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luminnara · 3 years

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It’s Been a Long, Long Time | Ch 6

Summary: When HYDRA had their prized asset, the Winter Soldier, they did something no one ever thought was possible: they gave super soldier serum to an omega. With the sole purpose of tending to him during his ruts, she spends decades living in HYDRA facilities, denied her humanity and her life. Now, years later, Bucky Barnes has his mind and his own life back...and the last thing he ever expects is to see a familiar omega again. Bucky/OC, a little angsty but mostly smutty/fluffy/romantic!

Part One | ... | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven

Tags: @kyrah-williams @oceanmermaidwitch @shawnie--jo @super-cape @ferxaniti @namjoonwatcheshentai @fandomsstolemylife00 @youngblood199456 @nightlygiggless @darlingely @ bluemoon-icecream @kaz11283 @jenjen8675309 @dollfacev8 @witchinpractice @mystical-b3ar @sukeraa

Bucky refused to leave the omega’s side while she stayed in the lab. Bruce had to stop him from trying to crawl onto the bed with her, and after about the third time, he convinced the super soldier to just pull up a chair like a civilized person and hold her hand while she drifted off to sleep again. Now that she was with her alpha, she had settled down for another nap, more interested in resting than answering any more questions so long as Bucky stayed and kept an eye on her.

Steve had to admit, it was endearing. He had never seen his friend so absolutely enraptured like this. Whenever the omega, or Ten, as Bruce was still calling her, shifted in her sleep, Bucky’s eyes were snapping over to make sure that she was okay. Whenever she let out a little whimper, he was purring and stroking her hair. Whenever she seemed like she might wake up again, his attention was completely on her.

“So...sure you don’t remember her?” Steve asked, pulling up a chair. He had left for a few hours to work out, and after a lack of updates from FRIDAY, he headed back down to check on everything. They were exactly as he had left them, which was a good sign. At least nothing was getting out of hand.

Yet.

Bucky shrugged, rubbing the back of the omega’s hand with his thumb. “I dunno. It’s...foggy.”

“Well, it seems to me like you’ve either got a history together, or she’s mistaking you for someone else.” Steve said. “Quite frankly, it’s hard to do the latter.”

“I’ve dreamt of her.” Bucky said quietly.

“...what?”

“It’s not much, but...I’ve seen her face.” Bucky looked down at her. “I think that no matter how many times HYDRA wiped my memory, she’s always been in there. Kinda like the one constant that was always around, the one thing I could always count on being in the base with me.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Steve asked.

“Never knew if she was real or not.” Bucky sighed. “I thought...maybe she was just something my mind made up to fill some of the gaps. But she smells exactly like I remember.”

Steve sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched his friend. Bucky wasn’t snarling anymore, most of his attention trained on the omega while she slept. Now that he was close to her, he had calmed down significantly, though he still wouldn’t let Steve within five feet of her bed.

“Just got off the phone with Tony,” Bruce announced, walking in. “He and Pepper will be back tonight. Pepper’s having some clothes and personal items delivered for our new omega friend here. They also asked about renovating a more permanent room for her, but I, uh...told them I wasn’t exactly sure what the situation would be.”

“She’s staying with me,” Bucky said immediately.

“Now hang on, hang on,” Steve leaned forward.

“Steve,” Bucky growled. “I want her with me.”

“Buck, you don’t even know her—“

Bucky interrupted him with a loud snarl, the omega in question whining and squirming in her sleep at the sound of it.

He immediately shut up, brushing a thumb over her cheek and shushing her until she was sleeping soundly again. Fuck, he felt so stupid. What was wrong with him? She could have woken up, or been scared, or upset, all because he couldn’t keep his big mouth shut. She needed her rest, and he needed to stay quiet.

Steve almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Oh, Buck,” he shook his head. “You’re in deep.”

—

Amoretta woke feeling well rested, and it wasn’t until she tried to stretch and felt the tug of her IV drip that she remembered where she was. Opening her eyes revealed the bright lights of the lab, and as she started to sit up, a few faces came into view.

“Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty,” Bruce said. “How are you feelin’?”

She licked her lips. “Juice box. Now.”

“Way ahead of you. Had this one waiting as soon as you started waking up.” He tossed one to her and was pleased when her hand shot up to catch it. “Reflexes look good. Vitals are all reading normal. I’ll have to run another test to see what’s going on with those suppressants, but I’m willing to bet you’re metabolizing them fairly quickly now. How are you feeling?”

She pulled the little straw off the back of the carton and jammed it into the top. “Nauseous. Like usual.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Side effect of the suppressants?”

“Always has been. Other than that...I feel great, actually.”

“Well, as soon as these wear off, we can figure out something nicer and more modern for you. If you want to use them, I mean.” Bruce shrugged. “Your choice.”

She smiled. “Choice. I like that.”

“Hey, we’re all about independence here,” Steve said happily. He was glad to see she was awake, even though Bucky wasn’t.

The other alpha was still at her side, but, as of about half an hour ago, he was napping. Steve made a mental note to never let him forget the way he slept straight through the one moment he had been waiting for all day.

“What time is it?” She asked. “There’s no windows in this damn place.”

“Just after dinner,” Bruce chuckled. “You slept most of the day. Bucky hasn’t left your side.”

She looked over to her soldier, smiling warmly at the sight of him sleeping. He was even snoring softly. “I haven’t gotten to see this in forty years.”

“Did you two, uh…” Steve cleared his throat. “Spend a lot of time together?”

The omega laughed. “You always this awkward around girls?”

“That’s not—“

“Relax, I’m just giving you a hard time.” She sucked on her straw. “But...yeah, we did.”

“So...you were just kept for his ruts, or…” Steve was so awkward it was almost endearing. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I think.”

“It’s okay. I know my lot in life.” She kept her eyes trained on Bucky as she spoke. “But if I’m going to answer more questions, I want to get out of this bed. And I want real clothes. Then I’ll talk.”

And so, only several minutes later, Bruce was handing her a sweater and some shorts he had grabbed from a little stash of extra clothing, and Bucky was startled awake by Ten stepping past him. She was finally free from all the tubes and cords that had been sticking out of her during her little hospital stay, and she was all too eager now to explore the tower.

She stood on wobbly legs, almost falling onto him when she tried to take a step. Bucky was up in a flash, ready to catch her, and as she fell against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her. Despite just waking up, he felt fully alert, completely ready to tend to his omega’s every need.

His omega...he liked that train of thought.

“We can head up to the common area. It should still be quiet.” Steve said, leading the way out.

Bucky kept an arm around his omega’s waist as they followed, Bruce bringing up the rear. He wanted to be touching her at all times, constantly in contact so that he couldn’t lose track of her. His instincts were roaring to life, demanding that he do everything in his power to make sure that she was safe and in his line of sight. The elevator ride was tense and full of possessive growling, Bucky constantly shoving Ten behind him to keep her in the corner and as far away from Steve as possible, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the doors slid open and they could step out of the cramped space again.

The common area was empty, thankfully, FRIDAY informing them that the other Avengers were all either working out or in their private quarters.

“Good,” Steve said, heading towards the couches. “No interruptions. Got it, FRIDAY?”

“Understood, Captain Rogers.”

“C’mere,” Bucky mumbled, pulling his omega down to sit on one of the couches with him. Part of him was feeling a little sheepish and self conscious of his behavior...but the rest of him didn’t give a shit. The others could stare and shake their heads all they wanted, but he’d be damned if he let Ten slip through his fingers again.

Or whatever her name was.

Steve and Bruce sat across from them, making sure that they left as much space as possible between themselves and the new omega. Neither of them had ever seen Bucky behaving quite like this--he was on guard, hyper aware of everything around him. He made sure that she was pressed up against his side, an arm draped possessively over the back of the couch so that it was unmistakable that she was with him.

Christ, what had gotten into him? He couldn’t remember ever acting this way about an omega before.

“So…” Steve cleared his throat, sitting with his elbows resting on his knees.

Bucky didn’t really like the way his posture made him lean forward towards his omega, but he could deal with it for now. “So.”

“What do you wanna know?” Ten asked, plucking at Bucky’s shirt. She seemed to be even clingier with him than he was with her, perfectly happy to be hanging off him or tucked up against his side. “You met my demands. I guess I’m an open book now.”

“I don’t want to overstep my bounds,” Steve said. “We just need to know as much as you’re willing to share.”

“Then ask a question.”

“...Alright.” he cleared his throat again. “You said HYDRA used you to help with Bucky’s ruts?”

Ten nodded, her expression remaining even and cool.

“Could you tell us more about that?” Steve glanced at Bucky. “Were there ever any other omegas, or anyone we should know about?”

“There were omegas before me.” she answered. “When I first got to the compound, there were a lot of us. They kept us all in big cells, so everyone talked. People said things about how HYDRA was grabbing omegas off the street for their super soldiers, and how the one at our base was the biggest and scariest.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow at her tone. He wasn’t exactly sure what he expected her to sound like while she regaled them with her life story, but he definitely thought there would be a tad bit more apprehension in her voice. She seemed proud of herself, and more matter-of-fact than a lot of omegas would be while talking about their alpha’s previous partners. Or...whatever you called prisoners whose only purpose was to help during ruts.

“And I bet he was,” she sighed, leaning her cheek on Bucky’s chest and looking up at him adoringly.

“Well, I don’t know about that…” Bucky said, an almost shy smile on his lips. And...was he actually blushing?

Steve was going to lose his mind.

“You said the other omegas couldn’t handle it? That’s why you were given the serum?” he prompted, trying to keep them on track before he drowned in the sticky sweetness of her happy pheromones.

“Right.” she turned her attention back to Steve and Bucky let out a quiet huff. “HYDRA didn’t really like to take care of us. And the soldier--I mean, Bucky--would wear them out. So...HYDRA would just kind of let them go. Or put them down, maybe. I never saw it.”

Bucky’s expression dropped. His blush was gone, and he almost looked like he was going to be sick as he listened to her talk.

“But it wasn’t his fault,” she said quickly, glancing between him and Steve. “I don’t think it was ever on purpose, you were just...demanding.”

He gave a groan, leaning his head back against the couch. “You don’t have to sugarcoat it, doll. I’d rather know what I did, at this point.”

She offered a small shrug. “I don’t really remember it being that bad, but I don’t think I ever met you before they gave me the serum.”

“That’s something, at least.” he mumbled, dragging a hand down his face.

“Why you?” Steve asked. “Did you have any prior military experience, any ties to something the others didn’t?”

“No.” she laughed. “I never even got in fights before HYDRA.”

“Then why’d they use such an important resource on you, specifically? Not trying to take a dig at you, it’s just...well, omegas don’t usually…”

“I know,” she said. “Omegas aren’t supposed to be tough, right? That’s why they only ever let alphas become super soldiers.”

“That’s not what I…” Steve trailed off and then sighed. “Sorry.”

“I told you, they gave me the serum so that I would be strong enough to hold my own. It also ensured I would always be around, no matter how many years passed.” Her fingers found Bucky’s free hand and she took it, absentmindedly playing with the smooth vibranium knuckles. “Having me as a constant meant they could stop spending so much time and effort on always having a new omega around for him. Plus…well, I wasn’t really there, but I heard something about it once…”

“What?” Bucky asked.

“They let you choose who was going to become your omega.” She said, looking up at him. “They gave you a bunch of scents, and you chose mine. I guess it was the only reason they didn’t, uh...humanely euthanize me.”

His eyes were wide. The thought of HYDRA killing his omega brought a low growl to his throat, his chest rumbling with the vibrations of it. “No.”

“Well, clearly they didn’t!” She said brightly. “My file said I was a kicker.”

“So they gave you, an already aggressive omega, the serum, but never gave you any trigger words or fished around in your brain?” Bruce shook his head. “Surprisingly sloppy, considering who they are.”

“It’s not like they ever sent me out into the world. I stayed in my cell all day, unless I was needed for a rut. Then I went and stayed in a different cell.” She sighed. “And if they ever needed to, they could just use the alpha to grab me.”

Bucky clearly didn’t like the thought of that. He made a frustrated sound, leaning his head back again. “Great.”

“It was never bad.” She let go of his hand, moving her fingers to cup his jaw. “You never hurt me. You wouldn’t. Sometimes, when I acted up, they would make you go retrieve me, because they knew you were the only one who could do it. If they didn’t send you, they would just knock me out.”

“So...that was it?” Steve asked. “Ruts, serum, cryo?”

“For thirty years!” She chirped. “The last time they froze me, they were freezing him, too. They always tried to keep us in cryo at the same time so that I could be thawed out and ready when he needed me. But...I guess they just...left me there?” She frowned.

“See, that’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.” Steve said. “I didn’t see any signs of a struggle at that base. I’d say they left in an orderly fashion, but the fact that they didn’t take you along makes me think they were in more of a hurry than they made it seem.”

“Natasha might have a better idea,” Bruce suggested. “We can talk to her, try to figure out—“

“FRIDAY, open the damn door or so help me God I will rewrite your entire personality.” A voice interrupted from the other side of the door.

“I’m sorry, Tony, but Captain Rogers asked me not to.” The AI said.

“Well, is it an emergency?” The man scoffed.

“No emergency measures have been executed. No security breaches have been identified.”

“Then I’m sorry, but Captain Rogers does not outrank me when it comes to my own robots. Open the door, beautiful.”

She seemed to sigh. “Very well, Mr. Stark.”

Ten perked up, leaning forward slightly. She was watching the door curiously, tilting her head a little when she heard it slide open. Bucky rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself quietly and pulling her up against his side as another alpha strode in.

“Really? Having a party without me?” the man asked, a smooth, casual air about him as he walked in and looked at everyone on the couches. When his eyes landed on the omega cuddled up next to Bucky, he stopped. “Ah, is this our new guest?”

“Go away, Stark.” Bucky growled. He didn’t like how long the other man’s gaze was lingering on his omega, not when there weren’t any scars on her neck to show who she belonged to.

“Always such a charmer, Barnes.” Tony said, flopping down next to Steve. “Lovely to see you, too. Care to introduce me to your friend? ….No, you’d rather just snarl and forget your words? I knew you were old, but I didn’t realize you were actually a caveman.”

“Tony,” Bruce groaned. “Don’t aggravate him. Please.”

“Why not?” Tony leaned back against the cushions, completely at ease and totally happy to be pressing every one of Bucky’s buttons.

“Are you Tony Stark?” Ten asked, wiggling out of Bucky’s grip to sit on the edge of their couch.

Bucky caught her around the waist before she could get very far, though, and dragged her onto his lap. He loomed over her, sneering dangerously at Tony as the other alpha flashed a smile.

“Bingo.” he said.

“I never thought I’d meet a Stark,” she admitted. “I always heard about Stark Industries, but I lived too far away from any big cities to ever get to see any of his exhibitions.”

“Ah. You’re from my father’s time. Of course.” Tony shot a pointed glare in Bucky’s direction. “Seems like Bruce left out a few teensy weensy important details on the phone today.”

“Well, it’s been, uh...an ongoing learning experience.” Bruce said sheepishly.

“Lots of developments, huh?” Tony raised an eyebrow.

“You could say that.” Steve said under his breath. “We came up here so Ten could be more comfortable while we talk.”

“Oh yeah? What’re we talkin’ about?” Tony asked.

“They were asking about my time with HYDRA,” she answered, cutting in before anyone else could. “And with...Bucky.”

Saying his name felt odd. Her tongue wasn’t used to it, and her mind wanted to call him alpha, or Winter Soldier. Bucky just seemed so…casual, such a strange thing to call a deadly super soldier. When she heard herself, though, she decided that she definitely didn’t hate it.

Bucky’s heart gave a little leap at the sound of his name falling from her lips. He wanted her to say it over and over again, in whispers and in screams, for nobody else’s ears but his.

“...Buck?” Steve asked, pulling him away from his thoughts. “You, uh, kinda zoned out there.”

It wasn’t until Bucky looked at Steve that he realized his eyes had been trained on the omega in his lap. “Yeah?”

“...Is this seriously how you’ve spent the past day and a half?” Tony asked. “Steve, I’m sorry, and I’m sure you’re just trying to be as helpful as you can be, like always, but I think you should let these two get a room.”

Steve looked at him incredulously. “Tony, really? I’m trying to get to the bottom of why exactly HYDRA would abandon the omega they pumped full of super soldier serum. They can get a room later—“

“Yeah, uh, wonder boy? I don’t think your pal is gonna last much longer before he tries to rip our heads off.” Tony nodded towards a very disgruntled Bucky. “You can resume your interrogation tomorrow, Cap.”

Steve looked to Bruce for help, but he only offered a small shrug and stood, heading towards the door. “He’s right, Steve. They deserve some alone time.”

“But—hey!” Steve protested as Bucky picked his omega up, striding past the two alphas sitting on the opposite couch.

“Thanks for everything, Steve.” Bucky said over his shoulder.

Ten squirmed, peeking around Bucky’s arm as she was carried away. “Bye, Mr. Stark!”

“Don’t look at him,” Bucky growled as they walked out the door.

“Did his father really make hoverboards? I heard once that Howard was promising hoverboards—“

“No.” He said flatly.

“...oh.” She huffed, slumping against him. “Where are we going?”

“My apartment.” Bucky stepped into the elevator, his grip still tight around her.

The omega perked up. “You have a whole apartment?”

He puffed his chest out a little. “Course I do. Gotta have a nice place for you, don’t I?”

“So I can stay?” Her eyes were bright and happy. “I can stay there, with you, all the time? Not just when you rut?”

He felt a sad little pang in his heart. When he spoke again, his voice was low and soft. “Of course, sweetheart.”

Then, his eyes widened as he realized what he was saying. “I mean, uh...i-if you want to, that is. I know it’s fast and all, and maybe...would you rather have your own room? Or I can stay on the couch—“

“Bucky,” she cut him off with a laugh, a soft hand cupping his jaw. “You’ve been my alpha for seventy years. I’d say we’re actually moving pretty slow.”

His expression relaxed again, lips stretching into a small smile. “Right. Yeah. You’re right.”

They spent the rest of the elevator ride in comfortable silence, Bucky rubbing his scent glands all over her hair. He wanted to make sure that the next time they encountered anyone else, she smelled exactly like him.

Like her alpha.

When the elevator came to a gentle stop at Bucky’s floor, the doors opened, and he stepped out in front of his apartment door. It opened for him, having already scanned his biometrics, revealing a small, but cozy, living room.

He set his omega down on her feet, watching anxiously as she stepped into his quarters. Did she like it? Fuck, was it too small? It was too small. She probably hated it. Fuck, fuck, fuck...he had to salvage this somehow.

“Well, uh…” shit, he sounded too nervous. He wanted her to think he was a strong, capable alpha.

He cleared his throat for another start. “Welcome home, Omega.”

Wait. That wasn’t right. Should he be calling her that? No, probably not, it sounded too possessive, too uncaring. He wished he just knew her fucking name, or something.

“I mean…Ten?”

Shit, he sounded so stupid. He wanted to impress her, not...do whatever this was.

She just laughed, though, turning and looking at him with those eyes that sparkled like starlight. “Amoretta. My name is Amoretta.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x oc #abo #omegaverse #alpha bucky #alpha bucky barnes #it's been a long long time #avengers x reader #avengers x oc

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canonicallysoulmates · 4 years

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Jensen was, once again, on Rosenbaum’s podcast; he had been on it last year it was a really good interview if you haven’t heard it I highly recommend it I also recommend checking out this new/more recent appearance it’s up for free on youtube I’ll leave a link at the end of this post in case you wanna check it out. I will say they don’t talk about the content of the final two episodes - this came out today (edit: yesterday, Sep 8th, since i’m posting after 12am) but the interview happened when the boys were starting their Canada quarantine - so if you’re looking for info regarding the final episodes of the show you’re not gonna find it here, however, just like with the first time he was in the podcast, if you wanna hear two people who have known each other for a while talk then check it out. This was a bit more structured imo than the first time he was on the podcast.

I, personally, am glad Jensen was on the podcast again because I really enjoyed his first appearance in it and I like Rosenbaum’s more laid back interview that’s more like a conversation style I think he gets people to open up more than they usually would in a more formal interview.

There were some things that stood out to me so this is going to be a semi-recap type opinion post. Also, for the sake of convenience, from henceforth Michael Rosenbaum will be referred to as MR.

- Even before the interview starts there’s something I loved and it’s MR saying/stating that j2 are the leads of the show, thank you MR for knowing what so many in this fandom fail to ❤

- Jensen spend a good chunk of this interview being fond over Jared and making them sound super married, and it started right at the beginning around 4 minutes in when after mentioning that some changes have been done to the final two epi scripts and that there were some things they could no longer do due to covid, MR - for some reason....(do you know something rosenbaum 👀😂) - goes “like you and jared can’t make out” and Jensen without missing a beat replies that corona or no corona he and Jared are making out...😏

- After some, actually pretty cool talk about how things are currently working bts and such, Jensen, once again, talks about Jared. MR and him were having a conversation about some changes that have been made for filming due to covid including the longer lunch breaks which turned the conversation on to food on set and MR asked if there was some go-to that catering knew to make for him like when he arrived on set in the morning so of course Jensen replied by talking about what Jared usually has for breakfast on set which is a breakfast burrito and he couldn’t resist mentioning the fact that Jared and him bicker about it because Jared likes to say he doesn’t eat breakfast to which Jensen points out the burrito and Jared insists that it doesn’t count- they sound so married I can’t fucking deal. Also, I love Jensen’s...fond laugh when he mentions that he and Jared get into “arguments” about it, he’s so soft for his boy 🥰 When he does get around to answering the question of what he usually gets he once again brings up the burrito, he says he usually gets breakfast on his way to work, a coffee and a simple, breakfast sandwich...so when he goes to the studio he won’t be tempted to go to catering and order a giant breakfast burrito. I wonder how many times they’ve argued over that damn burrito 😂

- MR asked Jensen if, after 15 years, he and Jared have their ups and downs and annoy the shit out of each other or if they’re like ‘I love him’ all the time. Jensen replied that over 15yrs there are moments when he’s like ‘I don’t need to see him right now’ but that for the most part the majority of the time “they’re buddies hanging out”

- One of the most interesting parts comes after MR asks who has the shortest fuse on set. And, Jensen, unsurprisingly to me, replies that it’s Jared who has the short fuse. I say unsurprisingly because while we as a fandom have gotten used to seeing Jared being silly, kind, sweet and caring to the point where some think of him as completely helpless, he can actually be very serious and professional, and I’ve always been of the thought that he is sweet up to a point reach that point and you’ll be in trouble. So, I wasn’t surprised to hear Jensen say Jared is the one with the short fuse, I also wasn’t surprised by him say that he likes to light Jared’s fuse, or that he knows how to get under Jared’s skin.

Jensen also said that his and Jared’s frustrations tend to line up, so if something isn’t working or frustrating he’ll quickly bring it up to Jared or Jared will quickly bring it up to him; he also knows how depending on the severity whether Jared will get wound up and heads will roll or whether he’ll be able to diffuse the situation. That’s...a lot to unpack. Him saying that if something ain’t working or is frustrating they’ll quickly bring it up to one another makes me think of all the times they’ve said that they made each other a promise back in s1 to never let things escalate between them to the point it did when they had that big fight back then, it’s kind of in the same line but like because of him saying depending on the severity and if heads will roll it also sounds like he’s referring to maybe problems with a crew members or something maybe someone stepping out of line (which actually later on he does say they have had some situations over the years where new people will come in like guards and not treat their crew member the right way) and like just them having each others backs at work and protecting each other. Also, I think it says a lot about how well Jensen knows Jared that he knows whether Jared is going to snap about something or if he’ll able to calm him down. And it sounds like he’s the one in charge of cooling Jared down if something does happen that winds him up.

He also said the few times that he has snapped Jared tends to be behind him ready to help with the insults if need be in others words Jared has his back.

He also mentioned that there have been situations where they’ve had new people come in and not treat other crew members well so he and Jared have had to step in and let that person know the behavior that is expected of them, that makes me respect them even more like it’s no surprise spn truly is their show and for years guest stars have praised them specifically, for the environment that they have created and maintained on set- the way Jensen puts it is that they have had to put their producer hats on that they don’t actually own, I’ll forever be bitter that they never got a seat at the writer’s/producers table because they fucking deserve producer credits for this show with all the work they put into it that goes beyond acting in it. [timestamp]

- MR pretending to be Jensen: “you know Daneel- your wife”. I don’t know why this made me loose my shit, there’s just something hilarious about MR bringing up D and pointing out to Jensen that he’s talking about his wife as if Jensen had forgotten who he was married too 😂 (although considering how many times Jensen said Jared’s name and the whole making out thing I can’t blame MR for thinking Jensen had forgotten, silly rosenbaum he didn’t forget that’s why he kept talking about jared 😜)

- Jensen gave a cool funfact! Originally, the production wanted to get Bruce Campbell to play present-day John, back in s1, since JDM wasn’t that much older than the boys but for some reason or the other they weren’t able to get him so they decided instead to gray up JDM a bit and have him play an older version of himself! I wish Bruce Campbell would have appeared on the show because that would have been awesome but I’m glad they kept JDM playing John, I can’t imagine anybody else bringing that character to life.

- Another interesting moment- or I guess not really interesting just something that stood out to me is that when MR asked if it had been hard to isolate and quarantine with D and the kids for 5 months Jensen said that it had been hard but he and D had a solid partnership, friendship, relationship....instead of just saying marriage. Which encompasses those three words. He went with three words that could be used to describe a relationship with a romantic partner, or just a friend which actually- it sounded less like he was talking about his wife and more about a friend who he’s raising his kids with.

- They talked a little bit about Jensen’s album with MR even playing a bit of it and praising Jensen for his voice 🥰

- At the end Jensen opens up a bit about his mental health and how quarantine affected it and while he doesn’t go into detail he does say his kids kept him from falling into a depression and that there were days where he found himself lost.

I am going to sound like a little bit of a *censored* because while he was talking about this at one point he mentions how his kids give him purpose and push him to find something to do and he starts listing things and one of them is making the kids dinner, setting them up with a movie then having a date in the kitchen with his wife which got a snort out of me because a couple months ago he did the How Are You Today interview and said he and D hadn’t gone on a date in months and yes, you could make the argument that he meant gone out as in to a restaurant but it sounded like he meant in general so when he brought that as an example of something he could do I just went *snort* yeah right. That being said, I think he brought that up more as an example than anything else but it did make me go ‘sure jan’.

That moment aside, I think this might be the first time I’ve seen him open up about his mental health and struggles he might be having with it, I’m proud of him for talking about it even though it does seem like a topic he doesn’t feel fully comfortable sharing with the public which is completely valid.

Jensen on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum September 8th 2020

#j2 tinhat #jensen related #mine #jenneel critical #just cause i make some slightly bitchy comments #this too me way longer too type up than I thought it would #i'm exhausted and it's almost 4am my ass is going to bed

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theawkwardterrier · 4 years

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Games We Play

Steggy Week 2k20, day 3 Prompt: Modern Day

Summary: Steve and Peggy’s new interest in their phones has the others confused and concerned.

AO3 link here. Thanks to @steggyfanevents for organizing!

Steve often sits up front to chat with Clint when he’s in the pilot’s seat. According to him, he used to do that during the war sometimes too, just shooting the breeze while being transported here or there. (Well, he actually said “shooting the shit,” which made Clint raise an eyebrow, but probably like him more than he thought he’d ever like someone who referred to “the war,” as if there’d only been one.)

It’s just the two of them today - unusual but they were the ones around - and yet Steve takes out his phone as they take off, fiddling around and muttering at it.

“You need me to drop you over the Apple Store on the way back?” Clint finally asks, trying to tease out what the issue is. He’s actually fine without a conversation, and Steve is pretty good at comfortable silence, but you take care of your teammates, notice when something’s different. Agent Carter might be around, understanding him in ways no one else can, but it can be good to get a new perspective.

“What?” Steve says, still distracted. “No, it’s fine.” He gives a final, triumphant tap to his screen, mutters, “How d’you like that?” and puts his phone into his pocket.

“Okay.” He leans back in his seat, crossing his legs at the ankle. “Now explain the appeal of NASCAR to me again.” So Clint does, and Steve still doesn’t get it, and Clint notices him continuing to check his phone the whole rest of the trip back.

“Morning, Aunt Peg!” Tony strides into her office as if Peggy’s assistant is a potted plant, and not even a particularly interesting one. Hugo is a bulldog with nearly everything, and had actually tendered his resignation in shame over his inability to stop Tony from doing what he wanted; Peggy told him that unfortunately this was a Stark feature that they would both have to simply learn to live with.

By which she means that Hugo can stand down and allow Tony entry without a fight - but that Peggy doesn’t have to give him a scrap of attention until she is ready to do so.

She doesn’t even glance up as he seats himself across from her, slapping a file folder against his palm. The gum he is chewing - actual bubble gum, like a child - is obvious from both the scent and the bubbles he blows to entertain himself as she continues to drag her finger across her tablet.

His patience, of course, runs out first. Doubtless he’d already been a little buzzy with energy if he’d decided to take a trip down with hard copy documents for her. “What are you doing there?” he asks, craning to see, but the glare from the window is too strong and a second later, she’s dropped the cover shut anyway and transferred her attention to her computer monitor.

“I think you’ve adapted too well to modern technology,” he tells her grumpily, watching the ease with which she switches between them. That actually makes her flick a laughing eyebrow upward.

“We use what we have and do what we must. I would certainly like to see you trying to get by in 1945.”

Tony shudders. “No bet. I’ve seen one of my dad’s old soldering irons from back then. Thick as a pipe. Totally without finesse.”

“Howard did manage quite a bit without your fancy tools, but there’s no shame if you couldn’t,” she says innocently, attention entirely focused on clicking something as he sputters in front of her. Typing a few final words, she finally turns toward him fully. “Now what was it you needed, or were you merely finding it dull in your workshop despite your precision soldering irons?”

“I’m starting to remember why I always regret coming down here,” he mutters, but flips the folder onto her desk anyway. “Just need your John Hancock by the arrows. Or Jane Hancock, I guess.”

She picks up the file, starting to page through it as she remarks over the top, “Oh, are we going to waste some perfectly good tea by tossing it into the harbor?”

“I think your Lipton is safe.”

“As if I would ever,” she says sternly, marking a large X across a paragraph she doesn’t like, turning the page and doing it again. Once she’s finished with the whole document, she drops it back onto the desk so it slides toward him.

“You must have known I wouldn’t sign that.”

“Worth a try,” he shrugs.

“Well, try again and see if it’s worth your while,” she says, just as her tablet makes a soft, insistent ding.

“Need to get that?” Tony asks, leaning shamelessly forward as she flicks the cover open.

She spins her chair, saying archly, “I do, actually. I assume you can find your way out?”

“Naughty pics from Cap, huh?”

“Yes, which leaves me to wonder why you’re so eager to catch a glimpse.”

“He’s a handsome man,” Tony says, seemingly unbothered, but when Peggy replies, “He certainly is,” he makes a retching sound and stands to leave.

“Bothered by a woman enjoying her sexual prime, are we?” she asks, and he beats his way out of her office, passing Hugo at a near-jog.

She chuckles quietly and applies herself back to the task at hand.

“I don’t think it has an easy answer,” Bruce says, “and we’ll probably be dealing with it for a long time yet.”

“It’s probably a good first step that it’s being taken on at all. Back—” Steve stops himself, takes a sip of his drink; he tends toward coffee on the whole, but when they meet up he usually joins Bruce in his search for the best chai in the city.

“You were going to say, “back in my day…” weren’t you?” Banner teases, gently delighted. “It’s okay, you still can. I won’t tell.”

Steve shakes his head. “Tony probably has some kind of radar for it.” He moves off the curb to let a couple pushing a baby carriage go by, then steps back up to walk the last block to the tower beside Bruce.

“How’s the latest alloy coming?” Steve asks, tossing his cup into the garbage by the reception desk. Bruce groans, even though it’s nice to have someone actually remember what project he’s working on.

“We’re getting close, but the fine tuning is a killer.” The elevator arrives and people start flowing out into the lobby. “What are you up to for the rest of the afternoon?”

“Not much,” Steve starts, but then puts his hand in his pocket, distracted by the vibration from his phone. “I’m just—I have to—”

“Are you coming?” Bruce asks, after he’s been holding the door of the empty elevator for a solid minute and Steve, engaged with the device, doesn’t even seem to have noticed. Bruce wonders if he’s read the research about changing brains based on screen use.

Steve waves a hand, attention still on the screen. “I’ll take the next one.”

“Same time next week for book club?” Bruce calls as the doors close.

“Yeah.” Steve actually looks up at him for a second, that familiar grin on his face. “This’ll all be finished by then.”

Bruce returns to his lab with the definite feeling that he doesn’t want to know exactly will be finished.

“There really aren’t any beaches like the ones over there. I’ve only ever been while I was working, and I still managed to have a good time,” Natasha says, finishing the last of her steak.

“We are planning a vacation,” Peggy says thoughtfully. “The middle of April, as long as no world-ending danger pops up between now and then.”

Nat smiles. “We’ll try to keep it to a minimum. Although you could always slip out before things get really bad and just forget to have your phones on.”

“Steve would never stand for it,” Peggy says, which is true, but they both know that Peggy herself wouldn’t either.

“Is everything…” Natasha hesitates. Uncharacteristic, maybe, but she still isn’t entirely used to the rules of having friends. “Are you and Steve okay? Because I’ve been picking up a little...something lately.”

“What? Oh, yes, everything’s fine.” Peggy takes a little sip of iced tea through her straw. “I have no idea what you might have detected.” And if Nat wouldn’t have said it with equal complete casualness, she might have believed her.

“Are you sure? Because--”

Peggy’s phone buzzes inside her purse on the table. She takes it out, pursing her lips as she looks at the screen.

“You’ve been on your phone a lot lately,” Nat says slowly.

With a laugh, Peggy taps one last time and slides her phone away. “Isn’t everyone these days? Terrible habit, but I’m sure I’ll break myself of it one day soon.” She picks up the dessert menu. “Now, what’s for pudding?”

Natasha orders the most deeply chocolatey thing on the menu; she figures she deserves it with whatever’s going on.

“A strong bout,” Thor says, clapping Steve approvingly on the shoulder.

Steve walks over to the bench at the side of the gym where they left their stuff. “You too, even if the whole ‘mythical god who can call down storms’ bit tilts things a little in your favor.”

“Your little disc stands up well to them!” Thor assures him earnestly, tapping the shield as Steve sets it down and picks up his phone. “But perhaps I can make it up to you.”

“Depends,” Steve says with a frown, taking in whatever is on the screen, “on whether you know anything about the game Scrabble and what to do with these letters.”

Thor leans over to look. “You use the letters to make words which intersect, I understand.” His eyes roam over the board and then he says tentatively, “Are there not gherkins on Midgard?”

“Huh?”

“Gherkins?” Thor forms a little shape with his large fingers in demonstration. “Small pickled cucumbers?”

A smile grows over Steve’s face. “You’re a genius,” he says, manipulating something on the screen. “A genius at storms and at Scrabble.”

“Well,” says Thor, clearly pleased but trying to be fair, “perhaps only very good at Scrabble.”

“You know what was really great? When you put down kinkajou,’” Steve says around the toothbrush in his mouth. He spits. “I had wanted to use that N but it was worth it.”

“It was,” says a satisfied Peggy from where she’s changing into her pajamas. “And I’d like to know where exactly you pulled ‘bezique’ from.”

“Churchill loved it. He tried to get me to play a time or two. I was just lucky the B was already on the board.” Flipping off the bathroom light, he comes over to the bed and pulls the covers aside for himself.

Between their combined salaries - well, after Peggy found out that Steve was still getting the baseline amount agreed to after he’d woken up and had negotiated an appropriate raise on his behalf - they’ve been able to afford not only a bed that they can sprawl in, but a bedroom that their new mattress can fit into. Lying down in it might be Steve’s favorite part of the day.

“Did you realize we’d been worrying everyone this week? They all think something awful has been happening or that we’re breaking up.” He stretches, shoving the extra pillow to her side (he can’t sleep with more than one).

Peggy snorts. “Amateurs. They should just be lucky that they didn’t see us after the poker championship back in—What was it, ‘44?”

“Just before - December of ‘43. I didn’t think I’d make it to New Year’s,” he recalls fondly as she climbs into bed and snuggles into him.

“I’d never have let that happen. You’re smart, moderately talented, and you play to win; it would be a shame for that to go to waste.”

He kisses her. “Good to know where I stand, I guess.” He kisses her again. “Maybe we’ll tone things down a bit but how about a new game tomorrow?” He kisses her a gentle third time.

“We’ve played every day since we discovered the application,” she points out. “Why should tomorrow be any different?” She kisses him this time, pressing him back into the pillow until he forgets all about competition or vocabulary or any of it.

(Eight and a half months later, she types “magnetizes” triumphantly into her phone - and on a triple word score too - as they wheel her up to the maternity floor. They don’t tell anyone else about that part.)

#steggyweek20 #Steggy #Steggy fic #Steve Rogers #Peggy Carter #Avengers #this is prob the weak link of the week but here we are...

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brucewaynehastoomanykids · 4 years

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Café Talks

Request from user @ravenfan1242 "Can you write a DamiRae where they grew out of the TT and went seperate ways for whatever reason. Before they had seperated they were in love with each other but his their feelings. Some years later after losing touch they see each other again and it's awkward but it's also a fire of pent up feelings that are still there."

_______________________________________

Growing up is probably one of the hardest things for people to do. Especially when it comes time to let go of the people from that past. The same people you had numerous adventures with, and even grown go call family. Leaving the Titans wasn't as easy as I probably made it seem to be, but how could I have said 'no' to father when he told me I was growing too old to be considered a teen titan. He was right, but it didn't make it any easier.

Imagine my surprise when I had gotten an invitation from Koriand'r to join her and the rest of the ex-titans for a reunion. Which is what lead me to be here in front of the what now seems abandoned Titans Tower. Memories came flooding back to me as soon as I laid my eyes on it, I couldn't help but stare.

"It's odd, isn't it?" Said voice behind me asked. "This is the place we first met. And now here we are, years later."

I knew that voice thought it had been so long it almost seemed like a stranger.

"Hello, Raven." I smiled, turning to face her.

Her appearance hadn't changed a bit. Dark blue heels, and a leather jacket to match, a plain black dress that touched her thighs, and the same necklace she wore the time we were forced to 'mandatory fun.' The only thing that really changed about her is her hair. It no longer touched her shoulders as it had once before, instead, it was cut into a pixie. A sloppy pixie, though. It seemed like she tried to cut it herself. But, it somehow fit her.

Everything fit her, really. She looked very attractive, even if she did mean to be. Someone with her beauty, she most definitely has a boyfriend now. Somehow the thought of that stings... perhaps I'm not quite as over this past crush as I had once thought.

Raven caught up to me as we began walking to the tower together.

"I'm surprised you came," she said, "these sort of things have never really been your thing in the past."

"The ones in the past were never as meaningful as this one," I replied, keeping my eyes on the tower as we stepped inside, "if anything, Raven, I'm surprised to see you here. I had heard you've been on the hunt to find your mother for the past few years."

"Yes," she started sadly, looking towards the ground, "but with no real luck. I know she's alive, I do... but every trail I followed hasn't gotten me anywhere..." her voice perked up again, "so, I figured I needed some sort of relaxation in my life. After all, 'when the world comes crashing down, who's ready to party'?"

I only let out a small huff in response. This was something Raven and I often argued about. I keep hoping one day she comes to accept that Arella is just simply not alive anymore. I can't say I don't understand the pain she was feeling, however. For a while, after my own mother's death, I had tried to make some excuses for why she could still be alive. Of course, she isn't, and I knew that, but it never stopped me. It took me years to fully accept her death, but it seems it's taking Raven longer.

We walked inside the tower to a large cast of lights and people. It was the cleanest I had seen the inside of the tower since I first joined, more likely Koriand'r's doing, and a display of different foods and beverages of everyone's liking on a large table. From the outside of the tower, no one would ever guess such a display be on the inside. Though, maybe that was the intention.

I make my way to the sofa as I watch Raven chat with Koriand'r, Logan, and Reyes. It was... nice to see her smile at them so genuinely. Though part of me knew it was forced, I can live with the hope it's not. Perhaps it was time I helped Raven with her mother, even if I don't fully believe she's alive.

I walked over to Raven again and asked her to come with me so we could talk in private. She gave me a questionable look but agreed. I grabbed her hand and lead her to the back of the room where barely anyone was at.

"I want to help you in the search for your mother." I told her plainly.

Her eyes went from shocked to what seemed to be slight anger in seconds. "Why? You were never there to help me before? In fact, I vaguely recall you saying it was a 'fools mission' not that long before you left us."

I sighed. "Raven you and I both know I had to leave, I was almost eighteen an--"

"That's not what I'm talking about." Her voice grew sad. "I understand why you had to leave, Damian... what I don't understand is why you never contacted us again. You never visited, you didn't call, or text, hell you didn't even write a letter. Nothing. You just... left. And that wasn't fair, you know? We missed you, though you may not believe that... I missed you."

Ouch. There goes another ping to the heart. But she was right, it wasn't fair. Especially since I didn't really have a reason to do so besides the fact that half the time I was too busy to do anything but work with father. Doesn't mean I shouldn't have called in my free time.

She sighed. "You know what? Forget it. This obviously was a bad idea to come..."

She was about to leave before I grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, please," I begged, "you can hate me all you want later but... can I at least buy you a coffee, or maybe a cup of tea tomorrow? For old times sake?" God, I sounded pathetic.

She raised an eyebrow before nodding slightly. "Sure, if you really want to make up for what you did. 1 sound good?"

"Works for me." I smiled in relief as she walked away without another word.

I've been waiting for her for about an hour now. I'm starting to think she stood me up. Not that I would really be mad about it, it would certainly be good karma. Though that doesn't stop me from questioning whether I should leave or not.

"You seem like a friendly face, mind if I sit with you?" Raven said, coming up from behind and taking her seat across from me. "Sorry I'm late, I had some errands to run that I completely forgot about. I would have texted you but I don't think I have your number anymore."

"I see." Was all I said.

The waitress came to take our orders. I ordered a simple coffee while Raven ordered hot cocoa.

"Really? Hot chocolate? If my memory serves me, I thought you usually got tea and a small salad here?" I raised a brow.

She giggled. "Hey, chocolate comes from cocoa which is a tree. A tree is a plant. Therefore, chocolate is a salad, and considering I'm getting it in liquid form, it also takes place for the tea."

I rolled my eyes. "Your sarcasm is still intact I see..."

"It's very rare for a personality to change in just a mere four years, Wayne." She smiled slyly.

"Four years is still a long time." I told her matter-of-factly.

"Perhaps... but only if you count the days."

Silence loomed for a while. Our drinks had been delivered, and we drank peacefully. From an outside perspective, one could think we're strangers who just say at the same table. That was until Raven broke the silence.

"So, what exactly did you want to meet?"

I let out a deep sigh and straightened my posture to show that I was serious. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior these past few years. I should have kept in contact when I had the chance to. But, if it matters, you were always on my mind."

She sighed, setting down her cup. "Well, one, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have made you feel guilty, I know how busy Bruce tends to keep you and I should have realized that sooner... and, two, really? You thought about me? I'm... surprised, honestly."

"Why wouldn't I? You were the first person who has ever understood me, and you saved me from growing to be the spoiled brat I used to be in my youth. Not to mention how dark my world was before you have me a new perspective. You made me this way. The person I am today is all thanks to you."

She didn't respond, though her face lit up slightly. She began to run her finger around her now empty mug and was deep in thought. Perhaps to find the right words to say. But her words never came. Instead, a notification on her phone that seemed to startle her.

I chuckled at her jump. "Boyfriend?"

She gave me a look of slight shock before replying. "No, no just a weather notification. I'm actually single, technically. However," she smiled a bit as her cheeks tinted a light shade of pink, her voice lowered, "I do like someone. I have for a long time. And... it's funny. Because for a long time I had thought it was over him."

I raised a brow. "Wait, who?"

"Well, it's you, actually." She replied nervously.

Something inside me swelled. "Well... I might have had feelings for you as well. I think I have for a while."

"Yeah right." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious! I was just a coward to admit them. I remember even once practicing to do so in the mirror but never could do it in real life." I laughed at the memory.

"Now I know you're lying," She playfully jabbed at my shoulder, "come on, Damian! I look like I shouldn't even be standing next to you! You grew to be so... well, handsome. And honestly, I'm a mess. I have been for a while. I don't deserve your affection or--"

I grabbed at her hands and held them lightly. "I've loved you, despite your flaws. I had thought after some time, those feelings would have passed, but it's obvious it will never happen. So, if you want to, um..." I began to grow a bit nervous, "if you want to try something... I promise I'm not gonna leave you. You're never going to search for the answers you need, and suffer for the pain you feel by yourself again, I promise."

She smiled slightly, pulling her hands away from mine. "Damian, that's sweet, but what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm just simply not like everybody else. Between dealing with my father, and longing for my mother, I'm not as put together as I sometimes seem to be. You deserve someone better."

"There isn't anyone better for me than you, Raven... I smiled, "And speaking of your mother, my offer still stands. I still want to help you... and to love you. If you wish me to."

Raven looked down. "It feels like everyone has forgotten my mother even existed. Everyone except me. I've been looking for her all alone for so long..." her eyes lit up as she looked into mine, "but if I'm honest, I'm sick of being alone all the time. Both in my search... and my life. So... yes, Damian. I want you to be with me... and to help me... but, you know that by being with me, you're risking everything, right? I'm not exactly the safest person to be around these days."

I smiled. "It's a risk I'm willing to take... just staying by your side is enough."

She returned my smile as we paid for our drinks and exited the café hand-in-hand. This was definitely the start spectacular. For both of us.

#dcamu #dc #damirae #dcfilms #demonbirds #damian wayne x rachel roth #raven x damian #damian x raven #damian wayne x raven #damian wayne #damian al ghul #damian and raven #rachel roth #rachel roth x damian #damian x rachel roth #raven roth #raven #robin

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

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LOL I actually didn’t start out in a mood when I started posting that, it was more kinda just a “you know, this comes up often enough that its worth it to have the full context out there since so much gets left out” kinda thought. But in the process of gathering the actual images from the story, I got worked up because the part that reeeeally gets me is like....

These pages are back to back. They’re literally one after another. So there’s something....I can’t really think of any other word other than insidious, despite how dramatic that sounds lolol, but yeah, there’s something insidious to me about the fact that this became as widespread in fandom consciousness as it did, the WAY it has, because like.....in order for people to PULL those panels of Dick making Donna cry to prove their argument that he has a vicious, cruel temper.....

Like, there’s no way to at the same time NOT see all the stuff Donna says to him, the fact that he keeps TRYING to say “we shouldn’t have this convo now, it wont end well if we do,” and the literal physical violence Donna inflicts on him all while shouting self-righteously about how she refuses to just sit there and take his abuse, as opposed to....what she’s doing to him.....

And so the ONLY reason and ONLY way for ALL of that to get left out of this being cited the way it is as often as it is....

Is for the people who bring it up and pulled panels to ‘prove’ their takes, to CONSCIOUSLY choose to leave all of that out of their retelling of that scene to all the people who HAVEN’T read it for themselves.

And that’s even WITHOUT getting into the brainwashing context, like even if I’m to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they read that issue but bizarrely, for some reason never read the actual conclusion to that very same story aka “So what DID happen with Raven and Gar and Vic after all?”

And so that’s also mixed in there for why I get so bothered by this topic, lol, because it keeps constantly getting brought up in order to elaborate on Dick’s ‘flaws’ and so people can write him as flawed, and its just....nobody’s trying to do anything skeevy, people are totally impartial here and just trying to help people write a better, more comprehensive Dick Grayson.....

But like? No? You can’t honestly say that I don’t think, if you KNOW there’s more to this than just hey Dick made Donna cry one time, what an asshole, she’s supposed to be his best friend that jerk.....and just like....deliberately choose to exclude that further context.

Because I full on do not believe anyone who does THAT, rather than just repeating something they’ve heard others talk about, like.....you can’t do that and be genuine and sincere about just wanting to write Dick as flawed for totally impartial reasons. That’s a deliberate attempt to make his character look bad at that point, leaving out all the rest of that scene let alone the brainwashing context, and so THAT’S what gets to me.

The fact that so many people just write Dick as this trigger-happy volcano ready to blow at any second and with a history of being cruel to his loved ones because he can’t control his temper.....because they’ve been genuinely convinced he’s just like that though, rather than a huge portion of WHY they think he’s like that being predicated on people deliberately reframing examples in such a way as to make him look like an asshole.

THAT’S what trying to smear a character looks like, and so its obnoxious constantly being accused of doing that with other characters by bringing up things they actually did in their right mind and even making an effort to see all sides of the conflict....while meanwhile, people are just like “oh I just want people to write Dick as flawed because that’s realistic, you know, no other reason.” I mean, Dick isn’t this cookie cutter Golden Boy he’s referenced as being, and he doesn’t actually need like, this terrible wicked temper to be ‘real’ and ‘relatable’ and ‘human’.....so I call foul on certain people acting like it is and that’s all this is about when really its like...no. You’re not impartial, you’re really actually intent on making this particular character look like he has a regular habit of being a jerk to people he loves because he has no self-control, and like. What if you just fucked off instead of doing all that?

And again, I’d just like to point out that people in this particular fandom ONLY ever seem to be fixated on what DICK’S character flaws are and how to write HIM, specifically, as flawed.....but in comparison, how often are people concerned with learning what Tim’s flaws are so they can write him as well-rounded and three dimensional instead of this brilliant wunderkid whose so heroic and self-sacrificing he just forgets to take care of himself? How often are people like, well I don’t like to write Jason as trying to kill his brothers and I also agree with his philosophy for the most part, so hey, what are some other flaws I can write him as having so I’m not going all ‘full stan behavior’......instead of people writing Jason as just totally misunderstood and never having really done anything wrong ever? How often do people focus on well what are some of Babs’ flaws, or how about Steph? Y’know?

I’m not going to pretend people aren’t fully aware of Bruce’s flaws, lol, but like....he’s front and center in pretty much all Batfam stories so its not really even like people have to like....LOOK far, so I mean, yeah you tend to have people split on whether Bruce is an asshole or a misrepresented good guy or somewhere in between....I’m just saying yes, granted, Bruce is written as super flawed by a lot of people, to put it mildly, but not in such a way that people have to go around LOOKING for flaws to write him that way.....but rather he’s written that way by people who are ALREADY familiar with specific flaws or flawed behavior and are writing ABOUT that or BECAUSE of that. Which is a very different thing from being like “Hey what are some flaws specific to Dick, how can I write him as flawed, specifically?”

There’s a very specific and particular almost...pointedness, to how people ask about - and are almost EAGER - to hear about or embrace Dick’s flaws in a way that they just flat out AREN’T with any other character, and given that there really is no actual basis in ANY of Dick’s stories to acting like he really is this perfect, untouchable golden boy who’s just completely unrealistic and impossible to relate to as is....there’s something decidedly disingenuous, IMO, to the way people fixate on Dick’s flaws, specifically, or look for or invent flaws for him, while saying that’s all they’re trying to do really....but while there’s literally no attempt by them to do anything similar with any other character.

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doctorstrangeaskblog · 5 years

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Body Language and Facial Expression Analysis: Tony Stark meets Doctor Strange

Let’s use some technical aspects to deduce what Tony, Pepper, Bruce and Stephen were thinking and how and why they reacted the way they did. First, watch the scene and then we’ll discuss bit by bit.

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Stephen has in general a neutral expression. His lower eyelid muscle is a little bit tense but it’s because they are outside, his skin is white and his eyes are light gray, so there’s the sun factor. (if his lower eyelids were normal it could mean he recorded the scene in a studio and then the outside was “photo-shopped” into the image, but that’s not the case, they recorded the scene outside indeed.). Despite the tense situation, Stephen is shown to be capable of controlling his emotions. Of course he’s scared and tense, but at the moment, he’s cool, he’s calm, his voice is normal. (Check the video.) He’s also looking at Tony directly, he’s not covering himself with hands or arms, he’s not biting his lips. Stephen is being friendly and formal at the same time.

However, something interesting happens. When Stephen says “Tony Stark, I need you to come with me.”, Tony HAS NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL STEPHEN IS. Stephen is a good guy, yes, but Tony and Pepper have no idea, he could be a new villain, a threat, and to make things worse, Tony and Pepper were talking about it just the moment before: the need of fight, the need of danger etc. Let’s start with Tony. His eyebrows are contracted, his lips’ muscle is tense towards the external sides and his eyes are wide open, his lips are tense and parted: that’s fear. Tony is afraid of Stephen, he’s basically 99% sure Strange is a threat and he starts panicking VERY fast. The first thing he does is to hold Pepper’s shoulder, seeking for stability. He knows Pepper is the stability of their relationship, practically and emotionally, so she’s the first thing he reaches for. Also, of course he wants to protect her, however, he’s in shock, his legs are frozen, his arms are tense, he doesn’t even step in front of her or anything, so we can deduce Tony touching her is more of him seeking emotional stability, since he doesn’t know what’s coming next. About Pepper: Her raised brow’s muscle shows surprise and her lower lips’ muscle shows BAD surprise, she’s also 99% sure Strange is trouble (and he is somehow, he’s not the villain but he brings bad news anyway). She’s not contracting her eyebrows, meaning she’s not aggressive. This shows how Tony tends to react more aggressively when he’s scared while Pepper reacts more “ready to run” when she’s scared (that’s the most rational reaction, specially because we have to consider she was the one who killed the last 2 villains of Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2, so yes, she knows when and how to be aggressive while Tony just reacts aggressive).

The next thing Pepper does is to hold Tony’s arm, for basically the same reason, she’s scared and she’s feeling safer when she holds him. Also, she also fears for him, she knows Stephen wants Tony, not her, so her action is more like trying to prevent him to go.

Stephen then realizes how silly he was. Strange forgot to tell Tony he’s an ally, not an enemy kidnapping him. Stephen raises his eyebrows, a sign of surprise, and he breathes in, meaning he noticed his stupidity, he forgot to show a sign he’s a good guy, not a bad guy. The act of someone closing their eyes without a physical reason (light, debris, dust, etc.) normally means they’re refusing to see what just happened or what they just thought, and in this case, it’s about him forgetting to properly introduce himself and what the hell he’s doing there. What can we assume from this? We can assume something obvious that actually isn’t something that obvious. Stephen ALREADY IS FAMILIAR WITH TONY while Tony clearly isn’t familiar with Stephen. Tony is a celebrity, he even saved Stephen when he saved New York, yes, but still, we know by the Infinity War prelude comics that Stephen has a mirror and he can see people through it, so we can assume Stephen peeked Tony’s life, therefore, Tony isn’t a stranger to Stephen, in his own perception.

When Stephen congratulates Tony for the wedding, Stephen gives him the green sign that he’s an ally, not an enemy, and then Tony’s fear expression becomes more like a WTF expression, he narrows his eyes (that were super wide before). His lips contracted and expanded still show he’s scared, but he’s less scared, and his forehead still keeps his aggressiveness, due to fear. Tony is scared and what does he do? He jokes. “You’re selling tickets or something?” Of course Stephen isn’t selling tickets and Tony knows, however, making the situation look ordinary, stupid and funny is a way for him to calm himself down.

Stephen then proceeds to explain their reality is in danger because of Thanos and we know the story. Stephen still has his same neutral, calm expression, however, he looks down, and his face also moves down a little. Why? When someone moves their face down, normally it means shame. It also could be someone else’s shame (when a friend does that super stupid joke etc. and you’re ashamed for them) or when someone else lets you down, but in this situation, Stephen is ashamed of himself. Stephen is the one supposed to protect our reality, and he’s admitting he can’t do it alone, nor with the other Mystic Arts Masters. He knows he can’t do it, and he’s telling Tony, a person he admires (we saw that in the other analysis), he isn’t capable of executing his own role. Of course it’s not Stephen’s fault, specially considering the huge crisis the Masters of the Mystic Arts went through because of Kaecilius and the Zealots, but still, Strange’s pride is big and he’s clearly hurt/ashamed while admitting he needs Tony and any help he can get. In fact, Strange’s plan was to assemble everyone he could, the stones, everything, but they got attacked before Tony could call Steve.

Pepper and Tony are rigid and super tense here. Tony demands information, he’s not going with Strange until he knows what’s going on, and that’s when Bruce shows up. Tony still wants to keep the control, despite just witnessing that Strange has powers, and relevant ones (open a portal and come out of nowhere is a very powerful thing). Tony still wants to control everything, specially now that he knows Stephen isn’t a threat.

Bruce shows up, he doesn’t even smile after seeing Tony after so long because of how tense and worried he is. His eyebrows are tense, but he’s not angry, he’s just tense, worried, because he knows what Thanos is capable of.

When Tony sees Bruce, his lips’ muscle starts pointing downwards, it’s sadness. Seeing Bruce after so long awakens emotions in Tony, but he’s still tense (his eyebrows). Pepper by the other hand, is less tense than Tony, we can see her lips moving upwards, she’s happy to know Bruce is alive and okay, her eyebrows move up in surprise, and it’s a good surprise. Pepper and Tony slowly let go of each other, their environment is getting safer.

Bruce hugs Tony, Tony hugs him with both hands, open hands, he’s fully accepting Bruce in his arms, and then he looks at Pepper to see her reaction. From silly to important situations, we tend to look at people we care the most to see their reaction, to get their feedback and when there’s danger, to see how they’re doing, if they’re okay, etc. In this case, Tony looks at Pepper, and it’s mutual, she looks at him. The moment Tony looks at Pepper, he stops frowning, meaning his reactive aggressiveness is negative towards her (his aggression is selective towards Strange and towards the situation itself, but not towards Pepper). Pepper’s eyebrows’ muscles move upwards while inclined, forming a curve, that means CONCERN, and a bit of sadness, considering she’s seeing Bruce is not 100% okay as she thought he was, and that explains her upper eyebrows, it means SURPRISE, again.

Pepper keeps eyes contact with Tony and then, when Tony looks at Stephen, she looks at Bruce, to check if he’s okay or how bad he is (emotionally). When Tony looks at Stephen, the frown in his eyebrows appears again, he’s still defensive against Stephen, his eyes are wide, he’s still scared, he doesn’t trust Stephen, but Bruce does, so he’ll give it a try. His lips are moved downwards, meaning he’s sad, his eyes are wetter than before, so indeed, there are a lot of emotions colliding inside Tony and if he were alone, he probably would be having an anxiety attack. Pepper’s hand moves to grab Tony’s arm, she knows Tony is considering going and she doesn’t want him to go because she doesn’t want to lose him. Again.

#iron man #avengers #doctor strange #avengers infinity war #tony stark #meta

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itsshortfurball20 · 5 years

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Percy Jackson, The Avenger

Percy has an encounter with Nick Fury. A year later, he’s being called on to help protect the world… again. He’s not alone in this Avengers Initiative. A genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist; a super soldier; a green scientist; a Norse god; and two secret agents. What could go wrong?

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This chapter has 5,011 words

10 – I Get My Own Action Figure!

The next couple of weeks after the battle were hectic.

Once the dust had settled and the injured were being tended to and the dead counted, questions started popping up. Questions about what exactly had happened. Were those aliens that had attacked? Are they going to come back? Who had saved them? Were they superheroes? Was Thor really a Norse god or just another alien?

Not all of those questions had been answered. SHEILD never made an official statement, but slowly the questions started being answered. Yes, it had been aliens and no, the Chitauri weren’t coming back anytime soon. They had been led by a Norse god called Loki, whose brother, Thor, was in the attack against him, part of a team called the Avengers.

All around the world, people were talking about the Avengers. Some argued against the team, trying to force them to take responsibility for the attack, saying that they were to blame for the damage done to the city. Those people, however, were few and far between.

Most people regarded them as heroes. Citizens being interviewed by local news stations and papers praised the heroes, thanking them for saving their lives. Walking around the city, one could see spray-painted murals, people wearing hoodies and t-shirts with the heroes on them. There were even action figures modeled after the group.

Percy found that the action figures were the coolest part yet. He had already managed to buy a mini-figure of himself, complete with his shield and sword, that he had sitting on his nightstand. Annabeth thought that it was funny. She hadn’t said anything, but Percy knew that she found the whole situation amusing.

He also couldn’t help but marvel at his ‘superhero’ name—Riptide. Apparently, the little boy that he had saved had been interviewed by the New York Post and had told them the story about Percy saving him and his mother from the Chitauri. Well, his mother had told the story. The only thing the little boy could talk about was how cool Percy had looked, with his armor and big sword that he called Riptide.

The media took it up and went with it. Now he was Riptide, the superhero with the mutant ability to manipulate water.

In all honesty, Percy was glad that no one had gotten ahold of the knowledge of the Greek world. When information had started appearing in the news, Percy had IM’d Fury (actually managing to scare the director when he was alone in his office) and had asked to keep his identity, along with the existence of the Greek gods, under wraps.

So far, it seemed to be working nicely. Percy figured that he would head to Camp Half-Blood the next day and inform Chiron about all that had happened. But there was something else that the demigod had to do first.

He stood in a secluded area of Central Park. The whole team had shown up to accompany Thor (and Loki, whose hands were bound, and a muzzle placed on his face) back to Asgard. Thor went around, shaking hands with everyone as he said goodbye. When he reached Percy, the demigod gave Thor a big smile. “Hey man, it was nice meeting you.”

“Honor is mine, Percy,” Thor told him. “Maybe we can fight together again one day.”

The son of Poseidon laughed. “Let’s hope it’s under better circumstances.” Thor nodded and started to move away, but Percy grabbed his arm before he could fully walk away. “Hey, just remember, always family. No matter what.”

“Thank you, Percy.”

Percy watched on as Thor finished the rest of his rounds before heading back to Loki. Bruce and Tony stepped forward, Tony holding out a briefcase. It opened to reveal the Tesseract, dimly glowing blue. Bruce took the Tesseract and placed it in a glass tube before handing it to Thor. The Norse god held one end, giving the other to Loki, who reluctantly took it. He took one last look at the team before turning the handle.

The energy of the Tesseract swept over the two. Percy fixed Loki with one last glare before they were both gone.

Then slowly, one-by-one, the Avengers wandered off. Natasha and Clint riding off together; Steve on his old Harley; and Bruce and Tony getting into one of Tony’s sports cars. Percy headed to Paul’s blue Prius. Hopping into the driver's seat, he started the car and drove away.

Driving through the city, Percy could see the efforts of the citizens as they began to clean up the city. He knew that Tony was going to be in charge of the rebuilding process. The billionaire had already struck a deal with the Department of Damage Control, signing a contract that all post-battle cleanup would be under his control.

Percy passed an empty pedestal, its statue gone and somewhere in the streets of the city. People had noticed the statues running around during the battle (they were hard to miss), but no one seemed to remember the same incident happening almost five years ago—most likely due to the Mist.

The son of Poseidon was glad. It was one less thing for him to worry about. He had enough on his plate at the moment, mainly helping with the clean-up process.

Percy pulled up to the hotel he and Annabeth were staying in. During the battle, the apartment building where Sally and Paul lived had taken a large hit to the wall, deeming it unsafe to live in at the moment. Percy had told his family to stay in Montauk for the time being. Annabeth and he had decided to stay in a hotel for a couple days while Percy finished up his Avengers stuff before heading to Camp Half-Blood.

The demigod entered the hotel room. Annabeth sat on the bed; eyes glued to the TV where a reporter stood on screen. It appeared to be another interview, this time with an older group of men playing chess.

“Superheroes in New York? Give me a—” a man said before Annabeth paused the TV. Percy sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Annabeth smiled at him. “How’d it go?” She asked.

“Well, Thor and Loki are officially back in Asgard, and the Tesseract is with them.” He leaned back into the pillows, letting out a sigh as he went. “I think that it’ll be a while before we see Thor again. Imagine the family drama going on right now.”

“I can imagine it,” Annabeth teased, laying down beside Percy. “Just look at who our family is. It can’t be too different from ours.”

“Except their father doesn’t eat them, he adopts them. Or, one of them, I guess.”

They laid in silence for a while. Percy played with Annabeth’s hair, trying to braid her blonde hair while she read her book. After a while, Percy gave up and settled for just staring at Annabeth. She looked beautiful—as always—even with the small purple bruise on her chin that she had gained during the battle (something about a bank and a bomb).

“You ready to go back to camp?” Percy asked.

Annabeth set her book down and looked over at him. “Yeah. I wonder how the others will react to you becoming famous.”

“Technically, I’m not the famous one. Riptide is.” Percy gave Annabeth a small smirk before continuing on. “Secondly, it’s not that different from Piper. I mean, her dad’s Tristan McLean and we didn’t bat an eye when she told us.”

“That’s because you didn’t know who Tristan McLean was. And it is different from Piper—it's her dad that’s famous, and at least he isn’t known for having saved the world.”

Percy held up his hands in surrender. “Fine,” he agreed, before slowly lowering his arms again. “They’ll be fine with it, right? I mean, it’s not like I had much of a choice, and if I hadn’t been there, who knows what might’ve—”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Annabeth cut off Percy’s rambling. “I’m sure they’ll understand. Besides, I’m sure they won’t even think it’s that big of a deal. Most demigods don’t worry too much about the mortal world anyway.”

Percy smiled softly. “You’re right, as always. It’s not a big deal.” He said, the last part more for himself, before pushing himself up. “Now come on, let’s get packed.”

\~*~/

“This is a huge deal!” Leo shouted. “I mean, holy Hephaestus, wow.”

Percy shot a glance over at Annabeth. So much for not a big deal, he told himself. Shaking his head, he walked closer to Leo who was pacing around them on the hill, having run up to greet them when they had first arrived. “Leo, it’s really nothing—”

“You met Tony Stark. The Tony Stark, the legendary mechanic!”

Percy scratched the back of his head, not fully understanding Leo’s reason for excitement. “Yeah, l guess.”

“You guess?” Leo threw hands into the air in shock. “Percy, Tony Stark is a genius. His work with nanobots is revolutionary, not to mention the mechanics of the Iron Man suit. Half of the Hephaestus cabin has a poster of him hanging by their bed.”

“What about you?”

“Are you kidding? I already have his Iron Man T-Shirts, Iron Man Hoodie, Iron Man trading cards, Iron Man action figure, and two posters—one from before and after the whole alien-thingy.”

Percy nodded dimly. “Woah, I didn’t know he was such… wait, did you say trading cards?”

Annabeth gently grabbed his arm. “Percy, focus.”

“I am focusing. Focusing on the fact that I somehow missed the fact that I have trading cards with me on them.”

“Percy.”

“But Annabeth…”

“And Leo,” Leo chipped in. “Don’t forget I’m still here.”

The couple turned back towards Leo. “Sorry,” Annabeth apologized.

Leo dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand. “It’s fine. I can’t imagine how weird it must be for you to be famous. That’s gotta feel weird.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t faze me,” Percy shrugged.

“Well if I was you, I’d be hanging out with Tony Stark and comparing notes,” Leo stated. “Maybe we could work on something together!”

Percy noticed a small twinge of smoke start rising from the top of Leo’s hair. He pointed it out to him, smiling as Leo frantically reached his hand up to pat out the small fire. When the fire was out, Percy considered an idea he knew he would probably come to regret, but...

“Hey Leo, if you want, I could introduce you to Tony.”

Leo froze, his eyes growing impossibly wide. “Really?” When Percy nodded, Leo jumped into the air, punching the air. “Oh, gods! This is—thank you, Percy.” The fire reappeared on Leo’s hair, much bigger than before. Leo ran back down the hill, screaming about getting to meet Iron Man.

Next to him, Annabeth laughed. “I think you just made his day.” She commented.

“At least one person’s happy about this situation,” Percy noted as they started making their way down Half-Blood hill. “Let’s hope that everyone else takes it just as well.”

At the bottom of the hill, campers had gathered around, no doubt drawn out by Leo’s shouting. At the front stood Chiron, his tail flicking back and forth in a way Percy had seen it do before whenever the centaur had been agitated. Percy swallowed.

Chiron stared at him with a poker face, and that only made Percy feel even more scared. “Welcome back, you two.” Their mentor greeted. “I think we need to have a talk.”

\~*~/

Chiron ushered them into the Big House, shooing away the curious campers. Once the last camper had wandered off, he led them to the living room. Percy and Annabeth took a seat on the couch while Chiron lowered himself into his wheelchair, the centaur’s lower half disappearing and a set of fake human legs popping out.

“So,” Chiron started once wheeled himself over to the couch. “Drinks?”

Percy and Annabeth shook their heads. “Listen, Chiron…”

The centaur held up his hand, bringing Percy’s word to a stop. “Percy, I’m not mad. Just tell me what happened.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Percy told the entire story, starting from Blackjack getting captured to him and Annabeth sitting on the couch. Chiron listened carefully the entire, only interrupting once or twice to ask a question. Annabeth was the same. She had already heard the first part, but she listened very carefully to his time with the Avengers. When Percy finished, the room was silent except for Seymour the Leopard’s snoring.

Finally, Chiron spoke up. “This may be more serious than I thought.”

“What do you mean?” Percy asked.

“If Loki willingly teamed up with… aliens,” Chiron said, almost as if he was unfamiliar with the word. “Then he must have struck a deal with someone. With the way you described the Chitauri, they don’t seem all that capable of thinking of a plan. So the real question is, who’s their leader?”

“And what could Loki offer them?” Annabeth input. “Think, if Loki struck a deal, it's obvious what he gets. An army.”

“He tried striking a deal with me for Olympus’ armies,” Percy remembered. “He came to me in a dream and said that if I gave him command, then he would make me powerful.”

“Is this the same dream with Rachael’s prophecy?” Chiron asked.

The son of Poseidon nodded. “It is. That’s also part of the reason why we’re here. Something isn’t adding up.”

Chiron’s eyebrow raised. “Like what?”

“The prophecy… it doesn’t feel finished yet. Like there’s more to come. I’m scared, too, because the last time I felt like a prophecy wasn’t finished yet, Luke went and sicced a pit scorpion after me. And then he went and joined the Titans and we all know what that led to—”

“Percy, deep breath.” Chiron broke through Percy’s panicked rambling. “This could be very serious, Percy. You should meet with Rachael as soon as possible. She arrived yesterday. I spoke with her briefly before she headed to her cave, saying how she needed to contact Ella.”

Percy and Annabeth stood up. “Thank you, Chiron,” Percy said, grabbing Annabeth’s hand as they headed for the door.

Chiron smiled. “No problem, my dear boy. Also, before the two of you go,” he called, making Percy and Annabeth turn back to face him. “I’m happy you’re back.”

\~*~/

Percy and Annabeth made their way to Rachael’s cave. Luckily, the campers had returned to their activities after Chiron had shooed them away, so no one stopped them to talk. A few did wave, but quickly turned back to their activities. Percy returned the gesture jovially. He didn’t realize how much he had missed Camp Half-Blood, and he could only smile as lava poured down the rock-climbing wall and the familiar sounds of swords clanging and kids yelling reached his ears. Camp Jupiter was nice, but Camp Half-Blood would always be his first home.

They climbed up the small hill, where Rachael’s cave resided at the top. The thick burgundy curtains that usually were draped closed in the cave’s entrance were drawn to the sides, revealing the mess of throw pillows and bean bags in the cave. Percy and Annabeth shared a look of concern before venturing in.

Rachael’s back was to them. She sat facing her mural wall, which she frequently painted on whenever she was plagued with images from the Oracle. Paint covered her arms and legs, which wasn’t too far from normal. But what wasn’t normal was the slight green glow that emanated from Rachael’s body.

Annabeth took a step closer. She reached her hand out, intending to shake Rachael’s shoulder. “Rachael?” She asked.

Rachael jumped and whirled around, holding out a paintbrush like a sword as the green glow faded away. She lowered it once she saw who it was that was standing behind her. “Hey, guys.” She greeted. “What brings you here?”

“We wanted to talk to you about the prophecy,” Percy told her.

“I thought that might happen. Take a seat,” she gestured to the haphazardly scattered beanbags. Percy picked a purple one while Annabeth took the bright yellow one next to it. Rachael remained standing, pacing around them. Eventually, she settled and sat on the concrete floor. “I talked with Ella,” she started. “She had never heard the prophecy, nor anything that might relate to it.”

“I’ve never actually heard the prophecy,” Annabeth spoke up. “Could one of you repeat it for me?”

Percy looked over at Rachael who nodded at him. He tried to recall the prophecy he had heard. “Um, it comes from… comes from—”

“Oh, let me,” Rachael told him. “It comes from day as dark as night—”

“At least I was on the right track,” Percy muttered. Annabeth shushed him and turned back to Rachael.

“After evil’s rule, the final fight,” Rachael continued. “They’re gone, they’re broke, they come together.” Percy saw Annabeth frown. She opened her mouth as if to speak but closed it after a second. “Charged to protect, earthly tether. Rolling stone, purple reign. All must end in blazing pain.” Rachael finished reciting the prophecy. Noticing Annabeth’s grim expression, Rachael joked, “Cheery, right?”

“Peachy,” Annabeth responded.

“Well,” Percy clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the two women. “Now that we all know the prophecy, some thoughts. Rachael, you said that Ella didn’t have anything?”

“I didn’t say that,” Rachael corrected. “I said she didn’t recognize it. But we did discuss some possible meanings.”

“Did any of those include a meaning for ‘final fight’?”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Rachael asked, slightly taken back. “I would’ve thought blazing pain—”

“The blazing pain part is over and done with,” Percy dismissed with a wave of his hand. “The nuke,” he explained when he saw Rachael’s blank face.

Her face transformed from confused to scared—face paling at his words. “Nuke?”

“The government wanted to nuke us, but Tony ended up putting it through the portal. All’s fine now. Blazing pain avoided.”

Annabeth nodded slowly. “That…makes sense. But what I don’t get is the final fight part. This is your guys’ first fight together.”

“But it does say ‘must end in blazing pain’,” Rachael interjected. “That’s what worries me. The fates wouldn’t put in the word must unless it was unavoidable.”

“They must have been wrong, Rachael. That part is over with. Even Wise girl agrees.”

Rachael sighed tiredly. “I don’t know. Usually, after the events of the prophecy, the lines become clearer. But they aren’t now. Which may mean…” She trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. But the implication hung in the air.

Percy cleared his throat, breaking the silent tension. “I, for one, think that there’s nothing left. We’ve got to be overthinking this. I mean, Loki’s back on Asgard, and the Chitauri aren’t coming back anytime soon.”

“But I don’t feel that it’s done,” Rachael said, her voice filled with worry. “There are still too many unsolved variables. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this sounds like a Great Prophecy.”

Both Annabeth and Percy sat up straighter at the mention of a Great Prophecy. They shared a glance, remembering what the last two had entailed. Percy looked back over at Rachael; brows furrowed together. “You really think? So soon after?”

“Well, one was given not even a day after the other had been completed,” Rachael recalled. “So yeah. Totally possible.”

That made some sense to Percy, given the last time, but he was sure it was over with already. He frowned as Annabeth grumbled. Looking over at her and her tense posture, he thought the situation over in his head. On one hand, if this really was a Great Prophecy, then they needed to be prepared. They would most likely need to give up college and jobs to prepare for whatever would come. But on the other hand…

The son of Poseidon knew that Annabeth would be disappointed on giving up her goal of becoming an architect to fight. Besides, the whole situation was a huge ‘if’. If the prophecy wasn’t over, if this was a Great Prophecy. Did he really want to jeopardize Annabeth’s happiness for a small, unlikely chance?

“It’s probably nothing to fret over,” Percy said. “I saw we call it a day. It’s about to get late anyway. Didn’t you want to get cleaned up before dinner?” He asked Annabeth, distracting her from the prophecy.

Rachael tried to protest. “I really think that—”

“No, he’s right,” Annabeth said, pushing herself up. “I say that it’s over and done with. That’s two against one.”

“I really think my vote should count twice as I’m the Oracle, but whatever,” Rachael muttered, irritation creeping into her voice. As she stood up, she added, “I’ll keep looking into it, just in case.”

Percy nodded as he and Annabeth started to make their way out of the cave. “Just in case.” The demigod hoped that she wouldn’t find anything. He hoped that he had made the right call.

\~*~/

Percy stood on the beach, starting out at the water. The waves crashed gently at his feet and the breeze blew his hair into his face. He didn’t bother to fix it. Instead, he stood there mulling over his earlier conversation with Annabeth and Rachael.

Even as he denied it, he couldn’t help but muse over the thought of another Great Prophecy. Wasn’t two in his lifetime enough? That by itself already sounded like a stretch. The idea of a third seemed laughable. Did the Fates really hate him that much to put him in the center of another Great Prophecy? What had he ever done to them?

Percy cleared his thoughts, stalling the oncoming headache. He knew that if he continued to stand there and analyze everything too deeply, his head would start pounding. In an attempt to clear his head, he took a couple of deep breaths and focused on his surroundings.

It felt nice for a July evening. In just three days, it would be the fourth, and he knew that the Hephaestus cabin would pull out all the stops, especially when Leo was the one in charge of the firework display. Just thinking about it made Percy excited. It felt as if it had been forever since he had celebrated July 4th at Camp.

He was so deep in his head; he didn’t notice the figure behind him until they spoke. “Nice weather for some fishing, wouldn’t you say?”

The demigod whirled around. Poseidon stood behind him in his usual garb, Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts, sandals, and his lucky Neptune fishing hat. In his hand, he held his trident, waves of power radiating from it. He moved his eyes from the sea to Percy, smiling at him. “Hi, son.”

Percy stared at his father as the god walked closer to the edge of the water, his trident transforming into a fishing rod. Poseidon cast out his line. The line soared impossibly far out (a little godly magic) before plunking into the water. Next to Percy, another fishing rod appeared. Percy grabbed it and cast it out, his line much closer to shore. They stood there for a while, soaking in the peace.

Eventually, Percy turned to Poseidon. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

“Can’t say hi to my son?” Poseidon asked as he checked his line for a tug. When Percy raised his eyebrow at the god, Poseidon shrugged. “Figured I’d see how you’ve been doing,” he admitted. “Especially after your little adventure with that group. The Avengers, right?”

Percy nodded. “That’s what we’re calling it. And… I’m fine.” He dropped his fishing rod and turned to face his dad. “Did you know about the Norse gods? The Chitauri?”

“We’ve known about the Norse since they were first created. Of course, it’s been a while since they’ve come to Earth, but, nevertheless. And with the Chitauri, not specifically. There are whole other worlds out there, Percy. Even I don’t know most of them, or even how many there are.”

“And why did you never bother to share this information with anyone?”

“It was never relevant. Until now, that is.” Poseidon stroked his beard, shifting his eyes away from the sea to his son. “Your uncle is in a sour mood. Apparently, Loki coming to Earth and waging war broke a treaty between Odin and Zeus. But as the Norse are in space and Zeus has no way of getting in contact, there’s nothing he can really do. I don’t care much for politics. I’ll be spending the next couple months in my palace just so I don’t have to listen to his grumbling and pitiful whining.”

Percy smiled a little. Catching Percy’s smile, Poseidon turned his attention back to his line, a twinkle in his eye. All of a sudden, the line became taught. “Oh, think I got something.” With a small flick of the wrist, the fishing rod started wheeling in the prize. Percy could see the start of a gigantic sea serpent-looking monster. Poseidon only grinned at the monster. “This will do nicely. Amphitrite has been nagging me lately about her new diet, wanting to try new things. Hopefully, this will do the trick.”

The demigod figured his father would just disappear, but the god turned back to Percy. “I need you to remember, son, that no matter what happens in the future, I will always be proud of you. The coming times will be difficult, but I know you will prevail. With the reveal of the Norse, mortals will start to pry into other pantheons. The truth will come out at some point or another, I know it. Zeus is too confident that no one will ever discover the truth, but with the re-introduction of Thor… just know that many people might not be happy. Maybe even some of the gods.”

Percy nodded. When he had shown up in New York, in the midst of battle, he had known there was a chance of the demigods being exposed. And even though he had talked to Fury, and even though the media believed he was a mutant, it seemed like that would come true.

Poseidon clapped Percy on the back. “I’m sorry.” Was all he said before dissolving into the sea breeze, his fishing rod and dinner disappearing along with him. On the beach, a small sand dollar rested just where Poseidon had been standing, with Percy standing there alone.

Annabeth found him half an hour later still staring at the sand dollar. With only a glance at his face, she could guess what had happened. “Your dad?”

“Yeah,” Percy confirmed. He bent down to pick up the sand dollar, turning it over in his hands. It looked remarkably similar to the one Poseidon had given to him on his fifteenth birthday. With a sigh, he stood up and pocketed the sand dollar. “He wanted to talk.”

“About what?”

“A lot. But he said he was proud of me.” Percy took Annabeth’s hand and pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. She melted into the hug. “He also mentioned how the mortals are going to find out about us, sooner or later.”

Annabeth hummed. “When you first told me, I thought that might happen and just prepared myself for the worst.”

“I still think we have a while. People still doubt that Thor really is the same one from mythology.”

“But there are others out there, Percy. Others that might prod or poke just a little too closely and stumble across something they might not like.”

“We’ll deal with it when it comes. Together.” In the distance, the familiar sound of the conch shell blowing could be heard, calling the campers together for dinner. “Come on,” Percy tugged Annabeth towards the Pavilion. “I’m starving.”

Annabeth laughed. “You’re always starving.”

“Which is exactly why we should go eat. Come on, last one there’s a rotten minotaur!” Percy shouted before taking off. Annabeth followed, laughing and yelling as she chased after him.

\~*~/

A couple of days later, the two sat on the beach, staring up at the sky as bright explosions lit up the night sky above them. They watched as some of the usual fireworks were shown (the camp, George Washington crossing the Delaware River, and the more recent but continuous one of Camp Jupiter).

Percy’s face lit up as bright as the sky when he saw the one of the Avengers, all doing a fighting pose as the firework-Chitauri raced towards them on either side. It was exciting to watch as Percy’s firework-self destroyed some of the aliens, the fireworks exploding even brighter when a Chitauri died.

Finally, when the show was done, courtesy of Leo McSchizzle, Bad Boy Supreme, (Or so the fireworks proclaimed), most of the campers trudged to bed. Percy and Annabeth stayed on the beach; the daughter of Athena curled into Percy’s side. Percy’s eyes gazed at the bright stars. Somewhere out there in the vast emptiness of space, were Thor and his brother. The demigod hoped they were starting to patch things up. He really didn’t need Loki coming back to Earth to try and destroy it again the next time he and Thor had a little squabble.

Beside him, Annabeth yawned. Percy shifted his gaze to look down at her. “I think we better get to bed before the patrol harpies catch us. Want me to walk you to your cabin?”

Annabeth nodded tiredly. “Yes please.”

The two slowly stood up, their legs tired and heavy. They walked hand-in-hand together towards the cabins, both slightly leaning on each other. When they reached cabin six, Percy gave Annabeth a goodnight kiss before watching her head into her cabin. After the door closed, Percy trudged to his own cabin, cabin three. He didn’t bother changing into pajamas, barely managing to get his shoes off before he collapsed onto his bed.

Percy fell asleep with a smile on his face, dreaming of him and Annabeth laying under the stars together.

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idiotbrainjuice · 7 years

Text

(Tony has a scar he doesn’t like to think about, until he has to remember it)

Warnings: Depression

It's in the training room when Natasha and Bruce first sees the scar. Bruce is passing by the door and happens to glance in to see Tony and Natasha who are facing off and for the first time Tony actually holds his own longer than normal. He ends up on his back breathing hard but it's still good progress. Natasha can't help the small smile from seeing Tony progress. She moves to help him up but pauses hand outstretched. There’s a horrifying jagged scar at the base of Tony’s abdomen that catches her eye. She only gets a fleeting glance because Tony immediately pulls his shirt down a pasted grin on his face..

“I nearly had you this time what did I do wrong?”

Natasha helps him up a fond smile on her face.

“You want the long list or the short one?” Natasha’s explanation is shorter than it had been when she’d first started teaching Tony. And she doesn’t miss the subtle way Tony glances around the room to see who saw. When he makes eye contact with Bruce walking through the door his body stiffens and he turns away. “Hey all, don’t forget its doppelganger night, Lucy’s up.” Natasha groans as they both hop out of the ring.

********

There has never been a missed movie night the whole event being a time to recharge and relax amongst friends. They’re all sprawled over each no one person without someone’s limbs tangled with them.

During a lull in the film, Tony can't help but to ask “Why don’t they check facts before making this shit?” Bruce actually sits up from where he’d sunk into the sofa. “I mean how hard is it to just call a scientist and ask hey does this even make sense?”

Tony laughs bringing up more scientifically inaccurate movies and it's all downhill from there.

The rest of the Avengers groan “They're impossible, I thought we agreed no more science movies they do this every time.”

It’s actually really a joy to watch how both the scientists eyes and bodies animate. Tony nearly flies of the couch with one of his gestures but Clint catches him but in true Clint fashion, his fingers find Tony’s ticklish sides and the room is filled with Tony’s unwilling laughter Thor chuckles as the engineer tries to get away.

Clint’s hands find their ways under his shirt and the response is immediate. It's like Tony shuts down and flight it fight kicks in in this case it's both. Clint isn’t expecting the hand that flies at his throat nor the kick which sends him to the floor. “Tony what the hell?” the man in question is breathing hard his eyes distant before stammering an apology and leaping back off the couch. He makes a beeline to the elevator his hand doesn't release the tight grasp he has on his shirt.

At this point the movie is just white noise “Clint, you ok?” He waves him off “It takes more than that to take me down” There's a slight tension in the air till Bruce stands. “I'll go check on him.” Bruce doesn’t come back and the movie finishes but nobody is really paying attention.

A week later a well known fact is that Tony s heats aren't something he likes to talk about. He nests like any other Omega and they all notice when parts of their wardrobe goes missing and the appetite he normally doesn't have goes into overdrive. But unlike other Omegas he won't allow himself the “luxury”.

Morning rolls around and they find their stolen clothes in neat folded piles. Breakfast is a quiet affair but this situation isn’t new. What is new, is Tony coming out of wherever he holed up mostly coherent. But reeking to the high heavens how fertile he was. “Steeeeve, you smell nice.” Steve’s heart stutters when the Omega drapes himself over his back, his nose coming to scent his neck. He’s trying hard not to lose focus and ignore the snickering of their teammates.

But Tony’s assessment doesn’t stop at Steve, Thor and Natasha get a brief brush and Bruce is his last victim and he gets a more thorough pat down. Bruce doesn't mind though as he’s able to subtly check him over "Tony, what are you doing out of bed?"

"Cold." Is the simple answer he gives and with no warning he's tugging Off Bruce's shirt. He takes the scarf from Clint, a headband from Nat and Steve's running jacket. It's a sight to see when he takes his bundle of clothes to a couch in the living room. Coming back only to grab Thor’s something or other that none of them know the name to. Breakfast continues on only now with sneaked glances at Tony who’s moving head is the only thing visible from the kitchen.

Bruce follows him crouching to whisper in his ear “Buddy, you know your heat is gonna start soon do you want to be down here?” Tony rolls over one eye peering up at the other scientist. “I had a nightmare.”

Bruce can’t tell where his headspace is because he’s coming forth with more information than he would normally.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Was apparently the wrong question to ask because the color drains from Tony’s face. With more strength than any of them think possible he pulls Bruce down next to him and buries his face in the crook of his neck. “Oh ok, we can do this too.” This is actually a plus for both the scientists who really need their sleep.

Hours later his heat is finally in full swing. His shirt is already off, at some point in his sleep he’s stripped it off trying to find comfort in the warm cocoon that is his nest. At least he has Bruce’s cool skin to lay against but he’s not lying next to Bruce, the body next to him is an Adonis, it has to be to be this muscular. Who ever it is, they’re cool and they’re here. A hand strokes his hair and he purrs Tony’s fine with it on his head but as the hand moves lower coasting toward the back of his neck he pulls away warning bells going off in his mind. But the hand follows drawing forth a whimper from his throat.

“Nononononono.” the hand darts away as Tony in his haze finally rolls off the chest making brief eye contact with Steve who is wide eyed with worry. “Tony I-”

“Not my neck.” His voice is hoarse and he can’t stop backing up till his back is against something. His hands are shaking not just that his whole body is shaking with need, with fear. Its an unsettling combination that he’s sadly very familiar with. His hand comes up to cover his chest, or more accurately the Arc Reactor digging deep enough to draw blood.

“Tony, sweetie look at me.” His eyes land on Bruce but he’s not fully tracking. “Hey breathe with me.” He inhales and exhales watching Tony begin to latch on to the pattern. “You’re ok look at me? You’re ok.” He shudders and grasps Bruce’s arms grounding himself.

Steve hovers in the back unsure of how to help. Bruce turns to look at him “Can you hold him up?”

He hesitates “Would he want me too? I scared the shit out of him.”

“I think he’ll be ok now just be careful.” The trip to Tony’s penthouse is a short one. And as much as Steve tries not to look the scar screams at him. Telling a gruesome story of a sharp blade and less than humane operations.

Steve moves them near the bed and Tony falls back heavily on the mattress and breathes, “Sorry, Thank you.”

“You don’t need to apologize, are you all stocked up, You’ll be ok?” Steve asks.

Tony points at the water bottles and granola bars next the bed before reaching towards Bruce. “I need this one though.”

Steve blushes before making his way out of the bedroom.

A Week out of commission always tends to put him behind with any work he has for R&D and Shield and he compensates by spending as much time as he can in his lab catching up.

Tony comes out of the elevator clearly not ready for anybody’s bullshit. 48 hours of a science binge would do that to you. He goes straight for the coffee machine only to be intercepted by Bruce. “Babe, I’m really not in the mood.” he croaks.

Bruce levels him with a look and takes the cup from his hand. “It’s 9am and you need to sleep.”

The engineer grumbles but lets himself be manhandled to his room grumbling all the while. Bruce leaves with the promise of food and Tony begins to strip changing into pyjamas. His shirt is over his head when he hears a thump and a whistle.

“Gnarly scar dude you fight a bear?” The shirt is pulled down immediately and a glare is painted onto Tony’s face.

“Barton, I am running on 2 hours of sleep I don’t have the energy for this.” Clint goes to his closet and pulls out a sleep shirt. “I know you, you’re never tired enough to talk. Tell me about your scar.”

Tony pulls away “I’d rather not.”

“Don’t you wanna stay awake till your Brucie Bear gets back here with food?”

Clint hands him the shirt and splays a hand over where he approximates the scar to be. Clawed hand grabs his wrist. “Don’t touch me don’t touch it.” Clint pulls his hand away hissing.

“Jesus man calm down.” The door opens as Clint moves to leave “Oh Clint, where did you come from.” “The vents, Tony’s being a bully.”

“Am not, just, please don’t touch it.” Bruce pointedly jerks his head at the door and Clint raises his hands in surrender

“Don’t think this is over.”

The week for him goes downhill from there. He’s in the Kitchen when Jarvis reminds him. “Sir, it's the anniversary should you wish to-” Tony waves him away.”. Today will be one of those days he knows. He can’t pull himself out of the funk the heaviness on his heart weighing him down. He slips in and out of rooms his final stop the living room. He doesn’t expect the flurry of noise as the elevator dings open. . He hears a baby cry and he shoots up the noise jarring him from desolation. Clint rushes in with his baby cradled in his arms.

“Tony! Look at him, look at baby Nate.” Clint is so focused on his son he doesn’t realize the tears streaming down Tony’s face. “All the Kids are here but I thought I’d bring him to his soon to be favorite uncle.” When there's no response from Tony at all, Clint looks up shocked to see the tears cascading down the engineer’s face.

“Tony, are you-”

“Can I hold him, please?” his hands shake in desperation eyes only for the baby. “Yeah, of course.” the moment turns somber when Tony cradles the baby like he’s the most fragile thing in the world.

“Hey there little guy.” Nathaniel gurgles, a gummy smile on his face. He laughs tears dripping onto the blanket. “You already know I’m gonna be the best Uncle here right? Thats right , I’m never gonna let anything happen to you. I promise,” he looks up at Clint and Laura now, eyes red rimmed and teary “ I promise.”

******

Hours later when the party is over and all the Kids are tucked into beds Clint with a blanket bundled in his arms, finds Tony on the roof an untouched glass of alcohol by his side.

“She would have been two today.” is all Tony says as Clint sits next to him. His breath catches and he watches from the corner of his eye as Tony rub at his scar absentmindedly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t-” “No, don’t today is and always will be a celebration of life, no matter how fleeting.” Clint hugs him close and drapes the blanket over them both looking out at the evening’s horizon.

#wriiteitdown wrote it down #i'm too tired for tags #avengers fic #hurt tony stark #sad tony stark #clint barton #and kids #kinda omegaverse but light brushes #DippedQuill

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