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#send in the angry mob!
thecastilloking · 10 months
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Me and tgamm fans after seeing Libby’s dad:
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mozart-the-meerkitten · 10 months
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So I’m watching through Phineas and Ferb and as someone who worked at a deli I am LOSING IT over Doofenshmirtz buying an entire deli’s worth of food to make a soup-powered inator. Especially because not only did I work at a deli there was indeed a pharmacy like a block away so I’m just imagining the workers trying to explain why they have no stock like, “yeah this guy from the pharmacy came in and bought everything in the case and the coolers in the back and all of our soup for some reason. Yeah that includes the whole chickens and the fried chicken dude really should have called ahead we don’t get another delivery for like four days so I guess we’re closed. This totally beats out the time a woman bought the entire block of New York sharp cheddar cheese.”
Oh my word that’d be great for the weeks we had to clean the case tho. Like we tossed all the meet and cheese into shopping carts and wheeled it back to the cooler so we could clean the deli display case imagine this dude shows up and is like “hey can I buy this stuff” “... do you want it sliced?” “no I just want the entire cart.” “.... you know what, sure.” ajkhglfjsdgfadjgsf I am DEAD
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roguetelepaths · 2 years
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Not harassing people doesn’t mean you are completely undisturbed by their actions and endorse every single word they say, it simply means you do not fucking harass them
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kelluinox · 1 month
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Oh are people mad at JKR again and calling out her antisemitism? That's funny. No, it is! It's funny when people suddenly care about antisemitism after these 5 months we've had. It's funny when people who threw a grand ol party on October 7th suddenly care about being antisemitic. It's funny when the people who called the kidnapping and rape and largest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust justified resistance... suddenly care about the Holocaust. It's funny to hear their "very angry very loud very righteous outrage against antisemitism" when they have:
1) said and done nothing about the hostages being held by Hamas, among which there is a baby and a 4 yo and women being subjected to sexual torture
2) done nothing to pressure the embarrassment called the Red Cross to pass vital medicine to the hostages and actually do its job
3) have gone full Holocaust denial with their denial of the 7th... despite eagerly sharing videos of Shani Louk and Naama Levy and Noa Argamani and the Nova Festival massacre as it was happening, asking Hamas to film their slaughter horizontally and calling victims "hipsters" as the massacre was actually happening
4) called for the murder and expulsion of half the world's jews from the Levant, labeling them all colonizers despite us being indigenous... which is ironic because they certainly don't seem eager to move their own ass and go back to wherever they came from (looking at you Americans, Canadians, Australians - shut the fuck up you hypocritical bitches)
5) attacked, and harassed, and bullied, and even murdered jews all over the world since the 7th. Jewish students were told to hide in the attic from an angry mob, have been unable to walk to class without verbal or physical attacks, have been unable to mourn the biggest massacre of jews since the Holocaust, have had posters of the kidnapped jews that they put up torn down, have had all their attempts at talks about antisemitism and peace derailed and have even been unable to wear their magen david without harassment. Jewish business have been targeted and defaced. And Paul Kessler and Samantha Woll were murdered. Murdered!
6) refused to listen to jews about antisemitism and have eagerly repeated antisemitic conspiracy theories as old as the middle ages like the gullible bigoted little idiots that they are: Jews control the media by distracting Americans from Gaza by using Spotify Wrapped, the Superbowl, and making a Stop Jewish Hate ad (wow do I 'love' it when Americans make fun of their own intelligence by admitting that they're so easily distracted). Jews poison wells - they poison Palestinian land. Jews steal Christian kids and drink their blood - Jews kidnap blond Palestinian children and steal organs from Palestinian corpses. Jews love killing and are bloodthirsty monsters - Jews intentionally target civilians, have killed 0 terrorists whatsoever, and are rubbing their hands in glee watching mass starvation unfold. Oh, and they also do all this on Ramadan because they're evil like that. Beyond that we also have had: Jewish doctors are not to be trusted - straight out Stalin's doctor's plot. And Zionists are racists - straight out of Imperial Russia's Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Wow, congrats on quoting Imperial Russia and the leader of the Soviet Union, fuckers. Though frankly you don't seem embarrassed about that considering your genocidal intifada posters display the hammer and sickle, do you?
7) have ignored literally everything Hamas has done. From the rape and brutal murders and kidnapping (videos of which they published themselves!). To the tunnels. To the theft of aid. To the execution of civilians following humanitarian corridors to safe zones. To using hospitals to hide weaponry, terrorists and hostages. To forcefully keeping civilians in said hospitals even as they try to evacuate, using them as human shields. To shooting at civilians who try to get some aid before it's stolen. To sending 4 yo children to Israeli soldier camps to assess their preparedness. To keeping weapons beneath a child's bed. To enlisting child soldiers. To programming children with Mein Kampf. To launching rockets from next to kindergartens and across the street from a building belonging to the joke we call the UN. To breaking the November ceasefire 15 minutes in because even an hour without killing jews was too difficult for them to accomplish. To separating families despite the hostage deal being that families will not be separated. To branding the Jewish boys they took hostage (sound familiar to you yet?). To forcing child hostages to watch their October 7 videos and threatening to shoot them if they cry. To raping female hostages. To depriving elderly and chronically ill hostages of life saving medicine. To forcibly converting female hostages. To not releasing the Bibas family despite the deal being that all children be returned. To executing hostages and then lying they died in air strikes despite the cause of death being a bullet. To creating sick games where they publish photos of hostages and dare psychopaths on the internet to guess which are dead and which alive. The list goes on and on and on and you lot stick your fingers in your ears every single time and go "lalala not listening".
8) Have supported the Houthis who literally have "a curse upon the jews" in their slogan
9) Have supported Bin Laden
10) Have supported Iran by supporting its proxy - Hamas.
11) Have shamed Ukrainians for trying to remind them that Russia is still attacking them, and told them that they should support Palestine when... Hamas and the Houthis have literally visited Moscow and Iran are Russia's allies. Good job, guys. Good job.
12) Have done everything to exaggerate what's happening, twist the facts and demonize Israel, all the while portraying it as "criticism". A war is suddenly not bad enough on its own - it has to be a genocide to get people to care. Displacement caused by a war is not bad enough - it has to be ethnic cleansing. Israel is suddenly a fascist Nazi state... despite being democratic and Jewish (where have all the people who laughed at Putin for calling Zelensky a nazi despite Zelensky being a jew gone? I wonder). The war in Gaza has to be the worst conflict on Earth, despite there being ongoing genocides in Sudan and China and the goddamn invasion of Ukraine.
And before any of you antisemitic goyim start furiously typing that it is a genocide and I'm a genocide apologist, please do keep in mind that jews know more about genocide than you ever will. And being a Russian jew I will know more about fascism than you ever will. So do us all a favor, shut up and listen to people more educated on the matter than you.
13) Have tried to define Zionism and Judaism and Jewish history to jews. Thanks for the goysplaining, I guess
14) Have mocked released hostages and their testimonies. Falsely claimed that they were not mistreated and actually written fanfics of them falling in love with the terrorists who murdered their families and kidnapped them
15) Have defaced the statue of Amy Winehouse
16) Have made lists of jews. Oh, sorry, "zionists"
17) Have devolved into race science
And to conclude my post, here are just a few photos of the shit goyim have done since october:
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futureplayboibunnie · 7 months
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lil Mafia Boss! Miguel O’Hara x fem! reader drabble
Warnings: NSFW, depics of violence, blood, some steamy stuff but not too much, sooo much dirtytalk.
You were many things. But you weren't naive.
That wouldn't be an issue if Miguel couldn't talk his way out of hell and right into those pearly gates. His manipulation and sweet talking were just another thing that made you hate him and attracted to him amongst many other things
He was an asshole. He was a powerful Mob Boss. He was your husband and your arch-nemesis. You both loved playing these little games that would send the other down a spiral of paranoia and obsession- it lit a fire under both of your asses. It made you meaner, sharper, stronger
Miguel told his men to take shots at you, haphazardly, making sure they all missed for the sole purpose of scaring you to make you behave and see how valuable his protection was . You weren’t scared, you were pissed and filled with rage. You blew up one of his lackey’s cars, he watched it burn in front of him, if he had gotten into the wrong black beauty of a Lamborghini, he’d be a pile of ashes.
You both poked and prodded, messed and obsessed with every step you made. It was like a Greek tragedy. You outsmarted him some days. He outsmarted you some days.
But after all of it, you were still married, still husband and wife. When he fell for you, he fell hard. You were the daughter of of one of the most renowned gangster in the country, Miguel had to pay his dues to earn his respect- and in the end it payed off. Your father blessed your marriage and that night was a dream above all dreams. The honeymoon was beautiful too, every night was filled with passionate and messy sex and every day he spent with you he fell more and more in love.
But Lord did you test his patience, it was something that you were born to do. He was angry and channelled his rage through many illegal mediums.
Yet you always let him back in.
-
You’ve been doing what you’ve been doing for the past few weeks.
Waiting up for Miguel.
Waiting for him to come home.
He said he had something to take care of and hasn’t shown his face since. And here you were, waiting for him like a Park Avenue trophy wife. Your wine was making you more anxious than tipsy as you glared at the clock, the fireplace in front of you not warming your body from this strange fear of a man you hate and love. It was nearing 1am.
Then you heard it, the door opening and closing and the rustling of expensive shoes hitting the marble of the foyer, then a jarring clank of keys hitting the holder.
Your breath got lost in your throat, eyes widening when you saw Miguel’s figure. His white shirt was bloodied and his fists were bruised and raw. It’s not his blood, but he did have a cut on his eyebrow. You scoffed as you stood up from your seat.
But that didn’t stop you from both charging at each other, wanting to see each other up close.
“I hate you.” You said with a scowl but what was it all for when you both embraced each other seconds after.
“I believe you.” He said coldly but he knew you meant it. Your head rested on his shoulder and he could smell the shampoo you used earlier tonight. A sweet orchard, green apple. Yet your sweet scent didn’t transfer to yout personality. You didn’t like to sit still and play house.
You were an antagonizing bitch.
He was a heartless bastard.
Yet here you were.
Hating each other, yet seeking each other’s company.
“I hate you.” You repeated much firmly this time and Miguel gripped onto your cheeks and pulled your face up so he could glare at you.
“I said I believe you…I haven’t believed anyone in a long time.” He muttered, but his tone was harsh. Unamused eyes searched yours for an answer but instead he found contempt and sadness.
“You left for weeks….I hated you every second of it.” You spat out but your words couldn’t be brutal when you were this sad.
Miguel’s grip on your face softened, the pads of his fingertips tracing on the outline of your chin. “Now that I’m back…do you still hate me?” He was asking with genuine concern for some reason.
“Yes.” You whispered but your legs started to tremble as the word rolled off of your tongue. Miguel frowned indignantly and huffed out, taking his turn to pivot the conversation to him just ordering you around again.
“I don’t want you leaving the penthouse. I don’t want you outside while I deal with these bastards-“
Your choked breath cut him off. “Is that all you’re thinking about right now? I can’t fucking believe you.” You scoffed, his gall was truly outstanding, of course he had to do this right now. You weren’t purposefully trying to fan the flames to Miguel’s anger but he wanted to treat it like you were, he was already annoyed for ruining one of his best shirts with the blood of subspecies and now he has to deal with you bitching and moaning…and not in the way he liked. “You know what Miguel-“ He directly stopped your words by gripping onto your waist and neck and sitting you on the dining table. You struggled against his hold but it all proved to be fruitless.
“You’re gawking at me like an idiot right now.” You insulted but he was way too far gone now, the crimson of his eyes migrated to a deep ring of burgundy- he was already pissed and you just had to play with him the wrong way.
“You’re beautiful that’s why.” He said endearingly, like he was cooing at you but his serious expression really contrasted that.
“You’re flattering me because you wanna fuck?”
“You asked me if you staying here is all I’m thinking about right now and in fact, it’s not.” Miguel placed a palm on your chest and pushed you flat onto the table, hard. Your eyes were half lidded weapons, scrutinising his every move- and dare he think, he loves it, because he always proves you wrong.
You were his wife, his bitch, his cumdump. You both may hate each other but you always needed each other in this way.
No one else could make you cum otherwise, no one else memorised your body like he did. How couldn’t he? He loved you…once.
You like to think these outbursts are impactful and grand displays of independence but no, you’re Miguel’s lover and you’re gonna act like it.
Hmm. You always looked so pretty in this silk robe, but the fact that your nipples were peaking already under the thin fabric told him all he needed to know.
“I was thinking of you today when I was killing my competition’s men, while I got blood on my hands.” Miguel’s calloused palms splayed onto your smooth legs, feeling up and down teasingly, riding up your robe. You arched against the table already.
Shit, you didn’t mean to.
“The others said that my mind was wandering. I could see their mouths open and close but I couldn’t hear a single word come out..” He said huskily, you gasped when he ripped open your robe, revealing your naked and beautiful figure under him. The only thing that could ever get him off. He dipped his head between your legs to were your thin barely there panties were, he ran his nose over the fabric and inhaled softly. “I could smell you.”
You blinked up at him in confusion, you didn’t know what to feel. You were mad but so aroused…and in the weeks he’s been gone you hadn’t been able to pleasure yourself at all. He looked vicious and mean, your husband was ruthless and sometimes….sometimes it was so fucking arousing, you couldn’t help but squirm and struggle underneath him.
“You wanna know what I did? You wanna know who the man you married is really like when he’s not at home?” His head raised up to your ear to mumble hotly, you jolted and struggled when his hand suddenly went to your already sticky folds.
You weren’t sure if you even had a choice, so you stayed silent, your expression akin to that of vacant displeasure….but oh, were you lying. Your face was about to break.
“I shot them in the kneecaps and beat them until they were barely breathing, but would you believe the way they died was by suffocation?” He chuckled lowly, his fingers teasing your already sloppy entrance.
“F-fuck…are you talking about?” You tried to fight back the moans collecting in the back of your throat but you couldn’t help it.
“They drowned in a puddle of their own blood and I put them there.” Miguel rasped firmly in your ear, his tone and body language becoming very intimidating and…scary. “The bastard’s blood got on my fucking shoes.”
Your husband only wanted to protect what was his. His fingers plunged inside of you, feeling up and down, circling around. You whined out.
“One of them I knew, he went to my fucking highschool hermosa. I called him my friend. But the worst thing occured to me, I imagined him on top of you, my wife, the woman that loathes me so. I saw him tasting you in my head and that’s what made me kill him. You. Just because you sit up here in this untouchable palace doesn’t mesn you’re any cleaner than I am. You’re just as depraved as I am.”
His eyes were beating with a scorching red, his lips were curled into a visicious snarl and at this moment, you knew he was right and that made you want him that much more.
You were his lover.
He wanted you to act like it.
Even if that meant being exactly like he was.
Heartless.
-
(I deleted my other mafia Miguel fic because I wasn’t sure if i was gonna make it a bigger fic or not and I felt like if i kept it up it would’ve been confusing or something? I’m playing on the same ideas in this fic dw)
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unholyhelbig · 3 months
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request: oversight au, nat and reader run into reader’s ex or ronnie’s father who was abusive to them… how will mob nat react?
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Title: Old Flames [An Oversight Oneshot]
Ship: Female!Reader x Natasha Romanoff
Summary: When reader has an unexpected run-in with an old flame and things go less than well, Natasha takes things into her own hands.
Warnings(PLEASE READ): Talks of past domestic abuse, talks of abortion, buried alive references, broken glass, blood (always), Heights, threatening statements, non-consensual kiss, horrible grammar (aways).
[a/n: Okay, I had way too much fun with this. While I loved writing the main story, it's also super great to branch out into some more dynamics with Mob Boss Nat, because I haven't made her mean enough yet.]
Check out the full Oversight universe
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven
The apartment building on the corner of twelfth and Hawke was a large midcentury brick building that structure that stretched to the sky. A metal fire escape latticed up the side and stretched clotheslines dripping with shirts and pants connected it to the adjacent building that had long since been used for storage.
Up until this point, you had avoided this building. Luckily, the tenants were quite timely with their rent and left little need for an enforcer to knock door to door. But it was right after the holidays and things were tough. That much, you understood. But it didn’t’ change the fact that three units were more than two months behind on their rent.
Them, you could appeal to with hot chocolate and some gentle urging. But according to Clint, there was a particularly nasty group of people living on the top floor that had gotten multiple noise complaints thrown their way.
The address hadn’t seemed familiar until you stood at the entrance and got a good look at the golden door that contrasted the rest of the structure. You’d written the code to the door on your palm, and you were having trouble differentiating the last number. It was a zero, or it was an eight.
“Gross, you’re sweaty.” Kate had pulled your hand a small distance from her scrutinizing stare, trying to read the smeared purple markings. “I knew we should have used the napkin.”
The woman dropped your hand and stepped up to the small box on the side of the entryway. She hit every button known to man until the fragile voice cracked through the speaker. “Yeah, uh-huh, pizza. I have pizza. Pepperoni-“Her ramblings were cut off by the loud buzz in.
You were treated to an innocent smile as she wrenched open the door and allowed you to follow her in. She was innovative, annoyingly so. Most of the time it worked in your favor but sometimes you found her testing your temper just to prove a point. Thankfully, she hadn’t noticed your hesitation.
It was coming back to you now; the large entryway that was lined with lock and key mail slots and a bolstered wooden staircase that was scarcely used compared to the elevator. Natasha kept good care of the place, had repainted and made sure every single lightbulb was humming in synch.
Some would say that she improved the neighborhood, block by block. But there were still those who liked the way things used to be; living paycheck to paycheck with an angry and withering stare being sent your way with each collection call.
“I’ve got Miss Henderson.”
“Oh, come on.” You protested “She sounds so cool.”
Miss Henderson was an older woman who lived on the fifth floor. Most of the time, her rent was late because it had simply slipped her mind. One look at Kate and she’d write a check before offering some of the sweetest cookies you’d ever tasted, often sending her back with a plateful.
From what you had heard, she used to travel with a circus as an acrobatic performer. Her act was death-defying; a performance that relied on her partners quick bladework. The Swordsman and his Enchantress. There were illustrations of their travels hung up around her unit- ones that you would kill to see.
“Too bad, next time.” Kate mock pouted at you before clapping you on the back. “Don’t make too much of a mess up on the top floor, alright? I don’t want to scrub carpets today.”
She took the stairs two at a time and left you alone in the lobby. A cool blast of wind hit your back as a tenant walked in with their dalmatian, pink tongue lolling to the side as his owner checked the mail, barely sparing you a glance.
The type of New York residents that occupied this space had changed greatly. The last time you’d been here was a walk of shame that left your feet raw and bleeding. You’d rushed from the apartment with so much fever that you never returned for your shoes, or your dignity, for that matter.
This time, you had shoes on, ones that you had scrubbed free of blood until they looked presentable. They were leaden on the stairs up to the top floor. Once you reached the fifth, you could hear Kate’s distinctive laugh behind the oak door. At least she was close.
The top floor was nearly silent. You could hear a television, a hockey game that you’d been listening to sparingly on the way over here. It sounded like Toronto was pulling through. The sound of a beer cracking pulled you away from the muffled announcers words.
A radio was resting in an upper window. You and Kate had heard it from the street below, a French Pop station that you could barely make out the words of. French was never your strong suite, one language requirement in high school was enough for you.
Silently, you prayed, that it was a coincidence. That the radio didn’t’ belong to the very men that you were meant to speak to. They were flighty, you told yourself. They weren’t ones to stay and if they chose to stick around after all these years- well, you’d be impressed.
You knocked twice on the center door, the deep forest-green paint threatening to chip under the elements. The music stopped abruptly, and while you could hear that someone was whispering quietly in French, you couldn’t make out the words.
The man that opened the door was too familiar for your liking; his pale waxy skin, his deep brown eyes that were so dark they were almost black, the tattoos that were smattered in different designs against his throat, down his collarbone. Pockmarked on his arms. His hair was longer than you remembered, greasier and tied up in a bun.
He took you in for a singular moment, shock reflecting in his stare, but before he moved to shut the door. You stopped the action with one strong hand, putting your boot between the frame and the wood for extra measure. “Don’t be like that, Kazi.”
“All these years, and now you’re coming back for child support?”
He raked his eyes up and down your body in a way that made you feel violated. You held your stance. He seemed impressed by the bout of strength.
You tsked “if I wanted child support, I would have gone after it by now. Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
He scratched under the sleeve of his tank-top, considering you the same way you considered him. Eventually, he seemed to figure he had nothing to lose pulling the door back and letting you enter the apartment. Waves of memory washed over you.
Kazi still had the same futon covered in the same ratty blanket. There was a kitchen table that was stacked with different folders that he would never, in a million years, let you view. A blue funnel was drying on the dishrack, and countless liquor bottles that had been emptied and cleaned were lined up, ready to be filled with the slightest bit of homebrewed alcohol.
He was still running the same scam after all of these years. You remembered liking the danger about him, the way his stubble felt against you when you straddled him. He’d been so alluring to a good girl like you. He would street race at night with another guy you’d met a handful of times, Robbie Reyes.
God, you had been so naive back then. He was drawn in by your innocence and you were entrapped by his experience. If only you knew where you’d end up in seven years; with Kazi’s biological daughter being raised by the most powerful woman in the city.
The moment you told him you were pregnant, he told you bluntly to get rid of it. That same night, he’d thrown an empty liquor bottle at you, just barely missing your head. You’d refused outright and accepted his anger in turn. Glass shards cut into the soles of your feet, and stained the snow all the way back to your dorm room.
The way he stared at you now infuriated you. “What do you want, then?”
“You’re two months late on rent.”
“I figured you’d keep tabs. Most women do. But my rent? That’s a new one.”
You picked up a small paperweight that you remember being fond of when you returned to this apartment after a first date where Kazi was a perfect gentleman. He’d bought dinner, and walked you back to his place. The glass object was tinted yellow, a small mosquito suspended in the center. He must have gotten it in a museum gift shop.
“Truthfully, I’m shocked you still live here.” You tested the weight of the object. “Most landlords aren’t very lenient about tardiness.”
“Yeah, well. She’s not very attentive. What can I say?”
Oh, but Natasha was quite attentive in more than one aspect, at that. You couldn’t’ help the smile that spread against your lips. Kazi was growing agitated with your presence, always quick to temper.
With all the strength you could muster, you threw the paperweight at the wall directly behind him. In its innate cheapness, it shattered into a million pieces, littering the carpet and slicing little bites into his skin. Kazi flinched and covered his face with his arms.
“Fuck! Y/n, what the hell!” He screamed.
“You have two weeks to backdate the rent, Kazi. Another week to get us this month’s amount. That sounds reasonable to me. Attentive, even.”
He reached into the back of his sweatpants and pulled out a silver Kimber, pumping the top chamber and aiming it at you with a shaky hand. He was too lax with his hold. A pinprick of crimson was dripping from a cut on his cheek.
“Come on, Kazi. It’s not the end of the world. I’m sure you can push some half-rate liquor. Sell a few of your gold fillings, and come up with the money my employer is required.”
“Employer? You work for that… monster?”
“Now, there’s a big word.” You closed the distance between the two of you, not giving him a moment to react before you wrenched the gun from his hand and threw it onto that ratty old blanket that adorned the futon he’d found on the side of the road. “So much horrible implication behind it too. You shouldn’t name call.”
Your boots crunched against the shattered glass. Kazi was barefoot, he flinched as flesh was dug into by uneven shards. You could smell the rancid coffee on his breath. He had a mole just on small of his nose.
“What happened to you?” he whispered, “Where’s that girl that stormed out of my apartment because she didn’t get her way?”
“A lot can change in seven years, Kaz.” You glanced around his apartment. “Well, most people change. Some people don’t go anywhere in life.”
Kazi pressed forward, his dry lips suddenly against yours. You froze in an instant, appalled by the acrid taste of cigarettes and stale morning coffee that he had no-doubt heated up in the microwave and drank black. The kiss was strong, rushed and painful in the way that his teeth knocked against yours.
It took less than a second for you to push him away. His head hit the cabinet behind it, rattling the glasses inside. Your hand was splayed out on his chest, nails digging into the stained tank-top he wore. He grinned wolfishly at you. Your teeth had dug so hard into his lip that it drew blood.
“I like this rough version of you, sweetheart. It’s hot.”
You reeled back and slapped him across the face with as much force as you could muster in your close proximity. The radio in the window seemed to flicker out of power at that moment, or maybe they had just run out of shitty pop music to play. Either way, the two of you were engulfed in silence.
“Shit, baby, hit me again!”
He had no idea how much you wanted to abide by that, though, you were quite positive that it would do nothing but spur on his arousal. This wasn’t going to work. If he kept pushing the way he was, you were afraid you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from pulling your own weapon.
It suddenly became too much, standing in the middle of this time-capsule of an apartment. The memories were too strong. When the two of you were together, everything you did was for his benefit. And while this had been fun at first, testing him like this, it was too much.
You grabbed the collar of his sweat-soiled shirt, wrapping it around your fingers with enough force to tear the fabric away. “Two weeks, you fucking asshole. If you don’t have the money by then, I’m sure the city will have a fun time scrubbing your brain matter from the sidewalk.”
“I love it when you talk dirty to me.” He sneered.
You pressed your booted foot down on the top of his, listening as the glass dug deeper into the soft skin. This time, he did cry out in pain, the grinding of pieces close to bone making his eyes water. You placed your hand over his mouth, muffling his protest. “I will make your miserable existence a living hell, with or without the money, for what you did to me. Do you understand?”
“You’re so full of shit-“ you pressed your full weight down and you squirmed under your hold. “Yes! Yes, I get it. Fuck!”
You pulled yourself away from Kazi entirely, straightening his shirt. He was slumped against the counter, staring at you with pure rage in his eyes. He shifted his full weight to his other foot, grimacing at the edged stain on the wooden floor.
“You should really clean that up.” You gritted, mouth still tasting of stale smoke. “Glass can be dangerous, Kazimirez.”
By the time you got to the car the only thing on your mind was taking the hottestshower possible. You’d pawed through Kate’s glovebox rather frantically and counted it a small blessing that that there was a single unwrapped piece of gum at the very bottom.
She cringed as you popped it in your mouth and let the minty dusty taste coat your tongue. If you could, without raising suspicion, you would have dumped solvent on it, just to take the taste of Kazi out of your mouth.
“I don’t know how long that’s been in there.” Kate said, watching you warily as you picked up her water bottle and downed half of that too. It seemed to take the rest of the rancid flavor away.
“I don’t care”
“You should care, I bought this car used.” She frowned, tapping her fingers against the wheel. “Okay, I didn’t’ buy it. I bought the license plates though, that’s my civic duty.”
Her words were enough for you to roll your window down and toss the gum from it. Despite your profession, you weren’t a very good liar. Not when it came to Natasha. She’d ask you about your day like usual and you’d crumble under her seemingly innocent gaze.
Nothing Natasha did was innocent.
“What happened up there?” Kate asked.
The two of you were well out of the city by now, and still had about a half-hour until you got to the mansion. The family liked their privacy, and after a year of living there permanently, so did you.
When you didn’t answer right away, she kept going. “Because I got cookies. Nearly choked on one when Miss Henderson insisted on a private show. It’s seriously a wonder that a woman her age can still bend like that.”
“Katie,” You warned, “Gross.”
“Impressive actually. She kept her clothes on, which I am eternally grateful for. It looks like you had a more eventful visit with the French dudes upstairs.” She scoffed, “Who the fuck is French anymore?”
You rolled your eyes and slumped further into your seat. Kazi was French. You used to crumble when he gave you the choppiest lines that he could remember. According to him, the language is harder to speak than it is to read and write. You never questioned him, just like you didn’t question a lot of things.
“I have a… history with the man who rents 807.”
“A history, or a… history?”
“The first one. The second one. Shit- I don’t know, both! He’s Ronnie’s dad.”
Kate slammed on the brakes with enough force for a layer of rubber to be peeled from the tires of her mostly stolen care. The seatbelt cut into your neck and you figured yourself lucky that you’d taken a back road that was rarely used, god forbid she cause an accident.
“Dude!” You shouted as she put the car into park.
Kate twisted her entire body in the seat, placing her hand on the back of your seat. The motor was sputtering wildly, trying to compensate for her abrupt stop. Something had to be damaged, you thought, with her force on the pedal.
“Don’t dude me. Are you really that dense? If you haven’t noticed, Natasha is possessive over her things. And you? Well, you’re one of her favorite things. She’s not going to take this well in the slightest.”
“Kate, I think I know how to handle my girlfriend.”
“No, you know how to handle Natasha, the sweet, loving woman who would die for you and your child. Admirable, really. But you don’t know how to handle Miss Romanoff, mob boss extraordinaire.”
But you had seen Natasha in action before, countless times. She’d always kept this calm coolness about her that you were in awe of. Maybe Kate was right. You’d only seen a fraction of her jealous side at the first party you had ever attended in the house. That night she ripped the dress she’d picked out specifically for you to shreds.  
“I was dating a man named Eli when I was first taken in by the Romanoff’s, He turned out to be… not so favorable despite my constant reassurances. Natasha just knows. She had him dig a grave right off I-25 and then she made him lay in it.”
Your jaw threatened to drop at the simple fact. Kate removed her hand from the back of the seat and eased off the brake before she slowly got the two of you back up to an acceptable speed.
“All Eli did was cheat on me one night in a club. It wasn’t great, but I wasn’t sure if it warranted that kind of reaction. I never knew if she was proving a point to me, or to Eli. Either way, the smallest offense against any of us is met with archaic conviction.”
You didn’t respond to Kate, instead you stared at the trees that were whizzing by in a lush green wall of color. You’d decided that she was right- any type of reaction Natasha was going to have to Kazi would be severe.
“You’ll be fine.” Kate tapped her fingers nervously on the wheel, trying to backtrack her words. “As long as he didn’t’ touch you.”
It didn’t seem to matter how ferociously you scrubbed your skin with the honey scented soap you shared with Natasha, you swore you still smelled like smoke. It clung to your clothes, and lingered in the air after you’d shoved them to the bottom of the clothes basket.
The water was blazingly hot, filling the bathroom with a thick mist that made it slow to breathe. Natasha had chosen a dark blue tile that seemed to transport you into another world. Even without the scaring remembrance of Kazi’s lips against yours, his hands where you didn’t want them, you could stay here for hours.
Her hands were freezing cold and startling as they splayed against your naked stomach. You let out a small noise, going rigid before registering Natasha behind you. Her front was pressed against your back, and you’d know the curve of her body anywhere.
“Izvinite, moya lyubov', I didn’t mean to scare you.”
You turned in her arms and took in the state of her. She’d stripped down just as you had, small drops of water littering her skin like a constellation in the sky. She’d been in the sun today, a smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose giving her away.
There was a bruise forming against the side of her jaw, one that you ran your waterlogged fingers over. Her eyes were an intoxicating shade of green, playing off the indigo tiles. You wanted to scold her for getting the bruise in the first place, but you were so entrapped by her simple presence, the way she fit so perfectly against you.
Natasha closed the distance between you both, pressing her lips against yours in a hurried kiss. You moaned into the embrace, allowing her tongue to find purchase in your mouth. God- you had missed her in the short few hours you’d been apart.
“Did you take up smoking?” she asked, barely pulling away, the words were spoken flushed to your lips. “It’s a terrible habit, darling.”
The glovebox gum hadn’t done its job, and apparently the swish of mouthwash and subsequent teeth brushing hadn’t done anything either. Of course, Natasha noticed. Of course. You weren’t going to try to hide it, though the thought did occur to you to save some heartache. But you were hoping you could placate her in a less slippery spot of the house when you were less naked and incredibly turned on by her presence.
A groan of a different cadence than she was used to escaped you as you dropped your head to her shoulder and clenched your eyes shut. “No, I didn’t take up smoking.”
“You taste like you have,” She gently led your eyes to hers. It was tender compared to the first time she had done so. “Licking ash trays again?”
“Gross, no.”
Natasha valued honesty above all. That much had been clear from the moment you met her. She’d nearly taken your head off in the gym when you repeated your one-night-stand with the enemy. The devil incarnate who happened to only be decent in bed. You remembered her hand wrapped around your throat, squeezing just enough for you to give her the answers she craved.
“What is it, pet? You can tell me.”
“Do you… I’ve been with men before.”
She let out a small chuckle that reverberated off the deep tile. “Yes, I know. I didn’t want to make assumptions, of course, but Ronnie does have a father.”
The way you stared at her in the silence that followed the statement made the smile on her face falter until it dropped entirely. She must have seen something behind your eyes, something that weighed the situation down more than she was intending on a typical Wednesday night.
“I’d completely blacked it out and didn’t realize it until I stepped foot into the lobby, but he still lives in the same apartment on the top floor. He thought I was after child support, or something but things sort of… escalated.”
You felt like a child, spilling your secrets about a vase you had broken. This time it was a cheap paperweight with a bug in the center that you frankly felt bad for. The words came out like emotional vomit, granted, Natasha had become used to your rapid admissions.
Her grip tightened against your chin, “Escalated how?”
“He kissed me, and I hit him hard enough to break his jaw.”
That same silence enveloped you again. The scalding water had lost its effect, numb and beating against your back. The two of you were still impossibly close and there wasn’t much escape for you in a shower this size. The glass door having fogged up and only giving you a stunted view of the large bathroom.
Natasha had an immeasurable rage behind her stare, her lidded expression ran as dark as old blood. It chilled you to your core. She reached beside you and shut off the constant flow of water. You’d been in here for about an hour now and the cold air that touched your skin felt like an assault of needles. You instinctively wrapped your arms around your center to preserve warmth.
“He laid his hands on you.”
“Yeah, Nat, he did.”
“He touched you.”
“I gave him hell for it, but it didn’t seem like it was enough.”
“Without permission.”
“He’ll never do it again.”
Whatever split-second decision she made; it was done without the usual calculation behind her eyes. She threw the door to the shower open and forcefully shoved a towel into your arms. While you revered in the warmth, you watched as she sauntered in her usual way out of the bathroom and into your shared bedroom. She was dripping wet.
“Natty!” You stumbled over the partition and nearly slid on the bathroom floor. It was much colder outside of your cocoon of warmth and subsequent mist. She thankfully hadn’t left the room and was pawing through her side of the dresser. You nearly lost your footing once you reached hardwood. “Fuck,”
She seemed to find what she was looking for, a plain black tank top that hugged her sides and looked entirely uncomfortable to wiggle into while damp. You watched with baited breath in a sloping towel as she adorned herself with underwear and pants, before turning towards you.
“Get dressed.” She ordered in a dangerous tone.
Shit. She was going to make you dig your own grave. You’d just showered all of the grime from Kazi’s apartment off and in a matter of minutes you would have dirt up to your knees. Natasha may have let Eli live after his blunder, but maybe she’d cover you completely and let you suffocate in your own efforts.
Numbly, you put on a pair of sweatpants and the closest shirt you had. There was no need to get dressed for your own funeral, you supposed. The worms would chew through whatever you wore regardless.
Clint was stretched out on the chase in the foyer, a pair of thick-lensed glasses balancing on the tip of his nose. Regardless, he still squinted at the book in his hands. You wondered why he wasn’t in the living room, but caught a glimpse of a particularly intense game of twister between Ronnie, Yelena, and Kate.
Darcy held onto the board, flicking the small plastic needle and calling out the colors. When Kate clocked the anger in Natasha’s eyes, she dropped to her back, taking down Yelena and Ronnie with her.
She gave you a pleading look, but you were already too far gone to return anything other than a flushed expression. You followed obediently after Natasha. She opened the front door and watched you with a calculated expression before slamming the front door hard enough to shake the glass fronting.
“Get in the car.”
“Do you want me to grab a shovel?”
“What?”
She contemplated this for a minute, growling softly. The near silence was terrifying. Her arms crossed over her chest was terrifying. Your mouth with incredibly dry, and you wished that you were back under the constant stream of water.
“No. I don’t think we’ll need that. Get in the car.”
Numbly, you did as you were told, placing your hands in your lap. This was quite possibly the last time you would be sitting in any car, much less, next to Natasha. She reached across you and pulled your seatbelt into place, tugging on the upper portion until she was sure you weren’t going anywhere.
The tires picked up traction on the gravel and the drive that usually took an hour seemed to whiz by. Natasha was quiet, the route to the city more than familiar by now. She run her hands against the steering wheel until her knuckles were white. You could hear her breathing deeply, trying to ease her nerves. You didn’t dare say a word.
For a moment, you figured that she’d abandoned the idea of burying you alive and switched her ideals to something much more sinister and public. She pulled her car up to the front of the very building you had left a few hours ago, the sun just barely setting behind the skyline. You blinked at her, and then up at the very property that she owned.
“Come on.”
There was no room for discussion. The air here was clouded with the scent of smoke and the coolness of the cement structures around you. It was moments like these where you much preferred the country.
Of course, Natasha knew the code, she had recited it to you earlier as you and Kate ate lunch by the docks, stretched out on the hood of her car. It was wrong then and your nerves were too elevated to pay attention now. She got in without the theatrics.
There seemed to be more activity as the day for working folks began to wind down. Two people halted their conversation by the mail-slots, nodding solemnly at the woman. On the third floor, you caught a glimpse of a woman struggling to push her keys into the lock, juggling her gym bag. The sixth floor held a small boy who darted from one apartment to another, edging across the hall.
She kept climbing until that same irritating French pop filled your ears. He must keep it on at all hours of the day, just to drown out his own miserable thoughts. “What apartment?”
You lifted your chin slightly, hands shoved in the pockets of your sweatpants to ward off the biting chill. “807.”
“Spasibo, lyubimyy.”
Natasha’s booted foot connected with the center of the very door you had politely knocked on earlier in the day. You flinched, covering your face with a guarded arm. The wood of the doorframe seemed to splinter, slivers reigning across both sides of the entrance.
“What the fuck!”
Kazi was hunched over the kitchen table, the funnel that had been drying by the sink was positioned perfectly in the mouth of a soaked and peeled liquor bottle. He had a stack of his own labels ready to place evenly on the finished product. Both of his feet were haphazardly wrapped with gauze, small sprouts of blood worming through the soft material.
He’d taken care to clean up the glass, but with the way Natasha headed straight towards him, that didn’t matter much. More of it fell to the floor and shattered upon impact. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and started walking him backwards across the living room. Kazi seemed too stunned to speak, his words caught in his throat.
“I-I-I didn’t mean it! Please!”
“When you speak to me, you’ll do it clearly.” She gritted, shoving him towards the window. Somewhere in the scuffle, the radio had fallen from its perch on the cracked windowsill, crashing to the alleyway below with one last fizzled cry. “You had no trouble saying whatever you wanted earlier, did you?”
“I’m sorry! Fuck! I told that bitch I would have the rent!”
“Yeah? Was that before or after you shoved your tongue down her throat?”
Natasha bent Kazi’s torso fully over the screenless window. He grasped frantically at her hands, clawing at them as the balanced him over the long drop to the pavement below. His bare feet kicked, trying to throw her off her equilibrium, but he was much too weak for any type of damage.
“You walked out on them.”
“What? Oh, my god, what?! I told her to get rid of it- I didn’t walk out on anyone! You’re batshit lady!”
To you, it didn’t’ seem very wise to throw insults at the woman holding you above an eight-story drop, but Kazi never was known for his intelligence. His bravado, maybe, but never anything more. He looked so small compared to Natasha’s anger.
“She didn’t get rid of it, Kazi. She kept the kid that you couldn’t have bothered to give another thought to. She made a life for both of them. She fucking loves that kid enough to fill the absence you left.” Natasha let her hand slip, letting him waver in his height for a moment before pulling him back up. He was crying, sobbing for his life. “And you have the nerve, to touch her, to break her and then come rushing back when she was strong enough to pick up the pieces?”
“I wasn’t ready,” he moaned out “I couldn’t be a dad.”
“It seems like there are a lot of things you can’t do, doesn’t it? You’re a pathetic excuse for a man. A pathetic excuse for a human being and once we leave here- I never want to see your face in my city again. Am I clear?”
Kazi let out another course of intelligible, wet, words. His back was nearly breaking under the force of Natasha’s hold, her knee directly up against his crotch, pushing down with all the strength she could muster.
“Y/n, I think this is a teaching moment, don’t you?”
The softness of her words as she addressed you caught you off guard. There was no malice. In fact, she beckoned to you as if she was calling you into the living room to join her under the blankets for a movie. Your heart raced fast enough for your chest to ache as you closed the distance between you both.
“See, the trick is making them think that you’re going to let them go.”
She said this to you as if Kazi wasn’t a slobbering mess under her touch. He’d carved little half-moon marks against the tops of her hand, some of them starting to leak blood with the sheer force of his struggle.
“You have to get creative with the fear aspect. If they think they’re going to die, it tends to work in our favor. Doesn’t it, Kazi?”
“Please,” He whimpered, “I’ll do whatever you want. I’m sorry, y/n, I’m sorry.”
Natasha did the seemingly impossible, she pushed him further out the window, his calves struggling for purchase against the drywall. “Oh, now that simply won’t do. You must keep her name out of your mouth.”
“In situations like these, darling, it’s best to keep full control. If he was anything other than wretched, then maybe you’d have to worry about him fighting back. You’ll get some people like that, but that trick is having leverage, literal and physical in cases like this.”
“I see,” You let the words escape you in a single breath “and how long do we play this game?”
“Until they know it’s not one.”
It took little effort for Natasha to push Kazi the rest of the way out the window. In spite of his clinging grip, the force of gravity was enough to do the work for her. His cry stunted in his throat and it only took a few seconds for a dull thud to echo through the alleyway, followed by the unmistakable sound of a car alarm going off.
With a small gasp, you leaned over the window yourself, staring down at the white Toyota that now had a sizeable dent in the top, the windshield spiderwebbing. Kazi let out a groan that you could hear from up here, blinking up at the sky with malice and shock in his eyes.
“Nat,” You breathed.
“Please, eight stories is survivable. Some people need to be taught a lesson.” She shrugged, pulling you back into the apartment by the sleeve of your shirt. “I’ll pay for the car repairs, if that makes you feel better, detka.”
“You didn’t have to do this, you know.”
“Of course I did.” She reached forward and cupped both of your cheeks, forcing you to look at her. It was impossible to ignore the gesture, the words that she had said with so much blind passion. Tears threatened to overtake your waterline. “moya lyubov', he put his hands on you without permission and before that… before that he hurt you in ways unimaginable. I meant every word I said.”
You could hear sirens in the distance, a hazard of living in the city. They could be for Kazi, you supposed, something to take care of the surely broken ribs and the bruised ego. But, they could be for something more important.
You pushed forward and kissed Natasha delicately. You wanted to be impossibly close to her. Most gestures you had received in the past had come in the form of flowers, maybe the occasional box of chocolate from the drug store. Once again- Natasha had proved something to you.
Her chuckle vibrated into the kiss, “Mm, we should probably leave.”
You couldn’t agree more. You wanted to get out of this stupid apartment that was teeming with memories of your time with Kazi. The way he claimed his love for you, and forced you to make a horrible decision all in one exhale.
As the two of you walked down the long and winding steps, Natasha asked, “What was with the shovel thing?”
You laughed, suddenly feeling foolish for fearing Natasha in the first place. Her silence caused waves, and somehow, that was worse than if she’d threatened you outright, something that she never did with much heat.
“Kate, she told me about her ex-boyfriend, Eli, I think she said his name was.”
“Ah, Eli.” She frowned, “He cheated on her, and I only made him dig for an hour.”
“You don’t have to justify yourself to me, as long as you never make me dig my own grave.”
 “I would never do that. There is no punishment in things you can’t control.” Natasha gave your hand a squeeze, her solemn words punctuated with a slowly creeping smile. “Besides, detka, that’s simply not my style. It was much too messy.”
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Text
The Man 1
Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.
My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.
Character: mob!Lloyd Hansen
Summary: a demanding customer complicates more than your work life.
As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.
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You stand behind the counter, ready to serve the next customer that comes through the door. If you thought the rush was bad, the lulls are worse. The time drags by as the clock seems to taunt you. You sigh again as you hear Bre clattering around in the back room. You’d rather be back there folding up empty boxes and scouring trays.
You yawn and waver on your feet. The small local cafe doesn’t have the consistent traffic of the franchised kiosk just down the block but there are still hectic rushes. The mornings just after nine, then at noon when the office workers run out for a refresh espresso or a lunchtime sweet, but the afternoons usually deliver no more than the errant college student on their laptop or a few friends in between visits to boutiques.
The door opens and you glance over at the man who walks through the door. He strikes you as out-of-place as he struts across the cafe, hitting a table with his thigh, and sneering at it as if it insulted his mother. He’s tall with broad shoulders, and his hair is slicked back while the sides of his head are buzzed. He wears a black turtle neck under and open jacket and a pair of matching slacks that show off his ankles. His loafers are a rippling grey and black snakeskin print with a shining silver buckle.
You grip the sides of the till as he approaches but he doesn’t look at you. You stare, a little put off by his lack of acknowledgement as he peers up at the menu. He steps forward, tapping his fingers on the counter as he blows out between his lips. A golden signet ring flashes on his pinkie. You’re still not sure he’s in the right place.
“Hello, sir, can I get you--”
“Shh,” he hisses and holds up his finger. You snap your mouth shut and blink. He squints at the menu. He hums, clucking as he gives a thoughtful look to the hand-painted letters. Alright?
You wiggle your foot impatiently, biting your tongue. You’re not an inherently rude person but some customers make you wish you were. You watch him and he finally lowers his chin.
“Oat latte. Half blonde espresso, half regular, with the toffee nut syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon.”
You nod as you punch in his order. It’s quite the drink. Sometimes you think people just pile on to see how far they can push service workers. They can’t just have a simple drink. Some even request the temperature to the digit.
“Alright, got it, it’s fifty cents for the syrup, is that okay?”
“Fifty cents?” He echoes haughtily, “no, that’s not okay.”
“Um, okay, well, it’s uh, on the menu,” you crane to look behind you, “fifty cents for a flavour shot, twenty-five for whipped cream.”
“I didn’t ask about goddamn whipped cream. They don't charge me here, doll. Get me the goddamn drink,” he demands.
You reel. Admittedly, you’re new. You’re learning but your first lesson was simple; customers are awful.
“I can just take the syrup off, I guess,” you hit the x and the whole order disappears.
“Didn’t you hear me? No charge, honey. It’s on the house.”
You purse your lips and look at him. You raise a brow. Alright, this is a new one.
“Um, if you’d just hold on, I think... uh, I should ask--”
“Yeah, you better fucking ask,” he sneers as swipes at a stack of paper cups and sends them flying. You flinch out of the way and spin to burst through the door to the kitchen.
“Uh, Bre,” you say, “there’s a really angry dude out there and he wants a free latte so uh, what do I do about that?”
She looks over at you as she puts a tray of cookies on a cooling rack. She frowns and her forehead stitches. She pulls of her oven mitt and checks her fitbit.
“Shit, it’s Thursday,” she mutters as if it’s the end of time.
“Yeah, it is, so uh--”
She waves away your words with the mitt and tosses both on the counter as she hurries past you. Confused, you turn to follow her through the swinging door. You stay behind her as she goes to the till.
“Mr. Hansen, so lovely to see you, what were we getting today?” She chimes, more lively than you’ve ever heard you. At any other time, she’s dulcet, almost monotone, completely over the cafe lifestyle.
He scoffs and his eyes drift from her to you. He pokes his tongue into his cheek, “oat, toffee nut, half blond, half regular, cinnamon on top,” he notes each element tersely, “and how about you teach this one some goddamn manners.”
He glares at you and you give a wide-eyed look. You shrug at Bre as she glances over at you. She shakes her head subtly. You take a step back.
You grab a cup and she quickly takes it out of your hands, “I got it, stay out of the way.”
You put your hands up and back away. You don’t know what you did wrong. Who is this man? He smirks and hovers on the other side of the counter as he crosses his arms over his puffed chest. Bre brews a fresh espresso and steams the oat milk.
“I’m waiting, sweet lips,” he cups a hand to his ear, his other arm still over his chest.
You look back and forth.
“Apologise,” he demands.
Bre clears her throat and you glance over, your mouth falling open dumbly.
“Oh, uh,” you face the man again, “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t know--”
“Well, now you fucking do,” he sneers as Bre places a cup down before him and a paper bag.
“Mr. Hansen, there’s a cinnamon bun for you too. We just took em out of the oven.”
“You’re such a dear, Bre Bear,” he cooes, sending you a venomous snarl.
You cringe as he spins and strides out with his fare. You watch after him, still thoroughly perplexed. Bre wipes the counter with a cloth.
“The next time he comes in, give him whatever he wants,” she says quietly.
“Oh, I didn’t... who is he?” You garble.
“Better you don’t know. Just think of him as the boss,” she sends you a desperate look, her eyes gleaming, “if you know what’s good for you, you’ll smile and listen.”
She brushes you with her shoulder as she goes back into the kitchen. You furrow your brow and glance towards the door. The man’s just outside the windowed walls, watching you. He winks before he disappears beyond the next facade
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ellatoone7 · 7 months
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Don't know if you've seen the Videos of Alexia at the airport getting followed by paps. Would you write a fic where reader is also playing on the national team and is together with Alexia. Maybe Reader is just as famous as Alexia. When Alexia gets swamed by paps (which by the way reader hates cameras) reader all but drags Alexia through the crowd. And after making sure Alexia is ok she gives the paps an ear full about being a bit nicer.
Respect (Alexia Putellas x reader)
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A/N: I can’t even begin to imagine what the girls must be feeling right now. The most horrible situation to be put in. Those girls are truly the biggest inspirations to everyone! 🫶
The situation was absolutely impossible. Alexia knew that, you knew that, your teammates knew hell the whole world knew that. You watch Alexia retype the statement over and over again, you can’t possibly fathom how she manages to fit the injustice of what’s happened in one A4 page.
Alexia has been silently seething since the call up, you didn’t think she could get angrier but you were proven wrong when Patri and Mapi’s name popped up.
You walk over to your exhausted girlfriend hoping to offer some comfort, “Baby, you need to get some sleep.” Your arms rest on her shoulders as you watch the fight leave Alexia’s body.
“I don’t know what to do.” Your girlfriend looked to you for an answer knowing that you wouldn’t have one either. Instead of telling her it will be okay, you try to offer as much support as you possibly could.
Your head was absolutely pounding with all the thoughts running through your head. The anger was always there, it never really left. Even hearing the name of that fucking federation sends you into a frenzy that you try to contain.
The fear was new, sure you had always known that the RFEF were an absolute piece of shit but you never thought it would get this far. You were nearly positive that it ended with Rubiales and Vilda going down but you know that was naive thinking.
After hours of deliberation, you and Alexia knew that there was no other choice but to go. Your career wasn’t something you were overly worried about knowing that you had made the most of it while you could but the thought of leaving the younger girls behind to suffer scared you more than anything the RFEF could ever do to you.
That’s how you find yourself walking through the airport, the arm wrapped around your waist tightens as Alexia spots the press hoping to god she would somehow be able to find the both of you invisible.
You stayed close to your girlfriend, you had never been a fan of the cameras even more so now when you’ve been forced into this situation.
Alexia stayed calm knowing that her getting angry would help no one, her main priority right now was getting you through the mob of people safely, it was the only thing she could control at the moment.
“Just breathe, Mi amor. Ignore them.” You hear Alexia whisper as she places a reassuring kiss to the crown of your head, wanting to just get it over with as she walks towards the media.
The minute they catch sight of the two of you, you’re swarmed. You tuck yourself impossibly close to the blonde, you try to calm yourself down at the amount of questions they throw your way.
Alexia keeps her eyes forward, occasionally glancing at you making sure the reporters keep their hands to themselves. You hear Alexia respond calmly to a few questions thrown her way but you can see that your girlfriend is quickly getting overwhelmed.
No one else would be able to tell with the mask she’s perfected over the years but you can see the slight panic in her eyes as they dart around the place.
You know that her arm that’s wrapped around your waist is as comforting for her as it is for you, you discreetly place your own hand over hers letting her know you were okay.
She glances down at you nearly tripping over a stray lead of a camera, she immediately apologises and your heart aches at how good your girlfriend is even in this horrific situation.
As your gate finally comes into sight, you hear her answer to one particular question, “How are you feeling?”
“Well bad.” Your heart shatters at her defeated tone, you know this has been slowly eating away at her. There is only so much pretending one person can do and you know she’s quickly reaching her limit.
They give you room to breathe once you have finally reached your gate, she waits for you to go first but you insist that she does as she has her details ready on her phone.
She shoot’s you a grateful yet slightly worried smile, not feeling secure with leaving you behind even if it’s for less than a minute. You kiss her cheek letting her know that you’d be fine and also to thank her for unnecessarily taking the brunt of the press.
You watch her walk through the gate and once she’s out of sight you turn to cameras, the rage that you had tried to put aside for your teammates' sakes flamed up at the sight of your distressed girlfriend.
The press catches on to the fact that you haven’t followed the older girl and immediately fires questions at you. You ignore every single one of them wanting to make sure they understand every single word you are about to say.
“We are in an impossible situation, one you couldn’t even imagine. The last thing we need is you people sticking your cameras into our faces when you don’t know the half of it. I will not stand here and watch as you create more false accusations to add fuel to the already massive fire. Alexia is an absolute saint for putting up with all this shit give her some room to fucking breathe and have some respect for this horrific situation we have been put in.”
You don’t think you have ever spoken to a camera as much as you just have, you knew there could be some repercussions but you find yourself not caring as the tension eases just a little bit.
The press have gone dead silent, no doubt in shock as they witness your normally shy and composed persona switch before their eyes.
With one last deadly glare you make your own way through the gate, desperate to get away from their prying eyes but also desperate to feel your girlfriend's touch.
“What took you so long? I was getting worried.” You felt slightly guilty seeing the concern on the already stressed girl's face. You cup her face soothingly as you press a soft kiss to her lips. She visibly relaxes as her hands find your hips, “Are you okay?” You nearly cry at the question, how can she ask you that when she has the weight of the national team on her shoulders.
“I am now that you are here.” She cracks the first genuine smile of the day, holding you close to her as she relaxes knowing no one is watching.
“We are going to get through this, Alé. I promise you.” You reassure as you tuck your face into her neck, she rubs a hand down your back, “I’m not going to stop fighting.” You sigh knowing that she would destroy herself if it meant everyone else would be okay, the love you feel for the brave, selfless woman overpowers every other feeling.
With one more firm kiss you make her another promise, “And I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
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urdepressedslut · 9 months
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If your requests are open…
Could you please do a Mob Bucky x Reader where the Reader is pregnant and gives birth to a premie baby and he baby has to stay in the hospital for 4 months. And Bucky wants to comfort the reader but he’s feeling sad too, so he goes a little crazy because he is angry that he can’t help the reader. So he leaves and the reader thinks that Bucky left her. You can make up how it ends. But please add angst and fluff. I get it if you don’t do it. Thank You!
hi lovely 💕 thank you so much for sending in this request, i read through it and loved the whole idea from beginning to end. i hope you like what i’ve written💗🥰
Out of My Control
♡ Pairing: Mob!Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader
♡ Summary: You awake in the middle of the night discovering that your water broke, you realize you’re having a baby— the only issue is that it’s several months early. Your hospital room gets tense as you and Bucky come to terms with the big changes.
♡ Warnings: language, angst, fluff, premature baby birth, all things to do with pregnancy, argument, stress, hints to panic attacks, self hate, signs of depression, me probs writing anything medical wrong
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MINORS DO NOT INTERACT | MATURE CONTENT 18+
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A relaxing day spent together, as the two of you walked through the park, went on a date and cuddled back at home. Things had started perfect and quickly shifted in a shit show.
Neither of you were prepared for the sudden contractions you were feeling. The alarms ringing in your head— like your body knew but your mind didn’t want to accept it. You were having this baby.
The only issue was that the baby was several months early. If the sobbing coming from you, from the pain wasn’t enough— the idea that you were about to have a premature baby only added into the panic.
Bucky and you talked day and night to your baby— whispering sweet words. Making promises to a baby that wasn’t even born yet. It was all crumbling before your eyes as you were rushed to the hospital, the inside of your thighs drenched from when your water had broke.
Everything happened so fast— you were soon to be knocked out with heavy meds to help with the pain. While Bucky had to witness it all— all these nurses and doctors poke and prod at you, keeping you alive of course. But he couldn’t keep his fists from unclenching— every cry and whimper that escaped your lips made him want to strangle the nurse or doctor that had caused it.
He was a tad overprotective, but you were his everything. His world, his purpose. Seeing you in such pain destroyed him and he felt himself slowly spiraling. He had called several of his men to guard the entire corridor in the hospital, even while the hospital didn't really allow that kinda stuff— they learned quickly not to mess with Bucky. They didn't want to get involved with the whole mob world and just lowered their heads and agreed to what he wanted in the moment.
Many doctors, nurses, tests and meds later— you were finally in stable condition. Giving birth to a premature child had taken a toll on your body, physically and mentally.
You had given birth to a girl— Rebecca Barnes. Agreeing to name your baby after Bucky’s adoring sister, who you had grown close with over the years.
At last you had Bucky in the room the whole time— but you had noticed him getting uncharacteristically quiet. You knew he was most likely worried sick for you, but you couldn’t wait for the moment to tell him everything was going to be okay. You just hadn’t had a moment to talk with him yet.
You thought you’d have time to speak with him but because your child was so early— she was in critical condition. The doctors and nurses doing all they could to keep your baby alive and healthy.
A couple days pass by and the crowd of nurses and doctors have died down, allowing Bucky to finally sit beside your bed. Rebecca was getting checked by doctors and nurses in another room, there was nothing you two could do but cling onto each other as you waited for the news.
“I’ve missed sleeping next to you James.” You called out to him, reaching for his hand and holding it tight.
He hummed in response, his eyes continuing to scan over your face, body— looking for any other injuries.
“James— have you been sleeping?” You questioned after he didn’t respond to your previous one.
Looking over him now that he was close enough, you could see his sunken in eyes. The way his eyes were rimmed with redness— his skin pale compared to his beautiful tan glow that he had. He looked miserable.
He looked up at your eyes at that question, and for a second you thought he was glaring at you.
“Do you really expect me to get sleep when you’re stuck here in pain?” He responded in a hoarse, gravelly voice.
You softened at his sorrow tone, your heart aching that he was making himself suffer because you were.
“Sweetheart, you gotta take care of yourself. I know you don’t wanna leave my side but— I’m okay now,” You finally reassured him, “Everything is gonna be okay — the worst is done with.”
As he hoped your words would help calm him, it did little to soothe the panic that had been brewing in his chest ever since you cried out in pain at home. You were still stuck here— along with his baby. He couldn’t do anything but sit on the sidelines and wait until you got better— and that drove him fucking insane. He wanted to lick all your wounds, steal all your pain. The fact that he couldn’t do it in a snap of his fingers, was making him lose his shit.
“How is everything okay? You’re still sitting here— and you’re gonna be here for god knows how long!” He rushed out frustratedly.
You rubbing the back of his hand in attempt to calm him, knowing he needed to get his stress out— but he ripped it from your grasp. You couldn’t hide the hurt that flashed in your eyes from the action.
“James this happens when babies are born early— you know that. It’s not going to be easy, but I’ll be out of here soo—”
“Bullshit!” He hissed, not necessarily at you— but you could feel the air from his breath.
He hadn’t eaten, or drank very much. Hadn’t slept— overall hadn’t been taking care of himself. Adding all of the stress of your safety— was the golden reason for why he was acting out. Although you didn’t know that fully, and you were starting to feel like his anger was directed at you.
You were emotionally vulnerable right now, with everything that had gone on. You needed his support desperately, not a fight.
“James just take a breath for me okay? You’re okay— we’re okay.” You whispered, your hand itching to hold his. He was too far out of reach now, pacing the hospital room. “I really need you right now— I can’t have you passing out from exhaustion. I need you healthy!”
“Yeah well— I need you to be healthy too!” He argued, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “I can’t lose you!!”
Lastly he shouted, watching your eyes flicker from the loudness. He immediately relaxed seeing your hurt expression— he felt bad that he was stressing you out. He didn’t mean to— he just felt things were way too out of his control. He just wanted you to be okay, and back at home in his arms.
You opened your mouth to say something, watching his eyes shift into a faraway look. But before you could say anything, he turned and walked out the door— leaving you alone in the hospital room.
You tried to understand his perspective and desperately tried to— but you were already under so much stress, on your body and mind. The only thing you could do in the moment was cry.
Hugging yourself in attempt to comfort your self, you sobbed quietly. Wishing for Bucky to come back through the door. As the darkness faded into your thoughts, you couldn’t help but feel like this was your fault. Bucky was clearly upset with you— but why?
Was it because you weren’t healthy enough to hold a baby properly? Was it because your body just wasn’t equipped to carry a baby? It was your body— you should’ve been better. Should’ve done more to prevent this.
Your thoughts ran wild, abusing your fragile mind as you curled up in the hospital bed, weeping to no one. The nurse who had been caring for you the whole time came in with a concerned expression, trying to soothe your cries— as the heart monitor was going erratic with panic.
Meanwhile Bucky kept walking, ignoring the worried glances form his men. It was no secret that his men had grown close to you as well. They were all worried about you and the baby— hoping you two would walk out of the hospital soon all healed up.
Steve, his closest friend followed after Bucky— knowing he'd be able to get through his thick skin. Steve's attempts at making Bucky stop were useless, that was until they made it outside— and Bucky finally felt like he could breathe. That's when he turned to meet Steve's worried eyes boring into his.
"What's going man? Is (Y/n) okay?" Steve asked hesitantly.
He'd check on you himself— but it was direct orders from Bucky that they guard the corridor and nothing else. He had to respect that.
Bucky took another deep breath, letting the cool air fill his lungs— the breeze drying the layer of sweat that lightly coated his skin. The stress and anxiety building up— festering inside of him.
"Yeah... she's going to make a full recovery I think." Bucky breathed out, but his expression was still pained.
"That's great news— what's got you so worked up then?" Steve pried, and if it were anyone else— Bucky would be slapping them.
Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to take another deep breath of the fresh air before his thoughts consumed him once again. Steve could see his pained expression deepen.
"She's fucking stuck here for months man— and I can't do shit about it! I feel like I should be doing more I— I just don't know what to do. I feel terrible that she's in pain— I just want her to be healthy with our babygirl and coming home!" He rushed out, started to pace the front entrance— running his hands through his hair.
Steve reached out to stop his pacing, holding his shoulder in a tight grip to snap him back to reality.
"Hey! Buck— you gotta take a breath and chill out— everything is gonna be okay. I know you're stressed out, I would be too— but you gotta try and calm down." Steve told him, holding his gaze with a stern one.
Bucky didn't mind the roles being switched up at the moment. He needed someone to shake him up— to get his shit together.
"I just love her so much." Bucky whispered, feeling his throat get tight with emotions.
Steve was shocked to see his pal so vulnerable, but it was understandable. He ignored the shock for now and tried to relax his friend.
"You need to tell her that, not me." Steve chuckled, and wasn't surprised at the glare he received from Bucky. "You're sorta right that there's not much you can do— but you can be there for her."
Bucky after a long pause nodded, knowing Steve was right— which was mind boggling to him.
"Yeah, you're right— you're right." Bucky mumbled, taking a few extra deep breaths before turning towards the door.
He stopped himself at the sliding doors and turned around suddenly and walked towards Steve without a word— pulling him into a tight hug. One that had Steve's mouth open in shock— hugs were not their thing.
"Thanks bud— I can't believe I have a babygirl." He whispered excitedly, pulling back with a teary smile and turned away— heading into the hospital.
Your tears had stopped minutes ago, and you stayed laying in bed— staring blankly out the window. Your mind wouldn't slow their attack— the darkness staining your brain. You wondered if someone could die from the abuse of their own mind— felt like you were.
Through muffled sound, you heard the door to your room open and close— followed by a voice. You were so out of it that it sounded like they were speaking from underwater.
It’s probably the nurse again… trying to get you to say something— anything. You thought mindlessly.
“(Y/n)… (Y/n)?” The mumbling continued and you really wanted to look over to see who it was, but found yourself comfortable in the dull state.
A gentle touch to your shoulder had you jumping, glancing slowly over to where the voice was coming from. To your surprise— it was Bucky.
“Hey baby, you okay? You feeling any pain?” He asked worriedly.
You stared at him like he had four eyes, your own darting around his face— almost like you didn’t actually believe he was here.
Bucky only grew more concerned the longer you didn’t respond, instead you stared at him with fear shining in your eyes.
“Baby— talk to me. What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.” He begged quietly, holding your hand in between both of his.
You looked down at your connected hands, your chest rising and falling with a big deep breath— almost like you could finally get a good breath in.
“You’re here.” You whispered, and if Bucky wasn’t as close as he was— he wouldn’t of heard it.
“I’m here baby, I’m not going anywhere— okay?” He asked, needing you to know he was here to stay. He finally got the shot in the arm he needed.
You shook your head, bottom lip quivering and that was the only warning Bucky needed to know you were about to cry. His heart ached at the sight of your now glossy eyes— peering into his with shame. That he didn’t understand.
“Fuck— I’m sorry James… this is all my fault.” You cried, holding onto his hand even tighter.
Bucky shook his head, rubbing the skin of your arm soothingly. Wishing so desperately that he could climb into bed with you— but he couldn’t. At least not for awhile.
He went to assure you, you had nothing to be sorry for but was interrupted by your cries.
“I can’t even do the one thing a woman is supposed to do right— I fucking failed you— us! I’m sorry James I— I should’ve been healt—”
Bucky had enough, he felt sick that you thought this was your fault.
“Baby no, don’t you dare think for one second that this is your fault. You didn’t ask for this honey— there was nothing you could’ve done to prevent this!” He told you sternly, sitting up closer to you now, cupping your face in his hands.
“But I—” You tried.
“No baby— I’m not gonna let you think this is your fault. You have done nothing wrong. Honey, you brought a babygirl into this world. You did it.” He pushed, pecking your forehead.
Your tears continued to fall but your cries has quieted down by now— Bucky’s words sinking in. You couldn’t help but want to smile at the mention of your babygirl. Rebecca— oh how you wanted her in your arms.
“I’m sorry I was angry before, but it wasn’t at you baby— I need you to know that.” He started, pushing stray hairs behind your ears. “I’m just frustrated that I can’t do anything for you right now. I just want you to be healthy and home with Becca.”
You softened your gaze upon his admission, reaching your hands up to cup his stubbled cheek. He immediately leaned into your touch, his eyes shutting on instinct.
“I love you so fucking much baby, and I just can’t stand knowing you’re in pain and that you’ll be stuck here for awhile.” He breathed out, his own emotions getting caught in his throat.
“James… you should’ve just started with that.” You whispered, stroking the skin on his cheek.
“I know, I know— I just get all in my head sometimes.” He admitted and you chuckled tiredly.
“Oh trust me, I know.” You joked, pulling him into the bed with you.
Bucky was careful, not sure if this was allowed and didn’t want to hurt you any further.
“(Y/n)… I don’t know if—”
“Just get in the fucking bed.” You spoke out monotonously.
He chuckled and shook his head, holding his hands up in surrender.
“Yes ma’am.”
You loved that you had this mean, initiating mob boss wrapped around your tiny little finger. But to be fair— he had you wrapped around his as well. He scooted in next to you, where you leaned back— laying your head on his chest. Hugging him around his waist, you could feel the heat of his breath fanning your forehead.
“I love you too James. Just don’t leave again, okay? I need you here with me.” You mumbled to him, feeling sleepy from all the stress of the day.
He squeezed just a little tighter, rubbing your arms comfortingly— before he spoke.
“I’m not going anywhere babydoll, I’m not going anywhere.”
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sarahowritesostucky · 3 months
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📖Make it Stick: Pt. 1 The Dragon
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Rating: Explicit
Chapter Rating: Mature
Pairing: Bucky x ofc x Steve
Word Count: 1103
Tags: dark!fic, mob/mafia au, mob!Bucky, mob!Steve, dubcon/noncon, sexual coercion, half-sibling incest, m/f/m, non-con drug use, mentions of torture (non graphic), double penetration, forced tattooing, forced orgasms, enemies to lovers
Summary: When his babygirl—his sweet pea, little one, puppy ... half-sister—is recaptured after her latest attempt at running away, Bucky makes a power play in front of the entire Bratva to remind her exactly who she belongs to.
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Dark and smutty content below the break. Consume responsibly.
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“Да. Good. Make sure she stays that way. Now, tell me everything.” Bucky listens to his henchman’s answer, pissed in general but only getting truly angry when he hears one specific detail. “She was with who?! Ублюдок!!” He takes the phone away from his face for a second as he curses in three different languages. Fucking Gleb. He fucking knew it. He’s going to cut his fucking dick off! When he brings the phone back up to his face, all he utters is a deathly quiet, “We’re in the Dragon’s Den. Get them here. Both of them.” He ends the call.
The gun at Bucky’s back has stopped buzzing. Funny, how it’s the sudden lack of pain that makes goosebumps rise to his skin. “Boss?” Natasha asks.
Bucky’s eyes flick over to Steve, who’s sitting next to the Karpovs on the couch. One moment of intense eye contact between the two of them, and Steve’s face goes wan in recognition. Tight-lipped, Bucky gives an almost imperceptible nod of confirmation. Steve squares his shoulders and pushes up to standing to go over to the bar. The guy has an almost preternatural ability to predict Bucky’s wants and needs, which is one reason why he’s risen through the ranks so fast (well, it's one, leastways). He artfully flips a lowball, knowing what this situation calls for without having to be told; ice and two fingers of the Russo-Baltique that’s so expensive, Bucky once stabbed a guy’s hand into a table for drinking it without permission.
Steve delivers the glass and retreats to stand sentinel along the wall. Bucky sips, sets it down, growls and grabs it up again. He rolls the liquor in his mouth as he fumes, a dark plan starting to form in his head. It comes together quickly, because it’s not like he hasn’t spent plenty of time fantasizing about it before now. What he’d do when he finally got her back.
His little one is tenacious and likes to make trouble. She has a penchant for running away, but she’s never lasted this long before. It’s been over ten months—long enough to put the fear of God in Bucky that he could actually lose her for good, if he isn’t more careful. So, he has to be careful, has to make a statement, send a message. He has to make it stick.
Luckily, when it comes to “sending messages,” Bucky Barnes can be very creative. Like tattooing, torture is an oft underappreciated artform. “Dimi,” he barks. “I’m expecting some special guests tonight. Go and sort things out downstairs. I want the place packed by ten—Make sure it’s with the right people.”
“Boss?” Lev pipes up, confused. He’s Karpov’s kid brother: new, inexperienced but eager, still “earning his scales,” as the boys like to say.
Dimitri jerks his head for his brother to follow him. “Boss wants a demonstration. C’mon.” He’s already got his phone out as they leave the room to get things arranged. Bucky’s “demonstrations” usually require plastic sheeting and a crowd of people who are either Hydra themselves, or else educated enough to know to keep their mouths shut about Bratva business.
“Where’d they find her?” Steve asks.
Bucky scoffs, still fuming. “Floating off the coast of Belize. On my own fucking yacht. Can you even believe that?”
“Sounds like her.”
“Lena?” Nat hums. “Who’d you send?”
“Maximoff and Belova have her.” Bucky grits his teeth at the sting as Natasha uses a wet cloth to wipe off the excess blood and ink. He can feel her scrutinizing her work. “You can keep going,” he tells her, but she ‘tsks’ in that way that only a Russian tongue can really do.
“We’ll come back to it. Skin behaves differently when you’re not relaxed.”
“I’m am relaxed!” He hears how ridiculous he sounds and heaves a long sigh, trying to let his shoulders untense to at least somewhere below the level of his ears. “I’m relaxed.”
“Keep saying it and it might come true.” Nat rolls away on her stool, peeling off her gloves with finality. “Your blood pressure and vodka’ll push the ink out faster than I can stick it. Just come over to the Red Room once it’s done scabbing and we’ll finish it then.”
She’s already packing up her stuff when Bucky gets the idea. “Wait.” He narrows his eyes at the rolling toolkit that Nat keeps in the club’s upstairs lounge just for him and his men. “Do me a favor,” he says slowly, the idea taking shape in his mind. “Run down to the shop and print out a transfer for me. Cyrillic. A small font. Something pretty but … bold. Easy to read.”
Natasha tenses. “What do you want it to say?”
“собственность дракона.”
“No,” she says, and when Bucky looks over, she’s standing ramrod straight.
“Clearly, you disapprove.”
“I’m not inking it.”
“I’m not asking you to,” he snaps, low on patience tonight, even for Natasha. “Print it out on a goddamn transfer sheet and bring it to me.”
She’s doing that dead faced thing she does—where she goes still like a doll to avoid making some expression she doesn’t want you to see. Right now, Bucky suspects it might be sheer disdain. “Size?” she asks. “Shaping?”
“One line straight up the forearm. Delicate lettering, but clear as a fucking bell to read.”
“That still doesn’t tell me what spacing—”
“You know how big she is, you figure out the fucking spacing!” he yells. “Or what the fuck am I even paying you for?!”
Natasha goes eerily still, then abruptly pivots to leave, the severe line of her hair whipping around with the motion. She’s unhappy with him.
“Red ink!” Bucky calls out, the door slamming shut after her a millisecond later. He grinds his teeth together and stands up from the chair he’s been perched in for the past three hours, carrying his drink over to the mirrors so that he can get a better look at his back.
Scales, teeth, claws. Crouched and curling across his shoulders, tendrils creeping up onto his neck, marking him as what he is: Дракон.
The Dragon.
“Will you help me?” he asks Steve, quiet now that it’s just the two of them.
“Depends on what you want me to do.”
“It depends”—No other man in the Bratva could give such an answer and expect to remain in one piece. But Steve’s gaze is steadfast when Bucky meets it and tells him, “She’s gotten away with too much for too long. It’s time to shorten the leash.”
In the mirror, Steve’s eyes darken. He nods.
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Take me to part 2!
Masterlist
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If you like what you read and feel so inclined, please consider dropping a tip in the Kofi🍵 cup!
Commissions: contact via Tumblr messenger or Kofi
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There needs to be a national level discussion about eviction and not one with millionaire politicians putting their two cents in. I’m not justifying some gun nut shooting it out with law enforcement by any means but if this were handled differently lives could have been saved. Forcibly making someone homeless is one of the top ten most traumatic things that can happen and people are going to resist it. If it was indeed just unpaid taxes then other less severe measures could have been taken. Community leaders, social workers, and activists could step in and help plan a course of action. Sending armed officers in to every conceivable social situation needs to stop. The guy probably owed thousands while billionaires who owe hundreds of millions never have law enforcement sent after them.
Further, the push by Republicans to evict everyone immediately needs to stop as does their relentless drive to criminalize the unhoused. Nobody wants to be homeless. Decades of tough guy bully talk from right wing Fox News, conservative talk radio, Neo-confederate racist Republican politicians, and oligarch controlled social media has turned this nation into a cruel heartless place with no compassion for the vulnerable.
Red state legislatures are turning their privatized penal systems into debtors prisons. Being poor shouldn’t be a crime, nor should homelessness. We need solutions to lift everyone up not trickle down schemes to keep transferring wealth to the billionaire class.
Finally you can no longer be a Christian and a conservative. The term “Christian conservative” has become a contradiction in terms. Conservatism once meant low taxes, military preparedness, and a robust foreign policy that protected our allies and our trade. Now it has degenerated into being hateful animals consumed with rage, petty jealousy, contempt for the vulnerable, and hatred to everyone not in the MAGA camp. It is an abomination. A vengeful mob of ignorant degenerates led by media savvy Neo-Nazi oligarchs and power hungry Republican demagogues. Demagogues who preach literal Nazism, often openly quoting Hitler himself, to a mob that thinks wrong is right, hate is right, and corruption is good.
We have become the French Revolution in reverse. The angry mob is propping up the oligarchy that oppresses them while tearing down American democracy which seeks to level the playing field and treat everyone with equality, decency, and respect.
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mmavverickk · 6 months
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I “love” the betrayal fics where the entire camp suddenly believes that this new guy has actually accomplished all of Percy’s achievements and Percy lied to all of them, like camp didn’t literally witness half of those accomplishments and like Percy actually outright says “I did X.” Percy says almost nothing about what he does, Camp hears about most of his achievements from others
oh, we've all seen those fics. new guy shows up, he's actually Percy's half-brother. Annabeth suddenly only has eyes for him, everyone suddenly hates Percy because new guy does too, Poseidon may or may not disown Percy, and then Percy runs away and joins Chaos.
it's been copied and pasted thousands of times in hundreds of ways.
not a single one of those fics has Percy's departure from Camp happen realistically. it's not even impossible to grow resentment between Percy and the campers, which is what these writers seem to want. but the way they go about it? a cookie cutter asshole pied piper OC who steals the spotlight and turns Camp into a hostile mob of angry demigods? Unrealistic. 0/10 trope, literally 50% of why i will not read fanfictions with OCs.
have some realistic ways of turning Camp against Percy or vice versa:
- Percy could be captured. The area he was taken from is drenched in blood. no one could survive that, Percy's gotta be dead, so Camp doesn't look for him. after [x amount of time] of captivity and probably torture, Percy gives up hoping for a rescue. he discovers darker uses for his powers, frees himself, and doesn't go back to camp, because they abandoned him. opens the road for angst and emotion and tearful reunions etc.
- Camp is attacked. maybe it was a lazy beach day. no one is ready, only a few campers have their weapons. they're outnumbered and maybe surrounded and definitely out of options. Percy won't let anyone die. two ways to go about this one:
A) percy destroys the attackers single-handedly, using every tool in his arsenal, every fucked up thing he can think of to make sure his people survive. he controls poison and blood and drowns monsters and, i don't know, freezes them into ice cubes or boils their skin or stops their hearts. Camp is terrified of him now. he leaves. or B) the armed campers fight back, but percy isn't fighting. he's busy keeping the injured from dying. how? he's controlling their blood. he won't let it deviate from its normal path. Camp is terrified of him now. he leaves.
- [x god] sends Percy on a quest. but, surprise! it's not a quest! it's a trick, to lead Percy to his death! Percy survives, but can't go back or he'll be revealing he's still alive before he figures out why [x god] tried to have him killed and if there's anyone else behind it. fun conspiracy vibes.
- percy adopts a new pet, except this time it's a drakon. "Percy," Chiron says very patiently and not-at-all exasperated, "you can't keep a drakon as a pet. it will eat your friends and we don't have the space." Percy flips authority the bird and strikes out with his new pet to find somewhere they can settle. kinda cracky but written right it could be funny.
- Percy pisses Zeus off. not surprising. Zeus wants to kill Percy. not surprising. for his own good, Chiron sends Percy on a roadtrip/changes his name and sends him to mexico along with multiple witness protection agents/quest to keep Percy out of sight for a while to allow the king of olympus time to cool down, because we like when percy is alive and also the war poseidon would wage at his death would kill us all.
are all of them 100% realistic? no, but neither is Percy leaving Camp. Hera had to literally kidnap him and erase his memory to keep him away. the point is that they're different and plausible, and not the same exact trope repeated over and over again until i can tell you the plot of hundreds of betrayal works in one sentence.
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simmerandwrite · 7 months
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Sink Into Me - 07 - mob!Steve Rogers x plus size!reader
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Pairing: mob boss! Steve Rogers x plus size! reader
Summary: You were simply doing a good deed, pulling the handsome stranger out of the way when a car jumped the curb. Little did you know that the life you saved belonged to Steve Rogers, the Army veteran turned art dealer with connections to the Brooklyn crime syndicate.
Steve Rogers, who won’t stop calling you his guardian angel.
Steve Rogers, whose new goal in life just might be repaying his debt to you.
Steve Rogers, who isn’t shy until it comes to his feelings and will stop at nothing to keep you safe.
Chapters: 01 02 03 04 05 06  07 08 09
Wordcount: 7.9k
Warnings: some violence in this one, vague references to drugging at a club (not to reader), feelings
Notes: thank you for your patience, beautiful people!! let's goooo.
---
If Steve looked inward for more than a spare second, he could unpack the heavy feelings that sat on his chest. But, he wouldn’t allow himself even that miniscule moment in time to think. Instead, it suddenly made way more sense to throw himself into work - from selling buildings to working on art curation to all the dirty things he did behind the scenes. If he wasn’t working, he was sleeping or working out or drinking at Shield. 
On this particular day, he was taking care of new business.
“What did we fucking say about selling this shit in Brooklyn?”
Steve almost felt bad for the guy he was slamming his fist into. Steve had absolutely broken his nose, maybe cracked his jaw. 
But, Steve had the upper hand here. The shithead was tied up to a metal chair, in the basement of one of Steve’s oldest properties. 
Thor had picked the guy up selling products near Brighton Beach. It was the third idiot working for Rumlow that had been caught crossing boundaries and pushing their new formula. It was one thing to not converse with Steve and confirm his cut. It was another to prey on high school kids. 
Steve reached for the guy's collar. “Do you need a reminder?”
He growled under Steve’s fist. “Your precious kingdom is going to crumble.” The man sucked in a breath and leaned forward, spitting a mournful of blood at Steve. 
Although electricity was climbing through every inch of Steve’s body, he remained stoic. Slowly, he wiped off the remnants of blood from his neck and shirt. Then Steve took in a sharp breath and delivered a kick to the man’s chest, sending the chair stumbling backward to the ground. With a clap of his hands, he turned around and pointed at Thor and Bucky. Both men were watching from the doorway of the dingy basement. 
“Call your brother and tell him to peel this man apart for information about Rumlow’s operation.” Steve planted a hand on Thor’s shoulder. 
“I’m on it, boss. But Loki will want cash and—”
“Pay him whatever he needs.” Steve finished off, confirming with a nod before leaving with Bucky. “Make sure he gets rid of the body afterwards.”
Bucky remained silent as he followed Steve up the stairs, matching his pace as they headed towards an awaiting car outside. It wasn’t until they were well on their way back to the club, in the thick of traffic that Bucky spoke up. 
“You good?”
Steve, who had been staring out the window, turned his head back to his friend. “I’m fine.”
“Because usually you let the boys get dirty.” Bucky pointed out the remaining marks of blood that littered Steve’s chest. “And calling in Laufeyson..”
“I want to clean up this fucking mess that’s found it’s way into our streets, Bucky. Don’t you think I know what I’m doing?”
“Of course I do, you idiot. Don’t fucking yell at me, too. Christ. You’re wound up because you made a mistake. Don’t take it out on us.”
Steve didn’t even bother replying. Because Bucky was right. 
Steve was angry. At himself. 
--
God, you were grateful for your friends. If you didn’t have them in your corner, you knew that everything with Steve might have sunk you down way further than you wanted. In fact, you knew damn well that if you let yourself slow down and think for a few minutes, the pain you had been so easy to dismiss might come roaring back to life.
But, there wasn't time to slow down. Not when your evenings became a delicate balance of work, walking Hercules then meeting up for some sort of exciting activity in the city. 
Pietro certainly had a penchant for finding fun things to do. Somehow he had a better pulse of the city than you and your friends who actually lived there. Your group chat was constantly buzzing with suggestions about markets to check out or special nights at certain bars or clubs or after party events with Pietro’s coworkers. 
It was a welcome distraction most days. But other days, all you wanted to do was have a pity party on your own. Even though you knew you deserved better than the way Steve had called things off, part of you kept wondering about how it all played out. One night after a night out with your friends and one too many glasses of white wine, you had gone into a deep, dark Instagram spiral.
Steve himself didn’t have any kind of personal social media presence. But someone managed one for his gallery and another one for Shield too. You scrolled through every post for a glimpse of him and every time some version of him showed up in a photo, your heart got a little more cracked open. 
Once you made it through the entire main feed of images, you dug deeper. The tagged photos for Shield had plenty of activity, including a recent slew of images from a weekend event at the club. One photo had Steve in it - you were sure, though he wasn’t facing the camera. It was in the background of some beautiful brunette’s photo and you knew it was upstairs in one of the VIP areas of Shield.
You were going crazy over it. Why did he have to end it the way he did? How come you didn’t get any other conversation or closure over the whole thing?
After a long day at work and an extra long walk home with Hercules, you had decided it was time for a night in. Thankfully you hadn’t heard any activity in the group chat all day, so you were very much looking forward to some time on the couch with your favourite bowl of pasta. 
Just as you got home, a crack of thunder sounded out and you knew a summer storm was imminent. You wouldn’t consider yourself someone who romanticized the rain - in fact, you hated thunderstorms. Since childhood you had connected storms to danger and darkness, and although now you were at home safe in your own apartment, you had never felt more alone and unsettled.
You remedied the uncomfortable feelings as best as you could - quickly calling your mother to talk while you made dinner. And when you had finally plated your food, you dropped onto the couch with Hercules and sent out an SOS to the group chat.
Claire was at work. Maria was at home uptown in Manhattan, waiting out the storm. And Wanda revealed she was out on a date with Vision, hiding out from the rain at some lavish restaurant uptown.
You groaned. Your lights flickered.
In an attempt to calm down, you tried to lose yourself in some reruns of your favourite show. It wasn’t working very well - especially with an anxious Hercules at your side who was not enjoying the storm outside, either.
Looks like you had to be the strong one, for the sake of your son.
“We’re gonna be okay, buddy,” you cooed as you cuddled in close to Hercules. “This storm shall pass or whatever.”
Your moment of wisdom was cut off when your phone started to buzz on the coffee table. You picked it up to see Pietro’s face on the screen.
“Hello?” You answered.
“Hey!” He called out on the other end of the phone. You could hear the rain. “I’m a block away. Please tell me you have dry towels?” 
You stood up and shook your head, confused. Had you made plans that you forgot about? Most weeknights Pietro was at the restaurant until close and–
“Wanda said you hate storms and we lost power at the restaurant. So I’m coming over to hang! I have desserts.”
He didn’t even let you argue, doubling down on the rain and how he wanted to hang out. It was strange though - of course you considered Pietro your friend, you just had never hung out one on one before. You hadn’t really assumed you were friends like that - moreso that you were friends with Wanda and he came along with that transaction. But you really enjoyed being around him. Pietro’s extraversion benefited you regularly and well, you definitely did not want to be alone in the storm anyway.
You greeted Pietro at the door with a dry towel, although his was in good spirits despite his damp clothing. 
“You didn’t have to come over,” you told him as you unpacked the paperbag he had brought from the restaurant. “I’m surviving.”
“Sure. But who else can I talk to about this boring philosophical PhD my sister is dating again?” Pietro flashed you his signature charming smile, peeling off his wet sweater and following your arms to toss it in your dryer. “What kind of name is Vision anyway?”
“I only met him once or twice,” you replied with a small smirk. “They really hit it off - though she never said why they had ruptured in the first place.”
“Well, as her older brother, I’m cautious. I deserve to know about the guy, it’s giving me even more grey hair to think about her dealing with some dumb man.”
You laughed. “Aren’t you like - 10 minutes older?”
“Twelve, actually.” He turned and headed back towards the counter. “This is for you by the way - packaged up by M’Baku himself.”
Glancing down at the to-go box, containing a particularly delectable slice of cheesecake, you couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “What?”
On more than one occasion you, Wanda and occasionally Maria or Claire had headed to the restaurant past closing to hang out while Pietro and his coworkers finished up for the evening. Mostly you sat at the bar and sipped on a cocktail while the kitchen crew finished up. A few nights ago, you had done exactly that and after the restaurant was closed, instead of heading out like you had planned, you all stayed and played cards and shared a few of the leftover dishes. Somehow, one of the kitchen staff had sat with you - the prep cook, M’Baku - and if you had been in a clear state of mind and heart, you might have thought you and him had hit it off.
M’Baku had probably even been flirting with you. But since Steve had crushed your confidence, you had a hard time believing that was possible. 
“He also asked me for your number,” Pietro added in, breaking you from your thoughts as you both sat back on the couch again. “If you want, I can text him right now and..”
You sighed. “I don’t know if I want to… do that. Date or.. Even think about dating. This is really nice of him, though.” With a glide of your fork, you grabbed a corner of the cake and smiled. “Reallllly nice.”
“You don’t have to date the guy,” Pietro countered, tipping his head to the side to meet your gaze. “Nothing wrong with having a little harmless fun.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so. Unfortunately, I was not blessed with a harmless fun gene, unlike you and Wanda.” You nudged him with your elbow. “The cheesecake is great though. Tell him thanks!”
---
“Are you sure this outfit is restaurant soft open slash after party appropriate?” 
Wanda rolled her eyes at you in the mirror, shooting you a smile. “Piet said it was casual. Don’t overthink it.” She finished off fixing her lipstick and turned. “You look great.”
Now you were rolling your eyes. You had picked out a casual summer dress to combat the heat, but you still weren’t sure. You wouldn’t admit it out loud, but after everything with Steve, all your confidence and self esteem hadn't really recovered. The way he had talked to you with such promise and excitement about your body, only to… 
No, no. It wasn’t fair to do that to yourself. You had to try and let it go. You had a fun night ahead.
Although your exciting social lives had slowed down a bit, Pietro still managed to talk you into some after work activities. On this particular Friday, you and Wanda were meeting up with him to visit some new restaurant that had recently opened. Surprising to no one, Pietro had befriended the guy who supplied their restaurant all their alcohol and the guy had gotten Pietro an invite to some soft opening event. Pietro and a few plus ones, even.
You slipped into your shoes and watched as Wanda finished pacing around her apartment gathering her things. “Where are we going anyway?” 
Wanda glanced down at her phone. “He just sent me the location - somewhere in Bedstuy I guess. C’mon, we can get the next train.”
When you got off the subway and started towards whatever address Wanda was following in her phone, a weird little twist of discomfort swirled in the pit of your stomach. No, it couldn’t be possible. Sure, you were in your old neighbourhood. And yes, if you turned down the next street on the right you’d –
“It’s down here,” Wanda tipped her head down that next street on the right.
Wilson’s Kitchen.
You slowed your feet down nearly and finally came to a complete stop before you approached the restaurant. Noooo. No. The last time you had been down this street, outside of this exact building - a car had come barreling off the sidewalk and changed your life.
You let out a silent groan, shaking your head as you saw Pietro and some people from his restaurant wave to you from outside the place.
Wanda glanced over her shoulder, reaching for your hand. “Come on.” She didn’t know all the details and you didn’t have the time or ability to explain it all now. Of course it had to be this restaurant - that Steve owned. Wilson’s… you recognized that as Sam’s last name, but wondered what the connection was?
You wanted to throw up. What if Steve was inside?
“You alright?” It was Pietro who paused as everyone else headed in before you two.
“Yeah..” You took a deep breath. “It’s a long story. Just might need some emotional support here tonight.”
He raised a curious eyebrow but gave you a pointed nod. “Okay, got it. Keep your secrets but did I mention it’s an open bar at least?”
You took a deep breath and decided that you could do hard things, you could do uncomfortable things. Steve didn’t matter! You deserved to live your own best life. You took Pietro’s awaiting hand. “Oh, lead the way then.”
-
As soon as you got inside, you were somehow taken from Brooklyn into a cool bistro from the French Quarter. Pietro gave you a quick low down on the place - a New Orleans fusion menu inspired by the chef’s upbringing in Delacroix. There was trendy exposed brick paired with iron accents and even supplemented by a generous jazzy ambiance floating through the air.
You met up with Wanda who had found a seat at the bar. The rest of the place was quite packed. Servers zipped around the room with trays of food, stopping by the bustling tables and delivering drinks to guests. There wasn’t a set menu or agenda for the evening, but you had to be honest with your friends before things got out of hand.
“Okay, Wan.” You grabbed her hand, sparing a quick glance around the room. “Steve owns this place. If you see him, please give me fair warning.”
“Wait. Who is Steve?” Pietro had planted himself behind you both, waving a hand to the bartender for a few cocktails.
“A dumb man!” Wanda summarized quickly, turning directly in her seat to scan the crowds too. 
“A dumb man I dated a while back..” You squished your face, then tried to shake away all your thoughts. “He was a jerk at the end.”
“Boooo..” Pietro threw his arm around you and squeezed. “There is still time for me to give your number to–”
“No, no.” You grabbed his hand where it sat on your shoulder. “Let’s just have fun, okay? No more thoughts about Steve.”
You had a perfectly lovely night. The food you sampled was incredible and the drinks were damn delicious. You even had the opportunity to meet Sarah, the head chef - who gushed about the evolving menu and how excited she was to have community kitchen days on the weekend to feed the neighborhood. 
“It is a great location,” you replied, pivoting slightly in your stool to speak with her. Wanda and Pietro had ducked outside for some air.  “I used to live a few blocks from here.”
Before you got any further, someone was saddling up beside her, dropping a hand over her shoulder. “Great turnout, sis.”
You offered Sam an awkward smile as he realized you two had been talking. He faltered for a second, glancing over his shoulder before finally giving you a greeting. “Oh, hey. It’s.. good to see you.” Sarah seemed to take this as an opportunity to excuse herself back to the kitchen, so you had to continue with Sam on your own.
“A friend of mine had an invite.” For some reason you felt you had to immediately defend yourself, even though he didn’t ask why you were there.
Sam let out a long breath and lifted a shoulder to shrug. “Listen, I don’t need to repeat the speech about how much of a fucking idiot Steve is.” He sighed then leaned back to the end of the restaurant. “He is here though, with a group in the back dining room.”
You tried not to give yourself away with your body language, but suddenly you felt even more on edge than you had before. You hadn’t seen Steve yet and it didn’t mean you were going to see him now. But knowing he was only a few walls away from you.. Well, it both worried you and also it seemed to stoke that weird feeling in your stomach into fiery anger.
“Thanks for the heads up, Sam.” 
“Sam! What’s the hold up? Did you get a hold of Sean?”
Then, like some stick twist of fate, a quiet commotion started out of the back room. You couldn’t help but turn on your stool again and look in that direction along with Sam.
And there, sticking his head out the door with a big grin on his face, as waves of laughter and clinking glasses sounded out behind him, was Steve. Even though you could only see part of his torso, you knew he was probably donning some sharp suit jacket and you wanted to scream.
It felt like time slowed down as you met Steve’s eyes - though he was far away, it felt like he was looking right into your soul. His jaw stilled, then snapped shut and before either of you really had a moment to process what was happening, you looked away and rushed to your feet. 
You mumbled out some rushed goodbye to Sam then immediately headed outside to find Wanda and Pietro.
They were standing near the front window - Wanda with a cigarette in one hand and her phone in the other. Pietro glanced up from his own phone when you shuffled up beside them. He raised an eyebrow at your distressed face.
You took a deep breath. “I saw Steve.”
Wanda turned and dropped her cigarette, stomping it out and reaching for your hand. “Auuugh. But you survived, babe. Shit. Are you okay? Does he look terrible?”
You just shrugged. “No, he looked great. Even from afar.” A dramatic groan left the pit of your stomach. “God, he’s the worst.”
Wanda’s phone started to buzz and she glanced from it to the street. “Ah, Vis is here. We were gonna go to.. Let me just send him off.”
“No, no.” You squeezed her hand. “Just go. I’ll call an Uber.”
“I’ll make sure she gets home,” Pietro jumped in, giving Wanda a quick side hug. “Have fun! Be safe!”
Wanda pretended to falter for a second, then threw her arms around you before darting off to the awaiting car. 
You let out another long sigh and leaned against the nearest wall, shaking your head as Pietro stepped in front of you. “I think I need to head home - but you can stay, I’ll be fine.”
He watched you closely. “I’m sorry. For whatever that asshole said to you - for you to feel this way now. You’re a catch.”
You couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped you. “I don’t think I am, but I appreciate your kindness, Piet.” Behind you both, a pair of black SUVs pulled up. They were definitely Steve’s. “Augh, I need to get out of here.”
Pietro looked over his shoulder at the vehicles, then back into the restaurant through the window. “Or.. wait. Is that his ride? He has to come out this way?” 
You could see some sort of plan was forming in his head. “What are you scheming about now?”
Pietro grinned, taking a step closer to you. “Harmless fun, my friend. Flirt with me?”
“What?” Your eyes grew wide. “We can’t. You don’t actually want to..”
“Miláčik, please. If that dumb idiot man is going to walk out here, let him see you perfectly distracted by someone else without a care in the world.”
“Piet, there are so many other girls I’m sure you’d rather flirt with.”
“No, actually. I would love to flirt with you. But my sister said I cannot date her friends and I’m going back to Sokovia in a month or so..” He took in a deep breath and stepped forward, tentatively reaching a hand out to rest on your waist. “If neither of us want to date, at least let’s..”
The door opened and suddenly, you didn’t have time to even process Pietro’s words. Instead, you wrapped your hands around his neck and pulled him as close to you as possible. And, well, he wasted no time trailing his lips against your neck as one hand wrapped around your waist. The other he used to cradle against your jaw.
“Can you see him?” Pietro whispered against your neck, his breath hot against the shell of your ear. “I don’t really care about that man but if this helps you..”
You tried not to make your shifting eyes very obvious but yes, in the large group of people walking out of Wilson’s Kitchen, just ten feet away from you - there was Steve. 
He met your eyes again, extending his arm for someone else to get into the car before him. But this time, you didn’t look away. Instead, you scratched your hand against Pietro’s neck and laughed.
Time slowed down again as Steve eventually tore his eyes from yours, ducking his head to get into the back of the vehicle.
You squeezed your eyes shut as the cars finally pulled away. 
With a firm pat, you tried to bring Pietro back to earth. He lingered close enough to you that your lips were nearly touching. He grinned. “Sorry if that was too much.”
“It was..” You relaxed your shoulders and leaned back again, resting your forehead against Pietro’s. “..exactly what I needed.” A silly shield, a defensive mechanism against Steve.
He laughed, quiet. “Good. I’m glad. And is there anything else you might need tonight?”
“Just someone to get me home safely. And maybe..” Leap of faith, leap of faith. “We flirt some more. At home. On my couch.”
-
You knew you were making a choice. God, when was the last time you had been the one to suggest going to a club on a Saturday night? You could practically hear Maria rolling her eyes on the other side of the phone, but you knew she’d be on board. Claire was immediately into the plan too, and it only took a few more minutes to get Wanda and Pietro in on the event.
And the fact that you suggested Shield, of all places, as your location of choice. Well, that was just a coincidence. If Steve happened to be there, then so be it. It had been months now since you’d broken up and a few weeks since the night at the restaurant, and you knew it was time to move the fuck on. You could go places that Steve might be at. You’d be fine.
It didn’t make you any less nervous, though. The idea of running into him wasn’t exactly something that thrilled you. What if you saw him with another girl? That would hurt. Or worse, what if he just… 
No, no. This wasn’t about Steve. This was about taking yourself back and leaving him behind. 
“Okay, the Uber will be here in four minutes!” Pietro loved being the motivator and sometimes it meant very bad decisions. In this particular instance, it meant one last shot of sour raspberry liqueur before you got to the club. 
You cheers’d your friends, taking one last glance in the mirror by your door and calling out your goodbye to Hercules as you all clambered to the front lobby. 
“You look amazing, did I tell you that?” Claire nudged you with her arm as you lingered outside. “You’ll drive him crazy.” You just laughed, letting the buzz of the alcohol overtake you like a warm blanket. She was right - you did look good. The dress you picked was definitely in your comfort zone but it showed off everything you wanted on display. And your hair had fallen exactly where you wanted it to.
You looked hot. 
Steve Rogers, eat your heart out.
When you got to the front of the line at the club, you immediately regretted the entire plan. And when you met the eyes of the bouncer at the door, Luke, who greeted you with a big smile, you wanted to run in the opposite direction.
“Nice to see you, sunshine,” Luke greeted as he handed you back your ID. “Have a fun night. Don’t get into trouble, alright?”
“That man is a brick house,” Claire laughed, looking over her shoulder back at him when you got inside. “I’d like to know everything about him.”
“Stop that,” you laughed as you looped your arm with hers, following behind Wanda, Pietro and Maria who were heading towards the bar. “He works for Steve.”
“Of course,” Claire nodded, as her grin grew even louder. “You’ve gotta get me in touch with that man later, please.”
“What about Matt?” You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing too as you pushed your way closer to your friends as they got to the bar.
“Off again, currently.” Claire sidled up beside Pietro and waved towards the nearest bartender. 
Luckily, you didn’t see Kate or Yelena behind the bar, so you’d be saved from those interactions. Instead, the bartender was someone you didn’t recognize and thankfully they didn’t even look twice at you as Pietro passed out the newly poured drinks. Once you were all sufficiently back into the tipsy but edging on drunk mood, the dance floor was your destination.
God, Pietro was fun. You didn’t have any regrets about how things had gone this summer, that almost whatever that didn’t happen after the restaurant quietly dissipated. Okay, you did make out hard that night - but then you pulled back and sent him on his way home. And the best part, it hadn’t been weird afterwards. You went back to normal, as friends, and you couldn’t have been more grateful for his distraction. Maybe in another life where he actually lived on the same continent as you - things could have been different. But if you thought too hard about it, you also knew you had just been using him to not think about Steve. And that wasn’t fair either. So instead, you decided that having platonic male friends was okay. And if Pietro wanted to dance with you, that’s all it had to mean. 
And Pietro loved to dance.
It wasn’t hard to lose track of time on the dance floor - occasionally a pair would head back to the bar and deliver shots or drinks, but you all mostly sang loud and danced hard. God, your friends were fun - it was mostly a comfortable environment in your own little bubble and the only hands that landed on you were usually from Claire or Pietro. 
You did check in with the real world - glancing around the room to be aware of your surroundings and on more than one occasion you glanced up towards the VIP areas upstairs. 
And although you were trying not to give a fuck about Steve, when you saw him up there standing near the railing, your heart jolted. The view was brief as he stepped away, probably heading to the upstairs bar. 
“Fuck that guy!” Pietro yelled out, pulling your attention back down. 
“She already did,” Claire announced with a big laugh, planting a kiss on your cheek. “You know the only good way to get over him is to get under someone else.”
You laughed along and threw your arms over your friends. Maybe that was true but finding someone to date seemed absolutely awful. Dancing was easier, you didn’t want to think about Steve or dating or anything. 
Suddenly, the back and forth about getting over Steve disappeared. Just a few feet from where you all were dancing, you had a feeling something bad was happening. Your mind was racing as you watched some brute of a man holding up a young girl, helping her walk out of the busy crowd. But it didn’t feel right - the way she tried pushing away from his chest, head lolling to the side. 
“Hey!” Reaching for Claire’s hand, you searched the nearby area to see if anyone else could see what was happening. 
Claire followed your eyes and frowned. “Shit.” She pulled ahead from you and sprung into action. 
“Pietro!” You turned your head and grabbed his shoulder. “Go find a bouncer, fast!” Though you could see he was confused, he nodded and rushed away. 
You caught up with Claire, who was trying to gently get the girl away from the larger man. “Hey, honey. Hi. Do you know this guy?” 
“We’re good here, leave us alone!” The man barked at Claire. “She’s fine. We’re heading out.”
You shuffled over, trying to put yourself between them as Claire tugged the girl away. You reached your hand out to stop the guy from coming closer again. “Leave her alone!”
“Where am I..” The girl mumbled as Claire helped her to stand, moving her hand up to try and steady the girl as Claire looked in her eye. 
“It’s okay, you’re okay. Do you know that guy?” Claire asked. The girl shook her head. 
A loud snort came from the man. “Jesus Christ, she just agreed to come home with me.”
As he tried to move towards her again, you pressed a hand against his chest to stop him. “Get away from her.”
“Stay out of it, you fat bitch!” He pushed you away, backwards into the crowd as he rushed towards Claire and the girl instead. 
Maybe it was the alcohol surging through your or just your general rage at the male population, but as you found your footing once more, you just went for it. Although the entire scene was turning into a spectacle, you hurried forward and yanked on the guy's shoulder to stop him. 
With a snap of his neck, he turned towards you and growled. “Jesus Christ, don’t you know when to quit?” He grabbed your shoulder then stomped down, smashing his boot onto your foot. “Dumb fucking bit—”
This time when he pushed you back, you landed against someone’s chest. No, someone was pulling you away. 
“Hey, hey - take it easy!” 
Steve. 
Ahead of you, more chaos was unfolding. Sam and Bucky were suddenly fighting the man through the crowd, fists flying as they shouted. Pietro had reappeared with Luke, immediately rushing both Claire and the girl through the bar to some back room. 
“Are you okay?” Steve’s voice came from behind you. His arm was wrapped around your shoulders and shit, were you shaking?
“Hands off,” you finally replied, pulling away from him. He immediately dropped his arms, holding his hands up in defense. You took a step forward then hissed in pain
“Fuck.” You glanced down at your foot, though you could barely see it in the dark lights of the club. It fucking hurt though. 
“Let me help you,” Steve shifted and offered a hand to you. “Please.”
You strained your neck to try and find Pietro or Maria or Wanda, but they seemed to have disappeared too. Begrudgingly, you accepted Steve’s arm under yours as you limped away from the dance floor. 
-
Even if Luke hadn’t messaged Steve to report that you were waiting in line outside, Steve would have spotted you in the crowd. 
Because it was you. 
Your entire being had left an imprint on him and he couldn’t stop himself from searching any crowded room for you, still. Months had gone by since he had hit self destruct but he couldn’t get you off his mind. 
Even though Meredith Russo had been hanging off him throughout the night, Steve’s radar remained on you. Especially whenever anyone got close to you, including that silver haired dude. The way he danced against you, how he made you laugh and blush - it drove Steve mad. He was certain it was the same guy who had his hands all over you outside the restaurant too. Fuck, he hadn’t like that that either.
He considered, briefly, just leaving the club and heading home for the rest of the night. But the moment he saw you, something told him to stay. He did, however, try not to spend his entire night watching you from afar. Especially when he noticed one of your friends looking up towards his section. 
Instead, he focused on only watching from the balcony every now and then. Everytime he refreshed his drink, or got up to greet a guest, he would throw a subtle look downwards to the dance floor. 
Yep, there you were. Still dancing, smiling, not a care in the world. 
Fuck. 
This was what he wanted. To let you go, to save you from his world. But god fucking damnit, the pain in his chest hadn’t subsided at all. 
“Steeeeeve. Wanna dance?” 
Meredith Russo was attractive - Steve wasn’t blind. That didn’t mean he cared even a fraction about her. Yet somehow, every single time he had been out lately - with or without Billy Russo - Meredith seemed to appear too. 
“No.” He clipped his words and turned away from her at the upstairs bar. 
“Okay, how about we just cut to the chase and you take me home then? I’m tired of this game,” Meredith returned to him, planting her feet and staring him down. “You can do whatever you want to me.”
“I don’t want to do anything to you, Meredith. Excuse me.” 
He could hear her starting to respond, though he escaped her soon enough. And then, Sam was calling for his attention from near the staircase. “Steve, come here!”
Steve followed Sam’s pointed hand and realized something was unfolding downstairs on the dance floor. He could see anger building in some oversized man and then there you were, in the middle of it. 
“Shit,” Steve hissed out, calling for Sam and Bucky to follow him as he rushed downstairs. Where the fuck were his security guards? Who was he paying to maintain the safety standards in his establishment if this was occurring in the middle of the room?
“Stay out of it, you fat bitch!”
Steve couldn't move fast enough. 
As they swam through the large groups of people, shouting for some sort of clearance, Steve was just praying that you’d be unscathed. 
 “Jesus Christ, don’t you know when to quit? Dumb fucking bit—” 
All Steve could see was red. The man grabbed you, pushed you, and then you were collapsing backward. 
Steve caught you just in time, gently wrapping his arm around your shoulder to pull you further away while Sam and Bucky moved ahead to deal with the brute. 
“Hey, hey - take it easy!”
You were shaking in his arms, high on adrenaline and liquor as the scene calmed down. 
“Are you okay?”
You stilled immediately, pulling away from him. “Hands off!”
Steve relented without hesitation, letting you go and watching as you stumbled forward. You winced in pain as you stepped down on your right foot. 
“Fuck.”
Steve sighed and offered his hand to you. “Let me help you. Please.” He worried you were about to fight him too but thankfully you accepted his arm around your shoulder as you hobbled off the dance floor. 
-
Steve didn’t think he’d ever be in this position again - driving you home after a night out. But circumstances were different and following everything that happened at the club, he had insisted. Though it was clear you had your guard way up. 
After dropping off Pietro, Wanda and Maria - Claire had gone to the hospital with the young girl, accompanied by Luke - the quiet hung between you and Steve in his car. 
He hadn’t experienced silence that heavy and loud before. 
You squeaked out a quiet ‘thanks’ as your building approached, but Steve doubled down. 
“Let me help you to your door, at least. You’re limping.”
Truthfully, Steve thought maybe you should go to the ER too. That asshole had really smashed into your foot and an x-ray would probably find a fracture. Christ, he was still fuming over that entire interaction - the image of that man pushing you, yelling in your face, grabbing you.. 
How come Steve hadn’t been able to protect you? How could he let you get hurt like that?
Right. Because it wasn’t his responsibility. 
Fuck. 
“Fine,” you begrudgingly agreed to his suggestion. The silence continued otherwise as Steve guided you to the elevator, then in the direction of your apartment. 
Once you fished out your keys from your small purse, you managed to get the door open. Hercules was eagerly awaiting on the other side. 
Steve saw your full body sigh. 
He swallowed hard, waiting outside the doorway still. “I can take him out, if you’d like.”
You avoided his eyes but nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”
Even just spending time outside with Hercules caused Steve’s heart to ache all over again. He thought he had suppressed it all - channeling all his complicated feelings until nights out and all his unrelenting rage into his fists. And yet, they bubbled up again without warning just at the sound of your voice. 
God fucking damnit. 
When he returned to your apartment, with a slow, sleepy pup at his side, he contemplated his next move. He knew he should probably just let Hercules back inside and go. But, he was a sucker for punishment. So, he cautiously opened the door and called your name.
Hercules, freed from his leash and collar, bounced towards your bedroom. Steve stepped to the side and peeked through the open door. You were laying flat on your bed, changed into pajamas. He sighed again, retrieving an ice pack from your freezer and moving towards your room.
“You should ice your foot,” he said slowly, offering you the compress. 
You stuck your hand out for him to hand it off, then rested it on your foot without a word. He retreated back towards the door and waited.
Finally, you spoke. “God, I wish I was still drunk.”
Steve let out a breath. “And why is that?”
“Because I have a thousand things to say to you but..”
Steve waited to see if you’d carry on your thought but instead you fell back deeper onto your pillows. He glanced up to the ceiling then took a step further into your room. 
“It’s after 2AM now.” He leaned against the doorframe. “Honesty Hour.”
You let out a dry laugh. “Sure. Go ahead, you start, I guess.”
“Uh, how come you aren’t spending the night with your boyfriend?”
This time your laugh was a lot deeper. “I don’t have a boyfriend, Steve.”
“That silver haired guy?”
“Wanda’s brother. Just a friend. Not that it matters.”
He knew he should keep his commentary to himself, but Steve couldn’t resist. “You let all your friends touch you and dance with you like that?”
You sat up. “That’s none of your business. And at least he danced with me. Unlike you.”
Steve drew in a sharp breath. “Okay, I deserve that.”
You sighed, shifting in your bed to meet Steve’s gaze. “Yeah. You do. The worst part about this entire thing is I feel like I gave you a lot, you know? I was honest and still tried to make it work but you just.. you were mean, Steve.”
He took a step towards your bed. God, he wanted to crawl in beside you. No, those days were long gone. “Sweetheart, I..”
“You were mean. I thought you were different but fuck. It’s funny - Bucky and Sam told me how much of an idiot you are! Like they felt bad, apologetic even. Isn’t that fucked up? But youuuu. You just blocked my number and moved on and you didn’t even say sorry. I fell in love with you! And you didn’t even… God, did you care about me at all? Was this just a big joke to you?”
“Of course I care about you. It’s just.. it’s complicated. My life is complicated, okay? I can’t.. we can’t..” He stepped back again, dragging a hand down his face. “I am sorry.”
“Yeah. Whatever.” With another frustrated groan, you laid back again and turned away from him. “I guess this is the end. So, have a nice life, Steve.”
He wanted to drop to his knees and apologize again, to get at least one last look at you but Steve knew it was too late. 
-
When you woke up the next morning, the entire evening felt like a dream. But as you stepped off the bed and your foot radiated in pain; it all came flooding back.
Shield, drinking, dancing, Steve, the helpless young girl, Steve, that piece of shit stomping on your foot, Steve driving you home, Steve letting out Hercules, arguing with Steve... Steve… Steve Steve Steve
Of course, I care about you. It’s just.. it’s complicated.
Have a nice life, Steve.
You groaned, very slowly throwing on enough clothes to venture outside with Hercules. The more pressure and time you spent standing on your foot, the worse it felt. When you checked in on the group chat and let them know you were alive, Claire insisted you visit her at work to get your foot checked out.
Given how desperately you needed to unload about what happened with Steve, you put yourself together and headed to the hospital.
“Okay, here’s the update. The tech owed me a favour so this one was on the house.” Claire had been a saint and since you were somehow visiting her on a slow morning after her own late night, she had managed to get you through all the paperwork quickly. “The x-ray just showed a teeny tiny fracture. So a tensor and taking it easy should suffice but let’s get the official prognosis.” She stuck her head into the nearby hallway and called for a doctor, by first name. 
God, you appreciated her.
Claire’s doctor colleague confirmed what she had said and advised on rest, ice and Tylenol. If it got any worse, you could return for a cast.
“Maybe just a short walk for Herc tonight,” Claire said with finality, flipping the chart closed and dropping into the chair beside the bed. “Now, I have a ten minute break and need to know what the hell happened with Steve last night. He drove you home?”
Although you couldn’t bring yourself to tell Claire every single detail, it felt good to say it all out loud. Maybe you could sense a fraction of remorse in Steve, but it still left you with such an upsetting feeling. Why was he so curious about who you were dating or not dating? It didn’t matter to him anymore. 
It was bittersweet to think that your actions with Pietro had impacted Steve so much. Not that you needed him to be jealous but it reminded you he was human still. 
Of course I care about you. 
As you made your way back down to the exit, passing through the emergency room and through the main reception of the hospital, someone called your name. The voice was strangely familiar and when you clued in to who it was, your heart sank.
“Sarah! Hi.” You paused at the set of chairs near the door, giving a small awkward wave to Sarah Rogers as she stood to say greet you. “It’s nice to see you.”
“You too, sweetie.” She pulled you into a hug and you wanted to melt into the floor. God, how could a woman so sweet raise a son like Steve? Well, no. Maybe that wasn’t a fair question. Before that awful phone call, Steve had proved himself to have traits just like his mother - headstrong, considerate, protective. Damnit. Why did things have to turn out the way they did?
You gave her a soft smile, doing your best to dismiss your plethora of confused thoughts. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I volunteer in the palliative ward on the weekends. Usually just a couple hours in the morning.” Sarah motioned to the chairs and invited you to sit. “Do you have a second to talk?”
-
You were running late leaving work - again. God, your boss had been relentless with our workload lately. Gone were the exciting after work adventures from summer. As the fall creeped in and your list of projects grew, you had a feeling more late nights at your desk were in the future. Really, after that night at Shield a few weeks ago, you had pulled yourself back immediately. It had been a while now since you’d done anything beyond a Saturday at the market - which was probably good for your foot, at least.
And now, to make matters worse following your frustrating day at work, there was a thunderstorm in the forecast again. And considering Pietro had just left to go home earlier in the week, you weren’t sure who would be coming to your rescue this time.
You made it to the doggy daycare just minutes before they were closing, apologizing profusely to the girl at the counter as you collected Hercules. When you made it outside and started your walk, you planned out exactly how the rest of your night was going to go: shower, fresh pajamas, ordering in from your favourite Indian place - if they were still open, you needed to check your phone for their hours and–
“Ooof.”
Somehow, only a block before your building, you walked straight into a brick wall of a person. As you mumbled out an apology, you realized it wasn’t just any person, given the hanging tag around his neck. Although he wasn’t in a full patrol uniform, you could see it was someone from the NYPD.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, officer. I wasn’t watching where–”
When he cut you off, reassuring you by saying your name out loud, you narrowed your eyebrows. Wait. What? Why did this officer know who you were? Had he been waiting for you on your route home?
“How do you know my name?” You squeaked out, gripping Hercule’s leash in one hand and your phone in the other. You darted your gaze down to your phone, trying to unlock it.
The man reached out and hit the backside of your hand, sending your phone up and out of your hand. Then, he caught it with a grin. “We need to talk about Steve Rogers.”
--
CHAPTER 05 - CHAPTER 08
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heckcareoxytwit · 5 months
Text
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The flashback shows angry mob storming over to the castle. Destiny sends Mystique to flee into the forest with the baby. Mystique leaves baby Kurt at the tree and rushes back to the castle as she worries over Destiny's safety. However, by the time she got there, Destiny is gone in the bedroom along with baby Kurt in the forest. (Though little did Mystique know that baby Kurt may have been taken away by Margali Szardos the sorceress who acted as a psychic of the carnival.) The disappearance of baby Kurt left Mystique screaming in agony. Back to the present, Kurt Wagner tries to comfort Mystique but she dismisses him as she had not finished her story yet. Mystique recounts that since the disappearance of the baby, she blamed Destiny for the misfortune. Destiny persuades her that even though their baby is lost, they could try to adopt another child to make up for their loss. Thus, Mystique and Destiny had adopted little Anna Marie (a.k.a Rogue). Destiny also told Mystique about her vision that Azazel might become a powerful enemy but only their son might be destined to defeat him. Mystique doesn't believe her wife and tries to strangle her for bringing up the topic of their missing son.
Then, Mystique and Destiny consulted with Professor Charles Xavier about their problems. In order to prevent Mystique from hurting/killing her wife, Charles Xavier alters the minds of Mystique and Destiny with their permission so that Mystique could forget about the missing child. Back to the present, Mystique is horrified when she realizes her mind compensated for the holes in her memories after Xavier altered them by leaving her to believe she abandoned Kurt as a baby to save her own skin, which led to her spending years resenting him when the truth is she loved him dearly and didn't want to give him up. Upon learning the truth, Kurt Wagner realizes that his mother still loved him despite all the misgivings so he comforts her with a hug.
X-Men Blue: Origins #1, 2023
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gabessquishytum · 2 months
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Willy Wonka but Dreamling.
Dream Endless has become a complete recluse in the years following people attempting to steal his candy recipes.
When Dream sends out the silver tickets (because gold isn't really his color) Robyn gets the final ticket.
Hob, Robyn's SINGLE father, accompanies Robyn to the factory. He's very surprised that the recluse candy maker is so HOT.
Meanwhile, Dream is delighted by Robyn, especially compared to the other kids, and his father certainly isn't bad either. They are very much alike, even, for though Hob may be grown, he is still very much a child at heart.
Maybe instead of giving away his factory... he can simply invite them to live with him? Surely, they'll both provide wonderful ideas.
Besides, Dream definitely wants to break some health and safety codes with Hob, everywhere 😉👀
- 🐺
So we did have a Wonka/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory au a little while back BUT since the Glasgow Wonka Experience went viral, I think we just have to do something with that 🤣
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Here's Dream, who was hired to play Wonka at this fun immersive experience for kids! Unfortunately, its not going very well. The experience definitely isn't what was advertised, kids are crying, parents are fuming! Poor Dream, it's not his fault - he was just hired to be the entertainment.
Fortunately he finds an ally in single father Hob Gadling, who is extremely amused by the shenanigans. His kid, Robyn, is on the borderlines of being too old for this experience anyway, and he finds it pretty funny too. Hob joins in with Dream’s attempts at storytelling and Robyn laughs at his (awful) jokes, so that the mob of other angry parents calm down a tiny bit and don't come for Dream with their pitchforks. It's still a disaster, though. Dream is pretty sure that he'll never get another job after this - he'll be forever known as the Terrible Wonka Guy.
Hob gives him a friendly pat on the back and hands him a business card. He runs a small family pub and he's been looking for new entertainment for birthday parties and that kind of thing. He'll be happy to give Dream the gig if he wants it. Dream is so grateful, he kisses Hob on the cheek - and of course someone gets a picture. Gay Wonka Experience goes horribly viral, but Dream doesn't care. He's got a potential job, AND a date!
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crazyunsexycool · 9 months
Text
Heart’s Munition
Chapter 4
Pairing: Mob boss!Steve Rogers x Maid single mom!reader
Word count: 6.9k
Warnings: mentions of blood, hospital visits, mentions of a seizure, Elijah being a lil shit (in a cute way of course),
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Series Masterlist
“Where is she?” Steve demanded an answer through gritted teeth.
“She’s resting in her room.”
“Why didn’t anyone call me sooner?”
Steve took the stairs two at a time. He was furious and someone would be paying for this soon enough.
“You had that meeting with Hansen. If I remember correctly you said to not disturb you because you wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. Also the doctor was with her anyway.” Bucky said as he followed Steve up the stairs.
Steve didn’t knock, he just slammed the door open. Peter sat at the foot of the bed and jumped at the sound.
“What the fuck?” You said as you walked out of the bathroom. “Can you be more careful?”
“Who did this?” Steve ignored your question and looked from Peter to Nat, who was reluctantly laying in bed.
She had been cornered while she was alone. Now Nat was a good fighter, even one of Steve’s best. She also had gained his trust a long time ago, along with Bucky and Sam. So whoever did this knew her abilities to defend herself and still managed to get the upper hand. That wasn’t good, it meant his people were being watched.
“You know who it was. They were sending a message. If they can get to us, they can get to you.” Nat said between pained breaths. She looked bad. Black and blue bruises all over her face and chest. She had a cut lip and a few scratches as well as one eye shut due to the swelling.
“We’re going to send a message back. Do you know who actually did it?”
“It was Quentin Beck.” That was all Steve needed to hear before he was out the door. Bucky again followed closely behind.
“Do you need anything else Nat?”
“I’d like to sit up a bit more.”
“Sure thing. Peter, come help me.” You moved around the bed and helped her sit up while Peter added some pillows behind her.
“Thanks. Peter, could you get me my gym bag, it’s in the trunk of my car.”
“Sure thing.”
Peter hurried out of the room and Nat looked over at the nightstand and then around the room.
“Have you seen my phone?”
“You didn’t have a phone on you when you were brought in.”
“Fuck. Ok, you need to tell Steve they probably have my phone. Go.”
You say a quick ok as you hurry down the stairs and into the hallway that leads to Steve’s office. He’s yelling orders, you can hear his voice by the stairs. It takes you knocking a few times before Sam opens the door. The tension in the room is palpable.
“What?” Steve snaps.
“Nat wanted me to tell you that she thinks they have her phone.”
“Fuck. We have to go now. Someone call Jensen and Stark, let them know they need to burn the phone.”
Everyone starts walking out and you ask them to be safe. You close the door before Steve can walk out and the glare he sends your way would make anyone flinch but you don’t.
“Get out of my way.”
“Listen I know you’re angry but you need to calm down.”
“Calm down? Are you serious? One of the people I swore to protect almost died and you’re asking me to calm down?”
“Yes.” You say in a soft and almost sweet voice. “If you go out there blinded by rage how many more people will end up hurt? They’re already pissed enough as it is, you can’t afford to lose anyone else.”
You see his demeanor change slightly. He’s still angry but he’s reigning it in.
“Also if anyone else ends up hurt I’m going to be pissed as fuck.”
The corner of his mouth lifts a little. The smile is barely there but you’ll take it.
“Even if it's me?” He asks.
“Meh- depends on how injured you are.”
He smiles this time but it’s gone just as quickly.
“Be safe out there and make sure you kick some ass.”
“You’ll take care of her for me?”
“You know it.”
Steve nods in your direction before walking out and you sigh. It was barely morning and the chaos of it all was already giving you a headache. But you marched up the stairs again and checked up on Nat one more time before starting on your regular duties.
When your work day ended you waited about half an hour and no sign of Steve or his men. Dom and Coulson both nagged until you left.
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You had been asleep for maybe half an hour when your phone rang. With Eli getting worse you were sleeping less. So you were in a bad mood as you answered the phone.
“What?” You didn’t even know who you snapped at.
“I’m sorry for calling at this time but we need you at the house.”
“Coulson? What happened?”
“I’ll tell you when you get here. You’ll be getting paid four times your regular pay.”
“Uh- I need… I need a few minutes.”
“That’s fine. Dom will pick you up.” He didn’t wait for you to reply.
“Fuck.” You mutter as you dial Mrs. Fields number and ask her to stay with Elijah.
****
“What the fuck happened?” Your eyes grew wide as you took in the living space. There was blood everywhere. The floor, the walls and the furniture. It’s like the fight had happened right there.
“They just got back not too long ago. No one is seriously injured but we need to get rid of the blood. Boss only trusts you and that you won’t say anything.”
“Of course not. Before I start with the cleaning, does anyone need anything?”
“Probably some steady hands. The adrenaline is wearing off by now. They’re taking care of their wounds.” Coulson informs you as he nods towards Steve’s office.
****
“It’s gonna hurt baby but I’ll be quick.”
“I’ve heard that before.” You hear Bucky say with a chuckle.
“You guys are together?” You ask from the door.
Both Sam and Bucky turn to the door, the latter turning red immediately. Sam just gives you a small smile.
“You didn’t know?” Sam asks.
“Didn’t have a clue, you guys are cute together.”
“You hear that babe, we’re cute together.”
“I knew that already Samuel.” Bucky rolls his eyes.
“Anyways, what are you doing here?”
“Doing what I always do, cleaning up your messes. But I wanted to check in to see if anyone needed anything.”
“We’re good here but maybe check in on Steve. He’s up in his room. The other guys are in the kitchen.” Sam says and you just nod and leave them be. You can hear them saying sweet nothings to each other and can’t help but smile.
As you walk back out toward the living room you see Clint and Scott on one of the couches. They were beaten and bloodied too and they were getting the couch dirty. You sent a worried glance in their direction but they just waved you off as they rummaged through the first aid kit. On the stairs there were drops of blood everywhere and they led all the way to the third floor, Steve’s floor. It made you wonder how bad it had been and if this was a win or a loss for him.
You knocked at the door, where you could see a smudge of blood on the doorknob. There was no answer so you knocked again and still nothing. Worry settled into the pit of your stomach at the thought that he may be passed out on the floor. You open the door and call out his name but nothing. His clothes are on the floor by the bathroom and you hurry over and knock but don’t really wait for a response.
“Steve, are you o-oh my god! I’m so sorry.” You turn around and cover your eyes when you realize his state of undress.
“Y/N, It’s ok I have sweats on.”
“Still I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to barge in on you like this. It’s just you didn’t respond and I saw the blood so I thought you needed help.” You rushed out.
“It’s really ok, you can turn around now.”
You drop your hand and turn around, he does in fact have sweats on. How had you not noticed? More importantly, how had you not noticed the injuries he had? The longer you stare the more you realize he has tattoos all over.
“What the hell happened?” You rushed over, completely forgetting the embarrassing moment just seconds ago.
“A fight.”
“Yeah but everyone looks like shit. Did you lose?”
“Not really.”
“Well if this is you winning I don’t want to see you losing.” You say as you look up at him. “Let me get the first aid kit.” You turn and head to where Steve keeps the first aid kit. “Sit.” You motion for him to sit on the countertop.
“Why here?”
“Because my back hurts and this will be easier to reach the cuts.”
He just nods and sits where you told him to. Steve’s breathing is even until you touch him around his ribs. You think it’s because there’s pain but he knows better. The light touch of your fingers on his skin sends shivers down his spine and although he’s imagined your hands on him it was never like this.
“Steve?”
“Sorry what?” He looks down at you.
“I think you might have a concussion or some type of head injury.”
“No, I was just thinking about what needs to happen next. I’m fine.” He says but really he was thinking about how your touch would feel everywhere else on his body.
“Ok well this is going to hurt.”
You work silently the next few minutes, cleaning and bandaging him up. During the whole process you feel his eyes on you. Every move you make he watches silently.
“Ok, all done.” You put away all of the supplies and make a mental note to have Coulson refill it. “I should go and get started.”
“Thank you, for everything.”
“Of course. Call me if you need anything and please rest.”
“Doctor’s orders?” He teases and you level him with your best mom glare. “Fine. I’ll rest. Maybe I should have put you out there to interrogate people.”
“The house would be less bloodied.” You murmur before pointing at the bed. “In bed, now.”
“Ok mom.”
You laughed because he sounded so childish but you noticed the way his eyes softened as you did. Like you instructed Steve laid in bed but grabbed his phone and made some calls. There was more to be done and Quentin Beck still needed to answer for what he did.
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You made it home right around noon and were beyond exhausted. You dismissed Mrs. Fields and took a quick shower, thankful that Elijah was taking a nap. Instead of going to your couch you scooped him up and cuddled with him as you took a nap of your own.
The afternoon was spent in a daze. Some sleep, some tv and some food while you stayed close to Elijah. At around nine at night you get a text from Coulson telling you to sleep tight. It was code for don't leave your apartment, which meant that whatever was going on with Steve and his enemies was close to where you were.
For most of the night it was fine. You were watching a movie with Elijah but when you turned to tell him something he was slumped to the side. His breathing was shallow and he was non responsive. You panicked and dressed in your pajamas you grabbed him and your purse in order to get to the hospital.
*****
Steve and the rest of his men had taken up residence in the waiting room of the hospital. Everything had gone sideways in a heartbeat and now they were waiting for news for one of their own. He was already anxious enough but the next few minutes would leave him utterly confused.
“Help! Someone please… he’s not breathing.” Steve heard your voice, frantic and desperate as you walked in through the emergency room doors.
Bucky and Sam immediately got up and stood next to him to see what was going on. The last thing they expected was that you were carrying a child.
“Please, help him! He’s not fucking breathing.”
Your second cry for help snapped Steve into action.
“You,” he pointed at a nurse that was taking his sweet time on the phone. “Get your ass up and help her.” He got in the nurse’s face, his voice low and menacing. “If something happens to him I will end you.”
The nurse looked like he was going to shit himself. He rushed over to you as he called out for a stretcher. He asked you a few things before rushing him in to get Elijah breathing again. Steve had to hold you back from running after them.
“It’s ok, He’s getting help. You need to calm down, sweetheart.” He whispered but you still tried to free yourself from him embrace.
“Please he has to be ok.”
“Hey,” Bucky cups your face and wipes away the tears. “He’s going to be just fine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“They’re going to do everything they can, Doll. But we need you to breathe. You have to be ok when he wakes up.”
Bucky grabs your hand and places it on his chest and he takes a quick look at Steve who is still holding you. Both of them match their breathing as Steve softly asks you to do the same and eventually you calm down.
“Sweetheart,” Steve turns you around so that he can look at you. Your eyes are red and your cheeks are tear strained. It breaks his heart to see you like this. “Who is that? Is he your little brother or something.”
By now he had pulled you into the waiting room the rest of his men were at. They all knew you so they were concerned at seeing you so distraught.
“He’s my son.” You say in a low sad voice.
Steve was left speechless and so was everyone else. Never in his life did he imagine you to be a mother but a lot of things clicked into place. He silently told two of his men to move to allow you a seat and of course one next to you for himself. Steve never lets you go though, he keeps you tucked into his side but you’re too upset to notice the closeness.
“You have a son? Since when?” Sam asks.
“Since eight years ago.”
“This isn’t one of those situations where your parents died and you had to take care of your little brother so now you’re technically his mom but not really?” Scott asked really fast. Steve shot him a glare over your head.
“He’s my son, my baby ok. I carried him for nine months in my belly. I have the pictures to prove it or I can show you the video of me pushing him out of my vagina if you want. ” You snapped.
“Sorry, it’s just, you’re so young.”
You rolled your eyes.
“It’s called a teen pregnancy, look it up.” Then you look at him and frown. “I’m sorry Scott I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“Ok that’s enough, everyone out. Except for Bucky and Sam.” Steve ordered, reluctantly the men left.
“Thanks.”
“No problem, sweetheart.”
He’s called you sweetheart three times in the last few minutes but you don’t say anything. Right now you relish having someone at your side. Sitting alone in the waiting room was always the second hardest thing for you to do.
“Do you need us to call someone?” Steve asks and pulls out his phone.
“No.”
“No? Your parents or your son’s father?”
You give him a humorless laugh.
“The latter broke up with me the minute I told him I was pregnant and the former kicked me out when they found out. So no, there’s no one to call.” You sighed, “Wait, maybe Peter? He knows about Eli. So does Coulson and Dom by the way.”
“I’ll call Dom, I’m sure he won’t mind coming in.”
“Wait, where is Peter? I haven’t heard from him all day.” You look from Bucky and Sam to Steve. None of them would look you in the eyes and you sat up straighter. “Why are you even at the hospital?”
“Sweet-“
“Don’t sweetheart me. Why are you here?” You ask again, cutting Steve off.
“He was shot. He’s currently in surgery, that's why we’re here.”
“Bucky what the fuck.”
“Thanks Bucky, at least you had the decency to tell me.” You glare up at Steve.
“I didn’t want to stress you out more than you already were.”
“Family of Elijah Y/L/N?” A nurse calls out from the doorway. Immediately all four of you get up.
“Is he ok?”
“Yes, we got him stabilized and we’ll be moving him to a room. Why don’t you follow me and I’ll take you to him. Only two people at a time though.”
“It’s just me.” You give the nurse a sad smile. You’ve only taken one step when someone grabs your hand.
“And me. Call me when you hear about Peter.”
Steve squeezes your hand to reassure you that he’s there for you. Both of you silently follow the nurse as she brings you to the small room Elijah is in until he’s moved upstairs. The moment you’re behind the closed curtain you rush over to his side. You take his hand and lean down to press a few kisses on his forehead before whispering that you’re there with him. Steve just stands back and watches the scene unfold. His heart aches for you and he wants nothing more than to give you some sort of comfort.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what does he have?” Steve asks after a few minutes of silence.
“The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with him or how to help. He’s been sick for about a year. We’ve tried different medicines but nothing seems to really work. He has his good days but recently it’s been all bad days. ”
You struggle to hold back a sob. Elijah’s health has been declining so quickly that you fear it’s only a matter of weeks or even days before you lose him. Steve gets closer to you and pulls you into a hug. You cling to him like your life depended on it. Even with Mrs. Fields there to help you, you’ve always felt truly alone in life. Somehow it felt different with Steve there.
Steve excuses himself for a moment and disappears outside of the curtain. Just as quickly as he left he comes back and wraps you in another hug.
The sound of the curtain being pulled back has you moving away from him. A young man walks in with a tired smile on his face and lets you know he’ll be moving Elijah. He moves around the space efficiently and soon enough he starts pushing the hospital bed down the hallway. Steve places a hand on your lower back and guides you. He doesn’t stop you from leaning into him while the elevator goes up. Your eyes are half closed when Eli is finally set up in a private room. That wakes you up and you’re quick to protest that you can’t afford a private room.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it.” Steve tells you.
“What? No way. He’ll be fine in a shared room. There’s no way my insurance will cover this.”
Steve cups your face so that you have to look at him. His expression is stern as he looks at you.
“I don’t like repeating myself, sweetheart. But I will right now. Don’t worry about it, you focus on Elijah. That’s all you have to do, try to rest so that when he wakes up you can be there for him.”
“Fine,” you murmur before looking at the clock on the wall. “I can squeeze in two hours of sleep before I have to be in.”
“Be in where?”
“For work?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Steve mutters, looking st you completely dumbfounded. He has never met anyone that has made him go through so many emotions in such a small time frame.
“No, I have to work. I need the money.”
“Fuck the money, Y/N. As of this moment you are on paid leave and you don’t come back until he’s out of this hospital.”
You shake your head. “I can’t accept that.”
“Well you don’t have a choice.”
You both start whisper yelling at each other now. Steve grabs you by your arm and pulls you outside of the room.
“I do and I’m going into work.”
“And who is going to be here when he wakes up?”
“My neighbor, she’s his sitter when I’m at work.”
Steve rubs a hand over his face. The situation hits way too close to home. The only difference is that now he has the power to do something and he won’t take no for an answer, even if he knows you’re stubborn as hell.
“If you had to choose between you being here or the sitter being here if money wasn’t an issue, which one would it be?”
“Me obviously.”
“And I’m giving you that opportunity. Please, don’t think about work or about your paycheck. I will pay you, I promise. Just be here for him. I promise you there won’t be anything that will make your kid happier than you being the first person he sees.”
Your eyes well up with tears again as you look from Steve to Elijah’s frail form on the bed.
“Ok, but only for a few days and then I’m back at work. I don’t like just taking money, I have to earn it.”
“For fucks sake woman. How about you take a week and then we’ll talk about it.”
“One.”
“This isn’t a negotiation.”
“One day and I’m back at work.”
“Five.”
“Two.”
“Three,” he gives an exasperated sigh before shaking his head. “Three days and we will talk before you even think about working again.”
“Fine. Also you have to let me know how Pete is doing.”
“Deal. So is this what Peter found out when I had him follow you.”
You nod as you walk into the room. At the other end there was a window seat that doubled as a bed. There was a pillow and a blanket already folded and ready for use.
“I begged him not to tell you.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want anyone to threaten Eli so that they could use me against you. I don’t want to put him at risk, I take a long way home just to make sure I’m not being followed.”
Steve’s hands were on his hips as he listened to you. That wasn’t something you should have to worry about when all you were doing was working to try and give your son a chance to live.
“Why not work somewhere else?”
“Because people don’t like to hire single mothers. Before I started working for you I had to work two to three jobs and I barely ever saw him. When I found the job posting as a maid I just went for it. It was enough that I could quit the other jobs and even get an apartment. But then he started getting sick and well here I am.”
He just nodded. It felt like he was watching memories from his childhood replaying right in front of him.
“I don’t need you to feel sorry for me or anything. I’ve managed just fine.”
“I don’t feel sorry for you. I admire you even more now.” Steve says. “Get some rest, I’m gonna head back to wait for news on Peter and Dom will be here in the morning. Anything you need he’ll get it for you.”
“Thank you.”
Steve just offers a small smile and walks out.
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By day break Steve was already back on his way to the room Elijah had been set up in. He had some coffee and breakfast for you, as well as good news about Peter. Thinking you’d be awake he was already calling your name as he walked in.
“Y/N, the surgery was a success.” He stopped in the middle of the room when he realized you were asleep beside Eli’s bed. He frowned when he saw you hunched over sitting on a chair while holding your son’s hand.
Steve was surprised to find your son looking back at him. He placed the coffee and breakfast down on a table and moved the other side of the bed.
“Hi Elijah, how are you feeling kid?”
“Are you my doctor? You don’t look like one.” Eli asked in a hushed voice as he sized up Steve. He looked frail but tough.
“No, I’m your mom’s friend.”
“Wrong.” Elijah furrowed his brows. “My mom doesn’t have friends. And she doesn’t have a boyfriend either, so you’re not that.”
Steve chuckled but then cleared his throat when he saw Elijah was glowering at him.
“Well I’m sure she does have friends. But anyways, you can call me Steve and I'm your mom’s boss.”
“Oh, and you brought her breakfast?”
“Yeah. Is that bad?”
Eli shook his head. “No, but I’ve heard mom tell Mrs. Fields you’re an ass. So that was nice of you.”
Steve couldn’t help but laugh at that. Elijah was a little copy of you, especially that mouth of his.
“So how are you feeling bub?” Steve sat down as he waited for an answer.
Elijah looked from Steve to you and back. A certain kind of sorrow that no eight year old should ever experience crossed his eyes.
“My tummy hurts and so does my head. But really I’m worried about ma.”
Steve’s eyes softened as they looked your way.
“She’s barely been sleeping. I know she checks in on me while I sleep. And I know that she was probably really scared last night.” His lower lips trembled. “And I’m scared too.”
Steve’s heart ached for this kid. He knew exactly how he felt, having to spend so many nights in the emergency room with his own mother.
“Scared of what?”
“That I won’t get better and then ma is gonna be all alone.”
If mob bosses cried this is where it would happen. Steve had to look away for a moment and compose himself.
“Well, I’m not going to let that happen. I’m gonna make sure you see the best doctors available. But I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“That you’re not gonna give up. Even when you’re in pain or extra sick, you’re gonna keep fighting.”
“I promise.”
“Good.” Steve smiles. “Now, how about you wake her up and I’ll have the food reheated.”
“Ok.”
Steve stood up and grabbed everything. Just as he headed toward the door he could hear Elijah calling you softly. With a look over his shoulder he could see him gently caressing your face.
****
You stirred from your very uncomfortable sleeping position and were greeted with a very happy Elijah.
“Eli.” You smiled as you sat up and stretched. Immediately you felt the ache in your body from having fallen asleep the way you did. It didn’t matter though, your sweet boy was awake and that’s all you could ask for. “How long have you been awake?”
“A while.”
“Then let me get a nurse.”
“One already came by. I asked her not to wake you up. She didn’t say much, just that everything looked fine.”
“Ok, well I’ll ask when someone comes back. Did they say you can have breakfast?”
“Yeah, it will get delivered at the regular time.” Eli nods.
“Ok good.”
You smile again at him and stand to kiss his forehead. As you pull back you hear footsteps and assume it’s a nurse.
“Good you’re up.” Steve says as he stroll in. “Got you breakfast.”
You just looked at him for a moment. Surprised by the kind gesture you give him a quick thank you before taking what was in his hand.
“Elijah, this is my boss.”
“Steve, I know.”
“It’s Mr. Rogers to you.” You corrected.
“I told him he could call me Steve.”
“When did this conversation happen?”
“While you were drooling on your arm.” Steve teases. You send a playful glare, the exchange making Elijah giggle.
“How is he?”
“The surgery was a success.”
“Oh good.” You breathe a sigh of relief.
“What surgery?”
You looked over at Elijah wondering if you should tell him or not. “Peter got hurt. He had to have surgery but he’s ok now.”
“Oh, can we visit him?”
“I’ll see what we can do.”
There was a little knock on the doorframe and you all turned to see Bucky and Sam. They both had their arms full of bags and smiles on their faces.
“Good morning.” Bucky said as he walked in and proceeded to dump all of his bags on the window seat. “Hey kid.”
Elijah just looked at you waiting for an explanation.
“Eli, this is Bucky. My friend.”
“But-“
“If you finish that sentence you’re gonna be grounded until you’re 30.”
“You never told me you had friends. Why haven’t I met him before?”
“Because we’re new friends, kid. I also work with Steve and we’re best friends.”
“And him?” Eli motions to Sam who was also placing bags on the seat.
“I’m Sam. I’m also friends with your mom and with Steve.”
“What about Bucky?”
Sam and Bucky look at you to see if you were ok with Elijah knowing.
“Sam and Bucky are partners, baby.”
“Like cops or like boyfriends?” Eli asks.
“Like boyfriends.”
“Ma?”
The tone of his voice let you know he was about to destroy you with whatever he was going to say next. You frowned by m but answered anyway.
“Yeah?”
“If guys can have boyfriends now, you’re never gonna get one.”
Sam, Steve and Bucky started laughing and Elijah seemed very happy about it. Even if it was at your expense.
“Do you want your mom to have a boyfriend?” Bucky asks as he looks at Steve with a smirk.
“Maybe, but he’d have to go through me first. And I’m not gonna make it easy for him.”
“And now you have us and we’ll help you.” Sam adds.
“Ok, I think that’s enough about me. What did you guys bring?”
“Gifts.” Bucky announces with a smile. He moves over to the pile of bags and starts to walk some over to the bed. “These are ‘get well soon’ gifts. From your new uncles, kid.”
Elijah’s eyes were wide as he looked through the bags to find legos, remote controlled cars, a drone, another video game console, more video games and gift cards. He was so excited the nurse had to come in and check on him because his heart monitor was showing an increase in his heart beat.
“Can I keep it?” The question had been directed at you.
All eyes were on you. It wasn’t that you necessarily wanted to take these things away, you just wanted Eli to learn that not everyone would be as giving. To not expect everyone to just give him stuff, that sometimes he would have to work for what he wanted. Before you could say anything Steve caught your eye. He nodded with a small smile, silently telling you to let Eli keep everything.
“Of course you can, baby. You heard uncle Bucky. They’re ‘get well soon’ gifts. Now what do we say?”
“Thank you.” Eli beams.
“You’re welcome.”
Bucky and Sam move to sit beside him and the three of them start playing with some of the toys that are already on the bed.
“We’ve lost them.” Steve says jokingly as you walk to stand beside him.
“They’re gonna teach Eli everything I don’t want him to know aren’t they?”
“Yup.”
“I'm going to completely blame this on you.” You quip.
“I’ll take full responsibility. But while we’re here, I had them bring you some things too, so that you can freshen up if you want.”
Steve had started motioning for the other bags on the seat across the room when the monitors attached to Elijah started beeping erratically. He slumped backwards and he was unconscious on the bed.
“Get the toys off the bed.” You tell Sam and Bucky. The four of you move quickly and remove the last toy just as the nurses and a doctor walk in.
“Get them out of here.” A doctor instructs, referring to you and the guys.
Steve puts his arm around your waist and pulls you out of the room while you fight to stay beside Elijah.
“They need their space to work.” He mutters in your ear.
You stop trying to get out of his hold, it’s the only thing that’s keeping you up at the moment. Steve turns you away from the hospital room and into himself. Your silent tears make their way onto his dress shirt but neither you nor him seem to care.
“Ms. Y/L/N.” A doctor calls out as someone wheels out Elijah. “We are taking him to have some scans done but at the moment we think he may have suffered a seizure.”
“A seizure? But why is it happening?”
“It's only a possibility that it’s a seizure. We’ll do our best to find out what’s going on. We’ll bring Elijah back in about an hour or so.” He says before he walks away.
You just stood there, trying to process what you’ve just been told. This was just another symptom in a long list of things that had been happening to your son.
The men looked at each other unsure of what they should do. It was heartbreaking on so many levels. First, seeing a child so sick and with no answers was enough to soften the heart of most. Second, you yourself were fairly young and having to go through something like this wasn’t easy. Add to it that you were working for a very dangerous man and it added to your stress. Third, you were all alone from what they had learned. Well not anymore, I’m that moment Steve had decided that he was going to be there for you no matter what. He didn’t know that Sam and Bucky had spoken about the matter as well and they were willing to provide you support in whatever capacity you needed it. Whether it be emotional, physical or financial. Right now it was emotional and Bucky was the first to move and bring you into a hug and let you cry into his chest.
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3 days.
That’s how long you had been in the hospital. 3 days and still no closer to any answers. Elijah was stable enough to be discharged and around noon Sam was waiting in front of the hospital in an SUV to take you home. He had already packed up everything for you the night before and taken it down to the house, all you had to do was walk down with Elijah and the nurse that was pushing the wheelchair he was in.
“There he is.” Sam smiled as you walked out the main glass doors. “Ready to leave this place little man?”
“Yeah, I just want to go home.”
Sam looks at you confused. The plan was to stop at your place to grab some things and then stay at Steve’s place for a while.
“Baby, we’re only only going to stop by the apartment so that I can get a few things. We’re staying at Steve’s place for a few days so that I can work.” You remind him.
“Oh ok.”
Sam gives you a sympathetic smile and helps get Elijah in the car before opening the door for you to get in. The drive is quick and before you know it you’re in your apartment grabbing a duffel bag and placing some clothes in there for yourself and Eli.
“Y/N?” You hear from the front door.
“In Eli’s room.”
“There you are child. Who is that man that has Elijah? He didn’t let me get close enough to say hello.”
“That’s Sam, he’s a friend from work.”
“My dear, where are you going? Did something happen to Eli?” She watches as you move around the room.
“Nothing new. My boss said I could stay at the house for a few days and keep Eli with me so I’m just packing a few things.”
“What, couldn't he give you the time off?”
“Yes, he was more than willing to give me the days off but I didn’t want to. So we compromised. I’ll see you in a few days ok. Could you lock the door on your way out? And call me if you need anything.” You say over your shoulder as you walk out and head back to the SUV.
****
Eli fell asleep on the ride to Steve’s place. So when you got there you grabbed him while Sam and Bucky grabbed your things. At the sound of Dom’s voice Steve steps out of his office and heads to the living room to find you with Elijah in your arms. God, you looked exhausted.
“Let me take him.” Steve says in a quiet voice as he grabs Elijah from you.
He nods his head in the direction of the stairs and you follow him up. You had agreed to stay on the second floor but he just walked past the hallways and up another flight of stairs, his floor.
“Steve. I thought we agreed that we would stay on the second floor.” You whisper.
“I changed my mind. I want you close in case you need me.”
He gets to the top of the stairs and heads to the left hallway. It’s still on his floor but there’s some distance. Steve nods towards one of the doors and you open it so that he can walk in. The room is huge as most of the other rooms are. This one has been prepared especially for you though. Elijah’s new gaming systems have been hooked up to the tv. There’s a basket with some self care products in it for you. Some new pajamas for both of you and the other things that Sam and Bucky had bought and taken to the hospital. Everything was neatly arranged and all you had to do was rest. This was a dream and it was why you were against it.
Going back to your small one bedroom apartment is going to be difficult. Especially for Eli since you know everyone will want to come by and spend some time with him. Bucky had even started a schedule so that everyone had time to hang out and not overwhelm him. The only type of support you’ve had since he was born was Mrs. Fields and you weren’t sure if it was that you were tired or your honest gratitude or a mixture of both but you wanted to cry. Actually you did cry, silent tears as you watched Steve lay Eli down and tuck him in. You had never seen him be so gentle and you asked yourself why couldn’t he be Eli’s dad. He would be a great father, you just know it.
“C’mere.” Steve startled you out of your daydream as he hugged you. You leaned into it, desperate for any kind of comforting touch. “It’s ok, just let it all out.” He rested his hand on your back and moved it up and down soothingly.
“I’m such a mess, I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Why don’t you take a bath and then a nap. It might help you relax. I’ll have Dom send dinner for you both.”
“Oh it’s ok, I can go down and get it.” You say quickly but Steve just shuts the idea down.
“Nonsense. He already volunteered to do it.”
“Ok.”
Steve smiles and turns you toward the bathroom. “Go relax, you deserve it.”
“Thank you, for everything.” You say over your shoulder.
“It’s the least I can do.”
****
Later that night, before Steve goes into his room he can’t help but check in on you. He knocks softly but with no answer he decides to just open the door. The sight causes his chest to tighten. With the light of the hallway he can just make out your form on the bed fast asleep. Elijah clings to you like a koala with his head on your chest and your arms wrapped around him tight. As if he would disappear if you let him go.
Steve has decided then and there that he will do everything in his power to give you the answers that you so desperately need. The best medical team and treatment to make Elijah better and if you let him he’d give you so much more. But he knows you’re stubborn. He also knows that the way to get you to agree to anything is to include Elijah in it. Steve would be lying if he said that little boy hasn’t already stolen a piece of what he thought was his cold dead heart. But like mother like son and you’d both weaseled your way in there even when he promised himself he wouldn’t let something like that happen again.
Ch 5
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Permanent masterlist:
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