don’t imagine bucky irreversibly destroying his eardrums so as not to hear his trigger words and lose control. don’t imagine bucky mutilating his own body to the point of deafness so as to make sure the winter soldier never surfaces, ever again. just don’t.

For all the villagers, cats or dogs?

Just covering the non-marriage villagers in this one, even then I have way too much to say on the subject, apparently.  XD

Caroline - I imagine Caroline growing up in a household full of cats and just adoring them.  She was devastated when she found out that Pierre is severely allergic, yet another contributing factor to their rocky marriage.

Pierre - He’s allergic to cats in canon, but I also don’t headcanon him as a lover of dogs either.  I think that in Pierre’s mind, pets are just problematic and too much work.  I imagine this is why Abigail has a pet guinea pig, it’s the only pet her father would allow her to have since it’s confined to a cage.

Robin - LOVED cats… until she found out that Sebastian was allergic and she had to get rid of her favorite kitty.

Demetrius - Doesn’t honestly have a preference, he prefers a pet-free house.  Less animal hair to contaminate his lab.

Evelyn - As partial as I am to the image of the sweet old lady with a kitty curled up in her lap, I just don’t see that for Evelyn.  I actually picture her as a dog person.  Mostly due to how much she sees Dusty help her grandson, she appreciates what that dog has done for him in his lifetime to provide support and it makes her really have a fondness for dogs.

George - Much as George loves to scowl at animals and gripe about how much work they are, he does have an unspoken fondness for Dusty.  When Evelyn is inside cooking and Alex is away at the beach, he’ll wheel himself near Dusty’s enclosure and talk to him for a bit of company.

Jodi - Jodi is neutral to pets and doesn’t really have a preference to dog or cat… they both require lots of work and care that she knows she’ll end up having to provide.  She doesn’t DISLIKE pets by any means, but it’s hard to add one more responsibility to her life.

Kent - Kent never used to be fond of animals until he returned home from the war.  Upon his return home, he found it hard to connect to people and found himself longing for a connection to someone that could just listen to him without judgement or pity.  He was tired of the pitying looks he received or the kid hands that he was treated with.  Shortly after his return home, Vincent wanted to get a pet dog.  Vincent was bored with it in no time, but Kent actually bonded with it rather quickly.  In no time, that dog was clearly Kent’s dog and not Vincent’s.  He found his mental health improving with this new dog and the walks he takes the dog on are quite therapeutic for him.

Vincent - Oh, Vincent loves dogs!  They’re great!  They’re amazing!  They’re fun!  Until you realize how much work and responsibility they are, then they’re far less fun.  As mentioned above, when Vincent finally does get a dog, it’s a great novelty for about a week, but picking up dog poop and taking the dog out for a walk daily is no fun.  The idea of it is far more entertaining than actually owning one.

Gus - Gus would actually LOVE to have a pet!  He’s more of a dog person, but hey, even a cat would be nice to have around as company.  But being the owner of a saloon that serves food, it’s just not sanitary to keep an animal inside.  Every so often before the saloon opens, he’ll poke his head out to check in on Dusty and even throw him a few bones or scraps of food from the saloon.

Clint - Clint is very lonely in his house all by himself.  Like Gus, he would love to have an animal to keep him company, but he’s afraid of having a small animal in a house with such dangerous equipment.  As much as he would love a dog or cat, it’s too risky in case they were to get too close to his furnace.  I could see Clint going for something like a snake or pet fish or something… something that stays where you leave it.

Marnie - OF COURSE Marnie loves all animals!  I honestly think she wouldn’t have much of a preference between dogs or cats, she’s probably owned both in her lifetime!

Jas - Jas loves spending time with all of Marnie’s animals, but admittedly some of the bigger ones are intimidating to her and even the smaller chickens can be a bit off-putting with such sharp beaks.  Jas longs to have a kitty; the softest, fluffiest one that ever existed.  Well, of course Marnie would never turn down another animal and Uncle Shane can’t resist doing something for Jas when she’s such a good kid, so you know she’s gonna end up with the softest, fluffiest white kitty with bows in her hair named Fifi.

Lewis - Lewis feels that his job as mayor is ‘too important and time consuming’ to even consider owning an animal (notice the sarcastic quotation marks).  However, I feel that after retirement, he would be open to having a pet to keep him company after Marnie inevitably kicks him to the curb, and I definitely see him being a cat person.  He would take his cat everywhere after that, even to community events (despite Harvey’s continued insistence that it’s not wise to bring a cat into a crowd where there are those who have allergies).

Linus - Animals aren’t meant to be ‘owned’, they deserve to be free just like humans.  Linus lives peacefully with the animal life in the mountains, respecting their space and need to hunt/gather just as he too has this need.  He peacefully co-exists with the wildlife around him.

Pam - Pam looooooves cats.  Like, if she had the space for them, she would own so many cats and be one of those crazy cat ladies.  But, not a lot of space to house a bunch of cats in a trailer and not a lot of money to provide for them adequately.  Of course she could probably make it happen regardless, but she has enough sense to know that it wouldn’t be a great living situation for the cats.

Willy - Willy’s a dog lover for sure.  He on-again off-again owns dogs that usually accompany him in his boat when he goes out on the ocean.  Whenever one of his trusted canine friends passes, he takes some time to grieve but within a year or so he’s got his next furry companion.  That’s really all Willy wants/needs out of life is a home by the sea and a canine companion by his side.

Young, Stupid, Broke And Ridiculously Happy

Prompt: “When I picture myself happy… it’s with you.”

Tony sighed for the umpteenth time in the last fifteen minutes and looked down at his watch again. 17:48. A minute had passed since the last time he looked at it. He sighed again and took a sip of his coffee. It was his third cup of coffee and the barista had looked at him a little funny when he had come back for the third time for another one, but Tony just couldn’t bring himself to care. He’d been waiting for hours now and the coffee help his worry, if only a little.

The waiting had already been unbearable ever since Steve had left for 10 months; he had to make it worse by being late? And it wouldn’t be so bad if he was only a few minutes late, like ten minutes or so, and that was including the time it took to get off the plane, get through the arrival terminal and getting his bags. But he was almost thirty-seven minutes late by now and Tony was really getting antsier by the minute.

Sigh and groan.

Another sip of coffee.

Tony had always been told he needed to work on his patience, but considering Tony had been waiting for 10 months for this day to come, dragging it out like this felt really unnecessary, not to mention unbearable. And maybe it was the caffeine or his own inability to stay still for more than a few seconds at a time or a combination of the two, but he was practically vibrating in place and had to fight against himself so wouldn’t start jumping around or run back and forth between here and the gate or something else that would make him like stupid.

Steve had promised that this would be the last time. “One last tour, Tony. One last tour and then I’m here to stay. I promise, just give me these last 10 months and then I’m all yours. I’ll leave the army forever and we’ll build a life and home together. I give you my word.”

Tony had of course not liked this. How could he? Another ten months of his boyfriend putting himself in danger and possibly dying in some morgue in Syria, yeah wasn’t that the dream of every young man in the world? But of course he’d eventually been forced to accept it all and had driven Steve to the airport a few weeks later, followed him to the security check and hugged and kissed him goodbye. It had taken all of Tony’s strength not to break down into a sobbing mess on the floor when Steve had placed his dog tags around Tony’s neck, like he always did before leaving for a tour, and had given him one last kiss before leaving and disappearing into the crowd, leaving Tony to drive home to an empty apartment.

The first few days had been torture and had spent a lot of time in bed, on the couch watching TV or sleeping through his classes at MIT. But eventually he’d been forced to get off his ass and get his life back on track. He went to his classes, got his second PhD at MIT and started to work on getting a third one while also working his part-time job as a car mechanic. He hung out with his friends one occasion, as they graduated all college and started to live their own busy adult lives. He hung out with Rhodey and helped him pick out an engagement ring for Carol and eventually try to propose (she totally beat him to it!), he, Clint, Rhodey, Sam and Thor had their Guys’ Night once a week, either getting drinks at a bar or went bowling or whatever and he bonded with Natasha over having your boyfriend overseas while they were stuck at home not knowing what was happening to their significant other. Though Tony couldn’t help but feel jealous of her, since Bucky was still home had already left the army on account of his amputated arm from his last tour.

The months did pass, if slowly, and he did receive letters from Steve- he was old-fashioned like that- telling him what was going on (as much as he could, anyway) and reassuring him that he was alright and everything was going well. He would tell him how much he loved and missed him, how he couldn’t wait to see him and would give little details or ideas for the future they wanted together.

‘We’d have to take simple jobs for while, obviously, but when we get enough money, we’ll move back to New York. Both of us are born and bred New Yorkers, we both love it there and we could have a really nice- though probably small- apartment in our city.’

‘Imagine a view over Central Park. Obviously that would be years away, even with the best of jobs to offer for kids like us. But a nice penthouse in with view like that, wouldn’t that be something?’

‘How would you feel about getting a dog? Or maybe a cat? I know we haven’t talked much about pets, but I have always wanted a dog, so how would you feel about it?’

‘I know I’ve said it like a thousand times, but God I really want to marry you someday. And I know we don’t have a lot of money right now, but once we do, I’d love to marry you. We’ll have a great wedding and we’ll invite all our friends and family and have a great time. But I really just want to spend the rest of my life with you.’

Tony smiled, just a tad dopily, in the middle of the busy, crowded airport just thinking about those letters with his hand tightly clenching the dog tags around his neck. Steve always had that effect on him, with all his sappiness and lovey-dovey words and promises. And for all of Tony’s big talk of how ridiculous and overly sappy he was and how he needed to stop being so sappy, he really loved it. Maybe it was because of the lack of love his family had showed him over the course of his life, but Steve had always found ways to get through Tony’s tough exterior and the walls he surrounded his heart with, even back when they had first met in grade school and especially after they had started dating in high school.

He had dated other people before Steve, of course he had, but no one had been like Steve. Steve, who was loving, caring and kind and the sweetest and most amazing man on the planet. Steve, who was honest and sincere utterly devoted to Tony and making sure he was happy, either by making Tony coffee every morning before he went to class or making sure he ate and slept somewhat regularly. Steve, who told Tony he loved him every single day and kissed Tony good morning and good night.

Steve had been everything he ever wanted in a boyfriend and more; he was kind and caring, funny, witty and always seemed to be able to make Tony smile. He was one of the few people in the world that could out-stubborn him and wasn’t not afraid to call him on his bullshit or get into arguments- both light-hearted ones and more serious ones- with him and refuse to back down before Tony did or before one of them made a good enough point to prove that the other was wrong. He was also always there to ground Tony whenever he was getting lost in work or just needed to get his head out of his crazy ideas and reined him in when he was being reckless.

And while Steve had started out being skinny and shorter than Tony, he eventually hit a major growth spurt and shot past Tony and grew muscles in places Tony didn’t know had muscles, which not only made him very attractive (not that Tony hadn’t thought he was before, but c’mon, the guy had serious abs and muscles) but also developed a protective streak and would stand up to anyone who tried to hurt or bully Tony. Steve had always been an amazing friend, one of Tony’s best friends ever, but after having asked him out and eventually confessed his feelings, he had become the kind of boyfriend that only seemed to exist in those ‘Relationship Goals’ posts he saw on Instagram. But as sappy and lovey-dovey as Steve was, Tony had fallen head over heels in love with him and knew he never wanted to let go of him.

Howard had blown a gasket over Tony falling for the ‘broke, lowly nobody from Brooklyn’ he had met in grade school and that had been the point where he really wanted to disown Tony, which he eventually did once Tony went to college, moved into a small apartment with Steve and made it very clear he wasn’t going to do whatever Howard wanted him to do with his life, i.e. take over Stark Industries and make weapons like him. Tony, however, had never let that bother him too much. He was young and in love and who was Howard to tell him to live his life anyway? Steve was the best thing that had ever happened to him and Tony would be the biggest moron on this side of the universe if he ever let him go. Jarvis had told him on the day he had graduated college, after Steve had hugged him and kissed him and told him how proud he was of him, that “finding someone as loving, devoted and loyal this is a rare, once in a blue moon occurrence, especially at your age. Don’t waste it, Young sir.” And it was a piece of advice that he was very happy to follow, even three years later.

Tony smiled again, his eyes getting a little wet with emotion and still clutching those dog tags very tightly, when a voice broke through his thoughts, making his head jerk up and his breath got stuck in his throat.

“Tony!”

Finally.

Steve was coming in through the gates, running as fast as he could with all the people around him, more or less shoving people aside when he couldn’t run around them. He was looking around the airport, clearly looking for someone; his face was a mix of eager impatience and held back anticipation.

“Tony!”

Steve. Steve was here, alive and whole and all right.

He was finally home.

Tony was running before he even fully realized he was moving at all. He bumped into some guy, the half-full take-away cup of coffee flying out of his hand and onto the floor and he almost slipped in the puddle of coffee as he ran faster. He heard somewhere behind him someone yelling at him for making a mess, but he couldn’t care less, because Steve was home and he was here, only a few feet away from him and fuck it if Tony was gonna waste another second waiting any longer. He cried out “Steve!” but just that second there was an announcement over the loudspeakers, which kinda drowned out his voice.

Steve must’ve heard the yell however, or spotted Tony moving, because he finally turned in his direction and the smile that spread across his face threatened to split his face in two. He threw his bags down and started running too and before Tony’s brain could fully process it all, he threw his arms around Steve, wrapped his arms tightly around Steve’s neck and pressed his face into the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent and letting tears of relief and happiness fall, the weight that he had been carrying around for a whole year now finally lifting and disappearing.

“Steve.” He whispered into his boyfriend’s neck, only barely keeping his sobs at bay, though when he heard, and felt, that Steve was also struggling to hold back his own tears it felt a little easier to release them.

“Tony.” Steve whispered back into Tony’s hair, his grip around Tony tightening and Tony gasped a little when he was suddenly lifted of floor and spun around like a girl in a romantic movie. He tightened his grip around Steve as he was spun around, more out of instinct than anything else, but whatever. The closer he could be to Steve right now the better.

“You’re here. You’re home. Oh my god, Steve, I’ve missed you so much!” Tony could barely speak through the tears and sobs, but he managed to rein them in enough to be at least somewhat understood while still crying. Though, given how Steve was shaking about as much as Tony was at the moment, he probably couldn’t talk much more than Tony at the moment.

Steve drew a shaky breath and sniffled loudly before finally talking. “Yeah, I’m here now. I’m home, oh Tony, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” He gently put Tony back down on the ground but pressed him close up to his chest, burying his face in Tony’s hair.

Tony sniffed and nuzzled his face into Steve’s shirt, wiping tears and snot on the fabric and finding himself unable to care in the slightest. “I’m not letting you leave again. You’re not gonna go anywhere near that shit again, you’re gonna stay right here with me forever from now on, do you hear me? That’s not a suggestion, it’s an order Soldier.”

Steve huffed a wet laugh and pressed his cheek against Tony’s head, his arms tightening around him, so much that it kinda hurt and made it a little hard to breathe. But, again, whatever, Tony could take it. He and Steve hadn’t seen each other for a whole year; he would take it all the attention and love Steve had to give him.

“Well, I guess I have my orders, General Stark. And trust me, I have no intentions of ever letting you go, ever again. I thought I made that clear when we were still in high school.”

Tony chuckled and pressed a kiss on Steve’s throat before gently pulling away to get a better look of him. Steve tried to keep him close, gently trying to push him back into his chest, but Tony eventually managed to pull back enough to get a good look of his boyfriend.

Steve was dressed in his army uniform, sans the hat, his blonde hair was a shaggy and messy and he had grown a scruffy beard in the time he had been gone. He had no visible injuries, bruises or abrasions on his person and though he looked a bit skinner than he had been since Tony last saw him, he looked fairly alright considering the circumstances, aside from his eyes and face being wet and red with tears.

Tony smiled widely and raised his hands to Steve’s face, gently stroking the apples of his cheeks and tried to wipe away his tears- though that turned out to be rather futile as more tears just kept coming anyway- which made Steve’s smile widen back at him and put his own hands over Tony’s as he leaned into his touch, squeezing them tightly and pressing them to his face.

It almost looked like Steve was trying to convince himself that he was finally home and with his boyfriend again just as much as Tony was.

Tony chuckled softy, stood on his toes to kiss Steve’s nose and then buried his fingers in Steve’s beard. “Okay, some real talk here, babe, what the hell is this? Do they not let you shave in Syria? Or are we trying to be the next Robinson Crusoe?

Steve laughed softly and squeezed Tony’s wrists, blinking away the remaining tears from his eyes. “No, no, they do. I guess I’ve just been busy thinking about other stuff to bother with things like shaving.”

Tony smiled teasingly at him with a raised eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

Steve smiled down at him with such adoration and unquestionable love that it made Tony’s stomach drop and his heart stutter and he almost teared up again. He gently let go of Tony’s wrists and reached out one hand towards Tony’s face, gently stroking his knuckles over his cheek and wiping a tear away with his thumb.

“Making it home to you.” He placed a kiss on Tony’s forehead. “I meant what I said before, you know. I’m here to stay, Tony, for as long as you’ll have me. You have to know that I adore you and I want to spend forever with you. I’m done leaving you behind for these missions, I promise. From today, I’m done. It’ll be just you and me from now on, if you’ll have me.”

“Of course I’ll have you. I love you more than anything in my life.” Tony wanted to say, but he couldn’t get the words out. His tongue was frozen in his mouth and he couldn’t get it to work for him.

Steve continued with a soft smile, but he also looked… well, kinda emotional. He let go of Tony’s face and took his hands, holding them tightly. “Tony, you know I mean it, right? I adore you, Tony. I love everything about you and don’t ever want us to be apart for this long ever again.”

He paused and looked down at the floor, suddenly looking smaller and not quite as confident as he usually did.

“I know my degree doesn’t count for much. There’s limited jobs for people with an Art’s Degree and I don’t have much as it is. I have absolutely nothing to offer you that is up to the standards that you are used to, but if you let me, I’ll do everything I can make sure to treat you to everything I can, especially after everything I’ve put you through with my tours and work in the army. Not to mention how your asshole father has treated you throughout your life. You deserve to be treated like a prince and I’ll dedicate my life to make sure you get everything you deserve.”

“Steve…” Tony’s mouth was suddenly dry as a dessert and he could barely move or talk, only stare up at his boyfriend.

Steve smiled and placed one hand over Tony’s cheek, stroking his thumb under Tony’s eye. “I mean it, sweetheart. You’ve had such a rough life and you’ve still turned out an amazing man. You’re smart, kind, brave, generous, funny and you’ve worked so hard to get where you are today and I’m so proud of you and to be your boyfriend. And I know we’re young and stupid and just a bit above broke, but I don’t care, I want you now and forever. I’ve thinking a lot of this and when I picture myself happy…” He leaned down and pressed a kiss on Tony’s mouth. “It’s with you.”

Tears were falling from Tony’s eyes by this point and he was just barely holding back his sobs and his smile was so big it physically hurt. He sniffed and tried to snark back at Steve but it didn’t come out quite as snarky as he had wanted and more like a sob.

“Man Rogers, you can’t keep giving me this much sap, you’ll give me cavities.” Not his best line, but it was the best he could deliver considering the circumstances.

Steve chuckled and pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Well, I’ll buy you a new toothbrush and toothpaste before we get home then. But before that, I have something I have to ask.” He squeezed the hand he was still holding before letting go and taking a small step back.

And then he got down on one knee.

Tony was vaguely aware of gasps of shock and anticipation from the crowd of people around them but he was stuck staring at Steve with wide eyes and his jaw hanging open, his hands flying up to cover his wide open mouth. Steve took out a small, black box from his pocket, popped it open and revealed a ring. It was fairly modest ring, nothing too extravagant or fancy, just simple golden band and a small diamond at the center.

It was the most beautiful ring Tony had ever seen.

Steve smiled widely up at him. “Tony Stark, you are the love of my life and I want you to be my partner in everything. Will you marry me?”

‘Oh my God.’ That was the only thing going through his mind at the moment. ‘He’s proposing. He’s actually fucking proposing to me!’

Tony hadn’t given marriage too much thought since before dating Steve, and even then it wasn’t until their relationship had started to become serious. But after having talked to Steve about it, after having read Steve’s letters and how much he loved him and that he really wanted to spend the rest of his earthly days with him.

And God, if it wasn’t everything Tony had ever wanted.

Tony was nodding with happy tears running down his face, saying “Yes, yes, yes!” over and over again before running up to Steve and throwing himself around his neck again. Steve wrapped his arms tightly around Tony before lifting him off his feet again and spinning him around. He heard cheers and applause around them, but paid them no heed; the only thing going through his head at the moment was ‘Oh My God, Steve Rogers just asked me to fucking marry him!’

Steve pressed kisses on every inch of skin he could reach, arms tightly wrapped around his waist spinning him around for a good minute before putting Tony down on his feet again, though Tony still had his arms around Steve’s neck and Steve placed his hands on his hips. He had a big, blinding smile and tears in his eyes.

He chuckled disbelievingly. “21 years old, son of one of the biggest minds and business men of the last century and has enough brains and passion to revolutionize the world one day, and you’d settle for a broke, art graduate and soldier from Brooklyn? One day you’ll have the entire world at your feet, able to take your pick, and you still choose me.” He pressed his forehead to Tony’s. “You still want me.”

Tony tried to smirk, but it looked less cocky and confident and more wide and joyous and tearful. “Steve, babe, two things: First, this is not me ‘settling’ for you. I have dated several people before you and no one has ever been as good to me as you. Even Pepper, bless her heart, had a rocky time with all of my broken parts and ugly history. Sure, maybe ten years from now I will be successful and rich and have a big house and ten cars or whatever, but no one in the world could ever be better to me than you.”

Steve’s smile widened and a few more tears fell down his cheek and Tony raised his hands to his face, gently wiping them away. “And two, how long have we been friends? Fifteen years? You have always been the best friend I could ever ask for, even before you asked me on a date, or confessed you loved me. You’ve looked after me when I was in trouble; let me cry on your shoulder after fights with my dad or when a boyfriend or girlfriend turned out to be a bust. And you’ve always been there for me to rein me in when I get lost in work or school or when I’m just being stupid, when I’m being an asshole or when I just need to get my head out of my ass. You have always been there for me, even before I was a genius and dad tried to exploit it.”

Tony smiled and had to clear his throat so his sobs wouldn’t make his voice crack. He stroked one hand over Steve’s bearded cheek. “So what kind of idiot would I be to let go of the best thing that ever happened to me?”

Steve’s eyes were overfilled with tears at this point and Tony pressed a kiss on his nose, leaning in close to his ear. “Now, let’s go home. We’ll pick up pizza on the way home.” He slowly started to pull away, but Steve grabbed his hand before he got too far away.

“Of course, but first,” He took the ring out of the box and gently put it on Tony’s ring finger. Tony gently pulled his hand out of Steve’s grip to get a closer look at it, and now that he wasn’t in complete surprise by Steve proposing and he got a closer look at it, he recognized it very quickly.

“Steve, this is your mom’s ring!” Steve smiled widely and placed his arms around Tony’s waist.

“Yes it is. She gave it to me when I told her I wanted to ask you to marry me. I had to go and have it a bit adjusted so it would fit your finger, but other than that it the exact same ring.” He blushed a little and rubbed the back of his head. “I… heh, carried it with me everywhere while in Syria. For motivation, I guess. I figured if I kept carrying it around with me it would help me remember what I had back home. That I had the love of my life waiting for me back home and I really, really wanted to marry him.”

Tony smiled and huffed a small laugh, a few tears forming in his eyes before blinking them away. “Yeah? And how did that work for you?”

Steve smirked and shrugged lightly. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’d say it worked out just great for me. Especially since I have you know.” He placed his arm around Tony’s shoulders and hugged him close, letting Tony rest his head in the crook of his neck.

Tony ran a finger over the golden band and the diamond and then looked up at Steve again. He smiled softly at him, and then he smirked and hip checked Steve in the side. “You realize that if dad ever finds out about this he’ll skin you alive, chop your balls off and turn them into Christmas ornaments, right? He hates your guts, probably blames you for my decision to turn my back on the company.”

Steve smirked back but there was a dangerous fire in his blue eyes. “Yeah I know, but fuck Howard Stark, I’m not afraid of him. If he has anything to say about our engagement or relationship he can say it to my face. If he has the balls that is.”

Steve smiled and his eyes softened, placing both hands on Tony’s shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes, his eyes are full of sincerity and love. “Tony, you shouldn’t think too much about Howard and what he’ll think. I have never cared about his opinion; I hate him just as much as he hates me. But I love you and I want you, and if that means I have to deal with him being a dick about it, I’ll gladly deal with that.” He lifted one hand and stroke it over Tony’s cheek. “I love you enough to handle anything. I’ve seen war at this point, I doubt there’s anything Howard Stark can say or do to keep us apart or make me stop loving you.”

Tony’s mouth was open, eyes wide and started to fill with tears again, but he started to blink, hoping to kill them before they could fall and he chuckled. “Fuck you, Rogers. You’ve made me cry like five times in less than thirty minutes today, you fucking asshole. I should give you the ring right back for making me this emotional today, you know I hate feelings.”

Steve laughed fondly and gently stroke his hand through Tony’s hair, pressing a light kiss to his temple. “Oh? Well, I guess I’ll have to change your mind then. How about I buy us some dinner, you pick a movie and we’ll have a nice long night together. And over the weekend, we’ll have some fun. You choose what we do, for the whole weekend, no work or anything like that. Just you and me, what do you say?”

Tony smiled teasingly and bumped his shoulder against Steve’s arm. “Well, I guess that’s a good start.”

Steve smirked and then crouched down a little, one arm around Tony’s shoulders, but when he tried to place his arm around the back of Tony’s knees, Tony stepped away and smiled.

“Uh, not that I’m against what you’re thinking at the moment, but don’t you think you need both hands for your bags?” Steve blinked, a bit surprised and looked back over his shoulders at the bags he had dumped on the floor. Then he looked back at Tony and then he stubbornly set his jaw and a determined look formed on his face and he quickly stomped over to the bags. He swung one of them across his back and then walked over to Tony with the other bag, a slightly smaller duffle bag, and had a mischievous spark in his eyes and dumped it in Tony’s arms.

“Hey, hold this for me, doll?” Tony took the bag, a bit surprised, but before he could respond, Steve grabbed him around the shoulders and knees again and swept him in his arms. Tony gasped a little and clutched the bag tightly to his chest (it wasn’t heavy, probably just some clothes and personal items) before laughing and hiding his face in Steve’s neck as he started to walk towards the doors.

“Steve, people are looking!” Not that Tony actually minded that people looked, they could stare all they wanted for all he cared, but he still couldn’t help flushing at Steve’s very open affections for him. PDA got nothing on Steve Rogers.

Steve grinned and rested his cheek against Tony’s hair, pressing a kiss against his forehead. His grip around Tony tightened slightly and adjusted his grip a little, so Tony could rest his head against his shoulder. “Let them look. I have been waiting to hold you and kiss you again for ten fucking months, so you’re crazy if you think I’m letting you go ever again.”

Tony shook his head with a small laugh before letting himself relax and rest against Steve’s body, pressing his lips to Steve’s neck. He suddenly felt drained of all energy after all the emotion that he’d gone through just now and was now more than okay with Steve carrying him out of the airport and to the car so they could go home.

They’d probably stop by the pizza place on the way home, or they’d order for delivery when they got home. They’d pick a movie to watch while eating but eventually start to pay more attention to each other than the movie. Steve would pull him close and hold him throughout the whole night, even when they would need to go to bed. Tony would cling onto Steve too, making sure to himself that he was actually home and this wasn’t some kind of dream. He’d probably finger on the engagement ring on his finger to make sure that was real too, because it still felt like a dream.

The whole weekend would probably be much of the same, but really, Tony was more than fine with that. Steve was here too stay forever now, away from the army and had asked him to marry him.

They could spare a few days to celebrate this before going back to real life.

Tony sighed and nuzzled his face into Steve’s shoulder, closing his eyes. “I love you.”

He didn’t see Steve’s face but he heard him chuckle fondly and held him a little tighter and kissed his hair. “I love you too, Tony.”

Nepenthe - Steve Rogers x Reader (Part I)

Request: Hello!! Could I possibly request a Steve x reader imagine where the reader is younger than him? (Well, anyone would be younger than him). So maybe she is around twenty with a tragic background and she is the one who has been helping him adjust and then she helps him with the whole Bucky thing and they kinda end up together somehow. She is a SHIELD agent. (Something like a timeline from the moment he was revived up until whenever you want). I don't know if it made sense, sorry. Thank you so much. Nepenthe: Something or someone that can make you forget grief or suffering. Safe heaven.  Warnings: My English, language, gifs aren't mine. Credits to their original owners. Also, it deviates from the movies at some points but it’s pretty close. A second(better) part is already planned.  Word Count~7.5k MASTERLIST Pending Requests

It wasn't something new. You should have gotten used it. It wasn't the first time you had woken up in the middle of the night with your breath stolen from you and it would definitely not be the last one. You didn't want to think of your past but every single time you thought you had put it to sleep, that fucking thing popped up unexpectedly and messed with your mind.  You had gone through so much and even more. Not even Fury knew exactly what. He had a clearer picture than all of the others but he didn't even dare to ask.  Your past had left you with so many scars, fears and nightmares that you tried every day to fight off. Some days you would win, some days you would lose. What mattered most was that you never gave up. It was exhausting but you would never surrender to them. You were stronger than that. Not unbreakable, but strong enough to know that there was hope. And to believe it would get better.  The first time you had been brought to SHIELD, you were eighteen years old. You had no relatives at all, no way to live on your own, no chance of survival. You didn't have a choice, really, but what they were offering was appealing in a way that made you think you had a chance. To begin again. That's why you didn't even hesitate.  You were the youngest agent but your progress was rather dynamic. Two years and many training sessions and missions later, you were a level eight. No one ever expected you to achieve so much within so little time. You didn't want yo admit it since your past made you eager to move forward, but it had helped you a lot. All the training you had undergone when you were captured by the Red Room and the missions you were sent to execute while you were under Hydra's capture had made you strong and lethal; you would barely blink an eye when you had to pull the trigger or to split someone's throat open. You used to follow orders blindly, without question because that would have gotten you killed.  However, you had noticed that lately... Something felt off.  A knock on your door alerted you and you immediately shot up and got off of your bed, putting on a jumper two sizes too big and your sneakers.  You opened the door, knowing that whatever had just happened must have been important. Otherwise, they wouldn't wake you up at three in the morning.  "Director Fury is demanding your presence in the Triskelion. You have ten minutes" a guard informed you and you just nodded.  You had ten minutes to get ready. 

When you arrived -when the helicarrier arrived- you were rushed to Fury's office. Some other people were there along with Natasha, Clint, and Maria. Nobody seemed to know why they were there. Until Fury spilled the beans. "Captain America, folks. Alive and frozen". Wait. What? Captain America? The Captain America? But that was impossible. He lived, what, seventy years ago? And he had died when he crushed that ..thing directly into the... ice. Oh, Dear Lord. You couldn't hear much because man, he was alive. He has been frozen for seventy years and now they want to revive him? How hard would it be for him to adjust?  'How awful must it feels to know that all of the people you cared about are dead and you are still here, not aged a day, trying to move on?' you thought to yourself. You would never let someone see your soft side because that was a weakness. Emotions clouded judgment. They were a distraction from your goal. "And I want you to help him adjust" Fury said a little louder than necessary, just to get your attention. And he was pointing at you. You would have to babysit him. You nodded and when you turned to face agent Coulson, you saw him glowing with excitement. Everyone knew that Phil was enchanted by the mighty hero. You arched you perfectly shaped eyebrow at him but if you wanted to be honest you had to admit that his story was actually tragically enchanting. People started moving towards different directions but you just stood there, unable to move so much as a muscle. Your mind was flooding you with your memories. All the tragedy that you had suffered. All the pain and the agony. And how... Guilty you felt once you escaped. Because you hadn't been able to save anyone else. Just yourself. And that was going to be exactly what he will face as well. "Come on, Y/N" Natasha spoke softly as she guided you by your arm. Natasha could understand your pain but only a part. She knew the Red Room and what it felt like to enter a child and leave an adult. When she had learned that you had escaped when you were only fourteen, she was jealous because you had been given the chance that was taken away from her. But then she found out that you had been recaptured by Hydra. She hated herself for ever feeling jealous in the first place. The Red Room was one thing. Hydra... Was another. Once your mind returned to reality, you saw that you were already inside a room. And he was lying on a surface, face pale, eyes closed, lips purple. You tilted your head to the side. Something about his features felt unbelievably intriguing. Agonizingly, perfectly still. He was unconscious but everything about him screamed alive. You tried to listen to Fury as he instructed everyone. They would pretend that it was still the 40s. Something that you thought of as hypocritical, to say the least. Why did they think that he would believe it? He clearly was smarter than that if the stories were true. You stopped paying attention to his words as you took in the picture in front of you. It was going to be one hell of a ride. 

You didn't exactly remember if it had been a month or more, but Captain America was back. And you had been right. He didn't believe it for a second. You felt low-key proud. Your job was mainly to keep an eye on him, but you weren't his shadow. He needed space and time to be aware of his surroundings and the new era he had woken up. You had officially met him the very first day he was revived-after the fiasco. Even though you could feel his uncertainty and his worries, and you would definitely understand it if he was rude to you, he surprised the hell out of you when he politely introduced himself and called you ma'am. That sweet Brooklyn accent and his manners… Killer combination. He also appreciated the fact that you gave him his space. He would occasionally be annoyed by the other agents that took your place when you had to go out on the field. They weren't discreet nor quiet. He would never admit it but he had grown used to your presence around the place. It was somehow reassuring. Especially after seeing you training. He was impressed, afraid and awed. However, things made it difficult for you to keep your distance and let him adjust easier. When Fury told you about the Tesseract, you knew that he needed Steve and that he was recruiting a team. You also knew that he didn't tell you everything but you didn't push it. You would find out in a different way. He was punching and kicking the hell out of that punching bag until it crashed into the wall across the room. You were aware that he was strong but that seemed a bit maniac. "Trouble sleeping?" Fury asked him rhetorically and you felt the need to arch an eyebrow, but you fought against it. "I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill" he answered and even though he was being sassy he was still polite. 'Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world" Fury continued as you both made your way to him. You felt bad for the punching bag. He stopped and walked over to his things as he nodded, acknowledging you. You sent him a small smile, something that you had been doing a lot more recently. And Natasha had noticed. After a whole bunch of dramatic, Fury handed him the file with the information he needed to know. "Trying to get me back in the world?" he almost spat out, darkness creeping up into his voice. "Trying to get you to save it" you popped up before things got out of hand. His expression softened and when he looked at you, he saw nothing more than a person being honest with him. And he liked that. And you liked him. Wait. What?

"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially. I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping" Phil was rambling again. His crazy obsession had taken over. You simply gave Steve an apologetic smile but you felt that your whole world brightened when he blushed.  There was no use denying the fact that he was handsome. But there was something more than plain looks. He was charming and charismatic. "I mean, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a huge honor to have you on board" Phil continued. Steve was looking at him with amusement. You were drooling over him.  You had caught yourself thinking about him more than once mainly because you had bonded over dinner. 

It was Monday and it sucked. You have had a particularly difficult day and your body felt sore. A shiver was trailing through your muscles and you just wanted comfort as you were drained of energy.  You wondered around in hopes that you would find something to eat and a fluffy cozy blanket. But plans changed. They became so much better. You made a beeline to the kitchen only to realize that nothing was eatable. 

You began to cook spaghetti and prepare a really spicy sauce with chili.  Working with your hands and not your brain was refreshing and appealing. You even found yourself humming a soft song. You remembered that there was a bottle of red wine hidden somewhere in the kitchen. Why not? The dinner was ready within no time. You placed your plate on the table and you poured a generous portion of wine into your glass and you were ready to sit down but Steve walked in. You didn't want to make him feel awkward and honestly, you liked his company.  "Hungry?" you gently asked him, a bright smile on your lips. He was taken aback and he tried to say no in a polite way but is stomach said otherwise. He blushed and sighed.  "Starving" he admitted and blushed even more. He was so adorable and sexy. How can you be both at the same time?  You added a plate and a glass, after seeking confirmation from him. You didn't know if wanted to drink. As you would find out later, he couldn't get drunk, just lightheaded.  He sat down next to you and you could smell his scent all over the place. It was a bit disorienting. He was hesitant to taste the food because he thought that you were too young to know how to cook and fight at the same time. He genuinely thought that you were too young but he was forgetting it a lot. However, he was pleasantly surprised.  "This is good. Like, really good!" he told you beaming and you laughed. He was just like a child. You didn't know this but he became determined to make you laugh again.  That night was only the beginning.  "Well, I hope I'm the man for the job" he quietly said. Phil was about to say something but you cut him off.  "You are" you simply yet boldly answered him, without leaving him any room for self-doubt.  His eyes pierced yours and nothing felt the same. 

"Can you? Can you wipe off your past? Do you remember them? Do they let you sleep at night? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving the life of a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer; pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors, but they are a part of you, and they will never go away" he said, slamming his fist against the glass. You knew that this was just a plan. You knew that what he meant was to simply scare you. You knew that he wanted to unleash the Hulk. But it hurt, nonetheless. Mainly because he was right. You had killed and tortured and captured innocent people. It took everything in you to remember that it wasn't you. 'Yes. But I still did it' you thought. And most importantly... Now he knew. He would hate you. How could he not? He was a hero and you were an assassin. You didn't care about the others, not that much at least. You had out-sassed Stark and you were quite gentle with Natasha's new love interest. Thor... He was a God. He could handle it. But him... He was Captain America for fuck's sake. You did what you were told but when you returned to the lab, you were welcomed by six people fighting each other... And a gun? So that was why SHIELD wanted the Tesseract. New guns. "Congratulations. You out topped Hydra" you sarcastically told Fury. He was being just as dishonest and manipulative as your previous captures. Guess, you exchanged Hydra and the Red Room for SHIELD. They were all the same. Seeking profit for themselves. Steve looked at you, eyes on fire. "You didn't know?" he asked you in a provocative tone but you refused to give in. "I wouldn't be here if I did" you simply answered him. No sarcasm, no irony. You truly wanted him to know that you had no idea and you were definitely not supporting any of it. He seemed to realize that you would have never agreed on something like this, given your past. Because he knew. He had read your file, he had asked Fury-multiple times- and he had done his research on you. He was actually kind of surprised -not in a good way- that you were only twenty yet you had been through all that. You were just a child when the Red Room got you. He came to hate them for what they had made you do. And Hydra of course. But he had another reason to hate Hydra as well. His best friend. Zola and the red skull had killed him.. And suddenly he was back on that Train. He snapped out of it. But your eyes were still locked with his. And you couldn't avert them.

You had survived the Chitauri invasion. You had all gotten out of that nightmare alive. Not completely alright but safe. "I think I would like a break" you admitted, tilting your head so you could see his face against the blinding light of the afternoon sun. He smiled, and you realized that the sun wasn't bright enough. "I think I might join you" he said amused. He wasn't usually this bold, but you loved it when he was. It was like a completely different side of his personality. You stood there watching Thor and Loki teleporting back to Asgard with the Tesseract before everyone said their goodbyes. You were no longer a SHIELD agent per se but not quite an Avenger as the group was being called. You had stopped taking orders without questioning them. You had also come clean with Steve about your past as you told him everything, things nobody else knew, things you wished to forget. And he was okay with that. He didn't criticize you or hated you. He was starting his motorcycle when he furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head to look at you. "Hop on" he told you and you couldn't hide your smile. You didn't question him or his impatient request. "Yes, Captain" you playfully answered as you sat down behind him and hugged his waist tightly, spreading your fingers out, gripping his shirt. You could feel his toned torso, his muscles tensing for a brief second. You could feel his heart beating steadily. A big smile was carved on your lips. He could feel your legs almost wrapped around him, your hands holding him close, your chest against his back, your breath fanning over his neck. He tried to remind himself that you were just twenty years old. But did it really matter?

There was a dim light illuminating the room making everything appear still. You slowly awoke from your sleep. It had been a peaceful night; no nightmares, no memories hunting you, no screams. Your right hand was rested upon Steve's chest. Your eyes flickered open when you realized that he was shirtless. You found his apologetic gaze already fixed on you but there was a lighthearted smile plastered on his full lips. ‘’Hey...’’ your sleepy voice trailed off before your eyes closed once more, causing Steve to chuckle at the sight. This was normal. You had been sleeping in the same bed with Steve since the first night after New York. You were both too scared to be left alone with your minds. So, when you had slowly opened the door of his room and crept in, you had found a terrified Steve. You had never seen him that afraid. You hadn't given it much thought when you had climbed οnto his bed and hugged him tightly. And he had hugged you back, holding onto you for dear life. You didn't know where you two stood exactly. Like, what were you to him? His friend? But friends didn't sleep in one bed, friends didn't hug each other as much as you did, their touches wouldn't linger on for moments after... Friends didn't get that tingling sensation whenever the other's hand would brush against your own accidentally. You could safely say that he wasn't just your friend. You had developed feelings for him-feelings that ran deeper than blood, feelings you knew you weren't supposed to catch for someone that much older. But then again... He didn't seem to treat you any differently than the others, right? Hugging you tightly and cuddling you to sleep wasn't something that he wouldn't do for someone else. Treating you with breakfast in bed, was something anyone would do. Cooking with you, getting not-drunk with you, running a hot bath for you, carrying you when you were too tired or sleepy to function... For fuck's sake. It was his fault that you were in love with him. Hold it. What now? And there he was, looking all heaven sent in the soft light of the new day, making it hard for you to breathe. The way the light danced around his blonde hair, how golden strands fell to his eyes... His eyes. Those blue orbits that felt deeper than the ocean itself and seemed to change colors; from baby to royal blue. You have had the pleasure to witness his eyes becoming cobalt blue once. In your mind, you were the reason why his eyes darkened. And those lips... Perfectly shaped, full, plump and pouty that made you wonder how would they taste. You could go on and on about his appearance but what had won you over was his personality. He was gentle yet bold, soft yet fierce, polite yet daring. He did what he thought was better for everyone, not just him. He never considered himself a hero. He disliked being called that. In his mind, he was a person out of time. Not even Peggy could help. He had admitted that she was half the reason he joined SHIELD but then he thought about the other half. You didn't know this, but his mind wandered back to the very first time he had met you. "Goodmorning, doll" he breathed out. You felt like melting under his tender touch, as he had his arm wrapped around you, and you wanted to catch fire when he called you that. It wasn't something sexual, but it worked miracles. When you didn't move, he let out a breathy chuckle and draw small patterns with his fingers on your exposed thigh. You understood that it was unintentional, but you couldn't stop your heartbeat from accelerating. "Five more minutes" you husked, your voice thick and throaty. It sent shivers down his spine. "I could lay here all day long" he admitted under his breath. You heard it, but you had fallen asleep before you could answer. He stayed awake. He didn't dare to close his eyes.

"You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes" Natasha told him and you felt your blood boiling. If that her way to piss you off... She was successful. "That's why I don't ask" Steve answered calmly and certain. "Too shy or too scared?" she pressed further. You wanted to slap her. What was she doing? You didn't stay around to catch his answer because you jumped out of the jet. Your mind was clouded and your judgment not on point. Of course. He was ten years older than you, extremely good-looking and single. He should date. Not her. Not any other girl. You landed on the ship and moments later Steve climbed on too. He beat up everyone on the deck (other times using his shield and other times with his hands but mostly mustering both) before somebody could raise the alarm but he was interrupted by one of the pirates pointing his gun at him. Without thinking about it too much, you removed yourself from your hiding place and shot him down. Steve gave you an amusing look. "Thanks" he told you, a bit out of breath. You raised both of your eyebrows in a sarcastic way. "Yeah. You seemed pretty helpless without me" you mocked him earning a playful smirk. Everyone else landed on the deck as well and Natasha picked up from where she had left it off. "What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice" she informed him, seemingly emotionless. Steve rolled his eyes. At least, he wasn't interested right now. "Secure the engine room. Then find me a date" he answered nonchalantly as she jumped off the current level. "I'm multitasking". More like getting on your nerves. You didn't look at him and that was why you couldn't know but he was looking at you, trying to read your face. He wanted to know if -maybe- you were mad at... Natasha or him? Maybe, just maybe... You could have been jealous?   Mission first, then dames he thought. Shortly after that, you both had your head in the game. He needed your help because he didn't speak French (or so you thought because later you found out that he was fluent), so you were stuck with him, translating. "I do not like to wait. Call Durand. I want the ship ready to move when the ransom arrives" you quickly translated as you were eyeing Steve, trying to understand what he was planning. "He called Durant. He wants to start the engine. Natasha has to be there" you continued. He nodded and took off. You ran into the opposite direction so you could help Rumlow as already planned. He would need someone to deal with the hostiles. Everything went according to plan. But then Natasha never showed up. "Hostages en route to extraction. Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play" Rumlow informed Steve. You were about to yell at her but there was no reply from her. "Get them out of here. I'll stay behind" you practically barked out the 'order'. Natasha had screwed you up. And you needed to fix this. Something that ended up biting you in the ass.

Your head was heavy and you couldn't feel your body. She was dead. The moment you could get up, she was dead. You slowly opened your eyes and tried to move your sore muscles. At least, you weren't paralyzed. You looked around you only to find out that you weren't alone. "Steve?" your voice was raspy and it made you wince. His eyes were instantly on you and a relieved smile had just formed on his lips. "How are you?" he sheepishly asked. You would have laughed but your head was spinning and your mind was thinking about quitting. You slowly and carefully got out of the uncomfortable bed and placed your feet on the ground. "How long was I out?" you questioned rather seriously. He sifted his weight on his other leg. "A few hours. I had a talk with Fury but he doesn't... He is not very helpful" he told you and you could see that he was fighting a battle. Thankfully, you were wearing normal clothes. Because you had a few things to say to Fury too. "Let's go" you said clearly not giving a flying fuck. He knew better than questioned you that moment. All the way to Fury's office, you noticed that Steve walked closer to you than he had before, being a tad more protective than he usually was. And even though you wanted him to know that you were capable of protecting your ass, you were more than happy to feel his presence so close to you. He made you forget all the pain and the sadness. You slammed open the door. You weren't even surprised that Natasha was already there. "And she is alive!" Fury jocked. "You are alright" Natasha said. You walked straight to Fury and slapped him. He was taken aback that much that he didn't even say anything. You turned on your heel, gave Natasha a cold glare and almost hissed at her. "Not thanks to you". Steve was looking at you, debating whether he was impressed or confused by your actions. "Project Insight. Now" you clearly demanded. Fury seemed to come to his senses. "You waltzed in here, slapped me and now you are demanding information that is not to be shared with you?" he asked darkly. He wasn't used to people having authority over him. You tilted your head, a devilish smirk on your face and you waited for about five seconds before you gave him an answer. "Precisely". Everything was still. "Why?" he dared to ask. "I want to hear your version of the story, Nicky" you told him and he understood that you knew. He raised an eyebrow. "There is only one version" he said ominously as he nodded towards the elevator for you and Steve to enter. Steve and Nick had a stupid talk and you couldn't help but wonder. What exactly did they want to achieve? You knew that there was something fishy about the whole thing. Especially, Pierce. He gave you an off vibe. Once the elevator stopped, you came face to face with three huge Helicarrires. "This is Project Insight. Three next generation Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites" Nick informed you proudly. You, however, felt sick. "Launched from the Lemurian Star" Steve commented, looking at him. "Once we get them in the air they never need to come down. Continuous suborbital flight courtesy of our new repulsor engines" he continued like it was something he should brag about. "Stark?" you guessed. He was good but not in the right way. "Well, he had a few suggestions once he got an up close look at our old turbines. These new long range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen" Nick told you, while you noticed he still kept his distance from you. "I thought the punishment usually came after the crime" Steve butted in. He was always the one who wanted things to be right. And this didn't feel like it. "We can't afford to wait that long" came the answer. Of course he would say something like that. "Who's "we"?". Steve was so naive. So innocent. This was planned after New York. "After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis. For once we're way ahead of the curve" Nick admitted. He finally told you something true. "By holding a gun at everyone on Earth and calling it protection" you finished his line. Because that was exactly what he was about to do. Steve was zoning out. He knew this was bad. And so did you. "You know, I read those SSR files. Greatest generation? You guys did some nasty stuff" Nick turned back to Steve because he was an easier target. You... Well, he didn't fancy the idea of getting slapped again. And he knew that you were more than capable of way more than just that. He had read your file too. "Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it, so the people could be free. This isn't freedom, this is fear" Steve answered truthfully, and you admired the fire inside him "SHIELD takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. It's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap. And you, agent" Nick finally told you what was all about. "I'd rather not" you commented dryly and left. "Don't hold your breath" you heard Steve informing him fiercely. A small smile made its way to your lips.

The moment you found out that Fury was dead was the moment you came face to face with the man that trained you when you were captured by Hydra. They called him 'The Winter Soldier'. To everyone else, he was a ghost story. You knew him as James. One of the few times that he could think on his own, he told you his name because he wanted someone to remember it for him, for he was going to get wiped. That was how things worked with Hydra. And that would be your future if you hadn't escaped. When SHIELD thought that they got you, you played along. They weren't capable of capturing you if you didn't want them to. You had escaped but you had tried to help him too. He was an innocent man that had been manipulated way too many times. But you couldn't. And there he was, standing in front of you, his metal arm wrapped around your neck, no sign of recognition in his eyes. "James, please" your voice was barely audible, but his eyes widened, and his grip loosened. Something sparked inside him, but he was hesitant. "I am sorry James" you breathed out and his hand left your neck for good. He took his mask off and you saw that he remembered something. You, maybe? Before you could do anything else, he jumped off the roof you were standing. You knew that he was gone. If he was here and in his Soldat mood, then Fury was killed. He never screwed up a mission. That was why he had been Hydra's secret weapon for years. More than you could possibly imagine. There was only one person that could help you and he was too occupied trying to get out of the Triskelion alive. So, you rushed to the only place you knew you would find him. The Hospital. If your assumptions were correct, then Pierce would have unleashed STRIKE to take down Steve. And he would have gotten away, only to go to the most obvious place in the world. You hoped that you knew him well enough.

“Stop lying” he growled at Natasha. You almost ran towards him to peal him off of her. “I only act like I know everything, Rogers” she answered defensively. Steve looked at you once you enter the room. “I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?” he questioned her, but he let her go. Natasha nodded at you and you dared to take another step. “Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you” she told him. Steve wasn’t having any of it. He gripped her arms and shook her entire body. He was mad. “I'm not gonna ask you again”. You rushed and put your hand on his shoulder. That made him loosen up a bit, but Natasha was analyzing your every move and how Steve reacted when you were around. “I know who killed Fury. Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years” she blurted. Steve looked confused. You, however, couldn’t stand there listening to her calling him a monster. “James. His name is James” you whispered. Both of them looked at you with furrowed eyebrows, expecting some kind of explanation. “He was the one who trained me back then” you simply told them, your voice becoming even weaker than before. Natasha continued her version of the story. How he had shot her and how he was a ghost story. But to you, he wasn’t a bad person who needed to be stopped. He was a helpless man who needed a chance. Steve, however, was worried. Someone from your past was messing up the timeline? Little did he know that he wasn’t just from your past. When they decided that you had to find out what was on that drive, Natasha thought that you would have to steal a laptop and Steve wanted to break into SHIELD’s base... You rolled your eyes at them. They weren’t practical at all. “The mall disguised as civilians, guys!” you exasperated. They were truly thinking like a spy and a hero. Since when did you become the practical one? “And then what?” Steve asked you mainly because he had no idea how a mall could help. “And then we go to a Mac store to use one of their computers, genius” you answered, your ‘duh’-tone being very well spotted. “Lead the way ma’am”. You had to contain yourself otherwise your blush would be visible to everyone in the building. Natasha saw it, Steve didn’t. She winked at you and smirked. She got it now; why you always seemed to be annoyed when she tried to hook Steve up with someone. You had a thing for him. She should have known. He must have had feelings for you as well because every time she suggested another woman, his eyes would fall onto you momentarily. You brushed the tension off and hoped that the closest mall was close enough. Once you arrived, Natasha made sure that you felt uncomfortable in all possible ways. “You are a couple. And I’m the creepy loner friend. Got it?”. She was actually giving orders, something that made you quirk an eyebrow, but you felt your cheeks burning when Steve didn’t say anything, instead, he looked down, trying to hide his own blush. You all walked to the first store you saw and found a laptop that could handle the drive. “The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are” Natasha informed you. You already knew that they weren’t stupid. “How much time do we have?” Steve asked, his eyeglasses getting in the way of his spasmodic moves. He really didn’t know how to hide in plain sight. “Uh...about nine minutes from... Now” she told him and popped the drive into the computer. “Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands” she continued as she was typing. Your brain was thinking ahead but Steve was impatient. “Can you override it?” he pressed. If you didn’t like him that much you would have kicked his ass. Big time. “Steve, first rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk. Stop it” you told him and gripped his arm tightly enough to make him flinch. He gave you an apologetic look. You knew that he didn’t know how to act naturally. “The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly” she commented dryly. Yes, maybe. But you were running out of time. “Try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from” you suggested and she looked impressed. She didn’t know that you had hacked into SHIELD’s system too many times, but Steve did and he was proud. Not of your deviant behavior but… genuinely. Something had changed between you two and he felt it. Something in the way he would find solace in your scent or presence… or the fact that he would never consider dating someone else because, even if you were ten years younger than him and -in his mind- you deserved better, he had formed this huge school-boy crush on you. And he didn’t mind one bit. “Can I help you guys with anything?” an employee asked politely, and your eyes immediately scanned him. “Oh, no, thank you. I am just helping them with some honeymoon destinations” Natasha lied smoothly, and you followed suit even though your heart was pounding in your chest. “Right! We're getting married” Steve quickly agreed, a little too excited. You placed a hand on his chest, acting all wifey. “Congratulations! Where do you guys thinking about going?”. Fuck, he wasn’t stopping. Steve looked at the monitor and saw that the signal was traced somewhere in New Jersey. You knew that he was about to blurt it out. “New Jersey”. He was a terrible liar. Something that you found extremely attractive. “Oh” the poor guy answered. He looked at Steve for a moment and you felt that he stopped breathing. “I have the exact same glasses” he remarked. You had stopped paying attention to the conversation because, a) you were scanning the room and b) Steve. After tracing the signal to Wheaton you walked out, “Standard tac-team. Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro” he gave commands. You looked at Natasha and nodded once. Two agents were coming straight towards you. “Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said” you demanded curtly.  That made him turn his head too fast. “What?” he croaked. You wanted to slap him. You didn’t have time. “Do it!” you practically barked at him.  Steve quickly put his arm around you and laughed. Natasha quickly lowered her hoodie and walked by without getting noticed. All the agents walked by and Steve looked impressed. As you were going down the escalator you and Natasha spotted Rumlow on the escalator next to you going up and she turned to Steve. She was behind him and you were in front of him. “Kiss her” Natasha told him. You thought you would have frozen, but you were actually calm. Maybe because you didn’t believe that he would actually do it. He just kept looking at you with his eyes wide open. “Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable” Natasha reasoned but before he could answer you quickly pulled down Steve's head and kissed him making Rumlow look away as he went past you on the escalator. The moment your lips touched, you lost yourself and you forgot about reality. Natasha smiled knowingly. Finally. His hands held your waist tightly and yours were resting around his neck. It couldn’t have lasted more than five seconds, but you were out of breath. Maybe it was his scent, maybe it was his body, maybe it was his lips… maybe you were not just in love with him. You pulled away and broke apart when you saw Nat’s smirk. “Still uncomfortable?” she questioned wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “It's not exactly the word I would use” he told her truthfully and you saw him blush. You tried to hide your smile but failed.

“Bucky?” “James” You were playing on repeat that scene for the last fifteen minutes. You couldn’t get over the fact the guy that had trained you, the Winter Soldier, James… was Steve’s best friend. The last days had been chaotic but that was something you would never imagine. Then again, you lived a pretty crazy life. “It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me” Steve whispered heartbrokenly. You didn’t know how to soothe the pain. “How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago” Sam asked confused but it wasn’t that confusing. “Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and...” Steve trailed off. You could taste your blood in your mouth. Your sight was weakening. “None of that's your fault, Steve” you tried to reassure him but he wasn’t listening. Not really. “Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky”. It felt like he was confessing his younger years and your heart ached for him. Sam seemed to notice yours and Nat’s wounds and he glanced at the guards. “We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on those wounds they gonna bleed out here in the truck” he accused them but the world started spinning. Suddenly one of the guards pulled out an electric rod and you thought that you were gonna die but then it neutralized the other guard and knocked him out. The guard took off the helmet and- “Maria?” you questioned. What the fuck? You didn’t get to hear the rest of the story because you passed out in Steve’s hug. He made a promise to himself. If he was to survive this, he would take you out on a date. At least, he would man up and ask you.

You ran towards the bombs, where you knew that he was coming from. Finally, you saw him, rocket launcher in his hand as he made his way towards you. You shrunk back, forcing yourself to become invisible as the Soldier threw down his launcher, opting for his machine gun as he shot a man in the neck, throwing a grenade inside another plane. You launched yourself forward. You knew that you would have to muster Natasha’s thigh hold. You knew him but he knew you too. You threw yourself onto his back, locking your legs around his waist by your ankles as you grabbed your knife, one hand locked around his neck for support and your left hand aiming the knife for his face. “James stop” you tried to prevent what was about to follow. He didn’t answer. But he knew those moves. His reflexes were quicker than you remembered. His human hand grabbed yours and stopped the knife. The two of you struggled for a few moments before he tried throwing you off of him, something that didn’t quite work because your legs were locked around his waist…until he used his metal hand and stuck his thumb into your thigh, right into the wound that Rumlow had inflicted on you moments ago. You held your scream but your legs weakened their hold. He grabbed your arm holding the knife and flipped you over his shoulder. You landed hard on the ground. A groan escaped your lips before your eyes widened at the metal fist aimed towards your head. You quickly rolled over his fist hitting the cement next to you. “James, for fuck’s sake. Please!” you tried one last time. His face became a tragic mask. “You are my mission” he spat out, trying to convince himself more than you. “Bucky” you whispered but never got to see his reaction because he had already jumped off of the building. Later on, in the safety of the trees, you watched the destruction all around you. You simply watched. You couldn’t even more. However, as you were staring at the one helicarrier that still in the air, you saw Steve falling from it into the water. Your breath never made it out of your lungs. And then, moments later, another figure followed it. Bucky. “If you die, I’m gonna kill you” you hissed at Steve. Or, the image in your mind.

Tags: @orionsirivsblack @kapolisradomthoughts @nadinissavage @geeksareunique

Hi! Imagine Bucky combining his humor and protectiveness in pranks to get Tony's attention. He's initially indirect because he's new, but he's emboldened gradually! Nothing mean or destructive, just little surprises that are actually gifts or attention. Tony pranks back, but each action hides another goal, to give Bucky opportunities to bond with the Avengers (because he's a genius like that). Extra love for progressively overt flirting to smut. And supportive borderline embarrassed friends.

Author note: Combined withWord Prompt: seal, landscape, candle. Preferably fluffy. from @tisfan‘s personal prompt collection

Falling For It

No one ever knew who started them. Or, at least,no one ever admitted it.

But living in a Tower full of people who weresneaky, smart, adrenaline junkies, and for all practical purposes, as crazy asa box of bees, pranks were, honestly, inevitable.

Tony stared down at the flooded mess of hisbedroom. Again. This time, someone had gotten creative with the water. The waythe doors sealed in the Tower, sliding into hollows in the wall, the oldbucket over the door trick didn’t work. They’d gone to a lot of work to fillabout forty red solo cups with water and taped them into place over theopening. When the door slid open, they all tipped and Tony got a second shower.

Tony took his glasses off – spotted and hecouldn’t see anyway – and rubbed one hand down his face. “Friday,” he said,trying to keep his temper. “Who was it?”

“I’m sorry, boss,” Friday said, “but I’m afraidI’m sworn to secrecy in some cases. If I reveal the perpetrator in thisparticular prank, I might have to mention that the elevator filling withshaving cream was –”

“Okay, okay, Hal, I get the picture,” Tony said,holding up one hand. How was he supposed to know Natasha was going on a datethat night – with someone who wasn’t even an Avenger – when the elevator hadsuddenly filled up with menthol-scented shaving cream? Nat’s dress had beenruined, her date had been extremely unamused and Tony had listened to Natthreaten to kill any and everyone. (She hadn’t, but since she didn’t know who’ddone that one, she’d pretty much pranked everyone, one at a time, for the restof the month, to hilarious, embarrassing, and somewhat painful results. The guynever came back for a second date, and if Nat knew who’d done that to her,she’d probably spend the next month just sabotaging Tony.)

That… however, did narrow down the options.Could have been Nat, but it wasn’t really her style. Nat’s pranks tended moretoward public embarrassment or weirdly sexual things. (The time she’d managedto sneak a joybuzzer into the tasset of his armor that had sent buzzes up histhigh and right into his balls during a fight with Doombots came to mindreadily as being both publically embarrassing and weirdly sexual.)

Might have been Clint – he’d done the waterthing, more than once, really, but it was a classic, and therefore, classicClint. And also, he was 1) more likely to rat Tony out to Natasha and 2) wasabsolutely capable of getting into the penthouse without Tony being aware ofit.

Steve? Probably not. Not that Steve couldn’tgive as well as he got, but he was weirdly ethical about the whole thing, andhe never, ever started it. If he was dousing Tony in cold water (and FUCK,there’d been ice in those cups, too, so it was very cold) it was because Tonyhad done something provable to him, first. Which, far as he could remember, hehadn’t. (That didn’t necessarily mean anything, though, sometimes Tony’s prankswere so elaborate and stealthy that it took a while before someone triggeredthem.)

Not Sam, either. Sam couldn’t get into thepenthouse without help, and this prank was too simple for a team effort.

Wanda didn’t do pranks, and if you liked yourbrain unmolested, it was unwise to prank her. She was still kinda in mourningfor her brother, so, that was understandable. When your whole world changed,the last thing you wanted was to be on the lookout for a cardboard standup inyour bathroom.

And not Thor, because Thor loved pranks – theyput him in mind of his brother – and he always, always wanted to be around forthe messy aftermath. So, if it had been Thor, the man himself would have beensitting in the living room, laughing, and offering him a towel.

Unlikely to be Bucky Barnes, either. As a newresident to the Tower (and dealing with all sorts of emotional issues andrumored to have a violent streak a mile wide) he’d been left to his own devicesas much as possible. You know, with the exception of having to be in massivetherapy, which was a condition for Tony to let Steve bring him to the Tower inthe first place.

So… probably Clint.

Tony stripped out of his wet clothes, cleaned upthe pool of water around the door, took down all the cups (73 of them, JesusChrist!) and plotted revenge.

Natasha turned around and almost choked on hertea.

“Good look for you, Hawkeye,” she said.

“Shut up,” Clint said, “unless you havesomething awesome I can do to Tony for this.” He made a gesture at his hair(blue) and his face (also blue, but streaking) and his hands (very, very blue).

“Oh, gosh,” Steve said, stopping dead as hewalked into the kitchen. “What happened to you?”

“Kool-aid mix in my shower head,” Clint said. “Iam going to get him for this. Just you wait.”

Natasha smiled, slow and evil. “Let him sweat itfor a while,” she suggested.

The glitter bomb on the visor of Tony’s car wasingenious, really. He’d dropped the visor to leave the parking stub and poof.Glitter. Everywhere. In his hair. Stuck to his eyelashes. All over hissuit. Inside his shoes. On his teeth, for fuck’s sake.

And the timing… he managed to brush off quite abit of it, but on his live appearance for the Jimmy Fallon show, he stilllooked like a fucking Twilight vampire on national television.

“Really,” Steve said.

That was all. Just, “really,” in that CaptainAmerica is disappointed in you voice.

Bucky nudged Steve aside. “What?”

Everything. Literally, everything, in thefridge, had googly eyes on it. The milk was staring at them. Every single egglooked positively terrified. Tupperware containers looked like they were havingan alcoholics anonymous meeting.

“Tony,” Steve said, disgusted.

“I think it’s kinda cute,” Bucky said, pickingup the orange juice and tipping the bottle from side to side, making the OJroll its eyes.

Steve sighed. “Yeah, but this won’t be all ofit. We have evidence here that Tony has touched every single piece of food inthe fridge. So at least one thing in here’s been tampered with. He’s putvanilla pudding in the mayonnaise, or marshmallows in the milk, or…”

“You are paranoid,” Bucky said.

“You just don’t know Tony very well yet,” Stevesaid. “It’s not paranoia when he really is out to get you.”

“Someone is going to die,” Natasha declared,setting the exploded candle down in the middle of the kitchen table,smiling that icy, terrifying smile.

“What the utter hell?” Tony asked, shifting hischair back. That was not one of his pranks. Not even close. He was kind ofcurious as to how they’d managed it, though. The whole candle (which reeked ofburned sugar) had combusted.

“Someone drilled a hole in my candle.Replaced the wick, and filled the entire inside with Pop Rocks,” Natashaexplained, still cool, calm, collected. Tony noticed that her hair was damp.Oh, oh, fuck, it was one of the candles she liked to use while she was in thetub? Oh, fuck, they were all going to die.

“Wasn’t me,” Tony said, hastily, pushing evenfurther back from the table.

Natasha smiled again, tilting her head to theother side and observing him like he was an interesting science experiment gonehorribly, horribly wrong.

“That’s brilliant,” Bucky said, pickingup the candle and peering into the depths of the exploded, twisted wax.

“Sure,” Steve said, Captain America thinksyou’re an asshole voice in full effect. “If you want to chase people aroundwith flaming sugar.”

“No, seriously, Steve, think of the level ofdistraction something like this would have, I can think of at least fifteengood uses for this in a combat situation, this is fucking genius,” Buckysaid.

“Hey, hey!” Tony protested. “Do not say thatword when she’s that pissed off. I like breathing, thank you very much.”

“What word? Distraction?”

“Genius.”

Bruce, who hadn’t even been home when the prankwar started, got hit by two pretend bug pranks (a paper roach silhouette on alamp that actually caused him to knock over a chair and the spider drawn on thetoilet paper which precipitated a Hulk out and the need for bathroom repairs.Again.) and one of the food pranks within twenty-four hours of getting back tothe Tower.

Tony was pretty sure Bruce had enlistedStrange’s help for his revenge, because Tony woke up – naked, of course – inBucky’s bed. And from the screaming the floor below, Clint had the sameexperience, only in Steve’s.

Not that Tony minded, entirely. Bucky was damngood looking. He was also warm, and apparently cuddly, because Tony woke up ina vice-grip spoon position and while trying to wriggle himself free ended upwith morning wood pressed tight up against his ass.

Oh, god, this… this was going to be bad, as soonas Bucky woke up. Tony was going to getsmeared across the landscape by an angry, naked supersoldier.

Bucky woke up as soon as Clint started shriekinglike a little kid – really, Barton? Really? Tony knew that supersoldiers hadenhanced, well, everything, because he could feel the everything pressed hardagainst his thigh – but it probably wasn’t that tragic.

Bucky froze for a second, arms tightening almostpainfully as he realized he wasn’t alone in the bed. Tony held his breath, waitingto die. And then, Bucky tucked his nose into Tony’s hair, inhaled deep. “Heythere,” he said, his voice low and throaty, and when Tony craned his neckaround to see, Bucky was giving him a pair of needy, bedroom eyes.

“Hi,” Tony said, awkward, and at the same time,a little overwhelmed. What the hell had he been smoking?

“This is a nice surprise,” Bucky said, rockingup against Tony in slow, steady and almost entirely instinctual motions.

What? “What?” Tony asked because… weird, scaryassassin guy. With memory problems and psychological issues, who barely spoketo anyone who wasn’t Steve, and certainly not Tony.

For just an instant, and if Tony hadn’t beenlooking right at him, he would have missed it, there was a flicker of hurt anduncertainty in Bucky’s eyes. Then it cleared up and Bucky gave Tony a widegrin, the sort of smile that lit the room up, that had made Bucky famous backin the day, and that drove a spear of wanting so deep into Tony’s gutthat he almost couldn’t breathe.  

“Oh,” Bucky said. He blinked a few times. “I wasdreamin’, an’ then here you were. Not on purpose, I’m guessin’.” He let Tonygo, arms loosening their grip slow and reluctant.

Tony blinked. “You were dreaming about me?”

Bucky gave him an almost sad, helpless littlesmile. “Always dream about you, Tony,” he said.

Tony gaped, and then, “Is this like the end ofthe prank? You –”

“No, no, fuck, no, I wouldn’t do that,” Buckyprotested. There was, however, a flash of guilt in those steel-gray eyes. Buckyscrambled out of the bed and started looking for his clothes, but whoever wasup to the nudity pranking had stolen all of those, too. And the towels. Therewas one set of bedsheets and three floors between Bucky’s room and thePenthouse. Tony didn’t watch; Bucky might have had some of the longest fuckinglegs and the nicest goddamn ass Tony had ever seen, but it wasn’t his right tolook at it. Not… not like this.

Okay, so Natasha had gotten in on this one, too,and he wouldn’t at all shocked if there were cameras (or an audience) outsidethe door. Tony was usually comfortable in his own body; god knows, enough onenight stands had seen it, enough paparazzi had photographed it. But he usuallywasn’t fighting a sense that people were laughing at him, and this…  

Tony sighed. It wouldn’t be the first time he’ddone an utterly naked walk of shame – head held high, hands held low – butthis would at least be the most disappointing, since he hadn’t done anything.He fingered the sheet. It would make a good enough toga, he supposed, if Buckywould let him take it. He didn’t say anything, there was nothing to say.

There had been a lot of pranks going on in theTower, and that was fine, pranks were fun. They were a mostly harmless way ofblowing off steam and they’d always before backed down before someone got hurt.But this… this was hurtful.

“Tony.”

“What? Give me a minute, I’ll figure out someway to get back to the penthouse and –”

“I don’t prank like that,” Bucky said, sincere.He sat back down on the bed and didn’t bother trying to cover up, just foldedup on himself, graceful and comfortable in his skin. “You’ve seen my pranks. Iwould never, ever do something to… I wouldn’t lie to you about feelings. That wouldbe cruel.”

Wait, what?

Tony tried to back up, stumbling over histhoughts. “What do you mean, I’ve seen your pranks.”

Bucky ducked his chin a little, that tinyhalf-smile painted over his mouth. “All of them. That’s all been me. Theglitter in your car, the water-trap. Tash’s exploding candle. Clint’s radicalhair-color change.”

“Wait, you’ve been waging a prank war on the entireTower all at once?”

Bucky gave a shrug. “Thought it might… loosenthings up a bit,” he said. “But I wouldn’t… I’d never do anything to hurtanyone. Especially not you.”

“Why especially me?” Did Bucky think he wasweak, or something?

Bucky leaned forward a little bit more, brusheda strand of hair out of Tony’s face. “Because I like you,” he said,apparently sincere.

Do you like me, or do you like me? That sounded weirdly fifth-grade, so Tony didn’tgive it voice. “Yeah?” He moved closer.

“Yeah.” And Bucky’s mouth was so close to Tony’sthat he could feel the shape of the words.

Well, there wasn’t anything more to do with thisparticular prank… except fall for it. Tony crossed those last scant centimetersand let his mouth come down on Bucky’s.

As always, @tisfan