he could hear the person’s heartbeat when it skipped. A flood of body odour hit him in the nose.

“Hey buddy that’s not funny. Please tell you know who you are?”

The hands were gripping him by the wrists, preventing Peter’s attempts to rip the helmet off his face.

“I’m Spiderman.”

The heartbeat skipped again and then started leaping double time. “Ok, that’s not good. How many hits to the head did you take?”

“I don’t know,” Peter groaned. “I don’t know where I am. I can’t see.” He pulled at the man’s grip, but the hands tightened on his wrists. “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know why you keep calling me Matt.”

“Ok, you’re scaring me. Just stop. Matt?”

Peter wrenched his hands free. He yanked the helmet off his face, expecting light to fill his vision. There was no change. The dark remained dark. Peter panicked.

“I can’t see. God, I can’t see!” Peter’s breaths were wheezing between his teeth. His head was getting fuzzy.

“Matt, calm down! Jeez, here,” The man shoved the helmet back into Peter’s hands. “Focus on this. Tell me what you feel.”

The mask was hard, smooth under Peter’s fingertips. It wasn’t his soft Spidey mask. Which was still missing, dang it. That must be why he was wearing a different mask. And he got into a fight and his concussion was blocking his memories. Peter scrubbed a hand over his face. That would also explain the loss of vision and the nausea and the smells and the… stubble? Peter’s hands stopped at his own jaw. Scratchy hairs prickled his fingers. His face didn’t feel right. It was too hard, too square.

He scrambled for the helmet, tracing the contours of the mask. It started at the nose. No eye holes. Peter got to the crown of the head and paused. Something sharp protruded from both temples. Something like horns.

“Holy crap, I’m Daredevil!”

“Winner winner chicken dinner,” the other person sighed. Peter wished he wouldn’t. The mustard on the guy’s breath was suffocating.

The realisation hit Peter like lightning. Daredevil was blind! How the hell did he function? Holy crow, there was blind man in red spandex jumping off roofs every night! What the hell?

“But I’m not Daredevil,” Peter pleaded. “I’m Pe-, I’m Spiderman!”

Mustard breath paused. “Are you being serious? Because I’ve seen a lot of wacko crazy in the last year and I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

Peter bobbed his head. “I’m Spiderman. I’m in the wrong body!”

The guy swore under his breath. It still hit Peter’s ears like a sledgehammer. How did Double D put up with this level of noise all the time?

Peter squirmed. “Um, I don’t know who you are. Sorry.”

“Foggy.” The guy answered automatically. “Call me Foggy.”

What kind of name was that? Actually, no, Peter had no right to question Foggy when he was calling himself Spiderman.

“Do you, um, know? About Daredevil?”

Foggy snorted. “Do I know he’s blind? That’s what you’re asking, right? Yeah. He says he’s got something called radar sense that helps him navigate. This is seriously weird, explaining Matt’s mutation to his face.”

“You’re telling me?”

Radar sense, huh? That sounded like BS. Peter couldn’t see anything. It was all black. But his other senses, those were dialled up to a hundred and fifty. The harder Peter focused, the more he noticed about the alley he was sitting in. It was definitely an alley. The piss was a good indicator. And Foggy’s voice bounced up along rough walls. A cool breeze raced down from the street opening. It scratched like sandpaper over Peter’s face. He could smell the entire contents of the trash bin at the end of the alley. His stomach turned again at the scent of rotten bread, meat, old cigarettes, and vomit full of booze.

“How do I get my body back?” Peter asked the same time Foggy said, “Where’s Matt if you’re in his body?”

Holy crap. No. “If I’m here, he’s probably in my body, right?” Peter scrambled to stand. “What time is it? My aunt cannot find someone else in my body. She’ll flip.”

“It’s four thirty.” Foggy took Peter’s arm and helped pull him off the smelly ground.

“Seriously?” Peter had only been out ten minutes. Dang it, he’d missed his nap!

“I have to get home,” Peter put a hand against the brick wall. It grated like crushed glass. Peter took three steps and stopped. “I can’t… I can’t see. How am I supposed to get home?”

“I can help. I’ve got to find Matt, too,” Foggy said. “Here,” Foggy took his hand and shoved something in Peter’s fingers.

“A cane?” Peter tapped it against the ground. “I don’t know how to use this.”

“Take my arm,” Foggy wrapped Peter’s fingers around his elbow. “Little looser, yeah like that.”

“Before we go,” Foggy’s hands were suddenly at Peter’s throat. Peter jerked back, thrashing wildly.

“Woah! Hey, my bad,” Foggy shifted back, his shoes scuffing the ground. “Sorry, I forgot you didn’t know I was coming. You’re wearing the Daredevil suit under your shirt. I was going to button up your shirt for you.”

“Oh, sorry.” Peter held still as Foggy’s hands deftly raced through the buttons at his collar.

Foggy’s mustard breath washed over Peter’s face. Peter did his best not to breathe. The exhale receded as Foggy leaned back. “Eh, good enough. No one will know it’s the Daredevil suit.”

He moved into Peter’s space again.

“Okay, here, take my arm. Yeah, like that. Alright, now we walk. Where are we going?”

Peter’s stomach soured. Was he really okay with this? Could he trust Foggy enough to bing him to his home? To May? The list of people who knew Peter Parker, AP student, was Spiderman was ludicrously short.

“Before we go, you’ve got to swear you’re not a super villain.”

Foggy laughed.

Peter was serious.

“I swear. My hand is over my heart and everything.”

Peter knew that. He could hear the fibres of Foggy’s shirt shifting under his hand.

“Queens,” Peter rattled off his address.

Foggy led him through the streets. Horns honked, people shouted, footsteps rattled Peter’s bones. A Manhattan sized headache was forming in Peter’s skull. He tripped over every corner, every rock, every sidewalk curb. Were it not for Foggy, Peter would have been crawling on his hands and knees.

“How does Daredevil do this?” Peter gasped.

“I ask myself that everyday.”

They finally arrived. Peter stumbled on each and every one of the front steps because the universe hated him.

Peter directed Foggy to the spare key in the flower pot. The door clicked open and shut behind them. Peter felt something hurtling towards them.

“Down!” Peter yanked Foggy to the floor. Something whizzed over their heads, smashing against the closed door. Ozone hit Peter’s nostrils.

“Was that a salt shaker?”

“Um,” Foggy twisted under Peter. “Yes?”

They pulled each other to their feet. Foggy’s heartbeat raced in Peter’s ears.

“Who’re you?” A squeaky voice yelled from further inside the apartment.

“Matt?”

The person swore. “Foggy? Holy crap.”

There was a scuffling, a wild displacement of air, and something knocked Foggy out of Peter’s grip.

“Oh Lord, your eyes are blue!” Matt laughed.

“Holy cow, you’re tiny,” Foggy crushed the smaller person, Matt, to his chest. That was Peter’s body hugging Foggy. Weird. Peter could smell his own deodorant and shampoo, and that carbon stench of Spider-webbing. His voice speaking Matt’s words was way squeakier than it sounded when it was in his own skull. That was embarrassing.

Matt turned to Peter and his breathing spiked. “Is that me? Is that what I look like?”

Peter waved. Matt’s heart jumped. “I’m so ginger.”

“Really?” Peter raked a hand through the wavy mess of hair. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling for. Colours didn’t have textures.

Matt’s eyes were wet. Peter could taste the salt on the air. Matt kept touching Foggy’s chest, Matt’s heart racing like he was… Oh. He was seeing Foggy for the first time. The blind kid was seeing his best friend in the flesh, with real, working, if slightly nearsighted, eyes for the very first time. What a rush.

Peter redirected his attention to let Matt have his moment.

Peter’s shoulder relaxed by degrees as his newly heightened senses breathed in the comforting normalcy of home. Laundry detergent, and sage from the plant by the window. The dented floorboards and the tiniest hint of new paint from the bathroom renovations he and May did over the summer.

Foggy held Matt by the shoulders. “Tell me what happened. How did you become a teeny bopper?”

“Hey!” It wasn’t Peter’s fault he was a late bloomer. And actually, Mr. Foggy, he was in the middle of a growth spurt. When the shin splints finally stopped he’d be taller than May and Foggy. So there.

To his credit, Matt jumped right in to his explanation. “I was following that cult from 88th street. They were doing a weird ritual today. I got into their basement just as they started the ceremony.”

Matt directed his words at Peter. “They have a weird obsession with powered people. Their leader was going to swap bodies with you.”

“So this is their fault!” Peter interrupted.

Heat flooded Matt’s face. “Well, only half their fault. They had your mask.”

Peter groaned. So that’s where it went. It was Parker luck that a magic cult stole his stuff instead of him just losing it like a normal person.

“I didn’t know they were doing, but I knew the mask was important,” Matt continued. “So I jumped in there and grabbed it. I didn’t know that touching the mask was what would force the switch.”

Aha. So it was Matt’s fault. That’s okay, buddy. You tried.

“I woke up here. Your aunt is really nice, by the way. She thinks you’ve lost your mind, but she’s very nice.”

“Wait, you met my aunt?”

“Well yeah. I’ve been here since yesterday. I had to go to your school and everything.”

Panic sliced through Peter’s chest. “Yesterday? What day is it?”

Worry sent heat in waves off both Foggy and Matt. “It’s Tuesday.”

Peter groaned. “No! It was Monday. It’s supposed to be Monday.”

“Wait, what did you do all day?” Matt asked.

“Nothing,” Peter growled. “I only woke up an hour ago.”

Matt turned on Foggy. “I’ve been missing a whole day and you didn’t go looking for me?”

Peter heard Foggy’s shrug in the brush of his shirt fabric. “You take sick days all the time. I started looking for you after the hundreth unreturned phone call.”

It was very embarrassing to hear Peter’s own voice threatening bodily harm on Foggy. Peter understood now why no supervillain took him seriously. It was like being threatened by a chihuahua.

“How do we fix this?” Peter finally interrupted the tirade.

Matt stopped to ponder. “Well, touching the mask started this whole mess, but I don’t think that will work again. I’ve been carrying it all day.” He pulled the mask from his pocket. Peter recognized that swish of spandex.

“What if we were to touch? Like, you and me?” Peter suggested.

Matt extended his hand immediately. Peter grasped his own hand.

The room spun. Peter was suddenly exhausted. Bursts of cherry assaulted his nose. Slowly, the background noises blaring in his ears faded. Then colours slowly started to bleed into his vision. Blue, then green, red came last.

The red filled his vision. Red hair, attached to a weary face and a red suit peeking out of the collar of a white dress shirt. Matt.

Peter tipped his head back to meet his eyes. Milky white eyes looked back at him. There was no denying Matt was blind.

Matt took a shaky breath. “Wow, that’s a rush.” He wrinkled his nose. “Did you paint your bathroom?”

He didn’t look at Peter when he spoke. His head tipped to the side and his eyes raked over the space slightly to the left of Peter’s face.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m glad I don’t have to smell everything all the time.”

Matt shrugged. “I’m used to it. Usually. Although right now, it’s a bit much. I think I would like to go home now.”

Foggy came forward. Peter finally got a look at the guy who had saved his bacon. He was blonde, and very cuddly looking. Crows feet in the corner of his eyes matched the laughing smirk on his lips as he took Matt’s arm.

“Alright Daredevil, time to go.”

Matt reached out and squeezed Peter’s arm. Without looking at him Matt said, “Thank you, Peter. If you ever need help, my office is always open.”

“Office?” Peter asked.

“Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law,” Foggy rattled off.

Peter gaped. “You’re a vigilante and a lawyer?”

Matt laughed. It was like the sun passed over his face. “You have no idea, kiddo.”

Matt and Foggy left arm in arm. As they closed the door behind them Peter caught Foggy saying, “No more cults for you.”

“That was one time!” Matt protested.

Peter leaned against the closed door and laughed. His life seemed a whole lot easier compared to Matt’s. High school was a breeze compared to being Daredevil.

#matt murdock #peter parker #spiderman #Daredevil #marvel #body swap #foggy nelson #nelson and murdock #may parker #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom

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