Tumgik
#i really hope they carry that through with 4 instead of like. getting caught up in taking itself too seriously or something i love this shit
ukulelevillainwrites · 7 months
Text
who follows the rules anyway?
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8
pairing : anthony lockwood x reader
word count : 7.3k
content : fluff scenes where i was kicking my feet as i wrote them, angst too with another fight, the plot thickens
taglist : @cassiopeiia24 @archiveoftara
note : it's like i blinked and suddenly 3 weeks had passed, i have no idea where the time went but i certainly did not want to post this so late thank you everyone for your patience i really hope you like this part (i like it a lot let me know what you think)
“What do you mean?” She asked with round eyes.
“There’s been a sudden increase in missing sources in the past two weeks. This happens at the same time you see Dufour selling a source she stole from a client. That’s too big to be a coincidence.”
“Well, that’s my cue.” Lockwood said as he was heading for the door.  “You should watch out, y/n, he’s going to be rambling for the next two hours.”
“Actually, I kind of want to hear this.”
She settled on the couch next to George, pulling a blanket over her legs. In this moment, there was nothing other than the light shining in George’s eyes as he went into further details and the softness of the blanket underneath her fingertips. About a week ago she thought she had seen him for the last time. That the last image she would have ever had of him was carrying his stuff in a cardboard box so damaged it was a miracle nothing was falling everywhere. Now here she was, listening intently as he told her about the operating system of an industrial-sized source-burning oven used at the furnaces and how time-wasting and inefficient it was to turn them on late. Her anxiety had made itself silent, her tears were dry, her breathing had slowed down. Maybe it was thanks to Lockwood’s comforting peace. Maybe it was thanks to her determination to see the positive even on the darkest days. Maybe she was lying to herself, drawing way out of proportion her ability to keep her emotions in check. Either way, she felt peaceful and warmth flooded her as she realized she got to listen to George’s crazy theories once more. She hoped many more evenings like these were to come. Her career plan may be out the window, but here she had found something she never got close to having at Fittes. She had found her home.
Lockwood left the room without a sound, smiling at his best friend’s enthusiastic tone and energetic hand gestures. She was too caught up in George’s explanation to notice him exiting the room and throwing her one last glance, relieved to see her smiling again. They stayed up well into the first hours of the following day, not paying attention to how late it was actually getting. They hadn’t realized how tired they were either apparently.
A ray of sunshine shone directly into her face. She reluctantly opened an eye to see the sofa in disarray and her blanket on the floor. She was exhausted. Her limbs were heavy, her clothes seemed to be made of lead. She turned her face away from the light, drifting back into peaceful slumber. She heard some light rustling and thought it was another one of her dreams. She was too tired to confront that girl again. But to her surprise she never came. Instead, she felt a cover being draped delicately over her. It was soft and smelled faintly of cinnamon. It was enough to put her back to sleep. As she was drifting in and out of consciousness she could have sworn she felt something brushing her cheek. She must have been dreaming.
She woke up crouched into the sofa, her legs resting on something harder than cushions and covered with a queen-sized blanket she thought she had dreamed of. Light was shining through the windows, the sun already high. She went to get up, but as she tried to move her legs a groan came out of the opposite side of the sofa. George was sleeping on the couch too, his legs underneath hers as well as a part of his torso. They were tangled up in one of the most uncomfortable sleeping position ever. Seeing them like this triggered her laugh which made George pull up the blanket over his head. She got up as delicately as she could so as not to disturb him. She stumbled into the kitchen, sleepy-eyed and unaware of her surroundings.
“I was starting to worry you two might be in a coma.”
She jumped, bumping into the foot of the closest chair.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”
“What time is it?”
Lockwood told her it was almost one, laughing as he poured himself a cup of tea.
“I thought you’d be sleeping all day.”
“It would have been nice but we have a case tonight, right?” She mumbled. She wasn’t entirely up quite yet.
He smiled and handed her his cup. She warmed her hands on the mug, feeling more awake already. He went to pour himself another one but winced as he picked up the kettle.
“Your arm is still hurting?”
“Just a little, it’s nothing really…” He said, struggling to pour the hot water.
She got up to help him out but had to battle him to take hold of the kettle. She looked him straight in the eyes to silently convince him of letting her do this. He reluctantly let go, and she noticed his tie was undone.
“When did you wake up?” She asked as she poured him a cup.
“About two hours ago.” He said, taking a sip.
“And you didn’t tie your tie because…?”
“I didn’t have to go out yet.”
She might have only been living with them for a week, but during her time here she only saw him without a tie late at night once they had gotten home from a case.
She sighed and went to tie it for him. She raised her hands towards his collar. Before she could take hold of the blue fabric, he reached for them.
“I can do it myself, I swear-”
But his fingers had barely brushed her skin that he had to take hold of his arm. She looked back at him with a disapproving stare. He lowered his hands. She smiled with a triumphant grin, satisfied. He stood straighter with a sigh to allow her to focus on the knot. Slowly, she passed one band over the other.
“How did you manage to button your shirt in that state?”
“It… took longer than expected…” he admitted hesitantly, his eyes looking up at the ceiling.
She passed the larger band around the thinner one, passing it inside the forming knot.
“You need to learn how to ask for help.”
He looked down at her work and scoffed.
“You need to learn how to tie a tie.”
At that she tightened the knot around his neck, enough to startle him. His breath caught and for a moment he looked into her eyes with surprise. After a few seconds, she figured she had taught him a well-deserved lesson and loosened the knot carefully, maintaining eye contact. He still seemed to be holding his breath when she finally let go after neatly replacing his collar and making a few adjustments to the knot. Maybe she’d scared him. That would teach him to criticize her necktie expertise in the morning.
She sat back down, taking a sip of her tea before asking him if he was going to be okay on the case tonight.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“That probably means I should keep an eye on you. It could have been a very close call yesterday.”
“If you’re gonna keep an eye on me you’ll have to work on your rapier technique.”
“You’re so unfair! First of all, I saved your life. And second, I’m excellent with a rapier, Kipps mentored me every day when I was on his team.”
He let out what was probably the most honest laugh she had ever heard. She crossed her arms, vexed. He could be so infuriating.
“Kipps is mediocre at best.”
“Yeah right, like you could take him in a fight.”
“I could actually. I even brought back a trophy.” He winked at her. “Poor Quill never got over it.”
“Is that seriously the sole reason for your stupid rivalry?”
He nodded, smiling into his cup. He looked so proud. It was rather funny, but she was really close to slapping the grin off his face.
“That, and the fact you humiliated him.” George chimed in, coming through the door barely awake.
“Lockwood! I thought you were better than this.” She acted shocked, but they were all laughing.
“He’s the fully grown man holding a grudge.”
“Oh, right. And you’re just an idiot.” She teased.
He put a hand to his chest, like his feelings were hurt. George interrupted their banter to remind them of the case they had that night and what they were getting into. They organized the rest of their day, Lockwood insisting on training her this afternoon.
---
“Your stance is all wrong and the fight hasn’t even begun.” He left his position and took a step closer to her. “You’re already standing back in defense when nothing has happened yet. You have to look more confident otherwise you’ll lose the upper hand right away.”
“Sure, because confidence is a famous ward against ghosts.”
He wasn’t amused. Right then he looked like a strict fencing teacher bothered by his student’s lack of progress. She hadn’t realized placing her feet improperly could upset him so much.
“Just show me then.”
He came to stand right behind her, telling her to place her right foot a few inches farther from her left. He got closer, a serious look on his face. He really wasn’t joking anymore. He turned slightly around her and lifted her chin to make her look right in front of her. His eyes were sharp and focused. They didn’t linger on her face and he didn’t seem to notice hers getting rounder at the sudden contact of his fingers with her jaw. His other hand was on her waist, adjusting her position a few inches. He then came closer, mimicking her stance like he was her shadow, and took hold of her arms. She felt his breath in her hair. He strengthened her grasp on her rapier and lifted her right arm at the correct angle. It must have triggered his pain because he lost his balance, leaning against her before staggering backwards.
“Are you okay?”
“My arm’s a little sore, that’s all.” He was already trying to get her back into position.
“Maybe we shouldn’t do this today.”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. I’ll cover you for tonight, I’ve done it before I can do it again.” She said, leaving her position to look at him. “No matter how skilled you are you’re not in the right state today, Lockwood. It’s okay to rely on others, you know?”
He didn’t even acknowledge what she just said before adding
“Just try to hold your arm lower than you usually do so you don’t cramp up. It’ll allow you to gain stamina and it could save us some time.”
George called them from the kitchen, he needed help with the bags.
“How did you know-”
Lockwood was already climbing the iron stairs. She shook off the feeling that he could see right through her. It was good advice. She focused on that part and made a mental note to remember it tonight.
---
The case had gone even better than the night before. Sure, it was just a Type One so it wasn’t as dangerous. But they were more coordinated, more organized and more methodical. Lockwood hadn’t gotten into a near death situation, which was a significant improvement. He had been in the last two cases they had been on together, it was enough for her to think it was a common occurrence.
She felt like she was part of a proper team again. However, now she didn’t feel the need to impress anyone. She wasn’t craving the praise and admiration of her team leader. It was liberating. She was free to do her job without worry. It made her feel more confident in her abilities too. She didn’t need to prove anything and she didn’t feel watched all the time. She had found a team that helped her grow.
They established a rotation of their roles, alternating who had to dispose of the source, who had to oil the chains and who had to give the keys back to the client the following day. The guys made her feel instantly like she was an essential member of the team.
The following day, two new clients made appointments. Then two others called. It was like she had blinked and then it had been a week since she’d been officially hired. The cases kept coming but she didn’t mind. Before all the drama of her professional life, she had loved her job and being part of an agency. It was risky, most of the time it sucked. But it was rewarding. And in the end she felt like she had a purpose, like she was making the most of the circumstances and helping out in her own way. The clients kept calling and the cases kept piling up, as if there was an outburst of paranormal activity. It wasn’t unusual to see an increase in hauntings nearing November, but she had hardly seen anything like this. Though Fittes had a lot more resources and maybe it hadn’t affected her team as much. With just them three they had a lot more work on their hands. It could get overwhelming at times but it kept her mind busy and she was thankful for that. It helped keep her dreams under control too. She hadn’t woken up in a cold sweat since she had seen the girl at the foot of her bed. And whatever she wanted from her, she was too busy to even think about it.
Another week passed. Time was flying and she had really gotten used to Portland Row. After a case she threw her rapier in the broken flower pot that stood as an umbrella stand with the others, smiled at the smell of toast coming from the kitchen, she was home. She knew what steps to avoid on a late night or an early morning, she started to know the names of the books in the library, she was even familiar with George’s filing system for their cases and his research, something even Lockwood found hard to follow.
She was grateful for George. He had brought her here. Well, she had followed him here but he was the reason she had stayed. And ever since he had made his best to make her feel at home. They had grown closer, they were actual friends now. Sometimes she assisted him on research, but mostly during the few moments of rest they had she sat at the kitchen table while he was cooking. Listening to him rambling was probably one of her main activities. But it kept her mind off her future, her responsibilities, her family who still thought she worked at Fittes. And she got to learn about random things that could always be useful someday. Once, she managed to find a source that had been hidden in a compartment inside a fireplace thanks to George’s detailed description of their nineteenth century construction technique.
Lockwood would sometimes join them, but it was rare. When they were home, he either had errands to run or paperwork to fill out. Late at night if they had a moment of rest he mostly sat in the comforting silence of the library with a magazine. He was still somewhat of a question mark. She hadn’t figured him out quite yet, but they got along. Training had become a regular thing. Once his arm had healed he had turned into the fencing teacher he aspired to be. He helped her improve her technique, her reflexes and stamina. She immediately saw the difference with the way Kipps used to train her. Kipps followed the rules, he’d always been behaving according to a script and every single one of his movements had been rehearsed. Because of him she had always thought that using her rapier was something that had been decided upon. There were rules and if she wanted to be good she had to stick to them. Anthony Lockwood was different. He was an artist with a weapon in his hand. He knew all the rules, sure. But he was creative, resourceful. Everything she had been taught so far was just a blank canvas to him and he used it to paint the most beautiful pictures. During their fights, he always found a way to gain the upper hand even when she thought her maneuver couldn’t be overpowered. He was so imaginative it was impossible to beat him. And he always looked elegant, no matter how long they fought he remained graceful until the end. It annoyed her every time. She always ended their sessions drenched in sweat and out of breath, her hair a mess. He looked slightly disheveled but overall unaffected. He didn’t even have the decency to act like she was a worthy opponent. His lessons were formative but also a great source of frustration. But it was all in good fun. It had helped them get along better. Though she didn’t feel like she had made much progress since the night he hired her. They would tease each other every now and then but aside from their training they didn’t spend that much time just the two of them. She didn’t know if he kept his distance intentionally or if it was just the normal relationship they should be having as colleagues. The night he comforted her was still very clear in her mind. She remembered vividly the gentleness of his tone and the warmth of his smile. She thought after that it would feel like they were actual friends but something was missing. She still considered that night to be special. It held a meaningful place in her mind, she hoped she would feel closer to him at some point. If she got George to come out of his shell, anything was possible.
Though, her optimism slightly faded the more she saw his behavior with others. She’d quickly learned that he had a natural charisma he used quite often, with clients, DEPRAC or anyone that might get in the way of what he wanted. He had different tricks he’d combine to make the best impression: listening intently to the requests, or sometimes orders, to seem polite and respectful, shine a wolf like smile to seem convinced and reasonable, then start a great speech with a serious tone and a hint of compassion, to end with that same grin she had soon learned was hard to say no to. What bugged her was that when she listened to those seemingly understanding tirades and saw him subtly smile, she got flashbacks from the night he hired her. It seemed a bit too familiar. It particularly disturbed her one night when the client they had been working for joined them right after they finished clearing her house. She had gone away during their inspection but was too preoccupied to sleep and had decided to stay nearby. When they debriefed the case and told her the ghost was very aggressive and was in fact her mother like she had suspected, she got emotional. Even more so when she was told the source was her own childhood stuffed animal. She was overcome with grief and the team tried to comfort her the best they could. She was on the steps in front of the house, too devastated to come in. She was barely older than them. y/n had felt much pain for her. Yet her attention was drawn to Lockwood, and how he comforted her. She was angry at herself for thinking about this. That girl was going through a lot and all her mind could focus on was how her colleague was behaving with her. She didn’t know what to say to ease her pain so she decided to make her tea. When she brought it to her she found out Lockwood was much more at ease than she was. As she reached the doorstep, she saw him sitting with their client.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you. I guess we’ve got that in common. How fun.” Their client tried to sound sarcastic but she was still sobbing.
“It gets better, I promise.” Lockwood put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Don’t be afraid to let people in, you might be pleasantly surprised.” He gave her a warm smile that, from afar, looked terribly similar to the one he had given her. It was like she was watching the scene from a few weeks ago, replaying here in front of her. Only this time she wasn’t part of it. And that smile wasn’t for her. She slowly closed the door, went back to the kitchen to pour a new cup of tea for Lockwood. She went back out and handed them their cup. He thanked her and smiled the same way he had a few moments ago, but it didn’t mean as much now.
She had tried not to pay too much attention to it yet she couldn’t help but feel like Lockwood had been lying to her somehow. She thought he had cared about her, since he had acted like a close friend would have. But every time she saw him shine his smile to someone else she realized it hadn’t really meant anything to him. Maybe getting close like she and George were would be harder than expected. Every time she thought she was close to figuring him out she went back to square one. It wouldn’t be the only thing that had made her notice how wrong she could be about him. His whole rivalry with Kipps and overall pride he made no effort to hide instinctively indicated that he was someone who would understand why she needed to clear her name, but apparently not.
After two weeks of late nights and intense work, they finally caught a breath. The phone had stopped ringing and they could finally enjoy a day off. They woke up late, George cooked a breakfast so big it could only be described as a feast. They had all planned to relax but George being George he intended to go to the Archives anyway.
“But you spend all your days there already!” y/n told him.
“Yes, but today I can research stuff I never have time to look into. Like that whole Dufour thing.”
“You’re not still into that, are you?” Lockwood lifted his eyes from his magazine.
“I just want to see if I was right!” He said, exiting the room.
“Of course you’re right. You are every time.” Lockwood mumbled, going back to his reading.
There was silence after he had gone. It was the first time in weeks that she was alone with Lockwood and they didn’t have to talk about work.
“You really think that he’s right?”
“From experience I’d say so, yeah.”
“Then I think I’m gonna go with him if you don’t need help with anything.”
“Oh. Sure.”
“If that bitch is involved in something big I have to find out!” She meant it as a joke, but part of it was true.
She got up to join George, but Lockwood caught her hand.
“You should let go of that whole thing, y/n. It’s not healthy to dwell on it.”
It took her a minute to answer. Her mind had gone blank the instant his fingers had brushed against her wrist.
“That woman fired me and is selling stolen sources. I want bad stuff to happen to her.”
He laughed lightly.
“I get it but… just be careful.”
“I will… I am.”
He nodded slightly, releasing her hand. His eyes didn’t leave her as she went to find George. Her hand still tingled as she stepped through the front door.
When they got to the Archives, the streets were buzzing with activity. They reached the inside of the building and the noise fell silent, everyone inside focused on their task. Despite the crowd, they managed to find an open spot. George was happy to have her with him that afternoon. Mostly because he wanted to go through the news coverage over the last month and had selected not one but four different newspapers for the task. With a hundred and twenty papers to read, he was glad he had extra help.
“What are we looking for exactly?”
“Anything that could be relevant to Dufour or relic-men. Something that could be part of a bigger operation linking them to the furnaces.”
“That doesn’t really narrow it down…” But he didn’t even notice what she said, he had already started reading.
They had two newspapers each, covering every day of the past month. She picked up the first one on her pile and started looking through the pages for any useful information. There wasn’t anything addressing relic-men or a dealing of sources. The columns dedicated to the Problem were focusing mainly on the advances made by the Rotwell Institute or the donations Fittes had provided to the victims of ghost-lock. One more death by ghost-touch wouldn’t make the headlines. She closed the first newspaper and reached for another one. George was scribbling at high speed in his notebook.
“Did you find something interesting?”
“Yes, about 3 and a half weeks ago there was a short article that mentioned the death of a man the police assumed to be a relic-man. Usually newspapers love this kind of story because relic-men really apply themselves when they kill a rival. It’s the kind of gruesome tale that boosts their sales. But here it’s very brief, talks succinctly of a settling of scores but nothing more. It’s a little surprising, maybe there’s more to it.”
His imagination paired with his attention to detail led to impressive discoveries in seemingly random information.
“Maybe you should double check mine when you’re done…”
She kept reading, the pile of newspapers decreasing slowly. She didn’t manage to find any groundbreaking piece of information, but she did notice the repetition of burglaries in different neighborhoods. It had been mentioned five or six times over the last few weeks. The stolen objects where the usual type of thing: jewelry, money and anything worth selling. But some objects stood out in the list made by the reporter because they were all antiques. The articles suggested that the culprit or culprits might be collectors, but George would certainly find another explanation. She pitched him her theory and he started to write even faster. She didn’t think that was possible. She was glad she could finally help, they had been here for two hours and she hadn’t contributed at all until now.
George got right back to his research but y/n needed a break. She told him she was going to get them some tea but he was already deep into another newspaper.
She got up and started to make her way outside. She climbed down the stairs, putting her jacket on. She headed for the door, but someone caught up with her and grabbed her arm. She turned around to see Quill Kipps with an uncomfortable look on his face.
“y/n, hello… I’m glad I ran into you…”
“I really don’t have time, George is waiting for me.” She dismissed him. She wasn’t over the comments he had made and she lacked the patience to have an entire conversation.
“Oh, some work to do for Lockwood & Co?” He said with an uneasy laugh. That kind of small talk didn’t seem to be his forte.
“Yeah.” She looked at the door, trying to send a message.
“I-I didn’t know you were… um… working there.”
She pressed her lips into a thin smile. She was actually curious to see what he was going to say next.
“You should watch out, Lockwood’s an idiot.”
Unbelievable. For arch nemeses they were behaving awfully similar. Though it would be unfair to say that his comment wasn’t accurate sometimes.
“That’s funny because I hear similar things about you back home.”
“Oh, it’s your home now?”
“Kipps, seriously what do you want?”
“I wanted to apologize.”
“Well, you’re doing a fantastic job!” She pushed the door and rushed outside. She didn’t know if it was Lockwood’s loathing of the guy that had rubbed off on her or if it was simply this conversation but she had had enough of him. Unfortunately for her he was persistent. He ran after her, telling her to slow down.
“What?” Her tone was cold and menacing.
He took a step back.
“y/n… I’m really sorry about what happened at the furnaces. It was insensitive and really dumb of me and I’m sorry.”
He seemed honest enough. She looked up.
“I’m worried about you. You were one of the best agents I’ve worked with but now there are some pretty bad rumors going around Fittes…”
“What rumors?”
Something shifted in his attitude. He was worried but he also seemed afraid of something she couldn’t pinpoint. He tried to put the next part delicately but it had the opposite effect.
“Many agents have been saying things about you going… bad? Like… on the wrong side of psychical work…”
Her stomach twisted and the fact that he spoke in riddles didn’t help. Was he afraid of her?
“Just spit it out, Kipps.”
“According to some probably unreliable sources, you’d be working closely with… relic-men.”
“You can’t be serious.” The blood left her cheeks.
“George too…”
She felt light-headed.
“Given your reaction I’m guessing I was right not to believe them.”
“How gracious of you.”
“y/n I’m serious. I may have only worked with you for a month but I know how seriously you took your job. And given the proportions this is taking I just wanted to offer my help.”
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t seen today’s paper?”
“No… why?”
He pulled out a newspaper. On the front page the head title read “Rogue agents: should we be doing more?”. She looked up at him, a million questions flooding her mind. That article couldn’t be about her, right? He gave her an apologetic smile and asked her if she wanted a cup of coffee. He didn’t wait for her answer and led her to the coffee shop next door. Her eyes hadn’t left the article as they sat down. The reporter was explaining in great details that agents, after seeing so many traumatic things, needed to be eased back into society before returning to a normal life. He invoked psychological explanations that remained unclear. He advocated for the creation of a rehabilitation program to keep ex-agents under control so they didn’t end up on the wrong side of the law. He went as far as offering a mandatory two-month long camp of sorts for troublesome young people. He justified his remarks with murky reasons. Having worked in the field for many years, she knew this was all bullshit. But to someone who had never been in her shoes, it would be convincing without a doubt. But the worst part was yet to come. To emphasize the urgency of this issue, the reporter used examples of agents who had apparently gone wrong, citing several supervisors as his source. Apparently, a certain Fittes supervisor had been the witness to concerning behaviors coming from two young people, now ex agents, who had been caught committing several felonies, including maintaining business relations with known relic-men. Right there, on the following line, appeared her name. The reporter ended his piece in a dramatic tone, underlying the fact that those wrong doers hadn’t been apprehended by DEPRAC and remained at large.
She threw the newspaper back on the table.
“It wouldn’t have surprised me that much to hear that Karim was part of this. But you… It seemed impossible. And I really wanted to check up on you.”
She didn’t know what to say. Her name was being dragged through the mud. And what, she was going to be forced in a rehabilitation program made up by some trashy reporter and all  because of the same person who fired her? Like ending her career hadn’t been enough. She was taking the blame for the crimes she had seen Dufour commit.
“I need to… get out of there.”
Kipps got up as she stood up.
“Can I keep this?”
“Yes, whatever you need.”
She smiled, or at least tried, and pushed the door of the coffee shop. Before she left Kipps called her.
“y/n, I’m on your side okay? You can count on me.”
“Thank you.” She answered faintly. She was still shaken. She couldn’t believe the proportions this was taking. She had finally started to let go of her time at Fittes and all her efforts were reduced to nothing with just one page in a newspaper.
She rushed back to the Archives, desperate to show the article to George. He hadn’t noticed how long she had been gone, he didn’t even say anything about the tea she didn’t bring back. His notebook was filled with new facts and arrows linking some of them together. She sat down next to him. He didn’t look up, he just started talking, saying something about repetitive power outages. She pushed the newspaper Kipps gave her in front of his notes.
“What’s this?”
“Today’s newspaper. We made the front page.”
“What do you-”
His eyes were fleeting across the paper. They grew wider as he went further.
“This is a joke, right?”
“I wish it was. Maybe it’s just a nightmare and I’ll wake up on the couch with your feet in my face.” She tried to ease the tension she was feeling but none of them laughed. She was self-conscious about being in a place filled with agents. Did they read the paper too? Did they know who they were? She heard two people whispering on her left, she turned to look, George did the same.
“Maybe we’ll be better home.”
“Yeah let’s get out of here.”
No one had said a thing the whole way home. They were both lost in thought. George opened the front door. They took off their jacket and instinctively went down to the kitchen. She put the kettle on while he got some biscuits. They sat facing each other, seeking comfort in the sweetness of cookies and the warmth of their tea. Lockwood entered the room and was taken aback by the look on their face.
“What happened to you both? You look like you’ve seen a ghost in broad daylight.”
“We ran into Kipps.” George said without elaborating.
“I can understand how this could ruin someone’s day.” He smiled broadly.
“It’s not about him.” y/n snapped. “It’s about this.” She handed him the newspaper.
Lockwood skimmed through the article, still smiling. He didn’t look affected at all.
“Well, this is obviously ridiculous. But there’s no need to panic over a badly written article.”
“Lockwood this is on the front page!” George exclaimed.
“Rumors are starting to spread at Fittes.” y/n said in a monotone voice.
“I understand that this is an uncomfortable position to be in but it’ll blow over. There’s no need to overreact, juts keep a low profile.”
“I’m not gonna sit still while Dufour is out there ruining our reputation after already ruining our careers.” She stood up. “We’ve got enough dirt to bury her with what we found today.”
Lockwood gave her an exasperated look. George didn’t notice and began going over his notes, explaining the connections he had made.
“There’s clearly a link there and we can act on it!”
“Absolutely not!”
The temperature had dropped several degrees. The tension in the room was palpable. At least y/n felt it. But George had kept on going, starting to come up with a plan to follow Dufour and see what she was up to from up close.
“George.” Lockwood interrupted. “You’re reaching. It’s a coincidence at best and you know it. It wouldn’t be the first time relic dealing affects other industries.”
“Come on! Don’t you think that-”
“No. I don’t. Please try to focus on the real cases this business needs and don’t get stuck on another obsession.”
“You’re so unfair! You’re the one who keeps telling me that George is always right and that we should listen to his instincts!” y/n cut in.
“And I also told you that you shouldn’t do what he does. The last time you did, it got you fired.” Lockwood turned to her, his arms crossed. How often was he going to go into that well?
“Because you’re always so good at following made up rules…”
“I’m being rational and grounded, which in this case makes me exemplary.”
“Right, and that’s coming from the guy who disregards his own safety most of the time and doesn’t acknowledge that the risks he takes are completely unnecessary.”
“You’re the one who wants to play right into her game! Can’t you see that she’s waiting for one of you to slip up so you can take the blame for everything she’s done?” He gave both of them a warning look. He made a good point, but he was much too aware of it and she didn’t want to acknowledge it.
“I’m serious when I say do not act on it. Dragging Lockwood&Co into this mess would be the last thing we need.”
His last words ignited the flame already burning inside her.
“This is all this is about, isn’t it? If your name was the one being tied to crimes you didn’t commit you’d be the first to convince us to do something about this. But when it’s the other way around you have to think of business first.”
“This company is all you have left!”
“Rather you’re all we have left, right? The great Anthony Lockwood rescuing us and being a hero. How glorious of you!”
He scoffed and closed exasperated eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 
“You need to keep your ego in check, Lockwood. You need us as much as we need you!”
“If you want to cut your safety net then you can go! But as long as you work in my company, you’ll have to listen to what I have to say. It’s my name on the door and it’s my decision.”
She stormed out of the room and went up to the attic. His lack of understanding was too much to bear. She wished he had listened. Was it really too much to ask? She really thought that he would see why she needed to do something instead of laying low. Him of all people should understand. She guessed she didn’t know him as well as she thought.
She spent the rest of the day in her room, brooding, thinking about Dufour. The nerve she had to blame her for everything she did. All of this because she offered a different solution than hers to a client? Sure she broke into her office after that but it still seemed extreme.
She didn’t feel like going downstairs for dinner. She wasn’t really hungry anyway. But even if she had been, she didn’t want to face the obvious tension that would follow. She had gotten used to Lockwood’s warm brown eyes, but today they had been cold when he looked at her. She hadn’t been arguing with a friend or roommate or whatever they were, he had been her employer and she was expected to follow his orders.
There was a knock on her door. It was George, bringing her some food. He put the plate on her nightstand and sat next to her on her bed.
“Thought you could use something to eat.”
“That’s sweet of you, thank you.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Upset. And overwhelmed. But I’ll be okay. It’s just a lot you know?”
“Yeah… I still tried to convince Lockwood over dinner. You were right not to come down, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation. He’s dead set on burying this whole thing.”
At least she had one ally in this house.
“I don’t understand his reaction. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Don’t overthink it. He’s just… like that sometimes.”
She didn’t say anything for a while, lost in thought. George went to get the plate he had brought up and put it in her hands.
“You should eat. Don’t worry, you’ll be back to teasing each other in no time.” She froze. After a second, she looked up and saw him look so proud of himself.
“That’s not what this is about! What are you even getting at?”
He laughed and put a hand over her shoulder, rolling his eyes. She wanted to push him off her bed, but one bite and she surrendered, forced to compliment him yet again on his cooking.
The following morning y/n was the first one up. Sleep had cleared her mind. If Lockwood wasn’t going to help them, then she would take matter into her own hands. The plan George had started to elaborate the night before had grown into her mind. Following Dufour would really help her know what she was up against. George’s theory was a good start, but to take action she needed to know more about her operation, her clients, her associates. What was she in charge of exactly? How did she cover her tracks?
She walked into the kitchen with purpose. Today, she was taking her life back. She brewed some tea, poured herself a cup and ate toasts as she started to devise her plan on the Thinking Cloth. She remained vague on purpose. If Lockwood saw it, he would think it was just theoretical, like one of George’s ideas. She was so focused that she didn’t hear him coming in. He poured himself a cup of tea, but it was only when he spat it out that she noticed he was there.
“Why do you always make your tea so bitter?” he asked way too loudly for this hour of the morning.
“I think it suits you…” She mumbled, her eyes still set on the table.
He poured more water in his cup but still groaned when he tried it again. Desperate for silence, she got up and grabbed the sugar.
“Here, maybe it’ll soften your mood too.”
“No!” he exclaimed too late. She was already adding sugar to his cup. The opposition only made her pour more of it.
She felt him glaring at her. She tried not to smile, knowing it would infuriate him further and make her morning even less enjoyable. She sat back down and grabbed licorice from the bag that rested on the table. As she went to take a bite he slapped her wrist, making her drop it.
“Ow! What was that for?”
He didn’t bother to answer. He simply took the bag of licorice and left the room. She thought many things of Anthony Lockwood. He was a prick and an idiot, hot headed and impulsive, stubborn, but she didn’t know petty was also part of the list. He quickly said something about meeting an old friend before slamming the front door on his way out. It must have woken up George since he stumbled into the kitchen sleepy-eyed just a few minutes later. She didn’t intend on filling him in about her plan just yet. She wanted to have tangible result before dragging him into it.
She took a while longer to get all the details of her plan. She had tried to plan an itinerary that checked all the important places she needed to stake out. She would try to do as much as possible in one day. Once she had a clear idea where to start, she went up to the attic to finish getting ready. In the hall, she told George she had some errands to run. She put on her shoes, grabbed her coat and was about to open the door when the bell rang. She looked through the peephole. A tall thin man and a woman where standing in front of the door, a DEPRAC van parked right outside the house. She hesitantly opened the door.
“Good morning. I’m inspector Barnes, this is inspector Wade. Is George Karim here?”
“Um… Yes. Yes, he’s here. Should I go and get him?”
He ignored her question.
“Are you miss (y/n)?”
“Yes… I am…”
“I’m gonna have to ask you both to come with us.”
———
PS : I'm probably gonna open the next part with a couple of scenes from lockwood's pov ;))
83 notes · View notes
imaginexwwe · 11 months
Text
SPRING BREAK 5 - Roman Reigns
Tumblr media
TIME SKIP (MINOR)
REAL NAMES WILL BE USED
A GUILTY Y|N IS ON A MISSION TO TRACK DOWN HER BABY DADDY AND APOLOGIZE (🤣)
PART 4 (×)
"This is so cool." Tori squealed, as we pulled closer to the stadium where Extreme Rules 2016 was being held. "Like so cool."
I giggled at my best friend's excitement, playfully rolling my eyes as I glanced back at her from the passenger seat. "Calm down."
"Calm down?" Tori repeated, her words in the form of a question instead. "This is our first time seeing wrestling in person and it's at a major pay per view. So no." She added, poking her tongue out at me. "I will not calm down. You should be getting more excited if anything."
My giggling slowly eased as I sighed.
I wish I could be excited.
This is my first, well me and Tori's first pay per view like she said.
And the both of us have been getting more and more into wrestling lately after taking the time to actually admire the craft of wrestling entertainment and all.
But I'm scared.
I'm scared to see Joe after how I basically snapped on him for no reason after breaking up with Austin for good.
And it definitely doesn't help that I hadn't talked to Joe.
I mean, it's not like I called him or anything.
I've actually been too scared to call him, but still.
I'm carrying his baby.
You'd think he would call me or at least text.
Something.
"I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." Tori said bringing me out of my thoughts.
It was almost as if she knew what I was thinking.
"I hope so." I mumbled, as Colby brought his rental car to a stop.
I just...
I really, really like Joe and now that I don't have my ex breathing down my throat, clouding my judgment, I could see us being serious.
Like a real couple.
But of course it's not just up to me.
Joseph still has to forgive me.
As soon as my brother parked and took the key out of the ignition, the three of us were out of the car.
And within minutes we were walking through the arena, surrounded by wrestlers and backstage workers.
A few wrestlers I had quickly become familiar with over the couple months I'd been watching wrestling and a few that I either weren't familiar with or just wasn't a fan of.
"Oh my god." Tori half yelled, half whispered, pulling on my arm, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. "That's The Usos." She gasped out trying to low-key point to Joe's twin cousins without being caught. "I've never been one to go for brothers but those two -"
"Are happily married." Colby said, laughing as he cut my best friend off, earning a scoff from her in return.
"I was joking, idiot." Tori verbally spat at my brother as he again, led up through the crowded hallways eventually coming to a stop when we reached a area with a lot of tvs, more wrestlers and a few backstage workers.
All of whom seemed to be tuned into the current match that was taking place.
Wait.
That's Joe, I mentally confirmed with a smile forming on my face as I watched the father of my unborn baby kick ass inside the ring.
This is so cool, I thought, silently echoing Tori's earlier words.
Ugh.
He looks so good out there in his element.
His hair wet, and falling around his face.
His muscles flexing as he preformed move after move.
That sexy, yet extremely cocky smirk on his face because he knows he's the best and no one else is on his level.
And don't even get me going on his body.
"God, I love that man..." I mumbled to myself.
My eyes getting wide after I realized what I had said.
Did I actually mean that?
Do I love Joseph?
Or was I just getting lost in the moment as I stared at him through the screen infront of me?
"I'll be right back." I heard Colby say, looking from me to Tori as he snapped me back to reality. "Stay right here." He added, before quickly disappearing through the crowd of people moving in both directions.
Shit.
Did he hear that?
I bit down on the inside of my cheek.
It was a habit of mines when I'm nervous.
"I heard that." I heard my best friend whisper in my ear with a giggle as she nudged me with her elbow.
Of course.
If anybody were to catch me slipping it would be Tori.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I shot back, continuing to focus on the screen, rather than the stupid smirk I know Tori was displaying on her face right now.
"Bullshit." Tori giggled even more.
Before I could think of something to say back, the sound of applause was heard through backstage and Tori and I both found ourselves joining in.
Joe had won the match against his opponent and was proudly holding up his titles in both hands, as he stood over his latest victim.
That smirk of his...
No, Y|N, I thought, mentally slapping myself.
You can't spiral again.
"Hold up." Tori spoke up again, probably taking note of my silence. "Why are they booing?"
"Apparently it's what the crowd does for the character he's playing." I answered with a shrug. "Some heel thing, I think." I again spoke up, explaining to her what my brother had told me a few weeks ago when I was curious about the boos that were noticeable louder than the applause.
"Oh, okay."
I nodded, unconsciously placing my hand on my belly to rub circles into it. "I guess Joe will be coming back here in a few." I said, looking over at Tori.
"Yeah." She replied, nodding before looking around. "I wonder where your brother went though."
Yeah...
Where did my brother go?
"He did say he'll be right ba-"
Before I could finish what I was saying, an all to familiar theme, that I had gotten to hear plenty of, over the last month or so, rang throughout the arena.
Gasps being heard from people close by and those that occupied the crowd.
Colby.
My brother, Colby was sprinting towards the ring as Joe stopped his celebration taunting to the audience, to glance over at the entrance, a surprised expression now replacing his previous cocky one as he watched Colby come closer and closer to the ring.
Wait.
When did he have time to change into his wrestling gear?
"Holy shit." Me and Tori said, simultaneously as we continued watching, both our eyes glued to the screen.
Colby finally reached the ring, taking no time to slide inside of it, soon standing eye to eye with Joseph.
The two men exchanged a few words to each other, neither man backing down from the other.
Then in the blink of an eye, my brother had taken control of the moment, grabbing Joe and preforming a pedigree on him.
Why didn't Colby tell us he was going to be back in action tonight?
Or at least me?
I'm his sister for goodness sake.
As the drama continued to unfold out in the ring, Joe's cousins Jimmy, Jey, and Solo Sikoa could be seen coming to the aid of their Tribal Chief as Joe's wise man Paul Heyman stood outside of the ring, a look of disbelief on his face.
And only for what seemed to be two or three seconds, my brother held up both of Joe's titles, dropped them, then disappeared through the crowd, just before the Usos entered the ring tending to Joe.
Barely escaping far into the crowd before Solo could catch him.
This was not how I imagined my first pay per view but I must say, I was not disappointed.
Colby was the first to come through the curtain that led back into the backstage area and me and Tori wasted no time fighting for the chance to be the first to congratulate him.
Well more like excitedly question him.
"Why didn't you say your knee was healed enough for you to get back in the ring, Colby?" I asked, throwing my arms around my brother in a hug.
"If I told, it wouldn't be a surprise."
"Well that was a pretty awesome surprise, Colby." Tori said, joining in on the hug.
After a few more seconds, hugging my brother I pulled back, glancing up at him. "So, what..." I stuttered out. "What did you say to Joe out there in the ring. I mean, I couldn't really hear but it looked like it was a heated exchange."
"We were just in character." Colby said nonchalantly, with a shrug. "We weren't being Colby and Joe in the ring we were being Seth and Roman. Don't worry. I told you I was cool with you and him."
I nodded, biting down on my lip.
But you also said you were gonna kick his ass in the ring. I thought remembering my brother's words from a couple weeks ago.
Did he already have his plan in motion that night?
Or is all of this just a coincidence?
And again I'm just over thinking.
Fuck!
I just wish I knew what was sa-
Oh there's my man.
I mean my Joe.
Ugh, there's Joe.
"Hi, Joe." I called out to him, waving my hand like an idiot.
I probably looked like Forest Gump when he was waving down Jenny.
What is wrong with me?
"Hey." Joe replied, as he made his way over. "What are you doing here?" He asked awkwardly as his eyes locked on mines.
His beautiful brown eyes.
"Colby brought us out."
This is awkward.
Like this conversation spells awkward.
But why?
This isn't like us.
Me and Joe were practically strangers and we had a better conversation then, compared to this one.
Is he still mad at me?
"I uhm..." I again found myself stuttering on my words. "I've been texting and I even called a few times but you hav-"
Joe grabbed my hand, pulling me away from my brother, Tori and his cousins who weren't exactly in arms reach, but still close by.
I'm not sure they were close enough to hear but I guess Joe didn't want to take chances.
As me and Joe walked off, I noticed he was lost in conversation with his friend and fellow superstar Bayley.
There was no way he knew Joe had dragged me off.
But Tori had of course.
She stood off to Colby's side, giving me two thumbs up with a huge smile on her face.
But back to my brother...
Why was he seeming off today?
First he was quite the ride here.
Then the surprise attack on Joseph.
It's just, for someone who's supposedly okay with me and one of his best friends, he's hadn't been acting okay.
I don't know, maybe he was just trying to get back into his Seth Rollins mind set.
Cause if he wasn't, he would have brought us out with him.
No matter how much Tori and I had begged.
"Where are we going?" I asked Joe, realizing we'd been walking for what seemed like forever in a five month pregnant woman's mind. "Joe?"
Still, ignoring me, Joe finally came to a stop in an empty room.
A dark empty room.
Why are two of the men that means the most to me being so strange today?
"Sorry about that." Joe said, finally speaking up for the first time since he pulled me away from my best friend and brother. "And I'm sorry I was ignoring you. I was just still pissed from you snapping on me a couple weeks ago." He explained, making me feel guilty all over again.
Joe flicked on the lights and all of a sudden my eyes had to adjust to the brightness, as I slowly looked around, immediately realizing this was the room Joe is sometimes seen in backstage while he's either yelling at his cousins or watching his cousin's on going match.
Well one of them anyways, considering Smackdown isn't filmed at just one arena so there's no way it's just one room.
His private locker room.
Yeah, that's it.
"Can I?" I asked, pointing to one of the chairs, practically power walking to it the second Joe nodded.
"How are you?" Joe asked, sitting down in the empty chair next to mines. "How's the baby?"
"I'm good." I answered, looking down at my belly. "And the baby's good." I said, answering Joe's second question. "He or she actually kicked last night." I giggled, glancing over at Joe.
I felt my lips turn up into a smile as I remembered that amazing feeling of those little kicks.
It even had me questioning if I still wanted to go through with the adoption.
Or if I wanted to keep this baby.
I mean, as much as I hate to admit it because I was so sure of my plan...
I have been getting used to this pregnancy and the idea of having a mini Joe.
Or even a mini me.
"Could I feel?" Joe asked as I quickly nodded.
"Of course." I verbally answered him, watching as he stood from his chair and came over to squat in front of me. "But don't expect to feel anythi-" I stopped talking, as a gasp escaped my lips.
The little kicks were back.
Okay wow.
Scratch that.
That was a big kick.
"That's our baby." Joe gasped, smiling up at me as I smiled down at him. "We made that."
Again I nodded, feeling tears stinging at my eyes.
Yeah we did.
"Either it doesn't want daddy's hand on me or it is excited to finally feel your touch, cause that's the biggest kick I've felt so far." I joked, giggling again while also making Joe laugh.
"I'm gonna take it as it likes my touch." He replied, as he continued rubbing my belly.
I sighed dreamily as I continued to watch Joe. "I love your touch too." I sighed out, my eyes widening for the second time today as I realized I had embarrassed myself yet again.
What is it with me and this man?
At least I didn't make a mistake and admit my love for him again, in front of him this time.
Tori hearing me was enough.
And maybe Colby if he'd heard.
"Please ignore that." I mumbled, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. "I didn't mean for you to hear that."
"I'm happy I did." Joe replied, standing up again and going back to the chair he was previously sitting in. "With how you been acting these few months, I was starting to think I was more into you than you were into me."
I shook my head.
How could he think that, when he looks like he does?
You'd think that man never has to worry about a girl being into him.
And don't even get me started on how great of a personality he has.
Basically Joseph's the whole package.
And more.
"I'm sorry." I finally apologized. "Especially for the way I snapped on you a couple weeks ago. It's just even though I wasn't really into my ex, I still, for some reason was hurt finding out he was still cheating on me and when you asked if I left him for you, it just set me off. And I know you didn't mean it like that, when you asked, I just couldn't help but take it that way." I rambled as Joe quietly listened. "Can we just blame it on the hormones?" I asked, with a playful pout.
"This time." Joe answered.
And for a few minutes everything just seemed right between us again.
Joe and I were laughing.
Catching up on what's been going on in our lives
It was like my last day in Miami again, before I had to say bye to the man I've quickly come to love.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask." I said, still looking over at Joe. "Why didn't you tell me that you had talked to my brother about us..?"
Joe raised an eyebrow at me, giving me a confused look.
Like, a really confused look.
"I don't know what you're talking about, babe."
OMG he called me babe again.
I don't think he's called me babe since Miami or when I last saw him at my house.
It just feels so right hearing him call me th-
Wait.
Did he say he didn't talk to Colby about us?
"The last time you were in Iowa, Joe." I said, nervously. "Colby said you came to see him at Black and Brave and told him about us." I added, hoping to jog his memory.
"Y|N." Joe replied, letting go of my hand that he'd been holding for a while now, using his thumb to stroke small circles onto it, his facial expression showing signs of nervousness also. "I didn't know your brother knew about us, that's why I brought you in here so we could talk. And if he does, he definitely didn't find out from me. I haven't even talked to him since I've been back on the road."
My heart rate began increasing.
And my throat all of a sudden felt dry.
Very dry.
This would explain why Colby had been acting weird since the second Tori and I had asked if we could come to the show with him.
I'm betting he wasn't as okay with me and Joseph like he said he was to me that night.
He probably didn't really want me to come here because he was worried about me seeing Joe but knew it'll be more suspicious to say we could come with him.
Colby had lied.
But why?
And if Joseph didn't tell him...
Who did?
😱
T A G S -
@southerngirl41 @alyyaanna @seeingstarks @harleescreepycreations @mikaylathenerd5
135 notes · View notes
munsonsreputation · 11 months
Note
#4 taylor x stranger things 🧣 - send me your character of choice and a taylor song and ill write a short imagine based on it!!!! (yes queen taylor gets her own prompt alright!!!! HAHAHAAH)
(i don't think you understand you hard i smiled when i saw this prompt) begin again (taylor's version) with steve!
hi cleo!!!!
so sorry this took so long, but i hope i was able to do this request justice!! i love the album red (tv, of course) and to me, begin again screams steve finding love again!! i wrote it in the pov of reader and i hope you love it!!!
thanks again for your request and support!!! 🧣🍂☕️📚
Tumblr media
The air was filled with warmth, wrapping you in the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans and the sweetness of the doughs baking in the ovens. They were a slight chatter over the customers dining in around you and making their orders at the registers, but you were too busy to notice all of that.
You were caught up in everything that was Steve Harrington. The dreamy boy from Hawkins sitting across from you in the cafe where you were nursing a latte while listening to him speak about Christmas movies he and his friends were planning to watch over the holidays.
Steve wasn’t what you had expected at all, especially for this meeting between you and him to be one of your first dates. In all honestly, you were predicting the usual awkward silence and vague conversation, all while he tried to flirt his way back to your place, but it was the complete opposite.
He had arrived early, already saving a table for the two of you. And when he saw you through the glass windows, approaching the shop, he immediately stood, waving hello and stretching your chair out as came over to him.
Talking to him wasn’t as nerve-racking as you’d thought it would be. If anything, it came smoothly, like second nature as you told him about the drive over where you heard James Taylor on the radio and how it reminded you of how the two met and stumbled upon this date in the first place.
You searching through endless stacks of records trying to find the very specific James Taylor album you needed to complete your collection.
After Steve had heard you talking to the owners of the store, he had found it in another section, misplaced by a previous customer. He approached you, carrying a smile as he handed over the vinyl and then struck up a conversation about music. And of course, not leaving before he asked you out on a date.
“You okay? Tired of hearing me talk about Christmas movies?” His ramble suddenly ceased with a laugh, noting the way your eyes were a bit glazed over, staring through him rather than at him.
You shook your head, snapping out of the slight daydream you found yourself falling into.
Smiling lightly, you offered a response, “No, please, enlighten me about Bruce Willis and the 40 stories of sheer adventure.” You half joked, seeing him chuckle by the way you were able to memorize the movie’s stupid catchphrase.
Taking a sip of your latte, you watched him shrug his shoulders, and advert his attention towards you, “Alright, enough about me, you alright? You seem a little shy.”
Not that it bothered him one bit considering that you were shy in the record store you two met in, but he was crossing his fingers that you weren’t regretting this date. That it was just the jitters and you would come out of your shell, eventually.
“Oh, I’m really fine. It’s just that this is my first date in a while, so y’know, don’t want to make a fool out of myself.” You told him with a light wince.
Steve shook his head knowingly, waving off that thought of yours, and instead offering you a soft expression as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his fist, looking at you.
“If it makes you feel any better, it’s been a while since I’ve been on a date, too…gotta tell you, I was a nervous wreck waiting here for you.” He tsked, tapping his fingers on the table as you rose a suspecting brow at him.
“Seriously! I thought you were gonna stand me up or something.” He looked away for a moment, shyly not meeting your eyes until he heard your laughter.
“Me?!” You giggled, throwing your head back as he nodding with a smile, tugging his lips up in a smile.
“Yes you! You’re beautiful and amazing and I don’t know what I did right to get a date with you.”
His words made you blush, tucking your cheek against your shoulder, feeling like a high schooler all over again with a schoolgirl crush.
Steve didn’t know how much it took for you to take a chance on a date with him. You weren’t really looking for a relationship, let alone a date, but you decided to jump in headfirst and just give it go.
And you were glad that you did because Steve was different in a lot of ways.
He didn’t comment on how your high heels made him feel short.
Or how he didn’t understand why you liked James Taylor’s music in the first place.
He didn’t understand why you thanked him profusely after he pulled out your chair for you, but you did.
You knew that relationships were never easy for you, but Steve made it feel like it could be that way.
“Steve, you don’t know how much I like you, and this is only our first date.” You declared softly, creeping your fingers closer to his hand across the table, yet not meeting his, petrified of his reply to your honesty.
He grinned, eyes flickering to your hands as he made the move to brush his fingers against yours, resting them snugly on top of one another before meeting his eyes to yours.
“I feel the exact same way.”
Steve had always thought that the feeling of infatuation was supposed to spark with pandemonium. The kind where it was obsessive and all over the place, but with you it felt peaceful. Sure, he was nervous asking you on a date and even waiting here for your arrival, but there was that underlying assurance of peace.
So for the first time in a long time, for you and Steve it felt like a new start.
One that you both could watch begin again.
Tumblr media
leave a comment and let me know if want to be added to my taglist!!
taglist: @translatemunson @kennedy-brooke @manda-panda-monium @tvserie-s-world @givemeth @steveharringtonswife @astolenkiss @loving-and-dreaming @awkotaco24 @engenelxver
59 notes · View notes
eiightysixbaby · 5 months
Note
Okay. So. Serious question here. Curiosity-born, not me trying to be a dick.
Jonathan has proven over and over to be a great brother to Will (especially the loving and accepting way he reacted to Will's not-coming out coming out, which is as big a deal as Steve's acceptance of Robin given how things were in the 80s when it came to non-cishet folks and doubly so in small towns... a mindset that still carries on in small towns to this day, unfortunately) and son to Joyce. We can tell he loves his family a lot and would do anything for them.
But... -Making Nancy enter and leave the house through the window instead of the door, as if Joyce wouldn't know she was there (season 3) -Being dismissive and basically misogynistic in essentially telling Nancy to suck it up and deal with the abuse she gets at the Post for the sake of his future career (season 3) -The non-con undies pics of Nancy w/ and w/o Steve involved (season 1) -Lying to Nancy about college (season 4)
How do you reconcile these things? Especially that third one.
for the first point, I think you’re reading too far into it. they’re teens being teens. they think they’re slick and they’re probably not.
second point, both jonathan and nancy are ignorant to the others’ point of view during that argument. they’re both right in some ways, and wrong in some ways, and they both realize afterwards that they said some fucked up things. I also don’t think it’s solely for the sake of his future career. he wants better for her, too, he knows she wants to work for the paper. and so he’s hoping they’ll both gain experience and move up. he’s obviously not understanding that the men of the company don’t view her as anything other than a servant, but I think after that blowout fight he realizes how wrong he was.
third one. the photos are wrong. in my opinion, jonathan knows this, even as he’s taking them. we clearly see, especially in season one, how alone and socially awkward jonathan is. I’m not saying this as an excuse for taking the photos, but I truly believe what he said when he told nancy that when he takes photos, it’s because they often tell a story and say things the people won’t actually say out loud in real life. he doesn’t talk to people, really, but he looks at things from his artistic perspective and maybe gets far too caught up in that. I think initially, before clothes started to come off, he was like “oh, an interesting photo opportunity”…. and then it just got way further out of hand. does any of this make it right? no! but he apologizes for his wrongdoings and we never see him do anything creepy again. he clearly learned from that.
fourth, I think he’s literally just scared. he’s not trying to be a dick, but he doesn’t want to disappoint the girl he loves so much. he went along with her dreams and finally realized it’s not what he wants, and it’s obviously going to be a shock to her when he tells her he changed his mind. he also probably understands that dropping a bomb like that on her over the phone or something, would suck.
10 notes · View notes
purekwon · 2 years
Text
reasons why episode 6 of the eclipse series should not have been shown to me: a very serious, very rational, write up
[THE ECLIPSE SERIES EP 6 SPOILERS!]
so far, we've seen many tension-filled akkayan moments - whenever they get a whiff of that locker room air, or a feel of each other on the crash mat - but EPSIODE 6??!!?!!! i'd like to say i have no words but i'm afraid i cant hold my thoughts in any longer or i'll literally exothermic-reaction combust. let us begin...
the all-revealing scene
Tumblr media
even tho this scene is a lead on from ep 5, it still made me sit up with shock. the anticipation and the tense atmosphere when aye discovers the truth behind so many happenings and akk's visible panic to find out he's been uncovered is just the perfect combo in this scene. and even tho aye has just found out damaging information, instead of throwing akk under the bus, he helps him hide from teacher sani. it's the way he constantly protects akk, despite the circumstances, that never fails to make me giggle and kick my feet. and omg the tension?? through the roof. I WAS SO HAPPY AYE WAS THE ONE TO FIND AKK (but also anxious)
2. the firepit scene
Tumblr media
"akk! look into my eyes. nothing is the best. you can't carry all the school problems on your shoulder. do you get it?" "but i must do it! if i can't, everyone will be disappointed in me." "screw those people!"
now this pushed me to my limit. we hoped for affection and we got emotional vulnerability, on both sides. akk with his hero complex, breaking down in tears before aye (aka the only person i've seen him be this unguarded around), and ayan crying after seeing akk so tormented by the good-boy persona he's trying to maintain. honestly, tears rimmed my eyes bc i FELT for both of them during the peak of this scene. aye holding akk's face to calm him and akk just allowing himself to be vulnerable in front of him.. it just UGH
3. their quiet yet LOUD moment
Tumblr media
this scene bro. when i tell you i squealed when aye got all flirty n shit and the way akk was just LETTING him do this until they got caught (eyeroll). we see a clear change from the first episodes where akk would immediately push aye away or escape the situation where as now, he seems to accept and almost.. yearn for it? wtv it was, it made want to push their heads together and give us all what we've been ever so patiently waiting for. the way aye has the ability to be flirty while being accusing of akk is genuinely attractive. idc.
4. my final effing straw
Tumblr media
THE NIGHTMARE TROPPEEE HELLL YEAAHHHH best trope going i swear. the way akk instantly comforted aye with a hug and was the first to lean in for a kiss for once??? the way they've become so fond of one another is just entirely tender and warm and i so thoroughly enjoyed this scene that i replayed it at least 3 times. he didn't hesitate to make sure ayan felt safe during the nightmare and neither did he pull away when aye leant in for the kiss.
Tumblr media
the safe aura this scene encapsulates is just immaculate and first and khaotung couldn't have done a better job at executing it. akk finally caved and wasn't forced into doing so, he did it voluntarily, of his own free will. he wanted to kiss aye. he wanted to make him feel safe in his arms and protect him from his nightmare. i love them. i really do. i'm happy this was the way they shared their first proper kiss, with mutual pining after a long day and in the comforts of akk's dorm bed. so homely it gives me butterflies DKDJHDJKS
this scene reminds me of leith ross' - We'll Never Have Sex "Oh, you kissed me just to kiss me Not to take me home It was simple, it was sweetness It was good to know"
but anyways.. that concludes this vent for now. in short, this episode should've been kept from my view because idk how im gonna cope when the series ends! 😃
70 notes · View notes
aniron48 · 1 year
Text
Love Letters - Day 8
Somehow we've done it, friends: here we are, at the very last poll in our choose your own adventure journey. Tomorrow night, around 9:15 EST, once the results are in, I'll post the conclusion of our story.
If you're joining for the first time, or if you've missed a day or two, you can catch up here: Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
And for those of you who are all caught up, it's time to see what you have wrought! Mad respect to @amongthejumbledheap, who successfully guessed that the pen--well, you'll see. Day 8 begins below the cut!
Steeling himself, he twisted the barrel.
There was a spark of light, and a puff of smoke, and a shower of pink, red, and white confetti in the shape of tiny hearts rained down on Bond’s kitchen, littering the surface of the table and sticking to the front of his jumper. Once the air had cleared, Bond could see the piece of paper that had been rolled up tightly and placed in the open chamber of the pen.
“Well played, darling,” Bond murmured to himself as he drew out the note. He unrolled the paper, and began to read.
Dear James,
There’s something almost anachronistic about a love letter, isn’t there? There are innumerable other ways to tell someone you love them, these days, almost all of them faster and more convenient than sending a letter through the mail.
Or maybe ‘anachronistic’ isn’t the right word, after all. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that they’re timeless. Put another way, I suppose you could say that love letters are a kind of defiance of time, a written record of the love between two people that can endure long after the people who shared that love are gone.
I’ve never really believed in any kind of afterlife, myself, and I suspect I will quickly be lost to history, when I am gone—one of the consequences of a job, and a life, where one is primarily a position, instead of a name. But I think I could believe in an afterlife like that, where the part of me that loves you is the part that carries on, even after time has done its worst with the rest of me.
You, I think, will be remembered for any number of things, living on in fame and infamy alike. I have never had any doubts in that regard. But I hope when they tell your story, that at least a part of it will be this: that you were loved, fiercely and without equivocation, by someone who counted every hour with you a small miracle, in a world without many of them to come by.
All that, and I still haven’t said the actual words, have I? I love you, of course, wildly and out of all proportion and without any sense of self-preservation. But any other way would hardly be equal to you.
Come and find me at noon on Valentine’s Day. I think you can guess where.
Yours,
Q
Bond stayed at the table, reading and rereading the letter until the sun slipped below the horizon, and he was forced to get up to close the blinds and turn on the lights. He wanted, more than anything, to go to Q then, and to tell him, with words or without, what the letter had meant to him. But the instructions in the letter had been clear—Q had been clear—and Bond could wait one more night.
💜💜💜💜
48 notes · View notes
Text
Tumblr media
OC Kiss Week Day 4: Safe
WIP: Darkspace Portent Pairing: Scotty x Guetry Timeline: …???? CW: none Rating: T Words: 1,756
Additional Note: If you really wanna get fucked up, the accompanying music piece to this is “Rising Morning” by Christian Gray
***
"Hey, Scotty. Rise and shine."
Normally the routine of waking was instant, a few seconds of pulling himself out of sleep mode. Now, coming into consciousness took a bit longer, a groggy wakefulness that shuddered through his entire chassis and made him hyper-aware of the fact that he had been asleep. Prone on a flat surface of some sort, harsh lights shining in his face, people in various armor carrying weapons hurrying around beyond the void.
…Someone just called him Scotty.
"You had us sweating there for a minute." A face moved in closer, smiling, clear blue eyes sparkling and making it very noticeable that they weren't wearing a helmet. "You good? Do you remember taking a bullet to the chest like a major badass?"
Scot blinked and he felt his brow scrunch, moving to force himself into an inclined position. He adjusted his lenses, dampened the brightness of the light in his eyes enough to make out the rest of the face. He caught a few days of beard growth and deep sable hair pushed back, a few strands of it falling into his face, a tattoo covering the entire right side of his neck, disappearing into the shoulder of his heavy armor.
But Scot knew what was there. He'd seen it many times. As a reflection in the mirror, sure, but he knew every angle of every shape down to the most precise decimal point. He knew what the scars under those tattoos looked like, where they were thickest, and how long it took for that skin to heal.
"Guetry…"
"Don't do that again." Guetry gripped the upper part of Scot's arm, and though he kept up the warm grin, his eyes conveyed worry and affection. "We appreciate all the work you do out in the field but I don't wanna have to write a eulogy for an android. Oh—okay…" He paused as Scot snaked his arms around him, his demeanor easing, returning the tight embrace with surprise and acceptance. "Okay. I've got you."
Scot held him, passed a hand over his hair. Soft, silky, warm from being under a helmet for so long. He pressed his palm to Guetry's cheek, committed to memory the feel of stubble against his synthetic skin. He traced his fingers down to the neck portion of the tattoo, registering the raised scar tissue beneath it.
Guetry pulled back, patient, and held his hand away from him. "I can sense something's out of whack right now," he said. "And I'm not revoking permission to feel me up, but I'm gonna have to put a pin in it for just a little bit. Just a little while. Don't know if you remember, but we're kinda in the middle of a thing here."
Scot only then realized they were in an open shuttle, facing what appeared to be a camp, soldiers and operatives rushing in every direction past the door. The rest of Guetry's team waited outside, stocking up on supplies and ammo, getting directions from their commanders, occasionally glancing into the shuttle for an update. Mercury offered a sheepish wave, which Scot reciprocated in hopes of putting him at ease.
"I have to go back out there," Guetry said, reaching to the floor for his helmet. "I want you to stay here this time. They need to get that bullet out of your chest cavity and I don't want anything making that task impossible or pointless. Clear?"
"Guetry," Scot said quickly, grabbing his wrist. "Please."
With wide eyes, Guetry glanced from his wrist to Scot's face. Instead of wrenching himself free or even making a joke to dismiss him, he placed a hand against Scot's cheek. "Hey. It's alright. We're just support for the fliers right now—nothing's going to happen. I'll be back. That's a promise. I'm coming back to you."
Hesitating, Scot released his wrist, watching as he placed his helmet over his head. He couldn't explain his panic, the unbridled fear coursing through his circuitry, or why he couldn't tell if any of this was real or a convincing simulation. He'd never experienced this level of emotion in the time he'd been a functioning intelligence.
Having been faced with the increasing likelihood at that moment, only one thing appeared to be worse than losing Guetry, and that was the idea of losing Guetry again.
Guetry squeezed his hand before hopping out of the shuttle. Someone, previously unseen, came up from behind to put him into sleep mode once more.
He heard cheers and hollers before he could see anything. Scot opened his eyes as a technician relayed his status to a group passing the shuttle's open door. Mercury, Guetry, and a woman Scot didn't recognize all removed their helmets, wide smiles and bright faces at the news.
Guetry cast a glance into the shuttle, tucking the helmet under an arm. "Thanks," he told the technician. "I'd throw a fit if anything happened to my guy."
"You'll throw a fit if there aren't enough cheesy snacks," Mercury teased, moving with the others out of sight. "You'll throw a fit if you wake up a minute before time. You'll throw a fit if—"
"I'll throw a fit if you don't go away."
"That, too." Mercury laughed and popped out of sight around the side of the shuttle.
Guetry looked properly at Scot, now. Relieved, tired, covered head to toe in a layer of sweat from the fight, perfectly framed within the doorway of the shuttle, but happy. "Ready to go, my dear?"
Scot climbed out of the shuttle after making sure he wasn't attached to anything. The technician attending to him had gotten stuck into something else, not paying either of them any mind anymore.
And then there he stood, in front of Guetry, who was taller than he'd imagined he'd be. Taller than the chassis. Small wrinkles at the corners of his eyes from smiling, well-groomed eyebrows, pointed chin, thin frame. Hair not as neat as it'd been before. Cheeks flush with color, still somewhat out of breath, but eyes bright and looking at Scot as if he was the only thing that mattered in the whole of the entire universe.
"What's going on with you," Guetry asked softly.
"I've had…a rough experience."
"I'll bet. Wanna tell me about it?"
"No." Scot tilted his head. "…I think I would rather kiss you, instead, if I may."
With a new, cheeky edge to his grin, Guetry made a show of sneaking a peek around the camp, where not a single other soul cared about what was happening between them. "Ooh, here? In the middle of a battlefield? I dunno. People might throw things at me and call me a delinquent. Which I am and have been most of my life, but…I get the weird feeling it'll hurt more coming from other vets."
"Guetry, I love you." Scot's jaw tightened and he felt as if he were going to sink into the planet's crust at any moment. "I didn't know it was possible, and I don't think it ever will be again. And I wanted to tell you in case I never have this chance in the future."
All traces of humor left Guetry's expression. He reached up to ghost a thumb over Scot's cheek. "God, Scotty, I love you, too. So fucking much." A single heartbeat's worth of a gaze, and he cupped his face and pulled him close, pressing their lips together.
Scot buried his fingers into Guetry's hair, and he heard the sound of the helmet falling to the ground before a pair of arms wrapped around him, slid up his back, taking care not to ram a piece of armor into his chassis. Scot's system warmed, coolant working overtime to prevent him from overloading, and he wanted to disappear into his arms until the end of time.
Guetry nipped gingerly at Scot's mouth, stroked the side of his face, braced him against his chest. Allowing space between them proved to be a difficult endeavor. "I don't know what's going on with you," he murmured, running his fingers over Scot's features, "but if you need me to tell you every second of every damn day from this one forward, I will. I love you more than I've loved anything or anyone else. Do you understand me?"
Scot's face twisted in anguish. "Yes."
"I will always love you. Until the day I die. And when that happens, you pick up your pieces and keep going."
"I don't want to function without you."
"You don't have a choice." Guetry took his chin, and Scot wasn't so sure that he didn't know, in some way, what was going on. "You keep going. You hear me?"
Scot peered up into his face. With all the strength he could conjure, he nodded. The inside of his chest stuttered.
"Your purpose is you. It's the greatest one you'll ever have." Guetry held him tight enough to break. "It's the greatest one I've ever had. Thank you for keeping me breathing on my own for as long as you could."
Sudden darkness. An open door.
Scot stood still, waiting.
This wasn't a shuttle. It wasn't even a planet. A ship, with the name Setae'togun painted on the side in large, white letters, streaming through space. Guetry was gone.
Warren Cougar stepped into the doorway. His brows drawn, mouth a tight line. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to.
Scot clocked the wetness rolling down his own cheek and turned his face away from the door. He blinked at the bulkhead. "…I didn't know I could cry."
"I didn't think it'd ever happen." Warren swallowed. "But Christ, I'm so sorry I was wrong. We can take you to NodeSource if you wanna squash that ability as soon as possible."
"No." Scot let more tears flow, observing the pattern they made when they fell to the floor of his quarters. "I couldn't tell you why, but no."
"I might have an idea as to why." Warren sniffed. "Want me to get out of here?"
"He was your best friend."
Warren nodded, clearing his throat against the onslaught that threatened to bowl him over. "…I fucking miss him, man."
"Human fragility is a devastation." Scot reached out a hand, and Warren took it. "I mourn the millennia of pain it's caused each and every one of you…though I'm grateful to have known you."
Warren held his hand, and they remained in one another's company, reliving better times until they felt the incomprehensible weight lift off their chests.
3 notes · View notes
aiitheoutsinfree · 2 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Gone, Not Forgotten Part 3 of 4
Word Count: 700+
Warnings: Angst, pining, mention of self-hate
Author’s Note: This one’s very dialogue heavy and a little short, oops. Just so excited for part 4.
Summary: Annie’s time in the crystal.
Edit: Forgot the images!
—————————————
You hear footsteps coming down the hall in your direction, trying to hide your teary face as they come closer to the bend in the corridor. Hitch peeks around the corner at the sound of your sniffling, and you sigh in relief.
“Just making sure you’re not…breaking her out or anything.”
You laugh a little, “Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance to visit her tomorrow.”
“Huh? But I’m gonna be training you tomorrow…”
“I mean, I won’t tell the supervisor if you don’t.” She considers it for a second, nodding soon after.
“Fine, but if we get caught it’s your fault. I’m going on break, see ya tomorrow.”
You lean on the door once again, getting ready to leave. You have a long first day tomorrow, at least you can cling to your memories today.
—————————————
She heard every word, you had to believe she did. She silently listened, with eyes still closed, if that wasn’t true you weren’t sure you’d be able to take it. It’s the only reason you had kept visiting in the first place, in the hope she’d know you didn’t judge her for anything she did...but did that make you as bad as her, or worse?
You lean your forehead against where hers would be without the damned crystal, taking a deep breath.
“Bertholdt is dead, and Reiner ran off with the Beast Titan and some weird frog thing. As Armin was eating him, he…”
You sniffle, trying to get the words out before you break down completely.
“He called for you, and Reiner….he called for me. The others held me down, I couldn’t handle just watching him die. I know what he’s done was horrible, but he was like an older brother to me, you know? Now they think I was with you three, even though I never knew. Most of them won’t even look at me, and that Floch guy keeps trying to pick fights…you would’ve hated him as much as I do, he’s like Eren but with even less of a filter. I didn’t even know that was possible.” You yawn as you rub your face, getting ready to leave.
“See you next week, Annie.”
—————————————
You enter carrying a cake. It’s silly, but it’s her third year in the crystal, and her 19th birthday. You don’t do much talking today, instead moving to sit down. As you turn to lean against the crystal, you see the door is cracked, and that Hitch is peeking through. When she notices your gaze, she lets herself in.
“You know you’re not supposed to touch the crystal, Y/N.”
“Do you plan on stopping me?”
“No, not really. I only stop Armin cause he’s too touchy for my tastes.”
You smile, “Thanks for protecting her, Hitch, but I’m not jealous of Armin.”
“Maybe, but I am.” You raise a brow, looking at her.
“You’re jealous of Armin…but not me?”
“You don’t creep me out, he does.”
“I don’t know, I feel weird sometimes. Everyone else seems to think so.”
Hitch rolls her eyes, but it doesn’t feel rude because of her smile. She nudges you with her shoulder before looking down at her boots.
“She talked about you a lot, you know? I mean, she didn’t talk much. When I could get her to open up, it was all ‘Y/N this, Y/N that, Y/N should be here, Y/N could’ve done that way better than you did’. I hated you before I knew you, she made you sound so perfect.”
You scoff, “Not perfect enough to trust, though.”
“Y/N, tell me, what would you have done if she’d told you? Turned on her? Tried to hurt her?”
“Of course not! Why would I do that?!” She looks at you out of the corner of her eye, a small smile on her face.
“She couldn't have known that, Y/N. You’re from Maria, you’ve gotta realize she probably had a lot of guilt weighing down on her. It’s deserved guilt, I guess, but you have to realize she hated herself for it; We both had to listen to her nightmares every night at some point.”
You can’t argue with her, so you sit there in silence eating cake, listening to Hitch tell you stories about her short time with Annie.
36 notes · View notes
brittlebutch · 4 years
Text
absolutely Iconic comedy here in John Wick 3 i’m actually very excited to see four now
4 notes · View notes
cjsinkythoughts · 3 years
Text
In Need of a Breath
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader
Word Count: 4007
Warnings: !FATWS SPOILERS!, Cursing, Zemo, Feelings, Another PTSD Flashback
A/N: So…Part 4 is going to have a couple parts to it. Maybe even three. I didn’t even make it half way through the episode on this one, mainly because I really wanted to fit in the Reader’s backstory and I wanted her and Sam to have a heart-to-heart again. I’m suuuuper tired, so I probably won’t be posting the next part for another few hours (it’s 5 am right now and I haven’t slept), BUT it’s my day off work and I won’t be doing anything I planned because my grandmother had a stroke a couple days ago so plans have changed and I’m staying in to help her, meaning I’ll mostly be writing all day. 
This Part is kind of a mix between off-screen and shot-by-shots, but it’s mostly off screen/what’s going on inside Reader’s head.
I’m really excited about future parts and the characters that are being introduced! I will say that after these parts, I will be doing one shots of previous MCU movies with the Reader, due to the information that is being given about the Reader now. You kind of see more of how she was affected/how she affected the previous MCU movies and what she was doing during that time.
Like always, this hasn’t been beta’d, again it’s SUPER early in the morning, and I’m really tired, so please excuse any mistakes! I hope you guys enjoy this part! Stay tuned for more to come later today!
FATWS MASTERLIST
cjsinkythoughts MASTERLIST
Tumblr media
!SPOILERS UNDER CUT!
“You know…I’m really starting to regret saying yes to this.” You huffed out, craning your neck and squinting your eyes against the sun as you stare at the facility in front of you, hating the skin-crawling feeling of being back.
“Would you relax? Whenever you’re nervous, I get nervous, and I don’t wanna be nervous about this.” Sam shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Do either of you have a better plan?” Bucky grumbled, crossing his arms.
Gnawing on your lips, you finally take the lead and breathe out, “alright. Let’s go then.” You could feel the hesitance from your - what were they? Partners? Coworkers? Teammates? - the fellas before they started after you.
There was a sick twist in your gut as you entered the building, going through the lobby and security.
You had been there.
You had been there when Zemo impersonated Bucky. You had been there when Zemo unleashed the Winter Soldier at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre Building in Berlin. You had been there during the battle at the airport. You had been there when Zemo turned Tony and Steve against each other in Siberia. You had been there when Zemo tore the Avengers from the inside out. Your family. The only family you’d ever known.
But you’d always been good about pushing your personal feelings aside for the sake of the mission. It’s what you’d been born to do. All you ever knew.
“Hey. Doll. You hear me?”
“Hmm. What?” You looked up from the ground to look into those enchanting blue oceans Bucky had for eyes, staring worriedly down at you, eyebrows pinched and forehead creased.
“I’m going in alone.” You frowned, opening your mouth to argue, but he shook his head. “Sam already agreed-”
“I didn’t necessarily agree-”
“You’re an Avenger, sweetheart.” Bucky tilted his head, speaking softly, those eyes of his worried. Worried for you. It made your stomach flip. “And you were there in Siberia, and that almost makes it worse. Especially considering you went after him. Just…just let me do this, okay?”
You cracked your knuckles nervously as you thought. It was a terrible idea. But it was an idea. And it was all they had. “Okay.” You finally relented, shrugging as your hands hit your thighs and slid up to your hips. “But don’t do anything stupid.”
“Steve took all that with him.”
Knowing about their little inside joke, you scoffed. “Sure he did. Go before I change my mind.”
You watched him walk down the hallway, hands fidgeting with excess nerves. “I think you’re the only one he actually seeks approval from.”
“Good thing I’m so lenient then, huh?” You joked, turning to Sam with a strained smile. Your smile slipped at the curious expression on Sam’s face, his eyes darting to each of your features. “What?”
“Are you doing okay?”
You groaned, throwing your head back. You thought you got out of talking about your feelings back in Baltimore. “Oh my God, Sam-”
“I’m serious. You…you just don’t seem like yourself.”
You shook your head, looking down the hall to where Bucky disappeared before turning back to him. It was weird to have a self that people recognized. Your whole life you’d been searching for it and when you finally found it…everything went to shit. “Honestly, Sammy, the only time I’ve ever felt like myself was with the team. Zemo took that away from me and now we’re here, practically begging him for help.”
Sam hummed, leaning against the wall. “Have you thought of taking a break?”
“What?”
“A break.” At your bewildered look, he rolled his eyes. “Cher, this time last year most of us were dead. This time a few months ago you found out about Wanda. This time last week you were out looking for her. Maybe you should just stop and take a breather.”
Shoving your hands in your pocket and looking at the floor, you couldn’t help but snort at his advice. “I haven’t taken a breather since I was eighteen.”
He clicked his tongue. “That’s my point. FBI academy as soon as you graduated. SHIELD recruit by 21, undercover operations leader by 24? Slow down. You’re in your thirties. Next thing you know, you’re gonna be ninety something, lying on your deathbed, wishing you had stopped to smell the roses.”
“If I live to be ninety, shoot me.” He chuckled in amusement. “I’m so fucking serious, Sam. I will not be put in an old folks home to play Bingo and be pushed around in a wheelchair. It ain’t happening.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” There was that infectious smile, which you unconsciously grinned back at. “Y/N…I’m serious. You’ve been in and out of missions since you were a teenager. What’s the shortest undercover operation you’ve done?”
“I dunno.”
He gave you an unimpressed look. “Yeah you do.”
Licking your lips, you turned away and shrugged. “A couple months. Seven weeks and three days, to be precise. September to October in 2012.”
“And the longest?”
“August 2007 to May 2009. Twenty one months.” 
Letting out a puff of air through his nose, Sam pushed himself off the wall and caught your chin between his fingers to make you look at him. “That’s nearly two years under cover. And I’m sure you went right back under after-”
“I was sitting at a desk for four months doing paperwork on it.” You defended yourself.
He shook his head, brows knitting together, lips drawn down. “You say that as if four months is enough time.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore, Sammy. I’m out. I’ve been out since Ultron and Sokovia. I haven’t been under in almost a decade-”
“A decade half the world was dead for half of-”
“I wasn’t!”
“I never said you were.” Sam sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. You were always amazed at his ability to keep his emotions in check. To stay cool under pressure. Sometimes you forgot how experienced he was with dealing with other people’s trauma. It was no wonder why Steve thought he’d be good for Bucky. “Listen. All I’m saying is once this is done…don’t go diving back into searching for Wanda. Don’t go running to the kid every time he calls - and I know you’ve been doing that-”
“It’s just been homework and stuff-”
“Y/N.” You stopped, biting your lip at the stern look he gave you. “Go home. Order take out. Binge watch TV. Go for a jog through the park. Actually meet your neighbors. Go grocery shopping. Just…live. If only for a couple weeks. Don’t worry about anyone else. Don’t pick up the phone, don’t drop everything because someone needs you. You need you.”
“I-I…” You shook your head, looking at him, sincerely apologetic. “I can’t. I wish I could. But I can’t. I’ve never had one normal day in my life. I’ve never had someone to care for, never had someone to care for me. I can’t let people I’ve come to…I can’t let them think I don’t care. I don’t even know where I’d go.”
“Whaddya mean?”
You winced, not thrilled for his reaction to your next statement. “I, uh, I sold my apartment in D.C.”
He gaped at you in complete disbelief. “You got it in December!”
“I know, I know. I liked it. I really did, but…I dunno. Nomadic life has always suited me better. It’s what I grew up with.”
He took a breath, making you cringe again. You don’t think you’ve ever legitimately gotten on his nerves like this before. “Have you ever thought that, instead of going with the flow and jumping place to place, putting down roots might actually help?” He cut you off before you could say anything, holding up a finger to stop you from talking. “I can’t imagine going from foster home to foster home like you did. I can’t imagine not having a home for as long as you can remember. Louisiana’s my home. Always has, always will be. But I understand your life has been anything but stable. And maybe, just maybe, that’s why you need some stability.”
You clenched your jaw, crossing your arms. “The Avengers were my stability. Steve was my stability.”
“Because you loved him.”
“I’m not doing this with you again.” You turned to walk down to the lobby to wait for Bucky there, but Sam caught your arm.
“You were in love with him! It’s okay! You two were super close! No one would blame you! Why won’t you just admit it? I’m trying to understand! Why won’t you-”
You tugged your arm away, finally snapping at him. “Because he could never be mine, Wilson! Is that what you wanna hear?!” Sam took a step back at your exclamation. You closed your eyes, swallowing the lump in your throat and pushing down the tears. “He could preach all he wanted about moving forwards, Sammy, but we all knew he was stuck in the past. He visited the museum every Thursday because her interview showed in his exhibit on Thursdays. He carried around that broken compass because her picture was in it.” You looked back up at him sadly, shrugging. “And I get it; it’s hard to move past your first love. I get it because…that’s what he was to me.”
There was a silence that blanketed the hallway, before he spoke up hesitantly. “What about Bucky?”
“I thought - I thought I was projecting my feelings for Steve onto him because I knew Steve couldn’t ever…”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “You thought? What do you think now?”
You cleared your throat. “I’m still figuring that one out.”
“If you ever need to talk, I’ll be here.”
You chuckled, nodding slightly towards him. “Back atcha. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you not being yourself lately, either.”
“It’s…a tough topic.”
You nodded in understanding. “Just know that I’ll support every decision you make as long as you think it’s the right one. Because I trust you. Steve trusted you. It’s all we can do to try to do what’s right. That’s what makes you a good man, Sammy. He gave you that shield for a reason, and if you think what you did was right…I’ll stand by it.”
The two of you stared at each other for a moment, calming down in each other’s presences and taking comfort knowing you’d be there for each other through thick and thin. “Thank you, cher.”
“Of course, Sammy. Now let’s go see what’s taking the old grump so long.”
He laughed at that, nodding in agreement, taking your offered hand and squeezing it as you made your way down the hall.
****************
“What?”
Bucky eyed you as you spluttered, coughing on the water you were drinking. “Please don’t choke, doll.”
“Break him out of jail?!” You repeated his words and blinked at him, absolutely baffled by his plan. “Oh my God.” You groaned as Bucky and Sam started arguing, moving your flashlight around the room. “Where the hell are we?” There was no response as they kept going back and forth.
“Zemo’s gonna mess with our minds! Especially yours! No offense.”
“Heelllloooo!” You tried again. “Where the hell are we?!”
Bucky turned on the lights, giving Sam a look. “Offense.” Glancing at you he quirked an eyebrow. “Stop worrying your pretty lil’ head, sweetheart. You trust me, dontcha?” Your breath hitched at his words. You quickly recovered, huffing and pouting - although you’d deny ever pouting - and crossing your arms. You stood between the guys like that, eyes darting to whoever was speaking, waiting for them to stop so you could actually think.
“Look. Let me just walk you through a hypothetical. Can I walk you through a hypothetical?”
You and Sam exchanged glances. “What did you do?”
“I…didn’t do…anything.” Bucky shrugged.
“How is it that you, one of the most deadliest assassins basically ever, are one of the worst liars I know.” You tilted your head at him, an eyebrow quirking up in confusion.
“Shush it you. Just, okay. The weakest point in any system isn’t the software, the hardware, it’s the meatware. The human element.”
The more you listened to Bucky’s “hypothetical”, the stronger the gut feeling telling you this was a terrible terrible idea got. You brought your hands up to your head, eyes wide as he spoke.
“I don’t like how casual you’re bein’ about this. This is unnatural.”
You couldn’t help but agree with Sam’s words, your head falling back and your eyes closing. “Sweet Jesus. Listen, God, I know we don’t talk much these days, but please, please don’t let this not be a hypothetical. I’m fucking begging you.”
A noise to your right made your head snap over. “Oh hell to the fucking no!” You shook your head as Zemo himself walked in, wearing a prison guards uniform. “Uh-uh! No way! Bucky, this was not part of the plan!”
“What did you do?!”
“We need him!”
“You’re going back to prison.”
“If I may-”
All three of you faced him, simultaneously shouting, “no!”
You held your face in your hands as your head dropped, shaking back and forth, your eyes squeezing shut, tuning them out for just a minute to think. Bucky had a point. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that, and the Avengers were technically disbanded, which was Zemo’s whole objective in the first place, but…God. You were good at compartmentalizing, but not that much. You were willing to put your feelings aside for the mission so Bucky could talk to him. Not for you to work with him. But he had connections, you knew he did, and he had information…
“Doll?” You looked up, Bucky anxiously licking his lips as he met your gaze. “I need you to say something.”
You looked to Sam, who shrugged, gesturing to Zemo. “What do you think?”
What did you think? What did you think?! You thought that it was the worst idea in the history of ideas and you should turn back and find another way! But…you knew this was the fastest, probably most reliable way to get information that you needed.
Dammit, since when were you the deciding factor?
You sucked in a breath, looking over Sam’s shoulder at Zemo, who lifted his hand in greeting. You raised your eyes to the ceiling, pointing your finger accusingly. “This is why we stopped talking.” Gaze dropping to the still waiting fellas, you gnawed on your lip, before hissing out, “ffffine…” Running a hand through your hair, you threw your hands up as you shrugged. “Fine. Okay. Fine.”
“Okay.” Sam nodded, taking charge again.
You couldn’t believe this was happening. Except, that was a lie. You could. You’d seen weirder. You’d experienced the impossible. Lived through the unbelievable. This…this was completely imaginable.
Which is why, with a lot of hesitation and very little confidence in this plan, you followed Zemo through the auto shop you were in until you reached a large room with a ton of different old cars.
Bucky’s hand found yours as Zemo explained what the plan was, rather vaguely, in your opinion, but at least he was explaining. Point for him. Not that it would make up for the level of distrust you held for him, but it was something.
You looked up at him, giving him a puzzling frown. He usually only grabbed your hand in front of other people when he was feeling anxious. Which, yeah, he had a right to be anxious right now, but it wasn’t the right kind. The type of anxiety caused by large crowds and loud noises, ones that startled him and threw him into a defensive mode.
But the look on his face made you squeeze his hand in reassurance. He was pouting, staring at you although he did something wrong - a puppy that tore up a pillow - and all you wanted to do was give him a hug.
“You’re mad at me.” He mumbled as the four of you headed out with Zemo in the lead.
“No I’m not.”
“Yeah you are. 
“Bucky, I’m not mad.”
“Listen, if I had a better idea I wouldn’t-”
You brought your linked hands up to your lips, pressing a gentle kiss to his gloved knuckles. “I’m not mad.” You repeated more firmly. “It’s just…a lot for me, right now.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on, Buck, I-I just…” You thought about your and Sam’s earlier conversation and suddenly understood what he meant. “I need to breathe for a second.”
His features twisted into ones of uncertainty, eyes squinting as you stepped outside. “Do you…do you wanna leave?”
You shook your head, tugging his arm to stop him and grabbing the sunglasses on his collar, slipping them over his eyes. “No. I just need some time to think. Hopefully the plane ride to wherever the hell we’re going will give me that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, James. I’m sure.”
He lowered the glasses on his nose to scan you over the frames, before nodding and sliding them back up. “Okay. You ready for this, then?”
“No.” You breathed, turning back to where Zemo and Sam were still walking. “Let’s do this.”
*****************
Climbing onto the private jet, you raised an eyebrow at Sam, who shrugged, giving you a bemused expression. A Baron…huh…who knew? You feel like you should’ve, yet there you were.
You sat besides Bucky, across from Zemo, crossing your legs and leaning back while staring at him through narrowed eyes.
His butler seemed nice, which made you even more suspicious. You obviously didn’t know as much about Zemo as you wanted to. It was a habit you picked up after years of undercover work; once the mission was complete, that was that. There was no looking back on it. No sitting on it. It was over and you moved onto the next one. It was a bad habit in cases like this.
The moment you spotted the notebook over Zemo’s book you knew something was going to happen, yet you still flinched when Bucky lunged at him, grabbing his throat. You leaned back in your seat again, steadying your now racing heartbeat. You decided you were too tense, trying to relax your muscles as Bucky sat back down in his seat.
“I’ve seen that book. It was Steve’s when he came out of the ice. I told him about Trouble Man. He wrote it in that book.” Sam seemed so proud of himself that something he recommended was written in Steve’s little book and it made you smile.
You remembered that; Steve and you were supposed to meet up for coffee after his run, but Fury called him in so you rescheduled it for when he got back. He asked you about Marvin Gaye. For your opinion. You told him to check it out and make his own.
You remembered asking him about that little notebook of his, and he just shrugged you off telling you about his list. He would read items off to you, but he never let you read the book yourself. You never found out why, and you supposed you never would now. The thought made an ache behind your ribs that you’d come to familiarize yourself with appear.
You smiled a little more as Zemo and Sam told Bucky how awesome Marvin Gaye was. “C’mon, baby. Back me up.”
Chuckling, you looked at Bucky. “They’re not wrong. But,” you quickly added before Bucky could whine at you, facing Sam again. “Neither is Buck. I mean, c’mon. You can’t find music like the 40’s anymore. Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Fred Astaire. Ol’ Blue Eyes himself.”
“Thank you.” Bucky grinned at Sam, who rolled his eyes.
“Okay, okay. But, I mean, c’mon! Everybody loves Marvin Gaye.”
“I like Marvin Gaye.”
“Steve adored Marvin Gaye.”
Your face fell as Zemo started talking about Steve and icons and Red Skull, your mind once again slipping away from reality.
~
“Kids love you.” You giggled as you finally made it out of his exhibit. You’d wanted to show it to him since he moved to D.C., and you’d finally got an opportunity after coming back from being undercover for ten weeks. “You’re their hero, you know.”
“Yeah, well, I’m just trying to do what’s right.”
You nudged him, scoffing at his answer. “You’re too humble. You’re a national icon, you know.”
Steve shrugged, looking around the museum at the planes surrounding them. “I never wanted to be.”
“Why not? Everyone loves you.”
“I’m sure not everyone loves me.” He rolled his eyes. “And…I just wanted to help. To fight. Protect my country and the people I cared about. I-I didn’t ask for…all that.” He waved behind his shoulder where his exhibit was getting smaller with each step they took away. “People were dying. Bullies were winning.”
You shook your head, spinning and walking backwards besides him to face him. “Sure, but you did that. And you became someone people could look up to in the process.”
He narrowed his eyes at you before asking, “why do you do what you do?”
“...because I’m good at it?”
“Honey.” He gave you a look. “Answer the question.”
You hummed in thought. “Because I couldn’t stand by, knowing there would be orphaned kids if I didn’t help any way I could.”
“Alright. Why do you do it in the dark?”
“Whaddya mean?”
He shrugged. “Why don’t you come out and take credit for all the lives you’ve saved?”
“Because that’s not why I do it. I don’t want that attention. I just want to know I’ve helped people. I’ve kept them safe.”
He gave you a soft smile. “I just wanted to beat the bully. I never wanted to be a dancing monkey, too.” You looked at him in a new light then, understanding where he was coming from. “Watch out, honey!” He grabbed you and pulled you aside before you could crash into a wall, arms wrapped firmly around your waist. He gave you that charming smile of his. “Wouldn’t want you hurting that pretty lil’ head of yours, now would we?”
~
“Y/N!”
You snapped back into the conversation, moving your eyes from the window to Bucky, who tilted his head, eyebrows pinched and eyes narrowed. “Sorry. So, Madripoor. That’s a fun place.”
You ignored the side eyed glances Bucky and Sam exchanged, Sam turning to you curiously. “You’ve been?”
“Once. Back in 2010 for a few months”
Zemo raised his eyebrows. “You’re lucky to have gotten out.”
You shrugged nonchalantly. “Lucky, maybe. Skills were a part of it, too, though.”
“Good.” Zemo nodded. “Because we’re going undercover…and if we blow it. We’re dead.”
You breathed out, shaking your memory away and getting your head back into the game. Because like the man you were severely wary of in front of you said, if you blew this, you were dead. And, sure, you didn’t want to live until ninety, but you weren’t even half way there yet. So dammit if you were going to die soon.
“Hey.” You looked over at Bucky’s murmur, his head tilting as he grabbed your hand and pulled you from your seat closer to him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Are you okay? You know you’re going to have to be-”
“I know.” He nodded. You watched his Adam’s Apple bob as he swallowed thickly. “I’ll be fine. Just…tell me right now if you need to step out for this one.”
You gave him a smile that you knew he didn’t buy, just by the slight narrowing of his eye, his lips pressing together. “No. No, I’m good for this. If you think I’m gonna let you two idiots go into Madripoor with him - alone - oil that cyborg brain of yours, because there’s no way.”
He squeezed your hand, eyes still filled with uncertainty. “Are you sure?”
“If there’s even a slight possibility that I can protect you, then yeah. I’m sure, Buckaroo.”
2K notes · View notes
baroquebucky · 3 years
Text
fool for you
Tumblr media
bucky just wants to be with you forever
word count: 1.9k
masterlist
a/n: hi bffs !! hope u are all well <33 pls enjoy this v fluffy one shot inspired by own post :’ ) let me know what u all think !!
You were tired, your eyelids felt heavy and you struggled to pay attention to the tv. Your head falling to the side as you drifted off, eyes shooting open when you realized you were falling asleep. You got up quickly, splashing your face with water and settling back on the couch, rubbing your eyes and focusing on the tv again.
1:57 a.m.
You checked your phone in hopes of a “five minutes away :)” text from bucky, but there was none. You yawned again and changed the channel, flipping through some channels to try to wake you up before deciding to just switch to netflix instead.
You smiled as your favorite show played, nuzzling into the blanket bucky had given you and focusing on the show. The sound of keys rattling woke you up, you hadn’t even realize you had fallen asleep.
“shit” bucky whispered as the door slammed into the wall. “sorry” bucky spoke, apologizing to the wall before dragging his suitcase as quietly as he could. He kicked off his boots and his eyes landed on you asleep on the couch.
“buck?” you mumbled, willing your eyes open. Your vision was fuzzy and you could hear the tv still playing, you moved a little, forgetting you were on the couch and slipped off the edge. You couldn’t even process that you had fallen by the time bucky caught you in his arms, smiling at you.
“hi doll” bucky smiled at you, kissing your forehead gently and easily lifting you in his arm. He turned the tv off and carried you into your shared room, gently placing you on the bed.
“what time ‘s it?” You mumbled, rubbing your eyes and yawning, finally waking up.
“almost 3” he smiled at you softly, rummaging through his drawer and taking out a change of clothes. You nodded as he pulled out a black t shirt and some boxers, walking towards you and kissing your temple.
“I’m gonna shower doll, you can go to sleep” he assured you and you nodded, knowing full well you’d end up waiting up for him anyway.
“don’t slip” you smiled and he rolled his eyes, waving you off with a small smile on his face.
“it was one time!” He groaned before closing the door to the restroom.
You smiled to yourself as you heard the shower turn on, rolling over to your side and closing your eyes. The sleep that had been taking over you earlier was nowhere to be found. You kicked the covers off you and groaned, frowning as you stared at the ceiling. You grabbed your phone from the nightstand and scrolled through Twitter for a while, waiting for bucky to finish showering so you could cuddle up to him and fall asleep.
You could feel yourself growing hungry, glancing at the time on your phone you frowned a bit, it was already 3:07 am. you drank some water and tried to fall back asleep, cuddling into your pillow and letting out a soft sigh when you finally got comfortable. Right as you were finally going to sleep bucky opened the restroom door, the sound making your eyes shoot open and heart race. 
“did I wake you?” bucky whispered, a frown on his face as he heard your heart rate quicker than usual. You shook your head with a small smile. He knew you were lying but he didn't say anything, he just threw his dirty clothes in the laundry basket and settled next to you under the covers. He threw his right arm around you, pulling you closer to him and kissing the top of your head. 
“g’night doll” he mumbled and closed his eyes, already falling asleep from how exhausted he was. 
“goodnight buck” you replied softly, closing your eyes and relishing in the feeling of his arm around you. It was silent, with only the sounds of the city flowing through the Brooklyn apartment. 
Then your stomach growled, causing bucky to looked at you with wide eyes and you stifled a giggle. You mumbled a ‘sorry’ before closing your eyes again, hoping it wouldn't keep growling. 
You were wrong. Your stomach was relentless, and finally you got up, slipping from Bucky grasp and scurrying into the kitchen to find something to eat. Bucky felt your absence almost immediately, he opened his eyes and frowned, getting up and making his way into the kitchen. 
“didnt mean to wake you angel” you apologized as he walked towards you. He shook his head and wrapping his arms around you, letting his chin rest onto of your head. His eyes fluttered closed as you relaxed into him, your arms snaking around his waist and leaning your head against his chest. The sound of the microwave made you pull away from him, grabbing the hot cup of Mac and cheese and setting it on the dining table, Bucky soon following you and sitting next to you. 
“now im hungry” he frowned and you laughed, giving him some of your Mac and cheese which he gratefully ate. Within minutes the small bowl of Mac and cheese was empty, the two of you still hungry.  You stared at bucky, a small smile creeping onto both of your faces. You were both thinking the same thing. 
“no we shouldn't” you shook your head and bucky agreed. 
“yeah no its almost 4 we should get to bed” he replied, you both got up, making eye contact before bursting into a fit of giggles and smiles, heading straight towards the kitchen and definitely not bed. You pulled your phone out and put on some music. 
“you were thinking about French toast right?” you asked and bucky smiled, already opening the fridge for the ingredients, you grinned and you opened the pantry to get the other things you needed. You both sang along to the music softly, swaying to the beat. 
As bucky made the mix you grabbed the bread and two plates, heating up the pan and putting some butter on it, letting it melt. You moved easily in the kitchen with bucky, ever since you had moved in together everything just seemed to work for you guys. 
As you dipped the bread into the batter before putting it in the pan. Turning to bucky and using the spatula as a microphone, singing along to some 40s song you had added for bucky. You smiled as he took the spatula from your hand, setting it down and grabbing your hands, dancing along to the song. 
Bucky had the brightest smile on his face as you followed his lead, letting him twirl you around as the song played. You looked up at him as he danced with you, meeting his light blue eyes. Your eyes met and bucky couldn't stop himself. 
“I can't wait any longer oh my god” he rushed out, letting go of you and rushing back into the bedroom, leaving you along in the kitchen. 
You frowned, did you do something wrong? You focused back on the French toast, flipping the slice so it wouldn't burn before placing it on Buckys plate. You frowned as you looked for the powdered sugar. Realizing you hadn't taken it out you turned around to get it, your back to the bedroom door. As you searched for it your mind raced, was he breaking up with you? Was he just really tired?
Meanwhile Bucky was rummaging through all his drawers, wondering where the hell he put the ring he picked out with Steve seven months ago. His heart was racing as he heard you cooking the french toast, confused as to why he left you. Finally he found the black velvet box in the back of his sock drawer, smiling as he ran back out to meet you in the kitchen. 
Bucky saw you facing the drawer, so he wasted no time sneaking up behind you and getting down on one knee silently, opening the small box to reveal the ring. 
You finally found the powdered sugar, opening it and turning around. You turned quickly, eyes immediately landing on bucky, right in front of you. 
On one knee. With a ring.
You dropped the powdered sugar, causing it to land all over you, bucky and the ring. Your hands flew to your mouth as he smiled at you brightly.
“are you joking? this is a joke right?” you questioned and bucky shook his head, still on one knee despite having powdered sugar all over his shirt. 
“y/n I love you so much, I wanna spend forever with you. Everything feels so right with you I just- its like we’re just meant to be, I can't imagine a life without you. I wanna make you happy, I wanna travel the world with you, I wanna dance in the kitchen at 3 am and make French toast at ungodly hours with you for the rest of my life” he rambled, you felt your ears burning as he continued, your mind still processing that he was actually proposing. 
“-I love how competitive you are and how excited you get over anything and everything, I just love you so much-” he cut himself off when he looked at you for the first time since he started rambling, smiling softly up at you as you looked at him, fondness in your eyes and a tear rolling down your cheek. 
“will you marry me?” he spoke, breathless. 
Never in your life have you nodded so quickly. 
“yes, of course yes” you whispered and bucky smiled, jumping to his feet as you cupped his face, crashing your lips onto his, smiling into the kiss. You pulled away with a sniffle, smiling as he took your hand and slid the ring on, he blushed at the sight of it. 
You looked at each other with a smile, kissing once more before you realizing the french toast was cold by now. You pulled away quickly, grabbing the powdered sugar bag from the floor and sprinkling some lightly on your plates. 
“sorry about all that” you laughed, motioning to the powdered sugar all over the two of you and the floor. Bucky just grinned, waving it off as the two of you ate the French toast, a smile never leaving either of your faces. Both pf you giggling as the sun came up and birds began to sing. 
Not long after you finished Bucky cleaned up your mess, you changed into one of his t shirts and slipped into bed, a smile on your face as he walked into the room, taking his shirt off and slipping out of his sweats before moving into bed next to you. 
You wasted no time as he laid on his back, moving his arm so you could rest your head on his chest. He cradled you gently as you got comfortable, kissing the top of your head once you settled in. 
“love you so much angel, can't wait until we get to spend forever together” you mumbled with a smile on your face, already drifting off to sleep. Bucky smiled at your words, letting his fingers run through your hair. 
“and I love you more than yesterday” he whispered, “but less than tomorrow.”
Bucky meant his words. He meant them with everything he was. He fell in love with you everyday. He always found himself falling deeper and deeper, but he never complained. Now could fall in love with you for the rest of his life.
1K notes · View notes
choking-on-tae · 3 years
Text
ATEEZ Reaction To: Kissing you out of nowhere
A/N: I've been in a really fluffy mood lately and I've been wanting to write this for a while now. This was supposed to be pretty short but I got a bit carried away. Hope you guys enjoy and as usual gifs aren't mine and credits to the rightful owners! x
Seonghwa
Tumblr media
Seonghwa feels someone staring at him, and when he looks up he sees you looking at him. He chuckles softly as he moves closer to you, which makes your eyes grow wider. Even though you've been dating for a while now, you're still not used to being so close to the beautiful man. Which Seonghwa finds adorable.
"It's just me, Y/N."
"I know, but you still make me nervous."
Seonghwa smirks upon hearing your words when an idea pops into his head. He leans in even closer until his face in mere inches away from yours and looks into your eyes. His hand coming up to gently hold your jaw.
"Can I kiss you?" He asks, his voice soft as he stares at you lovingly.
You feel your cheeks heat up as you softly nod your head.
"Yeah you can."
Seonghwa leans in until his lips are pressed against yours, kissing you softly until he pulls back. Both of your faces red as you giggle at each other. He leans in for another quick kiss, and another one until both of you are giggling messes.
Hongjoong
Tumblr media
Hongjoong is confident but also a soft guy, so I think he'd be quite nervous for your first kiss, since he wants everything to be perfect. You two are at your favorite café when he finally decides the timing is right. Unlike most couples that go out on dates, you two sit next to each other instead of on opposite sides. It's something Hongjoong suggested on your first date and you've been doing it ever since. You've finished sipping your drink when Hongjoong notices that some of the whipped cream is stuck to your lip. He giggles softly as he leans in closer.
"Why are you laughing at me?" You pout, folding your arms as you glare at your boyfriend, who only laughs harder when he sees your adorable expression.
"You've a little.. here let me help." He says, as he leans in until his lips brush against yours, successfully getting rid of the whipped cream.
You just stare at him with wide eyes as he pulls back and licks his lips. "Hm, that's pretty good!"
You chuckle at your boyfriend as you lean in to press a kiss to the corner of his lips, this time catching him off guard. Now Hongjoong is the one to be flustered, which makes you laugh.
"That's what you get for taking my whipped cream."
Yunho
Tumblr media
Since the weather is so nice you decided to get ice cream together. Of course being the gentle man he is offered you to pay for your ice cream, and you refused but Yunho swiped his card before you could and therefor he paid. You're still a bit bitter that he wouldn't let you pay but the ice cream is still delicious. Yunho chuckles as he wraps his arm around you as you two make your way to a bench.
You start to eat your ice cream as you take in your surroundings. The weather is really beautiful and with the flowers blooming it looks even more magical. Yunho notices that you're lost in your thoughts as he chuckles softly to himself. You really look adorable when you do that. Yunho wants to get your attention and so he leans down to press his lips against yours, snapping you out of your thoughts.
When he pulls back he can't help but laugh when he sees that you now have chocolate ice cream on your lips.
"What's funny?"
"You'- You've ice cream on your lips." He laughs, hiding his face behind his hand. His happiness is affectious as you too can't stop yourself from laughing, poking out your tongue to remove the ice cream that was staining your lips.
Yunho leans back in to press another kiss to your lips, again smearing chocolate ice cream all over it. "Yunho!"
This time he fully cracks up as he throws his head back in laughter, clutching his stomach as he looks at you.
"I can't help it! I just really like kissing you and smearing ice cream all over your lips."
Yeosang
Tumblr media
You're walking hand in hand through the new zoo that opened up not too far away from where you live, so of course you wanted to check it out. Yeosang drags you from one animal to the next as you chuckle at his excitement. You stop in front of the seals as you hear your boyfriend let out a soft squeal. "Look at that baby! It's so cute!"
You chuckle softly as you watch him make his way to the glass and press his hands up against it. Right that moment you spot a little boy around the age of 4 doing the exact same thing. Yeosang seems to spot the little boy too as he slowly makes his way towards him.
"They're cute, right?" The little boy looks up at him as he nods, quickly going back to watching the seal that passes right in front of them.
Yeosang motions for you to go to him and do the same, which you do. You too press your hands against the glass as you stare at the seals. Yeosang moves a little so he's behind you, his arms caging you in as you feel his chest against your back. He rests his chin on top of your shoulder as you watch the cute seals together.
Yeosang nuzzles his nose against your cheek before quickly pressing a kiss against it, catching you off guard. You turn your head to face him and are surprised when he leans further until his lips are pressed against yours.
The kiss is soft and short but it's enough to make your heart flutter. Yeosang smiles against your lips before pulling back and going back to resting his chin on your shoulder and looking at the seals.
San
Tumblr media
Ever since San found out you're ticklish it's become a habit for him to tickle you every so often. So you're not surprised when he comes up behind you and starts tickling your sides. You let out a squeal as you try to get away from him, to no avail. San's giggles fill your ears as you let him attack. Giving up trying to fight him since you know he's stronger anyways. Once San notices he stops immediately, a soft pout appearing on his face.
"It's not fun when you're not trying to get away." He pouts, tightening his grip on you as he holds you close.
You chuckle at his words as you lean in to kiss his lips, which look extremely kissable right now. San smiles softly as he pulls you tighter against him, deepening the kiss slightly.
You pull back and press a kiss against the corner of his mouth, making him giggle.
"You're so cute, San."
He blushes at your words as he goes to hide his face in your neck, but you push him away.
"No! Don't hide from me!" The two of you laugh as you hold each other tightly, constantly switching between cuddling and kisses. And of course tickling each other again.
Mingi
Tumblr media
You and Mingi are watching a random movie on Netflix, cuddles up on the couch as you share a bowl of popcorn. Mingi's head is resting on your shoulder as he lets out a soft sigh. It's not that he isn't enjoying the movie. He just finds it very hard to focus when you're next to him. To Mingi you're far more interesting than this movie that he's seen 5 times already.
So he tilts his head slightly to press a kiss to your cheek, only for his lips to touch yours instead. It just so happened that you decided to turn your head the moment you felt his lift off your shoulder. You stare at each other in shock before giggling softly. This wasn't how you imagined your first kiss with Mingi to be.
"I... I can't believe we just accidentally..." You laugh, stopping mid sentence when you see him looking at you with so much love in his eyes.
"Wh- Why are you looking at me like that?" You stammer, trying to turn your face but Mingi is faster, taking your chin in between his fingers as he turns your face to look at him.
"Because you're beautiful and I really want to kiss you again. Properly this time. Is that okay with you?"
You nod softly as you see him leaning in, his soft lips pressing against yours again as his hand moves from your chin to your jaw, pulling you closer as he deepens the kiss. The two of you pull back when you hear a loud scream, only to see it was one of the characters in the movie that startled you. Both of you giggle as you let out a sigh of relief, worried that it was one of the boys that caught you.
Mingi presses one last kiss to your forehead before he goes back to resting his head on your shoulder, wrapping his arms around your middle as he holds you close while you continue watching the movie.
Wooyoung
Tumblr media
You let out a groan as you let the whisk fall into the bowl. Wooyoung chuckles from where he's standing next to you as he stops what he's doing. "Need some help baby?" You nod softly as a small pout forms on your face.
"It's just though to get all the lumps out of the mixture." You pout, moving aside so Wooyoung can take over.
"Good thing you've a strong boyfriend then." He smirks, sending you a wink as he starts mixing the batter.
You wrap your arms around his waist as you press yourself up against his back, leaning your chin on his shoulder as you watch him mix everything until the batter is smooth, which doesn't take him long.
"Tada! I think it's perfect now!" He smiles brightly as he shows you the batter.
You lean in to press a kiss against his cheek when Wooyoung surprises you by smearing something onto your cheek, laughing hysterically. You frown when you wipe it away, only to see it's some of the batter you've just been mixing.
"Jung Wooyoung!" You shout, taking some of the batter yourself and running after your boyfriend, who ran away screaming. Both of you laughing loudly as you're chasing after each other. Wooyoung finally caught you in his arms and started smearing the batter all over your face. You do the same to him. Once you've both ran out of batter you stare at each other until you burst out in laughter.
Wooyoung laughs as he realizes pretty much the only spot on your faces that doesn't have batter smeared across it are your lips, so he leans in to press a kiss against your lips.
You giggle as you pull him closer, not caring that there's cake batter everywhere as you kiss softly.
"Hm, we should bake together more often." Wooyoung mumbles against your lips, instantly pulling you back again so he can kiss you some more.
Jongho
Tumblr media
If there's one thing you and Jongho enjoy doing it's working out together. You're nowhere near as extreme as he is but you do join him once a week, which is more than enough for you. Jongho enjoys these days a lot because he's able to work out with your help, and able to spend more time with you.
"I want to do some sit ups, can you hold my legs for me?" He asks as he moves to lay down on the floor.
"Of course." You say as you sit down on your knees, holding onto Jongho's knees as he flashes you a soft smile.
"Hold them tight, I might move a lot."
You nod as you brace yourself, but to no avail. Your boyfriend is much stronger than you and you're almost being pulled forward. Jongho falls back as he laughs loudly, trying to compose himself.
"I told you to hold them!" "I know! But I didn't know you had this much strength!"
"Just hold them tight, okay?"
"Okay."
This time you're prepared as Jongho moves up, successfully holding onto his legs so he's able to do his sit ups properly. After about a minute or so your focus starts to go elsewhere until you notice your boyfriend's face mere inches away from yours every time he comes up.
Jongho chuckles when he sees your cheeks turning pink when an idea pops into his head. This time when he comes up again he leans in just far enough to kiss your lips. You stare at him with wide eyes as you watch him go down again, only for him to come back up and do the same thing.
This time you chuckle softly as you playfully shake your head. "You're unbelievable. Is this why you wanted me to work out with you?"
Jongho nods as he stops his exercise. Coming up to you again and this time kissing you properly, his hand coming to rest on your cheek as he pulls you closer.
1K notes · View notes
finelinevogue · 3 years
Note
Can you write something about telling Harry your pregnant and his reaction. It can be with the series you already have or it can just by by itself what ever you want
i wanted to do the pregnancy reveal for belle just because i wanted them to already have children! hope this is alright, it’s quite short mind;
oli - 2, felix - 1
Positive. Except not from coronavirus.
Although the only ‘positive’ tests resulted in fatal symptoms for most people nowadays, this ‘positive’ was something completely different. It was the sign of new life - a pregnant life, for you, for the next 9 months.
Since coronavirus had decided to spread its’ course, your family had decided it best to stay inside and be safe. You were a small family of 4, now becoming 5, and the children were only little. There was Oliver, who was amidst his terrible-twos and there was Felix who was just starting to walk. Of course there was your loving husband, Harry, who’d put a hold on all of his work for his family - for the time being. Corona virus was a very serious situation and he wasn’t risking travelling and meeting people for his family. His family and their safety came above anything. Especially now that you were pregnant and so more vulnerable.
“Well fuck.” You whispered to yourself in the bathroom.
You’d suspected that you might’ve been pregnant due to the weird cravings and the fact that your period had been irregular the month before, and had still not come this month. It may also have been a give away with the amount of sex you two had been having over the past few months. All the free time that you had, had not gone to waste. If you weren’t looking after the kids, or weren’t out on your daily walk, you were more than likely at it like high-school-sweethearts in your bedroom. You weren’t planning for another baby, but you definitely weren’t not planning.
Now you were just worried how Harry would take the news.
He was currently outside doing the gardening, his two songs playing in the paddling pool together. Felix didn’t understand anything that was going on, so that left Oliver to boss him around. You stood by the window of your bedroom, looking out at them, thinking of the best way to announce this to him; to them. This was all so short notice and you had nothing prepared and you were desperate to tell Harry today. That left you with only one option, even if it wasn’t as great as the other two pregnancy surprises.
You made a few glasses of water and carried them out on a tray to the garden, placing it on the table before going to see your babies.
“Hello, yes hello!” You laughed as Felix started to splash the water more violently as he saw his mummy walk over towards him.
“Mumma!” Oli laughed too, joining in the splashing with his brother.
“Hi my love.” You kneeled down to stroke his head over his ever-growing brunette locks. They both looked exactly like their dad, what with their piercing green eyes and brown curly hair. It made you wonder whether the third one would be the same - whether it would even be a boy. You’d love to have a girl someday, but another boy would be perfect too. “You playing nicely?”
“Yes. We play fishes.” He answered, his eyes looking from you to behind you where he caught sight of his dad gaining distance. Felix started splashing again and Oli was beaming a bright smile. “Dadda!”
“Hiya buddy!” He knelt down too and splashed them with water just for fun.
“Harry stop it.” You giggled, watching as Fix was disoriented by the sudden splashes of water he was receiving. You leant over to rub the water out of Fix’s eyes and then sat back against your heels.
“Come play.” Oli suggested to you and Harry.
“In a bit, okay?” Harry counter offered and watched as Oli went back to playing ‘fishes’ - whatever the hell that was.
You and Harry watched them both for a little bit before getting up, with a crack of the knees, and walking over to get some water.
“Are you wearing your pregnancy clothes?” Harry asked you, pressing a kiss to the side of your head just because.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
You didn’t have to answer. Instead, you just gave him a look as if to say ‘why-else-would-i-be-wearing-pregnancy-clothes?’ and that was all it took for it to click with him. He nearly choked on his water over the surprise.
“Surprise?”
“No way!”
He pushed his hands through his tussled hair so his forehead was more on display. He was shocked. Frozen. Yet so fucking happy.
“Are you really that surprised? You basically wreck me every night!”
“No fucking way!” He laughed into the shock, clearly over-the-moon with regards to the tears in his eyes and the love bursting from his heart.
“So I take it you’re happy?” You asked, cutting his moment short in nervous anticipation.
“Baby honey, i’m the happiest and proudest man on the planet right now.” He smiled so warmly, you think it lit that bonfire spark inside your heart. The fireworks came soon after, when Harry pushed his lips against yours - desperate to show you how much you and this moment meant to him. His lips captured your love for him and he bounced his right back onto you. The moment was raw and powerful.
He pulled back and looked deep into your eyes, treasuring your every blink.
“What?” You shyly asked, blushing as he kept his eyes focused on yours.
“Just love you so much. Best mum, I swear it. You’re so strong and beautiful.”
His words brought tears to your eyes and he kissed them as a few trickled down your cheeks. He was kissing away any sadness or sorrow, and replacing it with something much more happy and warm.
“Baby number three then, hey?” You chuckled, not believing yourself as the words stumbled from your mouth.
“Fuck yeah.” He laughed, sealing his lips onto yours for another moment - a moment that was broken with the crying and screaming of children; your children.
“Sure we’re going to cope?” You sighed nervously, knowing how hard two children had been and now you were adding another to your little clan.
“Definitely.”
“How?”
“Together.”
396 notes · View notes
too-gay-for-marvel · 3 years
Text
just this once pt.5
a/n: yall. yall im on a roll. and no i will not apologise for anything that happens in this chapter. also, still learning how to do taglists so if it doesn’t work or you weren’t included, send me a message and i’ll try to get it fixed!
Word Count: 4,285 
Warnings: canon typical violence, non-explicit mentions of torture, mutant experimentation
Pairing: Natasha x Reader
(pt.1 pt.2 pt.3 pt.4 pt.5 pt.6.1 pt.6.2 pt.6.3 pt.7 pt.8)
Tumblr media
“I think Fury is giving you a sign.”
Natasha looked up from her paperwork to see Maria leaning against the door frame to her office. She herself had just gotten back from a mission, evident in her slightly mused ponytail and gun still on her hip. A very beyond attractive look, if Natasha had to say it.
“What do you mean?” Natasha asked, leaning back in her chair to give her full attention to her fiancee.
“So he didn’t tell you,” Maria said with a nod. She pushed herself off the door frame and moved to sit in the chair on the opposite side of the desk.
“I’ll admit that gives me a clue,” Natasha said with a small frown. She didn’t like where this was going.
“He’s sending you on another mission,” Maria replied. “With Y/N.”
“I thought we told him emergencies only,” Natasha mused more to herself than to Maria.
It seemed like Nick was sending the both of you on every mission he could possibly come up with. He needed some information. Then he wanted the layout of a base. Then he wanted some recon on security in another location. All were things that Natasha not only could have done with someone else, but she could have gotten them done on her own.
He seemed to think differently.
“He wants you to leave tomorrow,” Maria continued, bringing Natasha out of her pouting. “Personnel recovery.”
“At least that gives us a few hours together,” Natasha said with a small smile.
“Maybe we can finally get some planning done,” Maria nodded as she stood up. “Maybe a colour scheme?”
“Red and black,” Natasha shot back.
“We’ll argue about it later,” Maria smiled. She walked over and tilted Natasha’s chin up to give her a quick kiss before leaving the office, presumably to get cleaned up.
Natasha looked down at her paperwork for not even five minutes before deciding she was going to rush upstairs and surprise Maria in the shower. She had just started piling the papers up when you walked in, harpoon on hip and soaking wet.
“Did you ask Fury for another mission?” You asked as you plopped into the chair opposite her, water instantly dripping down the sides of the seat.
“No,” Natasha said curtly, hoping she could get you out of her office sooner if she didn’t invite conversation.
“Then why is he sending us together?” You asked. Your fingers started combing through your hair, the webs gathering whatever was stuck. Drops of water splashed onto Natasha’s pristine papers.
“I don’t know,” Natasha said again, turning her lip up when you put a piece of seaweed on her desk.
“I thought you knew everything,” you huffed, staring intently as a shell you had pulled out of your suit sleeve.
“Well clearly not,” Natasha mumbled to herself.
You leaned over to rest your elbows on the desk, your dripping wet hair leaving puddles on the mahogany and her papers. Natasha set her jaw and gave you a look, keeping eye contact. But your eyes gave off that mischievous sparkle, the one that would make any woman swoon. And Natasha’s heart raced.
“Think I can get that in writing?” You asked with a raised brow. “You know, for the next time you act like a know-it-all.”
“Did you just come in here to act like an ass?” Natasha asked as she picked her papers up and started walking out.
“Actually,” you started as you pushed away from the desk and stood up, “I’m here to bring you this.”
You held your open hand out, palm up, and Natasha looked cautiously to see what it was. In the middle of your palm was a whole shell, with a small black pearl in the centre. It looked absolutely stunning, and Natasha reached out to gently take it.
“Why did you bring this to me?” Natasha asked, although she feared she already knew your answer.
“Cheeseburger found the shell the other day,” you shrugged, “and Roger got the pearl out.”
Natasha did her best not to chuckle at the silly names you had given the octopus and otter that usually inhabited your moon pool. Cheeseburger, the octopus, had lost two limbs and had a nasty habit of stealing your cheeseburgers (hence the name), while Roger was an in-progress rehabilitation project. Unfortunately, the three of you were like peas in a pod.
“It’s beautiful,” Natasha mused, her eyes still glued to the pearl. “But I can’t take this home to my fiancee.”
You huffed and crossed your arms over your chest. The space between the both of you increased as you visibly took a step back, and Natasha missed the closeness. Things had seemed normal only a moment ago, and now she could feel you closing yourself off to her, going cold once again.
“Then give it to Maria,” you shrugged. “Get some brownie points before going off on another mission with her favourite person.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Natasha shot back. “I just don’t want to waste your gift.”
“It was just cluttering up my space,” you replied, voice cold.
“Give it to Yelena,” Natasha said softly, holding the shell and pearl back out for you to take. “She would love it.”
“Yelena,” you huffed with a small smile. A sad smile. You grabbed the shell from her hand rather roughly, causing Natasha to flinch. “Thanks for the input.”
“Y/N,” Natasha started, but you were already walking away in the opposite direction, head high and feet dragging.
Natasha sighed and started her own way back to her floor. She wanted Maria to distract her. From you.
———
“What’s our objective again?” You shouted from the back of the quinjet.
“Personnel recovery,” Yelena answered. “Some scientist wanted out of AIM.”
“Why is that my responsibility?” You continued. Your boots echoed off the floor and you popped your head in between Yelena’s and Natasha’s chairs.
“Because something smelled-”
“Don’t,” Natasha interrupted.
“-fishy,” Yelena finished anyway, and both you and Natasha groaned as she just laughed at herself.
“I’m not paid enough for this,” Natasha mumbled to herself before turning her head and looking out the windows.
“I’ll throttle you,” you said as you lightly slapped Yelena upside the head.
“Listen,” she tried to say around another round of giggles, “if Fury ever told me his plans, I wouldn’t be stuck here with you two.”
“Well why don’t you find out? I wanna know why he’s sending me on this mission.”
“I already told you, I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know? Surely you must have some kind of-”
“Can you both shut up?” Natasha shouted. The both of you grew silent immediately, and Natasha finally let out a breath and tried to rub her growing migraine away.
“Should’ve just sent Nat,” you grumbled. “She’s grumpy enough to scare everyone away all on her own.”
Yelena snorted, and when Natasha shot a look her way, she tried her best to look out the window. You, on the other hand, held up to her challenge and met her eyes. That ridiculous smirk refused to disappear, and Natasha wanted so desperately to wipe it off your face. But instead she just turned back around and looked out the window once again.
The rest of the trip was silent, only the occasional update being spoken aloud. Yelena managed to drop the both of you off and stayed in the jet, more than ready for when you both got back and could get back to the Tower for a well-deserved weekend.
It was a quick jog to the location, with tents and cages set up all around the landing port. The building was a few stories tall, but well fortified with guards around every corner. The majority of cages were empty, but every now and then you could hear a bear, a dog, a human.
“I thought these guys were scientists,” you whispered from where you were crouched beside Natasha.
“They are,” Natasha nodded.
“Must be pretty paranoid then,” you continued.
“You would be too if your work relied on illegal mutant experimentation,” Natasha clarified. You didn’t say anything else, but she could see your knuckles going pale.
“Let’s get our man and go,” you practically growled. “Before I kill them all.”
Natasha knew you weren’t joking.
You both went in opposite directions, you heading to the back door and Natasha heading to the side. There was no guaranteeing that the scientist was even inside at all, but that was the easiest place to check. There was too much vulnerability outside and Natasha wasn’t going to risk getting caught and failing another mission.
“How are we supposed to find one nerd in a facility full of nerds?” You asked over the intercoms, and Natasha assumed you had made it into the building.
“Be nice,” Natasha whispered, “not all scientists are nerds.”
“Bruce and Tony are,” you replied. Natasha pulled herself against a wall when she heard voices. “Everyone here is.”
“Hush,” Natasha whispered. You remained silent as Natasha listened to footsteps getting closer, and then turning into the opposite direction. She let out a quiet breath.
“Do we really want to help someone who’s torturing mutants?” You asked again, a barely contained anger in your voice.
Natasha rounded another corner, trying to come up with an answer for you. You weren’t wrong; she didn’t like the idea either. Why save the scientist when you could save the people instead? But Fury wanted him, and there had to be a reason for it. The location was known, so someone could always come back to save them another day.
“Nick will send us back another day,” Natasha finally said out loud. You huffed on the other end of the comms.
You both continued through the facility, methodically clearing rooms until finally you indicated you had found him. Some wiry man with broken glasses, according to your description. Natasha gave confirmation and headed to the meet up point, somewhere on the second floor. Once Natasha was about to round the corner to the location, she could hear your voice carrying through the halls.
“You’re lucky I don’t wring your neck myself.”
“What’s the problem?” Natasha asked as soon as she saw you.
You were right. The man was wiry and nerdy, something you would expect from a mad scientist in a comic book. White tape was wrapped around the nose piece of his glasses in stereotypical fashion and he was hunched over like the world was resting on his shoulders.
No surprise, considering you were hovering nearly a foot over him.
“He called me an animal,” you seethed, your hands visibly shaking with the desire to have them around the man’s neck.
“Look at your arms and neck, what else could you be?” He asked in a gruff New Jersey accent.
“You want an animal? I’ll show you an-”
“That’s enough,” Natasha demanded. She stepped in between the both of you and pushed you away, not even bothering to get near the man.
“If he has to go with us, then so does one of the mutants,” you said, leaving no room for argument in your voice.
“We can’t risk it, we’re leaving them here,” Natasha said quickly. The hair on the back of her neck was starting to stand up and her stomach felt like it was dropping.
“I’m not leaving them and taking that,” you said through clenched teeth while pointing at the scientist.
“You’re going to risk my life for one of them?” He asked, his face drawn in disgust at the mere thought that his life was equal to a mutant’s. Natasha wanted to strangle him.
“We will come back for them another day,” Natasha said again, but you didn’t look convinced.
“I’m not leaving without them, so you’re gonna have to wait,” you shot back.
Voices could be heard in the stairwell a few halls away.
“And I’m not risking another mission,” Natasha argued, walking closer to you and forcing you to step backward to keep your space.
“If you think I’m taking that and leaving one of those kids then you’re-”
Click.
The both of you froze, your eyes boring into Natasha’s. A heavy silence fell upon the both of you, so thick Natasha struggled to draw breath. Her heart was pounding in her ears and that feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach returned.
And then your eyes left hers, trailing down to the too-tight cuffs that were now keeping you chained to the pipes against the wall. They weren’t the usual police handcuffs, but the kind that they had used on Loki after the invasion of New York.
You weren’t getting out of them.
“Natasha,” you started, your eyes moving back to meet hers.
“I’m sorry,” Natasha whispered. She took one heavy step back, never taking her eyes off of you.
“Unlock them,” you continued. Your chest was starting to rise and fall slightly faster.
“Someone will come for you,” Natasha said again with a slight nod.
Her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.
“Get back here, Romanoff,” you said as Natasha started leading the scientist down the hall.
Away from you.
She didn’t answer. She just felt her leaden boots take step after step, leading her further away from where you were chained. When she didn’t answer, she heard the sound of metal pulling against metal and your grunts and groans as you tried to yank the cuffs off.
“You can’t leave me here!” You shouted, your voice echoing down the hall after Natasha had turned the final corner.
She heard other voices coming from the same direction as yours, quickly followed by shouting and the solid thuds of blows being landed.
“Natalia!” You shouted again once Natasha had opened the door to lead the scientist out.
Only moments after the door shut, Natasha heard your scream. A scream of anger and frustration, a scream that reached down Natasha’s throat and ripped her heart out. The prick of tears in her eyes left a sinking feeling in her gut, left her feeling empty and a broken shell.
But she had a mission. And she was going to complete it.
She shoved the scientist in the direction of the quinjet and didn’t look back. Ignoring the whining and complaining coming from the man and eventually just throwing him into the back of the quinjet, ignoring the way Yelena jumped at the sudden noise.
“Where’s Y/N?” Yelena asked, moving her head around, trying to see if you were close behind.
“Get us in the air,” Natasha ordered. Tears pricked her eyes once again.
“Are they coming?” Yelena asked again, ignoring Natasha’s order.
“I said get us in the air, now.”
Yelena gave Natasha a look that sent a shiver down her spine, but turned around and got the jet in the air nonetheless. The scientist pulled himself into the seat next to Natasha. He seemed much more relaxed, and Natasha couldn’t blame him. He probably didn’t realise just how much had been risked to get him back to SHIELD.
“You made the right choice,” he said after some unbearable silence. Natasha turned to look at him, her brows pulled together.
“Excuse me?”
“You made the right choice,” he said again with an enthusiastic nod. “You never know what those animals might do-”
He was cut off with a choked gasp as Natasha slammed her elbow into his face, and he quickly lost consciousness.
“Just shut up,” she mumbled to herself, knowing he couldn’t hear her.
It didn’t make her feel any better.
———
It was six weeks before the party had been dispatched to get you back.  The party had consisted of Natasha, Yelena, and Wanda, and there was going to be nothing extra. They were going to get you out and get back to SHIELD, no side missions, no stops, no questions.
Maybe it just so happened that the only way to get you was to burn the facility to the ground and get the rest of the mutants out. Maybe they had called for a second quinjet to arrive to make sure everyone was able to get out safely.
Yelena and Wanda were tasked with getting everyone on the jets and eliminating the few soldiers remaining while Natasha had scoured the facility top to bottom to find you. There was a large portion of the basement that Natasha had found, filled with surgical equipment and things that would have been enough to give anyone nightmares.
And you were there, nude, in a too-small empty glass tank with a chain around your ankle. There were rips and tears in the thin membranes between your spines, and a dark black mark on your left shoulder blade. From her angle, it looked like some kind of gunk was stuck in your gills. You were curled up into a fetal position and kept your eyes glued to the ground directly in front of you.
“Y/N,” Natasha said, her gun still drawn but lowered.
“I should thank you, Miss Romanoff,” a voice called, and Natasha spun with gun raised to find a scientist walk forward, standing near a panel by your tank. “You gave me my greatest obsession.”
“How about you just let them out and I don’t kill you,” Natasha shrugged.
“I’ve learned a lot from our little friend,” he continued, ignoring her. “And you’re in time to see the results of something I’ve been working on.”
“Let them go,” Natasha said again. She cocked the gun, but the man laughed.
“I hear drowning is a horrible way to die,” he said, still ignoring her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Natasha saw you raise your head and look at her. The dark spots under your eyes were beyond evident, sticking out against the sickened colour of your skin. There was no emotion in your eyes, not even a silent plea for help.
You looked like you had already accepted death.
“How long do you think a sea creature can hold its breath underwater before it needs to breathe?” He asked, his fingers typing against the panel.
“Don’t,” Natasha shouted, her trigger finger pulling instinctively and burying a bullet into the man’s chest. He was dead before he hit the floor.
Water started filling your tank, and you stood up to get your head as tall as it could get. Natasha nodded at you once, and you covered your head as she fired shot after shot at the tank. But there wasn’t even a dent, nothing to indicate that the tank could be broken.
“What do I do?” Natasha asked as she ran up to the tank, watching the water slowly rise to your ankles.
You didn’t speak, didn’t open your mouth, instead pointing as best you could to a discrete pipe against the opposite wall. Natasha looked at it and followed the direction until she saw a lone wheel connected to the wall. A wheel that could control the water flow.
“Stay here,” Natasha told you as she ran off, grimacing to herself. It wasn’t like you had anywhere to go.
She grabbed the wheel and pulled, but it didn’t budge. It felt like she was trying to pull a quinjet with her bare hands; an impossible task in and of itself. Her eyes trailed over to see the water had reached your waist. There had to be something else she could get, something to help.
The thud of your hands on the glass made her turn, and you were pointing in another direction. Her eyes followed, but there wasn’t anything she could see that would immediately-
A pipe.
Natasha sprinted to grab it from the table, nearly dropping it in her haste to get back to the wheel. The water was up to your neck, and Natasha could already see that your gills weren’t filtering anything. They stayed terribly still, and Natasha had to drag her feet to get back to the wheel.
She stuck the pipe into the empty spaces of the wheel and pulled, yelling in frustration until it finally moved. She continued pulling until she heard the flow of water stop, and a tired smile etched itself onto her lips as she turned back around to see you.
But the water was over your head, and now she was leaving you to drown.
She couldn’t break the glass; the water was off and you were still drowning. Your eyes were wide, and the fear of the situation finally made its way onto your face as you curled in on yourself and started pulling at the chain around your ankle, air bubbles escaping from your nose at a rapid rate.
Natasha got an idea. She didn’t hesitate as she started pushing the pipe, the flow of water rushing back. Only this time, she didn’t stop until the pipes rattled with the flow, barely able to contain the volume inside. She pushed until the pipe stuck, and she turned and ran back to the tank.
Your eyes were closing, the air bubbles almost nonexistent, your struggle against the chain ending. Natasha started banging on the glass, trying to keep you awake, but you didn’t move, instead just floating, and Natasha felt her heart sink.
The glass creaked under her fingers. Natasha’s eyes shot open and she watched the glass, noting the single crack that started to web across the entirety of the tank. She barely had time to step aside as the glass shattered, water shooting out and leaving you to drop to the ground.
When you didn’t move, Natasha jumped forward, dropping to the ground and immediately starting CPR. She could feel a rib break, maybe two, but she didn’t stop. She wasn’t going to stop until you could breathe. You just needed to fucking breathe-
Your body shuddered as you choked, coughing up water before your eyes shot open. Natasha felt herself let out a shaky breath, but she didn’t let herself rest. She grabbed her gun and shot where the chain was connected to the floor, listening to it break before grabbing you and pulling you up.
“You need to lose some weight,” Natasha groaned as you leaned on her side, your feet barely moving.
You didn’t say a word the whole trip out of the facility. Just managed to  drag yourself out, eventually walking more on your own when you neared the quinjet. Yelena ran up to the both of you and got on your other side, sharing a look with Natasha.
“I’ve got it,” Yelena said in a tone that told Natasha to let go and give her some space.
Natasha did, watching as Yelena finished dragging you to the quinjet and putting you in a seat before wrapping a blanket around your naked form. Your eyes fell back to the ground when Yelena finally got the jet in the air, and you refused to look at anyone when you got back to the Tower, leaving Natasha without a second thought.
———
Natasha was sitting at the bar on the common floor, picking apart her food. She had tried to see you multiple times over the past two weeks, only to be turned away by doctors or Yelena. There was something wrong, but Natasha couldn’t find out because no one would let her.
The ding of the elevator had her turning her head, not necessarily eager but casually curious on who had appeared. To her surprise, Yelena walked out with a McDonald’s bag in hand, some drink in the other. She didn’t look happy, but Natasha could’ve expected that.
After all, Yelena hadn’t forgiven her.
“How are they?” Natasha asked.
“Alive, no thanks to you,” Yelena shot back. But she had stopped and was talking back; that was an improvement from the past two weeks.
“I had a mission,” Natasha said, but her voice was small, weak.
“They were part of that mission,” Yelena answered.
“I’m sorry,” Natasha said quietly. She said it to assuage her own guilt. It didn’t work.
“You’re stringing them along,” Yelena said, her voice taking a different tone that Natasha hadn’t been expecting. “Just marry Maria already and end the suffering.”
“I’m not stringing them along,” Natasha defended.
But she knew she was wrong. Yelena was right. And Natasha wasn’t going to stop because what would her life be without you? How could she go about her day-to-day life if she knew you weren’t going to be there in some fashion? Maybe she was in love with Maria and was going to marry her, but that didn’t mean she wanted to throw you away.
“Just be gentle,” Yelena said with a sigh. “Everyone has feelings at stake.”
“And you?” Natasha asked, causing Yelena to freeze. “What feelings do you have at stake?”
A small, sad smile made its way onto her face.
“Desire,” Yelena shrugged, but just like that her demeanour changed. “Y/N said I couldn’t eat before them, and I very much desire this McChicken.”
“You’re disgusting,” Natasha chuckled.
“And this McFlurry. You know the good stuff,” Yelena teased again, causing the both of them to laugh.
“Then go on,” Natasha motioned toward where she assumed you were waiting. “I’d hate for the two of you to starve.”
Yelena gave her a smile, one like the good old days, and continued her walk. She stopped in the doorway and turned around.
“Oh, Fury wanted me to tell you something.” Natasha gave her a look for her to continue. “You and Y/N are going undercover. As a couple.” With that, Yelena continued off, leaving Natasha to deal with the news.
Why couldn’t things ever be easy?
Taglist: @wickedmuses @m-zne237 @noodlybees @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo @gottacamz @wouldirunofftheworldsomeday @santasbitch @when-wolves-howl @madamevirgo​ @hopingforromanoff​ 
310 notes · View notes
Text
MC is Half Demon and They Look Awfully Familiar
(Lessons 1-5!)
Part 1 Part 2 Lessons 5-6 Group Retreat Lessons 10-12 Lessons 13-15 Part 3 Part 4
So we obviously know that things would run a little differently with L!MC instead of a normal human MC, but just how differently do things go?
No Mammon, you are not allowed to babysit!
Unlike in canon, Mammon needs to be kept away from MC at the start. Why? He’s known this kid for less than a day, he’s gonna try and use them for scams.
Everyone else in the house? Well, they’re of... observing MC. This is a first, a half human kid just wandering around the house...
MC and Lucifer, despite their amicable meeting, were in this really awkward beginning stage where they didn’t really know what to do with each other.
“So...” MC resisted the urge to twiddle their thumbs as they followed their father through the halls of the House of Lamentation. This was their home for the next year. It was very grand... and also very creepy in some places. “Where’s my room?”
“Right here.” Lucifer stopped suddenly in front of a door in the hallway, nearly causing MC to crash into him. He opened up the door, the room was very very pink. “Asmodeus decorated, you can redecorate as you see fit.”
MC popped their head in and looked around, there were approximately a thousand pillows scattered around the bed. It was the perfect amount! The very pink colour scheme was... okay. Maybe they’d be able to switch some of it out for a nice blue.
“It’s nice! Thank you,” MC was about to say Lucifer, then father, then just shut their mouth. What were they supposed to call him? They had known each other for like... an hour. He seemed like the type to want to be called father, he was too posh to be ‘dad’ or ‘pops’, and calling their father by his first name seemed way too casual as well... Parental Figure..? Guardian? Sir..? Should they call him sir???
The fact that MC ended their sentence like they were going to continue it left the two in a very awkward silence. A+ job at conversation.
“Anyway,” Lucifer finally broke the silence. “If you need time to settle in, we can pick up the tour later.”
“N-no, it’s okay! I didn’t really bring anything so...” MC was in the middle of mentally cursing themselves out, they thought they had successfully avoided falling into the awkward middle schooler stereotype! “We can keep the tour going.”
“Alright then.” Lucifer turned and motioned for MC to follow. Wow... he was very... curt? Was that the right word to use? MC hoped this was as awkward for him as it was for them.
The next stop was the portrait staircase, Lucifer explained each one down to each minute detail, MC listened in rapt attention.
“We received that one from a painter from the sixth layer of the Devildom, it was quite a rare find.”
“How many layers are there?”
“Nine, we’re in the centre most layer. This is the most highly defended part of the Devildom.” Lucifer explained.
“Oh,” MC smiled. “Cool, so it’s like how Dante described it in the Divine Comedy?”
“Mostly, some changes have been made since that time.”
“Ah, okay.” MC nodded, a thought came to them which made them clear their throat to suppress a giggle. “May I ask a question that might bother you?”
Lucifer turned and raised an eyebrow at them. “You may ask one such question.”
“Why did Dante say you were frozen in an ice lake?”
Lucifer looked around, once he was sure that no one was listening, he turned back to MC, his voice was slightly lower when he answered. “I was ice skating with Lord Diavolo, I fell through the ice and into the lake right as Virgil and Dante arrived. Of course, Dante had to embellish or I’d smite him, if only he left out the ice part.”
To MC’s credit, they didn’t laugh, but they weren’t doing a very good job of hiding how hard it was to not burst into laughter. “Oh my... how upsetting...”
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “I’d tell you not to tell anyone but,” his lips quirked up into a smile. “No one would believe you if you said anything anyway.”
MC gasped, but the gasp ended up releasing the laugh they were holding in.
The half demon noticed some of the other portraits on the wall, each of the brothers had a portrait, there were two demons that MC didn’t recognize. So that was their family... they wondered if their picture might be on that wall one day...
“Who’s he?” MC pointed at the portrait between Mammon’s and Satan’s.
“That’s Leviathan, the third eldest, the Avatar of Envy, and the Grand Admiral of Hell’s Navy.”
‘Oooo, so he’s a military guy!’ MC thought to themselves. ‘And the third most powerful brother? Wow... he must be crazy scary...’
“What about him?” MC pointed at the seventh and final portrait.
It may have just been MC’s imagination, but they swore they saw Lucifer’s expression sour slightly.
“That’s Belphegor, the youngest and the Avatar of Sloth.” Lucifer explained. “He is currently in the human world as an exchange student.”
“Oh,” MC studied the portraits a bit more. “Cool! I hope he’s having a good time up there.”
“As do I.” Lucifer replied. “Now we should move on to the Underground-”
“LUCIFER!” Asmodeus cried. “MAMMON’S BEING STUPID AGAIN!”
Lucifer sighed and dragged a gloved hand down his face. “We’ll continue this tour later, MC. Feel free to explore some more, try not to break anything.”
“Because the things might be cursed?”
“That and the things are old and expensive.”
MC spends the rest of the day chilling in the house with Asmo, who peppers MC with ALL the questions.
They does their best to answer... but it’s clear Asmo was hoping for something a little more interesting.
“So, do you run the human world?”
“No. No I do not.”
Finally, Mammon escapes whatever punishment Lucifer’s got him caught up in and tried to get MC involved in something that’ll probably make them lose their money.
Mini HC! A demon’s wings, tail, or horns might pop out randomly if they aren’t paying attention! The demon doesn’t even need to be in their true demonic form for this to happen. It happens more often with younger demons like MC!
Mammon stops his little scheme when he notices that MC’s wings have popped out and left a few stray feathers lying about... he can hear the CHA CHING sound already.
Our favourite dummy tried to Mission Impossible his way into MC’s room but MC caught him trying to make off with some loose feathers after they came back with a dustpan to clean them up.
Eventually, it was dinner time, and Levi was still camped out in his room. Mammon got sent to get him out, and he decided to drag MC along with him.
“I don’t think we should bother him-”
“Sh! We gotta get him out of his stupid room or he’s gonna stay in there until the exchange year’s over.” Mammon snapped, stopping in front of Leviathan’s door.
“I still don’t think we should-”
Mammon rudely interrupted poor, aghast MC by slamming his fists against the door. “LEVI! GET UP! DINNER’S READY!”
The only response was someone increasing the volume on whatever show was playing behind the door. Wow, petty. MC suppressed a snort until they realized exactly what they were hearing.
Was that...
“Is that the Sailor Moon theme?” MC turned to Mammon and asked. The moment the question left their lips the pair heard someone practically bolt to the door. It swung open and hit Mammon right in the face.
“MOTHER FUCKER-”
“You!”
Ah, so this was the Grand Admiral of Hell’s Navy. MC didn’t know that track pants and headphones were a part of the uniform.
“You like anime?!” Levi asked, MC slowly nodded.
“Y-yeah..?”
Quick as lightning, MC was pulled into the room, and Levi slammed the door shut, tragically, the door hit Mammon again.
“LEVI YOU ASS-”
Leviathan didn’t seem too interested in Mammon’s chorus of curse words and angry knocks, he was grabbing some figurines off shelves and showing some to MC.
“Do you know who this is?!”
“That’s White Blood Cell from Cells at Work. What about Mamm-”
“How about this!”
“Violet Evergarden from the show of the same name, now Levia-”
“Whose this?!”
“LEVIATHAN!” MC stomped their foot and pointed at the door. “Mammon said we need to go eat dinner.”
“Don’t interrupt me, human!” Levi hissed, MC rolled their eyes and snorted.
“Nice to meet you, by the way.” MC crossed their arms and let their wings appear and puff up behind them.
“...w-whu-WHAT?!”
“We have to go to-” MC was cut off yet again by Levi passing out. Wow... what a day...
Mammon was still pounding on the door, MC rolled their eyes and opened it.
“He passed out, can you carry him?”
Mammon was decidedly not careful with his dear little brother when he dragged him out of his room and into the dining room. When Levi finally woke up, he got an earful from Lucifer, and tried to kill Mammon.
Apparently money was owed that Mammon wasn’t about to pay.
So yeah, MC and Levi’s alliance did not stem from desperation, it stems from otaku-camaraderie.
MC and Levi planned their credit-card hostage situation over a fun evening of watching anime.
Mammon never knew what hit him...
“Okay Mammon, pay up or your credit card gets cut up.” MC playfully opened and closed the scissors before poising them to cut up the helpless credit card. Mammon let out a shriek and shook his head.
“NONONONONO- don’t do that!” Mammon put his hands up and let out a nervous laugh. “MC... wh-what’s with all the animosity..? We’re buddies, right?”
MC snorted and rolled their eyes. “Buddies don’t try and make money off each other’s feathers.”
“You heard them, Mammon.” Levi snickered. “Pay me back the money you owe me!”
“I don’t have the money right now!”
MC shook their head. “Pity... oh well, bye bye Goldie-”
“The money’s in my sock drawer- just please put the scissors down!”
They slowly lowered the scissors. “What do you think, Levi?”
“Hmmm... you have two minutes.” Levi said, Mammon took off in a sprint out of the kitchen.
“Nice job Agent L!” MC chirped, holding their hand out for a high five, Levi looked positively elated and gleefully hit his hand against MC’s.
“We did it! I’m finally going to have enough money to go to the live show! Couldn’t have done it without your help, Agent Near.”
“Wait- why am I Near?” MC asked. “You get to be L and I have to be Near?”
Levi crossed his arms and huffed. “Would you rather be Mellow?”
“No! I want to be Light! We agreed that I’d be Light!” MC hissed. Levi, literally hissed back.
Rude.
Anyway, Levi got paid, and everyone had a very entertaining breakfast. Well, Mammon didn’t have a very good time, but boo hoo he should have paid Levi back sooner.
I think MC felt legitimately bad for Mammon, all the insults and jabs being aimed at him made MC feel a little guilty...
MC took care to be extra sweet that day, and it made Mammon feel a bit better. You know what made both of them feel amazing?
Screwing with the dipshits that were talking crap about the two of them.
MC didn’t need super-hearing to notice that some of the demons at RAD found it to be peak comedy that Mammon got slapped with babysitting duty.
“...do you want to mess with them?”
“What?”
“Too late, I’m doing it with or without you.”
Mammon was totally in, obviously. A little magic to move some of the lesser demons’ things around and voila! They were all at each other’s throats and Mammon and MC got to enjoy a fun lunchtime show!
The Purgatory Hall crew got to meet MC too, of course!
“And this,” Lucifer gestured to MC. “Is the other human exchange student.”
MC popped up from behind one of the rows of desks and gave the three newcomers a toothy grin. “Nice to meet you!”
Simeon’s calm and serene expression dropped almost immediately as he quickly looked from Lucifer to MC. The latter just gave him an innocent smile and tilted their head.
“Is something the matter?” MC asked, through the corner of their eye they saw Lucifer smirk slightly.
“N...” Simeon snapped back to reality. “No, nothing’s the matter, it’s nice to meet you, MC.”
“You awful demons!” A much younger voice yapped. “You brought a human child down here?! Shame on you!”
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “I’m overwhelmed with guilt, put me out of my misery.”
“Oh!” MC gasped. “You’re the chihuahua!”
“Wh-what?!”
“What?” MC shook their head and shrugged. “What’s the matter with me being a kid? You look like you’re ten.”
“I’ll have you know that I’m well over-”
“Am I just going to go ignored?” The third and final stranger asked, a cheeky/very suspicious looking grin on his face.
“Right, you.” Lucifer sighed. “This is Solomon, another human exchange student.”
“It’s nice to finally meet the other... human exchange student.” Solomon offered a nod.
“Likewise.” MC pretended not to notice the pause before he said human.
The first bell that meant “haul your ass to next period because if the cleaning staff finds you skipping class you will be maimed” sounded. MC slung their bag over their shoulder and brushed past their fellow students.
“Have a nice rest of your day, everyone!” MC chirped as they and Lucifer headed off to their next class.
“What do you stand to gain by pretending you aren’t my child?” Lucifer asked.
MC snickered. “It’s funny! Didn’t you see their faces?”
Lucifer half smiled and shook his head. “Perhaps.”
—————
“That kid is Lucifer’s.” Solomon said the moment Lucifer and MC were out of earshot.
“Oh thank heavens someone else saw too... I thought I was going crazy...” Simeon sighed in relief.
“Hey! We’ll be late to class if you guys don’t hurry!” Luke called from down the hall.
Solomon chuckled under his breath. “This whole year just got way more interesting...”
A lot of MC’s time got devoted to getting to know their newly found family.
Satan was proving to be very... polite? Almost weirdly so? He’d address MC like he would address a formal acquaintance, not like one would address a family member... or even a roommate.
MC tried the delicate dance of trying to respect his boundaries and trying to get him to like them...
Once the glasses incident happened everything kinda caved. MC had been quite rudely shunned by Satan and they were quite done trying to be his friend! Hmph!
...hmph :(
At least Beel was nice... despite MC being a little intimidated by his size and resting bitch face, MC soon found out that Beel was a massive cinnamon roll.
In return for all the snacks Beel shared with MC, they introduced him to at least five human world cooking shows.
“MC, why is the music so dramatic? They’re just revealing the cooking supplies.”
“It’s a reality TV thing... everything is 10 times more dramatic than it needs to be. The music’s doing its job though, I’m very impressed by that pie dish.”
Overall, MC’s first week at RAD was pretty decent! Until... well... until Friday.
MC could only hide their demonic side for so long...
“That’s them?”
MC slowed their steps and turned to look for the source of the voice.
“Yep.” A second voice confirmed. “Human kid, like I said.”
Ugh... of all the times to have needed to stay late after school... the hallway MC was in was completely empty and they had no clue where anyone they actually knew was-
“Boo.”
MC whirled around to see the two gossiping demons standing right behind them. They instinctively took a few steps back before the taller of the two demons grabbed them by the wrist and yanked them forward.
“Geez, are all humans this tiny?” The taller one asked as he slowly lifted MC off the ground. MC fixed him with the nastiest glare possible, he tried to scowl back, but ended up looking away and laughing to the shorter demon. “Look at them, barely enough for a snack, no wonder Beel hasn’t eaten them yet.”
Turning to the shorter demon, MC gave them a similar glare. “Put me down.”
“Tsk, quiet.” The taller demon snapped, he turned back to the shorter demon. “So if we just nab them now, how much do you think someone’ll take for their soul?”
“I-uh...” the shorter demon couldn’t pry their gaze away from MC’s as they tried to sputter a response. “I don’t think we should...”
“Why not? The exchange program’s still in its trial phase anyway, we kill this human and they’ll just bring in another one.”
The way he was speaking about them made MC’s skin crawl. How dare he? How dare he talk about them like they were just common trash? Who did this... person think he was?
An old familiar feeling bubbled beneath the surface. It had always been there, the intense, sometimes overwhelming desire to let the whole world know that they were better. The feeling coiled its way up MC’s spine and wormed its way into their head where it settled.
“You can’t be spoken to like that.”
Every single time this feeling had flared up, MC had done their best to suppress it. They didn’t know what would happen if they gave in, and frankly, they didn’t want to know.
“Let them know you’re not to be trifled with.”
The burning desire to crush the two demons like ants was almost impossible to ignore. MC felt their hands twitch and sparks snap between their fingertips.
“I’m not going to tell you again,” MC growled. “Put. Me. Down.”
“Human,” the taller demon turned back and cooed, his mocking tone made MC want to rip his throat out. “I said be quiet.”
His grip on MC’s wrist tightened until a sickening crack echoed through the empty hallway.
Bile immediately rose in MC’s throat as they let out an earsplitting scream. Their wrist seared in pain and their heart began to race hammer against their ribcage.
The desire to give in only grew and became harder to control, MC could feel themselves slipping. The feeling only had one simple question to ask, one that MC knew the answer to.
“Are you going to let them get away with that?”
Their face morphed into a cheek splitting grin despite the pain, their head tilted to the left as they stared down the two demons.
“No.”
Horns twisted and burst out of their skull as they dug their rapidly sharpening nails into the demon’s arm. Their teeth grew and sharpened while formerly hidden fangs burst through their upper gums. The agonizing pain of their bones growing, snapping, and shifting in and out of place as their demonic form took hold for the first time numbed as MC revelled in their new power.
Through the reflection in the taller demon’s horrified stare, MC could see their pupils stretch into almost catlike slits. He dropped them onto the floor while he and the shorter demon backed up. MC’s impossibly wide smile only grew as they watched the realization dawn upon the lesser demon as he stitched together what he had just done. The human he had decided to bother wasn’t quite so human after all.
“Oh?” MC cooed as their wings split through their back and unfurled behind them. “Where do you think you two are going? We haven’t even gotten started yet.”
—————
Lucifer was jolted from his conversation by a sharp blast of blue light and the sound of screams from a nearby hallway. He instinctively rolled his eyes.
“Lord Diavolo, pardon me but I need to go deal with a disturbance in the halls.” Lucifer said, Diavolo sighed mournfully on the other end of the call.
“Alright, if you must, but make sure to come over later! There are events that need to be scheduled.”
Lucifer knew full well that Diavolo was making half of the school events up as an excuse for basic social interaction. Oh well, it wasn’t the time to think on his prince’s social woes, he had a problem to solve.
How many times did he have to tell some of those idiotic students to take their petty squabbles outside?
Lucifer made his way over to where the fight was happening, he wasn’t walking with particular urgency, a fight on school property wasn’t too unusual, until a massive shockwave spilled through the hallways and slammed into him.
The Avatar of Pride felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up, that was his magical signature... wasn’t it? No, it was just different enough...
“Dammit.” Lucifer doubled his pace, when he reached the end of the hallway, the sight was just what he feared.
MC stood straight in the middle of the hallway with their back to him, two other demons were lying in crumpled heaps on the ground, one was next to an incredibly dented row of lockers while the other was lying next to an almost completely broken drinking fountain.
Lucifer’s own true form was out in a flash as MC turned to look at him. their eyes glowing a shining blue. Their lips curled into a snarl as they let out an otherworldly growl.
“Go away.”
“MC, calm yourself down.” Lucifer said slowly as he approached them. “Return to your normal form.”
The half demon bowed their head slightly and took a few steps back as he stepped closer. Lucifer almost patted himself on the back for such a show of authority, until MC paused and looked up defiantly. The glow in their eyes doubled as any sense of fear left them completely.
“I said, GO AWAY!”
They lunged at him, which he easily sidestepped, only for MC to quickly turn and latch their claws into his arm.
The child packed a surprising amount of force into their strikes, but he was able to block and redirect almost every single one. If this were any normal fight, Lucifer would have just swatted them away and have been done with it, but this wasn’t any ordinary opponent.
MC was his child, the exchange student, and going through their first transformation. They weren’t exactly rational or directly responsible for any of their actions at that moment.
During a first transformation the demon is almost completely relying on base instincts to function, they’ll go completely ballistic for a while, trying to tear through anything in their way until they run out of energy and pass out. Which is why during a demon’s first transformation usually happened much earlier in their lives under the watchful eyes of parents or guardians.
It was clear to anyone with even casual knowledge of demons that MC had fully given themselves over to their pride and wouldn’t stop trying to prove their superiority until they passed out.
Even though Lucifer was blocking and avoiding most of the blows, MC had managed to get in a few good scratches.
They snapped at Lucifer’s right hand, narrowly missing it and aimed their elbow at his jaw. Almost casually batting the hit away, he hissed in frustration.
“Damn it... MC, control yourself!”
MC snarled and sloppily lunged forward, only for Lucifer to use his wings to bat them to the side. They slid across the floor, their glasses falling off and skidding away from them. MC lay still for a few moments, their chest rising and falling rapidly.
Lucifer stood in place, waiting for any sudden movement. For a few moments, the hallway was quiet, save for the massive gulps of air MC was taking and the occasional groan of pain from one of the demons on the floor. MC slowly sat up and blinked a few times, then looked from side to side.
Something important dawned on Lucifer, he didn’t know just how blind MC was without their glasses.
MC’s rapid breathing began to slow as they continued to squint and search the area around them for their glasses. Lucifer almost audibly sighed in relief as the blue glow in his child’s eyes began to dull.
“MC.” Lucifer allowed his demon form to disappear as he slowly moved towards them, making sure MC could hear him approaching.
The half demon stopped scanning the area for their glasses and looked up at him, they awkwardly covered a yawn with their hand as their wings sleepily fluttered behind them. It would have been much cuter if MC wasn’t spattered with blood.
Lucifer slowly offered his hand, which MC eyed suspiciously. “Come on, let’s go.”
MC blinked a few times, then yawned again and awkwardly accepted his hand. “Mmph... m’tired...”
“That’s good,” Lucifer said quietly. “Everything’s okay.”
MC half nodded and awkwardly stumbled as they tried to find their footing. Lucifer tried to help steady them, but it proved ineffective as MC collapsed into his arms. Sighing, he picked them up and began to walk back to the House of Lamentation.
Just before leaving the school, Lucifer passed by Simeon and Solomon, who looked from MC, who had curled their wings around themselves and was sleeping soundly, to Lucifer, who had a few scratch marks on his face and whose hair was a complete mess.
“Ah, you two, one of you do me a favour.” Lucifer said as he brushed past them. “One of you go to the biology hallway and pick up MC’s glasses.”
Simeon and Solomon nodded and mumbled out an affirmation as Lucifer left the school with MC. Hmph, it seemed MC was right, their confused/shocked faces were quite funny.
MC woke up the next morning with the worst muscle pain they had ever and hopefully would ever feel. On the bright side, their wrist wasn’t broken anymore :D
They had literally built their true form. Their skeleton just stretched and rearranged itself, horns grew out from their cranium, their wings broke through their back and a new set of fangs decided to break through their gums... and then all of that new stuff was gone as MC lay in bed in their normal form like a deflated beach ball.
Not wanting to seem like a wimp, MC dragged themselves to breakfast, and everyone was all: “MC, go back to bed, you can’t do anything when you’re like this.”
“Quiet, I’m fine.”
“MC, if you’re fine, then give Beel a high five, make sure it makes the slap sound.”
“Alright then, Beel, come here.”
Beel didn’t exactly think to take MC’s shorter stature into account when holding up his hand for a high five. He’s tall, okay?
MC then proceeded to grit their teeth and try not to scream as they lifted their arm to weakly hit their hand against Beel’s.
“It made the noise..!”
“No it didn’t, I didn’t hear it.”
“Fatherrrr!”
“Couldn’t hear it, go back upstairs.”
When MC trudged upstairs, Asmo practically squealed and pointed out that MC had called Lucifer father for the first time. It’s a shame no one took a picture of happy/surprised Lucifer.
Side note: after the whole event calmed down, Lucifer was crazy proud that his kid kicked the asses of two grown demons.
Funnily enough, this incident is what kickstarted MC and Luke’s friendship! Luke heard MC got into a fight and brought over get-well cookies! Sure... Beel, Mammon and Levi stole most of the cookies but they were still good!
At school on Monday... hooooooo boy... the two demons that tried to kill MC had lived to tell the tale thanks to MC getting distracted by Lucifer, and now the entire student body knew NOT to fuck with MC.
A few weeks into the exchange year, things had settled into a somewhat normal routine... until one really shitty night in particular.
MC was curled up in bed, their new comforter and sheets were a pain to put in, but they suited MC’s taste much better than the pink that had been there previously. Sighing in contentment, MC felt themselves drifting off to sleep-
Mother fucker who was texting at the ungodly hour of 10:30 pm on a Sunday? ‘Twas the lord’s day and the lord of the house stated that everyone needed to get their asses to bed at a reasonable hour.
MC picked up their phone and put on their glasses. After being blinded by the light of the phone for a brief moment, MC read the text.
Not-Rich Uncle Pennybags 💰🕶: Oi! MC! U want a snack?
Not-Rich Uncle Pennybags💰🕶: I’m in the kitchen! Get down here!
After debating whether or not to throw Mammon to the wolves and rat him out, MC decided that they did in fact want a snack and hopped out of bed to go to the kitchen.
“Hey kiddo!” Mammon said through a mouthful of something in a container, a loose note hung limply from a piece of tape that was stuck on the Tupperware. “Next time, hurry it up, got it? Ya can’t keep me waitin’ like this!”
“Mm...” MC grumbled, rubbing their eyes and looking around the kitchen. “What are you eating?”
“Custard!” Mammon smiled brightly. “Ya gotta try this!”
Oooo, custard! MC grabbed a spoon and practically skipped over to try some. Right before they were about to try a bit of the heavenly deliciousness, MC paused and finally caught a glimpse of what the note said.
‘Property of Beelzebub, you eat it, you die.’
Uh oh-
———————
Okay, the next few bits of this WILL come out in order, I promise! Kinda... not really... eh... but it matters not! I hope you all enjoyed this! I didn’t leave you with a cliffhanger this time considering Lessons 5-6 are already out ^_^
So uh- wanna fight the demons that tried to hurt MC? I’m bringing the pitchforks, who’s driving?
329 notes · View notes
alpines-bucky · 3 years
Text
No one said Starks weren't a little dramatic
This is the first time I write Tony x daughter reader I hope you guys like it :)
Word Count: 2319 ( Things got a bit out of my hands while I was editing and eventhough it's edited I can't promise that there aren't any typos and I dtill wasn't satisfied with what I wrote but 🤷‍♀️Ig )
Warnings: Major character death, a lot of angst
Tumblr media
Y/N loses her dad when he decides to save the universe with a snap of his fingers but when did anyone see a Stark not getting what they want? Let me answer for you, Never. ( AKA Y/N gambles with time and space and universes surprisingly there isn't any VA involved cause in my opinion they suck to save her dad but apparently there are always consequences)
Y/N had arrived at her destination albeit being a little late. She wanted to be there when the team tried to go back in time to get the Stones in hopes of saving aunt Tasha too but she had one and only shot at this so she had to make do with what she had. What she didn’t realise was she accidentally changed universes instead of going back in time.
The way she found out that the place she had arrived wasn’t when or where she intented to was Morgan, the little girl with big Brown eyes who had total control over her older sister the second they met. Y/N had to lay low and do her research before approaching them. But when she heard about Morgan she had to meet her before doing what she came to do. And that’s exactly what she did.
She found Morgan in a house by the lake with a woman who she assumed was Pepper.Her visit was short since she couldn’t afford getting caught by Pepper which would mean jeopardising the whole plan she had spent months making. She left a message for her dad before going off to save the man itself.
Her dad was fighting with Thanos when she arrived to the scene. The more she looked around the more it looked like the place she fought along with her dad and that meant one thing, she had to act quick.
‘’I am inevitable’’ Thanos said as he snapped his finger but nothing happened. Confused, he looked at his gauntlet to find that the Stones that were there a minute ago were no longer in their places. He looked around to see that Tony had them somehow.
‘’And I’m Iron Man’’ said Tony full of emotions as he was about to snap his fingers. He thought having all six Stones in his hands would kill him being a mortal and he was fine with it if that meant she could ensure his family’s security but he felt nothing. He thought he had died instantly but he found out that wasn’t the case when he got startled by an unknown voice.
‘’Oh, the hell with that!’’ said a girl who wore a similar suit to Tony’s. She seemed to appear out of nowhere. Which confused both man further.
‘’Who the hell are you?’’ asked Tony. Who the hell was mad enough decided to mess up the only chance of him stopping the big purple psycho of a man.
‘’Who do you think?’’ said the girl, winking at him confidentally but her eyes told a different story. There was sadness in them, grief and loss but it seemed like she was happy at the same time.What surprised him was the familiarity she carried but he couldn’t put his finger on it. So he searched her suit for some clues which led up to him finding the Stones. She was the reason he was not dead, she somehow got possession of the Stones.
‘’Kid, no!’’ yelled Tony. He attempted to get closer to her but she snapped her fingers before he could stop her. Everything stilled for a second. The other avengers thought Tony had done it as Thanos’ soldiers had started to turn to dust all of a sudden but when they found a girl that they’ve never seen before in the arms of Tony with fetal injuries they were puzzled. They gathered around Tony and the girl who struggled tos tay alive.
‘’I made it! I… I saved you, Dad.’’Tony was shocked at her words. He was processing what he heard as Pepper landed next to them and kneeled. They couldn’t Wrap their heads around what was happening but they both were not going to let a dying kid down for sure.
She had a difficulty breathing, she was in agonizing pain but she had a peaceful smile on her face. She tried to lift her hand but it pained her more, she whimpered. Tony sensed her intentions and put her hand on his cheek for her. He put his hand on top of her, gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘’Friday, what do we have?’’ asked Tony.
‘’3 to 4 degree burns from her right hand up to her face. Internal bleeding. Her lungs are collapsing... Life functions critical.’’ Answered the voice from both of the suits. Pepper grimaced, she didn’t know who this girl was but she had sacrificed herself for Tony, the man she referred ‘dad’. ‘’Who are you?’’ asked Pepper.
‘’I’m–‘’ she coughed, blood was pooling in her mouth. ‘’I’m surprised you couldn’t figure it out yet…’’ she let out a bloody laugh. ‘’I’m Y/N. Y/N Stark.’’ She said with her last breath. That shook the whole group to their cores. The girl wasn’t lying or confusing Tony with someone else. The girl who lied in his Tony’s arms nonbreathing was infact the daughter of Tony Stark. From the moment they realised the truth everything was a blur to the Stark Family and the avengers.
Y/N was Tony’s first daughter who had died in a cross fire 7 years ago. She was a teenager at the time. She would have been a few years older than Peter if she had lived. It was a wrong place wrong time type of situation, she had died on the scene. Tony had nightmares after that, his insomnia got worse. He had blamed himself although it had nothing to do with him. The guilt ate him alive day by day. He realised why the girl’s eyes were so familiar to him now, she was his Y/N/N. A grown, older version of her, but his Y/N nontheless.
He didn’t think he could recover from her death but losing her, seeing her die in his arms for the second time ruined him. He had no idea what was happening outside of his head, he was in a trance, he had stayed still looking at his hands where Y/N laid. Until his little girl, Morgan came up to him with a disk in hand and said ‘’Daddy! Daddy! A girl called Y/N wanted me to give this to you’’ That got everyone’s attention.
Tony told Friday to scan the disk and display whatever is in it. When he saw Y/N in front of her, he couldn’t stop the tears from falling and when she started speaking as if she could see her Tony lost it. He couldn’t hear her because of his own sobs, he didn’t even realised the rest of the avengers and his wife as they piled in the room when they heard Tony and Y/N’s voice. He had to stop the hologram a few times to gather himself. When he got control of his breathing, he built up his courage and displayed it all over again.
‘’Hey dad. I’m assuming since you are watching this I suceed. I’ve saved you.’’ She had to stop for a second to take a breath in to compose herself. ‘This time’ she said under her breath but Friday caught it.
‘’You are wondering how the hell I am alive. Well… For starters, I didn’t know that I was dead in this world which… makes you realise that I’m not from this world. I’m actually from what you call an alternative universe. Things got out of hand in my universe after… after you… Oh shit! This is too hard. I knew I couldn’t do this shit! I can’t even talk to my own god damn suit picturing it as my hypothetical dad without messing it up’’ that made a few people chuckle and a few others tos mile. The girl really was his father’s child after all.
‘’Okay I’m hoping you either won’t have to watch this or I can cut that part before giving it to Morgan. Anyways, I’m rambling.’’ Tony saw his younger self in Y/N which put a sad smile to his face. This was something he never got to experience before. To see her this grown up. To see a pieces of him in her.
‘’ So things went down hill after you did the whole ‘I’m Iron Man’ thing –which by the way I’m still mad at you about­- You… You died in my hands, dad.’’ She gulped. She had begun crying a while ago but now that she was talking about her dad’s death, she felt like the lump in her throat got bigger and bigger, suffocating her. ‘’ I was all alone for years! You were all I had and then within a second you were gone! I didn’t have anyone else!’’ She tried to calm herself. She wasn’t recording this to make him feel guilty or get answers she was possibly never going to hear. This was a goodbye. A goodbye she knew he deserved just like how she did from him.
‘’That’s why I made the decision to change it but I accidentally changed universes instead of going back in time. But this was my only chance, only shot at making it right. And then I found out that I had died in this universe and you had moved on. Good for you, dad. I’m really proud of you. You did what I couldn’t. It was a relief to know that you were happy and that you had a family now. I thought for a second that maybe the blip didn’t happen. That in this universe, you had a lovely life and I thought for a second maybe I could be in it too. Stay with you but that hope was shortly lived.’’ She gave a sad smile.
‘’And now I’m about to go to the battle field. Before I go, I have to say, I don’t know how if there is any way for me to stop you. I can’t take it all back but I will do anything to not let another girl grow up without her dad. And I ain’t going to let my own sister down. Oh, did you know that I always wanted a sister?’’ she chuckled making Tony’s heart warm. It has been so long since he heard his daughter chuckle the damn way he does. She stopped for a second to think ‘’Well, she has the Stark charm, that’s for sure. I only knew her for a few hours and she had me the second we met. I wish I could be there for her as her older sister. I would give anything to see her grow up but if that has to be for only one of us to see, I’d rather that be you because I’ve been there. I know how hard it is to lose your dad. I could see clearly what she would have to go through and the moment I realised that I knew what I had to do. I would stop you at all costs and since this reacording is being played I could sleep peacefully knowing she has you.’’ She smiled with tears escaping her eyes once again. Tony was full of emotions. His daughter he has been longing for years was right in front of him but way too far away at the same time.
With a sigh she started ‘’ You have people you can hold on to. I never did. Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, the spider kid... Hold on to them Tony. Hold on to the team. Oh, speaking of the team, tell them I love them and I missed them so badly. I’m sorry. I thought I was going to have more time to talk And maybe if a miracle happens and we all can manage to stay alive I could tell you all about it but I have to go now. Have an old man to save’’ She saluted and looked around right where the broken team of Avengers were with longing in her eyes. She moved closer to the disk to cut the recording but decided against it the last second. Tony hung his head, his heart broke to hear the hope in her voice when he knew what already happened. He thought this was the end of the recording but he looked up when he heard her talking and she had turned to him and looked right at him as if she knew where he was stated. That sent shivers up Tony’s spine.
‘’I know you think I made the wrong decision but I saved you. I refuse to let you down once again. I refuse to see you die in front of me once again. I’m not sorry for what I’m about to do, I knew the consequences when I made this plan months ago. I’m only sorry because although I tried so much to have the future we always talked about with you, I won’t be able to, Tones. But Morgan will be. And I would give up anything for that little girl. And for you.’’ She said as she caressed the necklace Tony gave her when she was a child. She took the chain out of her neck and put it somewhere Tony couldn’t see. And Tony knew this was only a tape but he tried to hold on to his daughter, to stop her from going out there. His breath caught in his throat when his hands went through Y/N’s body. He fell to his knees.
‘’ But hey if it turns out that I, this badass manage to get both of us home in one peace one we can laugh our asses off as we watch me being the drama queen that I am… Well, no one said Starks weren’t a bit dramatic.’’ The heart Tony thought had broken to a million pieces broke further as he heard the tremble in her voice as she tried to put her brave face on. But she couldn’t hide it when one last tear escaped from her slightly swollen eyes as she ended the recording.
Why do I never have good endings? Cause I write in the middle of the night when I feel sad most of the time and it's easier to write sad than it is to write happy.
I hope you liked it. I would love to hear your thoughts on this one. I'd also like to discuss if you'd like the alternative ending that could be a happy one :)
192 notes · View notes