#tony has definitely worked out all the possible couple names for him and pepper and he *will* make dumb jokes about them whenever possible | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

widow-maximov · 3 years

Text

You just need to feel it

Pairing: Natasha x Fem Reader

Warning: Language, fluff, angst

Summary: Being hidden away from the Avengers definitely brings curiosity when you are accidently discovered by one of them.

Word count: 5.6k

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Being one of the most rich people in the world daughter, definitely has its own benefits along with flaws, one of them being that when people heard your surname they instantly think you are the most spoiled kid on earth, when in reality you practically don't even know your parents.

People think you overexaggerate, like how can you not know your parents? But it's the truth, at a young age you have been practically given up to Tony Stark, he is intelligent and has his weakness when it comes to sponsoring his businesses to which your parents agreed to with one condition.

That Tony takes you as they never had time in the world to babysit you, so Tony became the father figure you always lacked. He taught you many things along with his passion of building, with each lesson you become better which is why you are currently working for Tony.

You practically have the same knowledge as him so when he is busy or needs another person's perspective he asks you to help and you do it with gratefulness.

When your parents noticed that you are starting to become a potential, they asked Tony to keep you discreet but would regularly check up on you, not that they would even try to interact with you but you didn't really care.

You were fine with Tony being the only father figure, soon when Pepper came into Tony's life, she was like the mother you always dreamed off, she always supported you and loved spending time with you when Tony was busy with his meetings.

Since you were stuck in the same place at all the times, you wanted to explore but you were forbidden from doing so, you knew no one could find out about you or Tony could get into big trouble with your parents.

You heard of the Avengers and their work, but you and Tony were behind the inventions so they could succeed against enemies three times their size.

It would've been one of those days where Tony would disappear from the team and spend some of his time with you, catching up or helping you with studying.

You was sat at your desk, the room was connected to the lab where you and Tony would come up with creations, the lab had a window that was tinted so only the person inside could see outside of it which was useful, as you could watch people walk past and no one would know you are even there.

The room of course was filled with things that could never bore you but it did bore you. You couldn't leave anywhere because if there was a picture leaked, your parents would be furious, so you were basically locked like Rapunzel but you couldn't escape.

"How are you, kid?" Tony asked as he walked inside the room, taking a double look in the hall to make sure no one saw him.

You nodded as you looked at him "Like any person who is locked inside a room their whole life"

He laughed a little as he made his way towards you "I'm sure it is very entertaining"

"Yeah, I'm so entertained as you can see" You pointed towards your books.

He sat on the desk as he leaned over to see what you were studying "Biology? What's so fascinating about that?"

You rolled your eyes, you would think someone like Tony would be somewhat interested in facts about science "It's interesting, like the human body has 12 systems. Don't tell me this isn't impressive?"

He smiled at you "You need another hobby, kiddo"

You playfully rolled your eyes "And you need to let me explore this building"

His smile fell a little, he knew that this is inhumane to keep you in a room locked and no one could find out about you "Under different circumstances, that would be possible"

You stood up from the chair as you kept your gaze on him "I know, it's okay though, as long as you keep hanging around I'm sure I will be fine"

He nodded slightly with a sad smile "If it only was up to me, you would be able to just walk freely"

"I don't understand, why don't they just let you adopt me, they barely even talk to me, you have been more of a parent to me than they ever were"

He looked at you, he always cared about you, even if you weren't his daughter by blood, he always considered you as one along with Pepper "I wonder that as well.."

The silence started to settle but he cleared his throat, throwing one of his famous smiles and pulling you into him with his hand over your shoulder as he walked towards the lab "I started to come up with this prototype and then I noticed something and I wanted to ask you about it"

⸻⸻⋙☸⋘⸻⸻

The time with him went by so quickly, he didn't even notice that he was gone for so long, he gave you a hug which was something that was so foreign to you until he took you, you still wasn't used to it especially since you barely received them but you grew fond of them.

The team started to get suspicious of Tony's disappearances, at first they thought he was sneaking off to see Pepper but that went out of the window when she walked into the Avengers tower and asked about him, indicating that she had no clue where he was.

They wanted to find out what he has been doing all that time, they checked every room they could possibly think off, but it came back short. They even asked Friday but that programmed thing always gave the same answer 'It's confidential' which only just fuelled the team.

Correction; Most of the team, by most that was Sam, Bucky, Thor and Natasha and the rest didn't really care until the four never came up with any explanation to why Tony had to disappear.

Steve only took interest when Sam really insisted and came up with some theory that Tony has a second woman on the side with a whole family, obviously there was no evidence to support that.

"I still think Wanda should look into his head" Thor came back with some sort of drink in his hand as he reclaimed his seat.

There was a slight laugh "There is no way I'm doing that, I respect that man too much, you guys are on your own"

All of them looked towards Wanda who heard Thor and they just sighed knowing that she won't do it, no matter how much they would beg.

"Natasha is a spy, can't she like follow Tony one day and just see where he always wonders off to?" Wanda asked as she sat down next to Steve who was scribbling something down on his notepad.

Sam and Bucky looked at each other with a slight smirk as they both looked at Natasha, who already knew that there would be no way out of this "Natashaaaaa..." Sam dragged her name out in an attempt to get to her " The witch is right, just follow him, you are like a super sneaky spy."

Natasha rolled her eyes as Thor spoke up again after taking a sip of his drink "That could save us a lot of time"

Natasha looked at Wanda who had a small smirk across her lips "You welcome" The witch mouthed which caused a glare to be thrown her way from the Russian.

She eventually agreed, especially when they would follow her everywhere, annoying her until she would crack. The famous black widow for once didn't threaten her team mates since she was as curious as them.

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She has been following Tony all day, sneaking around, hanging from the ceiling and just watching his every move, she was close to giving up but that's when she noticed a door appear from the wall, from the outside it looked like any wall but that's where you would be with Tony all the time.

Tony looked around and walked inside and then the door disappeared. Natasha, feeling of satisfaction washed over her, had a smirk across her lips, finally that's where he has been hiding all this time.

She expected, some embarrassing place where Tony stored away his secrets that she could tease him about, so when he walked out again couple minutes after, she took the opportunity and snuck inside the room.

She was slightly disappointed when she just found a lab but her eyes caught a movement from the opened door, across from where she was, she quietly made her way there as she looked around. It was just a bedroom with a lot of fun stuff.

She observed you as you was sat on your bed with a book in hand so she decided to speak up "Now who can you be, gorgeous?"

Natasha never failed to notice how attractive you were, the way your hair would be pushed behind the both of your ears, in her eyes you looked young but old enough.

You jumped up from the unfamiliar voice, eyes fixated at the redhead in front, you knew this was bad, she shouldn't be here and now that she has seen you, this will only be a big problem.

Just like you jinxed Tony walked in and his eyes widen at the sight of the redhead "Romanoff what the hell are you doing here?"

She eagerly span on her hill as she faced him with a smirk "So that's where you have been hiding out"

"How did you even get in?" He narrowed his eyes as he looked at you, you looked clueless as well.

"The door closes too slow, I just walked in. But who is that?" Natasha simply explained but her attention changed towards you with a smile.

He stood in front of her as he covered you "That's not your business, you shouldn't even be here-"

Natasha walked around, making her way towards you as she extended her hand towards you "I'm Natasha but you can call me Nat, sweetheart"

Her attempt at flirting with you only irritated Tony "Romanoff, I swear if you don't take a step back from her, you'll regret it" He tried to stick to his threat but Natasha knew him too well.

You looked at Tony "Dad, does that mean am I in trouble?"

Natasha's eyes widen as she repeated what you said "Dad?!"

Tony rolled his eyes and looked at you with a small smile "Of course not" His eyes darted back to Natasha "But she will be"

You would be lying if you didn't think that some of the Avengers were pretty good looking, you never was in a relationship for obvious reasons but there would be times you would imagine yourself in one, not that you knew much about them but the films and books seem to give you some sort of an idea.

Natasha mumbled as her eyes narrowed "Maybe Sam was right about you having a secret family"

"Secret family? Have you guys been creating some sort of theories about me? What the hell are you guys doing?" He sounded more than irritated.

"Does Pepper know about you having a secret daughter?" She asked with her arms crossed.

Natasha might have been viewed at scary and unlovable for not more than her body but that doesn't mean she didn't have her own view on some subjects, she just never voiced them.

"She knows-" He paused as he huffed from irritation "I don't have to explain myself to you"

You watched as your eyes darted from one to another as they spoke so you decided to interrupt them "I'm trying to read..."

Natasha's gaze fell on you, she had a small smirk playing across her lips "You know that bed looks more than comfortable-"

"Out!" Tony shouted over Natasha as he pointed towards the exit, she finally given in and with a smirk she walked out and Tony followed but not before he sent you an apologetic look.

They both made it to a private room, out of hearing from anyone. Tony leaned on the door as Natasha stood not far from him, he sighed with a defeated look "Can you keep this to yourself? I will pay you or something"

The redhead with a hint of genuine emotion "You don't have to pay me, I will keep this to myself you don't have to worry but"

He dread that 'but', he knew there was a catch, Natasha continued "Who is that?"

He pushed himself off the door and sat on the table as he looked at Natasha "It's not my place to say, but her parents decided to give her to me and here she is, no one can know so just make up a lie or something"

He seems upset in a way and just like that walked out of the room and went back to you, Natasha's eyes followed him as she felt a little guilty for invading his privacy.

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Everyone from the team apart from Tony were waiting for Natasha to return with some hopeful news. She wasn't expecting literally everyone to be tuned in.

She was taken back as she made it into the living room, they were waiting with excitement written all over their faces "So?" one of them spoke up.

The redhead crossed her arms as she raised her eyebrows perfectly "You guys just sat here and waited for me to come back?"

They shrugged and just said 'yes' which just made Natasha shake her head at their nosiness "Well I found nothing, he was busy with his meetings all day." She paused as they all groaned "Maybe there literally is nothing"

Wanda tilted her head at Natasha, she knew she had an advantage over the team, especially if they tried to lie, so when Natasha excused herself the witch took the opportunity to follow her.

"Wait up, Natasha" Wanda spoke from behind her as she caught up to her.

She turned to face Wanda as she raised her brows at her "What's up?"

Wanda looked around and with a swift motion, pushed them both into a room that wasn't familiar, from the sudden move it caused Natasha to slightly gasp from shock as this wasn't what she expected.

"What the hell Wanda!"

Wanda looked with an innocent smile "Sorry, I just wanted to be out of range of everyone"

"Why?" Natasha simply asked, not sure to why Wanda suddenly wants to talk.

"What did you find out?" The witch didn't beat around the bush, she came out with it straight away.

"I'm not sure what you are referring to?" The Russian tried to play dumb.

Wanda rolled her eyes "You might be able to fool them but remember I can still read your mind"

Natasha sighed as she crossed her arms and leaned on a little table that was behind her "Not much, there is hidden room where he keeps some girl who claims to be his daughter, the thing is that is definitely not his daughter. You can't say anything, he asked me not to and I'm only telling you because I don't want you to go inside my head"

Wanda liked the fact that she was somewhat feared by the Widow, she powerful but she would never try to hurt her team mates; scrap that, her family so she just nodded.

"We have a new addition!" Wanda clapped her in excitement "If you need help or anything, I'm here"

Natasha smiled at the witch and nodded and thanked the witch, they both went back to what they were doing; Natasha coming up with a way to find out more about you and Wanda went back to pity the boys.

⸻⸻⋙☸⋘⸻⸻

It was one of those days for the team, where there would be no missions as Stark had a lot of business stuff to take care off with his company. He needed someone to keep an eye out for you, he would've asked Pepper but she was busy for that day so the only person that popped in his head was Natasha.

He walked into the area where everyone had their own get together to just relax after a chaotic week, he spotted the redhead sipping on beer "Looks like everyone is getting comfortable today"

They looked at Tony who was in a suit rather than something more comfortable "Shame you can't spend it with us" Steve spoke first, he was the only one who wasn't exactly drunk but he wasn't sober either.

Tony shook his head as he smiled "Well, nothing I can do unfortunately. Which reminds me, Romanoff I have a mission for you actually"

The team groaned at his words, Natasha was really liked as she would be able to drink so much and not get drunk, she would barely even reach the drunk state, so having her attend a mission made the team a little moody.

She nodded as she finished off her beer and stood up to follow Tony, she remembered not having any missions, she always double checks so she is never behind anything.

"What mission?" Those were the only words that left the Russian.

Tony sighed, knowing that this is the only way out "I need you to keep an eye out on that room"

The redhead crossed her arms as she listened to him "What do you want me do?"

He handed her a card "I want you to be causation, in case something happens and I'm not here. Do not go in there and disturb her, she has some stuff to do"

Natasha nodded as she looked down at the card "This is to open the door?"

He nodded and smiled at Natasha as he reached for her shoulder and squeezed it "Good luck"

Natasha watched Tony disappear and sighed, she never was the one to break rules but she really wanted to hang out with you, there was something about you that pulled her in and there wasn't a waking second that she wouldn't want to spend with you.

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The Russian did as she was told, she kept an eye out for the room and observed it in a distance to make sure that everything was okay, it was quite boring, but she had her phone to occupy her time, she received some messages from Steve and Sam, showing her what she was 'missing'.

She was going to reply until she heard footsteps, she peaked and saw you with a hood up, waiting for the elevator to come, she smirked as she leaned on the door frame "Where do you think you're going, gorgeous?"

You didn't jump this time, you looked over at her and rolled your eyes as you whispered "Are you stalking me or something?"

The Russian crossed her arms, she knew what to do "Wouldn't you like to know!"

You raised your brows at her shouting, it would attract attention of people close by, meaning you would be spotted, so you marched your way towards her as you walked inside where she was camping out to hide.

"Can't you be quiet?" The way you spoke to her as if you knew her would straight away be a death wish for you but somehow you wasn't scared of her.

She looked out to see if anyone was coming and closed the door behind, trapping you inside with her "I could've been if you were nicer"

You sighed defeatedly as you looked down "Right, I'm sorry.." by the time you were done speaking, you looked up at her as she was analysing you.

"Where were you going to go?" She asked with no hesitation in her tone, she was a little different to the people you met, she wanted to find out why you did what you did rather than punish you straight away.

"I wanted to just leave that room, I never have the chance to do that and I thought today was my chance but" You paused as you eyed her "Clearly not"

The redhead felt hot as you eyed her but she hid it well "Okay, come with me"

You raised your brows at her but smiled as you put your hood up and you followed her like a puppy, you didn't know the place and if the worlds most deadly assassin was going to take you around, you knew it would be best to stick with her.

The two of you made it to the roof top, you never went anywhere your whole life, always stuck in that room or met your parents in some plain white meeting room to discuss what would be best for you.

As you stood near the door, you looked around to see the city and how beautiful it was, it was the first time you saw anything that pretty, usually you would only stare at one view from your room and that eventually got boring.

The Russian chuckled at you and made her way towards the edge of the building, placing herself on the floor, you did join her but sat a little further away from the edge.

You looked down and saw multiple cars go by but from far they looked like toys, the way you observed everything melted Natasha's heart, she never witnessed anyone being so happy whilst looking down a huge tall building.

Natasha shook her head a little with a small smile which caught your attention "What you smiling at?"

She looked at you with the same smile "I never seen someone be so happy whilst looking down to potential death" She teased a little.

You looked away from her and bluntly responded "If you were locked inside a room for your whole life, things like this would amuse you as well"

There was a pause in between, the Russian tried to come up with something to say without wanting to invade your privacy "How did you not go insane?"

You laid down on your back as you stared at the stars above "Hope"

You replied with one word which only interested Natasha even more "Hope for what?"

"For this.." You pointed up at the sky and she understood. You hoped one day you'll be able to just walk around.

She took a deep breath as she laid next to you and looked at your side profile "Why are you not allowed to leave that room?"

You looked at her, meeting her eyes trying to embed into your memory the way her eyes looked at you "Because that's my life"

"Surely Tony wouldn't be this cruel to not let you leave his side" She spoke trying to crack you a little bit more.

You chuckled "No, Tony is the best father figure you could ask for. It's just that my parents have a tight hold over him and if I mess that up, they will literally lock in inside a prison or something"

Natasha's eyes never left your face, it was like she was in some trance "So Tony isn't your biological dad?" The redhead asked, she knew that he wasn't but she wanted to know more from you.

You shook your head from side to side "I wish, he has been more of a parent to me than my own ever were"

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to" Natasha stated softly, making sure you didn't think she was forcing you.

You gave her a smile "I know, but you seem like you want to know unlike everyone else"

She frown at your answer "What do you mean? People don't listen to you?"

You shook your head "Nope, no one cares either"

"I do" It was the most quietest 'I do' you ever heard.

"You are the only one"

She was quiet as she was processing your words, so you continued "My parent's never actually cared about me, but I don't really care, what I care is that they locked me and don't allow me to do whatever I want"

"You talk about your parents as if they are really powerful, who are they?" She asked curiously, not to be nosy but to know more about you.

You looked away, scared about the judgement from her "My name is Y/n Y/l/n"

She looked at you with disbelief "So you're the spoiled kid of the Y/l/n family?" She asked with a surprised tone.

You knew this would happen, the news never shut up about you and your weird disappearance so you nodded and she sat up from the disbelief "That's bullshit, you don't seem to be spoiled"

You raised your eyebrows at her "Am I not? Have you not seen my room?"

She rolled her eyes "Well do you expect to be locked in a room with just a bed and couple books? I think that's a reasonable room for someone who has been forced to stay in it"

You sat up as you listen to her defend you as if she knew you, so you simply smiled "Thank you"

She looked at you as her emotions were quick to cool down "For what?"

"For taking me here and listening to me, I never had friends before, to be fair I never met anyone near my age" You nervously played with your fingers as you admitted it to her.

She smiled as she stood up and extended her hand towards you so she can help you stand up "Well we aren't done.. that's if you still want to hang with me"

You took her hand as she pulled you up "Please, anything to not spend another minute in that room"

She smiled as the both of you slowly started to walk towards the exit of the roof "If you want, there is a small get together with the Avengers, we can tag along with them"

You looked at her side profile this time, if you didn't have to reply to her, you would most likely be speechless by her beauty "Do you think they will know who I am?"

She waved her hand dismissively "Don't worry, I will put them back in their place if they say anything rude"

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And that's how it started, you both attended the get together, you met wonderful people and for the first time in your life you tried alcohol. The team was more than happy to have you in their circle and shortly they learnt who you were, it wasn't possible to hide anything from them plus you were on the news practically all the time but they never judged you but more opposite, they loved you.

Thor even called you Lady Y/n and you really liked it, they treated you like any other person and you could've been more grateful for that, Natasha walked you to your room and stayed until you fell asleep, she stayed to ensure that you would actually fall asleep but also to watch as you slowly relaxed every muscle in your body.

From that moment, she only started to fall for you even more, the more you opened up the more she was in awe at how brave you had become but it was the moment when you stood up to your parents in front of her that she realised she really likes you.

It was one of those days where she sneaked inside your room and you loved it, the two of you would spend time watching movies that she loved and movies that you loved, or watch movies the both of you hated and just made comments on it.

You gotten comfortable around Natasha and she respected you like you respected her, you wasn't sure whether what you felt was friendly or romantic, your heart would always skip a beat when her arm would brush against yours or when she laughed so hard at something you said and she gripped your arm or hand it just made you miss her touch after.

"I don't understand why they even go towards that stupid sound, I would turn around and just walk off" You commented as you were irritated at the scene on the TV.

The Russian chuckled slightly "That's because you are a wuss, of course you would run away"

You rolled your eyes at her as you looked over "Please, as if you wouldn't. Just because you are THE Black Widow, it doesn't make you less of a human"

She looked over at you curiously "So you're saying everyone would be scared?"

You nodded confidently "Oh for sure, if someone just barged inside here, you would jump for sure"

And that's what happened, someone DID barge in but it was someone you didn't expect, the way you gripped onto Natasha's body as if she would somehow make it disappear and the way Natasha held onto you as if she could make that disappear was more adorable.

"Y/n Y/l/n! What do you think you're doing!" The voice spoke that was familiar yet at the time not really.

You felt a blush across your cheeks as you realised you were still holding into Natasha, you let her go and looked at her, she had a slight blush as well but she quickly looked away from you to mask the blush.

You stood up from your bed and walked over to where the voice was, it was your mother, she stood there with her arms crossed and that's when Natasha came out from behind you, she crossed her arms as she narrowed her eyes at the woman.

Your mother held the phone out as it displayed your newly social media "I don't see what's wrong Mother"

She huffed "You are unimageable disrespectful!"

Natasha raised her eyebrows at her, she understood what you meant now but you continued "No, I'm being respectful, it's you who barged into this room throwing a fit over a picture"

"You are doing this on purpose, you are trying to ruin our imagine! You must delete that now, this is unacceptable" She looked at the phone and at the picture, it was you with the team, the next picture was with Natasha as she leaned on your shoulder and made a cute little kissy pose.

You shook your head "No" it was all you said which caught Natasha off guard but she felt proud, so there was a smug smile across her lips as she observed the woman in front of her.

"Unbelievable" She paused as the redhead finally caught her eye so she pointed towards her "You are the one who corrupted my daughter"

Natasha's smile was gone as those words left her mouth so she decided to speak up "If she was your daughter you would treat her better"

You looked over at Natasha, the way her gaze was on your mother so firmly, make your stomach do flips "She never corrupted me, she was always here for me" She looked down at you with a smile that met her eyes, you looked at your mother "Unlike you or Father"

Her mouth dropped opened at your words, she never expected you to ever talk to her like that, so you continued "I'm old enough to decide for myself, so I'm no longer your daughter but Tony's, he adopted me and I will happily call him my dad and Pepper my mom, they deserve those names so if you don't like it, leave the same way you came in"

She was boiling inside as Natasha chuckled at her expression, she huffed and walked out not saying anything back, you let out a breath that you didn't even know you was holding and turned to face Natasha, a squeak came out of your mouth as you jumped into Natasha's arms.

She held you so tightly but you quickly pulled away realising what you did, you were still in her arms but just facing her "Oh god! This is bad, she will take revenge"

Natasha's voice always seemed to calm you "Hey, hey. She won't do that, Tony won't let that happen and frankly I won't either"

You always seem to be oblivious to Natasha's feelings towards you, she wasn't very open with them which is what caused your obliviousness. The both of you were scared of rejection but something with the way Natasha comforted you and held you tight against her, making you look down at her lips.

She caught on and with every courage that was left in her body, she leaned closer, before her lips reached yours you looked into her eyes "Thank you Talia"

She smiled as she kissed you, she finally did what she always wanted to do, she felt as if there was fireworks going off, the way butterflies would grow just at the touch of your lips, she loved it and she was intoxicated.

You were the first to pull away, resting your forehead against hers "I like it when you call me that"

A grin broke out on your face "Talia, Talia, Talia-"

She kissed you again, this time with hunger as she backed you into a wall, you tangled your hands into her hair as you matched her pace in the kiss.

Even if it wasn't long since you knew each other, the want and the need was stronger than self control for Natasha, especially when you did things like this.

"You really don't want to walk tomorrow" The way her voice was low and her eyes would fill with lust just at you teasing.

"I'm not sure I understand what that means"

Natasha smirked as her lips made their way towards your ear "You don't have to.."

"You just need to feel it" her lips latched onto your skin within seconds, causing a moan to escape your lips.

#natahsa romanoff #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha fluff #reader #marvel #the avengers #natasha romanov

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capsgrl · 3 years

Text

Personal Angel

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 7,903

Summary: Bucky Barnes joins the Avengers and finds himself drawn to the teams healer, but she’s keeping a secret. Will she finally heal him of the pain he experienced at the hands of Hydra.

Warnings: angst, blood, mentions of injury (only light detail), a couple of bad language words, let me know if I should add more.

Authors note: Please find 7k+ words of Bucky needing a hug and being the soft soldier he is. Reader is a healer and younger sibling of the Maximoff twins. Set after the events of Civil War except everyone loves each other and lives in harmony, nobody goes on the run. *breaks indicate change of POV*

Also posted on ao3

Growing up in Sokovia in a time of war was no picnic, but no matter how hard things were at times your parents gave you and your older twin siblings, Wanda and Pietro, the happiest childhood they possibly could. Until they couldn’t. Until tragedy struck and they were taken away from their three young children by a man named Stark.

Being the youngest, you looked up to the twins to guide you. They were your only family now and you’d follow them anywhere. So you did, you followed straight to Hydra and experiments in a science lab. There was never any doubt in your mind, wherever your family were, that’s where you belonged.

You were given the power of healing. With the help of the mind stone you were able to heal wounds and take the pain away from the injured. The first time you demonstrated your new powers to your handlers, the whole lab rejoiced. With your help, they now had an infallible army. The whole thing didn’t sit right with you, but your siblings assured you that it was a means to an end. Stark needed to pay for what he had taken from you.

It took a lot of practice for you to hone your skills. At first you couldn’t control them, and any time you touched someone, even accidentally, you would heal. The trouble with this was in order to heal them you absorbed their pain. It was only for a brief moment, but it was concentrated like a short, sharp burst. It was intense and it drained you, but eventually you learned to control it, and only use it when you chose to.

When Wanda and Pietro took off to begin their revenge plan they took you with them, but kept you hidden, kept you safe. It was only when they realised the true nature of the man, no robot, they were working for and switched to the side of good that they brought you out of the shadows and finally introduced you to the avengers.

You went to Sokovia, helping to evacuate people and heal the injured. It was exhausting but these people were innocent and they deserved your help. You were so busy you didn’t have time for fear, but when Wanda stepped onto the bus, the look on her face scared you more than anything ever had. Something bad had happened it was clear as day. Your fears were confirmed when you looked behind her to Clint, a lifeless Pietro in his arms.

Your world had suddenly got a little smaller, three had become two and it hurt. But you knew that whatever you were feeling was nothing compared to the pain of your sister, losing her twin, a connection that you could never understand now severed, and you did the only thing you could do in that moment. You threw your arms around her and absorbed it all, the pain, the grief, everything. It was the last thing you remembered before collapsing to the floor.

The next time you opened your eyes you were staring at the ceiling of the Avengers compound. Your new home. Wanda had assured you that it was the best place for you both and you couldn’t deny you felt more peaceful here than anywhere you’d been since you lost your parents.

You begged your sister not to reveal how your powers worked. Steve Rogers was a good man and wouldn’t want you to put yourself out for the team, but you wanted to help. She reluctantly agreed, on the condition that you promised not to reveal that you could heal emotional pain too. It always worried her that people would come to depend on you for their emotional needs, and the kind of affect it could have on your mental state. You readily agreed, and became an official Avenger, their resident healer, but your big sister also insisted you join her training with Steve and Natasha so you could learn to defend yourself.

The team continued to grow, until one day Steve introduced you to his latest recruit and best friend, Bucky Barnes. On the outside the man looked just like he did in the old photos you’d seen, just with slightly longer hair and a few more creases around his eyes. It was looking into his eyes that really gave away the changes. You could see a lifetime of pain and suffering in them, so much so that you knew no matter how similar he looked on the outside, he couldn’t be that same man on the inside.

You couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him to carry that pain around with him, and that thought alone spurred you on to do something that you’d not done since the day you comforted your grieving sister in Sokovia. You reached out your hand to shake his, and took just a little bit of that pain away.

B—-B

When Steve had asked him to come and stay with the team at the Avengers compound, Bucky was reluctant. After everything that happened in Berlin and with Tony he felt guilty. The Stark man had assured Steve that he understood that what happened to his parents was an act of The Winter Soldier and not Bucky, but he wasn’t ready to forgive yet. He assured Steve that it was fine for the new team to take residence in the compound, and headed back to the home he shared with Pepper, vowing to return when the time was right.

Bucky was nervous when his pal had taken him to the common room to properly introduce him to the team members he’d fought beside and against at the airport, but they all seemed really understanding. Going round shaking hands with everyone, his eyes finally landed on you. Steve introduced you as Y/N, and as you took his hand and spoke a soft ‘nice to meet you’ he felt overcome with a warm, calm feeling. A feeling he’d not felt since he was a young man before the war. It was almost like peace. Being around you made him feel lighter.

He came to learn that you were a healer, coming down to the med bag whenever Dr Cho needed your help. He found he wasn’t surprised by that at all, there seemed to be an air of calm about you that was soothing, at least to him anyway, not that he would tell anyone that. He’d barely spoken to you since he’d arrived at the compound. That first time he met you, you excused yourself quickly after shaking his hand and scurried off to your room. He couldn’t really blame you, you were probably afraid of him and wouldn’t be the first person to feel that way. There was something about you that made Bucky want to get to know you, but he was still too fragile to try to forge new relationships, relying heavily on Steve when he needed company, but spending the majority of his time alone.

The first time Bucky saw you use your powers, he was mesmerised. Steve always insisted that the team headed straight to med bat after missions for a once over even if they felt fine, which is where he found himself after returning from a trickier than expected mission with Steve and Natasha. The sound of the door behind him opening caught his attention.

“Hey Doc, what have we got today?”, you asked as you entered the room.

“Well, Miss Romanoff here took a bullet to the arm, no major damage has been done, and the bullet has been removed, but we could use some healing here if you don’t mind,” the Doctor said barely looking up from her clipboard.

“Of course. Hold still Nat,” you warned as you gently laid your hands over the injury site causing the Black Widow to wince. When you moved your hand away a moment later, Natasha’s arm looked as good as new. It was like witnessing a miracle.

The man was shaken out of his thoughts by your voice. “Want me to fix up that shiner you got there?”, you asked, pointing to the eye that was currently swollen to the point that it wasn’t fully open.

“Uh, no it’s OK, thank you though,” he uttered quietly “the serum will have this healed up in no time.” It was the truth, the serum healed him quickly just as it did Steve, although the throbbing in his head almost made him reconsider. But someone like him didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of such magic, he felt that he deserved to feel ever ounce of pain, no matter how many times his best friend tried to assure him that he didn’t.

“Well you know where I am if you change your mind.” She offered, reaching out to gently touch his forearm, and once again he felt a feeling of tranquility wash over him. It was like the warmth was spreading from the point that their skin touched, all through his body. He couldn’t stop staring at her hand, that is until she pulled it away and all but sprinted out of the door.

B—-B

You jolted awake, taking a minute to examine your surroundings before realising you were definitely still in your bed, in your room at the compound. It was the middle of the night and the sound of someone screaming had woken you. You strained to listen, and you couldn’t be sure but the screams sounded awfully like they were coming from Bucky. It was probably a nightmare you reasoned, but you decided to go check anyway, just in case. You crept down the hallway towards the sound which was indeed coming from the room belonging to the man in question. Deciding you needed to see with your own eyes that it was just a dream and not something more sinister, you gently pushed the door open and peeked in.

The sight you were met with almost broke your heart. Bucky was thrashing around, tangled in the sheets, and even in the dark you could see the wrinkled set of his brow. The dim light creeping in from the hallway illuminated the sweat covering his face, neck and the part of his chest that was peeking out from the covers. It was amazing that he hadn’t woken himself up yet you mused, but another loud wail shook you out of your thoughts. Spurring into action before you could second guess yourself, you ran lightly to his side and reached out to brush the hair from his damp forehead, and resting your fingers there as gently as you could, you began to absorb the pain.

He visibly started to calm, the sounds stopping almost immediately and limbs slowly relaxing. You were starting to feel weak and knew that you needed to leave soon before you passed out on the floor next to his bed. You weren’t sure how you’d explain that away in the morning. When you felt like you couldn’t take anymore you pulled your hand back and stumbled back to your room, flopping onto your bed and crying yourself to sleep. The relaxed look on his face the next morning only cemented your plan in your mind. You would do everything you could to ease the nightmares for this tortured solider. A brief moment of pain was nothing compared to a whole night of reliving the worst moments of your life.

After the first few nights of creeping into the former assassins room you had managed to detect some sort of a pattern, and adjusted your sleep schedule accordingly. You didn’t dare tell Wanda what you were doing. You knew she didn’t approve of you using your power to emotionally heal people, further supported by the lecture you got when you’d tried to take her grief after Pietro died. The red head would be absolutely furious with you.

You were exhausted from the late night healing sessions and were worried people would start noticing the bags under your eyes. You’d not done this much emotional healing before but it was worth it to see how much more relaxed Bucky was looking, and you weren’t the only one to notice, judging by the conversation you were listening in on in the kitchen that morning.

“Hey bud, you’re looking really well rested lately, have the nightmares finally stopped?”, Steve asked as he grabbed a water from the fridge, cooling off from his morning work out.

“No, I don’t think they ever will to be honest. But they feel different now, duller if that makes sense? I dunno, I can’t explain it, but they don’t seem to wake me up anymore. I’ve not slept this well in decades.” He chuckled in response, following the man out of the kitchen.

You hid your smile behind your coffee cup before taking a sip and turning back to your breakfast but you could feel your sister's eyes on you, staring a hole into the side of your head.

“Can I help you?”, you asked with exaggerated sweetness like only an annoying little sister could. You didn’t dare look at her though.

“I know what you’re doing.” She stated matter of factly.

“Hey, we had a deal, no looking in my mind without my permission”, you hissed at her angrily.

“I didn’t. I’ve seen you go into his room at night. You’re either healing his pain or fucking him,” she said with a raised eyebrow before smirking and adding “although both can have the same relaxing affect”.

“I am not fucking him and please keep your voice down”, you whisper shouted. You thought you were being careful and suddenly panicked that someone else might have seen.

“Why Y/N? You don’t even really know him so why are you risking your own health to fix his?”, your sister asked gently. She didn’t seem angry, just confused.

“I don’t know. I just couldn’t bear the amount of pain I saw in his eyes the first time we met. Everything that happened to him, a lifetime of pain. I wanted to take it away, he doesn’t deserve it. And I know it’s exhausting and it’s not good for me blah blah blah but I can’t help it. I can’t stop myself.” You finished your rant by slumping back in your chair in defeat, your eyes staring at the ceiling.

Of all things you expected Wanda to say, or possibly even yell, the last thing you expected was a quiet “Does he know?”. You shook your head and she sat silent for a moment, contemplating before adding “maybe you should get to know him. You know, make friends. You might find you can help him without using your powers.”

B—-B

Bucky sat on the quinjet waiting to take off for the next mission and couldn’t help feeling nervous. He’d been sleeping so well at the compound lately, but this mission would mean staying away for a few days and he was worried about his nightmares coming back when he was possibly sharing a room with his team mates. The only thing giving him comfort this time was that Y/N was joining the team. Steve had asked you to accompany them as the mission was expected to last a few days, and Bucky couldn't stop himself from smiling when he heard the news. Despite the fact that he’d hardly got to know you yet, your presence relaxed him more than he could explain.

He must have been staring at you this whole time because the sounds of Steve clearing his throat broke him out of his reverie. Bucky turned to look at his friend and was met with a knowing look. “Go talk to her,” he encouraged. But he wasn’t feeling brave enough for that, and he didn’t even know what he’d say, so he just rolled his eyes and got to work sharpening his knives.

The mission had been a hard one, they were going to infiltrate three suspected Hydra bases and take them down, and it affected Bucky much more than he would care to admit. It didn’t help that he'd slept so poorly in the little basic rooms they’d stopped at in between. He thought logically that he’d sleep better sharing a room with his best friend, having the comfort of another person there, not being alone, but he didn’t. The nightmares plagued him again, worse than they’d been in a long time.

He was agitated, he just wanted to get back to the only place he seemed to be able to sleep, and maybe sleep for a week. He sat leaning forward, elbows leaning on his knees, leg bouncing up and down, and was surprised when you sat down next to him.

“Wanna talk about it?”, you whispered. His head whipped around to you so fast he's surprised his neck didn’t break. You must have noticed the stunned look on his face, because you quickly added “sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep. I just uh, I figured that this particular mission might have been harder for you than usual. I’m sorry again.” You looked away then, and Bucky was worried you were going to leave. He liked it when you were nearby, so he blurted out the first thing that came into his head “It was”. You looked at him again, this time with sadder eyes. It felt like you were reading his mind, but he was sure you didn’t have that power. “I’m not ready to talk about it, I’m sorry, but thank you. For asking I mean. I appreciate it.”

“I understand. But if you do ever want to talk, about anything, I’m a great listener.” You reached out then, placing your hand in his bouncing knee to stop the movement and he felt it, that familiar warmth spreading from where you touched him, through his whole body, relaxing him. He couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his cheeks, it was like it was involuntary. He turned to look at you then, and you were smiling right back, a soft warm smile. You were so close that he could smell your shampoo and it was intoxicating. Your eyes fluttered slightly and he looked down at your lips. He didn’t even know you but he was suddenly overcome with the urge to kiss you.

Unfortunately, the moment was broken by a voice that never failed to irritate the super soldier. “Quit making eyes with Y/N man. We need you up front.”

“Coming Wilson,” he sighed as he turned and watched you all but run away. You slept the rest of the flight home.

Once the jet landed, Bucky went straight to his room to shower and nap. Feeling much more human now, he ventured to the kitchen for food where he once again saw Sam.

“So you and Y/N huh,” he smirked, folding his arms and leaning back against the counter next to where Bucky was working on a sandwich. “Sorry if I interrupted a moment there. She’s a sweet girl though, I think she’d be good for you.”

Despite his usual irritation with the man, Bucky found that he was actually a really good person to talk to, his experience with social work meaning he often had useful advice. “I like her,” he admitted. “I can’t explain it, I just feel better when she’s around, but I don’t know how to talk to her. One minute I think she wants to talk and then she runs away from me. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“Well, you are an intense dude”, Sam laughed. “Seriously though, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just talk to her, keep it light, ‘hey how’s it going”, you know that sort of thing.”

Bucky was about to respond when he heard someone call his name. He turned to see Wanda in the doorway, and he could feel his cheeks heat up at being caught talking about her sister. “We need to talk” she stated, in a tone that caused Sam to grab his food and scarper with a quiet good luck on his way out.

“Wanda, I’m not sure how much you heard but…” Bucky started, but was quickly cut off by the red heads raised hand.

“There’s something you don’t know about Y/N. Healing physical injuries isn’t the only power she has, she can also take away emotional pain.”

Bucky was stunned and couldn’t seem to form a more comprehensive response than “wow, I didn’t know”.

“Nobody knows except me, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone. When she takes the emotional pain away, she absorbs it, and I don’t want her to become an emotional crutch for anyone, I’m afraid that it will affect her mental state negatively. I know the team would never intentionally hurt her, but I can’t risk it. You understand right?”

“Of course, I won’t tell a soul. But why are you telling me this, aren’t you worried I’ll do just that?” Bucky questioned.

“You already are, you just don’t know it”, Wanda quipped. “She’s been healing you. At night when she hears you having nightmares she comes in and takes the pain away. All it takes is a touch, and I suspect she might be doing it at other times too, although I couldn’t be sure”.

Suddenly everything makes sense now. Why he always felt better in your presence. He thought you were just a tactile person but all those gentle touches that warmed his heart were times you were healing him. You were the reason he was sleeping so soundly at night.

“I swear I had no idea Wanda, you gotta believe me”, he pleaded.

“I do, I think. But I just wanted you to know, because everytime she takes your pain away, she feels it. Only for a moment, but the worse the pain for the person, the more intensely she feels it. It’s really draining her, and I don’t want to begrudge you the comfort but she’s my sister and I’m worried”.

Bucky felt absolutely awful. He’d never want to inflict his pain on anyone else, even for a moment, especially not someone as good as you. Someone who helped him so selflessly. It was his cross to bear, he made his bed and he intended to lie in it. Cold and alone. “I won’t let her do it anymore”, he swore to Wanda before leaving her alone in the kitchen with his sandwich. He’d suddenly lost his appetite.

B—-B

Things had been weird since your first mission, you could feel it. Bucky had been avoiding you like the plague, and you felt terrible. You’d wanted to get to know him, to try to be friends like Wanda suggested, but you’d gone about it the wrong way and clearly upset him. He’d even taken to locking his bedroom door at night preventing you from soothing his nightmares. You were sure he wasn’t sleeping again, but you’d not seen so much as a glimpse of him in weeks so couldn’t verify that.

Why would he lock his door at night? The bedrooms were in a secure floor so there was no danger of intruders and FRIDAY would alert you all anyway. Then it struck you. Did he know? Had he found out that you’d be coming in his room at night to heal him? There’s no way he could know surely, unless someone had told him. Just then Wanda came into the common room and plopped herself down on the couch next to you, and you remembered how protective your big sister could be.

“I’ve not seen Bucky around recently, have you spoken to him at all?”, you asked nonchalantly. “Nope,” was all the answer you got.

“You sure about that?”, you pressed, giving her your best sister stare down. The look on her face told you everything you needed to know. “Wanda! How could you? Jesus he must be so mad at me, no wonder he’s not speaking to me”, you shouted incredulously.

“I’m sorry, but I was worried about what you were doing to yourself. You're my baby sister and I love you. If you wouldn’t listen to me I thought you might listen to him.”

“We’ll he’s not even speaking to me now so that was a big fail sis, well done,” you seethed. At that moment Steve and Sam walked in.

“Oh I wondered why tin man’s been so mopey lately, lovers quarrel?” Sam questioned teasingly. Steve elbowed him in the side lightly and pointed down the corridor. “He’s in the gym,” the soldier added by way of explanation.

As soon as you reached the gym you could see how tired Bucky looked through the glass door. His eyes were dark and heavy, his eyebrows turned down and his hits weren’t landing on the punch bag with their usual impact.

You stepped in quietly, then thought better of sneaking up on a super soldier and cleared your throat. “Hi Bucky, can we talk a minute?”

The man looked up and then tiredly gestured to the bench at the side of the room where his bag was sat. He sat down and started unwrapping his flesh hand. He was obviously waiting for you to speak first so you took a deep breath to steady yourself and started.

“Firstly, I just wanted to apologise. I know that Wanda told you about me, uh, you know…” you trailed off. God this was embarrassing. “I’m so sorry. I realise that was a total violation of your privacy and also really creepy, but I promise you it was coming from a good place. I was trying to help not, you know, be a peeping Tom or anything.” You blushed at that, remembered the times you’d seen his beautiful chiselled pecs, and those gorgeous biceps and powerful thighs whenever they poked out of the covers. He didn’t need to know about those thoughts.

He chuckled at that and you felt yourself relax slightly. “Trust me, that is one of the least creepy things that’s happened to me in my 100 odd years, doll. Apology accepted”. You couldn’t help but chuckle back.

“Well thank you. I assume that's the reason you’ve been avoiding me?” You questioned nervously. When he shook his head your heart sank. Did you do something else? Then it hit you. “Of course me healing you without your consent is equally as weird, so again I apologise. I just wanted to help but I can see that I probably went about it all wrong.”

Bucky shook his head vehemently then. “God no, you think I’m mad at you? How could I be mad at you, you’ve got a heart of gold and you have helped me so much since Steve brought me here. Honestly, I don’t think I’d have felt so comfortable here if it hadn’t been for you. I could never understand why I always felt so at peace around a near stranger, but as soon as Wanda explained your powers to me it all made sense. But I would never want to hurt you Y/N, and the thought of you taking on just a fraction of this pain made me feel awful. You don’t deserve that and me avoiding you was just me trying to protect you.”

You were relieved at his confession. He wasn’t mad. You sighed and relaxed fully leaning back against the wall. “I promise you it’s not that bad. Most of the time. It only lasts for a moment, and sometimes if it’s only mild pain I barely even feel it. Like when I heeled Steve’s bruised ribs on that overnight because he couldn’t sleep. I hardly even flinched,” you said bumping your shoulder with his. “But if you don’t want me to do it anymore, I promise I won’t.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what you’ve been doing for me. More than you could know. But I think it’s about time I tried to overcome these demons on my own.” You nodded at that. He had a point, you had become a crutch without him even knowing. You got up to leave when he grabbed your hand to stop you. “If I’m doing this, I think I’m gonna need a friend. What do ya say?” He asked, looking up at you with a hopeful grin.

“I’d love to be your friend”, you replied. If you couldn’t help him with your power, offering moral support would be the next best thing.

B—-B

The months after your talk in the gym had been the best in Bucky’s long life. You’d really started to relax around him, the conversations came easy, both when you were all with the team and if you were hanging out alone.

It was the times that you hung out alone he enjoyed the most. He could really be himself then, without worrying about knowing looks from Steve and Sam, or worrying whether Wanda was going to try and read his mind to find out his intentions with her sister. He wasn’t even sure he was ready to confront those feelings himself. He told himself that he just wanted to get to know you, but deep in his heart he knew that he was falling for you.

You laughed together, he told you stories about life in the 30s and 40s, his family, a young pre-serum Steve, and anything else you wanted to know. In turn you taught him all about modern technology, helped him pick out some more modern day clothes and even took him to get a haircut. He couldn’t help but notice the way you stared for a little too long when he came out with his hair cropped shorter, before nodding that you liked it.

The nightmares were back and almost as aggressive as before, but when he walked out into the kitchen one night to make himself a tea and found Y/N sat there waiting for him with one already made, he found himself opening up to you. He’d never tell you all the gory details that plagued his mind at night, but even revealing just a little bit of those late night visions and the feelings that followed, made him feel better. You never judged, just listened, and not even the thought that Sam was right about how he should talk about his feelings more could diminish that safe feeling he had with you.

You’d even started touching him again, completely innocent touches like leaning your head on his shoulder, linking your hand through his arm when you were walking around town, but still sending a warmth through his body like you were healing him. And maybe you were healing him, he thought, just without using your powers.

Steve and Sam had been bugging him for a while to ask you out properly, but for some reason today when they started their usual post run chorus of ‘when are you going to ask Y/N out’, he was feeling bold and said he’d do it today.

So that’s where he found himself an hour later, after showering, changing and pacing circles in his room to try and gain back some of the quickly waning courage. He knocked on your door and waited nervously. You answered and invited him in, and he mentally chastised himself for not bringing flowers. He was nervous, but decided to just suck it up and power through.

“Hey doll, uh I just wanted to ask, see I’ve enjoyed hanging out with you these last few months, more than I’ve enjoyed anything in a really long time.” He was messing this up he knew it, and you were just stood there staring at him and not speaking. The young Bucky from the 40s who was charming and good with the ladies mentally kicked him to get on with it. He could do this. So he continued. “So I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to dinner with some time.” He finally let out a breath and tried to relax whilst he waited for your response.

“Like a date?”, you asked and you looked shocked and he panicked, thinking he’d got all the signs wrong and wondering how he could back track when you smiled and said “I’d love to go out for dinner with you, definitely as a date. I honestly thought you’d never ask, like ever.”

Bucky finally relaxed at that. You said yes, you wanted to go out with him. He didn’t think he could be any happier right now. “Good. Great! I’m going on a mission with Steve and Sam tomorrow so how’s Friday night?”

“Perfect”, you smiled and he honestly didn’t think he’d ever get over seeing you smile at him like that. He was head over heels.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d agree, so I didn’t actually come up with a plan. I’ll text you OK?” He assured you as he backed out the door, wanting to keep looking at you as long as he could. When he got through the doorway he stopped, still smiling like an idiot. You walked up to the door, stood up on your tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. “I can’t wait Buck”, you whispered as you stepped back and shut the door.

B—-B

The short 2 day mission turned out to be the next big bad, and the three men had ended up having to radio in for back up. It was going to be all hands on deck, which meant that when the second quinjet arrived you were on it. Wanda had asked you to stay behind but you wanted to help, and especially wanted to be there in case a certain someone needed you.

You were out in the field helping get innocent bystanders to safety and healing up the Avengers so they could get back into the fight. You could feel it taking a toll on your body, your steps becoming more slow and sluggish as time went on. After getting a young family to safety you turned to head back to the next victim needing help when you saw what appeared to be an axe flung in your direction. You froze, your brain tired from all the healing you’d done and not thinking fast enough.

What you weren’t prepared for was the shove you felt at your side, sending you toppling to the ground. You scrambled up to see the sight of Bucky, laying on the ground at your feet, the weapon in question lodged firmly in his stomach.

“No no no, Bucky what did you do?!” You screamed as you dropped to your knees to assess the damage. Steve and Wanda were at your side in an instant, the rest of the team continuing the fight around you. You felt panicked, terrified of the sight in front of you as the blood flowed out of the wound and over your hands at a steady rate. You knew exactly what you needed to do, and you needed to do it now before it was too late and the blood loss became too much.

Taking in a big breath you steeled yourself and started giving out orders. “Steve, I need you to remove the axe, and Wanda, you need to put up a shield to protect us from further damage while I heal him. Ok, on three guys, one…” but before you could count any further the man in question croaked out your name. “Doll please, it’s OK, just let me go. I’m old, it’s my time.”

The fact that he would even suggest such a thing made you livid. “Bucky, how could you say that? You saved me, so now I’m going to save you and we don’t have time to argue this,” you shouted as your knees started to become damp with his blood.

“C’mon Buck, let her do it. She does it all the time, no big deal right,” Steve encouraged, clapping you in the shoulder whilst you nodded your head in agreement.

Wanda rested her hand gently on your shoulder then, an action that you were sure was meant to soothe, but only irritated you as you knew exactly what was coming. “You’ve never healed a wound this severe before, you don’t know what it will do to you.”

At Steve’s confused look your sister began a quick explanation on how your powers truly worked but you drowned the conversation out as Bucky weakly reached a hand up to your face. “Please Y/N,” he begged, “I don’t wanna hurt you, I love you. Just let me go.” But hearing those three words, from the man you loved, a man who was fading in front of you, just further cemented your decision in your mind. Looking at the Captain beside you, you whispered “Steve, please” and you knew you had him. He nodded grimly and on the count of three he lifted the axe, and you replaced it with your hands.

As you placed your hands over the oozing wound, you tried to concentrate everything you had into the prone man’s body, every ounce of love and every morsel of strength you had left in you. You sent a silent prayer up to heaven that you’d get to tell this man you loved him too and share your first kiss. You could feel your body weakening, and were vaguely aware that the steady flow over your hands seemed to be slowing, but you couldn’t hold it much longer, and you hoped it would be enough. Suddenly the overwhelming urge to sleep invaded your senses and you collapsed right there on top of Bucky’s chest.

You awoke to the sound of beeping. Your eyelids felt heavy and it took a few moments for you to blink them fully open, but when you finally did you were greeted by the sight of your older sister.

“Oh god, I’m so relieved you’re awake!” She cried brushing your hair off of your forehead in a motherly gesture.

“Bucky,” you managed to croak out through your dry mouth. Wanda handed you a sip of water before answering. “He’s fine. He’s currently receiving blood to replace what he lost but you did it, you healed him. Dr Cho called it a miracle.”

“Oh thank god,” you sighed “and the battle?”

“We won,” your sister informed you “and you young lady are going to be fine. The doc ran extensive tests and seems to think that you just kind of passed out from the pain, and then went into a deep sleep from the shock. But it could have been much worse, you need to be more careful.”

“In this line of work?” You joked, causing her to roll eyes. “When can I get out of here?”

At that moment, your Captain stepped into the room. “The doctor will be in to give you a once over in a moment, then you’re good to go,” he informed you. “I was just wondering if I could have a moment?” He asked tentatively. Your sister excused herself and left the two of you alone.

Steve sat down in the now empty chair. He looked tired, and you guessed he must have been sat by Bucky’s side for a good while. You were glad he had someone there.

“I wanted to thank you Y/N,” he started. “If you hadn’t been there, I would have lost my best friend all over again. The fact that it caused you so much hurt to heal him, well that is something I can never repay. I feel terrible for letting you do it, it was selfish of me.” He looked so guilty that it made you sad.

“I was going to do it anyway Steve, whether you agreed or not. There’s just no way I could have sat there and let him go.” You could feel the tears welling in your eyes at the thought of things ending before they’d even really started.

You knew Steve understood, after everything he’d been through to get his friend back he knew exactly how you felt. “Well I’m extremely grateful for that stubborn streak of yours, but now that Wanda’s filled me in on all the facts surrounding your gift we’re going to have to have a conversation about some new work protocols,” the man scolded, his captain's voice firmly back. Clearly reading the sense of dread in your face he added, “but now we have more pressing matters. There’s someone down the hall that’s desperate to see you.”

B—-B

Bucky was fed up. He hated hospitals, he’d spent far too many years of his life being poked and prodded and he was done with it. He’d laid in this bed for 2 days waiting for you to wake up and he couldn’t help but replay the last time he saw you in his mind.

He was laying on the ground, a pain searing through his stomach, when suddenly he felt a familiar warmth. A warmth he hadn’t felt in a long time, spreading from the wound throughout his whole body. This time though, the feeling was different, it was more somehow. He’d never really believed in god, or any kind of divine being, not after everything that happened to him in the past. But that feeling, he could only imagine it was how it would feel to be touched by an angel. Suddenly the pain was gone but he could still feel a heavy weight on his chest. He looked down to discover the weight he was feeling was you.

Bile had risen in this throat when he realised what had happened. Y/N had healed him, hurting yourself in the process. Wanda was shaking you, trying to wake you. Steve was checking your pulse, assuring the redhead that it was still very much there. He lifted you off Bucky’s chest, and carried you quickly to the quinjet. Wanda helped the injured soldier up and to the jet too, where he sat next to you holding your hand until Steve landed back at the compound, the medics ready to greet you all straight from the ramp.

Bucky hadn’t seen you since they’d whisked you away for testing. They’d taken him to a separate room where he was given blood to make up for what he’d lost on the battlefield. He kept asking if you were OK and if he could see you, but was told to stay put until they knew more.

As he laid there with his eyes closed his thoughts were interrupted by footsteps, followed by Steve’s voice. “You have a visitor,” he announced simply.

Bucky sighed, not feeling up for visitors at the moment. “If it’s bird brain again tell him I’m dead” he grouched. Not hearing the comeback he was expecting from his sharp tongued friend, he opened his eyes, and almost pinched himself to check if he was dreaming.

“You’re awake, oh god doll are you ok?” He asked, trying to get out of bed and go to you, forgetting about his IV and the other wires connected to him.

“Stay put,” you said rushing towards him, gently pushing him back into the bed. “I’m fine, just had a nice long sleep.”

“You scared the shit outta me. I told you to let me go. My life is not worth more than yours.” Suddenly aware that his fear could be mistaken for anger he softened his voice. “But thank you. I owe you everything.”

You just smiled back at him that beautiful smile he worried he’d never see again. “Actually, you just owe me a date.” You reached out your hand to hold his and he couldn’t resist placing a kiss in your knuckles. “As soon as I’m all fixed up and out of here, I’m all yours.” And he was. He knew now that he would only ever be yours for as long as you’d have him.

You stayed and chatted with him a while longer, never letting go of his hand, but after a while he could see your eyes falling. “Go home doll, you need your rest,” he tried to encourage.

“I am tired but I just don’t want to go,” you pouted.

“Well, you could hop up here and take a nap next to me. It’s a small bed though we might have to snuggle real close”, he suggested with his most charming smile.

“Sounds perfect,” you smiled sleepily. You took off your shoes and climbed up in the bed next to him. He lifted the blanket for you to slip under, and you immediately rested your head on his shoulder, his arm wrapping around to hold you close. He thought you’d fallen asleep, and he laid there watching your steady breaths until you spoke again. “When I was healing you, all I could think about was the fact that I’d never told you I loved you and I’d never kissed you, and I knew that if I never saw you again it would be my biggest regret. So I’m telling you now. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he whispered before leaning down and capturing your lips in a kiss that he’d been dying for since he met you. Your lips were so soft, and your body felt so warm and so right pressed against him. The kiss started out slow and loving, Bucky pouring all the love he felt into it, but when you slipped your hand up to gently tug on the hair at the nape of his neck and deepening the kiss, things got a bit more heated. The sound you made when your tongues finally met was almost enough to make him lose control and he slid his hand down from where it was stroking your lower back over your hip and down to your thigh. He was just about to pull your leg up and over his so he could show you just how much you were affecting him when you were interrupted by an alarm. You pulled back, panic on your face and he couldn’t help but laugh. “You just got my heart racing,” he teased, nodding at the heart rate monitor that was slowly calming back down.

You laughed then and gently shoved his shoulder. You were now both lying on your sides facing each other. “Well, that’s one item ticked off the bucket list,” you quipped, before leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth. “To be continued,” you joked as you wiggled your eyebrows, “now let’s sleep.”

As you both snuggled back down in the tiny hospital bed, Bucky kissed the top of your hair and whispered quietly “goodnight angel.” He would never admit it to anyone but he’d missed the feeling of you healing him, the warm feeling that engulfed him when your power flowed through him was like nothing he’d ever felt before, he could understand why Wanda was concerned that people would come to rely on it too much.

But as you laid there asleep in his arms a different kind of warmth enveloped him, and as he slipped off into a restful sleep he realised that he didn’t need your powers to heal him, your love was enough, his personal angel.

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff

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babyjamiebarnes · 3 years

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Build-A-Bear

Part Three

Featuring: Bucky x Stark!reader, dad!Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, Morgan, various characters in other chapters

Warnings: language, sexual innuendos and implications

Chapter Summary: Reader has dinner with her family and gets grilled even harder than her food. But she’s turned to a light simmer when Bucky takes her out for their first date.

Author’s Note: This chapter is fucking monstrous lol. I did not expect it to be this long so it might be a couple extra days before the next chapter so I can catch up! I’m also not sure if my Italian is accurate so I apologize in advance. I used to work for a man named Gennaro from Naples and he called me “bella” so hopefully I’m sort of right? If you like the story so far, feel free to buy me a coffee!

Part One • Part Two

Tags: @kennedywxlsh

Dinner that night was tense, to say the least. It was nice to have your dad, step-mom, sister, and uncles Happy and Rhodey over again, but your dad wasn’t quick to forget what he saw earlier.

“What was that with Barnes today?” Tony asked as you all sat around the dining room table in your midtown flat, poking away at the remnants of your meals.

“What do you mean?” you asked innocently.

Your dad just gave you an incredulous look. “You know what I mean.”

You sighed and avoided meeting his eyes. “I was just working on his arm, dad. I didn’t wanna make him lie down on a hard lab table while I poked around to do what you wanted and quiet his arm,” you explained.

“Wait, Barnes as in Bucky Barnes?” Uncle Rhodey clarified.

“Yeah,” your dad confirmed, not taking his eyes off of you. “I found her kneeling between his legs while he sat shirtless on the couch.”

“You’re sleeping with Bucky?!” Rhodey asked.

“I’m not sleeping with anyone!” you defended, dropping your fork onto your plate. “I’ve known him for a month.”

“That’s never stopped your father,” Pepper mumbled under her breath, making you huff out a laugh despite your current grilling.

“Listen, when I said ‘no fraternizing with coworkers,’ I meant it,” your dad said.

“Please stop saying ‘fraternizing.’ It’s weird.”

Tony sighed and crossed his arms. “No ‘slumber parties’ with coworkers,” he rephrased.

This made Morgan perk up in her seat, having spent the past couple minutes confusedly watching you and your dad bicker.

“Can we have a slumber party, [Y/N]?” she asked.

“Yes, honey, we can have a slumber party,” you responded.

“Tonight?” she continued.

At this, you pointedly looked at your dad and raised your eyebrows as a way of saying ‘are we done now?’ You could tell he didn’t want to end the conversation, but you were grateful for the sudden change of topic. Tony uncrossed his arms and leaned against the table as he replied to your sister.

“If your big sister says it’s okay, you can have a slumber party tonight.”

Morgan lit up like the Fourth of July, quickly listing off all the movies she wanted to watch even though you knew she’d fall asleep halfway through the first movie.

As your family packed up to leave, leaving Morgan since she had a drawer of clothes for the impromptu sleepovers you’ve had before, you calmed your racing heart before saying the words that would either make your father more suspicious or completely quash his suspicions.

“You’ll have to pick her up by four tomorrow. I have a date.”

All of the adults turned to face you. Pepper had a huge smile on her face, clearly excited for you, but your dad and Rhodey looked ready to fight. Happy looked curious, maybe even worried, but he played a big role in raising you so while Tony was the overprotective parent, Happy was the comforting parent (not that he’d ever let anyone know that).

“A date?” The tone of your dad’s voice made you roll your eyes at him.

“I’m a grown woman. I’m allowed to go on dates.”

Your dad let out a quiet harumph at that, but understood where you were coming from. “I know, sweetheart. Forgive me for being a bit overprotective of my little girl.”

“I get it. I appreciate your concern,” you said with a smile, “but this is good for me. You want grandkids eventually, right?”

“Oh god,” your dad groaned, pressing a hand to his chest. “I’m not old enough to be a grandpa but I’m old enough to have a heart attack at the mention of it.”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”

“So what’s this person’s name?” Pepper piped up. You visibly tensed and internally panicked. You couldn’t just admit it was Bucky after denying anything there. But his name was technically pretty common...

“His name is James.”

Rhodey snapped his fingers and pointed at you as he said, “I like him already.”

‘Yeah, sure you do,’ you thought. The sight of your dad narrowing his eyes at you and crossing his arms as he stood in the entryway of your apartment made you nervous. Maybe James wasn’t good enough to get him off your trail (probably because he was right).

“How did you meet this guy?” Tony asked.

If anyone else had asked, you would’ve said ‘work,’ but that’s the last place you could say to your dad — with whom you worked.

“Uhh, at the grocery store. We accidentally followed each other and got a lot of the same food so he jokingly accused me of stalking him and we just hit it off,” you rattled off. It’s a good thing he didn’t know how your friend Monique met her girlfriend or he’d know you were lying.

“That’s so cute,” Pepper cooed. She was definitely the more relaxed of your parents, possibly because she wasn’t your biological mom. She had been raising you since you were ten though, so she played a big part in your upbringing.

“Text me his last name so I can run a background check,” your dad said. You’d love to think he was joking, but you knew he was serious.

And as much as you knew you’d regret it, you had to make a joke…

“His last name is Barnes,” you said, keeping your face as serious as possible. “James Barnes. I actually know his middle name too: Buchanan.”

“[Y/N] [Y/M/N] [Y/L/N], you better be joking right now,” Tony said. He was already getting red in the face, clearly unenthused at the prospect of you dating the man who, admittedly, killed his parents — your grandparents. Yeah, understandable.

“I’m obviously kidding,” you said, forcing a laugh. “It’s just funny that they have the same first name and you’re so anti-Bucky.”

“You’re gonna send me to an early grave,” he muttered. “I’m going home before I actually have a heart attack.”

You said your goodbyes and ‘I love you’s before you and Morgan put on your pajamas and set up a pillow fort in the middle of your living room to watch her favorite sleepover movie: “Shrek.”

As the movie went on, you leaned back in the fort to take a photo of Morgan with the movie in the background. Well, the back of Morgan’s head as she was engrossed in the movie she’d seen a million times.

[Image attached] She’s got her teddy bear but where’s my Bucky Bear? 🥺

Across the city, Bucky’s phone buzzed from its spot on the kitchen counter as he made himself a late dinner. He didn’t recognize the number, but smiled when he saw the picture of who he assumed was your sister or niece.

I never got an invite. Looks like more fun than my night.

You smiled to yourself when you saw his reply, rolling your eyes at the lack of exclamation points and emojis. Typical man.

What does your night look like?

Eating a late dinner and talking to you.

Talking to me isn’t fun?! I’m hurt 😢

Not as fun as actually being with you.

Even though he wasn’t there and didn’t say it verbally, you could feel your cheeks get hot at his words.

There’s no way sweet talk like that didn’t get you in more than four beds.

You’re still on that? I swear doll, I have the same number as you.

Whatever you say! 🙄

There was a lull in conversation after that, giving you time to move your sister to lie on her back with pillows and blankets in the fort so she could sleep more comfortably.

Are we still going out tomorrow?

You let the next Shrek movie start automatically, but you didn’t pay any attention as you texted Bucky.

I’m still down if you are 👀

You sent him your address and let him know you’d wait on the front steps for him so he didn’t have to come all the way up. With the exchange of ‘good night’ messages, you drifted asleep to the sounds of Shrek 2.

•

The next morning, you somehow managed to wake up before your sister, then brought her back to the land of the living with the smell of French toast.

You spent your day watching another movie with Morgan before fixing lunch and taking her to a park down the road. Morgan’s childhood was definitely different from yours. Happy was the one who took you to parks and shopping, but Tony parented at home. Morgan would have the same early experiences, but the world knew Tony and Pepper had a daughter. They kept her identity hidden for now, waiting until she could decide if she wanted to reveal herself later in life. The world never knew about you.

And you had to be somewhat grateful for that. You still got all the perks of being a Stark — the money, the Tower, meeting the Avengers (and having James Rhodes as your godfather) — without the stress of fame. But part of you still wished you could talk about your father without keeping his occupation vague and referring to him as “Anthony” when telling stories instead of Tony.

Morgan also got to know her mom. You only spent the first seven years of your life with your mom before she was killed in a drive-by shooting. The police investigated it like crazy because everyone thought since it was Tony Stark’s wife, it had to be a targeted hit. But since she never took the same jogging route twice, all they came up with was an unplanned drive-by. You cherished the memories you had with her, but still openly welcomed Pepper when she came into the picture. She may not have played the same type of role in your life, but she helped shape your middle and high school years.

By the time you and Morgan got back to your place, she was exhausted, climbing back into the still-intact blanket fort to take a nap. When your dad and Pepper stopped by to pick her up, she was still knocked out.

“We’ll get out of your hair so you can get ready for your date,” your dad said with Morgan in his arms. “Send me this James guy’s last name. I still want to run a background check.”

“Dad,” you grumbled. “I already did my research. He’s clear.” Kind of. He technically has murdered hundreds of people, including your grandparents, but he’s reformed and fighting for the good guys now. Not that your dad would let it slide if you told him that.

“That’s my girl,” he grinned. “Let me know if you need to hide any bodies, okay?”

“You got it,” you said with a laugh as they headed out. You had two hours to get ready for Bucky, giving you plenty of time to look extra cute.

By the time six rolled around, you were all dolled up and ready to go. The autumn weather had you in a jacket and boots, but that just pulled your outfit together.

Your doorman Matt was standing inside the lobby when you ran downstairs, tossing him a small wave as you left.

“Have a good night, Miss [Y/L/N],” he said with a nod.

“See you later, Matt!”

You stood at the bottom of your building’s front steps, checking your phone and looking up and down the block for Bucky. It was six on the dot, so you figured he’d be there soon.

“Hey!” You looked up from your phone to see Bucky jogging toward you, a black leather jacket covering his arms and a black glove hiding his left hand. “Sorry I’m late. I couldn’t get away from Sam. Had to tell him I was gonna check out my old stomping grounds in Brooklyn.”

“You’re, like, 30 seconds late. I’m just glad you’re here,” you said with a smile. “So what are we doing tonight?”

Bucky’s smile faltered as he looked down at you. Your boots gave you a bit of a height bump, but Bucky still stood taller than you.

“I, uh, I kinda thought you had something planned,” he said softly.

“Oh, oops,” you laughed. “Well… what about those Brooklyn stomping grounds of yours? Care to show me around?”

Bucky lit up at the recommendation and started leading the way to the nearest subway stop. Before you started down the stairs, he paused and turned to you with a sour expression.

“I probably should’ve asked if you’d rather get a cab,” he said.

“Bucky, I take the subway to work every day. It’s fine.”

“Why do you take the train? You don’t live too far away.” You two made your way down the steps to the bustling station.

“It’s just easier. Less work for me,” you explained. “I didn’t take the train much as a kid so I like taking the opportunity now that I can.”

“Most people don’t willingly take the subway,” he laughed. “Steve and I always used to talk about how we’d be rich enough to have a car someday. But now that I could get any car I wanted, I don’t think I want one. I like the subway.”

“Even though it’s smelly and dirty?” you joked.

“Yeah,” he laughed. “It’s one of the things that still reminds me of home.”

The gentleness in his voice nearly brought you to tears. This man had been through so much and was still the sweetest soul you’d ever met. Forced into a war he didn’t want to join, experimented on, tortured and brainwashed, hunted by every government in the world, captured, frozen, and forced into another war and more battles he shouldn’t have to join. He just couldn’t catch a break.

“Well I’m excited to see what else reminds you of home,” you replied.

The trains to and through Brooklyn were relatively busy so you and Bucky couldn’t really talk much, but it was a Saturday night so you couldn’t blame people for getting out. It was tough to find seats, but Bucky was willing to stand to make sure you could have a seat. Ever the gentleman.

When you made it to Bucky’s Brooklyn stop of choice, he started telling you more stories from the ‘40s, like when Steve couldn’t get off the train in time and accidentally went down another stop so Bucky ran to the next stop and found Steve heading his way anyway. And how he and Steve followed his sister Rebecca on a date “to watch out for her,” he said, and her date thought they were stalking her and tried to beat them up. And all the fights he pulled Steve out of.

“Punk was a chihuahua who thought he was a Rottweiler.”

For a while, you two walked around the streets of Brooklyn just telling each other stories. You were careful about names you used, often just calling Happy “Uncle Harry” and Rhodey “Uncle James.”

Bucky showed you the movie theater he and Steve used to go to, which was surprisingly still in business. You walked past what used to be a diner Bucky frequented but was converted into a bridal shop.

“This used to be a magic store Steve loved,” he said, looking up at the bank on the corner of the street. “Things have changed a lot.”

You heard the nostalgia in his voice, clearly missing the New York he grew up to love. He had a soft smile on his lips as he reminisced, though.

“What about where you lived?” you asked. “Do you remember where that is?”

“Oh yeah,” he chuckled. “I could never forget that.”

Everything was within a fifteen minute walk of where you got off the subway so even though your feet were getting tired, you followed alongside Bucky as he led the way up and down the streets. Before too long, you strode up to a large brick building that had clearly been remodeled recently, if the fresh windows and front doors were any indication.

“It’s… a lot nicer than when I lived here,” Bucky said with a sigh. “But it’s been nearly 100 years so I can’t blame them for updating things.”

“Brooklyn is kind of booming now, too,” you added. “More people to appeal to, ya know?”

You stared up at him again, seeing that same lost look as before, like he wished to turn back time and show you the Brooklyn he knew. So you decided since he couldn’t do that, you’d show him the Brooklyn you knew.

“Come here. My turn to show you around,” you said, holding your hand out to him. He gave you a small smile before grabbing your hand in his and letting you pull him back to the subway.

Ten minutes later, you hopped off the train with Bucky in tow and headed to the little Italian restaurant you found while exploring the city a couple years before. It wasn’t anything elaborate; it was honestly more of a little hole-in-the-wall, but you liked the quiet atmosphere.

“Bella!” the owner shouted as you walked in.

“Hey Genny,” you smiled at him.

“Who’s this?” he asked as he approached you, raising his eyebrows when he saw Bucky.

“This is James,” you said. You opted against using his more common nickname to avoid any recognition.

“James, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Gennaro, but you can call me Genny. Welcome to my restaurant.” The two men shook hands before Genny ushered you two to a table and handed you menus. “Would you like to start with focaccia?”

“Yes please!”

“Con formaggi?”

“Si! Grazie!”

Gennaro left you and Bucky while he started your appetizer.

“You speak Italian?” Bucky asked.

“Definitely not,” you laughed. “I’ve just been coming here for a while and have picked up on some things Genny says. Like ‘bella’ means ‘beautiful,’ this pizza,” you pointed to your favorite pizza on the menu, “‘cinque formaggi’ means ‘five cheese.’ But I could never hold a conversation.”

“Un peccato,” Bucky sighed before flashing a smile at you.

“You speak Italian?!” you nearly shrieked. “No way! Don’t talk shit with Gennaro behind my back.” You pouted at Bucky, but knew he wouldn’t say anything bad about you. Maybe an embarrassing moment or two — like your dad walking in on you between his knees — but nothing negative.

“I picked it up pretty quickly back in the day,” Bucky explained. “Before I was sent to Germany, I was stationed in a small town in Italy for a while. The locals didn’t mind having us there because we kept the Nazis out, so they taught us some Italian when we were in town.”

“Maybe I should take Gennaro up on his offer to learn Italian,” you mused.

“Or you could learn from me,” Bucky was quick to offer. “I’ll teach you some stuff when you’re working on my arm.”

Your server arrived with the focaccia and water for both of you, before giving you more time to actually look at the menus instead of talking. You decided to split a bottle of red wine and two pizzas, one of your choice and one of Bucky’s. As the night went on, you and Bucky both opened up to each other even more than before. You could easily blame the buzz from a couple glasses of wine, but Bucky’s super soldier serum made you confused. His cheeks were flushed and he had more than half the bottle, so you wondered if maybe...

“Can you still get drunk?”

“Unlike Steve, yes. It takes more than this,” he said, lifting the nearly empty bottle of wine, “but since Steve and I received different serums, they work a little differently. I can definitely get drunk. Marijuana admittedly hits harder.”

You paused as you stared back at him, his elbows perched on the table and his clasped hands propped under his chin.

“Are you drunk now?”

“No,” he laughed quietly. “A little tipsy, sure, but not drunk by a long shot.”

You narrowed your eyes at him playfully, reluctantly accepting that he was just as buzzed as you but not quite drunk.

Before long, your server brought over your tab and you realized how empty the restaurant had gotten. Then you noticed the broom and mop the server had brought out to the floor, then the dark ‘open’ sign, and finally the clock on the wall.

“You closed 20 minutes ago and didn’t kick us out?” you shouted at Gennaro. “Genny, you can always kick me out! I feel bad!”

Gennaro walked over to your table as you scrambled for your wallet and handed the server your card to run.

“I can’t kick you out, bella. You and your moroso are welcome any time.”

“I think this poor girl would beg to differ,” you said as the server handed your card and signature slip back. She just laughed at your comment, agreeing without saying it outright.

You left a hefty tip and hugged Genny before you and Bucky, both still a bit tipsy, shuffled outside.

“Thanks for buying dinner,” Bucky said. “This means I get to pay next time, though.”

He said it so casually and you already planned on another date, but it still kind of caught you off guard.

“Next time?” You smiled up at him and took a step closer until you were almost toe-to-toe. “There’s gonna be a ‘next time’?”

“I sure hope there is,” he said quietly, his smirk sending a rush up your spine.

“If you insist,” you sighed. He knew better than to believe you weren’t excited for your future plans. “I’m cold. Care to get an Uber with me?”

He gently grabbed your shoulders and spun you around, pulling the loose opening of his jacket over your arms and wrapping his arms around you to help keep you warm.

“Well, yeah. I need to make sure you get home safe so ‘next time’ can happen,” Bucky said as he nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck.

“You know, I don’t usually let men spoon me on the first date,” you joked as you tapped away to order an Uber.

“I can stop, if you want,” he teased.

You gripped his arm as he started to pull away. “I never said that.”

Bucky rode back to your place with you, keeping conversation casual as you both avoided the controversy you were about to face: to kiss on the first date or not. You never really had any issues with it before, but you already really liked Bucky. You didn’t want to risk messing it up by moving too fast. But what grown man would think a kiss on a first date was too fast? Well… maybe one born in the early 1900s…

Before your thoughts could throw you into a downward spiral, the driver pulled up outside your apartment complex. Bucky stepped out first and held the door open for you to scoot out after him. As you stood at the bottom of the stairs to your building, you felt those nerves creeping up on you again. God, you hadn’t felt this nervous about a date since high school.

“I had fun tonight,” Bucky said first, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Me too,” you smiled back. “I’m excited for what you plan for next time.”

Bucky laughed at this, the crinkle of his nose making your own smile grow. God, you wanted to invite him inside already. In your defense, you’ve known him for a full month and spent even longer getting heart-eyes over him in college.

But you reined in your hormones and just took a step closer to him to rest your hands on his chest. His right hand came up to rest on your waist, but he kept the metal hand in his pocket. With your hand placement, you could feel the thrum of his heartbeat and judging by the pace, you knew you were both on the same page. As you were trying to shove your nerves aside, Bucky asked the one question you were hoping for.

“Can I kiss you?”

Knowing he wanted this as much as you did relieved some of your nerves, but also made the moment that much more real. You smiled up at him and nodded your head.

“Yes, please do.”

You perched up on your toes to meet him halfway, letting his lips mold to yours. His hold on your waist tightened as he pulled you closer; you gripped the lapel of his jacket in your fists. Suddenly the cold of the night no longer existed. All you could feel was the warmth radiating off of him as he held you close. He pulled back for a second before diving right back in, this time nipping at your bottom lip. You giggled against him, but didn’t stop him from taking the innocent kiss a step further. Your hands slid from his chest to the nape of his neck before tangling into his long hair. The vibration from his moan as you tugged on his hair ran straight down your spine, making it even harder to leave the date alone.

Reluctantly, you both pulled apart just enough for your noses to brush against each other, the stubble of his beard still tickling your nose. You opened your eyes enough to see the smile on his lips as he pulled back a bit more to see your face.

“I’ll see you Monday?” you said quietly, as if speaking any louder would break you two out of your bubble.

“See you Monday, [Y/N],” Bucky replied just as quietly. His hand slipped from your waist as you backed away, biting your lip at him before you turned and scurried up the steps. Bucky stood on the sidewalk until he could see the light in your apartment flick on, just to make sure you were safe.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x Stark!reader #bucky barnes x stark!reader #Stark!reader #dad!tony #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky fic

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blushing-starker · 3 years

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don't expect that line I previously mentioned because I'm chaotic and forgot about @starkerfestivals amazing omegaverse week since it goes hand in hand with finals and my brain only fit one of these events in my mental planner

Today's theme is heat/rut and it's slightly nff, has some sexual teasing but nothing too explicit. I'd rate this teen, is all I'm saying. I apologize for any writing mistakes, I'm finishing this at 11pm before collapsing in my bed.

Tagging @vaguekiwi cuz I mentioned this to her today

Needy little alpha

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Tony wakes up to a purring alpha throwing himself on top of his defenseless body with the force of a freight train driven by a drunk man on drugs. Peter's been told a thousand times before how yes, he may be as heavy as a goddamn feather, but it still aches when that super strength plops down and refuses to let the victim's lungs function adequately. But his boyfriend is a sadist who loves cuddles and making Tony suffer.

"No."

"You love my cuddles," it's true, they bring him pain and purple bruises everywhere but there's nothing quite as soothing as a content alpha kneading like a kitten at his chest, " and you know it. "

"Uh, that's false. Never said I love cuddles. I tolerate your octopus habits, there's a difference." Peter leans back with a pout and teary eyes, wobbles that God forsaken bottom lip like he always does whenever Tony denies the kid something and presents a challenge.

Nimble fingers slide up into, unfortunately, silver hair and nonononono that's unfair. He snarls, tries to infuse the air with as many displeased pheromones as possible so Peter can take a hint when nails scratch right above his nape and Tony's done. Unravels at this hobgoblin's feet and he's half way sure his soul goes out in a huff as little circles are pressed into the exact spot that causes him so much neck pain.

Peter unashamedly preens when Tony melts into their bed and starts pawing at him for more cuddles. "Say you love my cuddles and I won't leave the bed for an hour. Throw in a kiss and I'll rub your back."

He hates(loves) this kid. Hates(loves) how he sing songs as soon as the situation doesn't favour the actually responsible adult in the relationship. Hates(loves) the way Peter never misses the places that leave him sinking into fluffy pillows. Hates how, oh that's nice.

There are tiny kisses littered on a chest glowing blue, small indentations from teasing lips pressed into spread arms and cold hands.

"Ruts gotten you needy, huh, little alpha?" Not that this one was any different from all the other ruts they've shared since dating. Tony secretly adores Peter like this, extra affectionate the minute his shyness and fear of outside criticism is washed away, replaced with the need to shower his omega in love and attention. Yes, Peter has his heart 365 days of the year. Yes, he'd die for his tiny spiderling no matter what.

But this is just really nice, ok? Previous lovers were rarely alphas so this ritual of gluing their bodies together when rut came was an added benefit to being with Peter. That and the hormones he let out while happy soothed Tony to no end.

Peter nips at his finger, still a bit too early on for him to accept the nicknames. He blushes though, a pale pink highlighting a face much more lovely than the cherubs painted on the cathedrals of Rome. Jesus, he's whipped and all they've done is cuddle.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

"I love your cuddles. Cherish them. Want them every day for the rest of my life. But I love you, my needy little alpha with a fantastic," there's a pillow smashed against his face.

"If you say dick, I'm climbing down to wrestle Bucky and I won't let Karen record it for your spank bank. " Oh, that's a low blow.

He relaxes, let's Peter sink into him with a startled yelp, rolls them over, sits on the kid's lap and clamps his knees around a trim waist. Peter may be Spider-Man, but he's Tony Stark and Tony Stark doesn't lose in bed.

Well. Not unless he wants to.

"You do that and you can say hello to your toy, the one I know is stashed in your old room under the bed in a comic book box, because that'll be the only thing helping you out when the rut really hits." Will Tony suffer immensely if that happens? Yes. He's a sucker for a needy Peter being ridiculously horny and possessive. Thing is, you don't threaten a man's spank bank. No sir. Everything else is fair play. His carefully organized folders of viewing material are not to be messed with.

Peter's blush is on full blast, spreads over a long neck and absolutely delicious, no. Be strong, Tony.

"You know about the toy?" It's a squeak, normal voice rocketing upwards thanks to the position Tony's ass is in and the knowledge that his secret is out. Which wasn't even a secret to begin with anyway because Tony is in love with the only genius not smart enough to erase his browser history in the lab's computer. Which Tony uses. Routinely. Every day.

"Know about it? I've seen it. You left it out once, all used up on your bed while you were showering. You remember that, don't you? We had sex in the bathroom that day. Bruised my back and everything?"

Peter furrows his brow, works a plush lip and no, look away, Tony, look away. The kid is sin and indulgence and heaven and no.

"Oh. Oh." Whenever he thinks his boy can't go any redder, Peter busts out a new shade of pink.

"Yup. So. I'm pretty sure this is what you wanted in the first place. Maybe it wasn't your intention," he stresses when Peter's already launching up and nearly throwing him off in an attempt to reassure Tony that wasn't his purpose with the cuddles, "but you certainly wouldn't have minded this outcome. And by this outcome I mean my incredible ass on top of that fantastic dick."

Peter tries to suffocate with a pillow held over his face.

"You've got two choices, kid. You threatened the spank bank. The teasing is fine, you know I love when my pretty kitty shows his claws," a hand slaps his arm, makes him grin, " But threatening such an integral part of my mental stability? Wrong move, Queens. You aren't getting any until tonight, not even so much as a French kiss will be given. Unless you let me bite a mark on that amazing neck and don't push me away when I nuzzle you in front of the team. "

Well. Now he's definitely being thrown off of Peter's lap.

He lands on the other side of the bed with a groan, is assaulted by a whining Peter intent on receiving something to further postpone the urge for sex that's sure to hit him soon enough.

An alpha, Tony's learned, will usually be very cuddly and affectionate the first few days of a rut week. Then the possessive, protective side will slowly emerge. Nests of pillows, couch cushions, blankets and favorite pieces of clothing appear on the fourth sunrise. The next morning comes with the need for relief, for intimacy and a marathon of sex that'll leave any supersoldier exhausted by the end of it. The resulting days offer comfort, an aftercare of sorts, where the alpha and their partner show a soft affection similar to the beginning. Nests are utilized and bodies soothed. It lasts, at most, a week and the majority of the population only has to take slightly increased portions of food.

That's for people without the metabolism of four grown men.

Peter needs sex, as much as possible, so the itch for urgent intimacy doesn't result in Tony tackled to the floor of the lab in the middle of an experiment every day of the week. It's like giving him nicotine patches instead of a cigarette.

So now he's whimpering, tugging on Tony's clothes just a little too hard if the ripping sound is any indication.

"...sorry, Tony..."

"It's fine, I've got more. I'm not letting this go though. The teams' seen us fuck against a wall, their opinion and respect, your worth, didn't change. So come on. Just one little mark. One. And Bucky nuzzles Steve and Sam all the time. Hell, Pepper sometimes nuzzles me when I'm stressed out. Please, baby? "

There it was; Tony's secret weapon. Peter blushed like a virgin on a wedding night whenever he used pet names, but the genius knows his boyfriend enjoys the familiarity and subtle intimacy. Felt reassured that they were a romantic couple and not a mentor fucking his protege.

The kid nibbles at his neck, wraps gangly limbs around a body that's always been his to take comfort in. "Just one mark? And light, I mean it, Tony, light nuzzling in front of the team. For today. Then I can get what I want?"

He snorts, can't fully comprehend how the universe paired him up with someone so intent on making Tony's joints ache and creak. "Yeah, we can have sex later, Mr Charming. Subtle as brick, that Spider-Man. Let's go get you cleaned up, make sure that rut has a hard time getting my boy under the weather."

He goes to get up. He leans forward. He cannot, in fact, leave the bed.

Peter bites with a bit more pressure, drops his hips down harder and Jesus Christ, they're never seeing the light of the kitchen if his boyfriend can't wait til it's dark.

"Or..."

"I'm an old man, I need protein before you go jumping tired bones that have to spend two hours updating your suit." Ok, so maybe he's slightly bitter and annoyed at not having enough stamina (or refractory period, for that matter) to keep up with a repressed teenage superhuman. It's not his fault Pepper keeps bringing Krispy Kreme donuts to the office meetings.

It'd be rude not to eat with the others anyway.

"You don't have to do anything." Ah, it's one of those ruts.

Tony softens, smoothes a hand down a back that could hold a plank under a five story building with ease, kisses a heated cheek.

"Needy little alpha." It's his turn to whisper and nuzzle against soft skin.

"Kind, not so little omega?" Tony laughs, presses their lips together so Peter can see what's it like to taste a smile radiating with joy and love. Slowly clicks the button on the nearest nightstand; unless someone is dying , it'll just be the two of them in the room.

(There was an incident once. Groot may have been traumatized by a situation involving superstrength, webs and the Ironette costume Tony only adored when it adorned Peter's body.)

"I do so love my needy little alpha needing me, don't I?"

His boyfriend blinks, grins at Tony as if he's just hung the moon and stars for his spiderling and ok, a little sex early in the morning isn't that bad.

"You love my cuddles too."

"Shut up and kiss me, Queens. I'm not getting any-"

They don't talk about anything too important after that.

----------

A little sex early in the morning actually is that bad when you miss a meeting with the U.N and show up smelling like sex, infatuation and, oddly enough, strawberry.

Rocket doesn't stop teasing for months.

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wannabe-fic-writer · 4 years

Text

Natasha Romanoff x Reader : Prove Me Wrong

Summary: She can trust you, even if she doesn’t know it yet.

Warning: 18+ Mental Health, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Violence, Smut

Chapter 6

******

Laughter sounds in the kitchen, the mix of yours and Carol’s filling the kitchen.

She leans against the counter across from you, sipping from a cup of coffee you’d made for her. And you sit on one of the few stools drinking tea with a new friend, Goose the cat, in your lap.

This morning you’d planned to just get a cup of tea and return to your room to read.

Finding Carol in the kitchen already changed that plan. The two of you started talking and she drew you in with even more exciting tales of space and the Air Force.

Much like the past few days you get wrapped up in how nice Carol is. Sure she’s a little sarcastic, and not so secretly cocky. But that’s definitely swept away by the fact that she’s very funny and friendly.

Goose purrs rhythmically as you pet him and listen to Carol talk about restoring a planet named Easik.

“Not to be nosey or anything but, how does your girlfriend feel about your space travels?” You maintain eye contact as you sip your tea.

Carol chuckles a little,“ she’s not really fond of all the time I spend away and she worries about the dangers out there. But she and her daughter always trust that I’ll get home safely. Plus I make up for it with cool stories and space gifts.”

“Ever the charmer Danvers.” You shake your head.

“Why thank you, I try.” The woman does an exaggerated bow.

Mid laugh, Goose stands up in your lap causing your hand to slide down his soft fur as he looks at the door.

Natasha steps through, clad in athletic wear and sporting a messy ponytail.

Subconsciously you find your gaze passing over the material of her pants that shape her legs and the tank top that shows off her toned arms.

Has she always been this hot or are you only just now noticing?

Thankfully the woman’s words pull you from your thoughts.

“Am I interrupting something?” She asks, walking behind Carol to the coffee pot.

Carol shakes her head,“ just Y/N telling me about her time at NYU.”

You’re quick to tell them,“ which was really just a lot of studying and sleep deprivation.”

“And crazy parties! You saw a guy jump from a roof into a pool of Jell-O. Which makes me wonder if you did too?” She tilts her head inquisitively.

“Of course not,” you finish off tour tea,“ but not because of the jump. I literally cringed at the idea of having Jell-O in places it shouldn’t be.”

The blonde is laughing again and you smile, almost proudly, at having gotten her to.

Natasha looks away so no one can see her roll her eyes.

“Ladies!”

The familiar voice of the one Mister Tony Stark hits your ears before he steps into view. He’s smiling at each of you in greeting and pointing at the cat that definitely wasn’t here the last time he was.

“T! What brings you by, again?” You return his smile sweetly.

“Oh I’m just here to cordially invite you all to mine and Pepper’s anniversary dinner Friday night. Figured getting out would do you some good since your social life is like watching paint dry.” He teases with a fake pout.

Standing from your stool, Goose leaping down from your lap at the same time, you speak to Tony,“ you know, the more time I spend with you the more I understand why Pepper needed to see me.”

Having said that, you leave out. Tony follows you and Goose pauses, looking from where you were to Carol, only to follow after you as well.

With you out of earshot, Carol turns to Natasha with a raised brow.“ I could be wrong here but, am I sensing that you’re interested in Y/N?”

“Of course not.” Natasha shoots the idea down quickly.

Too quickly.

Carol smirks,“ please. You came in here with every bit of jealousy in your tone.” She folds her arms and faces the red head fully,“ which is misplaced. I have a girlfriend.”

Natasha freezes at the information. It’s not a long pause but it’s noticeable enough, making Carol smile proudly.

She knows a crush when she sees one.

“It’s none of my concern who you or Y/N are dating.” She finally says, grip loosening on her cup as she leaves.

For the days that pass Natasha finds herself thinking more and more about what Carol said.

One thing Natasha knows is how to identify her feelings, but she’d only really encountered these feelings once before. With Bruce.

She felt differently with him than she did with Steve and Tony. The feelings scared her and when she decided to free fall into them, he pushed her away and left for more than two years.

That experience made her familiar with, wanting someone romantically. So when she began to feel that way towards you a mere few days after your second session she fought to push it away.

She’d be damned if she got hurt again, especially by someone claiming to want to help her.

And despite not wanting to be hurt, a part of her still wonders about you.

A part that she tries her hardest to ignore. So much so that she doesn’t go to your session the morning of Tony and Pepper’s anniversary.

You couldn’t lie and say you aren’t disappointed to not find her in your office when you got there. And even more disappointed the more time passed without her showing.

You consider going to find her, thinking that something must really be bothering her for her to not show up after all the progress she’d made. But you also considered that she could just be busy and decided that just this once you’d back off.

So, for the time being, you go over the files of the rest of the team, working on possible ways to make breakthroughs and just coping exercises in general.

Hours pass of this, you stopping only twice to get fresh tea and lunch. Until eventually you’re getting ready for the anniversary dinner.

After having received directions to the venue from Tony, you get ready to leave. Steve and Bucky offering you a ride and telling you that Natasha, Wanda, and Sam left already.

Light conversation flows between the three of you until you get there. Bucky parking and Steve getting out to open your door for you.

“Thanks.” You smile, hopping out of the SUV and walking beside them into the building.

It’s a lot simpler than you expected it to be. As simple as crystal chandeliers and champagne fountains can be.

While looking for Tony and Pepper, your eyes catch Natasha. She’s standing beside Wanda at the bar and looking more beautiful than you’d ever seen.

Something about the way that blue looks against her skin, the way the fabric of the dress clings to her curvy form, or perhaps the way her green eyes seem to stand out more than usual.

Has your eyesight changed in the last week? Why are you seeing her in a different light than before?

Whatever the case is, your watching her, has you tripping over your own feet.

Literally.

The only reason you don’t eat shit is because Bucky holds his arm out in front of you.

“Thanks.” You chuckle nervously hoping no one notices the flush of your cheeks, or what caused you to trip.

You gather yourself before heading over to wish the couple a happy anniversary. And of course it doesn’t take Tony long to make some sarcastic comment. In which Pepper shoos him away so the two of you can catch up.

All the while Morgan stands closely to her mother so you make sure to address her every once and a while, complimenting her dress and asking her about school(the girl is just as smart as her dad, at some point she’ll probably be smarter).

Soon enough dinner is served, you sitting with the team at one of the tables and listening to them talk.

It’s not until they open the dance floor that you see Carol. She comes in, effectively grabbing everyone’s attention.

The woman joins you, her eyes glancing back and forth from all of you to Tony and Pepper dancing.

“Awe man, I missed the food.” She half jokes, easing into the empty chair between you and Natasha.

You chuckle, shaking your head,“ I’m sure if you ask nicely, and stroke his ego a little, Tony’ll have them bring you something out.”

“Honey we both know I’d never.”

When you both laugh, Natasha pushes herself up and goes over to the bar, stepping around the person filled dance floor.

Your laughter dies, smile replaced by a frown.

Noticing this, Carol stands, offering a hand,“ dance with me?”

“Okay.”

On the dance floor, Carol’s arm glides across your lower back with ease, her other hand holding yours just level with your chests. You place your free hand on her shoulder.

The soft music that plays tells you that Tony had nothing to do with the selection tonight. Alongside that thought you notice that Carol’s a good dancer, cause she makes your uncoordinated self move easily.

“Is Natasha watching us?” She asks after a few steps.

Frowning, you look at the blonde, who’s eyes don’t meet yours. You let your gaze fall over the room, and find that Natasha is indeed watching you two. Only to look away when she meets your gaze.

“She was. Why?”

The woman’s chest shakes with a laugh,“ I think she likes you.”

That has you looking back over at the green eyed red head. Once again taking in how beautiful she looks.

Natasha likes you?

What had you done to get her to like you? Nothing. So why would she like you?

A frown masks your brows,“ why would you tell me that? Suppose I believed you and it wasn’t true, I’d look like a complete idiot if I did something about it.”

Carol leans back a little at that,“ you like Natasha?”

You flounder, mouth opening and closing stupidly as you think of a reply,“ no. She’s my patient and she tolerates me, at best.”

And she’s notebly the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen. She’s godly beautiful in a human way. She’s, demi-godly beautiful? You aren’t sure that’s the right description but it’s what you think fits.

“What makes you think that?”

Breaking from your thoughts, you recall the interactions you had with Natasha in the beginning of your stay, or the lack there of. Followed by her barely even looking at you your first session.

At this point you and Carol have danced into a second song. You sigh and drop your head on to her shoulder.

“How often do you see me and Natasha talk? Like barely. The most we communicate is in my office where I am nothing but professional because if I’m not then I’d look like some bumbling idiot and that wouldn’t be helping her.”

Carol sighs,“ it’s not my place to say but, if you do have feelings for her, I think it would benefit you to tell her.”

You look up again, brown eyes staring back,“ did you miss the barely tolerates me part?”

“I find that hard to believe. You’re a very likeable person Y/N. Maybe it’s just her thoughts that are keeping her so distant.” She suggests.

The song comes to an end and you step away from her with a shake of your head,“ not to call you delusional, but I think you’ve seen things that aren’t there. I’m simply her therapist.”

As you turn to walk away Carol struggles to find something to say but she can’t. And your crestfallen face is heartbreaking.

That expression on your face completely debunks your claims at not liking the woman and Carol knows you only said it to convince yourself.

******

taglist: @username23345 @muffliat-o @aaron-despair @natasha-danvers @wildhoney32 @criminallyhamilton @fayhar @nat-km-mh

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #black widow #black widow x reader #marvel #marvel x reader #mcu #mcu x reader #prove me wrong #reader insert

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lemonpeter · 3 years

Text

All For Him (Perfection)

“A cute prompt where Peter wants to go to prom really badly but MJ dumped him recently and Ned is going with Betty so he feels like he can’t go. And flash makes fun of him for being a loser with no date to the prom. So Tony offers to take Peter just to fuck withFlash and they end up being the center of attention obviously and they’re having fun and suddenly they both have an ‘oh’ moment and realize they’re in love and they kiss snd it’s very sweet.”

My prompt fill for @starkerfestivals Fall event 💕 I’m actually really happy with this piece and I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I do!

Warnings: brief alcohol mention, brief mention of after prom expectations, Peter is 18 (it’s mentioned mid-fic), it’s 99% just fluff I promise

————

Ah, prom season.

Tony couldn’t say that he really remembered his own, if he even went. He had been...what, fifteen? The only thing on his mind at that point had been finishing high school and getting to MIT. Everything he did to piss off his dad came later.

So he probably hadn’t gone. But he was sure that things were different now, anyways.

Elaborate promposals, themed dances, after-parties that rivaled his college days.

Anyways. He hadn’t thought about school formals in- god, decades, probably. Like most people with some sort of life aspirations, he hadn’t thought about it since leaving high school. But it hadn’t even mattered to him then.

But it mattered to Peter, still in school.

Freshly heartbroken, sweet, perfect Peter.

Tony couldn’t believe that anyone would break up with someone like Peter. He was the type of person that people fought over, not someone that got broken up with.

But he had been broken up with all the same. He tried not to act like it bothered him, but he wasn’t good at hiding things like that.

Tony saw the way that his fingers twitched when he grabbed his phone, wanting to text something to MJ. He noticed how Peter’s gaze lingered on a window display of suits advertising ‘It’s Almost Time’. And he saw the tears that filled Peter’s eyes when they witnessed a - incredibly cheesy, unnecessarily extravagant - promposal outside of someone’s building.

And he knew that he would have to do something about that.

———

“Mr. Stark, I can’t,” Peter told him, sighing heavily. “I just can’t. I would look so stupid if I went alone. And it’s too late to ask anyone, everyone already has their dates.”

Not that anyone would want to go with him anyways.

“What about your friend? You know, Fred,” Tony teased, like he didn’t know his name. It was an ongoing joke, so Peter knew he actually did know.

Peter sighed again, resting his forehead against the table. “He’s going with his girlfriend. Betty. I’m pretty sure I already told you this.”

“Right, right. You couldn’t just tag along with them?”

Peter’s head shot up and he made a face. “I am not about to be a third wheel. That’s so embarrassing. And lame. I don’t need extra reasons to be made fun of.”

“Extra?” The older man frowned as he watched him. “Don’t tell me that’s still going on.”

“It’s been a thing since I was in sixth grade, Mr. Stark. It’s not going to stop until graduation, apparently.” Just a few more months away. Thank god.

Tony hummed softly, tapping a finger to his chin. “Well...I mean, that’s not gonna work. You want to go. So you’re going to go. But-“

“I can’t go alone!”

“I was getting to that,” Tony chided. “Don’t interrupt me. If you can’t go alone. But none of your peers are still available. Or up to standards,” he joked lightly. Then he paused for dramatic effect before finishing his thought. “I could just go with you, Peter.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment after that, just taking the words in.

Tony felt that it had been innocent. Just an offer so that the kid would feel okay going to his dance.

But from the way Peter instantly blushed and glanced away, he wasn’t so sure it was received that way.

“What? Would you be embarrassed by me?”

Peter shook his head quickly, eyes wide. “What? No! I just...can’t imagine that you’d want to go. To a high school prom. With...me.”

Tony watched him, eyebrow raised as he listened. “I can’t say that it’s really my scene, but if I’d go with anyone I’d want it to be you. But I’m just going this so you can go and not feel weird, right? And maybe you can show that asshole Flash up.”

The young man was silent for just a moment, obviously thinking it all through.

Tony loved how he could practically see all the thoughts and outcomes swirling in Peter’s head.

Then he nodded slowly. “Okay. Yeah. You can go with me.” He smiled a bit. “We’ll need to buy you a ticket. And make sure you don’t do anything weird,” he joked lightly with him.

The older man scoffed. “Me? Weird? Oh, quit. We can either be the center of attention or we can blend in with the crowd. I can go with the flow. Whatever you want. I’m not weird...”

Peter laughed, genuine and relaxed. Definitely feeling better.

Tony was just glad that he could help. And if he got to make the kid laugh and smile at him like that? He would have done it again a million times. “So it’s a deal?”

“It’s a deal,” he agreed, nodding. “We’ll work out plans later. I’ll...text you?” He asked it as a question because he didn’t want to overstep.

Tony waved a hand. “You text me about everything else, of course you can message me about this. No biggie.”

Nodding, Peter smiled to himself. “Okay. Okay. I’ll gather all the details so we can both be completely prepared.” A pause. “Thank you, Mr. Stark. This...really means a lot to me.”

“No need to thank me. Because I just want you to be happy.”

A smile from Peter. “You’re the best.” He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “Thank you, Mr. Stark. I’ll text you!”

“Okay, kid.” Tony watched him leave the garage, smiling to himself. He knew that he was way more excited than he should have been.

But Peter just made him like that. He didn’t want to read too much into it. No use thinking into what he didn’t want to discover about himself.

———

He hadn’t heard from Peter for a couple of days and he was a bit worried that he finally scared the man off.

Until he got a large number of sudden texts.

‘Hi Mr. S’

‘*Stark’

‘I got the prices for tickets. It’s kinda a lot so I understand if you don’t want to go’

It was cute, Peter really seemed worried that the tickets would be too expensive for him. But he figured that the younger man just stuck in the mindset that money was always tight.

‘They’re $60 each’

‘I can cover mine, don’t worry’

‘And I still need to rent a suit since the one I have is old’

‘And depressing’

‘But I’m sure you have a suit! So you don’t need to worry about that’

‘Unless you wanna wear a dress. I wouldn’t judge’

Tony chuckled at that. That was always an option, but he figured he would go more traditional if Peter wanted to blend in.

‘But yeah. Just wanted to get back to you about that. Since it’s next week we probably need to make final plans and all’

Smiling to himself, Tony started typing a message back.

‘Ticket prices won’t be a problem, I’ll drop by your school and pick one up later today. And I can handle getting you a suit, no need to rent one that god knows how many other people have worn.’

He watched the dots that signaled Peter was typing. Then they disappeared and he was a bit worried that he overstepped some sort of unspoken boundary.

Then he got a phone call instead, Peter’s adorably awkward contact picture filling his screen.

Of course he answered instantly, putting the phone to his ear. “Yes? I thought your generation hated phone calls, why am I getting one?”

A giggle from the other side. Tony grinned at that, ignoring how his heartbeat sped up ever so slightly at the sound. It meant nothing. He probably had heart issues and should get that checked out.

“Because it’s easier to call and talk things out than to text it all,” Peter told him helpfully.

He was looking through his closet, glaring slightly at the one suit he owned. He didn’t like it, for obvious reasons.

It was his funeral suit. It was also the suit he wore to homecoming his sophomore year. Not good memories. But he knew that suits were expensive and Mr. Stark liked going overboard.

“Were you serious about getting me a suit? Because really- I can just rent one. It’ll be okay. It’s one night.”

Tony made an offended noise. “Absolutely not. I’m getting you one. No date of mine will be showing up in some overpriced, used-“

“Date of yours? It’s my school dance, Mr. Stark,” Peter said flatly. But he was obviously smiling on the other side of the call.

“So? You’ll be with me, you’ll be fitted in the finest thing possible. Come by the tower tomorrow and I’ll have someone here to fit you for a suit. Custom. It’ll be perfect.”

Peter sputtered out a weak argument, but no real words really formed. “No- I can’t- you-“

“Absolutely no arguing with me. This night is going to be perfect for you. In every way.”

A moment of silence and Tony could only imagine the pretty pink blush that was on Peter’s cheeks. No, not pretty. Just-

Yeah, pretty. Sue him.

He was thankfully torn out of his thoughts when Peter cleared his throat before speaking again. It almost sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

It definitely wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark. This...it means a lot to me. That you want to do this with me. And that you’re willing to make it....”

“Perfect,” Tony finished when he trailed off. “Come on, I know this is important to you. Of course I’ll do everything I can to make it good.” He smiled to himself, ignoring the fuzzy warm feeling in his stomach. Damn heartburn. (Right, that’s what it was.) “Thank you for calling. I’ll pick up tickets later, then schedule a tailor to come by tomorrow to fit your suit. Sound good?”

Yeah, that was definitely a choked sob he heard. “Sounds good,” whispered Peter before abruptly hanging up.

Weird kid.

———

Everything had gone smoothly. Tony got their tickets and immediately handed them off to Pepper so they wouldn’t get lost, Peter was fitted for his suit and it was made perfectly, a beautiful bouquet of flowers was purchased, Tony made reservations for dinner, and he had a backup travel plan if Pepper convinced Peter that going in the iron man suit was a bad idea.

And then the night finally arrived.

Peter was nervous. And excited. Mostly excited with a little dash of nervousness.

He couldn’t help it. He was finally going to go to prom, the event hyped up from the time he was in elementary school. Seen in every teen movie, show, anything. Prom was obviously important. And he was definitely one for following important life milestones.

Even if they didn’t quite go as planned.

For one, he had been dumped by his girlfriend just before he was going to ask her to go with him. So that sucked. Then he waited and found no one else to go with. Until Mr. Stark stepped in. Which was an adventure on its own.

God, he was on an emotional roller coaster, up and down and upside down and-

Actually, the roller coaster was a pretty good analogy for what he was feeling. He had a weird fluttery feeling in his stomach, but he knew he was excited and couldn’t wait for what came next.

If only he knew what it meant.

He vaguely heard May open the door and he sucked in a sharp breath, doing a quick last check in the mirror.

He thought he looked good, not to brag. The suit was way more expensive than he even cared to know, but he thought it looked amazing. Sexy, even. The awkward, ugly prom suit stereotype was something he was glad to avoid.

His hair was in its natural curls, hanging loose and slightly messy but in what May assured him was ‘a cute way.’

Maybe it was simple. But it made him extremely happy.

So with that, he made his way out to the living room, unable to help the grin stuck to his face.

May covered her mouth with one hand, the other over her heart. “Oh-“ she walked to him, quickly pressing a kiss to his forehead. “You look so good. Handsome boy.” She smiled at him, gently brushing back his hair.

Peter blushed, laughing softly. “Thanks, May.” He glanced over her shoulder, cheeks flushing even darker when he saw Tony.

The man looked great.

Not that he didn’t always.

He looked like he was going somewhere way nicer than a high school prom. He looked so dapper, perfectly put together.

Peter couldn’t believe that the man had actually put all that effort in for him. To make him happy.

Mr. Stark really must have cared about him.

Then he noticed the huge bouquet of red and white roses that the man was holding. He had no idea how he had missed it in the first place.

He slowly stepped out from May’s touch, shaking his head to make her stop playing with his curls.

She made a sound of protest, but crossed her arms and moved to stand to the side.

Tony smiled fondly at Peter, expression conveying more love than was probably appropriate. Not that he would admit to it. He held out the roses, handing them over to Peter.

“I thought you’d like these,” he murmured, biting back a grin. “And it felt like an appropriate gift, given the circumstances.”

Peter nodded weakly, seeming in awe. He really couldn’t believe any of it was happening to him. It really was looking like the perfect night. He smelled the roses, smiling to himself. “They’re...amazing. Thank you.”

May took them from him, chuckling. “I’m gonna need two or three vases to fit all these....” she sighed, smiling. “But before I do that- ground rules. You.” She pointed at Tony. “I expect him home some time tonight. I say by...three. Not that you two will be attending any sort of party afterwards, that’s still the curfew.”

Peter opened his mouth to protest but closed it again. There wasn’t a point, it wasn’t like they’d be going anywhere after the dance. It wasn’t like they were an actual couple. They were going as friends. Friends didn’t have the same sort of after-prom expectations.

“Okay,” Tony agreed. “I’ll have him home by then, no worries.”

“Good. Next, if you do anything that embarrasses him or gives him a bad reputation these last couple months, I will hunt you down and kill you myself,” she threatened.

Tony snorted to himself, but nodded. “Of course. I’m just following his lead, he’s in charge here.” He winked at Peter quickly.

Peter shivered at that. He wasn’t quite sure what the older man meant with the action. He was in change for the night? Did he just mean because it was his prom or was there some other meaning he wasn’t aware of?

He couldn’t decide. So he just laughed a little and nodded.

“Right. That brings me to my final point,” May told them (but mostly Tony.) “Remember your relationship. He’s eighteen, Stark. Don’t do anything foolish in public that will bring bad press around either of you.”

Tony nodded instantly, but he felt like he was lying to her. He didn’t like that at all. “Of course. I wouldn’t even dream of making him look bad. And Pep has dealt with enough bad press from me, I don’t want to make things tougher on her.” As though the situation didn’t already look odd. “You don’t need to worry. Everything is going to be smooth, I won’t fuck anything up.”

May huffed. “You always seem to fuck something up. So your word doesn’t mean much. But you’d better keep to that. I don’t want to wake up to tabloids with the front picture being you groping my barely-legal nephew.”

“No problem, ma’am. Things won’t go south. Have some faith in me.”

“No.”

Tony huffed a laugh. “Okay. Fine.” He watched Peter, shooting him a sly smile. “Ready to go?”

The young man nodded, beaming. He went to Tony’s side, biting his lip as the man held his arm out. So he gently held onto his arm. “Bye, May. We’ll be- well, I’ll be back later. Love you!”

The woman laughed softly. “Have fun, Peter. But not too much fun, okay? And try not to just watch MJ all night.”

Oh, that wouldn’t be a problem. Peter already knew that if he was going with Mr. Stark, he wouldn’t have to worry about pining after MJ. Even if he didn’t want to think too much into why that was.

“I won’t, don’t worry. Love you, byyyyyye!” He called, trailing the last word as he left the apartment with Tony and closed the door behind them.

And with that, their night began.

———

Dinner was just incredible. Fancier than anything Peter had ever been to, for sure. But being with Mr. Stark somehow made it feel casual.

They left the restaurant and got back into Tony’s car - Peter had vetoed just being carried while Tony flew in the iron man suit.

Being in the fancy car, going to a school dance, was a bit too reminiscent of Homecoming and wrecking Flash’s car on the way to the Vulture’s lair. At least he wasn’t driving. And he was determined that he’d actually be staying at this dance.

Tony seemed to notice how he spaced out and hummed, gently setting one hand on his leg with the other still on the wheel.

Peter’s head jerked up at the action, eyes wide. “Huh?”

The hand was pulled away and Tony smiled weakly. “Sorry. Didn’t really think that one through. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He cleared his throat. “Having second thoughts?”

“What? No. No second thoughts. Thinking about....” he winced, shaking his head. “Just- really glad this time there’s no chance of my date’s dad trying to kill me.”

The older man laughed at that, a bit taken by surprise. But he was glad that Peter wasn’t having second thoughts. “Yeah, absolutely no chance for that. Don’t worry.”

They rode in relative silence after that, listening to whatever Tony had playing through the speakers. Some band that Peter probably knew the name of but would purposely get it wrong anyways.

Then they arrived at the venue. Tony parked the car, raising an eyebrow when he saw the ride next to them.

Peter easily identified it as Flash’s and had to keep Tony from ‘accidentally’ denting the door when he opened his own. That wouldn’t be okay, bully or not.

So Tony refrained from causing any harm to the vehicle, going to the passenger’s side and opening the door for Peter. He then held his arm out, smiling fondly at the young man.

The night was theirs.

Peter knew that Tony would have followed his wishes to stay under the radar and blend in, but sometimes it wasn’t up to them.

They were seen as soon as they stepped into the doors, whispers erupting throughout the room.

“There is no way,” someone nearby hissed.

Peter wished that his super hearing would calm down. He didn’t want to hear everyone’s disbelief at who he was there with. But he couldn’t really control that.

Then he heard the voice he absolutely dreaded. “Hey, Penis Parker!” Called Flash.

Peter couldn’t see him, but he even sounded smug. “What do you want?” He asked tiredly.

Flash materialized, leaning his elbow on Peter’s shoulder.

The other man tried to pull back, wrinkling his nose at the alcoholic smell coming off of Flash. The night had barely begun, that was fast.

“So,” he addressed Tony. “Is this like a charity thing? Taking a poor loser to his prom? Because-“

“Excuse me?” Tony sounded genuinely offended. On Peter’s behalf? Huh. “It’s not any sort of ‘thing’ other than taking my friend and colleague to an event. Because some people, like Peter here, can actually win their dates over with incredible personality.”

Flash started sputtering an apology, moving away from Peter. “Look- I didn’t- I- it was just a joke! Me and him are friends, we can joke like that!”

Peter gave him a look, lips pressed together. “I...no. Bye, Flash. Stay mad,” he commented, grabbing Tony’s hand and pulling him away.

Tony just wrapped a gentle arm around him, leaning in close as they walked away. “Cmon, ignore everyone else. We’re here to have some fun, right? Let’s dance.” He grinned, pulling Peter out onto the floor.

Everyone already knew that they were there. Why try to hide? They were going to have fun and everyone was going to know it.

Tony grabbed Peter’s hands, doing an odd little dance with him to whatever the song was. He couldn’t recognize it, he just knew that it had a fairly danceable beat.

Relief flooded him when Peter started to relax. His eyes no longer darted around at the stares and whispers and instead he was focused on Tony.

They danced, probably looking completely silly as they wiggled and spun each other to the music. But Peter was enjoying himself. And that was all that mattered to Tony.

As the song faded out and another one started playing in, Peter laughed, the sound clear despite the loud background.

Nothing else mattered. All that mattered was their little bubble of perfection. He and Peter. No one else.

The young man’s hair was tousled, curls loose since he had decided not to gel them down. He looked like an angel, soft and happier than Tony had ever seen him. As happy as he deserved to be all the time.

Peter deserved perfection and nothing else. Tony was just glad that he could contribute.

Then a slower song started and Peter awkwardly pulled away. “We can...sit this one out. It might be weird if we did this one. Just friends and all....” he didn’t look at Tony, eyes on the floor.

The older man watched him, slowly holding his hand out. “Peter, we can do this if you want to.”

The young man’s silence, but hopeful look towards the hand told him all that he needed to know.

“Will you dance with me, Peter?”

God, Peter’s heart was beating way too fast. But he was going to dance with Mr. Stark. And not how they had been before- this was intimate. Close. Something for- for lovers. Not friends, like they were.

But something in him desperately wanted it to mean more.

So he slowly looked up again, taking his hand and allowing himself to be brought close.

Tony smiled at him, expression soft and loving and definitely going to give him away. But he found that he really didn’t care. Not anymore.

He held Peter against his chest gently, swaying to the delicate crooning of the lyrics of whatever song was playing. He didn’t care what it was. All he cared about was Peter.

It was all about Peter.

The young man looked up at him, cheeks flushed lightly. He looked so beautiful. And happy. Everything he deserved.

“Mr. Stark....” he said quietly, heartbeat picking up.

“Please, call me Tony. It makes me feel incredibly wrong if you keep calling me Mr. Stark,” he murmured, still holding onto him and watching him.

“What do you mean? Wrong?” Peter asked, confused.

Tony sighed softly. “God, Peter. I shouldn’t tell you this. I shouldn’t be- okay. Okay. I can do this.”

The younger man could hear how his heart started racing.

“You’re...perfect. In every way. And doing this with you was a bit selfish on my part,” Tony started. “I know I just wanted to make sure you could come here and have fun. But being like this with you? I like it. Too much.” He started to let go, but Peter didn’t let him.

“Tony,” Peter said softly, beaming up at him. “Oh, I’m so glad I’m not alone.”

Tony wasn’t sure how to take that. Was it about the dance? Or what?

But he didn’t get much time to ponder it before Peter was leaning in and kissing him.

Oh.

The kiss wouldn’t have been anything special, it was little more than a peck in reality. But the fact that it was with Peter. His Peter. That made it special.

They broke apart only seconds later, both smiling big before leaning in for a second kiss.

“I love you,” Peter whispered, tucking his face into Tony’s neck.

Tony smiled to himself, swaying to the song again as he kept holding Peter. His Peter. “I love you too.”

And everything was perfect.

#bri speaks #starker #peter parker #tony stark #tony x peter #peter parker x tony stark #my writing #starkerfestivalsevents #starker fic #starker fluff

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lovelyirony · 3 years

Text

Moony-Eyed

@bironfam i hope this is okay!

Tony didn’t think that their new astronaut was going to be anything special.

Well.

That’s a lie.

You kind of have to be special if you’re going to be an astronaut for NASA. You have to keep your cool, have good eyesight, and be okay with the possibility of dying. Maybe. Maybe you have to be cool with that.

Tony is rather good at his job. From revolutionizing how space suits are made to making the functions of the ship easier to manage, Tony is NASA’s secret weapon, the handyman of all handymen.

He’s usually squirreled away in his workshop, at his apartment that he honestly needs to clean far more than he does, or arguing with Potts about why he needs eight different coffee mugs.

They know him as a guy who doesn’t exactly give a rat’s ass about the chain of command, or dress code.

“You can’t fire me,” he had told Happy, after he had tried once again to stop Tony from entering areas containing sensitive information in sweatpants and a sweatshirt that proclaimed him the “MIT class of 1992.”

Tony is good at his job, nearly too good. He likes it that way.

But back to the astronaut.

Danvers had taken leave to take care of her family, and honestly? Space usually isn’t a lifetime event for astronauts. You see too much of it, you need time away. A lot of time away.

Pepper is giddy. She loved Carol, but Carol was happily married with a baby girl, and this one? This one wasn’t.

Not that Pepper was looking for anyone. No, she and her partner Nat had standing date nights every Saturday evening, and she loved them too much to even think about anything else.

But Tony? Tony needed someone. He never really dated anybody, at least not anybody that he genuinely liked.

Stark was a powerful name, and it got tossed around a little bit, but Tony mostly kept to himself and only responded to it when he was at a party or Happy was mad at him for forgetting his ID badge yet again.

James Rhodes was a nicely built man with a strong, confident aura, and single.

(Pepper had checked.)

She thought that he and Tony would get along quite well, if anything.

James is shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He’d rather just get to work on what he needs to do. Getting into the air is one of the best feelings, and the sooner he can experience it, the sooner he’ll be fine.

He always pushed the limits, and space is just the last limit he gets to push. He’s excited. He’s always wanted to work for NASA, be on their roster of astronauts. He wants little kids who identify with him to know that they can do it too.

So he’s ready to work with the best and brightest of their era.

“Where the fuck are my nachos?!”

His head whips around to a man who is wearing an ill-fitting cardigan (that is most likely not his), old jeans that have what look to be equations written on one thigh, and glasses that are most definitely broken sitting at an angle.

“Your nachos were too close to the computers,” one woman says without looking up. “Stop bringing nachos here or I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“You can’t kill me,” the man retorts.

“Tony,” comes another voice. James turns and sees who must be Pepper Potts. “Go to your office. Now. Change your pants, you wrote on them again.”

“I did?”

He looks down and swears.

“Son of a bitch!” He then looks at Jim. “Wait, who are you? Are you the new astronaut?”

“Uh, yes? I’m James.”

He sticks out his hand.

Who seems to be Tony stares at his hand.

“Your name is seriously James?”

“Do you think I’m bad at jokes?” he asks, eyebrows raised.

Tony grins.

“No, I think you’re gonna be a riot. But I’m not calling you James.”

“Jim, then.”

“No,” Tony says. “You’re not an old man, you’re still attractive.”

His eyebrows raise.

Tony’s face pales.

“I’m going to. Go. I have math on my pants.”

Pepper snorts, readjusting her grip on her clipboard.

“Welcome to NASA, Colonel Rhodes. I can promise you that we don’t usually yell about our lunch location or write on articles of clothing.”

Surprisingly, James doesn’t see Tony for two weeks. Apparently, he’s been working outside with a couple of the interns to calculate some stuff, rework some of the older ships for experience, and stay out of the way of Pepper, who says that he’s attempting to murder her via headaches to deal with.

He seems interesting, however. There are sticky notes and papers all over the offices and breakrooms reminding people of what Tony had for breakfast/lunch/dinner, or where the extra coffee supplies are.

“You provide for him?” he asks Pepper one time.

“He gets too much into his own head sometimes,” Pepper says. “He focuses too much on a program or an improvement and forgets that he works around other people. You wouldn’t believe how many times we had miniature science experiments based off of lunches that he would leave in the fridge.”

Rhodes nods. “Well. I’ll look forward to working with him.”

Tony has been working outside of the office for two reasons:

1.) To legitimately help the interns. (Ned and Peter are making improvements!)

2.) James Rhodes is the hottest guy on earth. Maybe in the universe. For real. Seriously.

He hates Pepper for this. Didn’t even tell Tony what the new astronaut looked like, and then shows up with a god of a man. Rude and unfair.

And he had to be the dumbass with the equation on his pants.

He didn’t even have spare pants! He had to stay in his office for the whole day because the equation was actually really important and he needed it.

“Why didn’t you just transfer it over on paper?” Bruce asks over the phone. Bruce is his friend who works in a technically classified, off-the-books, not-exactly-government-issued building. He’s cool. He also points out the obvious.

“I’m the biggest idiot on the planet,” Tony groans. “There was just a new guy at work, and he threw me off balance, so-”

“What’s he look like?”

“Why, you not crushing on that hot Nordic space dude?”

“No, still am. But I still remember when Barton came to work for you guys and you didn’t know that his name wasn’t George until about six months into him working there.”

“In my defense, he works mostly with physical therapy and prep for no gravity,” Tony says. “I work with math and shit.”

“Still,” Bruce says. “You wouldn’t have pointed him out if you didn’t think he was cute. What’s he like?”

“I...don’t exactly know.”

“Oh my god, you’ve been avoiding him?”

“Oh what, like you didn’t jump out of a window when Thor almost saw you in a tank top?”

“I have a farmer’s tan! Totally different circumstance!”

“Is it?”

“I hate you.”

“Get to dating Thor and then we’ll talk again. Have fun re-revolutionizing green energy, Dr. Banner.”

“Look to the stars, Tony.”

James has to get fitted for his suit.

He faces Tony, who looks quite different from when he first saw him. His hair is somewhat less messy, he has one of those geeky NASA-logo shirts that they sell at Target, and is wearing khaki pants with about a million different pockets.

(Something in his mind is whispering that he definitely shouldn’t find him attractive. But he will anyways.)

“Alright space-cowboy, let’s get your measurements,” Tony says. “You feeling okay today?”

“Right as rain.”

“Rain is never good, sunshine,” Tony quips. “Now, about your nickname from me...hm. Rhodey.”

“How’d you figure that out?”

“Substituted the ‘s’ for a ‘y’, just simple stuff,” he says with a shrug. “You approve?”

“I...guess.”

“Good. Now Rhodey, how are you feeling?”

“Like sunshine and gumdrops,” he responds sarcastically.

Tony smiles, and damn if it makes his heart thump a bit.

“Better answer, soldier. Extend those arms, please.”

Tony smells really nice. Subtle cologne and clean laundry. Rhodey finds that he likes it.

“How’ve you been doing, Tony?”

“Like a gentle breeze on a day that’s seventy-two degrees,” Tony answers. “Work’s been good today. Helen made tacos.”

“I had some of those, they were pretty good.”

“Mm,” Tony answers. “Legs a bit more apart, thank you.”

Rhodey shifts his stance a little bit, carefully not watching Tony bend down just a tad to get the bottom of his foot.

(But oof, that was hard.)

Tony comes back up again, looking into Rhodey’s eyes. For a moment, for a brief moment, his breath is taken away.

“I need to wrap my measuring tape around your waist. You okay with that?”

“More than.”

“Don’t get saucy,” Tony winks. “No one likes more than one floozy at the office, and that’s what got me this job anyways.”

Rhodey lets out a laugh, and Tony grins.

He likes making him laugh. Likes it more than he should.

They spend more and more time together. Tony always makes adjustments, Rhodey realizes that Tony doesn’t exactly keep track of when he eats, so they have lunch together.

They like it a lot.

On good-weather days, they eat outside on a bench. Tony leans against one said, foot brushing Rhodey’s calf, and Rhodey doesn’t really mind because he’ll lean over occasionally and steal whatever Tony’s eating.

“This is theft, you know.”

“You eat like a bird, what do you know about food theft?”

Tony almost always stays later than anyone else except for nights with Rhodey.

Once a month, they have dinner together. Rhodey’s new to the area and Tony’s almost never social with anyone, so they’ve been working through a list of the three-star-rated restaurants and seeing which ones they like.

“It’s kind of like a date,” Pepper says, on her monthly hangout with Tony (and also kind of a clean-up party for his house).

“Not dates,” Tony says. “Just friends. I’m sure he has his eye on someone in or out of the office.”

“Like you?”

“His first impression of me was me writing an equation on my pair of jeans, and then I haven’t exactly upgraded my style since,” Tony deadpans. “He’s seen me in neon orange sweatpants, Pep. You don’t exactly come back from that.”

“Maybe he likes you for who you are!”

“God that’s such a bullshit answer,” Tony whines. “You sound like a straight-to-video movie that came out in 1997!”

“That’s too specific.”

“And? You still get the point!”

Pepper flings a pillow his way.

“Where is your wine?”

“In the same cabinet you always leave it.”

“Goody.”

While Pepper sways to bed, Tony thinks about what she said.

It could be possible. Tony had never exactly asked him about himself in that capacity, but Rhodey never had an odd reaction to a statement that involved talking about a partner of the same-sex or a one-liner about it.

Maybe?

...no.

Guys like Rhodey deserved someone better than someone who forgot to eat lunch four out of the seven days of the week. (And maybe four was being generous.)

On the flipside, Rhodey was currently telling his woes to Carol, who was laughing at him.

“You nerd!” she says. “You like Tony, and you’ve done nothing about it? Have you even told him that you also like guys? Cuffed your pants?”

“No,” Rhodey says. “I just...why would he like someone like me? I’m...boring.”

“You’re not boring,” Carol says.

“Yeah you are!” Maria calls from the kitchen. “You’re very boring, Mr. ‘Only-Drinks-Black-Coffee’!”

Carol giggles.

“Maybe Maria has a point. Maybe.”

Rhodey groans, leaning against the couch.

“I’m so fucked.”

“On the contrary-”

“Oh shut up.”

Pepper is tired of people’s problems. They’re getting closer and closer to launch, and Clint’s out sick and Helen is being weird again, and Jane is off somewhere to a secret government-but-not-government launch to discuss things with two potential boyfriends. (Maybe boyfriends. Maybe.)

Tony is getting stressed.

Usually, he’s the only one who’s fine during a launch. He’s still cracking jokes, making fun events, and calming down people who are a bit too nervous.

But usually, he’s not as close to the astronaut as this.

He’s been thinking about the accidents they’ve had over the years. He doesn’t want a repeat. He’s been pulling all-nighters, avoiding sleep, and checking in on Rhodey consistently, to the point where Rhodey has to drag him outside and tell him that things will be fine.

(In Pepper’s professional opinion, they’d be fine if they just did a goodbye kiss or whatever, but okay.)

Tony’s getting into his own head.

So is Rhodey.

He’s going to be gone for a long time. He’s going to miss the holidays. And Tony won’t be able to talk to him everyday.

“You should tell him,” Pepper murmurs. “I think you both would benefit from it.”

“I’m not going to play that unfair card,” Rhodey murmurs back. “I either confess my love and go to a dangerous mission knowing that he loves me back and I said it when I can’t return, or he doesn’t and I just played a guilt-trip card.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?”

Rhodey shakes his head.

“I...I can’t do that to him. Wouldn’t be right. After the mission.”

“After, then,” Pepper says. “When you come home.”

Rhodey grins.

The day of launch happens far quicker than anyone wants it to, most of all Tony.

Pepper actually kicked him out of his office, told him to shower, and wear something nice for once.

“Make sure he knows he has someone to come home to,” Pepper says. “Wear your turtleneck!”

“It’s only September,” Tony scowls. “And he’s his own person who’s about to launch himself into space.”

“He will be fine,” Pepper says. “With your research and work, we’ve cut down overlooked mistakes by about forty percent.”

“Still not half.”

“Because we’re NASA,” Pepper sniffs. “Our mistakes matter more, so we make less of them.”

Tony nods.

He ends up almost being late to the launch because of Pepper’s stupid wardrobe advice.

He’s wearing his nicest pair of pants, a button-up that’s been at the back of his closet for quite some time, and he’s feeling stupid because he had to play AC/DC in the car so he would actually focus on what was going on.

Now he’s waiting for Rhodey to exit wearing the space suit that he made and to tell everyone that it was an honor and a privilege to be going to space where things happen and Tony can’t be there to help.

Life sucks.

But it goes on, and there’s Rhodey in the brilliantly-designed suit, and Tony’s never been more proud and more sad, but he sucks up his tears and walks up anyways.

“Hey space-cowboy. Ready to explore the frontier?”

“As ever,” Rhodey says. “You ready to forget to eat your lunch all over again?”

Tony smiles.

“You’ll have to check in with me soon, then,” Tony says. “Cut the mission short?”

Rhodey laughs.

“Wish I could. But I’ll send you pictures,” he says. “I promise.”

Tony stops for a moment, smile dropping from his face.

“Promise me one more thing.”

“Anything,” Rhodey says. “Anything you want.”

“Come back safe. Swear to me that you will.”

Rhodey grins.

“Safe and sound, honey. Safe and sound.”

Tony watches him board the ship, wave to the cameras, and wink at him.

He rolls his eyes, but blows a kiss anyways.

Tony’s a nervous wreck.

Pepper has decided that Rhodey needs to not go on missions anymore, or at least take Tony with him because he’s annoying.

“Can you stop crying on the second floor bathroom? It’s getting annoying,” Pepper says. “Clint says he can hear you and feels bad.”

“Well how are we supposed to know that Rhodey’s okay?!” Tony says. “For all I know, he could be dead!”

“I really hope you don’t mean that,” comes a voice from behind.

Tony whips around, seeing Rhodey’s grainy face from the big screen.

“You bitch!”

He laughs, and it doesn’t sound real, but he can see him.

“Hey Tony. You been making sure no one is pissed at you for forgetting your dinner in the fridge?”

“Well, now I will,” he admits. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Rhodey smiles. “How’s everything been down there?”

“Boring,” Tony says. “When are you coming back?”

“I got about two more months,” Rhodey says. “And then I’ll be back.”

“Quit hogging all the screen time,” Natasha teases. “You lovebirds can have your moment on earth.”

Tony blinks.

“What.”

But by that time, Natasha and Sam have already been asking a million questions, and Pepper is filling Rhodey in on what he’s missed.

Tony is still stuck on the whole ‘lovebirds’ thing that Natasha suggested.

...that couldn’t be possible. And yet if other people saw it that way...

“Tony? Tony?”

He blinks again, looking back up at the screen.

Rhodey is smiling at him, that smile that means that he’s happy to see someone.

“I’ll see you soon, honey.”

“Right back at you, space-cowboy.”

The screen goes to black, and Tony smiles a bit.

“Aw, you nerd,” Clint teases. “So, you gonna ask him out on a date?”

“Clint, I will cut off your leg,” Tony says cheerily. “I have to go finish some paperwork!”

Tony’s done all of his paperwork, it’s one of the few times that Pepper’s had it done on time.

He has to keep doing things to stop thinking about Rhodey.

He writes him letters. He knows that he won’t ever read them, but writing letters helps and sometimes it makes his hands less jittery.

He’s not ever going to send them. Ever. Letters are cheesy and they feel...personal.

Pepper tells him that he’s being lame.

“I’m not being lame!” Tony cries. “I am just. Protecting myself!”

“You have the reasoning of a Jane Austen love interest,” she says flatly. “I swear if you don’t tell him, then I’ll meddle. And you know how bad I am when I meddle.”

“You literally have made things so much worse for so many people,” Tony responds.

“Not worse, per se.”

“Oh right, how could I forget?” Tony exclaims sarcastically. “You made things the worst.”

“If we weren’t such good friends, you’d be dead,” Pepper says.

“Then let’s be worst enemies,” Tony mutters. “You still ready for pizza night?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Pepper says. “Meet at your place at seven, right?”

“Right.”

Here is what Tony does not know: Rhodey’s coming back down earlier than expected, and Pepper knows this.

So she’s been busying Tony with work while she’s acclimating Rhodey to life on earth again.

“Has he really missed me?” Rhodey asks for about the twentieth time in about two hours.

“Yes,” Pepper says. “I hope these aren’t your talking points for your interviews. If people know you’re this much of a love-struck idiot in real life, they won’t take you seriously.”

“I just missed him!”

“Oh sure,” she responds, rolling her eyes. “And I’m sure you’ll tell the news reporters that you missed me with as many stars in your eyes as now. You like him, you absolute geek.”

“Well, maybe a little,” Rhodey mutters. “But you’re sure he’ll like the surprise?”

“One hundred percent.”

Tony is having, perhaps, the worst day in his life. Maybe in history, if he’s being quite honest.

His car, for one thing, won’t start for more than is done-away-with concern, so he has to call Pepper and say that he’s going to be late since he has to fix his own car.

“Will you get coffee on the way here?” Pepper asks.

“Your usual order?”

“Yeah, you know the drill.”

Then the line is long because some stupid person wanted to complain, and Tony was this close to just threatening to buy the entire store to make it stop, and he cried on his way to work because he saw a duck cross the road and it reminded him of how Rhodey crashed his first car avoiding a duck that was crossing the road.

Yeah. It’s rough.

Then he parks in the wrong parking spot because some asshole with a stupid rental car took his usual spot, and then he stepped in a puddle.

He hates today.

“Pepper!” he declares as he enters the building. “I wore jeans today, I got your coffee, and I’m already done with the day. I swear to god if one more unexpected thing happens, I’ll just say ‘fuck it’ and go work for the Soviets!”

“The Soviets aren’t a thing, Tones.”

He knows that voice.

He fucking knows that voice. He isn’t supposed to be back from that mission for another month.

Tony doesn’t turn around.

“I’m hallucinating. Oh my god, I’m hallucinating.”

Hands wrap around his neck, hugging him.

“This feel like a hallucination?”

(Okay so Tony drops the coffee.)

Rhodey’s smile is blinding, and he’s...he’s here. Right in front of him with those not-supposed-to-be-that-hot polo shirts, those eyes that he could get lost in, and just...

Well.

He hugs him and he hugs him tightly.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back so soon?!”

“Pepper organized it,” Rhodey says, giddy. “Decided it would be a nice surprise for you.”

Tony looks over at Pepper, who’s trying to hide a grin behind her hands.

“Pepper if I wasn’t so over-the-moon right now, your heels would be snapped.”

She shrugs.

“Worth it. You requested today off, by the way.” She winks as she turns back to her office.

“Well, what do you say?” Rhodey asked. “Help me get used to having my feet back on the ground?”

Tony grins.

“Dinner sounds like a good start. Gotta get you some good earth food, none of that dehydrated crap.”

“Do you know how long it’s been since I had a decent slice of pizza?”

Tony grins.

“I can fix that.”

#lovelyirony writes #YES THE TITLE IS FUCKING PUNNY I'M HILARIOUS WHAT ABOUT IT #rhodeytony #tonyrhodey #ironhusbands #rhfe #rhodey #tony stark #iron man #war machine #pepper potts

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ptergwen · 4 years

Note

yo, what do you think about peter with an azula type reader? Like with the abilities & all that? Would he be interested in something like that, wdy think?

YOOOO HOLD ON i never thought about that before but now that you mentioned it that would be so sick! so here’s a kinda long headcanon

you were recruited by tony after he read your file from SHIELD

he had asked them to send over any information they had on possible threats

your name was on the list

tony read all about your fire powers and where you came from

he realized you were just a kid who needed some guidance, and you could do amazing things if you learned how to use your powers for good

that’s how you end up at the avengers facility

you want to work on yourself as much as tony does, but you were honestly scared

until you met peter

tony introduced you to him after you settled into your room

peter definitely wasn’t ready for it

“i’m uh, wow, i’m peter. your hair’s really pretty. wait that’s weird-“

he was a stuttering, blushing mess

you thought it was kind of sweet

“i like yours too. i’m y/n.”

he gave you a goofy smile and stuck out his hand

that was a bit dorky to you, but you shook it anyway

part of working on yourself is being nicer to people

tony suggested peter gave you a tour of the facility, and you were both down

peter took you down every hall on every floor, telling you fun facts about each avenger when you passed their room

he sure did talk a lot

it’s nice though. you didn’t really have friends, and this was your chance to change that

you even laughed at a corny science joke peter made while showing you tony’s lab

“personally, the movie theater is my favorite room in the whole place”

“do you guys have star wars here? it would look so cool on a screen that big”

“oh my god, we’re gonna be best friends”

you started your training the next morning with wanda, since her powers are the most similar to yours

she teaches you how to control yourself so your emotions didn’t set them off

you have a habit of shooting fireballs involuntarily when you lost your temper

peter offered to help you practice defense moves later

he didn’t know what he was in for

he thought having nonflammable webs meant he’d get you down easily

you just blocked everything he shot with a shield of fire

peter was already in awe of what he was seeing

“holy shit, you can do that? that’s so awesome!”

“i can do a lot of stuff, peter. maybe i should be giving you defense training”

training with peter and wanda went on for a couple of weeks

then you added in breakfast with peter and lunch after defense practice

it became a routine you actually looked forward to

you eventually worked your way up to gameroom nights together

your favorite is air hockey because you beat peter almost every time

sometimes you let him win just to see his dumb eye crinkling smile

dance dance revolution is also fun

you both suck so you always end up freestyling

peter’s carefree attitude really balances you out, especially when you‘re in a mood about something

unlike most people, your sarcasm is what peter likes most about you. you could be funny without actually trying

he’s one of the only people who wasn’t automatically afraid of you or your powers. he gave you a chance to show your real self to him

you spent over a month getting to know each other before peter asked you out on a date

he was super nervous about it, sweaty palms and all

“y/n, you um... i mean um... do you wanna watch a movie with me?”

“like as a date?”

“if that’s okay with you, yeah”

so you watched the empire strikes back in the big facility movie theater

you and peter shared popcorn and he kept doing the cliche thing where he’d “accidentally” touch your hand in the bucket

he was such a nerd but you overlooked it

towards the end he worked up the courage to hold your hand

you were surprised he didn’t ask a bunch of times first, but laced your fingers together

after it ended he walked you back to your room (which was right across from his) with his hand in yours

the next morning at breakfast he asked you out on another movie date

a few weeks later and you were officially a couple

you’re also officially on the team!!!

tony decided you’d had enough training at that point to start patrolling

peter took you with him one night so he could give you a little tutorial

there wasn’t much going on, so you just did firebending tricks for him on a random rooftop

peter loves watching you in your element

he knows how powerful you really are, and that you can do things nobody else could. no one appreciated it like he did

patrol evolves into missions together

you play bad guy, he plays good guy when it comes to dealing with anyone

peter has his quips and strength, you have a lot of rage and stamina to work with

tony is proud of the duo he kind of created

of course peter gives you those cheesy compliments after like “you were on fire out there” and “you looked smoking hot fighting that guy, babe”

then there are the missions that don’t go so well

you have a hard time keeping it together like wanda taught you when those happen

you’ll get back to the facility and fight some punching bags in the gym, burning at least one to ashes

peter never judges you for that

he knows how it feels to be angry after losing

you just want to prove you‘re getting better, and a loss won’t do that

he helps you get your confidence back up, however long it takes

it isn’t long at all before you have him pinned to the floor during training

which could sometimes lead to a makeout session if he isn’t feeling too shy

oh yeah and peter looooooves kissing you

like he’s just waiting for you to make the move all the time

you’re the one who speeds it up or bites his lip first

plus he says you taste like cinnamon which you’re pretty sure is another fire joke

you’re there to make peter feel better after his losses too

he’s better at it though because he’s the nice one and you’re more awkward with that stuff

but you both support each other however you can

you’re not super into pda because peter is shy about it, but there are those rare times he holds you by your waist or kisses your cheek in front of the other avengers

sam and bucky tease the hell out of peter for it

everyone else just ignores it, but thor thinks it’s adorable

you have to admit, you love your odd little family

you take advantage of the summer weather and have campouts in the huge ass backyard sometimes

peter gets the tent set up while you start a fire by throwing fire disks at the wood

it gets peter every time

“y/n, i think you’re the coolest person i know. or should i say warmest?”

“parker, i think you’re the biggest nerd i know. but it’s cute”

you roast marshmallows and pepper comes to check on you once or twice

tony worries about you guys, but he won’t say it directly

you try to scare peter with a ghost story, and he won’t confirm but you saw him shiver

you go to bed in sleeping bags with peter’s head resting on your chest

when summer comes to an end, peter has to go back home to queens

school is a thing and he misses may

you’re both literally devastated he can’t stay at the facility forever

“i wish you could come to midtown so bad. it’s gonna suck not seeing you every day”

“i have to keep working on myself. we’ll figure it out, parker”

you hug for a good five minutes and peter has to let go first

you’ll never tell him, but you cried the day he left

it’s not so bad because you have nat and wanda to spend time with

and peter texts you live updates of his days at school

you also facetime if he’s not on patrol or you’re not on a mission

he makes his weekly visits to the facility as requested by tony

but he spends more time with you than whatever he’s supposed to be doing

peter brings ned and mj with him one time since he thinks you’ll all get along

you become friends with mj even faster than peter

she has the same dry sense of humor as you, and she thinks your powers are so badass

now you have the best boyfriend in the world and some really cool friends too

life isn’t so bad after all

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tinytonysnark · 4 years

Text

never fallen from quite this high

this is dedicated to @starkrogerrs and @fred-deeks-ben as well as everyone who liked this post. thank you for the motivation <3

1. Holding their hands when they are shaking.

The gallery was already filling up by the time Steve got there.

There were caterers milling about with trays of finger foods that regardless of portion size, will probably sit like a lead weight in Steve’s stomach. Especially as he spots more and more people making their way through the exhibit, to the back, where his painting is.

He’s going to be sick. God, he should have picked a different painting, one that doesn’t make his insides feel like they’re tying themselves into knots at the very thought of him seeing it - but this counts for half of Steve’s grade and none of his other paintings had come close to being good enough and now - that painting is hanging on the walls of this exhibit and all his friends are walking through the door and he hasn’t even told -

“Hey, Stevie,” Bucky says, clean shaven and hair swept back neatly, wearing a crisp white button down. An ensemble Sam - looking put together as he always does- clearly appreciates from the way he’s eyeing his boyfriend.

“Why aren’t you standing by your work?” Natasha asks, looking gorgeous in an off-shoulder black dress, her eyes narrowed at him.

“Was waiting for you guys,” Steve lies, hoping his panic isn’t reflected on his face.

“Tony’s on his way,” Sam says before Steve can even get the question out, whose mouth shuts with a click. “He got caught up with Thor.”

Oh. Thor.

Tony’s new friend who he’s been spending a lot of time with, in the last couple of weeks. Tony’s new friend who looks like an underwear model and is named after a Norse God - because sure, why not? - and can actually keep up with Tony’s stream of science talk because he’s studying astrophysics - because of course he is. In the face of all that, what chance does Steve have really, if he even had one to begin with.

God, he doesn’t know what’s worse - if Tony ends up making it to the exhibit, or gets derailed because of Thor and misses it because they’re off doing -

“I’m here! I’m here!” Tony shouts from across the floor of the showroom, drawing looks from the patrons though Steve would argue that Tony draws looks no matter what he does, especially so if he’s wearing a fire truck red dress shirt.

“Sorry I’m late, I was with -”

“Thor, I know,” Steve cuts in, hoping he doesn’t sound as bitter as he feels.

Judging from the look on Nat’s face, he’s failed spectacularly.

Clearing his throat, Bucky grabs Sam’s arm and says, “We’re gonna go check out some art. Coming Nat?”

“Oh, I’m with you,” she says, giving Tony a peck on the cheek before shooting a look at Steve that he roughly translates to ‘watch yourself.’

She’s always been overly protective of Tony. Tiberius Stone still bolts at the mere sight of her - which, good riddance, really, but Steve’s never asked what she said or possibly did to him, and at this point he’s too afraid to ask.

Though he might end up finding out tonight anyway, based on how Tony will react.

“Steve,” Tony crosses his arm, fingers twitching in the crook of his elbow, “What’s wrong?”

Looking at Tony isn’t an option, so he stares in the direction of where his painting hangs and says, “Just nervous. A lot of my grade is riding on this. Why didn't you bring Thor?”

“Oh,” and Steve doesn’t even need to look to know that Tony is smiling, the one that causes crinkles in the corner of his eyes. “I finally, after weeks, got him to Thor up, and ask Bruce out.”

Steve whips his head to stare at Tony so fast, he’s possibly sprained something. “What do you mean ask Bruce out?”

Tony grins, “Yeah, Thor’s been crushing pretty hard and Brucie’s been locked away in his lab for an unhealthy amount of time - and if I’m saying that, you know it’s bad - but he did it! They’re on their date as we speak, and no offence Steve but I don’t he had this in mind for their first date.”

There are a lot of emotions swirling through Steve’s brain right now but at the forefront, it’s definitely relief, and a little bit of shame - I mean, he really has no right to be jealous but he doesn’t know what to say to all that except for, “Good for them.”

There’s a look in Tony’s eye he can’t decipher before the other man grabs his arms and starts leading him towards his painting and oh, oh no -

“And I know you said you’re nervous, but you really have nothing to be nervous about Steve. You’re incredibly talented and you’re gonna get an exorbitant amount of money thrown at you from all these stuffy art snobs bidding on your work.”

Steve can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of him as Tony drags him along. “They’re not for sale, Tony. Erskine has to grade them.”

“Well tough because I’m definitely gonna get Pepper to -”

But Steve doesn’t find out what Tony’s going to get Pepper to do, because he stops dead in his tracks and tapers off, eyes wide and mouth open just a little as he stares at the portrait - his own face reflected back to him on canvas.

It’s a painting of a photograph, one that he had instantly favourited and stared at all day after Bucky sent it to their group chat - of Tony at the park when they’d decided to have a picnic after Nat’s last paper. His head is thrown back in a laugh, but his eyes are open, shining in the afternoon sun with the crinkles in the corner, cheeks flushing with pink on his brown skin and hair falling on his forehead, curling delicately around his temples - no product or styling other than him running his hands through it every 5 minutes.

He had looked so relaxed - so, so unguarded - that Steve couldn’t not try to recapture it with his favourite medium to do so, which is now here, waiting to be graded - oh god, why, why why did he -

“Steve?” he hears distantly, like he’s underwater. “What - when did you - why, why is my face hanging on this wall?”

Steve winces and thinks, well if their friendship is about to end right now because of this, he might as well be honest. “I - Nothing else I painted was good enough, Tony. Erskine has always said to us throughout the year that the difference between a good painting and a great painting is how the artist feels during the process and about the subject. The paintings I have of my mom are good but they’re a little sad and a touch nostalgic. The pictures I have of our friends, they don’t even come close to what you see here.” He sighs then, looks into Tony’s wide, wide eyes and grabs hold of his shaking hands. “Because what you’re looking at here, this is how I feel. This is - this is my heart bled out on canvas because you’re all that’s in it - your smile, your laugh, your eyes -you’re it, for me, Tony.”

Tony has tears pooling in his eyes and Steve is about to step back, terrified with the knowledge that he’s messed up his relationship with one of his best friends but then there’s lips on his lips.

Tony is kissing him.

Tony is kissing him - god, he’s so relieved he thinks he’s shaking - and he nearly lifts Tony off his feet when he starts kissing back.

They break apart when they hear Bucky whistle at them, soft smiles on their faces.

“You’re it for me too, Steve. Always have been,” Tony says, and really what else can Steve do but kiss the smile on Tony’s lips.

🎨 🎨 🎨

Erskine gives him an A with distinction for his work and Nat takes them all out to dinner to celebrate, treating them with the pool money she won from the “when will Steve and Tony get together bet” that he found out about that night.

Steve isn’t really too bothered by it as much as Tony is, arguing with them that they should get a cut off the money cause as he looks at Tony’s smile that’s he now carries with him on his lock screen, his laughter ringing around the diner and the feel of him where they’re pressed side to side in the cramped booth, he knows who really won.

#stevetony #stony #steve/tony #tony stark #steve rogers #marvel #ficlet #y'all wouldn't believe me if i told you this was based off real life...that didn't have the same ending #i didn't react as well as tony did...#anyway...hope y'all like it! :D #y'all are still welcome to send in no. from the list btw cause i'm gonna do all 50 at some point #sorry if there are any errors…it’s late and i didn’t do much of a check #nisha writes

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imagine-loki · 3 years

Text

You Have Heart

TITLE: You Have Heart CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 4/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine finding out that your soulmate is Loki and your very first kiss is interrupted by Thor shouting “Yeeessss”

RATING: M NOTES/WARNINGS: This is a rewrite of the original work of the same name. Also on AO3 here

You looked around the room with fresh eyes, though you were understandably overwhelmed by everything that was going on. “This is really the Avengers’ tower?” You asked the first stupid question that came to your mind. Your mind was reeling and trying desperately to keep up with everything that was going on. It was failing. Miserably.

But you saw the skyline from the windows of the tower and recognized the view. You also saw familiar things lying around the common room you were standing in: Clint’s quiver of arrows, a Jarvis interface screen that was open to Jarvis, Cap’s shield in the corner, a couple of guns on the coffee table that looked like they were in the middle of being cleaned. It definitely looked like the team lived there.

You looked up at Loki again, sure your eyes were wide. Your heart felt like it was going too fast as was your breathing. Was this what hyperventilating felt like?

Loki gave you a gentle look. “Breathe, drotning,” he said gently. “Focus on me,” his voice was a purr, but was no less an order and you couldn’t help obeying, focusing your breathing on his. Slowly, as you breathed together, your heart rate slowed and your mind started to calm. “Better?” He asked when you were calm again.

You nodded and gave him a sheepish look. “Yes. Sorry,”

Loki’s smile was gentle and… awed. It was as if… as if he’d never thought he would find his soulmate. “I understand, drotning. It’s a lot to find one’s soulmate. Then to be teleported to the Avengers’ Tower of all places… Trust me, I understand,”

He was a lot different than you expected. Much more gentle and caring.

“I have waited a thousand years to find you, drotning,” he continued. That could definitely explain why he was being so kind and gentle. He was in just as much awe as you were.

“For me? But I’m just…” you were a no one. You had no skills, no abilities. You had a useless degree, a dead-end job, and more importantly, you were mortal. What could you possibly have to offer a god?

Loki smiled. “You’re my soulmate, drotning,” he replied. He reached for the gauntlet on his left arm and unbuckled it carefully. He removed it, then vanished it in a shimmer of green magic. You were awed by more magic use. You couldn’t help it. Magic was so rare on Earth, and real magic was unheard of. Though the team could do some amazing things, none of them could do real magic. Loki could and you found it absolutely amazing.

Loki pushed up the sleeve on his left arm to display the words tattooed there. They were lit up the same as yours were, the same glowing green, the same gold sparkles. But they were the words you had spoken to him earlier. ‘Oh gods, it really is you’ the words read, but without tone, without inflection.

Had Loki misunderstood your awe for all those years he waited? Had he thought that his soulmate would deny him?

When you looked up into his eyes, you knew you could never deny the soulmate bond. You couldn’t deny this god. It was amazing that he was your soulmate. He wasn’t evil. You felt it, and he had been mind controlled during the battle of New York.

“I can’t believe we finally found each other,” you said softly. “I thought… I thought you’d returned to Asgard after the battle?” You knew that was what happened. Your question was how he was back.

Loki inclined his head. “I did return to Asgard to face the Allfather’s mercy for my crimes against Midgard-“

“Crimes that were mind control,” you replied defensively.

Loki chuckled and nodded his agreement. “I like you already, drotning,” he said with a smirk. “The allfather decided that my fate was to rot in the dungeons of Asgard for the rest of my days. Mother talked him around and he eventually decided I could come to Midgard and work with the Avengers as a form of penance,”

You nodded your understanding. That made sense. It also explained your sudden fascination with the Avengers’ Tower. Loki was in there and the soulmate bond drew you to him. The soulmate bond could apparently transcend the realms if your soulmate was from Asgard. “What…?” You paused, stopped, tried again as you gathered your words “What happens next?” You asked him softly.

Loki looked sheepish. “There are some things we need to discuss first,” he said gently and led you over to one of the couches. You followed him and took a seat. There were things to discuss. Your entire life had just been upended. “Thor is currently explaining the situation to your friend. He will meet us here and bring your things. So you do not need to worry about that,” he reassured you. “I don’t intend to destroy your life, but,” he hesitated and picked nervously at his hands. “I’m afraid there are some things that will have to change for you, being my soulmate,” he made it sound like a curse, being bound to him. You saw how bruised and easily hurt he was. Instinctively, you wanted to make it so he was never hurt like that again. You knew that was the soulmate bond talking. It drew you to each other, made it easier to get to know and care for the person on the other end of that bond. No one quite knew how the magic worked, just that it did work.

“Like what?” You asked suspiciously. You didn’t like how this was sounding. Yes, you’d found your soulmate, and you were planning on getting to know him and building a relationship, but that took building and work, even for soulmates. You still had a life, still had an apartment, a shitty job (ok, you were willing to give that one up, especially for something better), and a life. You weren’t just going to give those things up.

Loki hesitated before he spoke again. “I don’t wish to take your independence, nor will I, but… I do have quite a lot of enemies, drotning. I wish to know you’re safe for one thing,” that was fair. All the Avengers had enemies. You only knew of one who had a soulmate and that was Tony and Pepper. Pepper usually lived in the tower and had security details when she was working. “And for another…” he hesitated, then reached for your hand. “May I?” He was perfectly polite.

You didn’t know what he was up to, but you gave him your hand. There was no harm in that. When you did, power flared between you and you felt it not just from him. But from within you.

“As I thought, drotning. The soulmate bond has given you the gift of the seidr, of Asgardian magic,”

#Loki #Lover #Submitted fic #submission #you have heart #Chapter 4 #nekoamamori

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olivarryprompts · 3 years

Text

Fanfic Friday #9

Welcome to Fanfic Friday! Each Friday I post a new here and on A03. Enjoy x

Read and save it on A03 here https://archiveofourown.org/works/33120742

{Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries (yes, again)}

Ships: Peter & Tony, Bucktony, Peppernat

Warnings: nothing just fluff :)

Wc: 2,920

Finally the annual school field trip had come around. Each year, each grade level went on a trip to a cool company, place, or experience. They, Peter had found, tended to be quite fun. The previous year they’d gone to a cool place where they learned parkqure. Peter, imaginablelly, was very good. He and Ned were so looking forward to this one. “Hello 10th grade, as you know, we are announcing the annual field trip dates. This year, we’ve decided to keep the destination anonymous. We are going this Friday, and it is one of the best ones we have had in years. Please take an NDA form and consent form home for you and at least one guardian to sign. You may go now.” Ned and Peter headed towards the door with giddy smiles. “Mr. Parker, a word?” Ms. Giles, the teacher who’d announced the trip, said. “Hi Ms. Giles, what’s up?” “Hello Peter. I’m just going to have to break this to you. Unfortunately, due to the lies you have been spreading about having an internship at Stark Industries we cannot allow you on this trip. This is a lesson on why not to lie. It is unfortunate you cannot join us on the trip, but the punishment we’ve decided seems fair. You’ve been tinting Midtown’s name.” “But the internship is real! I filed all the paperwork and everything. Mr. Stark signed them!” “Sorry Peter, this lying must stop. You should come in on Friday and take your other classes.” “But-” “Enough Peter.” He left, sprinting out of the class and then the school. He really did not want to talk to anyone. He quickly made his way to the black SUV waiting for him. Happy greeted him with a hello, and Peter responded with a nod. Happy sensed the kid didn’t want to talk so he left him be. By the time they arrived at the tower, Peter’s lack of rest had gotten to him. He intended to go upstairs and take a nap, but, of course, he got roped into everything other than that.Happy, of course, dropped him at the back near the private entrance. He rode the elevator to the 90th floor. Sam and Clint were playing Mario Kart on their world wii. Tony was sitting there, working on some suit designs with Bucky cuddled into his side. Pepper was at the kitchen table working on CEO things. He was surprised she wasn’t in her office. He tried to slip through the room and into his own room, but he was, obviously, stopped. “Where are you going kid?” Tony asked. “My room, I need a nap.” “What happened kid?” Bucky asked. Bucky and Tony had basically become his fill in dads, them being together and all. “Nothin just, I'm not allowed on my school’s trip this year.” “Why?” Tony said, suddenly perked up. “Just don’t believe me about the ‘Stark Internship,’” He mumbled under his breath. “They-What?” Bucky said, concerned for Peter’s well being. “They don’t believe that I do work here I guess?” “The teachers?” Tony asked. “Yeah.” “But you filed all the things.” “Yeah, I know. I don’t really care that much, so-” “No way!” Tony said, pulling out his phone. “Tones, relax,” Bucky said, stroking the other man’s arm, “If you're okay with it, we’ll leave it.” “We will not!” “Tony! We will leave it. Just, at least, take the day off on Fri, kiddo.” “Yeah,” Peter said, thinking that was fair, “Thanks.” “Wanna play kid?” Clint said, throwing him a wii remote. “Play? I’m going to crush you guys,” Peter smirked. All three were very competitive and Mario Kart games were the height of that. Bucky ended up cuddling into Tony’s side which, though they all made fun of the couple, was very cute. Clint yelled something about Peter having Spidey sense so it was unfair. Sam just called him a sore loser. Pepper yelled at them to keep it down. “Hey boys,” Nat said, entering, “Oh Mario Kart. Pass me a remote.” They had just finished the mushroom prix, so she easily joined their game and the chaos continued. “Where did you just come from?” Peter asked. “Top secret mission with Cap.” “Oh spill the tea,” Peter said. “No one will be spilling anything on these custom, expensive sofas!” “Relax Stark, it’s a phrase used by the youth these days,” Sam filled in, laughing at the older man. “Go on then, Nat,” Peter

urged her on. “It’s just some stolen bombs, and some parts could be used to possibly make nuclear weaponry. We’re heading to Greece tomorrow.” “Need back up?” Tony offered. “Maybe if you started working with Shield, you’d be able to come,” Nat rolled his eyes. “Never,” Tony huffered. “Sounds more fun than school,” Peter remarked. “That should not be this kid’s definition of fun,” Bucky said with a laugh. “Agreed,” Clint said. “All this bullying I endure,” Peter joked. “Ha get red shelled mother fucker!” Sam yelled. “I hate you,” Nat said, calmly losing her first place. “One your left,” I said, passing Sam. “Shut up little kid, get your own line.” “I own you oldies.” “Oh and what about the blue shell coming up?” Clint laughed. Peter slowed down, and allowed Sam to overtake him. “Ha take that kid! Fir-” Sam got blue shelled. “Oh you little shit.” Peter slipped back into first where he finished the race. “You're too good at this game, паук, “ Nat said, excusing herself with a smile. A few races later Peter said, “I’m going to go do some shit in the lab.” “See ya kid,” Bucky said, “he’s turning into you.” Bucky said the last bit to Tony, but super-hearing ya know. “Hey! What’s so bad about that.” “Everything,” Clint deadpanned.Peter wanted to work on a new web fluid, one that would conduct electricity. It’d be useful for fixing wiring, shocking, ect. He’d come up with a formula, ironically, in biology. All his classes were far too easy for him, despite them being the highest honor classes the school offers. Tony is considering sending him to MIT next year rather than waiting out his high school years, not that he shared his thoughts with Peter.Peter was so caught up in his work he didn’t hear Tony come in. “So focused, huh?” Peter jumped. “Hey,” he smiled. “Don’t you have spider sense of something?” “Leave me alone,” he fake pouted. “What are you working on?” “Electro conducting web fluid. Unfortunately the new version seems to lower the strength, though.” He said, showing the results of the test he’d just finished conducting. “Impressive, you could introduce an iodiant element to introduce strength without interfering with the conductivity?” Tony suggested, looking over the data. “Oh good idea,” Peter said, pulling up the element to introduce into his formula on the virtual creation. “You know why I really came down here?” “To annoy me,” I said, smiling. “The field trip.” “I swear, I don’t care. It’s going to be lame anyways.” “You were talking about how excited you were for this trip last week,” Tony said bluntly. “Please leave it. Just, I-i’ll be fine.” “Come on, you're asking me, Tony Stark, to leave it?” “Yes. For me,” Peter batted his eyelids. “Fine,” Tony gave in, “You swear you're okay?” “Swear.” “He’s really got you wrapped around his pinky finger,” Harley Keener, resident prankster, genius, and boyfriend of Peter, said. “Oh don’t pretend he hasn’t got you too,” Tony said, getting ready to leave, “Your classes finish early Potato Gun?” “Yeah. Figure I’d come and see the one and only,” he said, gesturing at Peter. “I’ll leave you two to it,” tony said, leaving, “Don’t fuck in the lab again!” Peter blushed and Harley laughed. “Again?” Peter mumbled, “How did he know?” “Friday gave us up for sure,” Harley smiled, kissing his boyfriend. “How are ya darlin’? Nat told me about the trip.” “Yeah, it’s alright. At least I get the day off.” “I suppose. You gunna keep workin on those?” “Yeah, Mr. Stark just gave me a good idea.” “Hmn, yeah, I wanna finish up Clint’s new arrows before he murders me.” Peter laughed, “Yeah you should do.”Friday Peter got a nice sleep in. He woke around ten, but, too comfortable in his boyfriend’s arms, he didn’t move until half past 10. He slipped out of his room, allowing Harls to sleep in more. His boyfriend was sleep deprived far too often. He quickly got ready for the day, wanting to look and smell alright. He headed straight for the kitchen after, needing some coffee and breakfast before getting any real work done. In the Avenger household, between Harley, Peter, Mr. Stark, Banner, and

Pepper, the coffee pot was always full. Peter kinda fancied some of the pastries from the coffee shop in the lobby, so, after chugging his cup of coffee, he headed downstairs.He was met with a not so nice surprise upon walking into the lobby. There was his class. How could he be so stupid. Of course the field trip was here, that’s why they didn’t want me on it. He should have just asked one of the many Avengers in the tower to grab it for him. Bucky would’ve. “Peter! Peter Parker!” yelled his teacher yelled. Shit. Peter tried to ignore him, heading straight for the coffee shop. Surely the teacher would think he made a mistake. “Hey Ellise! Didn’t know you were working today?” “Extra shift,” she smiled, “How’s everything going?” “Pretty badly, could I get an express on my normal?” “Anything for my loyal customer,” she joked. “Thanks,” he said, moving over to wait for his drink and food. To his dismay, Ms. Giles came up right behind him as he waited for his order. “Peter Parker, you were not allowed on this field trip! You were banned. It is totally inappropriate for you to show up here!” “I-i.” he had nothing. “Go home. You're guardians and the principal will be hearing about this.” “Uhmn-” he honestly didn't know what to say, “Right yeah, I’ll go home.” “Parker, your coffee’s up with your pastry!” El yelled. “Uh thanks,” he said, grabbing it and heading for the lift. “SECURITY! This student is trying to enter the building!” for fucks sake Ms. Giles. Peter was so so done. One of the guards came over, “hello, what seems to be happening here?” “One of my students, who was banned from the field trip, decided to come here as a joke or something, and he is now trying to go upstairs? He also got himself a coffee without paying,” she explained calmly. “Kid, this is a very serio-” “I work here,” Peter said in a low voice, “that’s why I’m here. Just needed a coffee before I started working.” “How old are you?” “Sixteen.” “We do not hire people under 18, I need the truth. This is a truly punishable offence.” “Let me show you my badge!” he said, fishing it out from his pocket. “Oh god, I am so sorry Mr. Parker. I hadn’t realized. Please continue on.” “No need to apologize, you were just doing your job. Thanks, I’ll be off then,” Peter said with a smile. “Peter Parker I don’t kno-” “Please return to your tour. It should be starting soon. Mr. Parker is free to do as he pleases in this building,” the security guard assured. Peter shot him a smile before getting in the lift.“Hey babe,” Peter said, spotting his boyfriend in the kitchen, “Guess where the field trip is to?” “No!” Keener yelled, laughing, “It’s here!” “Yep, and they all saw me in the lobby-” he launched into a detailed recount of the events that just occurred in the lobby. “God your life, darlin’” “I know, I bet Mr. Stark knew all along.” “Ha! That'd be just like him, getting back at you for some of those pranks.” “Innit.” “You still heading down to the inter labs? I know people down there need your help.” “I think I’m going to avoid it. I want to keep working on the sizing down of the arc reactor for my department’s new project.” Peter currently ran one of the three R&D labs. They were currently doing work on the arc reactor. Sometimes, Peter worked among them, giving advice and handing out assignments, but most times he stuck to doing the work in his own lab. He was technically their boss, and he and his team got the work in on time, so it didn’t bother Stark. “Stark gives you too much work. It’s so dumb you have your own department.” “Jealous baby?” “Fuck no, we all know I’m CEO next,” Harley smirked. “Yes, yes you are.” Harley was much more business than he was. Peter was so much better at the R&D. He’d end up being some big important role in the company - likely second in charge, but he’d always be running the research in some capacity. “Well that’s unless Bucky and Stark finally decided to have a little tot,” Peter joked. “I’ll still be top. They love me most,” Harley said, fake flipping his hair. “What’s this about us having a kid and loving Harls most?” Tony

said, “Well, I was simply explaining that you love me most and that's why I’m CEO next.” “Hell no, Pep made that strange decision.” “Well, I said yours and Bucky’s kid was getting it all.” “Hell no! Our kids are staying away from all this shit,” Bucky smiled. “Our kids?” “Yeah,” Buck said, like it was the most obvious thing ever. “God I love you,” Tony said. “Ewwwww,” Both the boys squealed. “Shut up,” Tony threw at them, “Don’t you have a department to run and classes to attend?” “No classes till 3,” Harley explained. “Yes, just don’t want my class to see me down there.” “Your class?” Bucky questioned. “Yeah, it turns out this year's field trip was to my house,” Peter joked. “Don’t let them stop you from doing your work,” Stark said, seriously, “It’s a big tower, it’s very unlikely they’ll be anywhere near your lab. Plus, I need your third term report on Project ZX89.” “Yeah. The team and I are almost done with it. I’ll pull an all nighter and have it to you by Friday.” “Okay so-” Stark began. “No you will not, Peter,” Bucky stepped on, “If you can’t handle the department and a normal sleeping schedule, we need to talk about it.” “Buck, it’s one night. Plus, we’re so near to finishing with the models. Fourth terms will be literally production,” Peter explained. “I give up. He’s yours,” Bucky exclaimed. “Relax, it’s one night as the kid said. By the way, Friday at the latest.” “Yep. It’ll be with you.” “Keener, Pep told me she wants you by her today as you have no class. Friday sent her your schedule.” “Bu-” “Go Mr. Future CEO.” “Fine, see ya. Bye Darling,” Harley said, placing a kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. “I’ll come with. I do have to get that work done.” “Okay,” Harley replied, interlocking their hands. “Bye,” they both called. The two overachieving kids fit perfectly into each other’s lives.“Wish me luck,” Peter said, stepping into his department. “Good luck. Hope your class comes in here and sees you bein an epic boss.” “I hate you.” The lift closed, and he went straight to his computer to start reading over the current progress. He began to compile the work that Stark wanted. He sent off a couple emails asking for data and previous models. This report, in truth, was going to take him at least 12 hours to make. He also needed to do some physical work on the prototype with some of the scientists working under him. After sending requests for all the info he’d need for the report, he went into the lab, greeting his team. He fit right in as they continued to make the final adjustments on the mini-arc reactor. Two hours later, they were done with the third quarter work. They agreed to celebrate this weekend with some drinks in the lab.Peter luck showed up, and his class arrived in his department. Peter ran and checked his schedule, there was nothing about talking to a class about his research as he’d done before. “Peter, Pepper would like to inform you that there was a mistake in your calendar. You will be talking to a tour in five about your research. She apologies for any inconvenience.” “Hi fri, tell her it's fine. I got this.” “Yes baby boss.” He promptly met the class in one of the two conference rooms on that floor. It was almost entirely a lab. “Hello class, I am the head of this department, so I shall be telling you about it,” Peter said. “Funny joke Peter, please stop distributing this tour,” Ms. Giles said. “I’m going to ignore that comment. So, I am aware you’ve all been given a brief tour of the level, but I am here to answer any questions you may have.” The class was silent and confused. “Anything at all? Ok, I guess I’ll just tell you more about the work I do with my team…” he blabbered on about the work, what it was like working here, the best and worst parts, ect.The tour was ready to leave, and Peter was glad. He had work to do.To say Monday was an interesting day would be an understatement.

Read and save it on A03 here https://archiveofourown.org/works/33120742

#peter parker field trip #irondad #tony stark #sambucky #sam wilson #bucky barnes #natasha romanoff #harley keener #irondad and spiderson #ironfam #avengers fanfic #basically peter being unofficially adopted by the avengers lol

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the-great-imagines-of-1812 · 3 years

Text

Through The Years Pt. 10

A/N: feedback is so so appreciated! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO WAS KEPT THEIR PATIENCE WHILE I WROTE THIS! (also, this is kind of short, my apoligies)

tags: @a-girl-who-loves-disney @the-romanian-is-bae @bihoeofmanyfandoms

@thicc101q

takes place during: The Avengers

Italics= flashbacks

~~~~~~~

NEW YORK, 1942

SSR HQ

“As you all know, a threat has risen. Commander Johann Schmidt has his eyes on something new; they call it the Tesseract. The power it holds is unlimited and unknown. If it falls into the wrong hands, especially in times like these, this is a war we won’t win. Meeting dismissed.” Dr. Erksine said, as all the agents seated around the table got up, desperate to go home.

You had dozed out ages ago, and would’ve practically fallen asleep if it weren’t for Howard. He laid a hand on your shoulder and shook you.

“Y/N/N, it’s time to go. C’mon. I heard your favorite radio show is on tonight.”

“Thanks, Howwie. It’s just, there’s something-”

“This Tesseract thing? I know were supposed to believe everything Dr. Erksine tells us, but this is a stretch-”

“Except it isn’t, Howard. I got a bad feeling about this one. You know how strong my intuition is.”

“I know. That’s what worries me.”

~~~~~~

PRESENT DAY, 2012

BRUCE BANNER’S LAB ON THE HELLICARRIER

The Hellicarrier is quiet as it floats across the night sky, and you absentmindedly type some data that Tony had given you a few minutes ago. You weren’t going to lie; you were scared then, and you are scared now. It seems like history is repeating itself; some bad dude wants to get his hands on the Tesseract and if he isn’t stopped, a lot of people will die.

Only difference was, you didn’t have a brother this time.

Blinking back the tears that were about to escape, you kept typing as Dr. Banner was scanning the scepter for gamma radiation, and Tony was solving several different equations and theorems and god knows what all at once.

“Well, we’re going somewhere now. The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process.” Banner said, letting out a sigh, laying down the object he was using to measure gamma readings on Loki’s scepter.

“We bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer Cluster we can clock this at around 600 teraflops.” Tony replied from across the room.

“And all I packed was a toothbrush.” Bruce said, going back to the computer.

“You know you should come by Stark tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R and D. You’d love it, it’s Candy Land. I’m talking to you too, Auntie. Paris must be as boring as-”

“How- Tony, I can promise you its not. Paris is fine.”

“But Pepper and I miss you in New York. Think about it, will you?”

“Sure will, hun.”

“Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Stark. But last time I was in New York- I sort of broke Harlem.” Dr. Banner said.

“Well I promise it’s a stress-free environment. No distractions, no surprises.” Tony says, while poking Bruce in his side with an electric current.

“Tony, leave him be!” you say, taking the current away from him.

“Hey! Are you two nuts?” Steve says, scolding Tony as he walks in.

“Oops. Jury’s here. Tell em your secret, Dr. Banner. Bongo drums, mellow jazz, bag of weed?”

“You think is is funny, Mr. Stark? Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship? No offense, Dr. Banner. You neither, Y/N.

“None taken, sir.” Bruce says, while still working on the scepter.

“Don’t worry about it, cap.” you say, while finally snatching the current from Tony’s hand and placing it down on the countertop to continue working.

“You- you don’t have to worry, capsicle. Last time I checked, you spent over 66 years stuck in the ice. You don’t know how anything works here. This little gadget-” he getsures to the comm in his hand. “will let us know everything S.H.I.E.L.D has been hiding from us since the beginning of it’s existence.”

“This is going to cause trouble.”

“Ding, ding, ding. We got a winner. Congratulations, you’ve just won a free box of popsicles. Or is that too cold?”

“What have you three been doing all this time?” Fury’s voice cuts in as he walks into the lab. “You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.”

“We are. The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within have a mile.”

“You’ll get your cube back, director.” You say, crossing your arms, after hopping to sit on the table with Tony.

“No muss, no fuss.” he passes you the blueberry bag, then looks at the screen “What is ‘Phase 2′ anyway?”

At this point, Steve has had enough and decided to intervene. “Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little too slowly for my taste.”

“Captain Rogers, we have gathered every part of information possible related to the Tesseract. This does not mean-” He’s interrupted by none other than Tony.

“What about this Nick? What were you lying?” Tony said, turning the computer so Fury could see it clearly.

Steve takes one look between the two men, but keeps his gaze on Tony, and says “I was wrong director. The world hasn’t changed a bit.”

Thor and Natasha enter the room and Bruce asks them “Did you two know about this?”

“Dr. Banner, you might want to think about removing yourself from the premises.” Natasha said.

“I was in Calcutta, I’m pretty sure I can handle this, Ms. Romanoff.”

“Loki’s been manipulating you.”

“And you’ve been doing what exactly?”

“Dr. Banner, You didn’t come here because I batted my eyelashes at you.” She fired back, crossing her arms.

You hopped off the table, and on the hilt of the sword on your left side, if tensions just so happened to go to another level.

“And I’m not leaving because you’re getting a little twitchy. What I do want to know is why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction!”

~~~~~~

NEW YORK, JANUARY 1943

SSR HQ

“Starks, Ms. Carter, General Philipps, should the case arise that we get our hands on this - ‘Tesseract’ - as it appears, it shall not, under any circumstances, be used for weapons of mass destruction. It goes against everything we stand for. Everything the SSR stands for.” Erksine says, addressing the group.

“But Dr. Erksine, The rise of facism in Europe is a threat to our national security, and if the SSR can not make weapons of not necessarily of mass destruction, but weapons to protect the country, how are we to protect the nation?” General Philipps said from across the table.

“Excellent question, General. That’s were Y/N and comes in. Y/N, if you will.” Erksine said, gesturing to you.

Straightening yourself up, you opened a file. “I’ve thought of this concept for the past couple of months- although just a concept, It would, has General Philipps mentioned, make weapons not of destruction, but of protection. This is why, I’ve decided to name the concept- S.H.I.E.L.D. Get it? A shield is supposed to protect, and that’s what this will do.”

“And what does it stand for, Y/N?” Peggy asks.

“Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

“And it’s purpose?”

“To Protect and Serve, Dr. Erksine.”

“I like it, but we will discuss it further on Monday. Meeting Adjourned.”

~~~~~~

PRESENT DAY, 2012

BRUCE BANNER’S LAB ON THE HELLICARRIER

“And I’m not leaving because you’re getting a little twitchy. What I do want to know is why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction!”

“Banner, calm down.” Natasha said cautiously.

“No, Romanoff. He had every right to be mad and confused. With all respect, director, me and my brother did not start S.H.I.E.L.D so we could pull stuff like this.” you said.

“But we have a reason, Stark. It’s because-” Fury points to Thor “him.”

“Me?” Thor questions.

“Yes, you. Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who held a grudge on a small town. We learned then that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.” He finishes, diverting his eye to you, but saying nothing.

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies, as a signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Thor booms.

“A higher form of war?” Steve questions.

“You had us in a corner, Thor, we had no choice. We had to come up with something.” Nick fired back.

“A nuclear deterrent. Cause that always calms everything down.” said Tony.

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Mr. Stark?” Fury asked.

“I’m sure if Stark industries still made weapons you both would be knee-deep in-” Steve was cut off by you.

“That’s enough, Steve! Leave it alone!” you exclaimed.

“No, hold up capsicle, how is this about us?” Tony asked, in a tempting manner.

“Are you midgardians really this naïve?” Thor asked.

“Oh please, are you that immature?” Natasha said, looking between Thor and Fury.

“Everyone, we’re a mixture for chaos. A ticking time bomb waiting to explode.” Bruce said.

“You should step away, Doctor.” Fury said to Bruce, before being overlapped by Tony. “Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” Tony asked, putting a ahnd on Steve’s shoulder.

“You know damn well why!” Steve yelled.

“I’m starting to want you to make me.” Tony said, coming face to face with Steve.

“Big man in a suit of armor, take that off and what are you?”

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

“He’s not wrong-” Natasha said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Thank you, Romanoff! Someone with sense on this ship.” Tony said, thanking Natasha.

“I’ve seen guys none of that worth ten of what you are. The only person you fight for is yourself. You’re not one to make sacrifice play, to lay down your life for someone else. You better stop playing the hero.”

“Steve-” you began, now both hands on both swords, both of them on your waist.

“No! You better stop acting so cocky, Rogers. You’re a lab rat, everything special about you came out of a bottle.” Tony fires back.

“If you think your think you’re so special, put on the suit then, lets go a few rounds.”

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Stop it you two! You’re acting like children!” You yelled, cutting both of them off.

“You are ALL acting like children, man up, all of you!” Fury said.

Bruce kept his eyes firm on Loki’s scepter. It seemed to glow even more now, but all of you had to resolve the argument first.

“Something’s coming. Something bad.” Bruce muttered. “I can feel it.”

“Keep calm, Banner.” Natasha said, and both her and Fury put a hand of the holster of their gun.

“Dr. Banner, please-” You began.

You were once again cut off, but not by anyone talking. Thor, Natasha, Bruce, Fury, Tony, Steve and yourself were knocked down to the floor, scattered all over the room.

“What the hell was that?” Natasha asked.

“Engine’s been blown off. I didn’t want to say I told you so, Agent Romanoff.” Bruce said, while helping you up from the floor.

“You alright, Tony?” you ask, as You help Tony up.

“Just fine, aunty. You?”

“Barely hurts, tones.”

“What the hell was that, Fury?” Natasha asked.

Fury looks out the window before running out of the room.

“Agent Barton.”

#marvel #marvel x reader #avengers #avengers x reader #tony stark #tony stark x aunt reader #steve rogers #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #thor #thor odinson x reader #steve rogers x reader

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villainousshakespeare · 4 years

Text

Clippings A Loki One Shot

A year or so ago I started reading Sucker’s Luck, the brilliant story by @wrathkitty, and we were messaging about Loki pranking the Avengers with newspaper and magazine articles. I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to do something with it, so this is the result of that! Just some silly fun!

Loki/Reader

Rated T - Kissing, flirting, silliness, fluff, obnoxious Loki, bored Loki

Summary: You are the head of PR for the Avengers. Normally you love your job, but a series of pranks has you scrambling to recover. At last it occurs to you who the culprit must be - a certain God of Mischief living just a few flights down.

It had started simply enough. Tony had stumbled into his office one morning in Stark Tower, hung over (naturally) and grumpy as hell (as goes without saying). He banged into the corner of his desk, cursing the piece of furniture for existing, and an avalanche of treacherously stacked mail flurried down around him.

He hadn't looked at any of it for over three weeks. He and Pepper were "on a break" and she was working exclusively from the California office. As a result, nothing was where it was supposed to be. It was unfortunate, but you had told the temp assigned to his mail that it was better that way. Should she touch or misplace the wrong thing, it would be far worse than if she simply let it lie where it came in. People knew well enough to direct the important things to his department heads, including yourself in public relations.

As he stared sourly at the pile of paper littering his floor, Tony's eyes were drawn to a copy of Time Magazine. There on the cover, in bright red and gold, was his picture in his suit, face plate open to reveal his handsome mug. The banner read "(IRON)Man of the Year!"

Or at any rate that was what it was supposed to say. You had spoken at length to the publisher to ensure that it was the banner. Unfortunately, on closer examination that made his head pound as though a certain Thunder God was using it for hammer practice, the words had been altered to read "(IDIOT)Man of the Year!" In addition to the change in text, devil horns had been inked onto his helmet, a long tail was curling out from behind him, complete with pointed end, and he held a pitchfork in his hand. For a final insult, the artist had blacked out three of his teeth.

Half an hour later, he had stormed into your office a few floors below.

"Alright," he said, slapping the offending magazine down on your desk as you quickly hung up your call and gave him your attention. "I can take a joke. So one of my subordinates wanted to be clever, did they? I suppose I might have said or done something in the past to have deserved it."

"Oh dear," you tried not to laugh as you stared at the cover. "Do you know who it was?"

"No, I don't," he growled, throwing another copy with the same alterations onto your work space, "because they are All. Like. This!"

One by one he slammed a stack of magazines in front of you, each one displaying the altered text and image of him.

"I examined it, and it seems to be the original ink, not an alteration after printing," he ground out. "I assume, of course, that this was not the copy you approved? Because if it was, I am grossly overpaying you."

"It is not what I agreed to," you hastened to assure him. "Maybe it was a saboteur on the print floor. Someone from Hammer Tech maybe? Or, not to get all personal here, maybe an ex-girlfriend?"

"I don't know," he snapped, glaring at the desiccated image. "All I know is I want them pulled. All of them. Now!"

"Of course," you agreed at once.

It was not as easy as you might have hoped. It seemed every copy had been printed with the alteration. Worse than that, there were posters and billboards all over New York where Tony could see them, as well as in other cities, and all had somehow been created with the offensive graphic. It was a nightmare getting them pulled, and by the time you did the television media had already picked up on them.

A week later, it was Steve and Bucky's turn. You knew something was up when you entered the Avenger's Tower and saw the lobby festooned with hundreds of bouquets of flowers. Curious about the preponderance of blossoms, you had plucked a card from one and choked back your laughter as you read.

"To Steve and Bucky," it said in a loopy script, "congratulations on making it official. You are a lovely couple."

Oh dear, you thought. This could not be good.

When you reached your office, your assistant was waiting for you, a newspaper in her hand.

"Um, boss," she said with a worried tone of voice, "have your looked at the Times today?"

"No," you felt a wave of dread flow over you. "Why?"

"I put a copy on your desk," she said instead of answering directly.

Warily, you picked up the paper open to the Wedding Section of the Weekend Times. There, right in the center of the page above the fold, was a picture of Captain America and his friend The Winter Soldier. Underneath the article read:

"Steve Rogers And James (Bucky) Barnes are delighted to announce their engagement. The two have been secretly a couple since before the invention of the color television, but decided to finally go public. Says Rogers, 'I got tired of him trying to keep his options open. If he wants all this, he better put a ring on it!' A date has yet to be set, but the couple are hoping for a June wedding. In lieu of gifts, please make donations to your local AARP."

The fact that a church had been booked and a florist and caterer engaged made it even harder to unravel all of the headaches that went with that particular prank. Steve was mortified by the announcement, insisting to anyone who would listen that he was more than happy with the status of his relationship with his oldest friend. Oddly, Bucky didn't seem particularly bothered by it, but did give Steve some searching looks after word of the article made its way around the building.

You received the Thor article yourself, two weeks later. You had been lulled into a state of false security as things calmed down in Avenger's world. You should have known better. An envelope addressed to the public relations depart had of course ended up on your desk. Inside, a clipping from page 6 was stuck inside a note card. Looking at the card, you found an elegant, bold hand had written "For Thor" on the card.

The article was not good. It appeared that Dr. Jane Foster had been seen out and about in London with a wealthy, outrageously good looking scientist. The two looked quite close as they sat sipping cocktails under the stars in the picture, her hand clasped in his. A red marker had been used to draw a large heart around the image, and in the margins of the article were written such commentary as "Oh dear, is she cheating?", "Good for her!", "Looks like someone is trading up!" and, most cuttingly, "Is someone's hammer bigger than a certain God's? Inquiring minds want to know!"

"Oh, good God!" you groaned, lowering your head to the desk, dreading the thought of sharing the offensive paper with Thor. Briefly, you thought of hiding it from the blond Asgardian, but you thought better of it. Though you had no way of knowing for sure, you would bet money that, just as with the Time Magazine cover, every copy of the story was similarly compromised. Someone was bound to see it and say something to Thor. As director of the Avenger's public relations, it was best to come from you.

It just made no sense! Tony you could understand. You loved the man, but even he had to admit that he had made his share of enemies in his life. Hell, half of the Avenger's work seemed to be neutralizing people that he had offended at one time or another to the extent of turning them into super villains! Steve, Bucky, and Thor, however, were all likeable, inoffensive men. Who could possibly want to make mischief for any of them?

Mischief. Your head shot up and your eyes narrowed. It couldn't be. Could it? The more you thought about it, one name screamed itself into your brain, to the point where you couldn't understand why you hadn't thought of it before. It was so bloody obvious!

With grim determination you rose from your desk and tromped your way to the elevator, punching in one of the residential floors when it arrived. The call, it seemed, was coming from inside the house.

When you got to the door, you knocked hard and tapped your toe impatiently as you waited for a response. You knew he was there, of course. He was not allowed to go anywhere else, at least not unless escorted by his brother, and you knew for a fact that Thor was off world at the moment. Just when you were considering going to get reinforcements, a lazy, bored sounding voice called from within, inviting you to come in.

Bracing yourself for what was sure to be a confrontation, you opened the door and let yourself into the rooms of Loki, prince of Asgard and "guest" of SHIELD. If guest could be used to describe a God held against their will in an impregnable tower containing numerous enhanced individuals intent on seeing that he stayed where they could keep a constant eye on him.

The room was decorated in golds and greens, all lush and comfortable looking. Bookshelves lined the walls, and additional stacks of books littered the floor and table. Loki himself lay on a couch on the far side of the room, one arm behind his head, the other held a large volume that he seemed completely engrossed in. He did not so much as look in your direction as you stood on the door step, unsure how to begin.

"If you're looking for Thor," he said in a lazy drawl, not bothering to look up, "you might try next door."

"Thor is off world and you know it," you snapped, fighting down your agitation.

No one in your life had ever made you as anxious al Loki did on a good day. The man... the God was a public relations nightmare! He was the living definition of "loose canon", libel to say or do anything without warning. You supposed it came with his job description, but it did not make your life any easier. The fact that he was stupidly handsome and cuttingly witty just insured that any chance the press got to cover him was leaped at.

"I said you could try, I didn't say you would find him," Loki smirked, still looking at his book. He read for a few more moments before seeming to come to a stopping place, marking it with a bookmark, and finally, finally raising his eyes to you. "Ah, director! How nice of you to visit!"

"This isn't a social call, Loki," you said with very little grace.

"Well, that is a shame," he purred, sitting up and smoothing out his soft green tunic that veed to show just a teasing glimpse of his chest. "I get so few visitors, and those I do are not nearly so pleasing to converse with, or to look at for that matter."

You felt your eyes narrow as you stared at him, trying to tell if he was mocking you or not. You knew that he could lie as easily as breath, but you could not suppress the small, niggling hope that he meant it. It galled you to know end, but you could not quite rid yourself of an asinine crush on the God. Pulling yourself together, you tried to recover your initial irritation.

"The pranks, Loki," you told him in a severe voice, "they end. Now."

"What pranks?" he asked innocently, one eyebrow arching.

"You know damn well what pranks, Loki! The Time Magazine cover. The wedding announcement. And now the article with Dr. Foster."

"Ooh, what has my brother's favorite mortal done now?" he asked, seeming for all the world like he was legitimately curious.

"So you are saying you are not responsible for altering the articles?" you demanded.

"Director, how on this blasted realm would I be responsible for anything?" he asked reasonably. "I am confined by this infernal bracelet on my ankle to this suite of rooms, only allowed out when my hulking mass of a brother chooses to take pity on me."

"You have magic," you said tentatively.

"Yes, once again confined by this device they force me to wear. I don't know why you need me to tell you this, Director. You yourself spoke most eloquently on the television about me. What was the quote now? Let me see...'We owe Prince Loki an apology. Far from being the mastermind behind the Attack on New York, he did everything in his considerable powers to prevent it. Were it not for his double agent machinations, the loss of life would be catastrophic. He is, in my eyes, a hero. None the less, the Asgardian Prince, realizing that tensions are running high in the aftermath of the incident, has graciously agreed to certain precautions, including a device to curtail his magic for the duration of his stay.'"

It was word for word the statement you had made on behalf of the Avengers and SHIELD months ago. That fact that Loki remembered it, and had altered his voice somehow to mimic your cadence and tone, rendered you momentarily speechless. As you struggled for response, a wicked grin spread across his face.

"I did so love to hear you defending me that way, my dear. Tell me, do you really consider me a hero?" his voice was smooth as honey as he rose from the couch and moved toward you, unconscious grace in his every movement.

"It is my job to put a good spin on things," you said, sounding lame to your own ears.

"So, then you don't find me gracious? Or even just a touch heroic?" he purred, now very much intruding on your personal space. "You don't think I have considerable powers?"

"Of course you have powers," you gulped, feeling your pulse race as he leaned his forearm on the wall next to your head. "It's why I am convinced that you altered those articles."

"Ah yes, the articles," he said as though he had forgotten all about them, as he grinned down at you from far too close.

"Yes. The articles. It's why I am here," you reminded both of you, wondering how to describe the smell that surrounded him other than delicious.

"If that is the case, then why ever would I stop? If I were to be the one creating them. You presence here in my rooms is the most enjoyment I've had in months."

"Why?" you blurted out, hating yourself the moment the word left your lips.

"I like you," he said simply. "You don't shy away from me when I so much as look at you. You don't moralize at me. You don't pity me."

"Pity you?" your voice squeaked upward. "You're a gorgeous, princely god with super powers! In what universe would you be pitied?"

"I am a captive, gorgeous, princely god," he corrected, eyes sparkling as he held yours. "One hated by the Midgardians, cast out by both birth and adopted parents, suffered at best by my host jailers. Many might pity me. But not you. You see me as something else."

"I see you as a pr nightmare!" you grumbled, unable to look away from him. "The amount of chaos you cause for my office with your little jokes is more than even Stark, and I didn't think that was possible."

"Oh, I am sorry," he said, sounding anything but. "You could have avoided it, you know."

"How?" you demanded, swallowing as he leaned in even more.

"By coming to visit sooner. I thought I was going to have to get Banner's friend accepted to the Bronx Zoo before you finally showed up here."

"You did this on purpose?" you gasped. "To see me?"

"I'm not saying I did do it," he hedged, eyes glittering with amusement, "but if I did, that would certainly be one of two very good reasons to do so."

"And the other?" you asked, just to have something to say while your mind processed the information.

"It was funny," he laughed, breath ghosting across your neck and making you shiver.

Against your will, you suddenly laughed as well. The picture of Tony, the announcement for Steve and Bucky, the comments on Jane and Thor, now that you weren't in the throes of putting out the fires they had caused, you could see clearly the hilarity of his silly pranks. It felt good to let down your professional demeanor and giggle like a teenager over the outrage they had caused.

"Did the jests truly make your job too difficult," he asked, brushing a strand of your hair behind your ear and making your mouth go dry.

"I handled it," you said, voice distressingly unstable.

"I have no doubt. You are good at your job. I watch you on the box whenever you appear before the moronic press. You make even my brother sound as though he knows what he is doing."

"Thor is sweet," you protested weakly.

"Thor is an idiot," he said, though not without a trace of affection. "You are not. I find it a rare treat."

"Thank you," your voice was little more than a whisper.

"If the pranks, as you called them, were to stop," he said, eyes lowering to look at your lips, "and you had more free time on your hands, do you think you might spend so of it with me? Say, for dinner?"

"I... I could probably manage that," you said. "If you would like."

"I would very much like," he murmured. "May I, Director?"

Not needing him to clarify, you gave a small nod of your head. As soon as that brief sign of consent had been given, Loki lowered his lips to yours in a kiss that was gentle and tentative, not at all what you had been expecting. He pulled back after a few moments, the taste of his lips lingering against yours, and you gazed up at him with glazed eyes.

"Tonight then?" you asked, not caring if you sounded desperate.

"Tonight would be fine," he smiled at you, brushing your cheek with the back of his hand. "I will look forward to it greatly.

"I should get back to work then," you sighed, not wanting to leave but knowing you had a deadline. "There's an interview on now that I need to monitor."

"Very well," Loki sounded resigned, but still walked you gallantly the two feet to the door. "I shall see you later then."

You smiled goofily at him, not believing you had a date with the god of mischief, when suddenly Loki's eyes snapped up to the television in the corner.

"The interview," Loki said, improbably appearing just behind you. "It is with Director Fury?"

"Yes. Why?"

Wordlessly Loki snapped his fingers and the television began playing. On the screen, a buttoned down news anchor was doing his best not to break as Nick Fury expounded on the benefits of the Avengers Initiative. It would have been an intimidating speech were it not for the message flashing in bright green lights across his eyepatch. "I'm Nick Fury, Bitch!" was the least obscene of the bunch. Slowly you closed your eyes and shook your head.

"Perhaps we should move dinner until tomorrow," he said with evident disappointment.

"Is this all" you asked, feeling impending doom.

"I promise," his voice was warring between amusement and chastisement. "I had forgotten about this one until now. I mean, if I was responsible."

"Dinner better be damn good," you sighed.

"I promise you, pet," he said, smiling smugly, "dinner will be worth it."

"In that case," you bit your bottom lip. "I will go clean up this mess and see you tomorrow."

Loki raised your hand to his lips and kissed it, letting his tongue just ever so slightly graze against your skin. It was enough to set you tingling to your toes.

"I live in anticipation," he told you.

"Loki," you said, smiling sweetly.

"Yes, darling?"

"Remember, I control the press. You do something like this again, I will make sure that everyone knows how devoted you are to Thor, and what a soft, sentimental soul you have."

"You wouldn't!" he gasped, horrified.

"Try me Mischief," you smiled, feeling at last a bit more like yourself.

"Oh, I knew I was right about you," he smiled in admiration. "My dear, we are going to have so much fun."

Turning slowly, you sauntered to the elevator. All in all, it had been a good day.

@arch-venus25 @caffiend-queen @ciaodarknessmyheart @frostbitten-written @hopelessromanticspoonie @hiddlesholic @just-the-hiddles @kellatron55 @nonsensicalobsessions @poetic-fiasco @redfoxwritesstuff @shiningloki @vodka-and-some-sass @wrathkitty @yespolkadotkitty @thecutestlittlebunbunfairy

#Loki #Loki/reader #Loki/you #Loki is bored #Obnoxious Trickster God #Fluff #Silliness #Pranks #Tony Stark #Thor #Bucky Barnes #Steve Rogers #fan fic #Avengers Fic #loki fic #Kissing #Flirting #Post Avengers Assemble

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loneswaggingranger · 4 years

Text

Does it matter?

By @loneswagger for @pixiethefirecat7

This is for the @friendly-neighborhood-exchange!

Rating: General Audiences

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Bruce Banner, May Parker

Summary:

When Peter reached forward and called his name, Tony honest-to-god flinched away from him.

His fingers twitched. “Captain Rogers did this, didn’t he?”

Hard brown eyes snapped shut. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” Peter said, kneeling softly beside the hero’s battered form. “It does.” -

The one where Tony Stark lives with a metal arm, Steve Rogers never became old, and Peter Parker baffles at how incredibly fine they make everything seem. Or, the one where Peter Parker becomes Tony's designated spokesperson. Seriously, what would they do without him? (Nothing, apparently.)

Story under the cut! Hope you like it~

Does it hurt?

He once found Tony shirtless and utterly wasted in the lab, drowning in a sea of one too many shattered decanters, knuckles gone white from wringing that outdated burner phone for who knows how long. Crimson dribbled from calloused palms across scarred flesh, to ripped jeans over to shimmering glass shards littered upon sullied floors.

When Peter reached forward and called his name, Tony honest-to-god flinched.

His fingers twitched. “Captain Rogers did this, didn’t he?”

Hard brown eyes snapped shut. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” Peter said, kneeling softly beside the hero’s battered form. “It does.”

When Peter came home, he expected many things. He expected his dingy little apartment with the wafting smells of May’s burnt bread, imagined snuggling on the couch with her, and watching cheesy soap operas all through the night. He expected those weekly sessions with just him and Mr. Stark in the lab, planning, tinkering and innovating without a care in the world, positively shining whenever Mr. Stark whistled and said, “You got brains, kid.”

He should have known, expectations rarely matched up with reality.

Said notion found him in front of his lunch one day, mumbling, “Nothing makes sense anymore.”

“Oh?” A tilted look of concern.

“I just- I never expected this, y’know?” Peter twirled a fork aimlessly between his fingers, eyes trained so hard on his meal he thought it might start sizzling soon. Or evaporate into dust. Whichever seemed possible at this rate. “It’s not bad, I mean, you have a great family and an actual kid now- which is totally cool, by the way! And May - May has Happy now, so the apartment's not that empty anymore, a-and she smiles a whole lot more these days. Which is good, I guess. The Accords isn’t even a legit thing anymore, the Avengers come together to sing Kumbaya every other weekend,” His fingers tightened round the fork. “Everything’s all good, yeah?”

There probably would have been a reply, if it wasn't for the tell-tale thump of approaching footsteps Peter never dreamed of growing familiar with.

“Afternoon, Captain Doritos,” Mr. Stark’s drawl felt appeasing at best, challenging at worst.

Captain Rogers threw a half-glance his way, nodding curtly. He went for the fridge in two large strides, swiping out a carton of milk and downing its contents in one vigorous go.

“Ugh, you’re gross, Cap, I’m getting the hell out of here,” Mr. Stark rose from his seat, lightly tousling Peter’s hair as he went. “Finish your grub and hang in the lab with me later, yeah?” His eyes seemed to soften. “It‘ll be just like old times.”

Old times. Right.

“Also-” Mr. Stark slapped the good Captain’s shoulder, smirking wildly at the vexed ‘Oi!’ that elicited. “If we’re watching anything remotely Disney tonight, I’m going back to Pep’s for the weekend.”

“For that alone, we’re watching Moana, Frozen and Mulan!” Captain Rogers hollered after the retreating metal middle finger shot high in the air, shaking his head once it fully disappeared down the hallway. A bemused look. “What’s wrong with Disney?”

Peter scoffed, grin plastered expertly on his face.

Another thing that didn’t make sense, this song and dance. This parade of concealed emotions, this system of tactical meet-and-retreat, this exhibition of faux jaunt put up for one another. The shake in Captain’s tone, the tremor in Mr. Stark’s arm - almost indiscernible and yet there it was. Always there, each time Peter looked.

Captain’s carton of milk slid into the bin by his feet. “So how was your week, son?”

Peter chewed on his noodles thoughtfully. “Tiring, I guess. Lots of homework. Also-” He made a face. “Son? Seriously? How nineteen-thirties can you get, Cap?”

Captain rolled his eyes, mock indignance in his stance. “Great. I have to deal with two Tony Starks in the team now, don’t I?”

“Exactly,” Peter smirked, drawing out the last syllable slightly.

He remembered piecing uncharacteristically silent calls with his own incessant chatter, so that the harsh breaths pulsating on the other end would finally, finally smoothen out. He remembered resting a hand over Tony’s arrhythmically flouncing heart, coaxing him for a meal, a drink or to just breathe. He remembered whispering to him in a voice so soft yet so firm, “Mr. Stark? Mr. St-Tony? Tony, it’s me. It’s Peter. No one else is here, okay? You’re safe now. You’re safe.”

He remembered the world of hurt his hero went through.

It wasn’t like Peter never asked.

He tried asking during the quiet moments, when he and Mr. Stark were the only ones up at ass ‘o clock, when Mr. Stark strolled into the kitchen for customary morning tea (Pepper said weekends were coffee-free days). He tried asking during the loud ones too, when Mr. Stark was drunk on whatever alcohol he was having, when all the Avengers were in the room, because surely Mr. Stark wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to brag about a good story in front of everyone, right? Wrong. That particular fiasco ended with more than a couple uncomfortable looks, a pale-faced Mr. Stark storming out of said room and a flustered Peter trailing after him with his dozen apologies.

It got to the point where Mr. Stark had to sit Peter down, look him in the eye and say, “That’s it.” His finger, the metal one, dug deep into Peter’s collared shirt. “Stop it, kid. Me and Rogers, whatever happened between the two of us, it’s got nothing to do with you. And we’re fine now. We’re fixed. We watch Star Wars and Harry Potter every other Sunday, for god’s sake. There’s no better that we can get.” The other hand pressed on his arm shakily, a sort of pleading in the motion. “You don’t have to do anything for us anymore. Alright?”

Peter stopped asking after that.

Instead, he made observations. His eyes tracked each subtle gesture of wistful longing between the two, sometimes bordering on spontaneous animosity. Day and night, he made summaries, graphs, charts and fifty-one five-page essays for ten days in a row, writing and writing like he was running out of time.

He conducted interviews too.

Colonel Rhodes shook his head so adamantly when Peter pulled him aside for one of his trademark inquiry sessions, refusing to divulge anything more than a clipped but not unkind, "There’s definitely problems this team hasn't come to terms with yet, but it doesn’t fall on your shoulders to solve them, Peter." Dr. Banner had been much more forthcoming, nodding along to Peter’s mini monologue of observations. He even pitched in some of his own discoveries as to how the two skirted around each other when there was or wasn’t an audience, albeit with a mild warning that some things aren’t meant to be pushed too hard.

Even Bucky once appeared in front of Peter’s room, bouquet of purple hydrangeas and mug of hot chocolate in tow after one particularly brutal sparring session which had ended with one man’s ruptured blood vessel and another’s broken nose. He spent an hour trying to convey that, that was just their way of resolving conflict, their way of getting things out of their system. There wasn’t much that could be done about it. There wasn’t much they could do about it.

Or so they said.

But how many sleepless dawns after patrol had Peter spent - huddled under blankets in front of a glaring screen, scouring his way through Friday’s systems, keying in every code, every digit he thought would lead him to the right answer. Something, anything that he could work with.

Two months, twenty days and twelve hours later, he found it. The answer. Or at least, a part of it.

It wasn’t pretty.

He knew. He knew, he knew, he knew that The Winter Soldier wasn’t Bucky, that the man in the video was just Hydra’s brainwashed lackey, that the Bucky he was familiar with would never consent to do anything remotely similar to what he had seen him do. He knew this, and yet some nights still found him jolting awake in a sea of his own sweat; May’s gasps echoing Maria Stark’s dying wheeze, Howard and Tony Stark’s pleas morphing into one, cold unflinching gaze haunting all the moments he fell quiescent.

In the moments that he was restless, however, Peter resumed his search. He ploughed through the frights and horrors and sleepless dawns even more frenetically than he first did, because if he didn’t get to the bottom of this, no one else would. Because he knew there was more than just ‘The Winter Soldier murdered Mr. Stark’s parents’; there was always more.

Because what use was a team, if all its splintered souls did nothing to embrace their blemishes?

“Hey, Pete.”

“Hm?”

“Wanna’ skip out on the theater gig tonight?” Alloyed fingers drummed idly on the lab table. “We could stay in here for a bit, work on those web-shooter combinations. Could order some tacos. Or pizza. Your choice.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Thought it was supposed to be tradition.”

“Yeah, I’m getting kinda’ sick of Rogers' princess movie obsession,” His eyes drifted upwards, thumbs twiddling. “You could go, though. If you want.”

Peter pulled back without missing a beat, eyes widening in comical fashion. “No, are you crazy? Lab night with pizza? When do I ever turn that down, Mr. Stark?”

An honest grin slid across Mr. Stark’s features. “Never.”

“That’s right.” Peter closed his eyes, leaning into the touch rifling through his unkempt locks. “Never.”

It didn’t make sense.

Did you know?

I didn’t know it was him.

Don’t bullshit me, Rogers!

Yes.

Peter watched, and still, nothing made sense.

He’s my friend.

So was I.

It. didn’t. make. sense.

Blinding white tore across the starless city sky in sharp erratic bursts, heated claws threatening to eliminate all in its path with each stroke of rampant rage. Ice-cold rivulets knocked mercilessly against bare skin, freezing the seconds ticking by as raddled sneakers thrummed upon asphalt, each reverberating cadence in perfect harmony with the furious anthem of unvoiced justice pumping through his veins.

Said anthem soared ever the more when the Captain’s door flung open, pounding hard at the seemingly bewildered face meeting his view.

"Peter? What's wrong?" The golden boy scanned him up and down, concern thick in his tone. "Why aren't you in your suit? Did something happ-"

Peter threw the answer up in his face, letting the phone explain everything as he panted over bent knees. The stark silence that ensued spoke for itself.

"Stevie, what's- oh." Him. No, Bucky. "Peter. You're- why don't we all come inside, yeah? Rain's pouring out here." The voice, so tender, not like. Not like him. Not. Him."I'll put the kettle on."

Which was how Peter ended up in one of Bucky's oversized shirts, settled opposite two war veterans, hands cupped round a mug of hot chocolate and eyes cast in a blatant show of quiet outrage.

"Explain," The anthem burned strong in him.

"Son-"

"Don't call me son."

"-this was all on me, alright?" Dejected tone, blonde head bowed over clasped hands.

Good.

“I- we disagreed on the Accords because-”

“I don’t care about that, Captain,” Peter set the mug down, flexing his fingers mechanically. “The Accords was rigged to begin with. Whatever that came after, shouldn’t be put on anyone but Ross, that I get.” He pressed a finger to the cracked screen of his phone. “No Captain, I’m talking about this.”

Captain Rogers stared at him with eyes so blue, but like the sick man in the video pointed out, there was a hint of green in that blue. A flaw.

“I’m sorry, Peter,” The captain leaned back into his seat, where Bucky’s prosthetic arm (that Tony Stark built for him) was stretched rigidly upon. “I thought that by not telling him, I was sparing him from the sorrow. But really, I was just sparing myself. I- I never meant for him to get hurt. And I’m sure, neither did he.”

Oddly, that last sentence was what pushed Peter over the edge.

“Neither did he?” His jaw clenched. “Neither did- are you seriously saying that right now? Of course he didn’t mean to hurt you! If he had any control over the situation, any control of the information that you withheld from him, he would not have done that.”

“I know, Peter.”

“Do you?” He hissed. “Do you really? Do you know the pain of losing your parents, of not knowing what the hell happened to them except that ‘They died in an accident’? Do you know the want, the pure want, to kill the piece of shit that took their lives, that walked free as you mourned their deaths? That ripped them from you, before you even got to know them?” His fists shook in tandem with the throbbing crescendo of his anthem. “Do you know, how Mr. Stark fought for you behind the scenes? How he wrote and rewrote proposals to alter The Accords, only to be rejected by Ross time and time again? How he hired lawyers and sometimes personally went to vouch for the others in the Raft? How he lost sleep at night, how he drank himself into oblivion, whimpering your name, begging me each time not to tell Mrs. Pepper or Rhodes, because apparently, it didn’t matter?”

Captain Rogers stiffened in his seat.

“Do you know?”

“No, son.”

“I’m not your son.”

Bucky remained a stock still statue by the Captain’s side.

Peter sighed, shoulders sagging. Deep breath, calm down. “Sorry.” The lingering pulse of anguish pushed to the back of his mind. “That was uncalled for. Sorry. ”

“Don’t be.” Bucky replied with haste.

Peter made another haphazard gesture towards their object of discussion. “Did you guys ever try talking to him about this?”

“I wrote him a letter.”

“Yeah, and sent him a burner phone, I know.” Peter snapped, tone sharp. “Scintillating ultimatum you gave him, by the way. He broke it in his fists after two whole months of drinking and staring.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t say that to me, Cap,” His fingers tapped the mug handle almost frantically. “Say that to Tony. He needs to hear it.”

“It’s only two years for you, Peter, but it’s been seven for us. He might’ve- he might not want to hear about this anymore. We’re fine like this.”

“Bullshit. Don’t think I haven’t notice the way you both act with each other. You guys really need to solve this shit,” Peter mulled over his words, before adding, “By solve, I mean talk about it. Not punch the living daylights out of each other.”

Captain Rogers shrugged hopelessly. “We don’t talk about things like this. It’ll just escalate, and then we’d be throwing fists all over again. Might as well get that done without scarring our hearts more than it already has been.”

“Are you serious?” Muted wrath threatened to positively devour the mug in his hands. “Dude, we could have lost Tony in that war. He could have snapped his fingers, and that would have been the last we saw of him. Would you have lived with this then? Not talking about this, because neither of you can stop feeding your very physical ego for one goddamn second? Because neither of you were brave enough to listen?”

Again, the stark silence spoke for itself.

“You need to talk about this.”

“Look, son-”

“Damn it, Cap!” Peter roared, fists banging against the table. “Call me son one more time!” The mad beast reared its horrendous head, yanking his vocal chords to unrivalled heights, fuelled by the heated flames that grew larger and fiercer with each thunderous beat. It fed off the tension, the visceral need to rip, maw and absolutely pulverise anything and everything that it could find.

Reddened eyes, full of tears unshed, reflected one another transparently.

He couldn’t take this anymore.

“Honestly,” He stood, mug left untouched, voice barely over a whisper. “With all due respect, Captain Rogers. You’re a fucking dick.”

Peter left, door slam behind him, along with Captain’s echoed ‘Wait!’ and Bucky’s muted ‘Kid’s got a point, Steve.’

Peter thought that if he found the answer, everything would make sense. Or, at the very least, he would feel better about things not making sense.

Clearly, he had been wrong.

The first night he stopped searching, his phone rang like the house was on fire.

Mr. Stark had been the first to call. Followed by Colonel Rhodes, then Bucky, then Captain Rogers, then Dr. Banner, and then subsequently the rest of what his team was supposed to consist of.

He refused to answer. He didn’t care if his phone burst from being called 24/7. He didn’t care.

Instead, he spent the rest of his time doing what he did best - he looked out for the little guy. He threw himself in front of cars inches away from crashing into one another, saved kittens from trees, taught children how to look both ways before crossing the street, spent time with that tired old man sitting alone on the park bench every week.

And when he wasn’t doing this, he was with May. May and Happy, sometimes, but mostly May.

He did his homework, with May. He had breakfast, lunch and essentially all his meals, with May. He watched those cheesy soap operas he missed, with May. He did all the things he longed to do, mourning the years that he lost, with May.

“Are you okay, baby?”

Maybe it was her firm arms cradling his head, maybe it was her tentative whisper, but there was something about hearing May calling him baby that made a lump form in his throat.

“I don’t know.”

May hummed. “Do you want to talk to Tony about it?”

“No,” Peter sniffed. “Not for now.”

“Okay, baby,” May rubbed the back of his neck in a way that only she knew how. “That’s okay.”

He stopped going for movies and lab nights on the weekends.

bucko (4:03 a.m.) : Hey punk, stevie and tony talked it out for a while. wasn’t pretty but, it was necessary, I think. you’re a legend, kid

coolestdoctorr(4:23 a.m.): I heard what you did. We all needed that to happen eventually. Thank you for being the bravest of us, for acknowledging our flaws and for bringing our team together as best as you can. Take as much rest as you need, and if you need someone to talk to, I’m happy to listen. Stay safe, and we love you.

warmachineROX (4:29 a.m.): you did great, Peter. I’m sorry i said you couldn’t do this; those boys really needed a nudge. Thanks for doing what you did. Take care, kid.

so-you-got-detention (4:28 p.m.): Peter, I don’t think there’s anything I can say except I’m sorry. You’re right, I should have talked with him about this 7 years ago. I spent a couple long hours with Tony earlier this weekend. That hardly made up for anything, but we’ll work it out. Things aren’t perfect, we’ll get it better. We have you to thank for that. I know you’re angry with me, which you have every right to be, but know that if you ever need help, just call me. I’ll be there.

he’s stark, tony stark (5:01 p.m.): b at ur place in 5 mins[sunglasses emoji]

“Hey, Mr. Stark.”

“Hey, kid.”

“Steve mad at me?”

“Definitely not.”

“...You mad at me?”

A pause. “Not really, no,” Mr. Stark rubbed the side of his chin, tilting his head towards Peter. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” Peter felt his lips shiver against his teeth, sheen of moist clouding his vision, head bowed low and voice crackling, “It does.”

Arms, one alloyed and the other so very real, quietly rolled themselves round his trembling frame, guiding his head towards the steady rise and fall of his hero’s chest, flesh thumb rubbing slow circles over his back, whispers of soft nothings soothing his hair and eventually, a light peck on the forehead.

They stayed like that for a while, beside Peter’s unmade bed, melancholic warmth emanating like cool salve on an open wound. It was comforting, that lack of sound, that silence that spoke the thousand words they couldn’t.

And then, the patented smirk. “You did good, kid,” His tone, so fond. “Friday probably thinks otherwise, though. She’s a little pissed, I think. Kudos for that, by the way. Real sneaky.”

Purely on a whim, Peter snorted, “Love you too, Tony.”

For a moment, it looked as though Tony might just melt into an emotional puddle of goo. Thankfully, he didn’t; Peter wouldn’t know what to do if he did. Instead, he sucked in a deep breath, squeezed Peter closer to his heart, and in a voice smaller than Peter had ever heard, muttered,“Lab night this Sunday?”

Peter, in all his glorious mess of tears and snot, broke into a wobbly laugh.

Always.

#friendly-neighborhood-exchange #this was fun

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avengersassemble-fics · 4 years

Text

Stark’s Girl

part 05/015 “you’re my family”

masterlist

previous part // next part

word count 5.7k bitch what

an: sksksksk THE WORD COUNT IM SORRY BUT ENJOY A LOT HAPPENS IN THIS PART

How did it end up like this?

The last thing you remembered was resting against a large pile of pillows and your eyes were glued to the screen (well, kind of screen, you didn’t know what Tony called it really). Steve had planted himself into one spot beside you and sat against the headboard, a few pillows behind him, and arms crossed over his chest. You were sprawled out next to him with that pile of pillows under your arm, but you were both enjoying the presence of one another.

So how did it end up like this?

Like clockwork, Steve was the first to wake up. The darkness that surrounded him was unfamiliar, the scent that covered the room was even more so, and the weight that overlapped him was definitely not familiar. The more he blinked the more his eyes adjusted, and the only light that came in was from the cracks the window let in. But the sight before him made him freeze. That weight was you, and you were half resting on his chest, one hand sprawled across him and the other tucked away to his side. He rested his head back into the scented pillows (it was lavender, he knew it was) and blinked up at the ceiling.

He wasn’t sure if it was the beating of his heart that made you stir, but after a few minutes of his continuous what now’s in his head, you shifted against him. Steve’s arm retracted from your back and laid out across the rest of the pillows, and your hand ran back up to your chin. He couldn’t see it, but the realization that you were touching something made your eyes shoot open. You stayed there for a moment though as you tried to dart your eyes around, but it was no use. Steve cleared his throat and you inwardly cursed yourself.

Much too fast you sat up, removing your hands from his chest and didn’t look his way. Steve sat up as well and you rubbed the back of your neck, before finally meeting his look.

“Uh. . Sorry,” you said, and he shook his head.

“No, I- No it’s fine.” He rambled off. You nodded and shot up from the bed, and Steve stood as well, but you both met each other's stares. Steve cleared his throat and you nodded, again at him.

“Right, I’m going to. . Go.”

“Right,” you nodded, and with one final pinched smile Steve walked to your door, paused, and finally left the room.

You rubbed your neck and eyed the messy sheets you once were laying in. How did that even happen? How had you managed to not only fall asleep, but get as comfortable as to practically be on top of him like that?

It was the trust. It must have been you trusting him to let your guard down like that. It was uncharacteristic for you. Very uncharacteristic. Extremely. Uncharacteristic. But it was also uncharacteristic of Steve.

Steve couldn’t get out of the room fast enough. He didn’t know if it was from embarrassment or from the guilt that built in his chest. His feet carried him down the hall and down the stairs until he came into the view of the kitchen. Coffee. He needed coffee. Not that he was a particularly huge fan of it, he needed something to focus on at this moment.

His plans though were cut short when he saw the man inside the kitchen. It was Tony. And he looked up from his place near the coffee pot and set his mug down, before holding up his phone.

“We had an agreement,” Tony started, “you were supposed to be here yesterday.”

“Nat had an unexpected leave, Tony I never thought she’d actually-”

“What, sneak out? Disobey my rules? Come on, Steve. You must know that she would do it.”

“I don’t think you giver her enough credit, Tony,” Steve said. Tony chuckled a bit at that.

“You think you know my sister better than I do?”

“No of course not!” He said rather defensively. Tony raised his brow and Steve sighed, “Tony, I went for her as soon as I returned and figured it out. But you should've seen her out there, she was smiling, laughing, she looked. . . Happy.”

Tony fell silent, his eyes trailed down to the mug in front of him as he processed what Steve was telling him, and he gripped the edge of the counter, “If I reveal the truth about her, Steve, her freedom? It’s gone. She’ll be a Stark again. She’ll be watched, and scrutinized, and it’ll never be the same.”

Steve smiled at his friends, “It’s a choice you have to give her, Tony.”

Tony looked up from his pensive state, and Steve’s smile made his sigh, “Please tell me Thor didn’t try to make a move on her.”

Steve chuckled a bit, “No, he didn’t.”

Tony put his hand on his heart and mumbled a quiet thank you to the ceiling. And then Steve left him to his own devices. Tony took another sip from his coffee as his phone buzzed, and he took it from his pocket to answer the message.

The original plan he had was to be back yesterday to introduce you to Pepper, formally. But then she got tied up at work and with your little exploration, it delayed things. He still wanted to introduce you, and what better way than a party, right? Since most of the team was here, he could get Barton and Banner in since it was relatively early in the day, and Pepper flew back with him - it would be perfect. He knew how to throw a good party.

He hummed as he made his way to hib lab close by, and sat in a chair when a call started to come through. The unknown I.D. made him hum into his drink, but accepted it either way. He wasn’t surprised to see Coulson appear before him.

“Ah, Coulson! Was yesterday’s lecture not enough for you?” Tony cheerfully asked, but didn’t earn much of a reaction from the recipient.

“I’m calling you because we have another mission for you guys,” he started off, and Tony raised a brow at him.

“Another Hydra base?” He asked, and Coulson nodded, “Your team can’t handle it?”

“This one has special circumstances,” he said loosely, and Tony took an audible slurp from his mug, “the intel we’ve gathered hint at their being two possible enhanced people. Twins.”

“Sounds interesting,” he said, and Coulson nodded.

“They also have Loki’s scepter.”

That made Tony look up from his mug and Coulson smiled at him, “I already have Barton and Banner inbound. They should be arriving soon.”

“Thank boss,” Tony said and with the flick of his hands the call disappeared. As the screen disappeared, his eyes landed on you leaning against the frame of the entrance.

“You’re leaving,” you stated. Tony sighed and nodded, but waved his hand for you to enter. You did, slowly crossing into the room and over to him, and he spun in his chair to grab a device, tossing it in the air and catching it.

“Hold this for me,” he said, and practically shoved it into your palm. You looked at the circular device in your hand, and something sprouted from it. You glanced between it and Tony, and it completely covered your hand in metal, and stopped at your wrist. You wiggled your fingers and looked back at Tony who only smiled.

“What is this?” You asked, and looked back to the silver metal that covered your hand.

“It’s just a prototype for what I hope will be a nano suit,” he explained, “just wanted you to try it.”

You nodded as he spoke, and held the hand up, “Well? Does it look good on me?”

“Fits you perfectly,” he laughed, and you grinned.

“How does it-” before you could finish your thought, the metal began to disappear, back into the circle of your palm. Your eyes shot back to Tony who was only grinning, and then he carefully took it from your hand. The sound of a jet started to sound in the building, and you frowned, but when Tony faced you you faked a smile.

“Don’t do that,” he told you, standing from his chair so that he was level with you, and you shrugged.

“What? Smile?” You asked.

He tapped your chest, “Fake it.” You frowned at him, and he opened his arm for you, and you let him place it around your neck, and your arm wrapped around his body. You both began to walk to the landing pad the quinjet was most likely headed.

“I’m sorry for yesterday,” you told him, and he only hummed next to you.

“I know,” he said, looking over to you with one of his daring smiles, “I’m sorry for keeping you locked up in here. I just. . . I wasn’t ready for you to have to make that choice.”

“What choice?” You asked and he paused. The landing pad was nearby, blocked by glass doors, but Tony removed his arm from you and grabbed your hands in his, and you raised a brow.

“If people make the connection of who you are, and they will, that’s it. That freedom you want, it’s gone. When people look at you, all they’ll see is your last name. You’ll be a Stark.”

You frowned at him, “Tony. . . I’m already a Stark. I was always going to be a Stark,” you took your hands from his and cupped his face, giving him a good squeeze and smiled, “you’re my family, Tony. No one can diminish that, or change it.”

Tony smiled and he took you into his arms. He held you as close as he could, and you wrapped your arms around his neck. The two Stark’s stood there together. And from that point on, they would always stand together. As a family.

- - - - - - - - - -

The mission went south, as Tony so elegantly put it.

The amount of people that now occupied the Tower was too much for you. When the team left, you had slithered away to your room, and when they returned you were in the gym, on the treadmill. You breathed evenly as your legs pushed you on, you were covered in sweat, your heart was beating in your chest, but you focused on the window to the outside. JARVIS didn’t alert you to their return, so when someone suddenly appeared at your side, your feet betrayed you.

You were sent a couple feet from the treadmill and looked up in anguish at who stood above you. You painted while you stayed there on the ground, and peeled the earphones from your ear, and came back to reality, and his apologies.

“Geez, I’m sorry, are you okay?” Steve asked you and knelt to your side, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.”

You narrowed your eyes at him a bit and he was taken back by it, you pushed yourself up from the ground and walked past him back to the moving treadmill, “You didn’t scare me.”

He nodded slowly while he watched you turn the machine off, and grab the water bottle you were using. You walked past him towards the door and he followed you.

“Hey-woah, hold on,” he called for you, and you slowed your steps as the door opened, but as soon as he was by your side you moved on again,and he sighed, “what’s going on with you?”

That was the wrong question to ask, apparently. You froze in your track and Steve stopped, seeing your glare narrow in on him, “Nothing is going on, Steve.”

It was cold, it wasn’t you. At least not the you he had grown to know over these last few months. But you turned away from him again, and he saw it best to let you continue on your way to the stairs. Each person you passed to avoided coming in any contact with them, and that’s when Steve’s eyes landed on Natasha, who was just about to round the corner when you rushed past her. She looked back at Steve, and he walked up to join her.

“Something’s wrong,” he commented, and Nat looked around.

“You don’t see the problem?” She asked.

Steve looked around at the commotion in the room. It was mostly SHIELD personnel, quite a number of them in all honesty. Realization hit him and his shoulders slumped down, and Nat patted his shoulder.

“I’m so glad we’ll have another intelligent woman around here,” she playfully said, and turned to walk away from him.

Steve rolled his eyes at her and chose to ignore her comment. What he had to worry about was this party Stark-- sorry, no Tony wanted to have tonight. The preparations had begun with alcohol deliveries, food deliveries, and such.

Time seemed to pass by quickly after that. Tony hopped up the stairs, followed by Pepper, and spun around to grab at her hands when they got to your level. Pepper chuckled lowly, and shook her head at the sight of him. The festivities were just about to kick off downstairs, and the sight of Tony so eager for them to meet made her heart warm.

“Tony, I’ve never seen you like this,” she commented and he hummed, and pressed a kiss to her hand, then the other.

“My two girls are finally about to meet, after months,” he shrugged his shoulder with a smile, “and you have seen me like this, remember my birthday?”

“I try to forget that,” she quipped, and their hands laced together and she patted his shoulder with the other, “you were a drunk mess.”

“Let’s forget about that part,” he joked when the pair neared your door, shut as always, “let’s focus on the bright side of that night!”

“Which was what exactly?” She asked and he shook his head, and lightly tapped on your door.

“I see your point,” he smiled and after a few seconds the door opened and you appeared behind it.

Not dressed. Well dressed, but in sweats. Tony frowned, and you crossed arms and stared at him.

“(Y/N),” he said.

“Tony,” you mimicked.

Tony glanced to his side at Pepper, who gave him a reassuring smile. Tony met your gaze again and motioned past you, “Can we come in?”

You nodded and stepped aside, and they walked past you. You closed the door behind them and moved around them so you could take a seat on the couch in the room. Tony glanced at Pepper again before he looked back at you. You had your eyes glued on him though, and he smiled at you.

“I wanted you to meet someone,” he took a step forward and guided Peper forward as well, “this is Pepper Potts.”

She extended her elegant hand out to you, and you looked from Tony’s face to hers, then at her outstretched hand. You looked back to her eyes, and she offered a small smile. You again looked to her hand, and very carefully you reached yours out, and shook her hand.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” she greeted, and you nodded, but pulled your hand back to your lap.

“You too,” you said, and looked back at Tony.

“Why aren’t you dressed?” He asked you. You looked to the bed the dress you were given was placed, and rubbed your arms a bit.

“I. . . I don’t know if i can do it.” Tony’s smile fell, and he looked over to Pepper. She nodded at Tony and he released her hand, and moved to sit next to you on the couch. You glanced his way and he carefully grabbed your hands so he could hold them.

“I won’t force you to do it,” he said, and you sighed, “I know it must be a lot. All those people. But if you choose to come, remember what we said today?”

You nodded, and he smiled, “We’re family. I’ll be right there every step of the way.”

You locked eyes with him and then looked back to the bed, and he already knew what you were going to ask, and he patted your hands. You watched as he stood and returned to his place next to Pepper, and you mouthed a thank you to him. Pepper smiled one last time your way, and you went back to focus on the dress when the door opened, and clicked shut. You held your arms again and stood, and shifted over to the bed. You didn’t know who picked this number out but it certainly was not Tony. You lifted the black fabric and rubbed it between your fingers and grumbled to yourself.

The only reason you decided to throw the dress on was because you knew how hard he was trying. He was trying so hard to get you to be comfortable these last few months. You owed this to him, to at least try. You stripped down and completely changed. It was a strapless number, and you had to go searching for something to cover your breasts that would work, and shimmied on a silky pair of panties. Getting the dress on was the hardest part, it was figure hugging (if you were still an active. . whatever, this would’ve done the trick) and zipped on the side. It hit above your knee and there was a pair of pretty black heels with a red bottom to accompany it. The makeup you had was minimal, so you kept it simple. A little mascara, some brown to open your crease, a light shimmer on the lids, and a shiny lip gloss with a hint of cherry red in it. You tucked some hair behind your ear to smooth it back and looked yourself over.

The nervousness on your face was apparent, and you smiled sadly to yourself. You can do it. You can do it for Tony. And you can do it for yourself too. So you stood up and walked to the door, and reached for the handle. You can do it. This. You can. With a tremble in your hand, you pulled the door open and made your way downstairs.

The party was in motion, for maybe an hour now. Tony was with Pepper, who slapped Rhodey on the shoulder as he passed with Maria Hill, and Steve was chatting with Sam. Steve took a sip from the drink in his hand, even though it wasn’t going to do anything for him. He took a sip and scanned the room for something.

“Have you found a place in Brooklyn yet?” Sam asked, which garnered Steve’s attention once more. He shook his head.

“I don’t think I can afford Brooklyn,” Steve joked, and Sam chuckled lightly. He took a sip from the beer in his hand and motioned to his friend.

“Well, home is home, you know?” He said. Steve smiled a bit.

“I can’t say I know what that feels like anymore,” he quipped, and Sam nodded a bit.

“I think you’re full of it, but I’ll still agree with you.” Sam grinned and Steve raised a brow at him, “Oh come on man. All that looking around, I know who you’re searching for,” he paused to look behind him, and motioned his drink to the stairs, “and there they are.”

Steve turned to look behind him and stopped when his eyes landed on you. His mouth fell open a bit before he very quickly closed his mouth. He couldn’t help his eyes look you over as he took in every detail of your appearance. The first thing he saw was your legs and how soft they looked under this light, the way your muscles flexed as each foot brought you down each step. He looked up your legs to the black fabric that covered your body, and the way it hugged your hips. He could very clearly see each dip, perfectly formed, and then up more to your bare shoulders. Even your shoulders looked smooth, despite the tiny imperfections on your back. Oh, your back. It was exposed, and he could see your shoulders, which were tight. He blinked and you were headed towards Tony, who seemed to notice you at the last moment, and Steve was knocked from his trance when Steve slapped a hand onto his shoulder.

“Dude, what was that?”

“What-”

Sam rolled his eyes at his friend, “How long have you been into her?”

The question made him look down at the drink in his hand, and wonder just that. But he shook his head, and ignored the implication Sam was trying to give.

“I’m not into her,” Steve replied, taking a sip from his drink and still locked onto you across the room. Sam shook his head next to his friend.

“Yeah. Okay,” was all he said.

You made it over to Tony despite the eyes that lingered on you as you passed, and linked your arm through his unexpectedly. Tony turned slightly and when his eyes landed on you, the drink he was sipping on was coughed down the wrong tube. The coughing fit made the group of people he was in turn in question, and Pepper continued coughing, though the smile on her face was apparent. Tony coughed a bit as he set his drink down, and turned to face you better. You looked at him with a raised brow, and he clapped a hand onto your arm.

“You decided to come,” he commented, finally looking you over completely. He glanced over to Natasha, who he could see had a grin on her face as she spoke with Bruce.

“I thought I should at least try,” you paused when he smiled, “not just for you. But for me.”

“I’m glad you are,” he quickly touched Pepper’s back and whispered something into her ear, and she nodded. Tony looked back to you and rubbed your arm, “do you want me to introduce you to some people?”

You nodded, and he began to walk you around. He introduced you to the “important people” (his words, not yours). James Rhodes (everyone calls him Rhodey he said, and he also jokingly apologized for you having to deal with Tony’s antics if he wasn’t around), Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, and Dr. Bruce Banner, and as you made your way around the room, you passed Steve. Tony briefly introduced you to Sam Wilson, who was Steve’s companion, and when you shook his hand, you glanced at Steve and the drink in his hand.

“I thought you didn’t drink,” you threw out, and Tony glanced between you two. Steve cleared his throat.

“Not a lot, but sometimes.”

You nodded, though still confused, you let Tony whisk you away again. Steve though kept his eyes on you, and Sam beside him shook his head. The night carried on and you grew a bit more comfortable, and had a couple of drinks. Tony was surprised to see you down the liquid easily, and after two he was surprised when you made a little joke about it.

“I always thought I could handle that better than you,” you had said. Tony glared, but Pepper laughed beside him. You smiled. Genuinely smiled for the first time that day. So he let it slide.

When the “unimportant” people left, those who remained settled into the couch near the bar. Tony leaned against a chair Peper and sat in, and she rubbed his leg, Clint was in the chair beside them, Nat and Maria on one couch, Sam in a chair close by, and you had settled onto the couch by Steve, and Thor. You had removed the heels on your feet, and nursed the drink in your hand. Steve glanced at you and noticed the slight flush in your cheeks, and while others spoke around you, he leaned down to say something.

“You look to be enjoying yourself,” he said slowly. You smiled, sipping at the drink.

“I am,” you paused and looked at him, “are you?”

He glanced between your eyes and the smile on your lips, and nodded, “I am.”

Suddenly you were enamoured in the conversation that was occurring when Clint motioned to Thor’s hammer that was rested on the table, “But it’s a trick!”

Thor chuckled beside you, and settled into the couch, “Oh, no, it’s much more than that.”

Clint scoffed, “Uh yeah, “Whosoever be he worthy shall. . haveth the power!” Whatever man. It’s a trick.”

Thor motioned to his hammer, and you took another sip of your drink, “Well please, be my guest.”

Clint scoffed again, but then Tony chimed in, “Come on, Barton.”

“Wh- Really?” Clint asked.

“Yes, please!” Thor exclaimed next to you. Clint thought about it for a second, and stood, earning a couple of whoops from those around. You smiled as you watched.

“Oh this is going to be beautiful,” Rhodey chimed in.

“Clint, we know you’ve had a tough week. We won’t hold it against you if you can’t get it up,” Tony joked. Clint proceeded to give him the finger and everyone laughed. You did too. Steve glanced at you as you did, and smiled.

“You know I’ve seen this before right? In New Mexico,” he wrapped his hands around the hammer and tugged, but nothing happened, “I don’t know how you do it man.”

Clint went to sit down again when Tony grinned, “Smell the silent judgement?”

Clint motioned to Tony and the hammer, “Please, Stark, be my guest.”

Tony stood, removing his jacket and handing it to Pepper who smiled, holding it in her lap. Tony rolled his sleeves up and a couple people sat up.

“Oh yes, here we go,” Natasha had said. You giggled a bit to yourself, and set your drink down on the table before he passed. Tony winked your way and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Tony rubbed his hands together and sighed happily.

“I’m never one to shrink from a challenge,” he began and Natasha groaned.

“Just get on with it,” she said, taking a sip from her beer.

“It’s physics,” Tony said as he rolled his head and shoulder a bit, and Bruce laughed out loud.

“Physics! Aha!” He chuckled.

“So if I lift this hammer, I rule Asgard?” Tony asked, and looked at Thor. Thor nodded and tony nodded, “my first act is to reinstate Prima Nocta.”

Pepper glared at Tony but he mimicked something to her you couldn’t see, but he grinned nonetheless. He put his leg on the table and wrapped his hands around the hammer, and began to tug. It didn’t budge for him either. You covered your mouth with your fingers and rested an elbow on your knee.

Tony glared, “‘ll be right back.” He said and quickly disappeared. You watched him disappear downstairs to his lab, and then come out just a few moments later with something on his hand. It was part of his armour. He gripped the hammer once more and tugged, but still nothing happened.

It went on like that for a little bit longer. Both Tony and Rhodey tried together, and failed. Then Bruce tried, and failed, And the commotion began to die back down. You looked beside you at Steve and put your hand casually on his leg. He looked at you suddenly, and you pointed at the hammer.

“You should try,” you said. Sam close by clapped.

“Yes, please, Steve try it.”

Steve met your gaze and you smiled, and he sighed, but smiled too. He stood and you removed your hand from his leg. He puts his hands up when some cheer, which included you. You watched as he readied himself, grabbing a hold of the hammer and tugged at it. You could have sworn you saw it lift just a tiny bit, but when Steve didn’t lift it, you blinked. You must have imagined it. Thor laughs beside you as Steve returns to your side.

“See? Nothing.”

Tony motions to Natasha, “Widow?”

She laughs, and leans back into the couch, “Oh no. No, that is definitely not a question I need answered.”

They talk amongst themselves, but your attention went to the elevators below. You didn’t know if it was the alcohol you consumed, or if it was true. But you could have sworn you saw that elevator light on, like it was moving. Steve glanced at you and saw the empty expression on your face, and lightly tapped you with his shoulder.

“You okay?” He whispered. You blinked as you returned to the present, and nodded, meeting his gaze. He looked you over but still smiled, and you looked back to the elevator. A few seconds passed and you believed it to be nothing, until you saw the one of the doors open. You stood, which gained Steve’s attention next to you, and before he could ask what was wrong (again), a screeching noise filled the room. Everyone covered their ears, standing abruptly around you, and then it stopped. Your eyes never left that metal downstairs, and everyone turned to what you were focused on. A mangled suit that shuffled into the open.

“Worthy. .” The voice echoed, “No. How could any of you be worthy? You’re all killers.”

Steve took a step forward to grab your hand, and he looked at Tony, “Stark-”

“JARVIS,” Tony called out.

“I’m sorry,” the voice said again, “I was asleep. No. . I was a dream.”

Tony pulled something from his pocket and tapped on it incessantly, “Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we’ve got a buggy suit.”

You watched still in awe and the metal suit, took a couple more steps downstairs, “There was a terrible noise. And I was tangled in strings,” it paused and you swallowed the lump in your throat, “I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy.”

Steve’s hands gripped yours a bit tighter, and he pushed you behind him a bit and called out, “You killed someone?”

“Wouldn’t have been my first call,” it paused and looked up at everyone, “but down in the real world we’re faced with ugly choices.”

Thor took a step forward, gripping his hammer, “Who sent you?”

“I see a suit of armour around the world.”

The voice that filled the room was none other than Tony’s. Eyes darted to him and Bruce let out a small comment.

“Ultron.”

You didn’t know what it meant, but the look on Tony’s face led you to believe he did. But the voice below spoke again.

“In the flesh. Or no, not yet. Not in this chrysalis,” its glowing eyes looked up again, “but I’m ready. I’m on a mission.”

“What mission?” Natasha asked.

“Peace in our time.”

It was simple, but the glass that shattered around wasn’t. Steve’s arm surrounded you as more metal suits flew into the room. Natasha ran behind the bartop, Bruce not far behind, but you didn’t know what to do. You were beginning to panic. Steve turned to you and you placed a hand to your chest as his arms covered you, shielding you from what was about to unfold.

“Stark!” he yelled to Tony, who was trying to shield Pepper amongst tapping on his phone.

“One sec, one sec!” Tony yelled.

We are here to help.

The suits were closing in, repeating the same line. Tony keeps tapping at the phone, but they keep coming closer.

It's unsafe.

More suits enter the room, but they attack. One right towards the middle, to you and Steve. Steve releases you and kicks the table up, but the suit flies through it and through you both, knocking both into seperate directions. Chaos was around you, and suddenly you were right back where you were months ago. You didn’t know what exactly had happened in the few seconds you were immobilized, but as you pushed yourself up off the ground a bit, you pulled yourself to the piano. The broken glass you passed over would be sure to leave a mark, but you were focused on one thing.

The gun that was hidden under it.

You had come across it sometime while you had explored this room, but that was a story for another time. It was simple, and you pulled it off the bottom and readied it when you heard that familiar hovering sound. You stood from your position and fired one, two, three shots into the Iron Legion or whatever Tony had called it that was focused on Natasha and Bruce. Straight at the neck like and into the wiring like Tony had pointed out one day. It fell to the ground, and you heard the shatter of another somewhere else.

But you stared at the gun in your hand, and lowered it down to notice the look from Natasha. Your hand trembled, and suddenly Tony was at your side, and he noticed the shake in your hand. You emptied the chamber and removed the rounds, and dropped it to your feet.

But that look in your eyes you couldn’t shake it if you tried.

“That was dramatic,” the half completed suit said, “I’m sorry, I know you mean well. You just,” it paused, “didn’t think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don’t want it to change. How is humanity saved if it’s not allowed to evolve?”

It moved to one of the destroyed Iron Legions, and grabbed its head, “With these? These puppets,” the emphasis it gave was by crushing the helmet in its own hand, “there is only one path to peace,” it dropped the destroyed robot and looked at the group, “The Avengers’ extinction.”

Suddenly Thor yelled, and threw his hammer at the robot and it fell to pieces to the floor, and his hammer returned to him. As the comments sunk in, and people checked on one another. You sat there and let Tony grab your face in his hands, and look you over. You sat there because you knew he needed to see you were fine. But you weren’t on the inside. Not as the words “Ultron” said rang in your ears.

I had strings. . . but now I’m free.

- - - - - - - - - - -

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