#WOW ok this took a long time to answer sorry I kind of lost track looking at.. him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

redswanned · 3 years

Text

There Was Only One Bed part 2

AOT boys x Reader (I added more people because wow the first part was so fun to write)

Plot: You and him came back from a mission that left you both insanely tired. It’s too late to go home so you two decide to check into a hotel. There’s only one room left, with only one bed 😳

Levi

lets be real

Levi needs some damn sleep

and he was looking forward to resting after such as long day

but when he heard there was only one bed he kind of just

sighed

of course something has to happen when he just wants to relax

after seeing the cards he was dealt with he felt the most gentlemanly thing to do was offer you the bed

“Here, go to sleep in the bed. I’ll take the floor.”

“But Levi, you’re exhausted!” you pleaded

“I barely even sleep at night the floor is fine.”

not gonna lie it is hard to argue with someone like Levi

but you would not let him sleep on the floor

“You can take half of the bed, I don’t mind,” you told him hoping he’d take the offer

it was late and he knew he’d probably not sleep much at all like usual

he accepted your offer

but only settled at the very edge of the bed

it didn’t look comfortable lol but is Levi ever comfortable

you just shrugged it off before telling him goodnight

that is until you had a nightmare

you dreamt that you were the sole survivor when you and the scouts went to attack Marley

sometimes fellow humans are scarier than titans

you awoke to Levi shaking you concerned

“Hey, you were having a nightmare, are you okay?” he asked genuinely worried

that nightmare was too realistic as you felt tears roll down your cheek

Levi tenderly wiped your tears and felt his heart break at how warm they were and how many there were

“You’re safe here, I’ll make sure of it,” he said as he gingerly caressed your cheek

you slept peacefully later that night safe with Levi by your side

Bertolt

when Bert saw that there was one bed he immediately felt flustered despite how tired he was

he kinda became a stammering mess

“Y/N, it’s okay you can have it!”

“I can have what?” you questioned since he just blurted that sentence out

“The... bed” he muttered as he looked at the ground

he didn’t have to make the situation this much more awkward yet here we are

Bertolt being himself lol

but after hearing that he wanted you to have the bed you immediately offered it to him

“No you should have the bed! You’ve done so much today you need to rest,” you said

“No you should have the bed! I sleep really weird so I don’t want to bother you,” he admitted

how weird could he sleep?

maybe he snored? that’s not that weird

you insisted you two could share the bed and place a pillow in between you two

which he reluctantly agreed

it was late after all

you said your goodnights and you drifted off to sleep

until

A LEG LANDS ON YOUR FACE

“AHH!” you jolt awake shoving the leg off your face

and lo and behold

Bertolt is sleeping sideways with his limbs spread all over

“Hey! wake up!!”

“Huh, OH IM SORRY!” Bertolt immediately retracted

“See I told you I sleep weirdly,” he muttered

yeah even the pillow didn’t save you from his legs

“Bertolt it’s totally fine you can’t control it”

this time you both drifted off to sleep

until you felt an arm around you

you opened an eye and yup Bertolt was sleeping weirdly again

but at least his arms are finally around you

Porco

Porco does come off as an angry guy

he just gets annoyed easily by incompetence

so when he saw there was only one bed he felt pretty annoyed by the situation

how could they fuck up this badly?

you could sense Porco’s annoyance and exhaustion

so you decided to offer him the bed

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine on the floor,” you said

“No, I’m not going to let you sleep on the ground because of the hotel’s dumb mistake.”

“I insist! I’ll be-”

“Just take the other half of the bed.”

he did sound pissed but you could tell he cared that you got a good rest after the long day you two had

you climbed into your half of the bed

“Hey, sorry for snapping. I just couldn’t let you sleep on the ground like that,” he said sheepishly as he climbed into his half

you assured him that everything was fine

“I just can’t believe they managed to get it this wrong! Some hotel they are, I ought to write them a bad review. This is not how I wanted to get in bed with you,” he rambled on

that last part though

W H A T

“Um, Porco?” you asked feeling flustered

“Hmm, what, OH! Um, you didn’t hear that right?”

you could tell he was flustered as well judging by his flushed cheeks and wide eyes

he didn’t mean to let that out

but thanks to his exhaustion he was being a bit too honest tonight

“You know I hoped we’d be in bed together someday too,” you admitted

he relaxed a little at this but there was an awkward pause

“Wait, you... like me?” he asked

“I have for a while,” you said not making eye contact yet here you were in his bed

“I didn’t think we’d be in bed together when you finally confessed,” he laughed which helped relax you

you spent that night cuddling and giggling as you two learned about how much you two liked each other

and laughing at how the “awful hotel” ended up helping you two finally confess

Colt

ok out of these guys I think Colt is the most gentlemanly

when he saw that there was one bed he immediately claimed the ground as his sleeping spot

“Colt! That won’t be comfortable at all!”

“It’s okay Y/N, you deserve the bed!”

“Colt, I can see you shivering. Just get into the bed,” you insisted

he was too tired to argue with you so he did as he was told

“Ok but feel free to kick me out any time I won’t be offended I promise!”

you rolled your eyes

yeah it wasn’t ideal but you both deserved a bed to sleep on after such a long day of taking Marleyan officers’ orders

it was insane how fast Colt fell asleep

seconds after he gave you permission to kick him out he was out cold

you chuckled and turned off the lights to go to bed

you were sleeping peacefully

until

you heard a voice?? at this hour??

your eyes shot open and realized the voice belonged to Colt

who was sleep talking

it sounded like he was telling someone something

“Y/N... and I slept together....No not like that...”

you couldn’t help but to feel a little flustered and amused

this was entertaining so you kept watching

“Can me and Y/N....be..a reality?”

“Yes,” you muttered in agreement

at this point it looked like Colt had fallen in his dream and shot up awake

“Oh! Hey Y/N, sorry if I woke you up, I just-”

“So you were telling people we slept together?” you teased

Colt paused for a second

“How do you know about that...?”

“Has anyone told you that you sleep talk?”

Colt was a blushing mess now and kept asking how much of it you heard

you shut him up by asking if you and him could be a reality

that instantly answered all his questions

he played it cool though

“Yes, let’s become a reality, you’ll make my dreams come true,” he said

and that’s how you became his dream girl

Zeke

we all know how Zeke feels about mistakes

or as he puts, “miscalculations”

either way he is annoyed that a singular bed has become yet another one of his problems

he’s too tired to deal with this shit

but he also didn’t want to sleep on the ground but he didn’t want you to either

“Want the other half of the bed?” he just asked as he walked towards one side

“Yeah, I guess so. Thanks,” you said as you took the other side

you felt a little more awkward about it than Zeke did but you didn’t want to reject his offer

Just as you were about to go to sleep Zeke spoke up

“Do you think if people just disappeared problems would go away too?”

this was a pretty heavy question

definitely a late night thought

“Not necessarily,” you replied

“Elaborate.”

“Well, I think that people, no matter who they are, will have lasting impacts on the world,” you replied

you both continued having this philosophical discussion

you were impressed with his beliefs on the topic

Zeke was always a mysterious person and it was rare he opened up this way

he alluded that he didn’t have the greatest childhood which you sympathized with

maybe this is why he believed the way he did

you assured him that he was wanted

“Thank you, it helps hearing someone say that. Even though I have one year left, I agree that my time on this Earth would have an impact. There’s no greater beast than me,”

you could imagine how his mind was knowing he had a year left

maybe this is why he thought like this

you lost track of time when you felt his arm envelop you

his warmth lulled you to sleep

thought provoking conversations are tiring but at least you’ve got him next to you

#aot x reader #attack on titan x reader #attack on titan imagine #levi ackerman x reader #levi x reader #bertholdt x reader #bertolt x reader #snk x reader #snk imagines #shinkgeki no kyojin x reader #porco x reader #porco galliard x reader #colt grice x reader #zeke x reader #zeke yeager x reader

750 notes · View notes

disturbedbydesign · 3 years

Text

The Widow and the Wolf - Chapter 2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x dark!exWidow!reader

Summary: After Natasha Romanoff took down the Red Room, the former Widows scattered to the wind. Raised to be a killing machine and released into the world with nothing and no one, you decided to use your newfound autonomy to take down the bad guys of your choosing. But now Natasha is riddled with guilt for leaving you on your own. She wants to recruit you, rehabilitate you, make you part of a team again. But the rest of the squad has reservations, and no one is more against you than Bucky Barnes.

Warnings: Graphic violence; Mentions of domestic violence, rape, pedophilia, human trafficking, child sex trafficking; eventual Dubcon (not Bucky); eventual smut; slow(ish) burn enemies-to-lovers. [More warnings will be added as necessary but these are the Big Bads.] 18+ only, no minors.

If you prefer to read on AO3, you can do so here.

Chapter Two

It’s almost midnight by the time Garcia is officially gator food, but you’re too wired for sleep. You head out, driving the hour and change to Miami, with a stop on the way to clean yourself up a bit in a gas station bathroom. You check in to the swanky South Beach hotel you’ve decided to treat yourself to, because you’ve earned it. The world is a better place without that man in it, the impressionable young girls of Miami are a bit safer tonight, and that’s enough for you. For the moment, it’s enough.

Your next target is a man you’ve been searching for for a long time, and he’s your own personal project, but tonight you aren’t going to think about him. Tonight you’re going to allow yourself a moment to breathe, to celebrate your victories—a party of one, as usual, but satisfying all the same. You don’t have that much time left before last call at the clubs so you get yourself together quickly and hit the spot closest to your hotel. Even at this time of night, there’s a line to get in, but one look at you and the bouncer is opening that velvet rope and beckoning you inside.

The place reeks of sweat and unchecked hormones as you make your way to the bar, the booming bass drowning out any and all thoughts you might have, which is exactly the way you want it tonight. You order a double vodka rocks and you wait to see what kind of man will approach you this evening: angel or devil. Of course, none of them are really angels, not in the club at this time of night, but some are far worse than others.

You have no problem with decent men. There’s nothing wrong with trying to get laid. It’s normal, it’s natural—you know that now. You’ve even learned to enjoy consensual sex with strangers. At first it was difficult for you—your body having belonged to others for your entire life. But it wasn’t long before you started to enjoy the power of choice, of having control over what your body did and who with.

A man approaches you—brown hair, blue eyes, muscular—and you hate that your first thought is of him but you can’t help it. The Winter Soldier had always been the stuff of nightmares—a ghost story to some, but the Widows knew better. He was terrifying, yes, but the few people who had seen the man’s face and lived to tell about it had always remarked on how handsome he was, even with that cold, dead-eyed stare. You’d seen pictures of him after he came out from under all that brainwashing, and they had proven the reports correct, but you’d never seen him in person until tonight. You couldn’t stand the sight of him in some ways, but in others…

You turn to the attractive stranger and smile, waiting to see what he’ll do.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he yells over the music. You raise your nearly full cocktail in his direction and he smiles awkwardly. “That’s the best line I got,” he says, and he introduces himself with a name you don’t commit to memory.

You give him a fake name and he reaches his hand out to shake. He’s got a disarming personality, but that doesn’t mean you trust him. You know better than anyone that there’s no better tactic than to appear non-threatening. Still, he’s incredibly attractive and you’re in the mood for a party of two tonight.

You let him talk for a while—about his job, about his family—and you pepper in a few lies here and there. He hasn’t laid a hand on you or invaded your personal space in any way that isn’t necessary among the crush of people at the bar. When the bartender signals last call, you decide that he’ll do. You’re rarely wrong about people, and even if you are, you could snap his neck like a twig if necessary.

You allow him to walk you out, expecting him to make a move, but he doesn’t. He just stands there with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, rocking a bit awkwardly on his feet.

You smile and tilt your head. “Nightcap?” you ask, and he follows you like a puppy to your hotel room.

You don’t want another drink and neither does he, but he waits for your signal before he tries anything. You try not to make it all seem transactional, but it’s not like your heart is in it. You let him kiss you and touch you, albeit briefly, and you pretend to enjoy it even though that’s not what you want. What you want is to be on top of him, using his body for the pleasure of your own, and it’s not long before you’re doing exactly that. Your beautiful stranger certainly doesn’t mind, not even when you close your eyes and allow yourself to think about someone else inside you—what his face might look like all twisted up and blissed out, what sounds might spill from his pretty lips, what the cold metal might feel like against your hot sweaty skin.

You make yourself cum and then kick him out (kindly). You’re gone by sunrise. You’ve got places to be.

*****

Natasha sits cross-legged on her couch, a pint of ice cream in one hand and scrolling her tablet with the other. After Miami, you’ve been a ghost. None of her usual contacts have been able to give her anything useful. You’ve gone underground, and she knows she won’t find you if you really don’t want to be found. Whoever your next target is, it has to be somebody big if you’ve covered your tracks this well.

She doesn’t regret not taking you in, even though Bucky had complained the entire ride back about how leaving you there was a mistake. But, as she’d told him, you have to want to come in. Trying to force your hand is not only incredibly dangerous, it defeats the purpose. Natasha doesn’t want to retraumatize you; she wants to help you. There’s no point in trading a floating cage for a gilded one.

She doesn’t realize she’s finished the pint until the spoon hits the cardboard. When she goes to pull another one from the freezer, her phone rings.

“What’s up, Rogers?”

Steve’s voice holds a barely contained anger that Natasha knows well. “You need to come in.”

She should have known Bucky would rat her out, but it still pisses her off. “Steve, it’s getting late. Can we do this in the morning?”

“I don’t know,” Steve replies. “Are you gonna steal another jet in the middle of the night?”

“Technically, I didn’t steal-”

“Natasha, please,” he says, and she can picture the set of his jaw on the other end of the line.

She sighs. “Alright, fine. I’m leaving now.”

When she gets to the tower, most of the usual suspects are gathered around the conference table. Steve looks pissed. Tony looks amused. Sam and Wanda look concerned. And while, to anyone else Bucky would be wearing no expression at all, Natasha can tell that he’s feeling a bit guilty—as he should, he gave her his word. He mouths “I’m sorry” when she sits down at the table and she raises an eyebrow at him that he knows to translate as a middle finger.

Steve tries to speak but Natasha cuts him off. “Save me the lecture, Rogers. I’m not going to apologize.”

Steve’s voice is stern but not unkind. “This needs to be a group decision, Natasha, and as of right now, you’re the only person who thinks this is a good idea.”

“That’s not actually true,” she says. “Wanda? Do you want to tell Steve what you told me?”

Wanda looks a little shocked to be called out but she answers, if a bit hesitantly. “It sounds like she needs help, Steve. Like she’s lost. I… I know what that feels like—when everyone thinks you’re a monster.”

Wanda and Nat’s eyes both turn to Bucky, looking for any recognition whatsoever that he, too, knows exactly where they’re coming from, but he’s completely stolid. Underneath his blood is boiling and he feels like he wants to crawl out of his skin, but the surface remains placid.

Tony pops a blueberry into his mouth and swivels in his chair to face Natasha. “So, let me see if I’m understanding this correctly, Romanoff. You want to bring in one of your former compatriots who has spent the last… what?... year or so on a globetrotting murder spree? Am I getting the general idea here, or am I missing something? I have to be missing something, because if I’m not missing something, this is categorically batshit.”

“It’s more complicated than that, Stark. But essentially, yes. That’s exactly what I want to do.”

Tony laughs. “Wow. OK. Well, Rogers—you and I rarely agree on… well… anything, but I gotta say, I’m Team Cap with this one.”

Natasha crosses her arms and huffs her displeasure.

“I’m sorry,” Tony says, looking around and addressing the room, “but don’t we usually catch mass murderers? Isn’t that kind of our thing?”

The longer the conversation goes on, the more uncomfortable Bucky gets. It wasn’t lost on him that Tony’s eyes lingered on him when he threw out the term “mass murderers,” and he’s learned that it’s better to just let Tony go off when he feels the need. Still, he needs to get out of the room. He needs to take a walk, get some air, push all thoughts of you and this whole mess out of his mind, because if he doesn’t, he thinks he might go crazy.

“Are we done here?” Bucky asks.

“No,” Steve replies. “Sam? Anything you want to say?”

Sam takes a minute to gather his thoughts. “Look, Nat, I understand where you’re coming from on this. I really do. And it would be different if she was willing to come in on her own. But it sounds to me like she isn’t interested. She wants to be doing exactly what she’s doing. You can’t rehabilitate that. You just can’t.”

Steve looks apologetically at Natasha. “I’m sorry,” he says, “but it’s a no. I’m not necessarily saying we go after her-”

“I am,” Tony interjects. “I’m saying that. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Steve glares at Tony and it shuts him up. “Leave it alone, Tony.”

“You’re seriously telling me you want to leave this girl on the streets knowing what we know? Come on, Rogers.”

Everyone starts to raise their voice at once—everyone except Bucky, who is already sneaking out and halfway to the door—when Natasha shouts, “Enough!”

She takes a deep breath and blows it out, speaking softer now. “I’ll find her and I’ll bring her in, whether she wants to come or not. But it stays in this room—no cops, no agents, just the team. When I get her here, I’ll figure out what to do with her.”

“Fine,” Steve says, and the rest of the team assents. “Buck, you go with her.”

Every cell in Bucky’s body is screaming not to do it, but he never could say no to Steve. He grunts his agreement, refusing to even look at Natasha before storming out of the room and out into the humid mid-August evening. He walks all the way from Midtown to Brooklyn, but he still can’t shake the malaise that’s settled over him ever since Natasha first came to him with her plan.

Bucky knows that he should understand—and, in a way, he does—but he just can’t bring himself to feel anything for you except disgust. Natasha sees something in you that he just doesn’t see. All Bucky wanted to do when he finally got free of it all was prove to everyone that he was a good man—that he was not the things that he’d done. It took a lot of work and a lot of time, but he’s finally in a place where he’s separated himself from the Winter Soldier. That isn’t who he is; it never was.

Steve always knew that, and Natasha hadn’t taken much convincing. The others, though—some of them still don’t fully trust him, and if he thinks about it for too long, it cuts deep. So when Bucky thinks of you—free now, but still violent and bloodthirsty and absolutely unrepentant—it makes him sick. After all the work Bucky has done, how can Natasha look at you and him and think that you’re the same?

Not everyone comes out of their traumas unscathed. Sometimes people can’t come back from the things that have happened to them. That’s you. That’s who you are. You’re not good, you never will be, and as sad as it may make him, Bucky truly believes that you are beyond redemption. You don’t need to be saved; you need to be stopped.

Bucky gets a text as he unlocks the door to his Brooklyn Heights apartment. He’s been waiting for it, hoping for it, and now he has it. Natasha doesn’t know where you are yet, but he does. One of his contacts in Bucharest has a line on you, and he’s not going to let you get away this time. Much as it pains him, he doesn’t trust Natasha to keep her word to the team and take you in against your will. No, Bucky is going to handle this himself. You may be a Widow, but you’re no match for the White Wolf.

CHAPTER THREE >>>

#bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes #sebastian stan #dark!fic #dark!reader #the widow and the wolf

85 notes · View notes

haikyuuuuuhypeeeee · 3 years

Text

Ch. Fourteen

⚠WARNING: Swearing

• ────── ✾ ────── •

Waking up is painful. Physically painful, at least. You’re not ready to deal with the emotional pain from yesterday, no thank you.

You finally peel your eyes open, a true struggle considering how they were crusted together. You take in your surroundings and form the first coherent thought of the day.

This isn’t my bedroom.

Your eyes seem to be crusted shut. You sit up and realize that no, this is not your apartment, this is Osamu’s apartment. This is his bed you’re currently sitting up from, his blankets wrapped around you.

You then form your second coherent thought of the day.

His detergent smells really nice.

That thought finishes in your head before it’s slammed aside by the rush of yesterday’s memories - group therapy with your friends and Osamu, Oikawa being a complete dick to Osamu, your argument with Oikawa which resulted in Oikawa blabbing of your love for Hajime, leaving the restaurant crying, realizing you lost your keys but they’re at Osamu’s apartment, walking to Osamu’s crying…

From there it’s a bit murkier as your memories intertwined with self-deprecating thoughts and a line of thinking you rarely walk down anymore.

Last night was a night.

You do somewhat remember Osamu comforting you. Letting you know that it was okay and he was there for you.

You glance around the studio apartment, wondering where he was. Oh god, did you force him out good lord you are -

Oh, no he’s sitting on his couch with a cup of coffee.

You’re filled with guilt when you realize you monopolized his bed and completely took over his apartment. Yeah, he maybe didn’t need to sleep last night (a concept you still don’t fully understand nor approve of) but you have fully overstayed your welcome.

Grabbing your phone from the side table you tap the screen, taking in the notifications on your screen.

Shit, I never messaged Makki or Mattsun.

Your gut feels like lead as you open the group chat with the two. That was a big fuck up on your end.

Fuck, I’m such a shitty friend.

You don’t waste anytime typing out a message.

“Tea?”

You look up from your phone and are greeted with Osamu’s sleepy gaze, a mug of tea held in his hand for you. You reach for the mug, nodding slowly.

“How’re yer feel in’ this morning?” He asks as you take a sip. You shrug in response

“I’m okay. I’m sorry I just fell apart like that on you.” You say. “I wasn’t having a great night, and my emotions just kind of bled all over the place. And I’m sorry that I fell asleep.”

“Yeah, that was actually pretty funny.” Osamu smiles. “Ya just kinda passed out on my shoulder. I had to lift ya to get ya onto the bed.”

You blink, absolutely mortified. “Oh wow, I am so sorry. That’s so embarrassing.”

“Nah, it was cute.” Osamu takes a casual sip from his mug, seemingly oblivious to the flirty line he just dropped. “But ya seemed pretty upset last night, and i wasn’t gonna let ya walk home like that.” The smile drops from his face and he looks at you with concern. “If ya wanna talk about it ya can, although I don’t want to push ya. It’d be pretty dumb of me to.

“I know I’ve been pretty skeptical about openin’ up and talkin’ ‘bout my feelings, but since meetin’ ya I’ve felt better. Lighter, I guess.” He shrugs. “Ya’ve made me realize how important it is to open up.”

You look down at your tea, a small smile tugging at your lips. Your heart warms at Osamu’s words, part of you preening that you were the one who has helped Osamu, but also you feel genuine relief that Osamu wants to open up more.

“Well, let me treat you to breakfast this morning - it’s the least I can do.” You finish your tea and give Osamu a small smile. “I can tell you about yesterday if you don’t mind listening.”

Osamu smiles in return. “Sure, let me grab my stuff.” He takes the mug from your hand and shuffles into the kitchen. You sit up, stretching your arms and grabbing your phone. A few more messages have come through from Mattsun and Makki.

Uhhhhh…….

You open up your chat with Oikawa, finding hundreds of messages from him. He hasn’t sent you anything since 5am. You quickly navigate back to the chat with your other friends.

Frantic knocks, one after another, beat against Osamu’s door.

No way.

Osamu gives you a look before walking to the front door. He checks the paper hole, then turns back and looks at you with faint amusement.

“It’s for ya.”

You stand from the bed, moving into the kitchen. Regretfully, you open the door.

A distressed-looking Oikawa is the surprise visitor. He looks absolutely beside himself - his eyes are bloodshot and swollen, snot is dripping out of his nose, and his hair is messy and lackluster.

Oh dear god.

He bursts into tears when he sees you, but surprisingly doesn’t throw himself at you. He must be learning some boundaries. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Y/N-chan! I was being stupid and petty and I didn’t mean to-”

“Ok, ok c’mon. You’re going to wake up Osamu’s neighbors.” You bring the snivelling, pathetic Oikawa inside, quickly closing the door behind him. You help him get his shoes off, glancing around the Osamu. You spot him at the sink, filling a glass with water. He brings it over, giving Oikawa a nod and silently passing the water to him.

“Thank you Osamu-kun.” Oikawa gratefully takes the water and downs it before handing the empty glass back to an amused Osamu. “I plan on giving you a full apology soon, I promise.”

Osamu huffs a laugh and goes back into the kitchen. He sets the glass in the sink as you lead Oikawa through and into the living room.

“I’m so sorry,” you whisper to Osamu. “Do you want me to go?”

“Nah,” Osamu waves his hand. “I’ll get ready for breakfast in the bathroom, and give you guys some space.”

“Thank you, I’ll try to make this quick.”

“Take yer time.” Osamu smiles at you and moves to the bathroom. You turn back to Oikawa, who is watching you with regret painting all over his face.

“I’m sorry I told Makki and Mattsun that you love Hajime.” Oikawa blurts without any bite.

You think you see Osamu flinch out of the corner of your eye but when you look his way you see the bathroom door closing. You look back to Oikawa and sigh.

“Why did you say it then?”

Oikawa heaves a sigh and hangs his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to say to make you not hate me.”

“Oikawa, I don’t hate you.” You join him on the couch, leaning into his side. “Talk to me.”

Oikawa presses back to you and you feel his shoulders move up and down as he takes another deep breath. “I knew that uni classes and volleyball would be really really hard - but as long as we all had each other we would be fine. We smashed through high school together, so this was just another challenge.

“But when Iwa-chan died it changed everything. Obviously.” Oikawa takes a shaky breath. “But I still had you, Mattsun and Makki. I knew that we wouldn’t be the same without Iwa-chan, and classes and volleyball would be hard, but we would be friends.

“I don’t think I knew how hard everything would be. My classes suck, volleyball is a chore, and I miss Iwa-chan.” He sniffles. “I miss him so much. I feel like I don’t know who I am without him. But I had you guys, I always had my friends.

“But Mattsun and Makki are in their own world sometimes, and then you started hanging out with Osamu.” He looks at you, tears shining in his brown eyes. “I know it makes me sound like you can’t have other friends beside me, and I really don’t want to be selfish. But you were spending more time with Osamu and it hit me that you were all growing up and becoming different people.” A few tears track down his face and he sniffs. “I don’t want anything to change, I don’t want Iwa-chan to be dead, I don’t want to be a terrible person.”

Oikawa starts to cry and you don’t hesitate in pulling him into a side hug. He’s not really sobbing but you feel his pain deep in your heart. One of your hands comes up to card gently through his hair.

“I know I’ve been a piece of shit the last few months. And I can tell that you really like Osamu, even though you’ve always loved Iwa-chan. Whenever you talked about him you had this happy and bright look on your face. He makes you feel good, but you love Iwa-chan. You moving on meant change, and I hated that.” Oikawa sniffs. “But bringing Osamu to the group therapy session, which I always thought was our group’s thing, made me realize that you were changing. I was so angry, and your secret just slipped out.”

He takes a watery breath. “Isn’t it awful? I’ve been trying to drag you back down to my level, bring you back down to feel the pain that I feel, all because I’m scared. I’m a terrible, awful friend.”

“Oikawa, have you had time to go to your therapy appointments?” You ask gently.

He doesn’t answer right away, and when he gives the tiniest shake of his head you sigh.

“Honey,” you scold gently. “Why are you not going?”

“School and volleyball have taken up a lot of my time.” Oikawa mumbles, his sentence punctuated with another sniffle. “I’ve skipped so many appointments, and I’m too embarrassed to call.”

You sigh, inwardly shaking your head at your friend’s weak excuse. “I don’t want to tell you what to do, but maybe re-prioritize your responsibilities. Getting back on track with your therapy appointments should take top priority. You can talk through these feelings instead of letting them fester.”

Oikawa doesn’t answer right away, but when he does his voice is small. “But I’d probably have to quit volleyball, and that’s all I have left of Iwa-chan.” You see his hands ball into fists. “I don’t want to lose that.” His breath hitches. “I don’t know what to do.”

You let him cry on your shoulder, giving him the time to get all the tears out. You figure this is the most civil conversation you’ve had since Hajime died. The thought brings you relief but also makes you quite sad.

“You know you’re one of my best friends, right Oikawa?” You ask once he’s calmed down a bit. “You’re a diva and a trainwreck, but you’re my diva and my trainwreck.” He exhales lightly but you’re almost certain it’s in amusement. “No matter what, I’m always going to want the best for you, and I’m always gonna try my best to help you.

“But,” you feel him tense up when you continue. “You have to realize that your behavior the past few months has been really shitty. You’ve treated us all like punching bags - we get it, probably more than a lot of people could. But I’m not gonna let you treat me, or any of our friends, like it anymore.”

“I’ll be good.” Oikawa promises immediately. “I promise, I’ll do better for you and Makki and Mattsun. And me.”

“Good.” You give him a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry for yelling at you last night in the restaurant.”

“You don’t have to apologize at all.” He replies immediately. He yawns before speaking again. “Honestly, I’ve been a piece of shit for months now. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” You murur. You both sit on the couch for a while longer as you try to come down from the conversation you just had. You feel like a heavy cloud that’s been floating around your head for months has cleared, and although you know Oikawa won’t magically change overnight you feel better knowing that you’ve had this hard conversation with him. Change starts with communication, and hopefully Oikawa understands now that he has the support to change.

You feel Oikawa leaning against you even further and you look at his face to see his eyes closed and mouth parted open.

“Oikawa, c’mon I don’t want you falling asleep.” You gently push him off you so you can stand and get Oikawa to stand also. His eyes are still closed and he puts nearly all of his body weight onto you.

He must not have slept all night, you think. It’s not uncommon for him to pull all nighters, a habit he picked up in high school watching game tape over and over until the sun came up. But he handles the lack of sleep gracelessly - you could prop him against a door jamb and he’d pass out no problem.

Together you move towards the front door. You’re not going to let him fall asleep here and inconvenience Osamu even more - you’ll take him back to your apartment and maybe try to catch lunch with Osamu. Now you owe him a few meals and unlimited coffee.

“Gotta apologize to Osamu-kun,” Oikawa mumbles when you lean him against the wall.

“Maybe when you’re going to fall asleep standing up, yeah?” You reply, bending down to shove his feet back in his shoes. You hear more mumblings in return but can’t make anything out of them.

As you’re getting your shoes on you hear the bathroom door open and out walks Osamu. He’s dressed and his face is composed into it’s usual blankness. Trusting that Oikawa won’t keel over, you walk over to where Osamu is reaching into his dresser for socks.

“I’m so sorry,” you say. “I have to reschedule breakfast, I have to make sure this idiot won’t sleepwalk into traffic.”

“S’alright. Didja work everything out?” Osamu asks in a measured tone.

“I think so.” Osamu’s not looking at you as he puts on his socks. Your gut twinges with guilt, realizing that he must be upset that you have to cancel breakfast. “But I think I’m gonna take him to my apartment and make sure he sleeps. Do you want to meet up for lunch or something?”

“Can’t.” His short answer makes you blink. “Meetin’ a group on campus for a class project.”

“Oh.” He’s still not meeting your gaze, and you detect a hint of gruffness in his tone. Maybe he’s upset that he has to meet with his group last minute? Or because you basically shoved him into his bathroom while you and Oikawa worked out your issues. “Dinner then? I owe you double now.”

“Probably not.” Osamu stands and gathers a few books and a notebook before shoving them into his backpack. His inability to look at you or hold a full conversation is confusing, but you don’t want to push him.

“Well let’s meet at the coffee shop tomorrow, usual time after morning classes. Sounds good?”

He hums distractedly. Your gut feels heavier and you swallow hard.

“Okay, well I’ll be off now.”

Osamu turns towards you but still doesn’t meet your eyes. “I’ll walk ya out.”

You both make the short walk to the front door. The tension in the room is heavy, unable to lighten even at the sight of Oikawa sleeping standing up. You maneuver your friend while Osamu opens the door for you. It’s a slight struggle walking out of the front door but you manage.

You look back before Osamu can close the door behind you. He’s holding the door knob and staring at the ground. “Let me know if you can do dinner tonight - if not I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You force as much cheeriness into your voice, despite the heavy weight in your chest. Finally Osamu looks at you, giving you a disinterested nod.

He closes the door as you turn to walk away. You look back quickly, catching a crestfallen look on Osamu’s face before the door fully closes.

• ────── ✾ ────── •

A/N: So when I originally thought about this story, I wanted to think about how different people deal with grief. And what I wanted to explore was 1.) is there a limit to how people will grieve? And 2.) can someone grieving push that limit? From the get-go Oikawa has seemingly pushed the limit of what some of you believed, and yet Y/N was still hesitant to call him out. And I loved hearing what everyone had to say about Oikawa - some were willing to give him a pass, and some were NOT happy with him. Now, just because someone is grieving, it does NOT give them a free pass to behave inappropriately or do serious harm to those around them. But I think it’s important to note that what may seem absolutely insane to one person is tolerable to another. And what it comes down to is how the person who is directly affected by another’s actions wants to address those actions (sorry if this is confusing.) Oikawa was treating Y/N and their friends like shit. In the story it was because Oikawa was not taking the necessary actions to keep himself mentally healthy. In Y/N’s eyes, if there is a desire to be better, and appropriate actions are taken to be better, then Oikawa deserves to be forgiven. I have absolutely LOVED reading everyone’s reactions and hearing their opinions on Oikawa’s slowly deteriorating behavior, thank you for sending them in! And just because how Y/N has reacted to Oikawa’s behavior it does not mean there is a right/wrong way! Everyone has different life experiences and different relationships that guide their decision-making! And that’s totally okay! (This obviously applies to non-threatening and morally & ethically right behavior.) And WOOF thank you for getting this far in the A/N’s, this was a LOT! Gold stars for everyone!! 🌟🌟🌟

Taglist Open! Please send an Ask with the request to be added to It’s [Not] Okay Fic & SMAU: @psycho-nightrose @camcam1617 @kamalymaly @toobsessedsstuff @shookykookie30 @roro-707 @qualitygiantshoepsychic @cerealfrdinner797 @ara-mitsue @gray-444 @tanakasimpcorner @rintarovibes @jellien @everytimeswift @bongofrito @babucrow @beidouluvr @kozuken-ma @imarriedachef

54 notes · View notes

deidaratheartboi · 3 years

Text

Chrollo Headcannon

I'm on a roll with these headcannons even though I'm just now updating. In this headcannon or whatever you are at the Yorknew city auction and you meet a raven haired man named Chrollo. Inspired by a Gibi Asmr Rp. y/n= your name f/n- friends name A/N: This is going to be much longer then any of my other stories. I am aiming to write longer more detailed ones. Also this might trigger some people so read at your own caution. Here you were standing in front of the tall building they had the auction in. You couldn't believe you were actually here. It was all thanks to your friend who was well off, and she was gracious enough to give you a ticket. The building itself was intimidating with its tall structure and glass windows. They called it “The Cemetery Building” it was an odd name for a lovely building but, your mind didn't linger on it any longer as your friend ushered you to join her. She also had one of her servants with her name “Rin” she was sweet and made sure her mistress had anything she desired. You both walk inside the building, and you were shocked to see the inside. Marble floors, chandeliers, long staircases basically everything you weren't use to. Your friend saw your shocked expression and chuckled. “Welcome to the high life y/n. This is what all the fuss is about.” You sheepishly smiled and nodded not wanting to look like a poor idiot. Your friend then walks away to mingle with some other people. You walk towards her but, you keep getting pushed every direction, and now you were lost. It was overwhelming and confusing but, you then feel someone tap your shoulder. You look to see who had done touched you and you meet gray eyes. He had black hair and a really nice face. You blushed a little but, gained self-control. He motions you to follow him and you do. What am I doing following a complete but, handsome stranger? You follow him for a short amount of time even though it feels like hours, and he guides you to a seat by a window. You mush be on maybe the 6th floor seeing as how high up the window was from the ground but, you decide to ignore that. “Hello there I know thus might be odd but, I couldn't help but notice you seemed lost, and I had to get you to a quiet place to talk.” Oh, he speaks. You nod like an idiot not knowing what to say obviously nervous. It's not that you were shy it's that you didn't know how to talk to people especially strangers. He chuckles. “No need to be nervous now may I know your name?” You flush from embarrassment. “My name is y-y/n.” “Well that's a very nice name y/n. So tell me why are you here at this auction? Is there anything you want or catches your eye?” To be honest you didn't even know why you came. You barely knew anything about the auction except your friend going on about scarlet eyes and someone's hand. You just came because your friend insisted and you were a bit curious. "I don't know much about the auction or anything really I just came because my friend f/n wanted me to. She told me something about scarlet eyes and much she wanted them but, that's it." He nods in understanding. "Your friend has impeccable taste but, was it really wise of her to bring someone who knows nothing of this event?" That kind of hurt but, he was right. "I don't know she knows I've wanted to go for awhile so yeah." He nods. "Would you like some drinks or any food?" You shake your head but, your stomach said otherwise as it grumbles loudly. "I don't think your stomach agrees with you much y/n." You blush furiously and hide your face. He calls a waiter over and orders for himself and you. You didn't mind him doing so he seemed like a gentlemen. You both ate and talked and you tried to avoid talking with food in your mouth. Taking small bites and wiping your mouth whenever you could you aimed to impress the man with your etiquette skills. You both finish your food and you are stuffed. "Hey y/n I have to tell you something. Some events will take place at the auction and it won't be safe for you here. I suggest you tell your friend and the both of you leave this auction." You sat there

confused. What was going to happen? Why did he want you to leave? Before you could ask you hear footsteps and your friends loud voice yelling at the top of her lungs at you. "Where were you y/n! I was looking everywhere for you!" You hold your head down in shame. When she acknowledges everyone was staring at her she sighs and tells you the auction was starting soon. You look back at the man. "Go and remember what I told you." You nod and walk away with your friend. "Now y/n the auction is soon and I need those eyes so what you're going to do is sit down while I bid. You and your little incident is time we wasted time-." Should I tell her? What if she gets mad? "Y/N are you even listening?" You took a deep breath. Here we go. "F/N we need to leave something is going to happen the man told me." She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Ya know you are so naïve believing everything people tell you he probably told you to reduce competition for the eyes and one look at you and he knew you didn't belong here." That had hurt a lot. F/N wasn't very good with words and said things that were hurtful but, only because she was mad. She was practically your only friend and you didn't want to lose her but, the mans warning replayed in your mind. "I really think we should leave." Your friend stops in her tracks and turns around to face you. "Listen here y/n you can leave if you'd like but, I'm getting those eyes with or without you. So why don't you just leave? You trust that man more then you do me. Maybe we're not meant to be friends." Tears start to form in your eyes as you watch your only friend leave you. You slowly walk back towards the entrance and leave the place. Feeling barren and full of despair you call the driver who brought you here to take you home. When you do arrive home you thank the driver and walk into your house alone. You call f/n's phone but, no answer. Oh I forgot no phones are allowed inside the auction. The emotions inside you were immense and it made you tired so you fall asleep. The Next Day You wake up from slumber still in your formal clothes but, refreshed. You get up to freshen up and put on some more casual clothes. When you were finished you decide to turn on the tv and when you did your heart stopped. On the headlines there were "Thieves Rob The Yorknew City Auction; More Then 10,000 Killed." On the screen were the people who died and your friend was one of them. She was very well known because of her father and lots of people loved her. You felt it the most. The pain and anguish of losing someone. Someone who did nothing but, help you. Sure she might be rough around the edges but, at the end of the day you always made up. You then remembered her last words to you. "Maybe we're not meant to be friends." That had hurt the most. You couldn't help but cry and cry until your head hurt and eyes were dry. Until your throat was hoarse and you just couldn't stand. You then heard a knock on the door. You fix your self up and wipe your eyes even though they were still bloodshot. You open the door to reveal the butler Sebastian. "Hello Miss. Y/N may I come in please?" You nod and sit on the couch. He takes a seat across from you. "I'm quite sorry for your loss but, my mistress left a will and she wanted you to have her bank account, animals, company, anything she had of worth or sentimental value." You smile. She always did pull through in the end. She was always looking out for you. "Tomorrow we will give you the passwords and just about everything she had. Or until after the funeral you can decide." You look up at him. "After the funeral." You cringed at your own voice it sounded like you had been smoking for 20 years. "Very well then Miss and again sorry for your loss." He then leaves you alone with your thoughts. You turn on your phone and go look for other news regarding the auction robbery and once again your heart stops. It was him. The man who told you to leave. Anger, confusion, and dissatisfaction fills you as you read the headline "Phantom Troup Leader Dead" but that didn't fool you the bodied were

fake. But, he wasn't going to live for long. The funeral was Saturday and you attended. You said a few words and expressed your sympathy to the family but, inside you were empty. You only stayed there shortly you came to collect the things she had left you. She had left you some box with a note on it Dear y/n, If you have this I am dead for reason eh who knows. Maybe I was killed by a hitman or something anyways I left this box for you. It holds all of your memories. I know you might be sad and confused right now and that's ok. Also I am sorry if I have said anything in the past to hurt you. I am sorry I wasn't a good friend at times and made you cry. But, we always pull through for each other in the end. I hope you can forgive me for all of this. Just know if someone did kill me I want you to kick their asses! <Love, f/n. A single tear slips from your eye as you closed the letter. You weren't ready to open the box just yet. Rest assured f/n I will bring them to justice. For you. For me. For everybody. Get ready Chrollo I'm coming for you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow what a adventure am I right? Quick question though seeing as she/he/they hate the spiders or Chrollo as much as Kurapika should I have them join together? Like you and the mcs. I think it would be cool.

#chrollo headcanons #y/n x chrollo

6 notes · View notes

myhockeyworld87 · 4 years

Text

One Year Down - Jamie Oleksiak

Requested: Yes

Word Count: 1,838

POV: Reader

Warnings: Maybe language

Notes: This was requested with the prompt: I can't believe I got the first date, let alone a year. I hope you guys enjoy it. Happy Reading!

When you'd met Jamie at a party, the first question you asked was who was he? Then when you found that out, the next question was, if he was single? As luck would have it, he actually was. Which gave you, your next dilemma, how did you get him to ask you out? Well, it was the twenty-first century, you could take the initiative and ask him out instead. It took you two beers to build up enough courage to go up and talk to him. You waited for the perfect opportunity when he was over grabbing another beer and you just so happened to be empty as well. "Do you mind?" You asked as he reached into the cooler to take out two beers. "Thanks."

As he handed over the bottle, you saw him take in your appearance. "Not a problem, I'm Jamie by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Jamie, I'm (Y/N)." You held out your hand for him and he shook, the contact sending a shock between you. It wasn't just static electricity either, it was that connection that you sometimes just got with someone and you hoped that he felt it too.

"(Y/N)" He tested your name on his lips. "Beautiful name for a beautiful girl." You couldn't help the blush that rose to your cheeks. "You're even prettier when you do that."

"And you're quite full of compliments." You tried to come off in a flirty manner, as you touched his arm.

"Only to you."

You were just about to say something super witty and clever, but then Tyler came up and threw his arm around you. "(Y/N), thank god you've finally made it. I've been playing beer pong with Katie and she's horrible. Please say you'll save me and be my partner."

"You're the one who's horrible at beer pong. I swear you lose on purpose."

"That's so not true. Jamie tell her, how awesome I am won't you?" Jamie seemed to be eyeing Tyler a bit skeptically, but eventually, he did answer the question.

"What can I say, Tyler's a great guy."

"See I told you, I'm the best." You playfully swatted at his chest. Tyler was the reason you'd come to the party, the two of you had been friends for a while but it was never anything more. Which was your choice, you knew his reputation and didn't want to be another pawn in his little game. "Now come on let's go play." He hauled you away from Jamie and you were somewhat disappointed. It'd had taken you so long to get up the courage to talk to him and now, well now beer pong was taking precedence. You looked over at Jamie, and there was a slight frown on his face, which you supposed was a good sign.

Throughout the game, you would try to steal little glances at the man that you'd rather be chatting with, but it seemed Tyler was intent on keeping your attention. Seggy by nature was a natural flirt, and even though you knew there would never be anything between the two of you Jamie obviously didn't. So when Tyler would grab you around the waist, you'd do your best to wiggle out of his grasp. Though you couldn't avoid him kissing you on the cheek and swinging you around in his arms when the two of you won. Drunk Seguin, was even more touchy-feely than he was sober.

Now that the game was finally over, you thought you'd be able to make your way over to Big Rig, but it didn't seem to be in the cards. You'd plied his nickname out of Katie during beer pong, though she didn't reveal any more information as you two headed into the house to take on Chubbs and Seggy in a game of ping pong. As you walked passed the kitchen you noticed Jamie, hanging out with a couple of the other players and gave him a smile. The fact that he gave you one back, had your heart fluttering a bit. Katie had insisted that it was girls against boys, so this time you didn't have Tyler touching you all the time.

Halfway through the game, you noticed that Jamie made his way into the room with a couple other guys. Katie pulled you aside, on the disguise of discussing strategy for the game. "Don't look now, but I think someone is checking you out?" Of course, you looked; isn't that what everyone did the moment someone said to not to? Jamie was smiling at you, eyes semi hooded, and you felt yourself blush under his gaze.

"Do you really think he's interest?"

"Please (Y/N) he'd be crazy not to be."

"Are you two going to chat all day or play?" You heard Chubbs yell from the end of the table.

"Keep your pants on, hot stuff." Katie shot back to her boyfriend. "Let's finish up this game and then we'll go talk to him."

"Deal." The two of smacked ping pong paddles in solidarity then continued on with the game. It was down to game point, one more point and you and Katie would be declared the victors. Katie whacked the ball, sending it over the net straight to Tyler, who returned it with a spin that sent you stumbling back in order to get the victory. The paddle connected with the ball, just as you felt your foot slip on something leaving you off balance. Before you could hit the ground, strong arms caught you up, and you were hauled against someone's rock hard chest. As you lifted your eyes up you saw Jamie's face. "You ok?"

Blinking rapidly a few times, you finally answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you."

Katie turned around then shouting. "Yes, girl! Great shot we won!!!" She quickly took in that you were wrapped in Jamie's arms and winked at you as she headed over to Tyler and Jamie. "Nice game, losers!"

Jamie steadied you on your feet finally, but let his hands linger on your hips. "Well looks like you got the winning shot."

"Yeah, I guess it was worth the sacrifice. Though thanks to you I'm still in one piece." You realized; you still had the one hand on his bicep while the other clutched the paddle to his chest. "Sorry, for being such a klutz." You went to pull away, but his grip on you tighten.

"Hey don't run away just yet. I thought maybe we could continue that conversation we started."

"I'd like that. Just let me put this back." He let you go then, so you could drop the paddle back on the table, then the two of you headed outside, where you laughed and talked for the next couple hours. The party had pretty much come to an end, without either one of you noticing. "I really should be going." You admitted reluctantly.

"Yeah me too. I didn't realize the time." He slid his hand over to take yours in his. "So I uh….I really had a nice time tonight." The two of you started walking out to where the cars were.

"Yeah me too."

"You wouldn't…I mean would you want to go out…like on a date…maybe tomorrow if you're not busy?" he'd alternated between looking at you and looking at the ground as he asked you.

"I'd like that. I'd actually like it a lot."

"Oh great." He stopped and smiled down at you then, his confidence back up, now that you'd said yes. "I'll pick you up, say six o'clock?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Great, I'll see you then." He made a move to leave, but you stopped him.

"Uh Jamie, you kind of forgot something." He looked at you curiously. "My phone number maybe." You added with a small giggle.

"Shit, so much for playing it cool." The two of you exchanged numbers and then went on the best first date of your life. Which then lead to an even better second date, and well now, you'd lost track of all the number of dates the two of you had been on, but tonight was something special.

Jamie had planned the whole date out, he even bought you a fancy dress for the occasion and as you exited the bedroom, ready to head out for the night; he expressed his appreciation. "Wow babe, you look absolutely gorgeous. That dress is so much better on you than I ever imagined it would be."

"Thanks, Jame. You have amazing taste."

"I picked you didn't I." He stated as he looped his arms around you.

"I could argue that I was the one who went after you. After all, I did come over to you first." You teased him back, running his tie between your fingers.

"In the end, I was the one that asked you out though." You couldn't really argue with that, so you just nodded, agreeing with him. "I can't believe I got the first date, let alone a year. I thought for a while I'd lost you to Seguin."

A slight chuckle escaped your lips. "You could never lose me to Tyler because he was never in the running. The minute I saw you, I was yours." He bent his head and kissed you then, his tongue twisting with yours until you broke apart. "You're going to ruin my lipstick if we keep doing this."

"I plan on ruining a whole lot more tonight on our anniversary than just your makeup."

"Mmmm, are you sure we're going out? Maybe we should just stay in." Your hands slid inside his suit coat to feel the hard muscles on his chest.

"Even though I'd rather stay here, we are going to celebrate our one-year anniversary in style." He playfully smacked your ass then. "Now come on, let's go before I throw you over my shoulder and take you back to the bedroom."

He laced his fingers with yours and the two of you headed out for the evening. He had rented out the back room at one of the fanciest restaurants in Dallas. There were flowers everywhere, beautiful roses you hoped you could take home. "Jamie, this is too much. These flowers are gorgeous."

"There's three hundred and sixty-five of them. One for each day that we've been together." Jamie had to be the sweetest man on the planet, and you were so lucky that he was yours.

"I love you, Jame."

"I love you too, (Y/N)."

Dinner was amazing, then afterward Jamie had someone come in with a guitar and serenade you, while the two of you danced. It was absolutely surreal. Dancing in his arms was magical and you were so thankful for two things. One, that you'd worked up the courage to make a move on Jamie that night, and two, you were glad you were a klutz and landed in his arms one year ago; for it had you in the same place right now, and there was nowhere else you wanted to be.

#myhockeyworld asks #One Year Down #jamie oleksiak #Jamie Oleksiak imagine #Jamie Oleksiak imagines #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #nhl fanfic #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #hockey fanfiction #dallas stars imagine #dallas stars imagines

156 notes · View notes

madpanda75 · 4 years

Text

“Taking Chances Part 5: Busted”

Find out what happens when Sonny walks in on the reader and Rafael mid-coitus...cause what could be more embarrassing 😳 Also you’ll get some of Sonny’s perspective in this chapter.

Thanks for all the amazing feedback! If anyone wants to be added to my tag list, let me know ❤️

Sonny whistled a tune as he walked down the hallway towards your apartment. The law book. The pancakes. It was all a ruse. You had been avoiding your big brother for weeks. Further confirmed by the fact that you didn’t respond to his text the night before. Something was off and Sonny wanted to find out what it was.

Did he feel guilty about checking up on you? Of course he did, but you were his baby sister. It was only natural for him to be worried and he actually did leave his immigration law book at your apartment. So technically, he did have a valid reason for stopping by. At least that was what he kept telling himself.

While walking Sonny bumped into your neighbors just as they were leaving their home. “Hey...uh…Sandra and Tom, right? It’s Sonny Carisi. I’m just stoppin’ by to check on Y/N.”

Sandra scoffed and shook her head. “Hope you brought your ear plugs.”

Sonny knitted his eyebrows in confusion. “Ear plugs?”

“Good luck, pal.” Tom patted Sonny on the shoulder and left to catch up with his wife.

Sonny glanced between your neighbors and the front door of your home. He could hear the faint sound of music playing inside. Taking out his spare key, he opened your door and stepped inside. “Hello?” He called out, but there was no answer. Sonny assumed you were painting. You always played music whenever you were working on a piece, completely lost in your own creative little universe.

As he headed down the foyer, a wave of relief washed over him. Everything was fine. You were probably busy with the gallery and your art. He was just overreacting. Working at SVU, it was hard not to assume the worst. Unfortunately, the detective was reminded of what happened to people who make assumptions when he turned the corner.

Sonny froze in his tracks, shocked at the scene he was witnessing. There you were laying on a table with your back arched, moaning loudly while a dark-haired man’s head was between your legs. His sweet precious baby sister who would beg him to play Pretty Pretty Princess over and over again; who used to sing in the youth choir at St. Thomas. The teeniest feather could’ve knocked him over in that moment.

“Y/N?!” He exclaimed.

Upon hearing your name, you turned your head. “Sonny!” You screamed and immediately tried to cover yourself.

Sonny was horrified. It was like witnessing a car crash. The most horrific carnage-filled car crash. He silently prayed to God for a sudden bout of hysterical blindness. Although even with his eyes shut, the images he had just seen would forever be seared into his brain. He was going to need trauma counseling and wondered if perhaps his boss’s therapist was available.

Just when Sonny thought it couldn’t get any worse, the head of a certain sharp-tongue, sassy, snarky ADA popped up like some sick version of Whack-A-Mole. The man in question looked almost as stunned as the blue-eyed detective. “Carisi,” Rafael softly said and wiped his chin and lips—which were coated in your arousal.

When Sonny saw Rafael, everything suddenly clicked into place—the recent tardiness, the perfume. It was you. You were the mysterious hook-up the squad had been teasing Rafael about. Sonny choked back the bile rising in his throat and then he saw red. Fury flashed before his eyes. His fists shook with rage. Never in his life had he wanted to hit someone so much as he did right then. “RAFAEL?!” He boomed and dropped his bag of groceries. “What the fuck is goin’ on here?!”

You hopped off the table, quickly picking Rafael’s sweater up off the floor and putting it on.“Sonny?! Get OUT!” You shouted in a shrill voice and stomped your foot like a petulant child.

“Seriously, Y/N?! On Nonna’s table!” Sonny ran a hand through his hair, his eyes were wild.

Rafael cautiously took a step closer, not wanting you to catch all the heat from your big brother. After all it took two to tango and to be fair, he could understand why Carisi was upset. This certainly was not what Rafael had in mind when he wanted to break the news that you and him were dating. “Carisi, I can explain,” he calmly said.

“Explain my ass.” Sonny marched up to Rafael and got right in his face, prodding the ADA in the chest. “That’s my baby sister you’re defiling on a family heirloom,” he growled.

You moved in between the two men, recognizing by the tone in his voice that Rafael was seconds away from getting punched in the face by your brother. “Sonny, calm down.”

“And you!” Sonny looked you up and down while shaking his head in disapproval. “Is this why you’ve been so busy? Cause you’re more interested in fucking some guy than spending time with your own family?”

You drew a sharp intake of breath at his harsh words. Your brother had never spoken to you like that before. You couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, wanting the floor to swallow you up whole.

Rafael saw the hurt in your eyes and something inside him snapped. Before his brain could even process what his body was doing, he pulled his fist back and punched Sonny square in the nose.

“Oh my God!” You stood there with your jaw dropped open, completely stunned—at Sonny, at Rafael, and at Rafael’s fist colliding with Sonny’s face.

Sonny doubled over and pinched the bridge of his nose, tears welling up in his eyes. “My nose!”

“Don’t you dare speak to her like that,” Rafael snarled and clutched his fist, trying to flex his fingers, his knuckles red and swollen. “Fuck, my hand!”

The two men groaned in excruciating pain. You glanced between them, not entirely sure who to go to first, your boyfriend or your brother. “Wow, Ma was right,” you mumbled to yourself. “Men really are just overgrown children.”

Sonny glared at Rafael, his nose bleeding profusely and began to lunge at him with his fist in the air ready to counter-attack. Thankfully, you were prepared this time and jumped in between them both with your arms outstretched, palms pressing against each of their chests as you pushed them off each other.

“STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!” You turned and pointed to Rafael. “You sit DOWN and don’t move. I’ll be right back.” Rafael immediately followed your orders, kind of turned on by your dominant side shining through, but now was not the time to tell you that.

You then turned to your brother. “You. Bathroom. NOW!” Sonny wouldn’t budge, muttering to himself in Italian as he tried to wipe the blood off his nose. “NOW!” You smacked him upside the head.

“Ow! Ok, I’m goin’! I’m goin!’” He held his hands up in surrender and headed down the hallway.

“Put those long limbs of yours to good use and walk a little faster then!” You said, hot on his heels.

Rafael could hear you both bickering all the way to the bathroom, your normally non-existent Staten Island accent coming out in full force. It was strange. He had never really noticed a family resemblance between you and Sonny until now.

*****

Sonny sat on the edge of your tub, nursing his swollen, tender nose. To stop the bleeding, you split a tampon in half and shoved each part up his nostrils. It wasn’t broken, but bruising was already beginning to form. He was gonna have a great time trying to explain two black eyes and a bashed-in nose to the squad on Monday morning. Who knew Rafael had such a killer right hook?

You walked into the bathroom—now dressed in your own clothes—and silently handed him a bag of frozen corn. In order to keep the peace, you had to put Sonny and Rafael in timeout. If it worked for your nieces and nephews, it would certainly work for your brother and your boyfriend.

“Thanks,” he muttered and held the frozen vegetables up to his face, wincing in pain. “Where’s Barba?”

“Still sitting at the table with his hand under a bag of frozen peas. You both owe me for groceries by the way.” You stood there, studying the tiled floor in silence before clearing your throat. “I better go check on Rafael.”

Just as you were about to leave, Sonny took hold of your hand. “Y/N, wait a sec, will ya’?”

You pulled out of his grasp and turned to face him, crossing your arms. “What is it?”

Sonny sighed and looked up at you with black eyes and a bloody nose. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I shoulda’ never said that. It’s just when I saw you and Barba. I freaked out. Please forgive me.”

You mulled over his apology for a moment, worrying your bottom lip. “I forgive you,” you replied before punching him hard in the left shoulder. Rafael had nothing on you. Over the years, your brother had done a stellar job teaching you how to fight. You may have been the creative, sensitive artist, but you could also quit your day job and become an MMA cage fighter if you wanted to.

“Ow! Jeezus!” He hissed in pain. “What was that for? I said I was sorry!”

“Rafael got a hit in and now it’s my turn.” You clutched your brother by the collar. “Don’t ever speak to me like that again or I’ll do worse. I’m a grown-ass woman and this is my home. My boyfriend can eat me out cafeteria-style and make me cum until I scream if I want him to!”

“Oh God! I didn’t need to hear that! Please do me a favor. Take somethin’ sharp and pointy and gouge out my eyeballs and puncture my eardrums, will ya’? Haven’t I been punished enough?” He groaned.

“For barging into my home and embarrassing me in front of Rafael? No, you haven’t.” You let go of Sonny’s shirt and sat down next to him, taking the bag of frozen corn and bringing it back up to his face. Your expression softened a bit. You loved Sonny with all your heart. His recent outburst aside, he was the best big brother a girl could ask for. “I shoulda never given you a spare key.”

“How did you two even meet?” He asked.

You shrugged. “He stopped by the gallery one day and then I ran into him again that night you and I were supposed to get dinner. The rest is history.” You softly smiled, thinking back to that first embarrassing encounter with Rafael and everything that followed. That first drink. That first kiss. Reflecting back on this past month, you realized that slowly but surely Rafael had changed your life for the better. “Guess you kinda had a part to play in all this. If it wasn’t for you cancelling on me. We may have never gotten together.”

Sonny pushed your hand away from his face. “Don’t say that. I don’t want to be responsible for this.” He sadly shook his head and got up. “I better get goin’.”

“Sonny, wait!” You followed him out of the bathroom and down the hallway.

He ignored you, tossing the bag of frozen corn on the table where Rafael was still sitting, flipping through Sonny’s immigration law book.

“Here’s your book,” Rafael said, handing it over.

“Thanks,” he sneered and snatched the book out of Rafael’s hands before heading to the door.

“Carisi!” Rafael called out.

Sonny whipped around to find the ADA right behind him. “What?”

“You have a tampon up your nose,” Rafael coldly replied.

Sonny’s cheeks turned bright red. He pulled the tampon out of his nostrils and tossed it on the ground before leaving.

You flinched when you heard the door slam and crept up beside Rafael. Wrapping his arms around you, he kissed the top of your head and sighed. “I hate to say it, but I knew we should’ve told him earlier.”

@glimmerglittergirl @southern-magnolia @sweetcannolicarisi @delia26 @obfuscateyummy @sass-and-suspenders @eclecticminded @thatesqcrush @katmstanton @amirightcounsellor @beltzboys2015-blog @letty-o @sonnysdoll @lyssa1385 @sweetsummertime99 @burningsorr0ws @gibbs274 @izzythefanfreak @riodallas @babypink224221 @livxrafa @esparza-army @obsessionprofessional @ottosuricato @melsquared79 @dreila03 @frenchiefoxy @tropes-and-tales @thecraziestcrayon @goodluckfindingone @scarlettsoldier @amirightcounselor @yeah-boiiiiiiiiiii @graniairish @ashley-chi @imjustreallynosy @lolacolaempath

#rafael barba #rafael barba fanfic #rafael barba fic #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba imagine #barba #barba fanfic #barba fic #barba x reader #law and order svu imagine #barba imagine #rafael barba fan fiction #law and order svu fic #taking chances

185 notes · View notes

wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch50: I Got My Second Chance Right Here

Intro: After talking with Scott, Steve and Katie find themselves facing the very real possibility that there may be a way to undo Thanos’ actions and bring everyone they lost back. Only Tony isn’t on board with the idea and once more Katie finds herself in the middle of the two most important men in her life...

Warnings: Bad Language words

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

“Man am I glad to see you.” Scott said, clasping Steve’s hand as soon as the gate was open, pumping it up and down furiously.

“We thought,” Steve took a deep breath, frowning as he looked the man up and down. “You are really here right, this isn’t’ some kind of weird mind trick or…” “Yeah, I am now. I mean, not that I wasn’t, but well, no I kinda wasn’t.” Scott took a deep breath “It’s really hard to explain but…”

“Well we got time to listen.” Steve smiled, reassuringly “Come on.”

Scott nodded, fired up his van and drove through the gates whilst Steve locked them again, before he climbed in the front next to Scott and directed the man round to the parking area, not that it mattered specifically as the place was practically empty anyway. He led Scott through the facility and into the room they had been sat in.

Katie heard Natasha greet him as she settled Jamie on the sofa at the other end of the room.

“You stay here ok?” Katie asked, smoothing Jamie’s hair. He nodded and pulled on his headphones, tablet clamped in his hand as he began to watch Dumbo for what must have been the nine-hundredth time. Casting one more look at him over her shoulder, she walked over to where Steve and Natasha were stood, watching a very distressed Scott pacing in front of them, mumbling to himself. Steve and Natasha shared a look, before Steve looked to his wife and she nodded her head in Scott’s direction, encouraging him to open the dialogue.

“Scott?” Steve spoke, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine” Scott said in a tone that indicated he was anything but. He opened his mouth to speak but shut it again, before he pressed his fingers into his eye sockets clearly struggling with what it was he needed to say. Eventually he took a deep breath and looked around the room. "Have you ever studied quantum physics?“

Katie shook her head, as did Steve.

"Only to make conversation,” Natasha shrugged.

Scott pointed to Natasha “Alright, so, five years ago, right before…Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she’s my… she was my…” he took a deep breath, struggling to quell the emotion that was brewing in his voice. “ And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there.”

“I’m sorry.” Katie said, sympathetically “That must have been a very long five years

"Yeah, but that’s just it. It wasn’t. For me it was five hours.”

Steve frowned.

“See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren’t like they are up here. Everything’s unpredictable.” Scott continued as Steve looked from Katie to Natasha, both of them wearing expressions which were a cross between curiosity and contemplation.

“Is that anybody’s sandwich?” Scott asked, pointing at the plate on the table “I’m starving.”

As he strode over to pick up the remainder of Nat’s peanut butter sandwich, Steve shook his head slightly, still not understanding what this had to do with anything.

"Scott, what are you talking about?” he asked, prompting him to get back on track.

“What I’m saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm.” Scott spoke trough a mouthful of peanut butter and bread before he hastily swallowed “The only problem is right now, we don’t have a way to navigate it. But what if we did?”

He began to pace again and Katie cocked her head to the side slightly, watching him as he gestured wildly with the hand holding the peanut butter sandwich.

“I can’t stop thinking about it. What if we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way that we could enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like…” he paused taking a breath as he looked at the 3 faces in front of him. “Like before Thanos.“

"Wait.” Katie said, holding up a hand to stop him, her voice laced with scepticism “Are you talking about a time machine?”

“No. No of course not. No not a time machine, it’s more like a…” He trailed off and looked down before he shrugged. “Yeah like a time machine.”

Steve took a deep breath and shared a glance with Katie, both of them raising an eyebrow. Steve let out a small sigh as he had been hoping Scott had something that they could actually use.

“I know, it’s crazy, but I can’t stop thinking about it. There’s gotta be some way. There’s got to be some-” he looked at Steve’s face and sighed ’it’s crazy..I know, yeah…”

"Scott,” Natasha cut him off, “I get emails from a raccoon. Nothing sounds crazy anymore.”

Steve looked at her and had to concede maybe she had a point. The things they had seen over the past 11 years, none of it he would have ever believed possible in a million years. So who was to say this wasn’t? But time travel? Really? Was he stood there, actually thinking it could be a possibility?

“So who do we talk to about this?” Scott asked, looking between the three people stood in front of him.

Natasha looked at Katie meaningfully and she shook her head, instantly understanding.

“Uh-uh. He’s done with all this, there’s no way he’ll help.”

“Who?” Scott asked.

“My brother.” she replied.

“We should at least try.” Natasha implored, her eyes were bright at the possibility that there could be a way to undo everything. And Katie really wanted to feel the same level of excitement but all she could feel at that point was a horrible sense of foreboding. And she had no idea why.

“Nat’s right.” Steve looked to Katie “We should talk to him, see if any of this is possible.”

Before Katie could respond she saw out of the corner of her eye that Jamie was sliding off the sofa and walking towards them. Scott who hadn’t noticed the small boy up until that point gave a start of surprise before he watched him hurry over to Katie.

“Momma.” he asked and she crouched down next to him.

“You ok?”

“When’s dinner?”

“I’m gonna make it soon, sorry baby.” she said, picking him up “Jamie this is momma, daddy and Auntie Nat-Nat’s friend, Scott. Wanna say hello?”

Jamie looked over, smiling, not a shy bone in his body, as he waved his little hand “Hi Scott.”

“This…you…” Scott was looking between Katie and Steve and Steve gave him a small smile. “Wow, that’s great. It’s nice to meet you Jamie.”

Jamie held out his hand for a hi-five and Scott let out a laugh, obliging.

“We also have a daughter, we adopted her, she’s older though.” Steve said, feeling the need to explain as he watched Jamie in his wife’s arms. “She’s away with friends.”

Scott nodded. The room fell into silence and Katie took a deep breath.

“I’m gonna go make dinner.” she smiled, before looking at Scott then to Natasha “See if we can do better than a peanut butter sandwich.” “Scott, why don’t you go with Natasha and she can fill you in on anything you need to know.” Steve said. “And vice versa of course.”

“Ok.” he said and Natasha gestured with her head for him to follow her

Katie placed Jamie on the floor and looked up at Steve “Do you really think there’s anything in this?” Steve sighed “I dunno, Sweetheart. I mean it sounds crazy, a time machine…but then so does a mad man wiping out fifty percent of all living creatures on the planet with a click of his fingers thanks to some cosmic stones.”

“Just promise me something.” Katie looked at him, “if Tony refuses to help, you’re won’t go kicking off and falling out again. Because if he does say no, he has his reasons for doing so.” “I promise.” he assured her.

Satisfied, Katie smiled and looked down at Jamie “Wanna come help me make dinner or go with Daddy and talk to Scott and Auntie Nat-Nat.” Jamie pondered and Steve smiled at his face. The three year old was torn, and Steve knew why. Part of him wanted to go and talk to his Auntie and the new man he had met a few minutes ago because he was naturally inquisitive, or a “nosey parker” as Emmy called him. But the other part of him knew that if he went to help his Mom he’d be getting sneaky little tit-bits along the way.

Eventually, the curiosity part won out and he grabbed Steve’s hand “I go with you Daddy.” Katie rolled her eyes good naturedly “Traitor.”

Jamie grinned as Steve picked him up, leaning over in his Father’s arms to place a sloppy kiss on Katie’s cheek.

“Love you Momma.” he grinned as Steve smiled at his wife. She stuck her tongue out at her son making him giggle and do the same, then she picked up the bag off the table and headed down to the kitchen.

******

Tony smiled at his wife and headed out of the house and across the lawn towards Morgan’s little tent. He clapped his hands along to a well-known famous beat “Chow time!” he said as the clapping finished “Morgoona”

No answer. Tony rolled his eyes, it was just like dad trying to deal with Katie again when she had been that age. She’d ignore everyone unless she decided paying attention was of any benefit, well, almost everyone. She’d always come running when it was him who called. Something Tony had always been secretly smug about.

He sat on the small chair by the side of the tent and looked around him, taking in the gentle breeze coming off the lake.

“Morgan H Stark, you want some lunch?”

“Define lunch or be disintegrated” she spoke, her voice slightly distorted as she emerged from the tent and he felt his breath catch. She was wearing the silver and blue helmet that belonged to the suit he had been working on in the garage, and she had the play Iron-Man glove that he had made sets of for her and Jamie on her hand, and she was holding one up as if firing a repulsor beam.

“You should not be wearing that, okay? That is part of a special anniversary gift I’m making for Mom.” he said, pressing a kiss to the side of the helmet before he took it off. His daughter’s face emerged, smiling mischievously.

“Okay.” she grinned as Tony brushed the hair back off her face and smoothed down the fly-away strands that had risen up when he had taken the helmet off.

“There you go. Are you thinking about lunch?” he asked, “I can give you a handful of crickets on a bed of lettuce.”

“No.” She giggled

“That’s what you want.” he teased before he glanced at the helmet in his hand “How did you find this?”

“Garage” she said simply, as if it was obvious. Which in fairness, it was, because that’s where he had left it.

“Really?” he looked at her, narrowing his eyes slightly in suspicion. “Were you looking for it?”

“No.” She said, but the look on her face that told Tony she had totally been looking for it “I found it, though.”

“You like going to the garage, huh? So does daddy” Tony said, standing and picking her up in one arm, the helmet still held in the other, heading to the house. He glanced down at it again and chuckled to himself “It’s fine, actually. Your mom never wears anything I buy her.”

He had just reached the top of the steps to the porch when his attention was caught by the sound of a car heading up the drive. He turned round to see Kiddo’s grey Audi pulling to a stop a few meters away. He paused for a moment, because he hadn’t been expecting them, but then he smiled and waved before he frowned a little. There were other people in the back seat of the car, but he couldn’t quite make out who.

Katie was out of the car first, opening one of the back doors and Jamie barrelled out of the vehicle, running over to his Uncle.

“Uncle Nee!” he said, gleefully as he ran up the steps to the porch.

“Hey!” Tony placed Morgan down and bent to give his nephew’s head a kiss. “I wasn’t expecting to see you guys to-“

He trailed off as he caught sight of exactly who it had been in the back. Natasha raised her head in a greeting which he returned and he then glanced at the man, Scott Lang, who he had last seen in The Raft

A man who had been snapped, was now stood on his driveway.

What the fuck was going on?

“Morgan,” he looked down, “take Jamie inside will you, tell your mom we have visitors, I’ll be in in a moment.” “Ok…” Morgan said, and Jamie took her hand, the two of them heading inside.

“Hey.” Katie greeted her brother as she walked up the steps. “Sorry to spring this on you but…”

He gave her a hug and when she stepped back he looked over her shoulder. “S’Up Lang? Thought you got turned to dust?”

Steve winced slightly at Tony’s blasé tone, but he could tell from his brother-in-law’s face, he was anything but. His eyes were burning with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

“It’s a really, really long story.” Scott nodded as he rounded the car, looking at Tony

“Which is why we’re here.” Steve slipped his hands into his pockets as he stopped at the porch steps. “There might be a way we can bring everyone back.” Tony took a deep breath. Five years. Five years it had been and still they couldn’t simply let things lie. Did he want to get involved? No, absolutely not. But he should at least hear them out, right, it could be simple. Maybe not dangerous…maybe.

He looked at his sister and she shrugged, and he could tell by her expression she was torn. Probably from the same fears he had.

“Take a seat.” he said, gesturing to the chairs and sofa on the porch area “I’ll grab some iced coffee.”

Katie looked at Steve and jerked her head towards the house and Steve nodded, understanding she was going with him. She followed Tony inside and greeted Pepper who had seen the gang outside the house.

“What?” she frowned and Katie sighed.

“He turned up at the compound last night.” she explained. “Apparently he was in something called the Quantum Realm when the Snap happened. He re-emerged a few days ago and drove over. Thing is Tony,” she looked at him,“for him it was a matter of hours not years.”

Tony took a deep breath and reached into the fridge for the tall jug of iced coffee and placing it on the counter before pouring in a generous helping of vanilla syrup. Still without a word being spoke he pulled five glass tumblers from the cabinet, and handed them to his sister. “We’ll be outside.” He said, giving Pepper a kiss. “How many should I expect for lunch?” she asked, giving him a small smile “Set it for eight.” he shrugged, walking away “I’ll decide whether they can stay or not after I’ve heard what hair-brained scheme Rogers has come up with this time.”

Katie rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “In his defence this isn’t his idea.”

“No but I bet it was to come here.” he looked at her as he opened the door.

“Wrong again. That was down to Nat.” “Pain in my ass.” he mumbled, as he walked back to the porch.

He placed the jug down on the small coffee table and plonked into a chair to the right of it, looking up at Steve who was leaning against the wooden rails of the porch, Nat to his right.

“Alright,” he looked up as Scott sat in the chair at the other side of the small table, Katie leaning up against the side of the house. “Explain.”

So Scott did. About where he had been, how long for, and his theory about how they could, potentially, use the Quantum Realm to navigate time. Tony listened, and for the most Steve was surprised to see the man’s face was passive, no sarcastic quirk of the eyebrow or quip. Nothing. Instead, he reached over and began pouring the drinks into the glasses.

“Now, we know what it sounds like.” Scott stammered out before Steve cut him off, keen to understand what was going on in the Inventor’s head.

“Tony, after everything you’ve seen, is anything like this really impossible?”

Tony looked up from pouring the drinks, handing one to Katie who smiled a thanks to him.

“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition, can we agree on that?“

Scott, Steve and Natasha all looked blankly back at him. Steve had no idea what he was talking about but he saw Katie out of the corner of her eye stiffen slightly.

“As in David Deutsch?” she asked “The Fabric of Reality?”

Tony nodded before he handed Steve a glass. “Thank-you.” Steve said, he quite liked Tony’s iced coffee, he had certainly drunk enough of it whilst sat in the spot that Scott now occupied over the past few years.

"In layman’s terms, it means you’re not coming home.” Tony finished, and Steve let out a sigh.

“I did.” Scott said almost immediately.

“No, you accidentally survived. It’s a billion to one cosmic fluke.” Tony shook his head, his voice even “And now you want to pull off a, what do you call it?”

Scott shrugged, searching for a term to describe what he had been thinking of doing “A…time…heist?”

Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn’t we think of this before?” Tony asked, looking up at Steve “Oh, because it’s laughable? Because it’s a pipedream.“

"The stones are in the past.” Steve spoke softly. The fact that Tony hadn’t dismissed the fact that it was a possibility to time travel was spurring him on, there had to be a way they could do this safely, Scott was living proof of that. “We could go back and we could get them.”

“We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back.” Natasha added.

“Or screw it up worse than he already has” Tony instantly replied.

“I don’t think we would.” Steve shook his head.

“Got to say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism” Tony said, and Steve took a deep breath, raising his eyebrows. “However, high hopes won’t help if there’s no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist.” Tony leaned back further in his chair. “I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise.”

Natasha walked from where she had been stood leaning against the wall of the house to the rails of the porch, looking out over the grounds for a moment as Scott spoke again.

“Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel.” he said, almost eagerly, “No talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Scott.” Tony raised his hand and leaned forward “Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?”

“No?” Scott said, embarrassment flooding his tone.

“Good you had me worried there, because that’s not how quantum physics works.”

“Tony, we have to take a stand.” Natasha spoke, turning to face him, her voice was sad, almost pleading. Katie watched her for a second, before she looked to her brother. Tony stared up at the Nat, almost apologetically but Katie could see his mind was made up, and his answer was just what she had suspected it would be.

“We did stand.” He said, his voice soft “And yet, here we are.”

“I know you got a lot on the line,” Scott spoke again, “You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did.” His voice began to gather pace and volume as he tried to sell his desperation to Tony “We have a chance to bring her back, bring everyone back. And you’re telling me you won’t even-”

“That’s right Scott. I won’t even. I got a kid.” Tony cut him off with absolute irrevocability as Scott stared at him in disbelief.

Steve took a deep breath and glanced at Katie, who had remained silent pretty much all through the discussions. She was looking down at her hands, twisting her engagement ring around her finger, the way she always did when she was worried or thinking. But before he could say anything, the door to the house opened and two sets of small footsteps clattered across the wood. Morgan ran up to Tony, who picked her up as she placed her arms round his neck and Jamie ran to his mother, who swept him up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Mommy told us to come save you.“ Morgan said to her dad. Katie gave a soft chuckle as Tony looked at her, grinning.

"Good job. I’m saved.” Tony told his daughter as he gave her head a kiss before he stood up, Morgan in his arms. He turned to look at Steve, Nat and Scott. “I wish you’d come here to ask me something else. Anything else.” he sighed, before looking directly at Nat. “Honestly, I missed you.” she gave a small smile as he turned to head to the house “Oh, and the table’s set for eight-“

As he went to pass by Steve, he gently stopped him with a hand on his arm and Katie watched, Jamie still held in her arms, his small hand playing with the diamond studded star shaped necklace she wore, a gift from Steve many Christmases ago.

"Tony, I get it, I really do, but this, this is a second chance.” Steve said gently.

“I got my second chance right here Cap.” Tony looked at the man, before he nodded over to where Katie was stood holding Jamie “You did too. And I can’t roll the dice again, and frankly neither should you.”

Steve took a deep breath, bristling slightly. Was Tony seriously implying that he thought he was going to gamble with his kids’ lives. That was the whole point of them coming to talk to him, so that they didn’t do anything that would jeopardise what they had.

“If you don’t talk shop, you can stay for lunch” Tony said, heading towards the door.

“I think we should be getting back.” Steve said, but it came out a little harsher than he had meant it. Tony turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Suit yourself.” he shrugged, before heading into the house. Katie watched her brother go and then turned to Steve as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked at her and she stared straight back, her face stony. She’d warned him how this would turn out and he’d promised her he wouldn’t get mad at Tony. And whilst he hadn’t got mad per-se, he had to concede that his last comment had been said with a bit of a shitty tone.

“Momma?” Jamie spoke and Katie’s attention turned to her son “Auntie Pepper was making meatballs.” “Your favourite?” Katie smiled at her son “Wow!”

Jamie giggled and Katie turned back to her husband “You go, we’re gonna stay for lunch.” her statement was accompanied with a look to say that this wasn’t up for negotiation so Steve took a deep breath and nodded.

“Ok, give me a call and I’ll come get you later.” he dropped a kiss to her cheek, before he did the same to his son and then gestured for Scott and Natasha to follow him back to the car.

“He’s scared,” Natasha turned to Steve once they were clear of the porch steps.

“Well, he’s not wrong." Steve sighed because, despite his disappointment, he understood Tony’s fear and reticence, he really did because he felt it too. They couldn’t do anything that would undo the events of the past five years. But there had to be a way to make sure they didn’t.

He looked back at the house where he could just see Katie was stood inside the kitchen, smiling at Pepper.

"Yeah, but I mean what are we gonna do?” Scott asked, his tone desperate again. “We need him, are we gonna stop?”

“No, but I wanna do it right,” Steve said thoughtfully, as an idea suddenly came to him. He opened the driver’s side door and glanced over at Natasha “We’re gonna need a really big brain.“

"Bigger than his?” Scott asked incredulously, pointing to Tony’s house.

Natasha quirked an eyebrow as she understood what Steve meant and she smiled gently before turning to Scott.

“Good job we know exactly where we can find one.”

****

Inside the house, Katie watched the car pull away before she turned and accepted the glass of wine Tony was offering.

“Lunchtime drinking?” she quirked an eyebrow and he shrugged.

“Figured you might need it after that, I do.” he took a sip of his drink.

Katie sighed and made her way over to the table, where Pepper was sat dishing out the food onto the kid’s plates.

“Fankoo Auntie Pep.” Jamie said, grinning and she beamed at him.

“You’re welcome sweetie.” They ate together, making general conversation about anything other than ‘time heists’ and two helpings of meatballs and spaghetti later, Jamie and Morgan asked if they could go outside to play. Tony headed out to supervise them whilst Katie helped Pepper clear the table before she went to find her brother.

“So we gonna talk about the elephant in the room, or on the lawn?” Tony asked, looking at her.

Katie shrugged “That’s not why I stayed Tone.” she sighed, her green eyes locking onto his “You know, I told them you wouldn’t want to help.” “It isn’t a case of not wanting to, Kiddo.” he sighed, “I just can’t…”

“I get it.” she nodded with a sad smile, “There’s a lot at stake…”

"So why doesn’t Spangles see that?”

Katie sighed “He does. He just wants to see if there’s any possible way we can do it. You know, bring everyone back.” “And what about you?” he asked.

“Honestly?” Katie looked at him, and he nodded “If you told me there was a way we could do it, and not change anything out of the last five years I’d jump at the chance, because that’s what we do, we’re the A-vengers remember, not the Pre-vengers…”

“Used to be.” Tony corrected her with the glimmer of a smile.

“Well, I don’t remember quitting.” Katie looked at her brother, “We just kinda…stopped.” “Say there is” Tony sighed “Say you suddenly find a way that guarantees that nothing from the last five years will change, and you do it. You pull off the Time Heist, reverse the snap, Kiddo, you open up a whole can of other worms. People have moved on in the past five years, and suddenly you’re bringing back husbands, wives, daughters, sons, mothers, fathers…”

“I know.” Katie nodded. “It would be extremely naïve to think things could just simply go back to how they were. There would be a lot of other issues and shit to deal with, I get that, but at least everyone would be alive.”

Tony sighed “I can’t Kiddo, I can’t gamble on this.” He gestured to the kids who were now playing

“Like I said Tony, I’m not trying to change your mind.” she shrugged. “And I won’t be gambling on anything either.”

******

It was getting late, and Steve still hadn’t heard from Katie. He was just about to give her a call when he heard the security system announcing the gate had been unlocked by “Tony Stark.” Frowning he made his way to the door, opening it to see Tony’s car pulling onto the driveway. He stopped not far from the door and Katie stepped out of the passenger seat.

“He’s fast asleep.” she nodded to the rear as Steve headed out to greet her, peering into the back of the car. He gave his wife a quick peck on the lips before he reached into the car and gently picked Jamie out of the back, the child only stirring long enough press his face into Steve’s shoulder, grabbing a handful of his sweater in his fist.

“Thanks Tony.” Katie leaned back into the car over the passenger seat to give her brother a kiss on the cheek.

“No problem Kiddo.” as she stepped back he hesitated for a moment and then climbed out of the car, looking over the roof at Steve who was heading back up the steps to the house.

“Cap.” Steve stopped and turned to his brother-in-law. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you what you wanted to hear.”

Steve took a deep breath and shook his head “Don’t worry about it Tone, we’re meeting Banner tomorrow.” “Banner?” Katie frowned.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “Nat called him before, he’s gonna hear us out. See if he can help.”

Tony remained silent, his mind whirring. Banner might know enough to help them, the guy was smart. “Just promise me one thing, please.” he sighed “You can’t, the kids, I mean…”

Steve frowned “Tony, if you really think I’d gamble with our children’s lives, you really don’t know me at all.”

“I guess not.” Tony’s mouth set into a thin line and at that point Katie shook her head.

“Stop it, please.” she sighed “I can’t cope with you at each other’s throats, not again.”

Steve licked his lips and turned to his wife. “Sorry.”

“Just take Jamie inside, I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Nodding he turned and headed inside and Katie looked at her brother who held his hands up, palms open.

“Like I said before, I get why you’re scared.” Katie looked at him, “But Steve’s right. All we’re doing a the moment is gathering facts, maybe understanding what we’re looking at a little more. If by doing that we come to the conclusion that we can’t guarantee what we have isn’t safe then we stop.” Tony took a deep breath, before he nodded back to the house. “Just make sure he understands that.”

Before Katie could reply he hopped back in his car, reversed slightly before he spun round and headed off through the gates. She walked straight into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine, grabbing a beer for Steve before she sat down at the table, head in her hands, she was exhausted. The problem was, she could see this from both sides. Whilst they possibility of being able to bring everyone back was simply too good to not explore, the chance that they could lose either of their kids if something didn’t got to plan was enough to put the fear of god into her.

She looked up as Steve returned having settled Jamie in bed and she slid the beer across the table to him. He sat in the seat next to her.

“You ok?” He asked, and she looked at him.

“I’m scared Steve.” She admitted “Scared because Tony is right. We can’t risk what we have.“

“We won’t.” he said firmly.

“You don’t know that for sure, none of us do.” She sniffed, and Steve wasn’t surprised to see the tears in her eyes. “Tony before, when he talked about the Deutsch proposition, that was a reference to a guy called David Deutsch. He wrote a book called The Fabric of Reality and one of the chapters talks about how time travel would really work if it proves possible.”

Steve nodded, telling her to continue. He knew when she was on a roll explaining something like this he knew he had to let her finish plus he wanted to understand her concerns.

“His view of time travel is that if you went back in time and killed your Grandfather, say, you’d simply create an alternate universe and timeline in which you are not born. But the version of yourself that went back in time came from a different universe, so you’d not suddenly cease to exist, like in Back To The Future or whatever, you’d still be there in that universe.” “Ok, so, according to this Deutsch guy, Scott’s theory about simply not changing anything in the past isn’t quite right?” Steve frowned, thinking he understood. She smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, which to be fair is only what everyone believes because of films anyway. They depict time travel in a single universe which is simply impossible. But if you accept that there are actually many universes that are constantly branching off of one another, then…” she sighed.

“But surely that’s a good thing?” Steve implored. “if what you’re saying is that we can’t alter our future by changing the past then…” “What I’m saying is, that none of us know for sure.” she corrected, her voice almost a whisper “And even if we successfully navigate the whole going back in time think, what if when we undo the Snap we jump back five years in our own time line and…”

She trailed off and Steve reached up to wipe away the stray tears that had fallen down her cheek. “Baby, look at me.”

She obliged, and he held her gaze. “Nothing scares me more than losing our kids, or you. Which is why we need to do this right. I get why Tony doesn’t want to help, he’s scared too, but….” he trailed off “I’m doing this for Jamie, for Emmy. I want Emmy to be able to see all the things she knew before the snap, and Jamie to see things he never has.”

“Like whales in the Hudson?”

“Like whales in the Hudson.” Steve nodded with a smile, “Although I’d never seen that before either, but the point still remains. I want them to have the best possible life that we can give them.”

Katie looked at him, and sniffed “You swear to me, right now, that the moment we start to see things going sideways, if we can’t be certain that we won’t impact anything that’s happened in the last five years, we stop.”

“Hand on heart, I swear to you.” Steve said, taking her face in his hands, driving his message home “Kitten, I’d die before I let anything happen to any of you.”

“Yeah, that kinda worries me a little too.” She sniffed and he chuckled slightly, before dropping a soft kiss to her lips.

“Let’s see what Bruce has to say tomorrow.” Steve said gently, his thumbs skating over her cheekbones. “If he doesn’t believe we can control the outcome then, we give up. It was a stab in the dark, but nothing more.”

Katie nodded, and he pressed his lips to hers again, this time the kiss slightly deeper.

“I love you” he moved his hands to lace into hers before he raised her left to his lips and placed a soft kiss over the top of her rings.

*****

Bruce was already waiting for them at the diner the next morning. Scott’s shocked and puzzled reaction to seeing the Hulk-Sized Bruce Banner was understandable, after all it was the same reaction Katie, Steve and Natasha had all had when they had seen him like this for the first time a few months back. In fact, the only person that hadn’t batted an eyelid was Jamie. But then he wouldn’t have remembered Banner as any different,

“Hi Dr Brucie!” Jamie said, reaching over Katie to hi-five the man, Banner grinning a the boy’s nick name for him.

“You’re getting big tiny person!” he boomed as the simply ridiculous amounts of food started to arrive. Brue wasn’t shy about digging in, and neither was Jamie, as always. Katie dished out some eggs, sausages and bacon onto his plate and poured him a small glass of the orange juice whilst, in turn, Steve poured her and Natasha some water.

“Come on, I feel like I’m the only one eating!” Bruce said, pushing a plate forward “Apart from Jamie that is. Try some of that. Have some eggs.”

“I’m so confused,” Scott looked at Bruce, his face blank as he shook his head.

“These are confusing times.” Bruce said, nodding with a serious smile on his face.

“Right, no, no that’s not what I meant…”.

“No, I get it I’m kidding.” Bruce grinned, dropping the act “I know, it’s crazy! I’m wearing shirts now!”

“Yeah…wh…how, why?” Scott stuttered, his eyes wide as he looked at Bruce.

“Five years ago, we got our asses beaten. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost.”

“No one blamed you, Bruce.” Natasha said softly.

“I did.” Bruce said simply “For years, I’ve been treating the Hulk like he’s some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds…”

He was cut off by a group of 3 children, one of which tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?

"Yes?” Bruce asked, turning to face them.

“Can we get a photo?” the little girl beamed at him.

“100%, little person. Come on, step up.” Bruce said, taking the phone which was handed to him and leaning across Natasha to pass it to Scott. “You mind?

“Oh, yeah.” Scott said shaking himself out of his thoughts, accepting the phone.

“Thanks,” he said before he turned to the kids. “Say ‘green’!” “Greeeeen!” came the collective chant before Bruce looked at Scott “Did you get that?”

Scott leaned forward and held the phone out, before he gestured at himself, “Don’t you wanna grab one with me? I’m Ant-Man.”

Nothing.

Katie hastily picked up her glass of water and locked eyes with Natasha, the red head trying also not to laugh.

“It’s alright they’re Hulk fans, they don’t know Ant-Man. Nobody does.“

"Wait, no, no, he feels bad. No, he wants you to,.he wants to…” Bruce looked at one of the boys “You want to take a picture with him, right?” The boy shook his had vigorously.

“He’s even saying 'no’ he doesn’t.” Scott snapped, “I get it. I don’t want it either.”

Katie looked at Steve who was now looking down at the glass of water in his hand, his fingers trailing round the top. He was getting frustrated, Katie could tell. She reached behind Jamie, who was nestled in-between his parents and gently gave his neck a soft tickle with her fingers and he looked at her, smiling softly.

“Just take the goddamn phone.” Scott said, calling time on the ridiculous exchange that had been going on, and Steve took a long drink of his water. He just wanted a damned answer.

“Thank you very much!” Banner called smiling “Hulk out!”

“Bruce.” Steve said, looking at him. Bruce ignored him.

Dab!” he continued, doing the action himself.

“Bruce.” Steve spoke this time again in his Captains voice, but to no avail. He rolled his eyes as the man continued.

“Listen to your mom. She knows better.”

“About what we were saying?” Steve tried again as Bruce finally, and Katie suspected rather reluctantly, turned back to them.

“Right, the whole time travel do-over.” Bruce leaned back in his chair “Guys, it’s outside my area of expertise-”

“Well, you pulled this off.” Natasha said, looking him up and down before she smiled, “I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible too.”

Bruce nodded slightly, before he took a deep breath.

“In theory you could do it.” he said, scratching at his chin “You could go back in time, get the stones and come back without changing anything that’s happened in the past five years.”

“And the snap?” Katie looked at him, her arm dropping round Jamie’s shoulders as he continued to scribble on the colouring pad they’d brought for him.

“Well,” Bruce said, looking at her “Thanos was already on his murder mission way before he got the stones. He harnessed their power and got them to work together to do exactly what he wanted.”

“So,” Steve looked at Bruce, “if we tell the stones what we want, exactly what we want…”

Bruce nodded “Everyone comes home, and the past five years remain untouched.”

Katie and Steve looked at one another, before they glanced over the table and Scott and Natasha smiled.

Everyone comes home…

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #katie stark #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character

7 notes · View notes

the-lonely-tree-original · 4 years

Text

Founding Friendships on Sleep Deprivation (FMA oneshot)

“He should escort them back to the local law enforcement and have them check for any hidden weapons or breaks in national security. It’s not like he felt any danger coming from the boys (despite one wearing a suit of armor and the other having thrown him twenty feet with his alchemy), but still, it was protocol.

He was, however, tired. It was two am and the train was running six hours late with no other explanation than animals getting in the way. There was no way Jean was risking the chance of the train arriving during his absence. Not when he’d stayed up so late waiting for it. No, he could just bring the boys to Mustang and let him handle it.”

***

So this is the last of my already posted oneshots on AO3 and FanfictionNet. It’s an Ed and Al meet Havoc fic so maybe not your cup of tea, but totally worth the read (IMO and I’m biased, but...)

***

“So, you trying to stick it out too?”

A head of blonde hair swiveled to the right, resting uncertain gold eyes on his person. Whatever the kid was looking for, he must have found, because a surprisingly pleasant smile worked its way across his face.

“Ahhh, well it’s not like I have much else to do.”

Jean Havoc took the answer with a nod. “Same, kid. Same.” The kid’s mouth made a pinched frown at that, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a loud, contagious yawn.

Noticing his little friend’s fatigue, Jean asked, “Are you sure that you’re up for the task? It looks like you could fall asleep standing up.”

A new kind of determination flashed in his eyes, and an arm made its way up to wipe the sleep off his face, illuminated by the lamplight. “I’m fine. I’ve spent multiple all-nighters studying alchemy with my brother, so this’ll be a piece of cake. Besides, if I fell asleep now, he’d have no one to keep him company.” The blonde boy gestured to a suit of armor hanging behind him (Jean had certainly noted the decoration as bizarre when he’d first set his eyes on it), but he looked around a little and couldn’t see the mentioned brother.

“Uhhh, kid, I don’t want to alarm you, but we’re just about the only people in sight. Unless, of course, you count that old couple dozing off on the station steps.”

A metallic shrieking caught his attention, and he was filled with terror concern as the previously-thought-motionless suit of armor came to life. Jean was a trained man of the military, however, and was able to quickly maneuver the kid behind him and pull out his gun. “Stay down!” he shouted.

A small squeaking noise reverberated through the metal and if he didn’t know better, Jean would say that it was hollow. “Don’t move.”

The armor stayed still, but it didn’t stay quiet. “Wait, don’t shoot!” it pleaded, “I’m not going to do anything!” The voice was so young and innocent-sounding that Jean had to do a double take. It sounded like a child was inside.

“I’m going to need you to step out of the armor, sir,” he said, a lot calmer than he felt. He loosened his stance a little, but remained vigilant.

This was a mistake.

A bright light flashed throughout the empty station and Jean found himself catapulted into the air. He landed with a loud “omph”, feeling the air leave his lungs.

The lieutenant looked up to find the kid directly in front of the armor and scrambled onto his arms, panic overtaking him. Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Jean’s hearing, however, came back to him and the command died on his lips.

Was the armor… scolding the boy?

“Brother! That was unnecessary and you know it! He could have gotten seriously hu-” The helmet shifted its attention to him. Surprisingly gentle gauntlets gripped his forearms, followed by a soft, “Are you all right?” and hefted the man up.

Jean looked at the hulking form in both awe and confusion. Before he could get a word out, however, the armor continued its speech. “I am sooo sorry for my brother’s actions. You just surprised us.”

The blonde haired kid let out a groan. “Al, are you kidding me? He pulled a gun on you! Of course I had to do something. He should be grateful that he isn’t unconscious already.”

“What if you seriously hurt him?”

“What if he seriously hurt you?”

“He couldn’t, and you know it, brother.”

Jean stood awkwardly as he watched the two argue. A small sense of duty had his hand itching towards his holster when he realized that he lost his gun in the fall. It was a miracle that it didn’t go off when it made contact with the ground.

“Okay, but that still doesn’t change the fact that mister trigger happy over here had a gun. What’s a civilian like you even have a gun for in the first place?” Jean was about to correct him when he caught sight of his sleeve.

His brown sleeve.

He sheepishly raised a hand to his hair. “Ah, sorry about that, but I’m actually part of Eastern Command. I’m just off duty for now.”

The kid looked disbelieving at him. “And I’m supposed to believe that Eastern Command just allows their soldiers to carry guns around off duty.”

“Well, actually…” Jean didn’t really know how to explain that: No, they weren’t, but his commanding officer needed a favor that couldn’t exactly be tracked by the people up top.

Luckily, he was saved by the sweet tone of the suit of armor, who he was starting to see as some kind of angel in disguise. “Brother, you shouldn’t ask questions like that. It’s rude.”

This was quickly looking like it was gonna become another argument so Jean stepped in before any shouting began. “Ahhhh, forgive me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing that you two are brothers?”

He was answered with one polite “yes sir” and a dismissive “of course”. You can guess who.

“So, uhhh, mister…”

“Havoc, Jean Havoc,” he filled in.

“...mister Havoc... I’m Alphonse Elric, by the way, and this is my brother, Edward.” The other brother waved curtly. “Anyways, if you don’t mind me asking-”

“Ugh, Al, you’re taking forever. Just skip with the bullshit formalities already. We want to know what exactly you were doing on your break.”

“Ed! That’s not what I wanted to know.”

Jean felt his lips twitch up into a grin. He had just met them and he liked both brothers already.

“Yeah? Well, it’s what I want to know and you were taking too long. So, explain.”

“Hey, what if I’m not comfortable sharing?” Edward looked at him with a deadpan expression, silently calling out his bull. “Ok, fine. I was out getting-” Jean stopped, realizing just now how young the kid was. “Dinner with a lovely lady.”

The kid, unassuming perceptive, stated, “You’re lying. What were you really doing?”

“My own business kid. You don’t need to know.” He paused. “Think about, I doubt you’ll tell me the truth as to why your brother is wearing that suit of armor, so I won’t bother asking.”

A shocked look spread across the tan face and the armor besides him froze. Alphonse’s small voice spoke, “Wow, you mean you’re really not gonna ask?” Jean nodded. “Most people usually ask me about it the first time I see them so it’s just… really nice that you won’t.”

“Yeah, most people don’t hesitate to ask. It’s actually weird that you won’t. Especially since you brought it up,” Edward’s suspicious voice cut in.

“Well, I’m not going to lie, it’s not that I’m not curious, but I think it’s fair, considering I won’t answer your question. Though my brain is thinking all kinds of odd explanations: a costume party, a weightlifting method, some bad sun sensitivity... Besides, as long as you step out of the armor, I don’t see a problem.”

The boys exchanged paranoid looks. Or at least the blonde did. The other one looked behind his brother and actually stepped behind him. “We can’t do that!” they argued in unison.

Jean whistled, moving his hands to form the universal surrender sign. “I’m going to need a plausible explanation, boys.”

He watched them struggle for a bit before they strung together a few sentences.

“We can’t-”

“Because-”

“I need it-”

“To breathe.”

“It’s for life support?” The last part was squeaked out, and Jean could tell that it was a lie even without the prepubescent voice cracks. He should escort them back to the local law enforcement and have them check for any hidden weapons or breaks in national security. It’s not like he felt any danger coming from the boys (despite one wearing a suit of armor and the other having thrown him twenty feet with his alchemy), but still, it was protocol.

“Okay,” he relented.

“Really?” The boys were both surprised at the outcome and if that wasn’t telling of how bad the lie was...

It’ll be Roy’s problem. You can’t blame a man with zero hours of sleep.

“Yeah, really. I just need to take you to East Headquarters, before I send you on your merry way.”

“Oh that’s great!” The actual relief in the metal voice was a surprise. Come to think of it, the grumpier kid looked pretty relieved as well.

“It is?” he asked.

“Yeah! Brother and I needed to get there anyways. We need to meet with someone before he takes the State Alchemist Exam. But, well, we haven’t been there before so we don’t exactly know the way.”

“Hold up. Did you just say the state alchemist exam? You do know that you need to be like seventeen to take it. If a ten year old shows up, I’m pretty sure that they’ll kick you out right away.”

“Hey! Who’re you calling so short that he can be mistaken for a baby in diapers!”

“That's not- what?”

“Sorry mister Havoc,” if a suit of armor could be blushing, it would, “but Ed gets really sensitive about his height. Anyways, yeah, we need to see someone to get the recommendations to take the exam.”

Jean looked cautiously at the other, practically mirroring a rabid dog in his anger. And earlier he’d been scared of Alphonse? “Right, well, best of luck to you, but I doubt the military will be willing to change its rules due to a single recommendation.”

“What rules?” Edward questioned.

“You know, age limitations and stuff.” Jean felt really awkward. He didn’t want to crush the kid’s dreams, but it was better this way than letting him find out when he got there. Kids were better off spending their days having fun while they lasted, only dreaming of dangerous adventures, not experiencing living nightmares. In fact, if he wasn’t devoted to the Flame Alchemist’s cause, he probably would have resigned awhile ago.

Edward, however, was not deterred. “There’s no such thing as an age restriction to be a state alchemist, and I made sure to check.”

“I haven’t heard of anyone who’s managed to become a state alchemist earlier than the age of eighteen.”

“That’s just because alchemy is a skill that takes years to develop.”

“Then shouldn’t you be home studying then. You have a while to go.”

Alphonse quietly argued, “I think that we’ll be fine as it is. You haven’t really seen brother in action. Alchemy isn’t easy to learn, that’s true. And it’s impossible to master, but brother and I have been practicing for years and we’re really good at what we do.”

“Kid, every state alchemist is a prodigy, but they are also grown adults who have spent their lives devoted to their trade. Even then, they are scared that they’ll get demoted or won’t make the cut. I’ve seen the most competent alchemist cut down during their jobs. As an adult interested in your well-being, I insist that you go home and think about this for a while. Wait a few years until you’re sure about this decision.”

“But we are sure. Trust me, sir. We’ve talked about it in great detail and we feel like it’s our only choice. Failing the exam isn’t an option. This is the only thing that’ll help us. Besides, my brother would get too lonely without me to die.”

From the resolute tone in Alphonse’s voice and the sad smile on Edward’s lips, Jean could tell that there wasn’t anything he could do to make them change their decision. Still, a pang of sadness hit his heart because he knew that this would change their lives forever. There was almost no chance that he would pass, but from the way the boys kept surprising him, they would probably find a way.

“Okay, well let me see it.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Your alchemy. I’m not an alchemist so I’m not exactly permitted to watch the exams, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it in action. Besides, I’m falling asleep here, so I need something to keep my attention.” Upon noticing the devious look on the blonde’s face, he added, “Preferably without my own bodily harm.”

“Sure!” Edward exclaimed, loudly clapping his hands together. Miraculously, the old couple hadn’t woken up - from anything - which was probably a good thing because they wouldn’t bear witness to Jean’s jaw dropping to the floor in reaction to the transmutation.

Standing proud in front of him was a ginormous statute of the two boys. Every detail of the armor ingrained into the stone replicate. The only part he found unrealistic was that fact that Edward portrayed himself as tall of his brother, which was easily overlooked when it came to the sheer likeliness of the transmutation.

“That’s not all I can do, but using earth materials is a lot more convenient for me than water or acids.”

“That’s impressive,” he admitted, “You could give Major Armstrong a run for his money.” Then, just because he was tired and had no brain to mouth filter at the moment, he decided to add, “but fancy tricks aren’t exactly going to get you a position as a state alchemist. You need to be able to prove yourself effective in a dangerous situation.”

It wasn’t wrong, the boy probably had a pre-made transmutation circle, but according to his CO, they left little room for creativity. Making statues was cute and all, but what could it do in a situation that involved more than showing off.

If the boy had any doubts, he didn’t show it.

He rushed off to whisper something to his brother. The metal-laced voice carried a bit more in its response, but Jean couldn’t hear anything more than slight mutterings. When a large stone hand rushed out towards the boy, Jean nearly swore in shock.

Edward dodged, laughing as he danced away. He clapped again and stone rose up from the ground in a huge wave, heading straight for his ironclad brother. Alphonse dodged, leaned down, and began to sketch a transmutation circle onto the pavement.

Jean watched the two brothers spar until his eyes grew sleepy. A number of times he caught his head a second before it carried his body to the ground. It wasn’t until the shrill sound of a train rang out that he regained true awareness.

He looked around, expecting to see a sea of upturned stones, massive pillars, and car-sized dips. Instead the station was completely ordinary, restored to its former glory. Internally, he let out a sigh of relief.

“So, since you’ll be escorting us to Eastern Headquarters, do you think we can share seats with you?” Jean jumped in surprise. He hadn’t even noticed the armor sneak up on him, which was weird because he’d been making so much noise earlier. Was that… intentional?

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” he waved off, “but I’m not going to be very pleasant company. I’m going to try to catch some shut eye if I can.”

“It’s fine,” Edward cut in. “I’ll be sleeping too.” He got this sad look on his face just then and looked up at Alphonse’s armored head. “If you’ll be okay with that.”

“I’ll be fine brother. Just get some sleep, okay?” The blonde boy gave him a grateful smile, starting the trek up into the train cars. Jean followed behind wondering what was going on inside the two boys’ heads.

When they boarded the train, they discovered - to their delight - that it was almost empty. The delay had pretty much gotten rid of anyone waiting for the trip, and a lot of people had gotten off at the latest stop. This meant that they could steal a first class car without complications. Jean felt like indulging himself and practically melted into his seat, asleep once his head hit the velvet.

A big jolt woke him up. He hit his head on the window, and instinctively lifted his hand to feel at the bruise.

“That looks pretty bad.” Jean’s eyes found the prone form of Edward, impossibly relaxed against the metal exterior of his brother.

“Probably not as bad as his neck is gonna feel in the morning.”

Alphonse chuckled at this. “I don’t know, brother is pretty resilient. He can sleep anywhere, and not feel the slightest discomfort. Once I caught him asleep on Winry’s desk, with automail on it and everything. I’m surprised she didn’t kill him for it.”

Alphonse had his helmet tilted towards the roof, probably reminiscing on that time. Jean was a little lost, but politely restrained himself from asking questions.

“Then there was this one time Edward actually tried to pick apart her automail. Predictably, he broke it. I mean, he knows Winry. Touching her automail is like a death sentence! I swear, brother may be older than me, but it’s times like those that make me feel like I was born first.”

Jean choked on his saliva. “He’s the older one!”

The rest of the trip went on like this. Alphonse and Jean sharing little anecdotes on their everyday lives and Edward sleeping blissfully unaware.

When the train rolled to a stop, though, it was like a switch was flipped. Edward woke and began to stretch like he wasn’t even asleep in the first place. “So,” he began, “Ready to go, Al? Havoc?”

WIthout waiting for a response he sauntered off into the luggage car, returning with both his bags and Jeans. He was honestly surprised that the kid even remembered what his bags looked like. It was just another quirk to the ever growing list of things he’d found out about the Elric brothers.

As they made their way around town, he fondly watched Edward looking at the city in wonder. “They’d grown up as country bumpkins,” Al had explained. This was their first time ever seeing a real city. Speaking of Al, the other boy was hard to read under that armor - which he still wanted a real explanation for, might he add - but the constant turning of his head indicated the same fascination as his older brother.

Making their way into HQ, Jean had to remind them to ‘act normal’, which earned him a glare and and muffled “sorry”. He was worried about what Roy would think about the two. His newfound fondness mixed with the knowledge of the twos’ reluctance to remove the armor left him wanting to abort his mission altogether.

However, this was not to be, because Riza Hawkeye met them around the corner, a surprised look on her face. In a most confusing turn of events, it softened into a tender smile, and she addressed the duo. “Edward, Alphonse, it’s so good to see you.” Jean’s brain short circuited. How the hell did she know these boys? Why did she actually look happy to see them? Was she alarmed at the suit of armor or had she gotten used to it just like him?

“Hey Hawkeye! We were just stopping by to get our paperwork from Mustang. It’s nice to see you too!” Was Edward talking to her like a normal person? Did he mention Mustang? Mustang?

“Ahh, well, he’s a little busy right now, but we can squeeze in a bit of time for you. Let’s get that paperwork taken care of.” She leveled her stare at him, for once not scolding or disappointed. “Thank you for bringing them here, lieutenant. I’ll take it from here.”

Wasn’t he supposed to be the one meeting Mustang? What was going on?

He watched as the trio made their way down the hall, Hawkeye’s exclamation of, “I wasn’t expecting you two to get here so soon,” the last thing that he heard before they disappeared down the hallway.

Breda snuck up behind him, coffee in hand. “Was I seeing stuff or did Hawkeye just go into Mustang’s office with a ten-year-old and a walking suit of armor?”

~~~FMA~~~

Jean Havoc did not see anymore of the Elric brothers for another three weeks. It was on the Monday of the fourth week that he heard what was quite possibly the loudest ruckus he’d ever been present to hear in Eastern Command.

He moved his head towards the door, waiting in anticipation for who knows what. The cheering got louder.

The doors swung open and he caught sight of a familiar blonde braid shadowed by the unforgettable metal armor.

In Edward’s gloved hand was a shining, silver pocket watch. The one that identified state alchemists. With a proud grin stretching across his face, he said, “I told you I could do it.”

#FMA #fullmetal alchemist #edward elric #alphonse elric #jean havoc #the kids and jean bond and I don't regret it #If Roy is their father then Jean is that one indulging uncle #light humor #fanfic #faniction #oneshot

15 notes · View notes

charlie-kingsboro · 3 years

Text

Family | Zara&Charlie

Discord thread featuring: Charlie and Zara ( @x-heartbreaker )

When: March 24th 2021

Description: Charlie receives a phone call from back home which leads her to discover a lost connection. Seeming too good to be true, she invites Zara over to dig further into things.

tw: mention of death

Charlie

Things we’re starting to make sense. Her past was locked up in a dusty box which had been processed and accepted had just been pulled out again, half full of sadness and then excitement. She never thought this would be happening. Even while studying her birth certificate, waiting for the knock at the door, Charlie found herself confused and almost angry at the fact that this could possibly be something she’d missed out on in her life. It showed as she pulled the door open with a little too much force, her face softening as she found Zara the other side of it.

Zara the brunette honestly has no idea why Charlie has invited her over, or why she was asking about what little information Zara had on her parents. She tries not to overanalyze it on her way over and had a cigarette just before arriving to help calm her nerves. As she arrives she knocks and waits for Charlie to answer, the force in which the door opens surprises her and she hopes she hasn’t done anything to make anyone angry. “It’s fine. Is everything alright?”

Charlie Now that it was a possibility, Charlie noticed the little things they had in common. They were tiny and hardly there, but she noticed. Maybe this was happening. “Yeah... uh, come in,” she quietly said, gently closing the door behind the girl. “I’m so sorry to be weird and invite you over so urgently, I just... just take a seat.” Charlie would always get nervous over the smallest of things, but her palms started to become sweaty as she took a seat at the table and picked up some paper. “Do you know anything about your parents? I’m sorry but, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

Zara Zara is usually good at reading a situation but this time it wasn’t easy and she couldn’t figure out what this might be about. She steps inside “you don’t have to be sorry. Usually it’s only this urgent if it’s a booty call or something,” she joked and takes a seat. “Not much. Just mums name - I know that and that they decided to drop me off at the local hospital one day and that was that. Why?”

Charlie It took her a moment to find her words, knowing there was no easy way to say it, before she spoke. "I had a phone call earlier from the UK, and they said some things and told me I had a sister called Zara but they didn't know where she was," she slowly said, hoping she'd understand. "My mum's called Sarah and we grew up in the same area."

Zara she sits in her chair and attempts to read the expressions on Charlie’s face to see if she can figure out what this might be about but she comes up empty. So instead she just listens. “Hold on. I’m sorry. What?” It’s taking a moment for her to process what Charlie is telling her. Of course no one could get ahold of Zara she’s had more phones and phone numbers than she could ever keep track of because it’s rare that she can afford to keep her mobile service. “Are you saying that’s me? That your mum and my mum are the same person?”

Charlie At the question, Charlie nodded, “I think so.” There were brief, blurry memories of her mother before she left but none to help the situation. All she had was what they told her on the phone, and the dots to connect from Zara. It all added up. She only hoped she wasn’t jumping to conclusions. “They rang to uh... they said she’d died. A few weeks ago. They didn’t know who to contact, then they found that she had two kids but could only find my number.”

Zara it was taking Zara a moment or two to wrap her mind around everything that Charlie was saying. Throughout the years she came to accept that her mother wanted nothing to do with her and therefore Zara never bothered looking for her or any family. But it seemed to have found her. “I’m sorry I’m totally stunned. Not about her...” it might be sad but Zara wasn’t upset about the passing, her mum was a complete stranger to her. “I’m just. Wow....how are you feeling about it?”

Charlie It felt messy. But right. Zara could've ended up anywhere on the planet, but she happened to live in Kingsboro where Charlie did. She nodded at the fact she wasn't stunned about their mum. Hopefully they would feel the same way. "I'm just confused, I guess," she softly answered, watching Zara. "Mum left me in our apartment when I was four... I didn't think she wanted anymore kids. I accepted I was on my own, but now..." It wasn't a spiteful feeling towards Zara, it was just a big thing to process. There were lots of emotions and Charlie knew it would take her a little time. But she wasn't alone anymore. If she didn't wake up and find out this was all a dream, she wasn't alone. She had somebody.

Zara perhaps the stars had aligned, if her best friend hadn’t made the move to the states, Zara probably wouldn’t have either and then she and Charlie never would have found each other. “She clearly didn’t want any more kids,” Zara scoffs and rolls her eyes even though she’s come to terms with the fact that her mother wanted nothing to do with her, it was still strange to think that someone could abandon her children the way she had. “It’s kind of neat I guess. Knowing at least some of my family....” though she never had any kind experience with actual family “up until now I’ve just had friends.”

Charlie The girl nodded, understanding everything for once. It was bizarre to suddenly have someone who understood on the same level. It was strange to think that she had a sister. “I’m sorry, I...” she started, losing her words a little. “If I’d known, I would’ve tried to find you.” Even if her ex husband would’ve stopped her, Charlie would have tried. Maybe if they’d have had each other, things would have been a lot different. Maybe she wouldn’t have ended up with her ex husband. “Do you want like, a DNA test or anything? Just to be sure?” she asked, still not sure how the other felt about the situation. “I can cover the cost. I don’t mind.”

Zara The girl was shaking her head, “you don’t have anything to apologize for you haven’t done anything wrong. There’s no way that you could have ever known so I’d never hold that against you.” This was a lot to process so she was just trying to take it step by step. “A dna test, I hadn’t even thought of that,” a hand moves through her hair, pushing it out of her face. “I don’t know do you think we should? To be sure?”

Charlie “Only if you want to. I mean, I’m literally connecting dots,” she mumbled, looking to her hands. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have one done. This is just... weird. Sorry if I’m being weird.” It was just the process of working through how she felt, but the overwhelming thought of not being a good enough sister was probably the only thing on her mind. That’s just how she was. Charlie had suddenly gained the responsibility to look after her younger sister, and she would only do that if she could do it perfectly.

Zara “honestly I don’t even know,” she has to laugh because her mind is just flying in so many different directions. “I think the timeline seems to make sense so its more than likely the case. No it’s ok I think we’re both being weird because how else are we supposed to be? We’re both kind of overwhelmed with this information. And with the fact that died. I don’t know about you but I don’t really feel sad about it, but I feel guilty about not feeling sad?”

Charlie It made sense in her head, but she couldn’t get it out. Charlie felt bad that someone had died but not bad about the fact that her mum had died. It was all disconnected. “Yeah, no I feel the same. In the nicest way, I don’t care about anything but the fact that I basically have a sister now. I don’t think I could be sad over anyone who has two kids and leaves them to fight for themselves. I can’t talk for you but my life up until Kingsboro was absolute shit.” Her words became solid and anger dripped through her words at the end, but she quickly took a breath and regained herself. This wasn’t the time for anger.

Zara It was a strange mix of emotions to process knowing that the person that gave her life now want living, and even more mind boggling that all of this time she had a sister she might have never known about. “I guess it was meant to be for us to find each other. Oh calling it absolute shit is an understatement. Foster care was a nightmare as I’m sure you know. So many terrible things happened...” she was shaking her head trying to push the memories back down. “I’m just glad that I’m able to kind of start over.”

Charlie It hurt knowing that Zara had probably gone through similar things that she did. Regardless if they were related, she felt sorry for the girl and wouldn't wish it upon anyone. "Did you move around a lot? In foster care?" she carefully asked, knowing that it was more than likely a sensitive subject.

Zara “all the time. Thankfully I only had to change schools a handful of times because I could stay in the same vicinity. What about you? Some people have ok experiences with it...” although she didn’t think that either of them had been that lucky.

Charlie Nodding, "Me too. It wasn't bad for me, it just wasn't good. I take it you weren't adopted?" She'd try to keep her own story close for now, and only Parker really knew about what happened after Charlie turned 18. She wanted to keep it that way. Telling people about it would only show how fragile she was from a stupid asshole who she thought was her husband.

Zara “I guess it not being bad is something,” she chuckled “it was really all I knew so other than what I saw in the movies and stuff I don’t really know how a functional family is supposed to work,” she shrugs her shoulders. “I wasn’t. Just aged out of the system thank god. Were you? How long have you lived in kingsboro?” 26 March 2021

Charlie Everyone knew the older you got in foster care, the less likely it is to be adopted. It sounded as if they both accepted that from a young age. “Yeah, I grew out of it, too, then I moved in with someone and stayed there until I was 24,” she recited as if it were a book. “It’ll be 4 years in a few months since I moved here. How about you?”

Zara when she was a young child she remained hopeful that she might find a “forever home” but that hadn’t happened. Each year she got older she knew the chances lessened tremendously. “Moved over here or stayed there for a bit and then came here? I’ve only been here a little over a year now.”

Charlie

“I moved here about 4 years ago,” she clarified, “I just kind of packed up what I could and left within about 3 days so I didn’t bring much.” Charlie hoped that Zara’s life here was better to her. Kingsboro felt more like home than her hometown ever would, which was a relief. “Only a year? Do you prefer it here?”

Zara "You said you stayed with someone until you were 24 so I'll assume that was before you moved here, if you've been here 4 years already. Yeah I didn't really have much to bring so," the girl shrugs. she still didn't really have much but there was a roof over her head so she was grateful for that. "only because people i care about are here. i think id prefer it anywhere that way, you know? even if it was back in the uk. i dont really find anything about new york to be too spectacular, i know that's like blasphemy around here."

Charlie “Oh, yeah,” she said quieter. “I was with my husband from like 18 to 24 before I moved here.” Charlie understood where she was coming from, and felt lucky that it actually felt homely to her. Maybe Zara would feel that way soon, too. “The people make it home, sometimes, and that’s okay. I don’t think I’d stay here long if I didn’t know the people.”

Zara “sounds like at least one of us is decent with commitment,” Zara laughs. She’s not sure that marriage is even in the cards for her but that’s another idea that she’s grown comfortable with, it is what it is. “Yeah. I miss certain things once in a while but I would much rather be around my friends. I guess you can kind of build a life anywhere. You work in the bakery right?”

Charlie She nodded, completely understanding. Home could be wherever you wanted it to be as long as you had the people you loved around you. “Yeah, I kind of work there like part time and then I also just signed a contract with jet records... so there’s that,” she sheepishly added, still not sure how she felt about the whole thing.

Zara Zara finds that over the years she doesn’t really have a concept of home and she’s ok with it. She can live where she feels happy and as long as people that she cares about are around that’s all she needs. She feels strangely like Charlie should already be included in that but she doesn’t know her very well yet. “How’s that going? Are you going to record an album and everything?”

Charlie It was a strange feeling. There was an invisible rope connecting the two but Charlie also felt an uneasy emptiness between them. She couldn't quite wrap her head around it. "I guess so... I'm currently recording an EP, whatever that is, and they're booking some summer shows around New York so that'll be terrifying," she explained, really not looking forward to the whole standing in front of hundreds of people thing. "You should come along to one of them. See what a total mess I am." It was half true, half said through a nervous laugh. If they were to be sisters and they wanted to be in each other's life, they had to start somewhere.

Zara “oh like just recording a few songs to see how well they’re received and then going from there. That’s pretty cool though. Will they be original songs or covers? Do you know yet?” She hopes she isn’t asking too many questions but she definitely prefers to be the one doing the asking rather than the one being asked. “Yeah just let me know when. I’m sure you’re not a mess at all. I think most people get a bit of stage freight it’s completely normal.”

Charlie "I'm a mess," she repeated, smiling a little. "Trust me. I like singing but have no clue about anything else." Charlie still stood by her decision to sign the contract, but that didn't mean there was no doubt. This was for her. A middle finger up to her ex, if you will. The start of a new life with Parker. "I'm a nervous wreck half the time and end up having a panic attack over the tiniest of things, and that's before I get up on a stage," she rambled on, looking to her hands and suddenly feeling self conscious.

Zara “but do you like to sing in public?” Zara asks with a chuckle, “I can understand stage freight I suppose. But if you don’t really like that aspect of things maybe you could do more behind the scenes work? Or, what is that you hope to do? Gonna be the next big Brits winner?”

Charlie She paused, and truly thought about the question. Maybe she was going down the wrong route. Even if it was a massive middle finger up to whoever, was it really worth it if she constantly felt like she was trying to stay above water? All she could do was shrug, "Maybe. I don't really think I know what I want." Charlie never really did know what she wanted. "I'm sorry to dump all of this on you with the phone call and... mum thing. I just always thought I was on my own."

Zara She didn’t mean to make a big deal of it, but she was genuinely curious. Zara may not have any crazy talents but that’s probably why her job was a fairly simple customer service one for the most part. “If it is what you want, you’ve got to be confident in it and enjoy it, otherwise what’s the point? Besides money at least.” But that was what made the world go round after all. “It isn’t your fault you don’t have to apologize. I know it’s pretty strange to think about.”

Charlie "Yeah," Charlie quietly confirmed. It was new territory for both of them, but Charlie had a feeling Zara would be okay with it all. They seemed to get along well and at the end of the day, they didn't have to act like sisters if they didn't want to. Having that option, though, made her feel less alone. For once she wasn't the only child who her mother left behind. For once, she didn't feel as if the whole mother thing was personal.

#tw: mention of death #tw: death

6 notes · View notes

baileys-aurora · 4 years

Text

My favorite color is you

Hongjoong x reader(fem) Artist au

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1.6k

A/n: Enjoy :)

“Congratulations, you have been selected as a participant in the 17th annual Seoul painting exhibition. We have selected 2 out of the 10 paintings you have sent and will be displaying them the last two days of the event. Please respond if you see any mistake we could have made. Sincerely, Seoul’s artist team.”

You fell backwards on you bed kicking the air with excitement as you wore the biggest smile trying to control your squeals. This was your goal, your dream, and it actually happened. The morning sun barely awake as you had been up hours before waiting for an email, this email.

After regaining your composure, and rereading the message multiple times, you clicked the attachments to see which paintings were chosen. It could be the pastel dusk sky you spent hours on, trying to perfect every detail to match perfectly with the one you grew up watching from your hometown. Or perhaps what you envision a good dream would look like.

However, when you opened the first one up it was the sketch of your grandmother watering her sunflowers, a picture that held a great deal of emotions for you, eyes tearing up as you looked over the piece again, it’s been a couple years since you’ve completed that piece, a couple years since you’ve seen her smile that always meets her eyes, or the way she treated everyone. As if the world never betrayed her, she lived that way until her last breath. The emotion of pure love and joy emerged from your drawing, you missed her more than anyone else.

Opening the second attachment you were met the oil painting of a boy. Completed a couple years ago as well, a smiling boy you had observed at the time, he was bending dog to pet a dog owned by a stranger. You were so fascinated in his kind nature. Pulling out a pocket sketch book and making a rough sketch to remember the small details he had. Sparkles in his eyes shining though the tired looking features he held that day, the way the sun reflected of his light brown hair, and how his smile could save a dying soul. You had almost forgotten that this piece was submitted. It was a last-minute thing so you could reach the ten-piece requirement, not thinking much of it, as you had more faith in the other works. Especially since you had struggled with the face of the boy, opting to just make vague features instead of the sharp ones your old sketchbook held.

Ironic how the two pieces that are the rawest and portrays emotion of everyday life, beat the pretty designs of the others.

Reading over the email again just to make sure it was real, another smile meets your eyes but this time a bitter sweet one. Presenting a piece so close to you heart would be tough, especially the personal questions people may ask.

You had two weeks before the event started and a mind full of things to be done.

Hongjoong debated submitting some of his works, however his busy schedule wouldn’t allow him to attend certain days if he had somehow impressed the judges enough. Looking at the dates again he could possibly make it the last day for a bit. Sighing he knew the odds were against him, but what’s the harm in trying he thought to himself.

The first day of showing your pieces was rough, many tears were held back, and fake smiles replaced them. Explaining the story behind you work over and over again was slowly getting to you, you haven’t had to be this open about the previous events in a long time.

The second day was somewhat easier, you had the story you wanted to tell on lock, repeating the same thing as if you were programmed to. It saved many almost tears. As the day went on less people stopped by, eventually resulting in a few older women who walked closely together, enjoying their time here, admiring each piece for what it is and not what is should be.

You admired that, sitting down and pulling out your pocket sketch book you began to draw as you see the three friends smiling with each other and pointing out small details only one would notice. Becoming so deep in your drawings you seemed to be unaware of the boy standing over your shoulder and watching your hand move lightly over the small pieces of paper.

"Those are really good.” He complimented polity, causing your heart to miss a couple beats as your soul disappeared for a mere seconds before returning. Whipping your head around with a hand on you racing heart to look at the reason for all this.

A man with wide eyes stared back at you, it was rare to see eyes like his, not many people carried them. They were genuine, ones you could get lost in painting every detail of.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you”

“It’s ok I should have been more present in my surroundings.” You calmed your breathing.

He smiled and nodded, looking for something to say next to the cute girl so caught up in her passion she lost track of reality a while, something he is able to do often with what he does, “are these yours?” He gestured to someone else’s work. Shaking you head you stood up and walked past him slightly to the same place you’ve been standing the last two days. “These are mine.” You responded to him while lifting your hand towards the two hanging pieces, advertising them like a store-bought product.

He approached slowly while studying them, his eyes flickering over every detail. Watching him you were able to see the emotions he felt through studying them, sending a feeling of pride your way.

Hongjoong could tell the amount of emotion you put into your work, which ultimately ended up being his favorite two in the gallery. Love was prominent in the sketch of the old women watering her beautifully drawn sunflowers as admiration was obvious in the oil painting hanging next to it. The boy in the painting reassembling his younger self, when his debut was his only goal. Tiredness from the hours of training yet happy to be there.

“Wow. Just wow” the man spoke after his close examination, “my works could never” he side glanced at you before returning his gaze in front of him. “Did you submit work too?” You asked curiously, “I wanted to but wouldn’t have time be here to present them.”

“I’m sure they are just as good if not better.” Trying to make him feel better, it was obvious he wanted to be here.

He laughed before shaking his head and pointing to them both, “there’s no beating that.” “I would have to judge for myself.” You playfully responded to him, not quite realizing how that could be taken. When he looked at you again shocked, realization hit you and your cheeks began to heat up. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.” Cringing inside you had hoped he would leave from what you had just implied, and you could never see him again.

Instead he just laughed more, finding humor in your embarrassment. “You’re really cute.” He quietly commented, igniting more heat to burn on your face. Before you could defend yourself further his phone began to ring, causing quick movements to answer the phone in his jacket pocket.

Walking away after holding up a finger to signal he would come back, you let out a breath you had been holding, trying to figure out what you would say when he returned so you wouldn’t embarrass yourself again.

He returned a few minutes later with a smile on his face, “sorry about that, a few of my friends are planning dinner and wanted my input.” You smiled back out of habit, “which is?” now it was his turn to become shy, “I told them I wasn’t going to be eating with them.”

“That sucks, are you to busy?” he smiled before rubbing the back of his neck, “hopefully.” He began to walk around again to escape your gaze, it was too much to handle at the moment.

“Do you sketch people often?” he asked once he made his trip back to you, “when they inspire me” you looked at your phone checking the time. Fifteen minutes until the gallery closed.

“Would you draw me like one of your French boys?” he could barely ask before laughing again shaking his hand as a form of an apology. Joining him in his laughter you only just met him yet feel comfortable around him. Out of nowhere his wide eyes met yours, “I’m so sorry, I’m Hongjoong.” He reached out his hand, “that as super formal compared to the question you popped before.” You took his hand, “I’m y/n” you introduced yourself as his cheeks slightly changed colors.

Watching you check your phone again he felt slightly burdensome, “am I holding you up for something?” you looked at him confused before realization hit you, “no, I’m just waiting for the clock to reach ten so I can eat, I haven’t had time all day.”

He smiled reveal his perfectly aligned teeth, “could I possible treat my favorite artist, it would be a dream come true?”, “I thought you had plans?” He shook his head, making his hair bounce with it, “I said hopefully I did, but now I for sure do.”

“ohh, very smooth.” You chuckled at his advance, “well I could only accept such an offer since my favorite fan asked.” You winked at him before checking your phone one last time, ten. Perfect.

“If things go well, I could even show you my works” he jumped his eyebrows at you while walking backwards, “very sexy.” You commented picking up your purse and following him, “only for you.”

#ateez hongjoong #ateez #kim hongjoong #hongjoong #hongjoong x reader #ateez oneshot #ateez fluff #i love this man #im whipped

42 notes · View notes

boat-dock · 4 years

Text

“Knowing You is for the Better” chapter 12

lets be honest Rafael deserves a better story... also Hope and Josie are so smitten

Josie’s leg bounced erratically as she waited for her sister to meet her for lunch. She’d chosen a secluded spot away from people so they could talk without being interrupted by half the school who wanted their input on unimportant things, most days she wouldn’t mind but today she needed her sister’s attention. She shouldn’t be nervous. Their relationship had improved a lot over the past few months and Lizzie just wanted her to be happy, but she was still slightly terrified to tell her about her budding relationship with Hope.

At the thought of the tribrid Josie’s heart sped up and her cheeks flushed. She couldn’t believe that someone as amazing and beautiful as Hope could like her. She was plain, nothing special, just a normal teenage girl- with magic- but otherwise just like everyone else. Deep down she knew that this kind of thinking was a problem but that’s an issue to unravel for another time, perhaps on a day when the girl she’s been secretly in love with didn’t kiss her before class.

She’s grinning to herself completely lost in thought when Lizzie shows up. Her twin notices something is up instantly, “ What happened?” she asked, smirking as she plopped down her plate across from Josie.

“What- what makes you think something happened?” she stuttered taking a sip of her drink, trying to pretend that she wasn’t a mess.

“Oh come on,” Lizzie answered, “ You’ve got starry eyes and…” her voice faded out as her face fell and turned sour. “Please tell me this isn’t about the she-devil.”

Josie wanted to laugh. She should have been prepared for this, Hope had told her that Lizzie thought that she was going to get back with Penelope, it was a ridiculous thought. She cared for Penelope’s well being- she always would- but her heart belonged to Hope now, even this early in the relationship she felt like it always would.

“No this isn’t about Penelope I swear,” she laughed, watching her sister sag into her chair in relief.

“Thank god.”

Now came the hard part, Lizzie and Hope hadn’t always been the best of friends, in fact, they were enemies and it was Josie’s fault, but now they were close and Josie didn’t want anything to disrupt that. She would feel awful if she was the reason for another rift between the two. She pushed food mindlessly around her plate, “ this is about Hope actually.”

Lizzie squinted at her, daring her to keep talking with a look, “ What about her?”

“Well- um -well we,” Josie stumbled her way around her confession until Lizzie put her out of her misery.

“Oh my god are you two together?” her face was unreadable, a mix between disbelief and shock.

Josie took a deep steadying breath, “ Yeah we are,” she answered before she realized that that might now be true, “ well at least I think we are, we haven’t really talked about it.”

A weight was lifted off her shoulders when Lizzie grinned at her and took her hand over the table, “ Finally,” she groaned with a good-hearted eye roll.

“What? You knew?” Josie breathed, blood rushing to her cheeks. Embarrassment coursed through her at the thought of her sister noticing and speculating on her love life behind her back. She was used to being the one watching not being watched.

“Of course,” she gloated,” You act completely different when you’ve got someone in your sights and Hope likes to think she's all mysterious and broody but as soon as you get to know her she’s an open book.” Neither statements were wrong.

“You aren’t upset?” Josie asked, still shocked by Lizzie’s reaction.

“Give me a little more credit Jo. I made my peace with you two the minute you started sleeping in her room more than ours,” Josie lowered her eyes, her cheeks heated once again, “ Does she make you happy?”

The question throws her for a loop. This was the happiest she’d felt in a long time, Hope supported her and fought for her and always put Josie’s needs first. A small smile flick across her face, “ Yeah she does,” she sighed.

“Good,” Lizzie commented, “ but if she screws this up I’ll have to kick her ass.”

Josie shouldn’t have expected any less, “ You can try, “ she teased.

Hope’s stomach was in knots as she made her way to the headmaster’s office, there was no way he knew her about her feelings for Josie but she still dreaded that she was about to get his strange version of shovel talk. She slowed her pace to a trudge, giving herself more time to stew.

That was a mistake. If she had known who was following her through the hallway she would have moved quicker. If she hadn’t been inside her head so much she would have heard or sensed Penelope Park trailing her unstealthily.

Penelope grabbed her arm and jerked her to the side. When she got her wits about her and saw her, her stomach dropped. She had nothing to feel guilty for, Penelope and Josie had broken up a long time ago and Josie was completely allowed to date whoever she wanted whether Penelope was at the school or not. “We need to talk,” she said in a hushed voice glancing around like they were standing alone in a hallway.

“Do we?” Hope answered, deciding that playing dumb was her best bet.

Penelope rolled her eyes, “ We need to talk about Josie.” Hope sighed trying to think of the best way to get herself out of this conversation.

“Whatever you have to say you should say to her not me,” she retorted as she yanked her arm away and started back down the hallway, suddenly desperate to get Dr. Saltzman’s office, no matter what he needed to see her about.

“I want to talk about the merge,” she called behind her, and Hope stopped dead in her tracks. The merge had been in the back of her mind since her talk with Josie on the roof in New Orleans, she’d gone through dozens of ideas and none had panned out or been realistic. She was at a dead-end but she didn’t want to talk to Penelope about it.

Except, maybe Penelope had a plan, a plan that she was confident enough in to come to Hope with. Hope turned eyeing her, she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to save the twins no matter how much she wanted to, but she couldn’t handle it right now, not when she was needed in the headmaster’s office, “ Later,” she said, “ I’ll find you later.

With that she turned and left, leaving Penelope in the dust. She walked the rest of the way in a daze until she was outside the door and knocking. The door swung open and she was greeted by a very uncomfortable looking Dr. Slatzman who ushered her in stiffly.

Oh god, this was going to be about her and Josie.

Caroline stood behind the desk and smiled kindly at her but stayed silent until Dr. Saltzman was back. Raf was there too, he sat wide-eyed and slightly pale and wouldn’t meet Hope’s eyes. She took the seat next to him, staying quiet until she knew for sure what this was about.

“We’re so sorry to pull you out of class Hope but we thought that you could help with this situation,” Caroline’s voice was sweet as honey and steady, she seemed completely calm unlike everyone else in the room.

“What’s going on?” she asked, worried.

Dr. Saltzman cleared his throat, “ Well earlier in the school year while you were… away and Rafael was trapped in his wolf form, we did a heritage test to try and find a way to turn him back and we found his father by doing so,” Hope remembers back to the night they saved the Saltzmans from the prison world, she’d seen a man entering the school with Raf but at the time she didn’t know who he was.

Still unsure of how this applied to her she forced her words out, “Wow that’s amazing congrats Raf,” she and Rafael had a bumpy history and their views on family differed drastically but nonetheless she was happy for him. He smiled numbly at her but didn’t say anything.

“That’s actually not what we called you here to talk about,” Caroline commented, pushing the conversation back on track with ease.

“Yes we are actually here to talk about Rafael’s mother’s side of the family,” there was a dramatic pause like they expected her to put all the pieces together herself. She’s good but not that good. “You see, the only relative shown was very distant so we didn’t pay it any attention, but upon closer inspection, it appears that Rafael is from a very old and powerful werewolf bloodline.”

Finally, they were getting somewhere. She blinked at Raf and cocked her head, she wanted him to talk but he was silent as ever so she asked,” What bloodline?” the only werewolf bloodlines that were prominent enough to show up on a lineage test were those of the seven original packs. They were powerful and ancient but now mostly nonexistent if the lines still survived they didn’t publicly announce their heritage due to the danger.

Dr. Saltzman and Caroline cut their eyes at each other before continuing, “ The Malraux pack,” the words hung heavy in the air. The only thing that could have shocked her more would be if he had been from her pack, but this was a close second.

She sucked in air through her nostrils loudly, “Woah,”

“Do you know what that means,” Rafael shot suddenly breaking out of his coma, “ because I sure as hell don’t and nobody will tell me anything.” his frustration was obvious and she couldn’t blame him.

“We thought it would be best for Hope to explain since she has some experience with things like this,” Caroline said and Hope’s jaw clenched as she realized that they were dropping this on her. She had enough on her plate without trying to do their jobs as well. But as they scurried from the room, the weight of what this revelation meant hit her. Not only did Raf have more family out there -well one more family member to be exact- but that person was a part of her family also.

She composed herself and tried to find the best way to explain what this meant for him. “Ok,” she started,” so this pack that you’re a part of is one of the seven original werewolf packs.” his eyes went even wider and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“And that’s a big deal?” he asked.

“Yes and no,” she answered,” it’s a big deal to some more traditional wolves but it’s safer for you to keep it on the down-low.

“Why?” he groaned

“Umm well when the seven packs get together they can create some very powerful stuff and in the past, people have tried to take advantage of that,” she really hoped he wouldn’t ask any more questions the answers were dark and she didn’t feel like going into it right now.

“So me being a Malraux that means I’m from some big and influential pack?” she couldn’t tell if he was hopeful or not.

“Not exactly,” she chewed her bottom lip in thought, “ the Malraux’s are mostly extinct now, there’s only one left that I know of, but I can put you in contact with her if you want,”

Hope held her breath. Keelin was one of the best people that she knew and she deserved the best things in the world. Raf did too. The longer she thought about it the happier she got for the two of them, each finding a long lost family member, she hoped they could be happy. When Raf didn’t answer quickly her heart sank and she quickly backtracked, “ But if you decided you don’t want to know her I’m sure she would understand.”

This seemed to only confuse him more, “ You would tell her about me even if I wanted nothing to do with her?”

Not telling Keelin never crossed Hope’s mind. “ Of course, she deserves to know as much as you do.”

She was quiet now, letting him think things over. “What’s she like?”

She smiled softly, happy to get the chance to gush about her family,” her name’s Keelin and she’s a doctor, from Texas but now lives in New Orleans,” he leaned closer in his chair as Hope pushed her hair out of her face,” she’s one of the kindest people I know, I mean she has to be to put up with me and my crazy-ass family.”

The sun shown in through the windows and Hope wondered just how much class she was going to get out of today for this. “Why don’t you give her my email,” he mumbled causing Hope to grin from ear to ear.

She was pretty sure that Keelin was working today and even though she was bursting to share the news she’d just learned, she knew that Keelin hated to be interrupted at work and that she wouldn’t be able to focus the rest of the day if she learned this now. “Of course,” she answered, “ I’ll call her first thing in the morning.”

She ducked out of the office after that and hoped that Dr. Saltzman and Caroline would go back in now and help him in ways that she couldn’t.

She had a rather uneventful rest of the day, thankfully. She went to class after class and actually did her work and unsubtly watched Josie the whole time. She found herself skipping lunch and holding herself up in the library, searching in vain for any new information on the merge.

She dragged herself back to her room at the end of the day tired and worn down but that all melted away when she found Josie waiting for her there.

“Hey,” the younger girl piped up. Hope grinned and went to her, “Where did you disappear to today?” she asked.

“Your parent’s needed my help with something today,” she said vaguely. She would love to share everything that happened with Josie, but it wasn’t her story wasn’t her’s to tell.

“Care to share?” it wasn’t a push for information, it was just Josie reminding her that she was here to listen and help always.

“I wish but it’s not mine to share,” Josie understood and dropped the subject. Hope wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled, relishing the closeness. She closed her eyes and sighed, letting herself relax into the younger girl’s arms.

“I talked to Lizzie today,” she said calmly. She knew Josie was nervous about telling her sister but Hope never was. Her run-in with Lizzie in the hallway earlier that day was enough to put her nerves at ease.

“How’d it go?” she asked, resting her head on Josie’s shoulder.

“Surprisingly well. She’s actually ok with this, us.”

“Good,” Hope answered before climbing into bed and pulling Josie with her. The siphoner was peaceful in Hope’s arms, she could listen to the sound of her heartbeat forever, the soft reminder that this perfect girl was real and alive in her arms. And magically she had feelings for Hope despite everything, her past, her family, her actions, this girl still wanted to be with her.

They held each other, silently just enjoying each other’s presence until Hope fell into a deep and fitful sleep.

12 notes · View notes

what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner Ch 50: I Got My Second Chance Right Here

Intro: After talking with Scott, Steve and Katie find themselves facing the very real possibility that there may be a way to undo Thanos’ actions and bring back everyone lost to The Decimation. Only Tony isn’t on board with the idea and once more Katie finds herself stuck in the middle of the two men as they clash.

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

Note- (last time I’ll post this, just to make sure no one misses it…) please go with me timeline wise through Part 8. I don’t believe for one second that all the action in Endgame took place over a matter of days, I reckon they were weeks, possibly months in planning, designing and building all the equipment they needed… so that’s what I’m going with...and I also want to string this out as long as possible because we’re coming to the end *sniffs sadly*

“Man am I glad to see you.” Scott said, clasping Steve’s hand as soon as the gate was open, pumping it up and down furiously.

“Well we got time to listen.” Steve smiled, reassuringly “Come on.”

Katie heard Natasha greet him as she settled Jamie on the sofa at the other end of the room.

"Scott?" Steve spoke, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I’m fine" Scott said in a tone that indicated he was anything but. He opened his mouth to speak but shut it again, before he pressed his fingers into his eye sockets clearly struggling with what it was he needed to say. Eventually he took a deep breath and looked around the room. "Have you ever studied quantum physics?"

Katie shook her head, as did Steve.

"Only to make conversation," Natasha shrugged.

Scott pointed to Natasha "Alright, so, five years ago, right before…Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my... she was my...” he took a deep breath, struggling to quell the emotion that was brewing in his voice. “ And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there.”

“I’m sorry.” Katie said, sympathetically “That must have been a very long five years

"Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me it was five hours.”

Steve frowned.

“See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything's unpredictable." Scott continued as Steve looked from Katie to Natasha, both of them wearing expressions which were a cross between curiosity and contemplation.

"Is that anybody's sandwich?” Scott asked, pointing at the plate on the table “I’m starving.”

As he strode over to pick up the remainder of Nat’s peanut butter sandwich, Steve shook his head slightly, still not understanding what this had to do with anything.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" he asked, prompting him to get back on track.

"What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm.” Scott spoke trough a mouthful of peanut butter and bread before he hastily swallowed “The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did?"

He began to pace again and Katie cocked her head to the side slightly, watching him as he gestured wildly with the hand holding the peanut butter sandwich.

“I can't stop thinking about it. What if we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way that we could enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like…” he paused taking a breath as he looked at the 3 faces in front of him. “Like before Thanos."

"Wait." Katie said, holding up a hand to stop him, her voice laced with scepticism "Are you talking about a time machine?"

"No. No of course not. No not a time machine, it’s more like a…” He trailed off and looked down before he shrugged. “Yeah like a time machine.”

Steve took a deep breath and shared a glance with Katie, both of them raising an eyebrow. Steve let out a small sigh as he had been hoping Scott had something that they could actually use.

“I know, it's crazy, but I can't stop thinking about it. There’s gotta be some way. There's got to be some-” he looked at Steve's face and sighed ’it's crazy..I know, yeah...”

"Scott,” Natasha cut him off, “I get emails from a raccoon. Nothing sounds crazy anymore."

"So who do we talk to about this?" Scott asked, looking between the three people stood in front of him.

Natasha looked at Katie meaningfully and she shook her head, instantly understanding.

“Uh-uh. He’s done with all this, there’s no way he’ll help.”

“Who?” Scott asked.

“My brother.” she replied.

"Nat’s right." Steve looked to Katie “We should talk to him, see if any of this is possible.”

“Momma.” he asked and she crouched down next to him.

“You ok?”

“When’s dinner?”

“I’m gonna make it soon, sorry baby.” she said, picking him up “Jamie this is momma, daddy and Auntie Nat-Nat’s friend, Scott. Wanna say hello?”

Jamie looked over, smiling, not a shy bone in his body, as he waved his little hand "Hi Scott."

“This…you…” Scott was looking between Katie and Steve and Steve gave him a small smile. “Wow, that’s great. It’s nice to meet you Jamie.”

Jamie held out his hand for a hi-five and Scott let out a laugh, obliging.

“We also have a daughter, we adopted her, she’s older though.” Steve said, feeling the need to explain as he watched Jamie in his wife’s arms. “She’s away with friends.”

Scott nodded. The room fell into silence and Katie took a deep breath.

“Ok.” he said and Natasha gestured with her head for him to follow her

Eventually, the curiosity part won out and he grabbed Steve’s hand “I go with you Daddy.” Katie rolled her eyes good naturedly “Traitor.”

Jamie grinned as Steve picked him up, leaning over in his Father’s arms to place a sloppy kiss on Katie’s cheek.

******

He sat on the small chair by the side of the tent and looked around him, taking in the gentle breeze coming off the lake.

“Morgan H Stark, you want some lunch?”

“You should not be wearing that, okay? That is part of a special anniversary gift I'm making for Mom.” he said, pressing a kiss to the side of the helmet before he took it off. His daughter’s face emerged, smiling mischievously.

“Okay.” she grinned as Tony brushed the hair back off her face and smoothed down the fly-away strands that had risen up when he had taken the helmet off.

“There you go. Are you thinking about lunch?” he asked, “I can give you a handful of crickets on a bed of lettuce.”

“No.” She giggled

“That’s what you want.” he teased before he glanced at the helmet in his hand “How did you find this?”

“Garage” she said simply, as if it was obvious. Which in fairness, it was, because that’s where he had left it.

“Really?” he looked at her, narrowing his eyes slightly in suspicion. “Were you looking for it?”

“No.” She said, but the look on her face that told Tony she had totally been looking for it “I found it, though.”

“You like going to the garage, huh? So does daddy” Tony said, standing and picking her up in one arm, the helmet still held in the other, heading to the house. He glanced down at it again and chuckled to himself “It's fine, actually. Your mom never wears anything I buy her.”

Katie was out of the car first, opening one of the back doors and Jamie barrelled out of the vehicle, running over to his Uncle.

“Uncle Nee!” he said, gleefully as he ran up the steps to the porch.

“Hey!” Tony placed Morgan down and bent to give his nephew’s head a kiss. “I wasn’t expecting to see you guys to-“

A man who had been snapped, was now stood on his driveway.

What the fuck was going on?

“Hey.” Katie greeted her brother as she walked up the steps. “Sorry to spring this on you but…”

He gave her a hug and when she stepped back he looked over her shoulder. “S’Up Lang? Thought you got turned to dust?”

Steve winced slightly at Tony’s blasé tone, but he could tell from his brother-in-law’s face, he was anything but. His eyes were burning with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

“It’s a really, really long story.” Scott nodded as he rounded the car, looking at Tony

He looked at his sister and she shrugged, and he could tell by her expression she was torn. Probably from the same fears he had.

“Take a seat.” he said, gesturing to the chairs and sofa on the porch area “I’ll grab some iced coffee.”

“What?” she frowned and Katie sighed.

Katie rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “In his defence this isn’t his idea.”

“No but I bet it was to come here.” he looked at her as he opened the door.

“Wrong again. That was down to Nat.” “Pain in my ass.” he mumbled, as he walked back to the porch.

He placed the jug down on the small coffee table and plonked into a chair to the right of it, looking up at Steve who was leaning against the wooden rails of the porch, Nat to his right.

“Alright,” he looked up as Scott sat in the chair at the other side of the small table, Katie leaning up against the side of the house. “Explain.”

"Now, we know what it sounds like." Scott stammered out before Steve cut him off, keen to understand what was going on in the Inventor’s head.

"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything like this really impossible?"

Tony looked up from pouring the drinks, handing one to Katie who smiled a thanks to him.

“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition, can we agree on that?"

Scott, Steve and Natasha all looked blankly back at him. Steve had no idea what he was talking about but he saw Katie out of the corner of her eye stiffen slightly.

“As in David Deutsch?” she asked “The Fabric of Reality?”

"In layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." Tony finished, and Steve let out a sigh.

"I did." Scott said almost immediately.

"No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke.” Tony shook his head, his voice even “And now you want to pull off a, what do you call it?"

Scott shrugged, searching for a term to describe what he had been thinking of doing “A…time…heist?”

Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before?” Tony asked, looking up at Steve “Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream."

"We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back." Natasha added.

"Or screw it up worse than he already has" Tony instantly replied.

"I don't think we would." Steve shook his head.

"Got to say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism” Tony said, and Steve took a deep breath, raising his eyebrows. “However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist." Tony leaned back further in his chair. "I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise."

Natasha walked from where she had been stood leaning against the wall of the house to the rails of the porch, looking out over the grounds for a moment as Scott spoke again.

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel." he said, almost eagerly, "No talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Scott." Tony raised his hand and leaned forward "Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?"

"No?" Scott said, embarrassment flooding his tone.

"Good you had me worried there, because that's not how quantum physics works."

"Tony, we have to take a stand." Natasha spoke, turning to face him, her voice was sad, almost pleading. Katie watched her for a second, before she looked to her brother. Tony stared up at the Nat, almost apologetically but Katie could see his mind was made up, and his answer was just what she had suspected it would be.

"We did stand.” He said, his voice soft “And yet, here we are."

"I know you got a lot on the line," Scott spoke again, "You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did." His voice began to gather pace and volume as he tried to sell his desperation to Tony "We have a chance to bring her back, bring everyone back. And you're telling me you won't even-"

"That's right Scott. I won't even. I got a kid." Tony cut him off with absolute irrevocability as Scott stared at him in disbelief.

“Mommy told us to come save you." Morgan said to her dad. Katie gave a soft chuckle as Tony looked at her, grinning.

"Good job. I'm saved." Tony told his daughter as he gave her head a kiss before he stood up, Morgan in his arms. He turned to look at Steve, Nat and Scott. “I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else.” he sighed, before looking directly at Nat. “Honestly, I missed you.” she gave a small smile as he turned to head to the house “Oh, and the table’s set for eight-"

"Tony, I get it, I really do, but this, this is a second chance." Steve said gently.

"I got my second chance right here Cap." Tony looked at the man, before he nodded over to where Katie was stood holding Jamie “You did too. And I can’t roll the dice again, and frankly neither should you.”

"If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch" Tony said, heading towards the door.

“I think we should be getting back.” Steve said, but it came out a little harsher than he had meant it. Tony turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Momma?” Jamie spoke and Katie’s attention turned to her son “Auntie Pepper was making meatballs.” “Your favourite?” Katie smiled at her son “Wow!”

“Ok, give me a call and I’ll come get you later.” he dropped a kiss to her cheek, before he did the same to his son and then gestured for Scott and Natasha to follow him back to the car.

"He's scared," Natasha turned to Steve once they were clear of the porch steps.

"Well, he's not wrong." Steve sighed because, despite his disappointment, he understood Tony’s fear and reticence, he really did because he felt it too. They couldn’t do anything that would undo the events of the past five years. But there had to be a way to make sure they didn’t.

He looked back at the house where he could just see Katie was stood inside the kitchen, smiling at Pepper.

"Yeah, but I mean what are we gonna do?” Scott asked, his tone desperate again. “We need him, are we gonna stop?"

"No, but I wanna do it right," Steve said thoughtfully, as an idea suddenly came to him. He opened the driver’s side door and glanced over at Natasha “We're gonna need a really big brain."

"Bigger than his?" Scott asked incredulously, pointing to Tony’s house.

Natasha quirked an eyebrow as she understood what Steve meant and she smiled gently before turning to Scott.

“Good job we know exactly where we can find one.”

****

Inside the house, Katie watched the car pull away before she turned and accepted the glass of wine Tony was offering.

“Lunchtime drinking?” she quirked an eyebrow and he shrugged.

“Figured you might need it after that, I do.” he took a sip of his drink.

Katie sighed and made her way over to the table, where Pepper was sat dishing out the food onto the kid’s plates.

“Fankoo Auntie Pep.” Jamie said, grinning and she beamed at him.

“So we gonna talk about the elephant in the room, or on the lawn?” Tony asked, looking at her.

"I get it." she nodded with a sad smile, "There’s a lot at stake…”

"So why doesn’t Spangles see that?"

Katie sighed "He does. He just wants to see if there’s any possible way we can do it. You know, bring everyone back.” “And what about you?” he asked.

“Honestly?” Katie looked at him, and he nodded “If you told me there was a way we could do it, and not change anything out of the last five years I’d jump at the chance, because that's what we do, we’re the A-vengers remember, not the Pre-vengers…"