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epicstuckyficrecs · 4 years

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2020 Half-year fic rec for Steve Rogers’ birthday!

I made a poll on Twitter to know if people would be interested in me doing a half-year “best of” fic rec like I did last year , and the response was overwhelmingly positive, so here it is! 😊 These are my favorite fics of the year so far! (in no particular order)

Complete

Two Colors, White and Gold by Carelica (Canon-Divergent | 36K | Explicit): He’s here, he’s alive. His hand is on a tree.

Deep Sea Diving by AidaRonan/ @bisexualstarbucky (Shrunkyclunks | 5,4K | Explicit): Steve’s wallowing in heat-related misery under a shade tree in Central Park when a man walks by in bright red booty shorts and a crop top. RIP Steve Rogers. It was nice knowing you.

Some things you do for money by pushdragon (BDSM AU | 72K | Explicit): Steve’s wholesome take on domination has suddenly become the hottest thing in the business. He should be cashing in on his newfound celebrity, but instead he’s distracted by the guy who works odd shifts in the club’s bar, fresh out of prison and damaged in ways that don’t show.

the hand you want to hold is a weapon (and you’re nothing but skin) by voxofthevoid/ @voxofthevoid (Post-WS, Sex Pollen | 13K | Explicit): Steve gets sex-pollened. He handles it just fine, and then Bucky shows up.

Dear Mr. Postman by odetteandodile (Modern AU | 52K | Teen): “I’m um—your mailman,” Bucky says, lamely. Or—Steve and Bucky revive an old friendship, get married (but totally just as friends, for reasons), and navigate a few of the many trials of the heart that come with falling in love with your best friend.

good on my own (needed me) by mcwho (Modern AU | 12K | Explicit): There are some mistakes that could be made by anybody. Anybody. Bucky taught high school pretty much his whole life, and that was fine, those were kids, and he knew all of them anyway, which meant there was very little chance of him accidentally fucking any of his students during an impulsive post-marital-breakdown Grindr hook-up. Which is exactly what he had done with Steve.or: bucky has not let steve rogers fuck him since his sophomore year (Part 1 of himbo-verse)

Latte Art and Slow Dancing in the Dark by deadonarrival (Modern AU with powers, Daddy kink | 89K | Explicit): Bucky is a somewhat well-adjusted former army sniper that got his shoulder blown out. He took his discharge and went home to finish school. His best friends and roommates (Nat & Clint) are CIA agents and tip him off that their local Sbux is hiring. He gets a job there and meets none other than the hottest guy on earth. So how does one get a date in the most top secret government location in the US? What happens when that guy is more than just a hot dorito and wants to give Bucky everything he wants?

That Boy Is a Problem by 2bestfriends (Modern AU | 10K | Explicit): In which a twinky little goth punk named Bucky puts a leash around Steve’s dick and he’s really into it. (The leash is a metaphor. For now.)

bullet in a gun (but in the end, my time will come) by voxofthevoid/ @voxofthevoid (Post-Endgame, Canon-divergent | 25K | Explicit): Post-Thanos, Bucky Barnes has happily settled into a life of peace and pining. That’s when alternate versions of the best friend he’s secretly in love with start showing up.

Like it’s the Only Thing I’ll Ever Do by howdoyousleep/ @howdoyousleep3 (ABO AU | 39K | Explicit): When Steve opens the door, Bucky feels like he’s been living in clouds for the past few days, maybe even his entire life. Steve is life, Steve is happiness, Steve is the sun. He has such a visceral reaction to seeing the Alpha that he feels his knees go weak, feels his body draw tight towards the other man, pulled in. Or big Alpha Steve moves into sweet little Omega Bucky’s apartment building and a roller-coaster build of a romance ensues.

A Company Man by mambo/ @whtaft (Modern AU | 75K | Explicit): No matter what it is, the truth is the same: Steve Rogers is in love with Bucky Barnes, a married man.

How to Fuck With (and Feed) Your Soulmate by BlueSimplicity/ @bluesimplicity73 (Soulmate AU, Shrunkyclunks | 114K | Explicit): It’s called the Grey Space; a patch of skin marking you as blessed and the first sign you have a soulmate. Steve Rogers didn’t have one when he crashed into the ice. But he did when he woke up in the future. The second sign is the Sense, a sharing of one the senses to help soulmates find each other. Steve’s Sense, taste, is rare, but he loves a challenge and a soulmate is a gift from the Fates. Except instead of a blessing, it’s a curse, since his soulmate is a dick. Bucky Barnes loves food and a homecooked meal is something he cherishes. When his Grey Space starts to itch, Bucky can’t help his excitement, since the Sense he and his soulmate share is taste. But not for long. Whoever he’s bound to has the blandest diet in the world, ignoring all Bucky’s messages. After weeks of putting up with tasteless food, Bucky decides to strike back.

Strangers in the Street by crinklefries/ @spacerenegades (Canon divergent | 15K | Teen): Every five years, Bucky meets the same tall, blond stranger.

Departure by Nejinee/ @nejineeee (Arrival AU | 80K | Mature): Captain America is recruited by the U.S. government to assist a linguist and her team of scientists in communicating with aliens after twelve mysterious space ships appear across the globe overnight.

Compatible - A Romantic Science Fiction Thriller in Four Parts by the1918/ @the1918 (Shrunkyclunks, ABO AU | 33K | Explicit): When young nanotech engineer Bucky Barnes finds himself falling head first in love with none other than Steve Rogers, he ends up getting a lot more of the Alpha than he– or science– could ever have imagined possible.

WIP

four dreams in a row where you were burned by voxofthevoid/ @voxofthevoid (canon divergent, post-Endgame, 1945 alternate timeline | 10/? | 58K | Mature): When Steve uses the last of his Pym Particles to travel to 1944 and save his best friend, he doesn’t have a plan beyond leaving behind the battlefield and living his life alongside the people he loves. But the life that finds him is not the one he expects.

A Matter of Trust by chicklette/ @chicklette (Singer Bucky, Fake relationship | 7/13 | 26K | Explicit): At 43, James Barnes is a washed up old man. He’s got a dozen Grammys in the hall closet, an agent that can’t get him a deal, a decade-old case of writer’s block, a moody teen-aged daughter, and the gorgeous actress Natasha Romanova for an ex-wife. Enter Steven Grant Rogers, struggling twenty-something, orphan, and someone who has no idea who Barnes is. The two men meet by accident, doing nothing more than passing the time in a quiet bar. But when a pap gets a shot of the two men embracing, Bucky takes it as a chance to finally come out as bisexual, and his agent makes him a proposition: Ten new songs and one very sweet boyfriend will get him a new record deal that will maybe, just maybe put him back on top. Now all he has to do is write the songs, convince the kid, and not fall in love. Should be easy, right?

Bespoke by the1918/ @the1918 (Shrunkyclunks, ABO AU | 6/10 | 61K | Explicit): “I love you, too. So fucking much,” Steve answered. His voice sounded cracked and exhausted, an exposed nerve ending in the shape of a man. “Some days I still don’t believe you’re real. Feels— feels like somehow, I’ve always loved you. Even when I didn’t know you.” Bucky smiled softly at that and felt his heart threaten to explode. Still straddling his lap, he reached a hand up to cup Steve’s cheek. “You’ve always known me,” he stated, simply. “I was made for you, remember?” (Part 2 of Compatible)

Series

couldn't get the boy to kill me by voxofthevoid/ @voxofthevoid (Shrunkyclunks, SHIELD Agent Bucky | 12 works, complete | 74K | Explicit): Captain America and the Winter Soldier are a terrifying duo on the field, working together with a well-oiled precision that tears through their enemies. Captain Rogers and Agent Barnes are distant coworkers, all polite nods and mission briefings. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are fire and gasoline; it never ends well.

the hero's shoulders by voxofthevoid/ @voxofthevoid (Shrunkyclunks, Post-CW, canon divergent | 3 works, not complete | 32K | Explicit): Sequel series to couldn't get the boy to kill me

Honorable mention for Where The Interstate Ends by paperstorm/ @paper-storm because it was posted last year but I only read it recently!

#stucky #stucky fanfic #stucky fanfiction #stucky fic #stucky fic rec #half year fic rec

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dominicvail · 4 years

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in another world, ncis:la feeds us with actual Au episodes every now and again, but our world is imperfect and we just have to imagine this stuff here, but like, if this did happen i would Require these au’s;

A Bowling Au. Everything is played with exactly the same tone as the actual show, so it’s usually laughable but Sometimes super dramatic except instead of like, a terrorist attack, a rival team bowled a strike. Sam used to be on a super militant and well respected team and hasn’t gotten over that half the time people don’t know the name of this new one. He believes bowling balls should be polished before repacking, Every time, that Deeks just shoves his in the same reusable plastic bag he’s had for 8 years Pains him. G’s back story is Identical to the show except this isn’t a spy genre anymore so ppl just think he’s like, the super above it all edge lord because of it all.

Teacher AU. Sam teaches all kinds of advanced math, G is a gym teacher who acts really stupid all the time to stop people giving him responsibilities he doesn’t want. Despite this, he is often dragged in to cover for language classes because somebody figured out he’s a language like, genius or something. He covered a drama class one time, too, and was scarily good at it. Deeks actually Is the drama teacher, the kids all Love him. Kensi teaches all kinds of physical design classes, like, anything to do with engines, she does woodwork, things like that, she’s not As liked among the student body (i mean, the boys and gays love her, but her jokes are Weird) but she isn’t classed as one of the asshole teachers. Eric teaches IT or whatever u call computing, he’s friendly, won’t put up with crap, but like, next to nobody understands him because he’s not good at dumbing things down. Nell doesn’t teach at first, was just an administrator dealing with all the complicated things, but sometimes substitutes, she’s tiny and Scary and is not a substitute u can walk all over, the ones who tried can’t figure out How she got them to behave??? but it happened. Mr Deeks and Ms Blye are the ‘will they or won’t they’ teacher couple of the school only for deeks to accidentally let slip that his wife is better at long distance running than he is and they all work it out that they’ve been married the whole time. Mr Beale and Miss Jones become the next will they won’t they couple except it embarrasses them so much all they do is blush at each other now. Hetty is the principal/head teacher. She is rarely seen, to be feared, but always watching.

Star Trek AU; Hetty is the captain of the ship they’re on, but the show is more about the main away team. Is the team’s reputation as bad as section 31 (the shady(tm) part of starfleet), No! Is their reputation necessarily good? No. In fact, they frequently butt heads with section 31 (we’re calling them the equivalent of the cia in the show, they can be friends but... yeah), however their results are rarely questionable and they save many, many lives. It is highly unlikely anyone will ever be promoted. Sam is a Vulcan, calm waters... except if you make him snap, Vulcans have deep running emotions. Deeks is just. The Most Obnoxious Human to him Ever. G is half betazed, it’s why he’s so good at reading people. Eric is a member of a species that is super social but have few social graces similar to humans so is always super awkward. Kensi has a tragic backstory where she thinks the borg got her dad when she was a kid but it was a Cover Up. I would make Nell non human also, but i will be honest, i am running out of trek aliens i can make her (klingon nell is a Hilarious concept tho). Hetty is Bajoran.

James Bond AU. Everything is the same except they all use bad english accents the whole way through the episode.

I am a massive fan of alternate takes on soulmate au’s, i don’t like romantic soulmate au’s, but unusual takes on them are my Jam. In this one, people have soul marks from people who will have the most profound effects on them in their lives on their bodies. This doesn’t necessarily mean the effects will be good, just profound and altering. The team realise they all have marks from each other on their bodies, and are elated to find out all those marks are Positive effects.

Though i will admit the ‘see in colour when you meet your soulmate’ one would be hilarious with legitimately Any of the partners on the show. Kensi: See’s deeks, learns what blue is. Kensi: spirals into deep denial and yells at him a lot.

Queer Eye AU where the Fab 5 are called in when Hetty nominates her team for a makeover! Bobby redecorates the boat shed, is asked by hetty to keep what is already bulletproof, bulletproof. And to keep the trap door. And not to worry about any bloodstains and how they got there. Tan’s discovers how hard it is to style around Sam’s muscles. Tries very hard to stop Nell from mixing prints. Experiences horror at Eric’s wardrobe, Nell is shown in BG laughing. Every single man exhibits true, actual horror at the idea of JVN changing their hair and pack into Sam’s car and run away to hide in the woods. Nell and Kensi enjoy the salon appointment in their absence. Karamo manages to negotiate getting paid literally twice his previous rate by just having to try to fix these idiots’ lives and deserves every penny. Antoni trying to teach them to make fun and not disgusting food doesn’t end well. Deeks can cook but likes to Experiment and 97% of his food is awful. Sam can cook, but it’s all bland muscle building/health food. The rest of them are incompetent, set the kitchen on fire, are caught ordering chinese on the sly, ruin 5 pots and pans with burn marks. They open the new boatshed design by interrogating a criminal they just picked up on a case, he points out how fabulous the decor is as he’s led to the interrogation room. Everybody cheers. The team provided snacks in said interrogation Could be considered a torture technique, tho.

The team go on jeopardy. I have never seen this game show and have no idea how it works, but i bet it would be funny so it is a bullet point.

Buffy the vampire slayer au, Kensi is a vampire slayer who Happens to just be an ncis agent. She does her normal job but also tries to keep the vampire world a secret from her team mates. Callen: uh, kensi... why do you spend so much of your free time hanging around cemeteries? Kensi: uh... Bat watching???

Superhero AU but they all have really dumb powers. Sam can raise the temperature of any body of water from a lake to a puddle by ten degrees in temperature whenever he wants. G can spontaneously grow and un-grow his hair, if he gets drunk and makes it super long he has ringlets. Deeks can hover exactly one foot in the air, no higher, is designated ‘grab that off the high shelf’ guy. Kensi can sense sugar. This helps in no ways but essentially makes her a human version of one of the medical alert dogs for diabetics. Eric can make anybody around him mildly sleepy if he wants to. He never wants this. It doesn’t even send them to sleep, they just yawn more often and that makes Him yawn more. Nell can speak to cows, since she lives in the middle of Los Angeles, this is not helpful. Plus, cows mostly just talk about grass and are really very boring. Granger could create rainbows out of thin air which was obviously in perfect sync with his personality. Hetty can detach her toes at will. This is only useful in the case of uncomfortable shoes, but can be awkward if somebody routinely searches your bag and finds them in there and arrests you for being a creepy toe cutting off serial killer.

i would watch it, s’all i’m saying.

#text #la team #la cast #this is the most epic feat of procrastination i've managed for a while ngl

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tony-starkrogers · 5 years

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The Massive SteveTony Rec List

Welcome to my Fairly Comprehensive, Ridiculously Long SteveTony Fic Recs, aka my collection of pretty much nearly everything I’ve read and loved so far over the years. This fandom is lucky enough to have some truly brilliant and dedicated authors, and I’m always discovering new fics to love, so I thought I’d share some of them with you! Fics will be sorted alphabetically tbh just because I suck at sorting stuff? Some of my personal forever-faves will be marked with ♡. This is by no means all of the fics this fandom has to offer, but if you’re new to the fandom, this should give you a good place to start, and if you’ve been a SteveTony shipper for a while, hopefully you’ll find something new! And if you do have a favorite fic that’s not on the list, please add it to the comments or rec it to me (because who doesn’t need more fics)!

Here’s just a few GREAT resources to check out if you’re looking for Even More fic recs:

@sabrecmcstonyficrecs - I mean, sabre is basically THE fandom resource? Any and all fic you’re looking for you’ll likely find here. ||| @findingstony - if you’re looking for a particular fic and don’t remember where you found it, look here first! ||| @cap-ironman - the place to go, especially for brand new fics! the fandom lives here ||| @nasaficsrecs - many good fic recs ||| @ishipallthings many wonderful rec lists ||| @sineala - the place to go if you are at all interested in 616 SteveTony or really anything in the 616 comics universe

I have lots of fics bookmarked on ao3: my bookmarks! You can also check out my other fic rec lists, and my general fic rec tag. Also while you’re at it maybe check out some of my fics?

And here are the recs! (under the cut.) Have fun reading and be sure to show your authors some love with kudos and comments!!!

♡ 1796 Broadway by rainproof, teaberryblue - M | 460,220 words

Captain America respectfully requests that all complaints be addressed to him in writing. On paper, the nice old-fashioned way, because the computer screen hurts his eyes.

Put your phone down, Tony.

absence makes the heart by fantalaimon - G | 4,835 words

“One night,” Tony says, and just flies himself bodily into one of the canary yellow beekeepers like a red and gold battering ram. “I ask for one measly night. One single goddamn night with my boyfriend—”

“Oh, is the boyfriend label on now?” Clint asks over the comms.

A Higher Form of War by sabrecmc - M | 292,114 words

Tony is a King with a surprising number of people out to kill him. Steve and the rest of the Avengers are fighting for Pierce's rebellion and end up with Tony as their prisoner. Oops.

A New Way For Us by ann2who - M | 24,435 words

They fight Thanos—and they’re losing. And before Tony knows what’s happening, he’s standing with Doctor Strange in front of the Eye of Agamotto and gets send back in time. Can he find a way to fix things this time around, or are they doomed to fall apart all over again?

♡ A Partial Dictionary Of The 21st Century By Captain Steve Rogers, US Army by copperbadge - E | 13,888 words

Steve is adapting well to the new millennium, and he has the dictionary to prove it.

age is an irrational number by valtyr - E | 8,749 words

Steve and Tony grow old together.

♡ All Roads Lead To by theappleppielifestyle - G | 13,155 words

After Obadiah's betrayal, Tony hides in the depths of the Midwest to become a mechanic.

The Avengers come into his life anyway.

All These Things I've Said by Amuly - M | 5,840 words

When Tony starts talking in a language Steve can't understand--the language of science--Steve figures he'll retaliate with a little foreign language knowledge of his own. Only once he starts speaking French around Tony, Steve finds that sometimes it's easier to say what he really wants to say to Tony in a language he can't understand.

Good thing Tony doesn't know French.

And The Void Would Be Calling. by jadedoll - E | 17,721 words

Tony could be suffering from amnesia, a hitch-hiker from a parallel dimension, a ghost or maybe a time-traveller. He's sure he could work out the answer if Steve would just stop pretending he was Tony's boyfriend.

♡ As Sharp As Any Thorn by RurouniHime - E | 47,027 words

It’s four days to Christmas, there’s a city in shambles, and the nation is in mourning because of the actions of a single man.

♡ Be No Stranger (All Your Saints and Soldiers Remix) by jibrailis - T | 5,973 words

That's the twenty-first century love song, baby. Glitz and glamour and every one of us is a liar.

Bizarre Love Triangle by panickyintheuk - T | 1,929 words

Once the idea was in his head, he’d started picking up on all kinds of things, like the way Stark talked about Iron Man with such affection, and seemed to share so many of his mannerisms, and was constantly working on ways of improving the suit. It was obvious.

Blank Slate - A Tony Stark Mystery by navaan - T | 25,381 words

He doesn’t remember who he is or who his friends are, but he knows he’s in a Nazi prison and needs to get away. He doesn’t remember anything about Captain America either, but the man seems to be the kind of guy you trust.And apparently they share more history than meets the eye at first glance.

♡ But Loving Him Is Red by theappleppielifestyle - Not Rated | 25,524 words

"It is- it is not just destined, Steve Rogers. It will reach through the decades, through entire universes if it has to. It will scour the galaxies without rest until the two of you are standing next to each other. Migardians- Migardians call them soulmates, I believe."

♡ Captain America, Undone by laireshi - M | 2,818 words

Steve thinks he can seduce Tony before Tony seduces him. He's very, very wrong.

♡ Captain !@#$*%& America by Wordsplat - T | 8,093 words

The first time Tony hears Steve swear, he's pretty sure it's a dream. The second time is a lot harder to dismiss, considering it's the middle of the afternoon and they're both clearly awake. After that, what else can Tony do but use science to get to the bottom of it?

Catching Lightning in a Bottle by sabrecmc - M | 120,650 words

College student Tony meets janitor Steve at MIT and they fall blissfully in love, until Howard happens and things fall apart. One divorce paperwork snafu courtesy of the ever-helpful Jarvis, and ten years later, Tony has to get re-divorced from Steve.

This does not go as he imagines.

♡ Cherry Ride by copperbadge - E | 12,318 words

A SHIELD agent named Roger Stevens told Tony that his nickname was "Cap". Tony didn't connect the dots until it was much, much too late.

♡ Counterpart by sara_holmes - M | 217,400 words

coun•ter•part [koun-ter-pahrt] [noun] 1. a person or thing closely resembling another, especially in function. 2. a copy; duplicate. 3. one of two parts that fit, complete, or complement one another.

Just because Hydra used the DNA of a Captain America from another dimension to create a lab-grown, six-year-old super-soldier, it doesn't mean that said six-year old super-soldier is biologically Steve's, right?

(Where Steve wants to ban Clint from bringing things home from alternative dimensions, until he doesn't.)

Dangerous Kitchen Tools by ladyshadowdrake - E | 18,330 words

Engineering prodigy, billionaire, and heir to the Stark Industries empire, Tony Stark turned the business world on its head by opening a restuarant and burying himself in the kitchen. Years later, he covers an informal evening cooking class for his friend and fellow molecular gastronomist, Bruce Banner, where he meets famously camera-shy comic artist Steve Rogers.

♡ Dazed and Confused by tsukinofaerii - M | 4,160 words

Captain America has a great many duties that need careful attention. He has to... uh... That thing where... Wow, Tony's pants are awfully tight, aren't they?

Dear Tony, by sirona - T | 5,925 words

Once the dust after what no one is referring to as "The Break-up" has settled, Steve starts writing and doesn't seem to know how to stop.

"death by coffee" and other search queries by goodmorningbeloved - T | 2,841 words

In which Steve's feelings are hopelessly obvious through his Google searches. JARVIS decides to step in.

Deep in the Heart of Me by Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar) - E | 255,926 words

There were days when the realization that he was someone’s father made Steve's head hurt, but mostly he was grateful that he could trust his instincts, because apparently Peter was what had been missing from his life. Yes, he still had lingering, unresolved issues from his time in the Army, and sure, he had what Bucky annoyingly referred to as a criminally untapped ass, and no life outside of work and Peter, but Steve was okay with how his life had turned out because of trusting his instincts.

Unfortunately, those same instincts had straight up betrayed him by going absolutely haywire upon being exposed to Tony Stark.

Do It Over by Sineala - T | 1,999 words

The last words your soulmate says to you are written on your skin, and you won't know who they are until they die. The thing is, Steve and Tony die a lot.

♡ don't know why it took me so long to see by goodmorningbeloved - M | 11,209 words

“Oh, watch this,” Natasha says, propping her chin against her knuckles and turning a sweet gaze on him. “Tony, what’s it like dating a superhero?”Tony bristles in irritation. “We’re not dating,” he snaps. “Captain America probably thinks he can get into anyone’s pants just ‘cause he’s got a mask, costume, and reputation, but not me, buddy. That shield? Gotta be overcompensating for something.” He adds, a bit petulantly, “Oh, and all that blue? Definitely more Steve’s color than his.”-

In which Tony is a genius in all matters except recognizing his boyfriend past a mask.

♡ Emanata (The Comics Will Break Your Heart Remix) by teaberryblue - T | 29,720 words

Steve Rogers has the opportunity to fulfill his childhood dreams of becoming a comic artist when eccentric billionaire, superhero patron, and obsessive comic enthusiast Tony Stark offers him a job drawing Iron Man.

But Tony Stark has no idea that Steve Rogers is really Captain America, the newest member of the Avengers.

And Iron Man has no idea that Captain America is really Steve Rogers, up-and-coming comic book artist.

And Steve doesn't know what to do about the fact that he's falling head over heels for them both.

♡ Engaging the Enemy by tsukinofaerii - T | 22,823 words

Iron Man is one of the more persistent villains that the Ultimates face, with a special fondness for one Captain America. As Steve starts to findout more and more about him, the lines between hero and villain begin to blur. Sometimes, you don't have to be on the right side of the law to be in the right.

even if the brain has forgotten, perhaps the teeth remember (or the fingers) by theappleppielifestyle - G | 8,906 words

Tony gets temporary amnesia.

Some things are clearer without his preconceptions dragging him down.

♡ Even My Phone Misses Your Call by rainbowninja167 - E | 10,869 words

Steve makes it all the way to Ohio before conceding that the post-Chitauri road trip might’ve been a mistake.

Or, ten times Steve has to call Tony to come pick him up.

Even Tony Can't Resist Puppy Love by Wordsplat - T | 7,766 words

In which there is a dinner bet, a com line confession, and, as usual, Loki's magical hijinks make Tony's life unnecessarily difficult.

Fairy Godmother by Amuly - T | 5,186 words

Auntie Peggy has been telling Tony stories about Captain America his whole life. Only problem is, the real thing just about measures up to the stories. Which means, of course, that Aunt Peg has to go to work, because an Aunt's work is never done.

Favorable Winds by RurouniHime - T | 2,056 words

Steve’s voice comes from behind, a sigh and a thump as his own pack hits the floor. “Sam. Meet Tony Stark.”

Follow in Your Footsteps by Sineala - T | 6,788 words

When Tony is twelve, his soulmate's name appears on his wrist. Unfortunately, it's hard to find out anything at all about Steve Rogers.

It turns out there's a reason for that.

Formerly by laireshi - T | 13,620 words

A week ago, he touched Steve at night. A week ago, he kissed him. A week ago, Steve kissed him back.

(A week ago Steve was dead, and Tony deleted his brain.)

The Foodieverse (series) by copperbadge, scifigrl47 - works G-T | 130,326 words in series

It's an AU where everyone works in the food industry. That makes total sense and is definitely not wildly irrational on any axis.

♡ Get Some Now by Sineala - T | 10,376 words

Avengers Mansion has a mysterious feline infestation. Meanwhile, Steve just can't figure out how to ask Tony out on a date. And the thirteen teleporting cats sure aren't helping matters any.

♡ Going on a Ride (series) by theappleppielifestyle - Not Rated | 14,306 words in series

"You want to take me for a ride on your motorcycle," Tony repeats, slow so he can process it as he’s saying it, "because you think my glasses are cute."

Hashtag Finally by Wordsplat - T | 15,208 words

Tony doesn't ever actually ask the Avengers to move into his house, steal his wifi, eat all his food, and become the best family he's ever known. They do it anyway.

How To Be a Truly Terrible Wingman by Wordsplat - M | 11,721 words

Prompt: "We were both playing wingman for our friends who have now decided to go home together, and after five minutes of conversation we fucking hate each other. Let’s bang it out."

♡ How To Excel At Supervillainy (and lose your heart to America) by Zekkass - E | 13,531 words

And that's how Tony's supervillainy hobby got way way way complicated.

♡ How to Lose a Super Soldier in One Easy Step by and_backagain, jibrailis - E | 18,248 words

Rogers jerks backwards, shock registering on his face, and Tony thinks, welcome back to the land of the living, Cap, looks like you're sticking around.

Or, a Pushing Daisies AU.

♡ I (created from fantasies) exist solely for you by Mizzy - T | 62,917 words

Six years ago, without the Avengers Initiative there to save the day, scientist Dr. Eric Selvig sacrificed himself to save the world, the almighty demi-god Thor was lost to a terrible storm, and vigilante Iron Man – spotted with a nuclear weapon trying to take advantage of the situation – was forever labelled an enemy of SHIELD.

This is a comic book office AU, where Steve is defrosted a year too late, Thor has forgotten who he is, and no one knows Tony is Iron Man. Also includes: office pranks, inappropriate post-it notes, and superheroes who like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain

Indecent Proposal by gyzym, Siria - T | 2,592 words

On the plus side, marriage is bound to be easier than proposing.

i stole the keys to this guy by kellifer_fic - M | 6,007 words

Where it was Nick Fury's idea, but he didn't mean it like that

♡ In Which Tony Stark Builds Himself Some Friends (But His Family Was Assigned by Nick Fury) (series) by scifigrl47 - works rated T-M | 343,010 words

Steve takes things like personal responsibility and respect seriously. Tony's got people he pays to take care of that kind of thing, and anyway, he's pretty sure that he's going to die of some exotic disease in his workshop, because Dummy's still a little spotty about what is 'clean' enough to put on an open wound. The rest of the Avengers are in this for personal gain, except for Clint, he just enjoys being a dick.

And some things shouldn't be a chore.

♡ i will never stop losing my breath (every time i see you looking back at me) by theappleppielifestyle - G | 3,222 words

In all fairness, Tony is on autopilot when this happens. He’s had a long, hard day, and it’s possible he hasn’t slept in several long, hard days. He’s already half-asleep on the couch and he’s relaxed and happy, which is a rarity on its’ own, and he’s comfortable enough to let his guard down and get his body to do all the work without switching his brain on.

That should’ve been enough of a warning sign, but apparently not: Tony stretches, says goodnight to his teammates and gets varied responses back, and then he kisses Steve.

He only realizes what he’s done after he’s started to lean back, opening his eyes to see Steve’s blown wide, staring at Tony with his lips gone slack and a tiny furrow between his eyebrows.

if they be worthy by theappleppielifestyle - Not Rated | 824 words

Everyone's staring, and Tony isn't awake enough to do anything but gape dumbly at the hammer in his hand."Huh," he says."Seconded," Steve says through his toast. "Tasha, go tell Coulson another one of us can pick it up."

♡ Last Train Home by erde - T | 10,983 words

Steve writes letters to Tony that he never sends. By the time he hands them to their rightful owner, Tony has had a brush with death, has retired as a superhero, and now has a small town workshop of his very own. But it's okay, Steve has gone into retirement too.

Like Gene Kelly in the Movies by lyra_wing - M | 11,449 words

Everything Tony Stark does is a dance. And it's super confusing for Steve.

Like Sunlight by sara_holmes - M | 8,309 words

Steve is used to the way it feels by now; a strange but gentle tugging connection under his sternum, warm tingles in his skin whenever they touch. That is, until Tony gets himself kidnapped. Then it kinda feels more like someone is trying to wrench his heart out through his ribcage.

Looking for Heaven by foxxcub - E | 31,950 words

When young Lord Anthony Stark learns Steven Rogers has enlisted in the army, he thinks he's seen the last of his tiny, headstrong, haughty stable boy. But four years later, Lord Stark gets an unexpected visit from Steve, whose mother has fallen gravely ill and into financial ruin. Even more unexpected, Steve agrees to a shocking proposal: they will marry, giving Steve the necessary funds to save his mother, and Tony the much-needed reprieve from harassing would-be suitors. It is a business arrangement, nothing more. But as time goes on and circumstances arise, Tony begins to learn that keeping his heart away from his husband is easier said than done.

♡ Love in a Time of Amnesia by Amuly - T | 6,241 words

Carol might have lost all her memories of her friends, but there's at least one thing she can know with absolute certainty: Steve and Tony are a couple. And if the rest of the Avengers insist on saying they're not, well: Carol will just have to put her amnesia to use, for the greater good.

♡ L☆VE by copperbadge - M | 3,773 words

Steve's favorite shirt is at the center of a debate about masculinity, sexuality, and whether or not he did in fact steal it like a thief in the night from Tony.

♡ Meet Your Heroes by Wordsplat - M | 4,130 words

Tony gets rescued by a highly concerned, very handsy Captain America. This is confusing for a number of reasons.

Momentary Paws (or, DO NOT WANT) by velithya - T | 16,834 words

WTF KITTEN

♡ Mr. July by jibrailis - E | 10,065 words

Tony is the only one who can defend Steve's virtue. Tony hates his life.

♡ Neanderthals In Tights (Also Known As a Football Game) by Wordsplat - T | 3,228 words

In which Tony supports Steve at his first big football game, with guest appearances by an exasperated Pepper and an embarrassed Bruce, because yeah, okay, maybe Tony's not really one hundred percent clear on the rules of this game. Why, exactly, are a bunch of neanderthals tackling his boyfriend again?

one hundred percent skill, fifty percent luck by kellifer_fic - T | 7,418 words

Where there is a poker game, a v-card and general misunderstandings

Orbiter Dictum by schmevil - T | 7,357 words

Steve is at the sink, washing the few dishes that pizza for two generates, when he realizes that Tony is in love with him.

Our Weight In Gold by ann2who - E | 33,607 words

It was every cliché he’d ever heard about. Every sappy thing they wrote down in the magazines, every single thing he had always hated about the myth. It was as though he had experienced life without sight, and was suddenly bombarded by a storm of color. It was all-consuming, and rushing through his veins like molten lava, like his whole existence was suddenly filled with sunlight. A door opened, and a myriad of emotions stormed through his body: confusion, disbelief, loneliness, and so much fierce determination that it almost knocked Tony off his feet. And he understood then, understood that these emotions weren’t his. They were Rogers’.

This is a story about fate, self-doubt, choice and eventually—love.

Over Sea, Under Stars by vorkosigan - T | 36,651 words

Tony gets the phone, but he never uses it and he never intends to. Or, he doesn’t until Steve starts texting him, asking strange questions about medication and mental health, which is when Tony gets worried.

♡ Phil Coulson's Case Files of the Toasterverse - works rated mostly G-T, | 287,890 words in series

Short stories from the Toasterverse

Place Your Bets by RurouniHime - M | 35,999 words

Steve Rogers may or may not have just picked up a prostitute. This may or may not be Tony Stark’s fault.

♡ Pulse, Beat, and Measure (series) by Sineala - E | 134,095 words in series

Two men. Two worlds. Life during wartime.

Ready, Fire, Aim (series) by gyzym - M | 63,019 words in series

There's no "I" in "Avenger."

♡ Relativistic Heat Conduction (series) by BlossomsintheMist - E | 70,484 words in series

Age of Ultron-based, but not entirely canon compliant. Written for the 2013 Cap-Iron Man Reverse Big Bang. Ultron has attacked, obliterating most of the world's superheroes and resistance in a matter of hours. The remaining heroes band together and share what strength they have to get through it, to survive, and defeat Ultron once and for all. Steve Rogers grieves in the wake of the disaster and the heroes' defeat, and no one knows if he will be able to provide the leadership they need--but Tony Stark isn't about to let him slip away that easily.

♡ Rom-Commed By Fate (Or JARVIS) by leashy_bebes - E | 14,387 words

The best thing about being an Artificial Intelligence is the ability to parse, filter and modify the things people say until you've got the cause to do exactly what you wanted in the first place. Or, in which JARVIS cock blocks Tony into having an actual relationship.

♡ Run Program: {x} by Amuly - M | 19,728 words

Taking care of Tony is a lot of work. Especially when you’ve only got one arm. And your code dates back to the 1980s.

♡ Secrets of a Successful Marriage by valtyr - E | 24,118 words

Tony Stark lives a double life; he's secretly the supervillain known as Iron Man. But his loving husband Steve has a few secrets of his own, as Tony is about to discover.

♡ SexyMechanic70 by Potrix - T | 2,449 words

“SexyMechanic70,” Natasha reads aloud, nodding approvingly.“Sounds promising,” Clint offers.“And look,” Bucky adds, “he didn’t even send a dick pic! And he praised your sketch which, by the way, is a totally lame icon choice.”Steve snatches his phone back, batting Bucky’s hands away when he struggles to reach for it again. “Cut it out,” he grouses. “Also, excuse me for not posting a picture of my abs.”“A true tragedy,” Sam sighs, earning himself an indignant squawk from Bucky and a betrayed look from Steve. “What? I’m just saying. They’re great abs.”“True,” Nat hums and bumps the fist Clint is holding out to her.

♡ Sixpence In His Shoe by scifigrl47 - M | 103,682 words

Steve and Tony should really read the fine print on what they're signing. Then again, some mistakes are not really mistakes.

♡ Soul Bomb by copperbadge - T | 1,944 words

Suddenly everyone in Manhattan has someone else's voice in their head. Tony got Steve's, for his sins.

♡ Stand Back, I'm Going To Try Science by Good_News_Everyone - T | 2,123 words

Soulmates are a rare and cherished thing, a simple touch of hands bringing love that lasts forever. By all the rules of romance, they're meant to wait for each other and to trust in the vagaries of fate to bring them together. Tony's never been good at waiting, and when he has science on his side, who needs fate?

♡ Start as You Mean to Go On by BlackEyedGirl - E | 2,612 words

Tony gets that the others think this is an ego thing - the way he can’t resist pushing Steve’s buttons. Honest-to-God, the guy just bugs him. Mostly because Steve is distractingly perfect, but a little bit because of the family history.

♡ Steve Rogers Is (Not) A Morning Person by theappleppielifestyle - Not Rated | 1,161 words

Dream, Steve decides. With that comforting knowledge, Steve takes Tony's face in his hands and kisses him.

(Spoilers: it isn't a dream.)

Steve Rogers Takes Offense and the World Gets Schooled by RurouniHime - T | 2,463 words

In which Steve has no idea how that got up on BuzzFeed (aka, because some people don't respond to anything but the direct approach.)

♡ Syzygy (a Kludged Together remix) by Mizzy - T | 20,198 words

When Tony Stark cut Steve Rogers' morning jog short to join him on a reconnaissance mission off the East Coast, Tony sure wasn’t expecting to end up stuck on a life raft in the middle of the ocean, Steve's hand knuckle-deep in his chest.

♡ Tales of the Bots by scifigrl47 (series) - most works rated M | 523,654 words

When Tony Stark was seventeen years old, he built his first AI. On that day, he ceased to be his father's creation, and became a creating force in his own right.

That one act likely saved his life, and not always in the most obvious ways.

The Best Policy by cylobaby27 - M | 22,724 words

Tony Stark breezes through life on bluster and bullshit. When he gets hit by a truth spell, he locks himself away in his workshop so he can find a way to reverse it without anyone finding out. So why can't he say no when Steve keeps asking to spend time with him?

♡ the family you choose by theappleppielifestyle - Not Rated | 7,385 words

“Just who exactly was my son making out with in a closet?”

“Tony Stark.”Huh.“You might know him,” Fury continues, and Sarah nods, furiously biting at her cheek so she doesn’t do something awful, like giggle.

♡ The Forever-Nighter by Wordsplat - T | 10,172 words

When Rhodey decides that Tony's been slacking lately and drags him along to the gym, Tony's fully prepared to duck right back out the door the first time Rhodey turns around. Then he sees Hot Blond Guy.

♡ The Last Love Song of Anthony E. Stark by jibrailis - M | 42,327 words

After contracting an Asgardian virus, Tony starts forgetting things. And people. And Steve.

♡ The Opposite of a Problem by Sineala - T | 2,490 words

"I promise to love, honor, and probably not obey you, and, uh, take you as my totally-unlawfully-wedded husband, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, until death do us part, or for at least the next seventy-two hours."

(Or: Tony and Steve get fake-married for the sake of the mission.)

♡ The Tchotchke Cha Cha by Arukou - T | 7,269 words

What started off as one impulse buy souvenir snowballs into a constant flow of knickknacks from all over the world, and Steve is starting to wonder if it's more than just Tony being nice.

♡ The Twice-Told Tale by arysteia - E | 15,789 words

For someone he'd hero-worshipped for so long, Steve Rogers in the flesh is a pretty big disappointment. For one thing, he keeps looking at Tony as though he reminds him of someone else, and even if he never says anything, Tony's pretty sure it's his father. A lifetime of not measuring up to Howard's expectations is more than enough, thank you very much, and he's certainly not going to make an effort to live up to any of Steve's. Steve's pretty clearly failed to live up to his expectations, in any case, and that's not hypocritical at all.

Think of This as Solving Problems (That Should Never Have Occurred) by Sineala - T | 35,216 words

No one knows Tony is Iron Man. Then Tony gets amnesia, and literally no one knows Tony is Iron Man.

♡ Toasted Buns by copperbadge, scifigrl47 - E | 47,044 words

After seeing Tony naked and tanned -- all over -- in a decontamination shower, Steve realizes he may be in trouble. Tony, meanwhile, is definitely in trouble over those tabloid pictures of him sunbathing nude. The solution is clearly a tropical island getaway.

♡ Tony Stark Falls In Love With A Cat by shellhead - M | 6,887 words

When Steve goes missing, Tony ends up finding him at an animal shelter. Volunteering.

♡ Tony Stark and the Super Sleeper, or actually, Soldier by RurouniHime - T | 8,571 words

The one where Steve keeps falling asleep on Tony.

♡ Tony Stark Takes a Liberty and the Universe Thanks Him by RurouniHime - T | 1,512 words

In which people think they are entitled to Steve Roger's face (aka, because tomorrow is coming, and I hold out hope, Supreme Court.)

♡ Toy Soldiers by copperbadge - E | 44,241

When Steve Rogers, five foot four and a hundred and ten pounds, met Tony Stark in a bar, he didn't expect it to lead to a relationship. Or that Tony would find out he's not an art student during a SHIELD rescue mission in Afghanistan.

♡ Truth by valtyr - E | 2,677 words

Captain America takes truth serum. Tony is all over that.

♡ Two Out of Three (Ain't Bad) by plingo_kat - T | 9,449 words

It blindsides him one morning in the middle of his customary third cup of coffee; Steve walks through the door in loose cotton pants, shirt pulled up to wipe the sweat off his face from his usual morning workout, and Tony thinks: adorable.

♡ Unveil My Unsightly Heart by Mizzy - M | 43,019 words

Looking over an old prototype helicarrier for its future viability as a base for the Avengers should have just been a routine day full of bickering and non-adventure for Steve Rogers and Tony Stark.

But when they're catapulted into an alternate universe – where their alternate selves are married and battling with a mysterious threat – the two are forced to get over their differences in order to figure out what's going on, before it's too late.

Because there's more going on than meets the eye, and Steve and Tony falling in love might just be the most dangerous thing that can happen. Not just for one universe, but for all of them…

Wait & Sea by Lenalena - E | 53,244 words

In which Tony and Steve get sent on an undercover mission aboard a cruise ship to make contact with Hydra. In this AU the military has kept the discovery and defrosting of Captain America a secret, so Steve and Tony have never met before. Yet they are to pose as newlyweds....

Wash It All Away by ann2who - E | 8,634 words

Steve hummed, looking up at him. “All right. Strip.” Tony blinked at him. “Excuse me?” “Can’t very well wash your clothes while you wear ‘em,” he said and held out a hand expectantly.

What You Don't Know by Sineala - E | 9,808 words

In 1941, two strangers meet in a bar. And then Captain America meets Iron Man. And then Steve Rogers meets Tony Stark. They get it right. Eventually. And also they fall out of an airplane.

♡ when i run out of road, you bring me home by quidhitch - M | 18,466 words

“Oh, I won’t bother you.” The tone of Steve’s voice implies that he definitely will be bothering Tony, aggressively and frequently. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll keep to my farm, you keep to yours. Solitude together.”

Tony opens his mouth to argue that that’s not how this works, but he snaps it shut at the realization that Steven Grant Rogers is fucking with him. That twinkle in his eye has accelerated into a full-on glimmer, and the ends of his lips are twitching. Jesus, he hates this man. Or maybe he wishes he did. Tony can’t really tell the difference anymore.

♡ When I think about you by sirona - E | 11,955

Five times someone saw Steve sass the hell out of Tony and one time Tony finally bought a clue. Also known as the story of Captain Sasspants more than handling his own with Tony Stark at his most devious.

♡ When I Think (Oh, it Terrifies Me) by celli - E | 8,641 words

Look, some mornings you wake up and little green men are invading New York City; some mornings you wake up and you can hear Captain America's voice in your head. Tony has been an Avenger long enough that he saves his freakout for important things.

♡ will we ever say the words we're feeling by theappleppielifestyle - Not Rated | 1,673 words

He breaks off then, the realization of what he’s just revealed finally hitting him, and he stops, and Tony’s still staring.

(Or, Steve and Tony argue and Steve lets something slip.)

♡ With Words Other Than These by RurouniHime - E | 14,690 words

The way Steve’s beating that bag, though—Tony traces the cadence as well as the lines of Steve’s body, and wonders if he might not need to know about the mission after all. There’s a lot of tension knotted in Steve’s shoulders, a frenzy to each punch. The precision lacks. Maybe Steve’s just getting started, and if that’s the case, Tony could be here a long, long while.

with you by laireshi - M | 3,108 words

Sometimes Steve gets overwhelmed by how much he loves Tony.

Your Name on Every Wall by Sineala - T | 17,863 words

The Time Gem throws Steve into the past rather than the future, and in doing so, it gives him the opportunity to undo his past mistakes. But when it turns out that all of his mistakes involve Tony Stark, Steve begins to wonder if he's ever going to be able to mend things between them.

---

Hey, the list did have to end at some point! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed these recs!

Tagging some people who might be interested:

@divine529, @sabrecmcstonyficrecs, @sineala, @ishipallthings, @itsallavengers, @nasafic, @estebanrxgers, @starksnstripes, @goodmorningbeloved, @goose-danvers

#stevetony #stony #stony fic rec #stevetony fic rec #stevetony rec list #stony rec list #superhusbands #my fic recs #fic rec

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saerran-choi · 5 years

Text

Please.Not Her. Part 4

Plot: When the twins are rescued by V and Rika, they’re younger sister (Y/N) goes with them, and is taken with Saeran to Mint eye. There, they are then rescued by Vanderwood and Seven, to which, (Y/N) and Vanderwood begin a interesting friendship. Will it end in something more or will it all burn down?

This story contained spoilers for Another Story and the Secret Endings as well as Sevens Route. Please be wary.

CONTAINES TRIGGERS: suicidal thoughts, self harm, torturing, drugs, and mentions of rape. This is not a light story. Please read at your own risk. Not all parts will contain the triggers, but I’d like to mark them all. Please be wary.

REMEMBER: Luna is (Y/N)’s alternate personality who comes out when (Y/N) is in danger or scared. (Y/N) has very little control over her, but still has some.

“Listen here, you’re gonna tell us what we want to know. I don’t care if we have to drag you to hell and back to find these agents” the lead agent says. “So, Luna. Or whatever the hell your name is, what is it gonna take”

“Oh, wow. Flirting with me and I don’t even know your name” Luna/(Y/N) says, grinning. Her teeth were a bright pink, stained with blood from the earlier attacks. She seems to enjoy it just a bit, as she takes her tongue and licks the top row of teeth, maintaining eye contact with the leader. He cringes and seems to be disgusted.

“You want to know my name? Then you’re gonna have to tell me a few things first. I’ll trade you, information for information”

“You know what? If I was an idiot I’d take the deal, but I think I’ll just call you Jared.” She says chuckling. He flinched just a bit when she says the name. “Oh? Did I actually guess right? What a pathetic name”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“I guess I hit a nerve there. Did your parents hate you Jared? Naming you that must have really screwed up your childhood”

“I’ll make you suffer so terribly you’ll wish you’d never said that name” Jared spits, venom laced with every word.

“Good. I love a little bit of foreplay.” The cold air seem to rush out of the room, replaced with a scorching heat of rage as the two glared daggers at the other, silently daring the other to make a move. Jared stands up straighter and heads towards the door.

“No water for 3 days or food for a week. Up the dosage of the elixir. And take out a few more nails. We’ll get this bitch to talk. One way or another”. The sound of the door scraping are all the girl hears, before the second in command agent, the brunette, walks in, a pair of bloodied pliers and a shit eating grin. The blood had to have been hers, from the earlier 5 fingernails removed, and from digging it into her bullet wounded ankle.

“Let’s begin, shall we”

The bright red convertible raced down the streets, the color clashing with the black asphalt. Normally the roof would be down and the music would blast, but this time, deafening silence sits inside the car. The sound of the engine is the only thing heard, all three men lost inside their own heads. Artillery laid across the two remaining seats in the back, next to the mint eyed twin. The unspoken question rang in each of their heads. Would she even be alive if they found her? No. When they found her.

“Vanderwood?” Saeyoung, the driver, pipes up, breaking the tense silence with his question. Vanderwood looks over, making eye contact with the previous hacker. “When we get her back. I- no. Saeran and I give you permission to be with her”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I know the way you look at (Y/N) and the way you to act. You guys are in love. Cherish it. And I swear if you hurt her-“

“That will never happen” Vanderwood interrupts, avoiding saying anything about the, love, part of the conversation, not wanting to face the facts. He had some feeling whenever he was around her. Butterflies as some people call it. The feeling of always wanting the best for her, wanting her safe. Always happy to be around her, and when she’s gone, he looks for the day he can see her again. He wants to hold her, be around her, and for her to be his. But not love. He isn’t capable for love, that isn’t love. That’s just what friends feel.

“Vanderwood!” The loud shout brings him back to reality, looking towards the twins shouting at him. The car had been stopped, and they were parked outside a compound, the grey concrete contrasted brightly against the bright sun.

"We all know the plan correct?” Everyone nods, and Saeyoung grabs a small handgun and holsters it to his chest, proceeding to grab another and set it in the holster by his hip.

“Good. Let’s go get my baby sister back.”

The cries of pain is the sound that echoes throughout the hallway. Each nail, individually ripped out, slowly. The nerves protected under the nails revealed, much more sensitive and painful to the touch. The wound in her ankle was infected, the pulsing of it, and the constant pain, she doubts she’d be able to walk for a long time. The agents had left her alone to wallow in her pain, to sit in absolute silence and darkness. They had upped the dosage of the elixer given, and (Y/N) could barely keep control over Luna. Once Luna was fully out, no one would be safe. But her brothers were coming. She just had to held on.

Luna normally only came out when (Y/N) was given elixer, but with the previous experiences at Mint Eye and the recovery, she could control that alternate personality better. But with the change in dosage and the more she was given, the less of the control she held.

Gunshots. That’s the one sound that breaks the silence. At first it’s one, then two, then six. Something was happening. Something big. She pulls against the chains and cries out in pain from the shackle around her ankle tightening, pressing more into her ankle. Fresh tears pour down her face as she leans her head down, her bloodied covering her face. She can’t stop the flow of tears freely falling now, as she wails. Luna has officially gone away, the threat of torture seemed to be gone, and Luna was not needed.

The door slams open, and (Y/N) jumps, the chain instantly tightening from the movement as she cries out once again.

“Shit shit shit” a voice repeats. The pain is becoming searing hot, and the edge of her vision begins to blacken. “Hey. Hey, (Y/N). You gotta stay with me”

“Vandy?” The haze around her mind allowed her to recognize the voice.

“Yeah. It’s me sweetheart. I’m gonna get you out of here. You’re gonna be okay” the repetition of the statement is more of a reassurance for him than for her. She was alive. (Y/N)’s eyes begin to close, as the fatigue sets in.

“Hey hey. You gotta stay awake for me”

“So tired”

“Hey!” The door slams open again, and saeyoung and Saeran run in.

“Vanderwood. We gotta go.”

“I have to get the shackle off of her”

“Who are you” he looks at (Y/N), her eyes half lidded.

“Sae?”

“Answer” Saeran demands.

“It’s me sae. She’s gonna take over. You guys have to go”

“We’re not leaving you” all three men says, almost in unison.

“Then you gotta knock, knock” she seems to struggle for words. “Ugh. Little princess wants to keep me asleep” “Luna! Go away” the girl seems to have an argument with herself on the verge of passing out. Her eyes suddenly open wide, before she smiles.

“Little princess couldn’t win”

“Luna”. Saeran spits, looking towards the girl as Vanderwood works on the chains and Saeyoung guards the door.

“Ray? Oh sorry I forgot. Hello Saeran. It’s been a while”

“Bring her back”

“No can do captain. You know what brings us about. You’re stuck with me for a while.” She turns to look towards Vanderwood. “Oh oh oh. Who’s this hunk of meat? When you get me out of here I can greatly repay you” She says, licking her lips.

“Shut up. We’re getting you out of here for (Y/N)s sake, and we’ll get rid of you soon”

“I don’t think so. I’ve come out here to protect her.”

“From what?” Saeyoung speaks up, coming away from the door. “We’re here now. She’s safe. You can leave”

“You don’t know what’s going on in her mind. What happened in here. She’s terrified of her own skin.” As she finishes her sentence, a click is heard and the shackle falls off with a loud clank.

“Got it. I’ll grab her. Let’s go” Vanderwood scoops up (Y/N) /Luna and carries her bridal style to try and keep pressure off of her ankle. She wraps her arms around his neck and smiles.

“You’re so strong” she purrs, smiling.

“Shut it” is all he replies, heading out the door, and looking around, making sure they were in the clear. Bodies littered the floor, thanks to the twins.

“Oh come on, I’m pretty much her, I have all the same thoughts she does. I can tell you everything she thinks about you”

“I don’t care.”

“You will. The adoration she feels for you, the love she has. She wants you, but knows you wouldn’t want her back. But she doesn’t think you’ll accept her, especially because she’s been defiled”

“What the hell does that mean”

“The things they did in there to her. It was not pretty.” Luna says, before making a face contorted in pain. “Hey-what are you”

“(Y/N)?” The girl gasps and crises out in pain, regaining control, and feeling the effects of the wounds.

“Vandy” she sighs, seeing his face as they finally reach the outside. All three men bolt to the car, twins getting in the front and Vanderwood taking (Y/N) to the back with him. Before they can even buckle up, Saeyoung has his pedal all the way to the floor, and sped out of the area. It was a few miles before anyone said anything.

“(Y/N)?” Vanderwood asks, finally noticing the girl laying beside him, her head on his lap, had been silently crying. “Hey, hey you’re okay” he says. Both brothers had remained silent, knowing they couldn’t do anything.

“I’m sorry” the girl whispers, her voice cracking and faint. It was then that Vanderwood could finally take in her appearance. She was extremely pale, and extremely thin, about 20lbs lighter than she was before. Blood ran down her fingers and her legs, in her hair and all around her mouth. She had deep and light cuts and bruises littering her body, and very little clothing covering her body.

“Saeyoung”

“I’m on it” the golden eyed twin says, hits the pedal harder, the acceleration picking up, moving the car faster. Vanderwood turns his attention towards the small girl.

“What are you sorry for?”

“I couldn’t stop them.”

“It’s not your fault sweetheart. You’ll be okay, I promise, we’ll get you fixed up right away, and you’ll be good as new”. The girls eyes begin to flutter, and Vanderwood taps her cheek lightly. “Hey. You gotta stay awake”

“I’m sorry Vandy” she says, slightly slurring her words. “I’m sorry”

“For what?”

“I wanted you. I like you” she starts and he smiles.

“I like you too sweetheart”

“No. I like like you. I wanted to save myself. But they took it.”

“Took what?” But he knew the words she would say, and the put in his stomach grew even more.

“They took my innocence. They forced me, i didn’t want it. But they wouldnt stop. No matter what I said or did.”. After those words, her eyelids flutter shut, and her breathing begins to shallow, and the time in between breaths seems to grow.

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smolbeandrabbles · 5 years

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Science & Faith Pt.3 - Talos/Keller (Captain Marvel: AU)

Part 1 / Part 2

Authors Note: This part became so much more a transitional “between phase” part than it really was... AGAIN I wrote one part of this 3 days before I saw the movie. So. Here we are again, changing some canon. Talos made Keller up. The fact that Keller isn’t a “real” human is so important to this part that I needed to keep it like that. Or Maliyah would just try to find him. (Not that it would work out, but that’s where her head is at.) Disclaimer: MAJOR TIMELINE CONDENSE!!! I’m talking Captain Marvel -> Guardian’s of The Galaxy Vol 1/Vol 2 happening with a few years of each other. Premise: Talos struggles with his identity; who he is and who she wants him to be. Maliyah will have to grow up and face the consequences of her decisions sooner or later, but is she ready to let Jonathan Keller go?

Words: 4333 Warnings: Much more obvious sexual connotations / Nothing much else this series is kinda tame... ALTERNATE UNIVERSE USED Not Reader Insert

Are you out there with the stars, all alone Is there someone in your arms – I don’t know? Baby, I hate this Space Come back to me, pull me down like Gravity. Baby Please, Tell me that you hate this, tell me you can’t take this Space Screaming at the moon, How the hell am I supposed to be without you? The world just keeps spinning and you just keep living Your life without me Baby I hate this Space.

---

Don't worry about the damage done Just let those words roll off your tongue Even if you're lyin' If you really don't mean it, I don't care… Baby, I'm begging you to lead me on, Say it feels good to be back in my arms And then don't call me… Baby, take your hands, take your lies And lay 'em on me Well couldn't you, Say you do Say you might, For tonight Have a heart, Bend the truth Even if you don't, Couldn't you Mess me up, Get in my head Steal my t-shirt, Wreck my bed All night long, Like you used to Even if you don't, Couldn't you, Say you do? ---

With nothing to keep Talos on Earth, he did the one thing he could do. Everywhere he looked he was reminded of her. He couldn't live in that apartment alone… With the lab, and the tech within it, he knew he could at least give his people a better life. And with help from Carol and Nick it wasn't long before he was leaving Earth, and Keller, behind...

For a Kree (Human?) Carol wasn't half bad. Finding the Skrulls a new planet to settle on and checking in every so often. Still, the threat of her race was always imminent and, he couldn't keep Maliyah out of his head. He spent a lot of time meandering the galaxy with his closest and best. He'd sometimes pick up news about Xandar, they were warring with the Kree now too, and wonder if she'd gone home. Every time she came flooding back, he felt a pull to her that he had to try so very hard to resist. And it was getting harder...

** “Skrulls! Why do you think Skrulls are here!?!’ Yoel tried to keep the worry out of his voice “Two things spring to mind. One; the Kree. We both have problems there. And Two; this infinity stone we now have to protect...” “The infinity stone? Why?!” “Didn’t they use one for all their tech? The light speed engine? Wasn’t that one…?” “...?! How’d you know that?!” “When someone starts mentioning infinity stones you tend to start listening out for things...” “What can they do with ours?” “It sounds more like a political asylum Kree thing. I wouldn’t worry too much!”

Maliyah and Yoel wandered down to the docked ship, he was a few paces behind her and trying to compose himself. The nervousness she could feel on him was making her almost crack up laughing. She doubted this would be the dangerous encounter he was clearly playing out in his head. When they reached the vessel he’d calmed his nerves enough to not shake as he stood to attention. Maliyah was too cool and relaxed, as always.

She looked between the two guards at the ramp to the ship, neither of which was the ranking officer. “Gentleman. My name is Maliyah Saal, the Denarian of the Nova Corp.” Yoel attempted to correct her, she was one half of a partnership. Day was never much good at military; he took care of everything else, but she had her brothers’ tendencies to keep military peace. Just the movement of her head swore Yoel back to silence. “May I speak to your commanding officer?” “You will be speaking to him through us.” She raised an eyebrow with a wry smile “See, Gentlemen, that just isn’t gonna work. I will need to speak to your commanding officer.” “How do we know you’re not going to try anything.” Fair question, but she was still smiling “Put it this way, you’re here for political asylum. You don’t get it if I don’t speak to your officer. Secondly, if I was going to do anything - your ship wouldn’t even have landed.” She could feel Yoel’s exasperation but ignored it. Maliyah never pretended to be good at politics. She preferred to cut straight to it. She folded her arms as the two guards looked to each other, they leaned in and murmured something, then nodding one boarded the ship. There. That was more like it! He came back a few moments later; “Our general will grant you an audience.” Now, that was certainly the wrong way around. But Maliyah held her tongue. Why had they asked her to do this!? It took another few minutes for him to descend the ramp. Probably because it’d taken him that long to process the information that his lieutenant had just imparted to him. This was not the Saal he expected to be facing.

She stood at the bottom; arms folded as if he was taking up all her time. Talos almost grinned, she was still his Maliyah. He looked between her and her companion. Standing straight, jacket and collar neat, straight pants, no scuff marks on his shoes. She was still his Maliyah alright. Now dressed in Nova Corp uniform; jacket open, Navy shirt underneath, emblazoned with ‘NOVA’ in white. Her heavy-duty flight pants tucked into her boots. Talos’ heart nearly stopped again, and then swelled. Tucked into the front of her shirt, unmistakably, were Keller’s glasses. He knew it. A part of her just would not let Keller go. That gave him hope, maybe, just maybe he could work this out. How badly he’d wanted to see her again... She was gorgeous... She was still so gorgeous. But, by the look on her face, she had no idea who he was. And his heart ached. It didn’t surprise him. The last time she’d seen him he’d been a little shorter, blue eyes, grey hair, human. Now he was about as inhuman as he thought he could get... He stopped at the bottom of the ramp, no less than 5 paces from her. Tall; the black and purple leather fitted him nicely enough for her to see he was built well, built strong, for war. A real General, not a name tag. Maliyah would still bet she’d take him in a fair fight. His eyes were a deeper shade of purple than hers; and continued into patterns across his skin.

She nodded to herself, satisfied, and addressed him with a small smile; “General, my name is Maliyah Saal. The Nova Corp military head of operations. I shall be your escort for the duration of your stay on Xandar... May I ask the exact reason for you being here.” She felt Yoel become nervous; she defiantly was not supposed to say that. The Skrull only smiled; “Ms.Saal. I am General Talos. As you may have been briefed, we are here for political reasons and would appreciate an audience with your Nova Prime.” Maliyah nodded “Already been granted” “However. With the problems we both have with the Kree I’m sure a tactical session would not go amiss.” HA-! At that she did turn to Yoel. See—!! SEE!! She liked this guy already. Talos... Where has she heard that before... Ah! Yes! Talos the untamed... She laughed and his heart threatened to get the better of his head. She took a step forward, holding out her hand; “Well, General Talos! Welcome to Xandar. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.” “I believe so, Denarian Saal.” He took her hand to shake it. But as soon as his skin connected with hers she gasped. Suddenly images flashed before her eyes. Moments she thought she’d never see again. Keller. He flooded her head and her heart, and she couldn’t escape it. Every emotion she’d felt for him engulfed her senses and it was as pleasurable as it was painful. It lasted only a few seconds but it felt like a lifetime. Why!? Why now?? Why was Keller coming back to her now?

She hoped it had not crossed her face, but it was clear it had, by the way everyone was looking at her. Maliyah let his hand go and took a few steps back. She looked back to his face - now she only had questions. She shrugged her shoulders gently and flexed her neck, it’s okay. It’s just a phase. It’s just something... Maliyah calm down! She cleared her throat; luckily further officers had arrived “General, my team will be happy to escort you to your meeting...” Talos nodded, but he was worried by the look she was giving him. Had he just hurt her...? What had happened…? She kept her eyes on him until she turned and then hurriedly walked back the way she had come, her companion had to run to keep up.

“Maliyah what the hell was that?!” Her head was cloudy, spinning, she didn’t know what was going on “I don’t know! I don’t KNOW!!” She tried to shake Keller away but it wasn’t happening. “Are you okay?” “Do you think I’m okay?!” She continued walking; why did she feel like she needed to put distance between them, and right now? It all clicked as she ascended the stairs. Skrulls were shapeshifters. They could take on any form they wanted. HOW COULD SHE BE SO STUPID!! No wonder Keller could take that hit, if that was what he really looked like. She stopped on the top step, rolling her sleeves up; there was the undeniable proof. Sparking across her skin, sporadically, were all his colours. Her blood ran cold again, heart pounding, and Yoel noticed. “Maliyah! That looks like a problem.” She rolled her sleeves down in her best attempt to ignore it, to deny it, but she couldn’t. Maliyah turned back; Talos was still watching her. Of course he was. Because he WAS Keller. The human she’d fallen so hard for was a Skrull. And not just a Skrull, he couldn’t be just ANY Skrull, he was a top General with one hell of a reputation. Damn it. Damn him. He didn’t get to walk back into her life again after what he’d done to her!!! “I think I’m gonna have much bigger problems than that.”

* Talos could tell something was amiss all meeting. Maliyah refused to acknowledge him. She was boarderline hostile – and it was confusing. Everyone had seen her greet them warmly. But it only served to hurt him; he knew she knew. Why else would she change so suddenly? Every suggestion he made Maliyah continuously put down, or picked holes in – all without looking at or addressing him correctly. Even the Xandarian leader, Nova Prime, looked like she was wondering exactly what was going on. The only problem was, Maliyah only seemed to fuel caution with the other military officials. Which set Talos on edge.

Maliyah didn’t like that Reis was agreeing with her. She was glaring at him across the table. She had her reasons. He’d always hated her for jumping rank. It was because Xandar needed Saal. It wasn’t ready to lose Garthan. And she was just Gatharn 2.0 . Maliyah’s older brother had always been her idol. She borderline worshipped him. Of course they needed her, she was almost an exact copy. And she now outranked Reis. But she never understood how someone could be so narrow minded. Every time Talos talked her skin threw Keller's colours up, because her race recognised that what made Keller was present. But without his markers to latch onto it could only spark and not ignite. Eventually, Yoel realised it was bothering her, and tried to take her away from the main table discussion to take her mind off it. “What’s going on with your colours?” She sighed “…I send out electrical waves all the time. If my significant other is close enough then I light up. That's simple. The connection is always there. It just depends how deep the connection is... What’s happening to me? Those waves are finding everything that made up Keller. But... Not Keller’s DNA markers, the waves bounce. My genetics don’t understand why they can’t find Keller even though he's there. They send the wave again. I know why I can't find Keller, my genes don’t. And this constant back and forth is starting to make me feel sick...” "…Which one is he?" "I've only touched one of ‘em..."

Talos straightened his tie and smoothed out his hair. From what he’d been told this should be Maliyah’s apartment. He knocked, and she opened it. Instantly his colours ran over her body. She hadn’t expected this. And she almost smiled; he was missing something though. On purpose, because he knew she had them. Maliyah pulled his glasses from her shirt and pushed them delicately back into place. Her heart was aching for all the wrong reasons. Keller she missed, his voice, his emotion, the way he felt... She missed letting herself get wrapped up in him. For barely a second her smile was there. The one she always gave him. It was gone nearly as quick but it made his head spin, his heart swell and him hold out for hope just a little while longer... This wasn’t real. Keller wasn’t real. Under all that his name was Talos and that wasn’t what he looked like. Keller’s colours dimmed but he noticed they didn’t cease as she leant against her door frame. “Well. This just makes things complicated...”

** “What’s it like...?” It was the first time Maliyah had ever been interested. The first time she had asked. Just because she accepted it doesn’t mean she liked it.

He was breathless. Sometimes being human was not all it was cracked up to be. But she wouldn’t have him as anything else. Sometimes she looked weary of him, like he might decide to change at any second... “What?” He panted it “Changing? Living your life as someone else...” He thought on it for a minute on the silence of regaining his breath. These past few weeks she hadn’t asked, she’d barely spoken. His name always blended for her now. Sometimes she would call him by his real name. That never meant she really wanted to see him though... “...It’s... what my race does. I’m used to it. Changing can be painful...” he held up his hands and looked at them “Rearranging every strand of DNA to become this...? It’s not easy... and just as hard to sustain...” He took another deep breath, thinking better of making it sound like it was tough for him to do this and keep her happy. “But when do you ever get to be you...?” He thought that question was odd. Coming from her. “When my work is done.” “... Why Jonathan?” She asked it almost in spite - like it was his fault she fell in love. It was not a question he could answer easily. Pulling together pieces of human beings he’d observed and his own thoughts had led him to create this body. There was nothing else about it. Jonathan was not a person that Talos had met or ever seen. What Maliyah was really asking was, was Jonathan ever a human, could I be with a real human. He almost laughed; “You like him.” “You didn’t make him for me.” “I wish I did...” he bit his lip, staring hard at the ceiling lights. She took his hands in hers. And her skin flared back into his bright colours. Or Jonathan’s. He didn’t know if they would be different. Maliyah reacting with Talos as Talos was hostile. And her skin seemed to spark, rather than ignite. Maybe there was more human to his DNA structure than he had thought. Jonathan Keller made her feel comfortable around him, which is what he wanted. But it wasn’t the same. She didn’t want him to love her she just wanted company. Maliyah Saal was using him and he knew it. But he didn’t want it to stop. Around his wrist he had tied the chain upon which rested the North Star symbol she had worn previously. She’d given it to Jonathan as a promise, she might one day have to leave but she would love him forever. When she could, she would return... Unless he found a way into the stars first, then it would lead him back to her. It WAS a North Star. Talos had never taken it off. No matter what he’d shifted into, that Star remained. He’d broken her heart and he was sure she still hated him for that, but he still loved her. She’d given her heart, her soul, her body... everything to Keller. And all he’d given back was her heart in pieces.

He let her keep her hand in his; studying his skin like she could see his DNA for herself, how she slid her hand down to his wrist and she gathered the star between her fingers. He wondered if she would ask for it back... It held too much significance. The human man she thought she knew was a safe place. He was safe because he WAS human. She had given Jonathan that star, because he was the only one worthy of keeping it... But he’d only let her down… Talos risked a look over to her. But her expression was unreadable. She ran her tongue over her lips and let the Star go; it rang against the chain, for a second the only sound in the room. She sighed, sounding upset and rolled so her back was to him.

He opened his mouth, thinking about reaching out for her. He withdrew his hand, he didn’t dare sigh in the same way, instead shifting his head so he could see from her apartment window. The rolling glass buildings only seems to domino from here to the edge of Xandar’s main city. At the far end was the port, where his ship was docked. He’d come to Xandar on pretences; the enemy of my enemy… The Kree were good for that. Only, he’d expected Garthan Saal. Garthan was dead. Maliyah was now in charge… The meetings thus hadn’t gone well. Still, he’d put himself through the painful process of becoming Jonathan again. It had worked only because Maliyah had wanted to feel something. Yondu and Garthan were gone. And their deaths had torn her apart in a different way. Talos had already pulled her to pieces; so, what else could he do?

At least she wouldn’t let Jonathan go; it didn’t surprise him that Maliyah kept his glasses. She’d always liked stealing them, innocent and playful. When he tried to retrieve them, she would kiss him. And it became her favourite game. They were now on her person all the time, and he noticed she would use them to push her hair back when concentrating on screens.

The sun had risen, casting everything in a watery glow. She should’ve been getting out of here. Dressing without another word and leaving him. That’s what she had done every morning since she’d let him into her world. Pretending it was like before when it wasn’t even a shade of the same...

Something held her here this morning. He turned back; the markings that made up her colours were more prominent on her naked skin when something had hurt her. She’d felt the pain of death now. She’d felt Talos’ pain ever since their first night together on Earth. But it also meant his were the only colours left. The patterns were his... and his alone...

This time he did reach out for her; because he would do anything to fix this. He would do anything to make Maliyah happy again. She gasped at the feel of his hand pressed flat against her back, and her colours burned differently. “Please don’t...” It was almost a whimper. “I want to fix this...” There was a jolt. Something else, and the colours changed for a good minute as he spoke his native tongue... “You can’t fix it!!” She rolled, holding herself above him by her arm. “Nothing was ever broken, because Jonathan was never real... You can’t fix this because you are not him, you have never been him and you will never be the man I loved.” Her breathing was heavy. And she shook her head; “I don’t want you to try and fix it.” He felt defeated. She was right and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. “...Why...? I can be this, I can be him. All the time... for YOU.” It pained him that hurt ran through his voice. “... But I know you are not. So you should stop trying...” She swallowed hard, “you need to start again...” He ran his fingers up her arms, intent on studying them, rather than the look in her eyes that was killing him. “Then tell me how...” He breathed; Talos wanted to feel her. That was all he wanted... “Show me.” He looked to her face then, unsure of quite what she meant, “Show me who you really are.” “I have.” And she didn’t like it very much. She shook her head, like she was accepting something for herself; “Start again...” she took his hands and placed them on her hips. Jonathan’s colours began to roll lower on her, and she watched his blue eyes darken as he traced them down her body. “Show me... who you really are...” He hesitated “You will not- you want this...” “Yes.” She agreed “I want Jonathan. Of course I want Jonathan. But he is not YOU. Talos-” It hit something and she could see it on his face, that she had used his name “- Show me YOU...If you want these Colours to mean something. Then I need you...” She leant forward, this time her purple eyes wishing to stare into his; “Not the man you are pretending to be...”

***

She was half-dressed, turned away from him. Watching the waves of colour wash over her skin. These were all his. Nothing about them was Keller. He wondered what she could be thinking. And she was thinking. She was so obviously thinking. He knew her; the way she had her arms wrapped around herself like that... Talos was hesitant to say anything, but, he wanted to take her mind off things; if that was possible. “How long does that last?” He thought he knew the answer from Keller, but Keller hadn’t always been able to be around. “24 hours. One full day. And I can’t do anything about it...” she sighed, and then looked at her hands “... This is my DNA adjusting to yours...” he thought he glimpsed half a smile, “now I get you as both Keller and Talos. I didn’t think that was a possible thing. But here we are...” She placed her hands on her hips and sighed again; this a different kind of sigh. She still wasn’t looking at him though. She placed a hand absentmindedly on her stomach and he guessed why her sigh was; “You know... It’s not unlikely that our races would be compatible...” There was immediate tension in her that made her straighten “... We have been known to mate with other races. And, with the way your DNA-” he stopped as she turned and glared at him. Okay. Wrong thing to say. “Do you have any idea what that child would go through!? It wouldn’t even know what it was!!!” His colours didn’t fade but their vibrancy let him know she was angry. “Maliyah I was only...” “Well don’t!!” Her race had banned the mixing of genetics when it had started dying out. Every half-Auron that had been taken back to Aauraa, they attempted to successfully breed out the other race. Maliyah turned away from him for a second and bit her lip; what would children with him even look like? Like him? That was likely. Would they have her ability to create light patterns? Would they be able to shapeshift? What if they couldn’t do either? That would likely make them outcasts in both races. She couldn’t have that happen. She was unusual enough on Xandar, and she actually looked like the races here. “I’m sorry.” She looked back to him “Don’t be. I know why you told me that... But, I don’t think I could handle what that would do to a child...” gathering her Nova Corp jacket, she slipped her feet into her boots and paused at her door. “Talos, I...” There was a shake in her voice that made him stand and walk to her. She turned, her eyes were almost brimming with tears “I don’t think this is a good idea... and I tried ... I -I’m sorry...” He placed his hands either side of her against the door; “No... Maliyah... don’t cry... Please don’t make me watch you cry...” He already had; and the last time was not something he wanted to remember. He placed his forehead against her tentatively; shocking her colours into new shades, and making her elicit a gasp. The way he cupped her face in his hands and let out another one of those purry growls that she recognised from Keller. Not a human trait. But a Skrull one. So he had told her. He had tried to tell her. She just hadn’t been listening...

Suddenly she had to pull away; she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Maliyah opened her door - breathing ragged and irregular; “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She slipped through her doorway and closed it “No-! Maliyah! Wait!” Silence, and her running footsteps up the hallway was the only answer Talos was met with. He let out a frustrated sigh, resting his head against the door she’d just walked through. How long could she keep running from this? He wasn’t even sure what she was sorry for. Was that like telling him she couldn’t love him? No, no, no. He wouldn’t allow himself to believe that. Something else was going on.

Maliyah stopped at the end of a corridor she didn’t even realise she’d run into. What, now she was just going to physically run away from him? Wasn’t doing that once before enough? If she was trying to be oblivious and numb to the fact she was hurting him, she was way beyond that. She cursed herself; she’d run from problems all her life and she couldn’t face THIS one!? She leant against the wall for a minute, closing her eyes, focusing on the way she was really feeling - everything under her surface panic, that was currently processing his DNA... because that felt good. And if her genetics accepted his, (sure-fire, it’d accepts Keller’s) whether Talos was carbon based or not his DNA was generated to change. He literally had the perfect DNA to bond to hers. She groaned, pushing her head back against the wall; now even she didn’t know what she was running from.

When Maliyah opened her eyes again Reis was standing in front of her. She didn’t like the look on his face. She straightened, regarding him. He smirked in a way that made her feel sick, and shook his head “Oh. Maliyah… You’ve only gone and done it…” She knew immediately he was referring to the colours washing over her skin. They would be almost impossible to hide, even if she wore her uniform properly. And Talos was shades of purple and green, because of course he was. “…They are a slave race. You know? To the Kree…” He sighed, “Then again, I shouldn’t expect better from you, you aren’t even from Xandar.” “Watch your mouth, Reis. They are here under our protection. I hold rank over you, and I am not beyond disciplining you. And what…? Like Xandarian’s DON’T have problems with the Kree?” “We were never slaves. And none of us have ever given our body to a Skrull.” If she snapped, she’d be no better than him. Still, her temper was the one thing about her that was nothing like Garthan. He was stoic. She reacted to EVERYTHING. (He’d always taken advantage of that. They made a good team). Her Yaka arrow glowed ominously, which only made him laugh; “Or a Centurian for that matter. Come to think of it, were they not slaves once too? Is that all your race is good for? Hell… Maliyah… I’m surprised we haven’t sent you back to your planet already. If all you’re good for is that…. Isn’t that what they want out of you anyway?” He was still shaking his head as he walked away Breathe--! He’ll use it against you! God. It’d feel so good though…

She glared after him as he continued walking. And made her own snap decision. Talos talked about fixing this all the time. Well, now was the occasion for Maliyah to do some fixing of her own…

Like. Who the F is this Asshole and what is he trying to do!? Well, you’ll have to wait for Part 4! @mfolcore ❤

#talos #keller #Captain Marvel #Ben Mendelsohn #MCU AU #Talos x OC #I split this weird between 3 and 4 and I realise that #BUUUUUT it makes part 4 a much more solid piece and this a lot less bloated #ANYWAYS part 4 should follow quick! It's complete too!! Just gotta edit!#GET EM MALIYAH!#Talos just one more try just ONE more try and it'll work out baby honest...#She just needs a little...#25 #Maliyah #Science & Faith

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whiteterrorists · 5 years

Text

A black principal, four white teens and the ‘senior prank’ that became a hate crime

By Jessica Contrera July 9, 2019

The principal saw a swastika first. It was inky black, spray painted on a trash can just beside the entrance to the high school. David Burton switched off the engine of his SUV, unaware, even then, of the magnitude of what he was about to see.

This was the last day of the year for the class of 2018 at Glenelg High School. There was going to be an awards ceremony, a picnic, that end-of-a-journey feeling that always made Burton so proud of his job. But as he was on his way to work at 6:25 a.m., the assistant principal had called, agitated and yelling about graffiti. “It’s everywhere,” he kept saying, so Burton had leaned on the gas and rushed the last few miles.

Soon, everyone would be telling him how shocked they were. This was Howard County, after all: a Maryland suburb between Washington and Baltimore that is extremely diverse, extremely well-educated and home to Columbia, a planned community founded on the principles of integration and inclusion. People moved their families here for that reputation just as much as for the good schools.

“Pleasantville,” Burton liked to call it, but as a black man, and as the principal of the county’s only majority-white school, he knew this place was more complicated. When he stepped out into the bright spring day, he confronted the reality of just how much more.

Beneath his dress shoes, there were more swastikas. Spray painted around them were crude drawings of penises.

Then Burton saw the letters “KKK.” He saw the word “Fuck” again and again next to the words “Jews,” “Fags,” “Nigs” and “Burton.”

He kept walking, following the graffiti around the building’s perimeter. It was on the sidewalks, the trash cans, the loading dock, the stadium around back. There were more than 100 markings in total, though he didn’t bother to count.

He turned a corner and saw something written in large capital letters on the sidewalk: “BURTON IS A NIGGER.”

He paused only for a moment, looking at the words, trying to comprehend that all of this was real.

Later, school district officials, county administrators and prosecutors would have a name for what happened here. They would repeat it, condemn it and vow to prevent it from occurring again. Hate crime.

The phrase has become inescapable as hate-fueled incidents have spiked across the country. A quarter of all hate crimes reported to the FBI, more than any other category, are similar to the attack discovered at Glenelg on May 24, 2018. Vandalism and destruction of property, a physical marking of an age-old threat: You don’t belong here.

The majority are repaired, washed away or painted over without anyone arrested. When the perpetrators are caught, they are rarely charged with a hate crime. Here, there would be consequences, and with them, a division between those who wanted to confront the racism in their midst and those determined to explain it away.

But first, Burton, 50 years old and dressed in one of his best black suits, would walk back over the graffiti, retreat into his office, close the door and pray.

His staff scrambled to cover the spray paint with tarps, carpet pads, anything they could find. The maintenance team searched for a sandblaster. But there was too much to cover and too little time before the students and parents began arriving. The seniors were wearing red caps and gowns, ready for their awards ceremony. Everyone was directed to alternative entrances, away from the worst of the damage. But photos of the graffiti were already being texted, emailed and Snapchatted.

In the auditorium, Imani Nokuri looked for her family, who had come to see her perform the national anthem. She was one of fewer than 20 black students in the class of more than 260 seniors. She and her younger sister, a freshman at Glenelg, had been rapid-fire texting all morning, comforting each other. But when Imani saw the look of deep concern her grandmother gave her, she forced a smile onto her face. “It’s okay,” she promised. “I’m fine.”

In the central office, teachers who had led diversity and empathy training for students were crying. Police were arriving, asking to see security footage. Phones were ringing with calls from reporters. Photos of the damage were about to be broadcast on TV, making their way into homes across the region.

In one of those homes, 72-year-old Susan Sands-Joseph was watching. She knew Glenelg well. She was one of the first black students to attend the school after desegregation. Suddenly, all the memories that she tried not to dwell on were dredged up again: the words she was called, the tomatoes thrown at her head, the looks her parents gave her when she came home saying scalding hot soup had been pushed into her lap again. “It’s okay,” she had promised them. “I’m fine.”

By the time the awards ceremony was about to begin, Principal Burton had rewritten the speech he had been planning to give. “We are not going to let this ruin your celebration,” he would now tell students.

He emerged from his office with notes clutched in his hand and stopped to check in with the police. The security footage, they told Burton, confirmed what he had suspected.

The principal entered the auditorium to a burst of applause. He stepped up to the podium. He stood before his students, looked out into their faces and felt certain: The people who did this were looking back at him.

Seth Taylor tipped his head down so his graduation cap would block his view of the podium. It felt, he said later, like the principal was staring right at him. But he and the others hadhidden their faces behind masks the night before, Seth reminded himself. How could anyone know they were the ones who had done it?All morning, he had been replaying the vandalism in his mind. He’d been at his buddy Matt Lipp’s house, where the parents of all their friends had gathered the evening of May 23 to sort out the details of Senior Week. The teens’ parents had rented them a house in Ocean City, the annual destination for thousands of local students celebrating graduation, and were divvying up tasks: who would drive the group to the beach, who would stock their fridge, who would cook them dinners before leaving them for a week of beer pong, sunburns and meetups with houses full of girls.Afterward, Seth stayed to watch a Washington Capitals playoff game. He loved these kinds of nights and, really, everything about high school. Cheering crowds at his football and baseball games, late-night Xbox sessions, fishing trips, parties in their parents’ basements. He could do without the academic part — he was a B student, at best — but he was planning to join the Army Reserve and maybe go to community college.With him at Matt’s was Josh Shaffer, a hockey player he’d been friends with since seventh grade, and Tyler Curtiss, the baseball team captain who had been homecoming king and prom king.Matt and Josh declined interview requests, but Seth and Tyler agreed to talk to The Washington Post about the vandalism. When they tell the story of that evening, they start with the end of the Caps game, when everyone but Seth was deep into a supply of Bud Light, and the conversation turned, once again, to their senior prank.

Seth Taylor

Tyler Curtiss

Tyler wanted to superglue locks. Seth suggested they grease up three pigs and release them into the school.

Or, somebody said, they could go spray paint the words “Class of 2018.”

Within minutes, they were driving to the school with spray paint from Matt’s parents’ garage. They parked at the church next door, tied T-shirts into masks over their faces and sprinted through the woods.

A shake of the can, the smell of fumes. The words went down easily, just as they had planned: “Class of 2018,” they wrote across the sidewalk.

And then Seth watched as Josh wrote something else: “BURTON IS A” it began.

Later, this was the moment he agonized over — the point at which he could have turned back. “I wish I said something, like, ‘This is stupid, guys. It’s not worth it. We could actually get in trouble for this.’”

Why he didn’t, he would always struggle to explain: “I don’t know. Everyone was doing it. We didn’t realize the consequences.”

“It was just spray paint. It just happened. It is all a blur.”

The blur went on for about seven minutes, during which all of them sprayed something hateful. Josh targeted the principal. Matt attacked Jewish, gay and black people. Tyler drew two swastikas. Seth drew swastikas, “fags” and “KKK.”

When a car drove by, they leaped behind the brick columns near the front entrance, hiding. A moment later, they started spraying again.

Finally, they ran back to their cars. They chucked their paint cans in the woods. They swore to each other that they would never admit what they did.

Seth came home to a quiet house. His sister was away at college, his father was on a business trip, and his mother was asleep. He went to the fridge and found the breakfast she had made for him to eat the next morning. Seth popped the eggs into the microwave. When he went to grab them, the plate slipped. The hot eggs tumbled onto his arms and legs. The shock somehow made it hit him. What had he just done?

Panicked, he started Googling:

“How long do you go to jail for vandalism?”

And then: “Can you get a hate crime for painting swastikas?”

Now he was sitting in the Glenelg auditorium, thinking about what he’d told his mom. Early that morning, she’d received an email from the school informing parents about the graffiti. Horrified, she texted Seth, warning him what he would find when he arrived at the awards ceremony.

“Who would do that?” he had texted back.

And in a sense, he meant it. He had already begun to separate what he’d done from who he believed himself to be. He hadn’t intended to hurt anyone, he said. He would always maintain he wasn’t an anti-Semite, a homophobe or a racist.

From the podium a voice said: “Tyler Curtiss.”

Seth looked up. His friend was walking toward the stage. But Tyler wasn’t getting in trouble. He was accepting an athletic leadership award. He was walking across the stage and shaking the principal’s hand.

Seth felt a tap on his shoulder. The athletic director was standing over him. “Seth,” he said quietly. “You need to come with me.”

Seth followed him out, trying not to look at his classmates. On the other side of the auditorium doors, two police officers were waiting to take him to the office of the school resource officer, Steve Willingham.

On the TV screen inside was security footage from the night before. Seth could see his own stout frame, paint can in hand, frozen in high definition.

“I bet you don’t want to see that, do you?” he remembers Willingham saying.

“No,” Seth answered.

“Do you know why you’re in here?”

“Yes,” Seth said. He didn’t know then that the officers had been strategic in pulling him out first. Willingham had coached Seth’s sister in soccer. He was friends with Seth’s dad. He suspected that of all the boys, Seth was the most likely to confess.

It took only one question: “What happened?”

“Things got out of hand,” Seth recalls telling him. “I was under the impression we were going to do a prank, and it got bad.”

He started to cry. He would be the only one who immediately admitted what they did. The others, court records show, would deny it. Tyler wished Willingham good luck in finding out who did it.

Eventually they were told: The school’s WiFi system requires students to use individual IDs to get online. After they log in once, their phones automatically connect whenever they are on campus.

At 11:35 p.m. on May 23, the students’ IDs began auto-connecting to the WiFi. It took only a few clicks to find out exactly who was beneath those T-shirt masks.

“You have the right to remain silent,” an officer said to Seth before long. “Anything you say or do . . . ”

They told him to remove his graduation cap and gown. They cuffed his arms behind his back.

Seth realized they were about to march him outside, past the windows of the cafeteria. By now it would be filled with students eating lunch.

“Can you cover my face so that the kids don’t videotape me?” he asked.

“No,” an officer replied. “You deserve this.”

By the end of the day, charges had been filed. Not just vandalism and destruction of property, but a hate crime. Prosecutors believed the young men had committed their acts with animosity toward protected groups — and that they could prove it. In Maryland, that meant that the punishment could be intensified. It meant they were looking at up to six years of incarceration.

Before they were released from jail that night, the four students watched on a small TV screen outside their holding cell while their crime was broadcast on the local news — as it would be over and over in the coming days. Viewers saw four white teens, scowling at the camera, and the school system’s superintendent vowing at a news conference to hold them accountable.

“Howard County stands out as a place where diversity and acceptance are cherished,” Michael Martirano said. It sounded like something any superintendent would say. But here, many knew, it came with a story: one taught to children in school, bragged about to visitors and proclaimed on signs.

In the early 1960s, before the Fair Housing Act and the legalization of interracial marriage in Maryland, a white developer named James Rouse began purchasing huge swaths of Howard County farmland to build a planned community named Columbia.

He envisioned it as a mixed-race, mixed-income utopia. “The next America,” he called it, and although racial tensions could never be completely erased, to many people, that is what it became. Today, the suburb — home to a third of the county’s 300,000 residents — is renowned for its ethnic diversity, interracial marriages, interfaith centers and high-achieving schools. It appears frequently on national “Best Places to Live” lists.

Most are unaware of the history that came before Columbia. The farmland Rouse purchased included former slave-holding plantations. An estimated 2,800 people were enslaved in the county at the beginning of the Civil War. A century later, when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that schools must be desegregated, Howard County was so resistant that it took more than a decade for the black-only school, Harriet Tubman, to close its doors. The opposition to black students learning alongside white ones was so fierce, a cross was burned. It happened outside a school dance at Glenelg High School.

Glenelg is in western Howard, the most rural part of the county, then and now. While the rest of Howard’s high schools have no racial majority, 76 percent of Glenelg students are white.

On the news that night, though, only students of color were interviewed.

“It’s just a small number of students who decide to make these decisions that negatively impact the image of our school,” one said.

“This is not representative of what Glenelg stands for,” said another.

That week, after Seth, Tyler, Matt and Josh were released from jail without having to pay bail, their classmates began to argue over whether those statements were true.

Tyler Hebron, a senior who was president of the school’s black student union, typed her feelings into an Instagram post. “It shouldn’t have taken this event to occur for us to observe the hateful actions of our peers,” she remembers writing. “We shouldn’t say we are surprised. We are not.”

During her freshman year, a student flew a Confederate flag at a football game. Swastikas were scratched into the bathroom stalls. In 2017, someone had written the n-word and Principal Burton’s name on a baseball dugout. She had heard boys play a game to see who could yell the n-word the loudest. To her, this crime was just high-profile proof of the hostility she had always felt.

Soon, comments started appearing beneath her Instagram post.

“You’re racist,” one said. “All you do is blame straight white males.”

The night before graduation, she found herself thinking about whether she should pack pepper spray in her purse. She wasn’t sure, she told her parents, that she felt safe.

Among black families like hers, there were doubts that the white teens would face the kind of punishment black teens receive for similar crimes. Two years earlier, a group of students had painted swastikas on a historic black schoolhouse in Northern Virginia. A Loudoun County judge sentenced them not to jail time or community service, but to reading: along with visiting the Holocaust museum, each had to choose a single book about Nazi Germany or the Jim Crow era and write a report on it.

Two black families came to Burton and told him they were pulling their kids out of Glenelg before the next school year. The principal tried to persuade them not to go.

But in his own house, his wife, Katrina, was wondering if he should leave, too.

They had two daughters to think about, an eighth-grader and a senior at another Howard County high school, who on the day of the hate crime had come home and collapsed in her mother’s arms, sobbing. Katrina knew about the parents who warned Burton not to talk about the incident in his speech at the graduation ceremony, and watched as some of them refused to stand and clap for him that day.

“Are you safe?” she kept asking her husband.

There had been so many incidents in his life that had made Burton question just that. When he was 16, and the parents of a white friend in his Michigan hometown called him the n-word. In college, when he and his fraternity brothers were pulled over and questioned by a group of white cops seemingly for no reason. At a convenience store in South Carolina just a few years ago, when a hostile clerk refused to serve him and his family.

But inside a school, he was an authority figure, the man in charge. For most of his career, he’d led schools in Prince George’s and Howard counties filled with students of color.

And then to his surprise, he was asked in 2016 to leave Howard County’s Long Reach High School, where a third of the students are black, and take over at Glenelg, where less than 5 percent are black. Here, he suspected, it would take time to win over the community.

He started standing in the halls every morning and every class break, looking students in the eye as he said hello. He attended as many games and plays and art shows as he could. He made sure the swastikas scratched in the bathroom were documented and investigated, but quietly, to avoid giving those who drew them the attention they were seeking.

After two years, he felt that he had earned the respect of this place, and these people. They welcomed him when he arrived at the annual end-of-the-year celebration for the senior class at an Ellicott City resort. Parents gave him hugs and thanked him for what he had done for their kids.

That night, he learned that one senior had been caught trying to order alcohol at the bar. The student was kicked out of the event, but the next day, Burton decided he didn’t want to be overly harsh in his punishment.

“Even though you did this, I am going to allow you to go to the school picnic,” he told the teen.

Less than a week later, it was the same student, Josh Shaffer, who would scrawl Burton’s name and the n-word onto the sidewalk.

“The person you married is not about to cower,” the principal told his wife. He wouldn’t be leaving Glenelg.

He could use the summer, he thought, to plan what he was going to do the following school year, the message he needed to send.

And if the prosecutors sought his help in holding his students accountable, he knew what his answer would be.

Every time Seth walked from the parking lot of the Howard County Circuit Court to its entrance, he passed a small, decaying building with barred windows and a slanted roof. He rushed by with his head down, passing a plaque that explained the structure's history. Here, slaves who'd tried to run to freedom were held before being returned to the people who owned them.

In late March, Seth entered the courthouse dressed in one of his father’s suits, accompanied by his parents. It was his final appearance in front of the judge overseeing all four Glenelg cases: William V. Tucker, a black man with a reputation for his interest in the way the criminal justice system handles young people.

One by one, they had come before him and pleaded guilty, or been found guilty after agreeing to a statement of facts.

Two of them had tried to have the hate-crime charges dismissed. Their attorneys claimed that their First Amendment rights were being violated. They could be punished for the vandalism, the argument went, but not for what they wrote.

It didn’t work.

Now, it was Tucker’s job to answer a question the community had been debating for nearly a year: What consequences did these young men, now 19, deserve?

They hadn’t been allowed to walk at graduation. Their post-high-school plans had been derailed, and they were working in landscaping, asbestos removal and, in Seth’s case, office furniture construction. Their names and mug shots were seared into Howard County’s memory and the Internet’s search results. It was up to Tucker to decide whether, on top of that, they should spend time in jail.

His view became clear when Joshua Shaffer was the first to be sentenced on March 8, 2019. Seth stayed home and kept refreshing his Internet browser, waiting for news. Finally, the local TV station published a video: Josh was being walked out of the courthouse in cuffs. He had been sentenced to three years of probation, 250 hours of community service and 18 consecutive weekends in Howard County Jail.

Seth’s parents called his attorney, Debra Saltz, in a panic. His case was different, she reminded them. He was different. They just had to persuade the judge to see that.

Saltz stood in court that March morning and pointed to her client.

“Your honor, I truly believe justice and mercy call on us to consider who he is,” she said. “And I believe it requires the court to consider what has happened in his life, what he has done since May 24.”

Seth, she explained, had been working to make amends. He’d completed 181 hours of community service. He’d written an apology letter to Principal Burton. He’d visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and volunteered at the Jewish Museum of Maryland. He’d spent time with an African American pastor and attended regular diversity training with an African American counselor.

He did it all with the support of his parents, who had spent the year agonizing over how their son could have done something so heinous. Seth’s father, Scott Taylor, stood to tell the judge he blamed himself.

“The letters ‘KKK’ were painted on the school. Seth didn’t understand the pain, suffering and terror associated with those letters, because I never told him,” the father said. “I never told him how the Klan used to collect money after church in my neighborhood when I was growing up in the South, and how they would stand in the road like the fire department.”

“I’ve come to realize I did fail,” he continued. “It’s not what I said in my home; it’s what I didn’t say.”

When it was Seth’s turn to speak, he assured his parents that it was not their fault.

“You taught me better,” he said. “This isn’t who you raised.”

He apologized to the principal and to the communities he hurt.

“It was the worst decision I have ever made in my entire life. What I did there keeps me up at night. I deserve whatever punishment I get,” he said. “I have worked hard since that day to show my family, my school, my community and Principal Burton how sorry I am.”

Seth said he just wanted all of them to understand: He is not a racist.

Later, he would explain himself this way: “I never really understood the symbol of the swastika. I knew it was wrong to plaster it somewhere. I didn’t learn exactly what [the Nazis] were doing to the Jews until I went to the Holocaust Museum. I never learned that they were mutilated. I knew that they were, like, burned. But I never learned that they had experiments done on them, were injected with diseases. The school didn’t include that. They just included the burning and the train cars.”

His understanding of the KKK was limited, too, he said. “Some people think it’s just a word, or a symbol or three letters put together. . . . But they were lynching people, hurting people for no good reason.”

Now, he said, he knows. But he still doesn’t believe his actions that night make him a bigot.

“I spray paint one racist thing and, suddenly, I become a racist? Just because I did it doesn’t mean I hate Jews, gay people or black people.”

He was standing before the judge, pleading guilty to a hate crime, but he would not admit that he harbored any hate.

All around him, the adults agreed.

“He will forever be known as the racist kid at Glenelg, but that’s not who Seth is,” his father said in court that day.

“I told him that his act was racist, but don’t let it define him as a racist. He can and I pray that he will go on and do better,” Maxwell Ware, the African American pastor he met with, wrote in a letter supporting him.

“He is not a racist . . . he has a good heart,” his attorney told the judge.

Behind her, Principal Burton was listening. He’d heard Joshua Shaffer’s attorney give a similar speech. When Matthew Lipp was sentenced, he would hear it then too. Tyler Curtiss had written it in a Facebook apology the day after the crime. Tyler, Burton knew, had turned to Jesus, joining a church where he talked openly about the swastikas he painted that night. He had spent months telling his story to Jewish congregations, interfaith groups and the county’s board of rabbis. Come the day of his sentencing, Tyler would say: “I hold no hatred toward any human being, especially those in the communities that were affected.”

They all believed it was possible to do what they did without really meaning it.

Burton wanted to look them in the eye and say: “You did something very racist. How you don’t think you’re a racist, I don’t know.”

What he did know was what they’d been taught in school: Glenelg covered the Holocaust and the Klan in detail, in U.S. history and American government and world history and in the books they read for language arts.

He believed what possessed them to draw those words and symbols that night wasn’t a lack of knowledge, but something deeper, something ugly, something taught to them, consciously or unconsciously, along the way. If they couldn’t admit that now, maybe they never would. But it wasn’t his responsibility to educate them any more.

When it was Burton’s turn to speak at Seth’s sentencing, he didn’t say the word “racism.” He talked about all the people the crime had affected — the teachers crying in his office, the parents who pulled their kids out of his school, his daughter in tears, and for just a few moments, himself: “I know I give up my time, my effort, I give up my life for my students,” he said. “I think the only thing I am asking in return is just a little bit of respect.”

The courtroom waited in silence for Judge Tucker to reach his decision. Seth kept his gaze on the table. His father rubbed his mother’s back.

“I appreciate the fact that you are now trying to show that you are not a racist, that you committed a racist act,” Tucker finally told Seth. “But part of what I need to do is punish you. So the sentence is going to be as follows.”

Three years probation. Two hundred fifty hours in community service. And nine consecutive weekends in jail.

“A normal weekend incarceration is Friday 6 p.m. to Sunday 6 p.m.,” Tucker said. It was a Thursday. “For this weekend, it begins today.”

A black sheriff’s deputy stepped behind Seth and pulled out her handcuffs. His mother began to cry.

“Alright, Mr. Taylor, good luck to you,” the judge said, and the metal closed around Seth’s wrists.

Six weeks later, Seth backed his car out of his parents' driveway, headed to his final weekend in jail.

Good behavior during his weekends locked up meant he had to serve only two-thirds of them.

The following weekend, Tyler Curtiss, who had painted two swastikas, would finish his weekends, five in all.

Matt Lipp, whose graffiti attacked Jewish, black and gay people, would serve 11 of the 16 he was sentenced to. He has filed an appeal, still arguing that his First Amendment rights had been violated.

Josh Shaffer, who targeted the principal, was sentenced to the most jail time: 18 weekends. He would serve 12.

All four will be eligible to get the hate crimes expunged from their record when their probation is finished.

Together they had figured out how to navigate their 48-hour stints locked up: how to make the time pass, how to hide their toilet paper so it wouldn’t be stolen, what to do when the other inmates threw dominoes at their heads.

Seth didn’t know the names of the people who gave them trouble, but he had nicknames he made up for them. “String Bean,” for the tall, lanky one. “Pistachio” for the one with the mustache.“

Two black kids who just do not like us,” he called them.

Now he drove past the high school, yawning as he turned toward the highway. He’d been up late the night before, playing Mortal Kombat with strangers on his Xbox. He felt comfortable there, behind the anonymity of his username. He didn’t feel that way anywhere in Howard County. He grew nervous anytime he saw a person of color, wondering if they recognized him and knew what he had done.

He didn’t think anyone would recognize him come Monday, when he was going to start a new job in a heating and cooling apprenticeship program an hour away. It was going to pay $14 an hour. If he liked it, he might get his HVAC license. And then in three years when his probation was over, he thought he might move to Florida. Do some fishing. Start over.

He pulled into the jail parking lot 20 minutes early, switched off his engine and pulled out his phone. He turned on Kodak Black, who started rapping about “nigga s---.”

A truck pulled up beside him and Seth rolled down his passenger window.

“Hey,” he called to Josh. The two were the only ones in the group who had stayed close friends. During the week, they went to the gym together late at night, when they wouldn’t see other people.

“You ready to play three hours of checkers?” Josh asked.

“I’m finding a book, man,” Seth said. “I can’t play Uno again. I’m never playing Uno again in my life as soon as I leave this jail.”

Josh pulled out a can of tobacco dip. Seth took a hit from his strawberry-flavored Juul. They sat there until Josh said, “You ready?” and then Seth followed him inside.

The principal steered into the high school lot a month later and parked in the same spot he had a year before. He stepped out of his SUV in one of his best black suits. It was the last day of school for the class of 2019.

Once again, there was going to be an awards ceremony and a picnic, but this year, there was no graffiti waiting for him.

In the weeks since his former students were sent to jail, he and his wife had been asked again and again what they thought of the punishment. People were outraged — either that the young men had received a “slap on the wrist” or that they had been so persecuted. Burton wouldn’t take a side. “To me, it felt like a crime,” he said. “But what happens because of that crime is not up to me to figure out.”

He had to focus on his 1,200 current students: the LGBTQ kids who still felt isolated. The Jewish girl who told the local paper she still wishes she could transfer. Whoever was still scrawling swastikas on the bathroom stalls.

In the past year, he’d created a task force of diverse students to work on the school’s climate. Soon every freshman would go through an empathy workshop. And nearly 40 of his employees had spent the year meeting to discuss the book “Waking Up White,” a memoir of a white woman who comes to understand that racism is a system that she had been shaped by and contributed to her entire life without even realizing it. Maybe, he thought, that lesson would get passed on to Glenelg’s students.

But on this morning, his job was to celebrate his seniors. He stood outside as they arrived in their red caps and gowns. Their parents and grandparents followed behind, cameras in hand.

Then he saw it: this year’s version of a senior prank. A tractor was pulling into the parking lot. On the front was an old couch bolted to the forklift, a sign that read “2019,” and a few students sprawled on the cushions. On the back was a blue flag. “TRUMP,” it read, “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

The assistant principal set off after them, and Burton decided to let him handle it. Instead he made his way to the auditorium. He stepped up to the podium, looking out at his students’ faces. Then their names were called, and they came on stage to shake his hand.

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averagemarvelbitch · 5 years

Text

Undercover Love / STONY

Summary: The hospital bills keep on coming and Steve doesn’t know how to help his mother. He decides the army is his best bet. Destiny has a different idea, though, and puts Dr. Erskine and Project Rebirth on his path. Soon, he becomes Captain America and a special forces SHIELD agent with a dream team, ready to take on even the most dangerous missions.

A few years later, Director Carter’s nephew is kidnapped by the Ten Rings and it’s Captain America and the Avengers to the rescue! Falling in love with said nephew wasn’t on Steve’s plans, but he isn’t complaining.

Director Carter might complain. If she ever finds out.

TAGS: Secret Agents AU / Stony / Alternate Universe

Chapters: 3/?

---

The Strategic Homeland Intervention and Enforcement Logistics Division, also known as SHIELD, was a secret organization. In fact, they were so secret that most agents, even the ones with a high level clearance, didn’t know who they worked for. Steve and Bucky were both Level 7 in the scale, being outranked only by their handler, Agent Coulson, Commander Hill and Deputy Director Fury. SHIELD believed in compartmentalizing every piece of information. Nobody spills our secrets, Fury once explained to them after a particularly bad mission, because no one knows them all. It wasn’t something Steve was comfortable with, to be honest, but he learned to live with it all the same. And so, every agent, from level 1 to 9, knew a little piece of information that the others didn’t know. There was only one thing none of them knew: the Director’s identity.

The name and face of the Director of SHIELD was such a well kept secret that it had become a bit of a legend amongst the agents. Some said he was a military man who had singlehandedly fought against the enemy’s forces and emerged victorious, saving Fury in the process, who had lost an eye during said battle. Others said he was, in fact, the President of the United States and SHIELD was just a cover for the government to do in secret things it couldn’t do in public. And then there were the agents who thought the Director was actually Nick Fury himself and he was just trying to create some sort of mystique around his true identity. Steve had heard all of these theories in the last five years he’d worked for SHIELD. He had even created some himself when curiosity got the best of him. Maybe it said something about him that not once, in all these years, he pictured the fearsome Director of SHIELD as a beautiful brunette wearing bright red lipstick.

Steve discreetly looked around the table, trying to read his fellow agents. The red headed woman sitting next to him seemed unfazed by Fury’s introduction of the Director at first glance, but Steve could swear he’d noticed her eyebrows going slightly up for a moment before she schooled her features once more. The man on her side, however, had no such reservations. His eyes were wide, mouth hanging open, and he stayed like that for a few good seconds before the red head not so subtly kicked him in the chin, as if trying to remind the poor sap to be at least somewhat professional about the whole ordeal. Steve didn’t need to see Bucky’s face at all; his soft holy shit was reaction enough.

“Well, I believe I do not need to reinforce how absolutely vital it is that my identity remains a secret”, the woman said with a faded English accent, taking a seat in front of them, “And I will be so very cross if this particular secret leaves this room”, she looked at each one of them for a moment before continuing to speak. “Very well. You have been chosen for this mission not only because of your skills and frankly stellar records, but because, according to Deputy Director Fury, Commander Hill and Agent Coulson, you are trustworthy. This mission is not just about SHIELD security, it’s also… personal to me”.

“So that’s why we were contacted through the super secret channel”, the blonde man said as if he’d just had an epiphany.

“Precisely, Agent Barton. Agent Coulson, if you please”.

Agent Coulson got up, buttoning his suit, and walked towards the wall, where a map suddenly appeared.

“Yesterday, at approximately twelve hundred hours, the Director’s nephew, known as The Mechanic, disappeared nearby the Kunar Province, in Afghanistan”, Coulson explained, marking the spot in the map, ”He was being escorted by American soldiers back to the Bagram Air Base after a missile presentation when his convoy was attacked by members of a group known as the Ten Rings”.

“Shit”, Bucky swore softly under his breath just as Natasha exhaled, her shoulders suddenly going stiff with tension.

“The terrorist group has made no contact with neither family nor work relations of the prisoner, which leads us to believe that they are not interested in money. The Mechanic is quite the ingenious engineer and is the sole developer of most of the technology SHIELD uses, including our weapons, communication equipment and espionage gadgets. If this information fell in the wrong hands, it could mean the end of SHIELD”.

“Your mission”, the Director continued, making all agents turn their full attention to her once more, “is to locate my nephew and bring him home. Alive”, she added, stressing the last word. “You will fly to Bagram Air Base, where you will meet Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes. He will accompany you in your searches. Are there any questions?”

When none of the agents said anything, she nodded sharply. “Good luck, agents. I trust you’ll bring my nephew back to me as soon as possible”.

“You leave in fifteen minutes”, Fury suddenly said from behind them with a forceful tone, making everyone but Natasha jump on their chairs, “Get up, gear up, and meet me at Deck 03. Go”.

---

Pain. That was all Tony knew in that moment. A kind of pain that he’d never experienced before in his life, the kind that burned his insides, twisted his guts and pressed on his bones, as if wanting to break them into tiny pieces. He trashed around the small cot, or at least he tried to. He turned his head to look at his hands and found both were bound by metal chains. His breathing became even more erratic and he felt the tears streaming down his face as he tried to scream through the rag stuffed in his mouth.

A man suddenly appeared on his line of vision. He looked at Tony with semi closed eyes and a frown, his lips pressed thin against each other. He said something in another language, something the young engineer couldn’t quite understand. Another voice filled the room, replying to whatever the man with kind eyes had said. The man looked regretful for a moment, turning his eyes to the scalpel in his hand and then back to Tony. He sighed.

“This will hurt, Mr. Stark. But it is the only way to save your life. I am very sorry”, he whispered softly near Tony’s ear before nodding to someone. Immediately, two strong hands took hold of the engineer’s head from behind, holding him in place. All he could see was the filthy ceiling. His eyes followed the small light bulb going back and forth, as if trying to hypnotize him. And then he felt it. Something sharp and cold and hard cutting through the skin in his chest. He screamed, closing his hands with such force that the nails pierced the palm. The cutting continued, and so did the pain. Tony could feel his heart beating faster than ever in his ears. He felt the sweat coming off his skin, the bile rising in his throat as he so desperately tried to keep it down. They’re cutting me open, he thought, wide eyes going from one side to the other, they’re cutting me open.

He could feel something moving through the skin and into him, going around, searching for something. Then, the feeling disappeared and he heard a soft klink noise. His voice was starting to become hoarse. He hadn’t even noticed he was still screaming. His wide eyes suddenly started blinking and the screams stopped. The room was slowly fading. The voices going softer and softer, lower and lower, until Tony finally passed out, going completely limp in the cot. I’m going to die, he thought to himself before succumbing to the darkness.

---

It was already nightfall when the team finally arrived at Bagram Air Base, the cold air of the desert slipping through their clothes as they exited the quinjet. A tall, dark skinned man was waiting for them. He stood there, in the middle of the base, hands behind his back, waiting for the team to approach him with a serious, if not worried, expression. He quickly extended his hand when Steve came close enough to grab it.

“Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, at your service, sir”, he said as Steve shook his hand, “I’m happy to see you, I have to say. We’ll need all the help we can get to locate T…”

“We use codenames only in missions like this, Lieutenant”, Steve cut him off midsentence, “These are Black Widow, Hawkeye, Winter Soldier and I’m Captain America”.

The corners of Rhode’s mouth went slightly up at the last one as he clearly tried to stop himself from laughing. Steve was very used to that reaction and so he didn’t take offense in it.

“Here”, Natasha said, giving the man a small earpiece, which he promptly put in his ear, “All communications go through this and nothing else. From this moment forward, you will be Lieutenant, understood?”

Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes nodded sharply.

“We need to know everything that’s happened since the target was taken, spare no details”, Steve informed him.

“Follow me, Captain. You can have some food while I debrief you on the situation”.

They followed the Lieutenant inside one of the barracks and into a small room. There was a table in the middle of it, with four plates of food lying around. Clint quickly sat down and took one, stuffing his mouth with whatever it was the plate contained, looking quite happy.

“The target arrived two days ago in a private jet for a missile presentation. He spent the night in this Air Base and we left for a testing area near Kunar in the morning. The presentation happened as planned. The target was supposed to come back with me, but decided to join Beta Team instead. The convoy left at thirteen hundred hours, as planned”.

“Any reason why he refused to go with you?” Natasha asked, putting a small piece of bread in her mouth.

“He was being a dick to me because I missed his birthday”, Rhodes explained, shaking his head with a fond smile, “Said he rather go in the funvee”.

“You know the target?”

“Yes”.

“Well, that complicates things”, Bucky replied, crossing his arms.

“My relationship with the target will not affect this mission, Soldier”, Rhodes promised, and then continued explaining, “They were attacked around here”, he pointed at the map, “a few miles outside Kunar. All soldiers in the convoy were killed in combat. This was the target’s last known location”.

“Do the Ten Rings usually work in that area?” Clint asked with his mouth full.

“No. There’d never been a sighting of them near Kunar until yesterday. That’s what’s bothering me. They knew we were coming and they knew who was with us. But the thing is, no one knew T… the target“, Rhodes quickly corrected himself, “was coming that day”.

“Maybe you have a mole amongst your soldiers”, Natasha offered.

“The only people who knew he was coming were me, his aunt and his business partner. The soldiers only found out when we left for the presentation. Even if someone had tipped off the Ten Rings, they would need at least a full day to move that much fire power to our exact location. It’s not impossible, but it’s just… highly unlikely”.

“Is there anything else we need to know, Lieutenant?”

“Nothing relevant, Captain”, he replied, hands behind his back once more, “We’ll start the searches tomorrow at zero six hundred hours. The target is a major contributor to the U.S. Military so they’re focusing a lot of resources on this, not only soldiers but high tech equipment as well. It should help”.

“I’m sure we’ll find him soon enough, Lieutenant”, Steve replied, softening his expression, “Very soon”.

---

Tony hated many things. He hated when Rhodey put ketchup on his pasta, he hated when his bagels came with sesame seed, and he hated mustard. He hated when his dad told him that he wasn’t good enough and he hated the fact that his parents were gone and he was all alone. Tony Stark hated a whole lot of things, but he was pretty sure that there was nothing in his life that he hated more than the desert. His prison cell looked more like a Batcave, if Batman had lost all his money, sold all his tech to pay his debts and had decided to lock himself in it to live the rest of his days as a hermit. And let’s not mention the fact that a few weeks ago, Tony had gone through open-heart surgery with no anesthetics and had now a deep hole in his body the size of a small fist to which a car battery was attached, being the only thing stopping the shards of a bomb HE had made from crawling to his heart and killing him. All of that was bad, very bad, and of course Tony hated the whole situation, but it was the desert he hated the most.

The extremely hot days and excruciating cold nights were driving him crazy. Well, there was also the whole torture thing going on, like how they water boarded him every single day for hours as he desperately held to his car battery, trying to keep it from getting wet like his life depended on it ― and it did. Yeah, the torture thing didn’t help his mood, but honestly, it was all the desert’s fault. Stupid desert.

But he couldn’t think like that, couldn’t dwell on his hatred for the sand and the damn heat and the stupid cold. No, he couldn’t dwell on that because today was a special day. Today, whatever day it was, was the day Tony finally gave in and promised Abu Bakaar that he would build them the Jericho. Of course, he had absolutely no intention whatsoever to give the most dangerous terrorist group on this side of the planet a special missile that could destroy an entire city in less than minutes. No, sir. He had a much better idea. He was going to burn all of them, burn the entire war camp to the ground, and then Yinsen and he would step on their ashes as they walked to freedom. That’s what he was going to do.

Because he was Tony Stark and Stark men were made of iron. And the fucking Ten Rings would regret the very day they decided to mess with Anthony Edward Stark.

---

Three months. They had been searching for the target for the last three months. Steve had had long missions before. Sometimes an undercover op. or shadowing a target could go on for days, even weeks. But three months. He’d never been on a mission that lasted three whole months. And what was worse… there was nothing new. There was no new information, no tip, not even a bloody sign as to where the target was or even if he was still alive. In all honesty, Steve had lost all hope to finding the Mechanic alive a long time ago and it seemed that his teammates agreed with him. The U.S. Army and Air Force had withdrawn their people and resources after a month of searches with no result, and had even tried to declare the target Killed in Action. Steve guessed the Director had had some very stern words with them because soon after they received the news that Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes was given a sort of leave to continue to search for the target with the SHIELD agents and that no more claims would be made until the target was found ― dead or alive.

The worst part about all of it was Rhodes. Every morning they left the Air Base on a helicopter and they would search every inch of the wide, unending desert. And every night they would return without so much as a whiff of the Mechanic’s whereabouts. Steve could tell this mission was taking a toll on the Lieutenant’s spirit. Every night his eyes would grow sadder, his shoulders falling a bit more, his expression a bit darker. He would lock himself in his rooms as soon as they stepped inside the barracks and would only resurface in the morning with renewed determination, marching towards the helicopter as if today was finally the day.

“Can I just say what everybody is thinking?” Clint shouted through the loud noise made by the helicopter. Natasha, who was piloting it, pursed her lips, knowing that whatever her partner was about to say, it would not be good.

“Don’t, Hawkeye”, Bucky warned, eye still trained outside, looking for possible hideouts.

“I’m just saying, man. It’s been three months. There is no way a civilian survives three months in the hands of some fucked up terrorists. The guy is dead. Better accept it now and be done with it”.

“You don’t know him. He’s not like any other civilian. He…” But whatever he was, they would never know because Rhodes was interrupted by a sudden loud noise that sounded an awful lot like an explosion.

“There’s smoke. There, near the mountains!”, Bucky shouted, pointed at the place where thick, black smoke was rising slowly.

“GO THERE! HE’S THERE!”

“How can you know that?”

“Big explosion? That’s definitely Tony! GO! GO!”, Rhodes screamed at the top of his lungs. He seemed so happy, so full of hope, that Steve didn’t even bother to remind him of the codename rule.

It took Natasha a good fifteen minutes to land the helicopter near the exploded area. She waited inside as the others fought through the dark smoke, covering their mouths and noses as they walked inside what seemed to be a former war camp. There were bodies everywhere, melted faces and body parts scattered around as if it was some gruesome horror movie. The smell of burned flesh was unbearable.

“CLEAR”, Steve heard Clint shout from one side.

“ALSO CLEAR”, Bucky replied from the other.

“There’s no one alive here”.

“He did this”, Rhodes insisted, looking around, “He escaped. We need to check the area around it”.

“Lieutenant…”, Steve started to disagree, but the man gave him no chance.

“You listen to me, Captain, he is alive. Tony did this, he escaped. I don’t know how, but he did. So we’re going to check the surrounding areas or so help me God you fuckers can walk back to the fucking base and I’ll do it myself, do you understand?”

The three men exchanged a look before nodding. They radioed the base, giving them the coordinates for the war camp before getting into the helicopter once more. For the next three hours they flew around the exploded area, eyes wide open, trying to catch anything out of the ordinary. Natasha was just about to tell them they were running out of gas when she spotted something.

“THERE! IT LOOKS LIKE A PERSON!”, she shouted to the others.

She turned the helicopter around and smiled. Sure enough, there he was, with a shirt wrapped around his head, swinging his arms. The man felt to the ground just as Rhodey jumped out of the chopper, running towards him as fast as he could, Steve and Bucky right behind him. Rhodey fell on his knees right in front of his best friend, the biggest smile on his face.

“How was the funvee, asshole?”, he asked, hugging the smaller man, “Next time, you ride with me”.

The brunette nodded with a small smile and eyes full of tears before burying his head on Rhode’s neck with a soft cry.

“Here, let me”, Steve offered the Lieutenant, carefully taking the smaller man in his arms.

Steve couldn’t believe how young the target looked, how vulnerable. He couldn’t be more than twenty years old. How could a man so young survive something so horrible? Better yet, how could some this young escape from one of the most feared terrorist groups in the world? He carefully put the young man inside the helicopter, stepping aside so Natasha could insert an IV bag on his arm.

“Are you okay?” Rhodes asked, sitting next to his friend with a worried expression.

“Who the hell are these people? They don’t look military”, the target asked, lying his head on Rhodes’ shoulder.

“They’re SHIELD agents”.

“They’re shit”.

“HEY”, Clint complained from his seat in the front, turning around to glare at the target, “A little gratitude would be nice. We did just rescue you, jackass”.

“Hawkeye”, Natasha warned in a low tone.

Tony huffed, rolling his eyes. “You didn’t rescue me. You spent three months doing God knows what while I rescued myself. The only thing you’re doing right now is giving me a ride. You’re my Uber. And you’re definitely two stars. I’m writing my review right now, takes too fucking long to show up and doesn’t even have fucking candy. Bullshit”.

Steve snorted before quickly composing himself. “We’re glad you’re okay, sir”.

“Why is he calling me sir? Has it been three months or three years? Am I old? Rhodey, am I old? Be honest”.

“Figures not even a traumatic experience would shut you up, Tones”, Rhodey joked before kissing his best friend’s forehead and lying his own head on top of Tony’s, “Don’t ever do that to me again, okay?”

“Yeah”, Tony replied, his eyes losing focus for a second as he touched his own chest where, Steve had just noticed, a faint blue light was coming through the shirt. His eyes met Tony’s for a moment before the young man looked away, closing his eyes with a long sigh. He would tell Rhodey about the arc reactor later. Right now, all he wanted to do was to close his eyes and think of home.

Home. And then the real work would begin.

---

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