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#or the probably criminals that phone little sis
kyuubi-no-oneechan · 5 months
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WHO. IN WHAT world. would get this far into this route and then say they don't want to date their sister?!?! WHY is this a choice
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snzunii · 2 years
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SHE'S SCANDALOUS & EVIL, MOST DEFINITELY!
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+ pairings. ran haitani x f!reader.
+ tags. explicit sexual content, bonten!ran, step sister!reader, stepcest, reader calling ran 'ran-nii', profanities, degradation, masturbation, beach sex, exhibitionism, use of pet names, fellatio, deepthroat, overstimulation, unprotected sex, creampie, EIGHTEEN PLUS ONLY!
+ word count. 2.5k
+ note. hi i'm back after a few days hehe here's some ran smut for my absence im sorry hdjhsjhdjshdj 'm tagging @manjiroscum bby pat hehe cuz i told her first that i'll be writing this >< anyway, it's been a while since i've written smut so forgive me 😭 and pls do tell if i forgot sumthn on the tags ehehejeheksj thanks!
reblogs are always appreciated muwah <3
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“Hey.” a voice called his attention, he didn't have to turn his head to see that it was you. Your voice had this annoying ring to it that he instantly feels hatred coursing through his veins whenever you open your mouth. “Where's Rin?”
“He’s not…here.” the snarky tone subsided once he turned his head to look at you. “Isn't it obvious?”
You just had to wear that, right?
You’re so fucking preposterous. But what else would you wear at the beach if not your red two piece that shows off your body, fucking perfect is what it is.
Ran knew it was a mistake that he had agreed to come into this stupid family vacation. He knew that he should've listened to Rindou—he should've fought a little bit more—but how could he ignore his mother’s attempt to connect with him and his brother. 
It wasn’t news to Ran that they were shitty—him and Rindou. They made no effort to call and ask how their mother was doing, made no effort to visit or even type a simple thank you for all the casseroles that she was sending them. 
And now, it has come down to this, his mother coming down to his penthouse, dragging him to some vacation with her new family. And that includes seeing you, his most hated step sister.
“You always had this mean streak around me. Can you loosen up a bit and put this on me?” you threw him the bottle of sunscreen and laid on your back beside him. 
“I'm on my phone.” he cleared his throat and looked away. See, this is why he has always hated you. Just… who the fuck are you to snatch his phone away and smile at him as if you just didn't do something to piss him off, you… “spoiled brat.”
“C’mon, Ran-nii.” you said teasingly, “Put sunscreen on your sis’ back, hm?”
“Step. You’re my step sister.” he corrected you and you just gave him a laugh that probably irritated the hell out of him.
“Okay, step brother. Stop yapping now and put this on my back.” 
Ran had no other choice but to do your commands, he’ll know that he will never hear the end of it from his mother. For heaven’s sake, he’s in his thirties but why does his mother scare him more than the job that he’s been doing? 
And the fact that it was just always a simple thing and yet he knows he’ll get the blame for it once you tell on him—he doesn't even get why his mother is so blinded by your tactics.
Saying that you’re the sweetest and they should be nice to you.
But really, you’re a spoiled brat who gets on his nerves and he doesn't even get why he's always folding to you even though he’s known as the fearsome older Haitani from Roppongi—up until now—who the hell are you?
“Say, Ran.” you started, while he started on putting the sunscreen on his palm. You remove your sunglasses and put it on the top of your head as you tilt your head a little bit to the side to glance at him, “You and Rin have the same tattoo on that neck, what’s that?”
“None of your business. Stay still.” he said and pushed your head down. 
You have always been so curious about everything basically, but he couldn't blame you because you have always been kept in the shadows by your father. 
Poor little you, you don't know that you’re surrounded by criminals, the biggest one at that is your father. And next, was your step brothers. 
“You didn't have to push my head down.” you whined, Ran ignored your bellyaching and started spreading the sunscreen on your back and while you relaxed—he was getting a bit uneasy.
Why did he agree to do this again? He could just get his gun under his towel and easily point his gun at you and you’ll be out crying to his mother—yeah, that’s right. You’ll do that.
“You’re so stiff.” you said, getting free and easy in your position while Ran started to rub the lotion on your skin, he doesn't know if you could feel it too but every second that your skin were touching, he could feel little electricity pricking him. 
It was provoking him, how you flaunt yourself like this to him. Your ass, your back, your legs. 
What the fuck are you doing to him that he could feel his dick growing inside his shorts just parading his eyes on your body. But don't get him wrong, he couldn't care less if this was wrong because you’re his step sister or whatever it is.
He cares because he hates you. 
“This is enough.” he said but you reached for his arm, “What?”
“My legs too. I’m too lazy.” 
Fuck.
“I don't want to.” he said and threw the bottle beside you. You pouted and turned around, seeing your step brother retreat to his old position before you came and ruined his day. 
You know that he hates you because he never bothered to hide it. But you’ve always liked him, and you wanted him to like you—you’ve always got what you wanted but never him.
Never your step brother. 
“Ran-nii.” 
“Stop calling me that—”
“Why do you hate me?” you asked, kneeling in front of him. “You know I’ve always wanted to be close to you and Rin. I never had siblings.”
“Because you’re too annoying.” you purse your lips at his response, moving a little bit close to him. What the fuck are you doing?
“This is how I am, Ran-nii.” you moved closer until you’re sitting on his lap, “Can’t you like me for who I am?”
Ran hates you. He had every right to push you away but what are you doing to him?
“I like you.” you said and was about to move a little bit closer when Ran gripped your hips. 
Ran glared at you and all you could feel was your heart trembling at an insane pace. “Stop. What are you doing?”
“Showing how much I want you.” 
You never really cared that you’re in a public place—just as long as you get what you want, no? It doesn't matter, people are too far away from where you both are and there’s a big umbrella covering you—but still, how shameless are you?
“Don't you want me too?” you asked, batting your eyelash at him that made his eyes roll. You gasp once Ran pulled you close, sitting you right on his hard crotch. 
“No. I fucking hate you.” he said in a harsh tone and before you could even react, his lips were pressing against yours—palm sitting atop of your nape, his fingernails digging on your skin.
He hates you, that was all on his mind as he firmly sucked the supple flesh of your lips into his mouth, biting and licking it—god, he hates you but kissing you feels so good. 
“You wanna know why I hate you?” he pulled away, gripping your ass while you grind on his clothed cock, completely forgetting that you were both outside. 
“Hm?” you whimpered, “W-why is that?”
He leaned on your ear,  you can feel shivers run through your body once he licked your earlobe, down to your jaw. “Because you’re such a fucking slut. Shameless little slut.” 
“I know.” you whined, “But I’m only a slut for you, Ran-nii.” 
“Is that so?” he got that smug look on his face that you have always loved looking at, that face that could make you cum in a snap just by looking at him. “You’re my slut, then?”
“Uh-huh.” you bury your face on his neck, nibbling on his skin. “My pussy’s so wet for you, Ran-nii. I want you to fuck me so bad, you don't even know.”
God. Ran couldn't even begin to process all the dirty things that you were telling him. Have you always wanted him this way? This must be an attempt to kill him because while saying all these, the thought of you pleasuring yourself while thinking of him  didn't fail to cross his mind. 
“You want me that bad, hm?” he pulls the string of your bra, “You… you haven't touched yourself while thinking of me or did you do that already, fuckin’ whore?”
“I did!” you looked at him, you could feel juices seeping out of your cunt—you stared down at him as you continued to grind on his cock, “‘m always thinkin’ ‘bout you!”
While a whine escaped from your lips when he removed his hands on your body, a chuckle rolled off his mouth once he saw how desperate you are for him to touch you again. 
“Ran-nii—”
“Show me then.”
“Huh?”
“Show me how you touch yourself, pretty.”
You giggled, biting your lip as you removed your bra while your hand was sliding down to your pussy to rub your clit. “‘m gonna show you…”
You started rubbing circles on your clit while pinching your nipples, you were so shameless—showing your lewd side to your step brother. Showing him how you touch yourself while thinking of him. 
And the cherry on top was you’re on the beach. Maybe you’re not so bad after all. 
Ran was starting to enjoy this obscene view before his eyes, it was like straight out of porn. “R-ran-nii, ‘m cumming!”
“Go on, cum for me.” you arch your back at his command, Ran could feel your thighs tremble while indecent moans come out from your mouth along with his name that makes his cock twitch in anticipation. “That’s it slut. Cum for your brother, you filthy whore.”
Ran’s words had such an intensity that had you cumming on his lap in an instant, the way that he said it—harsh and demanding, and his eyes that flashed amusement added to the severity of the sensation. You slumped on top of his chest, tits pressed on his chest.
 “Did you enjoy watching me?” you asked, eager to get his approval.
“See for yourself.” Ran didn’t need to repeat again for you to slip his cock out of his shorts, you didn’t waste any time and wrapped your hands around his cock—you can feel your pussy ached once you saw the look on his face—head thrown back a bit, his mouth was ajar as he groan to the way that you were pumping his dick. “Fuck, that’s it-”
“You look so good like this, Ran-nii…” you mumbled, slowly crawling down in between his legs all the while still moving your hand on his cock. Ran hissed once your hold got a little too tight, thumb swiping at the tip. “Tell me… do you still hate me?”
“Let’s see-oh.” Ran gripped your hair in between his fingers once you took him into your mouth, tongue licking the precum on his tip—coating it down to the base of his cock with your saliva using your tongue. “F-fuck… you must’ve sucked a lot dicks for you to be good at this-ah.”
You giggled, wrapping your lips around his cock. You bob your head and twirl your tongue at his tip at the same time while his grip on your hair gets tighter each second—Ran felt like melting at the sensation, your mouth felt so good that he could almost cum. You could hear his breath hitch as you fondle with his balls, you let the tip of his cock hit your throat before letting it go with a ‘pop’. You looked straight into his eyes with a smirk, “What d’ya think?”
“I think you’re not so innocent after all.” he groaned, and that alone was enough to make your cunt even wetter than it is. You moved on his lap once again, setting your panties aside as your fingers slid up and down your wet cunt. “You’re a fuckin’ whore who likes to fuck her step brother.”
“Uh-huh.” you moved above his dick, you sat slowly until the tip was on your hole. “You’re right, Ran-nii… ‘m a whore! ‘m gonna sit on your cock until you cum!”
You both gasped once you fully sat on his dick, he gripped your hips once he felt your warmth clenching around his shaft, your pussy was so mind-numbing that it felt like he was high from morphine. You smiled at him and shoved your slick fingers on his mouth, “Do I taste good, Ran-nii… mhm!”
You draw a sharp breath as you move your body slowly, mouth ajar at the way he sucked your fingers. “F-fuck! You’re so big- ah!” 
Ran smirked and pulled your hair, “Feels good, huh?”
“Yes, Ran-nii! You feel so good inside me—mhm!” you move at a fast pace, ass bouncing on his thighs while your tits are full on jerking up and down on Ran’s face. 
“Fuck.” Ran grunted, looking a bit around to see if someone has already sensed that something is happening behind this big umbrella that was covering the two of you—not that he cares, and you wouldn’t probably care because you’re shameless. His shameless little slut.
You throw your head back, hands holding onto his shoulders tightly as you ride your step brother’s cock frantically—lewd moans slip past your lips along with the chanting of his name like a mantra. Ran pushed your tits together, sucking and twirling his tongue around your nipple—adding to the insane amount of pleasure that your body was feeling. 
“‘m cumming, Ran-nii! ‘m so close!” 
With that, Ran gripped your waist and moved his hips in rhythm with yours—bucking his hips harder and faster making you so close to your impending orgasm. “Ah, fuck—feels good, yeah? Gonna cum on your brother’s dick like a good whore?”
“Yes—mhm!” you let out loud lecherous moans while your legs felt wobbly, your mind was a bit hazy as multiple waves of pleasure ripple all throughout your body. Your juices dripped down on Ran’s dick to his thighs and yet, you weren’t stopping—eager to make him cum inside your cunt. 
The delicious friction sends different kinds of sensation to your veins. Ran’s thighs were tense as he fuck your cunt, his movement was getting sloppier each second, little grunts turning into long harsh moan as thick rope of his cum spills inside your pussy walls. 
You both stopped moving, your body falling on top of his as you bury your face on the crook of his neck. You were getting relaxed but not long enough, Ran said something that made you feel like a cold water was thrown all over your body.
“So, who fucked you better, Rindou or me?” he pulled your hair up to make you face him—you had no clue if he was pissed but he just flashed you his signature smug look while he gripped your hair a little too tight, “I know you fucked him too, slut.”
You flashed him a devilish smile, moving your hips a little as you felt his dick growing inside your pussy once again. “Aw, Rindou-nii told you? But that was our secret—mhm… and to answer your question, Ran-nii. We’re gonna have to fuck again so I could check, yeah?”
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+ tokyo revengers taglist. @cosmiclvsh @r-xochitl @bekky06 @toshiswifey @litle-crow @n-nara @hollowpurpl @iiclal @miyuuuuuposts @haitanilove @aclairysm @awkcasted @yukie35 @chronic-claire-universe @chosoisbaby @marixxi @spaceemeeat @amaejiki @parca-de-destinos @missysimpy @a-astxr @fr00g1es @gwynsapphire @kookie-my-little-sunshine @kqtsukisgf @angtsumu @cakenchill @madarasgf
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omg-just-peachy · 2 years
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a little don't worry, be happy | stevetony
prompt #3 from this list, ~800w
going to use this as a fill for the "steve rogers" square of my @tonystarkbingo card!
also on AO3
****
“Let’s go on a trip,” Tony says, seemingly out of nowhere.
They’re laying in bed, Tony tracing lazy circles over Steve’s chest, leaning up every now and then to press a kiss to his lips, or his forehead, or the freckles on the bridge of his nose. Steve can’t help but smile: mornings like this are a rare thing, especially lately. It’s cold, mid-winter, and dreary outside, but with the curtains still drawn, it almost feels like time has stopped, like it’s just the two of them, everything else at a standstill but Tony’s hands and mouth.
They hadn’t had any real time off together in almost a month, and Steve knows they’re both feeling burnt out from work, and missing each other, and just about a million other little things.
“Yeah,” Steve laughs. “Sure, let’s go tomorrow.” His voice is teasing, because he knows it’s unrealistic given their roles as Avengers and Tony’s schedule with SI. Even with Pepper doing most of the heavy lifting, his name is still on everyone’s paychecks, and there’ve been more board meetings than any of them would like recently.
“I’m serious, Steven,” Tony says, struggling to sit up and look at him. “I think we’ve earned it, don’t you?”
Steve looks at him. “Sure we have,” he says. And they had, both of them taking on more missions than ever, training new recruits, and just about drowning in debrief paperwork, Steve’s pretty sure he’s never worked harder than he had these last few months.
“Think about it, you, me, and a beach somewhere no one knows our names. I have a couple islands we can pick from,” Tony says.
The idea is lovely, of course it is. Steve can imagine them on a beach somewhere, without a care in the world, Tony’s hands on him just like they are right now, though ideally with fewer clothes and a lot more sun. The idea of it makes him want to melt right into the sheets.
When was the last time they had a real vacation? The fact that Steve genuinely can’t recall is probably a bad sign, though, right?
“I love you, but that’s a terrible idea. Fury’ll kill us,” Steve points out, ever the realist.
“He owes me one,” Tony says, waving a hand. He reaches over and grabs for his phone, typing at it for a few seconds before leaning over and handing it to Steve. “Look at this and tell me again how this is a terrible idea.”
The house is stunning, of course, right on the water with countless windows, a giant pool, and it appeared to be walking distance to a completely private beach.
“We really can leave tomorrow,” Tony says before Steve can comment one way or another. He’s grinning now, wickedly, the kind of gleam in his eye he only gets when his mind is truly set on something. “Come on Steve, be spontaneous with me. What’s Fury gonna do, fire us? Me, the one who pays for everything and you, the gorgeous, brilliant leader?”
“Somehow I don’t think that’s how he sees us,” Steve says, but he’s smiling now, too, thinking of it.
Tony laughs. “Yeah, okay, you’re right there.” He pokes around on his phone again. “We can be wheels up this time tomorrow, just say the word.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Really, the fact that I’ve never seen you in a speedo is criminal.”
“I am not wearing—“
“Do they make spangly swimwear?” Tony pretends to research this. “By the way, I hear you protesting only the bathing suit, not the trip itself.”
Steve grins. Tony’s enthusiasm really is infectious, and he’s right, after all, the team can live without them for a few days. They’ve earned a break.
“Yeah, okay,” Steve says finally. “Let’s go.”
Tony beams, then kisses him, hot and searing and full of promise.
“Knew you’d come around. Consider it done.” Tony clicks around one final time for effect, solidifying their plan, and Steve feels a little thrill run through him at the idea of it, a real vacation with just the two of them. He kisses Tony again, softer and slower, the morning stretching on before them with the promise of a much-needed break.
With Tony wrapped around him, pressing smiling kisses against his lips, Steve decides that yeah, he can definitely get used to this slowing down thing.
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fanficimagery · 3 years
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Five Years After
Imagine going to the feed store for your sister, only you come home with more than just feed for the animals.
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Words: 5.1K Author’s Note: The ending of this imagine was definitely inspired by a TikTok video :)
When the Blip happened, you were in complete disbelief. Chaos erupted all around as planes fell from the sky and automobiles crashed because their drivers had vanished into thin air. Everyone was a complete mess as they attempted to call loved ones, their calls going straight to voicemail or being answered by another family member that were having to deliver the bad news of a disappearance.
Your only living relative was your sister Laura and her children she had with her husband Clint, so when one of your co-workers and a handful of your customers vanished into thin air, your first call had been to your ex-Avenger of a brother-in-law. Unfortunately Clint was just as clueless as you and the phone had nearly slipped from your hand when he gave you the news that Laura and the kids had vanished. You had nowhere to go and were so scared because of the looting that had started, so Clint told you to pack your things and get to the farm as soon as possible.
You'd only been on the farm for a full day before Clint's friends came looking for him. Natasha, who you had met after your sister had married Clint, greeted you with a rather solemn hug. It was Steve Rogers, however, who attempted to introduce himself with as much joy as he possibly could in order to be polite.
You had shaken his hand, smiling sadly. "You don't need to force a smile for me, Rogers. The circumstances suck. I get it."
That had surprisingly pulled a short laugh from Natasha. "See, Steve? Told you she wouldn't be expecting the Man with a Plan."
Steve and Natasha had proceeded to stay for the duration of the day, telling Clint all about a fight that had taken place in Wakanda and who out of their friends had vanished. It was a devastating blow and you had no idea how everyone was going to cope. Then soon after the two Avengers had left, Clint went into overdrive. He was making phone calls left and right, packing bags and weapons, and you were at a complete loss.
You had decided to leave him be and it was only the following morning when you woke to an empty house did you find the letter on the kitchen counter. In the letter he had apologized for leaving you after everything that had happened, but went on to explain that there were criminals still out there who had survived the Blip when others who were sin-free didn't. He couldn't leave them be while people like his wife and children were no longer alive, so to work through his aggression he was going to hunt those criminals down. Fortunately enough, he left you in possession of the farm-house and made it so you were able to access his bank accounts. He told you not to look for him or get the others involved, so you waited a whole day before contacting Natasha and telling her all about Clint's derailment.
Clint left no trail, leaving you all alone. Or so you thought.
With Clint's vanishing act, Natasha and Steve made you their responsibility. They made sure you knew they were only a call or email away, but only after Nat drove down to give you some technological devices since the regular power grid was fluctuating. Since Earth lost half its population, everything seemed to be falling apart.
Then Tony Stark was brought back home and the world seemed a little bit brighter.
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For years you drifted, working at a grocery store in town to keep yourself busy. The Blip took a toll on everyone, but it was nice to have to talk to someone even if the other person moved on autopilot. Clint sent an email every other month from a burner email, so it was a dead end every time Natasha looked into it after you had forwarded it to her. And about the only news-worthy thing that had happened after the Blip was the announcement of Tony and Pepper Stark's baby girl Morgan. You didn't know the Stark's personally, but it didn't stop you from sending their little girl a present every year on her birthday for the next five years on behalf of yourself and the Barton family.
One morning you're sitting at the breakfast table when you hear the telltale sounds of a jet overheard. You figure it's just Natasha and Steve for their monthly check-in so you think nothing of it.
The screen door creaks open and you call out, "In the kitchen!"
The steps of what sounds like more than one person falter, but then they pick back up until they near your location. "Got enough for another plate?" That oh so familiar timber makes you spew orange juice across the table. You're up and out of your seat, staring at your brother-in-law who's a lot more tatted up than you remember him being. "Hey, sis."
Tony Stark stands just a couple feet to Clint's right, but his presence isn't enough to deter you from marching up to your brother-in-law and punching his shoulder. "You asshole!" You punch him again for good measure as tears sting your eyes. "You left me. You left me all alone! How could you-"
He dodges your continuous blows, wrapping his arms around you to keep you from attacking him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but I'm here now. It's all going to be okay." The fight instantly drains out of you as you sag into his embrace, sob after sob leaving you as you clutch to him tightly.
Clint tightens his grip a little more around you until your cries turn into sniffles. "What- what are you doing here?"
"Lang came up with a plan to bring our people back." You tense in Clint's arms and pull back to look him in the eyes. "Banner and Stark made the machines necessary to make the plan work. We're going to bring 'em home. We're going to bring 'em all home, Y/N."
"Please tell me you aren't joking," you mumble.
"Nope. No joke," Tony says. "It's not a total guarantee, but we're going to try our best." You let go of Clint and turn to look at Tony who's standing by the stove and picking at the leftover scrambled eggs. "Mmm. These are good. What'd you put in them?"
"Uhh, just butter and cheese."
"Morgan would absolutely love these. She's on this whole cheese kick right now."
That earns a chuckle, and after gathering yourself you look back at Clint. "So what's going to happen now?"
"The team's getting ready for a test run," Clint says. "I just wanted to let you know I was home and that we had a really important mission coming up."
"How soon?"
"Today if the test run goes good," Tony says. He pours himself half a glass of juice before downing it in one go. "And speaking of, we need to go."
You look at Clint, a little let down that he's leaving so soon, but he grins and pulls you back into a hug. "It's going to be okay." You nod against him and he lets his arms drop before he steps back. He looks around the kitchen and his grin widens. "You've kept up good with the house. I'm impressed."
"I should hope so," you mumble. "I had to flirt with the hardware store boy so he'd help me keep the house from falling apart."
Clint laughs. "You did good, Y/N. Laura will be proud."
"Yeah, yeah. Now go bring my sister, niece, and nephews back."
"You got it, boss."
          - - - - - - - - - - 
You're grateful for the day off because it leaves you with time to clean the house from top to bottom. You need some way to burn off all your anxiousness and making sure the house looks good for your sister is one hell of a way to do just that.
You're not sure how long you'd been cleaning when you decide to take a break, and you head outside for some fresh air. You walk off the porch and onto the grass, tilting your face skyward as you inhale and exhale softly, your eyes closing. One moment all you can hear is the wind ruffling tree limbs and grass, and the next it's a cacophony of chirping birds.
Your eyes fly open and you're shocked to see the swarms of birds flying around in the sky. Sure there have been birds around after the Blip, but you've never seen so many together since then. You're too busy staring up into the sky that you don't see what appears to be ash take formation behind you.
"Aunt Y/N?" The timid voice makes your heart stop before you whirl around, your eyes widening at the sight of Lila glancing around in shock. "What's going on? Where's dad?"
"Lila?" You breathe out in awe. You stumble towards her, eyes glistening with tears. "They did it. They actually did it." You pull her into a hug, cries stuttering in your chest. As you hug her, you glance towards the open field where you see Laura appear, followed by Nathaniel and then Cooper. "Laura!"
You grip Lila's hand tight as the both of you break out into a run towards the rest of your family, you and Laura colliding with twin oomphs. The two of you are crying as Laura tries to work out what the hell happened and where Clint is, but before you can explain anything she's pulling her phone out of her pocket and dialing Clint's number. As she worries about getting her husband on the phone, you quickly hug Cooper and pick up Nathaniel to hold on your hip as you squeeze him in relief.
"Clint?" Laura sobs when he finally answers. "Clint, what's going on? I-" She stops talking all of a sudden and she looks at you, eyes wide.
"What happened?" You ask.
"I- I don't know. One second he was talking and then-" She cuts off, glancing at her children and shaking her head. "He just cut out."
You know all is not fine and that something terrible must have happened for Laura to trail off the way she did. But instead of worrying her kids, you offer a grin. "I'm sure it's fine. As clumsy as he is, he probably just dropped his phone." She forces a smile for her kids' benefit. "So why don't we go ahead and wait for him inside. I'll make something to eat while you guys relax and I'll catch you up on the five years you missed."
"Five years!?" Laura nearly shouts.
You wince. "Yeah. You guys missed a lot."
          - - - - - - - - - - 
For the next couple of hours you tell Laura all about the Blip and how half of Earth's population just disappeared- Avengers included. You tell her how Clint had you move in, and how you helped take care of the house and what few animals they had on the farm still while working at the local grocery store. You tell her all about Steve and Natasha, and how Tony Stark is now married with a daughter of his own.
"Wow." Laura chuckles. All the kids have fallen asleep around the living room, leaving Laura the time to finally ask, "And where was Clint this entire time? I noticed he brought you onto the farm, but then everything became about Steve and Nat."
You suck in a breath sharply. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that."
"Y/N.."
"He went rogue." Her eyes widen and you wince. "He left me here with access to your bank account, which I only used to pay bills and buy groceries by the way, and not even Natasha could find him. He only came back when she tracked him down and told him there was a chance they could reverse the Blip."
"Oh Clint.." She sighs, shaking her head in disappointment.
The sound of a quinjet hovering makes you and Laura perk up, but you keep quiet so as to not wake the children. You and Laura meet each other's gazes before you carefully get up and tiptoe out of the living room, and then you're rushing out the front door and down onto the lawn.
The door drops down and then Laura is sprinting across the field to reach her husband. You joyously laugh, jogging over to catch up. But as Laura and Clint hug one another, sobbing, you turn your sights to Steve who's standing sheepishly off to the side. There are two others with him, but since you've yet to meet them you make your way towards the familiar.
"Hey Rogers. Good to see you in one piece."
He tiredly chuckles. "Y/N." You punch his arm and he opens them up so you can hug him. "How are you holding up?"
"Better now that I got my sister back," you muse. As you pull away, you glance behind him into the quinjet. "Hey, where's Natasha?" Steve's smile falls and your heart plummets into your stomach. You can practically read the answer in his eyes. "No.." You shake your head.
His breathing stutters before he clears his throat. "We, uh, we lost Tony too."
Your expression completely crumples then, but Steve is quick to pull you back into a hug. He lets you cry into his chest before Clint steals you away, and then you're crying into your brother-in-law's shoulder. Then once all the tears taper off, Steve introduces you and Laura to Wanda and Bucky.
"I'll be in contact with you about what Pepper decides to do," Steve tells Clint. "If you do anything for Nat, let me know."
Clint sniffles. "I will."
You, Clint, and Laura wave off Steve, Wanda, and Bucky as they return inside the quinjet and lift off.
"Come on," Clint then sighs. "I need to see the kids and then figure out a way to tell them all about auntie Nat's sacrifice."
"And plan a memorial," Laura says.
You frown. "This was not the homecoming I was hoping for."
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After a few days of planning, Clint decides on a cookout with all the Avengers and close friends of Nat's invited. It was a couple of days before Tony's own memorial, so you were surprised when Pepper Stark showed up with Morgan in tow. You were happy to finally meet the young girl who you'd been sending gifts to and you gladly ended up on babysitting duty.
You had met more of Clint's ex-coworkers, but your attention always ended up back on the children. Then when it came time to say a few words on Natasha's behalf, you somehow ended up between Steve and Bucky as the children ran back to their respective parents with Steve tucking you into his side when the tears started.
Then when the day of Tony's memorial came, there were more guests than you had anticipated. So as Pepper and Morgan walked a small flower raft with an arc reactor replica on it and set it out on the water, you stood back with Laura and her family and waited in silence. And as the crowd dispersed, you mostly kept to yourself until you saw Steve walk out of Pepper's home in the oddest white and red suit you'd ever seen.
Walking up behind Steve, you nod at Bucky and Sam who grin at your presence. When Steve turns around, you chuckle. "Why do I got a feeling you're about to do something very stupid?"
He grins and adjusts his grip on the suitcase hanging by his side. "Someone's gotta return the stones to their original timeline."
"Mhm. Well be careful. Don't start any unnecessary fights."
"I'll try my best."
As he walks up onto the platform, you step back and nudge your arm against Bucky's. He smiles down on you and you stand by his side as you listen to Bruce who walks Steve through about what's going to happen. Bruce checks all his monitors, giving Steve the go-ahead when everything is fine. Steve nods, a mask of sorts opens up and wraps around his face, and he presses a button that had been in his hand. Bruce counts down the seconds before he flips a switch which is meant to bring Steve back, but nothing happens.
Bruce looks around his monitors and starts pressing some more buttons. "Where is he?" Sam asks.
"I don't know. He blew right by his time stamp. He should be here," Bruce says as he flips a few more switches.
Bucky sighs and you quickly glance at him, and he looks more resigned than anything as he turns to walk off.
Your attention goes to Bruce as your heart rate picks up. "Get him back."
"I'm trying."
"Get him the hell back!" Sam urges.
You and Sam are low-key panicking, but it's Bucky's calm voice that stops the both of you. "Y/N. Sam."
The two of you whirl around, gazes sliding towards where Bucky is staring off to. In the distance, on a stone bench by the water, there appears to be a man sitting there that wasn't there before. You and Sam stumble forward, and you squint your eyes, only to glance back at Bucky with wide eyes.
"Is that.."
"Go."
You share another look with Sam and he gestures for you to follow him. The two of you walk towards the man together and Sam stops just behind him as you walk around in front. When you get a good look at your friend who is way older than what he appeared to be a mere twenty seconds ago, your heart cracks just a little.
You try to force a smile, but it wobbles as an elderly Steve chuckles at you. "I'm really trying not to be so mad at you right now." Your voice cracks and he pats the spot next to him as you sniffle. You immediately sit next to him and take his left hand within your own two, a gleaming wedding band not going unnoticed. Your fingers trace it. "Was it at least a happy life?"
Steve pats your hand. "It was. It was the beautiful life I always dreamt of."
You take a moment for yourself, inhaling and exhaling deeply. "You know you were my complete impulse control, right? Who's going to stop me from trying to get into your best friend's pants now?"
There's a snort from behind you, but you don't bother giving Sam your attention. "Go easy on him," Steve tells you. "I'm not sure he even remembers how to flirt."
You grin as you lean your head on his shoulder. "I'm really going to miss you," you say after a beat. Another moment passes before you drop Steve's hand and sigh before you stand. "Well, um, I should get back my sister and Clint now." You meet his gaze and flash him a small smile. "It's going to suck not seeing you every month, but I'm really glad you found your happiness."
"Thank you, Y/N."
Your bottom lip wobbles again. "Goodbye, Steve."
As you walk away, you hold your head up high and nod to Sam when he looks at you to make sure you're okay. You continue walking, nodding at Bucky as you pass him up as well when you see Laura wave you over. "For the record, I still remember how to flirt." You stumble and and then hear Bucky chuckling quietly behind you.
"Goddamn super soldiers and your dog ears."
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As the days turn into weeks, Clint and Laura offer you a permanent place on the farm now that everything seems to be going back to normal. He's promised to build you a small house on the property for all that you've done in the past five years, so in the meantime you've taken to bunking with Lila while Wanda took over the guest bedroom. Clint had also taken to bringing Bucky to the farm when he noticed the super soldier not coping as well as he was letting on, so you found yourself often sitting by the back pond with him as the two of you traded stories about Steve and yourselves.
Though you had originally joked about getting into Bucky's pants, you found yourself seeking friendship from him more than anything else and vice versa. So when you weren't working at the grocery store, you were watching the kids for Laura and Clint or hanging out with Bucky and Wanda. It was no surprise to anyone that the three of you latched on to one another after losing those that you did.
"Hey Y/N," Laura calls out. "Will you do me favor?"
You glance up as she walks out the front door, you and Wanda ceasing your conversation. You grin. "What do you need?"
"Lucky needs some dog food and we need a few bales of hay for the goats."
"Oh. Okay." You look towards Wanda. "Wanna go for the ride?"
She shrugs. "Sure."
"Thank you! You can just put it on the Barton tab at the store," Laura says. "Clint pays it monthly and I've already called ahead to let them know someone was going in to pick up some stuff we needed."
"Got it." Standing up, you pat down your pockets to make sure you have your keys, phone, and some cash. Realizing you have everything, you grin at your sister before walking down the porch steps. As you near your truck, you whistle at Bucky who was throwing knives at a target on the side of the barn. "Hey Buckaroo! We're heading into town. You wanna come?"
He throws the last knife in his hand before he turns to look at you. "Don't call me Buckaroo!" He shouts back as he makes his way towards you.
"Then stop lookin' so darn cute!"
Wanda snorts and you laugh as Bucky shakes his head at you. "One of these days he's going to flirt back and then what are you going to do?"
"Bend myself over the table and let him hit it from behind," you mumble. She snorts harder this time and your eyes widen when you see Bucky start to smirk.
As he nears the two of you, he says, "What did you say?"
"Nothing," you blurt. "Nothing at all. Wanda's just easily amused, is all."
His gaze slides to Wanda, but she shakes her head and doesn't tell him a word. You mentally sigh and praise her for being a good friend, and then you turn to walk towards your truck. Wanda readily heads for the back driver's side door while Bucky walks around to the passenger seat so he's seated next to you.
Once you're seated behind the wheel and the engine is turned on, you take a moment to find a decent song on the radio before driving. It's not too long of a drive and you find yourself pulling up to the local feed store not even three songs later.
Parking and cutting the engine right in front of the store, you turn towards Bucky. You know he's not a huge fan of being out in public, but you rather not have to flirt inside the store to get a helping hand. "Hey Buck, can you do me a favor and load up four of those large rectangular bales of hay and one bag of that dog food right next to it?" You see him tense. "I rather not have to flirt with the boy inside just so he'll help out."
He relaxes then and gives you a nod. "Yeah. Sure."
"Thanks. Just keep watch through the window. Wait 'til I give the signal for you to start loading up." He gives you another nod and you turn around to face Wanda. "Wanna head inside with me?"
Wanda grins and readily opens her door, you and Bucky following right after. But as you and Wanda head inside, Bucky remains by the tailgate of your truck and keeps watch through the large front window as you had said. Inside, Mr. Reeves is waiting by the cash register and keeping an eye on Bucky outside.
"Don't worry, Mr. Reeves. He's with me." Mr. Reeves glances at you, smiling in relief. "I need four large bales of hay and a fifty pound bag of dog food."
Mr. Reeves starts punching buttons on his register. "Alright, sweetheart. Is that going to be all for you?"
"Sure is. Um, Laura asked if you can put it on the tab? Clint will be by at the end of the week."
"Sure thing." You turn towards the window and give Bucky a thumbs up. He turns to open the tailgate and then move towards the bales of hay to start loading up. Mr. Reeves chuckles. "That's a strong fella you got there."
His words make you blush and Wanda giggle, but you can't even reprimand your friend because she is further away than you expected. She's leaning over what appears to be a warming box, hand inside as she smiles down at something you can't see. "Whatcha got there, Red?"
Her smile widens as you hear small chirps. "Ducklings."
You walk over to her, peering inside and your heart absolutely melts. Inside are the cutest ducklings you've ever seen and you know you're done for when you set your hand down inside and one particular little duckling runs onto your palm.
Mr. Reeves walks over, chuckling. "They were hatched a few days ago. All have been looking mighty strong and are ready to go to good homes."
"How much?"
"Y/N," Wanda laughs. "What are you doing?"
"I'm taking this little sucker with me." You pick up your hand, duckling still happily nestled in your palm as you cradle him to your chest and look at Mr. Reeves. "Any chance you have those small plastic kiddie pools?"
"As a matter of fact I do," he muses.
Wanda is giggling the entire time Mr. Reeves gets exactly what you need, you nuzzling the yellow fuzzball to your face. You pay with your own money and sadly hand over the duckling when Mr. Reeves has to box her up. You then carefully take the box from him as Wanda takes the kiddie pool, and you walk behind her as you make your way to the truck.
You have absolutely no regrets about buying the duckling, but you still hide the box as you walk around the truck and open the driver's door. Wanda shoves the kiddie pool into the back with her and Bucky turns so his gaze darts between the both of you- Wanda looking far too amused and you looking a little sheepish as you continue to stand outside the truck.
"What did you do?" He sighs.
"Well we went in to just buy the food," Wanda says, "but-"
"I bought a duck." You blurt. You finally put the box in front of you, on the seat, and you open the lid. The duckling chirps and you beam down at her, picking her up and nuzzling her once more. "I'm gonna name her Flauta." Bucky snorts and Wanda laughs uncontrollably then. "No one tell Laura."
"Gonna be hard to hide her, doll."
Bucky reaches over to take the duckling from you and the sight of him cradling it, holding it up to his face and smiling makes you melt once more. Wanda is staring knowingly at you, but you don't even have the urge to flip her off because you know you're fucked. Instead, you take your phone out of your back pocket and snap a picture.
"That's my new wallpaper."
Bucky doesn't bother admonishing you for taking the picture, so after setting it as your wallpaper you put your phone away and climb into your truck. He holds onto the duckling as you make the drive back to the farm, Wanda giggling every now and then when you glance at Bucky and sigh longingly.
When you make it back to the farm, Clint and Laura are on the porch as the kids play out in the yard. They both stand as you park, their expressions turning suspicious as Wanda hops out of the back with the kiddie pool in tow. You grin as you hurriedly hop out as well, leaving Bucky to carry the incriminating evidence.
You can tell he expected as much as he watches you jog around to his side of the truck, already pointing at him through the opened window. "Bucky bought a duck!"
He shakes his head at you and you blow him a kiss, Clint and Laura then joining you by the truck. "Oh really?" Your brother-in-law muses.
"Yep."
"Mhm." Clint looks to Bucky as Laura bites back a grin. "Buck, what's the duck's name?"
Without missing a beat, he says, "Flauta."
Laura finally laughs. "Nice try, Y/N." As Bucky and Wanda guess how Laura knew, she says, "When we were younger, Y/N did the same thing but with a turtle. She named him Taquito."
"And Taquito lived a long and happy life until we went off to college," you say. "Flauta will live just long, if not longer, here on the farm."
Clint chuckles and then takes the duckling from Bucky. He looks to Wanda and gestures for her to follow him. "Lets go get this little lady all set up. The kids are gonna have a blast."
Laura follows after them, but not before winking at you, and you shake your head as you're left alone with Bucky. He finally climbs out of the truck, shutting the door and then leaning against it. You nervously laugh as he smirks. "You threw me under the bus."
"I couldn't take the chance that they'd make me return Flauta." You pout. "I couldn't send her back, Buckaroo. I'd already named her."
He pushes off the truck, turning you around and laying his arm around your shoulders. For a moment you forget how to breathe. "You're just as bad as Steve."
"Oh whatever." You roll your eyes, grinning as your arm wraps around the back of his waist and start walking towards where Clint went. "Steve got you shot at. I momentarily put you in momma bear's crosshairs." He quietly chuckles. "And besides, I didn't hear you deny it. Admit it, Barnes, I'm growing on you."
"Like a fungus."
You pinch his side. "Oh fuck off." He fully laughs then. "Just you wait, Buckaroo. The day we decide to put sex on the list of things we should definitely be doing, I'm gonna withhold just because you're being an ass."
"You sure about that?" The teasing lilt to his voice suddenly makes you feel at unease. "You sure you won't immediately bend over the table and let me hit it from behind?"
Your face flames, but you can't help but laugh at your earlier words. When you manage to calm down, you can't help but say, "I hate you," as you finish making your way towards your family.
"Nice try, doll, but I'm calling bullshit."
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your-highnessmarvel · 3 years
Text
From Bleak to Bright Part Six
All other parts on on my masterlist, link provided below.
AN: damn okay wow i REALLY loved writing this part ommggggg
Warnings: angst, language
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MASTERLIST
PART SIX
You went to bed late, tossing and turning, replaying Loki’s words in your mind like a mantra. He couldn’t eat too. He suffered just as bad as you did. You fell asleep somewhere around two in the morning, clutching your sheets. The dreams took you back to him, momentarily dropping you in a reality you knew could never exist when you woke up. 
The sky was a deep purple - like a bruise - when you woke up. You lay there, staring at the ceiling. You knew sometime during the day Steve and Nat and probably Bruce would listen to the call from Loki last night. You groaned just at the thought, sighing under the covers. 
You got up and showered, mentally preparing yourself for the day. When you got out, there was a missed call from an unknown number. You entered the contact as Idiot, then opened up the messages to text him. You weren’t sure if Loki had bought a burner or a full phone, but you tried anyway.
Stop calling me.
You didn’t wait for an answer. You got dressed in a green hoodie and black jeans, pulling your hair into a ponytail. 
Your phone dinged.
Do you prefer we talk here?
Oh so Loki had an iPhone. Texting in blue texts and all. 
You debated answering, wondering if it would just spur his insanity. You left your phone in your room, deciding that it would only be a distraction. 
You went down to the kitchen, eating breakfast alone, enjoying some peace before the storm. 
And here it came.
Bruce came barreling through the dining room, eyes round, wide, fear written clear on his features. 
“Loki called you last night!?”he exclaimed, leaning over hands on the table.
That was quick. “The line’s tapped,” you answered, fighting a blush, gulping down the last of your cereal. “And he didn’t say anything about where he was or whatever.”
Bruce sighed, hanging his head. “Did you do what Nat and Steve trained you for?”
You shrugged. “He saw me coming.”
“That was to be expected.”
You struggled with the lump in your throat, fighting the want to go to Bruce and wrap your hands around his shoulders. Tell him everything would be fine. That Loki would never get you. 
But you weren’t so sure about that. 
Instead, you sighed, playing with the last Cheerio floating in the milk. “Bruce,” you began, biting the inside of your cheek. “How - how am I going to do this?”
He looked at you, all that older brother worry written clear on his face. “It’ll be fine,” he said, covering his hand with yours. “We’ll all be there to back you up. He won’t hurt you.”
It came out all in a rush. “But that’s not what I mean. What am I going to do about the fact that he’s my fucking soulmate?” You heaved, fighting tears brimming in your eyes. 
Bruce stood there silently, then took a seat, dusting off imaginary dust from his dark blue t-shirt. “Y/N,” he started, voice low, serious. “The soulmate bond is... the research proves that it’s mostly based off the animal instinct to provide better genes to your progeniture.”
You frowned. “Ew.”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s what the science says,” he chuckled, trying to hide the reddening of his cheeks. “And I know that there are stories out there about people finding their mates and it all goes well, but sometimes, it doesn’t. Nature gave you the most perfect match for yourself, but evolutionarily based, it’s all about babies.” 
“Oh my God, Bruce, stop being so gross.” You played with your cereal, fighting your blush. You didn’t want to imagine yourself making babies with Loki because then, that’d be all you thought about. You didn’t want to go there. 
“My point is, little sis,” he continued, tone soft. “You don’t have to fall in love with him. You don’t have to do anything. Trust me. You can get over the bond.”
Nat had told you that you simply got used to the emptiness. Wouldn’t that make you... miserable?
There was a burning in your chest, spreading slowly like melting butter down your limbs. It was longing. 
Bruce got up without a word and left you to your one-Cheerio bowl and coffee. You stared out the window, at the greying sky, the rising sun, the freedom of the world beyond the trappings of the Avenger’s compound. 
Nothing kept you, really, from leaving. There was no law keeping you here. You could actually walk out and find Loki. You weren’t the criminal. 
He was. He was a war criminal. A psychopath. A mass murderer. You could leave here, go find him, tell him you’d stay by his side, but at what cost? Losing your family? Your friends? A normal life? It’s not like Loki would play the good boyfriend and bring you coffee at work. He’d burn the place down for a stupid reason like they didn’t give you enough vacation days. 
All this thinking had you boiling at barely nine in the morning. 
And the one person you wanted right now was Loki.
You cleaned up your dishes methodically, then rushed back upstairs to your room. The sun was now out and shining through your windows, and you used the light to gather a few items into a bag. There was no one in the hallway, which gave you all the peace you needed. Most of the Avengers were out dealing with whatever Loki had unleashed on the city, and the other half, like Nat and Bruce, were downstairs in the computer lab.
You grabbed a baseball cap and loosed out your ponytail. You grabbed your phone. Heart pounding, knowing you must have less than fifteen minutes before you were found, you sent a quick text.
Number. Now.
It took a few seconds until a reply came in. It was a phone number. You quickly scribbled it on the back of your hand, deleted the messages - even though you knew it was futile - and left the phone on the bed.
Something wild was stirring in your chest, something akin to adrenaline. Your blood roared as you leaped out of your room, quietly down the hall, down the stairs, hands trembling as you exited the front door. 
If only Nat and Bruce were here, it could give you a head start. 
You slid into the garage through the side door and took the keys to the Jeep. It was a thirty minute ride to the city, and you were not about to take the Maserati.
You slid into the Jeep, breathing erratic, and threw your bag into the passenger seat. The second the garage doors were open, you sped out. 
The Jeep wasn’t the most fast car, but it took you the edge of the property in a matter of seconds. You’d never driven like that before; wild and fast, but you had to get away as fast as possible. The country turned into the suburbs, blurring by you, but you only had eyes for the distant, gleaming horizon of New York city. 
You kept looking in the rearview mirror, but no one was tailing. A frantic tremble had begun in your fingers, urging you to press just a little more on the gas pedal. 
When the city began to manifest itself, molding out from the horizon, you ditched the Jeep by the side of the road. You left it visible enough and grabbed your bag, hitching it on your shoulders. Leaving off at a small jog, you left behind not only the Jeep but also the life you could have had if you’d never met Loki. 
There was a tenacious voice reminding you that Bruce would suffer from this. 
But the pull in your belly, deep within your chest, was calling you elsewhere.
You made it through the back streets of the city, slowing your pace to a walk. By now, Nat and Bruce would have noticed you gone. They would have seen the message you’d sent to Loki and his response. Maybe they’d try contacting that number, but you knew for a fact, Bruce would be in a car on his way here. The Jeep definitely had a tracker. 
You went into a Deli Meats, catching your breath in the doorway, your heart hammering vehemently in your chest. 
You asked to borrow the phone and they had a fucking honors system so you bought a sandwich and dumped it in your bag. No appetite. 
The phone only rang once before he answered.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in New York,” you answered, breathlessly.
“Have you been running?”
“Obviously.”
There was rustling on the other side of the phone. “They know you’ve left,” he said. “They’ve tried tracking this number.”
“And did they succeed?” you asked, heart in your throat. 
“No.” He inhaled sharply. “I want to trust you, y/n,” he mumbled. 
“Then come and get me,” you replied, your mouth dry, your heart hammering. “I’ll meet you wherever.”
He laughed, more like a hum than a chuckle. “Okay.”
He gave you an address on the other side of town, and told you not to call a taxi or an uber. He said if you made it there on foot, without any intervention by either the Avengers or your brother, he’d know they hadn’t found you. Or that you weren’t being followed. He had eyes everywhere. 
You thanked the clerk and left in a hurry, mentally replaying Loki’s instructions on the directions. Just the sound of his voice had been a relief, like taking a long, deep breath after being under water for so long. 
Something sharp had lifted from your ribs, where there’d been an imaginary knife twisting. 
The day had warmed, the city had awakened, and there was no way to identify you within the crowds moving steadily. You kept your eyes to the ground, the cap low on your brow, your hair around your face. 
The address Loki had given you was a subway’s sandwich, squeezed between a Moroccan restaurant and a hair salon. You frowned. Was this the right address? It was closed, the sign hanging in the door, the lights off in the store. 
You pulled on the door slightly, and it opened, your heart leaping as a wind of fresh air swept against your hot cheeks. 
Stepping inside, the eerie silence greeted you. No one was there. Only silence and the dark store. A fridge where they kept the cold drinks hummed, the blue light beckoning. You went to it, ripping it open wildly and grabbing a water bottle. As you chugged it, you pulled a rolled dollar from your pocket and put it on the register.
“No need for that.”
You jumped, spilling water all over your green hoodie. With a curse, you set the bottle on the counter and grabbed for the napkins. 
“I’ve got it.”
He was close now, and you could smell pinewood, your senses invaded by him. You looked up. He smiled, his lips pulling gently at the corners. Your heart was hammering wildly, but you swallowed, looking down at him as he looked down at you. He wore the same all-black ensemble as two weeks ago, his short raven locks pulled neatly behind his ears.
He was a specimen. 
His hands, which you swore were previously empty, came up with a green t-shirt. “More fit for the current weather,” he said with a quirk of his brow. 
You licked your lips, carefully reaching for the garment, fingers grazing his. A short shock slithered through your arm. 
“Thank you,” you mumbled, feeling heat crawl into your cheeks. 
You motioned for him to turn around, and with a roll of his eyes, he did. You quickly changed, discarding your hoodie in the trash. Once you were done, he turned and took one good look at you.
“Wow,” he said, making your heart sputter back to life. 
“So, what now?” you asked, both to dispel Loki’s current fixation and to actually know what was the plan. 
He straightened. “I have to get you out of the city.”
“Okay,” you breathed. “Where?”
But he didn’t have time to answer. Something came crashing through the front windows, loudly, sending a million little shards of glass flying. As quick as lightening, Loki came rushing to you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders, shielding you from the tiny little projectiles. 
You felt the heat of him, the pressure of his arms, his front against yours, your cheek against his chest. You smelled him everywhere. You sensed him on every inch of yourself. He invaded your senses, and for a brief instant, that nagging pull in your belly ceased. 
And as quickly as he came, he vanished. When you opened your eyes, fingers trembling, the smell of him clinging to you, he had changed his attire. The illusion previously placed on him, the one of the elegant man dressed in all black, had made way for the God. 
Long, golden horned-helmet on his head. The same green and gold breast plate, the black trousers. And in his hand, a golden staff, the tip gleaming menacingly, a blue light hovering within it’s extremity. 
Standing before you both, on the glittering pieces of the broken window, was Thor and Tony. The former stood in the light of day, his hammer raised, light gleaming off of it threateningly. Tony stood, arm erect, suit gleaming red in the mid-morning sun. 
“Nice work, kiddo,” he said, the helmet coming undone, revealing his face; stricken with fear and concentration.
Loki turned a glare on you, eyes dark, and your insides burned. Tony was making it look like you had a hand in this. That you’d betrayed Loki.
You opened your mouth to say something, but Loki took one step towards you and grabbed your wrist.
Thor roared something like, “Loki no!” But Loki was faster. Quicker than Tony’s blast you heard charging, quicker than Thor’s hammer. In a flash, the tip of Loki’s staff glowed a clear, crystal blue, and your entire world vanished to black.
SO, WHO’S EXCITED FOR PART SEVEN???
tags:  @subtlemalice @yallgotkik @buckyandlokirunmylife @kaz11283 @legolas-bromance @shylittlemountain @tofeartheunknown @feelmyfckngsoul @kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay @caffiend-queen @tomhollandsslilslut @lady-loki-ren @nathan-no @rosaline-black @abundanceofcarolines @my-own-oracle @it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream @marvelouslovely @drbaureid @bored-as-hell-666 @youhavemyfantasticbeasts @theinfinitenerd @toe-vind-ek-jou @ink-and-starlight @blank-bakabane @sunshineonloki @holaamishamigos @palegoopbearlight @heyarely16 @pleaseexecuteme 
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smol-and-grumpy · 3 years
Text
To Be Free - CH01
Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader
Summary: Escaping and hiding away, that’s what she wants to do. Her parent’s remote cabin in the mountain sounds like the best place for it. There, she meets someone from her past — a green-eyed mountain man.
Chapter Warnings: A little back story, cheating (not Dean), language, threats being made, car accident
WC: 2481
Beta: @winchest09​ <3
A/N: So, this is the beginning of the Mountain Man!Dean AU. I hope you’ll like it!
Read ahead on Patreon!
Series Masterlist ~ SPN Masterlist
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The phone buzzes on the seat next to her. Again. 
It hasn’t stopped ringing since Y/N had gotten into the car and drove away. She’s so close to just throwing it out of the window but then again, the rational side of her brain tells her that she would endanger the automobiles around her on the highway, and she doesn’t really want to cause any damage, or accidents, if it can be avoided. 
“You’re a goody-goody.” Mick always used to say, “It’ll get you in trouble if you don’t toughen up.” 
Perhaps Mick was right. She probably was not made to work in that firm where she has to help fucking criminals. But then again, he made it seem so plausible and she can’t believe that she fell for it all. Y/N had fallen for the prestige, for the fame, and most of all, she had fallen for Mick, and that was the worst fucking mistake. 
The events of that night flash before her eyes once more. 
It’s 9 PM. Mick usually doesn’t have a reason to work so late unless he has a meeting with the mob family that they have under their wings. She never liked to go to their meetings, always found an excuse to opt out. The way the men always stare at her like she was a piece of meat rather than a woman with a brain, always sent a chill down her spine. 
When she stepped out of the elevator, the floor was dark. There’s only minimal light coming from the reception area that’s vacated at this time of the night. Y/N never liked to be here after hours but it’s the only place she thought she could find Mick. He didn’t pick up his phone when she called him which was highly unusual. Somehow, she was a little afraid of what she would find. It could be him just laughing and joking with the mobsters, but it could also have been him bruised and beaten beyond recognition because the Family wasn’t happy with his work, or it could be worse. He could be dead. Today was his birthday too and she even ordered catering for the both of them to enjoy at home. She guessed that she would have to pop the dishes into the microwave because by the time she decided to check here, it was already starting to turn cold.
Walking further along the hallway, she noticed that the lights in Mick’s office are still on and a sense of relief washed over her, while the sense of dread built up in the pit of her stomach at the same time. 
“Oh god, Mick.” 
There was a faint moan that carried through the hallway of the offices. It made her blood freeze, but it forced her to walk faster.
“Mmh,” she heard Mick humming. “Always so fucking tight for me, Eve. Such a good pussy.” 
“Better than Y/N, I’d hope.” 
Mick chuckled, “I’d rather you not talk about her while I fuck you. You know you’re my best girl, baby.”
The dread in Y/N’s stomach intensified and something began to churn inside of her. She had to clutch it so as not to just hurl out the whole contents into the next pot plant she could find. 
Eve was her friend. Her best friend since she moved into the city two years ago. She was even the one who helped Eve to get a job at her boyfriend’s firm. 
Well, not her boyfriend anymore, she guessed. 
She reached the door, fingers clutched around the frame for purchase as she took in the image before her. Eve was bent over the table, Mick half undressed, fucking into her from behind. 
He threw his head back as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he turned his head and their eyes met. 
For a brief second, she thought she saw a smirk twisting at his lips when he noticed her. He kept on pounding into Eve, though, his pace never faltered. 
Y/N retreated, tears pooled in her eyes and she moved on autopilot. Before she knew it, she found herself in her office, packing the things that she needed into her laptop bag. 
‘Stupid! So fucking stupid!’ she thought. She should have seen it. Why hadn’t she seen it? The red flags were always there. Mick always gave her assignments that would see her traveling all over the country for a long stretch of time. She would find receipts of hotels laying around in the apartment, or when she did laundry, but he always had a good reason. They hadn’t been intimate for a long time, too. Mick was always too tired and if he wasn’t then she would be. And if that happened, he would get out of bed and said that he needed a drink and was out of the apartment before she could even say anything. She was so engrossed in her work and too oblivious to what was going on, that she ignored all the warning signs. 
She was crying now, the tears not stopping. But it’s not over Mick. She would never cry over a man who had treated her like this. She cried for herself, for being dumb enough to let someone play her. 
Bending down to pack the remainder of her things, she opened her last drawer, revealing a little safe that was neatly tucked inside. Without hesitation, she punched in the combination and it sprang open. It contained a single USB stick. 
Picking it up, she clutched it in the palm of her hand. She had forgotten about the small device and now she knew why Mick kept her around. She was the only person who had a copy of the shady business his clients are doing, because she was involved as much as Mick. He was never going to give her up because if the information got leaked, he'd be taking the fall. 
There were footsteps along the hallway, the thumping sounds getting louder as someone rushed to her office and she quickly let the stick slip into her jean pocket. 
“What are you doing?” he asked too casually but with a bitter undertone, acting like he hadn’t just fucked her best friend. 
“What does it look like?” she snarled, patience wearing thin. “I quit. And don’t even come by my apartment anymore.”
He walked in further; his hair was ruffled and the buttons on his shirt were hastily done up, the material lopsided as he had fastened them wrong. She was so disgusted by his appearance.
Mick rubbed his hand over his chin, carefully thinking about his next words. “I need the USB stick before you leave.” 
She snorted. That’s typical. All he could think about is his fucking business. “I don’t have it.”
“Liar!”
“Oh, look who’s talking.” Maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t anger him but screw that.
“Y/N.” Mick rounded up around her desk and came to stand right before her. The scent of sex hit her nose in waves. It made her nauseous. “You’re going to get into so much trouble if they know that you have it and believe me, if you walk out of here, they will find out because I will tell them.”
“I’m not scared of those men.”
Mick laughed. Fucking laughed. 
“They’ll come for you, Y/N. Those men are not to be fucked with.” He was still chuckling when he said, “They will find you and they will kill you.”
She cocked her eyebrow, and maybe she should have been scared of Mick and his threats but she’s still got the upper hand. If she got to expose him first, she has bargaining leverage. Maybe she’d get to be in a witness protection program. By the time it hits the fan, she will hopefully be long gone. 
“I don’t have it,” she said again as she bumped her shoulder against his on her way out, shoving him to the side. 
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Mick called after her, his voice echoing in the almost empty hallway. 
With her head held high, she descended the stairs, too impatient and not to say scared to wait for the elevator.
 The phone buzzed again after having only stopped for a short time. It actually hasn’t stopped ringing since she drove back to her apartment to pack her duffel with enough clothes that should last her for a couple of days. She wanted to get out of here, clear her head, think about what to do next. 
It’s after she stopped for gas that she remembered the remote cabin that belonged to her parents. They hadn’t been up there for a while as the health of her father was deteriorating but she knew where they kept the spare key, and it’s the only place she knew nobody would come looking for her because she hadn’t been with Mick long enough to let him in on the existence of the cabin, nor on the memories the place held.
Buying enough food that would last her a couple of days, she drove towards the foot of the mountain. 
It was February and the roads were icy as it had snowed just last night. She hoped that her car would have enough power to get her up there, as she didn’t have snow chains with her. Not that she knew how to put them on in the first place. If worse comes to worst, she’d have to abandon her car and hike up the last bit, which was totally fine with her too. Anything to get away from civilization.
As she made her way up the snowy road and rounded up the twelfth bend in the street (There were fourteen - she had counted them from the drive up there every winter), her phone buzzed again. 
She glanced over to the passenger seat to catch the caller ID. It could be her mother for all she knew and that one, she would pick up. Y/N would maybe tell her that she was on the way to the cabin so that they wouldn’t be too worried if they can’t get a hold of her, because the reception could be pretty spotty up there.
But no, it’s fucking Mick again. She rolled her eyes upon seeing the name flash on the screen before turning her gaze back to the snow-covered street in front of her, but it was already too late. Out of her periphery, she caught it. The deer that ran out of the woods, its eyes wide when it saw the headlights of her SUV. Her foot hit the break immediately, but it was too late. The car swerved on the icy ground and she hoped she didn’t hit the animal before her vision goes black.
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  Dean was sitting in his recliner in the cabin while he enjoyed his glass of bourbon. It’s his downtime, one of his favorite pastimes, next to spending his days out with Stevie, his Bernese mountain dog.
He had been coming to this cabin since his early childhood, having only missed one Winter out of the many. There were times where he would only spend a week up here but also there were times where he would be there for the whole winter. It’s his favorite place, always has been. 
The cabin is not as big as the ones that surrounded it, but it’s enough. It has only one bedroom, yet it was cozy. He remembered back to when he was younger, when he and his younger brother would sleep on the fold-out couch while his parents took the bedroom. Sometimes if Sam was upset with him, Dean would spend the night on the rug in front of the fireplace instead, and it was the best thing. He almost felt bad for wanting to get into a fight with Sam more often so that his sibling wouldn’t look at him funny when he wanted to spend the night on the floor instead of on the worn-out couch.
Once his parents stopped their annual visit up there, and they wanted to sell the cabin, Dean had saved enough money to buy it from them. There were just too many memories tied to the little property, too many of them that he wasn’t willing to just forget. 
While he took a sip from his tumbler, Stevie lifted her head and twisted her ears. 
Dean noticed, and immediately reached down to pat the dog's head, “What's wrong, Stevie?” 
The dog ignored him to get up and walk over to the door, letting out a whine as her nails started to scratch at the wood. 
“Easy, girl,” he soothes the agitated dog. “You wanna go out for a walk again?” 
Stevie whined some more, her scratching becoming more frantic. 
“Right,” Dean sighed as he got out of his seat. He took his time to empty his tumbler before setting it down on the coffee table. “Let’s go then.” 
The snow had started to fall again as they got out of the cabin, and he ducked inside once more to grab his hat that’s hanging on the hook right behind the door. Stevie was not impressed that it was taking Dean so long to get ready and started to bark.
“Easy, Stevie,” he chuckled as her wet nose nuzzled against his palm. He reached down to scratch behind her ear, a motion that seemed to calm her down. “Good girl.” 
They made their way down the street. The old snow crunched underneath his boots. Fresh layers of the white powder would cover over it soon enough, erasing their prints when it settled. He thought about doing their usual nightly walk around the perimeter, wondering if maybe they’d see a deer or two. Stevie had a way with deer. They love to meet her and Dean’s always mesmerized by the unusual bond they had. Stevie was always good with other animals and people, the dog’s sense to protect everyone is highly admirable, and Dean really couldn’t wish for a better companion.
As they rounded up the second bend in the road, he saw the car. Its headlights were still on but the front was wrapped around a tree which was the only thing standing between the car and the abyss. It was not a strong pine and the wood was already creaking under the weight.
Stevie rushed forward and Dean followed suit. The tree was going to give in at any minute, he just knew and if he couldn’t save the car, maybe he would be able to save whoever was stuck in there.
Dean thankfully reached the vehicle in time, yanking the driver’s door open and the sight of the girl slumped over the steering wheel made his blood run colder than the icy road he was standing on. 
“Y/N?” 
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CH02
Please share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear your feedback.
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Text
by the bedside
Characters: Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Jason Todd
Summary: A job goes wrong, and Marinette fears the worst until Damian wakes up. 
Notes: Cross-posted on Archive of Our Own. 
Sequel
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"À la claire fontaine," a soft voice sung, pulling Damian out of his hazy daze. "M'en allant promener, j'ai trouvé l'eau si belle…"
Damian groaned and tried to turn on his side, to try and reach whatever it was singing, but the moment he did, the song stopped and was replaced by a gasp. Damian blinked his eyes open, ignoring the sting, and saw sitting next to him was a disheveled and red-eyed Marinette sitting next to him.
"Damian….," she whispered. Damian tried to reach out a hand to her, but found that it felt like lead. Moving it felt like a splitting pain, and it was weighed down by a cast. Damian shut his eyes and leaned back into the pillow. The building, the explosion, and –
"Adrien?" Damian croaked. Marinette nodded her head and took the hand not enclosed in a cast in her hands. She gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled.
"He's fine," Marinette said. "He's doing damage control with your brother."
Ah, yes. Dick. Nightwing had come to Paris as one Dick Grayson, something to do with Wayne Enterprises or other, when he had realized what Damian was up to. Robin had become an unofficial third member of Paris's own dynamic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir once all their allies identities were exposed. Hawkmoth was long gone, so it was just petty criminals and the like, but adding a fourth member to that so suddenly had thrown everything off. Even if it was for one mission. A bomb was missed, and now –
"How long was I out?" Damian asked. He narrowed his eyes and looked around and saw a familiar location had enveloped him. "And ho-how did we get to the Batcave?"
"Two days," Marinette said breathlessly. "And a Zeta tube."
Ah, Zeta. He should have known. Damage control probably meant making sure Paris still had someone patrolling and keeping it's citizens safe.
"Nightwing insisted we bring you back here," Marinette said. "Said you should be with family."
That meant it was touch and go for a moment. Damian felt unfrazzled by the brush with death, how many times had he had one since he was born? Not to mention he actually had died once. He looked down at Marinette's outfit, and saw she was wearing the same purple sundress she had been wearing before her transformation two days ago.
"H-have you been here the whole time?" Damian asked softly. Marinette looked down at her fingers sheepishly.
"I-I had to be sure," Marinette said. "When the Lucky Charm didn't work, and –" Marinette cut herself off with a chortle of tears. "Ma moitié, I had to make sure you weren't dead."
Damian shut his eyes. This was what frazzled him. He knew in their line of work, one got hurt. Sometimes you didn't walk away. But to hurt Marinette, to make Marinette feel hopeless and lost as Damian fought on a hospital bed. Marinette was the one good, pure thing he had ever been able to keep, and to make her feel pain felt like a betrayal.
"You should have gone home," Damian said slowly. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Marinette shook her head and squeezed his hand.
"If you expected me to do that, then you don't really know me."
Damian turned his head to the side, and tried to ignore the sharp burst of pain at the top of his back from the movement. But try as he might, he still winced. Marinette reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder to try and steady him again.
"Be still, ma moitié," Marinette said. "Monsieur Pennyworth said it was best for you to remain as you are."
Marinette was so polite, and despite Alfred's continued insistence, Marinette continued to call the man by his proper name. Damian found it was one of many adorable things about her to love.
"Nawaret aynaya," Damian said, "I promise I'm fine –"
"No you're not!" Marinette busted out. "You're hurt, you- you nearly died! All because I couldn't keep my team – I got distracted and –"
The young girl burst into tears, and Damian took his hand from her grasp and reached up to caress her cheek. Oh, Marinette. She always took ever mistake, every misstep, as some misgiving on her part. To Marinette, the safety of all Paris and all of her friends sat squarely on her shoulders. She might shoulder that responsibility with her brother Chat Noir, but Marinette would always hold it as a personal stake in her heart.
"It's not your fault, nawaret aynaya," Damian said softly. "This – this comes with the mask, you know that. If you had or had not been there, this would have happened eventually." He wiped away a tear form her cheek, and Marinette reached for the hand still caressing her. "I love you Marinette. And I know you would never hurt me. So stop blaming yourself."
Marinette gave a weak smile.
"If you expect me to stop just like that," she hiccupped, "then you don't really know me at all." She sucked in a deep breath and rubbed her thumb across his wrist.
"I love you too," she said. Damian's heart sang. For seventeen years he had waited for something and someone that would look at him and not see a monster. Not see an assassin or a danger or someone to fear. And by some miracle, that person turned out to be the love of his life.
And he'd be damned if he let her go.
"He's flatlining, I'm calling it," a voice said, breaking the moment around them. Damian retracted his hand and Marinette wiped away a last tear. In the doorway stood one Jason Todd, mask gone but still wearing spandex and his leather jacket. "Mari, time of death?"
Marinette bit her lip and looked down at her hands, but Damian could see the beginnings of a smile on her face. Jason stepped into the room and dragged a chair from the corner and sat down next to Marinette with a loud thud.
"Papa Bat should be here in a little bit, Brat Bat," Jason said. He took out his gun and began to fiddle with it, probably to clean it since he pulled out a white cloth from his pocket. Damian frowned.
"I'm not a brat," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.
"You might be seventeen, but you're still a brat sometimes," Jason said. Marinette looked up from her hands, that familiar mischief shining in her eyes.
"You're kinda. Sometimes," Marinette said softly. Jason laughed and slung an arm around the girl's shoulder.
"Ah! I got the girlfriend on my side!" Jason said. "I win!"
Normally Damian would keep going and insist he wasn't a brat, but Jason was as transparent as a plane of glass. Jason was trying to cheer up Marinette with this joke, and Damian was not going to try and ruin that. Marinette was going to be happy and not worry too much about Damian, that was his mission.
"What did you win?" Adrien asked, popping his head into the med bay. His blonde hair was still damp, meaning he probably just got out of a post-patrol shower. He came up behind his adopted sister and hugged her from behind, placing a kiss to her temple.
"Marinette admitted Damian was a brat sometimes," Jason said.
"I am not!"
"Yeah, you are," Adrien said. Tim and Dick entered the room, and Tim was texting someone on his phone. Probably Stephanie, telling her he was okay. Dick pulled a chair over to the other side of Damian's bed and leaned back, his long legs stretching out underneath the medical bed.
"Be nice to the injured child," Dick said. Damian frowned.
"I am not a child," Damian said. "I am the same age you were when you went solo, Grayson."
Dick raised a brow. "And? I was a child then, henceforth, you're a child now."
Damian furrowed his brow again and Marinette laughed softly, but once again he did not fight. If it made Marinette smile, it was worth it.
His father finally materialized, Alfred behind him. His father was as stoic as ever, his eyes steeled and guarded thanks to the new visitors to the Cave. Despite the Miraculous duo having been unofficial members of the Batfamily for a year and a half, Father still seemed opposed to giving them official membership. Damian wondered if it had anything to do with Marinette being his girlfriend. He hoped not.
"Master Damian," Alfred said, and a phantom smile overtook his professional form. "I see you are recovering well. I assume Miss Marinette has made sure you've stayed where you should?"
"He only woke up a little while ago, Monsieur," Marinette said. Her lips upturned wickedly. "The real problems in that regard have not started yet."
Adrien laughed and hugged his sister tighter.
"Trust me, mi'lady is here is plenty capable of keeping Damian in line."
Once upon a time, Damian had been jealous of Adrien's nickname for Marinette. Now Damian knew better. Adrien may have once been desperately in love with Marinette and Ladybug, but once one Kagami entered the picture it was game over. Now, the nickname was mere relic of that time and a testament to the depth of their bond.
"I expect nothing less," Alfred said. Father stood at the foot of his bed. He was still dressed in his suit, but his cowl was down, revealing his identity. That made Adrien and Marinette's lack of inclusion even more baffling – they knew who all of them were, the biggest secret they had.
"Are you alright Damian?" Father asked. Damian nodded.
"Yes Father," Damian said. A sigh of relief left his father's form. Despite medical evidence, after everything that happened with Jason, Father would never be certain of his kid's state until he heard from them exactly.
"Well, I mean, wasn't he just fighting with Jason?" Tim asked. He looked up from his phone. "Me and Dick heard them outside. If he's in a fighting mood, he's fine."
"I almost died, and you guys treat me this way," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.
"Shut up, this is how we show our love," Jason said. He eyes Dick. "Except for Dick. He does the whole normal shit. Damn well-adjusted asshole."
"Damn non-well-adjusted asshole," Dick shot back. Marinette giggled. Father turned to Marinette and Adrien.
"You two can stay here as long as you need, to make sure Damian is okay," Father said. Damian tried not to let his surprise be palpable. Marinette and Adrien were barely allowed in the Batcave half the time, now Father was offering to let them stay while Damian recovered? What had happened in the time he was asleep? "You can Zeta home for clothes, if you need them. But we have enough clothes that might fit you Adrien, and I'm sure Cass left some things behind before going to Hong Kong."
"Thank you, Monsieur Wayne," Adrien said for the both of them. Marinette smiled and then turned her attention back to Damian.
Damian for seventeen years wondered what it would be like to be purely loved.
Now he knew. It came from Marinette Dupain-Cheng, that kind of true love
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spacegoatart · 3 years
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i haven’t officially posted my own treasure planet headcanons, so that's what this is! some of this might be ooc but i don't really care because they are fun to think about, so yeah, enjoy!
this is gonna be long so i’m gonna put it under a keep reading
it makes me so sad that they supposedly don’t keep in touch at the end of the movie, so that's where headcanons come in. Jim and Silver went thru WAY too much to not keep in touch, Silver couldn’t leave Morph without being able to see him again either (Silver literally refers to himself as Morphs ‘dad’ in one scene!!) they at least send letters or have some sort of burner phone, with Silver being a wanted criminal and all. for a while they probably just sent letters, Jim talking about the academy and Silver sending little gifts from his escapades such as a lava rock or an especially interesting coin. Jim keeps all the gifts in a box, along with the letters but if he feels especially attached to a gift, he’ll set it on his window sill of on the rim of his mirror. as much as I like the idea of Jim getting Silver a jitterbug/ladybug, realistically Silver would be the one to set the idea into motion. Jim gets a larger gift and its a little phone, made of parts that Silver could scrap together (or on he found in a shop on a traders planet), he immediately sets it up and texts Silver. it was really nice for them to talk in real time and were probably already discussing the idea, even though Silver could get caught, so Jim was really excited about it. Jim now keeps Silver updated on life events and Silver calls every now and then to tell Jim about his travels. Silver hasn’t quite figured out how to send photos but once he does, he starts sending some everyday (including some hilarious selfies, akin to what a dad would post on Facebook).
Silver absolutely visits, for a while it was very, very scarce because he was still wanted but was sneaky enough to come and see Jim every few months. he comes and hangs out at the inn for a few days while his crew is out at bars or stocking up on items for their next adventure, as well as they know better than to fight their captain on his decisions. during these visits, Silver tells Jim (and anyone brave enough to sit near them) stories about what he had seen, creatures he had encountered and wonders they had discovered. Jim tells Silver about his time at the academy, new friends he’s made and what he’s learning, including some complicated stuff. sometimes Jim even get so into it, he brings out a textbook to express his point. while Silver is pretty smart, he has no idea what Jim is talking about (because its usually math and obscure facts) and usually just smiles and nods as Jim rambles. (lol this may be me projecting my ADHD onto Jim but i have the feeling he info dumps to people hes comfortable with)
speaking of the academy, i think despite all the combat training and captaining that Jim is learning, i think Jim would be really interested in math. like a surprising amount. it would probably be difficult to start off but once he did, hoo boy he could not stop. there were some hurdles he had to face but eventually he landed in a pretty advanced math course (not the highest but still pretty up there, maybe like calculus or applied mathematics). knowing some math was important as a captain, having to deal with probability on a ship in the Etherium, but Jim was fascinated by numbers and the way they made up the world. i think he would be really interested in physics or theoretical stuff, which is difficult but i think he could do it. he probably uses his previous experiences in space to help him visualize the math, which helps a lot.
the first time Silver came to the inn, Jim practically tackled him. which was no big deal since he’s almost double Jim’s size, Silver was more worried about Sarah and what she thought of him being a pirate and all. Jim assured him that everything was ok and he asked her but Silver still felt a bit nervous. he felt like he was intruding on her territory. but while Jim had run upstairs for something and Silver stood sheepishly in the doorway, Sarah came over with a smile on her face and shook his hand. he wasn’t expecting that at all, he was more ready for a glare from the kitchen or even a talk about ground rules. Sarah talked to him about how excited Jim was (she was also kind of excited, she had met plenty of pirates and was almost as fascinated as Jim was) and how she was grateful for Silver staying in her sons life. Silver felt much more comfortable after that and they started talking too, (not sure if it would be romantic or not, it would be cute but i love them just being friends as well) they became pretty good friends. Jim loved it, even if they weren’t married or Silver wasn’t biologically related to him, he felt like he had a full family again. when Jim was busy or sleeping, Sarah and Silver would chat over coffee or in the kitchen while Sarah cooked, Silver helping. Sarah would probably rope Silver into helping her at the inn once she learns he can cook and he kind of falls into a routine. come see Jim, hang out, when Jim is busy/out, go put on an apron.
(this one is 100% projecting lol) this is a pretty loose hc, especially since it started as a joke but now i really like it. i think Jim, as well as Silver, is transgender. Jim wasn’t really expecting Silver to be trans, as are most (he passes super well lmao). i mean, many pirates were gay, why can’t space faring ones be trans? hell, Silvers crew probably has a slew of queer folk among them, if not all of them being some sort of LGBT. body modification looks like a regular thing in their world, so i think Silver has already had top surgery, whether he was planning to or not. by that i mean that i think Silver could have been injured, woke up and found that something was missing. worried he may have become more cyborg, he checked, winced and found that bandages had been bound around his chest. ‘well that's out of the way’. despite not wanting to be vulnerable around his crew, most of them if not all of them know he’s trans since most of them didn’t see it as some sort of weakness, it was just who you were. (if ya’ll are interested, i have some crew hcs like gender and sexuality but this post is mainly about Jim, Silver and Sarah)
(continuation of the trans hc) when Jim came out to Silver, there’s a moment of silence between them. in Jim’s head it was awkward, but in Silver’s, things started clicking. Jim was worried Silver didn’t understand and quickly explain but Silver comforted him, and explained that he understood. Jim was the confused one now and Silver quickly cleared that up, explaining that he too was trans. Jim was relieved, confused and surprised. he hadn’t expected that outcome but that wasn’t bad, if anything he thought it was cool. he had more in common with his adoptee-dad than he had thought. Silver now makes sure to emphasis his compliments when Jim is working, hoping to boost Jim’s ego and make him feel better. it works and Jim feels even more comfortable in his own skin. (i have another part about Silver taking Jim to get top surgery but they would need Sarah’s permission first, not that she’d say no but Silver doesn’t want to encounter her wrath xD)
i’d like to think that Silver takes Jim up on his ship, not for plundering but just to sail around. the new crew had already seen Silver in action and decided nobody wanted to question him about Jim, especially since he was causing any trouble. eventually Jim couldn’t really visit Silvers ship anymore, being a Navy officer and all but that was ok, Silver still came to the inn and Jim had his own ship/s.
Silver knows all the drama around town, mostly because Sarah hears it fro customers and then gossips to Silver about it. Silver will come in, say hello and she’ll start, he’ll probably respond with something like ‘no way, they did that?’ and then he’d listen as she worked.
when talking to Jim, Silver refers to Sarah as ‘ma’ and Sarah starts referring to Silver as ‘dad’ since they have become Jim’s collective parents, and it doesn’t bother either of them.
after Jim lets Silver get away at the end of the movie, Silver stays on his own for a while, though no one knew that. he got a larger boat, just big enough for him and he wandered planets, drifted through space, just thinking. he wasn’t sure what to do next, he was a wanted man but he also had no crew. the thought of settling down passed in his mind but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, he was comfortable in the Etherium, he would get cabin fever after a week. so he continued being a pirate, it was rough work but he loved being among the stars, exploring the galaxy. Jim knew this and didn’t want to push Silver to stay at the inn for a long amount of time but they still made it work.
Silver has little experience with children, having none of his own until Jim (i’ve seen people give Silver children as his backstory but he doesn’t strike me as that kind of guy, not that he wouldn’t want kids but he’d have to choose between family life or pirates life. that's too much for him.) the most experience Silver had was with helping people at port and with his crew, anyone young enough to need guidance and smart enough to listen.
Silver loves music but really only know sea shanties, drinking songs and some old folk music, but he can still be found singing with his crew and humming while he’s working. Jim on the other hand listens to a lot of music, especially after treasure planet. (this is assuming they have all the music we have xD) he listened to brooding teenage music before, like Teenage Dirtbag or bands likes Greenday, but now he has a few shanties on his list as well, plus some classical music for when he’s studying or relaxing. he also listens to ABBA, either because he just likes them or because his mom plays them in the inn.
Jim, Sarah and Silver have way more pictures of each other now. the inn now has multiple family photos with Silver included, Jim has a framed image of the three of them and Silver has a little scrapbook. it’s the only thing he’s ok with having on his ship, still worried about being seen as ‘soft’ (even if he is a big softie and everyone knows it).
Silver usually wears a pretty simple working outfit with his nice coat and hat but when he does want to look nice, holy shit does he do it well. sometimes when he’s dressed up he wonders why he doesn’t do it more often just for fun but then he thinks of the countless times he’s had to throw out shirts stained with blood. he would never let that happen to his nice clothes.
i really like the idea that if things had been different, Sarah Hawkins would have been a pirate, and a damn good one at that. maybe she wasn’t in this life but that doesn’t stop the occasional daydream and questions to Silver about his lifestyle. he offers to take her on his boat when he takes Jim and she hesitates but says yes in the end. Jim definitely didn’t get his wanderlust spirit from Leland. (this is a little ooc for Silver but not for Sarah, i 100% believe she would be a pirate) maybe after Jim joins the Navy, he buys a small boat, big enough for him and his mom and they go on trips where they just enjoy the Etherium.
you cannot tell me that the second Silver was out of earshot on the long boat that he didn’t cry his eyes out. motherfucker may know how to hide his feelings but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them, he’s a sucker and he knows it. when he gets more comfortable around Jim and Sarah, he finds himself getting way more tearful from touchy feely stuff. Morph being cute? sobbing. Jim called him dad? waterworks. literally anything that tugs on his heartstrings? has to go to his cabin to cry his eyes out. the first time Jim and Silver met up again, they both just started sobbing.
Silver, Jim too probably, has PTSD (sorry if i get anything wrong, i’m not sure what else to call it) to an extent. it isn’t intense to the point that he gets overwhelmed with emotions and has flashbacks (unless it has to do with his missing limbs) but he does have some nightmares and prepares for the worst in most scenarios. Jim has to remind him that the bang at the door wasn’t pirates, it was just a unruly customer and that the silhouette he saw outside was just a passing ship, not canon fire. Silver apologizes every time, despite not doing anything but switch to his sword and brace but he can’t help but feel bad for worrying them. i can’t imagine the kind of terrors he has about loosing his limbs.
Silver, when he detaches his arm, will forget he only has one hand. sort of like that video with the astronaut back on Earth, but instead of gravity, he keeps handing stuff to his cyborg hand, dropping the item and they being confused when he can’t find whatever he had. he’s just so used to it by now, he’ll even gesture with his missing hand and not realize he can’t convey what he’s doing. Jim has been asked to hand his stuff, Silver will try to grab it without look and ask Jim why he didn’t hand it to him. Jim has to remind him that he doesn’t have his cyborg arm, leaving Silver apologizing. its always lighthearted between them and they joke about it but Jim knows Silver is still bothered by it a little.
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spencerreidslove · 4 years
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Let’s Be Bad
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A/N: I was rewatching season 6 episode 13 “The Thirteenth Step” when it hit me. What if Spencer and Y/N were a crime duo being hunted by the BAU? So this idea was born. This fic is my baby and probably one of the longest things I have ever written. There is mentions of aclchol, a couple sexual themes, and normal Criminal Minds case stuff, so be aware. Let me know if you guys want a part 2 with their interrogation and stuff.
————-
“Buckle up crime fighters, because this one is bad.” Garcia said, standing up at the board. She clicked the remote to show a murder scene, four bodies in total, in a totally destroyed gas station.
“Not only did our bad guy murder four people last night in Chandler, Arizona, the police believe that he also did this.”
Gracia clicked her remote and the picture changed to another scene, six bodies this time, in a drugstore.
“A massacre just outside of Las Vegas, three weeks ago.”
“Three weeks is a long cooling off period.” Rossi said.
“M.O’s the same, though. All shot in the head and then all dragged into a line, store totally destroyed.” Prentiss said.
“With last night’s murder bringing the body count up to 10, the police need our help now. Wheels up in thirty.” Hotch said, standing up from the table.
-
“Seriously? You want to go somewhere cold?” Spencer asked as you made your way into a small sandwich shop, just over the Utah border.
“Yes! Imagine waking up on Christmas Day to a white Christmas.” You said, wrapping your arms around one of Spencer’s.
“Where would we go that’s like that?” He asked, looking up at the menu, printed on a board.
“Wyoming. Up in the mountains. It’s nice there. We’ll get a cabin, live up there, together.”
“Alright,” Spencer said, smiling. “We’ll go to Wyoming. After.” He put one of his arms around your shoulders.
“After.” You agreed.
The two of you made your way to the counter, where a man, no older than 20 or so was waiting.
“What can I get you?” He asked, cleaning a spot on the counter.
He looked up and immediately his eyes latched onto yours.
Spencer said his sandwich order, but the boy didn’t seem to hear him. He was too busy staring at you, making you very uncomfortable.
“Hey.” Spencer said, slamming his hand on the counter. This seemed to knock the boy out of his trance.
“Sorry.” The boy said, still not taking his eyes off you.
“Take your eyes off my girlfriend and take our orders.” Spencer said, getting angrier.
“Sorry, she’s just like really pretty.” The boy said. Under his breath he mumbled, “I don’t see how she ended up with you.”
“That’s it.” Spencer said. He reached into his waistband and pulled out his pistol. Spencer quickly shot the boy in the head, and then turned to the other two patrons in the store. He quickly shot them, and then started moving to put them in a line.
This wasn’t the plan. You had only killed 2 days ago, the police would be quick to link you to this murder. But, Spencer sometimes had a temper and when it took over, there was no going back.
You pulled out your own pistol, and shot the remaining store worker who had come out from the back room.
“I’ll line them up.” You said to Spencer. “Go clear the security cameras.”
Spencer nodded and went into the back room. You spent the next few minutes lining the bodies up in a row. When you went into the back room, you saw Spencer toying with the panel that controlled the cameras.
The cameras quickly went blank, and only showed dark screens.
“I’m so glad you’re smart enough to know how to do that.” You said.
“IQ of 187 sweetheart.” Spencer said. “C’mon, let’s get going before the cops show up.”
-
“Hotch!” Emily called putting across the parking lot. “You aren’t going to believe this.”
Hotch turned his attention from the local police officer to Emily.
“A witness was next door at the craft store and saw a man and woman leave the sandwich shop together a couple of minutes after the gunfire.” Emily said.
“We’re looking for a man and woman killing team?” Hotch asked.
Emily shrugged. “Apparently.”
“Another witness said he saw the back of the liscine plate from across the street.” Morgan said, coming up to the group. “He didn’t get any numbers but he saw it was from Nevada.”
“Makes sense of their first murder was in Vegas.” Emily said.
“Prentiss, make sure the witness who saw the man and woman gets to a sketch artist. Morgan, see if the man remembers what type of car they were driving, then see if Garcia can find anybody from Nevada who drives that model.” Hotch said, directing out tasks.
“Going from three weeks to a 2 day cooling period is a massive deescalation.” Rossi said. “Something in that shop must’ve set them off.”
“You said the security cameras were wiped?” Hotch asked.
“Yeah, you can’t even access them now.” Rossi said.
“Get then to Garcia, she’s the only person who might be able to get them back and working”.
-
“They’ve found out that we’re a man and a woman team.” You said, calling out to Spencer, who was in the bathroom. You were laying on the bed in a random hotel, watching the news, where a blonde woman was talking about your most recent murder.
“Doesn’t matter. They haven’t linked us to the others, have they?” Spencer asked, coming out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist.
“They don’t have a clue.” You said.
“Good. For all they know we just shoot random people. They have no clue about the others.” He said.
You smiled as he came over beside you and started kissing your neck. “They’re never gonna get us.” He said.
You laughed a little as Spencer nicked lower on your neck.
“They’re too stupid to know what we’ve done.” You said. You could feel Spencer smile as he continued his kisses lower.
-
“What have you got Garcia?” Hotch asked to the laptop that was sitting on a table in the local police precinct.
“Not a lot, sir. Whoever wiped these cameras is some kind of genius. It’s nearly impossible to get the footage. And I am a cyber genius.” Garcia said.
“So you can’t get any footage off them?”
“Sir, I said it was nearly impossible. I will have this footage recovered wether it kills me. Au revoir!” Garcia said, signing off.
“These sketches aren’t helpful in the slightest.” Prentiss said dropping the pictures on the table. “The witness said she only saw the side profile of the woman and the man had sunglasses on and was faced away from her for most of the time.”
Hotch sighed. “We don’t have enough.”
“Ok, why these people? Why these places? They’re clearly going somewhere, but where is that?” Morgan asked.
“We have too many questions and not enough answers.” JJ said.
-
You were laying across the backseat of the car, your head in Spencer’s lap. You were drinking some kind of random alcohol Spencer had picked up straight out of the bottle.
“I can’t believe we’re here.” Spencer said, stroking your hair and looking out of the window.
“I could’ve waited.” You said.
Your car was parked down the street from your childhood home. It was your brother’s birthday and you knew he would be home. It was finally time to exact your revenge, just had Spencer did.
“Y/N, c’mon. It’ll be good for him to be gone.” Spencer said. “Plus, I get to see your childhood room in all its glory.”
You laughed a little and shoved him lightly. “You got it?” You asked.
Spencer moved as he reachedfor his bag in the front seat. He pulled out a small vile of poison. “Wouldn’t forget it.”
You slowly sat up. “We have a birthday party to attend.”
-
“Oh!” Garcia cried, looking at her computer screen.
She quickly reached over and dialed for Hotch’s phone number. “What have you got, Garcia?”
“I got the footage back! It took a lot of work and a lot of trouble but I got it! It’s already sent to your tablets.”
Hotch picked up the tablet and clicked play on the video Garcia sent him. In the video, a young man and woman were walking into a sandwich shop, talking and holding hands.
“Keep an eye on those customers that just walked in.” Garcia said.
They reached the counter and engaged in a heated discussion with a worker.
“There’s no sound on the original video, so I don’t know what they’re saying.” Garcia said.
The man took a pistol out of his waistband and shot the worker, and then turned and shop the other customers. The woman reached and grabbed a pistol and shop the other employee that had come running out.
The woman began lining the bodies up while the man disappeared into the back room. The woman joined him, and then the cameras went dark.
“Garcia, run their faces, see if anything comes up.” Hotch said.
“Already on it. If they have ever been photographed, I will find their entire life.”
Hotch let out a sigh of relief.
They finally had a break in the case.
-
“I’m nervous.” You said. You and Spencer were standing on the front porch of your childhood house, waiting to ring the bell.
“It’ll be fine. We get in, act all friendly, and then we put it into their drinks, and then we get out.” Spencer said, coming over and rubbing your back.
“Alright.” You said, ringing the doorbell.
There was a moment before somebody came to the door. “Y/N?” A woman asked on the other side of the door.
“Hi, Mom.” You said.
“I thought you said you’d never wanted to come back here again?” Your mom asked.
“Yeah, well things change.” You said. “This is Spencer, he’s coming in too.”
You and Spencer made your way past your mom into the living room where your brother and his wife were sitting.
“Y/N?” You brother asked.
“Max.” You said, addressing him. “Happy Birthday.” It took everything in your power not to slap him. He was the reason for all your suffering.
“It’s nice to see you.” He said, standing up and going to hug you. You flinched slightly, but still managed to hug him back. He squeezed you just a little too tightly.
“And who’s this?” Max asked, looking at Spencer.
“Spencer.” You said.
Max sighed and shook his head. “Never one to elaborate.” He stuck out his hand for Spencer to shake.
Spencer kindly shook it back, giving Max just the slightest smile.
“Happy Birthday.” Spencer said.
You caught Spencer’s eye as Max moved to sit back down. It would be a happy birthday, just not for Max.
-
“We are looking for a man and woman killing team, they are most likely in a relationship and are on a mission.” Hotch said, standing in front of the local PD.
“At this time we do not know what their mission is, but we believe they are on a trip to reach that point. They started in Nevada, and were last seen in Utah. They could be headed for any of the surrounding states, including back to Nevada or Arizona.” Prentiss said.
“They are rapidly devolving, as they went from having a three week cooling off period, to two days. We don’t know when they’ll strike again and have to catch them sooner rather than later.” Rossi said.
“All of their attacks have been in small stores; a drug store, a gas station, a sandwich shop. We believe they choose these places due to personal connection to one. Whoever they are going after probably owns a small store.” Morgan said.
“With that in mind, we suggest all owners of small stores who know somebody who looks like this, to keep an eye out. Do not try to approach them, they are armed and dangerous.” JJ said, from her place outside, briefing the news.
“Everybody keep an eye out and be vigilant.” Hotch said.
The crowd dispersed. Morgan’s phone began to ring.
“Talk to me Babygirl.” He said, answering.
“Well, tall dark and handsome I have some great news for you. I got a hit off the faces from the security feed.” Garcia said.
Morgan put her on speakerphone and the team gathered around to listen.
“Your man is Spencer Reid. Child prodigy from Las Vegas, he graduated high school at age 12 and his IQ tests 187. He dropped out of college at age 16 due to the fact that his mother’s schizophrenia was getting worse. Reid became her full time caregiver until around age 25, when he sighned her up for a new drug test that involved her living in a new campus.
“It seemed to be working, until a year ago when the main Doctor administered a new drug cocktail that was not FDA approved, and ended up killing Reid’s mother and several other patients.” Garcia said.
“Garcia, where’s that doctor now? They might be going to kill him if they both lost a parent.” Rossi said.
“I would say yes, but it seems like they already have. Four weeks ago the doctor, his wife, and son were found dead in their apartment from cyanide poisoning.” Garcia said.
“What about the girl?” Prentiss asked.
“Her name is Y/N Y/L/N. She is from Silverton, Colorado. She was working in a casino in Vegas until around a month ago.”
“Must be how they met.” Morgan said.
“She filed several cases against her older brother Max Y/L/N for physical abuse, but the charges were dropped everytime. From the looks of her hospital records it was bad.”
“They’ve exacted their revenge on Reid’s nemesis, now they want revenge for Y/N. Garcia what’s Max’s address?” Hotch said.
“He won’t be there. On his wife’s Instagram it says they’re going home for his birthday. I’ve sent you that address.” Garcia said.
“We need to get there, and fast.” Rossi said.
-
Talking and laughing with your family for several hours was painful, and Spencer could tell. They had watched you suffer for years at the hands of your brother, and did nothing.
“Why don’t I refill everybody’s drinks?” You asked, standing up.
“I’ll help you.” Spencer said.
After you had collected everybody’s cups, you made your way to the kitchen where you filled everybody’s cups with what they had asked for.
Spencer pulled the cyanide vial out of his pocket, and put a little bit in each cup. When you returned to the living room, you handed everybody their cups and watched as they took drinks.
It would be a few minutes before the poison started to kick in, but you couldn’t wait.
After a few moments, your mom started to choke.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Your dad asked. Then he started to choke. After just a few seconds, everybody was on the floor, choking in pain.
You and Spencer quickly came around, grabbing phones and smashing them with your heels, making sure no one could call 911.
When you reached Max, you kicked his face. “That’s what you get you son of a bitch!”
You kicked him again, and again. Before you could do some more damage, Spencer grabbed your arm.
“We better get out of here, darling. We have a lot of ground to cover.” He said. You nodded and followed him out of the house, with one last slam of the door.
-
“Dammit!” Morgan said, entering the house and seeing that all members of the Y/L/N family were dead in the living room floor.
“They’ve already been here.”
“Hotch, these bodies are still warm, they can’t be far away.” Prentiss said. “We probably just missed them.”
“Hey! We just got a hit from APB, their car was seen headed twoards a hotel a few miles from here.” The local sheriff said.
“Dave stay here and figure out what happened, Morgan, Prentiss, JJ, with me.” Hotch said.
-
You and Spencer we laying on your bed in your hotel room, drinking the same alcohol from earlier.
“You were right.” You said.
“I am about most things. Be more specific.” Spencer said, taking the bottle from you.
“That it would feel good to have him gone.” You said. “I already feel twenty times freer.”
“I knew you would.” Spencer said. He placed the bottle on the bed side table and rolled ove on top of you. “I know lots of things that would make you feel good.”
Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door.
“Spencer Reid! Y/N Y/L/N! This is the FBI open the door!” A male voice called from the outside.
You and Spencer both looked at each other in terror.
Could they maybe have found us? Your eyes asked.
The door was suddenly knocked open and FBI agents were flooding into your room.
Spencer and you were being pulled apart and cuffed.
“Spencer Reid, Y/N Y/L/N, you are being charged with the murders of 21 people.” A serious looking man said.
“What?” You said. “You have the wrong people!”
“No we’re pretty sure we don’t.” A brunette woman said.
“You have to have the wrong people! We haven’t done anything!” Spencer said.
You were both being hauled up by the agents behind you.
“Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.” The agent behind you said, reading off your Miranda rights.
Your eyes caught Spencer’s as you were pulled to separate police cars.
Could this really be it? You thought. It looked like it just might be.
Tags! (Open)
@rexorangecouny @magnificentmgg @rachelxwayne @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @just-damn-bored @andreasworlsboring101
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electronicgrowth · 3 years
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Can't Get Enough Part 6
Hello. Yes, I am alive and still writing this. I have an autoimmune disease that flared and knocked me on my butt, on top of preparing to move. So, I’m crazy busy! But don’t you worry my little dumplings. I haven’t forgotten about Lee and Billie. And I just realized I left that last chapter on the biggest cliff hanger ever. I’m so mean! 
But anyway..... this is a small filler chapter that I had been dragging to write. Literally wanting to add this stuff was what prevented me from posting. I have probably the next five chapters written. Also if you ever need a good Sheriff Bodecker fix, I highly recommend this playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FDbgUjCGtBPsDNiTf8OdF?si=bfce63e832764c34
Summary: The two most stubborn people in Knockemstiff, Ohio have eyes for only each other. Lee Bodecker is determined to become the town’s next sheriff. He knows that image is everything. Billie Dechswaan doesn’t care about her image at all. All she wants is to leave Knockemstiff and never come back. But Lee has other plans for her. Both are far too stubborn to give up their own plans. What happens when they can’t get enough of each other? 
Word Count: 1.1k
After five years, Lee was done waiting. His patience for Billie to return home on her own was wearing thin. Even thinner since Arvin Russell had shot Lee and escaped him. He’d withstood far too many humiliations. 
John had been a throne in his side since Billie left. Always giving Lee dirty looks. John did not vote for Deputy Bodecker to become Sheriff Bodecker and convinced most of his farming friends to follow his lead. 
Joy was a completely different story. She still let Lee in the house when he came over. After the first two years Joy would make off-handed comments about Billie. It led him to believe that maybe Joy knew more than she was letting on. But he didn’t want to press it. He needed to have Joy firmly on his side when Billie came home. Lee’s fondness for Joy did nothing to deter his revenge plans upon her husband. 
He decided to pay some men to tamper with the brakes of John’s car. Two local guys from a couple of towns overs, he had caught soliciting prostitutes— both were married. Lee promised to keep their secret if they did this one thing for him. He told them it was the car of some other dirtbag criminal to cover his tracks. The action would kill two birds with one stone. Lee would have his revenge on John for making Billie leave like she did and Billie would have to come home for the funeral. 
Billie got a job as a librarian. She had and kept her baby. She named her Elizabeth Joy Bodecker. Against her better judgement she listed Lee on the birth certificate. She tried to move on, but always thought of Lee. She hated her job and how much it kept her from her daughter. She just wanted to be home with her amazing, lovely baby. She started dating a new guy, Larry. She didn’t like him that much, but it soon became clear that Larry intended to keep her. He hit her for the smallest infractions and beat her for bigger ones. 
Billie savored her moments with her daughter when it was just the two of them. Her favorite thing to do on Sundays was cook with Beth. Beth would sit on the counter as Billie did all the real work. The radio would be going. Billie would sing sad love songs to her baby, sometimes they would even dance to the music. Billie would swing Beth around the kitchen, all while Beth giggled uncontrollably. These were Billie’s favorite moments. Beth would ask about her daddy. Billie would say the same thing each time. “Daddy was the love of Mommy’s life. He was a great man. But sometimes life leads us in different directions.” It wasn’t the best thing to say, but what else could be said? 
Billie almost ran home five times in the course of those five years. The first time was shortly after Beth was born. She was colicky and wouldn’t latch. Billie needed her mama, or her sister, or her Lee. She called the Ross County Police Department and asked to speak with Lee one evening. The receptionist put her through. 
“Bodecker,” he’d answered gruffly. His voice. She had to cover the receiver with a dish towel so he couldn’t hear her sobs. 
“Hello?” He growled. Just when she almost spoke he hung up. 
The second time was on Beth’s first birthday. She regretted how different her daughter’s first birthday was from all the ways she imagined it should be. She missed Lee.
The third and fourth time she almost went home were after fights with Larry. She thought if she couldn’t get out she’d lose it. But she wasn’t as trapped as she felt. Not really. Surely if she called Lee he’d hightail it up to New York and bring her home. A part of her didn’t want to test that theory. What if he didn’t want her anymore? 
The fifth and final time Billie almost went home was when Lee got shot. Sylvia’s husband Tim was a deputy. Sylvia told Billie what had happened. The news had been an icy shock to her veins. It took everything in her not to pack her bags that night. It took all her willpower not to drive through the night to get to Lee and take care of him. She carefully directed Sylvia on Lee’s favorite foods and told her younger sister to make sure he was being fed. Billie knew Sylvie was rolling her eyes, they didn’t need to be together for her to know that. Sylvie did it anyway. She also relayed how grateful Lee had been. But that he seemed a bit suspicious, Sylvie had no way of knowing what his favorite foods were without Billie telling her. 
The sixth time Billie felt drawn to go home she listened to her gut. On that night, Larry had beaten her again, this time in public. They’d been out on a date. Billie had left Beth with the elderly neighbor lady across the hall. She intended to break-up with Larry that night. But as she began to broach the subject, he flipped their table at the restaurant and threw her on the ground. He proceeded to kick her repeatedly until the manager was able to restrain him. The police were called and she went down to their station to give her statement.
She’d stumbled home from the police station, bruised and tired. Thankfully the bruises were kept to places she could hide, and thankfully he’d done it in public that time so he was caught. Larry was being held in jail. What he did was undeniable. They would probably hold him for a week or two and let the charges drop. As she entered her apartment, the phone rang. She didn’t want to pick up, she wanted to get Beth from her neighbor and go to sleep. She picked up anyway.
“Hello?” 
“B-Billie,” Clara said, “It’s daddy. He’s d-dead.” 
Shock. Dread. Despair. How do you describe the feeling of losing your father forever? Especially with so many words unsaid. No apologies uttered. A situation completely unresolved. Was it guilt? Was it anger? No. It was only sorrow. 
“How?” 
“Car wreck. Come home.” And then the line went dead. Billie was out of options. She knew what she had to do. It was just going to be very unpleasant.
Joy was a wreck, but Sylvia, being the good and dutiful daughter that she was, helped her mother through planning a funeral. The last thing on her mind was communicating with Billie. The funeral was held one week after the accident. Billie managed to break her lease, sell her furniture and pack her bags in just four days. She was running again. But this time she was running home. 
@greeneyedblondie44 @bxnnywriting @kitty4860
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ofbardsandmonsters · 3 years
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Fill for square N3 - “free space” for the @stb-bingo. read it on ao3 here
This is fill number 5 for me AND it gives me my first BINGO!!
***
“Do you have your inhaler?”
“Yes.”
“What about the backup inhaler?”
“Ned has it.”
“Did you pack clean underwear?”
“Dad, come on. Of course I did.”
“How many pairs?”
“Dad.”
Tony holds up both hands, smiling at Peter, who scowls back. But Tony refuses to be sorry for worrying about his only son going on his first overnight field trip. It’s been just the two of them since before Peter was even born. And this would be the first time they’d been apart more than a few hours in fifteen years. So even if he wasn’t an omega, Tony feels like he’d be entitled to a little parental panic.
Peter’s phone beeps, and he glances at it before zipping up his backpack and slipping it onto his back. “Ned and his parents are here.”
The elevator opens without prompting, and the two Starks ride it down to the ground floor. Tony can see the Leeds’s car sitting at the curb, and Ned jumps out of the car as soon as they approach. The two boys perform some complicated handshake that even Tony’s genius brain can’t follow. He rolls his eyes, smiling fondly at the boys’ obvious bond, and goes around to the driver’s side to finalize details for picking up the boys at the school in a couple days with Ned’s father.
He’s standing on the curb with his hands in the pockets of his dress pants, watching the Leeds’s car drive away, when his assistant Darcy comes up beside him. The beta’s got a tablet in her hands, a sight that always means it’s time for him to actually do some work. And with Peter gone for the next several days, she won’t be letting Tony get away with using him as an excuse.
“Kiddo all packed off? Gonna be weird without him underfoot.”
Tony snorts. “You love having him underfoot. You spoil him almost as much as I do.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course, Miss Lewis. My mistake. What’s on my agenda for this morning?”
Darcy follows him back into the tower, pulling open his schedule on her tablet as they walk to the elevator. “You have three meetings before lunch. R & D requested you for a demo at 2:30. Tonight is your monthly visit to Maria Stark House, Colonel Rhodes is meeting you there at six to help serve dinner.”
The last item on the agenda makes warmth spread through his chest. He had established the Maria Stark House for Omegas during his pregnancy with Peter, and once a month he goes over to help cook and serve dinner to the residents and their children. Most of the men and women living there have been recently separated from their alphas, whether by death or by choice, and have no support system to catch them. Many are in various stages of pregnancy, and some come with small children clinging to them. The Maria Stark House provides support and housing either until the baby is born or until they’re back on their feet.
It’s his pride and joy, other than Peter of course.
As he and Darcy approach his office, Tony can see a tall figure in what appears to be military dress through the frosted glass of the windows. “Darcy, why is there someone in my office already?”
“That would be your 8:00. The new army liaison? He’s been waiting a little while, but I told him you had a personal matter that needed attending to and he seemed perfectly content to wait.”
Tony groans, dropping his head back to stare at the ceiling before scrubbing his hands over his face. “Rhodey just had to go and get that promotion. Couldn’t be happy spending the rest of his career as our liaison.”
“Do I need to remind you how much you cried at the ceremony? I’m sure I could get JARVIS to project the video on the nearest wall if you just—”
“Nope! No, I’m good, thank you Darcy. But you know how I feel about the military. Bunch of puffed up alpha assholes with an overinflated sense of importance.” Obviously his assistant didn’t know the full story behind Tony’s disdain for anyone in a uniform that wasn’t Rhodey, but she understood nonetheless.
“I’m well aware of your feelings, Tony. But if you want to continue providing tech and armor and medical supplies to the military, then we need a liaison. Just go in, get to know the guy a little, and then I’ll swoop in and save you and send him on his way. Okay?”
Tony sighs, deflating a little as he nods.
“Good. Now, before you go in there, hold still.” Tucking her tablet under one arm, Darcy steps into his space to straighten his tie and smooth out wrinkles in his jacket that only she can see. Then she slides her fingers into his hair to tousle the silvering strands. She steps back with her hands on her hips, admiring her handiwork before nodding in satisfaction.
“Want to tell me what that was about, Miss Lewis?”
“Captain Hottie in there is an entire buffet. And you’ve been starving for way too long, boss man.”
He rolls his eyes, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at the younger beta. “Darcy, I cannot sleep with our liaison. Pepper would string me up by my toes, and Peter is too young to be without a father. Besides, no hotshot army alpha is going to want to waste his time on an aging omega with a teenager.”
“You’re not aging, Tony, jeez. You’re thirty-five.” Darcy’s blue eyes soften, and she reaches out to squeeze his arm. “Look, I know Peter is your entire world, yadda yadda yadda. We all love him. But you deserve some happiness too.”
Before he can respond, she turns him around and nudges him toward his office door, slapping his ass with a resounding crack. “Now, go get ‘em, tiger!”
He glares at her over his shoulder, watching her stalk off on her criminally high heels, probably on her way  to torture some poor unsuspecting interns. When she disappears around the corner, he turns back to his office and takes a fortifying breath. Whoever this guy is, Tony isn’t going to let himself be intimidated. He’s Tony Stark. And Stark men are made of iron.
The door opens silently as he steps inside. “Sorry to keep you waiting, captain. I had something that needed to be sorted and it couldn’t wait, so I—”
The other occupant of the room turns around, and it feels like time stops. Between one breath and the next, Tony’s twenty years old again, a positive pregnancy test in his pocket and excitement to share the news with his alpha swelling in his chest. Excitement that dies a swift and fiery death just minutes later when the alpha breaks his heart and walks out the door.
The very same alpha standing across from him in full military dress, hands in his pockets, shifting nervously.
“Hey, Tony.”
Even after all this time, Tony still knows Steve Rogers’s face better than his own. How could he ever forget, when he’s spent the last fifteen years seeing those features reflected in his son’s face? A son that he’s spent nearly two decades raising alone.
Tony does the only logical thing.
He bolts.
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Darcy finds him twenty minutes later in the hidden corner of his workshop that only a select few people have access to. He hears the click of her heels first, before she comes around the corner and inputs her code. The glass doors to the restricted area slide open, and she spots Tony easily where he’s sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, knees tucked up to his chest. She crouches until they’re eye to eye. He’ll never figure out how she manages to execute a perfect squat in those heels.
“Hey, boss. Did the meeting with Captain Hotpants go that bad? JARVIS said you turned tail and ran almost immediately. What gives?”
Tony drops his head against his knees, trying to hide the way tears have started to gather in his eyes at just the mention of Steve. But he knows Darcy’s not going to let it go, and no one else sees through his lies and misdirects the way she does. So he tries to form some kind of coherent response, but all that comes out is, “Peter’s father.”
“What does that worthless nothing have to do with this?”
He clears his throat, gathering his courage to actually look his assistant in the eyes. “It’s him. The-the guy. The liaison, it’s… he’s Peter’s father.”
Darcy rears back like he just punched her in the gut, and she stares at him in wide-eyed shock for a minute. Her features soften as she shifts onto her knees and reaches out with both hands to grip his shoulders. “Oh, Tony. Wow, what a shock. That is some kind of wild—”
A strange look crosses her face before she picks her tablet up off of the floor and starts scrolling through it. As she reads, Darcy’s face slowly changes from confused to startled before her pretty features twist into a mask of rage. It’s a look Tony very rarely sees on her face, and it makes him sit up straight.
“Darcy? What is it?”
He hears a low growl, and that’s how he knows she’s really pissed off. Betas don’t growl like omegas and alphas do, not unless they’re pushed over the edge. His instincts kick in, helpless against the clear distress of someone he cares about, and soft soothing noises emanate from his throat.
It takes the younger woman a few minutes to compose herself, but eventually her scent shifts from furious to simple anger. She takes a breath, and then hands Tony the tablet. It’s open to the file on Steve they’d received from the army rep that had arranged the appointment to SI military liaison. He browses it, but nothing that could explain her anger pops out. When he looks back up at her, confused, she taps on a note at the bottom.
“He requested this position. I didn’t think anything of it when I read the file the first time, just assumed he was a career guy who was sick of combat and wanted something more cushy. And the rep said he thought Rogers was a perfect candidate. Tony, if I thought for even a second that he had an ulterior motive I would have made sure he couldn’t get within even a thousand feet of the building, I swear.”
Tony doesn’t respond at first, too busy reading and rereading the rep’s note. Captain Rogers entered his own name into the running for this assignment before we could even gather a list of acceptable candidates, but it is my personal opinion that he would make an ideal candidate for army liaison. Why in the hell had Steve suddenly decided he wanted a position that would force him to work alongside the omega he had abandoned fifteen years ago?
He was damn sure going to find out.
“JARVIS, is St… Captain Rogers still in the building?”
“Yes, sir. Captain Rogers is still in your office.”
“Good, keep him there.”
He pushes off the wall and stands up, Darcy following with a whole lot more grace, and he hands her back the tablet. She watches him straighten his jacket and do his best to smooth out his hair that’s gone wild from the number of times he’d run his fingers through it.
“Tony, are you sure it’s a good idea to confront him right now? You’re upset, and I don’t need the entire building gossiping about another one of your shouting matches with an alpha.”
“I’m good, I’m fine. I’m going to walk in there, calmly, ask him what his game is and then tell him to get the fuck out. Piece of cake.”
Darcy’s entire face practically screams how much she doesn’t believe anything that he’s just said, but she doesn’t try to stop him. What she does is give JARVIS specific instructions once Tony’s out of earshot.
“JARVIS, blackout mode in the boss’s office as soon as he shuts the door.”
“Of course, Miss Lewis.”
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Tony’s entire plan to be calm and mature goes out the window as soon as he walks back into his office and sees Steve standing there.
“Tony—”
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Fifteen years, Steve. You walk out of my life like I meant nothing to you and I don’t hear from you for fifteen fucking years, and now you think you can just waltz in here like everything’s cool and just expect me to work alongside you? What the fuck, Steve?”
“No, Tony, that’s not—”
“I thought this was just some weird cosmic coincidence, the universe playing a joke on me. But you requested this position. Why? What the hell is your game?”
“There’s no game Tony, I wouldn’t—”
“Is this about Peter? We didn’t have to go through all this song and dance. I would have let you see him.”
“Peter? Your son, Peter? What does he have to do with—”
“Oh, don’t play stupid, Steve. It’s not a good look on you.”
“Tony, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why would I be interested in your son?”
“Just because you’ve been off playing soldier for his entire life doesn’t mean you get to pretend he isn’t yours.”
Steve freezes, then sits down in one of the plush chairs across from Tony’s desk like he’s a marionette who’s just had all of his strings cut. He’s paler than normal, making his bright blue eyes stand out. “He’s… mine?” Steve’s always been a pretty terrible liar, so Tony knows the shock on his face is real. He sits down behind his desk, feeling similarly off-kilter.
“Of course he’s yours. I haven’t, um… I haven’t been with anyone else since… well, you. Raising Pete on my own was a full time job, I didn’t really have time for dating. He’s not really a secret, so I just assumed you knew he was yours.”
Across from him, Steve slumps in his chair, his gaze going far away. But after a minute or two, he seems to shake himself and he shifts forward, blue eyes locking on to Tony’s. “If I had known, I never would have let you go through all of that on your own, you have to believe me. I… why didn’t you ever say anything?”
Tony sighs, breaking eye contact. “I was going to. The day you… the day you left, I had the test in my pocket. I just… never got the chance. When the media got wind that I’d had a child and the news was everywhere, there was no word from you. So I assumed you wanted nothing to do with us.”
Steve looks stricken, and he scoots to the edge of the chair. Both hands reach out, almost like he wants to reach for Tony, but his strong fingers close around the edge of the desk. “Jesus. Tony, god, no. If I had known that Peter was my son, our son, nothing could have kept me away.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I said. Trust me, I remember everything I said. I’m never going to stop hating myself for hurting you like that. Every time I close my eyes, I can see that devastated look on your face. Tony, I’ve missed you every minute of the last fifteen years.”
“Then why—”
“Because I wasn’t good enough for you!”
Tony flinches back like he’s been slapped, and he’s not sure which of them is more surprised by Steve’s outburst. But his surprise quickly twists into anger. “That’s bullshit and you know it.”
“No, Tony. It’s not. You were so far out of my league, in every way possible, and your father took every opportunity he could find to remind me of it. And I was able to brush it off for a while, but it kept building and building until I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Steve, I never thought that. You were everything I wanted and—”
Steve is out of his seat and around to Tony’s side of the desk before he can even think about what he’s doing and whether it’s appropriate or not, his instincts leading him as he recognizes the scent of distressed omega. He sits on the edge and reaches out to tug the smaller man up and against his chest. Surprisingly, Tony goes without resistance.
“I know. I know and I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to keep him out of my head.”
“You should have talked to me.”
“I know.”
“My parents died a year after you left, Steve. Why didn’t you come back?”
Steve sighs, pulling the omega tighter against his chest until his scent starts to soften into something less harsh. “I couldn’t. The idea that I needed to be a better alpha for you was so deep into my brain that I couldn’t shake it. I had to keep pushing, keep working towards higher ranks until I felt worthy. And… part of me thought I would never reach it, not after the way I’d treated you.”
He feels a sharp jab to his chest, and Steve leans back a little to rub at the spot and pout down at Tony, who’s glaring at him.
“You were always worthy, you big stupid alpha. All you had to do was love me to be worthy. I was the one who was lucky that you took a chance on such a messy, broken omega.”
Steve lets out a fierce growl that echoes through the room. He shifts his hands to cradle Tony’s face. “There is nothing messy or broken about you. And I know I don’t deserve it, but if you’d let me, I will spend every minute of the rest of my life showing you.”
Tony shudders at the promise in the alpha’s voice, and he presses his face against Steve’s chest to hide the tears gathering in his eyes. “I shouldn’t. Pepper’s gonna kill me. Rhodey’s gonna kill you. And Peter will be an orphan before he turns sixteen. But…”
He looks up at Steve, and lets his hands come up to twist in the material of the alpha’s  starched green jacket. “I don’t wanna do this without you, Steve. I’ve done it alone for fifteen years and I can’t anymore. Not if there’s an option to do it as a team. It’s gonna take work, and you have to give me time to trust you again. I want to, but you have to show me that you won’t hurt me again, Steve.”
Steve tugs him close again, leaning down to press a kiss into his dark curls. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Brilliant, strong omega. Raising a kid i running a company, all on your own? You’re perfect. How did I ever give you up?”
He can feel Tony trembling against his chest, so Steve shifts them around until he’s sitting in Tony’s ridiculously large desk chair and can pull the omega into his lap. Tony lets out an audible sigh, and Steve chuckles when he feels nimble fingers start unbuttoning the large buttons on his dress coat. He doesn’t resist, letting the omega push it off his shoulders and tug it free of his arms. When the coat is off, Steve wraps his arms around Tony and hugs him tight to his chest.
“This better, Tony?”
The brunette nods, and it isn’t long before Steve’s ears pick up the sound of Tony purring softly. The grin that splits his face makes his cheeks hurt.
They stay like that for a few minutes, Steve basking in the warm, comfortable scent of happy and content omega. This was more than he ever could have hoped for. When he requested the assignment to SI as the army liaison, he had only dared to hope that Tony would talk to him. Never could he guess that he would have Tony curled up against him like this, especially not after his initial reaction to seeing Steve after so long. And now, he thinks there’s only one thing that could make this better.
“Hey, Tony?”
“Hmm?”
“Can I… Peter. Can I meet him? You don’t have to tell him who I am right away, I just… I want to get to know him if I can.”
Tony tries to sit up, but Steve tightens his hold, and he settles back down with an amused huff. “Of course you can meet him. He’s your son too, and he deserves to know both his dads. He’s in DC on a field trip for a few days, but I’ve already got a couple days blocked off in my schedule when he gets back. The three of us can spend that time together.”
“You’re sure? I don’t want to get in the way—”
“You won’t be. You’re going to love him, Steve. He’s so smart, and strong and brave and good. He’s the best parts of both of us. JARVIS, give us some pictures up on the wall, please?”
A slideshow of pictures projects onto the empty wall across from them, starting from Peter’s birth and slowly moving year by year. Steve can’t help the tears that form as he watches the little boy, his little boy, grow up.
“He’s beautiful, Tony. I can already tell what an amazing job you’ve done with him. I can’t wait to get to know him. And get to know you again.”
After the pictures, JARVIS starts up some of the home movies Tony’s taken of Peter over the years. Gradually, Steve can feel the omega growing more and more relaxed against him. He loses track of how much time passes before Tony speaks again.
“You’re fired, by the way.”
Steve barks out a laugh, looking down at Tony, whose eyes are still watching the video currently playing on the wall. “What do you mean, I’m fired?”
“It seems unprofessional for you to technically be an SI employee if you’re going to be sleeping with the head of the company.”
One large, calloused finger hooks under Tony’s chin and tips his head back so Steve can meet his eyes. “Tony, I want to make it clear that this isn’t just about sleeping together. When you’re ready, after I’ve groveled and worshipped you and done everything I can to earn back your trust and your love, I want to be your alpha. I want us to be a family. Permanently.”
Steve’s declaration is so serious, so clearly heartfelt and earnest, there’s nothing stopping Tony from melting completely. He surges forward, capturing Steve’s lips in a kiss that’s fifteen years overdue. The alpha startles and freezes in shock, but he returns the kiss before Tony has even a fraction of a chance to second guess it.
The kiss only lasts a handful of seconds, but it leaves both of them dazed and grinning like fools. Tony settles back down against Steve’s chest, and together they watch the memories that Tony had captured play out on the wall, the room overflowing with the scents of warm and happy alpha and omega.
Darcy comes searching for Tony an hour later when he doesn’t show up for his second meeting of the morning. JARVIS directs her to the office, where she finds the two men deeply asleep, wrapped up in each other’s arms.
“JARVIS, snap a picture of that, please.”
“My pleasure, Miss Lewis.”
Darcy still plans to threaten the good captain, viciously, with her sharpest pair of stilettos. But her love for Tony goes far beyond the care of an employee for her boss. Tony is the older brother she never had, and his happiness—and Peter’s— means more to her than the joy she derives from threatening alphas bigger than her and watching them cower.
With a swipe of her finger, she clears the rest of Tony’s schedule, and heads down the hallway to her own office to await the email from Pepper requesting an explanation that she knows will be on the way before too long.
When her computer dings, she sends off her response with just one sentence.
I promise you, it’s worth it.
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tokoyamisstuff · 3 years
Text
Betrothed Ch. 6 - Illumi Zoldyck x Reader
Chapter 6: Bold
Summary: Two pretty unusual family meetings, but one of them lacks a happy end.
Warnings: Angst, Family Drama.
Words: ~4300
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Story Masterlist
A/N: Tumblr accidentally posted the unfinished draft a few days ago. Sorry for the confusion! As a treat, you get a very long chapter! (:
Before you were married, Illumi was rarely at home.
He had no one to come home to anyway, let alone someone who cared.
Anyway, this was only one of many things you had changed.
These times, whenever he left, it was only for a good reason like missions, training or caring for his siblings. Sometimes family conferences you were allowed to attend as well, yet not to talk.
Whenever he got home, it felt so cozy and peaceful.
Like he was welcomned and safe here - unlike anything he knew before.
Your home would always smell like scented candles, the many flowers you had planted at the balconry, and whatever you were cooking at the time.
It was very lovely and kinda cheesily decorated by now. Most of the things were stuff you asked Illumi to bring home from his missions, but lately he got you anything he thought you'd like.
Of course you were grateful for everything. It meant he took the time and actually think about what you'd appreciate!
Occasionally, you’d bring home injured animals you found in the forrest surrounding Kurokoo mountain. Sometimes your husband reluctantly assisted you, even though he found kindness futile - he just couldn’t say no to your begging eyes, so be it.
From you, he got love and care in return for his efforts. But a wild animal? Well, if he thought about it, he consdiered himself lacking a real consciousness just as much as the pets you kept.
One day, he’ll understand why people help each other without wanting something back - you promised him. Even though he always emphasized that saving such small lives won’t redeem him anyway.
Yes, the weight of his sins was sure massive - especially now that it all broke down on him, suffering under his newfound sympathy.
You swiped through your phone, adoring all the photos you persuaded him to take together.
It filled your heart with joy to notice every small change he underwent:
He'd run himself a bath from time to time, buy sweets or other things to try out, and spent his free time reading or wandering the estate's forrest instead of thoughtlessly staring into the void.
And for the more nasty things, well...let’s just say Illumi is a quick learner. And you were glad that he began taking the initiative and try out things he may enjoy.
Your husband was more and more developing a personality.
"She's so pretty!"
"Yeah, right?" you proudly commanded the owl to come back, and she immediately landed on your lap. "Her name is Luna."
“She was a gift from big bro Illumi, right?” Your familiar had grown strong very fast, yet it's claws never hurt you. Sometimes you almost forgot that Luna was a dangerous animal rather than a cuddly pet. “Yes, she is!”
"Maybe we can play in the forrest some day. I just need some time to convince your parents."
Alluka was sitting on a chair next to you, cheerfully petting the patient bird. "Thanks, big sis!"
Illumi's little sister was probably the only normal person in this building. No nen, no assassin training either, and a loving nature.
If only there wasn't-
"Y/N!" Oh no. Your husband was back earlier than you expected. "Did you bail her out again?!"
"Big bro!" the little girl cheered, jumping down the stair and wobbling to his direction.
There was not the slightest hint of hate inside of her. Even though she was alone all the time, she was blissfully unaware about her own family resenting her.
"Illumi!" That was the first time you actually raised your voice against him. "Take.down.the. needle. Right now!"
You kept Alluka from getting closer to Illumi, defendingly wrapping your arms around her.
God knows what he'd do...
"Then get that thing out of my face."
Actually, you didn't want to fight in front of a child, but Alluka needed constant superveilance . "How can you be so cruel? She's your sister!"
"Did you make a wish?"
"Of course not! I used my nen to get her out unnoticed, so she could spent some time like a normal child. I would've brought her back tonight. That's all, really! I promise!"
Suddenly, you felt a foreign, powerful aura under your palms.
Damn it.
You forgot her last wish was a hug, which was exactly what you gave her right now.
"Aye."
"That's enough." Illumi already had his needles prepared, infusing them with nen. "I'll end this right here."
You knew he didn't mean it like this. He was afraid of Nanika's powers, and even if this wouldn't end in a disaster, his parents would punish you for your reckless actions.
"Nanika?"
The girl answered, her blackened orbs obediantly glaring at you. "Aye?"
"Y/N" Illumi almost growled, still hesistant. "Know your place."
"Give Illumi a hug."
Baffled, Illumi's needles disappeared into thin air. The girl didn't even reach up to the tall man's thorso, rather embracing one of his legs.
She was so small and weak and fragile - and for the first time, Illumi was able to acknowledge the affection his sister felt for him.
"See?" you calmly explained, now hugging him as well. "Nanika is not evil. Only the people's wish are."
"...she's all alone" he spoke to himself, trying to at least logically understand the situation. "Just like you when I'm gone."
He didn't get it.
Hard enough to understand why you were caring so much about him, but Alluka? The sibling he always despised, insulted, abused, and locked away?
There were still so many things he didn't know yet.
"Well, if it's only the two of you, and I'm supervising..." he mumbled, kneeling down to the girl's height, "Then I guess I can promise you a few liberties."
Alluka's face and aura were back to normal, her glimmering eyes blinking happily at her brother, who was absentmindedly petting her hair.
"Great!" You clasped your hands together, disappearing in the kitchen. "Let's make a hot chocolate for you guys!"
Quickly, you reappeared to the two sitting on the sofa with an awkard distance, until you wrapped them in a blanket.
Illumi sat in middle of you two, deeply buried in thought while you and Alluka were watching TV until she fell asleep.
"I'll bring her back now" you whispered softly, but Illumi already cradled the snoring girl into his arms. "No. I will."
For a second, you were taken aback, unsure about his intentions - but you wanted to believe in him, so you stayed quiet about your apprehensions.
"She's cute, right?" you noticed as Illumi got a strand of hair out of her face. He held her with such great care and insecurity, it was a truly cute sight.
"Dunno. I know the definition of cute, but I don't think I really understand it."
"You are cute, for example." Placing a wet kiss on his cheek, you waved him goodbye as he walled out the door - but in the frame, he stopped.
"You're changing so many things at once."
"For better or worse?"
Illumi wouldn't turn around to look at you, instead watching Alluka's soundly sleeping face.
"I don't know. We'll see."
When Illumi took longer than expected, panic began to rise inside of you.
Did his parents find out? Due to your powers this should basically be impossible, but still-
"Alluka wanted me to stay and play with her" Illumi's voice appeared behind your back, making you jump a little.
So that's why he took so long.
"Was it fun?"
"I'm not a good brother" he murmured, "Not to her or any of them."
He remembered the time he got Kalluto a kimono you picked out for him, as a gift. 
“You’ve changed” the boy said back then, and the confusion in his eyes made Illumi painfully aware that the child was close to become just as inhuman as he was.
And he was the one who teached his siblings to be that way.
Your husband sat on the edge of the bed, with you already laying inside. He buried his face into his hands, seemingly distressed.
Yes, it was fun. Even though he didn't know how to properly entertain a child, Alluka seemed to enjoy her brother's attention inconditionally - just like you did.
Was that love?
"You just tried to protect your family, Lumi" you cooed, massaging his tensed shoulders.
"What about yours?" he suddenly asked, turning to you with a stony expression.
"I, uh-"
"Do you miss them?" Seems like he was afraid to lose you.
You tugged on his arm until he'd finally let himself fall into the bed, and you put an arm and leg around him, effectively trapping him into your hold.
"Of course I do. But this is my home now."
"And they're nice people?" he wondered, since your parents were assassins too.
He laid his head onto your chest, trying for your heartbeat to lull him to sleep.
"They are...special. Strict but loving. I think all parents fuck up their children somehow. But I still love them."
Both of you had already closed your eyes, his cold skin feeling refreshing on your warm one.
"Then let's meet them" Illumi suggested as his hand ran across your bodyline, before he stopped himself with a tender kiss on your skin.
"I want to know what other families are like."
Only a week later, you were allowed to leave the Zoldyck estate for the first time. Wether it was because of Illumi’s curiosity or maybe that he knew you missed your family, it didn’t matter.
Two different worlds.
Your family was living in the midst of the small town, loved by the inhabitants. Being honorable head hunters who mainly killed wanted criminals and acting as protectors of the city, you had kind of a reputation.
So it was no wonder everyone you saw greeted you with great respect, yet also as if you were never gone.
That was what a real home must feel like, Illumi thought as he watched you casually talk to anyone who recognized you while both of you wandered the main street.
“They sure think highly of you” he deducted out loud, seeing how anyone was smiling and cheering at you.
“Well...” Flustered, you rubbed the back of your head as you kept on walking, “I’ve grown up in between those people. Of course they know me! That’s all.”
“Mhh” he murmured, still eyeing everyone quite suspecting. This was your first day outisde the manor, and your husband would be damned if something would happen to you.
“There it is!” Already running ahead, you pointed at the tallest building of the town - your birthplace.
“Y/N Y/L/N” a familiar voice behind you spoke, trying way too hard to keep a straight face.
Turning around, you saw all of your siblings gathered at one spot. Of course you knew they had followed you this whole time, due to your nen - but it was still a pleasant surprise. “You guys!”
Giving each one of them a wholeheartedly hug, you immediately began to chatter about all kinds of things. You haven’t seen each other for a while, and you wanted to know everything.
“Better tell me next time” Illumi abruptly cut you off, and only now you realized the needles in between his fingers. “I almost killed them.”
Oh. So he noticed them too.
Well, your family had it worse, so they just laughed it off.
“So this is your husband, huh?” They didn’t dare speak his name - the family was too infamous, and not in a positive way. it wouldn’t really gain you the good kind of attention. “I thought you’d be more...intimidating.”
All of your siblings got way too close to Illumi, aving hands in front of his face and eyeing his appearance, at least trying to make the stoic man react in any way.
“Nice to meet you!” One of your brothers offered his hand for your husband to shake, yet Illumi decided on staring him down instead.
“Pleasure is all mine” he retorted in his robotic way, sounding way too fake for anyone to buy it.
At least they were not afraid of him. Your husband was very talented in hiding his bloodlust, after all - even though it was constantly there, not even a skilled nen user would notice.
“Mother and father are awaiting you at the usual spot.” Your brother’s voice was more serious now that he had assessed the situation.
It was clear from the very first moment that they didn’t only come to greet you - their main goal was the eldest Zoldyck.
“Seems like he’s now our leader” you pondered as all of them dispersed into different directions. 
Things had changed. Of course they did.
Back then, you declined your fate of becoming the clan-leader, even though it had been the centre of all your ambitions up until now.
Meeting Illumi made you question anything you expected from life.
You didn’t even know why: What would it matter if you left an assassin family just to join another one?
Even your youngest sister was different. You could feel her steady aura, meaning she had completed her training.
The situation made you both nostalgic and anxious.
“Do you regret it?” Illumi’s blank stare turned to your form, black orbs interrogating you. He knew you were meant to be a leader, yet you gave up on that dream and had laid down all your independency.
“Not really.” Shrugging, you quickly linked arms with your husband, leading him to the secret entrance of the headquarters. It was sealed with nen, just like back then.
At leas that didn’t change, and so you’d soon find yourself in the middle of the hall where you’d plan all of the operations back then.
“You’re home.” That solemn tone was fitting for your father: Hard to detect his emotions, but easy to understand. “Welcome home.”
Illumi took a few steps back, almost withdrawing into a dark corner of the room as if he wanted to disappear from this earth. He was more likely to be a mere bystander or observer than to be in social situations.
“My little angel of death!” your mother almost cried out, both incredibly happy and sorrowful. “You’ve returned to us!”
“And that handsome young man over there?” After she was done smothering your face in kisses, she directed her welcoming nature to Illumi was well. “C’mon, don’t be shy. Take a seat!”
That’s right. She’s never seen him before. He was here exactly once to propose in front of your father - god knows how he even got inside. Obviously it wasn’t really a big deal to him.
Your family was so insignificant compared to his heritage - not that it mattered to you, it was just an observation.
“When we heared your wish to bid our humble fort a visit, we were greatly honored” your father declared as all of you sat down at the great, round table. Now everyone was there: Siblings, uncles and aunts, even your grandparents and great-grandparents. “And we are glad of your safe arrival.”
Illumi didn’t really seem to be impressed, being able to silence the room with a single gesture of his hand. “Don’t go out of your way. I am here because Y/N wished to see you.”
You couldn’t help but smirk at his polite manner, even though he wasn’t very talkative. Trying to get a hold of his hand under the table, you’d spend the day just like that.
Hours just flew by as your family held a great dinner to honor ‘the happy couple’, with Illumi absorbing every little detail like a dry sponge: Daily conversations about irrelevant topics, tales about the past and especially the childhood.
He even managed to show a lopsided smile when he realized something made you particulary happy.
Yet everytime someone of your family tried to get close to you, all of you noticed how tense he became.
Of course he was very possessive, and didn’t want to share you with anyone. But it was so damn sweet that he at least tried to get himself together...
“I’ll be waiting outisde. Might give the town a visit.” Even through all of your objections, your husband was gone faster than any of you could comprehend. “Take all the time you need.”
“He’s amazing” you thought to yourself, not noticing how much you were trembling due to your excitement. Being here together with him was such a huge progress, and he was doing so damn great.
“Y/N?” Your father was the first one to take the word, clearing his throat before continuing. “Now that we’re alone...”
Of course he knew they weren’t. Illumi was supervisioning everything somehow. But they waited for so long, and needed to let it out.
It was ‘speak now or stay silent forever’.
“Tell us about life with the Zoldycks.” Your sister once again let her hand run up and down your arm, and you realized this wasn’t just loving closeness - they were searching for injuries. “Are they harsh on you?”
“His family is pretty crazy, but it’s nothing wild, really. I manage” you stated, pulling away from the touch of your siblings.
All of the eyes were on you now, dropping the act. Everything left was sympathy and...guilt?
“So...what’s your point?” You didn’t know why, but their glares made you furious somehow. Maybe because you knew what they were hinting at. “Just speak your mind.”
“Y/N, dear...” Now your mother was the one taking the initiative, squeezing your hand ever so slightly. “We’re so, so sorry! You need to understand why we did this, okay?”
“Did what?” When they didn’t respond, you repeated the question with a much weaker, almost broken voice. “Did...what?!”
“Isn’t it obvious?” your brother now spoke, almost disgusted by what he was about to say. “Giving you away to this...freak.”
“Huh?”
Your mother now clung to you, as if you were about to disappear if she was to ever let go. “There was no other choice!” she exclaimed, while your father dramatically swung his balled fist on the table. “The Zoldycks are dangerous! We knew your fate was sealed when he came asking for your hand in marriage...”
“Of course we despise that sick weirdo. Who would wish for their child to be with someone like him?!” your father continued, his explanation wrenching your heart dry. “But if we hadn’t complied, they would’ve taken you by force. You know they would’ve killed all of us. It was to protect the family, so we had to give you up! My sweet, sweet child-”
“-shut up” you whispered as you felt tears burning in your eyes.
“It’s okay, Y/N” your sister was trying to wipe them away, letting her thumb run over your cheek. “We’ve grown stong now, Y/N! You don’t need to protect us anymore, we’re-”
“You still don’t stand any chance against them.” You got up from your chair, slamming your palms on the table. “But that’s not the point!”
“What did that monster do to you?” 
“Oh, he? Nothing!” you now screamed, slamming a plate to the ground to release some of the built-up tension. “In opposite to you, who abandoned their daughter to save their own skin!”
You didn’t know. How could you have missed that fact? Those people weren’t glad you married him, they just weren’t honest with you.
And they were selfish - for all they cared, they would’ve given you away to die if Illumi had been that way.
“My husband-” you choked on a sob, feeling as if the love you felt for Illumi was crushing you, keeping you from breathing freely. “He’s been here with you, wanting to understand what a normal family is like. But only now I realize this one is just as fucked up!”
“Don’t say something like tha-”
“I’m not done!” Suddenly, an outburst of your aura shook the whole room. “Illumi is a kind and confused person. He was benevolent with you, against all of his teachings. And you are talking behind his back? How cowardly of you. I thought we were a family of proud warriors!”
All of them were looking at each other, nodding in unity as they all thought the same.
“Illumi Zoldyck is probably the most dangerous of them all. Maybe not the strongest, but the most mad of them all.” You grid your teeth, almost snarling at your grandfather’s words. “Don’t fool yourself, Y/N. Love is a foreign concept for him. The word has spread across the whole continent: Even his own family, those bloodthirsty monsters fear that young man!”
“You don’t know him like I do.” Turning around, you prepared to leave - but your siblings blocked the way. “As if I’d listen to the opinions of people who gave me away just like that.”
“Listen to us, Y/N. Maybe you can free yourself. He might’ve placed a needle-”
“That’s enough.”
Your eyes widened in wonder. How did Illumi get back in without any of you noticing?
Yet here he was, and his aura had turned purple, stained with black from all the disappointment, hurt and anger he miraculously contained without breaking down.
“I think Y/N is tired and wants to leave.” His voice was as unaffected as always, yet one look of him was enough to make your siblings freeze in terror.
“You’re Y/N’s family, so I won’t kill you” your husband declared in an absentminded tone, grabbing your wrist and turning towards the exit without anyone daring an attempt to stop him. Just after he shoved you out of the door, Illumi would turn around one last time -  a threatening ember sparkling in his eyes.
“But consider this a warning: Y/N belongs to me.”
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“Why?” your father asked with an almost begging undertone. “Why did it have to be Y/N?”
“Because your child is important to me.”
Illumi had carried you all the way out of the town, only getting to a hold when you were at a mountain far enough away. Not that your family would follow you anyway.
After being done crying to your heart’s extend, your husband let you down in the slightly wet grass, and you were able to see the dim lights of the city far away at the horizon.
“We’ve played here very often” you sniffled, trying to get a hold of yourself. “My siblings and I.”
“Ah.”
You appreciated moments like these. Illumi was a very good listener, even though you weren’t even sure that he actually cared about what you were saying.
It just felt good to have him near when you were sad.
“I’m so terribly sorry, Lumi...they shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s okay.” No, it wasn’t You knew he tried to hard to be the best version of himself today, to try and respect boundaries and to trust people, and yet- “I am aware I’m a repulsive person.”
“Not to me.” Gently stoking his face, you could feel him rubbing his cheek on your palm in return.
“That’s enough for me.”
For a while, you just sat there, enjoying your closeness and the absence of anyone else in silence.
“So this is what family is like” Illumi cut through the nature’s sounds, “They protect you. And they only want your best.”
“They only ever thought of themselves.” You pulled your knees onto your chest, burying your face in them.
“I refuse to believe that.” Your husband wanted to pat your back, but decided against it just at the last second. “They seemed to be in great pain because of their actions. Can’t this only be because they cared about you?”
He was right, of course. The man with the heart of stone was great at knowing other people’s feelings, apparently. What an irony.
But you were too angry at that moment to listen to his rational explanation. That was only human, too.
“You know, when I was a child, my parents-”
“Please.” You wanted him to stop right there and now. “Don’t elaborate.”
Every time Illumi would complete a story about his childhood, it usually ended up with you having a crying fit. Then he was the one having to console you instead of the other way around, and it made you only feel guilty.
Of course you were happy that he’d finally open up a little, but...no. Just not now.
“You defended me” he changed the topic, quietly adding “Even though they were right...”
“That’s only natural. You’re my husband.”
Back then, you didn’t know Illumi’s intentions when he asked you to become his. But truth was, you didn’t regret it - not even for a second.
Illumi on the other hand was as overwhelmed as always.
“I was afraid you’d stay with them.” His voice sounded impassive, yet you knew him better than that. “But now-”
Listening to you passionately defending your husband’s honor was satisfying, obviously - yet knowing you broke with your family left a foul aftertaste in his mind.
No one ever stood up for him like that.
What a day.
His mind was racing, still trying to catch up with everything that had happened today: You did all of that, no - gave up so many things, just because of him.
His entire life was going one set and predetermined way, revolving around his family. Yet meeting you had changed both of your fates in a completely different direction.
And this meant he now had to learn with the consequences of actions he did out of his own, free will.
What for? And was it good or bad?
Now that he was with you, he had liberties. Choices. But freedom felt wrong and made him feel...scared? Not even he could decipher his emotions very well.
All that was clear from now on that - to a certain extend - you were free to draft your own ways - and together, it didn’t seem all that bad for him.
_____
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clara-licht · 4 years
Text
Just Out of Touch | Part Two
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PART 2 OF 2
Summary: Midtown’s Academic Decathlon team managed to score a field trip to the one and only Stark Industries Headquarter located in Stark Tower, leaving behind a Peter Parker who was not allowed to join for “faking” documents regarding SI internship. In a strike of fortune (or unluckiness) for the team, they had Tony Stark’s own daughter to guide their tour. And she was not happy.
Join their trip through the industry with glimpses of a certain arachnid and a young Stark’s relationship!
Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader
Word Count: 10.4k
Warning: cursing
Note: thank you so much for your enthusiasm in this story! I really didn’t expect this to take off like it did! I hope you can enjoy this one, although I think this chapter might be a little confusing and rushed, especially the ending. As promised, I posted the badges’ designs used in this story yesterday, so check it out by clicking the link below if you’re interested.
Title Inspo: BTS & Zara Larsson - A Brand New Day
Part One | Badge Designs | Best of Me Masterlist | Marvel Masterlist
——————————
Ned looked at MJ, confused. "What was that?"
"I'm not sure." MJ frowned. She glanced at Hecate's exhibition next to Spider-Man's.
Despite being acquainted to Spider-Man, the public knew little to nothing about the vigilante called Hecate. They just showed up out of nowhere one day, focusing mainly on kidnapping cases. Unlike Spider-Man, medias never really said anything incriminating against them, seeing as all they did was found kidnappers, beat them, and returned the children to police stations.
Police officers were wary due to their violent nature against the kidnappers. They always made sure the criminals were beaten half to death. Public supported them, saying kidnappers deserve it, so law enforcers couldn't really do anything.
Yet it seems that (y/n) had something against the hero.
Once everyone was gathered and Mr. Harrington finished his headcount, (y/n) led them back to the elevator, asking FRIDAY to take them to 25th floor.
(Y/n) blinked as something dawned on her, "Merda, I forgot to explain about the tower before the Museum." She clicked her tongue, irritated. "This is why we have interns to do tour!" She grumbled.
The students glanced at each other, confused and unsure about what to do. They didn't want to upset their guide (more than she already was anyway) by saying something they probably shouldn't.
The elevator dinged and they exited. Instead of a reception table like the Hall of Heroes, they were met with cubicles upon cubicles.
"An office?" Flash scoffed, "What are we going to see here? How to sell a phone?"
(Y/n) turned to look at him with a heated glare that made him flinched, "That's exactly what you're going to see. What, do you think an industry can survive only with R&D? Do you even know how real life works?" She snapped venomously, eyes glowing dangerously.
"I'm sorry for his attitude, Miss Stark." Mr. Harrington hurriedly intervened, pushing Flash behind him. "He's just a bit too excited to see the labs, you know, coming from a science school and all…"
Thankfully, a middle-aged woman came and interrupted before (y/n) could possibly curse Flash out. "Welcome to Stark Industries' Marketing Department!" She greeted them with a cheerful grin. "My name is Sarah Keynes and I'm Public Relations Officer! Midtown High School, right?"
"Yes, they're from Midtown. I assume the presentation is ready, Mrs. Keynes?"
"She was basically burning Flash not even a minute ago and now she's so professional-looking, that's awesome." Yasmin whispered to Jason.
Jason nodded and whispered back, "It's like earlier didn't happen at all."
(Y/n)'s back was straight, hands clasped in front of her, chin lifted just a bit, and her expression was mild. She made eye contact with Sarah and her eyes were calm. No one could tell she was livid just a moment ago.
Sarah smiled, "Indeed it is, Miss Stark! We know you will be punctual as you always are. If you would just follow me."
They followed Sarah to a meeting room of sorts on the floor where a small group of people, mostly wearing intern badges, were standing in front of the room. In the middle of the room was a big table surrounded by chairs, which they were asked to sit on. (Y/n) sat on the back of the room, leaning against the wall.
"Once again, welcome to Stark Industries' Marketing Department!" Sarah exclaimed.
"We have some of our team members who will join us in learning about our department here," she gestured at the group of people beside her who waved at the students, "and I promise we're all friendly here, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Let's begin now, shall we?"
One of them, a man in his early thirties with an employee badge, thanked Sarah before opening their presentation.
"Hey guys, my name is Roberto Salvatore, Advertising Manager. Let's start with…"
(Y/n) tuned out once Roberto started the PowerPoint slides. She already knew everything about their Marketing Department, Pepper made sure of it.
——————————
"This is so boring." (Y/n) lamented as she slouched on the table, a tall stack of paper sitting in front of her innocently.
Peter, who was doing his homework, looked at the dejected figure beside him. "Can't help it, you're going to take over the company one day, after all."
"But why do I have to read all of this now?" She pouted. "Why would I need to know every single detail about marketing! I bet dad didn't even know any of this when he was CEO."
"To be fair, he did admit he was a shitty CEO."
(Y/n) grumbled, "Not helping."
Peter let out a laugh and gently ruffled (y/n)'s hair, (y/n) halfheartedly swatting his hand away.
"Hey, Pete."
"Hm?"
She turned her head, now her cheek was pressing against the table and she could look at him directly. "If I don't want to take over SI, will you?"
He tilted his head slightly and looked back into her eyes. "It's called Stark Industries, (y/n). It belongs to Starks."
"I'm dad's only child, as far as we know. Maybe in the future I'll have a younger sibling, but if I don't or we don't want to, who will take over then?" She wondered. "And I know I won't be able to manage the whole company alone. I'm not like Pepper. She always said I'm so much like dad, and you know how he is."
Peter dropped his pen in favor of holding (y/n)'s hand and squeezing it.
"You know Mr. Stark won't force you if you don't want to."
(Y/n) gave a non-committal hum.
"And you know I'll always have your back."
(Y/n) gave another hum.
"So if you ever need help, I'm always available."
(Y/n) suddenly sat up and stared at him with wide eyes. "Wait, you said that Stark Industries belong to Starks only, didn't you?"
"…Yeah?"
She grinned mischievously. "If you marry me, you can take my last name and be a Stark so you can take the company too!"
"WHAT IS THIS ABOUT MARRIAGE?" Tony's loud voice boomed, saving the now red and speechless Peter from having to form any sort of reply.
"PORCO CANE! YOU'RE STILL CHILDREN AND WHO SAID I'M EVER ALLOWING YOU TO MARRY-"
——————————
(Y/n) spent the time working on her newest project schematics through her phone, sometimes looking up when a discussion topic seems interesting. Despite Flash's remark earlier, the group was actually interested in and was invested through the presentation, throwing questions related to the topic here and there. The marketing team had prepared some quizzes related to the presentation and answering students now had a gift bag with them.
"That's a wrap, guys! Let's give an applause for our marketing team!" Sarah clapped her hands, prompting the others to follow.
Realizing the presentation was over, (y/n) glanced at the clock on her phone before putting it away and moved to the front of the room.
"We still have some time before lunch, so I might as well tell you things about the tower I forgot to earlier. Is it okay if we use the room for a bit, Mrs. Keynes?"
"Of course!"
"Thank you."
As the marketing team left the room, (y/n) turned on the projection and put in her credentials. Anyone could access their account from anywhere in the building as long as a capable device was available. This was for the sake of convenience.
(Y/n) found the file she was looking for and accessed it. A hologram of the tower sprung out in the middle of the table, making the group awed.
"You are currently in Stark Industries Headquarter here in Stark Tower. This tower was previously named Avengers Tower, but after the team's fall out, dad sold it. There were complications-" She stopped, frowning.
"Didn't the Vulture's daughter go to your school?"
Some of them squirmed uncomfortably on their chairs.
"Liz was our senior before she moved to Oregon." Betty answered softly. Memories of Liz still hurt her sometimes. She was good friends with her, after all.
Of course, (y/n) actually already knew this.
——————————
"Pete, hey, look at me. Come on."
Grunting, he slowly opened his eyes despite his pounding head that screamed at him to just pass the hell out. He squinted; the soft light emitting from the park's lighting was somehow blinding to him. He didn't notice that it was drizzling until a few drops slid down from his eyebrows.
"(Y/n)…?"
(Y/n) smiled at him. "Hey. Let's get you out of here, okay?" She spoke softly, careful of his senses.
Her words made him realize where he was. "How did you find me?" He asked, voice raspy.
"That's for later. Come on, can you climb down?"
Without replying, Peter gently held (y/n) close to him and jumped down. (Y/n) didn't let out any sound, as if she already guessed Peter was going to do that.
She led him to a car she stole from her dad and strapped him in before reaching for a towel and a soft blanket on the backseat. She gave him the blanket and used the towel to rubbed his hair slowly.
Peter was quiet as he let her dry him. He wasn't drenched; the sky was kind enough not to give a storm and gently pour some droplets instead. Still, he was thankful for the blanket warming him.
Once satisfied with her work, (y/n) threw the towel back to the backseat, went into the driver's seat, and drove away.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Peter looked out the window, sighing heavily. His whole body ached. The pounding in his head hadn't gone away. He was almost 100% sure that he had a concussion.
"Aren't you supposed to be in homecoming right now?" (Y/n) asked again, stealing glances at him while trying to still focus on the road.
For a moment, Peter didn't reply. (Y/n) didn't pester him and kept driving in silence.
"He's her dad."
"Hm?"
"The Vulture. He's Liz's dad."
(Y/n) glanced at him. He looked dead tired. And hurt.
"Liz? The girl you have a crush on?"
Peter nodded slightly. "He hijacked Mr. Stark's moving plane. I had to stop him."
"And you did."
"Yeah, I did…" He trailed off. "But why don't I feel good about it?"
Nobody said anything.
——————————
"Yeah, anyways, he tried to steal our moving cargo and Spider-Man stopped him. Dad then realized it was more of a hassle to leave this tower since it's powered by the arc reactor."
The hologram zoomed at the bottom of the tower, showing the huge arc reactor beneath.
"People would actually kill for its blueprints, you know?" She shook her head. "So he bought this tower back and made it the headquarter for SI. This tower has 100 floors, because dad likes the even number, and top 5 floors are private residential area and private labs."
The group started murmuring amongst themselves. Private residential area?
"When I said residential, I mean it. We live here when we're not out of the city, it's convenient. Of course, dad still has several other houses, but personally, I like this tower the best."
Because it's closer to Peter, she thought.
Besides the arc reactor, one of the reasons Tony had bought the tower back was for Peter. He realized that he couldn't stop the kid from being Spider-Man, with or without the suit. Helping keeping him safe was the least he could do, and if having Stark Tower means easier for Peter to reach when he needed something, then Stark Tower shall remain.
It had nothing to do with (y/n) blowing up at him for taking Peter's protection (the suit, not something else, you dirty minded) and asking (forcing) him to be more active in their mentorship.
Nothing at all.
(Besides, Tony had also developed a soft spot for Peter. He looked at the boy and saw a much better version of himself.)
"The floors are divided into the departments; Marketing, Human Resource Management, Accounting and Finance, Legal, and Research and Development. Other departments like Production and Purchasing are on other branches of SI. Most branches have R&D labs because dad, as I quote, will go crazy if he doesn't have any lab to mess around after a shareholders meeting." She rolled her eyes.
(Y/n) swiped away at the hologram, effectively shutting it down. "Okay, that's it. Now let's go get lunch."
——————————
The cafeteria was bustling. (Y/n) told them they had $40 inside their badge and they could buy any food they wanted from the cafeteria simply by swiping their badge to pay.
"Gather in front of the elevator at 1.30 PM on the dot. Now go eat."
As the group dispersed, she headed back to the elevator and asked FRIDAY to take her to the top floor.
A voice called out her name when she stepped out from the elevator.
"(Y/n)!"
For the first time that day, (y/n) let her lips curved up to a genuinely pleased smile.
Peter was sitting on the sofa in front of the TV, a messy sandwich in his hands and soot on his cheek. His clothes were clean, although his hair was dirty with dust and she could smell something burnt. He must had changed his clothes. It wasn't hard to figure out what he had been up to as he did tell her he was messing up with DUST earlier.
Something must had blown up.
"What did you explode today, Mr. Scientist?" She asked playfully.
"Nothing!"
(Y/n) raised an eyebrow, still smiling.
"…I connected wrong wires when trying to fix DUST's heat sensor."
Chuckling, she shook her head amusedly and made her way to the sofa. Peter handed him a wrapped sandwich after she sat down which she accepted gladly.
"How's your presentation going?" Peter asked between bites.
(Y/n) peeled the sandwich wrapping away, showing the gorgeous rib sandwich practically dripping with warm barbecue sauce. The smell was heavenly.
She took a big bite, moaning quietly as the flavor burst on her tongue.
"I love ribs." She mumbled, still chewing.
After she swallowed, she heaved a sigh. "Presentation was boring. I still have some to do after this, but really, it just feels like a waste of time."
Peter hummed thoughtfully. "What is it about anyway?"
(Y/n), already prepared to answered any questions that he might shoot her, answered easily with a lie, "That upcoming high school internship program dad came up with."
Peter stopped chewing. "That's real?" He asked, frowning.
"Of course it's real!"
"I thought it was just a joke or something to cover my alibi…"
(Y/n) stopped chewing as well and put down her sandwich. "You know, I'm not supposed to tell you this yet," she started slowly, "but dad is planning on making you the head of internship program."
If (y/n) hadn't anticipated it and held a hand in front of Peter, his sandwich would've flown away with how hard he practically jumped out of his seat.
"WHAT?!"
"You're his first of his only two personal interns, who also happen to be the only two interns of SI still in high school. He said it's an obvious choice, to make sure the upcoming high school interns will be more comfortable." She explained, putting Peter's sandwich on the table in front of them. "Pepper agrees with him, so there's that."
Peter's eyes were wide.
"No, no, that's an awful decision!" He stammered. "I'm not leader material! I barely even know what I'm doing! I-I'll mess it up!"
"Pete-"
"You saw me! I blew DUST up because I connected wrong wires! That's such a newbie mistake! And what about Spider-Man? I barely have enough time now, I'll neglect my responsibilities!"
"Hey-"
"And my school! Nobody believe I'm an intern in the first place, but head of program?! Principal Morita will have my head for lying extensively! They already disregard my internship papers anyway-"
(Y/n) pulled Peter down to sit back on the sofa and gently grasp his chin.
"Hey, look at me."
He did.
"Remember what you told me when I said I can't take care of SI alone?"
Peter didn't answer, but his eyes that looked back at (y/n)'s had calmed down slightly.
"I'll always have your back. So if you ever need help, I'm always available." (Y/n) smiled at him. "You don't have to worry about messing up, Pete. You're not doing it alone. Harley will take the position with you and I'll always help if you need me."
Peter sagged on the sofa, crossing his arms. "Still…"
"Also," (y/n) scowled, "this time I'll make sure they believe you, so now worries for that one."
"What do you mean?"
(Y/n) only smirked at him, offering no explanation. "Finish your sandwich, Spidey. I have to go downstairs soon."
Slightly grumbling, Peter reached for his sandwich. "Oh, where's Harley, by the way? I haven't seen him today." He asked before biting into his sandwich again.
"I think he said he wanted to mess around in R&D today."
"Maybe I should visit him later."
——————————
When (y/n) went back downstairs after leaving a pouty Peter with a peck on his cheek, she was greeted with the sight of Ned massaging his shoulder with a grimace amongst his friends. She was actually familiar with Ned and MJ's faces, having seen their pictures whenever Peter told her about his school day. Keeping her dad's words about formality in mind, she didn't show her familiarity at all.
Although now Ned was acting weird. She knew that gesture meant he hurt his shoulder, but what happened during the short time she wasn't there to supervise?
"Mr. Harrington," she called the startled teacher, "is everyone accounted for?"
"Y-Yes, Miss Stark. We're all here and ready to continue."
"Anyone needs bathroom breaks before we leave?"
Several of them lifted their hands.
(Y/n) looked around before catching an intern's eyes.
"Hey! Uh, Miss Macready!"
The intern looked surprised like a deer caught in headlights. Maybe she didn't expect to be called out by her name by the company owner's daughter that day.
She approached (y/n) hesitantly. "Yes, Miss Stark?"
(Y/n) was pleased when she saw her intern badge and found out that she knew the intern's name. She remembered seeing her around when she was in Finance Department.
"Can you show these students to the closest bathroom? I need to address something right now."
"Right away, Miss Stark."
The Finance Department intern, Mindy Macready, beckoned the students to follow her, leaving (y/n) and a handful of the leftover students in front of the elevator. Mr. Harrington had gone with the rest.
Seeing the students were occupied with talking between themselves, (y/n) moved closer to Ned who was still massaging his shoulder and talking with MJ in hushed voices.
"Mr. Leeds."
Ned turned around quickly, expression not unlike Mindy when (y/n) called her earlier.
"(Y/n) Stark knows my name…" He muttered in disbelief.
Ignoring his mumbling, (y/n) asked, "What happened to your shoulder?"
He hadn't even gotten over his surprise of (y/n) knowing his name, but now she noticed his pain?
Ned could only gape, leaving MJ to respond, "A kid in our class is a jerk."
(Y/n) narrowed her eyes in displeasure. "And does this kid called himself Flash?" She sneered.
At this point, MJ wasn't surprised that (y/n) had known about Flash. She deduced that Peter must have told her a lot more than just Flash anyway, so she only nodded curtly.
"You don't have to tell me what happened, I'll find out later. Thank you, Miss Jones."
(Y/n) took them to visit Legal Department where the Director, a surprisingly young man on his late 20s or early 30s named Isaac Latimer-Reed, talked to them briefly about what his department deal with. SI's Legal Department didn't only handle cases related to their products and company name; SI had included legal aid in each of their employee's contract. Tony had put some of his best lawyers to work in the company instead of just for himself. Shall an employee ever find themselves in a situation where they needed legal aid but couldn't afford it, SI had their backs.
"So if someone is in a fight with her husband or something, you can help them, I don't know, divorce him?" Flash asked with a frown. Why something so trivial? He had thought. "Isn't that against privacy?"
"It's not something that simple." Isaac said. "What if that fight results in violence? What if one of them had lifted a hand against the others? Our employees are free to talk to us and give us enough reason to make a case. We had freed quite a number of our employees from their abusive family simply after they just told us what happened."
Isaac smirked, "They didn't stand a chance against us. No matter how hard you try to hide a rotten core, the smell will always escape."
His dark expression made the students gulped and stepped back a bit.
(Y/n), on the other hand, smirked alongside Isaac.
She had always liked the man. He was quite a shrewd man who wouldn't stop pursuing "justice". That was how he got to such a high position despite his young age. Tony knew he needed someone sharp who could be ruthless in his Legal Department, and Isaac was the perfect candidate.
"We are against violence here in SI." (Y/n) said out loud, gaining their attention, "Any kind of abuse or bullying is not tolerated. Whether it's verbal or physical, direct or implied, we do not accept such behavior." She glanced at Flash who definitely had a sweat rolling down the side of his neck.
After some Q&A session, (y/n) thanked Isaac for his time and led the group away.
"Miss Stark?" Zoha called out. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but can we get some water before proceeding, please?" She asked, Yasmin nodding beside her.
"Follow me."
They stopped by the closest kitchenette. As she promised, it was fully stocked. For a small kitchen in an office, it was quite bizarre to see baskets of chocolates, cookies, and snacks beside plates of fruits and nuts. A coffee and tea station on the side of a big fridge and a juicer and blender beside it didn't seem quite… right either.
"You can eat and drink whatever you want but finish it here. We're heading to the labs after this."
She let them snacked around in the kitchenette for less than 10 minutes before whisking them away.
"We have a lot of R&D labs." (Y/n) explained, "In this tower alone, R&D span from 61st Floor to 80th. Each department usually have 10 floors max, but since dad is biased, R&D got more attention."
"Excuse me, Miss Stark?" Charles called. (Y/n) looked at him, waiting. "What does R&D interns do? Are they classified to do experiments by themselves?"
"Not really." She answered. "Level 1 interns mostly make reports and do research with or for their supervisor. Sometimes they'll get to help with the fun part, but that's for level 2 interns, usually."
"And level 2 interns?"
"Product testing, chemical experiments, engineering trials, they're allowed to do them all under supervision or with their supervisor's permission. Level 3 interns don't need supervision, but they still have to report."
The elevator dinged.
"Come on."
The floor they were at was spacious. Unlike the offices with their rooms and sections, the lab was mostly just open space with tables and cabinets. On the far end of the room was glass doors leading to testing rooms, while on the other end was a white door leading to the floor's supervisors.
"Welcome to Medic Lab!" A man in his 40s greeted them with a smile. He was tall and lanky with dark hair and equally dark eyes with laugh lines around them.
"This is Dr. Henry Clark, this lab's Assistant Director. He'll be Director soon though." (Y/n) introduced. "Dr. Clark, Midtown Science and Tech."
Henry blinked in surprise. "Midtown? Isn't that-"
"Yeah, it is." (Y/n) cut him off.
"Is he here?"
(Y/n) shook her head, "No, he's upstairs. He's going to T04E later, I think."
"Bring him here sometimes, will you? We're extremely grateful that you're here a lot, but we need both your brains sometimes too, you know!" He laughed. (Y/n) only smiled at the man.
Being very interested in the health department, (y/n) spent a long time in this particular lab. Unlike Peter who was more into engineering, although he did help out in various labs sometimes.
"Who are they talking about?" Abe whispered.
Henry turned to the confused students, "As Miss Stark said, my name is Henry Clark and this is Medic Lab 01. We focus on the medic field in this lab, especially on the chem side. Medicines, to put it simply."
He brought them further inside, passing through several scientists having heated discussion over a white board filled with numbers and equations.
"While focusing on pure chemistry, we also work closely with the lab above us which focus on chemical engineering. Sometimes with H03BE too, but they're more likely to work with people from Tech Labs instead of us." He stopped in front of a table filled with equipment and solutions where 2 interns were waiting for them.
"What is H03BE?" Ned asked.
"Oh, sorry, that's the code for labs!" Henry apologized. "That one is also medic lab, but for biomedical engineering."
"How about this lab?"
"What does the code stand for?"
"This lab is H01C, because this is the first lab in 'health' department and we play with chemicals. Only scientists and interns in R&D use them though, since it's more just to make reports easier to categorize."
"Officially, this is just Medic-1." (Y/n) added.
They gathered around the table. "Currently, we're trying to find a breakthrough in our Alzheimer's disease cure and how to deal with autoimmune issues. We almost got it, really." Henry continued.
"I'm still most excited for the cancer research though." An intern with fire red hair said with a grin.
"We're going to a little fun test with you guys to see your potential! Maybe you're good enough to be an intern here and might get scouted!" Another intern with cropped black hair exclaimed.
"What do you mean by scouted?" Cindy asked.
(Y/n) spoke before Henry or the interns answered, "I will explain that later, it's part of this trip program."
When (y/n) had told Peter she had presentation for the internship program, it wasn't exactly a full-on lie. SI planned on scouting students from field trips and it just so happened that the owner's daughter was guiding one. She was supposed to explain it on the last session.
The group looked at each other with grins. A chance to be an intern in SI? Hell yes!
"You're the boss, Stark." Henry grinned. "Let's begin, shall we?"
It was a simple enough test. They were given written reactions such as (2C12H22CaO14 + O2 → 22H2O + 21C + 2CaO + 3CO2) and they had to figure out which chemical solution it applied to and conduct it. Being from STEM school, most of them could figure their reaction out, although some who clearly didn't pay attention in chem class struggled. Finding out which solution was easy, but how to make it react?
Ned grinned as grey snake-like foam rose from his heated calcium gluconate. So far, he was the fastest guy to successfully figure out his reaction, only being beaten by Zoha.
"You're fast!" Henry said as he looked at Ned's petri dish. "Can you explain what you did?"
"Yeah, it's simple." Ned answered. "C12H22CaO14 is formula for calcium gluconate, and it reacts with O2; oxygen. But calcium gluconate doesn't just automatically react with oxygen. It was completely fine touching air before we started, so I heated it up and it reacted."
"Very good." Henry complimented with a smile. "Now do you know why it becomes like this?"
"The molecular structure expands due to the heat. This grey foam formed because any water contained inside vaporized and hydroxyl groups within the compound were dehydrated."
"And in conclusion?"
"Calcium gluconate rapidly decomposes after being heated."
"Great job!" Henry complimented again. Ned thanked him happily before Henry moved on to MJ who created a bright blue flash and loud sound that sounded like woofing, shocking Jason beside her.
MJ grumbled under her breath, "Out of all things, they just have to give me nitrogen monoxide and carbon disulfide to burn."
As Ned took pictures of his grey foam (after Henry said he could, of course), (y/n) stood beside him and peered at the petri dish.
"That was quick. I thought you're more into coding."
Thankfully, this time Ned could hold his surprise and just grinned at the girl. "Chemistry is fun when it's actually conducted and not just lectured on. How do you know I like coding?"
"Peter told me about you and Miss Jones." (Y/n) answered simply.
"You can just call me Ned and her Michelle, you know." Ned said. "A friend of Peter's is a friend of ours too. He talked about you a lot."
(Y/n) flushed a bit, "He did?"
"Yeah! It's as though we know you already!" He chuckled.
She silently glanced at the grinning boy.
Maybe I should try to make more friends…
Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Flash frowning at his paper while grabbing cesium and-
Is that water? Wait-
Before Flash could drop the alkali metal into a flask of water, (y/n) quickly reached her hand out.
CLINK!
A loud clink sound echoed as water dripped down from the table to the floor, stopping Flash from dropping the cesium.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" (Y/n) yelled.
Everyone in the room halted.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU PUT THAT IN WATER?!" She yelled again, eyes glowing with anger.
"Uh, I…" Flash mumbled out. His eyes moved quickly from (y/n)'s furious face to the small petri dish with cesium in his hand.
"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR HAND RIGHT NOW?! HUH?!"
"It's, uh, it's iron salt…?"
(Y/n)'s face grew even redder as she tried to held back her anger.
Henry approached them and gently took the petri dish away from Flash who was shaking with fear. "This is cesium, young boy. It reacts violently with water. If you had combined the two, that glass flask would explode and hurt you." He explained.
(Y/n) snatched the paper containing the reaction assigned to Flash and scoffed, "You were supposed to form valence oxide and took cesium? Cazzo! Do you pay attention in class?! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO MIX FERROUS AND FERRIC IN BASIC SOLUTION! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW IRON SALT IS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE?!"
Trying to calm the girl down, Henry patted her shoulder, "Calm down, Stark. This is also my fault for including cesium on the table. Everyone is okay, that's the important thing."
"But what if I didn't notice what he held, Dr. Clark? What then? His parents may have signed the papers allowing him here and swearing not to blame us for accidents, but you and I know those papers mean little to parents whose children are hurt!"
(Y/n) snapped her eyes back to Flash, "You're from STEM school, for fuck's sake! And you're in this decathlon team! You're supposed to be smart," she emphasized, "yet you can't do this simple experiment?!"
Flash, clearly offended, snapped back, "It's not my fault that you put unsafe things here! What kind of work environment is this?! You just put danger on my life and I can sue you for this!"
"Flash!" Mr. Harrington tried to scold, but (y/n) had grown even angrier.
"VAFFANCULO!" She shouted angrily as she took a step closer to him, the anger in her eyes looked so close to snapping.
And maybe she would have done something to Flash if the lab's sliding door didn't suddenly open and Harley hurriedly rushed in and held (y/n)'s arm back.
"Whoa there, calm down, Princess Stark." Harley soothed, "FRIDAY told me there was almost an incident and I heard you screaming your favorite Italian word, so what happened?"
"Why don't you ask this figlio di puttana?!" (Y/n) gritted out, although the glow in her eyes had started to settle.
Mr. Harrington quickly grabbed Flash who was just opening his mouth to retort back and put him behind his back with a quick glare, warning him not to say anything stupid.
"I apologize, Miss Stark, I truly do, please forgive him! I'll make sure he won't do anything stupid anymore!" He bowed his head.
Knowing (y/n) was still too pissed off to say something intellectual, Harley answered, "I'm sure it can be forgotten. It's okay. Can someone tell me what happened, though? I might have to report this upstairs later…"
Henry sighed, "The young man almost put cesium in water, but (y/n) stopped him."
Harley nodded, "Okay, and?"
"What do you mean, 'and'?"
The sandy-haired teen snorted, "There's no way (y/n) would just tell this guy to go fuck himself if she stopped him in time."
"Flash mouthed back, saying he would sue SI or something." MJ interrupted.
Realization dawned on Harley and he nodded again. "Yeah, that sure can pissed Princess Stark off."
When he turned his glance on (y/n), her face had lost almost all of its redness and her eyes were no longer glowing, but he could still see repressed anger in them.
"Do you want me to take over?" He asked gently. "Peter is in T04E, do you want to go there instead?" He asked again, murmuring softly.
(Y/n) heaved a heavy sigh and rest her forehead on Harley's shoulder. "It's fine, I can continue." She mumbled. "We're scheduled to go to T04E after this anyway."
"Alright, alright." Harley patted her head. "Want me to come with you?"
Feeling her nodded against his shoulder, Harley cleared his throat. "Alright then, let's forget about what happened here and move on, shall we? Dr. Clark?"
"Ah, yes," the good man stepped closer to them and clasped his hand, "that's all for today, everyone. Good job on your work! I hope I'll see you again, maybe as an intern or even an employee here someday."
The group hesitantly chorused a thank you before Mr. Harrington hurriedly ushered them out from the lab to follow Harley and (y/n) and before long, they were back in the elevator again.
"Okay guys, we're heading to Tech Lab now!" Harley said cheerfully. "It's one of my favorites, if I'm being honest! This particular one, especially."
"Why? What's in the lab?"
"He's just allowed to make things explode. Can't do that in medic-researching labs." (Y/n) said shortly.
Harley just grinned at her.
The elevator opened.
"Welcome to Tech-04, guys!"
Unlike Medic-01, Tech-04 was more… chaotic.
Medic-01 was relatively quiet, maybe some discussion here and there with liquid upon liquid sloshing around. Sometimes small pops when wrong solutions were mixed. Tech-04, on the other hand, was filled with a lot of noise.
Someone was groaning and then grumbling at a circuit board in front of them, a solder whirring (should it even whir?) on their hand.
Two people were arguing loudly over hologram displaying blueprints.
Another person was hitting a small bot with what looked like a small hammer, making loud clanging sound every hit.
Some tools were accidentally dropped, the metal hitting floor sound followed by a loud 'sorry!'.
Heavy machines made weird noises that sound so unfamiliar to a high schooler's ears.
Harley and (y/n) walked in, unbothered by all the noises around them. The group flinched at sudden noises, but they followed the two silently.
"Usually we take tour groups to Tech-01, but they're doing something classified right now." Harley explained. "Since you guys are from STEM school, we thought Tech-04 is the best place to visit since every cool stuff happens here." He grinned.
"Holy shit are those arrows?!" Tyler screeched out.
"Those were supposed to be Hawkeye's prototype multifunction arrows, but after the Accord debacle, Tony dumped them."
"What's that?" Cindy pointed at black bracelets on a display. "It looks like normal bracelets…"
"Black Widow's widow bites." (Y/n) answered.
Cindy tilted her head, "Bites?"
"Electroshock weapon."
"W-Weapon?"
"You just saw Hawkeye's weapon, what makes Black Widow's surprise you?" (Y/n) scoffed, still feeling irritated from before.
"W-Well…"
"Tech-04 is the best lab because a lot of Avengers weapons were designed here!" Harley exclaimed. "Almost all of them had something that came out from this lab sans Tony because he doesn't like people touching his stuff. A bit stuck up, isn't he?" He chortled.
(Y/n) rolled her eyes at him. "Can't help it. The last time he trusted his stuff with someone, Stane dealt him a bad hand."
"Not true, the last time was when he left JARVIS with me!" Harley argued.
"That was because he had no choice, dumbass."
"Still counts!"
"Sure."
Sniffling, Harley turned away from the girl.
"Anyway, we have another test for you all! You got tested in Medic-01 to see your chemistry knowledge, here in Tech-04 we'll see your engineering skill!"
They gathered around a big white table, scraps and tools scattered on top.
"Nothing hard, just make a simple bot in 20 minutes. You can use everything on this table. Don't forget to name them, we'll take a look and judge them. Who knows, maybe someone will like your work and want to scout you."
"Time starts now!"
Harley left the group who immediately began working and stood a little to the side with (y/n).
"How are you feeling?" He murmured.
(Y/n) tilted her head up, softly hitting her head against the wall behind her. "Still a bit annoyed, to be honest. That little piece of shit." She grumbled.
"I feel like I've seen him before."
"That's Flash, Harls."
"Flash?" Harley turned to her, startled. "That Flash? The one Peter talked about?"
She nodded.
"Well… Fuck."
"Fuck, indeed."
For a moment, they stood there in silence, watching their assigned group tinkering with various tools while chattering within each other. (Y/n)'s eyes followed Flash's every movement like a hawk.
"I think he did something to Leeds earlier." She mumbled.
"What is it?"
"I don't know, but Jones confirmed it."
Harley hummed and looked around. His eyes caught a tablet sitting on top of a cabinet near them. He pushed himself away from the wall.
"Wait here."
He approached the cabinet and grabbed the tablet before going back to (y/n).
The tablet, a standard StarkPad issued for every department in SI, was locked with password. They easily unlocked it with the lab's code.
Harley quickly accessed FRIDAY with his credentials.
"FRI?"
"How can I help you, Harley?" Her voice came out from the tablet.
"Can you show us security footage from- when was it again?"
(Y/n) snorted.
"Don't laugh! You didn't tell me!" Harley complained indignantly.
"Footage on the trip group after lunch please, FRI."
"Right away, (y/n)."
——————————
"Hey, fatso!"
Ned and MJ didn't respond, continuing eating their lunch in peace.
And that peace was interrupted when Flash clasped Ned's shoulder and pulled him back hard, making him fell from the backless chair. "When I call you, I expect an answer!" He sniggered.
Unluckily for the two, Mr. Harrington was in line waiting for his meal, completely missing the exchange.
MJ quickly stood up and pushed him away to help Ned. "What the hell, Flash?!" MJ exclaimed angrily.
"Not my fault he's so heavy he can't stand gravity pulling him down." Flash snickered.
"Why you-"
"It's fine, MJ." Ned assured, putting a hand on her arm. "What do you want, Flash?" He asked tiredly.
Flash ignored MJ's heated glare (an amazing feat, really) and smirked at Ned. "Why haven't we heard anything about Parker, huh? If he's really an intern someone would've said something, right? Especially since we're from the same school."
Ned rolled his eyes.
"We only visited the Museum, Flash. Do you think he works there? He's probably in the labs a lot."
"Pfft, there's no way he's in the labs! That fucker can't even do anything right! The only thing he can work as is probably a janitor or something."
He reached out and gripped Ned's shoulder, nails sinking into the muscles tightly, ignoring Ned's wince. "So how about you stop lying and tell us the truth, hm? You're just embarrassing yourselves."
Already fed up, MJ grabbed Flash's wrist and forcefully removed his clutch on Ned's shoulder. "How about you stop bothering us, huh? Why are you so obsessed with Peter anyway? You in love with him or something?" She hissed out.
"I'm just saying that people deserve the truth after hearing stupid lies over and over again!" He snatched his hand back, huffing indignantly. "Fucking Penis Parker…
"You're the one spreading the news, Flash. Peter never really said anything." Ned mumbled, one hand massaging his sore shoulder. He could actually feel nails indent through his shirt. Flash's grip was just too tight.
"Oh shut up." Flash scoffed and finally left them.
——————————
"I'm going to kill him."
"(Y/n)…"
"Don't stop me, Harley."
The angry glow on her eyes returned, this time even brighter. Her (e/c) eyes almost looked like neon blue. Her face was completely blank, only the wide glowing eyes showing just how much anger she was feeling.
Harley held unto her shoulders and crouched down slightly to match her eye level. "Calm down, (y/n). Your eyes are glowing."
"As they should."
"No, they shouldn't!" He whispered-shouted. "Come on. Take a deep breath."
(Y/n) gritted her teeth.
CLINK!
"My bad." Zach said, reaching down to take a screwdriver that fell from the table.
CLINK!
Mr. Harrington frowned. "Did I knock it over?" He mumbled to himself, grabbing the fallen wrench.
CLINK!
"Shit, my pliers!"
CLINK!
CLINK!
CLINK!
CLINK!
"What-"
"An earthquake?!"
The table was shaking violently, throwing tools down to the floor. Above them, lights were flickering on and off.
Alarms started blaring.
"EVERYONE UNDER THE TABLE!"
"WATCH OUT FOR SHARP TOOLS!"
"COME ON GUYS MOVE IT!"
"(Y/N) STOP IT!" Harley tried to shout between the panic screaming.
(Y/n)'s (e/c) eyes were now fully neon blue, glowing brightly in the dark room. She took a shuddered breath and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Harley…" She whispered. "I can't."
——————————
"How do you get used to your power?"
"Hmm?" Peter looked up from his on-going web fluid. "Practice, I guess…"
"What did you do?"
Peter put the flask on the table. "That depends on which power I try to control. Like my super strength, for example. I practiced juggling eggs and tomatoes without crushing them. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be."
(Y/n) hummed and looked up to the ceiling, contemplating.
"How about you?" Peter asked.
"Me?"
"Yeah. Hecate is always mindful of the children they saved. Their control is amazing."
"…That's Hecate. Not me."
Peter dropped his arms. He removed his gloves and walked towards the girl and plopped down beside her on the sofa.
"We've talked about this, (y/n). Hecate is you and you are Hecate."
"Sure doesn't feel like it." (Y/n) mumbled.
"Is it because of the pronoun?"
"Hm…"
He propped an arm on the backrest. "Didn't you come to the conclusion that you're bigender?"
"Yeah…" She sighed. "But that just makes Hecate feel more like a separate being than me."
"Why are they not you?"
(Y/n) removed her stare from the ceiling to Peter's face. "When I go out as Hecate, I don't… I don't feel like (y/n) Stark." She said softly. "When I don Hecate suit, I just… changed, I guess. Hecate feels like a different person. Hecate doesn't think like (y/n) Stark and they sure as hell doesn't act like (y/n) Stark."
Her voice dropped. "Their control over their curse is also better than (y/n) Stark's."
Peter shuffled closer to her and pulled her into an embrace. He buried his fingers into her hair, gently playing with them slightly. "Spider-Man feels like a different person too. But for me, I know that it's because of the mask." He murmured against the side of her hair. "Why do you think they feel different?"
"I'm not sure…"
"Also, it's not a curse, (y/n). It's a gift."
"A gift? Given by HYDRA?"
"Where it comes from doesn't matter. How you use them does."
"Yet I can't even use it without hurting someone as (y/n)."
Peter pulled back, looking straight into (y/n)'s (e/c) eyes. "How about this; if you ever feel like you're not in control of your power, you tell me. I'll try to help you."
"Can you?"
"We can try."
——————————
(Y/n) kept her eyes firmly shut. She could hear everyone screaming in fear as everything in the room shook. Small tools even started to flew around, narrowly missing some people.
Harley tried to shout words of encouragement to calm her down, but to no avail.
It was only when his hands holding her shoulders were replaced by another pair and a familiar voice murmuring out her name did she finally open her eyes.
"Peter?"
"Hey, Hecate." He smiled.
She shook her head. "Not Hecate. This is (y/n). Hecate wouldn't lose control like this." She whispered.
"Listen," Peter said softly, "Hecate is in you, whether you feel like they are or not. Hecate is you, (y/n). You can be both Hecate and (y/n) at the same time."
(Y/n) shook her head again.
"Close your eyes, (y/n)."
She did.
"Now think of the times you went out as Hecate. Recall those feelings. How did you know to stop when a child, bruised and hurt, was near you? How did you know not to harm them?"
And that was the thing with Hecate. They may have a violent nature when it came to despicable people who decided that taking a kid from their parents was a great money source, but when faced with said kid, they would cease all action. They may thirst for the blood of those people, but they would never harm a hair on a kid.
Because they knew what it was like to be that kid once.
——————————
"And that's how I became Spider-Man." Peter concluded.
"I wonder if that kind of spider still exist."
"Well I know that I killed the one that bit me."
(Y/n) snickered. "So your power comes from an experimented spider, huh?"
"Yep! And you?"
"Same as you."
"Experimented spider bit you?" Peter frowned.
"Nah, they experimented on me instead of a spider."
"Wait what-"
She stretched her stiff shoulder. Sitting for too long did that to your muscles. "Where do you think I was before I live with dad?" She said nonchalantly. "HYDRA took me when I was about 6. Thought I was a great asset, really. Made me do lots of jobs too. Dad found me during a mission."
Peter almost choked on his own saliva. "W-Why did you never tell me?"
(Y/n) blinked. "You never asked." She deadpanned.
After Peter regained his bearing, he braved himself to ask another question. "Where's your mom now?"
"Died."
He almost choked for the second time.
"Dad didn't know I'm his daughter, so he tried to track my mom. Turns out she died a few months after I was kidnapped, so, yeah."
"(Y/n)…"
"I guess that's why kidnapping cases irked me so much." (Y/n) hummed thoughtfully. "Children don't deserve that kind of horror. I remember being so scared those first few weeks."
——————————
As he guided her through breathing exercises, the shaking around her finally started to cease as her heartbeat slowed down.
(Y/n) opened her eyes to find Peter's own warm brown eyes looking straight to hers. "How are you?" He asked softly.
She bit her lower lip and hung her head in shame.
"Hey, come on, eyes up here, Princess Stark." Peter lifted her chin up.
"…I haven't lost control like that since years ago." She murmured. She didn't dare to even steal a glance at Peter's face. She kept her eyes down to the floor, letting the shame fill her.
"(Y/n)-"
"What the fuck is Penis Parker doing here?!"
Peter turned his head, finally seeing his decathlon team for the first time. "What the-"
"And what the fuck was that?! It doesn't feel like earthquake! What kind of freak shit is this?!"
Peter was about to speak when he felt (y/n)'s shoulder shaking under his hand. Eyes widened, he looked down at her only to find her already glaring at Flash, eyes alarmingly glowing again.
So he did what he knew would definitely distract (y/n) from possibly killing his classmate.
Peter grabbed (y/n)'s cheeks and quickly pressed a quick kiss to her lips.
And distracted she was.
"You're,"
Peck,
"Okay,"
Peck,
"Just,"
Peck,
"Ignore,"
Peck,
"Him",
Peck,
"Alright?"
Finally pulling his face away, he could see (y/n) blinking owlishly at him. The glow in her eyes had gone, replaced by the beautiful (e/c) he loved.
He didn't bother to see how Flash or the rest of his teammates reacted to seeing him, the nerd of the group, openly kissing the infamous daughter of Tony Stark.
He did, however, registered Ned's delighted giggle and MJ's sigh.
Unfortunately, (y/n) seemed to still be aware of her surrounding and caught Flash's squawk.
(Y/n) closed her eyes and sighed. She side-eyed Flash with a slight glare.
And before Peter realized it, Flash was flung back to, thankfully, a chair behind him. It was still a hard shove and his back would be aching as hell, but at least it wasn't to (or even through!) the wall, Peter rationalized.
(Y/n) quickly removed Peter's hand on her cheeks and approached the now mildly terrified Flash. She grabbed the front of his collar.
Peter didn't stop her. Her eyes may seem brighter than normal, but the absence of neon blue glow was a good sign that she was in control. That was purely (y/n) Stark needing to vent her anger by threatening a bitch out and not Hecate.  Peter knew better than to get between a woman's wrath and the object of her animosity, after all.
Yeah, a little threat wouldn't hurt, would it?, Peter thought amusedly. He had it coming after all.
"Listen to me, figlio di puttana," she hissed out, face only inches away from Flash's, "if I ever see or even heard about you being a bag of shit like you are ever again, you won't know what's coming for you."
"I-"
"Don't ever say or even think about Peter and anyone close to him anymore, you fucking hear me? You touch a hair on them, and the end of the world will seem mild compare to what I would do."
Silence fell upon the room.
The trip group was still shaken over the 'quake', and add that to seeing their teammate got thrown back by an invisible force, they were just… stunned. They didn't even really register that Peter was in the same room as them. Aside from Flash, Ned, and MJ, at least.
"Well, this is a disaster."
Tony's voice rang in the lab, catching the attention of everyone in the room. He stood in front of the glass sliding doors, dressed in impeccable suit and wearing a pair of sunglasses despite the lack of sun in the lab.
His eyes swept upon the room. His employees seemed fine, just a bit surprised. They were already used to unforeseen incidents, he supposed. His interns slash pseudo-sons also seemed fine, if not a bit miffed. The group was still shocked, which was no shocker (pun intended).
But then he saw his daughter in the middle of threatening someone, eyes wide and shining, teeth gritted.
He sighed.
At least he knew his scientists would be no problem. They had signed confidential agreement to keep everything happening while in work to themselves in their work contract, especially if it included any of the Starks. The group, on the other hand…
"People, remember your NDAs. You all, follow me." He gestured at the group before turning away.
After a few steps, he stopped as if he just remembered something and looked back, "Oh, and Pete? Take her upstairs, will you? Stay with her."
"Of course, Mr. Stark."
"Harls, come with me. I need the whole story."
Harley nodded but said nothing, prompting Tony to turned away again and started leaving.
"Come on, let's go." Harley told the group.
Ned worriedly made an eye contact with Peter, but Peter only shook his head.
Hesitantly, they started leaving, but not without throwing curious looks towards Peter who already pulled (y/n) back from Flash.
"Go now while you can, faccia a culo." (Y/n) jeered. "I can't promise your life if you don't."
Gulping, Flash hurriedly stood up and ran out of the labs.
Before following the group, Harley looked at Peter and (y/n). "Are you two going to be okay?" He asked.
(Y/n) didn't answer, but Peter slung an arm around her shoulder and held her close. "We'll be fine. Sorry for the interruption, Harley." Peter apologized.
"Nothing to be sorry of. Everything will be okay, so don't think too much about it, okay, Princess Stark?" Harley smiled at the girl.
(Y/n) nodded once.
With a final look between Harley and Peter, Harley left the lab to follow the group.
Peter gently held (y/n)'s hand and pulled her towards the private elevator. He took them to the penthouse, straight to her room.
Once inside, he sat her down on her bed.
"How are you feeling right now?"
(Y/n) sighed heavily.
"Mostly angry." She mumbled.
Peter hummed. He sat beside her, an arm behind her to sneak a hand and hold her waist. She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes tiredly.
"What happened?" He murmured.
Slowly, (y/n) started telling her story, from when she first went downstairs to meet the group until when Harley and her watched the footage.
"I've been on edge the whole day," she confessed, "and I guess that video just pushed the limit."
"It's not your fault, (y/n)."
(Y/n) scoffed, "Maybe not all, but part of it is. I couldn't control my power, Pete! That's just a recipe for disaster!" She yelled in frustration. "It's been years since that happened! I thought I had this under control!"
Peter squeezed her hand. "Alright then. We'll train. We'll practice until you're absolutely sure you can use your power freely even as (y/n) Stark." He said with a smile.
"But how?"
"We'll figure it out."
Although not entirely satisfied with Peter's answer, she only nodded.
"By the way, why did you lead the trip? I thought you said you had a presentation." Peter asked, changing the topic.
Rolling her eyes, (y/n) answered with a slight scoff, "I lost a bet to Harley."
——————————
Tony stood in front of the meeting room. Peter's decathlon team was all sitting in front of him, his teacher and bully included. Harley had told him about what happened earlier. Needless to say, Tony was not happy.
He had thought of Peter and Harley as his sons; his children aside from (y/n). The fact that Peter had something going on with (y/n) didn't matter, it was a bonus in his eyes. So knowing that Peter had to deal with a bully every day was not something he could really tolerate. Not to mention that said bully also angered his daughter enough to lose control.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He had asked Harley earlier.
"It wasn't my story to tell, Tony." Harley had answered.
His eyes swept across the room once more. He saw their teacher, Harrington, if he remembered correctly, was openly scolding Flash.
Good, he thought, at least the teacher isn't just ignoring this problem.
"Alright!" Tony clapped his hand loudly. "Let's just keep this short, shall we? I'm supposed to be in a meeting right now and Pepper is not happy that I left."
His face turned serious. "Your parents signed NDAs for you to be here. You are not allowed to say anything about what you saw in this building to anyone, including your parents, or you will regret it. Even if we can't get to you directly, your parents are on the line here, and losing them would be a great loss for you, wouldn't it?"
Some of them gulped nervously. Flash just looked terrified.
"Just remember that I have better lawyers than you ever will. Capisce?"
Once he saw them hurriedly nodded, he grinned. "Okay then! I'll let you ask me questions now for compensation after that incident. Gotta take care of my daughter's problem, right?"
The group looked at each other, still miffed and hesitant to ask anything. They just got threatened to lose practically everything they had, after all.
However, Ned, who already had no intention to tell anyone about what happened thanks to Peter anyway, raised a hand.
"Yes, you, uhh… Fred!"
"It's Ned." Harley rolled his eyes. Tony pointedly ignored him.
Even wrong, Ned still felt joy in knowing that Tony knew him. "Hi, I was wondering about Harley's badge? Don't interns have half-white badges?"
Tony gestured at Harley to answer. "Well?"
Harley scoffed at Tony before answering, "Yeah, mine and Peter's are special badges since we're this dude's personal interns."
"Personal intern?" Abe chimed in, face curious.
"He's hopeless, trust me. This whole building would've burned if it weren't for us." Harley snickered, blatantly ignoring Tony who was glaring daggers at him.
"I'll let you know that I'm perfectly fine being alone in my lab." Tony huffed. "I've been doing it for years and I'm fine."
"Uh-huh, sure, old man."
Betty, pushed by Ned's nonchalance, raised a hand as well, "Mr. Stark? What is the requirement to be an intern here? Harley and Peter are our age, so does this mean we also qualify?"
Cindy also raised a hand, "Earlier we had tests in the labs. They said we can get scouted, is that true?"
"Ah yes, you were supposed to be given the internship program information at the end of the tour!" Tony said. "Basically, we have a new internship program for high school students. The interns will be handpicked by your 'test' results."
When Tony offered no other explanation, Harley added, "We just put the information on our web. Just go to Stark Industries' official website and click on the Internship Program. Sorry guys, you were supposed to get full session on this, but (y/n) was the one who had to give the presentation and she's not… available."
"Or Peter. He's one of the head of that programs after all. Wait," Tony stopped, looking at Harley incredulously, "you're the other head of the program. Why don't you give the presentation?"
Harley only shrugged with a grin.
"How is Parker already an intern?" Flash asked in disbelief. "And Head of Internship Program?!" It seems that his terrified daze from earlier had dissipated, which was really quick. He was quite a thickhead, after all.
Tony squinted at him, scrutinizing. This kid just never stop, huh?
"I scouted him myself." He announced.
Flash was taken aback by Tony's nonchalant answer, but he pressed on, "But why?"
"Because he impressed me. Genius kid, really. Better than nearly everyone I've ever known. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend." He quickly said, already losing any will to interact with children any longer.
Before he left, he did add, "Also, Mr. Thompson, is it? I'll have a meeting with your parents and the principal soon, so get ready."
Flash's eyes widened.
Once he left, the room erupted in chaos.
"What just happened?!"
"Peter is really an intern!"
"Not just an intern, but already head of a program!"
"HE KISSED (Y/N) STARK OMG!"
"Who cares?! We almost died again!"
"But we might get to intern here too!"
"No, no, back up! We almost died! And by what?! What was that?!!"
"Wasn't it (y/n)?!"
"How did she do that?!"
"I don't know! But you saw what happened to Flash!"
"I guess (y/n) is Hecate then." Ned whispered to MJ. MJ nodded.
"She looked like she hated her power earlier." MJ muttered. "No wonder she snapped at you when you asked about Hecate."
"OKAY EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" Harley shouted, trying to gain control over the group.
One by one, they started to quiet down.
"I suppose this is the end of your trip. Remember the NDAs; not a word!" He said, which the group answered with a chorus of yes. "Great! Now follow me to the lobby!"
——————————
"You okay, il mio tarassaco?"
"I am now. Sorry about earlier, dad."
"Nothing to worry about. I really have to go to meeting now, but we'll talk later, okay? Take it easy after this, maybe just sleep or mess around in your private lab, if you want to. Don't overexert your power."
(Y/n) smiled gratefully. The public may saw her father only as an egocentric hero, but she knew better. He always tried to be the best dad and she was grateful for it. Tony Stark wasn't a perfect dad, but he tried. He knew better than to be like his own father. Even if his daughter was an accident he only discovered a few years back, Tony knew there was little he wouldn't do for her.
"Okay. Love you, see you later."
"Love you too."
As she ended the call, Harley rushed towards her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry for putting you through that hell, Princess Stark! It was that stupid bet!"
"HARLEY I CAN'T BREATHE!"
Harley let her go with a sheepish grin. "Are you okay now?"
(Y/n) rolled her eyes. "Everyone asked me that. I'm fine. How's the situation?"
"Tony threatened them with the NDAs." He shrugged. "I don't think they really connect you to Hecate, but Ned definitely did."
She nodded in understanding. "Leeds is fine, I think… Peter trusts him."
"He won't tell anyone. But if he knows, MJ definitely does too." Peter piped in.
"You trust both of them, don't you?"
"Yeah, they're great."
(Y/n) smiled at him, "Maybe I should try befriend them then. Share my own secret like you did too."
Peter smiled back.
——————————
Bonus:
"Dude! You're the story of the year!"
"What?"
"Everyone's talking about you and (y/n) now!"
MJ sipped on her drink. "How is she anyway?"
"She's fine. Excited to meet you guys, actually." Peter answered.
"But we met her already?" Ned frowned.
"As a friend, Ned."
"Ooh…"
For a moment, no one said anything as they chewed on their food. "Hey, so (y/n) is really Hecate, right?"
"Ned! Shh!"
The End
——————————
Dictionary
Merda: shit
Cazzo: fuck
Vaffanculo: go fuck yourself
Figlio di puttana: son of a bitch
Faccia a culo: assface
Il mio tarassaco: my dandelion*
I looked these terms online, so they may not be 100% accurate. I’m sorry if I make any mistake!
*My Dandelion: a few months ago, I got into doll customizing and decided to make my own (y/n) Stark into a doll form. When I plugged in her hair, it had poofed up like a dandelion and stayed like that for weeks while I worked on her face-up. I got used to calling her Dandelion after that. Because of this, I’ve been nicknaming (y/n) as Dandelion.
Afterthoughts
Wow it’s over already... This story was an experience. It started as a fun little thing to celebrate my birthday with and to finally tell Meggie my handle to a 16k-word mess. Thank you so much to everyone who read, liked, reblogged, and commented on Part One! I hope you like this part too :)
——————————
Just Out of Touch Taglist
@spn-assemble-seven @racewife2004 @lukesbabylon @serendipitous-amor @sovereign-parker @ifangirlninja @lyzalovealk @lookuptotheskiesandsee @tommysparker @starlight-starks
Permanent (Marvel) Taglist
@marvelexi @lou-la-lou @spiderbibby​ @hello--zuko-here @everydaymj
Mutuals
@allegra-soleil @spideygirl2003 @delicatepeterparker @parkerpeter24 @terrifictomholland @quackeroos @angel-spidey @greenorangevioletgrass @the-crazy-fanfictionist​
416 notes · View notes
writing-mermaid · 3 years
Text
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Summary : Sonny, Y/N and Stella are decorating the Christmas tree.
Pairing : Sonny Carisi x reader
Warnings : None, it’s just pure fluff.
Word Count : 1 857
Author’s note : Written for @thatesqcrush​‘s Holiday B!ngo: Naughty & Nice filling the squares tree lighting and decorating. Don’t forget that feedback is appreciated and really important.
Song of the title : Blue Christmas - Kelly Clarkson
Masterlist
The Carisi family masterlist
Buy me a ☕
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“Come on daddy, hurry up !!!”, Stella shouts, entering the living room, Sonny following her, his arms full of boxes.
“Stella, calm down please”, I say, exiting the bathroom.
“Sorry mommy”, my four years old replies settling down on the floor.
“Everything is here normally”, Sonny states, putting the boxes down. “Christmas tree, decorations, lightings, Santa’s figurine, the snowman, the reindeers.”
  He opens the first box and puts a Christmas tree bulb on the table. This one bulb is special, that’s the one from Stella’s first Christmas, as blue as her eyes, made of glass, with her name on it and stars all around. Stella, our little star, the light of our lives.
  “Maybe you should open the box with the tree first, babe”, I say, while Sonny takes other decorations from the box.
“You’re right, we better put the tree first. Same place as usual ?”
“Of course, in the alcove between the rooms”, I say, showing him the nook in the wall where Stella plays.
  From the very first Christmas we spent here, the tree has its place there. That way, it’s not in the middle of the room and it was more convenient when Stella learned to walk, there was no risk that the tree fell on her.
  “Your wishes are my commands”, he winks. “Stella, come and help daddy please, principessa.”
“Si papa”, she rises on her feet and follows her dad to the nook.
  Four years old and she already understands three languages and speaking a few words of two of them. Sonny starts to drag the long box containing the tree to the other side of the room, pretending it’s too heavy for him, doing like he needs our daughter to help him.
  “It’s not heavy daddy, look that’s very light”, Stella giggles.
“No, no look, it’s too heavy, I don’t have enough strength”, he says, pretending to pull the box and not managing to move it, making Stella’s giggles intensify.
“But daddy, you’re a cop, cop are supposed to be burly”, she states, very seriously.
“No baby, your mommy is the cop at home now, I’m an ADA, you remember, so I lost my strength”, Sonny lies on the ground, pretending to be exhausted.
“So, we should ask mommy to lift it because she’s the burly one now.”
  Her comment makes me laugh. She’s still adjusting to Sonny not being a cop anymore, even if he became the state’s ADA for a little more than a year now and that she decorated his brand new office with some drawings and there’s a picture of us three on his desk.
  “I’m not that burly baby, pursuing criminals doesn’t make me burlier, it makes me more tired every day, and I’m barely in my early-thirties”, I sigh.
  Stella looks at me, blinking her big blue eyes.
  “Mommy is kidding baby”, I say, approaching her and ruffling her Y/H/C hair. “Let’s see if I’m stronger than daddy.”
  I grab the handle of the box and lift it easily.
  “Wow, mummy, you’re so strong”, Stella beams at me, impressed. “Now you should help daddy to get up again !”
“Are you really sure I should help daddy ?”
“Yes !”, she nods. “He has to build the tree.”
“Ok then. Come on daddy give me your hand”, I extend my hand to Sonny’s big one, while still having the Christmas tree in my other hand. “Oh, your daddy is too weighty, Stella help, I can’t lift him”, I gasp.
“Come on daddy, get up”, our little girl goes behind him and pushes on his back, while I pull him.
  Sonny plays the game and finally gets up from the floor.
  “Thank you, Stella and mummy, I couldn’t stand up without your help.”
  Oh, he’s good at it, playing with Stella, making her laugh. Well, he has some practice thanks to his sisters’ kids. Fatherhood came so naturally to Sonny. I always knew that he would make an amazing father from the first moment I saw him with a child, and when we knew I was pregnant, he was thrilled. And I will never regret having a child with that lanky man. God, even with that awful mustache of his, he managed to seduce me.
  “Come on, let’s make the tree”, Stella starts to whine, pulling on her dad’s hand.
“Alright, alright, we’re making it”, Sonny answers, scooping Stella into his arms and walking to the nook, while I follow him with the box.
  I put the box down and open it to take out the different pieces of the tree. Sonny starts to assemble them under the sparkling gaze of Stella.
  “Y/N, babe, can you bring the decoration boxes here whilst I assemble the tree please ?”
“Sure”, I say walking to the table.
  I’m about to pick the box on the table, when I see Stella approaching her father with a Santa hat in her little hands. She covers Sonny’s head with it and both of them erupt of laughter. I take my phone out of my jean’s pocket, immortalizing that tender moment between my fiancé and our daughter. Sonny, his Santa hat still on his head, resumes to his assembling of the tree, Stella giving him the different pieces. I go back to them, the ornaments box in my arm, without forgetting Stella’s bulb on the table.
  “The tree is up”, Sonny says, standing up. “We just have to put the decorations on”, he adds, whipping his hands on his jeans.
“What color should we put on the tree ?”, I ask.
“Red !”, Stella states seriously as if all Christmas depends on the color of the decorations we put on the tree.
“So red it is”, Sonny opens wide the box I just put down next to him.
  He takes a few silver garlands out of the box and put them aside, with the matching bulbs. Silver was last year’s choice. But, even if this year decorations are red, there’ll be a touch of blue with Stella’s bulb.
“Why red this year baby ?”, I question her.
“Because at school we are learning the song Blue Christmas and the singer says ‘decorations or red on a green tree’. Miss Downey says that the singer’s name is Lis Pacey.”
“Elvis Presley baby”, Sonny corrects, “but, did you know that mom’s favorite singer covered it in a Christmas record ?”, Stella shakes her head, meaning that she doesn’t know.
  He smiles at me. I know that talking about Kelly Clarkson reminds him our very first date. He took me to her New York gig, and I highly suspect Amanda to have told him I was a huge fan and suggesting the concert as a perfect first date. Well, of course it was perfect because we wouldn’t be here six years later, and Stella would never have been born.
  “Here they are, the red decorations”, Sonny says with a smile of triumph, removing the piece of card separating the box in two.
“Yay !!!!”, Stella shouts, diving in the card, her little body half disappearing in it, and she reappears, barely two seconds later, a big red garland wrapped around her neck like a boa.
  She starts to walk in the room, laughing, twirling a part of the garland and silly dancing on her already long legs. That child will probably be as tall as her father. Sonny looks at her in awe, I’m still amazed at how much he loves her.
  “I’m going to look in the other boxes if I find the red string lights and the top star”, I peck his cheek, making him snap back from his staring state to take the decorations out of the box.
“Do you realize that we actually made that little human ?”, he says, his eyes not leaving Stella’s little frame.
“Every day since the moment she first kicked me when she was still in my womb”, I tell him while turning back to the rest of the boxes.
  I open one the other boxes by the dining table and find the figurines. Santa, snowmen, reindeers, even Stella’s Frozen figurines that she insists to put by the tree ‘because they live in Santa’s country’. They don’t really but we don’t want to upset her for now. I open another box. Wrong choice, this one contain table decorations. So, it must be in the last box. This time is the good one, the lights are here, with the red star.
  “We didn’t label the lights, I don’t know which one is what color, we’ll have to try them all”, I sigh.
  And obviously, after testing all of them, the red one finally pops up in the mess of string lights that snake around me.
  “Got it !”, I shout in victory. “We need to label it red when we put it back in the box after the holidays”, I add, rising on my feet, putting all the other lights aside.
  I go back to Stella and Sonny, who’s untangling a red garland full of knots.
  “We should really learn to put those away in a better way. Each year it’s the same thing.”
  I just nod. Sonny gets up and starts to wrap the red garland around the tree.
  “You should put this one before the others”, I say, handing him the Christmas lights.
“Lights first daddy”, Stella states very seriously, nodding with her hand under her chin, something she probably saw that on tv.
“Yes ma’am”, Sonny salutes, removing the red garland from the tree and it makes me chuckle.
  He takes the Christmas lights from my hands and start to wind it around the tree, from the top to the bottom, taking care to hide the wire behind the tree next to the plug. Next, he grabs the red garland and wraps it around the tree, and then he puts three more, the last being the one around Stella.
  “I think that’s enough garlands. Let’s put the bulbs.”
  Stella doesn’t even wait for us to take a first bulb and puts it on the tree. When she takes another one, Sonny lifts her in his arms so she can put a bulb higher. After a few minutes, the tree is all decorated except for the star at the top.
  “Ok, now the most important part”, Sonny says, grabbing Stella under her arms to lift her higher than earlier, while I hand her the star. “Put it on top baby.”
  Stella takes the star from my hands delicately and puts it gently on top of the tree. When Sonny puts her down, he tenderly kisses her forehead. When her feet hit the floor, she runs to me and hugs my legs tight. I crouch down to take her in my arms before rising up with her, hugging her tightly.
  “And now ladies, the highlight of the show !”, Sonny turns off the light and plugs the string lights.
  When the plug enters its hole, the tree lights itself and Sonny walks back to stand next to us, sliding his arm around my shoulders, Stella watching in awe the green tree and its red lights.
Taglist :
@castiel-enthusiast​, @storiesofsvu​, @the16thprecinct​, @svu-ncis-criminalminds​, @australiancarisi​, @teamsladsandgents​, @thatesqcrush​, @caplanreads​,
57 notes · View notes
90spumkin · 3 years
Text
Unexpected Switch (Part Six)
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Summary: Do things go according to plan as the team pursues to bring the reader’s sister into custody.
A/N: I’M BACK!!! I apologize for not updating for almost a whole month. It has seemed to be one thing after another here lately. Anyways I will be finishing this series with 2 or 3 more updates, but of course I have some steamy things in the works before it ends. I hope you enjoy my mess of writing, and like always I am open for any comments or advice.
Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader
Warnings: swearing, criminal minds talk, implied mental health distress
Word Count: , 1660
We had made it back from the crime scene about half hour ago and were all back in the round table room discussing what I had told Spencer, Rossi, and Luke on the way here.
I was pacing the floor listening to the team talk through this new information. “Kid you’re gonna put a hole in the floor if you keep that up.” I stopped my pacing and looked towards Rossi. He was smiling at me and patted the seat next to him. I sat down and leaned my elbows onto the table, exhaustion trying to consume me.
“Okay so according to what y/n told us, Tessa had shown some form of jealousy in every memory that y/n has of her. That would make sense since the killings started about the same time y/n received that award with the ridiculously long name.” Luke stated with a smirk at the end.
“The American Psychological Association International Humanitarian Award is not that long. You’re just lazy.” Tara teased Luke and made us all chuckle, especially at the mocked hurt look Luke gave her.
Emily brought us all back to the serious situation at hand, “Y/n you told Spencer that you might have an idea how to catch her?”
I nodded and gave them a weary smile, “How do you guys feel about overpriced food and screaming children?”  I was met with very confused and concerned looks from everyone but Garcia who knew exactly where I was going with this and she looked very amused. “I think we need to make a trip back to Massachusetts.”
--------
We hatched out a plan after the team realized the case wasn’t making me insane. After a “Wheels up in 20” from Emily we all started to part ways to meet at the jet when I was stopped by a hand on my elbow before I could make it halfway out the door.
I stopped and turned towards JJ who looked sheepish at the fact of having any interaction with me. She crossed her arms and proceeded to say, “I just wanted to apologize for how I’ve acted towards you during all of this. I was beyond sure that you were behind all this and couldn’t understand why the team was questioning the original profile. Then when they all started trusting you so easily it made me uneasy. I was wrong though y/n, you’ve been nothing but helpful during all this.” She took a deep breath and relaxed her arms and continued, “I guess what I am trying to say is I hope you will forgive me and us maybe start over?” She said it more like a question more than she probably meant to.
If my mother taught me anything it was to forgive others who made an effort to correct their wrong doings. Besides JJ seemed sincere and had good reasonings behind her actions. I smiled and gave her a nod, “I forgive you JJ. I honestly probably would have acted the same way or worse.”
She barked out a laugh before saying, “Thank goodness because I have been dying to ask you about your wrist tattoo!” I glanced down at my wrist at the constellation that I thought was well hidden, “I would love to tell you the story behind it.”
We linked arms as we continued to talk and laugh as we entered the bullpen. The looks we received from everyone, especially Spencer, was like they were seeing a unicorn befriending a dinosaur. It was quite amusing and only made JJ and I giggle.
-----
It had been a little over 12 hours since we came up with the plan to hopefully catch Tessa and bring her into custody. It was exactly two hours till that plan was going to be put into action and saying I was anxious was an understatement.
We had come to the local police station to tie up some loose ends and get everything in place for later. I was in the process of fixing me a cup of very strong coffee when I must have zoned out because Spencer’s calming voice brought me back to wherever my mind had taken me.
“Are you okay?” Spencer took the coffee pot from my hand where I had frozen just holding it, no coffee had been poured into my cup. I shook my head trying to rid it of the fuzziness that had resided there.
“Yeah-I- umm…”
Spencer poured my coffee and handed it to me, “The abyss?” I took the coffee gratefully and tucked it close to my chest, “Yeah the abyss, well almost. You saved me once again Dr. Reid.”
I gave him a small smile as I took a sip of my coffee and tried to hide a grimace. Police station coffee tastes like shit.
Spencer gave me an award-winning smile as he spoke, “Well I don’t want the 3-year running Corn Festival Queen being lost in her own mind where I can’t reach her now do?” He chuckled as I groaned. “How did you manage to persuade Penelope, the queen of gossip and lack of personal boundaries, not to tell us that detail of your life.”
I sat my coffee down on the counter and started adding an unhealthy amount of sugar to it hoping for a miracle as I spoke, “Well actually Dr. I had to persuade both Penelope and Emily.” Spencer raised an eyebrow intrigued and persisting for me to continue.
“The night she came to Emily’s office with the new information she had brought it up because my mom use to help organize the whole festival. I begged them not to say anything, and Emily said it wasn’t necessarily important for the case at the time.” I finished adding my mountain of sugar to my coffee and stirring it and took a big sip.
Before Spencer could respond Luke called out towards us, “Wow now we have two people who drinks sugar with a dash of coffee.” Matt and Rossi chuckled at his remark.
I looked towards Spencer who just shrugged and said, “I see nothing wrong with making coffee sweet. Especially if you drink it as often as I do.”
I couldn’t help but smile at him, “Coffee is a language of itself.” Spencer’s smile seemed to brighten at this quote, “Jackie Chan.”
----
“Emily if you take one more picture of me, they’re gonna have to arrest me for murder.” I was standing in a dramatically poofy dress with a crown on my head and a ‘Corn Festival Queen’ sash across my chest.
Emily let out a fit of giggles, “You look amazing… and I want these for black mail for later in our beautifully blossoming friendship.”
I just rolled my eyes and tried to grab her phone from her hands. I was beyond unsuccessful. Just as I about had my hands on it, I tripped over the unnecessary ruffles on the bottom of my dress and fell face first into someone’s chest. No not just someone, it was Spencer. He helped steady me and gave me a warm smile. Emily silently slipped out the tent, but not before snapping another picture.
Spencer reached a hand out to fix the rings of curls that had came untucked from their clip, “I like these curls framing your face. It only amplifies your beauty.”
My eyes met his eyes and shy smile graced his face. I couldn’t help but turn my head away when I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. Spencer’s hand that was fixing my curls was now cupping the side of my face bringing me to face him once again.
“You remember the plan, right?” His eyes held so much concern in them that I hesitated before answering. I gave him a reassuring smile and assured him, “Down to the very last vivid detail.”
He smiled at me and ran his thumb across my cheek. Matt poked his head into the tent, “Hey guys it’s go time.” Just as quick as he had appeared, he disappeared. That man has a talent of unknowingly interrupting moments.
Spencer pulled away from me and it took everything in me not to whine at the lack of warmth where his hand had been. His beautiful sharp features where crossed with worry as he said, “Please be careful. And if anything goes wrong, stay calm. I’ll find you. I promise.”
And with that he was gone. I was left with a rapid beating heart and a mind full of haze.
------
I stood on the stage; the fakest smile plastered across my face. I kept darting my eyes around the crowd always making sure I could see a member of the team. I was so focused on the crowd I almost missed the mayor announce the new Corn Festival Queen for me to crown.
The girl bowed her head for me to place the crown, not giving me a chance to see her face. As I placed the crown on her head, I didn’t notice the disturbance in the crowed as the BAU team raced towards me.
Before I knew what was happening the newly crowned Festival Queen stood and gave me smile that could only be described as a snarl as she said, “Hi-a sis.” , and dove towards me with a knife in hand.
I was pulled away just in time, but not before the knife went across my arm causing a searing pain to shoot through it causing me to hiss in pain. I looked up to see Spencer, his arms around me protectively, and Luke holding Tessa down as Tara place the handcuffs securely around her wrists. They pulled her into a standing position and began to state her rights as she kept her eyes on me and a shit eating grin across her face.
I turned towards Spencer who instantly started to inspect my arm. I let out a low chuckle, “Well that wasn’t part of the plan.”
*
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@criminalmindzjunkie​ @hendersonsshadow​ @brooklynxnicole​ @martinafigoli​ @misschil3​
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lovelivingmydreams · 3 years
Text
A story by heroes and villains
Virgil Anker: better together
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Virgil learns to accept help from others.
“Ugh! I am done!” Virgil glanced up from his assignment to see Roman let himself fall back into his chair with relief. Their first study session had gone rather well. They should probably reserve one of the discussion booths next time. The poor librarian had needed to remind them to be quiet multiple times. They’d just had too much fun. But Virgil could understand Roman’s exhaustion. It was time they wrapped things up. “Give me a sec, I have to finish this thing for English,” he muttered absentmindedly as he focused once more.
“Want me to read it trough for you?”
Virgil looked up in surprise. “You don’t…” he started. He didn’t even know why he was feeling like he’d done something wrong right now. Picani might be able to help him figure it out during their session after Virgil got back from his trip to the zoo with uncle Thomas tomorrow.
“We’re here to help each other Virgil. If I didn’t want to help you I wouldn’t offer. I thrive on being of help to my friends. It’s no trouble.” Right. Roman was like that. For everyone, not just him. It was okay to let him help. Virgil found himself smiling a little sheepishly and nodded. “Alright. You can read it when I’m done,” he allowed quickly turning back to his work.
When he finished his essay he looked up to find Roman in the zone. Which was excellent. It made it easier to sneak up on him. Apparently those with ADHD were extra susceptible to his cloak. Did he have proof for that? Well it was more of a hypothesis, but he had no means to test it. It made sense though.
And Roman had yet to prove him wrong.
Virgil cloaked himself, moved to stand right next to Roman and looked over his shoulder. It looked like he was designing a fashion line. Trans girl dresses, Pansexual messenger bags… as well as formal clothing inspired by broadway and Disney characters it seemed. He dropped his cloak.
“Seems I’m not the only one who can draw up some clothes.” Virgil had to stifle his laughter when that observation nearly made Roman jump 4 feet in the air.
“Will you stop that!?” he hissed.
“Not a chance,” Virgil chuckled as he picked up Roman’s sketches.
“This looks good though… You ever thought of becoming a fashion designer?” he suggested casually, allowing himself to imagine starting a brand with Roman someday.
“You are a genius!” Roman exclaimed, making Virgil’s heart jump.
He played it cool though. He’d gotten good at that over the last two years. Pretending that Roman’s smile didn’t turn his insides upside down. “It’s the least I can do. I sent in the designs like you said… I’m kind of excited.” He was. He hoped to catch a glimpse when he went out tonight.
“I’m sure next time you see DreamPrince on the news he’ll be wearing your design.” It was nice, having someone believe in him like that. Other than his dads that is.
“We’ll see,” he smiled as he handed Roman his laptop.
“Well,” Roman announced after a while. “I think you can hand this in with confidence Virge.”
Virgil felt himself relax at that. Roman wouldn’t say that if he didn’t mean it.
“So… I recall something about pizza? I’m starving!”
Virgil chuckled and lead the hungry Hispanic to the restaurant he’d suggested.
Virgil reminded himself over and over that this wasn’t a date, but it was very hard. Especially when, near the end of their meal Roman suddenly started acting nervous. “So… Um… There’s this… Shoot wait a minute,” Roman got up and picked up his phone.
“Si mama…? Que?” Virgil watched Roman look at his watch and jump.
“Perdona! I’ll be there soon.” With that he hung up and took out his wallet. Rambling all the way.
“So sorry Virge! Time got away from us I’m afraid. I swear I intended to give you that ride… Can you call your dad… You know what? Just use the change to take the bus or a cab or something alright? My treat! I’ll call you later!” he promised as he tossed down a few bills before rushing away. Leaving Virgil behind a little stunned. Maybe it was a family thing? It looked urgent.
He took the bus as it was cheaper and there was a stop in his new street.
The house was nice. Though Virgil wasn’t used to it yet. Especially now, when his dads weren’t home, it felt weird being here. Luckily he didn’t plan on staying too long.
He texted his dad while getting dressed. By the time he left the house, he got a reply.
“Don’t wait up. Patton and Thomas say hi. Thomas wants to remind you of the trip to the zoo tomorrow.” Virgil smiled, he didn’t know uncle Thomas was going to be there too… Maybe these projects were just poker nights with the boys. He might have to ask them about it when they got home.
Regardless, duty called.
Virgil was starting to think that he might need to do take a break from turning in evidence for a bit. The criminals were getting agitated.
“I say we attack now! They are weak! We can take them down easily!” he heard one guy suggest. No, turf wars were a bad idea. Clearly he hadn’t thought about maintaining the power balance enough. Good thing he was about to even the playing field again. All these idiots had to do was get caught on his camera with something very illegal, preferably saying the bosses name or any clue the police could use for some kind of big bust.
The leader of this troupe seemed rather well respected. Virgil had learned to spot the difference between the ranks, and if this guy wasn’t answering to the big guy himself, then he was pretty close.
“Boss says we have a truce until the rat is found,” The big dude in question stated.
A truce? Was he that much of a threat? Should he feel flattered or scared?
The tugs argued back and forth a bit more and Virgil was seriously considering just getting out of here. Maybe he could trip up some lower tier members. Or go back to helping lost travelers for a while. Just enough to make the higher ups relax again. They wouldn’t rebuild their ranks too much if they thought it was an inside job or something. Right?
And if they’d realized someone was giving the cops everything they needed to stop them, they wouldn’t plan anything major for a while. Unless the boss was stupid.
Suddenly Virgil saw a figure descend from the roof. He made a hero landing, straight from a superhero movie.
Virgil’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be…
“Do you gentlemen have permits for those weapons?” Dream Prince asked with a deep, booming voice as he rose up, wearing the full costume Virgil had designed. Including the cape. What was he doing here? Stupid question. He was government sanctioned. The chief was on the news a few days ago claiming him as one of theirs.
Which meant she probably asked him to look for Virgil. Does that woman never give up?
The gang was confused by his appearance. One of them calling the young hero ‘prince clown’. Virgil was too far away to see it, but he was willing to bet the clown in question was not too pleased with that.
With a gesture from the leader the gang was silenced. “Sure kid,” he said in a voice that made Virgil stand on high alert. “Got mine right here.”
Or find the stories of Logan and Roman in the Master post
Before Virgil could react in any meaningful way, Prince had shielded himself with his cape and the leader fired at least four rounds at him. The hero was unharmed though. The sounds of bullets falling to the ground the only evidence that they had ever left the barrel in the first place.
“Well now you just pissed me off. This is brand new!” Prince complained as he dropped the cape. And Virgil had to admit, it looked very cool. “I suppose you won't surrender peacefully?” he deduced.
The sound of guns being armed was his only answer. Which was stupid. That was already shown not to work. But sure, shoot with more guns. Don’t actually use your brain or anything. Prince let out an annoyed sigh as he hung his cape from a water pipe. “Fine.” And just like that, he sped towards the criminals through a rain of bullets.
It seemed like he had it handled, and Virgil was pretty sure that he would notice he was there no matter how well he cloaked himself if he got involved. And if he was here to look for him and bring him in for whatever the chief had planned…
Still, he couldn’t make himself just stand by.
He jumped in and helped disarm the criminals and caught a few punches, Prince seemed unlikely to dodge. Pretty soon he felt like Prince was adapting his fighting to his presence which told him that he was in fact spotted.
Soon the gang was down on the ground and their disassembled guns were on a pile on the floor. Virgil returned to the shadows once the sirens lit up the alley.
Prince donned his cloak once more and walked up to where the leader laid, showing off his boot.
“So… how does it feel to get your butt kicked by a guy in heels?” Virgil’s eyes widened as he saw Prince show off the boot. He was wearing the heeled boots? Sure he pulled them off, but that wasn’t a smart move. He couldn’t have had that much time to practice with them yet. Virgil sent the design on Tuesday. Unless… Maybe he’d worn heels before? That was a possibility. Though crime fighting in heels couldn’t be comfortable… Still, it did make the whole thing extra cool, Virgil had to admit.
Suddenly Dream Prince looked up at him and gave a playful wink. So he had noticed him. And he could see him even though he was cloaked right now… Or not quite. He wasn’t looking directly at him. So he knew he was there, just not where exactly.
“Good job Dream Prince. We've got it from here,” one of the police officers who’d come to make the arrests told Prince. The young hero turned to him and bowed.
“It's my pleasure to be of assistance to the police of this fine city.” While he turned around he made a gesture with his hand. Virgil could tell he was being asked to follow.
Part of him wanted to run the other way. But he was curious.
He wanted to take a good look at the costume. He wanted to scold Prince. He wanted to give him a message for the chief. Maybe find out what she wanted from him.
So he followed him all the way to a rooftop.
The city lights illuminated Prince from the back, his cape floating in the wind.
Virgil wished he could take a picture. Roman would love this.
Prince took a step forward and bowed for him. He was really sticking to this Prince thing huh?
“Greetings Phantom. I must thank you for the assist now and three months ago. I am Dream Prince, he/him if you please. A pleasure to officially meet you.” So he had figured out when they’d met.
Virgil couldn’t help a chuckle. He was still cloaking himself. He’d never talked to someone like this before so he had no clue if and how that affected his voice.
“Phantom huh?” Hmm. He kind of liked it. Sure it confirmed that prince was here due to chief. But it was a cool nickname.
“Sure you can call me that. He/him… mind telling me what that was about? I thought you officials weren't let of your leash unless you could be responsible enough to not get yourself killed?” Did he sound a bit catty? Maybe. Was what Prince did idiotic? Absolutely.
Prince didn’t seem to agree. “Says the guy who has half the criminal underworld out for his blood.”
Virgil looked away. Damn. He’d hoped Prince was going to live up to Virgil’s original nickname for him. But he was no idiot.
“Do you have something against the program?” Prince pressed.
“No I…”  Virgil tried to steady himself. It wasn’t Prince’s fault that he was pissed at his boss. “Sorry I’m just pissed at the cops for sending you, I guess,” he admitted reluctantly.
“Yet you chose to follow me up here?” Okay, so he really should give this guy more credit.
“Um… Well… I just…” He couldn’t tell him he was curious about him. That would give away interest on his part and he was not ready to let anything personal slide. He hated being put on the spot like this. Damn, this was not helping the stoic, mysterious guy aura he was going for.
“You interrupted my stake out!” he recalled. Right, one of the reasons he was mad at Prince. The lecture he’d interrupted with his observations.
“Do you know how long it takes to work my way up the ranks? First I have to find a low level runner, then I follow him to his boss, that guy to his and so up the ladder I go. I was getting real close to the big guy of this group. And now…” Sure, he had been thinking about needing to go more low profile for a while to let the rumors simmer out. But still.
“I apologize,” Prince replied sincerely with another bow. It was hard to be mad with this guy. Perfect hero material. “I merely intended to help. They were talking about killing you.”
He appreciated the concern really. But he overlooked one crucial detail.
“And now there is a price on your head! The leader of that little club is like two steps away from the big boss. They won’t be happy with you taking him in.” He couldn’t let him get himself on the bad guys’ list. Not because he thought he needed to protect him. Or maybe a little. When had he started feeling responsible for Prince? Was this how his dad felt? Why he’d tried to keep him from being overly self-sacrificing as a kid?
“You got dirt on them?” Prince wondered.
Virgil rolled his eyes. “Yes… But that’s not the point. They have no clue about me. Not really,” just some guesses and rumors. “But you are out in the open.” They’d know who to go after with him. “This is not your kind of mission Royal pain. And now that you are out, you can’t expect me to hold your hand any longer…” Virgil got distracted when Prince crossed his arm and smirked smugly. “You’ve been looking out for me all summer huh?”
That smug little… Fine he got him there.
He rolled his eyes with a scoff, trying to dismiss the statement. “It’s not like I came looking for you.” He just… Did the right thing when they met up.
Prince was the one dreaming if he thought he felt any kind of responsibility towards him. He was just trying to… To be someone he could be proud of. That was why he was doing this. To not feel week and useless. To help people, even if he couldn’t always help those he felt closest to.
“Still… Thank you…” Prince said gently, about to step forward again. But then he cringed and clutched his head. “Ow!”
The young hero sounded more annoyed than in pain.
He pressed a finger to his ear. Communicating with whoever was on the other line no doubt. ��One. Loud. Two. Rude! I am in the middle of something! And did you seriously remotely reactivate my com?” Virgil could hear him hiss in the communication device, dropping the regal persona completely. Virgil bit back his amusement.
“I am fine, not a scratch on me,” Prince replied annoyed. “I’ll call you when I’m done here.” And then he seemed to take something out of his ear. He was so lucky Virgil wasn’t a bad guy or he’d just made it a lot easier on him to take him out.
“Sorry,” Prince sighed. “My mentor is… intense at times.”
“Mentor?” Virgil wondered. He’d heard about the GTA program and it’s monitors in the past. But mentors… that sounded a bit more one on one than just people who told you what to do.
“One of the people helping me practice my powers, test my limits. Comes with the program. It’s not just a babysit and a nice suit,” Prince joked.
“Oh…” Virgil didn’t know what to say to that. It was… Something he’d been wanting for a while now. For a way to test all that he could do. To figure out the shield, push the limits of his cloak and try and use his healing for others. Someone to help him strategize, to talk with when he’d had a tough night. But unless he was ready to come clean with his dad, that was out of his reach.
“Listen, I admit I was sent by the chief. But I didn’t come here to recruit you. I wanted to thank you and tell you… If you ever need someone to talk to, to help you figure something out… I’d be more than happy to oblige. No need to tell me your name or anything about yourself.”
Virgil looked at the offered hand. Maybe, it wasn’t impossible after all.
He considered his options. But it seemed like there was no catch to this offer. So he closed the gap and shook his hand.
“I’ll see you next time,” Prince offered kindly before letting go and running straight of the rooftop as if there was a walkway just for him.
Virgil smirked. Maybe he should wrap it up for tonight. Prince and the other heroes had the area covered. He’d collect the information he had on the tugs that were arrested tonight. Next time he saw Dream Prince, he’d hand that information to him.
If things went well… This could be a good partnership.
End of this part. Meet Janus and learn his side
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