LittleMsStark3000

tony & nat | canon compliant (iron man 2 to endgame)

-

She recognises the deep, inconsolable sadness in him the first time they meet, even though he holds her at a distance masked by coquetry and levity, and she understands why Fury sent her to keep him alive.

The mission comes first, but on the night of his birthday party, the one that he thinks will be his last, she caves as much as a Black Widow can. They talk about an inconsequential thing, a gold-faced Jaeger. She sits on the arm of his chair and looks down at him, sad eyes and sad mouth and a bruise on his cheekbone, and she foregoes the powder puff and uses her bare fingers instead.

“Can I ask you a question, hypothetically?” he asks. “A bit odd. If this was your last birthday party you were ever gonna have, how would you celebrate it?”

“I’d do whatever I wanted to do with whoever I wanted to do it with,” she says. She almost lingers, a flicker of something terrifyingly sincere in her chest, but she leaves him alone to finish his drink after all.

Are you alright? She wants to ask.

But she knows he isn’t.

-

They have comparable body counts both ways, enough blood on their hands and empty beds left in their wake.

So where the wide-eyed innocence and childlike fear comes from when Coulson dies and leaves them to take on an alien army alone, she doesn't know. Everyone has dead people. She does. Tony does. Coulson is just the first of many they'll share.

Tony takes them to shawarma after and the hole-in-the-wall's card machine has been crushed to bits, so he peels all the hundred dollar bills he has from his pocket, pauses when he sees the smashed tip jar, and puts the money in the owner's hand instead. She watches.

"You alright?" she asks when he comes back.

"Of course," he says with a smile, the blood on his face not even dry yet, and she can tell he almost means it.

Almost.

-

His name is on the list and her gaze flicks to the Tower on the New York skyline for just a second as she thinks, I'll drag you to hell myself before I let you take him from this world.

She knows Tony visits Steve in the hospital while he's unconscious. She knows Tony tries to pay for her lawyer.

"You alright?" Tony texts her on her way out of the courtroom.

"Why, didn't you feel on top of the world after you told the court to screw off?" she texts back.

"You know what, Romanoff?"

She smiles and calls him a friend after that.

-

She goes to his party and takes his arm and talks to his best friend and she feels like a person again, until.

This time, he answers before she asks, before they head out into the ruins of this night.

"I'm alright," he says. "Don't look at me like that."

-

Barnes shows up out of nowhere and things get worse from there.

"You alright?" she asks him after Barnes wipes the floor with the pair of them, and she's looking down at him and there's a bruise on his cheekbone again and he's rubbing at his chest like he's about to have a heart attack, but he glances her way with those big sad eyes and says:

"Always."

Liar, she thinks.

-

It's two years after that.

He texts sometimes. She texts back. She knows he and Steve talk, too, and she smiles when Steve isn't looking, a secret soft thing.

He's just making sure they're alright.

-

It's another five years and no one on Earth is okay, but he invites them to stay for lunch and after, she catches his elbow and asks anyway.

"Are you alright?" she asks.

He holds her gaze for a long time and she wonders how much older she looks to him, all these years later.

"Trying to be," he finally says.

"Good enough," she says.

-

There's one last time, before she goes, before he follows.

He kisses his wife and daughter goodbye, packs light and moves into the Compound for a few days and they will cemeteries' worth of dead people back to life, theirs and everyone else's.

"We're alright," he says out of the blue one night, laying on the table next to her with his glasses in one hand and a cushion between his knees to help his back. She blinks the fatigue away and considers the possibility that he's getting too old for this. "This is gonna work out. Everything's gonna turn out the way it's supposed to. Right?"

"Right." She nods and can't tear her gaze from his eyes, the tiredness and the warmth and the crow's feet and the world-saving kindness and she thinks, look how far we've come. "We're alright."

-

ofc, i'm so happy you enjoyed them! okay, i'll do the parallels in a separate post (if you can make gifs hmu), but i love that you picked up on how much nat's perspective is underrated in ironwidow fic. here are a few reasons i think nat falls for tony (i'm going to have a separate them out into concrete vs. cerebral - might be an arbitrary distinction, but another way to think about it is initial attraction/everyday compatibility vs. deep love/moral and emotional alignment)

concrete reasons

tony's confidence. nat needs someone who has no qualms

physical experience. nat is experienced. she likes that tony is unapologetic about his sexuality.

he's a great conversationist. nat is witty as hell, and there's really no one else in the mcu that's as clever and quick with words as tony (maybe clint, but that's bff energy only). we have plenty of evidence that nat likes humor, likes tony's sense of humor (see: 'miss me, agent romanoff?') and i really don't think she would end up with someone who's not willing just to engage in some teasing. i really think tony would actively try to draw it out of her as well, which would further endear her.

cerebral reasons

tony's relentless hope. this is tony's best trait imo and it's one that pairs really nicely with nat’s suspicion and doubt of other people’s motives and abilities. 

tony has red in his ledger, and he wants to wipe it out. remember brucenat? the goal there was to draw a parallel between bruce and nat's mistakes, ignoring that tony and nat's pasts are actually more similar. they hurt people, they were able to realize that their lives were not truly their own and break free of it, they consider themselves at fault when they were at the machinations of powerful people, and now they want to spent their lives repenting. relationships happen between people who might be ostensibly different, but deeply share the same values. i think tony manifests it as a futurist, an idealist, where nat is more concrete and detailed, but they can also appreciate the opposite perspective. i just think nat recognizes a similar mindset in tony, likely before he did in her. she understands him, and she likes that he understands her. 

tony, i think, is very thoughtful in gift-giving and spending quality time. i just think he’d make an effort to appreciate nat’s russian heritage and love of the ballet. he 100% made her a ballet studio and she was instantly a little in love.

he appreciates her abilities and i hc him as the only one to note her genius in closing the portal in avengers 1, so much that i put it in a fic. more than that, though, he actively tries to improve her abilities - gadgets, etc. she definitely love when he excitedly bursts into her room to show her a widow bite update

9. “You’re acting like a child.”

For ironwidow

Ok.

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

2. Why do you write fanfiction?

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

4. Are there any writers that inspire you?

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily?

7. What element of writing do you struggle with most?

8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write?

9. Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write?

10. What’s your favorite genre to write for?

11. Who or what do you find yourself writing about most?

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

13. First fandom you ever wrote for?

14. What’s your favorite fandom to write for?

15. What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve ever written for?

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

19. Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between?

20. Gen fic or shippy stuff?

21. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

22. Do you listen to anything while you write?

23. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

24. One-shots or multi-chaptered works?

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

28. How well do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing?

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

30. Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst?

31. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them!

32. Summarize a random fic of yours in 10 words or less.

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of.

1. how many pillows do you sleep with?

2. do you believe in soulmates?

3. would you ever kiss a stranger?

4. describe your dream house

5. do you usually use cash or card?

6. do you enjoy driving in general?

7. do you like your name? if not, what would you change your name to?

8. what’s your favorite cuisine?

9. how often do you get massages?

10. do you play video games? if so, what games?

11. do you prefer to color with colored pencils, crayons, or markers?

12. what other fandoms are you in?

13. do you have a signature in your style/everyday outfits?

14. do you have any pets? if not, do you want some in the future?

15. do you give objects you own a name? (car, house, plants, etc)

16. do you like the weather where you live?

17. if you could wear one color for the rest of your life, what would it be?

18. do you like making small talk?

19. what’s your favorite social media platform?

20. have you ever been to hawaii?

21. name a fashion trend that you absolutely hate

22. name a fashion trend that you absolutely love

23. what was the last text you sent?

24. when making plans, do you like to organize or go with the flow when the time comes?

25. what do you want to name your future kids?

26. do you have a type?

27. when was the last time you kissed someone?

28. how often do you cook?

29. do you think __x__ is overrated or underrated?

30. do you always remember your dreams?

31. do you believe in ghosts?

32. would you ever want to move outside of your country?

33. describe your first love

34. more peanut butter or more jelly?

35. do your irls know about your tumblr account?

36. do you prefer hot or cold beverages?

37. when was the last time you finished a book?

38. what would you want your wedding colors to be?

39. how long do you let your nails grow?

40. if you could stay at a certain age, what age would you pick?

41. who do you think has it easiest: older siblings or younger siblings?

42. how often do you post on social media?

43. do you enjoy big groups?

44. do you like it when you’re awaken by the sounds of birds chirping?

45. which hand is your favorite?

46. how many people do you follow?

47. how many followers do you have?

48. how many drafts do you have?

49. do you hang or fold your sweaters?

i just think tony and nat would be great for each other y’know. like seeing the other thrive would inspire them to work on themselves too. they’d highlight their best qualities and being together would strengthen them. just two fully-fledged individuals in a healthy, supportive relationship who are constantly striving to do good and trying to improve the world bit by bit. although their backgrounds are very different they’d find common ground in their goals at first and then they’d realize they have more in common than they thought (i’ve got red in my ledger and i’d like to wipe it out). I just think it’s beautiful to picture the two avengers who spent years unapologetically staining their hands with blood and then wearing masks to hide their shame putting themselves out there together to face a world that hates them so they can build a better future for everyone.

Oh how I looove these two individually and so much more when together. They are a perfect pair for me in a sense that they are both strong, smart and independent, they both underwent a lot of horrible circumstances in their lives and came out better, and they see through each other because of these similarities. There is that bond and trust between them even if they don't actually talk about it. There is understanding with just a smile, one look, a smirk - no words needed. I see them supporting each other, constantly pushing each other to get better. And they can be vulnerable around each other because they know that they will not be judged nor will be taken advantage of.

Fandom: Marvel Pairing: tonynat Characters: Natasha Romanoff | Tony Stark Rating: T (for mentions of blood and general inaccurate medical grossness) Additional tags: angst | hurt/comfort | arc reactor issues

written for day 10 of whumptober 2021: Oops I did it again | hospital | flare up | ice chips

close.

He’s cut it way too close again. Tony knew this even as he took a nosedive from the top floor of the skyscraper, pain racing through his torso from the inside out.

He shouldn’t have gone into the field with an arc reactor that was only at 12 percent. Technically he wasn’t even supposed to be in the Iron Man suit at all. Natasha had chided him for it, but Tony hid from her and the rest of their teammates the network of blackened veins that spread from the arc reactor all across his skin. The poison that slowly killed him spewing from the device that was keeping him alive.

There wasn’t anything he could do about it, except avoid using the Iron Man suit and to change the arc reactor. The former was hard to do, and as for the latter – he forgot, or was distracted, until one thing led to another and he was flying straight down as fast as he could, after the screaming civilians who were fast approaching the pavement.

Tony yelled – half from exertion, half from pain – and put on a final burst of speed. Friday’s warning – “6 percent” – went ignored as Tony caught one of the civilians, then another, and finally snatched the last one out of the air barely a foot above the concrete and splurged all his remaining energy on reversing the nose dive so they wouldn’t all end up as pancakes and scrap metal.

Before he could gain any altitude, he dropped from the air and rolled several feet on the pavement.

“Arc reactor at 2 percent capacity,” intoned Friday. “Replace at once, to avoid certain death.” She was surprisingly blithe about the whole thing.

Tony removed his face plate, gasping in air, though he knew it wouldn’t do him any good now. His veins were filled with toxic from the arc reactor, through his entire body, to his lungs, his face, his brain. This was it. This was the end.

Natasha.

Her name was like a prayer in his mind when he blacked out.

requested by @zombies-pandas-potter-trek-omg

Tony: truth

Natasha: how many hours have you slept this week?

Tony: dare

~ touching foreheads. the special language of love ~