#rhodey trying not to think about how tall and hot everyone is: fine i was thinking of you the whole time :)

[ironhusband]

Thank you Hamburger Hill for providing us with actual footage of Rhodey’s first tour. 

#HE'S SO TINY ADFGHJHGFDFGHJKL #he's so short #don was just 23 during this so when i say actual footage #also.... #tony who was so worried he didnt sleep for a week: so how was your tour #rhodey trying not to think about how tall and hot everyone is: fine i was thinking of you the whole time :) #actually rhodey was just excited because he's! a! pilot! but still #don cheadle #james rhodes #rhodey #war machine #james rhodey rhodes #hamburger hill #iron patriot #iron man #marvel #mcu #tony stark

[starkerforlife6969]

Starker - Accidentally Perfect

It all started with a bet.

And Tony hates how much of a cliche even that is. A bet. He's let himself get dragged into a bet by a fresh-faced eighteen year old who has a walkman ironically and brings a dictaphone into every lecture.

Goddamn, he hates Peter Parker. He seethes furiously at him from across the quad, the hot summer sun beating down on his shoulders. His blank tank top is helping keep the heat off, but it's still almost unbearably warm. Sticky with the promise of the summer holidays only a few weeks away.

"Do you actually think you can stare him out of existence?" Rhodey asks, a cool, amused voice from back in the shade of their stand. Tony turns and glowers, pulling his sunglasses off.

"He's such a little shit."

"He's eighteen, Tony. All eighteen year olds are little shits. We were, remember?"

Tony doesn't remember them ever being as unbearable as Peter. His face must say as much, because Rhodey sighs.

"We're twenty-seven." He says gently. "We're getting a little too old to keep blaming college wars on the freshman."

He barely resists the urge to stomp his foot. "He started it!"

It's true, Tony thinks. He can't really remember how it all started. He remembers the beginning of the semester, deciding to take a break from the all-consuming robotics thesis of his doctorate and go and drop in on a lecture. He remembers a bright-eyed boy with fluffy hair stumbling through a presentation in front of his peers. He very vaguely remembers calling out one or two inconsistencies with Peter's presentation. He remembers the bright red flush that had spread across Peter's cheeks, and the way he'd stumbled quietly over his words, and- okay- in Tony's defence, he was sleep deprived- trying to think up his proposal, still trying to get his second phD started and-

It had turned into all out war pretty quickly.

Turns out, Peter didn't respond well to being picked on.

Not that Tony had picked on him, just-

"Gluing all my furniture to the ceiling? Selling my text books? Hiring someone to fire a paintball at me every hour for four days?!" Tony runs his hands through his hair, shaking his head. "He's evil!"

Rhodey barely blinks, eyes on his phone. "But..."

Tony's shoulders droop. "...But I started it." He mumbles under his breath.

"What? I didn't quite catch that."

"I started it, alright? Jeez," he winces, "I said sorry."

"No. You didn't."

Okay fine, he's not big on apologies.

Whatever. It doesn't matter anyway. They're where they are now. The bet. Whoever raises the most money for the oil spill just off of Mexico's coast wins. Their two stands sit opposite each other on the quad, six hours to raise money, loser has to get down on their knees in front of the entire student body and declare the other their superior in every single way.

That's why Tony's here. In a tight black tank top, muscles on display, sunglasses on, hair messy, grinning at everyone who passes.

"How much have we got, Rhode-aroo?"

There's a gentle clatter as Rhodey checks the basket. "Uh, $12?"

Tony winces. That's not great. "Whatever. It's gotta be more than Parker has anyway."

Rhodey hums.

***

As the third hour ticks by, Tony slinks back into the shade of their stall and dozes off a little. It can't be more than fifteen minutes, but when he opens his eyes, there's a trickle of students leaving their classes and walking through the quad.

For some bewildering reason, they're all walking to Peter's stand.

Tony frowns, tiptoeing over to enemy lines.

The first thing he sees is that Peter's money basket is full. Not just one money basket, but four money baskets. At least $100 in change, loose bills and Starbucks vouchers.

What the fuck?

And then- then he sees why.

MJ, the equally annoying friend, is manning the booth. She's concise and thoughtful and armed with scary statistics as she neatly collects money and scares more into baskets.

But Peter, Peter is all cream silk shirt and tight blue shorts, and big eyes and enthusiasm.

"I just keep thinking of the baby seals," Peter whines, rocking on the heels of his feet, pink converse scraping against the grass. "Those poor animals, all covered in oil..." he bites his lip, bats those eyelashes, and the tall jock who's leaning over him, nods, already fumbling for his wallet.

"Yeah totally, the-the seals."

"Right? Oh, thank you," Peter sighs, voice a little wanton moan, touching the guy's elbow, leaning in. "You're a hero."

The guy tosses in another twenty.

Jesus Christ. Tony can't help his grin of disbelief, even as irritated as he is that he didn't come up with it first.

Devious little shit.

***

When the crowd has dispersed a little bit, and the dynamic duo have bled most everyone dry, Tony makes himself known, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"Wow, Parker. We're more alike than I thought."

Peter turns, looking up at him, eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Oh yeah? How's that? Did you actually start caring about the oil spill?"

Tony hums, feigning nonchalance. "I just mean, I thought your standards were a little higher."

The boy frowns, little face scrunched up in confusion. It's annoyingly endearing. "Huh?"

"C'mon, no need to hide now. Playing dumb and pretty to get donations? Way to care about the animals."

The outrage that flits across that expressive face is way too believable. "Pretty anddumb? Screw you, Tony. You're just jealous I'm winning." Peter humphs, crossing his arms. "Is surly know-it-all not enticing the crowds the way you thought it would?"

Tony shrugs. "Maybe. Because I won't reduce myself."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Come on, Peter. You know what you're doing to people." Here, Tony raises his voice. Hopefully, he'll be able to steer people away from here and over to his own stand. Though, Rhodey's death glare from across the quad is making him think maybe that's not an excellent idea- why, he's not sure. He barrels on, attention on him. "You're doing that thing- with the big sparkly brown Disney eyes and the scandalously short shorts and the elbow-touching. You're fake laughing at bad jokes and fluttering your eyelashes and selling your torturous mix of princess and bombshell that none of us can resist to trick people into giving you their money, admit it!"

Peter gapes, mouth in a delicious 'o'. "I am not!" He shrieks: scandalised.

Tony scoffs. "You expect me to believe that you're thisfucking irresistible on purpose?"

The boy doesn't seem to know what to do with that. He scrambles, blushing under the stare of the passers-by. "I'm...I don't...um...thank you?"

Tony stares. No way. No fucking way is this not an act, it can't be or-

"Yeah." MJ sighs, the sigh of the long-wearied, as she unfolds another dollar bill into the pile. "Join the club."

***

Tony's pacing back stage, still trying to understand everything in his head.

The entire student body is waiting on the other side of that curtain, mostly drunk, hopefully too drunk to remember this in the morning- to see his apology act.

"Big sparkly Disney eyes," Rhodes hums, re-watching the video on twitter. "I'm surprised you went with that one, you're always going on about his Bambi eyes. What's the difference?"

"I swear to god, if you keep talking-"

"I think my favourite bit is where you basically announced to the world that your kink is sexy princess."

"Oh my god-"

"Uh- T-Tony?"

Tony whirls around to see Peter standing at the curtain, and Tony can't help the groan of embarrassment.

"Look, Pete, I'll do it, alright? Just give me a second to shed the last of my dignity."

"No, it's not..." Peter blushes, and Rhodey lifts his hands, shuffling away to give them some privacy. Peter edges closer, stupidly gorgeous with all of his freckles, a fucking dandelion crown perched on his chestnut curls, like he's just trying to press all of Tony's buttons and- "Look, Tony," Peter murmurs, all sweetness and loveliness, "I was thinking, you don't need to- you don't need to go out there and say anything." He wrings his lily-white hands, silvery bracelets hanging at the wrist, "Really. I feel like- the fact that video from the quad went viral was- that's more than enough."

Tony doesn't know what to say, but it doesn't stop him from trying. "Pete, about what I said..."

"I really wasn't doing any of that stuff- I-, I wasn't trying to play dumb, or- I mean, maybe I was? I didn't- I didn't mean to, I just wanted to help the seals, and I've already bought my ticket to volunteer for seal cleaning over summer break and-"

Tony laughs, shaking his head. Because he knows. He sighs, meeting those lovely brown eyes. "I know you weren't. You're not- I was just- I'm sorry, Pete. For all of it. For the day we met."

Peter looks shy, but pleased. "You were an ass." He agrees amiably.

"I was. Am. Trying not to be."

Peter chews on his bottom lip, accidentally embodying Tony's every wet dream. "You could buy a ticket for the summer seal cleaning task." Peter shrugs, eyes darting away. "If you like."

"With you?" Tony wonders aloud, "with you being so...unintentionally you? Not sure I could cope."

"True," Peter whispers coyly, "imagine if I was actively trying to seduce you. You wouldn't last a minute."

At that, Tony laughs again. Loud and delighted. Head tipped back, unaware to how Peter drinks in the sight. "Is that a bet, kid?"

Peter beams.

#starker #peter x tony #college au #young tony #tony is a doctorate student #peter is 18 #fluff #peter parker is a sweetheart #precious peter parker #tony stark is a dork

[holylulusworld]

Repopulate – Part 3

Summary: Thanos won; the Avengers lost. Now the government decided the world needs repopulation. You find yourself bound to a man you will have to call your husband from now on. Can you work things out?

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, OFC Mr. Sulkis, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, mentions of Bruce ‘Hulk’

Warnings: angst, Nomad Steve, forced marriage/arranged marriage, comforting, fluff, mentions of suicide/human trafficking (nothing graphic), scared reader

Repopulate Masterlist

Steve comes back. Sad. Down. He tries to hide his sadness but the way he leans against the table, hands stuffed into the pockets of his gray dress pants, tells you his mood is worse once again.

“Bad meeting?” You ask walking toward the tall Avenger searching his face.

Over the last two months, you got closer. Not physically but emotionally. You told him about your family, your fiancée. Steve told you about his dead friends. 

“I tried to…” Steve chokes, trying to compose himself as always. He can’t let weakness shine through. Not in times like these.

“Just tell me, Steve. I’m here, I will not judge you. I told you about the lipstick I stole too. Not even my mom knew.” You whisper and he smiles. Remembering he threatened to ‘punish’ you for stealing.

“One of us. Stuart.” Steve begins as you take his hand in yours, just listening to his words. “He committed suicide. I don’t know how to help them any longer. I’m torn between helping them and just giving up. I try to break through walls but honestly, breaking through a wall made of stone is way easier.” Steve sighs and you chuckle lightly.

“For you, muscle man but I get it. I’m sorry about Stuart.” Your eyes meet Steve’s and he squeezes your hand tightly. “Do you want to talk about the meeting?”

“Stuart lost his wife and two kids. His mom too. It’s just not fair, Y/N. Thanos said it would be fair, but some people did not lose anyone, and others lost everyone, just like you.” Steve moves his arms around you now and you rest your head against his chest.

“You’re right, it’s not fair Steve but I’ve got you and if you want to, you’ve got me too.” You whisper and his grip at you tightens. There’s something possessive inside of him now. He needs to make sure nothing happens to you. 

“I’ve got you,” Steve repeats as a knock on the door disturbs his thoughts. “We talk some more later.”

 ---

“I prepared dinner. I’ll start setting the table, Steve. Do you want some beer or wine?” You call from the kitchen as Steve walks into the dining room, the guy from the day your marriage with Steve was announced hot on his heels.

“Y/N, Mr. Sulkis is here to make sure we are living together and are a happy couple. Someone told him we are not…you know.” Steve snarls and you look away.

“He wants us to talk about the things we do in the bedroom, Steve?” You whisper. “I don’t want to talk about something like this in public. Steve and I…”

“We are doing what married couples do in the bedroom, Mr. Sulkis. Y/N had some difficulties in the beginning but now…” Pointing toward the table and the prepared meal. “My wife and I living together as we should.” Steve’s eyes narrow as the man walks toward his bedroom, opening the door to see your nightgown and Steve’s pajamas lying on the bed. Sheets scrambled.

“Everything looks fine, Mr. Rogers.” Mr. Sulkis mutters. “Perfect…”

“Captain…” Steve corrects.

“Captain…” The man snarls glancing at you wearing one of Steve’s flannels and socks. “Did I disturb something?” He smirks now eying your exposed legs shamelessly.

“Honestly, yes. We wanted to have dinner and more. If you excuse us now…” Steve warns. He doesn’t like the looks this man is giving you. “I don’t think my wife likes someone else than me looking at her like this.”

“Sure…you need to know we want results, Captain Rogers.” The man spats, grinning at you. “Or we will make sure we find a new partner for your ‘wife’.”

“Are you threatening my wife now? We will take as long as we need to conceive a baby. The stress of losing loved ones, a forced marriage - my wife needs to feel comfortable to have a baby. You threatening her doesn’t make it easier.” Steve warns now towering intimidating over the man. “Y/N is my wife. No one gets her, Mr. Sulkis. You can try to take her away from me, but you won’t like my answer.” 

“Steve, I think Mr. Sulkis knows I’m yours. Right?” The man eagerly nods, wanting nothing more than leaving Captain Americas home before the tall Avenger can kill him.

“Fine, perfectly fine. Mrs. Potters must’ve confused you with someone else.” Mr. Sulkis stammers rushing toward the door. 

“Who is Mrs. Potters?” You ask watching the man slamming the door shut. “Sharon. That’s her husband's name.” Steve says clenching his fist before he rushed out of his apartment to inform Natasha, Clint, and the others.

----

“This is an odd building.” You say looking around the new home Steve brought you to.

“It’s underneath the Stark tower. A hidden hideout, for cases like this. I heard the man talking on the phone. They wanted to get hold of you. Apparently, you are the perfect genetic pool for someone else. A politician. You’re mine.” Steve mutters bringing you into his arms. Holding you tightly. “I got all your things and our kitten. Tomorrow we are going to look around the new compound but for now, let’s have a rest.”

----

Watching Steve pacing around your new apartment you wonder. “Why does this man want me?”

“Natasha checked the files. More women suddenly disappeared. Their new husbands called the police, but you know…”

“They didn’t do anything?” You ask glancing at Steve. The tall Avenger is pacing around the bedroom once again, nervously sliding his fingers through his hair.

“If you’ve got enough money, you can buy the perfect woman. The government is full of moles. They find the woman, married or not and the rich guy gets her. Human trafficking seems to be normal these days, Y/N. I need you to stay here if I’m not around. Please…” Steve is kneeling beside you, taking your hands in his. “I can’t lose you too.”

“I’ll stay here, promised. I don’t want to be out there right now. The world is a dark place and it scares me, Steve. I hate to admit it but for the first time in my life, I’m scared…” You sniffle as Steve gets up to bring you onto his lap, holding you close.

“Shhh…no one is going to hurt you. I’ll protect you, Baby Girl.” Steve whispers and you hide your face into his chest. “Why? You barely know me, Steve. I’m not the girl you wanted.” You whisper holding tight onto his shirt as he rocks you back and forth.

“I was a stubborn fool, Y/N. I know the way we got married was not how a marriage should start but I do like you…a lot. I want to be there for you, protect you.” Steve whispers resting his chin on top of your head.

“As you like me or as no one else is left…” You sniffle and again he tightens the grip on you as if you might disappear like his friends.

“Both…” He admits ashamed. “I like you but there’s a part of me needing you to have someone to protect, to take care of. Is this selfish?” 

“We need each other, I guess. I got no one left. Only you and the cat.” You sigh. “I like you. I didn’t like you in the beginning but now I know you better and do like you, Steve.”

“Good. Tomorrow Nat, Clint, Rhodey and I will find out why Sharon sent this man to our apartment. We installed cameras in the building to check if he comes back.” Steve explains as you relax in his arms.

“Cap, I’m sorry to disturb you but you should have a look at this,” Clint says. “Your old apartment, they are storming it.”

 “What?” You gasp. “Why?”

“Let’s watch then…”

----

“Beta Team ready. Find the girl. We get her, we get Captain America. He likes her by now. We did a great job choosing this lost kitten to put it into Steve Rogers lap.” The man chuckles kicking Steve’s apartment door open.

“Alright. Captain Rogers is away. He drove out of town some hours ago. She should be alone. Get her but do not hurt the girl. We need her unharmed.” Another man orders and four heavily armed men storm into the apartment only to find it empty.

“Sir, no one is here. The wardrobe, everything is empty. If she was here, now she’s gone along with Captain Rogers.” One of the men says and a bullet hits his head.

“Dammit! The boss won’t be amused! Our goal is to make Captain America breed her. Hydra wants to repopulate the world with enhanced beings. Find her! Find her for me!” The man yells and everyone searches the apartment only to return empty-handed.

The man now tilts his head, grinning into the camera. “Hello, Steven. We are going to find you and your girl soon. Heil Hydra!” He chuckles shooting the camera.

“Holy shit! Are you telling me this whole repopulation program is one big lie to get Steve to breed the right girl?” Natasha gasps glancing at you.

“I think so,” Rhodey sighs. “We are into deeper shit than we thought. How is it possible so many Hydra agents survived the snap and most of the Avengers got dusted?”

Glancing at Steve you bite your lower lip. “Maybe you were right. You said the people are evil now. Maybe Thanos killed most of the good people and the evil ones outnumber us…” You whisper shaking in fear.

“Hey…hey…shh…” Steve rushes to your side, picking you up to bring you close to his warm chest. 

“It was a lie, you don’t have to take care of me…” You sniffle losing your last piece of hope. “I’m all alone again…”

“No matter how we found each other, you are my wife. Now let’s make sure this building is safe. Rhodey, talk to Bruce…or Hulk…or Bruce!Hulk…damnit I still don’t know how to call him.” Steve mutters and Natasha chuckles.

“I know, Steve. Imagine my problems…” Natasha shrugs.

“I’ll talk to him about Hydra and the security level. We should check if the whole program is manipulated or if it got infiltrated by Hydra.” Rhodey says.

“Good. Do this. Clint, check the footage. Maybe we can identify some of the invaders. I’ll bring Y/N to our apartment. I think she needs a rest.” Steve says full Captain now. “We will end this human trafficking right now. People suffered enough without Hydra messing with their life’s once again.”

----

“I think she’s good for Steve. I was worried he would never be the same again.” Natasha says watching Steve carrying you away. “The girl needs him and that’s what he needs.”

“We will make sure they have each other, Nat.” Clint chokes out. “I know how it feels…let’s focus on the footage. Bruce and Rhodey check the security level and the whole repopulating program.”

“One day we will make everything right…” Natasha whispers.

----

“How do you feel?” 

Steve carefully places you onto your feet, wiping away some tears. “Confused.” Your words barely a whisper. “Scared too.”

“I won’t leave you alone.” 

Now he tilts his head, cradling your face with his large hands. “We belong together…” His lips brush over yours and you close your eyes when Steve deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue into your mouth.

Hands fist each other’s clothing, mouths clash while you forget about the world outside…

All works Tags

@yolobloggers​, @meganywinchester​​, @shikshinkwon​​, @miraclesoflove​ ​, @mogaruke​, @shatteredabby​

Repopulate Tags

@crist1216​, @hista-girl​, @what-if-i-am-weird​​, @chljmntgy​, @xjaelee​, @monomads​​​ , @sgtevanstan, @about-stephanie-i-guess​, @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory​

Marvel Tags

@stuckys-whore​, @notyourtypicalrose​, @voltage-my2dlove​, @thedoctorscamanion , @officialmarvelwhore​, @randomgirlkensy​, @juniorhuntersam​, @lumar014​, @doctorswife221b​, @badboysdoitbetter2​​, @sister-winchesters99​,

Steve Rogers/Chris Evans Tags

@hhiggs​​​, @roonyxx​​, @stylesismyhubs​​

#marvel fanfiction #marvel masterlist #marvel series #marvel #steve x reader #steve rogers #steve rogers x you #steve x y/n #steve rogers series #captain america #captain america fanfic #captain america x reader #angst #Repopulate Masterlist #natasha romanoff #clint barton #james rhodey rhodes #hydra #nomad steve rogers

[losingmymindtonight]

I absolutely adore your writing! Can you please please pretty please with a mango on top write a fic where Morgan worries or is scared for Peter getting hurt or ending up like Tony?

AN: Forgive me if this is a bit of a scattered mess. I wrote it with Pride and Prejudice playing in the background, trying to distract myself from how freaking hot it is right now. I hope it’s at least a little of what you were looking for!

Little note before you continue: this is Endgame compliant, unfortunately. It’s set a good few years later, so the grief and discussions of death aren’t as graphic or as overpowering as it would be in the immediate aftermath, but those themes are still there. This fic also contains mentions of blood and injury, although that’s also not graphic.

–

F.R.I.D.A.Y. told her that Peter was in the workshop.

It was dark outside her window. Way past her bedtime, for sure, but she knew that her mom wouldn’t care. Not today. Never today.

She was still quiet while going down the stairs, though, just in case her mom was still awake. She might be. Morgan never really knew how she might act on today, but she knew it probably wouldn’t be normal.

Her dad’s workshop wasn’t locked, but she wasn’t really allowed inside. Well, she was, just not usually alone. Someone had to be with her because there was dangerous stuff in there. Her Dad’s old suits, inventions he’d been working on when he died, things that he’d built years and years before. She was pretty sure it would be fine for her to go in now, though, because Peter was there. She pushed open the door and saw him right away, leaning over her dad’s old workbench.

“What’re you doing?” She asked, hovering awkwardly in the entrance.

Peter jolted, swinging to stare at her. He was in his Spider-Man suit, but it was torn and singed in multiple places. Like he’d been in a fight. Like he’d been in a fight and lost.

He winced, hand pressed up against his side. Even in the dark, she could see blood dripping down his gloves.

“Morgan?” He looked like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t, shuffling nervously as he avoided her eyes. “What’re you doing in here?”

She flicked the light on, then crossed her arms, angry because she was scared. Because Peter always did this, always acted like she was a baby and he had to protect her. “I asked you first.”

“Don’t be a brat,” he said, but not unkindly. He was never unkind to her, even though sometimes she kinda wished that he would be. “Go to bed. Your mom’ll be mad if she finds you down here this late.”

“She’ll be mad if you bleed on Dad’s stuff, too.”

Peter flinched at the reference. Everyone did that. They always had. Sometimes she felt a little bad, because she had never shouldered Dad’s memory as painfully as the rest of her family. People talked about him and she got sad, yeah, but not sad like Mom and Peter did. She hadn’t really known him long enough.

“I’m not bleeding on Dad’s stuff.”

“You’re bleeding on the floor.”

He quirked up an eyebrow, smirking a little while he did it. It was the look he always used when he wanted to annoy her, but it always made Mom laugh, so she didn’t know how she felt about it.

“But not on Dad’s stuff.”

“You’re stupid,” she snapped, then went to grab the first-aid kit that was still hanging by the door. “You’re really really really stupid.”

“Y’know, I didn’t actually come here to get berated by a ten-year-old.”

Now she glared, throwing the kit on the worktable with a loud smack. “What’s ‘berated’ mean?”

Peter popped the kit open with the hand that wasn’t covered with blood, absentmindedly flicking through the contents. “It means what you’re doing right now. And it’ll be what your mom does when she finds you awake, too.”

“She won’t find me.”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.’ll tell her soon.”

“She won’t bother her today.”

Peter’s face looked sad, all of a sudden, and Morgan felt a little bad about that. She kept forgetting that today was a hurting day. It was easier for her to pretend that it wasn’t.

“Yeah,” Peter muttered, twisting away from her and shoving a wad of gauze against his stomach. “Yeah, I guess she probably won’t.”

She knew that she was probably supposed to be quiet now. Even more, she guessed that Peter probably wanted her to leave. He didn’t like it when she saw him hurt, but it still happened a lot. Mom and Uncle Rhodey said it was because being a superhero was dangerous, and that always made her laugh because she knew that. She didn’t have a dad because being a superhero was dangerous.

“Is that why you’re bleeding? ‘Cause today is today?” She blurted, and Peter turned to watch her again.

“I’m bleeding because I got cut,” he said after a while, but he was talking all slow, like he was thinking everything through too much. Mom did that sometimes, usually when Morgan asked questions about Dad, but sometimes when she asked about other things, too.

“But why’d you get cut?”

Peter snorted. “Because people on meth are crazy.”

“What’s meth?”

“You’ll find out when you’re older,” Peter said, but he was smiling so she couldn’t really be mad at him. “I’m fine, Morgan. I heal quick.”

“Yeah, but you still got hurt in the first place.” She pointed at Dad’s workbench, accusing. “Was it because of today?”

“I already told you that it wasn’t.”

“No you didn’t. You just said it was because of something else, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be because of today, too.”

Peter smiled at her, but it wasn’t his happy smile, like the one he’d given her when he’d stayed over during a snowstorm last winter and she’d woken him up at sunrise so they could build a snowman together. No, this one was more like the one he’d given her when she’d been much smaller, and made him a card in class for Father’s Day because everyone had to make one and she didn’t have a dad to make hers for. She hadn’t understood why he’d looked so sad at the time, but she did now. He was always sad when he was thinking about Dad.

“You’re a lot like your father, sometimes,” he said, and there was the sadness, dripping down all over his face. “I’m not always sure that it’s a good thing.”

“Mom says that about you a lot,” she shot back.

“Yeah, I know.”

Peter hissed as he peeled the gauze away from his side, peering down at it with a badly concealed wince, and Morgan found herself scared-angry all over again.

“You’re gonna get really hurt one day,” she said quietly. She pulled anxiously on her pajama shirt while she spoke, surprised by how quickly she felt tears prick at her eyes.

Peter seemed to notice the change. He pressed the gauze back down over the cut, reaching out for her with his other hand. She stepped out of his reach, knowing it was petty and not really caring.

“Morgan…”

“I didn’t know really know Dad,” she whispered. It looked like Peter was going to butt in, but she kept talking before he could. “You and Mom tell me stories about him, and I learn about him in class, but I didn’t know him. I only remember him a little.”

Even though Peter still had blood on his hands, it looked like what Morgan had said was wounding him more than whatever injuries he was hiding underneath his suit. He stared back at her with wide eyes, fingers twitching where he was grasping both his side and Dad’s worktable. “I know, Morgan, I’m so sorry…”

“Shut up. I don’t want you to apologize. I want you to stop being stupid.” She took a breath, clenching her fists at her side. “I’m making a point. I didn’t have Dad but I did have you. And Dad… Dad died doing the same thing that you do all the time, and I know that you did a dangerous thing tonight because today is six years since he died and that’s stupid. It’s just… It’s so stupid.”

“Morgan, I-”

“I don’t want you to die,” she whispered, but it cut Peter’s voice off like she’d hit him. “You… You can’t. Not like Dad did. I won’t let you.”

Peter’s eyes were shining, and she felt a little bad. In fact, she wasn’t really angry at all anymore. She was just sad, and scared, and she missed her dad, and she hated it when she missed her dad because it was like missing the idea of a thing rather than a real thing, and she just wished she had a real thing to miss. Like Mom or Peter or Uncle Rhodey did.

“Morgan, come here,” Peter murmured, tossing the gauze onto the table and holding out his arms in a silent invitation.

She didn’t hesitate. She jumped forward, slinging her arms around his neck. Peter always seemed so tall to her, so strong and steadfast. 

She hated the material of the Spider-Man suit, it was all slippery and smelled a little like rubber, but she ignored it because it was still Peter underneath. Nothing else really mattered besides that.

“I won’t die like Dad did, Morgan,” Peter said into her ear, voice hitching on Dad, like it did a lot when they talked about him. “I promise.”

“Good,” she whispered back, throat tight and aching, “cause I’ll be really mad if you do.”

“Well,” Peter huffed a laugh against the crown of her head, “we can’t have that.”

“Yeah, cause then Dad’ll have to come back and kill you.”

“He would,” he said, voice wet. He paused for a moment, reaching up to ruffle her hair but not pulling away. “I’m getting blood all over your shirt.”

“It’s okay,” she smiled, tucking her face into his chest. It was a place she could always remember being safe, being loved. She didn’t miss the idea of her dad when Peter was there. She didn’t have to. “I’ll just make you buy me a new one.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, still chuckling and still crying, because Morgan guessed that people learned to live in contradictions when they loved someone that was dead, “I bet you will.”

#this hurt to write #but it was also a lot of fun??? #some of it flowed quite nicely #idk if that translated into the reading but #I hope it did #peter parker #morgan stark #peter & morgan #irondad #losingmymindtonight writes

[shiinonomee]

Time of Rest

Behind four (three and a half?) walls, it’s easier to relax. A little easier...

Word Count: ~2,500

OC centric, Third POV, Code Vein Fic

Rhodey may not have any concrete memory about the specifics of her own life, but concepts she remembers just fine.

She remembers churches, for example. And churches don’t normally house bars and hot springs. The one Louis leads them to after a harrowing fight with what used to be Oliver Collins does, though—along with several other seemingly out of place additions.

She can see a jukebox along the far wall, surrounded by candy machines and posters. There’s a board covered in research, pictures and maps and red yarn connecting one thing to another. There’s a big safe in the wall, too, set up as a kind of weapons shop. All corners of the place seem to be dedicated to something else—one place seems to be a mini library, while another is a common area, and another seems to be dedicated to mostly trading. Louis shows them around briefly, explaining what it is they do here.

“We needed someplace to act as a sort of headquarters for our blood spring research. It used to be a lot more run down, but thanks to Yakumo it’s much more livable than when we first got here.”

It doesn’t take long for everyone to notice the newcomers. They gather as if sensing the coming announcement.

“Taking in more strays, eh?” Says one woman with a husky voice. She puts a hand on one cocked hip. She has short blonde hair and sharp-looking eyes, like there is nothing they could hide from her. Still, she doesn’t seem unfriendly. “Should’ve known it was only a matter of time.”

“This is Rhodey, and her friend Io. They’re former thralls, but I think they’ll be invaluable to our research efforts. Please, make them welcome.” Louis smiles almost bashfully, as if this was a thing she called him out for often.

“You sure this is a good idea?” Asks a tall, broad man with deep red hair. Piercing green eyes settle on Rhodey’s calculatingly, and she can feel her heartbeat stutter uncertainly. “No offense, but you’re the trusting sort, Louis. It’s gotten you into trouble before.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing we have you around, Yakumo.” Louis replies without missing a beat, unruffled. He offers a wry smile, and Yakumo smirks relentingly.

“Ooh! What a gorgeous piece of work!” A girl much shorter than Rhodey flits over to her, eyes sparkling brightly as she gazes at the golden rapier. Her sudden arrival startles both Rhodey and Io considerably. “And that Bloodveil, too! Where’d you get your hands on those?!”

“U-uh...I...I don’t really...well, remember...”

“Don’t mind Murasame, she’s supernaturally friendly.” The blonde woman speaks up, again. “Call me, Coco. I’m a merchant by trade; you two let me know if there’s anything you need to get your hands on, I’m sure we could strike up a deal.”

Io nods obediently without saying anything, too busy gazing around at the building to respond beyond that.

“This place feels...” She starts, leaning closer to Rhodey as she speaks in that soft voice of hers, “warm. Vibrant, somehow...”

“I hope you end up liking it here. If you’d like, I’m sure Murasame and Coco would help set you up in a room.” Louis glances at the small, orange-haired girl called Murasame, who perks up excitedly and nods before taking Io by the arm and leading her away. Curious, and none too worried, Io follows along.

Rhodey visibly tenses for a moment, but Io seems in no danger with these people. She forces herself to relax.

“Rhodey, if I could talk to you, for a moment? There are still a few things to discuss before you make a final decision—I’d feel better if you had all the information, first.”

She turns to Louis, and Yakumo who has moved to stand a ways behind him. They’re close, she can tell—and maybe he feels as protective of Louis as she feels of Io. She can respect that.

“I’m all ears.” She agrees with a smile and a nod.

“This way,” he motions with his head towards the living area, behind which lies the fruit of all his research so far—the boards and maps. They turn and lead her in that direction—past the makeshift balcony where the wall is completely missing and you can see the sky for miles. Louis notices her staring out and smiles almost fondly. “Quite the view.” He says, and she nods, still awestruck.

“People have taken to calling it all the Gaol Of The Mists. No living thing can pass through the border. Ever since the Queen was defeated, that mist has kept us all confined to this place, cut off from the outside world.” Yakumo explains, still watching her closely. She turns to face him still looking a little dazed from the thought of it all. Even when she can’t see it—the bright red haze in the distance that cut through the horizon like giant caution tape is stuck in her mind.

“The Queen...” She murmurs absently.

“You don’t remember?”

She shakes her head, the few hairs that have escaped her tight ponytail swaying before her eyes.

“She told me that both her and Io’s memories are essentially wiped clean. When they woke, Rhodey was near frenzy before Io led her to a nearby blood spring.” Louis explains to him.

“Lucky thing, that.” He crosses his arms over his chest, raising a brow. Rhodey offers a bashful smile.

“I’ll, uh, be more careful in the future.”

“Hope so, for your sake.”

His intensity makes her want to gulp, so she lowers her gaze a bit before looking back at Louis. “Sorry, I got distracted.”

“It’s no trouble, at all, I’m happy to answer any questions you have. It can’t be easy...”

“I try not to think about it.” She chuckles weakly, adding, “at least until I realize that with no memory there really isn’t much else to think about. No thoughts, head empty.” She knocks her knuckles lightly against her scalp a few times with a bright smile. The other two exchange amused glances before continuing on to the research board.

“Wow,” She hums, awestruck yet again, if by something else this time, “you have a lot here, already.”

“You know the gist of what blood springs are, yes?” Louis asks her, and her face lights up as she nods enthusiastically. Finally, something she does know; albeit because someone beat him to explaining it.

“Yeah! Other than humans, they’re the only source of anything bloodlike for revenants to drink. The lost have ichor, but drinking that only speeds bloodlust along, which is why it needs to be filtered through the purifier masks.”

Louis smiles wide like a proud teacher. “That’s right. So far, we’ve discovered that all blood springs have tubes running underground—like capillaries. We call these blood veins.” He crosses his arms. “Blood’s become scarce these days; in the time after the Queen was defeated the government began housing all the humans, and many of the blood springs ran dry. The levy system helped for a time, but even that couldn’t last forever. Now, more revenants than ever are starving...losing themselves to bloodlust. Even the ones who aren’t lost yet are likely to turn to violence if they think you have something of value on you.”

“But you think if you find out where these blood veins are going...”

Yakumo nods, “We’ll find the source; maybe figure out how to end this drought.”

“And given what you can do, we should have an easier time tracking the blood veins. We won’t have to rely on luck leading us to a blood spring that hasn’t dried up yet.”

Yakumo tilts his head. “Oh? What’s this special talent I’m just now hearing about?”

Louis turns to face him a little more. He looks almost startled at the fact that he hadn’t brought it up, yet. “I scarcely believed it myself. I was heading over to greet her in the caves earlier today when I saw her activate a mistle with a few drops of her own blood. I’d only ever seen it happen with the medicine made from the Queen’s blood, before. And then just a little while later she brought a blood spring to bloom the same way.”

Yakumo’s eyes blow wide as he turns back to Rhodey. “Well, I’ll be damned...”

She flushes. “It really is that strange, huh?”

Louis chuckles. “I told you.”

“I see why you want her to tag along a little more, now. To have blood that can do something like that...”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Louis snaps the fingers of one hand, eyes alight with an idea. “I meant to ask—would you mind giving me a sample of your blood? There’s a theory I want to test. If I’m right, you’ll get quite a bit out of it.”

“Oh?” Rhodey says, taken aback.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be a lot, so you won’t have to worry about bloodlust.”

“I...suppose if it’ll help.”

“Perfect! Come with me.”

—————

After he’s taken a sample—she tries not to flinch too much at the needle—he leaves her to get comfortable in the room that would be hers from now on. She’d figured after giving them her blood things were pretty much a done deal—she and Io would be staying. It’s not like a better option would just come knocking, anyway.

Besides, Louis is nice. She’s had a chance to speak with some of the others, as well and they’ve all been kind to her. Murasame made it very clear that it would be to her immense pleasure to work on her gear whenever she needed a tune-up. Coco had let her peruse some of her stock. 

She’s spoken to a large man in a white uniform called Davis, who works for Cerberus—the provisional government—about the depths and what she could expect if she were ever to go exploring down there.

Yakumo has mostly kept to himself after the talk with Louis. She could tell he was keeping an eye on her the whole time she’d been wandering. It didn’t surprise, though—he was built like a brick house and dressed in fatigues; definitely the muscle of the place. He’d probably defended against threats to the group before. She’d even noticed the gun he has strapped under his arm.

He’s been the most closed-off out of all of them, though—not outright unfriendly, but definitely cautious—it is natural that she be curious about the one she knows least. That’s what she tells herself, anyway.

“I should check on Io...” she mutters to herself aloud. The girl is endearingly spacey, but it makes her worry all the more about her. Io is the one reason Rhodey hadn’t joined the ranks of the Lost—her gratitude alone would have been enough to make her care for her, but something else pulled them together like a magnet--she could feel it in her chest.

Maybe they’d known each other before. Maybe one day they’d remember.

Rhodey stands from her place on the bed and exits the room. Io, for some reason, had decided that she wanted her place of rest to be near the congregation of couches in the living area, right next to the balcony—despite at least one other room besides Rhodey’s being free. Perhaps she enjoyed the draft.

Rhodey finds her there, seated on the edge of her bed, surrounded by the glow of candlelight. She’s gazing down at the bandages on her leg.

“What happened?” Rhodey gasps.

“I was injured by the Lost before you arrived. Coco helped me dress the wound.” She speaks with that same dreamy quality she had since they first met, completely unbothered. “It feels fine now.”

Rhodey wants to ask more, but she stops herself. She doesn’t want to hover too much and overwhelm poor Io. Instead, she glances around. “So what do you think of this place? Are they treating you alright?”

“They ask me many questions I have no answers to.” She replies. “But...I am glad we are staying. They are good people, I think.”

“I think so, too.” Rhodey glances over to Murasame’s workplace, where the girl is still fawning over the equipment she’d surrendered—having no need for it here. She’d promised her a better mask, too—newer model, more durable and efficient and easier to breathe in.

First upgrades are on the house. She’d said, waving off any attempt to try and pay her for her trouble. Really, it’s nice to have some new weapons to work with. Such nice ones, too! You’re doing me the favor, here.

She’d practically squealed as she got to work.

“Maybe a little strange, though.” She sees Io’s faint smile at this and grins back. “I guess we aren’t ones to talk.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a tall form take a place at the bar. She turns to watch as Yakumo gathers up the scattered deck of cards there and begins shuffling them absently as if just giving his hands something to do.

“Maybe I should go make nice...” She ponders aloud. Io glances over.

“He watches over them all so diligently...” She notes. “It would be good if he trusted us.”

“I’ll assume that means you agree, then.” Rhodey laughs softly. “Rest up, Io. It’s been a while for you, hasn’t it?” With a quiet agreement, Io decides to curl up on her side as Rhodey strides confidently over to the seat beside where Yakumo sits. He watches from the corner of his eye as she slides in beside him, and she wonders if his lips are really quirked up at the corner—it’s too faint for her to be sure.

“Room for one more?”

“Depends. You play?” He holds up the deck of cards in his hands briefly before shuffling again.

“...I think I remember how to play war...” She offers slowly, bearing teeth in a smile that’s almost apologetic. He snorts, eyes mirthful. “Oh! Go Fish might be coming back to me, too, now that I think about it.”

That one earns her a real laugh.

“Go Fish, I can get behind.” He says and starts dealing.

“Right on!” She exclaims, pumping her fists in victory. “You’re about to be demolished.”

“You say that, now,” He shrugs, cocky grin in place, “but I’m about to reel in this win.” It’s her turn to snort.

“A dollar for the bad joke jar...” She shakes her head, sending her ponytail flailing. She feels a light, playful kick against her shin.

Several games in and Louis finally emerges with the results of the impromptu blood test. He seems endlessly amused at the sight of his very smug best friend leaning cockily back in his barstool as Rhodey weeps animatedly over yet another loss.

“Seems like you two are bonding, alright. To think that I was actually worried.”

“Bonding?” Rhodey peers from the nest she’s made of her crossed arms on the bar top. “He was just in the midst of actively declaring war on my entire bloodline. This betrayal will not go unpunished. His grandchildren’s grandchildren will fear me.”

“Eh, I suppose we can keep her around; she makes me look good at cards, at least.”

“If you keep bullying her, she won’t want to stay.” Louis chuckles. Yakumo thinks for a moment before reaching over to pat the top of Rhodey’s head.

“There, there. You just need to train—I’ll be waiting on that rematch; so stick around, okay?” She makes a show of sniffling and pouting.

“I suppose...”

“Ah, good—then I can assume you’re ready to hear about my findings?” Louis asks with a smile.

She sits up, looking curious. “Hit me, doc.”

Louis nods, ready to get down to business.

#code vein #oc ; rhodey #fic ; carrier of the blood

[dyslexicsquirrel]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Minor or Background Relationship(s) Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes, James Rhodes, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Pepper Potts, Carol Danvers, Happy Hogan Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Schmoop Summary: Tony Stark hated jocks… or he had until the new kid transferred to their school.

Stony Bingo 2019 round 2 (square S1) Prompt: stretching

Tony Stark hated jocks. It’s a truth universally accepted at their school. Everyone knows not to ask him to go to pep rallies or football games or donate to the Get Insert Sports Team New Uniforms fund. He’ll laugh at you and go back to doing something more important, which is anything other than that.

Tony Stark hated jocks… or he had until the new kid transferred to their school. His step brother was another matter. “Bucky” Barnes was a rude, sarcastic guy and this school only had room for one of those and Tony was already filling that spot, thanks. But Steven Grant Rogers? (He might have had his friend Pepper who volunteered in the principal's office find out his name) Well, he was another story.

Steve (that’s what everyone called him Tony had found out) was the kind of blonde and blue eyed that should have been boring, but he somehow made the most attractive thing Tony had seen in, well, ever. He was tall and built in a way that usually put him off (read: hates jocks), but Tony kept finding his eyes drifting to him whenever they were in the same room.

He played football, was the damn quarterback, for Christ’s sake, but none of that seemed to matter. Tony wasn’t sure who he was anymore.

On top of being stupidly good looking? Steve was also a genuinely nice guy. He wasn’t mean to anyone, stuck up for the kids who got picked on, in fact. He said hello to people in the halls, had a laugh that was infectious, and a smile that brightens a room (and since when did he spout flowery crap like that?). There had to be something wrong with him; Tony was convinced.

“Why are you so determined to find a flaw in this guy?” Pepper had asked him a few days ago and Tony hadn’t been able to answer her.

“Because he doesn’t want to be attracted to a meathead,” Rhodey has piped up from the other side of the table at lunch.

“Don’t call him that,” Tony had automatically defended and then wanted to smack himself when Rhodey smirked and Pepper blinked at him. “Oh, just shut up both of you,” he’d snapped and left the cafeteria.

So, Tony May have ended up spending the last couple days <strike>spying</strike> investigating Steve Rogers to find out what was wrong with him. The only problem was that Tony 1) hadn’t found any hidden flaws (he really seemed to be a hot, nice guy who just happened to be a jock) and 2) he saw Steve stretching before practice yesterday.

Blame stupid, teenage hormones maybe (he might be a genius, but he was still a high school senior), but Tony’s brain short circuited. He’d been walking past the practice field, ostensibly on his way to somewhere else, reading a book for cover, when he glanced up and there was Steve, bent over, touching his toes.

The guy had a really nice ass. And in those stupid, tight football pants he was only now starting to appreciate? Well… yeah. He might have become a tad obsessed.

He watched all the scheduled practices (covertly) and he might have (not on purpose) found out what days Steve came to school early to work out and he might have, (once—accidentally) ended up at a football game with Pepper, who was dating some kid in marching band named Happy.

“Why don’t you just talk to him, Tony?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told her, pretending to read so no one would notice him watching the game. Pepper had scoffed, but let it drop and ignored him the rest of the night. Tony had not watched Steve throw around a stupid ball in those. Damn. Pants.

Tony thought he’d been so smooth and stealthy, but if he had been Steve wouldn’t have just walked up behind him and said, “Hey,” now would he? Tony squeaked, and if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, slammed into his locker when he turned around.

“Are you okay?”

“I,” Tony started, but had to clear his throat. “I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Steve was still frowning at Tony with his perfect face, looking at him with concerned blue eyes.

He stood up straighter, pushing his shoulders back. And because he was feeling unnerved what came out of his mouth next was a snarky, “Can I help you?”

Steve blinked at him, tugging on the straps of his backpack. “Well, actually.” He started blushing. Every higher power save me, Tony thought because the guy was legit blushing. “I was wondering if you had a date for prom.”

“What now?” That sentence didn’t make sense.

“Prom. Uh, are you going? I mean, would you like to go. With me.”

“You’re asking me to prom?”

“Yes.”

“You’re asking me to prom?”

“Yes,” Steve said again, now sounding uncertain and Tony didn’t blame him.

“Why?” The question shot out of his mouth with no authorization from his higher brain function.

“Because,” Steve struggled to answer and Tony felt his shoulder start to slump. This was some pity thing or a joke and he felt stupid for even one second thinking Steve would like him, but guess what? He didn’t need Steve’s pity or him to like him. But thenSteve said, “Because you’re smart.” His head jerked up, eyes finding Steve’s. He looked so earnest. “And you’re cute.” Steve thought he was cute. “And, uh, also because my brother said you’ve been checking me out so I figured I had a shot.”

Stupid Bucky. And stupid him for thinking he had been so secretive about it. Tony rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, but he admitted, “I might have. Once or twice.” He bit his lip. “You really think I’m smart?”

“Tony,” Steve huffed, chuckling. “You’re like the smartest kid in school. Of course, I think you’re smart.”

“And cute?” He started to smile and took a step closer so they almost touched.

“Yeah.” Steve’s hands tightened around his backpack strap.

Tony grinned, reaching out to grip Steve’s letterman jacket. “Okay, I’ll go to prom with you.”

And that was how Tony Stark, hater of jocks, ended up dating the quarterback of the football team. Prom was a big group affair. Pepper and Happy, Rhodey and Carol, Bucky and his boyfriend from his old school Sam (who drove two hours to get there—Tony was impressed by his dedication). They all met at his house and piled in a limo after his mom took a million pictures and his dad told them to make sure to be back on time so he didn’t have to pay the driver overtime. Steve bought Tony a corsage, not a boutineer, and it was perfect. They danced and laughed with their friends and maybe, Tony would admit to himself, Bucky wasn’t really that bad. And if Tony and Steve snuck off to make out in a coat closet, well, what the chaperones didn’t find out wouldn’t hurt them.

The last year of high school was so different from the previous three and not just because he was wearing his boyfriend’s letterman jacket, his boyfriend who happened to be a jock. He was happy in a way he couldn’t remember being before. It wasn’t all Steve, a relationship hadn’t suddenly fixed all his problems, but he definitely helped. Steve still blushed when Tony kissed him in the halls and it was just too cute.

Tony was going to MIT in the fall and Steve got a full ride to Boston College cause sports. They’d only be like four miles away from each other (Tony might have Googled that).

They were sitting in the bed of Steve’s pick up one night, Tony cradled between Steve’s arms and legs, his back against Steve’s chest. “I was thinking…”

“Hmm?” Tony prompted when Steve trailed off and didn’t pick back up.

Steve propped his chin on Tony’s shoulder. “I was thinking that maybe, at some point, we could move in together.”

Tony shifted around until he could see Steve’s face. “What?”

“In Boston.” Steve hesitated, biting at his bottom lip. “Not right away, but eventually. Maybe. If you wanted.”

Tony turned until he was on his knees and looped his arms around Steve’s neck. He kissed him, playing with the hair at the back of his neck. When he pulled back it was just enough to speak, keeping his tone light and teasing. “You’re asking me to move in with you.”

Steve did smile or joke back. He looked Tony dead in the eye and said, “I love you.”

Tony blinked at Steve for a moment then leaned back and smacked him on his chest. Steve looked at him with wounded eyes, hand pressed to the spot Tony had smacked even though it couldn’t have hurt because Tony barely tapped him, but Tony felt a goofy smile trying to break through the frown he tried to keep up to make a point. “You’re telling me this now?”

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s not exactly that romantic m. We’re sitting in your truck which is parked in my parent’s driveway and my mom is probably watching us from the window.” Tony gestured to said window and there was a tell tale flutter of a curtain.

“Anywhere with you is romantic, babe,” Steve declared, hands coming to rest on Tony’s hips under the letterman jacket which Tony was wearing even though it was summer and it was hot. He didn’t like taking it off cause it was Steve’s and they couldn’t be together 24/7 for practical reasons.

“That’s nice, but this means I can’t kiss you the way I want.” Tony poured and let himself be pulled in to Steve’s chest and wrapped in Steve’s arms. “I love you, too,” he said softly into Steve’s neck.

They sat like that for a while, wrapped up in each other, but of course Tony couldn’t just let it rest. He sat up. “And of course I’ll move in with you. Maybe sophomore or junior year. I want to take advantage of that meal plan my parents are going to buy me—”

Tony broke off with a shout when Steve started tickling him and he ended up flat on his back, panting laughs, with Steve braced above him. Steve nipped at his lower lip. “Your mom can’t see us now.”

“Give it a few minutes,” Tony said rolling his eyes. “She’ll come out to check on us because she probably think we’re having sex and the neighbors will be so scandalizes.”

There wasn’t a lot of light out here, but Tony knew that Steve was blushing. He huffed a laugh, pressing their foreheads together. “Just shut up and kiss me.”

So Tony did.

#stonybingo #cap-ironman bingo fill #stony fic #stony #stevetony #high school au

[salty-ironstrange-shipper]

From the Top: Prologue

Summary: Personally, I think the MCU would be much better as a love story between Stephen Strange and Tony Stark. Don't you? Starting from Iron Man, and going all the way to Endgame, with all the appropriate stops in between. Let's take it from the top. (warning for mild sexual content)

“This thing on?”

. . .

“Hey, Miss Potts. If you or Rhodey find this recording, don’t feel bad about this. Part of the journey is the end.”

. . .

“Just for the record, being adrift in space with zero promise of Rescue is more fun than it sounds. Food and water ran out . . . four days ago . . . oxygen’ll run out tomorrow morning, and that’ll be it.”

. . .

“Stephen, if you’re . . . there somewhere . . . when I drift off, I’ll be with you again. I can’t wait.”

— 2008-2010 —

They first met at a party.

This one was organized by the hospital to raise money. It was also Stephen's first upper-class party like that, and he had been more nervous that he would like to admit. He was alone unless you counted the other, more experienced doctors who were also there and who immediately fucked off and did something else as soon as they got there, leaving him alone at the bar. Stephen resisted a sigh and took a drink.

Across the room, Tony was growing increasingly bored listening to doctors fight to get his funding. He planned to give it regardless, but he usually enjoyed it when people fought for his attention. Tonight though, he was looking for something . . . different.

He looked past the doctors around the room, marking off options in his head. Boring, boring, bad in bed, cries during sex . . . huh. His eyes landed on a man standing at the bar. That’s new. Dark hair, unblemished skin, tall and slender without being skinny, young, but not too young. Looked like he was trying to hide how uncomfortable he was. Not exactly a challenge, but Tony wasn't looking for one.

“Yeah, okay, bye.” He left the doctors behind, eyes trained on his newest target. The man didn’t seem to notice him at first. Tony took the time to look him up and down before asking, “Bored?”

To his credit, the man barely seemed surprised to see him. Or maybe he just didn’t recognize Tony. Bit insulting, it’s my party, but fine.

He nodded. “A bit.”

“My bad.” He held out his hand for the doctor to shake. “Tony Stark.” There we go. There was recognition in the man’s eyes, but he didn’t react apart from that, merely shaking Tony’s hand.

“Stephen Strange.”

Tony smiled and opened his mouth.

“Whatever it is, don’t.”

Tony chuckled, plucking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. “You’ve probably heard just about every ‘strange pun’ under the sun, huh?”

“Twice. It got old around the time I started to speak.”

“Sounds like you could use something new.” Tony turned towards him, angling his head so that his attention was fully on the other man.

Stephen seemed to realize immediately what he meant. He took his time looking over Tony before a smirk slid over his face. “Projecting, much? What, are you tired of the same one-night-stands?”

Tony smiled. “Knew you’d heard of me.” He took a long draw of his drink. “So what do you think? Want to be my something new for the night?”

“If you think you can keep up with me.”

“Cocky. I like that in a man.”

“Really? The version I heard is that you like it in you.”

Tony arched a brow. “Planning to join that list?”

Stephen ‘hmmed’, sliding a hand over Tony’s free one. “Mister Stark . . . you’re going to beg me to join it.

Tony snorted, looking Stephen over his glass of champagne. “I've never begged for anything in my life.”

Stephen smirked. “Then I will be honored to be the first.”

Tony laughed, louder than he meant to. “Oh, I’m gonna have fun with you.”

“Well”, Stephen muttered to himself, walking up to his apartment, “I can add that to my list of achievements. First person to ever make Tony Stark beg in bed.” It was the best night he’d had in a while, but now he was exhausted from staying awake so long and getting up early, not to mention the party. At least I don’t have anything to do today, he thought, falling into bed. So naturally he was forced to wake up four hours later to go to the hospital.

“I’m going to murder Nick,” Stephen said when he got a chance to talk to Christine. Christ, residency was even worse than med school.

“It’s not his fault he’s sick,” Christine said half-heartedly.

“Yes it is.”

Christine rolled her eyes and walked off, probably having better things to do than put up with his bitching. Stephen downed a cup of coffee as quickly as he could, having little time before he had to go back to work. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered before reminding himself that the rewards were worth the effort.

Stephen was about to get back to work when his phone chimed. He looked down, wondering who was texting him when pretty much everyone he cared to talk to was at the hospital.

I'm not hungry. Let's get dinner. — You know who I am

Stephen stared at the phone. How the hell did he get my phone number?

. . .

Okay, that was a stupid question. The man was a genius who owned a tech company, it probably took him two seconds.

He considered ignoring it, but if he was honest with himself, he didn’t want to. If nothing else, Tony Stark was new and interesting, two things his life was decidedly lacking lately.

Eyes on the clock, he texted, Can’t right now. Work. Then, Will you still be up at 3?

It’s like you know me.

Stephen didn’t realize he was smiling until someone snapped at him to get back to work.

It was not a walk in the park to date Tony Stark.

The first few weeks were like a dream. When they actually sat down to have a conversation, Tony was surprised by how intelligent Stephen was and how much he genuinely enjoyed speaking to him. It wasn’t long before he was thinking up every excuse he could to stay in New York, even relocating business meetings that would have been in California only to blow them off in favor of showing Stephen off and lavishing him with gifts. But they were two months into their relationship, and he didn’t know how he thought it could last.

Honestly, it was kind of a stupid fight. They were having sex at Stephen’s apartment — he had repeatedly turned down Tony’s offers to buy him a better one — when Tony, curled around Stephen’s back as he fucked into him, said, “God, you’re such a slut, so desperate for my cock, such a fucking whore—”

Stephen turned, pushing Tony away with hands and feet. “Get off— get off of me!”

Confused, Tony did as he was told, staring at Stephen as he got out of bed and started to get dressed. “What’s wrong?”

Stephen paused, his pants haphazardly hanging around his waist, Tony’s shirt only half on him. “Are you fucking serious? What, do you think I don’t get called that enough already by your ‘friends’?”

Tony did know. He could hardly go three days without someone making a smartass comment about his boyfriend who was ten years younger than him and had little status or resources of his own. Normally he could shrug it off, but tensions were high between them as Stephen had grown more unsettled with Tony’s job and company.

Not that Tony was willing to admit that Stephen might have a point. “Well personally, I thought gold-digging slut suited you better.” He winced when he saw the angry, hate-filled look on Stephen’s face, immediately regretting what he said. “I didn’t mean that—”

“Get out,” Stephen said in a low, cold tone. “Get out. I don’t want you in my apartment.”

“Stephen—”

“No, if all I am is your hooker than I’m sure you can find a cheaper one who’s willing to put up with you. It is New York, afterall.” He started throwing Tony’s clothes at him, realizing halfway through that he was wearing his shirt. He took it off and threw that too. “Get. OUT!”

Soon Tony was standing outside the apartment with his shirt and shoes in hand and wondering how he fucked up so badly.

“Come here often?”

Stephen started at the familiar voice, rolling his eyes when he saw Tony. “Not anymore. The company is terrible.”

“I deserved that.” It had been three weeks since their disastrous breakup, and Tony was no longer too proud to admit that he missed the doctor. And he thought that enough time had passed that Stephen wasn’t as angry as he’d been when he changed the locks on his apartment and blocked his number.

“And much more.” Maybe not.

“I know. And I want to make it up to you.”

Stephen scoffed. “What, the prostitutes in Malibu aren’t up to your high standards?”

“I apologized for that.”

“No, you didn’t actually.”

Tony thought back. “Oh. Well, I meant to. To be fair, you didn’t really give me a chance.”

“And why should I now?” Stephen demanded, looking him in the eye for the first time since he got here.”

“Because the suite I'm staying in has a private hot tub.”

Stephen paused. “That does sound fun.”

Tony smiled, knowing he’d already won. If Stephen were really as upset as he seemed, nothing would have swayed him. But if Stephen wanted him to grovel a bit, then he could do that.

“Plus,” Tony said, reaching into his pocket, “I got you something.” He set the box on the counter, standing back to let Stephen choose whether or not to take it.

Luckily, resisting temptation had never been one of Stephen’s strengths. After a brief moment of curiosity, he took the box, his eyes widening a fraction when he saw the label on the top. He looked up at Tony. “Are you serious?”

“Open it and find out,” Tony said with a sly smile.

Still looking at him, Stephen obeyed, delicately lifting the watch out. “Jesus, Tony.” The watch was perfectly designed, made of shining platinum and steel, with a white face and black leather band.

“You said you wanted it,” Tony said.

Stephen frowned. “When?”

“Don’t know,” Tony lied, distinctly remembering when Stephen had brought it up when they were lying in bed together. “Thought you’d appreciate it.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Stephen’s mouth. “You’re laying it on pretty thick, don’t you think?”

“Is it working?”

Stephen couldn’t help a small smile. “It’s incredibly ostentatious. And, I’m sure, ridiculously expensive.”

“Oh good, you like it.”

For the first time in weeks, Tony heard Stephen laugh.

They lasted two months.

So they continued, apart for a few weeks, together longer, much to the annoyance of everyone who knew them. Christine, especially, grew tired of Stephen’s periods of whining, mooning, and bitching. But it was worst in November of 2008. That year, Stephen’s birthday just so happened to intersect with his relationship with Tony. And Tony, being the show-off he was, wanted to plan something big.

Christine still doesn’t know how she got roped into helping him.

“Now, for Stephen’s sake, and hoping we can keep this out of the tabloids—” a problem she never thought she’d have— “let’s try to keep it low-key and classy.”

“I agree completely,” Tony said. “How many strippers do you think we need?”

Jesus fucking Christ.

The party ended up taking place on an island in the Caribbean. There were two hundred people, of whom Stephen knew around ten, plus about two dozen strippers, and a champagne tower that someone knocked over, and then someone else cut their tongue open on the broken glass when they tried licking up the champagne from the floor. Stephen and Tony missed this because they were having sex on a completely different part of the island. Christine never went to another one of Tony’s parties.

When the next year rolled around, Tony and Stephen were decidedly not together. Work was stressing him out, and the idea of taking a break for his birthday was laughable. He only got home at four am. When Stephen fell into bed, he was annoyed to realize that he couldn’t fall asleep. His apartment was too . . . quiet. Quiet and empty. He just lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

“What the fuck am I doing?” Sighing, he sat up and grabbed his phone. 5:21. He groaned, running ideas through his head for something to take his mind off of how fucking depressing this was before he remembered hearing about Tony being in the city for a conference.

The last thing he’d wanted when he woke up that morning was to see Tony. It was just a reminder of how things had changed since the year before, of how they were never going to work because they could barely stand to be around each other for more than a month.

But I miss him.

He waited a few minutes before calling him. “Hey. I . . . heard you were in New York.”

Thirty minutes later, Stephen was screaming Tony's name into a pillow and had completely forgotten about why he was upset.

At least until afterwards when Tony kissed his cheek and whispered, “Happy birthday.”

Christine sat listening to Stephen complain about Tony, who was of course in New York again, clearly expecting Stephen to fall into his bed later, and Stephen was saying that that would definitely not happen for the third time that year. Once he paused for breath, Christine said, “You know Stephen, every time Tony turns up in New York again — which he does ten times as much as he did before he met you — you insist that nothing's going to happen and you'll just ignore him. Then you say it was just a one-night stand and it didn't mean anything. Two days later, you're singing his praises, talking about how thoughtful he can be and how things really weren't that bad before and there was no reason this time couldn't be better, and can we just skip to that part already? Because honestly, that is when you're at your least unbearable during this whole thing.”

Stephen flushed. “That's not—”

“It has been exactly like this every time for three. Years. Three years! Just fuck him and get it over with.”

Stephen bristled, sitting back and refusing to speak to her for the rest of the day. Christine was perfectly fine with that.

Later, when Stephen was laying back against Tony’s arm with the blankets over them, he asked Tony, “Why do we keep doing this? I know the reasons we never work — all of them — but why do you keep coming back?”

Tony chuckled, rolling over to grab a complimentary bottle of champagne from the hotel room’s nightstand. “Three years and you’re just now asking?”

“It was on my mind.” He kicked at Tony’s leg. “Come on, Tony. If this was just sex, you could go to anyone. You wouldn’t have to fly across the country and fuck up your schedule even more every two weeks.”

“Bold of you to assume I have a schedule.” He gulped down some of the champagne and offered it to Stephen, who refused.

“Just answer me, Tony.”

Tony sighed, thinking about it with one hand curled around the neck of the bottle. “You're charming . . .”

“Charming?” That was about the last thing he would use to describe himself, but Tony seemed serious.

Tony nodded. “Charming, and smart, and witty, and nicer than you seem. And I . . . miss you. When we're not together, I miss you.”

Stephen stared at him, stunned. He knew why he was still there. Tony Stark was . . . electric. He was life personified. Stephen was drunk on him.

But he never realized that his infatuation was so . . . mutual.

Stephen pulled Tony back down to the bed, taking the bottle and dropping it gently to the floor. “Get some sleep. You have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Tony groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Next time, you come to California so I don’t have to make two trips in two days.”

“Or you could just not decide to fly to New York at the last minute when you know you’ll have to go back and go to Afghanistan right after.”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

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#incorrect-ironstrange #my writing #my fanfiction #fanfiction #ironstrange #ironstrange fanfiction #endgame #infinity war #mcu #avengers #iron man #doctor strange #stephen strange #tony stark

[timeisacephalopod]

Belated

I thought hmm, lets write a little Tony/Eddie/Venom thing for Reasons. And yeah I know Tony’s bday was two days ago but still. I’ve decided that this is a thing I have written for a fictional character’s belated birthday!

*

Tony’s half buried in paper work ready to throw all caution to the wind and throw himself out a window when Eddie walks in looking pleased with himself. Probably means he sniffed out a good story and he’s found something compelling but he doesn’t look like an absolute human disaster so he’s not too deep into it yet. Once he is he kind of looks like he’s homeless and Rhodey doesn’t really get the charm but Tony once watched Eddie overheat to the point of just fucking losing it and sitting in a lobster tank at one of the fanciest restaurants in Manhattan so he thinks Eddie is the best. Venom being around doesn’t seem to help that except now maybe he’ll eat the lobsters instead of just bothering the hell out of them.

“Happy birthday,” he says, walking over to him and behind his desk, greeting him with a kiss.

Except Tony’s kind of confused. “Wasn’t my birthday last week?” he asks and Eddie frowns.

“No, honey its today. I... who forgets their birthday? And why would you assume everyone in your life also forgot your birthday?” he asks. He looks extra confused but that’s probably just the way Eddie’s expressions work. Rhodey finds his over expressing annoying but Tony thinks it's endearing.

“You all have lives, its fine,” Tony says. Pepper’s always busy running around doing things for him, Eddie seems to have found himself some new thing to rip apart for the next couple months, and Rhodey regularly gets shot at so he figures they all have more pressing concerns. 

Eddie sighs. “Sometimes I think you’re a prick and then you do something sad like make excuses for why everyone in your life would forget you were born. We didn’t forget, Tony, you got the date wrong. How did you forget when you were born?”

He shrugs, “I don’t memorize useless details. And in your defense I am a prick,” he says. They both know it, though Eddie is obviously a lot less hostile then when they met. He seems to have fallen for Tony’s charms, which he’s been reliably informed are pretty disarming.

Eddie leans in and gives him another kiss, “no you’re not, but you play one well,” pulling away and dropping his bag on Tony’s desk. Its disrupted his thread bare attempt at organizing his own life- not exactly his strong suit admittedly not that he’d tell Eddie he's managed to mess up what little organization he had. He pulls a stack of files out of his bag and drops them on top of Tony’s already too large pile of paper work. “Happy birthday, an organized list of all the moral and ethical problems I have with your company,” he says, grinning like its the best gift ever.

Tony snorts and starts laughing, shuffling closer to Eddie. He lays one hand on Eddie’s hip and pokes at the pile of folders with the other. “Well this is... intimidating.”

“Yeah, but you’ll look through it all because you do genuinely want to be a good person. You should be glad I didn’t go with V’s gift,” he says, wincing.

Fuck, Tony can only imagine when one of the first five things he did in Eddie’s body was eat several people’s heads. Sure, V turned out to be an overly sappy romantic ass goo alien but that’s a pretty rough start to things and now Eddie has to live with kind of eating people that one time several times. “Was it flowers?” he asks.

Eddie laughs, “that was suggestion like... fifty two. After I banned violence, drugs, sex- don’t give me that look it was a soft ban because that’s not a present, terrorist activities, harassing children, petty crimes of all varieties, eating heads, murder, grand theft auto, breaking and entering, space, possession, and about a half a dozen other things. He’s not too good with presents.”

“Well, he did alright with the cat,” Tony points out. V doesn’t really get Christmas, turns out his species wasn’t too cuddly and had no holidays, but he does have all Eddie’s memories of it. Conveniently, he tends to lean more towards Eddie’s view of Christmas as mostly a capitalist holiday that’s far more about big businesses making money, overworking retail employees, and present buying pressure that leads to suicide than the happy stuff. And that doesn’t even touch on Eddie’s view of religion. Though to be fair V probably gathered a lot more religious vitriol from Tony than Eddie.

“He’s threatened to eat that cat at least once a day since he decided to pick it out. Claims he’s a dog person,” Eddie says.

“Dogs are bigger, usually, so I’m not really surprised. More meat.” Given the look on Eddie’s face Tony’s going to assume V has agreed with that statement.

“We are not eating dogs,” Eddie hisses. Mostly he only does that around Tony, but its hilarious when he does it in public because most people don’t really recognize him anymore so he looks like a homeless loon being led around by a celebrity. Or at least he did before he became recognizable again through Tony’s fame and yeah, Tony knows all Eddie’s opinions on celebrity culture. None of them are positive and yeah, Tony can see why that is.

“Tell V to go hunt New York rats at night. He might have fun with that,” Tony says. “Wait, does Venom have a birthday? That a thing his species does?”

Eddie shakes his head. “Says he doesn’t have a proper earth date translation for his hatching day and I know he didn’t come from an egg so that’s a horrifying term to use. Do not enlighten me, V. I’m happy to stay in the dark.” He makes another face and Tony assumes V has let out some detail Eddie didn’t want to hear.

“That ever get annoying, the voice in your head?” he asks. Feels like it’d be exhausting. Tony doesn’t even like his own voice in his head let alone some random alien who decided pretty much on a whim to save the world strictly because he likes Eddie. Though to be fair Riot was an asshole and Tony was sick of being compared to Carlton Drake anyway. Guy was like cartoonishly evil. Though Tony will admit that he was good looking and damn smart, even if that didn’t really turn out to be a good thing later.

“Sometimes,” Eddie says, “but mostly  V offers some good entertainment on human customs. Turns out his species tended to eat each other to solve problems. He thinks our petty politics is fun to watch.”

Yeah, an alien would find that funny. Or everyone outside of America at least until America decides to invade for oil or some other resource. “So who did he want to possess?” Tony asks, grinning.

“No!” Eddie says, presumably to him and Venom.

*

Tony’s laying in bed pretending to have died when Eddie walks over and crawls over him, laying his entire weight on Tony’s back. He sighs because of course Eddie would find the most inconvenient way to get him to stop taking up the entire bed. “This is a king and you’re like three feet tall. How is it that you take up so much space?” Eddie asks as Tony starts wiggling around.

“Ask the cat, she’s a hell of a lot smaller than me and she always manages to take up at least half the bed.” Eddie rolls off and Tony props himself up. “Thanks for the present by the way, half the stuff you pointed out happens to be things I was already looking to fix.” But Eddie is a fuck of a lot picker than him and its nice to have someone trying to hold him to account. And Eddie has no problem doing so, he gives Tony his opinion on a lot of things all the time whether or not he wants to hear them.

“Yeah, I got you something else too but its taking eighty years in the mail so I had to improvise,” Eddie says.

“Let me guess, you refuse to use Amazon,” Tony says.

“Look, that fuckstick can’t even pay his workers and he’s the richest guy in the world, and what’s all that crazy shit about pissing in-” Eddie starts but Tony cuts him off before he really gets going.

“Jeff Bezos is a prick, I get it. Actually, might get stuck at the same charity event with him next week so I can bring you along if you want to punch him,” Tony says.

The bright look of unbridled glee in Eddie’s eyes makes him smile. Yeah, he’s maybe argued a lot about Tony’s wealth, but he at least appreciates that Tony does his best to spread it around a little. Its just that he has trust issues and he knows how corporate charity works- its all tax write offs and siphoning money out of most of the ‘donations.’ So he does his best to do his research and lucky him Eddie is probably a little too good at it so he’s got some more reputable charities to share with. And he thinks its fun to pay off random people’s debt. If he’s having a bad day he’ll pick a person and bam, debt free. He likes making people happy so Eddie only kind of side eyes his money.

Generally that means he only brings it up like twice a day instead of non-stop and if nothing else Tony can appreciate that he’s passionate about his views. Rhodey thinks he’s annoying but Rhodey isn’t dating him so he can deal with it.

“Yeah, alright,” Eddie says but the way he says it tells Tony that he’s not talking to him.

“Do not eat his head, V!” Tony says, panicked. “I do not want to deal with the fallout of that. Just ruin his life like a normal person. Get JARVIS to help, he’s been helpful in my long standing efforts to ruin Hammer.”

“Yeah, pretty sure all you two have managed to do is turn Hammer into the knockoff version of you, but he uh... seems to like that so I don’t know.”

Tony damn well knows he looks offended because that’s the fucking rudest shit he’s ever heard. “What did you just call Hammer?” he asks.

Eddie realizes his mistake right away and Tony fucking resents that he looks a little dead behind the eyes because he was the one who damn well decided Hammer was good enough to be the anything version of him. “I would sooner take Carlton Drake as the cheap version of me than Hammer,” Tony hisses. “At least Drake was actually smart and hot! What’s Hammer? He looks like he came out of the womb dressed as the class clown who decided to be an accountant!”

Honestly Tony resents that Eddie sighs at that. “No V, you can’t eat Hammer’s head,” Eddie mumbles.

“Yes you can,” Tony tells him.

*

Tony’s attempting to make coffee while also ignoring Eddie due to his previous transgressions. Compare him to Hammer on his birthday. The disrespect. Eddie walks out of their bedroom and Tony resolutely ignores him as he starts looking around the pent house for some reason. Tony side eyes him as he moves a bunch of papers around- Eddie’s, not his, knocks the pillows off the couch, and picks up the cat. He looks at Cotton for a moment, frowning before he shakes her a little. She meows in an annoyed, disgruntled way and Eddie sighs, releasing the cat.

“Uh, the fuck are you doing?” Tony asks eventually.

Looking for me says a voice in his head and Tony throws his coffee cup, startling so badly his entire body jerks and he slips, falling on his ass.

“Oh thank god I thought he went and possessed some random secretary so he could go eat heads!” Eddie says, rushing over to him.

“Oh no, you stay back there you don’t get to come near me or V after comparing Hammer to me!” he says, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

Eddie sighs. “Tony-” he starts but Tony has already picked himself up and turned around with his arms crossed, ignoring him.

So rude. Venom agrees. We should eat Hammer V says, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

Tony sighs and it pains him to do this, truly. “V, we can’t actually eat Hammer,” he says in perhaps the most dejected, upset tone he’s ever produced.

Eddie gives him, Venom technically, an offended look. “You decided to crawl into him in the middle of the night and risk killing him so you could eat someone?” he asks, hand pressed to his heart quite like an offended PTA mom. “V, you better get your ass back in here!” Eddie tells him, pointing at himself.

He compared you to Hammer. We should leave him, go sight seeing V says.

Tony rolls his eyes. “V you aren’t going to manipulate me into carrying your ass out of here because Eddie put you in the dog house.”

“Venom!” Eddie says, voice rising.

Tony swears to god he feels Venom extend from his body and that is some worrying fucking shit how’s Eddie put up with that? “Tony thinks you sound like an offended PTA mom,” Venom tells Eddie and Tony squints.

“Since when the hell are you a rat?” he asks.

Venom turns to face him, “you take that back! I am not vermin!”

“No, technically you’re a parasite now get back here,” Eddie tells him.

“Maybe I will find a new home with hosts who appreciate me,” Venom says, sinking back into Tony and he does not like that.

“How do you get these things out?” he asks.

Eddie walks over and leans in, squinting at Tony shrewdly except he’s actually looking at Venom and Tony’s not sure how he knows that. “If you don’t get back in me I will play Bohemian Rhapsody at top volumes with Tony pressed against the speaker!” he hisses.

“That kind of sounds like fun minus the speaker thing,” Tony says.

“They don’t do so well with loud noises and vibrations,” Eddie explains and oh, that makes sense. Tony watches as black goo extends from his hand to Eddie’s and it almost looks resentful for it. Or maybe Tony’s imagining that.

Tony gives Venom a sad look as the last of him disappears back into Eddie. “I’m so sad he won’t ever experience Freddy Mercury like the rest of us,” he says, hand pressed to his heart.

Eddie sighs. “V says your music taste is heinous and he would rather listen to my music.”

He listens to exclusively shitty electronica music. “I’m leaving you both,” Tony tells him, turning and walking away.

#tony x eddie brock #tony x eddie brock x venom #fanfiction #alternate universe

[jobros-pleaseinteract]

Footprints

Birthday present for @bucky-babe who wanted some Ironhusbands so here we have a college AU (and a surprise AU very fun) also latinx Tony Stark. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Bucky!

Tagging @myspideysensesrtingling @starksnack @sbidermanstan @cptdcnvers @sleepyoldchild @spideysstark @bamboozledfucker @irndad @thors-bleached-eyebrows

warnings: some hints to Howard Stark’s A+ parenting

    College. A terrifying time in any young person’s life, but even more terrifying if that young person looked like they were fifteen years old. Tony Stark, genius son of Howard Stark, at seventeen years of age is beginning his academic career at university, and the poor boy is fucking terrified. His father is too busy at some business meeting to help his only child move in, but his mamá is there with him, along with Jarvis to help him carry all his boxes in. Tony can feel his arms start to shake, and he can try to kid himself it’s from the weight of the box he holds in his arms, but deep down he knows it’s because he is about to shit his pants from fear. Sure, he’d gone to boarding school before, but this is different. Here, he is the youngest, a baby, and no one is gonna want to befriend a baby.

    A gentle hand passes over his head, caressing his head of curls. “Mi vida,” his mamá whispers to him as they wait for Jarvis to shut the trunk. “Mi amor, calm down. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

    Tony lets out a cough, trying to calm his racing heart. Yeah, nothing to be afraid of, except, you know, bullies and shit. He’s seen movies. He knows what college frat bros are capable of. He just wants to be challenged… and also maybe he wants to get away from his bastard of a father, but that’s besides the point.

    “You are going to do great things here, mi amor. I can feel it.”

    He can feel a smile tug at his lips. “Gracias, mamá.”

    It flows off his tongue like a river, his mamá’s native language that Howard refuses to allow under his roof. Maria wraps an arm around her son and runs her fingers through his thick brunette curls. She’s going to miss him as she always does when Howard sends her boy away. She’s left with an empty house all to herself; her husband is almost never home, not that she minds, but she misses when she could still hear her Tony’s laughter fill the cold halls.

    “You’ll call me,” she says more than asks. He always calls his mamá.

    “Claro. Who else are you going to complain to about the women in your book club?”

    “Ay, why your father insisted I join those ridiculous women is beyond me.” Maria rolls her eyes. “The books they choose are boring, and all they talk about are their yachts or houses in the Hamptons.”

    “You don’t want to talk about that?”

    A laugh escapes her. Howard may paint her as some sort of Spanish nobility for the press, but that wasn’t her. She was Mexican born, Los Angeles raised, and she wasn’t used to the life Howard led when they first married. She still wasn’t used to all the bragging and pettiness that came with being married to a Stark. The only good thing to come from her marriage is her son. And her friendship with the Jarvis couple.

    “Vamos,” she calls when the three of them manage to grab everything, “we have a dorm to see.”

    Tony, he isn’t so sure what to expect from a college dorm, but whatever it had been, it definitely does not match up with what he sees when he opens the door. Whoever his roommate is, well… he’s a total slob. Tony can feel the crease form between his eyebrows as he takes in the set of footprints on their carpet. What asshole tracks dirty footprints on a new carpet?

    “Oh, hi!” a warm voice greets from inside. “You must be James’s roommate!”

    He’s being swept up in a tight hug. It’s warm, maybe even warmer than the hugs his mamá gives. He’s released, and he sees who had embraced him. She’s beautiful, that’s for sure, and her face is so kind, all laugh lines and dimples. She’s big, bigger than tiny Tony, and he loves it. She’s like some sort of goddess, completely different from mamá, and yet exactly the same. The love they carry in their souls just radiates from them.

    “James!” the goddess yells into the bathroom. “James Rhodes, you get out here and meet your roommate!”

    “Okay, Ma, there’s no need to yell. I’m only five feet away, you know.”

    And there he is. An angel right before his eyes. Tall, dark, handsome--no, gorgeous. Wow, I am so gay, goes through Tony’s mind before he realizes, this is my roommate. You don’t hook up with your roommate, even if he is the most beautiful being Tony has ever seen in his entire fucking life.

    “Hi,” Tony squeaks, his voice cracking in a way that just makes him want to crawl in a hole and live out the rest of his days like some hermit, “I’m Tony.”

    “James,” the angel--his roommate--says, and his warm ass hand fucking engulfs Tony’s tiny one, and Tony wants to melt into the carpet right there. “It’s nice to meet you, Tony.”

    The goddess, who Tony’s infers is James’s mother, holds out her hand to Maria and gives her a warm smile. “Roberta Rhodes.”

    “Maria, pleasure to meet you.”

    “This your husband?”

    “Oh, no,” Jarvis scrambles to put down his boxes and shake Mrs. Rhodes’s hand. “Edwin Jarvis, I’m a, uh, family friend. Here to help him move in.”

    “Your husband working? That’s understandable, Terrence is back home looking after our daughter while I get to help James get settled in.” Mrs. Rhodes lowers her voice and stage-whispers, “He was nervous to meet his roommate.”

    “Ma!”

    “But I don’t think there’s any need to be nervous. You seem like a good boy, Tony.”

    “I, uh… I am?” He looks to his mamá for some guidance.

    “James has nothing to worry about with Tony other than late nights and some skipped meals. Recuerde comer, mi vida,” Maria tells her son. “Hopefully they can look after each other while they’re here.”

    They start unpacking, and Tony can’t get over the fact that his super hot roommate is the kind of guy to 1) wear shoes inside and 2) wear dirty shoes inside. Their carpet is absolutely covered in footprints, and while Tony isn’t a neat freak, it does kinda piss him off. But he can’t just call him out in front of everyone, can he? He’s actually a bit surprised Jarvis hasn’t said anything about it. But whatever, right? It’s the first day, and they’ve got a lot of stuff to move in, so it makes sense James would keep his shoes on, and Tony can always clean it up later… hopefully.

    Although Tony hates to admit it, he cries when mamá and Jarvis has to go. He’s a baby, practically, and he’s being left on his own to take care of himself. He can’t do that! He has problems with sleeping and eating and just, well, taking general care of himself!

    “You are going to be just fine,” Maria tells him as she cradles his baby face in her hands. “You are so talented, Tony, and I am so proud of you. So proud.”

    Tony sniffles and looks up at her with glossy brown eyes. “Are you sure?”

    “Of course, mi amor, I will always be proud of you.” She presses a kiss to his forehead and closes her eyes. “Te quiero, Tony.”

    “Te quiero, mamá.”

    Jarvis ruffles his hair and promises to write before he and Maria get in the car and drive off. Leaving him alone on the curb, fighting tears. He’ll be fine. Stark men don’t cry.

    Tony and James fall into an easy sort of friendship, and Tony starts to feel more comfortable at school. Rhodey, what James has lovingly been renamed, still tracks in those goddamn footprints, but Tony can’t bring himself to call him out on it. Whenever he feels frustration creep up inside of him, he remembers what always happens when he tries to make his father listen to him, and suddenly he’s unable to say anything to Rhodey about his messy habits. So he keeps his mouth shut and his head down whenever he wants to say something. He can handle this.

    His friends think he’s a fucking idiot for not just bringing it up. Well, they think he’s an idiot for a lot of other reasons, but they especially get onto him for this. Somehow, around a week into the semester, he managed to collect three mom friends: Carol, Pepper, and Natasha. He and Carol share a class together, but that’s not how she adopted him. No, it was outside of class, on the quad, when she and the other two girls were studying and talking shit, when suddenly this small boy was tripping over his shoelaces and his books were flying everywhere. They saw tiny Tony and adopted him on the spot, and now they made sure he actually ate, got more than two hours of sleep a week, and communicated with his freakishly hot roommate.

    “Tones, if the guy keeps tracking in dirt, fucking tell him,” Natasha sighs as they’re lounging on Tony’s bed one Friday night. “It’s obviously bothering you enough keep bitching to us about it.”

    “But what if he gets mad at me?”

    “He’s the one being slob,” Pepper points out.

    “If he gives you a hard time about it,” Carol says, “we’ll kick his ass. Now hold still.”

    Carol had bought some new nail polish and wanted to try it out on Tony, claiming the red and gold would go perfect with his dark skin. It’ll totally pop, Tones, just trust me, she had said when she’d pulled out the bottles. So now he’s lounging between Natasha’s legs, her fingers lightly scratching against his scalp while Carol paints his nails and Pepper flips through a magazine.

    “Where is your Adonis anyways?” Pepper asks. “He got plans?”

    “I think he said he had a Smash Bros tournament with uh… Sam? You guys know Sam Wilson?”

    “Yeah, he’s friends with Steve Rogers and that other guy with the man bun,” Carol answers. “Wait, Nat, didn’t you hook up with man bun?”

    “Like, once. Okay, so it was twice, but what can I say? He’s got nice arms.”

    “Thirsty.”

    “Shut up, Pepper, so are you.”

    “Wh-- no I am not, I am completely, 100% focused on classes, thank you very much! You have absolutely nothing on--”

    The door swing open, and Rhodey walks in looking a bit winded. He waves to the girls and Tony before disappearing into the bathroom.

    “...If he left a Smash Bros tournament, he isn’t worth it, Tones,” Carol tells him. “A quitter never makes an attractive partner, let me just tell you that right now.

    “Hey!” Rhodey comes back in and smiles. “Sorry for interrupting your party, but I remembered Sam let me borrow one of his hoodies last week, and if I don’t return it tonight, he’s never gonna let me live it down.”

    “Oh, was it the one hanging in the shower?” Tony realizes.

    “That’s the one! I got salsa on it and had to scrub it out.” He grins at Tony, and the younger boy swears his heart skipped like five beats. “Anyways, I’ll be back in a few hours. Want me to bring you back some pizza, Tones?”

    “That would be amazing, platypus, thank you!”

    “Anything for my tiny Tony.”

    The girls wait until he’s gone before turning back to their friend with wide eyes. He just looks back at them innocently.

    “What?”

    “What do you mean ‘what’?” Pepper says. “You just called him platypus, and he just called you his tiny Tony!”

    “Yeah, we have nicknames for each other, so what?”

    “Tony, it was the way he said it,” Natasha sighs. “We already know you’re in love with him--”

    “I am not!”

    “But, Tony, he sounded pretty fond of you.”

    “People can be fond platonically! You are fond of me! And for your information, I am not in love with him.” He stands up, ignoring the annoyed shout Carol gives him when the nail polish gets smudged, and puts his hands on his hips. “I am not in love with someone who is completely incapable of taking off his dirty ass shoes before walking on the carpet! I mean, just look at how messy it is!”

    The girls look down at the floor and are quiet for a few moments. Tony waits as they continue to stare at the floor and them give him a worried look.

    “What?” he asks.

    “Tony… there are no footprints on the carpet,” Pepper tells him.

    “What the hell are you talking about? Are you blind?” He gestures to the carpet where he can clearly see a trail of footprints leading to and from the bathroom. “They’re right here!”

    “Oh my god, you cannot be this stupid,” Carol laughs. “Are you being serious right now?”

    “Yes!”

    “Tones, if we can’t see the footprints you can clearly see,” Natasha says, “then have you considered he’s your--”

    “If you’re gonna say soulmate, I’m just going to stop you right there,” Tony interrupts her. “There is no way someone like me could ever have a soulmate, let alone one like Rhodey.”

    “And why do you say that?”

    “Because… well… because I’m me. Tony Stark, the absolute fuck up! I mean, my own father can’t even stand to be in the same room as me for more than five minutes without telling me what a terrible son I am! Why should I be soulmates with someone as wonderful as James Rhodes?”

    “There’s a lot to unpack here, but--”

    “ANTHONY EDWARD STARK, YOU GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS THIS INSTANT! HE IS YOUR SOULMATE OKAY?” Pepper suddenly yells, causing the others to stare at her with wide eyes. “You can see his footprints, we can. There is literally no other explanation for this!”

    “Pepper,” Carol hisses. She can’t just yell at Tony and expect everything to--

    “Yes, ma’am.”

    “Oh, wow, did not actually expect that to work.”

    “Well… you guys are like my moms, so. I listen to you.”

    “He listens to you, well that’s just great,” Carol grumbles. “He doesn’t listen to me.”

    “That’s because you’re just as reckless and stupid as him, Danvers,” Pepper says back. “Now, Tony, I want you to actually talk to James about this, okay? You know now that he isn’t just some asshole who likes to track dirt into the dorm; he’s your soulmate.”

    “But I mean, do we really--”

    “Don’t make me pull the full name card again, Tony, because you know I will.”

    “...Fine. I will talk to him about this. Now, Carol, can you please fix my nails? I think I fucked them up.

    Rhodey sneaks back into the dorm after midnight, trying hard to be quiet in case Tony went to bed. Of course, the little insomniac did not go to bed, and is instead sitting at his desk waiting for his roommate/soulmate. When he hears the door click shut, he turns on his desk lamp and swivels his chair, causing Rhodey to let out a shriek.

    “Oh, fuck! It’s just you, Tones. You scared the shit out of me, man.” He can see Tony chewing the inside of his cheek as if trying to find the right words to say. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

    “Wrong? Nothing’s wrong, or at least I don’t think so, I just, uh. Fuck. Okay so basically… I think you’re really hot, and I have since we first met, and, like, that’s really weird because we’re roommates and I most definitely should not be thinking that, and then I noticed you kept tracking fucking dirt onto our carpet, but I didn’t want to say anything in case you got mad, because I don’t like it when people yell at me, probably because of like childhood trauma or some shit, I dunno, but then today Carol, Pepper, and Nat realized that you weren’t tracking dirt into the dorm, I just saw your footprints, which, you know, means we’re soulmates.”

    “Wait… what?”

    Oh, god, Rhodey didn’t know. “Oh, well, we’re--well I think we’re soulmates. Because I can see your footprints when no one else can.”

    “Yeah, no I knew that.”

    “You knew?”

    “Uh, it’s pretty obvious when I can see your footprints, Tony, even when you’re not wearing shoes.”

    “Well… why didn’t you say anything?” Tony could feel his chest start to get tight and his breathing pick up. “Oh, god, you don’t want me, do you? That’s why you didn’t say anything! Because, because you know I’d be a terrible soulmate, and you don’t want that, and you deserve someone way better, someone like Sam Wilson, because he’s so cool, oh god, who wouldn’t want to be soulmates with Sam Wilson, he’s like--”

    Tony stops talking when Rhodey cradles his face in his warm ass hands, his entire brain going blank.

    “Whoa, there, calm down, okay? I didn’t say anything because I thought you knew, Tony.” Rhodey lets out a laugh and shakes his head. “Hell, I thought we’ve been dating for like a month now!”

    “...what.”

    “Yeah, you started calling me Rhodey and platypus and honeybear, and we’ve been cuddling and holding hands, so I thought you knew! Oh, god, this is so embarrassing! I totally thought we’ve been dating!”

    “Well, I… I mean, we could, uh, well, if you wanted to, I wouldn’t object to us, like, actually dating. As in we both know we’re dating.”

    “Oh you wouldn’t, would you?” Rhodey asks with a smile. “Well, would you object if I were to kiss you right now?”

    Oh my god, he wants to kiss me!

    “I mean, if you really wanted to.”

    “Oh, shut up, Tones.”

    “Why don’t you make m--”

    Rhodey leans down to kiss him before Tony can finish his snarky comment, and Tony does not mind one bit. Because Tony has never felt anything as fucking perfect as kissing Rhodey. His whole body grows warm as Rhodey wraps his arms around him, and Tony practically melts against him when he feels Rhodey’s fingers gently tug on his curls. He’s kissing his soulmate, and his soulmate is fucking James Rhodes, his platypus, his honeybear, his Rhodey.

#hope you like it! #i attempt to write #ironhusbands

[winteriron-trash]

(I Am) A Little Wicked [Chapter 4]

A/N: Happy Thursday! We’re back again with this lovely, dark fic. No, I still haven’t gotten it on Ao3, because Ao3 won’t let me post new works for some reason. I’m trying to fix that. There’s a two-year time lapse from the last chapter, and trust me, we’re getting to the good stuff. Mostly Tony stuff, but a bit of Maria at the end. This is a long chapter too, so strap in. Lemme know if you wanna be added to the tag list, and many thanks to my muse, @lovinthepizzalife

Extreme TW for racial slurs, and graphic depictions of violence in this chapter. if you can’t handle the racial slurs just jump down to the first time skip. All you need to know is Rhodey got beat up by some racist assholes. If you don’t want to read the violence, stop reading at about the part Tony hangs up the phone after talking to Rhodey and pick up again after the next time skip. Stay safe, know your triggers. Sorry for a long A/N, that just needed to be said.

Playlist | Summary/Warnings | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

-

“Tones, I’m telling you, one day all that coffee is gonna short-circuit your brain.” Rhodey elbowed Tony as they walked down the dark streets.

Tony grinned. “Well, where’s the fun if you don’t live on the edge?”

Rhodey laughed, shaking his head. “The fun is in having a long lifespan, man. Living to be thirty.”

“Who wants to be thirty anyway?” Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re old and cranky and you look down on everyone.”

“You won’t be looking down on anyone,” Rhodey promised. “They’ll be looking down at you, short stuff.”

“Hey!” Tony smacked his arm. “You’re an asshole. I’m fun sized.”

“You’re something alright.” Rhodey shook his head with a smile. “Alright, here’s your dorm.” They stopped walking in front of the brick building.

“You didn’t have to walk me, you know,” Tony said, making a face as he got out his badge to unlock the door. “I’m a big boy, I can handle myself.”

“You’re a seventeen-year-old, five-foot tall little shit.” Rhodey corrected. “I’m just looking out for you, Tones.”

Tony stuck his tongue out. “Don’t go soft on me, Platypus.” He opened the door.

“Goodnight, Tony,” Rhodey called out, smiling so hard it hurt. “Get some sleep!”

“Love you too, mom!” Tony shouted back, shutting the door behind himself. Rhodey watched his figure disappear from the view of the windows. God, he loved that scrappy kid.

Rhodey sighed, flipping up his hood. His dorm was on the other side of the campus, and it was already late. Tony was right, Rhodey didn’t have to walk him back, but Rhodey liked looking out for Tony. The kid was smart but eccentric and weird around people. Even if Justin Hammer hadn’t harassed him in years for reasons Rhodey still didn’t understand, there were still others who did. Rhodey just wanted to keep his best friend out of trouble.

Rhodey wasn’t sure how far he’d been walking, he was maybe about halfway to his own dorm when he heard shouting.

“Hey! Fucking nigger!”

Rhodey felt his spine tighten. He couldn’t even walk home, could he? He kept his head down, glaring at the ground.

“Hey, listen to us when we’re talking to you!” A different voice shouted.

Great, so there was more than one. Rhodey’s heart started beating faster. It was fine. They were probably just a bunch of drunk frat boys. It was fine.

“Go back to Africa!” There was whooping laughter at that comment from the entire group. Rhodey didn’t dare look back and try to count, but there were easily more than three. The footsteps were getting closer. It took every ounce of self-preservation Rhodey had to stop from breaking out into a run.

“Hey!” A hand grabbed Rhodey’s shoulder and yanked him back. Rhodey was forced to spin around, heart pounding so hard he could barely see straight. There were five of them, all bigger than Rhodey.

“Look, man, I don’t want any trouble-” Rhodey held up his hands, taking a step backwards.

One of the guys stepped forward and shoved Rhodey. “Fucking nigger. Go back to Africa you dumb filthy piece of shit.”

Rhodey swallowed down bile. “I don’t-”

The first hit landed right over Rhodey’s face, sending him tumbling backwards onto the ground. He barely had enough time to cup his own bleeding nose before hands were tugging him back to his feet so he could get punched in the gut.

There was cheering and shouting all around Rhodey, slurs and insults shouted at him. Rhodey lost track of how many times he was hit, or who was even hitting him any more, it was a blur of pain and noise.

“Hey.” A slap cracked across Rhodey’s cheekbone, bringing him back to awareness. “Look at me, you filthy nigger.”

Rhodey blinked hard, trying to focus on the guy in front of him in the faint streetlamp light. He was tall with a leather jacket and blond hair.

“If I see you again, I’m gonna cut your filthy nigger heart out.” The guy taunted, then he punched Rhodey, and that was the last thing Rhodey felt before he passed out.

-

Tony was absolutely seething when he heard the news. He stared at his phone, vision going red. Rhodey. Hospital. The words barely seemed to click, the idea of it made Tony want to throw up. Rhodey was in the hospital. Some assholes landed his Rhodey in the hospital.

Tony didn’t even realize he was dialling Maria’s number until he had the phone pressed against his ear, pacing around his room.

“Good morning, figlio,” Maria answered, her voice warm.

“Madre.” Tony took a deep breath. “My friend is in the hospital.”

There was a pause. “Oh, tesoro,” She said, tone radiating with sympathy. “Rhodes? What happened to him?”

“A bunch of assholes.” Tony hissed through grit teeth. “Racist assholes.”

“Oh,” Maria murmured. “Tesoro.”

Tony glared at the wall. “They hurt my friend, madre. He’ll be fine but…” Tony swallowed. “They hurt my friend.” Tony sat down on his bed, pulling out the knife he kept under his pillow. “I wanted to ask your permission, make sure you were okay with… me taking care of it.”

“Figlio,” Maria said. “You’re a Carbonell. We take care of our family. Rhodes is a lovely young man. I’d send someone in to take care of it if you didn’t.”

“No, that’s fine.” Tony shook his head, twisting the knife between his fingers. “This is personal. I’ll take care of it. Thank you, madre.”

“Of course.” Tony could hear the smile in Maria’s voice. “Tonio, don’t forget I’m leaving for my business trip this weekend. You might not be able to get in touch with me this weekend, I don’t know how busy I’ll be. You can always call Jarvis if you need anything.”

“I know.” Tony nodded, standing up. “Take care of yourself, madre.”

Maria chuckled. “Don’t I always? Goodbye, ‘Tonio.”

“Love you.” Tony hung up and immediately started dialling a new number. He pressed the phone to his ear again, waiting for someone to pick up.

“Hello?” Rhodey’s voice was hoarse, but it was there and Tony felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

“Hey Platypus.” Tony cleared his throat.

Rhodey’s sigh of relief was audible. “Hey, Tones.”

Tony wasn’t sure what to say at first. “So is hospital food as bad as they say?” Tony asked.

Rhodey let out a shaky laugh from the other end and Tony smiled. “Man, it tastes like cardboard. You could cook better than they do.”

“Hey!” Tony laughed. “My ramen is made with love.”

“Love and other diseases.” Rhodey teased.

Tony shook his head. “How are you?”

“I’m okay.” Rhodey deflated a bit. “It’s better than it sounds. Just a broken nose, a concussion, some cracked ribs and a few bruises. They’re gonna let me out in a few days. For now, they’re more worried about the emotional recovery.”

Tony studied his knife. “Did you give your statement to the police?”

Rhodey sighed. “Yeah, but they didn’t seem too interested. They said my descriptions were vague at best, and if I really wanted them to catch the guys I would’ve been more helpful.”

“It was the middle of the fucking night and they were beating you!” Tony nearly shouted.

“I know,” Rhodey said. “I know, Tones. But it’s fine. This kind of thing happens a lot. I’m lucky there was nothing permanent. Just some scrapes and bruises.” His voice was too hollow for the sentiment to feel real.

“What did they look like?” Tony asked, rubbing his thumb along the flat of the blade.

“Tones, why does it matter? You can’t do any more than the police can.”

“Maybe I can go to the police. Say I was a witness. They’ll listen to Tony Stark.” Tony lied without hesitation.

“You don’t have to-”

“Humour me, Rhodes. Please?” Tony begged.

Rhodey let out another sigh. “There were five of them. They were all white.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“They were big. Like, six foot all of them. Easily. Muscular. I think one was wearing a jersey.” Rhodey listed. “It was dark. The only one I got a good look at was the one who said he would cut my heart out. He was blond, had a leather jacket. Green eyes, I think. Southern accent, like he was from Texas or somewhere down there. I don’t really know. It was hard to focus, Tones.”

Tony’s skin crawled with red-hot anger. “He told you he was going to cut your heart out?” Tony whispered jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.

“It was an empty threat, Tones. Calm down.” Rhodey tried to sooth.

Tony gripped his knife. “I’ll visit you tomorrow. I’ve got something to do today, gotta do some chores. But I’ll be there bright and early tomorrow, okay?” Tony was already on his feet, grabbing his jacket.

“I didn’t know Tony Stark did anything bright and early.” Rhodey teased.

“Oh shut up. Love you, platypus.” Tony smiled.

“Yeah, you too, Tones.”

Tony hung up his phone, tossing it aside. He knew just from Rhodey’s descriptions who the blond guy was, as well as the other four. A bunch of loud mouth assholes who were on the football team and thought they were hot shit. Tony tugged on his jacket, sliding the knife into his pocket. He should probably bring more than a hand knife, but a part of him wanted it to be up close and personal.

No one touched Tony’s family.

-

Tony wasn’t surprised to find all five assholes crammed into one dorm, drinking and being loud assholes.

“What do you want?” One asked, glaring down at Tony as he answered the door.

Tony offered a sickly sweet smile, trying not to let his gaze linger on the bruised knuckles the guy had. “Just wanted to talk. About what you all were doing last night.”

The guy scoffed. “We weren’t in the dorms last night, so don’t even start with another fucking noise complaint.”

Tony took a step forward, and he must’ve been glaring harder than he thought because the guy took a step back. “I know you weren’t in the dorms. You were beating up my best friend.”

The talking from the other four quieted and they all focused on Tony. Tony shut the door behind himself, hand sliding into his pocket.

“Unless you got a fucking arrest warrant, fuck off.” The blond with green eyes glared at Tony.

“I don’t need one.” Tony tilted his head to the side, offering the sweetest smile, with all his teeth showing.

After that, one of the dudes charged Tony, and Tony didn’t hesitate. He didn’t pay too much attention to his motions, didn’t make it clean or quick. It was bloody and painful, the knife cutting off screams.

He smiled the whole way through it.

Tony did make sure of one thing, though. That the blond was the last one left alone, face covered with a spray of his friend’s blood as he cowered in the corner.

Tony walked over to the blond, stepping over dead bodies. He knelt right in front of the guy, tilting his head to the side.

“What was it, that you told my friend?” Tony murmured, leaning in close. “Something about cutting his heart out?”

“It was just a joke, I didn’t-”

“Do you even know how to cut a heart out?” Tony asked. “The movies make it look like it’s easy, but…” Tony pressed the knife against the blond’s chest. “It’s harder than it looks. You can’t go through the chest, the sternum is in the way. You have to make a cut right across the top of the abdomen instead.” Tony dragged his knife across the guy's skin, just below his ribcage. He was too paralyzed with horror to do anything other than watch. “Then you have to cut through the diaphragm, right under the ribs.” Tony pushed his knife into the cut. “It’s easier to do with a scalpel, but sometimes you have to make do.”

“Please…” The blond begged.

Tony flashed a feral grin. “And after you cut through the diaphragm you take the knife out,” Tony yanked his knife free, putting it back in his pocket. “And reach right inside the chest…” Tony pushed his hand into the incision, curling his hand around the blond’s heart. The way the blond’s eyes went wide was almost comical. Tony could feel his heart beating fast, right in Tony’s hand. Tony leaned in close, lips right next to his ear. “And then all you need is one hard tug.”

Tony ripped the blond’s heart right out of his chest.

Pulling back, Tony watched green eyes go glassy as blood poured out of his abdomen.

“See? Easy.” Tony stared at the human heart in his hand, still pouring blood. He dropped it. “That’s how you cut someone’s heart out.” Tony stood up, running a bloody hand through his hair. “No one hurts my friend.” An old memory surfaced in Tony’s mind and he smiled. “I hope Il Diavolo keeps you warm in Hell.”

Tony turned on his heel and walked out of the room, happily humming to himself.

-

“James?” A knock came on Rhodey’s door and he glanced up from his textbook. A nurse smiled at him. “You have a visitor.” She stepped out of the room, and Tony came in.

“Hi.” Tony flashed a bright smile, walking in with two coffees in his hands. “I’m not sure if you’re allowed to have this, but I charmed the nurse to let me in with it so here.” Tony set a hot coffee down on the desk next to Rhodey.

Rhodey smiled. “Hey, Tones. Nice to see you up and perky in the morning.”

“And it only took me one coffee.” Tony smiled proudly. “Besides this one.” He held up the cup in his other hand, taking a sip from it. Tony’s coffee was iced and probably filled with too much sugar.

“How are you?” Rhodey asked, grabbing his own coffee.

“Shouldn’t I be asking the bedridden one that?” Tony said with a flat stare.

Rhodey waved him off. “I’m fine, really. They’re just fussing over me.”

“You call your mom yet?” Tony pulled himself up to sit on the desk next to Rhodey.

“Yeah.” Rhodey nodded. “She can’t fly out, but my sister’s visiting next weekend.”

“That’s good.” Tony hummed.

Rhodey took a steadying breath. “Hey, Tones?”

“Hm?” Tony glanced up.

“Did you see the news report last night?” Rhodey asked. “About those five dead bodies, they found? At the college?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Heard it was a bloodbath.” He didn’t sound at all perturbed by the information.

“You know, I saw their pictures.” Rhodey cleared his throat. “They looked a lot like the guys who kicked my ass.”

“Weird.” Tony tilted his head to the side. He sounded utterly unbothered. It was… unnerving.

Rhodey bit the inside of his cheek. “Tony, did you know you were the only person I told, about the part where the guy said he was gonna cut my heart out?”

“No, I didn’t.” Tony’s eyebrows jumped a bit, but the surprise seemed beyond fake.

“Did you know they found that guy, and only that guy, with his heart, ripped out?” Rhodey could barely get the words out. “His entire heart, Tones. On the floor in front of him.”

“I heard that.” Tony hummed, stirring his coffee with its straw. “They said it looked professionally done.”

Rhodey flexed his fingers, counted to five in his head before going on. “I believe in coincidences, Tones. But coincidences only go so far.”

Tony glanced up again. “Oh?”

“Tell me the truth, Tony.” Rhodey gave him a hard look. “You didn’t… you have a lot of money. You didn’t hire someone to…”

Tony made a face of pure disgust. “You think I’d hire someone to commit mass murder?” He said and for a moment Rhodey calmed. “I don’t let other people do my dirty work, Rhodey. I take care of my own business.”

Rhodey’s heart stopped. “What?”

“What?” Tony asked, almost innocently.

“Did you…” Rhodey tried to ask, but the words wouldn’t come out.

Tony studied Rhodey. “Alright, let’s be honest here, okay? If I did have something to do with that murder, would you really want to know?” He took a sip of coffee.

“No,” Rhodey admitted quietly. “I… no.” He thought a moment. “How would you-you know what, fine.” Rhodey held up his hands in defeat. “Just promise me something, Tones.”

“What’s that?” Tony tilted his head to the side.

“Whatever side of you that is,” Rhodey stared at him, “the side that we aren’t gonna talk about? Let’s keep it that way. There are some things I don’t need to know about you, okay?”

“Sure.” Tony smiled. It was the first time Rhodey noticed, Tony never showed his teeth when he smiled. “If that’s how you want to keep it. Sure.”

Rhodey managed a hollow nod.

Maybe the scrappy kid wasn’t as scrappy as Rhodey thought.

-

Maria sighed, staring at the empty road. She had nothing wrong with taking back roads, even during the night. They didn’t bother her, and if they proved to be the more efficient route to her destination than they were the most logical choice.

And besides, the quiet was nice sometimes. Away from all the noises and problems she had to deal with around other people. It was relaxing, almost.

So granted, she was startled enough by the roaring motorcycle that had come veering in front of her, making her crash right into a tree.

Maria panted for a brief moment before collecting herself, pushing her hair out of her face. She had no injuries, save a few bumps and bruises.

The revving noise of the motorcycle caught Maria’s attention. It pulled up right behind her car before stopping. There were footsteps coming towards her.

Maria almost might’ve believed that whoever it was, was coming to help her but. But cyclist had come right at her, drove right in front of her. It was a hit, not an accident. Maria pulled out the gun Tony had made for her. It wasn’t lethal, instead loaded with a paralytic. Maria figured it was no use killing a hitman if she didn’t know whom he worked for.

The man walked up right next to Maria’s door, opening it. Maria laid perfectly still, waiting. As soon as he reached out to put his hand on her throat, she pulled out the gun.

It was a bit hard to find a chink in his armour in the dark, but she ended up going for his neck. The man stumbled backwards, but he didn’t pass out. Instead, he fell to one knee, trying to push himself back to his feet. Maria figured not only by his size and gear but also by the glinting metal arm that he was something above human. She shot him twice more and watched his body finally fall limp.

“And who are you?” Maria hummed, mostly to herself as she crouched next to the still body. She checked for a pulse, but otherwise focused on identifying him. She ran her hands over the leather straps of the uniform. They were HYDRA issue.

Maria made a distasteful frown. HYDRA wasn’t something she made a point to avoid, but they also weren’t something she sought out to aggravate. Being on their hit list was… annoying. Worrisome, at most. But, HYDRA or no, Maria could handle herself.

Maria’s mind flashed back to something she’d heard Martinique mention. What did he call it, a Winter Soldier? Some weapon of HYDRA’s. A ghost story.

A man with a bionic arm.

Maria couldn’t help but smile to herself. She had HYDRA’s prize weapon, lying right in front of her. The most logical thing to do would be to kill him. But.

But.

The idea of not only taking out HYDRA’s fist but making him her own… that was something Maria couldn’t quite resist.

Maria pulled out her phone, dialling a number. She’d need a new car and something to haul away the Winter Soldier’s bike. He certainly wouldn’t need it anymore.

“You know, it’s almost Christmas.” Maria mused, smiling down at the limp body, all teeth. “You’d make a lovely present for my ‘Tonio. I’m sure he could do great things with you.”

-

@justjessica131   @smittenkitten143@crazy4thewinbros   @madieorally @lazilymysticalzombie@journeythroughtherain @i-dont-know-just-where-im-going@ibreathebooks-42 @shiroukun@sonofabitch150@daughter-of-infinity@king-stony @cdragontogacotar@creepycrazyshipper@justaboringlurker @sun-at-midnight @bash-it-all @i-dont-know-anything-and-i-worry@shipeveryonetogether @jampottr @itsall-taken @shadowrayven @cdragontogacotar

#winteriron #winteriron fanfic #dark!winteriron #(I Am) A Little Wicked #chapter 4 #winteriron-trash writes #tw

[not-close-to-straight]

Smitten Kitten (Chapter Five)

ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS HERE ***********************************

Rhodes threw Steve through a window first, and the soldier partial shifted into his Lion with a snarl, his feet slipping and sliding on the shattered glass as he tried for balance on the grass.

Bucky was next, destroying the rest of the window and smashing into the ground, but he was fully shifted into his Wolf before he even stood back up, baring his teeth furiously at Rhodes.

Then both of them were scrambling backwards, shifting down into human as fast as they could and yelling at the top of their lungs as the twelve foot tall black bear came crashing through the wall and onto the lawn, each step of its massive paws leaving a dent in the ground, jaws open in a roar that shook the soldiers to their very core.

And stalking behind the bear, nose in the air, tail twitching irritably, came Tony.

Turns out he wasn't as alright with being rejected as he had originally thought.

That would teach those stupid soldiers to hurt his feelings.

Honeybear to the fucking rescue .

*****************

*****************

“Now boys .” The Colonel crossed his arms over his chest. “I want you to tell Tony exactly what you told me. Don't leave anything out or I'll put you through a wall again.”

Bucky and Steve, both dressed again and looking more than a little terrified, nodded in unison.

“It wasn't that we didn't want to be around you after shifted down, Tony.” Steve began awkwardly and the black cat just twitched his tail.

“It's just that--” Bucky rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Just that you were naked , and both our animals got--got--um--”

“Got??” Rhodes thundered and Bucky jumped. “Finish your fucking sentence!”

“We both got possessive and were afraid we couldn't control our shift!” Steve blurted. “Bucky and I have been getting… closer but---”

“But feline shifters and canine shifters don't ever really get along and we both want you, so seeing you naked--”

“--both our animals wanted to claim you, and of course, fight the other shifter in the room so--”

“-- so we left so we wouldn't do anything stupid.” Bucky finished lamely. “And we are really really sorry if that hurt your feelings.”

“Of course it hurt his feelings!” Rhodes growled, and the Bear was still so close to the surface that it came out as more of a rumble and less of a sentence.

Tony stood on his hind legs and pressed his little face into Rhodey's, meowing softly until the man calmed down.

“I told I would kick your asses if you upset Tony.” he warned. “Consider yourself lucky I only scared the living hell out of you today. If it happens again, I will crush you, Super soldiers or not. Pretty sure I can carry your shield, Cap, you ain't all that special. And Bucky, wolves are about a dime a dozen so don't fucking test me, or I will toss your mangy hide away and find another one for the team, do I make myself perfectly clear?”

He scooped Tony up into his arms and left the room, leaving Bucky and Steve shaking on the couch.

“I have never been more scared in my life.” Steve admitted, and Bucky couldn't even laugh about it.

“Somehow this was more terrifying than any flashback I could ever have.”

“Heya pals.” Clint and Natasha appeared in the doorway. “Met Rhodey's bear, did you?”

“Um--um--”

Clint's lips twitched into a smirk. “Yeah, so story time. Back before Tony was Iron Man, and he was just rich and obnoxious and hot--” two sets of eyes snapped up to meet his. “-- what? You think just because Tasha and I are together I'm blind to how gorgeous Tony is? You two are all brawn and no brain aren't you?”

“Clint.” Tasha murmured and he coughed.

“Right. Anyway. So I meet Tony, ended up trying to be flirty and funny and offended the hell out of him without realizing it.”

“Imagine that.” Bucky muttered and Clint glared at him.

“So anyway. Later that night, I shift into my hawk and go to take off, and a partial shifted Rhodey-bear reaches into the sky and snatches me back to ground. Surprised he didn't break my wings. Tells me in the most terrifying voice in the world, that if I ever upset Tony again he'd pluck all my feathers and roast me for dinner. Then let me go. It took me six months to even be able to look him in the eye again.”

“He's intense.” Natasha nodded. “I wouldn't feel comfortable going up against him, even in full dragon form. I feel like he could rip my wings off without blinking.”

“How is he so big?” Bucky stammered. “His bear is twice my height. And Rhodes is like, half my height in real life. I've hardly even heard him raise his voice but--”

“It's because he's such a good person.” Clint said decisively. “Not only is he fairly high ranking military, and War Machine, which would make his bear big anyway but he's genuinely the nicest person I've ever met. Maybe nicer than Phil, but I would never say that out loud. The strength of his heart, his soul. That's what fuels his bear.”

“That makes it worse. Makes it scarier.” Bucky complained. “I can't compete with a guy who's animal is directly proportionate to the goodness in his heart!”

“Well maybe next time you don't piss Tony off.” Clint snapped, and Bucky popped his teeth right back, bursting into a partial shift and growling at him.

“Down boy.” Clint waved his hand in a bored fashion. “I've heard you scream like a child, you don't scare me anymore.”

****************

A week and a half later, both Steve and Bucky were snappish and irritable with each other and everyone else.

Tony had barely spoken to them the last ten days, and certainly hadn't called them to help with his shifts at all. Their almost daily dose of snuggles and cuteness had completely disappeared, and tensions were so high between the Lion and Wolf that they couldn't even share a bed anymore.

When Bucky had walked into the bedroom the other night, Steve had partial shifted almost instantly, eyes flashing gold, a warning snarl building in his chest. Bucky had had to partial shift himself, and they had spent a restless night unable to relax around each other at all, even in separate beds.

This morning they couldn't even sit together.

Bucky was pacing anxiously in the living room, Steve tapping his claws on the kitchen table, physically unable to bring himself out of a partial shift because he was so stressed out. Neither of them had realized how much they had counted on Tony being with them to keep them level until the little shifter started refusing to be around them.

It was tearing them up mentally, throwing them out of sync emotionally, and driving a wedge into their friendship, effectively putting a stop to anything romantic that had been blossoming.

And it was making the rest of the team insane .

“Enough .” Wanda yelled, when Bucky got too close to the kitchen and Steve jumped to his feet in a clear challenge. Bucky had just squared up his shoulders, more than ready to accept the challenge, when Wanda pushed her chair back and sent them both a glare.

“I cannot handle the tension anymore. Bucky, come let your Wolf run with Natasha and I. You need out of the compound and away from the Captain. Tonight, Hawk and Vision can take Captain out. Let's go.”

“I don't want to go.” Bucky protested. The thought of Steve alone with Tony made his skin crawl and his Wolf furious .

“I wasn't asking.” Wanda lifted her hand, letting her power arc between her fingers and glow in her eyes and Natasha murmured in agreement behind her.

“Fine.” Bucky couldn't even look at Steve, turning away as he started undressing so he could shift.

In the entirely creepy way of shifting unique only to Snakes, Wanda took two steps forward, and let her entire body shimmer and melt away, her human skin seeming to shed itself, leaving her as her Constrictor, thick coils tensing and moving as she curled her body close together to avoid being stepped on.

“Come on.” Tasha sighed and stepped out of her dress, treating everyone to a quick flash of perfect curves before the scales starting climbing her body, smoke puffing from her mouth when she exhaled.

Bucky grumbled a little a more, but dropped his pants and let his Wolf take over, growling at the pain that always accompanied his left arm changing. Hydra had managed to design the arm to shift with him but it always hurt and he hated it. Hated the reminder of his Winter Soldier days. He even kind of hated how close his Wolf came to emulating the Winter Soldier, all brute strength and and barely checked power and killer instinct.

But he couldn't deny how much he loved the freedom being in Wolf form brought him, and he knew a hard run would do wonders for his state of mind.

“We will see you in a few hours.” Vision said calmly, running his hand over several feet of Wanda, and the Constrictors eyes glowed red at the gentle touch. Vision couldn't shift, for obvious reasons, but he loved Wanda just as much in her Constrictor form as he did human, and she loved that.

Raising her coils to push more of them through his hands, she sent him another soft look before heading out the door, closely followed by Bucky, and then Natasha.

Once they were gone, Steve was finally able to pull himself from his partial shift, breathing a sigh of relief, and Clint clicked his tongue in sympathy.

“Why don't you go paint or something. We’ll run you ragged later, so go get some rest. Can't imagine you sleep well with the canine shifter in your room. Go sleep, we will come looking for you when they get home.”

Steve didn't answer, just sent both Clint and Vision a jerky nod and headed up to his room.

*****************

He'd only been asleep a few minutes when the door to his room banged open, and a very disgruntled Tony stood there glaring at him.

“I haven't hardly slept all week.” Tony spat. “Haven't been able to shift alone. It's making me crazy. Both you Alpha shifters are so stupid and it pisses me off, but I need you anyway so get your asses down to my lab and--- hey, where's Bucky? I came looking for both of you.” His face fell and Steve sat up on his elbows.

“Bucks out running. Needed a break from all--” he made a circle motion with one hand. “You know?”

“Oh.” Tony looked even more upset and kicked at the carpet self consciously. “I came in here all ready to yell at you guys and demand a little attention but now I'm not really sure what to do.”

Steve bit back his laugh and held out a hand hopefully. “Well… I'm here, if you want.”

Tony eyed him curiously. “Without Bucky? We've never done that.”

“Being close to Bucky isn't the part of this whole thing I have been missing.” Steve said, feeling a twinge of guilt as he said it, because shifter biology aside, he was missing Bucky.

Just not as much as he was missing Tony. “I miss you, Tony.” he murmured, and and Tony's eyes lit warmed.

“Oh.”

“Come on.” Steve urged. “I'll close my eyes and you can shift and we can just lay here, huh?”

“Yeah. Alright, that sounds good.” Tony nodded quickly, and was already unbuttoning his shirt, so Steve dropped a pillow over his face so he wouldn't stare.

Within a minute, he felt tiny laws pressing at him lightly and he opened his eyes again.“Hey there, beautiful.” He turned on his side, making room on the bed and Tony curled into a little ball next to him, nose pressed into his stomach. “Yeah, we can nap like this. This is fine.”

Without a second thought for what might happen if Bucky walked in on their little scene, Steve closed his eyes and fell back asleep to the little purr coming from his favorite shifter.

#stuckony #shifter!stuckony #kitty!tony #wolf!bucky #lion!steve #bear!rhodey