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dyns33 · 8 months

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Shielded by the moon

A looooooong Moon Knight story, that I will try to finish with a part 2 even if it will take time.

Y/N had been working for SHIELD for several years, in the section reserved for the study of supernatural and paranormal cases.

There weren't that many.

Most of the time, when an explosion took place somewhere, it was the work of a mad scientist, or an alien. And although aliens were a bit weird, they weren't categorized as paranormal, but extraterrestrial, which was the specialty of another section.

It was all the more complicated to study the phenomena considered as magical because of the interference of those who called themselves the Masters of Mystical Arts, protectors of this world, who jealously guarded their secrets, and intervened in all the incidents that the SHIELD wanted to cover.

So when none of them seemed to move after a guy dressed as a mummy who was immortal and played with the Egyptian sky, Y/N figured it was her chance.

It was harder than she thought.

Normally, Y/N had some sort of gift for these things. Or a curse. Ever since she was born, she had heard certain things. She saw shadows. She had nightmares, about the past, the future, the dead, the gods, many strange things.

This had frightened her parents. This fascinated the doctors. There had been a lot of medications and therapies.

Then Thor came. The aliens. Thanos. And Y/N had finally had hope that she wasn't completely crazy, but that she only had certain predispositions.

When she arived in Egypt, it was too late. All that remained was carnage, and witnesses who had seen a mummy and a winged woman fighting with a group who were trying to take people's hands and killing them randomly.

The mummy and the woman had won, then they were gone. That was the first piece of good news, the person she was looking for might be what SHIELD called a "potential ally, or case to be monitored but not threatening."

He was killing people, but they weren't innocent civilians.

Now she had to find him, to be sure he wasn't a future problem, and to know what he could do, and how he did it. Was it technology, innate or acquired abilities, and did it have anything to do with magic ?

Considering what had happened with the sky, there was little doubt, but Y/N’s bosses wanted proof, not speculation.

It took several weeks before she found a lead in Sweden. A mafia group that trafficked in weapons, precious objects and humans had obviously been targeted by the mummy.

Once again, she arrived a little late, but surveillance cameras allowed her to see the individual. His costume did indeed consist of bandages, but contrary to previous reports, they were black. He seemed more violent too.

It was clear that he knew how to fight, but he didn't really try to parry the blows, as if he didn't feel the pain. A knife was thrust into his chest without his reacting, and the blood disappeared almost immediately.

Y/N was sure of it now, it was magic.

It was even more sure when a huge skeletal bird appeared in the footage.

At least that was what she saw. Because when she sent the tapes to SHIELD, they didn't notice a bird.

It was one of the things only she could see.

Her bosses, and no one really, being aware of her abilities, Y/N apologized, saying that she had written her report quite late, without having slept after taking the plane, and that some remarks were therefore incoherent.

A quick search on birds and Egypt offered her several possibilities for her research. Horus. Thoth. Ra. But adding the criterion of the moon, because it was a symbol that the mummy wore on his costume, Y/N found Khonshu.

God of the moon and vengeance.

Focusing on him, she dreamed of London. The big bird was in London, and there was a good chance the mummy was there too.

No incident having been noted for several months, passers-by having seen a drunk man with a white mask fighting against a bus, then climbing on a roof, Y/N searched for places with the Egyptian god.

It was thus that she entered the museum, and that she met Steven. Steven Grant was the sweetest, loveliest man she had ever met. With his accent and shy smile, he approached her as she gazed at the ancient statues, asking if she had any questions on the subject.

"I'm sorry, is that weird ? I hope it's not weird. I just wanted to help, but maybe I'm disturbing. I've been told before that I talk a lot and that I'm weird, I can let you if you want."

"No, it's fine. Tell me more about Egyptian culture please."

"Really ?!" he wondered with excitement.

Of course, she was there to focus on her mission, and she didn't normally have time to flirt, but Steven had something special. She agreed to follow him into the museum, then give him her number, then have dinner with him in a restaurant.

When she wasn't with him, Y/N kept looking for the mummy and the skeleton bird. She end up finding them by chance, while they were saving a child in a dark alley.

Still not sure there was no danger, and not knowing how to fight, she stayed hidden, but she could hear the loud-talking bird congratulating his "son", Jake.

She now had a name, it was a good start.

Things got complicated the following night, however, as she walked down the street with Steven, forgetting for a few hours why she was here.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Khonshu on a rooftop watching them, and she tried her best to remain calm, wondering if he had seen her the other night.

She still remained calm, kissing Steven and wishing him good night, as they arrived in front of her hotel.

Being a perfect gentleman, he didn't ask her to come upstairs, smiling shyly and replying an adorable "later gators" before leaving.

Then the god followed him.

There was no reason for Khonshu to follow Steven, the kindest man in the world.

With SHIELD resources, it didn't take long for Y/N to find information on Marc Spector. Almost nothing on Steven Grant. He came out of nowhere some months ago. They had the same face. So several possibilities :

Either they were twins, which was unlikely. Either it was one of these aliens who could take on the appearance of someone, or another person who could through magic, technology, or whatever, to take on the appearance of someone. Either it was like in the film with Jason Bourne, and Marc had lost his memory, becoming Steven.

Either Marc Spector has been making fun of her for several weeks now.

But Y/N was a SHIELD agent, and no one could lie that well. Steven seemed like a real person, not a liar.

And above all, there was Jake. Jake was clearly the mummy she was looking for, so what was the connection with Marc and Steven ?

All the answers came slowly, but surely, because as she adored Steven whom she wanted to pamper and protect, it was also the case of several other people, whether he knew it or not.

Y/N met Marc first. One evening, while they were watching a film in the Englishman's apartment, something changed in the air, the body against her stiffened, pulling away, and the look he turned towards her almost made her to shiver. The American accent didn't help.

"I know you work for SHIELD. What do you want ?"

“… Steven ?”

"No. But I imagine you already know that."

"Marc. Marc Spector. So… Was it a role ? A joke ?" she whispered, hurt and disappointed. He seemed to see it.

"Steven adores you. Far too much, he trusts you and he refuses to listen to me when I tell him that you are hiding things and that you don't have good intentions. I want to know why you are here, that can't just be a coincidence."

So Steven existed, in the sense that he was an alter. They shared a body. Nothing magic there. He hadn't pretended, he hadn't approached her because she was looking for the mummy, but it was clear that there was something strange about this story.

"Well… I'm not sure."

"I knew it !" shouted Marc, pointing a finger at the aquarium. "I told you !"

"Actually, I'm investigating some kind of mummy related to the moon."

"… We don't do that. Not anymore, ever again."

"Oh, I know. It's a guy named Jake who wears the suit and kills gangs, following him is part of how I got here, and he's the one I'm looking for. Steven… I didn't know that Steven, or you, had a connection. It was a shock actually."

Marc stared at her for a long time, searching for the lie in her eyes. Especially what she had said about Steven, and about him, because their safety was his priority. He couldn't trust her, she was part of SHIELD, and he didn't like that at all.

But knowing that Khonshu had found a new avatar, and that he was in London, pleased him even less. So he agreed to help her. He would have liked her to leave afterwards, but Steven didn't seem to agree.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Steven. My contract…"

“I understand, love.” smiled the sweet man, with his adorable smile that only a heartless being could resist. "I understand. I didn't say anything about Marc either, so I guess we're even. This bird of misfortune always has to ruin everything, innit ? But I'm still happy that we met. So, what do you know about this Jake ?”

That was the problem, Y/N knew absolutely nothing about Jake. Nor his last name, his appearance, his age, his nationality, nothing. Only that he obeyed a vengeful god and jumped from roof to roof on full moon nights.

They searched together, and each on their own, and it was a moment when she was alone that Y/N found herself in front of the mummy. He was covered in dark bandages, his eyes were glinting, and he had blood on his hands.

"Mentirosa. Vas a arruinarlo todo. Los vas a poner en peligro. debería matarte."

“Hello, Jake.” she said calmly, scanning the surroundings for a place to flee.

"You think you're smart ? Because you know my name ? Como sabes mi nombre ?! Nadie lo sabe ! Hablar alto ! You work for Harrow ? You want to kill us ? You won't touch Marc and Steven !"

"… What ?"

“Mentirosa !” he yelled, throwing a moon-shaped dagger at her, which she narrowly avoided, running towards the brightest street, hoping that someone would be there to… To nothing, because nothing could stop this thing.

Looking behind her, Y/N saw that he wasn't following her. Or she thought so, until she crashed into something, falling to the ground and finding herself in front of Jake, who pointed a new weapon near her face.

It was at this moment that Khonshu appeared.

"Hmm. I know she could be a problem, but she has never hurt the night travelers. Try to scare her, my son. Hurt her if you have to. But killing her wouldn't be fair."

"But she's going to ruin everything !"

"That's not a good reason."

"Yes, listen to the big skeletal bird, please." Y/N sobbed, raising her hands to protect himself.

This surprised them. Jake backed away as if she had just punched him, while the god instead moved closer, very close, not seeming to see that he terrified her, or not caring at all.

"…¿ Ella puede verte ?"

"Fascinating. A prophet. There hasn't been one for centuries. Or they burnt down or end up in an asylum. She's not a danger, my son. She's very important. Prophets are powerful allies."

"… Alright."

So Jake put away his weapon, growling slightly, before making his mask disappear, and Y/N finally understood the link he had with Marc and Steven.

#moon knight #steven grant #marc spector #jake lockley #khonshu #steven grant x reader

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starsstripesandstark · 2 months

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The lights were hot and beat down on Carol as she stepped inside the club. There was a ringing -- so loud Carol wasn't sure if it came from somewhere deep inside the crowd on from the gash throbbing in time with her heart on the side of her face.

It was a bloody fight; Dirty, brutal, and so painful that Carol's insides sung for the violence. (Like Maria right before she died. Gorgeous and fierce as her illness tore her apart from the inside, pulling and twisting within her.)

Carol swayed with the room as she shouldered her way to the bar. She looked around, trying to spot a familiar face as her pager beeped against her hip.

Carol rubbed at the bridge of her nose in a tempt to subside the formidable ache collecting behind her eyes. It pushed against her skull like enemy soldiers against weak territory.

It reminded her of her days with the Kree. The ache that the suppressants built would sometimes spread from limb to limb, sitting heavy on her bones. Sometimes it would keep her thoughts muddy, other times it would keep her condemned to her bed.

Carol lifted a hand to the bartender as she found herself a seat at his bar. She looked down at her side; a deep cut from those holographic knifes. That was what was so cheap about the fight. She knew shady stuff could be found in these parts of the universe, but seeing Stark tech was a surprise. Tony was a friend, God rest his soul, and being stabbed and ripped open in such a quick and unkind way made it hurt even more. Carol didn't have much time to tend to the wound at the time, but now was one of the few moments of rest she had between saving and fixing the universe post-Thanos.

"One shot of whatever's strongest, and one bottle of whatever's stronger than that." She implored the bartender when he gave her a waiting look.

The moment the bartender turned away to start putting together her drinks, Carol returned to her wounds: this time the open wound on her knee.

Not only had the bastard used claws to rip open her (brand new, mind you) suit, but also the skin and muscle surrounding her knee cap. Carol didn't often find herself twisting in her seat over a injury, but something about this made the acid in her empty stomach rise high enough to burn the back of her throat.

"Ahem."

Carol looked up, catching the bartender's grimace before he fixed his features back to the passive "I don't care" expression Carol supposed his sported every shift.

"Thank you," Carol murmured, reaching out for the shot and the bottle he set in front of her.

Carol took the shot and unceremoniously poured half onto her knee. She hissed at the burn. It must have been a liquor Xandar because not only did it smell like a mix of Terran body odor and passion fruit that the Xandarians oddly loved, but it also started eating away at her clothes like acid in a cloud of steam.

"Jesus." Carol hissed at the pain, took a deep breath, and poured the rest over the wound on her side.

She got a look from the alien sitting next to her, and she bared her teeth at him. He quickly looked away, making himself busy by starring at the incredibly informative concrete countertop.

Carol held back her smirk, but felt her eyebrow raise disobediently. Carol turned back to her task at hand.

Next step: drink herself into a undisturbed slumber with whatever drink the bartender chose to give her.

Based on the label it oddly looked like something found in Wakanda. Carol had only had one chance to try Wakandan booze. After being enlightened by the Wakandan's ancient fermentation process, by the wonderful Nakia, Carol had the pleasure of learning that a couple of glasses managed to get even her slightly inebriated.

Carol settled into her seat, preparing herself for the long night ahead and used her powers to whisk off the cap. It went flying across the bar, landing into some unsuspecting alien's drink.

She took one last scan of the club, seeing if she could spot a companion. Her shoulders drooped slightly when there was no sign who she was looking for.

The other must have been busy. That was probably why her pager was buzzing practically every other second, begging for her attention. If she looked, among the floods of calls for Carol to fix this next thing, would be one of the only numbers Carol had memorized. She would call it and there would be a firm and distant apology-- like an email from a friendly acquaintance. And that would be the night. It would end just the same as it would if Carol didn't.

So, Carol lifted the bottle in a silent cheers with God and took a swig.

"Long night?" The bottle slipped from Carol's fingers, and she just barley caught it in her shock before it crashed on the ground. She looked around at the sound of the familiar voice before, spinning around in her chair and to come face to face with Valkyrie.

She glowed in the club's harsh lighting -- like a beacon.

"Oh, Captain, my Captain." Valkyrie smiled, just enough for her lips to part and her teeth to shine through.

Carol found herself beaming in return and lifted the bottle to Valkyrie.

"I hoped to find you here."

#i know i say im done with marvel #but i love it #carol danversmar #marvel #marvel mcu #mcu #valcarol #carol danvers x valkyrie #king valkyrie #i love them #fight me marvel #i wrote this #fanfiction #fanfic

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lazlolullaby · 1 year

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Starmora is still canon, stop sinking your own ship

I'm not sure why people are mad or sad about the way Gunn "ended" the Starmora relationship? It's not over, it just went through a natural resting point after all of the stuff that happened in the plot???

Because even if the characters don't share a screen anymore, that doesn't mean it's over. That doesn't mean that love can't happen twice. Gunn has laid the groundwork - you can see it if you're looking at the characters.

Gamora has always been subtle. but she commits. She puts her whole traumatized heart into something if she believes that it's the right thing. She was raised by Freaking Thanos - she was (kinda) fine with him killing half the population but when Ronan wanted All of Xandar killed she Bolted. Betrayed Ronan and by proxy Thanos and Nebula.

After Endgame, she knows how to reach the Guardians if she wanted to. Heck, she's been talking with Nebula who respects that enough to only bring her on a mission that could kill a Guardian and end their found family.

About 75% of Gamora's lines are her denying that she's the same person. She's clearly pissed as hell that Peter is trying to "bring her back" when it's clear to her that she's fine without the Guardians.

At the end of the movie, if she wanted to be on the same team as Peter, she would have stayed on Knowhere. If she never wanted to see Peter again, she wouldn't have said anything.

By saying "I bet we were fun" its a signal to both Peter AND the audience that she is fine to stay in contact. That she acknowledges that her love with Peter could happen again.

As for Peter...

Peter loves HARD. He's never been subtle about it. He's never been subtle about feelings; happy, sad, angry, romantic - he boosts them up and uses them as a distraction, makes others think he's not sharp as an arrow.

He values Gamora's choices. We see him flirting at Knowhere, she pulls a knife on him and he doesn't directly flirt again for a while. You see that in Vol 2 when he's patient about her having feelings. He SHOT HER in Infinity War because she told him to. She's dead but she knows - she knows that's love.

We know he respects her choices in all situations...except in Vol 3. He's more childish and clingy especially compared to the other Guardians - they don't try as hard as Peter does to get her back. I feel like this is justified; he's already heavily traumatized from Infinity War and as acknowledged in the movie(!) Peter is dependent on Gamora in a way that the other Guardians aren't.

And with Vol 3, he's lost that part of him. He just wants "his Gamora" back. And it's cringy and sad and messed up.

You can parallel it to Thanos, who just saw "his little one", a daughter he trained to be a weapon and didn't acknowledge as a person. You can parallel it to the High Evolutionary, who wants his creations "perfect" and only sees Rocket as a failure that needs to be utterly destroyed.

(yeah it's a theme, its kickass writing, it's *chefs kiss* thank you mr. Gunn for tying this all up with a big fancy bow)

Peter is stronger than both of them. Able to move past what he thinks he needs and see Gamora as she is now instead of as he wants her to be.

"Like you wouldn't believe." He finally has something in his past that is complicated but at the end of the day, he can smile about it. An ending he can be at peace with.

Both of them know that they are not the same people that met on Xandar outside the pawn broker's shop. Fighting over their ticket out from under Yondu and Thanos.

But they know they could be good to each other again. It's just going to take some time apart.

#Starmora #gamora #Peter quill #star lord #Gotg vol 3 #gotg vol 3 spoilers #gotg 3 spoilers #Spoilers #lazlo's lulls #Ok you can call me Peter Quill for this post because I freaking love Gamora #also gotg 3 was peter quill at his worst his technically darkest #and he still was giving Gamora a choice to stay #but goddamn Gamora's line about what is wrong with yourself that I need to be someone else? HURTS #if more people thought of relationships that way - or checked in with that view every so often #dude there's a lot of healing and changing to be had if that happened #thanks mr gunn for the blorbos i'll take good care of them #and guys if you really want to write happy starmora without as much baggage #there's always exploring the 4 year gap inbetween vol 2 and Infinity War

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worstloki · 3 years

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infinity war and endgame: *presents near 6 hours of superhero content filled with various characters and storylines and a timeskip*

loki fans, as they should: *focus on the collective less-than-5-minutes of time Loki was on-screen or mentioned*

#there is a right to be mad after what happened #it is rather funny though that so many of the questions asked about the movie are literally about loki though #you can't just trash a beautiful character arc and then pretend the guy is going to die that easily too #@ marvel so is loki done being low-key suicidal or not #bc either he wasn't done recovering and therefore hadn't reached the end of his arc #or he wasn't done recovering and therefore hadn't reached the end of his arc #because he didn't even try to fight thanos with more than a knife #and I know there's trauma and ignoring that he can literally resurrect he still goes ahead and confronts an abuser #but then zooming in on his face too? making every other bad father also get a 'but he loved his kid and that's what matters' moment? BAD #so disrespectful to never even go on to acknowledge that Loki changed #Thor calls him the worst and then never mentions him again #not properly #in the end loki died and it's like that was just cut out from the rest of the narrative #thor already had the motive to want Thanos dead #it served no narrative purpose but to remove a character and that's the worst part about his death #he just #died #at the hands of an abuser who is treated like a righteous protagonist through the movie #and that's treated as if insignificant #so anyway yeah I still don't think Loki is dead and there's a bunch of legit in-universe reasons for it #but there's also the out-of-universe reason which has me raising a very judgemental eyebrow at the russos

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danwhobrowses · 2 years

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Marvel's Eternals - Impulse Thoughts

Okay so I watched Marvel's Eternals yesterday and it was...fine? It looked nice and had good ideas in it but there were a lot of impulse thoughts I had, so here goes

Spoilers for the Movie below

Okay for starters why are films now pushing 3 hours? Dune and Eternals were like the same length, it's tiring

Jon Snow was of course greatly wasted but he is basically a setup character so I let it slide

Child why are you hiding under a heavy fossil fixed to a wall during an earthquake!? And nobody saw that turn into dust?

The movie at the least did well in misdirecting on who the traitor was, even if it was beta-Homelander Robb Stark, first I thought it was Ajak, then Druig, then Thena.

The sex scene was very uncomfortable, as discreet as it was it just felt super unnecessary

I didn't like Kingo at all, ol Finger Guns here never actually seemed invested in the plot, more how he could profit out of it. Karun was great though, I want him to buddy up with Slattery or someone like that, he's wasted with Kingo.

I don't think I understood the subversion with Gilgamesh, so he makes pies now what's bad about that? He still kicked ass and had a lot of humour, I was sad he got killed off. When he did though that main deviant dude almost became a decent Villain, although his motivations were weak as was his defeat: gotta give Jolie that paycheck moment.

So if these Eternals are androids, does that mean Thanos is an android? Since his parents were Eternals (his mother is called a Titan but she too descended from an Eternal). Also if Celestials hatch from planets what's Ego's deal? Is Galactus around too because surely him eating worlds would supply energy for these Celestial Seeds?

If the Celestials could drag the Eternals off-planet like they did at the end of the movie why couldn't they do that with the Deviants? In fact why did the Deviant tracker miss the ones encased in ice? And why not ask Thor and Odin for help given how the Eternals knew them.

Also, main problem with this whole dire circumstance: why couldn't the Eternals just shrink the Celestial when it hatched? Grab some Pym Particles like Maw did in Endgame, or mind control the Celestial to shrink to size, it'd have the power to do so. Could've resolved both issues rather than effectively aborting Tiamut.

As much as it seems like there's a love quadrangle between Ikaris, Sersi, Sprite and Dane, I kinda think Kingo might also be in love with Ikaris too. It'd explain his blind and near-annoying devotion to him, plus he was gonna play him in a Bollywood film - which looked to have reduced Sersi's role to a simple human - and seemed the only one aware of Sprite's feelings for Ikaris too.

What was with those DC Comics references too? Is Disney buying that as well or do Marvel just not care anymore?

Ikaris needed to learn about the double tap, or watch Invincible and see how you really handle a speedster, tech genius and warrior goddess. Why not aim for Druig first anyway? Fighting Thena just felt like padding.

Girl you got stabbed, turning the knife into water doesn't stop you from bleeding out.

Climax was anticlimactic, and Ikaris just decided to peace out of existence as if the Celestial can't just remake another one of him.

The cliffhanger I guess is going to lead into this Phase 4 big bad but it was a bit, meh?

This doesn't really answer who is going to lead the next line of Avengers either like it was marketed to

Will have to reserve judgement for Harry Styles as Eros, if it actually leads to anything. Apparently the voice talking to Dane was Blade, which made me wonder why didn't they show him?

Film wasn't terrible it was just...weak, they somehow managed to achieve trying to add too much and yet having a bunch of unnecessary scenes which overstayed their welcome, you could've probably cut the film's runtime in half and gotten the same story

#marvel cinematic universe #marvel #eternals #marvel universe #mcu #mcu spoilers #marvel eternals #eternals movie #eternals spoilers

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fullmarvelheart · 3 years

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Monsters & Pancakes

Pairing: Avengers x Enhanced!OFC

Word Count: 2,462

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of death and familial loss.

A/N: Welcome to Chapter 3! I hope you all enjoy the story as well as the characters! Image is not my own. All rights go to the original creator. Sorry this took so long to get out! I hope you enjoy reading it!

Series Masterlist

I slowly begin to wake and curl more into the couch. My body feels less heavy than it usually does, more alert. That alone has me feeling uneasy before I realize I'm on my couch... not my bed.

I shoot up in terror knowing fully well that he did something to me, that Loki made me pass out. Though, the fast movement throws me off balance and I end up tumbling to the floor. While pushing myself up with a groan, I hear hurried footsteps rush towards me on the floor.

"What in Odin's name are you doing on the floor?" He chides somewhere behind me.

"What did you do to me?" I sneer while turning towards his voice.

"Just a simple sleeping incantation." He tells me while nonchalantly crossing his arms.

"Why?" I growl while forcing myself to stand. He sighs while rolling his eyes.

"For one, I was brought, somehow, to this place, against my will might I add. So, my trust in you was not and is not very high. Another reason I kept you asleep, after I explored to make sure it was safe, was because it appeared that you needed it." He explains in a very frustrated tone. I take a deep breath.

"I guess we're even then." He looks at me curiously. "Both being kidnapped by the other..." I elaborate.

"Not quite..." He states while I cock an eyebrow. "Your name... I still do not know it."

I sigh while trying to run a hand through my very knotted dirty-blond hair.

"People call me 'Saddie'." I tell him while walking to my room to retrieve my brush.

"You didn't answer my question." He huffs.

"Yes, I did." The retort comes out more bitter than intended but I don't care to change it.

"I asked for your name, not a nickname. I told you my name without the added titles."

"'Of Asgard' isn't an added title?" He groans at the sarcastic remark while I carefully brush the wavy tresses.

"Your name?" He asks again, though annoyed.

I sigh, not wanting to say it out loud.

"No need to tell me, you just did." He chuckles darkly from the hallway.

"What?!" I yell.

"Don't worry, Sadira, I think it's a very unique name." I feel my face grow hot with anger and notice the lightbulbs starting to flicker.

I storm out of my room only to spot him standing frozen in the hallway, staring at the flickering bulbs.

"Do NOT use that name!" He turns around to face me quickly. "And stop reading my DAMN MIND!" I scream.

He holds his hands up in surrender.

"I give you my word, not to do that again." He tells me.

I scoff.

"I don't know if I believe you."

I brush past him and make my way to the kitchen. I haven't eaten since before I left for work, however long ago that was. As the thought of food crosses my mind, my stomach growls painfully and I resist the urge to groan because of it. God, I want something sweet.

As I begin to prep my meal. I see Loki leaning on the doorway, just observing.

"Do you want anything?" I ask, my head deep into the refrigerator.

"Sure." I hear in reply. "As long as you don't poison it." I half-chuckle.

"You never know..."

I begin to pull ingredients together and place them on the counter.

"Why did you teleport into the middle of the street?" I ask while focused on the food in front of me.

"Huh?"

"Well, you suddenly appear on Earth in the very early morning, looking very upset or unnerved for whatever reason, and then appear to want to blend in. Seeing as you're wearing... what do you call it... ah, Midgardian clothes, instead of what looked like a cape when I first saw you. It looks to me like you're on the run." I explain.

"You saw that?"

"I saw everything. The beam that brought you here and everything that followed until you spotted me." I say, while waving a spatula around as I talk.

"But why did you think I was on the run? Maybe you are yourself." My eyes snap up to meet his. "You have nothing personal in here. No pictures of family... friends, no images at all. Not even a plant." He pries while moving closer to me.

"Because I have none."

"What?"

"I have no friends or family." I growl while tightly gripping onto the spatula.

I move my eyes back onto the food I'm preparing in order to prevent the tears in my eyes from spilling. And I try so hard as to push them back.

"Now, are you on the run?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"In a sense... Yes. Are they actively looking for me? No. No harm will come to you because of it."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in at his explanation.

"Who are you hiding from?" He asks, carefully.

"Too many people to list." I chuckle darkly as I put the mixture into a pan. "Mainly HYDRA though. Unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't been able to completely rid the world of them." I grumble.

"Ugh, S.H.I.E.L.D." He grunts with such distaste.

"I take it you've encountered them." I state while looking at him from the corner of my eye.

He hums in acknowledgement while I flip the item in the pan.

"Well I haven't, but I'm grateful for them nonetheless. If it wasn't for S.H.I.E.L.D, HYRDA would still have me. And I don't want to imagine the horrors that would come from that."

I begin to plate what I had prepared before washing and cutting up some strawberries.

"What is your favorite fruit?" I ask faintly.

"What?"

"Do you have a favorite fruit?" I ask again, though slightly annoyed.

"No, none that I know from Midgard." He says, very confused.

I hum while taking a can of whipped cream from the fridge.

After stacking two pancakes, I drizzle the cut strawberries on top before adding a spiral of whipped cream and a drizzle of maple syrup. I pass the finished plate to him along with a fork and knife before doing the same to my plate. I walk to the fridge and put all the ingredients away, but not before spraying some of the cream into my mouth.

I look back at Loki and notice he wears a disgusted expression.

"What? My house, my rules. And besides, it's for good luck." I defend while stabbing my fork into a piece of a pancake.

He scoffs but says nothing. I shake my head and continue eating. My thoughts begin to wander to all the events that occurred today, when I gasp.

Loki gives me a strange look as I run over to the living room and turn the TV on the first news station I find. The Q-Ship is still being played all over each network with the headlines reading "Attack on New York City". Various "experts" talk and give their predictions of what it means or what's going to happen. I scowl at the stupidity of those so-called "experts". The really have NO idea what the hell is going on.

Tony Stark's face shows up on the screen as the title reads "Missing". I hope that he's still alive, still in the fight. I know we'll need him. I mean, they'll need him.

Hpmh "we'll"...?

I am NOT getting involved in this anymore.

The image then changes to Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw giving their oh-so nauseating "rejoice because of our presence" speech. I growl at their faces immediately causing the TV and the lights to begin to flicker.

"You know the Black Order." It's not a question but a statement. I turn to face Loki who has an uncertain look on his face.

I sigh, but say nothing to confirm or deny before looking back at the TV. What's the point? The answer is already known.

"Saddie... How do you know them?" He says inching closer to me. I can feel the spike of his heart-rate, I can feel his fear as if it was my own. Though, some of it is my own fear too.

"I guess that's who you're running from." I half-heartedly say with a chuckle. Though, I'm not even sure I'm correct.

"How do you know Thanos?" He asks slowly, cautiously, scared of a reaction. My reaction.

And he should be, because at the mention of his name, I begin to shake uncontrollably.

"Please... Please, don't. You don't want to know." I croak, shutting my eyes from the new tears in my eyes pushing to be set free.

Before either of us can do anything, the screen changes to "Possible Alien Attack in Scotland".

"Now why the hell would they go to Scotland?" I ponder out-loud with tears still rimming my eyes.

My eyes widen in slight fear before I pivot to face Loki.

"When was the last time you faced the Black Order?" I question quickly, harshly brushing off the lone tear that fell.

He flinches from my sudden actions, but remains silent.

"You're running from Thanos and his children. What happened to cause you to run?" I push because I need to know. If this is what I think it is, I'm not safe anymore, no one is.

Still there is silence...

"Tell me!" I scream at him.

His face scrunches briefly before he sighs.

"The day I arrived on Midgard. Ragnarok happened to my realm, Asgard. Me and my brother, Thor, we escaped with our people. Then Thanos arrived, he wanted the Tesseract. Inside was one of the six Infinity Stones. They're-"

"I know what they are. But did you just give one of the stones to him?! Why would you even consider that?!" It can't be the same Thor as... No, no it's just a similar name. Focus Saddie!

"I didn't! Not at first! He already had one! He had the Power Stone, and he had my brother! And he was torturing him for the stone! You have no idea what that's like. To bargain for the life of someone you care about!" His words send a dagger to my heart and I feel the burn of tears in my eyes again.

"I have every idea what that is like! That is why I have no family left!" I scream, the lights start flickering again.

Silence envelops the room again except for our raging breaths slowly calming down from our shouting.

"Balance... That's what he calls it. Where there is an entire population, Thanos will leave half. Two planets in a system, one remains untouched. Two siblings..." I trail off and only one tear rolls down my cheek. "You were the sibling that should have died... weren't you?" My voice soft with sadness and understanding.

He says nothing, he doesn't need to.

"You need to tell your brother you're alive." I say choking back a sob.

"What? I can not simply do that! You have no ide-"

"STOP SAYING THAT! I lost my twin sister because of that monster!" I scream. "I am in your brother's shoes. I mourn the loss of my sister everyday! I blame myself! He needs to know, he needs to know you're still alive!" The tears have been rolling in uncontrollable waves down my face before I inhale a deep breath and exhale, slowly willing myself to calm down.

"There are more Infinity Stones on Earth... That is the only possible explanation for his presence here." I reason while the tears slow.

I kneel down and extend my palm on the ground. Reaching my power outward, I let myself connect to the Earth. It's over-powering and extremely painful to do because of my limited practice, but I persist.

"What are you-"

I let myself slip into the feel of the world, the magnitude of power it possesses, but I feel it. One form of power that exists above all else on this planet. The only Infinity Stone on Earth. I gasp, call back my abilities, and fall backwards. The power surges, then every electric source in my house flickers to black. I sit in the dark silence as I still can feel the stone somewhere in New York, somewhere close by. The power goes back on and I turn to a stunned Loki.

Tapping into the city's power supply, I try to recharge my energy as quickly as I can before sitting up, and pushing past the annoying man in my living room.

"Where are you going?" He calls out as I throw the door open to my room.

"There's an Infinity Stone still on Earth. Either the Black Order, or Thanos will be there. I'm going." I tell him as I drag a chest from under my bed.

"What?! Are you mad?!"

"Possibly..." I mutter to him as I throw the lid open.

Possibly? Try undeniably!

Yeah, I'm so not getting involved in this... dammit.

Inside the chest various knives, daggers, and even my bo-staff lie waiting to be used. Most of the metals are specifically designed for me by the Mad Titan himself. Smiling to myself at the comfort my weapons bring, I use my power to throw Loki out of the room and shut the door. After locking it, I begin to change, but not into one of the garbs I wore while my sister was still alive.

Instead, I slip on the suit HYDRA had made for me before I escaped. It's a navy catsuit that almost resembles Black Widow's own one. I zip it up to my neck then pull on black lace-up boots and my black fingerless gloves. I arm myself to the teeth with several small knives, four daggers (the two largest, from my time with HYDRA, rest on my thighs), and the bo-staff that extends into my favorite duel-bladed weapon.

Sealing the chest back up and returning it under my bed, I unlock and open the door to which Loki stumbles in. Apparently, leaning on the door was smart. A very, very, smart idea indeed.

He scoffs at my thoughts when he regains his composure. Though, I recall telling him not to read my mind anymore, I have more important things to do than to yell at him. Instead, I settle for an eye roll.

Looking me up and down as I place my long hair into a high ponytail, his mouth hangs open as he stares. I ignore the goosebumps that erupt under his gaze. Wow, do I need more male interaction or what? Mentally chastising myself, I clear my throat, bringing his attention back to me, or to my eyes.

"Please don't do anything destructive while I'm gone." I practically beg before teleporting away.

Chapter 4

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postmortem-bookworm · 4 years

Text

Bright - Bucky Barnes - Part Two

Fandom: Avengers

Type: Series

Word Count: 2,562

Character(s): Bucky Barnes, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Shuri, T'Challa

Warning(s): Cussing, Mentions of attempted suicide (but shouldn’t be anything triggering), smut (maybe), mentions of X-Men, Steve is crushing

A/N: This picks up almost right after Black Panther, but before Bucky is awake, there is no Thanos, and everyone is alive.

Life in Wakanda starts off slow, much like her time at the School did, taking a time to get used to it. Finding things to do to fill her time, Shuri comes by twice a week to accompany her to the market, showing her the vendors who will give her the best deals, and even helps her buy some packets of seeds so that she can start a garden of her own, off the side of her hut. In the mornings, she works on her garden and writes letters to her friends, and in the afternoons, she works on painting under the pergola, and baking goods.

Occasionally, in the evenings, she walks to the palace to have dinner with Shuri, T'Challa, Nakia, and the Queen Regent Ramonda. Other times, she makes a simple meal for herself, and sometimes Shuri, and goes on a walk through the woods behind her hut. She swims in the stream every once and awhile, enjoying the natural spring compared to the water from her sink and shower.

Most of her days are leisurely slow, too used to something coming up for a fight, like aliens, HYDRA, killer ex-assassins, fighting her own friends and family, fighting other mutants. But, with keeping up with her meditation exercises, she manages to keep her powers under control, and relax her enough to get to sleep each night without any nightmares of her time as Magneto's prisoner. Things change three or four months later, after a trip to the market with Shuri, the two of them are preparing dinner for the two of them, when Shuri brings it up.

"Sergeant Barnes will be coming out of stasis in a few days." She says as Maeve starts to cut into the chicken on her board. The preplucked and beheaded bird is a heavensent in this sometimes-godforsaken place, because if there is one thing this girl doesn't do, it's behead a chicken. "After he is awakened, we will let him rest in the village for a day or two, so he can get used to being awake again. It is a long walk from here, to the palace, and if there are any medical concerns, we want him to be within walking distance at the very least."

"Understandable." Maeve says as Shuri starts to cut into the potatoes. "Need those squared." She says, pointing it out, before she continues to cut the chicken off the bone. "So, after the first couple days, I'm supposed to help him settle in here? In the other hut?" Shuri smiles to herself, dicing the potatoes.

"Indeed. He will be confused, and lost. His last 70 years have been dictated by people who used him, people who wanted him to kill, and did not care about him as a person, in anyway. He will need a friend." She explains, glancing at Maeve as she pauses, knife hesitating over the chicken. Shuri can't see it, but there is terror in her gaze as haunting memories flicker across her gaze. Suddenly, her flour pot on the shelf before them shatters, causing the two of them to jump, and Shuri looks at her in surprise as she starts to gather up the shards.

"Sorry, sorry." She rambles, her hands are swift in gathering the flour with her telekinesis, her frazzled floundering surprises Shuri.

"Are you alright?" Shuri asks as Maeve drops the flour into a new pot, and tosses the shards away, biting her lips as she nods. "Are you sure?"

"Let's just say... There are things that are better left unsaid and left in the past." Her words don't even sound like her own, muffled by the immense fear sending her heart pounding in her chest, and the memories flashing through her mind. "Um, the Kimoyo beads- I can contact anyone in the world you said?"

"That is correct. Do you need to call someone?" Shuri's inquiry goes half unnoticed as Maeve glances at the silver bracelet.

"Um, yes. You mind if I step out?" She asks, already starting towards the door.

"Not at all. You've already shown me how to make these "hobo" potatoes once before. I will continue while you make your call." Shuri answers, causing Maeve to nod, leaving before Shuri can finish her sentence. The night swallows her almost whole, crickets chirping and cicadas singing as she walks towards the woods for privacy, stopping just within the treeline. The screen comes up on the call, shedding blue light across her and her background of trees, the line starts to ring.

"Hello?" The voice on the other line answers after half way through the second ring.

"Professor?" Her voice is hesitant, nervous like she's a student all over again.

"Maeve, thank goodness you called. I haven't been able to get ahold of you, nor have I noticed your power signature anywhere in Cerebro. Are you alright?" His father voice nearly brings tears to her eyes, and she swallows against the lump in her throat.

"I'm safe, Professor. As safe as I can be right now. Um, I seem to be having some... difficulties adjusting to my new life." She swallows against the lump once more. "The night terrors are fewer, I don't wake three feet above my bed as much, but... I seem to be remembering... well- more than I ever have before. It's not the same as other memories either, it's like I'm frozen in fear because I feel these memories as if they're currently happening. It hurts, and it scares me." He lets out a soft sigh, and she can practically seem him rubbing his temples as he thinks about what to say.

"I miss confess, Maeve. When we found you, after your... time with Magneto. You were very different. Almost dead like. You were mentally and emotionally broken. You wouldn't respond to anyone, not even Logan!" The Professor clears his throat. "He was- We all were worried that you were gone for good. You were physically there, but you were almost as active as a corpse. I had think of something, because by the time we found you, you were practically dead."

"Professor... Please tell me you didn't." She whispers hoarsely, her fingers sliding into her bangs, nails digging into her scalp.

"I didn't remove the memories at all, I merely put... mental stints in between them, then over time I started to remove them. Slowing your journey back into what happened. During those times, your night terrors would worsen. It seems I forgot to take some of them out, and they're all coming free at once." He explains.

"Professor, why didn't you tell me?!" She cries out in anguish, nails blunting against her scalp as panic spikes through her.

"You might have tried to remove them yourself, and that would have damaged you worst than what happened with Jean's ability." He answers resolutely.

"You shouldn't have doubted me! It's not my first time experiencing this- look at what happened to Jean! I was there! You should have told me immediately after what happened to Jean!" She shouts, dropping her free hand from her hair, the Professor's regretful sigh is audible from the other end of the line.

"I apologize. I see the error of my ways, and I did try to contact you after you left, but you left without anyway for us to contact you. You made certain that we knew, you didn't want anything to do with us until you were ready." He points out, cause Maeve to growl out a sigh, raking her fingers through her hair once more, before she pinches the bridge of her nose.

"You are correct, Professor. My apologies. I will keep in contact with you if anything should occur." She pauses.

"Maeve," He says softly. "everyone here misses you." She swallows thickly at that, letting out a sad sigh.

"I know. I miss you all too." She hangs up, walking back to her hut, where flavorful scents are wafting into the great outdoors, causing her to smile. Things would be alright.

After Bucky was awoke from Cryo, and settled into life in the village a bit, she was alerted by Shuri that it was time to meet him, post-battle. The trip to the village is long, cold, and wet, the rain pooring down around her, but it's a difference in the weather, for the first time since she's arrived in the last few months. Walking through the village, she approached Shuri and her Dora Milaje guards, the princess smiles at her in greeting as Bucky ducks out of the hut behind the princess, stalling at the sight of her.

"Hello Sergeant." She greets softly over the pouring rain, he becomes visibly uncomfortable from the title.

"Bucky, please." He says, and she nods.

"Hello Bucky, I'm your new neighbor." She smiles at him, her umbrella covers the two of them as Shuri holds her own. "I've come to accompany you to your new home."

"I appreciate it." He smiles a bit, before he runs a hand through his shaggy locks, and they all start back through the village, towards the outskirts. "You were at the airstrip, right?" He asks as they march through the grass.

"Yes, Steve recruited me." She answers, struggling to keep up beside him, he seems to notice as she starts to slow down, taking the umbrella from her hand. "Oh, thanks." She murmurs as he just nods. "Anyway, I mostly provided air support. My abilities can be a bit iffy, sometimes." He watches her as she bites her bottom lip, before she lifts a hand up, a few drops of rain around the two of them freeze, quivering to fight against her hold on them. She turns her hand to him, holding the drops before him, causing him to gape as they walk, reaching up with his metal hand to touch one. They pop and scatter from her hold, causing her to wince at the cold.

"Sorry." He says, causing her to giggle, and shake her head.

"Nope, it's just cold. Like I said, I have difficulties with my abilities sometimes." She says, shaking the water off her fingers. "It's fun to experiment."

"So, what are your powers?" He asks as she looks up at him. "You... don't have to answer." He says, running her fingers through her hair, she looks down while biting her lip.

"Empathy, telepathic, and telekinesis." She says as she keeps her eyes on the grass.

"Wait, seriously?!" She jumps as she hesitantly looks up at him, and he gapes at her. "How were you flying then?"

"U-Uh, m-my telekinesis makes me able to fly." She answers, before pushing her hair behind her ear- she hardly notices that Shuri and her guards had left to return to the palace.

"You haven't had the best reaction to your powers, have you?" He inquires as she shakes her head, walking through the grass to approach the huts. "I won't judge you, it's not like I have the best track record."

"I'm not going to judge your track record." She says, causing him to smirk a bit as she runs her fingers through her hair again, and gestures to his hut. "Your new life starts, right through that door." She says, causing him to chuckle as he hands her the umbrella, and opens the door.

"Thank you, for the company." He says as she nods, shrugging.

"I was lonely when I first arrived, I don't want you to feel like that." She replies with a teasing smirk, and he waves her off.

"I think I'll be fine." He answers, she shakes her head as she walks over to her hut, ducking inside the door to pull out some stuff for dinner. Midway through cooking dinner, the loud sound of a hammer smacking against wood, captures her attention. She flips the stove knob down to low as she steps out of her hut, the cool breeze is the only reminder that it rained earlier that day, and she pauses at the sight of Bucky. He's hammering a large wooden post into the ground, his hair is pulled up in a half bun, and he's in work jeans, a gray shirt, and a makeshift poncho is draped over his metal arm, almost like to hide it.

"Was it something I said?" She jokes as she leans on his hut behind him.

"What?" Bucky asks, looking over at her, before he chuckles. "No, it's not like that."

"Well, that's good. I wouldn't want my first day as your neighbor to put up fences between us." She says with a playful grin on her lips, and he shakes his head.

"No, I talked to Shuri the other day, and she had set me up with a therapist in Wakanda The therapist told me that the best form of therapy would be taking care of something living. Shuri agreed to set up some goats for me to raise." Bucky explains as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Goats?" She asks, causing him to chuckle as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Well, they give milk, which I can make into butter and cheese. Their hair can be used for fabric, for blankets and clothes, and they can be killed for fresh meat." She smirks as his thoughts of 'not that I'd ever kill them' echo at her, causing him to gape at his head snaps up to look at her. "Did you hear that?" He asks.

"Oh," Her smirk falls, and frowns, looking down at her feet. "sorry." She prepares for him to shout at her, tell her off, or anything else of the like.

"No need to be sorry, I think I didn't think you were really able to hear my thoughts." He explains as she sheepishly looks up at him. "It's actually really fascinating." He says, causing her to blink in surprise, before heat scores her cheeks, and she turns her head away.

"I-I-Th-" She stammers, obviously taken by the surprise as she backs away, gesturing wildly over her shoulder. "Dinner. Burnt. Not." She manages to compose those words, before she turns on her heels to sprint back to her hut, throwing her door shut behind her as she attempts to finishes dinner, and busy her mind. After the food is done, she's managed to compose herself enough to walk outside, and wander over to the burly man, who is still hammering posts into place around the side of his house. "I cooked dinner," He turns to look at her in confusion. "you should go freshen up a bit."

"Oh, are you inviting me to eat with you?"

"That was the plan." He smirks as she shuffles in place, feeling nervous as he chuckles.

"I'll be right over." He says, swinging the rubber mallet into place to smack the post into the ground.

"You have five minutes. If you aren't washed up and over to me house by then, I'll do what my mom used to do, and drag you over by the ear." She warns, causing him to shoot her a skeptical look, and she rolls her sleeve as she takes a step towards him. He drops the mallet, dashing inside with a surprised and slightly fearful look on his face, causing her to smile triumphantly as she walks back over to her hut, happily with a little pep in her step.

#bucky barnes x Reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x reader wakanda #james buchanan barnes #james buchanan bucky barnes #Avengers x Reader #avengers series #Series part two

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