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vintage1981 · 2 years

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Beware of Dario Argento: A 20-Film Retrospective at Film at Lincoln Center | June 17 - 29, 2022

Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà present Beware of Dario Argento: A 20-Film Retrospective, a retrospective of the iconic Italian horror director’s influential feature films, 17 of them premiering in brand-new 4K restorations, with the director in person for select screenings. Presented in collaboration with Italian Cultural Institute.

Tickets now on sale!

See Dario Argento in person for Q&As at The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (6/17), Deep Red (6/18), and Phenomena (6/19), and introductions at Tenebrae (6/17), Suspiria (6/18), and Dark Glasses (6/19).

Ever since his heart-stopping directorial debut in 1970, Dario Argento has been redrawing the boundaries of cinematic horror with flamboyant violence, feverish plotting, and deliriously stylized compositions. Initially associated with giallo, the pulpy Italian subgenre he helped formalize and would later take to unprecedented heights with his international breakthrough, Deep Red (1975), Argento embraces a gamut of fantastical influences—from sublime Gothic art and penny dreadfuls to Murnau, Hitchcock, and Disney—with his distinctively baroque style of disorientating cinematography, stained-glass colorwork, and elaborate musical scores (often composed by his own rotating house group, Goblin).

The retrospective will pay homage to Argento’s singular voice in horror cinema, from his seminal debut feature The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, widely regarded with popularizing gialli internationally, and other unforgettable contributions to the subgenre including: Deep Red, Tenebrae, and Opera; to his masterful paranormal-tinged Phenomena, and supernatural “Three Mothers Trilogy”: the wildly influential Suspiria, 35mm screenings of Inferno, and Mother of Tears; to underscreened gems like Trauma, The Stendhal Syndrome, The Black Cat, and Dracula 3D, as well as his made-for-television feature Do You Like Hitchcock?. The lineup also will host the North American Premiere of Dark Glasses, his first film in 10 years.

Organized by Madeline Whittle and Tyler Wilson of Film at Lincoln Center, and by Camilla Cormanni, Paola Ruggiero, and Marco Cicala of Cinecittà. Co-produced by Cinecittà, Rome. Presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute.

Sponsored by:

World Premiere of New Restoration

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage / L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo

Dario Argento

, Italy/West Germany, 1970, 96m

Italian with English subtitles

For his seminal directorial debut, Argento took Fredric Brown’s 1949 novel “The Screaming Mimi” and transformed it into a horror-inflected whodunit of voyeuristic delirium. Sam (Tony Musante), an American writer living in Rome, witnesses a vicious knife attack on a beautiful woman (Eva Renzi) inside an art gallery. After the police fail to make any progress in the case—and confiscate his passport, preventing him from leaving the country—Sam becomes obsessed with uncovering the black-leather-gloved assailant’s identity. Featuring one of Ennio Morricone’s most distinct scores, “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage” marked the emergence of a singular artistic sensibility, and anticipated the extreme directions taken by Argento in his subsequent films: the director’s signature foregrounding of vivid cinematic techniques—from dizzying POV sequences to gory slo-mo—are on display here, fully formed and boldly provocative. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Friday, June 17 at 6:00pm (Q&A with Dario Argento) Sunday, June 26 at 1:15pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

The Cat o’ Nine Tails / Il gatto a nove code

Dario Argento

, Italy/France/West Germany, 1971, 112m

English and Italian with English subtitles

Argento chased “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage”’s box-office success with his most accessible giallo thriller, a hybrid mystery/buddy movie that pairs Karl Malden’s blind cruciverbalist with James Franciscus’s intrigued reporter. Here Argento experiments with his chosen genre’s procedural-style fetishism: the movie’s title refers to the number of leads that will ultimately steer the amateur sleuths to a mysterious serial killer. Argento constructs the film’s mystery within the framework of a crossword puzzle whose clues slyly allude to seeing, sightlessness, and how the limits of our perception obscure the truth. The movie’s eruptive and still-shocking violence fosters a nightmarish tension throughout, and perfectly complements Ennio Morricone’s alternately slinky and discordant avant-jazz score. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Saturday, June 18 at 1:15pm Sunday, June 26 at 3:30pm

Four Flies on Grey Velvet / 4 mosche di velluto grigio

Dario Argento

, Italy/France, 1971, 104m

Italian with English subtitles

A confluence of near-misses and eerie coincidences transforms the past into a prophetic conspiracy in Four Flies on Grey Velvet, the final entry in Argento’s “Animal” trilogy of giallo thrillers. Directorial doppelgänger Michael Brandon plays the troubled lead, a prog-rock drummer who is blackmailed by a menacing masked figure for a murder that he may or may not have committed, and enlists the help of a detective (Jean-Pierre Marielle) to identify his blackmailer before it’s too late. Four Flies’s nightmarish set pieces rank among the director’s best, and the movie’s playfully convoluted mystery plot looks forward to Deep Red’s gleeful synthesis of Hitchcockian sadism and Antonioni-inspired alienation. 4K digital restoration by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Surf Film.

Saturday, June 18 at 3:45pm Sunday, June 26 at 6:00pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

The Five Days / Le cinque giornate

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1973, 122m

Italian with English subtitles

Argento took a break from giallo with this broad and bleak farce, a period piece set during Italy’s Revolutions of 1848 and shot near the beginning of its infamous “Years of Lead” (two decades of social and political strife). Popular singer/songwriter Adriano Celentano stars as an unlucky thief who falls into a series of comic misadventures as he and his happy-go-lucky companion (Enzo Cerusico) search for “Liberty” (Glauco Onorato), an ex-brigand–turned–saintlike revolutionary. Inspired by events that were documented in Milanese citizens’ journals, the director’s most overtly political movie warns viewers not to be seduced by nationalistic demagogues and the mobs that serve them. Rarely seen after it bombed at the domestic box office. The Five Days evokes the spaghetti western’s characteristic mix of violence, political ambivalence, and gallows humor. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Sunday, June 19 at 12:30pm Tuesday, June 28 at 1:00pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

Deep Red / Profondo rosso

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1975, 127m

Italian, German, and Hebrew with English subtitles

Blow-Up’s David Hemmings takes the lead in Argento’s most sophisticated giallo, playing a jazz pianist who struggles to remember a vital piece of evidence after witnessing the murder of Macha Méril’s German psychic. Joined by Argento’s real-life partner Daria Nicolodi in the role of a plucky journalist, Hemmings embarks on a dizzying tour of Rome (with shooting locations in Turin standing in for the capital city) which, through Argento’s roving, suprahuman lens, appears just as haunted and hyper-compartmentalized as the movie’s tortured human protagonists. Ranked among the director’s masterworks, Deep Red is supplemented by Argento’s first score with Italian prog-rock band Goblin and astonishing production design by Giuseppe Bassan. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Saturday, June 18 at 6:00pm (Q&A with Dario Argento) Wednesday, June 22 at 6:15pm Tuesday, June 28 at 3:45pm

Suspiria

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1977, 92m

English, Italian, Russian, German, and Latin with English subtitles

One of cinema’s most potent hallucinogens, Argento’s witchy freak-out is a sustained spectacle of outrageously stylized violence and eye-popping art direction. When Jessica Harper’s doe-eyed American ballerina arrives in Germany to study at directress Joan Bennett’s renowned dance academy, she stumbles through the looking glass into a maze of mayhem, murder, and maggots. It all takes place in one of film history’s most outlandish haunted houses: a riot of demonic neon lighting, surrealist-baroque décor, and, oh yeah, that barbed-wire room. Add the iconic, eardrum-shattering score by prog-occultists Goblin, and you’ve got the most extravagant slasher movie of all time. 4K digital restoration by Videa.

Saturday, June 18 at 9:00pm (Introduction by Dario Argento) Saturday, June 25 at 6:30pm Wednesday, June 29 at 2:00pm

Inferno

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1980,

35mm

, 106m

Italian and Latin with English subtitles

Despite its nightmarish extension of Suspiria’s adult Technicolor fairy tale, the middle segment of Argento’s “Three Mothers” trilogy was barely released by international distributor 20th Century Fox due to a mid-production regime change. This partly explains why the loosely connected second installment—about a supernatural conspiracy that unites Suspiria’s Freiburg Dance Academy with a cursed Upper West Side apartment building—didn’t get its own sequel until almost 30 years later. Still, Inferno’s Art Nouveau meltdown remains a creative highlight for Argento, given its rapturous expression of Jungian archetypes, brought to life with an operatic score composed by British prog-rocker Keith Emerson, some technical and visual-effects assistance from horror maestro Mario Bava, armloads of domestic cats, and the specter of Death himself.

Monday, June 20 at 6:30pm Saturday, June 25 at 9:00pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

Tenebrae

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1982, 101m

English, Italian and Spanish with English subtitles

A deranged killer reenacts the work of popular mystery novelist Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) in this exuberantly perverse giallo thriller, Argento’s macabre riposte to his armchair-psychologist critics. Like The Cat o’ Nine Tails before it, Tenebrae baits the viewer by applying a problem-solving framework to a mystery that is, at heart, about the logic-defying limits of what we can know and see. Made seven years after Deep Red, Argento imagined an ahistorical Rome of the future, where combatively fetishistic murders occur in broad daylight and nobody really talks about the past even as it threatens to destroy everything in its path. Daria Nicolodi and John Saxon co-star, with Goblin contributing an icy disco-synth score. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Friday, June 17 at 9:00pm (Introduction by Dario Argento) Friday, June 24 at 6:45pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

Phenomena

Dario Argento

, Italy/Switzerland, 1985, 116m

English, Italian, Swiss German, and Danish with English subtitles

As he did in Rome for Tenebrae, Argento manipulated locations in Zürich to produce an uncanny sense of place with Phenomena, a paranormal-tinged giallo set in an alternate ’80s, ostensibly decades after Nazi Germany had won World War II. Jennifer Connelly stars as a sleepwalking, telepathic 14-year-old who, while attending a remote Swiss boarding school named after Richard Wagner, teams up with a forensic entomologist (Donald Pleasence) and his nurse—a trained chimpanzee named Inga—to investigate a string of brutal murders. One of Argento’s finer and stranger films, Phenomena (often cited among his personal favorites) marked a radical departure for the director, who combined the bloodiest trappings of his previous gialli and the supernatural insanity of his “Three Mothers” films into something altogether more outré. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Sunday, June 19 at 5:30pm (Q&A with Dario Argento) Thursday, June 23 at 6:30pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

Opera

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1987, 107m

English, Italian, and German with English subtitles

Argento’s mid-career masterpiece is a partial reimagining of Gaston Leroux’s classic novel The Phantom of the Opera (which the director would explicitly adapt in 1998), drawing further inspiration from his own abortive experience mounting a stage production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. The film concerns a budding soprano (Cristina Marsillach) who, through the homicidal mediations of a masked stalker, rises to a lead role in an avant-garde staging of Verdi’s Macbeth (whose director, played by Ian Charleson, is a former horror filmmaker). Made shortly after the paranormal-tinged Phenomena, the dizzyingly self-referential Opera took the director’s penchant for provocation to new heights and reaffirmed his knack for staging brutal, operatic violence. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Sunday, June 19 at 3:00pm Thursday, June 23 at 4:00pm Friday, June 24 at 9:00pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

The Black Cat / Il gatto nero

Dario Argento

, Italy/USA, 1990, 66m

Harvey Keitel stars as an unlovable, Weegee-esque photographer who grows obsessed with a mysterious black cat that keeps wandering into his darkroom. A pastiche of various Edgar Allan Poe short stories, Argento’s contribution to the Two Evil Eyes horror pairing—his first collaboration with George Romero since 1978, when Argento helped Romero to secure funding for Dawn of the Dead—stands apart as an unnerving actor’s showcase for Keitel, whom Argento gave free rein to express what the filmmaker, in an interview with Maitland McDonagh, called “the psychology of someone who commits a crime and believes he can remain silent.” 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Tuesday, June 21 at 4:00pm Wednesday, June 29 at 6:30pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

Trauma

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1993, 106m

This chilly mystery thriller—the first father/daughter collaboration between director Dario and star Asia Argento—follows Aura, an anorexic teenager on the run after her parents’ murder at the hands of a mysterious serial killer, who wields a custom-made motorized garrote. Taking inspiration from his own niece’s experience with an eating disorder, the director—who co-wrote the script with American horror novelist T.E.D. Klein (The Ceremonies)—explores Freudian anxieties of abandonment, and feelings of invisibility in one’s own body and environment. Trauma features music by frequent De Palma composer Pino Donaggio, a supporting cast that includes Brad Dourif and Piper Laurie, and one of Argento’s best (and most grisly) twist endings. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Monday, June 20 at 4:15pm Saturday, June 25 at 4:00pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

The Stendhal Syndrome / La sindrome di Stendhal

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1996, 113m

Italian with English subtitles

Asia Argento delivers her first great lead performance in this dark psychological thriller, an adaptation of Graziella Magherini’s novel. She stars as Anna Manni, a police officer who’s raped and stalked by a killer (Thomas Kretschmann) after fainting in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery. In interviews, the director has said that he needed an actress who was “spontaneous,” “nervous,” and “modern” for the challenging role of Anna, and while the part was originally conceived with Bridget Fonda in mind, it’s now impossible to imagine anyone but Asia bringing the character to life. Featuring composer Ennio Morricone’s first post–Animal Trilogy score for Argento, The Stendhal Syndrome presents trauma as a communicable virus, and art as a channel for overwhelming self-destructive emotions. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Friday, June 24 at 4:00pm Wednesday, June 29 at 8:15pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

The Phantom of the Opera / Il fantasma dell’opera

Dario Argento

, Italy, 1998, 99m

Italian and French with English subtitles

The Paris Opera House—conjured by Argento on a studio set in Hungary—is alive and overrun with rats in this full-throated adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s gothic classic. Here, the Byronic Phantom (Julian Sands) is outwardly handsome, and instantly attractive to young singer Christine (Asia Argento). He also happens to have been raised by rats, and is perhaps a little too comfortable in their company. Argento and his co-writer Gérard Brach (Repulsion, The Tenant) contrast the elusive nature of the central pair’s relationship with the compulsive behavior of István Bubik’s Rat Catcher. Argento was inspired to add Bubik’s grubby villain to Leroux’s narrative after he, in real life, spotted a rat in the Paris Opera’s research library. Featuring a score by Ennio Morricone, Argento’s Phantom of the Opera is his most unabashedly romantic chiller to date. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Monday, June 20 at 2:00pm Tuesday, June 28 at 9:00pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

Sleepless / Non ho sonno

Dario Argento

, Italy, 2001, 117m

Italian with English subtitles

Max von Sydow stars in this giallo whodunit, one of a handful of Argento-helmed mysteries set and filmed in Turin. Von Sydow plays Ulisse Moretti, a retired cop who, years earlier, was tasked with solving a bizarre series of killings known as “The Dwarf Murders.” The details of that case slowly return to Moretti after he teams up with Officer Giacomo Gallo (Stefano Dionisi), whose mother was brutally murdered with a clarinet in the same fateful year. Originally titled Non ho sonno (“I Can’t Sleep”), a nod to the half-forgotten nursery rhyme that triggers the murderer’s compulsive behavior, the film takes inspiration from classic mysteries—particularly of detectives Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, and Nero Wolfe—and from consultations with contemporary giallo author Carlo Lucarelli that shaped the movie’s police-procedural sequences. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Wednesday, June 22 at 9:00pm Monday, June 27 at 3:30pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

The Card Player / Il cartaio

Dario Argento

, Italy, 2003, 103m

Italian with English subtitles

A killer challenges a Roman police inspector (Stefania Rocca) and a visiting Irish cop (Liam Cunningham) to a series of high-stakes online poker games in this characteristically tart poliziesco detective thriller. Like many of Argento’s gialli, The Card Player features a macabre, and sometimes elusive, sense of humor. Inspired by Dogme 95 filmmakers including Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, and shot mostly with natural light, The Card Player envisions Internet-Age Rome as a desaturated liminal space. Argento teases viewers right up until the film’s manic climax, involving a laptop, two pairs of handcuffs, and an oncoming train. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Wednesday, June 22 at 3:30pm Tuesday, June 28 at 6:30pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

Do You Like Hitchcock? / Ti piace Hitchcock?

Dario Argento

, Italy/Spain, 2005, 93m

Italian and Spanish with English subtitles

This playful thriller is as much an homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s paranoiac style as it is a hopeful tribute to modern film students and horror filmmakers alike. Originally intended to be the pilot episode of a cinema-themed series for Italian television, Do You Like Hitchcock? follows Giulio (Elio Germano), a clueless academic and reluctant voyeur who stumbles upon a murder plot involving his sexy neighbor (Elisabetta Rocchetti) and a mysterious blonde (Chiara Conti). An appropriately tongue-in-cheek score by Pino Donaggio (Body Double, Dressed to Kill) evokes the composer’s former reputation as “the new Bernard Herrmann,” perfectly paired with Argento’s “Italian Hitchcock.” 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Saturday, June 25 at 2:00pm Wednesday, June 29 at 4:15pm

World Premiere of New Restoration

Mother of Tears / La terza madre

Dario Argento

, Italy/USA, 2007, 102m

English, Italian, Japanese, and Hungarian with English subtitles

An invigorating experience working on two episodes of Showtime’s Masters of Horror anthology series (“Jenifer” and “Pelts”) compelled Argento to finish his supernatural “Three Mothers” trilogy. Daria Nicolodi and Udo Kier return to help Asia Argento fight the pitiless, bloodthirsty witch Mater Lachrymarum (Moran Atias) and her cannibalistic acolytes. Rather than rehash bygone glory days, when amateur sleuths fought to suppress their newly aggravated psychosexual angst, Argento concludes his iconic triptych with a giddy and gross apocalyptic conspiracy thriller, set in a modern age already overrun with dark magical thinking. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà.

Monday, June 20 at 9:00pm Monday, June 27 at 1:00pm

Dracula 3D

Dario Argento

, Italy/France/Spain, 2012, 110m

Stendhal Syndrome co-stars Thomas Kretschmann and Asia Argento reunite as Count Dracula and Lucy in Argento’s idiosyncratic update of Bram Stoker’s foundational vampire novel. Here, Dracula transforms into various creatures of the night, including an owl and a giant praying mantis, and lords it over a terrified community of superstitious people, most of whom are either in denial or too scared to challenge their undead master. Shot in vivid 3D by Luciano Tovoli (Suspiria, Tenebrae) and scored by a post-Goblin Claudio Simonetti, Dracula 3D also features Rutger Hauer’s charismatic performance as the archetypally purehearted vampire-slayer Abraham Van Helsing. Presented in 3D.

Thursday, June 23 at 9:00pm Sunday, June 26 at 8:30pm

North American Premiere

Dark Glasses / Occhiali neri

Dario Argent

o, Italy/France, 2022, 90m

Italian with English subtitles

This unusually tender giallo thriller—the maestro’s first movie in 10 years—follows Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli), a Roman sex worker, and Chin (Andrea Zhang), a Chinese-Italian preteen, as they try to catch a wire-wielding serial strangler after the killer causes a fateful car crash that leaves Diana blind and Chin orphaned. Argento revived and rewrote an earlier draft of Dark Glasses in collaboration with regular co-writer Franco Ferrini (Phenomena, The Card Player) and associate producer Asia Argento, who co-stars as an encouraging social worker. Argento draws unexpected connections between otherwise disparate corners of Rome—a city that, in this movie, is haunted by the presence of lonely outsiders. With a sleek, club-ready synth score by BPM (Beats Per Minute) composer Arnaud Rebotini, Dark Glasses offers a thrilling reminder of Argento’s gift for keeping even his most devoted fans guessing. A Shudder release.

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#Dario Argento #Film at Lincoln Center #Shudder #Mubi #Suspiria #Inferno #Mother of Tears #Dark Glasses #Dracula 3D #Deep Red #The Bird With the Crystal Plumage #The Cat o’ Nine Tails #Four Flies on Grey Velvet #The Five Days #Tenebrae #Phenomena #The Stendhal Syndrome #The Card Player #Do You Like Hitchcock?

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davidisen · 4 months

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NYC December 2023 - Part 1

[Updated to cover seven nights, December 19-25]

My winter music safari took me from New Orleans to Laguardia on Tuesday, December 19. I arrived at Mona's just a bit after the jam started. Here's the video - credit Dennis Lichtman. Fast forward to the music, 9 minutes:

youtube

On Wednesday night I had the amazing good fortune to catch both sets at Smoke. From L to R, the band was Emmet Cohen, Jon Webber, the great George Coleman, Joe Farnsworth and Peter Bernstein.

In the first set, my seat was right by Joe Farnsworth's left elbow.

I definitely have a better understanding of jazz drumming than I used to have. And I got some great shots from that angle.

I had a better view for the second set.

Here's Peter Bernstein.

This was probably my best photo of the night.

The music was bebop, not quite in my sweet spot. But it was absolutely delightful. Each of these guys is a master craftsman and inspired artist.

On Thursday, I ventured out to far Red Hook, to Sunny's Bar to hear Samoa Wilson sing. To my pleasant surprise, she was backed by Michaela Gomez, who I have not seen since before the pandemic, on guitar, and Brian Nalepka on bass.

Michaela's guitar work was strong. Samoa's singing was a perfect match for the jazz standards she sang.

On Friday night, I went to hear Jeanne Geis at Frankie and Johnny's on 37th. Her band consisted of Joe Cohn (guitar), with Mark Lewandowski (bass) and Paul Bollenback (guitar).

Joe Cohn is the father of Shaye Cohn from Tuba Skinny.

I had not seen Jeanne in many years.

I hadn't seen her in many years. Listening to an old friend sing, sitting on the corner of the bar, chatting with a few other friendly jazz fans. It felt familiar and comfortable.

On Saturday night, I went to hear Tatiana Eva-Marie at The Whitby Hotel on 56th Street. She was flawlessly accompanied by Paul Sikivie on Bass and Felix Lemerle on guitar.

Sunday,December 24 began with a trip downtown to hear Tamar Korn's brunch gig at the Temple Court. It's not a temple or a court. It's a hotel, with a delicious, expensive brunch.

The band, L to R, is Sam Chess (trombone), Jared Engel (bass) and Josh Dunn (guitar). The music was stunningly well-executed. Tamar's version of "Do the New York," which is usually kickass, was restrained by the genteel surroundings.

The usual Sunday evening jam at The Ear was typically excellent.

That's Tal Ronen (bass), Jay Rattman (sax), Chris Flory (guitar) and Jon Erik Kellso (trumpet).

Neal and his friends, Dr. Janet Sora Chung and Joe Jones (bassoon, not drums) enjoyed the show.

Musician friends Brennen Ernst and Jen Hodge were at the bar . . .

. . . until Maestro Kellso invited them to play a few tuned. They both leaned in with serious energy.

In the foreground, that's Phillup Debucket - a major supporter of the band. Phillup eagerly accepted my input.

On Christmas Day, Monday, December 25, Neal Siegal and I got the best seats in the house for Tamar's reprise Temple Court gig. It was a new lineup.

That's Tal Ronen (bass), Tomas Majcherski (tenor, clarinet), Jared Engel (4-string, 3-cone, resophonic not-a-banjo), and Tamar, vocals.

I never heard Tomas Majcherski play before. His playing was delightful and deep.

Tamar's singing seems to capture the rapt attention of the youngest listeners. I've seen it before. Now I've got a photo:

Neal and I spent the entire rest of the day looking for the great music, but a strange hush had descended on New York . . .

#jazz #hot jazz #nyc #Smoke jazz club #Youtube #TheEarInn #EarInn

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hobbyspacer · 9 months

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The Space Show this week - Aug.1.2023

The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week: 1. Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023; 7 pm PST (9 pm CST, 10 pm EST): We welcome the CEO of the developing Las Vegas Spaceport, Rob Lauer. For more information see https://lasvegasspaceport.org. 2. Hotel Mars - Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023; 1:00 pm PST (3:00 pm CST, 4:00 pm EST): Rick Fisher will talk with John Batchelor and Dr. David Livingston about China space developments. 3. Friday, Aug.4, 2023; 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am-1 pm CST, 12:30-2 pm EST): We welcome Dr. Ethan Siegel for updates and news on his new project. 4. Sunday, Aug.6, 2023; 12-1:30 pm PST (2-3:30 pm CST, 3-4:30 pm EST): We welcome back Robert (Sam) Wilson of the Aerospace Corp on his paper Space Force budget and priorities. Some recent shows: ** Sunday, July.30.2023 - Gary Barnhard discussed his idea about using the ISS as an SSP research platform when it is retired. Gary's presentations and papers are on our blog for you to read and follow during this program. He suggested additional uses for the ISS upon retirement but SSP was his main focus. https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4064-BWB-2023-07-30.mp3 ** Friday, July.28.2023 - Matt Shindell of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum discussed "his new Mars book which focuses on the role Mars plays in human culture dating back to the ancients". https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4063-BWB-2023-07-28.mp3 ** Hotel Mars - Wednesday, July.26.2023 - Douglas Messier gave John Batchelor and Dr. David Livingston an update "on Starship, preparations for the next launch, improvements being made and possible FAA delays". https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4062-BWB-2023-07-26.mp3 ** Tuesday, July.25.2023 - John Jossy discussed "his blog posts ISDC, sex in space and the need to have the gravity prescription determined, commercial companies seeking to spin or create art gravity on a commercial basis and more". https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4061-BWB-2023-07-25.mp3 ** Sunday, July.23.2023 - John Strickland gave an in-depth discussion on terraforming Mars. Don't forget to check out his information sheet on the blog and his publication list on his bio page. https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4060-BWB-2023-07-23.mp3 ** Friday, July.21.2023 - Patrick O'Neill talked about the "the ISS National Lab, who uses it, how it works, a national lab for the private stations, research and more". https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4059-BWB-2023-07-21.mp3 ** Thursday, July.20.2023 - Rand Simberg was a special guest for this special Space Show July 20th program. We talked about multiple topics including going to the lunar S. Pole or returning to Tranquility base. Starship was a main top throughout our discussion. The need for the gravity RX for human settlement, the renewal of the learning time extension coming due in Oct and much more. https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4058-BWB-2023-07-20.mp3 ** Hotel Mars - Wednesday, July.19.2023 - Stephanie Thomas of Princeton Satellite Systems gave John Batchelor and Dr. David Livingston an update on progress with both fusion energy and fusion propulsion for space. Stephanie talked about PSS and their work on a direct drive fusion rocket engine for propulsion, she mentioned timelines plus she mentioned other fusion methodology. We also talked about research for fusion for space and fusion for electricity here on Earth. https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4057-BWB-2023-07-19.mp3 ** See also: * The Space Show Archives * The Space Show Newsletter * The Space Show Shop The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

The Space Show - Dr. David Livingston === Amazon Ads === When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach === Critical Mass (A Delta-v Novel) Read the full article

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coghive · 1 year

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LeRae Records Announces Signing Of Marvinetta Clay & Invites Public To Single Debut Party

LeRae Records is thrilled to announce the signing of recording artist Marvinetta Clay, and is celebrating her debut radio single, “God Is So Good,” which releases today, Friday, November 11, 2022 via Exploration Distribution. “LeRae Records is honored to be the record label home of the incredibly talented Marvinetta Clay,” says LeRae Records Founder and CEO, Rev. Wilfred Moore. “God Is So Good” is a silky-smooth, jazz-inflected, Gospel-Urban Contemporary synthesis that effectively showcases Marvinetta’s rich, passionate vocals as they imbue the song with a soaring spiritual burst of energy. To listen to the “God is So Good” single, click here. The label will honor Marvinetta with a single release party tonight at Hamburger Mary’s Restaurant, located at 1700 East Flamingo Rd., Las Vegas, Nevada. Festivities will start at 6 p.m. PT and will feature music from Marvinetta, along with fellow LeRae Records recording artists Jack Yates and Fate Kent. Talent manager Kim Flowers of SMG | Styles Management and World Talent Management Group, LLC, will be on hand as the event’s celebrity host. Admission is free.

A preacher, teacher, singer, musician, writer, radio personality, and educator, Marvinetta is the newest signing at the Inspirational Gospel music label. Her radio single, “God is So Good,” is the debut release from her upcoming 2023 EP, Just Marvinetta, slated for release in First Quarter 2023. As a featured soloist with vocal groups including The Las Vegas Mass Choir, Michael Stokes & Company, The Voices of Judah, God’s P.L.A.N., and David Blakely, Marvinetta has performed throughout the United States and as far away as Australia at venues including The Melbourne International Jazz Festival, The House of Blues, and the Super Bowl. “I’m so excited at what God is doing with my music ministry,” says Marvinetta. “I can’t wait to see what doors He will open next!” In addition to her music ministry, Marvinetta, who holds a Doctor of Theology degree, serves as President of the Bread of Life Christian University Theology Seminary in Las Vegas, where she is an instructor in the Master’s Degree program. She is the Associate Pastor at God’s House International Ministries, where she is also the worship leader of the Praise and Worship ministry. In addition, she is a radio personality at Anointed Radio and hosts the Music of the Heart segment on KCEP 88.1 every 1st Sunday. Marvinetta is also the CEO of Clay Enterprises, LLC. She is reaching beyond the stars and will continue her preaching, teaching, and musical journey because she knows that God is the master planner of her life and she is very grateful for all opportunities and experiences encountered. https://youtu.be/I5whYsWNZYk Marvinetta’s debut single, “God Is So Good,” was co-written by Jack Yates and Fate Kent, who are also signed with LeRae Records. Jack Yates, who released his first project with the label in 2010, rose to prominence as one of the lead vocalists in the Stellar Award-nominated James Grear & Company, and has worked with renowned production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, performing on the Prince of Egypt and Emperor’s New Groove soundtracks. Yates is currently the Minister of Music for the 10,000 member Victory Baptist Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, the largest African American Church in Southern Nevada. Fate Kent, whose voice has been compared to such Motown greats as Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, and Smokey Robinson, but with a sound that is uniquely his own, has a solo project slated for release on LeRea Records in First Quarter 2023. Kent currently serves as one of the Associate Pastors of the Abundant Peace United Church of Christ, Las Vegas and is esteemed as a speaker and life-coach. “LeRae Records is blessed to work alongside of these amazing singer/songwriters,” says Rev. Moore. “We believe they are each uniquely qualified to reach the world with the message of God’s love.” Read the full article

#LeRaeRecords

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brn1029 · 2 years

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Time for today’s Rock Report, brought to you by Meriwether’s bistro! swing by for, breakfast, brunch lunch or dinner at Meriwether’s Bistro inside Hells Canyon Grand Hotel in Lewiston. Buy 1 Dinner entrée, receive the 2nd Dinner entrée for 25% OFF all through May at Meriwethers Bistro! Located inside the Hells Canyon Grand Hotel.

The electric guitar that Kurt Cobain played in the 1991 video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has been sold for $4.5 million. The late Nirvana frontman used the left-handed guitar during both the Nevermind and In Utero recording sessions as well as numerous prominent live performances. The iconic 1969 Fender Mustang, which was originally estimated to be auctioned for around $600,000, fetched more than seven times the expectation during the Music Icons auction at Julien's Auctions on Sunday. The Jim Irsay Collection of Indianapolis was the highest bidder among collectors who participated in the online and over-the-phone auction.

Kelly Clarkson performed a cover of Joni Mitchell's "River" during the "Kellyoke" segment of "The Kelly Clarkson Show" on Friday, May 20. Clarkson stayed faithful to the song, while she was joined on stage by her musical director Jason Halbert and guitarist Jaco Caraco. "River" is a song from Mitchell's 1971 album Blue. Clarkson's latest rendition is one of the countless covers of the song by other prominent artists, including Barry Manilow, Sarah McLachlan, James Taylor, Sam Smith, Judy Collins and Ellie Goulding. In 2019, Goulding's recording of "River" went No. 1 in the U.K.

Chicago recently released a new single, "If This Is Goodbye," their first new music in eight years, ahead of their summer co-headlining tour with Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, with Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin. "If This Is Goodbye" is the band's first original release since 2014's Chicago XXXVI: Now, and their first original single since 2008's "Let's Take a Lifetime," which appeared on Stone of Sisyphus.

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samthomaswilson · 4 years

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It can be said that he regrets having skipped that morning run. He left his boyfriend for a while alone, a week later he is helping to overthrow a government organization ..

Sam knows Erik is going to be furious but he can't help helping Steve. After Riley's death, he promised he wouldn't put those on.

but he cannot let innocent people die.

He leaves a voice message for Erik, hoping he will listen before everything becomes a mess.

III

Erik couldn't believe it when he saw his boyfriend flying on TV. Sam, your Sam, put those damn wings on.

He can't die, Erik has a ring hidden in his closet, waiting for their birthday to propose.

He jumped from the 41st floor of a building and hopes that Erik and especially his mother have not seen it, the fight has become a reality show.

Erik doesn't know what to think, when he sees everything falling into the Potomac River.

The feeling of relief comes over Sam when they find the cap alive.

VII

Talking to your mother was not easy, but she still understood.

Talking to your boyfriend would be a little more difficult.

VIII

Erik wanted to cry when he saw Samuel whole, with only a few injuries.

I'm sorry, but I had to do this I couldn't leave innoce..

Erik interrupted…. with a kiss.

Kissing Sam is like walking in paradise, Erik loves him, this is one of the only certainties he has.

Sam could spend all day kissing his man, but Erik suddenly lets go and has a knee on the floor.

XII

Erik promised himself if Sam got out of this mess, he would not wait any longer ... he should have already learned that sometimes in this life line waiting is not a good deal .

XIII

Sam is not believing his own eyes.

XIV

Sammy, you made me crazy, I want to kiss and kill at the same time ...

I love you and all I want most is to make you happy!

Samuel Thomas Wilson, do you want to marry me?

Sam, kissed your fiance! Didn't want to let go anymore ..

#can this be sam Wilson sundays?#sam wilson sundays #Sam Wilson sundays on Friday #sam wilson #erik killmonger #n'jadaka #SamErik

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averagewriter-inthedark · 2 years

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The boys finding out you hooked up w/ Ross | Dysfunctional Quartet HC | post TFATWS

Read the other HCs & imagines -> Series Masterlist | Marvel Masterlist

Pairings: Pairings: Sam Wilson x Vigilante!reader (platonic/flirtatious), Bucky Barnes x Vigilante!reader (platonic/flirtatious), Helmut Zemo x Vigilante!reader (platonic/flirtatious), Everett Ross (flirtatious/slight romantic)

Content warnings: profanity, flirtatious banter, mentions & implications of sex. Mentions of violence | gn!reader (they/them)

Premise: The boys were aware their hacker companion Y/n was unpredictable. Having been a team for so long they should know to expect the unexpected when it comes to them—but a certain night of activities with their boss? Now that was something they did not see from a mile away.

—————————

See after being a team for so long, one would think the boys would be used to your unpredictable nature—but you knew how to surprise people.

Following a successful assignment, the four of you made it back to the States to do a final briefing with Agent Ross who was your superior. The meeting went good—no threats of being put back in prison because you actually stayed with the plan for the mission. Unlike the first one you were on.

When you were dismissed you were in a celebration mood and wanted to go out with the boys—even inviting Ross along. It surprised you when he agreed so you all made your way to a bar to have some drinks to toast another successful mission.

It was a fun time, but when the night came to a closing and the others were ready to go home, you still had to finish your drink and Ross offered to stay behind to make sure you made it back to the compound you were housed at. “Ahh don’t want to get rid of me yet, Rossi?” “Just making sure you don’t run off again, L/N.” “Whatever you say handsome.”

Well let’s just say that last drink you two shared turned into two. Then three. And one more for good measure until you two were stumbling into your room of the compound with your lips locked and clothes flying everywhere. “I knew you had a soft spot for me, blondie.”

Neither of you two had dabbled in late night activities in awhile—considering you were in prison, but that didn’t you didn’t know what you were doing. It was a mind blowing night to say the least—with you craving the agent more once it came to end.

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to fuck your superiors—especially as a criminal— but you were not gonna let the opportunity slip away. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t find the older man to be attractive with a sex appeal making your mouth water. You didn’t expect anything to come out of it, but it was fun while it lasted.

The next morning was….interesting. Ross didn’t know how to act or say—feeling like it had been a bad idea, but you assured him with a kiss saying, “Don’t worry, Ev, I can keep a secret. This may have been a one time thing, so thanks for making it worth wild—but I wouldn’t complain if you wanted more.”

After some small talk and establishing the night must remain hidden from everyone—including the boys, Ross made his leave. The smirk wouldn’t leave your face all day—feeling very proud with the fact you managed to score some spice with the blonde agent. You felt very accomplished—even if you had to keep quiet about it.

The following day, a Sunday, the boys had come to your place to go over what the move was on your next mission. Zemo spent most of his time drinking your liquor stash looking bored, while Bucky and Sam did most of the talking—as they usually did. Bucky was quite the observer, so he could pick up on the shift of your behavior.

“What’s up with you today?” “Whatever do you mean, Winter man?” “You’re barely interrupting us and look more relaxed—what did going out on Friday do a number on you?” “I just feel confident that whatever you and Cap decides will be the best move, Buck. No need to get sus of me.”

Bucky didn’t buy it, and he took notice you were wearing a turtleneck when it was nearly 80+ degrees outside. Sam got his attention again, but the former soldier was trying to figure out what was up with you.

It wasn’t until Sam excused himself to use the bathroom—which happened to be in your bedroom, that the truth (unfortunately for you) was revealed. “Uh, Y/n, why is Ross’ tie and badge in your room?” Bucky nearly loses it, “ROSS’ WHAT?! Are you fucking kidding me? I knew something was up—how you’re acting, the turtleneck when it’s hot as hell outside—why you look like you won an Olympic gold medal.” “Bucky would you shut the hell up—.” “No, Sam! Can’t you see this can compromise our whole team!”

Zemo, still drinking goes, “oh my. Y/n you slept with our boss?” All you could do was bring your hand to your face, cursing that Ross’ dumbass—who swore to the Gods your night was to be kept secret—was the one to give y’all up in just a day. “That motherfucker.”

Zemo smirks—feeling quite proud that you, a criminal, fucked y’all’s superior who happened to be a federal agent, “Did you at least enjoy yourself.” All you could do was send him a wink, ignoring the arguing between the two avengers. “The man knows his way around a body—plus he’s big. I wouldn’t mind having another taste.”

Let’s just say, Ross was in for a treat the next time you four were briefed.

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shurisneakers · 3 years

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harmless (x)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, anxiety, smidge of angst, mentions of violence

Word count: 7.8k (i went overboard. clearly.)

A/N: as well all know, i am a humanities student writing science geeks. if any of this sounds unrealistic or nonsensical, it’s because it is and i am honestly too exhausted to research data privacy and AI so here’s my take on how STEM should work i.e. the power of friendship <3 major shoutout to @iamlittlesparkler for the idea for this chapter!

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Series Masterlist

“As you know, we have a busy week ahead of us.”

Coffees line the conference room table, pens click against the stacks of paper that settle in front of various agents and the smell of deodorant mixed with post-training sweat lingers at the back of the room like a disgusting witch concoction.

“The annual parade is coming up and since there are a few security threats, SHIELD has been asked to step in. Therefore, all of you will be working security this week, possibly even at the parade.” Murmurs broke out in the room the minute this was said; mostly from first year field agents who were way too excited to have earpieces and fingerless gloves.

Bucky, on the other hand, doesn’t think much of it. They’ve dealt with threats before, most were declared empty the minute it got out that SHIELD or the Avengers were involved. It’s the 12th one that year.

“That’s only if we don’t catch it first,” Steve continued. “Our first priority is precaution. The tech and analytics teams are working on it. However, if you see anything suspicious, bring it up with Director Fury. He’s going to be around to make sure we’re not overlooking anything. Do you have any questions?”

More whispers erupted at the mention of Fury’s name. Wait till they realise he lives up to his name when they accidentally manage to set him off just by existing incorrectly.

Bucky smirks at the thought.

“You can leave then.” Steve straightens up as chairs shuffle against the carpeted floor, over twenty people leaving the room.

“And remember, if you see an eagle today, be sure to stand there and thank it on behalf of Steve for its service. Freedom! Liberty! And whatever else,” Tony calls out from the corner of the room, earning a sigh from the captain. Others only snicker as they close the door behind them.

“Thanks.” Steve stares at him stone faced, bemused at the symbolism that had been bestowed upon him.

“Gotta keep the patriotism high.” The only ones that remain are the official team. Bucky thinks that he should have left with the other agents but apparently, it was rude and not a good show of team spirit.

“How serious is this threat anyway?” Clint has his head face down on the table, hand holding his to-go coffee cup so it doesn’t fall over.

“We’re not sure.” Steve finally takes a seat on the chair in front of him. “It’s the biggest event we’ve had this year, wouldn’t put it past them.”

“If it’s those Welsh kids again, I’m gonna punch a hole through their house this time,” Clint warns, voice muffled through the furniture.

“It’s not them, we checked.” Nat had her leg up on the armrest of Clint’s chair. “Tech team’s been working overtime to figure it out.”

“You have anything that could help?” Sam sends a nod towards Tony.

“I got a few things but it’d take a while to put it together.”

“Didn’t you learn quantum physics in a night?” Wanda’s picking apart a cookie into pieces, chewing slowly.

“Thermodynamic astrophysics,” he corrects her. “Quantum science took lesser.”

Bucky scoffs slightly at the brag, eyes still trained on the table in front of him. Maybe if he made no noise, they would forget he’s here.

“Yeah, so this should be a piece’a cake.”

“If your cake was somehow made out of a highly specified tracker that somehow doesn’t violate the data privacy of the entire world while analysing millions of terabytes worth of information, then yeah. A piece of it.”

“What he means to say-” Bruce interjects, “-is that we’re trying. It’s just taking longer than usual.”

“Well, the parade’s this Sunday. Think it’ll be done by then?”

“Hey FRIDAY,” Tony crosses his arm over his chest. “How many hours have I slept this week?”

“Three and a half, boss.”

“How much more will I be getting?”

“From previous experience, about six.”

“Yeah, we can get it done.” Tony looks back at Steve.

“Ask someone on the tech team to help you out.” Everyone was well aware of Tony’s bad coping mechanisms and how futile it was to get him to change his mind about it, but they still tried.

“They’re too busy.” Bruce pressed his lips into a straight line.

Bucky tunes out at this point. If he could help, he would have reluctantly chimed in by now, but he couldn’t.

“So what now?” Sam rips Clint’s doughnut into two, keeping one half for himself while leaving the other to the latter who still hadn’t lifted his head up from the table.

“I actually asked Fury if I could call in an external to come help,” Tony pipes up.

“And he agreed?” Nat raised an eyebrow.

“After he realised I wasn’t going to leave his office until he said yes.” He pulled out his phone, rapidly typing out a message before hitting send. “It didn’t take too long.”

“Do we know this person?” Steve asks a little suspiciously.

“Well-” Bruce sneaks a glance at the broody man on the chair, “-kinda.”

Everyone can tell Bucky isn’t paying attention by the way he’s glaring holes into the plant. He doesn’t mean to, it just so happens that it looks like he wants to kill it. Nobody tends to bother him during meetings, knowing well and fully that he did not care.

“You’re about to.” Tony jumps up, making his way to the door to pull it open.

Bucky perks up. An open door means they can leave, right? He can go watch The Bachelor? He’s not sure what everyone was talking about, but if the meeting was over he could go ask Wanda who was always kind enough to help.

“Our newest recruit,” the billionaire announces, quickly adding the next part, “on a trial basis.”

Bucky looks at the door.

His jaw drops open.

“No,” he says loudly, posture immediately stiff as a plank.

“Hello to you too, Barnes.” You roll your eyes before sending a small wave to everyone else. “Hey everyone.”

“What are you doing here?” He looks like he’s seething.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about our date.” You cross your arms over your chest in defiance. “You told me 3 o’clock, you player.”

“What is she doing here?” He whips to Steve for an answer.

“Hey Y/N,” Sam greets with a smile on his face before Steve can reply.

“Sam Wilson, good to see you again.” You grin.

“Right back at ya, sugar.”

Wanda looks amused, Clint finally lifts his head off the table at the mention of your name while Nat takes her feet off his armrest, and Steve’s body relaxes when he realises what’s going on.

“Okay.” Tony claps his hand. Bucky shoots daggers at him. “As you all know, this is Y/N. She’s going to working with us this week.”

“This is ridi- how did you even find out about her?”

“Aside from the fact that she’s all you talk about?” Clint snorts. Bucky shifts his glare to him. It was bullshit and an exaggeration and Clint was going to get a shoe up his ass very soon.

Your grin only grows bigger.

“We saw one of the repulsors she made some time ago,” Bruce answers his question like the sane person that he is. “Tony’s had her in mind for a while.”

“Repulsors? How on ear-” Bucky connects two and two together before turning to Sam. “You. You got her this job.”

“Sam’s my best wingman.” You send him a small heart made from your hands. Whether the pun was intentional or not, no one would know.

“Don’t look at me, I had nothing to do with this idea.” Sam raised his hands to brush off the blame.

“You’re a villain,” he points out loudly.

“I’m a saint.” You raise your hand to your heart in mock offence. “I have done nothing wrong in my life, ever.”

“Listen, Robocop,” Tony interrupts your conversation, bringing the attention back to him, “I cleared it with Fury. He’s the boss here.”

“Fury doesn’t know-”

“What don’t I know?” The atmosphere of the room changes the minute he saunters in.

With an eyepatch on his face, gaze sharp and a long black coat, Nick Fury puts Bucky’s dark outfits to shame. Not like he was competing.

Bucky doesn’t continue his sentence. Nick’s imposing presence loomed at the doorway, putting a stop to the ridiculous arguments that were beginning to boil. Instead, he looks at you, only to find your attention trained on the man of the hour.

“Nicholas,” you half cheer from where you had shifted to in the middle of all the commotion.

Nicholas?

No one had ever called him Nicholas.

“Y/L/N,” Nick addresses in return. “Been a while.”

“You haven’t come to the lair in months, Nick.” You pout at him. “I even sent you an invite.”

Bucky furrows his eyebrows. Since when are you on such good terms with Fury? Since when was anyone on good terms with Fury?

“It must have gotten lost in the mail,” he fires back, “Or maybe it’s because I just happen to be the busiest man in the damn country. Take your pick.”

You roll your eyes, muttering something under your breath, but the good natured smile on your face shows that you didn’t take any of his passive- or straight up- aggressiveness to heart.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I was interrupting your little tea time.” He looks around the rest of the room with an edge in his voice. “Don’t you all have work to do?”

“We do,” Tony interrupts, holding up his hand before pointing to Bruce and you. “Everyone else just sorta sits around and looks pretty.”

“I’m gonna go talk to the organisers, see what spots are most vulnerable.” Steve stands up. “You coming?”

“Yep,” Sam responds, flicking Clint’s shoulder to drag him along. “Come on, man. When was the last time you took a shower?”

“I’ll go see what the kids are up to in training. They’re probably flying off the handle right now.” Natasha brushes off crumbs from her lap. “Barnes, you in?”

Bucky silently shakes his head, eyes focused on you as you introduce yourself to every Avenger who walks out of the room, sharing a small fist bump with Sam.

“I’ll do it,” Wanda volunteers instead, finally leaving behind only the Science Bros, you and Bucky in the room with Fury.

“I’ll give you a tour of the lab.” Tony beckons and you nod, following him. “New eyepatch, Fury? Prada, I assume?”

“Stark,” Nick says curtly.

Bucky stares after you, arms still folded across his chest.

“Any problem, Sergeant?”

Other than the fact that his arch nemesis was now working with his friends, no, not really. But that did seem like a pretty big one.

“No,” Bucky mumbles instead, getting up from his place finally.

Apparently, no one else was worried about the possibly lethal combination of you and Stark, even with Banner there to dilute it.

Fine.

Guess he just has to observe you the whole week.

Well, half a week. It was Wednesday.

He observes inconspicuously over the rim of his coffee cup. He has a newspaper spread in front of him at Bruce’s table.

It’s not suspicious. He’s been there multiple times to sit in silence with the scientist who occasionally tinkers with something while engaging Bucky in tidbits of conversation. He finds it calming, refreshing even

Today he has an agenda. Everyone knows about it too.

“You know he’s staring at you, right?” Bruce looks up briefly from the giant blueprint laid in front of the group.

Tony had been dragged away to get a proper meal into him after he stayed up for 36 hours straight with caffeine keeping his system running.

“He has a tendency to do that.” You’re looking over the plan the three of you had come up with the day before. There were certain changes to be made in terms of efficiency. “Turns out if you annoy him, he stares harder.”

“We’ve heard about the inventions. Inators, he calls them?”

“Yeah,” you point out something on the sheet, drawing a circle around it to come back to later, “only good things I hope?”

“He doesn’t really talk much.” Bruce writes down a small comment against your arrow mark. “But if he hated them, he’d have a lot to say. So I’d take it as a compliment.”

“Would it annoy him if I did?”

“Probably.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment, then. Pass me the ruler?” You draw a line connecting two pieces.

Bucky’s ability to lip read is excellent but he refuses to do it, for privacy purposes. He knew that SHIELD had pulled some strings and had another teacher substituting for your classes the whole week since your other option was to come only after school hours. Anything else about this plan was murky.

“You gonna sit there all day?” Tony looks over his shoulder, following his line of sight.

“I’ve done it before.” He continues to look over the newspaper at you with your finger extended at something on the blueprint as you explained something to Bruce.

“You look like- how do I say this nicely.” He wasn’t going to. “A fuckin’ stalker.”

“I’m supposed to stop her from doing anything evil.”

“Sure.” Tony snorts. “That’s what this is. Should I get you a fedora and sunglasses while we’re at it?”

Of course Stark wouldn’t care; he brought you into this project. It was pretty much impossible to get him to agree with Bucky.

Bucky just narrows his eyes and continues his observation.

The menu of the cafeteria keeps changing. They like to keep things interesting.

Every time they do, Bucky spends too long staring at the menu, trying to figure out what exactly is familiar enough to order. Vietnamese week had him eating pho the entire duration it stayed.

“You plannin’ on eating anytime this century, sarge?” He recognises your voice immediately.

He knows what time your break is and he knows that you generally eat lunch in the cafeteria with the science team. Generally, the three of you pour over solutions and debate points all through the meal, and he spends the time getting acquainted with his new, lowkey Instagram account.

He blocks the Bucky Barnes hashtag the minute he gets an account again. God save his eyes from people asking him to break their back like a glow-stick. However, one afternoon of accidentally watching three cat videos has led to his entire explore page being taken over by them and he’s been trying for three days to get it to stop.

“Just trying to-” he tilts his head. “-understand what I’m reading.”

“Not a big fan of Greek food?” You join him in looking at the menu.

“Never really had the chance to try.” Tony and Bruce don’t seem to be in the room, probably pushing aside their meal to work on it as they’ve often done.

“Ah.” You already had your order in mind but you wait there.

Two minutes later he’s still staring at the menu. He can feel your presence next to him, unmoving. It unnerves him.

“Why are you still standing here?” He cranes his neck to look at you.

“I’m just seeing how long it takes for you to order.” You shrug. “So far it’s been five minutes and forty six seconds. Forty eight now.”

“Go away.” The concept of someone standing beside him, waiting for him to do something reminded him far too much of him trying to bag his stuff at the grocery counter rapidly while other customers waited to pay.

“Six minutes and thirty seconds. This is just sad now.”

“Your face is sad.” It was pathetic that he had now resorted to this.

It earned a laugh from you.

As entertaining as it was to be able to get on his nerves by just standing silently next to him, you finally ask, “Do you want a recommendation?”

He eyes you wearily. “You gonna give me food poisoning?”

“Not today, no.” You shake your head slightly. “Maybe tomorrow.”

He stares a little longer. You remain unshaken in your offer.

“Fine.” He sighs, stepping aside.

You tell him that since it’s his first time, you’d get him something basic. He thought it made sense.

He argued with you when you ended up paying for the both of you, only shutting up when you told him he’s holding up the line and that he could pay you back later. It doesn’t stop his incessant mumble complaining.

He ends up with gyros at his table and you sitting opposite him with your meal. He asks where the Science Bros are. You tell him it’s Science Hoes now, as christened by Tony, and that they’re in the lab.

“So?” You look at him eagerly.

“What?”

“How is it?” you urge, nodding at him.

He takes a cautious bite, really taking his time with it to annoy your impatient ass.

“Well?” You raise your eyebrow at him.

“It’s-” he pauses, looking down at his food. “-good.”

“Aha.” You lean back victoriously. “Knew it.”

He likes it. He also knows that this is probably going to be the only thing he orders for the next week unless you had planned otherwise.

“You’re not eating?” He gestures to your untouched tray.

“Taking it up to the lab. Got a few things to work on and we’re already behind.” You gather up your stuff and get up.

“Uh-” he pauses from practically inhaling the entire thing. He was already halfway done with it. “-thanks.”

“No problem. You wink at him. “Try figuring out what’s wrong with it.”

You turn on your heel to leave, taking your order with you. He can see your shoulders bobbing with silent laughter.

He stares down at his plate, swallowing slowly.

He pokes at it with a fork, lifting up the leftovers to check if there’s anything underneath. Nothing.

He checks to see if his limbs are still intact or his face was a different colour. Nope.

His stomach twists in worry about what’s going to happen. He still has a bit left but he pushes the tray aside.

The rest of the day he spends supervising you has you occasionally catching his eye, only to laugh. It only freaks him out more.

It takes eight hours of waiting and self induced tests later to realise there was nothing wrong with it. You were just playing with him.

He’s surprised to find you in the rec room when he strolls in with Sam, given that you haven’t taken a break all day.

You don’t share the same surprise... almost like you expected him.

“How long have you been waiting for me?” he immediately asks.

"I wasn’t here for you.” You raise an eyebrow at him. “Heard that Wilson was makin’ an appearance here soon so I stopped by to get a good look at him."

"Take a picture, it'll last longer.” Sam laughs, inserting a dollar into the machine and punching in the code for what he wanted.

"Gladly. Strike a pose, would you?" You grin, raising your phone.

“Maybe when I’m not covered in sweat.” Sam counter offers and you accept with a thumbs up.

“You going to the parade, Sam?” You toy with the can in your hands.

“I’ll be working security, so probably.”

“Sarge?” You take a swig of your drink.

“Huh?” He snaps back into the conversation, putting a stop to the mental list of reasons he was making of why you could be here at the same time as him. He knew your schedule, it wouldn’t be very hard for you to figure out his.

“You coming to the parade on Sunday?” you ask again.

“I guess.”

You wince.

“What?” he asks instantly, curiosity making him a lot sloppier than usual.

“It’s just- you wear so much black.” You gesture to his current getup to prove your point. ”I feel like all the bright colours would vaporise you if you looked at them.”

He doesn’t look amused.

“You know, like Prince Philip.”

“I think I’ll be fine.” He gives you a sarcastic smile.

“You comin’ Buck?” Sam laughs, unwrapping the bar he bought from the machine.

“You go ahead, I’ll catch up,” Bucky says offhandedly, still glaring at you innocently drinking your soda.

Sam chews absentmindedly on his protein bar as he walks out, amused at the situation Bucky pulled himself into.

“What’d you do?” Bucky asks, studying your body language.

“I bought a soda.” You lift the can to prove your point. “And now I’m drinking it.”

“Why are you waiting for me?”

“I thought I’d return the favour,” you point out. “I’m supervising you.”

“Don’t.” He walks to the vending machine, pulling out his wallet for some loose change. There was a Snickers bar he had been craving since morning that he bought every alternate day. Small joys.

“Why? I have the time.” You take a sip, setting it down with a clang.

“You’re only here for this week.” Bucky counted the coins he had. He’d use a dollar but he was trying to get rid of the jingling in his pocket that made him sound like a fucking clown when he walked.

“Actually,” you begin innocuously, “Tony offered me a full-time position.”

Bucky’s movements stop, hunched over the money in his palm.

“What?”

“Yeah.” You nod seriously. “A full nine-to-five as a researcher here.”

“And you’re taking it.” He shakes himself out of the minor shock to assess the damage.

“I don’t know. I got a lot of things to consider.” The chair scrapes against the tiled floor as you stand up. “But maybe you should get used to seeing me a lot more around here.”

He punches in the code for his Snickers. The row whirs forward slowly.

“See you at the lab.” He hears you discard the empty can in the trash before exiting.

He waits patiently for his bar to drop while his mind internally screams about the consequences of having you work here. You wouldn’t be evil anymore. Unless you were here to steal secrets from the Tower. On the pro side, his weekend would be free again. On the con side, his weekend would be free again.

His bar stops right at the edge of the row. He waits for it to fall over. It doesn’t.

He shakes the machine, suppressing the primal urge to beat the shit out of it when the damn bar refuses to fall.

He punches in a few random buttons hoping that at least it would give his money back.

The little monitor instead flashes a new message across the screen.

‘Have a good day, sarge <3’

Motherfucker.

Captain America looks less daunting up close, you realise. But he is still a very large man with very large shoulders. You know at least four people who would like to scale him like a tree, not that you’d ever tell him.

“Hey, Y/N.” He sends you a small smile when you walk into the room for a mid-week update. A clipboard in your hand, report attached and a few stationery items in case some points needed to be noted done, you look professional and ready.

“Afternoon, Captain.” Tony saves a seat for you and Bruce beside him since you’re on the same project. You almost miss the fact that Bucky isn’t in the room.

He walks in a few minutes late; tall, dark and brooding, immediately bringing the excitement in the room down by 40% by just existing.

Bucky surveys the room before catching your eye. He picks up his chair with ease and drags it over to where you are, sitting right beside you, ignoring the small cry of protest from an agent whose view he now obstructed. Everyone else just silently shifted over.

“Clingy much?” you whisper at him, eyes still trained on Steve who had waited till everyone was seated to continue.

“I’m supposed t’be keeping an eye on you,” he rebuffs in a hush.

“Well, you’re late. What if I went rogue, huh?”

“Therapy ran overtime,” he mumbles.

“Oh.” You blink. “How was it?”

“Same old.”

“You good?”

He refrains from answering when Steve starts addressing the room but yes, he was fine. He sends you a nod to confirm.

“This is just a usual checking in. We’ve received all your reports, but just to keep everyone on the same page-”

Bucky logs out mentally. He knows what his job is, he’ll probably lead a division of the security team or join the mission to neutralise the threat in case they find it first. Either way, he’ll figure it out without having to listen to an intern nervously stammer their way through their team’s report.

On the other hand, you’re not listening either. You were until you saw Bucky’s eyes glaze over while glowering at the window, assuming that he had stopped paying attention when his gaze doesn’t shift.

You should be listening. You’re new here and you should know what’s going on because any bits of detail are crucial to the working of your system.

Instead, you rip out a sticky note and discreetly place it on the back of Bucky’s metal arm. He doesn’t notice.

You bite your lip to stop yourself from smiling. More post-its from your pile of stationery make their way onto the vibranium, shades of pink, purple, green and yellow decorating his arm like a bulletin board.

You’re about to contemplate sticking one on his shoulder blade when he whips around to look at you. You freeze, hand in the air with a sticky note. He looks down at his arm, a scoff escaping him in disbelief.

“Are you serious?” He twists his arm to check the extent of how far you’ve gone. “What are you, six?”

“How’d it take you so long to notice?” You watch as he tugs them off one by one, counting to see how many you had managed to get on there.

“It’s impossible not to zone out in these shitty meetings,” he mumbles, pulling off the last one, crumpling all of them into a ball to throw at you. You skilfully avoid them.

“Don’t you feel pressure or heat or anything here?” You poke at his metal arm.

“No.” He clenches and releases the fist. “It can block bullets though.”

You snort. “Bet that’s a popular line in bed.”

He rolls his eyes. “I mean, it helps that I can’t feel anything. Sometimes,” he adds the last part as an afterthought.

“Like when you’re blocking bullets.”

“Especially then.” He nods.

“Would you ever want to?” you ask casually. “Like if you got the choice, would you prefer having feeling in that arm?”

“I don’t know.” He’s thought about it, but it doesn’t seem feasible in his line of work. He’d like it, though, to feel sand slipping through his fingers and the comforter under his palm. “Maybe when I’m retired.”

“Aren’t you well past that age?”

“Shut up.” He rolls his eyes. “And pay attention. You’re next.”

“So you are listening.” True to his word, Steve asks about what’s going on with your team. “Traitor.”

Tony shoots off about how you only had to test it out on a small batch first to see if you could acquire the targeted data without compromising anything else. You chime in about a few specifics, and Bruce more or less just confirms what you both are saying, only stopping to let them know that you’d be finished in a day or two.

Steve nods, moving on to the next committee.

“Did I get a good grade?” you whisper when you lean back again.

“B minus at best.”

“Fuck you, dude. I was great,” you protested. “It’s definitely worth a gold sticker.”

Someone shushes you sharply. You apologise quietly, whacking Bucky’s metal arm when you see a dumb smirk on his face.

He narrows his eyes at you.

You try sticking another post-it on him.

You’re only here for a week. That’s what he’s been told. Over six times, actually, after which he’s been told to go away the next time he asked.

No one’s brought up the job offer so he asks Tony if it was true and all he gets is a dismissive ‘yeah, whatever’. Besides, you haven’t told him if you accepted or denied it yet so isn’t sure if this entire thing is set in stone, per se.

So then why do you have a giant box of your belongings that you’re lugging around the lab, looking to set down?

And why does Tony allow you a table right in the centre of the lab for everyone to see as soon as they walk in?

There are a gazillion trinkets, picture frames and obnoxiously bright stationery that stands out against the dull minimalism of the lab.

“Every single one of these is a fire hazard,” he reports, standing over your desk.

You give him a side glance before reaching over to the side of your desk, pulling up a fire extinguisher and setting it on the table in front of him. “I came prepared, bitch boy.”

He doesn’t dignify that with a response. He chooses to look at what exactly you’ve brought with you because it’s a lot.

There are small cards with ‘thank you!’ sprawled on them in uneven lettering, bits and pieces of paper with small cartoons on them, little clay models and other miniature trophies with ‘you’re the best!’ under it.

“Your students gave you these?” He can’t remember the last time he gave his teacher anything other than a headache.

“Sometimes they learn or communicate better when they have something to keep their hands busy.” There’s a certain fondness in your voice that he isn’t used to hearing. “I end up with a lot of doodles and craft.”

“’s nice of them.” He can tell that this means a lot to you. He hasn’t seen it before.

He thinks the little decorations are adorable and maybe he’d keep another fire extinguisher on hand, just in case.

Until you start pulling out a set of framed photos and his smile drops.

Several collages of Bucky in flower crowns, him with terribly edited backgrounds of beaches and mountains, a photo of him laughing with ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ next to it in an italicised font.

“What the fuck,” he states, grabbing one of them.

You stifle a laugh, pulling out several more to place along your table.

“Where did you fucking get these?” He starts pulling them off the table one by one.

“I don’t think you know how much the internet is obsessed with you.” You set an especially large one of him in a Hello Kitty bowtie right in the centre. He doesn’t miss the star shaped frame you chose for this.

“What is wrong with you?” He swipes that up immediately, looking for a place to discard, possibly burn these pictures. “Why do you even have these?”

“It’s imperative that people know we’re friends.” You bite your lip, bringing out the last thing to annoy him.

“What is that?” A teddy bear with a blue jacket and a grey felt arm stared into his soul.

“A Bucky bear.” Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh. “Limited edition.”

He snatches it along with the fifteen other picture frames, thinly veiled distress and mostly disgust on his face.

“I hate you.”

“But I love you.” You lift the small heart shaped locket you hung on one of the pictures of your class.

You use both your hands to click it open for him, watching his face morph into one of disbelief.

Bucky my beloved, it read on the right with a small picture of him on the left looking intensely disgruntled. He doesn’t bother asking where you found that specific picture of him outside a Burger King at 3am.

He doesn’t even make an effort to take it away this time. He knows that you’ll simply bring up more and more until you drove him crazy.

“You still have to see the Avengers calendar.” You reach for the inside. “I changed all the pictures to you, it looks great-”

He turns around and leaves before you get a chance to flip open the pages.

He wanders around, looking for the best disposal area he can find. He knows there’s a giant fireplace in the common room in the Tower, and for that, he’d have to go up a couple of floors.

He steps into the elevator, chin pressing down on the several picture frames in his hands to prevent them from falling over.

No one sees him carrying a couple of fan edited pictures and merchandise of him. Which was good.

Unfortunately, the doors ding open on the next floor and his best friend steps on with possibly the worst timing ever.

“Buck?” Steve sounds confused. He should be, considering the sight.

Bucky shimmies slightly to get a better grip on his belongings. “Steven.”

Steve glances at what he’s holding.

“Is this,” Steve pauses, trying to frame his words correctly to sound as supportive as possible, “a therapy thing?”

“No.”

Steve waits for a further explanation.

“It’s Y/N’s,” he elucidates. Steve’s eyebrows furrow.

“Why are there so many pictures of you?” He looks at the content in his hands a little closer. “And a bear.”

“She’s evil. And I hate her.”

“Alright.” It doesn’t answer his question but his friend looks irked enough.

The elevator dings to the common room floor.

Bucky turns on his heel to head toward the place to set all the pictures on fire. He saves the picture frames to give back to you though, he’s sure those cost money. But he makes sure every last square inch of the picture with several hearts around his portrait burns to ash.

Bucky knows that by the time Saturday afternoon rolls around, the three of you would have been working for thirty hours straight, scrambling to get the last minute details done.

You’re still at it but he can tell through the adrenaline of the upcoming deadline that you’re exhausted.

Now he’s grouchy but he’s not an asshole. He’s already done two coffee runs for the team and brought you food when you didn’t show up for lunch. He mumbles something and dismisses it when you call out a ‘thank you’ his way. He considers it a debt repaid for the gyros.

He’s still keeping an eye on you but along with an emergency box of doughnuts for any sugar rushes that may be needed and bottles of water that he occasionally leaves at the corner of the table for you three to subconsciously keep yourself hydrated.

“Are you sure we checked it?”

“Yes.” Bruce nods.

“Double checked it?”

“Yes.”

“Triple checked it.”

“Yes.”

You look satisfied enough to move on to the next item. “Pass me the welding torch for a second.”

Bucky has a book in front of him that he hasn’t moved beyond the second page of. He’s more interested in seeing who collapses from burnout first. He has the infirmary on speed dial.

After another hour or so Tony holds up a silver tablet, roughly the same size as a smartphone, examining it from all sides.

“That’s it,” he states. “The final product.”

You exhale lightly.

“We should name it.” You have your hands on your hips, looking down at it in wonder. Maybe the zero hours of sleep was finally kicking in because you couldn’t believe you were finally done.

“You got any suggestions?” Tony asks.

To be frank, no, you didn’t.

“No.”

“Okay, we’ll do that later.” Tony sets it down, not sounding too disappointed. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, tell the team to get down here, please.”

“Yes, boss.”

Bucky jumps off his chair to join you in the lab, leaving the book behind.

It only takes a few moments for the others to join. Fury and Steve walk in together, already engaged in conversation.

“Greetings.” You clap your hands together. “We did it. We think.”

“We think?” Nick raises an eyebrow.

“We know,” Bruce clarifies quickly, stepping in. “We’re positive it works. We tested it out.”

Tony pulls up the holograph of F.R.I.D.AY’s system, sliding the tablet to the middle of the table.

“Is it secured under FRIDAY’s core?”

“Locked and loaded.” Tony hits the table lightly to signify that it was safe.

“I think we’re ready,” Bruce confirms.

“We better be, or else half the country is suddenly going to lose their internet connection,” you say under your breath.

“What?” Bucky’s eyebrows knit together.

“Nothing,” you beamed, “Okay F.R.I.D.A.Y., run sequence, global parameter.”

“Running sequence,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. parrots.

There was no going back now.

From what Bucky can see, Tony looks fairly confident but you have your bottom lip caged between your teeth, chewing on it nervously.

There are several hundreds of photographs popping up and disappearing within a minute. Everything looks like it’s going according to plan.

The giant holograph of the AI dims. Your face drops when F.R.I.D.A.Y. seems to sputter to a halt.

No one breathes.

In the midst of the tension, Clint mutters if they should play some background music. It’s followed by a swift ‘ow’ when Natasha flicks him in the shoulder.

You could hear a pin drop.

It suddenly picks back up again, running faster than the last time and the sigh everyone collectively heaves is almost comical.

It runs for a few seconds more before a list of names suddenly pop up accompanied by a series of photographs and geo locations.

“Sequence complete. Six names detected, zero encroachment on public or private databases,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. broadcasted. “Location determined to be Holland. Exact coordinates are computed into the quinjet.”

You let out a small cheer, looping your arm around Bruce, squeezing him in a half hug. He has a smile on his face, dropping his head as he laughs slightly.

“How dangerous are they?” Tony, however, continues to ask.

“A few prior convictions and a series of similar threats. Danger level determined to be at approximately five out of ten.”

“That’s not bad,” Steve commented. “Looks like we don’t need the full team there.”

“Romanoff, Barton, Wilson, Rogers can go ahead and take care of that,” Nick finally spoke up. “Everyone else is working security tomorrow, just in case anyone else decides that terrorism is on their fuckin’ to-do list for the day.”

“Buck, assemble a team and go over strategy for tomorrow,” Steve adds on. “Everyone else go suit up, wheels up in thirty minutes.”

“Fuckin’ Holland,” Sam scoffs, shaking his head. “Of all the places.”

“What do you have against Holland?” Nat asks as they leave together.

“Just don’t like ‘em.” Their voices grow faint the further they get.

“Hey.” A small greeting from behind you has you turning around.

Wanda stands in front of you and you have to ignore the fact that the most powerful being on Earth is talking to you.

“Hey,” you say back.

“I just wanted to say congratulations. You did a great job.” Bits and pieces of her accent poked out. She didn’t seem like she was putting in the effort to cover it up as opposed to the press interviews you had heard a few years ago.

“Thank you.” You smile. “T’was a team effort.”

“Well, we owe you one anyway,” Steve joins the conversation, leaving aside Tony who was still talking to Bruce.

“I wish I was humble enough to turn it down but I’m not.” You laugh. “It’s nice to have an arsenal of superheroes at my disposal.”

Steve looks like he’s going to respond but his attention is drawn towards F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s announcement that the quinjet was ready to go. He shoots you an apologetic look but you sign for him to go on, you’d meet with him later.

You watch as he claps Tony on the back, telling him to go get some sleep and something with more nutritional value than a pizza pocket in him, nodding at Bruce before taking leave.

“Y/L/N,” Nick stands beside you, looking ahead at the conversations being had as Steve tugs Clint along with him.

“Nicky,” you tease.

“I know at least seven underground prisons I can put you in if anyone hears you calling me that,” he says stoically.

“We all know you won’t get rid of me.” You shake your head. “Who’s gonna send you a Christmas card then, huh?”

He simply shakes his head, jutting his hand out and offering a handshake. “Not sure anyone here could handle another day of a highly caffeinated, sleep-deprived Stark.”

“Just say ‘thanks’, Nick, geez.” You roll your eyes.

Bucky watches the entire interaction unfurl; only the body language, not employing the lip-reading ability.

“You’re welcome.” You let go of his hand, a devilish look on your face. “You know what I want in return.”

Nick gives you a long, hard stare that could probably melt through Steve’s shield before turning around to leave.

But Bucky doesn’t miss the subtle high-five he gives you while walking out, unbeknownst to anyone else, bringing the biggest grin to your face.

He makes it a point to ask you what the fuck kind of leverage you have over the man for him to play favourites with you.

You finally collapse at your desk, letting out a loud exhale. You clench your eyes shut, your body finally melting into your chair. You look exhausted.

He’s not sure how to help. You don’t seem like you have the energy to tell him.

Bucky leaves a doughnut and water bottle on the table in front of you before shuffling out of the room quietly.

He’s certain that he’s spent far too long in Bruce’s lab this week. He liked the man as much as the next guy, but he probably wouldn’t come down there for the foreseeable future.

You’re at your assigned desk, reading light illuminating the space. Thankfully you’ve cleared up most of your stuff from the table, leaving no more liabilities to fall over in case he walked into the desk.

“So you’re done for the week.” His voice surprises you. You were scrolling through your phone, slightly hunched over.

“It appears so.” You put your phone down, swivelling the chair to look at him.

“How’d it go?” He leans against your table, making sure he isn’t using his full weight.

“Well, I slept for fifteen hours straight, so...” you leave him to connect the dots. He’s done the same several times.

“You’re probably gonna need more,” he says, mostly from his own experience, “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Actually-” you reach beside your table and lug your gigantic box of belongings onto the table with a loud thud, “-you won’t.”

He looks at the box that was nearly overflowing with its contents, the majority of the space being taken up by empty picture frames. “I thought you said Tony offered you a job.”

“He did,” you confirm. “I didn’t accept.”

“Why?” He watches you shift through a few things, adjusting it so that it wouldn’t fall over.

“This whole thing- it’s cool and all, but it’s not what I want to do.” You shrug. “I like teaching. I miss my class.”

He gaze lands on one of the thank you notes sticking out from the corner of the box. “Ah.”

“Back to school from tomorrow.”

“And evil on the weekends?” he prods, dropping a pen into the heap of stationery.

“Obviously.” You give him a lopsided smile. “Where else am I gonna use all this brilliance?”

You point to your head. He lets out a small exhale in the form of a laugh.

“Speaking of-” You look like you just remembered something.

You rummage through your backpack and pull out a small container, handing it to him.

“What’s this?” He turns it over, looking for any hidden clues. “Are you proposing again, because I’ve said no-”

“I’m not proposing,” you interrupt, “yet.”

He gives you a deadpan look.

“Open it,” you urge, and he complies.

Two small squares sit side-by-side. They’re slick black, barely bigger than the face of a dice.

“You put one of them here-” You tap on his bicep “-and the other here.” You tap his shoulder, a few inches below his clavicle.

“What does it do?” He thinks it’s like Nat’s little taser things, a nifty little tool that he could use on missions.

“It, uh-” you hesitate “-it allows you to feel sensation in your metal arm. Heat, pressure, texture.”

His breath hitches in his throat. He doesn’t mean for it to happen, it just does.

“You said that sometimes you’re glad you couldn’t because of the bullets and stuff. They’re detachable, so just take them off when you go on missions and wherever it is you Spandex ambassadors go.” You scoff slightly.

He can’t remember the last time he felt something soft with that arm or used it for something that wasn’t directly related to his job.

“I’m not messing with what the Wakandans gave you. It’s the most advanced piece of tech out there.” You shrug. “But if you ever want to feel it when someone attaches sticky notes to your arm, this could work. Just thought it’d be nice to have an option.”

He can’t decipher what he’s feeling right now. He looks up at you, only to catch you eyeing him cautiously, assessing his reaction. When you notice he’s looking at you, a nervous smile makes its way onto your face.

His stomach does a flip.

“Thank you,” he says quietly.

“Don’t mention it.” You sound a little relieved, picking up the box that he’s pretty sure weighed a ton what with all his memorabilia in it. “See you next week.”

He doesn’t know how to explain what it means to him.

Instead, he shoves his hands into his pockets. “What are you doing later?”

“Nothing.” You pause. “Why?”

“Are you gonna watch the parade?”

“Yeah, probably.” You shift your weight to your other leg to compensate for the box.

“Want some company?”

“Aren’t you heading a security division?” You have to consciously hide the bewilderment from your voice.

“Yeah. The place I’m stationed just so happens to have a good look into the street,” he explains, toying with the bracelet on his wrist. “Can’t really promise that I’ll be paying attention to it or that I’d even be there the whole time but for the most part...” he trails off.

“Uh-” You force yourself to shove aside your surprise at his determination, “yeah, sure. That’d be cool.”

He nods. “Okay. See you there.”

“See you,” you murmur as you walk to the elevator.

He opens the tiny container to look at the small chips. They’re still there, silently like they don’t change his world just by existing.

Gosh.

Next part

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #winter soldier x reader #Winter Soldier #bucky barnes #bucky

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jtargaryen18 · 3 years

Photo

It’s Friday the 13th.

Who’s in the mood to celebrate it with me? 😈

Now thru Sunday night, I’m looking for Friday the 13th Flash Fiction pieces.

Who? MC should be any Marvel or DC characters, or characters played by their actors. They can feature OFCs or readers.

What? They can be sweet. They can be smutty or dark (if so they should be properly labeled). Bonus points if you scare me or make me laugh.Fics should be minimum 500 words. All types of stories or welcome but absolutely no sexual content with minors.

Must include:

Takes place on Friday the 13th

Either a machete, a hockey mask, or a spear

One of the following movie quotes:

“It's got a death curse!“

“You were supposed to leave!”

“Look what you did to him!”

“She can't hide; no place to hide.”

“You're doomed! You're all doomed!”

Where? Post your fic here on Tumblr and tag me. Also use the tag #JF13FF.

When? Now thru Sunday, August 15th

Why? Why the hell not?

Can’t wait to see what you come up with. 😈🤞🙏😎😱

THE STORIES

Final Girl @jtargaryen18 (Mr. Freezy/Robert Pronge x Reader)

The Greatest Trick in the World @specialk-18 (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes & Reader)

Knifepoint @boxofbonesfic (Dark!Steve Rogers x Reader)

Mask and You Shall Receive @redhairedfeistynerd (Steve Rogers x Reader)

Run Rabbit Run @dreamlessinparis (Dark!Steve Rogers x Reader)

When You Are A Superfan... @sweater-daddiesdumbdork (Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes x Wade Wilson x Reader)

You Were Supposed to Leave @autumnrose40 (Ghost!Steve Rogers x Reader)

#JF13FF #Friday the 13th #J's Friday the 13th Flash Fiction Challenge

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starryevermore · 3 years

Note

.👩🏽‍💻

fic: new boys

hello :) i’m a sucker for an angst/comfort fic, may i request a blurb where reader is overworking herself to the point where it’s making her sick and the boys interfere? 🥺

(+ love your writing, have a nice day <3)

overworked

new boys: a sam wilson, steve rogers, & bucky barnes anthology | ao3

pairing: grad student!sam wilson x law student!reader x grad student!steve rogers x grad student!bucky barnes

word count: 357

warnings: midterms, mention of studying to the detriment of your mental health, pet name (baby)

note: this takes place after the boys + reader get together.

It was midterms. You had warned the boys ahead of time that you were going to be stressed out of your goddamn mind for the next month (since midterms were spread out over several weeks as the exams were particularly demanding—the same rung true for finals). And they'd seen how you stressing over regular studying. How you locked yourself in your room, devoting hours upon hours upon hours to understanding a single subject. Your studying habits were obsessive, because they had to be. This wasn't like undergrad, where you could skirt by with minimum effort. You had to give 200% of your brain power to every single thing you did. Otherwise, you couldn't make it.

So, they knew what to expect when the weekend before your first midterm rolled around.

But, as the week wore on and they saw less and less of you, they knew that they had to do something. After the first week of midterms, on that Friday night, Bucky stopped you before you could even think of retreating into your room.

"What?" you muttered, rubbing your eyes with the back of your hand.

"You're taking a break tonight, baby. We aren't taking a no for an answer," he said. "It's around 8 o'clock. You've been in class all day. You've been busting your ass in the library for hours. You told us when we moved in that, where possible, we should remind you to not bury yourself in your studies. And we're doing that now."

"But I got a midterm to study for on Monday—"

"And you will study tomorrow. And Sunday. But right now, you're gonna go in the living room where Sam's put on your favorite movie. And then Steve's gonna finish fixing your favorite desert. And you're just gonna enjoy what's left of your day. Okay?"

And, as you looked over towards the living room where Sam was breaking out your favorite plush blankets and toward the kitchen where Steve was taking an assortment of baked goods out of the oven, your tiredness melted away and all you wanted was to rest in your boys' arms.

"Okay," you said.

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cjsinkythoughts · 3 years

Text

FATWS One Shot #3 - Stars, Stripes, and Bubbles

Word Count: 1912

Warnings: Cursing, Fluff, erm…a Relationship that You Want to Happen but Know Never Will

Setting/Characters: The first part of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014 after Steve’s hostage mission; Reader, Steve Rogers, mentions of Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, and Nick Fury

A/N: This…isn’t what I thought it was gonna turn out to be. But I like it, it’s cute, and I needed something pure with the shield after that ending scene, so I’m posting it.

I have a few more One Shots planned that take place during TWS so I’ll be writing those today and tomorrow. This week is a lot less hectic than last week (I was being trained in another area of my job last week, hence crazy hours), so expect more One Shots coming this week. Again, I’m trying to post them chronologically, but there might be some out of order depending on what you guys request and when, which is totally fine!

For today, I have the Reader meeting Sam (which is kinda what this was supposed to be, but…oh well) and more about the notebook planned. Also Reader meeting Bucky unofficially for the first time because he’s, you know, brainwashed and stuff. Later this week I’m planning on AoU stuff which will include the Party Scene and Wanda interactions.

If I can get through those by Friday when the new episode comes out, I’ll start on CA:CW which will include Reader officially meeting Bucky and possibly the airport scene if you guys are interested in that. Then I’ve got some Wakanda scenes and some Peter interactions. If not, I’ll start CW:CA next Sunday. Once the backstory is set up and completed chronologically, I might go back and just write some drabbles and stuff of random moments - kinda like this one.

I did get a request earlier for Bucky’s perspective on the dancing scene in Part 4.2, so I’m planning on doing more rewrites of scenes in Bucky’s perspective, but that’ll come after the One Shots, so hopefully next week.

I think that’s all…umm…yeah. Once again, not beta’d so please excuse any mistakes! Thank you so much for reading! I’m so glad you’re all enjoying this almost as much as I am! Be kind to yourselves and others! Enjoy reading and stay tuned!

FATWS Masterlist

cjsinkythoughts Masterlist

The beeping of the timer made you groan and set down the book you were digging into. You were just starting to get to the good part, but the food smelled so good, so you decided it could wait.

You were so focused on your task of getting your breakfast ready that you didn’t hear your front door open or the footsteps that followed it shutting, the thud of boots hitting the floor just around the corner. Setting the ready food on the counter, you jumped at the arms that wrapped around your shoulders and waist.

“Shouldn’t you be more observant for a spy?”

You gave a hum at his deep voice, tilting your head slightly as he placed his cheek on your shoulder, nose pressing up against the column of your throat. “Shouldn’t you be heading over to the Triskelion for your debriefing with Fury?”

He growled at the mention of the mission he was just sent on yesterday morning. The first few assignments he had surprised you with how quick they were over, but then you remembered yours were a bit different than his and you got used to him being back within the next couple days.

“We don’t have secrets right? I’m so fucking tired of secrets.”

Your eyebrow quirked up as you turned to face him, his hands slipping down to your hips. You took in his state; he was still in uniform, dirt on his face, hair unruly, the shield on his back gray with the dust that covered it. He obviously hadn’t even gone to his own place yet, meaning he just got back. “What happened?”

He huffed, letting go of you to rub his face tiredly. “Natasha. She didn’t tell me that Fury sent her to do something other than what we were supposed to be doing.”

“They’re spies, bubs. It’s what they do.”

“You’re a spy. You wouldn’t do that.”

Chuckling a little at his comparison, you shook your head. “Our relationship is a little…different than yours and Nat’s.”

“I wish they’d put you on my missions. I don’t know why they don’t. We work well together, don’t we?”

You snorted. “That’s probably the reason.” At his confused look, you shook your head. “Never mind. Just…we’re closer. I know you better than they do. You can’t compare them to me. It isn’t fair.”

He grumbled, eyes glancing down to your feet. “They still should’ve told me.”

“Hey,” you tilted his head back up to meet your gaze. “It was a hostage mission, right?” He nodded. “Did you save the hostages?” Another nod, which made you shrug. “Then there you go. You did your job and you saved people. It was a success. That’s all that matters.”

“He got away.” Steve argued. “He got away because she didn’t feel the goddamn need to tell me-”

“She was following orders. Don’t be mad at her.”

“You’re right.” His quick admission stunned you for a moment, until he continued speaking. “It’s Fury’s fault. I think I’m gonna go-”

He started moving away, but you tugged him back, shaking your head again. “Not yet, bubba. You can talk to him later. Let’s get you cleaned up first. Then we’ll eat and you can tell me how that run you went on yesterday was. Okay?”

His features softened and he nodded, setting his forehead against yours. “Okay.”

You had half of your dresser sectioned off for Steve’s things. SHIELD had moved him to DC about a year previous to be closer to HQ, especially after the Helicarrier became decommissioned for repairs. You already had an apartment in DC - it was where you stayed for the most part, hence the reason you were more than willing to stay in New York for a couple years.

The moment he moved in about ten minutes from you, you knew, just like in DC, he’d be spending a lot of time at your place. Which is why you made the executive decision to have him bring a bag over one night and unpack his stuff.

It wasn’t the first shower he took at your place and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last.

While he was cleaning up, you got to work washing his suit and the shield. You teased him by saying you’d just throw his suit in the washer and the shield in the dishwasher, but you wouldn’t actually.

His suit was air drying by the window and you were at the sink scrubbing off the shield, wishing you had a backyard and a hose, when he padded back into the room, hair plastered to his forehead, dripping down his temples, sweats and a t-shirt clinging to his body. He shook his head, leaning on the counter besides you. You always found it amusing how big he looked in your tiny kitchen.

“You know you don’t have to do that, right?”

You scoffed. “If you think I’m gonna let you walk around in that disgusting thing all day, you, my friend, are nuts.”

He chuckled, moving behind you and setting his chin on your shoulder, his larger hands stopping yours from their movements. “At least let me do this, then.” He murmured, taking the scrub brush from you, spreading the bubbles over the rings of the shield.

“You can help me. But I like finishing what I started.” You whispered back, reaching for a clean rag and dunking it into the soapy water, wiping down the star in the middle.

He placed a gentle kiss to your jaw, relenting easily. “Fine.”

You two worked in silence, the water running over the shield, taking the dirt and grime with it, hands occasionally brushing each other. Almost finished, Steve placed his hand over yours, moving it over to a certain spot. “The brush won’t get it.” He explained, his low voice sounding right beside your ear.

Smiling, you turned your head to look at him. There was a crease between his brow as he concentrated on getting rid of the smudge on the precious metal. Your lips turned up when you noticed a dark spot on his jaw he must’ve missed. He looked at you with a grin when you started giggling. “What’s got you giggling so pretty, honey?”

Letting go of the side of the shield you were holding, you reached up to wipe the dirt on his jaw that he missed with your thumb. “Can’t let that handsome face of yours get stained. And, speaking of stains,” you turned back to the shield, holding it up for the both of you to look at, the soft light from the window above the sink making it shine even more. “You think we got it all?”

“Hmmm. I think you missed a spot.”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “What? Where?”

He leaned closer to the shield, face right besides yours, cheeks practically brushing together. “Right…here.” His hand that you didn��t notice cupping water, came up and splashed your face.

You let out a shriek, stepping back, further into his chest, your jaw dropped. “Steven! My pjs!”

He cackled, leaning back and holding his chest, before gasping when you did the same thing back to him. “You’re on!” He grabbed his shield and filled it with water, making you squeak and try getting out of his hold. Stupid Super Soldier strength. He dumped it on you, water falling on your head, sliding down your back and making your pajamas stick to you. You quickly retaliated, grabbing the facet and turning it towards him, laughing at his shout.

The water fight continued for a few more minutes, bowls and cups coming into play, with Steve diving behind the counter and you slipping on the floor.

“Woah, there, honey!” He chuckled, the chortles coming from your lips reassuring him that you weren’t hurt. He leaned over you, reaching his hand out. “You okay?”

You nodded, taking his hand. “Let’s call it a truce, yeah?”

“Truce? Hell no! I won!”

“You did not! You just got lucky!”

He pulled you up, tugging you close. “Alright, alright. Fine. A truce. Let’s get you into some dry clothes, now. Don’t want you gettin’ sick, honey.”

You shook your head. “That’s actually a myth.”

“I’ll take note of that.”

An eyebrow of yours raised. “In that little notebook you never let me read?”

He smiled innocently. “Maybe. I added something else yesterday.” He informed you while tugging you down the hall to your room.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man Soundtrack.”

You hummed with an approving nod. “Yeah. That was a good suggestion. Who gave it to you?’

“This guy I met on my run.” He shrugged, heading over to his dresser as you grabbed a couple towels. “Sam Wilson. He seemed like a good guy.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded, grabbed another set of sweats and a shirt, before turning to you and taking the towel you handed him. “Yeah. He served two tours in Afghanistan. Now he’s working down at the VA. Told me to drop by sometime.”

“Aww.” You stood on your tiptoes to ruffle his hair. “My bubba’s all grown up and making friends.”

He rolled his eyes, ducking away from your hand and running his own through his hair. “Yeah, yeah.” His smile dropped as he looked at the clothes in his hand. “I think I’m gonna head out now. I should talk to Fury.”

You frowned. “You have all day, Steve. Just eat first, okay?”

“Okay.”

He was holding something back, you could tell. Picking out your clothes for the day, you decided to question him about it. “What’re you thinking about?”

Your backs turned to each other, you started changing, just as you’d down countless times before. “I was thinking about going to the Air and Space Museum again. If you wanna come.”

“You know I do.”

It was quiet for a few more minutes, only the sound of rustling clothes and zippers filling the air. “I-I think I’m gonna go after. To see her, I mean.”

You froze, keeping your heart and your breathing steady so he wouldn’t pick up on anything. “It’ll be good for you. She…she always knows what to say.”

“So do you.”

You cleared your throat, finishing with the final touches of your outfit. “I actually forgot that I have some stuff to finish up at HQ today, so I dunno if I’ll be able to go-”

His hand grabbed your wrist, turning you around, eyes pleading and face fallen. “Please. Please come with me. Honey. I need you there. With me. Please.”

You inwardly cursed yourself for falling for those puppy eyes, a soft sigh leaving your lips. “Okay, bubs. I’ll come with you.” You might regret it later, but the relief that washed over his features was worth it for now. The power he had over you scared you, especially since you knew he didn’t realize the hold he had on you, but you couldn’t help it. It happened quickly, swiftly, and you were down before you recognized it. And you didn’t know how to deal with it other than taking it one day at a time.

“Let’s go get some breakfast, now. I can promise it’s at least decent.”

The beam he shot you made your heart flutter no matter how hard you tried keeping calm. “I’m sure it’s better than anything I could ever make.” He pulled you close, lips brushing over your forehead. “Thank you.”

“For what?” You sighed, leaning your head against his, eyes closing.

“Existing.”

***********

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@happygoreading

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Rock ‘N’ Roll People In A Disco World

Part 2- Panic At The Disco

Intro: You head to the hospital as Paul’s life hangs in the balance and as you wait for news, you start to reflect on the early days of your relationship.

Pairing: Paul Diskant x Reader

Warnings: Bad language, Smut (NSFW, 18+)

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

A/N: So, you migh recognise a few familiar names/faces in this as well- I can assure you this isn’t an Avengers/Diskant AU, just a way for me to pay tribute to a few of our faves…because, why not!

Rock ‘n’ Roll People Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Part 1

"All units, we have a possible 2-4-5 in progress at 4223 E Palm, South of Figueroa and 1st. Unit responding is requesting back up, 11-9-9, Code 3."

"Unit 613 responding, Code 3."

The call went out over dispatch and you felt a slight relief at the fact support was on its way. You took a deep breath, held firm, your weapon poised as your partner stood next to you.

"LAPD, drop the weapon and come out with your hands up. We will fire." Officer Barton, a long time veteran on beat called out. "Panny, hit the porch."

You nodded and walked the short steps, bracing yourself against the stucco near the jam.

"Come on Garcia, your old lady called it in, I have back up coming, bro. You don't want this to go down worse than it is," Barton shouted. "Don't make my Rookie work hard today, man."

Lights and sirens filled your ears and soon a second unit had arrived on scene. The suspect, now surrounded, soon surrendered, his weapon dropped to the ground as he came out of his home with his hands up.

The second unit to respond to the call was helping Barton with the arrest while you headed inside to check on the girlfriend who'd called it in. She was beat up and bloodied, a bullet graze across her upper left arm. Paramedics were treating her as you wrote down everything she could tell you for the report to be filed later.

You gave the woman’s hand a little squeeze as you promised her you’d be right back and headed outside where you saw Barton stood talking to one of the duty sergeants from the second unit and another officer who you hadn’t seen before.

"She's requesting an escort, both medics are male," You said to Barton.

“Okay.” Barton nodded. “You good to take it or do you want me to call back and request someone take over?”

You shook your head, “Nah, I’m good, I could use the overtime. It’s no problem.”

"Rookies, always looking for the pay out," Barton laughed at you and you snorted before you looked back at the house.

“Well, to be honest I wanna make sure she’s okay, she’s beat up pretty bad.”

"Yeah, well this isn't their first 240 but now, it's bumping to a 273D, if she keeps the chargers." Barton nodded. “Okay, go with her and I’ll file the initial report when I get back. You can add your details to it later.”

“See, we’re not always money grabbing assholes.” The officer you’d never met before turned his eyes to the sergeant who met his look with one of his own. “Some of us rookies are simply driven by our social conscience.”

As the two men looked at one another it was clear that the statement meant something, and you could probably take a good guess that the officer in question had also had his fair share of rookie jokes at his expense. It was part and parcel of being a newbie.

“Oooh I’m sensing a little bit of tension there, Barnes!” Barton looked at the sergeant who scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“He’s a wise guy, thinks he’s funny.”

“I don’t think it, I know it.” The buzz cut man shrugged. “Why else does everyone laugh at me when I walk into a room?”

At that you couldn’t help a little chuckle of laughter as your eyes looked over the hood of Sargent Barnes' black and white and caught the name plate of the wise ass, before your eyes flicked up to his face. A pair of shades were pushed up on top of his shorn light brown hair, revealing a pair of blue eyes which were twinkling slightly with good humour. He was clean shaven with a strong jawline, and a pretty handsome profile with high cheekbones and a smattering of freckles over his nose. Two strong arms folded over a broad chest, as he stood tall, a good inch or so above Sergeant Barnes and a fair few over you.

His eyes caught yours, a smirk curling in his lips as he clearly thought you’d been checking him out.

Which, to be fair, you had, and all in all, he was pretty damned hot.

"Don't I know you?" He asked, his hands unfolding from across his chest and coming to rest on his utility belt, either side of the buck.

“I don’t think so.” You shook your head.

“I’m sure I do. I never forget a pretty face.”

You laughed at the blatant pick up line and looked at Barton who was watching, his eyebrow raised. You shook your head and turned back to make some sly quip of your own before the medic interrupted the exchange, telling you they were ready for transport. You nodded before once more switching your attention back to the three men around you.

“It’s been a pleasure, gents.” You smiled, nodding to both Barton and Sergeant Barnes before you turned to look at the other man. "Diskant.”

He feigns a pain to his chest with a hard slap of his right hand over his heart. "Uh, you do know me! That hurts."

“Read your name tag.” You shrugged and with that you turned and left.

The red and blue lights of the black and white bouncing off the concrete exterior of UCLA Medical Centre as you arrived brought you out of your memory. Officer Weiss opened the door for you and escorted you inside where the waiting room had been cleared and you were met with the somber faces of not only Captain Biggs, but Paul's Captain, Sam Wilson. But what brought your world crashing down on you for the second time that night was seeing your own Captain, Steve Rogers, waiting for you. Wilson had to have called him in.

"Steve," your voice quivered as your Captain and friend wrapped an arm around you. Sam, too, pulling you close. "What...." you couldn't even get the words out, each syllable choked back by the closing of your throat, sobs threatening to escape.

"We don't know, not yet. The call came in as an officer down, unit in pursuit. Medics arrived and called in code blue, 10-45C GSW to the neck. As soon as they arrived he was wheeled into emergency surgery," Captain Biggs explained.

The air left your lungs at the news and you near hit the floor, both Rogers and Wilson catching an arm, and had you been more with it, you’d have clocked the worried look that your Captain shot Sam. He'd known you since your training at the academy, his eye on you for SWAT from the get go, and never had he seen your lose control in such a way. You hadn’t on the job, not once. It was something you prided yourself on.

Biggs grabbed a chair from the wall behind him, where a dozen lined the sterile white space, and allowed you to flop into it. Your hands were shaking, legs bouncing on the balls of your feet, the tore up converse you’d slipped on squeaking a little on the clinical floor. You’d dressed in such a haste, your skinny jeans being grabbed straight back off the top of the hamper for you to put on, one of Paul’s hoodies being pulled on over a tight camisole. Whilst you hadn’t given a single thought to what you were wearing, clearly your subconscious had wanted to be near him, and you were glad as you pulled the dark grey item round you tighter, breathing in his smell. And you were reminded of the first time you were able to really be close enough to smell his cologne or deodorant, a smell that was uniquely Paul Diskant.

It was Friday and your shift had just finished. It was the first time your rest days had fallen over a Saturday and Sunday, and you were making the most of it. A few from your team were heading to Jack's Bar for a few beers and, you suspected, a lot of shots and probably karaoke later, apparently that’s how your team nights went down.

You’d been there a few hours and your rounds had all gotten out of sync, as was always the case when everyone had had a few, so you stood up to head to the bar to get yourself a refill, cringing at the cat-screeching masquerading as singing which was ringing around the room. You found a space, placing your empty glass on the smooth wood of the bar and stood waiting for the bar tender. You hadn’t been there long when someone sidled in next to you, their elbow lightly brushing your arm and you glanced up to see the handsome, buzz-cut officer that had attended the 273D you’d dealt with in the week.

“Did you bring your cuffs?” He asked and you frowned, looking at him.

“What? Why?”

He jerked his head over his shoulder in the direction of the woman singing, “because she’s murdering Shania Twain and whilst she may feel like a woman, personally I feel that as police officers, it’s our duty to prevent crimes of this nature.”

You groaned out a laugh, “Jesus, you’re terrible”

“My name isn’t Jesus, but give me a chance and I’ll make you say ‘Oh God’,” he shot you a wink, “how’s that for terrible?”

You laughed and shook your head, cocking it slightly to one side as you studied him for a second. And then, you decided on a little joke of your own. “It’s Disco, right?”

He groaned, dropping his head in a dramatic sigh. “Diskant. Come on, you read my name tag, remember?”

"Diskant." You shrugged, "Close enough."

He chuckled, nodding to your drink that was down to the foam at the bottom of the glass, "what are you drinking?"

"Beer," you replied.

"Any beer? Or..."

"The Heff," you nod to the taps.

Diskant waved the bartender over, "Jack, can we get another round, one for me and one for Officer...."

"Y/L/N."

"Officer Y/L/N. Whatever she's drinking."

"It's Paul by the way," he smirked at you while dropping some cash on the bar top as Jack returned your beers.

"Thanks for the beer, Disco," You winked and walked off to join your partner and the rest of the shift team.

“Woah, it’s like that? I buy you a drink and you bail, without even telling me your name?” He scoffed and you turned to look at him over your shoulder, giving him a smirk.

“Yeah," you shrugged, and when you turned away you could feel his eyes burning into your back.

Later, you saw him laughing in a full body tilt, eyes crinkled and his smile exploding. His partner, whom you'd recognized again as Barnes, had said something ridiculous causing the table to erupt.

You headed to the bar and ordered a round of shots for your team and another beer to chase it. But sent one over Paul's way, with a note on the napkin.

When the waitress took the beer to him, she placed the napkin down first, making sure he saw the scribbled note.

'Now we're even. - Y/N'

You watched as he read the note, a huge smile breaking over his handsome face and he turned, bright eyes searching the bar. When they fell on you, he arched his brow and raised his beer in thanks. You gave a sharp jerk of your head to show you’d seen and turned back to your team.

From then on, he was a persistent little shit. He'd somehow figured out your shift patterns, catching you in and out of the doors to the station as you'd be coming off shift and he starting his. Barton liked to give you shit for it as he'd always walk with you out, calling Diskant "your lost, little puppy-dog" and the unit were quick to catch on. It was all in good fun, until one day, you'd worked a tough shift; chasing down a couple of suspects and catching yourself up on a fence, gashing your arm good. Medics treated you at the scene, but told you that it required stitches. You finished you shift anyway and like clockwork, there he was walking in as you were out.

"Hey Y/N, you okay?" He'd expressed concern as your face was blatantly displaying your discomfort and mood which wasn’t great.

You were tired, irritated and in pain, now that the day was over, you wanted to just go home, so you seemed to snap in reply, "What the hell is it gonna take for you to just go away?"

Your response took him back a bit as he raised his hands in defense."Whoa, relax," his voice was soft and careful.

You sighed and stepped out of the way of the different people coming in and out the doors. He followed. "I'm sorry, that was shitty. It's just been a really long day."

"It’s okay, I get it. Look, I'm off today, I was coming in to get some stuff I left in my locker. I'm sorry if I've crossed a line somehow."

You thought to yourself for a moment. He hadn't crossed any line, not one that made you uncomfortable. You had your own reservations about dating someone from work, but it wasn’t like no one else did it, hell, half the entire force seemed to be married to one another, and if you were honest, you were actually kind of attracted to him and you found his flirty way of things to be fun and you liked it.

“No, you didn’t, like I said, bad day.” You shook your head. “I gotta head to the clinic for some stitches, and if I’m honest, I’m not a huge fan of needles so...."

He frowned “you hurt yourself?”

"Got hung up on a chain link chasing a perp through an alley. Finished the shift with the bandages from the medics, now I gotta take care of it."

"Do you... errr...", he moved out of the way of someone leaving the building and scratched the back of his neck, "do you need a lift up there or something, I got nothing else on."

"I could use a ride, sure," you shrugged, a small smirk tugging at the corner of your lips.

“Okay, well gimme two minutes to grab something out of my locker and I’ll be with you in a second.”

You headed out of the way of the various traffic in and out of the station and perched on the low wall that surrounded the parking lot. True to his word, Diskant emerged a few minutes later, sliding his shades down from his head to his eyes, a bright pink gift bag in his hand and for some inexplicable reason, you felt your heart sink at the sight of the item in his hand, it was clearly for a woman.

“Who’s the lucky girl?” You asked, nodding to it as he stopped in front of you. A smirk crossed his face and a brow arched over the top of his wraparounds.

“Is that your way of asking me if I have a girlfriend?” He quipped and you hastily shook your head, lying through your teeth.

“No, I was just…making conversation. Besides, you might be gay for all I know.” You finished lamely and he snorted.

“Well, I’m not, and it’s for my Mom. It’s her birthday tomorrow and she’s a pain in the ass for finding her presents in my room or wherever I hide them. That and I actually only picked it up yesterday and forgot about it.”

"None of my business." You shrugged and at that he sighed, looking down before he glanced at you, chuckling.

"You asked, sweetheart."

The pet name had you feeling a little warm around your neck. Thankfully, Diskant then led you to his car, the conversation moving swiftly onwards as you explained in a little more detail how you’d gotten your injury. By the time you’d finished you were out of the parking lot and had joined the steady stream of traffic on the main road.

“You should count yourself lucky that it was only your arm.” Paul mused, his thumb tapping the steering wheel. “One of the first shifts I ever did ended with the guy I’d been partnered with straddling a piece of razor-wire.”

“Ouch.” You winced and Paul wrinkled his nose.

“Lot of blood and screaming.” He sniffed. “Mind you, every cloud and all that, he said it would save him and his wife a fortune on a vasectomy.”

You blinked before your mouth fell open in disbelief and you scoffed, shaking your head. “Bullshit.”

“I swear down…”

“Don’t believe you, Disco.”

“Well, I’m offended on two counts. First that you think I’m untrustworthy and second you know that’s not my name.” He shook his head, hanging a right.

You shrugged, “I like it, it suits you.”

“I used to get that all the time at school.” He shrugged, “fucking everyone used to sing that damned D-I-S-C-O song in the halls.”

“Okay, now that’s in my head.” You smirked, and you opened your mouth to sing but he cut you off.

“Just, no.”

You laughed and took a deep breath. “Well, if it makes you feel any better my team call me Panny, short for Panic. On account of the fact I never seem to.”

At that he snorted, “yeah, I’m not calling you that, that’s, fucking awful!”

You let out a low chuckle, “Y/N’s fine.”

“Mind you,” he stole a quick glance at you before his eyes went back to the road. “Panic at the Disco, not a bad band.”

You rolled your eyes and chuckled a little. The conversation flowed with little interruption or awkwardness and once you arrived, your time at the clinic seemed relatively fast. You'd figured he'd left as you'd said goodbye to one another when you'd entered the clinic but to your surprise, and catching you a bit off guard, he was still waiting.

"You didn't have to wait." You smiled at him and he shrugged.

“How else you gonna get back for your car?" His eyes flicked down, noting the clean wound and stitches in your forearm.

“Uber?” You shrugged and he paused, before he took a deep breath.

“Okay, you could have but my mom taught me never to leave a lady in need of help.”

"I was in there for an hour," You chuckled.

“Yeah, and now I’m kinda hungry, are you hungry?"

“Diskant…”

"There's a little place I know where we get some great quick food."

"And if I say no?"

"I'm a gentleman and no is no, I’ll take you back to the lot and you get in your car.” He paused, "and then I'll go home and weep into my pillow as I deal with your rejection."

You laugh loudly, genuinely amused, "fine, take me to dinner."

"Woah, I didn't say anything about dinner. I said food."

"Fine, food, let's get some food."

With a grin he gestured for you to lead the way and you headed out of the medical centre back to his car.

It turns out the place he’d been meaning was the Santa Monica Pier. And the food he had in mind was hot dogs and fries, which suited you absolutely fine.

"Alright, I gotta hand it to you, this is a pretty good hot dog and the beer isn't half bad," You tilted back the drink and smiled. "But, it doesn't beat Coney Island."

"Never been," he shrugged, "so I'll have to take you at your word."

"What else do you take me for? Obviously, you're swindling your way into something."

"I resent that accusation, Y/N."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you just suckered me into a date." You teased and he paused, turning to face you. “And, seeing as you said that was what it would take to get you to leave me alone…” “No, this is not a date.” He cut you off, shaking his head.

“Hmm, just the two of us, you bought me food, pretty sure it counts as a date.” You wrinkled your nose, your tone flirty and Paul shook his head once more.

“Nope. Absolutely not. There’s a vital element missing.”

“What?”

“I haven’t kissed you.” He signed dramatically. “So, I’m afraid that if you want me to count this as a date then you’re gonna have to lay one on me.”

“Oh my God-“ You burst out laughing, “You are-“

“Hey, I don’t make the rules, Y/N!”

“So, to be absolutely clear, if I kiss you this counts as a date?”

“Yes.” He nodded.

“Well,” You popped a shoulder, stepping a little closer to him, your eyes flicking from his to his lips, “what the hell.”

You brought your lips to his, a littler firmer than you'd thought but the feel of his mouth against yours was soft and in a way delicate and as you began to pull away, his arm looped around your rib cage and pulled you back in for a longer, deeper kiss that if you'd been honest with yourself, made your stomach tilt and your toes curl. The way his tongue dipped into your mouth was delightful, the salty hoppy taste of the beer and fries you were sharing still an essence in his mouth.

Breathless, you pulled away, “You gonna leave me alone now?”

“Not a chance.” He chuckled and leaned in again for a third kiss.

"Y/N..." the voice calling out to you was familiar but your head was pounding and nothing but a fog had filtered over you. Tearfully coming out of your memory, you looked up to see Dorothy, Paul's mom standing before you, her husband Jim in the background talking to Sam.

"Hi," you croaked and stood from your chair. She immediately wrapped her arms around you in a tight embrace. "I'm sorry... I didn't..."

"Its okay, Jimmy called us after Sam had called us both." She tearfully explained. "We came as soon we'd heard." She nodded to James Barnes, Paul's former beat partner who was talking with Jim, Sam and now Steve.

"Dotty, I... I'm scared." You cried and she took hold of you again. Together you cried until Jim came and hugged you both, his eyes tearful but his demeanour strong. As a force veteran himself, Big Jim Diskant knew all too well how these things could happen but never did he want to believe it'd be his own son wounded in the line of duty.

Barnes was quick to hand you a tissue and you accepted with a sad, soft smile in thanks. "He's gonna pull through, doll. Just you watch. You can't get rid of him that easy."

Your quivering lip turned to a wobble until you saw the doctor emerge from the double doors that led into the body of the hospital. His scrubs were bloodied and you feared the worst as he called out, "family of Paul Diskant."

The world around you felt like it was moving at a snail's pace, your stomach in your throat as you, Dotty, Jim and those there to comfort you all made their way to the doctor.

"We've moved him into the ICU. He's critical, however, I'm hard pressed to say stable. He's not out of the woods yet. The bullet hit his carotid artery which supplies the brain, face and neck and while we were able to remove it, he's lost a lot of blood and I feel it's best to keep him medically sedated until some real healing takes place. That's all up to him on how long that will take and how his body works. Unfortunately, until he wakes up, we won’t be able to determine if there will be any long lasting damage due to the loss of blood to the brain. You should know, we nearly lost him once during the procedure and I know he coded twice before arrival. He's a fighter, that's for sure. For now, he just needs time."

"Can we see him?" Dotty asked, the words not able to leave your lips.

"You can. One at a time," the doctor replied. "ICU rules. I can take the first of you up with me now."

Dotty very quickly turned to you, "go on." You looked at her like a deer in headlights. Jim nodded in agreement with his wife.

"Follow me," the doctor nodded to go with him and as he did, he handed you a small plastic bag. "We had to cut it off. I'm sorry."

He placed the bag containing Paul's St. Christopher medal in your hand. It was covered in blood, no doubt from what had happened and the weight of it felt heavier than it ever had before in your hand as you joined the good doctor on the lift up.

It had been a month into your relationship when your parents decided to head out for a week trip to New York, your dad making good on his promise to treat your mom for their anniversary. That meant that you and Paul were playing house for the week.

After seeing them off, you'd proudly tidied up and made sure you pampered yourself before your date night to kick the week off. Fridays post shift were usually spent at Jack's but, you were off and Paul and Barnes were already day shift, as if the stars had perfectly aligned for tonight. Your gut was telling you that after a month of heavy, very heavy petting, absolutely breath-taking make out sessions and a few down the pants moments, tonight just might be the night things would change for the two of you. And if not tonight, then hopefully while the two of you were shacked up for the next five days.

A few hours of primping, preening and a ridiculously relaxing bath, setting fire to that very diamonds and pearls side of you, you picked out your nicest lingerie, a little all black set of bra and panties that hid lines well in your selected sleek black dress. Paul had said the two of you were going for a nice dinner, and he promised it was truly a nice dinner, not like the last he'd said was nice and you two laughed your way through burgers at the Beach Hut. He was going to pick you up at five, and you needed to be ready.

Punctual as always, your doorbell rang and there he was, duffle in one hand, flowers for you in the other. He always brought you flowers on your dates and you loved the old fashioned in him that clearly was a product of his parents love story.

You smiled at him from behind red lips and smoky eyes, your hair down and straight. "Hey! Thank you!" You took the outstretched flowers and welcomed him in.

"Wow," he whispered, getting the full view of you as he stepped inside the doorway. "Sweetheart, you..., wow."

“You said nice... so if you’re taking me to some dive, Disco, when I’m dressed like this there’s gonna be trouble.”

"I promise, it's nice." Dropping his overnight bag next to the stairs, he followed you into the kitchen as you put the flowers in a vase. You turned from the island and his lips were on yours. "You do look beautiful, but if you want to get into trouble, I've got my cuffs in the car."

You didn't miss the fire in his eyes and the feeling between your legs. “I thought only bad girls get the cuffs?”

"Maybe we should see how bad you can get."

"You're gonna have to feed me first."

“Damn, you drive a hard bargain.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss, fingers scratching at the nape of his neck, "You think that's hard, you should..."

His finger covered your lips, "don't, don't finish that sentence or we'll never make dinner. THAT I can promise."

You smirked and pulled away from him fully, grabbing your hand bag off the entry table, "I'm ready, let's go."

The meal was divine, expensive and rich in place and taste, you dined on steaks and lobsters, Paul pulling out all the stops for such a new relationship and start of a fun weekend. You didn't mind, but you also knew that you'd have been fine with something simple too.

"You know you didn’t have to spend so much, I’d have laid on my back for a sub," you sighed contently as he drove you two back to yours.

"Well, in that case, fuck it, next time it's Subway."

"Is that what this was? You buttering me up so I'd sleep with you, Disco?"

“No, that’s...” he stopped and shrugged, “did it work?”

All you did was smirk back at him. From then, until tires skidded into the driveway, Paul drove at lightspeed, making a snarky comment about needing a red light for the dash or wishing he was in his squad car because he couldn't get you home fast enough. You were barely in the door before he was all over you, hands tangled through your hair, you kicking your shoes off at the bottom of the stairs. His strong arms and big hands lifted you off your feet as you clawed at him, your legs wrapping around his slender waist while he carried you up the stairs. It was a mix of breathy sounds and lots of tongue until your back hit the lamp at the landing stair, causing it to tilt, and the bulb to break.

Shit," Paul cursed against your lips.

"I'll get that later," you replied, continuing to fight for dominance in your kiss.

He managed to get you to your room, but your pace slowed down as you entered, the heat lowering to a simmer unlike the two horny teenagers you’d both been in the stairs and hall. Your toes curled into your plush carpet as he set you down. Breathless and chests heaving, you kissed each other softly and slowly as your fingers unbuttoned his shirt, trying to hide your nerves. Your nails raked down the chest of his crisp white tee he wore underneath. You could feel his heart under your palm.

Your eyes looked into his and you saw deep and beautiful blue pools staring back at you, a soft twitch of a smirk at the corner of his mouth. He took a half breath and his lips covered yours, his tongue slowly rolling over your top lip to pull you in. It made your stomach drop in need, and you wrapped your arms around his neck to close the space between you.

His big hand splayed over your right ass cheek and held you there against him while the other hand cupped your face. If anyone were to walk in, they'd think you were one person, the two of you were so close to one another. Then you felt his hand trail over the curve of your backside, closer and closer to the start of your zipper. You felt your dress grow looser as he pulled the little metal piece over the teeth of its track.

His lips trailed over your skin, and you could feel his heart now racing through his pulse point in his neck. Your eyes met his as he pulled away a second, "me too," You whispered.

A breathy chuckle left his lips and you pulled your dress away from your body, allowing the fabric to hit the floor. You felt naked despite the bra and panty set, his gaze taking all of you in. By no means was this your first time with a man, but it was your first time with Paul, and so far, you'd never felt or experienced anything like this and he wasn't even inside you yet. It was like your skin was on fire from the inside out, all of your nerves firing at once, causing everything to tingle and your breath to catch as your heart threatened to leap from your chest.

His foot stepped between yours and he placed his hands on your hips, gently backing you into the bed, his lips sealing with yours, your hands holding his forearms to steady yourself. His hands cradled you as the two of you fell into the mattress, his body covering yours, his lips traveling down your neck and nipping at that sensitive spot that made your panties pool and your thighs clench. Your hands shoved the material of his button down over his shoulders and, as his lips carried on toward the swell of your breasts, he flung the shirt wherever it landed.

You smirked as he figured out the bra you had on was front closure and with a snap your breasts were freed.

"Fuck, sweetheart," he said with a tone you'd never heard from him before.

He had his mouth on you before you could reply, your skin flushing and that twist of stomach igniting with pleasure. His hot tongue lolled around your nipple before suckling it between his teeth and giving it a little pull. You moaned as he pulled away, your fingers scratching at his neck. He smirked against your other breast as you arched into him, his free hand running over your hip and behind you to palm your ass as your leg lifted and bent a knee at his hip.

"I....oh God," you purred as his tongue licked and his mouth sucked, alternating between your breasts. "Fuck, I... Paul, please."

He sat back and ripped his shirt over his head, adding it to the pile. You could see he was solid from your foreplay and you knew the size he was packing. Your stomach twisted in anticipation.

"Please... What?" He said softly as he left hot, wet kisses up the inside of your thigh. "You know, for a trained police officer I would expect you to have a little more self-control, Baby.”

"Shut up..."

He nipped at your thigh, and you moaned obscenely, your muscles twitching. "You gonna tell me what you want?" He nipped again, higher this time. "Or.."

"I need you."

“I asked what you want...”

"Fuck me."

Quickly he was standing, undoing his belt and pants while pulling a condom from his back pocket. You laid there amazed and in awe of the thick muscles of his entire body, the bare chest and tight abs he had on display. You'd seen his thick and full length before, hell, you'd even put your mouth around it but now, all you can think of is how it would feel deep inside you. Your eyes watched him with a hunger you could feel coursing all through you, the way he rolled the latex circle down his shaft and kneeled toward you on the bed.

He pulled at your panties, peeling them away from your body, your legs lifting to remove them fully. You were soaked as he tested your folds, slicking the head of his cock. It felt so good already, you were squirming by the time his head dipped inside you. He caged you in with his body as he pressed into you little by little until you were both moaning at the perfect fit as he became fully seated inside you. His St. Christopher medal dangled between the two of you as it ghosted across your chest.

Your hand gripped the medallion as you gave a gentle pull, his lips barely touching yours, "I said fuck me, Diskant." You sealed your words with a hard kiss, nothing but tongue inside his mouth and his hips snapped, again the two of you making lewd sounds as your bodies joined together.

He broke away from your kiss and thrust his hips forward again, slowly pulling out and snapping back in. It was blissful torture, your body experiencing each movement as if it were new. Your walls continuously contracted around him, giving him a pressure around his cock. It was a tight fit, but not painful, not uncomfortable in any way. Your eyes and his never broke away from each other, only lashes kissing cheeks as you would close your eyes for a kiss.

With a deep, intentional roll of his hips, his lips moved across your jaw and neck, settling near your ear. "I love you," he whispered.

You gasped as you felt your body react, "Oh fuck!" You moaned, your orgasm coming out of nowhere, tightening around him hard.

"Fucking hell," Paul moaned as his hips sped up, until he was spasming inside you, his seed filling the barrier.

He stilled while inside you, pulling out and slipping away with a soft kiss, only to come back cleaned up and pulling the sheet over the two of you. He curled his body around yours, your bare skin against his chest, his hand entwined with yours as his lips kissed your tousled head. "You're amazing."

You turned to look at him with your tired but happy eyes, "did you mean it?"

A soft smile splayed over his features as his eyes twinkled a bit, understanding exactly what you were referring to. "I was being ironic, as I was, literally loving you." He took a pause and leaned in for a sweet, all lip kiss. "But hypothetically... if I did mean it..."

You grinned, “then, hypothetically I’d say I love you to."

He chuckled and quickly pecked you again before settling in behind you for sleep. "Good to know."

The bell to the lift beeped and the doors loudly opened, bringing you to the present. It felt like everything took forever since you'd received Captain Biggs' call. You followed the doctor down the hall and after a sharp left, he showed you the doorway to Paul's room.

As you stepped inside, your heart shattered. The first thing you noticed was how small and pale he looked there in his bed. Paul wasn't a small guy, in fact he was six feet of thick muscle and hard strength. A built frame that loved to wrap itself around you any chance he could. Your firm and well taught body fitting like the perfect piece to him. You swallowed hard as you stepped forward, closer to the edge of his bed. There were so many wires, so many leads hooked up to the various machines that ensured he stayed in his medicinal sleep and keeping him alive. A tube for the ventilator was in his mouth and down his throat while monitoring equipment measured his vitals, IV lines and pumps full of medication surrounded him, a feeding tube was stuck in his nose, and not to mention the various drains and catheters. You found yourself cursing all the episodes of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ the pair of you had watched as you weren't sure if you'd rather not fucking know what the hell they all were.

Despite the sick symphony of beeps and blips on the screens, the only sound you heard was the sound of his heart rate on its own monitor. A steady, morbid mantra reminding you that he was there but not really there with you.

Gone were those beautiful blue eyes you loved waking up to each morning or staring deeply into as his pupils, lust blown with deep passion, love and desire stared back you while you made love. Hiding behind an ugly plastic tube were those pearly whites you loved seeing when he smiled or laughed with his whole body, his cheeky grin missing. Silent was the voice that would make your heart skip its beats, your body ignite, that would meet your voice in reply, 'sugar'.

You held back the sob that was choking you breathless and you sat in the chair beside his bed, facing him. Your warm and soft hand took hold of his, and you were broken at how cold he felt.

As you looked up for some form of help to the heavens above, your eyes looked back at him and you gave a breathy, shaky sigh, "hey, Stud."

***** Part 3

#rock n roll people in a disco world #Paul Diskant #paul diskant x reader #paul diskant x you #street kings #street kings fan fic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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