#starks bug chapter 16

[scoonsalicious]

Unwanted: Chapter 16, Unaccompanied - Pt. 4

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn’t be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language, allusions to sexy stuff, a long overdue conversation with Steve.

Word Count: 2.4k

Previously On...: You went to Tony for answers about how Carthage ended up on the Quinjet; he asks you to attend his annual shareholder gala on Saturday. You, vomiting, + a bunch of stuffy rich people. What could go wrong?

A/N: Quick note about how text messages are written herein: Outgoing messages (in this instance, from Pocket to Bucky) will be indicated by ">>" in front of them. Incoming messages are labeled with the contact name the phone owner has for that person in their phone. In this instance, Pocket has Bucky saved in her phone as "Magic Dick🍆🦾" lol

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Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917!

Thank you to all those who have been reading; if you like what you've read, likes, comments, and reblogs give me life, and I truly appreciate them, and you!

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The gala had barely begun and you were already exhausted. Your stomach bug hadn’t let up, and you’d been vomiting for the last two days. Fortunately, you were able to get an injection of an anti-nausea medication from one of the interns down in the med bay, so even though you didn’t currently have to worry about puking your guts out on some obscenely wealthy financier, you just had to deal with the constant exhaustion you’d been feeling from your illness. 

Just a few more hours, you told yourself as you brushed off the advances of yet another man old enough to be your father. Not once had anyone actually wanted to discuss the Crisis Prediction Algorithm System. It seemed you were being viewed more as potential arm candy than Stark Industries’ CTO. That alone was enough to leave you longing for an early night in your bed. 

You did look amazing, though, you had to admit, even if you’d had to go a little heavy on the makeup to mask your pallor. When you asked Tony for a new dress, you’d anticipated taking the girls on a shopping trip. Tony, however, had other ideas and had sent a designer from one of the city’s top fashion houses to the Tower to collect your measurements, and then, the following day, a garment bag appeared in your room containing a striking dress in shimmering Iron Man-red. The bodice was form fitting and strapless, with an asymmetric neckline, and the skirt was full and came down to just below your ankles. 

It was gorgeous, and when your hair and makeup had been completed, you looked like a princess straight out of a fairy tale. You’d sent a picture to Bucky and he’d immediately sent you back a series of panting emojis that had you laughing. The following string of text that described exactly what he wanted to do to you in the dress then had you panting, yourself. Fuck your parameters, apparently.

But now, you couldn’t wait to get out of it for an entirely different reason. The call of your pajamas was so alluring. Not only were you physically tired, but you were bored out of your mind. As this was a Stark Industries party, and not an official Avengers gathering, most of your friends had opted not to come. Rhodey was here, now almost fully recovered from his gunshot wounds, but Tony wouldn’t leave his side, so he was constantly being surrounded by people and you couldn’t really find an opening to go talk to him.

When you’d asked Nat and Wanda if they wanted to come with you, Wanda had politely declined, letting you know that she and Vision already had plans to go out of town for the weekend, while Nat just scoffed at you. “I would literally rather swallow broken glass, Pocket,” she’d said. “Those things are boring as fuck and there is not enough money you could possibly pay me to go to one, sorry.” She’d ended up going bar hopping with Clint and Sam, instead.

So, there you were, all by yourself, not even able to distract yourself with the elaborate spread of food that Tony had provided, as the thought of eating still turned your stomach, when you felt a hand at your elbow.

“Hey,” Steve said softly. His presence took you by surprise– you couldn’t even remember the last time you’d truly spoken to one another, aside from clipped conversations about work and missions. “That’s a lovely dress.” A slight blush tinted his cheeks. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Steve, hi. Um, I’m good, thank you. Just really tired. Not quite in the right headspace to schmooze, you know?” you asked him, trying to fight off the awkwardness you were feeling at speaking to him again after so long. “You look very dashing tonight.” And he did, with his dark navy suit and cream button-up. 

He smiled, then held out a hand. “Would you care to dance?” he asked. You thought about it for a second. You didn’t want to lead him on, let him think you had any interest beyond the platonic relationship you’d always shared, but you were so fucking bored. One dance couldn’t hurt.

“I’d love to,” you said, taking his hand and letting him lead you to the dance floor.

He was surprisingly light on his feet, given his hulking frame, and he led you through the steps with ease. You somehow managed to only step on his toes twice, which gave you both a good laugh.

“I must have forgotten all my finishing school lessons,” you teased.

“Nah, you’re doing great.” Steve sent you out for a spin, but as he twirled you back into his arms, you were overcome with a wave of dizziness and stumbled. You felt your knees give out and your body begin to collapse in its exhaustion.

“Whoa,” said Steve, using his super soldier reflexes to grab you before you could fall and hold you steady. “I got you. You wanna sit down? Rest a bit?”

You nodded and he led you over to a quiet corner where some couches had been arranged for that very purpose. He guided you down to sit, then placed himself next to you, concern clouding his features.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you said. “Just, you know, between the nausea and the vomiting, I haven’t really been able to keep a lot of food down over the last two days. It’s got me so tired. I think I overdid it with a dance number.”

Steve chuckled, then stood up. “Let me go get you something to drink,” he said. “It’s important that you stay hydrated.” You nodded, and he was off.

With a sigh, you reached into your clutch and pulled out your phone, sending a quick text to Bucky, but knowing that, due to the time difference, he was probably sleeping.

>> I miss you.

You were quite surprised, then, when you saw the three dots appear almost immediately.

Magic Dick🍆🦾: Not that I don’t miss you too, because I desperately do.

Magic Dick🍆🦾: But aren’t you supposed to be livin' it up like Cinderella at the ball?

You chuckled at that before responding.

>> This Cinderella is tired and bored and would much rather be snuggled up in bed with her metal-armed Prince Charming watching a movie or literally any other activity aside from being at this ball unaccompanied. 

Magic Dick🍆🦾: You better be talking ‘bout me, doll. 

>> How many other metal-armed men do I have in my life, dipshit? 

>> Why are you even awake, anyway?

Magic Dick🍆🦾: I’m just teasin’ you, smart ass ;) 

Magic Dick🍆🦾: I’d much rather be curled up in bed with you doin any variety of bedly activities, too >:) 

Magic Dick🍆🦾: And I’m up because we’re getting ready to act on our intel and raid the communications office we were sent to find. 

Magic Dick🍆🦾: Hit 'em at dawn when they’re least suspectin’ it, ya know?

>> Jesus Christ, baby! Be careful! 

Maybe it wasn’t a good thing you hadn’t gone on the mission– you didn’t even have the energy to imagine yourself having the energy to conduct a raid in your current state.

Magic Dick🍆🦾: Always, doll. Gotta get back to my best girl, don’t I?

>> You absolutely do. Cause if I found out you died, I will kill you.

Magic Dick🍆🦾: I have no doubt that if someone were to find a way to murder me from beyond my grave, it would be you.

Magic Dick🍆🦾: Shit. Sorry sweets, I gotta go.

Magic Dick🍆🦾: Try to have fun. I love you.

>> I love you too, Buckaroo.

You stared at the screen for a moment longer, but there was no further reply. Wonderful. Now you would be spending what little energy you absolutely did not have to spare worrying about Bucky’s safety.

Steve returned then, handing you a cold glass dripping with condensation. “It’s lemonade,” he said as you took a sip. “I know how much you like lemons.”

You smiled in thanks, but it came out more like a grimace. Steve noticed immediately.

“Are you alright? Does it not taste good? I could go get you something else…”

You put a reassuring hand on his arm. “No, Steve, the lemonade’s fine. Thank you for getting it for me; that was very thoughtful. It’s just,” you sighed, “I was texting Bucky. He and Carthage are running a raid on a communications office as we speak, and now I’m just nervous and worried about him.”

Steve’s brow creased. “Oh,” he said, though you could tell there was more behind the word than the single syllable would imply. “I didn’t realize the two of you had gotten back together.”

Fuck. You were by far too tired to be having this conversation. Squeezing your eyes shut for a moment, you decided it was time to confront the giant elephant that had been sitting between you and the Captain for far too long. “We haven’t, not officially, anyway, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t still love each other, in spite of everything that’s happened. We’re just working on building trust. Or rather, he’s working on building trust, and I’m working on determining if I can trust him again. It’s a process.”

Steve’s shoulders sagged, the movement so minute you would have missed it if you hadn’t been watching him so closely in the moment. You took a deep breath before you continued.

“Look, Steve,” you began, “I know about your feelings for me.” His eyes shot up to meet yours, and he opened his mouth to protest, but you gently held a hand up to stop him from speaking. You needed to get everything you had to say out while you still had the energy to do so. “I’ve known for a bit, and while I’m truly flattered, and honored, that you care for me, I’m also so sorry that I don’t feel the same way about you. You’re a good man. A wonderful man, and I know most people would tell me I’m an idiot for not reciprocating, but I just don’t share those feelings.”

“It’s because of Berlin, isn’t it?” he asked softly, not meeting your gaze, and for a moment, you could see the small, shy boy Bucky had told you about from his youth.

“Berlin altered our relationship, it’s true,” you told him, “but the nature of my feelings for you were cemented long before that. You’re my family, and do I love you, but I love you as a member of that family. The way I love Tony, and Nat, and Thor, but maybe a little better than I love Clint.” Steve chuckled softly at that, and you smiled, glad you could make him laugh even a little. “I’m sorry this isn’t the answer you want to hear, and I’m sorry that you’ve had to watch me be with your best friend. None of it was ever done with the intention of deliberately causing you pain, but at the same time, I need to do what’s going to make me happy, and I hope you can accept that, as my friend and a member of my family.”

Steve looked like he was going to argue with you for a moment, but he kept his mouth shut and just nodded. “Yeah,” he said eventually. “I can accept that. It hurts,” he chuckled humorously, “but I want both you and Bucky to be happy.”

“Thanks, Stevie,” you said, suppressing a yawn. “Holy shit, I’m tired. I think I’m going to call it a night. I put in enough time to fulfill my obligation to Tony.” You stood, but immediately stumbled, the motion of standing enough to make you dizzy.

Steve was instantly on his feet, an arm out to steady you. “I got you,” he said. He put a hand to your forehead, checking your temperature. “You don’t seem to have a fever, but I’m getting worried about you, Pocket. I should escort you down to med bay.”

You waved the suggestion off. “No, it’s fine. The last thing I want is a bunch of doctors poking and prodding at me all night. I’ll be fine, I just need to sleep.”

“You can barely even stand up on your own,” Steve protested. “Let me at least walk you back to your room. Make sure you get there without falling over.” You were going to tell him you’d be fine on your own when a wave of nausea overtook you.

“Yeah, okay,” you said, clutching tightly to his arm for support. You had planned on going over to Tony and Pepper to say a proper goodbye, but given the way you were currently feeling, an Irish one was going to have to do, instead. 

Steve put a hand to your back and led you out of the banquet hall. You had to stop more than once to steady yourself, and you were grateful for Steve’s assistance. By the time he’d walked you to your door, you were running on fumes.

“Do you need help getting inside?” he asked, looking worried.

“No,” you assured him. “I’ll be okay. I am literally just going to collapse into my bed. Might not even bother taking the dress off, to be honest.”

Steve blushed, and you regretted putting the idea of you getting out of your clothes into his head. “Well, if you’re sure,” he said, running a hand behind his neck, the movement so similar to Bucky that it threw you for a moment. “If there’s anything you need in the night, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me, alright?”

“Sure, Steve,” you said as he placed a gentle kiss to the crown of your head. You were grateful for his help, but you knew that, even if you were suddenly dying, you would not, in fact, be calling him. “Thanks for your help.”

You wished each other a goodnight, and soon you were once again within the sanctuary of your room. Managing to summon the will from somewhere, you shimmied out of the dress, draping it over your vanity chair; it was, after all, probably far too expensive to either sleep in or leave in a puddle on the floor overnight. You debated whether or not to take the time to remove your face full of makeup but, God, your bed was just so inviting, you’d deal with the consequences in the morning.

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#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky x female reader #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fanfiction #james bucky buchanan barnes #james buchanan barnes #mcu bucky barnes #james barnes

[workingdownthewordmine]

Love Thy Neighbour - Chapter 1 Behind Closed Doors

Set adrift by his own choosing, Bucky goes home to the abandoned apartment he grew up in, but perhaps it isn't as abandoned as he first thought.

Read it on AO3 here.

Chapter 2

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes Rating: T CW: blood, threat Prompts filled: Fandom-Free Bingo Frosty Edition (card 1): Cuddling to stay warm @fandom-free-bingo Fandom-Free Bingo Flight Edition: Anonymous gifts Fluffbruary: Day 2 - Scent, Day 16 - Neighbour @fluffbruary Seasonal Delights Language of Flowers: Calla lily @seasonaldelightsbingo Multifandom-Flash Round 1: A scar to remember @multifandom-flash

Dividers by @cafekitsune

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.” 

G.K. Chesterton 

Bucky came and went via the fire escape that he’d carefully mangled on his second night back there, a relic of his childhood now inaccessible to anyone who couldn’t bend cast iron or jump 6ft straight up. Didn’t account for at least half of the people he actually knew, sure, including the guy he’d most often climbed it with, but seemed effective so far at keeping out random squatters. Not real charitable, he guessed, locking down an entire apartment building to himself somewhere so many people lacked even a roof to call shelter but he never signed up for them to be his problem. And he liked not being disturbed. Other things he liked included not thinking too hard about some of the stranger aspects of the building he was once again calling home. In spite of the housing shortage, he guessed it might not be so weird that no one had gotten round to tearing the place down in all these years, and to judge by the disintegrating newspapers he’d found tacked up as draft excluders the building hadn’t been inhabited since the 80s. But why was the gas still connected? No electricity, far as he could tell without knocking more holes in the walls than he thought the place could take without crumbling, but the water was still running.

Those mysteries had come clearer after he found the first camera. It had been pretty well camouflaged by a dense cobweb that looked dyed black by half a century of city smog – fuck knew how the asshole had managed that. He’d never have spotted it if he hadn’t caught the whine of tiny servos or something when he passed it. He’d panicked, smashed the thing, torn around the building searching for more. As he bore down on the third, it spoke to him. “Hey Terminator, point’s taken. Quit breaking my stuff. Drop the others in the mailbox and I’ll have them picked up.” He had dropped them in the mailbox. But he’d taken a certain joy in crushing them as small as he could before he did so. Oops. Sorry, Stark. It made him itchy for a while to think of Stark having anything to do with his habitation – hadn’t he turned down a space at the compound because he wanted out of barracks controlled by someone else? But, fuck it, if the nerd had nothing better to do with his billions than pay Bucky’s bills he might as well let him. And now he was back, he didn’t fancy leaving. 

This last week his resolve was being tested. It had started with the smell. He knew the odours of sweat and blood well enough, and he knew that neither had been coming from the back apartment when he left for work. He’d been back there, of course, on his initial homecoming perimeter check and again on his hunt for Stark’s bugs. The place had been as deserted as the rest of the building, inhabited by nothing more sinister than rats, roaches, and a few pigeons. He needed to check again. He also needed to stop and fucking think. He was half way over the sill before he remembered it had taken an hour’s scrubbing for him to get more than a bit of half-assed light through his own apartment’s grimy windows. From the outside? No chance. It would have to be the hallway. 

With the generator humming and the wireless playing (somehow even now he struggled to think of it as the digital gadget it was), giving all the impression that he was still in his own apartment, he edged out into the hall. He winced at the minute change in the air pressure when he opened the door. But the only people likely to drop-by unannounced who would notice something like that would either have taken more care with their smell or would have said hi. Unless it was deliberate bait. Ten feet to the next door. A longer step over the cracked floorboard that had groaned ominously the first time he’d crossed it.  

The smell of the intruder grew stronger as he approached the door. The ancient lock hadn’t given him much difficulty when he took his original look around but the door was heavy and he shifted it with care. He wished he’d thought to oil the hinges, or pulled the door right off them. Aging lino crackled silently beneath his feet. His own heartbeat filled his ears and gradually he remembered how to breathe and move, even blink, in time with it, aligning the sounds he made so anything that fell outside the rhythm would instantly draw his attention. He remained alone with the soundtrack of his own body.  

He knew he was just short of silent as he passed from room to room, every sense trained for the least disturbance... so when the affronted pigeon erupted from behind the bathroom door raising a fetid cloud of feathers and dust, it took him effort not to swallow his own tongue. He tried to inhale as little as possible of the heavily pigeon-laced air while he let his heartrate settle and watched the bird panic at the narrow window until it finally burst out into the gathering evening gloom. The bird’s distress must have been audible to anyone else in the otherwise silent apartment but nothing and no-one stirred. He lowered his guard a degree as he made his way around the few other rooms. His search was thorough, every cupboard opened, the sparse remains of furniture eased away from the walls. No one.  

The thought that it might have been his imagination haunted him from hall to kitchen. He shook the hair from his eyes and touched a cold wrist to his forehead, trying to remember exactly. The smell lingering in the hall. He was sure. Wasn’t he? He shivered. But the air in here felt disturbed, didn’t it? By more than a pigeon and his own cat-like steps? There was a taint on the air – garbage? He crossed, moving more quickly now, to the window that overlooked the alley and its tideless sea of detritus. The smell hit him harder as he stepped into the cold air that hung in front of the window. The glass was uncracked and no draft would be creeping around that deeply dirt-caked frame. He tested the sash. Grime and old paint wouldn’t resist him but it might hold out longer than the decrepit frame. A little more pressure. He hissed between his teeth when the window rose, barely sticking or rattling in its grooves.  

He was crouched below the sill before conscious thought could catch up. 

Fuckfuckfuckfuck. Dumbass.  

How long had he been stood in full view of any of half a dozen rooftops and twice as many windows? Long enough for a whole squad of snipers to take their shots. Again he let his pulse regulate and raised his head a fraction. No one had shot. And as thorough a survey as he could make of the surrounding area, stopping to scrutinise every spot he would have selected for his own firing position, showed him nothing suspicious – not a movement or a shadow out of place. Nothing, in fact, to cause him concern. Until he drew his gaze back into the room, and down over the smear of blood on the peeling paper below the windowsill. He sank down. A knee had brushed the wall as the other leg lifted to the sill. And, yes, now he could see the pattern of new chips in the old paint where a foot had braced. He returned to the blood. A fair stain. The size of his palm. A significant wound, but not enough to keep the victim from climbing or to force them to staunch the blood with a hand. He gave the window another look as he closed it. No trace of a bloody fingerprint. 

Bucky returned to his own apartment troubled. He could nail up the windows as he’d done downstairs. He had enough supplies for that, sure. From his seat where Winnie Barnes’ spotless kitchen table had once stood, he glanced at the stack of salvaged wood in his mom’s bedroom. She’d be spinning in her grave if he didn’t get it cleared out of there soon. And with a bit more work he could probably make the windows virtually unreachable by climbing too.  

He picked up the M38 that stood on its stock beside him and began checking it over again. The thing was... He found himself picturing the boarded up back apartment – dark and silent rooms in which his neighbours had once laughed and rowed and rushed to get out the door for work. The thing was... that, if he forced whoever had gone to the trouble to climb into the second floor of his building to move off permanently, they were unlikely to lose interest. He would either have to hunt them down – so much for the quiet life – or he would be waiting for a bullet through the head or worse until they made themselves known one way or another. That didn’t exactly sound like a peaceful retirement either, did it? And the thing was... he’d felt his heart beating back there.  

Whatever he did about apartment 4, he wasn’t as safe in here as he’d let himself believe for a while. That needed fixing tonight.  

This was his last stop, rucksack already bulging. He heaped the coils of fishing line and bungee cords on the clerk’s desk. The guy’s eyebrows rose when Bucky dropped a couple of handfuls of personal attack alarms on top of the pile. “Stocking fillers. For my self-defence class,” he offered. His cheeks heated a little when the man glanced at the glossy and explicit calendar behind his shoulder which read “February” without offering the least apology for the embarrassment caused. Bucky followed its example and stared blankly, defying contradiction.  

Supplies secured, he disregarded his fire escape and entered by his bedroom window, hauling his way up by the well-concealed handholds he’d made on his way out, scooping out lines of mortar with Vibranium fingertips. He paused on the windowsill to delicately pluck the rudimentary tripwire free and by-pass the edged weaponry that would otherwise have made a spirited attempt to ruin his good looks. He’d considered using a few grenades, but decided it wouldn’t be worth the clean-up. He had enough structural damage to repair around the building as it was. He did a quick round of the other possible entrances, but all were untouched, their makeshift defences untriggered. Finally, he wormed his way up inside the crumbling wall cavity to retrieve one or two personal items he hadn’t been able to leave on display to any sightseer or would-be hit squad but could also not carry freely around Brooklyn, his rifle chief amongst them. He’d read a couple of Stark’s James Bond novels when he’d been insufferably bored in the Tower. Why did that guy’s weapons all fit up a sleeve or his ass or something? When his requisitions came through the British civil service? Stark, SHIELD, and Hydra should all be fucking embarrassed to be lagging so far behind.  

With the limited supplies he’d had on hand, protecting his personal domain had taken precedence. Once he’d made a more professional job of his fortifications, he loaded up some materials and headed back into the corridor. And stopped.  

Something was on the floor outside of number four. Something whose colour and life stood out in the dingy shadows. He went closer and looked down at the leafy plant in its bright striped pot, its three white trumpet-like flowers gazing right back at him. Surely, only a lunatic or a child could like a combination of sunflower yellow, electric blue, and that alarmingly neon pink? A folded paper dropped as he picked up the plant. The handwriting inside was almost as childish as the colour scheme, printed in biro comfortably rounded and neat – something about it made Bucky momentarily picture the writer’s tongue poking out between their teeth as they worked. 

“Hey neighbour, sorry if I bothered you this afternoon. 

Got you a housewarming present as an apology. Hope you like it!” 

It was unsigned, though they’d made no apparent attempt to disguise their handwriting. He glared at the door. It hung slightly askew, and would do – of course – until he was done with the repairs to his own place and made a start on the rest of the apartments. Well, if he was honest with himself, he’d have to get started on his own apartment first of all. Nothing stirred beyond the door. He tucked the note back into the pot and went thoughtfully back up the corridor. He found the plant a spot by a window and stood staring at it for a full minute, waiting for an explosion or maybe some kind of toxic spore cloud – though maybe the latter was kind of cartoonish even for his usual enemies. The plant did nothing sinister. Its dark glossy leaves shone slightly in the light of the sunset.  

Bucky took his M38 up to the roof with him that evening and stayed low for a few minutes, circling in a crouch and checking out his surroundings, but in the end the distant roar of the city lulled him just as it always had. On his third circuit, he touched his fingertips to the chimney stack where he and Steve had scraped their initials, taking turns with Bucky’s new penknife. Smog and pigeons had done their best to obliterate the deep, angular “JBB” and the lighter, neater “SGR”, but Bucky had done his best to restore them the first time he’d come back up here. They’d huddled together against the stack for warmth, watching the stars and hoping Stevie’s dad wouldn’t turn up to drag him home this time, Bucky’s arm usually wrapped round his best friend’s skinny shoulders to stop him shivering. 

He’d dismantled the lower part of the fire escape after his search for the intruder but when it came time to remove their old route to temporary freedom... no, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Fuck it, anyway – anyone determined enough to get onto his roof, with no way to cover the first twenty feet, wouldn’t be put off by a little thing like a missing fire escape. So, he wondered as he settled down with his back to the long-cold chimney and let his gaze wander out over the Hudson, who would got to so much trouble to infiltrate his safe house, just to leave a smear of blood and a goddamn house plant? “Neighbour”? If they were a local, why had he never had any inkling of someone interested in the place? He’d been vigilant enough. Passers-by mostly treated the condemned and wire-fenced pile as though it wasn’t even there. Like it was as invisible to them as it was irrelevant. Just a relic. Hah. A ghost story.  

A last glimpse of the sunset flashed off his fingers. He rolled his shoulders and hissed between his teeth. It was bad tonight, but he would have to do without the pills. If there was still someone prowling around he wouldn’t risk being caught sleeping too deeply. He eased his left shoulder; knotted scar tissue stretched like exposed sinew, raw as a live wire. No, he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. No fear on that score. He tapped his knuckles against the wall and knocked free a triangle of cement. He bounced it on his palm. He and Steve had thrown so many of these it was a wonder there was any building left. Steve’s had almost always fallen short of any mark he chose, of course, though Buck had sworn blind he’d seen them hit more than once when his buddy’s spirits needed a lift. Hundreds had dropped into the alley below, sometimes raising angry shouts that sent them laughing into cover before anyone could spot their faces silhouetted overhead. The fragment exploded into dust against a raised air vent three buildings over and Bucky grinned to himself as he swung over the edge of the roof and returned home.

For @heretherebewolves, my inspiration.

#written by Bug #actual writing #fanfiction #fandom: marvel #Bucky Barnes #Rating: T #fandomfreebingo #seasonaldelightsbingo #languageofflowersbingo #fluffbruary #multifandomflash #round 1 #day 2 Engagement/Scent/Jam #day 16 Neighbour/Desire/Horse

[stony-ao3-feed]

What can I do For You

Read it on AO3

by dawnoftheagez

Steve wont stop bugging Tony for some time for him to stop working so finally Tony decides on something to do.

Words: 681, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 16 of noncon-kinktober

Fandoms: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Additional Tags: Fucking Machines, face fucking, Cum Swallowing, Bottom Tony Stark, Top Steve Rogers, Begging, Master/Pet, Praise, Sex Toys, Machine - Freeform, Toys, Lube, Praise Kink, Dildos, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Double Penetration

Read it on AO3

#stony #fanfiction #ao3feed #superhusbands #stevetony

[ao3feed-stony]

What can I do For You

by dawnoftheagez

Steve wont stop bugging Tony for some time for him to stop working so finally Tony decides on something to do.

Words: 681, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 16 of noncon-kinktober

Fandoms: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Additional Tags: Fucking Machines, face fucking, Cum Swallowing, Bottom Tony Stark, Top Steve Rogers, Begging, Master/Pet, Praise, Sex Toys, Machine - Freeform, Toys, Lube, Praise Kink, Dildos, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Double Penetration

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/42428535

#stony #steve rogers #tony stark #iron man #captain america #fan fiction #ao3 stony feed #stony fan

[stories-mostly]

Stark's Bug

Tony Stark x son!reader

=Masterlist=

And we're back baby. Sorry for the long wait but it had to be done. I was stressed to the brim lol. Anyway this chapter is a little cute and domestic cutouts of what Tony has to deal with every day lol. Happy Pride and have fun reading.

Warnings: zero to none

Words: 2079

Chapter 16

After the trip everything, and everyone, was busy. Happy had taken a week long vacation. Pepper and Natalie were having to call and answer calls from all kinds of government people. And Tony was in his lab researching about the dude who attacked him. Ivan something something if you remember correctly.

The news weren't above it either.

What was worse for you though was the stress hanging in the air. It seemed like nobody would be happy about you interrupting their work. But you also didn't know what to do with yourself. So you sat there on the ground looking off into space thinking about anything and nothing at the same time.

Then you decided to just walk around the house for a bit. Maybe you'll find something to do. As you turned the corner you saw a familiar and loved face appear not far away.

"UNCLE RHODEY!" You screeched and jumped into his arms.

"Hey there, champ. What's new?"

"Everybody is suuuuper busy and boring right now," you complained.

"Well, yeah. The attack yesterday was pretty shocking for a lot of people."

You shrugged and were put back onto the ground.

"I guess. What are you doing here?"

"I have to have a word with your dad about what happened."

"Ugh, you too?" You groaned and threw your head back.

"Yeah. Many important people are mad about what happened. They think Tony can't protect them so they want to take the suits away."

"Like the government?"

"Yes and the military and so on."

"But you're in the military?" You questioned as you were walking into the living room.

"Don't worry. I'm trying to protect him." He smiled at you and asked the room where your dad was right now.

You followed behind him but he turned around and stopped you.

"Sorry, bud. But I'm gonna have to talk with him alone, okay?"

"Why!?" You crossed your arms.

"Because I'll say some choice words you aren't allowed to use yet."

You huffed and sat down on the couch still pouting. You were allowed to go anywhere you want! This was your house!

Still angry your stomach growled loudly. So you left for the kitchen, took some food and sulked off into your room.

The next morning you woke up to a quiet and empty house. Which got you into a chipper mood.

For Tony Stark it was time to let off some off that pent up energy from sitting in the lab all day and night since he got back.

But inside the gym awaited a peculiar scene. There were you, pushing weights with all your might onto a mat layed out on the floor.

"Hey Buddy, what are you doing?" He asked both curious and amused.

You turned away from the task at hand to explain.

"I want to test how much I can lift!"

"With your hands or force?"

"The force!"

"Okay. Don't hurt yourself, alright?"

"I won't" and with that you turned back around to the task at hand. Tony watched you after changing into his gym clothes. You were so focused on scribbling into your notebook that you didn't know he was watching.

He looked on as you picked up one after another weight, putting them down inbetween to write something. He cheered you on inwardly as you struggled to lift another one and add it to the ones already floating about in the room. You added some more until it all finally came tumbling down with a loud thud that made the floor vibrate. Quickly moving to your notebook you wrote down the final amount you had lifted.

"Look how much I can lift, daddy!" You ran up to him holding up your little notebook proudly.

Tony grabbed it to stop it from moving and his eyes almost fell out of his head as he read the number with three lines under it.

"212lbs!? Wow, that's a lot," he exclaimed engulfing you in a big hug.

"That's more than 4 times my weight!" You talked on and showed him the math you had done in your book.

"No way. Wow." He paused thinking about all the documentaries on animals he had watched that talked about this kind of thing.

"That's just like an eagle!" He finally said remembering the documentary he watched with you just recently.

You frowned but shrugged. You'll take that.

"I guess your superhero name should be Eagle from now on." He joked but you shook your head.

"There is already someone named Eagle in Captain Magics team. I can't steal his name." You said matter of factly and walked off to begin cleaning up after yourself.

Meanwhile Tony wondered where Happy was for their sparring match today.

He pulled out his phone to call but then something made an elevator sound in his brain. Happy was on vacation for the next two weeks so... yeah.

He totally hadn't forgotten about that at all. Instead of dwelling on it he turned to you and helped to put away the weights.

"Iron man I need your help!" Tony jumped at the sudden appearance of his son Captain Storm behind him.

"What? Oh, what is it Captain Storm?" He asked in a serious tone.

"The evil Madman is trying to take over Brickville and I need your help defeating him and his evil goons!" You explained in a lower voice than usual, which he found adorable.

"Oh no that's terrible! How can I help?"

"We need to find his headquarters and destroy him once and for all!"

"Let's go then. We can't waste any time!" He jumped up and put on his helmet before sneaking away behind his you.

The city was a mess and located in the living room. Brickvilles Bricks were all over the place and half the city had been ravaged. No one who resisted had been left alive. As Captain Storm explained.

Nearing the headquarters Cap instructed Iron man to quieten down so they wouldn't be discovered by the very vigilant guards hired by Madman.

He had the entire city under his brutal paw.

Evading the goons outside both heroes got inside the headquarter undetected.

"We have to find Madmans office. Follow me!" Captain Storm walked forward leading the taller hero through the corridors towards what was discovered to be Madmans office just a few minutes prior.

"Stop," Storm said holding out a hand behind him before turning around. "Look, there's guards."

"That must be it then. How do you propose we get inside?"

"I sneak around to the other side and on three we take them down together."

Iron man nodded in agreement and the plan unfolded as said.

Captain Storm snuck around to the other guard further away from Iron man. He held up three fingers and lowered them one at the time indicating the countdown.

Once the last finger went down both heroes took the guards down quickly  and left their bodies in the same spot they had been standing.

Bursting through the door there he was. Madman. Sitting on his office chair and looking as though he had awaited their arrival.

"Ah. Captain Storm and Iron man what a pleasure," spoke the Bear.

"Shut up stupid! We're not here to talk. Leave the city alone and I wont punch you in the face." The Captain said. Very aggressively. Iron man was sort of taken back.

"Yeah. You heard the man Madman." He supported non the less.

Madman said no and with that Storm tackled him out of his chair and started throwing punches.

"Leave. The. City. Alone."

You really beat the crap out of that Bear.

In the end Iron man dragged Madman out of his hideout and held him in place as Storm told the citizens that they were now safe and left Madman in the hands of the public.

"Good work Stormy. I will go now I hope you can handle the cleaning up?"

Captain Storm nodded dutifully and began cleaning. First dragging the stuffed supervillain by his blanket cape into his room while several Lego houses followed.

Tony Stark always thought of himself as a rather messy and unorganized person. But he didn't think he was this unorganized. After you had nagged him about being hungry he went into the kitchen to see what was available.

Nothing apparently. Nothing for him rather. You had spotted something that peaked your interest. A full bag of frozen peas.

"What about this?" You asked holding out the peas infront of you.

"What about it?"

"Can I have it?"

"The peas?"

You nodded.

Tony frowned. This wasnt what he imagined his son wanted for dinner.

"You want a plate of...peas?"

"Yes."

"With what?"

"Just peas."

"Are you sure?" Again you nodded this time more insistent.

What the hell. What kind of child wants peas for dinner.

"But these won't fill you up."

"Not if I eat lots."

The older Stark sighed and went on to prepare you a plate of pure peas. Just peas and nothing but peas. It felt wrong to put peas in a pot all by themselves. And it felt even worse putting all of them in an empty bowl again all by themselves.

He placed the bowl of peas infront of you and gave you a spoon. You, being the semi independent little man you are, went and got yourself a fork. Meanwhile your poor father didn't understand any of the actions you were currently taking. He wondered if he ever confused his parents like you were currently doing to him.

But you seemed to be delighted by the food. Kicking your legs back and forth while chewing the peas.

Tony opted to bite into his apple and keep his mouth shut.

In the end you ate two and a half bowls of peas and was satisfied with your meal.

Pressing down random keys on the piano you were slowly getting frustrated with the bad tunes that came out of it. Nothing even resembling the melodies your father could produce.

Said man walked in just as you were dragging your fingers over the keys angrily. He was planning on telling you to get ready for bed but seeing you sitting there, trying your darnest to produce music warmed his heart with fondness.

"Playing the piano, Bug? What song?" He teased and sat down next to you.

You glared at him.

"Oh if looks could kill," He chuckled and pressed down on one of the keys.

"Want me to teach you?"

You eyes lit up. "Yes! Can you, please?!"

"Alright, come here!" He patted the spot right next to him and you slid closer. He took your smaller hands and placed them where you should press, adjusting each finger that was needed.

"What song is it?"

"I think you'll know once we play it," you weren't really satisfied with that answer.

He placed his own hands right over yours and pulled you on his lap rather than reaching around you awkwardly.

Tony pressed down and the first two notes rung through the quiet room. You groaned.

"What?"

"Thats a childs song!" You exclaimed offended.

"Yeah and what are you?"

"Too old for Twinkle Twinkle little star."

Tony laughed a little. "Bug. This is one of the easiest things to play as a beginner. You don't start with the hardest thing first," he explained and played on with your hands still being guided along.

"Twinkle twinkle little Star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle twinkle little Star. How I wonder what you are." Tony sang along teasingly.

"This song is stupid." You pouted.

"You rather have me sing the ABC's alongside it?" He poked you side and you moved away.

"Come on this was composed by Mozart. So I don't think it's all that stupid. Come on let's play some more,"

"Only if you play the Star Wars song!" You grinned up at him.

"Okay? I'll see what I can do," he said and placed you back onto his lap.

"This time you sing along too. Make sure I'm doing it right," he put your hands back in position and you nodded dutifully.

At first you just mumbled the words but your dad pushed you a slight bit and joined in.

You grinned and sang the last lyrics together. Giggling you pressed the last keys on your own.

"Great!" Tony praised and placed his own hands over different keys.

"What Star Wars song would the gentleman like to hear?"

"The one that goes: dun dun dun duhn dahdan duhn dahdan," you tried to describe it to the best of your abilities.

Tony nodded and thought for a second before pressing down on the first few notes of The Imperial March. You smiled brightly. He missed a few notes but that didn't bother you too much. It was sensational and you liked having your own musician in the house.

You clapped when he finished. "Whoooo. This was great!"

"Well, thank you kindly. But now is really time for bed,"

He shooed you along and into your bathroom and with that your day was over and another would soon arrive.

And then another, and another, and so on.

Tags: @shannonr2003 @art-estrange @nicholasbich @tater-thotties @tonystanktheirondad @gaylemonshark @emilaa2001 @kindahadeschild @actualcringetm

#stark's bug #starks bug #starks bug chapter 16 #chapter 16 #male!reader #m!reader #male reader #tony stark x you #tony stark x child!reader #tony stark x reader #tony stark x male reader #tony stark x male!reader #tony stark x m!reader #tony stark x child reader #child reader #child!reader #stark!reader #reader insert #x reader #reader #marvel reader insert #marvel #marvel cinematic universe

[hale-13]

Works Master List

Find All The Links to AO3 Stories Below :)

(Updated June 30 2021)

Spider-Man

Collections

2020 Whump Bingo (25 Works)

Camisado (Apologizing Before They Pass Out)

A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (Becoming Giggly From Blood Loss or High Fever)

Death of a Bachelor (Touching Clothing and Hand Comes Away Bloody)

Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time (Moving in a Way That Causes Pain and Tensing Up Against It)

This Isn’t The Worst Thing You’ve Seen Me Do (Chugging Caffeine to Try and Fight the Inevitable Crash)

Lie of Omission (Touching Their Head and Feeling Their Own Temperature Rise)

Homeostasis (Shivering Long After Everyone Else Has Stopped)

Vent Your Spleen (Breathing Hard to Concentrate Through the Pain)

Brain Fog (Becoming Unusually Clumsy and Fumbling Simple Tasks)

Idiopathic (Spacing Out in the Middle of a Conversation and Needing to Regain Focus)

According to Plan (Free Space!)

Ripped to Shreds (Collapsing or Falling Asleep and Looking Far Younger)

Night Terrors (Scared or Ashamed Because of Their Nightmares)

Type and Cross (Head Lolling as They No Longer Have the Strength to Hold it Up)

Bronchioles (Trying to Communicate Even Though They Can Only Speak a Few Words at a Time)

Nuclear (Another Character Spots their Hands Shaking so They Hide Them)

Failure to Thrive (Looking Unusually Ruffled, Hair Messed Up, Bags Under Eyes)

Transverse (A Helpless Look Right Before They Collapse)

Aura (Needing to Pause to Close Their Eyes Because They’re Light-Headed/Exhausted/Headache)

Resuscitated (Staggering/Walking Gracelessly Before They Can Catch Themselves)

Hyponatremia (Making Excuses to Linger Because They Don’t Want to be Alone)

Amygdala (Trying to be Subtle While Leaning Against Objects to Stay Upright)

Vonnegut (Voice Hitching as They Speak)

The Softest of Endings (Dozing When They Shouldn’t - Startled Awake)

Summer of Whump 2021 (COMPLETE)

Triple Axel (Day 1 - Freezing) AO3

Enterobacter (Day 2 - Food Poisoning) AO3

Submersion (Day 3 - Drowning) AO3

Slipping Through the Cracks (Day 5 - Broken) AO3

Hold Onto the Faith as I Dig Another Grave (Day 6 - Buried) AO3

Ultraviolet (Day 7 - Sunburn) AO3

Ulcerated (Day 8 - Force Feeding) AO3

Euarthropoda (Day 9 - Bugs) AO3

Caved In (Day 10 - Trapped) AO3

Hold Fasts (Day 11 - Whipping) AO3

Caliber (Day 12 - Death) AO3

In The Atmosphere (Day 13 - Sacrificed) AO3

Violation of Order (Day 14 - Hair Grabbing) AO3

Better Together (Day 15 - Sleep Deprivation) AO3

Conditioned (Day 16 - Hair Washing) AO3

Shackled (Day 17 - Collared) AO3

Syncope (Day 18 - Collapse) AO3

Scare Tactics (Day 19 - Fear) AO3

Zero Days Without Incident (Day 20 - Defiance) AO3

Dazed and Confused (Day 21 - Panic) AO3

Five Stages (Day 22 - Grief) AO3

Febrile (Day 23 - Sick) AO3

En Pointe (Day 24 - Stitches) AO3

Detached (Day 25 - Isolation) AO3

Strangulated (Day 26 - Asphyxiation) AO3

Trapezius (Day 27 - Injured) AO3

State of Grace (Day 28 - Display) AO3

Airway (Day 29 - Control) AO3

Engulfed (Day 30 - Crying) AO3

One Shots

I’m Not Scared (of the dark) (Complete 8/14/20)

(Not my best work fyi - and I kinda hate it - but it was my first so I felt guilty not including it...)

Peter is just so tired. The world is too loud, his head is too full. Maybe his coping mechanism to keep things quiet and calm isn’t the most well adjusted but Mr. Stark is dealing with the fallout from the Accords and he can’t inconvenience anyone anymore.

Chaptered Works - Completed

We Can’t Have Faith For Everybody (10 Chapters, Complete 5/1/21)

It starts like this:

MJ and Flash, hands cuffed to each other and Peter, wrists and ankles held to the wall by thick metal cuffs and dangling in a way that’s surely to leave his shoulders aching.

The first week Peter, verbally, gives as good as he gets. He never lashes out physically and always does what their captors want the first time they ask. He still spends most of his time that he is in the cell chained uncomfortably to the wall. After the first week someone, apparently, decides that Peter is weak enough from the constant abuse and malnourishment that he is no longer chained up after his sessions; just dropped unceremoniously onto the dirty floor and left for MJ and Flash to care for.

Chaptered Works - In Progress (Coming Soon)

When the Dust Settles (? Chapters, Publishing in Oct/Nov)

#masterlist #ao3 masterlist #read on ao3 #spider man #irondad and spiderson

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Destiny

Ch 2- Touche, Kiddo.

Chapter Summary: Tony and Natasha take Katie back to the first of several key points of impact in her life- the day Tony returned from Afghanistan…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So these chapters contain flashbacks of sorts- but they’re not flashbacks as Katie is watching the events unfold in front of her-a “Time heist” of sorts. However, to keep it clear and hopefully not confusing, the events she is watching are depicted in itallics instead of me trying to keep calling her 2010 v 2030 Katie…

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Destiny Masterlist // Main Masterlist

You’re dead.” Katie spluttered, looking at Tony.

“Yeah, so they tell me.” He mused, taking a look around, observing his surroundings. “Which is kind of a bummer.” “So what the fuck is this?” She swallowed, shaking her head. “Am I dreaming? Having some kind of mental breakdown hallucination? Or are you a ghost? And where the fuck have you been for the past seven years, asshole?”

“I wasn’t needed.” Tony shrugged. “But, this is your party so to speak. I can be whatever you want to be if it makes you feel better. I mean, you did have strange dreams at times when you were younger. I distinctly recall one about a giant white rabbit chasing you through the streets of London with an ice cream cone as a hat.” “I was high when I fell asleep.” Katie shrugged, then she gave a moan. “What am I doing talking to you? This is insane, I need to wake up.” She closed her eyes, pinched herself, yelping at the pain. When she opened them, she saw Tony leaning against the tree trunk, one knee bent as his shoe pressed flat against the trunk behind him, arms folded. “Yeah, sorry Kiddo. Still here.” “This is all inside my head.” Katie took a deep breath “This is all inside my head, this isn’t real.” “What was it that Dumblebee dude said? You know the Wizard from Harry Potter?” Tony clicked the fingers on his right hand, pointing at Katie as she rolled her eyes.

“Dumbledor."

“Whatever, the point is what he said. You know, that quote you loved ‘Of Course this is happening inside your head, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?’ You can’t have forgotten, you had it stencilled on the wall in your apartment.”

“I haven’t, trust me.” Katie said softly. “It’s Jamie’s favourite too. He has it above his bed, Steve did it for him along with a painting of the Hogwarts Castle"

“Wow, he read them all already?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “He’s smart.” Katie smiled. “A real bookworm, and an artist. Announced the other day he wants to write and illustrate kid’s books now, not be a Baseball player anymore. Steve insists there’s time for him to come to his senses but…” 

"Cap still with the giddy optimism huh?" Tony arched an eyebrow and she felt her eye begin to prick, and that familiar stinging sensation associated with trying to stave off tears filled the upper inside of her nose and she looked at Tony before she rushed forward and he stood up straight. At the last minute, before she threw herself at him she stopped dead and reached out with a shaky hand, her palm pressing against the pin striped material of his waistcoat. He was solid, warm, she could feel his heart beating. 

“I-“ she looked up at him, the tears once more pouring from her eyes, “I don’t want this to be in my head."

Tony smiled, his own eyes brimming with tears as Katie slid her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. She breathed in his familiar cologne, a smell she hadn’t forgotten but one that hadn’t filled her senses in a long time. His hands gently rubbed at her back as he held her close, one hand creeping upwards where it rest on the back of her hair as he dropped a kiss to her head. His familiar fatherly-brotherly touch was seeping into her bones, quelling the deep, dark aching she’d been feeling since, well, she couldn’t remember. Steve was her home, her safe place, her rock, there was no denying that, but Tony was her childhood pillar of strength. He was the man that had band aided her knees and palms, tucked her in, fought the monsters under her bed and for that reason, he would always be a source of comfort and strength.

Even if this was just some whacked out hallucination.

And then, she felt another emotion. An emotion she remembered feeling before many a times watching Steve catapult himself off buildings, bridges, hanging off helicopters before dropping into rivers. It was anger. Anger at the self-sacrificing nature that drove her soldier to act first and think later, but she was feeling it here at her brother. Unable to quell it she pulled back and her right hand laid a stinging slap to Tony’s left cheek. His head snapped to the right and he gave an angry yell.

“Jesus Kiddo! What the fuck was that for?” “For dying, dickwad!” She yelled, the tears falling down her face. “You died and you left me!” “It wasn’t like I had a choice.” Tony sighed, dropping his head. “This was always the end I was going to get, not the end I wanted but…”

“She took it well then.” A voice drawled and Katie stiffened in her brothers’ arms, and looked up at him, eyes wide as she turned slowly to see another familiar face looking back at her, green eyes sparkling, red hair shining in the stray rays of sunlight that crept into the thicket as it fell forward around her face and shoulders over the top of a black leather jacket with a bounce Katie hadn’t seen for years.

“Nat,” she swallowed, wiping her eyes, “you look-”

“Yeah, better.” Natasha shrugged, “Whatever this is, it took us back to a time before it all went to shit. I think this was my hair in 2015 or 16…” “Leipzig you looked like that.” Tony mused as Katie stepped away from him, to scan Natasha up and down. “I, on the other hand, I’m not sure. But I look good so…” “Modest as always.” Katie grumbled as she stopped in front of Natasha, before they embraced as well.

How’s my little man?” Natasha asked and Katie smiled.

“Not so little anymore. He’s like up to here now.”  She held her hand up to a point at the top of her rib-cage. “Growing like a weed and he looks just like Steve.”

“Yeah, we actually know.” Tony cut in. “We know about all five of them, she’s just making conversation. I gotta say, I’m kinda liking the fact Emmy hooked up with Parker. They'll make cute babies"

"Oh God, don't. Steve's already freaking out about them wanting to move in together." Katie laughed and Tony grinned before he pondered something.

"Henry, that wasn't after Hank Pym was it?" He asked and Katie shook her head.

"It was a name Steve liked. I picked his middle. And it was the other way for Flossie."

Natasha snorted. “I gotta say you gave Aurora a perfect name. After a princess.” “The Star Spangled Diva." Katie shook her head before she grinned. “She’s awesome, they all are.” “She’s a Stark that's for sure.” Tony smiled proudly.

“Steve says that. Says she looks like me and has your attitude. Drives him insane.” Tony smirked. “Good to know. Been dead seven years and still bugging the crap out of Spangles.” He nodded, clapping his hand together, rubbing his palms against one another in glee.

Katie looked at her brother for a moment before she shook her head. “Okay, so is this the part where the two of you give me some kind of pep talk, you know about the kids and my outburst before or…” “Well, we could.” Tony wrinkled his nose, “but you always responded better to visuals, so we’re gonna show you.” “Tony I have no desire to see any of that again.” She shook her head. “I already know I fucked up.” “We’re not here about the fact you cussed out Jamie.” Nat said gently

Katie frowned. “Then what is this?”

“We’re more concerned with the fact you don’t seem to understand how much you matter to everyone.” The red head continued. “What was it you said before? Something along the lines of not seeing the point of being in their lives?”

Katie looked down at her feet.

“You’re human, Kiddo.” Tony said “Humans are flawed. They fuck up. Some of us less than others, granted.” Katie raised her head, cocking an eyebrow at Tony. “You’re such a conceited bastard.” “True.” Tony nodded, “But all things considered I think I have a right to be. I mean my best achievement is stood right in front of me.” He shrugged. “I’d like to include Moo in that but, well Pep’s done the hard work there really, bringing her up. You on the other hand, well that was all me.” He stepped forward and took both her hands. “And I’m smug as fuck about it, because you’re an amazing woman Kiddo, you just need reminding of that fact so we can get you over this sudden lack of self-worth you seem to be displaying.” Katie shook her head, tears forming in her eyes, “Tone…” “It’s true.” He shrugged, letting go of her hands. “But, you’ll see for yourself. Come on.”

He turned and started walking up the path towards the Memorial Gardens and Katie watched him before she turned to Natasha. Nat nodded her head towards Tony’s back and with a shrug Katie turned to follow him.

“Might as well see what whacked out journey my subconscious has planned.” She muttered to herself, following her brother as he walked ahead of her slightly. As they emerged from the thicket of trees, Katie noticed the Gardens were completely empty and it was eerily quiet. Eventually, Tony stopped by an orange Audi and Katie shook her head.

“What?” Tony asked. “I liked this colour.”

Natasha walked passed Katie and opened the door, folding the seat forward so she could slip into the back. Katie watched Tony as he settled in the driver’s side before she took another look around. The sun was starting to set, sending streaks of lilac and burnt red across the sky, and with another deep breath she climbed in and shut the door. Tony fired the engine and the familiar sounds of AC/DCs Back in Black hit her ears. Despite herself she gave a smile, glancing out of the window as Tony drove the car forward, the music filled her senses.

Suddenly, she frowned. Her head flicking to look out of the window to her side before she turned back to the windscreen as she recognised her surroundings which seemed to have changed when she blinked. “How…”

“We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.” Tony looked at her as she turned her head to meet his eyes.

“No, we’re in fucking California!” She practically exploded. “How? That’s not possible!”

“Neither is seeing dead people but you’re managing that just fine.” Natasha drawled. Katie ran her hands over her face letting out a groan.

“I’m tripping. I have to be. Did someone spike my coffee before?”

Tony smirked as he pulled the car off the road onto the Military air base and drew up behind a row of blacked out SUVs, each flanked by an armed guard.

“Wait,” Katie leaned forward, looking at three familiar figures waiting on the tarmac as a huge C17 taxied towards them. “This, this is the day you came back from Afghanistan.”

Tony nodded as Katie opened the door and climbed out. She took a few steps forward stopping in front of the car bonnet. Natasha stood by her left, Tony by her right as she watched the aircraft come to a stop.

“Come on.” Tony strode forwards. “You know how I like to make an entrance, be kind of cool for me to actually watch it for once.” They weaved their way through the line of SUVs and Katie paused, stopping. Curiously, she cocked her head to one side and waved her hand in front of one of the guard’s faces. He didn’t even blink.

“They can’t see you.” Natasha informed. “Think of it as being like A Christmas Carol…”

Kate looked at her, before she took a deep breath. “So not quite a Time Heist?”

Nat smirked and nodded. “Almost, but not quite, no.”

“Fucking hell.” Katie shook her head and turned to make her way over to Tony who was now stood just behind Pepper.

“God her ass looks great.” He mumbled. Katie gave a snort as she stopped behind her 2010 self.

“Was I really that skinny?” She muttered, taking in her frame. Her waist was ridiculously tiny, emphasised by the sharp, black tailored suit she wore, her hair pinned back into a bun. She moved round to the side, taking in her profile. Her eyes were shining, her jaw tense as she held back the tears. “Mind you, I don’t think I ate properly for the entire time you were gone.” “You’re not exactly fat now.” Tony scoffed. Katie ignored him, her eyes still fixed on herself. As she watched, 2010 Katie turned to Pepper who looked at her, the pair of them sharing a smile as Katie extended her hand, Pepper taking it, squeezing her fingers.

The tars of happiness trickled down her face, as the ramp on the aircraft carrier opened to reveal her brother. His hair was longer, he looked thinner but he was alive and all things considered he looked pretty good. Dressed in a sharp grey suit, brown shirt and a brown tie sporting white polka dots. His face was a little bruised but his goatee was well groomed and he still wore that determined, arrogant look she knew so well. As Rhodey helped him down the ramp, he waved away the gurney that was being wheeled towards him and unable to stand it any longer, Katie shot forward. Tony was barely at the bottom before she flung herself at him, not caring that his arm was a sling.

“Hey, Kiddo.” He said softly as she buried her face into his neck.

“You fucking asshole!” She sobbed. “Next time, you ride with Rhodey, you got that?”

“Trust me, there will be no next time.” He chuckled as she pulled back and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Afghanistan is a shit hole.”

“It was you know.” Tony mumbled and Katie turned her head away from watching her past reunion with her brother to look at him. “But there was one thing that kept me going in that hell hole. And that was getting back to you. I couldn’t leave you. Not after what happened to Mom and Dad.” Katie swallowed and turned back to see herself and her brother walking towards Pepper, her hand linked in his as they stopped.

“Your eyes are red.” Tony looked at Pepper. “A few tears for your long-lost boss?”

“Tears of joy.” Pepper smiled back. “I hate job hunting.” “Yeah, vacation's over.” Tony said simply, and he headed past Pepper towards Happy. Katie watched as the two men embraced and she turned to Pepper.

“Twenty bucks says the first place he goes is for a cheeseburger.”

“You know me, knew me, whatever, so well.” Tony looped an arm round Katie as they watched their 2010 selves climb into the car and set off.

“I didn’t even try and convince you otherwise.” She sighed, looking at him. “I knew you’d refuse to go to the hospital. I didn’t see the immediate press-conference coming though. That was certainly a curve ball.”

“Yeah, it was an interesting one for us too at SHIELD.” Nat mused. “As soon as Fury got the call about how you’d escaped and that you’d called said conference he dispatched Coulson.”

“God.” Katie blew out a breath. “This was like twenty years ago now. I was so young, a baby.”

“Well, now you don’t look a day over forty-six.” Tony said, patting her shoulder. She glared at him and he chuckled “Come on.”

Katie cast her eyes once more at the tail of the Rolls which was heading over the airfield tarmac and the three of them walked back to Tony’s Audi.

**** “Higher Daddy!” Harry giggled as Steve pushed him on the swing lazily with one arm, all the time keeping one eye on Rori who was currently with Jamie, the pair of them hanging off the climbing frame upside down whilst Stark sat at the bottom, barking at them. Whilst all his kids seemed to have inherited some of the serum’s benefits in that they were rarely sick and on the whole pretty robust, they were still fifty-percent ‘normal’ for want of a better word, and Steve’s heart was constantly in his mouth when they did stuff like that. To his horror, he watched Rori pull herself up and then tuck herself into a ball, flipping herself backwards off the frame, landing on her feet.

“That’s how to stick a landing.” She looked at Jamie, her tongue poking out at him before she trotted back over to her Dad ignoring her brother’s shout of “loser…” as she headed off.

“Can you not do that?” Steve sighed exasperatedly as she stopped by his side.

“Do what?” She looked up at him, her green eyes frowning a little. “Throw yourself off stuff.” “Momma says you did it all the time.” Rori looked at him “She said you threw yourself out of an elevator with her on your back.” “That, that was different.” He finished lamely.

“How?” “Because I had no choice.” “Why didn’t you just push the button to take the elevator down?” Rori looked at him like he was an idiot and he groaned.

“Rori, just, oh, I dunno, go and play on the slide or something. And by that I mean slide down it, not jump off it.”

“Hey Dad?” Jamie appeared by his side and Steve looked down at him. “You wanna play catch?”

“Why don’t you play with Stark?” Steve suggested. “I need to keep an eye on Harry and Flossie, buddy.”

“Stark just runs off with the ball. He never brings it back.”

“Well, try teaching him.” “I have.” Jamie whined.

“Jamie, don’t start.” Steve looked at him sternly “You’re skating on thin ice as it is. I’ll bring you out to play ball just the two of us one night next week, I promise.” “I’ll play.” Rori offered. Steve could see Jamie was considering his options before he shrugged.

“Okay.”

The two of them headed off towards the small sandlot to the side of the park, Steve watching as he continued to push Harry in the swing, his gaze then turning to Florence who was asleep in the stroller. Eventually, Harry got bored and wanted to play on the slide so Steve lifted him out and they made their way over, Harry’s hand wrapped around Steve’s as he pushed Florence with the other. He watched Harry as he climbed the steps and then moved to the bottom of the slide, crouching as the little boy whizzed down laughing, Steve smiled as he caught him and tossed him into the air slightly.

“Again!” Harry demanded. Steve let him down and he repeated the motion a few times before Steve checked his watch. It was getting a little late, granted it was a Saturday but he didn’t want to deal with the fall out of them all being over tired and cranky over dinner. There had been enough tantrums and tears today.

“Kids, think we should head back.” He said as he approached the older two. Jamie looked at him, about to protest and Steve glared at him.

“What did I say before?”

Jamie took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, Dad.”

Together they walked back, Jamie and Rori a little ahead as Steve kept pace with Harry. They took the path through one of the green parks that led to their road and Rori stopped at a bank of wild flowers.

“Hey, can we pick some for Momma?” She asked, turning to look at Steve. “The blue ones are pretty.”

Steve smiled. “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Make momma happy?” Harry asked, looking up and Steve nodded.

“Yeah, yeah it will.”

Steve watched as Jamie and Rori headed off to a patch to the left to pick a few and Steve crouched down consulting with Harry as to which ones he wanted to get. He helped him pick a few before he turned back to see Jamie and Rori clutching handfuls each.

“You leave any for the bees?” He quipped and Rori looked at him.

“There are looooads.” She gestured with her hands, giving an eye roll that was ridiculously comparable to those of her mother.

“Well that’s me told.” Steve arched an eyebrow. “Okay, give them here.”

He took them gently, adding them to Harry’s and he laid them on the little shelf at the bottom of the stroller before the five of them made their way back home.

**** Tony parked the Audi haphazardly in a space outside the Stark Industries HQ main building.

“Nice parking.” Katie quipped.

“It’s our company, I own this parking lot. Well I did. And besides, like you keep saying, this isn’t real so what does it matter?” He asked as the three of them exited the car. Katie glanced over to where Obadiah Stane was waiting with the press and their employees, laughing loudly and generally acting like the big shot.

“Dick.” She mumbled. “I never liked him.”

“Yeah, I know. You told me a lot. And it turns out you were right about him.” Tony shrugged. “Who knew?”

She snorted and Natasha gave a chuckle. “I’ll leave you two to this one.” She said gently, leaning against the car, folding her arms. Katie looked at her, before she turned and followed Tony as he strode forward, watching as the Rolls pulled up. The people stood round the turning circle all started to applause and when the car stopped and Obadiah strode forwards, arms open.

“Look at this!” He opened the door, presenting Tony to everyone and pulling him into a hug “We were going to meet at the hospital.”

“No, I'm fine.” Tony said, turning to Happy who offered him the Burger King bag from which Tony pulled another cheeseburger.

“Look at you!” Obadiah chuckled “You had to have a burger, yeah?”

“Which reminds me,” Katie nudged Pepper as they walked around the back of the car, “you owe me a twenty.” Pepper snorted and shook her head, “come on.”

Katie and Pepper headed inside, following Tony and Obadiah who were chatting away, the cameras flashing as they walked through the cool, marble clad reception area of HQ where the podium that the press conferences were held from stood to the side. Katie and Pepper stopped, Katie taking a breath as she watched Tony walking through the group of people, speaking to various until a voice by her side made her jump.

“Miss Potts, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Katie turned to see an unassuming man, with short dark hair and a kind face dressed in a black suit, a Visitor Tag attached to his breast pocket. She looked at him for a second before her attention turned back to Tony who was busy talking to a woman in a red suit.

“I’m not part of the press conference,” Pepper spoke to the man, “but it’s about to begin right now.”

“I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” The man spoke and that got Katie’s attention. She turned to look at him, smiling.

“That's quite a mouthful.” She grinned and Agent Coulson gave her a smile.

“I know. We're working on it.” He smiled as Pepper took the business card he was holding. Katie arched an eyebrow and smiled, once more turning her eyes back to her brother.

“You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA...” Pepper continued and Coulson cut her off gently.

“We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape.”

Katie turned to him, frowning and wondering exactly how they knew about it. Reading her facial expression, Coulson shrugged slightly and Pepper nodded. “I'll put something in the book, shall I?”

“Thank you.”

Katie was about to quiz him more when she heard Tony calling for her. She looked at her brother and he gestured with his head.

“Excuse me.” She strode forward and Tony put an arm round her shoulder.

“I need to speak to you, before I talk to the world.”

“God, I remember this like it was yesterday.” Katie turned to Tony as they followed in the wake of themselves, everyone parting as Tony steered his sister towards the little break out room at the back, which housed the coffee and vending machines.

“Yup.” Tony said as they ducked inside the room with themselves. “It was a pretty life defining moment. For me anyway…”

“It was for both of us.” Katie watched as 2010 Tony clicked he door shut. “This is where it all began. Iron Man, SHIELD, all of it.”

Tony smiled and they both turned their heads to watch their past selves.

“I’m shutting down the Weapons Manufacturing.” Tony said and Katie frowned.

“What? Why?”

“I saw out there what our weapons are being used for.” Tony shook his head. “I don’t know how those terrorists got hold of them, because I sure as hell didn’t approve any bids to that particular group, did the Commercial Department negotiate them without me, using your delegated authority?”

“Of course not!”  Katie replied indignantly “What do you take me for? They must have been traded on the black market…”

“And that is exactly my point!” Tony nodded at her. “We can’t police it all. So I want to shut it down. Focus our efforts elsewhere.”

“What happened to you out there Tone?” Katie considered her brother for a moment and he took a deep breath.

“For the first time I met my Jiminy Cricket.” He shrugged. “Tony Stark doesn’t want to be the most famous mass murderer in the history of America anymore.”

Katie frowned. “That Vanity Fair article. You read it?”

“Of course I read it, it was about me.” He shrugged “The reporter…erm..”

“Everhart?” Katie looked at him. “You forgot her name after you banged her as well?”

“Whatever, that’s not important.” Tony waved her off “But Kiddo, all those lives we’ve saved by advancing medical technology and the starvation prevented from intelli-crops, she mentioned none of that.”

“Because that doesn’t sell papers.” Katie shook her head “Whereas dubbing us Merchants of Death does.”

“War profiteering she called it. And she was right.” Tony implored “You know, Dad always said that peace means…”

“Having a bigger stick than the other guy, yeah, you told me” Katie looked at her brother.

“And it’s a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks.” Tony shook his head. “But what if no one was selling the sticks?”

Katie took a deep breath. “People would then just make their own sticks, and they’d be harder to police.”

“But what if I told you I had a pretty big assed stick of my own to stop that? The biggest stick anyone could have.”

“I’m not-” Katie sighed, rubbing at her temple. “Tony you’ve lost me”

“I wouldn’t have escaped if it hadn’t been for my cell mate out there. He saved my life,” Tony tapped his chest, “not only did he build an electromagnet to keep a bunch of shrapnel from shredding my heart, he sacrificed himself so I could escape. His last words were an instruction, not to waste my life, Kiddo, and I have no intention of doing so anymore.” He looked down at his feet taking a deep breath before he raised his head to meet her gaze. “I don’t want my legacy, our legacy, to be about how many deaths we may or may not have been indirectly responsible for.”

“You really did have an epiphany didn’t you?” Katie looked at him, not a shred of sarcasm in her voice.

“It was my moment of clarity” Tony nodded “And I have a permanent reminder, as you know already.”

He moved his arm gently, wincing as he did so, loosening his tie a little and undoing the top few buttons on his shirt. He gently parted it and Katie gave a gasp at the small circle of light in the middle of his chest.

“This thing powered a suit I made. A metal suit. I shrunk the Arc reactor down in a damned cave, and that’s what’s now keeping the shrapnel in place, but it powered a heavy assed suit for fifteen minutes. Just think of all the good we could do with it with it. Renewable technology, medical equipment, maybe some other form of potential peace keeping initiative with a slightly smaller metal suit.”

“Is this the big stick you were talking about?” Katie asked, arching her eyebrow. “A metal suit.”

Tony took a deep breath. “In a fashion, yes. It could remove the need for other sticks so to speak.”

Katie took a deep breath before she stepped forward and began to do his shirt back up for him, not saying a word as she mulled over what he had said. The fact they traded weapons had been something she tried not to think about, justifying it in her mind as a means to an end- if they didn’t someone else would. But if you were to remove that completely…

She re-knotted his tie and slid it up to his collar before she straightened it and stood back, rolling her eyes as Tony loosened it once more.

“I need you to trust me on this, Kiddo.” He said softly and she looked at him, her eyes searching his. There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt there, quit the contrary. This was obviously something he vehemently believed in. And for that reason, she decided to back him.

“Okay.” She nodded “We’ll shut it down.”

Katie watched as her 2010 self and brother embraced, turning to Tony. “You have no idea how much of a head fuck that was” she said as they followed themselves out of the room.

“Oh, believe me I do.” Tony said, as they stood at the back of the room, watching as Obadiah greeted the press, 2010 Katie walking up to stand beside him.

Tony sat down in front of the podium. “Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?” He asked, fishing the cheeseburger out of his pocket “Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can... a little less formal and...” Tony took a bite of the cheeseburger as Katie glanced at Obi, giving a shrug, before she sat to Tony’s left.

“Good to see you.” Tony looked at Obi who smiled.

“Good to see you.” He said, reaching out and touching Tony’s shoulder.

“I never got to say goodbye to Dad.” Tony looked around. He glanced at Katie, “we never got to say goodbye to our father.” He swallowed his food and placed the half eaten burger on the floor as he considered his words. “There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts.”

Katie glanced at the floor as Tony paused for a second.

“Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels.” He once more turned to Katie who gently placed her hand on his back, giving a small rub over his suit jacket. Taking a deep breath he looked out over the room. “I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that we had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

Out of the corner of her eye, as the members of the press began to call Tony’s name, Katie saw Obadiah shift slightly, frowning a little at what Tony had just said.

“Hey,Ben.” Tony nodded to one of the reporters.

“What happened over there?”

“I had my eyes opened.” Tony stood and moved behind the podium, Katie watching his every move. “I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up.”

He glanced down at Katie and she gave him a small nod.

“And that is why, effective immediately, me and my sister are shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International”

The room erupted in commotion, everyone standing and talking at the same time. Katie took her position by her brother as Tony simply continued speaking

“…until such a time as we can decide what the future of the company will be.”

Obadiah placed his hand over Tony’s shoulder, trying to cut in a little and mentioned something about selling a lot of newspapers but Tony ignored him

“…what direction it should take, one that we’re comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well.”

At that he turned to Katie and the two of them left the stage, Tony’s arm looped around her shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her temple.

Obadiah continued to speak as Katie turned to Tony, watching themselves as they left the room.

“Wanna go watch the follow up fireworks?” he grinned and she gave a chuckle.

“Why not, we’re here. May as well.”

They walked out to see their past selves climbing into Happy’s car and Natasha straightened up as they headed to the Audi.

“Have fun?” She drawled and Katie looked at her and shrugged.

“I suppose I never really understood the significance of that moment. Like I said to Tony in there, this is what kicked it all off. How Iron Man was born.”

Natasha looked at Tony, giving him a little nod “You were right to bring here her then.” “Just like I said.” He shrugged as he opened the door to the Audi, gesturing to it with his head “Now, get in Losers, we’re going Arc Reactor viewing.”

Katie rolled her eyes at Natasha as the two of them climbed into the car and Tony followed the Rolls that was working its way across the Stark Industries site. Eventually it stopped outside the large, glass fronted building which housed the Arc Reactor that powered the plant. The three of them exited and followed 2010 Tony and Katie inside.

“So this is a larger version of what was in your chest.” Natasha looked up at the huge power source, giving it the once over.

“Yup.” Tony nodded. “Pretty cool huh.”

Natasha gave a hmmm of agreement as Katie’s eyes strayed to herself as she stood with Tony, the two of them stood side by side, looking up at it.

“Not sure Obi is gonna be happy.” She turned to look at Tony who shrugged, his eyes not leaving the Arc Reactor.

“I don’t much care.” He shrugged. “We’ve bowed to him and the board for far too long.” “Well, that’s kind of the point of a board.” She looked at him.

“Yeah, but the two of us make the majority, as you know.” Tony shrugged. “Look, Kiddo, this is the right thing to do, we just gotta ride out the bow of this shit storm for a while.”

“That’s a mixed metaphor.” Katie snorted and Tony grinned. At that point the doors to the building opened and they turned to see Obadiah stood, cigar in his mouth, hands on his hips.

“Well, that..uh...that went well.”

“Did we just paint a target on the back of our heads?” Tony asked reaching up to undo his tie.

“Your heads? What about my head?” Obi asked walking behind them, pacing slightly. “What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?”

“Uh, optimistically, forty points.” Katie offered as Tony whipped off his tie.

“At minimum.” Obadiah nodded.

“Yup.” Tony agreed, hanging his tie over his jacket which was draped on the railings around the reactor.

“Tony, we're a weapons manufacturer.” Obadiah said softly, looking at him.

“Obi, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy.” Tony turned to face him.

“That's what we do. We're iron mongers. We make weapons.”

“It’s our name on the side of the building.” Katie chipped in and Obadiah sighed.

“What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos.”

“Not based on what I saw.” Tony shook his head. “We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better. We're gonna do something else” “Like what?” Obadiah asked “You want us to make baby bottles?”

“Tony thinks we should take another look into arc reactor technology.” Katie spoke, clearing her throat. “And I agree.

“Ah, come on.” Obi looked at her, then shook his head, waving his hands towards the item in question “The arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Guys’ come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up!”

“It works.” Katie said simply and Tony smiled, catching her eye for a second as Obi scoffed.

“Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it.” He shook his head once more pacing behind the siblings, neither of who turned to face him “Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?”

Obadiah’s tone was almost sarcastic and Katie understood instantly that he knew about the one in Tony’s chest. From the smile on her brother’s face he’d also reached the same conclusion.

“Maybe.” Tony said, his smile growing bigger as he looked up at the larger arc once more before he turned to Katie, his smile growing bigger. She gave him one of her own as they both turned to look at Obi.

“Huh? Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years.”

“That's what they say.” Tony said, narrowing his eyes as Obadiah looked straight at him. Katie snorted.

“Obi, could you have a lousier poker face?” She rolled her eyes.

“Just tell me, who told you?” Tony looked at him.

“Never mind who told me.” Obi pointed towards his chest. “Show me”

“It's Rhodey or Pepper.” Tony continued

“I want to see it.” Obadiah continued.

“Okay, Rhodey…” Tony undid his sling and looking around he began to undo his shirt to show Obadiah the reactor in his chest. The older man looked at it for a moment, glancing to the larger arc before he chuckled a little

“Okay.” He said as he began to button Tony's shirt back up, the same way Katie had earlier.

“Okay? It works.” Tony looked at him.

Obadiah sighed, giving a smile and looped his arm around Tony’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Tony. We're a team.” He gestured to Katie. “The three of us, do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I.”

“I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?” Tony looked at him. “But if I had...”

“Tony. Tony, no more of this "ready, fire, aim" business. You understand me?”

“Wasn’t that another one of Dad's line?” Katie asked and Tony looked at her, nodding.

“You two have gotta let me handle this.” Obi looked at them. “We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat.” He said as Katie helped Tony back into his jacket. “I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low.”

Katie, Tony and Natasha watched the other figures leave the building and Katie sighed, her eyes flicking back up to the arc reactor.

“You know, that was a great trip down memory lane and everything Tone, but you’re gonna have to help me out here as to how, exactly, that’s supposed to relate to my apparent sudden lack of self-worth.”

“You backed my decision.” Tony stated simply. “You were one hundred percent behind me when I said I wanted to shut down the weapons manufacturing.”

“I know, but…” “If you hadn’t been, Tony would never have done it.”  Natasha shrugged

“Red’s right, you were always my sanity check. Despite what you may have thought to the contrary, I trusted your opinions, Kiddo. Every key decision I made with SI was done with you by my side.” “That’s not true.”

“It is.” Tony pressed. “Think about it for a second. The Charities, the deals, the partnerships, the take overs, the Arc Reactor, not one single big thing I did with that company, with our company, was done without you. Even when you disagreed I took that into consideration and modified stuff so that it was more in-line with what you suggested or thought.” Katie swallowed, shaking her head slightly, lost for words. Eventually she took a deep breath and looked at her brother. “I didn’t realise. I always thought you did that simply because you needed my vote on stuff to make a majority…”

“Well you thought wrong.” He shrugged “But I’ll forgive you. The world only has space for one Stark genius.” “Good job you’re dead then.” She shot back and he looked at her, his eyebrow arching slightly, an incredulous smirk on his face as Natasha snorted.

“Touche, Kiddo. Touche.”

 **Original Posting**

#stark spangled desitny #steve rogers #Katie Stark #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fic #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #mcu #mcu fanfic #chris evans #chris evans characters

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Destiny

Ch 2- Touche, Kiddo.

Co-Created with @icanfeelastormbrewing​

Chapter Summary: Tony and Natasha take Katie back to the first of several key points of impact in her life- the day Tony returned from Afghanistan…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So these chapters contain flashbacks of sorts- but they’re not flashbacks as Katie is watching the events unfold in front of her-a “Time heist” of sorts. However, to keep it clear and hopefully not confusing, the events she is watching are depicted in itallics instead of me trying to keep calling her 2010 v 2030 Katie…

Please let me know what you think- comments and re-blogs muchly appreciated.

You’re dead.” Katie spluttered, looking at Tony.

“Yeah, so they tell me.” He mused, taking a look around, observing his surroundings. “Which is kind of a bummer…” “So what the fuck is this?” she asked. “Am I dreaming? Having some kind of mental breakdown hallucination? Are you a ghost? If so where the fuck have you been for the past 7 years, asshole?”

“I wasn’t needed.” Tony shrugged “But, this is your party so to speak. I can be whatever you want to be if it makes you feel better. I mean, you did have strange dreams at times when you were younger. I distinctly recall one about a giant white rabbit chasing you through the streets of London with an ice cream cone as a hat.” “I was high when I fell asleep.” Katie shrugged, then she gave a moan “What am I doing talking to you? This is insane…I need to wake up.” She closed her eyes, pinched herself, yelping at the pain. When she opened them she saw Tony leaning against the tree trunk, one knee bent as his shoe pressed flat against the trunk behind him, arms folded. “Yeah, sorry Kiddo. Still here.” “This is all inside my head.” Katie took a deep breath “This is all inside my head, this isn’t real.” “What was it that Dumblebee dude said? You know the Wizard from Harry Potter?” Tony clicked the fingers on his right hand, pointing at Katie as she rolled her eyes.

“Dumbledor…"

“Whatever, the point is what he said. You know, that quote you loved ‘Of Course this is happening inside your head, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?’. You can’t have forgotten, you had it stencilled on the wall in your apartment.”

“I haven’t, trust me.” Katie said softly “It’s Jamie’s favourite too. He has it above his bed, Steve did it for him along with a painting of the Hogwarts Castle"

“Wow, he read them all already?” Tony raised an eyebrow “He’s 10.” “He’s smart.” Katie smiled “A real bookworm, and an artist. Announced the other day he wants to write and illustrate kid’s books now, not be a Baseball player anymore. Steve insists there’s time for him to come to his senses but…” 

"Cap still with the giddy optimism huh?" Tony arched an eyebrow and she felt her eye begin to prick with tears, and that familiar stinging sensation associated with trying to stave off the tears filled the upper inside of her nose and she looked at Tony before she rushed forward and he stood up straight. At the last minute, before she threw herself at him she stopped dead and reached out with a shaky hand, her palm pressing against the pin striped material of his waistcoat. He was solid, warm, she could feel his heart beating. 

“I…” she looked up at him, the tears once more pouring from her eyes “I don’t want this to be in my head."

Tony smiled, his own eyes brimming with tears as Katie slid her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. She breathed in his familiar cologne, a smell she hadn’t forgotten but one that hadn’t filled her senses in a long time. His hands gently rubbed at her back as he held her close, one hand creeping upwards where it rest on the back of her hair as he dropped a kiss to her head. His familiar fatherly-brotherly touch was seeping into her bones, quelling the deep, dark aching she’d been feeling since…well, she couldn’t remember. Steve was her home, her safe place, her rock, there was no denying that, but Tony was her childhood pillar of strength. He was the man that had band aided her knees and palms, tucked her in, fought the monsters under her bed and for that reason, he would always be a source of comfort and strength.

Even if this was just some whacked out hallucination.

And then, she felt another emotion. An emotion she remembered feeling before many a times watching Steve catapult himself off buildings, bridges, hanging off helicopters before dropping into rivers. It was anger. Anger at the self-sacrificing nature that drove her soldier to act first and think later...but she was feeling it here at her brother. Unable to quell it she pulled back and her right hand laid a stinging slap to Tony’s left cheek. His head snapped to the right and he gave an angry yell.

“Jesus Kiddo…what the fuck was that for?” “For dying, dickwad!” she yelled, the tears falling down her face. “You died and you left me...” “It wasn’t like I had a choice.” He sighed, dropping his head “This was always the end I was going to get, not the end I wanted but…”

“She took it well then.” Another familiar voice drawled and Katie stiffened in her brothers’ arms, and looked up at him, eyes wide as she turned slowly to see a familiar face looking back at her. Green eyes sparkling, red hair shining in the stray rays of sunlight that crept into the thicket as it fell forward around her face and shoulders over the top of her black leather jacket with a bounce Katie hadn’t seen for years.

“Nat…” she swallowed, wiping her eyes “You look…”

“Yeah, better.” She shrugged, “Whatever this is, it took us back to a time before it all went to shit. I think this was my hair in 2015 or 16…” “Leipzig you looked like that.” Tony mused as Katie stepped away from him, to scan Natasha up and down. “I, on the other hand, I’m not sure. But I look good so…” “Modest as always.” Katie grumbled as she stopped in front of Natasha, before they embraced as well. “How’s my little man?”

“Not so little anymore.” Katie shrugged “He’s like up to here now…”  she held her hand up to a point in the mjddle of her rib-cage “…and he looks just like Steve.”

“Yeah we actually know.” Tony cut in “We know about all 5 of them, she’s just making conversation. I gotta say, I’m kinda liking the fact Emmy hooked up with Parker. They'll make cute babies"

"Oh God, don't. Steve's already freaking out about them wanting to move in together." Katie laughed and Tony grinned.

"Henry...that wasn't after Hank Pym was it?" He asked and Katie shook her head.

"It was a name Steve liked. I picked his middle. And it was the other way for Flossie..."

Natasha snorted “I gotta say you gave Aurora a perfect name. After a princess...” “The Star Spangled Diva." Katie shook her head before she grinned “She’s ace.” “She’s a Stark that's for sure.” Tony smiled proudly.

“Steve says that. Says she looks like me and has your attitude. Drives him insane.” Tony smirked “Good to know. Been dead 7 years and still bugging the crap out of Spangles.” He nodded, clapping his hand together, rubbing his palms against one another in glee.

Katie looked at her brother for a moment before she shook her head. “Ok, so is this the part where the two of you give me some kind of pep talk, you know about the kids and my outburst before or…” “Well, we could.” Tony said, “But you always responded better to visuals, so we’re gonna show you.” “Tony I have no desire to see any of that again.” She shook her head “I already know I fucked up.” “We’re not here about the fact you cussed out Jamie.” Nat said gently

Katie frowned “Then what is this?”

“We’re more concerned with the fact you don’t seem to understand how much you matter to everyone.” The red head continued “What was it you said before? Something along the lines of not seeing the point of being in their lives?”

Katie looked down at her feet.

“You’re human kiddo.” Tony said “Humans are flawed. They fuck up...some of us less than others, granted.” Katie raised her head, cocking an eyebrow at Tony “You’re such a conceited bastard.” “True.” Tony nodded, “But all things considered I think I have a right to be. I mean my best achievement is stood right in front of me.” He shrugged “I’d like to include Moo in that but, well Pep’s done the hard work there really, bringing her up. You on the other hand, well that was all me.” he stepped forward and took both her hands “And I’m smug as fuck about it, because you’re an amazing woman Kiddo, you just need reminding of that fact so we can get you over this sudden lack of self-worth you seem to be displaying.” Katie shook her head, tears forming in her eyes “Tone…” “It’s true.” He shrugged, letting go of her hands “But, you’ll see for yourself. Come on.”

He turned and started walking up the path towards the Memorial Gardens and Katie watched him before she turned to Natasha. Nat nodded her head towards Tony’s back and with a shrug Katie turned to follow him.

“Might as well see what whacked out journey my subconscious has planned.” She muttered to herself, following her brother as he walked ahead of her slightly. As they emerged from the thicket of trees, Katie noticed the Gardens were completely empty and it was eerily quiet. Eventually Tony stopped by an orange Audi and Katie shook her head.

“What?” Tony asked “I liked this colour.”

Natasha walked passed Katie and opened the door, folding the seat forward so she could slip into the back. Katie watched Tony as he settled in the driver’s side before she took another look around. The sun was starting to set, sending streaks of lilac and burnt red across the sky before she climbed in and shut the door. Tony fired the engine and the familiar sounds of AC/DCs Back in Black hit her ears. Despite herself she gave a smile, glancing out of the window as Tony drove the car forward, the music filled her senses.

Suddenly, she frowned. Her head flicking to look out of the window to her side before she turned back to the windscreen as she recognised her surroundings which seemed to have changed when she blinked. “How…”

“We’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy…” Tony said, looking at her as she turned her head to meet his eyes.

“No, we’re in fucking California!” she practically exploded “How? That’s not possible!”

“Neither is seeing dead people but you’re managing that just fine.” Natasha drawled. Katie ran her hands over her face letting out a groan.

“I’m tripping…I have to be. Did someone spike my coffee before?”

Tony smirked as he pulled the car off the road onto the Military air base and drew up behind a row of blacked out SUVs, each flanked by an armed guard.

“Wait…” she leaned forward, looking at 3 familiar figures waiting on the tarmac as a huge C17 taxied towards them. “This…this is the day you came back from Afghanistan.”

Tony nodded as Katie opened the door to the car and climbed out. She took a few steps forward stopping in front of the car bonnet. Natasha stood by her left, Tony by her right as she watched the aircraft come to a stop.

“Come on…” Tony said, striding forwards “You know how I like to make an entrance, be kind of cool for me to actually watch it for once.” They weaved their way through the line of SUVs and Katie paused, stopping. Curiously, she cocked her head to one side and waved her hand in front of one of the guard’s faces. He didn’t even blink.

“They can’t see you.” Natasha said, “Think of it as being like A Christmas Carol…”

Kate looked at her, before she took a deep breath “So not quite a Time heist?”

Nat smirked and nodded “Almost, but not quite, no.”

“Fucking hell.” Katie shook her head and turned to make her way over to Tony who was now stood just behind Pepper.

“God her ass looks great.” He mumbled. Katie gave a snort as she stopped behind her 2010 self.

“Was I really that skinny?” she muttered, taking in her frame. Her waist was ridiculously tiny, emphasised by the sharp, black tailored suit she wore, her hair pinned back into a bun. She moved round to the side, taking in her profile. Her eyes were shining, her jaw tensing as she held back the tears. “Mind you, I don’t think I ate properly for the entire time you were gone…” “You’re not exactly fat now” Tony scoffed. She ignored him, her eyes still fixed on herself. As she watched, 2010 Katie turned to Pepper who looked at her, the pair of them sharing a smile as Katie extended her hand, Pepper taking it, squeezing her fingers.

The tars of happiness trickled down her face, as the ramp on the aircraft carrier opened to reveal her brother. His hair was longer, he looked thinner but he was alive and all things considered he looked pretty good. Dressed in a sharp grey suit, brown shirt and a brown tie sporting white polka dots. His face was a little bruised but his goatee was well groomed and he still wore that determined, arrogant look she knew so well As Rhodey helped him down the ramp, he waved away the gurney that was being wheeled towards him and unable to stand it any longer, Katie shot forward. Tony was barely at the bottom before she flung herself at him, not caring that his arm was a sling.

“Hey Kiddo.” he said softly as she buried her face into his neck.

“You fucking asshole!” she sobbed “next time, you ride with Rhodey, you got that?”

“Trust me, there will be no next time.” he chuckled as she pulled back and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Afghanistan is a shit hole.”

“It was you know…” Tony mumbled and Katie turned her head away from watching her past reunion with her brother to look at him. “But there was one thing that kept me going in that hell hole. And that was getting back to you. I couldn’t leave you. Not after what happened to Mom and Dad.” Katie swallowed and turned back to see herself and her brother walking towards Pepper, her hand linked in his as they stopped.

“Your eyes are red.” Tony looked at Pepper “A few tears for your long-lost boss?”

“Tears of joy” Pepper smiled back “I hate job hunting.” “Yeah, vacation's over.” Tony said simply, and he headed past Pepper towards Happy. Katie watched as the two men embraced and she turned to Pepper.

“Twenty bucks says the first place he goes is for a cheeseburger.”

“You know me…knew me…whatever, so well.” Tony looped an arm round Katie as they watched their 2010 selves climb into the car and set off.

“I didn’t even try and convince you otherwise.” She sighed, looking at him “I knew you’d refuse to go to the hospital. I didn’t see the immediate press-conference coming though, that was a curve ball.”

“That was an interesting one for us too at SHIELD.” Nat said, “As soon as Fury got the call about how you’d escaped and that you’d called one he dispatched Coulson.”

“God…” Katie shook her head “This was like 20 years ago now. I was so young, a baby…”

“Well, now you don’t look a day over 46…” Tony said, patting her shoulder.

She glared at him and he chuckled “Come on…” Tony said, patting her shoulder.

Katie cast her eyes once more at the tail of the Rolls which was heading over the airfield tarmac and the three of them walked back to Tony’s Audi.

**** “Higher Daddy!” Harry giggled as Steve pushed him on the swing lazily with one arm, all the time keeping one eye on Rori who was currently with Jamie, the pair of them hanging off the climbing frame upside down whilst Stark sat at the bottom, barking at them. Whilst all his kids seemed to have inherited some of the serum’s benefits in that they were rarely sick and on the whole pretty robust, they were still fifty-percent ‘normal’ for want of a better word, and his heart was constantly in his mouth when they did stuff like that. To his horror he watched, Rori pulled herself up and then tucker herself into a ball and flipping herself backwards off the frame, landing on her feet.

“That’s how to stick a landing.” She looked at Jamie, her tongue poking out at him before she trotted back over to her dad ignoring her brother’s shout of “loser…” as she headed off.

“Can you not do that?” Steve sighed exasperatedly as she stopped by his side.

“Do what?” she looked up at him, her green eyes frowning a little. “Throw yourself off stuff.” “Momma says you did it all the time.” Rori looked at him “She said you threw yourself out of an elevator with her on your back.” “That…that was different.” He finished lamely.

“How?” “Because I had no choice.” “Why didn’t you just push the button to take the elevator down?” Rori looked at him like he was an idiot and he groaned.

“Rori, just…oh, I dunno, go and play on the slide or something. And by that I mean slide down it, not jump off it.”

“Hey Dad?” Jamie appeared by his side and Steve looked down at him “You wanna play catch?”

“Why don’t you play with Stark?” Steve said “I need to keep an eye on Harry and Flossie buddy.”

“Stark just runs off with the ball. He never brings it back.”

“Well, try teaching him.” “I have.” Jamie whined.

“Jamie, don’t start.” Steve said sternly “You’re skating on thin ice as it is.” “I’ll play.” Rori offered. Steve could see Jamie was considering his options before he shrugged.

“Ok.”

The two of them headed off towards the small sandlot to the side of the park, Steve watching as he continued to push Harry in the swing, his gaze then turning to Florence who was asleep in the stroller. Eventually Harry got bored and wanted to play on the slide so Steve lifted him out and they made their way over, Harry’s hand wrapped around Steve’s as he pushed Florence with the other. He watched Harry as he climbed the steps and then moved to the bottom of the slide, crouching as the little boy whizzed down laughing, Steve smiled as he caught him and tossed him into the air slightly.

“Again!” he demanded. Steve let him down and he repeated the motion a few times before Steve checked his watch. It was getting a little late, granted it was a Saturday but he didn’t want to deal with the fall out of them all being over tired and cranky over dinner. Katie had dealt with enough tantrums and tears today.

“Kids, think we should head back.” He said as he approached the older two. Jamie looked at him, about to protest and Steve glared at him.

“What did I say before?” he asked firmly. Jamie took a deep breath and nodded.

“Ok Dad.”

Together they walked back, Jamie and Rori a little ahead as Steve kept pace with Harry. They took the path through one of the green parks that led to their road and Rori stopped at a bank of wild flowers.

“Hey, can we pick some for Momma?” she asked, turning to look at Steve. “The blue ones are pretty.”

Steve smiled “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Make momma smile?” Harry asked, looking up and Steve nodded.

“Yeah, yeah it will.”

He watched as Jamie and Rori headed off to a patch to the left to pick a few and Steve crouched down consulting with Harry as to which ones he wanted to get. He helped him pick a few before he turned back to see Jamie and Rori clutching handfuls each.

“You leave any for the bees?” He quipped and Rori looked at him.

“There are looooads…” she said gesturing with her hands, giving an eye roll that was ridiculously comparable to those of her mother.

“Well that’s me told.” Steve arched an eyebrow. “Ok, give them here.”

He took them gently, adding them to Harry’s and he laid them on the little shelf at the bottom of the stroller before the 5 of them made their way back home.

**** Tony parked the Audi haphazardly in a space outside the Stark Industries HQ main building.

“Nice parking.” Katie quipped.

“It’s out company, I own this parking lot. Well I did. And besides, like you keep saying, this isn’t real so what does it matter?” he asked as the three of them exited the car. Katie glanced over to where Obadiah Stane was waiting with the press and their employees, laughing loudly and generally acting like the big shot.

“Dick.” She mumbled. “I never liked him.”

“Yeah, I know. You told me a lot. And it turns out you were right about him.” Tony shrugged. “Who knew?”

She snorted and Natasha gave a chuckle. “I’ll leave you two to this one.” She said gently, leaning against the car, folding her arms. Katie looked at her, before she turned and followed Tony as he strode forward, watching as the Rolls pulled up. The people stood round the turning circle all started to applause and when the car stopped and Obadiah strode forwards, arms open.

“Look at this!” He opened the door, presenting Tony to everyone and pulling him into a hug “We were going to meet at the hospital.”

“No, I'm fine.” Tony said, turning to Happy who offered him the Burger King bag from which Tony pulled another cheeseburger.

“Look at you!” Obadiah chuckled “You had to have a burger, yeah?”

“Which reminds me…” Katie nudged Pepper as they walked around the back of the car “You owe me twenty.” Pepper snorted and shook her head, “Come on.”

Katie and Pepper headed inside, following Tony and Obadiah who were chatting away, the cameras flashing as they walked through the cool, marble clad reception are of HQ where the podium that the press conferences were held from stood to the side. Katie and Pepper stopped, Katie taking a breath as she watched Tony walking through the group of people, speaking to various until a voice by her side made her jump.

“Miss Potts, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Katie turned to see an unassuming man, with short dark hair and a kind face dressed in a black suit, a Visitor Tag attached to his breast pocket. She looked at him for a second before her attention turned back to Tony who was busy talking to a woman in a red suit.

“I’m not part of the press conference…” Pepper spoke to the man “But it’s about to begin right now”

“I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” The man spoke and that got Katie’s attention. She turned to look at him, smiling.

“That's quite a mouthful.” She grinned and Agent Coulson gave her a smile.

“I know. We're working on it.” He smiled as Pepper took the business card he was holding. Katie arched an eyebrow and smiled, once more turning her eyes back to her brother.

“You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA...” Pepper continued and Coulson cut her off gently.

“We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape.”

Katie turned to him, frowning and wondering exactly how they knew about it. Reading her facial expression, Coulson shrugged slightly and Pepper nodded. “I'll put something in the book, shall I?”

“Thank you.”

Katie was about to quiz him more when she heard Tony calling for her. She looked at her brother and he gestured with his head.

“Excuse me…” She strode forward and Tony put an arm round her shoulder.

“I need to speak to you.” He said “Before I talk to the world.”

“God, I remember this like it was yesterday.” Katie turned to Tony as they followed in the wake of themselves, everyone parting as Tony steered his sister towards the little break out room towards the back, which housed the coffee and vending machines.

“Yup…” Tony said as they ducked inside the room with themselves “It was a pretty life defining moment. For me anyway…”

“It was for both of us.” She said, watching as 2010 Tony clicked he door shut “This is where it all began. Iron Man, SHIELD…all of it.”

Tony smiled and they both turned their heads to watch their past selves.

“I’m shutting down the Weapons Manufacturing.” Tony said and Katie frowned.

“What? Why?”

“I saw out there what our weapons are being used for.” Tony shook his head “I don’t know how those terrorists got hold of them, because I sure as hell didn’t approve any bids to that particular group, did the Commercial Department negotiate them without me using your delegated authority?”

“Of course not!” she replied indignantly “What do you take me for? They must have been traded on the black market…”

“And that is exactly my point!” Tony said, nodding at her “We can’t police it all. So I want to shut it down. Focus our efforts elsewhere”

“What happened to you out there Tone?” Katie considered her brother for a moment and he took a deep breath.

“For the first time I met my Jiminy Cricket…”he looked at her “Tony Stark doesn’t want to be the most famous mass murderer in the history of America anymore.”

Katie frowned. “That Vanity Fair article. You read it?”

“Of course I read it, it was about me.” He shrugged “The reporter…erm..”

“Everhart?” Katie looked at him “You forgot her name after you banged her as well?”

“Whatever that’s not important.” Tony waved her off “But Kiddo,all those lives we’ve saved by advancing medical technology and the starvation prevented from intelli-crops, she mentioned none of that.”

“Because that doesn’t sell papers.” Katie shook us head “Whereas dubbing us Merchants of Death does.”

“War profiteering she called it. And she was right.” Tony implored “You know, Dad always said that peace means…”

“Having a bigger stick than the other guy, yeah, you told me” Katie looked at her brother.

“And it’s a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks.” Tony shook his head. “But what if no one was selling the sticks?”

Katie took a deep breath “People would then just make their own sticks, and they’d be harder to police.”

“But what if I told you I had a pretty big assed stick of my own? The biggest stick anyone could have.”

“I’m not…” Katie sighed, rubbing at her temple “Tony you’ve lost me”

“I wouldn’t have escaped if it hadn’t been for my cell mate out there. He saved my life” Tony tapped his chest “Not only did he build an electromagnet to keep a bunch of shrapnel from shredding my heart, he sacrificed himself soI could escape. His last words were an instruction, not to waste my life Kiddo, and I have no intention of doing so anymore.” He looked down at his feet taking a deep breath before he raised his head to meet her gaze “I don’t want my legacy, our legacy, to be about how many deaths we may or may not have been indirectly responsible for.”

“You really did have an epiphany didn’t you?” Katie looked at him, not a shred of sarcasm in her voice.

“It was my moment of clarity” Tony nodded “And I have a permanent reminder, as you know already from the calls and briefings….”

He moved his arm gently, wincing as he did so, loosening his tie a little and undoing the top few buttons on his shirt. He gently parted it and Katie gave a gasp at the small circle of light in the middle of his chest.

“This thing powered a suit I made. A metal suit. I shrunk the Arc reactor down in a damned cave, and that’s what’s now keeping the shrapnel in place…but it powered a heavy assed suit for 15 minutes. Just think of all the good we could do with it with it. Renewable technology, medical equipment…maybe some other form of potential peace keeping initiative with a slightly smaller metal suit.”

“Is this the big stick you were talking about?” Katie asked, arching her eyebrow. “A metal suit.”

Tony took a deep breath “In a fashion, yes. It could remove the need for…other sticks so to speak.”

Katie took a deep breath before she stepped forward and began to do his shirt back up for him, not saying a word as she mulled over what he had said. The fact they traded weapons had been something she tried not to think about, justifying it in her mind as a means to an end- if they didn’t someone else would. But remove that completely…

She re-knotted his tie and slid it up to his collar before she straightened it and stood back, rolling her eyes as Tony loosened it once more.

“I need you to trust me on this Kiddo.” He said softly and she looked at him, her eyes searching his. There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt there, quit the contrary. This was obviously something he vehemently believed in. And for that reason, she decided to back him.

“Ok.” She nodded “We’ll shut it down.”

Katie watched as her 2010 self and brother embraced, turning to Tony “You have no idea how much of a head fuck that was” she said as they followed themselves out of the room.

“Oh, believe me I do.” Tony said, as they stood at the back of the room, watching as Obadiah greeted the press, 2010 Katie walking up to stand besides him.

Tony sat down in front of the podium. “Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?” He asked, fishing the cheeseburger out of his pocket “Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can... a little less formal and...” Tony took a bite of the cheeseburger as Katie glanced at Obi, giving a shrug, before she sat to Tony’s left.

“Good to see you.” Tony looked at Obi who smiled.

“Good to see you.” He said, reaching out and touching Tony’s shoulder.

“I never got to say goodbye to Dad.” Tony said, looking around. He glanced at Katie, “We never got to say goodbye to our father.” He swallowed his food and placed the half eaten burger on the floor as he considered his words “There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts.”

Katie glanced at the floor as Tony paused for a second.

“Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels.” He once more turned to Katie who gently placed her hand on his back, giving a small rub over his suit jacket. Taking a deep breath he looked out over the room “I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that we had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

Out of the corner of her eye, as the members of the press began to call Tony’s name, Katie saw Obadiah shift slightly, frowning a little at what Tony had just said.

“Hey Ben…” Tony nodded to one of the reporters.

“What happened over there?”

“I had my eyes opened.” Tony stood and moved behind the podium, Katie watching his every move. “I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up.”

He glanced down at Katie and she gave him a small nod.

“And that is why, effective immediately, me and my sister are shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International”

The room erupted in commotion, everyone standing and talking at the same time. Katie took her position by her brother as Tony simply continued speaking

“…until such a time as we can decide what the future of the company will be.”

Obadiah placed his hand over Tony’s shoulder, trying to cut in a little and mentioned something about selling a lot of newspapers but Tony ignored him

“…what direction it should take, one that we’re comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well.”

At that he turned to Katie and the two of them left the stage, Tony’s arm looped around her shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her temple.

Obadiah continued to speak as Katie turned to Tony, watching themselves as they left the room.

“Wanna go watch the follow up fireworks?” he grinned and she gave a chuckle.

“Why not, we’re here…we may as well.”

They walked out to see their past selves climbing into Happy’s car and Natasha straightened up as they headed to the Audi.

“Have fun?” she drawled and Katie looked at her and shrugged.

“I suppose I never really understood the significance of that moment. Like I said to Tony in there, this is what kicked it all off. How Iron Man was born.”

Natasha looked at Tony, giving him a little nod “You were right to bring here her then.” “Just like I said.” He shrugged as he opened the door to the Audi, gesturing to it with his head “Now, get in Losers, we’re going Arc Reactor viewing.”

Katie rolled her eyes at Natasha as the 2 of them climbed into the car and Tony followed the Rolls that was working its way across the Stark Industries site. Eventually it stopped outside the large, glass fronted building which housed the Arc Reactor that powered the plant. The three of them exited and followed 2010 Tony and Katie inside.

“So this is a larger version of what was in your chest.” Natasha looked up at the huge power source, giving it the once over.

“Yup.” Tony nodded, “Pretty cool huh.”

Natasha gave a hmmm of agreement as Katie’s eyes strayed to herself as she stood with Tony, the two of them stood side by side, looking up at it.

“Not sure Obi is gonna be happy.” She turned to look at Tony who shrugged, his eyes not leaving the Arc Reactor.

“I don’t much care.” He shrugged “We’ve bowed to him and the board for far too long…” “Well, that’s kind of the point of a board” she looked at him.

“Yeah, but the two of us make the majority, as you know.” Tony shrugged. “Look, Kiddo, this is the right thing to do…we just gotta ride out the bow of this shit storm for while.”

“That’s…a mixed metaphor.” Katie snorted and Tony grinned. At that point the doors to the building opened and they turned to see Obadiah stood, cigar in his mouth, hands on his hips.

“Well, that..uh... That went well.”

“Did we just paint a target on the back of our heads?” Tony asked reaching up to undo his tie.

“Your heads? What about my head?” Obi asked walking behind them, pacing slightly. “What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?”

“Uh, optimistically, 40 points.” Katie offered as Tony whipped off his tie.

“At minimum.” Obadiah nodded.

“Yup” Tony agreed, hanging his tie over his jacket which was draped on the railings around the reactor.

“Tony, Katie, we're a weapons manufacturer.” Obadiah said softly, looking at him.

“Obi, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy.” Tony turned to face him.

“That's what we do. We're iron mongers. We make weapons.”

“It’s our name on the side of the building.” Katie chipped in and Obadiah shook his head.

“What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos.”

“Not based on what I saw.” Tony shook his head “We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better. We're gonna do something else” “Like what?” Obadiah asked “You want us to make baby bottles?”

“Tony thinks we should take another look into arc reactor technology.” Katie said “And I agree.

“Ah, come on.” Obi looked at her, then shook his head, waving his hands towards the item in question “The arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Guys’ come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up”

“It works.” Katie said simply and Tony smiled, catching her eye for a second as Obi scoffed.

“Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it.” He shook his head once more pacing behind the siblings, neither of who turned to face him “Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?”

Obadiah’s tone was almost sarcastic and Katie understood instantly that he knew about the one in Tony’s chest. From the smile on her brother’s face he’d also reached the same conclusion.

“Maybe.” Tony said, his smile growing bigger as he looked up at the larger arc once more before he turned to Katie, his smile growing bigger. She gave him one of her own as they both turned to look at Obi.

“Huh? Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years.”

“That's what they say.” Tony said, narrowing his eyes as Obadiah looked straight at him. Katie snorted.

“Obi, could you have a lousier poker face?” she rolled her eyes.

“Just tell me, who told you?” Tony looked at him.

“Never mind who told me…” Obi pointed towards his chest “Show me”

“It's Rhodey or Pepper.” Tony continued

“I want to see it.” Obadiah continued.

“Okay, Rhodey…” Tony undid his sling and looking around he began to undo his shirt to show Obadiah the reactor in his chest. The older man looked at it for a moment, glancing to the larger arc before he chuckled a little

“Okay…” he said as he began to button Tony's shirt back up, the same way Katie had earlier.

“Okay? It works…” Tony looked at him.

Obadiah sighed, giving a smile and looped his arm around Tony’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Tony. We're a team.” He gestured to Katie “The three of us, do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I.”

“I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?” Tony looked at him “But if I had...”

“Tony. Tony, no more of this "ready, fire, aim" business. You understand me?”

“Wasn’t that another one of Dad's line?” Katie asked and Tony looked at her, nodding.

“You two have gotta let me handle this.” Obi looked at them “We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat.” He said as Katie helped Tony back into his jacket. “I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low.”

Katie, Tony and Natasha watched the other figures leave the building and Katie sighed, her eyes flicking back up to the arc reactor.

“You know, that was a great trip down memory lane and everything Tone, but you’re gonna have to help me out here as to how, exactly, that’s supposed to relate to my apparent sudden lack of self-worth…”

“You backed my decision.” Tony said simply “You were one hundred percent behind me when I said I wanted to shut down the weapons manufacturing.”

“I know, but…” “If you hadn’t been, Tony would never have done it.”  Natasha shrugged

“Red’s right, you were always my sanity check. Despite what you may have thought to the contrary, I trusted your opinions Kiddo. Every key decision I made with SI was done with you by my side.” “That’s not true.”

“It is.” Tony pressed “Think about it for a second. The Charities, the deals, the partnerships, the take overs, the Arc Reactor...not one single big thing I did with that company, with our company, was done without you. Even when you disagreed I took that into consideration and modified stuff so that it was more in-line with what you suggested or thought.” Katie swallowed, shaking her head slightly, lost for words. Eventually she took a deep breath and looked at her brother “I didn’t realise. I always thought you did that simply because you needed my vote on stuff to make a majority…”

“Well you thought wrong.” He shrugged “But I’ll forgive you. The world only has space for one Stark genius.” “Good job you’re dead then.” She shot back and he looked at her, his eyebrow arching slightly, an incredulous smirk on his face as Natasha snorted.

“Touche, Kiddo. Touche.”

#stark spangled destiny #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x oc #steve rogers #katie stark #tony stark #natasha romanoff

[wizardofrozz]

Put to the Test

Summary: Rosalia and Bucky meet at a famous Tony Stark party when Rosalia joins the Avenger, but something doesn’t quite feel right.

Warnings: swearing, alcohol consumption, mention of implied smut

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

A/N: I’m a little nervous about this series; I love it but I’m anxious about anyone else liking it lol. Also, flashbacks are in italics.

Chapter 1: Well, hello

My eyes fluttered open as the sun peaked through my window across the room. I blinked, feeling unrested and groggy before rolling over check the time: 7:50. I rolled back over, groaning, praying I could fall back asleep for a little longer. I laid in bed for a few more minutes, but my chances of sleeping again were long gone. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes before swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, getting up to stretch. I shivered at the sudden chill in the air; apparently, no one thought to turn the heat on in the compound last night; I rolled my eyes, grabbed sweatpants and a hoodie before heading for the kitchen. I walked through the doorway, and the smell of brewing coffee greeted me, but I didn’t see anyone in the kitchen. I looked around for clues to who else could possibly be awake this early. I shrugged and made my way to a stool at the island in the middle of the kitchen and sat down, waiting for the coffee pot to beep, letting me know it was done. After a few minutes, I felt sparks explode across my shoulder and travel down my arm; I gasped, sitting up straighter, but as soon as it was there, it was gone. I knew exactly who was awake at this point and turned in time to see him sit on the stool next to me.

           “Morning, Bucky bear,” I smiled at him. A goofy, groggy grin spread across his face, and his eyes sparkled when he looked at me.

           “Morning doll, what are you doing up so early?” he stretched his arms over his head as he spoke, testing the strength of the tank top he had on as it struggled to keep his broad chest covered.

           “I couldn’t sleep anymore. I slept like shit anyway, so I guess I’ll be making it through the day of caffeine and willpower.” I glanced over at the coffee pot wishing it would brew faster.

           “Well, looks like we might need another pot of coffee. I slept like shit too, couldn’t stay asleep no matter how hard I tried,” he glared at the countertop before glancing up at me.

           “Phantom pain again?” I reached over to touch him but decided against it at the last minute, but he didn’t seem to notice. He answered with a grunt as he rubbed his left arm before sighing and putting his head down on the counter.

           “You’d think after all this time, it would stop hurting. I guess the cold nights don’t help,” he stood up suddenly and walked over to the coffee pot when it finally beeped. He grabbed a cup out of the cabinet, filled it with coffee, caramel sauce, a handful of ice cubes, and topped it off with milk before sliding it across the island to me.

           “Aw, Bucky, you remembered,” I smiled at him as I took a sip and sighed, thank god for caffeine. “Hey, aren’t you going to have some too? You made it.”

           “Yeah, but I’m going to jump in the shower quickly,” he made his way around the island, “don’t drink it all without me.” He smiled and reached out to touch my arm but stopped short, frowned, then cleared his throat and headed for the shower. Once he left the room, I sighed, cursing that damn compromise we made weeks ago. I think back on it periodically; it was over a month ago, my first night at the compound, which happened to be a famous Tony Stark party.

 ***

I was excited; I’d finally get the chance to meet the entire Avengers team after hearing about them from Nat endlessly. Knowing Nat for as long as I have meant that when she was welcomed to the Avengers, I heard all about them until I was asked to join Earth’s Mightiest Heroes too.

           “Hey, you ready?” Nat said from my doorway where she was leaning. “Woah, look at you, these guys are going to lose their mind,” she smiled as she walked in and continued to check out my outfit. I picked out a short sleeve, tight, floor-length, black dress speckled with glitter; I slid on the heels Nat let me borrow.

           “Well, I have to make an impression, don’t I?” I smirked at her before turning back to the mirror to finish putting my earring in.

           “Oh honey, you’re going to leave an impression those men will remember until the day they die.” I laughed as she wandered over to my bed and sat down.

           “Oh, come on, I doubt these guys will be that fixated,” I said as I turned away from the mirror and looked at her.

           “Well, I guess we’ll see then,” she smirked and stood.

           “Okay, so who else am I meeting tonight?” I asked, walking towards her.

           “You’ve met Rogers, Tony, Clint, and Wanda already, so that leaves Peter, Thor, Sam, Bruce, oh and Bucky,” she nodded when she was sure that was everyone.

           “Well, let’s go. I need a drink,” I looped my arm with hers, and we headed for the party. “Wait, who’s Bucky? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention him,” she didn’t answer; she just smiled and led me towards the steps. We walked down the steps, and the party was in full swing by the time we made it there. As we got closer to the bottom, something inside me forced me to look at the middle of the room, where a group of men stood talking; my eyes fell on one of them, at that exact moment he turned his head. His eyes darted around the room; I knew he felt me looking at him, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him no matter how hard I tried. Finally, he looked up at the steps, and our eyes met for a brief moment before Nat snapped in front of my face.

           “Hey, earth to Roz,” I shook my head and looked at her.

           “Sorry, I’m just captivated by all this,” I lied as I smiled at her.

           “Oh, I know, Stark never skimps on a party, but you’ll get used to it. The first party can be overwhelming,” she laughed as we reached the bottom of the steps. She stood on her toes to look over the crowd before grabbed my hand and pulling me with her. “Come on; I see the guys.”

           “Nat, you’re going to rip my arm off,” I laughed as I followed her. We made our way through the crowd before stopping short in front of the group of men I saw from the steps.

           “Hey guys, I want to introduce you to Rosalia, Roz for short. Stark finally managed to get her here.” She turned to me and smiled before introducing them. “This is Thor,” she pointed to a large man standing at the center of the semi-circle of men, he was huge, handsome, and he knew it.

           “Pleasure to meet you, Thor Odinson,” he reached for my hand, bending down and placed a kiss on the back of my hand without breaking eye contact. I assumed I was blushing, but my face never warmed, but I did smile at him.

           “This is Sam Wilson,” Nat pointed to a shorter, handsome man who looked tiny standing next to Thor.

           “Hi, nice to meet you; Natasha talks about you a lot,” he shot me a flirty smile and shook my hand.

           “Then we have Bruce,” this time, Nat touched his arm instead of just pointing. I made sure to make a mental note of that so I could bug her about it later.

           “Hello, Dr. Bruce Banner, Nat has told me a lot about you,” he had a friendly smile, but he seemed very jittery.

           “Then there’s Peter Parker,” I looked at where she pointed and saw a young boy, who could only be about 16, that looked like he just saw an angel.

           “H-Hi, nice to meet you, you’re beautiful,” his cheeks turned red when everyone else laughed, but I smiled at him.

           “That’s very sweet, thank you,” he smiled, and his face flushed a deeper pink before Nat grabbed my attention again.

           “And finally, this is Sergeant James Barnes,” I followed where she was pointing too, and my eyes fell on the man I saw from the steps. His beautiful blue eyes were what caught me off guard, along with how physically intimidating he was. He had broad shoulders, along with massive, muscular arms. I noticed he moved his left arm oddly as he switched his drink to his left hand to reach out and shake my hand.

           “Please, call me Bucky. I haven’t gone by Sergeant in a long time,” he smiled at me and grabbed my hand. The most intense feeling I’ve ever experienced came over me; time seemed to stand still. My whole body felt like it was on fire, but thankfully, not in a painful way, almost comforting. It felt like every nerve ending in my body was firing simultaneously, and the sensation took my breath away. I could tell by the awed look on his face he was feeling the same thing. Finally, we both let go, and reality came rushing back, and we were standing in the middle of the party surrounded by the rest of the Avengers. I quickly looked at Bruce, Sam, Peter, Thor, and Nat, but no one seemed to notice what just happened, but I didn’t have much time before Nat grabbed my arm and pulled me towards to bar.

           “I want a drink. I know you could use one too” luckily, she was facing away from me.

           “You can say that again,” I whispered as I followed her. We ordered our drinks, and I tried to shake off what just happened before Nat started asking questions.

           “So what do you think?” she said as she took a sip of her drink.

           “So do they only hire attractive men,” we giggled before turning our back on the bar. “So, what’s with you and Dr. Banner?” I raised an eyebrow and smirked at her.

           “When I figure that out, I’ll tell you,” she smiled then looked over at Bruce. I followed her gaze and noticed Bucky wasn’t standing there anymore, I started to scan the room, but I didn’t make it far when someone cleared their throat behind me.

           “Can I join you for a drink?” his deep voice sent chills down my spine, but I turned to find Bucky standing behind me. He towered over me by at least half a foot; I glanced back to where Nat was standing, but she was already walking away towards where Steve had walked into the room, throwing a shitty smile over her shoulder.

           “Yeah, I’d like that,” I threw back the rest of my drink. “I could use another if you do,” he smirked and nodded.

           “What’s your poison?” he asked as he leaned closer to hear me over the music.

           “Whiskey on the rocks, please,” I smiled as he pulled back.

           “Oh man, a woman after my heart,” he smirked again and ordered our drinks. We grabbed them off the bar then he motioned for me to follow him to the end of the bar. We stood there for what seemed like hours, drinking and talking until we realized that the party was starting to die down. I don’t know what came over me, but I leaned towards Bucky and stood on my toes to get closer to his ear.

           “Why don’t we continue this party upstairs, my room?” I moved back and winked; a smile spread across his face. He threw back the last of his drink and stretched his left arm out to let me go first. I noticed the odd movement of that arm again but shook it off and headed for the steps that led to my room; I felt him following close behind. We finally made it to the door of my room; I opened it and stepped aside so he could walk in; I noticed that somewhere along the way, he had loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt. He caught me looking and winked as he made his way through the doorway; I looked up and down the hall to make sure no one saw us before slipping into the room, closing the door, and leaning against it. He stood in the middle of the room, and oddly enough, he wasn’t looking at me; he was looking around the room. Bucky must have felt me looking at him because he turned his attention back to me; he smirked and took a few steps closer.

           “You really blow my mind, you know that?” the smile had vanished from his face, but his pupils grew, trying to take in as much of me as he could.

           “No, I didn’t. Why don’t you tell me why Sergeant Barnes?” I moved my face closer as I talked. A low, almost growl came from his chest, causing me to shiver. Our faces were so close that if one of us even twitched, our lips would touch. For a moment, I thought I said something that upset him because he moved away a few inches, but then his lips crashed into mine. The force of his body moving forward pushed me up against the door; his whole body held me against the door. My fingers found the belt loops of his suit pants; his hands settled on either side of my head against the door. The only thing that was off was the insane sensation that tore through me the second our lips touched; it startled me so much I opened my eyes at the same time Bucky did too. I stared into his eyes for a few seconds before he moved back suddenly, and I stumbled forward. I caught myself trying to catch my breath and noticed that Bucky had stumbled back too and was sitting on my bed, with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath too.

           “What the fuck was that?” he said through deep breaths.

           “I was about to ask you the same thing,” I replied, panting. After a few more seconds, our breathing evened out, and I pushed away from the door, moving to the corner of the bed opposite Bucky. “I-I’ve never felt anything like that. Can I assume you’re feeling the same thing I am?”

           “What do you feel?” he turned his head towards me with a concerned look.

           “I-it’s like someone, I don’t know, released hundreds of thousands of butterflies loose inside me, but they are all on fire. Like every nerve ending is ready to explode,” I turned my face away from him, praying that I didn’t just embarrass myself.

           “Wow, that’s a pretty perfect explanation,” he let out a breath that he was holding in and relaxed some before scooting closer to me, just far enough that we weren’t touching.

           “What does this even mean??” my head was spinning; I had no idea what was going on. We sat in silence, stuck in our heads before we both turned and opened our mouths to talk at the same time. We both giggled and looked away before finally looking at each other again; something about him brought a weird feeling over me. He seemed so familiar. “Okay, so what are we supposed to do, Bucky?” I tried to keep my voice even.

           “I don’t know; this may sound weird, and please tell me if it does, but I don’t want this to stop. Something inside me keeps screaming for me to stay here, near you,” Bucky trailed off and looked at the floor. I almost reached out to him, but we needed to get through this conversation without getting sidetracked.

           “It’s not weird because I was thinking the same thing,” his head shot up, and our eyes met. The relief on his face squeezed my heart; he sat up some and turned his entire body towards me, and I did the same. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I don’t want to just shut the door on it either, but we have to try and figure out what it is because, don’t get me wrong, it’s the most amazing feeling, but it’s not normal. The world we live in, Bucky, it makes me worry it’s not innocent,” I sighed.

           “I agree. I want it to be innocent. A sign we are supposed to have met, but I’m not that native,” a frown grew on Bucky’s face, but when he turned his face towards me, he tried to hide how he felt. We both turned our bodies, so we were facing the door again, in hopes of hiding how we felt from the other. “What do we do? Stay away from each other?”

           “I was thinking about digging into S.H.I.E.L.D files and see if I can find anything. Maybe there is a record from our pasts that can shine some light on this,” I moved my hand back and forth between us.

           “Good idea, but does that mean we stay away from each other? Or can we continue where we left off,” he smirked, leaning closer.

           “Sadly, I think holding back until we have some more information would be best, just in case. But when do we just accept it and move on? When is it enough time? I don’t want to wait forever for something that we may never have an answer to,” I had started to wring my hands as I spoke.

           “I wish you weren’t right, part of me wants to argue, but with everything that I’ve seen and been through, I can’t help but worry. Let’s give it a few weeks; if we can’t find anything, maybe we can talk to Bruce and see if he can run any tests, see if anything weird shows up,” he looked hopefully.

           “Okay, deal, keep our distance, no touching or anything, and if we can’t find anything, we’ll go to Bruce. I do think we should keep it to ourselves until we either know something or have to tell someone,” I sighed and looked at the floor, trying to hide my disappointment.

           “Yeah, I think that’s for the best, but do we have to stay away until then? Can’t we meet a couple of times a week? No touching, but I’d like to get to know you,” he looked at me, but I didn’t meet his gaze. Every fiber in my being screamed to say yes, but something still made me feel like I should say no.

           “Fuck it, yeah, a couple of nights a week we can go for a walk or whatever we want and talk. If we find out that it's fine, we aren���t going to turn to dust or some other crazy shit, it would be helpful to know each other,” I smiled. He laughed, I mean really laughed, and nodded his head.

           “Deal,” he said through chuckles. I smiled at him; I yearned to run my hands through his shoulder-length hair, just touch him in some way. As if he read my mind, I felt fireworks explode up my back and down my leg when his hand found my thigh. I didn’t realize how close he was until I turned my head, and our noses almost touched. Every nerve ending in my body was alive, my entire body was on fire, and everything felt incredible. Bucky’s breath on my face felt like pure bliss, and I couldn’t stop myself from moving my hand up to the collar of his open shirt. I ran my hand over Bucky’s collar bone then back to the base of his neck before running my hand up to his neck to his hair. A sound came out of Bucky that was a mix of a gasp and moan; I didn’t realize his other hand was moving up my back until he roughly grabbed the back of my neck. “Sorry, but right now, I don’t care about what we agreed on,” the words came out as a growl. He pulled me to him at the same time as I grabbed a fistful of his hair to do the same. Our lips met, and I felt like I might burst; he kissed me like he might never get to again. I opened my mouth, and his tongue slid in, dancing with mine. I smacked his hand off my leg with my free hand, then pulled myself on top of him, straddling him. Bucky moaned into my mouth before releasing his grip on my neck, running his hands up my legs instead. My body felt like it was vibrating from the constant sparks exploding all over me until I noticed an odd sensation on my right leg. We finally pulled apart, but I touched my forehead to his; the only sound in the room was our heavy breathing.

           “Okay, we have to stop until we know what’s going on,” I weakly giggled as I played with his hair.

           “As much as I don’t want to, I have to say I agree,” he sighed through deep breaths. I opened my eyes and saw that he was already looking at me; I pulled my head back some to get a better look at him as I climbed off him to stand back and admire him. He moved his arms behind himself to hold his weight up; the sleeve on his left arm rode up, and I saw what looked like black metal; I turned my head slightly to try and get a better look.

           “Bucky, what’s wrong with your arm?” I said softly, not taking my eyes off it. For a split-second, fear flashed across his face, but when our eyes met, it disappeared. He stood up and started to unbutton his shirt, and thank god he has a tank top on under it to reveal metal that started at his shoulder.

           “Yeah, I should probably explain this,” he looked at the floor.

***

          “Damnit,” Bucky’s yell snapped me out of the memory. I turned around and saw him standing in the doorway to the kitchen, rolling his left shoulder while rubbing his hair with a towel in his right hand.

           “Goddamn Bucky, you scared the shit out of me,” my breathing steadied again when he pulled out the stool next to me and heavily dropped onto it.

           “Sorry, doll, apparently multitasking isn’t one of my enhanced abilities,” he smiled over at me. I shook my head and finished my coffee just as he decided to shake his head like a dog.

           “Bucky!” I yelled, trying to shield my face from the cold drops of water. He doubled over laughing, holding his side; I punched him in the arm before starting to giggle myself.

           “Okay, shithead, very funny,” I stuck my tongue out at him, which only made him laugh harder.

           “I can’t say I’m sorry because I’m not,” he finally said through giggles. He stood up, still laughing, and went to get himself a cup of coffee, then brought the pot, caramel and milk over to me. “Hey, we haven’t had a chance to have any of our dates this week. Want to go sit outside and talk for a while before we have to get ready to head out for our mission?” he poured our coffee then set it back on the coffee maker.

           “Yeah, I’d like that, as long as you don’t fling water at me again,” I smirked before mixing my coffee.

           “No promises,” he winked. He had already changed into a t-shirt and dark cargo pants, so that was my cue to do the same.

           “I’m going to change quickly. Can take my coffee with you, and I’ll meet you out there?” I asked, handing him my coffee. He nodded and made his way to the front of the compound.

Series Masterlist | Chapter 2

Taglist:

@criminalyetminimal​ @kendallthesimp​ @marvelfansworld​ 

#bucky barnes #bucky #bucky x ofc #bucky barnes x ofc #the winter soldier #winter soldier #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #james barnes #james bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #sergeant barnes #sergeant james barnes #super soldier #hydra #marvel #avengers #red room #red room experiment #hydra experiment #black widow project #hail hydra

[kittybellestark]

Falling Apart At The Seams

Part 3/5

Read on AO3

Read Part 2

Only two more chapters to gooooo, this was originally a lot shorter so I had to go and give it a quick fix and make it longer thank god I did  

TW: Non-con drugs, kidnappings, past trauma

Peter and May had been staying at the tower for a few weeks. Jimmy made sporadic appearance’s never following a particular pattern and always from different entrance’s. On top of that the FBI checked in regularly, and security had been tightened at the tower (despite the tower already being the most secure building in the city). 

Mary had left a paper trail. It was confirmed she was in he city, but Mary was smart. She was always two steps ahead. The FBI figured out she was in Manhattan but by then she was in Queens, when they found her hide out there she was in New Jersey. Each time they found a lead, Mary was already gone again.

Maybe if Tony could muster up the courage to look at a picture of her, they would have found her already and Peter and May would be safe. Tony should be able to do this. For Peter. But he really couldn’t. He knew that Peter’s Mary was more than likely not the same Mary he dealt with. 

But Tony was a coward.

That’s what it was right? Having Mary’s picture uploaded right to FRIDAY, without looking at it, that was cowardice. He should be able to do this. It’s just a picture, and a little bit of tracking. Mary shouldn’t still have this iron-grip control over Tony’s life. All the progress that Tony made is useless, he can’t even help the people who mean the most to him.

He can’t even look at Peter anymore. It was just too similar, it was too much. Tony could barely handle the jokes that were being made about Peter actually being his son. Calling Peter Stark Junior or Mini Stark or just Junior at all was enough to stop Tony from breathing. The only thing that let him know that Peter was not his child was the fact that Peter was born in August and his mothers name was Diane. Now he didn’t want to know when Peter was really born, he already knew that his mother’s name was Mary and that was too much.

“Tony,” Pepper sighed, sticking her head into his office, “you have a meeting across town in twenty minutes and it’s going to take you forty to get there.”

He couldn’t help but groan. While being pulled out the memories- crying, chains clinking, 48 tiles on the ceiling, knocking pipes, creaking mattress- was what he needed, a meeting certainly wasn’t. Tony just needed a nap, on the couch with a really soft blanket. He needed the hum of music and the sound of his family, and the comfort of his home. 

“Can we cancel? I don’t know if I can do this today.”

Pepper smiled, stepping into his office. She held both her hands up and to the side, non-threatening. Tony loved her. Always helpful, always caring, always trying to help Tony in the best way Pepper knows how. Even if it is her trying to make herself seem like less of a threat. Pepper listened to Tony and figured out how to help him in ways that Tony never thought she would do. Ways he never thought anyone would do if they had learnt what had happened to him, and yet she proved him wrong. 

Everyday Tony has been shown how wrong he was, because Pepper cared about him. She believed him. They talked about limits and knew how to read each other. Lines were never crossed and their relationship worked despite the fact that Mary ruined him, despite the fact Tony abandoned a child. Ever since he told her what happened Tony was never pulled out of his comfort zone in their relationship. He didn’t need to pretend to be okay with Pepper and she listened to him. She respected his needs and backed off when he was uncomfortable.

Tony didn’t feel that he was very deserving of her, of her love and trust and respect. Pepper shouldn’t love him, he was damaged goods and supposedly unlovable. Yet he got to be with her. Tony respected Pepper’s needs and boundaries and in return Pepper respected his and it worked. He was so lucky to be hers.

Taking small, careful steps, Pepper made her way towards Tony, stopping just a few feet away from his seat. Tony closed the space between them, staying in his chair. He wrapped his arms around her waist, head turned sideways resting on Peppers stomach. Pepper ran her fingers through Tony’s hair, humming sympathetically.

Tony loved Pepper.

“We’ve already rescheduled three times, as much as I would love to move this again for you we can’t. I know you’ve been going through a lot with everything  so I can send someone else?”

“No,” Tony shook his head, “This deal is too important, I’ll go.”

So, Tony went to the meeting. He was late, and alone, but this was fine, it was his job. It wasn’t like he’s never done it before. He’s done it far more often then he has with a crowd. 

Tony was a business man. Except he wasn’t really a business man, just an engineer that inherited a business job. But at the end of the day he worked business deals and negotiated with other companies. Tony was a business man and business men are able to go to meetings alone. He’s Tony Stark- Iron Man, what’s a little meeting on a bad day?

A bad meeting. That’s what it is.

He should have looked at the pictures. They were right there. Being passed around from Avenger to Avenger. They were right under his nose and he kept his eyes shut. Coward. It would have been a quick glance, he never would have needed to study it. Tony only ever needs a quick glance to know exactly what he’s looking for. It would have done a lot more good had he just opened his eyes. 

What’s the point of being a genius if he can’t connect the dots? Really, he should have known, it was too much of a coincidence. Nothing ever happens to Tony and then it not come back to bite him in the ass later. Stark luck and all that. 

Tony shouldn’t have been so naive. 

Instead he walked into the meeting room, and was met with electric blue eyes and over processed bleached hair. While Mary had aged, she still looked the same. Wicked and evil. 

Mary made him feel small. As if she was now taller than him and he was just another bug to be squashed. While in reality she was much smaller than Tony, her presence took up the entire room, having too strong of a hold on Tony for him to break away. 

“I don’t think you realize how long I’ve been waiting for you, Tony.” Mary’s voice was smooth and soft like silk. It was far too kind, a stark contrast of how she has spoken so many years ago. That was the worst thing, she wasn’t exactly the same.

Mary moved forward, reaching out to Tony’s face, tutting as she approached. Tony felt paralyzed. Which is silly, it’s been 16 years since she first got her hands on him, Tony shouldn’t just freeze. He is Iron Man, he is Tony Stark, freezing should not be an option. There has always been an answer to everything, Tony has always been able to find his wait out. Except with her.

“Stay. Away. From. Me.”

Shaking his head, Tony tried to step away from her. The idea of her getting her hands back onto him made Tony’s skin crawl. The step backwards he took put him right against someone else. He flinched back in the room, trying not to touch anyone. Contact is bad, Tony just needs to be alone, not here. He can’t be here. He wants to go home.

Tony is Iron Man. Iron Man would have fought them. Without a second thought, Iron Man would have activated his gauntlet. He’d be out of there already, Mary and this other guy wouldn’t even be a thought. Iron Man never freezes, he thinks critically and acts on the next best move. But Tony, he couldn’t do anything even though he should be able to. His mind came to a crashing stop the moment Mary was put into his sight and it hasn’t started up again. Tony was trapped, just like 16 years ago, and he can’t do anything about it.

“Honey, our child doesn’t want anything to do with me,” She sounded too sweet, too nice. “So if we have another kid, then I’ll have them both. I really want this.”

Another kid. She wants another one. Mary wants Tony to give her second child. Tony didn’t even want a first one. He never wanted to be apart of her games. Tony could barely handle the thought of one child out there being his and Mary’s, but two? It’s far more than Tony ever wanted. If it happened again, after Pepper and Rhodey already knew what happened last time, he’d have to take some sort of responsibility. The saying has always been ‘it takes two to tango.’ No one will believe him anymore if it happens again. They’ll think he wanted this, that he wanted to help Mary, give her a child- children and then abandon them. Tony never wanted that. Not back then and not now. 

“No. No, get away from me. I can’t do that, I can’t go through that, not again.”

“You really, don’t have a choice.”

Tony felt a prick in his neck, his body crumbling to the floor. He hated that he never lost consciousness. He was supposed to be a genius. Iron Man wouldn’t have let this happen. Iron Man wouldn’t let himself be carried out of the room and chained in a basement by some woman who clearly lost their marbles. But Tony is just letting it happen, just like he did in 2000.

At least Pepper knows where he is. Wonderful, perfect Pepper who will know something is wrong when he doesn’t check in. Tony always checks in on the Bad Days, it’s a part of their system. And their system doesn’t fail. Pepper will send someone for him. Mary didn’t move him out of the building, which means that she expects Tony to still be in his playboy ways. As if what happened never affected him, like he was released and went right back to life as usual. She didn’t do her research and that’s exactly what will get Tony out of here. It’ll just take a few hours.

But a few hours might not be fast enough. 

Mary was in and out of the room multiple times, and Tony was left holding his breath each time. He couldn’t breathe when she was around, couldn’t even think. Tony was lucky that Mary hadn’t done anything, yet. Even the drug they gave him, that kept him paralyzed, he was lucky for that, Tony could feel his insides shaking and he knew it would be visible otherwise. 

He was a weak man for being grateful for such small mercies. 

“I know you’ve met our son.” Mary laughed, “he gets his intelligence from you.”

Tony couldn’t respond only stuck starring at Mary. She was squatting down, only inches away from Tony’s face. He wished he was able to pull away, that he wasn’t just on the floor at Mary’s mercy. If he had just left as soon as he realized, if he had researched her at all, this wouldn’t be happening. This was Tony’s fault, it always was.

“I named him after you, but I suppose you know my Tony by a different name. Peter, of course, but I’m sure you made that connection already.”

While he had, in fact made the connection, it was different for the words to be said out loud. Tony really didn’t want the connection to be real. He couldn’t be father to Peter. Tony didn’t want to be a father. He’s spent 15 years running from the fact that there is a some kid out there with his DNA. Peter was a great kid, but now he couldn’t help put picture Peter with Mary’s face, but instead of blue eyes, his brown ones in their place.. Tony would only see the kid he abandoned, the baby he left in the hands of a horrible person. 

Tony didn’t want Peter, not as his son.

Mary mocked him, making a whining noise and tilting her head back and forth. She patting his cheek before standing back up, looking down at Tony.

“I’m really just surprised that you two managed to find each other. I really thought you were going to let Melissa take care of our son forever. She’s too soft on him, my Tony needs a firm hand to guide him.”

Pepper will be here soon. She will come, and Rhodey will be with her. They will get Tony out of here, and they will never let Mary do anything to him. Rhodey and Pepper are his family, and they know him, and Pepper knows it’s a bad day and they will come for him. Family does that for each other.

Family take’s care of each other. 

And Peter is... Family. He is family. Peter had inserted himself into all their lives and he is family. Tony can deal with it, right? If he looks at Peter and see’s Mary instead he could just ignore it. He can ignore the overwhelming panic, and try not to look for any similarities between Peter and Mary. The guilt he drowned in for not looking for his child, Tony just won’t think about it. Tony won’t think about how he let Mary try to kill Peter, sell Peter, kidnap Peter. He can’t think about it, not even about how Peter watched who he believed his to be father get killed.

Tony just can’t think about anything if it involved Peter’s conception or anything previous to when Tony met him. 

That’s a lot of Peter to not think about.

The sound of a repulsor charging brought Tony out of his spiraling thoughts. He tried to clear his mind, and while the thoughts wouldn’t stop, he was very much appreciating the sight in front of him. Pepper in her own Iron suit, an arm raised at Mary, telling her that she is under arrest.

“Tony, man, the medic’s are on their way in,” Rhodey was there, close to Tony but not actually touching him, “the team is clearing out the rest of the building.”

Nodding would be nice. Being able to walk out of this building would be incredible. But instead Tony was stuck, couldn’t even talk, so he cried instead. 

This was too much. Mary was too much. Knowing was too much. It was all too much. He didn’t ask for this. He didn’t ask for Mary, or a child- Peter, or to be taken again with the looming threat of another child being forced into this world because he was too weak. Tony didn’t ask for it now or even back in 2000. Tony didn’t want this, he never did.

“Tones, hey, no, no. You’re not, no. This is her?”

He couldn’t breathe. Tony should be able to breathe, just inhale. He is Iron Man and Iron Man is very skilled at breathing, especially in high stress situations. 

“Pepper. 2000. This is her.”

Mary laughed. “So you’re the girlfriend? You’ll never mean as much to him as I do. We share a child, I will always mean more to him.” 

Rhodey stayed at Tony’s side, talking over the sound of the repulsor blasting and Pepper saying how an accidental blast isn’t enough to pay for everything Mary had done to them. He did his best to keep Tony grounded and as present as possible. Keeping Tony far away from the dirty floor and the sound of unhinged laughter. Tony just had to listen to Rhodey talk about his trip to the grocery store, and how they were sold out of Kraft Dinner. It wasn’t hard.

It shouldn’t be hard.

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[perpetuelledaydreaming]

Back to you (Chapter I)

Summary:  Y/N Stark and Peter Parker are unconditionally in love with each other, being friends for years was just the step before making it official. BUT, just the weekend they became official Thanos and the snap happened, leaving Y/N broken: without friends, avengers family or Peter Parker. So, she has to move on, at least that’s what everyone’s telling her and she really tries to do it and who better to help her than Harry Osborn. But, has she really let Peter go? What if Tony Stark -genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist- knows how to bring Peter back? And what happens when he does? Is Y/N going to avenge again? Who’s going to lead the avengers now? Who is she going to choose? Harry or Peter? and who the hell is mysterio? *He doesn’t even go here*

word count: 5.5 k

author’s note: This had to be SOOOO long but I’m really not feeling it like making it longer like I liked it as it is sooo yep. Anyway, this is basically just throwbacks because I think they are important to see the relationship and therefore to understand the impact? Next chapter will be brand new things with a new Y/N that can move on (not really) but we will meet someone super special. 

series masterlist

You felt Peter’s leg behind your right ankle and you swore his eyes glimpsed with a little bit of regret as he swiped your legs from the floor, before you knew it you fell into the grey pad. You tried to regain a little bit of air that had escaped your lips as your shoulder blades hit the floor.

“I don’t like this game”, you groaned as you took a look at Peter who was holding you down by the shoulder.

Natasha was watching you closely, while Steve and Bucky were supervising Wanda and Sam. It was a normal Saturday in the Avengers Compound, you and Peter would drive up from New York in order to train with the others every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and on weekends. It was hard to keep it up, especially since you were still expected to meet all your academic compromises. But being an Avenger was an all-time job, you knew it and chose it.

“You were the one who wanted to train with me today” Peter shrugged as he gave you a sour look.

Peter had a hate-love relationship when it came to train with you, he loved spending time with you, but he knew that you would get frustrated with him:  his spidey-senses always being one-step-ahead of the game and his super strength, plus the fact that he hated seeing you hurt. For that reason, he almost always went up against Steve or Nat, but from time to time he trained with the others as well -mostly you- if you were being honest.

“Peter, stop talking” Nat addressed as she looked down at you two. “You don’t have much time now, stop playing around”

You smirked as Peter gazed up to respond to Nat’s claims, taking the chance you quickly threw a punch at his elbow, quickly destabilizing him and grabbing the back of his neck, pulling him away from you and into the floor with the help of your knee on his stomach. Peter groaned as he fell into the floor while seeing you stood up as fast as you could and gazing down at him with a smirk.

“Come on, underoos”, you grinned as you turned around and began running to take the flag that was on the other side of the room.

It could be maddening for you training with Peter, but you liked it. Not only because it made you a better fighter since you had to find a way in order to surprise Peter who had the advantage of having his spidey-senses but also because you liked how competitive you guys could get -and also, you loved how Peter looked with his gray sweatpants hanging low on his hips-. It was somehow thrilling to be at that position with Peter, he was always so soft with you and still when training he was extremely delicate with the amount of force he used for each movement since he was scared of actually hurting you, but he didn’t pull back like he normally did and, for some reason, it gave you goosebumps only thinking about it.

Peter smirked as he used his web-shooters, pointing at your right ankle and then pulling it away, making you fall chest first into the grey pad.

“That’s not fair” You spat as you felt Peter running towards the flag, you glared at him. “If I knew we were going to use our tech, I would’ve worn my suit”

“Stop complaining” Peter answer as he ran.

Peter passed you with a wink as he giggled when you finally stood up, he began increasing his speed as he was approaching the flag, you frowned and began sprinting towards him, getting closer. You really hated running since you were used to flying and your usual training routine was combat fighting but running really wasn’t your thing, the only person who hated running more than you was Peter. He really, really didn’t like to run so when you lunged forward at him, tackling him completely, he wasn’t really surprised.

He fell the first face on the floor with a groaned and you couldn’t help but laugh a bit as you grimaced thinking about how much it hurt, still you couldn’t afford the losing time and had to focus on retaining Peter on the floor enough time for you to sprint towards the flag. Quickly, you tried to catch his right arm in order to fold it against his back, but you felt his back muscles contracting to give you enough notice to know he wanted to turn around in order to attack. Before Peter realized, you jumped high enough to avoid him pulling you into the ground like you’ve done, instead as soon as he had changed positions you sat on his lap again, while pinning his right arm with both of yours and his left one with your right foot.

He gazed bug-eyed at your feet on his wrist and then looked up to you smirking down at him and he felt hot by looking at you: your cheeks were blushed from the action and one strand of hair was falling from your ponytail, your chest was shining with sweat and your chest was moving up and down, covered on that black tank top that you usually wore when training.

“Like what you see, Parker?” You muttered as you gazed down at him and he couldn’t avoid the crimson red appearing on his cheek as his gazed linked again with your Y/E/C eyes.

But he could only remain silent and you felt electricity running through your body as his eyes pierced yours.

RINGGGG!

The alarm went off, snapping you from the moment and you stood up from the pad as quickly as you could, looking down at the floor and simply clearing your throat while Peter stood up, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks.

Nat walked towards you, a deadpan look on her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips while she observed you quietly.

“It’s not funny anymore when you train without completing the mission,” Nat told you as you looked at her with your arms behind your back. It was actually the third time this week you hadn’t completed the task and it was finally getting under her skin.

“We are sorry, we didn-” Peter muttered as he placed a hand behind his back while he gazed at the Black Widow watching them with disappointment on her eyes.

“No, no more excuses” Nat remarked as she crossed her arms over her chest while breathing deeply. “You need to stop this, or you will not train together anymore since you’ve proven you can’t leave your flirty banter behind”

And that’s when your mouth dropped as you blinked faster than usual while looking at Natasha. Peter, on the other hand, wished that the earth could swallow him right there, he wanted nothing more than to disappear.

“What?” You snapped in disbelief.

“Oh yeah, the sexual tension can be felt from the other side of the room” Wanda added excitedly with a smirk while her, Bucky, Sam and Steve walked towards you.

“Language” Steve stated while he looked at her while shaking his head.

“Oh my god, stop”, you muttered as you covered your face with your hands, rolling your eyes as Wanda snickered with Sam. “It’s nothing like that, right Peter?”

It was the only thing you could think about in order to let it go, but Peter remained quiet for a few seconds more than you anticipated. You spun around to see a red widen eyed Peter looking at the floor, he was trying so hard not to look at you, fearing he will get more blushed if he saw you.

The truth was, Peter had a crush on you since day one. When Tony Stark appeared on his house, without previous notice, eating Aunt May’s burn cookies and telling him that he was being recruited, he thought his life couldn't possibly get more twisted. But he didn’t know what was coming, he didn’t know that at the moment he would arrive at the Avengers Building, his world would be turned around by another 16-year-old girl, no other than Tony Stark’s daughter.

He remembered it so vividly: your laugh, it had completely pulled him out from his conversation with Tony, who was showing him around the labs of the Avengers Tower, he turned around immediately and looked around -he actually didn’t know what intrigued him so much about it but he just had this urge to know who it came from- he gave a left and then a right and he found you in the middle of the lab. Bruce was helping you fix some gadgets of your first suit, you had built it mostly yourself but sometimes you would ask Bruce or your dad for advice. Bruce had done a stupid joke about ‘what was popping these days’ and you couldn’t help to laugh at how hard he tried with those dad jokes he always got out.

Peter stayed there, watching you for what it felt like an eternity for him before you caught on that someone what’s looking at you and for some reason you didn’t feel panic when you saw this unknown boy watching you, but you smile at him.

“Spider got your tongue kid?” Sam snorted as he watched Peter, who couldn’t get a word out of his mouth and he was starting to get so embarrassed.

You felt your heart thumping on your chest as more time passed without Peter actually saying anything. It had been after about six months of knowing him that you actually knew you fell for him, but it took at least five more to admit it to yourself. Peter had actually been the first real friend you had in your life, you could tell anything to him, you actually felt like he would never leave your side and it was the best feeling but the most terrifying you had. For some reason, maybe mommy issues since she hadn’t actually been there for you, it was hard to let anyone in and hell, being the daughter of Tony Stark didn’t make it easy to let people in. Therefore, it was ten times harder for you to admit that you were unconditionally in love with Peter Parker.

“See what you did? You broke him!”, you barked at the others as you glared at them. “Come on, Peter”, you announced as you held his hand and started walking away from the others.

“I wasn't finished, Y/N” Nat yelled as you got closer to the door.

But you didn’t want to stay there no more, and you didn’t want them to insinuate more things that were making Peter clearly uncomfortable and hurting you when he didn’t reply, was it so bad for him to imagine sexual tension with you?

Six months later you would find out that it wasn’t true, that Peter was more than happy to flirt and have sexual tension with you, but it would all be for nothing because less than a week later he would turn into ashes.                                                           …

“Y/N, Y/N” Tony repeated, the sound was muffled by all the blankets that were covering you. You heard him rumbling in your room, cursing to himself as he might have stepped on some clothes or food. “Y/N wake up”

He was angry, you knew that he was, but the thing was that you didn’t care.

When you saw Peter turning into ashes, you really thought something had just turned off inside of you. To be completely honest, you didn’t remember much after it and you didn’t bother asking your dad when you woke up in a stranded spaceship. Nebula and your dad were trying to fix the ship in order to make it home and you didn’t know if you made it worse, you didn’t want to and you really tried to get focus on helping your dad but you felt mostly numb, it was like you were on a catatonic state, you snapped out from it momentarily when your dad needed help with his wound.

But other than that, everything turned dark, you were sure that if it wasn’t for Carol coming for you, then you wouldn’t have made it longer and the worst thing was that you felt like you couldn’t help yourself.

“Y/N I’ve had enough” Tony’s shout woke you up from your thoughts and you uncover yourself from the blankets.

You watched your father’s face contorted as he looked at you, you knew you didn’t look good. You had a dark purple bag under your eyes, the liner and mascara didn’t help much, and he could tell you had been crying -again-, your hair was dull and lifeless, and you were breaking out. But for Tony, the most upsetting thing was your eyes, how they depicted incredible sadness and it hurt his heart seeing you like this.

He hated it.

“What?” You muttered as you rubbed your eyes with the back of your hands.

“Y/N I’ve had enough. Enough with the drinking, enough with staying in bed three days in a row, enough with the partying, enough with the drugs. You need to stop”, Tony stated as he looked at you concerned.

You scoffed.

“I don’t do drugs”, was the only thing that came out from your mouth as you decided to look at the hour on your phone, but it was too bright.

“I know you haven’t, but I saw that little bag you have there, and I know you’ve had it for a while”, Tony stated in silence, his eyes were piercing you as you tried to look away.

It was true, you had tried to keep it hidden for a while now. When you were in one of your little adventures, those nights out in one of the clubs still working after the snap, someone had handed them to you and you had been drunk enough just to place them in your back pocket. When you woke up and you saw them, you immediately knew you had to throw them away, but you simply didn’t, you didn’t want to think why.

You remained silent.

“The thing is, Y/N, I used to know you would never use them but now I’m not so sure”, Tony stated a deadpan expression in his face.  

It had honestly been a while since you felt like something actually hit you, that something made you react. You had been feeling numb ever since the snap and you had been especially trying to keep it together as much as you could in front of your dad, hence why you remained distance. You wanted to believe that he or any other remaining Avenger didn’t know you were that bad, you honestly tried but it had gotten worse and worse as the time passed. For you, everyone was trying to get past it, working to fit themselves into this new hopeless world. Especially your dad and Steve who were so resilient because of their past experiences that you felt like you were actually just dragging everyone down.

The only one you thought was feeling the same way was Natasha, but you ended up placing distant again and again because as she tried to let you talk, you couldn’t without feeling the urge to hurl. And so, you had built so high walls around you, around your heart and you simply tried to remain to yourself, tried to keep it together and simply carry your problems somewhere else and numb them as better as you could.

“Dad…”, you whispered, you tried so hard not to let the tears spill once again because your eyes were so tired of them, but you couldn’t help yourself. “I’m sorry”, were the only words that slipped out of your mouth before you began sobbing uncontrollably.

He felt his heart clenching on his chest as he saw your body trembling uncontrollably, once you let out the first tear, the rest followed like an unbroken stream. It was tough seeing you like this, he was so sorry you had lost almost everyone when Thanos had snapped away half of humanity and he knew you had it rougher than anyone because of your age.

While you were stranded into outer space, Tony really thought it was the exhaustion and grief and trauma, but that you would be okay as time passed, especially considering that Pepper had survived, and your little sister was on the way. But once you returned and you began staying more and more in your room, then you started sneaking out at night and then you simply stopped talking.

He especially knew it when entering your room while you were sleeping after you arrived at 5:00 a.m. he saw you watching a video of you and Peter. You were messing around that day at the MOMA, you were trying to take does “couple-like” pictures where you are holding Peter’s hand while dragging him into another exhibition. There was no way you were going to get over that easily, he thought.

“Honey, it’s going to be okay” Tony muttered as he began holding you, you looked extremely tiny as you let yourself melt in your father’s hands after so many months trying to ‘keep it together’ as you could.

“It’s just not fair. Wanda’s gone, Vision’s gone so is Bucky and Sam. Not even Ned, MJ, Betty or Flash didn’t survive”, you explained your father between sobs. “And Peter, we were going to be together and we wanted to do so much”

Tony knew it wasn’t fair and he still had nightmares of you crying over the ashes of Peter. He had lost the boy and it broke his heart.

“I know, this broke your heart in ways that I can only imagine” Tony assured you as he played with your hair. “And I know you got it worse than many of us”

You simply nodded in agreement, as your mind flashed moments when you were working with Peter on your lab when you were having training sessions with Wanda, when you went for pizza with the Midtown gang, but it was all gone.

“I always thought it would get easier”, you inhaled deeply as you tried to calm yourself without much success, “

And so, Tony shook his head and he clasped your face in his hands, so you could look at him. His gaze was strong and there was a little smile on his face.

“It does get any easier kid if you are ready to work for it”, Tony’s stated as he looked at you tenderly, “I understand it’s harder for you, you lost a lot. But there are people who lost even more than us. You have me, Pepper is here and that little monster on Pepper’s belly, she’s going to be here soon. You have a family here and we love you. It might not be the one you had, but we are here.”

And as your father said those words, with his eyes on the verge of tears but that also dripped so much love, you stopped crying. Your tears came to an end and it was the first time in a while that you simply stopped at will, not because you were too tired, and you fell asleep or because they didn’t come out anymore.

“I’m so sorry”, you whispered, overwhelmed but the new feeling. “I just don’t know how to be me, I’ve been feeling so off this last seventh months and I just don’t know how”

Tony smiled because those words simply brought him back to the cave with Yinsen when he first created Mark 1. Don’t waste it, don’t waste your life, Stark, he thought.

“You simply don’t waste it honey”, his voice breaking a bit as he pulled you into a hug. “Peter wouldn’t let you waste it.”

And then something clicked on you.

                                                            …

“You have to be kidding me…”, you spat out as your suit quickly materialized around you while you were walking out with Peter from this pizza place on Lower Manhattan you loved when you saw Scorpion jumping from one of the buildings, from the D.A. building and people were screaming like crazy on the streets.

Peter ran inside to put on his suit while he was cursing to himself, you couldn’t help to scoff as you saw how Scorpion was growling, scaring bystanders.

It had been a couple of months of Scorpion attacking New York and making you incredibly annoyed. You were in finals and Junior year was actually getting to you since you had to start sending college applications soon. Everyone, apparently, knew where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do, MJ was clearly sociology on Columbia and then she would go for Law, MIT was a no-brainer for Ned, Flash was actually thinking of taking a sabbatical semester to travel and Betty had been already taking classes on Yale. Everyone but you and Peter. He was actually as confused as you were on what to do: He knew he wanted a degree, but he also knew that he wanted to be a full-time Avenger like Steve or Tony, but he didn’t know exactly which came first.

You had been actually discussing with your dad your career path since you actually didn’t know if you were going to MIT. It hadn’t been pretty breaking it up to him the day before and Peter had decided to buy you a slice of pizza to make it better.

Well, until Scorpion decided to make an appearance.

“Come on out to play Stark, come out to play with Spider-man” Scorpion sang from the entrance of the D.A.’s office and his eyes gleamed with malice when he saw you in your suit, landing in front of him.

If you were being completely honest, Scorpion didn’t scare you at first but in more recent attacks you had been noticing that his suit grew more and more complex with time and now you were kinda nervous. He always managed to knock you out enough time to escape before you could get back up or before the other Avengers who weren’t on missions would come and help you.

“H.A.P.P.Y, please evacuate all the civilians from 35th street to 50th street. Notify first responders and also my dad and Steve”, you muttered as you crack your neck. It had been a rough training yesterday with Nat, but you felt more prepared.

“Will do, Miss Stark”, H.A.P.P.Y. spoke in your ear.

Scorpion laughed at you and as he started dangling from the first floor, you saw who he was holding with his tail, the D.A. was shitless scared being squeezed by the villains’ tail as a white cloth was wrapped around her mouth.

“You know Stark, Mr. D.A. right here didn’t think I could be more than an actual private investigator, she didn’t think I could become a hero, even bigger than Spider-man, hell even better than Iron Man.” Scorpion laughed as he licked his lips.  

“Don’t flatter yourself”, you said as your suit quickly calculated which was the best move to remove the D.A. from Scorpion’s tale. “You really think you could be better than Iron Man? You can’t even reach Spider-man’s levels”

“I don’t know if that’s an insult or a compliment”, Peter said into the com as he landed on the building's window, crawling over the windows.

Scorpion growled as he turned around and watched Peter crawling closer and closer to him. “I’m a real hero, you freak!” He yelled as he lunged towards Peter, climbing the building again but being distracted enough to let the D.A. a little bit looser on his tail.

You smiled to yourself as you flew silently towards Scorpion while he kept climbing the building going after Peter who was executing a flawless gymnastics routine as he dodged every single hit that Scorpion sent his way, thanks to his spidey senses.

Peter knew each and every one of the movements that he was throwing and for most of it, he was avoiding his claws from ripping his body while trying to immobilize them with the web. But for some reason, they weren’t that strong for him anymore.

And he got a feeling that it wasn’t good.

But you weren’t paying much attention as you quickly and silently as you could take a hold of the D.A.’s hand. Always take a hostage to a safe place first, then attack the enemy, you thought as your mask quickly disappear as you smiled to calm the D.A. down.

“Hey Mrs. Beck”, you smiled as you took off the cloth and she inhaled sharply. “I’m getting you out of here, but I need you to hold my hand really tight”

The only thing she could do was a nod in affirmation as you smiled, and the mask materialized back. You flew a little bit farther away, while still moving in sync with Scorpion’s movements against Peter. You were on the sixth floor by now and knew it would get even risky if you didn’t execute your plan. Breathing deeply, you pointed your left hand at the Scorpions tale, a safe distance from the D.A.’s and fired.

Scorpion howled as his tail quickly loosen up from the D.A.’s body and you knew it was your moment. You pulled the D.A. from his tail and with your left hand you shot the closest window to your left, then as carefully as you could give the circumstances you threw the D.A. into the building, making sure she landed on the mat floor between some desks.

She did, she stood up as soon as she could and began running into the building.

“Okay Peter, D.A. is secure now w-”, were the only things that left your mouth as Scorpions tail came careening towards you, slamming into you and throwing you towards the building next door.

It was so fast and so hard, that you didn’t even realize you had crashed against several windows and found yourself into one of the offices of the next building. You groaned as you stood up a little bit dizzy and watched as Peter was trying so hard to stop Scorpion from coming for you, webbing him up as he said.

“Y/N, go!” Peter screamed into your com as Scorpion ripped the last web he had placed on his claw and had a few missing steps to crawl into the building you had fallen into. A sullen expression was drawn on his face as his twisted smile as he violently crawled closer and closer to you, the building shaking with every move he made.

You were right, he had gotten bigger and stronger.  

“Fuck fuck” you mumbled to yourself as you jumped from the building and tried to fly as fast as you could outside the building, but it didn’t exactly go your way.

You jumped from the broken window as soon as you could, figuring it would be okay and you would get steady later but then you felt his strong grip on your ankle. You didn’t think he could touch you, you didn’t think he would but as closer, as it got, you got little to no time to react to his claws when you felt a sharp sting on your ankle and you screamed.  

“You are dead meat, Stark!” He yelled with a growl as he held onto you, not allowing you to fly.

You turned around, ready to fire any number of shots for him to let you go but you didn’t need to because as soon as you gazed into Scorpion’s scarred eye you saw Peter. He was doing a chokehold on Scorpion, who was already turning purple and before you knew it, he had released you.

“Y/N I got you, go!” Peter yelled as you flew a little bit farther away, stunned by how quickly Peter had entered to help you.

But before you could say anything, you saw how Scorpion, with the same claw he was holding you with, reached for Peter and snatched him from his back, ripping Peter’s suit and painfully drawing three marks on Peter’s back that quickly gush out blood.

He screamed.

“PETER!”, you screamed as you watched with horror how Scorpion threw Peter from behind his back into the air.

And you felt your stomach dropping while Scorpion smiled sinisterly at the boy falling into the air but his smile faded away when he saw The Falcon flying towards him, firing shots while he made a run for it.

Peter was trying to react, to pull a web quickly so he could swing but the thing was the scratches -that would heal up quickly because of his power- had reached his muscles. Therefore, he failed and failed to really use his web-shooters and he was going to try again, one more time because the floor was getting closer and closer as the seconds passed.

When suddenly he stopped, he stopped falling into nothingness and when he opened his eyes, you were holding him. He smiled under his mask.

“Steve, he’s going out, his losing too much blood help”, Peter heard you said into the com, he was indeed seeing less and less. “I got you right back”, you whispered as you almost reached the floor where Steve was waiting for you two.                                                         / 

You were holding Peter’s hand in the white and grey room on the medical wing in the Avengers compound, he was laid on his stomach because of his injuries. Thankfully, the available Avengers had come as quickly as they could from the compound, they still didn’t catch Scorpion who quickly disappeared when he threw Peter from the air and avoided Sam but at least there hadn’t been as much damaged as it could.

It annoyed you that he was still out though, especially after what he did to Peter.

You knew he was going to recover fast, by the night there would only be scars there and he wouldn’t be in the medical wing for more than a couple of hours, but you still worried about him, a lot. You weren’t actually ready to say it out loud, that you were actually falling in love with your best friend. It was weird because it started small, if we were being honest, you hadn’t even noticed but then it hit you like a cold shower and now you only pictured him with you.

“He’s going to be okay, you know that, right?”, Steve’s words snapped you out of your thoughts, you gazed at the door where he was with his arms crossed and leaning on the frame of the door.

You rolled your eyes, he had recently done one of those infomercials for the board of education and it had been ingrained into your memory when they showed your uncle on GYM class.

“Yeah, I know. I just …”, you licked your lips trying to catch the right words, “I just don’t want him to wake-up alone, this is one of those time where he was really hurt”

You nodded and swallowed hard as Steve’s eyes pierced you, but your eyes remained on Peter’s soft features, his eyelashes, his mouth, his nose… you liked to see him this calm.

“You know, Peter knew better than to approach Scorpion like that.” Steve said as he watched you from the door, “We practiced it a few weeks ago with Nat, he knew that he needed to be certain that the subject was weak, that he could overpower him”

Your eyes finally left Peter, watching Steve suspiciously about what he was saying.

“I know how to do a safe chokehold, you taught me.”, you let out silently, since you didn’t want to wake Peter.

“I’m just saying that if he did that today, knowing the risk that it entailed, he must really like you”, Steve whispered with a smirk on his face and you felt the crimson red growing on both of your cheeks as your eyes quickly focused on your hold on Peter’s hand.

“Oh my god, we are just friends”, you whispered back and tried your voice not to crack under the pressure as you looked at Steve who was smiling a bit. “We are best friends, can’t you let it go?”

“I’m just saying that he really cares about you and… it’s okay if you really care about him in that way”, Steve let out and you swear that if Peter somehow heard this conversation then you would probably die of embarrassment.

“H.A.P.P.Y can you lead Mr. Captain America to his room on the compound before I have to get up?”, you murmured as you glared at Steve who simply raised his hands and giggled as he began walking away.

“He really likes you Y/N” Steve let out before the door of the room closed.

You breathe a little easier once Steve left but you couldn’t help smiling a bit as you held Peter’s hand a little bit tighter.

#spiderman #spiderman homecoming #spiderman fanfiction #spiderman fan fic #spiderman imagine #spiderman x reader #spiderman far from home #spiderman headcanon #peter parker #peter parker fanfic #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker headcanon #peter parker x stark!reader #peter parker oneshot #tom holland #tom holland imagine #Peter parkerxStark! #stark!daughter #stark!reader marvel #marvel #avenger #avengers family #avengers fanfic

[pancakesfor2]

And They Were Roommates (3)

Summary: Unforeseen circumstances lead to you needing a roommate; when Bucky steps up, old feelings come back to light. The only problem is that he has a girlfriend.

Warnings: Cursing,

Words: 1161

Written for @babylevines writing challenge! the prompt will be in a later chapter :)

Note: This chapter is when things get juicy, I hope you guys don’t hate me too much after it :) Very excited for you to read chapter four because it’s probably my favorite one in the whole series!

Masterlist and Series Masterlist in Bio!

Living with Bucky was much more fun than living with Jessica. For starters you actually spoke to each other, eating breakfast and dinner together every day. You’d wake up, get ready, and then meet in the kitchen before going to your respective classes. Then after your classes were over, you’d come home and whoever’s turn it was would make dinner. You’d do the dishes together, and if you didn’t have too much homework you’d watch something on Netflix before going to bed. It was oddly domestic, in a way you didn’t like to think too much about. 

Bucky talked about Dot sometimes, but she rarely came over to your apartment. When she did you barely spoke, and you could definitely tell she wasn’t the biggest fan of Bucky’s new living arrangements. You had to remind yourself a couple of times that their relationship was none of your business, especially when she 

You didn’t have any classes today, so you and Tony were going to spend the whole day in his lab. The whole space was gorgeous, and because it belonged to Tony, you were allowed to basically do whatever you wanted. The building wasn’t a part of the school, but it was right across the street from it. After he blew up the campus lab for the second time. Tony had decided to just buy a warehouse close by and do his work there. And because you were one of his best friends, you had your own space in the building. 

Your favorite part of the lab were the floor to ceiling windows in front of your workspace. You could see everything happening outside, but nobody outside could see you. It was great because it let in a lot of natural light, and from time to time you’d take a break and people-watch. Sometimes you and Tony would work together but today you had separate projects that you wanted to finish while you had the day off. 

You’d been working for a couple of hours, when you decided to take a break and look out at the people outside. You didn’t like leaving your area a mess, so you were organizing some of your tools, when you noticed a couple making out right in front of your window. The amount of PDA was making you a little uncomfortable, but before you looked away you noticed something familiar about the girl. Holy shit. The girl was Dot. Fuck. Dot was cheating on Bucky. Holy fuck. “Fuck, fuck, holy fucking fuck,” you whispered.

Quickly you pulled your phone out and took a couple of pictures, for proof when you told Bucky. How were you going to tell Bucky? Were you going to tell Bucky? “Of course I’m going to tell Bucky,” you said out loud. This was the most awkward situation you’d ever been in, but you knew it would get even worse when you had to tell Bucky that his supposedly loving girlfriend was with another guy. 

There was no way you’d be able to concentrate on anything now, so you left your work behind and went to go talk to Tony. “What are you working on?” you asked, walking into the main room of the warehouse where he worked on his larger projects. 

““I’m trying to figure out a couple of bugs in the new repulsor tech that I was telling you about last week.” He looked up from where he was working on the blueprints on one of his tablets. “Okay whats up?” This was why Tony was your best friend, he was always able to pick up on when something wasn't right with you, without you having to say a single word. 

“Hypothetically, if Steve was cheating on you would you want someone to tell you?” 

“Yeah, of course, but this isn’t about Steve and me. So what’s actually wrong?”

“I just saw Dot cheating on Bucky.”

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, dropping his tablet onto the metal table. 

“Yeah that’s how I reacted too,” you replied. 

“And you’re sure it’s her?”

“Positive,” you affirmed. “She was over at ours last night, so her face is pretty fresh, plus I have pictures.” You pulled your phone out of your pocket and swiped forward on the photo, projecting it into the air. 

“You gonna tell him?”

“I have to, don’t I?” 

“It would be pretty shitty of you if you didn’t.” 

“I’ll tell him when I get home,” you decided. “Can you distract me for the rest of the day? I don’t think I can concentrate on any of my actual work right now, but I don’t wanna go home yet.” It was unspoken that going home meant facing Bucky that much sooner, and that was definitely something you were trying to put off. 

“Sure, we can work on that game I was putting together with Jarvis and the holograms.” You and Tony spent the rest of the day messing around with the tech in his lab, having so much fun that you almost forgot about what was waiting for you when you got home. 

The keyword there was almost. Each time Tony suggested packing up and leaving, you shot him down, pushing him to keep working. Before you knew it was coming up to nine in the evening and Tony had to put his foot down and drive you home. 

“Good luck!” he called to you as you left his car and entered your building. Here goes nothing, you thought to yourself, putting your key into the lock and pushing the door open with your hip. 

“I’m home!” you announced, walking into the living room, and stopping in your tracks when you saw Bucky and Dot cuddled together on the couch. Fuck. What were you going to do now? You couldn’t say anything, but you couldn’t talk to him without it coming out. 

“It’s pretty late, was starting to worry,” said Bucky. 

“You know how I get when I’m really into a project––” or when I’m trying to avoid someone “––guess I just lost track of time?” You shrugged awkwardly.  

“We’re watching a movie, wanna join us?” Dot didn’t seem to be too happy with his suggestion, and there was no way you were willingly going to put yourself in a situation that’d make you that uncomfortable, so you made up an excuse to get out of the room as quickly as possible.  

“Nah, I’m heading to bed, see you in the morning!” You almost sprinted into your room, only realizing that you’d forgotten to eat dinner once the door was shut. Fuck. This day literally could not get any worse, and you didn’t even get to tell Bucky about Dot, meaning that you’d have to keep it in for another day. 

Lucky for you, you had a snack stash in one of your drawers; so your dinner consisted of Sour Patch Kids and a bag of Cheetos that you couldn’t guarantee weren’t expired. Guess this is my life now.  

Permanent Tags (Open): @supernatural-girl97 // @viarogers​ // @stuckyandsciencebros​ // @mysticbunker 

ATWR Tags (Open): @annielovebug22 // @rubylovesron // @sebbystanfann // @drunkinthemiddleoftheday // @rogue-barnes-16–main-account // @a-stumpsexuals-world // @bvckys-doll // @meg-holland // @inlovewith3 // @harryngtonewithyourshit // @lil-stark // @whothehellisspideypool // @griffy83// @i-think-i-am-adorable // @crazybutconfidentaf // @thekoribt // @chrisx1987 // @mawimey // @angieptt // @starkxpotts // @omlbarnes // @danivshearwood // @allonszassbutt // @gravedollie666 // @forsaken-letters // @hiddlestaan // @buddy-marvel // @thatsbucknasty // @buckysclub // @buckysthunderthighs​// @ohthedevilsanus​ // @myspectacularfantasies​ // @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​ // @yesfanficsaremylife​ // @adayinmymeadow // @feistytravel// @lovelylilia​ // @rainbowkisses31 // @i-think-i-am-adorable // @pinkstarburrstprincess

Send an ask to be tagged! Reblogs are much appreciated! ❤️

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x y/n #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan #winter soldier #marvel #bucky barnes fluff #tw cheating #bucky barnes smut #mimis4kchallenge

[stories-mostly]

Masterlist

Stark's Bug Tony Stark x son!reader (platonic)

Chapter: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19

TikTok Peter Parker x GN!reader

#masterlist #starks bug #stark's bug

[marvelgirl7]

Chapter 9: Crashing This Party

Fun Chapter, The Stark Family is at it again ❤️ 

Warnings: Fluff, Fluff lots of Fluff,

Pairings: Renee Stark X Eddie Brock, Semi Tony Stark X Pepper Potts

Tony Stark: Masterlist

Bucky Barnes Masterlist:

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5,

Chapter 6, Chapter, 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 10,

Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15,

Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20,

Chapter 21, Chapter 22

====================

Renee was cuddled on Eddie's chest as his fingers run through her hair they stop as he scowls down further and stops at her neck.

"You've always worn these tags, what are they?" Renee looks up at Eddie and smiles.

"So, I'm an odd duck... While most girls had their crushes on like Leo, I had a crush on James Buchanan Barnes." Eddie just eyes her unsure who that is.

"Who?" Renee's eyes snap to his as she sets up.

"Who? Bucky Barnes, Howling Commandos, Sergeant, Best friends with Steve Rogers Captain America." Eddie just stares at her.

"I know Captain America learned about him, but sorry never heard of this Barnes guy." Renee just frowns as she sighs.

"He's an American Hero. I had this schoolgirl crush on him." Renee just smiles as she lays back.

"And the tags?" Renee looks up and smiles.

"Tony was able to get me his Dog Tags. I always wear them; they make me feel brave." Eddie just chuckles as he pulls her close. He nuzzles her neck as he just sighs.

"I'm so lucky to have you in my life Princess. How did I find you?" Renee just smirks.

"You stalked me to my car and asked me to dinner." She snorts as Eddie just rolls his eyes. He plays with the dog tags around her neck.

"These are pretty cool." Renee nods as she cuddles close in his arms.

"I could get used to this Eddie." She whispers as Eddie's hold on her tightens.

"Me too Princess. Me too." He whispers kissing her head. Renee just smiles as she feels at ease, at peace with Eddie. She's never felt this before.

==================

Renee takes a breath as she heads inside the lab, she stops as she sees a package addressed to Tony she smiles.

"Tony something for you." Renee smiles as she stops a little box sits near the package addressed to her.

The words

"Kamar-Taj" Written on it. Renee studies the box as she opens it. A tiny little golden ring thing falls out. With a note.

"Renee Stark, you have strong abilities, so much I see in you, greatness. This Sling Ring when you're ready will bring you to us for your training."

-Enjoy.

Renee eyes the note and the ring and just shakes her head as she puts everything back in the box. Another time, another day she'll worry about it all.

"Tony you got a package." Tony looks up as Renee hands him the brown wrapped package. Tony just eyes her as she shakes her head.

"It's not from me." Tony just eyes the package and opens it. he smiles as he pulls it out.

"Proof Tony Stark has a heart." He chuckles as he reads the note.

"Renee is proof enough you have a heart, but I felt this was fitting.

-Pepper

Renee looks over and just smiles.

"I wish you'd open your eyes when it came to Pepper." Tony stops eyeing her as Renee just sits down in the chair.

Dum-E rushes over to her as Renee pets him she smiles.

"I don't understand how that Robot knows when you're here." Renee chuckles.

"Dum-E has always liked me, Tony." Tony sighs as he goes back to working on his mask. Renee looks over the stats and tests of his flight from the other night.

"I think you've done it, everything looks good on my end, minus fixing a few little bugs here I think your ready, Jarvis what about you?"

"I need to run my own tests, but I agree with Miss Stark." Renee rolls her eyes

"Someday I'd wish you'd call me Renee." She smiles as Tony looks lost staring at the TV. His eyes drift off.

"Jarvis, was I or Renee invited to this?" Renee looks over as Jarvis pipes up.

"No sir I don't see an invite." Renee looks over at Tony as he smiles.

"I believe we have a party to crash Little Star, while you're at it Jarvis add some hot rod red to the suit."

==================

Renee sighs as the flashing photography lights go off as the pack of reporters surrounds them.

Renee quickly bypasses them all and heads straight inside.

"Miss Stark a few words," Renee smirks as she turns around and eyes Eddie from head to toe.

"I don't know if I should." She smirks as Eddie leans in he nuzzles his face in her neck and brushes his lips over her.

"God, you smell like heaven Princess." Renee chuckles as Eddie holds out his hand.

"Dance with me, Princess? I want to have the most beautiful woman here on my arm." Renee just rolls her eyes but nods as Eddie leads her out to the dance floor. He pulls her close.

"I thought you would have asked me to be your date Princess, I'm a little hurt." Renee rolls her eyes as she looks up at him.

"Well I had to crash this party; I wasn't invited nor was Tony." Eddie eyes her funny at that.

"But you and your brother were hosting this." Renee nods.

"So, I've heard." Eddie makes a face as he spins her. Renee laughs as Eddie holds her close.

"I feel like things are going south." She whispers as Eddie nods. Renee looks around as she smiles seeing Pepper and Tony dance.

"About damn time." She mumbles as Eddie spins her again. Renee smiles as she lays her head on his chest.

"I have to go to San Francisco for a week, it's something I have to do about once or twice a month for work." Renee nods her head as she looks up and smiles at him.

"I'll be here." Eddie cups her cheeks as he kisses sweetly.

"I'm counting on it Princess."

================

Renee watches as Tony suits up.

"Obadiah this whole time Renee." Renee just nods.

"I never trusted or liked him, Tony." Tony just sighs he gets ready.

"I need to help those people he sold those weapons too." Renee nods as the suit of armor forms around Tony. Renee smiles as Tony's mask closes.

"Let's get these guys." Renee nods as Tony takes flight. She quickly jumps behind the computer and starts typing away.

"Everything is a go on my end, Tony." Tony takes off as Renee gets ready.

"Jarvis, how is he looking?"

"His suit and his vitals are good." Renee smiles as she leans back.

"Go get them, Dad." She whispers as she gets herself ready to help him in any way she could.

==========================

What's in store next? Let me know what you think ❤️

Taglist: @white-wolf-buckaroo

#Tony Stark #Tony Stark fanfic #Tony Stark imagine #Tony Stark fluff #Ironman #Ironman Imagine #Ironman Fluff #tony stark x pepper potts #Tony Stark X Sister #stark siblings #Renee Stark #Eddie Brock fluff #Eddie Brock X Renee Stark #dum-e #Marvel Fandom #Marvel fanfic #Tony Stark Fandom #Avengers fanfic #Avengers fandom #iron dad #Iron Brother #Iron sister #Iron Daughter #proof that tony stark has a heart #Pepper Potts

[super-marvellous-reads]

Masterlist - January 2020

Links to every single one of the amazing stories I’ve read in January 2020.

Summaries have been provided if the author has written one.

* 1 Jan: Imagine tending to Geralt by @imamotherfuckingstar-lord - Geralt x reader (The Witcher).   

* 2 Jan: Remember How We Used To Do It by @captain-rogers-beard - Ransom Drysdale x reader (Knives Out).  Summary:  You and Ransom haven’t seen each other in years. Not until you make an appearance at his grandfather’s birthday party.

* 3 Jan: The Stand In by @manawhaat - Bucky Barnes x reader & Sam Wilson x reader (Marvel).  Summary: While Bucky is away on a long-term mission with Fury, he finds a solution to the sexual frustration that his time away has created inside of you. 

* 4 Jan: The Tower - Chapter 1 by @fanficwriter013 and @emilyevanston - Avengers x OC (Marvel).  Synopsis: How does someone with no superpowers, no real discernible talents and a whole lot of baggage end up being the girlfriend to all the Avengers?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  It all started with a blur and an abrupt crash. Here is the initial meeting, and the events that follow.

* 5 Jan: Hope by @starryeyedstories - Poe Dameron x reader (Star Wars). Summary: Poe gives you something that gives you an incentive to survive the battle of Exegol

* 6 Jan:  Nightmare Comfort by @multi-fandom-daddies - Peter Hale x reader (Teen Wolf)

* 7 Jan: Take Note by @white-collar-lawmen-and-conmen - Neal Caffrey x reader (White Collar).  Summary: Neal gets a wake-up call that career criminals don’t make great life partners, and his girlfriend reassures him.

* 8 Jan: Back Home by @musings-sans-muse - Henry Cavill x reader

* 9 Jan: Memory Loss (1) - Found by @captain-rogers-beard - Steve Rogers x Reader (Marvel).  Summary:  You find Captain America unconscious deep in the mountains. Despite your need to hide from the world and all the craziness that helping a superhero could bring into your life, you take him back to your cabin, tend to his wounds, and wait for him to regain consciousness. Because once he does, he can go back to his life and you can go back to yours. Right?

* 10 Jan: Do You Trust Me? by @forever-rogue - Poe Dameron x Reader (Star Wars)

* 11 Jan: The Assistant by @trillian-anders - Ransom Drysdale x Reader (Knives Out).  Summary: You’ve been working for the Thrombeys for four years now, the last three years of your service being a glorified babysitter to the most annoying, self-absorbed, dickhead Hugh Ransom Drysdale. 

* 12 Jan: I Wouldn’t Do That To You by @angryteapot - Bucky Barnes x Reader (Marvel).  

* 13 Jan: Imagine You & Thor Reuniting by @imamotherfuckingstar-lord - Thor x Reader (Marvel).

* 14 Jan: Hello Darkness My Old Friend by @beccaanne814 - Tony Stark x Reader (Marvel).  Summary – That day on Titan still haunts Tony…as does every other mistake he’s ever made.

* 15 Jan: Wedding by @thottybarnes - Poe Dameron x Reader (Star Wars).

* 16 Jan: A Good Man by @katymacsupernatural - Dean Winchester x Reader (Supernatural).  Summary: You come home after a relaxing weekend to realize things aren’t quite right. 

* 17 Jan: What Happens At The Carnival, Stays At The Carnival by @beccaanne814 - Thor Odinson x Reader (Marvel).  Summary – You never know what’s going to happen when a traveling carnival comes to town.  Will Thor be charmed by the perilous rides and greasy food, or will the mysteries he finds beyond the glare of the lights force him to rethink everything he previously held to be true?

*18 Jan: Imagine Obi-Wan being your bodyguard by @imamotherfuckingstar-lord - Obi Wan Kenobi x Reader (Star Wars).

* 19 Jan: How It Is by @sunriserose1023 - Sam Wilson x Reader (Marvel)

* 20 Jan: Wrong Kind of Proof by @white-collar-lawmen-and-conmen - Neal Caffrey x Reader (White Collar).  Summary: You, Peter’s sister, have been dating Neal behind his back. When Kramer bugs Neal’s penthouse in hopes of finding incriminating evidence, all he has to show for it is a recording of a secret date night.

* 21 Jan: Stress by @ariesmusing - Tony Stark x Reader (Marvel)

* 22 Jan: Like Old Times by @becs-bunker - James Bond x Reader (Bond)

* 23 Jan: Resolutions by @sass-and-suspenders - Rafael Barba x Reader (Law & Order: SVU)

* 24 Jan: No Words Needed by @centerofthegalaxywrites - Sam Winchester x Reader (Supernatural).  Summary: Sometimes, when it’s come too close for comfort, there’s no need for words.

* 25 Jan: Babygirl by @castielspahdehrah - John Winchester x Reader (Supernatural).  Summary: A knock down, drag out argument leads Reader and John down a very satisfying road of resolution.

* 26 Jan: Secret Love: The Prequel Part 1 - How We Met by @captain-rogers-beard - Chris Evans x Reader.  Summary: The story of your first meeting with Chris.

* 27 Jan: Qualified Cuddler by @angelkurenai - Tom Hiddleston x Reader.  Summary: oh my god could you write a tom hiddleston one where y/n is part of the cast while filming and they get on very well and everybody loves her, she’s got great style. she’s been sleeping bad a few days and ends up falling a sleep on tom’s lap “be my extra pillow please” and tom’s like “fuck i love this girl (slightly altered).

* 28 Jan: High Flying by @becs-bunker - Sam Wilson x Reader (Marvel).  Summary: Sam offers to look after his girlfriends son while she’s away for work. 

* 29 Jan: The Ransom Note by @thranduilsperkybutt - Ransom Drysdale x Reader (Knives Out.  Summary:   Being Meg Thrombey’s childhood best friend meant that, whenever she would return home to her grandfather’s estate, you would frequently go to visit her. Well, this time, Meg isn’t your motivation for roaming the halls of Harlan’s Manor, but rather, the little note you received from Ransom Drysdale is. 

* 30 Jan: Interrogation by @ne-gans - Steve Rogers x Reader (Marvel).  Summary: Who says interrogation rooms can’t be fun? 

* 31 Jan: Time For Bed by @katiew1973 - Chris Evans x Reader.  

#Becca's Reblog Challenge

[lions-and-dandelions]

More commentary for my ACOK reread

1. Another Sansa chapter- so sad reading about all the abuse my baby girl goes through :( and she is genuinely still quite suicidal which breaks my heart

2. She is so fucking brave? <3 going out to the godswood to meet dontos? agreeing to his plan to get her home? she is so brave and actively tries to get herself away and that is so important!

3. dontos being so grateful for what sansa did for him!

4. Sansa being a sweetheart and calling him her florian!

5. love this sandor and sansa scene :)

6. “stripes of light and darkness across his terrible burned face.” Perfect <3

7. “oddly gentle,” yep, that’s sandor

8. love the story about his grandfather and the three hounds saving tytos!

9. and some of his best quotes are in this scene- “A hound will die for you, but never lie to you.” “A dog can smell a lie, you know. Look around you, and take a good whiff. They’re all liars here... and every one better than you.”

10. Arya time! another good chapter

11, Her being so determined to find and bury yoren, bless her heart <3

12. He was going to take me home. He was going to bring me safe to Winterfell. oof, that hurts!

13. Part of her wanted to cry. The other part wanted to kick him. Arya summed up.

14. Such good Gendry content in this chapter! What’s really striking is how different to Robert he is? He might have his looks, but he’s so much more sensible, careful (though still brave) and far less hot-headed.

15. Arya wanting to be a swan <3

16. arya eating bugs :P    

17. Gendry being the annoyed parent having to look after his four chaotic children, arya, lommy, hot pie and weasel, is the best!

18. Arya having so much faith it measter luwin <3 in fact arya just generally has so much faith in the people she loves and it’s beautiful

19. gendry knows arya’s a girl :0 and now that she’s a stark too :0

20. Arya getting annoyed at him calling her m’lady and him just laughing when she starts trying to beat him up :,)

21. i need to cover up baby girl’s eyes so she won’t see the rotting corpses. she’s too young for this...

22. uh oh they got gendry

23. arya being determined to save him like the babe she is <3

24. “What if the wolves come?” “Yield.” :,D

25. damn you hot pie

26. aw poor lommy :( he was an annoying little shit but he was a child and didn’t deserve to die like that.

More coming up soon!

#holly rereads acok