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babyboibucky · 3 years

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Elevate Thy Hate

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Not a day goes by that you and Bucky don’t argue.

Word Count: 4,642

Warnings: Cliché plot but slight angst, self-doubt and Bucky being a loveable idiot who sucks at communicating

A/N: Surprise one-shot because I just remembered I wrote this like...last year lmfao

MAIN MASTERLIST

You woke up feeling great and excited. The mission was finally finished, debriefings were done and reports have been submitted. Everyone was given an entire week to get some rest and since rest days were pretty rare, you truly looked forward to this day.

Before you could even saunter in the kitchen, you had already heard the chatters from your fellow Avengers. One particular voice irked you though but hell no, you weren’t going to let one Bucky Barnes ruin your day.

A chorus of good mornings greeted you as soon as you walked into the kitchen. Nat and Steve were on one side of the counter sipping their coffee while Sam and Wanda were finishing up their food. Tony and Bruce were out of sight, probably holed up in the lab doing experiments as usual. Bucky didn’t acknowledge you and quickly headed out of the kitchen, thankfully. You weren’t in the mood to pick a fight.

Walking up to the cupboards, you quickly grabbed you favorite cereal and proceeded to pour it out on your bowl. None came out though. You peeked inside bag and saw that only crumbs of it were left.

“Who the—“

Everyone was already pointing at Bucky when you turned around to ask. And of course, Bucky did it on purpose because he stood there at the end of the hallway, watching you with smug grin on his face.

“I hope your day sucks.” He said and flipped you the bird before turning around to walk away.

You groaned out loud, ignoring the amused chuckles from everyone else in the kitchen.

“I’m not stooping down to your level, asshole! I hope your day is average!”

The day was fortunately uneventful, except for your ruined breakfast care of Bucky. You were determined not to let that annoy you for the rest of the day. So far, so good. You could only wish it’d continue that way for the rest of the week.

“I told you not to rush!” Bucky snapped.

“I had him already! If you didn’t throw that goddamn smoke grenade I would’ve killed him!” You explained.

You could see Sam shaking his head in frustration. Bucky always had to blame something on you even though you weren’t the one at fault.

Bucky snorted, “He had a sniper for fuck’s sake! One shot and you’re dead.”

“Oh wow, says the one who got shot before I did.” You rolled your eyes at Bucky.

The two of you continued to bicker until Nat and Steve walked into the living room looking confused as you and Bucky exchanged insults while Sam remained sandwiched between the both of you on the couch.

“Who got shot?” Steve asked, glancing at you and Bucky alternately.

“Did we miss out on a mission or...?” Nat continued.

Sam chuckled, “We were playing Call of Duty and we lost.” He explained, taking the opportunity to get up from the sofa.

Steve still looked lost, something that Nat immediately picked up. “It’s a video game.” She explained.

“You two are fighting over a game?” He asked you and Bucky.

“They fight over everything.” Nat shrugged and walked out of the room with Sam tagging behind her.

“I’m outta here too, I’m so done babysitting the kids.” He muttered under his breath.

It was past midnight when you were in the living room alone, watching television while eating a Whopper. The lights were turned off and it was absolutely quiet in the compound, setting the perfect ambience for the crime documentary you were watching.

Not long after, you heard someone walk into the living room. It was only when your heard the familiar grunt that you realized who it was. Of course, it had to be Bucky.

“Are you eating a burger?” He asked incredulously.

“No, it’s popcorn. Of course it’s a fucking burger, are you blind or just dumb?” You snapped, your eyes still glued on the television.

“Dumbfounded that you’re eating that at this hour. No wonder you suck at cardio.” Bucky said as he sat down on the other end of the sofa.

“Are you body-shaming me?” You gasped.

Bucky snickered, “I didn’t say anything, I just said you suck at cardio.” He said, not looking at you.

You chose to ignore him and brought your attention back to the television. It was quiet for moment. You almost forgot about Bucky’s presence until of course, he decided to annoy you yet again.

“Can you pass the remote?” Bucky asked monotonously.

“No.”

Silence.

“This show sucks.” He commented.

You were focused on the show but noticed that Bucky was staring at you.

“Can you please pass the remote?” He asked again.

“In case you didn’t notice, I’m watching. I was here first. I hold the rights to control the remote.” You deadpanned, refusing to look at him.

There was a flash of black and gold right before your eyes. Everything happened quickly and the next thing you knew, Bucky was hovering above you, trapping you between his body and the arm rest of the sofa.

“The fuck, Barnes?! Get off of me!” You protested and started pushing him away.

“You gotta work on your reflexes, darling.” He said, finally leaning away from you, remote now in his hand.

He grinned triumphantly and switched the channel before placing the remote inside his sweatpants, “Want to switch the channel? Come and get it.” he taunted as he leaned back on the couch, opening his legs wide as he showed off how the remote created a tent in his sweatpants.

That was the remote...right? You mentally slapped yourself for actually thinking about what Bucky was packing beneath those pants and frowned.

“You’re an asshole and a disgusting one.” You told him.

“God, I hate you.” You muttered and crumpled the wrapper of your burger before throwing it at Bucky.

Deciding that you didn’t want to argue any further, you got up and left the living room, but not without telling Bucky again how much you hated him for making your life miserable.

“The feeling is mutual.” You heard him say.

The petty fights with Bucky went on and on during that entire week of rest. Despite the arguments, there were small moments of kindness shared between you and the soldier.

“Where are you going dressed up so nicely?” You asked Bucky upon seeing him walk into the kitchen wearing a leather jacket on top of a black shirt, dark, tight-fitting jeans and a pair of Doc Martens.

It was meant as an insult, of course. You took every opportunity to tease Bucky and his newfound sense of fashion. Said fashion meant his taste for very millennial outfits despite his old age.

“Grocery.” He replied as he went over to the fridge to pour himself a glass of water.

“Ooh, can you buy me Starbucks on your way back? I’ll pay.” You asked kindly.

Bucky just stared at you as he drank from his glass of water. He slammed it on the counter before walking past you.

“Not a damn chance.”

He did buy you Starbucks though. It didn’t shock you that much considering that the both of you didn’t hate on each other all the damn time. But what surprised you was that he brought you your usual drink and your favorite pastry too.

Steve must have forced him to do so, probably told his best friend your usual orders as well so you made a note to thank him as soon as they got back.

And thank Steve you did, but you didn’t expect the reply that you got.

“Oh was that the reason why Bucky kept bugging me about stopping by Starbucks?” Steve asked.

You narrowed your eyes at him, “What do you mean? I thought he told you I asked him to buy me Starbucks.”

Steve chuckled, “I guess now I know why he wouldn’t shut up about it.” he said, amusement laced in his tone.

“I don’t understand, Cap.” you said.

Steve just smiled at you in response before squeezing your shoulder, “Maybe you will understand soon.”

And with that, he left you feeling even more confused. You honestly didn’t understand the context of the conversation so you decided to just ignore it. Steve sometimes would say weird shit that none of the Avengers knew about. You dismissed it and thought that maybe it was Steve being a decade old, it was probably an old man thing.

You decided to make coffee for Bucky the following day, as a simple gesture to thank him for the Starbucks. He didn’t ask you to pay him back so you felt obligated to do a little something for him. You were an asshole to him sometimes, yes, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to give credit where credit is due.

Okay, so maybe you didn’t really hate Bucky. If you did actually hate him, the entire team would probably do something about it. Maybe force the two of you to talk things out. The hatred was all fun and games, everyone seemed to be amused by it too.

You still considered Bucky your friend despite the constant bickering. You had to admit, the arguments were pretty fun.

Although, you were wondering whether Bucky felt the same about considering you as his friend. Sometimes, his attitude towards you confused the hell out of you.

One day he’d eat the chocolate you’ve been saving up for cheat day just to spite you. And it definitely did because you ended up cursing him out loud when you saw him munching on it. The next day he brought you a new one. You were watching Netflix when he waltzed into the living room and threw a bar of chocolate at your lap before walking out without saying a word.

These exchange of small yet kind (and confusing) gestures remained unacknowledged. You didn’t know why but you also didn’t feel the need to talk about them. You weren’t going to lie but Bucky’s random acts of kindness would always put a smile on your face.

The vacation unfortunately came to an end and everyone had to go back to saving the world. All of you were gathered in the conference room with Fury for a briefing about the next mission. It wasn’t as big as the last one but it still required a lot of planning.

After explaining the mission, Fury let Steve take over the meeting to strategize.

Some were assigned to do surveillance around the parameter while some were appointed to do all the groundwork. Steve of course, just had to partner you with Bucky to do the actual infiltration given that your skills complemented each other’s.

You grinned and was prepared to roast Bucky’s ass when you turned to him and was met with a scowl. He shook his head with what you assumed was disappointment and turned away from you.

It was the first time he ever dismissed you like that. Sure, you were rude to each other but the look that Bucky gave you wasn’t a teasing one. He wasn’t mocking you nor frustrated. Bucky seemed to really hate the idea of being partnered with you. It was the first time that the two of you had to work together without anyone else. Usually, Steve or Sam joined but for this mission, it was just you and Bucky. Concluding that he must have woken up at the wrong side of the bed, you chose to ignore your gut feeling and focused back to Steve.

After the meeting, everyone else exited the room and started with the preparations for the mission. As you walked down the hallway leading to your bedroom, you heard some soft chattering coming from Steve’s bedroom.

You were supposed to ignore it until you heard your name, making you stop in your tracks.

“I can’t be partnered with her, Steve.”

Bucky.

“Buck, just go with it. I can’t be changing assignments at the last minute.” Steve explained.

Bucky sighed, “You know I can’t function properly when she’s around, let alone be partnered with her. She distracts me, Steve. Her skills distract me and I swear on our friendship, I would end up dying on this assignment.”

“You’re being overly dramatic, Buck. Just suck it up, pal. Do the mission and get it over with.”

“Steve, you don’t understand. I really can’t deal with her. Especially if it’s just the two of us. You know how much I fucking—“

“Hate me?”

You couldn’t help but interject in their conversation. How could you not? Bucky was complaining about how he couldn’t deal with you. It really hurt hearing Bucky say all those things about you. Sure, you were somewhat new to the team and you didn’t have superpowers nor years of training like the rest. But you worked your ass off to be in this position. And for him to say that he couldn’t function with you being around struck a nerve. The last thing on your mind was to hold back your teammates, that’s why you train twice, thrice as hard.

Steve and Bucky stared at you as if they’ve seen a ghost. It’s as if all their blood was drained out of their body when they saw you step inside the room. Bucky was about to say something but you decided to cut him off, not wanting to hear more about how he doesn’t want to be partnered with you.

“We don’t get along that well, I get that. But I honestly thought that our arguments were harmless. Hell, I consider us friends. I didn’t think that you actually hated me.” Your voice quivered because you were truly, deeply hurt.

“That’s not what I meant.” Bucky insisted.

“You literally said that you might end up dying because of being partnered with me, Bucky! Look, I know that I don’t have a super serum running through my veins. I can’t move things with my mind and I can’t come up with life-changing tech. I wasn’t trained since childhood nor have the perfect aim. But I worked hard to be in this team. I trained hard not to be a burden to anyone and I’m sorry if my skills aren’t up to your standards.”

What did you even do to Bucky for him to hate you this much?

“Don’t worry, I won’t burden you. Once this mission is over, I won’t bother you anymore. Ever.” You said before walking out of the way, ignoring Bucky when he had repeatedly called your name.

The ride to the location was filled with tension. Although everyone else had no idea what happened, they somehow knew that the tension had something to do with you and Bucky.

Thankfully, the quinjet was big enough for you not to end up sitting beside Bucky.

“You okay?” Wanda asked, noticing how restless you were.

What you heard definitely affected you in more ways than one. You kept on double checking your weapons, your gadgets and you even ended up doubting yourself. Were you really equipped to be an Avenger? Steve said that Bucky was merely overacting but what if he was right? What if you weren’t skilled enough to protect him or your teammates?

“That’s not true.” Wanda said out of the blue. “I didn’t mean to read your mind, though. Your thoughts are coming off too strong, kinda hard to ignore.” She said apologetically.

You softly laughed, “I should really be staying away from you.” You joked.

Wanda smiled and placed her hand on top of yours, “I mean it though. You’re amazing at what you do. I don’t understand why you’re doubting yourself about being an Avenger.”

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you offered Wanda a grateful smile. You noticed that Bucky had been staring at you the entire time but simply ignored him. You weren’t going to let him snap you out of your focus.

Once on location, everyone started to split up and listened for Steve’s orders through the comms. You and Bucky managed to get inside the base, all thanks to Nat and the Hulk who handled all the guards.

The building was completely empty when the two of you walked around in search of the hidden quarters where all the intel were kept.

Bucky whistled to get your attention, you turned and saw that he was motioning towards what seemed to be a regular brick wall. However, there were a few bricks out of place and upon examining it, you realized it was some sort of a secret door. You managed to figure out which bricks to push and thankfully, it didn’t take you long enough to open the door which revealed an old, steel elevator.

“We found the entrance, Steve.” Bucky said into the comms.

“Careful in there, there were suspiciously a few guards within the parameters. They all might be in there.” Nat warned.

You heaved out a deep breath before stepping into the elevator with Bucky trailing behind you. There was only one button in the elevator, a red one.

“Can someone scan the elevator and make sure this button won’t set off any boobie trap or something?” You asked nervously as you inspected the elevator for any hidden traps.

The comms cracked with Sam’s voice. “Button is safe although...” he trailed.

“Although what?” Bucky asked, examining the elevator as well.

“You’re in for a long ride.”

You frowned, “How long?” You asked.

“Can’t see. It’s way too deep.”

Sam was able to scan the entire base and true enough, the elevator would lead deep down into the hidden laboratory. How deep into the ground it was, none could tell. Neither Sam nor Tony’s technology could see through due to the lack of signal. Steve said it might be dangerous to proceed given that there were no other ways into the lab except for the elevator.

The lack of signal down there meant no communication.

“Guys, I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue with this mission.” Steve said.

“But we’re so close, Steve.” You said.

“I think Steve is right. It’d be hard to call for back up when things go south.” Bucky interjected, not even sparing you a glance.

You snorted. Bucky sure wasn’t overacting when he was complaining about your skills. He definitely didn’t trust you. You weren’t going to settle for that.

“We won’t need any back up.”

And with that, you pressed the red button and completely ignored everyone’s warnings through the comms. Bucky looked at you with disbelief and tried to press the red button again in hopes of halting the elevator. However, the brick wall had closed and the elevator started its descent.

“Why the fuck did you do that?!” He yelled and tried to search the elevator for some sort of stop button.

“We’ll follow soon!” Steve’s voice was the last you heard before your comms completely lost its signal.

“Christ, we don’t even know whether it’s the lab that’s down there!” Bucky said, continuing his search for anything that would bring the both of you up to the ground floor.

“I’m not as stupid as you think I am. All secret doors lead to a top secret room and no, we won’t be needing any back up because I am totally capable of taking down anyone who gets in the way.” You stubbornly replied and leaned against the wall.

You wondered how long the elevator ride was going to be. At the speed that it’s going, it wasn’t impossible to take at least fifteen to twenty minutes if the lab was really far down into the ground. Bucky’s frustration was evident from the way he kept on inspecting the elevator walls. At first it was easy to ignore but Bucky was becoming more and more desperate to find a way to go back up.

“Your desperation to stay away from me is just...astounding.” You said with a bitter chuckle.

“I’m finding a way to get out of here, not away from you.” Bucky explained calmly.

You shook your head, “You don’t trust me to keep you alive, I get it. But can you tone it down even for just a bit?” You spat at him.

Bucky pressed the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh, “You don’t need to keep me alive.”

“Of course not, you don’t need me to do so ‘cause you’re so capable. How did I not think of that?” At this point, you couldn’t stop the word vomit.

You had tons of things to say to Bucky to prove to him that you were totally good at what you do, that he didn’t need to underestimate you just because you were a new addition to the team.

“That’s not what I mean.” Bucky explained again.

It was starting to annoy you that the more you were becoming agitated, the calmer he was becoming. And he kept on telling you that he meant differently with his statements but he never really attempted to further explain his side.

“Then what do you mean, Bucky?” You pressed. “What did I ever do to you for you to hate me this much? Did I say something offensive? Do I have to train 24/7 for you to think that I deserve to be working alongside the Avengers?” You kept on babbling on and on and on.

Bucky rubbed his face with his hand, “I don’t hate you, okay?” He doesn’t even spare you a look.

All this time, he was looking at anything but you and it was really getting on your nerves.

“See? You keep on telling me that you don’t hate me but you can’t even look at me! I mean, if you really loathe me then own up to it! It hurts me more that you keep on denying it when you can’t even explain a damn thing. At least tell me why!” You were never an emotional person and Bucky knew that, so when he finally turned to look at you, he was surprised to see you on the verge of tears.

“Hey, hey...” Bucky coaxed and tried to hold you but you stepped away from him.

“Just please tell me why, Buck. Tell me and I promise to stay away. If you think I suck at being an Avenger to the point of irritating you, tell me so I can train my fucking ass off until you deem me fit to be an Avenger. If my jokes offended you, I’m sorry. If I—“

“It’s because I like you.”

“...what?”

Bucky Barnes...likes you? It’s as if the silence went on forever inside the elevator that seemed to keep going. How long were the two of you inside it anyway? You couldn’t tell anymore and you didn’t know whether Bucky was simply fooling around with you.

“That’s not funny.” You said.

Bucky shook his head, “It’s not a joke.”

You stared at him doubtfully, “Explain.” You demanded.

Bucky licked his lips and let out a soft chuckle, “I’m an idiot.” He said.

“That doesn’t explain anything. If any, I’d think you’re simply fucking with me.” You pointed out and crossed your arms over your chest.

That seemed to urge Bucky to finally explain. “What you heard in Steve’s room was correct.”

“So you really hate me.”

Bucky groaned, “Let me finish, please?” He pleaded. When you remained silent, he continued to explain himself.

“You really do distract me during missions. Because you’re so amazing and I never doubted your skills. But I also get worried and I hate it when I see you in pain or wounded and it fucking distracts me. I didn’t want to be partnered with you because when I see you, I just...fuck. I like you that much. You kick someone’s ass and I’d end up watching you with awe that it’d cause me my own demise. That’s what I meant. That I’d probably end up dying because whenever you’re around, you have my full attention.”

The anger within you dissipated just like that. You could feel your face heat up from Bucky’s unexpected confession.

“But you’re an asshole to me.” You pointed out.

Bucky laughed, “Because that’s how I get your attention. You walk into a room with a kind-hearted super soldier, a witty bird brain and a few more intelligent men and yet I’d be the first one you’d acknowledge. With a snarky comment but still, attention is attention. It’s the only way I get to interact with you without feeling awkward. I suck at conversations, I mean, you heard me and though I was hating on you when I was merely blabbering to Steve about how much I like you.”

This time, you couldn’t hold back your laughter. All along, Bucky was finding a way to talk to you even though it meant constant arguments over the pettiest things. To be fair though, he really did suck at communicating.

“I’m sorry that it came across like that.” Bucky apologized sincerely. “I hope this doesn’t change anything between us.” He admitted.

You shrugged, “Oh but it does. In fact, it changes everything.”

Bucky’s face fell.

“Because I think I like you too and I kinda want for things to change. For the better of course.” You grinned.

Bucky chuckled and scratched his forehead bashfully, “You think, huh? Not sure?” He asked and turned to you just as the elevator doors opened.

Indeed, it led to the lab where almost all of the targets stayed. The man nearest the elevator had his gun pointed at Bucky but before he could even pull the trigger, Bucky had thrown his knife at him without even sparing a glance and choked the next guy to attack with his metal arm before throwing him towards a group of armed men. He was just gazing at you with a smittened smile.

“Still not sure about liking me back?”

Impressed at his gesture, you smirked.

“Now I am.”

By the time Steve, Nat and Sam walked out of the elevator, the mission had already been done. You walked towards the trio and handed Steve a USB.

“All their data is already saved there. Wiped out their entire system clean too.” You told him, voice chirpy and all.

Bucky was right behind you, a couple of folders in his hands before handing them to Sam, “Lotsa confidential info in there too which includes our next targets.” he said and walked past Sam with a certain jump in his steps.

The three exchanged glances before looking around the entire lab. Men were scattered on the floor, most were dead and others heavily injured.

“What the hell happened here?” Nat asked, avoiding the injured men on the ground as she walked around.

“The mission happened, Nat. All that matters now is that everything has been resolved. I mean, everything.” You said meaningfully and threw Bucky a flirty smile before walking into the elevator.

He followed suit and saluted at the three before pushing the red button. The doors weren’t even closed yet when Bucky couldn’t hold back and quickly leaned to press a soft kiss on your lips. An action that definitely didn’t go unnoticed by the three. You couldn’t help but chuckle when you noticed their reactions before the elevator closed.

Said trio stood there dumbfounded and confused as hell. Early on, the tension between you and Bucky was felt by everyone. The kind of tension then wasn’t even a sexual one. It was so intense that Nat was actually expecting to see you and Bucky at each other’s throats when they got down to the lab.

“Guess that the long ass elevator ride did something. Whatever was in that elevator seems interesting. Wanna go check it out, Nat?” Sam asked suggestively.

Steve chuckled and shook his head.

Nat simply smirked and walked past Sam, “In your dreams, Wilson.”

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#bbbwrites #oneshots: bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x you #bucky x reader #sebastian stan

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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youtube

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catxsnow · 4 years

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WARMING UP

Request: May I request a Batfam X Batmom!Reader? Her and Bruce have been together for about a half a year now and the boys are still getting used to her. They don't think she knows about their activities but she does. One night she tells Alfred that she'll cook and let's him have a break. After calling the boys multiple times and they don't come to dinner she brings it down to the batcave and they're like,"How did you get in here? How did you know?" She laughs and says, "You're bad at hiding things."

Warning: Nothing really. fluff

A/N: Hope you enjoy!

GIF not mine

Word Count: 1.9k

The craziest part of dating Bruce Wayne wasn't the fact that you got to stay over in a huge manor with nearly everything that you could ever imagine, it was the fact that he was ridiculous to think that you didn't figure out his secret.

Bruce and his kids were constantly covered in bruises and no matter how hard they tried to hide them, you had seen them. Not to mention that every time you and Bruce every slept together, you saw the scars that laced his body. He never talked about them and you could only assume that it was something from his past that he wasn't ready to reveal yet.

So, you kept quiet. You didn't bring up the fact that him and his kids were covered in thick scars or that they would show up with random cuts and bruises whenever you saw them.

It took you a while to piece everything together. The wounds, the reflexes, the knowledge that something bad was going to happen before it even did, and mainly, the random disappearances. You were dating Batman. His kids, were the long chain of Robins.

Bruce was shocked when you brought it up to him. He wasn't sure if he was more shocked that you had figured it out so quickly or how you were so calm about the matter. He told you the truth about his life, what he did in the night, and that you were completely right.

Your knowledge about the truth was kept quiet to his kids. They didn't fully trust you and you couldn't blame them. It hadn't even been a year since you and Bruce had been officially together, they had every reason not to trust you. Damian was the most weary of you, he was protective of his father.

As much as you loved Bruce's kids, they were far more reluctant to let you into their inner circle. It wasn't just because they didn't know you, but getting involved in their lives only meant putting you in danger. You tried to make things go smoother with them - particularly by trying to make sure that you weren't trying to force them to think of you as their mom.

Besides, you weren't technically even moved in yet. Though, you stayed over enough to make them believe that you did. Bruce joked with you lots that you may as well just bring all your things over.

That evening, you had decided that it was time to show off your cooking skills. With your sleeves rolled up to your elbows and your hair tied back, you were deep into making a delicious meal. The rare times that Bruce came over to your tiny apartment, he always raved about how good your cooking was - hopefully his kids would agree.

"Miss (Y/N)," Alfred was surprised to see you in the kitchen. He was so used to making every meal that having someone using his space had come as quite a shock.

"Alfred!" you grinned at him. After being used to cooking only for yourself, having to amp up the portions was taking more of a toll on you than you thought. "I thought I would make dinner tonight, I hope you don't mind. I should have asked first."

"Not at all," Alfred assured you. "Would you like any help, Ms. (Y/N)?"

"Thanks, but I'll be okay. Relax for the night," You offered. "I never see you take the night off when I'm here."

"As you wish," Alfred smiled at you before leaving. You got back to work, nearly working up a sweat by everything that you had on the go. As much as you enjoyed cooking, it was definitely easier when it was just for you and Bruce, not six hungry kids too.

Less than an hour later, you had finished preparing and plating everyone's food. To be honest, you thought that this had to have been one of the best meals you ever made in your life. You just hoped that everyone else thought so to. It was the first time that all the kids were in the house for a meal together since you had started dating Bruce.

You loved Bruce, a lot. In the relatively short time that you dated him, you had fallen in love with everything that he stood for and what he represented. Between his days of maintaining Wayne Enterprises and nights of being Batman, you realized that you wanted to spend your life with him in the busy life he had.

That meant that you had to ensure that you were liked by his kids as well. They were a big part of his life and you didn't want to be a part of this family without them liking you. They had already changed from when you first met all of them. They were kind to you, even though they felt that sometimes you were just a distraction in Bruce's life.

The more time you spent there, the more they realized how good you were for him. Bruce spent a lot of time alone, it wasn't hard for him to sometimes forget that he was just human too. You brought that side out in him, a side that everyone forgot that he needed.

"Bruce!" You called. Your voice echoed throughout the huge house but there was no reply. "Bruce, dinner!" How did Alfred gather everyone so easily? "Damian! Tim!" Still no answer. "Steph! Cass! Goddammit."

With a sigh, you left the dining room and ventured out to see where they could be. None of the boys were in their room and Bruce wasn't in the office meaning there was only one place they could have all been gathered: the batcave.

Bruce had shown you how to get in and out of it, however he told you that going down there by yourself had to be for emergencies only. Technically, this wasn't one of those cases but the food was getting cold and you had to assume that they were getting hungry. So, you opened up the grandfather clock and opened the entrance.

It was the first time that you were going down there on your own. The steps seemed to be creepier without Bruce's hand clasped with your own. Shaking off the eerie feeling, you continued your trek down the stairs. The closer you got the the bottom, the more you could hear their voices.

Just as expected, all the kids, along with Bruce and Alfred had been down there. Half of them were crowded around the various monitors and the other half working on gadgets or training. It was incredible how they all just worked so well together - despite all their disputes. You knew Jason and Dick weren't happy to be back, Tim was less than eager but accepted it. Damian still lived in the manor, he was used to it. Steph and Cass didn't seem to mind being back to their old home.

"Dinner's ready!" You announced. The sound of your voice brought everyone to a stop. Alfred and Bruce were the only ones that knew that you knew their secret making it quite the surprise for everyone else to see you so nonchalantly there by yourself. "It's getting cold..." You trailed off as no one moved.

"How..." Dick trailed off. His head was cocked to the side as he tried to figure out how you knew where they were. "How are you down here?" It was pretty obvious that if you knew how to get down there, you knew why it was there too.

"Bruce showed me," you explained.

"Father, you told her?" Damian looked over to Bruce. He was surprised that in such a short amount of time that you guys had been dating that he was so willing to tell the truth. It was clear that Damian didn't think that you guys were far enough into a relationship to know the family secrets.

"Bruce, are you serious?"

"You haven't even been together a year."

"Come on guys, do you really think I'm that oblivious?" You rhetorically asked, cutting them off before they could argue with Bruce any longer. "You guys aren't very good at hiding it within the comfort of your own home, it didn't take me that long to find out by myself. I've known for months."

“Hmf, maybe you do deserve to date Batman,” Jason joked to himself. You could see in the corner of your eye that Steph had jabbed him in the ribs for that comment. Not that you would ever pick favourites - but these weren’t technically your kids and Steph was easily your favourite.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Tim asked. He nearly looked hurt by the fact that you kept your knowledge a secret. Then again, he could understand why. His brother's were always a little hostile when it came to new comers - you were still part of that group. "Why didn't you say anything?" He changed his question and looked over at Bruce.

"It doesn't matter why," You answered for your boyfriend. "Look, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner but it wasn't really important, was it? Now, come on - I made dinner and I spent a lot of time on it and the longer we're down here the colder it's getting. We can talk about this after."

It was the first time that you had used your 'mom voice' on the kids. Your hands were placed on your hips and you watched them all expectedly. Thankfully, they listened to you. Everyone, aside from Bruce left back to the dining room.

As each of the kids passed by you, you had pulled them in to place a loving kiss on the side of their heads. Half the time you had to stand on your toes just to be able to reach. You had picked up the habit with them a while ago, and since none of them complained, you kept it up.

It was the only time that you ever felt like they cared about you just as much as you cared for them.

As soon as it was just the two of you, Bruce tugged you into his arms. His hands rested on your hips and he instantly brought you in for a kiss. You smiled into it, bring your hands up to the back of his neck.

"Thought they were gonna take that a lot worse," you confessed between kisses. Bruce finally pulled away from you. "You think they'll ever warm up to me fully?"

"They grew up learning not to trust anyone," Bruce told you. You played with the hairs at the nape of his neck - easy for him to tell that you were nervous. "I think that if they're going to warm up to anyone, it's going to be you. My smart, loving, beautiful, sexy, girlfriend."

"Bruce Wayne," you shook your head. "Such a suck up." A grin spread across your face as be brought you in for another long kiss. Bruce trailed his hands down your sides until landing on the curve of your ass. You pulled him in to deepen the kiss, pressing your bodies flush against each other.

"(Y/N)! Come on!" You couldn't tell which of the kids were yelling your name, but you took that as your queue to head upstairs as well. At least they were eager for you to join them - whether it was because they wanted you to or because you had made the food they were eating. You weren't going to complain either way that they had called your name, not Bruce's.

"See, warming up to you already."

#batfam #batfam x reader #batfam imagine #bruce wayne #bruce wayne imagine #dc one shot #dc imagine #dc #batfam one shot #batmom #batmom imagines #batmom x batfamily #batfam x batmom

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mydeardeath · 4 years

Text

To belong with (2/8)

Whole series on tumblr (to belong series tag) or AO3

---

"You reek of sex, Dami. You could have at least taken a shower." Dick greeted him. He was smiling but Damian could hear the reproach in his voice.

"I didn't have tim" He barked at the older, not in the mood for a lecture. But he seemed that escaping it was not a possibility.

"You're four hours late, ten minutes more would have changed nothing."

"It's just surveillance, you don't need help for that."

"Maybe I just want you here because I like your company" Damian shot him an unimpressed glare.

"You're not funny, Grayson."

"Excuse me ? I'm the funny one in this family !"

"It's not that hard."

Dick started to pout, which look completely ridiculous on a thirty-one years old man.

"I brought Chinese takeout, 'thought you might be hungry."

"That's why you're my favorite brother !" It seemed that the food had made Dick totally forgot the insult to his sense of humor (or lack of it, depending on the point of view).

"Once again, it's not that hard."

Dick ignored him and began to chatter happily while eating his food. He didn't mind that Damian remained silent, he was just happy to spend some time with his baby brother. He wasn't in Gotham as much as he used to. Most of the time he was in New York, as Kori hadn't wanted to live in Gotham (Bruce still refused to let any metas or aliens intrude in his city, even the good ones) and she didn't like Bludhaven very much. She didn't think it was the best place to raise a child, so they had moved together in New York after the birth of Mar'i. The little girl was soon to be four years old, so Dick rarely left New York. He still came from time to time to help on cases. Well, that was what Bruce always said. But it was just because he couldn't simply ask Dick to visit because he missed his son and wanted to see him.

Kori didn't mind the time she was left alone to take care of their daughter, she also often went away with Jason and Roy. They weren't really an official team anymore, they just got together when they were all available. The team had split after Mar'i birth since Kori couldn't travel all over Earth with her boys anymore. Plus, she did spend more time with Dick. They hadn't lived together before, their relationship hadn't been that serious but they had still decided to keep the child. They weren't even really a couple. Basically, they were friends that had a child together. And that, occasionally, had sex. They both didn't want to settle definitely, not able to always stay in the same place. It's why they worked so well together ; they simply had similar desires.

When Dick was coming to Gotham, he rarely brought Mar'i with him, so Damian often went to New York to see her. He offered him a good excuse to get away from Gotham, from his father. Plus, he loved the little girl. Contrary to most of the adult in his life, she didn't judge him all the time. She didn't know much of Tim, of their history. For her, Damian was just her cool uncle. Her favorite, as Damian liked to claim. Which was probably true (after her parents, of course). But to be honest, Damian wasn't really playing fair. He would teach the girl how to always get her way, how to manipulate people to get whatever she wanted, how to make her parents bent to her caprices. That, unsurprisingly, Dick hadn't appreciated at all.

To get back to his little brother, he had told the girl she could go live with her uncle for a few days, if she wanted. He hadn't ask Damian beforehand, but the younger couldn't refuse after Mar'i had gotten her hope up. And the kid might have been like him in some points, but she was first and foremost her parent's daughter. Which came with their joyfulness and exuberance. She was a little ball of energy : always moving and always talking. He was tired after only two days of taking care of Mar'i, begging Dick to come and get her after four. He should have known not to underestimate anyone of this family. After that, he had had to bear Dick smugness. Even a year after, Dick still liked to bring that moment back, much to Damian's exasperation.

Hours passed with Dick filling in the silence until the sun started to set in the sky and they both agree to go home. Their target hadn't left the building all night long and the man always acted like an upstanding citizen during the day. Dick sent a message to Kori to inform her that his case hadn't progressed and he would stay in Gotham until further notice. He took an eternity to hung up, under Damian's impatient glare.

"You will understand when you will find someone that you love."

"I already did." The light atmosphere disappeared immediately. Dick didn't have to ask who Damian was referring to. He didn't even think about the possibility that Damian had just recently found someone. No, he knew Damian was talking about Tim. The fallen Robin they never talked about in front of him. They were always careful to never mention this name when the younger was within hearing distance. So, unlike his usual self, Dick remained silent while he drove Damian home.

When the car came to a stop in front of Damian's house, Dick hesitated :

"If you ever want to talk about it, you can come to me."

"No, thanks." And Damian left, slamming the door behind him.

The young Alpha slumped down to the floor as soon as he was in his home. It was nice of Dick to offer his help, but Damian preferred to avoid the matter altogether. It was easier for him. None of them had ever lost a mate, they couldn't possibly understand how he felt. And his father could hardly lecture him about it. After all, he had let his parents' death dictate his whole life.

He stayed on the ground for a few minutes, the time to regain his calm and then force himself to get up to his room. He had fallen asleep more than once against the door and woken up in a bad mood the following mornings. Plus, he couldn't let it affect him so strongly. Dick hadn't even said his name. He climbed the stairs slowly, his feet seemingly heavier and he dragged himself to his bed, throwing carelessly his uniform on the floor. His eyes closed as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He was so exhausted that he didn't notice that someone else was already in his room, didn't ear them crept up to him. He only noticed something was off when a knife slide against his throat.

#damitim #timdami #to belong series #part 10

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xxgoblin-dumplingxx · 5 years

Text

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight: Eighteen

“Nat,” you say laughing, “Enough.” The Spy looked up from where she was fussing with blankets on the sofa and nodded. “Are you okay? How’s your head?” she frowned and kissed your hands and you softened a little.

“It was just my blood sugar, Tasha, it’s okay.” you remind her, “Everything is fine. All I needed to do was eat something. Maybe drink some orange juice.” She nods. It had been a little terrifying watching you go pale and collapse.

Just minutes before you’d been grousing about your jeans not fitting right and Bruce’s snoring. Then you were just down. Your head had made a nasty sound hitting the counter and when you came too you were disoriented and shaky.

Nat pets the small swell of your stomach gently and carefully kisses your head to avoid the tender spot, “I’d feel better if you’d at least lay down,” she coaxes. They’d not told Bruce yet. They were waiting until the mission was over. And all your test results came back fine so they’d have something concrete to give him. A quinjet and the Hulk didn’t tend to mix well, and where both Bruce and Hulk were concerned. Well. If anything could make Bruce of all people lose his head completely, it was something happening to you. Or the baby.

You let her settle you on the couch and drink the sprite she handed you, hoping to help quell the anxiety. “It’s okay, Tasha,” you soothe, “It’s not that uncommon. Especially not when I’m working, remember? My sugar drops like that from time to time. Spell work takes energy... and so does growing a whole human. Except this little human will just barely let me eat anything before the afternoon.” She nods and puts your feet in her lap so she can sit next to you, “I thought that was better,” she says frowning. “Slowly better,” you say nodding and sigh. She tuts and smacks the bottoms of your feet gently, “You should be keeping an eye on that,” she lectures. “If Bruce sees you do that he’ll have a heart attack. Or tear the building apart. Possibly both.” You wince, “Needles, Tasha.” you say softly.

It makes you anxious just thinking about it and you have to set down the cup you’re holding. It’s glass and you’re holding it too tight. The last thing you need is for Bruce to come home to you getting stitches too. Tasha rubs your calf gently, “Shhh,” she says, “It’s okay. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I forgot.” You know it’s stupid and you can’t make the panic stop because now you can’t stop thinking about it. When the tears start flowing you can’t stop that either. Natasha scoops you up carefully and holds you to her tightly, rocking you gently. You curse hormones, witchfinders, and orange juice as you try to get a grip on her shoulder and the spy curses herself. You had one fear.

It wasn’t death, snakes, heights, or taxes. It was needles. Pure and simple. It didn’t matter what for. But needles anywhere near your skin caused a wave of panic that nothing could quell. Even after years of therapy. Even if you knew you needed to do it. You couldn’t. They needed to knock you out just to put three stitches in your finger once. She doesn’t try to make it stop. She just lets you cry it out. Once you can calm down, she brings you a cool cloth and presses the cup back into your hands, “Take a drink,” she soothes, “Then we’ll order some food... Think the little one inherited your love of orange chicken?”

You chuckle and wipe your face, “One way to find out... we know they like eggrolls.” Nat smiled and touched your belly affectionately, “Definitely likes those... 6 of them later and you probably could have eaten a couple more.” You sigh and start to get up, “First things first. I need jammies. I’ve had enough of real pants.” The spy watched you go, watching your gait and making sure you were steady on your feet, “Ooo,” she says, “Good plan. I’ll go get mine too.”

______

“And none of you fucking told me?” Bruce yelled. Clint held up his hands and handed him a stack of blood work results, “Nat’s been with her. All day. It really is just blood sugar dropping. Just like before.”

Bruce was getting a little green around the irises and Tony tensed, “Nat had them run all the tests,” he said, “She’s fine, just tired. It’s been a long day. You know how she is about needles... she straight up begged them to just let her cut her hand open and do it that way.” The brought Bruce up short, “How did they get the blood test done?” he asked. Clint smiled a little, “Nat had her magic herself under for a little bit. Otherwise one of those techs was gonna wind up with a broken nose.” Bruce took a deep breath, “Where is she now?” he asked slowly. “Upstairs with Nat in your rooms,” Clint said quickly, “Pepper’s there too... Girl’s night, ya, know? They have dinner and they’ve been watching some baking show or something.” Tony glanced at him, “How do you know all that?” he asked, “All Pepper told me is that she’s not at the office.” Clint snorted, “Snapchat, duh.”

Bruce didn’t stick around after that. He hit the elevator, taking a minute to breathe. He wasn’t mad at you, not really. You hadn’t done it on purpose, kept that from him. Or if you had, it had been to protect him. He knew it. But he was still furious that he hadn’t been able to take care of you.

He stops at the door, listening. You sound okay. Laughing, protesting eating anymore. “Pepper,” you protest, “Eating for two is a little bit of an exaggeration... If I eat anything more I might literally explode.” He can’t hear Pepper’s response exactly but he smiles a little. It’s something of a comfort that you haven’t just been alone and he makes a mental note to thank them both. It sounds like they’re letting you go to bed. Or at least that someone alerted them Bruce was on his way up. So he backs up to let them come through. Pepper pats his hand and Natasha pulls him aside, pressing a finger to her lips and walking him down the hall.

“Bruce,” she says quietly, “You have to make her test her sugar... Medical needs a baseline. They’ve been after her for one for years because of the way it drops.” He frowns, “What am I supposed to do? Hold her down and do it?” Nat sighs, “I don’t know... I tried to talk to her about it today and she had a whole meltdown.” Bruce rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m not pressing the issue tonight,” he said. He felt too old for this. “The stress isn’t good for her either.” The spy gave him a sympathetic look and smiled a little, “The good news is, she doesn’t have a concussion from smacking her head on the way down... It sounded worse than it was.” Bruce sighed, “Did she eat enough?” Nat grinned, “The baby likes orange chicken... and eggrolls. She ate.” That makes him smile a little, “Right so. Heartburn later.” She snorts, “Yeah. Lots of that.” Nat stands on her toes and kisses his cheek, “Go take care of her,” she said gently, “she’s missed you.” He doesn’t need telling twice.

“Baby?” he said softly, dropping his bag and crossing the floor to kneel next to the sofa, “How are you feeling? Are you okay? How’s your head?” You smile and pull him down to kiss him softly, “We’re fine,” you soothe, “Everything is fine. It’s just a few scary seconds and a knock on the head.”

Bruce looks over your scalp and kisses the bump carefully before kissing your lips and laying a hand on your stomach, rubbing gently. “Why didn’t you call me?” he asks. “Bruce,” you say, swallowing hard, “It’s bad enough when you’re away... I didn’t want you hurt because you were distracted. I told Nat not to say anything because I wanted to make sure you came home.” Tears start falling and he hugs you tightly, “The big guy wouldn’t have let anything keep us from you,” he said, “He’s really excited to meet the baby. And he loves you. Probably as much as I do... Trust me. No force in the universe could keep him from being here.” You nuzzle into his neck and breath him in. The smell of his aftershave and something else that was indefinably him. “Let’s get you tucked in, hmm?” he coaxes, “We both had a long day and you need rest... We just got you functioning without coffee. I’d hate to have to go back to leaving my mugs outside.” He relaxes a little when you snort and presses on, “It was nice. Those little afternoon naps though,” he teases. Your cheeks color and he grins, “Sometimes you still talk in your sleep, you know that?” When you blush harder he kisses your nose, “C ‘ mon, sweetheart. Let’s get you to bed,” he coaxes again, standing slowly and holding out his hands. You go willingly and he finds the hem of your tank top, easing it out of the way slowly and sliding it over your head, “Bruce!” you protest, and he stops, “Please?” he asked softly, “I missed you.” He touches your belly, tracing his fingers over the swell tenderly. You were bigger than you’d been when he left, he could swear to it. And he just wanted to feel you. All your warm silky skin and nothing in the way.

He wanted to admire his handiwork.

He feathers soft kisses down your neck and you moan softly. When you say his name again it’s a different tone and he smiles a little. Your hands are on his shirt, unbuttoning buttons as he’s stripping you of your pajama bottoms. “Good girl,” he praises, tucking you into the bed. He finishes undressing himself and pins you to the mattress gently, “What do you need, baby?” he asks seriously, “How can I help?” When you look up at him, all wide eyed and innocent still, just like the first time, his heart stutters and he kisses your nose.

“Make the monsters go away,” you tell him softly.

And Bruce doesn’t need telling twice. He doesn’t need an explanation. He grounds you in your now as gently as he can. Reminding you that you are safe, and you are loved the best way he’s ever learned how. Anything he can do to keep the nightmares away.

tags: @lancsnerd @stevieang @golddaggers @blameitonthecauseway @qxeen-of-hearts @process-pending @xmarveled @beautybyfire, @etherealwaifgoddess

#Bruce banner x reader #chubby bruce #witch!reader #hulkx reader #angst if you squint #fluff

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tchalla-rogers · 5 years

Text

stubborn as a stark

avengers x stark!reader

masterlist

8,795 words

strictly based on infinity war.

This was the first time that you went with Steve to his session. It had been five years since Thanos snapped his fingers and half of life on Earth had been wiped out. Even though Thor had aimed for the head like he was hoping for, it didn’t bring back anyone. So, now you sit in this room full of strangers listening to their stories about life after Thanos. Steve prompted you to speak up but you kept quiet the entire time continuing to listen to how these people are trying to move on.

One man told the story of how he was on a date and broke down and his date broke down. “That’s great. You did the hardest part. You took the jump, you didn’t know where you were gonna come down. And that’s it. That’s those little brave baby steps you gotta take. To try and become whole again. To try and find purpose-,” Steve began. You suddenly felt the urge to cut him off which caused the room to finally look at you for the first time in the therapy session. You looked in the corner of your eyes and saw Steve had raised his eyebrows.

“Steve went in the ice in ‘45 right after he met the love of his life. Woke up 70 years later. We gotta move on…gotta move on. The world is in our hands. It’s left to us guys and we have to do something with it. Otherwise…Thanos should’ve killed us all.”

***

You sat in the room with Natasha as she talked with Rhodey, Okoye, Rocket, Nebula and Carol. Natasha knew you probably weren’t paying attention to what they were discussing, even though it might’ve been about Clint. It always was. Yet, your mind had drifted to your dad, wherever he may be. The last time you saw him was when he was found in space with Nebula. He didn’t talk to you and didn’t even look your way. But, you hoped and never felt like moving on.

The sound of Natasha crying didn’t even enter your ears, but you only noticed her when you looked up to see Steve walking in. “You know I’d offer to cook you dinner but you both seem pretty miserable already.”

“You here to do your laundry?” you joked, which she hadn’t done in a while.

Steve sighed. “To see my friends.” This caused you to raise your eyebrow. You always saw Steve as something more than a friend. Maybe it was the fact that you had been more than quiet recently. Your dad had been missing after Thanos’ snap and you thought he was more than likely dead. Steve and you were both so close to each other but the dread of wondering if Tony was dead seemed to take over. Your strong bond seemed to drift more apart and any hopes of being in any romantic relationship dwindled. Even when Carol had found Tony and your dad didn’t even feel like talking to you. Steve still took care of you and cared about your wellbeing, but you never felt like leaving the tower half of the time.

“Clearly, your friends are fine,” you whispered, grabbing the peanut butter sandwich you were sharing with Natasha on the table and taking a bite.

“You know I saw a pod of whales when I was coming up the bridge.”

“In the Hudson?” Natasha questioned.

“There’s fewer ships, cleaner water…”

“You know, if you’re about to tell me to look on the bright side. Um… I’m about you to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich,” Natasha smirked and the feeling in the room definitely lifted. Steve sat down in the chair near you and smiled at you. You once again looked away and your mind wandered off as Natasha and Steve continued to chat. What brought you back was the sound of someone yelling for help on the camera footage that had just popped up in front of you three.

“Is this an old message?” you asked, staring inquisitively.

“It’s the front gate.”

***

“Have either of you ever studied Quantum Physics?” Scott Lang, or Ant-Man, stood in front of you guys. You remember him fighting on Steve’s side during the battle over the Sokovia Accords. Honestly, you had forgotten about him after everything. There was so much going on with Thanos that Ant-Man had completely skipped your mind.

“Alright. So… five years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she’s my…she was my…she was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there,” Scott explained frantically.

You felt bad for him, mainly because you forgot about his existence for the past five years. “I’m sorry. That must’ve been a very long five years,” you stated.

“Yeah, but that’s just it. For me, it was five hours,” Scott said. Steve, Natasha, and you looked at each other bewildered by what Scott said. “See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren’t like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody’s sandwich? I’m starving.”

“I mean…yes-,” Nat had slapped your arm in the process of you almost getting mad that he was eating your sandwich. “Ow! What? That’s my sandwich!”

Steve ignored your friend banter and continued on with the conversation. “Scott, what are you talking about?”

“What I’m saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm. The only problem is right now, we don’t have a way to navigate it. But what if we did? I can’t stop thinking about it. What if, we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like… Like before Thanos.”

You smirked, knowing he what he was most definitely talking about. “So, a time machine?”

“No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It’s more like a… Yeah, a time machine. I know it’s crazy. But I can’t stop thinking about it. There’s gotta be some way… no, it’s crazy.”

“Nat gets emails from a damn raccoon and my dad was stuck on some ship shaped like a donut being flown by Squidward. Nothing sounds crazy anymore, Scott,” you reassured him.

Scott nodded, knowing they agreed with what he wanted to do. “So who do we go to about this?” You saw Steve and Natasha look at you, knowing exactly who to go to. It definitely was someone you wanted to see, but you didn’t know if they would want to see you.

***

Steve, Natasha, Scott, and you pull up to your dad’s house. You knew about Morgan Stark, your own baby sister. Pepper had told you about her when she would call and you would actually answer. At first, you felt as if your dad would never love you again and definitely not now. Then you grew to love your baby sister even though you never met her and you were also sure Tony wouldn’t bring you up to her.

It’s when he’s walking in the front of the house that he finally notices you four walking up. You see that he doesn’t want to be a part of this discussion, especially when Scott is explaining his plan about Quantum Physics. Your dad tears down the plan immediately and you remain quiet as the other three are speaking. You aren’t even looking at him and appreciate the scenery around the house. It especially breaks your heart when Morgan runs to Tony to break the conversation.

“Mommy told me to come and save you,” Morgan admits as Tony picks her up into his arms.

“Good job. I’m saved.” Tony looks so proud of his daughter and glances at you. “I wish you’d come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I…I missed you guys, especially you Y/N. Oh, and table’s set for seven.”

You decide to speak up for the first time during this encounter. “Listen…Dad, I get it. I’m happy for you and want to rekindle our relationship, I really do. But this is a second chance. For us and everyone else who can’t be here right now.”

“I got my second chance right here, Y/N. I wanted you to be apart of it. I can’t roll the dice again. If you don’t talk shop, you can stay for lunch.”

The other three start to walk back to the car as your feet remain planted on the porch. You had missed your dad and not once had you thought he would want you to be apart of his second chance or his family. He’s had five years to try and do something, but I guess he had hoped you would do it first. You feel Steve place his hand on your arm as you glance over at him. “He’s scared,” you whisper.

“He’s not wrong,” Steve says, tucking a few strands of your hair behind your ear. He found this to be one of the things that could calm you down. “I think we’re going to need a really big brain if Tony doesn’t want in.”

You almost smirk, knowing who he is talking about.

***

Bruce sits across from you at all at a diner, chowing down on all of his food at the table. I think the absolute breaking point for your during this discussion was when Bruce decided to dab. Maybe half of Earth’s population was fucked at this point.

Tony was washing the dishes in the sink after Pepper, Morgan, and him just had dinner. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if you were sitting at the table with him. He grabbed his favorite photo of you and him, the happiest you two have probably ever been. He remembered Pepper had taken it. Morgan asked about you every single day since Tony had told her about you and was wondering when Tony would let her meet you. He didn’t want to bring up how he was waiting for you to come instead of bringing himself to you. He couldn’t help it; he was the most stubborn and he knew his daughters were the same.

So, he went to his computer after finishing the dishes. Tony knew his daughter wasn’t apart of the fallen but maybe if he finally finished what he was working on he could make you proud. Maybe you’d forget about the past five years…maybe. He randomly spewed out some words as for the past few years he couldn’t seem to figure out this device. Yet, now the model now was rendered.

He immediately rushed over to Pepper, not knowing how to bring up his model. He finally got his second chance and now he didn’t want to give it up. But he wanted Pepper to at least know after putting Morgan to bed.

“What? Wow…that’s amazing…and terrifying,” Pepper said after Tony had revealed that he had figured it out. At this moment, he was scared. The excitement dwindled away because he had a second chance and he didn’t want to let that go. Who knew what would happen if a few billion people came back to Earth? He definitely didn’t. He just knew he didn’t want to let this go or lose anyone else he loved in the process. “We got really lucky.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“A lot of people didn’t.”

Tony sighed almost like he didn’t want Pepper to admit that he should do this. “No, I can’t help everybody. I can barely rekindle a relationship with my own daughter. She probably thinks I never want to talk to her again and I miss her a lot more than she knows.”

“You can help people and yourself, with whatever happened with Y/N. You don’t even need this device to go to your daughter.”

“Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now and stop.”

“Tony, trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures in my life,” Pepper jokes, wanting Tony to know that he was just what everyone in that compound needed. He smiled at her.

“I sometimes feel I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of a lake…go to bed.”

Pepper shook her head. “But would you be able to rest?”

“Okay, here we go. Time travel test Number One. Scott, fire up the uhh…van thing,” Bruce announced after you finally got him to join.

“Breakers are set. Emergency generators are on standby.”

“Good. Because if we blow the grid, I don’t wanna lose tiny here in the 1950’s,” responded Bruce which most definitely caused almost all of you to panic, mainly Scott.

You try to calm Scott down. “He’s kidding!” Natasha says something to Bruce quietly, probably telling him to watch what he says around Scott. By the time they’re done, Bruce states that Scott is ready to time travel. He says he’ll send Scott back a week. It’ll be for a few hours for him, but for the rest of you, it’ll be only a few seconds.

“Good luck, Scott. You got this.” You knew he was literally just going to walk around for a few hours, but hopefully, that’s actually what happens.

“You’re right. I do, Mrs. Captain America.”

“Wha-?” you started but Bruce had cut you off. “On the count of three! 3…2…1!” Bruce pressed the button to send Scott into the Quantum Tunnel. It was only a matter of seconds before Bruce pressed a button again to hopefully get him back. Instead of Scott, you’re met with some teenager in the same suit that Scott was sent in. What is happening?

“That…who is that?” Bruce continues to press multiple buttons, wondering who was this random teenager that showed up through the tunnel. “Hold on!”

“Is that Scott?” you question, looking over at Steve. The teenager assured you that yeah, he was Scott. Fuck. Bruce managed to send Teenager Scott back into the Quantum Tunnel, hoping that the older one would come back.

“Ow! My back!” an old man yelped, most definitely the older version of Scott.

“We’re fucked. We’re definitely fucked,” you mumbled, trying to find a solution. “Can you take off 40 years?”

“I’m working on it!” Bruce hollers, once again pressing more buttons. A baby appears.

“Bruce, I said 40 years, not his entire lifetime.”

“It’s Scott!” Bruce almost says excitedly, trying to defuse the situation.

“As a baby!” Steve added, knowing that this was definitely not going to help anyone come back.

“He’ll grow!”

“Bring Scott back.”

Bruce told Natasha to kill the power after pressing a few buttons repeatedly. This thankfully brought Scott back, but the look of defeat was on everyone’s faces except Bruce’s. You left the compound, groaning at the attempt that everyone in the room almost had hope for. Steve comes up behind you, rubbing your shoulder to try and soothe you. He somehow knew that they definitely needed Tony for this. Bruce was smart but more minds working together could only lead to a better outcome. “Look, we’ll get them back,” Steve voiced, making sure that you weren’t too upset by the defeat. “You got Mr. Captain America on your side.”

“Steve-,” you almost groaned from his attempt at a joke. He knew you were uncomfortable mentioning your past together. You wanted to work on Tony and you before you worked on trying to build back up what Steve and you had. It might bite you ass later on, but it’s what you wanted. And Steve respected that.

The sound of an expensive car speeding towards the compound has you both looking over. It drives too far past you both but then reverses. When the window rolls down, it’s your father. “Why the long face? Let me guess…he turned into a baby.”

“Among other things, yeah,” Steve answered, knowing you probably weren’t ready to talk. “What are you doing here?” Tony began to walk to the back of his car and explained why what they did went completely wrong. Honestly, you were attempting to listen but the nervousness of him being there was the only thing you were focusing on.

Tony pulled out a device. “A fully functioning time space GPS. I just want peace.” He holds up a peace sign, which almost sends your eyes to the back of your head. “Turns out resentment is corrosive, and I hate it.”

“Me too,” you whispered and you both made eye contact. He smirked in a way that only you would notice.

“We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities. Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And…maybe not die trying will be nice.” You couldn’t imagine your father dying over something you had asked him to be apart and you knew you would try and stop it from happening. Although, stopping Tony was something that never worked. Steve and you both nodded your heads.

Tony reached into the back of his trunk, pulling out Steve’s shield. The smile on your face was something Tony had missed seeing over the past five years. “Tony, I don’t know…”

“Why? He made it for you. Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding.” Steve thanks him, grabbing the shield. “We’re getting the whole team, yeah?”

“We’re working on that right now.”

***

Bruce and Rocket had both offered to go to New Asgard as they attempted to get Thor back. Natasha was trying to get Clint back in Tokyo. Honestly, you had missed Thor’s excited and determined personality. You missed everyone. You sat in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of tea you had just made. It was scorching hot, just how you liked it. Behind you, you heard scuffling of feet getting closer to the table you sat at. The eyes that you looked at were Tony’s. “Hey…” he started, although not knowing exactly where to start.

“Dad.” That was the only thing you could think of saying after a few moments of silence. Nothing could prepare you for this conversation. As much as you had wanted to talk with your dad over the past five years, you never thought about what exactly to say.

“Honey-.”

“You know, Pepper called me more than you ever did. Actually, she was the only one who called me. And I cried to her countless times about how I missed my dad. We were worried sick after the snap when we didn’t know if you were dead or alive. And when you came off of that ship looking like hell, my heart broke. But…what…what hurt my heart, even more, was when you…you didn’t even look my way. And now my heart hurts, even more, knowing that for the past five years I’ve been without a dad. You didn’t give me an address, a number…nothing. Pepper had to do that for me.”

Tony definitely knew you weren’t angry. The only thing he heard in your voice was devastation. And he was hoping you would be more angry than sad. He always knew how to try and calm you down when you were raging angry or sad, but devastation over something he did was hard to think about. He never knew what to say over the past five years either, but he knew you were right. His stubbornness took over.

“Listen…for the first time, I don’t know what to say. I spent forever trying to figure out what to say when you came to my doorstep. And now I know I shouldn’t have waited. I shouldn’t have blamed you. I was pissed, hell, I was furious when you picked Steve’s side during the Accords. I didn’t want my daughter to be seen as a criminal, I thought it was because you just loved him.” You knew Tony didn’t approve of your relationship with Steve, at first. He grew to be fine with it, but once you had told him that you weren’t signing the Accords, he tried to talk you out of it. He blamed Steve of all people. “It took me five years to realize that you have a mind of your own and you can make your own decisions, have your own opinions.”

“You should’ve realized that after you disapproved of what I wear for combat and I still wore it anyway.”

He smirked. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Tony reached across the table and grabbed your hand, something you missed over the last five years. Your dad’s presence was always something that could calm you down. Recently, it felt like that would never happen again but this moment proved different. “And as much as I don’t want you fighting this battle, I know you won’t listen. Trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures in my life.”

***

Witnessing Thor drinking beer with a more than noticeable beer belly was sad to see. You couldn’t lie either. After the snap, so much resentment sent you into a battle with yourself. You continued to gain too much and lose too much weight and most days were spent laying in bed for hours not thinking about anything. Yet, watching Thor like this seemed almost worse than that. He blamed himself for the death of billions, for killing people he loved.

All of you were inside the Testing Chamber, wondering how this would go. Scott was dressed up in his time travel suit and already used one red vial of Pym Particles, leaving us with one test run left. “Alright. I’m not ready for this,” Scott admitted.

“I’ll do it,” you said, but Tony grabbed you by your arm. “Dad, I make my own decisions.”

Clint stepped up and shook his head. “No, I’m game. I’ll do it.” You retreated, almost angry at your dad trying to control your every move again. He probably should trust his device, but Tony didn’t fully.

“Wa-wait a second, let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don’t we just find baby Thanos, you know, and…” Rhodey suggested strangling a baby, which had you cringing just a bit.

“Wow…that’s disgusting,” you muttered, a disgusted look on your face.

“It’s Thanos.”

“Time doesn’t work that way. Changing the past doesn’t change the future.”

The boys continued discussing the stones and “ancient” movies that you barely watched. Bruce finally sent Clint into the Quantum Tunnel. It was only a few seconds before Bruce had signaled that he was bringing Clint back. When Clint came back, he was breathing heavily on the platform which sent Natasha running up to check on him.

“Yeah, it worked. It worked.”

***

All of the Avengers sat in a room, trying to figure out where you could go back in time to get all of the six infinity stones before Thanos did. You sat in between Steve and Scott, taking notes every so often to try and figure this out in your head.

“Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir.”

“What is Vormir?” you asked, not knowing much about space since the trip to kill Thanos was your one trip.

“A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It’s where…Thanos murdered my sister.”

You stumbled with your pen, looking up at Nebula. Your blood ran cold because you hoped that this wouldn’t cause someone to die. You didn’t want anyone to die trying to bring back anyone else. Scott shakes his head. “Not it.”

Eventually, you, Natasha, Tony, and Bruce discussed where to find the other stones. They discussed Doctor Strange and how he lived in New York, which sent a bulb off in your head. “Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York.”

Bruce jolted up in surprise from your suggestion. “Shut the front door!”

***

In the end, you had decided to go with Clint and Natasha to Vormir. Steve and Tony begged you to go to New York to get the stones, but you felt as if five of you would be too much. Tony reminded you of what Nebula said and Steve told you about how he saw the fear in your eyes with what she said. You told them that didn’t necessarily mean anything and Thanos was just a son of a bitch who murdered his daughter. As usual, Tony sighed disappointedly but respected your decision, nonetheless. Steve persisted more than your dad did, told you that it wouldn’t end well. He felt it in his bones. You kissed him on the cheek, not saying another word during this discussion. He hugged you tightly knowing that you wouldn’t change your mind. After all, it was hard to stop a Stark.

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends…we lost family…we lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we’re gonna win.” Steve glanced over at you and made sure you were paying attention to what he said next. “Whatever it takes. Good luck.”

“He’s pretty good at that.”

“Eh, you get tired of it after a while,” you joked and Steve heard. He shook his head, smiling in a sad manner, hoping this wasn’t the last time he would see you. “See you in a minute.”

The feeling of shrinking into the Quantum Realm and going to 2014 was a feeling you couldn’t shake. It was exhilarating but something you would never want to do again. After splitting off from Rhodey and Nebula, the ship was set for Vormir. You had decided to sit in the back and let Natasha and Clint talk quietly. For most of this, you were just thinking and worried about something bad happening. Sure, you wanted to get everyone back. Whatever it takes. But, you barely bid anyone a proper goodbye. Steve was the only one you hugged tightly, but it was more of a “see you soon”.

Eventually, the ship arrived and you found the planet to be quite beautiful in an unsettling way.

“I bet the raccoon didn’t have to climb a mountain,” Natasha muttered as the three of you made your way up.

“Technically, he’s not a raccoon, Nat.” She laughed at your comment, enjoying the three of you as working together.

“Whatever, he eats garbage.”

“Welcome.” The three of you drew your guns on the person standing before you. “Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Y/N, daughter of Tony. Clint, son of Edith.”

“Who are you?” you asked, not dropping the gun despite him knowing who your dad was. Something was up.

“Consider me a guide. To you, and to all who seek the Soul Stone.”

“Oh, well…good. You tell us where it is. Then we’ll be on our way,” you stated and dropped your gun to your side. If he happened to know Tony’s name, Clint’s mom’s name, and even Natasha’s dad…then you thought you trusted him. Especially since Natasha once told you that she didn’t even know her dad’s name.

“If only it were that easy…” the Stonekeeper said, sending chills up your spine. He led the three of you to a cliff. “What you seek lies in front of you. As do what you fear.”

“The stone is down there.”

“For two of you. For one…in order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul.” Fuck.

***

You don’t know how long the three of you sat, trying to figure out how to go about this situation. Steve’s speech rang through all of your minds about doing whatever it takes. Natasha and you believed what he had said, but Clint was trying not to believe it.

“Maybe he’s making this shit up.”

“No…I don’t think so.”

“Why? Cause he knows your Daddy’s name?”

“Well, she didn’t know his name, Clint. Thanos left here with the stone without his daughter. You heard what Nebula said. It’s not a coincidence. Whatever it takes. If we don’t get the stones, billions of people stay dead.”

“Then I guess we all know who it’s gotta be,” Clint admitted, thinking we were all thinking the same person.

“I’m starting to think we mean different people,” you muttered, looking at both of them. You didn’t want to disappoint Steve and Tony. You knew that they told you not to go, they heard Nebula in that room. It didn’t take long to figure out exactly why Nebula’s sister didn’t return with Thanos. Yet, you felt like this is what you wanted. Clint and you used to be close but you hadn’t seen him in a while. He had a family and one he definitely shouldn’t let go. Natasha was your best friend from the Avengers and you guys were super close after the last five years. You didn’t want anything happening to either of them. You wouldn’t allow it.

“For the last five years I’ve been trying to do one thing: Get to right here. That’s all it’s been about. Bringing everybody back,” Natasha said.

“Nat, no.”

“What, you think I wanna do it? I’m trying to save my best friends’ lives, you idiots.”

“Yeah well, I don’t want you to, because I…Natasha, you know what I’ve done. You know what I’ve become,” Clint said, begging for Natasha to change her mind.

“I don’t judge people on their worst mistakes.”

You slipped from the conversation, staring at the end of the cliff. So, this is where Nebula’s sister died. You knew it wasn’t because she wanted to. She didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve to lose her life for Thanos to kill billions with the stone. Yet, simply jumping from this cliff could bring back those billions of lives. Steve might’ve been hiding how much he missed Bucky. He lost his best friend and then after you slipping away, life probably wasn’t the same. You wanted to see the genuine smile back on his face when Bucky is back. “Tell Tony and Steve I love them.”

The two of them immediately looked at you while you were close to the edge. You could see the fear in both of their eyes, both of their eyes widening. Natasha knew she had to think quick as your leg moved over the cliff. “You tell them yourself.” Natasha ran, jumping and hooking you with a grappling hook.

“Nat!” you scream, holding onto her hand. “No!” You tried to get out, but it was no use. Attempting to get out almost dropped your best friend.

“It’s okay.” She kicked off the wall, falling to the ground beneath her. You yelped, looking away from her on the floor. A sob took over your body as both you and Clint didn’t know what to do. It was heartbreaking. Someone that stood by your side for the worst five years of your life was now gone. And you couldn’t bring her back.

***

“Did we get them all?”

You dropped to your knees, sobbing. Everyone’s eyes shot to you and they began to realize someone was missing. Steve walked over to you, trying to stand you up. He pulled you into a hug, wondering what could’ve gone wrong. “Clint, where’s Nat?” The fact that Clint didn’t answer and your continuous sobs showed that she wasn’t coming back. Steve had squeezed you tighter, feeling the grief.

Tony, Steve, Bruce, Clint, and you sat by the lake. Your cries were subdued, but thinking about how Natasha should be standing here instead still had tears falling down your face. “It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it.”

Steve and Tony looked at you, wondering what you were talking about. They didn’t think you would actually sacrifice yourself, leaving them behind to struggle to grapple with your death. Tony was even sadder because after not talking to you for five years, he was so happy that you guys were talking. He was ecstatic that he could finally rekindle something he was too stubborn to do before. And, yet all of that could’ve gone to shit and he would never see you again. “She’s not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to.”

“We will.”

After this discussion, Tony pulled you to the side. He had tears falling down his face, not knowing what to say. “You…you were gonna do it?” You didn’t want to answer his question. It was hard to admit it back there because you couldn’t imagine how devastated your dad would be if it were you that didn’t come back. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if that was you that we were all mourning right now. I couldn’t imagine.”

“Dad, I was right there. I was at the side of the cliff and yet Natasha was so determined on being the one. She wouldn’t let either of us sacrifice ourselves.”

“Natasha could stop you before I ever could.” He pushed a few strands behind your ear, kissing you on the forehead. He couldn’t imagine if you weren’t there when everyone got back. You appreciated him bringing light to this situation. Tony left after a bit, going to the lab to place the stones on the gauntlet. After a few minutes, you followed after him into the compound and walking to the lab. Steve stood outside of the lab, a look of sorrow on his face. You knew that he was sad over Natasha, but thinking more about how sad it would’ve been to be in your place. To watch your best friend die and being the one wanting to sacrifice yourself. Before you stepped into the lab, his hand moved to grasp his around yours. You smiled at him, reassuring him that we are about to get back everyone we lost. The two of you walked into the lab.

After figuring out who would be the one to do the snap, Bruce stepped up to the plate. Thor wanted to, badly, but you knew it would kill him. You all saw what happened to Thanos after he snapped away billions of lives.

“You remember… everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don’t change anything from the last five years.”

“Got it.” Bruce nodded. Everyone suited up.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., do me a favor and activate Protocol 8.”

“Yes, boss.” The compound soon went on lockdown.

You were still holding Steve’s hand, squeezing it a bit tighter from fear of what would happen to Bruce. He put on the gauntlet, screaming in pain from how strong the gauntlet is. “Talk to us, Bruce,” you said, hoping he was okay.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” he grunted. Through the pain of the gauntlet, he tries hard to snap his fingers and bring everyone back. His groans of pain continue before he finally snaps his fingers. The power became so strong that he collapsed and you kicked the gauntlet away. Bruce held onto your arm as you bend down to his level, asking in pain, “Did it work?”

“Worth a shot. It’s over. It’s okay.” In the distance, you hear a phone ringing, but you’re too busy trying to assure that Bruce is okay. His arm has definitely seen better days.

“Guys…I think it worked!” you heard Scott yell from the other room while looking out the large window. A shadow began to overcast over the compound, and Bruce’s eyes widened. You feel a push, arms around you and then everything goes black.

***

“Come on, you two. Wake up.” You groaned, feeling the blast ache your body. Steve’s arms were wrapped around you loosely and you realized that was the push you felt before the blast. Opening your eyes, you see your dad trying to wake you and Steve up. Steve soon opens his own eyes after you stumbled to stand. “There you go. You lose this again, I’m keeping it.” Tony handed Steve his shield.

“What happened?” Steve asks, eyes scanning yours to make sure you’re okay.

“We messed with time. It tends to mess back.”

The three of you walk to where Thor is standing as he observes Thanos a few hundred feet away. “What’s he been doing?” you question, noticing that he sat there acting as if he didn’t blow up the entire Avengers facility.

“Absolutely nothing.”

“He doesn’t have the stones, right?”

“No, and we should keep it that way.”

You more than knew that this was a trap. Thanos quietly sitting there, staring at the four of you nonchalantly. There was no way that he was willingly going to sit there after the compound was obliterated. “You know it’s a trap right?”

“Yeah…and I don’t much care,” Tony admitted, the adrenaline beginning to run through his veins. “Listen, Y/N, I want you out of this. Go help find everyone else, this isn’t your battle.”

“It became my battle when Nat sacrificed herself to get us to where we are right now.” Your suit formed around you, something Tony had designed to make sure you remain protected during battle. His technology became more advanced and he made sure to update everything he could to prepare something protective. It wasn’t thick like his was, but it fit your body nicely and allowed for proper movement. Countless practicing with Steve had prepared you for fighting on the battlefield, but Tony made sure to add more that could higher your chances of success. You could hear a sigh escape his mouth, muttering in disbelief at how stubborn Starks were.

Thor summoned Mjolnir and Stormbreaker and you watched the thunder surround him. “Let’s kill him properly this time.” Soon, you all were standing face to face to Thanos.

The smirk on his face was something you desperately wanted to wipe off. “You could not live with your own failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me. I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me that’s impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist.”

“Yep. We’re all kinds of stubborn,” Tony replied.

“I’m thankful. Because now, I know what I must do.” Thanos stood up, slowly moving towards his helmet, making sure to put it on. “I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then…with the stones you’ve collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe.”

“Born out of blood.”

“They’ll never know it. Because you won’t be alive to tell them.” Thor and Tony run at Thanos. Once Thor and Tony’s attempts were done, you and Steve ran to attack. Thanos went to hit you but Steve blocked you, holding up the shield.

“Okay, Thor. Hit me.” Thor slammed Mjolnir and Stormbreaker together and uses his lightning to hit Tony’s suit with energy. Tony uses it to blast Thanos. It’s back and forth, someone getting knocked out and someone else stepping into their place as they quickly recover. Thanos used your dad as a shield, which left Tony laying on the ground.

“Dad!” You ran over to your dad, checking to make sure he was okay.

Steve instantly ran up to Thanos, trying to attack him but Thanos shields him away. Thor continues trying to get the upper hand against Thanos, but it seems no use. Everything Thor did was instantly blocked by Thanos. At this point, Thanos stood over Out the corner of your eye, you see Mjolnir lifted from the ground and hit Thanos as it moves towards Steve’s hands. You gasped in amazement as Steve picked up the hammer. Soon after, Thanos goes after Steve as he fights with both his shield and Mjolnir. Tony soon wakes up, both hands going on your shoulders. “You okay?” he grunts, standing up.

“I mean I’m not the one who was just used as a shield for lightning.”

“Good point.” A painful grunt from Steve was heard and you quickly turned around. Thanos continued to obliterate Steve’s shield and threw him. You were about to run over to Steve, but he staggered to stand up a few seconds after.

“In all my years of conquest…violence…slaughter…it was never personal. But I’ll tell you now…what I’m about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet…I’m gonna enjoy it. Very, very much.” Thanos’ army descends to the ground where you all stand. Tony and you walked over to Steve, bewildered by the four of you having to fight against Thanos’ entire army. Steve looks at Thanos with determination and tightens his shield to his arm, despite it being completely broken. He suddenly stops, almost leaning his head towards his comm device in his ear. The sound of crackling fills your ears.

“Cap, you hear me?” Was that Sam? “Cap, it’s Sam. Can you hear me?” The sound of whirring filled your ears and you turned behind you. A yellow portal was starting to appear on Steve’s left-hand side, reminding you of Doctor Strange’s portal. Holy shit. “On your left.”

The battlefield was suddenly covered in Doctor Strange’s yellow portals, thousands of people walking through. Okoye, T’Challa and the Wakandan army, Shuri, Sam, Drax, Mantis, Star Lord, Groot, Wanda, who you assumed was Hope, Scott’s girl, Peter, Valkyrie, and the Asgardian army, Pepper, Wong and the Masters of the Mystic Arts and several Ravager ships. What stood out to you the most was Bucky, ready for battle. “Avengers!” Steve summoned Mjolnir, ready to say his favorite words. “Assemble.”

Everyone began running towards Thanos’ army. You picked up a sword from the ground, slicing through his army as they dropped like flies. One of Chitauri jumped in front of you, causing you to jump. You readied your stance to hopefully slice this guy in half when Mjolnir smacked it and sent it a few hundred feet away. You glanced to your right and Steve smirked at you, running to fight more of Thanos’ army. Eventually, you found your way over to Tony and Doctor Strange in the chaos, fighting alongside them. Scott realized that even though Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel, there was still another one in his van. Now, everyone worked together to get the stones far from Thanos so that Scott and Hope could restart his ugly van.

“Hey. You said one out of 14 million, we win, yeah? Tell me this is it,” Tony asked, fighting off some of Thanos’ army. He blocked you from one running up behind you, blasting it.

“If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen.” You saw Stephen look over at you, an almost sorrowful look in his eyes. This caused you to raise one eyebrow but the look was gone almost as quickly as it came.

“You better be right.”

After more fighting, you hear F.R.I.D.A.Y. alert Tony and you about something entering the atmosphere. You would’ve believed it was more of Thanos’ army about to rain down more fire, but they were firing at it instead. “I think I know who it is.”

Carol Danvers came flying down straight towards Peter who was holding onto the gauntlet tightly. She was relentless, wanting to knock Thanos down but once again, Thanos seemed to always have the upper hand. He pulled the power stone from the gauntlet, using it to hit Carol away. The gauntlet rolls toward your feet and you know exactly what you had to do. Tony was preoccupied and attacking Thanos, not noticing that you were about to do something that would kill you. Thanos quickly threw Tony away, getting ready to snap his fingers. You slipped the gauntlet on as it adjusted tightly around your arm and looked over at Strange. He raised one finger and you knew this was the one out of 14 million. Tony struggled to stand up, staggering before noticing that Thanos was about to snap this universe’s existence.

“I…am…inevitable.” He breathes heavily, ready to watch everyone on this planet turn to dust again. He snaps his fingers but the stones aren’t on his gauntlet. The power of all six stones on the gauntlet wrapped around your hand was something you couldn’t endure for too long. You saw your dad’s wide eyes lock with your own and Steve running towards you, yelling at you to stop.

“Enjoy this…you motherfucker.” You snapped your fingers and the power ran through your body too strongly. A pained scream escaped your lips as you dropped to the ground and leaned up against debris, whimpering from the pain from the stones. If this basically burned Bruce’s entire arm, you were definitely not going to make it. The best thing you saw was Thanos disintegrate into ash and his entire army as mostly everyone stood to watch.

Steve stumbled up to you as tears were running down his bloodied face. You were badly burnt and your whimpers soon vanished as you could barely make any noise. He grabbed the side of your face but he knew there was nothing that he could do. “God…” he choked out, laying his forehead against yours. “You weren’t supposed to do this.” The whisper escaped his mouth and even though your eyes were ringing, all you could do was simply look up at him. “I…I love you. I should’ve told you sooner.” He kissed the top of your head and heavy footsteps were pounding behind him.

“Y/N, oh god. What have you done now? Y/N…” Tony couldn’t breathe, trying to collect the last words to say to his own daughter. Steve was still kneeling next to you, struggling to breathe. The two people the Avengers barely saw cry were huddled around your body, not knowing what to say. The Avengers surround you as they began to realize they would lose someone very important. Tony knew that he couldn’t even fix you up, there was no reversing this. It wasn’t supposed to end like this, but it was. This was the one out of 14 million.

“Hey, Dad…” you mumbled, barely able to get it out. You weren’t sure if he heard you but the sob that escaped his body was verification.

“I wish…I wish I could take back the last five years-. Friday?”

“Life functions critical.”

“Y/N…look at me.” You try to stare long enough, feeling your body breaking down to its final moments. “We love you. You can rest now.” Everything faded to black as your body took its last breath.

***

“Don’t do anything stupid until I get back,” Steve teased, looking at his best friend. He knew that Bucky knew exactly what he was going to do.

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” Steve and Bucky hugged, Bucky making sure to slip two extra Pym Particle bottles into Steve’s hand.

Steve walked over to the Quantum Tunnel, suiting up to bring back all of the infinity stones to the exact time everyone took them.

“How long is this gonna take?” Sam asks.

“For him? As long as he needs. For us? Five seconds.” Steve picked up Mjolnir, knowing that this was his moment.

“Going quantum. Three, two, one…”

2014

This was Steve’s last destination. He used his supposed-to-be last bottle on getting to America during this year, where you sit in the restaurant before a date. He sees you sitting by the window, waiting for 2014 Steve to arrive. The restaurant was actually quite empty, so he tapped on the window quickly. You looked over, looking at Steve questioningly. He motioned for you to walk to the door and you rolled your eyes, grabbing your stuff and walking to the door. He waited for you to meet him.

“Steve…what the hell are you wearing?” you ask as you walk away from the restaurant.

“Look, this isn’t going to be easy to explain…” Steve didn’t know where to begin. Being apart of the Avengers, you saw things that many other people wouldn’t believe. But, this was way before you knew about Thanos.

“Well…whatever it is, just know I’ll believe you.”

Steve smiled, knowing that you had so much faith in him. “There’s really no easy way...to begin this…I am here to bring you to the future. To 2023.” He said confidently, glancing up at you.

“And somehow I don’t believe that.”

“Look, I am from the future. We lost half of Earth’s population and to get it all back…it took a sacrifice. More than one.” You looked at him, wondering just exactly what the sacrifices were. Overall, you weren’t sure if you wanted to know but you asked anyway.

“Was one of them…me?” The look on Steve’s face broke, as he held onto your hands. He missed you. He was overwhelmed and nervous before, but now he missed the look you gave him. Even though you slightly changed during the years after Thanos’ snap, he knew deep down you still loved him. It was touchy to bring up what you two used to have, but he wasn’t going to leave you here.

Tony barely spoke with anyone after you died, only to Morgan and Pepper. He would talk to Steve most of the time, also. Tony hoped to bring you home to Morgan to finally introduce you two and that didn’t happen. It was only a few days after the second battle against Thanos and Tony couldn’t shake what happened.

“Yeah…yeah, it was. And…Nat.”

“Nat? Natasha?” you gasp, rethinking going with Steve.

“Look…it’s irreversible. I would try to bring her back, but I can’t.”

“You could, though. If you could bring me, we could get her.”

“I don’t have enough time.” You shook your head, thinking how selfish it would be for you not to relive your death, but for Natasha having to. “Look, Y/N…please, come with me.”

You stared at Steve, looking into his eyes. His eyes were screaming for you to come, hope coursing through them. The pained look Steve gave you at the window made you believe what happened even more. It was almost painful in a way that had you believing it was because he was desperate to see you again. As if he was pained from watching people he loved sacrifice themselves to live a life Thanos took away. “Removing me from the past, doesn’t mess up what I did?” you ask, as Steve shakes his head.

“I promise this is different.” You nod your head, trying to come to terms with what you’re about to do.

“I just have one more question.”

“Yeah?” He grabs the side of your face, his thumb massaging your cheek. Just a few days ago your cheek was burned from the power of the stones. He loved having you back in his arms and he brushed a few strands out of your face, again. Something he knew calms you down.

“Does my dad approve of this…of us?” Steve laughs, nodding his head yes. You sigh contently, letting Steve know that you’re ready to go. “I’m ready, then.”

***

Bruce called for Tony to the woods. It was a few days after the battle with Thanos and frankly, Tony didn’t want to be bothered. So, when Bruce called him to the woods, he was pissed. It took some encouraging and Bruce saying that he just needed to come. He knew Steve went back to return the stones, so he thought something went incredibly wrong. Bruce sounded excited, so he didn’t know why he was stumbling behind Bruce to the quantum tunnel.

He definitely wasn’t as energetic as Bruce, merely sauntering behind him muttering in annoyance. He was still in his pajamas and slippers, wanting to be back in his living room watching T.V. with Morgan. When Morgan begged to come with them, Tony said no in fear that it wasn’t something good. He stumbled into the woods, following Bruce’s tracks but he wasn’t prepared for who was in front of him and stopped him in his tracks.

“Y/N…?” he whispered.

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

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the-shadow-of-atlantis · 5 years

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Cinderella Au

Summary: Cinderella AU for Annabella and Kaldur.

Tag List: @lizartgurl @melyaliz @coffee-randomness @gobydana @keanureevesislesbian @speedypan

Part 3

Read Earlier Parts Here or Read On Wattpad

Kaldur breathed out a sigh of relief as he finished cleaning the last of the living room. Hearing the alarm get set go off he quickly made his way to the kitchen.

“Kaldur! Is the food finished?” David asked as he fixed his sleeve on his way down the stairs.

“Yes, I just finished it.” Said Kaldur as he set the food to the side and went to grab the plates. “How many plates should I prepare?”

“Six.” David gave Kaldur a pointed look. “And they better look presentable.”

Kaldur simply nodded as he got the plates set up. He had just finished setting up the table when his step brothers came rushing in.

“They’re here. They're here.” They said in unison, scrambling to get their shirts straightened and hair smoothed.

Michael grabbed his emergency coffee and poured himself some in a rather large mug.

“Kaldur is everything ready?” David shouted as he peeked through the window.

“Ye-”

“Then make yourself scarce, now.” He ordered.

Kaldur sighed but decided to stay in the kitchen in case something came up. Closing the wooden blinds that peered into the dining room he waited.

“So why exactly am I accompanying you to this?” Annabella questioned as she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.

“It's a business dinner dear. It's good to attend these from time to time. Calm settings can lead to great outcomes.” Thalia her stepmother explained as she carefully applied her lipstick.

“Right, and why isn’t Tim or Damian here to learn too?” Annabella questioned again raising an eyebrow.

Instead of answering Thalia simply glanced over at her husband Bruce, who seemed to be choosing his next words carefully.

“Your business will be opening soon and there are still things you need to get taken care of this will be a good opportunity to branch out,” Bruce said nodding at his answer.

“Okay, but does it this meeting really have to be with him?” Annabella sneered as she picked up a magazine with David posed dramatically with his sons on the cover.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bruce questioned.

“He’s an egotistical jackass who uses his sons as bait because he's desperate to get his business back to how it was before he took over. Full offense but I‘d rather have dinner with Luthor at least then I’d have a real challenge.” Annabella huffed causing Thalia to hide a smile.

“Luthor is a madman with too much money.” Bruce frowned.

“At least he doesn’t have any son’s to throw at me.”

“Annabella.” Bruce snapped causing her to straighten up. “This dinner is important.”

“To who? To you? To him? Because it’s definitely not important to me. I don’t need any of them to help me run my sanctuary they probably don’t even care about what I’m doing.”

Bruce opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Thalia placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Sometimes we have to have meetings with those whose views don’t match our own. This, however, can still help. Come in see how he acts in his own home and if you’re opinion of him doesn’t change then we can drop it.” Thalia suggested causing Annabella to sigh.

“Fine”

The car slowed down to a stop and everyone slowly climbed out.

“Go ahead dear we’ll be there shortly.” Said, Thalia, as she gently placed a hand on Annabella’s shoulder.

Thalia watched as Bruce walked ahead before turning to face Annabella.

“Are you ready?” Thalia asked as she fixed Annabella’s hair, Annabella simply nodded. “Good show him what you got.”

Annabella took a deep breath, how bad could this be?

“Mr. Wayne!” David greeted causing Kaldur to snap his head up. Wayne? That’s who this dinner was for? “Um, I thought your daughter would be joining us?”

Oh, that’s who’s this is for. Kaldur took out his phone and messaged his friends.

Kaldur: The dinner is for Annabella Wayne.

“She will be with us shortly my wife is just having a few moments with her,” Bruce explained.

Garth: Wait, THE Annabella Wayne???? The girl who’s opening an animal sanctuary and is already in talks of expanding into marine life? And she’s only in her 20’s???? Her????!?!?!?!?!?!

Tula: Why do you know so much about her?

Garth: No reason.

Lori: Wait isn't she vegan?

Kaldur slightly panicked at the message remembering what it was that he cooked. Maybe he should have asked earlier who was coming.

Lagaan: Nah she eats meat she’s cool like that.

Tula: How’s the dinner going?

Kaldur paused to listen in, David was in the middle of bragging about Adam. Carefully peaking through the blinds and saw Annabella's annoyed expression. Michael looked nervous and seemed to be downing his cup of coffee.

Kaldur: Horrible, she looked like she's ready to stab someone.

Topo: Didn’t she actually do that once?

Lori: No that was her little brother

Lori: Wait no it was both.

Kaldur shook his head and peaked again. There was something familiar about her.

Kaldur: I feel like I’ve met her before.

Lagaan: Duh she’s on the cover of every magazine

Kaldur: No I feel like I’ve met her in person somewhere.

Kaldur stared intently at her and her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall. Her eyes, they were a nice warm brown. Suddenly Kaldur felt his heart skip a beat. It was her.

Kaldur: It’s the cat lady.

Topo: What?

Tula: No way.

Garth: No wonder she had so much cat food. She’s been struggling with getting shipping companies to make business with her. Rumor has it that whoever she tries to talk to something always goes wrong with the shipments.

Tula: Again why do you know so much about her????

Lagaan: Sounds like Garth's getting put into the dog house.

So that's what this meeting is all about Kaldur thought. To convince her to do business with him. Kaldur rolled his eyes leave it to his stepfather to come up with something this ridiculous.

Looking up at the counter Kaldur realized he forgot to take the crab cakes to the table. Crap he’d get in trouble if the dinner wasn’t laid out perfectly. Looking at his clothes he figured he could pass as a waiter and walked out with the tray. He was about to speak up when he heard what she was saying.

To say the dinner was going horribly was an understatement. Annabella sighed as David droned on and on about his sons’ accomplishments. Every time Annabella tried to talk she’d be cut off by one of the boys who in turned bragged about themselves. Well, Adam bragged meanwhile Michael seemed to have a death grip on his coffee mug. Huh, maybe he and Tim could get along and swap coffee notes. Looking at the clock Annabella internally groaned, how could it have only been 20 minutes so far?

“So how about after dinner you and I can grab some dessert?” Adam suggested snapping Annabella out of her thoughts as he placed a hand on her thigh.

Okay, that was the last straw, Grabbing his hand Annabella pulled his fingers back hard.

“Touch me without my permission again and you’ll have a hook for a hand.” Annabella shoved his hand away and quickly stood up.

“Miss Wayne wait we haven’t even discussed the advantages our businesses could have together.” Said, David.

“Actually this conversation was over before it was planned. But if you insist fine I’m all ears. What does your shipping company have to offer my up and coming sanctuary?” Annabella raised an eyebrow as she slowly sat back down.

“You will need supplies to be brought in. I hear you have been having trouble with that as it is. My shipping company is the best and can get you what you need in record time. You get what you need and I get free promotion.” David said simply smiling as if it was the most brilliant plan ever.

“Is that all” Annabella asked making David look at her confused. “Well, then I am afraid that my answer is no.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“No, I will not be doing business with you.”

“But I just told you-”

“Something that I'm pretty sure you have promised to others before me, and look how well that turned out for them. Lost shipments, companies demanding refunds, overcharges. You yourself are slowly falling into debt due to some very poor choices on your part. You decided to use cheap supplies which in turn affect the marine life you pass by with every shipment. Your employees are underpaid and are forced to live in poor conditions while out at sea. Your ships are understaffed. Not only that you throw your sons around as if they are nothing but a piece of meat to you. Your only idea of how to solve your problems is to marry rich and quite frankly I find it a bit odd how you managed to get your hands on such a company. Calvin Durham knew how to run a business, it’s a shame what you’ve turned it into.” Annabella huffed as she stood up and turned to leave except she walked straight into a wall.

A very strong and warm wall that seemed to envelop her in a tight hug. Wait walls didn’t hug. Annabella hadn’t noticed the person standing behind her and Kaldur still hadn’t moved after hearing everything she said. Annabella had crashed into him so hard that he lost his balance, his first thought was to protect her from the fall which in turn make him drop the tray. Now they were both on the floor covered in crabcakes, eyes locked as they tried to process what happened. Wait a minute, Annabella had seen those eyes somewhere before. In fact, it was earlier today at the market. Annabella blushed as she quickly tried to get up.

“I am so sorry.”

“I wasn’t looking.”

“Are you okay?”

They spoke over each other as they helped one another brush off the food that landed on them. Annabella felt her heart skip a beat when his eyes looked over her. they were filled with so much kindness and worry, just like how ’d they’d been at the market.

“We really got to stop meeting like this.” Annabella laughed nervously forgetting where she was until she heard someone clear their throat.

Annabella straightened up and slowly turned to look at their small audience. Thalia seemed to have a knowing look, Bruce had a bit of disappointed look mixed with a glare, and David seemed to be fuming as his sons just stared in shock. Wait, what was the boy from the market doing here? Quickly composing remembering what she was doing there in the first place she cleared her throat.

“Right well I’ll um take my leave.” Annabella did an awkward bow and rushed out of the house but not before sneaking one final glance at the pale green-eyed boy.

Kaldur stood watching as she left snapping out of his trance when Bruce Wayne brushed past him.

“Annabella!” he shouted but she was already gone, sighing he turned to face David. “I am so sorry about this.”

“I’m not.” Thalia stood up and cleaned her face. “We did what we came to do. The dinner was delicious though I will give you that.”

Kaldur noticed that she was looking at him while completing the food.

“I’d ask for the recipe but I wouldn’t want to hurt Alfred's feelings.” Thalia smiled. “Now we best get going beloved.”

David escorted the Wayne out of the house. When they left he turned to face Kaldur.

“Pick. This mess up. Now.” he gritted through his teeth.

Great Kaldur was definitely in trouble.

Annabella had barely messaged her sister when she saw her car pull up next to her.

“That was fast.” Said, Annabella, as she quickly got in.

“Alfred told me what happened when I got home. Figured I should standby in case you needed rescuing.” Emma looked over her sister noticing the bits of food all over her. “So, how did it go?”

Annabella simply gave her a look.

“That bad huh.”

“God he was horrible, the guy wouldn’t shut up and then one of his sons tried to grope me.”

“Is that how you ended up covered in crabcake?” Emma asked as she plucked a piece from Annabella's shoulder humming in satisfaction.

“No.” Annabella sighed as she stared out the window. “Hey, do you know anything about David Kane having a third son?”

“Um, I’m not sure why?”

Annabella shook her head thinking about the boy she saw today. “No reason I guess. It's just there was another guy there but as far as I could tell he wasn’t like the rest of them.”

“Oh?” Emma glanced at her sister noticing the soft blush tinting her cheeks and smirked.

“I meant he we nice.” Annabella tried to defend herself but there was something about him that she couldn’t shake. “I never got his name though.”

Emma simply hummed eyeing the house in her rearview mirror.

Special Thanks to @lizartgurl for helping me with this part. Emma belongs to her.

#oc x kaldur #oc x kaldur'ahm #kaldur imagine #kaldur'ahm imagine #dc imagine #cinderella au

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imaginetonyandbucky · 7 years

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Fairytales

Part 2 of 2

A/N: I got all the Russian endearments from a website that listed endearments. I put them in Google translate and they seemed vaguely right, so... sure.

He was really not expecting this. And he wasn't ready for this conversation, not really. The panic he was feeling must be showing on his face because Bucky slouched, making himself look smaller. He looked like he hadn’t been sleeping well, which made Tony’s stomach clench with guilt. He had done that to him.

They stared at each other, before JARVIS broke the silence. “Would you like me to save the simulation results, Sir?”

Tony jumped. “Yes, yeah, save and shut it down, J.” He took a deep breath. He was an adult. He could do this. “Wanna sit?” He waved a hand at the workshop. There was the couch that he had transformed into his bed, and a few stools scattered around.

Bucky nodded, and chose the couch. “Sit with me?”

Tony sat. He was an adult. He could do this. He opened his mouth, but Bucky beat him to it.

“I’m sorry.”

Frowning, Tony turned to face Bucky. “For what?” Buck didn’t have anything to be sorry about. He was the one who ran and hid for a week, ignoring his soulmate. He was the one who was a complete asshole, not Bucky.

“For-” Bucky paused. “Whatever you need me to be?”

Tony huffed out a laugh. “What a pair,” he muttered, shoving a hand through his hair. He let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry. I was an ass. I should have said something. Or not hidden away. For so long. Or said something. Sooner. Did I say that?” He mentally cringed at that terrible apology. “It really had nothing to do with you, but I took it out on you.” There, that sounded like an apology from someone who had their shit together.

Bucky nodded slowly. “I thought it was. Me, I mean. I understood.”

Tony reached over and took his hands. The contrast between the metal and the flesh hands was startling, but this wasn't the time to geek out. “No.” He said it firmly. leaving no room for disagreement or questioning. “This was 100% my hang ups.”

“That's what Natasha said. And Steve. And Clint, and Bruce, and Pepper, and Rhodey.”

Tony colored. “They all talked to you?”

(Watch out for the break!)

“I was pretty bummed,” Bucky said frankly.

Well, ouch. He probably deserved that. He definitely deserved that. “I’m sorry,” he said again. It was all he could say. “Tell me how to make this up to you.”

Bucky smirked, and there was an echo of the old Bucky Barnes from the war reels in it. “I can think of somethin’.” Then he sobered, looking more like the man Steve had brought in two weeks ago. “Give this a try?”

Tony could try. He was the king of trying. Plus, that smirk. It would take a saint to resist that.

He definitely wasn't.

“Yeah. I can do that.”

It wasn't easy. They had moments of awkwardness, and they had to sometimes pick their way around each other’s triggers, of which there were plenty between the two of them. They had arguments, and they spent time apart cooling off. But they both tried.

Sometimes Tony overcompensated for being an asshole for that first week, but Bucky would gently remind him that he accepted him exactly as he was, hang-ups and all, and Tony would quickly settle back into relative normalcy.

“Hey snowflake,” Tony said cheerfully. They had had a talk the night before, which was a nice euphemism for crying while talking about their emotions and needs. But like always, today was a fresh day. They had promised, early on, not to go to bed angry at each other, and it helped a lot. Their fights were further apart, and they were closer than ever. “What's up?”

“Can I just come see my cахарок[1] for no reason?” Bucky asked, wrapping his arms around Tony’s waist from behind. Tony was sitting in a stool, working on another project for SI.

“Sure you could. You haven't yet.”

Bucky kissed the side of his neck gently, and Tony melted into his arms. “So, what brings you down to my lair?”

“I brought you coffee,” he said, nodding towards the mug that was set on the work table. “And some cookies.”

Tony lit up. “Coffee? For me?”

Bucky nuzzled his nose behind Tony’s ear. “For you, baby.”

Tony half turned in his seat and kissed Bucky. “You’re my hero.”

“I know.”

“Want to stay and help with the gauntlets?” Ever since Bucky had seen Tony working on the Iron Man suit, he had been obsessed, asking question after question, and would be content to sit and watch Tony work on even the most mundane of details if it had anything to do with the suit. Eventually, Tony had started offering to let him help, and Bucky had nearly vibrated off the seat, he was so excited. When Tony asked, Bucky had shrugged, and evaded his eyes about why he loved the Iron Man suit so much.

It wasn't that important, and it was honestly pretty flattering, so Tony let it go, since Bucky seemed so embarrassed.

“Absolutely!” He seemed as enthusiastic as ever.

They started going out on dates, a month after they broke the news that James Buchanan Barnes was still alive, courtesy of a knock-off serum. They spun the story a little bit. Since the Winter Soldier was a ghost story for even top intelligence agencies, they didn't release that Bucky had been the Winter Soldier. All that was stated was that he was alive due to a bastardized super-soldier serum and some non-reproducible freezing methods. The very idea that a second super-soldier from World War II was still alive and young was more than enough to feed the media frenzy.

It was assumed that the real story would leak eventually, but until it did, this allowed the public to see the new Bucky before they saw him as a weapon.

Probably. The public was fickle.

Plus he was soulmates to Tony Stark, who was sometimes America’s darling and sometimes the devil incarnate. He could never keep up. He still felt a pang of sadness in situations like this that Bucky was saddled with him as a soulmate, but Bucky had said over and over that he was more than delighted to have him as his soulmate. He had no choice but to believe him.

“Here, try this,” Tony said, offering his fork to Bucky. It was salmon with a citrus sauce. Ever since they had started going out, Tony had delighted in introducing Bucky to new foods. Before the war, Bucky and Steve had been poor. During the war, the army was more interested in easy and moveable than interesting, and Hydra? All Hydra cared about was that their Asset was functional.

So now he got to show Bucky new things every time they ate out. Sushi. Fish. Duck. Escargot had been a memorable experience. They had even both tried snake, at a restaurant in LA. Tony because he would try anything at least once, and Bucky because Tony had dared him.

“It ain’t snail, is it?”

Tony shook his head. “Just salmon. You'll like it.”

Obligingly, Bucky opened his mouth and let Tony feed him the bite of salmon. Swallowing, he nodded. “S’good.”

Tony felt a flush of warmth, having picked something his soulmate liked. It was ridiculous, but he liked pleasing Bucky.

“How's your steak?” No matter where they were, if steak was on the menu, then Bucky got it. He had a ranking of every steak he had eaten so far, with several categories. Tony wasn't sure how he assigned points or kept track, but between Bucky and JARVIS, there were nearly twenty different steaks on the list now.

“Great!” Bucky said enthusiastically. “Better than last week’s steak. Want some, Лучик?”[2] He offered Tony a bite.

Tony accepted, just like he did every time. “You're right, this is better.”

Bucky gave him a quick kiss before stealing a bite from Tony’s plate.

“Hey!”

Laughing, Bucky offered Tony another piece of steak.

Tony still spent a lot of hours in the workshop. He did, after all, work full time as the head of R&D for SI, full time as a consultant for SHIELD, and full time as essentially the quartermaster who also designed the weapons for the Avengers. Bucky never complained, since Tony put in an effort to watch the time, and if he forgot, to leave when Bucky came to collect him.

“My Дракончик[3], you've been down here for hours,” Bucky said, startling Tony.

Tony steadied the soldering iron before he dropped it. “It's only been what, ten, twelve hours? I've gone longer, haven't I J?”

“Sir, it's been nearly twenty. And while you indeed have worked longer without sleep, that doesn't mean you should.” JARVIS’s tone was disapproving.

Frowning, Tony pulled up a clock. “It really has been twenty hours. He tried to stand, but his back protested and he sank back down. “Ouch.”

“What’s wrong?” Bucky’s voice was worried.

“Just knotted up my back pretty badly,” Tony admitted. “Have to move slower.”

Bucky settled his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “How about a hot shower, and then I give you a massage?”

Tony could already feel the knots disappearing. “What did I do to deserve you?”

Bucky brushed a kiss over the top of Tony’s head. “You did nothing but be you.” He helped Tony stand, and walked with him to the elevator.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, cupcake,” Tony told him.

“You're in no shape for what I want, Зайчонок[4],” Bucky said, his voice deep and gravelly. “At least, not yet.”

Tony felt that tone go all the way through him down to his toes, but he gave Bucky a baleful look. “Did you just call me a bunny?”

Bucky had the grace to look embarrassed, but didn't take it back. “You are pretty cute, Зайчонок,” he said, flicking Tony’s nose.

Tony rolled his eyes as the elevator door opened but didn't press it. The nicknames, as silly as they were sometimes, made his heart go a little bit gooey. “I believe you promised me a hot shower and a massage?”

“To begin with.”

Tony had been tossing the idea around for a while now in his head, and had even worked out a few schematics, but he wanted to ask Bucky before he went any further. The arm, while a serious piece of engineering marvel, was old. It needed near constant updates and maintenance, and while Bucky never said anything, he could tell it was causing him some stress. And the maintenance sometimes caused pain, which made Tony feel like the worst person in the world.

“J, can you get Bucky down here?”

“Of course, Sir.”

In under three minutes, Bucky appeared. “What’s up, котенок[5]?” Kitten was his favorite endearment for him, and it was growing on him. Other still made regular appearances, but котенок came out once or twice a day.

“So,” Tony started, suddenly hesitant. The arm was a painful subject for Bucky. Literally painful, given the way it was grafted on to him. Clumsily, he searched for words. He finally just blurted it out. “I want to build you a new arm.”

Bucky’s eyes widened. “You what?”

“Only if you want me to!” Tony said in a rush. “It's just- I know maintenance is sometimes painful and it's tedious and I know that it's heavy and it's a lot of work and I could help with all of that, but only if you want!” He repeated.

Bucky was looking at him with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open.

“Please say something.”

“You’d do that?”

A little hurt, Tony frowned. “Of course I would.”

As if realizing, Bucky hastened to explain. “It just seems like a lot of work, when you could be doing more important things.”

Softening, Tony crossed the room to him. “James Buchanan Barnes. There is nothing more important to me than you.”

Bucky clutched Tony’s hands. “I love you,” he said, suddenly.

Tony blinked.

“I know that emotional things give you hives, but-”

Tony raised one of their clasped hands up with his pointer finger held upright in a ‘hold on a second’ gesture. He processed the words. Bucky loved him. His soulmate loved him. Him.

Maybe fairytales did come true, sometimes.

“I love you, too,” he said hoarsely. “I really do.”

Bucky reeled him in close, and kissed him long and hard. Tony let go of Bucky’s hands to wind his hands around his neck and into Bucky’s hair.

Breaking apart for breath, Bucky peppered Tony’s face with little kisses. “I just couldn't hold it in any longer. I love you so much, Tony.”

Tony pulled him in closer, and just held him in a hug. “I'm so lucky to have you,” he replied. “And I love you too, Bucky.”

[1] cахарок - sugar [2] Лучик - sunbeam/ray of light [3] Дракончик - little dragon [4] Зайчонок - bunny [5] котенок - kitten

#winteriron #tony stark #bucky barnes #tony x bucky #tony has issues #but he worked through them #soulmates #first words #this is the fluff part #prompts #mariesbookblog

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mayonara · 6 years

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Turkey Hands

Jason finds Dick drawing turkey hands in the kitchen and decides to join him.

Because Thanksgiving has almost arrived, I’ll be writing three little fics just for Thanksgiving! They’ll all be posted this week (thurs/fri) and this is part 1/3.

Enjoy everyone!

Also posted on AO3

Jason stiffed a yawn, mouth open wide and dragged his feet down the treacherous manor stairs. The family had a late night emergency they had to deal with and received a call from Bruce about the inmates of Arkham attempting a breakout. The Batman rounded everyone up to stop them before it was too late, which they did succeed at and immediately right after, Jason just passed out in Dick's bedroom since he was too exhausted to go back to his place.

He'd left the boy in Alfred's care while he caught up on sleep and now it was already late afternoon, 3:16 pm to be exact. Jason was starving, felt his stomach rumbling, begging for food. To satiate his hunger, he stopped in the kitchen for something to fill him up and found Dick there all by himself.

"Dick?" Jason murmured tiredly as he stared at the boy sitting at the kitchen table.

Dick paused for a brief moment, bright blue eyes blinking up at Jason. A smile spread across his lips, expression lighting up like Christmas morning. "Jay!" He screeched and made grabby hands at him, beckoning him to come over.

Jason did as he was told and settled by his side. The boy then stood up on his chair and stretched out his arms, making Jason bend over so he could place a wet kiss on his cheek before he sat back down.

Jason just gawked at him. The boy was in a surprisingly good mood since he was being a brat yesterday, angry that Jason left him behind. He wasn't happy about it and when he came home, he wasn't asleep in his room when he typical would be. When he asked the butler for an answer, he gave one. And per Alfred's words 'Master Dick prefers to sleep with Master Tim tonight' and that's all he said before he turned around on his heels and left. Jason was too tired to care and left Dick with Tim. Figured he'd deal with it in the morning. Though it seemed like Dick forgot all about being angry which a good thing since he didn't have to coax him out of his tantrum.

Jason drew in a breath and fluttered his eyes down to the table, found an assortment of paper and pens, colored pencils and stickers and the like. Seemed like he was doing some crafting.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked.

"Dwaing!" Dick answered and returned his attention to whatever he was doing before he spotted Jason.

"Oh? What are you drawing?" Jason attempted to take a peek as he leaned over his small shoulder and spotted something rather interesting though he wasn't sure what it was.

"Tuwkey!"

"Ah," Jason murmured, realizing that he was drawing those children's turkeys with the hand. "Can I see?" Jason leaned closer so he could get a better view since Dick was hovering above it.

"No!" The boy rejected and slapped Jason on the cheek, pushing him away. "You can't see!" He said and placed his hands over his drawing, covering it. "You can't! It's a suwpwise!"

"Ugh," Jason groaned, still being shoved away and exhaled heavily, disappointed that he was rejected. "Okay." He accepted defeat and retreated, taking a few steps back. "I'll let you draw while I fix myself up breakfast," Jason murmured and Dick just nodded his head, didn't bother looking at the man as he continued drawing.

Jason chuckled softly, slightly amused at how petty the boy was being and decided to start scavenging the kitchen for something. Luckily for him, he didn't have to whip up some food for himself as Alfred had already set aside a plate of sandwiches. Bless the old man. Jason picked up the plate, poured a big glass of orange juice and returned to the table, sitting right across from the boy.

He ate in relative silence as he watched Dick draw, intensely focused as he was decorating his turkey. Interested, Jason decided to give it a try as well.

"Hey Dick, can I draw too?"

Dick jerked his head upward, crayon in hand and stared at Jason in interest. "You want to dwaw?"

"Yeah."

Dick's lips curled upwards slightly into a curious pout, eyebrows pinching as he gazed at the man before he broke out into a smile. "Okay!" He answered and then shoved some of the utensils towards Jason. "Don't bweak them though."

"Oh? Why?" Jason asked as he grabbed a piece of paper and slid it towards himself.

"Because—it's Dami's!" Ah, so the little demon brat let him borrow his coloring utensils.

"Okay. I'll be careful," and damn right he will be. He didn't want to die by the hands of their youngest. That would be a horrible death.

Jason grabbed a few of the colored crayons, some browns, reds and yellows and placed his whole hand on the paper. It barely fit but just enough for him to trace it out. Once outlined, he started decorating it, adorning the fingers with feathers and adding a tail and face, brightening it up and giving the turkey some character. It didn't take long for him to finish and once done, he settled the crayons aside and stared down at the finished product.

"Looks good," he murmured, smiling. He was quite proud of his turkey and realized he'd actually hadn't drawn once since he was a child.

"Jesson done?" Dick called out, capturing his attention and Jason fluttered his eyes to the boy, found him watching and hugging his piece of paper.

"Yeah. Can you show me yours now?" Jason asked and Dick nodded his head in agreement before he let his little artwork flutter to the table.

Jason couldn't quite see it upside down so he turned the picture to the side and set his down as well. And fuck, Dick's was really adorable. His turkey was so tiny in comparison to his own considering he's like three, and it was much more vibrant and whimsical. The turkey was decorated with not only just feathers and the like, it even had feet and shoes, a hat and other cute decorations. Dick even drew a background of trees and grass, flowers and birds and then started filling the empty spaces with cute doodles of Thanksgiving dishes.

"Oh wow, you did a good job Dick," Jason complimented and flashed a smile at the boy, but Dick didn't seem too happy about that. His lips were forlorn and he was definitely pouting. The thing was, he wasn't pouting at Jason per say, but he was actually gawking at Jason's turkey. His blue eyes would flicker from one drawing to the other, like he was comparing it, but he seemed a bit dissatisfied about something.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked.

"It’s biggew," Dick pointed out with his finger, tapping Jason's turkey and wiggled his nose.

"Ah well, I am bigger," Jason said and ruffled his hair. Dick puffed up his cheeks and folded his arms across his chest. Jason said nothing but laughed. "But yours is way better than mine."

Dick's expression faltered for a second and he blinked his eyes rapidly, surprised. "Weally?"

"Yeah, really."

And then suddenly, the smile returned to his face and he was beaming with pride. Jason couldn't help but adore the little kid, felt himself smiling as well. "Let's put them on the fridge, yeah?"

At that mention, Dick jumped in joy and grabbed the two pieces of paper before sliding off his chair and toddling towards the refrigerator. Sadly, he was too small to put it at the top so Jason assisted him. He scooped the boy up into his arms and brought him as close as possible to the refrigerator. There were already magnets neatly placed on the fridge and all Dick had to do was stick their turkey drawings on. He did a fantastic job displaying them side by side and after staring at them briefly, he nodded his head, pleased with himself and turned to look at Jason.

Jason pecked his cheek on a spur of the moment, adoring the little ball of sunshine. "Are you reading for Thanksgiving?"

Dick's blue eyes sparkled with glee and he nodded his head vigorously. "Mhm! Food!"

"What are you excited to eat?"

Dick hummed aloud and tilted his head to the side, pondering for a brief moment. "Appwe pie! And Tuwkey! And—and cown! Po-po-po....hmmm... toes?" He squeezed his eyes, having a difficult time saying potatoes.

"Mashed potatoes?"

"Mhm!" Dick nodded when Jason said for it. "And evewything!"

"Ah, everything? You must have a big tummy then." Jason rubbed his stomach playfully and Dick just giggled at it.

"Jay," Dick murmured. "Can I hab a cookie?"

Jason blinked at him at the sudden change of topic. "You want a cookie?"

"Awfewd made some but he wouwdn' gibe me one!" Dick exclaimed and huffed, mad that he didn't get a treat.

"Well," Jason pinched his nose, battling against himself whether he should be swayed by the boy or not. "Alfred might be mad if I spoil dinner for you." Which was the honest truth. The butler probably hid the cookies someplace so Dick wouldn't find them. Knowing him, he’d probably eat the whole jar and get a sugar rush. He had a feeling where they were hidden though and he was sure he could find them.

"But—" Dick protested, looking sad and Jason couldn't ignore those glassy blue eyes. "I want."

Jason was torn, should he listen to Alfred or Dick? After a brief moment of contemplating, he made his choice. "Okay. Okay. If we find it, you get one, but you can't tell."

Dick nodded his head and brought a finger to his lips. "Secwet."

"Yes, secret." This was probably a bad idea to do, teaching Dick how to lie, but it's not like the older version of him never did, so really, it wasn't all that bad.

"Good boy," Jason complimented and Dick just blushed, ducked his head under his chin while Jason whisked him away on their adventure to find the hidden cookies.

Much to say, they were successful and Dick got his wish.

#JayDick #Dick Grayson #Jason Todd #Dick Grayson is 3 #De-aged #Age Regression #Thanksgiving #Drawing #Turkey hands #my writing

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marudny-robot · 7 years

Text

Meaning of Clean Home

Title: Meaning of Clean Home Fandom: DCU, Batman (Comics) Tags: Gen; PG AO3 version: here Summary: …it varies, depending on the person.

For Dick, clean home meant that everything was to be in it's place.

That mentality, Dick got from home – his first home – when it was him, his parents – Mary and John – and their trailer, besides many others from the Haley's Circus.

Just because there wasn't much space, didn't mean there were not many things. Artifacts of their past – photos, dating back to his parents younger years; old clothes for their acts and rest of materials used to sew them; his small collection of toys and plushies – little things gathered through years that told many stories. They were part of their life, their home. Each as much important as food on their table.

Dick easily understood why his parents never trowed those things away. (But it took some time for little Mary's Robin to put things back where their place is.) (And maybe too many times searching for said things.)

It was never a problem for Dick to know where everything and everyone's place was. He knew those things, after first glance.

(And if he had to tell this truth, bestowed by his Mother, to his siblings – all siblings – repetitively?

… Well, his mom showed him, how to deal with brats.)

&&&&

Jason also knew that “clean home” meant that everything was in it's designed place. And that, you know, you had to clean things.

(Just because he was poor, back then, didn't mean that he lived in a barn.)

No – his financial status only cemented the idea, that you have to take care of what you have.

Jason didn't have a father (or rather – his father forgot he had a family). But Jason had a mother. And his mother had drugs.

So taking care of their home was his role. And taking care of his mom. And making sure that some of their money won't be spend on drugs…

But that was (reliving) weird part of living in the Manor – it wasn't his job to care.

At the beginning he did – back then, when he was walking on the line, never sure if he were to be thrown away, when there was no need for him… Later he did, because he wanted to. Because helping Alfred take care of his family from the shadows was what he was good at (was what he knew how to do).

(And now – after his death, after his resurrection and after his fits of uncontrolled rage subdued - if he were not to tell some things to his …friends and family… It was for their own good, anyway…)

&&&&

Timothy's Drake home was always clean.

Not a stain on a carpet, not a misplaced item, not a single layer of the dust. Perfect conditions to present perfect Family (and huge collection of Jack's Drake findings).

It may seem as that unnatural cleanliness happened by magic – considering Janet looked at any housework with disgust and the only time Jack considered getting himself dirty, was on one of his archaeological sites.

Later in life, Tim once commented “it was work of magic. Magic of Money.”

Drakes' had two housekeepers.

(In reality, they had five – but one almost destroyed one of ancient vases, while cleaning and the other two were accused of stealing.)

It was funny how one of the things that was supposed to be stolen, was really just lying in Tim's room – which was cluttered for the first time in his life back then, since he never bothered to clean it (and every housekeeper told him that he should 'learn how to do it himself', as he is now teenager and all that…)

In conclusion, Timothy Drake never cleaned his home, at all (he never had to).

But Tim Drake had a very good reason to not clean his room (where were hidden photos of Batman and Robin).

(And if he were asked, after many years of not lying to himself about his childhood, Tim would only say… that he hated clean home.)

&&&&

There was no such thing in Cassandra's Cain life which she would call clean.

Not the dirty floor or makeshift cot, she had to sleep on. Not the chipped, old cups or dishes, containing drinks and food for her. Not David Cain, in dirty clothes, torn from their training sessions, when he said again and again and his eyes were telling, how still…imperfect (dirty) she was. (And definitely not her with that dirt, scars and blood all over her.)

But there was something that she could almost consider 'clean'. The way she moved.

After many years of what David Cain put her through, her movement became precise. Direct. Silent. Nothing was lacking nor were too much. It was mesmerizing (almost beautiful) the way she danced between blades and fists and with almost single touches put her targets to eternal sleep.

(But those moves were about blood and death. There was nothing clean about them. Not when Cass, in her mind's eye, could still see red on her.)

But then there was Gotham. And Bruce. And Barbara. And Steph. And Tim. And Superboy. And Alfred and Dick.

And the red on her hands started to get more pinkish. It never washed away, but it was… more bearable – cleaner (than she ever thought it would get).

In Cassandra's Wayne life there was one thing she could call clean. The way she moved.

The way she danced on the stage, her moves precise. Direct. Load. Nothing was lacking nor were too much. It was mesmerizing (almost beautiful) the way she danced with other dancers, with light shining on her and music playing with her every step, as if it wanted to accompany her in that short adventure.

(And if she put more care in her dance clothes, asking Alfred to repair every torn, wash every dirty spot… it was enough to forget about dirty clothes in her past.)

&&&&

Stephanie's idea of clean home didn't exactly vary from Jason's. Because oh her Mom's job, they put more effort in the disinfecting part of the word 'clean'.

Stephanie was also very aware that everything has it designed place.

Starting from her books not laying haphazardly on the floor and ending on her sitting silently in her closet, when her Dad was talking with his friends.

She agrees, that there is a place for everything. She just doesn't agree with whoever chose the place.

(And WHO is to say where her place is, if not Stephanie herself?)

It annoys her, really. That others think they know better than her.

(And if during visits, she doesn't point out and clean, like Dick or Alfred, the obvious wrongs, the clutter, the mess in others' homes – their lives - …it's because she get's it.

…And it isn't her place to say, anyway.)

&&&&

Damian knew what had to be clean.

His blades where to be clean (so they would last longer). His injuries were to be clean (so he would heal faster). He himself had to be clean (so he wouldn't fall ill often).

Cleanliness came from practicality and that was all in it for Damian.

Everything had it's place to be. Everything had to be in such condition, that it would be useful in the future. There was no reason, nor place, for anything that won't help him get b e t t e r.

Despite that he knew that, it was hard for him to stay clean in the Manor (of all things!).

…It was…impossible…to tell Titus, at first, to stop, so he could wash him, before going back to the Manor…

…or to not get his hands dirty, when he draw with charcoal…

…or to teach Alfred the cat to not push down his things from his desk…

Damian couldn't tell what that little things in his life did, but the fact that no-one criticized him for not being ideal? For letting him being dirty for no reason at all?

…It was kind of freeing.

(And if he were to look Alfred in the eyes and say – with that little bit of humor in his voice, how Grayson does it – that there is no dirt on the carpet, Pennyworth. Especially not brought by Titus. You must have started seeing things in your age…

……than he doesn't regret that meaning of clean.)

______________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading. Goodnight!

#Dick Grayson #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #Cassandra Cain #Stephanie Brown #Damian Wayne #Maruda writes #I'm /free!/

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fanatic-writers · 7 years

Text

Sticks and Stones

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long to put up I was just so nervous to post it not to mention half way through I got busy with school and things. I’m still really worried that I didn’t show enough of the abuse or that I glorified it so if you feel that way I am sorry and please let me know and give me a few tips to fix that if you would like to. I wanted to go a different route than physical abuse because I see that touched on a lot and I hardly ever see emotional abuse at least in what I read. I hope you enjoy this was requested by @the-blue-haired-boy (Thank you for the request and for the nice things you had to say) -G

Request: Hi! I just discovered your blog and I LOVE your work! I was wondering if I could request a fic where the reader is in an abusive relationship and Bruce who has secretly loved her discovers it and helps her out of it? Thank you!

Warnings: Emotional Abuse, maybe swearing

It was a beautiful evening. You and your boyfriend Adam were walking on the beach, joking with each other. You were laughing and having fun, Adam may have said a few rude things to you, but you reminded yourself he was always like this, so you allowed yourself to brush his comments off.

“10 bucks says you won't go into the ocean to get your hat,” Adam said as he swiped your favorite beanie off your head.

“Hey give it back” you protested trying to grab your hat. Adam held it high above your head as he laughed. You continued to jump to reach the navy cloth but it was too late, Adam tossed it into the water.

“You did not just do that,” you said as you stared in shock at the beanie floating in the water just out of your reach “Adam, my grandmother made that for me.”

“Why don't you just go get it,” Adam said a smug look on his face

“Because I'm in a dress that cost me more than your paycheck” you practically shrieked, Adam just laughed. As you were walking home, you got a text from Tony inviting you to dinner with the Avengers. You joined the Avengers just after the events of New York and had grown close to the team especially Bruce. “Wanna go out to dinner with the Avengers?” you asked Adam

“You and your so-called friends?” he mocked

“Yup” you answered trying not to let his comment get under your skin

Adam shrugged “why not” he replied as you lead him to the tower.

You met briefly with the Avengers making sure to introduce them to Adam before leaving for the restaurant. Once you were seated, you began to look over the menu. Adam looked over your shoulder “what we're you going to get” he asked

“Uhm… chicken marsala sounds good” you replied.

“doesn't that have a lot of calories? I thought you were trying to lose weight not gain it?” Adam asked.

“I wasn't trying to lose weight” you looked at Adam confused.

“that explains a lot,” Adam said “maybe you should start”

The Avengers stared at the two of you surprised by your interaction. They expected a snarky comeback or something about how you looked fine, but instead, they watched you nod.

“I think chicken sounds great Y/n,” Bruce commented

“I dunno, Adam is right it's not that healthy” you responded

“treat yo self,” Tony said to you as a waitress came by to take your orders. Again the Avengers were surprised to hear Adam order a salad for you and you didn’t even bat an eye. You hardly ever ate just a salad for dinner and you hardly ever let someone else dictate what you should eat. They overlooked it, thinking you might not be hungry, but as the night progressed, they each grew less and less fond of Adam. The perfect man you had described to them was replaced with a complete ass. He told you were ugly, that you weren't good enough. Of course He never directly said these things, but they were present in his tone and how he treated you. The Avengers drove Adam to his apartment per your request and took you back to the tower with them.

“Y/n” Bruce called as you were walking to your room “can I talk to you?”

“Sure” you chirped

“Are you and Adam fighting? He said some rude things at dinner” Bruce asked hesitantly.

You shrugged “He’s always like that it’s fine, really, don’t worry about it.”

You could tell Bruce wanted to say more probably tell you this wasn't fine and it wasn't ok for Adam to say the things he did about you, but instead, he kept his mouth shut and invited you to lunch

“I’ll have to ask Adam, but if he says it’s fine I’ll be there,” you replied entering your room.

The next day Bruce waited hours for you to show up for lunch but you never came. On his way back to the lab he saw you walking out of your room.

“Hey I thought we were going to get lunch?” he asked. You hardly ever ditched without a reason

“Sorry Adam said he wanted to take me somewhere,” you said

“You didn’t think to tell me?” Bruce asked trying to mask his annoyance

“Actually” You hesitated “Adam doesn’t want me to talk to you.”

Bruce was stunned. How had you let this man come into your life and control you? Before he could talk to you, you were out the door and walking down the street with your so-called boyfriend.

“You’re late” Adam chastised

“Sorry I ran into Bruce” you commented

“I thought I told you I didn’t want you talking to him” He reminded you

“He started talking to me. He’s a friend I can’t stop him from talking to me. I did tell him what you said about us hanging out, there is nothing for you to worry about.” you told him

“You were probably really nice about it huh?” Adam asked

“Well yeah,” you said

“You act like that, and he won't take you seriously” he mentioned, “You’re never strong you’re always so weak and nice.”

“Sorry” You muttered. Adam continued to walk down the street and grabbed some food for himself but nothing for you. You didn’t even think to ask him for something. He’d done this before when you forgot your purse at home. He walked you back to the tower calling you an idiot and saying if you wanted something to eat you should’ve brought your money. You went straight to your room. You felt like shit, and you wanted to wallow in your worthlessness. A soft knock interrupted your sobs, and you heard Bruce call your name before opening your door.

“Hey,” he murmured “are you ok?”

“I’m not supposed to talk to you,” you said like a child to a stranger as you tried to calm your breathing

“Y/n, you don’t mean that,” the scientist said as he moved next to you and pulled you close to him “we both know I’m not leaving till you tell me what's wrong.”

Your mind was racing, did Bruce really care? Why would he care you were a pathetic mess? No one should care about you, and if they did it was because they wanted something “What do you want?” you finally asked

“For you to be ok,” Bruce said

“And after that?” Bruce looked confused “I’m a worthless piece of shit no one wants to make sure I’m ok unless I can do something for them.”

“Who told you that?” he asked trying to look at your face which was tucked between your knees

“Adam” you muttered

“Y/n, if Adam is saying these things he doesn’t love you. He’s using you. He’s not good enough for you” Bruce spoke softly.

“And who else is there?” you asked “You really think I could get a nice guy to like me? I’m a mess, nice guys like you want someone stable. They want someone who doesn’t mess everything up; they want someone strong.”

“I can guarantee that a nice guy like me loves you” Bruce blushed “You’re not a mess, and you’re definitely not worthless. You may not be 100% stable but who is in this world? And you’re the strongest girl I’ve ever met”

“You’re just saying that,” you said

“I’m dead serious” Bruce replied

“No you aren’t” you argued

“Y/n,” Bruce paused “you can do so much better than him you deserve better than him.”

“You keep saying that” you sighed

“It’s true,” Bruce said as he grabbed your phone from your bedside table and handed it to you “end it.”

“And if I don’t want to?” you asked

“I’m not in control of you, in the end, it is your decision, but I’d think you were lying if you told me you wanted to stay with Adam,” Bruce observed

“And how do you suggest I end it,” you asked

Bruce shrugged “You could text him or call him, whatever you feel comfortable doing.”

You sighed and called your soon to be ex, Bruce sitting beside you the entire time for support and reassurance that you were doing the right thing. Tears were shed, and eventually, you hung up on Adam as he continued to tell you no one in their right mind would love you. Little did you know you had already found someone who did love you and would love you if you let him.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this fic if you want a part 2 let me know. I was thinking about writing one anyways. The next part of Operation: Save the Fairy should be coming out soon you can read the latest part here! If you have any requests, send them in! Love you all! -G

tags: @ws-lover-245

#bruce x reader #bruce banner x reader #hulk x reader #reader insert #bruce fanfic #bruce banner fanfic #hulk fanfic

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lydiastormborn · 7 years

Text

title: a blast from the past

ship: jaykyle

summary: jason gets kyle's friends to talk about his early days as a green lantern. It ends up being really embarrassing. kyle retaliates by roping jason's siblings into calling out his past costume choices.

as they say, all is fair in love and dragging your significant other down.

a/n: @ anon who encouraged me to write this: thanks have fun with this meta shitpost callout fic

[on ao3]

After all this time, Kyle should know Jason better than that. He should have expected something like this.

His first indication is the fact the apartment isn’t quiet when he gets back; by all means, Jason should be already out on a patrol. Then Kyle notices an impressive collection of shoes and jackets in the hallway, which are definitely not his or Jason’s, and he slowly creeps into the brightly lit living room.

Guy is the first one to take note of him. “Hey, talk of the devil! Look who finally came.”

Kyle squints at the faces that turn into his direction, trying to make sense of what he’s seeing. Guy and John look way too comfortable sitting in a couple of armchairs Kyle is pretty sure Jason got from a garage sale; Jason himself is seated on a couch between Connor and Donna, on whose left there’s Roy.

Kyle doesn’t have a good feeling about this, but he tries to play along anyway. He quirks an eyebrow.

“Is it my birthday today or something?” he jokes, glancing at a table full of various snacks and beverages. Jason can be a surprisingly good host if he wants to.

Jason gives him a toothy grin that worries Kyle. “You wish,” he says. “It’s just, you know how you always tell me I should try to make nice with your friends?”

“Actually, I mentioned that maybe once --”

“So this is me. Making nice. Having a little chat,” Jason explains, stretching his legs under the table.

“Really,” Kyle says flatly, not buying it. “Strange how you failed to mention it’s happening tonight. Also, you’ve literally known Donna and Roy longer than I have.” When Jason just shrugs, completely unbothered, Kyle sighs and makes himself a puffy, comfortable armchair; their apartment is rather sparse when it comes to furniture. They rarely have so many guests at once.

“I suppose Wally isn’t coming?” Connor asks then and Kyle almost falls off his seat.

Jason cocks his head. “Oh, West? I called, but he’s pretty busy tonight. Said maybe he’ll drop by, but it’s unlikely.”

Roy laughs. “You should be happy. All this food would be already gone.”

“Yeah, probably.” Jason looks back to Kyle and he’s smirking again. It’s starting to become unnerving. “He told me some interesting things, though.”

“So, what are you guys talking about, again?” Kyle tries, feeling awfully out of loop.

“Jason wanted to hear some stories from your early days as GL,” John tells him mildly.

This is… not really what Kyle expected. He’s confused.

“Specifically, he asked for embarrassing stories,” Guy clarifies with a shit-eating grin.

“Like, I knew you were a loser from the moment I met you, but the things I’ve heard today, wow.” Jason shakes his head. “There’s so much I didn’t know.”

Oh. Okay, this isn’t looking stellar, Kyle supposes.

“Yeah, before you came I was talking about what an irresponsible greenhorn you were during your short tenure with Titans,” Roy says and snorts. “Coming on time? Taking training seriously? These were strange concepts to you.”

“Well, and you had a dumb costume back then,” Kyle says before he can think better of it.

Roy crosses his arms over his chest. “Oh, getting cheeky, Rayner? This much haven’t really changed.”

“He did have some problems with authority and keeping quiet when he should, didn’t he?” Jason asks, turning to Connor.

“Well, that’s true,” Connor says because he’s honest like that. “Kyle was… rather a hothead. So much that he re-defined who’s the impulsive one in Green Arrow and Green Lantern’s team ups.”

“Come on, I wasn’t that bad,” Kyle protests on a principle.

Connor looks at him like he’s grown a second head. “And that time we went looking for you father? That was a fiasco on many fronts, if not all.”

Kyle winces at the mention of that; it kind of really was.

“Including when you tried to show me how to flirt, I’d say. It almost got us arrested.”

Oh, no. He remembers that, too.

Jason looks intrigued. “Care to tell that story?”

“There was this waitress. Christie, I think,” Connor starts, easily ignoring Kyle’s throat slash gesture. “When she brought our orders, Kyle took his shake from her and held her hands in his to warm them up.” Guy snorts into his cup. “He said something about never listening much to what other people have to say, but that he’d be willing to give her a chance to… convince him.” Roy is outright giggling now. “They were interrupted by her father who was from the police, though. That’s how we ended up getting into a fight with police officers.” Connor tilts his head to the side and sighs. “I admit, I had no romantic experience back then, but I found this display somewhat strange and uncomfortable to watch.”

“Someone’s flirting skills just got dragged,” Roy comments over the laughs and Kyle knows his face is red.

“For the most part, whenever Kyle, Wally and I would go out somewhere, and there would be women, it usually ended up backfiring at us somehow,” Connor adds.

“Oh, come on, you literally didn’t have to do anything and they were all over you, anyway!” Kyle exclaims.

Donna’s eyebrows raise. “That’s petty, Kyle. Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”

“Honestly, though, can you blame him for thinking with his dick sometimes?” Guy asks blatantly.

“You’re so not helping my case right now,” Kyle tells him, pinching the bridge of his nose. He turns to John who remained quiet through the antics. “John, back me up. I wasn’t that bad, right?”

John, looking slightly amused, says, “You know I have nothing bad to say about the work you did as Green Lantern then, Kyle.” And as Kyle lets himself feel a twinge of hope, John continues, “I do remember the first time we met out of costumes, though.”

Right. Kyle can’t have nice things.

“Ah, I remember that as well,” Donna says with an acute grin. Kyle turns to her with a pleading expression; at one hand, he’s glad they’re past their, well, past and can bring up things from that time, but he’d prefer if she didn’t do it right now. “Your neighbor Allison seemed quite keen on posing for you in nude, didn’t she?”

Guy dramatically gasps and Roy chokes on his drink. Jason looks affronted. “Seriously, Kyle?” he asks, disbelief clear in his voice. “Doing something like that while you were in a relationship? With Donna, out of all people?”

“It was just an artistic exercise!” Kyle stresses even though this excuse sounds as weak as it had back then, if not weaker.

“And then you said something like, ‘Well, I’d feel better about finding you with some attractive naked guy if you had a sketch pad in your hands’,” Donna adds, doing quite a good impression of Kyle’s voice.

He sometimes regrets his friends have such good memory just as much as he regrets the things that came out of his mouth.

“Okay, this happened, I can’t deny,” he says eventually, running a hand through his hair. “And thinking back to it, I realize it looked bad…”

“Just like that time I came to find Jade hanging off of you as your new flatmate?” Donna asks, not pulling her punches.

Kyle doesn’t even know how to counter that. It’s good Donna missed that part where he found Jenny under his shower and later had a fight with her brother over a misunderstanding concerning her underwear.

He winces internally. These things really make him look bad, now that he looks back to them.

“Wow,” Jason says, tapping fingers against his thigh. “I really would have felt an urge to kick your fuckboy ass if I knew you back then, wouldn’t I?”

Roy laughs. “Yeah, I have a feeling you two wouldn’t like each other very much.”

“Luckily for us, Kyle grew up since then,” Donna says with a small smile. Kyle takes it for what it is; if Donna wanted to, she could have brought up more things from the time they dated.

“We all make mistakes,” Connor adds.

“Green Lanterns more than most of us, apparently” Jason comments dryly. To John and Guy, he says, “No offense.”

Both sullen and embarrassed, Kyle watches as their guests start leaving, pointedly ignoring their jabs and goodbyes. Jason gets to cleaning up the table; it seems like he’s in far too good spirits as for someone who just found out about a lot of cringeworthy shit his boyfriend used to do. It annoys Kyle.

“Are you going to sit in your fake armchair and sulk all night?” Jason asks finally, standing in front of Kyle with his hands on his hips.

“You did this because I forgot to clean the bathroom this week, right?” Kyle asks instead, after turning it over in his head.

If anything, Jason looks even more amused. “Try again,” he tells him.

“Was it because I crashed your patrol with Robin and Lark the other night? I swear I didn’t actually mean it this time.” Jason shakes his head. “Okay, so… because I painted memes on your back when you were drunk last week and then shared it on snapchat?” Kyle risks asking.

Jason blinks. “You did that?” He looks thoughtful for a moment. “Well, I guess it explains the texts I got the next day.”

“Come on, I’m running out of ideas here,” Kyle says. “Like, it can’t be because I accidentally mentioned to Alfred I found your secret cigarette stash?” Kyle narrows his eyes when Jason remains quiet. “Oh my God, it’s that?”

“Ding-ding, someone hit a jackpot,” Jason announces in a deadpan voice.

Kyle throws his hands up. “It was over a month ago!”

“Didn’t you know? I can hold a grudge. Ask Bruce. And besides,” Jason adds, jabbing a finger at him, “since I don’t smoke anymore, it’s not a secret stash, it’s an emergency stash and you outed me like that, to Alfred, no less. Geez, Kyle, thanks for nothing.”

“I literally can’t believe you,” Kyle tells Jason as he starts walking towards the bedroom.

“Right back at you, mister ‘there are guys who make embarrassed to have a Y-chromosome, but I’m not like those jerks’,” Jason calls back without even turning around.

It takes Kyle a moment to place this particular blast from the past. Once he does, he facepalms. “Damn, Donna,” he mutters under his breath.

And because he’s a responsible adult, Kyle, still sitting in his comfy, not-real armchair, starts plotting his revenge.

…

When Jason steps into the living room at the Manor, he does a double take and feels a strong urge to leave immediately.

The long table from the dining room was moved in at some point, so Kyle, Tim, Dick and Damian, sitting behind it now, look more like a jury than anything else. On one of the sofas, propped up on some cushions, there’s Cassandra, reclining like a cat, and she waves at Jason with a grin upon spotting him. He narrows his eyes at her and turns his attention back to the table.

“Well, this looks like a staged intervention,” he comments dryly, leaning on the doorframe. “I have no idea for what reason, though.”

“Close, but that’s not it,” Dick answers airly. “It’s a bit late for an intervention, in all honesty.”

“But it’s not too late for a… discussion,” Kyle adds and Jason has a hunch what “discussion” means in this case. “About some of your rather misguided costume choices.”

Jason blinks at them once, twice, then starts laughing. “Hey, seriously? This is how you want to get back at me? Couldn’t you come up with something better? I mean, you realize who you’re sitting with, right?” Jason gestures to Dick who, to his credit, doesn’t even move, except for a tiny twitch of a muscle in his jaw. “I’d say this merry company will make this whole show lose some of its credibility.”

“Stop using Grayson’s dark fashion past as means of distraction, Todd,” Damian says, straightening in his seat. He still looks relatively small compared to the others. “We’re here to discuss yours.”

“Okay, well then, squirt. Hit me up with what you’ve got,” Jason states cheerfully, walking into the room and taking a seat in one of the vacant chairs. “I mean, it’s not like you’re gonna drag me for the Robin suit, are you? Not my fault Tim was the first one to actually show some, you know, common sense and campaign for actual pants.”

“Yeah, that was wise,” Tim agrees thoughtfully. “But that wouldn’t be fair indeed. The costumes that came after, though, they were all up to you, weren’t they?”

“I guess,” Jason answers, careful now.

“Great,” Dick agrees and opens -- is that a folder? “Remember when you came back to Gotham to become a crime lord? Dressed like that, no less.” He flashes a picture.

Jason smiles a little, almost nostalgic. “Ah, right. Those were the times.” Then, he glowers at them. “Hey, but I will have you guys know this was a look, okay? Minimalistic, sure, with a black leather jacket, but still.”

“Ignoring the fact it doesn’t look like it did much as a protection factor,” Damian comments, glancing at the photo, “I suppose this… outfit was the least heinous out of the ones you wore back in time.” The others nod.

“Hey, what’s that supposed --” Jason starts, but Tim cuts him off.

“Anyway, are we going to talk about that time when Jason was posing as Nightwing in New York? We don’t have pictures, but --”

“No,” Jason and Dick say in unison. Kyle’s eyebrows climb high on his forehead. Tim and Damian stare, visibly confused.

Jason makes an eye contact with Dick and is briefly thankful this is something they both agree on.

Dick clears his throat. “It would do no good to bring that up,” he says, his expression somewhat pained. “Let’s just say that Jay looked okay… till a point, I guess,” he finishes lamely. Jason grits his teeth quietly.

“Okay, that was weird, but maybe I don’t want to know the details,” Tim states after a moment of prolonged silence and shuffles through some pictures. He pulls one. “Hey, remember your murder Batman outfit?”

Jason groans. “Well, now I do, unfortunately.”

“What kind of a cowl was that supposed to be?” Damian sneers. “Like a close helm. You did take the knight part to the heart, didn’t you?”

“Glowing eyes were such an overkill,” Dick muses.

“Well, okay, I can admit it was kind of bad.” Jason throws his hands up in the air. “But I didn’t trouble myself with fancy designs then, alright?”

“But you sometimes take time with your costumes,” Tim says, almost nonchalantly. “I mean, that time you came to Titans Tower to kick my ass?”

Jason feels his eyes go comically wide when he realizes what Tim is referring to. He leans out of his chair. “No, hang on, that didn’t happen like that --”

“Oh, but it did,” Tim interrupts and, sure enough, flashes another photo.

“Now, this is a photoshop or something --”

“No, it’s not, Donna confirmed that,” Dick says without missing a beat.

“Traitor,” Jason whispers and glares when Tim speaks up again.

“You know, I’ve always wondered, did you sew the costume yourself? Like, I know they sell adult-sized Robin uniforms...”

(“They do?” Damian perks up. “What for? Shouldn’t we charge money for that?”

Kyle coughs. “You’re probably too young to know.”)

“...but it didn’t really look like one of the manufactured ones.”

Jason closes his eyes for a moment and sighs internally. So this is how it feels like when your past comes back to haunt you. He’s almost sorry for doing that to Kyle the other day.

“If you must know,” he says finally, “I did sew it myself. The ones they sell are usually of such a shitty quality, it’d probably tear at a stitch before I even threw one punch.”

“I knew it,” Tim mutters triumphantly and isn’t that kid just plain weird.

“Well, that was kind of extra,” Dick states, scratching his chin. “Then again, it’s Jason we’re talking about, so…”

“Dickie, you wanna go?” Jason offers lightly.

Kyle snaps his fingers. “Well, I wasn’t around for most of these, but here’s a thing that tagged along from our multiverse trip.” He points at something which Jason thinks is a sketch.

Tim makes a displeased noise in the back of his throat. “I thought we agreed we’re not bringing in Red Robin,” he says, irritated. “I am wearing it now.”

“Yeah, but it kind of suits you, I guess?” Kyle tilts his head to the side. “I mean, except for the fact it looks like a rip-off of Dr. Mid-Nite.”

Jason snickers. “Still better than comparing the cowl to a dil--”

“Jason,” Dick says, a warning in his voice.

Tim’s expression is pinched. “Is that what you guys think of it? Really?”

“Well, then again, you can’t be exactly blamed for that,” Jason says, shrugging. “It’s another mantle you picked up after me. Like, haven’t you had an original idea in your life, kid?”

“To be fair, you weren’t the one who came up with it, either,” Kyle butts in before Tim has a chance to snap.

Dick looks pensive. “Actually, you’re the one who kept claiming already used identities, Jay. I mean, Robin, Nightwing, Red Robin, Batman? Even the Red Hood.”

Jason opens his mouth to argue, then closes it, and opens it again. Eventually, he grumbles, “Are you done having fun at my expense?”

“Never,” Damian replies with a smirk. In a dramatic move that probably runs in his blood, he selects another photo and throws it across the table. “We have this atrocity left.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dick agrees. “That was bad. Like, real bad.”

“As the Internet would say, cursed outfit,” Tim adds.

“You’re talking about the one I had when Dickie was running around as Batman?” Jason asks, running a mental check in his head. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Kyle stares at him. “I mean, disrespecting white-red-black color scheme like that, Jason? It hurts my eyes to even look at the pictures.”

“That skull at the front… Was it supposed to give off, like, metal vibe or something? It kind of made you look emo,” Tim continues flatly.

“And the cape going with it was just tasteless,” Damian states. “Shouldn’t be there in the first place.”

“Plus, red guns, they were really tacky. And the worst of all, the helmet.” Dick massages his temple. “How the hell could you think it was a good idea? You criticize Tim’s cowl, but do you know how bad this looked like? It was hard to take you seriously, I swear.”

“Later I changed the helmets and ditched the cape,” Jason tries to defend himself.

“Well, yeah, thanks to that you went from absolutely terrible to still terrible.”

“Like, seriously, Jason, this is a whole lot of bad costume choices,” Tim says, gesturing to the pile of pictures all over the table. “What even did you do with these things?”

Jason shrugs. “Most of them I keep in a storage I have in East End --”

“That’s what you keep there?” Kyle asks, shock audible in his voice.

“Among stuff like weapons, yeah.” Jason looks at him, frowning. “And what did you think I keep there?”

“I don’t know, another library of books? Old motorbikes? Not monstrosities like these.”

At that, Cassandra laughs. Truth be told, Jason forgot she was even in the room with them, with how quiet she kept through this… ordeal. He looks in her direction and freezes.

“Cass,” he says calmly, evenly. “Is that a camera?”

“Yes.” She pats the device propped up on one of the cushions. “Recorded for Stephanie and Barbara.”

Jason gets up from the chair. “Cass, give me that camera,” he says, still eerily calm. She grabs it, jumping over the backrest, one eyebrow raised in a challange. Jason adds, “Please.”

“Sorry, little brother, but no,” Cassandra answers and a moment later, she’s already across the room. Jason is fast, but not as fast as her; in the doorframe, he almost collides with Alfred.

“Master Jason,” the butler says, a hint of disapproval in his voice.

“Sorry, Alfie, but this is a matter of my dignity,” Jason explains hurriedly, trying to pass him. Alfred only arches an eyebrow just like Cass had moments ago. There’s a slam of the door somewhere down the hallway.

“Not that I do not find this matter important, of course, but I believe, sooner or later, we must face consequences of our actions. Besides,” he adds, over the roaring of an engine coming from the outside, “I believe this is a sound Miss Cassandra driving away with Master Duke.”

Jason swears loudly and turns back to his boyfriend and brothers who are laughing shamelessly (even Damian, that little demon, can’t hold back a grin). He honestly hopes they all end up falling off their chairs on their sore asses.

“You better hope you get a call up to space, Rayner,” Jason says sweetly. “In case you forgot, we’re scheduled for our monthly sparring session day after tomorrow and you’re gonna get your ass handed to you six ways to Sunday. And you won’t like it, I assure you.”

…

(bonus.)

A few days later, battle dust has mostly settled and the morning finds Kyle in the kitchen, making pancakes. He’s humming a song and it takes him a moment to realize someone is standing behind him. He turns around, ring ready.

“Shit!” he exclaims, almost dropping the spatula. “Artemis? What are you doing here? How did you even get inside?”

“Magic, of course,” the Amazon says, like it’s obvious. Well, Kyle supposes it is. “Is the Little One here?” she asks with a strange, almost pained expression on her face.

“Yeah, in the shower.” Kyle frowns. “Did something happen? Should I get him?”

“No, by all means,” she replies immediately. He is confused until Artemis asks, “Do you know the location of his storage?”

Kyle stares at her for a moment and snorts. “I take it you’ve seen the video.”

“Pictures as well.” She clenches her jaw. “Some of these things need to be disposed of immediately. Bizarro and I will see to it.”

“But you won’t destroy like, everything, right?” Kyle asks, just to make sure; he’s already sold on the idea.

Artemis gives him a flat look, one that reminds Kyle that as much as he may like Jason’s teammates, he keeps his distance for a reason. He rattles off the address.

“Thank you. Your cooperation is appreciated,” Artemis says.

“This conversation never took place and I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kyle responds easily and turns around to flip a pancake. He thinks he hears Artemis chuckle before she’s gone again.

Jason is gonna kill him for this, sure, but at least Kyle will go out doing the world a favor.

#jason todd #kyle rayner #jaykyle #dc #my fics #it's after 1am don't call me out for this. goodnight

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