#he's in utero in this chapter lmao

[arrow-guy]

Within the Ashes (3/??)

Summary: You’ve spent your life working for someone else. You watch their back, you protect them, but you’re left feeling empty and unfulfilled at the end of the day. What happens when a freak accident transports you to a different dimension, very nearly identical to your own?

A/N: Okay, it’s been a Rough couple of weeks, so i haven’t been able to post this, but hopefully the content of this chapter will make up for that lmao. Nothing traumatic happening this chapter, only friendship and vibes. Please enjoy!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

Pairing(s): StevexReader, background Spideytorch

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: None

Part 2

“You think she’s telling the truth?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Steve says. “At the very least, she thinks she’s telling the truth.”

“Of course she does. But everyone’s truth is different.”

“Right.” Steve asks, “Have you contacted Strange?”

“I did. He should be dropping in some time next week.”

“Okay, good. He should be able to give some insight on where she might’ve come from.”

“Provided she’s from a different reality.” Steve nods. “(Y/N) mentioned that there might be a version of her in our reality, so I looked into it.”

“And?”

“And there’s no (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N) anywhere that I can find. Never has been. So, unless this person is currently in utero, they don’t exist.”

“(Y/F/N) (Y/L/N) could be an alias.”

“Oh I checked. No mention of the name anywhere. TV, movies, books. Nothing.”

“Huh.”

“Mhm.” Tony leans back in his chair. “Really gets my hopes up for proof of alternate realities. Not that I’d want to bounce from one reality to another. Just for the sake of it being true.”

“I get it.”

“Have you talked to her?”

“Not today.” Steve frowns. “She’s different. Weirdly easy to talk to.”

“Really? She seemed guarded to me.”

“She opened up a little after you left. I get the feeling that she’s used to a society that’s far more different from ours than we initially would’ve guessed.”

“If it weren’t different, the reality wouldn’t be an alternate one. It’d be a one for one copy.”

“I understand that, I just mean that it sounds like people with powers are significantly more common where she’s from than they are here.”

“Sounds like you want to know more.”

“Don’t you?”

Tony shrugs. “Of course. But you’re the one who thinks she’s so easy to talk to.”

“I didn’t say it like that.”

“You didn’t have to.” Tony looks him over. “You untied her, right?”

“She said she might accidentally break the bed railing.” Steve folds his arms. “It’s not like she’s going anywhere.”

“No need to get defensive.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “I’m not defensive.”

“No.” Tony smirks. “Not at all.”

“Tony.”

“You’re allowed to take an interest, Cap. She’s interesting. And if her version of Richards was capable of figuring out interdimensional travel, then I’m sure he’ll figure out a way to bring her home. Whether or not he'll figure it out before I do, I don’t know. But we should learn as much as we can from her while she’s still here.”

“Okay.”

Steve abruptly rises from his chair and heads for the hallway.

Startled, Tony asks, “Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna have lunch with her.”

“Really?”

“You’re the one who said we should learn as much as we can from her while she’s here. Easiest way to get her to talk is to have a meal with her.”

“You sure about that?”

“Yup.”

Steve’s gone before Tony can say anything else.

"Maybe I should stop teasing him." He shrugs. "Probably won't, though."

"You sure you should be walking around like that?"

(Y/N) smiles and turns to where Captain Rogers stands in the doorway. "I'm wearing clothes, aren't I?"

“I just meant that you haven’t been conscious for very long. You might not be very steady on your feet.”

“I’m a little wobbly, but I’m no newborn deer,” she says. “I appreciate the concern, though.”

“Just take things slow, okay?”

“Sure.” She sits on the hospital bed and draws her legs up onto the mattress as she pushes up the sleeves of her sweatshirt. “What’s up?”

“Thought you might be hungry.” He holds up a large, brown paper bag as he approaches (Y/N)’s  bedside.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” He drags over a table and pulls out to-go containers from the bag. “I figured we could talk after.”

“Okay.” She pulls her food closer and laughs. “Ah yes, chicken, kale, and wild rice. The exact meal someone with your physique would choose.”

Rogers takes it as the joke it was meant to be and laughs. “Oh yeah, nothing but dry chicken breast, steamed rice, and broccoli for me.”

She giggles and shakes her head. “I’ll never understand how anyone can eat like that.”

“Can’t say I understand it myself. And I imagine it doesn’t taste like much.”

“What’s the point then?” She pokes at her chicken thigh before cutting it up. “Like I get that food, at the bare minimum, is supposed to fuel your body. But you shouldn’t have to subject yourself to torture under the guise of being quote unquote “healthy”, when it’s not even all that healthy in the first place.”

“From what I understand, they’re more focused on the aesthetics of their body than enjoying their food.”

“Life’s too short to not eat good food,” (Y/N) mumbles around a bite of food.

“I agree.” He squints at her food and tries not to laugh. “Did you mix everything together?”

“Was I not supposed to?”

“No, that’s not it. It’s just something I hadn’t thought to do.”

“Hm, that’s fair. My boss’ kids are in a phase where they want to try anything you’re eating and the only way to avoid sharing is to make whatever it is look as gross as possible. The fastest way to do that is to just mash n’ mix everything together.” She pauses. “I swear I don’t spend a weird amount of time with my employer’s children. I live in their building so they’re usually just around.”

Amused, Steve says, “Okay.”

“That just sounds weirder.”

“No, I’m just surprised your boss has kids. You said he’s a superhero?”

“Right. The whole family’s in the business, actually.”

“Interesting.”

“What, are heroes not allowed to have kids in this universe?”

“No, it’s just incredibly uncommon.”

“Huh. Well I mean, it’s not common where I’m from. I’d say there are more kids who are superheroes than heroes with kids.”

“Really?”

“Older heroes do what they can to make sure they stay out of the big trouble and that they’re prepared when it can’t be avoided, obviously. I mean, they’re kids. They grew up watching the Avengers and the Fantastic Four and the X-Men take on villain after villain. It’s pretty hard to stop them when they’re determined to follow in their idol’s footsteps.”

Rogers hums. “I know a kid like that.”

“So do I.” (Y/N) smiles fondly. “He’s working on a doctorate right now, though, so I guess he’s not really a kid anymore? If anything, he’s kind of a mentor at this point.”

“Someone you work with?”

“No, actually, I work with his boyfriend. My parents were close with his aunt and uncle, so we practically grew up together. He started dating Johnny, Johnny begged me to take the job with Reed, and now I’m here.” She sighs and stabs at her food. “He’s probably blaming himself right now.”

“People in my line of work tend to do that.”

“I know. I’ve watched it happen more times than I can count.”

“That’s not surprising.” Rogers leans back in his chair and folds his arms. “Does the uh… Fantastic Four work with your reality’s Avengers much?”

“Mm, not much. They occasionally team up, but Peter’s usually the one who gets dragged into whatever drama they have with their villain of the week.”

“Peter?” Rogers sets his meal to the side. “Peter Parker?”

Warily, (Y/N) says, “Yes.”

“As in Spider-man Peter Parker?”

Her brows draw together. “How would you know that?”

“He’s been working with us on the side for the last couple years.” He shakes his head. “As far as I know, he’s graduating high school this year.”

“That’s so odd.”

“So he’s your family friend?”

“Yeah, we met during the holidays after he lost his parents.” She frowns. “He’s really still in high school?”

“He is.”

“I guess things would be different in an alternate universe,” she mutters. “He’s an Avenger?”

“Not quite. It’s more like he’s Tony’s intern.”

“Huh.” Before she shovels a bite into her mouth she says, “Well that’s interesting.”

“How so?”

(Y/N) takes her time answering while she chews. “I don’t think my Peter would ever want to work with Stark. Doesn’t really seem like his scene. Though, I don’t think he’d really want to work with my boss, but I’m pretty sure that’s just because he’s a shitty boss.”

“What kind of work do you do, anyway?”

“I lug things hither and thither and make sure Reed doesn’t get hurt by his… I’ll say more explosive projects.”

Rogers frowns. “That sounds incredibly dangerous.”

(Y/N) shrugs. “Like I said, Captain, I’m just the muscle.”

“And you don’t do any field work?”

She shakes her head. “No, I ruled that out a long time ago. Too many late nights spent patching up my best friend.”

“Peter came to you for medical attention?”

“He wasn’t friends with the Avengers. Couldn’t call Tony Stark and politely ask to use his medical specialists and supplies.” She pauses for a moment, realizing how hostile she sounded. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad your Peter has those resources. But mine had to make every mistake for himself and break far too many bones without that support.”

“But he had you,” he says after a long pause. “And having someone who cares about where you are and whether or not you're hurt is more important than having big names backing you up.”

The corner of (Y/N) mouth quirks up. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

Rogers tilts his chin up. “I am, actually. I got into a lot of fights when I was younger. I didn’t have the money to keep myself healthy, I just had my best friend who did his best to keep me out of trouble.”

“You do seem like the kind of guy who would’ve gotten into a lot of fights as a kid.”

“You didn’t even know me then!”

“Well, no, but I know enough about the version of you from my reality to match up what they taught about him in school with what I’ve learned about you, specifically, and piece together something resembling what you were like pre-serum.”

She watches Rogers fight back a smile. "Does a lab assistant job require strong deduction skills?"

"No, but when you've been blown up as much as I have, you learn to read people and situations quickly."

“You’ve been blown up?”

“Oh yeah. Reed doesn’t really think much of it because I heal so quickly.” She shrugs and stabs at her food. “Still hurts, though.”

“How long have you been working for this guy?”

“About eight years.”

“Wh-eight years?” She nods. “And you haven’t quit?”

“Oh, I’ve thought about it. Threatened to in the middle of the last experiment, and probably would’ve followed through had I not been blown up and shot into a different reality.” Rogers shakes his head. “Look, again, I appreciate your concern, but it’s not like you can really do much about it.”

“Sometimes having more than one person upset on your behalf does something.”

“What?”

“Shows you that things should be different.” He holds up one hand. “I’m not saying that you don’t already know that, but knowing on your own can feel a bit like shouting into an echo chamber.”

“I…” She frowns and her shoulders sag. “You’re right.”

“That little extra support counts for something.”

“It does.” (Y/N) bites the inside of her cheek. “Thank you, Captain Rogers. I think I really needed that.”

“It’s no problem,” he says. “You know you call me Steve, right?”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. Feels a little wrong.”

“Why?”

“Well… because you’re you. You’re Captain America. And I’m just some random civilian.”

“I wouldn’t say that. You have intimate knowledge of superheroes. You have powers. Civilian, maybe, but not random.” She opens her mouth to protest further, but he says, “Besides, I’m not in the military anymore. Don’t even work for S.H.I.E.L.D.. So I’m technically a civilian too.”

“Still feels wrong.”

“Well I’d prefer it if you used my first name. The only time someone calls me Captain is when I’m in trouble with government officials.”

(Y/N) laughs. “You, in trouble with the law? Never.”

“More often than I’d like.”

“I’m sure they’ll get tired of harassing you eventually.”

“Not sure they will. Seems like a sport to them sometimes.”

“Yeah, I think that’s just a universal thing between governments and superheroes. They hate heroes until they don’t have them. Either way, everything that goes wrong is their fault.” She jabs at the last few pieces of chicken in her dish. “I’m not bitter about it at all, by the way.”

Rogers-Steve laughs. “It’d be hard not to be. I’m sure everyone on my team has a few choice words for the men breathing down our necks right now.”

“But you can’t say anything because they’d use it against you.” He nods. “Yeah, fun times.”

“Would you want to meet the rest of the team?”

Surprised, she asks, “Would they want to meet me?”

“I don’t see why they wouldn’t. Natasha's asked about your progress as you've healed.” He smiles at the look of shock on (Y/N)s face. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised no one's dropped in to talk to you yet."

Her mouth hangs open as she tries to find her words. All she can come up with is, "Really?"

"Yes, really. I thought you were supposed to know all about the Avengers," he teases.

"I never said that. All I have is publicly available information. It's not like I know what the literal Black Widow does with her time."

Steve smiles. "So you're up for meeting them?"

"Hell yeah I am." He cocks one eyebrow and (Y/N) laughs. “Sorry, too eager, I know.”

“No, I’d say you’re at a normal level. Honestly, we’ve had adults be a little too excited to meet members of the team.”

“Not surprising. I’ve had my fair share of weird encounters even being Fantastic Four adjacent.”

“Oh, really?”

“Mhm. I could tell you some crazy stories.”

"Could you, now?"

"I could." She shoots him a sly smile. "You want me to?"

--------

Part 4

I love love love writing the parts where everyone’s becoming friends, and I particularly like it with this fic. The dynamic that’s building between the Reader character and Steve has so much banter and it’s so much fun.

As always, I’d love to know what you thought of this chapter! Do you think Steve eats like a fitness nut? Do you think the Reader’s relationship with the Fantastic Four might change because of how she’s treated in this reality? What do you think will happen when the Reader meets the rest of the avengers? Be sure to reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

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