#series
Type: Series
Status: Finished
AN: THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER AND I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY PREPARED FOR THIS!
Warnings: ANGST AND TEARS
Tony paced back and forth in the hallways of the hospital. He didn’t know what to do. He had said nothing to Steve when he met them at the compound, deciding it was neither the place nor time. And considering how things ended Tony had no clue how to contact Steve if things got even worse than they were.
It was not supposed to end like this.
Steve had already broken the others out of prison and was no doubt surprised to not find her there. Tony took the burner phone out of his pocket. Should he call? Why? All Tony had to say was bad news and it wasn’t like Steve could come.
Tony sighed and put the phone back in his pocket. He faced the closed door and turned the handle. “What are you doing here?”
Natasha turned from the hospital to look at Tony, shoving her hands in her pocket.
“Shouldn’t you be on the run or something?”
“I just wanted to check on her.”
Tony nodded in understanding. This was not something he would turn Romanoff in for. He walked to the other side of the bed and looked down at the girl who laid in it.
Jo had been in a coma since Tony had found her trapped beneath the plane wreckage. If he had known that was where she had landed… Tony shook his head. What was done was done. Blaming himself would not wake Jo up. According to the doctor’s nothing would. Even with Jo’s healing ability they were not certain this was something she could recover from. They had suggested pulling the plug… Doing so caused Tony to shout more than he had during the whole accords argument with Steve.
That would be too far.
To take Jo away before Steve could say goodbye to her. Tony hated the guy, but Tony also knew what it was to not have closure. Steve would need that when Tony finally got the nerve to tell him what had happened to his daughter. He already had his lawyers working on clearing Steve’s name, it was the least Tony could do, since Jo was here because of him.
“Don’t blame yourself.” Natasha whispered, as if she could read his thoughts. “Jo made her own choices and would slap you upside the head if she knew you blamed yourself.”
“You make it sound like she’s already gone.”
Natasha looked Tony in the eyes with a sadness he had never seen before.
Before either could speak the machine beside Jo’s bed began to beep franticly, drawing the attention of multiple doctors and nurses.
“She’s crashing!” Someone shouted.
“What’s happening?”
“Her heart just went from normal to nearly nothing and it’s not going back up!”
“Well do something!” Tony shouted frantically as a nurse tried to usher him out of the room. “Don’t you dare let her die! He’s not here! She needs to be here when he gets here!”
Natasha slipped out of the room without anyone noticing.
Tony sat as his desk, having ordered everyone to not disturb him until further notice. He looked at the small phone that now sat on his desk. That damn phone. That only had one number in it. Now there was no reason to not call, but still, Tony could not bring himself to do it.
This made him regret signing the accords.
Not the Avengers falling apart. Not losing Steve. Not locking up his friends. No, this was something he had no seen coming.
Tony downed the rest of his drink and picked up the phone. Some might call it cruel to do what he was about to do. Taking away a man’s hope that his daughter would find her way home to him. But Tony saw it as a mercy. Because false hope, was worse than no hope at all.
The phone rang three times.
“I didn’t think you’d call so quickly,” Came the familiar voice.
“Steve.”
“I honestly didn’t think you’d call at all,” Steve sighed.
“It’s Jo.”
“Do you know where she is?” Steve asked, panic rising in his tone. “Are you keeping her somewhere? Got a special prison just for her? Was your underwater one not secure enough? I mean, I know my daughter is impressive but to- “
“Steve stop!” Tony yelled.
The other line went quiet, Tony could only hear Steve’s breathing.
“She’s not… She’s not locked up.”
“Then where is she!”
“Steve…” Tony’s voice cracked. “Jo is dead.”
Steve couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. He barely registered the sound of Tony’s voice coming from the phone that now laid on the floor.
Jo
His Jo
Dead
That couldn’t be right. She was tough. Jo could take care of herself, as she liked to constantly remind him. There had to be some mistake.
“Steve,”
Steve turned to see Clint standing behind him, wearing a worried expression on his face. “Have you heard from Jo?” His voice was quiet, like it was painful to talk.
“No… Listen, Steve, I need to- “
“Have you heard from Natasha? Maybe she’s heard form Jo. Or T’Challa. Maybe he could find her on – “
“Steve! Slow down for a sec.” Clint spoke calmly. Clint picked the phone off the ground and held it up to his ear. “Tony? Yeah, it’s Clint. I know. Nat told me. I know. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him.”
Clint hung up and turned to Steve. “Steve, you already know what I’m about to tell you.”
“It’s not true. It’s not.” Steve growled. Something in him was breaking, like a damn that had been holding him together had finally taken too many hits.
“Natasha contacted me. She was there when it happened.”
“It can’t… It just can’t…” Steve fell to the floor, his back hitting the wall. Tears now flowed down the Captain’s face. He shouldn’t have let her go. Should have insisted on her coming with them in jet. Where he could keep on eye on her. Protect her.
His Jo…his daughter.
Clint sat down beside his friend, not saying a word. There is nothing to be said when someone loses a child. Nothing can describe such a pain. Nothing will be a comfort. Even time has trouble healing such a wound.
It was drizzling, which Jo would have said was completely cliché. Sam was back at the car. Respecting Steve’s wish of wanting to be alone for this. Tony had been able to pull some strings, so Steve could get to England undetected. It was the least he could do Tony had said.
Tony had had Jo buried next to her mother, where she belonged. He had even added Rogers to Jo’s last name and had put Joann on the tombstone. Jo would have slapped him for it.
Steve didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t say goodbye because there was no one there to say goodbye to. His daughter was dead. His whole world was gone.
He could have dealt with Peggy going, that he had been expecting. The fight about the accords was inevitable. Bucky was a tough one to swallow. But this. This may be the last straw. He had tried to do good. To do what was right, fight for what he believed him. And look where that got him.
Steve’s tightened his grip on the cardboard box as anger burned in his chest. He had given everything to cause all those years ago and for a split second he regretted it. Because then there would have been no war, no Peggy, no daughter to lose.
But then… He remembered the sound of her laugh. How annoyingly stubborn she could be. The movie marathons. The late-night trainings. And Steve realized that even with all the pain, loss, and fighting he would do it all again. Because it meant, even if he didn’t know it the whole time, he got to have a family. She was worth it all.
Steve placed the box in front of the tomb stone. “Enjoy your pepperoni pineapple pizza you weirdo.”
Steve didn’t notice the figure behind the trees as he walked back the car. Didn’t notice them walk to grave and pick up the pizza box as Sam drove away.
No one saw the daughter of the shield take out a slice as she made her way down the road.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy@iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey@capsicletho@geeksareunique@in-winchester-we-trust@buckyappreciationsociety@ek823@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @chloe-skywalker @thekeyfortherainbow@lostamongstthecosmos@prancingdestiel@manchildstagram@all-fandomthings@rainbow-starr
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
AN: I know this is literally the shortest thing ever but I wanted to get SOMETHING posted for you guys. More is coming!
Jo looked out the window as another car drove away from the gas station. Sam and Steve, were inside grabbing drinks since they still had a bit to go before making it to the place they were meeting Sharon.
“Has it been weird for you? Living in hiding?” Jo asked breaking the silence. She looked over at Bucky who was looking down at his hands. She didn’t expect an answer to be honest.
“It was nice actually,” His voice was deeper than she expected it to be. “No one was looking for Bucky Barnes. I was just another face on the street. I got to go to a grocery store. I can’t remember the last time I got to do something so…”
“Normal.” Jo finished.
“Do you miss living in hiding?”
Jo looked at Bucky slightly surprised. He shrugged.
“I did my research on you too.”
Jo sighed, “Sometimes, I think. I think I miss working in the shadows, the simplicity of it. Just being another face in the crowd.”
Bucky nodded in understanding. “Guess normal isn’t really in the cards for us, huh?”
“I think having a metal arm and being a sixteen-year-old who doesn’t age sort of killed that chance,” Jo answered. She looked over at Bucky and slightly smiled. He smiled back.
The car door slammed behind Steve as he walked over to Sharon. Jo sat in the back seat beside Bucky while Sam was in the passenger seat.
“Who’s she?”
“His girlfriend.”
“No, she’s not!” Jo growled. Sam glanced back at her and smirked.
“But he does like her, right?”
“Hmm, it’s a bit more than like her.”
“She’s my cousin.” Jo spat.
“Doesn’t that kind of make him her uncle?”
“That’s what I said!” Jo exclaimed turning to Bucky.
“That’s just gross.”
“I’m starting to like you.”
“Uh, Jo!” Sam called out.
Jo turned to see Steve take a step closer to Sharon and….
BANG!
Sharon and Steve jumped apart before their lips even touched and turned to see Jo with half her body hanging out the opened window, holding a gun.
“Oh! My bad! Thought I saw Tony flying towards you!” Jo apologized as she climbed back into the car. “Stop giggling like school girls,” Jo muttered only making Bucky and Sam laugh harder.
A few minutes later Steve had put the equipment in the trunk and climbed back into the driver’s seat.
“Was it necessary to take out her taillight?”
“It looked like Tony’s face.”
Steve turned around in his seat, so he was facing his daughter. “Is that what you keep saying no to? Her and I dating?”
“You are technically her uncle.”
“Thank you!” Jo exclaimed smiling at Bucky.
“So, you don’t want me to date?”
“You can date, just don’t date her.”
“Who do you approve of?” Steve asked with a slight smirk.
“Currently? Bucky.”
Bucky let out the loudest laugh Jo had ever heard. Steve noticed it was the first time he had heard Bucky’s laugh in over seventy years. He smiled.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy@iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey@capsicletho@geeksareunique@in-winchester-we-trust@buckyappreciationsociety@ek823@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @chloe-skywalker
Moon Knight (2022)
Moon Knight (2022)
Outlander | Season 6 (2022)
Peaky Blinders | Season 6 (2022)
Hawkeye l S1x06 “¿Llegó la Navidad?”
Addle Pate
[Genshin Impact x reader]
[Endgame: Albedo]
[tags: Isekai, reader has her own life not revolving around Albedo, slow burn]
[Part:5/??]
[taglist:@venti-loving-hours,@yostresswritinggirl,@starlynxx, @spqcebun, @dandelion-dreams,@m1sos0up,@turningmad and all that want to be tagged but I can’t tag!]
Chapter 5: A guide and a plan to a war crime (Otherwise called guns and more guns)
Your face soured as you forcefully swallowed the medicine Albedo had brewed up for you, trying your best not to throw it up. As much as you hated the taste, you really did need it to recover.
The alchemist wiped at the excess liquid on your chin, his eyes still stern as ever even as he watches for every shift of your expression. “How do you even drink so much shit without puking?” You managed to groan and he laughed softly in response.
"A stomach of steel is needed if I were to conduct experiments on myself,“ he paused to breathe. "Therefore I had to get used to it, no matter the risk or how horrible the taste will be."
"That’s not a very nice job.” You responded to him rather bluntly.
"I admit it isn’t the nicest, but it’s one of the fields I know to put my knowledge into.“ He stated as he gathered his things, leaving a note on the table and some Mora.
"Leaving for an expedition again? Sheesh."
At your question, he briefly turned to you. "Dragonspine is an area with many mysteries, it would be a waste not to explore it. It also decreases the chances of dangers for future travellers, since we would have a map.”
"You have a point, do be careful though.“ You’re careful to not mention Durin, or anything that related to dragonspine that wasn’t known to the knights.
The gods in Celestia probably laugh at your current misery.
"I will, be sure to rest and recover.” With that, he finally made his leave.
It’s been a few moments since you’ve laid down, and you were growing pretty restless. The cryptic letters didn’t show up in which you could safely assume that Dainsleif wasn’t currently in Mondstadt, not that you even had any problems with him being in the city. You saw him as someone awfully similar to Diluc, just with the opposite color scheme.
Needless to say, you groaned and forced yourself to get up and take your crutches for a trip to Good Hunter, you were not in the mood to cook and thankfully Klee was in the Knight’s Headquarters, leaving you completely alone at home to do whatever you wanted, and you did what you wanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Thanks.“ You mumbled as Sarah helped you get to your seat with food in tow.
"No problem.” She smiled at you, setting the tray of food on the table as you sat down. If there was anything you loved more than Mondstadt and it’s festivals, it would be the booze and the food. It was a perfect reflection of the people and the city, at least for you.
You didn’t waste any time and started digging into your food immediately, unable to contain the warm feeling pooling inside of you. Being alive was nice, for all your self deprecating jokes and crappy gen z humor, you did appreciate being alive.
Some time after you ate, you started zoning out and then an idea suddenly came to mind; If the Fatui had shotguns, why couldn’t you have a machine gun?
If you had an automatic glock then not having a vision would be the least of your worries in this world full of gods that walk amongst mortals and monsters, it’s not as if you’re gonna ruin the plot by joining the Traveller anyways; you literally had no reason to join Aether aside from shits and giggles and probably sightseeing but that’s about it.
You’re not Aether, you’re not strong, you’re not a savior or a knight to protect and serve people, you were just you. A bartender of Angel’s Share, someone who held information more than what they could and should handle.
You sat up from your chair and scoffed before you went to the front of the cathedral to unwind and relax.
Even if you were no hero, hell, nothing at all, you weren’t going down without a fight. But then again, was there even anything wrong with just being a normal person with a gun?
Haha, no.
You wait for the day you’d be able to scream at an agent “Welcome to America motherfucker!”.
It’s cold war time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remembering the parts of a gun from memory was surely a fun experience for you as you sketched the model you were familiar with on paper, as to why you even know gun models and its parts would just be because one of your friends from your world was a gun manufacturer.
You don’t know how the fuck you exactly befriended someone that’s probably a member of the Mafia, but friends were friends. Thankfully you had this uncanny habit of being able to memorize useless things to a t if you liked them enough; sometimes you hate it though, your selective brain didn’t get you to pass math at school.
You don’t really care if creating weapons of destruction was going to get you arrested, and again it’s not like you’ve never been arrested before anyways but you’re not really someone the knights should be worrying about when it came to those things, it should be Klee; a literal child who creates atomic bombs that can probably obliterate the whole country if she really wanted to for “playtime”.
How and why they even kept giving her gunpowder is beyond your understanding.
With that in mind, you now have a goal; get as rich as Ningguang by saving up, arm yourself with a glock and weaponize your own clothes and hopefully try to be alive at the end of everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two weeks had gone by and recovery had been easy due to you actually following along the routine Albedo had laid out for you for your medicine; as much as they tasted terrible, at least you could walk around freely now.
"Morning fellas!“ You bellowed, entering the tavern you missed working at. Charles perked up at your appearance, returning the grin you wore as the early customers of the tavern shared laughter at your cheerful demeanor.
"Aye, it looks like our favorite bartender is back!” One of the customers exclaimed, the group found themselves laughing at the offended expression Charles shot at them. “Sorry my guy, we just like this one, she’s neat."
"Gotcha! Glad to be back.” You finger gunned before you went to your station at the counter, you know that Charles would have nothing against you as long as business was booming anyways- favorite bartender comment aside. “Order now folks! Promise I’ll make it extra tasty for you!"
"Thanks! Remember to take it easy okay? Now we’d like some….”
~~~~~~~~~
"Man, things have been pretty wild in Mondstadt lately.“ One of the tavern patrons murmured, the clinking of utensils and cups filled with alcohol being muffled in the background as your ears tuned in to listen.
"Not THAT wild, and you shouldn’t even be talking about those things here.” His companion hissed through the hand he used to cover the side of his mouth in an attempt for privacy, you pretended to not listen though, you were working on occasionally gathering Intel for sure, but you didn’t want to give the poor customers the drift that no conversation is ever safe from the ears of the tavern staff.
"I’ve heard about the winds getting stronger near the east.“ The random patron replied to his companion, the words nearly made you halt; you almost forgot you’ve been anticipating the stormterror attack for some time after your unexpected arrival.
"How do you even notice these things?” You drowned out the rest of their conversation, no longer deeming it relevant anymore as you continued with your work.
If you counted correctly, you were staying in Teyvat for over two months or so now.
“Kid, something the matter?” Charles asked you as he shot you a semi concerned look.
“It’s nothing…. It’s just that I feel like there’s a storm coming.” You were careful in what you had to drop in case a third party was listening.
"That's…. Quite a hunch.“ That was his only reply before he quickly resumed serving customers again.
Another busy day, thankfully for you it was easy. Some patrons passed out on the tables or their faces smashed into their own puke, you shuddered at the reminder that you’d have to clean that up later.
You reminded yourself you’d get a bunch of buckets, towels and some water for tomorrow for these guys.
"There’s a lot more people passing out here than usual.” You murmured.
"Yeah, that’s to be expected.“ Charles replied a few feet behind you, wiping the mugs clean. "It’s payday.”
"That… makes a lot of sense.“ You slumped. "By the way, I’ll be cleaning whatever this mess that came straight out of them in a few, I’ll be right back to get the supplies."
"Sure thing kiddo, I owe you a favor."
You flashed a peace sign on your way out at the back of the tavern.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Waking up the sleeping patrons with the buckets you had prepared after painstakingly cleaning both the tavern tables and floors and the men that got their faces smashed somehow wasn’t bad.
They were at least coherent enough to greet you with a good morning and drink the water you provided them with in a practiced manner, you sighed in relief, no one had to choke.
But for the love of Venti, you didn’t get any sleep.
"Archons, you look like a mess.” Diluc deadpanned as he stood at the tavern’s doorway.
"You think?“ You squinted at him.
"Go get some sleep, I’ll finish what you started.” He sighed as he made his way towards you. “Don’t strain yourself too much."
Man, Diluc was too kind for his own good.
"I will.” You grinned, finally relaxing after somehow managing an all nighter.
"Good morning master Diluc.“ You heard Charles greet the man as you made your way out of the establishment, a yawn escaped you and you decided to stretch your limbs and bask in the sunrise first before heading back home.
You just remembered you were supposed to flesh out several gun models today.
~~~~~~~~~~
Unsurprisingly, you woke up a bit later than you’d expected. It was afternoon again but you felt energized, you groaned once it hit you that once again you’ve fucked up your sleep schedule as you did during late Highschool.
"Jesus Christ what am I doing with my life?” Existential crisis strikes once again, but you forced yourself to get up in the favor of your bladder.
If you were being honest with yourself, it was your bladder that motivated you mainly to get up in the early mornings. You silently cursed as you stumbled upon some obstacles on the way to the restroom, but thankful you did not stub on your toe or step on a DiY Lego set.
Late afternoon and you’ve slumped your face on your own work desk looking at the sketches you’ve made, thankfully they made sense now that you’re fully awake. The only thing you’d have to worry now is where and how exactly you were going to gather the materials for these items, you sighed at the realization you’d either have to ask Kaeya, Diluc or Lisa.
You deduced two latter choices would be the safer options than the former, knowing how tricky Kaeya can be sometimes, that and because he is a troll. Albeit an unexpected one, but he wasn’t the Cavalry Captain for nothing.
The fatui already had their versions of a prototype shotgun, this gave you a side idea to steal one to ask what material it was made out of but you quickly scrapped that out. You’d have to ask Sucrose as to how to formulate the gunpowder, bullets were out of the question, you’re able to make them yourself with the correct items.
The remaining questions were where and who you should have to assist you in the weapon making, Wagner was probably too busy with the weapons damaged by the adventurers day by day, would Albedo be a good option? You groaned and shook your head, surely it wasn’t only Wagner that could smith weapons in Mondstadt, Liyue of course was out of the question.
You didn’t expect this to be incredibly complicated, but you’re willing to be patient. You weren’t in a rush, it wasn’t like what the traveller had to do in game was your obligation or part of your priorities, they were going to have to shoulder most of that burden by themselves, you might help by providing some information here and there or go with them occasionally for benefits and sightseeing, but you weren’t going to let yourself get dragged into trouble you knew you aren’t equipped for.
You learned that the hard way in Dragonspine.
Before you get PTSD from that god forsaken and too cold for it’s own good mountain, you sink to your seat, mentally drained as you made the effort to empty your brain in an attempt to relax it. That brainstorm certainly took a lot out of you.
You fell asleep again before you knew it.
