#oc: kari macorish

[karimac]

...in the details, Part 11

A/N: Warning for this series: 18+ audience (minors DNI), some cinematic level violence, some fluff and angst. Doubt that smut will be involved, but it may be implied. I’ll make sure that is noted clearly if it pops up.

All relationships, at this point in the story, are platonic, but there is romance in the cards for Kari and Bucky.

Please do not repost or translate my work. Likes, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

Taglist is open! Please send an ask, and I will gladly add you to the list. If I have added you and you do not wish to be on the list, please let me know, and I’ll take you off the list.

Word count: 3.1k, give or take a word. Not beta read. All mistakes are my own.

Masterlist

That last Flag Smasher lived up to her to name as she sent you flying through the air and crashing into a pizzeria’s brick wall near that bus. You’d been to this Ray’s location, and you felt bad because the guy had just gotten his windows replaced after some idiot tried to rob a nearby bank and used a sonic weapon to make his point. Now that Tony was gone, these tech geniuses started crawling out of the woodwork because they suspected no one could stop them. It was a good thing Wong liked that Ray’s too, and, how did Sam put it? Oh yeah. Wong whammied the jackass to Riker’s Island?

You looked over toward where the kids had been teleported, and you thanked the pantheon those students and their teacher had been safely removed from danger. They’d have quite the tale to tell their pals at Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary School, the Home of the Bears! At least that’s what their shirts said.

You would never have expected John Walker to be the one to come give you an assist, but there he was, remnants of his homemade shield in hand, fighting off another jacked-up assailant who was trying to keep this horror show going.

Before you could feel the back of your head, everything went white, and you suddenly were not trying to get back to your feet on that New York street. You were Goddess knows where, and your sister Dana was trying to get you moving.

“Kari, please. Pete needs healing, and I am not up to it,” your sister said as her hands shook. They were covered in the blood of one Pete Wisdom, cranky Brit spy and current MI 13 agent. A mutant with the power of hot knives coming from his fingertips. But how did you suddenly know all that?

Back home, Dana was never one to rely on the use of magic for very much. Tall and thin with short dark hair and piercing blue-green eyes, Dana would have reminded many of the actress Keira Knightley. She was a lawyer by trade and a badass by nature.

And to top that all off, Dana was long dead. At least back home she was. She’d been killed during a standoff at a court house. Her client was a mystic, and some maniac hit Dana with a poisoned dart that was meant for said client.

She was, in this place anyway, terrified about losing her true love. You could feel the pain radiating off her in waves.

“I’ve got him,” you said as you placed your hands over Wisdom as you noticed many other members of the X-Men in the middle of some bloody brawl against an as yet unseen foe. But if you were seeing this, was their Kari suddenly at the mercy of the Flag Smashers now?

As you concentrated, you felt the pull of your own world and the tug of at least a dozen more. This was all going to pot fast, and you had no idea why all these pieces of you were making you into the human equivalent of taffy.

{{What the hell is Bucky going to think?}} you mused, keeping your thoughts to yourself as much as you could in case a family psionic link was being used. These people might have never met a Bucky Barnes, and you did not need to sit here explaining everything.

He would have gotten quite the laugh out of the spandex uniform you were wearing. Blue and yellow with a red X in a circle on each shoulder. What had possessed you to wear this outfit in this world was beyond you, but you hoped you’d find a more suitable one soon. It drew too much attention for your liking.

“I think most of these wounds are clean and healing,” you said as you looked up at Dana, the small smile of relief on her face worth every bit of energy you put into healing her lover. “But have him checked out when this is over. Pete can be too damned stubborn, so wheel him into med bay if you need to.”

You started to get up, but you turned your head to see if you could figure out which world this was before you got to your feet. Was this the one with Nathan Summers? Or maybe this was the world with Logan Howlett? Steve Rogers? Thor? It always got too confusing when those little shards Merlin sent into the multiverse actually started to make themselves a bit too vocal. It gave you headaches, and sometimes you wondered if it was making you crazy. You would have spoken to Bruce about it, but he likely wouldn’t have had many answers about it. And telling Sam or Bucky anything was out of the question, at least for now.

The ground around you started to shake as a Sentinel, a large robotic killing machine, made its way onto the battlefield, and the world went white again.

“Barnes! Wilson! I think your girl needs a medic!” Walker shouted as he stood over you. It didn’t take long for Bucky and Sam to make it to your side. You knew that much, even if you appeared to be dead to rights to everyone else. The screwy link to Bucky, courtesy of Wanda, still seemed to be quite active in your head. But you were not too certain it was in Bucky’s anymore. Pity that.

“Kari! Kari! Wake up!” he shouted as he knelt at your side while Sam checked for a pulse. You felt his hand on your wrist, and you tried to open your eyes. You just couldn’t at the moment.

When the white haze vanished this time, you realized you were still no closer to home than you were a few moments ago. You hissed under your breath as you looked up at the night sky, the battle dress of your last location now replaced by some Celtic-inspired gown of green velvet. You smiled as you looked over to see both Steve and Bucky, but they didn’t seem to be as pleased by whatever was going on. They were dressed in some sort of modified armor and looked more like men from your early life at the Tara Mount or Camelot than two men from 1940s Brooklyn. Only thing missing at the moment were their horses.

“Are you back?” were the only words Steve uttered before a volley of flaming arrows came over the parapet of the castle where the three of you apparently lived in this world. “Your Majesty?”

Oh, this world you did not like thinking about at all, and that was because you were queen of this place, and you were always more happy being a field general than you were as a member of the ruling class. Living in a tower, be it ivory or stone, sucked.

“No, I am not your queen, but I take it she has explained it all to you?” you asked just as both men pushed you back to the ground as more arrows came toward you. You tried to put up a shield but could not. No powers. This was new and most unwelcome.

“I will try to get her back to you as fast as I can,” you said to Steve and Bucky before the castle shook as a flaming boulder slammed the wall just behind you. “I am so sorry you had to go through this.”

“Ssh, we understand,” Bucky whispered in your ear just as he grabbed your left hand and Steve your right. They both looked concerned as hell, and not just because you were their queen. This one felt different. Polyamory? That was your closest guess as you smiled and squeezed both men’s hands.

{{Why is this happening?}} you thought as you felt both men move off you, and as they did, your reality was flipped once more, the white haze returning again.

“Should we call Strange? He might be better than a regular hospital run,” Sam suggested as Walker sent the last of the combatants to dream land with a couple of upper cuts now that his shield was kaput. “Are you still connected to her? That stuff Wanda did?”

“Sam, I wish I were, but I can’t feel a thing,” Bucky replied as he continued to kneel next to you. “I am not crazy about that damned link thing, but right now I’d take it.”

As your eyes blinked this time, your last location gave way to a crazed looking steampunk version of London with banners bearing your father Ronan’s face flying from every building in sight. You usually did not hate seeing the man who many said resembled Liam Neeson, but this was insane.

In this world your father was the worst despot known in history, and you had fled his court to marry Ryu, a demon warlord of the House Harada. Your sister Hayley, known as Camellia in this realty, had done much the same, but her life was tied to the son of Vlad Tepes. You really could not stay here long. Death was not something you wanted to face, and in this dimension, it was more likely than not to happen. Ronan did not like the “gutter trash” of the world mixing with the pure mystic blood of his family, even if he had fathered a bastard or two along the way himself. If your father had ever met his doppelganger, well, it would not have been pretty. Your father was fair, loving and tolerant beyond measure. This version was a sadistic imitation at best.

{{Need to get back to Bucky and Sam now, before I end up dead}}

Two sets of hands grabbed your upper arms and pulled you backward, and thank heaven that action seemed to send you home to your own world where Bucky was hovering over you. The lights of an ambulance were visible just down the block, and you could smell the aroma of garlic someone had burned wafting out of the pizzeria window. But you could also hear the whispers from that last world as you regained your senses. Two men seemed to be very happy you were not dead, but they were also shocked that you weren’t.

“Hey, you back with us?” Bucky asked as he, Sam and Walker all stood looking at you. You wanted to throw up, but you would not do it in front of these gentlemen.

“Sorry. That eejit packed quite a wallop,” you said as you grabbed Bucky’s arm to get back to your feet. “I’ll be fine. But I do feel sorry for the guy who owns this place.”

“Her version of fine and mine are very different,” Walker said as he looked down at his now broken shield. “You may want to have those medics check her out to be on the safe side. I thought I heard her speaking Japanese a few minutes ago, and I have no idea who she was talking to, Barnes.”

“I am here, Walker, and I can speak for myself. Tourists. I interacted with them earlier,” you said, lying through your blood-covered teeth as you tried to keep the trio off the scent of what was really happening. “The bump on the wall made me get hazy for a few minutes, so the most recent language set started playing in my head. Telepathy can be a bitch. I’ll be fine. I’m pretty damned hard to kill.”

“I don’t care what you say, we are having someone check you out,” Bucky said as Sam nodded in agreement. “You missed Sam’s speech. It was pretty amazing.”

“I heard some of it,” you said as you tapped your temple. “I’d have helped with the truck, but those kids needed me here.”

As you looked toward the ambulance and dreaded having to go see the medics at all, you heard what could only be called a “squee” from a group of teens near one of the police barricades. You recognized the girl with the high pitched joyful tone from a local vlog about The Avengers. She lived in Jersey City and had a thing for sloths. She also shared a name with a famous politician, albeit it was pronounced differently.

“Guys, hold up a minute. You too, Walker,” you said as you waved to the girl and her male companion. “Nice Captain Marvel shirt, my dear. She’d get a kick out of seeing it.”

“Oh my Gawd! Bruno!” the girl shouted before the police tried to keep them behind the barricade. “They saw it!”

You hobbled over to them, much to Sam and Bucky’s chagrin. “You two should be headed home before you’re missed. I know what a pain curfews can be. Many a time I’ve avoided them myself. But that was in the Sixth Century, so maybe that doesn’t count too much?”

“The subways are all shut down, and we can’t get a bus right now,” Bruno said as his friend pulled out her phone. “Kamala, that may not be a good idea…”

“Kamala Khan. Sloth Baby, right?” you asked before another “squee” escaped the girl’s lips. “Trust me, guys. Cap, you may want to talk to these two over here,” you said as you motioned for Sam to walk over. “I mean, this is Captain America after all, and he just gave the speech of his life. I need to go get my head examined, and I mean that quite literally,” you said as you pointed to the back of your head. “Good luck, Kamala and Bruno. Oh, and if you are ever in Manhattan at a more reasonable hour, come pay me a visit,” you said as you made two business cards appear out of thin air. “Lunch is on me. Sam, be nice to these two,” you said as you waved to Walker to join you and Bucky. “These two can keep me in line with the medics.”

“And why do I not believe that for one second?” Walker asked as you laughed.

“John. May I call you that?” you asked as you leaned more into Bucky’s arm as you kept walking. “None of this, from Baltimore to Madripoor and now Manhattan, has worked out as any of us had hoped. Especially for you. I can see things that are coming in small ways, and I know our paths will all cross again. People enter our lives for a lot of reasons. All I can hope is that, when we do meet again, we are all on the same side and without as much angst. Buck, I can go to the medics myself. Maybe you and John should finish that talk you started before,” you said as you pointed at your head. “Before I made the dent in the wall of Ray’s.”

“You really going to do it?” Bucky asked as you pointed toward the ambulance and walked slowly toward it. As you sat down on the step near the rear door, you looked first at Bucky and John, and then back toward where Sam was actually talking to Kamala and Bruno.

“You didn’t tell them, did you?” a tall woman said as she came up to check your wounds. “That you knew I’d be here?”

“Enya, I haven’t told them about you or Dev or Mina yet, and I am certainly not about to tell them I alerted you before this all started tonight,” you said as your sister-in-law Enya Sun slowly healed you of your wounds. A daughter of Avalon and one of their best warrior priestesses of the Holy Isle, Enya made short work of your issues, but she made it seem a lot longer so that those who needed to talk could do so. It was a long practiced ritual you had both done on battlefields for centuries. Your tiny bit for peace. That’s what Dev always called it.

“What did you see? You went walking again, didn’t you?” Enya asked as she tried to “balance” your body, mind and spirit after that attack. “Walking” was what Enya called your contact with the parts of you in other worlds.

“I saw enough to know trouble is coming, but I can’t tell what the hell it is yet,” you replied as you flexed your shoulders before smiling up at Enya. “Three places this time. One was Londinium. You know how much I hate that place. But two men were able to touch me. I have no idea who they are, but they seemed surprised to see me. One reminded me of my father. My actual father. Not that crazy copy.”

“That stupid spell you did made it worse. You know that, right?”

You rolled your eyes as you turned your gaze back to Bucky. “He does not need me making a mess of his life again. I’m hoping he hits it off with Sam’s sister. She’s…”

“Normal? Not a mystic? What?”

“Not me. I’ll leave it at that. He deserves so much more than…”

“More than someone who loves him like you do? Than someone who nearly burned Hydra to the ground in his name?”

“He deserves peace,” you said quietly as you got back to your feet. “They all do. And you and I know it will never happen.”

“Too damned cynical for our own good,” Enya added with a laughed. “I’m going to get you home now. You need sleep. And tomorrow we can talk about Silver Hand over there.”

“Don’t call him that. He’s the White Wolf. Winter Soldier if you must. But he is not some Celtic hero reborn.”

“Call him tomorrow, OK?” Enya asked as she slung your gear over her back and opened a portal to Brooklyn. She whistled at Bucky so he could see you exit the area with her. The last thing you heard was Bucky groaning and throwing his hands in the air.

Next: Part 11, or Is this the moment of truth?

Taglist: @arrthurpendragon, @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000, @chickensarentcheap

#ocappreciation #bucky barnes x female oc #bucky barnes x mcu female oc #bucky barnes #steve rogers #sam wilson #the winter soldier #captain america #john walker #us agent #fyeahsuperverseocs #oc creators unite! #mcu oc multiverse saga #kamala khan #ms marvel #bruno carrelli #karimac tag #user karimac #oc: kari macorish #oc: enya sun

[arrthurpendragon]

If you think the Multiverse is mad already...

Thank you, @arrthurpendragon, for sharing this promo for my growing community of MCU OCs.

How does the redheaded avatar for the most famous Irish battle goddess and her cavalcade of immortal, mutant and magical friends fit into the world of the MCU multiverse?

Follow the adventures of Kari MacOrish as she tries to find a life for herself that won't upend the lives of Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson or those closest to them.

Watch as her oldest friends--Devnet Casey, Enya Sun and Minerva O'Malley Harkness--try to keep Kari and the greater MCU 616 (or 199999) universe from imploding with the help of The Avengers and any other heroes they can find.

And what will happen when those heroes figure out all those Karis out there are not variants after all?

Madness indeed!

Masterlist

#fd: marvel #oc creator promo #oc fanfiction #oc fanfic #oc fic #ocappreciation #ocapp #original character

[ginger-grimm]

OC BINGO for @karimac

Kari MacOrish

I hope you like it!

#oc bingo #ocappreciation #ocapp #mcu oc #not my oc #my edits #oc: kari macorish

[jemmalynette]

OC Creator Bingo - Kari MacOrish for @karimac

Tags:  @ocappreciationtag @allaboutocs @ochub @ocs-supporting-ocs

#oc creator bingo 2022 #oc creator bingo #oc #original character #ocappreciationtag. #my edits #my edits: ocs

[the12thnightproject]

OC Bingo Playlist

Playlist for @karimac 's OC, Kari MacOrish

@ocfairygodmother thanks for setting this up!

#oc creator bingo 2022 #ocappreciation #Spotify

[karimac]

Turn of the Wheel: Ghosts of Christmas Past

Warnings: Pretty much none on this one. This is the Christmas just before Kari and Bucky decide to give it a go, otherwise known as the Christmas the Hawkeyes went to town at Rockefeller Center.

Although none of the stories so far have ventured into smut, I do consider these 18+ because of violence in other stories.

A/N: This is a submission for @arrthurpendragon's OC Ficmas 2022 event. Please check out her blog to see all the authors participating this year.

Not beta read. All mistake are my own.

Word count: Approx. 4.8K

Banner artwork credit: Image by Robert Jones from Pixabay

The photo is of the Christmas display at the McGraw Hill Building near Radio City Music Hall. It is one of my personal favorites!

If anyone wishes to be added to my taglist, please let me know.

Thanks for reading! Comments and reblogs are most welcome and appreciated!

Happy Holidays!

And here it was, another Christmas Eve, and you were so lacking in holiday spirit that most people would have stuck you with the Grinch or Scrooge nicknames used so often for those who, more likely than not, felt lost or alone this time of year.

You had done your very best to put on your “holiday face” at your bakery, and everyone except for your closest staff members probably bought your acting job this festive season.

You still didn’t feel connected to anyone, especially Bucky, Sam and his family. You felt like a fraud, but you also didn’t want to drop your massive amount of home truths on them until it was well into the New Year. Like maybe next July? Yeah, that could work, right?

Once the doors on Cutie-Pie-Tutti were locked for the night, you put in your AirPods and found the one holiday tune guaranteed to lift your spirits as you wandered around Manhattan.

“On the High Line I see the skyline Snow falls down on me As I hail the taxi, roll through the city To see the Rockefeller tree”

 “The tree? Sounds like a good idea, Liz,” you said as you looked at your iPhone and saw the smiling face of Elizabeth Chan, singer and composer of “Christmas in the City,” staring back at you.

Once you got there by foot, you didn’t expect to find the tree suddenly falling down onto the ice skating rink below and several crazed Russian men in track suits descending on the fallen evergreen.

A group of cosplayers or LARPers seemed to have joined the fray, as did a man with a sword and a female archer dressed in black and purple. The trick arrows she was using were all too familiar.

“Clint’s arrow? What in the world is going on now?” you muttered as some maniac in a track suit came running toward you, hell bent on making your evening even worse with the baseball bat he was swinging wildly as he ran. “Not so fast, tovarisch,” you said as you threw up your hands and pushed him backward into the side of a car with a magic blast. “Not going to ruin my night, or anyone else’s either.”

“Yo! Avenger! We’ve got another Avenger in the house!” one of the LARPers yelled as you turned to see where the young archer had gone or, better yet, where Clint might be.

You looked down onto the rink, and you noticed a petite blonde, dressed in what looked like the uniform of a Black Widow, talking to Clint, but she ran off just as quickly as you saw her. Then you saw the purple-clad archer running toward Clint, and you decided you had better get down to the ice before any more idiots decided to join this party.

As you ran down the stairs, more of the track suit interlopers were making their way onto the ice in a delivery truck, but one Pym particle arrow took care of them. Or maybe it was the owl that hauled the tiny truck away that did the trick?

Oh, how you wished Steve, Tony and Nat were here to see this. Christmas still wasn't the same without them.

“So, Clint, care to introduce me to your protégé? And how in the name of Heaven did you knock over this tree of all trees? Who were the goon squad in the track suits?”

“You didn’t tell me you were calling in the rest of the team! I’m Kate Bishop. People say I’m one of the greatest archers in the world. And I’m lucky Clint is letting me partner with him.”

“Partner? And here I thought you were retiring, Clint. What does Laura have to say about all this?”

“Very funny. Why did you show up now anyway? Not that I’m not happy for the assist, Kari. Kate, this is Kari MacOrish.”

“Nice to meet you, Kate,” you said as you extended your hand. “Now, maybe I can fix your tree trouble. Can you guys step back a bit? And let me know if Damage Control rolls up. I do not like those jokers, and I do not want to spend my Christmas Eve in one of their detention centers.”

“How are you going to fix this tree? Do you need to call Strange or Wong? I know no one knows where Wanda is,” Clint said as your hands were bathed in green light. You winked at Barton and smiled as you unfurled your wings and took to the sky.

“Unraveling time would probably work best, but I really don’t want to deal with that much hassle. It would undo all the battles you just won and make those bozos come back, and once tonight is enough, even for me,” you replied as you sent a wave of light toward the tree and its broken trunk, slowly lifting it back into place. It hurt like hell, but you were not about to let all these locals and tourists lose the chance to have this tree as the center of their celebrations this night.

Many of the lights were shattered, and some branches seemed broken beyond repair, but the star miraculously survived the fall when it landed on a bale of hay near one of the entrances, a sign to you that this might work out after all.

This was not the first time you had rescued a fallen tree, but this was likely the largest one you ever hoped to put to rights with magic.

“Is it straight?” you asked Clint and Kate as you hovered in the air, the sound of sirens in the distance making your timely completion of your task a necessity.

“I think so, but Laura says I’m not very good with stuff like this,” Clint said as you landed and ran to the base, a final touch of the splintered trunk the deal maker to keep the Norway spruce in place until it would be removed in January. You dug in your pocket and found a ribbon you had taken off a present you got from Cristiano, your head baker, and as you placed it on the trunk, it grew in size and wrapped around the damaged base. It was red and gold and glittered as you magically tugged at the ends to make sure it was snug.

“Clint, ambulances are on the way, so here,” you said as you grabbed both Bishop’s and Barton’s shoulders and started a very rudimentary healing of them both. “Just gave you a head start so you aren’t in a hospital bed for the holiday. Kate, it’s been a pleasure,” you said as you gave the young woman a hug, “and Clint, Merry Christmas to you, Laura and the kids,” you added as you hugged him as well. “Tell Ms. Bishop about the café. Card’s in your pocket, Kate,” you yelled back to them as you ran off the ice and back toward Fifth Avenue, the choir of Saint Patrick’s filling the night with song as you went to the subway to head back to Brooklyn.

It was just too bad your holiday blahs returned as soon as you got back to your apartment. Sure, you had a tree there, and Hickory was still wearing his festive red and green holiday bow tie on his collar, but things just felt off.

Maybe it was because you and Bucky were seemingly on the outs for what must have been the fifth time this month.

Or it could have been the disappointment expressed by Sarah, Cass and AJ when you declined an invitation to Christmas dinner.

This year just did not seem like the best time to be mingling with anyone.

As you looked at the packages under your tree, you noticed the one for Bucky right away. It was metallic royal blue with big white snowflakes all over the paper, and the silver and white bow gleamed in the light of your tree. You’d gotten him a new leather jacket because his had been trashed during a fight with some Flag Smasher sympathizers, and he wouldn’t let you magic up a fix for it. So finding him one as a gift was the only way to go.

You’d also gotten Alpine a gift or two while you were at it. You were thrilled when Bucky had gone to the local no kill shelter’s cat café to see the felines up for adoption there, and the white Angora he brought home was too cute for words. So you got her a new bed and some treats you knew she liked. Hickory was a tuna fancier, but Alpine seemed to enjoy salmon more.

And a pile of gifts for the Wilsons sat directly behind Bucky’s box. You found some great, tenderly-loved old Motown records in a store in Detroit. You also found some wonderful souvenirs to give to Sam from one of the old recording studios used by the soulful songsters back in the 60s.

The boys wanted nothing more than video games, but you knew Sarah was not the biggest fan, so, along with some new headphones and controllers for each of them, you registered the boys with an “experiences” camp out of New Orleans. They’d have two weeks away this summer at a camp of their choosing, be it space academy, inventors’ workshop or outdoor adventure base.

And Sarah? A week or two away from the boat while the boys were gone was what you thought she could use, but you knew she would likely not accept the present. So you opted for some very thoughtful jewelry made by local craftsmen in Baton Rouge. The pieces were African inspired and screamed “strong, powerful, caring, friend” when you saw the necklace and earrings.

Now you just hoped you’d get to give them their gifts sometime in the near future. Just not tonight.

“Well, Hick, looks like it’s you and me tonight,” you said as you sat down on your floral sofa and invited your orange tabby to join you there. “Merry Christmas, fuzz meister. I just wish I knew what was wrong with me.”

As Christmas morning dawned, you went into your living room and noticed Hickory had been snooping in a bunch of boxes that were at the back of the tree. You had bought them ages ago and tucked them away. Frankly, you’d shoved them back there because they were too painful to look at.

One was addressed to someone named MJ, and another to a person named Ned. There was another to a woman named May, and the final one was ready to give to someone named Peter, but for the life of you, you could not remember who in the name of the Goddess any of them were.

“I guess I’ll donate these, Hick, because I have no idea why I bought them,” you said as you sat down on the stool in your kitchen, trying to recall any of these people as you made a cup of coffee. But every time you tried, you saw purple lights and felt like hell. You’d been feeling that way since the start of December, but you didn’t want to tell anyone about it. You should have talked to Wong or Strange, but the new Sorcerer Supreme was in Kamar-Taj, and the disgruntled former Sorcerer Supreme was likely holed up in the New York Sanctum and being a bit of an arse about it all.

Nope, those two were a no-go this holiday season.

And Wanda, the one person you likely would have chosen to talk to in the first place, was still off the radar. That didn’t make a damned bit of sense either.

You started to zone out a bit as you drank your coffee, wincing as more weird images popped into your mind. The splintered parts of you in other realms were likely pushing back at you for a reason, but you were not about to deal with them today.

Meanwhile, down in Delacroix, Sarah was probably ready to toss rolls at her brother and his new “bestie,” but that would have been a waste of perfectly good food. She could hear them getting into it in the living room as she put the finishing touches on Christmas breakfast.

“What do you mean Kari isn’t talking to you? Or are you just mad at her for some stupid reason? What did you do this time, Krampus Claus?”

Poor Sam didn’t know what he was getting into when he decided to find out what exactly was going on between you and Bucky at the moment.

“What does that even mean?” Bucky sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs in the Wilsons’ living room. “Krampus Claus isn’t a thing. Even I know that!”

“Cass and AJ wanted to watch that Christmas horror movie with that German monster guy last week, but Sarah yelled at me because she thought I was encouraging them to watch it. First damned thing that popped into my head, Buck.”

“Of course it was. And I have no idea why Kari isn’t talking to me. And before you ask, I talked to Sharon. She has no clue either. And Sarah doesn’t know, so who next?”

“What about Bruce?” Sarah yelled from the kitchen.

“He’s visiting his cousin in California,” Sam yelled back. “Jennifer. The lawyer. As far as I know, Bruce and Kari haven’t spoken in weeks.”

“Great,” Sarah said as she walked in and looked at Bucky. “You two get this close to each other, and then you repel like a couple of magnets. You are both making me and Sam crazy. Now, which one of you two wants to help pour the coffee while we try to figure out how to fix this mess? On top of the mess about Kari and her crazy past, I mean. Or do you think they’re related?”

“Sarah, if I knew, I’d tell you. Kind of makes me wish Loki were still around,” Bucky said as Sam almost dropped the coffee pot. “They actually got along, and he might have been able to help. I know. I sound crazier than usual.”

“What do you mean she won’t open the door? Just cast a spell to open the lock!”

Devnet Casey and Enya Sun had been alerted by Darcy Lewis that you had been less than peppy this holiday season, and because she could not be there herself to see what was up, she asked your two oldest friends to check in on you. So now they were more or less bickering at your Brooklyn apartment door.

“Enya, do I look like I haven’t tried that? Herself warded it pretty well. I even called Mina to get her fanged face over here, but she said to leave Kari alone. She said we all know why Kari gets weird at Christmas. Unless you think she finally got pissed about what we are all doing that is technically behind her back? I’ve tried to stall everyone until Kari gets the nerve to explain it all, and it is driving me mad. I thought telling her would help, but no…”

Devnet was referring to the group trying to figure out what was wrong with you and your magic, but she had made sure not to introduce herself to Sam or Bucky just yet. The same went for any mention of Enya, your first husband Galen’s sister.

“Mina said. Mina thought. Blah blah blah. I don’t care if Mina is Thom’s sister. She has no idea what is going on because she was not one of us way back in the morning dew of it all,” Enya said as she tugged on your door handle yet again. “Wait. Is this about that stupid tree?”

“I’d hardly call the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree a stupid tree. And no, it isn’t about the tree as far as I know. At least that’s what that pixie working at her bakery told me. Then again, Kari is probably not telling anyone anything of great value. There is something weird, though.”

“Weirder than the two of you?” a third female voice said as her footsteps came to a halt. “I thought I asked you to leave the lady alone?”

“And are you ignoring your own advice, Mina?” Enya growled as Kari’s other sister-in-law, Mina O’Malley Harkness, stood before them, red scarf tossed casually around the collar of her black coat, black hat and dark hair framing her face, and a tiny drop of blood near her bottom lip.

“You didn’t snack on a taxi driver, did you?” Devnet asked as she crossed her arms and looked up at Mina.

“No, of course not. Dorian and I made a stop at a local blood bank a few days ago. The one near the Village where all the vampires go. I am not going to ruin your holiday. I promise. Now, did you see the lights in the harbor earlier this month? The purple ones? When I called Kari, she told me about them. She…something about them bothered her.”

“And she told you and not us? And not the assassin? Seriously?” Enya asked just as a neighboring door opened, and the trio stepped back into a piece of shadow so they would not be noticed. “Do you have a key, Mina? We can’t stay out here all day.”

“Can’t you just spell it?” Mina asked as the ladies turned in unison at the sound of a click, and the door opened enough for Hickory to pop out. He pawed Devnet’s leg and asked to be picked up. As she scooped up the orange tabby, the trio stepped inside the apartment and saw you just sitting there in your red and green pajamas, coffee cup in hand.

“Sorry I didn’t open up sooner, but things are just…not right,” you said as you set your mug down. “And doing the ‘three spirits visiting you this night’ part is a bit old hat, isn’t it? Do you really not see the ghosts from Dickens’ story when you see the other three of us gathered round this night? Or the ghosts of those we have lost? I do. And to top it off, I know you’ve been hiding things from me, ladies. I’ve been hiding them from you, too. You’d think we’d all learn by now, but we never do, do we?”

“What do you mean you keep getting into more fugue states?” Mina asked as she sat down in your sage green chair and fiddled with one of the decorations on your side table. It was a small snowman with a cardinal perched on its arm, and it seemed to amuse the vampire a bit. “Your other parts start intruding more? Is that normal?”

“No, it isn’t,” you replied as you looked at Mina. “And it makes things complicated. A stray thought can trigger it, and so can a smell or some particular setting. It’s getting to the point that I don’t want to leave this apartment, and I really can’t live like that.”

“And you haven’t told anyone except us right now?” Dev asked as she finally set Hickory down. “I mean, not Sam or Bruce or Bucky?”

“Not a soul, but I have a funny feeling the Masters of the Mystic Arts might be watching me from a distance. They mean well, but at times, well, it gets annoying.”

“And so do your ‘out to lunch’ moments, Kar,” Enya noted as she walked around your tree. “No offense, but they do get scary.”

“None taken,” you replied to her comments. “I just wish I could stop them.”

“And why the hiding nonsense?” Mina asked as Hickory finally made his way over to her. He had never been too fond of vampires, and you chalked that up to the fact he had never met your brother Ewan. “Go. Have fun. Please, for all our sakes, go down to Louisiana and have a good time. Whatever the purple lights are can wait for a day or two.”

“Mina is right, and you know how infrequently I admit to agreeing with her,” Enya said with a smirk as Mina laughed. “You don’t hate Christmas. You never have. You are just being you again. Taking all this on your back.”

“But,” you started to say before Dev shot you one of her usual withering glares. “What, Dev?”

“Did you get spooked again? About Bucky and that damned dagger you hid in your vault? You said ages ago that Loki looked at the stupid thing and had no idea what it was. Please, for your sake even more than ours, even on your worst day, you would not kill Bucky Barnes. If you were meant to do it with that dagger, you would not have missed the first time. He was brainwashed when he stabbed you, so I am trying to be a bit less judgmental about the man. I truly am glad he got help.”

“Ladies, I am not just showing up on their doorstep. I told Sarah no, and I am not going to mess up her plans. She has enough to handle with her boys, and Sam and Bucky, bless them, are not always jumping in to help her in the ways she might need most. She told me Sam was encouraging the boys to watch Christmas horror films. I’m hoping it was just a misunderstanding. They do not need to see “Violent Night” or “Silent Claus, Deadly Claus” or any other film like that. At least not yet.”

“I am sure Sarah would be more than welcoming,” Dev continued as she grabbed your now empty coffee mug and took it into your kitchen. “Now, out of the chair and into the shower. And what are those things you are wearing anyway? Ugly Christmas pajamas? Seriously? With cats all over them?”

“A gift from my staff at the bakery here. Fine. I’ll shower and get dressed, but I’m still not…going…”

After you showered and changed, you still resisted Dev’s urging you all to go to Delacroix and forget about the drama for one day. Right now she was acting more like her dog Tyrone with a huge bone. She would not take no for an answer, so down you all went via portal, with Hickory in tow. Mina had bagged up the gifts you needed for the Wilsons and Bucky and handed them to you before Enya literally pushed you from Brooklyn to the Wilsons’ front porch, hitting the buzzer for the doorbell for good measure.

“Kari?” Sam said as he got to the front door, opening it a split second after your friends vanished. No trio from the past. Just you, Hickory and a ton of gifts.

“A few old friends kicked my arse for not being more social this year. They were right. Merry Christmas, Sam.”

Cass and AJ came running up behind their uncle and took the bag of gifts inside. Hickory sniffed around and was happy to see Alpine was there as well, and the two scampered off to make mischief as you turned to see Bucky standing there with a big grin on his face. “So, Cris finally get you to leave?”

“It was another group of old friends. You don’t know them. Not yet anyway. I’ll explain another time,” you said as Sarah came in for a holiday hug.

“I think I know why you’re off,” Sarah said as she looked at the gifts Cass and AJ were digging into. “Darcy told me about her friend Jane. She mentioned you couldn’t help with Jane’s cancer, and that got you pretty bummed. No wonder you weren’t in a party mood. You could have told us.”

With the purple light nonsense you had pushed the Jane Foster fiasco to the back of your mind. Her cancer was too advanced for you to be able to help kick start her own healing abilities. Jane was a wonderful woman and a truly talented astrophysicist, but most of all she was Darcy’s best friend. That was why the whole “Jane story” stirred up so many emotions for you.

“Even people like me have trouble when we hear we can’t do something to help others,” you said as Sarah handed you a cup of coffee. “Thank you.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about Jane?” Bucky asked as he nursed his own mug of coffee. “Is it a big secret? Maybe Doctor Cho could help?”

“I was just trying to respect Jane’s wishes about not making a big deal out of her illness. I’m not even sure Thor knows, and they were a couple. I did not want him hearing from anyone but her. And there is some other magical woo-woo stuff going on, but I don’t think I want to get into that until I've done some more recon. I’ll talk to Stephen and Wong after the holidays. I promise.”

“You better,” Sam said with a slight scowl. “Or your presents go back to the North Pole. I’ll call Santa personally.”

“Oh, Nick? He’d never do that. He’s a sweetie. And the reindeer love me. I make them snacks with carrots and other veggies baked in. Cranberries, too. ”

“Of course you know Santa Claus!” Sam replied as Cass and AJ laughed loudly. “What did I say this time?”

“I was kidding, Sam. Are my jokes falling flat already? That goes for any regional or national version that is not called Santa Claus. Like Pere Noel.”

You kept smiling as you thought back to your actual friend Kristopher Nicklaus Kringle, the sole proprietor of a now massive toy workshop in the northern reaches of the world just past the Canadian wilderness. His space was close to The Rift but not physically in it. It was in a pocket dimension all its own. He was indeed an immortal like you, and he and his family had made Christmas their business for centuries. But you were not about to tell that tale today. Nick needed his day off, too.

“So, can I be of any help?” you asked before you turned to see Cass and AJ checking out their new gaming gear. “There’s more to it than the tech, Sarah. That part comes later. Boys, maybe we should eat first since your mom went to all this trouble?”

As the boys begrudgingly left their pile of gifts and went to the table, Bucky pulled you aside for a minute. “You sure you’re OK? Need to talk?”

“This nonsense can wait. And before you ask, I’ll tell you the Santa story another time. Now, did you eat Sarah out of all her beignets today? Did you try that turducken recipe this year, Sarah?”

“Do not mention that word,” Sarah grumbled as she looked back toward the kitchen. “Regular old turkey for us. That other thing was a nightmare.”

“Marvelous, delicious turkey you mean,” you replied as Sarah just smiled and shook her head. As you looked at her, you started to see the damned purple lights again, and now they seemed to touch everyone in the room. You blinked and pinched the bridge of your nose for a minute to get the visuals and the sick feeling they caused you to pass. “Sorry. We had a few celebratory drinks last night before we closed the bakery. Whatever that was at the end had a kick to it. It was the fairy equivalent of a bar mat shot.”

As you took a deep breath and concentrated on the eggs, bacon and beignets before you, you hoped that the rest of the gifts would be as much of a hit as the gaming gear was for Cass and AJ.

You also couldn’t shake the feeling things were going to keep getting less settling as the purple lights became more and more frequent.

“How do you say Merry Christmas in Irish, Kari?” Sam asked as he grabbed more bacon from the platter. “Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Duit. That’s Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I pray that the next one is a good one for us all.”

Back in Brooklyn, Enya, Dev and Mina had long since left your apartment and locked things up behind them as they did. They had flicked off the lights on your tree, so the only lights visible were the ones in and around the apartment building across the way and in the street below. The streets were fairly empty for a Christmas night, so no one likely saw the lingering purple light dancing near your balcony window. A figure appeared there briefly and just as quickly vanished. A wisp of shadow form hovered in the air for the briefest of moments before the purple lights blinked out.

Taglist: @arrthurpendragon, @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000

#ocficmas2022 #ocappreciation #series: turn of the wheel #fandom: mcu #oc: kari macorish #oc: devnet casey #oc: enya sun #oc: mina o'malley harkness #bucky barnes #sam wilson #sarah wilson #cass wilson #aj wilson #clint barton #kate bishop #captain america #the winter soldier #hawkeye #fyeahsuperverseocs

[karimac]

...in the details, Part 13

A/N: Warning for this series: 18+ audience (minors DNI), some cinematic level violence, some fluff and angst. Doubt that smut will be involved, but it may be implied. I’ll make sure that is noted clearly if it pops up.

All relationships, at this point in the story, are platonic, but there is romance in the cards for Kari and Bucky.

Please do not repost or translate my work. Likes, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

Taglist is open! Please send an ask, and I will gladly add you to the list. If I have added you and you do not wish to be on the list, please let me know, and I’ll take you off the list.

Word count: 5.3k, give or take a word. Not beta read. All mistakes are my own.

Masterlist

It was the morning after the final battle with the Flag Smashers, and all you wanted to do was sleep and not talk to anyone, but here you were, in your kitchen, frosting cupcakes.

Sarah Wilson had been on the phone with you earlier talking about the party she was organizing to celebrate Sam’s accepting the mantle of Captain America, and while you were not planning to actually go to the party, you decided to drop off some cupcakes for the event. And maybe that cake Sam and Bucky drooled over when they last visited your bakery. The one with the Oreo cookies all over the top.

You were not about to tell Sarah that you had gotten your clock cleaned during that fight last night. Oh no. Never admit stuff like that, even if your body was still a long way from being fully healed.

“Why do I do this to myself, Hickory?” you asked your cat as he sat on the floor near the kitchen window, the streams of light from this early Brooklyn morning splashing their sunny glow over his orange fur. “I really am a pushover. But her boys were so sweet, and I couldn’t let them not have good desserts for the party, could I?”

Hickory was a cat of many words most of the time, so his tiny mewls this morning seemed a bit off. He must have been as exhausted as you felt at the moment.

“I’ll be fine, Hickenboogie,” you said as you watched the orange tabby roll over to let the sun warm his belly. “Even if I’m making, what? A hundred cupcakes?”

As you went to set your bowl of frosting to the side, there was loud rapping at your apartment door. Someone had gotten into the building without being buzzed in. Fantastic! Just what you needed.

“Kari? Are you in there? Sarah called and asked me to check on you.”

Bucky. For crying out loud, what was he doing here? You really doubted Sarah asked him to do anything. He was likely just being nosy after last night.

“James, would you just leave me alone! I am not going to Delacroix. Just go down and have a good time. Sarah knows I’m not going to be there. I’d only be a fifth wheel anyway. I saw you flirting with her. She seems like a really nice person, and even if Sam kicks up a fuss, I think you should go for it.”

You never called Bucky by his first name. Ever. OK, maybe once in 1943. And here he was, standing outside the front door of your apartment, suddenly developing the ability to get under your skin.

“I flirt with everybody. Just ask Sam!” Bucky said a bit too loudly for your liking. The funny thing was, you remembered when Bucky flirted with everybody. That was not what he was doing now. He was trying to see if he still knew how to flirt with everyone. Very different concept, and you fully understood why he needed to be able to do it on his own terms. You also wished he were flirting with you, but you really had no one to blame for this mess except yourself.

“What exactly are you afraid of this time? I’m sure Bruce and Wong can live without seeing you for another 24 hours, or was Darcy bugging you again? You do not need to go out on some speed dating thing with her. She means well, but, you know, she doesn’t really understand how big it is for both of us,” he explained as you heard him fidgeting with the door handle. Master assassin and lock picker? Of course he’d have that skill set, but he seemed to be nothing more than antsy at the moment. Then he hit you with the question you didn’t want to hear.

“Was it what happened after Sam’s speech?”

“You mean when Walker decided to be my new best buddy and make sure I was OK?” you replied in a very fake chipper tone. “Or when you decided to start asking too many questions about my health? You don’t want me in your head. Fine. I get it. I don’t need you babysitting me. I just get tired sometimes. Especially if my empathic filtering goes off the charts. The kids in that tour bus were terrified. I drank in a lot of their pain to keep them calm. It isn’t exactly fun, Buck. And I left myself open. I am only human. I do make mistakes.”

While you did your best not to think about what happened, your mind raced as you remembered the group of grade schoolers from Cottonwood, Arizona, all scared beyond words as Flag Smashers boarded their bus. Those poor kids witnessed their driver being tossed out the door and one of their teachers being knocked out before you could even get into the bus. You had to pull out all the stops to keep them calm, even if it meant you falling apart by the end of the night.

“Can I at least come in? Your neighbors might not appreciate me playing 20 Questions outside your do…”

You flicked your hand and opened the door just as Bucky leaned into it a tad. He wasn’t expecting it, so he stumbled slightly as it opened. “Sorry. I’m kind of busy making cupcakes. I’ll get them to Sarah by tomorrow morning. And that cake you and Sam liked. The Oreo cookie one. I thought Cass and AJ might enjoy it, too.”

“You are dodging. Again,” Bucky said as he sat down on a stool near your kitchen counter. “Whoa, sorry, Hickory,” he added as the orange tabby looked up at him but then went back to sleep. “What are you trying to avoid now?”

“Buck, please. You haven’t wanted to share every memory you have, and for good reason. Some of the things that happened since we started working together, they remind me a bit too much of when my husbands died. I don’t exactly want to relive all that.”

That was only a fraction of what was going on in your life at the moment, but you were not about to drop that ton of bricks in Bucky’s lap, even if it meant you had to keep up some stupid façade and lie as if your life depended on it.

“You had two, right? Husbands,” Bucky asked as you nodded. “Can I help frost or something?”

“Yes, Galen and Thomas,” you said as you put a tray of cupcakes in front of Bucky and got him a bowl of frosting, a spatula and a knife. “Pick your instrument of choice for the frosting,” you added before you looked at Bucky’s clothes and shook your head. “Want an apron? Don’t want you messing up your Henley.”

“What does it say? The apron, I mean?” he asked as you grabbed him a plain blue one. “Oh. No jokes on it?”

“Not everything is a joke, Buck. Not for me. Not for anyone,” you sniffed as you tried to hold back a stray tear before you got another pan of cupcakes and a bowl of frosting. You were still not fully pain free from what happened to those kids or to yourself. “Once the frosting sets, we can put these little shields on top of the cupcakes. I know. Cheesy. But the kids should love them.”

“Hmmm…” Bucky said as he tried to slather the frosting on his first cupcake without using too much. “I’m not exactly good at this…”

“You will be fine. It takes practice,” you whispered as you set down another frosted cupcake. “Thanks for helping. What else do you want to know about me?” Your hands shook slightly, and you flexed them a bit to get yourself centered again. “Lingering issues after that mess on the bus. I couldn’t go in sword swinging, so I had to take a different tack. It was a spell Wong told me about. Got the kids off the bus and me onto it just in time to take out that fool. It switches people’s locations. Nice one to keep in my back pocket. Just wish I had seen that other lunatic behind the driver’s seat.”

“Yeah, I saw the kids appear on the sidewalk before you blasted that guy out the doors of the bus,” Bucky noted as he kept frosting more cupcakes. “Kids. Did you ever have them? I mean, you like them. You get along great with Cass and AJ. And again, sorry if I got stupid on the docks. Joke fell really flat.”

You were not about to go back to the talk about that mess on the docks. Not today anyway. “Sadly, no. I’ve never had children.”

That wasn’t true. Not exactly anyway. But there was no way you could explain everything without looking like a lunatic. Saying “Well, a part of me that lives in another universe has about five of them last time I counted. I can list them all from all the timelines. I was tasked with birthing an army. No one ever said how…”

Yeah, that sounded so very sane and normal.

“Not that I don’t want them still,” you continued as you found some patriotic sprinkles in your cupboard. “It just never worked out for me. And I didn’t want to adopt a child on my own just to have me die and leave them alone. That would be cruel. And what agency would let someone like me adopt a child? It just isn’t very realistic to think it is even possible.”

You wanted nothing more than to change the topic, but you said Bucky could ask you questions, so in this quagmire you would stay for the moment.

“That day Steve and Sam had me in that vice,” Bucky started but stopped just as he finished another cupcake. “Why the hell did you do what you did to prove who you were? I knew who you were. Steve knew. You didn’t need to sing that song…”

“I needed to prove who I was because, let’s face it, who in their right mind—besides you and Steve, I guess—would believe my story? And Sam. Bless his heart, he doesn’t think I escaped Bellevue.” Bucky chuckled at the name of the most famous psychiatric hospital in New York City. “Was my singing that bad? I did flub some of the words, I know, but I didn’t think I was that bad.”

“Your singing was never an issue,” Bucky chuckled as a bit of frosting slid off one cupcake. “And the way you did that thing with the drinks was great. I remember that from the Whip and Fiddle. But you didn’t need to put on a show. Not for us anyway.”

“It’s always an issue, Bucky,” you said quietly as you noticed the vanilla frosting you had been using was running low, so you got out the ingredients to make more. “I always need to prove myself. I…did Steve ever tell you about what happened during the five years you were gone? Not my most shining hours.”

“The thing that scared everyone? Yeah, he told me, but I didn’t want to broadcast it to anyone. I don’t understand what makes you you,” Bucky said as he set down his knife and cupcake, “and I was not about to dredge up what happened. You were trying to get us back. Steve said you kind of lost it when it didn’t work. And Tony…”

“Tony wanted to lock me away in a padded cell, but Thor told him to stop, because he understood my grief. And Bruce told Tony to give it a rest because I was trying things that none of them could. Steve took me to the infirmary so I could heal when it all came crashing down. I was weaker than I realized. He saved my life. IV fluids can work wonders when you push yourself too much.”

“Wait, what? What did you do?” Bucky was suddenly very agitated, and you were not fully focused on his tone and body language at first. He was truly freaked out.

“What?” you asked as your eyes bugged out a little bit when it finally hit you. “Oh! No. I wasn’t doing…”

It took you much too long to realize Bucky was worried you had done some odd, old and draining blood spell. You had done them long, long ago, but that was back before electricity was the norm.

“It was a very old spell, one my Mamo used when I was a baby when she wanted to talk to the deceased members of our clan. Sorry. My grandmother. Mamo is the Irish word for grandma. It just takes a toll on your spirit, and I tried it a few times before Bruce saw me naked as a jay bird in the gardens they had at the facility. Yeah, that is part of the spell too, as is doing it on Samhain. Halloween. But there was no one there to talk to, so continuing to do it made it worse. As I said, not my finest hour. It broke me when I couldn’t find your spirit…”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to look at you with saucer-like eyes.

“Well, I couldn’t try to zero in on a million different people, so I picked you. I tried Sam, too, but it was like you guys never existed. If I were to do the spell this year, I’d be able to see any number of people across the veil. My family. Your family. Natasha and Tony. Loki. That night? I saw no one except my siblings, and while I love them, I knew they would be there. That failure sent me reeling. I didn’t talk for days. And we both know that could not be normal.”

“For two minutes, could you please stop with the put downs? Some of us don’t like to hear them. Me. Sam. Sarah. The boys…”

“I am so used to people just working around them that I don’t…” you started to say before you set down everything and just pulled up a stool next to the one Bucky was sitting on. “I don’t realize how it affects everyone else. Sorry.”

Bucky started to chuckle, and then he let out a loud laugh. “Your hair. Frosting,” he said as he pointed to a few wisps that were now very sticky from the vanilla frosting making a few spikes on the tips.

“Didn’t catch it all in the hairband. Again,” you muttered as you started to laugh along with Bucky. “Why did you really show up today, Buck? It can’t be because your inner baker was screaming to come out and play.”

“Last night was scary. You zoned out, and that scared me and Sam. We thought you were dying. We have no idea how this all works with you, and I’ve been afraid to ask. Steve was, too, I guess, and Sam, when you guys were in hiding.”

“Why are you remembering all this nonsense about me?” That was the only thing you could say as you looked Bucky in the eye and prayed something from your past was not trying to catch up with you again. “Or better yet worrying so much about me?”

“And why do you remember things about me?” he asked with an equally deadpan expression. “We are both old. We’re both likely going to outlive most of the people around us now, at least for a little while. Being connected is…nice. Now, back to last night. What happened?”

“After I helped those kids, I did exactly what you said. I zoned when I cracked my head on that building. I can go into a fugue state and start connecting in weird ways to the world around me. I knew you were there, but my brain wasn’t connecting all the dots. If that makes sense.”

That last part you hated. You wanted nothing more than to tell Bucky everything about your life. How the person he saw was only a tiny part of everything you were. That at this very moment there was another Kari dancing with another Bucky at something called the Hellfire Gala in a world where a group called The X-Men were protectors alongside The Avengers. She was thanking him for an assist a very long time ago on the steps of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, if killing her was truly an assist. Yes, that Kari was reborn thanks to the bladed excellence of The Winter Soldier, but this part of Kari could not tell Bucky all that. Not yet anyway.

“Do you want some coffee? A beer? I should have asked when you got here,” you said as you looked down to see Hickory had finally decided to get up and go eat his kibble while you chatted with Bucky.

“Beer, thanks. I just wanted to convince you to come down to Delacroix, mostly so everyone can see for themselves that you are OK. I know once Wong and Bruce get involved, it may take weeks until we see you again. And Parker. That trip of his for school.”

“Look, Sarge,” you started to say as you handed Bucky the beer. His eyes lit up, so the nickname seemed to be a good choice. “If it will make you feel better, then down to Delacroix I’ll go. But you and I can go together. I am going to need help hauling these cupcakes. But I may not stay the whole time. Does that work for you?”

“Yup,” Bucky said as he drank his beer. “And the Sarah thing…”

“Look, if you and Sarah hit it off, well, that is beautiful. You deserve happiness, Buck. I am not going to stand in the way of your happiness. Ever.”

{{Even if it would make me happier being with you}} you thought as you smiled at Bucky again.

“And yes, I know Sam is likely sticking his oar into the water and messing it up for you guys. Having eight brothers taught me a lot, and I am betting you might have played the part yourself back in the day, right? Maybe I can help there, if you need me to? Your call.”

“Whatever happens, well, happens,” Bucky noted as he looked at the tray of tiny shields again. “I think we all want the day to be about Sam. That’s what really matters.”

“Agreed,” you said as you looked at all the cupcakes and smiled. “Now, want to learn how to make that cake? Care to smash up some cookies for me to mix in the batter?”

The rest of the baking session with Bucky went well enough, and you were able to box everything and have it ready to portal to Delacroix the next morning when he made it back to your place. You made sure your portal was near the house but around the back so no one could get spooked by it. You just wished the rest of the team could have been there, but there was technically no team at the moment anyway.

You smiled as you watched Bucky run over to the table where Sam, Sarah and the boys were sitting, with Cass and AJ trying to get Bucky into some sort of play fight as he brought over the cake.

“So, this is the famous cake?” Sarah asked as you pulled a small red wagon full of cupcakes behind you. “Sam has talked about this cake for weeks. Thanks for making it.”

“Hey, anything for our new Cap and his family!” you replied as a group of kids came over to check out the wagon’s load of goodies. “There are plenty of these to go around, but I think you guys better eat your lunches first.”

“Are you going to show us any magic?” Cass asked as you sat down at the table with everyone.

“Guys, what did we talk about?” Sam said as you looked at everyone there and realized this was not going to be a simple picnic event for Sam.

“We can talk about that later. Maybe when everyone else heads home,” you said quietly as you looked at the boys and then Sarah. “And only if your Mom is OK with it. Her house. Her rules. Always.”

You really had not been planning on any sort of show today, but letting Sarah have the final call was likely the easiest way to keep this sort of thing away from prying eyes. Not everyone liked magic, and that was no exception for this part of Louisiana. The preternatural might have been more accepted here, but it was still not a thing everyone loved or fully understood.

The conversation, thankfully, turned to much more mundane things, and you were very happy it did when you saw Bucky and Sarah chatting as the boys and their friends tried to hang off Bucky’s arm. It looked right. He looked stress-free and happy for the first time in ages.

“And is that what you were hoping for?” Sam asked as he, too, watched his nephews hanging off Bucky’s arm. “That cyborg and my sister would hit it off? I thought you two were, you know, getting closer? Beer?”

You looked at the bottle in Sam’s hand. Crimson Voodoo. A local favorite indeed.

“Thanks,” you said as you took the bottle from his hand and tried to convince yourself and Sam that this is what you wanted. “Sam, Bucky deserves a family. He deserves peace and happiness. Your sister deserves someone who thinks the world of her and can take care of her and the boys. It’s a win-win. My life is too messed up for anyone to feel at peace with me. Someday I’ll try to explain everything, but today is not that day. Today is your day.”

As it started to get dark outside, no one seemed to be heading home, and the kids were a bit upset that there were no fireworks set up to cap off the night.

“Guess I need to take care of this,” you said under your breath as you got to your feet and walked toward Sarah and the boys. “Sarah, I can fix this, but as I said before, your house, your rules.”

“You have fireworks in your bag?” Sarah chuckled as she shook her head. “Wait. You aren’t kidding.”

“Nope, I’m not,” you replied as you walked to the end of the pier where the kids were all looking pretty forlorn. “Sam, a gift for you and your family and friends here today,” you said as you turned to look at everyone there. Sparks started to dance on your fingertips, and soon the night sky filled with magically-created fireworks. “A gift from the Tara Mount and from Asgard,” you added as more pyrotechnics danced above the crowd. “Frigga and Loki showed me this trick long ago. It’s only fitting to share it tonight.”

“What the hell is that on your back?” Sarah asked as you slowly lifted off the ground.

“I forgot you’ve never seen these,” you said to Sarah as your raven wings unfurled. “I need to get a bit of lift before I do the next part.”

Sure, Sam and Bucky had seen you fly. But the dance you were about to do was not anything you had done since, well, the day your cousin Rhys got married to his beautiful bride Alice back in the 1850s! Oh, that was a bit of craic! Well, it would have been more fun if Rhys’ sister Rhiannon had not fed that dragon wedding cake and Champagne on top of Westminster.

“I usually don’t do this for anyone but family, but if you all are Captain America’s extended family, then that is good enough for me,” you said as your wings slowly transformed to something akin to gossamer and glitter, the light of the fireworks dancing off the delicate lacework of the fairy wings you now sported on your back. “My grandmother, Siofra O’Cathain MacOrish, was called the Black Faerie of the battlefield. Tonight I wear these wings to thank her for making it possible to be here with you today.”

As you hovered in mid-air, you started to dart over the water, well clear of the shore and the boats anchored there. The sky lit up with a multicolored display that at times looked like ribbons of red, white and blue and at others like the giant bursts of color in the event that Macy’s held each July 4th on the East or Hudson Rivers in New York City. The shrieks of delight from the children made it all worthwhile as you finally landed back on the dock after about 15 minutes of flash and sizzle.

Maybe it was the music that helped make it special? No one could tell exactly where it was coming from because it was all around them. A bit of remembered sound from your cousin’s wedding night and a snatch of air current, and suddenly the air was full of a song played long ago on a starry night for your tribe back then, the lovely lot you called The Avalonians.

The flight was glorious, and you wondered why you did not do it more often over the years.

The way you did not stick the landing, on the other hand, was annoying. Especially when Sam, Sarah and Bucky ran over. The lift of raven-like angel’s wings was one thing in battle, but the faerie wings on your back now were another thing entirely. The fact you had not called them out in over 100 years meant you had forgotten much about maneuvering in them once you got back to Terra Firma.

“I am fine!” you protested as you finally pulled back your wings and flexed your arms a bit. “Just didn’t time the footfall properly. I am not Simone Biles by any means. She would have aced it.”

“No more jokes. You could have gotten hurt,” Bucky said as he reached out his hand to you, but you pulled back slightly as he did. Muscle memory was a bitch at times, and a tiny part of you could not help but remember Katowice, St. Petersburg, Budapest and several other places where you and Bucky did more bodily harm to each other than you had let on to anyone else. Even Steve never knew the full extent of the battles you and his best friend were part of over the years. It was probably better that way.

“It’s nothing that a good night’s sleep won’t fix. I’m still not right after that mess with the bus,” you answered as Sarah shot you the mother of all looks. “Even old warriors like me need time to heal.”

“You could have said something,” Sarah said as she just kept looking at you, concern and pain mixed in equal measure in her eyes. “You did not have to bring all that food, and you did not need to do all that fireworks stuff. These two said you’d pull some crazy stunt eventually...”

“And they were right,” you replied, tucking your hands behind your back so the slight tremor you felt was not visible to everyone else. “Because, well, this is how I was raised. Never say no when your help is needed. Always take care of family, even if you are dead on your feet. Leave a place better than you found it if at all possible…”

“Kari, did your fireworks have a finale you didn’t mention?” Bucky asked as he pointed behind you, a multicolored fissure opening above the bayou waters.

“That isn’t me!” you shouted as the raven wings of your office appeared, along with your armor, sword and shield. “Get everyone to safety! Now!”

“Wait. Is that a Quinjet?” Sam shouted as he worked to get everyone off the dock as quickly as possible as a plane maneuvered through the fissure.

“No, that’s the Zephyr…” you said as you stood with our mouth open. “SHIELD ship that vanished a few years ago. Fury was never able to track it down.”

The jet landed on the shore away from several houses, and you, Bucky and Sam made your way to the landing site. By now, thanks to some quick thinking by Cass and AJ, Sam had his shield at the ready, but you prayed he would not have to use it.

“SHIELD ship Zephyr One. Damn,” you muttered under your breath as you got to the now lowered ramp. “I thought you were dead! And so does Fury!” you said as two men made their way to the top of the ramp.

Standing in front of you were Phil Coulson and Daniel Sousa.

“Nice to see you again, Chief,” Coulson said as Sousa gave him an odd look. “One of my trainers back in the day.”

“And Peggy Carter’s best friend in mine,” Sousa added the duo was soon joined by Melinda May.

“She never told you? Either of you? She was the original 0-8-4,” May noted as she walked down the ramp.

“No, I helped Howard Stark coin the term,” you growled as you looked at May. “The world knows full well where I am from and how long I have walked this ground. I’m just a hell of a lot older than I look.”

“Oh my God, we are home,” Daisy Johnson said as she walked up next to Sousa, his arm snaking around her waist, leaving no question about their status as a couple. You had heard about the Inhuman’s encounters with some preternatural allies, and you wanted to hear more about that, as well as how Sousa was actually there with them now.

“Home?” Bucky whispered in your ear as Sam leaned in to hear his comments.

“If you weren’t home, where were you?” you asked Coulson as the rest of his team filtered off the ship. You vaguely knew them by physical attributes, but not all the names were clicking in your mind at the moment.

“I was hoping you might be able to tell us,” he said as you looked at him, and you could tell already this was not the Phil Coulson you knew. Not totally anyway. “From our calculations, we’ve been gone about five years.”

“The blip,” Sam said as you shook your head. “Oh, tá sé seo ach iontach. I mean, this is just great,” you said as you rolled your eyes. “You lot like cupcakes, right? Please say you like cupcakes. And beer.”

You grabbed Bucky’s hand without thinking and prayed he could actually hear the words you were thinking in that crazy link of Wanda’s. {{I wanted this to be a happy day for Sam. Not one where his family would be in the middle of this nonsense. I’ll get them all out of here fast. Just…could you please help me figure this out?}}

A brief nod let you know Bucky heard at least some of your request.

“Sarah, I’ll get these folks out of here and back to New York ASAP. I just hope I can find Maria Hill or Nick Fury. How do I explain that their world is about to get turned upside down again?”

My wonderful tag crew--thank you!: @historygeekfics, @arrthurpendragon, @starryeyes2000, @chickensarentcheap

And up to lucky Part 14—What in the world do you do with Agents of SHIELD if there is no more SHIELD? And how will the surviving OG Avengers feel when they learn Phil Coulson is not quite as dead as Nick Fury lead them to believe?

#oc appreciation #fyeahsuperverseocs #mcu oc kari macorish #mcu multiverse oc #bucky barnes x female oc #sam wilson #sarah wilson #aj wilson #cass wilson #phil coulson #melinda may #daniel desousa #daisy johnson #quake #the cavalry #agents of shield #sam wilson is captain america #the winter soldier #oc creators unite!

[karimac]

Share 10 facts about an OC and their significant other

Thanks for asking, @arrthurpendragon! As always, this is long!

10 Facts about Kari and Bucky

Considering these two have not had a truly official start to their relationship as far as the modern MCU is concerned, this is going to be tricky. I've been writing out of sequence at points in their story, so I need to do a timeline to get things in the correct order.

The Brooklyn Boy and the Girl from Naas did not exactly hit it off right away back when they met in the 1940s. Like Steve, Bucky had his eyes firmly planted on Peggy Carter during their first meeting. It helped that Peggy was dressed to the nines and Kari was dressed more like a motor pool mechanic. Kari also thought Bucky was a tad full of himself where the ladies were concerned. And Bucky more than once said Kari was a bit pushy and loud.

Kari doesn’t talk much about it, but she vividly remembers when Bucky started to see her in a different light. The Howling Commandos had been in a bit of a rough fight, and a few of them were in the infirmary after being patched up. When the unit was asleep, Kari walked the ward healing the hurt soldiers until she ran smack into the Peggy, Steve and Bucky who had been watching her from a doorway. Peggy had seen her do it before, and she had tried to keep Steve and Bucky from walking in on Kari. It was kind of hard to miss a woman with glowing green hands in a darkened medical ward.

A few days before his fated fall from that train, Bucky had asked Kari if she would join him for a drink after the mission. A night to remember under the stars. A bit of conversation. Some likely very bad booze. How could she say no?

The night of the fall, Kari came clean to Peggy, Howard and Steve about some of her history because she wanted to go and search for Bucky. She chose not to explain everything in minute detail. They somehow managed to keep General Phillips in the dark. She never found Bucky but saw enough blood to convince her an animal had taken his remains.

Bucky and Kari almost killed each other several times during the years between the accident and their current lives in the modern MCU. She never knew it was him until their fight in November 1991 in Katowice, Poland.

In the flow of the main parts of the story, Bucky has no clue yet about the fact Kari has parts of herself scattered around the multiverse. She knows what they are doing at any given time, and they can reach back to her as well if needed. Bucky also has no idea that some of those parts are involved with his variants in other worlds. Kari does, and part of her is terrified for him to find out any of it yet.

Kari was the one who nudged Bucky to go adopt a cat after he kept playing with her cat Hickory all the time. He adopted Alpine the Christmas before their first kiss.

There are times Kari flinches if Bucky moves a certain way. He choked her during several of their fights, and the “muscle memory” kicks in more often than she wants to admit. She isn’t sure if he’s noticed yet, but she figures he probably has.

They have not been on an actual date in any of my posted stories or my WIPs. For some reason I am having a very hard time with that concept.

I think the saddest thing about these two right now is that I am not sure they will get their “happily ever after” in any story I write. They may have brief glimpses of what happiness is or at least what it is perceived to be by the world around them, but the nature of the MCU makes such a thing a long shot at times. I hope I can, one day, give them a reason to smile.

Tag list: @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000, @chickensarentcheap

#oc character asks #mcu oc #bucky barnes x mcu oc #bucky barnes x kari macorish #thanks for asking!

[karimac]

The tree grows, but not in Brooklyn

And this is Kari's brother Keir--the business mind and, more often than not, the unsung hero of most of the family's stories.

Keir MacOrish is a character that originated (as have all my others so far) in my gaming life. He has had other faces, but none have fit him as well as Stephen Amell.

Like their father Ronan, Keir always put honor at the top of his list of things to cherish and uphold. He served as a guard at the Tara Mount for at least one of the High Kings of Ireland.

He also realized early on that the family needed someone to look after the finances. He surely could not leave that to Donal the thief turned party boy or Malachi the dragon master. So he learned banking and finance, developing an affinity for real estate along the way.

He single-handedly set the plans in motion to make the family home into a revenue-generating event venue and horse farm so his big sister could go out and fight the good fight and not wonder where she'd put her head down at night. He is also the one who, after seeing how broken she was at the loss of Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers, bought her the space she lives in now in the prewar apartment building in Flatbush.

Keir was also the one most likely to butt heads in the most vocal fashion with his grandmother Siofra. She was a battle axe, and he could not stand her making life hell for the family at times.

Taglist: @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000, @chickensarentcheap

#meet kari's siblings! #karimac tag #user karimac #the macorish family tree grows #mcu ocs #one day I would love to have this lot in one picture

[karimac]

...in the details, Part 9

A/N: Warning for this series: 18+ audience (minors DNI), some cinematic level violence, some fluff and angst. Doubt that smut will be involved, but it may be implied. I’ll make sure that is noted clearly if it pops up.

All relationships, at this point in the story, are platonic, but there is romance in the cards for Kari and Bucky.

Please do not repost or translate my work. Likes, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

Taglist is now open! Please send an ask, and I will gladly add you to the list.

Word count: 3.3K

Masterlist

Where we last left this motley crew: Kari was now on her way to Delacroix, LA, but things were still bubbling along at the Stark Lab where Bruce, Wong, Darcy, Shang-Chi, Katy, Peter and Ned were all trying to find the answer to one question:

“I have no idea who or what a Cailleach is, do you?” Darcy said as she gazed up at the holographic figure hovering in the air before the group. “Bruce, any clue?”

“You’re asking me? Mythology and fantasy novels are not my go-to subjects, Darcy,” Bruce replied as he turned to Wong. Wong looked more like he wanted to run to the nearest mountaintop than answer that question. “Wong, I’m guessing from the look on your face that you know and just don’t want to go there at the moment.”

Wong stood with his arms crossed, staring at Bruce. “No, I have no idea who that woman is. Not exactly anyway. Her name is in some ancient texts in Kamar-Taj. But there has never been any clear context about who she is or what she can do.”

“Guys, I’m sure the database has the answers,” Ned said as he tapped on his keyboard. “What’s the AI called here? Peter’s is called Karen.”

“Friday, what can you tell us about Cailleach?” Bruce asked, but the AI stayed quiet for a good few seconds.

“I’m sorry, Doctor Banner,” the AI said with a lovely Irish lilt, “but Mr. Stark has put that information off limits for now. You’ll need the OK from Ms. Potts to access it.”

“Seriously?” Darcy yelped as she looked at the hologram. “He didn’t set things up in case something went bad? Great.”

“Let me get Pepper on the phone,” Bruce said as he started calling up a view screen so she could see everyone when they got through to her. “Pepper, Hi. Uhm, what’s going on there?”

“Oh, Hi Bruce! Morgan is building something…” Pepper turned to face where Morgan was sitting.

“Hi Uncle Bruce!” Morgan shouted as she showed off the castle she was building from LEGO. At least it looked like a castle. “Where’s Auntie Kari? I need her to tell me if this horse has the right stuff for battle. My troops are gonna fight a dinosaur.”

“Hi, Morgan. I was calling your mom to talk about Auntie Kari. Can we borrow your mom for a minute?”

"Sure, but not too long! She promised to help me make a tower for Rapunzel!"

“What’s wrong?” Pepper asked as she walked away from Morgan and finally looked at what was going on at the lab. “Oh, Friday blocked access? I can see the hologram is red.”

“Yeah, Tony set up a failsafe on this file, and we need to access it. I can explain the details to you later, but we could use an access code.”

“Sending clearance over the line now,” Pepper said as she tapped keys on her own computer console. “Could you use my help? You look like you’ve got a full house. New faces, too.”

Bruce chuckled as he opened up the view a bit so Pepper could see more of what was going on in the lab. “Wanda got in trouble, and Kari went to help her. Some bad magic stuff happened, and we’re trying to help Kari fix it. That’s about as simple an explanation as I can give you right now.”

Pepper sighed as she nodded to Bruce, and the look on her face said a lot more than Banner expected. “Pepper, yeah. If you want to head down here to Jersey, great. I’ll keep the coffee pot on.”

About an hour later, Pepper came into the lab, with Morgan and Happy Hogan trailing behind her. “Bruce, we’re here. We brought along some food,” she said as Happy set down bags from a local diner.

“Pepper Potts, Xu Shang-Chi and Katy Chen, and I think you know Dr. Darcy Lewis,” Bruce said as he gave Pepper a hug. “And Peter’s friend Ned Leeds.”

“Hey, Pepper. Hey, Happy,” Peter said before Morgan ran over and almost tackled him. “And who is this linebacker for the Giants?”

“Petey! We brought dinner! And I wanna help Aunt Kari!” Morgan shouted before she ran back to Happy to help set out the food.

“So, the file’s working now?” Pepper asked as she looked at the hologram. “We can’t see a face? Why?”

“According to Tony’s records, he and Steve talked to Thor about this at some point, but even he had no idea who this is. She is bad. That’s all I know. And Cailleach is not so much a name as a code name or an honorific. It’s apparently a reference to a crone in Celtic mythology. I’m guessing she is one of the rogues’ gallery of people Kari talks about when she insists we do not want to fight the people who want her dead.”

“Maybe this person is part of the bad guys in The Rift?” Peter said as he went to help Morgan so she didn’t drop a big bag of food on the floor. “Kari told us about them one day at lunch, right, Ned?”

“Right! At that pizza place when we all got back from the blip,” Ned said before Wong spun around, his tuna melt almost dropping from his hands. He had literally grabbed one from the New York Sanctum just before Pepper arrived. He was going to ask Ned to go get food, but Pepper saved the day, as usual.

“Bruce, Kari never mentioned that, did she?” Wong asked as Banner shook his head. “Darcy, you said she was missing about six months’ worth of time when you two sat in Westview? You mentioned that when we first started trying to unravel this mess.”

“Bingo on the time frame. She went back to Ireland for a bit, then off to Westview, and then she did the Sam and Bucky stuff, but a hole about the size of Hoboken is sitting in the middle of everything,” Darcy noted as she grabbed some fries. “Trying to break up Wanda and Agatha Harkness’ fight really knocked Kari for a loop.”

“Agatha Harkness?” Pepper asked as Wong rolled his eyes. “Oh. Bad magical person?”

“You could say that, and you would not be wrong. Kari was trying to make everyone forget her for some very weird reason,” Wong said as Katy and Darcy both chimed in with the one reply that made any sense—“Bucky Barnes”—and then Wong continued his story.

“Kari cast her spell, and whatever happened in Westview with Wanda made it go off the rails. She’s tied to Barnes on some psionic level, and we can’t undo it yet. Wanda may have wanted to...”

"Get the old Buckster to Westview for Kari. As Husband Material. Wanda created cats for them for crying out loud. I was there. Darcy Lewis, circus entertainer extraordinaire."

“Would anyone in Asgard be able to help? They have magic wielders. I know what Kari does is different from what you and Stephen do,” Pepper said as she looked to see if Morgan was playing or paying more attention to the grown up chatter going on around her. “Maybe they could help? This is a huge mess.”

“I can see if Valkyrie has anyone who might be able to give us some help,” Bruce said as he looked up at the hologram again. “Friday, where did Tony get the information for this file?”

“From some of Howard Stark’s personal papers,” the AI replied as some files appeared on screens around the lab. “Howard was once in a relationship with a friend of Kari’s named Devnet Casey. Devnet…”

“The magic book lady!” Katy shouted as she grabbed the volume on mystic weapons that was sitting on one of the tables. “This was written by Devnet Casey! Who is probably dead…”

“No,” Friday said as a picture of Devnet appeared where the hologram had been. “She’s very much alive and living in Ireland. She lectures at the National University of Ireland, Galway.”

“Do I sense a road trip?” Darcy asked as she looked at Bruce. “Please? I’ve never been to Ireland, and I’d love to go sing in a pub there and eat those boxty things Kari makes. Potato pancakes. Like latkes but not.”

“Maybe we should see if we can contact her at the university before we just jump on a jet or open a portal?” Pepper replied before hearing Morgan shout “oops!” as Happy almost knocked over a small box of files. “Morgan? Happy? What is that? It looks old, and Tony was not a fan of old.”

“It says it belonged to Uncle Steve!” Morgan said as she pointed to writing on the side of the box. “What’s inside?”

Hogan opened the box and held up what looked like evidence envelopes and confidential file jackets. “These all belonged to Phil Coulson. Why did Steve Rogers have a bunch of stuff that belonged to a SHIELD agent? Didn’t Coulson die on the Helicarrier when Loki was making life difficult?”

“Yes, he did. I’ll ask Maria Hill about this stuff,” Pepper said with a small sigh as she walked over to look at the box. “Wait,” she said as she took one envelope from Happy. “Oh, Tony. What were you digging up this time?”

Bruce walked over toward Pepper, Happy and the box before glancing back at Wong. “What is it, Pepper?”

Before Pepper could answer, a FaceTime call request came in from Ireland. The screen lit up, and on the other side of the Atlantic, Devnet Casey sat on a brown leather sofa with a cup of tea in her hand and her Irish wolfhound Tyrone’s head resting on her knee. If she were compared to an actor or movie character, she was the real life version of Xena’s Gabrielle, a petite, short-haired blonde who now chose tweed and denim over leather.

“Hello. I’m not exactly used to getting call requests from the States. Especially at this hour. So, is this about a redhead? I’m betting it is. I haven’t heard from Kari in ages. Is it a man this time, or did the government lock her up because of those damnable Accords? She never listens. About men or mayhem!”

“Oh hey there! Dr. Darcy Lewis here, and Wong, Sorcerer Supreme, and a seeming cast of thousands. And yes, it’s about Kari. Can we come visit you? We thought you might be able to help.”

“I’ll do you one better,” Dev said as everyone saw her get up, and in an instant she was in the middle of the lab via her own portal. “Ty, sweetie, you need to stay home while Mama talks to these nice people. You can go snuggle in the bed, and I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said to her dog as the portal closed. “Now, has Kari gone off the radar entirely? Or is she just acting weird again? And…who told you about her?” she asked as she pointed to the hologram.

“Howard Stark did, more or less,” Bruce said as he walked over. “Bruce Banner. We can do all the introductions later.”

“You spoke at NUIG a few years ago. Before I got dusty, I mean. I went to your talk. You and Tony Stark...” Dev started to say as she looked over and saw Pepper. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I was one of Howard’s, uhm, lady friends, shall we say, before he met Maria. Kari told me all about Tony when he was younger. She babysat for Howard and Maria once. Tony was a very spirited child.”

“You mean my dad!” Morgan shouted as she ran up next to her mother. “He was the best!”

“Indeed he was,” Dev said as she stopped and looked at the Stark mini-me standing there. “You remind me of your grandpa. Now, back to Kari. What do you know about Cailleach?”

Darcy had maneuvered herself so she was standing next to a box of cookies the Stark crew had brought in with them. She finally found a chocolate chip cookie and started to nibble on it. “Next to nothing? Can’t see a face. No data in the database beyond that goofy image.”

Dev looked around the room and seemed to be debating what to do next as she moved to face the hologram. “I wish Kari were here. It’s her life, and none of us should be digging into it without her here. It’s not as simple as fighting off aliens or robots. I know this is cliché, but it is complicated.”

“Especially because she got magically whammied,” Ned said as he waved at Devnet from his chair. “She was trying to help Wanda Maximoff, and some other weird witch hit her with an energy blast.”

“That would have been helpful at the top,” Dev grumbled as she looked at the hologram again. “What kind of magic?”

“Wanda is a user of chaos magic,” Wong said very bluntly, “and Agatha Harkness…”

“A succubus. She’s a succubus. I’ve heard about her but never had the pleasure of fighting her. Creepy is the best word to describe her. And cracked like an old pot. She likely hasn’t had a good thought since 1692 from what I’ve been told. So chaos magic and succubus powers, and you had the Goddess in the middle. Or was she trying to help either side? Was Kari light or dark in this?”

“She was trying to help Wanda, but we had no idea about her full powers until this all happened,” Wong replied, “so light. And I know that makes a difference.”

“Thank you. You do not want to fight against Kari when she is on a magic bender. Enya and I have…oh shite! I’ll need to get Enya here. If I can find her. She went time hopping. Or was that universe hopping? I’ll check my last note from her later. Enya is Kari’s sister-in-law. Sister of Galen Sun, Kari’s first husband. Oh, this could get to be all sorts of bad. But I am not calling Minerva or Dorian just yet. Thomas O‘Malley’s sister and her husband. And you have no idea about anyone I just talked about. Great. Shut up, Devnet. You are only making this worse.”

“And you are who in her life, exactly?” Darcy asked as she grabbed another cookie. “You write books. That’s all we know.”

“I grew up near Galway, and I met Kari and Enya at Camelot when Arthur was king. And for the record, Merlin was not a hottie like on the BBC show. Arthur was a snack, and Lancelot. Oh my gods. Yes. Wait. Why isn’t Kari here anyway? Don’t tell me she’s off in The Rift again?”

“She went to Louisiana to help one of our teammates,” Bruce started to explain as Dev shook her head and started to mutter under her breath. “Delacroix to be exact. Is that a problem?”

“As long as she doesn’t run afoul of the preternatural community there, things should be just peachy. Her brother Ewan got into a fuss once with some fellow vampires there, so who knows who is holding a grudge? But I keep getting this vibe that there is more to all of this than anyone is letting on. You had better spill the tea now. I can’t work with spotty intel.”

Dev grabbed a bottle of water before staring up at Cailleach again. “Can’t you just get Kari back here?”

“Does the name Bucky Barnes mean anything to you?” Darcy finally asked, “Or was he not a topic of conversation when you and Howard were friends, Devnet?”

“Barnes? She found him again? No. No. No. That is all sorts of bad. He damned near killed her the last time, and I am not going to try to patch her up again. And I don’t mean broken bones or a bruised shoulder. I mean mentally.”

“The files say they fought in Katowice, Poland,” Peter noted as Dev stomped over to where he and Ned were stationed. “Is that right? Is that the last place they fought? Because Bucky spent time in Wakanda with a bunch of doctors and scientists. He’s better now. They undid what HYDRA did. The brain washing, I mean.”

“Yes, Poland in 1991, and on the steps of the Winter Palace in the 1960s, and some other Cold War era hot spot. Havana. That was before the Winter Palace. Mid or late 1950s, I think. They nearly did each other in at least a half dozen times. Poland was the worst because she finally realized who he was. Star-crossed is not even the right word for those two. Cursed. Tortured. A disaster waiting to happen. I’m glad he got help. I didn’t know that. Peace to him, but they are still not a great match.”

Dev paced behind Peter and Ned and then stopped as she reached down to pick up a screwdriver on a desk next to them, flipping it in her hands as she tried to get her next thoughts in order.

“Did Loki give her back that stupid dagger? Please tell me that hasn’t popped up again. I hate that damned blade.”

“Dagger?” Wong asked as he looked over at Bruce. “What dagger?”

“It’s this ornate blade with emeralds on the hilt. The blade has gold filigree work on it. She and Barnes each got stabbed with it in that fight in Katowice. We never knew where it came from, but it brought her nothing but pain,” Dev explained as she stayed near Peter and Ned. “I wish I knew more. It isn’t from any group we know about. Not elven. Not demonic. Not a weapon of the Heavenly Warhost. Kari got very weird after that fight. Weird for Kari, I mean, and I’ve known her for over a thousand years. It was like part of her soul was sucked out. That isn’t even a decent explanation. I just wish we’d been able to see how it affected Barnes back then, but you couldn’t exactly roll up to a HYDRA base and ask how their top assassin was feeling.”

“Uh, no on the dagger,” Darcy said as she walked over toward Katy again, motioning for the book next to Chen. “Is it in this book you wrote?”

“No, that’s weapons before 1990,” Dev explained as she looked at the tome. “I never wrote a thing about weapons after that. I should have, but, as I said, Kari got weird, and Enya walked away, so I’ve been teaching and doing children’s books and romance novels ever since. I’ve been muttering for years that Kari let us down. Guess I need to order that ugly sweater in my size, too. I fucked up. She needed me, and I fucked it up royally. Do you guys have room for a slightly weepy professor of writing and antiquities on your squad? At least until this is over? Oh, and my dog Tyrone. I can’t leave him alone too long.”

“Mommy! A puppy!” Morgan squealed as she ran around Pepper.

“Tyrone is hardly a puppy,” Dev replied as she looked at Morgan. “I’d keep him leashed or in another room if needed. He’s sweet. He just looks and eats like a small horse.”

“Bruce, this is getting too complicated,” Wong noted as he started to do a head count of everyone there.

Darcy stopped noshing on food and gave Bruce one of her typical glares as she, too, started a head count. “Not if we break up into teams, guys. We may not get answers for weeks. Months even. But come on! We are The Avengers and Their Super Brainy Friends! What? Bad team name? I think it rocks.”

“You’ve been pretty quiet,” Katy said to Shang-Chi as he sat doing his own research on his father in the database. “Oh, dad stuff?”

“I figured I might as well since I have no idea about this Celtic stuff. But my dad may have known things since he was immortal. Can't hurt to look, right?”

Dev looked at the pair but didn’t engage them just yet. She had noticed the rings sticking out of the backpack earlier but had kept quiet about them. One problem at a time was all she needed at the moment.

“So, we make a pact to keep this quiet for now?” Pepper asked as she walked over to Bruce. “This feels wrong.”

“When Kari comes back from Delacroix, I’ll call you, Darcy and Wong. Then we can talk to her. I agree that this seems off, and our new friend seems to know more than she is letting on. I’m not shocked.”

“I just do not want to say things before Kari can say them herself. She really has told me precious little about The Destroyer there.”

Darcy spun on her heel and glared at Devnet.

“Wait. What now? The what?”

“Cailleach roughly translates to the crone creator and destroyer, and, depending on which aspect you reference, that is what you see. This one is The Destroyer. I thought that was pretty clear from the huge sword.”

In Part 10: The scene shifts to Delacroix with Kari, Bucky and the Wilson Family, but will romance flourish, friendships be made or hearts end up broken?

Tag list: @arrthurpendragon, @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000

#oc appreciation #mcu oc #mcu oc fanfic #fyeahsuperverseocs #the avengers #darcy lewis #bruce banner #wong sorcerer supreme #peter parker #ned leeds #shang-chi #katy shang chi #pepper potts #happy hogan #oc devnet casey #oc kari macorish

[karimac]

By some miracle, I have fixed the links in my Masterlist. I still need to go back and edit story links and chapter previews at the end of stories, but that will be another night!

Masterlist

And that reminds me, I'm overdue to be writing about the gent below...

#oc creators unite! #hurray i fixed my links #took me long enough #sorry for the delay #life sort of ran away from me #mcu oc #mcu ocs #karimac #kari macorish #devnet casey #enya sun #minerva omalley harkness #the clan macorish

[karimac]

Heads Up 7 Up tag game

Thanks for tagging me, @darknightfrombeyond! Here goes nothing!

“That day Steve and Sam had me in that vice,” Bucky started but stopped just as he finished another cupcake. “Why the hell did you do what you did to prove who you were? I knew who you were. Steve knew. You didn’t need to sing that song…”

“I needed to prove who I was because, let’s face it, who in their right mind—besides you and Steve, I guess—would believe my story? And Sam. Bless his heart, he doesn’t think I escaped Bellevue.” Bucky chuckled at the name of the most famous psychiatric hospital in New York City. “Was my singing that bad? I did flub some of the words, I know, but I didn’t think I was that bad.”

No-pressure tags: I am tagging these amazing authors, but anyone can jump in as the spirit moves! And if you have been tagged recently, please feel free to take a pass on this.

@chickensarentcheap, @arrthurpendragon, @megandaisy9, @thecharmedburrowspn-files, @cas-verse, @starryeyes2000, @darsynia

#thanks for tagging me #heads up 7 up tag game #oc creators unite! #mcu ocs #bucky barnes x female oc #oc kari macorish

[arrthurpendragon]

Thanks for doing this for the community, @arrthurpendragon! You are an angel, Kass!

Fandom I write for: Marvel Cinematic Universe

Looking For In The OC Community: I guess the reason I came here was to share stories that had been stuck in my head while I did my dishes. I’m just looking to see where they all go and hoping others like and reblog them.

I am more than happy to answer asks about my OCs, but I am slow to reply at the moment. I’d also be glad to help if people need to bounce ideas about OCs or plots across just about any fandom.

I have 20 years of experience in play-by-post role playing in the Marvel Comics 616 community, and my favorite parts are character and world building with others.

OC Blog: @karimac

Main OCs:

Kari MacOrish/Karenza (current--face claim Julianne Moore)

Enya Sun, Devnet Casey (to come--face claims Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor)

There will be a few more, but they need a bit more work before I even mention them in a post.

Thanks again!

#oc creator spotlight #karimac tag #fd: marvel #ocappreciation #oc fanfiction #oc fic #oc community #oc fanfic #oc fanfiction creator #oc writers

[karimac]

Share 10 facts about one of your OCs! :)

Thanks for this ask, @arrthurpendragon! This list of facts is for Devnet Casey, the third member of the trio that includes Kari MacOrish and Enya Sun. Dev's face claim is Renee O'Connor/Gabrielle of Xena fame.

Dev is slightly younger than Kari and Enya at around 1497, but do three years really count for immortals?

If Dev were asked what her favorite era is in her long life, it would have to be the the Lost Generation period of the 1920s. She moved to Paris after World War I and lived there peacefully and happily amongst fellow writers and artists until the dawn of World War II.

During World War II, Dev rejoined Enya in London with the two none the wiser that Kari was in England as well. They only reconnected after Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers' apparent deaths.

Dev had a thing for Howard Stark, and the two had a "spring fling" for a couple of years before Dev finally got a tad tired of Howard's wandering eye. They did stay friends and in touch until he met and married Maria. Dev always felt it would be hard for Howard to explain her presence to Maria, so she backed away gracefully.

While Kari has always had cats and dogs around her, Dev is more partial to dogs. Her favorite breed is the majestic Irish Wolfhound. She has had many over the centuries, and her current one is named Tyrone.

While Kari is from County Kildare, Dev is from County Galway in Ireland. She has a home in the city of Galway and has been known to give lectures on writing and history at National University of Ireland, Galway.

Being from Galway, Dev is also a lover of the sea. Over the centuries, when she is back home, Dev loves to go to the docks and local pubs to talk with the seamen about their travels.

While Dev is known for her romance novels and the tomes she has written about the adventures she has had with Kari and Enya, she is most proud of the Irish history books she has written for children. She is currently working on a series for children that encompasses facts about the people of other nations who now make Ireland their home.

During the 1960s, Dev jumped feet first into the music scene in London. While Kari and Enya both love to sing, Dev loves dancing, and she found herself many nights in discotheques dancing The Frug and The Freddie with all the Mods in the clubs.

Does Dev consider herself a domestic goddess? That would be a no. Yes, Dev can cook, and she does not have daily hired help to take care of her place, but she does not consider herself a pro at any of it. She thinks one of the greatest inventions in history is the microwave!

#thanks for asking! #oc creator asks #this is for dev #karimac tag

[karimac]

A thought came to mind...

Maybe it is time to bring in at least two more OCs soon-ish...

and @ocfairygodmother, I am not counting these toward my plot bunny question! They have been around in my gaming communities as long as Kari has been.

The brunette is Kari's sister-in-law, Enya Sun, priestess of Avalon. The blonde is Devnet Casey, bard, novelist and friend to Kari and Enya. @historygeekfics, another piece of the puzzle will be dropping soon!

#oc creator bingo #oc creator bingo 2022 #my mcu ocs are multiplying! #watch for she was ours first #oc: kari macorish #f:mcu

[karimac]

Hey BINGO buddy! :) Please share 5 facts about your current muse. :)

Thanks for sending this question my way, @ocfairygodmother! I think I am one of the few in this Bingo event that has only one muse in play at the moment. That may change down the road, but for now...

▪ Kari spent time on the Holy Isle of Avalon and in Camelot when she was in her early 20s. Her paternal grandmother was a player who was always trying to carve a bigger niche out for her clan. Thankfully Arthur had eyes for someone else, so Kari married a druid knight named Galen Sun (a character created by a dear friend of mine). Their time together was short lived because Galen died defending Arthur in battle. And yes, Kari knew the Eternal Thena.

▪ During her time around The Howling Commandos, Kari would walk the barracks at night healing the soldiers of their wounds as they slept. At times she would pull the wounds into herself, so Peggy Carter would always get in her face about putting herself at risk when she didn’t need to do so. Kari would always scoff at the notion, holding steadfast to the idea that if not her, then who?

▪ After Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers were believed to have died, Kari joined Peggy Carter on her trip to New York to do what the Brit felt was a proper memorial for Captain America. It was on that trip that Kari decided to rent an apartment in a building in Flatbush. She had no clue at that point if Barnes or Rogers hailed from that part of Brooklyn, but being anywhere close to where they might have lived brought her comfort. She bought it when it was eventually put up for sale, and she still has it today.

▪ There are precious few times that Kari doesn’t have music playing in the background at home. She tends to go for instrumental music a lot of the time, but she does have favorite singers and bands from just about every era she has walked the Earth.

▪ Kari actually babysat for Howard and Maria Stark once. Tiny Tony was a holy terror at times! And notice I said she did it only once!

#thank you for asking! #oc: kari macorish #oc creator bingo 2022 #oc appreciation