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mrslilyrogers · 4 years

Text

Fall into Love

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: Awkward and cute reader ahead! Nothing but sweet and soft fluff :)

Summary: What’s an awkward scientist like you gotta do when you develop a crush on America’s national treasure, Captain America? Recruited by Bruce and Tony themselves to work at the Avengers Compound, you try your best to keep your cool. But how could you when Steve is always popping up to help you?

Author’s notes: It’s my birthday today!! Yay!! And to celebrate, I want to share this super fluffy piece I wrote for @hopingforbarnes 250 writing challenge. Thanks for letting me participate! I got the prompt, “This is why I fell in love with you” which will be in bold below. I absolutely loved writing this and being a fan of chick flicks, I went with that vibe. I hope you guys enjoy and please, let me know what you think! Reblogs are very much appreciated :D

There he was sipping his cup of coffee, one hand holding today’s newspaper as he read. You thought it was beyond adorable that he insisted on getting actual newspapers delivered to the compound when he could literally read it from a tablet. You even offered to install the apps for him but he declined, saying he was too old for it. And in that moment you just knew, with his winsome smile and his deep blue eyes, you were utterly done for. So there you were, surreptitiously stealing doe-eyed glances at him from your perch by the kitchen counter, your laptop propped up on the island. His eyebrows were knitted as he brought the newspaper down, jotting his answers for the crossword puzzle. When he beamed at himself, you knew he got it right. Cute, so damn cute.

“Ugh,” you groaned at your own patheticness. When his head shot up to look at you, you immediately cleared your throat and looked to your laptop, ignoring the heat creeping up your cheeks.

“Y/N, you okay there?” Steve asked, pencil in mid-air.

“Yep, just working on something!” You replied a little too cheerfully, your gaze not quite able to hold his. You were always this way with him, tongue-tied, flustered and all fidgety. It was embarrassing.

Come on, Y/N, pull yourself together! You have two PhDs under the age of 30. Unfortunately, that was also probably one of the reasons why you were so freakin’ awkward but you really didn’t have to dwell on that now. Shaking off that snide little comment from the back of your mind, you continued your pep talk. You’re a badass scientist, graduated at the top of your class, and working with the Tony Stark and the Bruce Banner, your freakin’ childhood heroes! He’s just a 100 year old man! You’ve got this.

You looked at him with a bright smile on your face, straightening your back to make yourself seem taller. More Confident. Mature. Womanly. Typing into your laptop, you pretended you were in the midst of a scientific research that would change the world. Except, it came up empty, the screen completely and irrevocably black. Oh, shit.

“Ugh, Y/N. I think your laptop is turned off,” Steve awkwardly told you, pointing at it with the pencil in his hand.

“Oh, yeah. Well, uhm, yeah it is… so, ugh, gotta go and charge this,” You flashed him a quick smile before you scrambled to your feet, your chair creaking as you pushed it back, grabbed your laptop and ran out of there as fast as you could. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Steve watched you, a perplexed look on his face. When you nearly stumbled out the door, he almost got up to help except you shot up faster than a speeding bullet. An adoring smile crept up his lips. Cute.

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It wasn’t always like that. It all started when the science geniuses offered an advanced intensive program at the university where you were finishing your second doctorate degree. It meant extra work and more late nights but you didn’t even think of that, you had jumped at the chance from the second you heard of it and the rest was history. You aced their classes with flying colors and by the time you graduated, they had already offered you a full-time position at the Avengers compound, to assist them with whatever scientific endeavor they needed. You would become their resident biochemist/engineering physicist, equipped with your very own office and given free reign to create, tinker or even upgrade their weapons and computer systems.

What you didn’t expect was how cozy living in the Avengers Compound would be. You thought they were a bunch of stuffy soldiers and spies with no time to deal with regular people like you. But as soon as you were introduced to the team, that all changed.

They had all been in the common area when you first arrived. The men along with Nat were huddled at the TV, concentrating on some sports game as they drank their beers while Wanda and Vision were laughing and cooking in the kitchen. It was all so surreal, your jaw had dropped to the floor. Who knew the Avengers could be so domestic?

“You’re starting to drool, kid,” Tony commented at your side, immediately stopping you from staring. You mumble out a sheepish apology, your cheeks starting to flush. He flashed a smile at you before turning his attention to the team, “Everyone, listen up,” he shouted at them, clapping his hands twice before continuing, “This is our newest scientist, Y/N! She’ll be working with me and Bruce mostly, helping us with weapons and equipment so be nice! Piss her off and you’re toast,” he teased, winking at you. You didn’t think you could get any redder than you were at that moment. You let out a nervous chuckle, giving a little wave to everyone,

“Hi! Don’t worry, I won’t do that. I don’t think I can even if I wanted to, look at all of you!” you joked and looking at their smirks and empty faces, you realized just how inappropriate that was.

“Not that I would want to of course! I mean, who would wanna kill the Avengers?” you continued to your own mortification, your mouth running on its own. You could feel prickly sweat down your back and you suddenly wished there was a hole that would just swallow you right that instant. Letting out a huge exhale, you tried again.

“Uhm, what I mean to say is that I’m very happy to be meeting all of you and I’m glad that I’m given a chance to work here and help in any way that I can.” you finished sincerely albeit sheepishly, shifting your weight between your feet and hoping you didn’t totally muck up their first impression of you.

Black Widow’s narrowed eyes eased up, arms still crossed at her chest, she gave you a little tilt to her chin as she smirked, “You’re adorable,”

You let out a huge sigh, beaming at everyone. Captain America nodded at you as if to say ‘well done’, and you felt your heart drop to your stomach. Damn, if that man didn’t spell out dreamy.

Tony finished the introductions and once you’ve shaken everyone’s hand, he was already moving, directing you to your designated room to drop off your bags so you guys could finish off your tour early and get to work. You were just about to carry your duffle bags, ready to drag your suitcase across their pristine marble floor when Captain America appeared by your side, “Hey, you need some help with those?” he asked, looking at your luggages. You had almost completely blanked when he stood so close to you. You could hear Tony’s voice getting softer and softer as he walked ahead, talking as he went. You nodded, not able to find the voice to speak. When he draped both duffel bags over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing, and pulled the handle of your suitcase higher, you objected, “Let me at least get that,” you tried to grab your suitcase from him but he swiveled it out of your reach, already moving to follow Tony. “It’s fine. This is nothing,” he said, smiling down at you.

“Thanks Captain. I don’t know how I’ll be able to keep up with him,” you replied, shyly smiling back at him and pointing at the man walking in front of you. He chuckled before letting out an exasperated sigh, “Oh, you’ll get used to it. And just call me Steve,”

Tony suddenly turned around as if just realizing you weren’t following at his heels. “Would you look at that?” He teased when he saw both you and Steve lagging behind him. “Chivalry’s not dead,” shrugging, he continued on, prompting Steve to shake his head at his friend.

When you both arrived at your room, You tried not to gawk but Tony Stark was definitely not cheap. They let you take it all in, practically feeling your excitement off your skin. Steve dropped your bags off on the floor before turning to take his leave,

“Alright, I’m off. I’ll see you guys for dinner,” his voice cut you out of your wonder.

“Thank you, Steve,” you beamed at him before he left the door.

“You’re welcome, Y/N,” he replied, flashing you a genuine smile. You watched his retreating figure out the hallway, your heart hammering in your chest.

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You had been working for the Avengers for two months now and you must admit you had easily become friends with all of them, jokes and easy conversation flowing with everyone except for one. Steve freakin’ Rogers. Oh, you were friends with him, you talked but the easiness was only one-sided. Every time you had a conversation with him, you felt your heart leaping out of your chest. Every single smile from him sent butterflies to your stomach. It was becoming a problem, your school girl crush making you look less professional and on top of that, you just knew the spies figured it out. Why else would Nat and Clint suddenly make up excuses and leave you and Steve alone again for breakfast?

You tried to ignore the fluttering of your heart as Steve made his coffee. Acting as normal as possible, you reached for the flour on the highest shelf of the cupboard, your hand coming up short. Uh-oh. Maybe, if you could just go on your tiptoes, you could get it, right? Wrong. You had been dead wrong. You wiggled your fingers, hoping you didn’t look like an absolute idiot. Oh God, have I been reaching for this too long already; past the point of asking Steve for help? If you turned around now and asked him, wouldn’t it be too awkward? But if you suddenly changed what you were going to make just because you couldn't reach the flour, wouldn’t that be too petty? Oh god, why do you have to overthink everything when he’s around?

Steve suppressed his laugh as he leaned on the counter, watching you struggle. How long was it going to take for you to give up? You were so different from any woman he’s met since waking up in the future, always so happy and cheerful with no guise whatsoever. You were a breath of fresh air, real, and so unlike all the other spies and agents he’s worked with, with their cold manner and calculating eyes. It didn’t take long for him to trust you. He considered you his friend and now, you were just beyond adorable. A crooked smile formed on his lips as he waited some more, enjoying the show far too much, his eyes involuntarily moving down to check your ass out in your sleep shorts. When he realized what he was doing, he blushed, and immediately straightened up to help you.

A huff fell from your lips as you decided, enough was enough. You turned around, ready to call for him, when you came face to face with his solid chest. His familiar masculine scent warmed your senses as blood crept up your cheeks. “Got it,” he said, holding the jar between you, a playful smile splayed on his perfectly luscious lips.

You cleared your throat, your eyes on his lips as you tried to find your voice. “Thanks Steve,” you replied just a little too breathily.

“Anytime, Y/N,” he smiled softly down at you, bringing his hand up to ruffle your hair. And just like that the romantic atmosphere was ruined. It was just on your part. Again.

______________________________________________________________________

Months later

You were dancing carefree to the beat of the music blasting from your headphones as you cooked your dinner. It was late, you were sure everyone had gone to sleep so you were safe to boogie and shake your hips while you celebrated. You had finally figured out how to calibrate Black Widow’s newest weapon. It took you the whole night for the finishing touches, making you forget to eat but it was all worth it. You were on a high as you piled the pasta on to your plate, grabbing the still-too-hot garlic bread from the oven too early, making you wince as you put your thumb between your lips to lessen the burn. You didn’t hear the tired chuckle from the doorway when you shook your hips to turn around, refusing to let the scalding garlic bread shake your mood. You let out a tiny squeal when you saw Steve leaning against the doorway, decked in all his Captain America glory minus the mask.

“You’re back?” you shrieked, a hand flying to your chest as you tried to calm your racing heart, thanking god you didn’t drop your plate. “You scared the shit out of me,”

Steve had the audacity to look ashamed as he straightened. “Yeah, sorry about that, couldn’t help it. Please don’t stop on my account,” he teased, laughing, before a wince escaped his lips.

“You okay?” you immediately dropped your plate on the table and walked over to him, losing your nerve to even get embarrassed when he clutched his rib.

“It’s nothing, doll,” he replied, shaking his head, a faint flush casting over his cheeks as the endearment slipped.

You couldn’t help but be taken aback too. His voice had been soft and unconvincing unlike his usual steely, determined self. You laid your hand over the one still clutching his waist.

“What happened here? Are you hurt?” Concern seeped into your voice as you looked at him worriedly.

“It’s fine, really. It’ll heal fast,” he stepped away from you, making light of his injury. He didn’t know how to deal with anyone fussing over him.

“Let me see it,” you said, your voice firm for once in his presence, putting your hands on your hips.

“What?” he chuckled again, poorly hiding his hiss.

“Come on, Rogers, I’m a doctor. Let me see it,” you nodded to his injury, determination steeling your stance.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he said, “Yes ma’am,” and gave you a mock salute.

“But didn’t you say you weren’t this type of doctor?” he continued, teasing, as he unbuckled his utility belt.

“Don’t get sassy on me now, Rogers,” You rolled your eyes until he started to peel off his uniform, then you lost your breath. You felt your cheeks flush at the forced intimacy of the situation, your resolve withering as you shifted your weight between your feet, crossing your arms at your chest. Should you even watch him take his top off? You didn’t want to look like a creep so you focused on the wall behind him.

When you heard him wince, your eyes shot back to him as he struggled to lift it over his head. Your hands moved of its own volition, gently helping him. Once that was over and done with, you looked up at him, his chest panting.

“May I?” you asked, your slightly shaking hand gesturing to his undershirt. He nodded and you let your hands lift his shirt off gently, but what greeted you made your jaw drop open. The skin on his right rib was marred with a big dark patch of purple and blue, almost appearing black. Around it, littered lighter and smaller versions of it, a few cuts here and there. On his arms, his pecs, on the side of his jaw that you didn’t even notice awhile ago.

“Steve, what the hell! This isn’t nothing! Can you even breathe properly?” You asked worriedly, running your hands over the cuts and bruises.

“Yes, Y/N. I told you this is normal. This happened just a few hours ago, it’s already healing. I’ll be fine,” He once again explained to you stubbornly, a soft smile playing on his lips.

“Sit down, you need to put ice on that and I need to clean your wounds,” You rushed off to get the things you needed before pulling up a chair beside him. He watched you as your hands worked practically over his injuries, pride swelling in his eyes. There was a strange fluttering in his chest that he didn’t dare acknowledge. He wouldn’t admit it to himself but he only objected more to your ministrations because it made you double your fussing.

“All done,” You cheered to yourself as you started tidying up.

“Congratulations to you,” he replied jokingly, moving to help you before you swatted his hand away. “Stop, just keep that ice on your rib,” you told him seriously, getting up to bring back the first-aid kit to the cupboard and throw all the used up cotton. He was the worst patient there ever was, complaining and whining all the way through.

“Yes, boss,” he deadpanned, loving the blush that tinted your cheeks.

“Hey, have you eaten dinner already? You hungry?” you asked him, washing your hands.

“Dinner? Y/N, it’s 2 am, how have you not eaten dinner yet?” This time it was his turn to be indignant.

“Well, I was working,” you replied matter-of-factly as if it was the most normal thing in the world to forget to eat.

“Jesus Christ, I ended up taking down a terrorist base camp and I still had time for dinner,” he huffed, furrowing his eyebrows.

You scooped up a plate for him anyway, making sure to double the serving. When you dropped it in front of him, you noticed he had put his shirt back on again much to your displeasure. What can you say? The guy was chiseled like a greek god. It didn’t hurt to look at him.

You both started to eat in peace, the awkwardness settling in. You had no idea why he wasn’t talking. He was usually cool as a cucumber while you were a blubbering mess.

“So how was--”

“I didn’t know--”

You both started at the same time causing you both to pause then laugh heartily. When he winced and clutched his rib again, you quickly apologized before he shushed you. ��You go first,” he said, drinking water as he tried to hide his pain.

“Do you want to get an x-ray? Make sure there’s no broken bones?” You asked, worry seeping into your voice again.

“Doll, I told you. This is normal for me, part of my job.”

“But I thought you said this was a simple covert mission, no fighting involved. They should’ve added more guys to go with you,” you frowned at him which made him chuckle lightly, his heart flipping in his chest at your concern.

“That rarely happens. Really, you should see the other guys,” he made a joke of it to calm you down. Unconvinced, you smiled tentatively at him, thinking if you should still push the subject when he steered you to a different topic, asking about your work. You had explained to him animatedly about the progress you’ve made so far that you didn’t even notice how easily you guys had flit to different topics, talking about any random thing that popped into your minds, smiling and joking like it wasn’t almost four in the morning.

When you went back to your room that night, you snuggled into your blankets, giggling. You had finally been able to talk with Steve without acting like a love-sick teenager. And it was everything you thought it would be.

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After that night, you guys formed an unspoken ritual. Every time you were working late and forgot to check the clock, Steve would bring you food to your lab, reminding you of your much needed dinner break. The first time it had happened, he walked in on you snacking on some m&m’s while you continued to work. He had groaned and lectured you on about how m&m’s and any form of chocolate was not considered dinner food. So after that, he took it upon himself to make sure you had something substantial to eat, often bringing his own cooking. You had talked about everything and nothing, some deep conversations that could only be shared through trusted friends while others had you both laughing deep from your belly with tears brimming your eyes. There were times when he had been relentless with his training too, even the rest of the team had left him alone to it, and you had to drag him away. Those days you had to remind him there was no war anymore and a little break was fine. You dragged him to watch movies, listen to music he had missed and, tried out those hole-in-the-wall types of restaurants where people wouldn’t recognize him.

Steve had just gotten back from a mission with Sam and Bucky. Both boys grunted as they sat at the kitchen table, clutching their drinks.

“Man, I could really use a shower right now but I’m too tired to move,” Sam quipped, massaging his neck muscles.

“I’m gonna order us a pizza,” Bucky said and eagerly whipped his phone out. Ever since he got off the ice in Wakanda, he’d been obsessed with all the “new” technology he’d been catching up on. He sure didn’t look it but he was a science geek at heart. Often going to you for help with everything he’s missed. The guys both looked to Steve questioningly, expecting him to butt in. He usually had a lot of input after a long mission. They were greeted by silence as he had his back to them, retrieving the first-aid kit from the cupboard. When he continued to ignore them as if he hadn’t heard anything they had just said and walked to the direction of your lab, both Sam and Bucky looked at each other, knowing smirks on their faces as they nodded their heads. America’s golden boy was whipped.

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Tony and Steve had been arguing in their usual banter at the lab. The super soldier looked like the worn out parent between the two while the genius billionaire gloated at his misery. Steve was wearing a black long-sleeved sweater that did nothing to hide his muscles despite its regular fit. You couldn’t help but steal glances at him from your station with Bruce, the two of you working quietly with an occasional chuckle or two thrown at the bickering men in front of you.

Bruce cleared his throat when he caught you staring far too long at the golden-haired adonis, not paying attention to the question he was asking. You quickly averted your gaze and asked,

“I’m so sorry, what was that?” you felt your cheeks warm as he looked at you with an endearing smile.

“I said, could you please pass me that sample?” He pointed at your hand clutching the petri dish.

“Of course!” You replied, handing it to him before hiding behind your laptop to record the results of your experiment.

“Will you quit acting like a grandpa for just a second and ask Sharon out? You guys clearly hit it off at the last mission. I don’t know what the hell is taking you so long,” Tony muttered as he tinkered on.

You and Steve’s eyes snapped to each other, almost as if on instinct, before you quickly lowered yours and hid your hurt behind your laptop screen. Bruce didn’t miss the subtle exchange and tried to distract Tony off from the subject but still, the man was oblivious.

“Tony, would you just quit it?” Steve complained exasperatedly, a sigh escaping his lips.

“I’m just saying, Cap. You’re a hundred years old, you aren’t getting any younger, pal,” he continued on.

Before Steve could say anything else, you made a show of stretching out of your chair.

“Oh boy, I need some coffee, do you guys want any?” you asked as cheerfully as you could, looking for an escape.

“Oh you just read my mind! Didn’t I say she was the best?” Tony asked rhetorically, his hand gesturing to you as he looked at the men in the room. You missed the way Steve’s eyes had softened when they landed on you. The only reason he was even here.

“I could use one right now, angel. Thank you!” Tony continued, using the nickname he had given you since you started working here, giving you a quick smile before going back to work.

“I could use one too, thanks.” Bruce nodded at you.

“Alright. How about you, Steve?” you turned to him, your heart beating rapidly in your chest as he looked at you, an endearing smirk playing on the corner of his lips while he shook his head no.

“I’ll go with you, help you carry it.” He said, already standing up.

“What? Pssh. No. It’s fine, I got it.” You dismissed him playfully, leaving the lab as fast as you could, a weight in your chest as Tony continued to berate him into asking Sharon out on a date.

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You decided to get Steve coffee anyway. You knew he was only being a gentleman because he didn’t want you having a hard time carrying all of it back to the lab. Grabbing some snacks too, you made your way back, a tray balancing on your hands when you heard Tony scream your name. Uh-oh.

You opened the door to see Bruce and Steve laughing their asses off while Tony looked at you with murder in his eyes. “Did you just hack my playlist and change it all to spice girls?” he bellowed over the music, hands on his hips. You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped your lips. It was supposed to be a prank between the two of you. He said you couldn’t hack into the system he created and you just had to prove him wrong. You thought you had put a timer on F.R.I.D.A.Y to just change it when he was alone. Guess you weren’t as good a hacker as you thought you were.

“Sorry,” you shrugged sheepishly.

“You don’t even look sorry. You could at least tell me you saved my old playlist,”

Uh-oh. “I think so?”

“Oh, come on!” he whined.

“Sorry, but you questioned my hacking skills!” You replied indignantly.

“Because you’re not a hacker!” he emphasized each word, making you giggle.

“I really am sorry! Look, I’m sure if there’s anyone here who could get it back, it’s you.” your sickly sweet voice belied the trick you still held up your sleeve.

“Damn right, I could,” he replied arrogantly, typing into his hologrammed board as he gave instructions to F.R.I.D.A.Y.

You sipped the coffee in your hands, hiding the smirk on your lips. Bruce thanked you for the wonderful prank and you gave him a little curtsy in return as he grabbed an extra cinnamon roll, still smiling. All the while Steve looked down at the tray, his insides warming at your thoughtfulness, you had brought him his favorite yogurt and fruits knowing he’d prefer those over the sugary treats. He was suddenly pulled out of his reverie when Celine Dion’s haunting voice rang out, almost making him spit his coffee out of his mouth as he burst out laughing, watching Tony’s face get flushed. He turned to you as you carelessly threw your head back, laughing. Anyone who could take Tony down a peg, he admired, and knowing that it was your brilliant mind that had the genius sputtering in annoyance made him love you even more.

“Oh doll…” he exhaled. “This is why I fell in love with you.”

Everyone in the room suddenly stilled. Tony’s audible, “Oh” popped in the background making Steve screw his face up in confusion. What the heck? He saw your eyes widen, your cheeks turning beet red. Oh crap.

He said that out loud, didn’t he?

#steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #captain america x reader #hopingforbarnes250writingchallenge #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers fic #steve rogers x awkward!reader

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winter-soldier-vibes · 4 years

Text

Avenger preferences: you self harm warning

Avenger preferences: You self harm

Word count: 3382

Warnings: self harm, depression

Steve Rogers/Captain America

Steve had been away on a mission for a few days now. He wasn’t due back for another couple of days. Your depression always got worse when he was away, mainly due to being alone. That coupled with anxiety awaiting his return - or rather if he would return - caused you to develop some unhealthy methods of coping. You were in the bathroom, knife in your hand, with blood running down your stomach. They were the easiest scars to hide.

You heard a door close. “(Y/N), I’m back!” you heard Steve call

Shit

You called back as evenly as you could, “Yeah, hun, I’ll just be a minute in here.” Steve put down his bags and stepped into the kitchen to get a glass of water. That’s when he saw something that puzzled him - one of the kitchen knives was missing from the set. And based on the open slot, he realized that it was the sharpest one.

He made his way to the bathroom you were in “Darling,” he started nervously, “Where’s the last knife to the kitchen set?”

Double shit.

“Uhh...I’m not sure Steve” you replied weakly, trying to clean up as quickly as you could.

There was a beat of silence as Steve stood outside and you held your breath. “(Y/N), I need you to open this door. Please.”

You closed your eyes and exhaled. Everything was cleaned except for the knife. Where were you supposed to hide that? Realizing you didn’t have an option, you walk over to the door and open it to see a very disheveled and tired Steve. He must have come straight to you when he got back. Looking behind you he saw the knife, and straightened up, looking you up and down. He was checking for where your injuries were.

“I’m sorry Steve,” you said, lifting your shirt. After a few seconds, he wrapped you in a hug and said “It’s okay. We’ll get through this together.”

Tony Stark

You didn’t exactly feel the need to worry about Tony finding out. He was always in one of 3 places: out saving the world as Iron Man, throwing a party, or in his lab. So he never really noticed when you started wearing long sleeves or when you began flashing fake smiles. He was always busy with something more important.

You were self harming almost every night, and it was mostly on your arms. You did it at night because Tony thought you were sleeping, and was in his lab. Little did he know you had other things in mind for when the sun went down

But one day, you were talking to him while in his lab. You had picked up some of the science-y knowledge that Tony knew, and were vaguely familiar with all of the random things he said to himself. He found it cute how you would try to help, and he’d let you

“Hey, can you hand me that wrench over there?” he asked you.

“Sure thing,” you replied and walked over to grab it. You went to hand it to him but when you did, you didn’t notice how your sleeve had begun to inch it’s way up your wrist.

“Thanks babe,” he said, then did a double take. “Uh, babe...what’s that?” he asked. You immediately realized that your sleeve had rolled up and he had seen some of your cuts. You tugged it down and crossed your arms, chuckling lightly. “It’s nothing Tony, don’t worry about it.”

He dropped the wrench and made his way over to you, grabbing your arm and tugging up your sleeve to reveal scars and scabs in neat lines all over your wrist and forearm. He gasped and looked you hard in the eyes, gesturing to your arms. “This is nothing? Because it looks like you're slicing your arm open. Please, tell me I’m wrong. And don’t try to blame a cat because there isn’t one in this building.”

You looked away in shame. You knew he was just trying to lighten the mood but it still stung a little. “Look, I’m sorry. I just get depressed sometimes and this helps. I can’t explain it.”

He let out a laugh. “So when you’re in pain, you cause yourself more pain to deal with it?” he deadpanned.

“Tony,” you finally looked him in the eyes and he got more serious when he saw how in pain you were. “I don’t know how to explain it. It just helps.”

“Well can I try and help?” A baffled expression crossed your face, and he mocked being offended. “Wow, (Y/N), yes I, Tony Stark, can help people when I want to.” which caused you both to laugh. “I’ll take that as a yes”

Natasha Romanoff

You were training one morning (make that EARLY morning) with Nat and were working on your hand-to-hand combat. Nat being Nat, she was easily beating your ass, thoroughly tiring you out. You went to land a punch and she grabbed your arm and flipped you.

You groaned in pain and made no moves to get up, thinking that you earned yourself a small break. Trying to catch your breath, you didn’t notice that when she had flipped you, your shirt had ridden up, revealing your secrets.

Natasha looked at you with a confused glance. I don’t remember her ever saying anything about this. She doesn’t even seem depressed or remotely sad. “Hey, (Y/N)? What are those marks on your sides?”

You bolted up and turned around, tugging your shirt down and cursing yourself for slipping up. You fumbled through possible excuses in your head, finally settling on “I got them on a mission.”

You turn around to see an unconvinced Natasha. She questioned “Really? Because you haven’t been on a mission for over a week now and these,” she lifted up your shirt again, “can’t be more than a few days old. So i’ll let you try again - where did you get these marks from?”

You sighed and raised your hands in defeat. “Fine, Nat, you win. I did it. I hate myself and I cut myself most nights because of how fucked up I am. Happy?”

Natasha was taken aback. I mean, she knew what the marks were but she didn’t realize how you felt about yourself. “Hey, I never said you were fucked up, (Y/N). No one thinks that. You don’t have to either.”

Tears started forming in your eyes. “I’m sorry.” you said.

Natasha came over to hug you. Don’t worry about it. Just don’t let it happen again or I will have no choice but to fight you for trying to hurt my friend.”

Thor Odinson

You wanted to tell him, you really did, but you knew he wouldn’t understand. Not in the normal “you-don't-get-it” understanding that most people have on Earth, but quite literally wouldn’t know anything about it. He was Asgardian, after all.

So you didn’t you kept your self harm to non-obvious places. Places that were easy to hide or explain. Shoulder, back, stomach, thighs...that kind of thing.

Thor always knew that something was bothering you but he decided not to push it and to wait for you to open up to him. Until one night he walked in on you wearing a tank top. You had always worn some kind of sleeves around him, but baring your shoulders gave him a clear view of the cuts across both of them.

“Lady (Y/N), What has happened?!” he exclaimed. “You’re hurt!”

You turned around, mortified at what was happening right now. This could NOT be happening. “Look, I can explain -”

“Do that later. Right now we have to get you to Banner. He can -” “NO!” you screamed, and Thor for a second looked scared. “My lady, what do you mean? You’re injured. At least tell me who’s done this to you.” At this you chuckled and shook your head. “I did, Thor. It’s just something I do.” He looked at you questioningly. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t understand. This isn’t a problem on Asgard. When I feel trapped in my mind, I hurt myself to distract myself. Physical pain for me, is easier than emotional pain.”

He approaches you and cups your face in your hands. “You are right, fair maiden. I know not what you speak of, this is all new to me. But hear me when I say that I will do anything to help you. I love you.”

Bruce Banner

You and Bruce were always pretty open about topics like depression. He struggles with it too, a lot of it was behind him but it still flared up every now and then. But you never quite told him everything - you never told him about the cutting. Or about the suicidal ideation. You knew he’d understand, you just didn’t want the conversation to end with him freaking out and turning into the Other Guy.

And so you would talk about the emptiness you felt, but you would leave it there. You hoped he wouldn’t notice. But every now and then he would pick up on different things.

When you bumped into objects, you always seemed to wince in pain before resuming your usual appearance. When he would move to hug you, you would stiffen up as if you were afraid. And he never caught you in anything but long sleeves - which was concerning considering it was the dead of July.

And he would ask about these things. He could tell there was something you didn’t want to tell him, but he would drop it, not wanting to push.

But one night, he woke up to use the bathroom to find it closed and locked with you inside. And he heard you crying. He knocked on the door and immediately you stopped. “Wanna talk about it?” he asked behind the wood.

On the other side you were curled up in a ball leaning against the bathtub, blood now dried on your stomach. “Bruce, it’s like, 2 AM, shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“Shouldn’t you?” he retorted. You sighed. “Besides, I kind of need to use the bathroom so I’d greatly appreciate you opening the door.”

“Shit…” you cursed softly. But Bruce had heard you, which only caused him to worry further. “You sure you’re okay (Y/N)?” he asked. “Y-yeah…” you responded, trying your best to clean up as quietly as possible. “Just give me a sec.”

A minute or so later you opened the door and smiled softly at him, which he returned. He could see the dried tear tracks on your face but decided to leave it for now. But when he went to hug you, you hissed in pain.

He pulled back, worried that he had hurt you. “What’s wrong? What did I do?” You shook your head. “Nothing you did wrong, Bruce.” He looked you straight in the eye. “(Y/N), seriously...what’s going on? I’m not backing down this time.” You sighed in defeat and looked away, which told him what he needed to know. Gently, he lifted up your shirt to see the newest cuts among older ones, ranging forms days to months old. “Oh (Y/N)...Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to freak out or leave me.”

He looked at you and shook his head. “You know I’ve had issues with depression too. I understand this kind of thing. Look. “ he lifted his sleeve to reveal faded marks on his wrists. “I tried to get rid of the Other Guy. to forget him. But he’s not going anywhere. And neither am I.”

Peter Parker

You went to school with Peter and were really good friends with him. You loved his science puns and T-shirts with jokes on them. He loved how you understood him and shared a love for science. You two would often geek out together.

One night, you were bother studying, and you felt an itch. The itch. You needed to do it, you needed to cut. You didn’t know why, there was no trigger. It was just something that needed to be done, and fast.

You began itching at your wrist, hoping the stinging sensation would help it to subside until you Peter left and you could do it in peace. After a few minutes you realized that scratching wouldn't help enough and you needed a blade instead of your nails. You lifted the book from your lap and stood up. “Be right back,” you said to Peter. He merely nodded in acknowledgement, too wrapped up in his chemistry to notice something was wrong

You had it all down to a few minutes. Slice, wash it, bandage, hide the blade, flush the bloody napkins. Which was exactly what you did and 3 minutes later you were back in your room with Peter

But little did you know that this time, you cut a little deeper and were bleeding a little bit more. And the blood had seeped through the bandage and was beginning to spot your sleeve. Neither of you noticed at first. But when Peter went to ask you a question, his eyes stopped on your sleeve. “(Y/N), is that...Is that blood on your sleeve?”

You looked down and quickly clasped a hand over it. Shit this can’t be happening. “Uhh…”

Peter looked you in the eye, worry etched on his features. “What’s going on right now? Why is there blood on your sleeve?”

“It’s nothing Peter-”

“”Then let me see your arm.” He held out his hand. You looked between his eyes and his hand. “What? No, I said it’s nothing.” “If it’s nothing then let me see for myself. Why don’t you want me to see it?” He questioned. “Because I said, it’s not a big deal.”

“Dammit (Y/N).” He started as he moved to sit next to you. He pulled back your sleeve despite your protests and froze when he saw the bandage completely soaked through with blood. When he peeled back the bandage, his face went white as he realized what was going on.

He held you in a bone crushing hug, and you had a little trouble breathing. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked as his voice wavered. “I dunno, I didn’t know what to say.” He held you a little tighter. “Well I’m here for you now.”

Bucky Barnes

You felt inadequate. Like you didn’t deserve anything you had, especially not your boyfriend, Bucky. Sure, he had some rough days as the Winter Soldier, but he remembered now. He was the sweet, caring, and protective man you were dating. He still had nightmares most nights, and you would talk him down from the panic that was evident in his eyes. You calmed each other down.

But something that you had never told Bucky about was your own past. You never really liked to talk about it with anyone. You fought a long battle with depression and self harm years before the Avengers were even a thing. But as you came to work for the team, things improved. You stopped self harming and you didn’t feel numb all the time. But you still had reminders of your struggles all over your body.

But one night, as you were getting ready for bed, you caught Bucky staring at his left arm, running his flesh hand over where the skin met metal. “Hey there,” you said. “Something wrong?”

He looked up at you with pain in his eyes. He just shook his head and said, “Nothing really. I just...I hate this arm. Every time I look at it I see all the things that I did, all the people I hurt. I don’t know. There’s just no escaping it.”

You looked down and nodded. “I get that. I know what that feels like,” you said as you met his gaze again.

He gave a forced smile and asked, “No offense, Doll, but how could you understand?” You sighed to yourself. This was it. You were wearing a sports bra under your shirt, so you removed your shirt, revealing all the scars that adorned your body. You watched as Bucky’s jaw dropped slightly, taking you in. “I did this to myself, years ago, and even thoughI don’t do it anymore, I remember every single one of them. And I'm reminded of that anytime I see myself.”

He got up from the bed and made his way over to you, hand hovering over you, afraid that if he touched you you might break. You meet his gaze again. “I don’t do it anymore, Buck. I feel a lot better now. But i do understand what you mean.”

He smiled back at you. “I know you do, doll. I love you so much.”

Clint Barton

You were in the shooting range with Hawkeye himself, giving you tips on how to shoot an arrow. You were very grateful for the help, and Clint was just happy that someone finally showed interest in archery besides him.

He stood in front of you, giving you tips on how to adjust your form to have more control of the shot. As you were drawing back arrows, though, the sleeves of your windbreaker were riding up, revealing some angry red lines on your wrist.

He noticed, but decided not to say something immediately. Later on when you guys were packing up, he decided to bring it up. “Are you feeling okay (Y/N)?”

You chuckled back at him. “Clint, I just killed it with the bow and arrow. Yes, I’m feeling just fine.”

“What happened to your wrist?”

Your smile faltered. Surely he hadn’t seen..?

“ (Y/N), What’s going on?” he asked.

You crossed your arms in front of you and shrugged. “I don’t know. It just helps when my emotions are out of control. It’s one of the only things that makes me feel good.”

Clint lifted your chin to look you in the eyes. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself. Maybe I can help you. And if anyone causes you to feel bad about themselves, let me know so I can shoot them.” he said with a wink

Sam Wilson.

You had a lot of guilt that had eaten away at you over the course of your life. Your parent’s divorce, making other people angry...but most importantly your mental health. Years of self doubt had taken a heavy toll on you, and you had gotten to the point where you thought everything was your fault. That you messed up. And that you had to fix it.

And for you, fixing it meant causing yourself pain in whatever way you could. And most of the time you wouldn’t take care of the wound afterwards, which leads to some nasty infections.

Sam, having led a group that got together to discuss moving past guilt, recognized almost immediately that you held a lot of it, and that you blame yourself for it. One day, he decided to approach you about it.

“(Y/N), are you okay?” when you gave him a confused expression he continued, “I don’t know...you just blame yourself for anything possible even though you had nothing to do about it. Why do you think everything is your fault?

You shrugged, averting your gaze. “Dunno, Sammy. It always was my fault. And I deserve to be punished for it. That way something is being done about it.”

Now it was Sam’s time to be confused. “What do you mean (Y/N?)”

You pulled back your sleeves enough to let Sam see what you would do to yourself every night, and his expression saddened as he looked you in the eye again, you were now crying. “Everything is always my fault.”

He moved to hug you. “Hey now,” he started. “None of this is your fault. I don’t know what happened or what someone said to you, but I am telling you this: It is so totally not your fault.” You continued to cry. “Do you want to talk about it?” you nodded at him.he held you a little tighter

“Where do you want to start?”

#avengers #preferences #fanfiction #selfharm #comfort #captainamerica #buckybarnes #samwilson #brucebanner #natasharomanoff #tonystark #clintbarton #peterparker #thor odinson

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evien-stark · 4 years

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✧I Need You✧ Chapter 178

Stocks dropped the next day. Nothing detrimental, but even one or two points never felt good. It was hard to explain why, too. And explain you had to, as you and Tony sat in an uncomfortable room with the Board. You weren’t scared of those people, and they couldn’t demand much of either of you. But they wanted to know what was going on. And maybe more importantly, what the two of you were planning on doing about it. If you even could.

The Senate meeting had ended in your favor, so you’d thought. It was hard to understand why the public had had their confidence shaken. Maybe Wenham was more trouble than you originally thought. But still not a problem you couldn’t overcome, something you told the Board very strongly. And while they had their shortsightedness set on Tony for some reason, as he bore the brunt of their questions despite it being your show at the hearing, you didn’t feel bad at all for… influencing them. Just a little. Just enough to quell the heat.

Just enough to get them to back off of him and leave feeling like everything was under control. It was, after all. This was certainly nothing you couldn’t overcome. A drop in the bucket. The next move, in fact, was easy enough to determine. If the public at large didn’t like the thought of you or any of the other Avengers being on trial for what had happened, you’d distract them with something else. Something new and exciting and shiny. Something about legacy. Something about improving the world you were still trying to clean up.

Luckily for you and Tony, you’d just restarted the discussion about scholarships and grants. It was nice to have an easy ace in your back pocket for once. Stark Industries called for a presser three days after the senate hearing. The room was packed.

“Tony and I are pleased to announce the initiative stages of our new grant under the banner of the September Foundation. We are looking to help bolster the dreams of students who want a better and brighter future not only for themselves but for the world. We’re targeting promising young students who have been curtailed by poor budget restrictions from public schools. Kids who need help the most and often don’t get it. Kids who are boxed out of getting scholarships that they desperately need because they’re not from a connected background or not athletically inclined.

Kids who then have to turn to predatory loan systems that keep them bogged down in messes so great, their dreams of the future often get put on hold while they dig themselves out of debt. Stark Industries is aiming to help shape the future through kids just like that. We are in the beginning phases right now, and invite you to take a look on our website for more information. In addition to this, the pilot program for our detailed internships was an astounding success, and we’re looking to expand that program again. We’ll be looking for well qualified individuals with a taste for businesses and sciences who want hands-on experience in multiple fields.

Tony and I will take a few questions.”

Probably a mistake. Usually always a mistake, to take any sort of questions at any sort of media event. But you had to do it for this one. And while most reporters kept their questions centered and focused on this exciting new thing Stark Industries was promoting, a few skewed towards recent events. Telling them that you’d already made a statement- several in fact- wasn’t enough for them. And you knew if you didn’t cut the meeting, it’d devolve completely into Sokovia and Avengers and Senate hearing talks. So you thanked them for their time, and tried to leave.

It would have been smart to disappear upstairs where no one could bother the both of you. But you had places to be immediately after. So down onto the front steps the both of you descended, while other news outlets were littered out along the sidewalk, waiting for this exact appearance. Happy was waiting with the car door open, Tony had his arm around you, the other one waving off microphones shoved in either of your direction.

It was also a mistake- so many made today- to let Tony escort you into the back seat first. Because he was two seconds from getting in so the both of you could leave, and a question from a feisty reporter really hit its mark- “Mr. Stark! Can you comment on the public’s fear of the Hulk? Where is Bruce Banner now? Do you think he should be imprisoned for being so dangerous?”

Uselessly you reached up to try and get a hold of his arm, but he’d already turned towards the crowd. A fire had lit up inside him. “A comment? My comment is that those concerns are baseless and wholly irresponsible. You’re talking about an esteemed member of the scientific community- and a hero. Bruce Banner has made it a mission to save lives. Usually at the risk of his own. Anyone willing to try and cut him down to help their own narrow-minded view of the world isn’t even worth the ink you’re going to use to print this headline.”

A real gotcha moment. Tony had realized it too little too late. But more realistically, he probably didn’t care. After saying his piece, after defending his friend, he did what he always did. Mugged for the cameras flashing in his face to show just how much that hadn’t affected him. Threw up a peace sign. And then got into the car. Happy was quick pulling off the sidewalk.

You reached over, uncurling Tony’s fingers from their tight fisted hold. He relaxed, but only slightly. It was a stupid question to ask, but there was only one reason he’d blow up like that over a question that was at this point standard. Shouted constantly. “No hits on Bruce yet?”

His head dropped in a small shake. “Got some on identical wreckage. Banda Sea. If Hulk went down there, he had to swim somewhere. We just don’t know where yet.” Tony would never give this up. No matter what happiness the two of you were trying to earn, in quiet moments alone you knew he was still looking for Bruce.

The information was so scattered. Hulk had taken off in the Quinjet for some reason. And now Tony thought he’d crashed it? Maybe more likely it had run out of fuel and just went down. But if that was the case, Bruce had surely survived. It seemed like the Hulk was almost immortal, sometimes… you had high hopes that he’d found his way to whatever area was nearest. Maybe had turned back into Bruce… You soothed your fingers over Tony’s palm. “We’ll find him.”

“Depends on how much he wants to stay gone.” There was a sure defeat etched in Tony’s heart about this. He and Bruce had always been close. This was a tough loss to swallow.

“At least we know he’s alive.” You were sure about this. Tony nodded, so he must have agreed. “Alive and…” He sighed slowly. “Out there. Somewhere.”

“He’ll come back.” Reaching up, you touched the side of Tony’s face, turning him your way. Gently you removed his tinted lenses, just looking at him for a long time. “He might just need time to himself. You know how he is.”

“He’ll think himself into a hole.” Tony understood this because… he was the same way.

“I know. But when he’s ready for help getting out of it, he’ll go to you.” This you knew in your heart. When Bruce had come to his senses and realized he wasn’t getting anywhere by himself, he’d come back to Tony. One of the only people on this planet that had treated him with such care and kindness and with such humanity from the moment they’d met. You’d like to think yourself as close, but you knew Tony and Bruce had a special bond.

Your reassurances eased his heart a little. “You really think so?”

“I do.” Bruce would come back. You knew this. It just might not have been for a very long time. “Until then… telling reporters off is one way of lighting the way home for him.” Giving your okay for little spats here and there. It mattered little anyway, Tony would defend Bruce as often as he had to.

But with your blessing, he smiled. “Glad to see we’re on the same page.”

Yep. Exactly as you’d thought. No plans to stop telling off the press.

Because it was Bruce… that was fine.

---

On July 18th, Steve’s updated, new and improved, museum exhibit was set to be live the moment the doors open that morning. But, as you checked the press docket, he wasn’t expected to show up until three, to see the exhibit for himself. Take pictures with guests. And maybe answer some questions- about the exhibit. And nothing else. But you knew better than that.

Steve might not have.

Which was why it wasn’t a surprise when you arrived, fifteen minutes after three PM that day, walking through the Met and its storied pieces, waiting at the back of the crowd with everyone else, finding Steve overwhelmed completely with everything going on around him. Girls were asking for selfies. Boys wanted autographs and arm wrestling matches. Press had questions he didn’t want to answer. Things he struggled to talk about-

Even things that he should have practiced the night before. Things about the exhibit, even. It was a question by a reporter on the left, who asked something about the Howling Commandos- who asked something about James Barnes-

It not only sparked some sense of hurt in Steve, but prompted recognition from you. That missing piece of the puzzle. Something had changed between New York and Sokovia. And its name was Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier. The one that had nearly killed you- and beaten the life out of Steve. Bucky. His old friend who had died and been reborn as some Hydra experiment.

That’s what had changed. Steve had gone out looking for him, and as far as you remembered, had come back empty handed.

But how did that translate into his current attitude problems? You were still missing something.

Either way, you finally took pity on Steve and parted the crowd, drawing your arm around his as cameras furiously started flashing as soon as your presence was at the forefront of the crowd. You gave them a little wave, ignoring Steve’s dual surprise and relief. You were there to save him. It couldn’t be any more obvious. “I think we should let Steve enjoy his own exhibit, shall we? He’ll be around later for more autographs, if you’d like. Let’s say around four PM.”

Questions started coming your way- What were you doing here? What did you think of the exhibit? What’s it like fighting alongside a piece of American history? ...is there any relief expected by way of the American government for the Sokovians? You remained collected. “Let’s not take this day away from Captain America.” And promptly after that told them, “No more questions.” Drawing Steve a little tighter in your hold, and urging him away from the questions, the cameras, and all his adoring fans that he seemed to have no idea about.

Flexing your power of persuasion (or perhaps more your status in the world) you easily got staff to keep everyone away and empty out the Cantor Roof Garden. One semi-uncomfortable elevator ride all the way up and you and Steve were allowed a big open space with no one save the people servicing the bar. “How about a drink?”

He wasn’t frowning, but he wasn’t smiling, either. “Sure.” And he didn’t waste any time once you put an order in for two glasses of wine. “What are you doing here?”

“Checking on you. I know these things can be overwhelming.” After dropping a hefty tip for the bartenders, you took hold of your glass and lifted the other one up Steve’s way.

“I appreciate it.” Even this was hesitant. And as the two of you moved away to lounge at the edge of the roof, looking at the city, he continued. “That’s not all though.”

“No.” Agreeing with him, taking a sip of liquid courage. “I thought we should talk.”

“We’ve been doing a lot of that, for someone who’s supposed to be retired.” Finally he found a little humor, smiling around the rim of his glass. Though it disappeared as he made a face. Clearly not a fan of his drink.

“You know me,” sighed out as you rested your elbow on the railing. “Can’t help myself.” You’d had so much you wanted to say, but… now that you were here, you didn’t know how. Or what it was supposed to sound like.

As quick as it came, Steve’s smile warped into something nervous. Apprehension took hold of him. “Why does it feel like I’m in trouble?”

“Look, I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just gonna say it.”

“Okay.”

The both of you were looking at each other. You’d thought you knew how you were going to do this. But there was no good way. “What’s your problem with Tony?”

“What?” Both his brows shot straight up. “Where’s this coming from all of a sudden?”

It wasn’t fair to him, but you stayed focused. Watching him. Looking beyond the image he was presenting. “I feel like I missed every opportunity to address it, but something changed between you two. And I want to know what it is.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He went just slightly defensive, and wasn’t very good at hiding it. Turning away. Expression going just short of stony. “This is ridiculous. You came all the way here to ask me that?”

You tried to be fair to him. You’d quite literally backed him into a corner. Without your protection he’d have to go back downstairs to the rabid mob that wanted to pick him apart. Yet… you had him on the rooftop doing the exact same thing. It made sense for him to be a little more than upset. “I came here because it’s bugging me. And I need to put it to bed.”

“So do that. I don’t have a problem with Stark. I don’t know where you’re gettin’ that from.”

“Every time you could, you put the blame on him for everything. I don’t know what you two argued about at Barton’s ranch, but I know it was bad. After the hearing you went straight for him. And you- Steve you hurled your shield at him. You remember that he’s just a regular person right?”

“It wasn’t at him.”

“Yes it was. I was there.” “So was I. And I think I know what I was doing better than you do.” Just like that the two of you had started arguing. It wasn’t with loud voices, but the pain was all the same. Steve shook his head. “Besides, Stark can take a little bit of heat- and he should have, considering Ultron was his fault.”

“He was my fault, too. And Bruce’s. But you picked on Tony the most about it-”

“What now- I’m some schoolyard bully?”

“Are you?” You finally raised your voice to ask this, edge sharp. The two of you were left staring at one another. Guilt wracked him heavily. “Steve, I don’t know what happened- but stop lying to me. You know I can tell, right?” His eyes dropped, and he set his glass down so he could cross his arms tightly. A storm was consuming him. “You left- to go find Bucky- things were okay then. Then you came back- you told me you had no luck- and suddenly everything was different. Why?”

His heart squeezed, his stomach dropped. These feelings so heavy they penetrated you without much probing. But he was shaking his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about- and- even if I did- what does it matter? You two left.” There was a certain pain here.

...some sense of betrayal that he’d either hidden very well or hadn’t had time to think about when you’d said you were going. Had he just been stewing this whole time? Was that it? But none of this helped you get to the bottom of what was going on with him.

“We’re still here. I’m still looking out for the team. For you. I still care about you.”

“Right.” He scoffed this out, looking up at you again. “That’s why you came here. Because you care about me.” This kind of smacked you broadside. “You came here to yell at me over Stark. If he has a problem with me he knows where to find me.”

“He doesn’t. In fact, he didn’t want me to come talk to you at all. I do. I have a problem. I don’t like the way you’ve been treating Tony. You’ve changed and I want to know why- I need to know why, Steve, because you’re in charge of a team that needs your guidance. You’re a good man, I’m not questioning that. I don’t think I ever will. I just want to know what’s wrong.” Attacking him wasn’t helping anything. You cared about Steve, and giving him the impression you were picking favorites was not doing you any favors. You were careful as you reached out, putting a hand on his arm. He looked at the connection first and then at you. “Steve. Please. You know I care about you. I love you. You’re my family. Whatever happened, you can tell me.”

If he needed help you would get him help. If he just needed to talk, you would spend hours talking until he was all talked out. Whatever he needed you would get for him. But he had to tell you.

“I-” He was right there. On the edge. He was holding on to something. Something terrible. You felt it now. Only because it was bubbling to the surface now with your pressing. You held your breath. Something awful had happened to Steve when he’d left. Something that was making him act out. Maybe Tony was right. Maybe it had nothing to do with him, and Steve had just picked an easy target to vent his frustrations. “-Buck- he was in there. For just a few seconds. I put the shield down. I let him beat me. Because I knew he was in there. He could’ve killed me. But he saved my life.”

Steve turned away, away from your touch. He settled his arms on the railing, looking out onto the city. You stayed standing in place, though you did hold your arms together. Trying to keep your balance. Steve was very suddenly bleeding emotionally. He needed to talk this out.

So you had to let him.

His head lowered. “He dragged me out of that river. And I spent months trying to get a lead on him. I found all his files. From- ...what Hydra was making him do.” Something clutched in his throat. You watched carefully but impassively. “And I- ...I-...” He stopped himself. Anxiety- dread hit a fever pitch inside him. But perhaps he sensed you were going to ask him to go on, so he pushed through to keep you from doing so. “-Buck is the only family I’ve got left. Except Peggy. And every time I go there… she remembers, and then she doesn’t. She gets startled. My being there hurts her every time. So really it’s just Bucky. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Maybe you’re right. Maybe something has changed. It’s frustrating, not knowing where he is.”

“Steve…” This wasn’t satisfying. You hadn’t come there assuming it would be. But this was… so much less than what you’d been hoping for. “We’re your family, too.”

“Yeah. Sure. But. That part of me. Only he carries that. Only he understands me. I appreciate you- everything you’ve done- you mean a lot to me. But Buck is one of the last pieces of that life I’ll ever have. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m taking something out on Tony that I shouldn’t be. I’m sure he’s not holding his breath for an apology.”

You felt your nose wrinkling, your lips pursing. This wasn’t everything. He was holding back. But this was… something. “Does he remind you of Howard or something?” Did that make sense? Steve had one foot in the past and one foot in the present- or the future, to him at least. Maybe where he had lost Bucky and had been unable to retrieve him, where he was lamenting Peggy’s failing faculties-

Tony reminded him of a part of his life that he was grasping at.

A chill swept across him that startled you. His eyes closed. He linked his hands together, and squeezed. It felt like you were holding your breath again. Something dark was swirling inside of Steve. And every part of you rejected it. “Maybe he does. If I’ve been careless- or even aggressive, I’m sorry.”

This was not even close to good enough. He was holding on to something- something important. You knew it now. “No. This is not good enough.”

This surprised him, though, and he looked up suddenly, turning towards you. “What?”

“You’re a bad liar- and omission is still lying. What is it? Just talk to me!”

He got angry again. “I thought that’s what we were doing. I’m sorry what I’m going through isn’t good enough for you.”

“That’s not what I meant. And I can’t ever know what that’s like. And I’m sorry. But there’s something else going on. And if you’re not gonna tell me what it is- I’m going to find out.”

Steve had left to find Bucky. Fine. The last piece of that part of his life. Fine. He’d been unsuccessful and it was hurting him. Fine. But something he’d done while he was out doing that- something he’d seen or come across- He was hiding something.

He squared up to you, facing you completely. Waiting. A small pause while his gaze stayed with yours. “Nothing else is going on.”

Lie. Guilt.

He continued, even through your hard-eyed stare. “And anything else that is- ...it doesn’t have anything to do with you. Or Stark. Not everything does, sorry to say..”

He was never going to give whatever this was up. Never. You knew it now. Maybe it was something deeply personal. Maybe you had no right to it. For all you knew, maybe he’d found Bucky. Gotten into a fight with him. Murdered him by accident. Who even knew? Who knew anymore? You thought you knew Steve but clearly… clearly that had stopped being the case right around the time Bucky had reappeared. Steve was even saying as much right now. To your face.

“That better be true.”

“Or what?”

Was threatening him the right move? Especially if it was something personal to him. Maybe you were going about this the wrong way. You’d wanted to talk to Steve. To tell him to clean up. You’d… sort of done that. Now this had warped into something else. And you weren’t exactly handling it well. “Or I’ll never trust you again.”

You didn’t have to say it, as the both of you stared each other down. He seemed pained again. Hurt that you’d say something like that. Hurt that you didn’t trust him even now.

But. Finally, “Well it is true. So I don’t know what else to tell you.”

---

Tony looked up from the couch as you came in. You stepped out of your heels by the front elevator and walked over to him, falling in a heap, stretching out, putting your head in his lap. He stopped what he was working on, tossing his tablet away to the other end of the couch and ran his fingers through your hair. “Good talk, huh?”

“Oh. Great.” You let out a slow sigh, eyes fluttering closed. “He apologized for the way he was acting, at least.”

“All his sins are forgiven, I’m sure.”

“Mn.” You started drifting just a little with those gentle massages at your scalp.

Tony waited, letting you enjoy yourself for just a little while. But, finally, “What’s your verdict?”

Even now you hadn’t gathered your thoughts. They weren’t anything good, anyway. Blinking up at him, your eyes found his. He waited. Patiently. And eventually… “Steve is having some internal struggles about which life he’d like to live. And as long as Bucky Barnes is at large, they’re never gonna get better.” That was the one thing that was clearest. That was the one thing that made sense.

“...but?” But Tony knew better. Tony knew you. He knew what you’d walked in with- some large, dark cloud. He could feel your hesitation. Your uncertainty.

You just had no idea what to do with it. “That’s not all, I don’t think, but… Steve promised me that was it. Or at the very least he went pretty hard on the idea that it’s none of our business- and has nothing to do with either of us. So. For now I have to believe him.”

Steve wouldn’t open up. There was nothing you could do but take him at his word.

Tony’s head dropped a little in a light nod. “You okay with that?” He reached into his pocket with a small bit of a shuffle, but then settled, taking hold of your left hand so he could slide your engagement ring back into its rightful place.

Did you really trust Steve? Were you going to be able to let this issue rest? That’s what was really being asked of you.

What more could you do? You let yourself be distracted by the fullness of being home with Tony, safe, sound and happy. In the blissful stupor you were tired of grasping for, you made up your mind. “Yeah. I’m okay with that.”

Hopefully that would be the end of it.

#Tony Stark #Tony Stark x Reader #INY Chapter One Hundred Seventy Eight

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anika-ann · 4 years

Text

Think Again (When You Stop Freaking Out) - Pt.4

Following the breadcrumbs

Pairing: None Word count: 1630

Warnings: language, hella lot confusion, attemp at science talk… irony and sass? ;)

Summary: Matt and Steve meet. Foggy fanboys and wants to bang his head against the wall in embarrassment. Punches are thrown. For once, someone is more of a drama queen than Tony.

In other words; not so typical day at the Tower.

Story Masterlist

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When the two men entered the lab, it was one of the most surreal moments Matt had lived through. Which was saying a lot, considering he was wearing someone else’s meat-suit momentarily.

Matt’s attention was on both of them, his eyes flickering in between, unsure whom he should be observing first. The slightly chubby man in a beige suit and with long-ish hair must have been Foggy – Matt could immediately tell that, even when he was accustomed to see him in a completely different way.

Seeing the other man though… that was something else. If there wasn’t for the glasses and cane, he wouldn’t be able to recognize himself. Not thirty-year-old himself anyway. His hair had a red reflexion under the lab lights, only emphasized by the red shade of his lenses, dark stubble covering his jaw. He knew he was athletic, but seeing himself in the shirt was just different. Matt stared wordlessly, tilting his head as he was trying to connect the two pictures of himself in his mind, while Matt Murdock’s hand went to scratch the back of his neck.

“Alright, now I believe you. Cap, you wouldn’t allow yourself stare like that, plus that tick is definitely yours. Don’t you think, Banner?”

Matt’s gaze shifted back to Foggy, seeing his awe-struck expression – it was an incredible picture, seeing his friend, and he almost felt tears in his eyes. He smiled at his friend.

“Hey, Foggy.”

Foggy’s eyes went wide. “Oh god, Captain America knows my name! Wait, how do you know my name?!”

“We're best friends, Fog,” Matt chuckled, making his way to him slowly. “Or I like to think so.”

At that, captain’s lips – well, Matt’s body’s lips anyway – curled up in a smile, the movement fascinating Matt. “Would you happen to call yourself a fruit? Hey, Tony. Bruce.”

Matt snickered, ignoring the puzzled looks of everyone else, the shock all over Tony’s and Bruce’s faces. “Oh, so he’s admitting that avocado is a fruit now?”

“Oh my god! Holy shit! You're— you're really-- and you're-“

“Yeah.”

“And you’re-“ Foggy turned to Captain America’s wearing Matt’s body with an expression of pure horror and the man just smiled.

“Yeah.”

“How?! Oh shit, this is awkward. I fan-boyed!”

Matt burst out laughing, shutting up when seeing Foggy’s wounded glare.

Rogers’ hand went approximately to Foggy’s arm. “It was nice, actually. I can give you an autograph.”

“Someone kill me know.”

“Nah, you seem like a funny guy. Though I’m not sure I can forgive you for fan-boying over Capsicle and not me,” Tony exclaimed, walking to their little group. “Nelson, I presume?”

“Holy crap, Tony Stark knows my name too!”

A satisfied smirk appeared on Tony’s face, when he was addressed with proper amount of amazement.

“Yes, and that’s Doctor Banner right there. Thanks for bringing him here, Foggy. Uhm… Captain Rogers?” Matt shuffled towards the man occupying his body and the man in question turned to him fully. “It’s nice to meet you.”

The captain extended his hand to shake and Matt accepted it with a smile, only to see him grimace.

“You’re crushing my hand. I mean, your hand. My hand is crushing your hand. Basically.”

Matt quickly let go, realizing that when he had been aiming for a firm grip, he might have failed and had gone with a bone-crushing squeeze.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay and it’s nice to meet you. Believe me, I know the struggle. Speaking of which, how on Earth do you live with all the… things?” the supersoldier asked rather delicately and Matt’s heart positively stopped.

Shit. Fuck. That was a part he hadn’t considered. Steve Rogers wasn’t only stuck with blind. He was also stuck with supersenses. Fucking shit.

He cleared his throat, shrugging, deciding to ignore the matter for the time being.

“This is insane. Mr. Stark, Doctor Banner… do you have any idea how to fix this?” Foggy interjected, sounding uneasy and Matt assumed he must have realized a whole new set of problems that the body-exchange could bring.

God, Matt hoped Foggy hadn’t said anything incriminating so far. Judging by his pale face, it might be a fool’s hope.

“Well. It would be helpful to know how this happened in the first place.”

Matt had to admit that Bruce wasn’t wrong.

Which didn’t mean Matt was happy to share any activity that might have led to this.

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“So… you touched some… alien artefact and the next thing you know, you wake up in Matt’s body? Okay, ouch, that was not the best choice of words,” Mr. Nelson – Foggy, as he insisted – summed up and Steve just nodded, while the sudden swish of air told him Tony gestured wildly, whispering to Bruce ‘I told you it sounds weird’.

“Mostly. It didn’t take effect immediately. We returned to the Tower, I went to bed. Then I woke up somewhere else.”

“Matt? What about you?”

Steve heard the other man gulp, a shuffling of skin against skin as if he rubbed his palms or something. His strong heartbeat – well, Steve’s really – sped up.

“I went to bed and woke up in a different one,” the man said, sounding honest. Then again, it might have been force of a habit; Steve usually was honest and Matt was speaking in his voice, so…

“Okay, hotshot. Anything strange happening that day? Touched something you shouldn’t have?... That sounded weird too,” Tony noted then and Steve thought he might have made a disgusted face.

Matt’s heartbeat was going crazy now. “Not that I know of.”

Steve narrowed his eyes, sensing there was something he wasn’t telling them. And if there was something he wasn’t telling them willingly-

“Well, why don’t you just try to touch the artefact again? That could work, right?” Foggy offered cheerily, too quickly.

All alarm bells were set off in Steve’s head. Why was Foggy trying to shift their attention to something else? Was he protecting a secret? Maybe the one that led to Matt being beat up? Had Steve and Matt got their hands on a similar artefact? Was that even possible? How?

“Matt. Did you… did you do anything strange in the past few days?” Steve asked calmly, causing the man tense completely; both his and Foggy’s pulse raced.

“I-“

“And maybe it had something to do with the fact I feel like I took some serious beating? I’m ninety-percent sure my rib is cracked and the headache I have is not exactly pleasant. Not to mention Foggy said something about revealing your identity-“

“Foggy!” Matt cried out, clearly outraged, throwing his hands in the air.

“What?! You were acting weird! You act weird when you have a concussion!”

“Exactly how many times that you know of he had a concussion that you can tell that?” Steve asked incredulously, suddenly towering above them all despite not being the tallest one in the room. It was the persona of the war hero that gave that impression.

“More than I can count.”

“Fog-“

“Alright, cool it, guys. What are we missing? Steve, what are you talking about?” Tony interjected, turning to Steve. “Cap?”

“I’m sure you heard me, Tony-“ The realization dawned to Steve and he wanted to slap himself for not figuring it out sooner. He turned to Matt, shocked. “You have abilities. The… the hearing you have, the smell, the touch, everything, it’s… Matt, what is all this? What exactly it is you do at night?”

“Whoa, what?” Tony burst out, while Foggy and Matt seemed to be ready to get a heart-attack, their body-temperature rising.

“Captain Rogers, I… I’d like to talk to Fog— no, you’re gonna hear me anyway, never mind…”

Steve’s eyebrow rose at Matt’s note.

“Are you… are your other senses enhanced since you’re blind?” Bruce pried, not unkindly. Patiently. It dawned to Steve maybe he should have been gentler as well, but the secrecy was bugging him, especially when it was giving him the idea of something very shady happening here.

“It’s not just that. It’s his body reactions,” Steve added carefully, feeling everyone’s gaze shift to him.

Matt Murdock sighed and it sounded as if he ran his hand down his face. “Well, I guess there’s no point of denying it…”

“Deny what exactly?” Tony demanded, impatient. Yeah, deny what?

“Try to hit him.”

“I beg your pardon?” Tony asked while Foggy just cried out: “Matt! You can’t just ask people to hit Captain America!”

“Take off the glasses, please. And it’s my body, isn’t it?” Matt noted wryly and as Steve obeyed with a perfectly confused expression, Matt went for it by himself.

Steve easily deflected the fist on instinct, following by a punch of his own, hitting Matt square in his jaw, gasping at both the automatic reaction and the sharp pain shooting through his hand.

Oh and at the fact that he actually hit something – very precisely despite the fact he shouldn’t have known where Matt was.

The action was followed by several shocked exhales.

“Okay, I didn’t see that coming,” Matt hummed, rubbing his jaw, while Steve tried to keep a straight face despite his hand hurting like son of a bitch.

“What the fuck just happened?” Tony asked the obvious question, breaking the stunned silence that followed Matt note.

“Dude, your hand just punched Captain America. Are you gonna get arrested?”

“You tell me, Foggy.”

“What the fuck just happened?!” Tony turned the volume of his voice up and accompanied the question with a broad gesture. “How did you do that?”

If Steve could see now, he would be staring at his aka Matt’s hands in complete shock.

Oh, excellent question, by the way.

“Easily, Mr. Stark. I’m Daredevil.”

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Part 5

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Meet Matt Drama-Queen Murdock. He is a perfect match to Steve Is-This-a-Test Rogers, isn’t he?

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Tags: @mermaidxatxheart @igobypoet

#marvel #fanfiction #captain america #daredevil #steve rogers #matt murdock #bodyswap #fanfic #mcu #steve rogers fanfic #matt murdock fanfic #captain america fanfiction #daredevil fanfiction #think again when you stop freaking out #anika ann

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ohmygoodnessgraciouss · 5 years

Text

Heist (Loki x Reader) Pt. VII - END

Masterlist

Let’s celebrate the release of Endgame on digital tonight with the final chapter to Heist.

Taglist:

@angelofasgard16 @it-jinxed-us @dark-night-sky-99 @pyrowolfgirl1408 @heartsxhoney @twhgirl @xavierwoodsxkofikingston @panda-duuu @nonsensicalobsessions @marisayouass

Loki jumped out of the way, hiding behind some parts from the ship. You took this as your chance to run over to him while everyone was distracted. "Loki!" You yelled at him.

He turned around, shocked to see you. He had millions of questions about all of this. "Y/N! How are you here?"

"It's a long story, and you're in big trouble, so listen. You can make illusions talk, right?"

He was confused by your question but answered anyway. "Yes, of course. I've learned to make them feel as real as possible. Why?"

Your eyes darted to where Thanos was quickly defeating Hulk. You didn't have a lot of time left. "Make an illusion of yourself. I'm not letting you face Thanos. Your illusion will delay him enough. Heimdall can get Hulk back to Earth so he can alert the Avengers."

It was like you were reading his mind. He knew Heimdall would at least try to get Banner back to Earth. He was planning on sacrificing himself so the others would stand a fighting chance. "What if it doesn't work?"

"Listen, do you trust me?"

"I trust you."

"Great. I know what happens. We don't win. Thanos snaps, and everyone you know dies. Everyone. So make the illusion and come with me if you want them to stand a fighting chance." You held your hand out for him to grab. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Ebony Maw grabbing the Tesseract and handing it to Thanos.

Loki's eyes widened as you finished your final sentence. He couldn't believe it. Could he trust you? The way you talked made him assume you were from the future. He wanted to trust you on this. Knowing it wouldn't end well for him anyway, he made his decision.

He took your hand in his, creating an illusion quickly. You pressed buttons on what looked like a watch to him. Lights lit up as a year was presented on it. 2023. Before he could even yell out, he was sent into a realm he did not know. "If I might interject," Would be the last thing the god would hear from 2018.

When you arrived back in 2023 with Loki, Bruce immediately turned to yell at you. "Where have you been?!"

"What do you mean where have I been? I was gone for maybe ten minutes," You calmly responded.

"You were supposed to return two and a half minutes ago."

"What?!"

"And Steve never made it back. He decided to stay in the past," He motioned towards where Sam and Steve were talking. It looked like Sam was holding the shield.

"It must've been because I brought Loki here." Loki was examining his surroundings. He didn't know what to make of it all. Bruce was the Hulk, but at the same time not the Hulk, and he was on Earth now. Captain America looked much older than he probably should, and who was the guy standing next to him?

"Where am I?" Loki decided to ask.

"Loki, welcome to the year 2023. Five years ago Thanos was able to find all six infinity stones and took out half of the universe. We killed him only a couple days after that. About a month ago we found a way to reverse the effects of the snap. Time travel. We brought back everyone and had to kill Thanos again." You shortly summarized it all.

Needless to say, the god had a lot of questions.

When you explained it all in detail to him, you had tears in your eyes. Recounting it all in great detail from the first snap to watching everyone take a knee as you lost Tony made it all real. Five years without Loki and having to admit everyone that you've lost was hard. Loki gripped your hand tightly as you told him the story, squeezing it every once in a while to try and comfort you.

"So, that's basically what you've missed," Your voice was shaky as you finished, "Or, what you wouldn't have seen if you stayed there."

Loki nodded, still trying to come to terms with all that happened. "What if this is how it was supposed to be all along?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I remember seeing you, five years ago. Well, now it would be ten years ago. You approached me the day my mother died. It was you from 2023. I wrote a letter to you that I gave to Thor. I remember seeing Thor back in 2013 as well. What if... what if in the other timelines, this same exact thing happens? In this timeline we're in right now, I didn't die."

"But that's not what Bruce said. His calculations and science was all correct, and it showed what the other timelines looked like." You were still trying to imagine it in your head anyway.

"No offense, love, but your science once believed that everything revolved around your planet."

"Fair enough," You admitted. "I guess it could be possible. It really doesn't matter though. There's someone who really needs to see you." You stood up from your chair on the porch of the lakehouse, holding your hand out.

Loki, understanding immediately, took your hand and stood. You led him through the house, passing a confused Pepper and Morgan, and going into the kitchen. There, Bruce and Thor were talking. Tony sat in a wheelchair with several wires connected to him. Not even harnessing enough energy to easily kill a single man thirty times over could stop him. Thor was chuckling at something Tony said and looked up to greet you. Before he could say anything, he noticed Loki and his smile dissipated. "Brother," Tears quickly filled his eyes as Loki smiled warmly.

Thor pulled him into a hug, nearly cutting off Loki's breathing. Loki, being his melodramatic self, used this to his advantage. "Brother, I can't breathe!" He choked out.

Thor loosened his grip ever so slightly, not caring if his brother didn't want any part of it. That didn't matter at all right now. He slowly felt Loki's arms wrap around his torso and awkwardly pat his back. "It's good to see you too, brother," Loki commented. "However, what in the nine realms happened to you?!"

"I'm sorry," Thor quietly (eerily quiet for Thor) said, not even listening to what Loki was saying.

"For what?"

"Failing you."

"You never failed me. I told you the sun would rise on us yet again. I'm only sorry I missed seeing Thanos die."

Tony watched the interaction with shock in his eyes. He had heard stories from both you and Thor, but this seemed insane. "Is this seriously the same Reindeer Games that destroyed most of New York ten years ago with an alien army?"

"I wouldn't say that, Tony," You replied, "It's more like a free Loki. A Loki who isn't controlled by Thanos. It's the Loki I've wanted you to see for several years." A smile grew on your face as you watched the brothers talk to each other. For the first time in five years, everything was simply okay.

"Are you sure you have everything, Thor? You don't want to forget the messenger in case something happens up in space. Especially since Carol got it and Tony fixed it up just for you and the guardians. Plus, you need to let me know how it goes with Gamora. I know Nebula said she was going to talk to her, but I want to know how everything ends up in the next few weeks." You were constantly pestering Thor to make sure he had everything he needed before leaving.

Thor was clearly annoyed by it, but he appreciated the sentiment. He recently left Asgard in charge of Valkyrie. He didn't know if he should leave it up to Loki instead, but you told him not to, knowing Valkyrie knew Asgard well enough and understood how the world worked here. Loki didn't know how anything worked here because he wasn't present. You'd teach him in due time, of course.

"Yes, I have it all, Y/N. Don't worry. You're worse than how my mother was sometimes. She could still put you to shame sometimes, but you're worse at the moment."

You rolled your eyes at the statement. "Whatever, Thor. And remember, no beer, whatsoever. The next time I see you, I don't want to see you with a beer belly."

"I can promise you that much, Y/N. And thank you."

"For what?"

"For bringing my brother back. And for not yelling at him yet. I haven't seen my brother that happy since our mother died. Even when he got to see me electrocuted, he was never as happy as he is with you."

"Well, that may be ending soon. I have a lot to discuss with him. As for now, I'm just grateful he's around. I'll yell at him when the dust settles a bit," You tried cracking a joke.

Rocket walked up to the two of you, telling you he finished preparing the ship. Thor said his final goodbyes to you and you watched them leave. Of course, you already told Rocket to keep the beer away from the Asgardian. The raccoon told you it was already taken care of.

When the ship took off, you walked over to Loki. He was looking out to the pond, deep in thought. "Want some company?" You asked him.

"Be my guest," He smiled as you sat down and let your feet swing out above the pond that was near the recently finished Avengers Compound.

"Is it strange to see everybody not trying to kill you?" You asked him, trying to lighten the mood.

"A little. I think the most peculiar thing about it all is just trying to adjust to the idea of there being many more Avengers while Thanos is dead."

"Would you believe me if I told you that the Stephen Strange is a part of the Avengers now?"

"Is he the witch doctor that sent me flying through portals?"

"That'd be the very one," You grinned.

"I can't believe he was allowed onto this team of yours."

"It's not really my team. It's more like Sam's team."

"Is he the one that has the robotic wings?"

"Yeah, and Steve gave him the shield."

"I feel bad that he has to carry that around now." You laughed at his remark.

"I missed this, so much," You leaned your head onto his shoulder. You felt his arm sneak around your waist to bring you closer to him. You two were like puzzle pieces, easily connecting together.

"So, may I ask when I have to hear about how angry you are for not telling you I'm alive?" He asked nervously. Loki was not eager to have to hear about it. He knew it'd be coming up at some point, but a part of him wanted it to be delayed while another part wanted it done and over with.

"Whenever I'm done being happy that you're here again, out of a cell, alive and well." You smiled while trying to bite back some laughter. He almost sounded like a child that was trying to figure out whether or not he was in trouble.

"When could that be?"

"It could be in a month, two months, or never. I haven't decided yet. I don't think there's a point in yelling about it right now. I just want to show you something since you're going to be here for a while." You continued your thought by asking him to come to your room in the compound.

When Fury heard the news of Loki being back, he immediately asked you to watch him during the day. That meant the god would stay at the compound at all times under watch by someone. Since you were close to him, it'd only make things easier for you to watch Loki. You agreed immediately.

Because of that, you had your own room in the place. It was large, nearly taking up an entire floor. It was practically an apartment. You didn't complain, loving the idea of never having to worry about rent. The best part about your "room" was the one part you specifically asked for.

"Well, remember how I'd give you books all the time?" You asked him, standing in front of the door to the room. Loki was slightly confused but nodded anyway. "Since I have to watch you, I figured I wouldn't give you any more books and just give you access to my little collection."

When you opened the door, it led into a room with several bookshelves. To say it was a small collection would be a complete understatement. There were easily hundreds of books ranging from science-fiction to autobiographies. It could keep someone busy for years.

Loki looked around, admiring all of the books. He pulled out one of the books, staring at its cover as if it was as old as he was. When you saw the title, you understood why it caught his eye. It was your collection of Shakespeare's work. You forgot you still had that book even after all of these years.

"You still have the book?" Loki asked, flipping through the pages.

"Of course I do. Torn pages, tea stains, and all," You smiled.

When he reached a page, he noticed something fall out. Your quick reflexes led to your powers catching it only inches before it fell to the marble floor. A light blue aura surrounded the object as you lifted it into your hand. The necklace Loki gave you was shining in all of its glory. The stone looked like it had never been touched.

Loki slowly took the necklace from your hand, twisting the stone around between his fingers. A small smile appeared on his face. "When I first gave this to you, I thought you'd keep it for only a few months at most. I can't believe you still have it after all this time."

"It was the day I realized how much I love you, Loki. There was no way I could get rid of it. Besides, I was waiting for the day I'd have to explain to Tony how I got a priceless necklace without his money," You joked.

Loki didn't miss how you didn't use the past tense. "Does this mean you still love me?" He asked.

"Loki, I have never loved anyone as I love you. Despite all that has happened, I don't think I could stop loving you. At the very least, you'd have to really piss me off."

Loki chuckled at your words before placing a kiss on the top of your head. You didn't realize that he had started to place the necklace on around your neck. He gently pulled your hair out and smiled.

"I love you too."

#loki x reader #loki #marvel #endgame #avengers #avengers 4 #tony stark #iron man #thor #odinson #laufeyson #tom hiddleston #bruce banner #hulk #fanfic #fanfiction #comics #mcu

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burlybanner · 5 years

Text

Record (ScienceBrosWeek2019)

Summary: What’s it all about, Brucie? Disclaimer: This is different from my usual style and I’m not sure where this story is going. So I’m not sure when I’ll continue. But keep me honest; it’ll happen eventually.

Disclaimer forever: The longest chapter yet of the fic with no name. I’m only a few days behind, right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Unbeta’d.

Previously: Dust(1), Drip(2), Bitter(3), Merge(4), Pressure(5) ** Bruce had to promise himself, tell himself really, that the meeting wasn’t any different from other meetings with department heads or board members of SI. He’d been to those meetings. He didn’t like them, but he weathered through them.

Of course, none of those meetings included people staring him down with sidearms, either.

He didn’t feel that many in the room trusted him and he did not blame them. This was more for their benefit than his, anyway.

“Okay,” he’d told Tony before the meeting. Tony had time enough to trim his beard after his shower, and Bruce used the mirror to glare at him.

Tony briefly glanced at him before continuing to manscape his goatee. “Okay...what?”

“Do I have to spell it out--? I’m in, for whatever that means. I’m in.”

“Because...?”

Bruce scowled at him. “Fuck you, you manipulative bastard. Do I have to give a reason, or are you forcing that issue, too?”

“No. I’m not. It’s...” Tony turned off the trimmer with a sigh and wiped his hands down his beard, smoothing off the stray hairs. He flipped around and briefly fingered Bruce’s lapels. “I know I was manipulative. I get how mad you are. But I can’t bring you in if you’re not committed. They’d know. And not all of them are as easy going as Rhodey, or me. You need to know that; their identities are sacrosanct.”

Bruce nodded and sighed as he normally did when presented with the puzzles Tony Stark often gave him. But deep inside he already knew. He was committed because...

Well. He was fucked up beyond recognition, for one. And he was totally in love with Rhodey and Tony and didn’t want to lose them.

And maybe, just maybe, a smaller part of him knew about this? And didn’t care?

Maybe he’d been a supervillain all along.

“So they’ll shoot me first, ask questions later?”

The soulful look he received from Tony was worse than a verbal answer.

But sitting in their main conference room, Bruce felt in danger for the first time since arriving. He briefly caught codenames while they talked among themselves, effectively ignoring him. The one named ‘Bucky’ didn’t smile, and his hand easily rested on his thigh as if ready to shoot Bruce on command. The women didn’t seem much better; “Black Widow” and “Scarlet Witch” weren’t too happy with him. At least the other one, Captain Marvel (what kind of codename was that?) gave him a wry smile every few minutes. Some small comfort, he supposed.

He almost laughed out loud. The meeting hadn’t even started and he was already everyone’s target.

“Relax,” Tony murmured. He jumped when he felt Tony’s hand cup his thigh, but the squeeze helped ground him, once he got used to it. “Just listen. And yeah, don’t make too many sudden moves.”

Bruce shifted so he could glare at Tony. “That’s not funny.”

“Who said I was joking?”

Rhodey rolled his eyes, slipping into the chair at Bruce’s right. “Tony. Stop.”

“I mean, seriously? Can you honestly trust Manchurian Candidate over there?”

Before Bruce could ask about Tony’s nickname for Bucky, the most suave and imposing man Bruce’d ever seen glided into the room and loudly tossed a thick folder of papers on the conference table. “Gentlemen. Ladies. And...guest.” He grinned at Bruce, but Bruce found no comfort in his crocodile smile. It may have been the eye patch that made him most uncomfortable, but it could’ve been his threatening demeanor, too.

“For those of you who are not familiar,” and Bruce didn’t even need to look, to know who he meant, “I am Colonel Nicholas J. Fury, head of this little ragtag outfit known as SHIELD. So. Do I have everyone’s attention?”

Everyone, even Tony, sat a little straighter in their seats. “Good,” Fury said. “Then let me also remind everyone that this soiree is not to be recorded in any way, shape, or form per usual protocol. Please power down all recording devices at my mark...now.”

A few touched their jaws and wrists in a similar pattern he’d seen with Tony before. “All clear?”

Fury glanced at Tony, who gave a curt nod.

“All righty, then.” Fury suddenly looked at Bruce with his one good eye and Bruce squirmed, feeling that this moment was payback from the days he observed eukaryotes under a microscope. “Tony Stark has kindly brought one of his best science buds to grace us with his presence. Dr. Robert Banner--”

“Bruce,” Bruce immediately corrected. It was automatic on his tongue. He corrected anyone and everyone who called him by his given name, but this was the first time in living memory he remembered wincing after correcting someone. “I...sorry. I ah. I go by Bruce.”

“Ahhhh, well, forgive me. I stand corrected.” Some of the group chuckled, others gave Bruce a stern glare as if to explain, very clearly, that he was on thin ice. “Dr. Bruce Banner. Renowned medical doctor and nuclear physicist - or did I mess that up, too?”

Bruce cleared his throat and quickly shook his head. “That’s. Yes, sir. That is correct.”

“Perfect. Hate to think Stark kidnapped the wrong nuclear scientist.”

No one laughed, but some smirked. Bruce bristled at the idea of coming against his will, but he wouldn’t correct Fury again. Rhodey shot Bruce an apologetic smile, though, and he softly searched for Bruce’s hand beneath the table. Rhodey gave his hand a quick brush before his concentration returned to the group.

“With all of the introductions over and done, let’s get Dr. Banner here up to speed.” Fury sat at the head of the table and propped up his feet before giving the room a death glare. “Well, go ahead. Don’t all jump in at once.”

Clint, who was on Rhodey’s right, cleared his throat. He hunched forward, weaving his hands together in a casual, honest manner that Bruce appreciated. “Think of us as...equalizers, per se.”

“Good,” Fury encouraged. He waved his hand. “Pray, continue, Hawkeye. I like how this is goin’.”

Bruce kept a neutral expression, but his mind tripped over Clint’s code name. Maybe this was why he was lookout - because of his good eyes?

“So,” Clint sighed. “You’ve been around, Bruce. You’ve seen the news, even been in it sometimes. You know how the world works.”

Bruce shrugged. “I suppose.”

“A little more than the average Joe, I bet.” Clint traded glances with Tony, and Bruce wondered how much information Tony’d supplied, regarding his background. “And you’re...if I can be a little bold here. Do you subscribe to any particular political party?”

Bruce narrowed his eyes. This question got him in trouble at gatherings, all the time. “Democratic Socialist,” he said, a little unkindly. “Why?”

“Well,” Clint continued in his smooth baritone. “Do you think the US as you know it aligns with your values right now?”

“No. Of course not. But,” Bruce said, holding out for the argument. “That’s what elections are for. That’s what voicing your opinion is for. That’s what protests are for,” he said, a little louder because he heard a few groans around the table. “What? And ruling by force is better?” He was ready for them. Expected this argument really, wanted it all on the table. “Forcing people to choose is no better than dictatorship.”

“Bruce, I love your optimism, I really do. But,” Clint said, regarding everyone in range. “We’ve all seen it, all been through it. There is no way any government will treat its citizens as people, when money’s on the line. Whether you’re socialist or hardcore communist or a US Republican, everything comes down to the almighty dollar.

“Level with me,” Clint said, shifting so he could get a better look at Bruce. “When’s the last time you saw any organized group succeed without a monetary exchange? If money’s involved, someone’s in charge, whether you like it or not. And if someone’s on top, someone else isn’t, because whoever holds the purse strings rules the world. It’s that simple.”

“Is it? Nothing’s simple, Clint.”

“Dunno,” Clint said, falling back into his chair. “Prove me wrong.”

Bruce snorted. “Fine. The Jonbeel Mela in India, the Yanomami and Awa tribes in the Amazon, the Kula ring in Papau New Guinea--”

“But do those tribes control their respective nations?”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Bruce growled, pointing a finger at Clint. “You asked, and I gave a valid response. Prove me wrong.”

Fury threw back his head, laughing and clapping his hands with glee. “Love it. Love it.” He gestured to Tony and Rhodey. “Y’all picked a good one.”

“Besides,” Bruce said, ignoring Fury’s interruption. “ ‘Money’ to certain groups can be a barter system. Some have it, some don’t, but they barter for whatever else they need. They don’t care as long as their needs and their family’s needs are met.”

“Now, ain’t that the truth,” Fury snorted. He smiled a little and let his boots hit the floor. “So if everyone’s needs are met, and money is no longer on the table, do you think that’ll solve all the issues of mankind?”

“That’s...such a puerile question,” Bruce said, knowing how brave - and stupid - it was of him to say it to Fury’s face. “There are no easy answers. That’s why we have different rules of governments and systems. It’s why we govern differently.”

“Who decides, then?” Widow had entered the fray, now. Her accent reminded Bruce of Romanian winters. “Who gets to choose which governments thrive, and which don’t?”

“The people.”

“Ah, I see.” She muttered in Russian, under her breath. “You think the people can control nations effectively? The armies do. And armies are controlled by people with money!”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “I’m not saying every system governs well. But there is a type of barter. Protection, goods, and services in exchange for paying taxes.”

“And every red-blooded patriot gets equal protection, huh?” Fury’s smile turned a little cold. “We could go down this turn every minute of every day and don’t get me wrong, I love me some good ol’ fashioned politics like Mom used to make. But,” Fury held up a hand. “I’m sure you suspect that every altruistic organization, no matter how good intentioned, eventually becomes as corrupt as the next, a slave to the system it created. Someone has to lose, for someone else to win.”

Bruce had it with the argument and the double-speak, and frankly he was upset neither Rhodey nor Tony chimed in on his behalf. “So what? The answer is to execute the rich? Liberate the poor? Liberate them to...what, exactly? A life of looking over their shoulder, waiting for a bomb to obliterate their homelands? To starve? To have their children thrown into prisons and everyone to die from diseases that should’ve been cured fucking centuries ago?” His heart pounded in his throat. He glared at everyone, including Tony and Rhodey, feeling froth pooling at the corners of his lips. “How? How the fuck will you change it?”

“By creating an opportunity for it in the first place.”

Bruce’s rage subsided at the new voice in the corner. The blonde haired man with a look of quiet resolve nodded at Bruce. “I agree with you, Doctor Banner. We live in a world of assholes and cowards, and no one has the right to tell anyone how to live their lives. But.” The man leaned forward, cupping his hands as if in prayer. “What if you had the means to make sure everyone started on equal footing, and you had the means to keep that equal footing in play, for at least a decade? That everyone on earth - man, woman and child - had access to enough money to take care of themselves and their family, for a full decade? If you could triple their current salary? How they used the money would be up to them, for good and ill, and the money wouldn’t be unlimited. Just enough for a decade. But within that decade they’d be free to live in freedom, however they chose.”

“That...” Bruce rolled his lips. “That would help, I’m sure. But how many countries would destabilize? How would people eat? Get medical care? Hell, how many people would run themselves into the ground -”

“But how many would be elevated?”

Bruce shook his head. “There are too many factors. You can’t guarantee happiness. You can’t guarantee anything. I mean, wouldn’t crime go up? Would people try to get away with murder?”

“They do that now, Bruce,” Rhodey said quietly. He slowly rubbed Bruce’s knuckles, calming him. “Tony’s brilliant, you know? What we’ve discussed is creating something small enough to be life changing for a lot of people while balancing the status quo. We’re also gonna play peacekeeper, to make sure the assets don’t end up in the wrong hands.”

Swallowing, Bruce looked at all of them around the table. “In theory,” he murmured quietly. “Theoretically. But you’d have to control...well. Everything.”

“Exactly.” Tony was talking to him, his manic grin returning; the horrible Joker’s smile, a rictus grin. “Remember my AI, JARVIS?” Bruce nodded. “Well. The dirty bastard’s currently co-mingling with every satellite, bank, internet computer system, electronic device with smart technology, every downloadable app on the planet--you name it. Do you know,” Tony said, smirking, “how hackable every military on earth is? How very unprotected drones and vehicles and ships and launch codes are--? ‘Cause I do.”

“Jesus...”

“Everything is a-go. The people in this room, at this base, are the only people who’ll know. Once the message goes forth across the planet we’ll take care of the rest. Rogers’ group--” and Tony pointed to the man who’d spoken earlier “--will coordinate the North, Central and South American underground networks. T’Challa here will work the African continent and make sure our militias there are the only ones with ammunition. In fact, some weapons manufacturers are gonna be mighty low on funds and/or electricity for a long, long time.”

“You...you can’t control everything?” Bruce offered weakly. He felt tired. “What...about hospitals? People who depend on daily things that can’t be interrupted--”

“No problem. We thought of everything.”

Tony laid out SHIELD’s grand master plan to save the world, dizzying Bruce with its intricacies and implications. Bruce gathered they planned to implement a Robin Hood principle of rich-to-poor, but on a global scale. The insanely rich would become moderately rich or barely rich, while their funds raced across continents to poor countries around the world. And then SHIELD’s little militia ground troops would be dispatched across the planet, to make sure everyone did their part to maintain their new order. The rich would find their credit...obliterated. The poor would suddenly have their bills paid, with enough continual income to either work - or not - for ten years. Bullets would be in short supply, as every automatic weapon manufacturer would find their factories suddenly without power. And no matter how often stores tried raising prices to make more money off demand, prices would remain within measured limits.

People would still need goods and services, of course, but SHIELD had plants in every industry around the world, ready to tackle distribution. Effectively, they would be in control of all resources - shipping, aeronautics, buses, trains, automobiles, power grids, infrastructure, water, food, corporations, commerce, economics...every goddamn thing on the godforsaken planet. They held the purse strings of the world.

“I ah.” Bruce stood shakily. “I need...I need air.”

Tony shared a look with Rhodey, and they stood up with Bruce. “Meeting adjourned?” Tony asked.

Fury nodded. “If everything’s in place, I can’t see what else needs doing. JARVIS is your project, Stark; I say we let our ground troops know and kick it off at 0900 our time tomorrow. Deal?”

Everyone in the room nodded.

Bruce barely heard the scraping of chairs across the concrete floors or the murmured voices filing out. He felt, rather than saw, Tony and Rhodey come alongside him, grabbing his arms before he fell. His eidetic memory, the curse and comfort of his existence, had recorded all of their words, committed them to memory. And the onslaught of harrowing data and its implications overwhelmed his senses.

Knowing this, Rhodey and Tony helped him back to Tony’s room. He nodded when they silently asked if they could take off his suit and tuck him into bed. Then they took off their own clothes and cuddled him in the soft sheets and Bruce slowly shut his eyes, not sure if he was falling into a nightmare, or into heaven’s eternal rest.

#sciencebrosweek2019 #record #the longest yet #maybe I'll come up with a title after the last installment #at least an ending is in sight maybe #sciencebrosweek #@sciencebrosweek #tony stark #bruce banner #james rhodes #again the fic with no name #and now the end is near and #so I face the final curtain

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writerkenna · 5 years

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The Lights of Stars and the Glitter in your Eyes Chapter 3

Okay y'all here's the spotify playlist. It is my jam, seriously: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/33fFZZf5GuCb5iKylbEL1V

Songs that I listened to while writing this, in no particular order: I Do Adore, Let's Hear it for the Boy, Yellow, Daddy Issues, and Anything for You

Enjoy!

The meetings, which consisted of councils that were becoming increasingly blurred in Thor’s head and streams of words like ‘judiciary system’ and ‘delegation of power’ pounding at him, had become thrice weekly, always in the morning, always packed.

“I’d like to put my name in for consideration,” Valkyrie said with enough force to rouse Thor’s chin up from slumping on his hand. He hadn’t slept well-consistently hadn’t been sleeping well, whether that be Bruce sharing a bed with him or his political strife was undetermined-and had only been half a part of the conversation so far. He scanned the room and its holographic boards to catch up. Leader of the warrior force, Thor deduced.

“Uh, I, me too, for that. Yeah,” Korg followed. Valkyrie shot him a look, but Korg didn’t seem to notice. The groups of people that made up the councils and parliamentary members present in the room were generally displeased by both nominations, not that they really could do much about it. In the end, Thor would make the choice. On every council leader and major edict of society, it was him who would make the call, which was a boost to his ego while also terrifying as all hell.

Valkyrie eyed him carefully, and Thor knew just from the shift of her lip that she was deciding her odds. She deserved the title, more qualified than anyone in the room, excluding himself, maybe, despite what the rest of the assembly thought of it, thought of her time away from Asgard. Thor would try to find Korg some position, though, fabricate a title if he needed to.

“I’ll see those of you on defense again three days from now. Education and Agriculture, tomorrow morning,” Heimdall ordered. He had alleviated Thor of the duty of running these things, and Thor was more than grateful. They disbanded in a shuffle of mumbles and Thor dredged himself up to stand.

“Hey,” Valkyrie said as she shoved her elbow against Thor’s bicep. He shoved back at her with a grin.

“Trying to take up the old mantle, huh?”

“Yeah,” Valkyrie eased slowly, a prick of something being held back and shift of her shoulders, prepping for a fight, “so?”

“No, no, it’s good! I’m like, yay, Val, you go girl!” Thor covered quick, gesturing a non committal fist bump and Valkyrie took it with a side-arching smirk and roll of her eyes.

“Okay, then.”

“Just don’t let the, well, the others worry you, alright? You’re suited for this.” Thor hoped this was enough for her to understand his leanings, as much of a hint he felt he could reasonably give. Valkyrie’s eyes went wide and her lips formed a flat smile. It warmed Thor a little, to issue something with some effectiveness, some net good.

Loki passed them and they both called after him. He halted with a huff.

“Yes?” he hissed at them both.

“So, what, no bid for power?” Valkyrie snarked back.

“I was expecting at least some sort of coup attempt or something,” Thor added, his glance catching on Loki, who was not exactly mad, maybe closer to a flat discomfort.

“No, not this time. Not me.”

It dawned on Thor how quiet Loki had been in the past two weeks of meetings. No bursts of anger, no snips at parliament, no desperate sieges on Thor himself. It was almost like Loki was actually exhibiting restraint, or possibly embarrassment, maybe some sheepishness to act around a people who would never trust him, but past experience made Thor doubtful of any of those.

“Well,” Thor sighed, feeling some mix of awkward tension and familial sympathy. He shifted on his feet and looked away from the lines of Loki’s unreadable but undeniably dreary eyes, “I think I’m going to find Bruce now.”

Loki and Valkyrie’s eyes connected for a moment, and a smile crossed Loki’s face for the first time in a while. Thor didn’t understand them.

“Mmhm,” Valkyrie hummed. Thor leaned in to them for an explanation, hands squared at his hips, but Loki just breezed a snip of a laugh as Valkyrie wiggled her brows too fast, a sort of suggestion of something.

“Go on,” Loki said with a flick of thin fingers on a tight hand, smirking in a way Thor knew was never good for him, “find your mortal.”

Thor was not in the habit of referring to Bruce, in any capacity, as ‘his mortal’ and he wanted to battle on Loki’s usage of it but both him and Valkyrie looked so smug he didn’t think it would do him much good. Thor sniffed a goodbye and turned towards the cafeteria.

Bruce was in the middle of conversation with a gaggle of kids when Thor found him. They were teaching him an Asgardian card game that was older than Thor. Bruce, everyone had discovered, was actually pretty good with kids when all his context wasn’t hanging around. Thor hesitated before stepping over.

He noticed, not for the first time he must admit, the true gentleness of Bruce Banner. It was an extreme counter to Hulk and all his brash moves, swings of fists and garishly loud outbursts at the wrong times. Bruce was contained and careful with every adjustment he made. Thor could see it right then, how he took his time as he slid cards to the members of his circle. Each movement started with a ducked head and a shared look, quick but practiced, a final check of consent, a caring concern, before Bruce enacted it. It was close to overwhelmingly sweet, if not worryingly so.

“These kids are whoppin’ my butt, Thor!” Two of the girls in the group giggled. Thor lowered himself around Bruce’s shoulders. Bruce adjusted and Thor caught a hint of a smile and a touch of a blush.

“Play this one.” Thor touched a card with the blunt edge of his nail and Bruce flipped it down onto the table. Someone issued a groan and Bruce gained a point. Thor removed himself from over him, catching the closeness. Bruce gave the win to the kids after the next round and Thor and him made their way back to the room.

“Give me like twenty, thirty minutes, and then Weird Science, okay?” Bruce said as he pulled up all his tabs and his ever-growing paper. It was his plan to have the full paper done and ready for peer-review once they landed, as a sort of homecoming gift of well wishes to earth, a band aid for his long absence from academia. Bruce wouldn’t tell him directly, but Thor could feel the nerves and apprehensions boiling so clearly under Bruce’s skin when they talked about their destination. Thor was relieved the paper was, if not an actual solution, a nice distraction.

Thor flopped belly first onto the bed as Bruce got lost to his work. He appreciated their routine after meetings, work time for Bruce, then a Midgardian film, before they split again and he went to spar with Valkyrie or Korg or any warm, muscled body he found and Bruce dove scrunched-face first into the study of the science of matter in a void or something of the like. Thor, on most days, enjoyed the brief moments of sleep he could steal before Bruce woke him up for the next cinema classic he determined was on their required viewing list.

Thor managed fifteen minutes of a nap before he roused himself with a low groan and pulled two thick packets from his nightstand. He was supposed to have his new education system picked by the next morning, and the thought of that made him want to be swallowed up by the satin sheets under him so deep even Heimdall’s sight would be blind to him. Yet, still, he made a try to read the dense things. As Thor finally reached the bottom of page two, Bruce concluded his work session and turned over his shoulder to him. Thor’s eyes flicked up from his pages and gave Bruce one small scan.

He exuded, even in Sakaarian dressings, a very specific energy, the energy of someone who could be actively interested and spend ten straight hours of research on topics Thor fell asleep just hearing of. Frankly, Bruce Banner was a huge nerd.

“Okay, so this one is-”

“You must come to my meetings with me.”

“Ah, buddy, I don’t… that’s kind of an overst-” Bruce took a pace back to his screens.

“Yes! This is a brilliant solution! You shall come from now on, Bruce. It’s set.”

“Am I even allowed to be there? Like, isn’t it sort of an Asgardians only thing?” Bruce stumbled, wringing one finger around another.

“Korg’s there,” Thor supplied, seeing his idea, his salvation from the weight of a whole people on his shoulders slinking away as Bruce broke eye contact.

“Well, I-”

“I really want you there,” Thor pleaded. The corner of Bruce’s lips flicked up briefly, enough for Thor to count it as a win.

“I-maybe, okay, I’ll think about it. So am I, like, going as your . . . friend, or just a bystander, or . . . ?”

Thor puzzled on this. Bystander, a very inactive and unhelpful role, was not what Thor wanted. He had sort of pictured more of someone who would pretty much make all the choices for him. He beamed when he found the right word.

“Chancellor. You can be my chancellor. Will you?” Thor pulled his knees up under himself, growing giddy with the the idea of it and feeling his chest get a little lighter. Bruce’s eyes were wide and Thor couldn’t figure if they were going more towards bright surprise or intense shock.

“Ah, wow, that’s-Thor, thanks. That’s, um, chancellor sounds like a big deal, though,” Bruce said as he paced his way over to the bed with his careful tension.

“Well, yes, it is a bit, I suppose. You’d be my advisor and confidant for all matters. Every great king has had one,” Bruce was still unconvinced, hanging on the edge of sitting on the bed and avoiding Thor’s stare. Thor was beginning to feel a hint of desperation in himself, and he suddenly needed this more than he thought, “Bruce, please, I could really use this. And you are-I mean this quite truly-the smartest person I know.”

This seemed to be the secret charm for Bruce, as hearing it made his smile bloom into his cheeks, his bottom lip tucking up under his teeth in a way that reminded Thor of how full Bruce’s lips were.

“Well, I guess I . . . where do I start, then?” Bruce shrugged, not fully sure, but it was enough to get Thor to bound up like a spring to deliver Bruce the packets.

“Yes, yes, thank you, Bruce. You are a wonderful friend. Here, education system outlines. I’m supposed to have one picked by tomorrow.” Bruce’s brows spiked up and he shot Thor a look that was the exact halfway between the start of a laugh and the dip of a frown. He shook his head and opened up the first packet. Thor leaned over and tried to be subtle as he watched Bruce’s face scan the papers. Bruce had the paper close to his eyes as he picked at each line with his finger tracking along, the same look he got when he found a good source on cosmic ray collisions (and Thor actually knew what that meant, which, if anything, was a testament to Bruce’s passion). He seemed to be getting more out of it than Thor could have ever hoped to.

“You should go with this one, I think,” Bruce said as he handed a packet back over to Thor, “It has a really good curriculum already set for the younger kids and a lot of elective choices for the older ones. It will be good for entering the workforce.”

Thor blinked down at the paper, then back up at Bruce who was aflame with blush.

“You’re a genius.”

“Ah, ha, I don’t know about that-” Bruce’s lips went tight across his teeth and his face reddened even further.

“You are,” Thor affirmed. In terms of genius Avengers, Tony was usually the first one that people thought of, but Thor felt, especially over the course of these past few weeks spending majority of his time with Bruce, that he knew exactly who the real brain of the team was. Stark always seemed to understand this, too, if his little remarks about Bruce’s papers and the way he deferred to Bruce in their shared lab work were indicators. Bruce’s intelligence and how far it stretched amazed Thor to no ends, from the second they had met in New York. Bruce was stunned into silence and Thor admitted he was a bit pleased with himself that he was the one able to make sure Bruce was aware of his own brilliance. They were staring at each other now, stuck in that silence, and Thor felt a tingle of electricity mixed with something else slip down to his fingers.

There was an uneasy rumble from beneath their bed and as Thor started up to check on it, the ship jolted harshly to the right and he landed face first into the pillow. He pulled his head up to find Bruce tossed against the floor.

“Thor, y-you okay?” Bruce staggered as he peeled himself off the floor. Thor was quick to pull him back up.

“Let’s go,” Thor shot, and then they were on their way to the hull, bolting down as the ship rustled and tossed. Once they reached the front of the ship, Valkyrie, Heimdall, and Loki were already there. Outside the front window, rocks crashed about them, immense and jagged.

“What’s happening?” Thor asked the crowd.

“Asteroid field that wasn’t on our maps,” Heimdall informed. Another rock hit their left and Bruce fell into Thor’s side. Thor wrapped an arm around him to steady them both, and because Bruce was looking just a bit green at his corners.

“We need to-” Loki started, but he stumbled forward as they were slammed into from behind. A low growl bubbled out from the figure under his arm and Thor checked to find Bruce shaking whatever that was off him.

“Thor, you, ah, you gotta get me to the r-room, now, or I-I gotta-” Bruce’s sweat was sponging off onto Thor’s shoulder. Thor pulled his arms tighter around Bruce as he squirmed.

“I’m going to-uh . . .” Thor shot his eyes over to Loki, who upon seeing Bruce groaning, nodded fast and gestured them off. They had a hard time even staying balanced as Thor got them both back to the room. Bruce was lost from him at this point, half green and drifting further from himself with each tumble of the ground below.

“Bruce, hey, Bruce, let’s just-” Thor tried but Bruce had been good as gone since Thor had closed the door.

“Thor!” The word ripped out of the morphing body in front of him, breaking in the middle, shifting from Bruce’s squawk to Hulk’s howl. A green head tossed back with a roar and Thor was face to face with an eight foot mass focused only on him.

“Hulk, my friend,” Thor eased, with careful hands poised out in front of him as he tiptoed closer to Hulk.

“Hulk miss pretty god. Hulk come to see him.” Hulk pressed in towards Thor, that cocked up grin back again. Thor was washed over with guilt and he shut his eyes with a wince. The interaction started to feel like a betrayal and Thor fell back a few steps away from Hulk.

“You . . . you can’t just take over Bruce to see me. That’s not okay.” Thor remembered Bruce’s theory, the pendulum effect, and worry covered the pit of his gut as he considered a permanent loss of Bruce Banner. Hulk grunted, his brow folding into angry creases, and he punched a lamp off a counter.

“No, no, Hulk want Thor! Hulk come see him!” Hulk threw large fists onto the bed and a pillow bounced to the ground. As his arms continued to thrash about, Thor could see the trajectory of this freak out and while the ship rocketed them around, Thor rushed over to him to calm the storm.

“Okay, shh, shh now,” Thor murmured as he put a hand to Hulk’s chest. He felt the thunder of his heart simmer down to a rumble, and Hulk lowered to sit on the bed, green eyes softening when they found Thor in their line of sight. Warm breath gusted across Thor’s neck and they both inhaled together. Thor chanced a grin, “hey, sorry, we’re okay, alright. I missed you, too. I-just, is Banner going to be able to come back, uh, maybe, one day?”

Hulk frowned at the accusation and nodded. Thor sighed and the situation felt less hefty.

“Hulk let Banner come back tomorrow, okay? But Hulk and Thor first,” Hulk said in a near whisper, a voice Thor was hearing for the first time, and Thor’s breath caught when it hit him, soft and crackling like a hiss of a dying fire. It was a surprise to neither of them when Thor was pulled into the crevice between Hulk’s legs and their lips crashed like a spray of ocean into each other.

The guilt still covered Thor, but it was being eaten up by his excitement. He squeezed his thighs together in some last ditch attempt to stop him from falling down this hole again, but he had been thinking about Hulk’s cock inside him for two weeks and his member was like a dagger jabbing his leg. He was little more than a pulsing mass of flesh that hungered for the dark and full taste of Hulk, and Bruce’s well-being had slipped far, far, back in his mind.

“Unghh, fuck, Hulk, please, take me,” Thor groaned. He rutted himself against the point of Hulk’s knee. Hulk hissed and hummed, playing out a rhythm with his puffs of air into Thor’s hair.

“Thor go here,” Hulk moaned and Thor gave over to Hulk’s force as he moved into the V of Hulk’s legs. Hulk ripped off the bits of torn scraps of Bruce’s pants and Thor’s chest plummeted forward when he was level with the twitching of Hulk’s dick. The ship rattled him forward and his hand was on it.

“Ooh, I . . .” Thor didn’t finish whatever his train of thought was driving towards. He buckled at his waist and stretched his lips into a vice grip around the head of Hulk’s cock. It was pulling him too tight, tight enough that he fretted for the briefest moment his mouth might crack at the edges. But, he wouldn’t, he affirmed to himself, and in the heat of this, in the euphoria that was the challenge of Hulk, found he would allow himself to crack.

Hulk rocked his head back and forth across his shoulders and Thor tracked the motion, rolling his tongue over the slit of the head. Hulk shivered under Thor’s palms.

Thor had decided that this was what he wanted, constantly. He wanted his limits pushed while Hulk moaned and he rubbed himself raw. He wanted to be a whore for this cock, for all the parts of Hulk’s warm and muscled and strained and yet so, so sweet form. Thor dipped down further on the shaft, enhancing his moans to ridiculous proportions, because he needed it to reach Hulk and seep into his ears until his soul could feel Thor’s desperation.

They were animals here, stripped of their context and all of Thor’s problems and Bruce's anxiety and Hulk's danger, and they were just two creatures grinding against each other. They were base and primal, and that fact was making Thor delirious as he yanked on his cock. Hulk splattered in and across Thor, Thor following a moment or two after, and they both slipped back from each other.

Thor licked across his lips and sucked in Hulk’s seed. It was bitter at first but as Thor swallowed it down, it was sweet on his throat. He looked up under his lashes at Hulk, who was panting with a grin. They blinked at each other for a moment, and then Thor was hoisted up and over the rim of the bed to land upon Hulk’s wide barrelled chest. Thor rested his head down, wondering as he rattled in the bed if he needed to get back to the hull and assist, but then, giving in, he shut his eyes, and he guessed they were cuddling. He liked it more than he would have expected to.

They didn’t bother with cleaning up after, as there was some satisfaction in staying sticky and soiled together. They slept in the blanket of their stench of sex, one of Thor’s more sound sleeps recently.

When he woke up to Bruce, he removed himself without a word, and when they saw each other in the meeting, when Thor saw Bruce’s gentle grin and tired eyes, last night was moot.

(I know RDJ is in Weird Science shhhhh he's just Tony's doppelgänger)

ps yes they have watched dumbo together it was the first film they watched

COMMENT

#thorbruce #gammahammer #thunderscience #thor odinson #bruce banner #mutual pining #MCU #thulk #hulk sex

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goddessofgamma · 5 years

Note

11 + 53 for thruce, pretty please? I love your writing and I am so happy you're doing these!

ahhh thanks so much for sending the prompt and being so sweet!! This was a cute combo. the prompts were from this list , and anyone can send me prompts anytime if you want me to write something in particular, I love getting prompts and feedback.

I gotta do a little shoutout to @ragnarokdad bc it’s your fault I associate the Mountain Goats with Bruce and @autistic-thor bc they wrote some awesome ‘Take a Chance On Me’ fic. Also, I imagined Bruce to be playing the piano version on the Incredible Hulk tv theme, or the “World’s Smallest Violin” song as I now think of it thanks to @flightsofwonder

hope you enjoy!!

Under the Doorway (Ao3 link)

Summary: Thor has a thing for his next-door neighbour, but he worries that he he may have created a bad first impression.

Thor smiled to himself as heheard the soft sound of the piano filtering in through the wall that separatedBruce’s house from his. He couldn’t saythat it would have usually been his sort of music, but anything that remindedhim of Bruce made his heart feel a little lighter.

As first meetings go, theirs had not been the smoothest. Thor had moved in just a day before, andafter a long day of setting up all the electricals around the house, he’dventured into the kitchen to cook himself some dinner, making use of hisdubious-looking oven for the first time. He’d been in a good mood, listening to Take on Me on his phone as he flipped his steaks.

His mood was soon interrupted by a thundering knock at thedoor. Stopping his music, he’d rundownstairs to see who was calling. Avery angry-looking, soggy man was standing outside his door in the pouring rain. There was something about the way that his facecrinkled-up with anger that Thor almost found endearing, at least until the manhad nearly yelled at him to stop blasting his music so loud that he couldn’t dohis work. Thor had to pause for thoughtat that. He’d not realised that hismusic had been playing through the speakers he’d set up earlier, he’d had hisheadphones on thinking that was the source of the sound. It was an honest mistake, Thor tried to explain,but the man’s fury didn’t seem to diminish.

Thor thought a lot about that interaction in the weeks thatfollowed. He wanted to apologize, wentso far as to bake some lemon cakes for his neighbour, but every time he rangthe doorbell to give the cupcakes and say sorry, he was met with no response.

After four attempts at varying times of day, Thor came upwith a fool-proof plan. If he playedmusic again really loudly, theneighbour would surely knock again, and then he could apologize for both occasionsin one go.

Dancing Queen wasblaring from every speaker he owned. Making the most of the opportunity, Thor danced by the door, cupcakes atthe ready, listening out for an angry tap.

As soon as he heard a knocking, Thor pressed pause on themusic and opened the door wide.

“For the love of god, can you stop it with the music? I’vealready told you I’ve got work to do, I can’t deal with Abba at 600 decibelswhile I’m mar-“ The neighbour trailedoff when he noticed Thor’s wide smile. “Whatis it?” The man asked, his tone still disgruntled.

“I made you some cakes.” Thor presented them, his right hand holding out the display. “I apologize for my method of asking you tocollect them, but you didn’t answer when I knocked.”

“You –“ The man still looked annoyed, but more puzzled thananything else. “You baked me cakes?”

Thor nodded.

“Lemon drizzle. As apeace offering.”

The neighbour looked suspicious, but took them anyway.

“Thanks,” he said hesitantly. He backed away from Thor’s doorstep, headingdown the small path, back to his house. Stopping just short of the gate, he turnedaround. “My name’s Bruce, by theway. Bruce Banner.”

“I’m Thor!” Thor shouted back, wanting to be sure that Bruceheard from the other end of the garden.

The name ‘Bruce Banner’ had stuckin Thor’s head for a week afterward, repeated like a melody in Thor’s head justas catchy as any Abba song.

A week after that, Thor had been shocked by the sound ofsome unfamiliar music coming from the wall he shared with Bruce. It was loud, louder than Thor had everthought Bruce would play music, considering how he’d complained.

After an hour, the thought had wormed its way into Thor’shead that this was some kind of response to his own music. Taking a chance, he walked up to Bruce’s doorand rang the doorbell.

Bruce opened the door so fast that it was clear he’d beenwaiting. There was a slight smile on hisface, something Thor had never seen before, and he couldn’t help feeling thathe’d like to see that smile again. Itwas the first time Bruce had stayed still long enough for Thor to get a goodlook at him, and he found his eyes tracing his curls, his face.

“I-“ Brucehesitated. “I thought it was my turn tosay sorry. For snapping at you. Sometimes when I get wound up, I lash out, but…” His eyes flashed down to their feet. “I’msorry.”

Thor gave him the most reassuring grin he had.

“You have no need to apologize, Banner. You have an interesting music taste.”

“It’s a band called Mountain Goats.”

Bruce looked at him deeply for a moment, before standingmore upright, as though he’d just remembered something.

“Oh, I made you cookies.” He turned around and fetched some gooey-looking chocolate chip cookies. Thorbeamed, surprised and delighted.

“I will treasure them.”

Bruce did a half-laugh.

“I think the idea is that you shouldeat them.”

It had been a year since Thor had moved in now. Thor and Bruce had created a habit, in the weeksfollowing Bruce’s cookies, of playing their music at top volume when theywanted the other person to come over and visit, to chat and get to know eachother a little more. Thor soon learnedthat Bruce was a science teacher, he had a cat, he used to play the piano, buthe hadn’t practiced in years, all sorts of tiny pieces of information that madeThor like him all the more.

Thor had been the one to convincehim to try piano again. He’d seen thedelivery van arrive outside after Bruce had bought one. Bruce had pushed it into his house, and Thor couldn’tdeny the way he stared at Bruce’s arms as they strained with the effort ofbearing the weight.

Now, hearing the sound of Bruce playing, just the other sideof the wall, Thor was hit by a swell of affection for Bruce. He’d long accepted his attraction to hisneighbour who he hoped that he could count as a friend, but with each of theirmeetings, he felt his feelings grow to more than just a regular crush.

Forcing himself to act rather than wallow, Thor turned hisspeakers on. He scrolled down his playlistuntil he found the song he needed to hype himself up.

Stepping down the stairs, in time to the beat of Take a Chance on Me, Thor waited inanticipation, trying to convince himself to admit his feeling.

The rap at the door came so fast Thor could have sworn Brucewould have had to run.

“Hi, Thor. Abba,again.” He gave a small smile. “I’ve gotta say, it’s growing on me.”

Thor nodded.

“I was sorry to interrupt your music, but, well, I wanted tospeak with you.” It was funny for Thorto hear himself say that; they’d never verbally acknowledged that their musicwas just an excuse to see each other since the first couple of times. “I –“ Thor took a moment’s pause, steadyinghimself and looking Bruce in the eyes. “I would like - if you would, of course –to spend some time with you not just on our doorsteps. To actually go into one of our houses, or goout for dinner. As a date.”

Bruce froze for a moment, and Thor was worried he’d misspoken.A moment later, all Thor felt was the press of Bruce’s lips on his, Bruce’shand wrapped about his head, pulling him down in a kiss.

Thor didn’t have to think before he leant down into it,holding Bruce close, the contact heated after so long spent so close together. His tongue flickered across Bruce’s lips.

That seemed to spark something in Bruce, spurring him on topush Thor against the wall of his hallway, the door slamming behind them,leaving the doorway behind.

#thor #bruce banner #thorbruce #thruce #gammahammer #thunderscience #my fic #hope ya like it

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tonystarkbingo · 5 years

Photo

Week 20 Roundup! We’ve got a LOT of fills this week, thanks in part to our June Discord Party! Congrats to those who got bingos and blackouts!

Title: Passing the Torch Collaborator: 27dragons Link: AO3 Square Filled: R3 - Crossover: Marvel Verse/Marvel Verse Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: multiverse, Endgame fix-it, Dad Tony Summary: Tony saved the universe, but that was nothing compared to facing this classroom. Word Count: 918

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Title: 1870 Collaborator: Stark-N-Barnes (StarSpangledBucky) Link: AO3 Square Filled: A3 - free square Ship: Stony Rating: Teen Major Tags: Hockey AU, hurt/comfort, concussion, first kiss Summary: Tony comforts Steve after he gets checked at a game, leaving him with a concussion which halts his opportunity to play in the Stanley Cup finals. Word Count: 4077

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Title: Serendipity Collaborator: AoifeLaufeyson Link: AO3 Square Filled: T1 - Kink: Held down Ship: WinterIron Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content, fluff and smut, no powers AU Summary: This is my work for the Captain America Reverse Big Bang 2019 to go with gorgeous art by my partner, Trashcanakin. Much gratitude to them and the CapRBB runners for their patience! Word Count: 5685

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Title: Finish What He Started Collaborator: queen-of-the-avengers Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A5 - Gamora Ship: Tony/Reader Rating: Not Rated Major Tags: fluff, implied smut Summary: Keeping your relationship a secret is a lot harder than you might think. Word Count: 1254

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Title: Love's Strange Collaborator: ceealaina Link: AO3 Square Filled: K3 - Carnivorous Plant Ship: Stuckony Rating: Teen Major Tags: fluff and humor, minor Carol/Rhodey Summary: Bucky couldn’t resist giving him a quick kiss before Tony’s words caught up to him. “A... plant?” he repeated, because last he checked, Tony wasn’t the horticultural type. But sure enough, there was a funny little lime green thing sitting in a bright pink pot on the tabletop, about six inches high and covered in little spikey bell-shaped leaves, run through with electric blue veins. “Where did that come from?” “No idea,” Tony answered. “It was here when I came down. I thought maybe Steve brought it for me? Steve seems like the type to give people plants, right?” He reached out, running his index finger delicately over one of the leaves. “Ooh, it’s soft.” He gave Bucky another smile. “It’s kinda cute, right?” “Uh... cute,” Bucky repeated. “Right." ** Tony makes a new friend in the lab, and for some reason Bucky is the only one with enough sense to be concerned about it. Word Count: 2226

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Title: carry your worn disillusion Collaborator: deathsweetqueen Link: AO3 Square Filled: S1 - It Wasn't Worth It Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content, divorce, Superfamily, hopeful ending Summary: Jennifer drops the divorce papers down onto his coffee table. “Are you sure about this?” she asks, careful and weighty. Tony rubs his aching sternum, over the raised skin marking the edge of a vibranium shield. “Yeah,” he says, solemn as the grave. “I’m sure.” He leans down and signs his name in sprawling cursive. He looks up at Jennifer, her eyes needle-sharp, but soft. “Give it to T’Challa. He’ll make sure it gets to him,” he says, flatly. “I’ve got parent-teacher interviews to get to.” Word Count: 6289

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Title: Half the Universe, Plus One Collaborator: newnewyorker93 Link: AO3 Square Filled: S5 - whiplash Ship: Pepperony Rating: Teen Major Tags: Endgame, missing scene, panic attacks Summary: When Tony wakes up after his confrontation with Steve, Pepper has something important to tell him. Word Count: 4213

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Collaborator: feignedsobriquet Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K4 - domesticity Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: art Summary: Art for the series: Who’s been lovin’ you good? by withered

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Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: Tumblr Square Filled: S4 - Christine Everhart Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: art Summary: art of Tony and Christine Everhart

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Title: This Fire is Out of Control Collaborator: feyrelay Link: AO3 Square Filled: R3: Mission Gone Wrong Ship: Tony Stark/Peter Parker Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Sex Pollen, Aged Up Peter Parker, Daddy Kink, Spit as Lube Summary: There's really not enough room in their hiding spot to fuck, but Peter's temperature is rising from whatever they've been given, and Tony-Well, Tony's determined. Word Count: 2,294

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Collaborator: ironhusbands Link: Tumblr Square Filled: R4- Supernatural Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Major Tags: moodboard Summary: Where Tony and Rhodey are convinced Mothman is real, and go to Mothmania in hopes of seeing the legendary cryptid for themselves.

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Title: The Best Part Of The Journey Is The End Collaborator: ethereal-lullabies Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K1 - The End Ship: none Rating: Teen Major Tags: Endgame, moodboard Summary: dedicated to Tony’s canon death in the MCU (Avengers Endgame)

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Title: Finding Their Rhythm Collaborator: Politzania Link: AO3 Square Filled: S2 - Sharing a Bed Ship: Stony Rating: Teen Major Tags: vaguely referenced under-age consentual maybe-sex, high school AU, pining Steve Summary: Steve Rogers has a crush on his friend, Tony Stark. It takes a Dum-E and a dumb jerk to bring them together. Word Count: 2146

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Title: Brains Over Brawns Collaborator: queen-of-the-avengers Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A4 - humor Ship: Tony/Reader Rating: Not Rated Major Tags: fluff Summary: You are not athletically built for this… at all. And it shows. Word Count: 876

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Title: College Days Collaborator: ethereal-lullabies Link: Tumblr Square Filled: S5 - teenage Tony Ship: Tony/Scott Rating: Teen Major Tags: moodboard Summary: Avengers Academy AU

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Title: Show Me The Stars Collaborator: Iron_Eirlyssa (Eirlyssa) Link: AO3 Square Filled: A3 - Free Square Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: YouTube AU, flirting, getting together Summary: With his followers asking him to review a specific movie, Bucky finds that he needs to call in some help for the more scientific parts of it. Fortunately, there's this guy whose YouTube channel he's been following... Word Count: 3217

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Title: Minimalist Science Bros Aesthetics! Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: Tumblr Square Filled: S5 - Bruce Banner Ship: Science Bros Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboard Summary: moodboard

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Title: Tesserae Collaborator: dracusfyre Link: AO3 Square Filled: S1 - "I never meant to hurt you." Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: fix-it, preslash, recovery Summary: Sometimes when things are broken all you can do is find a new way to be...though that's not necessarily a bad thing. Word Count: 2289

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Title: Silver Fox Tony Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: Tumblr Square Filled: T1 - [Picture of old Tony from comics] Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: art Summary: art of silver fox silver fox Tony

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Title: Damsels (And Others) In Distress Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: AO3 Square Filled: K1 - Damsels (And Others) In Distress Ship: WinterIron Rating: Not Rated Major Tags: prank wars, fluff and humor, Science Bros Summary: In which there is hot pink paint and tons of laughter. Word Count: 715

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Title: Abandonment Issues - Your Guide to Fixer Uppers Collaborator: ironhusbands Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A1 - Abandonment Issues Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboard Summary: Where Tony and Rhodes buy abandoned buildings, rebuild them, and have their own magazine.

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Title: Cuddle Pile (Whose limbs are these?) Collaborator: LBibliophile Link: AO3 Square Filled: T4 - Puzzle Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: Avengers family, poetry Summary: After a hard day/night/fight, nothing is better than curling up in a pile with all your friends… at least, until someone has to get up Word Count: 245

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Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A3 - free space Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: art Summary: Some…faun druid idfk 😂

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Title: now the sun shines on us Collaborator: cvdmus Link: AO3 Square Filled: K4 — science and magic Ship: FrostIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: Science Bros, Tony Stark has a heart, marriage proposal Summary: Loki comes to Tony Stark with a proposal. And Tony is a simple man, he’ll of course agree. Word Count: 2739

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Collaborator: lronhusbands Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K5 - Attacked by a Creature Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboard Summary: Rhodes stepped into the kitchen to find his fiance with a kitten on one shoulder, two climbing his leg, and one sitting at his feet. “Tones?” “The timer for feeding time went off and they started yelling,” Tony said. “Oh Tones,” Rhodes said quietly, picking off the two kittens climbing Tony’s leg, they yelled at him. “I’m not prepared to be a mother,” Rhodes laughed.

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Title: Denial Is A Drug I Don't Need Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: AO3 Square Filled: T2 - Denial Ship: WinterIron Rating: Not Rated Major Tags: drabble, preslash, hopeful ending Summary: When Bucky confessed, Tony walked away. It was the stupidest decision he'd ever made. Word Count: 100

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Collaborator: lronhusbands Link: Tumblr Square Filled: S2 - AU: Dragon Rider Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboard Summary: where Tony has a dragon and generally he’s a badass

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Title: Mission: Mothering Collaborator: 27dragons Link: AO3 Square Filled: T2 - Image: Rhodey Hug Ship: MIT Bros Rating: Gen Major Tags: MIT era, protectiveness, Howard's A+ parenting Summary: The first time Rhodey invites Tony to go with him on spring break, he has a mission... Word Count: 817

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Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: AO3 Square Filled: S2 - Tony In Workshop Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: moonboard Summary: Workshop Tony moodboard

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Title: T3- Flutter Collaborator: thudworm Link: AO3 Square Filled: T3 - Flutter Ship: Tony & Thor Rating: Gen Major Tags: drabble, introspection Summary: The first time Tony goes out flying for fun with Thor is a revelation. Word Count: 100

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Collaborator: newnewyorker93 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K4 - eating disorders Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: food, moodboard Summary: Inspired by this post by @tonystark5ever discussing Tony’s relationship with food + trauma.

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Title: Plumes of Smoke Collaborator: deathofthestars Link: AO3 Square Filled: R4 - fears appear in reality Ship: Stony Rating: Gen Major Tags: mpreg, medieval AU, war, angst, open ending Summary: Tony lies awake at night worried over Steve's future. Maybe its for good reason. Word Count: 618

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Title: Nothing Burns Like The Cold Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: AO3 Square Filled: K4 - Battle/Fight/Confrontation Ship: Tony & Steve Rating: Not Rated Major Tags: not Steve friendly, Dark Tony, Tony needs a hug Summary: Tony Stark has struggled, suffered; been beaten down again and again. Friendships and family bonds broken, shattered. Tragedy can change a man. Is the team ready for the outcome of disaster? Word Count: 708

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Title: It's Good to Know Collaborator: SierraNovembr Link: AO3 Square Filled: A3 - free square Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: kisses Summary: It should hurt; it should burn and ache to admit to the fella he's gone on that Bucky might be a bleeding mess inside while at the same time clinging to the hope Tony can love him anyway. Word Count: 754

#tonystarkbingo2019 #tonystarkbingo #week 20 roundup #weekly roundup #week 20

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str-spangled-banner · 7 years

Text

Home - Bruce Banner X Daughter!Reader - Part 1

PART 2 PART 3

MASTERLIST

TAKING REQUESTS

Request: Can I request one where Bruce Banner has a daughter he kept hidden but then has to bring her to the tower cause her mom and step dad kicked her out? Tony knew about her and she looked to him like an uncle. She feels unwanted and unloved but it all changes with her new family with the team. I’m needing some fluff

I changed it so that not even Tony knew about her and I hope that’s okay!

Warnings: None.

Words: 2 974

A/N: Oooooh my god I absolutely loved writing this! It’s 100% fluff with a bit of feels if you’re a sucker for broken families :))))))) Read at your own, fucking risk cause as I’m from a broken home myself this is amazing to read. (I don’t care that I’m self promoting my own work just read it damn it).

She sat waiting on the steps leading up the the front porch of her house, her overpacked duffel bag by her side and her phone clutched in her hands. It was mid dusk and the sun was setting in the distance, the sky turning darker for every minute passing.

She had been kicked out by her own mother and her new husband. She didn’t know how to feel about it. Her mom treated her like crap. Ever since Y/N had began resembling her father more and more as the years went by, her mom had progressively began to dislike her.

Y/N wasn’t the usual kind of girl, however cliché that sounded it was true nonetheless. She went freely to a biochemical science class long after school was over simply because she loved the subject. Her room was covered with a dozen of projects made from scrap material she had scoured the city for. She filled entire notebooks up with difficult equations simply for the joy being able to solve them so effortlessly.

Y/N was so much like her father that her mother could barely stand being around her own daughter at times. It hurt, more than her mother would ever understand, to be treated like a misfit in her own home.

His small car rolled up to he street before her house and she rose to her feet, bringing the duffel bag up with her.

They hadn’t seen each other in almost half a year. He was busy with his work, his new associates and dealing with personal struggling Y/N could only begin to understand the difficulty of.

She made her way up to the car and watched as the door opened up and Bruce got out, smiling nervously. “Hi kid.” He huffed, shoving his hands down into the pockets of his jacket.

“Hey.” She smiled back, her stomach feeling hollow from the happiness she was feeling simply from seeing her dad. “I’ve missed you.”

His heart ached by her simple confession. “I’ve missed you too, and… I’m so sorry about your mother.”

Y/N had been kicked out. Her mom had found a new guy who owned a private island in the Bahamas. The second the two of them met, her mom was gone. Y/N didn’t have any choice but to call up her dad and beg for help.

Bruce hadn’t hesitated. All he had ever wanted was to be around his daughter but her mother had prevented him from doing it, and he had always been submissive. When her mother had yelled at him that the other guy could lash out at any time and kill his daughter, he hadn’t argued with her for a second. He agreed if anything, but he loved his daughter too much to deny her to live with him when her mother practically gave her no other choice.

“Don’t be.” She smiled reassuringly, doing her best to forget about her mom for the time being. “Should we get going?”

She didn’t want to stick around her house anymore. It stood eerily empty from her mom packing her things and just waking out the door. Y/N didn’t know what would happen to it, but nor did she care. Few memories from that home were truly happy once and the ones that were involved Bruce in one way or another. She would rather watch it disappear in the rear view mirror of her dad’s car than anything.

“Of course, let me take that.” He reached out and grabbed her bag, furrowing his brows as he heard a clinking noise before a smile began to creep up his face. “Is that what I think it is?”

“The self-running generator I built in freshmen year, yeah.” She smiled proudly. “I use it to power up my computer, or used to…”

He huffed, putting her bag carefully in the trunk of the car. “Believe me, sweetie, you can have as many computers as you want when you come home.”

Her heart skipped a beat at that simple word. Home she had never considered to be the small house in northern Queens. If anything, home had been in school. That was the only place she had felt like she could be herself and where others accepted her for just that. At home, she felt out of place and abnormal and was judged for her hobbies and interests as well as her pure skills both in the scientific and technical field. Coming to a place where people shared her interests and where she would hopefully be accepted sounded like heaven.

They got into the car and Bruce started the engine, slowly driving out on the street and starting their drive back to the Tower. She looked up at the rear view mirror, seeing her childhood house become smaller and smaller before disappearing behind the nearby homes. As it did, she felt a weight fall off of her shoulders, a burden she hadn’t realized she had been carrying. It was the burden of her mother, the constant suppression of who she was. It was all lifted off her back and stayed behind with the Murray Hill house

“I have to confess something…” Bruce broke the silence and Y/N glanced over to him worryingly. She was preparing for the worst as he found herself doing more often than not. “I might have asked Tony to give you a workshop, and he might have done it…”

She gasped before letting out a short groan of disapproval. “What? No, why? I don’t need one!”

“But you sure would like one. I know you, Y/N. You have barely been able to put down a glass of water in your bedroom because you’ve had so many of your projects laying around… I think it’s time you separate where you sleep from where you tinker.” He looked at her briefly from the corner of his eyes, knowing she was indescribably happy even if she objected. He just wanted her to have what she deserved, which was the entire world if he had a say in it. “It’s the least I can do…”

She didn’t like that tone he had to the last sentence. He was feeling guilty and responsible for the way her childhood had turned out. She didn’t blame him for as much as a second however. If anyone had done anything wrong, it was her mother.

“Don’t guilt trip me here. You know I’m an easy crier.” She laughed in hopes to lighten the mood. “Let’s just focus on the present and the future, like how I got the annual scholarship from Columbia University.”

Bruce almost slammed the breaks of the car. Instead, he paid an alarming amount of time looking at her with blown wide eyes instead of focusing on the road. “No…”

“Yes.” She smiled, even prouder this time as Columbia University had been a dream of hers since she first came to Midtown high school and was told that she had a natural gift. She had competed with four others in a three hour long exam-like test and had been judged by a Colombia University represent. When she was sent the letter stating she got the scholarship, her mom had barely blinked. Y/N hadn’t cared however. She knew her dad would have been proud, and he had proven her so.

“That’s- That’s incredible!” He exclaimed, a big smile on his face that he couldn’t get rid of. “You deserve it. You’ve worked so hard for it.”

“I’ve had some help.” She said suggestively, leaning her elbow against the small ledge by the door window.

He glanced over at her in confusion before slowly puzzling it together. “What? The boxsets of build-you-own things I have you for your birthdays when you were, what, ten?”

“Hey, building rocket ship models and creating baking soda volcanos really helped!” She chuckled as recalled building and making half a dozen of those kinds of things all on the same night she had gotten them.

Bruce sighed in content, his heart warm like never before. “I’m so happy for you, kid. You turned out better than I could ever have hoped for.”

“Thanks, dad.” She said and let her head lean against the back of her seat. Bruce let out a short breath, barely remembering the last time he had been called dad in person. He liked the sound of it more than he would ever care to admit.

“Can I confess another thing?” He asked as they made their way into the elevator at the garage floor at the bottom of the Stark Tower.

“You haven’t gotten me something else, have you?” She questioned worryingly as she didn’t want him to spent his time and money on her.

“No…” His voice wasn’t as joyful as it had been and that truly made her worry. Was he getting cold feet? Did he not want her to live with him anymore? “I actually haven’t told anyone that I have a daughter.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “But how- you said Tony fixed a workshop for me?”

“He did.” Bruce assured, looking down at his feet, ashamed, which was far from necessary. She didn’t mind but she was a bit taken back however.

“Wait… Does that mean they don’t even know that I’m coming?” She tried to look at him but he avoided her eyes which resembled his own. “Dad?”

He looked at her upon hearing that word again, slowly beginning to nod his head yes. “I didn’t know if I was ever going to see you again, so I saved myself the struggle of having explain our whole situation to the team.”

That was a very fair point. He could have told her it was because he simply didn’t want to and she would have been equally as fine with the answer. “Then you have some explaining to do when we get up, I assume.” She said as she looked up at the glowing level numbers above the elevator door which surpassed seventy.

“A whole lot.” Bruce sighed, hoping the team would understand. He didn’t doubt it however. If anyone would understand and accept the situation with Bruce and Y/N, it would be the team. They were far more supportive than they usually let show and he knew he could count on them even if he still worried about it.

The elevator came to a stop at the ninety sixth floor and the metal doors moved aside with a ding. The floor appeared empty at first but chatter was heard from further inside, echoing through the spacious lounge area.

Y/N examined the room with amazement. The architecture was unique with walkways and split levels along with highly modern interior. It was such a drastic change from her mother’s house that she could barely wrap her head around it.

As they came around a corner, an area with multiple sofas and armchairs surrounding a low table appeared, the Avengers themselves seated. As Y/N and Bruce appeared the table fell quiet and turned towards them. She felt like a deer in the headlights of a car but felt a surge of confidence as she had Bruce by her side.

“Banner!” Tony exclaimed, rising from his seat as he had sat with his back towards Bruce at first. “We didn’t think you’d make it… And who’s this? That assistant you talked about?”

Bruce took a deep breath. He hadn’t kept Y/N a secret because of her. He wished he would have been able to talk about his daughter and brag about her smarts, how beautiful she was and how well she was doing. He just hadn’t found it in himself to share his largest pride. The words that Y/N'a mother had told him, about the Other Guy being so dangerous in a world with Y/N, had rattled him into silence. It was time to break that silence however. Y/N was with him now.

“Everyone, this is Y/N… My daughter.”

Scott got a peanut stuck in his throat and coughed violently. The rest of the team were equally as shocked but showed it more discreetly. Everyone shared one thing however, and that was their loss of words. None of them could come up with a single thing to say but simply stared at Bruce and at Y/N which stood slightly behind her father.

“Hello.” She said quietly to the team, glancing up at Bruce that was looking back her way but not meeting her eyes once again.

“You have a daughter?” Tony questioned. “You’re not acting like you’ve just found out this fact like the rest of us…”

“I’ve known about her since the day she was born, and about nine months before that as well if I’m going to be honest.” He admitted and looked from Tony to Steve, to Bucky and Natasha. The others were still staring as well. Scott, Thor, Wanda, Vision, Clint, Sam and Rhodes. The only one who didn’t have the same look of pure surprise was Peter.

“Y/N…” Peter said breathlessly and she looked over at the teen who she hadn’t seen until then, her eyes widening upon seeing his face.

“Peter?” She questioned, almost feeling dizzy by how strange of a direction things had suddenly taken.

“You know him?” Steve stood up as well, wanting to try and get a hold of the situation and properly get his head around things.

“Our biochemical science teacher, Professor Lloyd, has these optional, enclosed, seminars after hours for any students that have a passion… We’re both in it.”

“We have English and electrical engineering together as well, but why is he-” Y/N cut herself off, rephrasing her own words as she realized Peter was very much present. “Why are you here?”

Everyone looked over to Peter like they were waiting for him to reply. As he hesitated, Y/N’s mind raced as usual. She knew everyone on the team as their superhero personas and most of them had gotten their true identity connected with their alternative one, if they had ever had two to begin with. Tony being Iron Man was probably the easiest one, but she could put a name to the face with everyone else, but one superhero was left on her mind and Peter was the only one left in the room.

“You’re Spider-Man.” She accused and Peter began to stutter in panic, confirming her theory without using a single word.

“Bruce?” Tony dragged out the name and looked at Banner with hesitation. “Does your kid have, you know… Gifts?”

Bruce barely understood what he had been asked at first but then immediately began shaking his head. “No! No, no… Well, nothing that isn’t natural at least, if that’s what we’re referring to.”

“Oh thank god…” Scott suddenly let out along with a long sigh of relief. “I don’t know if I can handle any more super-teens in this group.”

“There’s one?” Rhodes questioned, not understanding Lang’s logic.

“Look.” Bruce called out to gain the attention of everyone again, looking back to Y/N for permission as they both knew that Bruce needed to explain. She nodded, and he understood. “Her- Her mom ditched her… She doesn’t have anywhere else to go and no one else to turn to…”

“You don’t have to explain.” Steve said to Bruce, a faint smile meant for Y/N as reassurance. “Of course you’re welcome here, Y/N.”

Steve walked through the gatherings of furniture where he had been sat and went up to Y/N, reaching his hand out and shaking hers. She smiled back, feeling like she might finally be in the right place.

“We already know each other, so I think we’re good.” Peter said, joining Steve and her with a smile of his own.

“Any family of Bruce is family of mine.” Natasha stood up and also made her way to Y/N. As Y/N though she would shake Natasha’s hand, the spy wrapped her arms around the startled teen for a brief hug. “I hope you like it here…”

One after another, the team rose to their feet, an act of approval that Y/N had a clear place in the Tower and with them. Had she been able to feel that amount of joy and acceptance on when alone, she would have been crying rivers, but she managed to hold them in.

Everyone began to make their way towards her at that point and left the couches and armchairs. Peter held his clutched hand up and requested a fist bump which Y/N happily gave him.

“You’ll fit in just great, and I’m always available if you wanna talk.” Wanda promised Y/N and also gave her a hug.

She had never felt at home, like she was truly meant to be somewhere. Perhaps it was part of her relatively shy and withheld personality, or it was simply because of where and how she had been raised. Her mom had never been supportive. She barely said hi after Y/N came home after school. She might have been Y/N’s mom, but Y/N had gotten ten times the love from a group of strangers in five minutes than she had ever gotten from her own mother through out her entire life.

Bruce looked down at his daughter that for far too long had lived a life so far away from what she deserved that it was almost humorous. He tried think of the advice she had given him, to focus on the present and the future, which to his joy seemed to consist of a lot more father and daughter time. Y/N wouldn’t mind having more of that time. Neither would she mind calling wherever the Avengers were as her new home.

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the-shared-brain-in-retrograde · 2 years

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The Shared Brain Presents What If...? Season One

What if Steve Rogers wore cable knit? Knives Out

What if Tony Stark was a con artist? Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

What if Natasha Romanoff was a mermaid? Hail, Caesar!

What if Clint Barton had magical diabetes? Hansel and Gretal Witch Hunters

What if Bruce Banner gave up all that science and got really into puzzles? Zodiac

What if Thor wasn't a god? The Cabin in the Woods

[Non-canon]

What if Steve Rogers had even more train trauma? Snowpiercer

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star-trekkin-across-theuniverse · 7 years

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Vital Signs, Pt17

Word Count: 2315 Tags: @to-pick-ourselves-up-7 @outside-the-government, @jimfromsales, @donnaintx, @enterprisewriting @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns @sistasarah-sallysaidso

“Thor says the mess of Loki’s face was your doing?” Agent Romanoff asked as she breezed into the infirmary. I had been back on the helicarrier for a few days and was working with Dr. Carson to get the infirmary back online, and develop some new protocols and standards in light of the Agent Coulson incident. I smirked over my clipboard.

“What can I say? I have a great teacher.” I had been expecting her to touch base with me later, but wasn’t opposed to starting my training again right away. She looked me over. I still looked like hell. The burns from the explosion had scabbed over, leaving my bare arms looking like alligator skin. On my left forearm, the handprint of frostbite from Loki was discoloured and peeling. It could have been so much worse, but it was still tender.

“What’s the handprint?” She looked puzzled.

“Motherfucker gave me frostbite while he was trying to come on to me,” I responded, “I think.”

“You think he gave you frostbite?”

“No, I think he was hitting on me,” I made a face. She burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, I would have paid money to see that, Richmond!”

“It was about as creepy as you’re thinking,” I admitted. She started laughing again, and sat down in a chair, giggling. I tilted my head to one side and gave her a questioning look.

“I’m sorry, Richmond. It’s funny. And there’s been precious little amusing over the last week.” She held up her hand in surrender, “Are mornings or afternoons better for you for training?”

“Probably mornings. I go to the gym to run in the mornings already.” I flipped to the bottom of the clipboard and checked the schedule. “In 2 weeks we might need to change to afternoons though, as we’re starting to run a doctor’s night shift. I’m scheduled for the first rotation.” She nodded as I spoke, and then flipped open her phone and flicked across a couple of screens.

“Okay, I’ll plan to meet you every morning. I’ll text you if I’m not onboard. But for the time being, I think Fury wants all of us sticking around. He’s also ordered complete physicals for everyone that was on the ground, so be expecting that. Stark is pissed, and wants his usual doc to submit a report. Fury wants them done by SHIELD docs here.”

“Awesome,” I sighed. The last thing I needed was my first real encounter with Stark to be spent locking horns over a physical. I kind of felt I’d earned a freebie because of Loki, but I’m reasonably sure Director Fury wouldn’t see it that way.

SHIELD was calling it ‘The Battle of New York’. To me, that sounded like a professional wrestling extravaganza, but I wasn’t the one naming battles. I would have called it ‘The one where I got blown up and the world found out about aliens and superheroes all in one day”, which was quite a mouthful. Probably a good thing I wasn’t in charge of naming the battles. At any rate, the result was that the training for non-agent SHIELD staff had become more rigorous, and the gym was now busy all the time, and not just with remedial learners like myself.

Romanoff stepped onto the treadmill beside me during my last kilometer, and ran along side me.

“How is your shoulder?” She asked when I stopped. I took a long drink from my water bottle.

“Surprisingly good, actually. They replaced the tendon with a cadaver tendon. I had full range of motion within days. And New York didn’t wreck it, amazingly,” I admitted. I stepped off the treadmill and did some stretches.

“You gonna get your ink fixed when the burns heal?” She asked. My national team tattoo had been a ‘Battle of New York’ casualty. One of the burns covered half of it. I shrugged.

“Depends on the scarring. I’m hoping the scarring won’t be bad, they aren’t deep. It’s really only like a really bad sunburn; I don’t think I’d even qualify them as second degree. Anyhow. It depends on how tender the tissue is. In short, vague response is vague,” I offered. She smiled.

“You’re pretty fucking tough, Richmond.” She walked over to the mats. I followed.

“If you’re going to compliment me like that, you can call me Lex,” I winked.

“Then maybe you could start calling me Natasha,” she countered. We spent the next hour working on the basics before hitting the showers and heading our separate ways.

Dr. Carson was waiting for me in the infirmary when I walked in. He was funny, in a particular and quirky way. Fortunately, we were mostly on the same page, so as weird as he maybe seemed, I found working with him to be refreshing because he could almost read my mind. He had a stack of charts on the desk and was looking annoyed.

“We have a pile of physicals that Fury wants done, and some of these agents have either never had them done before, or haven’t had them done in ages. There’s a Captain Rogers who is due for a physical and dude is almost a hundred years old. Or there’s a typo in his file. I’m going with a typo in his file.”

“It’s accurate, actually. That’s Captain America, the guy they dug out of the ice a few months ago in Russia.”

“Was this in some sort of memo?” He looked completely baffled.

“Not really. I guess you kinda had to be here. He’s had a physical though; I saw the report on it when he first was found. The nurses on board can do a lot of the assessment, to be honest.”

“I’m not comfortable with that,” he cut me off. I raised an eyebrow. It was the first time we’d disagreed. While I’d been working as a nurse, we’d pretty much run the infirmary.

“These nurses are trauma trained, and have advanced physical assessment skills,” I countered.

“They are nurses.” He sounded finished. I was not finished, however.

“Oh hell no, you did not! I’m sorry, but I worked in this exact infirmary as a nurse. I know the nurses here and I know what they are capable,” I argued, getting angry. He shrugged.

“I’m still the Chief Medical Officer, so get used to my rules. You can take care of these assessments. Fury wants them done by Friday. Apparently some of these are going to be tricky. I hear Romanoff is scary,” he shuddered. I smirked and wondered how his last hand-to-hand exam had gone. I took the pile of charts from him and sat down to sort through them. I decided to track people down instead of phoning or messaging them. Agent Romanoff had led me to believe they were all still on board. And at the very least, I knew she and Steve both were.

I headed to the bridge first, and waited for Fury to finish giving orders to a couple of agents before stepping forward.

“Sir. I’m looking for Stark, Barton and Banner to book their physicals. Any recommendations?”

“Stark and Banner are in the lab. Barton is probably on the range.” His answer was a dismissal.

“Sir, Dr. Carson noted that it’s been over a year since your last physical. He was hoping to personally take care of that for you,” I smiled and walked off the bridge. Fury cussed under his breath. If Carson thought Natasha was scary and he hadn’t met her yet, he wasn’t going to enjoy my impression of a woman scorned. I made my way up to the lab and scanned myself in.

“Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark. We met before, well, before. I’m Docto-“ I started. Stark approached me and cut me off.

“Call me Tony.” He shook my hand. My mouth dropped open. Dr. Banner approached me and also shook my hand.

“Bruce, please. I’m afraid I don’t recall meeting you,” he introduced himself again.

“This is Cap’s girl, the one who won that big archery wager against Barton,” he explained. Bruce looked frustrated.

“Dr. Alexandra Richmond,” I offered. He smiled and released my hand. Tony stepped back behind a table and started flicking his hands across the computer console. Holographic screen popped up around the table. My jaw dropped. We could seriously use that tech in the infirmary.

“We’re doing science, Dr. Richmond. Wanna play? What’s your pleasure?” He offered. I turned to take in more of the displays.

“This is incredible. We need this in the infirmary. Could you program it to overlay an MRI on a person? Give a full sized view?” My mind had taken off with all kinds of applications for the technology that Stark was so casually using.

“Kid’s play, Richmond. Can I call you Alex? What does Cap call you? Not your bedroom name, but you know, if he sees you in the hallway.” Tony really was exactly like the hyperactive child he’d been described to me as. He bounced from thought to thought with a dizzying speed.

“Uh, Steve calls me ma’am when he sees me in the hallway. Lex is fine. Not Alex.” I was having a hard time keeping up. In the moment that had passed since he’d asked me about my name, he’d brought up an MRI on a full size holographic screen. I walked over to it and reached out. Amazing.

“So this is patient X, who was recovered from the scene of a car exploding during the Battle of New York. She is approximately five foot eight, and 155 pounds, 27 years ol-“

“Oh my god, how did you get my MRI?” I tapped the air where the scan of my brain was and it moved out into another window, zoomed about ten times. I reached forward and turned the scan sideways, and then pushed along side the image of my ear, breaking into my brain. Amazing. I could see the swelling of the brain, and what part was damaged by the concussion. I noticed a small area of swelling in the occipital lobe and turned to Tony.

“Can I get deeper into this?” I asked him. He smiled and came around the table to stand beside me. He flicked his hand so quickly I couldn’t tell what he was doing, but before I could blink, the area I’d spotted was isolated and magnified.

“Shut up,” I breathed. I moved my hand to turn the image again. “No wonder my vision has been blurry.” I turned to Tony absolutely gobsmacked. His grin was like a maniacal child hopped up on candy on Christmas morning. He just nodded.

“You picked that up fast. I’ll talk to Fury about trialing it in this infirmary.”

“So cool,” I shook my head. “That’s not why I’m here though. I need to schedule your physicals.” Bruce rolled his eyes and went back to the computer console. Tony laughed.

“I have a doctor. I’m fine,” Tony dismissed me.

“Yeah, I know. But Fury is insisting. Look, if you come by first thing in the morning, I can have you in and out in 20 minutes top. Just a tiny bit of bloodwork and a quick look over,” I offered.

“Will it be you doing the assessment, Lex?” Bruce looked up.

“Yes. The new Chief Medical Officer is insisting I personally take care of you all,” I confirmed with a bright and very false smile. Bruce looked resigned.

“I could just forward you all my previous research?”

“That would be awesome for a baseline, but I need to post-battle assessment too, unfortunately,” I apologized. He nodded.

“Just you then. Maybe get Tasha to come too, just in case,” he agreed. I nodded and made a note in my schedule app. Tony grabbed my phone from me.

“This isn’t Stark tech.” He gave me a look, “All agents are supposed to have Stark phones.”

“I’m not an agent, I’m a doctor.” I took my phone back. “And when will you be joining me?” He made an unhappy face, took my phone and booked himself in. I flipped through the week and nodded.

“No poking around my heart,” he said.

“I promise.” I excused myself and headed toward the range. Barton was practicing with a handgun, but had his fancypants quiver strapped on, and his bow was lying across the counter in front of him. I sat down and waited. I knew he hadn’t missed me coming in, so I took the opportunity to catch up on my emails while I waited. He took his time.

“Looking for a rematch?” He teased.

“I know I was lucky,” I laughed. He sat down beside me and yawned.

“I heard you had surgery on the shoulder.” It wasn’t really a question.

“Yeah,” I said, and we slipped back into silence. We sat that way for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. I turned to face him.

“Fury has ordered a physical on each team member who was on the ground,” I cut to chase. I didn’t know Barton really well, but I had figured out he wasn’t a big talker and he didn’t like to dance around things.

“You around this afternoon? Around 1500?” He asked. I nodded, amazed. I thought he was going to be so much harder to convince. I knew Steve and Natasha were going to be easy to schedule. Squaring away Barton put me on top of the world.

“Thanks, Agent Barton.” I stood to leave. He put his hand on my arm. I flinched a little as his hand grazed the frostbite.

“Clint. I heard you messed up Loki’s face. You’re my new best girl,” he winked. I smirked and headed back to the infirmary, wondering if Dr. Carson realized that asking me to take care of the heroes of New York was really not a hardship.

#avengers fanfic #Steve Rogers x OFC

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the-shared-brain-in-retrograde · 2 years

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Zodiac

Or What if Bruce Banner gave up all that science and got really into puzzles?

A joint review

It’s safe to say that our What If…? season has proven quite divisive for the Shared Brain, and Zodiac was no exception to that rule. Cass loves it, thinks it’s a masterpiece of creepy suspense that lingers unsettlingly as she goes about her business afterwards, and Becks hated it, wonders why anyone would go to the trouble to watch, or indeed even make, this movie. So this should be interesting.

We should also say, whilst this was our choice of alternate universe for dear Bruce, we do note that there are two other MCU fan favourites joining him here for a crossword or two; Tony Stark as himself (give or take a few million and a different taste in suits) and Mysterio without his helmet. We’re getting the band back together alright!

We're gonna go by character this week rather than trying to go by the plot, as we think this will hurt our brain, just like it hurt the brains of everyone else involved, and we don't want to have a breakdown [we are very close...] We really wanted to start with Dave, you know cos it’s Bruce week, but we are not going to for reasons that we will not be taking questions about at this time.

Robert Graysmith

It's safe to say Cass may have become financially troubled over little Robert at times during this film.

@cassandrafey: Look I just think he's quite cute in this film.

@becksxoxo: Yuhuh.. Is this the week where I become *better* than you?

@cassandrafey: I mean, he's cute in this but I'm not going to lose my head.

@becksxoxo: *indignantly* When have I ever lost my head?

@cassandrafey: A lot.

Anyway turns out that Cass has watched 33% of Jakey G's film back catalogue (according to Letterboxd), but not as many as Sebastian Stan [Becks here, Sebastian's films I mean, I don't know how many of Jake Gyllenhaal's films Seb has watched, perhaps I'll go message him. Hey babe, we're just writing a post, can I just check something with you. Thanks babe...] Becks is surprised it’s not Anthony Mackie, but it turns out he's been in every film ever made, so the data's a bit squiffy. [Cass here: Anthony was my most watched actor of last year according to the Jan roundup, so I’m still representing don’t worry. However, Seb is clearly looking to increase his lead in the early months of this year, by providing the sort of content I am here for. Love to see a villain phase.] Becks only watches the same 5 films on rotation, so does not have any stats to give. Anyway back to the film...

Robert Graysmith, big fan of puzzles, has very little impulse control. As soon as he heard there was the slightest whiff of a puzzle out comes the pen, all other responsibilities thrown to the wayside. Becks is a big advocate for procrastination, but even she thought he'd taken it too far.

What we will say about Robert is, that although Cass thinks he is unbearably cute, he is also unbelievably stupid so often in so many ways that could have been avoided:

You've done a lot of research into this guy, but perhaps stop broadcasting this fact to the serial killer, and putting your family at risk.

Also, don't go round a stranger's house when they're somewhat involved in a murder case.

Don't go in their house.

Do notice if they lock the door.

Try not to give all the details about the murderer to that person.

Don't follow them in a dark basement.

Also, is it true that not many people have basements in California? Any American folk that come across this can you please let us know? In our heads all American houses have basements. And nothing good happens in any of them.

Another badly thought out thing that Robert did was get the kids involved. Firstly, don't let your kid watch a TV show where a murderer is calling in after threating kids. Secondly, perhaps don't use your murderer obsession as a nice little weekend project with the kiddiewinks. Why were you getting them to check moon cycles, should we be worried that the Zodiac is a werewolf?

Would you prefer to be killed by a werewolf or vampire?

@cassandrafey: Well a vampire is neater. I think you would be mauled by a werewolf, and it would be messy and painful. And I don’t think they’re sexy are they, when they’re turned? Like before maybe, I can accept that in human form the werewolf could be hot, maybe very hot, but I don’t want to be fucked by a werewolf whilst it actually is the wolf. Not if I’m not one. I suppose if I was also a werewolf, then that would be okay, but otherwise it’s not right. But a vampire is a vampire all the time and sexy all the time, so it would have to be the vampire.

@becksxoxo: I mean, I didn’t actually ask which you would rather be fucked by…

@cassandrafey: Oh. Why was I talking about that then?! What was the question?

Anyway. Probably vampires innit?

His wife was right to take the kids away at this time. It was a date that just never ended. But everyone is fine. It’s fine.

Another tangent Becks would like to include. When were zippers invented? Hear me out, Robert wore a coat with a zipper, and this film is set in the past [which I did keep forgetting and being like why are people in flares? Why is no one just calling for help?] but I don't know when people stopped being buttoned into a thing, and instead zipped themselves up. Cass has since googled this, so we know the answer, and if you too are intrigued we suggest you also google it. We shan't help you. But it’s sort of worth it. Sort of. Do you know what we will help you, because the phrases used regarding the zip are just too good. Enjoy friends.

He was quite smart, with the puzzles and working out the library connection, but he wasn't very emotionally smart. Cass would like it reiterating again that he was very cute. Before we move on, Becks would like to say that her favourite bit of the film did involve Robert, and the extreme burn he got from the Coffee Vendor.

David Toschi

Very good hair for a man who hasn't had a full nights sleep in over a decade.

We like Dave, for the most part we're very on his side. Which we suppose you're meant to be, when the other option is a serial killer. So that’s nice.

Cass very much enjoyed watching Dave and Bill work together to get a picture of the scene, an overview of the crime and try and get into the head of the Zodiac. Becks admits that it was a good way of telling the story without telling the story.

Cass also enjoyed his role in the interrogation. His quietness adding more intimidation then any of the questions being asked. Handling that watch. Cass just thinks he does really good silent acting for much of this scene, and loves it.

She also liked his disapproving head shake at those policemen who failed at doing their jobs so spectacularly. She would not however like that disappointment to ever be turned on her.

@becksxoxo: Do you just want him to tell you you're a good girl?

@cassandrafey: Yes. *a moment of silence* but not in the way of your bloody fanfictions!

It must be so frustrating and sad not to have been able to solve the case, to have the proof you need to say it was this person and have the whole thing finished. The whole way the case played out seemed frustrating, all the procedural fuck ups, the counties and cities not working together, the whole bit where he was accused of writing one of the letters himself. We're not surprised Bill left, although Becks was very angry at him just upping and leaving. You don't do that to a friend. We wonder if he ever got his Japanese food?

He did have really good hair. And his little gun holster thing was alright. The bowties were a choice [they were so big...] and we hope he eventually got some sleep.

Becks thinks Mark did some good acting in this role. She doesn't really have much to base this on, but it’s a judgement she's made and it’s one of the nice things she has to say about this film.

Paul Avery

Poor old Paul. With his buttons and his alcohol addiction.

Paul provides a bit of levity to the film, a little light hearted fun, with his snark and his outfits, until it all goes a bit wrong. If being threatened by a serial killer could be described as a bit wrong.

Cass liked Paul and was sorry to see his life fall apart, but she can't exactly put her finger on why she liked him. He was entertaining though.

He felt very Tony-esque only without the money and weapons. Oh Tony, we miss you.

We like his and Robert's friendship, that begins as essentially bullying a little boy who is a little bit in love with you, to hanging out at gun ranges and trying to make sure you're not serial killed. Although he did seem to drift the more obsessed with the Zodiac he became.

He too did stupid things, like Robert. Going off to meet an anonymous person when an anonymous murderer has just threated you with a good bit of death. Why was Melanie the only one to point out how stupid this all was? Feeble minded men, that's why...

Speaking of feeble minded men, we shall now move on to the many possible identities of the Zodiac Killer.

The Zodiac Killer

Obviously in the film we never know for sure who the Zodiac is. They do go through a lot of very odd people, and even if they weren't the Zodiac, we're pretty sure they've probably done something. And that's why we're not in law enforcement. Apparently you can't accuse people on vibes alone.

Arthur Leigh Allen was a creepy fucker. We don’t have anything further to say about this - but he gives Cass the creeps very severely indeed, and whether he’s the killer or not we don’t want to be anywhere near him.

Bob Vaughn, also creepy. But also, don't go in possible murderers' basements, or houses in general. Cass thinks he was low key just fucking with Robert to entertain himself. Which is a dangerous game, but also a little funny.

It was weird how many people came forward claiming to be the Zodiac. You must have gone pretty wrong to claim to be a murderer when you just weren't. Gods people are weird.

Becks wants it be known that she does not want to be serial killed. If she is to be murdered it is because she is special. Take this as you will. It certainly made Cass shriek, and the words ‘so on brand’ were heard through the laughter.

Becks didn't really feel much during or after the film. There was a loud bang outside at one point, and that did make her jump, but none of the fear really lasted. Cass however really gets creeped out by this film. She had to answer the door for take away half an hour in and she didn’t like doing that at all… but she did because she’s a grown woman and didn’t want her housemate to see she was scared.

Cass here, just to add that I really do love this film. The frustration of feeling so certain that you have caught the killer and can put an end to this and keep people safe, along with the helplessness of not being able to prove it. The never quite knowing, and therefore never full unmasking the monster. The suspense and the awful tension and the way he he targets victims in pairs, making you feel a creeping dread of not being safe even when you’re with someone else and outnumbering the killer. The fact that the victims seemed totally random. Just the sense that it could happen. Awful. The first time I saw the basement scene, I nearly stopped breathing. And the interrogation scene lingers too, because it just feels like the worst game of cat and mouse - like they should be able to prove it and just can’t. Gods it gives me the creeps!

We were trying to think if there have been any serial killers during our lifetime, and we don't think there has been. Are mass shootings (which thank the gods we don't have here, but obviously we bare witness to in other countries) technically serial killers? We wonder what the definition is? We got too tied up in zippers and have not looked into this. And probably won't. It's all too gloomy as it is.

@cassandrafey: In conclusion this was a fantastic film that was not fully appreciated

@becksxoxo: *squawks* It’s just three hours I'm not getting back.

@cassandrafey: Much like his victims, you were robbed of time by the Zodiac.

@becksxoxo: Insensitive? Yes. Untrue? No

Anyway, Cabin in the Woods next week. Our final What If…? of the season. Always sad when things come to an end, when things finish. Will Becks cry? Gods imagine crying over Cabin in the fucking Woods. Also it’s going to be another Saturday night watch, with a Sunday morning review, because apparently Cass has other 'friends'.

See you next week.

love cass and becks

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goddessofgamma · 5 years

Text

Windy Cities and Faulty Electronics, Chapter 11 (Ao3 link)

Summary: The rain keeps falling as Thor and Bruce finally talk to one another about what has been going on between the two of them.

“Come in, Thor, it’s already open.” Thor heard Tony’s voice from the other side of the door.

There was a lot to take in as he pushed open the door; the lab was large and full of fancy equipment, experiments and gizmos half of which were alien to Thor. His eyes scanned the workbenches and walls. There were a few things he recognised: a beam splitter, a protein model, and what appeared to be a miniature water wave machine, and there were some things that Thor suspected Tony had designed himself.

His roaming eyes fixed when he spotted Bruce sitting next to Tony on the work bench. Thor felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw Bruce, looking at Thor with an emotion he couldn’t quite place. He’d tried to keep his thinking so that he only saw Bruce as a colleague, but he couldn’t help how his eyes traced the lines of Bruce’s face, his hair, feeling a pull inside him that just told him he wanted to be close to this man, in any way that Bruce would have him. How did I fall so deep?

The pattering of rain on the sunroof filled the silence before Thor spoke.

“Good morning Stark, Banner.” He smiled as genuine as he could, nodding at each of them in turn but never letting his eyes leave Bruce.

“Hello to you too, Thor,” Tony replied, ignoring Thor’s slight rudeness. “Welcome to our humble lab. Well, I guess, not so humble. I paid for lot of the equipment in here so it’s a bit more cutting edge than most of the university labs. Which is only fair for our famous polymath professor.” Tony patted Bruce on the back as he walked around the bench to where a soldering iron was set up.

“It is very impressive.” Thor finally looked at Tony and gave him a courteous smile. “I must confess to not knowing what all of the equipment is.”

“Bruce has a bunch of biology stuff I steer clear from. I made some of the equipment myself, so that wouldn’t look familiar either. Actually, I was just working on a new stabiliser when you came in, but I seem to have run out of solder.” He shot Bruce a look that Thor was sure had some sort of hidden meaning. “I’ll just go a fetch some more, I’m sure Bruce will be happy to keep you entertained while I’m gone.” There was a particular melody in his voice as he said ‘entertained’ that almost had a teasing tone to it, and Thor felt out of the loop. Is there something I’m missing here?

As Tony left the room, Thor walked over to be nearer to Bruce.

“Hi, Thor.” Bruce smiled at him as he walked over, but his eyes occasionally darted away from Thor’s, as though he was trying doing his best to keep eye contact but failing a little. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well. My brother has announced that he will be visiting in a couple of weeks, so I will have to prepare for my first visitor.”

“Could be nice to have family over.” Bruce nodded at him. “Are you looking forward to it?”

Thor tilted his head, unsure how to answer.

“Him and I do not always see eye to eye, but, yes, it will be nice to see him again. I do worry about him sometimes.”

Bruce nodded and bit his bottom lip, like he was trying to form his words in his mouth before saying them out loud.

“Er, Thor, I’ve been meaning to tell you something but there hasn’t really been a right time.” Thor’s mind whirred immediately. Could he be telling me why he doesn’t want to go out with me again? “After we had our – um, well – our date, I got a call to say that my father had died. That’s why I wasn’t at the university for a week afterwards, I went back to America for the funeral.”

Half of Thor’s heart soared and the other plummeted. He was crushed, sad on Bruce’s behalf and worried that Bruce would forever associate that night with grief, rather than the time that they had spent together. Still, a small, insistent voice at the back of Thor’s head told him he didn’t leave because of you. He could still want you.

“I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner, or texted you when I was there, I just…” Bruce cut off, looking down at his hands. “It felt like another world over there.”

He shouldn’t be apologizing. I’m the one who jumped to conclusions.

Thor took Bruce’s hands in his, gently.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Bruce. If anything, it is I who should have made an effort to support you through mourning.”

Bruce let out a single humourless laugh.

“I’m not exactly mourning him Thor, he wasn’t really the best father. And it would have been tough for you to support me when I didn’t even tell you he died,” he joked.

For a moment, Thor felt a stab of anger to Bruce’s father, wondering what he could have done that would make a kind man like Bruce care so little that he was gone.

“I wanted to tell you now, so you didn’t think I ran halfway across the world to get away from you.” Thor could hear an attempt at humour in his tone, but it fell flat as they both knew he wasn’t joking. “I had a good time with you that night.” Thor felt himself gravitate towards Bruce as he spoke. “I had – well – a better time with you than I can remember having with anyone.” A bashful smile was playing on his lips. “If you’d like to –“

“Yes.” Thor didn’t know quite how Bruce was planning on ending his sentence, but if it in anyway involved going out again, he was in. Bruce’s grin widened.

“You didn’t know what I was going to say. I could have asked if you wanted to eat our radioactive samples.”

“If that were served as a starter for our next meal together, I still think that it would be worth it.”

“That’s so sappy.” Bruce sounded as though he enjoyed Thor being cheesy. “What I was gonna ask was whether you’d like to go out some place soon, get some dinner.”

“Yes,” Thor replied again. “It would be a pleasure.”

“Okay.” Bruce looked more bashful than Thor had even seen him. “Where would you like to –“

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

A notification noise that Thor didn’t recognise came from his phone.

“Sorry,” Thor excused himself, reluctant to break his conversation with Bruce but wanting to know what the sound was.

He raised an eyebrow as he read the alert. His burglar alarm had gone off, having detected and intruder in the house, and had sent an alert to check that it wasn’t him before calling for the emergency services. It was a surprise to Thor; he rented his flat and hadn’t given it much thought when his landlady had asked him to give his mobile phone number for the system.

Bruce looked expectantly at Thor as his expressions changed as he got up to speed. Once Thor had explained to him what had happened, they thought it was for the best that Thor make his way home, so they headed out of the fire exit, into the grey weather.

Thor was slightly put-out that his conversation with Bruce had been interrupted, but he was still cheerful; he’d always loved the feel of rain on his skin, the sound of heavy rain, and that combined with what Bruce had said to him had put him in the best mood he’d had in weeks. He wants to spend time with me. I didn’t do anything wrong.

By the time they had gotten far enough away from the building that they could have a proper conversation, they’d were soaked enough that Thor wondered if Bruce could see anything though his rain-spotted glasses.

“I’m sorry Bruce, you were interrupted.”

Bruce moved his hair out of his eyes, causing water to drip down his face as he did so. Thor’s eyes traced the water played across his skin.

“That’s okay, would you – er – would you like me to walk you back home?”

My house is an hour’s walk away and he knows full well. Thor was a little puzzled, but the look in Bruce’s eyes told him that he’d like to spend time with him even if that time spent together was a long walk in the rain. He felt honoured.

“That would be very kind.” They started to walk back in the direction of Thor’s house. “So, I believe you were going to ask me where I wanted to go, the next time we go out together.” Bruce nodded. “I still have not seen all that there is to see of Edinburgh, I still haven’t been to any of the museums or walked any of the crags. Do you have any recommendations?”

“You haven’t been to any of the museums?” Thor shook his head in confirmation. “They’re really good, the National Museum of Scotland has a really big science section, it’s got Tim Peake’s capsule that he came back to Earth in, and Dolly the sheep on display. And that’s really near the Surgeon’s Museums. They have the largest public display of preserved organs on display in the UK, pickled body parts in jars that have been really helpful for research on how radiation affect the body.” Suddenly Bruce stopped and snapped out his rambling. “I’m sorry.” He held his forehead in his hand. “You meant for a date.”

“Don’t worry.” There was the hint of a chuckle in Thor’s voice as he replied. “I’m sure that walked past jars of dead people’s organs would make for a very romantic second date.” Bruce laughed a little as he covered his eyes, embarrassed by his own suggestion. “And Bruce, you must know that I would enjoy even the most confusing of days out, so long as it is time spent with you.”

Bruce finally allowed himself to look up, walking again, and making proper eye contact with Thor.

“I can come up with a better date idea than that,” he promised. “You deserve a better time out.”

“Well, I am the reason you are here, walking for miles in the rain. If anything, I am to repay you.”

Leaving the campus and making there way onto a quitter road, Thor noticed Bruce’s eyes flow over him, as if reading him. I suppose it is only fair given how long I have spent looking at him.

“Your hair looks good short,” he finally said.

“Really?” Thor ran his hand through the spiky, soaked hair on the hack of his head. It still felt unfamiliar to him. “I miss having it long.”

“Your looked good with long with long hair, too,” Bruce admitted. Thor felt a little smug. “What made you cut it, if you didn’t want it short?”

“Some creepy old man got bubble-gum in it. I’ve never liked it short before –“ Thor held his hand to Bruce’s arm “- but if it gets the admiration of the only one who’s opinion I care about, I am happy.”

Conversation between the two of them flowed easily as they made their way to the northern side of the city. The rain continued to fall, and Thor could feel his shoes soak through, but even that hadn’t dampened his mood. He knew he should be worried about what was going to await him once he got home, but none of his anxieties seemed to stick in his mind, too preoccupied by his companion.

As they made their way down a main road, a car passed at twice the speed it should have been travelling, diving through a puddle and causing a mighty splash in their direction. The lions share of the water soaked through Thor, who was closer to the road.

Instead of getting angry, Thor just laughed, and Bruce joined him.

“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who isn’t a toddler enjoy the rain as much as you do,” Bruce said, amused.

“I never stopped loving the rain. I’ve made a career out of it.”

Walking back to his home, Thor felt that he should walk fast – they were going back there for an urgent reason after all – but as they got closer, Thor’s walking pace slowed, wanting to spend as much time with Bruce as he could before he would have to deal with something else. He wished that there would turn out to be some fault with the alarm, so he could invite Bruce in to warm himself up, without having to deal with the police. If Bruce could come inside, they would have the privacy to talk openly, to touch, to kiss… I have to kiss him again, Thor swore to himself, elated that the thought was no longer a distant imagining.

The journey could only be stretched so long, however, and it didn’t feel long before they were on Thor’s road, a police van visible outside Thor’s house.

Bruce stayed with him as he introduced himself to the police officer, asking about what had happened.

“We got a call from one of your neighbours at the same time that your alarm went off, telling us that there was a suspicious-looking individual climbing up your drains and trying to break into your window,” the officer explained. He had a badge on his uniform that called him ‘Happy’ but his expression did not match his name. “We have him in the back now, slimy-looking guy, says his name’s –“

“Loki,” Thor finished. He didn’t need to be told to identify the black-clad, glaring person staring at him from the back of the police van to recognise that face.

#Hope you like it!#i finally updated #thor #bruce banner #thorbruce #thruce #thunderscience #gammahammer

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