#he keeps telling Raza to let go and they are both telling him not to stay... there's a shot with his hand on Rishi's face

[theinfinitedivides]

Rishi bestest boi 🥺😔

#film: pathaan #local gay watches pathaan (and loses their sh*t while doing so).txt #local gay watches bollywood.txt #this section is so chaotic bc there's a whole bunch of sh*t going on at the same time but Pathaan crawling out of the car #to head straight to Rishi and Raza having to pry him away bc it's literally about to explode does something to me #there's a desperation there—he keeps going back trying to get his hands on whatever he can trying to get Rishi out of there #he keeps telling Raza to let go and they are both telling him not to stay... there's a shot with his hand on Rishi's face #and then the hand is in his hand and he won't let go!!! he won't let go #this is the first major death for Pathaan in the film i think and he has this tendency from then on to shut down on the spot #whenever something like that happens before getting on with it and sort of lashing out #but you just know he is f*cking himself up over this when it is quiet and there is no one left to hear #reminds me of that one interview (or was it several that i am mixing up and putting all together?) #where Shah Rukh said he doesn't cope with loss very well bc he's a passionate person #and he brought up the point that he has to channel that elsewhere. so smoking cigarettes is a hairsbreadth away for him #from dipping tf off of this mortal plain and committing suicide #like he said he had wanted to do when his mother passed #i am having too many thoughts about this

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1977

The X-Men, those starjammin' mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 103 - 108) - written by Chris Claremont and art by Dave Cockrum, Bob Brown and John Byrne

The fabled M’Kraan Crystal, a.k.a. Everything’s a butt plug if you’re brave enough. (X-Men 107)

When we last left our X-Men, they were being pummelled into a paste by Black Tom and the Juggernaut at the ancestral Cassidy Keep. Only Nightcrawler was out of their clutches, because he was saved by elves. (All Irish keeps have elves, plz don’t question it.) Apparently, Juggernaut and Black Tom have been holding the inhabitants of the castle hostage under the orders of Eric the Red. Black Tom plans to mindrape the X-Men to lure Charles to Ireland to kill him, which… er… Wouldn’t it be easier to go back to the USA now that Charles is mostly unprotected? Most of the the X-Men are in Oire right now!

Nightcrawler incidentally discovers he turns invisible in the shadows, and it makes total sense that he only realizes this now, because they have no shadows in Germany. Eh, nobody remembers he has this power these days anyway, so! Moving briskly on!

Kurt surprises the gay villainous duo by pretending to be a surprisingly spry Xavier. (Image inducer ftw.) While trying to turn Nightcrawler into a smear of blue fuzz, Juggernaut punches through a wall, exposing Storm to the sky and releasing her from the tight grip of her claustrophobia.

Very few things fill me with more delight than seeing Storm doing loop-de-loops. (X-Men 103)

Storm frees the rest of the X-Men. In the final battle, Banshee tussles with Tom, tossing him off the ramparts and straight into the choppy ocean. Even though tossing a villain into the water is an absolutely sure-fire way to guarantee they'll survive, Juggernaut jumps in after him, desperate to save his boyfriend. Friend. Whatever.

Hilariously, the people at marvel.fandom hate this issue and plotline, saying it’s more riddled with plot holes than Swiss cheese. For example, the elves reveal Wolverine’s real name - Logan - which… “This issue implies that the leprechauns have some prior knowledge of, and even a connection to Wolverine. This plot point, however, was completely dropped and never referenced again (which is probably for the best, considering how goofy it is.)”

I mean, they’re not wrong.

So. Hey. You ready for things to get weird?

Moira has received a VAGUE BUT DISTRESSING call for help from Muir Isle. Off-screen she got upgraded to being an associate at Edinburgh University who owns a lab in Scotland. She left some dude named Jamie Madrox in charge, which - Moira, you have a Phd, you should be able to tell that Madrox is an absolute (entertaining) mess of a person.

Also super surprised that Jamie Madrox was conceived in the seventies, but whatever.

In order to check out the lab, the X-Men rent a hovercraft, which explodes just off the shore of Muir Isle.

Get a bucket and a mop for this wet-ass fuzzy. (X-Men 104)

They are beset on all sides, before being pulled into the laboratory by… MAGNETO?

Magneto accusing anybody other than Dr. Doom or Namor of all-consuming arrogance shows us that self-awareness can’t be taught. (X-Men 104)

Cyclops arrives by airplane, reuniting with the team, while also talking to Moira and Madrox. Absolutely bonkers revelations are made in the space of three pages:

Moira’s lab is a secret Mutant Research Centre. (uh…)

In the Defenders-comic, Magneto was de-aged into a baby. (...what?!)

‘Research Centre’ is a Scottish synonym for a penal colony for all kinds of dangerous mutants, like baby Magneto, Dragonfly, Unus and the mysterious Mutant-X. (...what?!)

Moira quite cavalierly experiments on prisoners and babies. She also has a machine that can manipulate age. Xavier knows and is fine with all of this. (wtf!?!?)

This is such a bonkers, messy way to rewrite both Moira and Magneto. Like, I can’t.

Eric the Red freed Magneto and then used the aging machine to turn Magneto back into an adult man at the peak of his powers. This Magneto is understandably upset at having been turned into a science lab experiment/baby and he mops the floor with the X-Men.

Cyclops makes the executive decision to flee Muir Isle, because they have no chance against Magneto and he now realizes Professor X is unprotected and probably at the mercy of Eric the Red. Wolverine calls him a big fat sissy to his face.

I kind of dig that the X-Men don't win a lot of their fights yet. They’re still treated as relatively unseasoned, especially as a team, and they don’t automatically win at the end of every story. It also gives Magneto more oomph as a villain.

Anyway, when the X-Men arrive at the mansion, they’re defeated by Firelord, Galactus’ former herald. He’s been duped into attacking them by Eric the Red. Firelord is convinced the X-Men are the villains, because Eric went with the Wounded Gazelle Gambit: he even knocked out Havok and Polaris to pretend he was attacked by our merry mutants. (Next time we see them, they’re back to their normal, non-brainwashed selves.)

In her new apartment, Jean is introducing her parents and Professor X to her new girlfriend roommate Misty Knight when princess Neramani (of, uh, space) teleports into the room. And then Firelord attacks Charles! Jean has absolutely zero chill for all of this.

I know very little about Misty Knight, but every time she appears, she responds to anything remotely surprising by drawing her gun. I assume she shoots her paper boy every morning. (X-Men 105)

The entire point of this issue is to show how big a threat Phoenix is. Claremont originally wanted to use a big name like Thor or the Silver Surfer, but editorial nixed that: they feared that it would be emasculating for a popular character to be beaten by a girl. Once again, this proves how badly the Phoenix storyline was needed. Did Jean single-handedly introduce feminism to superhero comics? I’mma say yes.

With Jean distracted and Charles teaching Lilandra English telepathically so he can woo the pretty space-lady and/or get an explanation as to why the universe is ending, Eric the Red strikes, revealing himself to be: SHAKARI.

Yeah, no, I don’t recognize the name either, but the dude’s been working on this reveal for a while, so just let him have it.

He absconds with Lilandra through the Stargate and switches it off, just as the X-Men arrive. Jean casually turns it back on and because the Professor is all, “we’ve got to save her! I mean the universe!”, the X-Men jump through the gate.

Jean’s parents are all out of wtfs to give.

We take a break from Shi´Ar shenanigans with an inconsequential filler issue, where we flashback to Xavier while he was being driven crazy by his Space Trek dreams. It’s established that Moira and Xavier are ex-lovers and that Xavier’s melodramatic subconscious wants to kill the new X-Men. (Probably not for real, but who knows.) Next!

Still a better villain than Onslaught. (X-Men 106)

Anyway, the X-Men find themselves surrounded by aliens in front of the ginormous M’Kraan Crystal. The Shi’Ar are all: ‘dafuq you’re doing here’, Cyclops is all: ‘We’re here for Lilandra’, and the Shi’Ar are all: ‘You mean our prisoner and rogue princess?’ Scott decides that gathering more information is for losers and starts blasting, triggering a fight with the Imperial Guard.

Lilandra, meanwhile, is in the hands of Shakari and her big brother, Emperor D’Ken. He releases some nebulously defined monster - a Soul Drinker - to kill Lilandra. Nightcrawler saves her from its murderous clutches by teleporting two people for the very first time. Lilandra doesn’t barf up her insides, which is apparently a test of character, and proceeds to explain what’s what.

First, she tells the X-Men that she felt Professor Xavier when he was doing the telepathic care bear attack against the Z’Nox way back in the sixties and that she felt instantly drawn to him. She also explains that she’s D’Ken’s younger sister and leading a rebellion against her mad, power hungry brother. Why is he mad? Well...

The X-Men vs. Astrology! Riveting. (Still a better villain than Onslaught.) Although, “I’m a Pisces” sounds a lot lamer than “I was born under the Nine Death Stars. (X-Men 107)

The guy in the mohawk is Gladiator, he is consistently the worst. Even when Lilandra reveals that opening that gate triggers the End of All That Is, he’s still all: “Juuust following orders.”

The Imperial Guard goes in for a smackdown, but the X-Men are fortunately saved by the Starjammers. (Space pirates, not an 80’s rock group.) They are:

Corsair, a debonair dude with one golden earring. Pretty obviously a human.

Raza, cyborg with a temper and somehow bald whilst rocking a ponytail.

Ch’od, lizard creature. Has a white fluffy spider monkey-thing that I don’t recognize and but is apparently called Waldo Ch'ee. (I pray it just got lost in Marvel history and that it doesn’t get squashed at some point. It’s adorable.)

Hepzibah, cute cat girl with a gun. Involved with Corsair, except he can’t pronounce her name so he just gave her the completely unrelated nickname Hepzibah? Dude!

Jean, having learned psychic etiquette from Charles Xavier, immediately violates their privacy and scans their minds, figuring out that Corsair is Scott’s dad. Superficial telepathic read, my ass.

Meanwhile, power builds up in the M’Kraan Crystal and the universe briefly blinks out of existence, threatening to tear open the fabric of the universe if this keeps up. To emphasize that this is a Big Honking Deal, we cut to Earth where the Avengers, Fantastic Four and Peter Corbeau (rumored to have an IQ over 200) are all: oy, did the universe just stop existing?

That’s Hank McCoy for “we’re fucked’”. Hi Jimmy Carter! (X-Men 108)

Apparently, this is the year the X-Men can’t catch a break, because after being beaten by the Juggernaut, Magneto and the Imperial Guard, they are soundly trashed by Jahf, the Guardian of the Crystal. That is, until Phoenix drops a small meteor on him. In a story beat that I really like, Jahf isn’t fazed at all: the Phoenix, despite her immeasurable power, isn’t omnipotent. Sometimes, you need a scalpel instead of a sledge hammer: it’s Banshee whose sonic scream can scramble the guardian’s circuitry.

Unfortunately, defeating the first guardian only awakens a second, stronger one, so…

Raza decides he’s had enough of this nonsense and, displaying admirable proactive problem solving skills, simply tosses D’Ken into the M’Kraan crystal. Presumably, the Crystal is annoyed at being attacked by someone who also has an unnecessary apostrophe in their name, and it lashes out, trapping everyone involved in their own personal hell. For Jean, this is apparently death, but she’s all: “Um, I was recently deceased, no big deal,” and snaps out of it.

The Phoenix reaches out the crystal, which is slowly cracking under the weight of the universe. (Same.) If it shatters, it will destroy the universe, devouring all . Think of it as a cosmic reset button. The Phoenix is its opposite, a bringer of energy and life, so it might be able to fix the crystal. Problem is, Jean has trouble remaining anchored in this reality, because she’s being absorbed by the crystal.

OKAY. SO MANY THINGS TO LOVE. Even when allied with a cosmic force, Storm proves she’s our queen. Furthermore, other than Jean/Scott, Ororo/Jean might the most fleshed out relationship among these new X-Men at this point. Their friendship is consistently a highlight.

Also, rough, rough day for Corsair. (X-Men 108)

Phoenix mends the crystal with a lot of mystical space mumbo jumbo and… er, that’s it. Cosmic balance restored, she poofs the X-Men home.

Lilandra tags along with them, explaining that D’Ken’s tinkering with the Crystal left him catatonic and unfit to rule. As his sister, she’s the rightful heir, but since she also led a rebellion, she kind of cancelled by her empire. She announces she will stay on Earth with Charles while the Shi´Ar iron out the details of the succession. So, instead of consolidating her power base and claim to the throne, she peaces out to explore her feelings for the hairless pink alien who can peek into her brain. Solid.

And with that final bit of space opera, we say goodbye to Dave Cockrum and welcome artist John Byrne. The Claremont/Byrne-run is widely seen as the definitive X-Men run, so hold onto your butts and let’s see where the Phoenix takes us, shall we?

Didn’t you take Art History? I stand by my space mumbo jumbo comment from earlier, but check out these Byrne-pages:

Chef’s kiss. (X-Men 108)

Ugliest Costume: I have a fierce hatred for the Shi'ar's weird wispy triangular hair/feather/thingies, but those are technically not costumes. So: Lilandra, why is your boob window a bug?

Best new character: I’m not much of a fan of space operas or the Shi’Ar and their extended court, but I do have a soft spot for the Starjammers, Hepzibah in particular. I fondly remember her being a part of the X-Men at some point in the future, although I don't think her actual unpronounceable name ever gets revealed.

Most audacious retcon: Moira the housekeeper is actually an evil morally complicated mad scientist.

What to read: Issue 105, 107 and 108, for all your Phoenix Saga needs.

#x-men #x-men abridged #abridged x-men #professor x #cyclops #phoenix #nightcrawler #colossus #storm #wolverine #banshee #chris claremont #dave cockrum #john byrne #juggernaut #black tom #shi'ar #moira mactaggert #magneto #starjammers

[kururu418]

Got any different future au parent quotes? (Puff, Moral/Corona,Dragon parents 😏,Tor/Sauce, Twister/Misty)

Puff

“So, how does this one look dad?” Raza asked as he held up the shield towards Puff. The older goliath reached forward and picked up the item, then suddenly chucked it across the room as hard as he could. “Ah! Was it that bad?!”

Puff grunted. “No, just testing it. Making sure it won’t break easily. It’s pretty sturdy, not bad…” he said patting him on the shoulder. 

Raza smiled. “Thanks.”  

~~~~

“So can you fix it or not?” Dagon asked, holding up the broken blade. 

Puff looked down at it and then let out a grunt. Dagon tilted his head, clearly confused. “He says it’s fixable, but it’s a really rare and dense metal. He should be able to get it done by tomorrow since work is slow,” Raza explained towards his friend. Puff grunted again and nodded. 

Dagon looked at him confused. “How… how did you get that from a grunt?” 

Raza chuckled. “Dad isn’t much of a talker. But he’s pretty expressive. You can tell what he’s thinking just by looking at his face, you know?” he asked, confusing Dagon even further. 

“He’s wearing a fuckin’ helmet dude!” 

~~~~

Raza laughed as he swung his axe, batting aside another group of rebels. “Ha! This is easy! You doing alright back there dad?!” he asked looking over his shoulder. 

Puff kicked another in the chest, sending them crashing to the ground. “Not that old to have you worrying about me yet kid,” he said cracking his neck. “Now let’s break some bones…” This father-son time was nice. 

Morel/Corona

Corona smiled down at the infant in her arms. “He’s so perfect,” she said, holding him close. “And he reminds me so much of you. I’m sure he’ll take after you,” she said looking up towards Morel. 

The Incubus rubbed the back of his head. “Does he? Because in the looks department he definitely took more after you,” he said. He reached down and poked at the baby’s face. “That’s probably why he looks so perfect… do me a favor and try to take after you mother little Pavo. It’ll be way less of a hassle.”

~~~~

“You’ve been spending an awful lot of time with your grandfather lately. You do remember that you live here, don’t you?” Morel asked with a yawn. 

Pavo hummed to himself. “I remember. It’s just a lot more chill over at Grandpa’s. I really don’t see why you hated growing up there so much.” 

“That old geezer has softened up since then. That place was a hellhole,” he said before looking serious. “You watch your grandfather Pavo. He may have mellowed out over the years, but he’s not the best influence…”

Pavo smirked. “Neither are you.” 

Morel started, and then chuckled. “No, guess I’m not. Take after your mother.”

~~~~

Pavo held his hands up as he walked into the room. “Okay, look. I know I missed the gathering or whatever, and I’m sorry, but we had a situation going on and I needed to help the guys out. I know your mad but-”

“I’m not mad,” Corona said pushing her glasses up. “Just disappointed.” 

Pavo blinked, staring at his mother who was casually sipping from her cup of tea. He sighed and hung his head. “Aw c’mon, please just be mad at me…” Her being disappointed made him feel even worse than getting bawled out… 

Twister/Misty 

“Hey dad, can I-?”

“No,” Twister said, not even letting Whirl finish his sentence. 

The boy frowned. “You didn’t even let me finish?!” 

“My dad senses or tingling, which means you were about to ask for something either reckless or stupid? Tell me I’m wrong,” Twister said as he continued sharpening his knife. Whirl opened his mouth, but then thought for a moment. “Yeah, that’s what I thought… Hard pass.”

~~~~

“Hey mom! Can I go hunting in Gigantea?!” Whirl asked, speeding up towards Misty. 

She looked towards him and hummed. “DId you ask your father?” she asked. 

He shrugged. “I mean, technically no…” He didn’t let him ask the question after all. “But Turq and some of the others are going, so can I go? I promise to be careful!” 

She gave him a thumbs up. “Well, if you promise to be careful then I don’t see why not!” she said happily. “Have fun!” 

~~~~

“Hey dad, you remember how you told me not to do that thing I didn’t get a chance to ask you about earlier?” Whirl asked as he made his way into the kitchen. 

Both he and Misty looked up, and the ladder gasped when she saw her son clutching what looked like a broken arm. “Oh my gosh?! What happened?!” she asked. 

Twister didn’t seem all that surprised however. “Well, you might want to go get that thing casted up son. And I’m not calling you a healer because you won’t learn anything if I do,” he said going right back to sharpening his knife. 

“Fair enough…” 

Sear

Sear grunted as he tried to get the many members of his young brood together. He gently grabbed them by the back of the neck, setting them back into the nest, only to find another trying to crawl their way out. He couldn’t slow down even for a moment, or else one of them would be off and about somewhere. 

They were so much of a handful even at just a few days old. He dreaded when they would finally be able to use their little wings and fly. They’d be impossible to keep track of. 

~~~~

The litter of baby dragons all sped around Astro as he carried the basket of fish into the stables. He struggled to cross the room as they swarmed around him. “Uh, a little help here Sear?” he asked, balancing himself on one foot. He didn’t want to step on any of them. 

Sear, who had looked like he was napping, got up and suddenly growled. The young dragon all suddenly stopped, then sat down and lowered their heads as Sear towered over them. The dragon made a noise and suddenly the babies all made their way over towards him, lining up next to each other. 

Astro whistled. “Wish my kids would do that…” 

~~~~

Sear watched as his litter did their best at shooting fire at the target he’d set up. His oldest let out a small roar before shooting, then turned towards him eagerly. Sear nodded in approval. He was so proud his offspring were already so adept with their abilities. 

“Hey?! What the hell?!” Hody shouted angrily. “Stop shooting at my window!”  Sear squawked, and then he and the children all took off and scattered. “God damn it!”  

#tales of mewni #future au #sear #corona #morel #pavo #puff #ak raza #misty #twister #whirl

[ct-offical-sexyman]

Viveza and all the prequels

First of all; how dare you make me write out the plot of my own story. Second of all: thank you, this will probably help in the future.

Remember that this can all change in the future.

Spoilers for Viveza’s story below.

The Phantom Menace

Melinoe Lanami is sent to spy on the young queen of Naboo under the fake name Nize Raza. Her orders are to keep an eye on the girl until told otherwise. She takes up the disguise of Captain Panaka’s second in command.

She escapes the blockade with everyone else. A small communicator gives her a new order to signal the group's location to Maul.

When they arrive on Tatooine, Melinoe tries to go with Padme, Jar Jar and Qui Gon into town, but Qui Gon says they have enough people and forces Melinoe to stay behind. She doesn’t push it, knowing that insisting on following them would be too risky and blow her cover.

For the scenes on Tatooine Melinoe’s scenes are made up of her talking/sparring with Obi Wan or interacting with other members of the crew. I’m currently having reader block with this part of the story, because I’m trying to work out what Melinoe and Obi Wan talk about in regards to the life of a Jedi and the politics surrounding it. Because I feel like it could be really easy for me to fuck it up, and made really obvoius that Melinoe is a spy/sith.

Anyway; Jinn brings back Anakin and friends back to the ship where they’re attacked by Maul. Once they escape Melinoe and Anakin have a scene together where Anakin is still getting used to the cold on the ship. Melinoe finds him a blanket and sympathises with him saying that she grew up on a cold planet and it took a little while for her to get used to warmer places. This scene was originally between Anakin and Padme, but this is a good way to show Melinoe’s personality under the mask she puts up for herself.

At some point before they get to Coruscant Melinoe lets her guard down for a second and accidently reveals her real name to Obi Wan through the force.

During the Coruscant scenes Melinoe is put on guard duty over the handmaidens. So she doesn’t witness any of the stuff at the Jedi Temple.

When everyone goes back to Naboo, Melinoe is given orders to kill the Jedi just as Maul shows up to fight them.

Melinoe and Obi Wan get septured from Qui Gon and Maul when Maul pushes Obi Wan into Melinoe causing them both to fall off the platform. Obi Wan saves Melinoe by grabbing her hand, but they don’t talk about it because they’re both more focused on catching up with Qui Gon and Maul.

When Obi Wan starts fighting Maul, Melinoe gets caught behind the red force field. She has the opportunity to help Maul several times, but she realises ‘why should help him? I fucking hate him and hurt Eglantine on muiltable occasions’. Melinoe ends up leaving Maul for dead in order to make her escape from the planet.

She’s later seen back on Byss, giving Darth Heiss a report of what happened while leaving out and lying about several things. She’s informed that she’ll be punished for failing her mission and is dismissed.

Later on; she tells Eglantine about what happened, while being much more honest. Eglantine expresses relief about Maul’s death and Melinoe’s safe return.

Interlude

Abridged version of events in between TPM & AOTC;

Viveza stops using her birth name after Eglantine is killed by Heiss.

She disavows Darth Heiss and defects from Byss three years after Maul’s death, and two years after Eglantine’s.

Gets a ship and a T7 unit after taking it from a group of mandalorians.

Viveza travels to Eglantine’s homeworld of Marazi where she meets her first apprentice, Jaks Jr, and her eventual second in command, Jaks Snr.

While on Glee Anselm, Viveza meets her second apprentice, Thea, after Thea tries to chew her arm off. While breaking up a slave ring, Viveza meets Orianna and Nizzal, who become her third and fourth apprentices.

Meets Obi Wan again several times, but it’s always in a situation where she’s able to escape.

Attack of the Clones

Viveza is dragged into the plot when Obi Wan seeks her out to find information on the Kamino Saber Dart (knowing that after years of breaking up slave cartels she’ll have information about underground criminals like bounty hunters).

Since she owes Obi Wan a favour for saving one of her companions at some point, she agrees to help him. She tells him that the dart is from Kaimino. She later helps Obi Wan find his way to Kaimino when he hits a dead end.

While Obi Wan is having his conversation with Lama Su, Viveza is given a tour of the cloning facilities. This is where Viveza would meet Margo for the first time. They have a conversation where Viveza asks Margo what her life is like living on Kaimio. Margo avoids the question and eventually leaves.

They later meet Jango and work out that he’s the one who was hired to kill Padme. While Obi Wan is getting the council an update, Viveza is the one to notice that the Fetts are trying to escape.

After the fight between Obi Wan and Fett, Viveza is the one to throw the homing beacon on the Slave 1.

They follow the Fetts to Geonosis. Where they find out about Gunray making the order to kill Padme. They go back to Viveza’s ship where Obi Wan sends his findings to the council via Anakin's and Padme’s ship.

They are then captured by Jango and the droidekas. Viveza has her lightsabers taken and eventually they end up in the hands of Margo.

Viveza is put in a different cell to Obi Wan, and Dooku also tries to persuade her to join (but with a completely different speech). She refuses to hear him out, due to remembering the 14 years of suffering she endured at the hands of Heiss basically saying ‘I spent 14 years trying to escape and you expect me to go right back because of some empty words’.

I thought about having Dooku try to appeal to Viveza by playing the ‘i knew your father’ card, but then I realised there was no way Dooku could know who Viveza is, so :P.

Viveza is sentenced to death in the Geonosis Arena. Where she’ll face off against a Gundark. She manages to escape by tricking the gundark into running into the piller she’s chained to, causing the whole thing to crumble.

When the battle between the Jedi and the droids starts, Viveza holds her own without any lightsabers and still has her hands tied together.

When the Clones get there, Viveza takes the opportunity to leave and go look for her ship. When she finds it, she also finds Margo, who’s having a breakdown because her father just died and her brother tried to murder her.

Viveza’s plot on AOTC ends with Margo returning Viveza’s lightsabers to her and becoming Viveza’s fifth apprentice.

Interlude 2

I love you, Lou, BUT I CAN’T SUMMERRISE ALL THE CLONE WARS IN ONE POST! All you need to know is that Viveza wants revenge on Grievous for a lot of the stuff he’s done to her and her allies during the Clone Wars.

Revenge of the Sith

Viveza learns that Grievous is on Utapau and travels there hoping to kill Grievous herself. She runs into Obi Wan and they agree that it would be in their best interest to take Grievous on together. After defeating Grievous and getting Obi Wan’s lightsaber from Cody, Obi Wan starts escorting Viveza’s back to her ship via Boga (best girl, rip, I think?).

They get blasted off the side of a cliff but manage to escape. They meet up with Bail and Yoda and head to Coruscant to change the Jedi Beacon to make sure any other survivors know to stay away. Aftering finding out that Anakin turned to the darkside, Viveza is enraged that he killed all the younglings.

They go to question Padme about where Anakin is, but she refuses to tell them anything. When Padme leaves to find Anakin, Viveza and Obi Wan stowaway on her ship.

On Mustafar when Anakin thinks Padme betrayed him by bringing Obi Wan and Viveza he tries attacking her, but Viveza stops him by shooting him with force lightning. Padme is able to get away from Anakin with minor injuries.

Viveza and Obi Wan engage in a fight against Anakin. After the facility’s shields get deactivated, Viveza gets separated from Obi Wan and Anakin.

I can either have Viveza and Obi Wan meet back at the ship or have her find them just as Obi Wan gets ‘the high ground’, but the thing about the second option is that Viveza wouldn’t want to take any changes and would probably put Anakin out of misery when he’s burning alive.

Either way they end up back at the ship with Padme. While on the ship Obi Wan and Viveza have a moment where they just lean on each other in exhaustion.

Padme goes into labour as they're travelling to Polis Massa. She gives birth to the twins and is predicted to make a full recovery in time. (because fuck you canon!). She’s heartbroken by what Anakin has done, but vows to fight for her children.

The ending is another point where I’m not quite sure where to take it. I could just go with the original ending where Leia is adopted by Bail, and Luke is sent to Tatooine right away, but I feel like Padme wouldn’t want to be separated from her children. At the moment I’m thinking she’ll go into hiding for around two years but after one too many close calls she begrudgingly accepts to send each of them into hiding. With Leia being sent to live with Bail and having her name changed to Leia Organa and Luke being sent to live with Owen. Maybe I’ll find some other direction.

Viveza sets out to see how many of her allies and connections are still loyal to her or if they decide to shift their loyalty to the newly formed Empire. Her first order of business to find out what happened to Margo, because she hasn’t contacted Viveza since Maul’s capture.

#askcj #darth viveza #long post

[isobel-thorm]

More nonsense but in that last Mandalorian recap I realized I gave the barely-a-fic I’ve been doing a plot hole, and even if three of y’all care I fixed it bc my writing brain is finally, finally working again. Behold, the worst summary: 

Refusal of the Call

In which Din has a request, and Raza and Cobb share a brain cell with different degrees of success in its usage. 

Din stared across the table at Raza and Cobb, trying to figure out just how to present the thing he had been hesitating to ask the last few hours. Din had bitten the bullet and  returned to Mos Pelgo after the speeder debacle so the speeder could get repaired and he could get some rest so he wasn’t caught as unawares again. But now he was about to depart so he intended to ask at the last minute so there could be less damage. For all involved.  It has been nice enough, he could admit, but the sight in front of him made him think back on the last thought he had about the dynamic, and well, now that everything had calmed down and he could make clear connections, well, there was something obvious staring him in the face. He turned his attention to Raza. “I need you to do me a favor.”

Her smile was immediate, kind. “Sure. What do you have in mind?” 

“I need you to take the kid.” 

She beamed. “You  got it,” she looked at The Child. “How about that, Little One? You stay here with Aunt Raz and Uncle Cobb when your daddy goes off to do something dangerous?” she looked at Din. “For how long? Couple of days?”

“As long as you can take him. Life, if you can.”

Her response was immediate. Her smile dropped instantaneously: “No!” 

It was matched perfectly with Cobb’s incredulous “What?!” and even the Child made a squeak that sounded stunned and offended. 

Din sighed. “He’s… somehow a Jedi. He needs to be with his people-“

“Mando, I’m not his people. I’ve only known one of his kind and -“

Din started to stand at the comment, completely forgetting the Child was in his lap for the moment. He scrambled to catch the Child, only to find that Cobb had already lunged for him, gotten a hold of him and had set him in his own lap instead. That was another reason he was certain he was making the right choice. The kid would be raised loved and protected if he did this. It was much better than his current situation. Though the fact that Cobb leaned over The Child what looked like protectively against him and was giving him a warning look didn’t quite sit well in his gut. Even The Child looked distressed, which made it much worse. Maybe he’d wait to see about the species mate. Maybe that would work better than a Jedi.  “You’ve seen his kind before?” 

Her response was guarded. “A long time ago, when my father brought me to an old Jedi for a game of catch up- and to see if I could train.”

“Where is he now?”

“Was. Was in Dagobah. But he’s long gone, I’m afraid. Died… must have been ten years back now. My friend Luke might know more. He’s one of us, too. I can ask if you’d like but with my skill, well, lack thereof. it might take a while.” 

Din sighed again. So close and so far. He thought that would be it, he would be home free, the kid could be safe with his people who would understand him, keep him on the right path. It was finally getting to him just how many plans had gone wrong. At least this one didn’t end up in mayhem or bloodshed. “No, that’s…” what could he even say. “He needs to be with you, your mother- Jedi. Decent Jedi. And I don’t mean in skill.”

“We’re barely Jedi, we don’t count.”

“You’ve got decent covered, though. You’re all I have. And some understanding is better than none.” 

“And you’re all he’s got. He’s your son.”

“He’s not.” His heart broke at the honest to god distressed sound the Child made. “He just… needs people who are better for him.”

“You’re the best for him. You can have him get trained in the Force without severing any sort of relationships. It worked for me... more or less.”  

“I took him with me to fight the Krayt Dragon,” Din objected. 

Cobb finally spoke up. “And he loved every second, if I heard right.” 

Din turned his attention to Cobb and tried to convey annoyance through the helmet. 

It worked, judging by how Cobb tossed his hands up in the air. “What? He did! He only got scared the one time. That’s saying something.” 

“Yes, it’s saying he’s getting used to danger. That’s a problem,” Din looked back at Raza. 

“No,” she repeated, firmer than the last time. 

“Cobb wants children,” Din blurted. If the other man was going to throw him under the bus, he’d do it right back. “Told me last night when he had a couple of drinks in him. You can get your wish if you take the kid.” 

Cobb gaped at him, then looked at Raza frantically. “Now hold on a sec-” 

Raza put a hand out to silence him. “And that’s our call when the time comes, not yours trying to pawn off the kid.” 

The Child cooed at that, sounding hurt, and Din’s heart broke again. It’s for him. It’s for his safety. “I just want what’s best for him.” 

“You’re what’s best for him,” Raza replied. 

“Doubtful,” 

“So the next best thing is dumping him off with strangers?” Cobb cut in. 

“We’re not strangers.”

“Funny, you told me the opposite two days ago,” Cobb deadpanned. He sounded… off. 

“I just… trust you both with his safety… and knowing what to do with those powers of his.” 

Cobb scoffed with enough venom in his tone that it alarmed the other two. “You’re asking us to sit by and let you abandon your son, Mando,” Cobb finally cut in. His voice sounded dangerous. “It happened to me, my parents dropped me here right after having, and I I’ll be damned if I sit by and let that happen to this little guy that I’m already fond of.”

Din’s stomach twisted all over again. So that was why he had been so quiet, why he was holding the Child so tightly during that conversation.

Cobb continued. “If we’re not strangers after all, you won’t ask that of us. So don’t you dare. Ever. And honestly I’m pretty damn disappointed in you that you made it this far.” 

Well now this was bound to end like all others had. So mayhem, then. He opened his mouth, then shut it. “I’m not trying to pawn him off, I-” 

“Sure sounds like it.” 

“I’m sorry, I just-” 

“Take. Your. Damn. Kid,” Cobb replied. He passed the Child over to him, the Child himself whining at the sudden shift in energy. 

To her credit, Raza did too. She gave the Child’s head a reassuring rub, then looked at Din. “Look, we get it. We do. And we know you care about the kid. And that’s another reason why we can’t do that to you. Or the little one.” She went to pull her hand from the Child, but the Child reached up in order to keep her hand there. She sighed, then passed her hand over his head lightly. “You two will be fine, you can make it through this. You’ll help him find his way. It’s just not here without you.” 

Cobb’s eyes flicked to his, not at all losing any of the annoyance he had built up. 

Din sighed. Those two were tough, but they made fair points. There was no sense in arguing. There was no way Raza and her mother were the last two around. She had mentioned Luke. Luke Skywalker, he supposed. That was a start. “I suppose you’re right. We’ll be fine. We’ll make it through. Won’t we, Kid?” He hoped it sounded convincing. He opened his arms. “Come on Kid, we have to go.”

“Wh-“ Raza’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re leaving from here? You were actually going to dump him and run?”

“Would’ve been easier on the both of us,” Din admitted quietly. He only took small comfort in how Raza’s face shifted from growing anger to sympathy. At least he had that. Cobb was still glaring at him. He opened his arms. “Come on, kid. We have to be back to the Crest by nightfall.”

The Child pouted for a moment, mourning the soon to be loss of the pets, but got up on the table, waddled over and let Din put him back in his sling. 

“We’ll walk you out, make sure you don’t dump him on one of our doorsteps,” Cobb commented  drily, rising to walk with him all the same. Raza joined them, and they all gathered by the speeder, just like they had the last time. 

“I won’t. You’ve got nothing to worry about, message received, loud and clear. He stays with me,” Din assured them. He took the Child’s carrier out and set it on the floor of the speeder. Then, carefully, eager to out some physical and emotional distance between them: “Thank you for the hospitality. We’ll meet again.” He got into it and fired up the engine, and without another word, pushed off and started making his way through the town. 

The Child popped his head out of the bag and waved goodbye to the other two, and they waved back half heartedly. 

After Din was out of sight, Cobb sighed heavily. “Kriff…” Another pause. “That reminds me, we gotta go to Mos Eisley this weekend. Ma invited us for dinner. She asked me to ask you to bring the stuff to make that roasted nuna you made the last time.” 

“Okay. You do know that he’s gonna kill you when he finds out that you lied, don’t you?” 

“Oh, absolutely. But you were floundering, I jumped in to assist. But I just lied to the guy. You mind tricked him. He’s gonna be more mad about that, I’m sure.”

“The kid’s not vocal. He’s not gonna know about the Jedi mind trick for a while. He’s gonna figure out the lie way sooner.”

“He’s gonna have to catch me, first,” Cobb countered. Then, carefully: “you think he and the kid will actually be okay? He ain’t gonna do something stupid?”

“See, that’s the good thing about my mind tricks. Most of the time they only work if there’s already some semblance of what I tell them in their heads already,” Raza answered. “They will be fine. He doesn’t want to leave the kid as much as he pretends he does.” She looked back at the speeder, already just a dot on the horizon. “He needs the kid more than he thinks the kid needs him. Part of him knows that, too.” 

“That is… actually assuring. Feel like an ass for doubting him, though.” 

“You’re in good company there.”

—-

A few months later, Cobb had been repairing part of his roof when he heard a few passersby talking excitedly about how ‘he’ was back. He was vaguely concerned for a moment until he looked over the side of the roof to see a familiar green and brown lump make its way to his doorway. “Kid…?” There was silence, an excited squeak, followed by Raza going “Little One!” inside. Ah. That “he.” No cause for concern then. Especially if he still had the kid. He hopped down from the roof, intent on finding the surrogate father, only to come just about face to face with him just outside the entryway.  “Hey, our favorite Mandalorian returns. Good to see you. What brings you here?” 

Din hummed. “Had some trouble in Mos Eisley before this.”

“Oh?” Cobb grinned. 

“Trouble with a job. Had to stay the night,” he slowly turned towards him. “Met a nice old couple who put me up for the night. Eric and  Noma.” Cobb stopped smiling. “Vanth. Who are very much looking forward to their son Cobb’s wedding in a couple of months. Noma’s been dreaming about it since they took him home from the Medical Pavilion.”

Cobb flinched, feeling the annoyance seeping from the man. He wondered if he should just start running now.  “... Can I get a head start, at least?” 

Din’s response was punching him in the gut, but he could tell he pulled it, so even as he doubled over, he tried not to laugh after the pain receded. “Okay, so it was a lie, a bit of a mean one. But hey, you’ve still got the kid, so we were right. He is yours.”

“That’s why you’re not dead,” Din answered. “Is Raza inside? I’ve got a question about… Jedi mind altering.”

Shit. “You gonna hit her for pulling that, too?”

“... … What?”

Cobb frowned, then looked at the kid, suddenly putting together that he had done something with it. Go figure. She had said the thought had to be there. “Nothing. Right this way. Help me up the step, I can’t move anything below my chest thanks to you.” 

“Fine.”

#I dont know what to tag this #Ship: Robb #kinda #more just like their verse #Cobb Vanth

[rosepetals-flyingbirds]

Tortured Souls. (2)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader.

Summary: Y/N Stark is Tony adopted friend (he refuses to call her daughter due to the circumstances they had met). She becomes a deadly agent and becomes a part of the Avengers.

<<

Note: Sorry if it developed too darkly. In that chapter, the reader will explain how she and Tony had met. I know it says it’s a Bucky x Reader, but that fic will probably be a slow-burn. I apologize in advance if any of the languages mentioned are wrong, I used google translate and if anyone now Persian language and wants to help me, feel free. / In the story, I said the reader and Yinsen talked in the Pashto language (which it’s what they talk in that region on Afghanistan) but since it didn’t have in google translator I used Persian instant (which they also use).

(Gifs go to their rightful owners.)

Warnings: Injuries, violence, MENTIONS OF RAPE, HUMAN TRAFFIC, language and agsnt!A

WC: 5,551.

You walked into the kitchen at the breakfast hour the next day. In the previous night, you engulfed your tears and called Fury asking for all the files about Artem and all the files Hydra had of you.

You analyzed every single one of them carefully, it had things you did recently and you wonder who it’s watching you so close by and sending them the information. If it was a few months ago you could think it was Rumlow doing so, but he is dead.

None of that information would have made their way to Hydra’s hands without a double agent selling it.

You called the team and took all the courage you had to tell them the truth. 

Being preferable telling all of them together than having to tell the story repeated times you convoked everyone to the main room at the Compound.

Steve sat in front of Tony, Bucky and Sam were standing up, Wanda and Vision at the couch aside with Bruce, Clint and Natasha. Thor wasn’t in Midgard and you know he would have bigger worries than your case.

You rubbed your hands together and start to tell your trajectory. “Well, it will be a bit long and I overanalyzed all of it and thought in telling a resume but I want you all to understand why I did what I did, and why I killed so many people that I honestly don’t regret doing so.” You darted your eyes to Steve, he was the good man that always try to put the bad guys in jail rather than use violence to kill them. You honestly hope that your previous actions do not have a bad effect on your friendship with the super soldier.

“My mom was a crackhead, my father was no different. My mother started buying weed with him and then they ended up having sex. As her family was very religious they got surprised when her belly started to grow with me inside, when they asked who was the father they expulsed her of their house when she’d told them it was a drug dealer.” Bruce adjusted his body on the couch and nodded to you, silently encouraging you to finish the story.

”The guy, my father, didn’t want her. He didn’t even recognize her face when she looked for him. Then she spent the pregnancy in homeless shelters here and there. When I born at 8 months old she got Postpartum depression, she didn’t want me, she said I was the reason she became homeless. Her mother went to see me and when she heard the baby was premature, she paid a treatment saying that it would be what a mother would do. So when I became stronger my grandmother gave me back to my mother and told she did that and I was her burden, and if she was worth saving they would help us.”

“She lived on the streets with me and one day that drug dealer saw her and when he saw the little baby on her arms had the same birthmark he had he invited us to live with him.” You let a fake smile remembering how was your childhood house. “It was best if she stood in the streets.” Your eyes filled with tears, you tried to tell the story without looking at their faces, but it was so hard! Years engulfing all these memories/feelings and having to talk about this with the people you most care about it’s hard. 

You dried the tears and Tony stood up to grab a glass of water to give to you, he did so and you took large gulps. Tony always took care of you, he was definitely the person you love the most in the whole planet.

The cold water felt great on your dry throat. “Anyway, after a couple of years later I grew up and lived in the mess. The house was disgusting and terrible. My father sent me to the preschool that was near the house and every time he showed up to pick me, everyone looked at me and judged since I always was dirty and with messy hair. When I made four years old, my mother was with more two kids, two boys. The drugs, of course, had become tougher over the years. It wasn’t weed anymore, as weed it’s the door for worse things, they start using heroin, cocaine and crack. Men started coming into the house and treading the drugs for sex and… and it was terrible.”

The disgusting smell and the vision of strange men with your mother made you shake. Even at such an early age, you can’t shake the small pieces of memories you had there. Doesn’t matter how hard you tried to. “My mother died of an overdose and one of the boys died of an infection caused by a stupid heroin needle he found on the floor.” You placed the cup of glass above the center table and you sat there, Tony was so sad hearing it all again that he didn’t tell you to “move your ass of my expensive furniture.”

“When I turned six years old my father was more into drugs than ever, he tried to trade me for more but even the crackheads told I was very petite for sex, he got pissed and started to beat me over and over because of it. When I became eight years old he sold me for human traffic. Apparently had that rich foreign man that wanted small girls and he sold me for $20 dollars! I don’t remember much maybe because of my age or the fact that I try to block everything in my mind, but I do remember that I screamed and beat the man over and over but it didn’t work. I was sent to India along with other girls in the most various ages and ethnic, but they didn’t want me there. They said I was very skinny and looked sick, so the trafficker started to give me a lot to eat to see if my body would grow. After a few months being dragged to a lot of places having all those disgusting men touching me to see if the ‘merchandise was worth the money’ I was sold to an extremist guy in Afghanistan, he gave me a shower and dressed me in a long skirt and a small top. He grabbed me by the arm and offered me to a man, I didn’t understand the words they were exchanging at first. The man didn’t want me, but after a while with the two of them bickering, he took a look and told he was keeping me.” A few tears dropped and you quickly dried it with the back of your hand. “The man was named Raza, he was the leader of a group that called themselves the Ten Rings.” Clint looked to Natasha at the mention of the name, both of them were assigned to do a mission there years ago.

“At first, he just dragged me everywhere and taught me how to hold a gun, it also had that lady called Lorna that taught me how to dance and how to speak their language, she wasn’t really sensitive but I guess she knew keeping a child was a terrible thing. I lived with them being Raza “young present”, I saw terrible things he did with innocent people and I saw how many girls were raped by him and their men, but of course, it wasn’t wrong cause they had bought them.” The sneer in your voice was apparent, along with your anger. “Anyways when I completed twelve years old I got my period, Raza laughed and hugged me. He sent me to Lorna and she helped me clean myself and her face was a pure worry. I didn’t understand why I was “Raza propriety” for basically four years and he never let any man laid a finger on me, he just taught me how to shoot, sent me to Lorna to learn how to speak their language and belly dance. But Lorna knew that when I got my period my life would change. Six days after Raza made sure I wasn’t bleeding anymore.” You shivered and weaved your hand to your hair.

“He called me to his tend and told me to dance for him, I was so scared and the fucker just laughed and touched my face telling that if I didn’t he would put a bullet in my head. I danced for him with tears in my eyes. The bastard was laid in front of me on his sofa. It had an AK-47 on his side, just to make sure I would stay in line. When the third song finished he grabbed me by the hair and… well, you all can imagine what happened.“ You looked up and saw Bucky nostril flaring, Tony was concentrated on his phone, it was blocked so you assumed he was trying to hold his emotions.

Natasha had left the place on the couch and was at her feet listening closely. “It stood like that basically every day, I was so young and it hurt so bad. When I was thirteen I heard them talking with a bald man dressed in fancy clothes he looked at me but just let a smile, he was accompanied by a translator and they were talking about ammo and a man that the ‘bald man’ wanted dead. Two weeks later they bought a man in the caves, it looked like a rich man by the clothes. One of the heavy ammo they had bought from America had shot close to him in the desert, and it ended up hurting the man sending shrapnel to his heart. It had a doctor with Raza’s group, they had kidnaped him from his previous home called Gulmira, they killed his family and basically everybody in the village. He was the only polite man there, he was called Yinsen. He saved the foreign man, the man was Tony."

"Raza didn’t know but I always managed to meet Yinsen. I knew where every camera was located and turned a few off without them knowing. Yinsen was a good man, he taught me a few things which I’m grateful for, and when he was saving Tony I was there too, I found completely amazing how he managed to save him with an electromagnet that was hooked up to a car battery.” You laughed at the memory, it was a good moment for you. “Anyways, when Tony woke up he talked to me and it was so different speak English with someone else, Yinsen did sometimes but we normally used the Pashto language. At first, I was really careful to be around Tony, but he settled himself.” You smiled at Tony who smiled back. “It was so funny seeing him walking holding the heavy car battery!” Tony chuckled. “The men gave him a few tools and parts to build the Jericho missile, but instant he built what we can say it was the first Iron Man armor,” Tony smirked at the memory if it wasn’t your petite form stealing him all the metal and random items he needed maybe the Iron Man wouldn’t be the part of him.

“He built the robot, with mine and Yinsen's help, and he got out of there. He had promised me he would take me out of that hell, and he did. Unfortunately, Yinsen died in the middle of the cross-fire. Tony used the armor as a shield and held me when it flew, of course, it falls in the middle of the desert. But we got out of there. When Rhodey found us in the desert he looked at me and asked Tony what was happening, Tony told I would go with him didn’t matter what. And he did so, he brought me here and fixed everything. His lawyer found my…” You took a deep breath trying to find the courage. “Parents, and since both were dead he adopted me. The lawyer was worried at first but since I didn’t have any register it became really easy to do so."

"Tony officially adopted me and gave me his last name. He also contracted a tutor to give me classes and asked what I wanted to do, I told him I wanted to do boxing and anything to do with wrestle. He did so and also put me in language classes as well. I guess I wanted to learn how to protect myself and never be the poor little girl ever again.” You watched your friends' faces, certainly, none of them had thought about your past.

“The ‘bald’ man I had seen before was Obadiah, Tony partner at Stark Industries back in the day. He wanted Tony dead and he was the one that planned everything for Tony’s kidnapping. I recognized his face when I had saw him in Afhegasntian, “Obie” didn't’ recognized me which was a relief, of course he told Tony he was out of his mind to adopt a kid especially one that wasn’t little anymore. I told Tony he was the one that sold him and Tony believed, he searched the information and sent Pepper to hack his computer, what occurred next you guys know the man tried to build an iron man suit bigger than Tony’s and Tony ended up blowing his ass up.” You smiled to try to make the place less tense, but it didn’t work. Steve, gave you a weak smirk, but besides him, you could see Bucky’s and Sam’s expression: serious and angry.

“But after a few years, I met Fury and he got impressed with my skills. Natasha asked me If I ever thought about becoming an agent but before I could decline Tony declined the offer for me. I accept the offer a year later and she taught me a lot of things of that world we live in.” You winked at her and she winked back. All the courses you had made surely taught you a lot of things, but Natasha taught you things beyond any course classes would do.

“One day I hacked a system of the man that had brought me from my previous dad and when I found the name Mikhail in the system I couldn’t help but feel the urge to kill him and everyone that works in that disgusting life. So I studied him and his men, I studied mind manipulation, Russian and Ukrainian and prepared myself to kill them. And I did. And that is why now Artem Melknov along with Hydra wants me.” You finished your story and let a torturous exhale.

Everyone kept in silence. All of them accepting the new information in different ways. They knew Tony had adopted you but they had always found odd you calling him Tony instead of dad or the fact that you never acted like a daughter with him, your relationship with him always looked playful and friendly.

“I saw that.” Wanda cut the silence and looked at you. “When we met at Sokovia, and I played with your mind I saw some pieces of that. I played your worst fear and I saw that terrible house you told and a man touching you. I’m sorry I made you re-live that Y/N.” Her words sounded sincere, you nodded and told her it was okay.

“Why you never told us?” Steve asked seeming pained, he had told you almost everything about his past and you never explained yours to him.

“I’m sorry Steve, but I couldn’t. It all happened so long ago and all I wanted was to forget that. Of course Tony knew everything, Pepper knows a resume of it cause she had found weird the fact that Tony was bringing a homeless girl to live under his roof. Fury also knows, but I think just them. Tony’s lawyer didn’t know much, he made a new document saying I came from a foster house in Ohio, and people believed it.”

                                …

The following hours you spent in your room with Natasha with both of your notebooks in hands, she tracked all the possible leads about the man that was hunting you down. “I didn’t have the chance to say I’m sorry.” She said but avoided your eyes, all the emotional behavior frights her a bit.

Nodding you shooked your head. “And I’m sorry I did not make my job right, cause if I had done all of this wouldn’t be happening right now.“ You closed the tap of your notebook and placed it further on the bed. You wanted to throw it at the wall with all the frustrations that were burning inside of you, but you knew better than act like a spoiled rich kid.

“I meant your past Y/N!“ She pointed and you nodded your head.

“Come on Nat, we all had terrible paths.” You told her matter-factly. “That is the reason we are all here, right?“

She nodded and looked directly at you eyes, “Yes, but I do know it saddens you too, and you don’t have to act like this isn’t boring you, cause if you do so sooner or later will eat you alive.“

“Either way talk about it wouldn’t make it go away!” You answered and stood up walking to your closet, you got some gym’s clothes and placed on your bed beside her. “But finding Artem’s group and any Hydra follower and killing all of them will.“ She nodded and knew you were blocking her attempts at solace.

You changed and put your shoes on, you needed to burn some steam.

Nat didn’t accompany you and you’re glad about it, you wanted to punch a punching bag and go for a run later. A spare would be good too, but with your mind so distant you wouldn’t hold anything and would definitely end up frustrated about that.

You searched for a couple of wraps to wrap over your hand and wrist since you found none you shook your head and went for it without so.

You started to throw punches with punches, memories coming back to your head. Raza’s disgusting voice in your ear. 

The heat inside the caves and how many men held guns and looked at you as some sort of prize.

"Hey hey, I heard you were searching for girls. Here, she is pretty right.”

Seven punches and four kicks.

“Listen here little girl, your daddy isn’t here anymore. You will shut your mouth and will not whiny when entering that plane. If you open that fucking mouth I will slit your tongue.”

Ten punches, five kicks and five diagonal elbows.

“Vah bahut patalee hai, aap use bechane vaale beemaar bechane mein saksham nahin honge.” - She is too skinny, you won’t be able to sell her looking sick.

Three followed roundhouse knee.  

“ Hasnana, ‘ana ‘urid laha.” - Okay, I will want her.

Five straight knee.  

“Tabdu jamilat alraqs balnsbt li” - you look pretty dancing for me.

Three followed punches and two elbows.

“ 'Ant 'afdal shay’ ashtarayth.” - you are the best thing I had ever bought.

Five punches, five knee jabs and five push kicks.

“Bishrtik liynat jiddaan” - your skin is so soft.

Seven punches, three kicks and four knee strike.

Your knuckles were hurting and you could feel a slight pain in your left wrist. But you didn’t stop. You punched, kicked, elbowed as all the memories were coming back to your mind.

Everything coming like a bolt of lightning in your eyelids. All the voices and all the feelings they had made you feel. You kept letting all the stress and frustrations out. Your face was wet but it wasn’t only your sweat, but your tears as well.

You went on and on and you could hear your heartbeat on your ears as your blood boiled. You screamed and kept punching the bag with all the other movements. You screamed and screamed until you felt something pulling you back.

“Y/N, Y/N!” It was Bucky. “Hey hey, it’s okay. It’s me, it’s me.” He hugged you and locked you in his embrace.

You were pissed at him and you hated letting people see your weak parts, but you needed it, the comfort. His metal arm around your waist and the flesh one on your hair, you pressed your upper body into his wrapping your arms around his chest, your head was resting on his metal shoulder which even with his shirt on, it felt cold which were always soothing.

Bucky.

The gym as the majority part of the Compound was soundproof, but super soldier’s hearing could easily pass by it. Steve and Bucky were assigned to a mission the next morning. Bucky couldn’t sleep so he decided he needed to do some work out to try relief his mind off of everything that was happening rather than spend hours looking at the ceiling of his bedroom.

When the elevator got to the gym's level he heard disturbing grunts, knuckles throwing punches and then a scream, your scream.

He entered the part where the punches bags, a wrestling ring and some sparring folding mats were placed.

He saw you there completely lost. He ran after you but you kept screaming and punching for dear life. He had shouted your name at least six times, but only when he pulled you back and turned you around you realized he was there.

He embraced your body against his. You sobbed and hugged him back eagerly.

Y/N.

A few minutes had passed until you calmed down. You placed both of your hands on Bucky’s chest and looked into his eyes, the gaze was ephemeral since your felt a terrible pain in your left wrist. You moaned in pain and let go of his body.

He darted his eyes to your line of stare and took a breath when he saw how your knuckles were bleeding definitely caused by the fact you didn’t utilize a wrap.

“Goddamn it Y/N, why you didn’t use a wrap?” His voice wasn’t angry, yet he hates to see you hurt in any way, especially about something you could have avoided.

He placed his hand on your lower back and walked with you toward the shelves which were alongside a sink with a long counter. - because training in a Compound with superheroes who take training really serious requires having a part to take care of the possible injuries and knowing that Tony designed the place to have a sink, shelves with all possible band-aids and bandages, followed with an aid kit and some medicines. -

Your eyes were bloodshot and you felt like a robot, your movements predictable and your mind far away. Bucky grabbed your hips up and placed you on the counter like you were a doll. He gave you a smile to try to soothe you, but you just looked at him. He moved to the top shelf grabbing the aid kit.

Your hands were on your lap, and you were staring at the punching bag that was decked out with a few drops of your blood, just now when the adrenaline levels had subsided you felt your head, knees, elbows, hands, wrist and feet throbbing.

“Can I ?” He asked, in precautions. Normally when he had a PTSD episode or any anxiety one, you were the one who helped him go through, and you always tried to tell him before doing anything. You tried to let him know what was happening cause he never had the possibility in his captivity in Hydra, they just had used him whatever the way they wanted. Like he was some kind of ragged doll.

You lifted both of your hands and he grabbed one by one expecting it, his hands were huge and yours looked tiny on his, but he tried his best to be careful.

He analyzed the first one, and besides the bloody knuckles and the red marks that were growing swollen, it was okay. He touched your wrist and forearm and went up to see any sign that you were feeling pain there, he looked for any bone or nerve displaced or broken. You didn’t hiss or flinch so he went to the left one.

Your knuckles were damaged as well, your wrist was swollen and when he touched your wrist you let a pained sound. He did the same procedure up on your left arm. “Can you move it?” He asked and you know he was referring to your wrist.

You moved it slowly in circles motion, but even with the pain, you could still move it letting Bucky know you didn’t break it. “Gladly isn’t broken. I think it’s just displaced. I also think you didn’t break your metacarpal neither, which it’s a good thing.” He smiled again.

Definitely trying to calm you.

He started to clean your wounds with saline and dried it with a piece of cotton. He grabbed the antibacterial ointment and passed on the wounds and covered all of them with knuckles band-aids each one.

He did the same procedure with your left hand. You gulped feeling your dry throat. “I screwed everything Buck.” Your voice was quiet, you hadn’t said anything since your screams, only sobs.

He darted his eyes to you and got his attention back to your knuckles.

“What do you mean?”

“Everything,” You narrowed your eyes. “I don’t regret what I did, I don’t regret the people I killed. All the women and men I killed. I do not regret it!” He kept looking at your hand and you paid attention to his facial expression, Bucky as Steve was a good man, people would say it’s hypocritical for the Winter Soldier himself be against murder, but he is. “If I’m a bad person for doing so, so be it, I don’t care. But I couldn’t stand the thought that people who won money over selling innocent children, teenagers to prostitution. Or selling people to slave jobs around the world. I couldn’t Buck. I did and I would do everything again. Because the world it’s a better place without those people on it!” You frowned but at this point, you couldn’t regret your prior decisions.

He didn’t know what to answer right away. He killed people, more than he can admit out loud because he regrets it. But it wasn’t him doing so, was a trained machine, the Hydra fist. He had killed two people when he was a hundred percent Bucky Barnes back in the 40’s, but it was in the war.

“But now I’d set you guys in dangerous. And I hate myself for it.”

He finished your bandages and placed it on your lap. His hands placed on the dark counter, each one close to your sides. “We are always in danger.” His voice was low while he searched your eyes to make sure you knew he meant it. “We will get hurt but the next day we’ll be here and kicking.” He tried to assure you with a scanty grin on his face. But you didn’t trust his words, he had avoided you all those weeks.

“That is why you hadn’t talked to me in a whole month?” He let go of the counter and walked to the shelves to grab a roll bandage to put on your wrist. But he kept the silence. His eyebrows had lowered and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

He placed the package in the pocket of his pants and gripped your hips to put your feet on the floor. “You will need to put ice on this before wrapping, let’s go to the kitchen, all the ice it had here Clint used that morning.” He walked away but you stood there staring at him.

He didn’t hear any footsteps on his side nor behind him, he looked at you and realized you hadn’t followed him. He looked at your face, a few feets apart. His head lowered and his eyes went to the floor before going up to yours. “I am sorry.” He said truthfully.

“Why you avoided me, Buck?”

“You got shot Y/N, if the bullet were a few inches apart, or if your gear hadn’t that armored mode thing you could be dead now.”

“But I didn’t die, I’m great, I’m here! Right here in front of you! And it has passed more than one month I came back. I spent 4 days at the hospital and you left on the first one. When I came here you were gone. You were on a solo mission God’s know where because neither Fury nor Steve told me when I begged them to. Then another three weeks and nothing about you.”

“You had enough people here to help you.”

You let a fake laugh. “Oh yes James, thank you! I mean I was just worried about your ass cause I needed someone to feed me or read me a book.” You said with your voice going higher and higher. “Are you serious? What happened in years of friendship uh? Every time we went on a mission or every time we spent the night awake because you could not sleep? All the things we talked about and all the amazing things we lived together?” You walked close to him no minded how your body was aching, he wasn’t going to run away without an explanation. “I needed you here with me Bucky! You like to say that I almost died and the only sane thing I can think when someone you care about almost dies it’s the need to be close to that person. But you just ran away from me.” A tear left your eyes and went down your cheek, you watched him silently for a moment. “Have you any idea how selfish was to leave for solo missions and spending your time at your apartment? Have you any idea how selfish it was to worry me so much that I couldn’t sleep at night?” Drowning in everything you pursed your lips together.

He swallowed his saliva and avoided your eyes looking away, he didn’t know you felt it in that way.

Bucky had a different defense mechanism, he went on those missions because he needed to put his body and mind to worry about other things rather the guilt feeling he had. “I needed to be there to protect you Y/N. And I wasn't.”

“It wasn’t protection I needed, Tony and Sam were there. What would have you done differently, throw your body in the front of the bullet?” He would, without a second thought. “Because if you did it wouldn’t matter because the guns were to close to anyone to do something!”

He scoffed and passed his hand over his hair placing a small amount behind his ear. “Exactly.” He answered at the mention of the guns so close to your body.

You scoffed and ran your hand through your hair in pure confusion and annoyance. “If you were there I could at least try to understand that, but right now it’s like you are trying to cut me out of your life and are using this as a poor excuse James!“ You yelled and your throat ached in how dry it was.

Bucky knew you only called him James on two occasions: to tease him, or because you’re madly angry with him. Which is the case, it’s the second option.

He grabbed the bandage from his pocket and gave it to you, you just kept looking at his eyes expecting any sign of emotion. “Go upstairs and ask Sam to wrap your wrists, I have somewhere to go.” Since you didn’t grab the bandage roll, he walked away and placed it in the small furniture on the door side.

You walked behind him and pulled his metal arm back. “Are you leaving me again? Honestly, James if you want to go then go, but never look at me again.“ Your eyes were watered but you held the tears at the maximum. He looked into your eyes and nodded slowly.

“Ask Sam before it gets too bad to wrap.“ He said and walked away passing through the door, leaving you behind.

You let the tears fall, and held your mouth with your hand trying to muffle your sobs, it was useless, you knew he would listen to it.

                                …

>>

@soshewrotestories​ @cutie1365​

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader

[paramsiddharth]

#10: Wisdom out in the Grasses

It's been an awfully long time and I will have to make this one very, very long. I’ll try to talk about everything in the sequence that it happened.

Do you ever feel so angry that you don't even know what to be mad at? Do you ever feel so hurt that the cause isn't evident? That's me right now.

Ah! Instead of whining, let me start with something productive for once. So, I have spent a positive amount of time with WSL1 and I am impressed. I’m glad Microsoft created it. I also learnt about how to apply stereo-widening to audio tracks in a DAW, and I found it really amazing how it completely changes the impression of the sound. I was unable to get WSL2 at the moment, but I’ll keep trying.

So, I obviously was dying to record some new songs but didn’t have a microphone. The price went down for a day but my mom missed the opportunity to get it at that point in time. I waited for a couple of days, hoping the price will go down again, but when it didn’t, I just decided to settle with a renewed one for a cheaper price.

Of course very few people remembered my birthday. I got some unexpected late wishes, but yes, it felt kind of nice to know they cared. I feel like the overwhelming personal problems I often whine about have caused people to stop caring for me, and it makes sense. How much could one afford to hear in a busy modern lifestyle?

I studied NodeJS a little further. On his birthday, babu (my brother) registered himself on all social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord, to be specific. And yes! The mic was finally ordered.

I learnt about the callback hell in JavaScript. :P I find the name very funny, but it makes sense why it needs to be taken care of. I realize Promises have done a great job at revolutionizing it.

I mourned the demise of a classmate due to dengue. He couldn’t get proper care due to COVID-19, whence such an otherwise less fatal disease took him from us. May his soul rest in peace.

And we finally moved to the first floor. It didn’t immediately have positive results. The very next day my parents fought again. It felt like this would never end. Honestly, it was never a good idea to live in someone else’s control in the first place. My parents deserve a place of their own, and that’s exactly why we were determined to leave Faizabad.

However, I admit that moving up had a positive impact on us and we all feel better, mostly because none of us has to spend the entire day looking at each-other and getting annoyed when one person is happy and the other isn’t. We can choose to be in separate rooms minding our own business, while frequently spending quality time together.

I finally finished and released Pak Raza. I am overwhelmed by the positive response I got. Within just a few days, Pak Raza surpassed any song I ever created. People actually shared it to their Instagram Stories. Some thought it was a cover, hehe. 🤭 I had to clarify that I wrote, sung, mastered, and animated the song myself.

I was then suddenly enthusiastic about completing more of my songs. Meanwhile, Coursera courses were soon going to not be free anymore, so I started giving them more time and dedication. Interestingly, we had guests in the new home. For the first time in the recent while, I saw my mom and dad, both happy about it. I wish the best for them and hope the stay happy like this forever.

After recording and posting 2 song covers, and getting good response, I created Zeher, a song dedicated to anti-intoxication and de-addiction. Intoxicants and harmful drugs are a growing problem among the youth. In India itself, I have grown used to seeing young people taking drugs and other harmful things, without realizing how big a problem they are pulling themselves into. Everything that I would ever want to say to a druggist, and alcoholic, or anyone addicted to harmful items, I summarized in one song and released it.

Obviously I didn’t get the likes and comments of a couple of people. :P I know very well that my surroundings aren’t full of clean people either. I hope they learn a lesson from this song and hopefully try to let go of intoxicants.

There’s a new app out there for beta-testing. It allows us to gamify our life and evaluate ourselves based on our habits. I signed up for it and it has been really amazing so far! It’s name is Habitica, and I would recommend the reader to try it out too. It can be used from the browser itself, so it isn’t necessary to install it. :)

Professor Jogesh Muppala is indeed an amazing teacher. I don’t know how his teachings always push me to create something new. I created an Express middleware named Imaginator, which converts the ‘src’ attribute of all outgoing images to use data-URIs instead of the usual address of the image. It needs improvement, but works decently so far~! I published it on NPM.

I started studying some new technologies, such as Flutter, React, Angular, and ElectronJS. Meanwhile, my friend approached me for help with a project, and I worked with him on the first ever project that involved the separation of concerns. I know less about machine-learning than he does, and he knows less about front-end web development than I do, but we worked together and got it up and running. :) It is a cotton-leaf disease prediction web application.

Speaking of collaborations, a big collaboration was yet to come up. A friend of my friend, who wasn’t directly connected to me, creates amazing music tracks. I don’t usually approach people directly due to the possible consequences. 😅 Still, I took the chance and approached her, asking if she would consider a possible collaboration.

It went left and right for a while, and she sent me one of her tracks, saying I can make a song with it if I want. I am pretty sure she thought I wasn’t serious. That’s because she didn’t know me from before. xD

It was an amazing track. One could tell it from the first listen that it was meant to be a superhit song. I started writing the lyrics and recorded it. I reminded her that I am working on it and it is going to be an amazing song. I sent her a copy, and she liked it, too. We tried to get some of her vocals in, too, but sadly we couldn’t. :( It is hard to do it when you are collaborating from different places in the world and you don’t have expensive gear to make stuff easier.

After 2 weeks of labour, we finally did it! Neutrino was a huge success. The song caught momentum from day one and, everyone was talking about it. Many fell in love with the tune, many with the beats, many with the vocals, but in the end, everyone who listened to it loved it. I and AT (the creator of the track) couldn’t be prouder.

This happens when one writes a blog post after a very long time. It becomes

“long”. I would continue the story with the next one. See you there! :D

#life #slice #programming #coding #music #singing #collaboration #family #pain #trouble #struggle #power #staying strong

[sexy-orc-singles]

The Dragonborn and Rayya stumble across quite the surprising sight in Ivarstead. 2.2k words.

The Dragonborn was used to seeing odd sights in Skyrim. Odd sights were practically the only thing he saw nowadays, with all these dragons and necromancers and weird burial crypts about. Skyrim was just full of weird shit, and the Dragonborn and his housecarl Rayya had long since become numb to a great deal of it. You were basically forced to if you wanted to keep sane. 

But this was new.

It had been a long walk for the both of them. The Dragonborn had met up with some woman who had taken the Horn that he had been tasked to retrieve by the greybeards, and she basically forced him to go to Kynesgrove and kill a dragon for her, just so she could see that he was dragonborn. Clearly someone wasn’t keeping track of the news, or just didn’t realize she could just ask him to Shout. Regardless, the dragon had been slain, dragon soul absorbed, Delphine back off to Riverwood to figure out their next task, and the remaining two walking to see what else could be done in the day before they’d need to settle in for the night. The Dragonborn decided to head to Ivarstead- it wasn’t too long of a trek, and there were more then a few things to check out along the way.

They had saved a Khajiit caravaner from a giant, killed more then their fair share of bears and wolves, tried to help who they thought was an attacked merchant but turned out to be a bandit trap, killed those bandits, and kept an eye out for dragons... but all of that was normal. That was all things they were used to. It was when they got to Ivarstead late in the night and walked into the inn that they saw something that legitimately left the Dragonborn shocked silent.

Sitting inside the inn, talking to some very awed townsfolk, was a man in steel plate armour, with his companion beside him a very bored looking Redguard in a poorly tied Alik'r hood, hair poking out of it. In fact, they looked quite similar to the Dragonborn and Rayya. The Dragonborn had unique armour, having made his himself, and Rayya was much more stocky then this other redguard woman and donned face paint, but to someone who had only heard of the Dragonborn, it would have been easy to mistake this pair for the real deal. Add the fact that the Dragonborn had only visit Ivarstead once, and briefly, you couldn’t blame them for thinking this new smooth talker was the real Dragonborn.

Rayya cleared her throat.

The copycats looked over, and the armoured man visibly flinched. There was a confused murmur through the crowd, but the faker just laughed and stood up, walking over to the Dragonborn and wrapping his arm around his shoulders. 

“Well well, I didn’t think I was so popular that I’d have people trying to copy my look to be just like me! What are you, some kid I saved from a dragon? You wear your armour well, my friend.” The faker laughed, patting the Dragonborn’s chestplate. He was... significantly shorter. The Dragonborn easily hit 6′9″, but this faker was barely 6′4″. “What a weird coincidence, right Raza?“

The redguard shot the man a ticked off look. “Yes, my Thane.” She replied in a voice dripping annoyance. She went back to picking at her nails.

“That’s more then enough.” Rayya spoke, crossing her arms. The Dragonborn awkwardly pushed the man’s arm off of him. “What’s the meaning of this? Why are you impersonating the Dragonborn?“

“Impersonating?“ The faker laughed. “My dear girl-“

“Call me that again and I’ll cut off your hand.“

He faltered a moment. “Er- I don’t see why you call us the fakers when you and your companion here are going about dressed just like us. Why, wouldn’t that make you the fakers?”

“How dare you!“ Rayya barked, reaching for the curved sword on her hip. The Dragonborn raised his hand though, and she stopped, though it didn’t get the murderous look off her face.

The Dragonborn was silently staring down at the man. He hadn’t said a word about this yet, and Rayya had to wonder what was going on through his head. Wouldn’t he want to set the record straight about this? What was he going to do here? But... but she had to admit, his silence was impacting the crowd. The confused murmurs only grew with every passing second that the Dragonborn merely stared down at the faker. 

“Now now, what’s going on here?“ The innkeeper finally spoke, crossing his arms. “I was told this here,“ A gesture towards the faker. “Was the real Dragonborn. Said he needed to have a room here because he heard a dragon was heading this way. Wanted to be well rested for it.”

“...When did he say the dragon was coming?“ The Dragonborn finally spoke in his soft voice.

Wilhelm seemed surprised. “Er- tomorrow morning, he said.“

“Then we have lots of time.“ The Dragonborn gestured to the fake. Rayya gave him an odd look, but said nothing. “We can settle this dispute easily, can’t we?“

“We can?“ The faker said, but quickly gained back his confidence. “Of course we can! Why, it will be easy. I have plenty of ideas of my own, but go ahead and voice yours. But make sure it’s a quick one, I have... lots to do tonight.” He did a tacky fingergun at the bard Lynly, making the fake-Rayya roll her eyes. Lynly giggled slightly, though she seemed nervous.

“Easy. We go outside, and you show the good people of Ivarstead your thu’um.“

The fake dragonborn balked, staring at the real one in wide eyed surprise. “I- Of course! Of course, I’ll show everyone my- my Thu’um. Easy. Why, a brawl would be easier! Why don’t we brawl instead? Prove your words with your fists!” He challenged, but the Dragonborn was having none of it. Thankfully, the people in the inn weren’t either.

Another Nord spoke up. “Only the Dragonborn can Shout without training. And the Dragonborn had been called up to High Hrothgar recently, everyone heard it. So the real Dragonborn should be able to shout without any problem.”

The rest of the people in the inn murmured in agreement. Rayya just gave her Thane an approving nod. He always seemed to have a plan, didn’t he? Well, perhaps not always, but it was definitely an impressive show of thinking on his feet.

“Well I’m- I’m very tired, you see. And shouting would- it would er-“

“It would be like summoning a dragon by name.“ Raza offered, not looking up from her hand.

“Exactly! Exactly.“ The fake Dragonborn was quick to nod. “And besides, the only shouts I know are very powerful and destructive, we wouldn’t want to ruin anyone’s home, now would we?”

“If a dragon came, wouldn’t you be able to kill it? After all, the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragonslayer.“ Another Nord pointed out.

“You planned on killing one in the morning, didn’t you? Why not call it sooner and make sure it’s dead?“ Wilhelm pointed out. “I’m not giving you any free room until you prove that you’re the real Dragonborn.“

The faker balked again, looking to his Redguard companion. She just looked up at him with a sneer. “Well, my Thane? They’ve made it clear that they want proof. Show the good people your thu’um.”

He seemed shocked at the side she took, but nodded and crossed his arms. “Very well. If that’s what you all need to see, then I’ll show you my- my Thu’um and defend you all from a dragon! But if something gets ruined, it won’t be my fault.”

“I’ll be happy to pay for any damages he does trying to prove himself.“ The Dragonborn pipped up, which seemed to make his double all the more confident.

“See? What a good sport. Then, let me prove it to all of you!“

The fake Dragonborn led the way outside, with the real one, Rayya and the fake-Rayya (who was very reluctant to get up) quick to follow him out. The townsfolk followed as well, with Wilhelm being the last out, locking the inn behind him. There would be no retreat for the faker, whoever it would turn out to be. As the faker got himself ‘set up’ in the middle of the road, a few guards approached curiously to see what was going on and joined the crowd once they got their explanation. The real Dragonborn stood beside the fake, arms crossed as he watched. The two Rayya’s stood off to the side, the fake one looking very uninterested while the real one awkwardly hovered her hands by her head, trying to fix her messy hood. 

“Go ahead.“ The real Dragonborn told him.

“I’m- I’m getting ready. Be patient.“ The fake replied. He took a few deep breaths, popped his back, then hovered his hands by his helmet. He finally took it off, revealing an Altmer who seemed quite nervous(and rather short for his race). He tossed the helmet towards Raza... who gave it a disinterested look as it fell a few feet behind her and a foot to her right. Raza turned back to Rayya, who continued fixing her hood, the two talking softly to each other. Everyone else was focused intently on the two dragonborns.

The Altmer cleared his throat, then brought his hands to his mouth. “Fire!” He yelled, and a stream of fire whipped through his hands. He was quick to lower them the moment the fire stopped, putting his hands on his hips. “There, see? I-”

“Now do it without your hands.“ The Dragonborn told him.

The shock was obvious on his face. “I beg your pardon?”

“Do it without your hands covering your mouth.“

“Er-“ He seemed to pale, crossing his arms and shuffling his feet. “W-well, it amplifies my voice! It makes my shout much more powerful.“

“That’s okay,“ the Dragonborn said in a kindly voice. “Even if it isn’t very impressive without your hands, it will still be proof that you’re the real Dragonborn, right?“

The high elf could tell he had been caught in his lie, but seemed determined to try to preserve his dignity as much as he could. “Fine! I will!” He told him in a haughty tone, looking to his own redguard companion. She didn’t even give him the time of day, too busy talking to Rayya about something. He huffed and looked ahead once more.

“Fire!“ He yelled. Absolutely nothing came of it, and he began to sweat. “F-fire! Fire! Fire!!!“

The Dragonborn put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “Mind if I try?”

Without waiting for an answer, he clapped his hands together. He could hear the faint encouragement of the dragon souls within, he could taste the warmth on his tongue. He thought of Paarthurnax and the meditation they had done together on this word of power... not to mention how he had taught him the final word. Some part of him was excited to shout. It wanted... no, needed to prove this faker wrong in the most dramatic way possible, to assert his dominance over such a pathetic mortal- woah. Now that was a dangerous line of thought. He tried to focus on the matter at hand.

“Yol Toor Shul!” He shouted into the sky, a stream of fire expelling from the front of his helmet, powerful and hot. It made the flames spell that the high elf and tried to pass off as a shout seem like a candle. It burned in the air, melting any snow that might have threatened to fall and burning the tips of the Altmer’s hair beside him.

Said Altmer looked... incredibly shaken. He had gone completely pale despite the heat, and as the Dragonborn slowly turned to look at him as the fire vanished into the air, he actually jumped. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but then he just hightailed it out of there, not even grabbing his helmet. Raza glanced over his way, then just rolled her eyes.

“I got paid first, I don’t care.” She noted. 

The crowd immediately started talking amongst themselves, but the Dragonborn simply walked over to the two Redguard women.

“Make a friend?“ He asked, the grin heard on his voice. Rayya just laughed, gently swatting his arm.

“Raza here was telling me they’ve been running this scam for a couple of weeks now. Apparently he paid her a hefty chunk of septims to impersonate me.”

“Very hefty. No ill will Dragonborn, but you can’t blame me for it, can you?“ Raza bat her eyes at him.

“Of course not.“ He replied, completely immune to her charms. “You hardly seemed interested in the scam at all. And it was fun! I like showing off.“ He let out a hearty laugh, crossing his arms. “Is that a bad thing to say? I can’t help it, sometimes it’s fun to take a break from dealing with bandits and dealing with wild animals to just... make fun of some poor con artist.“

“I don’t think anyone could blame you, my Thane. Especially with the show you put on.“ Rayya told him with a smile. “Not a soul could blame you.“

Raza beside her smirked. “Except his soul.“

#Skyrim #Elder Scrolls #Rayya #oc: Dragonborn #My writing

[blancheludis]

Tagging: @tokky231

Fandom: Marvel, Avengers Characters: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers, James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Bruce Barton, Steve Rogers Chapters: 10/?, Words: 56.845

Summary: Tony meets his soulmate under the worst possible circumstances. It is not just a kidnapping gone wrong. It turns out Steve and his gang picked him on purpose and they want some personal revenge. If only he had managed to say the words written on his soulmate’s arm before they threw him back out into the streets.

---

The moment Tony finds out about Obadiah, all his meticulously laid plans of revenge and reparation evaporate into thin air. He had been prepared to fire his entire board of directors, to weed out scientists, to go up against the military. Not once has he thought this could be personal.

Instant denial builds up inside him. It turns his limbs heavy and his mind slow. Obadiah would not betray him. Throughout all the cold years of Tony’s childhood, he has been more of a father to Tony than Howard. He has always been the one who understood Tony.

Tony is used to people only ever wanting him for what he can offer them; money, fame, tech. While Obadiah happily took Tony’s ideas to turn them into more profit for the company, that has never been all there was between them. They are family.

Despite the dread of proving this true – even if he trusted Steve, he would not just believe information like this – Tony gets to work. The evidence Steve sent him is conclusive. Tony knows Obadiah’s phone number by heart. On top of the terror of seeing it and the whole long minutes he talked with the Avengers, it hurts that Obadiah did not even think to use a burner phone for this, feeling so sure about Tony rolling over and slinking out of the picture as he was supposed to.

At least, Tony assumes he was supposed to vanish quietly. He is not sure to what end other than Obadiah being in line of becoming the company’s CEO once more. Their success is built on Tony’s ideas, though. That is probably why Obadiah needed the USB drive, to tide him over until he kicked R&D back into proper shape.

Tony is getting ahead of himself here. All he knows is that Obadiah hired the Avengers. Nobody said anything about killing Tony. Perhaps the plan really was to only get the drive and let Tony be handled roughly. It might have pushed him into more defensive gear or guns that are easily concealed. Perhaps Obadiah ordered them outright not to harm Tony but the Avengers went ahead and did it anyway.

Even Tony’s great talent for delusion does not let him spin this into something harmless or an accident.

Pepper finally brings him back the data from Stark Industries’ internal servers, and Tony is hesitant to go through it even before he finds the dozens of shipping logs and names like Raza and the Ten Rings, and Obadiah’s metaphorical fingerprints all over it. For good measure, he finally lets JARVIS hijack the servers and watches him tear through them with a curious detachment, watches the condemning files pile up, undermining the very foundation Tony has built his life on.

It is true then. Obadiah did not just send the mob after Tony, he has also been selling their weapons to anyone willing to buy. The logs go back years. This was happening even when Howard was still alive.

Feeling the damning need to laugh, Tony wonders what his godfather is thinking about him shutting down the weapons manufacturing. That is, apparently, what Obadiah built both his lives on, the official one where he is Stark Industries’ CFO, and the secret one where he is filling his offshore accounts with money from illegal weapons trades.

Even in Tony’s head, this sounds ridiculous. Enough so that he refuses the actual danger Obadiah might pose to him right now. He hired the mob once to get his hands on Tony’s work. Now that Tony all but ruined his livelihood, there is no telling what he might do. Somehow not even Tony’s enormous talent for denial is enough to convince himself that Obadiah will not do anything.

Considering the sheer amount of evidence he found, there is no more hiding from this. All Tony has to do is pack it all up and hand it over to the authorities. He will have to watch his godfather being led away in handcuffs after strangers go through Stark Industries’ data, upturning all the ugly truths of what has been happening here.

It is the right thing to do to stop the illegal distribution of his weapons and to ensure his own safety. Instead, he has JARVIS saving all of it, queues it to be printed, and saves it again on a separate USB drive. He is fond of those. Then, in the true cowardly fashion of a Stark, he turns off his computers and walks right out of his workshop, giving in to the need to hide his head in the sand for a while longer, at least until the roiling nausea has passed and this knowledge does not turn every breath into an act of labour anymore.

“Sir?” JARVIS asks, not specifying what he means.

Everything is in disarray now. It is impossible to know where to best set his next steps.

“It’s all right, J,” Tony says, not recognizing his own voice. It is a quiet monotone, sounding like he is suffocating on the truth he has just read. “I’ll take care of it. I just – I need some time to think about it.”

“It is unwise to sit on this information too long,” JARVIS says with as much disapproval as eagerness to start acting. He sounds almost vengeful but Tony cannot muster up any pride for that. “Especially with –”

“I know,” Tony interrupts him, sharper than he intended. With how shattered he feels inside, it is no surprise that he cuts anyone coming too close. That is why he needs time. He cannot deal with this while he is falling apart.

Never do business while you’re emotional, his mother had told him once after they watched Howard ruin a business deal during dinner, drunk and angry like he often was. It makes you lose focus.

While Tony feels numb, he knows that, soon enough, the realization will hit and with it the betrayal. He wants to deal with this, but he cannot do so if he turns into a sobbing mess at the mere sight of Obadiah, capably only of one, devastating question: Why?

Tony knows why, just as much as he does not. Money and family. He thought the latter would always outweigh greed. That is only true, of course, if Obadiah ever considered them family too.

“Do you want me to call someone?” JARVIS asks, nearly turning it into an ultimatum. Either Tony is reasonable and does not shoulder this on his own, or JARVIS will snitch to someone to help him.

Under different circumstances, Tony would be glad for his AI’s initiative – well, that is not true. He is never actually happy to let other people in, not even those he trusts. Vulnerability is not something Howard allowed under his roof and old habits die hard.

“How big are my chances of Pepper listening if I send her on vacation?” Tony asks instead of answering JARVIS’ question. It is meant as a distraction for both of them, something to hold onto instead of thinking about his godfather.

“Considering recent events, non-existent,” JARVIS says, voice distinctly chiding. “Do you want me to inform her of your findings?”

It is a giant stroke of luck that Pepper got the USB drive without finding the information herself, without going digging.

“No,” Tony exclaims quickly, all the air in his lungs rushing out with the word. “Just – no.”

He cannot talk to Pepper. She will look at the evidence and believe it, and then she will act. Contrary to him, she does not let emotions keep her from doing what is right. Tony is not ready to act, not ready to face this shame. He also does not want to drag her into this. Obadiah has already proven that he is not above hurting those he is supposed to protect, and Tony cannot risk putting Pepper in danger.

“Keep an eye on her,” Tony orders. “If Obadiah gets in any way close to her or appears suspicious, alert me and make sure she stays safe.”

Safe from his godfather. What has the world come to? Tony is understanding it less than ever before. He always considered few things set in stone, and now even those are crumbling, and he with them.

“All right, sir,” JARVIS replies but sounds like he has more to say.

He does not approve of Tony’s inactiveness, and he is right. Obadiah is a wild card since Tony obviously does not know him at all.

Tony slowly makes his way to his bedroom, too restless to sleep but wanting to withdraw somewhere safe. Leaving the lights off, he sits down on his bed, feeling more alone than he has in a long time.

Obadiah. His godfather. All those memories of laughing together, of sneaking into Howard’s workshop, of leading the company together – all of that was a lie. A lie to enable Obadiah to amass more money for himself, not caring about the bodies he created, the blood he spilled. All of it on Tony’s back, guiding him right where he can do the most damage and therefore the most profit.

Nausea roars in Tony’s stomach. He thinks of Barnes’ missing arm, of dozens of news stories, of the statistics passing his desk every month. That is his doing. Obadiah might distribute the weapons, but Tony makes them. All this death comes from his brain, his hands.

“Sir,” JARVIS speaks up but he sounds like he is very far away. “Your heartbeat is picking up.”

Tony slashes his hand through the air, unable to say anything but needing JARVIS to stop speaking anyway. He does not need help, does not need anyone telling him this is not his fault. It is. It does not matter that he did not pull any trigger himself. He was blind to what was going on. Perhaps he could have seen what was happening if he had not buried himself under work and sex and alcohol. If he had not trusted blindly. He, Tony Stark, who is notorious for trusting no one.

Perhaps Steve was right. Perhaps all of the Avengers were right. He did not keep an eye on his weapons and people got hurt.

In a way, he now relishes the lingering pain in his own body. It anchors him, keeps his thoughts from wandering too much. He is still here. There is no ignoring the fact that he messed up, but he is going to make this right. As much as he is able to, considering all the damage that is already done.

Tony gets out his phone and stares at the dark screen for a long moment. He does not want to talk. At the same time, his throat is constricted with the building pressure of needing to let it all out.

He does not ask JARVIS to dial for him, does not want to admit that his AI is right that Tony should not be alone at the moment. He also does not quite know who he is calling. Scrolling through his contacts, his finger hovers over Steve’s name, too long to be a coincidence.

It is ridiculous. Steve is not going to help. He is not going to make the gaping hole in Tony’s thoughts any better. No matter their truce or that Tony would not even know about Obadiah yet without Steve, they are not friends. They are barely even allies. Talking to Steve will not solve anything. It will only give the throbbing soul bond more validation.

With a contemptuous snort, Tony scrolls up and finds Rhodey’s contact. He is not quite ready to submit himself to his best friend’s worry, but he is drowning in this silence with only his thoughts as company.

The dial tone rings in his ear, a distinct judging quality to it. Glancing at the window, Tony realizes it is dark outside. It must be later than he thought. Still, he keeps the phone up, knowing that Rhodey will always pick up when he is needed, be it in the middle of the night or a firefight. Been there, done that.

When the call finally connects, Tony can barely hold back a relieved sigh. How needy he has become.

“Tony?” Rhodey says, sounding like he has just woken up but is quickly growing alert. Late-night calls usually mean problems.

It pains Tony to hear how much trust resounds in that one word, his name. It feels like Rhodey should be allowed to take a large step back from Tony, considering that he, too, has been in more danger due to Tony’s carelessness.

A thought passes through Tony’s head, stabbing like a knife is attached to it. How easily Rhodey could have been killed by his bombs, his bullets. How easily he could have killed his best friend.

Tony swallows, tries to find his voice. He digs his fingers hard into his arm to ground himself. That does not help until his elbow accidentally pushes against his broken ribs. His mouth opens for a pained gasp but he remains silent, hugs himself.

“You can stop looking into the weapons dealing,” Tony finally manages to say, the words tumbling out slowly.

His eyes are closed as he wishes to be anywhere but here. A week ago, his life has been so uncomplicated, running in the ever-same circles. He hates himself a bit for wishing to go back to that despite needing to take responsibility for the present.

“What?” Rhodey’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts but not entirely. “Have you found out who’s doing this?”

“I mean, we still don’t know who is buying them, so maybe don’t stop looking at all,” Tony argues, almost toneless while Obadiah’s name is like a noose around his neck. “I want to round up every single bullet that got handed out to the wrong people.”

That is important, he realizes, and easier to concentrate on than the mess inside his own company. He will take faceless terrorists every day over the smiling memory of his godfather.

“Tony, what is going on?” Rhodey asks, but Tony barely lets him finish his question.

“That’ll be hard, right?” he counters. “Do you think I could hire a private squad or something if the brass doesn’t want to spare their soldiers for this?”

“Tony,” Rhodey barks, loud enough to snap Tony out of his rambling. “I need you to tell me what is going on.”

A thousand other nonsensical arguments lie on his tongue. How to keep the press quiet. How to not go down with Obadiah, since no one is going to believe that Tony is innocent in this.

Tony cannot avoid the inevitable anymore, though. “Obie ordered the hit on me,” he says. If not for the absolute silence between them, his words might have gone unheard as they are merely a whisper. It feels like any more volume would give it more weight too. “He’s been selling my weapons too. I mean, all the evidence points in his direction, but it can’t be true, right? He’s my godfather. He wouldn’t –”

Before Tony can sink into another litany of denial and random pieces of information, Rhodey cuts him off. “What kind of evidence?” he asks, voice sharp and ready to condemn Obadiah on Tony’s word alone.

Tony thinks of all the data he has secured from Obadiah’s phone and computers, of the communication trails, the shipment plans, the offshore accounts. All the numbers he will never be able to forget.

“The kind that is ironclad,” Tony says, weighed down by the admission. The arm around his chest presses against his ribs again. This time, his breath does not even catch as the pain shoots through him.

“Stane is –” Rhodey pauses, then asks, “Are you sure?”

Tony knows Rhodey does not ask because he does not believe Tony. He asks because he has to be sure before he gives in to the rage boiling in the pit of his stomach, just like Tony might once he has gotten over the personal betrayal. Once he does not feel like his entire being is dissolving anymore.

Taking a deep breath, Tony braces himself for the truth. “I’m sure.”

Not missing a beat, Rhodey declares, “I’m on my way.”

It leaves Tony reeling. He feels like there should be some reluctance, some kind of argument. Rhodey’s loyalty is a precious thing, and a big part of Tony is relieved. At the same time, it should not be this easy. Offering his godfather up as the bad guy should be harder than this. Tony cannot even trust himself, so it feels strange that Rhodey would.

“No. You’re not,” Tony says nonetheless, wondering how he can muster the strength to deny himself his best friend’s company. “I need to deal with this myself.”

That is certainly true, but he does not want to be alone. Does not want to face the coming days. He has to, though. Starks are not prone to sentimentality. Letting his arm drop from around his chest, Tony sits up straighter, stares into the darkness of his bedroom. He might still feel untethered but there are more important things to deal with for now than his personal comfort.

“You’re not going to confront the man who sent a hired gang of killers after you alone,” Rhodey argues but achieves nothing but to harden Tony’s resolve.

“They’re not –” he tries to argue, mostly to keep Rhodey occupied while he pieces himself back together.

“Well, I wouldn’t know because you refuse to tell me anything about them, so I have to assume the worst,” Rhodey cuts him off with all the harshness of someone tired of not being allowed to care for the people they love. He has always had little patience for Tony’s self-destructive tendencies. “But I know Stane, and I know that family obviously doesn’t mean anything to him, so you won’t do this alone.”

The echo of a smile pulls at Tony’s lips as he feels warmth spreading through his chest. Yet, he protests. “I’m not yet doing anything.”

That is the hardest part to admit. With anyone else, Tony would have gleefully let law enforcement storm their home and take them into custody. With Obadiah, he needs to know why first. He needs to know what he has done wrong, and how deep the damage goes. Whether, since this has already been going on when Howard was still alive, his father knew.

Tony has a lot of questions and he does not know how to ask them, nor whether he is ready to hear the answers.

“What does that mean?” Rhodey questions, one wrong word away from yelling.

“You should be glad I’m not rushing into anything here,” Tony argues but does not manage the teasing tone he has been aiming for. Perhaps he should not try to pretend everything is all right. Rhodey would look right through it anyway. “I mean, that’s me being responsible, right?”

The short silence that follows is answer enough to that. “Are you alone?” Rhodey then asks with the kind of impatience that means his fingers itch to pack his things and hijack one of the military jets to come home.

“I’m not,” Tony says and wonders what that has to do with anything. He is not going to fall into a bottle or do something stupid without a chaperone. That is why he is calling. “JARVIS is here and –”

Rhodey clicks his tongue, successfully cutting Tony off. “Let me rephrase that. Is Pepper there?”

“You’re not going to tell her,” Tony says slowly, voice brooking no argument. What is most important now is to keep his friends safe. “I can’t risk Obie finding out that she knows.”

That might not stop Obadiah from hurting her, of course. It is no secret that Pepper is the only reason why Tony has not pushed Stark Industries into ruin twice every week since taking over. If Obadiah really wanted to take Tony out of commission, Pepper is the perfect place to start.

“All right,” Rhodey sighs, not happy with it but conceding Tony’s point for now. Then, though, he adds, “I’m still coming.”

Tony shuts his eyes briefly, swallowing a curse. He still wants to say yes, to have someone watching his back here at home. Deciding to step up and take responsibility also means to go about this strategically. Serving Obadiah all the people he cares about on a silver platter is not that.

“No. I need you to find out where my weapons are. I’ll deal with Obadiah,” Tony argues. Softer, he adds, “I can’t have him become suspicious. If he finds out you’ve been rushing here for the second time in a row, it’s – He can’t find out.”

Tony does not do secrecy well. Since he wants this to be over, he is ready to be sensible.

There is a long silence on the other end while Rhodey comes to his decision. In a way, Tony is glad for his best friend’s reluctance.

“I don’t like this,” Rhodey then says, but it is obvious that he is giving in. Reason over emotions. Who would have thought they would ever get here?

“I know.” Tony forces a smile on his lips, even though it remains unseen. It might just help to build himself up. “I’ll tell you if anything changes.”

Hanging up, Tony lets his hand fall, drained of even his last bit of energy. Rhodey’s worry is appreciated but Tony is far beyond that.

What has been only a rumour before is now a fact. Tony’s weapons are out there. He does have blood on his hands – and no idea how to wash it off. He suspects he cannot. If asked, his friends will surely argue that this was not his fault, but they would be wrong. Accountability – that is what he said on live television just earlier this day. That feels like a lifetime ago.

Lying back on his bed, Tony closes his eyes. He does not think he will be able to sleep, does not want to either. That just means that tomorrow will be here much quicker, and with that Tony has to act. Against his godfather. Against years of blindness and quiet complicity. He just does not know what to do.

 ---

Morning comes too soon. Tony did sleep, although his dreams were plagued by stray bullets and bombs and flowing blood forming a steadily rising headcount. He gets up before the sun and scrubs his skin raw under the shower as if he could wash away who he was and emerge stronger. When he slips into his clothes, he still feels just as frail.

What he needs is a plan. He has evidence and a likely motive. Obadiah’s accomplices should not be hard to find. Then he needs to get together with the military and talk about how to take his weapons out of terrorists’ hands.

In between all these nice, logical steps, however, is the fact that he will have to confront Obadiah. Tony still wants answers but he begins to think that is not as important as to leave the whole matter behind without tainting his memories of family anymore. Every time he thinks he is ready to get to his feet and either call the police or take the elevator down to Obadiah’s office, his body refuses to move, keeping him frozen in place.

He is not ready.

When his phone chimes, Tony flinches. Once he has collected himself, he tries to laugh at himself for that. Nobody is going to jump out of his phone to either murder or judge him. He is perfectly safe up here in his tower’s penthouse. Nobody but Rhodey and Steve knows what he has found out. Most importantly, Obadiah does not know. It is still Tony’s turn to move.

Tony picks up his phone from his nightstand and walks towards the kitchen while he checks it. He has several missed calls from Rhodey and Pepper, and texts asking about his well-being. Pepper inquires about the USB drive, about whether he has found out anything yet. That means Rhodey has not told her, at least. Tony does not think that Obadiah would hurt her. Then again, he did not think Obadiah would sell their weapons on the black market.

The newest text is not from his friends but from Steve. Tony almost turns off his phone without reading it. He can imagine the kind of plans a mob boss with a personal grudge has to offer. Traitor or not, Tony does not want any harm to come to Obadiah. Not like that. Only, he kind of does. Deep down in his gut, Tony realizes he is angry.

You should hire a bodyguard, Steve writes, with all the pretentiousness of someone who does not know how to leave well enough alone.

This has Tony laughing out loud. The sound echoes ugly in the empty room around him, making the hair in Tony’s neck stand up. He turns on the coffee machine while he ponders whether he should reply at all. In the end, he is too glad for the distraction to pass up the opportunity. Steve might continuously butt in where he is not needed but at least there is no need to pretend with him that everything is all right. That Tony is all right.

I hope you’re not planning to offer yourself.

The very thought is ridiculous. The most danger Tony has been in years has been at the Avengers’ hands. He realizes that Steve’s concern about Tony’s safety is probably honest, fuelled by the soul bond or remorse, but that does not mean that Tony would actually trust him with it.

He is surrounded by security anyway. JARVIS, for one, who is usually the only security he needs. Mostly, Tony is his own biggest enemy. Pepper has also increased the guards down in the foyer. They were not even trying for subtlety when they followed Tony to the press conference the day before. The last thing Tony needs is more people looking over his shoulder, judging his every movement.

I would, Steve writes to Tony’s amusement, but your safety is more important than trying to prove a point. I know someone who is very good at his job.

While that is surprisingly considerate, there is still no chance that Tony is going to agree. I don’t need any of your underlings to follow me around.

Putting down his phone, Tony reaches for a mug. He fights the urge to fill himself an entire pot of coffee and drinking straight from it. With how much exhaustion is still pulling him down, he is going to need a lot of caffeine to keep him going.

Steve needs a while to answer. Enough to allow Tony to burn his tongue as he impatiently takes his first sip of coffee. That does not stop him from taking another one right away.

His name is Thor Odinson. Steve seems to attract people with strange names like Bucky and apparently Norse gods fanatics. Run a background check on him. He has never been part of the Avengers. He does not even know about us. I met him in the Army.

Steve seems to think that this is enough to alleviate Tony’s reluctance to get anywhere near the Avengers or their friends. Gripping his mug in one hand, he types with the other. I don’t trust any of your friends. Mob or not.

Tony almost hears Steve sighing. It might be more of a tugging sensation right in his core like the soul bond is reacting to their conversation, but the intention is clear. They are constantly dancing around each other. Glaring at his arm, Tony thinks Fate or whoever has thrown them into this should be glad they are talking to each other at all.

Just look him up.

Feeling his eyebrows rise, Tony is tempted to snap something back, to warn Steve away from giving him orders. That is half of the reason why they are in this mess. Because Steve does not know when to back off, how to let other people make their own decisions.

Instead, Tony takes a deep breath and writes, I won’t need a bodyguard anymore soon anyway.

He does not have the energy to fight on all these fronts at the same time. That is the reason he proposed the truce in the first place.  

How are you dealing with Stane? Steve asks immediately, not just sprinkling salt into Tony’s wound but dumping the whole bag on him.

Since the night before, Tony has not come any closer to having a feasible plan. Steve seems to know that. It is a good thing then, that Tony does not owe him anything, neither answers nor justification.

Locking his phone, Tony puts it face down on his kitchen counter. He leaves it there when he goes back to his workshop. He needs to find out who else has been in on the weapons trading. If anything, that will take his mind off personal things for a while as well as giving him an excuse not to confront his godfather just yet.

#stony #soulmates #mob au #leave the gun on the table #fanfiction #tony stark #obadiah stane #steve rogers #my writing #ao3 #betrayal #james rhodes

[imaginetonyandbucky]

In Search of Something

Prompt: imagine tony and bucky in steampunk au

A/N: Dear readers, I am conducting an experiment, so to speak, and I beg you will indulge me. After having this prompt in my queue for quite a while and not being able to come up with a story, I found myself, this weekend, unraveling��the knot and coming up with what will probably end up being a 60 – 90,000 word piece of Steampunk/Noir style WinterIron fiction. That being said, I don’t know that there’s a lot of demand for a Steampunk Noir story. 

Consider this first chapter to be the pilot episode of a television show, so to speak. If there’s enough demand, I’ll write more. – tisfan

Chapter One:  For Want of Aether 

“That might well be the ugliest velocipede I’ve ever seen,” someone said. 

Tony Stark, genius, inventor, rake, philanthropist, nearly spat out a mouthful of coffee. He hadn’t heard anyone come into the shop, although that wasn’t surprising. He was often lost in his own headspace when working, and he’d completed the amplification process for his Amberola a few weeks ago, which made the musical cylinders in his workshop particularly loud. He’d been replaying the Tchaikovsky recording several times, testing with a diaphragm sensor to measure the volume of cannon fire, to see if it was actually replicable at anything remotely resembling the normal level of sound.

“Probably good it’s on commission then,” Tony said. He wiped his hands off on a rag and came around the side of the workbench to look at the interloper. “What brings you to my humble ‘shop?”

There wasn’t anything humble about Tony’s shop and he damn well knew it, but at the same time, he was expected to keep up the generic merchant pater. Too many customers walked away and people might start wondering if he was actually running a shop, and if he wasn’t, what was he, instead, doing?

Tony couldn’t afford some snotty government official poking into his business, so… playing the humble inventor.

“Lookin’ for the son of Maria Carbonell?”

Yeah, fantastic. Tony reached under the bench and pulled out one of his gauntlets, being as casual as possible in attaching the connections to the tubes in his sleeve rig.

He leaned against the side of his work bench, crossing his legs at the ankle and presenting an utterly relaxed front to the newcomer.

Dark, ragged hair tucked under a fisherman’s cap, the man dressed like he was carrying his entire wardrobe on his back; undershirt, two button downs over it, a vest, a jacket and an overcoat. Despite the layers, he wasn’t sweating as far as Tony could tell. The evenings were starting to get cool, it was early October after all, but the afternoons were still fine. Perhaps the so-called customer hadn’t heard of suitcases.

Tony smirked. “There’s a name I haven’t heard in a long, long time,” he said, thoughtfully. “Who’s been name-dropping?” The arc-reactor finished charging the gauntlet repulsor with a dull whump. It was an old password, compromised almost a year ago when SHIELD was disbanded. Tony had managed to stay out of the crossfire, had hidden and protected a number of SHIELD’s agents, but it had been a mess.

The man jerked, as if he’d heard the repulsor whine, but the sound was nearly impossible to detect under the music and banging that went on in Tony’s shop. Or should have been. But even if he had, so very few people knew what the repulsor’s signature sounded like, and those who did weren’t usually in a shape to report it.

“Word gets around,” the man said. He raised his chin enough to look at Tony through ragged cut hair. He had eyes as gray as storm clouds and the sort of luminescent beauty that belonged in a painting by the old masters. Tony was somewhat of an expert on beauty in both the male and female forms.

How had that man wandered the streets and not drawn abundant attention? Just the sort that Hydra would send after Tony, if they were going to send someone. Knowing what they did of Tony’s eye and appetites. Knowing what everyone knew about Tony’s rake-hell lifestyle.

“Does it.” That wasn’t even a question.

The man could be hiding any number of weapons under that coat. Blades or guns or even some of the smaller, delicate explosives. He licked his lips nervously, eyes flicking in Tony’s direction and then away. “I can pay you.”

“I’m sure you can,” Tony said. “The question remains -- who sent you, and what do you want?”

“No one sent me,” the man said. “I’m here because you might b’ the only person in the world who can help me who ain’t gonna stick me back in a cage.”

“Fascinating as undoubtedly your story is, and pitiful as your plight,” Tony said, raising a hand and letting the repulsor show, “I think you should leave. I… don’t usually have the patience to ask more than once.”

“Wait, wait! Please,” the man said, and raised his left hand hastily, as if he was going to a sleeve-clutch weapon or to defend himself. The motion was accompanied by the distinct sound of gears and plates clicking together. Tony blinked; the man didn’t look like one of Vanko or Doom’s automatons, but the sound, that sound…

Bugger it. Shoot first, ask questions later.

The repulsor screamed defiance and the shock wave pulsed across the shop, sending loose papers flying like dirigibles, throwing small parts to the floor. And knocking Tony’s unwelcomed guest to the floor.

“Well, fuck.” Tony stood over the unconscious man, staring down at him. “Now I gotta carry you somewhere.”

He sighed. “Dummy, get over here!” Tony went to the shop door, hung out his By Appointment Only sign and locked the gate.

(more below the cut)

Panic surged and Bucky almost puked when he roused and realized he was locked down. He was locked down and seated.

“No, no, no!” He jerked at the restraints, struggling, although he knew it never did him any good to struggle. Once he was in the lab, once he was in the chair…

Except he heard a distinct sound of creaking wood and he was… sitting upright, not pushed over on his back, staring up into the too-bright ceiling gaslamps. And he was screaming, shouting, his mouth was free, not locked with a bite-strap or muzzle and…

He managed to focus, tamp down the panic long enough to look around.

What he saw was nothing like those industrial gray walls, the bank of nixie tubes and punch cards, the white-coated scientists with their shining steel tools.

Instead what he saw was a brick-lined room, a dozen wall sconces giving the room light. Bits of unidentifiable machinery littered almost every surface and the quicky, sarcastic little inventor was sitting on one of the tables, just looking at him. At some point, the man had stripped down from his merchant’s coat and was wearing a thin, white undershirt, plain dungarees, and a pair of suspenders, one on and one off his muscular shoulders. A round, blue light shone underneath the shirt and tubes with glittering strands of the same light were held to his arms with leather bands. He had a set of welder’s goggles perched on top of his messy black hair and there were grease and soot smudges on his face.

He was, absolutely, the man Bucky was looking for. Anthony Stark. Bucky hadn’t been sure before; the few daguerreotypes that Bucky had seen of the man were blurred -- Tony Stark was not a man to stay still long enough to get a good tintype made. But there was no doubt, now. The few files Bucky had liberated spoke of the artificial heart, what it looked like. What it could do.

He opened his mouth to say so, but found himself giving voice to a more pressing question. “Why am I naked?”

Tony scoffed. “What did you expect? I was checking you for weapons and you’re carrying a god damn arsenal. Didn’t know what to do about that--” He jerked his chin at Bucky, or more specifically, at Bucky’s arm, a mess of copper plates and brass wiring. “But it doesn’t seem to be functioning right now anyway.”

Bucky nodded. “Out of aether,” he admitted.

“Well, that’s both impractical and primitive. What little I could figure out on a quick inspection showed me that the refueling pod is in the back, too. Difficult to reload yourself.”

“I ain’t s’posed to be working without a handler,” Bucky said.

“Which is why you came to me,” Tony said. As if that made perfect sense. Which it did, because it was true, god damnit.

“Which is why I came to you,” Bucky said. “You’re th’ only one who runs independent that might even be able to produce such a thing.”

“You know running an aether mill without a license is illegal,” Tony pointed out. “Not to mention such a radical body modification should only be attempted by biomechanical professionals.”

“Let’s just say there’s more’n a few laws I’m on th’ wrong side of,” Bucky said. “What’d you shoot me for?” He was fair certain what he’d been shot with. Raza wasn’t a member of the Hydra camps, but Ten Rings had a tentative alliance, and after the brass-and-balls mess that had been Gulmira was over and done with, some remaining members of Ten Rings had taken shelter in Hydra safehouses. Zola had gotten a full report, and, still assured of compliance, had left the file somewhere that Bucky had been able to read it.

“You’re not the first pretty person that’s been sent after me,” Tony said, easily. “If people can’t tell the difference between SHIELD and Hydra anymore, that may say more about SHIELD than anything.”

Bucky managed a croaking laugh. It was almost too easy to flirt with the man while he was naked. Tony expected vulnerability, fear, or anger. Teasing and tension might disarm him, figuratively speaking, a little bit. “You think I’m pretty?’

“Actually, I think you’re Hydra,” Tony said.

I am. I was. I will be, if you don’t help me. But that was putting too many cards on the table, too soon. “But still pretty.”

“I didn’t say that,” Tony spluttered. “What are you, a virgin planning your coming out ball?”

“Yeah, actually, you did say pretty,” Bucky said. He licked his lower lip, giving Tony his best bedroom eyes. It was scarcely a chore. Tony Stark was a good looking man, muscular, compact. Smart as a whip, from everything Bucky had heard. Rumor hadn’t mentioned how sarcastic and quick he was, but those were traits Bucky had found attractive. Once. When he was enough in his own mind to find someone attractive. “I heard you. No takebacks.”

“Yeah, well, poison comes in pretty bottles, pal.”

“Infiltration’s not my speciality,” Bucky told him.

“Yeah, what is?”

“I’m a sharpshooter,” Bucky said, bleak. “Aether long rifle. Mostly. But knives, if I have to.”

“As well as a whole variety of other little nasties I found in your coat. You’re well prepared.”

“Not really,” Bucky said. “Most of it runs on aether, and I been cannibalizing it so I can keep movin’ my arm for almost a year now.”

“No handler to call on?”

“Got away from my handlers durin’ the battle of the Potomack. Been on th’ run ever since.”

“So you are Hydra.”

“I was, yeah,” Bucky said, sliding his eyes left, not able to meet Tony’s gaze. “Not by choice.”

“You’re a serum-swiller?”

“Not by choice,” Bucky repeated. “Prisoner of war. Captured. Altered.”

“Who were you before you became Hydra?”

“James Barnes, 107th Infantry,” Bucky said. “Look, if you ain’t gonna shoot me, or fuck me, can I get a blanket or somethin’? It’s cold down here.” Which wasn’t quite true, but he was practically starving. It’d been days since he’d eaten and while his body could run for a long time without human needs -- food or sleep or comfort -- he got cold, ice cold, if he went too long without. Eventually, those needs would kill him, the same as any man, but he’d freeze to death, and if Hydra could find him, they’d bring him back from the dead. Again.

Tony climbed down off the table and uncovered a tattered blanket from a long sofa. “Dummy, wrap him up.”

The automaton wasn’t human-shaped, but Bucky recognized the type; wind-up probably. It seemed old, creaky. Clicked and hummed as it crossed the room, a single mechanical arm with a three-prong gripper on a wheeled platform. Dummy, which seemed to be the wind-up’s name, apparently had a babbage engine of some sort, able to follow simple directions.

“Amazing,” Bucky said, as the claw-arm draped the blanket over him, and tucked the ends around gently, as if it was used to doing such a thing. Bucky had an instant’s picture in his head of the wind-up covering its maker, if Tony fell asleep in his workshop. “You make him?”

Tony nodded, once. “Comes in handy,” he said. “He’s a helper clockwork. My first.” Dummy retreated to Tony’s side, and he ran a hand down the arm, as if petting it for a job well done.

“So… you ain’t gonna shoot me,” Bucky said, not bothering to mention the other thing. “What’s your plan?”

“I’ve only got about twelve percent of a plan,” Tony told him. “It’s a work in progress. All things considered, I think I’m doing pretty well.”

“Well, while you got twelve percent, do you think maybe I could trouble you for somethin’ to eat? I ain’t seen a meal in three days, I’m ‘bout to perish of thirst, and someplace I can fall on my face t’ sleep wouldn’t go amiss, neither.”

“You’re pushy, for a self-invited house guest.”

“Call me a prisoner if it makes you happy,” Bucky suggested. “But ‘less you wanna compare unfavorably to Hydra, y’ might want to feed me. Look, I ain’t gonna hurt you, that’s self-defeating. This damn thing don’t work right now and a child could knock me over. I jus’... I jus’ need some aether. I have money, I have--”

“I can’t make aether. I don’t have the facilities for it,” Tony told him. “So if that’s what you want, I’ll share dinner and you can move along. But you said you’re Hydra, and that doesn’t give you much trust to put a leash on someone who’s as obviously dangerous as you are. Weakened state or otherwise.”

Bucky sighed. Tony Stark was his last hope. Without him, without the arm… Bucky was going to get caught, he was going to end up back in Hydra hands. “Then I need you to kill me,” Bucky said. “I can’t fall back into their clutches. I can’t go back t’ killin’ on Zola’s word. And they will. They can make me, an’ there’s nothin’ I can do about it. I’d rather be dead. Consider it a mercy.”

“Zola, huh?” Tony scratched his chin. “You say that name like you have a lot of hatred for him.”

“Buddy, you don’t even know the half of it.”

“Well, I can’t make aether, but if we can come to some arrangements, I might be able to help you,” Tony said. “If you can be trusted. And we’ll have to see about that, I suppose.”

“How?”

Tony made a face, then pulled up the thin shirt, showing off a muscular chest and--

“It’s called an arc-reactor. It makes power. Power enough to run my heart, enough to run your arm. Enough to run… well, quite a number of things. That being said, it’s killing me. And Zola… well, your old friend Zola has the one thing I need. To make a new core, so that the thing that’s keeping me alive will stop killing me. If you want to help… well, I can think of a few ways we can help each other.” 

#winteriron #prompts #tony x bucky #tony stark #bucky barnes #tisfan #steampunk AU #not a good first impression #strip searched

[not-close-to-straight]

Coming Home (Eighteen)

MASTERLIST HERE

Enjoy :) 

****************************

“Tony.” Wanda wrapped both arms and her odd wings around him and held the Alpha close, murmuring something he didn't understand in Russian, or maybe it was Hungarian… Tony knew she spoke several languages, but because of Natasha, she and Pietro spoke Russian more than the others, so he supposed that was a safe guess.

It didn't matter of course, because comfort is something that doesn't need a specific language, so Tony put his head on the girls shoulder and let her rub over his back, over his feathers in a soothing gesture.

“We are so glad you are home.” she whispered, and then a blue flash shoved her rudely out of the way and it was Pietro hugging Tony tightly.

“Steve wouldn't let us go get you.” he complained loudly. “It would have been so easy! Wanda could have just--”

“Pietro.” Wanda shook her head. “That does not matter. All that matters is that Tony is home now.”

“Yeah I guess.” Pietro's electric blue wings burst from his shoulders and circled around Tony briefly before he pulled away. “Glad you’re safe, Tony.”

“It's good to see you kids.” Tony smiled at them both, watching with undisguised interest as Pietro called his wings back, folding them in until the brightly colored feathers had disappeared again. “Get some food hm? We can catch up later.”

The twins headed back into the living room, dodging various members of the family before settling in on either side of Clint and chattering away at him, signing as they spoke.

“Your family.” a voice from behind Tony. “I think when you spoke of them in Afghanistan you left out some of their more interesting characteristics.”

“Yinsen.” Tony turned with broad smile, his wings flicking open in welcome. “Are you settled in?”

“Dr Banner was kind enough to help me unpack my things.” Yinsens steel grey wings opened as well, his eyes sparkling. “You look much better than when we parted, Tony. Being home with your unique family has healed you.”

“Yeah well.” Tony rubbed at his arc reactor, and Yinsens eyes dimmed in sympathy. “One day at a time, right?”

“Of course.” Yinsen let Tony lead him to the bar and pour him a drink. “I will admit I was surprised when I was suddenly cleared through customs and welcomed into the States with open arms.”

“There are benefits to being trapped with me for months.” Tony grinned and clinked their glasses together in a cheers. “And of course, one of my Omegas is Captain America. You should have asked for a sports car, they absolutely would have given you one if Steve turned that all-American righteous scowl towards them.”

“I can assure you that being here is enough.” Yinsen smiled warmly. “Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”

“The Tower can be home for you for as long as you want.” Tony shook his head. “I wouldn't have survived the cave without you, and the very least I can do is give you a room here with the family. Even if you don't stay, there will be a room for you to come back to. Wanda and Pietro don't live here full time, but their rooms are always open. Yours will be too.”

“About that--” Yinsen motioned to the twins, who were signing rapidly and laughing at whatever Clint said back. “The mutant children? I am aware of how most of your family came to live here, but I know nothing about them.”

“The twins.” Tony clarified. “My Omega Clint rescued them from a Hydra facility several years ago. We aren't actually sure if they are mutant, or if they are mutated because of experiments.”

“They have powers? And the girl has bat wings, and the boy doesn't have wings at all?”

“Wanda is… a little of a mystery. We aren't exactly sure what she can do and how, but frankly--” Tony shot Yinsen a quick look. “-- frankly it's terrifying what her potential would be if she ever tapped into it all, and then unleashed it on us.”

“And the boy?” Yinsen prompted.

“Pietro is just a speedy, mouthy bastard.” Tony laughed. “He’s fast and surprisingly strong and never stops talking. And he has wings, he can just fold them into his body when he doesn't want them to be seen.”

“Oh my.” Yinsens eyes widened. “And the sign language. I did not think they were deaf?”

“Clint is.” Tony tapped his ear. “He keeps his ear piece in almost all the time, but the twins sign everything they say to him just in case. I think it helps them feel closer to him. When they are with Natasha they speak almost exclusively in Russian, and I'm sure it's for the same reason.”

“Ah yes. Russian. Tell me, Tony, why have they been calling me grandfather?”

“Is that what that word is?” Tony laughed out loud. “What is it, Дед ?”

“Yes, they have been calling me,  Дед, grandfather all evening.”

“It's because you’re the oldest one in the family.” Tony explained. “They are the kids, being the youngest, myself and Clint are father figures, everyone else is something along the lines of aunts and uncles, which makes you the grandfather.”

“I--see.” Yinsen said slowly, and when Tony looked up, the Beta’s eyes filled with tears. “I did not think I would have a family again, Tony.”

“Hey.” Tony lifted his wings in welcome and comfort. “You have one here.”

“Thank you.” Yinsen said simply and Tony grinned and nudged him towards the kitchen.

“Come on. Let’s go get some food before the super soldiers get back from the store and eat it all.”

***********************

***********************

“So I think I know the man who was holding us.” Tony mentioned casually as he and Bruce and Yinsen sat in the lab later that night, relaxing after what had turned into a full on party with the family.

“Raza?” Yinsen asked, looking up from the computer he was hovering over with Bruce. “Did you know him from before?”

“Not Raza.” Tony shook his head. “The other one, the Alpha.”

“The one that hated you.” Yinsen’s wings fluttered in curiosity. “I assumed there had to be a personal connection. You have discovered what it is?”

“Yep.” Tony pushed a photo across the deck towards him, tapping the date stamp from over thirty years ago. “Meet Obadiah Stane. Vice President of Stark Industries for ten years, the best man at my parents wedding, and affectionately called Uncle Obie by one very impressionable guinea pig named Tony Stark.”

“Guinea pig.” Yinsen repeated slowly. “Explain this.”

Tony pushed another piece of paper towards him and watched Yinsen’s face as the scientist read over the date, steel grey wings dropping in shock. “Tony this means---”

“Yep.”

“And you didn't know? Your father never told you? And a standard blood test wouldn't show any serum because it is only the building blocks, and not the full system.”

“Yep.”

“The best way we can tell--” Bruce interrupted, pointing out a few other things on the sheet. “Tony was too young when Stane injected him with the serum, so it never did what it was supposed to do. Other than giving him an enhanced immune system, there has been no other side effects.”

“I see.” Yinsen put the paper down and tapped at his chin thoughtfully. “And you are thinking about restarting this program? Perfecting it perhaps?”

“It crossed my mind.” Tony admitted. “Think about the lives we could change. Leukemia patients, epileptic children-- any pre-pubescent kid with any sort of disease. It could bring their bodies back into balance or--” a deep breath. “--or it could backfire and tear them apart.”

“That’s why your father didn't continue his research.”

“Right. What if I was just a fluke? He would have had to experiment for decades to make it feasible and I'm sure he woke up anxious every day wondering if that day would be the day the serum finally ripped me apart.”

“So.” Yinsen sent Tony an appraising look. “Stane injected you with serum, your father destroyed his life, and now years later he is trying to seek revenge?”

“Seems like it.” Tony shrugged. “What's the saying? Beware the fury of a patient man?”

“Do you think he is somehow behind your weapons ending up in the hands of terrorists?”

“I have been trying to figure that out, but it wouldn't surprise me.” Another shrug. “Unfortunately after mom and dad...passed… it took me several years to sort myself out and step back up and run the company. In those years, it would have been easy for someone with the right knowledge to take advantage of the lax leadership and probably shitty security.”

“So what are you doing about it?” Yinsen prompted. “Have you put any thought into how to go about tracking him? Plugging the holes in your company? What about the terrorist cells that have been using your tech to wage their wars? You have a responsibility, Tony, do not waste your life, do not waste the second chance that was given to---”

He fell silent when Bruce tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and the lab floor started folding away, a platform rising from the middle, the red and gold suit shining in the lights.

“It's you.” Yinsen’s mouth fell open. “You are the Iron Man that has been wreaking so much havoc overseas.”

“You could say that.” Tony inclined his head towards the suit. “A better version of what I was trying to build in the cave.”

“Oh my.” Bruce and Tony fell silent, Bruce moving to rest a hand on Tony's shoulder as Yinsen walked around the suit carefully, reaching out to touch the pieces, jumping and then laughing when Tony brought JARVIS online to power it up.

“And you are determined to solve this problem yourself? Just you and your suit?” Yinsen tapped the hole in the armor where Tony’s arc reactor would shine through.

“Absolutely not.” Tony shook his head. “I could never do this by myself, I can't change the world the way I want to with just my suit.”

“How then?”

“By asking my family to help me.” Tony said easily, and Bruce squeezed at his shoulder. “The most dangerous people in the world call me Alpha. Myself and my family will be a team like no other, a force to be reckoned with.”

“Have you talked to them about this then?” Yinsen wanted to know, backing away when the platform started dropping again, hiding the suit beneath the tiles of the lab floor. “How do they feel about it?”

Tony hesitated. “Uhh----”

*****************************

*****************************

“Absolutely not.” Steve folded his arms and leveled a scowl at Tony. “There is no way you are suiting up in a tin can and blasting off to fights with the team.”

“I think it's a good idea.” Sam offered. “We would all feel safer in the field with our Alpha there to help.”

“No, Steve is right.” Clint was holding Bucky's hand but he jumped up to pace. “No way. Tony, you are our Alpha and we love you but all of us are enhanced in some way. All of us have some sort of advantage on missions. You would not.”

“Are you joking?” Tony rapped his knuckles on the suit that was sitting on the couch next to him, looking disconcertingly human with the way Tony had folded it's arms and propped one ankle over a knee. “Does this not look enhanced to you?”

“Tony, you have no formal training.” Natasha tried this time. “It is one thing to fly around in that, but what happens if you are knocked out of the sky? If it malfunctions and you have to step out of it?”

“JARVIS runs the controls.” Bruce cut in. “As long as JARVIS in on line, the chance of the suit blipping out is minimal barring some sort of major explosion or--”

“Okay but major explosions are an everyday thing when you are out there.” Pietro was so upset his wings had came from his shoulders without him even noticing, and the neon blue feathers twitched in aggravation. “What then?”

“Tony is a genius.” Wanda cut in. “Surely he has made adjustments to this suit to counteract nearly every possibility. And the ones he cannot foresee-- that is why the rest of the team is here, yes? We will protect him if he needs it.”

“I vote that Wanda and Pietro don't get a vote.” Clint sounded annoyed. “We hardly let you guys out there anyway, you shouldn't have a say in whether or not Tony joins us.”

“That is true.” Wanda admitted. “But when we are in Sokovia, you have no say over what we do, and we have faced many things you are not aware of, and came out unscathed. We are just as aware as you are of the dangers that being on the team brings.”

“Ugh.” Clint looked a little pale at the thought of the twins fighting anything other than the occasional sniffle or headache. “Please don't talk about that.”

“The point is--” Steve raised his voice to be heard over the noise. “The point is Tony, that you need to--”

“I think that when our Alpha tells us he wants to fight alongside us, that he wants to help change the world, that we should be thrilled about it, not bitchin’ about it.” Bucky's low voice silenced everyone, and they all turned to look at him.

“I'm just saying.” The Omega touched his leather collar unconsciously, and Tony’s eyes warmed at the gesture. “Tony does everything for us, designs our gear, our tech, keeps us safe-- why would you think he would take any less care with something he is piloting? Why would you try to talk him out of protecting us further just with his presence?”

“Bucky's right.” Sam agreed, and opened his red wings wide before dropping them in a purposefully submissive gesture. “And I'd follow our Alpha anywhere.”

Murmurs from the rest of the team, and one by one they all seemed to agree with Bucky and Sam.

“Fine.” Steve nodded reluctantly, but his voice was firm as he said-- “But you will have to train, Tony. Hand to hand combat, a workout regime, all of that. You can't just hang out in here and then suit up and fly out because you feel invincible in your suit. You need to be ready for anything whether you are in your suit or not.”

“I don't have a problem with that.” Tony agreed instantly, smiling to himself, because Steve might be his Omega, but like this the beautiful blond was all Captain, the no nonsense leader of the team and Tony loved to see that. “Whatever you think is going to help the most, Steve.” he continued. “We can start right away. You can set up a training schedule, or partner me up with someone-- I don't know anything about that sort of thing, so I trust you to make those decisions.”

“You’ll have to train with Natasha and Sam.” Steve said then, lowering his eyes from the Alphas steady gaze. “I might be Captain if the team, but you are my Alpha and I won’t be able to put my hands on you like that, not even for training.”

Tony trilled something soft and assuring and Steve turned his head a little, touching the collar he wore every day now. Clint muttered something in agreement, rubbing his thumb over his own collar.

“Tony can train with me.” Tasha ran a gentle hand over Steve’s wings, then bent to lay a searing kiss on Tony's lips. “You might be our Alpha, but I have no issue kicking your ass.”

Tony laughed and kissed her back, and the family meeting broke up, each of the Omegas leaning down to kiss Tony, whining quietly when he tugged at their collars.

“The Widow is terrifying.” Yinsen remarked once the lab was empty again. “For being so beautiful, I suppose you wouldn't look at here and think she is a killer.”

“Easily one of the scariest people I’ve ever seen.” Tony agreed, and folded his arms, smiling up at Bruce in satisfaction. “That went better than I thought it would.”

“I suppose.” Bruce said dubiously. “Who gets to tell Pepper and Colonel Rhodes about it though?”

“Ugh.” Tony rolled his eyes. “One two three not it!” He stood and stretched, yawning loudly. “Yinsen, can I walk you to your room? The Tower can be confusing if you aren't sure where you are going.”

“I think I will stay here for moment longer with Dr Banner.” Yinsen decided, and Tony nodded, unfurling his wings to touch Yinsen’s for a moment before moving over to Bruce and bumping their noses together affectionately.

Once the lab doors slid closed behind the Alpha, Bruce fixed Yinsen with a look. “You have questions.” he stated. “Go ahead.”

“Why do the Omega’s wear collars?” Yinsen asked immediately. “Tony does not strike me as the type of Alpa to need to publicly claim his mates and yet they all wear collars. Why is that?”

“The collars are because Tony won't claim them as mates.” Bruce corrected. “He thinks they need to wait to choose a mate that they actually want, not one they are thrown together with because of this work.”

“He thinks they would choose him because he is the only Alpha available.” Yinsen clarified. “Or perhaps because he provides for the team, maybe it is mis placed affection.”

“Exactly right.” Bruce started shutting down the lab. “But Tony is an Alpha, and his instinct is to bite the Omegas when they are together, so he asked them to wear collars when they are in bed, so he can still bite, but they don't have to worry about it sparking a mating bond.”

“So why do they wear their collars outside of the bedroom?” Yinsen pointed out. 

“They never did before.” Bruce frowned in thought. “But when Tony came home he struggled for several weeks with who he was, and how he fit into the family still, and went so far as to not even touch the Omegas. Now that they have made up and Tony is feeling better, the Omegas started wearing their collars all the time. It is a sign of ownership that they proudly display, and an open invitation to Tony to bite them whenever he wants.”

“That is a very intimate thing for a family to be aware of between an Alpha and his Omegas.” Yinsen said cautiously.

“Yes, well, if you haven't figured it out.” Lights started clicking off and Bruce motioned Yinsen to the door. “We are not the average family. It's a source of pride for us that our Alpha has three Omegas who love him and want to bond with him.”

“All three of them want to have him as mate?”

“Desperately.” Bruce closed the lab door. “They are just waiting on Tony to realize it.”

****************************

#ncts fics #coming home fic #alpha tony stark #winteriron #stony #ironhawk #wanda maximoff #pietro maximoff #yinsen #family

[classy-smart-and-pretty]

Hello Hello Hello!!

Shit I forgot how fucking funny you savage bitches are on tumblr. (also reading my old blog posts is hilarious) 

It has been FOREVER since I’ve last posted so just thought I’d do a little life update. 

I’ve actually been living all over Europe for the past 7 months. It was amazing and even though I was dead ass broke for most of the time it was so worth it.

While I was traveling I made the personal decision to go off of the site and put all my SD’s on hold. Most of them we’re pretty understanding and said they wanted to catch up with me when I got back.

I got back home to my city in the beginning of January. I held off from going back on the site because I was trying to figure out what I actually wanted and whether or not I was trying to settle down in a vanilla relationship or what.

Well let me tell you that relationship shit lasted about three seconds bc then I saw my credit card bill and back to the site I went (((: 

I’ve been really lazy about it this time though. There’s one sentence on my profile and 2 very vague pictures of me but the bowl must be dry these days bc I’ve had POTs hitting me up left and right. 

Jay 

I’ve written about Jay before. We met on the site December ‘16 and he’s not really sugar daddy material. Not really sure why he was on the site and he doesn’t know why either. He took his profile down shortly after we met. He’s more of the spoiled gf type of guy. He never just blatantly gives me money but he’s helped me out with things like rent and tuition before. 

I was trying to cut him off and not talk to him while I was away/when I got back because tbh I’m being annoying as fuck and starting to get feelings for him and I just can’t date someone that is 10 years older than me rn and I don’t even think he wants a gf so I’m like plz let me be. But damn this boy is persistent. I kept trying to ignore him and then finally I got drunk and flipped out on him and told him that I’m like low key having a mental break down. I apologized the next morning and finally agreed to go to dinner with him bc I felt bad for being a psycho. Went to dinner with him which was fine. He was being like extra nice to me which was weird. We later went back to his apartment and got really high and had the best sex I’ve had in sooooooo fucking long ugh. I hate that I actually get butterflies when he kisses me. 

I guess he really missed me when I was away. He randomly sent me $300 to get my hair done after I mentioned it one time and he bought me a new bed for my apartment. He also keeps taking me on like real dates and I met his brother and a bunch of his friends? Idk I have no idea what I want and either does he so we’ll just not talk about anything and keep things the way they are now.

Miami

I’ve decided that I think Miami is revolting and doesn’t give me nearly enough compensation for how annoying he is. He’s been hitting me up left and right since I got back but I’ve ignored every one and have no intention of seeing him again. 

Silver Spoon 

Ugh this fucker. I’ve decided I’m dumb as shit and need to get over my feelings for Silver Spoon because he is manipulative as fuck and I hate him. 

Jay sent me money via venmo and Silver Spoon would not stop fucking texting me about it like “who the fuck is this kid” all this shit like???? I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN OVER A YEAR STAY OUT OF MY LIFE. 

I’ve ignored everything from him since the beginning of January. 

Raza

Raza is one of my newbies. He’s a real estate developer in my city, married, thinks his wife is a bitch. The usual. You can tell he used to be really good looking...he’s not bad looking now but could definitely use the gym. He’s sweet to me and thinks I’m like the smartest baddest bitch out there (can’t argue). 

He wants to do twice a month for a couple of hours at a time for $800. I agreed and shit he came in like two seconds and had to leave both times we’ve hung out so I’ve made $1600 off of him for like maybe an hour of my time. Will definitely be keeping him around.

Other than that I’ve been chatting with a couple of other POTs but nothing too serious lately. I finally quit my shitty serving job thanks to Raza paying off the last of my credit card bills from Europe so life has been pretty good. 

I’ll try to be on here more...forgot how entertaining it is. 

#classysmartprettyblog

[chyteawrites]

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Summary: Now that Corinne and Sebastian have Genevieve and Aiden with them for good, it’s time for Christmas with GG and Sebastian’s step-dad! 

A/N: The gif at the end is def not mine, but I felt it was completely necessary! Complete and total props and credit to whoever made it! If it’s yours, tell me! I legit feel so bad that I have no clue who made it! Also, once you guys read the story, you can figure out a series that I’ll be writing! 

“You two are so cute.” Genevieve chuckled as Sebastian pulled me under the mistletoe he’d hung in the entryway to the living room. And every other room of the house. Anything he could do to kiss me.

“More like disgusting.” Aiden commented and wretched.

“Oh sure. Because you don’t dream of kissing someone under the mistletoe someday?” His sister scoffed as my husband finally broke the kiss, pressing his forehead to mine. I smiled and pecked his lips softly, looking up at him through my lashes.

“Make sure you kiss me like that after they go to bed.” I whispered against his lips and giving him a smirk.

“Is that a Christmas wish?” He replied with a chuckle before wrapping his arm around my waist so we could walk into the living room.

“Good morning, lovebirds! And Merry Christmas!” Anthony, Sebastian’s step-father, laughed as we walked in.

“Good morning and Merry Christmas to you too, Tony.” I beamed as he stood up to hug me, planting a small peck on my cheek.

“Craciun Fericit, Sebastian.” Gerogeta whispered as she took her son into her arms.

“Craciun Fericit, Ma. I love you.” He replied and kissed her cheek before shaking Tony’s hand. GG wrapped her arms around me and commented on how the house looked.

“Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without the help of my elves. Isn’t that right?” I giggled as I looked at Evie and Aiden, patiently sitting by the tree for presents. Finally, a Christmas with my own children. Really mine. I sat down beside them and watched as Sebastian sat beside his mother. I read his lips as he thanked her for coming and bringing Tony. I cleared my throat to get their attention and pointed to the tree.

“So, who’s ready for presents?” I asked, smiling wide at the room full of people. The kids exclaimed, their faces brighter than the sun reflecting off the freshly fallen snow.

“I think we should give GG and Pops their present first.” Aiden said, looking over his shoulder to his dad. A crimson blush rose in his cheeks as Georgeta glared at him.

“Ma, it’s not what you think. I promise.” He rushed to explain.

“Ma innebunesti.” She muttered and rubbed her forehead.

“I think the kids should get their presents first. What do you guys think?” I looked to my mother-in-law and husband, winking to get them to say yes.

“Of course they should.” Tony chimed in, giving me a wide smile.

“Then let’s do it! Now who wants to go first?” I asked, looking to my kids.

“Ladies first.” Aiden looked at his sister with a sweet smile as he motioned toward her pile of presents.

“I wonder where he learned to be such a gentleman.” I pondered as she grabbed one of her presents, giving Sebastian a wink.

“Not a clue, regina mea.” Seb retorted with a slight chuckle, pulling his phone out to take pictures. We all watched as Evie unwrapped the gift in her hands, wrapping paper flying left and right of her.

“Romanian for Beginners and American Sign Language: A Beginner’s Guide.” Evie read the titles of the books that were revealed.

“GG and I actually worked together for this present.” I explained and nodded to my mother-in-law.

“Come here, luminita.” Sebastian’s mother beckoned her over with a sweet, age worn smile. “They told me you were starting to pick up a few phrases in Romanian and wanted to learn it. So, I’m going to teach you. Would you like that?” She asked, looking into my daughter’s glimmering hazel eyes.

“I would love that!” She exclaimed, a smile spreading on her face.

“And I’m going to teach you American Sign Language.” I added with a wink and smiled.

“Thank you!” Evie giggled and hugged her grandmother before coming to hug me.

“Soon you’ll probably speak better Romanian than me, raza de soare.” Sebastian chuckled and watched as our daughter sat down.

“That’s the goal, tătic.” She replied with a wicked wit, giving her father a smirk.

“Alright, me next!” Aiden finally piped up, his body growing restless. I laughed and nodded as he went over and grabbed on his presents. He ripped off the wrapping paper, squealing as he opened the box underneath.

“What is it, buddy?” Seb asked, grinning as our son turned to face him, holding up a shirt my sister made him. “My dad is the Winter Soldier. What does your do?” He read off the shirt and started cackling. I saw Aiden grin and run his hands over the fabric, lightly tracing over the stitching over the sleeve, meant to look like Bucky’s metal arm.

“How’d you even get anything like that?” Sebastian asked after he finally caught his breath.

“Charlie, obviously. She made both the kids something. She asked if they had anything in mind and this was Aiden’s.” I answered with a smile.

“I absolutely love it!” Our son giggled and held the shirt close.

“We’ll have to call Aunt Charlie later.” I murmured and kissed his cheek as he sat down.

“Can we finally give GG and Pops their present?” Evie asked, looking from Sebastian to me with a smile.

“Alright.” My husband huffed and went over to the mantle to grab an envelope.

“Ma. Tony,” he started, his voice low and soft as he knelt in front of them, “You were always there for me. I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it wasn’t for you guys.” He said, holding his mother’s hand gently.

“My boy.” Georgeta murmured with tears in her eyes. Sebastian kissed her hand softly, his own eyes misty.

“I know we haven’t been home in a while. So we’re going in the spring. You two, me, Rin, and the kids.” Sebastian said as he handed his mother and step-father the envelope.

“B-but why?” GG stuttered, almost crying as she looked at her son. Tony leaned over and kissed her cheek, whispering softly in her ear.

“It’s important to me that the kids see where we grew up. Tony’s only seen pictures and heard stories. It’s important for us to go back, Ma.” He whispered and started crying.

“Oh, Sebastian.” Georgeta heaved and pulled her son into a tight embrace. “Te iubesc.” She murmured and kissed his cheek, letting him go with a smile.

I watched everyone open gifts, hearing my mother-in-law tell stories about Romania. Sebastian came over and handed me a beautiful box, smiling wide as he smiled at me.

“What is this?” I asked, trying to be careful with the box as I lifted the lid.

“I found the cutest market while I was travelling for I, Tonya and filming. It’s in Louisville. It had the perfect scent for you, regina mea.” He told me, his eyes bright as I pulled tissue paper out of the box.

“Candles, lotion, soap. But what…” I started before I looked at the label. “Edelweiss! Oh, Sebastian! It’s perfect! I love it!” I exclaimed, setting the box down to throw my arms around his neck. He laughed and hugged me tight before kissing me.

“I was looking through the store and stumbled on that. It just screamed at me.” He chuckled, giving me a wink before biting his lip.

“You know me so well, don’t you?” I murmured, leaning in to kiss him again, my hand resting on his cheek. I broke the kiss and leaned back to grab his present from underneath the tree.

“What is that? I told you I didn’t want anything.” He huffed and took the box from me.

“I know. I didn’t pick it. The kids did. Apparently, your kids have a wicked sense of humor.” I told him, smirking as Evie and Aiden joined us. We all watched as he ripped wrapping paper from the box. His eyes rolled back so far into his head, he might have given himself a concussion.

“A tie?” He tried to keep a straight face as he held up the silky black necktie up.

“Well, you are a dad now…” Evie started before looking at her brother with a smirk.

“…And every dad gets at least one tie for Christmas.” Aiden finished with a giggle. Our son and daughter started laughing as they hugged their father, causing him to laugh with them.

“A wicked sense of humor indeed.” Seb chuckled as he rubbed the fabric between his fingers.

“Check out the back.” I whispered before walking into the kitchen to grab a fresh cup of coffee for Georgeta and myself.

“With Love, C, G, & A.” I heard him read the message I’d had embroidered on the back of the tie.

“We figured you could wear it to an event or premiere where one or all of us couldn’t be with you.” Evie explained the reasoning behind the message. While I couldn’t see his face, I knew Sebastian’s eyes were watering from the sentiment behind everything. I could feel him pulling the kids close, kissing their temples and whispering a sweet ‘thank you’ in their ears.

I smiled as I walked back into my living room, handing Georgeta a fresh cup of coffee. I sat down and watched as my family laughed and smiled, the lights glistening in their eyes. I sipped my coffee and let out a contented sigh. My heart was so full in this moment and I never wanted it to end.

#I'll Be Home For Christmas #Sebastian Stan #Corbastian #sebastian stan fluff #sebastian stan fanfiction #seb stan fluff #seb stan fanfic #Sebastian Stan x OFC Corinne Winters #sebastian stan x ofc #Sebastian Stan x OFC Corinne Winters-Stan #Genevieve Renee Winters-Stan #Aiden Gabriel Winters-Stan #georgeta orlovschi #Merry Christmas #I legitimately love writing the kids and GG

[candy-corps]

On Months

Friska belongs to @vulcan-and-the-mighty-muses ~

"Do you know how long Earth months are?" She shook her head no. "I know our months are 15 days long. So, about three or four months should be good." "Earth months have thirty. So four months for you are two for me, which is ... " Still so very, very, very long. Bruce' hopeful expression faded. She really wasn't as much into him as he was into her, was she. She put her arms around him and kissed him. "Listen, I rushed something like this once before and I got hurt. So, if you're worried about that it's alright. Just a few dates, sometime together, and I'm sure I'll be ready. And I noticed the last time we were together that you seemed hurt. I didn't mean to Bruce. And normally I would only want one Earth month, but I'm scared of rushing things again..." She couldn't help it, but felt that he was probably upset with her. "Shh - " Bruce tried to soothe Friska as if it was no problem. His wings curled over her sides all automatically, but then he didn't dare to close them. He didn't dare to touch her cheek. And he didn't dare to kiss her back. Not even stand so close for long. So it was him this time to take a step back - the same thing that Friska did and hurt so much.

"Sorry ... " he apologized, upset, yes, but not with her: with finding himself back at this situation. Be with someone and not be with someone at the same time. And wait for the wait to be over and hope it was over when it was time. Just to find out it wasn't. Not really. Never really. When he took a step back she stepped closer. "Bruce, you don't have to distance yourself like that. When my people decide to date we do everything couples do except for the final part. I'm just afraid that...that you'll hurt me like my last mate did..." She didn't like to think about it because it hurt still. "He's the reason I decided to leave my home..." Bruce had to think of Raza gain, hearing that. Neelas parrot. Once hurt by a man, never trusting a man again, even when offered some crackers. In turn, missing out on said crackers. His ears perked up again though ever so slightly. At least ... it wasn't personal.

"I'm scared, too" he admit, looking at her with an attempted smile. His wing moved forward again to reach for her but ... what when she saw it the wrong way. When he only scared her more. So, trying to look casual, he wrapped it around himself instead, and sighed. She noticed and wiggled her way under his wing sighing. "Bruce, please don't pull away, or hold yourself back.  That scares me more than anything. If I've done anything to hurt you then tell me how to fix it..." She didn't want Bruce to think that she was a bad person for needing time to trust him enough.

Soon the rude one saw them and came over. His more alien shape making him obvious. "She has told you right? What am I saying? Of course she hasn't. Back home she has this reputation of mating with anyone who asks her. She thinks that by coming with us she can pretend like it never happened." Uh? Bruce looked up as he heard the other talk to him. He didn't draw back like Friska requested, but held on to her. She asked. And it broke his heart to be so close, yet apart. Hold her so tight and at the same time, not really. Never really.

He swallowed before he replied. "You're a very beautiful species." Who could blame her? "I'd been honored. To be with any of you." He let out a long sigh and loosened his hold a little. It shouldn't be. It was okay. She clung to him trying to hold her tears back. She was scared about what the others next words would be. So she just stood silent and waiting.

"Oh? So I guess we should forgive all of the relationships she ruined? How many children she had aborted so she didn't have to deal with them? All the couples she drove a wedge between? Or how about leaving the children she did have out in the cold to fend for themselves? Newborns no less!" Well from the sound of it, Friska may not need a partner, but sure ... something else. Bruce covered her up for starters. It was clear that she meant to hide. He could be a hiding spot.

And he could be a friend.

Now, Bruce couldn't really believe Friska would do any of the mentioned, but he didn't think the other was telling him something that he thought was made up, either. He blamed Friska for being a weak link, did he. "I'll help her do the right thing next time. I'm sorry this happened." Bruce leaned his ears back and lowered his head in submission. "The right thing huh? Well then, how about you let me take her life? This is a rather violent planet, and the runt shouldn't be alive anyway. We can just say a human killed her and no one would be the wiser. After that you can do what you wish with the body." He didn't seem to care about her and genuinely thought she should die.

Hearing his words she clung closer to him shaking a bit. "Those rumors aren't true Bruce... Please, you have to believe me..." Her voice was barely a whisper now. Not true? Bruce heard it, of course. It didn't change things greatly, just showed that there was miscommunication. A dangerous one, on top of that.

The batman looked at the other for a while, thinking.

"Friska is the only link that befriends my and your people. She's a part of my swarm. When you hurt her, you weaken everybody." "That's not true. I'm just trying to make my people stronger by removing weakness from it. And her weakness needs to be snuffed out."

Friska looked up at Bruce when he said she was part of his swarm. She took a deep breath before turning so she could look at the other male, pointed a hand towards him, and used her psychic powers to close his mouth. "If you don't shut up then I'm going to remove you from this area and report it to the prince. Or you can turn around and we all forget this happened." Oh no. He was falling in love with her all over again. This was strength: Helping someone to get back in line, regardless of their prior actions.

So what was it going to be? Bruce looked from Friska to the other. This was business among their people, so he only dared to interfere so much. She slowly let up making sure to keep his arms in place. "Very well. Just know that you will have a harder time from me." He said before turning and walking off.

Once he was out of sight Friska dropped to her knees her entire body was shaking as tears began to stream down her face. She honestly thought Bruce was going to reject her now and that's something she didn't think she could handle. Oh, the nerve of this one. Bruce send a growl after him; smiling actually and so glad and proud Friska put him in line. But then a sob distracted him. "Hey."

Oh. Poor Friska. She did the right thing, yes, but it sure must be hard to deal with all that.

"I'm here" Bruce reminded her; kneeling next to her. He covered her back with his wing to shield her from view. She clung to him as she continued to cry. It was the first time she had ever stood up to him, and it scared her quite a bit. But having Bruce there was helping. And the fact he didn't leave helped her know he was good. Helped her know that he was someone she could trust. "Bruce...I...I think I can move the time up to one Earth month... I hope that's not too long...But it's the most I can do... It's the shortest amount of time I can offer..." "You worry about that now - Don't worry about that now" Bruce replied, unsure what to feel, or think, or do. "I won't stop liking you any soon. You impressed me a lot. Take your time" he insisted, speaking calmly in order to help her calm down, too. Was she okay? She was crying. She shouldn't be crying. Bruce tried to wipe a tear away. She let him before burying her face into his chest. But she impressed him? She wasn't sure how she impressed him. All she did was keep him from being involved and safe. After a little while she calmed down but kept clinging to him. "Bruce...I don't understand how I impressed you..." Was she kidding? "You helped him. You could have caused him trouble and you had every reason to, but ... you didn't. And ... and you scared him off. I'm so proud of you" he ended sincere. "I just did the rationale thing. I could have hurt him. And pretty badly. And I wanted to...The only thing stopping me was you being here... He's always been afraid of me... I guess I didn't realize it until now..." She sighed before hugging him. "Would it be alright if I spent some time at your place?" "I was about to suggest that" Bruce admit.

"I trust you not to do hurt him. I don't trust ... him though." At all. He was glad he was around when the other acted up, but he wasn't around always. "You sure you don't want to report that?" He's never been part of a community like that but he had a feeling it was the right thing to do ... She shook her head no. "What I have is my word. He may hate me, but he respects those who keep their word. And by keeping mine I prove that he can trust me. I don't expect to be treated differently. I do know he'll look at me differently though. And maybe more important things. But I would rather spend the night with you. And, well, since tommorow is a weekend, and assuming Earth schools let out for those, we could both spend time with your kids. They should get use to us being together, and how we might be mates." bae the utterly awesome - heute um 21:28 Uhr Mates. Being together. Spending the night together ...

"About that ... " There was something he yet had to ... tell.

#RP #Bruce and Friska RP #Bruce RP

[dracusfyre]

In From the Cold

Another Winteriron prompt fill from @imaginetonyandbucky:   "Imagine Hydra sending their Asset to Afghanistan for a mission, but his arm malfunctions and he is captured by the 10 rings. Tony meets him there and when he escapes takes his fellow prisoner with him, thinking bucky is only traumatized by being captured, and unknowingly sort of adopts the Winter Soldier."  It ended up being more like Tony escapes while Bucky does all the work, but it's close enough, I hope.

Also on AO3

           "Clear the hallway!" Yinsen heard a fighter yell as they were heading back to their cell from emptying out the bucket that currently functioned as their toilet.  Yinsen put a hand on Tony's chest to keep him from stepping into the main tunnel as he heard a pair of men coming down the hallway, dragging something heavy judging from the sound of it.  He risked a glance around the corner and when he saw the look on the faces of the two fighters he considered pulling Tony back into their cell until the men passed, but then Tony was looking around the corner as well and it was too late.  As the fighters passed them, their burden proved to be an unconscious man that was leaving a significant trail of blood in the dirt.

           “Hey! Hey, stop!” Tony trotted down the tunnel after them, the chains on his ankles keeping his strides short. “Yinsen, tell them to knock it off!”

           With a pained look Yinsen followed his charge down, trying to think of a way to phrase Tony’s request so that these men would actually listen.  “My friends,” he said ingratiatingly in the Arabic/Pashto pidgin that passed for a lingua franca in this part of Afghanistan.  “Mr. Stark sees that you are having difficulty with this man- “ he gestured, leaning over Stark’s shoulder to get a look at the captive, a white man with long dark hair and an unshaven face, features distorted by blood and bruises.  Curiously, one arm was made of what appeared to be articulated metal plates, a red star on the shoulder, and the rest of him was wrapped in an intimidating amount of black canvas and leather.  Yinsen had been held by the Ten Rings for long enough that he could recognize a half-dozen empty holsters and knife sheaths.  Whoever he was, he wasn’t a hapless civilian that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. “And he wishes to help,” Yinsen finished dubiously, then switched to English.  “Tony, I don’t know that this is a good idea…”

           Yinsen listened with half an ear as the two fighters argued between themselves, debating the wisdom of throwing this particular captive in with Tony and Yinsen.  Yinsen was not encouraged by the way they kept referring to the captive as a ‘mad dog.’  But Tony was already using the edge of his very dirty shirt to try to clean the blood off the man’s face, prying open eyelids to see if his pupils were responding.  “Tony, one of us here is actually a doctor,” Yinsen pointed out.  “They’ll probably let me see him, but right now they are debating whether or not they are going to put him down like a rabid animal.”

           “What? Why?”  Tony studied the man as if he could assess mental illness just by looking at him. Yinsen could see his eyes lingering on the metal arm, curiosity making his fingers twitch.

           “Apparently this man was responsible for killing a dozen of their men before they got lucky and he triggered the IED they were emplacing.  They brought him back here to explain to Raza why their mission failed.”

           The men seemed to have made a decision and they continued down the hallway with the man. “First Raza. He will decide what to do,” one of them called over his shoulder.  Yinsen had to hook a finger into Tony’s collar to keep him from following them.

           “Be patient, Tony. Let’s finish this errand then go get those parts you needed, yes?”

                                                              ***

           Later that night, a pair of guards came in and pulled Yinsen away from where he was helping Tony by holding a light as Tony carefully disassembled a rocket.  Tony felt his stomach drop, afraid that they were questioning his progress again, but Yinsen calmed him with a pat on his shoulder.  “They want me to talk to the captive we saw earlier. Do not worry.”

           “Yeah, right,” Tony muttered as he watched his friend being marched out the door between the fighters.  He turned back to the missile.  “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to ‘not worry’ again.”

           When Yinsen came back about an hour later, pushed roughly through the iron door before they slammed it shut, the look on his face was indescribable.

           Tony put the magnifying glass and tweezers down, setting the motherboard that he was disassembling to the side.  “What is it?”

           “That man they have is…” Yinsen sat down, scratching the stubble on his jaw thoughtfully.  “Troubled.  At first all he could speak was Russian, which was making the men here understandably nervous, but then I got him to answer me in English.  He says he doesn’t remember anything.  He insisted this so much that I finally had to make up answers for Raza or they were going to hurt him more.”

           “Think it was head trauma?”  Tony sat down too and pushed a bowl of rice and mostly burnt meat over to Yinsen. They had delivered dinner while he was gone.

           “That’s the other odd thing.  By the time I saw him, most of the wounds he had were already healed.” Yinsen scrubbed his hands on his pants the best he could before he started eating; water was not a luxury they were afforded very often, so being clean took second place to being hydrated. “Other than the lack of memory, he didn’t have any signs of a concussion.”

           “Huh.”  Tony thought as he chewed.  “Super healing, huh? What about that metal arm?”

           “From what I could see, it works just like his other arm but is much, much stronger.  While I was talking to him, he got agitated and bent the metal frame of his cot by squeezing it too hard.”

           Tony tried not to get excited.  A man like that could help get them out of here.  “That is odd,” he said neutrally, but a glance and a raised eyebrow from Yinsen told him that they were both thinking the same thing.

           “Raza wants you to build more of them.” Tony’s head shot up at that.  Yinsen shrugged.  “As you can imagine, they have a lot of men that can’t fight because they’ve lost limbs.  If you can build ones like his…”  Tony blanched at the thought, and his stomach turned.

           “Well obviously I would need to look at it, but…” He set his food down, appetite lost.  “I don’t think I can.  That might actually be beyond my capabilities.”  He tried to think of what he knew of prosthetics and cybernetics.

           Yinsen shrugged again, philosophically this time.  “Well, you aren’t building them a Jericho missile, so what does it matter if you also don’t build them high tech prosthetics?”

           “True.”   Tony scratched the scars around his arc reactor, the skin there still healing and incredibly itchy.  “When are they bringing him here?”  Just then, Tony registered the sound of men walking down the hallway, the footsteps of one of them heavier than the rest.

           “Right now,” Yinsen said unnecessarily as the door to their cell opened.

           They both stood as Raza entered, flanked by his personal guards.  Behind him, the man from the hallway stood in the center of four guards, weighed down by chains.  He was looking down at the floor, his long dark hair a curtain around his face.

           Raza spoke at length to Yinsen, and all Tony got out of the conversation was Yinsen saying “yes” a lot.  Finally Raza gave Tony a wide grin and a friendly clap on the shoulder, and then he was sweeping out the door.

           “That man really thinks I’m his bitch, doesn’t he?” Tony mused as Raza left.  The men guarding the captive shoved him towards Tony and all but ran out the door.

           “Pretty much, yes.”   Yinsen gestured for Tony to stay back as he started to approach the man, who was just standing in the center of the cell.  “Hello, sir? Do you remember me?”

           At Yinsen’s voice the man finally raised his head. “Yes,” he said, his voice like gravel. His eyes, light blue, almost gray, flickered to Tony and stayed on him even as Yinsen approached.

           “Good.  You are here so that my friend Tony here can take a look at your arm.”

           At that the man looked alarmed and suspicious and took a step back, chains rattling. “The arm is…fully operational,” he said unconvincingly, and if to demonstrate Tony saw his shoulders flex and then there was the sharp snap of the chains.  He brought his arms around to the front and Tony saw that the iron cuffs were still on his wrists but the chain between them was broken. Then the metal arm twitched and the plates on it made a high pitched whine as they recalibrated and shifted position, and when the man looked away Tony knew that he had lied.

           “I can see that,” Yinsen said, eyebrows high but voice calm.  “But the men who brought you here have ordered Tony to examine your arm and if he doesn’t, they will hurt him.”

           The man hesitated then nodded.  Yinsen led him to sit down by their work table while Tony cleared a space for him to rest his arm, picking out a few tools from his tiny selection that he thought he might be able to use.  He pulled over a stool and moved a few lights to illuminate his work space before he sat down.   “I’m just going to take a look at everything first, ok?” Tony said to the man.  “What’s your name, anyway?”

           “I don’t know.”  The man’s arm twitched again, fingers tightening into a fist before they relaxed. Looking up, Tony saw that this time it wasn’t a malfunction; the man’s jaw was tight and his eyes were far away, brow furrowed like he was trying to concentrate.

           “Ok, don’t worry about it.  Can I call you Mr. Roboto?”

           Those cool grey eyes focused on him again and this time he was scowling. “No.”

           Tony hid a grin as he ran his fingers over the metal plates in the arm, trying to find any seams that would indicate an access panel. “R2D2?”

           “No.”

           “Robocop?”  He found something halfway down the inside part of his upper arm and pressed it gently. He felt more than heard a click and then the entire plate around what would be a bicep came off, revealing complex circuitry and cables.

           “No.”  Tony barely heard him as he studied the inside of the man’s arm, using a flashlight to get a peek under the other plates.  Right now, the only damage Tony could see was the thin layer of dust on everything, which may have gotten into some of the connections and shorted them out.  He rested his chin on his hand as he tried to figure out what he was looking at.

           “Marvin?” He said belatedly when he realized the man was staring at him and started looking for more access plates. He wished so hard for his full lab at his tower so he could get scans of this thing; it was miles beyond what anyone was doing right now, especially since it appeared to be fully integrated into the man’s nervous system.

           “No.”  But a small smile was starting to curve the man’s lips, and the difference was like sun after a rainstorm. Tony hesitated, taking his first good look at the man’s face and realized under the dirt and blood and scruff – the Ten Rings aesthetic, as he was starting to think of it – he was a goddamned good looking guy.  Those clear grey eyes, strong jaw, full lips.  Shoulders a mile wide.  Tony must have been staring a moment too long because the man tilted his head slightly and the considering look in his eyes changed to something different.

           Tony looked back down at the arm and cleared his throat. “How about Bender?” Another access panel opened up on his forearm and there Tony could see his first clear indication of damage. Something had managed to slide up under the plate and partially sever some of the wires and cables.  “Can you move your fingers for me, one at a time?”  Tony watched carefully as he did so, and saw it – sparks flew and the hand twitched when he moved his pinky and ring finger.

           “Not Bender,” the man finally answered gruffly.

           “Terminator?” Tony looked at his work table and considered the tools he had at his disposal to repair something like this. Finally he picked up his soldering iron; the tips that he had for it were a bit large for this project so he was going to need a very light touch.  He pulled off his gloves and pushed up the sleeves of his coat.

           “That’s fine.” 

           That surprised a laugh out of Tony.  “Are you sure you would prefer something like Bob or Tim or James instead?  John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt? Not that Terminator doesn’t fit, from what I’ve heard.”  He looked up to see the man frowning again and immediately felt bad.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

           “James,” the man repeated. He sat up straighter and said it again. “James.

           “James Q Terminator it is then.  Stay still, James, and let me see if I can get this fixed up for you, ok?”

           The as- James watched as Tony carefully repaired the damage to the arm, narrating what he was doing as he did it.  Behind him he could tell that the man Yinsen was writing something on the other side of the room; he could hear the sound of pencil against paper and the occasional sound of him sharpening it with a knife.  Outside the metal door two guards shuffled their feet, bored and tired of standing.  The room, merely a large cave strung with lights, smelled of oil and metal and two men that did not have the resources to bathe often.

           He studied the head bent over his arm as the smell of hot metal and a thin streak of smoke emerged from where he was working.  Long, slightly wavy brown hair fell over his forehead and whenever he straightened James could see the overgrown beard on cheeks that were just starting to get gaunt and pale from prolonged captivity.  Bruising on his zygomatic arch was a purple smudge at the corner of his eye but he still smiled, lips quirking whenever he said something he found funny.  James didn’t understand the humor but he found himself liking the smile and wondering how to make it reappear.  He couldn’t remember the last time he saw someone smile with humor and not cruelty.

           Finally Tony sat up and brushed the hair off his forehead with the back of his hand.  “Well, James, I’m done with the repairs but I’d like to keep looking at your arm if that’s ok.”

           James considered the alternatives and found that he had a strong preference to stay where he was.  There may be more damage, he thought.  A fully functioning arm is imperative for mission success. “Yes,” he said finally, and for some reason that earned him a wide grin that even managed to chase the shadows from Tony’s eyes.

           “Great! Are you comfortable? Need some water or food? I don’t know if I’ll be able to get you either of those things, but I can try.  It only hurts a little bit to ask.”  James found himself scowling at the thought of someone hurting Tony and consciously relaxed his face when Tony’s smile started to fade.

           “I’m fine,” he said gruffly.  Tony bent his head and James could feel the gentle pressure from his fingers as they danced over the metal of his arm, seeking more access points.  It felt…good.  Nice.  James could have directed him to the rest of the panels, if asked, he did not speak unless spoken to.

           Tony worked for a few more minutes, this time in silence, as he tried his best to get the grit out from the interior of the arm.  Occasionally he would mutter about power sources or cooling, but for the most part he just studied what he could see, forehead furrowed in concentration.  James thought about smoothing that line away and earning a smile, but didn’t move.

           Eventually Tony sat back and chewed on his thumb thoughtfully.  “I don’t want to disassemble it further in this kind of environment.  This should really be done in a cleanroom, but…” Tony sighed and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.  He put the access plates back on and James flexed the hand, gratified when it functioned without glitches.  When he was done Tony leaned back, arm resting on the work table while he studied James thoughtfully.  James stared back, wondering what Tony was looking for.

           Tony must have come to some sort of decision because he scooted his chair closer to James and as he leaned over James caught a curious whiff of ozone from something under Tony’s clothes.  “Look, James.  Clearly I don’t know you, and you don’t know me.  But I think we are in an enemy of my enemy situation, don’t you?  Maybe we should work together.”

           James just tilted his head, curious where Tony was going with this.

           “I have a plan to get out of here. I think maybe you aren’t meant to be here either, right? Is there someone looking for you?”

           At that, James froze. He felt cold, then hot, and his ears were ringing.  He kept very, very still but inside his heart was pounding. Someone looking for you. Someone looking for you.  The ringing in his ears subsided just enough to hear Tony saying “James? James? Hey, James, are you ok?”

           “I-I-“ He imagined a recovery team storming the cave system, Tony with the nice smile and Yinsen with the kind eyes bleeding out on the floor. Someone looking for you.  Then there would be correction, re-education about the consequences of trying to leave Hydra, and the chair. The cold.

           But.

           If he got out now, tried to find his handlers, maybe Tony and Yinsen wouldn’t die.  There would be less correction, less re-education. Still the chair, though. Still the cold. Always the chair and the cold.

           “I have to go.” James stood so suddenly that Tony almost fell over backwards. “There is someone looking for me.”

           “Whoa, wait, wait!” Tony jumped in front of him as he strode towards the metal door. On the other side Tony heard some muttered Arabic, likely curious about the sudden hubbub inside the cell.  Yinsen set his notebook down and stood, concerned.  “You can’t go out there, they’ll kill you! There’s like, fifty guys out there, armed to the teeth.”

           James paused and tilted his head, considering. He was right, there was a risk.  More than a dozen men and the risk that someone would get lucky starts to rise to an appreciable percentage.

           His eyes refocused on Tony, who looked scared. Scared for him.  Tony had one hand on his chest, trying to stop him from leaving.  It was warm.  He looked down at the hand and wanted to feel that warmth on his face, on his bare skin. He had been so cold for so long.

           “I have to go,” he repeated, and lifted Tony and set him out of the way.  “There is someone looking for me, and I can’t be here when they find me.” He found himself smiling a little at the look on Tony’s face when he was set to the side.  Tony glanced at Yinsen helplessly but the other man only shrugged.

           “We can’t physically stop him,” the doctor said.  “I can’t say that I’m happy that he is ready to throw his life away after I just finished patching him up, but…”

           “Can you wait?  I just need like, a few more days, a week at most and I could help,” Tony said in a low voice, with a glance over his shoulder at the guards who were watching them suspiciously through a grated window in the door.

           James started shaking his head before Tony finished talking.  “They will be here in hours, no more than a day.”

           “Well what do you think is going to happen to us, huh? If you go out there and fail, they’re probably going to take it out on us,” Tony tried. James glanced at Yinsen to see if that were true and the man made a maybe, maybe not gesture with his hand.

           He turned back to Tony.  “Then I won’t fail.”

           “You don’t even have a weapon!”

           James put his hands on Tony’s shoulders and half steered, half pushed him to a corner of the cave where he would be least likely to be hit by a stray bullet.  He let his eyes trail over Tony’s face, trying to commit it to memory to hold on to when he was in the chair, keep it next to the barely remembered blonde man with the stubborn set to his jaw.  He wanted to touch Tony’s face to feel the roughness of his beard; he had the urge to press his lips against the angry line of Tony’s mouth.  He could hear Tony’s heart start beating faster under his gaze and he smiled faintly and let his arms fall away.  “Stay here.”

           He strode to the door and said something insulting in Pashto about the guard’s brother and an amorous goat.  As planned, the guard stepped up to the grating and started shouting furiously. James punched right through the metal grating and the guard dropped to the ground, his face crushed.  His partner started shouting as James ripped the metal door open, the bolt holding it shut sheared in half. James grabbed the rifle that the guard pointed at him and bent the barrel towards the ceiling right as the man pulled the trigger.  The resulting misfire split the barrel in half and then the guard was on the floor as well, neck broken.  James stooped and searched their bodies with practiced efficiency.  The sound of the rifle shot would bring more running, and soon.

           James took the undamaged rifle and every bullet he could find, along with two knives of questionable sharpness.  One of the guards had a small nine millimeter in a holster on his thigh; James checked it and found it fully loaded.  He returned to the room and handed it to Tony.

           “Here.  For if they come for you.”

           Tony just stared at him, dumbfounded, so he turned to leave, not wanting to get into a firefight in this room.  “Take care of yourself, Terminator,” he heard Tony say as he raised the rifle and started to stalk down the corridor, taking out the lights as he went.

                                                      ***

           Tony and Yinsen both escaped later that night, creeping out after hours of silence.  There was no sign of James, only a trail of bodies; any survivors had long ago fled.  But there was still vehicles remaining, so before anyone could return to the decimated camp they filled up a Jeep and poured the rest of the gasoline they found onto the stockpiles of Stark missiles. The glow of the fire was in their rearview mirror for a long time as they drove into the desert, north and west towards American-controlled territory.

           For whatever reason, neither of them mentioned James when they talked about their time with the Ten Rings.  Tony’s first few Iron Man designs were rubbish, but when he was finally able to return to Afghanistan every question about a man with a metal arm was met with confused refusal.

           Four years later, Steve said, “He was strong. Fast. Had a metal arm,” and Tony sat up straighter.  In the fight on the helicarriers, despite his best efforts Tony was separated from Steve. He landed on the bank of the Potomac just as the Winter Soldier was dragging an unconscious Steve from the water and stepped out of his suit.

           “Hey there, James Q Terminator.  Looks like you might need me to look at that arm again.”

#bucky x tony #tony stark #bucky barnes #winteriron #prompt fill

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Iron Man

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where Today We Are Starting A New Franchise After Finishing The Fast And Furious Films In September And Doing Duke's Monsterween And Duke's Yultide Reviews In October, November And December. But Wait, Did I Say Franchise? I Meant, Cinematic Universe, Welcome My Friends, To The Marvel Cinematic Universe....

And What Better Way To Start Our Look At The MCU, By Looking At The Film That Started It All, Iron Man!

But Before We Begin, I Have A Slight Confession To Make, Until This Movie Came Out I Knew Absolutely Nothing About Iron Man, I Mean I Saw A Few Episodes Of The 1994 Iron Man Animated Series When I Was A Kid And I Knew A Few Names Like Tony And Rhodey But It Didn't Really Stick With Me Unlike The Fantastic Four Who's 94 Series I Also Watched And I Collected Few Of The Action Figures (Namely The 4 Themselves) But We're Not Talking About The Fantastic Four Who Don't Have A Movie In The MCU Yet (But I Hope It's Soon) We're Talking About Iron Man...

Directed By Jon Favreau, This Film Follows Billionaire Industrialist..,

(Start At 1:45, End At 1:51)

Who Gets Captured By A Terrorist Group Only To Escape With The Help Of A Mechanized Suit That He Created And Upon Returning Home, Tony Devotes All His Time To Perfecting The Suit So He Can Fight Crime...

So, What Are We Waiting For? Let's Watch Iron Man...

The Film Starts In Afghanistan As Tony Stark (Played By Robert Downey Jr.) Is Being Driven In A Convoy By Military Soliders Who Turn Guarding Mr. Stark Into A Q&A Session At Comic-Con...

But When They're Attacked By Terrorists Who End Up Killing Them, Tony Leaves The Safety Of The Convoy To Hide Behind A Rock To Call For Help On His Phone, Only To Be Damaged By One Of His Companies Missiles That Causes Tony To Bleed Out...

A Few Hours Later We See That Tony Has Been Kidnapped By The Terrorists As We Get A Title Card!

Rewinding To 36 Hours In Las Vegas, We Watch A Video On Stark Himself As He's About To Recieve The Apogee Award....

(Start At 0:08, End At 1:02)

Being Given The Award By His Best Friend, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes (Played In This By Empire's Terrence Howard) He Discovers That Tony Is Not There So, Instead He Gives The Award To Tony's Partner In Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane, (Played By Tron's Jeff Bridges) Who Simply Says That He's Always Working When Really He's Enjoying Vegas Like Any Other Guy!

Finding Tony At A Crap Table, Rhodey Gives Tony His Award And Tells Him To Not Be Late For Their Flight Tomorrow As Tony Walks Out Of Ceaser's But As His Bodyguard, Happy Hogan (Played By Director Jon Favreau) They're Confronted By A Reporter For Vanity Fair Named Christine Everhart (Played By Talladega Nights Leslie Bibb) Who Tony Talks With For A Moment Before Ending Up With Her

Waking Up The Next Morning In Tony's Bed, Christine Ends Up Being Scooted Out Faster Than One Of Charlie Sheen's Women On 2 And A Half Men As Tony Gets Ready To Fly To Afghanistan With The Help Of His Assistant, Pepper Potts (Played By Gwyneth Paltrow)

Racing Happy To The Airport, Tony Boards A Plane With Rhodey To Afghanistan Where He Will Do A Weapons Demonstration In Front Of The Military...

(End At 1:19)

Getting Inside Of The Convoy To Get Away From Lame Old No Fun Rhodey Tony Ends Up Right Back Where The Film Started With Him In The Hands Of A Group Of Terrorists...

Once Conscious, Tony Discovers That He Has A Metal Device In His Heart That Was Placed There By A Fellow Captive Named Yinsen Who Says That In The Blast Tony's Heart Took On A Lot Of Shrapnel, Removing What He Could, That Device Is What Is Keeping The Rest From Hitting Tony's Heart...

With Their Captors Coming In, Yinsen Translates For Them As He Says That They Want Him To Build A Jericho Missile Like The One He Demonstrated For The Military, Refusing, They Torture Tony For A Few Minutes Before Taking Him And Yinsen Outside Where He Continues Translating For Them, Saying That Once He Makes The Jericho For Them, They'll Set Him Free But Tony Knows Different...

Working On The Jericho With Yinsen, Tony Learns More About His Captors Discovering That They Are Called The Ten Rings And They Aparently Speak In A Lot Of Languages But None Of Them Know English, Breaking Down The Missiles, Tony And Yinsen Start Taking Palladium Out Of Them So Tony Can Build Himself A Small Arc Reactor Which Will Keep His Heart Running For 3 Lifetimes...

(Tony) I Wonder If It Could Stand Radiation From A Life Killing Glove?....

This Leads Stark To Show Yinsen What He's Actually Building Which Turns Out To Be The Mark 1 Iron Man Suit...

Placing The Arc Reactor In Tony's Chest, They Get A Little Down Time Where Tony Learns A Little About Yinsen Discovering That He's From A Town Named Gulmira Once They Escape He's Going To See His Family...

Continuing Work On The Mark 1, The Man In Charge Of This Group Of The Ten Rings, Raza Is Getting Tired Of Waiting For The Jericho Missile And Tells Yinsen And Tony That He Has Until Tomorrow To Get Them The Missile, Forcing Tony And Yinsen To Up Their Timetable On The Mark 1...

With Tony Suiting Up In The Mark 1, They Start To Power It Up While A Trap They Both Placed On The Door, Blows Up, Killing 2 Guards As They Try To Open It...

With Raza Telling His Men To Deal With It, The Mark 1 Program Needs More Time To Load, So, Yinsen Runs Out To Deal With Raza And His Guards...

(Yinsen) I Regret Nothing!!!!!

(Yinsen) Oh, Shit!

With The Suit At 100%, Tony's Ready To Take On Some Terrorists...

(End At 2:09)

Trying To Get Yinsen Up So He Can See His Family Again He Tells Tony The Truth That His Family Is Dead And He's Going To See Them Now, Dying In Tony's Arms...

Going Out To Face The Terrorists, Tony Basically Barbeques Them And The Weapons They Have...

Being Damaged By Bullets, Tony Decides The Only Way Out Is Up...And Down...

More Like A Propelled Leap Instead Of A Flight, But It's A Work In Progress...

Waking Through The Desert Like Lawrence Of Arabia...

Tony Is Eventually Found By Rupert And The Military Who Bring Him Back To The States So Once Back He Can Put On A Press Conference To Make An Announcement. But Before The Press Conference Begins, Pepper Is Confronted By Agent Phil Coulson (Played By Clark Gregg) Who Asks For Her To Set Up A Meeting Between Him And Stark To Ask Him About His Escape From The Ten Rings...

When The Meeting Starts, Tony Tells The Press That When He Was There In Afghanistan, He Had His Eyes Opened As He Came To Realize That He Can Do More For This World Than Just Make Things That Kill People So, With That Said Tony Decides To Shut Down The Weapons Division Of Stark Industries Until Further Notice...

And I Thought Seeing Jeff Bridges Country Accent In R.I.P.D. Was Bad But Jeff Bridges On A Segeway? Now That's Scary...

Talking With Tony After The Meeting, Obadiah Asks Tony If They Aren't Going To Make Weapons, What Are They Going To Make? Which Leads Tony To Suggest That Maybe They Should Look Into Arc Reactor Tech Which Makes Obadiah Scoff Until He Sees Tony's Arc Reactor In His Chest...

Returning Home, Tony Asks For Pepper's Help In Removing The Arc Reactor In His Chest So That He Can Place In A New Upgraded Version Of The Arc Reactor Instead, Asking What To Do With The Old One? Tony Tells Pepper To Destroy It Because If There's One Thing He Isn't, It's Nostalgic..

Meeting Rhodey At The Military Base, Tony Tells Him That He's Working On A New Project And He Wants Him To Be Involved In It But Discovering That It's Not For The Military, Rhodey Passes As Tony Returns To His House In Malibu, He Talks With His AI, J.A.R.V.I.S. About Placing A File On His Private Server Dubbed, Mark 2...

But As Tony Begins Work On The Mark 2 Iron Man Suit, Raza And The Ten Rings Find The Remains Of The Mark 1 Iron Man Suit In The Afganian Dessert...

After A Disastrous (Yet Funny) First Flight Test, Tony Decides To Create A Handheld Flight Stabilizer That'll Both Control The Rockets And Work As A Possible Weapon...

A Few Minutes Later, Tony Goes Upstairs To Have (Imatating Tim Curry In Home Alone 2) Pit-Za...With Pepper And Obadiah Who Tells Tony That He Just Came From A Board Of Directors Meeting Where They Decided That They're Filing An Injunction Against Him Because They Feel That Tony's New Direction Isn't What's Best For The Company...

Well, At Least They Didn't Kick Him Out Like Others Did With These Guys From Other Marvel Movies...

Wanting Tony To...

To Pitch To The Board, Obadiah Suggests Letting His Engineers Make Specs Of Tony's Arc Reactor But Tony Says No, It Stays With Him...

The Next Day, Tony Does A Second Flight Test Using The New Flight Stabilizers And (Imitating Bill Murray In Ghostbusters) It's A Successful Test...

With The Mark 2 Iron Man Suit Built, Tony Suits Up To Get Everything Online Before Powering The Shut Down But Tony Tells J.A.R.V.I.S. To Run A Weather And ATC Check And Start Listening In On Ground Control So He Can Do A Flight Test...

(Start At 1:10)

On His Way Back To His Work Station, Tony Discovers A Present From Pepper, Which Is The Mark 1 Arc Reactor Inside Of Engraving On The Outside Of It Which Says, "Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart"

Returning To His Work Station, Tony Fixes All The Problems With The Mark 2 (Including The Icing Problem) And Starts Production On The Mark 3 Which Looks More Like The Iron Man We All Know And Love. But While Doing That Tony Sees On The News That Stark Industries Is Holding A Benefit For The Firefighters Family Fund At The Disney Concert Hall...

Little Hint To Disney Owning Marvel In The Future? (Note: At The Time Iron Man Came Out Disney Did Not Own Marvel)

And Tony Didn't Get An Invite!?! So, What Does He Do? Why Crash It Of Course!...

Stan Lee Cameo!

Running Into Obadiah At The Party, He Tells Tony To Take It Easy Because He Has The Board Right Where They Want Them With Tony Saying Fine, He Just Has Cabin Fever....

Running Into Coulson, He Books Him On The 24th At 7 Pm At Stark Industries Before Going Off To Talk And Dance With Pepper...

Going Out To Talk With Pepper, She Kind Of Regrets Dancing With Tony Because He's Her Boss And Everybody What Kind Of Person He Is But Sending Him Off To Get Drinks, Tony Runs Into Christine Everhart Who Shows Him Pictures Of His Weapons In Gulmira That Were Taken Yesterday...

But Knowing That He Didn't Approve Any Shipment, Tony Confronts Obadiah On It Who Tells Him That He Was The One Who Filed The Injunction Against Him Because It Was The Only Way To Protect Him...

Okay, I Know Obadiah's The Bad Guy, But Looking Back On This Scene It Has Me Wondering Who Was Obadiah Trying To Protect Tony From? H.Y.D.R.A.? The Ten Rings? Who?

Going Back To His Malibu Home, Tony Watches A News Report In Gulmira Before Deciding To Suit Up As Iron Man To Go Stop The Ten Rings...

(End At 3:17)

With Ground Control Spotting Tony, They Get Rhodey In To See What He Makes Of It...

(Watch Full Video)

With Obadiah Watching Rhodey's News Report On Tv, Pepper Discovers That Tony Is Iron Man As He Tried Taking Off The Suit, But Speaking Of Obadiah, He Visits Raza At His Camp For Him To Show Obadiah The Mark 1 Iron Man Suit Which Raza Will Give Him In Return For Suits Like This Which To Say...

And Basically Kill Him And His Men As He Takes The Mark 1 Back To Stark Industries....

Meanwhile At Tony's House, Tony Wants Pepper To Go To His Office To Hack Into The Mainframe To Retrieve All The Recent Shipping Manifests So That He Can Stop Them And Destroy Them, Believing This Is Crazy At First, Pepper Quits But After Hearing Him Talk About How He Shouldn't Be Alive And How He's Not Crazy But He Just Finally Knows What He Has To Do, Pepper Decides To Stand By Him...

(Pepper) But If You Call Me Felicity, Tony, I'm Leaving...

(Tony) Aww, Come On!

So, Going To Stark Industries, Pepper Hacks Tony's Computer, Finding Plans For The Iron Monger Suit And A Video Connecting Obadiah With The Ten Rings As She Copies It To Tony's Ghost Drive But Unfortunately She's Caught By Obadiah Who...Didn't See Her Do Anything Apparently But Talks With Her About Tony Before She Exits...

Running Quickly, Pepper Runs Into Coulson Who She Tells Everything To....

(Coulson) Do You Say That To All The People You Have Appointments With, Miss? Because If You're Coming Onto Me I Have A Girlfriend Who's A Violinist...

Going Down To The Arc Reactor Room, Obadiah Talks With His Lead Scientist, Who Is Having A Hard Time Shrinking Down An Arc Reactor...

But One Thing I Will Say Is That The Actor Who Plays The Lead Scientist Looks Strangely Familiar To Me Like I've Seen Him In One Of My Favorite Christmas Movies...

Yep, I'm Serious, Folks, That Lead Scientist Is Played By None Other Than Peter Billingsley Otherwise Known Around The Holidays As Ralphie Parker From A Christmas Story...

Oh, My God, I Have So Many Questions Now....Wait A Minute I Just Got This From The Duke Newsroom, An Unknown Source For The Marvel Cinematic Universe Has Confirmed To Us That This Character Billingsley Plays William Ginter Riva (Who Not Only Appears In This Movie But Spider-Man: Far From Home) Is Actually A Descendant Of Ralphie Parker Which Means That A Christmas Story Is Now Officially An MCU Film!

Of Course, A Christmas Story Is Not An MCU Film! Bob Clark Would Be Nuts To Say That Was An MCU Film!...

But Mad That Riva Is Unable To Shrink Down The Arc Reactor, He Decides To Take Matters Into His Own Hands By Stealing Tony's...

Using The Same Device He Used On Rasa, He Paralyzes Tony So He Can Get The Arc Reactor From Tony's Chest But While He Does He Admits That He Got The Ten Rings To Kidnap Him...

So, Without An Arc Reactor What Can Tony Do? But Go Downstairs And Get The Mark 1 Arc Reactor That Pepper Saved With The Help Of DUM-E!...

But With The Arc Reactor In Hand, Obadiah Activates The Iron Monger Suit As Rhodey Finds Tony On The Ground Of His Workshop...

With Pepper And Coulson Arriving At Sector 16, Obadiah Suits Up As Pepper, Coulson And The Other Agents Come In To Find The Mark 1 Armor But They Soon Discover More Than That...

Suiting Up, Tony Suits Up, Telling Rhodey To Keep The Skies Clear As He Goes To Save Pepper From Obadiah But Unfortunately The Mark 3 Is At 48% And Dropping Like Sony After They Took Spider-Man Out Of The MCU...

Eventually Arriving At Stark Industries, Tony Fights Obadiah On The Streets Of Miami Before Taking It To The Skies So Tony Can Ice His Suit Like The Mark 2 Did During It's First Flight...

Running Out Of Power, Tony Manages To Get Back To Stark Industries...

(Watch Full Video)

So, With Obadiah Dead, Rhodey Handles A Press Conference That'll Set Everything Straight, Coulson Tells Both Tony And Pepper That He Works For S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony And Pepper Are...A Work In Progress And Tony Takes Over The Press Conference Where He Admits To The World That He Is Iron Man...

In The First Ever MCU End Credits Scene, We See Tony Returning Home Only To Be Confronted By Col. Nick Fury, Director Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Who Is There To Talk To Him About Something Called The Avenger Initiative...

And That's Iron Man And What Can I Say About It?

For The First Film In The MCU, It Is Fantastic! The Story Is Great, The Characters Are Great, It Is Just A Jewel In The MCU And If You Have Not Seen This Yet Than, What Rock Have You Been Living Under? See It Now!

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

#iron man #robert downey jr #gweneth paltrow #terrence howard #jeff bridges #marvel #MCU #marvel cinematic universe