#like. might as well not be peter parker . it could be . chokes . an iron man deadpool series | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

css1992 · 4 years

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could u do more high school au's pls? I was thinking maybe rich popular peter who seems untouchable and then grungy tony who just doesnt care for appearances and hes been pining after peter his whole school life

could u make it so that tony is rich and everyone knows it but he just doesn't care about his money and doesnt act rich so it's one of those things that u know but dont acknowledge. also if tony's daddy issues made an appearance id be so happy ty.

I’m so sorry for the delay, but I really do hope this scratches your itch!

***

He had that sort of beauty that almost hurt to look at. So pure and soft. Pink cheeks, small eyes that squinted when he laughed – which was often –; brown, wavy hair, so shiny and silky-looking; thin, pink lips, always stretched in a smile. He had the most beautiful smile Tony had ever seen, too. Honest and wide, happy.

He was never alone. Of course he wasn’t. He was too magnetic, there were always people drawn to his light, following him around, laughing at his jokes, making him laugh in return. Everyone seemed to want a piece of him, a scrap of his attention. And he, being the lovely human being that he was, made room for anyone who wished to bask in his light.

Jocks liked him. Peter was great at team sports, he was light on his feet and good with his hands. He wasn’t in any teams, though, claimed he didn’t have the time, but he was always picked first in P.E. group activities. Tony knew, watched him at practice way too often – from a distance, of course, as he did his stretches and sit-ups with Rhodes.

Nerds liked him, too. He was really smart, an asset to the Decathlon team, and was always willing to help anyone having trouble in class. Even the weirdos from drama club, glee club and the school band loved him – he never made fun of them, on the contrary, he was always very vocal about how talented they were and how he wished he could be a part of their clubs, too.

Girls swooned at him. He was kind and sweet, a good listener, and gorgeous. Guys weren’t immune to his charms, either. The ones Tony knew for a fact that were gay or bi didn’t even try to pretend they didn’t watch him when he walked down the halls, but even supposedly straight guys, like Steve Rogers, sneaked a peek now and then, face flushed, if he was wearing specially tight jeans.

Tony was jealous of all those people, but he learned to deal with it. He’d been, well, admiring him from a distance for years. He was used to seeing people make passes at him, ask him out. Peter was discreet, though. If he ever dated anyone, nobody ever heard anything about it. He was a mystery, Tony wasn’t even sure if he was gay, straight, bi or whatever – there were rumors that he had made out with Wade Wilson in freshman year, but neither of them confirmed or denied it. Tony hated the guy anyway.

“If you keep staring, people are gonna know you’re in love and not actually dead inside,” Rhodey spoke up right next to him, taking a huge bite of his tuna sandwich. Tony averted his gaze from Peter’s table for a minute and looked at his friend, annoyed. “It’s gonna ruin your whole aesthetic.”

“Very funny,” He rolled his eyes and looked back at Peter. There were so many people around him he could barely catch a glimpse of his smile, which was annoying.

His dad’s company, Parker Innovations, had just released a new phone a few weeks earlier, it was ridiculous how many people thought they could get one for free if they kissed his ass hard enough. At least Tony didn’t have to endure that kind of nonsense anymore. People in that school learned very early on that even though he was related to Howard Stark, he wanted nothing to do with the guy – or his company, or his money. They also learned sucking up to him did nothing but annoy him, so they kind of just forgot he existed over time and he blended right in with everyone else – a blessing in its own right.

“Rhodey is right, you’re drooling, it’s a little embarrassing,” Natasha looked at him with boredom as she nibbled on her fries. “You should just ask him out, you’ve been pining for ages.”

“I’m not pining,” he huffed, irritated, and the redhead smirked, raising a perfectly manicured brow.

“Right, yearning might be more accurate. Bruce?” She glanced at their other friend who scratched his chin, pretending to think about it.

“I think obsessing sounds more like it. Rhodey?”

“Fuck you guys,” he barked before they could keep the game going, and all three laughed at him. Someone got up from Peter’s table and he caught a glimpse of his beautiful face, their eyes made contact for half a second and Tony looked away.

“No, but seriously, Tones. Just go talk to him, he’s a great guy, I’m sure he wouldn’t be an ass about it.” Bruce adjusted his glasses and said that like it was simple. Like he would have the guts to do it if he was in Tony’s position – he wouldn’t, he’d pined for Thor, an exchange student, for a year, and never worked up the courage to ask him out. The guy went back to Norway or whatever and Bruce never even said hi to him.

“I know, of course he wouldn’t, but I don’t wanna be one of those people begging for his attention, just look at that.” He pointed at the little crowd around him, people were almost literally fighting for his attention, the poor guy could barely finish his lunch. “It’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, but you’re not them,” Natasha said that like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Tony frowned.

“How am I different?”

“You’re a certified genius, you and him have similar interests and you look hot in a ‘I’m gonna fuck you raw in the back of my car’ kinda way. I don’t know, maybe he’s into that.” The redhead shrugged, again, saying all that like it was obvious and an unquestionable truth.

“Yeah, right, sounds just like him,” Tony scoffed.

Peter was perfect in so many ways – perfect face, perfect body, perfect grades, Tony was sure he pooped out candy or something – of course he wouldn’t go for a guy like him. He had a bad reputation, he was in detention more often than not and people in general considered him an asshole – all because he didn’t partake in their little games of social climbing or whatever. No, Peter wouldn’t go for his grungy ass. He’d probably go for all American, apple pie, boy-next-door Steve Rogers.

“No, she’s right, I’ve seen him looking at you several times.” Bruce pointed out, not for the first time, and Tony scoffed.

“Oh, yeah? When?”

“AP chemistry class. I’m his lab partner, remember?” How could Tony forget? As Mr. Erskine called out their names, Tony prayed to a God he didn’t even believe in that he’d be paired up with Peter, but no such luck. “He stares at you whenever he has a chance or an excuse. You know, when you blow things up, for example.”

“Yeah, which is why he must stare, he must be afraid for his life.” Tony hated to admit that he was way more prone to causing explosive accidents when Peter was in the room. It was fucking embarrassing.

He sighed, drinking the last of his coke. No matter what his friends said, he knew he didn’t stand a chance with Peter. He was… Untouchable. He was too good for him, Tony wasn’t even sure he’d want to taint him if he had a chance – no, scratch that, he definitely would.

He chose to watch him from afar, allowing himself a few fantasies and daydreams. He had this really stupid and lame one, where he walked up to Peter in the hall, people just parted to let him through, then he gave him his trademark, lopsided grin and asked him out. Peter smiled brightly up at him, holding his books to his chest, cheeks flushed, eyelashes fluttering as he whispered a shy “yes” and leaned up to kiss him. Yeah. That was the whole fantasy.

Peter was so untouchable to him that he didn’t even dare to dream further than that. Of course when he was alone in his room, late at night, relieving himself, a few… less pure fantasies popped up unsolicited, but he felt so guilty then, dirty even, like he was disrespecting him somehow. It was all very confusing, but he still came, shamefully, to the thought of his beautiful face scrunched up in pleasure as dream-Tony fucked him.

The bell rang and everyone hurried to get to their next period, Peter was no different, he gathered his things and stood up, looking around the cafeteria like he was looking for someone. Their eyes met again for a second, but Tony quickly looked away, grabbing his backpack in a hurry to leave.

It was Thursday, the worst day of the week for him, none of his friends were free to hang out with him until later, so he either had to head home and deal with Howard or he had to find somewhere to be for a couple of hours, until Rhodey was done with football practice so they could go to his place. That day, Tony decided to just stay by his car, smoking a cigarette and singing along to Black Sabath’s Iron Man, it wasn’t like he had anywhere to go. He was so distracted watching the smoke dissipate into thin air that he didn’t notice when someone approached, and jumped almost a foot in the air when they spoke.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting caught smoking on school grounds?” Tony almost dropped dead when he registered the angelic voice. He was already having a heart attack as it was, but the boy was so close and he had that beautiful smile in place, blushing cheeks and all. It took almost a full minute for him to calm himself down.

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” The older teen answered when he finally found his voice and got his breath under control enough not to make a fool of himself. Peter smiled wider, biting his lower lip.

“Your secret is safe with me.” He fake whispered, leaning a little into the older boy’s space and he almost choked on nothing. Peter’s smell was inebriating, expensive and sweet, but not overly so – perfect. He recomposed himself quickly, though, and nodded, but didn’t say anything else. He wasn’t sure why Peter was talking to him and, frankly, he was too fucking nervous to think of anything cool to say. The younger teen deflated a little faced with Tony’s silence; he looked around, seeming a little lost. “You’re Tony, right?”

Fuck, the way he said his name. His name. It was fucking music to his ears, the most beautiful tune. But how did he even know his name? Sure, he was Tony Stark, so not really anonymous, but people often forgot about it.

“Yeah. And you’re Peter.” Tony didn’t play games, he didn’t even try to pretend like he didn’t know who Peter was. It would be dumb anyway, everybody knew him. The other boy nodded shyly, it looked like he wanted to say something else, but he kept biting his lips and looking around nervously. Tony frowned. “Is everything okay?”

“No. I mean, yeah, sure, it’s fine, it’s just, uhm. I have a flat tire and the wheel bolts are really tight and I couldn’t get them off, so I thought – I mean, could you, uh –“ He gestured wildly as he stuttered out his answer, looking in the general direction of his flashy, cherry red sports car. “I mean, it’s okay if you’re busy, but I –“

“Sure, I’ll help, don’t worry.” Tony threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it. He was a little more at ease now that he knew why Peter was talking to him – he just needed help – and the best thing was, Tony was really good with cars. Of course, one didn’t need to have a PhD in mechanics to change a tire, but it still made him feel really good that he would be able to help properly.

“Thanks, you’re a life saver.” The chirpy attitude was back, as well as the smile, it made Tony’s heart flutter. He nodded sharply, looking away from his face, and gestured for Peter to lead the way.

When they reached his car, Tony whistled lowly, crouching down to look at the completely flat tire, as he tried to find the source of the problem. He was surprised to notice a two-inch cut on the surface of it, and it didn’t seem accidental.

“Fuck, Peter, it looks like someone sliced your tire.” When he looked up at the younger boy, he didn’t look surprised, but nervous. It was an odd reaction. Tony wondered if Peter already knew that – maybe he knew who did it and was scared of them? It made Tony’s blood boil. Why would anyone do that to Peter?

“Wh-what? How do you know that?” He bit his lower lip nervously, scratching his arm, and Tony frowned, worried.

“Here, look.” He gestured for Peter to crouch down next to him and pointed at the cut. “This is clearly a stab mark. Judging by the size and shape of it, I’d say this was probably done with a pocketknife.”

“Oh. Yeah, of course. Clearly.” He face-palmed, like he felt stupid, maybe for not seeing it before, but Tony still worried.

“If you want, I could go with you to the administration. We can ask them to check the security cameras. I think that one might have caught whoever did this.” He pointed at a security camera nearby, Tony knew where all of them were in the parking lot area – he’d been caught smoking way too many times not to know.

“What? There are –? I mean, look, it’s okay, it’s probably just someone trying to play a prank, it’s no big deal, it’s fine.” He stood up quickly, shaking his head, and Tony was positive he felt threatened somehow, he was acting so weird.

“If you’re sure… But if you change your mind, I’ll go with you, ok?” Tony stood up and took off his leather jacket. The weather was nice, just a bit chilly, so he was wearing a thin, white t-shirt with short sleeves underneath. He thought he heard Peter’s breath hitch for a second, but it was probably just his imagination. “Can you hold this for me?” He held out his jacket and the boy blushed, blinking rapidly.

“S-sure.”

Tony bit his bottom lip to refrain from asking, again, if everything was fine. Peter looked so freaking nervous, he was even sweating a little at the temples. Tony was positive he knew who did that to his car, but didn’t want to tell him for some reason. Maybe he wanted to protect whoever did it, maybe it was a boyfriend, or an ex. He gritted his teeth, hands closing in fists, but didn’t say anything, just crouched down and got to work.

The first bolt came off easily, it wasn’t tight at all, so he thought maybe Peter had already loosened it when he tried earlier. The second and third ones came off just as easily, though, only the fourth one was a little trickier, but nothing the younger teen couldn’t have handled himself. Tony thought maybe he hadn’t tried too hard, maybe he was afraid the person who did that would show up or something. He was so glad he was there to help, he wondered if Peter felt safe with him around, and the thought made him feel oddly proud and protective of him.

He made quick work of changing the tires, making sure not to screw the bolts too tight, then put the sliced one in the trunk of the car. When he turned around to look at Peter, he was looking intently at him, almost hypnotized, holding his jacket close to his chest like it was a puppy.

“All done.” Tony smiled and the boy seemed to snap out of a trance.

“Oh, thank you so much, really, you’re too kind.” He smiled broadly and the older teen scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Don’t mention it.” They were silent for a few seconds after that, but Peter kept holding his jacket and didn’t make any move to give it back to him. “Uhm, could I–?” He gestured towards the jacket and again the boy jumped up in surprise.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, here.” He handed it to him and quickly crossed his empty arms over his chest. “So, uhm,… Your dad is having a gala this weekend, right? Are you gonna be there?” Ah, so Peter did know who he was, not just his first name. The older teen leaned against the car and stuck his hands in his pockets, shrugging.

“Not if I can help it.” He smirked, trying to act cool, but now that he didn’t have anything to do with his hands, he was growing nervous.

“Oh,” Peter looked… disappointed? He dropped his gaze to the floor, shuffling his feet, and Tony stood up straight, frowning.

“Why?”

“Nothing, it’s just – my parents are going, so I thought I’d tag along to, you know... but it’s okay.” He kicked an imaginary rock and avoided Tony’s eyes. The older teen stared at him with wide eyes, heart beating fast – what was the end of that sentence? Peter couldn’t possibly mean–

“I don’t – what, you’d go to, like, hang out with me or something?” He felt stupid when he stumbled on the words, but Peter didn’t seem to notice, his cheeks were burning red and he was looking anywhere else but at Tony.

“I mean, you must have much better things to do, of course, I was just –” He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, finally looking up at Tony. “Sorry, just forget about it, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“No, wait!” He rushed to interrupt him and Peter looked back at him with huge, Bambi eyes. Tony coughed awkwardly, blushing a little. “I mean, like, uhm… If you – would you wanna go as my date? To the gala?” He blurted out, finally, because what the hell. The worst that could happen was Peter say no, and he could deal with it. He would survive, for sure. It wouldn’t be a big deal. Really. It wouldn’t.

But he didn’t say no, he smiled broadly, eyes twinkling in excitement.

“I’d love to!” He answered quickly, and Tony’s heart fluttered, Peter looked genuinely happy. “Could you – uhm, text me what color of tie you’ll be wearing? If you want! I understand if you think it’s lame, but I thought–”

“No, it’s fine.” His heart was beating so loud, Peter Fucking Parker wanted to coordinate ties with him, it was fucking corny and cliché and he loved it. “Uhm, here, give me your number.” He fished his phone from his back pocket and gave it to the younger teen.

“Cool.” Peter typed in his number and as soon as he gave his phone back, Tony sent him a smiley face so he would have his number, too. “Cool, cool, cool...” He rocked on the balls of his feet and looked around, like he was looking for something else to say.

“So… Do you have to be home soon or…?” Tony stuck his hands in his pockets again, wondering if maybe he was pushing his luck, but Peter shook his head quickly.

“Not really, no, my parents don’t really mind what time I get home as long as I let them know. You?”

“They don’t really care.” He shrugged, taking one step closer to Peter. “So… are you hungry, by any chance?”

“I’m starving.” He nodded, looking up at Tony in anticipation. It drove the butterflies in his stomach crazy.

“I know a place where they serve great burgers. We could go in my car and I could drop you off here on our way back, I’m just a little worried someone is gonna try to fuck up your car again. I mean, what if they’re targeting you or something?” Just the mention of what happened earlier made Peter nervous. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his bomber jacket and shook his head.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’s fine.” He didn’t look worried, though, at least not anymore.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, trust me, I am.” Tony found the sudden change odd, but thought maybe he was just trying to play it cool, so he let it go.

“Okay, then, c’mon, my car is right there,” Tony gestured to his car and Peter smiled, taking his hands off his pockets. When he did, though, something slipped out and fell to the ground with a metallic noise. Tony quickly crouched down to get it for him, when he noticed what it was. “Wh – is that…?” He frowned, examining the pocketknife as if it was alien material. He was confused at first, because Peter didn’t seem like the kind of guy to carry one around, but then it dawned on him. When he looked at the younger teen, his face was so red it looked like he was about to explode.

“Uhm… If I told you I’ve never seen this before in my life would you believe it?” He chuckled nervously, scratching his arm, as Tony stood up. The older teen raised a brow at him.”Sorry, I just – I wanted an excuse to talk to you.” He said quietly, dropping his gaze.

“You know, you could have gone with the weather or whatever.” Tony answered, amused, and it made the younger boy look up at him.

“You’re just very intimidating,” He looked at him with huge, scared eyes, and Tony cocked his head to the side.

“Me?” He raised a brow.

“Yeah.” Peter answered pointedly, and Tony smirked, offering him his knife back.

“You do realize you just sliced your own tire so you’d have an excuse to talk to me, right? And I’m intimidating?” He joked, but Peter didn’t seem to find it funny. He winced and covered his face with his hands, clearly embarrassed.

“You must think I’m such a freak,” He groaned, voice muffled by his palms.

“Hey, hey, yes, I do think you’re a freak.” He grabbed Peter’s thin wrists and marveled at how perfectly they fit in his hands. He definitely saved that thought for later. “But you’re a really cute one.” He grinned and Peter chuckled, a delicate flush rising onto his cheeks.

“I feel stupid.” He admitted, worrying his bottom lip, but Tony shook his head, working up the nerve to cup Peter’s face in his hand.

“I feel flattered,” He said, honestly, and Peter’s breath hitched. He stared up at Tony, eyelashes fluttering, moist, pink lips slightly open. The older teen leaned down slowly and when the Peter closed his eyes, their lips touched. Just like in his fantasies, Peter tasted sweet, his lips were soft and his arms circled Tony’s neck in a warm embrace. When they parted, Tony smiled down at him, stroking his blushing cheek. “Just promise that if this doesn’t work out you won’t, like, key my car or something.”

“Oh, God,” he groaned, but they both laughed out loud, as they walked hand in hand across the parking lot.

#starker #high school au

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch57: We’re In The Endgame Now

Intro: Steve and Katie, along with the rest of their team are locked in a fearsome battle, between light and dark, life and death. And it’s a battle they cannot afford to lose because they’re in the Endgame now…

Warnings: “Language!” Character death. Please have your tissues ready, we all know where this one is going and, well, I bawled like a baby writing it so…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: I’m REALY nervous about this one!! I hope I do it justice. It flits between perspectives so I hope you can follow it, and used a lot of visuals too. Once more HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thanks to @angrybirdcr for her wicked work.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 56

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Stevie.” Steve heard Katie’s voice breaking through the fog in his brain. It was desperate, shattered, and something else inside him broke even more. “You gotta get up, Soldier,” she pleaded, shaking his shoulder, “come on, please.”

And then, suddenly, it was another voice he was hearing. A voice he hadn’t heard for almost a century, but it was clear as day, the memory as fresh in his mind as it had been the day she’d said it…

“You always get up Stevie, ya hear?” His Ma looked at him, wiping the blood from his split lip, ignoring his flinch. “No matter how hard they hit ya, you never give them the satisfaction of stayin’ down, lad, never. You push back, and eventually they’ll realise that they can’t fight forever.”

Steve grit his teeth as he rolled to the side, Katie’s hand still on his shoulder as he rest against his forearm, gathering his strength to push himself to his feet. He turned his face to look at Katie, her face plate was open and there were tears streaking down her cheeks, and she nodded to him.

“We need to try, keep him distracted until Tony and Thor come round. Hopefully the others can find their way back to the surface. And then if we can get the stones we can end this.” It was a long shot, beyond long in fact. Steve knew that. Katie knew that. But whilst there was hope, no matter how small a hope it was, or how beaten they felt, they had to try.

As he shifted again, ready to rise to his feet he felt Katie shift a little so she was shielding Steve with her body as she knelt by his side, and when he glanced up at her he saw her focussed to her left, utter hatred and fear clouding her pretty face.

“In all my years of conquest, violence, slaughter, it was never personal.” Thanos spoke as Katie and Steve both glared at him from their vantage point on the floor. “But I’ll tell you now, what I’m about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet…I’m gonna enjoy it. Very, very much.”

And then, as they watched, behind Thanos, a blue light beamed down form the sky and when it dissipated it left what looked like thousands of soldiers stood in rows. Thanos had brought his entire army. The so called Children of Thanos, hundreds upon hundreds of Chitauri and those damned dog things they had fought in Wakanda…

Katie took a shaky breath, and let out a sob as she realised that any hope they had was gone. They might, just might have stood a chance against Thanos alone, but not against his full army. She locked eyes with Steve before he looked down at the ground, away from her eyes, his own tears filling his eyes as he understood this was it.

This was the end. For them, for their kids, for the world.

According to some, there’s a calm serenity that descends on you when you know your time is up. But Steve didn’t feel calm, he felt anger, hatred, and all towards himself. This was down to him, he’d brought this upon his family, his friends. He should have left those fucking stones in the past and dealt with his feelings of failure. Instead, here he was, a failure again. Beaten on a battlefield by the very man they actually killed some five years previously that was now about to wipe out the entire world. How fucked up was that?

“We are not going like this.” Katie was now openly sobbing as she shook her head, looking from Steve to the assembled army. “Not like this. We stand up, and we go fighting, you hear me?”

Steve glanced at the broken shield on his arm, swallowing as he remembered Jamie looking at him when he told him he used to be Captain America. His beautiful baby boy’s eyes that were so like Steve’s mother’s, wide with awe, and pride. Well fuck this. Katie was right, his Ma was right. If he was going, then he was going down fighting. Alongside his best gal, his partner, the woman who gave him more strength than any serum ever could.

With a low groan, Steve pushed himself to his feet, teeth grit, fierce determination across every line on his face. With a shaking hand he tightened the leather straps on his broken shield around his arm and stood tall, turning to Katie.

“I love you,” he choked out, holding out his right hand to grip her left gauntlet, “’til the end of the line.” She turned to him, her eyes streaming with tears before she reached up and pulled his face to hers, pressing a fierce kiss to his lips.

“The very end.” She stuttered out, before they turned to face their death.

Captain America and Supernova, Steve Rogers and Katie Stark, Man and Wife walked slowly towards Thanos, who simply stood, his head cocked to his right. However, they’d barely made it four foot when their communicators started crackling.

“Hey, Cap, you read me?”

It was faint…and broken…but it was a voice they hadn’t heard in five years other than in their dreams. A voice they would never forget.

Both of them stopped dead. Steve’s mouth dropped open and he looked at Katie, raising a shaking hand to his head in an attempt to press the coms piece further into his ear, not quite sure he was believing what he was hearing.

“Cap, it’s Sam. Can you hear me?”

Both Katie and Steve’s chests rose and fell deeply as they tried to understand where Sam was. They knew Banner’s snap had worked, but surely if everyone came back where they had vanished then they should be in Wakanda. Nevertheless, Steve instinctively glanced upwards, and Sam spoke again.

“On your left.”

They both turned in that direction, and immediately saw a sparkling yellow circle forming in the air. As they watched, utterly dumbfounded, three figures stepped through and Katie realised from their Silhouettes alone who it was- Okoye, Shuri, and T’Challa in his full Black Panther garb. Katie’s hand flew to her mouth as T'Challa’s mask faded away, the King looking at Steve. The Soldier took a shaky and relieved breath and a thankful smile broke through the filth and grime that covered his face. T'Challa gave him a small nod, before he turned to Katie and bowed slightly, the way he always did.

Katie’s breathing suddenly became erratic as her sobs began again, but this time they were punctuated by laughs and stutters of utter relief which turned into a yell of pure joy when Sam zoomed in above them in his Falcon armour. They watched as he flew and circled back round, Katie’s hands flying into the back of her hair, gripping as she doubled over and cried, simply unable to believe it.

The chanting of the Wakandan Army rang around the battle field as row by row the guard stepped through another portal headed by Bucky, his gun held firmly in his arms and Steve watched his best friend’s handsome face which wore a look of resigned determination, and the number of people arriving to support the Avengers continued to rise as Dr Strange conjured portal after portal.

A familiar red energy alerted them both to Wanda’s appearance, where she landed not far from Bucky, her eyes blazing. And then, with a clang Pepper landed a few feet away from Katie clad in her own Iron Suit and Tony joined them, shooting his wife a proud look.

Finally there was a loud roaring, crashing noise and Katie and Steve spun to see Scott Lang as the Giant-Ant Man emerging from the rubble with Banner, Rhodey, Rocket and Clint.

The group of thousands behind Katie and Steve up their fighting stances, brandishing whatever weapons or powers they had, battle cries loud and Steve looked around, almost bursting into tears himself at the emotions flooding his chest. He glanced at his wife who looked back, wiping her eyes, her breathing still deep as she couldn’t quite believe how all these people had come to help. Steve didn’t either, but all he knew was they had. And now they were almost if not completely equal on numbers. And they had hope once more.

In fact, they had more than hope. They had a chance. And that was good enough for the Captain. He’d beaten worse odds before, and he was damned sure they could do it again, especially when he turned to look at Thanos and saw for the first time something that looked like fear, apprehension even on the Titan’s face.

He turned to face Katie again as she gave him a nod.

“Call it, Captain.” Her voice was full of determination as her face plate slid back into place.

So, call it he did.

“AVENGERS!” Steve’s cry echoed across the battle field as he held out his hand, summoning Mjolnir to his palm. Thor landed by his side just as the hammer slapped into Steve’s glove and he glared up at Thanos, his teeth grit with utter determination. “Assemble.”

Behind him, Thor gave a loud battle cry as did Black Panther and the Avengers’ army began to charge. Katie, Tony and Pepper flying in formation with Sam as they sped forward. Almost instantly, the two sides collided violently, and the fighting began. Bullets, beams, punches, kicks, knives, spears all flying and smashing against one another. The air was filled with yells, grunts and the clanging of metal against metal as the battle raged on.

****

Thor and Steve found themselves fighting off a large group of the dog like creatures and somehow Steve ended up holding Stormbreaker. Not for long, because that belonged to Thor. His Thanos killing axe. No way was the God of Thunder letting the Captain wield that.

“No no, give me that! Thor held out his hand, tossing Steve Mjolnir. "You can have the little one.”

Steve took it and shot off across the ground towards another group of Outriders. Above him, Katie, Tony and Pepper were circling back to back, their booster beams shooting at anything and everything, spiralling into groups below, helping anyone they could. Katie spotted that Clint was swamped a little so she flew down, freeing him before she shot into the air and found herself flying alongside Sam.

“Mrs R.” He turned to face her and she gave him a nod, smiling broadly although she knew he wouldn’t see her.

“Good to see you Sammy!”

“You know me, never one to miss a good fire fight!” He smirked, shooting his semi-autos at something that was flying into the air in front of him.

Tony shot down, barrelling into a group of Chitauri warriors, just like he had in New York. With a whoop he scattered them like bowling pins, landing and shooting off guns and beams, before something hit him hard on the side of the head and sent him soaring through the air. He landed, and pushed himself up on his elbows ready to fight but before he needed to, Lang’s giant Ant-Man crushed his assailant, striding away.

And then, the kid was there. Parker was running straight to Tony. In the suit Tony had made for him. The Billionaire blinked, retracting his helmet as Pete’s usual, incessant and enthusiastic rambles filled his ear.

“Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what’s been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must’ve passed out ‘cause I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, ‘It’s been five years. Come on, they need us.’ And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time..” he started using two fingers to demonstrate Strange’s swirl in the air but Tony stopped him, the emotions of seeing the kid alive again were swirling in his chest, and with watery eyes he stepped forward and pulled the kid into a hug.

“What are you doing?” Peter asked, shocked at his mentor’s display of affection before he hugged Tony back. “This is nice.”

The fight raged on and on and on. But no one gave up, they knew they had no option but to win this, for the sake of everything and everyone on the planet, and none more than Steve, who was fighting with every goddamned bit of strength he had to get back to his kids and his wife.

Across the field he could just about make out Clint, who was sprinting like his life depended on it. Which, in fairness, it did. The gauntlet was clutched to his chest and he spoke into his coms, asking his leader for instructions.

“Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?”

“Get those stones as far away as possible!” Steve instructed, punching another creature in the head.

“No!” Banner yelled back “We need to get them back where they came from.”

“No way to get them back.” Tony sighed. “Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel”

“Hold on…” Lang spoke, and Steve saw the 100 foot or so man shrink out of the air. “That wasn’t our only time machine!”

The sound of Scott’s van horn, rang out across the battle ground and Steve immediately ran up a pile of rubble to higher ground, trying to spot the van, following the noise.

“Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?” Steve asked, looking up.

Katie shot above him and he watched her as she circled over the fighting armies before she stopped, hovering and pointing down underneath her

“Yes!” She yelled victoriously, as Valkyrie flew alongside her on her winged horse, shooting her a look.

“You’re not going to like where it’s parked!” The Asgardian finished, pointing her spear to it.

Tony flew up into the air shooting another Chitauri warrior off his, well, whatever the hell you called those flying scooter things, before he glanced down at Lang.

“Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?”

“Maybe ten minutes”.

“Get it started.” Rogers instructed. “We’ll get the stones to you.”

And then as Tony watched, ready to cover Lang as he broke for it, a woman materialised next to him. Nothing should surprise Tony anymore, nothing, but it did. And he had absolutely no idea why.

“We’re on it, Cap.” She spoke softly, before the pair of them shrunk again and FRIDAY kept a lock on them as they flew away, no bigger than ants.

Okay, so maybe Lang didn’t need covering after all. Tony watched them via FRIDAY’s scanners as they flew towards the van, and he saw Katie and Pepper fighting in tandem, the pair of them bringing down a huge Chituari beast that looked like a gorilla. He grinned at the sight of his wife and sister kicking ass, and then spotted Strange in the corner of his eye, trapping a load of Chitauri in his magic, sending them through portals to fuck knows where, not that Tony gave a shit.

Recalling the conversation he had held on Titan with the Wizard, he suddenly felt a desperation to know, so he landed, turning to look at him.

“Hey. You said one out of fourteen million, we win, yeah?” He asked, glancing around. “Tell me this is it.”

“If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen” Strange replied, and Tony groaned. Jesus this man was infuriating.

“You better be right.” Tony shot back, pointing an iron clad finger at him.

As Scott was hot-wiring his van, because of course it was dead, the fight continued and the gauntlet was in some kind of relay across the battle field towards them. T’Challa took it off Clint and as Thanos advanced on the Black Panther, Wanda landed in front of him, her eyes blazing. She then began to fight Thanos furiously, and she seemed to be getting the upper hand as bits of his armour began to peel off him as rose in the air, surrounded by her red power as she attempted to tear him apart.

In desperation, Thanos gave the instruction for his ships to fire down on the battle field, not caring whether he put his own army in danger as collateral. As the missiles began to hit the ground, everyone tried to dodge as best they could. Strange and the rest of his troops held up their arms conjuring magic shields to attempt to keep their allies as sheltered as possible.

Steve was too engrossed in the fight around him to pay too much attention to where everyone else was, but he heard his wife loud and clear, his ears tuned into her as they always where.

“Where are the stones?” Katie she asked frantically, and Steve had to admit, he’d kinda like to know as well. It was then that he heard Peter Parker yelling, and realised he had the gauntlet.

“I got this…” there was a scuffle "Ok, I don’t got this. Help! Somebody! Help!”

“Hey Queens,” Steve said, winding his arm back, “heads up!” He took a couple steps forward flung Mjolnir towards him. Peter shot his web at it, where it latched on and he was catapulted him through the air where Katie caught him.

“Hang on, I got you, kid!” She assured him as they flew through the air and she tossed him to Valkyrie as she flew past, Parker’s yells ringing in her years. But, as Katie watched, the Asgardian’s horse was hit by the fire from Thanos’ ship and Peter was blasted to the floor.

“Tony, have you any idea how we can shut that thing down?” Katie asked desperately, looking at the ship. “We need that damned thing out of order to stand any chance!”

“I’m working-“ Tony began, but he trailed off as the cannons stopped, lifting upwards before they began to fire into the sky.

“What the hell is this?” Sam asked, as he flew alongside Katie, as the two of them fired at a couple more Chitauri in front of them.

“FRIDAY, what are they firing at?” Tony asked, his voice slightly worried.

“Something just entered the upper atmosphere,” FRIDAY replied.

Then a huge, bright ball of pulsating energy came surging down straight through the ship, where it then turned, and shot straight back up through it again, destroying the engines.

It was Danvers.

Katie’s mouth dropped open as the woman hovered above the now fast descending ship as it crash-landed in the river.

“Now that’s how to make an entrance,” Katie glanced at her brother where he was hovering not far away from her. He turned to look at her, and even though she couldn’t see his face she knew he was rolling his eyes.

“I used to make a perfectly good entrance, thank you Kiddo.”

"Danvers,” Steve glanced up, hardly able to keep the smile of his face, even though he knew this was far from over. But Thanos was worried now, he could see from the Titan’s body language, and that was enough of a boost for the Super Soldier to sweep straight back into Captain mode as for the first time since the battle began, he felt that they could actually win. “We could use an assist here…”

“What on?” Carol asked, flying towards Katie.

“We need to get the stones to the brown van…” Katie circled, and then she spotted Peter who was crouched in a crater, the gauntlet tight within his arms. She landed, her helmet sliding away and Carol gently dropped besides her and looked down at Peter.

“Hi. I’m Peter Parker,” he said, looking up at Carol, his breathing deep and his nose blooded.

Carol smirked, almost flirtatiously. “Hey Peter Parker. Got something for me?”

Peter pushed himself up and handed her the gauntlet, before he looked at the Army who was crawling towards them. “I don’t know how you’re gonna get it through all that.”

Wanda then landed next to Katie and glanced around, her red power surrounding her. “Don’t worry.” The Sokovian woman said as Valkyrie landed on her winged horse

“She’s got help” Okoye stepped up alongside them all as she looked around.

“Where’s Nat?” Wanda asked as Pepper landed next to Okoye. Katie hung her head slightly as she looked at her, as more and more of the women from the battle joined them- Mantis, then Shuri Hope, Gamora and Nebula.

“She didn’t make it back from the mission to get the stones.” Katie said gently, swallowing as she shook her head.

Beside her, Okoye spun her spear in her hands, her face stoney as she eyed up the army which was advancing on them. “Then this…this is for her…” The Wakandan woman turned to Katie who nodded.

They began to stride forward and Thanos’ army charged a swarm of aliens, Chitauri and animals alike. Okoye took out the larger fighter that Katie recognised from the train station in Edinburgh as Wanda, her, Pepper and Valkyrie destroyed two leviathans. Carol Danvers shot straight towards the van with the Gauntlet, at a rate of knots, going through every blockade that was in her way with ease.

However, Thanos was hot on her tail.

“She needs cover!” Katie yelled as she flew down, followed by Pepper as Shuri and Hope also stood tall, the four of them unloading their various weapons and succeeding in blasting Thanos backwards. Danvers sped past him, but through the heat and flash of various beams and weapons, no one spotted him launching the remaining half of his sword towards the van until it was too late.

Steve threw himself on Thanos’ back grabbing at the axe, pulling with all his might in an attempt to slice it straight through his neck. But it was to no avail. With a mighty head-butt Thanos sent Thor sprawling backwards and he reached up and pulled Steve off him, flinging him through the air like a rag doll. He landed hard, his head colliding with something, and he was out cold.

“Steve!” Katie saw him sprawled on the floor, and was about to go after him, but she saw Thanos reaching for the gauntlet. Surging her suit forwards she shot at him, desperation flooding her system, and she kept her beam going as she flew down. Her fingers grazed the gauntlet before a harsh kick to her head sent her flipping back and through the air with no control over her flight plan. She landed heavily, groaning as she felt blood trickle down her temple, zoning in and out, the sounds of the battle muting slightly as she lay on her back, her helmet flying open as she took deep gulps of air, blinking as the stars swam in front of her eyes.

****

Tony, meanwhile, had come to. He sat up, and saw that Thanos and Danvers were locked in combat, Danvers’ hands were both wrapped round Thanos’ left and Tony could see that he now had the gauntlet. He grimaced as Thanos went to head but the woman, but nothing. It simply bounced off the energy surrounding her, a shocked and almost frightened expression crossing Thanos’ face.

At that, Tony felt a glimmer of hope, maybe she was their secret weapon. The one in fourteen million, six-hundred and five that meant they were gonna win. As he watched she surged upwards, forcing Thanos to his knees but the Titan pulled the Power Stone out of the gauntlet and clutching it in his right hand he hit Danvers hard and she flew through the air, landing harshly.

With pure desperation, Tony turned to look at Strange who was watching him. The magician simply raised one finger, which was trembling slightly. Trembling, Tony assumed, because the one win he foresaw was now at risk. But as he looked at the man, Strange’s eyes filled with sadness and Tony realised that it wasn’t Carol he saw winning the battle after all.

It was him.

Tony now understood completely. And he knew what he had to do.

***** With a heavy moan, Katie sat up, just in time to see Tony grappling with Thanos. With an angry cry she fired her suit up again and shot forwards, but as she did, Thanos cast aside her brother easily. She bore down on him, shooting her beams, using her boosters, a loud yell escaping her mouth as once more she powered everything she had into her firepower. FRIDAY yelled a warning as one of the Chitauri Leviathons came straight for her and she just managed to dodge it by flying sharply to the right, but was caught heavily by one of its fins and for the second time in as many minutes she was spiralling though the air with no control. The heads up display in her helmet flickered slightly and there was ringing in her ears mingled with FRIDAY’s desperate calls. The ground was rising fast to meet her but just in time she managed fire up her thrusters and right herself in the air. Spinning round she saw Tony knelt up, his helmet retracted as he stared at the Titan, who was leering down over him with a twisted grin on his face.

“I am inevitable.” It was the second time Katie had heard him say that, only this time, he rose his hand which bore the gauntlet.

Katie’s desperate scream echoed around her helmet, and before she could so much as move, the Titan snapped. But instead of the beams of light and the shaking of the ground that had happened when Bruce did it, there was nothing.

Katie’s face plate slid back, because the thought the displays were damaged, but her eyes widened as Thanos glanced down at his gauntlet. She realised at the same time he did that the stones were missing. And then, as if in slow motion, the pieces started to slot into place, both figuratively and mentally.

Tony knelt tall, the stones twirling round his hand. Lights circled his forearm and bicep and he let out a loud yell, the utter pain and power consuming him. It burned into every cell on his body and it took everything he had inside him to keep himself upright. This was it the end that he always knew he was going to meet. And strangely, he wasn’t scared. Not for him anyway, this was his destiny, the only way it would ever end.

“We’re in the Endgame now.”

Morgan’s face flashed across Tony’s mind, then Pepper’s, then his sister’s as his head fell back, the power surging up his arm and shoulder. Pulling his head up with an almighty wrench, his eyes locked on those belonging to Thanos and he could feel the stones vibrating on his gauntlet, humming, almost like they knew what was coming.

Maybe they did, because, from the look on Thanos’ face, he sure did.

Well, eat shit, you fucker!

Tony took a deep breath, before he spoke with the most conviction he could ever remember having, raising his fingers.

“And I…am…Iron Man.”

For a split second, Tony’s eyes flickered to his sister, who was watching the entire event unfold, paralysed in mid-air behind Thanos, her helmet retracted and mouth open in a silent scream. He gave her a soft smile as he concentrated hard on what he wanted to happen.

And then, he snapped his fingers.

The power surge made Tony collapse forward, his skin was burning and his throat felt like it was being closed off, and there was nothing but silence in his ears. He pushed himself to his feet, hand clutched to the arc reactor in his chest as he tried to speak into his coms, but the words wouldn’t come. Staggering a few feet, he stumbled to a large upturned piece of concrete laced with rebar before he fell down against it, hard.

****

Steve, who had just got to his feet was aware of a bright flash of light and the vibrating of the ground underneath him and knew instantly that someone had snapped. He spun round in desperate hope it wasn’t Thanos, and then, as he saw one of the dog-like bearing down on him he braced himself, aiming a hard punch to its head. But he connected with nothing. He paused, his eyes widening, mouth falling open in shock as he watched Thanos’ army turn to dust all around the field and he realised that they’d won. It wasn’t Thanos who had snapped, it was one of them. With a relieved sigh, he wheeled around expecting to see Thor or Banner with the gauntlet, his mouth suddenly going dry as he realised the effect it had on Banner the last time but they were nowhere to be found.

And that was when he spotted his wife, deactivating her suit as she ran, scrambling over piles of concrete and stones to get to someone.

****

Tony’s breathing was laboured and his eyes were fully wide when Katie finally reached him, grabbing his gauntlet clad hand.

“Tony, come on, look at me!” Her brother was dying, she realised that. But they’d won. And, as she looked at him, she knew he understood that too. Morgan, Pepper, Kiddo, Jamie, Emmy, Steve, their family were all safe. The world was safe. Tony tried to speak, and she knew he was trying to tell her it was okay, that he accepted what was happening, but his voice was merely a whisper.

“I…”

“Shhh, save your strength.” Katie gently placed her hand on the side of his head, down the cheek which wasn’t badly burnt and she was aware that someone had landed next to her. Rhodey dropped to his knee gently, his hand falling to Tony’s shoulder as he looked at his friend.

“Mr Stark?” Peter Parker landed between her and Rhodey. Katie turned her attention back to her brother as his head collapsed against the concrete, her vision blurring with tears as the kid continued to speak. “Hey Mr Stark, can you hear me? It’s Peter.” Tony’s face turned to the young man, a flash of recognition on his face as he tried to smile. “We won, Mr Stark” Peter took a shuddering breath. “We won, you did it Sir, we did it. I’m sorry, don’t….” He began to cry as Tony’s head lolled to the side and then Katie was aware of someone else behind them, gently pulling Peter up and away. Pepper crouched next to her right, gently squeezing Katie’s arm before she touched Tony on his shoulder, placing her other hand over the arc reactor on his chest.

“Hey,” She smiled said softly.

“Pep…” Tony managed to whisper as his hand fell on top of hers and Katie placed her own over his.

“FRIDAY?” Pepper spoke with a thick swallow, even though Katie knew there was no need to ask the AI. The stones had almost killed Thanos and Banner. Tony stood no chance. There was no way back.

“Life functions are critical,” the AI spoke and Katie bowed her head, her tears falling to the ground.

“Tony,” Pepper said softly, and Katie looked back at her brother, who was smiling up at his wife. Pepper gently smiled back, as he turned his head to his sister and she tried her hardest to keep it together.

“The stars,” he mumbled out, and Katie nodded choking back a sob as she gripped his hand tighter, finishing the saying for him.

“And back.” He voice was choked with tears and she reached up, wiping her face furiously.

Tony gave her a soft smile, as he turned back to Pepper who gently ran her hand up his arm. “We’re gonna be okay” she said, her voice soft as she glanced at Katie

“We all are.” Katie assured him, sniffing slightly.

His head lolled back once more and Pepper spoke gently, this time her voice cracked. “You can rest now.” Her hand brushed his hair back from his temple as he lay so still. For a second, Tony’s eyes glanced over Katie’s and she followed his eye-line to see Steve stood, stock still his face crumpled in sorrow. For a moment the two men locked eyes, Tony once more giving the faintest of smiles before his body slumped back against the surface behind him. Pepper bowed her head as Katie glanced down at her hand, still over the top of Tony’s as the light went out in his chest.

He was gone.

Katie let out a soft sob as she removed her hand gently taking Tony’s with her. Kneeling up, she pressed her forehead against his, scrunching her face up against the physical pain that was brewing in her chest. Pepper leaned up to kiss his face as a silence fell around them, not one single sound coming from the battle field. Pepper dropped her head to Tony’s shoulder and then she too began to cry. Katie placed a soft kiss to her brother’s cheek, his skin still warm and then bowed her head, listening to Pepper’s sobs through the silence of her own.

Steve limped forward, dropping heavily to his knees besides his wife. “Katie…” He spoke softly as she turned to face him, his eyes were red and the dirt on the parts of his face visible under his helmet were interlined with the tracks his own tears had made. The two looked at each other for a second, before Katie’s face crumpled and Steve wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face into his chest, her small body shaking with silent sobs, hands fisting around the Kevlar of his uniform. Steve lay his cheek against her head, his own tears pouring down his face as he held her to him. His eyes scanned the immediate vicinity of the battle field and he saw Clint in the near distance, dropping to his knee, his head bowed, hand resting on his fist. In front of him T’challa did the same, then Carol, and then Bucky. Everyone around took the knee out of respect to their fallen warrior.

It was Thor that broke the silence, but not by speaking. There was a huge rumble of thunder and Katie jumped, pulling back from Steve slightly, looking upwards as lighting flashed in the sky. The clouds that had descended with Thanos’ ship began to part slowly, a chink of the red sunset falling onto where Tony was sat, shards of light bouncing off his Iron Man suit.

Katie turned away from Steve and gently reached out with a shaking hand to close Tony’s eyes

“There, he could be sleeping.” She sniffed softly, her hand falling to Pepper’s shoulder. Pepper reached up and gripped it, almost painfully as she turned to her sister-in-law, her face streaming with tears. There was a moment’s pause before Katie wrapped her arms around her, gently stroking her hair.

“We should, we should move him.” Rhodey’s voice cracked. Taking a deep breath, Steve pulled himself to his feet with a groan and he looked around.

“Has any of the compound survived?” He asked softly, wiping his face as Sam approached him.

“The Hangar area and the labs are totally gone, Cap.” Sam shook his ehad gently and Steve looked at him properly for the first time in five years “But some of the living quarters and part of the training facility seems to be okay.”

“Can we check it’s safe to house people?” Steve did what he did best, compartmentalised his feelings, parking for the time being as he shifted back into Captain mode. “We need to set up somewhere to treat the wounded.”

Sam nodded.

“I’ll come with you.” Rhodey offered before he looked at Steve. “I’ll get onto the Emergency Services and Ross too.” With that, Rhodey took off straight away whereas Sam remained where he was, his eyes fixed on Steve who gave him a weary smile.

“It’s good to see you, Sam.”

“Well like I said, when Captain America needs your help.”

There was a pause, before the two men hugged, clapping one another on the back. Stepping back, with a nod, Sam launched back into the air.

“I leave you for what, five minutes and you start another war?”

Steve spun round to see Bucky, watching him, a slight smile on his face. For a moment, Steve stood still, just observing his friend before he rushed forward into a manly embrace, choking up once more.

“Jerk.” Steve gave a watery laugh as he stepped back, shaking his head.

“Punk.” Bucky retorted gently, before he looked down at Katie who was still knelt by her brother, her arm round Pepper. He gave a sigh and dropped his head.

“Sorry.” Bucky offered to Steve, not sure what else he could say.

Steve nodded, wiping his face as he glanced around, the Captain and the Sergeant both surveying the survivors. Banner was stood with Clint and TChalla, the three of them talking with their heads bowed. Clint reached out and patted Banner on the arm as the green man began walking towards where Steve was stood.

“Some of the living quarters are secure.” Rhodey spoke in Steve’s ear and he nodded.

“Okay, let’s set up some form of command centre, a triage maybe if we need it.” He took a deep breath and turned back to Katie as he dropped to his knee again, a little gentler than last time and he touched her shoulder.

“Honey,” he spoke softly, wiping away the blood from her temple, “we can move Tony now, take him inside. That is if you’re ready.”

She turned to him, taking a deep breath she nodded. “Pep?”

Pepper gave a sniff and nodded as well.

“I’ll take him.” Banner spoke solemnly as he stepped forward. Katie watched as he picked up Tony’s limp body as easily as if it was a rag doll and set off walking through the rubble.

“I don’t want him to be alone.” Pepper spoke, looking at Katie, before she stood up and walked after Bruce.

Katie took a deep breath. She didn’t want to leave her brother either but she knew there was nothing more to be done for him, he was gone, and there were other people that needed their help. She turned to face Steve who was still knelt next to her. He reached out to gently cup her cheek with his hand, and it was then she noticed the bone-deep almost foot long gash down his forearm.

“Your arm.” She took his wrist in her hand and gently flipping it so she could look at it. “I’ll be fine.” He brushed off her concern.

Knowing better than to try and argue with him, she looked around and asked with a shaky voice. “Did anyone else…” “No.” Steve shook his head, instantly understanding. “There’s a few injuries but, everyone’s fine.” “Except Tony.” Katie’s breath caught in her thoat as the tears once more flooded from her eyes.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart.” Steve’s voice cracked as he wrapped his arms round her and cradled her close, the pair of them lost in their grief for their fallen brother. *****

The night began to draw in.

Thanks to Rhodey, the Emergency services had swamped the area to begin a full clean up and treatment of the walking wounded. And there were so many people to greet, so many to thank, so fucking many. Once it was clear they were no longer needed, Strange transported everyone who needed to go back away, shaking Steve’s hand and informing Katie how sorry he was that there had been no other way to defeat Thanos.

But she wasn’t listening, Steve could see she’d gone into auto-pilot. And when she eventually told Steve she needed a break, he gave her cheek a soft kiss and watched her as she walked slowly into the compound, knowing full well that her breakdown would come later.

He continued to liaise with the military, speaking to Colonels, Captains, Commanders alike, but eventually he found himself alone, walking over the destroyed grounds, with absolutely no clue how he’d gotten there or how long he’d been there. All he knew was that it was dark, and quiet.

With a sigh and a glance down at his bandaged arm, Steve’s attention was caught by something shining in the beams of the searchlights that had been erected around the compound. As he looked harder, he noticed that it was a piece of his shield. Bending down, his fingers swept the dust and debris off the large piece of red, white and blue Vibranium. Picking it up, he swallowed slightly, remembering the horror and surprise he had felt as Thanos had hacked through it, as if it had been made of nothing but aluminium.

“So you met Danvers?” A familiar voice cut through his thoughts, shattering his peace.

Steve looked over his shoulder to see Fury stood behind him. He stood up and gave the man an exasperated look. “You were holding out on us.”

“In a fashion” Fury shrugged. “Code red only.”

Steve gave a snort, not in the least bit surprised.

“He’s a spy. Captain, he’s THE spy.” Tony said, gesticulating with his arms to make a point “His secrets have secrets.”

Steve looked down at the fractured piece of his shield which was held in his hand, before he glanced out over the now destroyed compound where the battle had been raging mere hours before and he shook his head.

“You know, all this, bringing everyone back,” he sighed heavily, “the victory kinda feels pyrrhic with losing Nat and Tony.”

“They both made their choices.” Fury sighed, softly. Both gave their lives for a cause they believed in.”

“Tony didn’t even want to do this, you know.” Steve shook his head. “He said no at first but I talked him into it.” “Since when did a Stark every do anything they didn’t wanna?” Fury turned to face Steve straight on. “He made a choice. As did Agent Romanoff. And you need to allow them the both the dignity of their choices by not blaming yourself. They clearly thought it was worth it.” With those words the Captain was catapulted way back in time to a conversation in a blown out London bar.

“You did everything you could. Did you believe in your friend? Did you respect him?” Peggy asked and Steve looked at her, incredulously. Of course he did. She nodded and continued “Then stop blaming yourself. Allow Barnes the dignity of his choice. He damn well must have thought you were worth it.”

“What?” Fury asked as Steve shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

“Nothing. You just reminded me of someone.” “I won’t ask.” Fury shrugged before he changed the subject. “I hear you and Nova have been busy these past five years. Couple of kids, huh?” Steve smiled as he looked at Fury, the thought of his children temporarily stemming the hollow feeling in his chest at the loss of his brother-in-law and friend. “Yeah.”

“Then you should go home. Be with them.”

“Is that an order?” Steve arched an eyebrow looking at him.

“You don’t work for you me anymore, you haven’t done for a long time, in fact I’m not sure you ever really did,” Fury smirked a little, “and I don’t think you never will again.”

He gave Steve a significant look, one which Steve instantly understood. This was Fury’s way of relieving him from his leadership of the Avengers. It was symbolic more than anything because Steve didn’t need releasing from service at all. But this was closure. It was Fury’s promise to Steve that he would never be called upon to fight again if that was what he chose.

And he did choose. He was ready to quit. His fight was done. He had other priorities now, and everything they’d been through over the past few months had shown him that. Tony and Nat had both sacrificed their lives, so that he would keep his, and he wasn’t going to dishonour their memory by putting his family at risk ever again.

Steve looked down at his feet, before he glanced up at Fury, and held his hand out. “It’s been an honour,” he said, as Fury shook his hand, “but you’re right. It’s time for me to hang up my shield, for good this time.” He looked down at the broken metal in his hand, “well, what’s left of it.”

“Or you could pass it down.” Fury suggested as Steve looked back at him, snorting.

“I think Jamie is a bit too young, and Katie would murder me if I even-”

“I don’t mean to your son.” Fury cut Steve off, shaking his ehad. “But Captain America has been a symbol of hope for years. And that’s something the world is always gonna need Cap, regardless of who it is. So think about it, maybe there’s someone else worthy of that title and shield, broken or not.”

Steve watched, pondering his words, as Fury gave him a final nod, and turned back towards the destroyed buildings

****

Chapter 58

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fic #Katie Stark #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #mcu #mcu fanfic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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alicemitch09writes · 3 years

Text

the babysitter

pairing: reader x peter parker

summary: Babysitting the little Stark is an adventure, of some sorts. Well, being a (adopted) Stark is an adventure in itself. However, nobody told Peter Parker about the Stark babysitter.

author’s notes: I love Morgan Stark. I would die for her. Kill for her. MURDER even, just to keep her safe. Also, I love how easy we can just make her and Peter come together because they’re Stark’s kids (one biological, one is a sort of surrogate). Also, this idea is a common trope but eh, what’s not to love about it? Had to tweak it a bit by making reader two years older. And yay, I finally got to finish this before its initial release date (which is on Valentine's haha sorry yes am cliche like that sue me).

also available on ao3.

disclaimer: i own NOTHING but the plot.

"Ah, shit."

"Shit!"

You froze, quickly turning on your heel to find a mass of brown hair and big brown doe-like eyes, filled with innocence and mischief all at once.

"Morgan! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," she replied easily, tilting her head to the side. "Mommy said she has something to say to you."

"Oh, really now?" releasing a breath - not really shaky but something sort of relief, frustration, and a little bit of nervousness, you kneel to her level, tucking strands of hair behind her ear. "How long have you been looking for me?"

"A few minutes. Maybe 30."

With a smile, you get up. "Well, best not keep her waiting!"

Morgan giggles, seeing through you. She was always too sharp for her age.

You smile with her, a painful tug at your heart when you see the twinkle in her eye - an all too familiar twinkle.

Swallowing the dread, you plaster a quick smile and get to your feet. "Come on now, munchkin!"

She willingly lets you take her in your arms, walking along the compound down to Mrs. Stark's office.

Your relationship with the infamous CEO of Stark Industries was that you’re her cousin's daughter, making her your aunt-in-law. And in the absence of said cousin - your father, as he lived far off or on the other side of the planet, and after some unfortunate events, you were under Pepper's care.

Well, at least for the last 8 years of your life.

And since then, you could always remember how uptight, stern, and organized she was. It came with her job apparently. As was being stressed 24/7 because she had been dealing with the one and only Iron Man, Tony Stark.

Pepper had a great way of dealing with things, keeping some things to a T, and to keep a cool head with it all. Also, she was adamant about keeping you from Tony, away from the epitome of a machine of a man that he was. Oh, many were the nights where you were a witness to just how frustrating the man was, to how much Pepper had to keep herself from breaking down. You were not very fond of him – to say the least, you kinda hated him.

But upon meeting the man, later on, you found that he wasn't all that bad. In fact, he reminded you a lot of your father - workaholic to an extreme, and a bit of a softie. Just big on his ego.

As an added bonus, he completely won you over for being the guy for Pepper after deciding that you weren’t some runt after all.

After the events of Ultron, Tony decided to take you in and take you as if you were his own, treating you like his little assistant. (As he wasn't comfortable with having kids just yet.) You were pretty young, Pepper had that argument too and was fairly backed by Happy, but Tony was all, ‘then best start them young!’ and all went his way, one way or another. You were a smart cookie, at least that’s what Tony said, Pepper added that, and Rhodey – who still didn’t want to force something on to someone so young. And thus, your life with the Stark-Potts couple would never be the same - for better or for worse.

After the Accords, however, things were different. Much different. Both Tony and Pepper were never the same even way before that, but the former looked like a hollow of a man he once was.

As much as Pepper had more rights over you, she didn't want to be unfair and cut you off from Tony completely, and thus, let you do as you please. Honestly, it hurt having to go back and forth between the two, seeing two of the strongest people in your life thread on thin ice. Try as you might, you even attempted to get the two together only to end up with nothing. Happy was there, at least, to make you sane and moving. Rhodey, who still scares you, keeps you in check and on your toes.

However, things managed.

Then a lot of things happened: Tony and Pepper finally patched things up, finally got married - you were Pepper's maid of honor, you were whisked to some Ivy League thanks to Pepper and Tony’s recommendations, Tony suddenly was whisked away to the stars to save the universe, some war FRIDAY relayed in Wakanda, and then half the population turning to dust. A week later, Tony came back - with new friends from different galaxies, you all moved far away – far away from the Avengers, Tony insisted you to help Pepper to keep you busy, Morgan was born, you finished university, and were working on a master’s degree.

And then...Tony-

God, just the thought of him - what he did - still chokes you up. It hurt to hear from Pepper what had happened, to see her – the strongest iron lady you know and love – break into a million pieces, crumbling to the ground and disregarding every rule about grace and poise. Tony. He was like a father to you, the best and worst one you could ever ask for.

After his passing, you made it a point to keep his legacy alive, to ensure that it was protected at all cost - Morgan.

You loved the littlest Stark with all your heart, like the little sister you wished you had. Ever since she was born, already, you vowed to keep her from anything.

She was Tony's legacy.

Well, one of many...

There was that kid from Tennessee, Harley Keener, whom you had the chance and pleasure to be acquainted with.

And then there was-

"Who're you?" a voice asked behind you, breathlessly, curiously.

Turning on your heel, you found a guy - brown hair, pale skin, average height, fit in build, looked like he was around your age - walking in, looking like he had run a marathon.

Scrunching your nose, not really like the way he was trying to piece who you were, you fixed him a questioning look. "I'm-"

"(NAME)!" a bubbly voice called behind you, causing the two of you to turn.

Eyes widening, they then relax, you then sagged in relief and all but ran towards the little girl, taking her in your arms.

"There you are! Where've you been, you?" you ask, tucking strands of hair away from her face.

Giggling mirthlessly, eyes twinkling with mischief, she replied. "Nowhere~"

You rolled your eyes at that, playfully. Her grin grows, eyes crinkling when her lips lift, exposing dimples.

Looking over your shoulder, you nearly forgot the guy behind you, hoisting Morgan up.

"Oh, I'm (Name)," you tell him. "but I think you got that already."

The younger teen looks from the brunette in your arms to you, the cogs in his head whirring. "Are you...?"

"Nope, I'm just a babysitter." Quick to dismiss his question, you shake your head lightly. "An on call at that."

"Ah," was the only thing he could say, not sure what to say next.

"Peter!" the girl in your arms says, a smile still in check.

"Morgan, hey." he walks up, about two feet away.

It was your turn to look between him and the brunette in your arms, fixing an inquisitive look as to the cogs in your head begin to turn - two and two adding up. You did hear things from Pepper, Happy, and Tony.

Like a light bulb moment, you pointed at him. "You're the Spider-Man, aren't you?"

First, he sputters, face morphing into a look of surprise, shock, and embarrassment which ends with his face flushing to the tips of his ears.

Little did he know that you knew long before his cover had been blown.

"Don't worry. Happy's not really that good at keeping a secret." You assure him. At that, Morgan chuckles. You chuckle with her, sharing a knowing look as you bump your noses together. "Well, more like, he's slipping."

"Or getting old!" Morgan chirps.

You share a laugh, again. This time, Peter joins in.

"Anyway, is there something or anything you needed?" you asked, remembering his sudden appearance, adjusting your hold on Morgan, who now was resting her head on the crook of your neck.

"Oh...I, uh, I was just..." he fumbles, fidgeting with his fingers as you stand there, patiently waiting for him to finish his sentence. "...um, I was told to come over...?"

Puzzled, your brows narrowed together. "By who?"

"Me." A voice booms, you all turn, staring at a dark-skinned man donning familiar colors. A taller man stands by him, almost like a shadow.

In the years under Tony and Pepper’s tutelage, months spent and having unlimited access to nearly everything that is related to the Avengers, you found yourself in contact with the new Captain America and his trusty companion, the Winter Soldier.

At first, it was quite intimidating. They were intimidating. But soon, you found yourself warming up to them. They were like brothers, you adored them so much.

Suddenly, the room felt like there was purpose as the two men strode in, and you felt even smaller in their presence.

Just as you motioned to leave, Morgan pipes up, “Sam! Bucky!”

Over time, Peter became a familiar face in the compound.

Aside from helping clean up the mess that Quentin Beck and his lackeys did to the poor boy, he was also heralding in for his part with the new Avengers - Sam Wilson, now bestowed with the mantle of Captain America, with the infamous Winter Soldier, Sgt. James Barnes, as his right hand, much to the displeasure of many governments.

Then again, who were they to decide what's best for this world when they knew nothing of the battles these brave men fought for? Who were they to decide who carries the mantle? It's not theirs, government-issued or not.

Also, in the past years of their hiding, and fighting off Zeemo, they've proven themselves countless times and earned the hearts of many. Whether they like it or not, they were the best choice to serve and defend the innocent.

For Peter Parker, physically 18 years old, filling in his spot for the team was huge.

He was in leagues with a whole bunch of other heroes – Hulk, Dr. Bruce Banner; War Machine, James Rhodes; Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff; Dr. Strange, Dr. Stephen Strange; Ant-Man, Scott Lang; Wasp, Hope Van Dymme; and off the grid were the Asgardians of the Galaxy, and Carvol Danvers, Captain Marvel. Just to name a few. Sure enough, there would be more heroes coming in, it’s only a matter of time after all.

It was a big world - universe, rather.

Eventually, the kid also grew on you, for many reasons. But in those many reasons, it also felt kind of weird - you werethree years older than him. Physically speaking.

He would have been 23, just three years older than you, had he not been snapped away. Or blipped away.

Yawning, you leaned back, stretching your arms overhead. Peeking back at your laptop, to your dismay you found that was still 10 in the morning, there was still a lot of work to do!

Groaning, you made sure to drag on said groan as you massaged the back of your neck. There were a bunch of emails to check, some invitations to decline, and one Thaddeus Ross to bitch about-

“Coffee?”

At the sound of the voice, you looked up and were met with soft brown eyes belonging to one Peter Parker.

“Peter, hey!” reaching for the cup, you wrap both hands around it, relishing in its rich aroma. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Having to face your laptop for hours' end, glancing up just barely with how slow your morning was, it really was. Taking a sip, you let the beverage warm your system and kick in, shoulders sagging. “and a savior.”

The corners of his mouth lift, eyes shining a bit, awkwardly shifting foot to foot. “W-Well, I know how much you work. And how much you love your coffee" he does, strangely enough, to note that you loved it black in the wee hours of the day with a bit of cocoa nibs.

"That I do, Petey, that I do."

He watches you take another sip, your eyes momentarily meeting your laptop screen before looking away quickly - nope! Here's your coffee break, take it.

"I see, uh, that you've been busy."

Sighing, you lean against your seat. "Kinda. Sorta. But, yes."

A little while after you first met, you made sure to properly introduce yourself to the lad, keeping in mind that he was an Avenger and that he'd see more of you now that you worked for Stark Industries, and the Avengers.

"Even though you should be…” he glanced away, words failing him.

“I should be…?” you picked up on the end tail of his sentence.

Gulping, his gaze suddenly drops, looking around helplessly. You sat there, worried, taking sips time to time.

It might be his sixth sense – aptly dubbed as his Spider-senses, but he seemed to know exactly how much you loved your coffee. That, or he was really observant.

“Peter, are you okay- “

“Writing!” he suddenly bursts out. “You like writing, right?”

His eyes land on the books on the side of your desk, and a framed article you had written years back for TIME magazine.

Following his gaze, causing you to turn in your seat, you can’t help the soft expression on your face. “Ah, that.”

Using the heel of your foot, rolling forward, you reached for the frame then rested your still warm drink between your thighs fingers smoothing the corners. “Funny story, Tony made me write it. Pepper gave me the idea.” The article was basically about questioning Thaddeus Ross and the Accords and if it was really pro-government and pro-hero at the same time. “Mind you, at the time, things had just been rocky with the whole mess of the Avengers, Tony and Pepper were not in good term. Writing this had been the closest I got them to speak again, because of how I had written it and its effects.” Memories of Pepper giving snide remarks at people who talked shit to you, rebutting gracefully, and Tony, wisecracking any troll who messed with you online. Those were fun times. Messy, but fun times. As you spoke, Peter quieted down, eyes never leaving you as you spoke. Looking at the article one last time, you set it back on your desk before picking your drink and taking a sip. “So, yeah. I do. Love writing, I mean. “

“And haven’t you thought of doing that instead?”

Noting his implication with a hum, you continued. “Instead of handling hero-related antics, right?”

Instantly, his face flushed, expression mixing up as he jumbled on his words. “N-Not that what you’re doing is wrong or anything! I-It’s just…you can-“

“Relax Peter!” You laugh, hand raised to calm him. “I know what you mean. It’s just that,” pushing yourself back, you swayed a bit in your seat “this is my job now, something I’ve been doing for a while and one I enjoy. Stressful as it is, it’s still fun. At the very least, I’m still writing. Plus, I get to be with you guys! So, that works, right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” breathing returning to normal, he nods, replying breathlessly. “yeah, yeah, yeah. T-That’s true.”

Tilting your head, seeing that he wasn’t fully satisfied with your answer, you humor him. “Given the chance, I would’vebeen in the writing field. Who knows? Writing as some underground slob, some hermit, or rise amongst the ranks of those high-profiled writers, or for TIME...”

Smiling wistfully, you were just about to take a sip again when it dawned to you. “Oh, what are you doing here, anyway? Do you have a meeting with Pepper?”

“Miss Potts- oh. Oh, no!”

“Did you wanna see Morgan then?”

“No, no!” he was getting more panicked, which was worrying. Putting down your coffee, you brought both hands to your desk and pulled yourself in, the desk separating you and Peter. He was muttering something under his breath, something you didn’t catch.

“Petey?” ducking your head, for a closer look at him, getting a closer inspection of how hazel brown his eyes actually are.

“U-Uh…” he gulps under your gaze. "...um..."

“Hey, (Name), I need your help with someth-“a new voice pipes in.

The two of you turn, (E/c) eyes widen at the new visitor, instantly, you were on your feet and running towards him.

“Harley!” engulfing him in a hug, you laugh mirthlessly at his presence. “Oh, my god you’re here! How are you? What are you doing here?”

Dang, you forgot just how tall he was!

“Uh, I’m supposed to work on my grant with Miss Potts,” he says, almost carefully staring from you to the lad behind him.

“Ah, yes,” you nodded, snapping a finger and pointing at him in realization. “that was today. Unfortunately, Pepper’s busy with something. Fortunately,” you tilted to your side, hands clasped in front of you then pointing index fingers at him. “Ican lend you a hand.”

Harley smiles at this, especially at your dorky dramatics, you grin back toothily.

Then you remembered that you weren’t alone.

“Oh! Where are my manners? Peter, this is Harley Keener, one of Tony’s boys.”

“You make it sound like I'm a booty call.” Harley grumbled beside you, making you snort and elbow him playfully.

“Well, Tony has a way of calling people and it rubs off pretty easily when you’re around him a lot.”

The taller lad rolls his eyes – playfully, used to your language and overall attitude as a reminiscent of one Tony Stark. Peter, who was still standing there, looks dumbfounded between the two of you, unsure what to do before you called on him.

“Sorry Peter, but I have to attend to Harley. Guess I’ll see you around?”

“U-Uh, sure…yeah.”

Hooking your arm around Harley’s you both walked out, but not before grabbing your still warm coffee from your desk. “Thanks again for this, Petey, bye!”

“He seems nice,” Harley comments, once the two of you get to the elevator.

“Yeah, he is.” You nod, sipping your coffee. “Now tell me, any updates on that crush of yours?”

At this, Harley’s face burns as the elevator doors open.

As Pepper’s assistant, you were basically tasked to help make Pepper’s job easier. As PR, at the same time, you were tasked with dealing with the Avengers’ publicity and ensuring that they look good and handling whatever the media throws their way. Because you were practically raised by Pepper, and the one and only Tony Stark/Iron Man, schooling the media was child’s play to you. Plus, it was really fun dealing with famous people who weren’t super-powered.

Still, as much as you enjoyed your job, you especially loved the quirks that came with it. One of the obvious being that you get to hang with the Avengers. Half of them – who were Tony’s faction during the Civil War bullshit, you grew up with, and the rest just grew on you later.

It was a Friday when you found yourself swinging by the training grounds, looking for Bucky or Wanda with a bag of cheeseburgers to share with and some papers. However, the floor seemed to be empty. Just as you were about to call for F.R.I.D.A.Y. (the AI), you found yourself slipping on some liquid, falling backward with your arms flailing in the air, smacking a nearby tray holding a pitcher and glass.

Faster than you could react, a blur was by your side, a firm grip on your shoulder, and with his free hand, easily caught the tray, the pitcher, the glass, and its contents. All before you could even blink.

“W-Woah…” you breathed, feeling your heart beating wildly against your chest. That could’ve been one nasty accident where you could’ve been wet, hurt, or both!

“(N-Name)! Are you alright?” asked your savior, making you blink at him.

It was Peter.

“Peter…” you said, almost to yourself.

Effortlessly, he set the tray aside, his hand still on around your shoulder, making you feel his strong arm around you.

“I-I’m sorry about that, must’ve tried to do some physics trick but ended up failing and all…” he replied, looking at the water on the ground.

“Ah,” you responded, getting the idea. Surprisingly, with a crinkling sound, you were still gripping unto the cheeseburgers and the papers- no, wait, they’re gone.

Turning your head around, you searched for those papers – which probably should be on the ground from the way you threw them up from the slip.

“Here,” Peter suddenly appears in front of you. Upside down.

“Woah, this is cool,” you remarked all wide-eyed, taking the papers from him, watching him bend over the ceiling to drop to the ground. “Seeing your abilities up close and personal.”

“I-I have other abilities, too!”

“Yeah, I know. You have superhuman strength, enhanced agility, and a super brain.” You list off, heading to the counter to drop the cheeseburgers and papers Pepper assigned you to send around. "No, wait, Happy mentioned it was something else..." scrunching your face, you ransacked your brain for it. "Er, what was it...oh! Peter tingle, right?"

He nearly tripped on his feet but caught himself instantly. "Spider senses! It's called 'Spider Senses'!"

"Ah, is that what it's called?"

That makes Peter sigh, almost frustratingly – like he was to throw a tantrum then and there. He really is a child, you thought.

“I’m teasing you, Pete.” You laugh, leaning against the counter, watching him seemingly deflate, ears slightly red. “But, if you don’t mind me asking," folding your arms behind you, you carefully approach him "can you just break it down to me just how your Spider Senses work?”

Caught off guard by your question, Peter puffs his cheeks. “Um, err…” he shuffles, scratching the back of his neck as words fail him.

Circling, you hop on the counter behind you, patiently waiting on him.

Seeing just how genuinely interested you seemed to be with his powers, it excited him a bit. You weren’t being pushy about it either. In fact, he’s seen you quite a handful of times, and you were always sure to be nice and welcoming, treating him Peter first, Spider-Man second. There were only about a few people who were genuinely interested in how his abilities worked really, one of them was Ned, then there was Mr. Stark, then there was Sam, and then Bucky. And then, you.

“So, um…I’ve got these senses.” You nod encouragingly. “And, uh, they help me be keenly aware of my surroundings and help me react.”

“Meaning, you have times ten the reflexes?”

“…kinda?”

Recalling the almost incident earlier, it was amazing to know just how quick he responded before the inevitable. “That’s cool. I didn’t know spiders could do that.”

“Y-Yeah…” he could only reply, noting how pleased you were with his explanation, how your beating calmed him-

“If this were a comic book, then what you have would probably be the most overpowered ability of all. Still, thanks for telling and trusting me.”

Clearing his throat, he slowly approached you. “So, uh, what brings you here?”

“What, I can’t be here?”

“N-No- th-that’s not-“

Really, he was so cute with the stuttering and all.

“Are you always this awkward around people? Or just girls?”

You really reminded him of Tony Stark with your charm and quips.

“You’re kinda difficult to approach, I guess?”

“Oh, so, I’m a science problem now?”

Peter’s mouth gaped at that, at a loss what to say next. Which in turn, caused you to laugh, head pulled back.

“You’re cute, Peter Parker.” Hopping off the counter, you reached out to pinch his cheek before turning back to fetch the paper bags. “I brought burgers for Bucky and Wanda, sadly, they’re not here, wanna eat them?”

Ever since the spider bite, life for Peter Parker was never the same. And it was probably a given to those who wielded great power, and now, he was one of them.

However, he would never imagine that because of that very spider bite, he’d be in leagues with people he’s admired for a while – the Avengers.

His life would forever change the moment Tony Stark sat in his apartment living room, chatting casually with his aunt, interrogated, and basically recruited him to his faction. Unofficially, that had marked his joining the Avengers.

But it was the Battle with Thanos months later that he was officially an Avenger, which later resulted in him dusting away for five years, then he came back for another fight for his life and the universe, they won but at the cost of Earth’s mightiest heroes. Months following after that were spent in constant fear and mourning that he tried to fight with his teenage life.

Funny thing was, just when he thought life was going his way, there’d always be something to nope him out of it. Mysterio, for one, hijacking his Europe trip and revealing his identity to the world.

For a while, his life was sure to spiral out of control and he’d be torn from his life. Nope.

Because he was an Avenger, not only was he backed by his colleagues, the government – what good half of it anyway, S.H I.E.L.D. and good civilians who were recipients of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man’s kindness, the fear of his civilian life was protected and secured.

He just never expected that with becoming an Avenger, he’d have the chance to go places, experience new and exciting things, still be himself whilst growing up-

"Alright, little munchkin, open up!"

-and then there was meeting you, (Y/N) (L/N).

By blood, you were Pepper Potts-Stark’s niece-in-law, but by paper, you were practically her daughter/sister, more so as her trusty assistant.

Physically, you were three years his senior. Had the Snap not happened; however, he’d have been three years older than you. Still, he towers over you despite being the ‘littlest guy’ – as Sam would put it.

Using his heightened hearing, he followed after until the voices were closer, and he was standing by the doorway to the kitchen where you were.

You weren’t alone though. No, sitting by the counter, happily watching and smiling at you was little Morgan Stark.

It's a first for him to see you like this - in more casual, comfortable clothes, especially in shorts where he can see your legs. He had to pull himself out of it as he remembered that Morgan was there, singing some song as you sang with her.

It was a Disney song, he realized, from that one movie.

While the two of you were having a mini-concert, the smell of something being cooked filled the kitchen.

“Pasta,” he thought to himself, aloud.

“Peter!” the littlest Stark called from the counter, struggling to hop down, before you helped her down, tiny legs barreling towards him.

Anticipating her approach, he knelt to catch her in his arms, twirling as he entered the kitchen – the smell growing stronger.

“H-Hey, (Y/N),” he says to you, standing straighter.

Offering a smile, you turned back to check on the pasta sauce you were making. “Hey Peter,”

Unsure of what to say next, he lets Morgan play with his hair before coming up with a reply. “F-Fancy seeing you here,” he said lamely.

“Is that a bad thing?”

Realizing his mistake, he nearly drops Morgan, sputtering words. “T-That’s not- No! U-Um,” you were calmly stirring the pot, body turned to him, letting him know that you were listening. “I-I…It’s just, I’m not used to seeing you so casual…I guess?”

“Ah,”

Seriously, why was he so lame?

“It’s my day-off.” You say simply, switching the fire off. “And I make sure to use up my time keeping sane with the help of the world’s most adorable little girl, isn’t that right, Morgan?”

"Working too much is evil!"

"Sometimes I wonder where and how you learn these things," you mumble laughingly, head shaking. "must be a Stark thing."

He laughs with you in agreement. Morgan was scaringly too smart for her own good, clearly from her Stark genes.

"Most definitely a Stark thing," he agrees with you, laughing, eyes glued on your form as you hunt around the kitchen for something. "Need some help?"

"Ah, yeah." Pointing at the pot of sauce, you say. "Can you be a dear and bring that to that table over there?" with the same hand, you bring it back to the small dining table behind you, where plates and utensils sat. "Oh, and be sure to use mittens," you add, producing two kitschy kitchen mittens - one that was an embroidered goldfish, of some sort. "I'm not sure just how strong you are, but you can't be that strong against heat against metal."

"Ha ha, a science joke, I see." he says, taking the handle with both hands.

"It's not rocket science, silly." Holding a bowl full of pasta, you hastily grab a pair of tongs, before the two of you were walking towards the dining room. "Okay, there we go. Oh, just put it right here, Petey." you point at the empty coaster next to the pasta bowl, where he carefully lays it down. "Great, thanks!"

Hands on your hips, you admire your work, clasping both hands together before rubbing. "Okay, lunch is set! Now, where's my little Morgan?"

It was almost too cliché and overused at this point, but nobody that deny that charity galas were almost always a selling point to earn the trust of the most esteemed, high-profile, and probably the snootiest people in the world- all of which, were Tony's words that he had told you years back.

You hated these kinds of events, but again, they sold off to the rich and the famous. And they were a great way to rub elbows with just about anybody.

Never leaving Pepper's side, the both of you welcomed in guests after guests, receiving warm regards from ambassadors, warding off leering looks from power-hungry businessmen, laughing with nobles and socialites, and being graced by esteemed guests. Honestly, you had to give it to Tony and Pepper for bearing with these lot, just being in the same room with them and inhaling their pricey perfumes made you feel ten times older.

When all was said and done, you rushed towards where the Avengers were - all of which were dressed to the nines, all looking like literal gods in a sea of mortals.

Laughingly, half of them seem to enjoy the festivities, some looked bored to death (but came for the chance of exposure), some looked uncomfortable, and mostly seem to just enjoy parading themselves.

It was easy to spot Peter Parker among them, being - as Sam put it - the littlest guy because the rest of the women were in heels.

Meeting your gaze, he lifts his hand into a tiny wave. Giggling, you winked and gave him a peace sign, before turning to a waiter offering drinks. Taking a flute from his tray, you were unaware of the boy's eyes locked on you as you clung to Pepper's side, wearing a polite smile that illuminated your face and the dress you were wearing.

It's just...You look pretty in that dress. Like, really pretty. Maybe prettier than usual

Well, you were always pretty to him whatever you wore - may it be office wear, casual wear, even a bean bag, but tonight, that dress made you look mature, exquisite, and divine. The makeup on your face highlighted some of your features quite well - not too much, but enough to really emphasize your cheeks, your lips, your eyes. And your hair was in a simple style but enhanced your look. Overall, again, you looked really pretty.

Too engrossed in his stare, he nearly jumped in place when Shang Chi came into his field of vision, smirking knowingly down at the young boy.

"That's an intense stare you got there, wanna go talk to her?" the newest Avenger asked, golden eyes alight with life.

"U-Uh...?" he sputtered, feeling the blood rush to his face, just as he saw your face light up - if possible, it made the whole place shine brighter - when Morgan ran up to you. Her dress was a poofier and lighter version of yours.

"No worries, little brother," whispered the man, smirk still in place as he watched you nuzzle Morgan's nose with yours. "I'm not telling."

Okay, he felt screwed.

With all the glitz and glamour that filled and surrounded the life of one Tony Stark, it takes a certain amount of temperament and training to turn one so thick-skinned and fluent in the art of socializing from the regular folk to the nouveu riche to the beau-monde. Despite careful years of watching, observing, absorbing, and taking things into action, the results were the same: it was pretty exhausting.

You didn’t know how Tony did it, nor do you want to know. I mean, there were years of alcohol and therapy. Not to mention, his hands just itching to tinker.

Pepper fared in the best way she could. Seriously, she was the personification of the phrase, ‘grace under pressure’.

Well, maybe until she has someone she can finally rip apart.

Having excused yourself from the scene, you desperately needed to be away from all the glitzy fanfare – too much of it might actually render you insane.

You find yourself in what seems to be a lounge area. There were plants, paintings, some comfortable sofas. Music could be heard from the gala nearby, but here it came as a gentle thrum and hum.

“How’s the party going?” someone asked.

You whipped your head around, searching, finding an old man sitting by one of the sofas.

Putting on a smile – tired, but polite, you say. “Well, it’s still going,” he laughs at that. “Starks’ legacy continues to fill the night. Hopefully, it’ll end well for business and pleasure.”

He laughs again, a gentle, hearty laugh. “Well, that’s a relief. And quite the expectation.”

“Well,” you didn’t mean to sigh so heavily, brows raised slightly. “it is what it is.”

Nodding at the older man, you were just about to find a balcony only to stop in your footsteps.

Slowly, very slowly, you looked back to the lone soul sitting by the sofa – sharply dressed, small, frail, but his posture said otherwise, as did his smile.

And his eyes.

Suddenly, you realized why that old man with astoundingly baby blue eyes with a kind smile looked familiar. You were careful in your approach, as to not bring any attention. "Mr. Rogers?"

Familiarity radiated off his features as he took you in, the same familiar smile on his face. "Hi, (Name),"

"Hi..." you said back in awe, unsure what to do, or say.

"Wow, you're so big now." Baby blue eyes take you in, so warm and threatening to swallow you whole. "And you used to be the littlest thing."

Memories flash of a younger you meeting the famed war hero, Tony by your side. His dashingly, boyishly handsome face. Walks around the compound or the park with his gentle hands in yours. Warm hugs after a bad day at school. The sad look in his eyes when he left the compound. Regret, guilt, and sadness during Tony's burial-

"Come sit by me," he invites, patting the spot next to him.

That seemed to snap you back to your current time, forcing your legs to move. One step becomes two, then three, until you were next to him, (e/c) eyes not leaving his now small and frail form. A far cry from the hulking teddy bear of a man you're used to.

Gentle music from the gala filled in the silence, which just dragged on.

Steve smiled, simply smiling by the silence, blissfully knowing your state of confusion by his presence. But he was content, to say the least, to share the silence with you.

This man, Steve Rogers to many, known as Captain America to all, but to you – and a select few, he was more than that.

In spite of what happened – Ultron, Sokovia, their Civil War, Thanos, this man meant a lot to you, had a special place in your heart that rivalled only to Tony Stark.

"You know,” you said slowly. “Pepper never blamed you...after everything that had happened."

Turning to you, his eyes widened slightly. "Did she now?"

You nod, earrings dangling with you. "It was inevitable, ever since Tony was kidnapped and Iron Man happened. Since the moment those two fell in love, and the Avengers came to be." Breaking into a short laugh, you added. “Maybe even before you and I joined in the mix.”

"Did you blame me?" he asked you, suddenly, his baby blue eyes, though faded with age still held so much emotion.

That question would've been easier to answer then - after months of seeing Pepper and Tony's relationship in turmoil, Pepper in tears, Tony's PTSD, Rhodey's injury, Happy's added stress, the death of the closest thing to a father you'll ever have - but now, all things considered, and with Tony's annoying way of rubbing off you, you knew your answer now.

"No. I don't think I could." You reply, smiling softly at him. "Plus, you remember his speech, right? 'Part of the journey is the end'? Somewhere, deep inside his clusterfuck of a brain, he knew that his death was something he feared very much yet knew would put things into perspective."

"You are Tony's girl alright,"

You scoff, ducking shyly, comforted by his words. "Adopted, maybe."

Lifting your head, it felt like you were young again, meeting Steve Rogers for the first time. Except this time, there was no Tony by your side, but you took comfort in knowing that the phantom comforting chill running down your spine was him.

Steve smiled, one that reached his eyes.

"It's so good to see you again, (Name)."

"Me, too." Eyes misting as you broke into a huge grin, it really felt like you were a kid again.

And it that moment, he couldn't help but feel the same.

"Would you care to indulge this man with a dance?"

"I would love to."

(E/c) eyes wandered about to all the couples that had gathered on the dance floor, humming to the beat of the music – jazz, was it? Maybe something gypsy-like? Do they even allow those kinds of music to be played? Soft jazz, maybe.

The music was gentle, soothing, fitting for the event. It was enough to make your heart settle, after a long, engaging, and rather exciting night.

And It was probably far from over.

From where you stood, the second floor balcony that overlooked the whole area, a rather grand view as though you were some lord. But no, you just needed a breather, to slow down the night that was far from over.

Behind you, someone cleared their throat, rather loudly to catch your attention.

Looking over your shoulder, you find that it was Peter. "Y-You...uh, you look really nice, (Name).”

Lips quirked up, you reply. "Thank you, Peter. This is all Pepper. And, well, Maria." After much thought, fingers smoothing over the fabric of your dress, you added, with a pained smile. "And Morgan. Wanda. Sam. Bucky." You tick their name one by one with your fingers.

"Mr. Wilson and Mr. Barnes?" he was stood next to you now.

"They convinced me to come, after much protest. Morgan picked my dress, really."

"You sound so out of place." His brown eyes search yours. To be at the receiving end of those eyes of his, such big, kind, and warm eyes, made you feel all sorts of funny.

"Oh, trust me, I am. This isn't my scene, y'see, also because I don't really go to these kinds of events. I'm more used to being behind the scenes, working back, or doing my homework while everyone partied." A certain memory roused from the back of your brain, making you chuckle sadly. Having sensed this, thanks to this spider senses, Peter looked up. "Tony," shucks, the mention of his name still hurts. "he would annoy the hell outta me, Pepper, too," she chuckled, almost garbled by the emotions thick in her throat. "but both never forced me if I didn't want to. Sometimes, they'd finish up extra early and bring home junk food to keep me company." Finishing with a sigh, she looked out the dancing couples before her eyes landed on a familiar strawberry blonde woman effortlessly elegant in her own right, ethereal under this light, but ever so heartbreakingly lonely and painful to look at.

Peter followed your gaze, swallowing thickly at that.

"Sorry you had to hear that sob story," you says, in an attempt to lighten the mood, quirking into an easy expression.

Downstairs, the music peaks up, a new song being played.

"Well, to make up for it, do you want to take your mind off it with a dance?"

That made you jump, turning to the younger boy, who was red in the face but had that look of determination in his boyishly handsome face.

You had to chuckle at that, heartily. "Wow, you're good. But okay."

Bucky didn't like it - that little punk was crushing on (Name). Bad.

Thing was, she was pretty oblivious to this. Bucky didn’t like that either. As much as she was Stark's girl, when it comes to things concerning her, it just passed off like the wind. Or maybe water. No, oxygen. Point is, she'd never know unless it was pointed out.

“If you look any harder, the kid’s head might combust.” A voice says next to him, belonging to a familiar blonde – Sharon Carter.

The Winter Soldier made a noise in his throat, eyes cold. "I don't like the way that kid's looking at her,"

"Make you think of Becca, Buck?" Steve asks, humor in his tone.

“Shut up, punk.”

“Well,” Sam appears, elbows on the railing, faint smile quirking his lips. “they are kinda cute.”

Well, fine, they are kinda cute together.

“Good luck trying to tell her that, though.”

But he won’t say it out loud.

#alicemitch09 writes #peter parker x reader #spider-man x reader #reader-insert #marvel #mcu #marvel fanfiction #fanfiction #spider-man fanfiction #peter parker #spider-man #fluff #tom holland #tom holland spiderman #spiderman #spiderman x reader

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allegra-writes · 4 years

Text

“Fine line” Part II

Peter Parker x Reader x Harry Osborn

NSFW

Warnings: Smut, threesome.

SERIES MASTERLIST | MY MASTERLIST

You couldn't help the hiss that escaped your lips as Peter gently padded the cut on your shoulder with gauze.

"Sorry" He flinched, "I'm being as soft as I can…"

"I know, Pete, it's ok" You reassured him.

He sighed,

"No, it's not. I'm good at this, god knows I've had practice, but I'm not a doctor…" nonetheless, he grabbed the needle and medical thread, "You should have let Simmons take a look at you"

"She was rather busy"

"I know" Peter was well aware of the carnage, the attack on the city had been vicious. S.H.I.E.L.D Tower now laid in ruins, hundreds of agents hurt or even…

"Your sister is going to be ok" He reassured you. Again. You nodded, swallowing through the knot on your throat. Peter finished his work, placing the softest, most careful of kisses right under the injury. He knew how scared, how worried you were. He knew that was the reason you didn't let doctor Simmons take care of you, cause you didn't want to distract her from tending to Daisy.

"I mean it" He insisted, "She's strong, just like you"

"Yeah, I know" You sighed, "I just wish we were smarter"

You had been naive, the both of you, in believing you had seen the last of the Goblin for the night, not realizing the whole incident with Harry had been just a distraction.

But the Goblin had miscalculated too, he hadn't counted on your whole former team being in the city to meet your boyfriend. All of S.H.I.E.L.D'S best and brightest in the same place, at the same time.

That mistake had ultimately cost him his life.

"What happened to Norman?" You hadn't stuck around for the clean up, too occupied taking an unconscious Daisy, and other badly hurt agents, into the med bay of the Zephyr to get treated. "To the body, I mean"

Peter avoided your eyes, instead choosing to keep wrapping a bandage around your shoulder.

"Peter?"

"I took him back home" He finally blurted out, still not meeting your gaze, "His home, I mean. I know Fury probably wanted to study him or something but I just… Harry, I couldn't- his father, disappearing just like that? Harry deserves to know, he deserves to know his father is not coming back. O-or if S.H.I.E.L.D didn't take the body... I couldn't let Harry find him like that, all broken and bloody on the street. I just-... I just couldn't…"

It clicked then, watching your boyfriend's tear streaked face. All the late night phone calls, talking till sunrise, all the times his patrols around the city had taken him to Oscorp, his diving head first tonight to save Harry, suddenly it all made sense.

"You're in love with him"

"So are you" It wasn't an accusation, just the statement of a fact. You weren't really surprised he had realized, not when he could hear your heartbeat quicken whenever Harry showed up in the news.

The silence fell between you like ghost, a heavy presence, invisible but suffocating, for several moments, until Peter gathered enough courage to break it,

"I still love you, Six. This doesn't change that"

"I know," you sighed, "I still love you too"

"What are we going to do now?" He looked about as lost as you felt.

"I don't know, Peter…"

"I- I don't want to lose you" He choked out a sob.

"You won't" You stood, pulling him in, wrapping your arms around him. He held onto you hard, almost so hard it hurt, but you couldn't let go. You wouldn't. "You won't lose me, Peter, ever. Not for this, not for anything"

He leaned back just enough to crush his lips to yours, pouring all his desperation, all his fear and guilt into a bittersweet kiss. His arms wound even tighter around you in an iron grip, afraid if he let go for just a second, you would disappear from his side.

"Don't leave me… please don't leave me" He didn't realize the words were escaping his mouth between kisses until your answer reached his ears, soothing like a balm:

"I won't. I'm never leaving you"

The ground was swept from under your feet, as Peter picked you up, bridal style. He needed you, his sunshine, his anchor to-

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Peter" Karen's voice resonated through the apartment, "But Harry Osborn is in the lobby, asking for you"

You both froze. It wasn't completely unexpected, you knew how brilliant the blonde heir was under that frivolous bad boy façade, but Peter seemed to be taken by surprise. He searched your eyes, silently begging for guidance, but deep down, he knew what the right thing to do was, the only possible course of action.

"Send him up" He ordered Karen, gently setting you down on your feet again.

"Of course, Peter" The AI replied, with what Peter could have sworn was approval, if that was even possible.

You found a silk robe to put on over your flimsy summer pajamas, covering your body not out of modesty, but to somewhat conceal the bandages and bruises littering your skin. Peter smiled, it was just like you to hide your vulnerabilities, especially if you were expecting a confrontation. He took your hand, and you stepped out of the bedroom together. Come what may, you knew you could face it, as long as you had each other.

"Harry!" The gasp left Peter's throat unbidden, as soon as his eyes fell on his friend. It was a pitiful sight, the blonde still wearing the same clothes from last night, rumpled and dirty, the stench of alcohol coming out of his pores, so strong even you without your super senses could smell it from the other side of the room. He rushed to him, couldn't help it, but Harry's words stopped him dead in his tracks, in the middle of the living room.

"It was you wasn't it? You killed my father. I broke into his lab, read his files… he was the Goblin. Did you know?"

"Harry-"

"DID YOU KNOW IT?!"

Peter hesitated, but in the end he answered honestly.

"Yes"

"And you still killed him… you knew he was my father, and you still killed him!"

You took a step forward, subtly placing yourself between them; you knew your boyfriend would not defend himself if Harry was to lash out, probably believing he deserved it.

"No, Harry. I did." Peter might have knocked the monster out, but the coup de grâce had been all you. You could try to defend yourself, to make excuses, say you were following orders, that he was too dangerous to live. But the truth was, when you had seen Daisy go down, bleeding, her body shattered, limbs bent in strange, wrong angles, you had seen red. You would have done the exact same thing, even without director Fury's voice in your ear.

"The Goblin almost killed her sister" Peter intertwined his fingers with yours. Of course he would advocate for you even if he wouldn't for himself, "and he also... hurt Kate" Understatement of the fucking century, but at least her injuries weren't life threatening.

Harry crumbled in front of your eyes, all the fight leaving him at once.

"He tried to kill me too" His own dad, the one person in the world who was supposed to love him unconditionally, had tried to murder him. Without flinching, without hesitating, all to mess with Spider-Man's head. Had Peter made a different call, go for you instead of him...

"The serum that transformed him affected his mind, Harry" You pointed out, consoling, "We don't know how much of your father was left inside the Goblin"

Harry scoffed, it would have been easier to believe your words if it had been the first time. But he could still remember, if only barely, the cold water of the pool in winter, lungs burning with lack of oxygen, his small legs kicking desperately, uselessly, and his father's blue eyes, colder than the water, watching him from above, doing nothing. Until the gardener had saved him

No, Norman Osborn had been a monster long before becoming the Goblin.

And what did that make Harry, then? Why had he come looking for Peter and you? At first he had thought he wanted blood, but now, having the both of you in front of him, he wasn't so sure.

Without your battle uniforms, you didn't look like the super human, terrifying villains his alcohol ridden brain had built you up to be. Standing there, bare feet in your sleeping clothes you were frail, vulnerable. Red eyed and bruised, you looked almost as bone weary and exhausted as he felt.

He couldn't do it.

"Did you mean it?" He managed to get out through the sobs shaking his frame, "What you said back on top of that building? Tha-that it's the choices we make and… and not what we are… th-that define us?"

Peter sidestepped you, advancing towards Harry.

"Every word" Slowly, ever so slowly, like approaching a wild animal he didn't want to spook, he reached out, "Give me the gun, Harry"

Harry's eyes went wide, but he complied, untucking the small 9 mm from the back of his waistband. He handed it over to Peter, who in turn offered it to you. Quick as lightning, you released the latch, unloading it and tossing it on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry" Harry croaked between tears, "I'm so sorry"

He hadn't noticed how cold he was, until Peter enveloped him in his warm embrace.

"It's ok, Haz" You heard him whisper, "It's going to be ok. We got you now…"

"Make it stop" Harry's cries were muffled against your boyfriend's shoulder, but you still could feel the pain in his voice, loud and clear. It hurt like a physical blow to your chest, knocking the air out of you. You had tried, you really had, but apparently your feelings for the blue eyed boy weren't as under control as you had thought "Please… make it stop"

He wasn't even conscious of the words leaving his mouth, as he begged to a god he didn't believe in, to whoever might be listening, for something to numb the pain. To feel anything else than that soul crushing agony consuming him.

Peter's eyes found yours, a silent request for permission. You didn't know what was in his mind, but you trusted him, with more than your life: You trusted him with your heart.

You nodded. It was all Peter needed. He cupped Harry's face with his hands, and kissed him.

It was surreal. Suddenly, you were witnessing your boyfriend passionately making out with the man that had been haunting your dreams for months, and you should have felt jealousy or betrayal, but the truth was, those were the furthest things from your mind. Because Harry seemed to be finally kissing back, fingers tangling in Peter's curls, still wet from your shared shower, tugging just enough for the brunet to let out the most delicious little whimper and fuck, but that had to be the hottest thing you had ever seen in your life.

And Peter had probably felt the change in you, the rising in your temperature, the beating of your heart, cause he reached for your hand without even looking, pulling you closer, guiding the blond man towards your lips. His once familiar mouth quickly reacquainted itself with yours, tongue exploring, teeth nibbling softly. The shock sent shivers down your spine, as Peter's hands opened your robe, sliding the cool silk down your arms. His lips on your neck had your head spinning, and you had to hold onto Harry's strong shoulders to stop yourself from falling.

"Hello" He breathed out as you broke the kiss, cursing your need for oxygen.

"Hi" You smiled, "It's been too long"

"Far too long" Harry agreed, the beautiful ocean of his eyes, dark and turbulent with lust.

Peter didn't stay idle for long, agile fingers working open Harry's shirt, stepping closer, pushing your body further into Harry's space. It wasn't long till you found yourself trapped between two naked, equally stunning torsos, pushing and pulling, as Peter's and Harry's lips collided again over your shoulder.

You felt your boyfriend's hand slip inside your sleeping shorts, teasing you over your panties.

"Peter" You reached back, arm hooked on the back of his neck for purchase, as he tugged your underwear to the side, and buried two fingers inside your tight heat.

"Fuck!"

Startled, you opened the eyes you hadn't even realized you had closed. You were ashamed to admit you had pretty much forgotten the other man's presence, Peter was just that good, knew your body that well, but Harry was still standing in front of you, eyes fixed on the erotic way Peter's hand was moving inside your shorts. His other hand lowered the straps of your camisole one by one, baring your chest to Harry's wonderstruck stare.

The moan that escaped your lips as Peter started expertly massaging your breast finally pulled the golden haired man out of his trance,

"Can I…"

"Touch her?" Peter finished for him, placing a sweet kiss on your temple, as your head rolled back, coming to rest on his chest, "I don't know, buddy. You'll have to ask her"

You heard Harry's voice, but it was hard to concentrate with Peter's fingers penetrating you over and over again, grazing that perfect spot inside you every time. Peter chuckled a little smugly,

"Baby girl, is it ok if Harry touches you?"

"Yes!" You panted, at last "Yes, please, Harry… touch me"

He did more than that, lips closing around the nipple not currently between Peter's fingers, hands roving all around your body, tearing and ripping at clothes with Peter's help, until you were completely naked, and completely at their mercy.

Your boyfriend laid you down on the massive chaise lounge that dominated the living room, yellow, like almost everything else on your apartment, he wanted everything to remind him of his sunflower when you weren't there. He positioned you so your legs would hang out the border, guiding Harry to kneel between them.

"Bossy, aren't you?" The blond quipped, playfully.

"Oh, you have no idea" Peter smirked from behind his back, turning his head to capture his lips again in the filthiest of kisses. You watched Peter's hands trail down Harry's chest, lower down his abs and further south stil, undoing his button and his fly, disappearing inside his pants.

Your breath catched at the same time as his, when Peter's hand closed around his member, slowly pumping up and down, up and down, the same hypnotic, insanity inducing rhythm you had taught him a lifetime ago on a tropical island.

Harry's head fell forward, eyes closed in bliss, but that was when Peter saw you.

"Naughty girl," He murmured, eyes zeroing in the way your index finger was rubbing circles on your clit, "you know I hate it when you do that…"

Your smirk was defiant,

"What are you going to do about it?" You let your other hand travel over your skin, caressing softly, teasing yourself as much as teasing him "You have your hands full"

"I'll take care of her" Haz was looking at you longingly, "Please, Peter… let me take care of her…"

"Hmmm… only because you ask so nicely" Peter's words were a little slurred, and you knew he was drunk with the power. Having both you and Harry to dominate, to do as he said was making him dizzy, almost overwhelmed.

But for once, having his senses dialed up to eleven wasn't painful, no. He was in heaven.

"Put your mouth on her, Haz… she's fucking delicious, tastes just like strawberries…"

Harry bent over, licking his lips, eyes fixed on yours. The movement pressed his ass against Peter's hard on, making him hiss.

"Can I-"

"Yes, please"

Your boyfriend tugged both Harry's pants and boxers down. You couldn’t see exactly what he was doing, but Harry’s handsome face, contorting in pleasure, gave you a pretty good idea.

"Oh, god, Harry!" You gasped as his tongue, at last, made contact with your flesh.

He hummed as if in agreement, flattening his tongue over your slit before using the tip to tap your pearl. Your hand flew to his head, finding purchase in his golden curls as he licked into you eagerly, rocking his whole face against you.

He was nothing like Peter. This was messy, obscene, it lacked Peter's finesse and precision, but fuck it was good.

You could feel the coil tighten inside you, already so close to the brink from Peter's hand, but just as it was about to snap, Harry's lips left you.

"Oh, fuck!" His curse was muffled against your thigh. You could see your boyfriend's curls over the curve of Harry's back and you could only guess what his wicked tongue was doing to the boy between your legs.

"Oh yeah, he's quite talented at that isn't he?" You giggled despite your frustration

"So good" Harry moaned, "So so good…"

Peter came into view then, placing kisses along Harry's spine.

"If you want my mouth on you" He whispered in his ear, loud enough for you to hear, "keep yours on her"

Harry nodded, enthusiastically.

"And make sure she comes," He went on, "that's the only rule: Our girl gets to come… Over, and over," He punctuated every word with a kiss down Harry's back again, "and over, and over…"

The most wanton of noises left Harry and you knew conversation time was over as he dove right back in, separating your lips with his fingers, thrusting his tongue inside you as deep as it would go. Your back arched off the chaise, crying out loud when Harry decided to add a finger, and then another one, as his lips closed around your clit, sucking a little too hard.

It was too much.

"Haz… fuck, ah!... Slow down, baby"

"Keep going, Harry" Peter's tone was stern, as he watched you writhe in pleasure. He was on his knees again, coating two of his fingers with lube. When had he gone and fetch it, you had no idea. "Make her come… god you have to see her, she is so gorgeous when she comes…"

And it wasn't going to take long, with the way Harry's tongue was circling your clit and the vibrations from his own moans and sweet little whines, you could feel yourself right at that edge, all you needed was something to tip you over.

Harry's hand made its way to your chest, finding your breast and massaging just the way you liked it, the way you had done earlier. He was a fast learner. But you didn't have much time to marvel about that, cause you were finally falling, every nerve of your body going up in sparks, your cries of ecstasy intermingling with his, as Peter finally, finally entered him, torturously slow, making him feel every lavish inch.

The stronger boy's measured but powerful thrusts pushed Harry's body forwards. He wrapped his arms around your waist, burying his face on your stomach, mouth slack against your skin, muffling his sounds.

"Careful there," Peter warned, slowing down his movements almost to a stop, "She's hurt"

Harry opened his eyes, and they came to rest on your bruised ribs. You could see the thoughts behind his icy blues crystal clear, the misplaced guilt twisting a knot in his entrails: His father had done that to you. But you refused to let those heavy feelings invade your bubble of solace, refused to let his father ruin this for him too. Squaring your jaw, you looked up at Peter,

"What are you waiting for, Tiger?" Your boyfriend's eyes went wide at your commanding tone, "Fuck him like you mean it"

Peter gulped, goosebumps erupting on his skin. Oh yeah, he might be a big boy now, but your dominant voice could still make him weak. He wondered absently if it was simply you, and everything you did, that turned him to putty in your hands.

"Yes, ma'am" He grabbed onto Harry's hips, picking up his rhythm.

"Oh god!" Harry sobbed into your skin. You ran your hand through his curls, caressing soothingly.

"He feels good, doesn't he? So hard and big…"

"So big…" The blonde agreed, "so deep…"

"How does Harry feel, Peter?"

Your boyfriend was biting his lip, looking down, fixated on the place he was disappearing inside Harry.

"So good, so fucking tight…"

You sighed, yearningly. They were breathtakingly, heartbreakingly beautiful. All lean and strong muscles, locking and releasing, miles of soft creamy skin colliding on skin, tiny beads of sweat glistening in the soft morning light. It was fascinating, watching them move together, the dirty sounds leaving them more than enough to make you wet and ready again.

But before you could say something, you felt Harry's turquoise stare on you.

"Six… I need you, please" He pleaded, small and shy, as if afraid you would say no. You looked at Peter for reassurance, but he was already bending over, reaching for Harry's cock and unrolling a condom around it, pushing him further up your body. The blond whined in complaint when the movement caused Peter to slip out of him.

"You liked that, didn't you?" Your boyfriend moved closer, kissing his shoulder, "Like me filling you up so good…"

Harry and you moaned in unison, making him chuckle.

"It's her turn now. She needs to be filled too. So go on, bury that gorgeous cock of yours between her legs" Peter encouraged, softly, his tone a stark contrast to the vulgarity of his words, "and I will fuck you so hard she will feel it"

Harry cursed, Peter’s dirty mouth was going to be the death of him, he just knew it.

No, he was already in heaven, he decided, as he braced himself on his forearms at each side of your head, taking his sweet time entering you. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about this, the truth was he had, a million times. In fact, every time he had taken a girl that looked just enough like you into his bed. But they were never quite right. Never had your perfume, or their hair was the wrong color, or their eyes were the wrong shade. Now it was really you, and never in his wildest dreams had he pictured it could be like this, your breathy moans underneath him, your heat embracing him so perfectly… As your boyfriend did obscene, immoral, delicious things to him from behind, driving him right to the brink of sanity.

And he didn't waste any time, thrusting hard and fast. Soon, Harry was a sobbing mess, trapped as every move to escape Peter’s cock drove him deeper into you, every motion backwards and away from you impaling him further on Peter’s cock. There wasn’t much he could do, but take whatever Peter gave him.

You clung onto his back, blunt fingernails digging into his skin,

“I'm going to come… Harry, I'm going to come on your cock”

Fuck, you were just as dirty as your boyfriend. And it was truth, he could feel it, feel your walls quivering around his dick, feel your body starting to shake with the force of your orgasm. Peter bended over, grabbing hold of his shoulders, changing the angle, hitting his prostate over and over, white hot pleasure exploding without warning. Harry drown his screams into your mouth, his climax almost painful in it’s intensity, his vision going black.

…

“…Alright, then what about the Academy of Science and Technology?”

You made a face,

“You need at least one PhD to get in…”

“I got a master’s in engineering, does that count?”

“You could get into the Academy of Communications with that” Peter interjected, lazily caressing your naked back. The three of you were in bed, a mess of legs and arms intertwined together, as the sun went down over the city outside.

“That’s the easiest of S.H.I.E.L.D’s academies to get into, right?” Harry mused. Freedom, what a strange thing it was: He had spent his whole life craving it, wishing to be able to do whatever he wanted, go wherever he wanted, be with whoever he really wanted, without fear of his father judgement, without fear of his wrath, and now that he finally could… It was slightly terrifying.

A part of him almost felt guilty, for being so eager to tear apart everything his father had worked so hard for years to turn him into. For allowing himself to feel something this good not even 24 hours after his death. But a touch of your hand, or a glimpse of warm brown eyes, and it all faded away. His second thoughts, his doubts, his responsabilities… In fact, everything outside that bed faded away until there was nothing more than the three of you, alone in the world, still tangled together just talking and touching and basking in the afterglow.

You nodded,

“Data specialists and field agents. But I seriously think you could get into Operations, if you really want to”

“I think she’s right. I'm getting into the Academy of Operations this fall, and” Peter decided, finding Harry’s hand under the sheets, interlocking their fingers together “I really would like you to be there with me”

Harry was speechless. He had wish, he had dreamed, but he hadn’t let himself hope. That this… whatever it was, wild, and exiting, and delicate and precious between the three of you was not a one time thing. He had tried to convince himself that he would be fine if it was, that he was going to treasure it anyway, be glad it happened, enjoy it while it lasted. Even if it killed him the next day.

It was a fine line between happiness and heartbreak, the one he had been walking with you today.

“I… Well, I mean” He stammered “I think I would love to. Go with you, I mean. If I can get in, that is”

Peter and you exchanged a look, one of those silent communication things you seemed to always have going on, and he felt the littlest pang of envy. He wanted to be privy to those conversations, like he wanted to be a part of yours and Peter’s world. He wanted to know what the Cavalry was and why Peter seemed to be so scared of it. He wanted to be able to keep up with yours and Peter stamina. He wanted to spend so much time with you that not knowing your name stopped bothering him, cause he literally knew everything else about you, like Peter did. He wanted to speak the same language you two seemed to share…

And maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t an impossible dream. Because suddenly he found himself with an armful if you, capturing his lips in a possessive kiss that spoke of something deeper than lust and passion, something permanent and meaningful and as inescapable as fate, ‘You are ours now, you belong to us. And we are never letting you go'

Yeah, outside of that bed, the world had shifted again, fallen apart and crumbled to pieces for Harry just like it had for Peter almost a year before. And once you left it, you were going to have to face the aftermath. Harry was going to have to deal with the press, and the fact that his father was a villain. Peter would have to deal with his aunt, and Pepper and to not only explain his sexuality wasn’t conventional, but his relationship now wasn’t either. And you would have to deal with S.H.I.E.L.D, and the rebuilt, and to explain Fury and May how you had ended up with no one, but two boyfriends that had once been your mission. And none of you had any idea how you were going to do that. Or how you were going to make this between the three of you work, because the world was cruel, and didn’t take kindly to things that were different. But you knew the alternative was to painful to even think about it.

Truth was, there was a lot the three of you didn’t know. But there, in each others arms, watching the NYC lights start to shine outside the massive window, you knew one thing: You were going to be alright.

THE END.

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #tom holland #tom holland x reader #harrison osterfield #harrison osterfeild x reader #tom holland x harrison osterfield #tom holland x harrison osterfield x reader smut #peter parker x harry osborn x reader smut #peter parker imagine #tom holland imagine #peter parker fanfic #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker smut #harrison osterfield smut #fine line series #fine line masterlist #fine line

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enchantedlokii · 4 years

Text

Sinking

Rating: Mature

Warnings: suicide attempt, depression, drowning

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, May Parker, Happy Hogan, FRIDAY

Mentioned: Liz Toomes, Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones, Adrian Toomes

Peter had spent the past few month with a sinking feeling in his chest. At first he had tried to brush it off as he was having a bad day. Then a bad day turned into a bad week and a bad week turned into a bad month and it just never seemed to end. He didn’t understand. Life. . . Life had actually been okay for once. He had his suit back. He was hanging out with Mr. Stark on the weekends. He had finally started to get over Liz and not feel completely guilty for leaving her at homecoming. Then this feeling had come out of nowhere.

He had been doing his best to hide the building dam inside him. He put on a smile. He told May and Ned and MJ he was fine. Whenever they asked, he was just tired. When he was with Mr. Stark, he made sure to be extra careful. Because while he knew that May and Ned and MJ would never leave him for feeling down, he wasn’t sure how Tony would react. Because he was supposed to be a hero. He was supposed to be Spider-Man. How could he be that if he was so depressed he didn’t want to get out of bed most mornings?

He knew that in reality, he was probably overreacting. Tony had been nothing but kind to him since he returned the suit. He had apologized several times for taking it in the first place. Told Peter that he was proud of him for taking the Vulture out on his own without the suit. He even admitted that he was impressed with his intellect and invited him to be an intern. He even let Peter keep the features that he and Ned has accidentally unlocked so long as he let him replace the tracker in his suit. And while Peter wasn’t fond of the tracker, he knew that it was for his safety.

“I know that you’re fully capable of taking care of yourself,” Tony had told him as he worked on replacing the tracker. Peter was sitting on a stool next to him, watching over his shoulder. “But everyone needs help sometimes. You never know when you’re going to have another parachute malfunction.”

Peter shuddered at the memory of the cold water. He had been lucky then that he had a tracker in his suit. Because if it hadn’t been there, he definitely would have drowned. Honestly, he was starting to think it was a dumb idea to hack into the suit in the first place. He may be book smart, but he was a bit lacking when it came to common sense. “Yeah, you have a point there,” he admitted. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

Peter had already thanked Tony for saving him that night, but he felt like he should again. Because he had been given time to think, and he only now was realizing that he very well could have died that night. “It’s not a problem, though I don’t ever want to have to pull you out of a lake again, you hear me?”

And Peter had agreed. But now, as his thoughts turned dark, he kept thinking back to his dip in the lake. He remembered sinking. He had fought against the parachute, desperately trying to swim towards the surface. He hadn’t started to panic just yet, but he knew it was coming. He had been relieved to see the familiar colors of the Iron Man suit.

Now, he looked over the lake, thinking. He didn’t have his suit on. It was in his backpack, sitting beside him on the bridge. He had planned on patrolling, not sulking, but he found himself walking in that direction, eventually stopping and sitting on the ledge, watching the sunset in front of him. He looked down at the water below, the memory coming to him again. He wasn’t sure why he had come here at first, but now he was starting to realize. His mind was growing darker with each passing moment, and he found himself shaking as he weighed his options.

He wanted to believe that this feeling would pass. Maybe he would wake up the next morning and be fine. But what if he wasn’t? What if he woke up the next morning wishing even more that he wasn’t alive? What if he regretted not taking the opportunity when it presented himself?

Peter had his phone in his hand, opened to his texts. He hadn’t wrote a note. Again, he hadn’t really planned this. Still, he felt like he should leave something. He should let everyone know that this wasn’t their fault. That he was sorry. Because the last thing he wanted was for them to feel guilty. He didn’t want them to blame themselves. Because it wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

He sighed and clicked on May’s contact first.

‘I just want you to know that I love you so much. Thank you for taking me in and taking care of me. This isn’t your fault, and I don’t want you to feel bad for it. I’m sorry.’

He sent it and then moved to Ned.

‘Thank you for being my best friend for so long. I love you like a brother. I told MJ the truth. Please be there for each other. I’m so sorry. Goodbye.’

Then he went to Michelle.

‘Thanks for letting me getting to know you. I hate that I’ve kept this from you, but truth is, I’m Spider-Man. Sorry you’re finding out now. Bye.’

And last, Peter went to Tony’s contact. He wasn’t completely sure about sending him a message. He probably didn’t even care, but he felt like he owed him something.

‘Thank you for everything you’ve done for me this past year. It means a lot to me, and I haven’t said that enough. This isn’t your fault. It isn’t anyone’s fault. I’m sorry.’

Peter could feel himself shaking as he locked his phone and pushed it into one of the pockets of his backpack. He thought that he might start crying, his vision growing blurry from gathering tears. He could hear dings coming from his pocketed phone, but he ignored them, focusing on the water below.

Taking a deep breath, Peter edged closer to the ledge. He closed his eyes and pushed himself over. It only took second for him to break through the surface and start to sink in the water. He found himself swimming downwards, going farther and farther as his lungs screamed for air. He was starting to feel dizzy as he reached the bottom, black spots dancing in his vision. It was then that he took a breath.

His lungs burned as water started to fill them. He felt himself jerk as his chest expanded. He was in pain, but only briefly. No more than a few minutes could have passed before he was overwhelmed with darkness, slipping away in peace.

Peter felt pressure on his chest. It lifted and then came again. Over and over again. He was faintly aware of his nose being pinched and a mouth on his. He heard a voice, but it was distant. He refused to open his eyes despite the screaming in his lungs. He needed to cough. To clear the water and replace it with air. But he was too weak. He couldn’t find the strength.

“Come on, Kid. Come on.” Peter could barely hear the voice, but he recognized panic. Sadness, even. Terror, maybe. He knew he recognized the voice too, but he couldn’t place it. His head still felt like it was underwater. “Please. Please, come on.”

Peter felt more pressure on his chest and something shifted. He found himself coughing on instinct, pain ripping through his body. His body was moved onto its side as he started to choke on the water that was now spilling from his mouth. A hand rubbed his back, helping his weak body force out the fluid so he could take a weak breathe.

“Oh, thank God. Oh, God. There you go. There you go. Keep breathing, Pete. Just keep breathing,” the voice said. The man was still rubbing his back, keeping him propped on his side. Peter kept coughing periodically, water dripping from his mouth and nose. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Peter’s brain was still fuzzy, but he found himself trying to move his head to see who was beside him. The man seemed to notice, repositioning himself until he was kneeling in front of Peter. And it took him a second before his oxygen-deprived brain recognized him as Mr. Stark. He looked terrified, not moving his hand from Peter’s back. “T-Tony?”

“I’m here, Kiddo. I’m here. Save your breath, alright? Just rest,” the man told him. His eyes flashed with relief when the boy recognized him and gathered the strength to speak, even if the single word was weak and shaky. It was there. Peter was alive and breathing again. “Happy’s on his way to bring you to the medbay. Just hold on. Just keep breathing for me.”

Peter blinked at him before closing his eyes. He was exhausted and his chest ached. It felt worse than it had after his many asthma attacks as a kid. And as the blood started to flow to his brain again, repriving the oxygen that it had been starved of, he realized that it was because he had stopped breathing. And he wasn’t sure for how long. Based on the foggy feeling in his head, at least a few minutes. He had been dead and Mr. Stark had to bring him back. “‘M s’rry. . .”

“Shh,” Tony combed his fingers through Peter’s wet hair. Peter whimpered and forced himself into a sitting position before slumping over into Mr. Stark. “It’s okay, Pete. I’ve got you,” the man murmured, holding him close despite the water that was starting to soak his clothes.

“Oh, thank God.” Peter heard a new voice, but didn’t look up. He was a bit more alert now, and it only took a moment for him to recognize it as Happy. “Is he okay?”

“He was under for at least three minutes,” Tony murmured, still holding Peter close. “I. . . I thought I was going to lose him.”

Peter whimpered and tried to push closer to Tony. He felt a new hand in his hair, gently ruffling his wet curls. He didn’t lift his head, but murmured a “Happy.”

“Hey, Pete,” the man said softly. “You had us scared, Buddy.”

“‘M s’rry,” he mumbled, just barely lifting his head to look at Happy with bleary eyes. He could see the worry etched in his features, but there was a hint of relief there too.

“No, no, don’t apologize,” Happy replied. “I’m glad that you’re okay.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital, Kiddo,” Tony murmured quietly. Peter thought he felt the man press a kiss to the top of his head. “You’re freezing. The last thing you need is a bad case of pneumonia right now.”

Peter just nodded into his chest. He hated the idea, but he was too weak to argue. And he knew that if he cooperated, he could sleep soon.

He took a shaky breath and tried to push himself up, only to be stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder. “I’ve got you,” Happy told him, carefully scooping up his legs and putting an arm under his back. Peter whimpered at first, but felt himself relax as he pressed into Happy’s warm chest. The feeling made him want to sleep even more, and he clinged on tighter as Happy started to put him down in the back of the car.

“I’m going to stay back here with you,” he heard Tony tell him. He was uncertain first, lifting his head a bit to look at the man. It was only when he saw the sincerity in his eyes that he let Happy lower him down. At the same time, Tony climbed in the opposite seat, grabbing a blanket that had been thrown in the passenger seat. “Come here, Kiddo.”

Peter shuffled closer and smiled a bit at the warmth that came as the blanket was wrapped around him and he was pulled into another hug. Neither of them said anything as Happy climbed in and started to drive, but after a few moments, Peter remembered something. “May?”

“Rhodey is picking her up and bringing her to meet us,” Tony told him. His hand was stroking Peter’s hair again, making him feel even more tired than before. “FRIDAY, can you send her an update?”

“Already have, Boss,” FRIDAY replied.

Peter nodded, closing his eyes again. “Try to stay awake, Buddy,” Tony murmured, noticing the change. “I know you’re tired, and I promise you can sleep soon, but you need to be checked out first, alright?”

Peter hummed in reply, barely managing to stay awake during the ride. He believed he was okay. Well, physically, at least. With his enhanced healing, he would survive even if he did fall asleep. Still, he knew that Tony was worried and he owed him this, so he fought off sleep until they reached the compound.

“‘Can walk,” he mumbled as Happy started to pick him up again. He wasn’t sure that was actually true, but he felt bad that the man had to carry him. Either way, he was shushed and Happy lifted him up once again and carrying him inside.

Peter barely remembered anything after arriving at the compound. He knew that May had been there. She had been crying, but tried to hide it as she hugged him and whispered soft words to him. After that, he was taken to a room and examined, hooked to machines, probably given some sort of drugs, but it was all a blur. He had been so tired, and he knew it wasn’t long before he fell asleep in the comfortable bed.

He was surprised that, when he woke up, the room was dark. There was a faint blue light that he recognized easily, but that was the only light in the room. It was night out, he noticed, and May was sleeping on a couch against the wall under the windows. He frowned at her, guilt bubbling inside him, blinking when a hand touched his. He slowly turned his head and squinted his eyes a bit at the light until his eyes adjusted. “You want me to wake her up?”

Peter shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment. “She was crying,” he mumbled. His voice sounded tired, but wasn’t as weak as it had been before. His chest still ached, but it wasn’t as bad as he remembered it being before. There was a cannula taped to his face helping him breathe, and as annoying as it was, he was grateful for it.

“She was worried,” Tony told him softly. “We all were, Pete.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. He remembered the panic that he had heard in the man’s voice earlier. The fear. He remembered him telling Happy that he thought he was gone. He remembered that, for a few minutes, he was gone. He had almost died.

Then he remembered something else. That’s what he had wanted. He had wanted to die. That’s what he intended to happen. He didn’t plan on being rescued. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want Tony to come and pull him out. And while he felt tears forming in his eyes, there was also a sense of relief in his chest that he couldn’t explain.

“Don’t apologize,” Tony replied. “We’re all just relieved you’re okay.”

Peter hummed, closing his eyes to try to fight the tears that were building inside him. “It’s okay to cry,” he heard Tony murmur. “Look at me, Pete.”

Peter blinked up at him, vision blurry. He could see sadness in his eyes, but there was still that same sincerity that he saw earlier. He found himself wondering why the man cared so much. What made Peter special enough for someone like Tony Stark to care about him? Not only that, but to care enough to fly to save him in his lowest point. To beg Peter to come back to life. To stay by his bedside in the hospital.

“I don’t want you to ever think that you’re not important,” Tony started. “I don’t want you to feel unwanted or like it doesn’t matter if you’re here or not. None of that, alright? I’m going to be completely honest with you; I was terrified. I was worried I would be too late, Kiddo.”

Peter wanted to apologize, but he couldn’t find the words. He was surprised. There were tears in Tony’s eyes as he spoke. His voice sounded tight. And that made Peter feel even more guilty. Not just for what he did, but for not realizing how much he apparently meant to the man. Because he had never seen him cry before.

“I don’t want to lose you, Peter. You mean a lot to me and you’ve helped me more than you know. I’m so sorry that I didn’t make that more obvious. I guess I thought you knew. I didn’t. . . God, how did I not notice?” Peter watched as he put his face in his hands. “I’m sorry.”

Peter reached out shakily to touch his knee, forcing Tony to look at him again. “‘S not your fault,” Peter murmured. “I-I just. . . I felt. . .”

Tears started to stream down Peter’s face as he tried to explain the feelings he had spent so long repressing. Suddenly he was sobbing and strong arms wrapped around him, holding him close. “I-I’m sorry,” he cried. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did it. I’m sorry.”

“Shh.” Peter felt a kiss pressed on the top of his head, then a hand pulled him into Tony’s chest. “I love you, Kiddo. If you every feel like this. . . H*ll, if the thought ever even crosses your mind, you can come to me, okay? I don’t want to lose you. Especially not like that. Please.”

Peter nodded into his chest, letting himself cry. He felt another pair of arms around him and shifted slightly, hearing May’s heartbeat. He took in her clean smell, fresh tears falling from his eyes. He had tried to leave May. He tried to leave her all alone. He was all she had left and he had tried to leave her.

“We’ve got you, Baby,” May whispered, kissing his temple. “It’s going to be okay.”

“I’m sorry,” he cried. Guilt and regret filled his aching chest. He knew that her and Tony were both crying now. It was easy to pick up on with his enhanced senses. “I-I just don’t want to hurt anymore. I-It hurts.”

“It’s going to get better,” Tony promised. “We’re going to make sure of it. If there’s anything — anything at all — that we can do to help, tell us. We want to help, Pete.”

Peter was quiet for a few moments, crying silently as the two hugged him. Slowly, he pulled away and blinked up at them, looking from Tony to May. “I-I want to get better,” he told them. “Bu-but I can’t. Not on my own.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” May told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not alone, Peter. Never.”

“Th-thank you,” he whispered, smiling at her before turning to Tony. He hesitated before leaning forward and wrapping him in a tight hug. “Thank you for saving me.”

Tony squeezed him tight, kissing his forehead. “Of course, Kiddo. . . Just, you remember me saying that I didn’t want to ever pull you out of a lake again?”

Peter smiled weakly and nodded.

“Yeah, let’s remember that this time, okay?”

Peter chuckled weakly. “Okay, Mr. Stark,” he smiled. “Oh, um, and I love you too.” He pulled away and moved to hug May. “I love you too, Aunt May.”

“I love you too, Peter. So, so much.”

#marvel #mcu #avengers #irondad #spiderson #peter parker #tony stark #may parker #happy hogan #friday #spider man #iron man #tw suicide

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fantasticstoryteller · 3 years

Text

New Dynasty Chapter 26

“And now we’re off to training,” Wade sang, in his Deadpool suit as Peter (Spiderman suit in his bag) and Arachne (still wearing her fairy wings) followed him to the tower. “Gonna kick some ass—ets.”

Peter snorted. It couldn't be more obvious that Wade was trying not to cuss in front of the girl. Personally, Peter thought it was adorable. Wade spun a pirouette as they crossed the street.

Wade casually leaped from the street to the sidewalk in an odd move that was part jump and part axel spin. “And after lunch,” caroled Wade, “we get to do it all over again!”

“You know they don’t like it when you say stuff like that Wade,” Peter mock scolded.

“Oh!” Wade put both hands over his heart. “You wound me!” He collapsed to the sidewalk. “I shall die.” He made an exaggerated croaking noise and his head fell to the side.

The general public in the area, aware that Deadpool did this at least once a week, merely stepped over or around him. Arachne (wearing pink and blue today, to match the sparkles on the wings) ran up to Wade and timidly touched his shoulder, clearly concerned. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Somehow, Wade drew himself to his tip-toes without bending and announced to the world, “I HAVE REVIVED!”

Peter clutched the side of the building as he burst into helpless laughter. The girl looked between the two of them, clearly confused and Peter stifled his laughter as he picked her up so he could explain—outside where the AI couldn't hear them. “One day Iron Man demanded to know if Wade could act more outlandish, and every time we both come over he tries to one-up himself.” He didn’t share the rest of the conversation, where Wade had demanded to know who had Tony’s panties in a twist.

“Brains!” moaned Wade shuffling forwards with his arms outstretched and wrists limp. “Brains!”

The door automatically opened for them both. “Mr. Wilson-Parker,” Friday said as they crossed the threshold into the building, “Mr. Romanov is in the training room waiting for you. Peter, Dr. Banner is waiting for you in the new lab.”

Wade gaped. “How come he’s ‘Peter’ and I’m Mr. Wilson-Parker?”

“Earlier in our acquaintance Peter informed me that he felt uncomfortable being addressed by his last name. Since you have made no mention of discomfort at being called by your last name I merely continued to do so. Would you prefer to be known by another name?”

Wade beamed up at the ceiling and stood, hands on his hips. “Yes!” he said happily. “I want to be Mrs. Wilson-Parker.”

There was a soft tone and Friday said, “Very well, Mrs. Wilson-Parker. I shall remember.”

“Thanks buddy!” Wade said, skipping (literally) down the hall.

Peter put down Arachne as he tried not to burst out snickering. He hoped he was in the room to see Tony’s face the first time Friday called Wade “Mrs. Wilson-Parker.” Arachne tucked a hand into his and looked up, worry on her face. “Don’t worry,” he told her as he led her to the elevator. “Everything will be all right,” he added as they went up to the floor.

When Friday said that Dr. Banner wanted Peter in the new lab, the AI didn’t mean that a new lab had been built—it meant that Dr. Banner had moved to another lab. The man regularly switched between two of them, and the next lab was always “the new one.” Peter wasn’t sure why Dr. Banner had changed labs, but felt certain he’d find out.

In the new lab was an alarm clock, very conspicuously in sight of the door, that was a match for the one that Dr. Banner broke not that long ago. “Is it set?” asked Peter curiously as he set Arachne down on the table. She stuck her thumb in her mouth as she watched the two of them with wide eyes.

Dr. Banner grimaced. “No,” he said wearily. “I couldn't figure out how.” Peter grinned; there was just something funny about how the man could use micro levers to take apart a nanomachine and couldn't set an alarm clock. Dr. Banner opened a single eye at him. “I heard that,” he told Peter.

“Sorry Dr. Banner,” said Peter. He quickly changed the subject. “This is Arachne,” he said. Then he remembered what Friday had called Wade and added, with a grin, “Arachne Wilson-Parker.”

“Nice to meet you Arachne,” Dr. Banner said. “Have you told Tony yet?”

“Not yet, but I did call Aunt May last night.”

Dr. Banner nodded. “That was wise,” he commented. He put his coffee cup on the table next to him and strode over to Arachne. “Now,” he said to the child, “I have a few questions.” Arachne looked at Peter, still worrying her thumb in her mouth.

“It’s okay,” Peter assured her.

“Peter tells me that you use webbing. Would you mind showing me how that works?”

“Don’t you already know about that?” asked Peter.

“Amazingly, no. It didn’t come up.”

“Show?” asked Arachne, frowning.

“He wants you to spin your web to something,” Peter said.

The girl continued frowning and Dr. Banner opened his mouth to say something, but Peter shushed him with a shake of his head. Arachne needed figure out what she wanted to do. She looked around the lab and Peter saw when her eyes lit on two poles (used for hanging bags when liquid needed to be dripped for an experiment). She jumped down from the table, climbed the wall next to them. Then, alternating which pole she was pointing at, she spun an almost perfect orb weaver web using both wrists.

Arachne reached out to grab the web and the poles moved. She flattened herself to the wall and glared. “They’re not very sturdy,” she complained as she got down to the floor. Then she began gnawing on her wrists.

“Arachne, what are you doing?” asked Peter curiously. He’d never seen her do that before.

She looked up. “They’re getting clogged,” she explained.

“May I see? Arachne,” asked Dr. Banner. Arachne hesitated, glanced at Peter, and then held out a timid hand. Dr. Banner looked at the tiny holes in her wrist. Sure enough, there was still a little bit of webbing stuck in there. “Fascinating,” he mused. He looked at the child. She looked like she wanted to snatch her hand and run, but didn’t dare. He released her hand and she backed up until she was next to Peter. “Arachne, have they always gotten clogged like that?”

The girl shook her head, but didn’t speak. Peter wasn’t certain what it was about Dr. Banner’s examination that spooked her, but he was willing to bet it had to do with those videos he didn’t watch. “How long have they been clogging like that?” he asked the child.

Arachne looked up at Peter, clearly having no difficulty talking to him. “Since last night.”

“Hmm,” mused Bruce. “It might be a dietary imbalance—I’ll run some tests,” he said. Arachne backed up a little more until Dr. Banner pulled some of the web down and took a thin strand.

Peter looked at Arachne and tried to think of something—anything—the child wasn’t eating. Then he frowned, considering. Maybe it wasn’t an eating problem. “Arachne, how much water do you normally drink?”

“I don’t know,” she said, clearly confused. “We used to get six big glasses four times a day.” She grimaced. “I don’t really like water that much,” she confessed.

“Dr. Banner, Peter, Mr. Stark has announced he is coming to visit.”

“What does he want now,” muttered Dr. Banner as the door to the lab opened and Stark walked in.

In a flash Arachne had scaled Peter and was clinging to his back. Peter absently grabbed the front of his shirt to keep it from sliding back and choking him. Tony missed none of this. “What was that?” he demanded as he glared through Peter at the child on his back. Arachne began to shake.

“You scare her,” Peter explained.

Tony stared for a moment. Then his face went red. “I refuse,” he growled, “to believe that I am scarier than Deadpool!”

#Spider-Man #Deadpool #Spideypool

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salty-ironstrange-shipper · 4 years

Text

Don’t Lift The Veil

*kind of based on this post you might remember, also on ao3

Stephen stumbled into Kamar-Taj, only narrowly avoiding breaking his skull on the floor by an apprentice sorcerer lurching forward and taking his arm.

"Master Strange?" The girl said, then, more anxiously, "Master Strange?!"

April, Stephen thought to himself, placing the voice. He tried to reassure her, but instead made an odd choking sound and blacked out. Oh well . . .

When he woke again, April was still there, only there was a Master of the Mystic Arts who specialized in healing magic beside her and they were in Stephen's bedroom.

April dabbed at Stephen's forehead with a warm towel. No one was sure if that was necessary, but it seemed the thing to do. "Are you alright, Master Strange?"

Stephen tried to sit up and bit back a scream when doing so put pressure on the stab wound in his stomach. "More or less."

April lightly pushed him back down on the bed. "Sir," she said gently, like she was speaking to a child, "you should rest now. You were badly hurt."

Stephen dropped his head on the pillow, sulking. "I don't want to rest. I am the Sorcerer Supreme, I can do what I want."

"Of course you can," April cooed.

Stephen scowled, waving away the healer. Still, April refused to leave, sitting on the bed beside his knees with her legs crossed.

Stephen sighed, but didn't send her away. Perhaps he was getting soft in his old age (a thousand years was a long time even for a sorcerer), but in truth it was a weakness he had towards some of the young sorcerers. April in particular was dear to him, being the descendant of dear Peter. More than forty generations separated her from Spider-Man, but he allowed himself to believe that he could see a bit of the wide-eyed teen he once knew in her.

Just as he was getting melancholy, April started bouncing her legs, bored. Ah, there it is. "Are you alright, April?"

". . . Yes."

It was going to be a long day.

|||

April refused to relent, and Stephen refused to sleep. Now at a stalemate, they passed the time by playing card games and idly chatting.

April placed her card. "Skip you, I go again. The color is red, and you draw four."

"Fuck," Stephen muttered before succumbing to the will of the Uno cards.

April smirked, looking down at her own cards. "Hey, Master Strange, have you always been a sorcerer?"

Stephen was old enough that none of the living sorcerers had been there when he first came to Kathmandu. Long before April's time and after Tony's death nine hundred years ago, all the information about who Doctor Stephen Strange had been was lost. Or destroyed, rather. Now few even knew who he'd been before becoming Sorcerer Supreme, and for the most part he preferred it that way. Any immortal could tell you that memories were the enemy.

So he wasn't quite sure why he said, "No."

April quirked a brow. "Where did you come from?"

He hesitated before answering. “Before I came to Kamar-Taj, I lived in New York with my husband.” He shrugged. “Fiance, at the time.”

April stared at him, wide-eyed. “Oh my God — Master Strange, I had no idea you were married—”

“Widowed now,” Stephen said quietly before laying down another card.

April blinked, her cheeks heating and turning red. “I’m . . . I’m sorry—”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who brought it up.” He frowned. “There really is no point of a Reverse card if you’re just playing with two people.”

They played in awkward silence for another minute before April asked, “Do you want to talk about it? Or, him, I guess?”

Then the strangest thing happened.

Stephen smiled.

“I could tell you everything about him. Who he was, how we met. The color of his eyes and the shape of his nose. I can see him right in front of me. He is more real to me than you.”

His smile was sad, and his blue-green eyes seemed to lose their light. He laid another card, and when he spoke again, this time about an envoy that needed to be sent to the Nat'hal dimension, it was clear that the conversation was over.

But April was never one to give up so easily. It was in her blood. She was ninety percent sure she was descended from Superheroes (considering her family bad the right Peter Parker in their tree and not some rando from the same time).

She spent over a week going through everything she could find about their current Sorcerer Supreme. It wasn't easy. He was a private person even by hero standards, and had been born roughly a thousand years ago. But that was right at the start of the information age, and though it meant sorting through piles of white noise and conspiracy theorist bullshit, she was able to find some old interviews and articles from around his time that referenced a Stephen Strange . . . and his husband, Tony Stark.

That was the most surprising part. Even children knew who Iron Man was, one of Earth's first and greatest protectors, who lost an arm bringing half the universe back to life and defeating the Mad Titan Thanos.

But if they knew each other, why doesn't Strange ever mention him?

If her theory was correct, then they hadn't just known each other - they'd loved each other, and had been married for almost fifty years (longer, if you counted the time Strange apparently lost to Thanos). They had children together. The memory must have been painful to him, living so long without his beloved, forced to remain on Earth and carry out his duties as Sorcerer Supreme.

Oh, Stephen . . . She'd always known that their leader carried a heavy burden, but she had no idea he'd lost so much. She wanted to do something, anything to help him . . .

And she had just the idea.

“Okay,” April said, placing the last candle and looking back at her book. “This . . . should probably work.”

There were a few days when the veils between dimensions were thin. The winter solstice was one such time. The borders had only grown weaker after centuries of attacks from aliens and other-worldly beings and. The perfect time for such a spell.

April sat in the circle of candles and crossed her legs. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, her third eye opened too, and the silvery light of Oshtur poured forth into the room. She could see the dimensions laid over each other, and the things that lingered nearby. Some of them seemed almost familiar.

Her mouth moved almost unbidden as she spoke. “Oshtur Star-Eye, Mother of Agamotto, guide to sorcerors living and dead, I call upon you to find the soul I seek and lead it to me—” Her breath caught as the spirits started to take shape. Away and above Kamar-Taj, she could feel Oshtur looking upon her. “Bring me Anthony Edward Stark, Iron Man, Saviour of the Universe and Earth’s Defender, husband to the Sorcerer Supreme Stephen Strange, lead him here and show him to me—”

Suddenly she fell forward, the spell cut short as a breeze filled the room snuffing out all the candles. A moment later, Stephen Strange walked into her vision, knocking over the candles and using his heel to disrupt the chalk circle. When he looked at her, she flinched from his gaze. “What are you doing?!”

April shook her head, the movement slow and heavy. “I don’t . . . I . . .”

“It is the solstice, the walls between worlds are thin and weak, all sorts of things linger in the liminal spaces, waiting to break through! You didn’t even ward or purify this room, you could have invited any number of monsters and specters into this sacred place! What were you thinking, what were you even trying to do?!”

April frowned, fearing tears prickle at her eyes. “I was just . . . I was trying to find Tony for you . . .”

Stephen stared at her in shocked silence as April’s head dropped, tears streaming down her cheeks. Then he leaned down and wiped a tear away, his voice growing soft. “Go to sleep. The spell exhausted you. We’ll speak tomorrow.”

She could do nothing but obey.

The next morning, April awoke to find Stephen already in her room, meditating on a mat in the corner. He opened his eyes when she saw him. “You’re awake.”

April nodded, yawning tiredly. “What, uh . . . what happened?”

Stephen uncrossed his legs, resting his chin on one hand. Even after all this time, it was still scarred and shaking. “You attempted to summon my husband from beyond the grave, and I stopped you.”

“Oh, that sounds about right.” She frowned. “Why did you stop me?”

Stephen considered it for a moment, his blue-green eyes showing nothing. “It’s quite insulting that you think I don’t know how to summon a soul. I’ve read every book here, know every spell. I can summon ghosts as easily as most people can snap.”

“Then why . . .”

Stephen shrugged. “I did. I admit now that I wasn’t always careful. I made the same mistakes as you. But twice a year for about a century, Tony and I met and were together. And that seemed like everything that mattered.” He looked away. “But we couldn’t keep going like that. It was worse than have each other for a moment and be wrenched away again than to never see each other. And it disturbed his rest, and there’s no one who deserves to rest more than Tony.”

Despite herself, April knew she was crying again. “I’m so sorry.”

Stephen smiled sadly. “So am I.” He stood up. “But I know that one day, in my time of greatest need, Tony and I will find each other again. He’s always there for me when I need him. That will have to be enough for now.” He walked to the door, opening it slightly. “I’ll see you in my class on defensive magic later, yes?”

She swallowed past the weight in her throat. “Promise.”

Stephen nodded once and left, closing the door behind him.

#incorrect-ironstrange #ironstrange #tony stark #stephen strange #fanfiction #ironstrange fanfiction #ironstrange fic #don't lift the veil #from the top #sad #angst #i made myself sad #tony stark death tw #my writing #my fanfiction

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beahasasideblog · 3 years

Text

At the Beach

My fill for the @starkerfestivals bingo card prompt 'At the Beach'! This one's a little short, so I won't be putting it on ao3.

In California, there is a town, and within that town is a cove, within which lies a small beach. The sand is coarse and dark, the kind that sticks between the treads of your shoes. The waves are dark and wild, thrashing into spindrift, into the air, and up, away from whence they came.

On this ugly beach- for, comparatively, there are many far more beautiful beaches in the state of California- there is a single, wooden staircase. This staircase is old, and worn, and tucked into the side of a hill. These steep steps are rickety, and high in number, and a strong deterrent for any who might wish to visit the cove.

A deterrent to most people- but Tony Stark isn’t like most people, is he? He stands at the edge of the tide, just close enough that the sand beneath him is packed tight from water and sediment. Sea glass shines with the final remnants of late afternoon, shimmering as the tide recedes with the day.

Tony has always loved this beach. Partly, it is for solitude. In all his years, he has never once seen another person along the stretch of sand. Who would walk down a cliff for a pathetically small beach? The other reason he loves the beach, however, is (ironically) the company he can find within it.

Small, cliffside coves, such as this one, are formed by the rising tide. As the waves crash against the side of a mountain, they wear down the walls. Eventually, after thousands of years, the cove is formed. When the tide is low, a stretch of sand is revealed. When the waves come crashing back down, all evidence of a visit is washed away.

“Tony?” A familiar voice calls out, sparkling and sharp like the sea glass crunching beneath his feet. “Did you really need to see me?”

That’s when Tony turns to look at the source of the voice, and sees him again. Peter Parker stands awkwardly to the side, with hands tucked into the pockets of his zipped jacket. His cheeks are tinged pink with the chill of the wind, painting him to look like a cherub.

“I know that you… that we agreed to stay apart from each other,” Peter continues, after not receiving a reply. His hands shift visibly in his pockets, but do not leave them. “I don’t even know why I’m here. I’m doing fine on my own, and you’re clearly doing fine, too, so you don’t need anything from me, and I might as well just leave, so I’m gonna do that before…”

“Before what?” Tony prompts, taking off his dark sunglasses and rubbing the lenses against the hem of his shirt. Even with the reveal of his red-rimmed eyes, Tony averts his gaze, as though that will mask anything. “Before Morgan follows you and sees us here?”

With that, Peter sighs. “Don’t blame this on me, Tony. I wanted to fix things, to make it work. You made the decision to break it off, because you’re so fucking stubborn. What is this, huh? Are you trying to get me to admit that I’m better off without you? Is this all some elaborate way for you to justify your own selfish actions? It’s not my fault that you keep wanting to hurt yourself!”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tony scoffs, an aching emptiness in his chest clawing at his ribcage. “Morgan is… I’m her father, and I need to do what’s best for her, and she doesn’t… Peter, you have to understand-”

“I understand it, but that doesn’t make your reasoning sound!” Peter interjects, doing his best to make his breathing steady. “Morgan would have gotten over it, eventually! She just needed some time to understand that we actually care about each other! She would have gotten over the age thing, and she’d have learned that I’m not, what did she call me, a ‘gold-digging twink’? Or was it a ‘selfish homewrecker’?”

“It’s not my fault that she was surprised to see her best friend in bed with me!” Tony shoots back, finally forcing himself to stare his former lover in the eyes. For a moment, there is only the gentle crashing of the tide, and the strained breathing of two men with conflict within their hearts.

It is only after a long, tense moment, that Peter finally breaks the silence.

“You were never going to leave your wife, were you?” His voice is small and fragmented, shards of glass only held in a mirror’s frame by tension of their placement. He speaks with a voice so weak that a strong breeze could bring it all crashing down. “I wasn’t ever going to be.. We weren’t ever going to be anything real. I was just there to keep your bed warm.”

“Peter, you know what you mean to me,” Tony chokes, taking an unsteady step toward the other man.

The man in question pulls back in response.

“I know that you kept telling me, ‘Just a few more months, baby’,” Peter spits, his voice becoming a sharp, angry thing. “You fed me empty promises for two goddamned years, and I-I was stupid enough to believe you! And where did that get me, huh? I’ve lost my best friend, the man I love, and… And you’re untouched by the fallout.

“I have to wonder if that’s what you planned, the whole time. Maybe you just needed an excuse to throw away your old mistress and find a new one. Tony… did you ever really love me, the way I loved you?”

If this were a love story, Tony would rush across the beach, pulling his lover into his arms and whispering sweet promises. He would press sweet kisses to Peter’s face, and resolve to change for the better. To provide a life worth living together.

But this is not a love story- not because the two men are not in love. Instead, it is because, quite simply, some men believe-

“Stark men are made of iron,” Tony says quietly. “I can’t… I’m not capable of loving anyone more than I love myself. I’ve hurt you enough, already. You should go.”

“You’re not even going to deny it?”

“Why would I? Some people just aren’t… we just aren’t made to love others. All I can ever do is take.”

#starker #sfsummerbingo21 #peter parker #tony stark x peter parker #starker fic #angst #morgan stark #cheating #my fic

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baffling-bisexual-quack · 3 years

Text

Death Brings Us Closer

Hey!!! This is the first fic i’ve ever posted, so it’s kind of nerve-wracking. It’s a peter parker x reader fic, and i tried to be gender-neutral. Also it’s disregarding a ton of events in the movies... If anyone sees this, positive comments are encouraged :)

Warning: Swearing & near-death experience ( i don’t dive into that)

Summary: You’re recovering from a near-death experience with the avengers.

You jumped. It seemed uncalled for, but this was your personality. You were always bullied in college, but this was extreme. A group of kids, boys & girls alike had chased you up onto the roof of the Mettely dorms. The dusty ground was hard to get your fitting on, but they had pursued you up there with no problems. Now, they were backing into you. The main problem was that this roof had no barrier, so one wrong move and you would be flying down a 10-story drop. Might as well just kill yourself now. You gulped hard as you glanced behind you. The edge of the building was less than 2 feet away, and the people were still coming towards you. You needed a plan, and now.

“What, you afraid of heights?” The guy you assumed was the leader said. He had a smug look on his face.

The thing is, you were a spiteful person. If someone said you couldn’t do something, you went right ahead and did it, not caring whether you would get hurt or die. That was mainly the reason you’d reputation was so bad.

“You can’t survive that jump! Nobody can! So why don’t you just surrender now?” The rest of the people nodded & smirked, agreeing with the guy.

Like an idiot, you went “No one can survive it, huh? Then I’ll be the first!”

You jumped off the roof. Big mistake. The ground was cement under you. Nothing to break you fall. Your life flashed before your eyes. You didn’t think it would end at the age of 19. As your head hit the cement, you heard gasps had shouts from everyone around you. All you could feel was a throbbing pain in your lungs and your head. Well this is what death feels like, you thought. It was the last thing you thought before you blacked out, barely breathing. You didn’t hear a person trying to talk to you, you didn’t feel him pick you up, you didn’t see his car that he rushed you in to get you to the safest place he knew, where some of the best doctors were.

He didn’t know if you were alive anymore.

When you woke up, you could hear people discussing something about someone. Your head was throbbing and it felt like there was an elephant sitting on your stomach. You opens you eyes to see 5 different people who you had never met in your life standing over you. Wait, you may have seen two of them before, but right now, you believed everything and nothing.

“Hurgruphungf” you said trying to get up. You were quickly pushed back down by a boy.

“Where.... what... who...??” You mange to stutter out.

“Oh, you’re up. I can’t believe you’re alive. That was a pretty bad fall. What were you doing jumping off a 10-story building, anyway? Are you suicidal? That’s rough. Anyway, based on the diagnosis and some of the treatments...” You cut the boy off by covering his mouth with your hand, which had a metric ton of tubes taped to it.

“Who. The fuck. Are you.” You said, making it clear that there was no messing about with you.

“Ah, you probably don’t know me. We go to the same university, NYU? I’m in second year, and I think you’re in first? Do I have that right? Anyway, I’m Peter, and this is Bruce, Shuri, Dad, and Dr. Dad. Also known and Tony and Stephen.”

“Ah, yes, knowing there names. That makes me understand why I’m in a hospital bed and my head really hurts and I’m surrounded by a bunch of fucking geniuses!!!” You snapped back. It was just your nature in times like this that you got really sarcastic & snarky.

“Oh, I guess you wouldn’t remember. You jumped off the Mettely dorms roof? Possibly because you’re suicidal? I think? I mean you might not be, but, I-“ Peter was babbling, so you decided to help him by slapping your have over his mouth again.

“I’m not suicidal, those people were backing me into the edge of the roof and there was no barrier so I was going to fall. They’re these bullies and I’ve been their target since the first day I got to university but they never went so far as to almost push me off a building. Then one of them said I couldn’t jump off the side of the building so I had to prove them wrong, right? So I jumped off to show them I could survive and now I’m here.” You stopped to take a breath. By now everyone in the room was staring at you. Even the Bruce guy had stopped checking your vitals to stare at you. Peter gently removed your head from his face and asked,

“So you’re not suicidal?”

“Yeah.” You replied. You had decided that you liked him. For now. As long as he didn’t do anything idiotic or mean.

“Good to know.” He said.

Then, the guy named Tony started taking about your injuries and what they needed to do. It bored you after about 30 seconds, and Peter noticed this and caught your eye, giving you a thumbs up. You gave him a small smile.

“Got it?” Tony concluded.

“Um, yeah, as long as there are no amputations and I can walk and stuff after.” You said, trying not to make it obvious you weren’t listening.

“No, no amputations. There will be surgery, though, and it will take about a year to recover.” The Stephen guy said. He looked like a wizard or something, with those clearly defined cheekbones.

“A fucking year??” You asked dubiously.

“Yes.” Stephen responded.

“Do you have a plan for keeping up with schoolwork?” Shuri asked.

“I don’t even have a ‘pla’” you respond. Peter gives a small laugh at your friends quote.

“Alright, we’re gonna have to put your under for this. Peter, out.” Bruce said, getting down to business.

“But I-“

“Out, Peter!”

“Hmph.”

—————————

After you had woken up, it was revealed that you had been asleep for a day and a half. Much longer than they had expected. But you were alive, and the surgery was a success. It left you feeling like shit.

Peter came to visit you with this really, really tall guy who didn’t look human. He was blonde with one blue and one brown-ish colour. He was wearing armour, which was weird because it didn’t seem like there was a fight going on. Also, he had a huge hammer. Were they planning to just kill you now?

“Hey, you’re up! I just wanted to check. This is my friend, Thor. Thor, this is... I actually don’t think I know your name! Weird. What is it?”

“It’s y/n.”

“Ah. Well, Thor, this is y/n.”

“Greetings, midgardian! I am Thor, god of thunder, king of Asgard.”

“Well, I’m y/n, the biggest idiot you’ll ever meet, who lives their life out of spite.”

Peter laughed a little at this. He seemed to like your sense of humour, which is a good sign.

“I am very unfamiliar with midgardian culture. Anything I should know?” Thor asked eagerly.

“Yes. Live by this word, which is ‘being in a total state of awareness’. The word is: Unagi.” You said, doing the hand motion with your first two fingers like a gun next to your eyeball. Thor gave you a confused look, but nodded along. Peter was laughing really hard, by was trying to hide it.

“Also, the best pickup line is ‘how you doin’?” Peter added on.

“I see.” Thor said, intrigued.

“What’re you guys telling him?” Bruce said, walking in to check on you to or like the ninth time today.

“Unagi.” You said, doing the hand motion.

“And ‘how you doin’?’” Peter said.

Bruce facepalmed. “Don’t listen to them. They’re trying to mess with you.”

“I am confused.” Thor said.

“Alright, you two need to get out so y/n can rest.” Bruce said, ending the conversation.

“Bye, y/n. By the way, I’m spider-man.” Peter said as he left.

“Wait, what? You’re joking, right?” You said. Peter just smiled and left the room with Thor.

“He’s spider-man?” You ask Bruce, hoping that he was joking.

“Yeah, I guess you should know, since you’re gonna be here for awhile. He’s spider-man, I’m the hulk, Tony’s iron man and Stephen’s the sorcerer supreme. Cool, right?” Bruce said nonchalantly.

“Um, yeah. That’s kind of a big deal! I mean like I’m surrounded by avengers & stuff... like. Wow.” You said, slightly shocked.

“Do you wanna lift your arm?” Bruce asked. You knew the question was rhetorical, but you took the opportunity anyway.

“Oh, I wish I could, but I don’t want to.” You said, quoting friends again.

“You’re just like a friends quote machine, aren’t you?”

“Yyyyep!”

“So anyway, what’s going on for you?” Bruce asked.

“Well, I’m in a hospital bed surrounded by avengers, so that happens. You?”

Bruce sighed. “I’m trying to find a way to ask Thor out, but I don’t know how.”

“I’m not great with advice, but can I interest you with a sarcastic comment?”

Bruce have you a dirty look.

“Fine, I’ll stop.” You said.

“Really?”

“No.”

“Ok, well. I really like him, but he’s dated girls in the past and he might not be gay and I don’t want to ruin our really close friendship, y’know?”

“Yeah, that’s a tough situation. If he doesn’t like you than this is all a moo point. It’s like a cow’s opinion. It doesn’t matter. It’s moo.” You replies, hoping he wouldn’t choke the life out of you. Bruce laughed a little and went back to checking you.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad here.

—————————

“Come on! A horse would totally win in a fight with a cow!” You laughed, debating with Peter. You two had gotten really close over the past year. You had even gotten to go on a vacation with the avengers. Your life had pretty much gone back to normal. You had your own room in the avengers tower, because Bruce, Shuri, Tony and Stephen wanted to make sure you were ok. You would be leaving in a week, and it was sad to think you had to leave these people who’d basically become your family behind. It felt wrong. But they didn’t want you here, right? They were just being nice & caring for you. Yeah. It’s right to leave.

“Hey, you know Thor & Bruce went on a date?” Peter said.

“They didn’t!”

“They did! They’re a thing now!”

“Oh my god!”

“I know!”

“Ah, i’m gonna miss this.” You said kind of sadly.

“Yeah. Why do you have to go?” Peter pouted.

“It’s not helpful for me to stay here! I’m just a thorn in your guys’ side.”

Peter gave you a disappointed look. Over the course of the year, he had fallen in love with you. He tried really hard to repress it, but he just loved everything about you and it broke his heart that you had to go. You would see each other on campus, but it wasn’t the same. The worst part is you were totally oblivious to it.

“Do you ever have bad days?” Peter asked.

“Sure, I have my bad days, but then I remember what a cute smile I have. Hey, I have an idea for a trick we can play on Thor.” You said, a mischievous smile on your face.

“Do you wanna get Loki to help?”

“Yes. Trust me, it’ll be great.”

—————————

A week later, it was the day of your departure. By 9:00 am, you had gotten all of your stuff together. It was only a backpack of clothes, because that’s all you really needed when you were there. The avengers supplied the rest. You went to the living room where most of the avengers were to say goodbye.

“Hey, guys. Just wanted to say bye before I leave.”

Stephen and a couple other people stood up and walked over to talk to you.

“You sure have made a fast recovery for someone who almost died a year ago.” Tony joked. He was practically hanging off Stephen’s side.

“Yeah. Well. You know how it is.” You said.

“I’m going to miss all your friends quotes.” Bruce said. You knew this was genuine. You two were also pretty close.

“Could I recommend watching a little more ‘ESPN’ and a little less ‘E.’?” You knew it would make Bruce laugh.

After all the other goodbyes were done, Peter came in to say goodbye. You were going to miss that asshole so much. He came in and you and him stood in front of the elevator facing each other.

“Bye, Peter.” You practically whispered. You were forcing yourself not to cry. Instead of responding, he stepped towards you, put your head in his hands, and kissed you.

It was slow and nice, soft but still firm. You were standing there in shock for a few seconds. You had never really felt love for Peter, but as he kissed you you could feel yourself fall in love with him. It didn’t take you long to relax and start kissing him back, hands moving to his waist to pull him even closer. You had both totally forgotten that every single avenger was standing right there. When you both finally pulled back, staring at each other for what seemed like eternity. His eyes were so chocolaty brown. How had you never noticed that? He gave out a little nervous laugh, surprised you had kissed him back. The moment ended when Bruce cleared his through to draw to your attention that everyone was staring at you. You glanced to them, then Peter. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes. Even Tony had no snarky or sarcastic comment to make. That’s a first.

“Um... hey, guys....” Peter stutters out. It just makes the tension in the room grow.

“Please tell me the rest of you guys just say Peter & y/n kiss.” Nat said.

You gave everyone a half smile and turned your head back to Peter.

“You should stay here.” He whispered, pressing his forehead to yours.

“Maybe I will.” You said, smiling like an idiot.

“He’s their lobster!” Bruce whispered, just loud enough so you & Peter could hear.

You smiled at the reference he made.

And you didn’t contradict him.

--------

THIS IS LIVE FROM NEW YORK IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!!!

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #throbruce #ironstrange #marvel #the avengers #sorry its not the best #but it makes me feel better #friends quotes

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theonewiththefanfics · 5 years

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The Fight Of Our Lives (one-shot)

Summary: Thanos might have succeeded, and not only erased half the universe, but hope in general. But humans are stubborn little bitches. And so are the Avengers. No matter if dead or not, the fight of their lives is coming and nothing will stop them from righting the wrong. (AKA this is me trying to cope with Endgame.)

Pairing: Peter Parker x f!Reader

but is very much so Avengers x f!Reader; Platonic!Steve x f!Reader; Dad!Tony x f!Reader; Platonic!Loki x f!Reader as well

Genre: angst, fluff

Warnings: mentions of death, blood, swearing, injuries

Word count: 10074 (THIS IS THE LONGEST FIC I’VE EVER WRITTEN, HOLY SHIT!!! STRAP IN< GUYS)

When the snap happened, everyone was in a state of shock. Even Thanos himself didn’t necessarily understand he had succeeded, glazed eyes watching the gauntlet and his surroundings. Only when Thor backed away did he realize his goal was accomplished, so he used the Space Stone to disappear in an instant. Y/N’s head turned to the side, eyes on Steve clutching his abdomen and looking at Thor with inexplicable fear. “Where’d he go? Thor… where’d he go? “Steve?” Bucky’s voice cut through the buzzing in her head, but maybe she shouldn’t have glanced at the other super soldier. Maybe then he wouldn’t have turned to ash and been swept away by the winds. People all around her either felt their hearts drop to the soles of their feet or their bodies disintegrated, and when numbness spread through Y/N’s toes, she knew what was going to happen. “Steve.” His attention was immediately on her. “Oh, no, not you too,” the Captain was already rushing to her side, but his hands wrapped around a non-existent middle. “Tell my dad, I’m sorry.” Steve was left with nothing but an empty feeling in his stomach and an even emptier field. “Oh, God.” They had lost.

***

Steve had always been a good leader. He was Captain America, the man with the plan, always ready to jump into action and give out orders while following his own like the good soldier he was, but for the first time since he could remember himself, he didn’t know what to do. The reflection staring back at him as the remnants of his beard were washed away down the drain was unfamiliar. This was a man completely lost, let alone out of his time. What was worse, he didn’t know where Tony was. If he was alive. The thought gnawed at him, eating at his brain day and night for almost a month now. He sighed deeply, letting the air enter his lungs, holding it for a second before exhaling. With a clank against the sink, he let the razor fall out of his hands. Taking the towel that was on the counter, he observed his own features in the mirror. Steve was more than a hundred years old, yet he looked barely thirty, and despite how tired he was, mentally and physically, his counterpart looked ready to fight, if not for the exhausted look in his eyes… the eyes that were shaking. Steve’s brow furrowed when he saw the smaller mirror to his left start moving as well. A hand went to steady it, but then his razor rattled and fell into the sink, as the whole building started to tremble. Nat, Rhodey and Pepper were already rushing outside when he joined the three. What he saw in the courtyard made his knees almost buckle from relief. He didn’t care about the strange glowing woman that placed a space ship on the grass, he didn’t care about Rocket moving forward with them. All he cared about was getting to the two people stepping down from the stairs. When Steve’s arms wrapped around Tony’s shoulders, he could feel just how much skinnier the genius was, how malnourished and dehydrated he must be, but all that was a secondary thought to the one blaring in his mind – Tony was alive and on Earth. “I couldn’t stop him,” were his first words to Steve, voice laced with pain and guilt. Steve’s eyes dropped to the ground before flitting back up. He realized what he would have to inform him of, and he wished Thanos’s snap had also taken him. “Neither could I.” “I-“ Tony started, unable to find the words before gulping and getting them out, solidifying them as truth. “I lost the kid.” Fuck. “Tony, we lost.” We lost so much… “Is umm,” he struggled for a second, not wanting to ask, terrified of the answer, but he didn’t even have to. Pepper was right there pulling him in her embrace, a choked back ‘oh my God’ escaping her before both hid their faces in the crook of their loved one’s neck. “It’s okay,” Tony muttered, pressing a kiss to the soft skin of her collarbone. If only for a second, it was okay. He slowly limped back inside the compound, heavily resting against Pepper and Steve for support. Everything was pretty much the same way he’d left it in Rohdey’s care as he and Pep had gone to New York on a business trip before the whole Thanos showdown happened. Apart from the giant hologram pulling up each and every face of the people that had been dusted or were unaccounted for. With every word that Nat explained what was happening Tony felt more and more hollow. Until Peter’s face went up in the air. That took the last breath out of Iron man. “Where is he now?” he asked, rubbing at his goatee referring to Thanos, “where?” “We don’t know,” came Steve’s solemn response. “He just,” Rhodey shook his head, “opened a portal and walked through.” It was a lot to process. The same way he had disappeared from Titan with the Time Stone on the gauntlet was the same way he’d vanished from Earth after completing his insane task. As he looked behind him to where Thor was sulking, it turned out the god had had a chance at taking Thanos out. But revenge came with a cost. When Steve said Tony had fought the Mad Titan it seemed like the most ridiculous thing ever. “Who told you that? I didn’t fight him,” Tony pointed at himself. “No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the Stone. That’s what happened. There was no fight.” The cruellest thing was that they’d almost had the glove, but in the blink of an eye, it was lost once more. All that effort, and here they were – broken and beaten to a pulp. But Steve didn’t seem to give up. “Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?” Even in Tony’s nightmares, it was never this bad. He surveyed the room, the people he used to call family now with gaps in it, his new acquired Blue Meanie friend and the stranger that had saved them from aimlessly floating through space, but then it hit him. “Where’s Y/N?” Nobody dared to meet his gaze, but when Pepper squeezed his hand tighter, he didn’t need words to confirm his worst fear. “Rogers,” he seethed, “where is my daughter?” Steve’s chest rattled as he exhaled. “Tony, I’m sorry.” Unshed tears glistened in the Captain’s eyes. He was ready for an outburst, for him to stand up and pummel him to the ground, but he didn’t. Instead, Tony just turned his head to the side, looking into Pepper’s eyes where tears had been streaking down her cheeks ever since he’d returned. He clenched his jaw and nodded. “The one thing I asked of you after you broke the Avengers apart was to look out for her. Look out for my daughter, keep her safe, do not bring her into this mess,” Tony was fuming and with good reason. “It was a simple thing, Rogers,” he sneered, “so no, I got nothing for you, Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no plan, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust,” Steve could feel each word cut through him like a knife, but the last word sliced his heart completely in half, “Liar.” Then Tony did something no one expected. “Here, take this,” he ripped off his arc reactor and slammed it in Steve’s hand. “You find him,” he pointed at the blond, “and you put that on. You hide.” He was just about to start apologizing when Tony’s legs suddenly gave out from underneath him, and he collapsed onto the floor. “I’m fine,” the genius waved everyone off like usual, “I’m…” but he didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he was enveloped by darkness. Everyone was already up and acting, Bruce setting up a makeshift hospital room, Steve taking Tony in his arms and rushing him to the bed, Pepper following everyone behind, so there was not even a second more she’d be separated from Tony. Never again. It took everyone a couple of minutes to regroup but Rhodey finally came to inform them of Tony's status. “Bruce gave him a sedative. He’s gonna be out for the rest of the day.” The Avengers nodded in relief. It was a small victory to have him back. It was something. So often they were used to loses and casualties, but this time, it was already way too much, and one more would just break whatever was left to break. Rhodey dragged a hand down his face as the holographic monitor showing who was missing flashed, and Y/N’s face now stared back at him. “God, fucking damn it,” he muttered, wiping tears away. His best friend’s kid. His goddaughter. His family. When she had strolled in the compound walking in front of Steve and the rest of ‘Rogue Avengers’, he was ready to clock her in the jaw, knowing she would never back out of a fight. Too much of her father’s genes were in her. “You know he’s going to kill me,” he groaned as Y/N smirked before pulling him in a tight hug. “Not if you don’t say anything,” she mumbled in his chest. All guilt aside, Y/N had been most likely their best chance at winning, excluding Wanda. She was probably the strongest Avenger in the group. Rhodey remembered with fear the time Tony had been kidnapped, and how ballistic the seven-year-old girl had gone seeing the ransom video the terrorists had sent. She wasn’t supposed to know, but Y/N was a master at sneaking around the house, and as Pepper and Rhodey watched, she had caught a glimpse of her father. Let’s just say the whole of California experienced some strong seismic activity as her powers rippled out of her. God, and the other one? Peter? He was gone as well. In a way there was a silver lining to it all – both of the teenagers being gone meant neither could do impulsive and rash decisions. After all, the two were in love, and Rhodey was one hundred percent sure they’d go to the ends of Earth and bring down the sky if it meant getting the other one back. “You guys take care of him,” Carol’s voice brought everyone back to the present. It seemed like Y/N’s face on the screen had shaken them all up. “And I’ll bring Xorrian Elixir when I come back.” “Where are you going?” she couldn’t be leaving them now. Not at a moment like this. “To kill Thanos.” People were up and rushing after the woman in a split second. Nat was the first one to reach her, a strong grip on Carol’s bicep pulling her back to face them. “You know, we usually work as a team around here, and between you and I, we’re also a little fragile.” That was an understatement, but the fight was not over. Not for them. “We realize this is more your territory, but this is our fight too.” On the outside, Natasha was acting like a leader, similarly as she always did by either Tony’s or Steve’s side, but on the inside, she was that broken little girl thrown into a single bedroom with a bare mattress and pillow, told she’d become the nation’s greatest weapon at the tender age of six. Build-A-Bear was the first one to ask the real questions. “Do you even know where he is?” Carol shrugged. “I know people who might.” “Don’t bother,” Nebula interrupted. The whole time apart from when Tony was rushed to the hospital room, she’d stood to the side and watched. “I can tell you where Thanos is.” The hologram was up and running again, only this time displaying the map of the universe provided by the ship log from the Milano. “Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. Then when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him,” there was such venom in her tone towards her past-self, even Rocket flinched. “I’d ask “where would we go once his plan was complete?” His answer was always the same: to the Garden.”

***

The next thing Y/N knew was jovial cheering, loud laughing and warm golden lights encasing her instead of the burning plains of Wakanda. “S-Steve?” she muttered turning around, surveying the grand ceiling and golden ornaments of the walls. “Nat?” A large mass bumped against her back, and Y/N stumbled out of the way to let a burly looking man trudge past. “ ‘M Lady, my apologies,” he slurred, bowing a bit and then continuing on his merry way. That’s when everything came rushing back – the fight against the Outriders, and how she took down Proxima Midnight with Wanda, the subsequent arrival of Thanos, and the snap. “He did it,” Y/N whispered to no one but herself. “He actually did it.” Instantly her head was high and searching the crowd which seemed to be dressed in some sort of medieval clothing, but that didn’t mean anything to her. “Dad!” she bellowed as much as she could. “Peter!” Please not them, please not them, please not them, Y/N chanted in her head as she squeezed between the crowd of people. From the corner of her eye, she saw an archway, beautiful green wines wrapped around the intricate marble, and that’s where she ran to – away from the people in what seemed like a garden outside, and into the building. She was hit by a wave of warmth and even louder chatter than before. Almost never-ending rows of tables lined the inside of the hall and benches full of people she didn’t recognize. Nothing was familiar to her apart from a certain raven-haired man sitting at the very far end of the room, a beautiful woman with hair of gold right next to him. “You!” Y/N shouted pointing at Loki. “You! I know you! Loki!” But he didn’t hear it over how loud everyone was being, so in a true Stark fashion, she jumped on one of the tables, drawing all the attention to herself and thundered a ‘Yo, Reindeer Games!’ For a moment there, the god of mischief was stunned and left speechless. He was never speechless, but when the daughter of Tony Stark calls your name, it might have that kind of effect. As it did on the rest of the people. Instantly he jumped over the table and ran to where Y/N was standing on the counter. “How are you here?” he was completely breathless. The last time they’d met, he was not the Loki everyone knew now, but he’d never had any particular distaste towards the younger Stark. In fact, he’d kind of admired how the teenager was actually a useful addition during the battle of New York. “First of all, where is here?” she motioned around the room, finally stepping off the table and out of someone’s plate. “Sorry,” she muttered to the man, but he only shrugged. “Second of all, what’s going on? And third of all, where is my dad?” “You’re in Valhalla.” “Val-what now?” “Valhalla. It’s where the fallen warriors of Asgard get to rest once their battle is done.” “But,” she stuttered blinking rapidly as if that would wash away the scene before her eyes, “but I’m not of Asgard. I’m plain human. Midgardian. Earthling. You know, an ant to your… boot.” Loki was just about to answer, he himself unable to understand how Y/N was in Valhalla when basically the most gorgeous woman she’d ever seen in her life approached the two. The same one that had been sitting to Loki's left. “We’ve been waiting for your arrival, Lady Stark.” “What now?” the question was softer than the flap of a butterfly’s wings, but the goddess, who as far as Y/N could recall her basic Norse mythology knowledge, was Frigga, had already turned to face her son. “My love,” she smiled placing her hand on his cheek, and Loki practically melted in his mother’s touch. “You did a brave thing. You’ve always been brave and good, despite what has happened. But it’s time to be brave and good one more time.” “Thanos won,” Y/N exasperated eyes flipping between the goddess and her son. “There is no fight. He snapped his fingers and did what he said he would.” “Sweet child, I was raised by witches,” Frigga smiled softly at the girl. Usually, she’d sneer towards anyone that regarded her in such a way, but there was nothing condescending in her tone. “I see more than what meets the eye. It has been five years, and a battle is brewing. Your family will need each and everyone ready to help.” “Five what now?” Y/N breathed out. “But I’ve been here barely a few minutes.” “Time moves differently here,” Frigga placed a soothing palm on her cheek. “A decade on Earth is simply an intake of breath here. But there is no more time to lose.” Loki’s green eyes widened as his eyebrows furrowed. “Mother, am I thinking right that you’re implying we should join the fight?” “You were always the quick one when things needed to be figured out.” “But… no one has ever returned from Valhalla. No one has ever come back from the… dead.” “That’s because up until now, she,” Frigga gave Y/N a pointed look, “was on Earth.” “Me? What the fuck does this have to do with me?” Sure, had the circumstances been different she’d be horrified by the language she’d used in front of an Asgardian royal, let alone a goddess, but frankly, Y/N was just about done with mystical mumbo jumbo and just wanted to get back home where she could watch cheesy B-rate horror movies with her dad while cuddling up next to Peter. “No one can enter the halls of Valhalla apart from Asgardians.” Y/N was pointing at Loki in no time. “He’s not one.” “He was raised as one.” “Well but I wasn’t. Human as a human can be,” Y/N placed her hands on her hips. “But you have Asgardian blood in you.” That made Y/N pause. There really was no other explanation as to how she could be in Valhalla. Sure, there was that time when aliens had kidnapped her from her own backyard after the whole Ultron thing went down, and she was rolling with the Guardians for a brief second before demanding to be put back on Earth cause that’s where her home was, but even her space travels were a sounder explanation as to everything going on rather than her being part of the race from Norse mythology. “You never mentioned it,” Loki glanced at Y/N whose eye roll was the best she’d ever given to anyone. “Because not knowing who my biological mother is, was the first thing, I wanted to talk about with the dude trying to invade Earth. Besides, Thor was of Asgard, and you continuously stabbed him. I kinda think it was in my favour not to, despite not even knowing it.” Loki’s lips were pressed together in a thin line, but Y/N could see how he was trying to hold off a smile. “Well, maybe you’re half-Asgardian, but without a doubt, you’re a Stark.” “You say I’m the key to getting us out of here,” Y/N was starting to get impatient. “How?” “Your powers are deeply connected to your emotions as they are to the universe and every element swirling around us.” Tentatively Y/N nodded, and Frigga whispered for her to close her eyes. “Concentrate on your heart, your soul. Each stone represents a part of the universe. Let your powers go, let them roam the realms until they grasp at the source that calls for them.” It sounded absolutely bonkers as the goddess coached Y/N on what to do, but she imagined her abilities like silvery tentacles that had a string wrapped around her heart, but the others were left free to slither their way through the galaxies and dimensions until the pull suddenly stopped, and she had a clear anchor to something. “My Queen,” a woman with long onyx hair approached the trio. She was wearing a light grey uniform and a blue cape adorned her back, a glimmering silver sword hung by her side. “We heard what has happened, and who has come to pillage the universe. The Valkyries, if you’d allow it, would be more than honoured to fight beside our Prince and everyone else defending the world.” Frigga just inclined her head, quickly glancing at Odin who up until that point had been sitting in his chair. “You need to figure this out quicker,” Y/N groaned, stumbling a bit, but Loki was there to catch her. “I’m not gonna be able to keep at it for much longer.” And then it was like a second breath had been given her. She felt her blood thrum with power as Odin, the Allfather, used every bit of Dark Magic he could summon and directed it towards Y/N. Inch by inch Y/N grabbed onto the thread and pulled herself towards where the stones were calling. It took all of her concentration and attention to do so, but with every passing moment, she could feel them closer. With a final tug at the tether, she extended her arms to her sides and opened up a portal, eyes glowing pure white, and teeth bared to the world. Like a lioness ready to attack, Y/N stepped out onto a battlefield. But they weren’t alone. All around them she saw glowing orange circles where tens of thousands of warriors emerged. And it wasn’t just humans. She saw Skrulls, who she’d met while with the Guardians, the Asgardians that had been brought to Earth by Thor, and so many other creatures with different shapes and forms ready to fight Thanos. He hadn’t just angered Earth. He’d angered the whole fucking universe. “Avengers!” Steve roared a hand extended forward, and Mjolnir flew right into his open palm. I fucking knew it, Y/N smirked. “Assemble.” It took everything in her to keep that portal open. Not only that, as a scream tore her throat apart much like she was doing with time and space, Y/N put her whole being in it and expanded the gateway, the Valkyries rushing out in a majestic formation. Thor’s scream of joy was something like an adrenaline rush, giving her more motivation. “Just so you know,” Loki said unsheathing his dagger and letting his seidr envelop his left arm, “this boot," he motioned towards himself, "has no quarrel with this ant," he pointed at her. “Good,” Y/N gritted, closing off the portal once she knew everyone was out. For a split second when she turned to look behind her, she saw Frigga’s smiling face. Whatever happened, she’d be there to welcome her warriors home. “But this ant,” Y/N motioned at herself with her thumb, “has a major quarrel… with that ugly ass boot.” “Seems like a whole universe of ants does.” That was enough of a signal for her to join the battle. Lifting herself off the ground, she rushed up to meet a Leviathan before taking it down like it was nothing. Bits of Odin’s magic were still there, and she was not about to waste them. But no matter how many troops she took down, more seemed to take their place. It was like Thanos had a never-ending supply of them. “Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?” Y/N heard Clint as he sprinted by her, and she lifted up a horde of oncoming aliens freeing his path. “Get those stones as far away as possible!” Steve’s voice was loud and clear in the comms, giving everyone the non-verbal order – protect whoever is carrying the gauntlet, and don’t let Thanos get to them. “No!” Bruce, who Y/N only just now noticed was a morph of the Hulk and Bruce, countered back. “We need to get them back where they came from.” “No way to get them back,” Clint grunted as he evaded a few aliens and resumed his mad dash. “Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel.” “Hold on!” a voice Y/N hadn’t heard in a while invaded the system, and she had to grin. She’d always liked Giant Man. “That wasn’t our only time machine.” An obnoxiously loud car horn beeped across the battlefield, making everyone’s heads whip to the side as Steve rushed up a hillside. “Anyone see an ugly brown van up there?” “Yes,” exclaimed Brunhilde from high up above leading the storm of Valkyries against the Leviathans, “but you’re not gonna like where it’s parked.” “Cap!” Y/N got his attention, taking everyone’s, who hadn’t seen her arrival, breath away. Including Steve’s. “Get that thing started, we’ll hold them back,” she motioned with her chin towards Loki, whose seidr glowed a brighter jade just at her words. “Scott, how long do you need to get that thing working?” “Maybe ten minutes,” came his rushed reply, as he heaved a few breaths in a moment of pause. “Get it started. We’ll get the stones to you.” When Frigga had said a battle was brewing, Y/N did not expect it to take the violent form of hot potato, but as Clint, and then T’Challa approached the van, her powers slowly depleted. A moment of carelessness, and she was thrown away by the huge paw of a beast. It was just about to stamp on her when the bright beam of a repulsor created a hole in its chest. Y/N barely got time to roll out of the way of the corpse, before it thudded like a sack of bricks. “Dad?” the word cracked in the middle, but Tony couldn’t move, as his daughter, the one he lost half a decade ago, was finally in front of him. After years of hopelessness, that was only regained a bit when Morgan was born, his family was finally whole again. “Baby girl?” That’s when Y/N threw all caution to the wind. She didn’t care about the battle, the screams and roars; all that mattered were her father’s arms tightly woven around her body, keeping her close to his chest – safe and sound in his embrace. “I’m so sorry, dad,” she wailed in his arms. “I’m so sorry I put you through that.” But Tony just shook his head, pulling back and pressing their foreheads together. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. You’re here... right here, and that’s what’s important.” Both of them nodded in unison, either at Tony’s words or just to reassure them the other was real. It was a tiny moment of peace before the sound of someone loudly yelling ‘Oh My God!’ brought them back to the fight. “Where’s the gauntlet?” “Last I heard Peter had it.” “Peter?” his name was a breathless whisper of hope. He was there. They both were. Tony nodded, gripping her bicep a bit tighter before letting go. “Keep him safe.” And with that both Starks separated destroying Thanos’s army bit by bit while desperately trying to find where the stones were. She was in the middle of battling against Ebony Maw, her powers ripping his heart apart from the inside out when the scarlet swirls of Wanda’s magic got her attention. “Rain fire!” Thanos grunted, and instantly Y/N whipped her head around where Wanda was pulling the Titan apart atom by atom. There was some sort of an answer that came from a troop she couldn’t hear, but when Thanos exclaimed ‘Just do it!’ she knew shit was about to get even more real than it already was. From high up above, Thanos’s ships aimed their blasters towards the ground and unleashed hell upon Earth. Wanda was thrown back, and that made her release the hold she had on the madman. Without a second to spare, the wizards created shields with their powers but people who were not under their protection were still getting obliterated until Y/N extended both palms upward and imagined a layer that separated her from the beams. Taking a deep breath, she felt sweat trickle down her forehead, and then she lifted the layer. Slowly but surely, she lifted it higher and higher, a shout of strain enveloping her in the process as she reversed the blasts and made them fly back to the ship. But that didn’t stop the oncoming array of attacks. Y/N didn’t have unlimited power. Opening the portal from Valhalla had taken out most of it, and holding off another assault didn’t seem that likely. As she stared at the guns above, the girl readied herself to take the onslaught when they suddenly turned to the sky and started firing there. No one could see anything through the plumes of smoke and ash apart from a quickly approaching ball of light, that in a matter of seconds shot through Thanos’s ship, rendering it useless, and making it crash in the nearby lake. “Y-Y/N?” Her heart had never stuttered so much as it did when Y/N heard that voice. She was frozen in place, unable to move or even blink. Her hands trembled in fear. Maybe this wasn’t real, maybe he wasn’t there in front of her, and all of that was something her mind was making up because Peter wasn’t actually back, but when she turned around she saw him holding onto the gauntlet as if it was his last lifeline hiding in the dirt behind a broken cement block. “You’re bleeding,” was her first remark as she looked him over head to toe. His lip was split, and there was a gash on his forehead, but other than that and probably some major bruising underneath the suit, he looked fine. Well, at least he was in one piece. A sob like chuckle escaped the brown-eyed boy, and she didn’t even get a second to brace herself before his arms were wrapped around her, and pulling her in his body. “We should’ve stayed on the bus,” he cried, but a smile played on his face. “Tell me about it,” her chest quivered as did her lips before she smoothed back his hair. “Dad’s so pissed about it.” “More pissed than when he walked in on us making out the first time?” “Yeah,” Y/N let out a genuine laugh, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. “I think so.” “Yes,” Tony’s voice invaded their moment as it cut through the comms. “I most definitely am, but we need to get the stones to the van before nut sack over there gets to them, so you might want to leave it for later.” “You got something for me?” Carol motioned with her eyebrow at Peter, eyes flipping to the gauntlet. Safely, Y/N took it out from his grasp and handed it to the woman. “I don’t know how you’re gonna get through all that,” his eyes roamed the oncoming army, a hand instinctively going to wrap around Y/N’s waist. He’d let go of her once before, he was not going to make that same mistake ever again. “Don’t worry,” Wanda floated from above and settled herself behind Carol, eyes blazing red. “She’s got help,” and the sight behind and in front of the two teenagers was the most marvellous one they’d ever seen and would ever see. Each and every heroine stood against Thanos’s army while the Valkyries made up the back, their winged mares neighing, swords high up in the air as a battle cry ripped through their throats. “I uh got this chemistry test coming up. By any chance, anyone of you could help me with that?” “Seriously?” Y/N snorted looking at her boyfriend. “We were dead just a few minutes ago and are fighting the biggest army in the universe. And you’re thinking about chemistry?” “I just… I’d rather focus on anything but what’s in front of us.” “We can think about chem and calculus and English after all this is done, I promise,” and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she was able to kiss Peter again. If it hadn’t been for the impending oncoming of the enemy, she’d sag into his hold and never let him go. “But first – we beat the shit out of them. And that one’s mine,” Y/N sneered looking directly into the eyes of Proxima Midnight. She had been the one that had almost killed Nat and Wanda in front of her eyes. It was payback. If only for the fact that Nat was not there. She didn’t need verbal confirmation to know that her redheaded assassin wouldn’t show up. Everything had a price, and so did the fight for survival, but they’d be damned if they didn’t make her proud. It was a terrifyingly glorious sight to see as the women stood between Thanos and the gauntlet; it was clutched safely in Carol’s arms as she flew through the enemy using her photon blasts to disintegrate them. Though not everything could go as smoothly as it had been. Right as Scott powered up the time machine in the back of the van, Carol aiming straight for the dead centre of it, in one last attempt, Thanos threw his double-edged sword, and everyone was knocked back with the explosion, Carol’s grip loosening and letting go of the stones. That’s when complete panic ensued. They couldn’t go through this again. He’d made it clear - this time it would be personal, and not half the universe but the whole fucking thing would be wiped out. One by one the closest people to the gauntlet rushed to grab it, but even through that, Thanos was able to put it on. He would’ve snapped his fingers if not for Carol grabbing onto his palm and bending his fingers backwards with her bare hands, pure rage lighting up her eyes. Y/N scrambled towards them ready to knock Thanos down when she saw him remove the Power stone, blast Carol away from it. Then her father charged at the Titan. A desperate grab at his hand, Tony’s horrified face, a punch to his side and shake, and Thanos was free as Y/N’s dad laid on the ground, struggling to get up. At that moment she didn’t even care for the stones, as she witnessed her father in pain. But then she caught the glimpse of a green glimmer. “I am…” Thanos smirked putting his middle finger against his thumb, “inevitable.” But when he clinked nothing happened. Just as Y/N expected. “And I…” she ran towards her dad, “am,” one more step, one more step, “Iron Man.” Dad’s so gonna kill me was the last thing Y/N thought before he snapped his fingers, and she grabbed onto his shoulder letting the power of the Infinity Stones course through her body alleviating the strain on Tony. She’d never felt this kind of pain and euphoria at the same time. Y/N was invincible, unstoppable, a goddess in her own right but at the same time, her heart was just about to give out when she saw the enemy horde, one by one and then at a more rapid pace succumb to the same fate she had five years ago. With a gasp she found herself approaching the edge of not coming back when someone called her and Tony’s names. “Friday,” Pepper’s voice sounded like a dimming filter had been placed over it with a tinge of a beeping noise added to it. “Release the right arm.” On command, Tony’s suit detached from the whole, and the part with the stones dropped to the ground, making Y/N’s hold let go as well. The two Stark’s crumpled to the ground, panting and trying to get as much oxygen in their lungs as possible, as they crawled a bit to the side where they could lean against the remains of the compound. “You are so grounded, you hear me?” Tony rasped bringing his daughter close to him, and holding Y/N’s head tightly against his chest. “Forever. You’re never leaving the house or ever thinking about it.” “So that means we can watch movies all day every day for the rest of our lives?” “If that means you staying safe, I’ll chain us to the movie room.” And in the midst of all that rubble and sweat and blood, Y/N and Tony finally pulled in breaths of relief. “How did you know it would work?” “I uh, remember that time when aliens sorta kinda kidnapped me?” “How can I forget the worst moments of my life… up until that point.” “Well, I and the Guardians did that. It worked then, so I assumed it would work again.” A beat passed with Tony’s face completely expressionless before engulfing Y/N in an even tighter hug. “I’ll kill Peter, I swear I’ll kill that braindead-knockoff-Kevin Bacon.” “Not before I kill you both,” Pepper’s arms were instantly around her family as if she was shielding them from the rest of the world. “God, I hate being a Stark.” They released a collective chuckle and tightened their hold on one another. “Also, that time when those aliens kidnapped me?” “Yeah?” Tony sniffled. “Turns out that's not really true. I uh can teleport." "You what?" Y/N rolled her eyes. "My powers come from somewhere, and it turns out you hooked up with an Asgardian. I now remember that night we had a huge fight, and I wished I’d be with mom instead of you... I guess they decided to show up then cause the next thing I knew, I was shooting through this weird rainbow beam, and ended up crashing on a weird spaceship. Thought I'd been abducted when instead, I had just run away from home.” Surprisingly enough, both Pepper and her dad laughed. “Really Tony?” the redhead asked him. “So human women weren’t’ enough, had to go for the extraterrestrial ones as well?” “What can I say,” he let her wipe away a tear that slid down his face before resting his head against Y/N’s. “I have impeccable taste. Just look at who I married.” “Y-You got married?” she was stunned beyond belief. That’s when it truly kicked in that it had been five years. Five years they’d lived without her, and had created a life she didn’t know anymore where she fit in. “Yeah,” Tony nodded, squeezing Y/N’s hand in reassurance. “You uh you also have a little sister.” Wave after wave after wave of emotions rampaged her body and mind. First, it was hurt they’d do that, that they’d try and move and replace her, then it was confusion as to what was her part in this whole equation now, and then it was relief and joy. She still had her family, and no matter what had happened, Y/N was happy they’d tried to make some sort of a life even after Thanos. It had been the exact thing they’d fought for. “Guess I can officially call you mom then, huh?” she looked at Pepper through a teary gaze. The feeling when she wrapped her arms around her was nothing short of coming home. “You’ve always been my daughter,” she whispered in Y/N’s hair. “Always.” “I love you 3000,” Y/N whispered back. That set her off into an absolute fit of giggles, as she shook her head, and brought her in for another embrace. “This time, you’re in the low six to nine hundreds, Tony.” “What?” Y/N asked, looking at her dad, confusion written all over her features. He just shook his head. “I’ll explain later.”

***

It took them all a couple of days to regroup and rearrange, but once that was done, once the tearful reunions and greetings were over, it was time for true celebration. Though, if someone had told Y/N that the same Loki that had stabbed his brother right in front of her eyes on the balcony of Stark Tower was the same one that practically sprinted towards Thor to embrace him, she’d tell them to fuck off. Now they were all dressed in whatever best attire they could find, with smiles on their lips as they watched Pepper and Tony renew their wows. Y/N who had met Morgan less than forty-eight hours previously, stood tall and proud to their right as Rhodey helped her father stand up from his wheelchair and give Pepper a kiss. “Come on,” Y/N whispered to Morgan, who was still unsure about the older sibling she’d met. Of course, not a day had gone by where either her dad or mom talked about her sister, but it was another thing to meet the girl. “I think Happy and Rhodes said they’re making burgers.” Together they walked behind their parents, and no one could wipe off the smiles off their faces. Even Hank Pym was there, and it was a known fact that he and the Starks had never gotten along. “Pete?” Y/N turned to her boyfriend, who instantly joined her other side, “will you take Morgan inside? I just need to quickly talk to Steve.” “Yeah, yeah, sure,” he nodded, and couldn’t help the blush that spread across his cheeks as she pecked his lips. As fast as she could she ran towards where they’d made a miniature of the time travel machine with the intention of Steve bringing the stones back to their correct place in time. “I’m coming with you,” Y/N announced pulling on the bracelet on her palm that she'd hidden in the pocket of her pants, and stepping onto the platform. “And you won’t stop me.” “Y/N, I don’t think your dad would agree to this,” Bruce remarked, his hand, much like her father’s in a sling, though where Bruce only had that and burns that would forever scar his right side, the prognosis for Tony to ever walk again on his own were slim. But that had never stopped a Stark. “Of course, not,” she snorted tapping the device twice and letting the time travel suit encase her body. “Why do you think I ran? So he wouldn’t know about i-“ but it was just her luck as the man of the hour himself appeared out from behind the woods. “Hey, hey, whoa, where do you think you’re going, young lady?” Tony exclaimed his wheelchair rolling towards the launchpad faster than Y/N thought was possible especially on the forest floor. “You are grounded!” “Oh, come on, dad!” “No,” he was surprisingly stern about this. “You zip it right now. I don’t wanna hear about it. Step off that thing right now, and get that piece of crap off of you,” he motioned towards the time travel suit and the bracelet. “Please, dad, just… just trust me on this one. I’ll be back in a second. I just… I just wanna say goodbye to Nat. She’s the reason all of us are back here...” With a sigh of defeat, because even a Stark couldn’t talk a Stark out of anything, Tony retreated. Y/N quickly skipped down the platform to give her father’s cheek a kiss, before joining Steve. “Protect her. Whatever comes her way,” Tony said looking straight into Steve’s soul. This time he wouldn’t let his friend down. “With everything I have.” “Ok, you, dramatic gramps, let’s cut the cheesiness. Bruce?” Y/N grinned at the scientist. “Ready to jump in three…” he started the countdown, “two…” “See you in a minute,” Y/N winked and was gone.

***

Putting the stones back was a whirlwind, and it made Y/N feel like a badass spy that had to infiltrate a base and then disappear unnoticed. She never really joined in on stealth missions, as that was not her forte, but fuck was it fun. Especially when Steve told her how he had to fight his old self on the first time around. “I never knew how ridiculous that line was,” he chuckled, as they stepped onto Rocket’s ship, that he’d leant to them to get to Asgard, Morag and Vormir. “I find it quite endearing. At least nowadays,” she nudged his shoulder and settled in one of the free seats as the Milano turned upwards to the sky and thrust them into space. “Y/N, I’m sorry,” Steve murmured looking at her where she was strapped in place. “For everything. I thought I was doing what was right by not signing the Accords, and instead, I ripped our team apart. And with the whole Thanos thing… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you…” That was loaded confession Steve had just put-upon Y/N, and as she was processing it, the overwhelming need to relieve him of the guilt eating away at her brain, a bright green light beeped on the panel, and they were pushed into the atmosphere of Vormir. Cautiously the two exited and started to track their way to the sole mountain on the whole plane. “You know, we’ve never been a team,” Y/N said looking up to where the two pillars reached into the sky. “Teammates fight together, follow orders, train together… that has never been us. We bicker, play pranks to the point of it walking the edge of mean, we spend our Friday nights curled up next to one another and throwing popcorn around. That’s not a team. That’s a family.” “Evenings without you were a bore,” Steve said wrapping an arm around Y/N’s shoulders and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She wistfully sighed, skipping ahead before turning around and walking backwards. “I can only imagine. I mean with just birdbrain as the funny one and entertainment – I’m surprised you didn’t grey from the boredom.” “Who knows, maybe I’ve just been dying my hair the whole time.” “Oh, I’d like to see that process. You and Bucky sharing hair secrets is something I’d pay for.” Steve snorted right as they approached what seemed to be carved out steps that lead to the top of the peak. “It’s actually Wakandan shea butter.” “Seriously?” Y/N’s eyebrows were so far up her forehead, they merged with the creases there. “Leaves everything smooth and silky.” “When we get back,” she pointed at the Captain, “you’re gonna hook me up with your supplier. “Gladly…” a small pause settled before he spoke up again. “So, why did you wanna tag along? Really?” Steve’s voice was raised so he could talk over the howling winds. “Something uh someone said to me, made me think a bit. I dunno what’s gonna happen, but I wanna know if my hunch is right.” But Steve didn’t get her to elaborate on what the fuck that meant when a floating cloak appeared before them. Y/N’s eyes were instantly white, and Steve had unsheathed the shield they’d gotten while back in the 70s. “Steve, son of Sarah, Y/N daughter of Anthony,” an accented voice spoke to them. Y/N glanced at her companion from the side of her eye, only to see his mouth open in complete disbelief. “It has been a long time, Captain.” “Son of a bitch, you’re still alive.” “Indeed. As you know, I too once sought to acquire the stones, but alas, it was not what fate had intended.” The way Steve was clenching his jaw made Y/N fear for his teeth. “And what was fate’s intention?” “I am here, to be a guide to you, and all who seek the Soul stone.” “Then lead the way,” Y/N murmured. And without any struggle, Red Skull did as told. “In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love,” the figure announced as Y/N made her way to where the cliff ended. “An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul… but you are not here to retrieve the stone, are you?” “Nope, not one bit,” she said retreating and letting Steve open the case, Y/N’s gloved hands wrapping around the tiny glowing piece. With every step she took, she started to rethink her decision, but she’d come all this way just for this, she was putting her dad through more stress than necessary just for this. Y/N was right on the edge, making Steve more nervous than ever. They’d come so far, with such high costs, he couldn’t lose her too. He wouldn’t recover, and he knew neither would Tony or the rest. She turned around her, hair whipping at her face as she looked at Red Skull. “You said soul for a soul, right?” “That is exact, my child.” The winds were harsh at the top of the mountain, and the snow was not fluttery or light as it usually was during wintertime in New York. These were harsh icicles pelleting her skin. “Y/N?” Steve cautiously asked, slowly approaching the woman, but she didn’t hear or see him. For a moment, her grip on the stone was so tight her knuckles turned translucent, and then she let go. The stone glimmered like amber as it dropped down, down, down. When it touched the ground, the two beams that created the archway started glowing before bright light shot up into the sky, and Y/N had to shield her eyes from its intensity. In that blink of an eye, she was transported away from the mountain and somewhere down below where they’d started their ascend. Her hands trembled as she opened them to see that the stone was no longer there. And she was completely alone, as a matter of fact. “No,” she looked at the expanse of water, as the light of the whole planet had dimmed leaving her alone and drenched in darkness. “No, no, no, no, no!” Y/N smashed her hands against the surface of it, anger coursing through her veins before a soft hand appeared on her shoulder. “Baby Stark, you miss me?” There, with that crooked smile of hers stood Natasha. Her hair was back to the red tone, blonde only covering the tips of the long tresses, but there she was – wearing that same ugly red and white suit as her and Steve. “No,” Y/N sniffled scrambling up from the water and into her open arms. “Not one bit, you, self-sacrificial idiot.” “That’s more of a Stark thing, isn’t it?” her whimpers could be heard all across the quiet planet, but that didn’t matter, given how both of the girls were crying. “Yes, well, it shows you’ve spent time with my dad and Steve.” The happiness pressing on the two was borderline suffocating. It was only when Natasha pulled back, bringing Y/N’s face between her palms. “I’m so sor-“ but the girl was quick to shake her head. “None of that matters,” she gripped the redhead’s forearms. “None of it. We won, and we’re back and we’re going home.” The smile on the assassin’s face was the most dazzling thing Y/N had ever seen, and her breath would’ve been taken away if not for the screams of her Captain. “Y/N!” Steve hollered as he dashed towards where he’d seen her laying in the pond, after having been knocked out by whatever the mountain did, but his panic evaporated when he saw who she was embracing. “Nat?” He couldn’t believe his eyes. She was there and just as tangible as his own skin and bones. “Hey there, you, old fossil.” He was still a few yards away, but he crossed that distance in no time, and before she could pull in a breath, Nat was up in his arms, both of their bodies shaking with tears of joy and laughter. “You ever pull a stunt like this again, Romanoff, I swear I’ll make Fury put you on desk duty.” “After all this, that sounds like a dream.” “Be careful what you wish for,” Y/N piped up from the sides, grinning as she recalibrated her bracelet and moved towards the ship. “You might just get that.” “Home?” her eyebrow raised in a sleek arch, as the other two Avengers ran up next to her and synched up. “Home,” Nat whispered before being dragged down to the quantum realm. The blink of an eye and the three of them stood back on the platform in the middle of the little forested area. Their suits retreated, and the trio’s beaming grins could’ve overpowered the brightly shining sun up above. “Tasha?” Nat’s head whipped to the side, seeing a completely stunned Clint, but she didn’t give her best friend a chance to regroup as she leapt off the podium and had her legs and arms wrapped around his middle and neck. “Ten bucks on Clint trying to kill Nat for what she did,” Y/N muttered, leaning to the side as Steve, and she removed the bracelets, giving them back to a very much so confused Bruce, but not that confused Tony and Loki who had joined their little gang. “That’s why you went back? To get Nat?” her dad asked, and Y/N shrugged. “How did you know it would work?” “I uh I didn’t. But it was something his mom said,” she replied motioning at Loki. “She said about my powers and them being connected to the stones as the stones being connected to the universe. And that my powers are connected to my soul.” Tony smirked, grabbing a hold of her hand and squeezing it. “You really are my daughter, aren’t you?” A soft fluttery feeling erupted in her stomach. “Also, the words ‘soul for a soul’ was a pretty big give away, but that I found out only when I got there.” As Pepper rushed out of the house, ready to kill her daughter for going back in time and her husband for allowing it, Bucky had slowly moved to stand next to his best friend. “What happened to that ‘Happily Ever After’ you always dreamed about?” He expected Steve to be upset about being back, blame Y/N for somehow coercing him to return, given how the two super soldiers had had a talk about him living out his life with Peggy. But instead, the blond was gnawing on his lip trying to keep a smile at bay. “I think I just might have that right here,” he finally breathed out. “I uh I had my dance, but… I knew she’d be happy with or without me.” “You sayin’ we wouldn’t be able to live without your old ass?” Sam smirked as he approached the pair, and it made Bucky snort. “Obviously. But uh…” and that’s when he finally averted his attention to the thing strapped on his back. “I actually came to give you this.” It was one thing to fight aliens, it was another to accept what Steve was offering. “I can’t do that,” Sam shook his head looking at Bucky for support, but the man just stepped back and raised his hands in a ‘don’t involve me into this’ motion. “Yeah, but I think you can,” Steve smiled at Sam. “Come on. Try it.” Tentatively, as if it was made of glass, not vibranium, Sam, strapped his arm through the leathers and put the shield in front of him. “How does it feel?” Steve asked, eyes surveying his friend from the side. “Like someone else’s.” “But it isn’t,” Steve shrugged, patting Sam’s back before the soldier pulled him in a hug. “I’ll do my best.” “And that’s why it’s yours.” As they pulled back neither was ashamed of the tears that rolled down their cheeks. “And what will you do?” Sam sniffled holding onto the shield. “Join Bingo club?” Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head, pushing at Sam’s arm and making him stumble. “Actually, something I should’ve done a while back.” Both of his friend’s faces were the epitome of confusion as Steve marched away from them with sure steps, but that all changed when he called Nat’s name making her spin away from Clint and Wanda, and directly into his arms. A split second, and Steve’s lips were on her. The cheering and whooping were just as intense as when Tony and Pepper renewed their vows by the lake. The only thing that made the two pull back was the desperate need for air, but even as they did so, their foreheads remained together. "Where did that come from, Cap?" "I've wasted too much time on dreams and 'what ifs'. It's time I act on them." The pair grinned from ear to ear before a giant shadow loomed over them, and that truly made the pair pull away. “I hope you’re okay with this,” Steve mumbled looking up at Bruce. No matter what and no matter for how long, he and Nat had had a thing, and the ex-Captain could never live with himself knowing Bruce was unhappy, but by the gentle smile on the professor’s face, he knew there was no animosity towards what was happening. “Steve, I tried to bring Nat back because we’re family, not because of a kiss we shared. Besides,” he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, “I met someone along the way.” Nat’s scarlet eyebrows shot to the middle of her forehead. There went the best spy in the world award. “Why didn’t you tell us?” “Because we didn’t wanna label anything, especially with how the world was, but uh… I think we might give this a serious shot.” “Who’s the lucky girl?” Nat’s signature smirk adorned her lips, and in all her life she would’ve never bet on the fact that the Hulk would ever blush. “It’s uh it’s actually Betty… Ross.” “Thunderbolt’s daughter?” the day had been full of surprises but even that beat everything in Clint’s book. “Well we had kinda something going on before Hulk was even around, and we just reconnected after the snap… so trust me, I have nothing against you two going at it.”

***

She could hear the laughter of everyone as Bruce told Steve and Nat to not create some sort of weird super soldier spy babies. The two of them were already a handful, and Y/N smiled at the sentiment. “You okay?” Peter whispered into Y/N’s neck. It felt wrong to speak above that level, the scenery was way too calm for that. Even the waves across the lake were muted. “For the first time in almost eighteen years, I can say, I am,” she gave him a tight smile, holding the glass case of where her dad’s first arc reactor was displayed. “He’s giving it up. The superhero life. For good now.” Peter’s lips quirked up. “How do you know? This is your dad we’re talking about.” “Yeah, but I think mom would actually commit murder if he even thought of being Iron Man…” Y/N looked over the lake. It was bittersweet to know how much her family’s life had changed in those five years she was gone. She had a little sister now, Pep and Tony lived here in the countryside, and now he was passing up the mantle of Iron Man. “I know he’ll always be there when we need him, when the real shit’s going down, but I’m happy about him not doing it anymore. He deserves a quiet life with mom and Morgan.” “And you?” Peter observed how his girlfriend chewed on the bottom of her lip before releasing it once his thumb went to pull it out from between her teeth. “You deserve that as well with your family.” “And we’ll have that,” Y/N intertwined her fingers with Peters, and pressed a kiss to them, “but first, we’ll protect the Earth. I think that’s why he gave this to me. Sort of a symbol of – now it’s your turn.” Peter’s brows furrowed. “Your turn?” “You’re looking at the one and only Iron Maiden.” “Like the band?” he smirked. “Or like the torture weapon. We’ll see what happens.” He shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips as he kissed Y/N’s exposed shoulder, but their moment was disrupted when someone lightly tapped against her back. “Dad said to come and get you,” Morgan nervously rolled back and forth on her feet. “We’re making cheeseburgers and having juice pops after that.” “Really?” Y/N smirked taking Morgan’s extended palm and standing up, the arc reactor securely held in her other hand, and Peter’s hand on the small of her back. “Sounds like the perfect combo.”

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take): @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @sweet-ladyy @magicwithaknife @ollyoxenfrees @bnhvrdy @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl @sj-thefan@nerissa98 @happyseagrill @asguardiansoftheavengers @crazybutconfidentaf @wishingforahome @pizzarollpatrol @desir-ae@wantingtobekorra @kylokayd @infamousmany @3blue-dreams3 @sarcasticvodka @synka-rin @3nmxnxt3r @supernatural-strangerthings-1980 @nikolett3 @eyesinconstellations @youngbloodholland @marvels-queen-bee @julierousing98 @maggiesimps @horrorx570ximagines @luluthegreatandterrible @bambamwolf87 @drakesfiance @artbysteph87 @beets1bears1battlestargalactica

A/N: I’ve been working on this the whole day, but I apologise if there are any grammar errors. Some of the dialogue taken from the actual movie script.

P.S. feedback is always appreciated

P.S.S. my tags are always open :)

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thwip--thwip · 5 years

Note

Hey, I was looking for some new reading material and wondered if you could give me some recs? Please and thank you sm!

ho BOY anon, COULD I! I’ve got over 2,000 bookmarks on AO3 - what are we looking for? I’m going to assume IronDad, or at the very least Peter Parker-centric; short or long? MJ or Gwen Stacy? Angst, fluff, whump? Sorry this took a minute; I went into the vault for you and pulled out some rare gems:

LONG FICS

In the Home by @captainkirkk | 68k

The Avengers have been infected, turned violent and aggressive against their will. And Peter, the only one unaffected, is trapped inside the Tower with six feral teammates.

“Natasha,” Peter says cautiously, “what happened here? Steve attacked me, and if there was ever a sign that something was wrong, it’s having the embodiment of Truth, Justice, and the American Way throw you across the room—”

Natasha comes closer, her stride controlled. Nothing necessarily out of the ordinary, but there’s something in her face, in her eyes—

Natasha lunges across the space, and slams into Peter, hard.

This just…hoo. A classic if I’ve ever seen one. There’s going to be plenty of aloneintherain on this list because she’s the bomb dot com and its no secret I’m in love. we Stan in this house; this might be my favorite Spidey fic ever written.

POW Avengers by Punny_Puck |122k

Tony Stark is thrown into a new Nazi POW camp. It’s his fifth–or sixth–and he’d really like to make it to his fiftieth escape attempt this time. But Stalag III isn’t like any of the other POW camps he’s been in. He suddenly finds himself facing an impossible task: Getting two-hundred and fifty men out of the camp in one massive escape attempt. And dammit if he’s not going to make it work.

Very impressive, very lengthy and detailed historical AU set in WWII. This one is more Tony than Peter, and quite a fair bit of Loki (this author does a great job with all the different POV’s, that’s why it’s so long!). Nice and juicy!

5 Times Peter Fell & Tony Caught Him, and The 1 Time He Didn’t by eva7673 | 35k

Peter has a nasty habit of falling. And Tony, bless him, will catch him every. single. time. Until the day he can’t.

I love this series with all of my heart, but especially this first fic! It’s the perfect amount of whump and IronDad, and oh man, that last time? GETS me. Eva definitely put in so much work on this series, and it SHOWS!

Twelve Days of Peter Parker by @upcamethesun | 27k

In each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas, Tony runs into one Peter Parker — for better or for worse.

In other words, an excuse for this author to write gratuitous Peter fluff/angst/nonsense with a Christmas theme, because ‘tis the season.

This fic is so cute I Die. Perfect bit of holiday nonsense! I read it every year lol. It’s got everything you’re looking for and more, to scratch the itch you didn’t know you had.

ever in your favor by @iron–spider | 153k

Peter startles awake when someone shakes him.

“Sorry, honey,” May says. Peter blinks a couple times and she comes into focus, her hair pulled back from her face. She’s trying not to look a certain way, but he can see it in her eyes anyway. She clears her throat, keeps talking. “But it’s…” She glances away, wets her lips. “You gotta get ready.”

He remembers what day it is, and his heart beats like a drum at someone’s execution. But he tries to put on a mask, make it all seem normal. It’s everything but, despite the fact that he’s been dealing with reaping day since he was born, between himself, Ben and May. That fear that one of them could be taken away. Sent to surefire slaughter. But now Ben is gone, taken despite never having his name drawn from a bowl, and May’s finally safe. Now Peter’s name is in there alone. The last Parker sitting on the chopping block. He doesn’t know how to be. He doesn’t know what normal is, when the Hunger Games are looming on the horizon.

I mean…how could I possibly do a fic rec list without this on it? Iron–spider’s latest masterwork, and it truly is a masterwork. The Hunger Games AU your soul has been crying out for, and quite possibly the greatest AU to ever live. Do yourself a favor and get settled in - you’re in for a ride.

Magazineverse by @copperbadge | 56k

Heroes In Manhattan: From Captain America’s Hidden Talents To The Truth About The Hulk, We Debunk The Myths And Expose The Daily Lives Of The Avengers.

Avengers-centric, takes place post-2012. The Avengers team we deserve! The whole series is amazing, and I definitely didn’t see the twist coming (SO original, and you totally got me. Well played.)

MEDIUM FICS

devil in a sunday hat by @captainkirkk | 14k

Peter wishes he hadn’t gotten out of bed that morning. Then, maybe, he wouldn’t be reduced to this—limp-crawling through the rabbit burrows that is Oscorp Tower, a monster of a man on his heels, bloody and bruised and choking on a panic attack.

This series really speaks to Peter, and his experience as a street-level hero. I don’t think I’ve ever not cried reading this series - it’s really beautiful. Aloneintherain always manages to capture how much weight and anxiety sits on Peter’s shoulders - and how dire his consequences can really be.

5 things that change for Peter after the end of the world by @iron–spider | 14k

…and one thing that always remains the same.

(SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR)

Peter knows he’s different now.

The first three months were like a bubble. He didn’t think about the newness of his old life, he didn’t think about the state of the world now that it had been saved—he just worried. Worried about Tony and Steve recovering. Worried about May worrying about him. Worried about everything in general—he didn’t allow himself specifics because specifics didn’t make sense, not yet. He just focused on his routine, kept it normal, the same schedule every day so he didn’t throw himself off.

It felt like the bubble popped when the party ended, and everything became clearer. The differences in who he is now were highlighted, like there was a spotlight on his every move, like everybody could see the invisible scars the world-ending experience left on him.

The first thing he notices is the sleeping. Or lack thereof.

(a follow up to my story “the rattle of their hearts” from Peter’s POV. You can read this one without having read the original, but it would make more sense if you have read it!)

Everyone knows Rattle, and if you don’t, definitely read the first fic in this series! But this second one is really special to me (and MJ never fails to make me laugh out loud, every time). Peter’s PTSD is dealt with intimately in this fic, and I love it to bits.

the conspiracy kids by @tempestaurora | 13k

WHO IS SPIDER-MAN?

The screen showed Peter Parker, sixteen years old and determined to prove the identity of Spider-Man over the course of the three-part documentary he was making, unknowing that it would become viral within days of the first part being released. Behind the camera, way off screen, was Harley Keener, Tony Stark’s other prodigy child, grinning like crazy as Peter started the documentary. Only a few people knew what was to come, and those few people were about to have a great few weeks.

“My name is Peter Parker, and with the help of my friends, Ned Leeds, Harley Keener, and my Aunt, May Parker, who provided me with a lot of red yarn for this project, we’re going to uncover the identity of Spider-Man.”

“what if peter just decided to fuck with everyone who didn’t know he was spider man and make a documentary about him trying to uncover the Truth.”

Looking for a fun, Peter-and-Harley-being-ridiculous-teenagers fic? This is the One For You. I can see it all in my head, and it never fails to make me laugh. Delightful piece of fluff and probably the best social-media-esque fic I’ve read.

Primary Reason Tony Stark Would Throw Down With An Anti-Vaxxer In The Street by @caraminha | 12k

Prompt from my Tumblr: Have you heard of tetanus? I’m studying it for school and it’s got lots of angst potential - it causes severe, seizure like muscle spasms which can break the patient’s bones, but they’re conscious and fully aware of what’s happening. It also causes fever and lockjaw, and difficulty breathing. I’d love to see an angst fic where Peter has bad tetanus and Tony and co are looking after him whilst his symptoms get worse and worse.

Looking for some Peter!whump? This fic is so sweet. Tony is Dad. What more do you need?

SHORT FICS

Come Together by @captainkirkk | 1.8k

From the ground, Tony squints at Thanos and the young heroes the villain is chasing through the city. “Are they…” Tony begins.

Steve, being lifted onto a gurney by starstruck paramedics, laughs a little. “Leading the man who almost destroyed the Earth in a wild goose chase?” In the sky, Johnny Storm sticks his tongue out at Thanos, ducking and weaving out of the villain’s grasp. “Yeah. I think they are.”

Didn’t I promise she’d be on here a billion and one times? All of her stuff is so good, for every fandom. Go READ this queen who’s been killing the game for years. This fic is such a sweet one, an Endgame fic before Peter was even in the MCU. It’s perfect.

Only Road by @garamonder | 2.8k

A rare breather between fighting should have been a relief for the Avengers. Instead, one small comment triggers a confrontation Peter had been avoiding for months.

Oh wow this one…this dialogue between Peter and Tony is incredible. One of my favorite things in a fic is a good argument, especially one where Peter has a distinct and mature point.

Every Penny and More by Princessfbi | 1.2k

She forced herself to inhale air and hold it before releasing it from her lips. She grounded herself in the cheap vinyl in a crappy diner that she wasn’t sure she was ever going to be able to look at the same way again. She thought of the life Peter would have if she said yes because she knew that’s what all of this was about: Tony asking her permission to let him do this.

May and Tony co-parenting Peter is…oh, be still my heart. This is such a sweet little fic of something that definitely happened off-screen :’)

5 Times Spider-Man Saved An Avengers’ Ass (and the 1 Time They Saved Him) by TunaFishChris | 7.2k

What it says on the tin.

Going through an angsty Spider-Man phase. I regret nothing.

YES give me Peter x Avengers team! Peter gets a great moment with each of the Avengers, proving himself a capable hero (and getting assistance when he needs it the most :’) baby makes some friends!). Really cute, a fun little romp.

unbearable loss by @iron–spider | 1.6k

“Peter…he was so afraid, Pep,” Tony says, his voice breaking. “He…he just lunged for me, he was so afraid, he wanted—he needed someone to be there for him. And I tried, I tried—I held him, I told him he was alright, which was a—goddamn lie, and the only fucking thing that came out of my mouth. The last thing I said to him.” He shakes his head, swallowing hard. “The last thing I said to him was a lie.”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Pepper says, quietly.

“I do,” Tony says. “He trusted me. That kid trusted me, and I failed him every possible way I could have. I couldn’t save him, I couldn’t—he died in my arms and I couldn’t do one single solitary thing about it. And I couldn’t—me, the human fucking chatterbox—I just stared at him. He was dying, turning to fucking dust and apologizing to me and I just stared at him, like a moron.”

This fic Fucks. Me. Up. Iron–spider’s Tony angst is unparalleled. It hurts me every time, and the dialogue between him and Pepper is just…it’ll get you.

yesterday, I saw a change by @captainkirkk | 6.8k

Inspired by prompt: ‘Peter is unmasked on live television, and everyone goes berserk—you’ve already heard this one but here’s the twist—he’s wide-eyed, staring into the camera, frightened, but not because of his own safety. The first thing that comes out of his mouth is, “Someone please, please protect my Aunt May.” And the entirety of New York cries out simultaneously. Heroes and neighbours and fellow students rain down on the Parker house, ready to defend her.’

This is - surprise! - a May Parker fic. This fic will move you. You will probably cry. I love it with all my heart. If I ever need a refresher on who May is and how she feels - how New York feels, about Spiderman - this is my go-to.

Hope that gave you some new stuff to check out! I have more, do I ever have more. Enjoy & remember to leave comments for all of these wonderful writers!!!

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imanativeofswlondondahling · 4 years

Text

Becoming A Stark? (16)- Peter Parker x Stark! femReader

Word Count: 1828

Warnings: Swearing, that should be all I’m pretty sure

Author’s Note: Something has been up with my taglist but I think I fixed it, so make sure you’ve caught up on the past chapters before this. Also if you want to be added to future tags, let me know!

Chapter One || Previous Chapter || Master List

You saw it trending on Twitter the next morning. Delmar’s had caught fire when someone robbed a bank across the street the night before. Apparently Mr. Delmar and Murph were ok, thanks to our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. But Delmar’s destroyed? This was basically the end of your existence until it was fixed. “My. Life. Is. Over.” You dramatically say before laying your head to rest on the table next to the stack of pancakes Pepper had placed on the table.

“Ok, Tony Jr., why is your life over?” Tony hears Pepper tease you as he comes down the stairs.

“Delmar’s was destroyed.”

“You’re giving her syrup and no green juice? This has to be fixed.” Tony says, ignoring the statement that came out of your mouth.

“I stand corrected, now my life is now over.” You don’t really mind the green juice all that much, but on a day like today you don’t have time for celery, apple and kale juice when the best sandwich shop in Queens is gone. “Dad, you have to fix it. This is an Iron Man level problem.”

Those words make Tony pause and look at his teenage daughter. You’ve never said anything is an Iron Man level problem before. “What am I missing here?” Tony glances at Pepper.

“Her favorite sandwich shop was destroyed last night.”

“My life is over until it’s fixed.”

“That sounds more like a Tony Stark could fix it problem than an Iron Man problem.”

“Well Iron Man could talk to Spider-Man and see why he couldn’t stop the bad guys from exploding it? Like what does Spider-Man have against Delmar’s?” Your hands throw dramatically outward as if they don’t understand why someone who is supposed to save the neighborhood would destroy a local legend.

“I don’t think Spider-Man hates Delmar’s. It was probably an accident.” He watches as you pull out your phone and snapchat one of the most dejected faces he’s ever seen you make. “Who are you messaging?” He can’t help but ask.

“Peter. He’s probably just as upset as I am. He loves that place.”

“Oh you have no idea kiddo.”

“Oh one more thing. Can I stay home from school?” You look up at your dad, pulling what you hope looks like puppy dog eyes.

“You don’t seem that upset, but let me hear your best reasons why you should be allowed to stay home.”

“Because I’m facing personal trauma?” You suggest and Tony stares at you for a moment before you admit, “Ok so it’s the Captain America Fitness Challenge in gym today and I reallllllllllllllly don’t want to do it.”

“I’m sorry, the what now?”

“The Captain America Fitness Challenge. It’s required by the state, but they named it before the Accords happened.” You still don’t fully know what happened, but you haven’t seen Steve since Germany so it can’t have been good.

“No child of mine is participating-”

“You’re going to school. It’s just a fitness test.” Pepper cuts in. “If however your blood sugar isn’t in range during gym then go to the nurse. But do not do stuff to force it to fall.” She raises an eyebrow at you, knowing that being a child of Tony’s there was a chance you would do whatever it took to get out of it.

“And I’ll see you the day after tomorrow when I get back from India ok kiddo?”

“Why India?”

“People to see, things to do.” Your dad says as he kisses your head. “If it were up to me, there would be no Captain America anything.” He whispers to you and you smile. “Now eat your breakfast while I get you the healthier part of your breakfast.”

“Dad, I don’t have to have a green juice every morning.”

“The green juice is mandatory. The pancakes are optional.” You roll your eyes at your dad.

“You guys are all invited tonight. My parents are going to be gone, but said we can have some fun. Plus Ned told us during gym that Peter knows Spider-Man from the Stark Internship, so Spider-Man might show up.” You almost choke on the sunbutter and jelly sandwich Pepper made you.

“I’m sorry, you know Spider-Man from your internship with my dad?” Your eyes fall on Peter.

“Your dad told me not to mention it.”

“So you brought it up during gym class?”

“Technically Ned did.” Peter says. Looking at your face he sees hints of betrayal and hurt etching your features. But the biggest image is the image of Tony in your features. Tony made him promise not to connect you and Spider-Man. “Y/N-”

“Have fun at the party with Spider-Man.” You throw your food back in your lunch box. “I forgot I need to take care of something.” You push away from the lunch table. So many thoughts are running through your mind. Why would your dad introduce Peter to Spider-Man and not you? He had introduced you to so many of the Avengers before everything went to shit. So why was Spider-Man any different? And now Peter and Spider-Man were good enough friends that he was willing to come to a high school party? You turn the corner to go to the library. You could at least hide there until the end of the lunch period. Now you have to deal with the stupid Captain America Fitness Challenge and this stupid Spider-Man bullshit.

Y: so you introduced peter to spider-man?

T: Who’s saying I did?

Y: clearly peter. told a whole group of people that his friend spider-man, that he met through his internship with you, would come to a party tonight

Tony runs a hand through his hair. What is Peter doing? The whole point of having a secret identity is not to be telling kids you were going to be showing up at a party. Does he think he’s a show pony now? Because that is the last thing that the Avengers are.

T: So SM is a party trick now?

PP: y/n texted you

T: she seems to be pretty upset that I introduced you to SM before my own kid

PP: i can��t explain everything to her, so it was the easiest explanation.

Your dad clearly isn’t going to respond, so instead you reach out to a number that hasn’t contacted you in nearly two months. But hopefully, she doesn’t let you down.

Y: sos-are you in the city by chance?

N: You’re not trying to turn me in are you?

Y: i need someone to come rescue me from a really shit day at school.

N: I can be there in 30.

“So you wanna tell me why I’m kidnapping you?” Natasha asks as she walks you out of school after signing you out for the day.

“You’re on my list of people allowed to pick me up from school. So it’s not kidnapping. It’s a recovery mission.” You quote her words from your first few days living with your father.

“I see I taught you well.” Natasha smiles as you get into the black four door with her. “Where to?”

“Anywhere but here.” You answer honestly. “Where have you been?”

“Here and there. Been hiding for the most part.”

“Hiding from what?”

“People that don’t want me to be running around.”

“Is that why you’re blonde now?”

“One of the reasons. Do you not like it?”

“I like the red better.” You look out the window as she drives towards Manhattan. “Are you with Steve?”

“It’s probably better if I don’t say. Your dad and Steve aren’t on the best feet right now.”

“I could give a rat’s ass about what Daddy Dearest thinks.”

“I thought you and your dad were getting along. Literally all the conversations I had with him before I split off, he couldn’t stop mentioning you.”

“He’s part of the reason I left school today. That and the Captain America Fitness Challenge.”

“You didn’t want to take the Fitness Test?”

“Some of us are just normal humans, remember?”

“So am I.” Natasha turns onto a side street.

“Yeah, but you’re a trained assassin. You could take and pass the fitness test with ease.”

“What happened with your dad?” Natasha changes the subject without acknowledging what you said about the fitness test.

“It’s stupid.” You cross your arms.

“Not stupid if it upset you.”

“You know the Spider-Man that’s been running around Queens?”

“Yeah.”

“My dad introduced him to his intern but won’t introduce him to me. Apparently his intern has met him enough times that Spider-Man is willing to stop by a party that one of our friends is throwing. And when I tried to talk to my dad about it, he just stopped responding like that would make it better.”

“Did you think that maybe your dad had reasons other than being mean or something like that for why he wouldn’t want you near another superhero?”

“Like what?”

“He feels like he puts you in danger all the time. Another superhero, more danger. That was the whole point of the Accords was keeping us in check. Keeping the normal,” She motions towards you, “people safe. So maybe he was hesitant to bring yet another superhero into your life, especially after a huge group of us superheroes went rogue on him. He loves you. He would literally do anything for you.”

“He wouldn’t let me skip the fitness challenge this morning.”

“He wasn’t going to let you skip school. To be honest maybe I shouldn’t have let you either, but I miss you.”

“I miss you too Aunt Nat.” The words slip from your mouth before you can stop them. “You should come home.”

“I can’t until the Accords get sorted out. I’m considered a criminal right now.”

“Can we go to the compound? Just hang out there.”

“Your father will have a heart attack if you’re not home in two hours which is how long it will take to drive there.”

“I think he’s supposed to be leaving for an event out of town. A wedding or some other event out of the country. I just have to text Happy that I don’t need a ride.”

“Get the approval that I don’t have to take you home in the next couple hours and we can go hang out at the compound.” You can’t help but smile as you text Happy, saying that you are going to Betty’s house after school and a party at Liz’s that night so you won’t be home until the next day. He offers to pick you up, but you say you’ll be fine getting a ride home. “We’re all good.”

“And Tony won’t be at the compound right?”

“He’s heading to India for a wedding or a corporate event of some kind.”

“Then it looks like a girls night at the compound is what we’re going to do.” Natasha turns to leave the city and you feel your heart getting a little lighter.

Becoming A Stark Tag list: @persephonehemingway @iamaunicorn4704 @furiouspockettoad @daughter-of-stark @eternalharry @huntective-kyeo @riiis-stuff @sunnyoongles @cosmicqueenieb @sovereignparker @bbarnestan@teenwishes08 @iamthescarlettwitch @skyfallstilinski @cutie1365

Permanent tag list: @wormonastringonastick

wont let me tag

#peter parker #peter parker x stark!reader #peter parker x reader #peter parker fan fiction #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fan fic #peter parker fanfic #Tony Stark #tony stark can't be dead if you just don't let yourself believe it #tony stark daughter #tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stark x daughter!you #liz allan #natasha romanov #natasha romanoff #imanativeofswlondondahling #becoming a stark?

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner Ch 57: We’re In The Endgame Now

Intro The Time Heist worked, but at a cost. Natasha gave her life for the Soul Stone. Following a promise to make her sacrifice worth something, the Avengers continued their plan and succeeded in reversing the Snap. But along with everyone else, the biggest threat the Avengers have ever faced re-appeared.

Thanos.

Now Steve and Katie, along with the rest of their team are locked in a fearsome battle, between light and dark, life and death. Simply put, it’s a battle which they cannot afford to lose because they’re in the Endgame now…

Warnings:

“Language!”

Character death. Please have your tissues ready…there’s gonna be tears.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

So…I’m REALY nervous about this one!! I hope I do it justice. It flits between perspectives so I hope you can follow it, and used a lot of visuals too... Please re-blog and leave your thoughts xxx

"Baby…” Steve heard Katie’s voice, it was desperate, shattered, and something else inside him broke even more. “You gotta get up…” she pleaded, shaking his shoulder, “Come on…”

Steve grit his teeth as he rolled to the side, Katie’s hand still on his shoulder as he rest against his forearm, trying to muster the strength to get up.

“Come on…” Katie whispered, “We need to try, keep him distracted until Tony and Thor come round….hopefully the others can find their way back to the surface. And then if we can get the stones we can end this.” It was a long shot, beyond long in fact. Steve knew that. Katie knew that. But whilst there was hope…no matter how small a hope it was, or how beaten they felt, they had to try. Steve turned his head to look over his shoulder at his wife. Her face plate was open and there were tears streaking down her cheeks. She looked at him and then glanced to her left, and he saw utter hatred and fear cloud her pretty face.

“In all my years of conquest, violence, slaughter... it was never personal.” Thanos spoke as Katie and Steve both glared at him, from their vantage point on the floor, Katie almost shielding Steve with her body as she knelt by his side. “But I'll tell you now, what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet...I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much.”

And then, as they watched, behind Thanos, a blue light shot down and when it dissipated it left what looked like thousands of soldiers stood in rows. Thanos had brought his entire army. The so called Children of Thanos, Chitauri, those damned dog things they had fought in Wakanda...

Katie took a shaky breath, and let out a sob as she realised that any hope they had was gone. They might have, just might have stood a chance against Thanos alone, but not against his full army. She locked eyes with his Steve before he looked down at the ground, away from her eyes. More of her tears fell as she understood this was it. This was the end. For them, for their kids, for the world.

According to some, there’s a calm serenity that descends on you when you know you’re time is up. But Steve didn’t feel calm, he felt anger, hatred…all towards himself. This was down to him, he’d brought this upon his family, his friends…he should have left those fucking stones in the past and dealt with his feelings of failure. Instead, here he was, a failure again. Beaten on a battlefield by the very man they actually killed some 5 years previously that was now about to wipe out the entire world. How fucked up was that?

“We are not going like this…” Katie said, openly sobbing as she shook her head, looking from Steve to the assembled army. “Not like this. We stand up, and we go fighting, you hear me?”

“You always get up Stevie, ya hear?” his Ma looked at him, wiping the blood from his split lip, ignoring his flinch. “No matter how hard they hit ya, you never give them the satisfaction of stayin’ down, lad, never. You push back, and eventually they’ll realise that they can’t fight forever...”

He glanced at the broken shield on his arm, swallowing as he remembered Jamie looking at him when he told him he used to be Captain America. His beautiful baby boy’s eyes that were so like Steve’s mother’s, wide with awe, and pride.

“You were Captain America?” Jamie frowned. “When you fighted with the Avengers?”

“Yeah” he sighed, running his hand through Jamie’s golden hair “I was.”

“Are you now?”

“I dunno.” Steve said, glancing back at his shield.

“I think you are” Jamie cocked his head to one side as his hand reached out to touch the shield. “Because Cap’s a hero and you’re my hero”

Well fuck this. Katie was right, his Ma was right. If he was going, then he was going down fighting. Alongside his best gal, his partner, the woman who gave him more strength than any serum ever could.

He pushed himself to his feet, teeth grit, fierce determination across every line on his face. With a shaking hand he tightened the leather straps on his broken shield around his arm and stood tall, turning to Katie.

“I love you.” he choked out, holding out his right hand to grip her left “’til the end of the line.” She turned to him, her eyes streaming with tears before she reached up and pulled his face to hers, pressing a fierce kiss to his lips.

“The very end…” she stuttered out, before they turned to face their death.

Man and Wife walked slowly towards Thanos, who simply stood, his head cocked to his right. They’d barely made it 4 foot however, when their communicators started crackling.

“Hey, Cap, you read me?”

It was faint…and broken…but it was a voice they hadn’t heard in 5 years other than in their nightmares about that fateful day they failed in Wakanda. A voice they would never forget.

Sam.

Both of them stopped dead, Steve’s mouth dropped open and he looked at Katie, raising a shaking hand to his head in an attempt to press the comms piece further into his ear. They both turned to each other, their faces shocked, not quite sure whether to believe if they were hearing things or...

“Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?”

Both Katie and Steve’s chests rose and fell deeply as they tried to understand where Sam was. They knew Banner's snap had worked, but surely if everyone came back where they had vanished then they should be in Wakanda. Nevertheless, Steve instinctively glanced upwards, and Sam spoke again.

“On your left.”

They both turned, seeing a sparkling yellow circle to the left of Steve. As they watched, utterly dumbfounded, three figures stepped through and Katie realised from their Silhouettes alone who it was- Okoye, Shuri, and T’Challa in his full Black Panther garb. Katie’s hand flew to her mouth as T'Challa's mask faded away to look at Steve. The soldier breathed shakily and relieved and thankful smile broke through the filth and grime that covered his face. T'Challa gave him a small nod, before he turned to Katie and bowed slightly, the way he always did.

Katie’s breathing suddenly became erratic as she gripped Steve’s hand and the sobs began again, but this time they were punctuated by laughs, laughs and stutters of utter relief which turned into a yell of pure joy when Sam zoomed in above them in his Falcon armour. They watched as he flew and circled back round, Katie ’hands flying into the back of her hair, gripping as she doubled over and sobbed, simply unable to believe it.

Steve could do nothing but watch in a relieved, thankful and astounded awe as dozens and dozens more portals opened up all around the battlefield. He knew who the man that descended at the front was- Doctor Strange and he was joined by 3 people he also knew to be Rocket’s friends- The Guardians of the Galaxy- then came Spider-Man, his mask flopping down to reveal an alive and well Peter Parker behind it. Katie tore her eyes away to look for Tony who was now sitting up, a look of utter shock on his face. He found her eyes and gave a small twitch of his mouth as he scrambled to his feet, and turned to Thor who was now grinning ear to ear as he watched the portal that was bringing Valkyrie and the Asgardian army to their aid. Katie could heard chanting now and she turned to see the full Wakandan Army stepping through another portal headed by Bucky. The number of people arriving to support the Avengers rose as Dr Strange continued to conjure portals, and Katie screamed as a familiar red energy alerted them both to Wanda’s appearance, where she landed not far from Bucky, her eyes blazing. And then, with a clang Pepper landed a few feet away from Katie clad in her own Iron Suit and Tony joined them, shooting his wife a proud look. Finally there was a loud roaring, crashing noise and Katie and Steve spun to see Scott Lang as the Giant-Ant Man emerging from the rubble with Banner, Rhodey, Rocket and Clint.

The group of thousands behind Katie and Steve up their fighting stances, brandishing whatever weapons or powers they had, Steve looked around, almost bursting into tears himself at the emotions flooding his chest. He glanced at his wife who looked back, wiping her eyes, her breathing still deep as she couldn’t quite believe how all these people had come to help. Steve didn’t either, but all he knew was they had. And now they were almost if not completely equal on numbers. And they had hope once more.

He turned to face Katie again as she gave him a nod.

“Call it Captain…” she said, her voice full of determination as her face plate slid back into place.

And call it he did.

“AVENGERS!” his cry echoed across the battle field as he held out his hand, summoning Mjolnir to his palm. Thor landed by his side just as the hammer slapped into Steve’s glove and he glared up at Thanos, his teeth grit with utter determination “ –Assemble.”

Behind him Thor gave a loud battle cry as did Black Panther and the Avengers’ army began to charge. Katie, Tony and Pepper flying almost in formation as they sped forward. Almost instantly the two sides collided violently, and the fighting began. Bullets, beams, punches, kicks, knives, spears, all flying and smashing against one another. The air was filled with yells, grunts and the clanging of metal against metal.

“No no, give me that…” he held out his hand, tossing him Mjolnir. "You can have the little one,"

Katie, Tony and Pepper were circling back to back in a 3, their booster beams shooting at anything and everything, spiralling into groups of the warriors, helping anyone they could. Katie spotted that Clint was swamped a little so she flew down, freeing him before she shot into the air and found herself flying along side Sam.

“Mrs R…”he turned to face her and she gave him a nod.

“Good to see you Sammy…” she smiled.

“You know me, never one to miss a good fire fight!” he smirked, shooting his semi-autos at something that was flying into the air in front of him.

Tony shot down, barrelling into a group of Chitauri warriors, just like he had in New York. With a whoop he scattered them like bowling pins, landing and shooting off guns and beams, before something hit him hard on the side of the head and sent him flying. He landed, and pushed himself up on his elbows ready to fight but at the same time the Giant Ant-Man crushed his assailant.

And then, the kid was there. Peter was running straight to Tony. In the suit Tony had made for him. The Billionaire blinked, retracting his helmet as Pete’s usual, incessant and enthusiastic rambles filled his ear.

“Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what's been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out ‘cause I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, "It's been five years. Come on, they need us." And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time..” he started using two fingers to demonstrate Strange's swirl in the air but Tony stopped him, the emotions of seeing the kid alive again were swirling in his chest, and with watery eyes he stepped forward and pulled the kid into a hug.

“What are you doing?...” Peter said, shocked at his mentor’s display of affection before he hugged Tony back. “This is nice”

“Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?”

“Get those stones as far away as possible!” Steve instructed, punching another creature in the head.

“No!” Banner yelled back “We need to get them back where they came from.”

“No way to get them back” Tony sighed “Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel”

“Hold on…” Lang spoke, and Steve saw the 100 foot or so man shrink out of the air "That wasn't our only time machine!"

The sound of Scott’s van horn, rang out across the battle ground and Steve immediately ran up to higher ground, trying to spot the van, following the noise.

"Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?" Steve asked, looking up.

Katie shot above him and he watched her as she circled over the fighting armies before she stopped, hovering and pointing down underneath her

“Yes!” She yelled victoriously, as Valkyrie flew alongside her on her winged horse, shooting her a look.

“You're not going to like where it's parked!” The Asgardian finished, pointing her spear to it.

Tony flew up into the air shooting another Chitauri warrior off his…well, whatever the hell you called those flying scooter things before he glanced down at Lang.

“Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?”

“Maybe ten minutes”.

“Get it started.” Rogers instructed We'll get the stones to you.”

And then as Tony watched, ready to cover Lang as he broke for it, a woman materialised next to him. Nothing should surprise Tony anymore, nothing, but it did. And he had absolutely no idea why.

“We're on it, Cap.” she spoke softly, before they pair of them shrunk again and FRIDAY kept a lock on them as they flew away, no bigger than ants.

Ok, so maybe Lang didn’t need covering after all. Tony watched them via FRIDAYS scanners as they flew towards the van, and saw Katie and Pepper fighting in tandem, the pair of them bringing down a huge Chituari beast that looked like a gorilla. He grinned at the sight of his wife and sister kicking ass, and then spotted Strange in the corner of his eye, trapping a load of Chitauri in his magic, sending them through portals. Recalling the conversation they had on Titan, he had to know and so he landed, turning to look at the Wizard.

“Hey. You said one out of 14 million, we win, yeah?” he asked, glancing around “Tell me this is it.”

“If I tell you what happens, it won't happen” Strange said back, and Tony groaned. Jesus this man was infuriating.

“You better be right.” Tony shot back, pointing an iron clad finger at him.

As Scott was hot-wiring his van, because of course it was dead, the fight was raging on and the gauntlet was in some kind of relay across the battle field towards them. T’Challa took it off Clint and as Thanos advanced on the black Panther, Wanda landed in front of him, her eyes blazing. She then began to fight Thanos furiously, and she seemed to be getting the upper hand as bits of his armour began to peel off him as he hovered in the air, surrounded by her red power. Wanda was attempting to tear him apart.

In desperation Thanos gave the instruction for his ships to fire down on the battle field, not caring that his own troops would also be hit. As the missiles began to hit the ground, everyone tried to dodge as best they could. Strange and the rest of his troops held up their arms conjuring magic shields to attempt to keep the troops on the ground as sheltered as possible. Katie and Pepper employing evasive manoeuvres as they sped across the sky, until a large explosion caught their attention and they glanced over to the bank of the river. One of the missiles from the ship had blasted part of it away and the water was now rushing up and over the edge and threatening to flood the canyon the battle was taking place in. After a nervous shout from Pepper, Strange jumped to it and conjured up his power, capturing the water in some kind of magic and holding it still.

“Where are the stones?” Katie asked frantically, circling above, still dodging the fire. And Steve had to admit, he’d kinda like to know as well. It was then that they both heard Peter Parker yelling, and they realised he had the gauntlet.

"I got this…” there was a scuffle "Ok, I don't got this. Help! Somebody! Help!"

"Hey Queens," Steve said, "Heads up!" He took a couple steps forward flung Mjolnir through the air. Peter shot his web at it, and it catapulted him through the air where Katie caught him.

"Hang on, I got you Spider-Kid!" she said, as they flew through the air and she tossed him to Valkyrie as she flew past. But her horse was hit by the fire from Thanos’ ship and Peter was blasted to the floor.

“Tony, have you any idea how we can shut that thing down?” Katie asked desperately, looking at the ship. They needed that damned thing out of order to stand any chance. The missiles were coming even harder now, and Steve dove to take cover behind a rock.

And then, all the noise stopped, and the cannons on the ship lifted upward and they began to fire into the sky.

“What the hell is this?” Sam asked, as he flew along side Katie.

"FRIDAY, what are they firing at?" Tony asked, his voice slightly worried.

"Something just entered the upper atmosphere," FRIDAY replied in both Tony and Katie’s ear.

Then a huge, bright ball of pulsating energy came surging down straight through the ship, and then back up through it again.

“DANVERS!” Katie yelled, watching as the woman hovered above the fast descending ship as it crash-landed in the lake.

"Now that’s how to make an entrance," she, glanced at her brother where he was hovering not far away from her. He turned to look at her, and even though she couldn’t see his face she knew he was rolling his eyes.

"I used to make a perfectly fine entrance, thank you Kiddo…”

"Danvers," Steve glanced up, hardly able to keep the smile of his face, even though he knew this was far from over. But Thanos was looking worried now, he could see from the Titan’s body language, and that was enough of a boost for the Super Soldier to sweep back into Captain mode, they could win this...

“We could use an assist here…” he looked up.

“What on?” Carol asked, flying towards Katie.

“We need to get the stones to the brown van…” Katie said, circling and then she spotted Peter who was crouched in a crater, the gauntlet tight within his arms. Gesturing to Carol she landed by Peter, her helmet sliding away and Carol gently dropped besides her and looked down at Peter..

"Hi. I'm Peter Parker," he said, looking up at her, his nose blooded.

Carol smirked, almost flirtatiously. "Hey Peter Parker. Got something for me?"

Peter pushed himself up and handed her the gauntlet, before he looked at the Army who was crawling towards them. “I don't know how you're gonna get it through all that” he said quietly.

Wanda then landed next to Katie and glanced around, her red power surrounding her. “Don't worry.” the Sokovian woman said as Valkyrie landed on her winged horse

“She's got help” Okoye said stepping up as she looked around.

“Where’s Nat?” Wanda asked as Pepper landed next to Okoye. Katie hung her head slightly as she looked at her, as more and more of the women from the battle landed in front of them- Mantis, then Shuri Hope, Gamora and Nebula.

“She didn’t make it Wan…” Katie said gently, and she heard Okoye gasp and then realised that no one had told the Warrior “She didn’t make it back from the mission to get the stones.” Okoye spun her shield in her hands, her face stoney as she eyed up the army which was advancing on them. “Then this…this is for her…” The Wakandan woman said, turning to Katie who nodded.

And then they attacked. Thanos' army charged while the women helped Carol Danvers go through the swarm of aliens, Chitauri, animals alike. Okoye took out the larger fighter that Katie recognised from the train station in Edinburgh as Wanda, her, Pepper and Valkyrie destroyed two leviathans. Carol Danvers then started flying towards the van with the Gauntlet, at a rate of knots, going through every blockade that was in her way with ease. Thanos, seeing this, started running towards her.

“We gotta cover Danvers!” Katie yelled as she flew down, followed by Pepper as Shuri and Hope also stood tall, the 4 of them unloading their various weapons and succeeding in blasting Thanos backwards. Danvers sped past him, but through the heat and flash of various beams and weapons, no one spotted him launching the half of his sword towards the van until it was too late.

Steve felt the explosion and looked up at the huge flash of light, seeing Danvers being catapulted back through the air, her grip on the gauntlet lost and it fell to the ground. Then, it was almost like time slowed down as Thanos paused, looking at the Gauntlet, at the same time as Tony sat up and did the same. As Steve sprinted towards the pair of them Tony went to tackle him from behind only to be batted away to the side somewhere. Steve continued to sprint, he was almost there, almost…and then Thor landed swinging his lightning covered axe at the Titan before his hammer flew into his hand and he used both weapons to hold Thanos at bay. Steve threw himself on Thanos’ back grabbing at the axe, pulling with all his might in an attempt to slice it straight through Thanos’ neck. But it was to no avail. With a might head-butt Thanos sent Thor sprawling backwards and he reached up and pulled Steve off him, flinging him through the air like a rag doll. He landed hard, his head colliding with something, and he was out cold.

“Steve!” Katie saw him go flying, and was about to go after him, but she saw Thanos reaching for the gauntlet. Surging her suit forwards she shot at him, desperation flooding her system, and she kept her beam going as she flew down. Her fingers grazed the gauntlet before a harsh kick to her head sent her flipping back and through the air with no control over her flight plan. She landed heavily, groaning as she felt blood trickle down her temple. She had taken a bad hit there and felt herself zoning in and out, the sounds of the battle muting slightly as she lay on her back, her helmet flying open as she took deep gulps of air before it all went black.

Tony, meanwhile, had come to. He sat up, and saw that Thanos and Danvers were locked in combat, Danvers’ hands were both wrapped round Thanos’ left and Tony could see that he now had the gauntlet. They were so close, surely…surely not. He couldn’t snap again. He grimaced as Thanos went to head but the woman, but nothing. It simply bounced off the energy surrounding her. And Tony felt a glimmer of hope, maybe she was their secret weapon. The one in 14 million, 605 that meant they were gonna win. As he watched she surged upwards, forcing Thanos to his knees but the Titan pulled the Power Stone out of the gauntlet and clutching it in his right hand he hit Danvers hard and she flew through the air, landing harshly. With pure desperation, Tony turned to look at Strange who was watching him. The magician simply raised one finger, which was trembling slightly. Trembling, Tony assumed, because the one win he foresaw was now at risk. But as he looked at the man, Strange’s eyes filled with sadness and Tony realised that it wasn’t Carol he saw winning the battle after all.

It was him.

And then he understood completely. And he knew what he had to do. With a deep breath, resigned to his fate he threw himself at the Titan.

With a heavy moan, Katie sat up, just in time to see Tony grappling with Thanos. With an angry cry she fired her suit up again and shot forwards, but as she did Thanos cast aside her brother easily. She bore down on him she shooting her beams, using her boosters and everything she had, but once again she was forced to quit after one of the Chitauri Leviathons came straight for her. She just managed to dodge it by shooting to the right, but was caught heavily by one of its fins and for the second time in as many minutes she was spiralling though the air with no control. The heads up display in her helmet flickered slightly and there was ringing in her ears mingled with FRIDAY’s desperate calls. The ground was rising to meet her but just in time she managed to pull herself round and righted herself in the air. Spinning round she saw Tony knelt up, his helmet retracted as he stared at the Titan, who was leering down over him with a twisted grin on his face.

“I am inevitable…”He said. It was the second time she had heard him say that. And then he rose his hand which bore the gauntlet.

Katie’s desperate scream echoed around her helmet as she hovered in mid-air and before she could so much as move, the Titan snapped. But instead of the beams of light and the shaking of the ground that had happened when Bruce did it. There was nothing. Katie’s face plate slid back, because the thought the displays were damaged but her eyes widened as Thanos glanced down at his gauntlet. She realised at the same time he did that the stones were missing. And then, as if in slow motion, the pieces started to slot into place, both figuratively and mentally.

Tony knelt tall, the stones twirling round his hand. Lights circled his forearm and bicep and he let out a loud yell, the utter pain and power consumed him. It bore into every cell on his body and took everything he had inside him to keep himself upright. This was it the end that he always knew he was going to meet. And strangely, he wasn’t scared. Not for him anyway, this was his destiny… the only way it would ever end.

“We’re in the Endgame now...”

Morgan’s face flashed across Tony’s mind, then Pepper’s, then his sister’s as his head fell back, the power surging up his arm and shoulder. Pulling his head up with an almighty wrench, his eyes locked on those belonging to the Thanos and he could feel the stones vibrating on his gauntlet, humming, almost like they knew what was coming. Maybe they did.

The bastards words echoed in his mind. “I am inevitable.”

Well, eat shit you fucker…

His eyes flickered to his sister, who was watching the entire event unfold, paralysed in mid-air behind the Titan, her helmet retracted and mouth open in a silent scream. With a soft smile he then turned back to the Titan and looked him square in the face, speaking with the most conviction he could ever remember having.

“And I…am…Iron Man.”

He raised his fingers, concentrating on what he wanted to happen, and snapped. The power surge made Tony collapse forward, his skin was burning and his throat felt like it was being closed off. He pushed himself to his feet, hand clutched to the arc reactor in his chest as he tried to speak into his Comms, but the words wouldn’t come. Staggering a few feet, he stumbled to a large upturned piece of concrete laced with rebar before he collapsed against it, hard.

Steve who had just got to his feet was aware of a bright flash of light and the vibrating of the ground underneath him and new instantly that someone had snapped. He spun round in desperate hope it wasn’t Thanos, and then as he saw one of the animals bearing down on him he braced himself, aiming a hard punch to it’s head. But he connected with nothing. He paused, his eyes widening, mouth falling open in shock as he watched Thanos’ army turn to dust all around the field and he realised that they’d won. It wasn’t Thanos who had snapped, it was one of them. With a relieved sigh, he wheeled around expecting to see Thor or Banner with the gauntlet, his mouth suddenly going dry as he realised the effect it had on Banner the last time but they were nowhere to be found. And that was when he spotted his wife, deactivating her suit as she ran, scrambling over piles of concrete and stones to get to someone.

Tony’s breathing was laboured and his eyes were full wide when Katie finally reached him, grabbing his gauntlet clad hand.

“Tony, come on…look at me…” He was done, he understood that. But they’d won. Morgan, Pepper, Kiddo, Jamie, Emmy, Steve…his family were all safe. The world was safe. He tried to speak, tried to tell her it was ok, that he accepted what was happening, but his voice was merely a whisper.

“I…”

“Shhh, save your strength…” Katie gently placed her hand on the side of his head, down the cheek which wasn’t badly burnt and she was aware that someone had landed next to her. Rhodey dropped to his knee gently, his hand falling to Tony’s shoulder as he looked at his friend, not saying a word. Katie turned to him, his eyes filling with tears.

“Mr Stark?” Peter Parker landed between her and Rhodey Katie turned back to her brother as his head collapsed against the concrete. “Hey Mr Stark, can you hear me…it’s Peter…” Tony’s face turned to the young man, a flash of recognition on his face as he tried to smile.

“We won…Mr Stark” Peter said, his breathing deep. “We won, you did it Sir, we did it…I’m sorry…don’t….” He began to cry as Tony’s head lolled to the side and then Katie was aware of someone else behind them, gently pulling Peter up and away. She turned to her right as Pepper crouched next to her. She gently squeezed Katie’s arm before she touched Tony on his shoulder, placing her other hand over the arc reactor on his chest.

“Hey…” she said softly.

“Pep…” he managed to whisper as his hand fell on top of hers and Katie placed her own over his.

“FRIDAY? ” Pepper spoke with a thick swallow, even though Katie knew there was no need to ask the AI. The stones had almost killed Thanos and Banner. Tony stood no chance. He was dying.

“Life functions are critical…” the AI spoke and Katie bowed her head, her tears falling to the ground.

“Tony…” Pepper said softly, and Katie looked back at her brother, who was smiling up at his wife. She gently smiled back, as he turned his head to his sister and she tried her hardest to keep it together.

“The stars…”He mumbled out, and Katie nodded chocking back a sob as she gripped his hand tighter, finishing the saying for him.

“And back…”

He turned back to Pepper who gently ran her hand up his arm “We’re gonna be ok” she said, her voice soft as she glanced at Katie

“We all are.” Katie assured him, sniffing slightly.

His head lolled back once more and Pepper spoke gently, this time her voice cracked. “You can rest now…” Her hand brushed his hair back from his temple as he lay so still, his eyes glanced over Katie’s shoulder to where Steve was stood, stock still, his own tears clouding his vision. He locked eyes with Tony who gave him the faintest of smiles. Steve nodded to him, his chest heaving with sorrow before his brother-in-law’s eyes stopped focussing and his body slumped. Steve saw Pepper bow her head next to Katie, and as his wife glanced down at her hand, still over the top of his, Steve saw the light go out in his chest.

He was gone.

Katie let out a soft sob as she removed her hand gently taking Tony’s with her. Kneeling up, she pressed her forehead against his, scrunching her face up against the physical pain that was brewing in her chest. Pepper leaned up to kiss his face as a silence fell around them, not one single sound coming from the battle field. Pepper dropped her head to Tony’s shoulder and then she too began to cry. Katie placed a soft kiss to his cheek, his skin still warm and bowed her head, listening to Pepper’s sobs through the silence of her own.

Steve limped forward, dropping heavily to his knees besides his wife “Katie…” he said softly, she turned to face him, noticing his eyes were red and the dirt on the parts of his face visible under his helmet were interlined with the tracks his own tears had made. The two looked at each other for a second, before her face crumpled and he wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face into his chest, her small body shaking with silent sobs, hands fisting around the Kevlar of his uniform. Steve lay his cheek against her head, his own tears pouring down his face as he held her to him. His eyes scanned immediate vicinity of the battle field and his eyes fell on Clint in the near distance, dropping to his knee, his head bowed, hand resting on his fist. In front of him T’challa did the same, then Carol, and the Bucky... everyone, all out of respect to their fallen warrior.

Eventually it was Thor that broke the silence, but not by speaking. There was a huge rumble of thunder and Katie jumped, pulling back from Steve slightly, looking upwards as lighting flashed in the sky. The clouds that had descended with Thanos’ ship began to part slowly, a chink of the red sunset falling onto where Tony was sat, chinks of light bouncing off his Iron Man suit.

Katie turned away from Steve and gently reached out with a shaking hand to close Tony’s eyes

“There, he could be sleeping…”she said softly, her hand falling to Pepper’s shoulder. Pepper reached up and gripped it, almost painfully as she turned to her sister-in-law, her face streaming with tears. There was a moment’s pause before Katie wrapped her arms around her, gently stroking her hair.

“We should… we should move him.” Rhodey said, his voice cracking. Steve pulled himself to his feet with a groan and he looked around.

“Has any of the compound survived?” he asked softly, wiping his face as Sam approached him.

“The Hangar area and the labs are totally gone, Cap.” Sam said gently and Steve looked at him properly for the first time in 5 years “But some of the living quarters and part of the training facility seems to be ok.”

“Can we check it’s safe to house people?” Steve said, switching back into Captain mode. “We need to set up somewhere to treat the wounded.”

Sam nodded.

“I’ll come with you.” Rhodey said before he looked at Steve. “I’ll get onto the Emergency Services and Ross too.”

The two men nodded. Rhodey took off straight away whereas Sam paused.

“It’s good to see you Sam.” Steve said, with a soft smile.

“Well like I said, when Captain America needs your help…”

There was a pause, before the two men hugged. Stepping back, with a nod, Sam launched back into the air.

“Steve…”

He spun round to see Bucky, watching him tentatively. For a moment Steve stood still, just observing his friend before he rushed forward into a manly embrace, Steve choking up once more.

“I leave you for what, 5 minutes and you start another war?” Bucky teased gently and Steve gave a watery laugh.

“Try 5 years you Jerk”

“Punk.” Bucky said gently, before he looked down at Katie who was still knelt by her brother, her arm round Pepper. He gave a sigh and dropped his head.

“Sorry.” he offered to Steve, not sure what else he could say.

“Living quarters are secure…” Rhodey said in Steve’s ear and he nodded.

“Ok, let’s set up some form of command centre, a triage maybe if we need it…” he took a deep breath and turned back to Katie as he dropped to his knee again, a little gentler than last time and he touched her shoulder.

“Honey…” he said softly, wiping away the blood from her temple. “We can move Tony now, take him inside…that is if you’re ready…”

She turned to him, taking a deep breath she nodded. “Pep?”

Pepper gave a sniff and nodded as well.

“I’ll take him.” Banner said, sniffing as he stepped forward. Katie watched as he picked up Tony’s limp body as easily as if it was a rag doll and set off walking through the rubble.

“I don’t want him to be alone.” Pepper said gently from her side before she stood up and walked after Bruce.

“Steve…your arm.” she said, taking his wrist in her hand and gently flipping it so she could look at it. “I’ll be fine.” He said.

Knowing better than to try and argue with him, she looked around and asked with a shaky voice. “Did anyone else…” “No.” Steve shook his head, instantly understanding “Few minor injuries but…everyone’s fine.” “Except Tony…” she said, her breath catching as the tears once more flooded from her eyes.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart.” Steve’s voice cracked as he wrapped his arms round her and cradled her close, the pair of them lost in their grief for their fallen brother. *****

The night began to draw in. Thanks to Rhodey, the Emergency services had swamped the area to begin a full clean up and treatment of the walking wounded.

And there were so many people to greet, so many to thank, so fucking many.

Katie’s head was a complete mash. She was utterly numb. Hugs and tears were shared with the people they had lost 5 years ago, thanks were given to those who had stood by them and come to their aid, and then more tears were shed for the two fallen heroes. Eventually, she told Steve she needed a break and he gave her cheek a soft kiss, both of them knowing full well her breakdown would come later. She headed into the compound to find Pepper and her brother before he was taken away by one of Ross’ men, the Secretary having actually proven useful for once.

Strange transported everyone who wasn’t staying at the Compound back home, in the same way he had led them there. He bid goodbye to Steve, shaking his hand, before he himself disappeared.

With a sigh and a glance down at his bandaged arm, Steve’s attention was caught by something shining in the dim light. As he looked harder he noticed that it was a piece of his shield. Bending down, his fingers swept the dust and debris off the large piece of Vibranium. Picking it up, he swallowed slightly, remembering the horror and surprise he had felt as Thanos had hacked through it, as if it had been made of nothing but aluminium.

“So you met Danvers?” a familiar voice cut through his thoughts.

Steve looked over his shoulder to see Fury stood behind him. He stood up and gave the man a weak smile.“Yeah. You were holding out on us all this time.”

“In a fashion” Fury shrugged. “Code red only…”

Steve gave a snort, no in the least bit surprised.

“He's a spy. Captain, he's THE spy.” Tony said, gesticulating with his arms to make a point “His secrets have secrets”

“You know, all this…bringing everyone back…” he sighed heavily “The victory kinda feels pyrrhic with losing Nat and Tony…”

“They both made their choices.” Fury sighed, softly “Both gave their lives for a cause they believed in.”

“Tony didn’t even want to do this you know.” Steve sighed “He said no at first but I talked him into it…” “Stark never did anything he didn’t want to do.” Fury said, turning to face Steve straight on. “He made a choice. As did Agent Romanoff. And you need to allow them the both the dignity of their choices by not blaming yourself. They clearly thought it was worth it.” With those words the Captain was catapulted way back in time to a conversation in a blown out London bar, the evening he realised he could no longer get drunk.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Peggy looked at him across the table.

“Did you read the reports?” Steve shot back.

“Yes.”

“Then you know that’s not true.”

Only this time, unlike Bucky, there was no second chance. If calling what Bucky went through a second chance was really accurate that is…

“What?” Fury asked as Steve shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

“Nothing.” Steve said, “You just reminded me of someone.” “Anyone in particular?” “Peggy.” Steve sighed, looking around at the ruins of the compound. “Well there are worse people to be likened to.” Fury considered what Steve said for a moment before he changed the subject “I hear you and Nova have been busy these past 5 years, couple of kids...” “Yeah we do, boy and a girl.” Steve smiled as he looked at Fury, the thought of his children temporarily stemming the hollow feeling in his chest at the loss of his brother-in-law and friend. They were safe.

“You should go home.” Fury turned to Steve. “Be with them.”

“Is that an order?” Steve arched an eyebrow looking at him.

“You don’t work for you me anymore, you haven’t done for a long time…in fact I’m not sure you ever really did…” Fury said, smirking slightly. “And I don’t think you never will again.”

He gave Steve a significant look, one which Steve instantly understood. This was Fury’s way of relieving him from his leadership of the Avengers. It was symbolic more than anything because Steve didn’t need releasing from service at all. Fury wasn’t his boss, no one was his boss, but this was closure. It was Fury’s promising Steve he would never be called upon to fight again if that was what he chose.

And he did choose. He was ready to quit. 7 years ago when he had been forced into it he hadn’t been, not really, but now he was. His fight was done. He was buying that fucking holiday home, and they were going to be a normal family, that did normal things, in normal ways. Tony and Nat had both sacrificed their lives, and he wasn’t going to dishonour their memory by putting his family at risk ever again.

Captain America was done.

Steve looked down at his feet, before he glanced up at Fury, and held his hand out. “It’s been an honour.” he said, as Fury shook his hand. “But you’re right. It’s time for me to hang up my shield, for good this time. “ he looked down at the broken metal in his hand. “What’s left of it that is…”

“Or you could pass it down.” Fury said as Steve looked back at him, snorting.

“I think Jamie is a bit too young, and Katie would murder me if I even-”

“I don’t mean to your son.” Fury said, cutting Steve off and giving him significant look. “Captain America has been a symbol of hope for years. And that’s something the world is always gonna need Cap, regardless of who it is. So think about it, maybe there’s someone else worthy of that title and shield, broken or not.”

Steve watched, pondering his words, as Fury gave him a final nod, and turned back towards the destroyed buildings