Captain’s Girl- Steve Rogers x Reader

A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY. I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF FINALS!

WARNING: SMUT, MATURE LANGUAGE, 18+

“A new recruit is starting today… Remember to play nice Steve” Tony told Steve in a teasing matter, as Steve ducked out of the boxing ring.

Steve couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Tony’s teasing behavior, as sweat began rolling down his forehead.

“What’s his name again?” Steve said, taking a swig out of his water bottle, the cold liquid helping cool him down. He worked out a lot, mostly on the days when you were most busy with your administrative duties as well as your training.

“It’s James… Top of his class, the only one who showed some true Avenger material.” Tony said, the snarky tone clinging onto his words. He was never one for training or dealing with the new recruits. The last recruit accidentally burned down Tony’s lab because he was messing with some experiments instead of just listening.

Steve just smiled at Tony before heading out of the gym for a quick shower, he was always one for meeting the new kids and making sure they felt at home. But he didn’t like the ego that came along with the new recruits, as they think they already know everything.

He was drawn from his overwhelming thoughts by the sound of your laugh, he caught your gaze as you were walking towards him with Bucky close to your side.

The three of you were inseparable, you always had been since the moment they came into your world.

“Hey baby” you giggled, watching as his face lit up at the sound of your voice.

He couldn’t help but smile and tried to wrap his arms tightly around you, but you pushed him away causing an echoing laugh from Buck.

“No- you stink” you said to him, as you dodged his grasp once again. Your laugh echoing through the halls as you used Bucky as a shield between you and your boyfriend.

“I thought you loved me” Steve said, a frown crossing his features. Which only caused a small smile to cross your features as he pouted.

“I do love you… but I don’t wanna stink” you said, placing your hand on his cheek. Making a small smile appear on his face before he wrapped his arms around you.

Your protesting was bouncing off the walls as Steve continued to laugh as your loud protests. It was clear your small frame was no match for the super solider serum.

He gently placed you down, you swiftly punched him in the chest.

“I. don’t. like. to. be. picked. up. And now I stink…” you protested, the playful stomp of your foot making Steve and Bucky laugh.

He placed a swift kiss to your forehead, before beginning to walk away from you.

“Hey Solider” you said, loud enough that he would be able to hear.

He turned towards you, taking in your appearance. Your long hair flowing down your soldiers, your pants clinging to every curve, but your loose shirt leaving some to the imagination. But to him, you looked flawless.

“Take a shower” you said, scrunching your nose up as if to show that he smells.

“Yes Ma’am” he said, sending a swift wink in your direction before taking off down the hallway in a swift jog.

_____________________________________________________________

You stood patiently in the hanger, listening to Sam and Buck fight about dinner, but also hearing Wanda and Nat gossip about the new recruit and how cute he apparently is.

Your thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of someone standing behind you, you knew it was Steve.

“Hi baby” you whispered, carefully leaning back into his chest and feeling his gently chuckle.

“You smell stinky, you know?” he said, causing a gasp to erupt from your throat as you turned to face him.

“Steven Rogers” you threatened, trying to sniff yourself. But all you could catch was the scent of your lavender vanilla shampoo. There were no remnants of Steve’s body odor from his early morning workout.

All Steve could do was laugh at your behavior, but you were glaring knives into his soul.

Your comeback was cut off when Fury’s booming voice overtook the training room, drawing everyone’s attention from their gossip.

“Well, it’s nice to have everyone’s attention… I’ll make this quick” Fury started as him and Hill entered the room with a young recruit hot on their heels.

You leaned into Steve, as you all lined up to welcome the new recruit.

The new recruit was definitely cute, but not your type. He was on the shorter side of things, with dark almost black hair, with a leaner body.

You tended to go for the scruffier kind, and you definitely had a thing for blondes. But your type was definitely Steve and no one else.

You leaned over to Nat’s ear, “He’s definitely your type girl.” Which only caused the both of you to fall into a fit of laughter.

“So, this is the team” Fury’s voice boomed again, sending an unapproving look to Nat and you.

“Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers here are going to get you started and introduce you to everyone before your first training here at the compound.” Fury said, sticking his hand out to shake the new recruits.

“Thank you, Mr. Fury, Ms. Hill” The new recruit said, before turning to Steve and Tony. You could almost see him quiver in excitement over this new position.

“Hi, I’m James… It’s a pleasure” He said before sticking his hand out to Tony, and then to Steve.

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the welcoming, “it’s a pleasure” – the recruits literally never say anything different.

“They always say that” Bucky said, a smirk playing on his lips as he watches you roll your eyes once again.

You stifled a laugh as the new recruit approached Buck, the clear nervousness was being to cross his features even more.

“This is Sargent Barnes” Steve said as he gestured to Buck, the smirk on his face was clearer as James shook his hand with what seemed like a decent grip.

You weren’t completely paying attention because you were watching Steve as he kept clenching his jaw every time James opened his mouth to speak.

Seeing as you were too busy watching Steve, you missed that James had moved to right in front of you.

Nat carefully nudged you, drawing you from your trance which only caused a blush to erupt onto your features.

“Oh hi… I’m sorry. I’m Agent L/N” you said carefully extending your hand.

He took in a deep breath before taking your hand, shaking it gently. He continued to shake you hand for a few seconds too long.

Pulling your hand away, you wiped your palm on your pants, “Pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine” James said, sending you a quick wink before being shoved by Steve to move on.

Focusing on Steve once again, you could see that his jaw was clenched worse than before. His eyes were a darkened color instead of his normal baby blues. You could see the shift in his appearance in a heartbeat.

But Steve could see the shift in you too, the way the blush crossed your cheeks when James stood in front of you. The way your leggings gripped your thighs, accentuating all of your best features, the way that he knew that James was watching how your body moved. James was looking at you in the way that Steve looked at you the first time and still continues too. The idea of James dreaming about you, was something that he couldn’t stand. Steve couldn’t stand that James was being introduced to an entire team and all this recruit kept doing was looking back at you as you smiled and laughed. So, he kept quiet, just trying to push his thoughts out of his mind.

But he knew deep down that you had an overwhelming effect on people and that was a huge part of who you are. It was the one thing that he loved the most about you, how real you were with everyone.

You were so caught up in talking to Nat and Wanda, you had no idea of the attraction that James was beginning to feel towards you. You never looked at anyone the way you looked at Steve, and that was never going to change but it was more than clear that James didn’t catch the obvious relationship in the room.

“Okay let’s start with some training exercises, we wanna see what you are capable of here.” Tony said as he looked around the room for a participant, but no one was listening.

“Are you ready to start?” Steve said, watching James’ gaze fall onto you once again. Your head was thrown back laughing as you talked with Wanda.

Steve stepped in his eye line with his gaze hard and cold, “I asked you a question, recruit.”

James took a deep gulp, “I’m sorry Captain, yes I’m ready.”

“So, here’s the plan, we are going to do some basic sparring exercises just to see where your training will take you. The whole point is to see what your skill base is and where we can expand your combat training for future missions” Tony said, drawing James’ gaze from your figure.

“Okay, sounds good sir” James said, taking a deep gulp.

“L/N” Tony barked catching your attention from Nat’s excessive gossiping about Buck and the girl from the third floor.

Your eyes went wide as you turned your frame, “Yes Mr. Stark.”

“You are gonna be up first for the training since you have some other things to do before our welcoming dinner tonight” He said, you quickly nodded your head before stepping into the ring with James. He sent you a quick wink, but of course you thought nothing of it.

“Ready?” you teased as James took a deep gulp before nodding towards you.

A smile erupted on your face before running towards him attempting to strike him with your fist. He quickly blocked before attempting to throw his own punch.

You smiled as you quickly dodged his punch, you both continuously threw punching and kicks to throw each other off your game. It was clear that his training was well rounded, but you were trained by Nat and Steve, so you had just as much training as well as in depth skills.

Catching Steve’s eye off the mat, you winked before sweeping your leg under James’ feet sending him down to the mat. The sound of him hitting the mat echoed through the training area.

That’s my girl, Steve thought as he glared hard at James.

He smiled up at you as he laid there, you reached your hand out to help him up.

He placed a swift kiss to your cheek as you backed away from him. You were flattered but you knew Steve was going to mad at the interaction. He loved you so deeply, and the idea of losing you was the hardest idea to face and that was vice versa for you.

Turning off the mat, you caught Steve’s gaze and his jaw was clenched causing the vein in his neck to bulge. You could see the anger and frustration crossing over his features.

You smiled at him as you returned to your spot between Nat and Bucky.

“Oh, someone is jealous” Nat said, nudging your shoulder.

“No, he’s not, he’s fine” You insisted, trying to figure out the true reason that Steve looked so angry.

“Yeah okay… James is flirting with you. Of course, he’s angry” she said, watching your lips form a frown as you tried to think about the last hour.

“No, he’s not, it is more than clear than I’m with Steve” you said, insisting that what Nat is seeing is clearly just a misunderstanding.

“Yeah okay… you say so” she said, a soft laugh coming off her words.

You began to think about the last hour, the wink, the overly kind words, the way he wanted to impress you… No, he had to have just been being nice since it’s his first day.

“Cap, you are up next” Tony barked, the clear annoyance crossing his features. New recruits were something that he always hated especially since we are so close together.

You watched as Steve stepped onto the mat, the clear jealously falling onto his features as he watched James.

His eyes caught yours, you sent him a quick wink before he turned back to James.

You watched carefully as James took a step towards Steve, sending a solid punch towards his upper body. Steve smiled as he carefully dodged the punch before sending his own punch at James. His fist connecting with his jaw, the sound of James’ body hitting the mat echoed through the room.

Steve went and stepped over James, as he clenched his jaw.

“Steve, off the mat” Tony said, approaching the recruit.

He couldn’t help but send a smile towards you as he made his way off the mat. The clear amusement was dancing off his features.

“Oh, you know that felt good” Bucky said next to you, laughing at James still laying on the mat.

“Don’t encourage it” you hissed, knowing good and well this recruit was in need of some improvement hands down.

_____________________________________________________________

The rest of the day seemed to rush by with the busyness of training as well as your double duties as administrator for Stark.

The welcoming dinner Stark planned was closer than you had wished, James sadly beat Steve to the dinner table making sure that he took the spot right next to you. You gave Steve a weak smile, knowing this was going to be a conversation for the both of you tonight.

The dinner table was filled with chattering between the team as James kept trying to catch your attention.

You rolled your eyes before turning to him, “so how was the first day?”

“It was amazing” he started, “thank to you.”

You shifted in your seat uncomfortably knowing that Steve was glaring from across the table. Your suspicions were confirmed with you felt his thick leg sliding in between your leg as a sense of comfort. Steve’s heart fluttered as you smiled at him, you saw him for him not the man he has become due to the serum.

“So how long have you been with SHIELD” James said, trying to draw your attention from Steve.

‘Why don’t you ask Steve, I feel very old answering that question” You said, shooting a look at Steve for backup as you were getting uncomfortable.

The conversations continued on into the night, filled with laughter and never-ending jokes. Steve wasn’t the only one watching you, James had a hard time taking his eyes off you and it was clear.

You were telling the story about the time you and Natasha went on a mission, and she accidentally sprayed herself in the face with one of those fancy Japanese toilets. Instead of helping on that mission, you laughed the entire time and could barely focus on what Stark had wanted done.

Steve couldn’t help but smile at your overwhelming laughter as you and Nat continued to tell funny stories about the team.

The laughter ceased though when James very kindly dumped his full glass of wine in your laugh, covering your white satin dress.

“Oh my god” you stood up quickly, trying to escape the dark liquid.

“I am so so sorry, shit” James said, just staring at the mess he had made, while Nat was running back to the table with tons of napkins.

You quickly tried to clean the mess that had been created, but with that happening your cleavage was on full display not only to your lover but to James who could not or would not stop staring at you.

Steve couldn’t help but bit his lip yet tighten his fists as he watched this pathetic excuse of a recruit who insisted on checking out his love.

“Well, I am just going to shower” You laughed gently as you stepped away from the table. The dark stain not only on your dress but surrounding your chair on Tony’s white carpet. “This just isn’t going to come out.”

James stood up as you backed away from the table, “Do you need help?”

Your eyes went wide, as gasps filled the dining room, “Excuse me?” you said, shocked.

“WITH SHOWERING?!?” Steve yelled, his chair quickly clattering to the floor. The anger clearly crossing his features.

“Cap, take a walk” Tony said, his tone stern but the amusement was clear on his face.

Steve quickly walked out of the dining room, hastily walking to your shared living quarters in the compound.

The door slid open, and he could see your white dress thrown to the side with the stain more than clear against the light fabric.

He couldn’t help but sigh at the mess.

He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, laying in on the bed before he heard your soft voice coming from the shower. You were singing along to your phone,

You’ll know him when you see him

By the way he looks at me

You’d say he hung the moon

I’d say he hung the galaxy

Nobody does it better

Oh, the way he pulls me in

I’ve known a couple bad ones

But they all led me to him

He’s one of the good ones

He smiled as your voice led him to the shower, he could see your dancing as the suds covered your body.

The shower curtain flung open, causing you to jump at the sight of him, “Jesus Steve, you trying to scare me to death?”

He just chuckled as he stepped closer to you, bringing your back into his chest.

“Can I help you?” you chuckled as you turned around to face him, causing a smile to appear onto your face when you made eye contact with him.

He didn’t answer you instead grabbing the back of you neck, bringing your lips to his causing a soft moan to fall from your lips.

“You are mine” he gritted through his teeth as he pushed you into the wall, you body shuttering from the cold tile.

His free hand ran over your thighs, coming closer to your soaking, pulsating heat. Carefully pushing your thighs apart finding your sensitive nub.

You shuttered as he carefully pushed on your nub, the pleasure starting to overcome your senses. You loved that he wanted to be all over you, that he wanted to be in control.

His lips came into contact with your neck, quickly finding your sweet spot causing you to melt into him. His fingers moved from your sensitive nub, pulling you closer to him causing soft moans to fall from your lips.

He smiled down at you before moving his fingers into your pussy, quickening the speed causing your eyes to roll back into your head. The pleasure becoming overwhelming as you squirmed in his grasp. You felt your orgasm coming over your senses, with Steve’s name falling off your lips you let yourself go.

“Fuck doll” he said, pressing a kiss to your earlobe before picking you up in his arms, the cold against your back once again causing you to shutter.

You felt his tip at your entrance, teasing you gently. You moaned at the contact before he entered you in one quick move, your moans echoing off the walls. Steve pulled you close as you wrapped your legs tight around his waist.

Steve’s lips fell onto your mouth, as he slammed into you repeatedly. The mixture of the cold tile, and Steve inside of you sent your body into overdrive. He quickly picked up his pace, causing your eyes to roll back into your head.

Your climax was fast approaching, and Steve could feel you beginning to tighten around him.

“Are you mine? Tell me baby” He groaned out as he continued to slam into you.

“Y-Y-Yo-Yours” you moaned loudly, as your climax overcame you. Steve could feel you pulsating around him which only caused him to lose it. He moaned as he filled you up with his hot seed, causing you to moan at the contact.

He gently placed you down, your legs wobbling at the contact as you leaned back into Steve’s chest causing him to chuckle at your actions.

“Let me get you cleaned up, and we can go back down” he said, picking up the washcloth and gently washing your bruised back.

_____________________________________________________________

The two of you walked into the living room, you were clad in Steve’s clothing and he was holding you close. It was more than clear that you were Steve’s, even though most of the team knew that already.

Steve led you over to an empty seat, pulling you gently into his lap which made a laugh slip past your lips. You leaned your head back into the crook of his neck, taking in his sweet scent that made your world spin.

You could feel Steve playing with your damp hair that fell down your back, which sent a smile onto your cheeks.

“Can we talk?” A weary voice said, causing the both of you to look up, seeing James and his terrified expression.

You carefully nodded, pulling Steve behind you into the hallway. You could see James trying to find his words even though he was focused on your body, but Steve found the right words first.

“I’m hoping you are going to apologize to her, and hope to god she is more forgiving than I’m going to be” Steve sneered at the new recruit, who had barely taken five seconds to not look at your ass.

The new recruit was trembling, you could see his face change as he shrunk into the shadow of one, Captain America. He was terrified of what this man was going to do to him.

“Yes Mr. Rogers” he trembled, releasing a deep breath.

Steve rolled his eyes, bending down to meet the new recruit’s terrified eyes.

“That’s Captain to you, recruit.”

Your soft laugh echoed through the hallway as you watched the young boy cower away from your Captain. You knew you were solid in your relationship, so the flirting was nothing new, but it was great to see him jealous.

“Steve, you don’t have to be so tough on him… he’s new” you said, the humor in your voice was more than evident.

He stalked towards you, forgetting about the frightening recruit.

“No one messes with my girl” he said, as he wrapped his arms around your smaller frame.

“My girl…. I like the sound of that” you teased, a smile playing on your features. You held him close as you headed back into the living room to enjoy the rest of your night with your man.

TAGLIST:

@ghostofreggie@franktheblueturtle@clarinette07@marvelfansworld@imsydneywalker@dancethroughthethunder@thee-ava-mariee

reunited

req: i was wondering if i could request a natasha x teen daughter reader where the reader has really bad social anxiety please? maybe where the reader was in the red room with natasha but given to hydra once the red room was taken down and natasha has been looking for her ever since she left the red room. on a mission to take down a hydra base natasha finally finds reader, and it’s super emotional for the both of them and they’re just happy to have each other back. natasha knows about readers social anxiety from when she was younger and sees that it’s only gotten worse now, so she’s super sweet and understanding. she saves the reader from the base and comforts her the whole way home because she’s scared of all of the new people also on the jet (the other avengers). the reader lives with natasha at the compound with everyone else and natasha is just great about her social anxiety and never pushes her out of her comfort zone and comforts her when she has panic attacks. sorry if that’s a lot, but thank you so much! i love your fics sooo much, you’re such an amazing writer!!!

mother figure!nat x fem!teen!reader

summary: nat finally finds you after years of looking.

word count: 4083

notes: i didn’t make them peers in the red room because then they’d have to be around the same ages but i made them meet at the red room. also i didn’t know how to write about her having social anxiety so i hope you don’t mind that i didn’t hope you like this <33

“stop,” madame b’s authoritative voice commanded and all of you stopped dancing. all of your peers seemed to be struggling to stand still on their battered feet, some breathing heavily but who could blame them? you had all been instructed to dance for hours now. you had to dance until you couldn’t anymore.

your head faced madame b but your eyes landed on your best friend, veronika, for a split second. she seemed in pain and you vowed to check on her after whatever announcement your supervisor had for you. you stood tall, clenching your jaw in order to not show that you were in pain or out of breath.

madame b’s gaze flickered to you for a second, her lip lifting up on one side for a brief moment before her face hardened once again.

“i have someone special here today. she’s here to observe your training and if necessary, teach what you girls lack. she has long graduated this academy, please welcome miss natasha romanova.”

you jolted awake, panting hard at the memory that just played in your dreams. you looked around you, seeing the same cell wall you had been put in for the past three years. after the fall of the red room academy where you were from, another organisation came and swooped you in, not wanting to waste your skills. you were the only one they took, having heard much about your abilities and reputation in the red room.

the girls stood all around you and veronika, watching the two of you spar tirelessly after hours of endless ballet. natasha and madame b watched the match closely, eyes trained on your techniques and movements.

after natasha had introduced herself to all of you, madame b had instructed her supposedly two best students—you and veronika— to demonstrate a true spar between skilled assassins.

while you were reluctant to attack your best friend, she had other plans, one that included impressing her idol who stood mere metres away from her. you were shocked when she started attacking you. never had she obeyed a command against you so quick.

you had to put away your initial shock to start attacking back in order to not get hurt by the hands of your own best friend. the look in her eyes was different, almost animalistic. it wasn’t like the one she had when you two were laid in your beds side to side at night, handcuffed to it while you talked about your deepest struggles being in the academy. it wasn’t the same one she had when you reassured her that she was doing okay whenever she said she would never be as good as you were at this whole assassin thing. it wasn’t the same innocently surprised one she had just moments ago when she was addressed as one of madame b’s best students.

this wasn’t your best friend. this was a girl blinded by her desire to impress. she wanted to show natasha that she was the better one out of you two. your heart broke when you saw her desperation. it was obvious in the way she fought you.

it wasn’t long before you had her in a chokehold, the girl struggling to get your grip off of her. your face visibly faltered, eyes tearing up slightly when you heard her whimpers. natasha took notice of this.

your lips were quivering when you turned to madame b. a simple nod from your trainer had you whispering a strained ‘i’m sorry, i love you’ in her ear before you broke her neck. the girl fell limp in your arms, dropping down to the mat, dead. you panted heavily as you stepped away from her body.

“good. this is what i expect of all of you,” madame b turns to your peers, the stone cold look back on her face. “one thing you need to perfect though, y/n, is your emotions. don’t get emotional over things that don’t matter. i saw your inner conflict. veronika would have no reluctancy to end you if you were the one in the chokehold. she was more mentally prepared to be a ruthless assassin. you’re lucky you’re more skilful than she is. she would have no hesitation to kill you, close companion or not.”

you swallowed that lump in your throat, biting the insides of your cheeks to prevent crying right then and there. “you have a lot of potential, y/n. don’t let your emotions ruin it. i have high hopes for you.” she spoke once again, before dismissing everyone.

you left the room with a heavy heart, turning to look at veronika’s body one last time before leaving quickly so you could break down where no one else could witness.

you rushed to the staircase where you and veronika would sneak away all the time when you were supposed to be having lunch. you two would always sit under those stairs, talk about anything and everything you could. your tears were now freely rolling down your face.

“hey,” you heard a voice say and you quickly wiped your tears away. you looked up and saw that it was none other than natasha. “miss romanova,” you breathed out, scrambling to get up before she placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, the woman seating herself next to you on the floor, under the staircase.

“that must’ve been hard for you,” she spoke after a few seconds of silence. “i remember my first time killing an actual person in training. they had me shoot targets and i consistently got the bullseye every time. then they switched out the targets to an actual person and i had a hard time doing that. i can’t imagine how it must’ve been for you. i heard you and veronika were quite the inseparable duo.”

you didn’t move to show that you were shattered over the current events but the millions of tears silently streaming down your face said otherwise. natasha turned to you, reaching to wipe your tears away before gently caressing your cheek.

“you’re a strong one, y/n. you remind me of myself when i was still in training. i can see myself in you.” she told you truthfully. she had no idea why but she felt a strong connection towards you. she felt that you and her had so much in common. she had a strange inclination to protect you even though she knew damn well you were capable of doing so yourself.

since then, she always dropped by to help train all of you but you and her developed a relationship so strong that she even told you of her plans to get you out of that hellhole. at that point, it had been a few months since she’d turned good but she kept coming to the academy for your sake. she felt a sense of responsibility over you, like a mother would over her daughter.

she would with the other girls too if they had shown at least a bit of humanity but it seemed that the red room had ruined them beyond fixing. despite being the best student of the academy, you still weren’t inhumane like the rest. you would hesitate to hurt others, only doing so when threatened and even that, you still weren’t as heartless or cruel.

madame b would always berate you over this but natasha would pick up the pieces every single time. you loved her. she was the best thing in your life after veronika and your heart broke when the red room fell and you were taken away. away from the mother you never had.

you awoke with a jolt again. it was the second night in a row you were reliving your past memories. you touched your face and you felt the tears on it, wiping them with your sleeve as you sat up in your cold, uncomfortable bed in your cell. you sighed, bringing your knees up to your chest and hugging them.

you couldn’t help but think of nat again. what could’ve happened if she managed to get you out before you were taken away? could you have a nice life with her? would you never have to hide under the stairs to have emotional exchanges with the woman? would you finally have been able to be who you were, not influenced by the evil around you?

you never knew what it was like having a mother but you imagined it was what nat had been towards you during the times you spent together at the academy. you two were more mother and daughter rather than trainer and student.

all of a sudden, alarms blared through the building and red warning lights flickered in your cell. you stood up, peeking through the small glass of your cell door to see guards rushing through the hallways in a frenzy.

you assumed that the facility was under attack and no one was coming to save you. you didn’t even try, walking back to your bed to return to your position of hugging your knees tightly to your chest.

you could hear the chaos outside but opted not to pay attention to it. it didn’t involve you and if no one was coming to save you from whatever was attacking the place—not that anyone in that place would, you were merely an asset to them—you wouldn’t bother worrying about whether you were going to live by the end of the night.

a loud bang interrupted your thoughts and you looked up to see your cell door had been forcefully thrown open by a large man in stripes, holding a circular shield. you immediately stood up, getting ready to attack him when he spoke.

“i’m not here to hurt you.” he said, holding out a hand as if to tell you to stop whatever you were about to do. “we’re here to save you. you can finally leave this place now.” he says gently. you frown at him, still in a stance ready to attack him.

“cap, is there someone in this room?” a familiar voice spoke and your head immediately turned to the door, where the owner of the voice stood, mouth dropping open at the sight of you. your face softened and a tiny gasp left your lips at the sight of her.

“y/n…is that you?” she breathed out, walking towards you and not stopping when she saw that you weren’t alarmed or anything. “nat..” you choked out, tears starting to form. how crazy was it that you had been having flashbacks of her for the past two nights and suddenly she was here to come save you?

“y/n!” she exclaimed, pulling you into a tight hug. you knees buckled but she held onto you tightly, sniffling as she caressed your head gently. you buried your face in her shoulder as you took in the familiar feeling of being in her arms once again.

more tears started to form in your eyes now. never had you thought you were actually going to see her again. you lost the hope of seeing her again two years ago. but here she was, standing in your cell and hugging you like there would be no tomorrow.

your hugging session was cut short when steve sheepishly spoke up. “sorry to uh, interrupt this reunion but more guards are coming, i think it’s best if we leave now.” he picked up his shield, leading the three of you out of the facility safely and back to their quinjet. the whole time, nat held onto your hand tightly, as if letting go would lead to another few years of being apart once again.

once you reached the quinjet, nat led you to the seats in the back where you two would have more privacy. the team watched the two of you in confusion before turning back to steve for an explanation as he was the one who was partnered with nat for this mission. all the captain could tell them was that you two knew each other way before this and that all of them would have to wait for an explanation from nat herself if they wanted to know what was going on.

when you reached the compound, nat led you to her room where she lent you her clothes and let you shower before tucking you into her bed. when she was sure you were comfortably asleep, she left the room quietly to go grab a glass of water only to find the whole team sat in the common room instead of back in their own rooms.

she looked at them, confused. “guys, it’s like almost the crack ass of dawn and we just got back from a mission, why aren’t you asleep? or were you debriefing? in the common room? did i miss it?”

“no, you know debriefings for late night missions are the next morning. we were waiting for you actually,” steve spoke on behalf of the whole team. “me? for what?”

“nat, c'mon, don’t act stupid. you know what we’re talking about,” clint makes an unimpressed face at his best friend. nat sighs, taking a seat next to him and the team look at her expectantly. she cleared her throat, preparing for a whole story time.

“you know how i was from the red room?” she asked them and they all nodded, urging her to continue her story. “well, after i graduated, i was asked to come help train the younger ones in the programme. during that time, i met this girl. she reminded me a lot of my younger self and she didn’t seem completely brainwashed to the point where she lacked emotions. i grew close to her and after i met clint and joined SHIELD, i vowed to get her out of there because she went through a lot in that hellhole and i could tell she didn’t want to do any of the things that the other girls were fine doing.

"she had a good heart and i didn’t want it to be wasted. she was the best in the academy and i knew they had big plans for her. but i didn’t want her to be programmed to kill. she was much more than that. so i made this whole plan for her escape. i kept going back to the academy to come see her and share my plan with her. clint, you always asked me where i kept disappearing to when we first started becoming friends. it was her. the people there didn’t know i was already under SHIELD at that time—nobody did—so it was safe for me to keep visiting and keep planning an escape for her.

"but three years ago, the red room fell. i rushed over because i thought i could finally leave with her without anyone knowing. but apparently she’d been taken away. she was the only one of the girls who was taken. by who, i didn’t know at that time. but i knew it was because of her skills and abilities. if the red room had big plans for her, i knew other organisations must’ve already heard of her too.

"i never stopped looking for her. i don’t know why i never thought of HYDRA. but it doesn’t matter anymore. i finally found her and i’m never letting her go. i hope you guys don’t mind that she lives here now. if not, i’ll move out and find somewhere for us.”

the team seemed surprised that nat told them her story. they were very much expecting her to, well, not tell them because this seemed like a very personal story.

“no, no, of course she can stay. i’ll even set up another room for her.” tony says and nat nods gratefully. “what’s her name?” wanda asks.

“y/n,” nat tells her, smiling at the thought of you as she stands up. “alright, i have to go back to her. see you guys in the morning. maybe you’ll get to see her then.”

she bids them goodnight, leaving after grabbing a glass of water for you in case you woke up in the middle of the night, in need of it. she wasn’t wrong because when she got back to her room, you were up, hugging your knees as you cried.

“hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong, sugar?” she quickly puts the glass of water on the bedside table, sitting on the bed and pulling you close to her. you look up at her all teary-eyed and she feels her heart break.

“i–i thought i lost you again,” you croaked out, burying your face in her shoulder. “oh, sugar, you’ll never lose me ever again. i’ll never let that happen. you’re safe here with me. now sleep, i’ll be here when you wake up.” she stroked your hair gently, laying down next to you on the bed before you two fell into a blissful slumber in each other’s arms.

true to her words, she was right next to you when you woke up the next time. she seemed wide awake and you felt bad because she probably had been up hours before but didn’t leave you because you were scared.

“how’d you sleep, sugar?” she asked as you sat up, stretching. “the best i have in years. thanks to you, nat.” you smiled at her, still not believing all of this is real. that you’re finally reunited with the woman you thought of as your mother.

“do you want to meet my friends? they’re dying to meet you,” she tells you and you bite your lips nervously. “do you think they’ll like me?”

“are you crazy? of course they will. and if they don’t, i’ll make them.” she threatens playfully and you laugh, missing how protective of you she is. you smile, agreeing to her suggestions to meet her friends after you got ready for the day.

-

“hi, sweetie, you’re y/n?” a man with fancy silk pyjamas greeted as you entered the common room with natasha. you nodded timidly, scooting closer to natasha. it was weird for natasha to see you this nervous. after all, you were the best student of your batch in the red room. but she understood that years with no actual social interaction does that to people.

“i hope you’ll like staying here, i already have your room setting up as of right now. when you move in, you can tell me if you don’t like anything and i’ll change it for you. oh, i forgot, i’m tony,” he extends a hand towards you and with an encouraging nod from nat, you hesitantly shake his hand. he smiles at you before telling you both he has projects to finish down in his lab and to tell him if you needed anything.

“hey, nat, not gonna introduce your friend to us?” you heard a voice from behind you and you two turned around to see two men and a woman. you recognised both men—one of them was the one who broke into your cell last night and the other one you had seen him a lot from pictures nat would show you during your secret meetings in your red room days. he was her best friend. you didn’t know the woman but the kind smile on her face was enough to reassure you that these people weren’t bad.

“y/n, meet clint, the idiot who i call best friend,” she points to the shorter man. the name nat called him must’ve offended him because the face he made was hilarious that you let out a little giggle. nat smiles at this before proceeding to introduce the other two.

“this one’s steve, he’s an old man stuck in a young body—literally— so if he says things you don’t understand, just smile and nod.” you nod at nat and steve gives her an incredulous look, as if not believing the audacity she had to introduce him like that.

“this one’s wanda, she’s the least annoying person in this whole place and she can cook whatever you want so i think you two will get along really well.” wanda smiles at you and you return it shyly. you smile at the other two before nat drags you away, telling them she still had others to introduce you to.

when you entered the kitchen, you saw a man reading a newspaper on the kitchen island while another man, whose skin was red, stood beside him. they seemed to be discussing something very intelligent because you didn’t understand a single word they spoke.

“bruce, vision, i want you to meet someone.” they turned their attentions towards you and nat and you immediately felt like hiding once again. “oh hello, steve told us you brought back someone from the mission. is this her? hello, i’m bruce,” the man sitting down introduced himself.

“wait, is this the bruce?” you asked nat, smirking teasingly at her and she smacks you gently on the shoulder. the man seemed flustered at what you’re insinuating, scratching his neck awkwardly.

“bruce, vision, this is y/n, i’ve known her for a long time and i finally found her after years so i hope you two won’t mind that she’ll be staying here from now on,” nat tells them. the two of them didn’t come on the mission last night so they were the only two who didn’t actually see you until today.

“it’s nice to meet you, y/n. i’m vision, i hope you’ll enjoy your stay here.” the man with the red skin greets formally and you turn to nat with a confused expression. “he’s an android, he does things a bit weird here so don’t mind him.” she whispers to you and you nod understandingly.

“it’s nice to meet you two, i hope we’ll be good friends.” you say awkwardly, hoping to get this whole introduction thing over with. how many people do you have left to meet?

speaking of the devil—or should you say, devils—, two annoying voices rang through the kitchen, interrupting the peacefulness that it was before they came in.

“i’m just saying that if you hadn’t eaten my last bag of chips last week, i wouldn’t have taken your cookies last night. it’s all about fair play, man.”

“and i keep telling you that it wasn’t me! i don’t even like those stupid salty ass chips from that brand,”

“stop lying, i saw you eating that brand the other day! just admit you stole my chips and go,”

“guys, are you really having another one of your stupid arguments now?” nat cuts them off and they immediately turned to you, finally noticing all of you.

“oh hey! y/n, right? it’s nice to meet you, i’m sam. if you wanna survive in this place, you better hide your snacks because if you don’t, this winter warrior here will snatch 'em all before you can even stash them in the cupboards. don’t ever trust this guy here when it comes to your snacks. you heard what happened to mine,” the man fakes a cry and you held back a laugh at his long introduction. you only wanted a name to match the face but he gave you much more. you didn’t mind though, he seemed like a fun person.

“hi, doll, i’m bucky. don’t listen to eagle right here, i do not steal snacks. i simply let people have a taste of their own medicine. you steal my snacks, wilson, i steal 'em back. you think i don’t know you stole my oreos too last month? that’s why i stole your damn chips last week,”

“so you did steal them!”

“so what if i did?! you stole my oreos first!”

“oh my god, guys, you’re really embarrassing me in front of y/n. these are really the people i was excited to introduce her to,” nat face-palmed and you couldn’t help but laugh. “don’t worry nat, these people seem amazing. i can’t wait to get to know them better.” you assured her and she smiles, pulling you close to her. “buckle up, sugar, because living with the avengers is gonna be a wild ride.”

you were excited for what was about to come. it seemed like everything was finally falling into place. you finally got nat back and you didn’t have to worry about losing her again because you had a feeling these people weren’t going to let that happen.

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not a secret anymore

natasha romanoff x fem!teen!reader

summary: nat reveals a secret to the public when your class takes a learning journey to the tower.

requested: yes

warnings: might come off as half assed writing because this probably is one of my worst works i’m so sorry

word count: 1681

notes: i’m so sorry i haven’t been writing much, i’ve recently just gotten extremely busy so i had no time to sit down and write (this one was literally written between all the short breaks i had ) and i have a few requests piling up so i hope you guys can understand if they come later <3

“hi, y/n!” ally, an agent, greeted you as you, along with your classmates, walked through the east wing hallway of the tower. your classmates—except for peter, ned and mj— turned to look at you with confused looks.

your class was having a learning journey at the avengers tower and you had contemplated on calling in sick to avoid people who worked in the tower acknowledging you around your classmates.

you were actually an avenger—yeah, crazy—, having been rescued during one of the many avengers’ hostage rescue missions few years ago. you were able to single-handedly take down a few of your captors, hence why the team took interest in you then.

now, though you had been trained enough, they decided to keep you a secret in order to protect you. lord knows how many people would try hurt you if they ever found out the avengers had a new, teenage recruit. peter was technically still safe as his alter-ego is masked so you had no choice but to only go on missions that weren’t in the public eye.

you also lived in the tower so the agents and staff were undoubtedly familiar with you, some even friends with you, just like ally, who had just passed by with a wave of her hand at you before turning the corner.

“did that lady just acknowledge you?” an annoying voice spoke from beside you in a mocking tone. you gulped, not wanting to respond to flash’s irrelevant question.

“hey, loser, i’m talking to you,” he nudged your arm with his elbow and you held the urge to grab it and flip his whole body upside down. it’s not like you couldn't—you had the skills, obviously— but it’s the fact that you didn’t want to get in trouble for that.

you ended up keeping quiet, like you always did whenever the boy taunted you. peter taught you to do just that. if it were up to you, flash’s stupid face wouldn’t even dare to show itself in front of you anymore.

speaking of peter, he was nowhere to be seen by now. you internally rolled your eyes. it had only been two minutes and they were already gone. peter was probably showing them around the place. you had no idea how your teacher didn’t notice the three of them missing from your group. you were so going to kill them for ditching you and leaving you alone when they knew they were your only friends. they were also the reason why flash still had his head to this day because they’d stop you from doing anything rash. now you weren’t sure if flash would be safe from your fury.

“you probably work here as a cleaner on the weekends or something, huh? that’s the only way people here would know you,” flash jeered. you let out a breath, trying to control your anger towards the boy.

you rolled your eyes, opting to deliberately ignore his insults and walk away instead, hoping you’ll bump into those three idiots of friends of yours.

“did you just ignore me?” flash asked incredulously, as if it was a crime to ignore his annoying ass. he pulled you back by your back collar, effectively halting you in your spot.

by instinct, you grabbed his hand that was on your collar, twisting it and turning his whole body around, pinning him against the wall with his twisted arm pressed against his back. it happened in just two seconds which totally caught flash off guard, the boy groaning in pain as he begged you to let him free.

you could hear a series of gasps from all around you and you internally groaned. this is why you always ignored flash’s taunting. you didn’t want to attract attention to yourself and have people wonder how you could defend yourself so well. but flash just had to provoke you. especially here, out of all places.

“what’s going on here?” you heard a familiar voice ask and you sighed.

“oh my gosh! it’s the black widow!”

“miss romanoff!”

“oh my gosh, i’m gonna need to get a picture for my mum later, she’s gonna freak out!”

you stepped away from flash, releasing him as he dramatically kept rubbing at his arm. as if you even put that much pressure. flash smirked, seeing this as a chance to complain about you to an official avenger.

“thisgirl right here,” flash points an accusing finger at you with a glare, like he wasn’t just practically begging for his life twenty seconds ago. “attacked me.”

you rolled your eyes, unamused. “i hardly attacked him.” you told nat. the woman turned to you, an eyebrow raised as she gave you a knowing look. “this…?” she trailed off and you nodded, knowing what she was insinuating. you’d told her about flash one too many times for her not to immediately figure out who he is from a crowd of students.

“flash thompson. heard a lot about you,” she turned to the boy. flash’s face lit up, thinking he must’ve made a name for himself or something that even the black widow knew him. little did he know he did, but not for good reasons.

“i would prefer if you stop messing with y/n/n.” nat gave him a sharp look and that grin was immediately wiped off his face. “i– y/n/n?” he stuttered, confused that the natasha romanoff is calling you by a nickname.

“you do know she can kick your ass if she wanted to, right? she’s been silent all this while because she didn’t want to hurt you but you just never seem to learn, huh?” nat took slow, calculated steps towards him until she was towering over him.

“she doesn’t need anyone to protect her because she’s fully capable of that but i’m just here to warn you, kid, that she, is not to be meddled with. i’m saying this for your own good, flash thompson. she’s capable of much worse than whatever she just did to you. so if i hear you messing around with her or any of her friends,” she pauses before continuing with a whisper. “i’ll close one eye on whatever she wants to do with you.”

you wished you could’ve taken a picture of the dead scared look on flash’s face; it was priceless. you turned to nat once she stepped away from him and she put an arm around your shoulder, leading you both away from the watching crowd.

“i–i’m sorry, miss romanoff,” you could hear one of your teachers say and nat stopped, effectively stopping you too as she had you in her hold. “but miss y/l/n is on a learning journey with us and she’ll miss the tour of the tower if she leaves with you. we’ll be discussing a lot regarding this trip in class and she won’t understand what we talk about if she misses this tour. i hope you understand.” he spoke nervously.

“with all due respect, y/n’s seen the whole tower already,” she smiles at him but you could tell it was fake. “even the avengers’ residential floors which are closed to the public and most employees of the tower.”

your teacher looked at her wide-eyed, mouth open but nothing coming out. nat smiles a fake one once again. “now if you’ll excuse us, the both of us have avenger duties to attend to.”

gasps could be heard all around you and in the midst of it all, your best friends came back and you made eye contact with them, all of them having the same shocked look on their face.

“avenger duties?! nat, what are you doing?!” you whisper-yelled at the woman who seemed to be enjoying the reactions of your classmates and teachers.

“y/n!” peter ran over to you, your other friends following suit. “oh, um hi miss romanoff,” he greets shyly. “thanks a lot, guys, look what happened.” you spoke sarcastically, rolling your eyes at them. nat proceeded to drag you away from your friends and the last thing you saw was them mouthing apologies and you half-heartedly mouthing to them back that it was fine.

“relax, y/n/n, the public were about to find out soon anyways.” nat said nonchalantly. “what?!” you exclaimed once you two were in a different hallway.

“yeah, you’re gonna have press this weekend for this. we’re gonna officially announce you to the world as an avenger.” she once again says nonchalantly, as if this wasn’t the first time you were hearing this. “wait, wait, wait, seriously?” you asked in disbelief. no one had told you anything.

“yeah, i—ohh yeah, you don’t know yet,” nat remembers and you give her an unimpressed look. she wasn’t usually this dumb; she only showed this side of her to you. “sorry, i uh, yeah.. i was supposed to come get you for this. meeting with fury and the rest, yknow?” she tells you and you nodded slowly, taking in the information.

“but tell me it didn’t feel good that you got to do that to flash,” the woman states excitedly and you playfully rolled your eyes at her. “you got to do something. i’m practically an empty threat to him,” you stated matter-of-factly.

“not after this weekend you’re not. he’ll be afraid of you after. that’s what you get for being a smelly bully.” you couldn’t help the little smile on your face. she really sounded like a child right now and it was adorable.

“alright, natty, whatever you say. let’s go before fury releases his fury.” you look at her hopefully, waiting for her to laugh at your joke which she responded with an unimpressed look. that of course didn’t work as you two burst out laughing looking at each other’s faces.

you walked alongside her, the woman resting an arm around your shoulder. you smiled up at her as she talked about her day.

god, you couldn’t wait to be able to finally walk out in public with these people you considered family.

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Something ‘Bout You (BIKER! Natasha Romanoff x Reader)

A/N: Hey once again sorry for the delay, I know I’ve been gone a while school and all. But here’s the next chapter.

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Two months passed and since then nights with Nat had become routine. Once maybe twice a week the red head would come to your place and you would take turns on ordering and drinks.

Usually Nat stuck with pizza, wings, and beer while your usual would be Chinese food and soda.

Sometimes the night would go on with Nat fixing a few things here and there while you sit there and obviously subtly admire the way her tattoos moved.

However, most nights consisted of sitting on your couch watching netflix. Recently you had started the Witcher with her. She had picked it one night and hasn’t stopped watching it since. You had offered to give her your password so she could watch it on her own, but she refused.

“I started it with you and I’m ending it with you.”

You didn’t have the heart to tell her you already binged watched the entire thing.

Through those nights you both had become closer, you learned more and more about her as she slowly opened up. Like how Clint and her had met, how Nick bailed her out of trouble more than once. How she met Toni and funny stories about Yelena.

Despite her opening up more, you could still feel that bit of distance between you. It was small, but it was still there.

It didn’t help that as time flew and the closer you got to her, the more those pesky feelings of yours got in the way. The way Natasha lit up each room she was in, how seeing her improved your mood, how easy it was to relax and laugh around her. You started wanting to hold her hand and to go out some nights instead of in, dance with her, and kiss her.

You knew you had to back away, create some distance and some boundaries for yourself. You wanted her, but you knew you couldn’t. Your friendship mattered too much, it was fine the way it was and you shouldn’t go ruining that.

It also didn’t help that on the nights she wasn’t with you she was always with someone else, always inviting them back to hers for the night only to leave early in the morning before she goes on her run.

You were lost in thought behind the counter, staring aimlessly at the register in front of you. You didn’t even hear the door opening or the click of heels against the floor making their way towards you.

“Earth to (Y/n),” a voice broke through your thoughts as you looked up from the register and to a familiar brunette.

“Sorry Maria,” You apologized.

“How long were you up last night?” Maria asks concern showing on her pretty features, “you look like you haven’t slept in a while.”

“It’s just stress,” You say, “the order for that book has been pushed by a week again and I need it by friday, so I was looking for other options. And then the power went out last night and all the food I had in the fridge went bad so now I have to go grocery shopping after work, I also have to plan Wanda’s bachelorette party and make some time to go dress shopping with Wanda, and-”

“It sounds to me like you need a night of fun.” Maria observed leaning a little closer, “it also sounds like you need a stress reliever.” She winks and you blush, “I’ll pick you up at seven and wear something nice.”

And with that Maria was gone. You stood there a couple of seconds processing what had just happened, the Maria Hill best lawyer in the county had just offered to be a stress reliever. You shake your head trying not to get ahead of yourself, as well as shake the slight guilty feeling you have.

The guilt got worse as Nat came in. Her eyes landed immediately on you behind the counter and a smile stretched her face.

“Hey Nancy Drew,” She started, “so tonight I was thinking maybe cheeseburgers instead of pizza? There’s a place I wanted to check out for a while now and Yelena says it’s good so-” Nat pauses. Taking in your appearance, your face was flushed and you were wringing your hands nervously.

“What’s wrong?” Nat asked. You take a deep breath before responding evenly.

“I can’t do it tonight.” You said.

“oh,” Nat said, masking her disappointment, “ok, um, did something come up?”

“uh, yeah, actually,” you started, “it’s a really funny story actually but um I guess long story short, Maria Hill just asked me out tonight.”

You tried to read Natasha, however her face was still, not showing any emotions beyond what she wanted you to see. There was a pause that seemed to stretch forever until Natasha broke the silence.

“That’s great.” She said a small smile gracing her features. “Maria Hill, she’s a lawyer right?” you nod, “that’s great. I think I remember her from school actually, she went to the public school around here with us right?” You nod again slightly confused on where she was going with this, “yeah, I mean I’m sure she’s changed since then so the date should go great.”

“What do you mean by that?” You asked, one hand on your hip as you stand.

“Mean by what?”

“By you’re sure 'she’s changed so the date should go great’.”

“Well I mean, last I checked she was a total bitch. But I don’t know I haven’t seen her in years so maybe she’s changed.” Nat shrugged.

“I thought you were friends with her in school?”

“yeah and then she put gum in my hair causing me to cut it.” Nat explained, “but you know blessing in disguise cause I look really good with shoulder length hair. Less hassle to maintain.”

“Well a lot can happen in a few years.”

“Apparently.” Nat said before leaving the store leaving you confused and a little hurt. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, you knew this is what had to be done. Distance. You had to distance yourself from her for a bit. This date was a perfect way to get over lingering romantic feelings for her and to have some fun. It’s going to be fun.

So why do you feel so bad?

A/N: I’ve learned a very powerful lesson which is, Natasha fans don’t play around. 

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SUMMARY: After the night out with your friends you return home and find a surprise waiting for you next door. 

Later on that night you and Vision were the last pair standing as the rest of the group was drunk off their asses. 

You spent the rest of the night helping Vision get the drunk group home safely. 

You first dropped off Steve and Bucky, they weren’t as drunk as the rest but still in no condition to either drive or help care for the others. So you walked them to the door and bid them a good night with the gentle reminder to drink some water and take an aspirin. 

Then Monica who you entrusted her roommate Darcy to look after. 

Finally you helped get Pietro to bed, making sure he was on his side and had water and aspirin on his nightstand next to him for when he woke up, although you knew he was going to be ok you thought maybe it would be best if you slept on the couch just to make sure he would be alright. Wanda would be fine because she had Vision. Monica would be alright because she had Darcy taking care of her. Steve and Bucky would be alright because they had each other. But Pietro had no roommate or anyone to take care of him except you and Wanda. 

After assuring Pietro was alright you set up your place on the couch. Gathering blankets and an extra pillow from Pietro’s bed that would go unmissed. While setting up your area your eyes caught the picture of you and the twins during your highschool years hanging on the wall. 

You smiled as you remembered how emo and edgy Wanda and Pietro looked and how eighties you unintentionally looked. 

You laughed and immediately wanted to turn the picture the other way out of embarrassment when you studied how you looked. 

Why did you think that looked good?

However embarrassed you were of the photo you smiled as you remembered your high school years with them. 

Pietro was the star track athlete and every girl (and guy) wanted him in one way or another. Yet for some unknown reason he stuck with you and Wanda. 

Wanda was the smartest among your small group and she didn’t even need to try. Looking back you don’t think you ever saw her study but yet somehow she managed to pass with flying colors that made Agatha green with envy. It wasn’t until she met Vision that you saw her actually apply herself and compete for valedictorian. 

You were the only one they listened to most of the time. You didn’t know why but they had always listened to what you said. 

You wonder what your trio would’ve been like as a quartet. 

As you laid your head and began to try to sleep you thought about Natasha and how she would’ve fit into that small group of yours. 

—

The morning started off pretty well so far for you. Pietro had woken up before you for his morning run and brought back coffee and pastries from the local coffee shop around the corner. You spent the rest of the morning laughing and talking before finally departing on your way back to the bookstore to open. 

You really were thankful that you had thought ahead and had some clothes stored away at Pietro’s.  You ate breakfast with Pietro before finally departing to your bookstore a few blocks away. 

You hummed mindlessly all the way there. It had been a while since your last outing and last night had been refreshing, regardless of whether or not you got as drunk as everyone else did. You had fun. 

As you neared your store you noticed a moving van with people unloading next to it. Curiosity filled you as you began to wonder what would fill the empty store next to you. As you got closer you could see a petite blonde woman giving the people unloading directions. You could see she was heavily tatted, your eyes were drawn to one in particular on her collar, ‘Miss American Pie.” in beautiful handwriting. You didn’t know why but she looked familiar to you. You decided to pay no mind to it as you went to unlock the store. 

“(Y/n)?” 

You turned around and saw the blonde woman looking at you. Her features were fair and the shape of her nose was something to envy. You quickly remembered that she was the blonde woman from last night that had a six foot man in a chokehold. 

“You’re that woman from last night,” You say, “the one who put that man in a chokehold. I’ve got to say that was pretty cool.” 

“Did I?!” She asks astonished, “I was so drunk last night I can barely remember Nat putting me to bed.” 

“We’ve all been there,” You said, “how did you know my name though I don’t think I talked to you last night?”

“We were neighbors,” she explained, “you were friends with my sister Natasha.” 

Flashes of a little blonde girl came into mind that usually stuck to Natasha like glue. 

“Yelena?” You asked before the blonde grinned from ear to ear and nodded. “Oh my god I am so sorry I didn’t recognize you.” 

“It’s no problem,” Yelena said, “it took me a few minutes too to remember who you were.” 

“So are you the one moving in next door?” 

“No actually,” Yelena said, “I’m just helping set everything up for the shop before going back to my place a few blocks down from here.” 

“Who is moving in?” 

“That would be me, Nancy Drew.” 

You turned your head and there stood Natasha. Her tattoos now were more visible in light and decorated her skin like paint on a canvas. You thought she looked like she came straight out of a vogue magazine. 

“Good you’re here.” Yelena said as Natasha made her way to where you both stood, “Toni doesn’t know how you want to arrange the stations and needs help on that. Dad is trying to fight the movers and Mom is nowhere to be found.” 

“Where’s Clint?” Natasha sighed. 

“Still sleeping off his hangover.” Yelena explained. 

“Ok,” Natasha said, “tell Toni I’ll be there in a few minutes to help her, tell Dad if he doesn’t knock it off Mom will knock him out, and Mom is probably upstairs checking out the apartment and I would try Clint’s phone if that doesn’t work get Nick.” 

Yelena stood there expectantly at her sister before finally Natasha said. “Please oh great sister of mine.” 

“There you go, was that so hard?” Yelena says before turning back to you. “I’ll see you later (Y/n), have Nat invite you to the housewarming party next week before she chickens out.” 

“I was going to do that,” Natasha calls after her sister as Yelena begins to walk away. 

“You weren’t doing it fast enough.” Yelena says before disappearing in the store leaving just you and Natasha. 

“So you’re moving in next door?” You ask.

“Yeah,” Natasha says, “bout time I put down some roots, open up that tattoo shop I’ve been dreaming about since I first walked into one.” 

“That explains the look then.” You say. 

“What look?” Natasha smiles knowing exactly what you meant. 

“That look you gave me all the time when you knew something I didn’t and tried to be all mysterious about it.” You explained and Natasha laughed. “So what is this tattoo shop going to be called?” You asked Natasha who ceased laughing before finally answering. 

“Black Widow.” Natasha replied before gazing at her store with a sparkle in her eye that you were familiar with. It was the same look in your eye every time you looked at your store. Just as you were about to say something the vibrating sound of Natasha’s phone rang. Natasha grabbed it from her pants before sighing and looking back at you. 

“I’ve got to take this call, it should just take a second.” Natasha said, understanding what she meant you said, “it’s ok,” You replied, “I’ll just be in the store setting up shop so come and visit when you’re done with the call.” 

“I will,” Natasha promised before answering her phone. You turn the keys into your door and begin to set up shop. 

You barely got through counting the drawer before Natasha comes through the door. The look on her face immediately got your attention. The redheaded woman leaned on your counter. 

“Do you happen to know any artists that might have some pieces ready?” Natasha asks. 

“Yeah my friend Steve,” You say, “I can give you his home number and his cell. His husband might answer though, his name is Bucky. If he asks how you got the number just tell him it was me.” You said as you quickly wrote the two seperate numbers on a piece of paper before handing it to Natasha. 

“You are a lifesaver thank god.” Natasha praised. 

“So who was on the phone?” You asked. Natasha groaned as she remembered how the heated discussion went. 

“This artist that I had previously contracted to create some tattoo’s for us. He called to back out of the deal and since not all of the paperwork was signed he had every right to back out and take his pieces with him.” 

“Why did he back out?” 

“Didn’t say,” She responded, “but I owe you big time for this thank you so much.” 

“Don’t mention it, Steve is the best and I’m sure he’ll appreciate the business.” You responded. 

“Well if Steve is the best then I definitely owe you dinner at least.” Natasha said as she began to make her way to the door, “I’ll swing by around eight.” 

As you were about to argue about it, she continued. 

“No arguments,” Natasha cut off as she opened the door, throwing you an over the shoulder look before saying, “Just bring your pretty self Nancy Drew.” One of her blue eyes winks before sauntering off knowing how flushed your face is just from being called pretty. 

—

The day had been busier than you anticipated. From one kid destroying a complicated book display to a karen or two saying this book or that book should be on sale when in reality it wasn’t. Finally the numerous people ceased and it was time to start closing shop. 

You counted the drawer and left two hundred in the drawer, turned the sign to closed, re-did the book display, vacuumed and swept, wiped the counter, finally came to organize and restock the shelves. 

You grabbed as many boxes of books as you could before returning to the shelves to stack. It was overall a tedious process, especially for the high shelves. 

You were about to put the last one on the shelf when you heard the store door open. 

“Hey are you rea-” Natasha began before the door closed behind her and the shelf in front of you collapsed. You sighed as you stepped down from the stepping stool to assess the damage, however the redhead had somehow beaten you to it. 

“It looks like whoever installed this shelf for you didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.” She said as she picked up said shelf. “Thankfully I know my way around a drill and just so happen to have a million screws laying around next door.” 

“Nat you don’t need to-” 

“It’s not a problem Nancy Drew,” Natasha assured, “I’ll be right back with a couple of screws and a drill. We’ll have that fixed in no time.” and with that Natasha left the store out of the same door she just came in from. You start to get the books that had haphazardly fallen from the shelves and you prayed that none of the pages from the books had creased or any of the spines bent. 

True to her word Natasha returned a few minutes later with a tool kit in one hand and a drill in another. Her usual leather coat was nowhere to be seen leaving her arms exposed. 

You could see that she had one arm sleeved with tattooed webs and the other had a few miscellaneous tattoos here decorating her arm like ink on a canvas. 

You watched patiently, being very careful not to let your eyes wander from her face. However you would catch yourself more than once staring at the way her tattoos moved with her muscles. 

Once the shelf was properly installed and stacked the redheaded woman turned to you. 

“I should probably check the other shelves to make sure they’re properly installed.” Natasha said, breaking you out of your trance. 

“You don’t need to do that.” You quickly said. Not wanting to bother her further. 

“It really isn’t a big deal.” Natasha assured, “what kind of neighbor would I be if I didn’t help you out huh?” She smiled as the argument on your lips fell silent. 

“Fine but I’m ordering take out and you’re picking the place.” You said already reaching for your phone, Natasha was about to argue but was quickly cut off, “after all what kind of neighbor would I be if I allowed you to go hungry after doing me a favor?” 

Natasha smiled as the argument fell silent on her lips. 

—

After listing off a few different restaurants that deliver, Natasha settled on ordering a pepperoni pizza with wings and asked if you had any beer. After confirming that Natasha went straight to work on the shelves. 

Natasha was done re-installing the shelves by the time the pizza and wings arrived. While dealing with the delivery person Natasha grabbed two ice cold beers from the cooler you brought downstairs from your apartment. 

The night was spent in a bunch of laughter and conversation. You couldn’t remember the last time you had this much fun and felt this deep of a connection with someone. Even though it had been years since you had last seen each other and had a moment like this, you couldn’t help but feel like no time had passed. Like she was still your blue haired neighbor and you were her book obsessed best friend. 

As the night dwindled you found yourselves laying on the floor next to each other in comfortable silence. 

Well almost. 

Despite feeling like no time had passed you can’t ignore that it did, you can’t forget how she got up and left one day. Without a word and you were left wondering for years what happened to her. 

You still were trying to piece together what happened. 

“Hey Nat?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you leave?” 

The question hung in the air for a second until you heard Natasha let out a shaky breath. 

“I didn’t know we were going to until that day,” She said, “I wanted to say goodbye but I couldn’t.”

“Why though?” You asked.

“I just couldn’t,” She said, “I want to tell you more, I do. But just trust me when I say that it’s going to take time for me to actually put it into words.” There was a silence before she continued, “you deserve a proper explanation.” 

“I do,” You agreed, “you were my best friend and you just disappeared. That hurt me and for a while I thought it was me-” 

“No,” Natasha interrupted, “it wasn’t you.” 

After another pause you continued. 

“Whenever you can tell me,” You said, turning your head to look her in her oceanic eyes, “I’ll be here with open ears.” 

Natasha smiled before you both turned your heads back to the ceiling. Your hands brushing against each other like it was old times again.

Thank you Nonnie for requesting here is that fic!

THIS IS PLATONIC NATASHA X READER

“What are you all gawking at?” Thor asked as he witnessed not just Steve but Tony, Bruce, and Clint staring at what Thor assumed to be your office, their faces various degrees of concern. 

“Thor, do you not see that?” Steve asked, not looking away as you crossed your feet on the expensive looking desk. 

“You mean Lady (Y/n)?” 

“Point break, don’t you know whose office that is?” Tony asked incredulously. Thor gave a small shrug as he responded, “isn’t it Lady (Y/n)’s?”

“It’s Nats.” 

Suddenly it became apparent to Thor why they were all standing there gawking at you. You not only were in Natasha’s office when she wasn’t there, but you had your feet on her desk like you hadn’t a care in the world. 

Just as Thor was about to grab you and take you to safety before it was too late, Thor witnessed Natasha enter her office. 

Everyone held their breath, even the security guards nearby didn’t dare breathe as they waited for Natasha to throw you out of the window. 

They saw Natasha gently nudge your feet off her desk as she handed you one of the brown paper bags in her hands. Based on the grease soaking the bottom it was safe to assume it was fast food. The group’s minds whirled as they tried to come up with an explanation to what they just saw. 

—

Gradually the group became more and more interested in your interactions with Natasha. 

Even the Hulk admitted that Natasha was by far the scariest avenger on the team, it was something in the way she walked. Graceful, intimidating, like a lioness stalking its prey. 

Or in this case a spider spinning its web around it’s latest meal.

Her skills in combat, any combat, was frightening. 

Natasha could beat Steve in hand to hand combat. 

She gave Clint a run for his money when it came to long range and close range shooting. 

She easily psyched Thor out when he saw her tease at picking up mjolnir, she merely gestured to it and he swore he saw it move an inch her way. 

And she could calm the Hulk. 

Natasha was the scariest avenger on the team. 

So when the rest of the avengers saw you, a slightly younger but very promising SHIELD agent, not even flinching as Natasha threw you a glare… safe to say they were shocked. 

This had been going on for weeks, and slowly they had started to believe you had a death wish. 

First time the thought crossed their minds was when they found you with your feet on Natasha’s desk. 

Second time was when they were stuck on an elevator with you and Natasha and you made a horrible joke about spiders to her. 

The Third and final time before they just concluded you had no self preservation instincts, was when you gave her Black Widow merch.

—

Finally the group had enough and decided to stage an intervention for you. Everything had been planned, the meeting would be held in the debriefing room, and they would lure you in with the promise of doughnuts. 

Everything had gone to plan. 

Well almost everything. 

They had successfully lured you in with the promise of free doughnuts. However, after a few minutes of talking to you. 

Natasha came in. 

“Have any of you see-” Natasha began before accessing the situation in front of her. 

She had been looking for you the past few minutes to no avail and since she noticed the other members of her group not so subtly watching you like a hawk, assumed they knew where you were. 

Once she tracked their whereabouts to the debriefing room, she had intended on asking where you were only to discover it seems like they were giving you what seemed to be an intervention. 

“What are you guys doing to them?” Natasha asked as she neared your side, you gave her an almost innocent look on your face. 

Almost. 

“They lured me in here for an intervention with the false promise of free doughnuts.” You explained bluntly, the group simultaneously jaw dropped at how easily you ratted them out. 

They learned then never to lie to you about doughnuts.

“Well- I mean.” Steve began fumbling as he began to sweat underneath the heated glare Natasha was giving the group. 

“Why, pray tell, is this intervention about?” 

“Lack of self preservation skills.” 

“Psych evaluation.” 

“General wellbeing.” 

“I just wanted to see if she could join Asgards army.” 

Everyone looked at Thor for a second. 

“What?” Thor said “if they can look at Natasha with that glare on her face and not flinch, Lady (Y/n) can easily become the bravest warrior on Asgard.” 

Ignoring Thor’s statement Natasha continued. 

“Agent (L/n) can you give us a moment.” Natasha asked. 

“Sure thing Natty.” You responded before leaving the room leaving the rest of the avengers at the mercy of Natasha Romanoff. 

Tense silence filled the room before finally Nat spoke. 

“Who wants to start?”

Silence filled the room before Steve finally spoke. 

“How long has this been going on?”

“It started a few months ago right after the battle of New York.” 

“And you haven’t killed her yet?” Clint asked. 

“In the beginning I was tempted but now she’s grown on me. Like a wart or something.” Natasha responded. 

“Aww I’ve grown on you?” You awed as you peaked your head through the door to which Natasha’s only response was gently closing the door once again before locking it. “You’ve grown on me too Natty!” Your exclaimed response muffled behind the door. 

“Anything else?” Natasha responded before the rest of the avengers shook their heads. “Good,” She responded before placing her hands on the table in front of her. “Now listen up, somehow along the way Agent (L/n) has become my responsibility and if I catch you luring her somewhere without my knowledge again or giving her the wrong look. Just know I have the skills and means necessary to make the rest of your lives on this plane of existence unbearable. Do I make myself clear?” 

The team nodded before Natasha made her exit. The rest of the team watched as you and Natasha linked arms before heading off to presumably get the doughnuts you were promised. Chatting happily to the scariest woman alive who only smiled like that in your presence.

A/N: Hey this is a new series! I’ve been meaning to write something for her for a while now so here ya go enjoy! 

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NATASHA ROMANOFF MASTERLIST

REQUESTS ARE FREE AND ENCOURAGED 

SUMMARY: After Wanda announces her engagement a familiar face returns into your life. 

“(Y/n)!”

You heard the familiar chime of the doorbell and the familiar excited voice of your friend fill the relatively empty store. You whipped your head to her just in time to see her barrelling toward you and captured you in a bone crushing hug. 

“Whoa there Wands,” You said as you returned the hug, “did something happen or are you just that happy to see me?” 

Wanda quickly released you from her vice grip, “oh nothing much happened,” Wanda paused before holding up her left hand, “except this.” On her left hand on her ring finger sat a beautiful vintage ring. 

“Oh my god!” You exclaim smiling as you grab her hand to get a closer look at the ring, it was simple in design but it really suited Wanda. ‘When did this happen?!” 

“Last night,” Wanda reveals happily her smile never deterring, “Vis and I were watching reruns of the Dick Van Dyke Show, I told him how Mary’s ring was beautiful and next thing I know he asks ‘is it as beautiful as this ring’ next thing I know he’s down on one knee with the ring in his hand asking me to marry him.” 

“I’m so happy for you and Vis.” You congrat Wanda as you and her continue to talk about her engagement for a few more minutes. 

“Actually Vis and I were planning on going to the city tonight to celebrate, are you busy?” Wanda asks. You take a quick look at your calendar finding nothing but closing the store on the agenda for tonight. 

“Nope,” You respond, “just have to close the store.” 

“Close early and Vis and I will pick you up,” Wanda said, “We’re bringing Pietro, Steve, Bucky, and Monica with us.” 

You hesitate for a bit, but you take one look into Wanda’s pleading eyes, the same eyes that have gotten you into more than your fair share of trouble since highschool, next thing you know you’re nodding your head in agreement.

Wanda lets out a small squeal before enveloping you once again in a small hug before saying goodbye and that Pietro will pick you up by seven. 

As you continue about your day, stacking books and working the register you start to wonder when the last time you actually had a date was. 

During the slow rush you decide to check your calendar again. You flip through each page until finally you land three months prior where you had plans to meet up with the local coffee barista at some bar you can’t remember the name of. What you do remember is that the date ended with you buying a half quart of ice cream and watching reruns of Gilmore Girls. 

You check the clock and check the store to find it empty. You decide now would probably be a good time to close and to start getting ready for the night in the city with Wanda and the rest. 

You turn the sign on the door to ‘closed’ and push all thoughts of dating to the back of your mind. 

—

You had just slipped your shoes on when you heard Pietro knock on your door in the familiar pattern he’s done since high-school. 

You answer the door to reveal Pietro. You always thought he had looked handsome in that mischievous way. But when he wears that white button up and slacks with his hair gelled back he is a special type of handsome. 

“Well damn don’t we look fancy tonight?” You say as Pietro noticeably checks you out in the same appreciation. You did a small turn in your black dress that fell just mid thigh. 

“And you don’t look too bad yourself Princeza,” Pietro said as he offered his arm in an overdramatic gentlemanly style. Which you responded in kind, laughing slightly as you made sure to lock the door behind you before finally heading out.  

—

You were back in your parents backyard, sitting in that hammock with a book in your hands. Nancy Drew had wormed her way into eleven year old you’s heart, with all of her adventures and detective skills. 

Just as you were about to reach the climax of the book you heard a familiar voice. 

“Whatcha reading today?” You look away from the book and spot a familiar blue haired girl the same age. She was the neighbor that moved in about three years ago, Natasha, who quickly became your best friend. 

“Nancy Drew,”

“Again?”

“There’s more than one Natty.” You responded, next thing you know the book is lifted from your hands and Natasha is hovering over you with the book in her hands. 

“Naaat.” You whine as you try to reach for the book only to have her expertly move it away from you. 

“C’mon,” Natasha says as she makes her way to the bushes separating your yard and hers, “adventure awaits.” 

You struggle a little as you make your way out of your hammock and through the lush bushes to Natasha who slips through the crack in between. 

“Nat,” you warn lightly. 

“I promise I’ll give you the book back,” Natasha promises, “but first we go on an adventure! Grab your bike and meet me out front!” 

“Where exactly is this adventure?” 

“Just grab your bike, chatty cathy!” 

You hear her footsteps rush over to her bike as you rush to yours. 

By the time you let your parents know you’ll be riding your bike and get to the front of your house Natasha is already waiting for you. 

Together you both rode your bikes until finally settling on a clearing near the local park. There was this big oak tree and in front of it a huge rock as well covered in green moss. 

For a while both you and Natasha played by either climbing on the rock and proclaiming yourselves rulers of the land, climbing the tree, playing pretend in the most kid way possible. 

However you would catch glimpses sometimes, you didn’t know what, but it made you worry for her. Like how sad she looked, or scared. 

Finally, after being worn out by playing you both lay on the grass beneath you and watch as the fireflies began to dance around the big oak looking like thousands of moving stars. 

You were enjoying the bit of peace and silence when you felt her hand hold yours. You look over and see the blue haired girl still staring at the millions of fireflies with a smile on her lips. 

“Thank you for being my best friend.” She said gently as you looked away from her and continued watching the fireflies dance, until the sun finally set and it was time to go home. 

She never did give that book back. 

—

“Princeza, we’re here.” You hear the familiar accented voice say. You slowly open your groggy eyes to see the glittering lights of the city. 

“How long was I out?” 

“An hour.” 

“So the whole car ride,” You say, you could see Pietro nod from the driver’s side, “I’m sorry.” 

“What for?” 

“I was asleep the whole car ride, you were probably bored.” 

“No, I wasn’t bored,” Pietro said, “I know you haven’t been sleeping much because of the store.” 

Here it comes. 

“You need to start working less Princeza,” Pietro continued concerned, “you spend all your waking hours at the store, tending to your books, and life is going to pass you by.” 

“Pietro-” 

“I don’t mean to be harsh or rude,” Pietro quickly added, “it’s just I see you all the time at the store and nowhere else lately. I get that the store is demanding, but just try to make some time for yourself. Promise me?” 

You look at him and can’t refuse. 

“I promise.” 

You can start relaxing tonight. 

—

You came to quickly realize that clubbing really wasn’t your thing. 

A pile of random sweaty bodies ground on each other on the dance floor to music that hurt your eardrums. 

It wasn’t that you were judging anyone for liking this atmosphere, it just wasn’t your cup of tea, you preferred to stay on the sidelines and watch your friends dance. 

And the full bar proved that you weren’t the only one. 

You had looked away for a second to order a beer when you spotted someone familiar. 

It was dark save for the flickering lights that illuminated her every once in a while. You couldn’t place where you knew her but you knew that you knew her. It was in the way she walked with a certain grace and her eyes were sharp enough to cut through you and you imagined her tongue was the same way. 

She must have noticed you staring because the next thing you know she’s staring right at you. Your eyes lock and that’s when it hits you. 

You didn’t recognize her without her blue hair. 

Natasha. 

You panic and turn back to the bar to order that beer you were going to order about five minutes ago. You mentally beat yourself up, if you didn’t look like a creep before you definitely did now. 

You were so busy mentally assaulting yourself that you didn’t notice the redhead sauntering her way to you and sit on the empty barstool next to you. 

“Well if it isn’t Nancy Drew.” 

You turn your head and see Natasha there beside you. Her hair was shoulder length and no longer blue. Now her hair was it’s natural elegant red color, her blue eyes sharper than you remember as well as her cheekbones. You noticed hints of tattoos peeking out from the collar and sleeve of her leather coat. 

“You never did return that book.” 

You both couldn’t help the laugh that erupted. Even though it’s been years somehow it almost feels like no time has passed. 

Almost. 

“So what’ve you been up to?” Natasha asked, “still into books?”

“Uh yeah,” You confirm, “I actually own a bookshop back home.” 

You see Natasha smile from ear to ear before taking a sip of what was your beer now it seems to be adopted by Natasha. 

“That’s so you,” Natasha said before taking another sip from the beer bottle. 

“Well what about you?” You ask, “what have you been up to?” 

You could see the hesitancy in Natasha’s face, just as she was about to answer, however you see a light brown haired male come up beside her. 

“Hey Nat, I hate to interrupt but we got a Budapest situation over here.” Natasha swerved her attention to where he pointed at the blonde who was obviously drunk off her ass putting a six foot tall man into a choke hold. Which you had to admire and be impressed at. 

“I guess that’s my cue Nancy Drew,” Natasha said as she took one last sip from the beer bottle before abandoning it. As she was making her way through the crowd but before she got too far you saw her turn around. 

“What was the name of your bookstore again, Nancy Drew?!” She yelled over the crowd. 

“Oh-um- Summertime Stories!” You call out, you catch a glimpse of something in her eyes before it disappears. 

“I’ll see ya soon Nancy Drew!”  

Oh how right she was.

~REQUESTS ARE OPEN~

SCARLETT JOHANSSON MISC. CHARACTER MASTERLIST

GUIDE:

= Smutty Goodness

= Dark Themes/ Angst / Triggery Material

  = Fluffy Goodness

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something ‘Bout You  (Series Masterlist)

Something ‘bout you makes me feel like a dangerous woman.

Doughnuts  (PLATONIC Natasha x Reader)

the Avengers worry about your sense of self peservation as you continue to test the limits with the scariest amongst them. 

Chapter 1 

Chapter 2 

Chapter 3 

Chapter 4 (Coming Soon)

A/N: Hey just wanted to write another Sam x Reader. Honestly look at him, don’t look at me look at him, aint he pretty?

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MCU MASTERLIST

SAM WILSON MASTERLIST

Summary: Night full of cherry wine and love by city lights.

“Sam,” You giggle as you try to shush him not wanting to wake your roommate up. It was late at night and Sam had insisted on taking you out when you told him about how your project was approved by the board. You had just earned your PHD when you met Sam for the first time. Since then everything seemed to just be going up for you. It was almost too good to be true.

Almost.

Sam was gone a lot, but you understood, he was an Avenger and his work took him places…dangerous places. So every time he came back, the first thing he would do was go to you. And you would patch him up, one cut and bruise at a time and then he would refuse to let you go for the next twenty four hours.

Not that you minded.

Because you did the same thing.

Sam held your hips as his lips descended on yours, the taste of the cherry wine you both had drunk lingered in his kiss. His large hands began to move on their own as he gently squeezed whatever part of you he could get. Your sides, your arms, your ass, every bit of you he could find he held on for dear life. He had seen too many good people be taken away, and you were as good as it got so he hoped and prayed that he wouldn’t lose you.

He allowed you to lead him to your room, a place he could walk through blindfolded however never stayed for long.

“Honey,” Sam called you in between the sweet kisses you gave him.

“Yes baby,” You answered back with your own pet name for him. You feel his hands finally find their place on either side of your face, gently holding you in place. You could see his eyes memorizing you, taking you in. The faint glow of the street lights that bled into your room illuminated your features in such a way that he wondered if you were real. You looked like you belonged on some old soul album that his grandpa owed, the beautiful women that shone in timeless beauty.

“What’s going on in that head of yours baby?” You asked quietly.

“Move in with me.” Sam said at the same volume as you. You both had talked about it before, moving in together however with Sam’s missions and your work you both never really found the time to really talk about it.

“Really?” You asked as your hands gently traveled over his chest, playing with the top button of his button-up.

“Really.”

“Where would we move to?”

“Anywhere you want,” Sam said placing a kiss on the middle of your forehead, “Manhattan,” he kisses your left eye, “Brooklyn,” he kisses your right, “Louisiana,” he kisses one cheek, “California,” he kisses the other, “Hell even Alaska,” he says as he kisses the tip of your nose, “So long as you’re with me I don’t care where we are.”

“Well I don’t want to move to Alaska.”

“Thank god.” You both laughed as his dark eyes stared into yours. “But I mean it honey, so long as I get to come home to you.” You bit your lip as you looked at him, you saw the way his lips curled into his charming smile and the way his eyes shone with love.

You couldn’t say no even if you wanted to.

“I love you Sam Wilson,” You said as you kissed his chin, “I would love to move in with you.”

Sam kissed your lips, the lingering taste of cherry wine still on both of your lips, and as you got more and more drunk on each other. Lips on lips. Skin on skin.

And in the morning, you woke up to the rain gently pattering against your window and the smell of coffee brewing. You drug yourself out of bed to witness Sam working expertly in the kitchen, you didn’t join him immediately instead you appreciated the sight.

A sight you would become very familiar with in the near future.

A/N: Hey thank you for requesting it means a lot. Especially now that my schedule is way more lax than it was before. Also I previously posted this before I knew I was shadowbanned but now that issue has been resolved so I am re posting somethings that I posted before I knew I was shadowbanned. 

REQUESTS ARE OPEN AND ARE ENCOURAGED ALONG WITH ASKS! HERE IS THE REQUEST/ASK BOX PLEASE INTERACT!

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STEVE ROGERS MASTERLIST

here is the fic I hope you like it!!

Steve felt sick, he remembers getting sick when he was younger, however this was worse. He felt his stomach twist, his chest tighten, and his entire body felt as heavy as lead.

Laughter filled the reception room as Steve contemplated leaving  with an early morning mission as an excuse when suddenly the room went quiet.

“May I present for the first time,” The announcer said, “Mr and Mrs. Barnes.”

Steve could feel his heart drop to his stomach as he saw you and Bucky enter the room. Bucky had the biggest grin on his face as his hand held yours. You looked radiant, the dress you chose flattered you and accentuated the loveliness that was your figure. Your hair had been pinned and adorned with flowers and Steve couldn’t help but think that you looked ethereal, your smile lit up your entire face that gave you a certain glow. However there was a pang of jealousy as he saw how your eyes looked at Bucky like he was the only one in the room, he couldn’t stop the thought of it should be him instead of Bucky.

Steve felt sick, and he knew why.

He watched as your first dance began, the way Bucky was holding you gently to him as you swayed on the dance floor. The way Bucky whispered in your ear as you danced, the way Steve saw you breath him in, looking more in love than he ever saw you.

You were Steve’s once, once Steve held you like that, once Steve warmed your bed and held you at night, once it was Steve that put that starry look in your eye.

But that was a long time ago.

Steve tried to smile and act like his heart wasn’t beating painfully, like he didn’t want to grab you and tell you that while you weren’t his, he was still yours.

Steve downed his drink in one go before continuing to watch you happily sway with your husband, his best friend.

He couldn’t fault Bucky for falling for you, nor could he fault him for marrying you. Bucky deserved to be happy and right now Steve could see he’s the happiest he’s been since the forties when he was with you.

That doesn’t stop the jealous thoughts entering his head, about how Steve should’ve been the one at the altar with you. Steve should’ve been the one who wakes you up every morning and kisses you to sleep at night. Steve should’ve been the one you spent the rest of your life with.

Not Bucky.

But Bucky is the one you’ll do all that with and more.

Not Steve.

As he watches the dance end Steve begins to wonder where it all went wrong between you and him.

Then he remembered.

Peggy Carter.

Steve never should’ve gone back to her, he didn’t even get past knocking on her door before he realized what an idiot he was and made his way back home to you.

When he came back he realized he was too late.

It was four years later and you were engaged to Bucky, you had moved on.

That was a year ago and he wishes he can take it all back, wishes he can be the one for you like you were the one for him.

But he can’t.

So all he can do now is drink, and pretend like he was alright.

The reception went smoothly, people ate, danced, and drank to their heart’s content. There was nothing but laughter and love in the air. Steve downed one glass of whiskey after another for a buzz that never came.

The toasts came and went and when Steve’s turn came to give a toast it felt like he was swallowing nails. Each word hurt, even more so when you smiled at him that bittersweet smile he knew so well now.

Steve retreated back to the bar where he ordered another whiskey, wanting the burn of the liquid to distract him from the pain in his heart. He knew this day was going to hurt, he just didn’t imagine it would hurt this much.

When the party was at its height Steve saw his opportunity to slip away unnoticed. However, things never went to plan.

Steve had just gotten through the front doors of the reception hall before he heard footsteps approaching him.

“Where do you think you’re going punk?” Bucky asked as he made his way to the blonde supersoldier.

“Got an early mission tomorrow so I think I’m gonna call it a night, I didn’t want to be a buzzkill and all so I thought I could sneak out without anyone noticing.” Steve explained, Bucky grabbed the tall man’s shoulder.

“Hey you’re not a buzzkill and you’re our friend of course we would notice if you left before the big announcement.”

“Big announcement?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said grinning from ear to ear, “I’m actually glad we’re alone right now because I wanted to tell you one on one.”

“Tell me what?”

“(Y/n)’s pregnant,” Bucky said excitedly, “we’re going to be parents.”

Steve swore he felt the earth stop spinning and time slow down. Steve couldn’t feel anything, the shock still running its course.

“I’m happy for you Buck,” Steve said with a smile.

“I’m happy too Steve,” Bucky said, “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. If I knew then what I know now, all the pain and torture would lead to this right here. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Steve congratulated Bucky one last time before Bucky headed back to you.

He was still in shock by the time the crisp night air nipped at him, it didn’t hit him until he passed by the window and he could see the reception from inside. He could see you curled up next to Bucky, your hand unconsciously over your stomach while you drank sparkling water.

Suddenly it felt all too real, he could feel every emotion he had buried since coming back. Everything became too much as he sunk to the ground beside the window, his breathing became erratic as he felt the tears slip past his eyes. He could hardly breathe through the pain.

Steve had been sick plenty of times.

Steve had been injured plenty of times.

Stabbed, shot, injected, and lost so many people he had loved.

But nothing compared to this.

Because Steve had no one to blame but himself.

Steve loved you so much, so much and he tossed it all away.

And there was nothing he could ever do to take it all back.

AU’s and Misc Character Masterlists are linked inside Masterlists as well

ALL Readers are inclusive, little to no physical descriptions of the readers are given.  

Bucky Barnes Masterlist 

Bruce Banner Masterlist

Steve Rogers Masterlist

Sam Wilson Masterlist 

Tony Stark Masterlist

Pepper Potts Masterlist

Wanda Maximoff Masterlist

Pietro Maximoff Masterlist 

Natasha Romanoff Masterlist 

Yelena Belova Masterlist

Thor Odinson Masterlist 

Loki Friggason Masterlist 

Sylvie Masterlist 

Peter Parker Masterlist 

Gamora Masterlist 

Mantis Masterlist 

Carol Danvers Masterlist 

Tony Stark (dad) x Reader (daughter) x Peter Parker (boyfriend) x Quentin Beck (villain)

A/N: after seeing Spider-Man far from home i definitely needed a breather of fluff to get over it, but not gonna lie, this includes some angst too. also sorry for the random uploads, i’ve been working and running errands constantly but writing when i can, usually on my novel, but sometimes on fanfics. love you all. 

this is part 2 of Anyone Else: which you can find here

          Closing the algebra textbook on your bed, you sighed heavily, glad you were finally done with your homework for the night. Thankfully Tony had allowed you to drag your textbooks to the dinner table so you could study while you ate, and that had allowed you to get to bed at a halfway decent time. You shoved the textbook and notebook off of your bed into your bookbag, making a mental note that you’d clean it up in the morning, then shrugged off your shorts, tossed them in the hamper, and rolled over in your sheets. With the snap of your fingers, your lights turned off, and you smiled a bit to yourself, glad that the work for the day was done and you could finally relax. Your brain was exhausted, mind filled up with different equations and theorems, and as you closed your eyes, you wanted nothing more than peace and quiet until tomorrow’s sunrise. That was, until you heard a knock. You groaned, sitting up, wiping the grogginess out of your eyes. “Tony? Seriously?” you whined. “I was already half asleep.” That’s when the knock came again, and you snapped the lights on, confused as to why the door hadn’t opened. “Dad?” You whipped your head to the window, eyes widening at the masked boy on the other side of the glass.

               “Hey!” he waved to you, glad to see you were awake and attentive, but you were ever the latter.

               “Peter?” you hissed, flinging off your sheets and racing to the window. “What the hell?” You unlatched the sill and slid it up, staring at him, still bewildered and frustrated. “Peter, it’s a school night! God, school night? Forget that, that doesn’t even matter right now.” You shook your head, staring at him once again. “My dad is literally going to kill you!”

               “And lose one of his best avengers?” he teased. “Nah, don’t think so, y/n.”

               “Oh shut up,” you rolled your eyes, allowing him to climb into your bedroom, still donned in his suit. “So what’s the special occasion, Spider-Man?” You folded your arms, looking him up and down, trying not to blush. You had been dating Peter Parker for almost two weeks now, but still, every time you saw him in his red suit, you couldn’t help but try to hide a squeal. It was sometimes hard to picture the ever amazing Spider-Man and your nerdy dork of a boyfriend Peter as the same person.

               “I wanted to visit you,” he shrugged, sitting on the edge of your bed. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other outside of school.”

               “It’s cause you work all the time,” you frowned, poking a playful finger into his chest. “With your superhero adventures and all of that.” You huffed. “Honestly sometimes I think you spend more time around my dad than you do me.”

               “Not my choice,” he put his hands up in surrender. “Trust me.”

               “Yeah, yeah,” you sighed, finding yourself crawling up into his lap, linking your arms around his neck, smiling. “You should take your mask off so you can kiss me.”

               “Hmm?” he tilted his head to the side, making you giggle.

               “You heard me,” you told him shyly and he laughed a bit too before reaching up to tug his mask off of his head, exposing his messy brown curls and his tired eyes. “Aw baby, you look exhausted.”

               “I’m fine, really,” he reassured, shaking his head. “Just a late night mission, that’s all.”

               “I’m sorry,” you looked down, feeling guilty. “You probably don’t have time for me, you know. You’re already busy with school and the whole Spider-Man thing…”

               “Hey,” Peter lifted your chin to look at him, saddened. “Don’t say that, y/n. I love you. I will always have time for you. Even though it might not be as much time as I want, there will be time. I’ll make time. Anything for you.”

               “Okay,” you managed a small smile. “I love you too.”

               He leaned in for a kiss and you melted into him, letting yourself relax, his hands pressing into your back. He was right. You hadn’t seen him outside of school for a couple days now, and it was eating at you alive. Much less, most of the time he was around, Tony was watching both of you like a hawk. “I can’t stay long,” he apologized. “I still need to finish my homework.”

               “Just stay here,” you begged, wrapping your arms around him tight, burying your face in the crook of his neck. “Forget the homework.”

               “I know. I wish I could, love,” he hushed. “But Aunt May is waiting for me and she still thinks I’m over at Ned’s.”

               “Alright,” you sighed in defeat. “Well… promise to visit me like this sometime again?”

               “Promise,” he nodded.

               Peter gave you one last kiss before you slid off of his lap and handed him his mask, watching as he fixed it on and climbed out the window, then shot a web and swung away. You watched half in awe and half in longing, wishing he could’ve stayed even maybe just a minute more. He started to disappear into the distance of skyscrapers and towers, and you slid down the window, crawling back into your bed and resting your eyes, ready for school tomorrow.

                “You’re not going to school,” is the very first thing that comes out of Tony’s mouth when you arrive downstairs the next morning.

               “What?” you stare at him blinking, still clutching the straps of your bookbag. “Seriously? Do you know how late I stayed up last night working on those math problems?”

               “We’ve got a mission and I don’t feel comfortable leaving you home alone, so I’m taking you with us,” he stated. “Get packed. We leave in two hours.”

               “Is Peter coming?” you asked eagerly and he looked at you, disappointed.

               “It’s not a family vacation with your boyfriend, alright kiddo? It’s a serious situation we need to take care of,” he scolded. “Go up and get your bags. I’m taking you with us for safety reasons.”

               “Safety reasons,” you mocked under your breath as you walked away and you could practically envision him scowl.

               “You better behave young lady or someone’s going to get their window privileges taken away,” he warned and you stopped dead in your tracks, eyes wide.

               “Excuse me?” you turned around, shocked.

               “What?” he stared back at you, a bit prideful in himself. “You didn’t think I’d catch little Spidey-Boy crawling through your window last night?”

               “Dad,” you groaned, frustrated. “What did I say about invading my privacy?”

               “What did I say about the rules?” he cocked his head to the side, obviously annoyed. “I told you no seeing the Parker kid after midnight. And he’s definitely not allowed in your room.”

               “He wasn’t in my room!” you tried to protest with a lie and he narrowed his eyes.

               “Your window is part of your room,” he argued. “And last I checked, two in the morning is past midnight.”

               “Fine,” you grumbled, turning on your heels and walking back towards the elevator to go upstairs and pack.

               To be completely honest, you weren’t really sure where you were going, but from what Tony had told you, it seemed like the rest of the Avengers would be there. You’ve met them on a couple occasions, but Tony highly discouraged getting too involved. You understood to an extent, but you didn’t see what was so harmful about having a little fun. You were already dating one of them, and the daughter of another, why couldn’t you just be friends with the Hulk or Black Widow? What was so wrong about that? You sighed, pondering about it as you flung open your suitcase and looked for a couple good outfits to bring along. You didn’t know whether it would be warm or cold, so you decided to pack for both just to be safe.

               That’s when there was a knock on your door and you sighed once again, trudging to go open it. “Who are you?” you stared at the two men donned in suits strangely, seeing as you didn’t recognize them from anywhere before.

               “Come with us,” they simply stated, and you raised an eyebrow, twice as confused.

               “Did Tony send you? Are you going to take my bags?” you inquired.

               They shared a look, then nodded, going back to facing you. “Uh yeah, Tony told us to take your bags. You’re coming with us,” the first one announced, holding out a hand to grab your suitcase.

               “Oh,” you gave a second look, unsure at first, but noted the professionalism and the suits. “Alright.” You handed over your luggage and stepped out the door with them, wondering where Tony or Happy would be. They usually were right by your side during these types of excursions.

               “Keep up,” the second suited man encouraged, noting the way you seemed to be distracted as you followed them down the hall.

               Before you knew it, they were escorting you into the back of a limousine, then to a building. “Soooo…” you drew out the word as they took you down a series of hallways. “Where are we going?”

               “You’ll see soon enough,” one of them mumbled.

               “The way my dad made it out to be I thought we’d be going to London or Tokyo or something,” you laughed and they paused, turning around.

               “Your dad?” they asked at the same time.

               “Well yeah, Tony,” you clarified. “Uh, you know. I’m y/n. Y/n Stark.”

               “Right,” the first one nodded carefully, although looked surprised at the information. “Just down this hall, it’s the last door.”

               “You all keep acting strange,” you hummed. “Something doesn’t seem right.”

               “Just go through the door,” the second one groaned, opening it up and shoving you through. The doors clicked locked behind you and your eyes widened, seeming to realize this was probably a trap. Goddamn it, y/n, you were so oblivious sometimes. You instantly turned around, miserably trying to flail open the door, fingers gripped tightly at the handles, but you heard a tsk, tsk noise from behind and you rescinded, facing another suited man across a desk, this one with an aftershave and slicked back hair, looking particularly smug.

               “Ms. Stark now, is it?” he smirked, making you feel particularly uneasy. “Well, I thought you were just Spider-Man’s girlfriend, but now, what’s this? Iron Man’s daughter? How riveting.” He gestures to the chairs gathered around the conference table. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

               Panic seized your body at the realization and you instantly pressed the charm on the bracelet Tony had gifted you, the one he had urged you to wear in case of any emergency. He had crafted it himself with a tracker and alert system in case you ever were in a time like this. You clicked the button three times, expecting it to light up like it usually would, but nothing happened. You cursed, shaking and sweating, clicking it wildly, but the man just threw his head back in a laugh. You paused, looking at him, disgusted and terrified all at the same time.

               “That pretty little technology won’t work here,” he chuckled. “Give up already, there’s no escape. Nobody’s coming to save you, princess. Not your Spider-man boyfriend, and definitely not your Iron Man dad. It’s just you and me now. So why don’t you have a seat and let’s talk this one out?”

               “What do you want?” you scowled, crossing your arms, refusing to sit down.

               “Let’s be civil now,” he narrowed his eyes. “Wouldn’t want things to get ugly.”

               “Who are you?” you pestered him with another question, sick to your stomach that you were stupid enough to find yourself in such a shitty situation. Tony would be so disappointed.

               “Quentin,” he gave a sinister smile. “Quentin Beck.”

               “Am I supposed to know who you are or something?” you tilted your head to the side, clearly unimpressed. “Because I really don’t.”

               “I used to work for your daddy’s company,” he teased. “Stark Industries? Ring a bell?”

               “Yeah I’m not a dumbass,” you argued. “I know his company. But what does that have to do with me being here?”

               “You, my darling,” he begins, hardening his expression and pulling out his wrist, staring at it as if to check the time, but that’s when you realize the contraption fixed to his arm. “You are my chess piece.” He clicks a button and the entire scenery shifts, conference tables and seats fading away, making you scream and curse in confusion, until you focus upon a new scene with a dark sky. You’re in an alleyway.  Alone. “You didn’t want to take the easy route, so I guess you’ll have to play my little game, hmm?” His voice echoed in your ears, but you didn’t know where it was coming from. He was nowhere to be found.

               Surveying the area, you began to notice someone at the very end of the alley, a small boy with messy brown hair carrying a bookbag. As you approached, he looked familiar, and you began to run to him, eyes widening at the connection. “Peter!” you called his name, running faster towards him. “Peter!” But no matter how fast it seemed you ran, you were getting nowhere, the distance between you refusing to lessen. You called his name louder, hoping he would hear you, but a dark shadowy figure came into view at the end of the alley, pulling some sort of weapon out of his pocket, pointing it at the boy. “No! Fuck, Peter- no!” You ran as fast as you can, your lungs seeming to collapse and your legs burning with exhaustion, but it happened before your eyes. A zap of blue lightning seemed to shoot out of the weapon, causing the boy to tumble to the ground clutching his chest, then crumble to the gravel motionless while the shadowy figure walked away. Tears formed in your eyes, you screaming out, still trying to run towards him, but it was no use. He slowly closed his eyes, lips parted open, still. Was he-? No. He couldn’t be.

               As you ran faster you found the scene changing, and you were atop a glass bridge, high above a city full of lights, stomach feeling queasy. “What?” you looked around, panicked, wondering what had happened to Peter and the alleyway. You stared down the side of the bridge, head spinning. You must have been at least several miles up, everything was so small. You took a step back from the railing and felt the brittle glass underneath you crack, your heartbeat pounding in your chest. “No, no, no, no-” the glass shattered and you felt yourself falling down below, shutting your eyes tight, screaming as you fell, until you opened your eyes, the dropping sensation stopped all of a sudden.

               Everything was gone. You were in your bed. “Huh,” you laughed a bit to yourself. “God, I’m glad that was just a weird ass dream.” You sat up from where you were laying down, looking around to make sure, and you saw everything in place like usual. You sighed of relief, then heard a tapping at the glass, raising an eyebrow and going to check. It was Peter. Your eyes lit up and you raced towards the window, opening it up and greeting him with a smile, tugging him into your room. “God, I’m so glad you’re here,” you practically cried from happiness, embracing him tightly. “I was so confused, and I thought you were hurt, but I guess-” Suddenly he shoved you back and you paused, offended and scared, looking at the masked boy you loved. “Peter what are you doing?” He shot a web straight at you, pinning you the wall, practically suffocating. “Peter! What the fuck?” He shot another web. And another. And another. Each one suffocating you more and more. You felt like you might pass out each minute. Why was he doing this? That’s when he reached up to pull down his mask and you saw a ghastly face, skin peeled off, eyes bleeding, jagged teeth, a monstrous sight. You screamed and closed your eyes but when you woke up…. You were back where you began.

               You struggled to catch your breath, staring at the man who had caused you such worry, Quentin Beck. “You fucking prick!” you shouted, clutching your chest, trying to keep calm. Your head still felt like it was spinning, a dizzying sensation coursing through your body as you tried to reel back into reality. “Why would you do that? Why would you mess with my head like that? Why would you-”

               “Oh Ms. Stark,” he simply chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t you know? The game has just begun.”

               “Stop!” you raced towards him but it was no use, his fingers already tapping at the device on his wrist, scenery changing.

               Though this time, it was at an incredible pace. There was Tony, screaming at you, telling you he hated you, that he wished you had never come crawling back to him. There was your childhood bedroom, the screaming from your mother and stepfather being heard echoing down the halls. There was your school, bullies pushing you into lockers and tugging at your hair, laughing at you and calling you names. There were monsters from your nightmares, your worst fears come to life, visions so terrifying you felt as if paralyzed. One after another, small snippets crushed your soul, making you feel overwhelmed, scared, alone, questioning one after another. They all felt so real. Despite Beck’s machine and the conference room and the memory of being kidnapped, you felt each and every scene. Frustrated and confused, tears began to stream down your face, you screaming for him to stop.

               This time when you returned to the conference room you barely even had enough energy or willpower to stand, instead tumbling towards the floor, a sobbing mess, trying to form a coherent sentence. He had ruined you, messed with your mind, made you question everything. You just wanted to disappear. “Oh, sweetheart,” he teased in a patronizing tone, walking over to you, staring down at where you had collapsed. “What happened to that spitfire stubbornness you inherited from your daddy? It’s gone all of a sudden? What a shame.”

               “Fuck you!” you spat, still crying, eyes stinging from tears, heart racing, body aching. “Fuck you and your games! What do you want?”

               He knelt down beside you, clutching your face and tugging up your chin to look at him, making you feel helpless. “I want you to give me access to the room,” he whispered and your heart sank in your chest. “You know which one.”

               “N-no,” you sputtered out. “I can’t, I’m sorry, I really can’t do that-”

               “I know you can,” he insisted. “I know you and your little Spidey-boyfriend broke in once. You can break in again.”

               “That’s for the Avengers, that’s not for me, it was an accident the first time, I couldn’t have possibly done it on my own,” you rambled but he pressed a finger to your mouth to hush you.

               “Enough talking,” he silenced. “Take me there.”

               You bit down on your bottom lip, staring at him, trying to think of something, anything, but he was right. You were out of options. Defenseless. There wasn’t any other way. “Okay,” you surrendered.

               “Affirmative,” Beck spoke into an earpiece you just now realized he was wearing. “Task accomplished, voluntary captive, proceed.”

               He let go of your face, forcefully tossing you back to the ground, standing back and smirking, making you hate him even more. The conference doors swung open and the two suited men marched in, collecting you up from the ground, and you gave in.

               “Drive faster,” Beck snarled as the two suited men occupied the front seats of the limousine and he accompanied you in the back.

               “We’re driving as fast as we can, boss,” the one in the passenger seat reassured. “We don’t want to draw unnecessary attention towards ourselves.”

               “If Tin Man or Tarantula Boy comes crashing down on top of this limousine, I swear to god I’m going to wring your throats,” he threatened. “Drive faster!”

               You looked out the window as the skyscrapers and towers passed, wondering and hoping and praying that it would happen. That your dad would swoop in and scoop you right out of this limo, blast Beck in his stupid sorry face, and then beat the suited guys to a pulp. You had never seen him in action before. He had strictly kept you away from his whole superhero persona and business. But you secretly always dreamt of what it would be like to watch him save you from danger. You had only seen him wear the suit and use his powers in YouTube videos or on news snippets. If you weren’t so winded yourself, you’d try to unlock the door and tumble out onto the street and then race towards the nearest help. That was, if Beck didn’t catch you and strangle you to death beforehand. Instead you sighed, slumping down in your seat, defeated. The evil man sitting beside you failed to hide a slight smile upon noting your negative tone before gazing out his own window.

               That was, until the entire car jostled and both of you stared at each other for a second, the tires screeching and everyone in the vehicle shouting, jerking to the left. You crashed into the nearest parked car, your eyes readjusting as the broken glass collected in your lap and the airbags went off at the front. You tried to catch your breath before the car jerked towards the right, signaling this was only the beginning of the attack. “Who the fuck?” Beck cursed beside you, holding his hand to his forehead that was now bleeding, unbuckling and jerking open his car door. You watched carefully, then came to your own senses, crawling out of the car and looking out.

               “Y/n?” Spider-Man stood in the middle of the street, staring at you, head tilted. “Oh god. No, you were in that car, you could’ve been hurt, shit, I didn’t know-”

               Caught off guard, he was tossed to the ground with a single blast of Beck’s device, skidding across the asphalt of the street. “I am Mysterio!” Beck roared, shooting another blast, causing Spider-Man to come tumbling down once again, this time into traffic. “Fear me!”

Cars swerved, a couple honked, others turned around, some parked and people got out to record the chaos on their phones. You stood in shock, scared he would be hurt by this maniac. “No!” you raced towards him before Beck got in your way, shouting out his ridiculous villain name before shooting another blast as your boyfriend got up, slinging a web up towards a street light and swinging away.

               “Come back here, you stupid insect!” Beck roared.

               “I’m actually an arachnid,” Spidey shrugged, shooting at web towards his arm only to miss, catching the wall beside him. He was such a fucking dork. You couldn’t help but giggle to yourself despite the stress of the situation. That was, until you felt two arms come up behind you and put you in a headlock.

               “Hey!” you screamed, causing your boy to whip his head around to stare at the scene.

               “Y/n, no!” Spider-Man’s eyes went wide and as you began to choke you watched as he was swept off his feet from distraction once again, Beck stepping on his chest, pointing the weapon to his face.

               “S-stop! D-don’t h-hurt him!” you shouted out a strangled cry, but the arms squeezed harder. It was the henchmen, the suited ones, they must’ve gotten out of the car. You eyes teared up and you began to feel lightheaded, trashing and kicking about as much as you could, blurry vision watching as Beck kicked Spider-Man in the face, making your chest heave up with emotion.

               “Hey asshole!” you heard a familiar voice and instantly the arms dropped you, causing you to collapse to the ground. You groaned to yourself, realizing you had found yourself suffocating on the floor far too many times in the past three hours, before looking up, coming face to face with your father, fully suited. Your frown broke out into a grin.

               “Iron Man?” you raised an eyebrow, a bit eager to see how this would play out.

               “Hey Princess Peach,” he gave you a nod before extending his palm and blasting the suited man in the chest, sending him skidding down the asphalt. “You alright?”

               “Y-yeah I’m fine,” you replied, a bit shocked at the brutal violence and crazy technology, but amazed all the same. Also, a bit annoyed at the nickname, but your clapback could wait for later.

               “Good, cause I’ve got to go save your fool of a boyfriend,” he responded. “I’ll be back. You wait somewhere safe.” He zoomed off, rocket blasters lifting him up off the ground and soaring into the sky, then crashing down on top of Mysterio or Beck or whoever the lunatic was, sending Spidey free.

               “Hell yes!” you did a fist pump before racing towards the nearest awning.

               “Douchebag, why don’t you learn to leave my kids alone, huh?” Iron Man blasted him in the chest again, sending him towards the nearest building, but not nearly done with him yet. You almost wanted a bag of popcorn to munch on while watching the battle. Your eyes were fixated on the robot suit and the crazy screaming man until something out of the corner of your eye caught your attention. Fuck.

               “Pe- I mean, Spider-Man!” you caught yourself, looking around, realizing you couldn’t shout his name, swallowing down the rest of your words before racing towards him.

               The poor kid was sprawled out on the concrete, hacking up blood, and you raced faster, kneeling down beside him, gasping when you saw his suit. “Fuck, Peter-” you could barely breathe or speak. “A-Are you okay?”

               “Hey…” he weakly responded, barely even able to lift his head.

               “Jesus,” your face fell. His suit was torn in some places, blood stained in others, sticky webs tangled in other parts, and even some fabric singed. “Are you bleeding? Is that your blood?”

               “I’m fine, y/n,” he whispered but he clearly wasn’t. Sounds of screams, blasts, and crumbling buildings surrounded you, but you didn’t care. You needed to make sure he was okay.

               “Come on, we’re getting you out of here,” you insisted, trying to pick him up, but unable to do much but lift his torso. “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to drag you.”

               Struggling but persistent, you took him to the nearest building, thankful most people had already evacuated due to the violence in the streets. “Let’s go to the back,” Peter suggested. “I can’t have anyone see me.”

               “Right, right,” you nodded, helping him towards the back of the store, helping him sit up behind a couple aisles before rushing to the front door and locking it for your own privacy, then racing back to him. “Come on baby, let’s take off your mask.” You carefully helped pry the fabric of the suit off of him, letting him gasp for air, but frowned upon the sight of the gashes on his jaw and the already forming bruise on his cheek. “Shit Pete, it’s so bad-”

               “I-I’m okay,” he insisted, still coughing up a lung, clutching his side.

               “I’m so sorry,” you apologized. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, I should’ve been smarter, I didn’t know…”

               “I’m just glad you’re alright,” he reassured, putting a hand up to your face, holding your cheek softly. “As soon as Mr. Stark and I realized you were missing, we rushed out to find you. We didn’t know that you were with Mysterio, I would have never crashed the car, I didn’t know you were in there-”

               “I’m fine, really,” you gave a soft smile. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

               “I’ll be okay,” he smiled back. “I’m Spider-Man.”

               “Yeah,” you grinned. “I know.” You pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and sighed, hugging him gently towards you, letting him lean his weight onto your shoulder.

               “Y/n, c-can you maybe get m-me some water? Is that okay?” he stuttered out and you nodded quickly.

               “Of course,” you replied. “God, I should’ve thought of that. Yeah, one second.” You slowly got up and looked for the nearest fridge and then pulled out a couple bottles, taking it back to him, uncapping one before handing it off. “It’s really important you hydrate.”

               In that moment it was quiet. Silence. Peter leaning on you, occasionally coughing, slowly sipping on water, you playing with his hair while staring at his mask on the ground. This is what Tony meant when he told you that knowing was dangerous. When he had said that there were people who wanted to hurt you, to hurt Peter, to hurt him. You were part of this now, like it or not, and it was part of your responsibility, as well as his, that nothing happened to you. And you just went and ruined it. You pressed your lips together, feeling slightly guilty about it all, hating yourself. Not only were they constantly chasing after villains and going out on missions, they were now cleaning up after your mess. You lowered your head, feeling down, and Peter looked at you, concerned.

               “It’s not your fault,” he whispered. “You didn’t know.”

               “Yeah but I should’ve been smarter,” you mumbled. “I should’ve been better.”

               “Hey,” Peter frowned. “Don’t say that. Anyone else would’ve done the same. I’m just proud you didn’t give up. You kept fighting.”

               “Y-yeah,” you nodded, thinking back to when you had given up, when you surrendered, when you agreed to take Beck back to the tower. You were weak.

               “I’m just glad you’re okay,” he gave you a soft hug, smiling, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “That’s what’s important, alright? Not what happened, not who was involved, just that everything’s better now. Okay?”

               “Mhmm,” you replied, starting to get his point. “I guess you’re right.”

               “Hey Romeo and Juliet!” you heard a knocking at the storefront window and you both groaned. “You gonna thank Prince Charming, or what?”

               “I’ll get it,” you rolled your eyes, giving Peter another kiss on the cheek before heading to the door. “Yeah, yeah, thanks.”

               “We are going to have a talk, young lady,” he pointed at you, and even in the Iron Man suit, you could envision him narrowing his eyes.

               “I know,” you sighed. “I know.”

               “Where’s Spidey-Boy?” he asked, looking around.

               “In the back,” you motioned. “Gave him some water and let him take off the mask so he can breathe.”

               “That’s good,” he nodded. “I called Happy, he’ll be here any minute now to come pick us up.”

               “What about the mission?” you asked, a bit panicked as you walked with him to the back of the store.

               “Honey, that was the mission,” he explained. “We were supposed to track down Mysterio because he had stolen some high tech advanced weapons from me and was planning on stealing even more. Apparently we got the location wrong because, well hell, he was here with you instead of where we were headed in Berlin. Strangely enough, you getting captured was helpful, in a weird twisted way. Uh, anyways.” He clears his throat. “Don’t worry about the mission, we got it covered.” He pauses. “You okay, kiddo?”

               “I will be,” you reassured.

               “Good,” he put a hand on your shoulder. “Let’s patch up your boyfriend and then we can get home and talk.”

               The lecture Tony gave you was not nearly as bad as you thought it would be. Rather than scolding you for irresponsibility and stupidity, he reprimanded you for giving him a whole ass heart attack and a half. He reinstated just how important you were to him, and Peter too, saying that he’d do anything to keep you two safe or if need be, save you. He also explained a couple more things about the case, detailing his past with Quentin Beck, who had coined the name Mysterio and foiled several of the Avengers’ and Tony’s plans in the past, as well as stolen his achievements and inventions. He gave you a big hug and then promised to update your emergency bracelet before giving you permission to hang out with Peter Parker, although a bit hesitant. Honestly, he wasn’t half that bad as a father after all.

               “Hey,” you gave a half smile as you noticed Peter enter the lounge, holding a cold pack to his face. “How’s it going?”

               “Got a lengthy talk from your dad,” he laughed, shrugging his bookbag off his shoulder and sitting down on the couch next to you, stretching an arm around your waist and planting a kiss on your forehead, tossing the cold pack to the side.

               “Oh god,” you rolled your eyes and groaned. “I’m so sorry. What about?”

               “He said I can’t let you and my emotions get in the way of my work,” he chewed on his lower lip. “He noticed how I would get distracted whenever you were involved. With the car and then with the suited guys, I was always knocked to the ground whenever I was vulnerable. He said it wasn’t acceptable, no matter who was on the other end of the line, that I had to keep my head straight. Because in the process of saving you, I might lose you, and I might end up dead myself.” He shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. “It’s ridiculous, seeing as I’d do just about anything for you, but… yeah. I guess he does have a point. People need me.”

               “Of course,” you agreed, although warm hearted at his reflection. “There’s a world that needs saving.”

               “That job’s for your dad,” he chuckled. “Me? I’m more of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

               “Sure…” you replied sarcastically. “As if you’re not a web slinging Avenger in your spare time.”

               “Shhh!” he tickled your side playfully. “That’s a secret! How do you know?”

               “Peter! Peter!” you laughed, pushing him away until he rescinded. “Don’t you know my weakness? How dare you defeat me with your tickles!”

               “My bad,” he raised his hands in surrender, laughing a bit himself. He slowly trails off, staring at you, pressing his lips together. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

               “Same,” you whispered. “And for you too.”

               “No matter what happens, we’ll get through this,” Peter promised, smiling at you. “Together.”

               “Absolutely,” you nodded, breaking out into a grin. “It’s not like I’m dating a superhero for nothing.”

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:  He’s going to have a lot of conflicting feelings about this later, but for now, Matt will take what you’re willing to give him.

Rating/Warnings/Tags:T (sexual references; former nun!reader; reader knows Daredevil’s secret identity; inaccurate Catholicism)

Tag List: @imaginesfire​

Fic Trade Prompt: "Sometimes the ‘Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’ just needed a shoulder to lean on.“

Notes: I only ever saw the first season of Daredevil. Also, I mostly chose to write this particular fic trade response because I wanted an excuse to write something that, for me, was a shoutout to His Dark Materials, a book series I’m enormously fond of. 

I don’t actually know anything about Catholicism, however, and as a Christian myself, I realize His Dark Materials is not exactly a reliable source for learning about the topic of religion. If you are Catholic and something in here is incorrect, I implore you to inform me so that I can fix the problem. If it’s so horrendously awful that a mere edit won’t work, I’m even willing to rewrite it. 

In more specific-to-the-fic information, this is one of my few fic trade responses where I tried my hardest to stay within the word count restrictions. Alas, I still went over…and trying so hard means that this really isn’t near as sensory-overload-descriptive as I would want something from Matt’s perspective to be.

A Matter of Sanity

Matt woke up that morning to a barrage of sensory assault: warm sunlight splayed across his skin; humidity from the bathroom down the hall dampened the short hairs on his face; the smell of strange perfume sticking to the semi-cooled sheets beside him and his familiar shampoo drifting through the air. Toast had been made–and nearly burned–in the kitchen sometime that morning. He could hear the medicine cabinet closing, then bare feet padding toward him. Through all these floating, fuzzy feelings sliced his injuries from the night before: cuts, bruises, blisters, maybe a sprained wrist.

“Morning, Mattie.” 

Andthere was the reason he had not meditated after the fight, the reason his wounds felt as fresh as though he’d got them minutes before. 

Said reason lighted on the edge of his bed and slipped soft fingers into his sleep-mussed hair. “Did you sleep well last night?”

In answer, Matt let out an incomprehensible moan. As far as he could remember, not much sleeping had taken place in the apartment the night before. Still, he wasn’t one to quibble over what he’d been doing instead. Seconds later, he sat up, forcing you to stop playing with his hair so that he could wrap his arms around your waist and put his cheek against your moist, bare shoulder. 

“Are you sure you’ve never done that before?” he mumbled. 

You laughed, a sound that always caused a pleasant unfurling sensation to spread through Matt’s stomach. “Sorry. A girl has to have some secrets, even from her all-knowing, all-seeing blind lawyer friend.”

“Is that what we are? Friends?” Matt chuckled himself and tightened his grip as he pressed a kiss to your skin. “You are the worst nun I have ever met.”

Another laugh, then you gently patted his cheek with your shower-warmed hand. “Well, maybe that’s why I decided not to be one anymore. What do you want for lunch?”

The weight on his mattress vanished at the same time your body did. 

“Lunch? What time is it?” 

Frowning, Matt turned in the direction he heard you moving–toward where you had left the majority of your clothes the night before. Whether he had pulled them off or you had, he couldn’t quite remember. Then a more important question popped out of his mouth:

“Did you say you quit being a nun?”

You only bothered to answer his first two questions: “It’s nearly eleven o’ clock. Figured if you wanted to go somewhere, we’d better head that way, and frankly, Matt, there’s nothing in this apartment but beer.”

“Eleven? It’s Thursday. I can’t go to lunch. I’m already late for work–what was that about stopping nun-ing?”

“I called in for you. Foggy whined about you skipping over a woman as usual, but–”

“[Name],” said Matt. “The thing about your job?”

You heaved a dramatic sigh. “I quit, okay? I was going to tell you when I came over last night, but after all that, I kind of figured I didn’t have to anymore.”

“Some clarification might have been nice.” Matt hadn’t felt an overabundance of guilt at sleeping with you. It took two to tango, after all, and you’d been just as willing as he had. Now some dread began to creep in. “Why’d you quit?”

A huff sounded from behind the fabric of the shirt over your face. “I met a tall, dark, handsome stranger beating the tar out of a Russian slave trader in an alley, and he made me rethink my life choices.”

“That’s a cliché.”

“So’s a blind ninja fighting slave traders in New York.”

“Not exactly.” Pressing his lips together, Matt slid out of his silk sheets. He knew his shirt was not far away, but he hadn’t started pulling it on yet when he went on, “I didn’t mean to have you quit.”

“Matt!” you groaned.

“You can’t come with me. I didn’t mean to make you to feel useless.”

“I’m a grown woman, and I make my own choices. Youdidn’tmake me feel or do anything–and I know I can’t go with you to punch Russians. I just wanted to do a little good for Hell’s Kitchen.”

“Youwere doing good for Hell’s Kitchen. With the Church.”

“Have to disagree with you there. And I’m not going back. You can’t make me. I want to experience the world. I want to helpyou.”

“I already said, you are not–“

“Iknow,” you interrupted. “There’s more to do than break people’s bodies, you know.”

Matt stared at you, or stared roughly in the direction he knew you continued to pull on various articles of clothing. Another sigh issued from there.

“When I got here last night to give you the news, you were bleeding and shaking from head to foot. There’s nothing to eat here but booze and bread. You can take care of yourself, but you’re not very good at looking afteryourself.”

He had never really thought about it that way. His work as Daredevil was vital; eating, less so. Matt already healed faster than most when he wasn’t busy deflowering ex-nuns, and what didn’t heal after that, he could plow through just fine. On the other hand…

“Are you inviting yourself to move in?” he asked.

There was an obvious smile in your voice when you answered, “Well, you are the reason I’m presently homeless and unemployed. If you hadn’t seduced me away from a life of worship and piety, I’d still be doing my holy work, Matt Murdock.”

“And you’re absolutely sure you’re done with being a nun.”

“I think what we did last night pretty much sealed the deal.”

“And there’d be more of that.”

“I’m leaning toward yes.”

“And you really want to live here. With me. With the giant blazing billboard right outside the window.”

He got a pillow to the face for his trouble, or would have, had he not caught it before it smacked him in the nose. 

“Does it sound like I can afford to be picky about where I’m staying? I’m sure  about all of the above. I can always move out once I find something else, if you decide you hate having me here.”

Your tone turned just a little uncertain at the end of that sentence. Matt stood and stepped carefully (in case of more pillows) over the smooth floor toward you. 

“I won’t hate having you here,” he said. “Now that you mention it, it might be nice having someone here when I get home bleeding at two in the morning. To fuss over me and put me in place. When can you start?”

“Immediately.” You shoved something soft-ish into his chest. Pants, he realized as felt the hard button. “Now get dressed. It’s getting toward noon now and all that sex makes a girl hungry.”

“Right,” Matt said, and quickly started to pull on the pants.

Definitely the putting him in his place part, then. But maybe you were right. Maybe sometimes, the “Devil of Hell’s Kitchen” just needed a shoulder to lean on. He’d have to see, but he was leaning toward yes, too.

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: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.