Star Wars #10 (2025) variant cover by Carmen Carnero
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Picking Orchids
by CosmosOddyssey
Penny has had it, only fourteen and Orphaned twice over, or maybe three times, she can’t remember. Anything passed the age of five was fuzzy, only fading nightmares of a burning lab and an equally amnesiac Symbiote souvenir as a poor reminder. After loosing her Uncle to KingPin’s goons and Her aunt not too long after to cancer, Penny determined she was better off not ruining any more families with her bad luck disappearing from the system.
Now Trouble and her endeavor to bring down KingPin as the city’s new Vigilante Orchid-Weaver, but she caught some unwanted attention, now she is on the run from the City, S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers, KingPin, some shadow organization, a possible vampire with a sentient cape, maybe a hobo cannibal, and her past. Well okay then.
Words: 388, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Michelle Jones (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Matt Murdock, Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, Original Character Symbiote “Trouble”, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bucky Barnes, Pepper Potts, Wanda Maximoff, Vision (Marvel), Eddie Brock | Venom, Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Hydra Agents (Marvel), Nick Fury, J. Jonah Jameson, Stephen Strange
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Penny Parker, MJ & Penny Parker, Matt Murdock & Penny Parker, Matt Murdock & Foggy Nelson, Matt Murdock & Karen Page
Additional Tags: i don’t know how to tag, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, As the story updates, because spoilers, Penny Parker is on the run from everything, Run away Penny Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Penny Parker has aguilt complex, Mentor Matt Murdock, Penny has a Symbiote they are named Trouble, Orphaned Penny Parker, twice over, Dead Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Dead Uncle Ben, KingPin is bad guy, So is Hydra, Both are doing bad things, Amnesia Penny Parker, Ned Leeds and Trouble are the best of friends, Mj is scary friend, Crack Treated Seriously, i have no idea whats going on, the fic possesed me and I am just a puppet, Help
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I like to imagine Marc pspspspsps-ing the House of Shadows.
Thats basically how issue 9 ended right?
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Completely Hers
by Heathenc02
From a young age you belonged to Wanda, every part of you. As you grow the universe attempts to challenge this. No one expects you to beat the challenge, but they are mistaken. They have no idea what it means to belong to her.
Words: 8254, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
Fandoms: WandaVision (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wuthering Heights (2026)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: F/F
Characters: Wanda Maximoff, Erik Lehnsherr, Pietro Maximoff, Rogue | Anna Marie (X-Men), Vision (Marvel)
Relationships: Wanda Maximoff/Reader, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Infidelity, Inspired by Wuthering Heights, Gender Non-Conforming Reader-Insert, Physical Abuse, Black Reader-Insert, Tasteful Smut, Sexual Themes
via https://ift.tt/YhfKrTB
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Picking Orchids
by CosmosOddyssey
Penny has had it, only fourteen and Orphaned twice over, or maybe three times, she can’t remember. Anything passed the age of five was fuzzy, only fading nightmares of a burning lab and an equally amnesiac Symbiote souvenir as a poor reminder. After loosing her Uncle to KingPin’s goons and Her aunt not too long after to cancer, Penny determined she was better off not ruining any more families with her bad luck disappearing from the system.
Now Trouble and her endeavor to bring down KingPin as the city’s new Vigilante Orchid-Weaver, but she caught some unwanted attention, now she is on the run from the City, S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers, KingPin, some shadow organization, a possible vampire with a sentient cape, maybe a hobo cannibal, and her past. Well okay then.
Words: 388, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Michelle Jones (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Matt Murdock, Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, Original Character Symbiote “Trouble”, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bucky Barnes, Pepper Potts, Wanda Maximoff, Vision (Marvel), Eddie Brock | Venom, Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Hydra Agents (Marvel), Nick Fury, J. Jonah Jameson, Stephen Strange
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Penny Parker, MJ & Penny Parker, Matt Murdock & Penny Parker, Matt Murdock & Foggy Nelson, Matt Murdock & Karen Page
Additional Tags: i don’t know how to tag, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, As the story updates, because spoilers, Penny Parker is on the run from everything, Run away Penny Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Penny Parker has aguilt complex, Mentor Matt Murdock, Penny has a Symbiote they are named Trouble, Orphaned Penny Parker, twice over, Dead Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Dead Uncle Ben, KingPin is bad guy, So is Hydra, Both are doing bad things, Amnesia Penny Parker, Ned Leeds and Trouble are the best of friends, Mj is scary friend, Crack Treated Seriously, i have no idea whats going on, the fic possesed me and I am just a puppet, Help
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Not yet
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ypLHWqs
by Head_of_Ares_Cabin
Not yet. That’s what Clint would tell Natasha. He’d tell them he was deaf. Just not yet. He wasn’t ready. But he would be.
Or
How the Avengers found out Clint Barton was deaf.
Words: 856, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Hawkeye (TV 2021), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Marvel
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: Gen
Characters: Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), James “Bucky” Barnes, Peter Parker, Hulk (Marvel), Phil Coulson
Relationships: Clint Barton & Tony Stark, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Steve Rogers, Clint Barton & Thor, Bruce Banner & Clint Barton, Avengers Team Members & Clint Barton, Clint Barton & Phil Coulson & Natasha Romanov
Additional Tags: Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, Deaf, Avengers Team Members as Family (Marvel), Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Hurt Clint Barton, Clint Barton-centric
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ypLHWqs
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Silencio para la araña
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/VUt0oNI
by Hazzie_77
Peter tiene un día largo y por alguna razón todos deciden grtarle
Words: 488, Chapters: 1/1, Language: Español
Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: Gen
Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Ned Leeds, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Loki (Marvel)
Additional Tags: No Angst
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/VUt0oNI
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Life in the Tower
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/FvbT6IZ
by TransBean_2124
Peter’s identity as Spider-Man and his new life living half-time at the Avengers Tower are at risk of being exposed when Midtown’s AcaDec team gets invited on a field trip.
Is it possible that Tony and the Avengers never find out if he keeps his mouth shut?
Words: 5756, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: Gen
Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones (Marvel), Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, James “Bucky” Barnes, FRIDAY the AI (Marvel), Flash Thompson, Midtown Academic Decathlon Team Members (Marvel)
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Avengers Team Members & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Midtown Academic Decathlon Team Members & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Additional Tags: Tony Stark Has a Heart, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker’s Parental Figure, Aunt May Parker & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Aunt May Parker & Tony Stark Friendship, Protective Tony Stark, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Natasha Romanov Is Not a Robot (Marvel), Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker is So Done, Peter Parker’s Field Trip to Stark Industries, Trans Peter Parker, Supportive Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Trans Male Character, Smart Peter Parker, Happy Hogan Needs a Raise, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker’s Parental Figure, Protective Pepper Potts, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Protective Ned Leeds, Good Friend Michelle Jones (Marvel), Protective Michelle Jones (Marvel), Trans Female Michelle Jones (Marvel), Trans Female Character, LGBTQ Character, Deaf Clint Barton, Protective Bucky Barnes, Avengers Tower | Stark Tower (Marvel), Peter Parker Lives in Avengers Tower, Tony Stark Has A Family, Flash Thompson Bullies Peter Parker, The Avengers Love Peter Parker, Midtown High School (Marvel), Hurt Peter Parker, Happy Ending, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, English Is Not The Author’s First Language, I Tried, Original Character(s), Protective Happy Hogan, Protective FRIDAY the AI (Marvel), Minor Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
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Idk Mystique is a mystery to me bc one way she tired to protect her children
But on the other
I cannot for the life of me liking parents to which then they abuse their children for their own selfish gain even if there is some redemption to which in original context she was protecting her children from other evils and other people who would sought out their powers and uses them against their will
I just mostly know and remember that
Mystique is not a character I come across that intrigues me at all I mean she’s practically the mother of the year sort of speaking
Plus while Kurt has a big heart and understanding but also
Mystique tried to kill him anyways even if it meant on saving him
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Not yet
by Head_of_Ares_Cabin
Not yet. That’s what Clint would tell Natasha. He’d tell them he was deaf. Just not yet. He wasn’t ready. But he would be.
Or
How the Avengers found out Clint Barton was deaf.
Words: 856, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Hawkeye (TV 2021), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Marvel
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: Gen
Characters: Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), James “Bucky” Barnes, Peter Parker, Hulk (Marvel), Phil Coulson
Relationships: Clint Barton & Tony Stark, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Steve Rogers, Clint Barton & Thor, Bruce Banner & Clint Barton, Avengers Team Members & Clint Barton, Clint Barton & Phil Coulson & Natasha Romanov
Additional Tags: Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, Deaf, Avengers Team Members as Family (Marvel), Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Hurt Clint Barton, Clint Barton-centric
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Text
Silencio para la araña
by Hazzie_77
Peter tiene un día largo y por alguna razón todos deciden grtarle
Words: 488, Chapters: 1/1, Language: Español
Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: Gen
Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Ned Leeds, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Loki (Marvel)
Additional Tags: No Angst
via https://ift.tt/VUt0oNI
Text
Life in the Tower
by TransBean_2124
Peter’s identity as Spider-Man and his new life living half-time at the Avengers Tower are at risk of being exposed when Midtown’s AcaDec team gets invited on a field trip.
Is it possible that Tony and the Avengers never find out if he keeps his mouth shut?
Words: 5756, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: Gen
Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones (Marvel), Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, James “Bucky” Barnes, FRIDAY the AI (Marvel), Flash Thompson, Midtown Academic Decathlon Team Members (Marvel)
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Avengers Team Members & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Midtown Academic Decathlon Team Members & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Additional Tags: Tony Stark Has a Heart, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker’s Parental Figure, Aunt May Parker & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Aunt May Parker & Tony Stark Friendship, Protective Tony Stark, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Natasha Romanov Is Not a Robot (Marvel), Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker is So Done, Peter Parker’s Field Trip to Stark Industries, Trans Peter Parker, Supportive Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Trans Male Character, Smart Peter Parker, Happy Hogan Needs a Raise, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker’s Parental Figure, Protective Pepper Potts, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Protective Ned Leeds, Good Friend Michelle Jones (Marvel), Protective Michelle Jones (Marvel), Trans Female Michelle Jones (Marvel), Trans Female Character, LGBTQ Character, Deaf Clint Barton, Protective Bucky Barnes, Avengers Tower | Stark Tower (Marvel), Peter Parker Lives in Avengers Tower, Tony Stark Has A Family, Flash Thompson Bullies Peter Parker, The Avengers Love Peter Parker, Midtown High School (Marvel), Hurt Peter Parker, Happy Ending, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, English Is Not The Author’s First Language, I Tried, Original Character(s), Protective Happy Hogan, Protective FRIDAY the AI (Marvel), Minor Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
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Completely Hers
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/YhfKrTB
by Heathenc02
From a young age you belonged to Wanda, every part of you. As you grow the universe attempts to challenge this. No one expects you to beat the challenge, but they are mistaken. They have no idea what it means to belong to her.
Words: 8254, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
Fandoms: WandaVision (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wuthering Heights (2026)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: F/F
Characters: Wanda Maximoff, Erik Lehnsherr, Pietro Maximoff, Rogue | Anna Marie (X-Men), Vision (Marvel)
Relationships: Wanda Maximoff/Reader, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Infidelity, Inspired by Wuthering Heights, Gender Non-Conforming Reader-Insert, Physical Abuse, Black Reader-Insert, Tasteful Smut, Sexual Themes
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/YhfKrTB
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Picking Orchids
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/SLTYxgz
by CosmosOddyssey
Penny has had it, only fourteen and Orphaned twice over, or maybe three times, she can’t remember. Anything passed the age of five was fuzzy, only fading nightmares of a burning lab and an equally amnesiac Symbiote souvenir as a poor reminder. After loosing her Uncle to KingPin’s goons and Her aunt not too long after to cancer, Penny determined she was better off not ruining any more families with her bad luck disappearing from the system.
Now Trouble and her endeavor to bring down KingPin as the city’s new Vigilante Orchid-Weaver, but she caught some unwanted attention, now she is on the run from the City, S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers, KingPin, some shadow organization, a possible vampire with a sentient cape, maybe a hobo cannibal, and her past. Well okay then.
Words: 388, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Michelle Jones (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Matt Murdock, Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, Original Character Symbiote “Trouble”, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Bucky Barnes, Pepper Potts, Wanda Maximoff, Vision (Marvel), Eddie Brock | Venom, Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Hydra Agents (Marvel), Nick Fury, J. Jonah Jameson, Stephen Strange
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Penny Parker, MJ & Penny Parker, Matt Murdock & Penny Parker, Matt Murdock & Foggy Nelson, Matt Murdock & Karen Page
Additional Tags: i don’t know how to tag, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, As the story updates, because spoilers, Penny Parker is on the run from everything, Run away Penny Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Penny Parker has aguilt complex, Mentor Matt Murdock, Penny has a Symbiote they are named Trouble, Orphaned Penny Parker, twice over, Dead Aunt May Parker (Marvel), Dead Uncle Ben, KingPin is bad guy, So is Hydra, Both are doing bad things, Amnesia Penny Parker, Ned Leeds and Trouble are the best of friends, Mj is scary friend, Crack Treated Seriously, i have no idea whats going on, the fic possesed me and I am just a puppet, Help
read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/SLTYxgz
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Melting Iron Chapter Ten
Willow:
“Time to get up, beast.”
Well, it’s better than some of the other names. She’s not sure how long it’s been but she knows it’s been a while. When she had first woken up and met Genesis, she had apparently been out for at least a day or two. The dry heaving and dehydration had been great signs following whatever drug was now in her body. During that time, she could’ve been passed out for days or weeks and she wouldn’t have known. She’d sat in this cramped little room forever before a man had come to try to feed her. She’d bit at him because he’d toyed with her and that had earned her nothing but stabbing pains in her stomach. She’d chewed her already busted lip raw by the time they’d come back with water. The next time they, let her hands free to avoid their fingers near her mouth; being sure to remind her that their guns were loaded and they were itching to use them. Luckily they had provided her with a bucket to use. It was better than the floor, she supposed. And she took a grim satisfaction each time the came to replace it.
Now, as she sits with one ankle chained to the floor, a person in a lab coat takes her vitals and do a basic physical, she absently notices that she can feel her collar bones a little better. The time bleeds together with no access to the outside. She tries to keep time with her meals, if you can call it that. Protein bars and water are hardly enough to keep the stomach pains at bay…but she’d only counted roughly forty meals. Which meant…
Ignoring the thought that was starting to form, that she’d been here much longer than she thought, Willow toys with the pendant around her neck, pressing the slight point of the tail into her finger until it hurts. She finds it easier to handle the suffering that way, to keep her mind hers. Today she’d woken up stuck to her sheet that they threw across her back. She’d bled all night, and it had dried to her. When she touched the fabric, the skin of her hand had felt like it was made of sandpaper, catching and snatching it even as she tried to glide over it. She’d managed to rip the facbric off, much to Cadmus’s protests. What had been attached was a white, flakey film. An entire top layer of her skin, dotted with bits of red. Her stomach rolls at the memory.
The room itself wasn’t awful. She’d been in much worse hotels. The bed they provided was more a cot with a scrap of fabric for a blanket. Sometimes she could hear he sounds of others being brought in or examined. Other times she could hear music off in the distance. Either the guards were bumping to Rihanna in the middle of the night or there was some sort of music venue nearby. Shifting in her spot on the ground, she winces. Her back aches terribly, but she can’t find the strength to reach to rub the soreness out from the…wings. They’ve been training them, her and the rest of the monsters. Regular drills she’d only ever seen in military documentaries. One would think that you wouldn’t want a now way stronger monster to be trained in the art of killing. But they were clever. They created leverage. Each of the older ones that are training has a younger or older party attached to them. The guns jabbed against their temples a clear sign: don’t fuck up and try to run. So she stayed and fought, using techniques that Cadmus had taught her.
The door to her room slams open, yanking her from her thoughts. A guard comes rolling in a metal table with thick leather straps attached. She’d gotten stronger than she had been when she first started being ripped apart. Still, it wasn’t enough to stop him from picking her up like she weighed nothing and slamming her on the table. She manages to get a hand free for a moment before the doctor is forced to help restrain her. She’s just angry enough to feel a sense of satisfaction when she manages to swipe her nails against the mercenary. Soon she’s thrashing on the table. Her heart pounds when she hears the sound of fabric ripping. Out of the corner of her eye she can see the sharp glean of a scalpel.
She fights them with every ounce of her strength, clawing, biting, kicking. She’s still strapped onto the table. She’s screaming now. So loud it hurts her own ears, an angry sound, like a wild animal. Thrashing against the restraints even as the woman with a tight blonde bun separates out different needles. She brutally but deftly connects an I.V. to her, keeping her eyes anywhere but on her.
“Look at me. Look at me,” Willow finally yells, hysterical and pleading. The woman does but if she expected to see an ounce of pity or humanity in the woman, she was wrong. All that’s there is disgust and contempt in her brown eyes. “What are you doing to me?” Her voice cracks as the tears start to fall again. The woman ignores her and injects two of the liquids. When the fire flushes through her veins, she screams. It isn’t like last time where she had thought she was screaming. This one rips her soul out of her body and replaces it with agony.
You must breathe. You will burn if you don’t.
Cadmus. He’d started being able to talk to her without being asleep. Particularly when she was in extreme amount of pain or whenever they injected her with whatever the golden liquid was.
Willow’s eyes are so wide that they can’t possibly get any more open as she fights herself to gather oxygen. The woman stuffs a gag in her mouth, muffling the whimpers that were now spilling out of her. Willow sucks in air through her nose, her body trembling at the effort. A feeling of heat rises in her lungs and then levels out only to rush back up again. This time she stays silent through the pain.
“Good. I was beginning to wonder if I’d need to cut out your larynx. We might need you to speak in the future.” Her voice was as cruel as her actions. Willow curses her behind her gag and snatches at her bindings. “Get comfortable, creature. These are the easy days.” The woman snaps her gloves off and replaces them. “Not that it really matters. Not once you’ve been tamed.”
Harden your scales against her blade!
The fear in her blood responds, and she feels a tightening of her skin without her control. The doctor steps to her side confidently, slicing down her shoulder blade. She feels pressure on her skin but no pain. Then a clinking of metal. “Huh. Your skin has already changed. That makes things difficult. Without food for a few days, it should have weakened you enough. I might still need the pliers.” Willow curses her behind her gag and snatches at her bindings, earning a heavy weight pinning her down again.
She hears the sounds of jars clinking.
What cruel creatures. This is going to be difficult, hatchling.
The voice is calm in spite of everything. Since she can’t respond, she just lies there, staring at the wall. She feels the first few drops on her back. At first, they feel like water. Then the burning starts. It almost itches. Acid? Or something like it anyway. She doesn’t have time to think. And eventually, as the pain continues to wear at her, she loses the ability to think entirely. She’s numb in the worst way possible. She tries to let herself float in that pain as much as she can so she doesn’t lose herself, but her threshold is being pushed.
Blood trickles down her side, pools on the table and drips onto the floor. She’s shivering so hard, she can’t make her teeth stop chattering. At this point she’s begging to every god or there that she just passes out.
“What is this,” the doctor practically whispers, disgust vibrant in her words. An intrusive feeling of fingers digging in a wound alights her nerve endings once more. She screams and screams until her voice is hoarse. “Can’t we just knock her out? Her screaming is giving me a headache.” A wet slapping sound against her back. She’s shaking violently and she knows this is what shock feels like. The doctor throws the scalpel to ground, the sharp sounds of metal clattering loudly in her ears. “They’re malformed! What are we supposed to do with these?”
She gestures to the guard and Willow’s moving. They roll her out of the room and into the hallways. She tries her best to look around but the most she catches are glimpses of other doors and the floor. Before long she’s stopped. There’s people around her. A voice that sounds similar to Genesis says something. The words slur along with her vision. She’s desperate to stay conscious, to know what the doctor is talking about with him but she can’t. It’s too much. Her body wants her to run into her mind. And so, she does.
***
“I can’t do this anymore,” Willow sobs as Cadmus wraps an arm around her shoulders, not unlike a parent. She was whole again in the dream world, but it didn’t stop the horror of what she was going through in the waking world. It didn’t stop that from being real. She could almost feel them poking and prodding her while her consciousness was here instead of there to defend herself.
“You can. You must.” He says this with a gentle squeeze.
“Why? Am I chosen one? It’s my destiny?” She didn’t mean to be a smartass but, it was hard not to. She just had so much rage inside of her, it was impossible to shove down. Like lava, literally, boiling in her lungs.
Cadmus just laughs at her. “No. Nothing like that. But you are a spot of hope for me specifically. Do you know what they’re injecting into your veins?” She’d thought of it of course. There was nothing she could even begin to think would have similar reactions to the ones whe was having. Nothing that she knew of could turn someone into a monster. She shakes her head.
“Me. They’re syphoning my blood from my body and forcing it into your veins and the veins of all the others trapped with you.” The weight of that hits her like a truck. She turns, pushing away from him. His face suddenly looks ancient. His skin ashen. His scales which had always seemed to have a pearlescent shine to them were dull and listless. Even his eyes seemed to be less vivid, like she was watching him slowly fade from existence.
“Do you know where you are? I can get out. I can help you.” He was her only source of comfort in the place and she couldn’t lose him. She’d go crazy before she ever got out.
“I will last. They make sure of it. They’ve taken more to give to you.” That shatters her heart. She was the reason he was dying. “You are also the reason that I will live. No one else in here has been similar enough to take on my blood traits.” That was true. The peeks that she’d gotten of the others thus far were very different from her. They were monsters from legend. She’d seen a werewolf and what she could only describe as a mermaid or a siren. He’d been left to dry on a table across from her own. She wasn’t sure what exactly Cadmus was but
“I can’t communicate with the rest of them. I need you to save me.”
She nods, solemnly, wiping her nose and eyes. “Alright but don’t even bring up the fact that they’re putting your blood in me. That’s weird and gross. And quit invading my mind. There’s private things there.” She shakes out her limbs, getting ready for a warm up. They’d been practicing for when her transformation finally took hold completely. She needed to have control over her entire body. Cadmus had assured her that whatever she did here would be easy to replicate out there. He’d had another one like her years ago. They’d died before they could finish the tranfusions. But in the time between, they’d found that the link that connected them also connected to the outside body.
Cadmus stands, his form taking a different shape. From his back a pair of impressive wings and horns that seemed to add another foot to his height. Talons replaced fingernails and fangs, the teeth. “What is private? Your mate’s smile? Surely you’re not jealous.” Immediately, her face burns. She’d spent hours in her room letting her brain think of Tony. It helped. He was probably out there looking for her so the least she could do is keep herself alive until he found her. She focuses on her own body, attempting to get the warm feeling in her face to flow throughout her.
Instead all she can think of now is him kissing her. Which is embarrassing since her and Cadmus were sharing a consciousness right now. Willow grumbles, attempting to focus again.
“Can you not refer to him as my ‘mate’? Boyfriend is fine. And yes, as a matter of fact, it is private.”
Cadmus chuckles, the tone deepened by his transformation. “I’ll give you privacy, hatchling. But if I can give you a word of advice? Use that which sets you on fire.” And damn it if that wasn’t great advice.
***
Tony:
His ears are ringing and maybe not just from the constant drilling and banging happening everywhere. That coupled with non-stop rock music, he can almost say that it feels like home. If he didn’t have to deal with the customers, this could be a pretty sweet gig. Maybe when he got his girl back, he could think about doing this on the side. At his own shop though. He wasn’t really built for having a boss like this. And Willow could wear a pair of cut-off overalls and stockings to answer the phones.
Thinking about her makes his heart squeeze painfully. He’d moved away from the thought process that they were after him and more on the train that there was a human trafficking situation going on. It made him sick to think of but he would fix this. His right ear twinges. The ear piercings that he’d gotten just as he started 'working’ here feels excessive but he’s not going to argue with his 'sister-in-law’ on his costume.
They decided that he needed to look more the part while working there. If he looked too 'cop-like’, as she’d put it, he’d never make any headway. It helped that it had hurt, gave him something to grab ahold of. It was a homage to Willow’s own look except in silver and much more subdued. With his now grown out beard and hair that had started to dust the tops of his ears, he barely looked like himself.
In the months that he’s been working in the garage under the name William Shea, he’s built up a reputation as a willing gopher in hopes that someone will use him for nefarious work. Turns out Ellie is a history major and has a focus on the local history and one of the most interesting things to happen in this town was the gang activity. Sending Jarvis in the right direction, the AI sniffed out several businesses under a pseudonym: Genesis Morgan. The great-great grandson of the original mod boss.
The only problem was he was locked down tighter than Captain Rogers. There were no receipts to follow. Only word of mouth. And the best place he could find word of mouth was at his fake job. He’d already convinced the others in the building that he was easy to take advantage of, to get them to let down their guard. He’d also been very talkative about how much he needed money. Hopefully, they’d eventually see him as expendable enough to let him work a job. They’d talked about different jobs they had to do when they got done with their day work. Mostly drug runs to supply the club nearby. If he could get another lead he’d be golden.
“I don’t give a fuck if your mother died last night, you need to get this job done tonight! The big boss is gonna be in town and I don’t need any fuck ups. Got me?” Cory, the shop owner slams his phone down on the table, blowing a frustrated breath out. He catches Tony looking up at his from under the hood of a soccer mom van. The man cocks his jaw to the side and seems to decide something. “Will, c'mere.” Tony ducks his head and slinks over to the counter.
“Yeah, boss?” He rolls his shoulders in, looking as tired as he can. It really irked something in his brain to do this. He normally led with his bravado and charisma. It was better if they didn’t think anything about him, obviously, but it felt wrong.
“You said you were looking to make money doing anything right?” Finally. Tony nods. “Good. I have some work for you but it’d be after hours and I’d need you keep your mouth shut about it. Get me?” The man’s eyebrows jump in an almost comical way. His tattoo was on the side of his shaved skull. He didn’t know a lot about this gang, but these guys liked the attention. Almost all of them had their tattoos in places that were highly visible. When he’d first got there, he had made a comment about it. It’d earned him a tense moment of silence followed by laughter. The airbrush guy, Kevin, had clapped him on the back and said that it was a club. That if he played his cards right, maybe they’d take him to get it done one night. Like hell.
“I get you.” Tony fakes a hesitency towards the gang member. “How much are we talking? I don’t want to get in any trouble for nothing.” He holds the man’s gaze that was obviously meant to intimidate. Cory relents, leaning back in his office chair as if he were discussing the weather.
“This job, two hundred. You do good, we’ll talk a bigger one in a couple weeks. The big boss is coming in and we need all hands on deck.”
A part of Tony that remembered shady dealmaking lifts his hand to shake on it. “When and where?”
***
He’d gotten ready like he was told, prepping with Jarvis in his ears and eyes, feeding it all back to Ellie. Even if she wasn’t really necissary, allowing her to be a part of this made her feel better and in exchange helped alleviate some of his own guilt. The rest of her family and friends were left in the dark. They were only told that she had gone with him up to New York for vacation. Her work hadn’t really liked that but after a charitable donation, was willing to bend the rules a tad. It hadn’t hurt that he’d thrown in an intention to marry to her boss who was enjoying the idea of them together a little bit like a grandmother. With Ellie sounding so much like her sister, the phone calls she’d made were easily faked. That was something he was going to enjoy: her reprimanding him about after he got her back.
This was the second job that he was now a part of. The first had been peddling pills to the distributors. He hadn’t liked it but it had to be done. He made sure to attach tracking on at least a few of the plugs. When he’d gotten pushed around to do another job before he got paid, Tony had to pretend to care. They offered double and he’d reluctantly accepted.
The new deal was supposed to just be in cocaine. He’d partied with the stuff back in the day and thankfully never stayed on it. But regardless, he was aware how these things went. Or he’d thought he did. What had been at the old run down apartment hadn’t been drugs, it had been a monster. A mutated woman more specifically. She was completely white all the way to her eyelashes. Her eyes were a blood red and her entire body was covered in flat, white scales. Her face had been altered. Where her lips were they was a dip, creating a face not unlike a boa constrictor. Where her legs had been was now just a long serpent-like tail. Her torso was still human like. She could have been compelling if she weren’t so terrified.
Bart, one of the younger men who was still using this life as bravado, knocks into his shoulder. Tony has to physically stop himself from shoving the guy. Cory had put them together for this, he wasn’t sure of the reason since the guy hadn’t liked him day one. The feeling was mutual.
“What? Your first time seeing a monster? Don’t worry, she’s tame. Taking her in town to clean her up and then to the club.” Tony didn’t like the way he said that. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what sort of things went down there. He grabs her arms and starts dragging her to the door. The woman fights back, using her hands and tail to beat against her captor. He manages to fight her off, slinging her to the ground. There’s a dark gleam in his eyes that Tony had seen before and it makes his stomach clench in revoltion. “You know what, Will, you go wait in the van. I think this one might need some breaking in before she goes to the freaks at the club.” He reaches for his crotch.
Oh yeah, absolutely not. Tony sucker punches him before he can think of something better. He’d brought a pocket version of his gloves just in case so the force is enough to knock the man to the ground. The woman screams and coils up away from Bart’s falling body. “Yeah, call me old fashioned but enthusiastic consent is just way hotter.” Bart spits blood from his mouth.
“I fucking knew you weren’t who you said you were. Gonna love kicking the shit out of you.”
The man’s quick, he’ll give him that. Well timed fists fly at Tony, hitting him in ways that he had just started getting not used to. He leans back into the muscle memory, letting it carry him as he looks for a good way to end this quickly. He manages to thread the man in a headlock but he’s loosing grip.
Bart suddenly cries out in pain and warm feeling hits Tony’s leg. Looking over the guy’s shoulder he sees the woman with her mouth buried into the side of his stomach. After a few minutes of thrashing, he goes limp. Tony just lets him fall from his arms. The woman stands to full height. “You alright?” He’s out of breath and bends at the waist, panting. He needed to get back to working out. He’d gotten lazy being all cozy with his librarian.
The snake-like woman nods. “Thank you but why help? Aren’t you one of them?”
“Absolutely not. I don’t need to brutalize a woman to get laid. What’s your name? Do you have any next of kin I can have come get you?” He’s rambling, going into 'hero mode’ as he tries to cool his blood again.
The woman nods and he can see the shakines of shock starting to take hold of her. He whips off his jacket and drapes it over her shoulders. “Dao. I can call my brother if you have a phone on you. Though, I doubt he’ll recognize me anymore. I’m a monster…” And there’s the tears. He places what he hopes is an unobtrusive hand on her shoulder.
“If he loves you, he won’t care. You’ll figure things out together. I can’t tell you that there’s a way to reverse what’s happened to you but I can tell you that sometimes these things have a way of warping into success stories.” The woman was a dirisive sound as if she doesn’t believe him and folds her arms over her chest.
“Easy for you to say. You’re not a snake.”
He tilts his head in acquiesce. “That’s fair. But I’m beginning to think I might have girlfriend for a snake. That’s why I’m doing this. She was taken by the same gang that took you and I don’t think you were always this, no offense, scaley.” Dao shakes her head. “Yeah. Last time I saw Willow, she had a distinct lack of scales too. It doesn’t matter though. She could be a fish and I’d still take her home. It can’t be that hard to build a custom tank.” He slunk down the wall to sit next to her. He was breathing harder than the exertion could account for. He was spiraling. A cool hand comes to rest on his own.
“She’s lucky to have you.” He turns to her and prays that the plan that’s just hatched in his brain doesn’t come back to haunt him.
“Dao, I have spent months building my cover. If I lose it now, anyone else that they’re doing this to is going to end up dead or worse.”
The woman’s shoulders drop. He can sense her sudden withdrawl.
“You want me to deliever me to the club and what? Tell her that you’re coming to save her? Us?”
“You are kind of my only hope right now after-,” He throws a hand to the either dead or unconcious Bert. He didn’t really care. “Did you poison this ass clown?”
“Yes. I think that’s why they moved me here. To keep me secluded. But my venom isn’t going to keep me safe in there for long. Can you guarentee that you’ll come rescue us?”
His suit flies up to the window to peer in, its glowing eyes a comfort to him. “Did I mention that I’m actually Iron Man?"
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Elder Brother John Walker Headcanons!!
Blah blah blah everyone was expecting this yada yada yada Ash is a loser, throws these elder brother John Walker headcanons at you like the shield.
I hope you enjoy this guys!! (I say to the very niche crowd of people who likes this stuff 😅)
Written strictly platonically, please keep that in mind!! Proship, neutrals, and varients, please dni!! Romantic John doubles, please interact with respect and caution!
Headcanons under the cut :)
[[MORE]]- I wouldn’t say John was necessarily “looking” for a sibling.
- He liked having his own space and his own things that he never had to share with anyone else. It was kind of lonely, admittedly, but he was fine with it.
- Or at least, he thought it was. Until he met you.
- You were like a breath of fresh frigging air for John. You shook up his life, taking him off that strict routine he somehow already started to build up for himself.
- And trust me, he acted like he didn’t like it. But he did. Really, he did.
- You’d barge into his room when he was still sleeping to wake him up and ask him to do something you could most definitely do on your own? He’s throwing his pillow at you but still getting up and doing it anyway. Grumbles included.
- You’re asking him to play something with you for the billionth time? No. What? Absolutely not! Are you crazy?? He has football practice and more important people to hang around! He’s so busy! …Then he’ll just play with you later.
- Or what about when you hear a scary sound outside and the only person you are willing to have investigate is John? Does he look like Sherlock Holmes to you? No thanks, do it yourself! Then he grabs a flashlight and holds your hand as he walks into the sting zone and shows you it was just a passing squirrel.
- You see what I mean? You guys had that kind of thing going on.
- But as you both got older, and John especially grew up and matured, it was getting harder for him to act like he… y'know… hated you half the time.
- He really cared about you, he realized, when it was already getting too late.
- It was almost like the other way around now. It was your annoying big brother always bothering you and wanting to hang out. Like he wanted to cram as many years of siblinghood as possible in the few months before he had to be shipped off to basic.
- In that time he taught you as much as he could. How to do your own oil change so you wouldn’t have to deal with scammy auto repair shops. How to identify the best produce in a grocery store, what to actually bring on a hike, how to deep clean a grill, and a bunch of other stuff he randomly thought up in the middle of the night that he was convinced you needed to know.
- But when the day actually came, he realized that all of that was as much for him as it was for you. The doubt set in. You weren’t ready. He wasn’t ready. He couldn’t just leave you. But he had to. He signed that dotted line and had to be sent away.
- And gosh, did this stupid military business take up a lot of his damn time.
- When he actually got the time to call, it was you he called first. He could hardly talk about anything of substance. All he wanted to say was how much he missed and loved you and how he was definitely not crying so shut up you stupid twerp.
- While away, he answered every Skype call you sent in, read, kept, and cried over every letter, and saved all the pictures you sent, tucked under the clothes in his dresser so no one could see or mess with them.
- But still, it was busy.
- Now he was saving hostages, and shaking hands with presidents, and shit- maybe becoming Captain America?! You saw more of your big brother on the news then you did in person.
- By your letters, John knew you were proud. But he also knew you were sad as hell. See, that’s the problem with sharing the same hallway with another person for so long. You get to know them so well. Too well. And John knew you were sad that he was away so much and never seemed to have time no matter how much he tried to make it.
- Then, well, you know what happens next.
- John loses his best friend and his temper like you’ve never seen before in front of the whole world. He loses all his credibility.
- You were terrified with the long period of radio silence that John gave you after that. John would be lying if he said it wasn’t on purpose. He was so ashamed, hardly about what he did, but because his kid sibling, who wasn’t much of a kid anymore, had to watch him do it.
- But, when he realized that he and Olivia were expecting, he knew it would be an even shittier move then he was already pulling to not at least tell you about it.
- So, and he still feels awful about this, he shot you a text telling you about it and maybe you would want to come over to their place for lunch? He visibly winced when he sent it and didn’t pick up his phone for the rest of the day.
- Of course, you simply agreed to go, which left John freaking out every second of every day until you were set to come over. He already decided that he would allow you to scream as much as you wanted and fight him if necessary, so long as it wasn’t near Olivia and couldn’t stress her out. But mostly, he was just terrified you wouldn’t see him the same. How could you? How could anyone? Would you hate him? He thought you had every right to hate him.
- Thankfully, though, you didn’t hate him. But I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you fought him or not.
- John spilled his guts to you over lunch that day. He couldn’t even pull off the “I’m not crying” bit this time because you guys weren’t over the phone. But he didn’t have to. It was so easy to talk to you once he got over the fear of burdening you. He was the big brother after all. It was his job to carry all the weight. But you showed him regardless that he didn’t have to.
- Things were still shitty after that. Obviously. But you two kept each other on track.
- John made it a point to invite you over more to stay at the watchtower and meet the… interesting arrangement of fellows he found himself acquainted with.
- He even got through to Valentina and got you your own room at the tower. Not like he really should have had to beg. There was almost too much room and not enough people to fill it. So, you got a room down the hall from John’s. Just like it always had been.
- And this just gave him all the more excuse to maintain his annoying big brother role, just like before. John Walker was back in full swing, baby, wooh!
- He would walk into your room, flick your lights on and off and on and off and always make sure they were on a different setting compared to when he first walked in.
- Then he’ll ask if you wanna go out somewhere. Where are you gonna go? Out. And do what? Stuff. What kind of stuff? The useful kind.
- It seems he’s allergic to answering basic questions.
- The other Thunderbolts were quick to catch on to your two’s dynamic. And not only did they let it be, they liked it and encouraged it.
- Anytime you and John start going at each other’s throats and saying brand new insults, Bob would pipe up: “That’s going in the quote book!” Which is a physical book that is a very real thing in the tower. Ava is also keeping track of you and John’s prank wars on a white board in the kitchen and she always makes sure you have at least one more point then John. Thanks, Ava.
- This has also prompted John to pick up old habits such as tugging your hair at the dinner table, stealing all your snacks, refusing to close the door behind him when he leaves the room, and jumpscaring you when you round random corners.
- Not all of them are awful old habits though.
- Gently knocking on your door when he knows you’re upset instead of barging in, whispering a soft: “Can I come in?”
- Everytime he’s sitting in your room, he’s doing some idle cleaning up. Like straightening your bed or folding clothes.
- Buying you a snack or drink whenever he’s out and just tossing it to you when he comes back is a favorite of yours, I bet.
- Also, post mission hugs. That’s it. That is all I’m saying. Literally. If I don’t stop now, we’re going to be here for the next ten years.
Anywaysss!! Hope you guys enjoyed today’s episode of Ash’s obvious self indulgence! Requests open if you want to see more headcanons, please take care!