#according to him all he said was make her a mutant then someone relied to Wells and Lowe that they needed to do it on ASM

[too-gay-for-marvel]

just this once pt.5

a/n: yall. yall im on a roll. and no i will not apologise for anything that happens in this chapter. also, still learning how to do taglists so if it doesn’t work or you weren’t included, send me a message and i’ll try to get it fixed!

Word Count: 4,285 

Warnings: canon typical violence, non-explicit mentions of torture, mutant experimentation

Pairing: Natasha x Reader

(pt.1 pt.2 pt.3 pt.4 pt.5 pt.6.1 pt.6.2 pt.6.3 pt.7 pt.8)

“I think Fury is giving you a sign.”

Natasha looked up from her paperwork to see Maria leaning against the door frame to her office. She herself had just gotten back from a mission, evident in her slightly mused ponytail and gun still on her hip. A very beyond attractive look, if Natasha had to say it.

“What do you mean?” Natasha asked, leaning back in her chair to give her full attention to her fiancee.

“So he didn’t tell you,” Maria said with a nod. She pushed herself off the door frame and moved to sit in the chair on the opposite side of the desk.

“I’ll admit that gives me a clue,” Natasha said with a small frown. She didn’t like where this was going.

“He’s sending you on another mission,” Maria replied. “With Y/N.”

“I thought we told him emergencies only,” Natasha mused more to herself than to Maria.

It seemed like Nick was sending the both of you on every mission he could possibly come up with. He needed some information. Then he wanted the layout of a base. Then he wanted some recon on security in another location. All were things that Natasha not only could have done with someone else, but she could have gotten them done on her own.

He seemed to think differently.

“He wants you to leave tomorrow,” Maria continued, bringing Natasha out of her pouting. “Personnel recovery.”

“At least that gives us a few hours together,” Natasha said with a small smile.

“Maybe we can finally get some planning done,” Maria nodded as she stood up. “Maybe a colour scheme?”

“Red and black,” Natasha shot back.

“We’ll argue about it later,” Maria smiled. She walked over and tilted Natasha’s chin up to give her a quick kiss before leaving the office, presumably to get cleaned up.

Natasha looked down at her paperwork for not even five minutes before deciding she was going to rush upstairs and surprise Maria in the shower. She had just started piling the papers up when you walked in, harpoon on hip and soaking wet.

“Did you ask Fury for another mission?” You asked as you plopped into the chair opposite her, water instantly dripping down the sides of the seat.

“No,” Natasha said curtly, hoping she could get you out of her office sooner if she didn’t invite conversation.

“Then why is he sending us together?” You asked. Your fingers started combing through your hair, the webs gathering whatever was stuck. Drops of water splashed onto Natasha’s pristine papers.

“I don’t know,” Natasha said again, turning her lip up when you put a piece of seaweed on her desk.

“I thought you knew everything,” you huffed, staring intently as a shell you had pulled out of your suit sleeve.

“Well clearly not,” Natasha mumbled to herself.

You leaned over to rest your elbows on the desk, your dripping wet hair leaving puddles on the mahogany and her papers. Natasha set her jaw and gave you a look, keeping eye contact. But your eyes gave off that mischievous sparkle, the one that would make any woman swoon. And Natasha’s heart raced.

“Think I can get that in writing?” You asked with a raised brow. “You know, for the next time you act like a know-it-all.”

“Did you just come in here to act like an ass?” Natasha asked as she picked her papers up and started walking out.

“Actually,” you started as you pushed away from the desk and stood up, “I’m here to bring you this.”

You held your open hand out, palm up, and Natasha looked cautiously to see what it was. In the middle of your palm was a whole shell, with a small black pearl in the centre. It looked absolutely stunning, and Natasha reached out to gently take it.

“Why did you bring this to me?” Natasha asked, although she feared she already knew your answer.

“Cheeseburger found the shell the other day,” you shrugged, “and Roger got the pearl out.”

Natasha did her best not to chuckle at the silly names you had given the octopus and otter that usually inhabited your moon pool. Cheeseburger, the octopus, had lost two limbs and had a nasty habit of stealing your cheeseburgers (hence the name), while Roger was an in-progress rehabilitation project. Unfortunately, the three of you were like peas in a pod.

“It’s beautiful,” Natasha mused, her eyes still glued to the pearl. “But I can’t take this home to my fiancee.”

You huffed and crossed your arms over your chest. The space between the both of you increased as you visibly took a step back, and Natasha missed the closeness. Things had seemed normal only a moment ago, and now she could feel you closing yourself off to her, going cold once again.

“Then give it to Maria,” you shrugged. “Get some brownie points before going off on another mission with her favourite person.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Natasha shot back. “I just don’t want to waste your gift.”

“It was just cluttering up my space,” you replied, voice cold.

“Give it to Yelena,” Natasha said softly, holding the shell and pearl back out for you to take. “She would love it.”

“Yelena,” you huffed with a small smile. A sad smile. You grabbed the shell from her hand rather roughly, causing Natasha to flinch. “Thanks for the input.”

“Y/N,” Natasha started, but you were already walking away in the opposite direction, head high and feet dragging.

Natasha sighed and started her own way back to her floor. She wanted Maria to distract her. From you.

———

“What’s our objective again?” You shouted from the back of the quinjet.

“Personnel recovery,” Yelena answered. “Some scientist wanted out of AIM.”

“Why is that my responsibility?” You continued. Your boots echoed off the floor and you popped your head in between Yelena’s and Natasha’s chairs.

“Because something smelled-”

“Don’t,” Natasha interrupted.

“-fishy,” Yelena finished anyway, and both you and Natasha groaned as she just laughed at herself.

“I’m not paid enough for this,” Natasha mumbled to herself before turning her head and looking out the windows.

“I’ll throttle you,” you said as you lightly slapped Yelena upside the head.

“Listen,” she tried to say around another round of giggles, “if Fury ever told me his plans, I wouldn’t be stuck here with you two.”

“Well why don’t you find out? I wanna know why he’s sending me on this mission.”

“I already told you, I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you know? Surely you must have some kind of-”

“Can you both shut up?” Natasha shouted. The both of you grew silent immediately, and Natasha finally let out a breath and tried to rub her growing migraine away.

“Should’ve just sent Nat,” you grumbled. “She’s grumpy enough to scare everyone away all on her own.”

Yelena snorted, and when Natasha shot a look her way, she tried her best to look out the window. You, on the other hand, held up to her challenge and met her eyes. That ridiculous smirk refused to disappear, and Natasha wanted so desperately to wipe it off your face. But instead she just turned back around and looked out the window once again.

The rest of the trip was silent, only the occasional update being spoken aloud. Yelena managed to drop the both of you off and stayed in the jet, more than ready for when you both got back and could get back to the Tower for a well-deserved weekend.

It was a quick jog to the location, with tents and cages set up all around the landing port. The building was a few stories tall, but well fortified with guards around every corner. The majority of cages were empty, but every now and then you could hear a bear, a dog, a human.

“I thought these guys were scientists,” you whispered from where you were crouched beside Natasha.

“They are,” Natasha nodded.

“Must be pretty paranoid then,” you continued.

“You would be too if your work relied on illegal mutant experimentation,” Natasha clarified. You didn’t say anything else, but she could see your knuckles going pale.

“Let’s get our man and go,” you practically growled. “Before I kill them all.”

Natasha knew you weren’t joking.

You both went in opposite directions, you heading to the back door and Natasha heading to the side. There was no guaranteeing that the scientist was even inside at all, but that was the easiest place to check. There was too much vulnerability outside and Natasha wasn’t going to risk getting caught and failing another mission.

“How are we supposed to find one nerd in a facility full of nerds?” You asked over the intercoms, and Natasha assumed you had made it into the building.

“Be nice,” Natasha whispered, “not all scientists are nerds.”

“Bruce and Tony are,” you replied. Natasha pulled herself against a wall when she heard voices. “Everyone here is.”

“Hush,” Natasha whispered. You remained silent as Natasha listened to footsteps getting closer, and then turning into the opposite direction. She let out a quiet breath.

“Do we really want to help someone who’s torturing mutants?” You asked again, a barely contained anger in your voice.

Natasha rounded another corner, trying to come up with an answer for you. You weren’t wrong; she didn’t like the idea either. Why save the scientist when you could save the people instead? But Fury wanted him, and there had to be a reason for it. The location was known, so someone could always come back to save them another day.

“Nick will send us back another day,” Natasha finally said out loud. You huffed on the other end of the comms.

You both continued through the facility, methodically clearing rooms until finally you indicated you had found him. Some wiry man with broken glasses, according to your description. Natasha gave confirmation and headed to the meet up point, somewhere on the second floor. Once Natasha was about to round the corner to the location, she could hear your voice carrying through the halls.

“You’re lucky I don’t wring your neck myself.”

“What’s the problem?” Natasha asked as soon as she saw you.

You were right. The man was wiry and nerdy, something you would expect from a mad scientist in a comic book. White tape was wrapped around the nose piece of his glasses in stereotypical fashion and he was hunched over like the world was resting on his shoulders.

No surprise, considering you were hovering nearly a foot over him.

“He called me an animal,” you seethed, your hands visibly shaking with the desire to have them around the man’s neck.

“Look at your arms and neck, what else could you be?” He asked in a gruff New Jersey accent.

“You want an animal? I’ll show you an-”

“That’s enough,” Natasha demanded. She stepped in between the both of you and pushed you away, not even bothering to get near the man.

“If he has to go with us, then so does one of the mutants,” you said, leaving no room for argument in your voice.

“We can’t risk it, we’re leaving them here,” Natasha said quickly. The hair on the back of her neck was starting to stand up and her stomach felt like it was dropping.

“I’m not leaving them and taking that,” you said through clenched teeth while pointing at the scientist.

“You’re going to risk my life for one of them?” He asked, his face drawn in disgust at the mere thought that his life was equal to a mutant’s. Natasha wanted to strangle him.

“We will come back for them another day,” Natasha said again, but you didn’t look convinced.

“I’m not leaving without them, so you’re gonna have to wait,” you shot back.

Voices could be heard in the stairwell a few halls away.

“And I’m not risking another mission,” Natasha argued, walking closer to you and forcing you to step backward to keep your space.

“If you think I’m taking that and leaving one of those kids then you’re-”

Click.

The both of you froze, your eyes boring into Natasha’s. A heavy silence fell upon the both of you, so thick Natasha struggled to draw breath. Her heart was pounding in her ears and that feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach returned.

And then your eyes left hers, trailing down to the too-tight cuffs that were now keeping you chained to the pipes against the wall. They weren’t the usual police handcuffs, but the kind that they had used on Loki after the invasion of New York.

You weren’t getting out of them.

“Natasha,” you started, your eyes moving back to meet hers.

“I’m sorry,” Natasha whispered. She took one heavy step back, never taking her eyes off of you.

“Unlock them,” you continued. Your chest was starting to rise and fall slightly faster.

“Someone will come for you,” Natasha said again with a slight nod.

Her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

“Get back here, Romanoff,” you said as Natasha started leading the scientist down the hall.

Away from you.

She didn’t answer. She just felt her leaden boots take step after step, leading her further away from where you were chained. When she didn’t answer, she heard the sound of metal pulling against metal and your grunts and groans as you tried to yank the cuffs off.

“You can’t leave me here!” You shouted, your voice echoing down the hall after Natasha had turned the final corner.

She heard other voices coming from the same direction as yours, quickly followed by shouting and the solid thuds of blows being landed.

“Natalia!” You shouted again once Natasha had opened the door to lead the scientist out.

Only moments after the door shut, Natasha heard your scream. A scream of anger and frustration, a scream that reached down Natasha’s throat and ripped her heart out. The prick of tears in her eyes left a sinking feeling in her gut, left her feeling empty and a broken shell.

But she had a mission. And she was going to complete it.

She shoved the scientist in the direction of the quinjet and didn’t look back. Ignoring the whining and complaining coming from the man and eventually just throwing him into the back of the quinjet, ignoring the way Yelena jumped at the sudden noise.

“Where’s Y/N?” Yelena asked, moving her head around, trying to see if you were close behind.

“Get us in the air,” Natasha ordered. Tears pricked her eyes once again.

“Are they coming?” Yelena asked again, ignoring Natasha’s order.

“I said get us in the air, now.”

Yelena gave Natasha a look that sent a shiver down her spine, but turned around and got the jet in the air nonetheless. The scientist pulled himself into the seat next to Natasha. He seemed much more relaxed, and Natasha couldn’t blame him. He probably didn’t realise just how much had been risked to get him back to SHIELD.

“You made the right choice,” he said after some unbearable silence. Natasha turned to look at him, her brows pulled together.

“Excuse me?”

“You made the right choice,” he said again with an enthusiastic nod. “You never know what those animals might do-”

He was cut off with a choked gasp as Natasha slammed her elbow into his face, and he quickly lost consciousness.

“Just shut up,” she mumbled to herself, knowing he couldn’t hear her.

It didn’t make her feel any better.

———

It was six weeks before the party had been dispatched to get you back.  The party had consisted of Natasha, Yelena, and Wanda, and there was going to be nothing extra. They were going to get you out and get back to SHIELD, no side missions, no stops, no questions.

Maybe it just so happened that the only way to get you was to burn the facility to the ground and get the rest of the mutants out. Maybe they had called for a second quinjet to arrive to make sure everyone was able to get out safely.

Yelena and Wanda were tasked with getting everyone on the jets and eliminating the few soldiers remaining while Natasha had scoured the facility top to bottom to find you. There was a large portion of the basement that Natasha had found, filled with surgical equipment and things that would have been enough to give anyone nightmares.

And you were there, nude, in a too-small empty glass tank with a chain around your ankle. There were rips and tears in the thin membranes between your spines, and a dark black mark on your left shoulder blade. From her angle, it looked like some kind of gunk was stuck in your gills. You were curled up into a fetal position and kept your eyes glued to the ground directly in front of you.

“Y/N,” Natasha said, her gun still drawn but lowered.

“I should thank you, Miss Romanoff,” a voice called, and Natasha spun with gun raised to find a scientist walk forward, standing near a panel by your tank. “You gave me my greatest obsession.”

“How about you just let them out and I don’t kill you,” Natasha shrugged.

“I’ve learned a lot from our little friend,” he continued, ignoring her. “And you’re in time to see the results of something I’ve been working on.”

“Let them go,” Natasha said again. She cocked the gun, but the man laughed.

“I hear drowning is a horrible way to die,” he said, still ignoring her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Natasha saw you raise your head and look at her. The dark spots under your eyes were beyond evident, sticking out against the sickened colour of your skin. There was no emotion in your eyes, not even a silent plea for help.

You looked like you had already accepted death.

“How long do you think a sea creature can hold its breath underwater before it needs to breathe?” He asked, his fingers typing against the panel.

“Don’t,” Natasha shouted, her trigger finger pulling instinctively and burying a bullet into the man’s chest. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Water started filling your tank, and you stood up to get your head as tall as it could get. Natasha nodded at you once, and you covered your head as she fired shot after shot at the tank. But there wasn’t even a dent, nothing to indicate that the tank could be broken.

“What do I do?” Natasha asked as she ran up to the tank, watching the water slowly rise to your ankles.

You didn’t speak, didn’t open your mouth, instead pointing as best you could to a discrete pipe against the opposite wall. Natasha looked at it and followed the direction until she saw a lone wheel connected to the wall. A wheel that could control the water flow.

“Stay here,” Natasha told you as she ran off, grimacing to herself. It wasn’t like you had anywhere to go.

She grabbed the wheel and pulled, but it didn’t budge. It felt like she was trying to pull a quinjet with her bare hands; an impossible task in and of itself. Her eyes trailed over to see the water had reached your waist. There had to be something else she could get, something to help.

The thud of your hands on the glass made her turn, and you were pointing in another direction. Her eyes followed, but there wasn’t anything she could see that would immediately-

A pipe.

Natasha sprinted to grab it from the table, nearly dropping it in her haste to get back to the wheel. The water was up to your neck, and Natasha could already see that your gills weren’t filtering anything. They stayed terribly still, and Natasha had to drag her feet to get back to the wheel.

She stuck the pipe into the empty spaces of the wheel and pulled, yelling in frustration until it finally moved. She continued pulling until she heard the flow of water stop, and a tired smile etched itself onto her lips as she turned back around to see you.

But the water was over your head, and now she was leaving you to drown.

She couldn’t break the glass; the water was off and you were still drowning. Your eyes were wide, and the fear of the situation finally made its way onto your face as you curled in on yourself and started pulling at the chain around your ankle, air bubbles escaping from your nose at a rapid rate.

Natasha got an idea. She didn’t hesitate as she started pushing the pipe, the flow of water rushing back. Only this time, she didn’t stop until the pipes rattled with the flow, barely able to contain the volume inside. She pushed until the pipe stuck, and she turned and ran back to the tank.

Your eyes were closing, the air bubbles almost nonexistent, your struggle against the chain ending. Natasha started banging on the glass, trying to keep you awake, but you didn’t move, instead just floating, and Natasha felt her heart sink.

The glass creaked under her fingers. Natasha’s eyes shot open and she watched the glass, noting the single crack that started to web across the entirety of the tank. She barely had time to step aside as the glass shattered, water shooting out and leaving you to drop to the ground.

When you didn’t move, Natasha jumped forward, dropping to the ground and immediately starting CPR. She could feel a rib break, maybe two, but she didn’t stop. She wasn’t going to stop until you could breathe. You just needed to fucking breathe-

Your body shuddered as you choked, coughing up water before your eyes shot open. Natasha felt herself let out a shaky breath, but she didn’t let herself rest. She grabbed her gun and shot where the chain was connected to the floor, listening to it break before grabbing you and pulling you up.

“You need to lose some weight,” Natasha groaned as you leaned on her side, your feet barely moving.

You didn’t say a word the whole trip out of the facility. Just managed to  drag yourself out, eventually walking more on your own when you neared the quinjet. Yelena ran up to the both of you and got on your other side, sharing a look with Natasha.

“I’ve got it,” Yelena said in a tone that told Natasha to let go and give her some space.

Natasha did, watching as Yelena finished dragging you to the quinjet and putting you in a seat before wrapping a blanket around your naked form. Your eyes fell back to the ground when Yelena finally got the jet in the air, and you refused to look at anyone when you got back to the Tower, leaving Natasha without a second thought.

———

Natasha was sitting at the bar on the common floor, picking apart her food. She had tried to see you multiple times over the past two weeks, only to be turned away by doctors or Yelena. There was something wrong, but Natasha couldn’t find out because no one would let her.

The ding of the elevator had her turning her head, not necessarily eager but casually curious on who had appeared. To her surprise, Yelena walked out with a McDonald’s bag in hand, some drink in the other. She didn’t look happy, but Natasha could’ve expected that.

After all, Yelena hadn’t forgiven her.

“How are they?” Natasha asked.

“Alive, no thanks to you,” Yelena shot back. But she had stopped and was talking back; that was an improvement from the past two weeks.

“I had a mission,” Natasha said, but her voice was small, weak.

“They were part of that mission,” Yelena answered.

“I’m sorry,” Natasha said quietly. She said it to assuage her own guilt. It didn’t work.

“You’re stringing them along,” Yelena said, her voice taking a different tone that Natasha hadn’t been expecting. “Just marry Maria already and end the suffering.”

“I’m not stringing them along,” Natasha defended.

But she knew she was wrong. Yelena was right. And Natasha wasn’t going to stop because what would her life be without you? How could she go about her day-to-day life if she knew you weren’t going to be there in some fashion? Maybe she was in love with Maria and was going to marry her, but that didn’t mean she wanted to throw you away.

“Just be gentle,” Yelena said with a sigh. “Everyone has feelings at stake.”

“And you?” Natasha asked, causing Yelena to freeze. “What feelings do you have at stake?”

A small, sad smile made its way onto her face.

“Desire,” Yelena shrugged, but just like that her demeanour changed. “Y/N said I couldn’t eat before them, and I very much desire this McChicken.”

“You’re disgusting,” Natasha chuckled.

“And this McFlurry. You know the good stuff,” Yelena teased again, causing the both of them to laugh.

“Then go on,” Natasha motioned toward where she assumed you were waiting. “I’d hate for the two of you to starve.”

Yelena gave her a smile, one like the good old days, and continued her walk. She stopped in the doorway and turned around.

“Oh, Fury wanted me to tell you something.” Natasha gave her a look for her to continue. “You and Y/N are going undercover. As a couple.” With that, Yelena continued off, leaving Natasha to deal with the news.

Why couldn’t things ever be easy?

Taglist: @wickedmuses @m-zne237 @noodlybees @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo @gottacamz @wouldirunofftheworldsomeday @santasbitch @when-wolves-howl @madamevirgo​ @hopingforromanoff​ 

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha x reader #black widow x reader #my writing

[chingonaclaws]

     *  Note: Since LOGAN takes place in a dystopian world set in  the 20th Century Fox world of their ‘XMEN’ in 2029 -- I’ve had to tweak Laura’s canon timeline to fit in with the MCU. These are my compiled ideas/notes for where Laura would/might fit in, according to the MCU timeline. This can also be amended/altered depending upon who I am writing with & whatever stories we come up with on the sides. I will update/list those verses within this list as well. XO. - Betty. 

2012.  AVENGERS.   ✗ verse: ( mcu 001. avengers. )  i am not my enemy.  

     2002, Alkali-Transigen  aka ‘Essex Corp’ ) conducts it’s second round of the Weapon-X program utilizing children ‘perfected’ in a lab/facility. Laura Howlett ( known as X23 amid the program ) was ‘born’ into the program, the daughter of an unknown Latina woman ( who is more than likely murdered by the company shortly after Laura’s birth ) & James Howlett aka The Wolverine.       2012, a 7 year-old ‘killing dream’ begins her hardcore training under the Transigen umbrella, having grown up within their cage and knowing nothing but life within ‘The Facility’. During the events of ‘The Avengers’, Transigen ( more than likely a subsidiary or sister-company to HYDRA ) attempts to gather knowledge/the power of the alien forces that attack Earth. It is quite possible during this attack, the Xmen join the Avengers. - Transigen utilizes newer technology to harness a killing serum that triggers and strengthens the children’s mutant abilities. Through the years they continue to medicate and test the formula out on the children, including Laura;  to which they discover if they choose a specific target, she will stop at nothing until said target is vanquished. 

2015.  AGE OF ULTRON.  ✗ verse: ( mcu 002. ultron. )  i can do anything.  

     2013,  8-year-old Laura, along with her ‘brothers and sisters’ attempt to escape from the underground jail in Mexico ( where she was ‘born’ ) when given word/hope of a safe haven full of mutant-kind. The children are provided stories with the help of comic books smuggled into the facility. Some of which include stories of The Avengers, while others house a storyline shadowing the truth about the XMEN. Upon their first attempt of escape, the children are unsuccessful, and Essex Corp demands that they relocate to a ‘more secure’ unit in New York City. In 2015, the attack of ULTRON commences, more or less rocking the hard walls of the New York facility to rubble.        For the most part, with the help of HYDRA, Transigen is able to gather up their little ‘test subjects’, some having successfully gotten away, sadly Laura not being among them.      2016, an 11-year-old Laura with the help of the nurses, including Gabby, leads the pack to escape once more. It’s here Laura encounters her father ( Wolverine/James LOGAN Howlett ), Xavier & Caliban by psionic-ally following Charles’ guidance. During this timeline she goes on the wild chase, running from Transigen and relying on what remains of Logan’s strength. The climax ends with Xavier’s passing and Logan’s sacrifice, and the children successfully fleeing for the Canadian border to ‘Eden’ aka the safe haven which turns out to be a new school for the gifted, headlined by a group of vigilante mutants ( aka, the plotline of Mangold’s LOGAN. )      It should also be noted that during this time period, the X-men are dwindling/dying out, and going into hiding due to many people either wanting to lock them up out of fear or provide them ID badges and what not ( similar to the plot of the ‘Civil War’ in the comics. ) 

2017.  CIVIL WAR.   ✗ verse: ( mcu 003. civil war. )  my choice mine.   

     At 12, Laura quietly slips from the safe haven ( headmistress at this time being Emma Frost ) , feeling as though she’s really more of a danger than anything else, specifically due to the ‘death’ serum. Laura cannot control herself when injected with it, especially if she’s provided a ‘target’. To think she could end up killing one of her own terrifies her, not to mention the more she keeps running the less likely Transigen is to discover her.       During the time of the Avengers’ ‘Civil War’  ( between Tony & Steve ), Laura is only a child but spotted through the streets of New York. A time or two, Tony witnesses the feral child having pick-pocketing or slyly stealing a thing or two of necessity. Unable to confine the child or discover her whereabouts, he becomes aware of the ‘mutant strain’ in DNA, now knowing there is far more to this life than other worlds, planets, Norse gods and experimental projects gone wrong like Banner -- Hydra’s been hiding the secret unit to which not only have they began to suppress the X-gene that creates the ‘mutants’ but that they’ve been testing the effects of their serums and juices and what have you on children more-or-less created in a lab with the specific function of utilizing them as some ultimate mutant army. It is a terrible and harsh reality and one he does not take to lightly.      Contrary to the comics’ canon ( & the Xmen’s Civil War ) when Tony discovers she is a mutant child born and raised the way she was, he almost feels an obligation to protect her from others who felt mutants ought to be branded or ID’d and what not. ( A bit contradictory to the Xmen comics, I know, but it makes sense when you think of Steve/Capt America in the comics and how against Laura he was in the beginning, I feel he’d be a little apprehensive in the MCU as well. This could change depending upon whom I’m writing with. )       On the search for a place to help her ‘lay low’, Tony keeps her at the compound, until Pepper insists she just come on home with her. ( Again, this can be adapted depending upon the individual story. ) 

2018.  HOMECOMING.   ✗ verse: ( mcu 004. homecoming. )  are you sure i deserve salvation?  

     At age 13, since Pepper thinks it best that the pre-teenage girl get used to a ‘normal’ life, Laura begins attending public school, where she continues to attempt to ‘lay low’. Of course she does her very best to fit in, though there are many ‘human’ things she’s unaware of such as personal space and certain topics of speech. She basically follows the lead of people she feels she can trust like Peter Parker. Technically since Laura also ages much slower than most everyone, she will be a teenager for a longer period in her life. It is within these confines that she learns more about humanity, her compassion for the human race quite evident and her curiosity ever the more present. She spends a lot of time making up for lost time in her childhood, things she’s never discovered, places she’s never been -- a life she never knew she could have.  2019/2023.  ENDGAME.   ✗ verse: ( mcu 005. endgame. )  i’m f*cking wolverine. 

     During INFINITY WAR ( obviously just prior to this timeline ) Laura of course fights along side the team sustaining little to no injury even though she could’ve severed a limb or two, due to her mutation, she recovers rather quickly. Upon the realization that she could lose her family of mutants with Thanos’ plan, she scurries to get back to the school, begging many of the others to fight along side the Avengers. She succeeds in convincing several of the XMEN, including but not limited to Emma Frost,  to take part in the battle... but it is only to their demise as her healing is too rapid for his ‘curse’ and rather than fluttering into ash, she witnesses all those she holds dear dissipate having to see, once again, the utter destruction of those she holds dear. It tears her apart from the inside.       In 2023, Laura is just about to turn 17. -- Upon Tony’s return from space (2019), and the realization that Pepper hadn’t been taken away, Laura barricades herself within the hope she can have a somewhat normal family. She stays with Pepper and Tony, far away from the compound. She takes up her roll as a sister-figure to Morgan, something she absolutely takes seriously. She’d give it all up for this little girl -- hell, for this family. Tony stands in as an unlikely father-figure, but even moreso, Pepper as her mother. ( Again, these choices can be adapted/tweaked depending upon the storyline/plot we have -- maybe Laura grew up at the compound, or with someone else or with Aunt May... the possibilities/ what-ifs are endless... She could’ve also gone off on her feral way, etc etc. ) 

     When the final battle hits, and those who were taken away appear within the portals, a sudden relief washes over her. She has much more to fight for, and she gives it her all. But it is at the loss of Tony where she feels her world crumble once more, wondering if she should go off on her own and call it good, because it seems no matter where she attempts to land, there is far more loss to be had. She contemplates whether or not Logan had it correct when he was always insistent they stay far away from people, isolate and keep to themselves. Of course that was a much different time in the world and Transigen/Hydra has/have more things to worry about than hunting her down lately -- still, it’s a threat.        With Peter Parker’s ( and possibly others ) insistence, she remains close by. 2023/24.  FAR FROM HOME.  ✗ verse: ( mcu 006. far from home. )  el que con lobos anda a aullar se enseña. 

     Basically, Laura ( now, tech, post-snap almost 18 ) is hanging out with SHIELD, there to aid Peter where needed, more or less helping to keep an eye on him, along with Happy doing her best to stay out of trouble.   

#ooc. #✗ soy yo. ╱ lil messican girl is ooooouuuttt. #( mcu timeline. ) #✗ verse: ( mcu ) como se cura una herida. #✗ verse: ( mcu 001. avengers. ) i am not my enemy. #✗ verse: ( mcu 002. ultron. ) i can do anything. #✗ verse: ( mcu 003. civil war. ) my choice mine. #✗ verse: ( mcu 004. homecoming. ) are you sure i deserve salvation? #✗ verse: ( mcu 005. endgame. ) i’m f*cking wolverine. #✗ verse: ( mcu 006. far from home. ) el que con lobos anda a aullar se enseña. #long post #long post for ts #* i cannot express enough how laura is a MINOR in most if not ALL of these verses !!!!! k thank bye. xx #✗ ¿merezco la salvación? ╱ headcanon.

[cosmicdreamworld]

Erik Lehnsherr: Over Again

Pairing: Erik/Fem. Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2049

Taking one last look over at yourself, making sure your hair was in place and the makeup you had on wasn't smudged, you made your way downstairs, careful not to trip. Charles and Erik turned their attention from their chess game to you.

"Well, don't you look stunning," Charles complimented. You couldn't help but blush. "However; don't you think that dress is a bit short?"

"Charles," you playfully warned.

"Sorry, love, but when most men see a beautiful, young women with something like that on, their thoughts are rarely pure."

You heard Erik scoff in disgust. Erik didn't like you, you were human, brought in by Charles. Charles stumbled upon you one night, beat up and bloody outside a bar. You had stood up for a young mutant who had come in for a drink. Charles brought you back to the mansion until you recovered; it ended in you being asked to stay permanently. Charles enjoyed the energy you brought to the mansion and the students liked having you around even if you were simply human. Erik, however; did not, he hated humans, hated them for what they've done to mutants - therefore, hated you.

"Charles," you sighed, "He's a nice guy."

"The fellow with green scales? The one from the bar that night?" You nodded. "Yes, well, for his sake, he better be nice," Charles warned.

You sat down next to Charles, waiting for 8:30 to come, waiting for him to pick you up.

"Erik, what you say we head our for a night on the town?" Erik agreed, so that left you alone, staring at the clock - impatiently waiting.

8:30 passed, then 9:30, and by 11:00, you knew he wasn't coming. Going back upstairs, you change into sweatpants and a comfy shirt and made your way back down to sit on the couch, letting a few tears fall, not even caring that they'll mess up any of your makeup. You cursed yourself, telling yourself how stupid you were to think anyone - human or mutant - would actually be interested in you. Fiddling with the chess pieces, you jump when you hear someone come in.

Charles and Erik were back. Charles called out your named, clearly inebriated, "I didn't expect to see you home so early, if you know what I mean," he laughed, but seemed to sober up rather quick when he really had the chance to take in your appearance; clothes that were too large, hair tied up, and dried tear stains and running mascara on your cheeks. He quickly came to you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. "Love, what happened?"

You sniffled, "He never showed up," you mumbled. Charles ran his hand up and down your arm to try and comfort you.

Stoically, Erik threw in his two cents, "He's a mutant, you're a worthless human, what did you expect? Perhaps, it'd be best to stay in your lane when choosing future potential suitors."

"Erik, that's enough," Charles growled.

"What?" He laughed, "I'm simply stating the truth. She's not one of us. No matter how hard she tries to fit in, she never will."

"Erik," Charles warned.

"You know what, Lehnsherr?" You finally stood up and wiped away the tears, "I don't know what your problem is - aside from the obvious - but I never did anything to you. I have been nothing but nice to you since I've been here, even when you didn't deserve it. I've accepted you, I've cared about you, I stood up for you - for mutants. Not every human is the way you think. Some of us want mutants around."

"How touching," Erik sarcastically retorted, "But we don't need you to do any of that, we don't want or need some pathetic, weak humans pity. We can stand perfectly on our own without someone like you trying to be a white knight. You will never belong here. You are not wanted here."

"ERIK! THAT IS ENOUGH," Charles had enough.

Walking up to Erik, you look him dead in the eyes, "That's fine cause I never asked to be here in the first place," you whispered, shoving past him and walking out the door.

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose, "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes, she has to understand her people are the reason we have to hide."

"Don't lie to me, Erik. I can see there's more to how you treat her than just your hatred towards humanity," even though he promised not to invade people minds, he knew Erik would never tell the whole story. So, he did what he had to; placing two fingers to his temple, he closed his eyes and delved into Erik's mind. Every memory, and every thought he had; most recently of you.

His every thought, deepest desire for you, every little detail from the colors in your eyes, to the color you paint your toes. The guilt of treating you like dirt beneath his shoes, the wanting of needing to get to know you. The fear of getting to know you and then you leaving somehow, and being torn between being in a sense of love, a feeling he never thought he'd have or want again, and a sense of hatred because you're not mutant.

A war waged inside himself , a war of him not wanting to be in love, he was a death sentence for anyone who he loved, and he couldn't bear to lose you, so he chose to hate you, out of every human, the most; hoping those feelings would eventually go away. Yet part of the war was not wanting to let you go. He needed you to keep him steady, he needed you to help keep him together; from breaking anymore than he had. He needed your peace to calm the storm that was raging inside. You were his peace, you made him smile - even if you never saw it.

Charles released his hold on Erik's mind, he smiled a little. "So that's it, huh? You don't hate her. You don't even care anymore that she's human, you're just scared to get close to her."

Erik said nothing, he just stood there avoiding Charles' gaze and the conversation at hand.

"Now she's gone. Tell me, Erik, was your fear worth losing her? Was it worth never truly knowing if she felt the same?"

"You don't understand. I'm a death sentence for anyone I care for. I can't, I won't lose someone else."

"We will never know the future, Erik. It's best to simply take it as it comes. If everyone were to let fear dictate what they do, nobody would be doing anything. At least go find her, bring her back inside before anything happens to her. You owe her that."

Erik's searching was nothing short of fruitless, that was until he checked in the garden - and there you were, wiping stray tears with the back if your hand and quietly sniffling as you stared at the stars. He took a seat next to you, earning a quick gaze his way followed by a scoff.

"Let me guess, Charles sent you out to find me?"

Erik's only answer was silence; you rolled your eyes.

"Figured. No way you'd come for me on your own accord. You can go and tell him I'll be back in about a half hour." You had so much more you wanted to say, your body ached for an answer, so taking a chance, you let it all out.

"I still don't know what I did to make you hate me so much," you whispered. "I know, I'm human, that's it, but you seem to treat me so much worse and I just want to know why; and why do you treat humanity so poorly? I know the things humans have done to mutants, but not everyone of us is like that. You can't just judge and eradicated a whole populous just based off the few bad ones you've encountered. These humans you hate? Some have mutant children that need their parents, and some mutants have human children that need them. You're recreating the very thing that tore you and your family apart when you were just a child. Erik," you pleaded, "After everything he took from you, do you really want to be like Shaw? Cause that's what you're doing. Erik, I am pleading with any shred of humanity you have left, please, you don't have to rely on us, but don't kill us."

"I hate you, I trust you know that right?" There were no emotions  in his words, like he hadn't even heard you at all. You wiped away the tears the escaped during your speech and the new ones that fell when he ignored the whole thing.

"I hate you, but not for the reason you think anymore," something in his words made you look at him, maybe it was how quiet his voice was, the slight crack that was in it, or maybe its because you could hear the build up of tears. "Yes, I hate that you're human, but that matters so little to me anymore. What I hate with you is the way you make me feel. You make me feel wrong - I know I'm wrong about what I'm doing and I hate that you make me know it. I hate that you make me feels things I never wanted to again - hope, happiness, love, caring, - I don't want to care about another person, cause everyone I ever cared for ended up dying because of me," Erik turned to you, every pent up emotion he held came out in just the look in his eyes. "I'm scared because I can't lose another one, I can't lose you. I thought that if I just kept pretending I hated you, that these feeling would go away."

You felt a small smile tug at your lips. "Erik, no matter how hard you try, feelings will always happen, its inevitable - and they usually come at the most inopportune time, a moment when you least expect it. Ignoring them isn't going to make them go away and pretending to hate something when you don't isn't going to change your mind about not hating it. Feelings are apart of life. There's no way to get rid of them and ignoring them just builds resentment. And besides, you can't lose someone you never had."

It's almost like you could feel Erik's whole being - mind, body, and spirit - just collapse in on its self. You couldn't understand why, not until you thought back on what you said. It was the last line: you can't lose someone you never had. Those seven words were almost like a final blow, making him realize he just lost someone else. What's worse was that it wasn't even someone he could have in the first place - not after his treatment of you, at least he thought.

"But," you began, a smile stretching across your lips as you looked at him, "Maybe, just maybe, a certain weak, worthless, pathetic human shares that same soft spot for a certain metal controller," still smiling as you nudged him in the ribs softly. "And maybe, if you're willing, and we can start this over again, one step at a time, you'll find that not everything leaves, and that caring for someone doesn't always end in disaster."

Erik smiled, a genuine smile that was your first time seeing. Finally getting to see that side of him brought out an even bigger smile than you had on. Just knowing that for once, he might feel okay was enough to make you feel on cloud nine.

"I'd like that," Erik whispered.

A comfortable silence fell between you two as you watched the stars and Erik watched you, a small smiled etched on his face. After what seemed like an hour, you noticed a hand extended towards you.

"Erik Lehnsherr, pleased to meet you."

You smiled, extending your hand to shake it. "(Y/F/N) (Y/L/N), pleased to meet you."

Letting go, you noticed him look back at the mansion, you deducted Charles must be talking to him.

"Mind if I walk you home?" His smile was still there.

Giving him a shy smile, you link your arm with his, "Not at all."

#erik lehnsherr #x men imagine #erik lensherr x reader #erik lehnsherr imagine #magneto imagine #charles xavier #reader insert #erik-lehnsherr-imagine #magneto-imagine #magneto erik #x mansion #magneto #magnetic #marvel #erik lehnsherr preference #magneto x reader #mutant x human #erik erik lehnsherr human reader #magneto human reader

[thehoneyxbadger]

she’s got claws

Gabby tries to help a mutant out of control. Slade and Colleen arrest a young mutant vigilante.

DATE: 22nd March 2020 FEATURING: @deathfxrhire @dragonsdefender MENTIONED:  WARNINGS: violence, suicide, blood, injury

GABBY: Gabby knew that the Accords meant she should be careful. But she felt she had these abilities and she could use them to help people. Or find those who'd been hurting people and deal with them herself. Tonight she was responding to a mutant who was using their powers to terrorise. Screams of terror echoed as fire seemed to go after one or two people. But looking at the attacker, this was more likely to be an act of distraught revenge.  Gabby didn't want the poor mutant, who seemed to only be a teenager who was lost and losing control --Probably retaliating against someone who hurt them. Gabby knew that feeling-- to end up arrested for that. 

So she intervened, taking advantage of her healing factor to get close enough to get to the kid and calm them down. Holding them tight, she managed to get them to stop, showing them her own claws to get them to trust her. "Come on," she told them. "We should get you out of here."

COLLEEN: Patrols were different with a partner. Especially one like Slade who wanted to make money doing this. She never really talked to him about whether or not he agreed with the Accords - but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know where he stood. (And as much as she was there to make sure that he was trustworthy, his presence there made Colleen stick to the rules as well... equal enforcement.) But tonight, Colleen glanced down an alley and saw - what was that? Knives? No. Those were claws. She reached over and hit Slade’s arm with the back of her hand gently to grab his attention - but hopefully not the two people in the alley.

Colleen glanced at Slade and motioned towards the two people. “You see what I’m seeing?” She asked in a whisper, working her jaw before shaking her head. She hated going after kids, but there was no pretending that this young woman wasn’t dangerous. “Let’s go. Maybe they’ll surrender.” But there was a dark feeling twisting in Colleen’s stomach. It was never that easy - but she hoped it would be. They were just kids.

SLADE: As far as partners went, Wing was better than he could have gotten. While he'd worked as part of a team in the Army, it's been a long time since those days--since he'd been betrayed by the very people he once counted as family. His last job with a partner had been Madripoor, and that had rather soured the entire prospect of working as a team even more than it already had been. As it went, though, Colleen was smarter than average and skilled as hell with the kitana she carried, even if her talking could border on lecturing like a mother hen every once in a while. Better useful but irritating than dead weight, as far as he was concerned. And she was useful. 

The screams had drawn their attention from a few blocks away, and Slade was on the lookout for anyone trying to make their escape when Colleen pinpointed the source down the alley. "I see 'em." Kids. Slade had no problem fighting kids--hell, the bloody Teen Titans were amongst his biggest pains in the neck. "Claws like those? Doubt it," he murmured, hand already sliding towards his belt. Especially if she was related to the more famous clawed mutant with the X-Men. "But I'll let you play good cop if you want." He was very good at bad cop.

He leads the way, anyway, down the alleyway, until both kids' heads snap up in their direction.

GABBY: Gabby was trying to keep the teenager calm enough that they could get out of here before any Enforcers showed up. Because they would show up. After a show like that, it'd be stupid to think they wouldn't. And here she was, a masked hero and clear mutant. Not to mention that this kid had just shown themselves to be potentially dangerous. But they needed help, not to be arrested. Except...

Gabby's head snapped up before the kid's, her enhanced senses alerting her within of the footsteps while they were still a while away. She straightened up, about to try to hide her claws. But it was too late for that; the way these two moved screamed to her that this was going to be a fight. Her heckles were raised immediately. "We just want to go home," she said, putting the kid behind her. It wouldn't hide them--Gabby was far too short for that-- but it might shield them. "We don't want a fight."

COLLEEN: He was right. Which was more annoying that Colleen would care to admit - he was her partner and all she could think about right now was that him having a point annoyed her. But she kept it in. Her dark eyes focused on the girl with the claws as she followed Slade, just a step behind him. Not because she was letting him lead - but he had a presence, and Colleen was hoping that having his muscle out on display would push the kids back. 

 And that Colleen could talk them into surrendering. 

That was the idea at least. And when the young woman said they just wanted to go home - Colleen felt for them, but they couldn’t. “Then don’t fight,” Colleen said, stepping so that she was right beside Slade. “Put those away,” she instructed, motioning downward with her hand slowly, “and surrender. If you don’t want to fight, prove it.”

SLADE: Fuck's sake.

Slade had never done hostage negotiation in the field--he'd always been the one they sent in when negotiation seemed to be going sideways. He was good at talking, don't get him wrong--he'd talked his fair share of kids down from hyperventilating themselves halfway to unconsciousness, or kids who decided their service weapon was looking more and more friendly. 

This, what Colleen was trying to do, he didn't have the patience for. The energy before a fight was practically crackling, and there was no doubt in Slade's mind that the girl wasn't going to go down easy. But he let her play the good cop. Saw the answer on the girl's face immediately.

Bad cop it was. "Look, kid. You're not going home. You can put the claws away and make everyone's life much easier, or you can not, and make my life much more fun but risk your little friend here getting hurt. You come in, you sign some papers, maybe you go home. Make yourself a danger, and that ain't gonna happen."

GABBY: If it were just her, Gabby's mind would be made up. She would fight her way out. But with a boy behind her who couldn't be more than thirteen... Well, that changed things. She slowly began to straighten up from where she'd been poised to fight, until she felt a hand on her arm. "No. Please! I can't go with them." Gabby sighed. A fight it was then.

"Afraid I can't do that," she replied to the man. "How about option C? We leave here so we can all make it home in time to watch some trash tv tonight. I think the new season of the Bachelor is on. Or is it the Bachelorette?" Gabby gave a sly grin, but her eyes were taking quick stock of her opponents. She couldn't rely on the kid to help. But Gabby had been trained her whole life to fight. "You get out of here, quickly, once you can," she murmured under her breath to him. "Get ready."

COLLEEN: Don’t fight. That was what Colleen wanted to tell this kid, that it would all be fine. She couldn’t make any promises that it would be fine, but she had to believe that there was a path forward that wasn’t all handcuffs and collars. (And it was hard to see a future like that when shit like this kept happening. And now it was kids.) “Option C sounds great and all,” Colleen shook her head. “But that’s not happening.” Slade went hard but Colleen couldn’t say that he was wrong — she hated it. But he was right. They couldn’t play this soft.

She took a step forward, and the second she did, the kid the one with claws was protecting bolted. Colleen barely glanced at Slade, wondering if he could read her as well as Danny could — if he knew that she was going to chase the other kid before she did it — wondering if there was any sort of understanding between them.

They were about to find out.

Colleen chased after the kid who had run off, her hand on the hilt of her weapon. She managed to close the distance quickly, grabbing the kid by the shirt and slamming them into the wall. “Stop running!” Colleen yelled, twisting the kid's arm behind their back to pacify them.

SLADE: The girl was admirably confident, he'd give her that--dishing out sarcasm even in the face of two Enforcers, even backed against the wall. You didn't get that confident without some practice, in Slade's experience, which meant she knew how to use those claws.

Dangerous, for sure, even in a small little package like that.

There was a moment of silence where they all sized each other up, waited to see who'd make the first move. Slade was delighted to find it to be Colleen. Less delighted at the way the little brat Claws was protecting bolted, but he could see the way Colleen's weight shifted as if to take after him even before she started running.

Which meant he got Claws. All the better. In a fraction of a second, he'd drawn one of the swords from his back and sidestepped between the girl and the side street the kid and Colleen had darted down. He had the reach advantage, here, and presumably the strength, but he wasn't taking anything for granted.

He caught the way her eyes shot down the street to where Colleen had the other kid pinned, brandished his sword a little more aggressively. "I really wouldn't, kid. C'mon, don't go makin me do something you'd regret. My friend there ain't about hurtin' kids, but I will hurt you if you make me."

GABBY: Gabby wasn't panicking despite the odds being against her. She'd been in enough fights in her short life to keep her head. But apparently the kid behind her hadn't. He took her advice a bit early and bolted, with one of the enforcers giving chase. Gabby watched in horror as he was twisted against the wall. "Hey! He's just a kid!" A kid without experience in this kind of thing to boot.

Claws out, she glared at Slade as he made threats. "Good luck with that," she retorted. She pulled her nun chucks from her belt to give her a better range--though he still had size advantage on her--and swung them hard and fast towards him. Only it was mostly a distraction, with Gabby's true intentions to merely pass the man, not attack him. As such, she used the wall to push off and get height, launching herself towards Colleen with a yell in a way she hoped would startle her into letting go of the teenager.

COLLEEN: It was a rookie mistake, turning her back on the other kid, even if she trusted that Slade would step up. He might have given her grief at every turn, but when it came down to situations like this? Slade was more focused on success than she was. (Colleen suspected it was about the money — but even so, that was reason enough that she could trust him out here.) Colleen’s grip on the kid changed when the one with claws shouted before leaping towards her. When she looked at the girl lunging towards her, the only thing she could think about was BB. How he had tried to reason with his friends and show them that Davos was wrong and evil but ended up bloodied on and on the ground.

This girl, she was just trying to do what she thought was right too. And the way she was moving — it was like she was okay if that cost her everything. Hell, it reminded Colleen of herself on some level. But there was no time for Colleen to try and talk this down again. And... if the choice was between Colleen’s life and this stranger’s? Colleen was going to choose herself. Colleen pulled her hand away from the teen she had pressed against the wall, her reflexes taking over as she pulled out her katana and braced herself for impact. “It doesn’t have to be like this — think about it — you can still stop. You keep going and I won’t be able to stop him.” Maybe that didn’t scare this kid... but it should.

SLADE: He threw his arm up to block the nunchuks, the impact scarcely even noticeable with his armor and his abilities, and turned to follow her movements as she lunged toward Colleen.

The other kid bolted as soon as Colleen turned to get her katana up, but Slade didn't pay a damn bit of mind to the kid as he slipped off into the dark. This one was the prize.

And when Colleen's warning didn't get the girl to let up, Slade would. Part of his reputation was his focus--his machine-like ability to put all of his attention on a task and complete it as if programmed to do it, come hell or high water.

Three thoughts went through his mind in short succession: firstly, that at least one of them was going to get hurt with so many blades out. Secondly, that it could not be Colleen--without regenerative powers, what damage she sustained would be a problem. Thirdly, that this kid seemed an awful lot like the Wolverine, and on balance, that meant she was apt to have the same regenerative abilities. And if it was him or the brat that needed to get hurt? Simple choice.

For a man of his stature, he's fast, thanks to the serum in his veins, and so he's crossed to the fight going on between the two girls in moments, his own katana driving the blade through skin and muscle at the kid's thigh before he finally pulls the swing just short of breaking bone.

The moment of shock, from both women, gives Slade opportunity to grab the kid by the scruff of her neck and yank her away from Colleen, throwing her onto the ground and dropping down with a knee to her back before she can try and push up. "If those claws don't go back into your hands now, kid," he warned, "you're getting a sword to the hands to keep them down, you understand me?"

Colleen's starting to protest the rough treatment, looks mad, but by the time he tunes back in, he's not inclined to let her ramble. "If you'd rather I let her up to gut you, just say the word, Colleen. Otherwise, I don't wanna fucking hear it. She's old enough to be running kids, she's old enough to fuckin know when to quit. Get a goddamned collar on her."

GABBY: Gabby's nunchucks collide with the katana hard, as she lands on the ground. The kid has run off, seemingly allowed to by the two Enforcers. Only now she stood between them. A vulnerable position to say the least. Gabby had to move quickly--something she was good at. But as fast as she moved, the man seemed to keep up. Her small stature normally meant that speed was her advantage, but something must help this man be this fast. Exactly what didn't matter to her right now. Especially as she doesn't heed Colleen's warning at all.

She turned, a split second too slow. The blade sliced through her flesh like butter, in a move that ought to have Gabby screaming in pain. Instead, as blood began to spill, Gabby's shock came from how deep the slice had gone. Almost to the bone, he'd cut her tendons and muscle in a way that--however temporarily--slowed her down too much. All it would take to lose this fight was a mere second slower. This wasn't some cop-turned-Enforcer. This was an assassin, trained to kill and butcher with skilled precision and no remorse, he had to be.

With his weight pressing on his knee against her back, Gabby knew  this fight is over. She could feel her leg beginning to stitch itself back together already, and she was thinking how once it did she could escape or fight again. Until she heard that word that sent dread through her. Collar. Without it, she would still have her training, but no extra strength or healing. Abilities she'd come to rely on because she'd barely known a world without them. Her claws slowly sink back into her hands.

Still, just because Gabby was down, didn't mean she was out. "What even is your deal anyway!? Surely there's better things to do than attack some kid who lost control of his powers?"

COLLEEN: The other kid was gone in the blink of an eye. And maybe she should have been concerned about that — that the kid would come back with help — or that Slade and Colleen might get ambushed later... but there wasn’t time to let any of those thoughts float to the surface. Not when she had an angry kid with claws who wanted to stab her. The claws collided with her katana, and Colleen moved defensively, not swinging at the girl. She didn’t want to actually harm her, despite having every reason to.

She had done this dance too many times before. She had done this dance for the Hand before. Finding troubled kids and trying to find even ground with them — recruiting them into a new and better life. But this time she wasn’t offering a safe place. No college fund. No reprieve from what was happening around them. Though, when she brought them to the Hand... she had no idea what she was really bringing them into. It was the good Hand. That was what Bakuto told her. That this was different — that they were different. But it was the same bullshit, just hidden behind a different — a charming smile. At least as an enforcer, there was no pretending that what she was doing was leading them down a path that they’d enjoy.

But it was hard to see the good parts of enforcing when she was facing off against a girl who couldn’t have been more than eighteen. It was even harder when she heard Slade’s voice, as he had the girl on the ground. (He had stabbed through her leg, and Colleen had gotten lost in something else — something that she had thought she was over. Time was supposed to heal all wounds... but time didn’t do shit for regret.)

This moment, it wasn’t so easy though. Nothing was quite black and white anymore. (Had it ever been? Really?) Her eyes snapped upwards to Slade, the frown on her face settling, as if that were her only expression. “Fuck off.” Two words came out of her mouth so bitter and angry — and she wasn’t even mad at him. She was mad at herself. For her hesitation. For the conflict in her own heart. But still, Slade kept opening his mouth — kept pushing her... Colleen took in a breath, reminding herself of the teachers her grandfather had instilled upon her. Self-control. One of the tenants of the Bushido Code.

Kneeling down next to the girl, Colleen secured a collar around her neck. But as she fastened it, she heard the words — what was her deal? Colleen clenched her jaw and took in a sharp breath. “I wouldn’t worry about him,” Colleen finally said. “He didn’t attack enforcers — he lost control and there is a system he can go through to get help — but you...” Colleen paused, still kneeling next to her. “Were you going to kill me?”

SLADE: Colleen could get pissy all she wanted, but they both knew he was right. Compassion and mercy got you hurt, got you killed, in this line of work. Colleen could feel how she wanted about kids or about the job--god knew he had his own thoughts--but you needed to put those in a box and do the goddamned job while you were out in the field where hesitation could be a death sentence. 

As soon as the claws were retracted, he closed his hands around the girl's wrists, drawing them up behind her back and closing cuffs around them as Colleen finished putting on the collar. The skin knitting itself back together at the girl's thigh stopped, and Slade squinted at the wound for a moment before deciding she'd be fine to base. The bleeding had more or less stopped, at least.

And then--fuckin hell. Colleen was trying to comfort the little brat. Slade snorted, rolling off and then dragging the girl up by her shoulders. "You just can't help yourself, can you, Wing?" It didn't matter whether the girl had tried to kill her or not--she hadn't gotten the chance, she had fought, and now she was under arrest. Could have beens didn't matter.

What mattered was now. "Think if I give her to you for two seconds you can manage to keep 'er here while I see if the kid is hiding out nearby?" He didn't wait for an answer before shoving Gabby at Colleen and starting down the alley, beginning a swift but methodical search for the boy.

GABBY: Gabby couldn't believe she'd been reckless enough to get caught. Maybe if the kid had actually stuck to the plan, or if the Enforcers hadn't clearly been so well trained, she'd be scot free right now. But maybe thinking about that was pointless anyway. They'd got her, they had her pinned to the ground and a collar around her neck. Which meant that if they actually decided to hurt her, or kill her, she wouldn't just bounce back. It had been a long time for Gabby since her injuries took a normal time to heal--she wasn't used to thinking like that.

She couldn't care less about the fighting between the two Enforcers, but when the woman knelt next to her and told her not to worry about the kid, she rolled her eyes. But it was the last question that made Gabby freeze. "No. I just wanted to scare you," she replied, honestly. If she'd wanted to actually kill the woman, she could've tried. But she didn't. "I didn't want to kill anyone."

As the man dragged her to her feet, Gabby could feel that her injured leg was still weak. At least it had healed enough to walk on now, just. It'd probably start bleeding again if she tried that for too long, but Gabby shrugged that off as she stumbled towards Colleen. Instead, she glared at the man as he went searching for the kid. If the kid was smart though, he'd be miles away by now. Gabby, on the other hand, was mildly screwed.

#c:slade #c:colleen #tw suicide #tw violence #tw injury #tw blood

[mypralaya]

(I really like Force of Nature and wanted to do something with them, and since they became “superheroes” in Civil War, sending them after a “bad guy” seemed like an easy way to write about ‘em. Aqueduct is my fave so he got the most spotlight, he’s a loser villain who isn’t too bright and who is really smug and gloating when he thinks he’s one, super down on himself when he’s lost. Kind of a bipolar Fabian without the creep factor, I guess There's no story, it's just kinda a "ok, if Haven survived the birth of the Adversary, presumably she'd still be wanted by the government for the crimes she did while posessed, so they'd probably keep sending super-powered peoples after her like they before with X-Factor, and I really like this government super-group so I'll send them” but there’s really nothing interesting. I guess you could read it as commentary on the deeply problematic way in which “brown lady with a funny religion is a terrorist because the government says so thus it’s okay to open fire on her when she’s not doing anything and doesn’t have any powers as far as we know yet” was handled in the comics canon, but I wasn’t actually thinking that deep when I wrote it.) With the passing of the Superhuman Registration Act, the “normal” population had believed that criminals with superpowers would be better regulated. Instead, many of the supervillains that had signed up had not only been pardoned for their crimes, but hired by the US government as their own state-sanctioned superheroes. One such squad was Force of Nature, a quartet of mercenaries, each possessed of powers focused around one of the four elements. They had been assigned to the state of Oregon—each of the fifty states now had its own assigned team of so-called “protectors”–but selected to make a special trip to Mumbai. There was a long-overdue warrant for the apprehension of one Radha Dastoor. It had gone ignored because she had not been an active threat for years, and given how many VERY active superhuman threats there were, the government hadn’t wanted to waste their limited resources on someone who wasn’t causing mass destruction at just this particular moment. They only had so many people who could deal with superhumans, after all. At least, that had been the case. Once.

Now they had a lot of them, and it was time to catch up on all those pesky “forgotten” cases while they still could. It would be good publicity, show the public that these former “bad guys” truly could be trusted to get the current criminals. Of course, it might be tough to sell anyone on Radha Dastoor aka “Haven” being a criminal. Though her terrorist crimes had been great, she’d not only concealed them successfully from the public, but been known as an incredibly kind and charitable philanthropist. Heck, her very name came from a children’s hospital she had rebuilt! So, in this case, the arrest would be kept under wraps, not displayed proudly for the masses. It would be not for PR, but for the fact that, inactive or not, X-Factor had reported incredible powers from her…powers that either needed to be contained, or put to service. She’d sure make them look good as a superhero…a sweet philanthropist, who had willingly signed up with the registration act despite not even being a US citizen, she just supported it that much. That’d be the story, anyway. What really happened was Aireo, aka Skybreaker, the wind representative on their team, blowing apart the little wooden shrine they had tracked her to near a mangrove swamp. There was no one around save for a flock of flamingos, now startled away into flight, so they didn’t need to worry about controlling collateral damage…or protecting their image in how they went about this. Standing among the remains of the shrine was a shocked woman shielding herself from the debris with her arms. Her huge mane of hair meant she was likely their target, and her face peering out at her attackers confirmed it “Radha Dastoor alias Haven!” hollered Peter Van Zante, aka Aqueduct, the water-controlling member of the squad, “By order of the US government, you are under arrest!” The woman started to move, to put her hands up, but the gesture was sadly misinterpreted as being about to do something hostile. “Don’t even try!” snarled Sunstreak, alia Andrea Rourke, who had a form of living flame. She supplemented her verbal warning by shooting one of her solar lances. Hotter than the heart of a volcano, such a thing would be deadly to a human, but given what Sunstreak had read about this lady on her case file, it was probably nothing she wouldn’t be able to shrug off. But rather than some grand display of reality-warping, the woman called Haven anticlimactically fell to the side into the rubble, having thrown herself to the ground to avoid the fire. Pushing herself up on arms, she called something up to her attackers, but her voice unheard beneath the din of the winds that Skybreaker had summoned. “Can you fly, Radha Dastoor?” he taunted, “Your records say you can do just about everything else—here, let me help you!” And with his winds, he lifted her, not a gentle levitation but a violent seizing, like a rodent being snatched up skyward by a hawk. “Alright guys, we’ve got her!” crowed Aqueduct, sounding proud despite having done nothing thus far. “We’ve only overwhelmed her”, replied Skybreaker, “Thanks mainly to me. But that’s just because we surprised her—now that we’ve lost that element, we’ve got to rely on our other four to keep her subdued. Best thing to do—knock her out!” And with that he slammed her bodily into the ground. She indeed seemed unconscious now, but just in case, the earth elemental known only as Terraformer wrapped her in a cocoon of vines. “That won’t do any good if she teleports!” said Aqueduct, remembering that Haven was supposed to be able to do that, according to X-Factor’s reports, “She could vanish inside there and we wouldn’t know!” In reply, Terraformer retracted the vines around Haven’s head, so that her face was visible and they could keep an eye on her. Since Skybreaker and Sunstreak were still in the air, it was Aqueduct who strode towards the captive Haven to examine her to be sure she wasn’t faking it. And because he wanted to contribute something to a big capture like this, after all. He’d been apprehensive when he’d read about her powers, but after her not putting up any fight, and him now surely having the upper hand, he was suddenly quite confident. Heck, now he actually HOPED she’d wake up and try something! So he could heroically foil her! It looked like he might get his wish, too–her face twitched a bit, she was clearly coming to. “Do not try to resist, Ms. Dastoor”, he said, in his most authoritative voice as she stirred, even though that was what he wanted, “We’d prefer to take you alive, but we’re authorized to use deadly force.” Haven’s dark, dewy eyes opened halfway, and she weakly replied, “Yes…I noticed.” “Don’t get smart now!” he commanded as Terraformer continued to hold her fast. “I was not making a joke,” said Haven, not sounding much stronger, let alone at all threatening. “Please, this is unnecessary. I am not resisting.” “Of course you’re not now–you’re all tied up!” Aqueduct thought he was making a pretty good joke with that, but it was really just more of a general observation. He’d never been good at the whole banter bit. “I will not resist if I am not tied up,” Haven promised, “I cannot. There is nothing I can do to fight you.” Aqueduct’s chest swelled, thinking she was saying that even her great powers were no match for him. Sunstreak and Skybreaker had landed and were approaching now. “That’s exactly what you would say to get us to let you loose,” scoffed Skybreaker, hearing Haven’s last sentence. “If I had my powers, I would not need you to do so in order for me to escape,” said Haven. There was no bite in her tone; it was simply factual, even submissive. Force of Nature all looked at each other. She didn’t have her powers? That…did explain a lot… Aqueduct looked back at Haven, and he suddenly realized how helpless she seemed. Especially with those big brown eyes and their long cow-like lashes, looking so harmless and imploring and beaten down. His proud feeling started seeping away. “Terraformer”, Aqueduct’s authoritative tone had returned, “You may loosen the restraints on the captive.” Terraformer looked at him very funny, not because of the order but the tone and the choice of words. He may? His wooded brows lifted. “You’re not the leader!” Sunstreak ejected hotly, no pun intended, “Terraformer, you keep her held fast! Of course, Sunstreak was not the leader either, they didn’t have one, and actually she didn’t think that Haven seemed that threatening either, she just didn’t like stupid Aqueduct giving orders. Him and Aireo were both way too full of themselves…which they always would have said about her. Appropriately, it was really only Terraformer who was down to earth on this team. And as for Terraformer, he kept hold of the woman, because they were supposed to capture her after all, but he didn’t do anything else. Aqueduct, meanwhile, huffy at not being obeyed, decided to draw this out just to spite the others, knowing that Skybreaker and Sunstreak were impatient to wrap things up. He addressed Haven again, “And how did you lose your powers, ma’am? Was it M-day?” She shook her head as much as she could while still within Terraformer’s grasp, and replied, “My abilities were not…mutant in nature. I’d rather not talk about it. Not like this.” Aqueduct found that he felt bad for her. Not because of her loss of powers, but because a beautiful woman looking helpless and pathetic has a certain effect on a lot of men. Aqueduct was one of those men, and the fact he was the one here with power over her made him want to use it to look heroic to her instead. The additional fact that his teammates obviously didn’t feel the same way just made him feel more so, like he was the sole good guy keeping her safe from a squad of black hats, the hero rescuing the damsel. “Very well then, I won’t force you,” he said, and was about to continue when he was interrupted. “It’s not our concern anyway!” Skybreaker practically shouted, “Our concern is taking her in! Let’s do it already and get out of here, the pollution is KILLING me!” As an Inhuman, Aireo/Skybreaker had a weaker immune system than the rest of them, making him extremely sensitive to things like that. Mumbai was the fourth most polluted megacity on the planet, so he probably was not exaggerating by much. Aqueduct supposed pissing the guy off more wasn’t worth him losing a lung. Skybreaker was a jerk, but he was a teammate. And besides, he’d find a way to pay Aqueduct back for it. “Alright Terraformer, load her up,” he said, but then added, “But be gentle–remember, she’s not resisting.”

#fic #writing