The entire stadium was still, watching the point board flicker and change: His team was now on seven points, the opposing team on six.
The opposing team. Andrew’s old team.
Neil slowly looked to where Andrew was standing in goal, leaning on his racket. Slowly, Neil watched him slide off one of his gloves, hook his fingers in the metal grating of his helmet to slide it off and shake out his hair to give Neil a barely-there smile, all the way from the opposite end of the court.
Andrew had just been the first goalkeeper in Exy to land a goal from his box on the other end of the court. Neil knew exactly why: He’d traded from his old team to Neil’s at the beginning of the season two months ago. This was out of spite.
A buzzer called for time-out: There was only five minutes left of the game, but officials burrowed their heads in debated on whether or not the goal would count. Neil’s team started shrieking in disbelief, jumping up and down in ecstasy.
“Neil, where the fuck are you – ?!”
Neil was running, racket clattering to the ground, helmet bouncing alongside it. Andrew didn’t even lift his chin to watch him sprint down the court: Neil almost didn’t slow quick enough but skidded to a stop in front of Andrew, reaching out a hand.
“Yes,” Neil panted. “Or no?”
“Yeah.” Andrew said, expression flat and unreadable but cheeks flushed and eyes triumphant.
The kiss was short and sweet, more of an affirmation than anything else, but was disrupted by the chaos that their team brought down upon them.
“Andrew Minyard, you bastard.” Their captain was grinning from ear to ear.
And that – Well, that was the end of the Josten-Minyard rivalry.
this is pure self indulgence
someone had that link and talked about andrew scoring from his box: The kiss was because treat yo self if you know what i mean 😀
So, @massivespacewren and I were chatting last night about StarSymBrock and it occured to me that, in a universe where Eddie and Tony were already involved in this undefined-but-definitely-more-than-just-sex kind of way, Eddie would 100% try and keep Venom out of Tony’s life. Sure, Tony could probably help, but the man already has enough to deal with. Eddie can’t put this on him. Not this one more thing. Seriously, pick anywhere in Tony’s canon and there’s a justifiable reason not to put more on his plate.
Let’s say it’s post-Avengers but pre-Iron Man 3, so Tony has a very justifiable aversion to aliens but still has the arc reactor. (This will come up later, kids.)
So, Eddie does the only thing he can think of to keep Tony from finding out. He pulls away and distances himself. He stopped answering Tony’s calls and replies to texts less and less, being evasive and generally dodgy, turns down an invite to come to New York and tells Tony (perhaps a little harshly, but he was scared, okay?) that he absolutely should not come to LA and visit.
And Tony… Well, Tony knows a brush off when he sees one. He’s not sure what he did and he wishes Eddie would at least give him a chance to fix it, but he gets it. It had only ever been a matter of time before Eddie figured out he was better off without him. So he accepts it and maybe drinks more than he already was thanks to the nightmares and builds some more suits and doesn’t sleep and generally just copes really well.
Meanwhile, Eddie is hating every second of having to do this. He hates it. He misses Tony so much and is constantly reaching for his phone to contact him, only to remind himself why he shouldn’t and his bed feels so empty. Yeah, he’s learning to accept Venom, and even love him, but he misses Tony. He knows how much this must be hurting him and it’s like a dagger to his chest. He feels like absolute scum, but he’s also sure it’s the best for everyone involved.
Venom is not so sure. At first, he mostly ignored Eddie’s moodiness, but he could feel the sadness setting in, the pain and hurt every time Eddie left a call unanswered and they sat down later to listen to the voicemail. Sure, Eddie was way more open to going after criminals those nights, or at least eating an entire tub of ice cream, but he was still in pain. And it wasn’t a pain that Venom could heal the way he usually did.
After a couple months of this, Venom decides, “Fuck it!” He doesn’t understand why Eddie is staying away from Tony anyway, though he knows it’s because of him. If he can’t fix this the way he normally does, he’ll have to try it the way humans do, by talking. Of course, he means talking to Tony. He takes control and heads for New York, heedless of Eddie’s protests.
He finds Tony in the newly-remodeled Stark Tower, in his lab, feverishly working away in the middle of the night with no one else around. As far as Venom can tell, no one else has been around in a while. The air smells stale of anything but what he can now recognize as Tony’s own scent. JARVIS alerts Tony of the intrusion, but Venom is already inside, towering over him. Tony isn’t wearing his bracelets and can’t call the armor and there’s this black, inky creature with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth inches away from his face and- Cue massive panic attack.
Venom, of course, has never witnessed a panic attack before and has no idea what’s happening and oh, shit, he broke Eddie’s human! He lets Eddie have control back so he can calm Tony down and of course there’s talking and more freaking out and yada yada yada, but eventually Tony managed to comes to terms with what the fuck is going on. And that’s when the most unexpected thing happens. Tony makes the effort to get to know Venom and utterly adores him. He spoils Venom rotten, ordering all kinds of trashy food for Venom to snack on and asking about his species and biology and teaching him about human culture.
The bots are cautious at first, not being overly fond after seeing Venom ‘attack’ thier creature that first night, but they eventually come around. After finding out that Venom is vulnerable to fire, DUM-E starts valiantly following them around with a fire extenguisher. His enthusiasm isn’t even dampened by Tony’s many and varied threats.
Venom gets pretty attached to Tony, too.
Then IM 3 happens and shit goes down with the Mandrin and just imagine Eddie and Venom’s reaction to thinking Tony had been killed. They’d track down Killian and rip him to pieces. They’d be overjoyed to discover Tony is still alive and wrap him up in hugs and tenticles and refuse to let him go.
They were never, ever letting anything hurt their human again.
Eddie Brock is dating Tony (they got together in let’s say Iron Man 2 or 3 idk) and they were together when Captain America Civil War & Venom happened. But Tony knows about Venom and is ok with the symbiote. Venom likes Tony and is protective of him. The issue?
TONY TOLD NO ONE ABOUT VENOM OR SIBERIA
So Team Cap comes home blaming the accords on him and Tony lets them. Feeling like he’s getting what he deserves.
So when Eddie comes to visit him and sees how his boyfriend’s being treated, he of course sticks up for him. It wasn’t till and acid on comment from someone (preferably Wanda or Clint) and discovers what happened in Siberia. Venom come out. And. SHIT. GOES. DOWN.
Tony now has to explain how is boyfriend transformed into a alien who tries to eat someone as well as talk Venom into not eating his teammates.
Tony first met
Eddie Brock when he came back from Afghanistan. He’d been home for a month or
so when he was approached by Brock. The report was looking into Obie. At first
Tony wasn’t sure he believed him.
After he approached
Obie at his event he decided he needed to speak with Brock again.
Eddie became
someone he respected and trusted.
Tony doesn’t
remember how they became a couple. Between the poison in his veins and the
alcohol he consumed…he’s still amazed that Eddie wanted him.
So life was
interesting. They traveled together when they could, Eddie chasing a story and
Tony tagging along, making business connections where he could.
And when he put on
the suit, Eddie just happened to wear a Iron Man T-Shirt during his next
interview.
Tony was happy,
things were changing for the better…until they weren’t.
The nightmares set
in, his people – his family were put in danger. Tony thanked
chance and fate that Eddie was living in San Francisco away from the dangers of
Tony’s life.
With his house in
the ocean, Eddie picked him up in Florida. Rhodey was the one to call him, tell
him everything that happened and where to find his hotel room. For a while he
stayed with Eddie until the Avengers called.
It got worse.
It all blended
together with his boyfriend being the only highlights in an otherwise cloudy
life.
If the results of
Sokovia leading up to the Accords and the airport fight was cloudy days. Then
Siberia was the coldest winter night.
Laying there,
something changed for Tony.
It was only
confirmed when he woke up to Eddie in the hospital. This is his family, these
are the people he cares about.
Present day.
Tony was happy
despite the circumstances. Yes the Rogues are back, yes he has to live with
them. But it’s temporary and Tony can survive one more month.
And with his man
due to arrive any second nothing could bring his mood down. Not even Barton.
“Look who decided
to grace us with his presence today. What do we owe you for this? Money? Time?
Freedom?” Barton grinned, please by his hurtful digs. Sadly for Clint, Wanda
his partner in crime was not here to praise his ‘work’ but everybody else
certainly didn’t step up to help.
Barton’s happiness
at insulting Tony didn’t last long when the billionaire completely ignored him.
His attention split between the door and his phone. His coffee sat forget in
front of him on the kitchen island where he sat.
“Stark.”
“Hmm?”
“What are you
doing?”
“Mmhmm.”
Clint was seething,
after everything this prick did to them and he couldn’t even be bothered to pay
attention to them!? He was standing up, ready to make Stark pay attention to
him when Cap placed a hand on his shoulder.
Steve would handle
this, “Tony, we’re talking to you.” Steve’s disappointed-in-you face was one.
But Tony was still looking at his phone.
“Yeah?”
“What-“
“Hello?” Tony was
out of his seat and hurrying over to the stranger in the doorway.
The ‘team’ which
was actually a group of the former rogues sat stunned as Tony leaped into the
strangers arms who caught him and spun him around with a deep heated kiss. “Hi
Teddy Bear! I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
The stranger but
Tony back on his feet and leaned in for another kiss. Backing him into a wall
and kissing him like they didn’t have an audience.
Sam, the only
member of the rogues with a sense of chivalry coughed awkwardly. Breaking the
happy couple up so that he could introduce himself.
“Hello, Sam
Wilson.”
He offered his hand
and Eddie pulled back enough to offer his own but kept an arm around Tony’s
waist. “Eddie Brock. Tony’s boyfriend.”
Of course Clint
chimed in then, “Boyfriend? Must be desperate to be with Stark.”
Eddie didn’t miss a
beat, “Not as desperate as you must feel coming home to divorce papers.”
Everything spiraled
out of control after that. Sam and Steve holding Clint back as he spit venom at
the couple. Bucky a silent shadow in the corner of the room. Eddie a strong
pillar in front of Tony, his poor boyfriend wanted to pull him away. Walk away
from the drama but Eddie refused to back down.
“YOU FUCKING
BASTARD! ITS ALL HIS FAULT, STARK SHOULD HAVE JUST DIED IN THAT BUNKER!”
“CLINT!” Steve cut
in, pushing the archer back.
“No fuck that!
Steve he attacked you unprovoked, he’s done nothing but try and destroy our
lives his Ultron!”
Steve tried to calm
down Clint, Tony tried desperately to pull Eddie away and Bucky stepped out of
the shadows.
“Clint, come one
stop-“
“What do you mean
unprovoked?” Bucky looked afraid and angry at the same time.
“Buck, nows not the
ti-“
“Shut the fuck up
Rogers! Clint. What do you mean unprovoked?”
“Just like I said!
Steve told us when Tony got there he attacked you but you overpowered him and
escaped. Which I’m not surprised.”
Bucky turned on
Steve and it seemed like Sam and Eddie were the only two to realize.
Tony felt like time
was slowing down. Bucky glaring down Rogers, anger and disappointment battling
on his face. Steve, trying to to look guilty as he refused to look Bucky in the
eye.
Sam spoke up, “You
lied to us?”
This seemed to snap
Clint into focus, he looked around him, seeing what Tony saw. “What’s he
talking about, Cap.”
“Nothi-“
“It was a trap.”
Bucky cut in over Steve, refusing to let this happened again. “Stark came to
help, we found the soldiers dead and Zemo behind a wall. He showed us a video
of me killing Howard and Maria Stark.”
“Bucky it wasn’t
you!”
“THATS NOT THE POINT
STEVE. YOU LIED ABOUT THIS TO TONY AND YOU’RE LYING TO EVERYONE ELSE NOW.”
Almost everyone had
their attention on Steve now. Except Tony.
“Eddie-Venom! Calm
down it’s over now. Please? Calm down, stop getting taller. Venom!”
The symbiote turned
to Tony, their beautiful Tony that immediately got along with him. Their Tony
that been hurt over and over by these people.
“I’Ll KilL thEm!” His loud distorted voice got the others to stop arguing
and turn back around.
“Stark what the
fuck is that!” God Tony wished he could learn how to shut up.
“yOU i ShALl sTaRT
wIth YOu! MaYBe stARt WitH yOur eyEs And eARs, sO yoU CAn feEl evERytHiNG. thEN
iLl taKe mY tIMe eaTInG tHe OthEr blONdiE.” Venom stepped forward and everyone else stepped back. Tony
rushed in front of his boyfriends alien “parasite”.
“VENOM! NO! There
will be no eating anyone.”
“thEY lOOk So
tasTE.”
“No!”
Venom stared down
at their Tony who was trying to glare them into submission. Eddie trying to
weigh the pros and cons of eating them anyway. “Venom! I will withhold sex for
the next month and cut off your tater tots supply if you don’t listen to me.”
“noT eVen A aRM?”
“NO!”
“fiNe.”
So yeah, I just typed that up on my phone. It’s definitely not my best but it’s all I got right now.
…also i totally didn’t do anything you asked for. hahaa whoops.
“FINE!” With that Venom slowly transformed back into Eddie. And he didnt look to pleased either.
“Tony, why didnt you tell me?” Eddie looked hurt and pissed. Why would Tony hide this from them. Venom still felt pissed but concerned.
Tony shuffled on the spot. “It didn’t matter. Plus I didn’t think Venom would react well. Plus, based on what just happened, I was right to think that”
Eddie went to say something but Steve spoke up.
“Stark, what the hell just happened?”
Eddie glared at Steve “Don’t talked to him like that!” He growled. Venom tendrils waving around making him look dangerous.
Natasha step forward. “Lets all calm down. Tony, can you explain this please?” She asked.
So he did. Tony and Eddie spent about two hours explaining everything. From when he met Eddie to the Killian to what happened at the Life Foundation.
Needless to say team wasn’t pleased with him.
“You should have told us immediately about this.” Steve said with a disapproving look.
“Shut up Steve” Bucky said, “You ain’t got no right to say that seeing as you been lying to every one.”
“Plus its really none of your business” Eddie added.
“We’re suppose to be a team. We -“Natasha started before Bucky interrupted again.
“Shut the fuck up Natalia. Don’t bullshit me.” Bucky growled at her “I know you were abandoned Tony after the airport”
Eddie said “And from what I can see none of you treat Tony as an actual teammate. It seems like he’s nothing more than a burden Wings on you live in his house in his food, using his money, and resources for your own selfish needs. SO STOP BITCHING OR I’LL LOSE IT!” He roared, voice growing more predatory.
“Teddy bear, calm down.” Tony said gently rubbing the reporter’s arm.
“Why are you siding with him?” Steve asked Barnes.
Barnes glared at his childhood friend “Because I would do the exact same thing if I was in Brock’s place.”
Everyone stared at The Winter Soldier. Before Eddie step forward hand extended.
“Let’s try this again. I’m Eddie Brock.”
Steve went to shake his hand but got hit by a black tendril that extended out of Eddie side. Bucy payed no attention and shook his hand.
“The names James Barnes, but everyone calls me Bucky.”
“Not me. I call him snowflake” Tony piped up. Tony smiled at the two and they smiled back. Things might not be so bad.
Then the door opened and Wanda steped into the room.
That it from me. Sorry about the spelling and grammar errors…
The reaction was immediate. Wanda’s eyes locked onto Eddie and widened with something very close to fear. Red swirled around her fingers and she lashed out on instict. Tony saw it coming a split second before it happened and jumped between them with a shout of “No!” If Wanda attached Eddie, there would be no stopping Venom’s reemergence. He was fiercely protective.
The blast of red energy smalled into Tony’s chest, sending him crashing back into the wall. His head cracked against the hard surface and he lost a few seconds, coming back to himself wrapped in familiar, inky-black tendrals. Venom crouched over him, snarling viciously at Wanda while Bucky stood between them, feet set in a ready stance and a knife in each hand. More red swirled around the witch’s hand.
“Okay!” Sam called, no small amount of alarm crossing his face. “Let’s just all take a deep breath, okay? Nobody wants to make things any worse than they already are, right?”
“WE wiLL MaKE thiNGSss BettER aFTer wE eAt HER! She HUrt OUr TONY! SHe WiLL noT LIve!”
Tony blinked his eyes a few times in an attempt to clear his vision and pat ineffectually against Venom’s chest.
“No, buddy. No. It’s okay, see? I’m fine. I’m alright. No harm done. Nobody needs to get eaten.”
He really hoped Venom didn’t notice the way his words were just the tiniest bit slurred, but doubted his luck was that good.
“ShE HuRT yOU! WHY dO You deFENd heR?”Venom hissed, anger mingling with his confusion. “SHe iS a MONsteR!”
Wanda gave an inarticulate shout of rage.
“The only monster I see here is you! How fitting that you’re on Stark’s leash.”
“We KNow!” Venom crowed. “WE kNOw WhaT yOU hAVE DoNE! EdDIE DIgS anD So WE KnoW! YoU HAve kilLED SO MAny! MOrE ThaN EVen WE! SO mANy iN JoHANNiSBuRG! If OuR TONY HAdn’T BeEN ThEre…”
Tony as he saw the questioning looks being shot around the room.
“Johannisburg?” Clint questioned. “Where Bruce lost control of the Hulk during Ultron?”
“Sweetheart, I don’t think this is the time to bring that up,” Tony said, fingers touching the growing bump on his head.
Bucky’s apprehensive gaze turned into something more akin to a glare, directed towards Wanda. “I think it is.”
Venom’s grin was gleaming. “We know! We know what she did! Her fault! Can we eat?”
“Venom, no. What’s the rule about only eating bad people? We’ve talked about this,” Tony groaned, stumbling over to a kitchen stool to sit down. It wasn’t the best idea to only further prove to Venom how hurt Tony was, but he had to do something to make the room stop spinning.
“But she’s a bad person!”
Tony tried to blink the fuzz out of his eyes. “She’s human, cupcake. She made mistakes, we moved on.”
“But she made Hulk kill!”
Clint’s vicious glare actually faltered a bit as he glanced at Venom. “She did what?”
“I… I didn’t mean for innocent people to die,” Wanda tried to defend, but the rage in her voice was steadily being replaced by a scared meekness.
Tony sighed. “She got in Bruce’s head. That’s why Hulk came out. It was all a big accident. Venom, if you don’t give Eddie control, I swear you’ll never see a tator tot again.”
Venom scowled, but the black tendrils pulled back, shrinking back into Eddie’s pale skin. “Are you alright, babe?” Eddie asked, reaching out for Tony.
Tony nodded. “I’m fine.” He looked around the tense room. Bucky still had his knife out, and looked seconds away from shanking Wanda. Steve, Clint, Natasha, and Sam were still standing around like body guards, but now seeming a bit confused as to who they should be guarding.
Steve cleared his throat. “Let’s all calm down and talk this through, okay?” His voice was calm and steady in all its patriotic glory, as if he were the mediator in all this.
“Look, Wanda was a kid,” Clint finally said. “What she did when she was working for HYDRA was no different than Bucky. We’ve all made stupid mistakes, okay?” His tone sounded almost sincere. Almost.
“Fuck off,” Bucky practically snarled. “She volunteered. I was brainwashed. Funny how you’re only forgiving of mistakes made by people you like.”
Clint scoffed. “You-”
“He has a point,” Natasha spoke up, voice quiet. “You’re pretty hard on Tony. We all are. And you’ll forgive that?”
“And ignore Rogers’ lies,” Eddie muttered. Tony put a hand on his shoulder.
Clint growled something about Natasha being a double agent and stormed off.
“Wanda, why don’t you go find Vision and watch a movie or something?” Steve asked with a tight voice. It wasn’t an order, but the underlying force was still there. She looked ready to refuse, but a glare from Natasha had her slinking out with reluctance.
Tony sighed with relief, lacing his fingers with Eddie’s. “Now can we please all talk about this like calm adults?”
Neil was tired. It was very late, and their group had just gotten to the house in Columbia after a night out at Eden’s and an Exy game before that. They had won the game thus clenching the number one spot of their conference. Neil had celebrated the win by drinking a little more than he usually did tonight, though it was nowhere near the amount the others consumed regularly.
After Andrew pulled into the driveway Neil was first out of the car, he unlocked the door with his key, and upon entering the house he headed straight up to the room he shared with Andrew. Usually he would hang around downstairs with Andrew making sure everyone else was safely tucked away, and that all the doors were locked. Then they would head upstairs together, but tonight he was tired, a little tipsy, and just wanted to be in bed already. Once upstairs he’d gotten ready for bed quickly, then burrowed into the blankets to wait for Andrew.
Neil was lying in bed eyes closed when he heard Andrew come into the room. He didn’t open his eyes until he felt a dip in the mattress and Andrew move over him to get to his side of the bed. Andrew laid down beside him, but didn’t look over at him as he pulled the blankets up and around himself. Which was a good thing because it gave Neil the ability to stare openly at him.
One would think that with Andrew nestled into the blankets and the yellow glow from the streetlights shining off his pale hair and skin he would look soft, but Neil wasn’t sure Andrew Minyard could ever look soft. In his mind Andrew would always be fierce, unrelenting, and solid. They were the reasons Neil felt he could trust pieces of himself with Andrew during a time when he felt like he couldn’t trust anyone. They were the same qualities that still made Andrew the most important person in his life now that Neil was free of his father and free to live the life that he wanted.
Looking at Andrew and thinking about everything he had done for him was making a warm feeling surge up in his chest and spread all over his body. The warmth felt like it was going to burn a hole straight through his chest, and he needed to do something about it before it consumed him whole.
“Kiss me.”
Andrew’s response was immediate, “You’re drunk.”
“Yes,” Neil confirmed. Then added, “Just a little though.”
Andrew didn’t respond to that, probably thinking that Neil was going to drop the matter. Which he really should have known better by now, since Neil wasn’t one to give up without a fight. “I still want a kiss.”
“I’m not doing anything with you while you are in this state,” Andrew said while gesturing towards Neil with a barely raised flick of his wrist.
Which caused Neil to roll his eyes. “I don’t want to do anything more. I just want one kiss.”
Andrew finally opened his eyes and rolled onto his side to look at Neil. Now that they were laying with their faces only inches apart it would be so easy for him to move his head just slightly forward and kiss Andrew, but he never would. That would be crossing the line Andrew was setting right now, and Neil would never ever cross any of Andrew’s lines uninvited.
So he waited while Andrew studied his face for a moment before he finally said, “One kiss and then you will shut up and let me sleep.”
Neil nodded his head against the pillow eagerly. “Yes.”
Andrew’s eyes roamed over his face for a second more before they landed on his lips and held. Neil’s eyes fluttered shut as Andrew leaned forward and pressed the briefest of kiss to his lips.
The warmth flared in his chest again.
“Thank you.”
Andrew pulled his head back to his side of the bed. “Don’t thank me for something so simple, now go to sleep Neil.”
It might have been just a simple kiss, but Neil would be willing to thank Andrew for anything and everything he willingly gave to him.
Steve looked at himself in the mirror, a renowned sense of hatred flaring up in his gut as he watched the way the scar shifted and twisted when he turned.
He’d had his appendix removed a few weeks ago, and although the operation had gone fine it had still left its mark in the form of a harsh red line knobbling over the skin near his groin. It was sensitive and painful and he wouldn’t be able to do any strenuous exercise for another few weeks, which sucked. Especially considering these two months were some of the only points in Tony’s year where he had a clear schedule.
It was hard, sometimes, being in a relationship with one of the most famous musicians in the world. Not that Steve would ever trade it in for anything, of course, but still.
He sighed to himself, eyes falling to his exposed ribs, his pointy elbows. He remembered what the girl had said to him last night when he’d been with Tony at the bar – ‘oh! And this is Stick Rogers!’. Because apparently that was what a lot of Tony’s fans called him. It hadn’t helped that the woman had been beautiful, and clearly into Tony. Of course, while Steve had just looked away awkwardly and fiddled with his drink, Tony had cut her off sharply and she’d moved on in the end, but her words remained. He supposed he was just a little more sensitive lately, after the operation. Everything he thought about his body was dialed up to ten.
I don’t even go here anymore, but let’s see if I can come up with a few things for this.
1. Tony took over as boss from his mother, who retired. So now he’s leading the Carbonell mob with an iron fist, but he’s also just and caring and everyone adores him. Everyone but his enemies.
2. Bucky, as the Winter Soldier, was sent by Hydra, an opposing mob organization, to kill Tony because he was getting way too good at what he does, and he’s in the process of destroying them. Hydra told the Winter Soldier a lot of bullshit about how Tony rules, so Bucky almost feels justified in killing Tony.
3. That changes when he has to stake Tony out, because there is just never a good opportunity for Bucky to kill him. But like this he gets to see how Tony works, how his people work, and what he sees doesn’t fit with what Hydra told him at all.
4. Bucky is never discovered, he is a damn good assassin after all, but he turns himself in. Just walks right up to Tony, tells him everything and then just asks to never be sent back to Hydra. Natasha does not at all agree with that, because Bucky is dangerous and Tony should kill him right there and then, but of course Tony doesn’t. He takes Bucky in and, much to everyone’s horror, appoints him with bodyguard duties.
5. Bucky is very good at what he does, and after the fifth or sixth time he saves Tony’s life, the others have to admit that maybe adding Bucky to their ranks was a very smart decision. Tony is not above telling everyone “I told you so” before he whisks Bucky off to finally, finally make out with him.
The year Andrew
graduates and goes pro, and Neil stays behind to complete his last year at Palmetto,
they text each other A LOT.
Since Andrew is not
really a talkative type, they mostly send photos
The first couple of
weeks go by with texting/skyping like couple of times a week
Then one night after a
long day Neil feels bad and goes to the rooftop. He misses Andrew so much, so
he takes a photo of the parking lot from the roof and sends it to Andrew without any words.
Almost instantly he
gets a picture from Andrew and it’s a view of the night city skyline from his
rooftop with a greyish whiff of cigarette smock in the corner of the picture.
(It makes Neil feel warm
and fuzzy, and Andrew ups the percentage)
And so it begins.
Next morning Neil sends
him a photo of Andrew’s t-shirt he found in his laundry.
And later that day a
selfie of himself wearing that shirt.
Andrew sends him photos
of the court where he’s practicing and pictures of his new gear, and (after some
begging) a picture of himself wearing it.
(Neil is hyperventilating)
(Andrew knows it – that’s
why he sent the photos: to earn boyfriend points with his exy-obsessed junkie)
At some point Andrew
sends Neil a photo of some keys, and when asked about it says that they are the
stolen keys to his pro court
(Neil comes to visit the
very next weekend)
(They totally break in
there)
One night at like three
o’clock Andrew is woken by a message sound from his phone and it’s a short
video from Neil where you can barely see his unimpressed face in the dark, but can
hear shouts and screams of the freshmen fighting in the common room.
Andrew sends back a
picture of his knives and a question mark.
Neil sends back a
laughing emoji.
Next day Andrew sends Neil a
video of Andrew’s coach yelling at his team. It ends with him yelling at Andrew
for filming it and snatching the phone from his hands.
It’s also the small
things
Like steaming hot
coffee in an “exy is sexy” cup
A sports journal with
Kevin on the cover with a mustache drawn on with a sharpie
A black eye Neil got
from a stray ball with a capture “I hate this team”
Andrew sends the picture
of the knives again, but with an exclamation mark this time.
Ridiculous typos in a local
restaurant menu
Two buckets of
pistachio ice cream (Andrew comes to visit next weekend)
A picture of a TV
screen with Andrew’s bored face on it from an interview after one of the games (with
an “I miss you” capture)
Andrew just replies
with a percentage.
The wall with team photos
from Foxhole court
Andrew’s feet thrown on
the back of the seat on the team bus
A photo of Kevin yelling
at his teammates during the warmup, from when they were having a match against
each other.
A photo of Wymack looking
into the camera like he’s not being paid enough for any of this
(This photo later goes
on the wall).
A photo of a contract
Neil signed with a pro team
A photo of PSU library
Stacks of books and notes
and numerous cups of coffee
A calendar with days
crossed off leading to the graduation
A photo of the road
ahead from the Maserati
Then again a photo of the
view from the Foxhole tower rooftop
And finally a photo of
Neil, eyes wide open, throwing open the door to the roof to find Andrew
standing there with a phone in his hand.
(Winter Soldiers (plural) anon again!) Okay also I imagine them all probably ranging in age from late teens to about the same age as Bucky. Tony probably equips them with B.A.R.F and stuff to help them break their programming. Some of them will have different levels of memory given the success of their condition, some of them remember loads and some nothing. A few probably leave after being freed of the program bc they remember their family and Tony helps them find them. Others probably stay.
Third ask for the Winter Soldiers idea! I also can’t get over Tony enlisting Bucky to help him in rehabilitating them (probs also Natasha?) imagine Bucky helping all these people like him get help and heal and forgive themselves and it really helping him forgive himself b he doesn’t see any of them as evil so then why does he think that about himself. Imagine Natasha actually recognising some of them from the red room and healing as well.
Anon, I’m in love with you and your imagination. This took a few days to write because I absolutely had to write it, and it ended up over 3k long. I didn’t quite follow your idea to a tee, but I hope you can enjoy this. Also no, I don’t know what a timeline is and it doesn’t exist for this. I was going to do this post-AoU but… tbh I think it’s its’ own universe now.
Tony didn’t mean to adopt the Winter Soldiers. To be fair, Tony had done some wild things he hadn’t expected in his life, but this had to make the top five.
It all started with an accident, really.
Tony was going to his childhood home. Not that he wanted, but it was real estate he just didn’t need under his name anymore. With more spare time from ‘retiring’ the Avengers, Tony figured it was about damn time to poke around the place, make sure Howard hadn’t left anything too dangerous in there before selling the place off.
It was a trip down memory lane he wasn’t looking forward to, but Tony could handle it. He could handle it. It was just an empty house.
Empty house, empty memories.
Tony shook the awful feeling creeping up on him off as he flicked on the old kitchen light. If anything, he should’ve been impressed it even still worked.
Instead, Tony was a little distracted by the man in his old kitchen.
He was a tall blond, muscled body wrapped in leather and dark jeans. He looked to be about mid-twenties if a bit older. It was hard to tell, the way his bangs hung down low over his face. It was a wonder he could even see behind that curtain of hair.
As soon as he saw Tony, has hand snapped down toward his waist.
“Hey!” Tony held up his hands. “Wait. You don’t want to do that.” He tried to keep his voice even, calming. Despite the fact that there was a fucking stranger in his childhood kitchen. “You pull a weapon on me, I’m going to have to retaliate. And I’d hate the ruin the listing of this place. So let’s figure this out, okay? Let me help you.”
The man’s hand froze, hovering over his hip, fingers twitching a bit. He looked… well, he looked afraid. Lost, confused. Tony almost wanted to give him a hug.
“What’s your name?” Tony took the tiniest step forward, gauging the reaction. The man’s eyes sharpened at the movement, but he didn’t move for his weapon. Yet.
“Nikolai,” He whispered. He sounded unsure, hovering hand clenching into a tight fist. “My name is Nikolai.” I wasn’t clear who he was trying to convince. Tony, or himself.
“Alright.” Tony nodded. “Well, I’m Tony.” Another baby step forward. “What are you doing here, Nikolai?”
He blinked. “I’m sorry.” Nikolai took a step back. “Sorry for… intruding. On your home” he fumbled with his words, lips pursed. “I’ll leave.” He went to move.
“Hey, no.” Tony shook his head. Nikolai paused, frowning. “Relax. I haven’t lived here since I was a kid. Even then, it wasn’t much of a home.” Tony looked around the kitchen, old memories toying with his subconscious. He pushed them aside. “Not that that’s the point. The point is, I want to help you. Talk to me, tell me how I can help.”
Nikolai studied Tony long and hard as if he were trying to decide whether Tony was sincere or not.
If Tony was being honest, he didn’t really know the answer to that either. Nikolai was clearly breaking and entering, packing heat as well, but he didn’t give off a dangerous vibe. Tony had fought all sorts of villains, and he knew too much about how to read one. Nikolai didn’t read like a villain.
“I don’t know,” Nikolai admitted. “I can’t… I don’t remember everything. My head’s a mess.” He made a vague gesture to his blond curl-covered head.
“I can help with that,” Tony said, so quickly he startled even himself. “I’ve been working on technology for that. Binary Augmented Retro Framing. It gives you a killer headache, but it can help with memories. Bringing them back, fixing them up a bit, whatever you need.”
“Binary Augmented Retro Framing,” Nikolai repeated. “BARF.” His tone was… cautious, as if he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to be amused by it.
Tony sighed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I know. I’ve gotta work on a better name.” He smiled and did an internal victory dance at the small smile it got in response.
And with that, Nikolai had been the first step to the next few months of Tony’s life being on a hell of a ride. Even by his standards.
Even though Nikolai barely opened up about what he did remember, he did seem to be responding to BARF well and starting smiling more. Tony invited him to stay in the vacated Avengers Tower, but Nikolai rarely took up the offer. He disappeared every night, during most days as well.
He did eat Tony’s food though. So much food.
Tony did really try to keep to himself, stay out of Nikolai’s business, but… curiosity did kill the cat. And satisfaction brought it back, it seemed. Because when Tony ran facial recognition, he did get a match.
A match to a KGB agent who’d been declared dead in a fatal explosion in 1952. As if that made any sense.
Tony didn’t pry though. It wasn’t his place to, not when he promised Nikolai help and safety. So he filed the information away and pushed away curious thoughts that were already pawing to unlock the mystery of it all. If Nikolai wanted to tell Tony, he would.
Then it managed to get weirder.
Because a month into his therapy, Tony found Nikolai standing in Tony’s workshop with a teenage girl.
The girl had the same sharp yet confused gaze of Nikolai, though her olive skin and ebony hair contrasted to him. Hands jammed into the pockets of a beaten up leather jacket, she couldn’t have looked tenser, eyes never leaving Tony from the moment he walked in the room.
“This is my… friend,” Nikolai introduced, clearing his throat. “Thalia. She needs… help.”
“Right.” Tony nodded. “Help. Okay, I think we can do that.” Tony took a step forward. “My name is Tony. Nice to meet you, Thalia.”
Thalia didn’t back away from Tony like Nikolai had at the beginning, but she definitely didn’t go running into his arms either. She stood close to Nikolai, occasionally looking up at him for guidance.
Even with BARF, Thalia wasn’t nearly as talkative as Nikolai. If Nikolai could be called talkative. But she did stay at the Tower almost 24/7. She used the gym, watched movies, read books, did whatever she could to keep herself occupied. Tony ended up bingeing the entire original Star Trek series with her, which was the closest he came to really bond with her. Tony counted it.
Like Nikolai, Tony did a facial recognition. And like Nikolai, it led to more questions than answers. Thalia matched with an up and coming teen boxer from the 80s, who’d died in a car crash. Even if Thalia was that Thalia, she should’ve been Tony’s age by now. But the pictures made it look like she hadn’t aged a day.
Tony really tried not to think about it. He tried not to think about the way her eyes went wide with realization whenever Tony played something like AC/DC. It was better not to ask questions.
And if Tony was being honest, it was just nice to not be alone any more.
Since the Avengers had disbanded, since Steve was off chasing his old war buddy, since Pepper had left him, Tony was just plain lonely. The Tower was too big and hollow for him. But with Thalia and Nikolai, it felt a bit more like a home again.
After Thalia, Tony really got the damned shock of his life. And that was saying something.
Nearly three months after finding Nikolai, Tony walked into his living room to find Nikolai, Thalia, and at least a dozen people all standing around his living room.
Including James fucking Barnes himself.
“What the shit?” Tony dropped the bag he’d been holding, eyes impossibly wide.
Barnes cleared his throat. “I can explain.”
–
“So they’re all Winter Soldiers?” Tony asked, pacing around the kitchen. “All of them. Like you.”
Bucky nodded. “I was the first.” He frowned. “Well, the first successful one. After my missions kept going so well, HYDRA decided to keep the ball rolling. Over the decades, they found people,” he tilted his head to the side, “that fit their needs. It was systematic. None of those people were chosen by chance. They were chosen because they either posed a threat to HYDRA or were believed to become a threat in the future.”
Tony blinked. “Thalia’s a kid. What the hell threat did she pose? She was a fucking kid.”
Bucky shrugged. “SHIELD had their eye on her. Wanted to recruit her if her last boxing season went well. Nikolai was planning on switching sides and going to the CIA with all the information he had on the KGB and HYDRA, which would’ve outed them.” He ran a hand through his hair. “HYDRA doesn’t fuck around, Stark. Everything they did was calculated down to the decimal.” He sighed, rolling his shoulders. “What I don’t get though, is why Nikolai went to you.”
“He didn’t,” Tony said, holding his hands up defensively. “I happened across him by accident. A month later he brought Thalia in. I just didn’t ask questions.”
“A Stark that doesn’t ask questions.” Bucky arched an eyebrow. “How about that.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Quit calling me that. You knew Howard, I know. Trust me, I’m well aware.” His voice might’ve had a bit too much bite to it, but Tony couldn’t bring himself to care.
“I killed him.”
“What?” Tony frowned.
“I killed him,” Bucky repeated, now looking at the ground. His calm, cool demeanour was more guilty. “Maria too. I… I thought I should tell you. Nikolai thought I should tell you.”
That was… that was something. Something Tony refused to let himself process for now.
“Okay,” Tony forced out. “Appreciate the honesty.” He cleared his throat. Tony searched for a topic change. “I’m assuming you don’t want Rogers knowing you’re here?”
Bucky worked his jaw. “Some of us are ready to face our families. Some of us aren’t.”
“Fair enough.” Tony pushed the kitchen door open, walking back into the living room.
Doing a quick headcount, Tony found there to be ten total Winter Soldiers in his living room. Counting Bucky. Thalia, surprisingly and disgustingly, wasn’t the youngest. Instead, a girl with a shock white pixie cut looked quite a few years younger than her. The oldest seemed to be a woman who already had grey hair peppering through her brunette ponytail and wrinkle lines tugging at her face. Most ages fell around Bucky’s though, mid-twenties to early thirties.
“Well,” Tony cleared his throat. “You’re all welcome to say here, eat the food. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I’ve got the necessities and more than enough room. Talk to me about getting therapy for your… problems.” Tony shoved his hands in his pockets. “Enjoy your stay, and please don’t kill me.”
Tony was met with dead stares and curious looks, but no one said anything. He shrugged, heading down to his workshop.
With that, Tony learned to get used to running into people all day. He slowly learnt who everyone was, names and backgrounds.
The youngest girl with the pixie cut was Yelena, apparently from the Red Room. According to Bucky, Black Widows in training moved up to Winter Soldiers in training if they could beat him in training. Yelena was the only one to make that cut in the early 70s.
Then there was the other teen beside Thalia, a boy named Ethan. He was the youngest chronologically as well, taken from the 90s during a promising high school wrestling and football career. Built like a wall, the kid’s brunet hair was kept in a short buzz cut, putting her startling green eyes on display.
After Ethan, the next oldest was Ian, a man taken in his mid-twenties. His long, wavy blond hair and sky blue eyes seemed to fit into the 60s just as much as his actual past did. He didn’t seem all too threatening until Tony looked into his past of high involvement with leftist rights activism. He wasn’t some hippy who believed in peace for all, he was a highly educated young man on his way to what could’ve been an impressive political career.
Next, were the twins. From the early 80s, Brenda and Brett were also in their mid-twenties, wearing matching brown eyes and red hair. They worked in such synchronization it was almost disturbing, even if Tony knew they’d been trained that way. They were both training to be SHIELD agents and got too close to HYDRA in what they thought was a simple raid. Being adept and quick-witted agents, HYDRA closed in on a unique opportunity.
Jason was in his early thirties, with the faintest bit of grey touching his auburn hair, that complimented his hazel hair. From the 70s, he’d been an impressive coder and hacker for the CIA, which in it of itself wasn’t all too much, but his partaking in fight clubs during his spare time was enough to catch HYDRA’s attention.
And lastly was Renee, the oldest, is in her mid-fifties. Despite her greying hair and wrinkles around blue eyes, she wasn’t to be underestimated. Being from the late 40s, she made to be the oldest one of all of them, chronologically. It was a little weird for Tony to wrap his mind around knowing someone who was born before the turn of the 20th century and even more so had been a personal spy for Winston Churchill. That was why HYDRA had taken her, even if they took her during the end of her career. They’d taken her for information, and kept her for her killer skills.
It was all impossible to take in.
But Tony helped them all nonetheless and got used to their company. Company that was… nice, actually. It was a different atmosphere than the Avengers sure, but a nice different. Tony almost preferred the Winter Soldiers to the Avengers. They didn’t force small talk, they respected Tony’s boundaries. Respected Tony in general, really.
Some stayed around more than others. Bucky was a bit persistent in making sure the youngest ones stayed almost all the time, which Tony found cute.
Tony did not expect himself to ever associate Bucky Barnes with cute, and yet here he was.
He also didn’t expect to have confusing feelings grow every time Tony worked on Bucky’s arm or helped him with BARF, but those feelings could be sorted out another time. For now, it was about healing for everyone.
The more some remembered, the more they slowly started to get in contact with family. Some, like Bucky, was strongly against that. Some didn’t really have a family to come back to. Renee, for example, had pointed out the only family of hers alive would be grandchildren almost as old as her, and she wasn’t ready to face that. Tony respected that choice.
And some just didn’t get their memories back. Tony tried to find a correlation between those who did and those who didn’t for research, but it was really just random. They remembered enough to know who they were vaguely, but not enough to want to visit family who was barely photographs in their heads. Tony respected that too.
After a while, Tony got used to them being around. Got used to the feeling of having a family. And god, it felt so nice.
But then, of course, Steve Rogers himself had to fuck it up.
Tony had been in his workshop working on Bucky’s arm while Renee and Nikolai played cards in the alcove and Jason took apart some pieces of tech when JARVIS’ voice cut through the peace.
“Sir, Captain Rogers and the rest of the Avengers are requesting access to the Tower.”
Tony paused. Bucky went rigid. The warm silence in the room became stiflingly tense.
“Jay, let anyone around the communal floors they should probably clear out for the time being and let the team up. I’ll meet them there,” Tony said, setting his tools down. “Don’t worry,” Tony promised Bucky, Nikolai, Renee, and Jason. “It’ll be fine.”
As he stood up, Tony was met with tight looks of concern. He flashed an unconvincing smile and took the elevator up to the communal floors.
Tony wasn’t surprised to see the Avengers all gathered in the living room, Steve front and centre. Arms folded, just like they always seemed to be around Tony.
“Can I help you?” Tony wasn’t ashamed to say his smile was so clearly fake.
Steve stepped forward. “We wanted to talk.”
Tony spread his arms. “Talk away.”
“Tony, the Avengers still need you,” Steve started. “You can’t just-”
“Retire?” Tony supplied. “Yes, I can, actually. And I did. Besides, you seem more than adept at bringing in strays to fill my place.” He gestured towards Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, and- who the hell was the other guy? Tony didn’t know. “I’ve got other things to do, Rogers.”
Steve scoffed. “From what I’ve seen on the news, you’ve just been a social recluse.”
“Because the tabloids always tell the honest truth,” Tony shot back. Sure, he’d been cut off. But every second Tony wasn’t sleeping or helping one of the Soldiers, he was working with the government, helping rebuild SHIELD, working on things for SI, and so on.
“Living like this…” Steve gestured around. “Alone, with all this space. It’s not healthy, Tony.”
Tony glared at him. “Are you claiming to know what’s good for me?”
“Don’t be difficult,” Steve said with a sharp sigh.
“It’s my middle name.” Tony spread his hands with a shrug. “No hard feelings.”
“That’s your problem!” Steve snapped. “You can’t take anything seriously!”
Tony arched an eyebrow. “Have I ever been able to? Really, Rogers, you should be used to it by now.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “If you really cared, you’d hold true on your promise from the attack on New York to ‘go a few rounds’ with me.”
For as instigating as the statement was, Tony didn’t expect Steve to actually swing at him. A nasty uppercut that could’ve possibly broken Tony’s jaw.
But what Tony -Steve as well- really didn’t expect was for a gunshot to stop Steve’s fist and send him stumbling backwards, cradling a bleeding hand.
“What-” Steve turned and looked with Tony, to see Nikolai standing in the doorway, gun still raised. His glare was deadly, and Tony could see why he was a damn good Winter Soldier.
Clint was the first to draw his bow and begin to notch an arrow, but Thalia was behind him in an instant, knife against his throat.
Tony watched, somewhat stunned, as the Winter Soldiers all came out of nowhere to point weapons at the Avengers, or just stand beside Tony like jacked up bodyguards.
“What- Tony what the hell?” Steve demanded, cupping his hand while Ethan held a gun against his temple.
“You know,” Tony sighed. “I don’t mean to be a stickler, but I think this is the exact opposite of what I told you all to do.” Tony looked around the room.
“Oh my god,” Natasha said softly, not moving from the kitchen knife pressed against her spinal cord by Yelena. “These are the Winter Soldiers.” She looked at Tony. “How?”
Tony made a face. “It’s a long story. Not the point.”
“Winter Soldiers?” Steve asked, eyebrows drawn together.
Natasha nodded. “Like… like Bucky. He was the main one, but there were… others.” She glanced around the room. “All of them are here.”
“Tony?” Steve demanded, waiting for an explanation.
“I’m just trying to help them,” Tony snapped. “Don’t look at me like I kidnapped and experimented on them.”
“They’re dangerous,” Steve pointed out.
“So was I,” Bucky’s voice was soft as he walked into the room. “Didn’t stop your punk ass from runnin’ after me though.”
“Bucky?” Steve whispered.
Bucky arched an eyebrow. “You’ve got no right attacking Tony,” He continued. “He gave us a home. Helped get back what we lost. If you wanna yell at him for that, you’ve got a lot you’re gonna have to go through.” His voice was a dangerous warning growl. Steve looked like he didn’t know what to say. The other Avengers were the same.
Tony couldn’t help but smile. This really was his family.
clintbbarton 