#to continue: hawkeye is talking about something and waving his arms about and his legs are crossed

[variousqueerthings]

hawkeye’s head in margaret’s lap while she plays with his hair, it’s what they both need

#did i already make this post? i feel like i already made this post #it's an image that's in my head so constantly i feel like i might have #hawkeye pierce #margaret houlihan #MASH #to continue: hawkeye is talking about something and waving his arms about and his legs are crossed #in that classic way of his -- even lying down still a pretzel #margaret is treating him like you do a cat -- cannot move for as long as he's in her lap #occasionally her free hand strokes his face or his collarbone #both of them wearing bathrobes and stretched out on a soft couch #no rush no hurry no place to be nothing important to talk about #ultimate queerplatonic dynamic #makes it on new years in keeping with theme #aromantic margaret #aromantic hawkeye

[inaredflush]

can you see right through me...

a kate bishop drabble inspired by + featuring @razorfst

“Wait, wait wait!” Kate called as she heard the door opening, flying down the curved stairs of the penthouse. Andrei had been living there for about six months at that point and it seemed like all of the kinks had been worked out. She never expected to be so madly in love with one person, well, ever. But he had her captivated mind, body, and soul.

It was disgusting.

The heiress got to the bottom step and practically leapt into his arms, noting that he’d hardly made a sound when he caught her. As soon as she had her arms wrapped around him Kate planted a kiss on his lips. “Don’t forget we have a reservation at Raoul’s at seven.” Not that he ever really forgot, but Kate was Kate and a gentle reminder never hurt. 

Soon she was planting another kiss on his cheek. “I love you.” Her legs dropped from around his waist and she landed back on the floor. “Kick some ass.” Andrei was only going to practice, but a little encouragement never hurt. With a smile and wave he was off and Kate had the apartment to herself for the next several hours.

Which was perfect, because it was time to start practicing. Andrei knew that she had a nice dinner planned that night. But what he didn’t know? Kate was going to be joining him at the next Olympic Games.

Well, that was her plan anyway. The dinner was her way of announcing her intent. She was one of the best archers in the world and had her desire to be a superhero not interfered she could’ve gone to the Olympics years ago. It was something she’d mentioned a few times just to make sure she wouldn’t be stepping on his toes and he was always encouraging. Plus, what was cooler than a couple who went to the Olympics together?

Kate made her way back upstairs and took a sharp right to the utility closet. At least that’s what she’d told Andrei it was. In actuality it was an archery lane her father had made for her out of an old servant’s corridor that had been in the building since it was built. The long, narrow hallway was perfect for target practice and Derek had made sure it was well-lit so Kate could perfect her craft.

Unfortunately, it had sat empty for years and was covered in a layer of dust. Everything from the target to her arrows were an off shade of their true colors and slightly fuzzy. “Ew.” Kate mumbled before going to find a rag to clean everything off. 

Half an hour later the target, arrows, and bow were clean while a foot trail was made in the dust on the floor. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough. “Okay, here we go.” Kate said quietly, grabbing the worn-down part of the bow and holding it up just like she had for years. It felt the same, it looked the same, but something felt off. “Hmm,” Her blue eyes examined the weapon, brows furrowing. “Maybe it just needs a new string.”

What had used to take her under two minutes took her a solid ten now, but her bow was re-strung to what she needed. “One more time.” Kate grabbed an arrow and knocked in onto the bow, holding it up and trying to pull the string back. It felt impossible, and Kate soon realized her hands were trembling. That was new.

“What the hell?” The woman whispered as she relaxed her stance and starred down at her hands. They felt like someone else’s, because Kate’s hands didn’t shake.

Hawkeye’s hands didn’t shake.

“It’s just jitters.” Kate told herself, taking the chance to shake her hands out like that would help her any. “It’s just jitters, I haven’t done this in a while.” She continued to talk to herself in the hopes that it would magically keep her hands from shaking. The archer put the bow and arrow down once more and started to pace, giving herself a pep talk as she did. Her audible words soon mixed with her father’s voice in her head, encouraging her.

“Just take a deep breath, Katie. Now focus, and release!”

“Just focus and release. I can do that” Once more the youngest Bishop walked back to her bow and picked it up, holding it firm in her hand. No more shaking, Kate smiled and lifted it up toward the target. She practiced pulling the string back a few times just to get her form right before outing the arrow back where it belonged.

She took a deep breath. She focused. And she released.

“Kate!” Clint yelled from the catwalk above her, bring her attention to the man that was rushing toward her with the knife in his hand. 

“Shit-“ Kate scrambled back to buy herself some time as she got her arrow ready. “Don’t do this.” She begged the man, but instead he lifted his hand to throw the blade at her chest.

She released and the man staggered back, her arrow buried in his heart. This would make her second confirmed kill at just 20 years old. The archer rushed forward to check for a pulse, but there was nothing. With a trembling hand Kate reached up to close his eyes, a wave of nausea rushing over her. 

Kate looked down when her knee hit something to find his wallet had fallen from his pocket. Knowing better, she reached down to open it. 

Peter Anthony Tyson. Aged 39. From Staten Island, New York. An organ donor.

And a father.

Her blue eyes locked on to the wallet-sized family photo. He stood smiling with his son on his back while his daughter seemed to dance in front of his wife. It was an outtake, but they were all laughing. They were all happy.

And Kate had killed him.

“Kate, we gotta go!” Clint rushed toward her and gripped her arm, ripping her away from the man as distant explosions started to get louder and closer.

A scream ripped her out of the memory and she throw her bow down the lane, skittering to a stop just under the bullseye she’d just shot. Her eyes were so blurred with tears that she hadn’t seen it before scrambling out of the room. Kate slammed the door behind her like someone was chasing after her. Her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the hardwood floor of her hallway. 

A panic attack. Kate hadn’t had one of these in years. Not since she’d retired. But the mere feeling of shooting that arrow again sent her on a spiral she felt would never end.

“You’re just going to abandon us?”

“Kate, what about all of the people who need help?”

“Some people just aren’t made to be heroes. I guess you’re one of them.”

“I knew you wouldn’t last.”

“Help!” Kate gasped, her neck stretching as she tried to keep from drowning in her own emotions. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and into her ears and hair as she lay helplessly on the ground. “Somebody-“

But she was alone. Just like her mother said she would be. Alone, spoiled, and useless.

A sob ripped from her chest as she continued to struggle for air. Her body shook and she thought she was going to faint from the crushing weight on her chest.

“You’re throwing this away?! Because you killed some bad people?!” Her mother yelled. Kate flinched as she raised her hand, but Eleanor just scoffed. “I knew you were pathetic.” She spat. “You’re a disgrace, Kate.”

Her blue eyes opened again, looking around to try to find her mother. She swore she had just been yelling at her again, but Kate found no sign of life around her.

Instead, her eyes landed on a gold picture frame. What used to be a picture of her at her college graduation had been replaced with one her and Andrei had gotten at a friend’s wedding. It was a candid, both of them smiling as he twirled her on the dance floor. All it had taken was a little pout for him to relent as Kate dragged him onto the floor. Her friend had sent her the picture about a week ago and Kate framed it right away. She wasn’t even sure if he’d noticed except for the fact that instead of sitting perfectly straight on the table she’d placed it on, it had been tilted slightly like someone had picked it up to look at it.

Andrei stood in front of the sparsely decorated table by the stairs, picking up the frame as soon as he’d noticed. He smiled, not as wide as he was in the picture, but enough for it to be noticeable. He stared at it for a few moments and puts it back down before going to find her in her office below.

She wasn’t alone. She had Andrei. 

It took a while, but the realization set in. She was loved, she was cared for, and she was making a name for herself in this world. She may never be able to shoot an arrow again, but maybe that was for the best.

Almost an hour after she’d landed, Kate picked herself up off the floor and went to shower, trying to erase the panic attack with scalding hot water. The best she could do for her bow was to turn the light off in the closet. It was something that could be dealt with another day, but she had plans that night.

Kate was coming down the stairs as Andrei came through their door, still panting lightly from his intense training. “Hey hun, how was it?” She asked just like she always did. It was the same answer every time, but it still made her smile.

Later that night she was chatting his ear off as they walked down the street, her makeup and bright smile covering up any sign of her earlier panic attack. She had an appointment set up with her therapist for the next day, but for now she had a dinner to go to. It wasn’t anything special like she’d planned, but he still made it perfect.

A few years later…

“Katherine Bishop!” The Australian announcer called her name, and a bright smile crossed her face as Kate stepped up onto the top podium. Her eyes found Andrei right away as he cheered for her. It was sheer luck that his matches were at different times than hers. He’d been able to watch as she won the gold medal in archery, fulfilling one of her lifelong dreams. 

She bowed her head as the heavy gold medal was placed around her neck and shook the official’s hand. A small bouquet held by a stuffed koala was passed over to her as she stood up straight once more and waved to the crowd who erupted in applause once more. For the first time since she’d gotten to Australia, tears welled in her eyes as she watched the flag rise above the stadium.

She had done that. She was an Olympic gold medalist.

And three days later, Andrei was defending his own Olympic title for Romania. Kate was still decked out in head-to-toe red, white, and blue, but she’d put the colors of the Romanian flag under her eyes to show her support. Even though things got tight Kate knew the Brit in the ring never really stood a chance against Andrei.

As the final bell rang Kate screamed so loud she thought the person next to her was going to smack her. But she didn’t care, Andrei had won. For a brief moment she swore she was more happy about his win than her own.

Kate leaped down from the stands and ran over to the ring, leaping back into his arms just as his father had pulled away. “I’m so proud of you.” She whispered to him.

That night after his win Costin declared it a night of celebration. After getting ready in their separate rooms (they’d requested a shared room since they were together but that was quickly shut down) Kate and Andrei met up and began walking toward the restaurant they were meeting at.

Fingers laced together, it felt just like the night they were headed to Raoul’s. Kate was chattering on about some drama that had gone down on the equestrian team while he listened. She was excited, that’s why she was talking so fast. They’d both just won gold medals and tonight they were going to celebrate, that’s why she talked until she was out of breath. The excitement of the night was getting to her.

Not the nerves that went along with his silicone engagement ring that was sitting in her pocket.

#she wrote a song about me | drabble #ive been the archer | kate bishop #alt verse: kate b #razorfst #none of it was accidental | andrate #panic attack tw #death tw #weapons tw #it gets a little dark but i promise there's a happy ending #nothing was gonna stop me | queue

[powdermelonkeg]

Missing Links: A New Hyrule

This story has a prequel called Secrets in the Breeze! Go check it out!

My Missing Links

Wind took a deep breath, savoring the scent of the breeze as blew by. It had been awhile since he'd smelled salt in the air.

It was good to be back near the ocean.

One by one, the other heroes came through the portal, which shut behind them with a blue flash. Hyrule looked at Wind curiously. "Do...you recognize this place?"

"Nope!" Wind spun around with a bright smile. "But we’re near the sea! That’s always a good sign!”

“I beg to differ,” Legend muttered, taking note of his surroundings.

It wasn’t much. They stood atop a cliff that overlooked the sea-bordering countryside, with a sparse collection of villages tucked into the nooks of the nation. But what caught the pink-haired hero’s attention most was the network of golden roads that stretched across the land, leading towards a grand tower far inland.

In the shadow of the massive building stood a castle; one the young man immediately recognized, which threw the whole tower into proportion.

It was...big.

“So, here’s the plan.”

The redheaded man slapped a map against a tree, stabbing it through with his hairpin to keep it in place. He snapped his fingers, and the circuits of his prosthetic hand lit up in timeshift blue. “We came in here,” he said, drawing a glowing X over a place in the north of the Forest Realm. “The loser that stole my control slate ran off, and we got lost chasing him. So now we’re down here.” He circled Whittleton Village.

Fox watched the hero explain with wide eyes, fixated on his glowing fingertips.

“The guy could be anywhere,” he continued. “HOWEVER, if he knows how to calibrate it right, he probably has a map updated on the slate. And if he knows what the slate does, which he has to in order to pull a stunt like he did twice in a row, then he’d head for Hyrule Castle.” Taps drew an arrow towards the castle and tower in the distance. “We’ve already lost a day just getting out of Lost Woods. He’s probably way ahead of us if we travel on foot. But if we use one of the minecart guardians people drive around here...” He traced his finger along the minecart tracks that stretched across the land. “We can probably beat him there, as long as we catch one within the next couple hours.”

He spun to face his companion, clicking the drawing rune off. “Any questions?

Fox’s hand shot in the air. “Mr. Link? How does your arm work?”

Taps gave him a flat look. “Timeshift-powered output core.” He gave his prosthetic a solid pat. “Sheikah tech. Not what we were talking about. Any relevant questions?”

“...Well...” Fox rubbed the back of his head. “The...guardian things...they take passengers, right?” He looked at the hero with big eyes. “So, don’t they charge rupees?”

Taps paused. He hadn’t considered that. “...We can stow away.”

“Absolutely not.” The Hytopian put his hands on his hips sternly. “These people have lives to live outside of us. It’s wrong to steal labor from them.”

“They’re not GONNA have lives to live if this timeline gets screwed with by my slate!”

“Then we should get money fast, shouldn’t we?”

Taps’ eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms. “I didn’t exactly bring my wallet with me when I got yanked through time and space. You plan on selling your extra clothes for it?”

Fox gasped in horror, hugging his bulky luggage. “Never!”

“Well then. Not that big a problem, is it?”

Fox bit his lip. “...Give me one hour,” he finally said. “If I can’t earn us enough rupees for a trip by then, then we can talk about stowing away.”

Taps rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He held up a metal finger. “You’ve got one hour.”

Legend walked along the strange track, examining the golden triangles beneath his feet as he followed the rails. The power in them tugged at his attention, no matter how hard he tried to look away.

What were they?

“Hey.” An elbow dug into his shoulder. “Hyrule to Link, are you there?”

Legend side-eyed the offender crossly. “No.”

“Well then,” Warriors replied, smirking. “I guess that means I get your share of lunch.”

“You touch my apple pie and you find out exactly what my medallions do.”

“Ouch. Touchy.” He followed Legend’s line of sight down to the ground. “Must be an interesting road.”

Legend nodded, looking back at the tracks. “They’re...powerful,” he said, gesturing to them. “They radiate magic, and they feel...Hylian. Like they’re alive.”

Twilight shuddered. “I certainly hope they’re not,” he said, giving Epona a pat. “The last thing I want to worry about is living roads.”

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

The Chain jumped in unison at the loud sound, attention forcefully torn from the Spirit Tracks at their feet.

Off in the distance, blurred by a shimmer of heat, a steam-powered machine charged down the tracks at breakneck speed. With a frown, Twilight whipped out his Hawkeye mask to get a better look.

It was HUGE; it had to be at least as tall as three horses standing on top of each other. As it rounded the bend and headed towards them, he got a good look at its segments—a house, a tray, and a cannon?

Twilight squinted, adjusting the mask’s scope. “What in Farore’s name...”

“What is it?” Time asked, raising an eyebrow.

“...Some kind of mechanical caravan.” Twilight concluded after a moment of thought, lowering the mask. “And it’s not stopping. We should move.”

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! 

“NOW.”

Quickly, the group got off the tracks, giving them a WIDE distance.

As the steam-powered beast approached, it let out a shrill, screeching noise, causing the heroes to clamp their hands over their ears in pain until it finally rolled to a stop with a pressurized hiss.

Time slowly lowered his hands, shaking off an involuntary shiver at the redead-esque noise. “Everyone alright?”

Hyrule groaned, rubbing his ears sorely. “I think I finally feel bad for DIgdogger...”

“We’re fine,” Four answered. “I’m going to have a headache for the next week and a half, though...”

“Tell me about it...what even WAS that?” Wind asked, scrunching up his eyes as he popped the pressure in his ears.

“‘Hoy!”

The seafarer suddenly snapped to attention at the familiar greeting.

“’Hoy!”

Link leaned out of the engine cab and waved to the band of...soldiers.

They had to be soldiers, right? They had swords and armor. Maybe there was a ceremony or something coming up.

One of the group, a young-looking boy in blue, waved back to him. “‘Hoy, stranger!”

“Everything alright?” Link called. “You look kind of...lost.”

The group looked between each other. “We kind of are,” another one said, a heavily-scarred one with a long ponytail. “Can you tell us where we are?”

“Just west of Whittleton. Where are you trying to go?”

“Hyrule Castle town,” the most heavily armored one replied. “Is it far from here?”

Link looked the group over critically. “...Not really. It’s a 20 minute ride by train. Can I ask who you guys are?”

“An orchestra!” The kid that had initially greeted him exclaimed.

“...An orchestra.”

“Yep!” He pulled out his baton. “See, I’m a conductor, and he’s got a harp, and he’s got an ocarina...”

“What are you playing, then?” Link said, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh-”

“Song of the Hero,” the friendly-looking one in the white cape supplied. “It’s a classic.”

“...Right.” Link held back a sigh, feeling like this was going to be trouble. He could just leave them...

...But this was Bulblin territory. He’d feel bad.

He could just tell the guard captain to be on the lookout once he got to Hyrule Castle. That’d keep them in line, right?

“...Do you guys want a lift?”

The train ride was such a change from walking everywhere. Granted, it had been difficult to convince Epona to climb into the passenger car with them, and Legend was sharing a VERY uncomfortable stare with a fluffle of rabbits gathered at his feet. But, for the vast majority of the heroes, it was a chance to rest their legs and watch the scenery fly by.

And it was incredible.

The only comparable thing Wind had seen in his travels was speeding around on Linebeck’s steamboat, and even that required him to be focused on not running into barrels and sandbars.

This, though? It was smooth. The train ran in a straight line, zooming by acres and acres of land without so much as a bump in the wrong direction, with endless ocean through one side of the car and towering mountains through the other. Thinking fast, he pulled out his pictobox and snapped a few shots as he went along.

When the train made its first stop, the screeching sound was notably more bearable through the barriers of the cabin walls. It still made Hyrule wince, but it was a far cry from the veritable scream they’d had to endure before.

As it finally came to a full stop, the engineer that’d picked them up peered into the cabin. “Nobody get up yet, we’re not here. I’m just picking up some more passengers.”

Time raised an eyebrow. “You do this kind of thing often?”

The stranger gave him a deadpan look. “Nope. Never in my life.” Without another word of explanation, he shut the door.

Time stared after him, taken aback.

Had he just....been sassed?

A moment later, the back door of the cabin opened, and two new passengers entered.

“I told you I could pay fare!”

“Yeah, yeah. Still think we could have saved money.”

They sat in the back seat, bickering quietly and, to Legend’s relief, attracting the fluffle away from him. As the train resumed its travel down the road, he found himself listening in to their conversation.

“-plan once we get there?”

“We start looking. Duh.”

“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”

“Look, if someone uses it, we’ll know. It’s not exactly an easy thing to- ...hide.”

Curious at what had made the newcomer trail off, Legend looked back at them over his shoulder.

The redhead—the one who had ended the conversation—was staring at Wild in shock.

The pink-haired one, on the other hand, Legend recognized instantly. His head spun; the Chain had only just gotten the means to time travel themselves, how had the Hytopian guy with the friendship tokens-?!

Feeling Legend’s gaze on him, Fox looked up, unnerved, then froze in shock as he came to the same conclusion Legend did.

I know you. You shouldn’t BE here.

Suddenly, the train heaved, throwing everyone out of their seats. The once-smooth ride came to an abrupt halt as the train derailed, skidding across the raw ground with a terrifying SCREECH before grinding to a halt and tilting precariously. Twilight and Wild both scrambled to grab Epona and brace her as the car finally tipped, landing on its side with a crash.

Silence hung in the air for one brief, panic-laced second.

Then, in an instant, the redheaded stranger shoved his companion out the back door and vaulted over the cabin seats, barreling into Wild and leaping for the front door. As Wild was abruptly yanked out of his daze, he spotted the Sheikah Slate in the thief’s hand before the redhead made his escape.

Fox stared at Taps as he ran outside. “What are you doing?!”

“Shut up, I’m focusing!” Taps said, frantically clicking through the slate. “Where is it, this layout is atrocious-”

“Did you just steal the-”

“He had my control slate!”

“They had SWORDS!”

“So do we!” Taps stopped on a screen, and sighed in relief. “Finally!” With a blue flash, he summoned his Divine Beast, wasting no time in clambering on board. “Come on, get on!”

“But my clothes-”

“HEY!”

The two time travelers looked over as Wild emerged from the train car to shame mankind, eyes blazing with fury as he raced towards them.

Fox squeaked in alarm, quickly leaping onto the Divine Beast and clinging to Taps. “Drive, DRIVE!”

Wild did his best to give chase as the duo sped off, but his mortal Hylian legs couldn’t keep up with the ingenuity of Sheikah technology. Before his very eyes, two complete strangers fled into the distance with his Divine Beast.

Link picked himself up off the ground, clutching his ribs in pain as he raced back towards his toppled train.

He had so many people on board, he had a horse back there. If any of them were hurt—

Without a moment’s thought for himself, he threw the cabin door open. “Is everyone okay?!”

Everyone jolted, reaching for their weapons in panic, when suddenly, there was a yelp of pain from the back seat.

Sky clutched his stung hand as he dropped the Master Sword, staring at the engineer in shock.

“You’re...one of us.”

#i. am not revising this any more. #i'm aware that it's not my best work but this was difficult. #AAAAAAAAAAAA #anyways. enjoy #missing links chapter 1! #for those unaware #taps is the hero from the botw tapestry #fox is the faux hero from triforce heroes #and the engineer...yeah. spirit tracks #loz #zelda #spirit tracks #missing links is FINALLY #FINALLY UP #botw #linked universe #i need to practice more #the chain gets robbed #fanfiction

[majortuttle]

Beejhawk prompt for there first meeting after the war

Also your a real one for doing all these prompts

(You’re a real gem for sending prompts! Hope you enjoy, lovely anon!)

.

When BJ catches sight of Hawkeye, he tucks his hat under his arm.

The movement in reflexive, a habit he still hasn’t shaken from his time in Korea — the urge stronger still at the sight of a man he’s only ever been able to associate with foreign feelings in a foreign war. For just a moment, again, he’s an Officer. But then, thankfully, he’s pulled back home.

“Daddy?”

BJ glances down, finds Erin tugging at his pant leg, peering up at him from beneath the brim of her small sunhat. Everything about her is small. Even now that she’s nearly five and seems bigger every day. She’s tiny. Or, maybe BJ’s just too big these days.

“Should I take my hat off, too?”

“No, Bug, you can keep yours on.”

She doesn’t seem convinced and holds onto the straw brim with an air of defiance BJ can’t parse. The hat comes up, pulling strands of hair from her braid as she continues her small protest, and BJ simply rests on hand on the crown of her head and squishes the hat back down. They go back and forth like this until Erin’s indignant noises become giggles; already forgetting she wasn’t initially playing a game.

“Hunnicutt, party of two?”

BJ looks up from his daughter’s beaming, toothy smile; he’d forgotten just how wonderful how his name could sound rolling off Hawkeye Pierce’s lips. Three years, it still makes him feel the same way.

“Doctor Pierce,” BJ greets formally, offering a hand that Hawkeye takes with an equal measure of faux gravitas.

“Doctor Hunnicutt.”

“Doctor Pierce.” He pitches his voice lower.

“Doctor Hunnicutt.” Hawkeye matches his tone.

They could go back and forth like this for hours if they’re not careful, but Hawkeye’s stern expression cracks into something so gentle and relieved that BJ can’t help but pull the man into a hug; realizing a moment too late that Erin has been caught between himself and Hawkeye’s thigh as she squeals, “Daddy!”

“Ah! My apologies! You must be the lovely Miss Erin!” Hawkeye pulls away from BJ and gasps, dropping to one knee and taking her hand gingerly to shake it as he had her father’s. “Forgive me, you’re so beautiful we were temporarily blinded and you almost got squished beneath your daddy’s big feet!”

“Ha ha,” BJ plays along, tapping his toes until he’s goaded Hawkeye into a smile. “Erin, remember what were you going to say to Mr. Hawkeye when you met him?”

“Oh!” Erin brightens and releases Hawkeye’s hand, reaching up to squish his nose twice as she says, “Honk, honk!”

Hawkeye falls back onto his heels in delight, clapping his hands as he laughs, and Erin, realizing she’s managed to pull off a small joke of her own, begins howling with laughter.

“You are a gem!” He praises, resting a hand on his chest to catch his breath and beam up at BJ. “Oh, she’s wonderful, Beej. Where’s Peg?”

“Acapulco.”

“Bless you.”

Erin giggles at Hawkeye’s perceived misunderstanding, and immediately he brightens — a broad smile splitting his lips as he looks to BJ for similar approval.

“She’s a great audience,” Hawkeye whispers out the corner of his mouth. “Need about a half-dozen of her on the Maine Board of Medicine. Now, where’s Peg? Should we wait?”

“Acapulco.”

Hawkeye blinks in confusion, head tilted just slightly. “Seriously? I thought she was coming.”

“She’s spending some quality time with her friend Grace — ”

“Oh.”

“— And her friend Grace’s husband.”

“Oh. Well, alright, then.” Hawkeye pulls to his feet and brushes his hands on his slacks, worrying his lip before asking in a falsely cheery tone, like he’s trying not to alert Erin anything’s amiss: “Beej, are you okay? We don’t have to talk about it, but I’m here if you need —”

BJ waves off his concern with what he hopes is a genuinely disarming smile.

“It’s alright, Hawk. Truly. Everything’s mutual. I was actually hoping to talk to you all about it after lunch.”

(x.)

#Beejhawk #mash #hunnihawk #prompt #my fic #post-war #Erin Hunnicutt #BJ: Hi Hawk i have a proposition for you

[fullmetalscullyy]

if you're still accepting prompts, could you do "shh, it’s okay. it was just a dream"?

always, anon <3 and it's funny u should suggest that prompt bc i just wrote something for it a few weeks ago! and you can find it here, already on ao3

so now, u have two for the price of one :') that fic was a young!riza pov, so how about a post-canon roy pov this time? tysm for the prompt and the ask!!!

rated: t | words: 1819 | tags: nightmares, angst, hurt/comfort, post-canon, royai, promised day memories

read on ao3

Roy’s body jerked violently in his bed. His legs kicked outwards, shifting the sheet off of his searing skin and knocking it onto the floor. The cool night air blanketed his body instantly, trying, but ultimately failing, to ease his distress. His dream continued to linger painfully, jolting him upright into a seated position, causing both hands to land flat by his sides to maintain some semblance of balance while his head swung from left to right, searching the inky black stretching out before him. Roy saw nothing, which only made him panic even more.

Am I blind again?

The thought appeared unbidden in his mind. A part of him knew he wasn’t, but he was so disorientated and startled by his nightmare that he seriously considered it. He couldn’t go through that again, though. The dream couldn’t have been real. No, he couldn’t be blind. This couldn’t be happening again –

A light flicked on inside the room, making him pause for a second. He blinked, seeing his legs and the rest of his bed stretched out before him, reaching towards the pale blue wall.

He was in his bedroom, not sitting on cold, brown bricks, devoid of any comfort or warmth.

A dream… It was just a dream.

Roy exhaled sharply and took another deep breath, gulping down the air as reality slowly started to trickle back to him. The second exhale left him at a slower pace, but it still rattled passed his lips as he tried to stop terror from constricting his heart painfully. Heat flashed across his brow and chest and that’s when Roy noticed the sweat. He was drenched in it, courtesy of the fear that still lingered inside of him.

“Roy?”

The voice was quiet and thick with sleep as she called to him. At first it was surprised, but then instantly alert. Not that Roy could focus on anything outside of the horrifying images – and also memories – still in his mind’s eye, but if he could, he’d have noticed the mattress shift next to him and dip as she sat up immediately, eyeing him with concern.

She had surely caught onto what had happened. To what had made him react so badly in the middle of the night. Roy knew he must have looked a state, and that was what had probably given him away, but he didn’t care, because she was okay. She hadn’t been hurt. She wasn’t dead. They were both safe in his apartment together, out of harm’s way and far away from any kind of danger.

Roy slumped back against his pillows and draped an arm across his eyes. His chest was still heaving with his breath while he struggled to get it under control and wetness seeped out from beneath his lids, dampening the skin of his forearm and wrist. The tears had followed him from his dream to a conscious state and Roy clamped his eyelids closed tightly, willing them to stop so he could try and get a handle on his emotions.

Shame flushed through him. Not because someone was there to witness his struggle, for he would lay himself bare for her without question. It was because he’d fallen for a trap. It had been a trick by the enemy. Even if it was a dream, it had cost him dearly, and his Lieutenant had paid the price for his failings. It had caused turmoil and upset to follow him to his waking sate, affecting him so deeply that when he awoke, he still couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. The vividness of it had left him completely stricken.

His Lieutenant had almost died on him before, all those years ago, and his mind had decided to make him relive it, out of the blue, exaggerating all that happened and making it so much worse.

Nightmares were like old friends to Roy, but they were still a struggle. They never really got any easier to deal with or experience. Especially when they were as intense as this one had been. Especially when they involved her dying, either in his arms because he was too late, or while he was restrained by the enemy, unable to comfort her, get help for her, or save her.

Those were the worst ones.

A palm was placed gently atop his head. He flinched at the unexpected contact and his body tensed. Then, fingers came to rest upon his scalp gently and a thumb stroked over his forehead, right between his eyebrows. It moved repeatedly in a calming motion, relaxing his tightly wound muscles, and causing his mind to falter and trip at its racing speed once or twice.

Her touch brought him back down to earth.

“Shh,” she soothed him, “it's okay. It was just a dream.”

Her comfort was incredibly welcoming as her hands combed through his damp hair without protest or complaint. He could feel it clinging uncomfortably to his face and the back of his neck, but Riza freed him from it. The wet strands were pushed away from his cheeks and ears, making him sigh quietly as he started to feel some relief. Her voice was heaven-sent in that moment of strife for him. A buoy in raging waves; something to cling on to so he could survive and get his bearings. It was like a light rain falling over embers of pain of sorrow, washing them away like a salve being applied atop the charred ground.

She was his rescuer from the darkest confines of his own mind.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Her question was incredibly quiet, so she didn’t startle him.

Always so incredibly perceptive and considerate of others.

Roy shook his head and let out a shaky breath. If he opened his mouth his voice would break. He wasn’t ready to reveal all. He would happily tell Riza Hawkeye everything, but he couldn’t just yet. Not when he’d failed her. Again. Not when his mind was happily reminding him of that fact.

Shame flushed through him once more like an unforgiving storm surge.

“Take your time,” she announced emphatically. “I’m right here.”

And that’s all Roy ever needed.

He rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around her waist. Riza had sat up in bed and remained there, watching over him as he tried to calm himself. His face was buried into her stomach as desperate hands clung to the shirt on her back. Riza placed both hands atop his head and stilled, letting him get comfortable before she moved them again. They continued to comb through his hair soothingly, offering a comfort only she could ever give him.

“It was a nightmare,” he mumbled against her. “Promised Day.”

Riza’s hands stilled for a second after his reveal, then continued their ministrations.

“I see.”

Roy nodded against her. They were well aware of how each other had struggled while sleeping in the aftermath of that day.

“It was…” He took a deep breath. “You,” he exhaled, as if that would answer all of her questions at once. And Roy knew it would. “What happened to you that day. And I… I was stuck. I couldn’t do anything –” Roy snapped his mouth shut, remembering seeing the light leave her eyes so clearly inside his nightmare, like a safety beacon that had winked out, leaving only darkness, despair, and horror in its wake.

“It’s okay,” she reassured. Her tone said it all. She sounded pained, knowing exactly how he’d suffered because his poor, broken, explanation had been enough for her to conclude what he’d seen in his dream.

“I was too late,” he whispered. It sounded deafening in the quiet of his bedroom.

Riza was silent as she continued to run her hands through his hair. She didn’t comment, but in some way that was worse. Roy scrunched his eyes up tightly for a few seconds before relaxing, pulling away from her.

He’d failed her again.

He didn’t get to retreat far, though. Riza’s hands followed his movements to the letter, anticipating them perfectly, moving from being buried within his hair to cupping his cheeks. She gently guided his face upwards, so it was finally facing her. Finally looking her in the eye. Fear licked around his stomach, twisting it, suddenly afraid of judgement for his lack of support. It was irrational – Riza Hawkeye would never do such a thing – but he was still shaken and distraught.

What Roy found made his breath catch. Her smile was small and soft. It was so her – nothing too flashy, but reserved and fiercely loving, just like the look in her eyes. It was a smile she saved only for him.

His breath hitched again.

“You weren’t too late, remember?” Her head shook from side to side slowly as she attempted to dispel his anxiety. Her hands dropped and latched onto one of his, guiding it upwards so it now rested over her beating heart.

The feeling was strong beneath his scarred palms, thumping inside of her with such strength – the same attitude she embodied every day in everything she did. Steady, dependable, and courageous.

“Like always, I’m right here. I’m never going anywhere.”

Roy leaned forwards quickly, overcome with impulse, and claimed her lips with his own. A hand buried into her short hair, cupping the back of her neck tenderly as he kissed her with such reverence and adoration.

“Thank you,” he breathed. His hand shifted on her chest to become more comfortable when his fingers bumped into and grazed over something solid and misshapen underneath her shirt.

Roy blinked, then slowly smiled knowingly. Riza returned it, realising what he’d discovered, but she also looked pleased his heartache had been banished and eased for a brief second.

It was the wedding ring he’d given her years ago, attached to her dog tags. The one that was identical to his own.

It was a reminder that they were tied together completely, and always would be. They’d set themselves on a path they could not deviate from, it was absolute, and they must succeed, but they’d do it together. They would remain as one throughout it all.

Their foreheads tipped together, coming to rest quietly against one another and Roy focussed on the sound of her breathing and the feeling of the ring. He tethered himself to them both, slowing his own breaths to match hers.

She was right there by his side, like she always was and had promised she'd be, so long ago. The odds had almost pulled them apart once before but hadn’t succeeded. Roy wouldn’t let his dreams get the better of him either. There were always demons to fight, but Roy was thankful he had her watching over him, and vice versa. There was no one else in the world he’d trust to watch his back. And they’d fight them all together, side by side. Unyielding and relentless.

#royai #royai fic #royai fanfic #royai oneshot #fic request #emma writes #ask #anon

[peanut-butter-parkerxx]

meeting the fam

where y/n meets the peters second family (the avengers)

pairing: peter x fem!reader

status: just started dating

its been 3 weeks since peter and y/n started dating, they've been friends since august and after 5 months of knowing eachother, he FINALLY asked her out in new years, which couldn't be any perfect than what y/n imagined.

Peters been talking to Mr Stark about y/n the minute he had the chance to, one day Sam heard Peter not so subtly talk about his new girlfriend to his mentor.

"oh Mr Stark, she told me that she NEVER watched Star Wars because she never had somebody to watch it with, she said she knew she'd like it but she needed someone to fangirl with" Peter explains with his hands in the air while tony is fixing a device.

"and my stupid ass said I can fangirl with you, coz I'm like a Star Wars geek, and after I blurted that out, I thought she'd ditch me for good, but she didn't, YOU KNOW WHAT SHE SAID? she said she likes a man who's not afraid to say what he likes! I knew then that we would be somethin-"

"yOu lIkE a gIRl?" Sam blurts out cutting peter off.

and suddenly Thor comes behind Sam "since uh *puts a finger up* when?" *A/N: see what i did there ;)* peter looked at Thor confusedly.

"no guys, they're dating keep up" Tony says not looking away from his work

"ThEyrE DaTiNG??" they both scream, eyes wide, and mouths parted slightly.

"is it that hard to believe I have a girlfriend?" peter asks suddenly offended

"who has a girlfriend?" Steve finally entered. Sam and Thor wanted to explain the what they call 'miracle' but before they could say anything:

"peter, you old Capsicle" Bucky out of nowhere buts in.

"how'd you know?" Sam asks

"lets say the walls between the lab and mini kitchen is verrrry thin" Bucky replies stretching the 'really', peter looked at the floor blushing madly, walking slowly about to leave the lab

"now where do you think you're going, tell me more about your little Juliet, Romeo"

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Peters POV

so last Saturday I was LITERALLY being harassed with questions regarding me having a girlfriend, and to shut them up about it I had to introduce them to her, which is a bit nerve-racking, but hopefully y/n agrees.

I was in the elevator trying to figure out a way to tell y/n about the news. The elevator dinged and I kept whispering different sentence trying to find the right one to use.

I took the keys out of my pocket which makes a loud jigly sound since the floor is empty and makes every noise echo, but before  Iunlock the door, it swings open revealing a very happy y/n jumping at me crossing her legs around my torso and smothering me with light kisses all over my face and neck which makes me laugh.

"well hello to you too" i laugh, kissing her nose and she laughs.

"we can use words later, now i want AFFECTIONNNN and CUDDLESSS" she screams running to my room.

"use words later huh?" I smirk putting my keys and wallet on my desk.

"not like thaatttt, what happened to the innocent shy peter?" she says slapping my arm.

"he became more comfortable with his girlfriend?" he replies shrugging his shoulders, which made y/n/n smile, knowing I'm more comfortable with her now then before.

after taking my jacket off, she immediately grabs me and pulls us to my bed. I snuggle to her side wrapping my arms around her lower stomach while she plays with my hair and kisses me once in a while.

"happy?" I mumble since my face is close to the fabric of her, well my hoodie.

"very" she mumbles in my hair

y/n's POV

I lowered myself so I can cuddle peter more, I swung my right leg over his torso and snuggled my head to his chest more, so now he would prep me with kisses all over my face or whisper things to my ear, after a few minutes of silence peters calls my name

"yeah?" I reply looking up to see him clearly, his lightly freckled face, and brown doe eyes shining from the little light coming from his lamp, he looked...nervous? I tilted my head confused to why he would be nervous right now

"babe what's wrong?" I ask, both of us sitting now

"uhh" he would still blush and stutter when I give him a pet names, I giggled softly which made him focus again.

"I was talking to Mr Stark the other day..about..you and I didnt know Sam heard me, but he did then basically the whole compound knew I had a girlfriend, I-I tried to make them stop bombarding me with questions about us buttheywouldonlystopifiintroducedyoutothemsonowtheyexpecttoseeyoutomorrow" he blurts out nervously, he obviously looked scared of what I would say but then he continued "AND I know we've only dated for 3 weeks now and its too soon but I couldn't stop them-"

"PETER! its ok I'd love to meet your second family" I say smirking in the end and he blushed. I was obviously nervous, its the AVENGERS for Thors sake, but he was too nervous I didn't want to cause more pressure for him.

"o-ok! so you're ok with meeting them tomorrow?" he makes sure.

"yess, definitely" I say smiling, he looked at me happily and lunged at me kissing all over my face.

"you *kiss* are *kiss* the *kiss* best" he says looking at me adoringly, and then we carried on cuddling which lead to me sleeping at his place.

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I woke up to peter humming a song while touching my hair ever so lightly, I opened my eyes and saw probably the most handsome morning face I've ever seen.

"good morning" peter says with his raspy morning voice, he hates his morning voice he says its 'too manly' but I think its pretty hot.

"morningggg" I reply with a cheery tone, I wiggled out of his grasp which only made him hug me tighter, "pete, I need to stretch my limbs are stiff from the same position all night!" I giggle, then he finally released me from his comforting embrace.

suddenly peter had a sugar-rush-like energy and lunged out of the bed, did a couple of stretches in a funny way and went to greet his stunning aunt with a kiss on her head, before I went to greet aunt may I changed to something lighter than his hoodie, HIS SHIRT!

After changing, I went to the kitchen, greeted aunt may, and hugged peter from behind "you lookin sexy today" I whispered to hiM trying to make him blush, which worked!

"y/nnn" he whisper shouted, and hid his face.

"now would any of you like to explain why my nephew is very happy today? or is it just because his girlfriend spent the night?" may smirks. oh she definitely knows how to make peter blush.

"oh *laughs* I'm meeting the avengers today!" I say jumping slightly, may was freaking out with me and we started actually jumping up and down, while peter stared at us laughing

"well c'mon we're eating breakfast there!"

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while we were walking to the compound peter sensed my nerves and held my hand reassuringly, I gave him the 'thank you' look and he smiled in return.

once we entered the compound, the cool air brushed my face lightly, there were little squeaks coming out from our sneakers while we're walking, but then peter stopped and looked at me smirking.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" peter asks softly.

"yes Mr parker?" the A.I replies and I was completely blown away.

"where's Mr Stark and the others?"

"Mr Stark is in his lab and the rest are in the main living room"

"ok thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y...OH and meet my girlfriend y/n" he says

"well hello there Mrs Parker" F.R.I.D.A.Y says, I looked at peter confusedly and he had the same expression and cheeks turned crimson red.

"uh hey F.R.I.D.A.Y" I say waving awkwardly to no one.

"uhm F.R.I.D.A.Y? who programmed you to call y/n  M-Mrs Parke-er ??" peter asks clearly embarrassed.

"mister stark did, along with Natasha and Sam" she replies.

"god I'm gonna kill the-"

"Pete its ok" I laugh, rubbing his arms lightly.

once we entered the main living room everyone stopped what they're doing and looked at us

"h-hey guys..uh this is my girlfriend, y/n y/l/n" peter awkwardly introduces me, the room went dead silent, no one was talking they just stared right into my soul the suddenly after a few seconds everybody spoke loudly at the same time trying to introduce themselves first.

"oh my god hi hun! I'm Wanda"

"hello there lady y/n, I am Thor the god of thunder, its a pleasure to meet you"

"oh Don't go all princely on her, she's our cinnamon rolls girlfriend, I'm Nat by the way" she winks

"the name's Clint, also known as Hawkeye"

"James Buchnan Barnes, but you can call me Bucky, doll"

"Steve Rogers *shakes my hand* welcome to the family"

once everybody introduced themselves, peter kept searching around the room, looking for someone, everybody was trying to get to know me more, asking more intimidating questions, but I couldn't pay attention because he looked worried.

so I took his hand softly and rubbed my thumb over his knuckles trying to get his attention, once he looked at me I gave him the 'what's wrong' look.

"hey guys, do you know where Mr Stark is?" Peter finally spoke, bingo he wanted to introduce me to one of the most important people in his life, pressureee, hopefully I could live up to Tony's expectations and he would approve of me,

"he's in his lab" Bruce spoke, pointing at the third door in the hallway.

Once we got to the door, Peter looked at me reassuringly and kissed my head trying to ease my nerves, I gave him a nod telling him I'm ready and he opened the door.

"M-Mr Stark?" peter said, which grabbed Tony's attention, he looked at Peter then his eyes landed on me, he stared at me for a couple of seconds like he was analysing me, then a small smile formed on his lips, That's a good sign, right?

"y/n, its great to finally meet you" he says shaking my hand.

"hello Mr Stark" I say, not knowing what to call him yet so I just decided to be respectful and call him 'Mr Stark' like my boyfriend.

"oh please not you too, call me Tony" he says.

"Tony, love birds breakfast is ready! c'mon Thor's already eating half of the pancakes- wait THOR THOSE ARE FOR Y/N GODDAMNIT" Sam shouts, panicking which makes me laugh a little, tony looked at me, then at peter like he's telling him he approves, which gives me a sense of relief.

when we got to the LARGE dining room everyone was sat in their seats waiting for us three, "finally! the son got his approval from his father!" Sam joke in his awfully attempted baby voice.

"Our baby's all grown up" Wanda says giving him grabby hands to hug him, Peter was madly blushed from embarrassment but still gave Wanda her hug

"wait I want a hug!" Nat interrupts.

"me too!" Thor said, trying to embarrass peter more, which definitely worked. I couldn't help my self from grinning, I loved how the avengers, showed him this much affection.

"well, *stands up from his seat* I wanna hug y/n" tony says in a matter-of-a-fact tone, moving from his chair and hugs me, I obviously hugged back smiling.

"wait- I WANT TO HUG Y/N"

"ME TOO!"

"guys guys, *giggles* stop harassing my girlfriend with affection I think tha'ts MY job" Peter says giving me big hug, kissing my head, I hid my red face in the crook of his neck.

"thank you" I whisper softly

"for what ?" peter replies

"for trusting me to see the most important people in your life, Aunt may, Ned, MJ, and now the Avengers! thank you" I say kissing his neck.

"oh no its the PDA! please don't tell me you guys are THAT type of couple" Bucky says making fake gag noises, which is later interrupted by Steve

"what's PDA?" he asks genuinely curious, Peter face palms and shakes his head

"welcome to the family"

have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening/night!

-quacksonlover

#spiderman #peter parker x fem #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker #peter parker fluff #ned leeds #may parker #aunt may #the avengers #mcu #michelle jones #marvel #sony pictures #imagines #peter parker x reader #fluff #peter #parker #avengers

[emiliaclarkesdragons]

SECRETS: PETER PARKER X ADOPTED DAUGHTER!TONY (2)

« part one »

« part two »

Tony and Peter talked about the benefits of the internship, well it was more Tony talking and Peter listening. He looked a little gobsmacked as if this had come out of the blue and that's when I realised it probably had. I wondered what had caught Tony's eye, was he good with computers? Was he like Wanda?

"I've got some homework to do," I announced, leaving them at the table. I didn't really, I was going to go snooping. Tony didn't know this but I was able to access all the files he thought he had locked. I was somewhat good with that stuff, I think it was from spending a bit of time with Natasha before we found out who she was.

I woke up my computer and logged in, usually, I would use voice control but I couldn't risk Tony hearing me. He had a habit of sneaking up on me. A few taps on a keyboard and three access codes later, I had access to Tony's history. Every button he had pressed, every command he had spoken and everything he had done manually or through F.R.I.D.A.Y. I scrolled through and that's when I found the video. A boy dressed in a red suit swinging from the buildings and catching a car.

"What the fuck," I said quietly as I watched it over and over again. I knew this was why Peter was here. Tony was bringing together an army, a new avengers just to bring Steve down. I clicked off it and searched more. "What are you planning?" I asked aloud, there was a reason for Germany and I was going to find it.

It didn't take me long, and I knew what I would have to do next. I needed to reboot the queen jet it the garage but I needed to do it in a way Tony wouldn't know. And, that was going to be tricky. I was good at being invisible online but in reality...not so much.

I galloped down the stairs quickly and found Tony sitting on the sofa. "Where's Peter?" I asked.

"Calling his Aunt," he said and checked his watch. He stood up, "I have some business to attend, take out on me," he said practically running for the door.

"Hang on, what about Peter?" I asked, "I'm not babysitting!"

"Technically he would be babysitting you because he's older," Tony said. I stood with my hands on my hips and glared at him. He kissed the top of my head and said, "get whatever take out you want and I'll be back later on."

The door opened as his car pulled up outside. I watched him get in the car, grin and wave at me and speed off. I closed the door as I stepped back into the house. When I turned I saw Peter standing there with an old phone in his hand. "He'll be back in time for Germany," I said waving it off, "he does that a lot but good news is take out!"

Peter nodded. I wanted to ask him about his gift, but something stopped me and instead, I asked, "have you seen Tony's workshop? Has he given you a tour?"

Peter shook his head, "no, he only talked about Germany," Peter said though didn't expand further.

"He's a rubbish host," I tutted and encouraged him to follow me as I took him around the house showing off all of Tony's work. It was one of the reasons I never had friends round, there was too much to break, steal and take advantage of here, but Peter was different. Something about him was humble and I knew he wouldn't judge me. "And, now his work room," I said, opening to door, "I don't know what state he's left it in."

"Hello y/n and Peter," F.R.I.D.A.Y said.

I looked at peter with a delighted smile, "F.R.I.D.A.Y knows you already! Tony must have registered you on the system," I said. Then nudged him, "one step closer to avenger status," I joked and he laughed. His laugh was like listening to your favourite song and I made sure to make him laugh again.

"Do you want to try one on?" I asked.

Peter's face lit up, "really?" he asked, I nodded.

"Choose one, F.R.I.D.A.Y won't tell on us, will you?" I asked.

"Of course not, Miss Stark. Your secrets safe with me," F.R.I.D.A.Y said, lighting up the suits.

"I'll put one on if it makes you feel less awkward," I said, watching Peter as he walked in front of each suit. I could see he was trying to decide whether or not to put one on and then I could see him trying to decide which one.

"I can't," he said eventually, turning around. "It's not right."

I smiled, anyone else would have taken up that offer in a heartbeat, but I should have known Peter was different. "That's okay, F.R.I.D.A.Y wouldn't have allowed it anyway. She's a little tease," I said, holding out my hand for him to take. "Shall we watch a movie?" I asked as he took my hand.

We must have fallen asleep during the fifth film we were watching because when I woke, Peter was nowhere in the house. Instead, there was a note on the coffee table.

Thanks for everything, can we keep in touch?

And below there was a phone number followed by pp x. I folded it up and put it in my pocket, running down the stairs to my own workshop before setting out in the queen jet. Tony wasn't bringing Peter into his stupid fight without my say so. "F.R.I.D.A.Y? Play me something good," I said. F.R.I.D.A.Y said nothing, instead, Sabotage by Beastie Boys blasted through the speakers.

I know, it was a mad idea to fly to Germany, I didn't really know what I was getting into. Who knew what waited for me when I land, but as I flew closer I could see the fight was already happening. I landed in the field near the airport, locked up the queen jet and flicked my wrists which had bangles on them.

The bangles transformed to create my own green Iron suit. "Nice to see you again, y/n," F.R.I.D.A.Y said in my ear, activating flight mode for me. Wings pushed put from the back of the suit, lifting me in the air. I wasn't wasting any time and F.R.I.D.A.Y knew that.

I was a fair flyer, this was the fifth model Tony had made for me. I had always wanted to fly but I used to stress how much I wanted a suit with wings and not one like his. So, on my eighth birthday, I was given my first flying lesson with my own iron winged suit.

I performed a few turns and tricks as I reached closer to the fighting and their coms began filtering through. "What was that?" Sam said, "I saw something flying."

I spotted Tony immediately, he was fighting with Steve and so I dived down, knocking Steve down. "Hi, Steve. You doing alright?" I asked, standing over him, letting my helmet lift up so he could see my smile.

"Oi!" Tony yelled and I turned to him, "What are you doing here!"

"Helping!" I said, letting the helmet drop as I took off into the air as Falcon passed overhead.

"No, you get down here right now, young lady!" Tony shouted through the coms.

I flinched, "ouch! If you're going to continue to shout in my ear I'm muting you," I warned, letting a grin sneak on my face. I couldn't help but enjoy the chaos of the fight. I swooped down, tripping up Hawkeye as he made his way to Natasha. "Hi, Nat!" I said, waving as I passed.

Nat stopped mid-run and watched me flip and turn in the air. I watched from above until I spotted him. He had a new suit on but as F.R.I.D.A.Y picked up on his voice, I knew it was Peter.

I couldn't act on it as I saw Rhodes get hit by the abnormally large person. He was flying uncontrollably through the air, "guys, Rhodes! I need help, guys!" I panicked down the coms as I swung my zip tie around him and pulled back. It wasn't enough and I was being pulled along with him.

"I got it!" Peter responded and my heart fluttered, though I wasn't sure if that was through relief or something more.

I pulled back harder as I spotted Peter, he shot webs that wrapped around Rhodes. I dropped down so we were at the same height. Peter was pulled into the air and we both landed on the truck with a crash. But, we had stopped Rhodes from crashing and he flew back to the fight. I followed, knowing there was no time for small talk. "We need to take out the big one," I said.

"I got it, has anyone seen that really old film called Empire Strikes Back?" Peter said as he ran over the plane.

"Told you watching it would be useful," I said over the coms, after all, we had just watched it that night. I saw him slide to a stop and look over at me.

"y/n?" He questioned.

"Yeah, who else would it be," I laughed landing next to him, lifting my helmet and smiling at him, "let's get him," I said, holding out my hand. He held onto my arm and I gripped his. We were on the same page, and although he could swing around in the air, I would be able to give him more speed.

"Woooooooooo," He said and I could hear the grin on his face as I flew around the legs of the giant man.

Just as we thought out plan was unbreakable, the man began to fall and hit us with his hand sending up flying across the airport. I crashed to the floor, hearing the paint on my suit scrape off and Peter landed next to me. Before he hit the ground I used one of my wings to slow him down just a little bit.

"You two are done!" Tony scolded us both as he landed on his feet in front of us.

I let my helmet lift up as Peter took off his mask. After a moment I looked at him, "thanks for the note."

He made a whimper of noise and I took that as a 'no problem', but he sat up and inched towards me. "I really wish we had more time together," He said, I sat up.

"We do, we have all the time in the world," I said. I wasn't sure where this was coming from.

"But, what about your dad?" He asked.

"He doesn't have to know," I said. After all, Tony kept enough secrets from me these days, "it'll be our secret... if you want," I shrugged and looked after suddenly feeling exposed. I wasn't used to this. Feelings weren't my strongest suit.

He smiled and blushed, "I'd like that."

I nodded, looking away again and giggled. "Nice moves by the way," I said, referring back to the fight.

"Your not too bad yourself," He laughed, attempting to stretch his arms but he doubled over in pain.

an: thanks for reading :)

#Peter Parker #peter parker imagine #iron man #iron man imagine #Tom Holland #imagine tom holland #tom holland x reader #Spider-Man #spider man imagine #spider man #avengers #marvel #peter parker x reader #rdj #tony stark x reader #Tony stark #Tony stank

[avengerscompound]

It’s You and Me - Chapter 11

It’s You and Me: A Hawkeye Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Clint Barton x  F!Reader

Word Count:  1830

Rating:  E

Warnings:  Mentions of past abuse, mentions of child abuse, smut (mf, vaginal fingering, vaginal sex)

Synopsis: You and Clint Barton go way back.  Since you joined the circus as a child, he took it upon himself to keep you away from the people who really wanted to hurt you.  For years the two of you danced a line between dark and light.

When he chooses light the two of you go your separate ways.

Fifteen years later he tracks you down.  Those feelings the two of you shared never went away, but now he is not only an Avengers but a single father.  Can the two of you make it work after all this time when your lives have gone in such different directions?

A series told in flashbacks and current day.

Chapter 11: Now

Clint wasn’t home until late, and by the time he came through the door, bruised and battered from some fight that the Avengers had dragged him into, Ebony had come home from her date and helped you get the kids into bed - despite it technically being her day off.  You were in the bathroom, brushing your teeth and getting ready to crash.  You had very mixed feelings about what had happened.  You were pissed that he’d just left you in charge with his kids like that when he knew how uncomfortable you felt in the responsible adult role.  Yet you also understood how hard it was for him to balance being a single parent and an Avenger and you wanted to help him with that.  Even in the short time that you’d been living with him, you’d seen how much he leaned on Ebony and how many of her days off ended up interrupted.  You were also happy with the talk you’d had with the kids and how well you’d ended up getting along with them that day.  You’d tried not to enforce too many rules and thankfully with the help of Lila and Cooper, you’d managed to balance the fact you didn’t want to be the stepmother figure with the fact you were the adult taking care of some kids.

He came up behind you and snaked his arms around your waist, kissing your cheek.  “I am so, so sorry,” he said.  “You know I wouldn't have done that if I didn't have any other choice.”

“What wou you ah du i’ I wa-en hea,” you asked around a mouth full of toothpaste and toothbrush.

Clint laughed.  “Not sure I would have understood that even if I didn't have problems with my hearing.  Take two?”

You spat the toothpaste into to sink and rinsed your mouth before wheeling around on him.  “What would you do if I wasn’t here?  What if you didn't have any other choice?”

Clint blanched and shook his head.  “I don't know.  Take them in with me I guess.  Make Hill watch them while she worked and I tried finding another sitter?”

“Then that should have been the choice, Clint.  You shouldn't have put me in that position,” you said.

He ran his hand through the back of his hair and dropped his gaze.  “You’re right.  I'm sorry.  Was it terrible?”

“No,” you huffed.  “But that's not the point.  You said you wouldn't put me in that position.”

“I know,” Clint said.  “I’m sorry.  I’m… I’m really shit at this.  The parenting… relationships.  I’m sorry.  I’m not saying that as an excuse.  I just… I want to not be.”

You shook your head and nodded.  “I’m not writing you off.”

He smiled a little and looked up at you.  “What can I do to make up for it?”  He asked, tugging at the hem of your sleep shirt.

“Certainly not something you get enjoyment from too,” you teased, as you head back into the bedroom.

He followed after you, looking a little like a puppy that had been kicked.  “Did I really fuck this up?  Are we okay?”

You nodded.  “We’re okay,” you said.  “You and I will always be okay, Clint.  Even when it doesn’t seem like it is on the surface.  And for future reference - you can leave me in charge of the kids.  Just make sure it’s only in extreme emergencies.”

“Thank you,” he said.  He smiled and came over to you, sliding his hands around your hips.  You leaned in and ghosted your lips up his neck, breathing him in.  “Then, I should get some more shit that you’re gonna be mad at me at out of the way now then.”

You pulled back and looked at him.  “What now?”

“I need you to join the Avengers,” Clint said.

“Clint!”  You yelped.  “We’ve talked about this.”

“I know… babe… I know,” he said, furrowing his brow.  “This is… I need you to trust me… The stuff I’ve been working on… it’s got to do with you… kinda… and you’re gonna want to be part of it.  But you have to join or I can’t tell you anything.”

You sat down on the end of the bed with a soft ‘thump’.  The oxygen seemed to be slowly draining out of the room.  It was difficult to breathe and your eyes darted around while you thought about all the things the Avengers might have on you and how quickly you could pack up and get out of here so you could get as far as you could while also covering your tracks.  You’d have to leave Jasper behind.  The kids would take care of him.  Nate quite liked the tabby cat and would sit and give him kisses while Jasper purred on his lap.

“What do they have on me, Clint?”  You asked.

“No… no, sugar,” Clint said, crouching in front of you.  “It’s not like that.”

“What is it like?”  You pressed.

Clint shook his head.  “It’s classified.”

You laughed.  It was a dry and hollow sound and you tilted Clint’s chin to look up at you. “What are they going to do?  Kick you out?”

“It has to do with Jacques…”  Clint said.

Your heart started hammering in your chest and the wave of panic was replaced with a deep burning fury.  The memories of posing for him in photographs when you were still just a child.  How they’d started by just being a little risqué and ended up being explicit and degrading.  You had told yourself at the time that you were okay with it, but as time went on the realization how you’d just let him convince you you were okay because he kept his hands to himself.  If he was doing this to other people… Other kids...

“Is he…?”  You asked.

Clint didn’t say anything for a while, he just caressed you outside of your thighs with his thumbs.  “Help us get him.”

You nodded.  “Okay.”

“Great,” Clint said, kissing your forehead.  “I’ll take you in to see Steve.  We’ll get him okay?”

You nodded, and lay down, curling yourself into a ball.  He got in bed behind you and wrapped you in his arms, pulling himself tightly around you.  “You okay?”  He whispered.

You nodded.  “Today has been a lot to process.”

“What can I do?”  He asked.  “I’ve heard I have magic hands.”

You grumbled something unintelligible, not really sure what you wanted exactly.  He’d come in looking beaten to shit, and yet he wanted to take care of you.  That was the thing about Clint, he knew that the deep down mental scares were always worse than some cuts and bruises.

He sat up and grabbed the lotion you kept on the bedside table.  “Come on,” he said.  “Shirt off.  On your stomach.”

You took off your sleep shirt and lay down on your stomach.  He squeezed the cool lotion on your back.  You tensed at the sudden cold on your warm skin but soon relaxed again as Clint slowly massaged your back moving in from the center and out over your shoulders.  As your muscles gave and relaxed, he moved down working out your ribs and sides and down to your ass.

You moaned under his careful touch and as he moved down to your thighs you spread your legs a little.

“Did you want something?”  Clint chuckled, his hands remained on your thighs.

“Clint,” you whined, lifting your hips a little.

He laughed and leaned down and kissed your shoulder.  His hands moved up the insides of your legs and teased the tips of his fingers over the fabric of your panties.  “What?”

“Please, Clint…” you begged, pushing back on his hand, so his fingers slipped between your folds.

“So needy,” he teased and pulled your panties down, tossing them to the side.  He slipped a pillow under your hips so your ass was propped up, he continued to massage your back with one hand as the other went to your cunt and teased up and down your folds.  You moaned deeply and rocked your hips against his hand.  His fingers moved from your entrance to your clit and back, smearing around your fluids and allowing his fingers to move faster.

A soft buzz spread out through you from your cunt, countered by the deep pressure Clint was still applying to your back.  You groaned and lifted your hips more, spreading your knees wider and rocking back against his hand.  He pushed a finger inside you and let you fuck yourself on it as he rubbed his thumb on your clit.  He kept sucking and kissing at your neck.  You began to moan louder and louder, as the buzz grew and swirled through you.  You got closer and closer to the edge, and Clint took his fingers away and straddled your thighs.

His whole weight pressed down on you and he wrapped one arm around your shoulders, his fingers curling around your throat as he guided his cock, deep into your cunt.  You moaned and pushed back, so he was pressed into you to the hilt.  He began to roll his hips, thrusting into you as he kept you pinned down on the mattress.  He warped his other arm under your chest and began to massage your breasts.  You tilted your head and Clint ran his thumb down your cheek, slipping it into your parted lips.  You sucked on it for a moment, only letting go when a sharp current ran through you that made you moan loudly.

Clint captured your lips, kissing you deeply and swirling his tongue with yours as he continued to fuck you slowly and deeply.

You groaned and clenched around him, rolling your hips with him, so your pussy ground against the fabric, adding that perfect friction.  You began to pant, and Clint picked up his pace.  He started to fuck you down into the mattress, bringing you closer and closer to the edge.  You pushed your hand down between your legs and rubbed your clit.  It was all it took to bring you crashing over the edge.  You came with a loud moan, pressing your face down into the mattress.

Clint’s hips began to stutter, and with a groan, he thrust deep into you, coming hard.

He flopped, his whole weight resting on you, which for the muscular, six-foot-four archer, was considerable.  Yet it was somehow comforting.  You hummed and nuzzled into his cheek.  “You know I feel a certain way about you, right?”

He chuckled and slipped out of you, rolling onto his side and creating a place for you to curl into.  “I feel a certain way about you too, babe.”

You hummed and closed your eyes.  Things were changing fast, and it was hard to keep tethered.  You knew that you loved Clint, and even if not every decision he made was ideal, at least he was there with you when he made them.

// NEXT

#clint barton #clint barton x reader #hawkeye #hawkeye fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #smut #it's you and me

[willsimpforazula]

Sokkla Month Day 3: FMA:B AU

A/N: NGL i did toy with making sokka as mustang and azula as hawkeye but it be like it do. It was either this or Fate/Stay Night AU where someone needs a mana transfer (if you didn't know what a mana transfer is, good. pls stay pure) Anyways, without further ado-

Tunnels

Fifth Laboratory

Central City

As soon as Envy started to brag about how Ty Lee couldn't bring herself to shoot her wife in the face and the look of shock on her face, Sokka knew by the way her entire body was tensing up that this was not going to end well for both sides. While Envy was still oblivious, Sokka braced himself for the screams that were sure to follow the smug laughs.

"Congratu-fucking-lations Envy, you've just played yourself." Azula coldly smirked, her face in a sort of grin that reminded Sokka way too much of Kimblee that it sent a chill down his spine. Pocketing her gloves to reveal a transmutation circle etched into the top of her hand, she turned to look Envy in the eye before snapping her fingers.

Instantly, the room was filled with the agonizing screams of the homunculus as its tongue was set ablaze in a flash of turquoise. Glaring at Azula, she merely remarked "Remarkable, isn't it? After all, the human tongue has a rather high percentage of fat, which makes it oh so easy to burn."

Turning to the rest of the assembled group, Azula barked "Go find this Father guy, me and the lieutenant will deal with this sack of shit."

"You heard the man, let's go."

"But-"

"That's an order." Sokka barked to Aang.

"Look kid, we don't got much time." one of the Chimeras urged. Reluctantly, they started to move deeper and deeper into the tunnels. Before Envy could even move to block, it found itself on the receiving end of another sapphire barrage, scorching it from head to toe.

"So, you're the one who burnt Lust to a crisp." it huffed and puffed, as it spent the lives the Philosopher's stone contained to regenerate its health.

"Then you know just what kind of fate awaits you."

Enraged, it abandoned its human disguise and took on it's true form, a massive green hulking beast that had a host of faces stretching against it's very skin, their death masks an unnerving sight.

"I was just going easy on you, but now I'll make sure you and your pretty little boytoy there is going to- AHHH!FUCK!"

"You truly are a special kind of dumbfuck aren't you? First you openly brag about killing my closest friend, now you give me a bigger target to hit?" she laughed, before zapping him with rapid strikes that soon filled the air with smoke, soot and the ever familiar smell of burning flash that for a brief moment, transported Sokka back to that hot, blood-soaked sands of Ishval.

Sensing that it probably wasn't the best idea to hang around in the place where Lust got fried by her, it chose the only sensible option and ran on all fours into the labyrinth.

"Sokka, stay here. This one's mine to settle."

"She was my friend too!"

" Lieutenant Sokka Hawkeye , this is a direct order from your superior to stand down."

"Fine."

Turning to face the tunnels, she strode in with a singular purpose and aim. To avenge the death of Ty Lee.

-----

"Scar?"

"What is it?"

"I need to talk to you?"

"It's about the Colonel, isn't it?."

A nod. "I figured as much.", he sighed, "That face, the rage, I used to be like that long ago. The way I see it, she'll burn herself up long before she'll even get a chance to recover."

As if to emphasize his point, the sounds of Envy's tortured screams as it was relentlessly pursued echoed through the corridors. "Come, we need to keep moving." Reluctantly, Aang nodded and grit his teeth, steeling his heart to the blood curdling screams of someone getting burnt repeatedly.

-----

"Show yourself, you freak! Weren't you all high and mighty, boasting about your exploits, hmm? Too scared to pick on someone your own size?" she taunted, eyes peeled for any sign of movement.

"Come out come out wherever you are...or else I'll burn off your skin, bit by teensy bit, you worthless piece of crap." she continued, her voice raising by several octaves and taking on an almost sadistic tone.. Hearing the echoing cries and the almost  sing song taunts, Sokka could stand it no longer and headed down the tunnels, his pistol at the low ready.

------

Turning a corner, Azula heard an all too familiar voice call out "Hey there, Colonel." Snapping around, she saw Ty Lee standing in her uniform leaning nonchalantly against the wall, before she lunged at her. She won't dare to touch her, not if the-

Her thoughts were cut short as Azula's face, twisted with rage, blasted the lookalike with an unceasing torrent. For good measure, she even charred the cartilage in its left knee and burnt out the soles on the right foot in addition to singing its eyes.

"If you think I'm afraid of calling in fires danger close, need I give you a lesson in who I am?" her lips curling in a feral grin before blasting her once more. At this point, Envy knew better than to try and reason with her and ran. "So much for homunculi being the superior being."  she tutted, her face stained with traces of soot and ash that left black streaks on her  creamy white skin.

Taking respite in a mass of pipes, it spotted Sokka, who was looking for her, hoping against hope that she didn't completely lose herself. Even injured, it formed up a devious plan as it stalked him from the shadows.

"Fuck, this place is like a maze." he uttered, wandering through the tunnels. Hearing the sound of boots, he clung to the shadows. When the noise drew level, he aimed it at her face at the same time Azula pointed her fingers at him. For a brief moment, neither side let their guard down, before exhaling.

"Didn't I tell you to stay back?"

"I couldn't Colonel. Besides, someone needs to make sure you don't do something stupid."

"You're probably right. An extra set of eyes would be helpful."

Traveling a short distance, Sokka suddenly paused and leveled his gun at the back of her head.

"Do you know who your gun is pointed at?"

"Who? Don't make me laugh, when it's just us, the Colonel calls me by my first name." Turning to face her, Envy (who was disguised as Azula) smirked. "So you two really are that close huh." Letting out a small breath, Sokka executed a double tap to the chest and one to the head before replying "I lied."

Shrugging off his shots, Envy got back up and tried to rush him, but Sokka calmly slammed two rounds into the kneecaps, making it kneel on the ground as he leisurely holstered his dry gun and drew two more from his back, knocking out its arms and wrists before finally unslinging the rifle and giving the homunculus a dose of high speed lead poisoning.

Thoroughly pissed off, Envy lashed out and stabbed his shoulder, making him drop the rifle before it wrapped an appendage around him and smacked him upside the head. Before it could paint the walls with his grey matter, the real Colonel Azula arrived and toasted Envy, rendering its grip on him a pile of soot and ash.

"You truly are a glutton for punishment aren't you? First you kill my friend and boast about it, now you hurt my lieutenant? I swear I will burn you until you're nothing but a pile of ash and dust. And I've got all the time in the world, you miserable rat." Even as she spoke, her fingers snapped like a machine gun setting it ablaze over and over again.

"How many lives you've got left? Six? Sixty? Six hundred? No matter, it's all the same to me. Tell me, how does it feel to get your ass roasted by the very same person who killed Lust in the very same way?"

"Why you-GAH!!!"

"Stop, please!"

"What, not hot enough? I'll gladly crank up the heat. Stay back lieutenant, it's going to get a little toasty in here." Like a well oiled machine, her snap came almost naturally and any humanoid form of Envy was finally turned into cinders, whilst the tip of her gloves were starting to char and smoke. From the ashes, a green six legged slug-esque creature crawled away, it's squeaking voice lamenting at having been reduced to this form once again.

Without hesitation, Azula applied pressure on the offending creature, before commenting "So this is your true form. What a pathetic little being."

"P-Please-don't kill me!" it begged.

"Envy means jealousy, does it not? Well then, you won't have anything to be jealous of very shortly."

"Nooo please I don't want to die, not like this!!" it screeched.

Before Azula could turn the hapless homunculus into the next life, a sound of a hammer being cocked gave her paused.

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

"That's far enough. I'll handle it"

"What does it matter if it's me or you that deals the final blow? The fucker is going to die regardless, so lower your weapon."

"No. I cannot obey that."

"I will not ask again."

"Put your damn hands in the air, now!"

A burst of alchemically created earth wave soon took the decision making away from them as it launched it right into Aang's hand, who kept a vice like grip on it.

"Nice of you to drop by. Now hand it over."

"No."

"This is a direct order by a superior officer, hand it over."

"No."

"Are you asking for a fight and a court martial?"

"Bring it on by all means. But take a good look at yourself and ask, is this the face you want to lead Amestris with?!"

"Kill it if you wish, what right do I have as someone who has done the same. But I shudder to think what kind of world such a person held prisoner by their desire for vengeance would create." Scar added.

"Colonel, I have no intention of letting that slimeball live to see the next sunrise but please, this is not your fight anymore."

"No, you don't understand! I finally ran the bastard down, the bastard who killed Ty Lee! I-"

"But still, I cannot let you do something so reckless! Justice is what she needed, not this blind hatred for her killer. If this is how you act if one person wrongs you, what then will you do if a region or hell, another nation crosses you? Will you turn it into another Ishval? No, I will not let you."

"Please, let it go. I know you're better than that, Azula. I'm begging you, please!" "Go on, do what you need to. Then what?"

"Then it'll be the second last shot I'll ever take. After that, what else is there to live for?"

"No, that won't happen. That can never happen." Summoning her rage, she loosed off an intense jet that blackened the walls of a nearby tunnel, it's heat making everyone sweat like a hot August day.

Looking at the people around her, she remarked "Ironic, isn't it? Scolded by a child, lectured by a man who has all the right to seek vengeance against me for the crimes against his people and you, you-"

"-I've done it again." she ended mournfully. Clasping the hand that was still pointing at her, she gently lowered it down, saying "I've hurt you. Please, forgive me.", before kneeling at his feet, covering her face as the waterworks were out in full force. Holstering his derringer, he too dropped to his knees, and held her in his arms as she cried into his shoulders.

"Azula, I forgive you." he whispered in her ear, all caution and decorum thrown right out of the window as he rubbed her back in small circles.

"Really?" she looked up with red rimmed golden eyes.

"Really."

"Thank you, Sokka. For pulling me back from the abyss. I love you."

"I love you too, my little firecracker."

"Goddamnit Lieutenant, I can't believe you lied to me!" Envy squeaked.

"Shut up you pipsqueak, who gave you the right to speak!" Aang scolded, making it shrink back in fear.

"Hey Azula?"

"Yes?"

"We still got a transmutation circle to stop."

"Right."

"The usual place, 8 pm tomorrow evening?"

"As long as you're the one footing the bill."

"Deal. Now let's go."

#sokkla month #au #sokkla #sokka x azula #i could have had them eat each other's face out in the tunnels but it stopping daddy from making a philo stone was more important #not sure where to insert a secret tunnel pun #day 3: AU

[starryknight09]

Friendly Fire

Febuwhump Day 4: impaling

Read on AO3.

________________________________________________________

Peter dodged the drone that tried to ram into him and kicked it as it passed by.  It fell to the ground in a clump of metal.  These things terrorizing Manhattan weren’t hard to destroy but there were so many of them the sky practically looked black.  It was the Avengers first mission since they’d defeated Thanos after Captain Marvel had snapped the gauntlet.  It was too bad she’d disappeared back into space a few weeks ago because they could really use her right about now.

Peter swung closer to the main battle where most of the drones seemed to be amassed.  He shot out a taser web along the way taking down another five drones that were crowded too close together.  

“Nice shot kid.” Tony said as he flew by.

“Thanks Mr. Stark.” He grinned under the mask and shot out another web at a drone that had ventured too close.  “Is it just me or does it seem like we’re not even making a dent in these guys?”

“According to FRIDAY we’ve taken out about ten percent of them.”

“Wonderful.” Clint complained over the comms.  “So at the rate we’re going, we’ll have these things cleaned up by tomorrow morning.”

He wasn’t wrong.  They’d been at it for almost an hour now and the sun was about to set.

“Anyone have any bright ideas?” Rhodey asked.

“We could really use Thor right about now.” Clint said.

“Yeah well point break’s off philandering with Quill and his merry men, so we’re going to have to make due.” Tony said.

“It’s too bad we can’t just EMP them.” Peter said, all his skills being tested as he dodged drones, webbing up as many as he could and striking any that got too close.

“We’d have to take out a significant portion of New York's power, and mine and Rhodey’s suits, for that to work, so let’s try to avoid that.” Tony sniped.

“Guess we’ll have to do this the hard way then.” Clint said.  Peter briefly caught sight of the archer on the top of nearby rooftop as he swung past.

To be fair, there was a lot going on, so what happened next wasn’t completely Clint’s fault.  Or Peter’s.  

A handful of drones attacked him simultaneously, and they were too close to use his webs.  He landed a hard hit on one, but when he did, he got too close to another one and his spidey sense flared as it shot its lasers at him.  He yanked hard on his web to dodge out of the way and narrowly avoided getting hit, but the moment he moved his spidey sense wailed at him.  Before he could figure out why, his leg jerked.  What?

“Oh shit.” Clint swore and a second later the pain hit him.  His leg felt like it was on fire.  He looked down at it and it took a moment for his brain to process what his eyes were seeing.  One of Clint’s arrows had speared through the fleshy part of his calf.

Oh.  Ow.  Ow ow ow.  The shock and the pain of it had distracted him enough that he’d forgotten to throw another web out to stay in the air, so now he was falling on top of bleeding.  He managed to focus and fire a web onto a building, just in time to slow his descent so he skimmed across the ground and landed on his good leg without hurting himself any further.  He slowly crumpled to the concrete, staring at his skewered leg stretched out in front of him.  Blood leaked out and stained the pavement.  The sight made him dizzy.  Luckily, none of the drones seemed to have followed him.

“Uh, anyone got eyes on the kid?” Clint asked over the comms.  Peter knew he’d fallen out of the archer’s line of sight.

“Why?” Tony asked immediately, and Peter could sense his tension.

“He might’ve, sort of, just a little bit, gotten in the way of one of my arrows.”

“What?  You shot him?” Tony yelled.

“It was an accident!”

“Where is he?  Peter!”

Oh right.  He could talk.  “I know how a shish kabob feels now.” He groaned.  “Can’t say I’d recommend it.”

“Where are you?” Tony asked, panicking.  “Never mind.  I see you.”

Ironman flew toward him and landed with a clang.  The helmet retracted and Peter could see the man’s eyes widen as he took him in.

“It’s not that bad.” Peter tried to reassure him.

“Not that bad.  We need to work on your definition of those words.  You’ve been impaled.” Tony said, crouching down to get a closer look at his leg.

“It’s just a flesh wound.” Peter said and let out a hysterical laugh.  He couldn’t help it.

“Not funny.” Tony had gotten touchy about him getting hurt ever since he’d come back from the snap.

“No but seriously, it’s just the fleshy part.  I think if you just pull it out it’ll be fine.”

“Pull it—” Tony stopped and took a deep breath.  “You never pull it out.  If you ever get stabbed or skewered or whatever you leave it in.  Capiche?”

Peter nodded.

“And you’re supposed to be a genius…” Tony muttered to himself and then the next moment the helmet of his armor formed back into place.  “Try to hold still kid.”

Peter frowned.  “I thought we weren’t taking it out.”

“I’m not.” Tony said and one of the fingers on his armor uncapped and Tony aimed it at the arrow.  A focused laser shot out of the finger and sliced off one side of the arrow, near enough to his skin that Peter felt the heat, but it didn’t burn.  Tony repeated the same process on the other side so now only about an inch of arrow shaft stuck out on each side of his calf.  For just hitting his leg it sure was bleeding pretty profusely.  The puddle of blood under his leg had been slowly expanding.  Looking at it made him feel a little ill.

Tony seemed to notice the same thing in the next moment.  “Let’s get you out of here kid.”  Before Peter could protest, Tony had lifted him up in his arms and taken off.

“What about the fight?” Peter asked, starting to feel lightheaded.  They’d barely been winning before and now they were losing Spiderman and Ironman.

“Don’t worry about it.  They’ll be fine.” Tony answered, sounding distracted.

Peter wasn’t sure he believed him, but he didn’t have the energy to argue.  He closed his eyes.

“Stay awake Pete.”

“I’m awake.” He responded, opening his eyes with a reluctant sigh.

The rest of the flight passed in a pain filled blur.  By the time they made it to the compound he wasn’t feeling the greatest, but he was still awake, and he wasn’t crying or screaming in pain even though he kind of wanted to.  Every jostle had sent sparks of agony up his leg.  Who knew how much an arrow wound hurt?  He had a new respect for Hawkeye and his primary weapon of choice.  He never wanted to end up on the wrong end of an arrow again.

“How are you doing?” Tony asked as he deposited him on the waiting gurney on the roof.  Peter gave him a weak thumbs up and the man gently pulled off his mask before they started wheeling him to the elevator.

“Don’t worry.  I’m going to kill birdbrain.” Tony growled.

“Don’t.” Peter said with a wave of his hand.  “It was an accident.”

“He should’ve known better than to be shooting those things so close to you.”

Peter knew it wasn’t worth arguing over.  Tony was acting like an angry dad, and when he got like that, nothing Peter said would change his mind.  They descended and as soon as the elevator doors opened, they pushed him into the medbay, Tony following alongside the bed.  Dr. Cho was already waiting at the exact spot where they stopped and locked the bed.

“I saw the scans from FRIDAY.” Dr. Cho said, more to Tony than him, as the medical personnel started helping him out of the suit.  “It should be an easy enough fix.  We’ll put him under to take the arrow out and stitch up the artery and everything else, but he should be back to normal in a day or two with his healing ability.

Tony let out a relieved sigh.

“You should go back and help.” Peter suggested once he knew the injury wasn’t too severe, even though he didn’t really want Tony to leave his side.  He winced as they finished carefully peeling the suit away from the arrow, guiding the ends through the holes in the suit, but unable to keep from jostling it slightly.

“I’m staying.” Tony said, adamant.

“But—”

“They’ll be fine.  Trust me.”

Peter acquiesced with a sigh, hoping Tony was right.  He tried to ignore the flutter of motion around him as the medical people worked, attaching an IV and all the necessary wires to him.

“Hey Mr. Stark?” Peter prompted and Tony purposely didn’t acknowledge him as he continued to stare at a monitor over Peter’s head.  Peter sighed.  Right.  He tried again.  “Hey Tony?”

“Yes?” The man looked down at him with a smirk.  Peter rolled his eyes.  Ever since the snap, Tony had been relentless about Peter calling him Tony instead of Mr. Stark, and Peter had been working on it, but it was a work in progress.

“When I wake up will you watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail with me?”

Tony shook his head in consternation.  “You’re a menace kid.”

Peter grinned.  “Is that a yes?”

“We’ll see.”

“It’s a yes.” Peter said confidently.  “Because you love me.”

Tony’s eyes softened almost imperceptibly but Peter noticed it.  “Sure do.” He confirmed, something Peter was pretty sure the pre-snap Tony never would’ve admitted, especially around other people, but this Tony was different.  He was softer, gentler, more willing to share his emotions and show affection.  Peter was still trying to adjust.

Tony ruffled his hair.  “But don’t tell anyone I said so.  I’ve got a reputation to maintain.”

Peter snorted.  Ok, maybe he hadn’t completely changed.

#febuwhump2021 #febuwhump #irondad

[stovetuna]

Imagine Steve/Avengers walking in to Tony entertaining two soldiers in the common room and being really confused because Tony??? Despises the military??? But then find out that those two soldiers are actually from the “fun-vee” way back in IM 1 and Tony’s fitting them with prosthetics.

ahhh this has been stuck in my head for DAYS anon! I don’t necessarily agree with the assessment that Tony hates the military, per se (doing business with the military and the military industrial complex, however, and all that that toxic shit entails, definitely yes), BUT it’s such a heartbreaking/warming concept I had to run with it! I think I got it right with Air Force vs Army, but the movie was kinda vague—I’m going off of the fact that the driver said “I’m an airman,” which you would not say if you were in the Army.

and since the airmen (and woman) Tony was traveling with in the Fun-Vee are canonically deceased, I thought I’d have Tony do something…well, Extremely Tony™ to compensate…

(::whispers:: also we’re just gonna pretend that the Bucky-killed-Tony’s-parents-revelations of Cap 2/3 aren’t a thing in this vaguely alternate MCU universe. la-di-da, la-di-da…)

***

It’s not surprising to walk into the Avengers common area and see Tony Stark working on something no one can quite comprehend. That’s par for the course, really, as commonplace as days that end in Y. Machines, phones, tablets, watches, the toaster after Hulk pressed the cancel button a little too hard—they’ve seen Tony futzing with just about everything that exists in the Tower (and some things that don’t—couldn’t—exist anywhere else except where Tony is). 

What the team isn’t expecting when the elevator doors open onto the communal floor that sunny Tuesday afternoon is a living room scattered with men and women in various states of modest undress, all of whom immediately pivot in place to take stock of the new arrivals. Three men, one woman, and in the middle of their protective circle is Tony, eyes blazing with the same thrill of invention he often gets in the lab, a pair of needle-nose pliers clenched in his teeth.

Steve in particular notices the way Tony looks, because he’s developed a bad habit of doing that over the past year and change, and he’s kind of helpless at this point. Tony’s backlit by the afternoon sun, preoccupied with whatever he’s doing with the strange woman’s arm to distraction, and Steve can’t be judged too harshly—anyone with eyes would drag theirs over the exposed muscles of Tony’s arms, the shift and flex of his shoulders, the firm taper of his waist, the pronounced curve of his a—

“Are we, uh, interrupting something?” Clint has to shout to be heard above the music blasting from all corners of the room. 

Tony looks up from his work and waves his free hand, the one that isn’t wrist-deep in what looks remarkably like a prosthetic arm. He makes a ‘cut it off’ motion to his neck before taking the pliers out of his mouth while FRIDAY lowers the rock music to a dull background hum. 

“Hey! Sorry, I tried to keep it to the lab, but these guys wanted to see where the Avengers hang out, and I couldn’t say no.” 

Steve tears his eyes away from Tony (who should really work the sweaty-and-disheveled-mechanic look more often) to take in the others in the room with him. It’s a panorama of people, and the first thing Steve notices, besides their more obvious differences, is how comfortable they all are with each other, to the point that walking in on this moment feels invasive, almost rude. 

The four are all of remarkably different builds and backgrounds, not a similarity between them: an African American man, no taller than Steve was before the serum, sits on the couch; a white man, thin as a rake and twice as tall, is reaching for a glass of water on the coffee table; an Asian American man, whose shoulders are somehow even broader than Steve’s, stands rigidly next to Tony, arms folded across his chest; and the lone woman, whose glossy black hair is wound tightly in a bun at the back of her head. Steve notes the beautifully elaborate Native American tattoo covering the expanse of her shoulders and upper back. 

Then Steve notices the high-and-tights, the form-fitting, drab beige shirts they’re all wearing, the combat boots lined up behind the loveseat, and he realizes, much like he did with Sam that morning in DC, oh—these are my people.

“Ah, well, welcome to the octagon!” Clint says with an easy smile, stepping forward to shake hands and say hello like a normal human being. Natasha gives Steve one of her looks before she and Sam follow him into the living room—I don’t know any more than you do.

Bruce, Wanda, and Vision stay behind with Steve to let the first wave through. Steve watches his teammates greet the airmen without fanfare, welcoming strangers into their private midst like it’s routine. 

“Didn’t know y’all would be around, else we would’ve stayed outta sight.” 

Sam laughs, clapping the sitting man on the shoulder. “Dude, if Tony told us you were here, I would have come downstairs and bugged you, myself.” 

“Sure, PJ—you just wanted to see what real Air Force muscle looks like,” the man grins, flexing his barrel chest hard enough to strain his shirt. Sam guffaws and gives him a friendly punch to the shoulder, which the man returns in kind with a fist to the kidney. 

Clint is already deep in conversation with the redheaded beanpole, who talks so fast it’s dizzying; Natasha is standing next to the third man, keeping her eyes forward, and together they watch Tony disappear back into his work, muttering things back and forth to each other, so quiet even Steve can’t hear. 

“I think all is clear,” Vision says smoothly, drifting forward with Wanda, who is visibly fascinated by the woman’s tattoo until she steps into the throng and sees something that makes her face fall. 

Steve moves forward, curious and worried in equal measure. Bruce is hot on his heels. 

“—I mean it’s crazy right? It’s crazy, Tony Stark, Tony Stark calls us up out of the blue one day and says ‘You’ll be waiting six months to a year for a decent repair job, let alone a complete replacement, and I owe you guys, come on by Avengers Tower—”

Redhead is gabbing excitedly, gesticulating like Tony does when he’s in the mad depths of an invention binge. Steve sees the glint of metal and hears the whir of mechanisms working smoothly together in tandem and realizes both of the man’s hands are prosthetic. 

“Oh man! Oh, man! Captain, sir, wow, it’s—fuck, shit, my mama would kill me for swearing in front of you, fucking—shit, sorry, fuck—ah, damn it!”

Steve smiles and introduces himself—Corporal Bill Levee, apparently, is just as talkative up close. For all that his hand is made of metal, his grip feels remarkably, tangibly real. 

While Bill goes back to talking compound bows with Hawkeye, Steve looks at the man on the couch. Sam and Vision are now sitting on either side of him: both of his legs end at mid-thigh, and in their place are what look like brand-new metal limbs, designed to match his proportions exactly. The metal is dark, shiny, beautiful. He looks thrilled. He looks even more excited when Steve approaches, leaps to his feet and doesn’t even balk at the fact that Steve is a head and change taller than him and a superhero—he just steps right up to Steve and jabs him once in the shoulder with a grin. 

“Captain Rogers,” he says, and sticks out his hand. Steve shakes it. The man points a thumb at himself: “Captain Freddy Harrison. A little after your time, sir, but an honor to meet you regardless.”

Bill is still talking a mile a minute behind him; Freddy sits back down on the couch and lets Steve continue his “Captain America Meet-and-Greet” but makes him promise to come back and swap stories, which Steve does, happily, even as his mind whirls. How does Tony know these people? Why are they here? Where did these prosthetics come from? 

Bruce has joined Natasha, standing apart from the rest to talk to her and her new friend. Steve stops to say hello, as is only right, waiting until he’s entered the man’s line of sight to do so. Only then does he realize that the man has no line of sight, because both of his eyes are prosthetic. 

“I’m not completely blind, Captain,” he says, voice low but good-humored. Next to him, Natasha smothers a smile behind her hand. 

“Steve, this is Sergeant Daniel Kwon,” Bruce offers. The sergeant smirks and extends a hand—the eyes in his sockets look incredibly lifelike, but don’t move even a fraction of a millimeter. They gleam, still, with an uncanny sense of knowing. Steve has a sneaking suspicion they see more than enough and match his original eyes perfectly. 

“I’ll still make an exception in your case, Sergeant Kwon,” Steve replies, shaking his hand, “for not saluting a ranking officer.”

Dan chuckles under his breath.

“Let’s see your battlefield commission and then we’ll talk rank, sir,” he says. 

“Ugh, men.”

Steve turns around, and there’s Tony, flipping shut a panel high on the woman’s left arm with a smile. He pockets the pliers and drags the back of his forearm across his glistening forehead. Somewhere in the back of Steve’s mind, a saxophone is blaring. 

Honestly, the intrusive thoughts he could deal with, but the fact that Tony looks this good after hours of hard labor really isn’t fair. 

“Seriously, barely two minutes in and you military guys are at it like frat bros at a kegger.” Tony looks sidelong at the woman, who rolls her shoulders with a pop and a groan. “How do you manage?” 

“Easy,” she says, “I let them drink until they pass out and then I run back to the women’s barracks with all their clothes so they have to walk across the TOC butt-naked.”  

“I think we need to compare our respective strategies,” Natasha says, taking Wanda’s arm on her way to greet the other woman. “This is Wanda; I’m Natasha.”

The woman turns to face them. Her features are striking in a way that makes Steve think of old friends from the war, men he met on those rare occasions he had leave. He’d listen to Native American Code Talkers tell stories of land and legacy and home, stories older than anything Steve had ever known. He’d never been so humbled. 

“Delores,” she replies, shaking their hands. “But please, call me Del, or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Steve looks at Tony, who giggles—giggles—and mouths ‘Umbridge.’ Del must have ears like a bat, because she smacks him smartly with her prosthetic arm and Tony yelps before devolving into outright laughter. Steve could watch and listen to Tony laugh—that big, gut-wrenching cackle Tony thinks is unattractive but Steve thinks makes Tony look like happiness personified—all day. 

The conversation devolves quickly from there, and within a couple of excitable minutes, the airmen are eager to get a look at the Avengers’ game room. They pile into the elevator, talking animatedly over each others’ heads, placing bets and picking teams as the doors close. 

In their wake, Steve’s ears are buzzing, and he realizes with a jolt that he’s now alone. With Tony. 

It happens often enough that the fact itself isn’t jarring, but something about being alone with disheveled-frazzled-happy-sweaty Tony sets Steve’s nerves on high alert. Tony is loose-limbed and relaxed, moving in and out of Steve’s space as he picks his way around the living room barefoot, looking for discarded tools. 

“There you are,” he coos at a tiny device that looks remarkably like a laser pointer. Knowing Tony, it’s probably a real laser. He pockets it, assumably to put away later (or fish out of the laundry at the last minute). 

“Who are those people, Tony?” 

“Friends of friends,” Tony replies. Steve also knows Tony well enough to recognize his I am being deliberately vague voice when he hears it. 

“Uh-huh.” Steve sits on the arm of the sofa, legs stretched out in front of him. “And who are they really?” 

“Who wants to know?”

“Me,” Steve says gently, scratching his palms with dulled fingernails. “They’re strangers, and they’re in our home. I think if you were in my shoes you’d want to know.” 

Tony stoops to pick up and pocket what looks like a dissected nine-volt battery. Steve kind of wants to ask, but he’s too distracted by Tony’s ass in those black Levis to ask any cogent questions. Seriously, he wonders, are those painted on?

Only when Tony sighs, and quite heavily, that Steve realizes this was more than just a friendly house call (of sorts) on Tony’s part. He watches Tony stand up, facing the floor-to-ceiling windows bright with the glow of sunset, and admires the way Tony suits the view so perfectly. He looks good all the time, but like this—skin burnished gold, brown eyes honeyed by the light—he’s something else. Someone Steve wants, desperately, but like most things in his life, knows he’s not allowed to have. Tony Stark is beyond him in so many ways. Reaching for him seems futile, so Steve stays on the ground, and looks. 

Tony fidgets nervously with a mini Phillips Head screwdriver, twiddling it in his long, clever fingers as he stares out the windows at the city sprawled out beneath them. 

“They’re from the same company as the guys in the convoy I was with when I—when they—” his voice sputters out before he can say the words. Steve doesn’t push. He doesn’t say anything. He just waits for Tony to gather himself. It’s one of the hardest lessons he’s had to learn about Tony Stark—sometimes it’s better to let him get a handle on himself, rather than jump in and try to handle Tony for him. It doesn’t change the fact that Steve wants nothing more than to hold his hand, now that it’s hanging at his side like its string was just cut. “A while back I dug into Air Force records, talked to Rhodey, got some names. Five people died in the hit that was meant for me. I figured, the least I could do was find five of their closest buddies who needed help.” 

Tony glances back at Steve—the little smile on his lips could break Steve’s heart if he let it.

“And I’ve heard you talk about how convoluted the VA is when it comes to services and benefits and whatnot. I figured, my tech probably took their limbs, I should cut out the middle man and give them new ones, myself.” 

Something in Steve’s heart shifts irrevocably before kicking into a whole new gear. By the end of the sentence, Steve knows he’s going to do something incredibly rash, the only question is when. 

Funny—ten minutes ago he was coming back from a team exercise, prepared to give Tony a friendly but firm talking-to about missing it, and instead here he is, breathless, heart racing, sitting and listening to Tony talk humbly about fixing people because he knows it’s the right thing to do. Because it’s the least he can do. And isn’t that the wildest understatement Steve’s ever heard? 

As if anything about Tony Stark could ever possibly be least. 

“You built them all those prosthetics?” 

“Top of the line!” Tony smirks, saluting Steve with his Phillips Head. “Nothing more high tech in any of them than a heart rate monitor and some other odds and ends—no rocket launcher eyes, don’t worry. I kept my baser urges in check with these.” 

“It’s good,” Steve blurts out, too loud and too fast. Tony inhales sharply, fingers clenching around the screwdriver hard enough his knuckles go white. Steve feels his face go hot and groans. “I mean, what you did—what you’re doing—is good, Tony. It’s really generous of you to do that for those guys.” 

Steve crosses his arms across his chest to make himself feel safer, more contained. If he doesn’t, who knows where these ridiculous feelings might go. He feels silly enough as it is, blushing and stammering while dressed in his uniform, sans helmet. Even Tony’s probably wondering why he’s wasting his time talking to a red-white-and-blue fossil when he could be downstairs destroying Clint and the others at pool or showing the airmen around the tower, giving them the bells-and-whistles tour. 

Tony looks at the floor, away from Steve. Steve feels it like a physical thing, Tony pulling away, retreating, wanting to hide. Amazing, how a man who almost literally wears his heart on his sleeve still thinks he doesn’t have one. 

“Yeah, well,” Tony mutters, “it’s good practice, anyways.” 

Steve’s thoughts grind to a halt. 

“Practice for what?” 

Tony starts moving around, shuffling back and forth across the living room floor, looking for something that probably isn’t there. Steve knows when Tony is avoiding eye contact with him—it happens often enough. 

“Just a pet project, nothing major. Hey, have you seen my cable knife anywhere?” 

“Did you leave it on the floor? Tony…”

“I know, I know, the only thing worse is Legos, but I was busy! You can’t blame me for—OW FUCK!” 

Like a shot, Steve is up and holding on to Tony so he doesn’t hop backwards into the glass coffee table. One arm wrapped around his back and the other hand on his bicep, Steve steadies Tony as Tony searches underfoot for whatever hurt him. 

He comes up with a magnet the size of a dime. 

“Ha,” Tony wheezes. “Speaking of Legos.” He drops it into his pocket along with the laser pointer and whatever else is in there and hangs his head. Rubbing his brow, Tony says: “God. I could sleep for a week after today.” 

Steve keeps holding Tony. He should let go, but opportunities like this so rarely present themselves. Plus, Tony feels so good under his hands, strong and warm and just small enough to envelope in a hug if Steve let himself, if Tony wanted him to, and Tony does look dead on his (adorable, bare) feet…

“What else have you been working on today? This pet project?” 

“Hah?” Tony breathes, still wincing slightly from stepping on the magnet. “Oh yeah. For Bucky, when you find him. Ow, motherfucker, that hurt…”

The thing about being in Tony Stark’s presence is, it’s so easy to lose the plot. Tony’s mind moves faster than Steve could ever hope to match, mentally or physically; he’s always one pace behind, catching up. It’s fine, though; he actually kind of likes it, being challenged the way Tony challenges him, delighting in the push-pull of their banter and debates, the way Tony teaches him about science and tech and the 21st century without being condescending. Steve gets to a point where he thinks he knows Tony, how he operates, how his brain works—then moments like this happen, and it’s like he’s sprinted smack into a brick wall. 

“What?” 

“What?” 

“Bucky, you said—are you designing a new arm? For Bucky?” 

Tony seems to notice their position at that exact moment. Steve feels him blaze with heat where his hands are touching Tony’s bare skin. 

“Uh. Maybe?” At Steve’s look, Tony bites his lip and sighs. “Fine. Yeah, I am. Can you blame me? The thought of Sputnik wandering around the tower with that Cold War-era paperweight hanging off him when I’ve got brand-spanking-new, finely-tuned StarkTech all but ready to go? Perish, Steve, perish the thought.”

Tony is smiling up at him from his place in Steve’s arms, relaxed now, almost leaning into him, and all Steve can think is, he belongs here. 

“What’s that face?” Tony asks, curious but still smiling. He pokes Steve in the middle of the forehead with a cheeky grin. “Keep frowning like that, your face’ll stick.”

When, apparently, is right now. 

When Steve reaches up and takes Tony’s hand, he gets to watch Tony’s thoughts run into the wall, for once. 

When he weaves their fingers together, he gets to watch Tony’s mouth click shut and his eyes go wide. Super-hearing means he can count the beats of Tony’s racing heart without having to feel them. Steve’s telegraphing every movement, every feeling, as much as he possibly can now that words seem to have escaped him. 

He must manage okay, because the look that passes over Tony’s face is the same one Steve’s seen in the mirror a thousand times since the day he realized he was halfway in love with Tony Stark: wonder, one part lost, one part found. 

When he leans down, slowly, Steve gets to watch Tony’s beautiful eyes flicker and shut. He counts the dark lashes where they rest on Tony’s high cheekbones, breathes in his smell and listens to the shudder in his exhale before drawing him in for a kiss that draws everything else to a quiet, blissful blank.

When Tony pushes his fingers up into Steve’s hair, scratching lightly at the nape of his neck, Steve drops his arms around Tony’s waist and pulls him in close with a soft groan. He’s warm and messy and still holding that damn screwdriver, but he kisses Steve soft and eager like it’s the only thing he wants to do for the rest of his life, folds himself into Steve’s embrace like he wants to build a home right there in his arms. 

One day Steve will tell him he already did, a long time ago, and it wasn’t the least of anything. 

*** 

more fics on AO3!

#rachel writes fic #I really should slow it down but this one would NOT leave me alone! #tony stark #steve rogers #stevetony #superhusbands #stony #stony fic #stovetuna #prompt fill #this is EXTREMELY SOFT #hopefully it makes up for the angst of the last one ;____; #also lol @ myself thinking ‘this one will be shorter’!! #UGH I FORGOT AIR FORCE RANKS ARE DIFFERENT DAMN IT! #blame my late night brain

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #227: Testing... 1... 2... 3!

January, 1983

Welcome to 1983! And the year starts off with the greatest gift of all: more Captain Marvel!

Also, She-Hulk strutting, Hank pondering, and Wasp lunching.

Truly, this issue promises much for six dimes.You’re blessed these days to find a comic that promises half as much for ten dimes.

I’ve said before that I like covers that are just ‘hey here’s several things that are going to happen in this issue.’ And I still do. Is rad.

Also rad? We have our next long term Avengers writer starting in this issue. Roger Stern!

So last time (in Spider-Man), boat cop Monica Rambeau punched a science machine and got filled with science. She can turn her body into any kind of energy. She quit the boat cops and became a superhero in New Orleans for a couple weeks but then learned that she was going to explode. So she went to New York to try to get some science to fix the science.

Since Reed Richards wasn’t available, she wound up going to the Avengers for help. Hijinxes ensued as they must, but Iron Man was able to siphon the excess energy out of her by causing a lot of property damage to his own property.

Imagine the AU where Reed wasn’t on vacation and Monica ended up more tied to the Fantastic Four.

The issue starts with the Avengers and the all-new Captain Marvel hanging out in the combination lounge and science room.

For when you need to calibrate something but with an eye towards leisure.

Since Iron Man siphoned off a lot of energy from Captain Marvel, Wasp decided to test her to make sure her powers haven’t been affected.

The test has Captain Monica take off from Avengers Mansion and then hit a series of satellites as different forms of energy. One as light, one as microwaves, another as radio waves before returning to the mansion as x-rays.

And since she’s traveling at the speed of light, she gets back before the Avengers even take a breath. Although using the telemetry machines he assembled for the test, Iron Man clocks her in at under two seconds.

Cap notes that she’s so fast that she makes Quicksilver look like shit. Because running is fine, if you can’t turn into light.

And Wasp is so impressed that she instantly invites Captain Marvel to join the Avengers as an Avenger-in-training.

Cap frets about the Avengers’ government clearances but Wasp is ahead of him with the power of NETWORKING.

She already got a limited-security training program approved by the government. Because she and the First Lady have the same masseur.

It really is about who you know.

Cap examines the paperwork, sees that everything seems to be in order, and agrees that Jan’s plan is best plan. She-Hulk is all for it too. As is Thor. Only Hawkeye doesn’t voice support, but keeps his thoughts to himself.

So, Monica is in the Avengers! As an in-training!

With that established, Wasp leaves for a brunch appointment.

That Wasp and her brunching.

Cap and Iron Man start breaking down the Monica-Measuring-Machine while Hawkeye starts grousing.

Because Hawkeye.

Hawkeye: “Hey, am I the only one who’s noticed how bossy our boss-lady’s gotten lately? We didn’t used to get called in on the run just to screen new members.”

She-Hulk: “What’s the matter, Robin Hood? Can’t stand being around a few strong women?”

Captain America: “The calling of special meetings is the group-leader’s privilege, Hawk -- you know that! I think Jan is just growing into her post as Avengers chairwoman... and doing a great job of it, I might add!”

Hawkeye has not drunk much respect respect women juice around this point in his life. Putting aside his repeated kissing unreceptive women, he also went ‘haha i hope you learned feminism is pointless’ during the Evils of Feminism Halloween issue.

She-Hulk agrees with Cap’s take and then picks up the entire five ton machine and walks off with it, I think mostly to show off. Or strut her stuff, as the cover said.

This just sets off Hawkeye some more.

Hawkeye: “That’s another thing! I never used to have big, green broads challenging me to arm-wrestle everytime I walked through the door! Do you know what it’s like to... to... Aw, the heck with it! I have to get back to work!”

Cap: “Welcome to the future, Hawkeye.”

Hahaha amazing.

Razz the heck out of him, Cap.

Its possible that he’s exaggerating but I do believe that She-Hulk would do that, just to flex on Hawkeye. What with her muscles.

But I wonder if the reason for this bad Hawkeye mood is that in a rarely precedented turn of events, the Avengers have three women on the team.

That’s still four guys to three girls but since its usually one girl to every three guys, Hawkeye might feel suddenly outnumbered.

Because he is a fool.

After Hawkeye stomps off, Cap remarks that Hawkeye needs to learn a few new things about women.

But Iron Man is lost in his own women troubles. He beats himself up verbally for getting involved with Wasp without being honest with her about his identity.

He even wonders if it would be for the best, aka less awkward for everyone, if he resigned from the team.

Cap tells him that wouldn’t solve anything.

Captain America: “You made a mistake. We all make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them... to bounce back. You can do it, mister! You’re an Avenger!”

Iron Man: (So was Hank, Cap... So was Hank.)

Interesting to see how the fall of Yellowjacket is still rippling in the pond.

But here’s what I’d tell Morose Iron Man: Hank didn’t learn from his mistake. He doubled and tripled down on it. If you learn a thing, you’re already off to a good start.

Thor has apparently been sitting across the room the whole time, listening to all of this. But he is also lost in his own thoughts.

He is also thinking whether he should resign from the team but so that he can focus more on re-establishing Donald Blake’s life. And even though some of his proudest moments have been as an Avenger, it is taking away Donald time.

Several floors below, She-Hulk casually carries that five ton machine on her shoulder. So casual that she reads the Daily Bugle while she walks.

She-Hulk, a Californian: “‘The Daily Bugle’ -- HAH! They call this a newspaper? New Yorkers wouldn’t know a real paper if it bit ‘em on their behinds! Sometimes I think I’ll go stir crazy in this town!”

There is apparently nothing for her to do in New York between Avengers missions. Nothing to do. In New York.

???????

But she does find a help wanted ad for a part-time instructor for a health spa that interests her.

You have a LAW DEGREE.

First off, how are you not in ridiculous law school debt?

Second, LAW DEGREE.

She’s so engrossed in the ad that she does Jarvis a fright, forcing him and Monica to squeeze up against the wall to avoid being smacked by the machine She-Hulk is carrying.

Jarvis bemoans that new Avengers are always a trial before hurriedly excluding Monica.

She diplomatically takes no offense.

Jarvis continues his tour of the mansion, taking Monica to the records room which has not only all of the Avengers case files but also cross-referenced files from the Fantastic Four, the UN, SHIELD, Interpol, and a bunch of federal agencies.

If the Avengers love anything its drama but if they love two things its reading up on stuff. Like how Hawkeye was like ‘ah ha the Taskmaster, I read your file’ in the issue where he shot Ant-Man on an arrow.

Monica Marvel asked to see the records room because she’s following up on the Thing telling her that someone else went by Captain Marvel before she did.

So Jarvis punches up the Avengers’ file on Mar-Vell.

That’s a bit of a neat touch. If she’s going to go around as Captain Marvel (and she has to, its a trademark squat) she’s going to be respectful and learn about the man that her name is going to evoke.

Meanwhile, in Central Park, Reed and Sue Richards?

Well, they’re on the cover so its not much of a surprise. They’re Wasp’s brunch appointment. A brunchment.

Sue decided that they should jog to Tavern-On-The-Green. Reed has decided that he hates jogging.

Sue: “Oh, no! It’s 11:59! I knew we should have started sooner!”

Reed: “I wish we hadn’t started at all.”

So when Sue complains about them arriving late, Reed goes heck yeah i can get out of jogging, scoops Sue up and does FANTASTIC LEG STRETCHING which is very different from jogging.

Good thing he made those jogging suits out of unstable molecules.

In mere seconds, Reed covers the half mile to the tavern to meet the nonplussed Janet van Wasp and the oppositely nonplussed waiter.

So, Sue and Jan are fast friends forever now because of that one time they had brunch.

That’s how it works in their circle.

And Sue called and invited Jan out to brunch. But not just to get her back, but because she’s worried about Jan.

Well she says “we’ve been worried” but Reed probably had to be reminded that Sue has friends.

Jan: “Sue, you’re a dear! But you’re worried about nothing! I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Sure, it’s taken awhile to get used to being single again -- but I’m fine! Really!”

And like someone who is totally fine, she insists that she’s fine and then immediately excuses herself to the bathroom to powder her nose.

Noses sure needed a lot of powdering back in the day.

And anyone that insists that they’re perfectly fine and then runs off to the bathroom is either going to cry or going to powder their nose in a more narcotics fashion.

After Jan heads off to the bathroom to powder her nose in whichever way, Reed and Sue talk about her behind her back.

Reed: “Well, she’s certainly putting up a good front -- !”

Sue: “Yes, but it’s just a front! She’s keeping everything bottled up inside her! And she’s been through so much lately... Hank’s expulsion from the Avengers, the divorce... and now that she’s become chairwoman of the Avengers -- ! I’m afraid for her, Reed!”

Reed: “We can’t help her if she won’t let us, Sue. Jan’s a strong-willed woman -- I just pray that she’s strong enough to bend with the pressure... and not break!”

So its not one thing Sue is worried about. Its all the things. And there are a lot of things.

I don’t know what Sue means by “now” when she says Jan became chairwoman of the Avengers.

That happened the instant she came back from her divorce vacation from the team. I mean, it is plausibly a thing to worry about that she’s taken on too much in too little a time and just putting a smile on.

But she’s been leadering the Avengers. Its gone okay.

Anyway, Jan did go into the bathroom to not cry in front of her new best friend, Sue.

Jan: “I won’t cry... I won’t! Maybe I don’t have Hank around to lean on anymore -- but I can tough it out! I’ll show ‘em... I don’t need him... Don’t need anybody! After all, I’m an Avenger! I’m the leader of the Avengers!”

And she walks out of the bathroom with feelings entirely managed and a smile back on.

I think the Avengers needing anybody is why the Avengers are Avengers, though. Bunch of usual loners teamed up once and realized ‘wait this is great.’

So like in the Jan and Tony are disgustingly cute together story, we get another glimpse that things haven’t been as easy on Jan as she lets on.

I don’t mind. This is what being a well-rounded character is, probably. I’ll see how things go.

It’s like... There’s this period of the Teen Titans book where Donna Troy became the team leader because Dick Grayson was having a lot of identity problems. And Donna suddenly started being like ‘I have no idea what I’m doing’ and making a lot of mistakes. And one could suspect that she was being set up as a less competent leader to make Dick look better. Kind of like how Shuri (initially) and Maria Hill exist to make T’Challa and Nick Fury look better in comparison.

As long as they don’t do that to Jan or something else like that, I’m fine for Jan to have a more complicated situation.

And it doesn’t seem like it’ll go that direction because I've heard she’s going to be the team leader for a while and mostly everyone (except Hawkeye) thinks she’s doing a good job.

But we leave brunch to the opposite of brunch, dusk. And at Ryker’s Island Penitentiary.

Recently, the government has been scattering all of the prisoners with superpowers to prisons across the country. Probably to avoid creating a powder keg situation.

*coughs in Raft*

The only superpowered prisoner left is “probably the worst of the lot.”

Because it’s Hank Pym.

Good dunk at his expense, prison guard.

But actually because “What could be lower than an Avenger who’s gone bad?”

And there’s a Dr. Paul Edmonds here to see Hank.

Hank is sorta blase to it, since he’s seen about thirty by this point. Presumably many of which have been paid for by Tony Stark’s guilty conscience.

Edmonds doesn’t say whether he’s from the prosecution or the defense (and Hank admits it doesn’t really matter to him) but he’s here to determine whether Hank is fit to stand trial.

What with his weird history.

Hank Pym: “Doctor, when I think back over my history, as you call it, I sometimes wonder if I was ever fit for anything!”

Wow, nice self-own, Hank.

Anyway, almost the entire rest of the issue is the Grand Fairly Exhaustive Hank Pym Backstory Exposition Dump.

Of course, with the fillering of the previous run, Hank has been in jail for a bit. And a lot of the relevant backstory stuff is decades past. And Iron Man’s recap of it is over a year ago.

The long-awaited trial is coming up soon so Stern has to get the readers refamiliarized with this stuff.

Lets try to breeze through?

Hank’s life? Sucks. A lot.

He received his doctorate while his friends were undergraduates because he was a workaholic and because “it was easier to deal with chemicals than with people.”

He probably wouldn’t have ever left his lab if his coworkers hadn’t managed to drag him to parties occasionally.

Hank met his first wife Maria Trovaya at one of those reluctant social occasions.

Hank: “She was beautiful, intelligent, witty... I couldn’t believe she was attracted to me! It was like some kind of miracle!”

Wow, another amazing self-own.

They fell so in love with each other that they were married in months.

And then tragedy.

Maria decided that the perfect place to go on honeymoon was to her homeland of communist Hungary where her father had been an enemy of the state.

Sooo. The secret police beat the shit out of Hank and took Maria off to be killed.

Dang.

Hank had his first breakdown when he heard. And the State Department had a hell of a time getting Hank released from Hungarian captivity.

When Hank got back to the US, he buried himself in his work. And the mad lad decided to invent a shrinking potion.

Hank: “It shouldn’t have worked, but I made it work!”

I like when people stop and realize how bonkers the Marvel universe is.

And that Hank put all this effort into inventing this thing and then in a moment of clarity went ‘holy shit I can’t believe that actually worked!’

This recap doesn’t mention that Hank poured his invention down the drain after having a bad experience in an anthill but either way, the invention led to him becoming Ant-Man!

Sort of accidentally! He didn’t really plan to become a “costumed crusader” he just sort of happened to do it.

Hank: “In a way, it almost felt good to be battling the kind of vermin who had killed my Maria!”

But he admits that he wasn’t ever truly comfortable in the role of superhero.

Vicarious catharsis for his murdered wife is possibly the reason why he can’t stay away from it though.

Although it mixes with Hank throwing himself into science so he doesn’t have to people. And Hank feeling insecurity compared to his peers in both superheroics and science so he keeps jumping unhappily between the two.

He’s got a lot going on.

Then his life changed forever again when he met a Dr. Vernon van Dyne and his daughter Janet.

Hank: “Though she was barely twenty, her physical resemblance to Maria was striking. And I soon discovered that Janet van Dyne was more than just a frivolous young debutante. Her father was killed... murdered, and when she tearfully vowed to see justice done, I saw a strength of will... so much like Maria’s!”

Hank revealed that he was the Ant-Man and offered to make her his partner.

So, yeah, maybe the relationship was kind of not on the healthiest footing from the beginning. There’s an age gap (Hank says she’s barely half his age although I don’t know that he’s supposed to be in his forties?). Hank is using her as a replacement goldfish. She’s probably clinging to him in a similarly unhealthy manner, having just lost her father and this guy goes ‘hey want some superpowers?’

(Interesting but obvious bit here is that Hank says that with his further research, he could give Jan better powers than his own. What with the wings and the Wasp sting and all, yeah its kind of obvious that her powerset was better. Its interesting though considering how insecure Hank would get later.)

It would have taken a lot of emotional maturity from the both of them to keep it from becoming the unbalanced relationship that it did and neither of them were that emotionally mature, I think. Hank doesn’t even like to people.

He also doesn’t like to Ant-Man. Even with a partner, the role makes him ill at ease.

Hank: “No one can truly know the fragility, the vulnerability of life, as I have. It takes a very strong man to shrink to the size of an ant and still feel sure of himself. And I was never that strong.”

And here there’s a nice bit of arc welding.

Back in Avengers #1, Ant-Man is the one that suggests that Ant-Man, Wasp, Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor become a team.

I don’t know what Stan Lee’s original reason for having Ant-Man be the one to say it. It might have just been a flow thing. Ant-Man had just spoken to explain how his ants have trapped Loki in a tank so rather than pivot to a new character, Stan may have had Ant-Man bring it up.

But in this grand recap of all things Hank Pym, Hank explains his motive.

Feeling ill at ease as Ant-Man, feeling unsure of himself from seeing the world at the size of an ant, he had found some strong allies that he didn’t dare to lose.

Interesting dots to connect.

But then Hank went ‘oh no i fucked up.’

Hank: “I soon realized that Ant-Man would constantly be overshadowed by the more powerful teammates -- at least one of whom the Wasp found most attractive!”

It’s Thor. Of course, it’s Thor.

Even though it may have been a ploy to make him jealous, Hank locked himself in the lab to improve his powers.

Of course, we know Hank Pym’s usual string of luck with locking himself into his lab.

So what happens next is incredibly obvious but no less funny. But its so funny that I had to look up whether it was how it was originally portrayed or invented for this extended flashback.

When testing his new growth formula, Hank smashes his own house like a sillier Alice in Wonderland.

And this actually happened in Tales to Astonish #49.

Amazing.

Hank really does have consistent luck with science.

And what makes it funnier is that according to this extended flashback, making himself super-strong and giant didn’t actually make Hank feel like a more valuable member of the team.

He felt clumsy and inept. Not to mention that testing an experimental formula on himself WAS REALLY BAD FOR HIS HEALTH.

And it was Jan realizing what was going on with Hank rather than concern for herself having been shot that made Jan suggest that the two retire from Avengersing (leading to the Kooky Quartet).

But Jan actually really enjoyed being the Wasp and Hank must have felt shitty pulling her away from it because as we know, he eventually ends up back on the team with more limited growth powers and a name change to Goliath.

He actually felt like he was pulling his weight around this time, though, because he was the most experience member of the team.

Of course, its also around this time that he accidentally created Ultron, which is a big whoopsie.

But he made what he considers a worse whoopsie.

Hank: “But even the responsibility for unwittingly unleashing Ultron on the world often paled in comparison to my trouble relationship with Jan. Having come into her full inheritance, she wanted to underwrite my research. I wanted to pay my own way, but I couldn’t find the words to tell her.”

Probably because he was more comfortable with chemicals than people. Open and healthy communication is essential in a relationship but its also difficult.

He also wanted to marry Jan but at the same time felt too unsure of himself to propose.

So Hank did what Hank do and retreated into his lab.

Where he accidentally spilled some chemicals and had another breakdown after getting high on fumes, becoming convinced that he was actually another person entirely.

I don’t know why but the panel of Hank declaring “So, Goliath won’t marry Janet van Dyne, eh? Then, there shall be no more Goliath!” cracks me up.

Anyway, Jan saw right through Yellowjacket and decided to play along and when Hank was shocked back to reality, he discovered he was married.

Which. Uh. Has gotten more scrutiny in the years after it was published. Including this year of 1983.

Hank: “I guess even some psychotic episodes can be beneficial.”

Dr. Edmonds: “Do you think that was the case?”

Hank: “I did then. Now... I’m not so sure. I know I wanted to believe it then. Jan and I were married. The circumstances didn’t seem important.”

After the honeymoon, things begin to sour. Hank tried to stick to small sizes as being better for his health. And he tried to stay away from the Avengers too but Jan wanted them to be Avengers together.

Hank: “I had to keep trying for her, even though my heart wasn’t in it! The pressure got to be too much, my work began to slide. More and more projects were ending in failure.”

He smashed up his lab to lash out at something, out of frustration that he had swallowed his pride to accept Jan’s money and was now wasting it on fruitless projects.

Jan started trying harder and harder to prop up Hank’s ego.

But he was still a walking emotional wreck so when Ultron returned, it didn’t take much to tip him over the edge into another breakdown.

This one came with AMNESIA! Hank though he was Ant-Man ant-again and attacked the Avengers because he didn’t recognize Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Beast, or even Captain America as being Avengers.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again and again. Ants is best power.

Hank: “It’s almost funny in a way. I took on the Avengers single-handed and nearly beat them! My finest hour as a ‘hero’... and I wasn’t even in my right mind!”

That does sour what is an otherwise pretty impressive stomp. When Spider-Man stomps entire X-Men team, its held up as one of his greatest moments. When Hank does it to the Avengers its like ‘welp there goes another Hank Pym breakdown.’

Iron Man was able to devise a variant of electro-shock therapy which undid the damage Ultron did to Hank’s mind which sure sounds like a thing electro-shock therapy could do.

Hank was getting back into the swing of things as Yellowjacket when Henry Peter Gyrich pulled the rug out from him.

As Henry Peter Gyrich is known to do.

With him as the government liaison, the Avengers were ordered to slim down the roster. And Hank got the boot while Jan was kept on the team.

At first Hank was glad for it because it gave him an excuse to leave the team and go back to his lab work.

Buuuuut as happens when Hank does do that, his lab work became fruitless and frustrating.

And with Jan on the Avengers, he could go days without seeing her. And he felt alone and lost without her.

Its the irony of his life.

Jan convincing Hank to stay on the Avengers isn’t good for him. Him not being on the Avengers while she is, isn’t good for him. And being kept from being on the Avengers isn’t good for her.

A possible compromise might have been to have him working at Avengers Mansion as an on-staff but uncostumed science advisor. But Hank may not have accepted that, what with the pride.

I wonder about it though because Hank will later join the West Coast Avengers in a strictly support capacity for a while.

Anyway, Hank having a bad time in the lab coincided with Captain America reorganizing the roster.

Hank: “I began to think that maybe ‘Avenging’ was all I could do. As Yellowjacket, I pinch-hit for other members whenever possible. And when Captain America invoked executive privilege to further pare the team down to a more workable six members, I jumped back on board. I had such high hopes. The ‘new’ Avengers were practically the original group. This time, I thought I could finally be the kind of man Jan wanted me to be. But I was only fooling myself. By then, I was in no state of mind to be an Avenger!”

Because, yeah. This is the part of the Hank Pym Lore Dump that we hit the Elf-Queen incident.

And then the court-martial.

Hank: “I had to redeem myself somehow! I became desperate! In the hours that followed, I must have cracked completely!”

Enough that building an indestructible kill-bot to kill his friends to make them realize how useful he is seemed like a good idea.

It wasn’t.

The robot kicked the crap out of Hank before he could hit the secret shut-down switch and Jan saved the day by hitting the switch instead.

Hank: “Jan divorced me, threw me out... Not that I blame her! Did you know that I actually struck her on the day of the court-martial?! Lord, I must have been out of my mind! I had compounded one mistake with another, and my whole life collapsed like a house of cards.”

Dr. Edmonds asks if being estranged from his friends and broke was why he tried to steal the federal reserve of adamantium but Hank denies this last bit.

He was played a fool by EGGHEAD!

Hank: “But I’ll tell you this, Edmonds, I won’t play the fool any longer! I’ve learned so much about myself -- the hard way -- in the last few weeks. I’ll have my day in court, and I’ll beat those charges!”

Dr. Edmonds: “I see. And in that way, you think you’ll win back your wife?”

Hank: “No. I thought that was possible once. I don’t any more. I’ve lost her. It hurts, but I’ll just have to accept it. Now, all I want back is my dignity.”

Oof.

I’ve been kind of low-key snarking at Hank for acting like he’d be able to easily win Jan back given what went down but it hurts a little to see him give up on that hope, even if he seems resigned to it.

LATER, Dr. Edmonds returns to his office and calls his SECRET EMPLOYER

Its Tony Stark. Of course its Tony Stark.

We already knew that Tony has been throwing a lot of money at the problem of Hank to assuage his guilty conscience. And that it included making shrinks available.

Dr. Edmonds: “Dr. Pym has been through more than any two men should! He’s suffered at least four nervous breakdowns in the last decade! He has a massive inferiority complex -- but the man is fit to stand trial. Moreover, I don’t think we can swing an insanity plea. Despite his insistence that this Egghead person set him up!”

I wonder if Iron Man was trying to swing an insanity plea. Get the case dismissed. Wouldn’t put it past him!

And honestly. What would you think if you friend had a nervous breakdown, built a kill-bot to kill you, wandered off and disappeared for a while, and re-emerged after heisting a whole bunch of adamantium and claiming that Egghead made him do it?

Dr. Edmonds asks whether it is possible that Egghead was involved since he is a serious psychiatrist man and doesn’t keep up with the superhero biz. But Tony tells him that Egghead died in an explosion in Defenders #42.

Edmonds ponders that may indicate an even deeper delusion, while not suspecting that his pencil has been bugged.

BY EGGHEAD!

Its not a great bug in the sense that it seems to have a bright flashing light. But in the sense of ‘how the hell did you get a bug in a pencil, Egghead?’ its a very great bug.

Egghead, presumably taking a break from his plan to invent eternal youth to get infinite money and then buy the world to save from having to do the Effort of taking it over, hears Dr. Edmonds say “Still, Pym seems convinced he’ll be exonerated, Mr. Stark.”

Egghead: “Ha-ha-ha! Henry always did have faith in the legal system! I suppose I shall have to shatter that faith for him! I knew it was a wise move to let the world think that Egghead is dead! No one searches for a ‘late’ fugitive! Just as no one will suspect who is truly behind Pym’s ultimate disgrace -- when my plans ruin his day in court!”

WOW! You are super petty, Egghead!

Follow @essential-avengers​ because I’ve finally caught up with my backlog. And because I’ll never bug a pencil nor even annoy one. Like and reblog too or I’ll bother a pen.

#Avengers #Egghead #Hank Pym #Captain Marvel #monica rambeau #Iron Man #Thor #the Wasp #Captain America #She Hulk #Hawkeye #mr fantastic #Invisible Girl #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging #wherein egghead won't even let hank have his dignity #wherein wasp powders her nose #brunch with the RICHARDSSSSSes #captain marvel is just way past cool #and hawkeye is angry about all these women #not a good look dude

[ryntheseeker]

moms made fullmetal week: day 1

prompt: baby talk

check out @moms-made-fullmetal-2020​ ! 

there’s nothing sweeter than my baby

Riza Hawkeye had never pictured herself a mother, much less one to use baby talk. But something about the beautiful baby in arms brought it out in her. “Look at my sweet girl,” she cooed. “Head full of hair just like your father.” 

Mae’s golden brown eyes looked up at her, and she broke out into a toothless smile. She kicked her legs excitedly and babbled. Riza’s heart swelled, and she laughed softly. “You’re so beautiful, Mae,” she said, brushing her nose against the tuft of black hair on her head. “My sweet little girl, aren’t you?” Mae babbled some more. “Mhm, the cutest little baby ever.”

“She is pretty cute,” Roy said from the doorway. 

Riza turned to face her husband, and her brow arched at him. “How long have you been lurking over there?” 

“Not very long,” he answered, stepping into the nursery. “You want me to take over?”

“I could use a cup of tea and a shower,” Riza said, pretending to think about it for a moment. She smiled and gently handed their baby over to him. She could never get over how cute they looked. How Mae looked like she was his twin. 

“Away with you,” Roy said, waving his hand to Riza. “It’s time for dad and Mae to have some time together.” He waited until Riza was gone to sit in the rocking chair that he’d made for his wife. “Adorable little girl, have you been good for mom today?” He lightly tickled her tiny feet, earning a few kicks and happy babbling. “I thought so.” 

He stood up after a moment, holding his hands under her arms to twirl around the room. “My Mae doesn’t know how to be a little monster, does she?” he asked, rubbing their noses together. Mae put her hands on his face, smacking him as her legs kicked out in excitement. “No, she’s the sweetest baby! Aren’t you?” 

Mae couldn’t stop her little baby version of laughter, and Roy pulled her back into his arms, grinning. “Are you telling me stories? Hm?” he asked, turning around and coming face-to-face with Riza. “I thought you were going to take a shower.”

“And miss this?” she said as she stepped into the room again, wrapping her arm around Roy’s waist. Mae looked between her parents, talking gibberish with an adorable smile. “She does like to tell stories. But I also think she’s like you and loves the sound of her own voice.”

“Hey,” Roy said, feigning offense. He turned to press his lips against Riza’s temple, smiling. “I love you.” He looked back down at Mae. “And you, baby girl.” 

Riza couldn’t help but smile at the two of them together. Two peas in a pod, for sure. But she loved it. “I believe you said that it was your turn to make dinner tonight,” she said, moving to take Mae back from him. 

“Oh did I?” Roy asked. He handed Mae back to her, chuckling a little. “All right, ladies, what’s on the menu today?” 

Mae babbled in Riza’s arms. “I think she said pasta,” Riza said with a smile. She listened as Mae continued to talk. “With chicken. And asparagus.” 

“Anything for my girls,” Roy said, giving Riza a kiss before heading to their kitchen. 

“You have a pretty good dad,” Riza said, looking down at her daughter’s chubby cheeks, tinged just the barest shade of pink. She had slobber rolling down her chin and Riza couldn’t help but laugh. She went to the changing table and pulled out a small little cloth piece to wipe the drool away. “What a mess, silly girl!” She draped the cloth over her shoulder, shaking her head a little, though her smile stayed. “Do you want a bottle, baby?” Mae kicked her legs and squealed in excitement. “Okay, Mae, let’s go get a bottle!” 

Riza carried her out to the kitchen, where Roy had started cooking their dinner. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his military jacket slung over a chair. “Madam Mae Elizabeth requests a bottle,” she said. 

Roy laughed. “Then she shall have a bottle,” he said. He reached into their cabinets for a bottle and the formula. When he was finished, he handed it to Riza. “For the madam.”

“Thank you, kind sir,” Riza said, taking Mae and the bottle to their living room. She sat down on the couch to start feeding Mae her bottle, laughing when Mae started reaching for it. “Yes, madam, here you go.” She smiled down at Mae as she ate, feeling happier than she ever had. “Look at how big you’ve gotten, Mae! You’re almost holding the bottle yourself!” Her tone was soft, and higher than anyone had ever heard. 

Mae looked up at her mom, her eyes wide. Riza was grateful that she could see something of herself in her daughter. “You’re getting so big! Soon you’ll be able to tell dad to make the bottles yourself!” She laughed softly, leaning down to kiss her daughter’s forehead. She took a deep breath, just breathing in that baby smell that she’d grown so fond of. “My sweet baby girl. I love you so much.” She loved Mae more than she’d ever loved another person, though Roy was a close second. “Don’t ever doubt that, Mae. Your mom and dad love you so much.” 

Mae kicked her legs as if she understood what Riza was saying and it made her laugh, happy tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She looked up as Roy came in. 

“Is everything okay?” he asked, his tone colored with concern. 

“Yes,” Riza said, looking back down at their daughter. “Everything is perfect.”

#moms-made-fullmetal-2020 #royai #riza hawkeye #roy mustang #fma fanfic #fma fic #ryn writes

[dontcare77ghj]

Dragons

Natasha x reader x Clint x Bucky

Masterlist     Sleep Series Masterlist      Halloween/Supernatural Masterlist

“Sir you and Miss Romanoff have a message.” JARVIS said one afternoon. For once, the world seemed quiet. The Avengers hadn’t been truly needed for almost a week. In the past week none of them had trusted the silence, they’d all been ready and waiting at the Tower for the next problem.

“Patch it through, JARVIS.” Tony said, pouring himself and Clint some more coffee.

“Tony, I need your help.” A voice familiar to all the Avenger’s said. The team all began to listen intently to familiar girl, all concerned for the safety of the girl. “Nat, Clint and Buck aren’t picking up and I know I don’t have much time left. They’ve found me.” She added.

The team had known Y/N for a long time. She was Tony’s sister, the friend of the rest of the team and the girlfriend of Clint, Natasha and Bucky.

“I’m not going to be able to get out in time. Aithusa’s ill, Veles tore her wing and I can’t move them along with five other dragons in such a short amount of time.”

When Y/N turned sixteen it was obvious that she was different to those around her. She possessed magic. Though her family easily accepted her new skills and abilities she had to keep them secret for years until she and Tony joined The Avengers initiative. But when she turned twenty it as clear she possessed something more than just magic.

She’d met a man called Emrys and he explained the full extent of her powers. She was a dragon lady. The beasts everyone believed to be make believe were real and she was able to communicate with them and they with her.

When Emrys died he passed the living dragons onto her as well as the eggs he protected.

“I’m hiding who I can. The eggs are hidden in the basement and the others will be in hidden in the walls. I’ve left Nat the locations. But Tony, they’re going to take me and Aithusa, and when they do, I need you to come here and find the others and look after them.” Before Y/N could continue any further a loud crashing sound came over the message.

“Fuck.” She cursed. “Tony, I love you. Take care of them and pass my love on to Clint, Nat and Buck.” She said and the message ended. Tony had already dropped the coffee pot and was pulling out his phone. Natasha was already on her phone and a furious looking Bucky was holding tightly onto a worried Clint.

“We’re going now.” Natasha said, jumping from the couch with Clint and Bucky not that far behind her. “Stark if you’re coming, move your ass.” She added, the three of them moving towards the door.

“I’m coming, Romanoff.” Tony said, hurrying after them. Steve shared a look with Bruce, Wanda and Thor. The three of them nodded at him and they all stood.

“We’ll come too.” Steve said, following the four of them.

“Good for you. Let’s haul ass.” Tony said, giving the four of them a quick smile in gratitude.

Having been in a relationship with Y/N for nearly three years, Clint, Bucky and Natasha knew everything about the woman. Despite having some issues with mental health when she was younger and the tragedy involving her parents, she was the most positive person the three had ever met. It was her positivity and light that drew them to the woman and her willingness to the love them despite their pasts that made them stay.

Because the four of them had been together for three years, the three Avengers were very close to their girlfriend’s dragons. Not pets, she refused to let them be called pets, they were dragons and that was it. They knew how much they meant to their girlfriend, but they also knew what HYDRA would do to have their hands on Y/N’s dragons.

Storming into the house, Natasha directed her boyfriend’s towards the secret rooms while she ran down to the basement. Tony ran to check the security cameras while the rest of the team began to search through the house.

Natasha opened the panel and saw the chest holding the unborn eggs untouched.

“Thank Chuck.” Natasha murmured, seeing the eggs were unharmed. She knew what HYDRA had planned for the creatures would be nothing compared to Y/N’s wrath if one of her babies were harmed. Resealing the panel, she rushed back upstairs to check up on the others.

When she made it upstairs everyone was in the living room with six dragons of varying sizes. They all appeared on edge and were surrounding Thor who was talking to them in another language, attempting to calm them.

“Stark have you found anything?” Natasha asked, moving to stand next to Bucky and Clint. A small orange dragon flitted over to the three of them and Clint reached down to pick up the small thing.

“Yeah, I think I have.” He said, turning the computer around to face everyone. He clicked play and they all watched as Y/N shot up at the sound of a loud bang. Aithusa jumped from the bed and hissed at the loud noise as she tried to protectively curl around Y/N.

Y/N stood in front of the white dragon and said something in the dragon’s language when it tried to move in front of her. The dragon hissed slightly but stayed behind Y/N as the bedroom door burst open.

“Manere retrorsum.” Y/N growled and threw her arms up, eyes glowing gold, and threw the men backwards.

She pinned the men to the wall and to the floor, glare plastered on her face. She began to cast another spell when one man’s hand twitched and shot her twice. Once in the stomach and another in the thigh. The pain was distraction enough that Y/N dropped the spell and the men rushed her. She was knocked out as they collared Aithusa.

While they were struggling to hold the distressed dragon two men came in with a large metal crate and injected the dragon with something. The dragon began to slow in her movements, and they forced her into the crate. One man picked Y/N up and the rest picked the crate up.

“Pause the video.” Bucky growled, glaring at the screen. “That’s Rumlow.” He snarled, pointing to the figure holding Y/N.

Natasha cursed in Russian and Clint grabbed her hand as he held the dragon in one hand. A coal colored dragon rushed towards the trio and landed on Bucky’s shoulders.

Tony played the video and changed the perspective to the outside camera. The team watched as Rumlow carried an unconscious Y/N out to an awaiting van and the other men held the rattling crate.

“Can you track the license numbers?” Steve asked, catching a glimpse of the van’s plates.

“You could.” Tony said, shrugging as he turned the laptop back to him. “But HYDRA isn’t as dumb as we think. These plates are probably fake or stolen.”

“But we could hack traffic cameras and see where the van goes.” Bruce said, moving over to stand next to Tony.

“They could’ve gotten to the cameras before us. What about satellites?” Tony asked, turning in his chair.

“Hi, hate to interrupt this science convention,” Natasha started, waving a hand at the scientists. “But can you do it? That’s all we need to know.”

“We can do it.” Tony said, Bruce nodding along. “Give us a couple hours and we’ll be able to find her.”

“Great.” Clint said, nodding at the two of them. “You two track them, the rest of you make yourselves at home, we’ll be in our bedroom.” He added, pulling Natasha and Bucky towards the stairs. Four other dragons flitted over to their guardian’s life mates and followed them up the stairs.

“I’m going to slaughter them all.” Natasha snarled, pacing the room with a purple dragon following her closely. “I’m going to tear the hearts out of their chests and make them watch it beat before they die.”

“They will suffer.” Clint agreed, stopping her and taking her face in his hands. “They will learn what happens when someone takes our girl.”

“And we’ll have plenty of help.” Bucky said, wrapping his arms around both his partners. “The team is willing to save our girl; Tony will do anything to save his sister and I’m pretty sure these guys are willing to caramelize anyone who has hurt Y/N.” Bucky added, smiling as the dragon on his shoulders cooed seemingly in agreement.

“We’ll get her back.” Clint promised, kissing Natasha and Bucky and scratching the chin of the coal dragon.

“Yes, we will.” Natasha agreed, smiling at her boys.

Reader POV

“Tell us how to control it.” Rumlow demanded, getting very close to your face. “Tell us!”

“Go fuck yourself.” You sighed, laying your head back on the table and closing your eyes.

You’d awoken alone in a cell. You could hear Aithusa somewhere in the building, but she sounded weak. Before you could attempt to blast the door open on your own, Rumlow and his men had stormed in and injected you with something.

Whatever it was it made you weak. It made your magic weak. Your legs collapsed out from under you, your head felt as if someone were attempting to split it in two and your entire nervous system was on fire. The men dragged you out of the room and into a larger room with an array of torture tools surrounding you.

Upon strapping you down to a metal table, you’d immediately been questioned intensely. Where are the other dragons? Where is Emrys? What do I know about the Avengers? How can they control Aithsua?

Your response to every question had been the same so far.

“Again.” Rumlow barked, moving away from you. You were numb to the pain at this point. 

You started laughing as they attempted to shock you again. The pain making you feel disorientated and borderline hysterical.

“Stop.” Rumlow growled, storming over to you and forcefully grabbing your chin. “You think this is funny? Let’s make it funny.” He snarled, moving over to another man he began to furiously give instructions to him in Russian, all the while glaring at you.

A man came to stand next you while another dragged a table of tools over to the two of you. Rumlow smirked as the first man began to look the tools and slowly walked over to the two of you.

“Miss Stark I am going to ask you one more time. Tell me everything.” He said, leaning in close to you. “Tell me about your brother, tell me everything about those dragons of yours and tell me everything about Hawkeye, our Black Widow and our Soldat.”

“Go fuck yourself. I won’t let you touch any of them.” You snarled, spitting in his face. Rumlow smirked and wiped the spit off his face before nodding at the other man.

“She’s all yours.” He said and left the room. The man turned towards you with a scalpel in hand.

“Shall we begin?” He asked rhetorically, smirking as he stepped closer.

Everything hurt. That man was clearly not a registered doctor, that was one thing you knew for sure. Most of your body was covered in blood, cuts, burns of all varying degrees and so many of your bones had been broken.

“Still haven’t loosened your tongue I see. Well I can fix that.” The man said in his thick accent. “How shall we do this? Decisions, decisions.” He mused, going through his tools.

You let out a shaky breath, closed your eyes and relaxed back onto the cold table. What he did to you didn’t matter as long as you could block out the whole situation.

The door slammed open and thundering footsteps came towards you. You opened your eyes and turned to face the owner of the footsteps. You saw a furious looking Rumlow, covered in burns and red marks, storm towards you.

He grabbed your hair and yanked your head off the table.

“You will tell me how to control that demon or I will kill it while you watch.” He growled, holding your hair in an intensely tight grip. “Do not test me.”

“You can’t control any of my dragons.” You laughed, smirking mockingly at him. “I am the only person on Earth who can control them.”

“Then that’s what you will do.” Rumlow said, dropping your head back onto the table. “You will tell that beast to do whatever we say, or I will kill it.”

“You touch her, and I swear I will make sure you burn.” You growled, glaring at the man before you.

“Bring it in.” He said to the other man. The man scurried out of the room like the rat he was. “We’ll see who burns.” Rumlow added, giving you a smirk.

Several men came back into the room dragging in a large metal crate. The crate was shaking wildly, and several sounds of distress escaped the box. At the sounds of Aithusa’s distress you began struggling against the straps that held you to the table.

“Show us. Show us how you control the dragon, or I will cut your throat.” Rumlow threatened as they opened the cage. A man came forward with a noose on a pole and wrapped it Aithusa’s neck and dragged her out of the crate.

Aithusa had chains around her wings and one wrapped around her mouth, preventing her from shooting fire at the men. Aithusa let out a muffled growl as her eyes landed on you.

“Show us.” Rumlow demanded, tracing the scalpel along your collar bone.

“I can’t show you anything when you have her muzzled.” You snapped, hissing as he quickly cut below your collar bone. “It’s fucking true you asshole. I cannot do anything if you have her muzzled.”

Rumlow stared at you for a minute. His face showing no emotion as he debated your argument. Finally, he nodded.

“Fine. Unmuzzle the beast.” He barked. The other men appeared unsettled at the thought of her being unmuzzled but complied with Rumlow’s orders.

“Did they harm you?” You asked, the men in the room watching with interest as you spoke.

“I feel worse than I did before.” Aithusa spoke in her soft growl. “Whatever they injected me with is making me feel weak. But look what they have done to you, they should burn.” She growled loudly, making one of the men jump.

“What are you saying? Tell me what you are saying.” Rumlow demanded.

“She is willing to show you what she can do.” You answered. “But she can’t do anything in here.”

“Why not?” Rumlow asked, pressing the scalpel into your skin again.

“Look at all the flammable objects in this room.” You said, raising an eyebrow at him. “Your entire base would burn to a cinder.”

“Then we will take you somewhere where you can show us.” He said, unstrapping your arms. He bound your hands together and forced you onto your unsteady feet. “Bring the beast.”

He dragged you down a series of long, winding, hallways until you reached a single door. He forced the door open and you were taken aback by how bright it suddenly was. When your eyes adjusted to the sunlight you finally noticed your surroundings. You were in the middle of nowhere.

“Y/N, what are you doing?” Aithusa asked, looking at you wearily.

“I promise I have a plan, darling. Just do what I say, please.” You said, giving her a small nod.

“Now show us.” Rumlow demanded. Some men had set up targets at varying distances for Rumlow’s entertainment.

“Hit the targets.” You told the dragon. Aithusa didn’t hesitate and easily hit the targets, though the amount of fire she breathed varied in amount. She needed to get out of here.

“What else can you show us?” Rumlow asked, looking at the targets in satisfaction.

“Her flight is incredible for a dragon of her size. Place a target anywhere on this field and she will be able to spot it and destroy it easier than she just did.” You answered, shifting your head to look up at the man. He narrowed his eyes and stared down at you.

“If she leaves, there will be consequences for you. And they will be severe.” Rumlow warned.

“Understood.” You said, giving him a nod. “Aithusa, when they unchain your wings, you fly away. Go, find Nat, Bucky, Clint or Tony. Find them and don’t look back.” You told her, not allowing her to argue. Aithusa gave you a small nod and stretched her wings as they were unchained.

Without waiting for another word, she stretched her large wings and took to the sky. The men began shouting in panic as she rose above the ground. Rumlow smirked in excitement until she flew in the opposite direction.

“Shoot it down! Shoot it down!” He yelled, as she disappeared from sight.

“You’re too late.” You smirked. “She’s already gone and when she comes back, she won’t be alone.” You said, smirk dropping when Rumlow began to laugh.

“That’s what I’m hoping for.” He said and dragged you back into the base

Non-reader POV

Aithusa flew as fast as she could in her slightly delirious state.  She wasn’t sure where she was going or how she was going to find anyone to help her.

She was dizzily flying in the clouds when a red and gold figure flew next to her.

“Aithusa, it’s me Tony.” The figure said. Aithusa let out a sound acknowledging she knew who he was.

“Can you come with me? I’m with Natasha, Clint and Bucky and your siblings are with us.” Tony said as he and the dragon hovered next each other. Aithusa gave him a nod and next to them a jet suddenly appeared.

A door lowered and Aithusa recognized Bucky standing there with a coal dragon on his shoulders Aithusa flew as quickly as she could and landed next to the brunette and rubbed her head against his hand.

“Hey Aithusa.” Bucky greeted and moved her away from the door. Aithusa began to make a series of rapid growling noises that the other dragons began to respond to in variants of growls.

“Point Break, you want to help?” Tony asked, retracting the plates from his face.

“Aithusa knows where Lady Y/N is.” Thor said and began to speak to the dragon’s language. “Continue in this direction, there is a field coming up. There will be scorch marks.”

“What kind of state will she be in?” Clint asked from the cockpit, hands tightening on the wheel at the mere thought of Y/N being hurt.

Aithusa began to speak in a rapid and deep growl.

“From the sounds of it, very bad shape.” Thor said, looking at the dragon warily. “Brother Bruce, I would suggest you ensure your medical is fully stocked.”

All three of Y/N’s partners and Tony glowered at the thought of the woman being injured. The rest of the team shared a look as the other four glowered and glared, they nodded to each other each knowing to stay out of the four’s way.

Odin knows what they would do to anyone in that base.

Reader POV

“Ah! Fuck you!” You screamed hoarsely. Rumlow smirked and dug his finger into the new bullet wound. “I swear to Hades when I get out of here, you’re going to be choking on your own ass.”

“And I thought we were becoming such good friends.” Rumlow said sarcastically, grabbing another tool off his trolley of pain. “Now you have a choice, leg or arm?” He asked, waving a small saw in front of you. “Or you could tell me what I want to know.” He added suggestively.

“Go fuck yourself, you dick.” You spat, glaring aggressively at the smug man.

Rumlow didn’t say anything as he smirked down at you. He turned the saw on and moved it towards your leg.

“You let me choose.” He said as if a way of reminder. The saw made contact with your knee and you let out a long shriek of pain before the world went dark.

When next awoke you were alone. You were still strapped down to the metal table but Rumlow and his men weren’t with you. Everything ached, you felt as if someone had thrown you into a blender and left to puree.

You looked down at your leg and let out a sob. Your left leg was missing from the knee down. What was left of your knee was wrapped in bandages, but they were severally stained red.

You let out a few more guttural sobs before you forced yourself to calm down. You couldn’t do yourself any good if you worked yourself up and passed out again. You raised your head as high as you could and tried to find a way out of this.

To your dismay you couldn’t find anything in the room to help you break out. Even all Rumlow’s toys had been removed from the dingy room. Attempting to break the bonds that held you to the table was a ridiculous notion. You couldn’t feel your body, how would you be able to move it around?

“Wakey, wakey, darling.” Rumlow said, barging through the door. “Are you ready to cooperate now?” He asked, standing at the foot of the table.

“Go, fuck, yourself.” You enunciated, closing your eyes as he stood near the table.

“Nothing seems to faze you, does it darling?” Rumlow asked, tsking at your answer. “It never fails to amuse me. Now, how can we get that out of you?” He questioned, footsteps echoing as he moves around the table.

Your eyes shot open as the door slammed open. You smiled as Natasha, Bucky and Clint thundered into the room with Tony not far behind.

Rumlow pulled his gun out but was not quicker than Bucky. Bucky shot the man thrice and stormed over to him. Tony followed Bucky while Natasha and Clint rushed over to you.

“Sweetheart, sweetheart look at me.” Clint said, grabbing your face in both his hands. “How many fingers am I holding up?” He asked, putting two fingers in front of your face.

“Get your hand out of my face.” You groaned as Natasha cut your hands free. “It’s grotty.”

Natasha let out a laugh and leaned down to kiss your forehead. She quickly got rid of the rest of your bonds as Clint kissed your cheek.

“We need to get you back to the jet.” Natasha said, looking you over with worried eyes.

“I’m fine.” You said as Cint picked you up and cradled you in his arms. You let out a loud yelp as he cradled your battered body. Bucky and Tony’s heads snapped over to you at the noise and rushed over to you.

“Hey baby doll.” Bucky cooed, fingers brushing over your bleeding cheek. “They really did a number on you, didn’t they?” He added, gazing down at your missing leg.

“Hi Buck.” You murmured, smiling weakly at the man. “You haven’t seen a number until you see what I’m going to do to him.” You said and Bucky smirked at the fire in your eyes.

“We’ll feed him to the dragons, okay little one?” Tony said, kissing your hairline. “That sound good?”

You hummed happily and rested your head on Clint’s chest before shooting up and then winced in pain.

“Did Aithusa find you?” You asked, holding your throbbing ribs.

“Calm down, angel.” Natasha soothed. “She’s fine.” Before Natasha could continue seven colourful dragons raced into the room, chirping and growling enthusiastically.

“I thought we told you to help the others?” Tony mumbled, looking into the hallway.

You laughed as the little orange dragon, Vele, made a comment to Tony.

“Vele says they already did and you shouldn’t doubt them.” You laughed quietly. 

“We’ve gotta get going.” Tony said, drawing the three of your attentions to him. “We’ve got company.”

“Bucky grab him.” Natasha said pointing to Rumlow, growling on the word him. “Do you have any juice in you Y/N?”

You shook your and looked down. “They did something to me, I can’t use my magick.”

“That’s fine, angel.” She soothed. “Tony can you handle them?”

“With my eyes closed.” He said cockily. 

“Hang on Tony.” You said, halting the man. “Vele, you stay with me, you’re still injured. But can the rest of you go with Tony and keep him safe.”

“Of course.” Aithusa said while the others nodded. “We’ll make you proud.”

“Tony, they’ll go with you.” You said and they all moved over to him. Tony gave you a nod and he and the dragons made their way into the hallway. Bucky grabbed Rumlow by the scruff of his neck and dragged him along as Clint carried you into the hallway with Natasha covering the two of you.

“You’re going to be okay sweetheart.” Clit said, running down the hall and holding your body incredibly close to his.

“They took my leg, Clint.” You murmured, tears stinging the corners of your eyes. “He fucking took my leg.”

“And we’ll work through it together. You’re alive and that’s all that matters.” Clint said, leaning down to kiss you.

Running through the building you took note of all the bodies on the ground. None moving, all covered in copious amounts of blood and you couldn’t find yourself to care.

“Clint I’m tired.” You groaned, leaning your face into his chest.

“No, sweetheart, no sleep.” He said quickly. “You have to stay awake, Y/N.”

“Night Clint.” You mumbled, eyes closing as he began to run faster.

“Come on sweetheart, you’re doing so well.” Clint encouraged as he stood in front of you.

“Ok, ok. I can do it. You can let me go now.” You told Bucky who gave you a look.

“Are you sure baby doll?” He asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“Of course.”

“Of course she can.” Natasha said, moving to stand next to Clint. “She’s my fiancé, she can do anything.”

“She’s our fiancé.” Clint reminded, wrapping an arm around Natasha’s waist. “And we know that. Bucky get over here.”

Bucky moved over to Clint and Natasha and you took a deep breath.

It had been a month since HYDRA had captured you. Your magick had come back a week after the incident but unfortunately there was no spell to fix what Rumlow had done to your leg.

Tony had called you into the lab three weeks after your return and when you arrived he was waiting for you with a large smile. Natasha, Bucky and Clint were in the lab with him, each sharing the same grin.

Tony had been working on a new leg with you with Shuri. The new limb shared many design features as Bucky’s arm and made you smile at the thought.

Now here you were, a week after being given your new leg and you were making a lot of progress. It was your first time attempting to walk without a crutch or one of your partners.

Natasha had her phone out as you walked, a bit clunkily, towards them. They all smiled at you as your way over to them. When you were arms length away, Bucky pulled you into his arms and held you into his chest. Clint and Natasha joined the hug you all stood there for a few minutes enjoying the comfort.

“I love you three.” You murmured, raising your head from Bucky’s chest. “Thank you for everything. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.” Bucky leaned down and kissed your forehead.

“Of course.” Natasha said, kissing the back of your neck. “We love you.”

“All of us do.” Clint added, resting his head on your shoulder.

The three of you remained in that position for a few more minutes. It was moments like this the three of you relished in, the peaceful and the loving. The moments when nothing mattered but the four of you.

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Coming Soon;

Natasha x reader x Bucky

Steve x reader x Bucky

Bucky x reader x Sam

Natasha x reader x Sam

Steve x reader x Sam x Bucky

Steve x reader x Sam

Natasha x reader x Peggy x Wanda

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[made-me-deep-blue]

the smell of vanilla.

Pairing: Aurora Emery x F!MC (Riza Hawkeye)

Words: 2114

Rating: Trigger warning (mentions of depression, starving one’s self, death), there’s fluff at the end don’t panic-

Tags: @drethanramslay (Thank you for helping me through this tough period of time! Much loves x)

-

Aurora had been watching Riza for a while now.

After the funeral, it was as if Riza became a totally different person. The bright, humourous, flirtatious self was gone. Whenever she smiled, it was a tired one. A smile that did not reach her eyes and those green flames did not flicker anymore. It was just dull green. There was also a hidden melancholy behind those emerald eyes, one Aurora couldn’t touch on. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

Whenever they have passed by in their apartment, Riza merely gives a smile and a small little wave, before disappearing behind the door to her bedroom. Aurora would come back from late-night shifts, laughing softly at Jackie and Sienna asleep on top of each other on the couch still dressed before making her way to Riza’s bedroom, slowly opening her bedroom door.

She would slowly watch the gentle rise and fall of Riza’s form under the covers, leaning against the door frame.

“Worried about Riza, huh?” Elijah wheeled out from his room, in his casual clothes, drying his hair with his towel.

Aurora had nearly yelped in surprise but had the decency to keep her mouth shut. Her hazel brown eyes turned wistful, still lingering on sleeping Riza.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “It’s like she changed, you know?”

“Trust me,” Elijah said. “It’s like she’s working as per normal with the diagnostics team, but there’s just...something I can’t grab on. Something’s definitely going on, can’t be just the...funeral and with everything surrounding that that made her like this.”

So, when Aurora got the message from her Edenbrook roommates that Riza had collapsed at the hospital during her shift, it had confirmed her suspicions on what had been truly going on.

-

It was like any other regular day for a hospital which was down in the dumps from a pulled fund. Perks of being a hospital dependent on funds from the government, really. 

Jackie, Sienna, Elijah, Bryce were all gathered at the nurses’ station, along with Danny with his arms propped up against the counter, watching Riza conversing with Esme about the intern’s patients for today. It was the usual neutral-looking expression, eyes scanning through charts as she explained what Esme needed to take note of.

When Riza was done, she gave a curt nod to her intern, before making her way to the diagnostics team’s meeting room, the door clicking shut. The residents and the one nurse at the station could practically see Esme trudge her way to where they were standing.

“So,” Bryce broke the silence. “Figured out what’s wrong with her?”

Concern etched along the lines of Esme’s face, her lips pressed into a thin line. “She looks paler than usual, and her lips kind of lost their colour? She looks alive though, cheeks still pink and all. There was sweat forming at her neck and hairline, plus I could practically feel her body heat from where I stood…”

“Should we ask her-” Before Elijah could even finish his sentence, Jackie sighed and shook her head.

“We’re going to get nothing out of her if we keep on pressing her for answers,” Jackie eyed warily at the meeting room of the diagnostics team. “Even Ortega’s got nothing from asking her, she’ll just deny again and again.”

“And from what Aurora told me and our personal observations,” Elijah added. “When we asked her to join us for breakfast, she kindly rejected our offer and headed to the hospital early. Same goes for dinner, she just smiles wearily and says that she’ll have the leftovers once she was done studying, but she was already asleep when we checked if she had eaten the food we had left for her.”

“Anyways,” Sienna said. “We should all be all eyes on our girl today, be on a lookout for anything out of the ordinary, okay?”

Everyone in the circle nodded, including Esme.

“What’s the gathering for, doctors?” Harper asked as she stepped out of her office and walked towards them. “Is it anything I should know about?”

“Well, you see,” everyone swivelled their heads towards Esme when she started to speak up. She flinched at the amount of attention at first, but she took a deep breath and continued with resolution in her eyes. “It’s about Dr. Hawkeye…”

“Oh?”

After explaining the situation to Harper, she nodded and was surprised when Esme bowed slightly to her. “Please help us be on a lookout for her, Dr. Emery...Dr. Hawkeye means a lot to me, and to this group of people here.”

Harper nodded and smiled. “Don’t worry, if peers can’t get her to talk, maybe superiors would. But I won’t do anything to pressure her, of course.”

“Thank you.”

Long after the others had dispersed from the nurses’ station, true enough, Riza started to falter, nearly tripping on her heels (which she never does). She pressed a hand to her forehead, the other holding onto the wall, before losing all the energy in her legs and collapsed onto the floor.

Jackie happened to be exiting a patient’s ward when she heard a crash and saw her roommate on the floor. “Riza!”

She nearly skidded (god forbid, she did not or else she would be dropping her job as a doctor for the rest of her life) while running to Riza, and flinched when she touched her friend’s arm. “God, that’s scorching hot! Stretcher! I need a stretcher here, stat!” 

Riza’s eyebrows were tightly knitted together, breathing as if she was out of breath, cheeks flushed and cold sweat licking at her face and neck. She could barely keep her eyes open while trying to squint at Jackie.

So much for keeping it together, Riza had thought, before darkness consumed her vision.

-

Aurora was still on her shift when she received a text message from their group chat. 

She nearly fainted at it but cursed mentally when she realised that she could not leave early due to her superior (curse him), so she quickly sent off a message that she would be coming over to Edenbrook once she was done with work.

Soon enough, Aurora literally ran for her life to the entrance of Edenbrook, ignoring the surprised and curious looks of the onlookers as she brushed past them and met up with Sienna at the nurses’ station. 

“You ran here?” Sienna asked, holding Aurora by her arms.

“O-Of course, this is Riza Hawkeye we’re talking about,” Aurora said in between breaths. “Obviously I had to run here. How is she?”

“See for yourself,” Sienna gestured to the window of Riza’s ward.

There was some colour coming back to Riza’s skin, compared to the horrendously pale expression that she had been having. Aurora sighed in relief but clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides.

“Turns out that she had been surviving this shift with a very high fever with slight malnutrition,” Sienna looked at her friend through the window. “We gave her fluids to cool down her body temperature, and thank god it went down. She hasn’t eaten yet since she was out cold throughout-”

“I can enter...right?”

Sienna was surprised at the sudden interruption but smiled gratefully. “Of course you can,” she checked her watch, before walking to the locker room, giving a small wave at Aurora. “It’s the end of my shift now, I’ll see you back at home, yeah?”

Aurora returned the gesture, before shaking her head and scoffed. “No promises.”

The ward was quiet, except for Riza’s breathing. Aurora set her bag down by the bedside table, and sat on a chair by Riza’s bed. When she tentatively slid her hand into Riza’s, it was cold but with a bit of warmth. To be honest, she was shocked right to the core when she read that Riza had collapsed from a high fever, and that they had to be quick or else their hands were going to be scalded from the body heat.

Riza Hawkeye would never be in this kind of a pitiful state on the job. Heck, in front of her mentor Dr. Ethan Ramsey too.

But…

Aurora shook her head, slowly giving Riza’s hand a small squeeze.

“That sad face does not look cute on you, Emery.”

Aurora’s head immediately faced Riza’s weak smile, her emerald green eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Damn you, Riza…” She choked on a sob. “Do you have any idea how worried I was for you when I received a message that you had collapsed in the hospital? I even ran my way here from work to see you!”

“Even faster than your performance during the baseball game?”

Aurora hesitated, before nodding.

“I see,” Riza said, before leaning further back into the pillow. There was guilt lying behind her eyes, and Aurora could see it etched into the beautiful lines of her face.

“I...I’m sorry, Aurora.”

“For what?”

“Everything.”

Aurora didn’t know what to think of her answer. Sure they started off rocky when they were still interns, then they started to build on their friendship, to the point where she had gained the courage to stand up to her aunt for being used as an outlet to vent because Harper missed neurology during her job as Chief of Medicine in Naveen’s absence. At the end of their intern year, she was then offered a vacancy at Riza’s shared apartment since Landry moved out.

Then came that med school reunion dinner that Riza accompanied her to. It felt as if that changed the way she viewed the relationship between herself and Riza Hawkeye. When she cheekily introduced herself as Aurora’s girlfriend, the gears inside of her shifted.

Was that what she felt all along? Did she...like Riza?

Not as a friend, but something more?

Aurora didn’t know what to answer the bedridden Riza, only for tears to start welling up in her eyes and choked on a sob as she spoke.

“Everything?” She asked. “Really? Everything?”

“I know I apologised to you prior for being such an ass to you during our intern year,” Riza started. “And then came the baseball game, which I still feel guilty for. Dang it, it feels like all the apologies in the world can’t erase the damage I did to your heart. And...after the funeral, after a loss of Edenbrook’s family, it felt like it was the final straw to all of my sufferings.”

It was true. Starting out at Edenbrook’s elite diagnostics team as the youngest and a junior fellow was something that she could handle, but the package that came with the job was something that Riza struggled to grapple with. Especially when the sudden pull of the fund happened, and the competition for funds began to arise between Edenbrook and Mass Kenmore, the longtime medical rivals in American history.

Riza Hawkeye, a junior fellow and Edenbrook’s golden child, couldn’t have possibly handled the complications that followed her career with the hospital’s diagnostics team. 

No one should.

“I was nothing but a nobody to all of you during this time in order to cope with myself and my crippling mental health,” Riza’s eyes turned wistful, as she looked out of the window, at the night sky. “I even slowly stopped communicating with you at some point, but you just kept persistently checking up on me. And I really appreciate that.”

Aurora’s chest swelled with emotion at Riza’s words.

“But still, I regretted how I acted on the woman I like a lot..”

The vinyl in Aurora’s head had scratched to an abrupt stop.

The woman...Riza liked the most?

“I…”

“I like you, Aurora Emery. A lot. A lot, a lot. And if you would have me, when things settle down, let’s go out together?”

Aurora, yet again, didn’t know how to respond, but to chuckle through her tears. Riza reached up to her cheek and wiped them away.

“How romantic of you to ask me out when you are in bed like this.”

“Guess I’ve been binging on too many korean dramas for this moment.”

Riza scooted over to one side of the bed, then patted the empty space. “Come sleep with me? I don’t wanna be all alone tonight.”

“One of your many schemes to make me yours, I’m assuming?”

Riza feigned defeat. “Oh, no! You’ve seen through my schemes, whatever shall I do?”

“Dork,” Aurora scoffed, before sliding off her flats and getting comfortable under the covers, sliding her body against Riza’s. Warm, Riza thought to herself, wrapping her arm around Aurora’s waist and tucking her chin on top of her head.

Riza Hawkeye was then lulled to sleep, despite her growing hunger, embraced by the smell of vanilla.

#playchoices #choices stories you play #choices: open heart #open heart #open heart 2 #open heart: second year #oh2 #aurora emery #oh mc #aurora x mc #jackie varma #bryce lahela #sienna trinh #elijah greene #open heart danny #esme ortega #trigger warning #open heart fanfiction #fluff

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Trick or Steve (One Shot)

chHello boo!! I are here to request a Steve x Reader halloween one shot. Where the reading is out trick or treating and runs into a few VERY realistic looking Avengers. Who she then awkwardly learns later on, were actually the real Avengers. Not just guys in costumes. 🤣 can’t wait to read what you come up with for this in Octobeeeeeeer!! 😍😍😍 eeek! So excited!!

As requested by @katurrade! I’ll be posting 4 Halloween themed one shots this month in celebration of over 100 followers and SPOOPY SEASON!!! Hope you enjoy!

In Y/N Y/L/N format.

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader

Rating: PG 13 for violence, language, alcohol, party scene, adult themes (ish)

Words: 5,341

AU because no one died in Endgame, Steve didn’t go back. I can’t move on.

Summary: You’re taking your niece and nephews Trick or Treating proves to be an event in itself, but running into three of the Avengers was not part of your plan.

No beta and so I only own the mistakes and the reader!

Trick or Steve

Take the kids trick or treating your sister said. It will be fun she said.

And so here you were, taking yet another picture of yet another group of knock-off Avengers at precisely six thirty on the evening of Halloween, listening as your two nephews and niece squealed over the men dressed in painstakingly obvious mass produced costumes. They had been nice enough sure, one poorly body painted Hulk giving the kids some of the candy out of his bag when they complained the houses they had been hitting during the night were being stingy with their offerings. A  very tan, we’re talking spent- his-whole-summer-on-a-cruise-ship –in-the-Bahamas tan Hawkeye helping the youngest of the three pose correctly. It was quite cute.

“My feet hurt!” The five year old aforementioned child whined and you were suddenly aware of two things.

One, you were in no rush to have children of your own.

Two, you were entirely too sober for this.

~~~Earlier~~~

“Andy will you stand still? I need to fix your left wing.” You huffed, hot glue gun locked and loaded as you stared down at the fidgeting five year old. The living room was silent other than the preening of your sister, too caught up in snapping a thousand pictures to help you with her own kids. Gee thanks for the help Sis.

Your peripheral vision caught your niece reaching to grasp at her newly straight long blonde hair, your voice making her jump. “Hana don’t touch your hair it’s still hot from the straight iron!”

“Yea Hana leave your hair alone!” Her twin brother mocked whilst opening his third piece of candy. You raised an eyebrow as you directed your playful scolding his direction.

“Liam you take one more piece of candy out of that dish and I’m not taking you!”

“Sorry Ant.” The chorus of small voices around you had a hint of a smile cracking at your lips as you tried to remain stern. After a few extremely short minutes of holding Andy’s cardboard wing at a forty five degree angle, it looked like you had finally managed to get them even in height.

“There! Everyone ready to go?” You sat back on your heels to look at the three, a big smile overcoming your features as they all got excited over their outfits.

“But Ant,” Andy exclaimed, pointing to your sock clad feet, “You’re not wearing any shoes!”

“Thanks Buddy, you’ve just saved my entire Halloween!” You snatched your nephew and flew him through the air of the living room, the small human giggling and squealing as you made whooshing noises, his arms out in front of him. Whatever kept him in good spirits and helped the glue dry faster. Placing Andy on the floor of the foyer you made a quick grab at your heeled boots that sat by the door, zipping them up to just above your knees before standing to look in the mirror.

The black tactical suit you had made yourself looked great, the matte fabric the perfect choice for your costume. You had taken a few liberties with the original suit design, trading the slightly loose pants for something a bit more feminine and curve hugging, eighty-sixing the knee coverings and opting for sleek heeled boots instead of chunky combat ones. You were sure your feet would hate you later, but Carpe Diem right? The black straps and buckles were still covering the top half of you, although you had chosen to turn them into more of a corset of sorts, your chest pushed up under the dark gray vest you had made. It wasn’t overly cool outside so you went sleeveless, allowing for more mobility. You readjusted your hair, smoothing away any fly aways of your current bobbed style. At least you didn’t have to wear a wig. Readjusting the straps that held your very fake guns to your thighs you wrapped your hands around the handles of the three appropriately painted jack o’lanterns, the plastic thunking together as you passed them to their owners, the kids pooling around you to get a final group picture. You headed out into the crisp air as your sister waved you on, saying she and her husband would see you all later at Maria Hill’s party.

That was an hour and three groups of Avenger wannabes ago.

Of course the kids all but tackled their respective counter parts, save for Andy. You felt bad that no one had dressed up as Falcon yet, but you were constantly assuring the slightly upset child that he would see him tonight. You hoped anyway.

It was when you finished sacking the last house on the block when you saw them.

“ANT LOOK IT’S HIM IT’S HIM!!!” Andy’s shrill voice shot off with the rest of his body as he sprinted as fast as his small legs could carry him towards the three men, one of them no doubt dressed as The Falcon. You groaned as the two twins followed suit, racing to catch up, and then outrun their youngest sibling to the group of guys. You silently prayed this would be the last time for the night, your phone only able to hold so many pictures.

As you reached the three kids, once again mooning over the “superheroes” you couldn’t help but notice that their outfits looked extremely authentic. And they were equally extremely good looking. Thor’s hair was perfect, Falcon’s gapped tooth smile made you smile back. Hell even Captain America had an ass on him that made you want to sing the national anthem. Out of tune and all. Your face flushed as you came up to them, the kids talking a mile a minute and their questions making your face burn.

“Well if it isn’t the Walking Lightning Rod, Bird Brain, and America on Ice. You guys look great, did you assemble the rest of the girl scout troop or is it just you three tonight? Sorry about the kiddos. Wish I could say they’re mine, but they aren’t. Thanks in advance for being nice to them, they kinda can outrun me in these heels.” Your greeting forced the three men to break their eye contact with their miniature versions to give you a quick once over. The man dressed as Falcon took one look at your costume and about died.

“YOU DRESSED UP AS BARNES?!” He exclaimed, voice laced with gulps of air and hard laughter as you adjusted the duct tape and silver painted left arm you had fabricated. You noticed the blue eyes of Captain America’s wander over your figure as Falcon bent at the waist, trying to catch his breath and failing miserably. “Sorry it’s just…” He breathed, standing back up to fully give you a once over, “You managed to make him look good. And that’s a big deal. Doesn’t she look amazing Steve?”

The man in the mask sputtered out jumbled words in agreement, and you felt your face grow hot even though your smile grew. He took a breath and composed himself “What’s…what’s your name Doll?”

“Y/N Y/L/N, and my eyes are up here Mr. American Dream.” You caught him staring at your chest through your mostly unzipped vest as he awkwardly cleared his throat, his face a few shades of pink that you were quickly finding adorable.

“So, ahem, why the Winter Soldier?” His blue eyes sparkled when he talked to you, and man you’d be lying through your teeth if you said they weren’t making you feel some things. Out of all the Captain Americas you had met this evening, this one was very quickly becoming your favorite. You admired the long hard lines of his body, that suit not leaving much to the imagination. Jesus you could pray with your knees upward with him anytime. You snapped your head up realizing what you were doing and forced your mind to focus.

“Well it was either him or Stark, and I don’t have the face for a goatee.”

“You would have made a hilarious Tony!” Sam was laughing again, and you were trying to hold your own inside. His joyous noises were infectious.

“But what’s with your arm?” The star spangled man stuttered and you smirked, showing the kids handy work in the form of “get well soon”s, hearts and happy faces.

“Ah well you see,” You leaned in closer to the man, motioning the other two closer to you, “The kids uh, the kids think he just hurt it really bad and that it’s in a cast. I don’t have the heart to tell them the truth. Especially Andy, he’s really sensitive.” You looked pointedly down to the five year old who was clinging to the last of the three as if his life depended on it.

The Falcon gave a smiling nod before crouching down to unwind the child in question from around his legs, chuckling as the kid attempted to hold on tighter. “So your name’s Andy huh? That’s a pretty cool name kid. I’m Sam. I like your costume.”

“My Ant made it for me! I wanted to be you because I think Falcon is the coolest!” Andy pumped his fist in the air with a shrieking holler that reminded you for the eighth time that night you were too sober for this shit. But you couldn’t help but smile as he continued to gush over his favorite super hero, your heart warming to see him get the interaction you’d been hoping for all night. “He can fly!!”

“Did you make all of your garments then?” Thor’s voice was deep, booming, and beautiful and for a second you almost regretted not dressing up as him, giving him a small nod. “They are exceptional Lady Y/N.” You scoffed, waving off the compliment although it was the first one you had gotten all night.

“Yea Ant is the best fairy godmother in town!” Hana squeaked, twirling around in circles to show off her red cape that hung from her shoulders. “She worked super hard for months so we could all be our favorites tonight! Even our mom and dad have costumes!”

“So I am your favorite hero then?” Thor inquired, taking a knee to look at the small blonde girl.

“Yep! You control lightning and we both have blonde hair, and you’re really nice to girls. My momma says it’s cause your momma raised you right, and that’s why you have a kind smile. I don’t know what that means but my momma is always right.” Hana smiled, showing the tall man her missing two front teeth, who looked like he just about melted into a puddle at the girl’s statement. He opened his arms and before you could object your niece ran into them, hugging the man fiercely.

“Wow little one you are incredibly strong!” He complimented her, breaking away as she fell into a fit of giggles. “What is your name?”

“Hana!” Came the squeak of your niece, beaming with pride.

“My name’s Liam and I think Captain America is the best!” Liam piped up, finally finding his voice and bringing a large smile to his counterpart, who reached his hand out to give him a high five from his waist. “You were frozen! You have super strength and you’re like really really old.” Sam snorted at that as Liam went to cover his backside. “Like a cool old though! Not like my dad old.”

“Nice save Li,” You rolled your eyes as the man in blue laughed heartily at how much Liam looked like he was going to spontaneously combust from embarrassment.

“So how old are all of you?” Sam questioned, finally giving in and hoisting Andy up to sit on his hip, you rubbing your temple in exasperation. These kids.

“I’m seven and the oldest!” Hana called, Liam shoving into her slightly.

“Only by three minutes.” She stuck her tongue out at her twin, Andy staring down at hand, hardened expression on his features as he thought up his answer. His face lit up as he swung his whole hand out, nearly falling out of Sam’s grip as his shifted his body weight in excitement.

“I’M THIS MANY!” He promptly smacked Sam in the face as he held up his small chubby digits into his field of vision.

“Oh I am so sorry, Andy my dude you gotta apologize for hitting the nice man.” You lightly scolded the child, his face falling as he avoided his gaze and stared at his bucket.

“Sorry mister Falcon sir.”

Sam grinned as he put the kid down, “It’s alright Andy, I accept your apology. And you can call me Sam. Now how about we take a photo huh?”

All the kids cheered as you pulled your phone out from your cleavage, watching Steve’s eyes widen at just where you hid your electronic device.

“Alright kids, pose like you’re about to save the city!” You snapped multiple shots, the kids breaking into different stances with their idols. Sam offered to take a picture of you next to Captain America, and after much convincing from two particular seven year olds you allowed him to oblige. You pulled out one of your guns and stood back to back with him, both of you laughing at the absurdity of it all. After he had finished capturing a few memories for you the group went to separate.

“Alright kids, we’re losing candy time and we still got hit up the rich people before we head to Miss Hill’s house for her Halloween Party! So tell the nice men goodbye and move your butts!” The kids nodded at your order, hugging the men and saying thank you.

“Miss Hill? Like Maria Hill?” Steve asked, you nodding.

“Yea she’s having a party, we worked together briefly and have stayed friends ever since. You know her?”

“We’ve..uh heard of her parties before.” The blonde smiled tightly, your bright smile making his pulse quicken.

“Cool beans well small world! If you’re in the neighborhood stop by yea? I’m sure she won’t mind! And I wouldn’t mind seeing you again blue eyes.” With a small flirty wave in Steve’s direction you were gone, moving to catch up with Hana and Andy already ahead in their trek. You came to a stop when you realized Liam wasn’t with you, turning your body to motion him with a “come on” motion. He held up a finger to you and you sighed, pointing to your nonexistent watch.

“Pssst! Mister America!” Steve crouched in front of Liam, who had called him over and was now digging through his pumpkin vigorously. You had turned your back, not wanting to intrude on their private moment, missing your cheeky nephew pull out one of your business cards from his plastic treat holder.

“What’s this?” Steve whispered, Liam’s eyes glinting with mischief as he smiled broadly in your direction. Thor was speaking into his comms link while Sam edged closer to the two to eavesdrop. Which wasn’t hard because Liam hadn’t quite mastered whispering yet.

“That’s my aunt’s number. You’re her favorite and she thinks you’re a total hottie. My mom says she needs to fall and love and get married so her womb doesn’t shrivel up and she dies alone with like eighty nine cats. So if you like her you should ask her out. She likes coffee and pink roses but hates bad breath. And A-holes who don’t use their blinker! Okay, bye!”

Sam saved his laughter for when Liam was long out of range, racing to grasp your hand as you walked away with the rest of the kids. Steve only smiled warmly at the slightly crumpled card.

“Dude I need that kid as my wing man.” Sam was shaking his head when Thor came back to them. “Nat have news?”

“Yes she believes they found the location of the Arsonist’s next target.”

With that the three men were back on the mission, their moment of carefree fun over. That was the whole reason they were in the neighborhood patrolling as it were. There had been six massive fires over the course of the last two months, all with the same cause behind them. They had gotten a letter earlier that day saying that the arsonist, Mr. Ash, yes that was what he had chosen to go by, would be striking this very evening. The team had split up to cover more ground as Nat and Pepper worked back at the tower to crack his pattern and thus tracking him down to his next target to apprehend him. They had all agreed to go to Agent Hill’s party in celebration after they caught the asshole, but now Steve was more determined than ever to make sure they made it. Even if it was just to see you again.

~~~Two Hours Later~~~

“Come on Ant, you got this!”

“Yea you can do it!”

The kids cheered you on from the front porch of Maria Hill’s home, the large basin of water and floating apples the only thing in front of you. You gave them a wink before putting your hands behind your back. Quickly finding your target you felt the cold splash of chilling water hit your senses as you dove after you prize, the kids clapping loudly as you emerged victorious. Biting into the tart granny smith you stood up wiping your eyes and smearing some of your mascara in the process.

“Pretty impressive stuff there Y/N.” Your vision adjusted to the figure of Maria, who was holding out an orange solo cup and a towel to wipe your face, which you happily took.

“Helps when you have your own cheerleading section.” You shrugged, taking a large gulp of the apple cider that had been mixed with fireball whisky. The alcohol burned your throat for a second as you weren’t expecting that much to be in it. Note to self, don’t have too many of these. She laughed and handed you your apple back, taking the slightly damp towel from you.

The five of you wandered into the spacious house where you could see everyone in costume, loud party music blaring through every room of the house, kids and adults alike playing games like Sorry and Pin the head on the Zombie. The rooms were all lit in different eerie colors, streamers and scary window clings decorated the house. There had to be at least 60 people here, and that wasn’t including those bobbing for apples or playing yard Jenga outside.

“Hey Ant Y/N look!” Liam pointed to the large T.V screen, you turning your body to face it and feeling your entire body go rigid. “It’s the Avengers from earlier! They were the real deal!”

Your eyes widened in shock as you instantly recognized three of the men from earlier, albeit their perfectly authentic suits were just a bit charred, they still looked incredible. And you looked like The Incredible Idiot. They were exiting a building that had been on fire, Thor holding a screaming man while Steve and Sam went to help put out the flames with the local fire department. You were pretty sure your face could give the warehouse a run for its money with how hot you were. You swallowed hard at the questioning look on Maria’s face, opting to just pull your phone from its hiding place and shoving it in her hand once you pulled up the photos.

“Holy shit Y/N, you didn’t tell me they were…” She tried to cover her escaping giggles with her hand as you began looking for a rock to climb under. She especially found the picture of you and the very real and very handsome Steve Rogers to be absolutely hilarious.

“How was I supposed to know Maria?! They were like the fourth group of Avengers and I was completely done with the whole thing by group two!” You whined, sitting down in a large overstuffed recliner with an ungraceful thump. This was single handedly the most embarrassing moment of your entire existence. And that was saying something. You had once forgotten to wear pants to school your sophomore year of high school and had to loan a pair of god awful gym shorts from your best guy friend at the time. They did not smell clean and didn’t match your bright orange fall sweater. It was also Winter, and the shorts were two sizes too big. You never thought anything would top that. “I’m just going to die here now.”

Needless to say between finding out they had met their actual heroes and all of the candy, the kids were absolute beasts to put to bed. Maria had been kind enough to let them crash on an air mattress in a spare room upstairs when your sister and brother in law texted saying they were running a bit behind. They had won first place in the costume contest at their party, so they were celebrating a little longer than intended. When you realized your plans had changed, you had opted to have a couple more drinks. It’s not like the absolutely attractive earth savers would actually show up.

“Heeey the party still going on?!” Sam’s deep voice came bellowing through the house while you were draining your third drink, nearly choking as the three Avengers from earlier, and an extra few including the one you had dressed as entered the living room. You quickly dodged your way into the kitchen, wondering silently if you could fit in the very tiny water heater closet and they wouldn’t even know you were there. You listened as the room gave them a round of applause, finally reaching your “fuck it” meter for the night and pouring yourself another drink. You were never a lightweight, but the effects of the booze would at least keep you from being a total freak when you came in contact with them.

“Y/N you’re still here, how fortuitous!” Thor clapped loudly causing you to jump and sputter into your cup. You steeled your nerves and turned around and felt your face pale for the second time that night. That was a habit you didn’t need to be forming.

“So I am.” You pretended to shrug in indifference, a small shy smile on your features. “You guys were pretty great out there tonight, thanks for catching that asshole and saving that family. Guess that’s why Stark keeps you around huh?”

“Well it’s isn’t because they’re pretty to look at, but everyone’s a critic. Tony Stark. Hi, great to meet you.” The man wearing a simple “This is my Halloween costume” tee shirt approached you, you smiling wider and shaking his extended hand. “I see you’ve met my coworkers. Wilson told me about the names you called them tonight, they were great. Mind if I steal them?”

“Oh umh, um, no not at all!”

“Great, because I was going to regardless.” He winked and moved to the side, allowing you to introduce yourself to Clint and Natasha, who shook your hands with happy chuckles.

“Nice arm.”

“Thanks, made it myself.” You winked at the woman who shook her head at you, Bucky coming up with to stand next to Steve, giving you a once over.

“See Barnes didn’t I tell you? She made you look good for once!” Sam slapped the quiet man on the back, earning a glare from his otherwise stoic face.

“Shut up Wilson.” Bucky responded, rubbing the back of his neck. “But yea, you actually look pretty great. I can see why Steve here was all bent out of shape thinkin he wasn’t going to see you again tonight.” Came his gruff reply, his blonde friend groaning and jabbing an elbow into his side. “Ouch. What where you’re throwing that thing Punk.”

You brought your vision to look at the handsome Captain, wondering if it were possible to drown in his blue eyes. You felt yourself smiling, your eyes crinkling as you took a step closer to him, watching him swallow hard. “Awwwh. Did you miss me Captain?”

“Are you kidding? He’s the whole reason why we had to work double time at tracking the arsonist down, just so he could see you.” Sam grinned, running to hide behind a very amused Tony as Steve contemplated murder for the sixth time that evening. “He wouldn’t shut up about you boo..”

“Mister Sam… Falcon…sir?” You were never so thankful for a child in your entire life. All of you turned to look at Andy who stood alone in the kitchen doorway, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. His wings were long since off of him, you knowing full well with his thrashing the cardboard and hot glue would not withstand the rage of a five year old with constant night terrors.

“Yea buddy it’s me. Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”

“You have a nightmare again Andy?” His teary nod at you had you placing your cup on the counter, leaning down to motion him to you. He hurried into your arms, you effortlessly picking him up, taking your silver arm covering off to allow yourself more range of motion as you cradled your sobbing nephew.

“Shhh you’re okay my dude, I’ve got you.” You muttered, listening to him cry uncontrollably into your neck, the evidence of his emotions soaking into your skin. “Tell me what you dreamt.”

“It was AWFUL Ant!” The boy exclaimed, pushing off of you slightly to look at Sam, tears still stinging his eyes. “Yo…you guys..didn…didn’t make it…out and the the building..” He started crying again and you felt the whole room melt around you.

“Hey Andy it’s okay see, we’re okay though.” Sam whispered reassuringly, asking you without words to take the child, which you gave him over with a nod. “See look, no harm done.” He let the little boy place his chubby hands all over his face, brushing over the soot and ash that had stuck to the man’s skin.

“…but what about smoke infal..mathc..ion? Momma says you can…di..die from too much smoke infalmathcion.” The brunette boy hiccupped at Sam, and you didn’t miss Tony’s huge smile at the kid’s difficulty at pronouncing big words.

“We’re gonna be fine. Don’t you worry. Takes a lot more than nasty smoke to take out the Avengers, don’t you think?”

“Y..yea! You guys are the best in the whole galaxy!” Andy cheered, as if he hadn’t had a complete meltdown just moments prior. Sam smiled back at him, turning his head to mouth a simple “I’m gonna keep him.”

You were almost tempted to let him, until you remembered he wasn’t yours.

“Hey there’s my little love bug!” Your sister cooed from the hallway, stopping for no one as she reached for her son, eager to hold him.

“Uh honey…” Your brother in law motioned to the group of super heroes, her face reddening as she looked at Natasha and Clint, who looked back at their doppelgangers with wide eyes. Tony and Thor howled with laugher as the pair took an extra step apart from each other as they took in your sister and his costumes. “I never thought we would meet like this. Man no one is going to believe me at the office on Monday.”

“Of course they will, you’ll have proof!” Tony belted, motioning for Maria to come and take pictures of everyone. You all elected to stand on the front yard, your sister going to drag the sleepy kids out of their slumber so they could be a part of it. After many different poses and many different phones later, everyone seemed happy with their captured memories.

“Night night Ant Y/N, sleep tight. Don’t let the bad guys bite!” Liam joked, the two of you breaking into your secret handshake.

“And if they do, I’ll beat them til they’re black and blue with my shoe!” You called back, hugging Hana and waving to Andy who was already nearly passed out in his dad’s arms. He gave a half wave back, all of their figures fading into the distance as they swam through the sea of parked cars.

The rest of the party cleared out a bit later, you staying behind to help clean up the apocalypse level mess in Hill’s house.

“You’re really great with kids Y/N.” Steve held the trash bag open as you piled cans and cups into it, meeting his gaze with a grin.

“Only because they’re related to me.” You admonished, the large man chuckling as you continued about the living room, you both being the only ones in there while the others helped take down decorations in the other rooms and outside. “Listen about earlier, I’m sorry if I may have seemed a little forward. I had no idea it was actually you and I’m not normally that flirty.”

“Ah I see. Well if it helps I’m not offended.”

You shot your head up to look at him, arm mid swipe to push more cups into the trash bag. “You’re…not?”

“Nope. Especially knowing I’m a total hottie, and your favorite. According to Liam anyway.” Your voice died in your throat as the man lost in time actually had the nerve to wink at you. You placed the cups in the bag, coming up to your full height to stare at him. Your feet were burning from the whole night in heels but you’d be damned if you backed down now. You didn’t know if you wanted to kill your nephew or hug him until he complained about it.

“Oh really? Well then can I ask you out for a cup of coffee sometime?” You spoke lightly, question almost coming out in a whisper on account of your nerves.

“Sure, I’ve got no plans in the morning.”

“Eleven work? I’ll be dead with a hangover until at least ten.” He laughed at your honesty, reaching to pull out his phone so you could type your number in. You procured your phone from its warm resting spot, taking extra care to slow your movements. Steve actually looked away from you after staring for a beat or two, his ears the same shade of pink from earlier. Cute.

“As long as we can yell at a-holes who don’t use their blinkers, sure.” Hug Liam it is. “There’s a café on 23rd and maple by the tower…”

“Queenie’s?” You finished, smiling brightly at Steve who nodded back enthusiastically. “Then it’s a date Cap.”

“Yep,” He pulled you into a surprising yet warm hug, you nose breathing him in and taking note that he smelled exactly how you thought he’d smell. All masculine and deep and smooth and rough and your brain stopped trying to think of good words to use. He offered to walk you to your sister’s house, a pensive look washing over you as you looked at the clean living room.

“What about saying goodbye to the others?”

“What, like you’re never going to see them again? Not if I can help it” He mentioned nonchalant, another blush sweeping over your face as he bluntly admitted to seeing you more than once. You only nodded, accepting defeat as he put his arm around your shoulders to keep you warm on your walk home, not that you needed it with the adrenaline coursing through your veins.

A short fifteen minute stroll of content and happy chitchat about yourselves later you were at your sibling’s door, finding the spare key in a ceramic frog just along the edge of the fish pond that sat on the left side of their stairs.

“Well this is me, see you at eleven hundred?” He smiled at you, tucking a stray hair behind your ear before placing a chaste kiss on your cheek.

“Eleven-hundred. Pleasant screams Y/N.” You outwardly giggled at his pun as he pulled back, turning towards the street and walking away with a noticeable pep in his step.

Take the kids trick or treating your sister said. It will be fun she said.

She was right for once.

End

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