Summary: No matter how many PhDs Bruce has to his name, he’ll never understand any member of this family.

Rating/Warnings/Tags:T (post-Avengers (2012); Avengers Tower; Tony’s Sister!Reader; Annoying Younger Sister!Reader; Stark!Reader; Science Bros; mild sexual content)

Challenge: “100 Drabbles of Randomness” by Miseria1 on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Tease

When Tony first set out to convince Bruce to move into Stark Tower with him, he had focused especially on the building’s laboratory. He talked endlessly over lunch after they saw Loki and Thor off to Asgard. The list of amenities was quite impressive, featuring a lot of open space, enormous glass walls and windows, and equipment that Bruce had never even heard of before, let alone seen. The scientific facilities were not the only reason that Bruce finally gave in, but he had to admit they had been a large draw. 

Thwap! 

Unfortunately, Tony had failed to mention one other important feature of his building and more specifically the labs: his younger sister, [F Name] Stark.

“Ignore her,” Tony crooned in an undertone, as Bruce picked another wad of newspaper off the tabletop.

“That’s the fifth time today she’s thrown something at my head,” Bruce said, “and it’s not even lunchtime.”

“Could be worse. Could be throwing rocks.”

“Don’t give her any ideas.”

“Hello!” you called from behind them. “Do you mind not talking about me as though I’m not here?”

Tony turned to glare at you. “Do you mind annoying someone else for a little while? Maybe Steve would like some company in the gym.”

“If Dr. Banner finds what I’m doing annoying, maybe he should join Cap in the gym.”

Sighing, Tony turned back to his and Bruce’s latest attempt at a new AI. He checked its progress for all of five seconds, then tossed the tool in his hand onto the counter, spun around, and headed for the exit.

“This step should take another hour to complete. Keep an eye on it for me, would you?” he asked Bruce. “I think [Name] is the only person on the planet that can make me long for a long chat with Steve.”

Tony vanished before Bruce could protest. The likelihood of any protest working was slim, but Bruce would have liked to try. Now he was trapped up here unless you decided to leave him alone, something you hadn’t done once whenever you found him in the lab. He dropped his head into his crossed arms resting on the table and hoped that that morning you wouldn’t find him an entertaining target. 

Thwap! 

“[Name], if you want this floor to remain in one piece, you really need to stop throwing things at me,” he said, voice muffled by his sleeves. 

Thwap! 

“[Name]." 

Thwap! 

"I said stop!” Bruce growled as he twisted on his stool to face you.

His shoulders hunched up around his ears, and the breaths heaving from his chest contained a guttural edge. These symptoms alone should have been enough to frighten you, but no. Your bored expression did not flicker. You sat coolly on your stool at the other end of the room with one of the large pile of paper balls beside you clutched in one hand.

“Really?” you asked. “A couple of paper balls to the noggin makes you angry enough to Hulk out?”

“I’m always angry. All it takes is one little push.”

Bruce rubbed at his eyes with his fists. Already that one flare of anger had faded and left him wanting a nap. You were right about one thing, though: A bit of light prodding to the skull was not worth the full exhaustion of becoming the Hulk. He took several deep breaths to get himself under control—only for another paper to bean him in the head. 

Thwap! 

With a groan, Bruce crumpled the paper in his hand. “Why do you hate me so much, [Name]?”

“Why do you think I hate you?”

“Come on. You’ve had it in for me from the day we met. Any time you find me hanging around with Tony, you do whatever it takes for one of us to get sick of you and go away.”

“How do you mean?" 

Thwap! 

"Like that. Seriously, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to just go back to India and leave you and your brother in peace?”

“Of course not!” The mere suggestion seemed to leave you shocked. “Why would I want that?”

“If just seeing me around upsets you so much—" 

Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! 

A cascade of papers hit him one after another. He lifted his hands to shield himself from the blows, but they kept coming until you ran out of ammunition.

"I don’t hate you. God! You already figured out the problem, genius. And you’re supposed to have how many PhDs?”

“Seven,” Bruce answered vaguely. Without the continuous assault on his head, he could perhaps set his mind to figuring out what it was he had already figured out. All he could think of was: “You don’t like it when I spend time with Tony?”

“Ding, ding, ding, ding! Got it in one, Doctor.”

“But my moving to India would solve that problem.”

You had nothing else to toss at him. Apparently, this was reason enough for you get up and walk over to him. A few seconds later, you stood in front Bruce with your hands on your hips. “I don't care about spending time with my brother, all right? It’s not like I just got out of boarding school last week. We see plenty of each other. Which would mean…?”

“You…you want to spend more time with me?” Bruce said, once he realized you expected him to supply an answer. It wasn’t in the least logical, but you nodded. “That doesn’t make any sense! Whenever Tony and I are in here together, you torment me.”

As he blathered on, you just kept on nodding. That Bruce noticed. What he didn’t was the arm extending toward his collar—not until you hooked a finger around it and pulled him toward you until your lips nearly touched.

“That’s because I want to get you alone, Doctor, and out of the lab.”

Bruce gulped. “And why would that be?”

You grinned. “The things I want to do to you aren’t things I want Tony or JARVIS watching.”

“Er…I—That is to say—”

“I’m back! Wouldn’t you know it? Listening to Steve go on and on about the good old days is enough to get me to miss my baby sister,” Tony’s voice came up the stairs leading to the lab door.

Bruce felt himself turn bright red at the thought of him catching you and Bruce in such position, but you’d already released him by the time the thought occurred. Tony saw nothing as he entered the room.

“How about you two? Play nice while I was gone?”

“Um—” Bruce began.

“I ran out of paper balls,” you interrupted. “Don’t worry. I’ve recollected them.”

“Excellent. Then I think it’s about time Bruce and I returned to work. How about you, Bruce?”

Bruce’s eyes followed your sauntering course back to your own lab station. You winked at him as you dropped your projectiles back on its surface. Hastily, he spun back to the waiting holographic screen behind him.

“Yes,” he said. “Let’s.”

“Loving the enthusiasm, Big Guy. Now, I was thinking…”

In all honesty, Bruce didn’t really listen to the rest of Tony’s spiel. He had his mind on other matters—like the possibility of taking you up on that offer to spend time with you outside of the lab. This whole project shouldn’t take too much longer. Then, perhaps, he might convince you to go get a coffee with him. 

Thwack! 

…if only so you might stop throwing things at his head.

Summary: No matter what you may say to the contrary, Thor does tend to have it coming to him.

Rating/Warnings/Tags:All (Pre-Thor; Asgard; Bratty!Child!Thor; magic!reader; established Loki & Reader friendship)

Challenge: “100 Drabbles of Randomness” by Miseria1 on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Notes: And so we begin with my attempt at replacing the ficlets I deleted from this collection! I’m going to try to post one a week, but there’s a lot going on, so I’m not going to beat myself up if I can’t get to it. 

Hypocrisy

Finally! After an entire morning’s worth of needling and squirming and pouting, you found yourself in the open corridors of Asgard’s royal palace. Being a young woman—the only daughter of Odin’s Captain of the Guard at that—meant that you typically didn’t have many options for adventure whenever your father chose to drag you up there for some “society,” and that day’s meeting had been less adventure than most. Now that you were free of his and Odin’s watchful eyes, you intended to find yourself some fun, and you knew just who to look for to find that.

“Loki!”

Or perhaps that person would find you first. The enraged voice you caused you to jump about a foot in the air in fright.

A clatter of footsteps followed this cry. Louder they grew, and louder and louder, until a boy around your own age rounded the distant corner. You recognized him at once by the mischievous grin on his face. He in turn must have recognized you, for he picked up his pace the moment he spotted you.

“Loki?” you asked, but could not question Odin’s youngest son further before he darted behind you.

“Perfect timing as always, [Name],” he said.

“Perfect timing for what?”

“Loki, I am going to kill you!” the same voice from shouted. “And then I’m going to tell Mother!”

A strange noise issued from behind you. Turning, you found Loki stifling his laughter with his own palm. His green eyes twinkled with mirth. Thor continued stomping up the hall and opening (and slamming shut) every door on the way, and that only seemed to amuse Loki all the more.

“What did you do?” you asked. Your tone smacked the smile right off his face.

“Nothing!”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“All right, nothing important. Nothing Thor should be so worked up over, anyway. It was only a prank.”

“I thought the Allfather told you to stop pulling pranks on your brother,” you said with your hands on your hips.

Loki rolled his eyes. “What does he know? Thor’s got to learn to take a joke.”

“It’s not a joke if your prank is mean.”

“No one got bit this time! What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that you’re being—”

“There you are!”

Thor had found Loki at last. At least, you thought it was Thor. The red-faced boy headed right for you looked familiar, only he had bright blue hair with eyebrows to match. Your attempt at a swift greeting curtsy went ignored. Only Loki could capture Thor’s interest at the moment.

“Turn it back!” Thor shouted.

Loki didn’t flinch. “No.”

“If you don’t, I'll—”

“Make me? How? Get Sif to hold me down so you can punch me?”

Instead of thinking of a better way to finish his threat, Thor—still looking utterly ridiculous with his blue hair—lunged at his brother with a wordless cry of anger. Loki ducking behind you deterred Thor not at all. The two boys, one snarling, the other snickering, circled you. Around and around they went until you grew dizzy enough to shove the nearest person out of the endless whirlwind.

Unfortunately, that person turned out to be Thor. More unfortunately still, your shoving him was enough for you to end up at the wrong end of his wrath yourself.

“You're helping him!” Thor snapped incredulously.

“What?” You shook your head. “No, I—”

“I should have guessed you were in on this, [Name].”

“Wait. I had nothing to—”

“You're always helping him pick on me!”

“I never—”

“If that’s how you want things to be, fine. I’ll tell your dad, too. When he hears about this—”

A sudden peal of laughter from Loki interrupted Thor’s tirade. Disconcerted, Thor paused, but it didn’t take long for him to open his mouth to continue lecturing you. He took a deep breath, then found himself unable to speak over your laughter.

“What?” he demanded, looking between you and Loki as the two of you doubled over gasping for breath. “What are you laughing at? What’s so funny?”

“Maybe—maybe you should check a mirror,” Loki managed to choke out.

Thor’s eyes narrowed, but clearly his suspicions were great enough to convince him to follow Loki’s advice and leave you both unattended. It did not take long for him to find a reflective surface in the lush corridor. He took one look, then gasped. For good reason, too: Above his quivering lips now sat a magnificent mustache the exact same color as the rest of his hair.

“Mother!” Thor bawled before rushing back out of sight once more.

They were too much, his hysterics. Together you and Loki melted into a guffawing puddle right there on the palace floor. Only several minutes later did either of you recover to rise, hiccuping, into a seated position.

Loki shot you a knowing look as you wiped the tears from your eyes. “I thought you said I wasn’t to prank Thor anymore,” he said.

You sat up as straight as you could and said in your most prim of voices, “Thor has to learn to take a joke.”

This very nearly sent the two of you to the floor again. Struggling to contain himself, Loki instead hopped to his feet and offered you a hand to follow suit. You allowed him to pull you up. Each of you shot the other enormous grins at the exact same time. Then you both wordlessly raced up the hall side by side. Thor would be back soon, almost certainly with backup. Until then, there remained plenty of fun for you and your friend to go looking for.

Summary: He’s dealt with worse problems in his lifetime.

Rating/Warnings:All (This is almost certainly not how sleepwalking works.)

Challenge: “100 Drabbles of Randomness” by Miseria1 on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Sleepwalk

When Bruce woke up, he found someone in his bed. This wasn’t an altogether strange occurrence, but he was quite certain he had gone to bed alone four hours ago. Trying not to feel too concerned, he wiggled halfway out of the sheets before peeling those beside him back. He was surprised to find youcurled up in a ball halfway down the mattress.

Bruce frowned. Had he gone to bed alone the night before? Yes, he was sure he had. He’d been up with Tony until one working on some new clean-energy plans and had had no chance to call and see if you had made it home all right after dinner.

“Um, [Name]?” He nudged you softly with his hand.

The tiny ball simply shuddered slightly at his touch.

Bruce tried again. “[Name]?”

Your eyelids fluttered and a small groan worked its way free of your throat as you stretched yourself out of your fetal position.

“Five more minutes,” you mumbled as you flipped over.

Bruce shook your shoulder. “Is there any particular reason you’re asleep in my bed?“

You opened your eyes completely at that. They darted across the unfamiliar walls and ceiling. Then you looked at him, cheeks already much darker than normal.

“Oh, no,” you said.

“Is everything okay?”

“Fine!” You sat up and shuffled your feet across the carpet underneath the bed. “Oh, god. I’m so sorry, Bruce.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” You certainly weren’t acting like it. “Are you sick?”

“No! No, I’m not. I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“But why are you here?”

You looked at him. Bruce looked back. At last, you took a deep breath and answered:

“I…have a problem.” His eyebrows rose at that, so you continued, “It’s not a big deal. I just…sleepwalk…sometimes. I guess I was thinking about you so much that my legs took me here without me making them.”

“Ah,” Bruce said, as if that explained things.

The color in your cheeks deepened still further as you stood up. "I’m so sorry. I’ll go home now.“

But you didn’t get far before he took your wrist. "Look, you’re already here. I missed you, too. Besides, it’s dangerous to be wandering around at five in the morning in your pajamas. Why don’t you just stay the night–or day, as the case may be?”

You paused before turning your head slightly to look at him. Your cheeks were beginning to fade back to their original color. “You sure?”

“Positive.”

Bruce shifted to his side to allow you space to crawl back underneath the blanket. As you snuggled back into the sheet, he chuckled and shifted you so he could tuck you into his chest. Before you fell back to sleep, he planted a kiss behind your ear and whispered:

“And maybe if this is going to be a frequent problem, you should just move in.”

Summary: Sometimes love is like quicksand: You take one wrong step and it sucks you straight in.

Rating/Warnings:All (hate to love; Post-Avengers (2012))

Challenge: “100 Drabbles of Randomness” by Miseria1 on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Quicksand

When you first met Dr. Bruce Banner, you’d hated his guts. Physicist work was your work at Stark Industries, and you didn’t appreciate his coming along to usurp your position–not that Tony noticed your obvious disdain when he shoved the other man into your workspace.

“Look, [Name]! I brought you a souvenir: a new partner!” Tony said.

You would have preferred a “My boss saved the world and all I got was this lousy t-shirt” t-shirt. Surely that was apparent in the way your lips curled as you shook Dr. Banner’s hand. Still, Tony just grinned, slapped the two of you on the backs, and left with a jaunty:

“You two kids play nice now!”

Needles to say, you did not play nice. You glowered and sulked and pouted and glared. Dr. Banner didn’t try to stop you. He just did his work in silence and only deigned to speak up when he needed help finding a tool.

Several weeks passed in the same manner before something strange happened, and it was something you never could quite figure out. Things between the two of you just seemed to…shift.

“What do you say we take a break and go get lunch?” Dr. Banner interrupted the quiet to ask.

You looked up from your holo-screen to scowl at him. “Why are you asking me?“

"Because you don’t do anything other than work. You seem lonely.”

Your eyes widened. Dr. Banner gazed at you calmly in return. Then you slammed your palms onto the table and left the room.

It bothered you that he noticed something so easily that you thought you had been hiding so well. You didn’t go back to work after your lunch break that day, but instead spent the rest of the afternoon grouching at home, ranting to your goldfish about how exactly much you hated Dr. Banner.

Time passed. Your rage faded slowly to embarrassment. You realized that you had been taking out your feelings of inadequacy on a man that had been nothing but polite to you.

“About that lunch,” you said the next day.

Dr. Banner looked away from his notes.

“I–I’m sorry I snapped at you. Maybe we could go today?”

He smiled. “I’d like that.

Summary:When you got married, people warned you that you wouldn’t just be marrying your husband, you’d be marrying into his family. Too bad no one ever warned you you’d be marrying into his friendships, too.

Rating/Warnings: All (Post-Captain America: Civil War;Captain America: Civil War Compliant; Hurt!James “Rhodey” Rhodes; Married!James “Rhodey” Rhodes; Vitriolic Best Buds; Mild Swearing; Avengers Compound)

Challenge:“100 Little Drabbles” by Wingu on Lunaescence Archives

Prompt:Break

Tag List: @imaginesfire​

Notes: This is my first go at writing Rhodey outside of his occasional appearances in longer Tony-centric works. It’s long overdue, and I might have gone a little overboard with Tony just because I feel bad that I always focus on his friendship with Bruce instead.

Part of the Package Deal

Gravel crunched beneath your feet as you stepped of your sensibly-sized and -colored rental car onto the Avengers Compound’s sweeping grounds. Several huge buildings rose up around you high enough to block out the sun crawling westward toward the horizon. You pulled your sunglasses off to get a better look at your surroundings. So this was where Jim had been spending so much time for the past year. And how could you blame him? This place blew your modest home in Malibu out of the water.

No, no, no! Pinching the bridge of your nose, you shook your head back and forth until it cleared of the usual Stark razzle-dazzle. You refused to let anything here impress you. Tony thought modern architecture and flashy tech were enough to make up for the fact you never heard about your husband unless he’d been involved in an accident? Well, not anymore.

With one sharp exhale, you squared your shoulders and snapped your attention to the nearby doors. According to the map you’d printed off the internet, these led into the living quarters for the Avengers. You took one handle and yanked to no avail. Locked. Yes, you decided as you took a step back to look for any obtrusive security cameras, you were definitely in the right place.

“Tony!” You banged on the glass. “Tony, let me in!”

Peering inside revealed nothing but an empty room filled with exercise equipment. You knocked again.

“Tony, I did not fly all the way here from California for you to ignore me!”

“Mr. Stark is currently tied up in other matters. May I have your name, please?”

The cool, Irish-accented voice of a woman seemed to come from nowhere. You jumped about a foot away from the door. A minute or two of pulse-pounding shock later, you realized this must be yet another of Tony’s AIs. What had happened to JARVIS, you wondered. He never had to ask for your name.

“Your [Name], please,” the new AI insisted.

“[F Name] Rhodes,” you answered as you stepped back to the door.

“I have no such name on the approved visitor list for today. Please contact our publicity office to arrange for an appointment at a later date. Goodbye.”

“Hold it!”

No reply came forth. For all the good it would do, you smashed your fist against the door once more. Then you held your breath. Still nothing moved behind the glass. Had Tony’s artificial bouncer really just left you here alone?

“Ma'am, I’m afraid that if you do not vacate the facility premises in the next ten minutes, I will be forced to call in the authorities.”

Apparently not.

“Listen,” you said, still unsure of exactly where to look to get your point across. “You tell Tony that [F Name] Rhodes is here. If he still won’t let me in, I’ll gladly talk to whatever authorities you’re required to summon. If he wants the extra publicity, I don’t mind giving it to him.”

The woman didn’t answer. You wondered again what had become of JARVIS. JARVIS knew you. He would never have left you standing outside, listening for the sound of approaching sirens or Iron Man drones. Heck, he’d probably have opened the door without waiting to get permission from his precious boss.

Movement flashed somewhere in the back of the room a quarter of an inch away from you. A figure made its rapid way in your direction. Soon it was close enough for you to identify: Tony Stark had made an appearance at last. He looked uncharacteristically pale as he unlocked the door and pushed it open to allow you inside.

“Where’s Jim?” you asked after you dumped your purse on a nearby plastic chair—the only flat surface you could fine that wasn’t tile floor.

“Hello to you, too, [Name],” Tony said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Don’t play dumb with me..”

“You’re a long way from California. It never occurred to you to callfirst?”

“The line was busy.” You folded your arms across your chest and asked again calmly, “Where’s Jim?”

Tony pushed his hair from his forehead with a sigh. You noticed he was having trouble meeting your eyes. “Resting.”

“Restingwhere?”

“Can we not do this right now? Let me show you to a room. We’ve got plenty available. When Rhodey’s ready, we’ll all have dinner together. I might even be able to dig Vision up from wherever he got to. We can talk then.”

Asthough Tony could weasel out of a conversation you wanted to have with him. You’d known him far too long for any of his usual stalling tactics to work.

“Tony, I’ll tell you this one time before I start pulling this place apart with my bare hands: Give me. My husband.”

Your eyes locked with his. A long pause ensued. You could practically see the gears (or suitably high-tech equivalent) turning inside Tony’s skull as he struggled to come with some comeback witty enough to distract you. Too late. Before he could utter another word, you turned on your heel to follow the dim hallway leading from the room.

“Wait!” he called after you.

You stopped and look at him over your shoulder.

“I…I can’t.”

“Why not?” You could barely keep the anger from your voice.

“Because he isn’t ready yet.”

“He isn’t ready for what?”

“Ready for you to see him!”

Gritting your teeth in a silent snarl, you marched right back up to Tony and jabbed a finger into his chest where his arc reactor used to sit. “You have no right to keep me from him.”

“I know.” He took the hand still prodding him, but instead of shoving it away, he wrapped his own hand around yours. “[Name], I promise, as soon as he’s okay, I’ll take you right to him.”

“‘Okay’? ’Okay’? Why is he not okay? Did something else happen to him?”

“No, not exactly.”

“What is he doing here anyway? He should be at the VA!”

“Trust me. This the best place for him. I’ve got one of the best neurosurgeons in the country on speed dial. Admittedly not the best, because he wouldn’t take my calls—but this one is excellent, too, and she’s keeping a good eye on him! I’m doing the best with what I’ve got, all right?”

He probably thought you’d drop the point of your husband being kept at Avengers HQ instead of a medical facility. After all, Tony was the man that built the greatest technical innovation the world had seen in decades while being kept prisoner in a cave with a box of scraps. But this wasn’t the fate of Tony’s reputation or his company at stake here. It was the man you loved’s life.

“Not good enough,” you said.

Tony pulled you back as you attempted a second break for the hall. “[Name], would you listen to me? Rhodey is as physically and emotionally fine as he can be. All I’m asking for is a little more time.”

Something about that request broke the dam inside you. Every horrible feeling you had experienced over the last few days crashed over you—the fear, the anger, the stress, the worry, all of it. Despite your best efforts to keep yourself upright and strong, tears filled your eyes. You ripped your arm free of Tony’s grip so that you could wipe your face dry with your sleeve and level a dry glare at him.

“I have given you time, Tony. It’s been days. I should have heard it from you, not from CNN.”

“I admit, when you put it that way, I could probably have handled the reveal a bit better.”

“How do you think I feel, knowing Jim is out there putting his life on the line for you, only to hear he’s been seriously injured while I’m listening to the news over dinner?”

“Things have just been a little hectic around here since Steve decided to play Dirty Harry, okay? I swear, I was going to call you just as soon as—”

“As soon as what? I am his wife, Tony! I deserve—”

“[Name]?”

Both you and Tony looked toward the hall to see a familiar man creeping up it, his hands pressed against the white wall to help him stand.

“Jim!” you gasped at the exact same time that Tony said, “Rhodey?”

For one shining moment, you remained so stunned to see your husband again that you failed to notice anything different about him. All you could do was stare at him in happy wonder—until he reached the end of the wall and nearly tumbled to the floor without further support. He would have fallen, had Tony not been quick enough to see what was happening and leap to fill the place the wall once had.

“Thanks,” Jim said.

“Don’t mention it. What are you doing out of bed?”

The two of them made their slow, staggering way across the room. You watched with one hand over your mouth. Could this really be the same man that had stood at the end of the aisle at your wedding? He looked the same and sounded the same, but, oh, Jim. Thankfully, you noticed where the men were headed before you gave yourself over to more tears. Your purse was unceremoniously dumped to the floor just as Jim collapsed into it. A few seconds went by as he caught his breath.

“I thought I heard the two of you arguing,” he answered Tony at last.

“We weren't—” But the cutting look you shot Tony prevented him finishing his protest.

“Sure,” Jim said, then he looked at you. “When did you get here?”

“About fifteen minutes ago,” you replied.

“Well, it’s good to see you. I was beginning to wonder when Tony would allow me to have visitors.”

“He didn’t.”

Jim frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m only here because I found out what happened on the news. Tony has nothing to do with it.”

“Oh.Oh. I’m sorry, [Name]. I should have called you. Between the media blitz and all the physical therapy, it never even crossed my mind.”

You put your hand gingerly on his shoulder and were relieved that he didn’t collapse under the added weight. “It’s okay, Jim. I don’t blame you for my finding out this way.”

“It isn’t Tony’s fault.”

You snorted, causing Jim’s faint eyebrows to lift.

“It’s not.”

“Jim.” Now your hand moved to cup his cheek. “This happened because you were cleaning up one of Tony’s messes again.”

Admittedly, you didn’t have all the details lined up just yet. One never could trust the news to tell the whole or entire truth about something, but this fiasco smelled strongly of one of Tony’s harebrained world-protection schemes. His role in keeping Jim away from for months at a time was a well-worn subject of argument between you and your husband; bringing it up now when Jim was so weak wasn’t exactly fair. But you couldn’t stand seeing him like this, and the knowledge that Tony had something to do with his injuries again only aggravated you further.

“I swear, you got hurt less often back when you only worked for the Air Force,” you said throatily.

Jim pressed one of his hands over the one you had on his face, then waited to speak until you could control yourself enough to look him in the eye:

“[Name], you know I make my own decisions.”

“And those decisions change if you think Tony’s going to get himself killed,” you grumbled.

“And you know I’m willing to call Tony out when I think he’s being an idiot.”

“Which doesn’t matter when he doesn’t listen.”

“And you knew that when you and I got married, Tony was part of that package deal.”

Another glare in Tony’s direction met with an odd expression on his part. Before it had felt like he couldn’t look straight at you. Now it felt like he’d forgotten you were even there, so focused was he on Jim. Could that be guilt you read on Tony’s face? Surely not. You turned back to your husband with a sharp breath.

“At the time, I didn’t realize the deal would involve so much of you two flying around in metal suits.”

Jim let out a soft, low chuckle. His eyelids slid shut. When he dropped his arm to his side, you reluctantly pulled your hand away from him. Tony knelt beside him to put his hand on the shoulder you had so recently held.

“You had a rough morning. You should be in bed,” he said.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Jim tried to wave him off, but Tony stayed put.

“I mean it. You want to backslide? All that progress we made this morning? Gone, because your stubborn ass has to come running whenever I get in a fight.”

“You’re not in any condition to go toe to toe with [Name] right now.”

“When am I ever?”

The two of them grinned at each other in that infuriating way that only a couple of guys making a private joke could. Seeing as you were the butt of that private joke, you did not crack a smile. You allowed them to continue smiling, though, until their little “bromance” moment stretched on a little too long. Both men started when you cleared throat. Maybe they had forgotten you were still standing there with your arms crossed over your chest.

“And what, exactly, about this morning was so rough?” you asked frostily.

The look Jim and Tony exchanged that time was different—more raised eyebrows and frowning—but equally infuriating.

“What aren’t you telling me?” This question you directed at your husband. “I came out all this way to find out what’s been going on, so one of you had better spit it out.”

“Or what?” asked Tony.

“Tony, I think she’s serious,” Jim said.

“So am I. Is not knowing really grounds for a divorce? I’m just weighing our options here.”

With an aggrieved sigh, Jim shoved Tony out of his immediate personal bubble. Tony must not have wanted to keep their shared secret too badly, because he did nothing to prevent Jim from taking a deep breath and saying:

“Tony’s got me doing some…experimental physical therapy.”

Well,that wasn’t a comforting explanation. “So you’re a physical therapist now?” you asked.

“Among other things,” Tony said.

“Look.”

You could not ignore Jim’s soft request. Instead of firing back at Tony as you so badly wanted to, you returned your attention to your husband. He tapped at a glowing blue circle about halfway down his thigh. From that light sprouted a complicated system of pulleys and joints and even more lights that sprawled across Jim’s legs and hips. So eager had you been to see him alive and moving that you hadn’t even noticed this addition to his body.

“Tony made these for me,” he said. “Without them, I wouldn’t be able to walk at all.”

Your mouth opened. Your mouth closed. Again. Again. Again. Still unable to think of any way to express your thoughts on the matter, you raised your head to look at Tony. You were surprised to find his brown eyes shining when they met your gaze.

“We’re still working out the kinks. Rhodey is—” Tony coughed a few times, then went on, “Rhodey is amazing. He’s doing great. Really great. I’m just trying to get the braces up to his speed.”

“We’re both getting there. Together.”

Tony shook his head, unwilling to accept Jim’s encouragement. His eyes and yours were trained on each other like magnets. “You weren’t supposed to show up until he was perfect. That’s why I didn’t call. I wanted to give him back to you good as new.”

“Tony…” Jim began, but once more Tony waved him off.

“I owe you both at least that much.”

Neither you nor Tony seemed able to figure out what to say to each other after that. At least you finally managed to break eye contact. He looked back at Jim, tried to smile, failed, and awkwardly stuck his hands in the front pockets of his pants. You turned your head to blink rapidly at the wall, cleared your throat again, and tried not to cry. After struggling to find words to say to Tony for another minute or so, you gave up and went back to Jim instead.

“You really think this is what you need? Not rehab at an actual hospital?” you asked.

He didn’t miss a beat. “I trust Tony. This is what I want to do.”

Normally, Tony would have taken this compliment and rubbed it in your face until it ground to dust. That day he didn’t react at all. Didn’t blink. Didn’t grin. Didn’t so much as offer a single quip. He seemed to be waiting for you to make the next move. His behavior threw you off, and the more you thought about it, the more you realized just how little Tony was acting like himself at all. The whole catastrophe with Steve—and Jim’s injury—must have really rattled him.

Then it hit you: Jim wasn’t just staying here for his own sake; he could never be that selfish. Tony needed Jim just then just as badly as Jim needed Tony. You couldn’t tear him away.

“Fine,” you said.

“Fine?” Tony echoed.

“What’s fine?” Jim asked.

“You can stay. I won’t drag you off to the nearest VA like I was planning to.”

“You won’t?” A hopeful note crept into Tony’s voice.

“Really?” said Jim.

“Really,” you answered.

They both cheered. If you’d given them the time, you suspected they might have actually embraced. You did not give them the time, however. Tony could change his mind just as quickly as you, so you needed to get things arranged as soon as possible. Neither he nor Jim noticed you taking a step away from them, but they couldn’t fail to hear you say:

“Just let me go get my bags out of the car.”

You made a beeline for the door you’d come through before either of them could register what you said. Such ringing silence could not last. No sooner had you placed your hand on the door handle than did Tony shake off the lingering shock.

“Wait. No one said anything about you staying,” he said as he came after you. “No, no. This is a secure facility! I’m sure we can find you a nice hotel nearby if you really feel you need to—”

“Tony,” said Jim.

“She’s not an Avenger!”

“Yeah, and neither are we much these days.”

Then Jim tried to get to his feet. It looked more to you like he was having a seizure. His feet scuffed against the floor while his fingers grasped the edge of the chair he sat on. Very slowly and very arduously, he finally managed to stand. You held everything you had inside you very, very still to prevent yourself from running over to him and helping him over to Tony’s side. He got there all on his own several agonizing minutes later. There he clapped Tony on the shoulder and shot him a tired smile.

“Besides, you knew when [Name] and I got married, she’d always be part of the package deal,” he said.

Tony’s lips pursed together at that. They squirmed for a long time. At last, without bothering to so much as look in your direction, he said, “Fine. She can stay.”

“Thanks, Tony.”

“But you have to say in the wing where we house the orphaned SHIELD agents!” Tony’s call followed you out of the compound and back onto the lot where your rental car sat waiting.

“Tony—” Jim began in a warning tone.

The door shutting behind you prevented you from hearing the quarrel that surely followed. Those two were always like that, especially when it came to you. As you hefted your two suitcases from the car’s trunk, though, you found you didn’t care. You didn’t care about having to listen to Jim and Tony argue until they were blue in the faces or drunk. You didn’t care about the fights you and Tony would get into when he inevitably got bored and started picking on you. You didn’t even care that it looked as though you and your husband would not be returning to your home in California soon or ever at all.

No, all you felt in that moment was grateful. Tony Stark might have put a lot of stock into the work of his own hands, modern architecture, and flashy tech—but he put more stock into his friendship with you and with Jim.

Summary:Natasha tends gets her way, if not always in the way that she expects.

Rating/Warnings: All (song lyrics as dialogue; Song Challenge; Post-Avengers (2012); SHIELD Agent!Reader; Avenger!Reade; Some Crack; Pre-Iron Man 3; Avengers Tower; absent!Thor)

Requester:@flintt

Request:  “Can I […] ask for a Bruce Banner fanfic? I was also wondering if y/n could just be a shield agent doing a singing challenge with co-workers and end up doing Banner (I like to think it’s overwhembled /the Ryan Mack Remix/) and he’s all smitten and in love. Pretty much fluff. Thanks. […] y/n is a really good singer and suggests them and their co-workers play a game, which y/n will summarize the avengers personality/love life/ whatever with a song.”

Tag List: @imaginesfire​

Notes: Credit is given for the music within the work. Also, I must give a shout-out to my best friend IRL for coming up with the ending to this one shot back when I first mentioned what I was working on to her.

Silent No More

Silence had a funny way of turning the most mundane of tasks into an arduous affair. It could do so in more than one way, too. You could endure the thin, anxious silence waiting for the signal to begin acting out a mission. You could handle the heavy, poignant silence at the other end of a phone line when you called a family to inform them a fellow agent had died in the line of duty. But by far the hardest silence to sit through was standing alone in an elevator with your boss while he studiously typed out messages to someone else all the way down.

When the silver doors finally slid open to reveal Avengers Towers common area, you sucked in an enormous breath. Unstifled air at last! But you could not enjoy it for long. Director Fury stepped out onto the tile alongside you with his black coat billowing at his ankles. You struggled to match his long strides as you both headed in the direction of the second lift at the other end of the wide room. Whatever he and Maria were talking about must have been important; he still hadn’t said a single word since you left the interview. Had you screwed things up? Should you bring the question up yourself, or wait for him to start the lecture?

“[Name]!”

A familiar voice forced you to turn before either you or Director Fury reached the elevator to the main lobby. There at the kitchen table sat your close friend, Natasha Romanoff, and fellow SHIELD agent Clint Barton. Behind them in the kitchen itself stood another familiar figure: Bruce Banner, who seemed determined to pretend no one else was anywhere nearby.

Natasha caught your eye and waved you over. You shot Director Fury a questioning look. He was still, for all intents and purposes, your boss, as well as your ride home for the evening. Without even looking up from his communicator, he nodded.

“So, how did it go?” she asked upon your approach.

“Fine,” you answered.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I got the job.”

She and Clint clapped enthusiastically. Maybe it was lingering anxiety from being trapped in a room for an hour while Director Fury, Steve Rogers, and Tony Stark shot questions at you, but their celebratory gesture only made your face grow warm. Then Natasha made things worse by kicking the chair across from her out from under the table and pointing imperiously at the empty seat.

“Sit,” she said.

So used to following her orders were you that you sat without a second thought. From that angle, you had a good view of Bruce’s wide shoulders straining a little against the fabric of his purple shirt. The scent of hot milk and spices rose from whatever he had on the stove; you wondered if he was making tea.

Natasha cleared her throat. Starting, you returned your attention to her—but that didn’t convince her it had always been there. Her green eyes slid knowingly in Bruce’s direction and back to your face. Her smile grew as she pushed an upside-down baseball cap across the table to you. It rustled strangely as it moved, and the reason soon became clear: A number of folded paper slips sat inside.

“Welcome to the team,” she said. “I hope you didn’t think this would get you out of our little game.”

Horrified, you gazed down at the hat. All of the papers inside seemed to writhe around like venomous snakes. Though Clint had not spoken a single word since your arrival, you could see him smirking over the lip of his coffee mug. You knew exactly what he found so amusing, too: The vague warmth against the back of your head told you that Director Fury had followed you to the table—and he was probably still busy talking to Maria. That wouldn’t mean he wasn’t keeping track of your conversation, though; the World Security Council did not pay him to be unobservant.

Did Natasha, your so-called “friend,” have any sympathy for your plight? Of course she didn’t. She just jostled that hat by its brim and reminded you, “This whole thing was youridea.”

“I know,” you moaned.

“So what’s the hold up?”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

You couldn’t help stealing another glance at the back of Bruce’s dark curly head. Was he listening in? How could he not? Nothing else was going on in the common area, and making tea didn’t cause a lot of noise.

“Before I joined the Avengers,” you answered in an undertone.

“Oh, but I have to play? I’ve been an Avenger from the beginning.”

“Then let’s call the whole thing off. I’ll just see you guys tomorrow, shall—”

As you stood to beat a hasty retreat, Clint grabbed your elbow and pulled you back into your chair. “Nice try, [Name].”

“You aren’t chickening out of this now,” said Natasha. “Not after I’ve already completed one round.”

“What? Who did you get?” you demanded.

Clint raised the hand that gripped you into the air.

“That’s not fair. How did you draw your best friend right off the bat? Did she even really sing to you?” you asked Clint.

“Of course she did. Why would I lie about a thing like that?” he asked you in return.

“Because, as previously stated, you’re her best friend.”

“I am shocked and appalled you think I’m capable of such outright dishonesty with such meager motivation.”

“Prove it then. What song did she sing to you?”

Clint opened his mouth, but Natasha put a hand on his shoulder. He grinned, drained the last of whatever was in his cup, and set it down on the table with an exaggerated smack of his lips.

“Sorry, [Name].” He didn’t sound it. “My lips are sealed. Natasha swore me to secrecy, and you know how thatgoes.”

You sure did, and knowing made you all the more suspicious. Clint and Natasha often acted as a unit. What she wanted, she usually got. If she needed help from her partner in crime, you hadn’t come across a situation yet where he refused to help her. Huffing, you threw yourself back against your chair and crossed your arms over your chest.

“I don’t believe either of you.”

These words bothered Natasha not at all. With a flourish, she pulled her cell phone out, shaking it a little so that its glassy screen caught the lights above your heads. “That’s okay. I’ve got video proof. Oh, I don’t think so,” she added when you made a futile grab for the phone. “You can see the recording after you wrap up yourassignment.”

Unconvinced, you looked again at Clint. He might have been willing to do just about anything for Natasha, but lying was not one of those things. Not in circumstances where no one’s life was in danger, at least.

“Itwas a pretty spectacular show,” he said.

You threw your hands into the air. “Ugh! Fine! Give me the hat.”

She held it out again. You plunged your hand into the waiting pool of slips before you could change your mind. Maybe you’d get lucky. Maybe you’d pick some guy assigned to Helicarrier duty for the next three months. Maybe you'd—

“Oh, that’s perfect!” Natasha said.

The paper unfolded read “Bruce Banner.”

“Yourigged this.” You leveled your deadliest glare at her, the one that occasionally caused hardened terrorists to drop their weapons without firing at your team. “I don’t know how you rigged this, but this is all your doing.”

“Don’t be a spoil sport, [Name]. Director, why don’t you go ahead and draw your assignment now?”

She thrust the hat up toward your heretofore wordless boss. When you twisted in your seat, you saw him stop rattling away on his communicator just long enough to look from the hat to Natasha’s face.

“Don’t make me fire you, Agent Romanoff,” he said.

“That’s all right.” She cheerfully sat the hat down at her elbow. “I’ll use that sleight of hand [Name] has accused me of to make sure no one gets to Tony’s slip before you.”

“Hey. What are you guys up to?” asked a new voice.

All four of you slowly moved your heads to see Bruce standing nearby. He had one hand in his pocket; the other held a steaming mug.

“Nothing,” Natasha said with a radiant smile.

“Nothing you’d be interested in,” Clint added.

“Nothing you need to be involved in, Dr. Banner,” said Director Fury. “With the only person capable of wrestling the Hulk into submission still in Asgard, I’d prefer you to keep your stress levels at a minimum.”

A brief pause followed this suggestion. Bruce licked his lips. You watched a faint line on his forehead deepen for a moment. Then the line vanished to be replaced by a thin smile.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll just go see if Tony wants any help in the lab today. Congratulations on making the team, [Name]. Or maybe I should offer you my condolences?”

With that, he took his tea and shuffled off to the elevator you and Director Fury had vacated. Only after he disappeared behind the metal doors did the rest of your group relax.

“That was close,” said Clint.

“Very,” Fury agreed.

The rapid key tapping resumed. Natasha got up from the table to do something in the kitchen. Clint slurped at the nothing that remained in his cup. You, on the other hand, stared wordlessly at the paper clenched between your hands. Keeping Bruce in the dark was part of the game. He couldn’t know what was going on until you revealed it all to him. Had it been your imagination that he looked hurt over being told to stay out of it? Director Fury, at least, sounded awfully sincere about wanting Bruce to avoid all stress.

******

The first steps you took into your new home later that week hardly gave you the opportunity to get a good look at your surroundings. All you could tell was that they were big. As far a cry from D.C. as Manhattan was to begin with, your floor on Avengers Tower could not have been more different than the studio apartment you’d left behind.

Figures filled and moved throughout the area, providing even more distraction. As you and Natasha strode through the lobby of your home, arms laden with moving boxes, a platoon of Iron Man suits kept busy moving, adjusting, unpacking, disposing. And at the center of all this stood Tony Stark himself.

“How much more you got left, [Name]?” he asked as you neared his station in the living room. “Not that these guys need lunch, but I sure could use a break.”

“Why don’t you come downstairs and take a look yourself? We’d get it done faster if one of us wasn’t hanging out up here doing nothing,” Natasha said.

Tony looked affronted. “Nothing? Nothing? If I leave my post, who’s going to supervise this lot? You guys don’t have the control chip installed.”

“They could alsohelp unload the truck.”

“Nope. Sorry. No can do. These boys need to be kept on the D.L. until I’ve got all the kinks worked out.”

“Kinks?” you asked. “What kinks?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. All I’m saying is, I bring them outside just in time for the delivery kid to show up, and bam! One YouTube video later, the whole world knows what I'm—Hey! Mk. XXIV! Don’t you dare drop that! Don’t you—What did I justsay?”

A tremendous crashing sound caused the floor to shake.

“No kinks to worry about?” Natasha asked.

“Hold that thought,” Tony said as he stepped around you both and headed back the way you’d come. “Do you want to join DUM-E in the basement? So help me God, I’ll put you on mopping duty if that’s what you’re after!”

“Please tell me that wasn’t my grandmother’s china cabinet,” you said.

Natasha looked over her shoulder at the mess for you. “Doesn’t look like it. Looks like it might have been the coffee table Tony already put up here.”

“Thank God. I don’t have enough furniture to fill this place up as it is.”

“Lucky for you it comes pre-furnished.” Something behind you made a horrible, sharp squealing noise. Tony’s frustrated shouting resumed. “So long as Tony gets his Iron Legion under control.”

“Maybe we should take my dinnerware to a safer location.”

“Good idea.”

The sounds of groaning and crunching faded as you and Natasha slipped into your floor’s private kitchen. None of the drones had come that far back yet. In your hands you carried the first box of cookware. You slid it onto the waiting bar counter, tore it open, and began to pull out drinking glasses before any Iron Legion members could come in and break these as well.

“So,” Natasha said, setting down her own box next to yours. You liked her tone not at all.

“So what?”

“How’s the Song Challenge coming along? Have you picked something for Bruce yet?”

Of course that would be what was on her mind. Ever since she’d read the name on the slip you drew, Natasha had inundated you with texts, voicemails, and video calls about your plan. She seemed to think this was your big chance to show Bruce how you felt about him instead of what it really was: Your big chance to embarrass him and yourself in front of all his coworkers, irrevocably ruining any kind thoughts he had toward you.

“I don’t know if you missed the memo, Nat,” you had to stand on your tiptoes to reach the shelf you wanted, “but I’ve been a little busy this week packing my entire life into numerous boxes.”

“Exactly my point. Plenty of time for you to think. I’ve already wrapped up assignment number two.”

“What? Who did you get for that one?”

More importantly, when did she find the time? Apocalypse-level threats to Earth did not arise every single day, but surely the Avengers kept themselves busy. Why else hire on a seventh member?

Someone from over by the doorway cleared their throat. At first they appeared to be a tower of cardboard boxes on two thick legs. Then the someone stepped into the room and carefully dropped the boxes onto the empty kitchen table. Steve looked a little embarrassed, and it didn’t take long for you to figure out why.

“Speak of the Devil,” Natasha said with a grin.

You glared at her. “Seriously? Steve? You got Steve, and you’ve already sung to him.”

“I’ll have everyone else taken care of, too, at the rate you’re going. Don’t spend long on your break, Steve. And don’t tell her anything.”

With this final warning ringing in the air, she slid around Steve and out into the hall. You tore open the box containing your cutlery. What else could you do? Having worked occasionally with the Avengers as a SHIELD agent didn’t mean you had any clue how to act alone around Captain America.

“If it helps,” he said into the awkward silence, “she isn’t lying.”

“I don’t suppose you’ve got any proof of that.”

Steve shook his head. “You heard her. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow and find out my social security number doesn’t exist anymore. I can’t imagine you want that either.”

“I guess not,” you admitted grudgingly. Steve, at least, could probably get his identity back. Seeing as you didn’t so much as have a code name yet, Natasha could wreak much more havoc on your life if she chose to do so.

“But [Name].”

You looked at him.

“I always tell the truth.”

It would have been impossible to disbelieve him anyway when he furrowed his brows and filled his blue eyes with sincerity like that. Even if hugely muscled, all-American soldiers weren’t your type, Steve looked so handsome and earnest just then that you couldn’t even muster up an eye roll. All you could do was say:

“Right.”

Natashahad told him to not be take much time talking to you; she wouldn’t wait long before she came back to double-check he wasn’t spilling the beans about her song routine. You expected him to leave once you turned your back to fill an open drawer with silverware. Instead, when you went to retrieve a handful of spoons, you found him a few feet away loading plates into a cabinet.

“So, you’re having trouble coming up with something for Dr. Banner?” he asked.

“Er…yeah.” So surprised were you that Steve could speak to you like a normal human being that it took a second or two of staring before you remembered you were supposed to be unpacking. “I know he’ll probably hate the attention either way, but I want to pick something he’ll like—or at least something that won’t embarrass him too badly.”

“Want some help?”

“No thanks. I’ll think of something. I’m not sure that anything from the 1930s would be appropriate for Bruce.”

Steve did not deny listening exclusively to music from his own time period unless Tony forced him to do otherwise. “Well, if you change your mind?”

“I’ll let you know.”

“You’ll think of something good. I think it will be good for Dr. Banner to get a little positive attention.”

“No pressure, right?”

“I didn’t say that to pressure you. For what it’s worth—”

Cardboard scraping against cardboard cut through whatever he intended to say. Speak of the Devil was right! Behind the new boxes stood Bruce of all people. His dark eyes moved between your and Steve’s faces. He, Bruce, seemed to realize he had walked in the middle of something, because he licked his lips and forced a smile, an expression of his you were rapidly growing accustom to.

“Sorry,” he said. “I only managed to carry a couple of boxes up.”

“Every little bit helps,” Steve assured him, but Bruce continued to fidget with his hands.

“The Hulk could probably get the whole truck up here in one go, but—”

“He’d wind up smashing everything to pieces. Better not risk it.”

Color crept into Bruce’s cheeks. “That’s what I was getting at.”

Poor Bruce. He looked so uncomfortable. If only you could say something to crack the sudden tension that filled the kitchen. But what could you say? You got only as far as opening your mouth when he turned, shoulders hunched, to leave the room.

“I’d best get back down there and grab a few more things,” he said. “Can’t have puny Banner failing to pull his own weight, right?”

“Dr. Banner,” Steve began, but Bruce did not pause in his retreat. “Dr. Banner!”

“Bruce? What’s up?” you heard Tony ask from the other room. If Bruce gave him an answer, you didn’t hear it.

Steve let out a sharp sigh.

“I should go apologize. That was out of line. Natasha’s probably looking for me anyway. You good in here alone?”

You nodded as you tore into one of the boxes Bruce brought up. The only current threat nearby was to your material possessions, not to your physical well-being. Nothing more needed to be said after Steve ducked out. If you’d tried to speak, you’d probably have told Captain America that he ought to apologize, and you couldn’t say that to your new boss. Actually, Bruce probably deserved an apology from you as well, assuming he’d heard any part of your conversation with Steve. Maybe you should head down to the lobby, too…

Crash! Bang! Screech!

“Are you kidding me?” Tony cried.

On second thought, your things might be safer if you stayed right where you were.

******

Tonydid eventually get his drones to do the jobs he wanted them to do. Unpacking your things became significantly easier after that. In fact, he even got them to put several items of furniture that they had broken back together. Your bookshelves almost looked as good as new—not that you had time to look for obvious cracks when Steve assigned you to training with different team members every day of the remaining week. With so few actual missions on the schedule, it was no wonder Natasha could spend all that time shuttling back and forth between Avengers Tower and SHIELD HQ for the Song Challenge! Meanwhile, the rest of the team kept you so busy you hardly had five minutes to yourself to think of anything for your onechallenge.

Friday afternoon provided you the first free hour of time since you’d settled in. Showered and aching, you headed down to the common floor with the hope of overhearing something about Natasha’s efforts. The hope was slim; she had everyone terrified into silence. You stepped into the room to find her, Clint, and Steve crowded around Tony on the sofa. Tony was holding up his cell phone, and from its speakers blared music and the unmistakable sound of Natasha’s singing voice.

The very second the lift doors closed behind you, all four of them looked up. Tony turn off his phone and slipped into his pocket right away. You scowled as you stalked over to collapse on the armchair near them.

“Don’t let me stop you from having a good time,” you said.

“You’re not,” said Tony.

“You’re giving Natasha an excuse to snap our necks,” said Clint.

The woman in question gave Clint a playful smack on the back of his head. He smiled at her.

“Get a room,” you muttered, sliding further into your chair.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Still having trouble with your Song Challenge?” Natasha hopped up from her seat only to come perch on one of your chair arms. The withering look you sent her again had no effect on her.

“Mine is going fine, thank you for asking.”

“Hey, there’s no shame in admitting defeat,” Clint said.

“You don’t know Bruce as well as we do,” Tony put in. “Maybe you should call it quits and see if Romanoff will give you someone else. Someone…simpler?”

“You’re the simplest person around here to understand,” Steve said.

“I only keep things simple for you Cap. We all realize your primitive mind can’t grasp our modern-day nuances.”

“If this is a simpleness competition, I think [Name] wins,” said Clint. “She can’t even think of one song and dance routine to perform for Bruce, and Natasha’s already finished four.”

“Makes you wonder if she’s cut out for the Avengers,” Natasha agreed.

“Oh, shut up.” You knew you sounded sour, but did she have to rub it in? “Anyway, Barton, I don’t know where you get off nagging me. Your deadline is up tomorrow.”

He flicked his hand dismissively. “I took care of Maria on Tuesday.”

This news caused you to bury your face in your hands in frustration. “Is everyone going to beat me to the punch? This whole thing was myidea!”

“Not to put too fine a point on it, but your work on this is not going to reflect well upon you in your next employee review,” Tony said, then added when you lifted your face to glower at him, “We’re teasing you, [Name]. You’re one of us now. You’d better get used to it.”

A quiet whoosh announced yet another addition to the group. Out of the elevator slouched Bruce. He took one look at you all gathered there without him, most everyone smiling, and then quickly looked away. You noticed that Tony’s eyes followed Bruce’s circuitous route around the sitting room into the kitchen just as yours did. There Bruce opened the refrigerator and stuck his head inside it without so much as greeting anyone sitting there a few feet away.

When you looked again at Tony, he smirked. That you found odd—or did, until he called:

“Hey, Bruce. Why don’t you quit hiding in the fridge over there and join us?”

He pulled his head free only far enough that he could see you all. “Huh?”

“There’s room on the couch.” Tony waved Bruce over. “Or [Name]’s other chair arm is free. You could get to know her, since you’ve been avoiding all your training exercises with her.”

That explained why you still hadn’t had gone any rounds with Bruce in the gym upstairs. Why would he avoid you? You tried to surreptitiously give him a good once-over, as though you could glean why he had such an aversion to spending time with you specifically with just a glance. He caught your eye as you did and hastily twisted around so he could hold out his hands, fingers spread wide in front of him.

“That’s okay. You guys look cozy. I’ll just make some tea and be on my way,” he said.

“You could make tea on your own floor if you wanted to be antisocial. Come on. Sit.”

“Ireally don’t think that’s at all advisable.”

“Sit! Sit! Sit!” Clint started to chant.

“Sit! Sit! Sit!” Natasha joined in.

It didn’t take long for Tony to take up the words himself. Only you and Steve remained silent, and the latter not for long as you watched Bruce try and fail several time to interrupt their chorus, Steve lifted his own hands to his shoulders. His glare succeed in shutting every single one of them, even Tony.

“There’s no need to heckle Dr. Banner,” Steve said. “If he doesn’t want to be around us, he doesn’t have to be.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to be around you guys,” Bruce mumbled.

“You don’t have to explain yourself to us. Trust me, I know how stressful talking to Tony for any length of time can be.”

“Hey! I resemble that remark,” said Tony.

Steve shot him another withering look, then returned his attention to Bruce. “If you ever feel like we get to be too much, leave the room. No one will think any less of you. It’s safer for all of us if you don’t have the temptation to turn.”

“Cap,” Tony began, but his warning tone went nowhere. Bruce broke in by snapping the refrigerator shut behind.

“Yeah, I think I get the gist,” he said.

After that, Bruce tried to make back to the lift. He didn’t notice you standing so abruptly that you nearly knocked Natasha off her perch. He didn’t see you running to intercept him. But he did see you once you stood blocking his path, and he immediately came to a halt.

“[Name]?” he asked, brown eyes wide.

You could feel everyone else’s wide eyes riveted on you as well. Part of you thought things might go smoother for your integration into the team if you did nothing more than apologize to Bruce for making him uncomfortable and sit back down. If you did that, however, you’d never hear the end of it. Tony probably would bring your failure to complete your own challenge up on your employee review just for kicks. Besides, you got the feeling that if you let Bruce vanish on you now, you’d never get another opportunity to show him what you’d thought up.

“Are you all right?” Bruce prompted you, after a good half a minute passed without you saying anything.

To answer his question, you took a deep breath. He looked as though he was going to ask again, so you cut him off by starting to sing:

“I get overwhelmed so easily. My anxiety creeps inside of me, makes it so hard to breathe.”

No, your voice was too quiet. Could the man in front of you hear you? All he was doing was frowning at you still. You continued on with the song, growing a little louder with each line until you reached the first verse at full volume:

“But these doubts are haunting me. Oh, why’s it always right before I fall asleep that—”

“JAR?” Tony said. “Play Overwhelmed by Ryan Mack through the speakers. And rip out the voice track!”

“Of course, sir.”

You dove into the chorus as the music swelled around you. Bruce’s frown slowly faded away. Now he looked incredulous. Probably he could not believe he’d entered a universe in which his new coworker would just belt out a song to him in front of all his friends and other coworkers. Would you let that deter you? Not now. In fact, the musical accompaniment gave you the courage to dance along. Your moves were nothing compared to what you figured Natasha’s were, but at least you weren’t just standing there doing nothing anymore.

“I get over…well, well, well, would you look at that? Another person telling me to just ‘relax.’ ‘Calm down and take it easy. Everything will be okay.’ Yeah, sure.”

The astonishment on Bruce’s face twisted into an enormous grin, and he didn’t stop smiling for the rest of your song. All the while, the rest of the Avengers clapped along to the beat piping in from the ceiling.

“I get overwhelmed!”

A brief pause followed this conclusion. Then the group in the living room burst into applause. You couldn’t have cared less about their reaction either way. The only person’s you did care about was Bruce’s. He still hadn’t stopped smiling.

“Isthis what Natasha’s been doing all week that everyone’s being so secretive about?” he asked.

“Yes,” you said, then hastened to explain, “It was my idea. We’re all supposed to draw someone’s name out of a hat and pick a song to sing to them that summarizes them.”

“And you just had to go and draw my name.”

“No! I wanted you. Natasha probably made sure I did. I—I think you’re really sweet, Bruce. I realize this might not be the best way to tell you that, though.”

“No, it was. I loved it.”

You gaped at him. “You did?”

“Yeah. It was perfect. Maybe after training sometime, you and I could—”

All the lights on the floor went out.

“Very funny, Tony,” Bruce said.

“It’s not me,” Tony replied. “JARVIS? Lights, please!”

JARVIS did not respond. The only light came now from the button glowing beside the lift down to the tower’s lower floors. Bruce took your hands in his, presumably to shove you behind him if it came down to a fight. You held your breath until the elevator doors slid open to reveal a shadowed figure that stepped out onto the floor.

“Hey, buddy. Bad call breaking into this place,” Clint said.

A spotlight cut through the darkness. You could not make out who the person was at this distance, only that their clothing sparkled. Ominous music began to fill the room.

“You think you came up with piping in your own background music?” Tony said. “Come back when you’ve got something more original.”

The figure said nothing as it drew closer and closer to the Avengers. Multicolored lights swarmed suddenly across everyone’s faces. Whoever it was struck a pose only a few feet from the couch, and it hit you: It was Director Fury, wearing the same outfit he normally did but with glitter covering his trench coat and eye patch. He launched into his own song:

“Make his fight on the hill in the early day, constant chill deep inside.”

“What the hell?” you heard several of those gathered say. Their confusion did not prevent Director Fury from dancing his way right up to a stunned Tony Stark.

“For whom the bell tolls, time marches on. Sing it!”

Slack jawed, Tony did not blink at all between that moment and the end of Director Fury’s performance. No, it was more than that: Tony didn’t move. No one did. By the time the last notes of Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls faded into nothingness and all the lights flicked back on, your hands had grown warm and moist inside of Bruce’s. Everyone one sat staring like that for what felt ages before Tony made a sudden grab for his phone.

Director Fury snatched Tony’s arm and held it in place. “No one will ever believe you.”

Without uttering another word, Director Fury turned, twinkling, to stride back to the elevator doors through which he’d come. You all remained too stunned to speak for several minutes after he vanished behind them.

“Well,” Natasha said at last, “I think we can all agree on who won [Name]’s Song Challenge.”

A murmur of assent rose from the group.

One by one, each member of the team seem to thaw. Bruce squeezed your hands before releasing you at last. Sure, you might have lost out on the overall win, but you’d won his heart. That was something that even Director Fury wouldn’t be stealing away from you any time soon.

Summary: For nine years, you raised the little sister your parents would never see grow. For nine years, you put blood and sweat and tears—sometimes your own, sometimes that of others—into your gruesome work. For nine years, you promised your little family a better life. Then, on the eve of happily ever after, all that is snatched away in the name of revenge. There’s only one group of people capable of rescuing your sister from those who murdered your parents. The thing is, they might not be so willing to help once they discover who (or what) you are…or maybe, just maybe, they might love you in spite of it.

Ratings/Warnings: T (sexual references, mild foul language, canon divergence Post-Avengers (2012), violence, slow burn, France depicted by a non-French writer, no Laura Barton)

Pairings:Clint Barton/Female!Reader; Natasha Romanoff/Bruce Banner; Tony Stark/Pepper Potts

Tag List: @imaginesfire​

Master List

Chapter 2: Thanks for the Warning

Your father told you once many years ago that one day you would return to New York City. You’d been seven at the time, eager and excited to be somewhere so starkly different from your home in Arizona—and to see your father at work. All the glitter, all the lights, so many people! You couldn’t wait to come back with your parents someday soon, someday when it was safe, someday when there wasn’t a job to do.

As you watched the dark shapes of the many skyscrapers covered in squares of brilliant whites and blues slide past your taxi window, you couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm of your childhood. Your father probably hadn’t imagined that everything would be different the next time you saw the city, except for the city itself. No family, no safety, only work to look forward to. You wouldn’t even be in the country long enough to enjoy the sights if all went according to plan.

“So, how long are you in town for?” the cabbie asked. The brown eyes set underneath his thick, dark eyebrows flashed at you in the rearview mirror. You appreciated his breaking into your thoughts; answering him prevented you from dwelling on what could not be changed.

“I leave first thing tomorrow.” You slipped easily back into the American Midwestern accent you’d adopted since arriving in the city. “I’ve got business to take care of out of the country.”

“And you only got in this evening?”

“I had a layover. Why waste it?”

“That’s some turnaround just to see Central Park!”

“I couldn’t resist looking at the ice-skating rink. My dad took me there once when I was a little girl.”

“Oh, yeah? Where’s he now?”

“Dead. Like the rest of my family.”

Your driver made a strange spluttering sound. Lucky for him, a spot along 5th Avenue opened up, allowing him to pull in without inflicting any further awkward conversations upon either of you. You hopped out, paid him his fare—plus a tip—and then headed for the information kiosk ahead on Terrace while he waited for someone new to flag him down.

Early March after sunset was not as popular time for the Central Park skating rink as earlier months might have been. It could not be helped. You had left Paris as soon and as surreptitiously as you could without attracting suspicion. A few slow laps around the ice were enough for you to find a crowd of young adults to follow back out of the park. Their chattered faded when you parted from them to turn right on 5th, but by then you could gauge your speed by walking with the other pedestrians. No one gave the woman carrying a pair of ice skates and a heavy backpack a second look.

And there was your destination in front of you, lit up like a beacon piercing the glowing sky above. Avengers Tower shone brighter than all the buildings around it; you could not have missed it if you tried. Nothing major must have been going on that night either. More people than you’d seen in Central Park spilled across the tower’s steps. Many of those people were in costume; enough weren’t that you blended in with the numerous fans and protesters as you climbed up to the glass doors.

You expected the empty lobby at nine o'clock in the evening. Nothing stirred the shadows less than an inch from your nose. Not a light blinked. Tony Stark would have the best security system in the world installed, though, probably one he’d built himself. That you could count on. One wrong move, and all your careful work just to get this far would come crashing down around your ears.

“I wouldn’t stand there too long if I were you.”

Turning at the sound of a male voice, you found only one person close enough to speak to you. A few feet away stood a man painted head-to-toe in metallic gold and red. He rotated his entire body to meet your eyes, and it hit you: He was a street performer decked out to match his location.

“I mean it.” His fingers mechanically motioned you closer. “Too many fans attempting to breach the lobby after hours lately. They’ve updated their security. I saw a girl get blasted down to the sidewalk last night. Unless you’re looking for that sort of thrill…”

You quickly stepped away from the danger zone and over to your new friend. An upturned hat filled with coins and dollar bills sat at the base of the pedestal he stood atop. Well, preventing you from getting caught before you got started had to be worth something.

“Thanks for the warning,” you said, and pulled out a dollar from your wallet to drop in the hat.

Through the throng of Iron Mans, Black Widows, Thors, and Captain Americas you traipsed. Occasionally, you stopped to take a selfie with one that stood at a strategic point along your path. The photos, however, told you nothing other than that Tony Stark didn’t keep a security guard stationed in his building’s lobby at night. And why would he? They had a Hulk, and you wouldn’t doubt the team would utilize that the second they caught wind of anyone trying to force their way through the front doors.

Fortunately, you’d only ever planned to use the front door as a last resort.

******

Nine o'clock. The stage was set. All the lamps in Tony’s living quarters were dimmed. Most of the glasses next to each person’s seat were drained of liquor. A mound of cash sat in the center of the table. Only two players remained. Tony and Steve eyed one another warily. No one else moved. Everyone held their breaths, waiting for the big reveal.

“Four of a kind,” Steve announced as he slapped four aces and a ten of spades on the table.

Whatever Tony had, he didn’t bother saying. He scattered his cards across the table and dropped his head into his arms with a theatrical groan. Even from this angle, Clint could tell Tony’s hand hadn’t had a hope of beating Steve’s. Natasha and Bruce cheered.

“That’s the third time tonight, Rogers.” Tony lifted his head high enough to glare at the man across from him. “You’re cheating. There’s no other explanation for it!”

“If he is, you haven’t managed to prove it yet,” Natasha said.

“That’s because you’re all aiding and abetting him. You want me to lose.”

“Hey,I was rooting for you,” Bruce put in.

Tony glowered at him, too. “You’re sleeping with the enemy now, Big Guy. I can’t trust you. Who knows what she can convince you to do once she’s got you between the sheets?”

As if to prove Tony’s point for him, Natasha entwined her fingers with the hand Bruce had resting on the table, then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Bruce turned pink but shot her a shy smile. Clint rolled his eyes away from this nauseating sight.

“See?” Tony said. “She probably told you to drop out as soon as you could to make sure I’d be trapped in a game alone with Le Chiffre here!”

“That’s putting an awful lot of stock in Bruce’s poker skill that I haven’t seen yet,” Clint remarked.

“This coming from the first guy to fold.”

“It’s not my fault you guys play for such high stakes. Some of us aren’t made of money, you know? I’m practically homeless.”

“Please. You live rent free in the most exclusive place in town. I think you can afford to put a little something in the pot.”

“Says the billionaire,” Clint grumbled. What little money he earned from a paycheck severely cut by superheroics he preferred to keep to himself, not that Tony cared. But Clint supposed he wouldn’t care much if he raked in the kind of cash Tony had for his entire life.

“Anyway, that’s not the point!” Leaping to his feet, Tony pointed dramatically at Steve. “My point is, how did someone whose entire shtick is embodying truth, justice, and the American way get so good at poker?”

Steve eyes flitted around the table, perhaps looking for an out. No one offered him one. “When I couldn’t keep a job, I had to find some way to help Bucky pay the rent. I’ve had a lot of practice playing people a lot tougher than you.”

“So you admit it! You arecheating.”

“Well, if you’re so sure, I can think of one way for you to prove it.”

“What’s that?”

Steve smiled. “Play another round. And this time, pay real close attention.”

The same tension as before filled the room. Bruce and Natasha’s gaze remained riveted on Tony. Clint idly wondered if he could slip away unseen while everyone waited for Tony to make a decision. Then, before Clint could push out his chair and make a run for it, Tony sat back down.

“Deal me in,” he said.

“I’m game,” Natasha agreed.

“I can go one more,” said Bruce.

“Sir?” JARVIS’s voice cut smoothly though the renewed trash talk. He didn’t wait for anyone to acknowledge him before continuing, “My sensors indicate someone is attempting to scale the building.”

That brought an end to the dealing at once.

“What?”

“Again?”

“Now?”

“I guess this puts an end to our game,” Steve said ruefully. “I was going to go for Tony’s Spyder next.”

“In your dreams, Rogers. I’ve got your number. I was just about to win everything back.”

“If you’re so sure about that, why not wager the car?”

“This hardly addresses the problem at hand, boys,” Natasha interrupted. “The game can go on, but first we need to decide who has to go retrieve the intruder, preferably before they find anything to put up on eBay.”

“It’s probably just another one of Tony’s ex-girlfriend,” said Bruce.

“So that’s me out of the running,” Tony said.

“Why does that make it not your job?” Steve asked.

“Because if I go, who knows what she’ll do? I break her heart, she grabs the nearest potted plant and breaks my face.”

“A real tragedy.”

“Maybe a plant to the face would improve your looks, Rogers, but some of us don’t need an adjustment.”

“I’ll go.”

Natasha and Bruce exchanged a look. Tony and Steve went as far as pausing in their bickering to stare at the man now standing next to his chair.

“Clint? You sure?” Bruce asked.

Clint had already made it to the door. He waved Bruce’s concern away. “This game’s too rich for my blood anyway. You guys go ahead.”

“Hey, better you than me, Legolas,” said Tony.

“You might not feel that way here in a few minutes,” Steve said.

“Mark my words, Rogers, in a few minutes, you’re gonna be the one wishing he went on peel-the-fangirl-off -the-wall duty.”

“That’s right. Keep your eyes on each other. No one consider how badly I might like a new car,” Natasha said.

As the argument over who would win this round of Texas Hold'em resumed, Clint moved rapidly away from Tony’s sitting room. The floor containing the more common areas, such as the bar and Bruce’s laboratory, was only a few floors away. Clint shoved the door to the stairwell open with his shoulder and dashed up the stairs, relieved to be away from the rest of the group. Hanging around Bruce and Natasha was sickening enough; throw in Steve and Tony’s near-inability to pay attention to anyone but each other (especially whenever Pepper flew back to Malibu for work), and Clint felt like the fifth wheel on a very ungainly bicycle.

He made a beeline for the weapons cache the second he reached the correct floor. From there, he pulled out the waiting bow and a quiver of trick arrows—then grabbed a few real arrows just in case. There’d been an influx in attempts to break in to the various Avengers’ living quarters since Tony displayed the whole place in a Home and Gardens magazine, but they couldn’t assume every intruder would be someone relatively harmless and in search of nothing more than celebrity underwear to sell for a quick buck.

“Which way are they coming up, JARVIS?” Clint asked the ceiling, once he was prepared.

JARVIS answered promptly: “The unidentified climber is making their way up the northeast side of the building. Their current whereabouts are near floor 83.”

“How about that? A new record.”

Whoever they were, they didn’t have far to go. Clint picked up the pace. As he reached the building’s back wall of windows, he snapped his bow into shape and nocked one of the trick arrows. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to fire anything more dangerous than a rope should the stranger slip upon seeing him.

“I have unlocked the panel directly in front of you,” JARVIS announced.

“Thanks, pal.”

Wind blasted into the room the moment Clint pushed the window open it. Nearby objects rattled and papers skittered across the floor. No noise issued from outside except for the faint and steady honking from the traffic one fatal drop below. He stuck his body out only enough to aim his bow and arrow downward.

“You know, we’ve got an awfully nice public lobby about 85 floors from your current position. Maybe you could try visiting that sometime, preferably during daylight hours. Someone there might even agree to sign something for you, provided it’s legally purchased.”

Silence. Clint slowly lowered his bow and squinted into the darkness below. The alley, though not as well-lit as the front of the tower, caught enough of the blue glow from the giant “A” for him to confirm his immediate suspicion: No one clung there to respond to his quip. He waited there for another half a minute, though, as if expecting someone to poke their head out from a lower level once they thought he’d left.

“JARVIS?” he said as he ducked back inside. “You sure they were on the northeast side of the building?”

“Yes, sir,” the AI replied.

“Do you sense anyone there anymore? ‘Cause I didn’t see anybody just now, and we both know my sight’s about the only thing I contribute around here.”

“I sense no one actively touching the building outside at all. How odd. It’s as though they simply vanished.”

“Let’s hope it’s some hocus-pocus like that. The alternatives are a hell of a lot worse.”

Maybe it was his many years as a SHIELD operative. Maybe it was his time as Loki’s unwilling puppet. Whatever the reason, Clint didn’t let go of his bow or remove his arrow from the string. His eyes scanned every window he passed on his way back to the rest of the group. This time, he took the elevator, ears straining every second for the sound of shattering glass or an uninvited passenger coming along for the ride. Nothing like that happened, and he returned to the room without incident.

“That was quick,” Tony remarked at Clint’s appearance. “You holding out some latent teleportation powers on us, Barton?”

“Do you need help restraining them?” Steve asked, eyeing Clint’s still-readied weapon.

Clint shook his head. “There was nobody there.”

“Were you doing any experiments with JARVIS earlier?” Bruce asked Tony.

“No.” Tony sat his cards facedown on the table and sat up a little straighter. “JARVIS? Is there something going on with your programming?”

“Not that I can tell, sir. One minute, my security systems detected a human biosignal moving up the northeast side of the tower. The next, they did not,” JARVIS replied.

“Run a self diagnostic.”

“I’ve already begun. Nothing seems amiss. I can find no signs of a break-in either.”

Bruce tossed his hand to the table without further discussion. “I’ll go to the ground floor and see if I can find anyone. I wasn’t going to last much longer anyway.”

“Might want to grab a spatula on the way out!” Tony called as Bruce disappeared into the hall.

“Very funny,” Steve said stonily.

“You know, I imagine Pepper’s going to say the exact same thing when I tell her she has to file a claim with our insurance. Same tone and everything. Amazing.”

“That really shouldn’t be our primary concern right now.”

“What should be?” Natasha asked with a cheeky smile. “You really have a one track mind if you’re still focused on the game.”

“I—”

“I am detecting multiple human biosignals now, sir.”

“Outside?” Clint asked, already headed back the way he’d come from.

“No. Inside the building. One is in the bar. One is Miss Potts’ private office. I have third reading in the lobby, a fourth in Captain Roger’s bedroom, and another in the records room.”

Natasha, Steve, and Tony joined Clint on their feet. Everyone gazed expectantly at Steve for orders. He looked at each of them in turn as he rattled them off:

“Tony, you check Pepper’s office. I’ll get the one in my quarters. JARVIS, tell Dr. Banner to check the lobby since he’s the closest.”

“I’ll hit the records room,” Clint volunteered.

“Oh, sure, the one that’s probably a false alarm?” Tony smirked. “No one’s getting anything out of there with JARVIS on the job. Why don’t you join Natasha at the bar? At least I’ve got some unprotected valuables there.”

“Hey, might as well send the least capable person to the least likely spot, right?” Clint said.

Natasha took off like a shot in the direction of the stairs without waiting to see what the outcome of Clint and Tony’s spat would be. Steve, Tony, and Clint all followed. The former two stopped at the door to the stairs through which she had disappeared.

“Remind me why you’re on the payroll again, Barton?” Tony asked.

“Someone’s got to be the pretty one.”

Clint sped off for the lift again. The records room was quite a bit further down than either Steve or Tony’s destination, and the stairwell would be too crowded for Clint to maneuver if they ran into trouble there. Bruce must have already made it all the way down to the first floor, because the elevator arrived quickly and with no one inside.

This second trip took longer than Clint would have liked. He returned his trick arrow to his quiver and replaced it with a real one. As confident as Tony seemed in JARVIS’s ability to throw off a hacker, Clint himself didn’t feel so sure. If someone had gotten into the tower that night, they’d already managed to fool a supposedly foolproof AI once. The last thing he needed would be to find himself with his pants down and an actual supervillain ready to jump him the moment the lift doors opened.

But the floor that housed all the Avengers’ records—paper and electronic files both—seemed empty when he stepped out into it. He saw and heard nothing out of the ordinary, yet something prevented him from turning right back around and joining Natasha at the bar. Clint held his breath, listening hard for any unusual noises. The thought of asking JARVIS to check if he still registered an unknown human nearby occurred to Clint before he realized that would let any intruder know someone was on to them.

Down the hall he crept, silent as could be. His breath burned in his lungs. Just a few feet more. The door to the records room hung open. He could see the first few inches of tile floor. The moment he reached the opening, Clint pressed his back against the wall and pulled his bow string taught. Then he carefully inched his head closer and closer to the doorframe until he could peer around it.

At once he could tell just how wrong Tony had been, not just about JARVIS, but about everything else that night, too. There in the records room, surrounded by open boxes and neatly stacked manila folders, crouched a woman with [color] hair—and the moment Clint spotted her was the same moment she spotted him as well.

Summary: Maybe this is your fault. All you had to do was flip a coin.

Rating/Warnings:All (Dumb!Thor; Avengers Friendship; Avengers & reader friendship)

Challenge: “100 Drabbles of Randomness” by Miseria1 on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Last Chance

It had taken hours (although it felt more like days), constant reiteration of the rules, and so many practice rounds it would make a normal person’s head spin. But after all this time and effort, you knew Thor could do it.

“Ready?” you asked as you held out your fist.

Though he didn’t look as confident as usual, he reached out his own. “Ready.“

"Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock,” you chanted. At the end, you triumphantly thrust out a lizard.

Thor, however, continued to leave his fist in the air as he stared at your hand.

“Uh. Thor? You gonna stick with that rock there?”

“That depends,” he said slowly. “What does rock do?”

The rest of the group around you groaned. Even Natasha fell back onto the couch with her head in her hands.

“Really?” Bruce mumbled. “Really?”

“I am sorry,” Thor said, and had the grace to look sheepish. “I do not understand this strange Midgardian custom of choosing things.”

Steve heaved a sigh.

“Okay, you know what?” Tony got to his feet. “We’re done. You and Blondie here should have settled this hours ago. We’re just going to watch–”

“No one wants to watch another documentary about you, Stark,” Steve said into his hands.

The rest of the group made noises of agreement. Tony, apparently thinking that this was somehow your fault, glowered at you and gestured at Thor.

“By all means, spend the rest of our lives trying to teach an immortal dog new tricks.”

You glowered at him in response. Thor had to wave his free hand in front of your eye to bring your focus back to him.

“[Name]?”

This time, it was you that sighed. “Scissor cuts paper; paper covers rock; rock crushes lizard; lizard poisons Spock; Spock smashes scissors; scissors decapitate lizard; lizard eats paper; paper disproves Spock; Spock vaporizes rock, and rock crushes scissors.” You made a cutting motion with two fingers in the air. “Got it?”

He beamed. “I understand completely. Thank you, [Name].”

“No problem.” You sat up straight once more. “Let’s just get this over with before I have to listen to another eight hours about the Stark Expo. Ready?”

“Hey, I’m just saying,” Tony called. “This is your last chance. You guys don’t decide this round, we’re doing whatI want to do. My tower, my rules.”

“Ready?” you asked again without even showing any sign that you had heard him. Thor nodded.

“I am prepared!”

“Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock!”

You held up Spock. Thor continued to hold up rock. The only difference this round was that he looked delighted.

“I win!” he cried joyously.

“What?” You looked from your hand to his. “No, you don’t. Spock vaporizes rock.”

"But Spock is an alien not of Asgard.“

You nodded.

"And a rock is of Midgard.”

"Um…so?“

"The only things that can defeat those of Midgard are those of Asgard! Thus, the victory is mine.”

You stared. And stared. And stared some more. Finally, without taking his eyes off the still-blank television screen, Bruce spoke up:

“He still doesn’t get it.”

Looks like you’d all get to spend your night learning about Stark Industries again after all.

Summary: Of all the ways he’s changed, losing his love for you was the last thing you expected.

Rating/Warnings:All (Post-Avengers (2012))

Challenge: “100 Drabbles of Randomness” by Miseria1 on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Don’t Deny It

Loki had always been a bit different–a bit more magic than muscle, a bit more tricky than truthful, a bit more bitter than sweet. But for all your years in his company, you never imagined you’d have to see his face through the wall of a prison cell.

“So they decided to send you to break me. I should have known,” Loki breathed, his grin as fragile as glass.

You weren’t sure how long he had known you were there. Perhaps the entire time, as silent as you had been trying to remain. As his green eyes caught the little light that filtered into his cell, you stepped forward.

“Break you?” you asked. “Why would they ask me to break you?”

“Oh, I think you know.”

You shook your head, your fingers fluttering out to brush against the surface of his cell wall. “What happened to you?”

“What happened to me? What happened to me? What happened to you?”

“Getting Thor exiled,” you said without answering him. “Trying to kill him and our friends. Destroying the Frost Giants. Murdering hundreds of innocent Midgardians.” You lifted your gaze to meet his. “You’ve changed.”

That got his ire. Loki strode forward. “I have not changed!” His shout was so loud that you stumbled backward. Though he couldn’t get himself any closer to you, Loki clenched his hands into fists and grimaced down at you. “I have simply learned what I truly am!”

“A Frost Giant?” you said calmly, getting to your feet and gathering your skirts around you along with your wits. “Thor told me. Loki, you cannot believe–”

“They told you!“ He barked out a wild laugh. “Of course they did! You’re Thor’s little lapdog now, aren’t you?”

“Loki, you are speaking madness. I would never–”

“Don’t deny it! You helped them. You helped them all. And you would send me back to exile as soon as you could to be rid of me. Just like my damned family!”

“What are you saying? Thor loves you! He–He adores you. And Odin–”

“All of it was lies, wasn’t it, [Name]?” His voice dropped to regular volume and his smile returned to something close to normal as he stepped backward and away from you. “The truth comes out. Everything we shared, it was all a lie so you could watch me, spy on me for my family.”

“What?” Hurt colored your tone.“ No. Loki–Loki, I–”

“Don’t say it.” He held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear that you love me. Not anymore. You lied to me, just like everyone else.”

You pressed a hand to your heart and moved forward again. “Loki–”

He whirled around. “Get out of my sight! I never want to see you again!”

A shaky breath escaped your lips, but:

“If that is what you wish, your Highness.”

All he did was watch you as you bowed and left the room.

Summary: How these guys saved the world when they can’t handle the simplest of tasks is beyond you.

Rating/Warnings:T (reference to alcohol/a drinking contest; not Agents of SHIELD compliant; not MCU compliant; set post-Avengers (2012))

Challenge: “100 Drabbles of Randomness” by Miseria1 on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire

I Don’t Want to Know

Today was just not your day, not your day at all. Despite your having been there for nearly three hours, Avengers Tower was a complete mess.

The banner you had so painstakingly painted the night before? Ripped slightly and hanging from only one part of the ceiling; the other part of the ceiling had nothing but a huge dent from Thor’s hammer. Apparently Thor hadn’t stopped there with his decorating, either.

Natasha and Tony? Nowhere to be seen. But there was a large amount of alcohol missing, and they’d been talking about a drinking contest for weeks. You’d seen them briefly earlier, Tony practically asleep and Natasha complaining of a headache.

The cake? Currently nothing but a smeared blast across the remains of one wall. The rest of the kitchen area had all the other telltale signs of a Hulk attack.

Clint? Still unconscious. One of his explosive arrows could be found near where Bruce had been carefully icing said cake that morning. The rest of his arrows were littered across the cabinets, walls, ceiling, and counters.

And poor Steve? He was still trying to understand the situation.

All you had wanted was a surprise party set up. That wasn’t such a big request, was it? They all liked Phil. You’d thought they would want to help celebrate his getting out of the hospital. Instead, all that was left was wreckage and some unsalvageable dessert.

The aggravation wasn’t even worth it. When Phil arrived when your note had directed him to, all he did was take one look around at the carnage and shake his head.

You opened your mouth to explain, but Phil held up a hand.

“I don’t even want to know,” he said.

Summary: For nine years, you raised the little sister your parents would never see grow. For nine years, you put blood and sweat and tears—sometimes your own, sometimes that of others—into your gruesome work. For nine years, you promised your little family a better life. Then, on the eve of happily ever after, all that is snatched away in the name of revenge. There’s only one group of people capable of rescuing your sister from those who murdered your parents. The thing is, they might not be so willing to help once they discover who (or what) you are…or maybe, just maybe, they might love you in spite of it.

Ratings/Warnings: T (sexual references, mild foul language, canon divergence Post-Avengers (2012), violence, slow burn, France depicted by a non-French writer, no Laura Barton)

Pairings:Clint Barton/Female!Reader; Natasha Romanoff/Bruce Banner; Tony Stark/Pepper Potts

Posting Status: In-Progress

Notes:Now that I am feeling better, I want to write again (especially since I didn’t get any requests). Honestly, though? My old stories are…old. I’m not abandoning them. It’s just that I really wanted to write something new that reflects where I am as a writer now. This plot bunny has been gnawing at my brain since I wrote the “Factory” one shot for my “One Small Step” collection. Clint Barton isn’t the most popular Avenger, I realize, but I hope someone out there will enjoy this story. I thought about swapping Clint out for Steve or Bucky. That’s just not the story I wanted to tell.

One more Important note: I’m not French. I’ve never been to France. The only person I know who speaks French is my friend from Canada. I’ve done a lot of research for this, but that doesn’t mean I’ve got it all right. Please shoot me a note if you find any discrepancies that need addressed! I will be happy to correct them.

Chapter 1: A Beautiful Job

Chapter 2: Thanks for the Warning

Pickpocket Part 3(Avengers x Child!Reader)

Description: You have been allowed to stay in the Avengers Tower, but your trials aren’t quite over yet. You still have one major hurdle you’re going to have to get over if you want to make this thing permanent.

To@sweetpeaflower01 and to anyone else who wanted to be tagged in this, I’m sorry I don’t have your usernames! It’s been a while since I’ve been on here!

A few weeks later, I woke up to the sun shining on my face through a nearby window.

“Good morning to you, too, kid.” I turned to see Tony, still lying in the bed beside me with his hand placed gently over mine.  He had spent every night since I’d arrived in there with me except for one, which had immediately resulted in a nightmare, with my screams waking up the entire tower.  “You think you’re ok to get up?  We’ve got someone who wants to meet you.”

Immediately, my entire body tensed, and I could feel myself pale.  My vision went blurry, my heart hammering frantically in my chest.  “Hey, hey, it’s ok, kid, I’ve got you.  Nothing’s gonna happen to you, I promise,” Tony spoke gently, his tone even as though he was attempting to sooth a wild animal.  I nodded slowly, doing my best to calm my heart.  He had promised me.  He promised they wouldn’t send me back.  I’m not sure why, but I trusted Tony.

Tony helped me to my feet, but my knees were shaking too much.  Slowly, he scooped me up into his arms, careful not to move to quickly and frighten me, and wrapped his arms around my back.  His arms were still so warm.  

“Ah, miss (Y/N), I presume.” I lifted my head from Tony’s shoulder to see the rest of the Avengers surrounding a large African American man in a black trench coat with a patch over his eye that was grinning back at me.  My heart almost stopped as I stared back at him, fear clawing mercilessly at my chest.  He reminded me of Nat in how he regarded me with nothing more than cold, merciless calculations; except, unlike Nat, he didn’t have that small spark of empathy.  Instead, there was excitement – greed almost.  I made my decision then and there.  I didn’t like this man.

“I’ve got a question for you, kid.  How exactly did someone like you manage to steal from four of Earth’s mightiest heroes?” he asked, glancing me up and down.

I didn’t want to answer.  I didn’t want anything to do with this man.  

“It’s ok, just answer the question,” Tony nodded reassuringly.  I could feel his worried eyes on me, trying to grab my attention, but I refused to take my eyes off of the newcomer for a single second.  Still, I didn’t want to go against Tony.

“I have small hands,” I said slowly.  “And I know how to read people.”

“What do you mean read people?” Steve asked.  “What does any of that have to do with stealing a wallet?”

“It has everything to do with stealing a wallet,” I responded monotonously, still stubbornly refusing to drop my gaze from the man.  “Reading people helps you pick a mark – someone with their guard down who isn’t expecting to actually be targeted.  More than that, though, reading people is what actually lets me get away.  With Steve, I was sweet and innocent, but with Tony, I was sarcastic but pitiable.  If I had been the opposite, Steve would have been more annoyed and therefore more aware of what I was doing, and Tony would have been less distracted.”

“You figured all of that out by talking to them for a few seconds?” Nat asked, taking a small step forward as she surveyed my curiously.  I nodded silently.

“Show me,” the man said.  Finally, I tore my eyes away from him to glance at Tony for confirmation.  He nodded back, gently setting me down.  I grabbed his hand instead.

“Who do you want me to mark?” I asked softly.

“Try Natasha,” he smirked, crossing his arms.  I glanced over at the redheaded woman and frowned.  “Something wrong?” he asked.

“I would never mark her,” I responded, glaring up in annoyance at the confidence in his tone.  “She is guarded and always in a stance to protect her vital points.  Someone like that is too aware of their surroundings not to notice a pickpocket.”

“Do your best anyways,” he smirked.

I grit my teeth in frustration and turned to Nat.  As I looked over at her, an idea slowly began to form.  I smirked inwardly.  It was perfect for dealing with this man.  Sunglasses, a phone, a watch, a ring, a swiss army knife, and a custom pen.  If I did everything perfectly, not to mention getting a bit lucky, I might be able to grab everything.

I squeezed Tony’s hand to draw his attention to it as I pressed my body into his slightly so that I could grab his sunglasses, which were hooked onto his pocket. “Fine,” I growled.  “But don’t blame me when it doesn’t work.  Now move out of the way.”  I grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him backwards, using that split second to simultaneously put Tony’s glasses on my head and slip my hand into the man’s opposite pocket and pull out his phone, flicking it upwards into the overly-large sleeve.  I took a deep breath and approached Nat, tucking my hands, and the phone with them, into my pockets.  I flicked my eyes carefully over her, looking for any loose item that I could grab.  Finally, I noticed that I could just barely see the edge of a few dollar bills in her back pocket.  It wouldn’t be easy, and I would have to stay in front of her the entire time to avoid her suspicion, but it wasn’t impossible.

“Excuse me, miss?” I asked softly, glancing up at her with wide eyes.

“Yeah?” She responded, lifting a brow.

“I-I was wondering if you had any food,” I croaked, allowing my body to shrink in on itself so it would look even smaller.

“Sorry, kid, I don’t have any on me,” she shook her head slightly, furrowing her brows.

“Ok, I understand, thank you,” I muttered softly.  “I’m sorry to bother you.  My mommy says bothering grown-ups is bad.  I-I don’t have the belt with me.  But I’m sure I can find a stick,”  I offered quickly, as if to try and placate her.  I stumbled to the side a bit, pretending to look for a stick.  I forced my toes to catch on my other shoe, falling right in front of Steve’s feet.  “I-I’m so sorry, sir,” I winced, making sure not to meet his eyes.  I took his outstretched hand and pulled myself up, wrapping one hand around his wrist, where I slipped off his watch.  “T-thank you so m-much,” I gushed, my voice shaking ever so slightly as I brushed the nonexistent dirt from his shirt.  Quickly, I put his watch onto my own wrist while his attention was focused on his shirt.

Nat frowned slightly at this.  “Your mommy, did she hurt you?” she brought my attention back to her, studying my face carefully.

I glanced back at her, before quickly looking back down to avoid eye contact.  I knew what I had to do – that I had to tell the truth if I had any hope of doing this.  So, I forced myself to remember the face of my old caretaker.  “O-only if I’ve been really bad,” I shook my head slightly.  “A-and only if she’s at home.”  My voice had gone hoarse, tears building up in the backs of my eyes.  It was easy to cry when I thought about that terrible woman.

“How often is she not at home?” Nat asked.

“N-not that o-often,” I shook my head again.  “I-I think she just f-forgets sometimes.  She’ll come home soon, though.  She’s almost never gone for more than two weeks,” I smiled up at her softly, wrapping my arms around my torso to accentuate how small my waist was as well as provide a sense of insecurity and fear.

Nat frowned slightly, falling silent for a moment.  Finally, she looked up at the man and said, “Alright, I believe her.  I’d probably go take her to get some food then call the cops.  I’d imagine you’d be long gone before they arrive?” She added with a slight chuckle.

“Really?” I asked, my face lighting up in a wide smile.  “Thank you!” I gasped, wrapping my arms around her torso.  She immediately tensed, and I took the opportunity to grab the few bills, tucking them into my opposite sleeve.  “U-um, sorry,” I stuttered and quickly released her, my face growing red.  I stumbled backwards and straight into the arms of Thor.  I grabbed his hand in my own as though in an effort to keep my balance as he righted me gently.  I thanked him softly and slipped my hand out of his grip, taking the beautiful golden ring from his finger in the process.

“How would you escape, though?” Nat asked.  “I wouldn’t think you’d want to go to the police.”

“O-oh, well, it’s not too hard,” I smiled slightly.  “I just need to lose you in the crowd.  I would probably do something like this.”  I walked forward, and slipped between Clint and Bruce, using both hands to grab the swiss army knife from Clint’s pocket and a gorgeous custom pen that was clipped to Bruce’s.  “Then, once I’m out of your sight, I’d start running-”

“It was a good scam, kid,” the man cut in.  “But I thought I asked you to pickpocket her.”

I whipped back around to face him, suddenly feeling vulnerable again with all of the adults surrounding me.  “You’re right, I’m sorry; you asked me to pickpocket only her,” I hissed, my teeth grinding together.  “But I thought you wanted me to show you what I could do.”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” he frowned, narrowing his eyes.

“As long as I’m not seen as a threat, I can steal from anyone,” I said, walking up to Tony and handing back his sunglasses.  “And I would do anything to keep myself from being seen as a threat.”  I took the watch off my wrist and handed it back to Steve.  “Everyone has something that brings their guard down.” I pulled the ring from my finger and handed it back to Thor.  “And whether they acknowledge it or not, they all want to see the good in people,” I pulled the swiss army knife and custom pen from my pockets, handing them back to Clint and Bruce.  “They all want to see me as some innocent little kid,” I returned Nat’s money to her.  “Even you,” I held out the man’s phone, staring up at him in defiance.

Every one of them stared at me in pure, unadulterated shock.  All of them, that is, except for Tony, who grinned and welcomed me back into his side, wrapping a strong arm around my shoulders.  Finally, the man chuckled a bit and snatched his phone back from me.  “Not bad, miss (Y/N), not bad at all.  Natasha, from now on, you’re training her to be a new agent.”

My eyes widened, and I frowned, subconsciously shrinking further into Tony’s side.  He squeezed my shoulder gently.

“Hey, Thor, why don’t you take (Y/N) for some poptarts.  She hasn’t had breakfast yet,” Tony said with a small smile.

“I’m not hungry,” I frowned.

“Just go with him for now, ok, kid?  Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this.”  I blinked up at Tony and frowned before nodding slowly, allowing the large blonde god to take my hand and lead me out of the room, away from the rest of the adults.

As soon as the door closed, I turned to the god with wide, pleading eyes.  “Mr. Thor, could you pretty please toast the poptarts for me?” I asked sweetly, gazing up at him.

“Of course, young lady (Y/N),” Thor grinned and ruffled my hair, moving towards the cabinets.  As soon as his back was turned, I pressed my ear to the door, concentrating on trying to hear what was going on in there.

“Did you really think I’d let you make her an agent?” I heard Tony snap.

“I didn’t think you had a choice,” the man from earlier responded casually.  “The girl’s got a gift, Stark.  She could help us.”

“She’s just a kid!  I brought you here to give you a heads up that she’d be staying with us, not to give you a potential recruit.”

“Look, it’s very simple, Stark.  Either you allow her to start training, or I deem her a threat to the team.  I will inform the police of the location of a criminal and unsupervised child.”

“So what?!  I’ll just adopt her!”

“Adoption takes a long time, Tony, especially for someone with a criminal record and a history of alcohol abuse.  Do you really want to send her back to an orphanage while you go through all of that, if you’re even granted custody at all?”

Oh, god.  This couldn’t be happening.  I couldn’t be going back.  He promised me I wouldn’t go back!  I stumbled backwards, barely making it a few steps before my knees gave out and I was sent crashing to the ground.  

“Lady (Y/N)!” Thor shouted, rushing over, but I could barely hear him over the deafening sound of my heartbeat and the blood rushing through my ears.  I could feel the tears streaming down my face and the burning in my chest from my hyperventilating breaths.  I curled up tightly, my muscles shaking from how tense they were.  I couldn’t go back there – I wouldn’t!  Tony promised me I would never go back again!

“(Y/N)?” The familiar voice cut through the haze.  Immediately, I reached out and clawed at the air, trying to find him, but with blur of tears in my eyes, I couldn’t see him anywhere.  Suddenly, my head was resting against a chest, a pair of arms holding me tight and close.  “It’s ok, just breath with me.  Focus on me, ok?  In and out.”  I forced myself to breath in with him, struggling to slow it down like he said.  Slowly but surely, my breathing evened out, until finally, it had returned to normal.

As the panic slowly faded away, I could feel the energy drain from my body, and I nestled further into Tony’s embrace.  He stroked my back gently, murmuring comforting words into my ear.

“Tony?” I didn’t even open my eyes as I whispered softly, my voice still thick and shaking.  My hands gripped his shirt tightly, afraid that if I let go for more than a second, he would disappear.  “Do I have to go back?” 

“Never,” Tony answered immediately, his voice firm.  “I’m not letting you go anywhere.”

“Ok,” I whispered back, relaxing slightly.  Tony pulled me even closer, and I let out a soft sigh, my muscles slowly relaxing.  My hands released the shirt’s material, falling numbly into my lap.

Just before my exhausted body quickly slipped back into unconsciousness, I was barely able to make out a few words from Tony.  “Fine.  You win.”

“She’ll start training tomorrow.”

- - -

That was about four years ago. Since that day, Natasha had been training me constantly in different fighting techniques, target practice, the works. Of course, the lying and deception I’d already had down pat. Originally the plan was for me to be homeschooled, but Tony had thrown an absolute fit when he’d heard that, and considering I wasn’t exactly lacking in the mental department, we settled on just a bit of extra tutoring from Bruce every day after school.

Fury’s interest in me never went away. Because I had been so malnourished as a kid, I ended up being way too small for my age. To Fury’s absolute delight, this meant that I was more than capable of squeezing through the smallest of spaces. In other words, thanks to my size, training, and natural intelligence I was absolutely perfect for covert missions focusing on gathering information.

Tony had been absolutely furious when I’d been called on for my first mission. He’d screamed at Fury nonstop for three days until, finally, he was assured both that Nat would be with me the entire time and that he would be allowed to have a direct connection to my earpiece. He couldn’t decide whether he was thankful or disappointed that my first mission went perfectly. Of course he was happy I came back completely unharmed, but his fear that I would be forced into more and more missions due to my overwhelming success was only proven right at every turn. Still, he was always in my ear, talking me through the every single mission I ever went on.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I wasn’t exactly a normal teenager. Still, that being said, I don’t think I would want it any other way.

Except maybe for the Fury part. Nothing would make me happier than seeing that man get what’s coming to him. But I could worry about that later. For now, I’d just spend my time grateful that I was blessed with the best dad in the world.

Description: After Clint takes you back to Avengers tower, the rest of the Avengers realize who you are, and most of them are not very happy with you.  It’s certainly an interesting conversation when you wake up, but slowly, they start to warm up to you.

Tell me if you want a third part, guys!  Part onehere

To@prepareforsomestrangethings @captainam-erika-trash @bxtchboy69​@creation-magician​@viarogers​@queenshadow142003​ @witchxaf I know I’ve said this already, but seriously, I can’t thank you guys enough for everything.  I love you all!

The living room went completely silent at the arrival of the two master assassins, everyone staring at the little bundle in their resident archer’s arms.

“Lady Natasha, Brother Clint, you have returned!” Thor, who had just returned to Earth from Asgard, shouted gleefully as he walked towards them, completely oblivious to the awkward atmosphere that had appeared in the room and asking the question that was on everybody’s minds but which they weren’t quite sure how to go about asking.  “Who is the young maiden in your arms?”

“She tried to rob Clint and then fainted, so we brought her back here,” Natasha stated bluntly.  Clint glared at her in frustration before turning back to the others, who were already on guard.

“The kid was starving,” he attempted to explain.  “I think she passed out from hunger.”  The others in the room glanced at the bundle of coats, still obviously wary, and Clint rolled his eyes.  “For God’s sake, the poor thing weighs next to nothing, and she’s freezing to the touch.  I’m pretty sure the coat is heavier than she is.”

“Lay her down on the coach.  I’ll grab some blankets,” Steve finally piped up.  Clint sighed in relief and brought her over to the very long couch where he gently set her down, resting her head on one of the throw pillows.  He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, frowning when she still felt colder than a block of ice.

“Let me take a look at her,” Bruce offered.  Clint nodded in thanks and stepped back.  Bruce paused, his eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?” Clint asked, his stomach turning in worry.  Was he too late?  Was she already gone?

“That’s the girl from the library.”  Everyone froze at the words that fell out of Bruce’s mouth.

“No frickin’ way, let me see,” Tony rushed forward, peering over the back of the couch.  “Oh my god, she’s the kid who took my watch!  It really was the same girl!”

“And the one who stole my money,” Steve added, setting the pile of blankets down next to her before moving to start a fire in the nearby fireplace.

“Well, I guess that solves that mystery,” Tony crossed his arms.  “She couldn’t have been actually starving.  There’s no way that watch sells for anything under 2,000.  She lied to you so you wouldn’t turn her in.”

Clint shook his head.  “No, that doesn’t make any sense.  She’d already gotten away when she fainted.”

Tony rolled his eyes.  “Alright, so then she stashed it to sell later so she wouldn’t be caught.”

“If you had a 2,000 dollar watch lying around, why would you ever wear a ratty old coat that obviously doesn’t even keep the cold out?”  Natasha commented thoughtfully, gesturing at the flimsy piece of clothing.

That seemed to knock Bruce from his thoughts.  “She’s soaking wet, we need to get her out of these clothes.  Nat, do you have anything she could wear?”  Natasha nodded and silently left the room to fetch the clothing as Bruce started to peel off the soaked-through layers one by one until she was left in just a t-shirt and sweatpants, both littered with holes and tears and both obviously far too short for her but still loose against her skeletal frame.  Natasha took the job from there, exchanging the old clothing for a pair sweats, which despite being a size small, seemed to drown the girl in fabric before covering her in the blankets and moving her closer to the fire.  

After that, everyone settle down around the living room, each of them seeming to understand the unspoken agreement that they would wait to decide what on what they would do next until after she woke up.  So, that’s how they stayed for the next 2 hours.

– Your POV –

I slowly cracked my eyes open, the light flooding in and immediately giving me a headache.  Huh, I guess I didn’t die.  That’s a good thing, right?

I brought a hand to my forehead as I slowly sat up, my eyes shut tight as I did my best not to throw up.  God, I was so hungry.  At least I wasn’t cold anymore, though.  Maybe it’s just that I’ve gone completely numb… or crazy, because instead of just not being cold, I actually feel pretty warm.

I opened my eyes again and stared down at the blanket covering me and the couch I was sitting on.  Oh geez that can’t be good.  I looked back up and around, doing my best to stay completely silent as my eyes flickered from one person to the next.

The man I had robbed only just a few hours ago sat in a chair right in front of the couch, snoring softly with his head lolled back.  At a table nearby, typing away on a computer, was the man from the library who only had 4 dollars in his wallet.  Sitting at the same table was a very big, very muscular man with long blonde hair who I’d never seen before, but judging by the massive hammer that was placed beside him, I doubted he was good news.  Standing at the kitchen sink was the man who’d stopped me from falling when I was taking his wallet.  Sitting behind a bar, nursing a glass of what looked to be scotch, was Tony freaking Stark, who I had only just stolen a very, very expensive watch from.  Finally, standing by the doorway and leaning against the wall was the red-headed woman who found me out and chased me down with her boyfriend.  And she was making direct eye-contact with me.

“She’s up,” she called, shocking everyone in the room – especially the man in the chair, who must have jumped about a foot in the air as he was startled awake.  I clenched my jaw and frowned.  What is it with this chick and always ratting me out?

Before you could say the word ‘Assemble,’ all six people in the room had gathered around me.  My heart beat wildly in my chest as I stared from one person to the next.  Why were all the people I robbed together in one place?  Did Tony Stark bring them all together so they could get revenge on me?  How did they even find me?  Is that blonde one a bounty hunter or something?  He certainly had the build for it.

“How are you feeling?”  The man from earlier asked me gently.  I frowned and stared back at him.  No way was I going to talk to these people.  I have the right to remain silent, right?  Or is that not a thing with elaborate revenge plots?

The library man stepped forward and placed a hand on my forehead.  Immediately, I flinched away.  “Her fever’s gone down,” he said, stepping back into place, the slight anger he still held towards me clear in his voice.

I glanced around the room, weighing my options.  I had no idea where I was, no idea how to get out of here, and I don’t think I could outrun the redhead and her boyfriend again on solid ground, especially when I can still barely move without another wave of dizziness hitting me.  So, in other words, I’d have to somehow convince them to let me go.

Ok, yeah, I’m definitely gonna die.

“Do you have a name?”  Reflexes guy asked, and my frown deepened.  Maybe I could pretend to have lost my memory.  Library guy said something about a fever, right?  If it was bad enough, it could’ve messed with my brain.  Plus, they have no way of knowing how long I had it.  Alright, that’s my game plan for now.  A pitiful, helpless amnesiac.

Slowly, I shook my head, bringing my knees to my chest as I stared at him with wide eyes.

“How about an age?  Do you know how old you are?”  This time, it was the boyfriend who spoke.  I liked him way better.  He had a kind voice, and he didn’t really seem to be holding too big a grudge against me.  He was probably dragged to this weird revenge party by the redhead.

I shook my head again, allowing my body to shake ever so slightly, tears gathering in my eyes.

“Alright, cut the crap, kid.  Tell me where my watch is,” Stark took a few steps forward.  My eyes went wide, and I scrambled backwards in an attempt to get away from him, my heart going a mile a minute as my breathing got faster and faster.

“Quit it, Stark, you’re scaring her,” the boyfriend snapped.  Stark huffed and rolled his eyes, moving back to his place in the semi-circle with his arms crossed.  Yeah, I definitely like the boyfriend best.

“Do you remember nothing, child?” Blondie boomed.  I flinched at the volume, hiding my face in my arms and sobbing quietly.

It was quiet for a little bit, and I smiled.  They must’ve felt guilty, which meant they believed me.  Maybe I could pull this off after all.

“Alright, kid, that’s enough.  Stop messing with them.”

“What?  Nat, what are you–”

“Seriously, you’ve had your fun, now stop it with the crocodile tears and tell us your name.”  I slowly peaked up to find the redhead – Nat, apparently – smirking back down at me, her right hip jutted out as she rested her weight on it and her arms crossed.  She merely lifted an eyebrow at me, her smirk widening ever so slightly.

I sighed and lifted my head.  “How did you know?” I asked softly.  The men in the room gaped at me in surprise, while she only chuckled a bit.

“I lie all the time, kid, it’s part of my job.  I know another good liar when I see one,” she answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders.  “Now are you gonna tell us your name or not?”

I frowned and hugged my knees tighter.  “It wasn’t all a lie.  I really was scared,” I muttered, staring down at my lap.  “It’s not exactly fun to wake up in a place you don’t know and immediately have people coming at you or yelling really, really loud.”

Stark glanced away guiltily while Blondie just sent me a wide, toothy grin.  “My apologies, child.  I have yet to truly understand this ‘indoor voice’ that you mortals are so fascinated by!”  I flinched slightly at the still very loud voice, but at least it wasn’t quite as loud as before.

“Name, kid,” Nat stated simply, immediately seeing through my attempt at changing the subject to try and make them feel guilty again.

I sighed.  “My name is (Y/N),” I finally muttered.

“Have you got a last name, (Y/N)?” Reflexes asked again.

“Not any that concerns you,” I immediately snapped back defensively.

Reflexes frowned and rubbed his face a bit.  “Fine, we’ll go back to that later.  How old are you?”

“18,” the lie came quickly and easily.  I had said it so many times that by that point, it was starting to feel more natural than the truth.

“Try again,” Nat said.

I grit my teeth and glared at her.  “You really need to stop ratting me out.”  She just smirked and shrugged again.  “Fine.  I’m 12.”

Silence as five pairs of shocked eyes turned to Nat for confirmation.  Slowly, she nodded, almost seeming a little shocked herself.  My words took a minute to settle in, and I frowned, staring back down at my lap.  At least now they probably couldn’t kill me.  Although, I’d probably prefer that to going back to that hellhole of a foster home.

“Nope, sorry, I call bs,” Stark was the one to break the silence.  “No chance a twelve-year-old reads nuclear physics, and more importantly, there’s not a single chance a twelve-year-old outsmarts me.”

“Yeah, that’s what every grown-up says,” I rolled my eyes.  “The fact is, you got completely fooled by a twelve-year-old kid, and you need to learn how to deal with it.”

“Alright, so where’s my watch?” Stark grit his teeth, fuming in annoyance at my attitude.

I rolled my eyes again.  “I sold it,” I answered simply.

“Ok, so why did you lie to Clint?  That watch was expensive.  There’s no way you would be starving only a month after you sold it,” Stark smirked triumphantly, as though he had just unearthed some massive conspiracy.

“I didn’t keep the money.”

“…I’m sorry, what?” Stark asked.

“I said, I didn’t keep the money,” I repeated.

“Then where the hell did it go?” he frowned.  He obviously didn’t believe me.

“Language, Stark,” Reflexes cut in.  “She’s just a kid.”

“Please, I’ve heard the word ‘hell’ before.  What street did you think I was living on, Candycane Lane?”  I scoffed before suddenly realizing my mistake.

“You live on the streets?” Library guy asked softly, looking more and more guilty with every passing minute.

“Of course not,” I responded quickly, trying to backpedal on what I’d accidentally let slip.  “I just hate my parents so much it feels like it.  I only steal so that I can rebel against them.”

“That lie was just bad,” Nat shook her head almost in disappointment.

“(Y/N), what happened to the money from Stark’s watch?” the boyfriend – What did Stark say his name was?  Clint? – spoke calmly and gently.

“I used it to buy toys and canned foods,” I answered rather quickly.  He was nice.  I felt comfortable around him.

“You were starving, and you bought toys?” Stark scoffed.

“Not for me, dipshit,” I rolled my eyes again.  I feel like I do that every time Stark opens his mouth.

“Language!” Reflexes gasped.

“Why did you buy toys?”  Clint continued to speak gently, taking my attention away from my annoyance at Stark.

I frowned.  “I bought them for the kids at the orphanage.”  Clint just nodded, encouraging me to continue.  “Every year I scrape together what money I don’t use on food to buy them toys, but they usually end up being really crummy ones that they all have to share.  This year, I was finally able to buy them all really good ones.”  I paused for a moment before adding, “Christmas can be really sad there, and there never used to be any toys.  I don’t want the other kids to have a sad Christmas anymore.”

“You used to live in an orphanage?” Clint asked.  I winced at the question, digging my nails into my palms.  I didn’t mean to tell them that.  I sighed in defeat and nodded slightly, avoiding their eyes.

“My mommy died when I was one, and my daddy didn’t want me anymore,” I paused a moment, trying and failing to swallow the lump in my throat.  Quickly, I moved myself as far away from the topic as possible.  “I used the money I didn’t spend on toys to buy groceries for the homeless shelter.  They need it more than I do anyways.”

There was another heavy pause before Clint spoke again.  “How long has it been since you’ve eaten anything?”

“Counting today?” They all nodded.  “About five days.”

Reflexes immediately walked away, and I ducked my head further.  He was probably going to call the cops or maybe the orphanage.  Either way I’d have to go back.

“(Y/N)?” Library guy’s voice brought me back to reality.

My cheeks were wet.  I was crying.  I didn’t mean to do that – it doesn’t work on Nat, so why even bother?  Still, I couldn’t stop.  “A-are you g-gonna send m-me b-back n-now?” I whispered, my voice thick as I gasped between every other word.  I squeezed my knees tight to my chest and let out a sob that I was trying desperately to hold back.  “P-please… I don’t… I don’t wanna go back!” I broke down sobbing, my face buried in my arms and my breaths coming shorter and shorter as my heart pounded frantically against my ribs.

I couldn’t breathe.

I felt like I was under water, each breath coming in harsher and more labored than the last, the air growing thicker by the second as I struggled to take it in.  I could hardly feel the tears on my cheeks as my brain begged me to take a solid breath, screaming at me that I was dying – that I needed to stop this right now, or I would die, which of course only made me panic even more.

I felt a pair of arms gently wrap around me and slowly looked up, hiccupping softly, my entire body shaking like a leaf.  I stared at Tony Stark from where he sat beside me.  “Calm down, purse snatcher, no one’s sending you anywhere,” he said, rubbing my back comfortingly.  “I need you to focus on me.  Try and match my breaths, ok?”

“P-promise me you’re not lying,” I mumbled from my still mostly curled up position.  “Promise I won’t have to go back.”

“I promise I will never lie to you,” he responded immediately.  I sniffled, my bottom lip trembling as I stared at him, searching for any signs of a lie.  When I found none, I launched forward into his lap and buried my face in his chest, sobbing pathetically.  “Easy, kid.  You’re ok.  In and out, just like me, ok?  In… and out,”  Tony soothed, gently patting my back as I cried.  His arms were warm.  It was surprising, but still, it was really, really nice.  Slowly, I came back down to reality, each breath shaking violently but still managing to keep time with his.  Finally, after a few minutes, I’d managed to calm myself down.

A very large hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked over, my body still shaking a bit as I clung to Tony like a lifeline.  Reflexes was standing there, holding a plate full of steaming hot pizza.

“You need to eat,” he said, moving the plate closer to me.  I nodded and took it, my hands still shaking slightly.

“Thank you, Reflexes,” I said softly.

“Reflexes?” he tilted his head a bit.

“O-oh, um… When I met you, you managed to catch me after I bumped into you, even though I was trying to fall, so I’ve kind of been calling you Reflexes in my head ever since…” I muttered, my face getting red.

Reflexes stared at me for a moment.  I could feel Tony laughing behind me as the others struggled not to laugh out loud.  “You can just call me Steve,” he sighed.

“That’s right, you don’t know our names yet, do you?” Tony grinned.  I turned to look at him, only just then realizing that I was still sitting on his lap.  

I blushed harder and scooted off his lap, muttering a quick, “Sorry.”

Tony smiled back in reassurance, although he looked a little… disappointed?  No, wait, that’s stupid.  Of course he wasn’t disappointed; he’s Tony Stark.  That look was probably just the leftover annoyance at having some dumb kid crying in his lap.  “Don’t mention it, kid, but you gotta tell me what you’ve been calling the rest of us in that little head of yours.”

“U-um… well, I called Steve ‘Reflexes,’ and, um, Nat was ‘Redhead’.  Clint was ‘Boyfriend’…” Clint choked on thin air, and Tony bursted out laughing again, not even making an attempt to hide it this time.

“W-why ‘Boyfriend’?!” Clint yelped.

“Because you were on a date with your girlfriend, um, Nat, when we met?”  I said it almost like a question.  Was there something wrong with that?

“She’s not my girlfriend, kid,” Clint sighed, shaking his head.  He didn’t seem quite as bothered anymore, though.  Was there really something wrong with me calling him ‘Boyfriend’?

“Ok, now tell me the rest,” Tony said excitedly, leaning forward.

I leaned back a bit but nodded.  “Ok, well the guy with the glasses–”

“Call me Bruce,” he interrupted.

“Um, Bruce then.  He was ‘Library Guy.’”

“Oh, that’s right, you recommended he read his own paper,” Tony grinned.

“Yeah exactly,”  I smiled softly before, slowly, my smile dropped and my eyes grew about 3 sizes.  “Wait, you don’t mean…” I turned to face Bruce in disbelief.  “You aren’t that Bruce.  As in, Bruce Banner?  The nuclear physicist?”

Bruce chuckled a bit and rubbed the nape of his neck.  “Yeah, that’s me.  Nice to meet you.”

I gaped, my mouth opening and closing like a fish.  “I’m such a big fan,” I whispered softly.

“Wait, so you mean you actually understood those papers?  That wasn’t just another lie?” Bruce frowned slightly.

“I would never lie about that,” I shook my head frantically.  “Your work is absolutely incredible.  I used to get lashed all the time cause I’d stay up all night reading your papers.”

A flash of pity crossed his face.  I frowned and cleared my throat.  “I, um, I always really like learning new things,” I muttered awkwardly.  “When I was little, I would spend hours in that library every day.  My caretaker didn’t believe I actually understood it, either.  She even got me tested to prove I was lying.”

“And?” Tony prompted.

“Turns out I have an IQ of about 278,” I shrugged.  Tony’s jaw dropped, staring at me with eyes wide as saucers.

“Isn’t yours 273?” Bruce asked, trying to hide the chuckle threatening to seep through his voice.

“I-I… Well… Just tell us the rest of the nicknames, would ya, kid?” Tony stuttered, avoiding Bruce’s eyes.

“Oh, um, sure,” I smiled a bit.  It felt like my chest filled up a bit, a soft warmth spreading through my heart.  They looked like a family.  It must be so nice.  “The super buff blonde guy–”

“Thor,” Tony provided.

I blinked in shock at that.  “Wow, your parents must’ve been real confident to name you after one of the Norse gods,” I muttered.  “Well, Thor’s name was just ‘Blondie.’”

Tony snickered at my comment, and I frowned.  Were these nicknames really funny?  I didn’t think they were.

“Child, I was not named after anyone.  I am Thor of Asgard.  It is a pleasure to meet you,” he smiled, taking a knee before me.  I lifted an eyebrow and leaned over to Tony.

“Is he crazy..?” I asked softly.

Tony chuckled.  “No, he’s not.  Haven’t you ever heard of the Avengers?”  I shook my head.  “Woah, seriously?  Ok, well, long story short, he is the actual Norse god, Thor, and he lives on the planet Asgard.”

I looked at him curiously before nodding.  “Alright.”

“Seriously?  You believe me just like that?” Tony asked, a small, if slightly confused, smile on his face.

“You promised me you’d never lie to me,” I answered simply.  “Of course I believe you.”  

Tony opened his mouth and closed it again, a look I’d never seen decorating his features.  I shook my head just a bit to clear it and grabbed the piece of pizza on top before immediately shoving it in my face, managing to scarf it down in under 10 seconds before moving onto the next.  The six adults stared at me as I finished piece after piece until the plate was empty only 2 minutes later.  I glanced up and smiled slightly.  “Thank you for the food,” I mumbled through the last mouthful of pizza.

“Wow, ok, I’m not gonna lie, kid, that was pretty impressive,” Tony chuckled.  “I don’t even think bird brain over here could eat that fast.”

“How do you keep people from stealing your food, then?” I asked, tilting my head slightly to the side.  The room fell silent again, the adults sending me worried glances.  I frowned and ducked my head again, trying to avoid their searing gazes.  I must’ve said something wrong again.

“Honestly, we don’t.  How do you think Thor got so big?” Tony grinned, clearly just trying to diffuse the tension.  I smiled up at him gratefully.  

“Alright, I think that’s enough excitement for today,” Tony said, standing up.  “Sorry, kid, but it’s way past your bedtime.”  I tensed up a bit at the sudden movement, and he sent me a reassuring smile.  “Don’t worry, I’m just taking you to a guest room.”

I nodded and took his hand, standing up slowly.  I held the loose clothing tightly so that it didn’t drop, trying to ignore the many worried eyes that looked over my still ever so slightly shaking, thin figure that couldn’t even hold up the small pair of sweatpants.  I followed him down one of the many hallways of the tower, gripping his hand as tightly as I could.  

Finally, we reached a large room, a neatly made bed stationed in the middle of it.  I tried to climb into the bed, but Tony ended up having to boost me up, his hands lifting me gently by my underarms so that I could get on top of the unreasonably tall mattress before tucking me in under the thick blankets.

He took a step back, and my heart immediately leapt into my throat, my hand darting out to grab his wrist.  “It’s ok, I’m just turning out the lights,” he answered the question without me even having to ask.  As soon as he had flicked the switch off, he came back and sat down in a large chair by the bed.  It was silent for a moment, and I stared up at the dark ceiling, thinking over everything that happened in the past few hours.  It didn’t make any sense.  Why would he do all of this?  What did he have to gain from giving me food and a place to sleep?

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I heard my own voice rise up through the darkness.  I’m not quite sure why I asked that.  Still, I wanted nothing more than to hear the answer.

“You remind me of myself,” Tony said slowly, the careful thoughtfulness clear in his voice.  “You’re a good kid.  You deserve a little bit of help.”

It was silent for another few minutes.

“Would you… would you please hold me hand?” I asked softly.  I’d barely even finished speaking before my right hand was engulfed my another, much larger one.  I could feel myself smile just a bit, my eyes fluttering closed.  I squeezed it slightly, and before long, I had fallen asleep to the sound of Tony’s breathing.

Description: You have been living on the streets for years, and over these years, you have become incredibly good at pickpocketing.  Unfortunately for you, though, you picked the wrong target one too many times.

Part 2 if you guys want it, just let me know!

Chin up, shoulders back, even steps.  My heart is calm, my breaths slow and measured, and every muscle in my body is relaxed.  In other words, every last inch of me screams that I am a confident, kind young lady without a care in the world.

No matter what anybody says, looks really are everything.  Every time you meet someone new or even just pass by them on the street, your mind makes a snap judgement about them.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that everyone you meet is prejudiced or anything of the sort.  Those snap judgements can easily be changed with an open-minded person, sometimes without even needing a whole conversation.  Still, that doesn’t change the fact that when you see a well-groomed person in a suit, your mind automatically thinks they are successful, and when you see someone coming at you with a hoodie covering their face and their hands in their pockets, you automatically tense up.  None of that is your fault, and actually it’s probably a good thing that you would be wary of people who are acting rather suspicious.  Really, the only issue with these immediate ideas of every person you see is the fact that it makes people like me – people who understand how these momentary impressions work – able to take advantage of them.

It didn’t take long to realize I had a talent for it.  I already looked the part, – a helpless, adorable little girl – I had a surprising knack for staying calm under pressure, and as much as I hated the old bitch, my caretaker had given me all the tools I needed.  She was a stickler for proper manners, so I learned how to speak, sit, and walk like a “proper young lady.”  Plus, her insane rules about tiny meal portions and too-early curfews taught me to be light on my feet as I often sneaked downstairs to grab a roll of bread at night.  Yes, I had everything I needed.  The only real hurdle was actually deciding to do it.  I never really wanted to be a bad person.  But the world is a heartless place, the city even more so, and by the end of my first week, I knew what I had to do if I was ever going to survive.

So, I started working – oh, and by the way, no matter what you think, it is still a job.  I put my time and effort into a certain task, and I obtain money because of it.  I don’t know about you, but that certainly sounds like a job to me.  And it was easier than I thought it would be.  Within about a day, I realized that people saw me as sweet, innocent, and harmless – no, more than that, they wanted to see me as harmless.  Because if I wasn’t harmless, then that meant their world was even more screwed up than they thought.  I learned quick, and by the end of the year, I had perfected my technique.  It was simple: avoid all conversation if possible, and if absolutely necessary, smile and point out the farthest adult man within reason as my dad before weaving through the small gaps in the crowd, preferably around taller people, so they couldn’t see or follow me.  I only got caught once or twice, but I’m grateful that I did.  It forced me to learn perspective, that I needed to know more than just how to talk well.  So, I learned how to run through a city.  And now, I’m practically unstoppable.  

As I take my even, not-too-fast-but-not-too-slow stroll down the sidewalk, a small, ambiguous smile decorating my lips, I can see it in each person’s eyes as they walk past that I have completely embodied my character.  My arms swung with a practiced nonchalance as my eyes flickered from one person to the next, each time going through a mental list as I weighed the chances I had of succeeding on them versus how likely they were to catch on and calculated the amount of time that both of these events would likely take to happen.  Finally, after a few minutes of this practice, one of them caught my eye.

He was larger, more muscular.  Guys like him were  a gamble.  Often, a man of his appearance simply cared a bit too much about his appearance.  Still, every now and then, they look like that because they been trained, and while past training usually meant they had no practice running in a city, it also meant that he would be much more jumpy and alert to his surroundings.  However, his deep, loose pockets with the corner of his wallet just barely sticking out and the thoughtful gaze as he surveyed the buildings tipped the scales further and further in my favor.  The wonder in his eyes just screamed tourist.

I gazed forward with an absentminded look in my eye that I’d spent months perfecting in the mirror while keeping him clearly in my periphery before bumping into him.  As I hit him, two of my fingers simultaneously dipped into his pocket, where my knee bumped against his leg to jolt his wallet up and out.  The moment the warm leather was in my grasp, I forced myself to fall backwards.  Before I could hit the ground, though, I felt one of those strong, muscular arms had wrapped itself around my waist and was helping me back up.  

My jaw clenched for half a second.  This wasn’t good.  His reflexes were too quick to have just worked out at some random gym, which meant my hunch was right: he had been trained.  And that meant that I needed to get out of there fast.  I wouldn’t be able to slip the wallet back in his pocket without bumping into him again, and that would only make me look even more suspicious, so I quickly emptied it of all of the cash behind his back and slipped the bills into my sleeve before tossing the piece of leather on the ground a few feet away.

“Are you alright?” he asked, concern evident in his eyes, and immediately I decided on my personality for the day – bright and bubbly but proper.  Gently, he released his arm from its position on my waist once he knew I had regained my footing.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” I quickly apologized, my left hand shooting up to cover my mouth in fake shock while my right hand carefully dropped the money in one of my own pockets, all the while watching every last one of his movements for any sign of suspicion.  “It was all my fault.  I wasn’t paying attention where I was going.”

“It’s ok, really.”  He scratched the back of his neck.  “I wasn’t really looking where I was going either, so it was partially my fault, too.”

“Well, thank you for catching me, sir, but I really have to go,” I smiled at him apologetically.  “I’m supposed to meet back up with my dad in about five minutes.”

“Oh, no worries,” he responded kindly before sneaking a glance at my old, slightly ripped clothes, the concern still dancing in his eyes.  “You’re sure you’re alright, though?”

“Absolutely!”  I dismissed.  “Thank you again!”

“Um, yeah, no problem.”  We both started to walk away.

I waited patiently as I listened to his retreating steps.  1… 2… 3… 4… and then– “Hey, mister!” I called, bending down and grabbing the piece of leather from where I had tossed it earlier.  “I think you might’ve dropped your wallet!”

The man turned back, shocked, before jogging back towards me.  “I didn’t even notice,” he mumbled to himself.  “Hey, thanks, kid.”

“My pleasure!” I chirped.  “Now, sorry, but I really have to get going.  See you around, sir!”  I quickly jogged off, allowing myself to get lost in the crowd before he could even have a minute to fully understand what happened.

– 3rd Person POV –

“I told you guys the world wasn’t such a bad place!” Steve called as he entered the living room of Stark Tower.  The rest of the Avengers looked up in surprise.  They had been having this argument for the past three days, with Steve insisting that there were still people who put others first living in New York while the entire rest of the team tried to convince him otherwise.

“Alright, show your work,” Tony leaned back against the wall, watching the captain with curiosity.

“I met a kid today who couldn’t have been older than 16.  I was trying to remember what the city looked like before I went in the ice, and I accidentally bumped into her.  She then spent the next few minutes constantly apologizing and saying it was all her fault.  And the best part is, after we’d already walked away, she found and returned my wallet.  I hadn’t even realized I had dropped it!”  The 96-year-old man finished with a triumphant grin, leaving the rest of the team silent for a moment.  That is, until Tony busted out laughing.  Steve frowned.  “…What?”

“Steve, honey, check inside of your wallet,” Natasha sighed as she turned back to the tv to watch whatever was on.

Steve frowned, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet.  “I don’t understand; why do you want me to….” He trailed off as he stared at the now empty pocket that only just earlier that day held around 65 dollars in cash.  “She… but how did she…”

Tony slapped a heavy hand on Steve’s shoulder, wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye.  “She scammed you, bro.  And you fell for it hook, line, and sinker,” he grinned before walking back to his room, still chuckling softly to himself at his friend’s misfortune.

——- Time Skip ——-

About two weeks had passed since that godsend of a man and I crossed paths.  I can’t remember the last time I had managed to lift 65 dollars off anyone.  That kind of cash can last someone like me a really long time.  But sadly, all good things must come to an end, and after buying myself the first decent meal I’d had in weeks plus a ton of canned foods and non-perishables that I dropped off at the nearest homeless shelter, that good thing ended ended all too quickly.  Which meant it was time I went back to work.

I stepped into the public library, that same ambiguous smile painted ever so gently across my face.  There weren’t a whole lot of people here and there were almost never any big scores, but working here was a lot less guess-work, and more often than not, the target was too engrossed in their book to even notice what I was doing, so there was also much less risk of being caught.

After a quick scan of the quiet room, my eyes landed on the man sitting at one of the long tables, his bag haphazardly laying next to him on the table.  It should be easy enough to grab something from in there, and he seemed invested enough to have his guard down.  He should make for a good target.

I walked into the science section and grabbed a few scientific papers, most of which were generally about to nuclear physics, before walking back to his table and sitting down right across from him.  Scientific papers are the best way to make sure no one has the confidence to talk to you.  I opened the paper that I had read a hundred times and started pretending to read it once more, my left hand resting on my cheek as my right hand slowly made its way towards the bag.

“Excuse me.” I glanced up, pausing my movement towards his back but still being careful not to react too quickly and retract my hand.  I didn’t want to draw his attention to what I was doing, and if at all possible, I would still like to come out of this with something to show for it.  As I met the glasses-clad, clearly intelligent eyes of the man in front of me, it was easy to figure out what my personality should be – shy, smart, and above all else, kind.  “Is that Schippers’s work?”

I blinked in surprise and allowed a soft smile to spread across my lips.  “You know Stefan Schippers?”

“Yeah, his work in antimatter is amazing,” he grinned fully now, his eyes lighting up and making him almost look like a completely different person.  “Particularly regarding his research in collisions.”

I grinned back, taking note of how his eyes were now trained on mine, instead of glancing around like before.  Maybe I should’ve started a conversation before – clearly it was a good distraction for him.  Well, either way, it’s going to be easier to lift something off of him now, so I guess I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.  “I completely agree.  His work is amazing,” I giggled softly, glancing down at the table before looking back up at him, a slight red hue now painting the apples of my cheeks as my hand slipped inside of his bag.

“I was honestly surprised to see you reading that paper, actually,” he chuckled nervously.  “I’ve read it at least 20 times, but I figured I was the only one.”  I laughed lightly, slipping what felt like a wallet out of the bag and tucking it under my arm.

“Trust me, I’ve read this so many times, I’m afraid the library is going to have to replace it because I’ve worn it out so much.  You know, if you’re interested in Schippers, you should read some of Dr. Banner’s papers,” I laid my left hand on his arm gently while my right arm swung back over to me, pushing the wallet into my lap.  “As much as I love Schippers, Dr. Banner’s work is unparalleled.”

The man chuckled nervously again, ducking his head a bit.  “You really think so, huh?  How old are you anyways?  I don’t see a whole lot of kids brushing up on nuclear physics.”

“I’m older than I look,” I casually brushed off the question.  I was not about to give up any personal information, fellow science geek or not.  “Oh, by the way, do you have the time?”

The man glanced at his watch.  “About 6:00.”

My eyes widened in shock.  “You’re kidding, it got that late?!  My dad’s gonna kill me!”  I gasped and quickly stood up, catching the wallet in my left hand and slipping it into my pocket.  “It was really nice meeting you, sir, but I have to go home.  I really liked talking to you, though!  I hope we can meet again!”  I hurriedly gathered the papers and rushed off, waving with a broad smile.

“Oh, uh nice meeting you… too…” he tried to respond, but she was already well out of sight.

– 3rd Person POV – 

“What the hell?” Bruce mumbled, digging through his bag.  The pizza had just arrived, and he needed to pay his share.

“What’s wrong?” Natasha glanced at him, an eyebrow raised.

“I could’ve sworn I put my wallet in here, but now I can’t find it,” he frowned, continuing to search every last nook and cranny of the old bag.

“Don’t worry about it, buddy, I can cover you if you’re short,” Tony shrugged.

“That’s not the issue,” Bruce frowned, finally giving up and tossing his bag to the side in frustration.  “That had my credit card, my driver’s license, and my ID for Stark Tower.  If it’s lost somewhere, it could be a real problem.”

“When was the last time you remember having it?”  Clint mumbled through a full mouth of the piece of pizza that he’d already shoved in his face.  Natasha rolled her eyes and wiped off the bit of spit he’d gotten on her in disgust.

“I was at the library.  I used my library card to check out some books,” he responded confidently.

“Again?” Clint asked, once again through a mouthful of cheese and marinara sauce.  “What, do you live there or something?”

“Ok, now walk us through exactly what happened after you checked out those books,” Natasha suggested, doing her best to ignore her best friend.

Bruce sighed and nodded, sitting down.  “I checked out my books, then walked over to one of the tables to start reading.  Then I talked to that teenager for a little while about some of Schippers’s theories before she ran off–”

“You talked to a teenager about Schippers?  And she actually understood?”  Tony asked, lifting a brow in surprise.

“Yeah, she even recommended I read Dr. Banner’s work in the same field,” Bruce chuckled.  “I thought it better not to tell her who I was, but according to her, Banner’s work is ‘unparalleled’.”

“Damn, the kid knows her stuff,” Tony nodded, impressed.  “Did she say anything about–”

“Boys,” Natasha cut in.  “The wallet.”

“Ah, right,” Bruce mumbled apologetically.  “Anyways, after she ran off, I kept reading for a few minutes before leaving, too.  Then I came back to the tower and got up here just in time to decide on ordering pizza with you guys.”

“Did you use the subway?” Natasha asked.

Bruce shook his head.  “No.  I figured since it was such a nice day out, I would just walk home.”

“How did you enter the building?”

“I ran into Steve downstairs, and we came in together.”

Steve, who had been silent up until this point, finally spoke up.  “This teenager… Was she about 16?  With (H/C) hair?”

“What, you think it’s the same girl who totally scammed you the other–” Tony started, getting ready to take part in his favorite pastime of making fun of Steve.

“Actually, yeah, she was,” Bruce answered, his eyes wide in realization.

Before anyone could say anything, Tony’s incredibly loud laughter filled the room.  “Holy shit, you guys both got scammed by the same teenager!  How does that even happen?!” He wheezed, laughing so hard he could hardly breath.

“Hey she seemed like a nice girl!” Bruce defended.  “How was I supposed to know she was robbing me?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a genius or something?” Tony asked, tears streaming down his face now.  Bruce opened his mouth, trying to come up with something but came up blank.  A heavy hand landing on his shoulder knocked him out of his stupor.

“Just let it happen,” Steve sighed, his eyes cast down as he shook his head in sympathy.

——- Time Skip ——-

It had been a week since I had spoken to that science nerd in the library, and I was still pissed.  Seriously, what kind of grown man only carries around 4 dollars and 36 cents?  Well, apparently, that weirdo did.  I had thrown out all the cards and IDs to at least sell the what looked to be leather wallet to a pawn shop, but apparently the thing wasn’t even leather!  All of that time, wasted for a measly 12 bucks.  I’ll say it again: I was pissed.

So, now I was back out working again, because the money I’d made was barely enough to buy a few snacks that I had to portion out over the course of the past week.

As I walked down the sidewalk, still grumbling softly to myself about what had happened, I saw him.  

Tony freaking Stark.

I grinned.  Maybe my luck was getting better after all.  I mean, a billionaire who’s famous for having, shall we say, questionable morals?  After all, it’s not exactly nice to sleep with as many women as humanly possible before tossing them away like they’re nothing.  I mean, sure there’s the whole iron man thing, but he’s still kind of a dick, let’s be honest.  And while I usually tried to refrain from taking anything major in case my target doesn’t have a whole lot of money or the object is sentimental, billionaire jerks are fair game.  And the best part was, I didn’t even have to read him to know the part I was going to play.  Tony Stark would only ever fall for one personality: sarcastic, quick-witted, and strong.

His head was down, buried in his phone, so I casually walked towards him, picking up an old cup of coffee from one of a nearby cafe’s outdoor tables, before smacking into him head-first, spilling the coffee everywhere.

“What the hell?!”

“Oh my god!” We both yelled at the same time.

“Oh c’mon, kid, this is silk!” Tony continued to shout, staring down at the coffee covering his chest.

“Hey, I’m not the one with my head buried in my phone while walking through one of the busiest cities in the world,” I snapped back.  “And you’re not the only one whose clothes got ruined.  This is cashmere!” I lied through my teeth.  It was a ratty old sweater that I’d bought for about 3 dollars at a thrift store.

Stark scoffed.  “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Yeah, you’re Tony Stark.  That doesn’t change the fact that my parents are gonna be pissed about me ruining a hundred dollar sweater,” I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms defiantly.

That was when he finally glanced at me and my coffee-stained outfit.  Stark sighed and put his fingers to the bridge of his nose.  “Alright, I’m sorry.” Wait, what?  Since when does the great Tony Stark ever apologize for anything?  “I’ll pay for the dry-cleaning, ok?  Just give me your parents’ numbers.”

Shit, that’s not how this is supposed to go.  Ok, new strategy.  A sassy front but a kind interior.

I sighed and shook my head.  “No, it’s not entirely your fault.  I guess I could’ve tried to avoid you better.  Anyways, you got a pen and paper?”

Stark nodded slightly and reached into his inner pocket, pulling out a tiny pad and a fancy looking pen.  I quickly jotted down the phone number and handed it back to him.  Shoot, he looked like he was about to walk away.  I had to act quick or lose my chance.  Time to add one more very important characteristic to my identity: pitiable.  “Hey, I really am sorry.  I kind of overreacted.  It wasn’t cool.  I guess I just got a little nervous.  My dad likes things to be clean, and he can get pretty mad when I don’t follow that rule…” I trailed off a bit, glancing down at my feet.  I shook my head quickly and met the billionaire’s gaze, now filled with concern, again.  “Sorry, didn’t mean to dump that on you.  I just wanted to say thanks.”  I held out my right hand, praying that I’d guessed which hand to use correctly.  As Stark grabbed my hand, I had to hold back a sigh of relief when I saw the watch casually placed on his wrist.

“It was really nice meeting you, Mr. Stark,” I smiled a bit, with my left hand closing over his wrist while three of my fingers on my right hand undid the clasp on his watch.  Then I pressed down one the buttons on either side of the clasp with my middle finger on my right hand and my thumb on my left hand, making sure to hold the watch in place.  “If you’d like, I’d be happy to buy you a coffee to make up for it.  There’s a really nice café right over there.”  I squeezed the watch tightly with my left hand and jerked my chin towards the store just behind him.  He turned his head and looked, pulling his hand back slightly as he did so, which allowed me to slip the watch off his wrist.  Immediately, I dropped it in my pocket before he had a chance to turn back around.

“Thanks, kid, but I’m good.  I’ll give your parents a call when I get home, ok?”  He said before awkwardly giving me a pat on the shoulder.  “Now go run off and play with some dolls or whatever.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Thanks, but my collection can’t be nearly as big as yours,” I bit back with a slight, good-natured smirk.  “Anyways, I gotta go home and get yelled at by my parents.  Nice meeting you, Mr. Stark,” I called, waving to him as I was already leaving.

Stark shook his head with a small smile.  “Yeah, you too, kid.”

– 3rd Person POV –

“What, no watch today?” Tony furrowed his brows at Bruce’s question.

“Of course I have a watch today.  I have a watch for every day of the week,” he scoffed, lifting his wrist to show off the rather expensive Rolex.

“Umm dude…?” Clint started.

“Yeah, I know it’s awesome, and no, you cannot try it on,” Tony smirked.  “I have a very strict look don’t touch policy.  These bad boys cost quite the pretty penny, and I wouldn’t want any of you trying to take it from me.”  Clint just shrugged in defeat and unpaused his video game – it wasn’t his fault his friend interrupted him trying to help.

“Tony, look at your wrist,” Steve rolled his eyes at the pompous man’s antics.

“What, just so I can admire it–” he cut himself off as his eyes landed on the bare skin of his wrist.  “…Where the hell is my watch?”

“Maybe you forgot to put one on today?” Bruce shrugged, going back to his computer as he continued to work.

“No, I didn’t forget; I never forget,” Tony snapped.  “It was there this morning, and now it’s gone.”   He yanked up his sleeve to search in vain for the incredibly expensive missing item.

“Hey, maybe Tony was pick-pocketed, too,” Clint joked absentmindedly before cursing at some ‘dumbass little camping noob’ who kept killing him.

Tony’s eyes widened in realization.  “Holy shit, it was the kid.”

“What?” Steve frowned.

“The kid!  The kid who spilled coffee on me today!”  He shouted.  “I had my watch, then she shook my hand, and now the watch is gone.  She totally took it!”

Clint paused the game again.  “Wait, so basically some kid took your custom watch, which is worth thousands of dollars, right off your wrist, and you didn’t even notice?”  Tony bobbed his head up and down frantically.  “Hold on… You don’t think…” Clint glanced between the three other men in the room.

“(H/C) hair?” Steve asked.

“(E/C) eyes?” Bruce called, suddenly no longer able to focus on his work.

Tony nodded slowly with wide eyes.  Reality crashed down on all three of them.

A wide smile slowly took over Clint’s face.  “So you mean to tell me that three of the Avengers, the Earth’s greatest defenders, got scammed by the same teenage girl in less than a month?”  The three men were silent, each of them staring at the ground as they started to question how smart they actually were.

About 30 seconds later, the silence was broken.  “Nat, you’ll never believe what just happened.  I can’t believe you weren’t home for this,” Clint talked excitedly into the phone while his teammates all slowly left the room to sulk alone.

——- Time Skip ——-

It had been a whole month since I had gotten the watch off Tony Stark.  I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the amount of zeros on the offer the pawn shop had given me.  It was probably one of the best days of my life.  Immediately, I had gone out and bought myself a meal at an actual restaurant, and let me tell you, they weren’t kidding when they said restaurant food is delicious.  Every protein bar and bag of chips in the world couldn’t live up to the food I ate that day.  And with that kind of money, I could be eating like that for maybe even a year!  Still, I knew what I had to do.  

It was almost Christmas.  With the money I’d just gotten, I could afford to buy each and every kid at the orphanage actual brand new presents that year, instead of the crummy second-hand stuff that had to be shared between three or four kids that I usually brought.  So, I went out and blew a good three quarters of my new budget on toys, and not the kind from thrift shops or even the ones from the big department stores.  I could finally get them toys from one of the fancy stores that had display windows.  And it was worth it, too, seeing the pure amazement that lit up those kids’ eyes when they saw there was enough for all of them.  I then spent another quarter of the money on nonperishable foods that I donated to the homeless shelter plus one massive turkey for their Christmas feast. 

After all of that, I was left with around 20 dollars for myself.  Usually I can make money like that last with just a few extra marks, but as the month dragged on and less and less people were out on the streets at night, my budget ran thin.  Eventually, I reached my breaking point.  I’d gone I think four days now without any food.  My stomach growled loudly, begging me to give it something, anything.  I just sighed and receded further into the fabric of my thin, worn down coat that I’d found a few days back by a dumpster – the coat I used to wear long traded in for a couple spare dollars.  Sure, the wind cut through it like a knife, but hell, it was better than nothing.

I glanced up as I heard the crunching of footsteps in the snow, my heard immediately leaping into my throat at the prospect of there being people out.  I frowned when I saw who they were.  A couple walking together, chatting away about something or another.  Normally, I would never choose a couple to target – it was too easy for one of them to spot what I was doing to the other – but I had gotten desperate.  I was freezing cold, and I needed food now.

So, I walked directly towards them and crashed my shoulder into the guy’s, my hand slipping into his pocket.  I thanked whatever higher power was watching over me when my hand came into contact with a money clip.

“Sorry,” I mumbled and slipped my hand back out before continuing to walk at a casual pace away from the two, tucking the clip into my pocket.

– 3rd Person POV –

“Well that was rude,” Clint huffed, dusting himself off.

Natasha stared at the back of the young girl who continued to walk away like nothing had happened.  “Hey, Clint,” she muttered.

“Yeah?”

“Where’s your wallet?”

“I put it back in my… pocket….” Clint froze when he realized he couldn’t feel the familiar clip in his jacket pocket.  He whirled around to look at the girl, who was already a ways away.  “Hey!  Get back here!”  He screamed, breaking into a run, Natasha quickly following suit.

– Your POV –

“Hey!  Get back here!”  I glanced back with wide eyes, my heart leaping into my throat before immediately sprinting.

I ran through the snow, turning right and left through back alleys and narrow shortcuts, thanking my past self for never eating well, as my skinny form was able to stay on top of the snow for the most part.  Still, somehow I hadn’t lost the two adults chasing me yet.  They had barely fallen a foot or two behind over the last eight blocks.  My stamina was quickly running out, the malnourishment over the past week finally catching up to me.  I felt dizzy, and my chest burned as I focused on continuing to put one foot in front of the other.  I turned down an alleyway with a brick wall at the end.

“Ha!  We’ve finally caught you!”  The man behind me panted.  I completely ignored him, not pausing a single step as I sprinted towards the wall.

“Uhh, hey, kid?  Rock beats teenager…” He called warily.  I continued to ignore him.  I was only five feet away.  “Stop, you’re gonna hurt yourself!” he shouted just before I jumped, pressing my feet into the bricks to launch my further and further up.  I reached as high as I could and just barely caught the edge of the wall with my fingertips.  I swung my other arm up and forced my arms to pull myself to the top.

I panted as I gazed down from the top of the wall, the couple staring back up at me.  “Holy shit,” the man muttered, to which the woman immediately smacked him in the arm.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly.  “I was hungry.”  I wasn’t really sure why I was apologizing.  Granted, I knew what I was doing wasn’t very nice, but I don’t recall ever apologizing before.  Maybe it’s because they reminded me of my parents – or, at least, what I imagined my parents to be like.  Maybe it’s because I was so dizzy that I couldn’t really think straight.  I nodded slightly to the two before turning around, preparing myself to jump down the other side.

Suddenly, a massive wave of dizziness and nausea smacked me in the face.  I groaned slightly and put my hand to my forehead, trying to get a hold of myself.  Evidently, that didn’t work, because the next thing I knew, I was falling.

Time seemed to slow as I fell through the air.  I probably shouldn’t pass out right now, the surprisingly calm thought entered my mind.  If I do, I’ll most likely just freeze to death.  Then again, passing out would save me a lot of pain from falling.  Alright, I guess that’s it then.  I’ll pass out now and hope I wake up in time to not die.  My eyes fluttered closed just before I hit the ground, the fog in my brain thickening as I finally allowed myself to just give in to it.

– 3rd Person POV –

Clint grunted as he caught the girl.  He was expecting to fall to the ground with her, only really serving to break her fall, but was surprised to find that she wasn’t even heavy enough to knock him down.  Natasha made her way over to his side, looking down at the little thief in her friend’s arms.

“She’s light as a feather,” Clint murmured with a frown on his face, “and freezing to the touch.”

“She said she was hungry,” Natasha muttered thoughtfully.

Clint grit his teeth and nodded, determined.  “Alright, that settles it.  We’re taking her back to the tower.”

Natasha glanced at him warily.  “You sure?  The others might not be so accepting.”

“They’re gonna have to be,” he stated, already walking back, holding the girl as close as he could in an attempt to warm her up.

AVENGERS

- One-shots/Imagines

  –You’re in love:   

              –  Tony Stark x Reader.  Songfic based off the song ‘You’re in Love’ by Taylor Swift.  Tony realizes that he’s in love with a much younger reader.

   – Would You Like to Dance?:

              –  Tony Stark x Reader.   You’re the head of a major company, and you’ve reached out to Tony for help on a major project. He says yes before he really knows what he’s getting himself into, and he ends up falling for you because of it.

   – Fight me:  

              –  Clint Barton x Reader.  You and Clint had been enemy assassins for years until one day he gets the jump on you, hitting you right in the stomach and leaving you barely able to move due to injury.  When he sees the collar that branded you as a slave of the Agency, he decides to take it on himself to help you recover, rather than turning you over to SHIELD.  Over the next few weeks, you start to bond.

   – Tony-Stark’s-Son:  

              –  Peter Parker x Reader.   For years you have been locked in a sniping war over eBay with the same account. Today, you finally meet the face behind the computer.

   –  Happy Birthday:

              –  Peter Parker x Reader.  You were Peter’s girlfriend of about one year, and you were left alone when the great snap happened. Now, you’re celebrating the occasion just like you’d promised.

   –  I Don’t Want to Go: 

              –  Peter Parker x Reader.   The battle against Thanos was over, and the team was just starting to recover, when he snaps his fingers.

   – I Want You to Stay:

              –  Bucky Barnes x Reader.   You’re a teacher in Romania. You meet Bucky after you get into some trouble and he helps you out. In the middle of the night, though, he has a nightmare.

- Series

   – Evil is Subjective:  Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7Part 8 Part 9

              –  An ongoing series about the Steve Rogers going up against a villain reader, as he slowly realizes that there’s more to her than meets the eye.

  – Lucky:  Lucky, I Can’t Forget You,The Best Day

             –  Tony Stark x Reader / slight Steve Rogers x Reader.  Three songfics for “I Got the Boy” by Jana Kramer, “Molly” by Lil Dicky, and “You Had Me From Hello” by Kenny Chesney about Tony and Steve both looking back on their time with the Reader, one with joy and one with regret.

   – Sunshine: Sunshine,I’m Still Your Sunshine

              –  A two part series about Tony and the reader, his daughter, as they both express how much they love each other through the song “You are my Sunshine.”

–Pickpocket:Part 1Part 2

              –  A two part series where you are a child that has been living on the streets for years, and over these years, you have become incredibly good at pickpocketing.  Unfortunately for you, though, you picked the wrong target one too many times.

AVENGERS CAST

- Series

   –The Interviews: The Interview,To Share an Armchair

              –  Tom Holland x Reader.  A two part series where you’re Tom Holland’s costar in the Marvel movies.  These interviews are both monumental stepping stones in your relationship.

GAME OF THRONES

- One-shots/Imagines

   –Confessions:  

              –  Jon Snow x Trueborn Baratheon!Reader. Reader was previously married to Robb, though she has always loved Jon.  She quietly admits her feelings for him on his deathbed at the wall.

   – You Are Mine Now:

              –   Sansa x fem!reader.  Reader is a wolf shape-shifter from a powerful royal house that has helped the Starks for centuries.  They fell in love at first sight, but couldn’t be married.  Now Sansa is to marry Ramsay Bolton.  But one day, the reader comes back.

   –  The Singer:

              –  Robb Stark x Reader.   Robb hears you singing to the wounded men after a fierce battle and immediately falls for you.

- Series

   –Letters: New Friends, Letters

              –   Jon Snow x Reader.  You’re the first daughter and second child of the royal family. When you visit Winterfell, you quickly find yourself making friends with the Starks and one Snow. Despite knowing you two could never be together, you’re quickly catching feelings for one another.

   – The Lion and the Fox:  Part 1,Part 2,Part 3

              –  Jaime Lannister x Reader.  Lady (Y/N) (L/N) is feared by many. She is capable of using any form of weapon against her oponent, though she favors two short swords. She is cunning and will do anything to get ahead in life. Deception is second nature to her. She is easily one of the most dangerous women to have ever set foot in Westeros. Now she’s found a new toy.

SUPERNATURAL

- One-shots/Imagines

   –You are my Density: 

              –  Sam Winchester x Reader.  Sam has finally decided to make his move and ask you to marry him.  The only problem?  He has absolutely no idea how to do it.  When Dean catches him practicing possible speeches, he decides to take matters into his own hands with the help of Jody and Donna.

   – Come with Us:

              –  Teen!Dean Winchester x Teen!Reader.  You are trying to do some research on a werewolf case when two idiots a table over start being unbelievably annoying as they play the “Penis” Game.

   – I Hate You:

              –   Dean Winchester x Reader.  Dean is trying to convince Sam and himself that he hates you. Unfortunately, you end up overhearing the conversation and have a few choice words for him, too.

Evil is Subjective Part 9 (Avengers x Villain!Reader)

Author’s Note: Hey guys! So as it turns out, I don’t do very well with quarantines! Sorry I haven’t posted in so long. I feel kinda bad I just let this story sit for so long. To those who asked to be on the tag list, first: thank you! Second: I’m not sure if it accurately tagged all of you. I tried my best but I’m not very good with technology so I might’ve made a mistake. Anyways, I hope you all like it.

Description: You wake up on the riverbank and have to decide what you’re going to do with a certain injured super soldier.

Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7 Part 8

Everything felt fuzzy. You know, like when you’re channel surfing and there’s no connection, so the screen is just that fuzzy grey and black stuff while the speakers make that buzzing noise? Ugh, I hate that buzzing noise.

Slowly, I took a breath, just allowing myself a minute to let my lungs fill with air, and it felt simply amazing — like ecstasy but without the glow sticks. Unfortunately, though, it couldn’t last forever. I needed to actually do something, instead of just sitting there until the end of time. So, I very painfully forced my eyelids to open, taking in all of the blurry details around me. God, it’s like coming down from ecstasy, too.

Ok, so I was on the shore of some body of water, judging by the sound of water nearby, plus my drenched clothes and the pebbles digging into my back. Now just to figure out how the hell I got here. The last thing I remembered was the evil helicarrier going down. I shook my head and pushed away the memory, my stomach churning as I remembered James’s face.

I groaned and urged my aching muscles to work so I could sit up. The headache was absolutely splitting. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and glanced around to take in a better account of my surroundings, though there wasn’t much there.

Pebbles, river, trees, Steve…

I could feel a jolt spark through my chest as I saw him lying there, motionless. With shaky breaths, I crawled my way over to him, ignoring the sting in my knees and palms from all the pebbles.

“Hey, Rogers? C’mon, buddy, it’s time to wake up,” I said, my hands going to his shoulders to try and shake him awake. Oh god, this is all my fault. He must’ve been the one to pull me out. I’m the only reason he went into the water in the first place, and now I might’ve killed him. I almost threw up just at the thought. Quickly, my fingers ghosted over his neck, pressing down for a second just to make sure he still had a pulse. It was weak, but it was enough to send relief flowing through me the second I found it. “Come on, Rogers, wake up! Steve!” I was starting to get more desperate, my heart in my throat as I continued to shake him. I didn’t care how loud I was being, I just needed him to be ok. “C’mon, Steve, please just open those baby blues for me; say some stupid, righteous comment, anything! Just wake the hell up! Please!”

“Steve!” I froze. That wasn’t my voice.

I glanced at the line of trees, my entire body shaking. He was so close, he could easily find me. Instantly, every nerve in my body kicked into high gear, my instincts screaming that I had to run, quickly.

My eyes landed on Steve again. He needed help and fast. I gritted my teeth together and squeezed my eyes shut. I’d probably get arrested if I simply stayed there, let alone if I did something colossally stupid. Still, I just… I couldn’t bring myself to run. Well, I guess I always was pretty good at the insane and stupid side of things. 

I knelt beside Steve’s sleeping form and reached my hand out towards him, but I paused as I caught sight of how badly my fingers were shaking. The idea of what I was about to do made me sick to my stomach. I hated this. I felt like I was about to betray everything I believed in. Why did I even care so much? What had this righteous jerk ever done for me? You know, besides help me at every turn.

I groaned and shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut for just a moment in an effort to collect myself. I had to do this. There was simply no other choice. Once again, I reached out and gently wrapped my fingers around Steve’s neck. “God dammit, won’t you just die already?!” I screamed loudly. Apparently it was loud enough, because I could hear footsteps immediately start running towards us, and I quickly braved myself for what was to come.

I gasped as the man from earlier – the one with the mechanical wings – came into view.  His eyes sharpened as they met my own, and he immediately fell into a defensive stance. What was he doing here? Who even was he? I’d never seen him before, that’s for damn sure. He was exmilitary, that much was written all over his stance, and he clearly didn’t trust me. Maybe he’d seen the news recently. Of course, it could’ve just been the fact that it looked like I was choking his friend. Really, it’s a toss up if you ask me.

“Who the hell are you?  Get away from him!” he snapped.  His words shook me from my daze and sent my brain into overdrive. He wasn’t an avenger or a cop, so overall, this was a good thing. He’d be more hesitant to kill me if he was just a citizen. Of course, his obvious training wasn’t gonna help very much, but if I played my cards right, it wouldn’t have to come down to physical fighting.

I forced myself to stand, cursing softly under my breath at how badly my legs were shaking.  The fight against James – no, against the Winter Soldier – had completely drained me.  I had absolutely no energy left in my body.  Silently, I thanked my lucky stars that my obvious fatigue could actually work in my favor this time.

I smirked and lowered my chin slightly, letting a shadow fall over my eyes.  “Well, aren’t you a troublesome little pest?” I chuckled lowly.  I turned to face the blonde man with a sigh.  “It took forever and almost all my energy, but finally knocking you out meant I had a chance to kill the great Captain America.  What a pity your friend had to come and ruin the fun,” I pouted before dropping into a low crouch and placing a hand over his heart to reassure myself one last time that he was still breathing.  I sent him a quick, sincere smile before swinging my head back around to meet the now more than hostile glare of Robot Chicken, forcing my smile to drop into what I hoped was a sinister looking smirk.  Of course, whenever I used to practice my evil face in the mirror I always just ended up looking constipated, so it probably wasn’t all too menacing.  Still, it can’t hurt to try, right?

“Uncle Sam here-“ I paused a moment, my eyes immediately catching sight of how his muscles tensed just a fraction further. Was that his name, Sam? I’ll think about it later and just use a different nickname. “The Ultimate Frisbee Champ is still alive, but only just, so you may wanna get him to a hospital.”  I stood and stretched, trying to ignore the searing pain in my muscles.  “Whelp, I don’t wanna get arrested, so I think I’m gonna head out.  I’ll kill you guys next time, though, ok?”  I grinned and winked at him. The poor man was speechless, only able to stare as I skipped forward.  Our shoulders just barely brushed against each other while I passed.  “Fix him up for me, will you?  It’s no fun killing someone who can’t put up a good fight.”

I slipped into the cover of the trees nearby and watched as Birdman picked Steve up and carried him towards the nearby search party.  As soon as they were out of sight, I bowed my head.  

I didn’t have any other choice.  He would have questioned why Steve was with me.  Steve would have been in danger of being caught helping America’s current public enemy number one.

That’s when I finally realized what I just did. I really just played the villain. Sure, I’m sarcastic and a bit of an ass, but I usually don’t lie, especially about hurting people. I don’t consciously make people believe that I’m evil or that I want to kill them, with the exception of murderers and other scumbags. I shook my head in shock.  Since when did I care enough about him to worry about him being caught? And more importantly, why the hell did I care about him?  He’s just some schmuck I tricked into working with me!

Wait, that must be it!  If he was caught, I’d lose my connection inside the Avengers.  Of course I didn’t care what happened to him. That would be insane. All I cared about was helping myself against his teammates. That’s why I helped him, and that’s why I’m following his ambulance on a stolen bike — to make sure my tool didn’t die before he stopped being useful to me. That’s why I sat outside of his second story hospital room window for hours, barely balanced on a branch as I waited for him to wake up. That’s why I felt so terrified right now.

“On your left.”

My head snapped up, and I almost fell straight off the branch at the sudden noise. I felt like a severely uncoordinated squirrel as I crawled forward, but I quickly forgot about how stupid I must have looked when the hospital room became visible through the leaves. I couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto my face at the cheesy line, despite desperately trying to keep it off.

It took a while, but thankfully, the overprotective mama hen eventually left the room with the excuse of finding some coffee, giving me the precious few minutes I was waiting for.

Carefully, I stood up on the branch. The whole thing shook, which didn’t do much to help my overactive imagination that was currently working on picturing the sound my body would make when it hit the ground — I couldn’t decide between the sickening heavy thump and the more cartoonish splat. Carefully, I focused my powers on the latch to the window, gently unlocking it and pushing it open, all the while trying to ignore the burning in my lungs from overusing my gift. Then I took one last deep breath and jumped.

“(Y/N)?!” I quickly shushed the super soldier, gesturing wildly at the many, many soldiers stationed outside his hospital door. Steve glanced at the door before returning to staring forward, trying to act completely natural as the wanted woman squirmed through his window. “What are you doing here?” He hissed, doing his best to keep his eyes forward.

“I’m the stripper-gram you ordered,” I rolled my eyes, savoring the bright pink that spread across his face for just a moment as I plopped down on the cold hospital floor, gently shutting the window behind me, and shimmied my way over to the wall. Will messing with him ever get old? I highly doubt it. “I’m here to make sure you survived, dumbass.”

“Since when did you care what happened to me?” Steve scoffed.

“Oh, I am begging you not to flatter yourself right now, Miss America,” I leaned my head back against the wall from my seat on the floor that was just barely not visible to the guard stationed outside his door, doing my best to control my labored breathing. “I’m just here to make sure I haven’t lost an asset.”

Steve glanced at where I was seated with furrowed brows. “Are you ok? You seem a little out of it.” His voice was layered in concern.

“Of course I’m fine,” I snapped, my nails digging into my palms. Why was I acting angry? I didn’t feel angry. Granted, I’m not quite sure what exactly this feeling was, but I’d felt anger more than enough times to know that this wasn’t it. “Why should you care anyway? Why drag me out of that river? I’m just the girl who’s blackmailing you.”

“I didn’t drag you out; I thought you dragged me out,—“ wait, what? “—and besides, aren’t I’m just the guy you tried to strangle to death? So why exactly are you here checking up on me?” Steve snapped back. It was silent for a moment.

I chucked dryly and let my head fall back. “I’m guessing Mother Goose told you?” He nodded slowly, and I let out a big sigh. “And you didn’t even question how you were still alive, why I would give up my position like and idiot by screaming, or why I would even try to kill you in the first place.” It was more of a statement than a question, but his silence still answered everything. “I’m such an idiot,” I muttered softly. For some reason, it actually hurt. Seriously, what the hell was up with my emotions today? I still have at least another 2 weeks before I was supposed to start having these stupid mood swings. “Have fun recovering. I’ll call you when I need you,” I muttered, barely even believing the half-hearted promise to contact him myself as I wormed my way back over to the window.

“You know him don’t you?” Steve called before I could reach it. Images of the Winter Soldier both now and from all those years ago flashed painfully behind my eyelids, and slowly, I nodded my head.  “And he doesn’t know you?” I winced at the thought and let my fingers dance over my swollen, freshly bruised neck.  My free hand clenched so tightly my fingernails almost drew blood from my palm.  I couldn’t shake the image of him on top of me, his hand wrapped around my throat with his head turned away, refusing to meet my eyes. I nodded once more. I still remembered how Hydra worked — the process they put their most valuable weapon through. The taunt that soldier had jabbed at her long ago about ‘putting him back on ice.’ How many times have they wiped him?  How many times have they stolen his memories?

I grit my teeth and opened the window. I didn’t want to think about this. About how my only friend in that horrible place — the one who had protected me from them and who I left behind to just save my own sorry ass — was suffering because of me. Didn’t even know who he was because of me. Was being forced to kill people he once loved because of me.

“You’re wrong.” I frowned and stopped, my fingertips grazing over the window ledge. “He recognized you; I saw it. He looked away and let go for a moment. It’s the only reason I was able to get him off you.” My head snapped up, and I stared at the Steve.

He recognized me?

So then the person who dragged us out of the water must have been…

“James…” My own voice broke the silence that had surrounded us like a heavy blanket.

“He’s still in there. We can still save him.” I stared at Steve fully now. Maybe he was right. Maybe we could do this.

I let out a short, clipped laugh and shook my head.  “You really do get off on all that inspirational crap, huh, Rogers?”  I smiled ever so slightly and let my eyes meet his once more. “Alright.  Let’s bring him back.”

My Teddy.  I’ll find you.  I promise.

To@mikariell95 @request-me @m4shtyx @lostsunshine @spiderlingsweb @gaylemonshark @jax-h-moon @ssourpatchkid @loverofanime333 @creatorofstars@leasly@billywig-on-baker-street@annshit@buckysjuicyplums@asapkyndall@potter-holland

I’m Still Your Sunshine (Tony Stark x Daughter!Reader)

Description: A continuation of the songfic “Sunshine” which follows the events of endgame.

Author’s note: hi guys. So I worked really, really hard on this piece, and honestly, I think it turned out really nice. This is the second verse of “You are my Sunshine,” which is kind of a response to the first verse, so that’s how I treated it, with the entire thing in your POV. I really hope you all like it!

I’m still your sunshine

It came back slow, the feeling of being alive – almost like waking up from a deep sleep just as the sun began to rise, shining through the window of your bedroom.  It’s the kind of sleep that leaves you feeling simply refreshed in the morning and ready to take on the day.

Unfortunately, that peace was rather short-lived; it left the moment I remembered what had happened – the moment I remembered leaving my dad.

Quickly, I shot upright, panic coursing through my veins as I whipped back and forth, searching for my father.  Quick, shallow breaths got shorter and shorter by the second, my vision getting more and more blurry when I couldn’t find him right away. 

He couldn’t have died, not him.  He was way too stubborn to not figure out a way to survive.  Right? Right?!

A hand rested on my shoulder, and immediately I jumped around, arms flailing to try and land a hit on the intruder.

“(Y/N), it’s just me!” the voice sounded like it was coming from far away, on the shore of the ocean where I was drowning.  There was no air, no light. I couldn’t find my way out.  I was scared. I just wanted to see my dad.

I had to find him.  He’ll definitely save me, just like he always has – just like he promised he always would.

“(Y/N), it’s me, it’s Peter!  Just calm down, ok?!”

Peter.

I knew Peter.  He was the one that dad recruited.  I hated him at first, when he’d stolen my spot in the Civil War, but it didn’t take long for him to weasel his way into becoming one of my best friends.

Little by little, my breathing started to slow down. Suddenly, I could feel Peter’s arms around me, keeping me as close as possible until I calmed down. And… my cheeks felt wet, too. I must’ve been crying.

“It’s ok, I’ve got you,” Peter murmured, refusing to loosen his grip on me for a second.  I could only nod into his shoulder as I tried to focus simply on calming down.

Your only sunshine

I glanced over at everyone else, each of them alive and standing just like I was.  But… how?  And more importantly, how long were we all away?

“Five years.”  He seemed to read my mind.  Was that one of Dr. Strange’s powers?  I didn’t think so, but then again, he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with a lot of information.

“My dad?” My voice was hoarse and sounded foreign as I asked about the only thing I really cared about.

“He needs our help,” he stated simply.  Ugh, that was just like him, wasn’t it?

“Whatever he needs,” I answered confidently, straightening up and lifting my chin to stare at the man before me.  I could see Peter nod out of the corner of my eye as well as all of the – what did they call themselves?  The Guardians of the Galaxy? Oh well, it didn’t matter as long as they were willing to help my dad.

Dr. Strange opened one of those weird yellow circles that he loved so much, and before long, we were jumping through it and onto what looked like a massive battlefield, surrounded by every ally I could have ever imagined.

Still, I was focused on one thing and one thing only: Steve Rogers, the man who used to think of as an uncle until he decided to betray my father.  The man who was standing alone.

I managed to catch his eye for a second, but before I could even say anything, he had turned away.  It looked like I would have to find my dad on my own.

“AVENGERS!” Steve summoned Mjolnir… wait, WHAT? “…assemble.”  Ok, I’ll figure it out later.  Time to fight.

I’ll always love you

The fight was unbelievable.  I almost couldn’t tell where one side began and the other side ended.  Really, I was just focused on hitting anything that looked gross, which was actually working pretty well.

Suddenly, everything stopped.

It.. it was him.  He was right there, hugging Peter, and he was ok!

“Dad!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, fresh tears stinging my eyes.  Immediately, he looked up and our eyes met.

I started running so hard that I almost fell a few times as my feet struggled to keep up.  My chest was tight, each breath fighting to get through the sobs trapped in my throat. But I didn’t care about all of that. All I cared about was seeing him again.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I was crashing into his arms.  Together, the two of us sank to the ground.  I could feel him sobbing just as hard as I was as he held me as tight as he could, almost as if he was afraid to let me go again. I wouldn’t even dream of complaining, though. I felt the exact same way.

“I-I thought you were gone,” I gasped shakily, my hands clutching onto anything they could hold to remind myself that he was still there, still with me.

“I would never leave you, sunshine.  I’m right here, I promise,” he muttered, pressing a long kiss to the top of my head.  “It’s ok.  We’re ok.”

Though I’m away

I wanted to stay like that forever, but we both knew it couldn’t happen.  Eventually we would have to keep fighting.  No matter what, we had to win.

“Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?” My dad was the one who broke the fantasy.  Quickly, I wiped my eyes, and together, we stood back up just in time to see a passing Dr. Strange.

“Hey!” I snapped, stopping the wizard in his tracks.  “You said one out of 14 million, we win, yeah?  Tell me this is it!”

He frowned and glanced at my dad before turning back to me.  “If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen.”  I searched deeper into his eyes, looking for the cryptic meaning behind his words. There was something there that I couldn’t figure out, but whatever it was, it made me sick to my stomach.

“You better be right,” my dad nodded, laying a hand on my shoulder.  I glanced up at him, worried.

Something didn’t feel right.

I’m still your sunshine

It was a mad dash for the gauntlet.  The flying woman had it for a while, but she lost it when a rusty old van exploded, and now, it was lying on the ground.

Run.  I had to run.  I couldn’t let Thanos get there first.

My dad covered me and tackled the massive, wrinkly grape, but I wasn’t really paying attention.  All I was focused on was the piece of metal lying just a few feet away.  I finally reached it, but just before I could grab it, I was sent flying by a large purple hand.

I gritted my teeth together and forced myself back to my feet just in time to see Strange holding up one finger – a warning but also a reassurance.  We could still win.

I screamed and raced forward, tackling Thanos while dad yanked on the gauntlet, but before I could even hope to rip it off his hand, he punched us both away.

I couldn’t believe it.  We… we lost.  “I am… inevitable.”  I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for it to happen all over again.  Waiting for that terrible cold feeling to come back.

“And I… am… Iron Man.”  My eyes snapped back open to see my dad with a gauntlet of his own.

And he snapped.

And it was all over.

Just only yours dear

After a while of staring in wonder as Thanos’s entire army turned to dust around us, we all came to the same incredible realization.

We really did it.

We actually won.

I turned to my dad, a wide smile on my face, ready to hug him, congratulate him on winning the war for us and probably throw in a few jabs about how he always has to be the biggest hero.  Then I saw him. And suddenly, my smile disappeared.

I dragged myself numbly back to my feet, staring at my father where he sat, burns covering the entire right half of his body. If felt like there was a bubble in my chest, pushing against my heart and lungs and stomach. I kept waiting it to fill with terror or anger or grief or something, but it merely sat there. Like it was just waiting to be popped.

Peter ran past me on my right, and I stumbled a bit.  I think it was Bucky, or maybe it was Sam, who helped me back to my feet.  I didn’t really care who it was. I just kept walking.

I heard FRIDAY say something along the lines of, “Life functions critical,” but it didn’t really register above the ringing sound that was banging against the inside of my skull.

I fell to my knees next to Pepper in front of him, my entire body shaking as I took in just how bad it really was – as I realized that my dad, my hero and my constant savior, wasn’t going to make it.

“Hey, sunshine,” he whispered.

I took a deep, shaky breath in, forcing back tears.  I didn’t want his last moments to be spent seeing me cry.  He hated it when I cried. Somehow, he always thought it was his fault when it never really was. “Hey, dad,” I smiled a bit, though we both knew it was fake.  “Everyone’s fine now.  We’re ok, thanks to you.”  My voice broke as the lump in my throat grew overwhelming, keeping me from saying anything more.

Pepper nodded, her hand laid gently on top of my own.  “We’re gonna be ok.  You can rest now.”

There we sat, watching as the arc reactor in his chest flickered off. Watching as the life left my dad’s eyes.  Pepper started crying on his shoulder, but I could only sit back and stare at the man who’d raised me, who had given everything to me, suddenly gone.

And I was alone.

And I’m coming home someday

It was a nice funeral — classy, of course, considering Pepper was the one who put it together.  But it still didn’t change the fact that the greatest man I’d ever known — the greatest man this world had ever seen — was gone.

I felt a slight tug on my hand, and I glanced down to see my younger sister – part of me still couldn’t believe I actually had a little sister.  She was staring up at me with wide eyes, curious eyes that looked frighteningly similar to dad’s. She probably didn’t even understand what was going on.  Then again, she was her father’s daughter, so she’s probably a genius.

“What’s up, Morgan?” I struggled to smile at least a little bit, crouching down so I could be at her level.

“I’m hungry,” she said simply.

I chuckled a bit.  “How ‘bout you and I go get some cheeseburgers?” She nodded back.  “Dad always did love those things, huh?” I asked absentmindedly as I led her past the crowd, ducking to avoid the endless stares of pity that followed us, and back inside the little cabin. It was just like the one he used to always dream about taking me to when everything was over — when we wouldn’t have to be heroes anymore.  

“We can get as many cheeseburgers as you want, okay?”

“Okay.”

We ate lunch together.  She was a good kid. I could tell.  And from the moment I first saw her, I made a promise to myself and to my dad that I would protect her since he couldn’t any more, and it seemed like she understood.  In no time at all, we had become inseparable.

After lunch, she started yawning, so I took her to her room for a nap.  I hesitated a moment after I had tucked her in.  I didn’t want to leave just yet. “Hey, how about a lullaby?”

Morgan nodded, and I smiled, settling in next to her so she could lay her head on my lap.

The familiar lullaby left my lips like it was nothing.  I was singing my dad’s part – the part that had gotten me through some of the worst times in my life.  It had ended far too quickly. I wanted to stay longer, to be with her. But before I could even think of getting out of the bed, I heard it.

Morgan’s little voice drifting through the bedroom with the same response to the song my dad had taught me so long ago, stopping me in my tracks.  

I felt something wet rolling down my cheeks.

I… I was crying.

For the first time since the day of the battle, I was crying.  But somehow, I wasn’t too sad. No, it felt more like a reassurance — like suddenly I knew that everything was going to be ok.

I snapped out of my trance long after the song had finished and glanced fondly down at my little sister, who was already half asleep by then.

“I love you,” she mumbled tiredly.

I smiled and laid a gentle hand on her head, smoothing her hair away from her face.

“I love you, too, sunshine.”

Yes I’ll be coming home someday

To@livetosing21

Request:  “Can you do a fic based off the song ‘You’re in Love’ by Taylor Swift for Tony x the reader.  It can be more of Tony’s POV if you’d like.  It’s Tony realized that he’s in love with a much younger reader but it’s okay because he deserves ALL THE FLUFF”

Author’s Note:  Hey I’m so sorry this took absolutely forever.  I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty difficult for me to get started on this one for the simple reason that I don’t listen to Taylor Swift all too much.  Plus, things are super hectic in my life right now.  Still, once I got going, it started to come together pretty quickly.  So anyways, I really hope you like it – I actually ended up really having a good time with it in the end.

Important Note: (F/D) = Favorite Drink; (I/S) = Important Symbol to you (For instance, something that reminds you of your family)

One look, dark room

Women just for you

Time moved too fast

You played it back

Tony walked into the gala with an unimpressed look on his face. It was his fifth gala this month, and to be quite honest, it was getting old.

Every woman in the room turned their heads as he entered, and he had to choke back a sigh. He was just… so tired of this… this routine of woman after woman throwing themselves at him.  Make no mistake, he loved his life, and he loved the good work that he knew he was doing, but to have people only see him as this undefinable object that they want nothing more than to possess?  To only be wanted for his money, his fame?  It can get pretty disheartening.

Tony made his way through the crowd slowly, doing his best to ignore the feeling of eyes burning into his back.  All he had to do was make a quick donation and get out before anyone could ask him for a dance.  He loathed the endless dancing that came with these kinds of events and the endless dance partners that were simply looking for a way to get close to him and his money.

Wait.

No, something was different here.  Somewhere in this sea of vultures wrapped overly tightly in designer clothing was something better – something good.

Quickly, he did his best to retrace his steps in his mind, but everything had become such a blur of faces that he almost couldn’t remember seeing the one he was hoping for.

Buttons on a coat

Light hearted joke

No proof, one touch

But you saw enough

He’d seen her before, just a few times, but every single time, he could feel his entire chest restrict.  This time was no exception, of course, and when he saw her all alone, holding her arms close to her chest, he couldn’t help himself.  He couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out what that tight feeling in his chest was, but he knew he had to talk to her.

“Fancy seeing you here.”  Stupid.  That was way too cliché, he should’ve come up with something better.  The angry thoughts started racing through his mind at 100 miles per hour before they were stopped by one of the single most beautiful sounds he had ever had the privilege to hear.

Her giggle, like bells chiming on a cold Sunday morning, filled the air between them.  “I thought you knew this was one of my favorite charities,” she questioned, turning that amazingly contagious smile his way.

Tony quickly made a mental note of her words.  He’d had no idea of her favorite charity, but he certainly wouldn’t be forgetting it any time soon.  She shivered, and before he even knew what was happening, he had slipped off his jacket.

“No, you don’t have to-”

“I want to,” Tony interrupted, gently laying the fabric over her shoulders.  “Besides, it’s not even that cold in here.  I have no idea how you’re shivering.”

The woman scoffed, playing with the golden buttons stitched into the black suit jacket.  “Oh, please, you just don’t realize how cold it is ‘cause your heart is frozen solid.”  And just like that, they had fallen back into that familiar routine of sarcastic comments and witty retorts.  And yet, for some reason, Tony’s heart wasn’t really in the conversation, though he couldn’t figure out why.  

No, that was a lie.  He knew exactly why he couldn’t focus.  His fingers had brushed her shoulders when he’d put his coat on her, and it was enough to send sparks flying up and down his arms.  He simply couldn’t shake off that incredible feeling. 

Small talk, he drives

Coffee at midnight,

The light reflects

The chain on your neck

“I think this party might be dying.  You wanna get out of here?”  Why did he say that?  He knew how young she was; he knew he could never have her.  So why in the world would he ever say that?

“Sure!”  Thank God.

Tony led her to his car out back – sleek and black, perfectly matching his suit.  He didn’t bother telling Happy.  He would figure things out, he always did.  Instead, he just got in and drove.

That’s how they found themselves alone in a quite little coffee shop in the middle of the night.  He ordered a black coffee.  It tasted different without his usual addition of scotch, but he made a promise to himself not to do that in front of her.  She, of course, was happy with a cup of (F/D).

It took a while for him to notice, but eventually his gaze was drawn from that perfect face to the glint coming off from around her neck.

“You’re wearing it,” he murmured, not taking his eyes off of it for a second, half afraid and half hoping that the necklace she was wearing – the necklace that he gave to her – was a trick of the light. 

She smiled, her hands unconsciously reaching up to hold the small pendant attached to the delicate piece of metal.  “It’s my favorite.”

That drew his attention back up, confusion written in the furrow of his brows.  “How?  I know for a fact that you have far more expensive than that.”  After all, the woman was incredibly successful, and he had seen her with more than one piece of jewelry worth thousands.  Of course, she usually wore them as a sponsorship for the makers.  Her main goal was always to donate as much as she could to charity – just another piece of what made her so incredible.

She sent him a soft smile, enough to reassure him with just a single look.  “It’s my favorite because it was given to me by a friend who truly knows me.  A friend who knows I’d much rather have a piece of jewelry that means something than a rock to hang on my neck.”  She glanced down at the (I/S) resting ever so gracefully in her perfect hands.  “It’s the best gift I could have ever asked for, and I never take it off.” 

She says look up

And your shoulders brush

No proof, one touch

You felt enough

They soon had to leave the coffee shop, afraid that the owners would kick them out sooner or later, and started walking down the sidewalk back to his car.  Tony stared at his feet, his stomach churning at the thought of the night being almost over, knowing he would soon have to leave her.

He couldn’t keep doing this.  He couldn’t keep pining after a woman so much who was practically half his age.  The amount of ridicule that she would face simply for being with him would be endless, and he couldn’t bring himself to do that to her, no matter how much it hurt him.

“Tony, look up!” She screamed.  A hand wrapped around his arm, yanking him away from the street and the speeding car that would have run him down if not for her.

They stared at one another, panting, Tony barely registering the fact that they were shoulder-to-shoulder, and suddenly, it dawned on both of them: they felt the same way.

That’s when she closed the distance between them.

You can hear it in the silence, silence, you

You can feel it on the way home, way home, you

You can see it with the lights out, lights out

You are in love, true love

The memories were playing back in his mind over and over.  He even turned the radio off just so that he could swim through the pleasant memories instead. 

The kiss – she was the one who lead it, but he sure as hell wasn’t complaining.

The confession – how she told him that she had liked him since the first time they met, and how it had only grown each time they talked, each of these words filling him with overwhelming happiness as he heard his own feelings being described back to him.

The way back to her apartment – it was the first time in a very long time that he was taking it slow, but it felt right, especially when she glanced over at him with a wide smile and rosy cheeks as they held hands over the center console.

Before he could blink, he was already in his driveway.  Tony chuckled to himself at his mindlessness and quickly made his way to his room, still replaying the events over in his mind.  He simply couldn’t help himself; it all seemed too wonderful to be true.

And so there he lay in his bed, smiling like an idiot as he stared at his phone.

One new contact: (Y/N) (L/N).

She was too young for him; he knew that, and he knew that a relationship would be unbelievably hard.  Still, he couldn’t help feeling like it was all going to work out and that, as long as she was by his side, he could get through anything.

Tony set his phone down on the nightstand and looked up at the ceiling in the dark, focusing simply on that same tightened feeling in his chest.

He’d known.

From the very beginning, he’d known exactly what this feeling was, he just wouldn’t admit it to himself.

Now, though, he could hold his head high and accept it with pride and joy.

You are in love

Evil is Subjective Part 8(Avengers x Villain!Reader)

To@mikariell95@request-me@m4shtyx@lostsunshine@spiderlingsweb @gaylemonshark @jax-h-moon

Description:  A flashback to your time when you knew the Winter Soldier, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes – or as you knew him, Teddy.

Author’s Note: To Hey guys! So I’m just gonna go ahead and pretend I haven’t been MIA and just post this here instead! So yeah, enjoy!

Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7

Cold, empty, lonely, and scared.

That was what she was.  Curled up as tightly as she could get, her arms heavy as they gripped her knees and held them against her chest.  Her little nose was bright red, and her skin was littered with goosebumps.  She didn’t know where she was or why she was there.  All she knew was that she didn’t like these metal walls very much, and she wanted nothing more than to have her favorite teddy bear with her, Lieutenant General Teddy.

Her breath caught as the metal door swung open, trying to hide her tear-stained cheeks from the rather scary newcomer.  He loomed above her, his large frame taking up the majority of the space.  The man crouched down, causing the little girl to let out a soft whimper.

“Come on.  It’s time to get ready,” he spoke levelly.  She frowned and curled further into herself, refusing to move.  The man sighed and said, “Look, kid, if you don’t come with me, they’re gonna be mad, and it won’t be good for either of us.”  The girl sniffled and glanced over at him.  It was then that he noticed how badly she was shaking.  “I’ll be right there with you.”  He almost found himself wondering who said that, not quite believing that he was offering the young girl comfort.

“B-but I don’t even kn-know your n-name,” she fought out between strangled sobs.  The man lifted a brow.  At least she was cautious.  That would help in here.

“You and me both, kid,” he wanted to laugh, but his face instead remained still, frozen in place after years of being punished for so much as a twinkle in the eyes.  She retreated further into her little ball, letting out a stubborn little “hmmph.”  The man fought back the urge to roll his eyes.  “Fine.  If it makes you feel any better, you can call me soldier.”

The girl frowned up at him and shook her head.  “No, that’s stupid.  How ‘bout instead you can be my new teddy, and I’ll call you… Sergeant Teddy.  Since the Lieutenant General isn’t here, you can take over for him,” she finished triumphantly.  The man’s brow twitched, torn between telling her not to use the annoying nickname and just wanting to get her to go with him before the guards got impatient.  Quickly, he made up his mind.

“Alright, fine, now let’s go,” the man stood back up, offering the girl a hand. 

Why did he do that?  She should be able to get up on her own.

“Woah, Teddy, you have a really shiny arm,” she breathed.  He glanced down at the metal and frowned slightly.

“If you don’t like it, you can get up yourself-”

“No, it’s pretty.”  The words caught him offguard.  Most people here couldn’t even stand to look at it.  The girl grabbed his hand and stood up, drawing his thoughts away again.

The man shook his head and led her out of the cell and down the halls, his hand unconsciously tightening around hers as they neared their destination.

“Teddy?” she whispered.

“Hmm.”

“I’m scared.”

He couldn’t exactly be surprised.  She was just a kid after all, and these people were monsters.  Anyone in their right mind would be scared.  He shouldn’t say anything.  She needs to learn how to survive in here, and coddling her won’t do her any favors.

“It’s ok.  I’ll protect you.”  He almost kicked himself for doing something so stupid.  He let his emotion get the better of him – something he hadn’t done since his first few weeks in this hell.

“Thank you, Teddy.”  She seemed to relax slightly.  The man nodded, his doubts gone when he saw her little smile.

–(short Time Skip)–

“I can’t,” she sniffled.

“Well try again,” a man in a white coat snapped, shoving the glass of water towards her.  She scrunched up her face, staring at the glass as intensely as a child could.

“I can’t!” She frowned and slumped in her chair, giving up on trying to do what they asked.  The soldier winced from where he watched behind the glass.  They would be mad.

The man in the white coat clenched his jaw and nodded towards the door.  Immediately, a few guards marched in.

“No, no, I’m sorry!” She screamed, tears quickly spilling over her cheeks.  “Please, I’m sorry!  I can try again!”  One of the men grabbed her by the arm and yanked her roughly from her seat.  “I’m sorry!-” he punched her in the gut.

The soldier turned away, unable to watch as they beat the poor girl mercilessly.

“Stop!  Please!”  Her cries rang in his ears.  In fact, he was so focused on them that he didn’t notice his hands balling into fists or his muscles getting tense.

“Teddy!”

He was by her side before she could even finish the name, the guards immediately taking a hesitant step back.  This was insane.  He couldn’t do this.  He would be punished.  “Teddy,” the soft, broken whimper was all it took for him to steel himself back up.

“Touch her and die,” he growled, eyeing each of the guards in turn.  When he was satisfied they wouldn’t advance, he turned to the girl.  He knelt before her, running a gentle hand through her hair as she rushed towards him, burying her face in his chest.  “It’s ok,” he soothed.  “Teddy’s here.”  He let her cry for a moment before grabbing her by the shoulders and making her look at him.  “You need to try again.”

Tears quickly sprung into her eyes again.  “I can’t do it.” Her voice was shaking.

“Yes you can,” he said firmly.  “Now focus hard and do as he says.  I’ll help you.”  He grabbed her hand and squeezed.  The girl sucked in a harsh breath and gathered herself up, nodding determinedly back at him.  She faced the table and took a deep breath before tucking her chin slightly to stare at the glass.  Everything in the room faded away – the door slamming open, the man in the white coat screaming as loud as he could, the cocking of the man’s gun, which quickly silenced all of them, she didn’t hear any of it.  She could only feel the metal hand that engulfed her own, offering a kind of reassurance that she would succeed.

Slowly, the water in the glass rose.  It wavered and splashed at the minimal amount of control she had over it, but it was something.  It was control, though little it may be.

The entire room stared at the girl as she held the writhing ball of water suspended in the air, almost entranced by the feat.  The water came crashing back down into the cup, and she squealed, jumping and wrapping her small arms around the still kneeling man’s neck.

“Teddy, Teddy, did you see?!  I did it!  I really did it!” she continued to squeal, her previously thick voice and tear-filled eyes now morphed into what can only be described as the pure joy that a child experiences when she knows she did well.

“Yeah, I saw it,” the man chuckled a bit at her excitement.  “Good job, kid.”

The girl pulled back a bit to show him the largest beaming smile she could muster.  “Don’t be silly, Teddy!  You can call me (Y/N)!”

The man lifted a brow, but she stuck out her bottom lip, glaring at him and making it very clear that she wouldn’t be taking no for an answer.  The man sighed and stood.  “Alright, fine.  Let’s go, ok, (Y/N)?”  He held a hand out for her, and she took it without hesitation.  The crowd of guards parted for them, far too terrified of her Teddy to even think about getting in their way.

–(Time Skip)–

“No!  I’m not going!  Not without my Teddy!”  They’d tried everything to get her out of the room, but what can they do when they can’t even get close enough to threaten her?  The girl sat in the middle of her cell, a whirlpool of speeding water surrounding her.  One of the guards who had been stupid enough to try to force his way through had gotten his shoulder dislocated by the incredibly strong currents.

“At least we know she’s powerful,” the supervisor commented.  “Where did she even find enough water to create such a thing?”

“W-well, sir,” the man in the white coat started nervously.  “We aren’t really sure.  Although, some of us think she might have plucked it from the humidity in the air.”

The supervisor blinked in surprise before falling into a smirk.  “From the air, eh?  Very powerful indeed,” he chuckled softly to himself.  One of the guards screamed, interrupting the conversation.  It seemed that he had attempted to just touch the water, and his finger was now twisted beyond recognition.  The supervisor frowned just a fraction, which was more than enough to terrify the man next to him.  “Your men are useless,” he commented casually.  “I will have to get her myself.”

The man in the white coat’s eyes widened in terror.  After all, if the supervisory died, he would probably meet the same fate.  “B-but sir-”

“Must I remind you of what happens to those who speak out of turn?”  The supervisor snapped before he could protest.

“O-of course, sir.  My sincerest apologies.”  His voice was shaking.

“Remember your place, rat.  Do not attempt to crawl from the gutter, or you will be exterminated.”

The supervisor walked into the cell, not even bothering to glance at the frozen man behind him.  Slowly, he approached the whirlpool.  “So I hear you miss your teddy bear,” he called out above the roaring of the waves.  “Perhaps I can find you a new one.”

“No, you can’t!  Teddy isn’t some stupid bear, he’s my friend!”  She screamed.  the waters seemed to speed up a bit, causing the man to take a cautious step back.

“Well then maybe I can find him for you,” he called again.  “If you describe him, I’ll find him and bring him back to you.”

The water slowed with his words.  It wasn’t enough to make them fall, but it was at least enough so that he could now catch a glimpse of her, rather than the endless stream of white foam.  “R-really?  Promise?”  She said warily.

“Promise,” he nodded.  “I just need you to tell me what your teddy bear looks like.”

The girl frowned. “What are you, stupid?  I told you, he’s not a bear.”  Oh, how he wanted to slap her for speaking to him like that.  Of course, he stopped himself.  He needed her trust if he hoped to control her.  “A-also, he has really long hair.  It’s brown and soft.  And his eyes are blue.  He’s super big and strong and brave, and he has this really pretty arm.  It’s all shiny with a big star on it.”  She finished.  Just talking about her teddy had calmed her down enough to let the water fall, revealing her full frame.

The man frowned darkly.  “Are you talking about the Winter Soldier?” he fought to keep his voice level.

The girl furrowed her brow and tilted her head.  “Who?”

“The Winter Soldier, Sergeant James Barnes, is that who you speak of or not, you stupid child?!” he snapped.

The girl’s features hardened.  “He isn’t Sergeant James, he’s Sergeant Teddy.  And I’m not stupid, you’re just a big dumb meanie-head!” she screamed back.

The man opened his mouth, fully prepared to scream at her and punish her for her for her insolence when he saw the fallen drops of water gathering at her feet and forming what looked suspiciously like spikes.  So instead, he counted silently to five and said, “Your Teddy is a very dangerous man.  I don’t want him to hurt you-”

“He won’t hurt me, Meanie-head, he’s my Teddy!” She stomped her foot on the ground, the spikes at her feet growing more defined and threatening.

The man grit his teeth together and growled softly under his breath.  “Alright, fine, I will get you Teddy.  And when I do, you will go with these men like a good girl or else you’ll never see Teddy again.  Understand?”  She nodded.  “Good.”

It wasn’t long before the door opened again, revealing none other than her Teddy.  She squealed and ran to him, where he received her without any hesitation.  “Teddy, I was so lonely!  They wouldn’t let me see you, and one man kept calling you Sergeant James, even though I told him your name was really Sergeant Teddy, and I was so scared they wouldn’t let you come and-and…”

“It’s ok, medvezhonok (little bear).  I’m here now,” he shushed her gently.  “I’m here.”

The next few years went by in a similar fashion.  Whenever they needed the girl to train, she would refuse to move an inch until they brought her Teddy.  He taught her how to fight, both with and without her powers; how to use any and every weapon she could ever need; and stayed with her while she was learning how to read coding and force her way through firewalls for information.  They were not happy – no one could be happy in a place such as that – but they found comfort in one another.  In a life of constant danger and fear, they felt safe when they were together.  Until one day, when it all ended.

She was 12 now, but her skills already exceeded those of anyone they faced her against in training as well as all of her guards.  “Where’s Teddy?” she asked, confused at why he wasn’t with them.  Most of the guards had given up trying to move her on their own.

“Move,” one of the men snapped harshly.

Immediately her heart started pounding.  It was never good when they didn’t answer.  “Where is he?”

“This is ridiculous,” one of them scoffed.  He looked new – he was still confident… and stupid.  “Your ‘Teddy’ won’t be joining you again.”  Her heart must have stopped, her breath caught in her throat.  “The freak was put back on ice.  If you’re lucky, though, you might get to see him in another ten years,” he snorted.  “Now let’s go.”

The poor girl was feeling a lot of things – sadness for her lost Teddy, fear for what the men might do to her with him gone, but mostly it was anger.  She hated these men more than anything, and now they had taken away the one thing she had left – her last bit of comfort.

And really, it wasn’t her fault when it happened.  That stupid young guard had jabbed her with the end of his gun at a moment when she really shouldn’t have been jabbed, and the powers she had been struggling to control had simply taken over.

Most of what happened was a blur for the poor thing.  It wasn’t until her powers had run out and she had finally regained control that she saw all of the blood.  It painted every wall, every hallway from her cell to where she now stood, across the compound.  There were no bodies, but she had a sinking feeling that they might be mixed in with all of the blood.  Above her was a big, red sign lighting up in the word ‘EXIT.’  She didn’t really care about that, though.  She had to find Teddy.

But he could be anywhere – he might not even be in the building anymore – and she was starting to hear footsteps heading her way.

So, she made a decision – one that made her sick to her stomach.

“I’m sorry, Teddy,” she whispered softly as she pushed open the door.

And she was free.

Bucky : No Nut November is a top tier bullshit.

Peggy : Looks like someone has failed.

Bucky : Well, Peggy, someone has to keep your man happy.